Keyholder Demoness

Book 2

Chapter 01

A gibbous moon illuminates the mountains and valleys below. Its light only shines through the canopy of evergreen in brief patches. Somewhere, in the dark spaces between, chains are rattling. There is a rhythm to the sound. Soon the chains are accompanied by grunting, and another voice panting. Occasionally a muffled moan.

There is a voice - soft, melodic - broken occasionally by pops and clicks.

“Right there! Yes! Do that!” Charity pleads. Her voice is somewhat desperate. The rhythm of the chains hold steady for a while, but then the rhythm falls apart. There is a shifting of bodies, a random series of moans. Then the rhythm starts up again, perhaps faster or slower. “No! Fuck! Here… turn this way a little.”

“(Tock) (tut) thhh!”

“Ow! Sorry!”

Faith rolled over from where she was trying to sleep. “Please. Please stop! Baby! I know you are really horny, but you’ve been trying for half the night. You’re going to kill poor Hope! We need to get some sleep. Please!”

Charity let out a frustrated groan. The rattling of chains stopped. “Fuck!”

<>--+-

The next day in the mid-afternoon, the small road they were following summited another pass revealing another valley, no difference in appearance to the last.

“Are we walking in circles?” Charity asked, using her fingers to indicate walking and then rotating her hand around. “Do you have any fucking idea where we are going?”

Hope obviously knew that she was being challenged by the look of frustration on her face. She spoke quickly in her native language, emphatically pointing at the road and the direction that they were going in.

“We’ve been walking for two weeks!” Charity said. “We haven’t seen a single fucking person.” She pointed to her eyes, then shielded them as though she were searching the horizon. Finally she placed her hands next to her temples with her fingers pointing up. “Have you seen any sign of Dammasch? Or Blue?”

Hope held up her hand with only her middle finger extended. This gesture had had no meaning to her prior to meeting Charity. Charity was proud to see that Hope was using it appropriately, but still she simply growled in frustration.

“We’re committed now,” Faith said. “The road must go somewhere. We walk on.” She started down into the next valley.

<>--+-

A woman’s screams rose up over the sounds of the nocturnal creatures in the darkness of another summer night. They were screams of ecstasy.

“Oh, Hope! Just the sound of your voice makes my blood boil with desire. Do me now!” Charity popped her finger out of the thimble that dangled on a chain from Hope’s navel and spread her legs. Dutifully, Hope climbed on Charity’s chest, pinning her down and pushing her butt against Charity’s chin. She stroked her sex slicked, metal tipped fingers down Charity’s belly, over the chastity’s faceplate and into the tender skin of Charity’s inner thighs. She leant forward and let the needles protruding from her lips barely graze her lover’s abdomen.

“Oh!” Charity moaned and her muscles spasmed with stimulation. “Oh! Oh… OW!” Hope quickly raised herself up, chains rattling, her voice popping and clicking. “I’m ok! I’m ok! That was my fault. Just…”

“For fuck’s sake! Stop!” Faith yelled from a few feet away. “Either you two are going to kill each other, or I am going to kill myself before you have an orgasm, Charity. Please. It’s been hours! Again! You’ve got to have abrasions by now!”

“Fuck you, Faith!” Charity screamed. There was a rattle of chains as Hope was pushed to the side. Charity stood up and stumbled in the most convenient direction. “Ow! Fucking tree limb! Arrrgh!!”

Hope’s exhalation of exasperation sounded half-hearted.

“Charity! Babe! I’m sorry. Come lie down,” Faith pleaded. “We’ll sleep and figure out something tomorrow when the sun is up. We’ll figure this out together.”

<>--+-

Hope placed a collection of green leaves and small red berries in Faith’s hands which she held cupped together. She bowed her head down and grabbed one of the leaves in her mouth and began chewing. Charity was sitting on a log with her collection of leaves and berries arranged in a line, mindlessly munching.

Faith stopped chewing for a second and made a retching sound. She spit the leaf out of her mouth. “That’s it!” She tossed the leaves and berries on the ground and pulled out her revolver. “I’m going to shoot one of those fucking squirrel looking animals.”

“Put that away, Faith!” Charity said. “We only have four bullets left.”

“How do you fucking eat that shit, Charity?” Faith said, frowning. “I can’t live on grass. Those berries are so bitter and I think they are giving me diarrhea. I’m not a tiny girl like the two of you. I need meat!”

“Then eat some of these grubs,” Charity said, holding one up. “They’re not all that bad. Kind of like fried moz… mozz… cheese sticks. Crunchy on the outsi…”

“Don’t say another fucking word!” Faith said. “You’re making me sick.”

Hope picked up the leaves and berries that Faith had dropped and pushed them back into Faith’s hands speaking quietly in her native language.

“Yes, ma’am,” Faith said, sarcastically.

“Ha! Even Hope hates a hangry Faith,” Charity said.

Hope turned towards Charity suddenly, and started speaking much more quickly and loudly than usual, distinctly pointing in the direction opposite from the one they had been traveling in. Whatever she was saying, it ended in a very distinctive “Fuhk you!”

“What crawled up her ass?” Faith asked.

Hope turned toward Faith and started talking again, clearly angry about something. She pointed at Faith, then used her right hand like a puppet patting her fingers and thumb together rapidly and clearly vocalizing something equivalent to “blah blah blah blah”. Then she pointed to Charity and used her left hand to make the same motion.

“I think that she is tired of all your bickering,” Charity said.

Hope was not finished though. “Hh-oe do!” she said with her right hand puppet in motion. “Hh-oe do!” she said again with her left hand puppet. Then she pointed to the distance in one direction. “Hh-oe home!” Then she pointed down the road they were traveling. “Day ah bru!” She held her hands by her temples with her fingers raised. She was indicating the Goddess Dammasch. She pointed to the needles protruding from her lips. “Day ah bru!” She pointed to the array of sharp needles poking out around her nipples. “Day ah bru!” She pointed down at the needles around her clitoris. “Day ah bru!” Then she clacked the seamless manacles welded around her wrists together. “Day ah bru!” She pulled at the links of jewelry chain criss-crossing her face. “Day ah bru!” Finally, she pointed at Charity. “Day ah bru. Do you!!”

‘Day ah bru’ was the name that Hope used for Dammasch. She clearly blamed Dammasch for all of her most inconvenient body modifications. The inconvenient modifications were only a small subset of the full array of tattoos, piercings, and implants that covered Hope’s body. She had never told Charity who was responsible for all the rest.

“If that is what Dammasch wanted to do to me,” Charity argued, “she could have already done it. Besides, she had Blue. And Blue has the collar with the key that can take this fucking belt off me!”

“No!” Hope yelled. “No B-ue! B-ue, no!”

Hope pointed at her eyes. Then she made a circle motion around her neck. Then she pointed at Charity’s crotch. “No B-ue!”

Charity pushed Hope’s hair to the side and slipped a finger in the eyebolt protruding from her scapula. She yanked on it pulling Hope off balance for a moment. “You couldn’t see whether or not the girl in the frame had a collar or not! You were hanging thirty feet up in the air!”

“No B-ue!” Hope yelled again.

“It was Blue!” Charity yelled. “You don’t even know Blue! Do you want to leave, Hope? Do you want to go home? Aban.. ab… leave? You don’t care that I’m going to turn into some kind of horny wild animal.”

Hope most likely had no idea what Charity was saying, but she had a very sour look on her face. For some reason that made Charity even madder. She pushed the elastic band of the asylum pants down to her knees and pointed at the chastity belt. “Dammasch! Day ah bru! Whatever!” She pointed at her head. “Day ah bru! I have no choice, but to get this fucking thing off! She has Blue! We have to save Blue!”

The whole time Charity was speaking, Hope kept saying, “No! No! No! No B-ue!!”

“Y.. I… Fff…” Charity was so angry suddenly that she couldn’t even make words form in her mouth. “Y…!” Suddenly, her anger began to turn to fear. She knew what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t make her mouth form the words. Her fear level rose and suddenly she could only think of one thing to do. Run!

Charity started to take a step, but started to trip since her pants were around her knees. She kicked her pants off with her feet. Then she grabbed her shirt in the middle with both hands and, with a loud ripping sound, tore the entire front of the shirt from neck to hem.

“Arrrrggghh!” Charity screamed, throwing her shirt into the air. She started running through the woods. Somewhere inside her head, there was a small, logical thought process that was saying to herself, “I’m running naked through some alien forest. That’s it! I’m crazy! I’m going to twist an ankle or run into a tree and injure myself.”

But, when she looked ahead of her, she felt as though the world was passing by in slow motion. She knew exactly where her next step would land and two more after that. All the obstacles in her way were clear and she could see a path though. There was a certain ecstasy in running. The wind in her hair. The feel of successfully ducking and dodging tree limbs and rocks. She leapt over bushes and slipped past thorny tangles of vines.

“I could just run forever. I’ll just never stop!” she thought to herself.

She did stop after a while. Her anger had run its course. She looked around. She sat on a nearby rock. She had no idea where she had come from. She couldn’t see Faith or Hope or the road. She looked down at herself. She was completely naked except for her chastity belt. She was sitting in an alien forest with nothing. Nothing! She opened her mouth. “Can I speak?” she said aloud to herself. “Yes, I can. Now what?”

Luckily, after about five minutes she heard Faith call her name. She stood and started walking in the direction of her voice. After another five minutes she could see Faith and when she met up with her they just looked at each other for a second, then Faith turned and led Charity back towards the road.

When they were finally able to see Hope, Faith said, “I guess that you can mark ‘Tear off shirt like the Incredible Hulk’ from your bucket list. Are you good?”

“Still part human, I guess,” Charity said calmly.

Hope was methodically pressing the end of a fat stick into a hole in a fallen log, crushing some combination of leaves, moss, and mud. She put down the stick when Charity walked up. She grabbed Charity’s right hand and pressed it firmly over her heart. Tears were running from her lapiz-blue eyes.

“I know, Hope,” Charity said, taking Hope’s right hand and pressing it in the same manner over her own left breast. “I’m sorry, too!”

“For fuck’s sake, Babe. Was this all just a lovers’ spat?” Faith asked, holding up Charity’s ripped shirt. “Put on your fucking clothes.”

<>--+-

A full moon shone down on the small clearing in the forest where the rhythmic sound of chains ringing was accompanied by soft grunts and moans.

“No… Let’s try this…”

Occasionally the rhythm of the ringing chains would speed up or slow down for a while.

“Right there, Hope… Just like that.. Yeah…”

“Ih thor ah (tick) oo!”

“No!”

“Fuck, Charity! I can’t take it any more!” Faith said suddenly causing all the ringing of chains to stop.

“Sorry, Faith. Did we wake you up?” Charity whispered, panting.

“I don’t think any animal in a quarter mile radius is sleeping any longer,” Faith said. “Fuck!”

The woods were silent for about a minute before Charity gasped a breath of air.

“Are you crying now, Charity?” Faith asked into the darkness. “Look! I’m sorry. Come here, baby.”

Charity slowly disentangled herself from Hope’s limbs, careful not to brush up against any of the painfully sharp needles protruding from her lips, her nipples, or around her clit. “Sorry, Hope,” she whispered and Hope made an understanding series of clicking sounds in reply.

“Here,” Faith said. “Sit in my lap. Your skin is on fire, baby.”

“I’m so fucking horny, Faith. I think I’m going insane,” Charity cried.

“It’s ok, baby,” Faith said, stroking Charity’s sweat soaked hair.

“No, Faith. I… I lied to you earlier,” Charity cried. “You asked me if I was sure that it was Blue who Dammasch pushed through the portal… But… I don’t know… I mean… I assume that it was Blue, but… Her head was enc… en… wrapped in a steel orb and she was stretched out in a frame of tubes…” Charity started crying harder. “I don’t remember whether she had the collar on or not…”

“Shhh, baby,” Faith whispered. “It’s ok… It has to have been Blue, right? Who else could it have been?”

“Ash!” Charity cried.

“Listen to me, baby. It doesn’t matter whether it was Blue or not, OK? We just need to find this Dammasch woman. We’ll make a bargain with her. She’ll know how to take the belt off, OK?”

Hope sidled up alongside Faith and placed her hand on Charity’s chest. Charity placed her hand on top of Hope’s, caressing it. “And we’ve been wandering around this alien planet for two weeks now. Lost! If one of us gets hurt, we could die here.”

“Shh…” Faith replied. “We found this road. It must lead somewhere, right? Hope thinks we are going in the right direction to find Dammasch. She seems pretty confident that we are doing the right thing, doesn’t she?”

“I’m losing words, Faith,” Charity whispered. “I know that I am. I’m turning into some sort of dumb, horny animal. If we can’t find Blue… You’re going to be stuck here in a strange world all by yourself… I’m so sorry, Faith.”

“I’ll always be here for you, Charity,” Faith said. “I’m your sister. I’ll love you no matter what you are, baby. Listen. This is what we are going to do tonight. Maybe Hope can make some of her magic green orgasm paste. I saw her collecting plants for something more than dinner. I’m going to go down by the river and let you two do your thing, babe. Do whatever it takes, OK? If she can push you there, you’ll feel a lot better. She did it before, right?”

“Hope?” Charity asked. She stroked her hand across Hope’s abdomen as though applying a lotion, then taking Hope’s hand in her own pushed it down to her crotch and tapped one of Hope’s metal covered fingertips on the chastity belt. She made a quiet explosion sound with her mouth.

“Yeth,” Hope said. “I fuhk you.”

<>--+-

“So many stars,” Charity said.

“I know, babe,” Faith replied. “And the constellations look pretty much the same as they do back home…”

They had decided over the past two weeks since passing through the portal that wherever they were, it was not “home”. The road they were following was nothing more than a pair of tire ruts, but the ruts were a different gauge than what one would expect - they were narrower somehow. The mountains were forested with fir trees that looked a little different than they should. The animals that acted like squirrels had darker fur. The birds that acted like magpies had more iridescent feathers. They all made slightly different sounds. Everything was just a little off.

After two weeks they had seen no sign of Blue. They had not even seen another human being.

“There’s the Big Dipper,” Charity said, one arm pointing up to the sky, the other draped over Hope’s bare shoulder as they sat together in the stygian darkness. “And if you follow a line from the two stars on the side of the cup, they lead you to the North star.” Charity was certain that Hope had no idea what she was saying. But still… There was a certain comfort in the speaking of the words.

“Ah (pop) ah so ah (click),” Hope replied as she looked up towards the stars…

“Ah (pop) ah so ah (click)?” Chastity repeated. “Stars?”

“Yeth. Goodh,” Hope said.

“You’re speaking quite well today, baby,” Faith said to Charity. “Do you think it was because of… uh… you know… uh… last night with Hope and her magic orgasm paste?”

“Definitely,” Charity responded enthusiastically. “Not only do I feel like I’ve had a cloth removed from over my brain, but my general degree of horniness has been slaked. A little, at least.”

“Rock on! Are you guys going to be disturbing the peace again tonight?”

“Well…” Charity said. “It is a bit of a taxing process. That tree she tied me to had some really rough bark. I’ve got some serious a… abra… uh, cuts on my back. Also, those vines rubbed my wrists and ankles raw. And it really seems like I need a certain extreme element to make it over the edge. So, unfortunately, we’ll need to space things out. Besides, we used all the paste she made.”

“But, I should get used to you being stained with green hand prints?” Faith teased.

“Oh, yeah!” Charity pulled Hope close and kissed her on the side of her head.

“Chai-ree. Bigh Oh!” Hope said. She slid her hand under the elastic band of the standard issue red scrubs Charity had been assigned at the asylum and drummed her metal fingertips on the surface of Charity’s chastity belt, making a clicking noise.

“Yes, Hope. Big Oh,” Faith laughed. There was a bit of silence as each woman gazed up into the night skies. “Can I test you, babe?”

“Sure,” Charity said a little pensively.

Blue had warned Charity that the belt would slowly rob her of her ability to reason like a human. She reported that Tam had forgotten how to drive and she had forgotten the purpose of a toilet. Also, the large green demon woman, Dammasch, seemed to suggest that Charity would become more like some sort of dangerous wild animal if she continued to wear the belt.

Charity made Faith promise to test her mental acuity often and let her know if and how badly she was devolving. At first Faith was dismissive. But even after only a few days, Charity began to see the concern in her step-sister’s eyes. Faith had started giving Charity daily, little quizzes to track how Charity was changing. She always started with the same question. “What do I have in my pockets?” Faith asked.

“You have a gun with four bullets and a cell phone with a dead… um… ba… a dead baa..”

“Bah-der-ree,” Hope said, quickly.

“See? I have Hope to do my talking now,” Charity said.

“Right, Hope. A battery,” Faith said. “Do you remember why I need a battery for my cell phone?”

There was a long pause. “No,” Charity whispered. She knew that she should know what a battery was used for.

“Well, baby, it’s just as well, I suppose…,” Faith said, staring out into the dark night. “There’s no phone service here… There’s no one to call for help.”

<>--+-

The next day, Hope suddenly stopped where the road cut across a rocky cliff affording a view and pointed off, far down into the sun-drenched valley. Charity looked. “Oh, shit! People! What do we do?”

Faith scrambled over to where Hope and Charity stood. “Ooo! Squat down, Charity. Your red clothes are like a beacon. How many are there?”

Charity dropped to her knees. “Three people. Two seem to be pulling a small cart. They are about where we were forty minutes ago, I think.” Charity pulled out the small knot that secured her torn V neck asylum shirt to her torso, let it slip off her shoulders and fall to the ground.

Hope started talking quietly in her standard lilting language punctuated with mouth-made pops and clicks.

“What is she saying?” Faith asked.

“I have no fucking idea,” Charity whispered.

“I thought that you were trying to learn her language!”

“Those two who are pulling the wagon don’t have arms!” Charity said. “I’m having enough trouble with English these days… Wait! Maybe their arms are bound behind their backs somehow…”

“Fuck!” Faith said. She turned to Hope. “Does your world have slavery?”

Hope stared blankly at Faith for a moment, then began speaking in her own language again.

“Do they have slavery here?” Faith asked Charity.

“Uh… Look at Hope’s wrists and ankles! She’s wearing permanent cuffs with convenient attachment points.. Of course they have slavery here!”

Hope started pulling on Charity’s arm. Charity turned to look at Hope, who was pointing up the mountain into the forest. “Go!” Hope said.

“She wants us to go hide,” Charity said.

“No!” Faith said. “We need information. We have to communicate with the natives some time. How else will we ever find Blue and that Dammasch bitch?”

Hope grabbed Charity’s arm again. “We… go!” She pointed into the forest. “Fai-” Hope pointed at the road. She pointed to herself and Charity again, then her eyes, then the forest.

“I think that she wants you to meet the people here on the road,” Charity interpreted, “and she and I will stay hidden. Then we can jump out if they are hos… hos… uh, mean.”

“What?! What are the two of you going to do? Yell ‘Boo!’” Faith whispered. “Neither of you are exactly frightening. You are two little, pint-sized waifs! Hope is naked and weighted down by so many metal chains that she rattles like a tambourine if you pick her up and shake her. And you once said in a job interview that your strongest trait is your ability to listen.”

“I feel like I should know this. What is a tambourine?” Charity asked.

Faith groaned. “Two of us should stay on the road. Only one should hide. Besides, I’ve got this.” She pulled out the revolver.

“Put that fucking thing away!” Charity whispered. “Please don’t shoot anybody!”

“We will have the advantage if two of them are attached to a cart. I just have to shoot the one person,” Faith explained.

“Ok. Ok. Hope! You go!” Charity pointed to the forest. Faith and I will stay here.

Hope grabbed Charity’s hand and held it up to her cheek. Then she turned and climbed up into the forest. She stepped behind a tree and disappeared from sight.

“So, now we wait, I guess,” Charity said.

“Yep. Hey, put your shirt back on,” Fatih replied.

Chapter 02

“Here they come!” Faith whispered to Charity. “Raise your arms like this so they know we don’t mean any harm.”

They had positioned themselves at the top end of a long straightaway.

The two people pulling the cart stopped when they saw Charity and Faith. The third individual came around from the back side of the cart. She yelled something - supposedly a greeting of some kind.

“Let me do the talking,” Faith whispered to Charity. Then she screamed, “Hello!” waving her hands.

“All three are female,” Charity whispered.

The leader waved back and they began slowly making their way up the road again.

“Should we move towards them,” Charity whispered, “or just wait?”

“I don’t know,” Faith said. “Wait, I guess… They are taking their time. Maybe they are afraid and they are trying to figure out if this is a trap…”

“It’s making me nervous… just standing here…”

When the approaching group was about a quarter mile down the road, the lead woman raised her hand again and said, “Hello!” with a British accent. She didn’t have to scream. It sounded as if she were no more than twenty feet away.

“Holy shit!” Charity jumped slightly. The woman and her companions WERE only twenty feet away, suddenly.

“Well, you two must feel quite lost,” the woman said.

“We are looking for someone who calls herself Dammasch,” Faith said, somewhat uncertainly.

“The Goddess Dammasch?” the woman said. “Well then, you’ve got yourself a bit of a journey ahead, I’m afraid. But, I’m the one who can get you to where you want to go. My name is Empusa.”

“I’m Faith. And this is my sister, Charity.”

There was a moment of silence. Empusa apparently suddenly realized that Faith and Charity were staring at the other two women pulling the cart. “Oh! Forgive me! These two magnificent beasts are Garnet and Hazel.”

Charity’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the pair. Garnet and Hazel were both well over six feet tall and, also, mostly naked. All they wore was a series of leather straps pulled tightly around their torsos. The straps descended from stiff collars, wrapping underneath and supporting their modest breasts. They crossed tightly around their waists and slid down between their legs, framing their naked, hairless crotches. They wore stiff leather boots on their feet and were laced up a few inches above their ankles. Their leg muscles were massive.

A number of straps and chains connected the women to the shaft of the cart which was a fairly small, simple, two wheeled wooden vehicle laden with some crates.

Most stunningly, as Charity had guessed before, the women had no arms. Nor any sign that they had ever had arms.

Charity could not help but imagine how the tight straps would feel around her torso. She imagined herself running through a field, the wind blowing her hair back, her mistress directing her to go one way or another with a snap of her reins. She imagined her aftercare as groomswomen brushed her long hair and soaped the sweat from her torso - fingers lingering on her hardened nipples. Would she be hand fed sweets after a hard workout - maybe a nipple from which to drink?

Charity could feel a swelling in her crotch - a tightening beneath her impregnable chastity belt. She heard a quiet moan of arousal grind its way up her throat.

“They are pony girls,” Empusa said, snapping Charity out of her daydream. Charity noticed that the two ponygirls were staring back at her - seemingly equally enthralled.

“They are… beautiful,” Charity said, breathlessly.

Faith cleared her throat. “We… we were… We’ve been on the road…”

“Ah, you are wondering where exactly the hell you are, I’d imagine,” Empusa said. She raised her arms majestically, turning to look out over the valley below. “This the Edge of Paradise. It is my queendom and you are my honored guests!”

<>--+-

“You must have many questions,” Empusa said.

Charity and Faith had resumed their journey with their new host and her team of ponygirls. They were walking along at a healthy pace. Charity did her best to be discreet each time she looked towards the forest. Certainly, Hope was tracking along somewhere out of view.

“Does everyone here speak English?” Faith asked.

“Oh, no!” Empusa laughed. “I have had the privilege of an excellent education. I actually have a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London. Uh… that is, London, England in your version of Earth. You see, your Earth is much more technologically advanced than ours and that provides a certain set of advantages over the Goddess’s Earth. Ours meanwhile is more advanced in the art of magic. As part of the royalty, I have the benefit of traveling between worlds and getting a more well rounded view of the universe.”

“So, if you have a mechanical engineering degree… Why are there no cars here?” Faith asked “Why are you using women… er… ponygirls to transport things?”

“Do you know how many lives have been lost or drastically shortened by the use of leaded gasoline on your version of Earth?” Empusa asked. “That is one of the main reasons why your universe is generally considered to be categorized as ‘Failed’. No offense, of course. Besides, it’s so invigorating to get out and see the beauty of our world. Just look.” Empusa waved her arms around. “And the girls,” Empusa said, indicating the ponygirls, “love getting off the estate and traveling. It’s their calling.”

“So, how long,” Charity asked nervously, “will it take to walk to where Dammasch lives?”

Empusa laughed. “You can’t walk there. This is the Edge of Paradise. The Goddess reigns over Paradise, of course. First, it will take about ten days to walk to the Royal Estate, er… my estate, that is. Then, I’m expecting an airship from Paradise to arrive just after the second new moon past midsummer… Uh… that’s about a month and a half from now. Then another ten days on the airship return trip. So, hmmm… about sixty or seventy days before you could request an audience with the Goddess. Then you’d probably have to wait six months to a year… Oh dearie! Are you OK?”

Charity had dropped to her knees. The world was spinning. The muscles in her crotch were clenching. She was doomed. What would be left of her brain if they ever made it to speak with Dammasch? Her vision became gray.

The next thing she knew, Faith was holding her in her arms. “Baby! Are you OK?”

“I’m so fucked,” Charity whispered. “Maybe we should just go home…”

“I think that she is just hungry,” Faith said to Empusa. “We haven’t eaten much since we’ve been here. She’s probably running on fumes.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Empusa said. “I should have thought of that. Here, this fruit is a lot like an apple. The girls love them as snacks. Maybe this will keep her going until we reach a good spot to camp and I can make a proper meal.”

“Thanks,” Faith took the red fruit and held it up to Charity’s mouth. “Take a bite of this, baby…”

The fruit was very much like an apple. Maybe she was half starved, because it was one of the best tasting things Charity ever remembered sticking in her mouth. And when Faith pulled the fruit away from her mouth Charity grabbed her hand and forced her to push the fruit back into her mouth for another bite. The juice ran from the side of her chin and dripped down onto her chest.

“Easy, babe,” Faith said. “You’re going to choke on it if you put too much in your mouth. Swallow.”

“It’s really good,” Charity said and she pulled the fruit from Faith’s hand so she could feed herself. “Mmm!”

Faith lifted Charity up onto her feet. “Wow! She really needed that. Thank you,” she said to Empusa.

“My pleasure,” Empusa responded.

Charity made quick work of the fruit. “The seeds. Is it ok if I ate a seed?” she asked with her mouth still mostly full.

“Typically, a person would not choose to eat the seed,” Empusa said. “But, if you wish…”

Finally, Charity was left with only a narrow core. “Oh!” She looked at her hands which were covered in juice. She wiped them on her pants, then used a corner of her shirt to wipe her face. “That was deli… deli… uh, really good.”

Charity looked around. Empusa had a grin on her face. Faith had a very concerned look. The two ponygirls were both staring very intently at her. “Sorry…”

<>--+-

“Every woman in the Goddess’s universe rises to their highest potential,” Empusa explained.

Charity looked over at the two ponygirls bound to the cart, loyally pulling it up the mountain road in the late afternoon sun. While Charity remained quiet, Faith seemed to be having a similar thought.

“How can you say that while there are two women, who once had arms, that are now subservient to you?” It was a bold question for Faith to ask of the top monarch of the local region, but Charity was particularly curious of the answer as well. The Queen seemed to take no offense.

“You have subscribed to some belief that suggests that a ponygirl is in some way not equivalent to some other life path, for example, a queen. That is a fundamental mistake, for which I forgive you since it is endemic in your Earth’s philosophy of life. It is the core reason why your universe is a failed universe,” Empusa explained.

“Yes, but,” Faith countered, “you may make a decision which, I presume, affects a vast number of other lives. Whereas, Garnet’s choices would only affect Hazel.”

“You are completely correct,” Empusa suggested. “However, based on the paths that led us to these positions, the choices that either I or Garnet make are the most perfect choices for our world and they are equally impactful upon the order of a successful universe. Not only that, but if the choice was, say, a binary choice either resolution is exactly perfect.”

Charity’s brain was beginning to hurt listening to this discussion and she drifted off into a daydream as she plodded along the road. She glanced out into the forest and wondered where Hope was. She had listened for the telltale rattle of chains in the distance, but had heard nothing. She thought back to the last time they had sex. Charity was incredibly horny. She needed Hope very badly.

“A girl is raised in her community until the age of ten,” Empusa was explaining when Charity refocused her attention on Faith’s conversation. “Then all girls convene in Paradise, regardless of their origin or physical characteristics or race or anything. They spend the next ten years experiencing everything that our beautiful world has to offer - science, medicine, art, magic, wonder. At the age of majority, that is 20 years old, they are set free to achieve whatever it may be they wish to become. Whatever choice they make is the perfect choice for the young woman and the perfect choice for the Goddess’s Earth and our universe.”

“But,” Faith was sounding exasperated, “what if someone changes their mind? If you suddenly chose not to be Queen, you could resign. If Garnet decided to not be a ponygirl… Well… she can no longer even speak! She has had her arms surgically removed!”

“But every past choice that either of us made is perfect! I am in my ideal position as Queen. Garnet is in her ideal position as a ponygirl. We are both completely ecstatic about our positions because it is exactly what we are meant to be. It’s in our makeup to be what we are.” Empusa laughed. “This discussion is so much fun. Observe our universe and you will see. Perhaps, as you and Charity are now part of our universe, you will find that you, too, rise to your full potential whatever that may be!”

They had descended into a small valley along a bubbling stream. “This is a good place to rest for the night,” Empusa declared. “Let us stop and eat and make camp.”

<>--+-

“While Faith is getting the water from the stream, would you like to help me rub down the ponygirls?” Empusa asked Charity.

“Uh…” she looked nervously at the two tall armless women. “I guess so.”

“Don’t worry, Dearie,” Empusa said. “They are quite gentle. You just need to let them know that you are in charge. Both they and you will feel better if you can do that.”

“They are just so much bigger than me,” Charity said.

Empusa disconnected the ponygirls, and drew them away from the cart using a sturdy chain that connected the two women low on their backs. They stood calmly, watching Charity intently as Empusa shuffled through some crates on the cart. She pulled out a canister and opened the lid revealing some sort of petroleum jelly.

“This lotion serves two purposes,” Empusa explained. “It seeps through their skin and helps relax their muscles, so it prevents cramping. Also, there is a particular scent in the lotion that predators find particularly distasteful. So, if we were to come upon something. They would take one sniff and leave the girls alone.”

“Predators?” Charity asked.

“Yes,” Empusa said. “Just take a big old dollop and start rubbing it onto Hazel’s thighs there. That’s good.”

Charity started rubbing the jelly on Hazel’s leg. Her skin was perfect and her muscles, magnificent.

“We have predators in these parts that are similar to, um jaguars, perhaps. Mountain lions in your world. They are big and powerful creatures. Luckily, there are ample smaller prey. So, generally, they will stay away from humans. Really dig your fingers in when you rub the lotion in. They love that. And higher up too. Get her butt really well.”

Empusa knelt down and began untying Garnet’s boots. Meanwhile, Charity moved around toward Hazel’s back side. “Ah!! What the fu…?!”

“Are you OK, Dearie?” Empusa asked.

“This chain. It’s em… embe… um, it goes straight into their flesh!” Charity said. Her eyes followed the chain from Hazel’s lower back to Garnet’s, looking for a removable link.

“Of course, Dearie,” Empusa laughed. “They are a pair. They’ve been joined for almost twenty years.”

“Twenty years?! You mean they’ve never been more than four feet apart for almost twenty years?!” Charity said, gauging the length of the heavy, glistening, metal chain connecting the two ponygirls.

“Aye! That’s true love, now, isn’t it? Now, don’t be shy. Use a bit of muscle as you work that into her glutes.”

Charity continued massaging Hazel’s butt with the lotion. She began to think about the chain connecting Hazel and Garnet together. What would that be like? Were Hazel and Garnet lovers before they became ponygirls? Do ponygirls love just like regular human women do? Did they ever annoy each other? She wondered what it would be like to always be chained to Hope… or Blue… Oh, fuck, she was horny…

“I think that you’ve got her good there, Dearie,” Empusa said. She had finished removing Garnet’s boots and was beginning to untie Hazel’s.

“Oh!” Charity snapped out of her day dream.

Garnet had stepped closer to Hazel and licked her neck just under her earlobe causing Hazel to tremble for a moment. Charity trembled also as she watched. Garnet looked down at Charity and when she noticed that she had Charity’s attention, she smiled a particularly devious smile and then licked Hazel again.

“Do they understand what we are saying?” Charity asked as she began to rub down Garnet.

“Oh, no,” Empusa said. “They would never have learned English.”

“But what about the native language,” Charity asked.

“After twenty years? They might remember a few words - commands and such,” Empusa said. “The words probably have a different impact on them now. I mean, if I were to command them to ‘walk’ for instance, they probably wouldn’t think to themselves, ‘Empusa said to walk, so now I will start walking’. It probably bypasses conscious thought, now. I think they called it Pavlovian maybe in your world? When one rises to one’s greatest potential, one tends to slough off those traits that are not as necessary anymore and perfect those traits that are important. A ponygirl does not need her old human language. She is an animal and cannot speak.”

“Uhhh!” Charity felt like the wind was knocked out of her for a second.

“Are you ok, Dearie? Still need a bit of nourishment?”

“I’m fine,” Charity lied.

“I was wondering about those green markings on your skin,” Empusa said. “Are those permanent?”

Charity raised her hand to her cheek where Hope had left a very visual handprint. The lotion tickled her cheek where she touched. “Oh, no! These are just stains. They will fade.”

“I remember seeing a lot of henna tattoos around London, but yours are a different style. Is that a fad in the United States,” Empusa asked.

“No, not really,” Charity replied.

“Can you reach up and get the lotion on Garnet’s shoulders?” Empusa asked.

Charity had to stand on the tips of her toes to reach high enough to reach Garnet’s neck. As she reached, her torn shirt rode up over her waist.

“What is this that you are wearing?” Empusa asked. “This. Around your waist.”

Charity froze. What should she say? On one hand she was embarrassed, but on the other, maybe Empusa could help.

“It’s a chastity belt?” Charity admitted.

“Oh!” Empusa said. “Can I see it?”

Charity wanted to say “no”, but she found that her hands were already slowly sliding the waistband of her scrubs down over her hips and turning to face Empusa.

“Oh! Ha!” Empusa said, standing and clapping her hands. “Oh my! This is incredible. Do you know what this is? It explains so much!”

Charity pulled her pants back up. “It’s a chastity belt. It’s… it’s locked on?”

“A chastity belt?” Empusa laughed loudly. “That it is, Dearie. It is indeed!”

Faith was walking back into the camp loaded down with several jugs of water.

“Do you know what this is?” Empusa asked Faith excitedly.

Faith looked at Charity trying to determine what was going on.

“It’s so much more than a chastity belt, Dearie!” Empusa said. “That’s a very rare, powerful, holy artifact. It’s a zoic amplifier! Oh, Goddess! What a gift!”

“What’s a zoic amplifier?” Faith asked once she realized that Charity was too stricken with horror to form words.

“It’s a device that is designed to amplify one’s more animalistic needs at the expense of more human characteristics like reasoning, use of tools, verbal communication, etc.,” Empusa said, smiling.

“No!” Charity finally said. “No! I’m not from this world. This universe. I can’t wear this thing. You need to take it off of me! Please!”

“I can’t do that,” Empusa said, frowning. “It requires a key which should be a disk attached to a collar, but I guess you should already know that…”

“This is why we are here!” Charity said. “This Goddess of yours kidnapped my girlfriend who is wearing the key. I need to take it off. I’m a psychiatrist. I have patients that need my services. I’m not an animal.”

“No. That would be a little out of character for the Goddess to kidnap someone who is wearing your key collar. An individual who would choose to belt you would not have an appropriate calling for the Goddess’s purposes.”

“But still,” Charity said, desperately, “this Goddess could remove the belt, right?”

“She is all powerful,” Empusa said. “But would she want to? I think that the question is mostly immaterial.”

Charity dropped to her knees and slowly rolled over onto her side. “Fuuuck!”

“I don’t think that you appreciate how special you are,” Empusa said. “There hasn’t been a womanimal in this Queendom for many, many millennia.”

Faith squatted down beside Charity. “Babe? We will still try, OK. You and me, Babe. We can do what we need to do.”

“She needs to let the process happen. Stop fighting it,” Empusa said.

Charity let out a painful wail. Tears were running down her face.

“It’s inevitable,” Empusa continued. “I noticed that she stutters a lot. I believe that she does that because she is forgetting words. Stuttering is a symptom. Fascinating! It’s all right, though. She doesn’t need words anymore. Let them go.”

Charity let out another wail.

Faith held Charity in her arms. “I won’t abandon you, Babe.”

The two ponygirls knelt next to where Faith held Charity. Hazel was leaning her head on Garnet’s shoulder, both with sad looks on their faces.

Chapter 03

“Oh! This is awesome!” Faith exclaimed - her mouth full. “You’re right! This jerky tastes a lot like beef! Charity, you have to try this!”

Charity slowly got off the rock she was sitting on and walked around the fire pit that Empusa had set up. Empusa tore off a piece of jerky and handed it to Charity. Empusa had pulled out two padded stools from the supplies on the cart, one of which she handed to Faith. She had apologized profusely to Charity who had to settle for a knobby rock which she rooted out of a nearby thicket.

“We haven’t had any meat for over two weeks!” Faith was explaining to Empusa.

Charity sat down on her rock and examined the scraggly, dried up piece of old meat. The smell was not particularly appealing.

“It’s good, Baby. Try it!”

Charity held her breath and grasped a bit between her teeth. It was tough and rubbery and it took a bit of work to tear off a small piece. She took a few chews and the taste slowly washed across her tongue. Immediately, Charity felt her stomach begin to churn. The jerky tasted like something that had been rotting in the sun - like a dead antelope after two days on hot asphalt.

Charity stood up frowning. She handed the remaining portion to Faith frantically wondering what she could do that would be least offensive to their new host, while allowing her to be rid of the offensive carrion in her mouth. Her decision was robbed from her when her stomach muscles lurched and the jerky and a fair amount of drool poured from her mouth. Charity coughed and spit a few times desperately trying to get rid of the taste.

“Sorry,” Faith apologized to Empusa. “She can be dramatic sometimes.”

“That’s OK,” Empusa said, smirking slightly. “I have some more fruit that she can eat.”

“Sorry,” Charity sputtered, still trying to find a way to get the taste out of her mouth.

“Why don’t you help me feed the ponygirls, Dearie?” Empusa said.

Garnet and Hazel had been standing by the side of the cart. Empusa had locked fetters around Hazel’s ankles connected by a short chain. Hobbling one of the ponygirls, effectively hobbled both since the two were connected by a four foot chain, the ends, of which, were embedded in each ponygirl’s lower back.

Charity followed Empusa to the cart quietly spitting occasionally - still struggling with the vile taste permeating her tongue. When they approached, the ponygirls perked up and huddled in close. “They’re ready to eat,” Empusa explained.

She pulled out a stack of metal bowls and lined three up on the rail of the cart. Next she pulled out some plump berries and a bag of dry, sliced oat-like grains which she distributed in each bowl.

As she rewrapped the remaining stores, the two ponygirls stepped up to the cart and bent over the bowls. They used their tongues to lap at the food, rising up occasionally with fruit juice and oats sticking to their chins.

“Hopefully, this will be more to your liking, Dearie,” Empusa said, gently tapping the third bowl. “You can give any that you don’t finish to the girls. They will be more than happy to…” - Empusa paused for a second - “…clean your bowl.” Then Empusa walked back over to the fire and sat back on her stool, immediately returning to her conversation with Faith.

Charity turned back to the cart and looked at the two ponygirls licking at their bowls. Their tongues must have been modified somewhat too - they were quite long.

At least the fruit smelled good. Charity began picking at the various bits of food in the bowl. It all tasted even better. Back over by the fire, Faith and Empusa were laughing loudly about something causing Charity to glance over. She turned back towards the cart to continue eating. Garnet and Hazel had finished their meals already. Now both were standing staring at Charity - watching her hand carefully as she reached into the bowl and brought another chunk of fruit up to her mouth. Both shifted on their feet a little - edging slightly closer to Charity. Their eyes were constantly shifting between Charity’s mouth and the bowl of food.

“Alright!” Charity said. “For fuck’s sake!”

She picked out two pieces of juicy fruit - one in each hand - and lifted them up to the ponygirls. Both smiled and stepped closer. Charity was just going to pop the fruit in their mouths, but the ponygirls extended their tongues and basically pulled the fruit from her fingers. They were not content to simply slurp the fruit up though, both began sucking on her fingers and running their tongues up and down her palms making Charity giggle quietly.

She spent the next five minutes hand feeding the ponygirls until all the food was gone.

“All gone,” she said, holding up her empty hands. “All gone.”

The ponygirls stared at her and her empty hands for a moment until Hazel bent over and began licking the juice and stray oats from Garnet’s chin and cheeks. Soon Garnet was providing the same service for Hazel which precipitated what appeared to be a particularly sloppy, noisy makeout session between the two ponygirls.

“Ohh kay, then,” Charity said quietly. She suddenly realized that there was something arousing about these two armless, but statuesque women engaged in such an intimate act. “Fuck! I’m horny…”

Charity turned to clean up the bowls. She was thinking about Hope. Hopefully, she was nearby watching. There was a rattle of chain behind her and suddenly Charity felt a tongue slide up her cheek and across her ear. Charity emitted a short squeaking sound. Garnet’s tongue had tickled! She stepped to the side and bumped her head into Hazel’s breast. The tall ponygirl had stepped around with her own tongue extended trying to lick Charity’s face.

“Are you ok over there?” Empusa asked from her stool by the fire.

“I’m good,” Charity said, still gently fending off the advances of Hazel and Garnet.

“Don’t let the girls dominate you,” Empusa said, and she turned back to the fire and her conversation with Faith.

<>--+-

As night fell, Empusa declared that she had a second sleeping pad. She suggested that Faith use the pad. Since she was smaller, Charity could share a large blanket that Empusa laid out for the ponygirls. For the past two weeks, Charity had been sleeping on piles of gathered leaves, so any trepidation she had about sleeping next to two tall, naked, muscular women was far outweighed by the comfort of a little extra padding.

As they all turned in for the night, Empusa strapped and buckled a particularly effective blindfold over Garnet’s head. With the blindfold, Garnet was dependent on Hazel, who was hobbled by a short chain, to move about the camp. Empusa explained that she switched the hobbles and blindfold between the ponygirls each night.

“Of course, they have no desire to run off,” Empusa said, “but, they may wander off on a whim or some noise in the night may spook them. It’s also not unheard of that someone might like to steal them. They are magnificent beasts after all.”

“There are thieves out here?” Charity asked, staring into the night. She was worried about Hope - alone out in the darkness.

“There are nature witches who dwell out in the wilderness,” Empusa explained.

“Nature witches?!”

“Yes. They are fairly solitary and generally benign. Their power usually only encompasses healing wounds, agricultural concerns… things like that. Villages often actually benefit from their services, so we often consider them to be a blessing. On the other hand, though, they are not always predictable. Sometimes they can be mischievous or destructive,” Empusa explained as she led the ponygirls to their blanket. “It seems nature witches tend to prefer to commune with women whose callings are more animalistic, like ponygirls. But, probably never with joined ponygirls like Hazel and Garnet.”

Charity looked out into the darkness wondering if Hope was considered a nature witch. She definitely knew a lot about which plants to eat and which to avoid.

“I’ve had a sense today as we’ve traveled that perhaps there is a nature witch nearby,” Empusa said. “But don’t fret about it, dearie. They know who the queen is.” She winked at Charity. “Just stay close to the camp.”

Faith, meanwhile, was laying on the sleeping pad that Empusa had given her. She was rubbing her lower abdomen.

“Are you OK, Sissy?” Charity asked.

“Yeah, Babe,” Faith responded. “My period is starting soon. We should have brought some ibuprofen when we jumped through the portal.”

“Oh!” Charity responded. She hadn’t had a period in almost half a year - ever since she started wearing the chastity belt. She realized that she hadn’t even thought about having one, which…

“I’ve got something to help with that,” Empusa said, and she went to the cart to dig around in one of the crates.

“Are you doing ok, Babe?” Faith asked quietly.

“I’m worried about Hope,” Charity whispered.

“I heard a distant rattle of chain when I was filling the water bottles down by the river. She is keeping up with us. This is her home turf. She’ll be fine,” Faith whispered back.

Charity looked at the two ponygirls, who had settled down on the blanket next to each other. They seemed to be engrossed in one another. They were facing each other with their legs entwined. Despite the fact that Garnet was blindfolded, Charity noticed that they would both smile at the same time. Charity started to wonder if they were communicating somehow. If so, she wondered how complex their thoughts were. What were they saying to each other?

Charity lay down on her side with her back to the ponygirls. She heard a shifting of weight and then a quiet huffing of breath. It sounded like the ponygirls were laughing. Garnet pushed her foot out and slid it along the back of Charity’s calf. Charity moved slightly away as though she thought the touch was inadvertent.

There was more huffing and quiet snickering. She also heard some smacking sounds like they were kissing. After Empusa smothered the fire, the night settled in around the camp. Charity lay as still as possible trying to fall asleep. The ponygirls were mostly quiet, but they had not settled yet. There was a soft sort of rhythmic shifting - an occasional quiet gasp of air. Somehow they were having sex.

Charity imagined one was grinding her crotch against the other’s thigh. They were so close that she could feel the heat from their bodies. Charity wondered if she should get up and give them some privacy. But, it was pitch dark. What would she do? Where would she go? She decided to pretend she was asleep.

She started thinking about Hope again. Garnet let go a breathy grunt and Charity noticed that she was becoming really horny. Two beautiful, armless women were having sex right next to her. There was a heavy sigh and then the sound of heavy breathing. One of them had had an orgasm.

“Fuck!” Charity thought to herself. “Mute, half animal, armless women are able to have orgasms. But not me!”

Garnet rolled over with a light rattle of chain. Her breasts brushed Charity’s back. Charity continued to lay as still as possible, pretending to be asleep. Garnet pressed her lips onto the top of Charity’s head and gave her the lightest peck of a kiss. Then she settled back and lay still. Charity listened to Garnet’s breathing slow down and become deeper wondering why she had kissed her.

It took a long time for Charity to fall asleep.

When Charity awoke again it was still pitch black in the forest. She was standing and there was a cool breeze blowing over her naked skin. Charity wrapped her arms around herself. Her shirt was gone. So were her pants.

“Faith?” she said quietly.

Where was the camp? She was standing alone, naked in the forest. She wanted to scream for Faith or for Hope, but she thought of the predators that Empusa had mentioned. She thought of the nature witches.

She tried to look around but clouds had rolled in and snuffed out the moon. She couldn’t see anything. She reached out her hands blindly. She took a few steps and stopped. She had no idea which way she came from or which way to go back to the camp. “Faith? Hope?”

She decided she should sit down and wait for the sun to start to rise. As she was starting to feel around for a place to sit she noticed a dim light bouncing around some distance away. Charity immediately thought of will-o-wisps and other fantastic ghost stories from her childhood. She watched the light. It looked like a small ball of flickering flame.

She heard a voice calling. “Oh! Thank god!” It sounded like Faith. “Faith!” she called out. “Faith!”

The flame started moving toward her. “Charity?”

“Faith! I’m here,” Charity started moving towards the light.

“Baby! What the fuck are you doing?” Faith said as she walked close enough for the torch light to illuminate the area around Charity. “Why did you run off… Where are your clothes?”

“I don’t know,” Charity cried and she hugged her sister. “I woke up and I was here and I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t know where the camp was.”

“You can’t go running off into the woods like this,” Faith admonished her.

“No fucking shit, Faith! I was asleep!”

“I’m sorry, Babe. I was just worried,” Faith said, holding Charity tight for a moment. “Let’s get back to camp.”

They stumbled through the woods for some time before they saw the light of a campfire. When they made it back to the camp, Empusa was using a long stick to drop something into the fire. The flames quickly began to consume the new fuel. Charity suddenly realized it was her asylum scrubs.

“Wait!” Charity said. “What are you doing? Those are the only clothes I have!”

“I found them over the ridge there,” Empusa said, pointing out into the distance. “They were covered in urine from a men (tick) (click) olay hoya… Uh… it’s a large predator - particularly odorous urination. They use it to mark prey.”

“But they were the only clothes that I have!” Charity said.

“One whiff of those soiled pants and we could have every beast in the valley tracking us. This is the best option,” Empusa explained. She poked the clothes a little deeper into the flames.

“What am I supposed to do?” Charity said. “Walk around naked?”

“Why not?” Empusa said. She turned and smiled at Charity. “This world is not like yours, dearie. Clothes are not required - even in the cities. Besides, those clothes were ill-fitting and mostly purposeless. They wouldn’t even keep you warm in the winter. You only wore them due to your societally ingrained illusion that they provided some sense of modesty. That society does not live here.”

Charity looked at Faith, who only shrugged. “The ponygirls are naked,” she suggested.

Charity frowned. “Fine! Give me your clothes, then.”

Faith was apparently in no mood to bicker with Charity this morning. “Don’t leave your clothes all over the fucking woods in the middle of the night!” She picked up several empty jugs and stalked off down the hill towards the river.

<>--+-

The sun had finally arisen. Empusa was scrubbing the ponygirls’ feet with a brush and water. After drying their feet she was lacing them into their walking boots.

“Sit up here,” Empusa said, pointing to the edge of the cart.

Charity climbed up with her feet dangling in the air. Empusa set the bucket of water on the ground near Charity.

“I’m going to check your feet. Have you been barefoot the entire time you’ve been here?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing any shoes when we came through the portal,” Charity explained as Empusa started scrubbing the dirt from her feet.

“You look like you are in pretty good shape. You have good calluses,” Empusa said. “Did you often go barefoot before?”

“Not too much,” Charity said. Empusa continued scrubbing and rinsing. “I wouldn’t think that it would be the d… du… the job of a queen to wash a stranger’s feet. Thank you, though. It feels good to be clean.”

“My pleasure,” Empusa said. “As queen, it is my calling to care for all the land and all its beasts.”

Faith came jogging into the camp. “I got one!” She was holding up an arrow with a moderately sized fish skewered on it. Empusa had given her some basic lessons with a bow earlier. “Breakfast!”

Empusa helped Faith gut the fish and showed her how to cook it over the fire. Then she returned to the cart and pulled out the three metal bowls and filled them with fruit and grains. As Hazel and Garnet started slurping at their bowls, Charity realized that the third bowl was meant for her.

Empusa was walking back to the fire with two plates. She and Faith were apparently going to share the fish. There probably was only enough for two people. Charity looked at the bowl of fruit on the edge of the cart. She looked down at her naked flesh - at the designs embossed in the metal of her chastity belt. She looked at the naked ponygirls eating next to her. She looked at Faith sitting on a stool over by the fire talking excitedly about her fishing expedition with Empusa. Then she looked back at the bowl of fruit. It was very tasty fruit and the ponygirls were already starting to look at Charity’s bowl even as they ate their own breakfasts. She figured that she better start eating it quickly. The other beasts might try to steal it from her.

<>--+-

The sun was high in the sky. After walking for hours along the lonely mountain road, Empusa had finally signaled for a rest break along a marsh-like lowland. While Empusa wiped down the ponygirls with a damp cloth, Faith and Charity found a log to sit on where they could quietly talk in private.

“Babe, we’re going to find Blue and Dammasch. We’ll get that belt off of you, OK?” Faith said, hugging Charity close and kissing the top of her head.

“I feel like I’ve already been de… de-mo… Fuck! Fuck! I can’t think of the word… Fuck it! Am I going to be a ponygirl, Faith?”

“No, silly. You are far too short to be a ponygirl,” Faith said smiling. “Maybe a Shetland ponygirl.”

Charity pushed Faith. “Come on! That’s not funny!”

“Sorry, Babe! I promise I will take care of you, OK?” Faith said. “Tell me what I have in my pocket.”

Charity smiled, oddly finding pleasure that Faith was actively checking on Charity. “Um… You have a gun with four bullets, and a cell phone with a dead… A dead… It’s a dead cell phone…”

“Why is it dead, Baby?” Faith asked, gently.

Suddenly, Empusa walked up with a knife and a large orange carrot-looking root. “You should each have a bite of this ‘azena’. Come!”

Faith stood up and helped Charity to her feet as well. Empusa walked over to the cart where Hazel was busy licking Garnet’s neck. Empusa washed the dirt off the root and cut five slim slices.

“This root is packed with magical and medicinal elements. It really boosts your energy. It keeps you from getting sick.”

She put a piece in Garnet’s mouth, then Hazel’s, then her own. She handed the last two pieces to Faith. Faith handed a slice to Charity and they tossed the slice into their mouths. Charity started chewing. The texture was about the same as a water chestnut. Suddenly, the most awful taste blossomed across her tongue.

“Oh! Yuck!” Charity exclaimed. Faith seemed to be grimacing as well.

“Don’t spit it out! Swallow!” Empusa said, laughing. She stuck tongue out and made a “blech” sound, as well. “It tastes awful, but it’s really good for you.”

Even the ponygirls’ mouths were twisted in distress. They were starting to stamp their feet on the ground.

“See this plant?” Empusa said with a hand over her mouth. “It is deep green and has these zigzag-y leaves.”

The area they were standing was overgrown with the plant Empusa was pointing at. She plucked a number of the leaves and shoved them in her mouth - quickly chewing. She grabbed some more and shoved them in Hazel and Garnet’s mouths as well. Faith grabbed a few as well, chewing frantically, then nodding for Charity to do the same.

The moment Charity bit the first leaf a fresh tingling sensation spread over her tongue. For a moment it took her breath away and then she laughed. Her head was crystal clear. She could breathe easily. She felt great. Faith was laughing as well.

Charity noticed that Hazel and Garnet immediately started kissing each other - mouth-to-mouth - a deep desperate, passionate kiss. Charity’s tongue was tingling. She felt like she had emptied an entire box of pop-rocks on her tongue.

Suddenly, Garnet stepped back from Hazel. She bent over and pressed her lips to Charity’s. In a moment, Garnet’s powerful tongue slipped between Charity’s lips and slid across her tongue. It felt so incredibly wonderful. Her lips and tongue were so sensitive and the taste and feel of Garnet’s tongue pressing her own sent a frisson of arousal throughout Charity’s body. Charity had to wrap her arms around Garnet to keep from falling over.

Charity was disappointed when Garnet pulled away.

“Whoa!” she said, her eyes flickering. Immediately, though, she felt another set of lips on hers, Hazel’s lips. And soon after her tongue too.

When Hazel finished the kiss, Charity felt dizzy and breathless and her body was rocked with arousal. She had to keep her arm around Hazel’s waist simply to keep from falling over.

When she opened her eyes, she found that Faith was staring at her in disbelief. Empusa made a humming sound and pointed to Faith’s mouth and then her own. Without a second’s hesitation, Faith stepped over to Empusa and began kissing her passionately.

Despite a small feeling of jealousy Charity could only smile as she watched her sister kiss the queen. It was no short platonic peck. Both women were hugging tightly and kissing vigorously.

Charity could not watch for long though, because Hazel had circled around to start kissing Garnet again. Charity found herself partially pinned between the two ponygirls because their joining chain was looped around her back preventing her from moving away. Garnet’s nipple was totally in Charity’s face. Charity stuck out her tongue and dragged it across Garnet’s breast. The texture of the soft flesh of Garnet’s breast transitioned to the pleasant scrape of her rock hard nipple as Charity licked up to the top of Garnet’s breast. Charity felt a swell of satisfaction when she felt Garnet’s torso shiver from the stimulation. There was so much more than just the texture though. The scent was that of a strong, healthy woman and the outdoors - fresh, clean living. Charity could smell hard work, happiness, and love. She could taste Garnet’s skin too - a pleasant mix of salt and spice.

Garnet bent over, pressing gently on Charity’s shoulders with her chin. Charity dropped down to her knees. She found herself looking directly at Garnet’s smooth, hairless sex, framed by the leather harness straps that wrapped tightly between her legs. She leaned forward and her tongue darted out pressing and caressing the contours and creases of Garnet’s vagina.

The feel of Garnet’s smooth, slick skin on Charity’s tingling tongue was pure ecstasy. She was stunned at how appealing the taste was as well.

Charity had mulled over the idea of having sex with a ponygirl. How could she not? Her libido was always pushed up so high, it was sometimes difficult to think of anything else. She could not help but watch as they pulled the cart along the dusty mountain road with their muscular bodies so perfectly displayed in their harnesses. She had found her eyes drawn to the exquisite beauty of one of many noteworthy features. Perhaps it was the curve of a calf muscle, the way their hair moved in the breeze, the steady sway of their hips… How much landscape had passed as she tread along, held captive in an erotic trance?

Charity had wondered how she would feel making love to a ponygirl. Were they still human? After all, Empusa had called them beasts. Well.. they certainly looked like human women - a lack of arms did not change that. But, what are the ethics of having sex with someone with a severe mental disability? Did the ponygirls have a mental disability? They were incapable of speaking, but it was emphatically apparent that they were quite intelligent… sentient.

So, yes… Charity pressed her tongue between Garnet’s nether lips and wrapped her arms around Garnet’s hips to pull her closer. And her heart swelled with joy when she felt Garnet shiver in delight.

Hazel dropped to her knees behind Charity and licked her left shoulder. With each pass, Hazel’s tongue briefly transferred the same tingling feeling that Charity had in her tongue to the places where Hazel licked. Charity moaned and squeeked as Hazel’s teeth grazed her shoulder, occasionally nipping ever so gently.

Charity slid two fingers into Garnet’s vagina. It had been so long since Charity had felt the warm, wet, compression and Garnet’s muscles flexed. Of course, Charity could not touch herself, and this act would lead to severe lacerations if she did it for Hope. Charity’s probing must have been a unique experience for a ponygirl too as Garnet’s breathing became more stilted and vocal. In moments, effluence from within slickened Charity’s hand and Garnet’s inner thighs.

Soon, the three had found a soft bed in the clover and moved from one to another finding ways to give and receive pleasure. The metal plate covering Charity’s sex seemed to confuse the ponygirls, but did nothing to prevent them from attempting to give Charity the best of themselves. And though the ponygirls could not take Charity to orgasm, the experience gave her a certain lovely degree of satisfaction.

Charity awoke from a short nap. She was comfortably pinned to the ground by Hazel’s heavy leg draped over her waist. She was sandwiched between the two ponygirls who were both lightly snoring. From where she lay, she saw Empusa and Faith walking hand-in-hand towards the cart. They stopped and hugged and kissed, then Empusa began making preparations to hit the road again. On the whole, when Charity considered the way they had “paired” off, she decided that she definitely preferred the ponygirls.

Chapter 04

It was the evening time and Empusa had set up camp near a cold mountain river. Charity had had the luxury of washing her hair with some shampoo and conditioner that Empusa provided. Charity was sitting with her back to Faith who was fighting to pull the tangles out of Charity’s dark brown hair.

“Ow! Ow ow ow!” Charity complained.

“I feel like your hair has gotten thicker as you’ve gotten older,” Faith suggested. She had experience brushing her step-sister’s hair her entire life since she had always played a major role in Charity’s upbringing.

Empusa was busy unpacking gear from the cart, getting ready to serve up some food. “Look at the ponygirls,” she said quietly.

Their boots had been removed for the day. Garnet had already been hobbled. It was her turn this night. Hazel wouldn’t be hooded until they were all ready to go to sleep. As Charity watched, the ponygirls were looking intently at each other. One would wiggle her back end a little and after a pause the other would do the same.

“They are talking to each other,” Empusa whispered. “The chain that links them is a particularly hard metal. Despite the fact that it is not organic, it is still the pathway for a lot of communication. The ponygirls become very sensitive in the spot where the chain exits from their backs. They seem to be able to get a lot of information from their partner by simply reading the other’s tugs and shakes.”

“I wonder what they say to each other?” Charity asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think that right now they are talking about you,” Empusa said.

Occasionally, the ponygirls would both glanced over at Charity and seem to snicker.

“I think that they really like you,” Empusa said.

Charity was not really sure how to respond. She was happy, perhaps, but also, a little wary.

Empusa cleared her throat and seemed to stare meaningfully at Faith for a moment.

“Oh! Hey, babe?” Faith said. “The Queen and I were talking earlier about… well, we are concerned about your sleep walking incident last night, you know?”

“Uh huh…” Charity said.

“It turns out that Empusa has an extra set of hobbles and we were thinking that it might be best if you wore them during the night time… as a safety precaution…”

“Um… ok…” Charity said. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Okay, good!” Faith said, obviously relieved. “You just really gave me… gave us all… a scare last night.”

Empusa was already pulling the hobbles out of a crate - two thick, open cuffs with a pile of sturdy, heavy looking links of chain. She gave one of the cuffs to Faith, then they both knelt down and Faith watched as Empusa demonstrated how to properly fit the shackles around Charity’s ankles. When the fetters were locked they both stood and Charity watched Empusa slip the key into a pouch on her belt.

When Charity looked down she realized that there was only about twelve inches of chain linking her ankles. Most of the chain links made up an extension that branched from the midpoint of the hobble chain. Faith was holding the remainder of the links. She slowly led Charity over towards the ponygirls and Empusa bent down and connected that chain to the midpoint of Garnet’s hobbles.

“Are you good, babe?” Faith asked.

“I guess so,” Charity responded.

“Ok…” Faith turned and walked over to the fire where two stools were set up. Charity started to follow, but then she realized that Empusa was setting out the metal bowls of fruits and grains for the ponygirls on the rail of the cart in the opposite direction. The chain connecting her to Garnet went taut. Garnet and Hazel turned to look at Charity for a moment. Garnet gently tugged the chain. Charity had no choice but to follow the ponygirls to the cart.

Empusa set down the third metal bowl of food for Charity. “Mmmm! Dinner time, girls!” She patted Charity on the head then walked over to sit with Faith by the fire.

<>--+-

Charity and the ponygirls, Hazel and Garnet, were lying together in the meadow under a star-filled sky when Faith and Empusa arrived to prepare them for sleep. After eating dinner and being well-licked by the ponygirls, Charity had little choice but to follow along with them as they slowly wandered away from camp. If Charity resisted, the ponygirls seemingly worked together to get her to follow their lead. Garnet would tug on the chain between their hobbles while Hazel would move up behind Charity and nudge her. Charity eventually gave up resisting after one last look back towards the campfire where Faith and Empusa sat laughing together.

Finally, the ponygirls had found a soft spot to settle down for a while. After Charity sat down with them, they snuggled close and simply lay watching the night sky.

“Time for bed!” Empusa announced as she approached. She was holding the canister of massage cream and Faith and Charity scooped up handfuls to rub into the ponygirls’ legs and backs. Charity was just finishing up Garnet’s shoulders when she felt a cool glop of cream pressed on her own back. “I don’t want you to be eaten by any predators either,” Empusa said as she started rubbing Charity’s back.

The cream felt similar to sports creams Charity had tried in the past. She felt her muscles relax and feel warm and loose.

“Contentment,” Empusa said.

“Hmm?” Charity asked, lazily.

Empusa pointed at Charity’s chastity belt. The inverted Y design on the faceplate seemed to be glowing a blue color, shining faintly in the darkness. “Your belt is starting to glow. I think that means that you are content. What do you think?”

Charity felt a surge of blood flood her genitals. Her arousal ramped up. “I’m not sure if it’s contentment or just…” Her voice trailed off. Wow! She was really horny!

“Watch what I can do,” Empusa said. She raised her hands up to the sky and then waved them towards Faith.

“Oh!” Faith squeaked. Her clothes began to shift. Her blue jeans and her sweatshirt seemed to merge and then restructure themselves into a long dress much more resembling the type of clothing Empusa wore. The sweatshirt split along Faith’s shoulders until only two thin straps remained. Some form of support pushed Faith’s breasts up and the shirt opened to better display her cleavage. The robes pulled in around her waist and flared over her hips displaying her figure as best possible.

Faith laughed. “Oh, wow!”

Empusa grabbed one of Faith’s hands and held it up, examining Faith with a certain hunger. “Oh, wow, indeed! You look gorgeous! Do you like it?”

Faith was smiling looking down at herself. “I rarely wear dresses,” she said, “but I really like this. It’s very comfortable and… I feel very free in it…”

“Oh!” Empusa said. “Something fell on the ground there. I think it came from your pocket? Sorry. I didn’t include a pocket on your dress.”

“Oh, yeah,” Faith said. “These were the things in my pocket…”

Charity felt as though she were in some sort of trance. She was surprised to hear her own voice suddenly. “A gun with four b… bullets and a dead cell phone…”

“A dead cell phone?” Empusa asked. “What is a dead cell phone? Did it die after you arrived.”

“She means that the battery is dead,” Faith explained, laughing.

“Battery…” Charity mumbled. She was starting to feel very sleepy. Horny and sleepy. She draped an arm around Garnet’s waist and leaned into her. Everywhere they touched felt so good.

“It’s a telephone, but it works wirelessly, electromagnetic,” Faith explained. “Well… it doesn’t work at all here. But… How did you do this?” Faith asked, smiling and waving at her new clothes.

“Magic, of course,” Empusa said. “Your universe chose technology. Ours chose magic.”

“But, what more can you do? Can anybody use magic?” Faith asked.

“Just like your technology needs a battery, magic requires a power source too. And no. Not everyone can do magic. I happen to have a great affinity for it. That’s why I’m the Queen,” Empusa laughed. “Let’s get the ponygirls to bed. I have a safe place to store the things that were in your pockets on the cart.”

Charity hardly felt like she was touching the ground as they made their way back into the camp. “Love you, babe,” Faith said as she kissed Charity on the head. She helped Charity settle down on the middle of the blanket. Hazel, who had been hooded, lay down beside her. Charity rolled towards Hazel and draped her arm over her waist and up between her breasts. Garnet settled down behind Charity. She snuggled up close, pressing her breasts into Charity’s back. The links of chain joining the two ponygirls draped over Charity’s hip.

She felt so warm and protected. She quickly drifted off to a marvelously deep sleep filled with erotic dreams.

<>--+-

As Faith suggested, in the morning, Charity had her hobbles removed. Faith and Charity were resting on a small berm during their early afternoon rest stop.

“You seem to be glowing today,” Charity said. “Your dress is beautiful and it really suits you. I rarely have ever seen you wear a dress. I like it.”

“I like it a lot,” Faith said, looking down at herself. “And you are glowing too. All this walking, I guess. I see some definition in your limbs, some muscle. You’re not quite so noodle-y.”

“Noodle-y? When was I ever noodle-y?” Charity asked.

“Come on, babe. Weren’t you voted ‘most likely to be rinsed in a colander’ in high school?” Faith joked.

“A what?” Charity asked.

“A colander,” Faith said with a concerned look on her face.

Charity looked down at her naked body for a moment. “It’s funny how Empusa was able to… magic you up a whole new set of clothes, but I’m running around butt-naked.”

“Technically, she morphed what I was already wearing,” Faith said. “You seem to be pretty comfortable traveling naked, though, right?”

Charity shrugged her shoulders, afraid to think too much about it.

“I think that we are living in a different paradigm,” Faith said.

“Huh?”

“This whole business about each person having a calling,” Faith explained. “I think that Empusa looks at you as sees a beautiful, wild creature. She does things that she believes will make a person with your ‘calling’ most happy and satisfied. Back home, we humans look down on all the beasts of the world. Here, some beasts are utterly worshiped. She thinks you are fated to become such a beast.”

“What about you, Faith? What does she think your ‘calling’ is?”

“I don’t know,” Faith said, smiling.

“You’re blushing, Faith!” Charity said. “Why are you blushing?”

“I am not!” Faith said. “She told me that she would start to teach me magic when we get to her estate.”

“Are you falling in love, Faith?” Charity was joking… sort of…

“Nooo! I mean, I like her. She’s not like anyone I’ve met before. And it’s good to have friends who are queens, of course. Oh, baby, don’t look so worried! We’re going to find Blue and Dammasch and get that belt removed and then we can both learn magic together.”

Empusa had released the ponygirls from the cart. The ponygirls walked straight over to Charity and sat down on either side of her, which required Garnet to nudge Faith over a little. Each kissed Charity on the top of her head. Charity noticed that the chain linking the two girls settled across her waist.

Empusa noticed too. “I have never seen them be so possessive in all my life. They must really, really like you.”

“They don’t need to be jealous of Faith. She’s my sister,” Charity said.

Empusa laughed. “We don’t have ‘sisterly’ bonds so much here, like you do in your universe. Maybe that’s too bad.”

“Why not?” Charity asked.

“We have evolved much longer lifespans than you have. It’s probably due to our clean living. And that means that our reproductive years are more like reproductive decades. With such an available span of time, we aren’t in a hurry to reproduce. Those who choose to have multiple children, likely have them many years apart. And since all the girls leave home at the age of ten to go to Paradise, sisters rarely interact much,” Empusa explained.

“There is no concept of a ‘family business’”, Empusa continued. “Any girl may have any possible calling. If I had a child she would be equally as likely to be… I don’t know… a ponygirl, a fisherwoman in the Sea of Chains, a Well watcher, an airship commander, art… whatever her calling is. The odds are extremely low that a queen would ever beget a queen. As a result, being the queen is no more and no less prestigious than being anything other. Our position fulfills a need inside our souls and a need inside our universe. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. That’s why your universe is considered to be a failed universe. You spend year after year forced to labor for someone who reaps vastly more benefits than you… And that’s if you’re lucky!”

Charity wanted to argue, but she could not think of any good words to say. Faith was simply grinning at Empusa hanging on to every word. Hazel must have sensed some kind of distress in Charity and she leaned over and kissed her on the head again. Charity hugged her back.

<>--+-

It was a few days later that Empusa led the group into a valley and they stopped by a huge pasture of short green grass. Empusa had unhitched the ponygirls and all had a bit to eat. The ponygirls were acting a little unsettled, occasionally stomping their feet. Charity stood up and rubbed her hand on Hazel’s back. The two smiled down at her and then jerked their heads off toward the large field. They seemed to be eager to head off in that direction.

“La sai (tick) sai (tock)sss!” Empusa said. She was speaking to the ponygirls, who both shook their heads, frowning. Empusa turned to Faith and Charity. “In a couple of days, we are going to come upon a valley with a couple of small rural villages.”

“Oh!” Faith said, smiling. “There are other people here?”

“Yes!” Empusa said, reaching out a hand and touching Faith tenderly on the shoulder. “I am expected to perform a ritual with the women of the valley… a Guardian of the Valley ritual. It will only delay us a little on our journey home. We’ll need to make a few adjustments to provide the… best appearance. People sometimes have certain expectations when the queen stops by for a visit. Sometimes deviations from expectations can be interpreted as ill-omens.”

The ponygirls were stomping their feet again.

“They are so impatient,” Empusa said. “Well… we can talk about this more as we get closer to the valley. Ok, girls! Go!” She smacked Garnet on the butt and the two ponygirls started off across the pasture.

Charity smiled as she watched them romp around. They were clearly happy - smiling and nudging one another as they trotted around in the grass.

“You too, dearie,” Empusa said to Charity. “Don’t you want to run?”

Charity felt her heart swell with emotion. She DID want to run! And before she knew it she was running out towards the ponygirls with a loud “Woohoo!”

The ponygirls trotted up alongside Charity and the three of them set off in a line across the field.

It felt so good to run. Charity felt the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair. Her legs and her lungs felt so strong. She had an exhilarating feeling of confidence knowing exactly where her next footstep would land. She looked up at the ponygirls running next to her. They were smiling down at her, both running in perfect synchronization, now - step for step. They were moving fast across the field.

Charity felt a surge of happiness. She knew she could go faster and she picked up her pace creating a little distance between herself and the ponygirls. She let out a laugh of joy and glanced back.

The ponygirls smiled at Charity, then briefly glanced at one another, then they shifted to a higher gear. They caught up and blew past Charity in an instant. Charity slowed down a bit, her mouth open wide, mesmerized at the sight of the ponygirls running. Their long black hair blown back behind them. Their legs, moving in perfect synchronization. Their heads, bobbing forward with each stride. They were beautiful!

The ponygirls circled around and started back towards Charity, zipping past, obviously teasing her, as Charity stood, breathing heavily. Then they circled around again. They had run more than a quarter mile into the field. Charity glanced back towards the cart and saw that Empusa and Faith were holding hands. Empusa was carrying a blanket and they were walking into a shady copse of trees.

Some part of Charity suggested that it would be ok if she felt a little bit of jealousy. But, in fact, what she felt was a surge of arousal, excitement, and unadulterated desire. She turned to look at the ponygirls. They seemed to sense Charity’s sudden mood and they quickly jogged towards her. They stopped before her, their breasts heaving with each breath. Charity stepped up to Hazel, pulling her close and kissed her desperately. She reached out for Garnet, too, and when she moved to kiss her, Hazel was pressing up against Charity, passionately licking at her neck.

The three collapsed into the grass shifting focus from one to another giving and receiving pleasure as best and as fast as they could. Charity used her lips and tongue and fingers and her thighs to make desperate love to her ponygirl friends.They were strong and energetic and sharing and tender.

When at last they settled to some degree, Charity had still not had an orgasm, but she was happy to be entangled with Hazel and Garnet, confident that she had made them so happy to be with her.

Eventually, they heard a whistling sound from back over by the cart, and they stood and began jogging back toward Empusa and Faith who were waiting. Charity leaned into Hazel and Garnet nudging them as they had occasionally done to her. Love nudges.

When they got to the cart, Faith turned to Charity, “Are you good, babe?”

“Mmm hmm,” Charity smiled, sandwiched between Hazel and Garnet.

“Good. I’m happy,” Faith said, but she had already turned back towards Empusa, leaning forward and kissing her on the lips. “I’m happy.”

<>--+-

Why do ponygirls meander around a field during their idle time? They are not searching for flavorful patches of grass to eat like real horses. Charity discovered that they just seemed to be easily distracted by colorful flying insect-like creatures, an interesting pile of rocks, or the sound of a babbling mountain stream. Regardless, Hazel and Garnet seemed to meander with a common purpose - an unknowable purpose. And since Charity was leashed to the ponygirls every night, and since both ponygirls were much bigger and stronger, Charity had little choice but to follow along wherever they chose to go.

And so, one morning Charity and the ponygirls were wandering around a field while Empusa and Faith repacked the cart. Empusa seemed to be doing a lot of rearranging. She was unpacking a larger square box, dividing its contents up to other smaller containers. Charity was too far away to ask about what was going on. Her curiosity could only be satisfied after Empusa finally gave a whistle and the ponygirls returned to the cart.

“This afternoon we will enter the Valley of the Guardians where we will meet up with the people of the local villages. And tonight I will be performing a ritual in which a new Guardian answers her calling. Unfortunately, the idea that I am traveling with visitors from another universe would be an extreme distraction for these people. I need to hide the two of you. Faith and I had a conversation and we have agreed upon the best plan.” Empusa was looking at Charity as she finished talking.

“First, there is the issue of Faith’s footwear,” Empusa said. “Those sneakers have to go. A little transformational magic will do the job.” Empusa turned to Faith. “Are you ready, love?”

Faith nodded her head, smiling, and spread her arms.

Empusa closed her eyes. Her lips were moving, although she was not speaking. Slowly, Faith’s sneakers began to unravel. At least, that is the best way that Charity could think to describe it. They unraveled, changed color and reformed into something more like sandals. Leather-like straps grew from the material wrapping several times around Faith’s ankles, then criss-crossing up her calves.

Strangely, Charity felt a whisper of arousal spread through her loins as she watched.

Faith let out a sudden surprised “Oh!” and Charity saw her dress transform a little more. It separated into two distinct parts. The top became looser and shortened exposing Faith midriff. The bottom part became a long skirt that hung down to her ankles and the waist widened a little so that it sat very low on her hips.

Faith dropped a hand to her crotch. “Oh!” She had a surprised look on her face.

“Ooo!” Empusa said. “Sexy! Uh… the panties had to go too.”

Faith giggled, which, Charity noted, was a little out of character for Faith. Charity could never remember seeing Faith giggle before. Then again, Faith had never seemed particularly interested in intimate relations either.

“So, Faith will be playing the role of my… well… concubine is not quite the word, but something like that,” Empusa said. “There is the issue of language though, which is why she will need to wear this.”

Empusa held up something that looked like a medical face mask, but there was a pouch attached to the inner side, which Charity realized would fill Faith’s mouth.

“It is not uncommon that a Queen would travel with a… a concubine who is held in some form of bondage. And particularly, the Queen’s companion often wears a gag like this in public. People understand that the Queen may be called upon to handle sensitive secrets. A Queen’s lover needs protection from those with ill-intent who may wish to extract those secrets,” Empusa explained. “In our case, this will prevent any awkwardness due to the fact that I have rudely forgotten to teach you two any of our language.”

Empusa turned towards Charity. “Unfortunately, Charity, you are a little more problematic.”

“I can stay quiet,” Charity said, nervously. She looked up at the two ponygirls standing beside her - would she be the ponygirls’ concubine?

“The main concern is the zoic amplifier,” Empusa said, pointing at Charity’s chastity belt. “As I have said before, there has not been one in this land for several thousand years. But, the existence of this device is an important part of our mythology. Everyone knows what that is. And that makes you an extremely valuable asset. If word gets out that you are traveling with me, you would be in particularly grave danger. And currently I do not have the resources to protect you.”

“Ohhh…” Charity looked down at the belt. The ponygirls shuffled a little closer to Charity, perhaps sensing her sudden distress.

“It’s not too bad though… It just means that we need to keep you hidden,” Empusa said. “Faith said that you have no problems with claustrophobia.”

Charity felt a strong surge of arousal pulse through her core. She noticed a dim blue glow start to emit from the inverted Y on the chastity belt. When she looked up at Empusa, it seemed that the queen noticed the glow too. Empusa smiled. “Of course, I would suspect that to be true as it is in alignment with your calling…”

Charity looked over at the crate sitting on the cart that Empusa had been emptying. Its lid was raised and an open padlock sat nearby. Charity felt an even stronger surge pulse though her sex. “You want me to ride in the crate?” Charity asked.

“You will, won’t you, baby?” Faith said. “I said that you wouldn’t have any problem with that… I mean, it’s a lot like that cage under your bed that Blue would lock you in.”

“Yeah,” Charity said. “It should be no problem at all.” She unconsciously brushed her hands over her nipples which had become so hard they were aching.

“Good,” Empusa said. “I have a gag for you to wear as well.”

Chapter 05

Charity had been unfettered and she was standing in the crate that would be her home for the rest of the day. Empusa had lined the crate with a blanket. Charity felt like she was about to be kenneled.

“Bark!” Charity said suddenly.

“Are you OK, babe?” Faith asked.

“Yes… I’m just making commen… uh… whatever you call it… like sports people on TV,” Charity said.

“Commentary?” Faith asked.

“I don’t know.”

“OK. This is your gag,” Empusa said, handing a small leathery mask up to Charity. “I have filled the pouch that goes in your mouth with some medicinal herbs. They are fairly strong muscle relaxants, so you won’t have to worry about muscles cramping. You may feel a little numb. I just want to make sure that you are expecting this and don’t start to freak out or anything.”

“No problem,” Charity said. The mask felt fairly flimsy as she pulled it over her head. She stuffed the pouch in her mouth. “Mmm!” The pouch had a pleasant taste.

“There are some air holes around the top edges of the box walls so you can see out a little,” Empusa said. “And, even though I’m going to have to place a cloth cover over the crate, the weave is light enough that you should be able to see out a little, but no one will be able to see in.”

Charity squatted down. She had to bend over a little more when Empusa pulled the lid over on top of her. She heard the padlock being placed through the hasp and locking. Charity pushed up on the lid, but it didn’t move at all. She could move around a little bit. She wouldn’t be held in one position the whole time. She was settling down, when she felt a slithering feeling across her face and over the back of her head. Something tightened a little bit around her neck. She reached up and felt her head begin being squeezed a little. It seems that the mask had expanded and was no longer so flimsy. She tried to peel it from her cheek, but tight straps had encased her head and the material had become much more stiff.

She looked out the holes, but there wasn’t much to see other than the trees along the side of the road. After a few minutes, the cart began moving and they started up over the mountain pass into the Valley of the Guardians.

<>--+-

It did not take long before Charity felt the effects of the muscle relaxants leaching from the pouch of her gag. She soon felt warm and fuzzy all over and the gentle rocking of the cart as it rattled down the road quickly lulled Charity to sleep.

When she awoke she looked out through the hole in the crate. They were descending into a large valley with rich, green fields. The valley featured a large number of small green hillocks, many of which were topped by a single, huge tree. Each tree seemed to be of the same species, yet the color of leaves were one of a collection of possibilities. The trees were both tall and had a wide crown. Charity decided that they must be some sort of fruit trees being cultivated by the inhabitants of the valley.

Charity noticed a split in the bark of one of the trees that the cart passed. Someone had carved the likeness of a woman’s face and a breast into the hard wood. These trees must be the so-called “Guardians'' of the valley.

Soon Charity heard voices. Ten to fifteen small girls were running to the cart cheering. She heard Empusa shout out a greeting using a musical language very much like that which Hope spoke. Soon, Charity saw older women moving out to greet their queen. Just as Empusa had described, there was a complete lack of teenaged looking girls.

Eventually, the cart pulled up alongside a hillock that had no tree on top. Rather, there was a tall metal pole with a horizontal arm from which a chain with wide cuffs descended. Empusa had labeled their stop as a ‘ritual’. She had seemed to imply that this was a happy celebration. Charity was certain that the cuffs were meant for someone. She hoped the bondage was used for some sort of symbolic purpose, but her mind kept being drawn to movies she had seen over the course of her life that pitted an unwitting modern day protagonist with some ancient and mysterious sect in some isolated corner of the world.

There was not much for Charity to do all afternoon and into the evening but peek through the small holes in her crate. At one point she saw Faith walk by in the cropped top and low waisted skirt. She was wearing her gag too, but it had not transformed its configuration at all. She seemed to revel in her femininity. She was more beautiful than Charity could ever remember. Little girls would run up to Faith with a bundle of small flowers in their hands. She showed them how to tie them into daisy chains which the girls could wear on their heads like crowns. Faith looked happy. Charity could see it in her eyes.

Hazel and Garnet meandered over to the side of the cart where Charity could see them. Neither wore fetters or a hood. Occasionally another naked, armless woman would come by and nudge them. The three would kiss and smile. She must be a ponygirl as well, Charity thought, but without a committed partner. She was teasing Hazel and Garnet - pushing them a little then running away. They would follow for a little while but stop before they got too far away. The new ponygirl would look at them provocatively over her shoulder, but she was never able to get them to move too far from the cart.

“They are protecting me,” Charity realized. Hazel and Garnet knew where Charity was and they seemed determined to make sure they watched her crate at all times. Charity felt her heart swell with emotion. “I’m falling in love with a pair of ponygirls… How… odd!”

Charity started to worry about Hope. Was she still following their trek through the mountains? Was she still OK? How would she feel about making love to ponygirls? Charity was really, really horny,

She started imagining what she and Hope and the ponygirls could do together. She thought about the first time Hope pushed her over the edge on her rack back home. What if Hope tied Charity’s ankles to a tree and the ponygirls each pulled an arm while Hope ran her magic metal fingers over Charity’s tensioned body.

No. That scenario wouldn’t have the ponygirls contributing to their maximum potential. Their tongues were magical, and Charity loved the light nips that Hazel gave her. A good scenario would include Hope’s magic green paste, her metal fingertips, the musical sound of her voice and the rattle of all her jewelry chains, and then the ponygirls had their magical tongues, and Charity loved the way their sheer weight held her so firmly to the ground. Maybe she could braid their long thick hair and use it to tie her wrists together… No… That’s kind of ridiculous.

Charity was so horny. She was pinching her nipples and stroking any place that was sensitive. She was sucking on the pouch locked in her mouth. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. The sun had set and it was getting dark in her crate, but there was a distinct blue glow emanating from the inverted Y symbol on the faceplate of her chastity belt. Charity suddenly worried that the light was so bright it shone out through the air holes, so she covered it with her hand.

There was the sound of boxes being moved around. Suddenly, she felt her crate lifted into the air. Charity looked out the air holes to see what was going on. She was being carried away from the cart. Her crate was turned. For a brief moment she was able to see a fair sized crowd of women gathered together. A fancy chair on a mobile platform sat facing the crowd of women. A tall willowy young woman, topless, with long straight blonde hair and pale, pale skin stood near the chair. A line of women were waiting to speak with the woman. She was smiling, but also wiping away tears.

Charity’s crate was turned again and set on the ground. Unfortunately, Charity was facing away from the crowd and could not see what was going on.

The skies grew darker as night pressed in. Eventually, the voices of the women became quiet. Someone stepped up on Charity’s crate. It was Empusa. She could hear her voice - loud - addressing the crowd of women. She spoke in a language that sounded exactly like Hope’s. She tried to listen well enough to recognize any words that Hope may have taught her. Sadly, she could not understand anything Empusa was saying.

As Charity sucked on the pouch in her mouth, she started to drift into a trance, hypnotized by the rhythm of clicks and pops and the melodious vocalizations. Holy shit! Charity was horny! The women in the crowd were chanting. Charity heard the rattle of metal and occasional cheers from the crowd. Blue lights began to flash outside Charity’s crate and the crowd would ooo! and ahhh!. Maybe they were lighting off fireworks. Empusa was singing a beautiful song. Other voices started to join in. Sounds of awe and wonder echoed through the crowd, slowly rising to a particular climax and then they transformed into a great cheer that lasted for quite a while.

Empusa said some final words and the crowd cheered once more. The formal parts of the ceremony must have ended. Empusa stepped down from the crate. Charity felt like she was hidden in the middle of a party. Voices were coming from all directions. She could see younger girls running around and playing in the darkness. It was pitch black inside the crate. Charity closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

<>--+-

Charity awoke suddenly when her crate was lowered onto a hard wooden surface. Hopefully, she was back on Empusa’s cart. The sky was just beginning to brighten with the rising sun. She could see the nearby hillock, still illuminated by an arrangement of burning torches. Charity felt her stomach churn when she saw that, indeed, a woman had been bound in the cuffs hanging from the tall pole. Her legs were spread apart by more chains so that she was arranged like an inverted Y. It was the tall, willowy blonde - her body now covered in various symbols. Had she been sacrificed in this ritual?

Some sort of magic had been performed. A series of woody vines had grown from the ground beneath the woman overnight. Some of the vines wrapped around her legs. Others twisted around her waist. A particularly thick one encircled the woman’s neck. The tops of the vines already stretched above her head where dark purple leaves had freshly uncurled. Was the woman dead?

No. She was alive. She saw movement in the woman’s torso. She was breathing. It seemed she was breathing fairly heavily. It seemed that some vines had teased their way between her lips and into her mouth, another had entered one of her nostrils.

The woman let out a groan. It was not a groan of pain though. It sounded more like ecstasy. Charity watched a branch form on one vine and push its way between the woman’s legs. It penetrated her, bringing forth more moans and her entire body shook in orgasm.

Charity heard Empusa’s voice and the cart started moving. Soon, the small hillock with its bound sacrifice was no longer visible from Charity’s small viewport. They were back on the road again. Faith was walking along the side of the cart. She still wore her gag. She glanced over to Charity’s crate and winked. Charity assumed that meant that everything was going as planned and she settled back deeper into her blanket.

It was another two hours or so before the cart stopped and Empusa unlocked the lid. Faith was smiling at Charity as the lid came off the crate and the two women lifted Charity from the box. They set her down on the side of the cart and, with a bit of flourish, Empusa pulled the gag from Charity’s head.

“Pee,” Charity said, but her voice was nothing but a whisper. “I can’t talk!”

“That’s the muscle relaxant,” Empusa said. “It might take a few minutes for your voice to return.”

Faith picked Charity up in her arms and carried her to the side of the road. When she set her on her feet, Charity’s legs immediately buckled. Faith sat down beside Charity and hugged her close. “Let’s give it a few minutes before you walk, baby. Are you ok?”

“Did they kill that woman?” Charity whispered.

“Oh, no!” Faith smiled. “The woman and the tree were melding into one being. She was becoming one of the Guardians of the valley. All those trees on those small hills back there were women.”

“Ok, but forget the ritual bullshit! Those vines looked like they were about to gut the woman,” Charity said with a tear dripping from her eye.

“No, Charity, the tree was mating with her. Empusa said that over the next few months the tree will grow up around her and she will live in the tree.”

“So, the tree is eating her!”

“No!” Faith said, smoothing Charity’s hair. “Part of the ritual, that you probably did not see, was a gathering of all the Guardians of the valley. I could see the glowing spirits of all the women from the past who had mated before. They walked into the crowd, hugging and kissing loved ones from the villages. They were alive! All those trees… and women… Empusa made it happen. She provided the magic. She said that the villagers told her that they had never seen such powerful magic performed before. They said that they had never seen such a beautiful new tree grow so fast as last night. She said that the villagers thought that the reason the queen’s magic is so powerful is because of me! Like, I’m her muse.” Faith looked lovingly towards Empusa who was repacking Charity’s crate.

“Are you sure?” Charity’s voice was starting to return.

“One hundred percent, baby,” Faith said. “Let’s see if you can stand up, now.”

<>--+-

“Hey, babe! Check this… Oh! Sorry!” Faith said, then started laughing loudly.

Charity was on her knees with her face between Hazel’s legs, her tongue teasing and her fingers well embedded in Hazel’s vagina. She stopped, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. She slowly stood, the chains linking Charity and Garnet’s fetters rattling, and turned to Faith. The two ponygirls stepped up behind her frowning.

“Sorry!” Faith said. “I just wanted to show you this.” She held up an arrow with some kind of small furry animal skewered on it. “I shot it from like thirty feet! I’m getting pretty good with a bow!”

Charity’s stomach gurgled. She put her hand, still covered in Hazel’s lubricant, over her mouth. “Good job, Sis,” she said, sneering.

“Isn’t it exciting?” Faith said, smiling.

“We’ve already eaten dinner,” Charity said, pointing to herself and the ponygirls. “I thought that you and Empusa were going for a walk, or something.”

“Yeah,” Faith said. “We were hunting and, uh… the queen is going to show me how to skin it now, so…”

Charity’s stomach clenched and she started to retch. “Ok… Good job…”

After Faith turned and walked away, Charity got back on her knees and Hazel stepped back in front of her, smiling once again.

<>--+-

“Hey, Babe, I’m really sorry about interrupting you last night,” Faith said.

She and Charity were sitting together during a break for lunch.

“No! It was no problem,” Charity said.

“Do they… the uh, ponygirls… Do they force themselves on you?” Faith asked.

“No!” Charity said. “Well… the truth is that I am so freaking horny all the time… When I make them happy, it provides just a little relief for me. For a little while, at least.”

“Cool,” Faith said.

“They try and try to return the favor… And that’s kind of awesome,” Charity laughed. “But, I don’t think that they understand why I’m not able to have an orgasm.”

“They are just so much bigger than you and they are always huddling around you, I was just worried…” Faith said.

“Do you think Hope is OK?” Charity asked.

Faith looked out into the forest around them. “I think so. This is her home.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Hey, Babe,” Faith said. “What’s in my pocket?”

“You don’t have pockets anymore,” Charity said, pointing at the low waisted skirt Empusa had conjured for Faith.

“Okay. Good point. But, what did I have in my pockets?”

“Um… a gun and four…” Charity stopped, obviously thinking hard. “Four… metal arrow things… and… and…”

Faith waited patiently. She frowned as Charity turned her head down and pushed her big toe around in the dirt.

“I can’t remember what the other thing is called,” Charity said. “Or… or… what it even is…”

<>--+-

Before dinner that night, Faith and Charity sat down with Empusa to ask more questions about the belt.

“It seems that the belt is starting to affect her language abilities,” Faith said. “Is there anything that we can do to delay the onset of the effects?”

Empusa smiled. “I would expect Charity to be affected by now. So far her resilience is astounding.”

“I don’t want to become an animal,” Charity said.

“No,” Empusa said. “You DO want to become an animal. It’s your calling. You just don’t understand yet because you are so tainted by the lies propagated to you in the failed universe where you were raised.”

“But I enjoyed my life,” Charity explained. “I was successful professionally. I had a loving girlfriend. I was pretty happy.”

Empusa sighed. “This thing that you wear is so special. You just don’t understand how lucky you are! Let me give you a little history about the belt.”

Empusa sat down next to Charity and held her hand, then started her story…

“The Goddess Dammasch has a sister named Aradale. Many, many years ago they worked together to make sure that their universe was the most perfect universe because they love all the women of the world, who are their children, so much. While Dammasch specialized in magic, Aradale became an expert in technology. They worked together quite well. Aradale would create technologies that improved Dammasch’s ability to perform magic. Your belt is an example of something Aradale created. So are the Permanent Focus Equipment And Restraints that your girlfriend, Blue, was supposedly bound within.

“Some say that Aradale became jealous because she felt that all her work was benefitting Dammasch. They say she created a machine that was so technically advanced that it gained its own sentience. Not only that, but it also started to manipulate Aradale. The machine told Aradale that the two of them could make the perfect universe. The machine convinced Aradale to get rid of Dammasch.

“Luckily Dammasch was able to see the dark stain of technology boring its way into Aradale’s soul. She was prepared when Aradale struck and was able to counter all her attacks. I should note that just as there are an infinite number of universes where Dammasch succeeded in defending herself from Aradale, there, too, are an infinite number in which Aradale was victorious. Of course, all those universes have failed or will fail at some point in time. Indeed, your universe is one in which Aradale defeated Dammasch. I’m sorry to say that your foolish reliance on bad technology and your complete ignorance of magic will eventually destroy your world.

“Dammasch’s struggle to defeat Aradale was not an easy victory and some of the great technologies that they had made together were cast out into other universes. Charity, you are wearing a rare and wonderful technology that has been missing from our universe for thousands of years. If I understand it correctly, it works like a filter for magical energy. It absorbs ambient magical energy and cleanses and concentrates it into something that is pure and powerful.

“Both Dammasch and Aradale are goddesses, so Dammasch could not kill her sister even if she wanted to. Aradale has been sentenced to eternal bondage in the Hollow Well where she resides to this day and will forever more.

“And so that is the story of why the belt exists and why it was found in your universe.”

Charity let out a frustrated sigh. “But if the belt is so special, why didn’t she just take me when I saw her in the mine? Why didn’t she make me go through with her?”

“Dammasch sees and knows more than we can ever conceive,” Empusa said. “After all, you are here now. And what are the odds that I, the queen of this region, found you on a lonely road? And Dammasch doesn’t need you to be in Paradise with her. She needs you to be free in the wilderness.” Empusa spread her arms.

“Why are you helping us then?” Charity asked. “Why not just abandon us in the wilderness, if that is my ultimate fate?”

“Who am I to question your choices?” Empusa asked. “I will help you in any way that you wish. Whatever happens is the perfect thing to happen and everything that happens has a reason. I suspect that your calling is to become a Womanimal and you are destined to wear the belt for the rest of time. But also I have realized that you must reconcile yourself with your fate. I see that you are still too much woman and not enough animal. Once you fully understand your calling you will turn to the wilderness on your own free will.”

Empusa stood up and walked back to the cart while Charity sat quietly weeping. Faith wrapped an arm around her. “Don’t worry, babe. We’re going to go to Paradise and find Dammasch and Blue and we’ll show that your calling is something other than a chaste, wild creature.”

Empusa returned with the fetters in her hands. “Also, I’m pretty sure that you are not yet capable of surviving in the wilderness on your own, so until you can…” She shook the chains and squatted at Charity’s feet to lock them on for the night.

Chapter 06

It had been a hard slog to get to the top of the pass. Empusa explained that they were heading over to the windward side of the range and then down toward her oceanside estate. Unfortunately, the weather would likely be a little cooler and a little wetter. So far, though, the weather had been perfect.

Faith had taken her bow and was out hunting and Empusa had just finished feeding Charity and the ponygirls a snack. “Do you want to try one of these special treats that I give the ponygirls on special occasions, Charity? It is very much an acquired taste. I’ll give you a tiny piece to see if you like it.”

In the distance, Faith let out a “Woohoo!” She apparently shot some poor small animal. Empusa smiled and jogged off to see what Faith was up to.

Charity looked at the small brown nugget in her bowl. She picked up the bowl and held it under her nose, sniffing. Chocolate! No way! How could chocolate be an acquired taste? She looked at the ponygirls, who had gobbled their treats immediately and were now jockeying for position in the off chance that Charity turned her piece down.

“Maybe there is no sugar in the chocolate,” Charity thought. She had once bitten a piece of baker’s chocolate. It was very bitter. Still… It was chocolate and her mouth was already watering. She picked up the piece and popped it in her mouth.

Her plan was to suck on it, savoring its flavor for as long as possible. She let the chocolate settle on her tongue and gently pressed it against the top of her mouth. She felt it pop and suddenly vaporize into dust in her mouth, spreading the most vile taste imaginable throughout her mouth.

“Ugh!” She started spitting, but that was not helping at all. She looked around to figure out where Empusa’s stash of fruit was. Unfortunately, she had used a padlock to secure her stores. Charity’s eyes were watering and she was starting to retch. She recognized a small green plant growing nearby. A single stalk with zigzag-y leaves. It was the plant she had used before that refreshed her mouth.

The taste in Charity’s mouth was so heinous that before she knew it, she was pulling off the leaves and stuffing them in her mouth. Just as before, as soon as she started chewing on the leaves, the vile taste evaporated and a cool tingling feeling settled on her tongue and down her throat. She sighed with relief.

“Charity!” Empusa said as she climbed up over a rise with Faith in tow. “You didn’t eat that plant, did you?”

Charity nodded her head.

“Oh, fuck!” Empusa said.

Charity spit what was left out of her mouth. “Isn’t this that plant that refreshes your mouth? Is it something else? Is it pois… poi… bad for you to eat?”

Empusa was shaking her head, but she started laughing. “Oh, Goddess! This is a variant of the plant that you are thinking of, but it doesn’t grow as well due to the altitude. Since it is more sparse it has developed a particularly odd defense mechanism to keep animals from eating it.”

“Should I force myself to vomit?” Charity asked.

“No! No! If you have swallowed, then it’s too late and the damage is done,” Empusa started laughing again and turned to Faith, who had a particularly concerned look on her face.

“Tell me what to do, Empusa,” Charity screamed.

“Well, we will need to quickly find a good place to camp that is sheltered and easily defensible,” Empusa said. “Don’t worry, though the effects are generally temporary.”

“Effects? What effects?” Charity said. “Why are you laughing?”

“Sorry. Everything will be fine,” Empusa said. She walked over to Charity and stroked her hair. “You’ll be fine. This variant of the species affects your nervous system, but it naturally resolves itself.”

“What is it going to do?” Charity asked, nervously.

“Are you familiar with a condition that I think is referred to as Tourette syndrome in your universe?”

“Yes. I’m a psychia… a psych… Oh! Fuck no!” Charity cleared her throat. “I’m a psychiatrist! I am a highly educated woman. I’ve studied for years and years to obtain my position. I was number two in my graduating - AAIIP!” The ponygirls shuffled their feet nervously. Charity held her hand over her mouth.

“And, here we go,” Empusa said quietly to Faith, who was still standing with a rat-like rodent skewered on an arrow.

After about twenty seconds, Charity relaxed a little. “I think that it was just a hiccup…”

Empusa grabbed the arrow from Faith’s hand and tossed it off into the woods. She started pulling the ponygirls to hitch them back to the cart.

“AAIIP!” Charity screamed again.

“So, the leaves of the plant, when chewed,” Empusa started to explain, “cause the animal to compulsively make…”

“AAIIP!”

“… to make a sound that attracts a certain predator that lives in the higher altitudes of the mountains around here.”

“AAIIP!”

“The predator is a very social animal, like wolves in your universe,” Empusa continued. “So, we’ll want to move as quickly as possible to get to a lower elevation…”

“AAIIP!”

“…before nightfall. Hopefully we will be out of their territory. But if not…”

“AAIIP!”

<>--+-

Twenty minutes later, they were walking at a particularly fast pace along the road. Every thirty seconds or so, Charity convulsed with another loud shrieking scream.

“This is so embarrassing,” Charity said to Faith who was walking alongside her.

“Don’t worry, Baby,” Faith said. “I think that Empusa will…”

“AAIIP!”

“…will take care of you.” Faith yelled up towards Empusa who was leading the ponygirls. “Hey, maybe you could use one of your gags on her.”

“AAIIP!” Charity couldn’t believe that events had evolved to this point where Faith wanted to gag her.

“Right now,” Empusa answered, “we need her to walk, maybe even run if the situation calls for it.”

“AAIIP!”

“Those herbs we used before were muscle relaxants. I don’t want to burden the ponygirls with having to carry Charity.”

Eventually, Empusa found a good rock wall which provided some protection by limiting access to the camp. She built a fire while Faith scavenged for as much wood as she could collect. Charity’s stomach muscles were sore from her involuntary contractions every thirty seconds.

“Don’t stray too far from the camp, Faith. The sun is setting. Stay close,” Empusa said, “but get as much fuel as you can.”

Out in the distance, they suddenly heard a cry that sounded like a woman’s voice.

“Oh, fuck!” Charity said. “Was that Faith? AAIIP!”

The ponygirls maneuvered around Charity so that she was trapped between them, with their connecting chain wrapped around her waist. They pulled her back towards the rock wall, pressing her against it with their bodies.

Faith came running into the camp with a load of limbs in her arms. “There’s something out there!”

Charity convulsed again, “AAIIP!”

Somewhere close by a similar sound was made.

“That wasn’t me!” Charity said.

The ponygirls pressed her against the rocks. She could feel their bodies shaking. She pressed her hand over her mouth, willing herself to stop making the… “AAIIP!”

Another scream was made on the opposite side of the camp. Empusa pulled a couple of burning logs from the fire which she and Faith held up like torches. Charity heard footsteps in the darkness just beyond the closest trees.

“AAIIP! Fuck!” Charity gritted her teeth.

Suddenly, there were the sounds of many screams coming from all directions. Even Faith and Empusa took a few steps back.

“As long as we keep the fire burning, we’ll be OK,” Empusa said.

Pebbles tumbled down from the top of the rock wall onto Charity and ponygirls. They could hear screams above them.

“They are surrounding us,” Charity yelled to Empusa, punctuated with another yelp of her own.

“There’s a bit of magic that I can do,” Empusa yelled. “It’s safe, but a little bit invasive.”

“Yes! AAIIP! I’ll do whatever it takes!” Charity screamed.

“Faith!” Empusa said. “Watch out over there! I need to get something from the cart.”

Faith took Empusa’s torch and held both flames aloft. “Come on, you mother fuckers. I will fuck you up!”

Empusa grabbed some supplies from the cart and turned to Charity. She was holding a small linked chain about ten inches long. “I specialize in a certain kind of magic where I can graft metal into flesh. That’s how Hazel and Garnet are joined together.”

“AAIIP!”

“To make this work, I’m going to need you to swallow the end of this chain,” Empusa explained.

“Hurry, please! They are getting closer,” Faith screamed over her shoulder.

“The chain will be grafted into your tongue and across your vocal cords. It will prevent you from making any kind of vocal sounds,” Empusa explained.

“Ok,” Charity said. She felt a rush of arousal surge behind the faceplate of her chastity belt. “Can you… AAIIP! Just do it!”

“Yes, I can reverse it,” Empusa said, expecting Chastity’s question. “Head back. Stick out your tongue!”

Charity did as she was told and Empusa fed the end of the chain into Charity’s mouth. When the links touch the back of her throat, she began to gag.

“Hurry!” Faith yelled.

“Swallow!” Empusa commanded.

Charity forced herself to swallow and felt the chain lodge in her throat, choking her.

“Swallow!” Empusa screamed again.

Another scream convulsed from Charity’s lungs, but at the same time she felt the links of chain slip a little further into her throat. She heard a clipping sound and felt a sudden sharp pain in the tip of her tongue. Empusa screamed some words in her own language and Charity felt a wave of intense arousal wash over her. It was so strong, it almost felt like an orgasm. But it was only a single seizing of her muscles and then it was gone. The ponygirls, however, were both writhing as though they were orgasming.

Charity couldn’t feel the chain in her windpipe anymore. Empusa grabbed the end of Charity’s tongue and twisted it from side to side, looking deep into her mouth. “It’s good!” she said and then turned to help Faith.

The ponygirls, breathing heavily, continued to cower around her and she pulled them close so she could feel their bodies against her.

She wanted to comfort them, but when she tried to say, “It’s ok” not a single sound came from her mouth.

<>--+-

It was a long, sleepless night. The pack of predators remained just beyond the limit of vision, but their numbers seemed to decline once Empusa resolved Charity’s screaming problems. When the sun finally came up, they packed the cart and set out on the road again, struggling to stay awake.

Charity’s tongue felt funny. When she pressed it against the roof of her mouth she felt a bunch of hard, knobby protrusions. Faith noticed that she was licking her forearm. “Are you ok, babe? What are you doing?”

Charity stuck out her tongue and pointed at it.

“Can you whisper?” Faith asked, before Charity could answer, Faith turned to Empusa. “Can she whisper?”

“I guess I should explain a little about magic,” Empusa said as she joined the sisters. “If I had just taken her voice, Charity would still suffer the frequent physical action of screaming, just no sound would come out. What I did was to remove her ability to communicate vocally, which is subtly different, and a little more comprehensive. But, it means that she is unable to communicate with her mouth in any way.”

It was true. When Chastity tried to move her mouth to speak, her mouth was mostly unresponsive. It was like she had forgotten how to form words.

“Some of the strongest magic works effectively with the use of metaphors,” Empusa explained, “which is why magic can be very dangerous when wielded by an untrained sorceress. The magic I performed is based on a bondage metaphor. I placed her ability to verbally communicate in chains. With her ability to verbally communicate in chains, that skill is now totally unavailable to her.”

“But, you will be able to undo this, right?” Faith said, eyeing Charity nervously.

“Of course,” Empusa responded. “I used an actual chain as a prop, which I phased into her flesh. That is, her flesh and the chain now occupy the same space. Can you stick out your tongue please, Charity?”

Charity stuck her tongue out again, while Faith and Empusa looked inside her mouth.

“I’m just going to…” Empusa used her fingers to grab a ring of metal that stuck out the tip of Charity’s tongue. She pulled Charity’s tongue a little further out of her mouth. “Sorry… But, you can see, Faith, that the links of the chain breach the top of her tongue all the way back down her throat and into her vocal cords.”

“Oh, yeah,” Faith said, leaning in closer. “And the rest of those links are inside her tongue?”

“They share the same space,” Empusa replied. “But, actually, I had to physically pierce the tip of her tongue with that first link of the chain. I had to do that as a kind of anchor for the rest of the chain. So, when I reverse the spell and pull the chain out of her mouth, this last link will still be pierced through her tongue. Uh… sorry about that.”

Faith looked at Charity. “I think that she is just happy to not be screaming anymore.”

Charity nodded her head enthusiastically, then used her hand to say thank you in American Sign Language.

“By the time we reach my estate,” Empusa said, “the toxins should have left her system. I’ll undo the spell then.”

Faith patted Charity on the shoulder and joked, “Ahh! Finally! Peace and quiet.”

Charity was still able to communicate perfectly well with her middle finger.

Faith and Empusa picked up their pace as they talked more about magic. Charity fell back a little, surreptitiously licking her forearm again. The metal knobs created a particularly interesting feeling as they dragged across her skin. She looked over at Hazel and Garnet who were dutifully pulling the cart along. Their muscular bodies were framed in their leather harnesses which seemed to accentuate their feminine figures. She watched their hips rock from side to side as they walked along. Hopefully, Empusa would allow them to stop for lunch and a rest break soon. Charity was dying to have a little time with the ponygirls. She was dying to drag her new metal knobs across the ponygirls’ vaginas. She could only imagine how good that would feel.

<>--+-

A couple of days later during the lunch break. Faith sat down with Charity.

“How are you doing?” she asked as she placed her arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug.

Charity nodded her head to indicate that she was fine.

“Empusa says that we should be to her estate in less than a week,” Faith said.

Charity nodded again and leaned her head on her sister’s shoulder.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

“I’m going to go see if Empusa needs some help, ok babe? I love you.”

Charity smiled and nodded her head.

Faith walked off to the other side of the cart and down the road towards Empusa. Charity stood up and walked over to the ponygirls. As soon as they saw her, they started smiling and stomping their feet excitedly. Charity was smiling too. She gave them both a hug, then dropped down onto her knees with her mouth lined up with Garnet’s sex. She stuck out her tongue and started to slide it up Garnet’s sex and over her clit as it started to peek out. Hazel was bending over kissing Charity on the top of her head. The ponygirl patiently awaited her turn.

<>--+-

“As odd as it might sound,” Empusa was explaining, “some women learn that it is their calling to be bandits.”

Charity was sitting on the blanket with a ponygirl on each side, their adjoining chain laying across her lap. Faith was holding Empusa's hand on the other side of the fire, looking up at her with no lack of admiration.

“A universe is a dynamic place. A vision of what makes a perfect civilization must always be changing in order to deal with change within the universe. Biological evolution is facilitated by the mutations in the blueprint of life. Many of those mutations lead to bad things, but we are the products of those changes that succeed and propagate. It is the same within a population of sentient beings. There needs to be some, quote, bad, unquote, to carry the civilization on to something more perfect. So, yes, my queendom does have its population of bandits and villains. It is the conflict between structure and anarchy that drives civilization forward.”

Charity’s eyes were getting heavy. She was very warm and comfortable sandwiched between Hazel and Garnet. She was wondering how they could walk all day in the beating sun and still smell so good.

“…but, since I am the queen, they choose not to steal from me,” Empusa explained.

“No!” Faith said, laughing. “You need to say it more like this: I’m the queen, bitch! Don’t fuck with me!”

“I’m the Queen Bitch?” Empusa asked with an evil smile.

“No! I’m the Queen, bitch! There’s a comma,” Faith corrected, laughing.

Chapter 07

The next morning as Empusa was packing up the cart, Faith approached Charity.

“(tick) sai-lan (tick) sau-the?” Faith said. “That means, ‘How are you?’ Empusa has been teaching me some useful phrases. You might respond, ‘(tick) so-ra (cluck) aria!’ But, I’ve forgotten what that means…”

Charity frowned. She recognized the first phrase. Hope had taught her. The second sounded similar to something Hope said when she was feeling aroused.

“Anyway, you know how Empusa was saying that there are some outlaws in this part of her queendom? I was lying awake all night worrying about you. Apparently, you’re worth something in these parts.” Faith pointed at the chastity belt, then patted Charity on the shoulder. “Well… I was worried because if we… if Empusa and I, that is, were busy or something and someone came along and snatched you while we weren’t looking… You wouldn’t even be able to scream.”

Charity remained expressionless waiting to see where Faith was going to take this. She was pretty sure she knew what Faith was implying about being “busy”.

“Empusa agreed with my concerns and she suggested that it might be a good idea to, you know, tether you to the cart,” Faith explained. “That way the outlaws wouldn’t be able to just run off with you. So, are you ok with that? I’d feel a lot better. I think that you should.”

Charity stared at Faith for a moment, trying to remember what ‘tether’ meant. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head.

It turns out that Empusa had an extra ponygirl harness. It was far too big for Charity, but nothing that a bit of Empusa’s magic would not be able to handle. The widest bit of leather was a belt which was tightened around Charity’s waist. A bustier strap pushed up Charity’s breasts. She was not naturally well endowed, and she moved gracefully without too much extra motion. These straps curtailed any breast movement at all while leaving them mostly exposed. (Of course, concerns about exposure were an utterly foreign concept in Empusa’s universe.)

There was also a collar that wrapped Charity’s neck tightly, but comfortably. Vertical straps, front and back, held everything strictly in place - in particular, two straps that ran between her thighs and would have framed her sex were it not already hidden by her chastity belt.

Two loose straps which terminated in thick loops were anchored on the waist belt and wrapped around from behind. Empusa fed a large padlock through the two loops and the end of the tether. It turns out that the ‘tether’ was a ten foot length of thick linked chain. The opposite end of the tether was attached to an eyebolt on the rear end of the cart.

“Comfortable?” Faith asked.

Charity nodded her head. Actually, oddly enough, it made her feel really sexy.

And so, they set out with Faith and Empusa up front leading the ponygirls who were pulling the cart with Charity, alone, bringing up the rear. She remembered the many times she fantasized about being a slave in service of a strict and powerful queen. It seems that more and more, she was living that fantasy, except that instead of being in service of the queen, she was the prime entertainment for the queen’s ponygirls.

<>--+-

Later that day, Empusa halted the cart and pointed out a small group of approaching women. Faith moved to the back of the cart to stand by Charity.

“Wow! They are magnificent,” Faith whispered as the six women approached. All were thin, muscular, and adorned in tight fitting leather. Four of them had bows and quivers slung over their shoulders. The other two had short swords sheathed at the waist of their tight petal leather skirts. All had long braided ponytails except one, who, curiously, wore a full leather hood. The only openings seemed to be two small holes for her eyes. A padlock was affixed below her nose and rested against her chin.

The leader greeted Empusa in a friendly manner. They obviously knew who she was. Empusa moved to a position where she could easily see Faith and Charity, and she assumed a confident, relaxed stance. After a bit of conversation, Empusa said something that caused all the women to direct their attention back to Faith and Charity. Most seemed to be curious, although two stepped back with looks of concern.

Four, including the hooded woman, walked towards Charity and Faith to get a better look at them. Faith seemed to stiffen up a little, but Charity noticed that Empusa still looked calm. The newcomers were engaged in some sort of dialog among themselves. Charity realized that they were pointing at her - pointing at her chastity belt.

The leader turned back towards Empusa and said something while still pointing at Charity. Empusa’s answer was terse and seemed to upset the leader a little. The leader turned directly towards Charity and was moving towards her with some sense of purpose.

“Stay behind me,” Faith said, and she stepped between Charity and the approaching woman.

The woman was speaking loudly. She was looking at Faith, seeming to challenge her in some way. Charity glanced at Empusa who continued to retain her relaxed posture.

The leader started talking directly to Faith. Two of her companions stepped up behind the leader, including one of the sword bearers, whose hand slid up to the hilt. The hooded woman also moved a little closer, although without any sense of aggression.

The leader turned back towards Empusa saying something which made Empusa smirk.

The leader turned back to look at Faith. She slowly pulled the bow off her shoulder and seemed to be setting it on the ground to the side. At the last second, however, she swung the bow at Faith, the wood whistling through the air. Faith’s reflexes were surprisingly sharp. She raised her arms to block the blow.

The leader stopped her swing before actually hitting Faith. However, Faith’s defensive move caused her to stumble to the side a little, no longer a shield for Charity. The leader smiled and then turned to look directly at Charity.

Charity was immediately filled with anger. How dare the bitch swing at her sister? There was no conscious thought on Charity’s part, but she felt her right leg raise high and then stomp on the ground. Her foot landed with a deep thump. The leader and her two companions were suddenly tumbling head over heels across the grass away from Charity as though they had been hit by an explosion’s shock wave or a strong wind..

Curiously, both Faith and the hooded woman remained unaffected.

“Holy shit!” Charity thought. “Did I do that?”

Charity turned to the hooded woman, teeth gritted, prepared to stomp again if she must. The hooded woman had crouched when she saw her friends tumble away, but she still seemed fixated on Charity.

Empusa said something calmly to the leader and her companions who were scrambling to get back on their feet. There were some calls for the hooded woman to step back from Charity.

Instead the hooded woman slowly raised her arm with her hand open. Charity could not sense any form of aggression in the woman. She reached out with her own hand until their fingers met. Charity suddenly felt an intense pulse of arousal. The inverted Y design on the faceplate of the chastity belt emitted a brief blue glow. The hooded woman, meanwhile, stumbled to her knees and let out a long muffled moan. Somehow Charity knew immediately that the hooded woman was in the throes of a huge orgasm.

The leader crept back towards Charity, grabbing her bow where she had dropped it as well as the arm of the hooded woman, then began dragging her across the ground. The other four women decided that they had witnessed enough and began running away across the field towards the forest.

Empusa laughed as the leader dragged the hooded woman along behind her.

Faith turned to Charity with her mouth hanging open. “What did… How did you do that?”

Charity was equally surprised. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

Empusa walked up laughing. “Everybody knows about the artifact that Charity is wearing, but its power is shrouded in mystery. I told them that Charity was wearing the Zoic Amplifier. The leader, Goga, apparently thought that she wanted to get a little closer look. She obviously needed to be put in her place.”

“The bitch was going to hit me,” Faith cursed.

“She wouldn’t have touched you, unless she thought that she could best me,” Empusa said, still chuckling.

“But, how did Charity do that with her foot? Did the belt do that?” Faith asked.

“No!” Empusa laughed and she pointed to herself. “That was me.”

Charity frowned, disappointed that she did not wield some mysterious power. Faith hugged her. “Poor baby!”

“I think that was a very successful encounter,” Empusa said. “The two women who held back were afraid of the power of the belt to begin with. Three were willing to become covetous - or at least challenge me for possession of the belt. A little magic seems to have changed their minds. Finally, and most intriguing, (pop) oh-li (tick), the hooded woman… I think that she fell in love with you, Charity.”

“Do we have to worry about them coming back to challenge us again?” Faith asked.

“No. I think that Goga is embarrassed, but her temporary forgetfulness has been cured. You know… Don’t fuck with the queen, bitch!”

Faith laughed. “Rock on!”

Empusa placed a hand on Charity’s hip, gently caressing the metal waistband of the chastity belt. “I think that word will spread quickly about the return of the Zoic Amplifier. There will be quite a crowd to greet us when we get home. We’ll need to give them a good show.”

As Empusa led them on, Charity worried about what a ‘good show’ implied. She also wondered about the hooded woman. Did Empusa use magic to make her spontaneously orgasm? Could Empusa use that power on Charity? She decided that she would have to wait until she could speak again before she could ask such a complex question…

<>--+-

In the afternoon, a cool breeze started to blow. Charity swore that she could smell the ocean, despite the mountainous terrain. By evening, low clouds blew in over the hills and drizzle began to fall. At night, Faith and Empusa set up two tarps for protection from the elements. Charity and the ponygirls slept underneath one of the tarps. Despite the cooler temperatures, Charity felt warm and cozy sandwiched between the two warm ponygirls, despite the fact that she was naked.

As she settled down, after a quick, quiet romp with Hazel and Garnet, she noticed that Faith and Empusa were sharing a blanket under the second tarp.

How far had they traveled? How long had they been in this world? A month? Charity had lost track of time. She worried about Hope. She worried about her home. Was she just another missing woman? Did the police suspect that she and Faith had perished in the mine? Would she ever be able to go home again?

Would they find Dammasch and Blue? Certainly, they were getting closer. Charity felt like she was maintaining her humanity. Because she was unable to speak, it was almost easier to deal with her possible transformation into some kind of animal. She never had the opportunity to stumble over words.

Each day they began to encounter other travelers with their own carts and ponygirls. All greeted Empusa respectfully, but they seemed to give them a wide berth to pass. Charity felt every one of them stare at her as she marched by, chained to the back of Empusa’s cart.

A few days later as Faith was helping to shackle Charity’s ankles for the evening, Empusa announced that they would arrive at her estate the following afternoon. What would it be like to wear clothes again and sleep in a bed and eat at a table?

The next morning after breakfast, Empusa and Faith approached Charity. “I believe that you will draw a lot of attention when we arrive today,” Empusa said to Charity. “I’m afraid that the crowds could become overwhelming. I don’t believe that anyone would try to harm you, but I feel I need to protect you. Besides, I’d prefer to introduce you to my subjects in a more formal setting. You are going to ride on the cart today.”

Charity nodded and wrapped her arm around Hazel who was standing next to her. It was her way of thanking the ponygirls for having to drag her weight all day. Of course, Garnet bent over and licked Charity on the head, so she stepped around the hitch and gave her a hug too.

Behind Charity, on the cart, there was a sudden shrill ringing sound like metal being bent in an unnatural manner. Charity turned and found that Empusa had used her magic to transform the wooden crate that she had ridden in before into a metal cage. Faith climbed up on the cart and pulled on the top of the cage which was attached by a hinge on one side.

“Up you go,” Empusa said to Charity.

Charity raised her eyebrows. She turned back to Garnet and gave her a quick kiss. The ponygirls watched as Charity climbed on the cart and stepped into the cage. The dimensions of the cage were the same as the crate had been, but she was going to be much more visible to onlookers as they rolled by.

Empusa fed the chain tether through the bars of the cage and handed the free end to Faith.

“Why the tether?” Faith asked.

“This is part of the show,” Empusa responded. “If it looks like I am taking every precaution to keep Charity strictly restrained, then people will believe that I am doing it for a reason. In the long run this will keep Charity safer after we settle in at the Estate.”

Charity shrugged her shoulders and watched as Faith padlocked the tether to her harness. Faith kissed her cheek and patted Charity’s head. “Love you, babe.”

Charity crouched down into the body of the cage and ducked as Faith closed the lid. Empusa passed Faith a pair of big, heavy padlocks to thread through a set of eyelets which secured the lid in the closed position.

“Please do not interact with anyone,” Empusa said to Charity. “I need you to appear to be fierce, wild, unpredictable. Don’t touch anyone!”

Charity sighed and nodded her head.

After about ten minutes, Empusa let out a whistle and the ponygirls pulled the cart onto the road. Boxes had been stacked around Charity on three sides leaving only the view out the back of the cart available. Charity sat cross legged with her hands on the bars at each side watching the two large padlocks hanging from the eyelets, rocking back and forth with the movement of the cart.

The cart stopped next to a small river for a while. Neither Empusa nor Faith came to visit Charity in her cage, so she sat silently waiting, unsure of what was going on until she heard the sound of splashing and Faith squealing about how cold the water was. Ten minutes later the cart was moving again and about a half hour after that Faith dropped back to check up on Charity.

Faith still wore the outfit that Empusa had transformed for her - a loose, cropped tank top and a low waisted ankle skirt, however it looked clean and the colors - more vibrant. Charity looked down at her tanned, naked body with her dirty feet and skin discolored by patches of dirt. She dragged her fingers into her knotted hair. She realized that she must certainly look like a wild animal. Especially compared to Faith, who had her hair pulled out of her face.

“How are you doing, babe?” Faith asked.

Charity granted a brief smile, then pointed at her dirty feet.

“Don’t worry, babe! You look awesome. You look fierce!” Faith said, smiling. “I think that’s the image that she wants you to have as we head through the village and up to her estate. You are a beautiful, wild woman. You look dangerous. I love it!”

Charity shrugged her shoulders.

“Once we settle in we’ll get you cleaned up. We’ll restore your voice. It’s about one easy, relaxing month until the airship arrives, then we’ll find Blue,” Faith said.

Charity nodded.

“Empusa sent off a runner to announce that we are on our way. We will have an escort once we get close to the village. This is pretty exciting, don’t you think?”

Faith walked along behind the cart for a while making small talk.

After lunch, four sword-wielding women fell in line behind the cart. Charity decided that they must be part of Empusa’s escort. They were quite impressive - tall, lithe, and noticeably muscled.

Charity saw people standing on the side of the road, cheering Empusa as they made their way. Girls and their mothers would point at Charity in her cage and cheer with excitement. The escort kept any bystanders from getting too close to the back of the cart.

Charity obeyed Empusa’s wishes and sat impassively as the crowds along the road grew in size. She pretended that she was playing a character in a parade. That mindset seemed to distract her from the feeling that she was merely an animal on display.

Finally, the cart passed through a series of gates, away from the crowds and onto the queen’s estate. They stopped next to a weathered looking building. The armed women assumed positions near Charity’s cage. They seemed to be guarding her… Charity wasn’t sure if they were there to protect her or if they were protecting everyone else from her.

Finally Empusa appeared at the back of the cart with two women carrying long poles. The poles were slid through wide rings affixed on the top of the cage. Four women then lifted Charity’s cage off the cart and carried her into the building, where they set her on a wooden platform.

The cage-bearers left and Charity spent some time looking around the interior. The building was a single open room but divided into two sections - one which resembled a barn with stalls and corals, while the second looked like a jail with a series and heavily barred cells. Indeed, Hazel and Garnet were led by leashes attached to their harnesses. When they saw Charity, they smiled and stomped and tried to move towards her, but the handlers shouted terse commands and dragged them over to the stable side of the building where women with buckets of soapy water were waiting.

Charity looked over to the jail side of the building. One cell contained a naked woman sitting on a bunk with a detailed animal print tattoo covering the entire back half of her body. Charity was shocked when she realized the woman had a fully articulating flesh colored tail emerging from the base of her spine.

Charity suddenly realized these cells were not for criminals. This was no jail. These were cages for women who had some kind of animal-like calling. Of course, there would be more than just ponygirls! From her angle, Charity could not see how many cells there were in the building, nor how many were occupied. Did Empusa consider that one of these cells was for Charity?

<>--+-

Charity was certain that it had been more than two hours since she had been abandoned in the building with all the animal-like women. She was still confined to her small cell. Most of the activity had died down. Hazel and Garnet had been cleaned and led to a stall too far away for Charity to see what they were doing. She had almost decided that she was going to have to pee in the bottom of the cage.

Finally, the exterior door opened and Faith walked in wearing a fresh white lace up peasant dress. She was flanked by four guards in tight leather with swords at their sides.

“Hey, babe! Sorry it took so long to get out here. Empusa had to greet all the workers here at the estate. She’s doing some of her official duties. Are you ok?”

Charity patted her lower abdomen and made a ‘p’ shape with her hands - or maybe it was a ‘q’. Regardless, Faith understood.

“These guards are going to get you out of the cage, and I’ll take you into the residence. Bath! Soft beds! And more! But I’ll let you see for yourself.”

Charity was happy to hear that she wasn’t going to be left out in this building - this barn.

The guards, who seemed to keep a close eye on Charity, undid the locks and pulled up the top of the cage. Charity’s leg muscles complained as she stood, but she was happy to be able to stretch. The ten foot long chain tether was still connected to the harness she wore. She gave the loose end to Faith to hold as she climbed out of the cage.

Faith got the attention of a guard and pointed to the padlock connecting the leash to Charity. “Do you have a key?” Faith pantomimed turning a key. The guard shrugged and there was a conversation among the four guards for a moment. In the end, it seemed that none of them had the key. “Don’t worry, babe. We will find the key inside the residence.”

Charity waved good-bye to Hazel and Garnet. She wondered if armless ponygirls had any clue what waving one’s arm meant anymore. Either way, they stomped their bare feet in the straw strewn across their stall and attentively watched as Faith and the guards led her to the barn’s door.

Charity was led up a hill to a large, ornate building. They came to a small basement door, which one of the guards unlocked. They went up two flights of stairs to a long, wide hall.

“My room is right over here,” Faith said. She opened the door and led Charity inside, still holding the chain tether in her hand. The guards were arranging themselves in the hall outside Faith’s room as Charity shut the door.

The room was huge! One whole wall had windows from floor to ceiling. The drapes had been pulled back and Charity could see a grassy field stretch perhaps a quarter mile and beyond that, an ocean. It was quite beautiful. Charity took a few steps towards the window until she heard a loud clatter. Faith had placed the bulk of Charity’s tether on a table, but now it lay on the floor.

Charity was about to try to ask about the tether again when she noticed the bed. It also was quite big. Much bigger than a king sized bed. It had a decorative canopy.

Then Charity noticed a small cylindrical cage near the bed shadowed in the corner. A small woman was sitting cross-legged in the cage watching Charity with a demure smile on her face. Charity turned to Faith and pointed at the woman in the cage with her thumb.

Faith looked at the woman. “Yeah… Who needs TV when you have this kind of in-room entertainment?”

Charity pointed to herself and tried to make a fierce face. She pointed to herself again and made an exaggerated smile. It took a bit more work, but Faith finally realized what Charity was trying to ask. “No, you don’t need to act like a wild animal here at the estate. She said that you should just be you.”

Charity swiped her forehead as a sign of relief and started walking towards the cage when she noticed a huge ceramic bathtub filled with steaming water and bubbles. She rattled her chain and smiled with excitement.

“Yes! That bath is for you, babe!”

Charity waved her finger around several times to indicate the whole room, then she pointed between herself and Faith several times.

“No. This is my room. Yours is next door.”

Charity raised her eyebrows, smiling. She decided that it was good to hang out with a queen.

Charity felt strange having a caged woman in the room, so she walked to the cage with her chain dragging behind her. There was a simple lever to open the door to the cage. It was not locked. She pulled the door open and motioned for the woman to climb out.

Charity was stunned by how beautiful the woman was. She had long straight dark brown hair and clay-colored skin. The only clothing she wore was a pair of hip hugging black panties. She wore necklaces and bracelets with jewels that matched those that dangled from her nipple piercings. As soon as she was out of the cage she gently took Charity’s face in her hands and placed a deep passionate kiss on her lips.

The woman said something in the local language, with its pops and clicks.

“I have no idea what she is saying,” Faith stated.

The woman kissed Charity again. The feel of her lips slipping over Charity’s was amazing and after a moment, her tongue slipped into Charity’s mouth. Charity easily succumbed to the woman’s passion - her libido was so high. Their tongues swirled together in Charity’s mouth until the woman made a squeaking sound.

Charity pulled back to make sure the woman was alright. She put a finger on Charity’s lower lip, gently pulling it down. Charity decided that she wanted to see in her mouth, so she opened wide and stuck her tongue out. The woman made an “Mmmm” sound and gently ran a finger over the ridge of metal nubs running the length of Charity’s tongue.

Charity decided that the metal nubs intrigued the woman, so she decided that she would demonstrate how they could provide a pleasant stimulation when dragged across sensitive flesh. She bent with her tongue out and began to lick the underside of one of the woman’s nipples. Immediately, the woman raised her breast with her cupped hand to ease Charity’s access.

Since the woman seemed willing to experience the sensations that Charity could produce with her tongue. Charity knelt to the floor and looped fingers through the waistband of the woman’s panties. She tugged them gently and looked up momentarily for a sign of consent. She gave a quick nod, smiling broadly, and Charity pulled the panties down her legs exposing the womans hairless sex. Two small rings gripped each side of the woman’s labia and she had a vertical clitoral hood piercing with two small jewels draped to each side by short, tiny chains.

The woman stepped back, taking Charity’s hand in her own and slowly backed up to the side of the huge bed, leaning back onto the mattress with a moan. Charity followed along with her chain tether gently sliding across the floor. She leaned forward and kissed the woman on the pubic bone, then let her tongue begin to do its magic.

“Babe, you are such a slut!” Faith said, stunned as she watched the scene unfold.

Charity was oblivious to anything Faith may have said. She stroked her hands around the woman’s thighs and grabbed onto the soft plump flesh of her buttocks - pressing her tongue more firmly against the woman’s sex.

“But… I guess that Empusa would suggest that calling someone a slut is an artifact of our failing universe where we tend to shame people experienced in the art of physical pleasure…” Faith continued, despite having no audience at all.

The woman had one hand combing through Charity’s hair and the other was supporting her from completely collapsing backwards on the mattress. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open.

“Especially, here, in this universe where the interaction is utterly distinct from the act of procreation. No one in the coupling is more or less at risk of life changing repercussions,” Faith watched for a few more seconds. “So… uh… yeah…”

Charity vaguely heard a knock and the door opening and closing, muffled as it was by the woman’s thighs, which occasionally wrapped tightly around her head for brief moments. Charity could feel her chin getting wet. Her tongue easily slid deep inside the woman’s vagina.

Their initial interaction lasted no more than a few minutes, climaxing in a series of loud guttural screams of pure passion, but Charity felt that she had made a new lifelong friend in that short time even without the use of her voice. Charity sat back on her knees and looked at the woman sprawled out before her - her chest heaving as she worked to recapture her breath.

Behind her, she heard Faith clear her throat. “Yeah…” Faith said, holding up a key. “I think I can unlock your tether and harness now. Are you ready for a bath?”

It took quite a bit of work, but Faith and Charity finally determined that the woman’s name was Ero-(tick)-(po-tick)-su, which Faith quickly shortened to just (tick). Charity tried, but was not able to even command her mouth to make a ticking sound.

After finally getting the leather harness unlocked from her body, Charity settled into the bathtub. Luckily, there was enough room for (tick) to get in the tub as well. She refused to let Charity do any of her own washing - even slapping at Charity’s hands, if necessary. Charity finally simply let (tick) do all the bathing. Needless to say, she did a very thorough job.

There was a knock at the door. It opened and a tray of food was brought into the room and set on the table. “Are you almost done? Let’s eat!” Faith said. “You’re glowing, by the way, babe.”

(tick) was kneeling before Charity seemingly mesmerized by the chastity belt locked around Charity’s hips. She gently drew a finger along the places where the belt ended and Charity’s skin began. The sensation sent pulses of arousal through Charity’s crotch. After all, driving (tick) to orgasm provided Charity with a certain satisfaction, but did nothing to quell her own arousal. The inverted Y on the front of the chastity belt was glowing blue again, brighter than ever before.

(tick) quickly took control of serving food to Faith and Charity. Oddly, (tick) seemed to be able to guess the food preferences of each sister. Charity tried a small piece of meat, but, in the end, her plate was filled with items that would please a ponygirl. Meanwhile, Faith was effusive about the preparation and seasoning of the meat.

The light outside the windows had faded and stars were beginning to light the sky. Faith’s one sided conversation had run its course. Charity had a full stomach and was yawning.

“Shall I show you to your room?” Faith asked. Charity nodded her head, sleepily. She was eager to lie down on a soft bed.

Faith stood and walked to the door. “Hmm… It’s locked.”

(tick) saw that Faith was trying to leave and said something. She walked back to her cage and climbed in, closing the cage door behind her. She spoke a little more and waved her hand at Faith. Faith tried the door again and it opened. “I guess you are supposed to put your toys away before you can leave your room here,” Faith joked.

Charity frowned, turned back towards (tick) and waved. (tick) waved back and said something, smiling at Charity.

The four guards were still posted around Faith’s door in the hall. Charity wondered why there was so much security. They fell in line behind Charity as she and Faith walked down to the next door along the hallway. “They said that this is your room.”

Charity turned the door knob and looked inside. Some sort of orb floated near the ceiling emitting only a scant amount of light. However, the low light did nothing to hide how much different Charity’s room was from Faith’s. It was not much bigger than a walk-in closet. There were no windows and only a twin sized bed. While there was a cylindrical cage in the room, no woman occupied it.

“Whatever,” Charity thought to herself. The bed looked perfect. She turned to Faith and motioned as if to ask if Faith wanted to take a look.

“Uh… Not right now…” Faith said. “Empusa said I should drop by, and I don’t want to wait too late.”

Charity rolled her eyes, waved, and went into her small room. The door closed behind her and she heard the sound of a lock engaging. Charity tried the doorknob. It was definitely locked.

She sat on the bed. It felt quite comfortable. She bounced up and down on it a little. She felt her breasts bounce as she did and she looked down at her body. She pressed a hand over one of her breasts as she suddenly realized that she was still naked. She had taken the bath with (tick), gotten out, toweled off, then she had eaten dinner. Not once had she thought about her lack of clothing. Nor had Faith said anything.

She looked around the room. There were no wardrobes. There were no armoires. One entire wall was a huge bookshelf, but there were no stashes of clothing in the room.

Charity stood up and looked at the books. There were reams and reams of heavy old leather bound books. She pulled a random selection off the shelf, wondering what their alphabet looked like. She opened the book. Every page she flipped to was blank. Maybe it was some sort of journaling book - an empty diary.

Charity yawned and sat back on the bed, slowly leaning back and resting her head on the pillow… She missed being sandwiched between Hazel and Garnet. She worried about Hope and Blue. She thought about (tick) and how horny she was.

She dreamed she was running through the forest. She was fast and confident and she jumped over rocks and wove between trees. She felt so free out in the wilderness.

Suddenly something hit her hard in the back and she fell forward grasping at tree limbs as she tumbled onto the leaf covered forest floor. Something pushed her head down on the ground and wrenched her arms behind her back.

Charity opened her eyes. She was at Empusa’s estate in the small bedroom. Someone was attacking her! A woman was sitting on her back. She felt a second person sit on her legs to keep her from kicking. It was the guards! She struggled to sit up, but she provided no challenge to the guards, who were speaking excitedly.

Charity’s face was pressed to the floor. Her disheveled hair obscured a clear view of what was going on, but the floor seemed to be covered in the tattered remains of torn-apart books. Her hands were lashed together behind her back. Her ankles were crossed and lashed as well. More strips of leather were wrapped above her elbows and cinched tightly. The guard on her back finally stepped up, but as she did she tightened a rope that extended from Charity’s elbows to her ankles. As the guard pulled, Charity’s back arched into a stringent hogtie.

What were the guards doing to her? Charity wanted to scream for Faith, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out, of course.

One of the guards was on her back again, balling Charity’s hands into fists and shoving them in small tight leather bags. Stiff leather cuffs were wrapped around her wrists and buckled tightly. Next, a leather mouth guard was slipped over her head and pulled snuggly against her chin. Straps were wrapped around her head and buckled. It wasn’t necessarily a gag. Charity assumed that the guards were afraid she might bite one of them.

“Holy shit! Charity!” Charity could hear the sound of disappointment in her sister’s voice. She twisted her head to the other side and watched as Faith and Empusa stepped into the room. Empusa was frowning, looking at all the destroyed books littering the floor. The guards spoke at length with Empusa while Faith crouched next to her and began to stroke Charity’s hair.

Empusa translated the guard’s story for Faith. “She says that they were standing guard when they heard the sound of Charity banging on the door and on the walls. They heard the sound of cloth ripping and books being thrown around. They entered the room and were very afraid that they were going to be attacked so they used some force to subdue your sister.”

“Are you certain that she did all this?” Faith asked as she looked at the heaps of twisted books.

“She was locked in the room by herself,” Empusa said. “Please come with me.”

Faith stood and walked out of the room with Empusa. Charity lay on the floor, still stringently bound. Could she have caused all the destruction in the room? She must have.

“Babe?” Faith said, calmly as she returned. “Empusa suggested that perhaps it would be better… and I totally agree… Maybe you should stay out in the other building… the menagerie.”

Charity was terrified and embarrassed. Why did she tear up all these books? Finally, she nodded her head. She did not want to cause anymore destruction.

One of the guards picked her up and carried her through the door and down the hall. They left the building into the dark night. Charity was comforted when she saw that Faith was following along. They carried her back into the barn-like structure where Hazel and Garnet were housed. They carried her into one of the cells. Two guards held her arms while a third loosened the hogtie. They pulled the ropes from her wrists and arms and ankles. They set her on a small cot and filed out of the cell, slamming the door behind them. Charity watched the guard twist the key in the lock and heard the dead bolt engage.

She looked down at her hands which were still constrained in their tight fist bags.

“I’ll come and release you in the morning, babe,” Faith said from the other side of the bars. “Everything will be ok. Rest, ok?”

Faith and the guards left and the lights were dimmed in the building. Charity stood and tried to look across the room towards where she had last seen Hazel and Garnet, but it was too dim to make out any other individuals in the barn… Or the ‘menagerie’ as Faith had called it.

Eventually, Charity lay on the cot, but it took her a long time to fall asleep again.

Chapter 08

It was early in the morning when the inhabitants of the menagerie began to stir. Charity still wore the hard leather mouth guard and the fist mitts as she lay on the small cot in her cell. Various workers walked past her cell tending to the needs of the menagerie’s residents. One worker stopped by Charity’s cell, speaking at her in the local language. Charity sat up and shrugged her shoulders and the worker walked away quickly.

Fifteen minutes later, the worker returned with two helpers. They were carrying some sort of harness. They stood outside talking and staring at Charity. Finally, Charity motioned for them to open the door. She really wanted to go to the bathroom.

Finally, they unlocked the door and entered the cell, spreading out defensively. They seemed to be uncertain whether Charity would attack them or something. She raised her hands as a sign of surrender, but it did not seem to affect the handler’s plans in any way. They moved very quickly and wrapped her in the harness, securing buckles as they moved. There were straps over her shoulders, between her breasts and around her waist which were quickly tightened. Her arms were pulled back and secured to the waist band in the small of her back. A crotch piece was left dangling in front of her.

A leash of some sort was attached to a pair of loops at her sternum and the handlers pulled Charity from her cell, down the hall and out into a yard. Charity trotted along, doing her best to ease whatever fears the handlers may have had by cooperating as best as possible. In the yard, there was another handler leading an armless ponygirl strapped in a similar harness. Charity watched the ponygirl squat and pee in the grass.

“Fuck,” Charity thought. “I’m going to have to pee in the yard like an animal…”

Once back inside, Charity was returned to her cell where a tray had been filled with the standard ponygirl breakfast. The cell door was left open, but the leash was secured so that Charity had very little range. A handler worked at the back of Charity’s head. Finally, the mouth guard was removed. Charity looked down at the tray of food and her stomach rumbled with hunger. Unfortunately, her hands were still secured behind her.

“And now I have to eat like an animal?” Charity thought. “Where the fuck is Faith?”

Charity heard the sound of stomping feet and looked over to see Hazel and Garnet trying to get her attention. They smiled at her from their own stall, where a similar tray of food had been provided. She smiled back and stomped her own feet a couple of times in response and then bent over and did her best to pick up food with her tongue and lips.

Hazel and Garnet had been thoroughly bathed and their glorious, long hair had been freed from the tight ponytails that they had worn on the trail. They both seemed to glow - so happy and healthy. They were very beautiful and Charity felt a pulse of arousal behind the faceplate of her chastity belt.

After breakfast, Charity was led to a chair where she sat as a groomer washed her body down with warm water and brushed out her long hair. The groomer was very gentle and Charity felt like she was enjoying a day at some sort of strange bondage spa.

As her hair was being braided, (tick), Charity’s lover from the night before, came into the menagerie with two other women. Unlike the handlers, who were clad in a uniform that provided full coverage, (tick) was topless as were her two friends. Apparently, she was no longer “on the clock”. And, indeed, she seemed free to roam the estate. Charity smiled at (tick) and her friends, bowing slightly, as she could think of no other greeting with her hands still bound behind her.

(tick) spoke excitedly with her friends as they watched the groomer finish Charity’s braid. With the groomer’s permission (tick) walked up and gave Charity a hug. The other two women seemed to be pestering (tick) somehow - pointing at their mouths and then at Charity’s. Whatever they were discussing, Charity noticed that (tick) blushed and spoke with a bit more insistency. Regardless, one of the women stepped up to Charity and used her thumb to pull down on Charity’s chin. (tick) seemed to become angry, but the second woman pulled her away from where Charity sat.

Charity decided that the first woman wanted to see inside her mouth, so she held out her tongue. The woman made a surprised exclamation and ran a finger along the metal lumps aligned down the middle of her tongue.

Charity realized what must be going on. Likely, (tick) had revealed how exceptionally well Charity had entertained her with her tongue, and now her friends wanted to see for themselves.

Her theory seemed to be confirmed when the woman examining her tongue grabbed her by the upper arm and started to drag Charity from the chair. It was a particularly rude thing to do, but Charity complied and soon found herself kneeling before the stranger.

Oddly, in the moment, Charity felt a certain sense of power. Ever since she had become trapped in the belt, it seemed that she had been slowly losing her ability to do things for herself. She felt she was losing control of her autonomy. But now, as she knelt before an attractive woman who was lowering the thin skirt she was wearing, Charity knew that she had the power to reduce the woman to a mindless, moaning heap. For Charity, it was a really exciting thought.

Charity smiled and winked at (tick), hoping to convey that she was ok with servicing the rude woman. She leaned forward and pressed her tongue to the woman’s sex. She enjoyed the feel of the woman’s skin and the taste of her arousal. Charity even liked the way that the woman threaded her fingers around Charity’s head and pulled her closer in sheer, unthinking desperation. All too quickly the woman let out a few loud moans, stumbling slightly.

Charity knelt back on her haunches for a second, catching her breath. Then she turned to the second woman that arrived with (tick) with a grin. The woman pushed (tick) to the side and stepped up to Charity, dropping her skirt, as she did.

“I’ve never tasted two different women with such a short gap in time,” Charity thought. The subtle differences between the two women intrigued her. As Charity was plotting a sequence of maneuvers to decimate her current lover, she noticed Hazel and Garnet out of the corner of her eye, smiling at her. “Wait! What am I thinking? I HAVE tasted two different women close together… Hazel and Garnet!” Charity thought. “Strange that I thought of them as one individual…”

“Ay-(click)-eena!” (tick) said in a loud whisper.

The woman Charity was servicing stepped back quickly causing Charity to almost fall over. When she regained her balance and looked up, Empusa and Faith were standing, watching. Empusa laughed as the woman quickly pulled her skirt off the ground. speaking quietly as she quickly slipped out of the stall behind (tick). Faith simply stood with her mouth hanging open, which, for some reason, made Charity smile. She licked her lips and noticed how her wet chin felt cool compared to the burning arousal she felt down below. She wondered if her tongue would have the same effect on Empusa.

Empusa shouted something over her shoulder and a few moments later a groom arrived and helped Charity up from her knees. She released Charity’s arms from behind her back and began unbuckling the fist mitts.

“I’m sorry about all the restraints,” Empusa said. “The groomers follow a certain protocol. I hope that they treated you well enough. You seem to be attracting a fanbase of some sort.”

Charity shrugged and smiled as the groomer unhitched the leash from the harness that Charity wore.

“I believe that we should be able to recover your voice once again,” Empusa said. “Certainly, the toxins have moved out of your system by now.”

Charity raised her hands as though she was cheering.

Empusa had Charity sit in the chair. “Take a deep breath.” Charity breathed in and opened her mouth. Empusa reached in and pinched at the metal nubs along her tongue. Finally, she seemed to get a good grip and Charity felt the chain slip out of her tongue. Suddenly, she was choking though, as Empusa pulled at the chain. She felt the links wrenched from her throat. Empusa pulled a bit harder and Charity let out a gagged squawk - indeed, though, it was a sound.

Finally, Empusa had the chain completely extracted from Charity’s throat, but as she pulled, it was still attached to the end of her tongue. Charity remembered that Empusa had actually physically pierced her tongue as an anchor for the chain. Empusa pulled a tool from her pocket which she used to snip at the links. After a moment, she dropped the tool and a large portion of the chain to the ground, however, there was still a short length of chain attached to the tip of Charity’s tongue. Empusa carefully laid the remaining links back down along Charity’s tongue and she felt them slip back into her flesh.

“All done!” Empusa said.

“Uh!” Charity said, tentatively. “I can thpeak!” She looked at Faith, somewhat surprised. “Well… mothtly…”

Empusa laughed. “Tongue piercings sometimes can impede one’s enunciation. Also, given your appeal to Hazel and Garnet and, as well, to some of my staff, apparently, I thought that you might like to keep the metal ridge along your tongue. It is a harmless accessory.”

“I gueth tho,” Charity lisped. While she was shocked with her inability to make a proper ‘s’ sound, she did enjoy continuing to wield a certain amount of power with the pleasure that her ridged tongue could supply. “Can you remove it later, if it becomes too… uh… too…?”

“Too debilitating?” Empusa asked. “It’s easy to remove at any time.”

Charity was not quite sure what Empusa had said and she looked over at Faith, who appeared to be comfortable with the result.

“Okay,” Charity said, smiling.

<>--+-

“Some women, like Hazel and Garnet, find that it is their calling to become something other than human.” Empusa was giving Faith and Charity a tour of the menagerie. “Sometimes what they are destined to become is a functional animal like a ponygirl. Sometimes they become decorative creatures or even toys. There is a role for all women regardless of their calling.”

They started walking from the stable side of the building back toward the cages. They passed the cage that Charity had slept in the night before.

“To become one’s calling sometimes requires a sorceress,” Empusa explained. “I am the sorceress responsible for doing everything in my power to suitably transform an individual so they may achieve their particular calling.”

They stopped in front of the cage of the woman with the odd flesh-colored tail. The woman scampered up to the bars and knelt before her queen. Empusa stuck a hand through the bars and petted the girl’s head.

“A transform requires precise technique and a ready supply of power - something you might refer to as mana. No sorceress is too powerful alone. She must rely on others to supply most of the mana she needs to perform a transform. It is my job as queen to identify good sources of mana and to integrate them in my work.”

“What makes someone a good source of mana?” Faith asked.

“Mana is pulled from human emotion. The more powerful that one feels emotion, the better they are as a source for mana,” Empusa explained. “I’ll introduce you to my best source in a little bit, but first, I want to show you why the menagerie exists.” She turned back to the woman kneeling in the cage before her. “(Clack) u-ah, here, represents someone who has gone through a partial transformation. Simply, our technique has not yet advanced to a degree where a complete transformation can be achieved with the mana to which I have access.”

Charity noticed the woman’s eyes were huge and the pupil was slitted. When she smiled, she displayed a row of pointy teeth.

“(Clack) u-ah’s calling is to be a woman with a number of cat-like characteristics. Some of the characteristics you can see, but there are still many that she is lacking. We decided that she is incomplete and have decided to keep her here in the menagerie until we have the skill and mana supply to fulfill her calling. The same is true for most all of the inhabitants of the menagerie. They are incomplete or, perhaps, not currently capable of existing successfully in the wild.”

“When will you… do the rest of her?” Charity asked.

“We still are refining our techniques. So… as advancements are made,” Empusa explained.

“Why not change her back while you are learning?” Charity asked.

“When I perform a transform, I start with someone who is perfect as they are. I transform them into something new and, as it is new, it is also perfect,” Empusa said. “A sorceress cannot transform someone into something old that was perfect and hope that they would be equally perfect.”

Charity frowned. “What?”

Empusa sighed and frowned. “Imagine that you had a cube of clay and that you used the clay to create a new shape from your imagination. If the new clay figure is insufficient to meet your imagination, you could not simply reshape the clay back into a perfect cube. No matter how hard you try, it would always be a little bit mis-shapen. Instead, you would save what you have until you are ready to make the appropriate changes to meet your vision. So, I have taken a perfect (Clack) u-ah human and molded her into a catlike hybrid. I could try to recreate the (Clack) u-ah human, but it is impossible to make her perfect again. Right now, though, she IS a perfect catlike hybrid (Clack) u-ah. And so she shall remain like this until I can make her a better, different, perfect catlike (Clack) u-ah.”

Charity looked at Faith, who seemed mesmerized by the words that Empusa was saying. She seemed to understand Empusa. Charity, herself however, was having difficulty following Empusa’s logic. Her brain was feeling foggy and it made her concerned that the animal within her might be gaining more traction. She decided that it was best to watch Faith for cues in the future. Faith would explain things so she could understand.

“Let me show you some more in my collection,” Empusa said, leading them down to another cage. The next cage held a woman whose arms had been transformed into a hideous pair of fleshy wing-like appendages.

“Here, we are experimenting with introducing the ability to fly. Ideally, we need to be able to add the wings rather than transform her arms into wings. As it is, she is as dependent on the groomers as our ponygirls are. And these wings are insufficient for flight.”

Next they walked down to a stack of cages ranging between one to three feet in height.

“Ay (tick) or-ee, nes (click)-ah-(click)!” Empusa said.

In each cage, between one to four miniature women walked up to the front edge. Some greeted Empusa in higher pitched voices.

“We have performed a lot of research on creating faeries. It seems to be a popular calling in my queendom.”

As Charity looked closer, she realized that many of the women had fragile translucent wings extending from their backs.

“Here, we were able to add the wings by reducing the height of the women,” Empusa explained. “We are close to actually achieving flight, however, originally, their reduced size made the women much more fragile physically. One of our great victories has been to overcome their fragility. These girls are very durable. Unfortunately, their wings are not so much.”

<>--+-

“Blue! It’th Blue!” Charity yelled and she ran up to the bars of the cell. The woman inside also ran up to meet Charity on the other side. Her head was completely contained inside a featureless metal orb. Her chest was covered in some sort of flexible metallic sports bra. Her arms ended in padded ovoid stumps through which a wide hole had been bored. Her crotch was covered in a large metal bikini. Tubes and cables connected the belt to a mount on the woman’s neck.

Most notably, though, the woman before Charity was not wearing the collar with the key to open her chastity belt.

“It’th not Blue,” Charity said, disappointed.

“No. This is Killdoll. You should say ‘Hello’ though. She once spoke English,” Empusa said. “I have no idea whether she still understands it after all these years though.”

“This is how Blue was dressed… when Dammasch took her,” Charity lisped as she turned to Faith.

“But this is not Blue,” Faith confirmed.

“Killdoll was rescued from your failing universe quite some time ago,” Empusa explained. “She was brought here by the Goddess to have the privilege of being an antenna for the gathering of mana. The Goddess gifted her to me almost ten years ago.”

“Hello?” Charity said, looking at the featureless orb covering Killdoll’s head.

“She can see you,” Empusa said. “But her sensory input has all been focused around her sex, now.” She was pointing at the woman’s crotch.

Charity knelt down so that she was looking at the metal faceplate of the woman’s bikini. She noticed that there were a pair of lenses toward the top of the faceplate as well as a microphone on each side. The technologies were familiar.

“Hello?” Charity said again.

Killdoll clumsily reached out one of her padded hands between the bars of the cell and gently touched Charity’s face.

“Killdoll is, by far, the most pampered woman in my entire queendom,” Empusa said, proudly.

Charity looked back into the cell. It seemed pretty sparse. There wasn’t even a bed. In fact, the only piece of furniture was a tubular upside down Y frame held at a 60 degree angle with open shackles clearly meant for the woman’s wrists and ankles.

“Her entire life is geared around sexual arousal. Her sole task is to orgasm - the bigger, the better. Every interaction with her environment stimulates her in some way.”

“Babe, you’re glowing,” Faith noticed.

“Yes,” Empusa said. “That is the effect of Killdoll’s mana on the zoic amplifier. The more aroused Killdoll is, the more power I have access to use for magical purposes. All the transformations that are represented in my menagerie have been performed with Killdoll’s help. She only grows more and more powerful over time. I could not even imagine how much dopamine she constantly has coursing through her body. So, yeah, she used to speak English, but now she probably only understands the language of arousal.”

“If you had more women like Killdoll,” Faith asked, “would you be able to complete the transformations of the women here?”

“Well, like I said, love, the transformations are limited by both mana supply and technique,” Empusa replied as she placed a hand, gently, on Faith’s shoulder. “Certainly, a second antenna would quicken our research into better techniques. Unfortunately, each Queen is only allowed a single antenna. The Goddess has over one hundred purely dedicated to maintaining the perfection of our universe, which is a much greater purpose than running a queendom on the Edge of Paradise. But, I am excited to say, the Goddess Dammasch has promised me a Source Witch which when used in combination with Killdoll, will vastly grow my available mana. We are currently preparing a special home for the Source Witch called The Promontory. But, that is a tour for another day…”

Empusa and Faith started down the hall. Charity, still kneeling, stroked her hand along Killdoll’s thigh. “My name ith Charity,” she said, staring into the lenses on the Killdoll’s belt. Killdoll brought both her padded hands to rest over her heart.

“Come along, pet!” Empusa said to Charity.

<>--+-

They were standing in a pasture just outside the menagerie. Hazel and Garnet had been meandering about the field along with a number of other ponygirls. When they saw Charity they began to jog over to greet her.

Faith had a serious look on her face as she began to speak. “Empusa and I are concerned about your episode last night, babe.”

Charity nodded and looked down at the ground, embarrassed. “I was sleepwalking, I guess,” she lisped.

“We were talking and I kind of agree that perhaps you should continue to sleep in the menagerie. You know… for your safety.”

Charity nodded.

“They will lock you in one of the cells, but that will only be at night,” Faith continued. “And I will come and get you every day. You’ll have groomers to take care of every need. You’ll be treated like a princess.”

“Okay,” Charity said, quietly.

“Just a couple more weeks and the airship will arrive to take us to find Dammasch and Blue and you’ll get that belt taken off,” Faith said, stroking a hand down Charity’s naked back.

Hazel and Garnet arrived and Charity hugged each of them. “Could I have the cell next to Hazel and Garnet’s sta… uh… ?”

“Sure, babe.”

Faith and Empusa went walking hand in hand out across the field. Hazel and Garnet were smiling and affectionately nudging Charity, so she stayed with them luxuriating in the feel of their long, clean soft hair and the smell of soap on their bodies. Eventually she dropped to her knees between the ponygirls and quickly verified that her lisp was a worthwhile sacrifice as she slipped her tongue across each ponygirl’s sex.

Chapter 09

That night, Charity’s assigned groom directed her into a cell right next to Garnet and Hazel’s stable area. She removed Charity’s leather harness and provided her with a nice warm blanket to sleep under. Charity kissed her ponygirl friends through the bars of her cell and fell asleep easily in her comfortable bed.

The next morning, the groom was accompanied by (tick), who was dressed as a groomer now and not a room entertainment girl. The groom seemed to be training (tick) how to care for Charity. Together, they fed and bathed Charity. They dressed her in a new, fancy harness. It still left her breasts, proudly on display, but it was definitely more comfortable and richly decorated. “I guess that I’m a prized animal, at least,” Charity thought to herself.

After having been bathed, Charity and (tick) were standing around idly waiting… for something. Charity assumed that Faith would come and be her escort outside the menagerie. She and (tick) could not communicate with each other very easily. Regardless, (tick) proved once again that she was quite skilled at bathing Charity. They seemed to have the time, so Charity dropped to her knees and shuffled up to (tick). Surprisingly, (tick) gently pushed Charity away with a frown. Maybe grooms were not allowed to fraternize with the livestock.

“You have made quite the impression on Millpond,” Empusa said when she and Faith arrived shortly after lunch.

“Millpond?” Charity asked, confused.

“Er… Ero-(tick)-(po-tick)-su. Her name translates to Millpond… I guess it sounds much prettier in our native language though, doesn’t it?” Empusa explained.

“We just call her (tick),” Faith said.

“Well… I’m having trouble making that thound,” Charity lisped. “Tick… tick… I can’t pop my tongue quite right…”

“No one expects you to speak so much,” Empusa said to Charity.

“Oh… well… I was worried that I offen… that, um, she didn’t want me anymore,” Charity said.

“Don’t get her in trouble with her new boss,” Empusa laughed. “Apparently, she has suddenly found a new calling though. She just decided that she wants to be a groomer now. I think she was inspired by the idea of grooming you, Charity. Maybe she will be a natural.”

<>--+-

Later in the afternoon, Faith and Charity were able to have a few minutes alone out in the pasture.

“How are you doing, babe?” Faith asked.

“OK,” Charity said smiling. “When is the… the…”

“When is the airship coming?” Faith finished Charity’s thought for her. “Still about three weeks before we can head to Paradise.”

Charity nodded. “Am I going to make it?”

“Sure, babe, no problem! You’re doing great,” Faith responded as she wrapped an arm around Charity’s back, hugging her. “Hey! Do you remember what I have in my pocket?”

Charity looked to the ground, somewhat lost in concentration. “Pocket?” she said finally.

“Yeah… You remember, I had a few items that I brought from home…” Faith said.

“You brought a pocket from home?” Charity asked.

“No. My clothes had a pocket and I had some things in the pocket,” Faith started patting her hips. “A pocket? Helps you carry things in your clothes. They don’t really have them here, it seems. Hopefully Empusa put that stuff somewhere…”

“Do you think Hope is okay?” Charity asked.

“Oh, yeah, babe,” Faith said, forcing a smile. “This is her universe. She knows what she’s doing.”

“If you see her… I think I need to fuck her…” Charity said.

“I’ll keep an eye out for her,” Faith said.

“Fucking her helps me stay human, I think,” Charity explained. “I’m so fucking… horny…”

“Yeah…” Faith said, wistfully. “Ahem… Hey! Empusa said that there is going to be a big series of rituals in a couple of days. It’s her job to help some women obtain their calling…”

“Look! The ponygirls! I’m going to go fuck them with my tongue now,” Charity said. “Okay?” Her voice almost cracked. There was a tear in her eye.

“Okay…” Faith said, kissing her sister on the side of her head. “Charity. Hang in there, okay?”

<>--+-

When Charity was installed in her cell in the evening, she noticed that Killdoll had been moved to the cell next to hers. At least Charity assumed that the woman was Killdoll. Having a featureless spherical head did an excellent job of obscuring one’s identity. That thought made Charity depressed. She had argued that she was certain that Dammasch had taken Blue through the portal. Now, she realized that it could have been any woman dressed like Killdoll. The only exception would be that Blue had to be wearing the collar with the key to Charity’s chastity belt.

Charity closed her eyes and tried to remember details from her encounter with Dammasch in the mine. Unfortunately, Charity knew that humans have a tendency to remember things that they want to remember.

“I’m doomed,” Charity thought to herself. “I’m going to turn into a brainless animal…”

Charity thought back to her conversation with Faith. She had had trouble remembering the word, ‘pocket’. She could visualize a pocket when Faith described it, she just could not get the word to form on her lips.

Maybe if she had more people to speak with, she would be able to hold on to her humanity for a bit longer. She looked around the menagerie. There was no one with whom to talk. No one with whom to have a conversation. She looked over at Killdoll who was standing still with her body turned directly towards her. Creepy. Was she staring at Charity?

Charity suddenly had an idea. She walked over to the corner of her cell adjacent to Killdoll’s cell and Hazel and Garnet’s stall. The floor of the cells was wood, but the stalls had hay covered dirt.

Killdoll soon walked over to the corner as well. Charity slipped her leg through the bars and drew a three by three grid in the dirt (#). She pointed at the drawing. Eventually, Killdoll turned and leaned forward - angling her crotch faceplate towards the ground. She seemed to be looking at the drawing. Charity stuck out her foot again and drew an ‘x’ in the upper left corner of the grid.

Killdoll rocked back and twisted to direct her crotch in Charity’s direction, then turned back to the drawing.

“Come on. You remember, don’t you?” Charity asked.

Killdoll slipped her own leg between the bars and drew an ‘o’ in the center of the grid. Except upon closer inspection, it was not an ‘o’… more like the shape of a heart.

“Ha! You do remember, don’t you?” Charity said. She drew an ‘x’ in the lower left corner.

Killdoll blocked Charity on the left middle, once again with a heart shape. Then Charity was forced to block Killdoll. Eventually, the match of tic-tac-toe ended in a draw.

“And you’re not dumb either!” Charity said to herself.

Charity erased the game from the dirt and drew a new grid. “You go first this time,” Charity said. Killdoll drew a heart in a corner. Charity drew an ‘x’ on the top middle - generally, a fatal choice. Killdoll took the center, forcing Charity to block. Killdoll’s next move required Charity to block in two different directions. Killdoll won!

“Can you understand what I’m saying?” Charity lisped.

Killdoll seemed to nod her featureless head slightly.

“Can you read and write?” Charity asked.

Killdoll shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, let’s try! What is your name?” Charity erased the tic-tac-toe grid and indicated that Killdoll should write in the dirt.

Killdoll stuck her foot out and drew two hearts in the dirt.

“Heart heart?” Charity asked. “Two hearts?”

Killdoll turned to look at her drawing then back to Charity.

“I don’t think that is your name,” Charity said. No telling what her mental state may be after over ten years of mental isolation, supposedly awash in dopamine.

Killdoll erased the hearts, then drew them again. She looked at the drawing, then erased it again. Once again, she drew two hearts. Then she quickly erased the hearts and walked away from the corner deeper into her cell.

“Well, it was worth a try,” Charity said to herself.

<>--+-

The next morning, (tick) and her trainer arrived as usual and tended to all of Charity’s needs. At the same time, Killdoll’s groomer was working in the next cell over. She had wheeled some sort of box into the cell with a couple of hand cranks.

A chain was lowered from the ceiling of Killdoll’s cell. Killdoll held her two mitted hands together as the groomer passed a sturdy metal bar through the holes in her hands and rings at the end of the ceiling chain. Cross-pins were used to lock her hands in place. Next, a three foot long spread bar was fixed between Killdoll’s ankles. The chain was raised back towards the ceiling, pulling Killdoll’s arms up with it until her feet were about to leave the floor.

Tubes were routed from the box to ports on the metal bikini wrapped around Killdoll’s loins. The handler poured some warm water into a reservoir in the box and then began to crank one of the handles. Charity could see Killdoll’s body tremble. Her stomach seemed to bloat a little. The groomer locked the handle and spent some time washing Killdoll with a damp cloth.

Charity could see Killdoll’s diaphragm moving in and out quickly. She must have been hyperventilating. Suddenly, Killdoll seemed to have a seizure of some sort; her feet lifted off the ground and her body jerked around a bit.

Charity noticed that her own chastity belt began to glow. She felt her arousal ramp up a bit. “Holy shit,” Charity thought. “She’s having an orgasm!”

After about ten minutes, the groomer changed some settings on the box. Charity could see that Killdoll’s belly contracted as the groomer turned the crank. Next the groomer emptied a second bottle of some sort of thick liquid into a second reservoir on the box and began twisting a different crank. Killdoll began bucking back and forth in her bonds again - thrusting her hips forward.

This time, after having cranked the handle slowly for a while, the tubes were disconnected from their ports and the box was wheeled out of Killdoll’s cell. Killdoll was left hanging, trembling in her bonds.

Charity found that she was trembling as well. She remembered when Hope had stretched her out on the rack and teased her to a monstrous orgasm. She imagined being hung and teased and the glow from her chastity belt bathed her cell.

“Every act that Killdoll participates in arouses her,” Empusa said.

Charity turned to see that she and Faith were standing outside Charity’s cell watching Killdoll’s grooming.

“I have no idea how many orgasms she has every day,” Empusa laughed. She turned to Charity. “Hazel and Garnet are preparing to go for a run. Would you like to join them?”

Charity tried to say something, but she couldn’t think of any words to say. Eventually, she just nodded her head. She liked to be outside in the fresh air. She wondered what Faith was going to be doing. Maybe she would come for a run too…

Empusa turned to Faith. “The course on which they run is completely on the estate property, so Charity will be safe.” Then she spoke to (tick) who began to retrieve the decorative harness for Charity to wear.

Charity was surprised to hear Faith say something in the local language too. “That means, ‘Have a good afternoon. See you soon!’” she explained to Charity.

“Your pronunciation is coming along nicely,” Empusa said and she leaned in to Faith for a kiss.

“With all these pops and clicks, my tongue is getting quite a workout,” Faith smiled back at Empusa.

Charity wanted to say something witty about tongues and workouts, but she couldn’t make any words form in her mouth. She was still trembling with arousal and she glanced over at Killdoll, who was still stretched from the overhead chain. Meanwhile, (tick) had attached a leash to Charity and was gently tugging her towards the door. Charity turned in time to see Faith and Empusa walking out of the menagerie hand in hand.

<>--+-

(tick) locked the leash attached to Charity’s harness to both Hazel and Garnet’s harnesses. She could move no more than ten feet from them. They were led out the doors of the menagerie and then the ponygirls started jogging with Charity in tow out across the fields.

It felt really good to be out in the sun and Charity’s fitness had benefited from their travels. She had never felt so strong in her life and had no problem keeping up with Hazel and Garnet’s pace. They led her down trails that ran along a series of cliffs that overlooked the ocean below. The views made her think of a time when she traveled to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

They stopped occasionally to feel the wind blowing off the water. They waded through the chilly waters of a creek where Charity demonstrated the benefits of having arms to splash Hazel and Garnet who could only clumsily kick at the water to splash back. Charity was happy to make up with them afterwards kneeling between the ponygirls, using her hands and tongue.

They sat together on some warm rocks and watched the sun dip towards the horizon. When they finally made it back to the menagerie, the sun was setting and (tick) was waiting to wash and massage Charity. She was pretty tired when (tick) locked Charity’s cell for the night and kissed her on the lips through the bars.

Charity was prepared to lie down and fall asleep when she noticed Killdoll standing in the corner by their dirt drawing pad, gently tapping the bars with a padded hand. Killdoll used a toe to point to eight fat hearts that she had drawn in a line in the dirt.

“Hearts,” Charity said.

Killdoll nodded then reached as far out of her cage as she could with her leg and drew half of another heart. She then pointed to each of the eight hearts in order with her toe.

Charity studied the drawings for a moment. The half heart was set away from the line of eight hearts. It looked a little like an upside down hook.

“Hangman!” Charity said suddenly. “You want to play hangman!”

Killdoll clapped her hands together excitedly. Charity felt her arousal ramp up a little.

“Okay…” Charity said. “An eight letter word… um… ‘R’. My first guess is ‘R’.”

Killdoll shook her head and drew a small heart dangling below the point of the hook.

“No R’s.”

Killdoll pointed to an open space and then to Charity. Charity drew an ‘R’ in the dirt to remember that she had used that letter.

“E?” Charity asked.

Killdoll drew a heart shaped torso below the head.

“Shit! I’m going to lose,” Charity mumbled.

Killdoll thumped her chest with her mitted hand.

“Heart, but with eight letters,” Charity lisped. Killdoll stomped in the dirt two times. “Heart… beat… um… love…” Killdoll clapped her mitted hands again and pointed at the hangman game.

“Okay,” Charity said. “L?”

Killdoll clapped her mitts again and pointed with a toe at the third heart. Charity drew an ‘L’ inside it. Then Killdoll pointed at the fourth heart, then the seventh and eighth as well.

“- - L L - - L L”

“You are answering the question from last night! Killdoll! The solu… the word is Killdoll!”

Killdoll raised her arms up in a V and started to jump up and down. After the third jump, she dropped to a knee, trembling and shaking. Charity knew right away that Killdoll was starting to orgasm.

Charity’s belt started to glow brighter and she felt a wave of arousal sweep across her body. She was so horny that she felt woozy. She tried to say that she needed to lie down, but she couldn’t form any words. Eventually, she stumbled over to her cot and collapsed desperately moaning and pinching her breasts.

<>--+-

A few days later, Charity and the ponygirls were only able to enjoy the outdoors for a brief amount of time. Women from all the nearby villages were arriving for some sort of “Calling Rituals”. Faith explained to Charity that sometimes Empusa used magic to help women excel to be the best at their calling as possible. “That’s an example of how they make this universe more perfect on an ongoing basis,” Faith said.

Shortly after lunch, handlers and guards entered Killdoll’s cage and installed her in her tubular upside-down Y frame. Charity’s belt started glowing as they locked Killdoll into position. She had to lie down for a while and calm down after the handlers wheeled Killdoll and her frame out of the menagerie. Obviously, she was playing some role in the magic and she was apparently excited about the event.

About an hour later, (tick) arrived and dressed Charity in a colorful, fancy harness with an attached leash. Charity was happy to see Hazel and Garnet would be her escort to the proceedings as (tick) locked Charity’s leash to the mid-ring of their adjoined chain.

Once they stepped through the doors, they were met by six tall, muscular guards armed with pikes. Charity was shocked to realize that the job of the guards was to protect her. Crowds of women parted as they made their way across the field towards an amphitheater overlooking the ocean. All the women seemed to stare at Charity as she walked by. Some even cheered. Charity moved as close to Hazel and Garnet as she could.

Charity saw that Killdoll was parked on a rise to the right of the amphitheater’s stage. The guards led Charity to a rise on the opposite side. After she and the ponygirls were positioned, the guards stood at attention making sure no one could get too close to Charity.

From where she stood, she had a good view of the amphitheater and the ocean beyond. In the middle of the amphitheater, there was a series of vertical poles embedded in the ground. A naked woman was chained in the center of the poles, with her hands raised straight up. A spreader bar anchored her feet apart on the ground. Other women were taking turns using paints to draw images or mark her body with symbols. Slowly, her entire body was covered in a rainbow of colors.

The chained woman seemed to be enjoying the attention. Everyone was smiling and she kissed all the women who stopped to add to her body paint.

Meanwhile, on the stage, handlers rolled out something that looked like a large wooden sarcophagus. Its lid was removed and placed to the side. Next a narrow cage was rolled out and set on a riser in front of the sarcophagus. A throne and a smaller chair were set on the side of the stage near to Killdoll.

The sun was beginning to set and the amphitheater was near capacity. A loud cheer rose from the crowd and Charity saw Empusa walk out onto the stage. She waved and bowed to the people, then took her seat on the throne. Charity wondered where Faith was.

A Mistress of Ceremonies came out on the stage and spoke to the crowd which responded with laughter and cheers. Then the MC turned to the back of the stage and said, “Fay-(pop)-ya!”

Faith walked out onto the stage, in a beautiful dress waving to the crowd. She even turned towards where Charity stood and blew a kiss. Charity smiled and waved back. Then Faith turned towards Empusa and knelt before her, bowing her head to the stage. Empusa stood and took Faith’s hand, pulling her up from the ground. They embraced and shared a very intimate kiss as the crowd cheered wildly. Faith then held her hands up to the crowd and, after they quieted down, she spoke briefly in the local language causing the crowd to erupt in cheers again. Finally, Empusa directed Faith to the chair next to the throne and they both sat down.

Charity was feeling a little light headed. She wrapped her arms around Hazel and Garnet’s waists just to maintain her balance.

Meanwhile, two guards had released the painted woman from her bonds. They led her through the crowd toward the stage - each guard firmly holding an arm. The woman’s face alternated between a smile and a look of concern. She was obviously worried about something. As they led her up onto the stage towards the tall cage, Charity started to become worried for her too. Particularly with the sarcophagus lying behind the cage.

When they arrived at the cage, the guards let her turn to the crowd and she waved and smiled. She said a few words, wiping tears from her eyes as she did… but still, she was smiling. The crowd cheered as the guards helped her step backwards into the cage. There was enough room for her to stand comfortably with her hands at her sides. The guards swung the door closed which did not seem to lock.

Charity could see the woman’s chest rise and fall quickly and deeply. She pursed her lips together as she exhaled. Every once in a while she tried to look over her shoulder to look into the sarcophagus behind her.

Suddenly, a wave of arousal washed over Charity like heat from a freshly fueled bonfire. It hit Charity with such force that she actually grunted. She moved her lips to say “What the fuck?” but all that came out was incoherent mumbling. Charity looked up to the rise where Killdoll was stationed. A handler was kneeling before Killdoll, occasionally gently stroking a groove in the center of the faceplate of her metal bikini. Charity could feel a surge of arousal with every stroke that the handler made.

Empusa stood up from her throne. She raised one hand toward Killdoll and another toward the woman in the cage. There was a popping sound of metal on metal followed by creaking. The woman in the cage let out a sudden squeal. Her face was twisted in fear now.

The cage! It was shrinking! It was slowly closing around the woman’s body! The woman was saying something - a plea to the goddess, perhaps. Still, the cage continued to shrink around her. The metal bars shortened and tightened. The hinges for the door popped off and fell to the stage. The crowd began chanting a phrase over and over as one.

Finally, the cage stopped shrinking, but it left the painted woman inside without an inch of motion in any direction. Her legs were held together. Her arms were pinned to her sides. The bars even seemed to be pressing against her face.

Empusa shouted something and the two guards pushed the cage with the painted woman inside backwards. The cage tipped over backwards and fell into the sarcophagus behind it. Apparently, the sarcophagus was filled with some kind of extremely dense liquid or gel. The cage landed with a messy splat, half-submerged.

The woman in the cage was screaming pleas for mercy, tears were streaming from her eyes. The cage was heavy, though and it was slowly sinking into the gel.

“Oh, fuck!” Charity thought. “She a fucking sacrifice!” She looked towards Faith who remained still in her chair, though with a tense look on her face. She wanted to shout to Faith to help her get out of this place. She pulled at Hazel and Garnet, but they stood steady equally enraptured by the scene before them. Charity couldn’t form any words.

The cage had sunken far enough that the gel rose over the woman’s ears. Her entire body was shaking and the gel was beginning to wash over her stomach. The woman screamed again and some of the gel spilled into her mouth. She coughed a few times before her head submerged and the amphitheater became quiet. Charity watched in horror as the last edges of the cage disappeared below the surface of the gel.

A number of guards appeared on the stage and lifted the heavy lid from the ground and placed it back on the sarcophagus. The guards used heavy wooden mallets to hammer in spikes around the edges. Once they were done, Empusa stood and spoke to the crowd for a moment. Then she turned to the back of the stage and shouted out toward the ocean. A section of the back of the stage had been lowered forming a ramp. The guards pushed the sealed sarcophagus towards the ramp, letting go as gravity took over. The sarcophagus rolled down the ramp and fell over the side of the cliff into the waters below.

Charity was beside herself with fear and anger. She finally found her voice, but she couldn’t form any words. “Argghhh!” She began pulling as hard as she could on Hazel and Garnet. She had to get out of this place. “Arrgghhh!”

Two of the guards who had been positioned around Charity grabbed her arms to keep her steady. They led the ponygirls with Charity in tow out of the amphitheater, across the field and back into the menagerie. They pushed Charity into her cell and slammed the door behind her, making sure it was locked.

Charity jumped up and ran to the door, grabbing the bars and rattling the metal. She screamed as loud as she could. She wanted to call for Faith, but she couldn’t say her name. The six guards had to work hard to drag Hazel and Garnet, stomping and snorting, away from Charity’s cell. Eventually they were locked in a stall far away.

Charity continued to scream. The ugly, hybrid cat girl with the nasty rat tail was starting to hiss and growl two cells down. “Fuck them all!” Charity thought and she screamed some more.

After a half hour, Charity could finally form the word, Faith. It was still another hour before Faith and Empusa arrived in the menagerie and Charity’s voice had long gone hoarse.

“Get me out of here, Faith!” Charity rasped and she rattled the door to her cell.

“Calm down, babe. What is wrong with you?” Faith asked.

“What is wrong with me!? Bitch queen, here,” Charity said, pointing at Empusa, “just drowned a woman… and tossed her body in the ocean. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Perhaps I should have explained the ritual before,” Empusa said, frowning.

“Explain human sac… sacrifice?!”

“The woman is fine, Charity,” Faith said. “She’s fine!”

“She didn’t look so fine as she slowly drowned,” Charity screamed.

“She did not drown,” Faith said. “She is fine. She is in suspended animation.”

“What!?” Charity said.

Empusa tried to explain. “Her calling-”

“Fuck you!” Charity said. “You tell me, Faith!”

Faith and Empusa looked at each other for a moment.

“The woman tonight wants to be part of a special group of women who… um… host? Yes, host simulations,” Faith explained. “She has been placed in suspended animation and she is currently being transferred across the ocean to Paradise. Calm down, Charity. Empusa will need to explain to you about what a simulation host is. Listen to what she has to say.”

Charity growled, but looked at Empusa.

“In your universe, your scientists spent a lot of time trying to recreate the human brain using silicon chips. The human brain has 80 billion neurons connected by 100 trillion synapses. It’s utterly foolish to attempt to recreate the human brain with silicon. There is also the question of ‘Why?’ Why not just use a human brain as the computer rather than build it from sand?

“In your universe, your scientists wanted to use these powerful silicon chips to simulate the universe. Here, we have learned how to simulate a universe using a human brain. The ritual that you saw tonight was one to prepare the woman to host an entire universe in her brain. She, in fact, will be like a Goddess in the simulated universe - all powerful. Her task will be to create a universe with certain parameters so we can learn… that is, Goddess Dammasch can learn how to always direct our universe in such a way to make it more and more perfect.

“So, we placed the woman in a medium which will quickly harden and will perfectly preserve her body. The cage allows us to interface with her brain. She is being transported across the ocean to Paradise by the Women of the Water. There, our scientists will use her as a new simulated universe, perhaps, or maybe she will become a portion of one of the bigger projects and combine with other universe simulators. It is a very prestigious calling! Of course all callings are perfect and prestigious.”

Charity glanced over at the ugly hybrid cat girl, who apparently had settled down. She was distinctly not perfect. Charity felt like she understood most of what Empusa said. She wasn’t sure that she trusted her. She glanced at Faith who seemed satisfied with the answer. Faith had worked in the high tech industry for years. Charity had to trust Faith’s instincts on whatever Empusa was talking about.

“She’s alive?” Charity asked. That was her main concern.

“Yes!” Empusa said, smiling. “And soon she will be even more alive than you or I could imagine. She will be a goddess of her own universe!”

Charity looked around her cell for a moment. “I’m feeling very trapped right now. Can I get out of here for a little while?”

“Not tonight,” Empusa said. “There are a lot of visiting women on the property tonight after all the rituals. And you are a celebrity, Charity. Everyone knows what you are becoming and what you are wearing. Most are probably afraid of you. Some may want to take you from me. From us! We have to keep you safe.”

Charity let out a heavy sigh.

“I’ll have the handlers release Hazel and Garnet from their stall. They are very upset. They love you very much. I think that it would be good if the three of you spent some time together. Everyone would feel better.”

“Can I sleep with them?” Charity asked.

“That’s a wonderful idea. I’ll have a cell setup for a woman and two ponygirls immediately!”

Chapter 10

It had been five days since the ritual. A routine had become established. (tick) bathed and fed Charity. Then she would be leashed up with Hazel and Garnet for some time outdoors during the day. At night, Hazel and Garnet would return to their stall and Charity would play hangman with Killdoll using their toes in the dirt between their cells.

Killdoll had drawn four fat hearts in the dirt.

“Four letters?” Charity lisped. “Hmmm… what could it be? L-O-V-E. And don’t start jumping around and have an orgasm! You can’t use the same word every time we play. I can't even imagine what kind of brain damage you have suffered.”

Killdoll erased the hearts with her foot, then started drawing more. “- - - - - - - -”

“Something different. Finally,” Charity said. “S”

Killdoll drew a heart shaped head hanging from the hook.

“E.”

“- - - - E - - -”

“O.”

“- - O - E - - O”

Killdoll was obviously starting to get excited. Charity could feel her arousal. Her belt was beginning to glow.

“L,” Charity said with a heavy sigh.

“- L O - E - - O”

“It says, ‘I love you’?” Charity asked.

Killdoll started jumping around.

“Oh, fuck!” Charity cursed.

Sure enough after a few jumps Killdoll orgasmed, dropping to her knees. Arousal washed over Charity and she had to stumble over to her collapse in her cot, grasping her breasts in desperation, once again temporarily incapable of forming any words.

<>--+-

“This is what we have named the Promontory,” Empusa explained.

She had led Faith and Charity on a hike along the coastal cliff trail to the tallest headland on the property. Charity was happy to be with her sister on a hike. She was even more happy that Faith was holding her hand and not Empusa’s. She felt like her sister-time quota was in deficit.

“There is a natural cave up top which we are building out right now. It will be the future home of our new Source Witch,” Empusa explained.

“I can see the cave opening,” Faith said as they climbed the hill.

“What is a Source Witch?” Charity asked. Her lisp was still very prominent when she attempted to make ‘s’ sounds.

“A Source Witch is an individual who has the natural tendency to generate a lot of mana. So, with Killdoll as an antenna and with the addition of a new Source Witch, I will be able to perform magic that is several magnitudes greater than what I can do now with just Killdoll. Just think… Your favorite cat girl hybrid will finally be capable of survival in the wild. The faeries will finally be able to fly. This will improve my queendom so much.”

They made their way up to the cave. A stream of steaming water poured from the mouth.

“A hotspring bubbles up into the cave which moderates the temperature to make it a comfortable place to live at all times of the year. Particularly, if the house is open like this.”

They walked into the cave. The interior had been smoothed out to create a large rectangular room. About twenty feet inside the cave, five separate chains were strung across the room. One chain dangled from the ceiling, two from high on the walls, and two from either side on the floor. All the chains joined together in the middle, forming a design, which, frankly, looked a lot like a hangman stick figure. (Not the heart shaped ones that Killdoll drew with her toe.) Charity noticed that the chains were not anchored, but rather disappeared into narrow openings in the stone.

“A Source Witch is often overwhelmed by the amount of mana bubbling through her. The mana tends to affect the individual in an adverse manner. They can become very dangerous. Even their touch can result in random physical and mental transformations. It is necessary to keep them very well secured. These chains will be used to secure our Source Witch. They can be loosened to allow the Source Witch to move about the cave, or they can be strung tight to hold her in a spread eagle fashion.”

Faith looked out of the mouth of the cave at the ocean reaching towards the horizon. “Isn’t it a beautiful view, babe?” Charity nodded. “So, the mouth is always left open?”

“Well,” Empusa said. “Yes and no. Once the Source Witch is installed here. We will further secure the cave with not one, but two, arrays of thick metal bars. The arrays will be about ten feet apart. People on the outside will be able to approach the mouth of the cave but never get closer than ten feet to the Source Witch for safety reasons.”

“Do women choose to become a Source Witch?” Charity asked.

“Every woman has their perfect calling,” Empusa explained. “If their calling is to become a Source Witch, then that is what they will inevitably become. It’s only natural. But, that being said, there have been only a few Source Witches in the entire history of our world. So, this is a very, very special gift from the goddess.”

“Is the Source Witch here now?” Charity asked.

“She will be gifted to me from the Goddess upon the arrival of the next airship,” Empusa said. “The airship that you and your sister are awaiting. We still need to finish furnishing the cave - a nest for sleeping, two women as nurses…”

“Nurses?” Charity asked.

“Even a Source Witch needs nourishment,” Empusa explained. The nurses will be housed in a separate facility beyond the back wall of this room.

“Doesn’t nursing impl… won’t the witch have to touch the nurse?” Charity asked.

“You are a very smart woman, Charity,” Empusa noted, laughing. “Nothing escapes you. The chains will be measured so that only the witch’s lips will barely touch a nurse’s nipple. During feeding the nurse must press her breast through a small hole in the back of the cave. It is believed that this will prolong the length of service for an individual nurse. When nursing is no longer the nurse’s calling she will be replaced.”

They stepped back out to the mouth of the cave.

“We are preparing that area for the new amphitheater down there and Killdoll will be placed just over here on that small rise during the rituals,” Empusa said. “Look! Here come the two guards.”

Charity turned and saw the pair of guards carrying a chest between the two of them. She gripped Faith’s hand a little tighter.

Faith waved at the guards and greeted them in the native language. Apparently, she even knew their names. They returned Faith’s greetings and set the heavy chest on the ground next to Charity. One of the guards knelt down and unlocked the trunk. Charity took a few steps back. Faith continued to hold her hand tightly as the lid of the chest was pushed open.

“Lunchtime!” Faith said, gleefully.

<>--+-

“- - - -”

“How many times do I have to tell you? You cannot use ‘L-O-V-E’ everytime that you play hangman! See how easy it is for me to guess? Your brain must be complete mush!” Charity said.

Killdoll stuck her foot through the bars of her cell and erased the four fat hearts she had drawn.

“Hey, come here,” Charity said.

Killdoll stepped to the bars that separated their cells. Charity knelt down and placed her hands on Killdoll’s hips. In the very center of Killdoll’s faceplate, between the two camera lenses that provided Killdoll with stereo vision, there was a slim streak on the metal. A place where a handler had swiped her finger repeatedly over the years and the natural oils from her skin had slowly collected and created a slight discoloration.

Charity slipped her finger down the metal, along the line of discoloration. She only made it about halfway down before she tumbled backwards away from the bars into the center of her cell and began to writhe in ecstasy. Or… not quite ecstasy, but as close to it as possible. She tried to let out a moan, but her voice was gone. Her cell was glowing in the light emitted from her chastity belt.

Eventually, she dragged herself over to her cot and lay down, pinching her nipples, sucking on her fingers, pounding on the faceplate of her belt.

<>--+-

Charity was trembling with arousal, sandwiched between Hazel and Garnet. They were in the amphitheater partitioned from its occupants by six strong guards carrying sharp-bladed pikes. Faith was sitting in the smaller chair on stage watching as Empusa performed her ritual.

Empusa made sure to describe the ritual to Charity beforehand in great detail guaranteeing that nothing shocking was going to happen.

On the rise on the opposite side of the amphitheater, a handler was stroking the middle of Killdoll’s metal bikini. Charity could feel the steady waves of arousal washing over her. She had lost the use of her voice and she felt she would collapse at any moment.

This was a reproduction ritual. Women were lined up, perhaps forty pairs. Four of Empusa’s helpers were situated near the front of the line. It was their job to prepare the couples. They knelt before the hopeful couples and began servicing them orally.

When it was their turn, a couple would be led up on the stage, each laying on a cot with Empusa sitting between them. Helpers would masturbate the women while Empusa soaked her hands in some sort of lubricating fluid. When the handlers felt that their charges were sufficiently prepared, Empusa would slowly work her fingers into one of the women, pressing until she could get her entire hand inside, forcing a scream of painful ecstasy. Then she would do the same with the woman’s partner.

Once each fist was buried, Empusa would shout out a prayer of some sort. The handler on the opposite rise would stroke Killdoll’s faceplate. A wave of arousal would sweep across Charity’s body and the couple lying on the cots would jerk and moan as orgasms wrenched away control of their bodies.

Eventually, Empusa would pull her fists free, say a parting prayer, and the couple would be helped off the stage - one of whom, apparently, would now be carrying a fertilized egg - a future daughter.

Meanwhile, the handlers would be helping the next aroused pair up onto the stage and onto the cots on either side of Empusa.

Eventually, Charity could physically stand no more. A guard carried her limp body back to the menagerie, placed her sleeping body on her cot, walked out of the cell and locked the door.

<>--+-

“The airship will be here in a couple of days,” Faith said.

“Good,” Charity replied.

They were sitting in the grass near the entrance to the menagerie.

“I thought you would be more excited,” Faith said.

“I am,” Charity replied. “Are you?”

“Of course, babe,” Faith said.

“You will still come with me?” Charity asked.

“Of course. I’m your sister, babe. I love you. I need you to be you, not some animal,” Faith said. “Look at you! You’re going to make it. You can still speak. Empusa says she has been surprised by your resiliency.”

“My what?” Charity asked.

“Um… she’s surprised at how tenaciously you’ve held on to your humanity… you know?”

“Uh-huh,” Charity said, but she just looked confused.

“Hey! Empusa told me that one of those couples the other day. Well, they thought their calling was to have a baby, but, it turns out that they have since found out that their calling is to work as the nurses for the new Source Witch when she arrives,” Faith said. “Empusa was really excited. She says that everything is coming together.”

“Well, that is a bunch of crap,” Charity said.

“What’s a bunch of crap?” Faith asked, her smile quickly fading.

“Do you think that a couple that wanted a baby suddenly decided… ‘Hey! I’ve got a better idea! We should lock ourselves in a cave and let a monster nibble at our nipples for a few years and hope that we don’t turn into some hid… hidey… scary mu… mu… Fuck! Fuck! Some creature!’ Are you fucking stupid, Faith? I’m turning into an animal and you are just turning dumb. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“This place is not like home,” Faith responded, sneering. “People live a lot longer. There is no huge ticking clock hanging over every woman’s body from the moment they pass through puberty! They have time to try different things in life. They don’t have to make a decision when they are 18 and then get railroaded down a particular path for the next 50 years, always praying to do great things one day… someday.”

“Oh yeah, like ugly cat girl with the rat tail two cells down from me. She has all kinds of choices, doesn’t she? She’s living her best life,” Charity lisped. “Empusa has just fucked the brains right out of you!”

“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?” Faith said. “You’re just jealous because for the first time, I have found someone who I like and who can handle me. I’ve been wiping your ass for your entire life. I’ve been chasing your girlfriends when they run on you, holding you when they break your heart. It’s always about you! ‘Help me, Faith!’ Well, fuck you! I happen to like Empusa! And after we go and get this chastity belt unlocked, I’ll probably move back here and stay with Empusa. You can go home or you can go and fuck all ponygirls you want. Fuck you! You selfish little bitch!”

Faith got up and walked off towards the main estate building.

Charity stood up too, prepared to give Faith a piece of her mind. She had a great number of things she wanted to say - things that she had been holding back. And she was going to say them now! “Arrrrghhh!!!”

Charity was getting madder by the second. “Arrrggh! Arrrggggh!!!”

Fuck it! Charity started to run out across the field. Out onto the coastal cliff trail. She was running so fast. Each foot landing gracefully just as she planned. She ran down a hill and came upon the creek that she had bathed in with Hazel and Garnet. She splashed into the waters, finally collapsing and going under.She lay on the bottom of the creek bed looking up at the ripples on the surface for a couple of minutes. She rose up. The ponygirls were standing patiently at the edge of the water. They smiled at her and nodded their heads. Charity climbed out of the creek. Hazel and Garnet stood close and warmed her chilled skin. After a while, they led Charity slowly back to the menagerie.

<>--+-

One morning (tick) arrived to bathe Charity and she was in a particularly happy mood. It wasn’t until later when Faith stopped by Charity’s cell and she said, “The airship has arrived!” that Charity figured out why.

“I’ll pack my fucking bags,” Charity responded. And it sounded just about as awful as one would think. She was still angry.

Faith just shrugged her shoulders and left Charity in her cell.

For the next two days, when she went outside with the ponygirls, they were always accompanied by two handlers. They weren’t allowed to run around the estate property. Charity understood why. There were many strangers on the property. Many were even camping on the estate and Charity could hear music play at night and smell campfires burning. She could hear singing and the sound of laughter.

On the third day, Faith stopped by. Charity blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

“I know, babe,” Faith responded, which pissed Charity off, but somehow she was able to refrain herself from arguing.

“I want to see…” Charity said. She was shocked by how difficult it was to find words. “…to see the cele… cele… the, uh, parties…”

“We are leaving tonight, babe. Empusa said that the guards will bring you to the airship late this afternoon and we’ll climb on board and head for Paradise,” Faith explained. “You made it, babe. It takes ten days to travel in the airship. Empusa says that she’ll send word to get an audience with Dammasch the moment we arrive.”

“I… Hope…” Charity struggled.

“No, babe. You’ll make it. I’m confident,” Faith said.

“No! Hope…” Charity started to say again.

“No, babe! You’ve made it! I’m telling you! Don’t fret yourself! I’ve got to go. See you, babe.” Faith walked out of the menagerie leaving Charity locked in her cell.

Charity felt tears in her eyes as she serviced Hazel and Garnet one last time. She would miss them and (tick) and she even hugged Killdoll through the bars of their cell, careful not to accidentally brush her cheek against that one particular spot on the faceplate of Killdoll’s metal bikini.

In the afternoon when six guards arrived, (tick) had Charity harnessed and leashed. There was no ritual, so Killdoll, who remained in her cell, waved good-bye. The ponygirls were left locked in their stalls. They simply smiled at her as the guards pulled her through the menagerie to the doors. Charity wondered if, as ponygirls, they had any concept of good-bye. Well… Charity would definitely come back. She had to go and find Hope after the chastity belt business was taken care of.

The guards led her across the field to the coastal trail and up towards the Promontory where the new amphitheater was under construction. The airship was a huge blimp shaped balloon with a long wooden passenger compartment hanging below. The compartment was like a sea-worthy ship with an open deck on top and several stories below.

The guards led Charity through crowds of women, through a locked gate and up a path that hugged a cliff wall, where they stopped. A guard stood on either side of Charity, one holding her leash. They had an excellent view of a newly built stage with a gangplank angling up to the airship’s compartment.

Empusa and Faith were already on the stage. There was an empty, sturdy, metal-barred cage sitting next to the gangplank.

“That must be my accommodations for the trip,” Charity thought, and she wondered why the guards did not just take her down to lock her inside right away. She couldn’t imagine what kind of damage she could do on an airship if she had one of her violent sleepwalking episodes. She always expected she would make the trip in some sort of cage.

Empusa spoke for some time to the crowd. Everyone seemed much more reserved than they had been at the rituals Charity had witnessed. Finally, Empusa finished speaking and a line of young girls began to make their way up across the stage and along the gangplank. Charity realized that these were all the ten year old girls from Empusa’s queendom, leaving their mothers to go and attend school in Paradise.

Soon, Charity could see the girls on the deck of the airship waving down to their mothers and friends.

Empusa spoke for a bit. She introduced Faith who stood and waved to the crowds. Faith spoke a few words in the native language too.

Charity could see workers on the airship preparing to take flight. She was nervous that she might get left behind until she saw eight guards descend from the airship and onto the stage.

“Ah! Here comes my escort,” Charity thought.

The guards on either side of her each took hold of a wrist. Charity started to turn to head down the path to the stage, but instead her guards started to lift her arms and pull her backwards to the rock wall behind her.

“Hey!” She tried to wrench her arms from the guards’ grasps, but they were much too strong for her. They were pulling her arms up and away from each other until her feet barely touched the ground. “Faith?”

Charity felt a metal cuff wrap around each wrist and the sound of locks engaging.

“Faith!”

The guards stepped away from her as she struggled on the tips of her toes in the loose gravel. She had been chained to the rock wall.

“Faith!!”

Finally, Faith must have heard Charity, she looked toward her. Charity saw the smile on Faith’s face transform to a look of confusion. It was only a momentary look though, because it was then that the eight guards surrounded Faith, pulling her to the ground.

Charity saw the flash of a knife, and moments later Faith’s dress had been ripped from her body. Empusa had casually strolled to the side of the stage and watched with a stoney look on her face.

Faith was strong and she put up a fight, but she was no match against eight guards. They pulled her naked body to the empty cage and shoved her inside.

Charity could hear Faith screaming at Empusa. Still, the cage door was closed and locked and then the guards started to wheel it up the gangplank.

Charity was so angry that she couldn’t form any words. She watched in horror as Faith’s cage was pushed through the door into the belly of the airship.

Charity pulled at the chains that held her against the rock wall and began to scream wildly.

Empusa stepped to the front of the stage with a look of sadness on her face. She said a few words which led to a reserved round of clapping from her audience. Then she left the stage.

Meanwhile the ship’s gangplank was pulled aboard. The hatch was closed and secured. Ropes that had been used to anchor the airship along the cliff were pulled up and the ship started to rise into the sky. It circled around overhead, then headed out across the ocean towards the setting sun.

Charity hung in from her chains. All her energy was gone. She was alone now. Lost in an alien universe. Half animal.

Slowly the crowd dispersed. The airship was no more than a distant dot in the sky.

Charity heard footsteps approaching. It was Empusa. Charity could do no more than growl.

“Well…,” Empusa said. “That was much harder than I thought it was going to be. I do really, really love your sister.” Charity saw a tear slide down Empusa’s face. “It turns out, though, that the Goddess Dammasch is way more interested in Faith. She could care less about you and your special hardware. She is perfectly content with your situation. She has no intention of ever removing your Zoic Amplifier.” Empusa pointed to Charity’s chastity belt.

Charity growled again struggling to speak. “Fucking…!”

“But I am the queen and I must follow my calling to provide the best that I can for the women of my queendom. So, I have lost my lover. But… Now, Charity, you are all mine…”

“Arrr… mer.. B.. bitch!” Charity kicked out with her foot and lost her balance. She struggled to support herself on the tips of her toes again.

“All that’s left,” Empusa continued, “is for you to succumb to your destiny. Become the animal, Charity. Once you are a womanimal, then I can install you up in the Promontory as my Source Witch.” Empusa smiled. “And we will do amazing things.”

Charity looked out to the fading dot of the airship. “Aaaarrgh!!”