Beth's Journey - Chapter 2: Chains

By WintermuteX
wintermutex.stories@gmail.com
https://www.asstr.org/~Wintermutex/

Content: Young Girls, Catgirls, Bestiality, Monster Rape, Incest, Pedophilia, Violence

Beth was shivering, kneeling naked in the pool beneath him and holding her arms close to her chest as Julian cupped his hands to douse her with more water.

"I'm sorry baby," her father soothed. "Just a little more. There's still some...in your hair."

Beth nodded, her teeth chattering. Julian had to summon all his fortitude to push away the heartbreak of having to wash the grime and cum off of his own daughter, the evidence of his failure to protect her. They had stopped at the shallow pool beside a mountain stream after riding for hours, putting the burned ruin of their home far behind them.

As he washed her body, he struggled to steady his hands against the chaos of emotions inside him. Cum had been leaking from her pussy for hours. It was dried in grotesque globs on her thighs. Sticky, shiny trails had been left crisscrossing her front and back where the monsters had cum on her, apparently giving her not a moment of rest the entire night he had spent desperately searching for help. He had tried to push the thoughts away, but they simmered unwelcome in the back of his head like reeking sewage: his little girl, back arched, head thrown upwards and howling in a rictus of wild pleasure as the oversized monsters had plowed their massive cocks into her over and over. They had raped her, savaged her with merciless violence and defiled her virginity, yet despite a few patches of light scratches on her arms, she was unhurt. Physically anyway. Julian wondered if his little girl would ever be the same, or if the beasts had beaten the innocence from her for good. 12 years old. She hadn't known anything about sex; he had always been too embarrassed to explain it to her. That was before the brutish monsters had raped her on the ground outside their farmhouse for an entire night, her pussy battered and her body speared by the massive, bestial cocks. Now she knew it all firsthand.

It was everything he swore to never let happen - and in the end, he had been helpless to prevent it. That was what gnawed at him the most: that for all his strength and skill, he wasn't able to prevent his helpless little girl from being gangraped by monstrous animals.

Animals. Surely that's what they were, he said to himself, pouring more water over the greasy deposits of gunk in his daughter's golden hair. The sticky goop clung like glue, and he rubbed the wet strands furiously to get it out. No such thing as monsters. Just some wild beasts never seen before. He rubbed more furiously, fingers clawing at the tacky sludge, as if he could erase the stain from his own conscience as easily.

"Ow, Daddy!" Beth winced, still shivering, and Julian stopped. He had yanked too hard. Her hair still seemed greasy, but it would have to do. At least he had already washed the semen off her pussy and her ass. That had been the hardest part.

"Ok baby, we're done," he said, helping her stand up in the pool.

"Daddy. What was that stuff? It kept coming out of them all night. It tasted funny too."

Julian winced. So they had had her there too.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it honey." Julian bent and rubbed her arms as they waded from the pool, trying to alleviate her shaking. The poor girl's nightgown had been rent into a thousand pieces when she was raped, and all her other clothing had been burned along with their farmhouse. His poor, naked daughter didn't even have anything to wear. What kind of father was he?

The dread guilt brought the taste of bile to his mouth again. He turned away from Beth. Her nudity could do nothing but remind him of his failure. He felt his fists tighten with fury. His heart raced and his blood boiled like a volcano. Powerless. Helpless. Unfit to perform even the one task most sacred to a father. Julian would have given anything, even his own life to have spared his daughter that awful night. He closed his eyes, but in the darkness the lurid images of his daughter's wicked defilement danced gleefully.

He felt a touch, the light brush of fingers on his chest, and opened his eyes again. There she was: looking up at him, her eyes full of the characteristic sparkle and love that so defined her. Julian felt the rage leave him in an instant. His throat softened and he could breathe again. Beth. His little girl, staring up at him with all the love in the world. She was still with him after all.

"Daddy, stop blaming yourself," she whispered.

"I'm sorry baby. I'm so sorry." Moisture sprung unwelcome at the corners of his eyes as he tried to wrest control of himself.

"It's ok Daddy. I'm fine. We're together again." Her slight arms snaked around his waist and tightened, pulling her naked body close to him. "That's all that matters."

Julian gave a sour hiccup, managing to chain his emotions at last, and returned her embrace. He let the peace of it wash over him. Her touch. The calm of the mountain pool. The beauty of the forest. Beth was no longer shivering; she hugged him as if he was all the warmth she needed in the world. The pair embraced in a long silence, eyes closed, the bond between them undamaged after all.

A stiff breeze brushed against them. Julian let his daughter go and turned to look to the mountains ahead.

"We'll have to camp here," he said, squinting as the setting sun brushed a pair of lonely peaks "We're not likely to find another place with fresh water before dark, and we can't cross the mountains at night."

Beth nodded. "I'll unhalter Artemis," she said, then turned to walk to where the horse was grazing on the fresh grass on the far side of the pool. Julian watched her go, unable to help admiring the narrow hips or the round sweep of her bottom as she walked before chastising himself and turning to unload their pack. It was all they had, and precious little at that. One bedroll, nearly threadbare from use. A few rations. A waterskin, which he had refilled from the pool. No coats. Nothing for the horse. Nothing to cover his 12-year-old daughter's modesty, except for the white blanket he had wrapped her in after fighting off the beasts and coming upon her shaking, cum-soaked body. He shook it out. It was too late now to wash it - they would need it for its warmth. Already the breeze was growing more insistent, charged with a bitter chill that promised an uneasy night. At least he still had his sword - if any wild beasts or bandits came upon them he could kill them or chase them off.

He had laid out the roll on a section of soft grass and lined it with the blanket by the time Beth returned. He pulled a few pieces of dried jerky from their rations and they munched on them in silence while sitting on the grass and watching the sun set on their world.

The tough meat was gone all too quickly, and by now they were both shivering in the fading light. Julian stood and stretched as Beth moved toward the bedroll.

"You know, I've been thinking," he said. "I can just...stand watch for the night. You know. Make sure there aren't any wolves about. That Artemis is ok." He looked away and picked at his sword, refusing to meet his daughter's disbelieving stare.

"Don't be silly Daddy," Beth said, laying down and stretching out to worm herself into the bedroll. "We both have to sleep. How can you ride tomorrow if you don't rest?"

Julian turned. His daughter had her hand outstretched for him, her nakedness hidden by the bedroll for the moment. Julian felt a cold sweat coming on, knowing how close he would have to be to his daughter if he climbed in with her, how her naked body would rub against him. Having her pressing against him was almost as bad as watching her nude. Shame battled to a stalemate with the shivering cold growing inside him.

"We both have to keep warm, Daddy." Beth's eyes were pleading. "Come to bed. Please?"

That did it. Julian gulped and nodded. He laid his sword down so it would be close, then bent and slid into the bedroll with his naked daughter. She was so tiny compared to his massive frame, barely taking up any space, while his bulk stretched the tattered cloth to its limit. She managed to turn around, snuggling her butt up against his crotch with a contented sigh. Julian wasn't sure if he had relented because Beth was right or if it was just because it was what he had secretly wanted.

His arm was uncomfortable, bound against the cloth. He let it snake naturally up past his daughter's side until his hand brushed her chest. He gulped again. Her nipple grazed his fingers. The sweet swell of her flat chest brushed his palm as she breathed. As the minutes passed, he fought the aching urge to squeeze that luscious skin, to pinch the pert little bud under his fingertips.

"Daddy?", said Beth, squirming slightly to nudge even closer to him

"...yeah baby?"

"I don't think I can sleep. Can you tell me about the stars?" She stretched out her arm, pointing at a bright pinpoint above them. "What's that one?"

"That's Malus," he said after a moment. "It's one of the brightest stars in the sky, and the most constant. It never sets in the sky here."

"How about that one?"

"That's Eratos. In the Eastern nations, lovers swear to each other when they see it in the night.

Beth wiggled against him. "Sounds nice. What about...that one?"

Julian followed her arm to a burning red point that glared with baleful malevolence. He frowned.

"I...I don't know," he confessed.

"You don't know?" Beth twisted her head to look at him. "You always know, Daddy. Tell me."

Sooner stop the wind, he thought, as turn aside his little girl's questions.

"That's the Demon Star," he said. "It's...it's an evil omen. You shouldn't ask about it."

"Fine," she groused, then gave a long sigh.

"There are so many stars, Daddy. I can't count them. Can you tell me a story about them?"

Julian pondered for a moment, trying to find a story from his adventures that would do. Pretty much any story would satisfy her, he knew, but he had the perfect one.

"Once," he began, "we set sail from the port of Backtun. Our company had three ships. We were crossing the Sea of Stars to the south, destined for Cartaignae. We knew it would take us almost a month, but the winds filled our sails and we were making good time."

Beth listened in silence, still staring at the sky. The slow rhythm of her breath was a gentle lull in the tight confines of the bedroll.

"Three days out, we found out why it was called the Sea of Stars. In that area it's almost always cloudy, so our navigators were having a difficult time. By the time night had come we had lost our heading and were drifting. After the darkness fell, we saw lights from the ocean - thousands of them. Millions. They were coming to the surface."

"What were they?" Beth's voice was fearful. "Were they spirits? Was it the drowned dead?"

"Nothing like that. We saw them as they came close - delicate, wispy creatures called Jellyfish. Like nothing you've ever seen, Beth. Not at all like fish, but with a body like a thin hood. They swam like wraiths in the water. They lit up the sea, each one a pearl of brilliance, stretching in a vast, luminous field all the way to the horizon. As many as the stars, Beth. That night, the sky became the sea, and the sea became the sky, and we sailed as if through the cosmos itself.

Beth lapsed into silence, her face full of wonder and awe as she searched the night sky, trying to imagine the heavens and the earth trading places. Julian was plenty warm now, and was fighting the sweat that threatened to break out from having his daughter's luscious little body squeezed up tight against him. His cock wasn't helping - it was already developing into a growing bulge, a jutting tightness worming its way along the crack of his daughter's rear end.

"Daddy? Didn't you meet mom in Cartaignae?"

Julian let the words linger on the night breeze before answering with a nod.

"Tell me about her," Beth pleaded.

Julian realized that his hand was gently gripping his daughter's chest now, relishing the feel of her supple chest as if it had his own will. Beth had her arm tight against his own, her hand resting on the back of his, seemingly pleased with what he was doing. He decided he didn't mind.

"She was...beautiful. A pure soul inside and out. Nobody was as kind or as generous as your mother. You're just like her, Beth."

"Tell me how you met," Beth yawned, finally growing sleepy.

"She was a scholar. We met at a library in the city." Julian found it hard to work through the details whenever Beth asked him this. Jenell had changed his life utterly.

"Didn't she believe in magic and old things like that?"

"Superstitions," mumbled Julian. "But I loved her anyway."

"Daddy..." Beth began, trailing off suddenly. Julian was feeling drowsy himself, despite the cold, despite the lumpy ground, as if all he needed to be comfortable was his daughter's breast under his hand and his cock against her ass. "Why did she leave?" Beth asked, her voice a whisper.

Julian swallowed against the lump in this throat.

"Go to sleep, Beth," he murmured.

With one final wiggle, Beth was still. There were some things Julian always found too difficult to discuss with his daughter. Like the truth about her mother and what had driven them apart, and how seeing the red, burning glow of the Demon Star had brought back memories he would much rather have forgotten.

He had seen it in the sky twice before: once as a very young boy, and then again on the night of his daughter's birth. It was a fickle star, inconstant. Nobody knew why it came and went every 20 years or so. Ill omens, or so the fools said. Julian knew better than to believe the stars guided their fate.

Above them, the harsh breeze was picking up into a sharp, gusting wind roiling through the bleak darkness of the night, but inside the bedroll, father and daughter had lapsed into comfortable silence, warm and snug in each other's arms, until sleep finally overtook them both.

"Try this", Julian said, handing the bundle to his daughter. He had cut a hole in the blanket with his sword, and severed a loose length from the horse's reins. It was all they had. Beth let the wad of blanket drop open and pulled it up over herself, her head popping through the hole. Then she pulled the leather cord around her waist and tied it to make a crude belt.

Julian sighed. The blanket hid her nudity, barely. Except a sharp gust of wind would show Beth's pussy to the world, and the gaping sides would give an eyeful of her naked chest to anyone she passed. It was all they could do though.

Beth bent and pulled her own small pack closer, then pulled out the only thing in it: the elegant scroll case. She popped the cap and pulled out the scroll with care, then unrolled the length of parchment, her eyes going wide with dazzling wonder as she did so.

"Daddy?" she asked "Can you show me where we are?"

Julian turned from where he was packing Artemis, and bent to look.

"Here," he said, pointing his finger at an unremarkable and unmarked expanse near a range of mountains in the center.

"We're not even on the map," Beth muttered.

"Look here," said Julian, moving his finger slightly. "Viridium. That's where we're going. It's the duchy seat."

"A city?" Beth looked up, her expression eager.

"Yes."

"With lots of people?"

Julian hid his smirk, turning to work on the horse's pack again.

"Yes Beth."

"They can help us?"

Julian pulled the pack tight against the horse's flank. Artemis chuffed and stamped his feet idly.

"Maybe." Julian shrugged. "We can tell them what's going on out here at least. And I can probably find work. We'll ask at the barracks."

"Oh Daddy," Beth's voice was tight with awe. "You'll be a soldier again?"

Julian glanced at his daughter, frowning.

"No Beth. That's long behind me. There's always work for strong hands though. Maybe they'll have room at a forge. That would be best."

Beth seemed to be hiding her disappointment as she rolled the scroll and put it back into its case. In a few minutes more, the pair had managed to strike their camp and the horse was ready. Julian flung his leg over the saddle, and Beth mounted up behind him, the awkward bulk of her clothing giving her a moment's pause as she arranged it. He snapped the reins when she leaned forward and hugged him. At least she wasn't in front again. After the long night, Julian didn't think he would be able to endure more hours with his cock buried tight against his daughter's ass without exploding.

The mountain road proved easier than he expected. Traders with loaded wagons often came this way, winding their way down into the green valley, but the pair passed nobody else as the day wore on. The wind howled brittle and cold as they passed the summit, then began to relent as they began to descend. Julian had been this way before, of course, but they were leaving the only home his daughter had ever known. He felt her moving against his back, leaning, looking this way and that, as if she expected adventure to immediately pop out of the rocks, and then was surprised when it didn't.

The sun had passed its zenith when they reached the bottom slopes again. The road stretched out before them, winding along a long, cracked ravine to a distant blot on the horizon. Beth squirmed impatiently.

"Is it much farther Daddy?"

"Not much Beth. You can just see the city up ahead - there." He pointed

Beth looked and sighed, then lapsed into silence again.

"I thought it would be bigger," she muttered. Julian smiled to himself but stifled a laugh. Viridium was a large city. He would let her see for herself as they got closer.

At last, they passed a fellow traveler: a man in torn clothing stained with soot, pulling a handwagon with a wheel that kept catching. Julian hailed him, but got only a blank stare in return.

"What news?" he asked, but the man only murmured something inaudible. He seemed in shock, staring at the horizon, unaware. After a few more questions, Julian gave up. They passed more as the road wore on - people in ragged coats, holding packs or pulling wagons with their meager belongings. Each story was the same - beasts, monsters. Catastrophe everywhere. Driven from their homes. Most seemed to only want to keep their heads down and reach the city, hoping to find safety. Julian gave up hailing them and he and Beth quickened to a trot that brought them to the wide, straight thoroughfare that led to the city gates.

More refugees here, Julian saw, hunkered at the side of the road, destitute. Some were begging. Others stared aimlessly into the distance. No few amount ogled Beth as they passed, gaping at how her makeshift clothing availed more than a few naughty peeks. Julian shied away from these and kicked Artemis into a faster gait. Why so many? Had they been turned away from the gate?

He had his answer as they approached. Armed men were keeping the road clear of lollygaggers and allowing wagons to pass out of the city, but they were stopping all who entered.

"Halt," commanded one of them, a dim-looking man with a sloppy helmet who held his halberd wrong. Julian grimaced as the soldier stepped in front of their horse.

"No pass," he groused, scratching a slovenly beard and waving them away. "Go away with the others."

Julian made sure the man could see his sword, and how he wore it. The man eyeballed the blade before his gaze slipped back to Beth and twisted into a surprised leer.

"We're no peasants," Julian said, his voice disciplined.

"Reckon," muttered the guard.

"Seems like the city could use a man with a sword arm," Julian suggested.

"You stole it," the guard sneered.

"Come and find out." Julian's flat stare gave the man pause.

The soldier stuttered, cowed, but finally found his tongue.

"Entry fee," he snarled. "Twenty silver." He held out his hand.

Julian bit his tongue. Outrageous. What kind of men did the city have that they let a hooligan like this guard the gate? That amount was almost all that they carried with them. They'd have almost nothing for supplies. For food. For lodging.

But the man had them over the barrel, he knew. There was no way Julian was staying in the countryside with those things out there. Trying to keep from seething, he pulled his purse and counted out the silver. The coins clinked as he put them in the man's greasy palm.

"One more thing." The soldier held up a large wooden sheath capped at the rim with a ring of iron connected by a chain. "Peace bond. Governor's orders."

Julian wished he could take the smile off the guard's face with his fist, but instead he sighed and held up his sword in acquiescence. The guard pushed the sword into the sheath and pulled the iron ring tight around the pommel, then hooked a small lock through the links of the chain, securing the blade.

"You can take it off at any gate when you leave. Can't have you starting any trouble ya see."

Julian gave a curt nod before kicking Artemis forward. Beth's arms tightened around him as they rode under the gate. Julian could practically feel the man's eyeballs crawling over his daughter's backside as they entered, but he tried to put it from his mind. The traffic grew as they passed into a plaza - horses, wagons, trinket-sellers working the crowd, their poles held up high to show off their brightly-colored wares. Women passed with baskets on their heads and dirty children in rags darted like fish through the murmuring chaos. One caught at Julian's leg as he passed, grabbing his attention and holding out his hands with deep, mournful eyes.

"Daddy, can we give him something?" Beth asked from behind him.

Julian grimaced. They had almost no coin left. He was about to move on when Beth tugged pleadingly at his hand.

"Please Daddy?"

With a sigh, Julian dug out a copper piece and dropped it into the boy's outstretched hands. The child snatched it up and then disappeared into the crowd with a smirk.

"You shouldn't be so generous, Beth. We have almost nothing left. You need clothes and we need food."

"It's ok." Julian could feel his daughter's smile as she rested her head against his back. "I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat anyway," Julian mumbled. He spotted a merchant in a dowdy stall crowded with crates of fruit and rode over.

"What's the cheapest thing you have?" he asked as he pulled alongside the stall. The merchant squinted as he looked up.

"Apples." He pointed a greasy finger at an unappetizing pile of wormy yellow fruit. "Silver per."

"What?!" Julian tried to keep from exploding. "That's ridiculous!"

"Prices have gone up." The merchant grinned toothlessly at Julian. "Lots of folk coming in."

"That's twenty times what an apple is worth and you know it!"

The man waved airily. "If ya dun have the coin, move along. No room here for peasants with empty pockets."

"And would you know where we could get a meal for a reasonable price?" Julian asked through gritted teeth.

The man shrugged. "Try the docks. Plenty o' vermin there. Fit right in I bet."

Julian slapped the reins, choosing to leave before he did something he would regret. They passed more people begging on the road - wounded, hungry, outstretched palms shaking and desperation in their eyes. It hadn't been this bad the last time he had been here. The city must have accepted some refugees before turning the rest away.

"Daddy what's with all these people?" Beth whispered, looking around uncomfortably at the destitute that lined the street. "Why don't they have anywhere to go?"

"Probably for the same reason we don't," he said.

"Are we going to end up like them?"

Julian's hands tightened on the reins.

"No baby. Never." He had never had to beg or steal in his life. It was unthinkable. The image of his daughter clad in rags, arms outstretched, haunted his mind for a moment before he forcibly banished it.

Julian knew the way to the docks. The buildings grew more shabby as they approached, the folk more seedy. His keen eyes caught the glint of daggers in the shadows of more than one alley as they passed. He would have told Beth to stay close, but she was already hunched against his back like a second skin.

When Artemis turned a corner, Julian hauled back on the reins abruptly. Ahead, a circular plaza bustled with activity, just like several they had passed already. This one, though was different. The vendors weren't selling normal wares. They weren't selling fruit. They weren't selling iron and leather goods. Men and women in fine clothes moved up and down lines of chained people, stopping to inspect them. Large metal cages lined the farther perimeter, with the indistinct figures of even more people inside.

They were selling flesh.

A man swore at them, weaving around their stopped horse. Julian gulped. Men. Women. Children. All nude, shackled, standing forlorn or weeping. Beth craned her head past his arm curiously.

"What is it Daddy?"

"Nothing. Uh. It's um...just a market." Julian had been in such distasteful places before, but they had always been the exclusive prospect of the dark-skinned men from across the sea. He had never even heard of one in these lands. Reluctantly, he flicked the reins to get Artemis moving again. This was the quickest way to the docks that would keep them out of the alleys.

"Daddy?" Beth had her arms wrapped around his belly like she was afraid someone was going to carry her away. "Why are all these people naked? And they're locked up...did they do something wrong?"

"Don't worry about it baby." Julian tried to imbue his voice with calm. He tried to kept his eyes straight, unable to look into the desperate gazes of the slaves who were for sale, but one caught his eye anyway. A girl - the same age as his daughter, naked and lovely, with a tight belly and pert nipples on her flat chest. Some slavers were inspecting her, groping her slender body as she wept. A clapboard hanging from a chain around her neck bore her price.

Julian could feel Beth's hands trembling, her head turning, following the girl as they passed by. Viridium had never had a slave market before. This must be recent. If he had known, he might have braved the alleys and spared his daughter the sight. What must she be thinking, seeing a girl just like her manhandled and sized up like a piece of meat for a leering crowd? He kicked the horse to a trot as the crowd thinned, making for the exit onto the thoroughfare and breathing a sigh of relief as the slave market passed out of sight.

"Pardon. Where can we buy a meal?" he asked a passing tradesman.

"Try down there." The man nodded toward a narrow street. "Popular place."

He eyeballed Beth, a gaunt hunger growing in his eyes. "Good entertainment," he added.

"My thanks," muttered Julian roughly. He guided the horse and turned down the street. It ended after a short way in a round forecourt of broken cobblestones sporting a dry, broken fountain in the center.

"This must be the place." Julian squinted at the sign as they dismounted. A crude image had been burned into a square of dour wood: a girl, lightly dressed and bent slightly with a surprised expression as a dog stood behind her with its nose up her short skirt. The name scrawled underneath read "The Doggy's Bitch".

Julian sighed. It was dark. They had barely any money. The tavern looked dilapidated, but roaring laughter came from inside. He didn't want to take Beth to such a place but they had no time for anything else. He hitched Artemis and then led the way inside.

They seated themselves. It was rather dark inside, the area harshly lit by the glare of a roaring fireplace, but there was an empty, raised area to the side illuminated by lanterns. Beth suddenly squeaked and jumped in shock when their waitress appeared.

"What'll ya have?" asked the girl, her long tail swishing in the air. Beth stared wide-eyed, taking in the pointed ears, the slightly furry patches on the girl's hips, the collar at her neck and the furry tail rising primly from the back of her scandalously short skirt. A Felis. Julian knew the species. Mischievous. Curious. Hopelessly promiscuous. The girl looked about Beth's age but it could be hard to tell with Felis.

"Pork roast and greens," Julian said.

"And you?" The girl turned to Beth, ears twitching as she took in the girl's improvised clothing.

"I...um...I'll have...have...uh."

"She'll have the same," Julian sniffed, and waved the waitress off with his hand.

"She's...she's a cat!" Beth squeaked, eyes following the girl's bobbing tail as she left.

"A catgirl," Julian corrected. "Rare these days. Don't be rude."

"I didn't know there were catgirls!" Beth's expression was full of wonder.

Julian gave her a smile. "You never asked. But there are. And more too. Did I ever tell you about the bird people of Pell's Roost?'

"What?! Noooo you didn't!" Beth leaned over the table, her eyes shining, the makeshift blanket poncho hanging open. "Tell me the story Daddy!"

"Fine fine." Julian waved her to sit back. No sense giving the rowdy crowd an eyeful.

As he launched into the tale, he kept an eye on the room. Somebody had to. Beth was staring, transfixed, captured by her imagination as he told her how the people of Pell's Roost dwelt near the top of a massive Living Tree. Probably the last of its kind, he thought. He had never seen another. It could be made to uproot itself, and crawl ever so slowly to a new location. Julian was just getting to the part of the story where the bird people had to face a savage race of giant ant creatures intent on taking over their home - and pleaded with the humans for help - when the loud clatter of breaking dishes brought the clamor of the room to a halt.

Julian looked around. Most of the men - regulars, by the look of them - had stopped talking, and were grinning at each other. One took his mug and banged it on the table, and the rest soon joined him, beating a thumping rhythm with their sloshing drinks on the tables.

"Pun-ish-MENT! Pun-ish-MENT! Pun-ish-MENT!" they rumbled, chanting and laughing. They turned to cheers when a large, fat man in a greasy apron appeared, dragging their waitress by her collar.

"Hey sweetie!" the men whooped, laughing and hollering. "Dropped the dishes again eh Bran?" "Think she does it on purpose!" The men cackled as the fat man dragged the sniveling catgirl across the floor and up onto the raised stage. She stood there shaking, eyes and tail downcast, ears wilted, tears brimming from her eyes. Julian's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He had a bad feeling about this. Out of long habit, he checked the exits again - just the front door, manned by a large bouncer, and the kitchen which probably let out to the back.

On the stage, the aproned man forced the girl down roughly onto her hands and knees, and tied her collar to the post with a chain. The girl wept freely into her hands. Julian had no idea what kind of punishment they were going to mete out to the girl, but she was shaking from the thought of it.

The fat man left her and then returned after a moment leading a large, muzzled dog on a chain - a massive specimen, daunting, with jet-black bristling fur and a line of eager, grinning teeth. Julian gaped. The thing was as large as a wolf. It jumped up eagerly, straining against the chain, saliva dripping from its menacing jaw as he spotted the girl on her hands and knees. The fat man tied the chain to the post by the stage just as he had with the girl, and then pulled off the dog's muzzle, setting him loose on his prey.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Julian slapped his hands on the table and stood up, ready to intervene. He wasn't going to let a dog rip a girl to pieces in front of him, but he hesitated for just a moment. The dog pounced, snapping at the girl's hair. She shrieked, but Julian realized he wasn't savaging her. He was only pulling her hair, yanking her bodily where he wanted her. Yanking her into position. The girl didn't struggle. Instead she reached back with a hand and pulled her short skirt up, and Julian started when he realized the girl wasn't wearing any underclothes. Her sex was open for the whole room to see.

The sight seemed to drive the dog into a frenzy. He jumped and licked noisily, the large, rough tongue lapping at the little girl's pussy. The girl squealed shrilly - a high, catlike sound - and began to wiggle her bottom. Julian could see the dog's growing erection, the shocking girth of its thick cock dangling beneath its belly. Good grief, this dog was massive everywhere, he thought. The girl shook under the ministrations of the thrashing tongue, tail bristling, ears taut, and the dog abruptly reared up and straddled her. The girl was tiny enough that she practically disappeared under the furry belly, but Julian tracked her by the growing wail that rose an octave each time the dog jabbed its cock clumsily at her pussy. Finally, after a few tries, the beast had its tremendous organ properly positioned at the little catgirl's snatch, and he thrust in.

The lashing tail jerked iron-straight. The girl's howl of sudden pleasure was drowned out by the cheers of the men. They laughed, clapping each other on the back, enjoying the show as the dreadful beast began to ram its shaft into the tight pussy of its squealing bitch.

"Proper bitch now, ain't she!" they laughed.

"Kitties and doggies like each other after all, eh?" The man held up his mug for a toast and everyone at his table sloshed their drinks to clatter them together before taking long, deep drinks.

"Daddy!"

Julian felt Beth touching his hand, her eyes wide with fright. "Daddy she's doing it with a dog!"

Julian's throat was sour with disgust. When had Viridium become so wretched? They couldn't stay here. He couldn't let his little girl watch another girl her own age fucked by a beast. The squealing had grown to a wild howl, the barely-visible hips of the catgirl sticking out from under the furry belly, pushing back wildly to meet his thrusts. She didn't seem so upset now. Her wailing was tight with pleasure.

"Guess we're not getting our food," Julian muttered. "Time to go anyway."

He stood and grabbed Beth by the hand, hauling her behind him. Some men hooted at them as they left, mocking them for skipping the show. He yanked Beth closer and threaded through the crowd of men, only to be stopped at the door as the large bouncer moved in front of him.

"Stand aside!" scowled Julian.

"Gotta pay." The big man had a heavy, scowling brow, and his arms were crossed indifferently.

"Are you serious? We never even got any food!"

"Gotta pay." The man seemed to have a two-word vocabulary.

"And how," he snapped, speaking as if to a child, "are we...to get...our food...when our waitress is up THERE?!" He pointed a savage finger at the grotesque show taking place on the far side of the tavern.

The man's shrug was infuriating. "Doesn't matter. Gotta pay. 50 copper for a show."

Julian seethed. "I don't even have that much," he said. He didn't doubt he could take the man in a fight, but starting a brawl here with his helpless daughter in tow seemed a poor decision.

"Well, maybe we could make arrangements." The man looked down to where Beth was peering out from behind Julian and grinned.

"Boss likes favors from customers, he does. 'specially the young ones. Maybe give her a job. Would you like that little girl?" His grin twisted into a leer.

Julian almost lost control. His hand dropped to his sword, before touching the iron ring and remembering it was bound. He settled for his coinpurse instead. "Take it then!' he yelled, slamming it against the man's sturdy chest. "Choke on it!"

The bouncer took it and felt the weight, then nodded and stepped aside.

Julian hauled Beth out by the wrist. Behind them, the roar of the excited crowd was tinged by the high wail of the catgirl squealing in glee.

"But Daddy," Beth complained. "We didn't get any food."

"I know baby. Doesn't matter. We're not staying." He unhitched Artemis, mounted, then pulled Beth up behind him.

"Where are we going to sleep tonight?" asked Beth, her voice tight with fear.

"I'll sell Artemis," said Julian. "Don't worry. We'll get a room at an inn."

Julian did not want to sell their horse, but he had no choice. It was late in the day, but maybe he could find a stable still open and willing to buy. As it happened, fortune favored him, and the stablemaster at the first stable he checked seemed interested.

"Wait here Beth," said Julian after they dismounted at the open doors of the stable. Beth nodded obediently, and Julian led Artemis inside so the man could inspect him and they could talk business. After he had inspected the horse's hooves and teeth, it took Julian only a few more moments to negotiate a fair price with the stablemaster. He had just taken the offered purse and shook hands with the man when he heard a girl squeal outside.

"Ouch! No, don't touch me! Eeeeee gross, get away!"

"Beth!" Julian broke into a run, darting through the stable doors. Outside near the edge of the street, a short, fat man in expensive robes was manhandling his daughter.

"HEY!" shouted Julian, dashing up. The man stopped at once, but kept the twisted leer on his face.

"Ah," he said. "Is this little cunt yours? She splashed water on me."

"It was an accident!" Beth yelled. "I'm sorry!"

"Hmmph." The man eyefucked Beth up and down, pushing her by the shoulder to see her flat breasts from the side as the blanket gaped open.

"She's got spirit. I'll give you 5 gold for her," the man said, as casually as if he were offering to buy a piece of fruit.

"What?!" Julian couldn't believe his ears.

"Slavers always pay well for a fine piece of ass like her," the man grinned. "Tell you what - 6 gold if she's a virgin."

Julian saw red, but he pushed it down.

"My daughter is not for sale." His curt tone barely masked his desire to gut this man where he stood.

"Everyone's for sale." The man's creeping leer followed Beth as she hid behind her Daddy. "Pussy has a price. What's yours? Maybe we can work a deal." He made a jerking motion next to his crotch with his hand. "Better price if she's got skills, but if not I can train her.

The man's lewd wink at Beth as she cowered behind him pushed Julian over the edge. He had had enough. His fist smashed the man's nose like a cannonball, sending blood spurting everywhere, and Julian reveled in the satisfying crunch of bones under his knuckles.

"AAAAGH!" The man fell back, holding the shattered ruin of his face. "MAH NUSS!" Blood dripped freely through his fingers, dripping down to stain his fine robe.

"RAMSEY!" The man's nasal bellow brought a balding man with a bare chest running. Aw fuck. The asshole had a bodyguard. Julian turned to face him, sizing him up in the instant before the man swung an iron hammer directly at his face.

"DADDY!" screamed Beth in warning, but Julian had already ducked, flowing under the swing of the hammer like quicksilver. He twisted as he did so, bringing his fist around into a tight jab against the man's kidney. His fingers almost sank into the fat gut. The man winced, pausing from his overextended swing and Julian's swift counter, and Julian took the opportunity to twirl on his heel and smash his foot into the back of the man's calf. The man howled in pain, dropping his hammer. Julian's hand came in like lightning, seizing the man's collar from behind to hold him as he delivered another stinging jab to the kidney, then grabbed the flailing arm and twisted until the fat man screeched in pain and fell to his knees.

"Keep bawling and I'll break it," he seethed. The man shut his mouth, reduced to a series of wracking, dry sobs. Julian almost pitied the fool. No skill or training, just a sword arm with no brain behind it.

"Do you know who I AM?" shrieked the merchant with the bloodied nose, still trying to stem the flow of blood down his chin.

"Don't know, don't care," Julian snarled. "Leave off or I'll break your man's arm and then crack your skull with his hammer."

The merchant glared with fury, eyeing both him and Beth, before finally waving to his man. Julian let him go, and the man coughed as he crawled to his feet. The pair turned to run.

"Time to go." Julian's hand snapped around Beth's wrist. He knew exactly who the man would be running to. They couldn't be here when the guards came. And the pair of them without a horse. Gods be damned.

"Daddy!" Beth pulled at his arm, pointing. "Down there!"

Julian looked. The tiny alley was hidden in a slit between two buildings. Julian pulled Beth behind him like a sack, making for the dark opening. They held their noses against the stench when they entered, gagging at the odor of trash and offal. Rank water dripped on them from above, and Julian looked up - the deepening clouds were turning to rain. Lovely.

"YOU THERE!" Julian heard the deep voice of a man shouting from the mouth of the alley behind them. He recognized the tone of command when he heard it. They had been spotted.

"Drat"! The pair darted further down the alley into the deepening shadows. Julian pulled Beth close behind him, as they began to navigate piles of trash. Her breath was tight, her eyes fearful. Julian's heart was still pounding in his chest from the fight. He spotted a glint of steel in the gloom behind them: men, chasing them.

The alley dead-ended in a tight area with a smattering of broken barrels and a barred door. The buildings stretched high above them, shutting out the sky.

"Daddy!" Beth clutched his leg, her voice trembling. "What do we do now?"

Julian forced his own fright down, forcing himself to think. No way out. Being taken by the guards wasn't an option. He knew what happened in the city jails. They'd have to fight, which would almost certainly end with him dying with a blade in his gut and his screaming daughter hauled off to be sold into slavery. His fists tightened. There was no way he'd ever let that happen.

"Beth!" he said, turning to her. "You have to get away!" He looked up at the daunting faces of the tall buildings looming over them like giants. Droplets of water were streaming down more insistently as the rain worsened.

"You need to climb!"

"No Daddy!" Beth shrieked, stamping her foot. "I won't leave you!"

"Beth." Julian forced calm into his voice as he put his hand on her shoulder. "You don't want to know what would happen if they caught you. Even if they kill me, you have to get away. Run and hide. Don't let them catch you! Don't worry about me!"

"Don't say that!" Beth was crying. She smashed her fists pathetically against his chest. "Daddy you can't die! I won't let you!"

"Beth." Julian bent to embrace his daughter, feeling her tears on his neck. "I love you more than anything. Always remember that. Now listen to me: I'm going to boost you up, and you are going to climb. Climb all the way up. I know how good you are at it from all those years you spent climbing our trees. You can do it."

Beth pushed him to arm's length, tears filling her eyes. Her hair was damp from the worsening shower, and the blanket was dripping.

"Daddy," she sobbed.

Julian heard shouting from down the alley. There was no more time. He pushed his daughter back a step, then bent and laced his hands together. Beth stood there a moment, shaking and sobbing, before tightening her fists and nodding. She braced herself, then leaped forward and up, her foot grinding into his fingers. Julian heaved with all the strength in his arms, sending his daughter flying upwards. He turned to see her barely catch the gutter with her fingers.

A shout was his only warning. He ducked, and a sword passed through the space where his neck had been. He lashed out with an elbow, catching the man in the groin, then seized the opportunity to throw his whole weight forward, arms wrapped around the man's belly and driving forward like a bull until he smashed the man against the wall of the building. The decrepit bricks cracked and fell to the ground. Instinct warned him and he immediately flung himself to the side, evading a swinging shield that would have caught him in the back of the head.

Julian rolled and twisted to get his feet under him. Three men in leather armor armed with shortblades and bucklers faced him, and the fourth was already slumping down against the wall, dazed. Julian felt the rain trickle down his face and drip from his chin. He looked up, his brow furrowed with fury, and smiled malevolently at the men.

Sometimes, an instant was all you needed. Their brief pause at seeing the large man with bulging biceps grinning at them like a fiend was just enough time for Julian to lash out. His hand found one of the fallen bricks and he hurled it at the head of the nearest man, leaping after it and crashing into the guard as he was unbalanced from ducking to the side. The pair went to the ground, splashing into a puddle. Julian's arm raised up and he began to pound the man like a drum, fist crashing into the screaming face in three solid blows before he rolled to the side. A sword swished through the air where he had been. Supine, Julian kicked out with all his strength, and he heard the crack of bone as he connected with the nearest guard's leg. The man went down, howling

Somewhere, a girl was screaming. The sound was a dull ring in his ears, a melody to the rhythm of blood thundering in his ears and the sound of men yelling in pain. Julian remembered this music - the ring of battle, the struggle and the clash. He had spurned it long ago, but his body still knew it, still reacted to the sound of the sudden yell behind him. Julian's hand shot up like lightning, catching the man's arm on the inside of his swing. He pushed with his foot, finding purchase in the wet puddle, and drove himself upwards trying to unbalance the man. It helped that he was bigger than all of them. He had always been a big man. Battle had always come naturally to him.

The pair of men grappled for a moment, faces together with Julian thick fingers holding the man's wrist and keeping the sword at bay. His head lashed forward, forehead catching the man just under the rim of his helmet. The guard fell back with a cry. Julian set himself to close the distance so he could disarm the man but a heavy pair of arms suddenly closed tight around his neck.

"Gotcha" snarled the guard into his ear. Julian tried to twist and break the hold, but the man's weight was too much, his grip too strong. Water streamed down into Julian's eyes as he yelled, raging like a bull, but the man held on. Blinking, he could see the man in front of him had recovered.

"I'll bet a big man like you dies like a pig," the guard sneered, readying his sword. "I want to hear you squeal when I twist my blade in your belly."

He set his feet, sword held in front of him, prepared to make good on his threat. This is it, thought Julian. Gutted in an alley and left for dead in the rain. He had no chance to turn or dodge with the heavy weight of man holding him from behind. Bitter regret burned sour in his belly that he couldn't have done more for his daughter, that he would be leaving her alone and helpless in the world. At least she had gotten away.

"HEY!" Screamed a shrill voice from above. At the same time, a stone soared down from the sky and smacked pathetically against the guard's metal helmet. All three men looked up in surprise

Beth stood above them, hanging out from the balcony, dripping from the rain. She lifted up the blanket, exposing herself, and touched both hands to her pussy to spread her lips wide.

"Either of you boys ever licked a 12-year-old pussy before?" she yelled, then pulled the blanket up and over her head, stripping naked. The men gawked.

"Why don't you come up and have a taste?!"

Beth wadded the blanket in her hand and then hurled it downward in a ball. It spread in the air, landing over the head of the guardsman in front of Julian, blinding him.

The brief distraction had been all that Julian needed to get his feet under him properly. The grip around his neck had weakened, and the man in front of him was sputtering and pulling at the blanket. Julian's knees bent and he leaped with all his strength, feet connecting with the chest of the man in front of him and kicking with all his strength to drive his weight up and backwards, vaulting over the man behind him in a wild somersault. Their weight shifted as they exchanged places, and the man under the blanket pulled it off with a snarl just as Julian's feet landed behind his assailant and drove him forward into the other guardsman's sword. The man screamed as the blade went in, and his comrade looked down in horror at where his own sword was impaled in his friend's belly

Julian heaved them both backwards, the flailing, dying guard clutching at the shoulders of the other as they landed in a puddle just as Beth screamed from above.

"DADDY!" She had tied a knotted rope to a post on the balcony and flung the end down to him after getting his attention. Julian grabbed the lifeline and began to climb, chest heaving and muscles burning with adrenaline as he pulled his substantial weight up knot by knot. In a moment, he had reached the balcony and swung himself up onto solid footing.

Beth squealed as she embraced him, her naked body slick with rain. Julian looked down, still gasping, as his teary-eyed daughter wept like her world had almost ended.

"Daddy, don't leave me. Please don't...you can't...you can't die." Sobbing hiccups punctuated her words.

"Sssh, shh Beth, it's ok. I'm here." Her head rose up, eyes glistening with tears as she met his gaze.

"I'll never leave you baby," he assured her. "But we have to go."

Beneath them, the remaining guard was still struggling to push the weight of his dying friend off him. Beth looked down and nodded, then pointed behind him to where the balcony curved around the edge of the building.

"Back there Daddy. There's a ladder to the roof. That's where I found the rope."

Julian turned and Beth followed. The ladder led up another level to the edge of a peaked roof. They climbed this, and then shimmied further along as the roof met the wall of the adjacent building.

"Eeek!"

Julian turned like lightning and grabbed Beth's wrist as she slipped, almost sliding down the slippery metal surface of the roof. She squealed and shook with fright, her naked body wet and shivering in the pouring rain. Julian pulled her back up to the wall, and they managed to cross over to where the wall met the next building over. A gaping window was waiting for them. They climbed through it.

"Now what?" Beth looked around at the dark, filthy hovel, holding her nose. Julian frowned at the squalor, but they weren't here to sightsee.

"Come on." He went in the direction that he hoped would lead out, and was rewarded when the door opened into a hallway with a stairwell at the end. The pair ran and descended as fast as they could, the wooden stairs rattling, until they reached the ground level.

"There's the way out!" squeaked Beth, pointing at where the wall opened into an archway that led out into the street. They ran for it, and emerged blinking into the rain and the light, only to be confronted by a row of men with swords raised menacingly.

"Give up," snarled a lieutenant with a red plume on his helm, pushing his way forward. "There's nowhere else for you to go."

Julian waved Beth behind him. He stared with silent fury at the line of guards as he reached down to his bonded sword, taking hold of the sheath in one fist and the pommel in the other. With a powerful flex of his arms he twisted them savagely, snapping the links of the chain that kept the blade locked. Shoddy iron - he had noticed the poor workmanship as soon as he saw it. Slowly, he pulled the shining blade from the sheath and held it up menacingly before him.

"Daddy…" cried Beth pleadingly, her tiny body crouched behind him, pulling at his pant leg. "You can't fight them all."

Julian knew she was right. The lieutenant's eyes had narrowed threateningly as he raised his hand, ready to give an order. There were at least a dozen men, and more undoubtedly on the way. This could only end with him dead. He was prepared to accept that, but the possibility of Beth dying with him was a chance he could never take.

Julian dropped his stance and stood tall, then held up his sword and let the weapon fall to the ground.

The men closed in, surrounding them both cautiously like they were a pair of dangerous animals. Julian grimaced when they grabbed his arms and yanked them behind him, tying his wrists with a strong cord.

He turned when Beth squeaked. She was shying away from the man trying to grab her.

"Don't touch her!" Julian snarled. The man's leer was full of insidious promise as he looked down at Beth. It probably wasn't every day that he got to arrest a naked 12-year-old girl. His hand darted out and he yanked Beth's wrist up, causing her to squeal in pain as her feet dangled just above the stone.

"I said DON'T TOUCH HER" Julian screamed. Rage had filled his muscles with fresh strength and he pulled at the cord, desperate to reach out and crush the man's throat, when a sudden red pain blossomed in his head as one of the guards smashed him with the pommel of his sword. Julian snarled like a wounded animal, ready to fight, ready to die and gods be damned, when another sudden blow sent him spiraling down into blackness.

Beth's world had turned upside when the guards hit her father. She remembered screaming. She remembered fighting and kicking and clawing as the men laughed at her pathetic attempts to struggle. Eventually one had delivered a stinging slap that made her head spin, and she gave up, sobbing. Things were a blur after that. They had been put in a wagon. She remembered that. She remembered the men fondling her nude, wet body as she wept, leering and making lewd jokes to each other. She didn't care. Her eyes were locked to her father, limp on the wagon floor and blood leaking from his head. He moaned once and squirmed, and Beth knew he wasn't dead. She bowed her head and sobbed a silent prayer to the gods, but the grey, overcast sky bore down on her like an oppressive fog. Uncaring. Unhearing.

Eventually they had stopped and the guards had pulled them both from the wagon, handling them rudely like sacks of grain. Beth had cowered from the men, from the daunting portcullis, from the dank stone and smoky torches that they led her past, pulling her roughly into darkness. Cold metal clapped about her ankles and iron bars rattled cruelly shut. A prison. The men had dropped her father unceremoniously in the cell next to her, and Beth had spent the long hours of the night weeping and fearful, shivering, naked on the cold stone.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. The world was supposed to be an adventure, not a freezing prison. Beth's tears were the only warmth she had, the heat of her body leached away by the wet murk. She'd freeze here. She'd die. Her mind fixated on the horrible image of the man striking her father, of his huge body dropping limp onto the street, blood pooling out. She could see him through the bars, barely, unmoving in the feeble torchlight. She wished with all her soul that she could feel his strong arms around her, comforting her as he always did. Singing a lullaby to soothe her fear. But he didn't move, and Beth hunkered in the corner of her cell, forsaken and alone.

Time slowed to a glacial crawl. Sometimes Beth heard the echoing crash of bars far away, or the rough shouts of men, but mostly she wept until no more tears would come. It wasn't until the rattle of a nearby chain woke her and she saw light coming in from a little slit near the top of the cell wall that she realized the night had passed.

A low groan came from her father's cell. Beth looked over; her father's body was moving. He pushed himself up with one arm, holding his bloody head.

"DADDY!" Beth's cry was a shrill echo. She leapt to her feet and darted for the wall of bars that separated them, before stumbling on the chain and falling onto her hands.

"Beth…" Julian was blinking, confused. He looked around, and understanding slowly dawned. He touched his head again and examined his fingers as they came away bloody.

"Daddy I thought you were going to die," Beth sobbed. "You didn't move all night."

"Ugh." Her father slowly crawled upright, and pulled himself over to the bars. "No. Just a blow to the head." He took in her naked, shivering body, the red rims of her eyes as she wept with relief. Their fingers reached through the closely-packed bars and touched.

"Beth, I'll be alright. Don't cry." Julian's face was dirty, streaked with dried blood, and barely visible in the gloom, but Beth felt herself calm immediately when he touched her, felt her tears dry up under the warmth of his calm, confident smile. Her Daddy was ok. He was still with her.

"I've been hit on the head harder than that many times, Beth." His fingers gripped hers tightly. "It takes a lot more than that to kill me, alright? I need you to be strong now, baby. As strong as you've ever been. Can you do that for me Beth?"

Beth took a tight breath and nodded. Daddy was here. Despite their dire surroundings, she couldn't help but feel safe as long as he was near her.

Voices were coming closer. Men. Light from a torch preceded a pair of armed guards who entered from the corridor and stopped in front of their cells. One was tall and lanky, with a greasy beard and an even greasier stare, and the other was short and balding.

"Well well, look who's awake," laughed the short one. "We took to calling you Sleeping Beauty. Took lots on whether you'd bleed out during the night." His bellowing laugh sounded more like a malicious snarl than anything else. "Guess I lost."

The other guard was sneering through the bars at Beth. She cowered backward in her cell under his leering gaze before the man shifted his attention to Julian.

"You know who that was whose nose you broke?" he jeered.

"Don't know. Don't care. He had it coming." Julian's voice was low and threatening.

"Top slaver in these parts," laughed the guard. "Wealthy, ya know. Important."

"He made the crucial mistake of thinking my daughter was for sale."

The tall guard's filthy gaze took in Beth again, the girl huddled back in the corner of her cell next to the separating bars. He scratched his oily beard. Beth could smell his reeking breath from here, a malodorous, maggotlike rot.

"Sold one o' me own to him," he sneered. "The one that wouldn't put out. Price was right. You look just like her. Yer Daddy shoulda just taken the gold."

"He'd never do that!" Beth burst out, unable to contain herself. The guards just laughed.

"No matter, no matter," said the short guard. "He requested special punishment for the pair of you."

"The judge will decide our punishment." Beth looked through the bars at her father, amazed at his ability to remain calm as these men provoked them.

"Already did." The guard seemed to have been born with a sneer on his face. "This morning."

"Without talking to us?"

The guard shrugged. "Why would he?"

"What is our sentence then?" asked Julian.

"Three days of public service."

"That...doesn't sound so bad." Beth heard the relief in her father's voice, but the guards just burst out laughing again as they turned to leave.

"Daddy?" Beth's grip tightened, finding his fingers through the bars again. "What does that mean?"

"Don't worry Beth. They'll have us haul cargo at the docks or clean trash or something. We'll be fine. I'm sorry, baby girl. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

"Don't be sorry Daddy." Beth remembered how his fist had leaped out like a viper, crunching the man's nose to bloody dust, how he had effortlessly dispatched the bodyguard. She smiled at him. He had fought like a demon for her, risking his life so she could get away. Her heart swelled with pride. He probably could have taken on ten men if he hadn't held back. Twenty. She remembered how his corded biceps had bulged as he jumped up and somersaulted backwards over the guard. How he had ripped his sword out in her defense like the iron chain was nothing. How he had stared down a line of guards before finally relenting. Nothing could keep him down. He was invincible.

A short time later, they heard the sound of men approaching again. A squad of guardsmen showed up, the captain producing a ring of keys to unlock their cells and a group of them hauling them both out and checking their shackles before marching them down a series of dark, grimy corridors that wound around tight corners before they finally emerged into a bright courtyard. Beth blinked against the sun, her eyes struggling to adjust after the darkness. Prisoners were being loaded into covered wagons, and a rough shove pushed her and her father towards one. They climbed in from the back, the chains of their shackles rattling, and the wagon lurched into motion.

Beth hugged her father, relishing the feel of his comforting arms around her body after her cold night of despair. The wagon clattered and rocked over the cobblestone streets for a time before finally rumbling to a halt. Guards beckoned them out, and Beth followed her father, stepping down from the wagon and looking around. They were in a large plaza surrounded by two and three-story buildings. Crowds of peasants wearing faces twisted with savage glee mingled at the edges, while guards kept the center clear. A guardsman led the pair of them to the cleared area, and Beth saw neat lines of upright wooden posts fixed with wooden crossbars, each with a pair of holes through them near the outer edges and a larger hole directly in the center.

"What's this?" asked Beth, standing warily in front of one of them. The guard smacked her in the back of the head, then pulled the top half of the crossbar up on a swinging hinge and forced her cruelly down by her neck until she was bent over with her head down.

"It's your public service," he snarled, clapping the top half of the crossbar down over her neck, trapping her head and hands. A lock snapped shut near her ear. Beth heard her father shouting and struggling, but three men forced him down into one of the contraptions directly facing her.

"Daddy?" Fear and confusion were in Beth's voice. Her father's head and hands were poking through the wood, trapped just like she was. He was snarling and struggling, but the planks held him tight.

It seemed to be the same down the line. More prisoners were clapped into the wooden contraptions just like she was, pairs of them facing each other across a short distance. A man in an apron walked down the line between them, pounding stakes with signposts on them into the ground in front of each prisoner with a wooden mallet.

"Vagrancy" read the sign between her and her father. "Assault of an honored citizen" it said just below that. Once the last signpost was in place, the guards stepped back and the crowd surged forward like a dam had burst. Beth shrieked as she was surrounded by shouting people, screaming, pointing, jeering. Something wet and juicy smacked against her bottom, trickling into a gooey mess down her thigh. Beth smelled rotten fruit. Across from her, her father shouted, his angry roars lost in the crowd. Beth squeaked as she felt something cold splash against her skin again. They were throwing things! Beth saw a boy child step up and hurl some kind of green vegetable right into her father's face. The plant splattered on his cheek, leaving a sloppy mess of soft, dripping mush. An ugly crone congratulated the smiling boy with a hand on his shoulder, handing him a foul-looking white blob. The boy turned to Beth, grinning, and chucked the thing right into her face as well.

"Gack!" Beth sputtered. The thing might have been some kind of soft onion, once, before decaying to the squishy mess splattered against her chin. She shook her head, trying to rid her nose of the foul gunk, but it stuck to her skin and filled her nostrils with pungent rot.

Beth had never experienced anything like this. The crowd was whipping itself into a shouting frenzy. The guards were simply standing back, allowing the citizens to do whatever they wished to punish and shame the criminals. Beth's shriek was lost under the press of the howling mob. More fruit splattered against her naked body. They were pressing in. Beth felt a hand grab her behind and squeeze, and she jerked.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted at her unseen assailant, but he wasn't the only one. More hands were touching her, groping, fondling. Beth couldn't lift her head high enough to see their faces, but she wiggled under their touch and gagged on their foul breath.

Across from her, her father roared in fury, jerking madly against his wooden bonds. "Get your hands off of my daughter!" he shouted, but the crowd paid him no mind, only pelting him with more rotted fruit and offal.

"Eeek!" Beth jerked as someone touched her pussy. She could feel greasy fingers sliding up her crack and spreading her labia. Hot breath touched her private parts.

"No! Let me go!" Beth shrieked, but her jerking hips only seemed to excite the men groping her. They laughed, and Beth jumped when a hand delivered a stinging smack right on her ass.

"Lively one today id'nit!" laughed a man's voice from behind her.

"Sweetest little cunt I ever done seen," jeered another.

Beth was trembling. Her father was staring at her, thrashing with impotent rage. Cold fingers dipped into her cunt, making her jump and shiver again at the touch.

"Daddy!" she cried out, wishing with all her might that she could reach out for him. "Daddy help!" she screamed. Shame and humiliation burned in her stomach. Another series of slaps against her wiggling bottom brought tears to her eyes. They were all over her - filthy, grabbing fingers, brushing her hips, playing with her privates, reaching underneath her bent form to squeeze her breasts and tweak her nipples.

Beth cried, helpless. The men crowded tight around her, and Beth had a sudden fear when she felt something pointed and warm nestle itself tightly against her pussy. She was about to cry out again for her father when the breath was driven from her as a man slammed his cock straight into her exposed pussy. Beth's fingers clenched into fists at the sudden intrusion. Her eyes watered as she tried to catch her breath. She had barely managed a gulp when the man pulled back and slammed in again, his pelvis crashing against her hips with brutal hunger.

"Daddeeeeeee!" Beth shrieked, doing the only thing she could think of. The wood of the pillory rocked as she was slammed back and forth. With her head and her wrists locked in bondage, her back arched tightly each time the man barreled in. He pistoned savagely, giving her no time to adjust, no time for her little pussy to accommodate the substantial girth of a fully-grown man in her 12-year-old pussy. A cacophony of raucous laughter filled her ears, the men around her relishing what was being done to her. The guards looked on from a distance, dull, disinterested, watching Beth's rape with a calm detachment.

Grubby fingers dug pinpricks into Beth's hips, the man holding her as he rammed his prick into the bound little girl. Beth shrieked. She cried out. She begged as her father looked on, furious, twisting and yelling incoherently. The cock plunged in again and again, the man jeering with savage glee, fucking her tiny body against the pillory like a doll. Beth felt a dull fire growing in her loins, coaxed to life by the slippery friction. It grew and blossomed into a white heat in her belly, a searing hiss of reluctant pleasure. The man was building to a crescendo, and to her horror Beth realized she was riding right along with him, her quivering pussy following its own end, trembling and squeezing the invading girth, oblivious to the horror of her rape. Beth shouted. She gibbered, her hands clenching into desperate, helpless fists. Her body smashed against the wooden stock over and over, skin scraping against wood.

"D-d-daddyyyy! He-he's ra-raping meeee!" The words tumbled out in breathless gasps between each slam. The white heat had grown into a blinding sun, crackling ecstasy behind her eyeballs. She saw only her father, his face full of helpless rage, felt only the powerful cock smashing in, dominating her. The last violent thrust and the feel of hot cum spewing up inside her finally sent her over the edge, falling into the tempest of her own pleasure, wracked by lightning bliss that arced through her jerking muscles. Her violent climax roared through her until it seemed she must be consumed, twitching, gasping, nerve-endings afire with needling pleasure. She felt the white heat oozing into her, a swill of semen gushing out from the spurting cock buried against her cervix and rushing upstream into her womb. Her fingers dug against the wood. She arched up on her tiptoes, hearing her own squeals of pleasure, seeing her father through watery vision as she orgasmed from her rape right in front of him.

The thrumming vigor of her climax had barely begun to dwindle when the man pulled out - earning another girlish squeal from her as she deflated - and another man took his place. Beth was rocked again as another cock buried itself against her tight slit and slammed in. All the men were cheering, enjoying themselves, salivating for their turn at her pussy. Beth hadn't even the time to take it in before the maddening drum of tight manflesh pistoning inside her had brought her to the brink again, and then pushed her over. She cried out as she fell, gravity ceding to the thunderous bliss that raised her up like a whirlwind, tossing her about, her body wracked, slammed violently against the boards, twisting and howling. She heard the agonized shouting of her father, distant, though he was right in front of her. Beth was tossed about like a girl washed overboard in a hurricane, her muscles tightening in lightning flashes as the storm of ecstasy washed through her again and again. The man pulled out. Another took his place, plummeting Beth once again into the surging tide of euphoria. Beth never knew. Had never dreamed. Her rape went on and on, obliterating all thought and feeling but the sear of white-hot pleasure burning in her veins. She was tossed from one climax to the next. Warm goo ran down her thighs. Digging fingers clutched her hips. Her bottom ached from the endless procession of smacking jolts, the relentless parade of cocks ramming into her pussy, pleasing themselves inside her helpless body, then leaving their donation of hot seed deep inside of her.

Beth's squeal was that of an animal. Her body writhed, powerless. Her mind whirled, tossed between torrential climax and the insensate moments when the men behind her switched out. She could feel warm goo dribbling down her thighs, her sides, spurting into her face, the men emptying themselves onto her naked flesh as they waited their turn.

She barely noticed the lull, still shaking from the crescendo of orgasms. The men were speaking, jeering, shouting something.

"Ey! Ey! Bring him over 'ere then!" Raucous laughter rang out. Beth sagged against the pillory, her body aching. Hot, panting breaths suddenly grazed her burning bottom, and she heard the whimper of an animal.

"Got him going right proper she does," laughed a man. "This un' likes little girl cunt. Trained him on all me waitresses. He knows what's goin'."

Beth winced and then jerked when a snuffling nose suddenly dug into her cunt. The rough tip swept through the goo leaking from her pussy, snorting, and Beth gave a squeal as a darting tongue suddenly joined it. Raspy, eager licks snaked along and between her pussy lips, followed by a doglike whine of eagerness.

"What? No!" Beth jerked as she felt the beast's claws begin to dig at her hips. "Not a dog! You can't do this!" Her wail was drowned out by the bellow of rage from her father, his head locked a few feet away, forced to watch as the large animal reared up and eagerly mounted his naked, cum-soaked daughter.

"You bastards!" His roar was so loud, so full of fury, that the nearest spectators pelting him with fruit began to shy back. "You'll pay for this! I'll cut your throats!"

The men around Beth simply laughed with puerile glee, delighted at the helplessness of their victims. She craned her neck, catching a glimpse of the sharp, slavering teeth and recognized the jet-black fur as the beast hefted its weight onto her back. She managed to trace the dangling leash to the wrist of the same fat man with the greasy apron she had seen at the tavern.

"Please mister," Beth sobbed, tears running down her face. "I'll do anything. Just don't do this." She couldn't bear it. Sex with an animal? She had been shocked when the poor catgirl had pulled up her skirt on the stage, urging the hungry animal to have his way with her. What kind of degenerate did such a thing?

The man's chins jiggled as he laughed uproariously at her. "Oh? What would you do for me eh, little cunt?" His face twisted into a perverse sneer. "'e's not so bad once e's in yas, you'll see. Me girls seem to like him fine, once they get the bawlin' and the strugglin' out the way. "

The man ducked, bringing his face close to hers. Beth gagged at the rotted teeth, the sour breath.

"Just sit tight and let him have his fun. Bruno knows how to give a girl a good time, though sometimes e' ain't so picky which hole e' gets into neither. It's a good show either way. Make sure ya give lots of happy little noises, eh? Crowd loves it."

He waved a hand in the direction of the guards. "Sometimes they even reduce a girl's sentence, she gives a good show. Think about it, eh darlin?"

The man stood up. Beth squeaked as her weight shifted against the pillory. The heavy beast was agitated, his weight on her back and his paws clutching her sides. Beth could feel the pointed tip of something soft and fleshy jabbing clumsily at her behind. A cock. The dog's cock, and no small member either. In a flash it came back to her: the heavy beasts dragging her down, ripping her little gown to shreds, then spreading her legs. She had shuddered at the first feeling of taut flesh, the first brush of the monster cock against her virgin pussy. She could barely remember the fear she had felt, the memory overwhelmed by the howling pleasure as orgasm after orgasm had battered her body all night. That white heat. That pulsing flesh. That thundering beat, driving into her pussy. It was beginning again. Beth could feel her breath quicken, her heart racing, her pussy muscles tightening in anticipation.

Every muscle in her body snapped when the huge beast finally managed to jab his cock in the right spot. Beth squealed and jerked against the wood that shackled her wrists and neck. The dog's heavy panting brushed her ear, the long tongue drooling saliva on her cheek. With his first thrust, he had stuffed his engorged cock halfway into the trembling girl. The crowd laughed and jeered, pointing as Beth shook with shame and the sudden flash of pleasure. Beth could hardly hear her father over the delighted roar of the crowd, but she could see him, her head locked in place, watching from just a few feet away as his expression grew crimson with rage.

"Da-Daddy!" Beth couldn't help herself. The dog thundered on eagerly, his furry pelvis jerking against Beth, working his doggy prick deeper into her little girl cunt. Beth's fists clenched defiantly even as the pleasure rose up to overwhelm her. The dog was larger than the men had been, filling her leaking cunt and squeezing Beth's battered pussy to its breaking point. Fur mixed with the stray gouts of cum all over her body, the thick hair swiping the goo back and forth until she could feel the matted mess brushing her body in quick, frantic motions. The dog banged home lustily, holding nothing back, dribbling hot saliva onto the back of her neck as it thrust into his bitch. The thick prick had worked another inch in, stretching Beth's pussy to accommodate the thick girth of canine cock.

Beth wailed. She shrieked. Her shame shattered under the relentless spell of pleasure, her small body surrendering to the rapacious animal. The dog's panting reached a fever pitch and he rammed home deeply inside her with a final thrust. Beth squealed as she felt the warm liquid splash her insides. Thick doggy sperm poured into her, hot flashes as the gooey flow mixed with all that the men had left inside of her. Her body rocked tightly against the wooden pillory, taut and shaking, the vision of her father's shamefaced rage unfocusing as her orgasm crashed over her. The beast's thick cock vibrated like a tuning fork inside her, shivering flashes of white-hot lightning streaking out from the quaking walls of her pussy. Beth's gibbering howl brought a fresh round of laughter from the crowded men, hedonistic cackles and jeering as the little girl was dominated by the animal. One of the men slapped the dog on the ass, and Beth shrieked at the motion, the sudden slam sending a lightning pulse of pleasure strobing through the storm of ecstasy.

Beth tumbled back down suddenly, back to the shouting crowd, back to the raw scrape of wood against her flesh, back to the frantic furry motion of the dog against her back again. He had barely slowed down, working back up to a rapid rhythm, a pistoning beat into his squealing little bitch. Beth could feel warm goo running down her thighs, the dog's thundering jerks lubricated by the swill of mixed semen bottled up inside her pussy.

"Beth"! She could hear her name, the cry of her Father, somewhere in the dizzied senses. He was watching her, seeing his daughter raped by an animal. Beth's tongue lolled, wordless gasps of pleasure jerked from her throat with each fresh slam into her cunt. She was lost, tumbling in a cacophony, jerked about by thundering strokes of pleasure. The roar of the crowd, jubilant. The cry of her father, agonized. The heavy, panting breath in her ears, doggy gasps tight with animal lust as he banged his cock into her.

"Oi, I think she likes it she does!" The man's shout brought a round of jeering agreement. He bent down to speak into Beth's ear again. "Ol' Bruno does like his bitches young. Won't touch the women. E' only takes on for little girl cunt e' does."

Beth could feel the man pinch her cheek in cruel mockery just as her second climax exploded inside of her. The pounding dog prick in her cunt rammed forward in a final slam, shuddering, and Beth shrieked as the lips of her pussy were stretched painfully wide. The throbbing cock pushed ever deeper inside her, the pointed prick jammed against her cervix, and an agonizing tightness wracked her trembling cunt as if something large had slipped inside.

"Eeeeeeeeeee!" Beth wailed as the world swirled through her watering eyes. The dog had stopped moving, its cock buried tightly inside her and seemingly engorged to a titanic size. Her cunt was strained to its breaking point around a thick knot of turgid flesh. The torrent of ecstasy ripped through her brain, shattering her scattered thoughts into a whirlwind, burying everything under lightning strokes of a dizzying euphoria.

Beth lost track of time, her body shaking, wracked with pleasure. The enormous dog prick vibrated inside, the tip trembling against her cervix. A fresh orgasm broke just as she slumped from the last one, her body shuddering, quivering, impaled on the dog's turgid member like a spear. She couldn't move, could barely breathe, locked tightly between the knotted beast and the cruel wooden pillory. The dog's whining pleasure lingered in her ears, thick with bestial glee. Fresh gouts of warmth spewed deep inside of her, finding nowhere to go, unable even to leak out around the tight, bulging seal of the dog's knot. It filled Beth until she thought her belly would burst. She bucked and howled in her bondage, lost to the ecstasy bursting inside of her. Over and over, her tiny body would go limp, only for the delicious vibration of canine cock in her belly to catapult her into the stratosphere again, muscles tight, mouth drooling wordless exaltation. Beth lost count of her orgasms, lost count of the torrent of climaxes, her body wracked and assailed by each fresh tide of delicious pleasure. She moaned and gasped and panted like an animal herself as her canine lover drove her to the brink of ecstasy and beyond over and over while the crowd howled in delighted glee.

It took some time before Beth detected the change, the sudden roar of the crowd, the excited murmuring slowly turning to scattered screams of alarm. Her latest orgasm had only just tapered away, the enormous dog's cock still locked inside of her and tickling her cervix. It seemed to pass over the crowd like a wave, ripples of shouting and hysterical cries. Beth tried to turn her head. Feet were running past in a frantic tide as the crowd surged, turning from some unknown threat to flee the square. A few boots charged in the opposite direction, pushing against the human wave - guards, armed, wearing looks of shock and disbelief.

"Daddy!" screamed Beth. "What's happening?!"

"I don't know! I can't see! This damned...cursed thing." Julian tossed his head, straining visibly against the pillory, his muscled shoulders pulled tight.

Even the dog seemed to be alarmed. Beth squealed as the creature turned, his knot stuck in her for a moment before he pulled the softening plug like a cork from a bottle. Beth felt a tide of warm goo spurt from her pussy, the bottled deposits of the dog and countless men gushing down her thighs like warm syrup.

Something snorted from behind her, something inhuman, deep and resonating like a horse or a bull. Beth saw her father blanch, his eyes wide, looking beyond her. Beth heard the dog turn to flee with a startled yelp, and a shiver of fear raced up her aching back. A man darted past her, armored, brandishing a sword and shouting. One of the same guards that had looked on apathetically as the townsfolk had raped and violated her. There was a clash and a scream, and the man suddenly went flying past her again in the opposite direction, sailing through the air to land in a crumpled, bloody heap on the cobblestone.

"Daddy!" Beth cried, shaking with fear now. "Daddy what is it?!" Her father didn't answer. Instead he redoubled his efforts, digging his feet into the ground, pushing against the rickety wood of the pillory with all his might. It rocked slightly, then again as he shoved. Julian's face was red and Beth could see the sweat dripping from his forehead. Finally, with a mighty heave, her Father pushed forward one last time, muscles bulging in his arms and chest, and the pillory finally gave way, the main stake pulling up from the ground with a spray of dirt.

Beth's shout was somewhere between terror and triumph. Her father stood tall, gasping, his wrists still locked to the crossbar around his neck. Beth felt a presence behind her, something vast lurking just past her vision. Something with a heavy breath and a menace that she could feel in her quaking bones. Julian roared in rage and charged straight for her.

Some enormous creature of bulging girth and coarse brown hair charged past her, meeting her father with its own animal bellow. Beth's eyes bulged. The thing was like a giant bull, if a bull could stand on its hind legs and walk like a man. Its bovine tail whipped in the air. Its hooves dug at the cobblestone as it streaked forward. It lowered its mighty head and leveled a pair of gargantuan horns straight at her father. Beth screamed with all her might as they met with a clash, terrified that her father would be gored on those thrashing points.

The bovine roar shattered the air in the open square, sending startled birds soaring and rattling the teeth in Beth's mouth. Wood splintered. A man screamed. The pair parted, the bull-man desperately trying to arrest his forward charge and turn, while Julian completed the spin that had kept him from the beast's horns, the wooden bar now sundered by the creature's superior strength. His head and hands were free. His feet hit the dirt lightly, ending his spin perfectly balanced.

"Daddy!" Beth screamed. The creature was faster than she could believe, halting the charge of its massive bulk and turning to face her father again. Its legs kicked and its horns lowered, and it charged again.

Julian knelt to snatch the sword from the fallen man, coming up at the very last instant with a mighty kick that sent him sailing into the air in a sideways leap. The horns passed just under him, goring frantically, desperate for flesh. Beth screamed again, but her father landed unhurt on the stone, sword in hand, one leg splayed out to cancel his momentum.

Beth could see the bright splash of crimson on the ground where they had met. The beast lurked at the edge of her vision, panting heavily, a bloody slash across its flank. Her father had scored a hit even as certain death passed just a hairsbreadth beneath him.

"Come on!" scowled Julian, brandishing the blade. "Come and meet me, demon!"

It had all happened so quickly. The bull-man snorted, eyeing Julian with a hint of cunning wariness in its bovine eyes, then turned, seemingly seeking easier prey. People were still fleeing from the square, fighting for space in the crowded streets. It spotted a pair - a young woman and an even younger girl, the woman pulling the girl by the wrist frantically. They were at the back of the crush of people streaming out into the side streets. The bull-man turned and charged, leaving Beth and Julian behind. The woman and girl both screamed as it leapt upon them in a flash, knocking the woman aside and grasping the girl with clawed hands. In a single motion it ripped the girl's dress asunder, tossing the cloth aside, then held her struggling body aloft. Beth could see the beast fully now, could see the massive, engorged cock jutting from its loins. The shocking organ was jet-black and shaped like a bull's member, a massive, erect spear of tumescent flesh larger even than the young girl's legs. The small girl squealed, thrashing in the creature's grip, then screamed when he brought her down, ramming the gargantuan prick straight into her cunt.

Julian's shock lasted for only a moment before he turned to Beth and raised the sword high overhead.

"Beth, don't move a muscle!" In a lightning stroke, the sword fell. Beth's left hand fell free of the splintering wood. Another flash, and her right hand was free. Julian inverted his grip on the blade and then drove it down into the main stake at an angle. Wood cracked and splintered. He snapped the blade back and forth in two quick motions, and Beth felt herself suddenly falling forward onto the stone.

Her father crouched down over her, ripping free the last wooden pieces from her wrists and neck. Beth pulled in a haggard breath. Her chest was tight with exertion. Her thighs ached like fire. With her father's help she managed to sit up, and then flung her arms around her father's naked chest.

"Daddy!" She wept. "Daddy!" She sobbed helplessly into his arms, unable to find any words other than that single one. Julian held her tight, his arms growing sticky from the tacky mess of white sludge that was drying on her body.

"Beth!" She felt his fingers on her chin, pulling her face up to look at him. "It's ok. I'm here. But we can't stay. Can you walk?"

Beth nodded, and let her father pull her up on unsteady feet. She sagged against him, vision still wet with tears, trying to get ahold of herself. A piercing scream shook the air. Beth looked around her father. The bull-man was raping the small girl it had captured, holding her like a doll and pistoning its colossal prick into her tiny pussy. The girl's pitiful shriek rang out again.

"Daddy we have to help her!"

Julian yanked her arm, forcing her to look away. "We can't. Listen Beth! Do you hear that?"

Beth sucked in a ragged breath and listened. The little girl's scream was far from the only one. In the distance, in all directions, shouts and cries of terror rang out.

"There's no time. Something is happening, Beth. We have to get out of here!"

Beth leaned against her father's arm and allowed herself to be pulled along. In addition to the general clamor, there were other sounds: weapons clashing, loud grunts of exertion and pain, and other, stranger sounds she couldn't identify, as if from beasts she had never seen. They made for the exit to a street, clear now, the last of the citizens fled. Beth had trouble finding her footing, had trouble processing what had happened to her, what was happening all around her. She leaned into her father, feeling his strength, drawing assurance from the tight muscles of the arm he had wrapped around her back for support. Daddy was here. Daddy would keep her safe no matter what happened.

They spotted more of the bull-men down another street as they crossed. Her father pulled her away quickly, but Beth could hear the shrieks of women and girls. She knew what they were doing to their victims - the same thing the monsters at their farm had done to her. They passed an alley and Julian suddenly yanked her into it. Beth heard the sound of many boots running, men shouting. Guards. A sudden braying sound rang out from the street just beyond, followed by the sound of battle and the screams of men.

Her father pulled her farther into the narrow alley. "We need to avoid any fighting. Avoid everything!" Beth let herself be towed along, on her own feet now, dragged by her Father's hand on her wrist like a shackle. The dull ache of her arms and legs from her ordeal throbbed painfully and she could still feel the warm sludge leaking from her privates, but she managed to keep her feet.

The stinking alley turned a sharp corner. Beth barely sidestepped a pile of offal. "Daddy!" she shouted. He turned back. "My arm...please…" she pleaded. He looked down, abashed, and let her go. She sagged into him, weeping.

"What's happening?" she sobbed.

"I don't know." Julian stroked her hair. "I've never seen anything like that creature."

"That girl…" Beth looked up, her eyes rimmed with tears. "It just picked her up and...and pushed her onto itself, like the monsters...like they did with…m-"

"Hush!" Julian hugged her tightly. "They won't get you Beth. I won't let them. But we have to move. Quickly now!"

She nodded and wiped her eyes. Her father turned and led them down the alley to where it entered another road of smooth cobblestones. He peeked both ways, then beckoned her after him.

The road seemed empty for the moment, filled only with the sound of shrieking coming from a nearby building. Beth followed her father as they approached. The window at the front of the building was shattered, the glass gone, the frame dislodged. A sign hung crooked from a single chain above the doorway. "Mother Agatha's Orphanage for Girls," it read.

As they crept down the street past the building, Beth couldn't help but linger for a moment. She stole a glance inside, and a frightened gasp leapt unbidden from her throat. A large creature with a bloated, whitish body was in the front room, hovering over several struggling, crying girls. At least a dozen tentacles sprouted from the underside of the abhorrent body, and the writhing, twisting limbs were ravaging the poor children, curling around their wrists and ankles, yanking their feet apart, slithering under their clothing and tearing the fabric to pieces. Beth froze in horror, fear gripping her limbs like ice. The creature was using its tentacles to hold the girls in place as it ravished them, probing their exposed cunts and then slipping inside as its victims squealed. The slathering coils left gooey strands of mucus on the exposed flesh of the girls, sopping, glistening strands that dripped and oozed like snot.

The rough jerk almost pulled her off her feet. Julian was pulling her along again, his expression glowering. "Keep moving!" He hissed. "Don't stop and watch Beth! Listen to me! You have to-"

"Daddy!" she shrieked. Julian was looking at her, not where they were going. Ahead of them, from a wide sewer opening, another of the white creatures slithered out and rose up before them. Bigger than a horse, the horrible thing reared back, its maggot-like bulk blocking their path. Eyeless and terrifying, it hissed from a disgusting triangular mouth, and Beth screamed as the mass of squiggling tentacles on its underside reached out for them both.

Julian moved like lightning. His strong arms scooped Beth's naked body up, and he bolted in the opposite direction. Beth screamed again, frightened even in her father's grasp. She could see the thing undulating along the cobblestones like a snake, surprisingly rapid, pursuing them. Her mind was paralyzed with fear, seeing those tentacles wrapping around her, coating her with sludge, wiggling desperately until they found and penetrated her in every place. She could feel her father's rough breath as he panted, running, feel the thrum of his heartbeat. Ahead, the wreckage of several wagons blocked their path.

"Beth! Climb up!" Julian dropped her to her feet, then smacked her bottom. "Climb girl! I'll be right behind you!"

Beth did as he commanded, letting terror and adrenaline guide her limbs. The wagons had collided into a desperate mess, the horses long since bolted, but she pulled herself up and mounted the top of one. Julian was scrambling up behind her. They crossed the top of the wreckage, ducking the sharp, broken spokes of a shattered wheel, and let themselves down the other side.

The road split into an intersection, letting out three ways. Beth could see a small phalanx of guards rushing their direction from one side. She huddled close to her father.

"Now what?" she asked, still trembling.

"This way!" Julian pulled her in the opposite direction of the closing guards. Behind them, there was a tremendous crash as the bulky white maggot thing slammed the wagons aside and gave a hissing roar when it saw the guards. The men cried out. Beth looked back as she ran. The men held their swords with shaking hands but were falling back, helpless, as the agile, bristling tentacles swept them aside one by one.

They were passing other people now. Chaos. A dizzying array of beasts Beth's mind struggled to comprehend. There was something like a giant spider in one direction, its bulky body moving over a struggling woman bound by wraps of webbing. She could see the vile thing's thin cock pistoning into the woman's pussy. In another direction, a pair of giant muscular wolf creatures had cornered a pair of girls. They pounced, and the girls shrieked as the snapping jaws tore off their clothes. The beasts held the struggling pair bodily up against the brick wall, keeping them pinned by their powerful forearms and large frames, and then, with toothy grins, rammed their thick cocks straight into the girls' exposed pussies.

Beth ran on. She smelled smoke. She saw the fire. They passed dozens more, girls and women in the act of being raped by countless nightmares. They passed smashed merchant stands and the ruined debris of wagons and carts, vaulting over or snaking past what they could. Beth ran after her father, her limbs aching, her heart thumping with fear.

A howling squall came from above her just as a pair of sharp, clicking talons snapped shut around her upper arms. Beth felt her feet lifted off the ground. She screamed. Julian turned, and his face blanched with alarm. Beth looked up, and saw the heavy, batlike wings flapping madly, saw the leering, demonic face of a muscular gargoyle with greyish, mottled skin, lifting her up helplessly.

Julian looked from side to side. A few feet away, a lone guard was leveling a crossbow at another of the bull-monsters that was raping a small girl. Her father's fist cracked the man across the back of the neck like a thunderbolt, and then caught the weapon as it fell from the guard's hand, bringing it up in one smooth motion. Beth struggled and shrieked, feet kicking, the ground at least a meter beneath her already. She heard the click, felt the thunk of the bolt impact the heavy brute above her. The fiend howled in agony, its wings beating faster, and Beth suddenly felt herself drop.

Her father was there. He caught her and set her feet beneath her, then squeezed her head with his hands, a desperate, wordless plea on his lips.

"I'm ok Daddy," Beth panted. She felt something warm on the side of her face, and wiped her hand there. It came away red. The blood of that monster. Another second and it would have had her. Julian wrapped her in a desperate hug, lasting only a moment, before they set off again at a dead run.

Nothing else loomed up to stop them. Most of the monsters they passed were already deep in the act of raping their victims. They passed only a few more guards sprawled on the ground, knocked out or dead - Beth couldn't tell. The chorus of wails rose around her in a nightmare clamor, but she did her best to shut it out and keep up with her father. Ahead were the gates - unmanned now. They passed through, feet slamming the packed dirt. Outside the walls, the refugees had fled, or were being violated by the few monsters that had cornered them outside. Their belongings were scattered everywhere in mangled bundles and burst sacks.

Julian pulled her up short. "There!" He pointed. A horse was stuck in its traces, head jerking, locked to the dead weight of a wagon with a cracked axle. They dashed over. Julian freed the animal in a moment, and jumped up upon the saddle, pulling Beth up behind him.

She locked her arms around her father's belly as he cracked the reins. The horse jumped forward, only too eager to flee the chaos, and Beth gasped as the thumping slap of leather pounded from beneath. Her heart was beating like a drum, her breath wild and winded. The beast's hot skin pounded at her battered thighs, and her pussy was still leaking a seemingly endless trickle of gooey white ooze.

She looked back. Behind them, smoke rose over the city. Flying forms like the one that had almost abducted her swooped back and forth, some holding struggling victims. The shrieks and screams were fading, but they still played in Beth's mind. The howl of the girl as the bull-man's enormous prick smashed up into her. The shrieks of the girls in the orphanage, violated by the inconceivable maggot beasts. The women and girls everywhere, cornered, clothing torn off, held down, penetrated by the bulging cocks of a litany of nightmarish creatures. All of them rang inside her, endless, even as the horse thundered on and the city disappeared behind them.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Daddy had always told her stories of a world full of wonder, of adventure and possibility. Never anything like this. Never demons. What was happening? They had lost everything - their money, their clothes, Daddy's sword, even the scroll she had prized so much, the one that had fueled her mind with wondrous dreams. But at least they had each other. At least they were free.

Not like the people back in the city. A tight fear was growing in the back of Beth's mind - a fear of that wicked tide of monsters that always seemed to be at their back. They had come from nowhere, robbing her virginity, raping her 12-year-old body until she had lost herself to pleasure. It had been the most shocking experience of her life, her fear transmuted to a relentless storm of pleasure, her tiny body battered by violent ecstasy. Her rape, a tidal wave of orgasmic bliss all the more intoxicating since she couldn't escape it. And then it had happened again. All those men, fucking her body from behind, ramming her brutally against the pillory, emptying gout after gout of that strange warm goop deep inside her until she was oozing like a keg of syrup, and topping her off with a ripe fucking by a randy dog, like she was some barnyard bitch. The shame of it burned in her. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Now she knew. Daddy had always tried to warn her, in his way. The world was full of danger, but Beth wasn't sure now which was really worse: the men or the monsters.

Beth did her best to hold her fear in as the horse galloped on, to keep it from spilling into more hot tears against her father's back. Fear for the people of the city, even now being violently subdued. Fear for her father, that he would end up like the men she had seen killed. Fear for the future. But there was one fear deep in her heart that loomed larger than any other.

The first time the monsters had raped her, she had been shocked as the terror melted away and she was catapulted to a sexual bliss she hadn't known existed. She knew they had raped her all night, but what she hadn't told her father - what she could have never told him - was how much she had enjoyed it. Each thundering cock in her pussy had been a new storm, rumbling in her belly, lightning flashes of euphoria racing up her spine to explode like fireworks behind her eyes. And then it had happened again - when the men raped her in the public square. She had lost herself, gibbering, pushing back madly, welcoming each fresh cock with a groan of pleasure, tongue hanging out, panting, gasping, squeaking with delight at each gushing spurt deep in her tunnel. All the while her Daddy had watched, helpless, eyes bulging, straining furiously but unable to do anything even as the huge dog had mounted her and rammed its throbbing beastcock deep into the gooey crack of her lost innocence.

Now he knew. He had seen it. She could see it reflected in the desperate look in his eyes when they had escaped. His daughter, rutting like an animal in front of him, squealing with delight as a crowd of men took their pleasure with her, howling like a beast when the dog violated her. Enjoying it. Relishing it. Loving it.

The horse finally slowed to a trot, the woodland path beginning to descend into a glen. Beth longed for her father to look back at her, but he kept his eyes straight ahead, scanning the path for threats. She tightened her grip. She nuzzled his shoulder. She whispered his name. Still his gaze stayed straight, unyielding, unwilling to look back, to see the rising smoke of the city or the naked, cum-soaked body of his own daughter. She whispered again. She reached to touch his cheek. Finally she begged, the hot tears flowing at last, and he turned to look back.

Shame burned in his eyes. Desperate. Like a beast clawing for escape. Not the tender love that had always sparkled there. Only shame. Beth felt her heart turn to ice.

That was it. Her greatest fear. That he would never look at her the same way again.