The skin trade. [Lion-O!] [M]

[Rhindeer]

[Oh Quinlan, you devious bastard. <3]

"Alright, old fart," Aysel shot right back, but she didn't protest the idea of sleep. It had been a full day with a lot of stress and drama, and even on the best of days it was impossible to sleep here. Flopping over onto her side, she curled up with her back against the side of the wagon and head pillowed on her arm.

And though she felt too awake with stress to sleep, the moment she closed her eyes, exhaustion took over for her. She drifted off, and before long she was lightly snoring, not even stirring when the wagon began to sway and jolt as, once more, they continued on their grim journey.

They traveled an hour or so longer until they found a good place to pull off onto the side of the road, where the wagon wheels wouldn't get stuck and there was ample shade from the trees. They were off schedule after last night's shenanigans, and the important thing had been putting distance between the they and the tavern. Gwen deemed this good enough and, since everyone was running on little energy after last night's sleeplessness, and weakened morale after Jessen's death...

Now was as good a time as any to catch some rest.

They worked in shifts, with Fendrick taking the first shift while the others pulled out bedrolls and got comfortable on the ground.

Or as comfortable as they could.

Gwen's sleep was far from restful. She stirred in her sleep, head lolling on her lumpy pillow, and her brow knit as soft moans escaped her throat. Quinlan must have made an impression, for he was in her dreams, and she had him bound and at her mercy again as they undulated together. And indeed, dreams could feel very real, and the pleasure certainly felt it--real enough that her hips shifted in her sleep and her breaths came quicker, her face flushed with heat.

Stretched out beside her in his own bedroll, Karo gave an annoyed huff and covered his head with his pillow, but didn't dare wake his boss. Especially since it seemed...fairly awkward.

[Lion]

[Deviously sexy]

Quinlan'd breath could be felt against her skin, as lips took to her flushed breasts, lapping at her pointed nipples.  Hands gripped her flush to him.  Quinlan moved harder, each sensation deeper and more faster.  He could feel her heat and the control she exerted.  Even bound, hips moved up, undulating together.

If she opened her eyes, even briefly, she might see Quinlan physically there.  But that would be impossible right?  He was still locked in the cage with the rest of the slaves.

[Rhindeer]

"Fuck!" Gwen cried out, and bit his neck hard as she matched him, plunging down to compliment his upward thrusts. She felt hot, her blood on fire in the best of ways, and her flushed skin and warmth of her sex was certainly revealing of that as she rode him with abandon.

Some small part of her, the part that wasn't wrapped up in sexy dream logic, felt that something wasn't quite right, that something felt off about this. But dream Gwen ignored it and reveled instead in the sensations of his warm tongue at her breasts and hard cock pumping into her, sending chills and tingles all down her spine and through her belly. She tangled her hands in his hair, pulling tightly, and yanked him up into a fierce kiss that muffled her panted breaths and shuddering whimpers as that heat and wonderful tension only grew.

"Harder," she growled against his lips, pulling at his bottom lip with her teeth. "Fuck me, dammit!"

The tension broke and her breath seized in her throat as she came wordlessly, convulsing and trembling as her hips jerked--and the real Gwen's eyes fluttered as she gasped, for the orgasm was real, real enough that the power and pleasure of it jolted her awake as heat rushed to her face even as it burned between her legs.

She clapped a hand over her mouth, surprised and blinking, her body tingly all over and breathing coming fast and ragged. It wasn't the first time she'd climaxed in her sleep, but it was the first time it had been so intense, the first time the dream felt so real, and--

And then her eyes landed on Quinlan, right there.

With a yell of alarm that woke half the camp, if not more, she shot bolt upright.

[Lion]

And when she would pop up, no one would be there.  None that weren't already present anyway.  Quinlan slept sound in the cavern, feeling back into his own mind and finding some semblance of comfort, sleeping against the bars.

He kept his ears alert, leaning on Aysel,  but at the sound of footsteps nearing him, he jerked one eye open, peering at the other slaves, but keeping perfectly still.

It didn't sound like it was coming from the others in the camp.  Were these newcomers?  Bandits...or worse?  Quinlan would just wait to find out.

[Rhindeer]

No one was around.

No one but Fendrick, Karo, and Ceb.

Karo jerked upright in alarm at Gwen's yell, having more or less tuned her out while she was having her...dream. Her yell, however, had him on his feet with a dagger in hand before she'd even stopped, and Ceb was close behind him, if slower as he got all tangled in his bedroll.

"What happened?!" he barked, looking around urgently while Gwen clutched her blanket to her chest, her breathing rapid.

Just a dream...

And it had felt so goddamned real.

Face flushed, she snapped a look up at Karo and scowled, not about to admit what had just happened. "Night terror," she said, and let out a slow breath and scrubbed a hand through her hair, which had fallen free of its usual tight bun. "Don't worry. Just...go back to sleep."

She flopped back down as Ceb and Karo took up their spots, but she didn't close her eyes. Instead she glanced over at the wagon, where "Rylan's" sleeping form was still visible.

She assumed he was sleeping, at least.

Over in the wagon, Aysel was getting a rare few hours' sleep. She hadn't gotten much of it during her time there, but Quinlan gave her hope, and made her feel a little safer, and she'd wound up nodding off against him. She shifted in her sleep, curling closer against him for warmth, and settled down again after.

She wasn't aware of the footsteps.

And Gwen, slowly drifting back to sleep, didn't pause to think how strange it was that Fendrick hadn't run to check on her, too.

Near the woods to the side of the wagon, there came more of those soft, thudding footsteps and the dry snap of twigs and leaves underfoot.

And then came a low, throaty rumble and a strange, unearthly bleating, and a large, looming shape stepped from the shadows, exposing a lion's face covered in fresh blood. Its tail arched high over its back, hissing softly--a snake, not a tail--and a goat's head stared out over them, its mouth also dripping red.

[Lion]

The bleating made Quinlan's eyes snap open.  He gasped in breath, a sharp intake of cold air that awoke him  and made the goosebumps on his arms rise at the creature's passing.  He opened one eye, snapping the other shut, as he stayed perfectly still.  There he saw the bumbling steps of the creature as it emerged from the shadows, and the bloody footprints left in the dirt.

"Holy shit," he gasped, the words coming out loud enough to turn the beast's attention on the cage.  And all the nummy-treats sleeping inside.  It turned to them and lunged for the bars, stopped then by the metal and knocking over the wagon, the bars bent from the blow.

Inside the other slave's screamed into awakening, the animal tearing at the wheels, and they went tumbling within.

"GWEN  FUCKING GET UP!" Karo yelled.  "SOMETHING'S ATTACKING THE GOODS!"

[Rhindeer]

Aysel was still fast asleep, dead to the world and oblivious even to Quinlan's voice--when the world went flip-turned upside down.

One minute she was sleeping, the next she was flying--

CRASH!

No, okay, that was definitely falling, she realized as her face smooshed against the bars of the wagon and another writhing body landed atop hers, crushing her and making it hard to breathe. She thrashed, gasping and choking, stunned and disoriented as to why grass was poking at her face when she was pressed against the bars--until she realized several seconds later that the wagon was now on its side, and she was now on the bottom.

And something was roaring and bleating over all the screaming, something that was making the wagon shudder and creak.

"Quin!" she yelped, still half-awake and confused as all hell, her heart hammering in her chest as she tried to dislodge whoever was pinning her, even as over all the commotion she heard Karo's shouts.

And his words made her heart freeze.


Outside the wagon, Gwen bolted upright in her bed, followed by Ceb--who went stark white when he saw the creature, far larger than any draft horse, that was clawing and tearing at the wagon, the lion's blood-stained teeth wrapped around one of the bars and claws shredding at the wheels. Inside, the slaves shrieked--and the wagon groaned, threatening to give out.

It was built to keep people in. It wasn't built to keep fucking chimera out.

"Motherfucker!" Gwen snarled as she hobbled to her feet--and realized with no small amount of horror that her crossbow was gone. The horses had bolted in a panic, taking her weapons with them, until all she had left was the dagger at her belt and whatever Ceb and Karo had on them.

Karo, at least, had a gun.

Shit. SHIT.

"Well, fucking do something about it, then!" she snapped back at Karo, "or give me your fucking gun if you won't!"

But he was already acting, taking aim and cocking his pistol and firing off a shot directly into the beast's lion head.

But it only seemed to piss it off more, as with a spine-tingling snarl, it released the bars and swung its head around to bare its dripping teeth at them.

[Lion]

And Karo's shot quickly decided who the chimera's first target would be.  The beast turned quickly, tail lashing in irritation before darting for the man.  It moved swift for a creature of it's size, and darted for Karo.  The man made a dash away from Gwen in vain.  Before he knew it the chimera had him between its gnashing teeth and crushed him until he gushed red.

Amidst his screams, the gun was dropped from Karo's grip somewhere. 

"Let me out!" Quinlan found himself shouting from the confines of the cage. He couldn't believe his own madness but the creature clearly wasn't going to be brought down by normal means.  And he wasn't going to be shat out by a damn creature like this!  He was going to die on his own terms.

[Rhindeer]

They were all going to die, Gwen realized numbly as she watched the chimera swing around to face her, thick blood and entrails dripping from its teeth. She had never imagined her end would be by a fucking animal, but as it took a soundless step toward her, she knew she may as well not even bother drawing her knife. Running would only make it chase.

Fuck...

But then Rylan shouted, and the chimera swung all three heads around to face the wagon with a snarling hiss. That shout decided its new target, and soon it was stalking toward it with death in its eyes.

Gwen considered leaving them. Just bolting while its back was turned, but it was an unnatural beast; it didn't eat Karo, only mashed him up and dropped the body. It wasn't interested in feeding, only killing, and it wouldn't stop until it was through. Only Ceb was left, cowering by the wagon and holding a pistol in his trembling hand.

Well.

Fuck it.

"Open the wagon!" she shouted, once again drawing the chimera's attention, and Ceb didn't hesitate; no doubt he understood he had a better shot at living if there were more victims to choose from. With a curse, he caught the set of keys Gwen tossed him, unlocked the door, and opened the wagon.

Right as the chimera lunged for him, and crashed into the wagon, just barely missing him as he threw himself out of the way.

[Lion]

The wagon was tossed up again, rolling over onto it's top and the slaves all inside taking a ride with it.  Quinlan had clasped to the bars and made for the door as soon as it was open, and many of the slaves within were hesitant to follow.  What good would it do to run away if they were going to be torn open by the three-headed beast out in the camp!? 

This was madness.

Quinlan however kept his focus.  Or tried too when a few of the other slaves did take those chances, however slim.  He ought to run too, he told himself.  He already did his job, and if he wanted to be paid, he was better off than they were.  But this thing looked like it was going to take off after the first moving target it locked onto.  And that could very well be him.

He didn't know how good his magic would work with that goddamn collar on, but he supposed it was now or never.  One serum was knocked back, and he staggered forward, taking a blade from Karo's body as the chimera took one of the slave's head off and tossed it back like a light snack.

The cut across his palm stung, but the pain only exhilarated him.  Blood that would burn fire and set this whole camp ablaze. 

[Rhindeer]

It was chaos, some slaves taking their chances and bolting, others still petrified inside the wagon, but in or out, no one was safe. The wagon was meant to keep slaves in, not keep predators out, the same way a bird was doomed if the cat managed to open the cage.

Aysel wasn't about to die cowering, and Quinlan had become a safety net in the raging current, so she followed close to him; she had seen him do the impossible and kill Jessen, so who was to say he couldn't kill a chimera, too? Just like a hero from the legends.

He cut his hand, and her eyes flicked to the collar in worry before they cut to Ceb, trembling behind the wagon's door like it was a shield. He still had the keys.

She shot a frantic glance to the chimera as it snapped up another slave with its snake tail and curled around her, bones snapping like kettle corn, and she swallowd hard to keep from retching before she dove around the door.

"The keys!" she gasped, reaching. "Give me the keys!" But he was mute and unmoving, paralyzed with terror, and after a moment she saw them at his feet. His pants were wet all down the front.

Couldn't hardly blame him.

She snatched up the ring of keys and rushed to Quinlan right as the chimera swung around and locked eyes on him, nostrils flaring as though it could already smell his magic. With an unearthly snarl, it started for him.

Aysel shoved the keys at him. "Your collar!" she said, not knowing what key it was--but hoping he would figure it out fast.

[Lion]

Quinlan blinked in the blind flurry of several seconds.  He reached up with his daggered hand and struggled to find the right key to open the lock around the collar.  The chimera began to stalk toward him and within seconds he was at it's feet.  But within those seconds somewhere there was a right click and it fell to the floor in a squeaking hinge, throwing dust up in its wake.

Quinlan felt his blood dripping from his hand, now soaked in it and he flicked it out onto the ground, and from it fire burst up from the soil, coming up in flaming spires.  Caught beneath the belly of the chimera, the flames scorched upward and singed the fur and soft belly of the animal.

But it kept it's path and Quinlan sidestepped quickly and lunged into Aysel, knocking her out of it's way.  He staggered onto his side, rolling off and dropping the keys to the collar beside her.

[Rhindeer]

Why wasn't it dying?! Quinlan was supposed to have just burned it up, just like that, all easy like out of a legend! But it wasn't dying, and if anything, the pain from the fire seemed to enrage the beast as it came at them--and for a terrifying second she stood frozen in place, too stunned to move, hypnotized by the sight of those three horrifying heads and the blood on their mouths.

But then Quinlan slammed into her and she hit the ground with a cry, the shock jarring her out of it, and she heard a metallic clang right beside her. Gasping, she scrambled up onto her hands and knees, and caught a flash of silver as moonlight glinted off the keys. She quickly snatched them up and fumbled for the right one, trying each one out as she watched the chimera stalk after Quinlan, licking the jaws of its lion mouth.

He was the one who had burned it, so he was the one who would die first.

With a trumpeting roar that all three heads sounded, it leaped for him, claws out, fangs bared, and snake tail whipping around to try and snap him up in its venomous jaws.

"You like fire, little one?" it hissed, eyes burning, and its goat head let out a sound like bleating laughter. A mocking sound. "We were born from it."

And even as it spoke, a light began to glow deep in the goat's throat, and then its mouth, illuminating the bones of its skull, before it let out a roar that spewed blue-white flame at Quinlan.

[Lion]

The force of the fire sent Quinlan back off his feet, singing his clothes and he quickly smacked the embers that took hold and threatened to burn him alive.  "Fuck!" he hissed and rolled to get out of the way.  The blood mage was still smoking from the burst of chimera fire, and his arms were singed and the edges of his coat had been burned away.  But he ignored the pain, pushing it as far away from his mind as possible.

It was just another sensation.  He got to his feet and could still feel the blood seeping from his hands.  "I hope you like ice then!" he growled and forced the frost from his fingers.  Icicles shot up from the ground, striking up right in the chimera's path.

[Rhindeer]

From the horrible shrieking all three heads let out, the chimera didn't like ice at all.

Especially not when one of those icicles sank up into its shoulder, and another stabbed into the middle of the snake tail.

It screamed in pain and rage, snake tail thrashing and snapping blindly at the air like the death throes of a serpent, and hot blood spattered the ground and sizzled where it hit like boiling water. The tail twitched violently a little more, and then suddenly hung limp, and the chimera bit at its injured paw to yank the shard of ice out.

"You'll die slowly," the chimera snarled, lion's teeth bared and bloody as it stalked toward Quinlan--though more cautiously now, an obvious limp in its stride as it left red paw prints on the earth. "I'll break your legs and peel your skin, peel your eyelids so you can't close them. And then I'll kill your friends. One by one. Their blood will bathe you. Their ashes will sting you. But you won't die."

And then its muscles bunched up right before it leaped for him again, spitting fire from its goat mouth even as its claws reached for him, lion's jaws snapping.

Meanwhile, Aysel finally fit the right key to the lock, and with trembling fingers she turned it with a click and let the collar drop to the ground. Almost instantly she felt the seals on her magic break--not that she would be much use! She could draw stuff! Great! Like that would help against a--

Well...maybe?

She shot a panicked look at Quinlan and the chimera, then a look across the way, at the broken body of a slave slain by the beast. Her stomach tightened at the thought of what she had in mind, but she sucked in a breath, grabbed some broken bars from the wagon, and quickly scrambled to the body, and didn't pause to give herself time to think before she stuck her fingers in the slash wound on the man's throat.

And began to draw.

The blood was thick and already congealing, but she worked fast; she wasn't aiming for perfection, just something! And soon the crude painting in the dirt began to take on a shape of a very basic shield, and she tossed the wagon bars onto the painting, then her collar, and unlocked the dead man's collar and tossed it there, as well.

And then she willed her magic to do its work, and soon the metal began to shift and mold--until it took the form of...well...

A very crappy, lumpy looking shield.

Hopefully it was stronger than it was beautiful.

"Qui--Rylan!" she called, lifting it with both hands to get his attention.

And the attention of the chimera.

[Lion]

One head whipped toward Aysel's direction and the other kept its sights on Quinlan.  The shield soared across the air like a discus and Quinlan backed up several feet to catch it.  With a leap, he did and subsequently slammed to the ground.

Fire spewed from the third head and soaked the ground in a wall of it.  Quinlan ducked in time, able to hide most of his body from the flame as he kept his feet under him, dashing as the fire separated him from Aysel.  The chimera released a throaty cackle.

"Aysel!  Get the hell out of here!" Quinlan howled.  The chimera turned toward her, following the gaze of the head closest to her and made a dash for her. 

Quinlan was useless on the other side of that fire, and as he looked at the shield, the sharpened edge of it, he slashed his palm perpendicular to the existing cut.  More blood spewed out, and he felt the magic burn inside of him like liquid fire.  He gave a guttural growl at the pain that needled it's way through him.  But he forced the blood to turn cold, and he thrust his hands into the fire, freezing it until it sharded like glass.

With a scream, the shards came flying outward in a rain of ice.

[Rhindeer]

Quinlan didn't have to tell her twice.

Aysel's eyes rounded as the chimera swung around to face her, and with a choked gasp she scrambled to her feet right as it bounded after her. Her legs were unsteady and weak after being cramped up in a wagon for so long, but fear made her faster--just not fast enough. In three strides the chimera was upon her, its laughter in her ears as it leaped airborne, ready to take her down and tear her apart--

And then it let out an otherworldly shriek of pain and fury that was cut too short.

Something hard and furry slammed into Aysel's back and she went face down with a cry that soon turned strangled when the chimera's heavy weight pinned her to the earth and compressed her chest. She scrabbled at the ground, tearing the earth to try to wriggle out from under it, her heart beating so fast it hurt even as her lungs screamed for air. It was on her. It was on her. The chimera was pinning her and any second now and she would feel its teeth at her neck and its claws shredding! And even then she could feel it moving, hear its ragged breathing as it twitched atop her, and with what breath she had left she managed a sobbing, breathless, "Quinlan!"

But the chimera wasn't moving much. Its goat head snapped at the air, but its eyes were sightless, and its claws raked at the ground, but they were more spasmatic twitches than anything. Its lion tongue lolled out of its mouth, hanging on Aysel's back, as it sucked in shuddering breaths.

Blood leaked from a hundred different cuts and stab wounds, shards of melting ice embedded in its flesh. And in its back, piercing straight through its spine, was a rather large spear of ice.

[Lion]

"Fuck.  Fuck!  Fuck fuck fuck!"  Quinlan breathed as he watched the scene play out, and the horror, while less than shocking, was no less impacting.  There were a lot of bodies here, more than he was used to, and Qunlan's hand stung from all the cuts.  He trembled, body wracked with pain, and the burning in his blood.

He couldn't bring himself to look away, even as a hand shakily removed a blue vial from his coat, and he downed it a single gulp.  He coughed hard, and placed the glass back, and when he found his legs beneath him, they wobbled their way to Aysel.  The chimera's hulking form covered her largely and he reached down, bloody hands gripping around her wrists as he tried to pull her out from underneath the beast.

[Rhindeer]

Hands found hers, and Aysel craned her neck to see that it was Quinlan tugging at her. And Kia, but she could have sobbed anew just for that, only in sheer relief. Was it over? Was it dead? It was still atop her now, but the panic in her chest was no less, and all she wanted was to get away from it NOW.

Gripping Quinlan's bloody hands, she pulled as he did, and slowly she slid out from under the beast though she was still too shaky to rise to her feet. She made an effort of it, though, and stumbled on wobbly legs so she had to hold onto Quinlan's arm instead.

There was a lot of blood. Everywhere. And all over Quinlan.

But she was still far too focused on the monster.

"I-is it dead?"

[Lion]

"Dead as it's ever going to get," he said, breathing heavily, as he found his limbs regain some semblance of stability.  Quinlan only then remembered they weren't quite alone, well, for the most part anyway.

"Shit..."  He remembered Gwendolyn and he gripped Aysel's arm.  "Hey, if things get hairy.  Hairier, anyway.  You book it the hell out of here.  Chimera be damned.  Just get to safety.  I'll deal with the old hag.'