Love as a Form of Binding Ch. 09

Maezou shook her head, "For this type of binding -- between two of our kind, there is none. I've been bound to lords many times. But I don't think that you should consider binding yourselves to Toby. You'll feel nothing of what I can see that you feel for each other afterward. Just swear allegiance," she shrugged, "That's all Toby needs."

The older demon spoke then, "Not counting pretty Zele, there are four demons here. If Lord Tobias agrees, bring Alecto here, but what of the price? There must be something offered to Tobias. Would this Fury wish to change her life?"

She nodded, "She would, having little in her own. We are tired of what we've been doing for so long. What would you want of us, Tobias?"

He shook his head, "Nothing that I can think of, other than allegiance, if this goes the way that I keep being told it will. I think we'd need the help at some point."

"I have thoughts for all of this," Mother said, "and plans as well. But there are other matters that grow urgent. It has become known now that Maezou is missing. Soon she will be sought. Gorek the sand demon will send at least one hunter for her. This place will not be safe within ten days at the outside once the hunter is sent, if he is the one that I think of."

"Tereth," Maezou said, wanting to spit, "The fool with the swollen head from his fat thoughts about himself."

Her mother nodded, "Yes. But that is not something worth worrying about if it is played correctly." She looked at Zele. "You hold three souls."

Zele nodded, "Suckers. Not worth much."

"I think they are worth enough for what we need, Daughter. Go to claim the bounties from Gorek. You are not known there, so see what you may learn."

"Maezou," she said, turning, "Tobias will need wings soon and have the knowledge of how to use them. You will need to bite him again at least once."

She turned to her eldest daughter and sat at the table, "You and I must talk. I need to know everything about this lover of yours."

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She padded heavily behind the guardian as she was taken to the main cavern. The guardian left and she watched as one of the hunters returned to stand before Gorek.

"Where is the soul that you were hunting?" the sand demon asked.

"I was about to spring my trap when I was summoned here, "Tereth said, looking a little annoyed. It was a lie and he wasn't even close to setting a trap, but he wanted to deflect this if he could.

The lord's response was calm -- dangerously calm. "You lie. I thought that this hell would be profitable to own, but I was wrong. I thought that you were the best hunter, but I was wrong. There was another here who was better. I wish to know where she is."

"She was nothing but a fairly good fuck," Tereth said, "She always had the last lord's favour for it while I always did the lion's share of the hunting. I let her get away with it because she actually was a pretty good fuck."

He didn't even see it coming.

The sandstone fist which knocked him across the chamber felt like it was made of steel. Tereth groaned for a moment until he felt himself being lifted up and taken back, carried by the dirt and rocks underneath him. He just got a quick glimpse of the kobold peeking out fearfully from behind the giant's legs and he knew who was responsible -- or at least who he'd blame and kill for it once this was over.

He screamed once when he was picked up by his scrotum. The sand demon waited, not believing that the demon who hung before him was actually unconscious. Sadly, he had very little patience for the game, so he tossed his hunter so that he could kick him more easily. Tereth flew up to hit the ceiling hard and then fell to the floor with a crunch. The hunter lay there, truly unconscious now as the rocks brought him back again. Gorek picked up the hunter as though he was a rag doll and shook him until he regained consciousness.

"Lying turd. The one you tell lies about now fucked no one -- who lived to tell of it. I know this."

He turned to the hellhound bitch before him. "What do you want?"

"Bounties," the flint covered animal growled low down in her throat, "I have three souls, bloodsuckers." She stood on three legs and reached toward her own chest. When she held her fist out, the sand demon's eyes narrowed.

"They are not worth much," he said, "But I'll take them and waive my fee. It ought to show you how desperate I am here, surrounded with babbling fools who talk a good game and catch nothing. Who do you work for?"

"No one," the hound rumbled menacingly while her hard fur quivered in irritation, as if the mere thought angered her, "I work for myself."

"Freelancer? Maybe I'll take you and bind you here," he thought aloud, and it was a mistake.

He noticed that there was no soul in her to bind as she tensed, looking at his dust-covered genitals while the half-roar that came from her echoed through the cavern.

"You can try," the beast said with a snarl, "Bigger lords have."

He thought better of it for the difficulty that it would present and he shook his head, "You ought to work for me anyway. I could use a good freelancer if you can get better results than this piss mop here. Catch me a few more and we'll talk. I'll pay well. See the guardian on the way out about the bounties. Drop the souls here."

The hellhound nodded, and she opened her fist. The grey souls disappeared as though they'd been removed with a vacuum cleaner, but her eyes widened as the lord kicked his hunter again. She could see where his large foot was going to be when he drew it back. The kobold barely managed a thin little squeak when her paw flashed out to grab him.

"My thanks tae ye," he whispered, "The laird will hurt me again because he's angry and the hunter thinks that I told on him, I can see it. I will die soon, ye can bank on that."

"Do you want out?" the hellhound whispered hoarsely, "Then clutch my fur underneath."

"I KNOW that you lie," the lord bellowed into Tereth's face, "I know that you think you're a great hunter," he said as he lifted the almost limp shape. His gritty spittle struck Tereth full in the face as the giant thundered at him.

"Now go and actually FIND this huntress. Bring her back here ALIVE and UNHURT! You have one fortnight -- fourteen days to be back here with her, or the first thing that we'll see about is how good a fuck YOU might be." He threw the hunter against the wall and watched Tereth fall to the floor with a groan.

The hellhound pushed her paw against her ribs long enough for the little kobold to grab and hang on before she turned and padded off quickly the way that she'd been brought. The hard and stiff fur poked the kobold uncomfortably.

Gorek looked down, trying to see the kobold, but he found only damp, wet crushed things underfoot. He couldn't tell which one the kobold might have been, so he shrugged and gave up.

The hellhound stood before the guardian. "I want my bounties."

The guardian nodded, "How do you want it, as a credit to an account, or do you want it in dog food?" he grinned.

"Fuck you," she said in a hollow deadly growl, "In gold and now or I tell that your lord's not good for bounties on three suckers."

Her hot breath blasted out of her nostrils from her exhalation and she moved her head forward menacingly. "You want to play? You want to be dog food? Pay now."

Her snout wrinkled and the guardian saw her teeth as he wished now that he'd kept his sneer to himself. It was no good pissing off a hellhound. You could whip them all week and they'd think you were petting them if they even felt anything at all. He sighed as he fished one small gold coin from the purse. Hellhounds were always touchy. He tossed the coin and she had it between her teeth and was gone.

At the outer edges, she worked the coin to a place between her cheek and her gum as she walked to a rocky alcove in a large deserted area. The kobold eased himself down and they looked at each other.

He couldn't understand why something as deadly as a hellhound would want to help him at all, unless she'd just wanted to get him away from the uncertain safety of his ruler and eat him herself.

She looked at him and smiled a little -- which only added to his sense of unease. "So," she rumbled, "you are out. Where will kobold go now?"

To her, he was attractive as kobolds go. He was about the size of a four year-old boy with shoulder-length blonde hair in long curls, and his voice was soft and childlike. But there were points where the similarity to a human ended. He had a little tail and tiny horns on his head, and he stood on cloven feet. He was obviously not a child, even from the viewpoint of what he was, and one look at his thin blonde pubic hair and genitals told that tale.

"I dinnae know," he said, "I wish tae go back home. I've been here for eighty years. I was walking along one day and I decided tae go up to the upper hall, and when I went there, a demon grabbed me and brought me here."

He looked down sadly, "I hate it here. I'm too small, and everyone gives me a kick as soon as they see me." He sighed, "I'd give a lot just tae have a home, wi' a nice hearth and things tae do, jobs like. Dya ken?"

She didn't understand some of what he'd said, but she got enough of it. "I go to the world of men now. I can take you there. Maybe you can find home then?"

His little face lit up, "Oh aye!" he said, "I'd like that. It's where I came from."

"Climb onto my back, "she said to the still-shaking kobold, "then hang on."

When she felt that he was ready, she ran toward the dark horizon. After a few seconds, she jumped. The kobold wondered how far she'd go before they fell, but he felt the muscles of her wings under him as they began to beat. He looked around and found that he wasn't being stuck and scratched by her fur anymore since it was gone and he was lying on warm dark skin. Her long black hair tickled his face.

"Where are we going?" he asked when he'd gotten his nerve up enough to ask.

She half-turned her head so that he could hear her. One look at how she looked now and he was smitten.

"Zele goes where she needs to, but kobold goes not much farther if his little thing doesn't stop poking her in the back."

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice quavering, "I can nae help it. Why are ye doing this for me?"

"Zele thinks kobold needs a friend. She did not think that kobold needed help with that thing he pokes with. What is your name, kobold?"

"I'm nae kobold," he said, wanting to sound indignant, but he had a hard enough time being taken seriously at the best of times. Hanging onto the back of some sort of flying demoness for dear life while he tried to fight off his unwanted erection, no matter how lovely she seemed to him, just did nothing for his composure.

"I only look like a kobold," he said, "I'm a goblin if ye want to be correct, and my name is Thiery."

"A shame," she sighed, "Zele doesn't like goblins at all. Thiery looks very much like a kobold to Zele. Zele thought you were a kobold, so cute and worth hugging and needing help. Goblins can take care of themselves, she thinks."

"My father was a kobold," he said, "I know this because my Ma always said that she never knew how the worthless little kobold talked her into spreading her legs fer him so often, but she liked it anyway and she said I was almost worth it. She always said that she wanted tae kill him and she did one day too."

"What happened," Zele asked, intrigued now.

"He forgot tae bring her wine one night, "Thiery said, "and she needed it tae make him look large and handsome-like."

"Handsome I can see after wine," she said, "How did the wine make him look big?"

"She'd drink enough tae make him look handsome, and then if she looked at him through the bottle before she blew out the candle, he was big."

He sighed, "She always needed a big bottle too."

Zele chuckled, "So Thiery's father was a kobold and his mother was a goblin?"

"Nae," he sighed, "My Ma was half kobold and half goblin from a low clan, and she always liked tae go tae bed wi' a goblin or three. She didna want a kobold then. She told me that she liked it rough. But sometimes she liked how my Pa would go at her quiet-like, as though he was stealin' somethin' but she always knew and she liked it too.

He'd go to find her wherever the goblins had left her when they were done and he'd help her home and put her to bed happy. My Ma always told me things the way that they were, straight-like. She'd say that she needed to have three goblin boys go at her, but she liked a gentle fuck with Pa afterward and he liked it too."

Zele looked back, "He liked having her after the goblins? Was this special to him then or something?"

"Aye, very special, "Thiery winked at her, "He didna need tae get her any wine then."

Zele found herself liking him as she laughed.

He sighed, "After my Pa was gone, then I'd have to find her to bring her home to put her to bed. She'd kiss me and tell me that I was a good boy and sometimes she'd cry a little then over Pa. She told me once that she only pretended to be asleep when Pa was tryin' so hard not to get caught as he fucked her. See, she was nothin' worth a goblin's knowin' since she wasn't pure goblin, and she was ashamed of Pa. But she loved him so and then she was sorry that she'd killed him.

We both had tae work harder to get the gold tae pay the goblins for her fun."

Zele was a little shocked, "Pay them?"

"Oh aye," Thiery said, "They was goblins weren't they?"

"Oooh," Zele said as she shook her head, "Zele does not like goblins. So Theiry is really a kobold after all? "Zele asked, "Why does he say that he is a goblin?"

"Aye," he sighed, "I said it because I dinna look like either of my parents and I was hoping that ye'd like me better if I said that I was a goblin. I'm thinkin' that one of the other kobolds might have found me Ma one night or two after she was drunk and sleeping and had his way wi' her a few times before my Pa found her. Maybe she thought that he was my Pa, or maybe she didn't care right then.

There's not a lot of kobolds who could pass a chance like that up if they asked and got no answer - especially if they whispered when they asked. If they thought they had a chance at it, then no answer is as good as a yes, isn't it? We are a little impish now and then, dya ken? We've been known tae switch babes on folks in the past for a laugh too if we didn't like the people. Always fun watchin' fine ladies try tae explain that away."

He looked a little sad for a moment. "I'm just a wee kobold, I guess. Nobody likes kobolds in the hells, I've found that out all by maself."

He looked down, "I just say that I'm a goblin, hoping for a bit of respect and that at least some won't kick me around, that's all. I was born in a goblin hall, though. I used tae play wi' the goblin girls when no one was about. It was a wee bit more acceptable to their parents to know that they were cuddling wi' me than to be fucking with goblin boys before they was married off."

"Thiery should say what is meant more," she said, "Zele likes kobolds and maybe she wants a pet for her and her sister." She looked over her shoulder at Thiery.

He saw her teeth and he shivered, but he had to ask. "Here, Miss Zele, I'm seein' that you're nae hellhound after all, but now yer a demoness, and I dinnae understand. Yer nae going tae eat me, are ye?"

"No," she replied, "Zele does not eat kobolds. They fight too hard for what she gets and she doesn't like their taste. Zele wants to know if Thiery has any bindings or oaths on him."

"Nae," he said, "they just kept me around tae kick and laugh at."

She thought about him, and felt no loyalty in him for what they were leaving, and she knew enough about kobolds to know that what they really wanted was a home to be part of, aside from being very horny little things. She knew that some demonesses kept kobolds as pets. "If Zele takes Thiery to a family that he might like, can Theiry keep it secret if he can stay?"

He nodded cautiously, though she couldn't see it, "Aye, I can. Just promise me that there are nae demons there, that's what I dinnae want tae see ever again."

"Zele cannot promise this," she said sadly, "All are demons and there is a demonlord, but all are kind. Thiery will not be kicked. Zele can say this."

He groaned, but then thought for a moment, "Here, what's a demonlaird doing in that place?"

"Zele thinks that Thiery asks too many questions already when she was thinking of a place where he might be safe until he can find a way to go to his home."

"I have no one tae tell any secrets to," he said, "I can keep my mouth shut, Miss. It's a lesson that I've just learned well."

Zele smiled, "Then Zele will bring you, and we see. If it is too much for Thiery, just say it to Zele, and she will take you to a place where you can begin to look for your home, but one thing, Thiery."

"Yes, Miss Zele?"

"Stop rubbing Zele's back with your thing there. It maybe feels good to you now, but if Zele finds her back wet with your seed, she will be angry."

Theiry stopped and just hung on. "Sorry, Miss Zele."

"Thank you, Thiery," she said over her shoulder. "The lord will not like you if you leave your seed all over his consort's back."

Thiery hugged her back and hung on with wide eyes.

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When they arrived, Thiery was presented to Toby and Maezou. Toby wasn't sure about having Thiery around, but his consorts thought it was a great idea, telling him that kobolds love a household and a family to live with and ask little more than a home, a few jobs to make them feel needed and a bit of food - along with some patience when they get mischievous. They carefully explained the nature of the little creatures and that they were happiest if they were kept busy and given a sexual favor now and then as well.

Toby was in a position to understand it now and he said that it didn't bother him, especially once they'd told him that a kobold's gratitude goes a long way toward keeping the whole household happy and during the Middle Ages in Europe, it was considered the best of luck to have a kobold living in the house, usually sleeping behind the stove. They protected the home and very often brought it good luck.

When asked, Thiery nodded and said that it was all that he wanted, and that he would love to cook and look after everything. He begged Toby to be allowed to stay, at least so that he could see what Thiery could do to earn his keep.

Toby heaved a long sigh and agreed to a trial. He went downstairs with Maezou to practice the things that she said that he'd need to know very soon.

Thiery stood at the top of the stairs holding Zele's hand. He was happy and very thankful to be given a chance and he intended to earn his place among them. Tobias seemed like a very kind demonlord and Thiery had no intention of fouling this up.

He looked up at Zele. She was back to being her furry self, but it didn't matter. Thiery thought she was wonderful, no matter how she looked. He threw his arms around her, "Thank ye so much fer this chance, Zele."

For someone of his stature, throwing his arms around her meant that he held her hips.

Zele smiled down at him and tousled his head lightly, "Just show Toby that you can work for us, and if Thiery can teach Maezou and Zele how to cook, it would be good too. We know nothing."

He laid his cheek against her furry belly and nodded, "It'll be nae trouble. I've already seen some of the food here, and I can make wonders with that." Zele felt his hands on her flanks and had a fair idea where he'd try to kiss her in another moment.

Zele reached down to pick Theiry up and she carefully set him on her hip before putting her arm around him as she walked to the kitchen to fill the kettle with water, "If Thiery wants to be Zele's pet," she said, "He will have to learn to wait. Her sister must want Thiery too. Wait a little longer, Thiery."