A Knight's Lilies

“Unlike the beastfolk of the realm who possess a modicum of their more ‘wild’ instincts. The lizardfolk of Verona, purportedly to due to their longer history, have, according to them, bred out those baser instincts. Allowing the existence of a flourishing civilization.”

- Professor Kieran Boras, Arterian Academy of Science, “Lecture: Beastfolk and Lizardfolk”

Dampness. Cold. Tiredness. Water.

Emptiness. An echo. Solid. Pain. Darkness. Light. Warmth.

Suffocating. Aching. Quietness. Splash. Splashing?!

“Gak, hak, hak, urk.” Sophie spluttered and coughed as her senses returned in a jumble. The need for air and expulsion of water overtaking everything else.

Her eyes stung as she struggled to open them. A musky but salty breeze tickled her nose, prompting her to cough some more.

“Gaaah. Guhhh. Ahhh… ahh…” Sophie panted as her next coughing fit finally forced some water out. Despite the somewhat stale scent in the air, she greedily stole a few breaths as she felt her chest finally start rising up and down more normally.

Her fingers involuntarily tensed up, only to feel a smooth, cold metallic object brush against them as she clawed at whatever was underneath. Alarmed and realizing that she was not quite in the realm of the dead, she used whatever willpower was left to force her weakened eyes to open.

She winced at the bright light that greeted her. The ringing in her ears fading in conjunction to let in the sounds of something crackling. Grunting, she managed to summon enough energy to shift her head slightly, allowing her a better view of her surroundings.

“Uuugh.” Sophie groaned as the returning of her senses included the pain her body was in.

Heat radiated from above while the cold surrounded her and covered her in its embrace. Her body unconsciously shivered as it tried to drive off the unpleasant sensations, the movement only exacerbating the aching and bruises that she could now feel in earnest.

Glancing down at herself, she found a small layer of soot that covered her chest. Above, a lazily tied up torch burned away in the darkness of the cave. Letting out another groan, she shifted enough to look at what her hand had gripped.

A… scepter?

Trying to move, she found little things and needles poking into her.

“Gah.” Sophie recoiled from the poking and tried to roll away.

“Ahh! Urk. Shit, shit!” Sophie fell off her elevated position and landed in a heap , the clattering of metals and objects collapsing onto her. Whimpering, she started the process of digging herself out of the pile when she heard a watery noise nearby.

A splash, then two, then the shuffling of things above her. Terrified, she froze and waited. Swallowing her fear, she found two big double slited eyes staring down at her, attached to a somewhat aquatic yet lithe but still humanoid face. The thing stared down at Sophie, it’s head tilted just enough that Sophie caught a glimpse of flattened ears. The head was sat atop a slender neck and a naked humanoid torso with an ample bosom. At the hips however, was where things took a turn of for the different. Beyond them narrowing to a remarkable human looking labia and what seemed to be the rest of the package behind that, what surrounded it was the beginnings of sleek fish like lower half.

As the two stared at each other, one terrified and the other neigh unreadable, a webbed hand with fingers reached over and poked Sophie’s nose. Sophie flinched but dared not look away.

Evidently pleased with what she had touched, the creature reached over with both hands and basically began fondling her face. The webbed hands were both wet, slimy, yet oddly smooth to the touch. Amused by her quarry, Sophie felt a tremendous strength pull her out of the junk pile and towards the creature. Too weak to resist, Sophie could only wince as she was thrust face first against the creature, turned into something of a glorified human towel.

Despite the peril present in the situation of encountering the unknown, Sophie found herself getting flush ever so slightly from the excessive skin contact. Soon enough, the creature seemed to smile, and clicked it’s mouth. Uncertain of its intentions or message, Sophie just awkwardly smiled and nodded, hoping to gain herself some time to properly appraise her current situation.

Trinkets, scepters, bowels, jewels, plates and other little minor knick knacks lay scattered in a giant pile alongside a copious amount of singular rusted coins. Atop that, the poorly hung torch wasn’t actually being hung up, just that the sconce it was set within was on the verge of falling. And it couldn’t landed on me… stars above… Past the strange creature was a pool of sorts, the waters here considerably clearer and more blue than that of the cavern’s lake. Although around them were still walls of stone and rock, Sophie was now a little less sure of where exactly they were.

Perhaps displeased by Sophie’s lack of proper response, the creature abruptly let her go and made the approximation of a frown.

“Wah?!” Sophie squeaked when the creature reached over and grabbed her chest, giving one of her breasts a few squeezes.

At the same time, it seemed to feel it's own chest, a small frown turning to curiosity. Its eyes lit up with amusement and it continued prodding her. Afraid but still reliant one being conscious to better understand the situation, Sophie acquiesced and tried to infer what exactly it was that the creature wanted. Unbuttoning her still soaked tunic, she bared her breast much to the thing’s delight.

Sophie cringed with every squeeze by the slimy webbed hands and almost let out a few rude words when it pinched her nipple. But the creature seemed to be more innocent than malicious as it continued to examining Sophie’s body before comparing it to itself. The creature then out a noise that resembled an excited trill and slithered onto the rocky shore with Sophie.

Whatever was left of her dignity disappeared in a flash as it practically flopped itself atop Sophie, their chests and genitals pressed far too close together for Sophie’s liking. Despite this, it seemed to be busy thinking about something, though what it was looking for Sophie wasn’t exactly certain. At least it seems calm for now, Sophie thought to herself.

“Ah!” Sophie gasped out loud, What the fuck?! The creature’s curiosity had gotten the better of it and it practically tore off Sophie’s pants and rested its genitals directly atop hers. The sensation was unpleasant to say the least, though mixed in with a hint of frustration. Unlike Ary’s, this creature was far more slimy or clammy and definitely a lot wetter as a whole being.

Intrigued by her noise and writhing, the creature looked directly into her eyes, almost like it was searching for something.

“Ah, p-please, move.” Sophie whispered a small plea as the creature unintentionally grinded against her while looking into her eyes.

Startled by her noise, it darted back into the water in an instant with a terrific splash that launched a cascade of cold cave water against Sophie’s now mostly bare body.

“Saint damned hells!” Sophie unwittingly cursed out loud, frightening the thing even more as it now glared at her with caution.

Worried about what would happen if pushed, Sophie hastily tried to mend their relations by pushing herself onto her knees so that she wouldn’t appear as weak, but also extending both her hands to show a lack of weapons.

At first, the creature didn’t respond, merely clicking its mouth once. When that provoked no response from Sophie, it waited. Thus, she also waited. But as water dripped from her hair down to her body, she heard a small wafting of water.

More curious than cautious, the creature swam over and grabbed her hands with its own. Though their fingers couldn’t intertwine because of its webbed hands, Sophie could see its eyes widen with a sense of childlike wonder. In the flash of an eye, faster than even she could track, the creature zipped out of the pool and pushed Sophie down onto itself, coiling around her like a serpent having caught its prey. Yet, instead of devouring her, it merely basked in the bodily contact, treating her more like a pillow than a person as it settled down.

Relieved, Sophie allowed it to do its thing while she scanned the rest of their little cavern.

The rock walls seemed to be of the same as the ones from earlier. The trinkets and baubles around them, Sophie began gulping as she started to recognize some of the designs. Astralis, Phaerus, Tessus, and primarily of Euthymia. The Goddess and Gods of the High Pantheon, of the Astralian faith. Little effigies and statuettes that could easily be overlooked. Most of found in homes, or at wayshrines like the one in the caverns. And if it’s here, then the culprit… Her gaze returned to the creature beside. Well… damn. What now?

Sophie shuddered as it examined her elfin ears only to almost jump as it recoiled after giving them a lick. It’s face was wracked with disgust yet it made no move to free her from its grasp. In fact, based on its movements, Sophie suspected that it had somehow grown even more fascinated by her.

But Sophie needed to get back to the others. Wherever she was right now, she was certain that the others were busy fighting against whatever lizard monsters had attacked her. Ah! The lizard thing! What the hells happened to it?

Her brief moment of panic must’ve shown in her mannerisms for the creature tightened itself around her. It placed its strange head besides hers, staring into her eyes before focusing on whatever direction she turned to look. It is… mimicking me? It peered with a sense of poise that Sophie didn’t expect to come from the creature. Then it abruptly used its tail to splash some water into the air. But as Sophie grit her teeth in anticipation of bare skin meeting the icy cold water, the contact never happened. Instead, the water particles interlinked in a primitive but grid-like water barrier.

Too baffled to react, Sophie just watched as the creature returned to scanning the environment. Only when it let out a disappointed click of its tongue did the barrier collapse, the creature giving Sophie what she could only assume was the stink eye. Was it… did it think I saw an enemy? And was it… trying to protect me? Us?

Gah, whatever the case. I need to get out of here. Wherever here is. Sensing her agitated movements, the creature trilled softly beside her and drew her attention to itself. Letting out a few self satisfied clicks as it grasped Sophie’s concerns, it released her and bounded into the waters of the cave.

Landing on the rock with her back, Sophie groaned and lay there for a moment, overtaken by the bizarre predicament. Based on the last thing she remembered being taken into the water by the lizard thing. It was reasonable to assume this new creature had either fought the lizard or stolen her from under its grasp. Not that she wasn’t thankful. Not being trapped underwater or left to regenerate in a lizard’s stomach was perhaps more than enough for her to be grateful for the timely if still troublesome rescue.

It did leave more questions than answers for her. One such being, if this thing is the one that is raiding the shrines, then what are the lizards doing around here? She lazily moved her head towards the pile of baubles and shrine offerings, and what the hells do I do with all of this? She would scratch her hair in frustration if she wasn’t so fatigued and tired having only recently recovered from possibly drowning. She instead let out a small sigh, glancing down at her own body with an ever increasing sense of unease. And this cave doesn’t look like it has any exits besides the water… what… now? What should I do?

Her answer, or some parts of it, presented themselves soon enough. Ripples of cold water flowed out from the center of the pool, lapping onto the shore and tickling her feet. Preemptively bracing herself, Sophie tensed her body into a semi flinch, and let the rest carry through as a large wave washed over her with the creature’s return.

Sophie’s shock must’ve unconsciously shown on her face for the creature seemed thrilled by her reaction. In the center of the pool where it had surfaced, it dragged a partially eaten lizard corpse with it. The creature’s expression suggested that it was the likely perpetrator of the act that led to the lizard’s expiration. It trilled melodically in excitement and pushed the corpse towards her, the lizard’s body impacting the rocks with a soft thud.

“Good uhh, good job?” Sophie managed to speak. Does it want me to acknowledge it? Is this an attempt to make me feel safe? I mean, I guess I appreciate it. It’s not looking to kill me like the lizard was, yet.

It waited expectantly, looking at the corpse then back to Sophie. When she didn’t do whatever it was that it had expected, the creature looked almost annoyed before miming an eating motion. Huh?! It wants me to eat… this? The lizard’s corpse was almost twice the size of Sophie minus a multitude of chunks already having been consumed by the creature.

Sophie balked at the notion. Beyond her initial distaste for eating something so humanoid. There were also the matters of health and safety that she was concerned about. Not only was the cavern’s waterways likely connected to the sea somehow. The amount of bacteria, worms and what manner of other potentially hazardous materials have likely also touched the waters or just existed in the caves in general also posed a threat.

Yet the creature grew impatient, letting out a muted whine and trying to act hurt in an attempt to mimic Sophie. Annoyed but unwilling to offend her captor, Sophie tried to think of a way to ensure that she wouldn’t just double over with food poisoning immediately afterwards, or worse. Catching a glimpse of the torch, Sophie pushed herself to stand up, earning her a hiss of alarm from the creature. Holding her palms out to demonstrate the lack of threat, Sophie took the torch out of its holder and returned to the corpse. To her own surprise, the creature retreated slightly, sending little malignant glances at the fire. Is it afraid of fire? But then how did it set it up?

Ignoring the questions pestering her mind, she set about the grim task of extracting some flesh from the lizard. Cringing and wincing the whole time she dug through its corpse to find a few hopefully more preserved parts of its body. She then used a few baubles to create a makeshift fire pit to keep the torch standing and placed the meat next to the flames.

The creature observed the whole process warily, staying in the opposite corner of the pool. Yet, perhaps it was Sophie finally relaxing a little from having nothing else to do, or the smell of the meat being cooked. Gradually, it began approaching once more. A new twinkle of curiosity sparkling in its eye.

It remained a subtle distance away from the fire, but curiosity had urged it to approach and it perched itself at the edge of the pool. Exasperated but a little happy that she finally made some inroads into calming her captor and regaining a little bit of control, Sophie offered a polite smile at the creature. She rested her head upon her knees and waited.

In the silence, neither made a noise as the torch crackled away, the lizard meat slowly getting cooked by the flame. After what felt like an eternity passed, Sophie rummaged through the bauble for the scepter from earlier and used it like a fork to stab into a moderately well cooked piece of meat. To the creature’s horror, Sophie approached it with the meat and presented the piece before it.

It sniffed it cautiously, like an animal detecting something new for the first time. It poked and prodded at it, trying to determine what exactly had happened to the meat before snatching it off the scepter and holding onto it. Sophie was almost amused when it tried licking the meat, and only when it found it less repulsive than her, did the creature sneak in a little bite. Almost instantly, it’s expression changed to one of delight, and Sophie couldn’t help but wonder if this was the first time it had eaten something actually cooked to any degree.

Sophie herself, found a piece that had almost been burnt to a blackened crisp and gladly chose that as her own meal. Better burnt than filled with parasites or worse, Sophie reasoned. Taking a bite, it tasted about as appetizing as it looked and Sophie nearly hurled it all back out. But with a little bit of coaxing from a potentially dangerous scenario, Sophie managed to at least swallow a bite. It was tough, burnt, springy, like chicken but wrong.

Still, the creature seemed delighted enough by the discovery of cooked food and Sophie had plenty more meat roasting next to the fire. Meat that she had little inclination of eating herself. Sensing her chance to make a move, she gestured for the creature to approach her, hoping that it would associate goodness with her. It only hesitated for a moment before approaching. Annoyingly, it decided to coil itself around her instead of sitting elsewhere, its humanoid torso still cold from the water now pressed against Sophie’s own, making her shiver a little.

For her part, Sophie quickly collected the rest of the cooked meats to avoid burning them. She put them in a skewered stack on the scepter and presented it to her captor. Positively brimming with joy at the offering, it performed whatever way it showed appreciation for things on Sophie. Playfully slapping its sleek dolphin-like tail in-between Sophie’s legs. Trying her best to endure the brief pain, Sophie then felt the creature begin roughly brushing its cheeks against her hair. Alarmed but not as afraid anymore, Sophie accepted the gesture and found some small comfort in the press of its fleshy bosom and finally decided to lean against it with a heavy sigh. Until I can come up with a plan or coax it to take me back… I’m stuck here, aren’t I?

This only encouraged the creature even more, as it let out soft melodic clicks that slowly formed into a soothing rhythm. Sophie could feel it even if she couldn’t understand its clicks. There was something arcane tinged onto the melody. Tired from her recovery and weary of everything that has happened. Sophie came to the realization that she would need to rest before carrying out any concrete plan to return and help the others. I’m at this thing’s mercy and… she yawned, the rhythm making her sway a little, Goddess… I just hope everyone’s alright.

Leaning back into the creature, she could feel it press even closer to her, the creature having devoured the cooked meat and was now wrapping its eerie hands around her chest. Too exhausted to shrink away from the touch, Sophie felt it embrace her from behind while continuing to nuzzle her head. The last conscious thought that crossed her mind was a simple, if somewhat profound discovery just before she closed her eyes. Wait, is it… intending to keep me here?