To Love A Lamia

Chapter 3

Next chapter in the series! Thank you for your support!

Reynold stared in shock at the nightmare unfolding in front of him.

Beckett''s body was flung to the ground with a crash, staining the earth red in a splatter. The remaining soldiers were frozen in horror as Hebina slowly made her way towards them, the blades in her hands glinting with the rays of the sun.

"KILL IT!"

The three archers fired off their arrows, aiming to bring her down.

If Reynold had not been watching, he would never have believed that a creature of Hebina's size could move so swiftly and with such purpose. Her serpentine body swayed to the sides, dodging two of the arrows. The third she parried with one of the daggers. Without wasting a moment, she dropped down, coiling her lower body together, before springing forward at the group of men.

They shouted in horror as the lamia, now nothing more than a flash of red upon the ground, closed in on one of the archers and sliced open his throat with a quick flick of her hands. The mercenary died with a guttural shriek as blood sprayed into the air around him. The others tried to backpedal to gain some distance between them and the murderous musume. Hebina twirled the daggers in her hands, grabbing them by the tips of their blades. In one swift motion, she threw both, each one burying itself in the archers' skulls. They dropped like sacks of wheat upon the ground - dead.

The three surviving soldiers charged, but once again Hebina coiled herself and sprung away, grabbing a short sword off one of the dead archers as she did so. She sprung upwards, disappearing into the forest canopy in a rustle of leaves.

"SHOOT HER!" one of the men ordered.

The other two dashed and grabbed two of the fallen bows. They knocked arrows and fired them one after the other into the canopy of tangled branches above. A dozen arrows flew blindly upwards in futility. The men paused their barrage, looking wildly around for their enemy.

"Did we get it!?"

"Of course not you fool!"

"No... we don't have to kill it."

A foot stepped onto the ground beside Reynold, causing him to look up. The eyes of the man were filled with wild desperation.

"All we need to do is hold this one hostage. You're that thing's mate, aren't you?"

He reached down with his hand, but Hebina's tail suddenly fell from the canopy like a hangman's rope and wrapped itself around the man's leg, pulling him down to the earth with a crash. The mercenary shrieked like a pig being led to the slaughter, clawing the ground as he was first pulled and then lifted up into the trees and out of sight. The other two on the ground, and Reynold, were frozen in horror as the sounds of an unseen struggle reached their ears.

Then all of the sudden they heard a slicing noise, and everything was quiet. Something round fell to the ground from above. The mercenary's head rolled to a stop in front of them, his face contorted in horror.

"RUN!"

The last two survivors, giving up on their hunt, ran for the horses. An odd whistling noise reached Reynold's ears, followed by the sight of the shortsword Hebina had stolen returning to the clearing having been thrown like a boomerang.

One of the men had his head sliced off as he ran. His body took a few more steps, unaware of its death, before falling to the ground.

The other was ironically slashed along his back, falling to the ground and twisting in pain.

Hebina emerged into the view, lowering herself gracefully to the ground. She approached the last mercenary, grabbing a dagger from one the many dead bodies before she reached him.

"No!" he pleaded, "P-please! I'll do anything you ask!"

"Anything?" she asked coldly.

"Y-yes! Anything!"

"Then die you pig."

The man had enough time for one final shriek before Hebina reached down and slit his throat. He convulsed on the ground, his eyes bulging, and he tried to stem the torrent of blood from the wound on his neck. But his movements became slower, and fainter, until he let out one final breath and laid motionless on the ground.

The pain - and the horror - was too much. Reynold's vision blackened as the ever encroaching darkness finally overtook him. He had time to see Hebina turn to face him. He heard her shout his name, before everything went silent.

/

Reynold's eyelids felt heavy like they were made of iron. He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn't budge.

He forced his eyes open and as they focused, he found himself staring into Hebina's sleeping and peaceful face. He looked down in confusion, and saw Hebina's serpentine body wrapped around his own once again. Her arms were holding him tenderly, keeping him close to her. A small fire was burning close by, giving them some modicum of warmth.

He should have been angry - outraged - but his mind was swimming, impenetrable like a swamp.

Hebina stirred, awoken by his movements, her blue unfocused eyes falling on him. As they sharpened, she let out a small sigh of relief.

"You're awake Reynold - thank the ancestors." She loosened her grip on him, releasing him from her.

As Reynold struggled to get up, he looked down and saw his wounds had been bandaged.

"Hebina..." said Reynold in a voice so groggy he hardly recognized it as his own, "Wha... what happ-"

"Don't push yourself" she said placing her finger on his lips to silence him, "You've been unconscious for almost a day and a night. I know you said not to wrap you with my body, but it was the only way I could make sure you didn't move and open your wounds."

"I - did you really do all that?" he asked slowly as his memories returned, "Or was it all just a dream?"

"I'm... afraid that it wasn't a dream," she said - her eyes firmly upon him. "I killed all those men - I butchered them alive. It was the only way to save me and you."

"But - but why?" he demanded. "You could have fled and avoided all that. And how - how do you know how to wield a sword - a dagger? You killed them like they were nothing but ants... None of this makes any sense..."

"If it meant saving the man who gave me my life back, I would do it a thousand times and never feel a hint of remorse," she said firmly.

"Hebina... just who in the world are you?"

The lamia was silent, regarding him with her cat like eyes. Reynold wondered if she wanted him to know - if he really even wanted to know himself.

"I supposed I do owe you an explanation," she said with a sigh. She straitened her back and sat up her eyes firmly forward. "I am Hebina, member of the Sabaku Shinku Clan. Since I was born, I was taught to fight and wield the weapons of man. I serve as a warrior to protect my village - I specialize in assassinations."

Reynold couldn't help but gawk at her - this musume who he had taken for an oddity with a habit of trying to seduce him.

"Okay... uh..," he stammered, "That's... quite the revelation... Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Oh hey!" she said breaking into a fake smile, "Thank you for saving me Reynold! By the way, I know how to kill people and have a habit of doing it in their sleep when they're not watching! Pleased to meet you!" Her smile dropped to form a grim expression. "Do you think that would have gone well?"

"Point taken," he sighed. "But if you're that strong, how did you even get captured in the first place?"

"A few days ago, there was an Arachne coming too close to my village," she said with a sudden hint of frustration. "I was sent by our chief to find it and deal with it if it turned out to be a threat. Unfortunately for me, it was."

She lifted her stained shirt, to reveal two bite marks on her lower right abdomen Reynold hadn't noticed before.

"I fought it off, but the poison took effect and I was unable to move like I usually do. Of course, that would be when I ran into a desert party of humans. In my weakened state, they captured me and threw me in a caged wagon, depriving me of food and rest, making the effects of the poison worse."

"And that's when I showed up and freed you," he finished for her.

Hebina fidgeted nervously, but still gave him a warm smile.

"Yes - if it hadn't been for you, I may have never recovered."

"So... is your intention to go back to your village?"

"It is..." she said with a hint of sadness. "And since I'm fully recovered, I guess that means this is where we part ways?"

"Do you even know which way the desert is?"

Hebina gave him a blank look.

"It's... uhhh... that way?" Hebina pointed in a random direction.

"That takes you deeper into the kingdom," sighed Reynold.

"Oh - I knew that!" she shouted in embarrassment, "It's... that way!"

"Okay that's enough." Reynold held his hand up to save her from further embarrassment. "Look, you're right that I did say once you recovered we would split up - but things have changed since then."

"Does that mean you've fallen for me!?" Hebina suddenly got close - way too close.

"No you fool," growled Reynold in an attempt to deflate her excitement as he pushed her away, "But you saved my life - so the least I can do is make sure you get home safely before we go our separate ways."

The lamia stared at him silently until he grew uneasy - he could even see his face reflected in her eyes. Suddenly, she lunged at him and pushed him to the ground, embracing him.

"You're falling for me!" she cried out in happiness. "I knew I could win you over eventually!"

"I just told you I'm not!" Reynold tried to push her away, but all it did was encourage her to hold on tighter.

Her tail wrapped around him in a flash, binding his arms to his side. Alarmingly, he realize that with every breath he exhaled, the serpent's tail got even tighter around him. He started flailing in panic, forcing his right arm out of the trap. He clawed and grabbed at the empty air, until her accidentally snatched the tip of Hebina's tail and gripped as hard as he could.

Hebina's eyes suddenly widened in shock as she froze in place, her face suddenly flush.

"R-Reynold... what're..."

He tried to say something, but the lamia's body muffled his voice. Instead, he opted at tightening his grip, hoping that the abrupt change in behavior meant something could be done to stop her.

But instead of paying attention to his predicament the lamia's breath became short, her eyes unfocused, as she began rubbing herself against him. He could practically feel the heat radiating from her body.

Damn it let go!

"P-please Reynold," she squealed, "I'm not r-ready for this!"

He realized that he must have touched something he shouldn't have. But if the choice was death by strangulation or this...

Reynold rubbed Hebina's tail even harder, causing the lamia to wildly convulse.

"I - I can't hold on!" Hebina screamed in ecstasy as she reached her climax, her body finally loosening and allowing his head to emerge. Before he could utter a word though, her arms shot out and grabbed his now exposed head, holding it to her chest. "I'M... CUMMING!"

Reynold felt his own face grow hot as he struggled to catch a much needed breath. He looked up, and to his fluster saw Hebina looking down at him, a line of drool falling from the corner of her mouth.

"I...hope..." she said in between breaths, holding him close, "that you... will take responsibility for this..."

See you all next time!

-Bladewing265