Chapter Text
Jason stirred, soft, warm sheets shifting around him. He rolled onto his side, barely stopping himself at the edge of the… bed? His hand brushed against the soft floor. Something was wrong. His sheets weren’t this soft and his bed wasn’t this narrow. Something was wrong, but he could hardly think of what. He opened his eyes just a crack and was assaulted with a near-blinding orange light. He shook awake with a start, sitting up and propping himself against something too soft and springy to be his headboard, but as his eyes adjusted the light proved to be much more gentle, filling his sight with flickering amber. The covers fell away as he began to open his eyes fully. He was greeted by the sight of a wide, ornate fireplace perhaps ten feet away on his right and as the sheets fell away, he felt the urge to bask in the warmth it threw off.
“What in…” Jason knew he wasn’t home. He looked over at his hand, which rested against the armrest of a soft red couch. Icy dread growing in the pit of his stomach, he looked back over himself and saw that he was draped in ornate purple sheets. Golden threads woven into them glittered in the firelight. Where am I? he wondered. Wherever he was, he needed to get his bearings and escape. He turned to sit up and felt something—several somethings, he realized—brush against his thighs.
Jason looked down at his left leg. Strings of glittering emeralds arced across his bare, muscular thigh, connecting at both ends to a band around his waist. From the strings hung tiny gold chains, rattling against each other as he moved, teardrop-cut amethysts gleaming at the ends. As he sat up, he felt soft cloth drag across his groin. The chains of gems were connected to a band that served as the belt to an otherwise simple loincloth. The cloth itself was off-white, with a square flap that, though wide, did little to hide the bulge of his member. Shifting that aside, he found another cloth that practically outlined his co*ck and balls as it stretched back between his legs and over his asscrack. Another flap covered his rear. The thin band was interwoven with golden wires with dark red and blue gems glittering from within the gaps between them. The wires met at a centerpiece that was little more than a scarab-cut ruby in a rounded gold frame.
Deciding that it was obvious what he had been brought there for, Jason began to look around for a way out. Set into the wall past the far end of the couch were large, ornately-carved double doors made of dark wood. The floor in front of the couch was covered in a very soft-looking wine-colored carpet that ended well before the brass-framed fireplace, revealing dark tiles whose color was lost in the orange glow of the fire. A wardrobe and a pair of tall cabinets stood along the wall opposite the door. The wall opposite the fireplace had a smaller, less ornate door set into it. Jason turned toward the fireplace and realized how badly he needed to relieve himself. His bladder was almost painfully full and his bowels had grown heavy while he’d slept. He rested his feet on the floor in front of him, letting them sink into the soft, warm carpet as he looked himself over. Aside from the loincloth, he wore a heavy gold armband on his left arm, set with a large ruby and with golden tassels set along the lower edge and ending in long beryl crystals. He was naked otherwise, finding nothing else as he felt around his head and shoulders.
Stretching, Jason got up and walked over to the ornate double doors, the plush carpet muffling his footsteps. The jewelry at his hips rattled quietly as he moved. The dark wood of the doors was intricately carved with twisting lines that converged to form arrows in the corners. It was only when got there that he realized that the pattern was inlaid with gold, glinting in the firelight. The doors had large gold rings as handles set into ornate plates near their inner edges. Jason pulled at one of the rings. The door didn’t budge. Realizing they were locked, he went for the smaller door behind the couch. This door had a carved silver handle and its carvings, though similar in design to the double doors, were not inlaid. Jason turned the handle.
Beyond, he found a smaller room lit by yellowish crystals in sconces in the corners. Shelves and drawers were set along the walls on either side. The room contained a dazzling variety of jewelry. Some shelves contained necklaces. Others held rings or armbands or anklets. Jason noted the lack of piercings. All were made of precious metals and most were set with gemstones of some kind. The back wall was covered by a single large mirror, with two more mirrors beside it on the walls where the shelves ended. The carpet here was a rich, regal purple. He walked to the back of the closet, if it could be called that, to look at his muscular body in the mirrors. His loincloth seemed specially made to draw attention to his groin and rear. The bulge of his member was visible even through its front flap and the back flap did little to hide the curve of his ass. The emeralds strung across his thighs glittered as he moved and the golden chains connected to them swayed back and forth. Jason went back and opened some of the drawers. In each, he found several loincloths, most of which had jewelry of some form. Some had patterns on their flaps and others were made of simple white cloth like his. The simplest loincloth he found was just a piece of simple white cloth made to fit around the hips and a pair of flaps that would do little to hide anything.
As he turned back toward the door, a pain rose in Jason’s gut, reminding him of how badly he needed to relieve himself. He let the pressure off with a long, quiet fart, filling the small room with a sharp stench. His bladder felt like a rock. Jason walked back out into the room, perturbed that for all the room’s splendor, he could find no place to relieve himself. He decided to check the cabinets. Perhaps he could find something to go in. Going back out, he walked over and opened the wardrobe first. Instead of clothes, it was filled with more loincloths, all woven with colorful patterns. There were a few jeweled garments meant to be worn over larger areas of the body, though they wouldn’t hide much if anything. Jason’s heart sank as he picked through the garb on display and found nothing, the pressure in his bowels increasing again. The cabinets held a number of playthings and devices whose purpose was clearly sexual. The feeling grew worse when his searches found nothing. Checking the corners of both rooms revealed no chamber pot or container of any kind. Jason supposed he could use one of the corners or empty one of the drawers and squat over it, but he really didn’t want to have to sh*t on the floor or in the open. He farted again, letting the pressure slowly drain away. All too quickly, Jason felt a rough mass push against the inside of his hole. He clenched his hole tightly against it and after a few pained seconds, the filth receded.
Deciding to at least try to escape before his bowels let go, he ran toward the ornate double doors and began to pound on them.
“Hey! Let me out! Is anyone out there?!” He pounded some more. He listened for a minute as the pressure in his bowels returned, his filth once more pressing against the inside of his hole. He grunted and clenched against it. His waste did not recede this time and he could hear no footsteps beyond the doors. “Is anybody there? Hey! Help me! Let me out!” He pounded on the door with all his strength to no avail. In desperation, he backed up and charged at the door. He slammed into it with the full weight of his muscular body, but the door didn’t budge. He rammed it again, slamming into it with a loud crash. He kept slamming against the door until he couldn’t anymore. “Someone!” he panted as he stepped back, aching and exhausted. “Let me out!”
As he shakily stepped back, he felt his filth begin to push out of his hole. He knew couldn’t hold it any longer and that he’d let go completely before he got one of the drawers open. He ran for a corner by the fireplace and yanked the loincloth down to his ankles. Or tried to. The loincloth wouldn’t move, the ruby scarab at the center of its jeweled band glowing a vibrant red. He cried out in denial and tried to pull the ornate loincloth down as he lowered himself toward the ground. He’d barely begun to squat when the first log pushed its way out of him, his hole stretching wide around it. The mass of sh*t that left him was long and thick, crackling wetly as it pushed against the cloth that covered his ass. Jason could feel the cloth stretching as the stinking mass pushed into it. He felt his face tighten as blood rushed into it, His cheeks burning with embarrassment even as he gagged at the sharp yet unbearably heavy stench his body had just released. The filth dropped away and settled in the seat of his loincloth, but it brought him no relief. No sooner had he finished dropping into a squat than a second log pushed out, its hot, sticky roughness pressing against his asscheeks as it settled atop the first. He farted as the last of the log left and another began to slide out. Suddenly, the double doors by the couch opened and a tall, powerfully-built figure stepped inside, half-lit by whatever light came from beyond the threshold. “Ah-- No! I--” Jason blushed harder, the burning in his cheeks beginning to sting his ears as the stranger stepped pushed the doors aside with muscular arms. The figure’s legs hidden behind the couch and his body was framed by light from the doorway.
“Well, well,” said the newcomer in a low, rich, almost lustful voice. “Look what we have here.”
Jason tried to get a better look at the figure, but he couldn’t. Tears of shame stung his eyes as he squeezed them shut. He didn’t notice when they began to fall. Neither did he notice as the figure circled around and closed the doors. Here he was farting and sh*tting like an animal and this stranger was just watching. He hunched forward, trying to hide his shame even as he farted and pushed out another log. As his shifted forward, a heat engulfed his co*ck. Jason realized too late that his bladder had let go. Hot piss spread through the cloth, flooding his crotch and splashing onto the tiles beneath him. He heard the stranger step around the couch. Something sounded wrong. The footfalls were too heavy and there were too many of them. Jason forced his eyes open and looked at the newcomer through a haze of tears. The figure before him stalked in front of the fireplace. He could make out the broad, powerful body of a light-coated warhorse. Where the head would have been was the body, broad and muscular and glittering with jewelry, of a human.
“Well, now. This is just pathetic,” the centaur sneered.
Jason’s eyes squeezed shut again as a sob wracked his body, shaking loose more sh*t.
“Look at you. You can’t even spill your dung on the floor like a proper animal.”
“I-- rrh-- I can’t--” Jason’s bowels pushed out another log as he tried to ignore the spreading puddle around his feet and the heat the fed it.
“No, you can’t, can you, wretch? You’ve been given such beauty and here you are, fouling it with your soil. You’re not even content with dirtying such beautiful finery! Now you’re marking your territory.”
“I--” Jason felt the last of his piss draining from the sodden cloth, leaving behind a dirty wetness that clung to him. His co*ck began to harden, tenting the nasty wet cloth that covered it. The front flap of his loincloth did nothing to hide it.
“And now you’re hard. Your first night in this place and you’re already no better than a beast of the woods. Less, even. I should throw you to the wolves and let them have you.”
“N-no I... I c-couldn’t--” Jason began to say through wracking sobs as his hole clenched, forcing out the end of yet another log. He felt empty, hollowed out. When nothing more slid out of him, he clenched his hole again. A burst of relief flooded through Jason as he realized that his control was once again his own.
The centaur stepped closer and turned away, toward the back of the room. Squinting through tears, Jason looked at up the centaur. Most of the centaur’s muscular back was hidden by his rump. What Jason could see was covered by long hair. Jason began to rise shakily to his feet, all too aware of the way his loincloth hung from his hips. He pushed the filthy garment down and nearly staggered back in relief when the jeweled waistband started to move with his hands.
Jason heard hoofbeats approaching and realized too late that the centaur was backing toward him. The centaur’s rump collided with his face and drove him back against the wall. Jason was still not fully standing and the impact took him entirely off balance. His head was roughly pinned against the wall by the centaur’s rear. He tried to push up, but his feet slid in the puddle he’d made on the stone tiles. He tried to push back against the weight of the centaur’s body, but his shoulders were pinned by the centaur’s haunches. His feet scrabbled on the wet floor, trying to find purchase as his nose was overpowered by a scent of dust and dung. Briefly, his feet found purchase and he pushed himself up only to slip when the centaur pushed back harder. Pinned as he was, he didn’t fall. Not realizing he’d closed his eyes, he opened them and found the dark hair of the centaur’s tail filling his vision. Jason felt something puckered pressing against his mouth and realized in horror that if the centaur’s tail was in his eyes, then this was-- The centaur farted, long and loud. Jason gagged on the stench of horsesh*t. Coughing and gagging, he redoubled his struggles, his feet scrabbling against the floor as his greasy load swayed back and forth. Stomach heaving painfully, he tried to grab some kind of leverage, anything he could get hold of. Struggle as he might, his shoulders were so thoroughly pinned that he couldn’t get a solid grip on anything, even the centaur’s flanks.
“You’ve gone and emptied yourself out, haven’t you, you filthy animal?” the centaur sneered. Jason tried to ignore his co*ck when it twitched at this. He was fully erect now. He felt his hips try to buck as the centaur’s heavy balls slid back and forth across his abs. “Now let’s fill you back up.” Jason’s eyes widened and he tensed to push away again, the centaur farted again, setting off a new round of coughing and gagging.
Before Jason could force his mouth shut, the centaur’s filthiest of holes spread open and something foul, firm and earthy pushed its way into his mouth. Jason screamed into the centaur’s ass and desperately tried to force the bitter roughness out, only for more filth to push its way in. To his horror, his stomach settled. He felt the telltale tingle of magic around his stomach as it relaxed, the feeling spreading up his throat to his mouth.
“You’d better start chewing, beast. You’re not even close to finished eating and you must be so empty,” the centaur said mockingly. “So hungry,” he purred.
Jason’s screams drew out into sobs as he chewed the disgusting mass and after a seeming eternity, swallowed only for his mouth to be filled with more rancid lumps. Jason’s movements became frenzied as warmth spilled down his legs. After several more slow, horrible moments of chewing, he swallowed once again and once more he was filled with the centaur’s sh*t. As he bit down into the filthy mass, the doors slammed open.
“EURELOS!” a deep voice bellowed from the somewhere near the doors. The centaur, whom Jason only dimly connected the name to, tensed forward at this and Jason felt something slide down his chest. Eurelos stepped away to meet the speaker and Jason collapsed onto all fours. His own fluids, now cold, splashed around him. The new voice yelled something, but Jason didn’t hear. He shuddered, unable to heave out the filth in his stomach even as some of the dung in his mouth fell onto the soaked tiles. Jason coughed and spluttered, trying to shake the rest loose. After a few seconds, the rancid mass slid out of his mouth and dropped to the floor. Jason gagged and spat, trying to rid himself of the foul taste. He raised his head and saw a man even more powerfully built than Eurelos stepping around the couch to meet the pale-coated centaur. “What is the meaning of this?” the newcomer growled in a deep, booming baritone.
“I was just breaking in my new toy,” sneered Eurelos, turning and crossing in front of the fireplace.
Jason pushed himself up as the other centaur stepped around the couch, revealing a dark bay barrel that, like his human torso, was more muscular than Eurelos’s.
“Toy? And what makes him--”
“What do you care, Antorus? He panicked. He was weak.” Eurelos leered at Jason as he began to push himself up.
“This isn’t the Hunting Grounds, Eurelos. He is not your prey.”
“Nonetheless, weakness will see him broken here just as easily as there. Look at him. All this and he’s still hard.”
Jason’s eyes blurred with tears as Eurelos turned around the couch and out through the massive double doors. The sound of galloping hooves receded as he staggered back and steadied himself against the wall.
“Antorus?” came a gruff voice from outside, some distance away.
“He’s in here!” Antorus called.
Another enormous figure barreled into the room and Jason turned away, trying to ignore the cloth dragging across his sensitive member. He closed his eyes and let his tears fall. Another stranger had come to see his shame. If these two could see him like this, what were a few tears? He heard footsteps coming around by the fireplace, sounding normal until claws clicked on the tiles.
“Hey,” said the newcomer. Jason said nothing. He flinched as a padded hand rested on his shoulder. “You’re safe now, okay?” Large claws closed on his shoulder, gently brushing across his skin.
Steeling himself, Jason turned back to look at the speaker and found himself looking into the eyes of a polar bear. “Wha--”
“Easy. We’re not going to do anything to you,” the polar bear said gently. “I’m Borel. This is Antorus.” He gestured to the centaur, who nodded, but didn’t say anything. Now that he had a closer look, Jason took in Antorus’s rugged features, his long unkempt hair.
“I--” Jason tried to say something, but no words came. He only vaguely registered that Borel was naked.
“C’mon, let’s get you cleaned up. We’re set up in a room not too far from here.”
Still unsteady, Jason stepped away from the wall. Borel caught him when he slipped in the puddle he’d made. Jason brushed his hand aside and stood. The two made for the door and Antorus followed behind. They’d barely passed the fireplace when the tingle of Eurelos’s magic suddenly left him. Jason’s stomach clenched horribly and he doubled over with a pained cry. Jason fell once again to all fours, stomach heaving. He gagged a couple of times and felt Borel move him toward the empty corner of the room. Against his will, Jason’s mouth forced itself open as unspeakable things surged up his throat. He heaved and heaved again and something indescribably foul expelled itself from his throat, spewing onto the tiles. Another heave and the splatter was joined by solid chunks. Jason gasped for breath, only to retch again when he saw what he’d left on the floor. He heaved again and again as his stomach purged itself of Eurelos’s filth. After several minutes of agony, Jason was empty. As the dry heaving subsided, he felt a cool, furry arm wrapped around him. The polar bear had been holding him.
“Are you alright?” Borel asked as he helped Jason to his feet.
“I... I’m fine...” Jason didn’t expect them to believe it. He didn’t believe it.
“Can you walk?” asked Antorus.
“I...” Jason took a shaky step forward and stumbled. Borel was already at his side.
“It’s alright, I’ll help you.”
Jason sighed and started forward, wiping his mouth with a clean part of his arm and leaning into the polar bear more heavily than he hoped.
“It’s not too far. We have a bath where you can clean yourself up.” Borel helped Jason toward the doors. Beyond lay a hallway. Jason was taken aback at the sheer size of it as they stepped out. Alabaster columns stood in front of the walls, ornately carved and lit by torches set into sconces. The walls, too, were made of intricately-carved alabaster. The floor was made of dark gray stone, though a deep red carpet covered the center of the wide hall. Jason looked around. Doors were set into the walls, all fashioned of wood and inlaid with ornate gold designs. A couple stood open and Jason could hear voices within. They passed by a few people, mostly different types of beastfolk. Most met Jason with looks of contempt and a few laughed at him, causing him to blush. He stank and he could feel his soil sliding around, trapped by his loincloth. After a few minutes, Jason’s gait began to steady and he edged away from Borel. The polar bear looked at him with concern, but let him stand. They set off again, Jason walking awkwardly as he tried to hide his shame. His co*ck, which had softened when his stomach had emptied itself, began to harden again. After too long, the hallway turned to the right.
“It’s not far now,” said Antorus from behind them. The three rounded the corner and found the hallway ahead nearly empty.
“I must smell horrible,” said Jason, wiping at his mouth with a clean part of his arm.
“This isn’t that bad,” said Antorus. “Especially for your first... day here.”
“Yeah. You should see the messes some of the other people here leave,” said Borel. “Might want to go naked in the future, though.”
“Uhh...”
“Your loincloth wouldn’t come off, would it?” said Borel in a tone that didn’t sound like a question.
“How’d you know?” asked Jason.
“Same thing happened to Auret when he came here. Some of the clothes here won’t come off until you sh*t yourself.”
“That’s what happened to me.”
“Sounds about right. I got lucky. I was able to take mine off.”
“Did you find a place to...”
“Nope. Had to squat in the corner like you.”
“There’s... nowhere when you need to--”
“There are. They’re just... in the open. Nothing here is meant to give you any privacy. We stay in the room we’re in since it actually has a privy. There’s no cover, but it’s in a corner.”
Jason wanted to change the subject, anything to take his mind off of his filthy loincloth. “Who’s Auret?” he asked.
“He’s my mate. Showed up here a while before I did. Like I said, I’m lucky. I’ve never heard of two people who so much as know each other winding up here. You’ll meet him when we get to our room. Just a few more doors.”
It took longer than Jason had hoped it would to pass by the next few doors. Before long, Borel stopped. Antorus walked around Jason and stopped beside the polar bear. Jason stopped with them.
“We’re here,” said the polar bear.
“What’s here?” asked Jason.
“These are the rooms where Auret and I are staying. It’s a pretty big place.” Borel held out a hand in front of him and a cold blue light shone from it. A carving of a bear mounting a beast with horns and tusks shone white and parted as the double doors opened. Borel led the two into a room with a hardwood floor and doors to either side. At the center was a rounded depression in the floor filled with water, surrounded by dark tiles and a low, ornately carved rim. A walrus-like figure reclined against a far corner, lit warmly by glowing crystals set into the ceiling. Jason realized that he was looking at a bath. He could hear water falling in the back corner of the room. The figure stirred and turned toward the door as they stepped inside, Antorus moving around them to get clear of the door.
“Borel? That you?” the walrus asked in a deep voice.
“Yup. Got a new guy,” Borel said.
The walrus sat up. “Oh. Well, get him inside. He’ll need to get cleaned up.”
Jason stepped forward awkwardly, all too aware of his loincloth’s weight, of the sticky roughness that stuck to his asscheeks and the cold cloth stretched over his groin. His feet stuck as he walked and he didn’t want to think about what he was tracking on the dark wood. The walrus stood and stepped out of the bath, water dripping off his well-muscled form. Jason stopped and stared. The walrus was taller than Borel, still heavily muscled, and nearly as tall as Antorus. “Come here,” said the walrus gently. “Let’s get that off of you.”
“I...” Jason wanted so badly to lose himself in the warmth of the walrus’s voice, to escape from his situation.
“It’s alright. I’m Auret. You’re probably still in shock.” Auret rested a leathery arm lightly about Jason’s shoulders.
“I... Jason. I’m Jason. You’re Borel’s...” He stepped forward onto the tiles.
“He told you about us, did he?”
“Not much.”
“Well, let’s get you cleaned up. Just take that off.”
Jason nodded and grabbed the belt of his loincloth. He pushed down and to his relief, the filthy garment moved. The gemstone at the center didn’t glow. There was no invisible force holding it in place. The gems at his thighs glittered, swinging back and forth as he bent down and pushed the soiled loincloth to his ankles. He shuddered as he felt the dung slide down his legs, leaving wet streaks as it went along.
“Heh, that’s quite a pile,” said Borel.
Jason’s co*ck twitched and tears stung his eyes as heat rose in his face. He stepped out of the soiled garment and stepped stood.
“Borel,” said Auret in an irritated voice.
“Right, right. My day to clean.” The polar bear loped over and picked up Jason’s loincloth by the flaps, careful not to let any of its contents drop to the floor, and walked out.
“Before we do anything else, will you let me clean you out?” Auret said.
“Clean me out?” asked Jason.
“Yeah. Come over here. There’s a spell we use.” The walrus walked over to the corner of the room.
“Uhh... sure.” Jason followed him to a a hole in the floor. From the stench, its use was obvious.
“Now squat over this and brace yourself.” The walrus’s hand glowed faintly blue. Jason squatted, blushing as he looked up at Auret, who gave a gentle smile.
“What do you mean by--”
Auret snapped his finger and Jason’s bowels clenched. He could feel something moving through him as a pressure grew on the inside of his hole. Jason doubled over onto all fours as his bowels began to empty in a spew of bile that splattered against the wall, bright against the dark wood. Tears blurred Jason’s vision as his bowels clenched again, this time letting out an unnaturally wet fart to accompany the bile. When the third clench released nothing, Auret waved his hand and the tightness left him.
“What’d you do?” Jason asked, blushing furiously as the smell of it pried its way into his nose.
“I cleaned your bowels out.”
“So that one of you can f*ck me, right?”
“No. I... We won’t do anything to you that you don’t want. You’re safe here. This is just so you don’t have to clean more later.”
“Besides, you don’t want to sh*t the bed tonight, right?” Borel asked.
Jason turned and found the polar bear standing behind Auret.
“That’s a lotta sh*t. Fell over while emptying yourself out, huh?” asked Borel.
Jason blushed.
“Borel, our guest’s been through a lot already. Do you really want to humiliate him here? After all this?” Auret scolded him.
“Oh... sorry. He has.”
“Then maybe find something to talk about other than... this.” The walrus sighed. “Do the others know we have a new face?”
“No. I’ll go tell them. Oh yeah, Antorus is heading back to the room where we found Jason. He wants to get there before dark so we can claim it in the morning.”
“Tell him to be ready for a fight if someone else comes along before the doors lock, then clean that up when you get back.” Auret gestured to the mess Jason had left behind.
Auret led Jason back to the tiled floor. He picked a cloth up from the side of the bath, dipped it in the water and handed it to Jason. Jason took the cloth and used it to clean his ass, wiping the filth from his asscheeks. Auret gave him a second cloth to clean out his crack. Jason wiped until the sticky feeling his of his filth was gone, then kept scrubbing until the cloth came away clean. His crotch was next with a third cloth. Jason made sure he’d cleaned the piss off his co*ck and balls. He scrubbed his legs down last. Jason sighed with relief as he finished cleaning his feet. He then took the golden armband off of his arm and set it down on the tiles.
“Alright, get in. You look like you could use some peace,” said Auret, stepping over the rim into the water. Jason could see some low steps beneath the water where the walrus had gone in, breaking up a bench that ran around the sides. Auret reclined against the rim of the bath, up to his shoulders in the water. Jason stepped down into the center of the basin and felt the warmth of the water sink into his legs as he moved. The water was almost hot enough to sting, but not quite. At the center, the water was just above his waist. He lowered himself into it, letting out a contented sigh and drifting over to Auret. He sat down on the bench facing the door and the walrus put a comforting arm around his shoulders. Hard muscle shifted under leathery skin as Auret shifted around beside him. Jason leaned into the walrus and felt himself begin to drift off, lost in the warmth of the water.
Before long, Jason was awakened by another arm on his shoulders, this one hairier than Auret’s. His eyes snapped open and he saw a wall of white fur next to him. Borel stared down at him with a small smile on his ursine face. Jason’s face felt wet. Had he been crying?
Now that both of them were here, Jason noticed that the Borel was bulkier than Auret, even without his thick fur. The two gripped Jason’s shoulders gently, Borel’s claws tracing his muscles with the curve of his claws, and he let himself sink into their embrace. The quiet was broken by hoofbeats against the hardwood floor. Antorus stepped out from a doorway on their left, a haversack on his back. The centaur nodded at them in acknowledgment and opened the massive double doors leading out to the hall. Antorus stepped outside and let the doors swing shut behind him as the sound of his hoofbeats receded into the distance.
“Wh-where’s he going?” asked Jason, his voice shaking more than he expected.
“The room where we found you,” said Auret. “Since you woke up there, you get a first shot at claiming it.”
“Claiming?”
“Yeah. Making it yours. The room doesn’t change, but this place’ll recognize it as yours. You’re the only one who can claim it today, but it’ll be free for anyone tomorrow.”
“Then why’d you bring me here?”
“You looked like you wanted out of there real fast. Don’t worry. Antorus’ll keep everyone out until tomorrow. You can claim it in the morning.”
“Why in the morning?”
“It’s not long til the lights go out in the halls. It’s worse in the dark. A lot worse.” Borel sounded uneasy.
“It’s also what passes for night in here,” said Auret, “and it’s always dark outside.”
“Yeah. Now get washed up. It’s not safe to stay in front rooms like this when the lights go out in the halls either. Besides, Verru’s got a meal for you if you think you can eat.”
Jason nodded and reached for a clean cloth. He began to scrub at his upper body, then his face. He began to wash his muscular arms. As he did, he looked down at himself. He looked clean, but he still felt filthy. Eurelos’s words echoed in his mind. Jason’s co*ck twitched at the memory of the centaur calling him than a filthy animal. Wallowing in his own filth had made him hard, even after Eurelos... fed him. He gagged even as his member hardened. A shudder wracked his body and he dropped the cloth. He felt a clawed hand on his shoulder. He shrank away, but turned to see Borel looking at him with concern.
“Hey. You’re safe here, okay?” the polar bear said.
Jason took a steadying breath and finished washing his arms. He finished washing and set the cloth aside. He began to settle back when a loud clunk came from the direction of the doors. Jason looked and saw that the massive double doors were aglow with runes. The lock clicked as blues and oranges played across the doors as the carvings shone and faded.
“Lights out,” said Borel.
“Early tonight,” said Auret.
“Is... is Antorus alright?” Jason asked.
“He should be fine if he got to your room in time,” Auret said with a sigh. “We can only hope.”
A door opened to Jason’s right and he turned with a start. A leonine figure stepped into the room, just as naked as Auret and Borel were. Sandy fur covered him and an unkempt, dark mane spilled over his shoulders, half hiding a pair of dark, leathery wings furled against his back.
“Hey. You’re Jason, right?” asked the figure in a playful voice.
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Borel told me. I’m Verru. I don’t know what you like to eat, but I’ve got some soup ready for you if you think you can handle it.”
“I can give it a try.”
“Alright. Get dried off and come over. Oh, and Borel? I used up the last of the fish. We’ll need to get some more tomorrow.”
“I can just go to the Hunting Grounds and fish some up.”
“At least let me come with you this time,” said Auret.
“Fine. Not like I can’t handle myself.”
“You could get surrounded again.”
“Yeah. It’s a wonder you were able to fight off the whole pack,” said Verru.
Not wanting to listen to the argument, Jason got out of the bath. Water cascaded down his body, spilling onto the tiles as he stepped out. He picked up a towel and dried himself off. When he finished, the three were still arguing.
“Uhh, guys?” Jason asked. None of them seemed to hear him. “Borel? Auret?”
The two turned and looked up at him.
“Is... is there something I can put on?”
There was an awkward silence.
“Jason...” Auret began uncomfortably.
“It’s not a good idea to put anything on here,” said Verru. “It might not come back off.”
“Yeah,” said Borel. “If you’re not lucky, whatever you put on won’t let you take it off until you sh*t yourself.”
Jason shuddered again, remembering how he hadn’t been able to pull his loincloth down, the way the gem at the center glowed before he’d let loose in it.
“Don’t worry,” said Verru. “You’ll get used to going naked. There’s a lot you’ll need to get used to now.”
“Like what?”
“We might want to talk about that tomorrow,” said Auret. “For now, you need to eat. Go with Verru. We’ll be over soon, alright?”
Verru nodded and tilted his head toward the open door. Jason followed him through into a small room with a pair of ornate canopy beds in opposite corners, shrouded by deep red curtains. Lamps flickered on bedside tables. It was only then that he noticed the lion’s thick, segmented tail and the wicked-looking scorpion’s stinger at its end. Verru was a manticore, Jason realized. As he passed by the nearer one, Jason felt a sudden urge to crawl into it and fall asleep. Or maybe wake up. This place had to be some horrible nightmare. It had to. If he could only wake up...
A door just past the bed opened into a room with a tiled floor dominated by a pair of long tables, silverware already laid out. A large, ornate fireplace on their left cast a warm, flickering light across the room. The far corner next to it was separated by a long counter with cupboards behind it. A dark, wooden door was set into the wall in the corner behind the counter.
“This is what passes for a kitchen,” Verru said. “You can also get to the garden this way if you want to go outside.” He gestured to an ornate door of gold and glass set into the far wall. There was darkness beyond. The manticore pointed to a door behind the counter. “There’s another bedroom back there. And that,” he said, pointing at a door to the right, “is our training room.”
“You said you had food?”
“Yeah. If you think you can handle it.”
“I think I can.”
“Alright.” Verru walked over to the fireplace. A pot stood in front of the fireplace, over a firepit that had been crudely dug into the tiles. Verru picked up a pair of bowls and scooped some of the pot’s contents into them. He came back and led Jason to a corner of the further table near the fireplace and set down one of the bowls in front of a chair. “Come on, sit.”
Jason pulled the chair out and sat as Verru sat across from him. Jason mumbled his thanks and looked at his food. The bowl was filled with deep amber. Tiny crumbs of vegetable and meat drifted on the surface. Once Jason was sure it had cooled enough, he dipped the spoon into it and took a sip. The soup was thick and wonderfully savory. The crumbs were soft, but didn’t stick and when Jason swallowed, he could feel the warmth of the soup spreading through him, the savory taste lingering in his mouth. As it faded, he went for a second sip. He sat back, taking in the warmth, the flavor.
“I guess you like it,” said Verru, smiling at Jason.
“Yeah. It’s good.” Jason smiled back. “Thank you.”
“Hey, I like to cook. Knowing that people like my food makes being stuck here... well, it makes it bearable, at least.”
Jason was about to say something when another leonine figure stepped into his field of view, walking behind Verru toward the hearth. The figure glanced in Jason’s direction, his face half-hidden by his reddish mane.
“I take it this is the one Borel mentioned?” he asked in a tired voice.
“Yeah, this is Jason.”
“Ah. My name is Dolos. If you’ll excuse me.” Dolos turned back to the pot and got some soup of his own. He took a seat at the other table and began to eat.
“Don’t mind him. He’s gotten really deep into his work lately.”
“What’s he working on?” asked Jason.
“A way to escape from this place. We’re looking for ways out of the Palace that don’t leave us in the Hunting Grounds and we’ve mapped out a good bit of the place.”
“This is a palace?”
“That’s what we call it. This place is pretty lavish.”
“I noticed. Why are you trying to escape?”
“Why do you think? I heard Eurelos was the first to find you.”
Jason jerked away, tears stinging his eyes at the memory of the centaur leering down at him as he filled his loincloth. His mind moved to the centaur pressing him against the wall and-- His stomach began to churn. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and caught a glimpse of Verru’s face.
“You okay?” the manticore asked, concern on his face.
Jason started to answer, but his stomach heaved and he lurched forward.
“Hey, I’ve got you.” Verru wrapped his arms around Jason, resting a hand on his stomach. Jason felt the tingle of magic radiating up from his stomach. The sick tension faded from his throat and his stomach settled.
“Sorry I brought that up,” Verru said ruefully. “That was...”
“S’alright,” Jason mumbled. He looked around. Auret had come into the room and Dolos was looking at him with concern.
“This place... people here do things like that a lot here. The Palace practically runs on cruelty and humiliation.”
“Wh... what’d you do?”
“Just a spell. I made it so you can’t puke. You’ll need it here.”
“Eur-- that-- he used that on me. Wore off after he left.”
“Borel didn’t tell me what happened, but I can guess. If you don’t want to talk about it, we can drop it. You think you can finish eating?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Good. You need to keep your strength up.”
As Jason got back into his seat, he caught sight of Auret pouring some soup into a bowl, Borel walking up behind him. Jason began to eat, more reluctantly this time. Soon, Auret sat down next to him and Borel sat opposite the walrus. They ate in silence and finished around the same time that Jason did. Auret turned toward Jason.
“There’s one last thing I’d like to show you tonight,” said Auret.
“What?” asked Jason.
“Come out into the garden with us. It’s lights out in the halls, so we have to do this now unless you want to wait until tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
Auret walked over to the ornate door in the far corner. He opened it and a cool breeze wafted inside. Breathing in the fresh air, Jason stepped outside and onto grass. Borel followed behind, closing the door behind him. Though dark, the garden was lit in places by the plants growing in it. Patches of small glowing flowers cast a soft glow on raised beds around the edges of the garden and glowing creepers ran down the walls. Large stone blocks rose from the ground along the walls, forming raised flowerbeds large enough to fit most of the garden’s trees. From the end of the wall extended a stone balustrade that ran along the edges of the garden. Auret made for the far end of the garden. Jason stopped next to him and Borel walked up on his other side.
“Down there,” said Auret, pointing over the railing. “That’s the Hunting Grounds.”
Jason rested his arms on the flat stone of the railing, at first not sure what he saw. A dark landscape lay far below, lit just enough by the waning moon that Jason could pick out rivers running among a dense forest. Patches of light held against the darkness, almost lost in the trees. Not all of them were firelight.
“What are those lights?” asked Jason.
“Villages,” said Borel. “The larger ones, anyway. They’re mostly safe, but they’re suspicious of outsiders like us. The Hunting Grounds are full of things that prey on anyone they can. They won’t eat you, but...”
Jason nodded. “That was what Antorus meant when... when he chased Eurelos off. Eurelos mentioned wolves.”
“Werewolves,” said Auret. “Packs of them.”
“That’s what Eurelos meant by throwing me to the wolves.”
“Yeah. The most ruthless always seem to rise to the top. Not the only thing down there either,” the walrus said, scratching around his whiskers. “Don’t go down there unless you really need something, and never alone. The forest is dense and not everything has a set territory like the werewolf packs.” Auret turned to look at Borel, who rolled his eyes.
“If you can get to one of the villages, you should be safe. They’ve got their own defenses,” said Borel as he turned back toward the garden door. “Let’s get inside. We don’t want to be out of bed too much longer.
“We’ve got something for you to drink before you turn in. It’s a potion. Keeps you from being traumatized by... things like what Eurelos did to you,” said Auret.
“You’ll feel like sh*t when you wake up, though.”
“That... sounds good,” said Jason. “Or better, at least.” He turned to follow the polar bear almost on instinct and before he realized it, he was back in the light and warmth of the dining hall. Dolos was already waiting inside with a small cup, a snake -- his tail, Jason dimly realized-- wrapped around his legs, staring up at Jason. There was a tightness in Jason’s chest as he took the cup. He downed the blue liquid inside. A heavy tang filled his mouth, strangely tasteless.
“Alright, let’s get you to bed,” said Auret.
Jason nodded, numbly. When had he gotten there? Had he been standing behind Jason this whole time? Auret led the way back into the small room with the two beds, made for the one in the far corner. Jason followed. He felt hollow, numb. His world had been torn to pieces in an instant. He’d been torn away from his home, his friends, woken up in this place, this hateful underworld. He wanted this to be a dream, but it wasn’t. He didn’t know when he started crying, but before he knew it, Auret was at his side, helping him sit down on the side of the bed. Jason felt the walrus’s arms wrap around him in a warm embrace. He was sure anyone in the other room could hear him, but he didn’t care. He turned, buried his face in Auret’s shoulder, shook as he cried into it. Dimly, he felt Borel’s arm around his shoulders. The two said nothing as they held him close. At some point, Auret helped him into bed. The two sat by his bedside as Jason cried himself to sleep.
