Open glades were rare in the forest, the towering trees reaching out to soak up all the sunlight they could, but meadows weren't completely absent. It was in one such sunlit meadow that the Unicorn made her home, bedding down each night beneath the gracefully swaying branches of a live oak. Yes, she called the meadow home, but it didn't hold everything she needed or desired, so she often found herself in the twilight under the lush canopy in search of water or some delicacy whose fragrance drifted to her on a wayward breeze. Such it was this late afternoon as she walked between the trees, stepping over fallen logs and roots that could trip. Only faintly yet could she hear the soft roar of the small fall of water rushing into the pool it formed deep into the forest's gloaming.
The breaking of a single twig is enough to alert the wary. And while she was not truly afraid she was wary. Beings with souls had returned to the world and they did not understand the world was no longer theirs to tread freely, but it was no mortal or immortal footstep that followed the sound - weight greater than that of anything the size of a man came down upon the soft loam of the forest. She felt its eyes upon her back already, and knew it had seen her, and it hunted.
The hunt was a dance, one well choreographed over centuries, and each had a specific role to play. Ever the prey in this life and death dance, the Unicorn knew her role well in spite of the few years she'd played it. She continued walking, her feet moving light and sure through brush and over obstacles that might bring the less attuned to their knees. As she walked, she opened herself completely to the forest, seeking her stalker with senses that went far beyond the tangible. She needed to know what hunted her and how far away, for running without knowledge could have her running to her own death. She found him, yes it was a him, and knew her first inkling of real fear. She'd expected a predator, one looking for a meal, for she'd encountered many in the months since she'd settled in the meadow surround by this twilight world, but she hadn't expected this hunter and the shock was almost enough to make her run blindly. "Manticore," she whispered under her breath and her steps became somewhat faster. She didn't run yet, didn't dare for once she did, so would he.
A soft, low growl, not unlike that of a cat's purr, slid from behind her. He was close - much closer than she'd anticipated. He was not in the form she wore; a sign that he had not been aware of her presence here, or perhaps a sign that he needed to hunt badly. The sounds ceased and the forest went still. She froze as well - to do otherwise was to court death. Only the sound of wind through branches came to her. Slowly he rounded a large tree in front of her. He was magnificent. His red mane was large and glorious, thick and waved, reaching far down his back. His eyes burned like fire, large and beautiful, the slit pupils widened as he took her in. His paw came down and the massive talons splayed wide, black iron rough and dark. His tail rose over his back, bulbous stinger hanging full and heavy over his mane, as the chitinous diamond-scaled whip flexed slowly. The heavy and curved iron spike glistened at the tip and his wide mouth split to bare his thousands of needle sharp iron teeth at her. A low guttural hiss erupted from his throat. He was easily twice and half again as long as she was tall....and she was not a tiny creature.
The Unicorn stood perfectly still, the Manticore watching her as she watched him. Her breath was frozen in her throat as she faced the top predator of the forest. Some deep part of her could see what he saw. A young woman with pale, rosy flesh dressed simply in a thin cloth that covered her torso and only reached her upper thighs. Long, light colored hair of the palest gold that was nearly white and crowned with a jewel set in her forehead that shifted color in the dappled light. In human form she stood little chance of outrunning him, but with the Manticore in full beast form, she knew he could run her down easily and there wouldn't be time for her own animal to be called forth. She would have to face this hunt as it was and pray that the Manticore wasn't hunting for food. Slowly, she took one step backward, and then another, her heart gaining speed as each step was mirrored by the hunter.
The Beast slowly stalked from around the tree. He was magnificent in his beauty and terrifying in his power. But the Unicorn was not a Beast to stalk idly. An equal number of Manticores had perished at the hands of these willful, fleet, and insightful prey. His nostrils flared as he took her sent and the eyes focused on her, the pupils wide and gleaming with the violet fires deep within the spirit of the Beast. Its head lowered as it began to crouch towards her, the long tail drawn back, the claws tensing visibly. It was not salivating and it didn't move with deliberate movements of a hunter seeking prey. He was demonstrating his body, showing her his strength....courting her. It became even clearer what type of prey she was when she caught sight of the massive organ pulsing at the slit of his sheath. He was becoming aroused, and she was the prey of choice for Manticore.....but it was not usually in this form she was taken by a Beast. In human form she'd mated with Manticore before....but never like this.
Even with the relief that he hunted for other than food, the Unicorn was still cautious, slowly moving back even has her eyes followed the line of his body. To the Unicorn, it appeared that the Manticore was intent upon having her as his prey and in spite of her own natural reaction to his display, she was as intent to she'd not go down easy. The slight rustling of dead leaves underfoot as she moved was masked by the sound of the wind as it danced through the canopy high above them. That soft stirring and the breathing of the beasts was all that was to be heard, for even the animals sensed the hunt that would very soon be joined in earnest between these two. Sooner than she wanted if she made too sudden a movement for he'd be on her the moment she tried to run. “This is not your territory, Manticore.” The older male who claimed this area as his would be most unhappy at the intrusion.
The Beast before her revealed the fact that the other was in the city of Ma'ana that had appeared one morning almost a decade ago in the great wildernesses of the world. While he was gone, the territory belonged to those who could hold it. He held it now, though only in trust perhaps. And too, he'd not had the joy of hunting for one as beautiful as she in many years. The Manticore's parted lips exhaled slowly and she could taste the rich spicy taint of its breath and the heat of him even at this distance as he breathed out his power for her to taste. No words did he speak, nor was it telepathy, but it was she who discerned his intents and feelings by his very movements and poise alone.
Its eyes widened and the fire within became brighter as his desires grew at the scent of her defiance. No, this was not one to hunt for food, not now. He was sated on meat and blood and ore. Now he wanted flesh, and the throbbing, heavy flesh between his hind legs had grown further, as long as her forearms and more, and twice as thick as them. The slender black spike that extended half its length pulsed in time to his massive heart, and he hissed like a thing from ages beyond count - he would have her NOW!
This new beast was both younger and more powerful than the old male that called these woods his own. She could feel and taste his power in the air, it radiated from him like pheromones, eliciting an answering response. Liquid heat poured through her veins, a combination of desire and fear brought about by the sight and scent of the Manticore. Beneath the thin sheath she wore, her nipples tightened, pushing against the loose material and she grew wet with an answering hunger. Into the air that was already thick with his power, her own power mingled; not power like the Manticore's strength, but one of endurance and swiftness. Both would be needed because if one failed her, she would need the other to survive.
Realizing her safety was fast slipping from her, she could hold off no longer. She had but one chance to escape him and she would try for it. Without giving any hint to her intentions, the Unicorn suddenly ducked out of site around the tree from which he'd come and began running in truth. Only if he caught her would he be worthy of taking her.
He was after her in a blur of movement, though that was a far cry from her own speed. Mortal and immortal alike would not have seen her move; the undead would have matched such a speed. But the Manticore was fast also, but it was the speed born of size as well as power. He slid between the trees like liquid grace, where she moved between them with grace and agility that put the wind itself to shame. She moved like the wind, and he moved like thunder chasing lightning. She could feel and hear him behind her - close, and moving closer. Risking a glance back she realized he was much closer than she'd anticipated. Her head start had only bought her feet, not yards. And he was gaining rapidly.
In awe at him, she nearly stumbled, her attention returning to her escape only just in time to prevent disaster as she leapt nimbly over a fallen tree. Her heart was beating wildly in exhilaration and exertion. She had one more advantage that could perhaps buy her more leeway and that was cunning. She lived here and she knew every rock, every tree. She would have to use that knowledge if she wanted to win. As much as his grace and power impressed her, as much as her body longed to be used as it should, her drive to do more than simply survive pushed her on. He was closing on her, she could feel him looming, but she'd not let him have her, he would have to take her.
They ran the bank of the fast flowing stream, the water rushing down a slight incline to the falls below. As she ran, she sought something in the water, something that would be easier to miss than to see and just as she felt him get close enough to reach for her, she saw it. Darting suddenly to the side, she jumped, seeming to run across the top of the water and gaining the other side before he could slide to a stop and make out the rocks that lay just at the surface of the moving liquid. On the far side of the creek, the Unicorn paused, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath, to look back at the beast separated from her by the rushing torrent. She called to him, teasing him to catch her, though no words were spoken before she was off, running again, laughter trailing behind her.
The Manticore did not falter long. He turned back, not to take the stones as she'd expected, but to bunch up like some great cat would, though in truth as long and powerful as his body was it was much more like that of a pretty ferret - if a ferret weighed more than a ton. He leapt, springing across the river entirely, a maneuver the older Beast could no longer emulate. He was after her in a rush, thudding paws slamming into the earth and his breath coming like deep thunder. Already she could almost feel him at her back, feel the heat of his power nearer than she'd expected....
Suddenly there was a white hot spear of pain in her thigh that almost made her stumble. The resulting burst of speed put a greater distance between them, but her thigh was burning, a deep, painful heat that spoke of pain that would kill mortal, and doom immortal, and even cause the undead hideous pain....he'd stung her, and deeply.
The Manticore seemed to fall behind, trailing her at a steady distance for several minutes. During those minutes, the poison from the sting spread. A wave of molten metal moving down her leg and up into her hip. She knew she'd not run for much longer. Already she could feel the toxins working in her, making her heart beat irregularly. Breathing burned her lungs as the heat seemed to melt her. But soon the heat was no longer burning, but sensual warmth, much like that of a hot spring. Like those springs, it seemed to draw her strength from her, relaxing her like a long soak in steaming water. She knew the Manticore followed close behind, stalking her now rather than chasing, for she'd slowed significantly. She felt him moving in on her, could sense his triumph as the world swayed softly before her eyes and she slipped to her knees in the thick, green grass. The Unicorn could run no more, but she struggled to stand and face the predator as he walked around to stand in front of her.
He looked down at her, his too human face baring teeth that were more like fangs in a grin of unbridled desire. He hissed and then swatted her, sending her sprawling on her back, leaving deep marks along her arm where his unsheathable talons had scored her tender, soft flesh. He looked down at her and his tongue slid out, wet, hot, long. He stroked her leg were the wound burned and sang in pain as he moved closer to her. His other paw came down upon her arm, keeping her from moving with his great weight. His tongue stroked her warm flesh again, this time along her inner thigh, pushing the dress up.
A stabbing of intense sensations accompanied the probing of her leg wound, causing her to cry out before she managed to choke it off. But the toxins at work in her body seemed to be alleviating as much pain as they caused. She felt the tearing of her arm and the warm blood that spilled across her skin, but the pain was dulled and distant. Only the sting had normal feeling, she thought. Then she found out she was wrong as his breath blew warm across her thighs, followed by the rough tongue. Her cry this time was not one of agony, but of longing as she squirmed beneath the weight that held her. She didn't know if it was the sting or simply that he was a more powerful Beast than the old Manticore that made this more pleasurable, but as her dress drew higher, baring more and more skin to his gaze and touch, she felt a need she'd never felt with the old one. The need to be taken by a male, to be used as a female and not simply to sell her body for the protection of a stronger beast. The Manticore would soon leave for the old male wouldn't give up all he'd gained, but for now she had him and she could give to him what he would also be taking from her. This Manticore had caught her and secretly she was glad of it.
The rough hot tongue slid up her leg further, and there was a thrill of intense sensation as it brushed lightly at her delicate petals. He growled and swiped his claws over her body, slicing into her soft pale flesh as he tore the dress from her, bared her body for his perusal. Blood welled in the shallow cuts along her breast, her belly, her leg, from his casual movement. He growled and he shoved his head between her legs, forcing them apart as his tongue slid along her female places rough and hot and wet.
He licked her several more times, his claws tightening over her arm, and his tail lashed back and forth. His massive maleness throbbed, the spike along its underside extending further in his desire. Such spike once helped keep the males erect, but now served a much stranger purpose - one she was intimately familiar with.
The Unicorn mourned the loss of the dress, she had no other to replace it with and would have to do without until such time as she was gifted with another or bartered for clothing with one of the beasts that passed through this forest. But that was only a fleeting thought as the scent of the Manticore's desire permeated the air. A fine trembling began in her legs and the muscles in her lower belly tightened as intense desire warred with fear. She wanted the Manticore inside of her, wanted to feel him deep within, but in her human form the long, sharp spike would cause her more damage and pain as well as pleasure as it slid into her flesh with each thrust. Survival would be his test to her of worthiness.
The Manticore suddenly bit down on her, driving his fangs into her soft flesh, though not deeply. Her body convulsed as the hundreds of needles circled her feminine places, needle pricks of pain surrounding her sex as he stroked her fully and deeply with his tongue. The long heavy swipes ran along her slit, opened her, pressed her hardened nub cruelly with each stroke. He growled, his eyes almost violet-black pits surrounded by fire now as his desire became overwhelming.
Moaning with both pleasure and pain, the Unicorn squirmed beneath the torturous pleasure of the Manticore's attentions, every movement pushing his sharp fangs deeper into her. Blood rushed to the injured tissues, her body's natural defense against trauma, over sensitizing even as those delicate folds became swollen and engorged. Her neck arched and eyes of the metallic silver-blue drifted closed as the Unicorn pressed her thighs close against the Manticore, her body tensing. The sensations were far from unpleasant, they were erotic in their intensity and her blood mingled with the taste of her sex as he licked at the center of her.
The Manticore hissed heat against her body as he took pleasure in her body's reaction to the trauma and the pleasure, as well as the potent venom. He withdrew his teeth from her body and suddenly swatted her. She was flung aside, and fell to elbows and knees, trembling as her muscles protested the movement. Then he was on her, a throbbing, hissing growl against her throat as he moved over her....then his paws fell on her hands as he arched his back. Then she gasped as a new heat struck her body.
The head of his maleness was pressed hard against her tender folds, her swollen, throbbing sex mashed as he worked himself against her. His fangs were pressed against her shoulder, but he didn't yet bite. He hissed and worked himself against her, forcing her tender flesh out of his way slowly and firmly, as he prepared to take her, mate with her....
The Unicorn was small compared to some of her race, but no Unicorn could truly be called tiny. Still, the Manticore was larger and larger still in beast form compared to her own human form. This meant that what he intended to shove inside her body did not fit without a great deal of exertion on his part and pain on hers. This didn't seem to bother the Manticore as he pressed harder against her, forcing her body to accept him. She cried out loudly, her tender flesh stretching as it tried to accommodate him. Tears sprang to her eyes and rolled in drops of silver and platinum down pale cheeks. But instead of fighting or trying to escape, the Unicorn endured, her body tensing and relaxing in turns with the pleasure of the Manticore's domination. Even with the pain and damage, she wanted him, wanted him to take her, to hurt her.
Bearing down on her body the Manticore held her arms with massive paws, the claws cutting into the flesh of the Earth to pin her. His back was arched high, demonstrating his kind's improbable flexibility as he worked his maleness against her wet feminine flesh. His fangs finally cut into her white skin, blood immediately welling to succor the injury but it would only drive his passions higher. His breath was the sound of hot metal falling into water, the sound of Nightgaunt wings in the night sky, a boiling hiss rising from the depths of the earth. His fur moved along her legs, her back, her arms as he worked himself into her.
With the burning, ripping sensation he forced his way into her, spreading her tender flesh far enough to tear only a little. Her wetness allowed several more inches to slide into her despite her tightness but her human form could only accept so much so quickly. The pain was a dull heat as wetness of a different sort slid down her belly from between her legs and the Manticore growled deeply as he deepened her body with implacable, hungry force. Then she felt the real threat.
Of the Children of the Four-and-Four only Unicorn and Manticore could bear and beget life. It was perhaps the gift they received for the pain and suffering of one another's love. But there was pain to be had even in that act. The iron bones of the Manticore were unforgiving and hard but the Unicorn’s own bones were no less strange - diamond, the crystallized flesh of that which they consumed, made up their bones. To mate in the form of beast and have the child grow strong, the iron spike that jutted from under their male organ would chip and shatter the spur of diamond bone that extended into the womb of the bestial Unicorn, invariably breaking off a part of itself in the process. This would become the bones of the child that would come from their union.
But she was not in her four-legged form, which meant that the iron spike that poked and prodded her sex lightly now would slide into soft human flesh and pierce her as he forced more and more of himself inside her not entirely unwilling body. She would have her revenge though - her own spur of diamond would slice and tear into his maleness as he inevitably ripped his way into her womb….
Completely engulfed beneath his enormous mass, every sense was alive with his touch, scent… even the taste of the power that he exuded with every exhalation. In her ears, she heard only his low growls and grunts as he pushed himself deeper inside her tight body until she could feel the hard point of his spike pressing between against her nether lips. The Manticore paused, perhaps giving a moment of thought to the damage of this mating, the probability that in her human form she would not survive - or perhaps that was all in her own mind, a soft-hearted Unicorn’s wishful thinking.
In the next moment she felt the massive muscles that lined his body bunch and the spike pierced flesh. She gasped; her breath was torn from her by the pain, preventing her from screaming. A warm, sticky wetness ran thickly down the inside of her thighs and across her belly before dropping to the ground. She stiffened as the Manticore tensed for another push and the iron teeth sunk deeper into her shoulder, preventing her movement as he forced himself a bit deeper, forced the spike and his massive sex inside of her tight body.
This time she did scream, a piercing shriek that echoed through the forest, bouncing from tree to tree and bringing answering calls from the many predators that heard it. That cry to them was of a prey animal succumbing to a hunter, but to the Manticore it was more because beneath the pain, beneath the surrender in the cry, he would hear the pleasure. The rough iron spike, with its oh-so-functionally biological purpose had entered her flesh so that every movement abraded her sensitive and swollen pearl, pleasuring the Unicorn as only he could.
He forced himself improbably deep. Only the incredible resilience of her unearthly flesh allowed her to take what he'd given her and not simply die. He had burst the barrier between sheath and womb, each withdrawal letting her body close itself to him only to have him enter her fully once more. The spike never left her body, though it would be pulled out the barest tip, and then pressed into unwelcoming flesh to the hilt of his thick maleness.
As he buried himself in her his teeth clenched into her shoulder, the iron spikes uncountable as blood poured onto the earth. His claws gouged her slender arms as he took her to sate his need for her. Yet in this act of primal rape there was love, and beauty; it was the most primitive act and the most essential between male and female. The consummation of their union began as he grunted and his tail lashed violently. It curled under as he buried himself twice deep again and again, slid its chitinous and leather rope along her belly and the bulbous venom sac pressed into her breasts, the stinger offered to her throat.
He could kill her, drive the stinger up, into her brain, kill her without reason or need. But he took her instead and suddenly she felt his manhood throbbing inside her, held deep inside as the spike quivered along her tender jewel and inside her pierced and mauled flesh. Then he was pouring himself into her, the heat of his seed filling her already full body to bursting with him, his life, filling her life, making her whole, as he bit harder and harder until his teeth met the impenetrable bones of her shoulder.
The Unicorn threw her head back and screamed with agony and ecstasy as the Manticore buried himself deep within her. She could feel his teeth sinking deeper into her flesh and the grip he had on her tightened as well, holding her as his climax pushed her over the edge and she bucked hard under him as she found her own release. In her animal form her body spasming with orgasm would have been much more violent and potentially lethal to the male riding her, hence the Manticore's secure hold, but in human form she was no match for his superior strength, struggle though she did in the throws of her climax.
The haze of passion faded slowly as physical sensation returned, leaving her exhausted, her body stinging with pain, and still trapped. Each breath she took reminded her of the iron spike that pierced her so intimately and she shuddered with renewed pleasure. Beneath the Manticore, his silken fur caressing her back, derriere and thighs with each minute movement, she felt comforted and secure despite the pain.
She looked down as something brushed against her breast only to find the Manticore's tail encircling her from beneath. The stinger brushed lightly at her breast, deliberately teasing and she laughed softly. “Again, Manticore?” Raising her head she turned her face to brush her cheek against the soft fur of the Manticore's. “I'd likely not survive much more of your attention just now.” She needed to heal these wounds before sustaining more and she was too exhausted to shift forms… besides, she had liked this more than she'd have admitted to him.
He made a growling response that set his full thickness and the spike to throbbing inside her body in manners far too intimate for her to completely ignore.  The scents of her left him as sated as the act had.  He might not be able to contest the older male - Manticore venom lost no potency with age and experience could overwhelm youthful enthusiasm - but for the moment and perhaps a while longer they were together as only Manticore and Unicorn could be together.  His stinger lightly brushed across her nipple, scratching it and leaving it singing with the intimate pleasure-pain of his venom.
Finally the throbbing maleness slipped from her, the spike retreating into his body as the loss of blood pressure to his heavy maleness allowed it to collapse.  She felt slickness burst from between her legs, and not merely from her body.  As she’s suspected he’d been torn more than half his length by the diamond spur of her womb and that had let him finally come free.  He did not move off of her however, but she could finally fall to the ground, quivering with exhaustion.  He stroked her shoulders and neck with his tongue, cleaning the blood he let from her pale body.