Anonymoose: Monster Girl Saga. Part 3 (v.1.0)

A light roar of white roiled water sweep past two warriors' legs, a cloud of steam lingering in the air punctuated by a quiet hiss of boiling water around the woman standing between me and a mountain of a woman. All I could do was taste the dirt on the bank of the river, completely tied up and immobile. I was the lone spectator, and judging by the blood lust fuelled eyes of the amazon this confrontation was serious. The lizard-girl did not flinch, and although her back was facing me, the whipping of her tail to and fro crowned by a brilliant crest of fire burning out of control gave me all the hints I needed she felt the same as her opponent.

It seemed I was to be the prize in what felt like a fight to the death. I'll have to ask for forgiveness that my concern wasn't that I was going to watch someone get killed in front of me, but that I wasn't sure I was going to be better off with who ever won. I hadn't been treated to the greatest hospitality by either. Actions speak louder than words after all. I may also have to be forgiven if I let it get to my head that two beautiful women were prepared to fight to the death over me. I had to shake my head to rid myself of that thought, it wasn't going to be any help to me at the moment. Despite their mostly human appearances, they were monstrous on the inside, especially in their heads.

While occupying myself with my thoughts and wriggling on the ground to struggle against my bonds I tried to calmly think of what I needed to do next. This imminent fight could take only a few seconds, I'd never crawl away like a worm far enough. I was certain the following rape would not be prevented, only made worse by being completely exhausted. Upon realizing that I was just wearing myself out I can to a stop and sharp pressure jutting into my back. I felt like I was laying down on a bed of rocks. Judging by how much it hurt, enough to cause me to sit up straight, they was at least one very sharp rock. That's when it finally hit me, with enough rubbing and friction, maybe I could chew through the ropes.

No sooner than I started getting to work and swaying my back side to side over the ground and grinding the ropes away there was the sound of splashing water. The two women leaped at each other swinging their weapons at a blur, only becoming visible again when they connected edge to edge. Like a hammer on an anvil the clang echoed and the blades sparked off one another. Using the momentum gained from repelling each followed up on with their next swing. The same blows were exchanged  again and again. Rosette, the lizard-girl was prodding her opponent for an opening, one she was having trouble finding. Tauari the amazon remained unmoving like a wall and retaliating with a fresh counterattack after each parry. Her attacks were getting heavier and heavier until the last blow exchanged between the two sent Rosette skidding backwards a good five or six meters throwing water and pebbles into the air.

Rosette shifted her feet, talons, whatever was appropriate, and tossed her sword into her left claw. She charged forward once again and this time attacked with long swinging arcs and spinning herself round and round in front of her opponent and side to side. It was a serious of blows filled with feints and quick footwork, but the amazon remained unchanged and instead kept moving forward and controlling the fight. Rosette was now not even attempting to match blows with  Tauari. Not after one of these blurs, from what I could see, when blocked threw her so far back she had to duck and dodge out of the way from a devastatingly violent swing of that massive slab of iron that amazon was swinging around like it weighed nothing.

This fight before my eyes had finally reached the beginning of the end. Each had sized up the other, the cautious strikes of each had ceased.  Tauari had become confident she was stronger and had better reach. Rosette was trying to make up for both by being faster, but she didn't seem to have that either, she was switching styles and stances rapidly, desperately trying to find a groove she could turn the tides back to her favour with. Only thirty seconds had passed and already Tauari had let loose enough that Rosette could not hope to clash blades with her again. The crushing force of the blades meeting alone could injure her arms. The situation got progressively worse and worse for the lizard-girl, she couldn't get her edge anywhere near the towering amazon, and she could only keep backing up and around avoiding Tauari for so long.

During the whole spectacle I had been working my back against the stones underneath listening to the grinding of dried plant fibre until I could finally hear the fraying and snapping of rope. I could finally feel my tied wrists behind my back and slide then up and down my spine. It was a minor victory, but I hurriedly continued to free my wrists. I could at least drag myself away, maybe even tear the other ropes off me and make my escape. If the fight would just keep going, maybe I could get far enough away, if I kept running maybe I'd eventually lose my pursuers. Ideas on the exact details of my escape plan swirled in my head till I looked back over at the ensuing otherworldly fight before me. I caught a glimpse of  Rosette's face. She was leaning over and breathing heavily, but a smile curling the edges of her mouth. Then those amber crocodile eyes met my eyes for just a moment. She flashed me a full toothy grin before throwing herself back into the fray.

Charging at the amazon recklessly headfirst, Rosette tried to restart her offensive again. Her charge was met with a heavy horizontal swing with the amazon's massive sword, but this time the lizard-girl didn't leap back, or duck down to avoid the attack, she leap over the blow. Like an acrobat she flipped and rotated above the Amazon's head and whilst sailing over swung down at her head. Tauari although with an astonished look on her face brought her sword upwards faster than it had moved the whole time, sending Rosette off balance. She landed too close and revived a well placed kick to her stomach as payment for her display. It was a savage blow that knocked her on her back and kept her going rolling backwards and skidding against the surface of the water till she righted herself some distance away. She held a claw against the red mark on her stomach, but undeterred she charged forward again.

I was fixated on the spectacle before me, but my wrists hadn't stopped moving over the rocks behind me, and I finally felt and heard the satisfying snap I had been waiting for. I strained with all my strength, threw my arms up and a bundle of ropes holding me fell off. In my hurry and exhilaration I tried to stand up, but nearly fell face first when I felt a bundle of ropes still tying my ankles together. Sitting with my back against a tree I frantically pulled at the horrid looking knots tying my legs together with my newly liberated hands. Once again my eyes were drawn to the fight taking place on the river.

Rosette seemed to be getting worn down more and more, she was being forced to defend more than attack and that smile on her face that betrayed her enjoyment it was being twisted into pain and desperation. Tauari hadn't let up, nor did she look pained or fatigued. Rosette's attacks changed constantly, her footwork was fast and precise and her attacks fresh and intuitive, but she was slowing down. She was losing. So there was no other choice for her and she was forced to play a trump card. Rosette steadied herself and giving out a short yell had her flame explode. The ridge of flame flared violently and tripled in size and the water surrounding herself vaporized into steam all around her. It was just like what she had done before, but it was not cancelled as fast. Her sword as well turned from a dull illuminated from base to tip. It was glowing red hot as her flame grew stronger and stronger.

Tauari was forced to remain at bay while Rosette continued to explode and be engulfed in flame, super hot steam violently swirled around her, and I doubt she'd remain unscathed and without burns. Meanwhile I continued to pull at the ropes tying my legs until they finally came loose enough that I was able to pull one free and slip off the bundle of ropes from the other. I was treated to the feeling of being able to stand of my own free will after so long. While desperately looking around for a path to make my escape I laid my eyes on a pile of objects on the ground, all my belongings. My bags full of blankets, clothes, my sword and other hastily grabbed relics from home. I threw myself before it and onto my knees to gather them in my arms, but once again my eyes were pulled to the fight behind me.

The flames on Rosette's tail had stabilized, but they still burned much higher and brighter than normal and she charged the Amazon. An afterimage followed her sword like the taillight of a car at night and swung down overhead on the Amazon's own blade. There they collided, and Rosette's blade bent at a forty five degree angle three quarters down the blade. Tauari  was unfazed. Taurai's counterattack then caught the sword near the tip and bent Rosette's sword again and tore it completely off from the spot of the previous clash. The twisted piece of metal was sent spiralling into the river leaving Rosette with nothing but a broken sword. Sensing the end of the battle the Amazon threw herself at the lizard-girl with a cascade of attacks. Still burning bright, but breathing heavily and wincing in pain she was trying to duck, dodge and leap away from the attacks, but each blow was getting closer and closer to hitting its mark.

I didn't have much longer until the fight reached its conclusion I had to hurry. But I started to have doubts on what I needed to hurry and do. Words kept assailing my mind along with images.

	I said you're my husband.

The image of the nude woman sitting atop of me, violently holding me tight, talons digging into my skin.

	I still have a lot of things to learn about being a wife.

The image of a fierce and violent woman blushing and squirming on the spot like an embarrassed school-girl

My name is Rosette. They call me the Thorn Knight and you can call me Rose.

The image of the girl standing above me, punctured with several arrows sticking out from her back, herself poisoned and dying smiling down at me.

I'm. In. Love!

	I clenched both my fists and gritted my teeth, “God dammit!” I screamed out and pulled my sword from the pile and threw my shoulder back, “Rose!”

I added a few steps to my momentum, drew my arm back and tossed the sword end over end towards the river. Soft earth below me gave way and I lost my balance and fell face first into the wet soil. Looking back up I watched the sword twirl in the air as it miraculously continued on its trajectory to Rosette. Hearing her name and spotting the object coming at her she deftly plucked it from the air by the hilt. Still burning bright, the sword from guard to tip burned a brilliant white in an instant. Tauari was bringing down her next attack, and the freshly armed Rosette hurried to block the deathblow. The two swords met, but this time Tauari's sword passed through Rosette's guard, but it only did so missing its tip.

Flying off into the distance and landing further up the river, the end of the amazon's massive sword was sheared clear off. All three of us remained stunned for a brief moment before Tauari's battle instincts compelled her to continue, but once again a section of her sword was sheared off when it collided with Rosette's guard. A chunk of iron whizzed over my head and embedded itself into a tree trunk behind me. For the first time Tauari was forced onto her heels and Rosette pressed forward. A new chunk was sheared off her sword every time she swung until finally all she was left holding was little more than a hilt. I was amazed myself, then it made sense, if Rosette's blade was being heated, and it had to then compete with the strength of the other sword. She wanted the edge of her sword to melt through the other sword. It would make your own sword softer, an unavoidable risk, but one made with space-age steel even heated and made softer would win every time against a lump of iron of questionable purity. The colour from her face drained and Rosette held her white hot edge just in front of the Amazon's neck.
	“Coward!” The Amazon cried out, “Lizard, do you need slaves to win your battles for you!” Her voice was shaking with rage.

Rosette did not say anything in response.

	“Strike me down then coward. I curse you. You cold blooded weakling!”

The Amazon lunged forward but was only rewarded with the flat edge of a blade pressed against the back of the knee, searing flesh and sending the hulking woman into the water. Tauari pulled herself up kneeling in the water with a sword raised and prepared to strike the back of her neck.

	I needed to act fast, so I scrambled to my feet and threw myself into the water and reached out, “Rose, wait!”

The two warriors stopped and looked at me wading my way toward them. Rosette was confused, Tauari disgusted.

	“That's enough Rose. You don't have to go any further.”

Rose pulled the sword away from the back of the amazon's neck, the white light subsided and the flame erupting from her tail returned to normal.

	I held my hand, “Rose, come on, let's go.”

Rosette looked at me, and then back at the Amazon, but eventually she relented and walked around the amazon and seized my hand in her claw. I was a bit taken a back, but she looked incredibly happy.

	“What are you doing?” Tauari spat, “Go ahead and finish it.”

	“I don't think we will.” I spat out in response. I drowned out my embarrassment by lashing out at the defeated warrior.

The Amazon's face became grave and her eyebrows furrowed, “Your mercy is not.”

	“Please,” I interrupted. “I'm not that naive. This isn't mercy. Only the dead get to curse the living, and you're going to have a much harder time having to go back alive.”

 Her expression grew dark and distressed, but I pressed on my words becoming more venomous as I continued, “You were always fighting the two of us, you just stopped paying attention to what I was doing. We were both trying to escape after all. And you lost, because of a slave, an escaping man. That's a shame that's better than you dying after what you intended to do to me.”

Tauari's shoulders dropped, my words hit hard, it must have meant that what I was saying was true. Rosette was stilling standing beside me, holding onto my hand. I could feel she was watching me, that made me feel incredibly nervous and I had to try hard to turned my face toward her to see an expression of hers that was studying me which then had her gaze lock with mine.

I swallowed, “How about we get going?”

Rosette smiled in response and unexpectedly pulled me along as she turned her back and walked to the shore's edge. She picked up my belongings, handed them to me and then continued onward stringing me along forcing me to match her pace. I had tried to act cool, certainly failed at the end and I was starting to wonder, while being pulled by this girl who was almost skipping now, if I had made the right decision after all and the two of us disappeared into the forest.


Night had once again returned to the forest, a fire crackled in front of me, and a fresh pair of unsoiled clothes clung to me, it was warm but I was not sure if I was safe. It was dark, clouds hang overheard which blocked out the light of the moon, a moon, not the moon. I had to remind myself I wasn't out camping or hunting back home anymore. The chilly air fuelled by a light breeze and the start of a rain shower kept me in place by the fire. I was alone for the time being, if I was going to make a break for it, now would have been the chance, but I decided to stop listening  to that voice. It hadn't made my situation any better recently. It was only delaying the inevitable after all. I decided to remain still, not to hide, but simply to wait. After waiting for more than an hour I was no longer alone.

A saw a light from beyond the camp approach closer and closer until a silhouette of a woman joined it. It wasn't someone with a torch, it was a woman, part reptile, red scales, and a tail crested with fire. She was a woman, a fine one at that, mostly human, but not quite. In her hand she was holding a couple of dead rabbits in her claw and she held them up to me with a smile on her face. She came up next to the fire, walked around it and sat down beside me. Right beside me. A burning cedar smell she gave off mixed with fresh blood from the blood of her successful hunt. From her waist she produced a knife and went to work skinning the lagomorphs.

She stopped momentarily to look at me, I had a feeling I knew what she was going to ask before she said it, “It's okay. I've been there for skinning before.”

Seeing I was not going to take offence she carried on and tore the hides from the rabbits and then hung them over the fire before us. Not a single word was said after that and an awkward silence hung in the air. I stole a glance at her and noticed the pleasant smile on her face. I was the only one feeling awkward at all it seemed. That silence was then broken by the sound of rain falling all above us and onto the leafy canopy above, only a small portion of the rain falling down upon us. With the wind and the fire only so large, there was still an unmistakable chill. I curled up further and rubbed my hands together. There was then another sound, something sliding on the dirt as the lizard-girl beside me scooted herself closer to me. Her body pressed against my own, her legs touching mine, her right breast resting against my left arm and her head tilted so that her cheek resting on my shoulder. This caused me to shudder even more, which caused her to scoot closer until she was resting her full weight on my side. Eventually I stopped shaking, perhaps my nerves finally realized they were only making things worse. Maybe her body heat had seeped into myself.

	If I was left alone to my thoughts any longer I might start wigging out at any moment, so I forced myself to break the silence, “You're not angry are you?”

	“Why would I be” She asked.
	“I interrupted your fight.”

	“Oh. That?” She paused to think about it for a moment, “Guess I'm a little mad.” I was going to say something but she continued, “I'm a little happy too. “You did that for me.”

	That was incredibly presumptuous of her, it made me defensive immediately, “No I-”

	“Yes you,” she interrupted.

	“It was for the best outcome.”

	“You could have ran.”

	“Not very far.”

	“You can run pretty fast.”

I felt her gaze on me and it pulled toward in and my head was forced by it to turn and see her looking up at me. I then saw those amber crocodile eyes with their black slit pupils. I then also saw her lips and I could feel my own mouth water and my throat dry up. It felt as though her face were growing closer and when I noticed it was I snapped out of it and pulled my head back and looked away bit my lower lip and my was heart throbbing painfully in my chest. The awkward silence returned and we both looked down at the ground.

	A few moments later I felt the weight lift off my side and heard a rattle, kneeling she had turned to face me and with both claws holding the blade up she implored me, “Here. I'll return your sword to you.” Her voice was heavy with a sense of forlorn sadness to it.

I looked down at the sword, turned to face her, still sitting myself and reached out. I put my hands over her claws and lightly wrapped her fingers around the blade.

	“No. You should keep it. It's much better in your hands than mine. You lost your own for my sake right? It's the least I can do. It must have been important to you.”

I felt it was the right thing to do. She nearly died twice dragging me out from that tight spot. Since the hours after that, she hadn't attacked me once, she was rather out of character, so I had noticed. I felt at ease with that gesture and I looked up at her to see her face was once again lit with a bright and beaming smile, her fiery tail swishing back and forth excitedly behind her. She sheathed the sword away behind her back and then threw herself on me, her arms wrapping around me and we clammed into the ground. I felt her cheek rub on my own.

	“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I'll take care of it always. I promise I will, husband.”

	“Husband? Wait-”

	“It's my first gift from my husband. I should have never doubted you felt that way”

	“No, wait-” I had a hard time breathing after that as she her hug clung even tighter than before.
	“I don't need a fancy wedding. Something like this is perfect vow for me!”

Wait. Wedding? What? Where? How? Did I just stumble into culture shock? My mind was reeling, and not just from the lack of oxygen. Although that wasn't being helped by the smell of burning flesh. I realized it probably wasn't me, but I spotted the rabbits on the fire burning.

	“The rabbits. Rosette, the rabbits!”

The girl paused for a moment, sniffed the air and then let go and jumped back in a panic and stuck her claws into the fire. I instinctively reached out to say something and stop her but she seemed completely unaffected by the fire. Of course she was, I'd seen her raise her body temperature to impossible levels, sticking her hand into a fire would be nothing.

	“Safe.” She said and then showered me with a smile while holding the well done rabbits in her claw.

I looked at her and couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous my situation was. She soon joined in jovially. Her joining in wasn't exactly expected or completely welcome, but I wasn't in any mood to stop her myself.

Dirty again and slightly soaked from what little rain fell upon us we each tore away at the charred rabbits for dinner. They weren't burned all the way through, so it was still quite palatable. After the very long day I had, I'm not confident I would have stopped eating if the rabbit was burned black all the way through. Not a word was said while we were busy eating, but before I was finished myself I was interrupted by hand, claw, on my shoulder shaking me back and forth. I stopped eating to see that while I was only half done Rosette had already devoured the rabbit whole, bones and all by the looks of it. And I thought I had been ravenous.

	She looked like she wanted to ask me a question, so I put down what remained of my rabbit and asked, “Yes Rosette?”

	She puffed her cheeks and pouted, “I told you to call me Rose.”

	“Well I-”

	“You called me Rose before.”

	“What? When-”

	“In the heat of battle I heard you call out my name,” She raised her claws to her cheeks and swooned.  “It made my heart flutter, and when I saw you were helping me I fell in love all over again.”

I dubious and complex expression spread across my face.

	“And you're so cute when you look like that too husband.”

Embarrassed  I slapped both my hands against my face a few times to wipe away that expression and replace it with a poker face but it wasn't long before she threw herself on me again and pinned my shoulders against the ground as she hung over me.
	Her voice was hot, heavy and seductive, “Husband.”

It made my face flush as she positioned herself to pin me further to the ground.

	“Wait just a- You don't have to call me-”

	“I've told you my name, but you haven't even told me yours. That's mean.”

She was drawing closer and in a panic I decided to spit it out, “M-my name is-” A sharp pain stabbed into my brain and a chill ran down my spine. Colour drained from my face and a realization hit me.

I can't remember my name.

Maybe just a bit of amnesia, I've hit my head a few times. I've taken a few beatings since I've come here from home. Home. Earth, from-

Where exactly was I from again.

The panic in heart doubled and my heart changed from frozen to pounding away out of control. So I was lost and didn't even remember where I was supposed to go home. But I still had to head home. After all, waiting there were friends and family-

I couldn't recall their names or faces.

Now was the time to panic I thought. I started to hyperventilate and a ringing in my ears shell shocked me. I felt myself shaking, but I realized that was because Rosette was hanging above me shaking my shoulders with a terrified look on her face. Her lips were moving, she was saying something, but I didn't know what. Neither could I muster anything to say, that was until she slapped me across the face.

	“What's wrong? What's happening?” She was panicked, she looked almost as panicked as I was.

	I felt the shell-shock pass and it was replaced with tears instead that I couldn't stop flowing from my eyes, “I don't remember who I am.” The tears flowed down my face. “I don't know how to get home. Those tears reached the ground. “But I still have to go home!”

The girl fell down on top of me and wrapped her arms around me and held me tight to herself. One of her claws cradled the back of my head and rubbed it gently. She held me until I managed to bite down and swallow my panic and sit myself back up after a couple of minutes. I rubbed by eyes. It was unsightly of me I knew, I was rather ashamed of it, but I couldn't stop it twice today. I felt sick to my stomach already, but this didn't help at all. I looked back Rosette.

	“I know who you are,” she said. “You're my husband. You're not a bad person. You're not a weak person.”

It was odd seeing the bright, tomboyish and energetic lizard-girl look so serious right now.

	“You might think it is weird. But I love you. You're the man I love.”

	“Why-”

	“There is no reason why.”

	I chuckled a little, “It's poor form to take advantage someone so distressed.”

	“I don't care. Even if you hate me. You'll still be my husband. Even if I get angry you'll still be my first, one and only husband.”

She's hardly being fair. I'm not the kind of man who can listen to sincere words like that fro ma pretty girl and not-

	Rosette pulled something out from under my shirt collar and held it up between the two of us. A bulb of lavender. A eureka moment spread over her face, “Lavender. That'll be your name!”

	“That's hardly a man's-”

	“Laven. We'll settle on Laven. This reminds me of when we first met.” She said rolling the bulb of lavender between her thumb and index finger.

	“Wait just a- I'd rather not remember when we first met-”

	“Laven. Husband,” She let that sink in for a moment, then let go of my shoulders and sat up, “We will go home. I will take you there. I promise you that.”

She didn't know what she was talking about, but I'd have to lie to say that it didn't make me feel any better. Rosette the lizard-girl got off me and stood back up and pounded her fist against her heart in a salute of solidarity. I pulled myself to my feet as well and held out my hand. She looked at for a moment. Then put her claw in mine and I shook it. She looked at me puzzled.

	“This is how people from where I'm from greet and agree on things.”

	A bright smile beamed from her and she took my hand in both her claws and shook it up and down excitably almost throwing me off balance. “Do you have any clue where your home is? I want to meet your parents” Her smile was replaced by a nervous expression, “Maybe they wouldn't like a monster like me.” One thing after another gushed out of her mouth uncontrollably.

	“I'm sure they'd be excited if a girl followed me home. Wouldn't mater if she was a lizard-girl.”

	“Not a lizard-girl.” She said very angrily, so much so it took me by surprise. Her next works were back to normal though, “Rose is a proud Salamander, not just any lizard-girl.”

A salamander. And not the amphibious kind I assumed. The fire lizard type. The ones that lived in and around volcanoes. That's quite the fantastical monster. I was struck by a bad thought at just that moment. I'd heard of such a creature in fantasy. From some work of fiction, video or role playing game. Then I remembered the pig girls, there was also another type of monster that were like human pigs. They were called orcs. Then don't even need to mention the Amazons, more brutal than I thought they were. There was a pattern though, and even Rosette matched it, even if she was by orders of magnitude more benevolent. Monsters of this place were so far all women, all quite beautiful and all interested in sex, even if they need to force it. This whole world might just be-

	“Laven... Husband.” Rosette caught my attention through embarrassment the second time, I was getting worried she was learning what buttons to push. “Do you have any hint to start with?”

	I had only the vaguest of ideas. I only knew my home wasn't of this world. Perhaps not even this universe or dimension. “I'm from a place called Earth.”

	“Earth? Okay, we're on earth.”

	I felt sucker punched. Was this some sort of Planet of the Apes moment. Was I going to have to throw myself to the ground and curse everyone, “No wait-”

	She squatted down and picked up a clawful of dirt and let it sift through, “See, earth. You're standing on it.”

	I felt instantly relieved, “No, they call the world I'm from The Earth.”

	“That's not a very imaginative name, is it?” Her expression wasn't wry, it was serious. “I thought looking at you, you were supposed to be smart.”

	That last bit hurt a little, but getting mad wouldn't help, we were just having a breakdown in communication, “No. It's not this world. They also call it Terra.”

	“Terra's just another name for earth isn't it?”

My head was hurting again.

	“It's alright husband. You've had a rough time. We'll head for town, get a few good sleeps. You'll remember something and we'll find someone somewhere who can help. I promised you tha-”

	Rosette swayed on her feet a bit and looked ready to topple over, my reflexes took over and I rushed over to catch her fall, “Rose!”

	“I'm a bit dizzy. I think I used up too much energy today. Need to catch up on sleep.” She looked me in the eyes then, “You called me by my name again.” She closed her eyes and smiled before she nodded off completely and passed out in my arms.

She was surprisingly light for the weight she could throw around. I felt a certain gentleman in my heart had been touched so I lifted her up in both arms and moved her over to a dry spot on the forest floor protected above from the rain and laid her down. Draping one of my blankets over her. I pulled one out for myself, found a similar spot on the opposite side of the fire and bundled myself up for warmth. A part of myself ridiculed the rest before the exhaustion caught up and I drifted off to sleep comfortably for the first time in quite some time.