The Dryad’s Dream

Chapter 5 – Catcher

Peleial seriously wished that she had chosen the other side of the road. She decided that she could really use the comfort of a large, highly trained warrior right about then. Instead, she had Briddle. She liked the girl and all (very much so!), but a bow and a couple of knives against an entire evil forest… that sucked. Briddle had her frying pan held up in front of her, but unless they were attacked by a couple of eggs and a pound of bacon, she wasn’t counting on the girl to help much in battle.

The problem was that the further they went into the forest’s core, the more the general flora and fauna was turning against them. The elf could recognise the most dangerous specimens, but sooner or later she would miss something and they’d be in trouble.

“Don’t touch that!” she exclaimed, a little louder than she meant to when the female nearly brushed by a tall, bluish, stalk-like plant. “It’s got nettles that will paralyse you!”

“Sorry…” replied the human, looking seriously frightened.

Sighing, Peleial reached out and put her hand on the other’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry Bri. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just wish we were with the others, or even just Wendel, you know. Do you still feel his bond?”

The human nodded. “Yes. He is alive somewhere.”

That made her breathe a little easier. There was still a chance he’d find them. Somehow.

Peleial knew the general direction they needed to go, but Vel’Orthak was tricky. She couldn’t trust the normal cues that gave her directions, as the forest itself was working actively against them. Twice in the last hour, she had seen a patch of lichen moving around the base of a tree, and unless it was early morning or evening, the angle of the sun was all but useless this time of year. She had her compass, but she suspected that there were other darker magics at work as well. She kept that to herself. No need to frighten their charge… Her charge. Oh, why hadn’t she run to the other side of the damn path?

Briddle was apparently thinking much the same thing.

“Shouldn’t we try to get back to the others?” she asked.

“Eventually, but it’s a risk to go near the road. If the orcs pick up our scent, we’re dead. We’ll travel parallel to it far enough to get past the patrol, then we’ll try to cut back across.”

“It’s such a change from the mountains,” commented the girl as she loosened the collar of her shirt.

“That’s for sure. If it gets any more humid we’ll be able to swim to Holsfield.”

“I don’t think I understa…”

“A joke, Bri.”

The other smiled. “Oh. I… I really like that about you.”

“My jokes?”

“Your optimism. Even here, in this dangerous place, you find a way to make others happy.”

“I think it’s more of a defence mechanism, but thanks. Speaking of making others happy… You still feeling okay about the other night?”

She heard the girl sigh. “It was the most wonderful evening I’ve ever had!”

“You seemed to enjoy yourself. Any soreness?”

Briddle considered it for a moment. “Only in a good way. Not like with Tarn at all. I.. I would be sore for days when he… raped me.”

Peleial nodded. “It’s a good step that you can acknowledge that. Don’t worry,” she said turning her head to look directly at the girl. “There’ll be plenty more nights to work out issues like… What is it?” Briddle’s face had gone white, her wide-eyed gaze pinned over her shoulder. The she-elf just had time to turn forward again before something struck her in the upper chest along her breast bone. Instinctively, she and closed her eyes and gasped, which she realized right away was a mistake. A sweet, nutty taste filled her mouth, even as a strange warmth flowed down her throat and into her lungs. She had seen enough to know what had just drugged her.

“Briddle, RUN!” she coughed, already feeling a dizziness. “Get <cough> clear of the <cough> circle!” She pointed to the line of mushrooms that formed a wide ring around them.

The girl paused only a moment more before turning and dashing toward the boundary. Peleial saw her stumble several times before finally jumping clear. A second later, the elf’s legs buckled under her and she dropped to her knees. In front of her she could see the tall central stalk of a Loris Catcher. It was technically a fungus, though it had very little in common with a normal garden variety mushroom. As a demonic construct, it was imbued with limited intelligence and the ability to move, which was what Peleial was seeing now as the stalk swayed and dipped like a snake… Or, maybe it was just the drugged euphoria that was also making it hard to even keep her eyes open. Knowing that she would soon find it difficult to do anything, she sacrificed what little focus she still had, and tossed her pack as far toward the edge of the circle as she could manage. A second later, she fell over on her side.

“Peleial! What do I do!? What do I do?!” screamed her frantic friend as she paced nervously at the edge of the faerie circle. “I’m going to come get you!”

“NO!” yelled the elf, stopping her. “Stay… back. The pack… <cough> rope.” She could feel her mouth going numb even as her last few words started to slur. She had just enough strength to roll to her back, but by then the magic-laden drugs had well done their work. She stared up at the trees as the whole world became a buzzing, pulsing, swirl of color and sensation. Her body tingled and itched all over, as though her clothes were made from burlap sacks, and she was keenly aware that her nipples were swollen with a growing arousal as her body interpreted the increased tactility sexually. The elf knew that the Catchers used the spore pods to subdue victims, but it made perfect sense that the demonic plants would have far more sinister intentions here in Vel’Orthak, especially in spring. The evil plant would probably get around to killing her eventually, but it was almost certainly going to fuck her brains out first. This thought, along with the realization that she needed to escape while she still had some semblance of focussed thought, came at the same time she started to feel the first tendrils reaching out of the ground below her.

—

Briddle was weeping, as she paced back and forth at the edge of the mushroom circle. A half-dozen meters away, her new friend was just laying there, her head rolling back and forth slightly. Nearby, the stalk of the plant that had stunned the elf, was twitching and trembling in what the human female took to be happy anticipation. She noticed movement around the she-elf, and groaned. Thin finger-like roots were reaching out of the ground, appearing to slowly grow up around her torso and limbs.

“No! Peleial!” she yelled. Remembering the other’s words, she saw the backpack lying about a meter within the circle. Her friend had mentioned a rope. If she could get the pack, perhaps there was a way to rescue her after all… But it meant going into the space that Peleial had warned her away from.

She moved to the point closest to the pack, then took three rapid breaths before dashing into the dangerous zone, grabbing the item, and heading back. There was no spitting attack like the one that had hit Peleial, so perhaps her luck was holding.

WHAM!

She hit the ground hard enough to knock the air out of her lungs as her foot caught on a root. It took her a moment to regain her senses, and when she did, she squealed in terror. Several smooth tendrils were wrapped around her left ankle, and more were working to catch her right one. Frantically, she reached down and clawed at the pale foliage. It resisted her, and they were quite strong, but she was gradually able to free her first foot. Unfortunately, now the other was now bound quite thoroughly. Worse, there were more tendrils reaching up all around and under her. She could feel their slow, creeping touch along her rear and thighs.

“No no no no…” she mumbled as she raced to free her right ankle before the rest of her was captured again. The fungus was very clever, distracting her in one place while it attacked another, and it seemed to be trying to get under her clothes – reaching into the back of her pants, or curling into the leg holes. Briddle found herself blushing at its touch, which was sensual rather than rough, and reminded her of how Wendel and Peleial had aroused her so wonderfully. She shook her head.

“No! If… If you can distract me, then I can distract you,” she said loudly, and grasped the handle of the heavy frying pan on the ground nearby. Raising it high over her head, she brought it down hard on one of the orangish-red mushrooms that marked the boundary of the faerie circle. There was a satisfying crunch, and an almost instant hissing sound from the center stalk. To her surprise, the tendrils around her ankles abruptly pulled back, letting her go.

The human wasted no time getting to the edge again, and then searched the pack until she found the coil of rope.

“Pel! I have the rope! What do I do?!”

There was no response from the elf, and when she looked closely, she could see that the tendrils had started loosening the female’s clothing, pulling the ties and drawing the garments off or open wherever it could. She could see that the elf’s shirt was pulled up above her breasts, and her pants were already halfway off her hips.

“Oh goddess…” whispered the girl, realizing what the evil plant was about to do to her friend. Taking the rope, she loosed a few coils-worth, and tossed it out toward the other. Her first attempt landed woefully short, but she quickly pulled the length back in and tried again. Her second try landed right on the she-elf’s chest.

“Yes! Pel, grab the rope!”

—

The smooth fingers were stripping her. She could feel them tugging on the drawstrings of her shirt, even as others were working to pull it up her body. Lower, they had already figured out her belt, and were inching her pants over her hips. Some pulled from below, slipping the garment over her buttocks, while others aided from the sides. A few were already reaching in over top to get at her belly and lower, and she started breathing in short gasps as the creature’s sexual advances really started to affect her. She moaned with lust as her bare chest was finally exposed, knowing that in a few moments, the Catcher would be playing with her very aroused nipples.

Suddenly, something course slapped against her face and chest, momentarily snapping her out of her daze of pleasure. It took her a moment to understand, but when she did, she smiled with relief. Briddle must have found the rope from her pack!

Feeling a sense of hope, she went to grab the life-line, but was stopped. The Catcher’s tendrils were wound all around her arms, holding them mostly down. Struggling, she fought to raise them enough to grasp the rope, and almost succeeded, her fingertips just brushing the line. But apparently, the wicked fungus saw what she was trying to do, and had enough intelligence to try and stop her. New tendrils broke the surface and wound up her arms, slowly pulling them back down.

“Nooo…” she sighed, her hope for rescue dashed. Her failure was further compounded as she noticed that her pants and panties were now sliding down her thighs. The only positive was that the fungus seemed to be having trouble with her boots. Her lower garments bunched at her ankles instead of being drawn completely away. Not that it prevented the tendrils from accessing the rest of her bare body… She twitched and gasped as the entity’s oddly warm fingers reached over her hips and chest, searching again.

“Oh, fuck…” She groaned as they found the hard peaks of her breasts, swirling around the sensitive points of flesh. Down lower, the tendrils were teasing into the soft hairs that covered her mons. As her lust blossomed, she lifted her head and looked down her body.

“Shit!” she gasped, seeing the sheer number of wriggling fingers that were moving slowly over her skin. There were hundreds of the pale tendrils now, some obviously there just to hold her, while the others teased and caressed almost every exposed inch of the she-elf. Her face flushed with heat, even as she stared, transfixed at the erotic display, and she knew she wouldn’t last long against that kind of foreplay. Peleial also wondered what the demonic construct had planned for her once it had her thoroughly worked up, and her eyes drifted lazily upward to the central stalk.

The tall shaft was curled over at the top, such that the bulbous end was pointed directly at her head as though it were watching her. She swallowed nervously, realizing that she really was helpless against whatever the creature was about to do. New motion caught her eye, and she saw a half dozen slightly thicker tendrils rising up from the ground just beyond the stalk. They reached forward and wound around her ankles, immediately drawing her along the ground, closer to the central stem of the evil fungus. This was both good and bad. It gave her a momentary reprieve from the erotic onslaught that the smaller tendrils were inflicting on her, since they had to mostly let her go as she slid along the ground, but she was also pretty sure that being closer to the stalk was a ‘bad thing’, and fought to free herself amid the creature’s reduced hold.

It was no good of course. It wasn’t about to let her escape, and she was surprised how easily it moved her until she felt a warm wetness at her back. She thought that perhaps the center of the circle was comprised of a softer earth than the rest, but that wasn’t quite right either. As she pumped her legs in an effort to break free, she understood at once that whatever she was sliding across was far too slippery to be simple mud or clay. It was more like a mucus or slime. It was also quite warm. It wasn’t until her feet bumped into the stalk itself that she considered that she might be feeling the main body of the creature. What frightened her the most, however, was the fact that she seemed to be laying in a slight trough, and that the width of this depression felt to be widening outward from the stalk itself, as though a giant mouth were slowly opening below her.

—

“No…” Briddle sighed in frustration as she watched her friends arms pulled down and away from grasping the rope, and any hope she had of using it as a means of rescue. But she wasn’t about to give up. Pulling the cord back, she found her frying pan and positioned herself near another of the border mushrooms.

WHACK!

She didn’t get the same response as before, but the stalk did seem to shiver in pain. She moved further down the circle.

WHACK!

This time, there was another audible hiss from the fungus, and the human smiled. Perhaps she might yet convince the beast to let her friend go by taking out even more of the periphery. She went to draw up her weapon a third time, but was surprised to find it held down by a number of the tendrils. She was about to try and free it, when she was jerked forward. Caught off balance, Briddle fell onto her chest, her arms out above her head as she tried to hold on to the frying pan. She never even had a chance to pull back before her wrists were both wrapped up in more tendrils that had obviously been waiting for just such an opportunity to trap her. She felt more of the thin fingers reaching over her waist and legs.

“Ah! Oh no… Peleial…” She looked up, and saw that her elf friend was being dragged toward the middle of the circle by bigger tendrils. And now she herself was helpless. This really wasn’t looking good.

Her eyes grew wide when she felt motion at her belly. A moment later, there was similar activity at her chest, and she blushed in arousal. The sensations were very much like the touch of her lovers, even through the fabric of her chemise and shirt. Down lower, the smooth tendrils were playing into the front of her pants, and she was surprised to find her heart beating wildly in both fear, and an equally frightening sense of arousal. She pulled at her hands to no avail, even as more of the warm roots inched right under her upper garments and found her bare nipples. The ones moving into her pants slid gradually down her abdomen and started playing at her pubic mound – just as there was a gentle but insistent outward pull on her thighs.

“No! Not that… I can’t!” she pleaded, unable to resist the creature as it gradually spread her. The tendrils at her abdomen ignored her cries and curled into her nether folds, quietly beginning a constant pattern of slow caresses that teased and seduced her. Confused, the human fought against the rising sensations, which she knew were not the loving and consensual love making of her friends, but rather the unwanted rape of a demonic plant. But it also wasn’t like the painful ‘punishments’ of her former master, the fel human Tarn. Not at all. The touch of the creature may have been unwanted, but it was definitely pleasurable, and a wave of guilt washed over her that she should feel this way. Briddle was powerless against the rising passion that was taking over her body. She felt herself grow slick, and her nipples pulsed and sent sparks of pleasure down her torso as they too were teased and tweaked. The tendrils were stroking her all along her sides and even her back, tickling and touching her everywhere now. She felt her hips start to move, at first in frustrating twitches to escape the intense stroking at her apex, but then more rhythmically as her body was seduced into the rolling motion of intercourse. She couldn’t stop herself, even knowing that she was being driven crazy by an evil that would likely kill her.

Her breath came in sharp little gasps, each rising in pitch, until all at once there was a burst of wonderful ecstasy that nearly pushed her into unconsciousness.

“AHHH! UGHNNN! UGHNN! Ughmmm… Ummm… Wha…? AHHH! Noo… UGHNNN!”

Confused and stunned, Briddle came a second time, even before she had fully recovered from her first moment. Where her lovers had given her rest after such wonderful feelings, the demon plant was allowing her no such respite, and continued its torturous pleasure without pause. She pulled at her bonds, desperate to get away from the shocking touch, her sex being impossibly sensitive. Every second was pure erotic fire, but she simply couldn’t escape. Shaking, the human came yet again, her whole body trembling in the grip of her helpless torture, which just seemed to go on and on.

By her fourth orgasm, Briddle’s struggles had slowed. Her body was tiring. She saw that the creature was using her own lust to drain away her strength and distract her, and knew that if it went on much longer, she would be so spent that she’d be unable to fight at all. It might have been easier to resist if the demonic plant had continued to tease her in the same way, but it was changing how it seduced her as well. The fingers would shift slightly, sliding repeatedly over her jewel, or curl further and start to glide within her depths.

It was no use. She was powerless against the bliss that erupted from deep within her lower abdomen, and with a wrenching gasp, the human threw back her head and launched into yet another orgasm.

—

Peleial was somewhat surprised when the smaller tendrils wrapped around her body continued to move her toward the center of the Catcher. With her feet already pinned against the central stalk, she had little choice but to bend her knees. She didn’t understand the maneuver until was too late. Tendrils to each side of her thighs reached up and wrapped around the bend at her knees, and then started to pull.

“Oh shit…” she gasped, as the steady outward pressure slowly increased until she was unable to keep her legs together anymore. Like prying open a clam, the demonic plant gradually spread her wide. Her knees were pulled out and then wrapped tightly, but it wasn’t until she noticed that the stalk was dropping back into the ground that she swallowed in nervousness. She very much expected that this was just to bring the ‘head’ of the creature closer to her now exposed sex, but it continued to surprise her when the stalk disappeared completely.

She shook her head back and forth a few times to try and clear away some of the euphoric haze that still gripped her. She was just beginning to think that perhaps the Catcher was going to hold and tease her until she died of pure frustration, when there was a low rumble below her, and the slippery surface at her feet parted slightly. She barely had time to draw a breath before the long tendrils wrapped around her ankles started to pull again, but this time they were drawing her very slowly and relentlessly downward.

“Fuck! Briddle?! If you’re going to do something to help me, now would be a good time…” She noticed that her voice wasn’t as slurred, and she had a bit more clarity. Of course, now it really didn’t help her, save to see how thoroughly screwed she was.

One thing she did notice, now that her mind was more focussed, was the sound of someone obviously getting off nearby, and it only took her a moment to realize that it was her human companion.

“No…” she moaned, putting together their situation. Either the girl hadn’t made it out of the circle to begin with, or had been caught after the fact. It didn’t matter. They were both stuck, and from the sounds of it, the poor human was really having a hard time of it. She could tell by the nearly constant gasps and cries from the girl, that the Catcher was giving her a serious workout. The she-elf’s face flushed with arousal of her own as she thought about what was happening to her friend. It didn’t help that the thin fingers wiggling all around her were beginning to become distracting again.

She had her eyes closed in concentration, and failed to notice for a moment that the central stalk had risen up again within the diamond-shaped space created by her parted thighs… at least until her body inched forward and down just enough so that her sex pressed against its hard surface.

“AHH! Oh holy f-f-fuck!” she screamed, as she twisted her body and pulled at her bonds in an effort to draw away from what felt like a slippery buzzing hive sliding along her folds. A deep vibration coursed through her whole pelvis, igniting a sensual fire that made it hard for her to even breathe, let alone resist. The shaft wasn’t smooth, but rather composed of a stacked series of ribs, which the organism was sliding repeatedly over her flower. The pistoning motion, the vibrating buzz, and whatever slime the fungus was dumping on her from its innards, all combined to produce what Peleial decided was an insanely effective means of stimulating humanoids. She was on the edge of orgasm in seconds, and when the smooth tendrils at her chest joined in and started teasing her nipples as well… it was just too much.

“Ahh… AHHH!!… GUH!!” she gasped, as her whole body tensed hard and then released in a single devastating moment of pure pleasure. Her ecstasy stunned her into silence as she fought to draw in breath, even while her body continued to thrust and buck against the tortuous ecstasy that was overwhelming her.

Seconds seemed like hours as she writhed uncontrollably. Finally, some indeterminate time later, she was able to take in enough air that awareness came back and she could focus again. The Catcher had slowed its motion, not removed it, and it was only her own weakened state that kept her from thrashing outright. Her sex was pulsing in rapid waves that she knew must be her own heartbeat, and stars danced at the periphery of her vision. This was bad. It was already pushing her past her limits mentally and physically. She was still able to resist, but that wouldn’t last long. She whimpered both in frustrated helplessness, and against a quickly building flood of bliss in her middle. Any second now, the Loris Catcher would make her come again, and she would lose a little more of her control… and her sanity.

The central stalk leaned over her still quivering frame, sliding like a snake up her slick body until the bulbous head was able to rise slightly, hovering just above her face. The rest of it continued its erotic motion against her apex, but Peleial couldn’t help but think that the symmetrical black spots on the ‘head’ of the creature looked like the multiple eyes of a spider, and that it was watching her, even taking pleasure in how it was slowly forcing her to come against her will. It was a demonic construct after all, given not just the ability to move and hunt prey, but also a limited intelligence. It knew what it was doing to her.

She felt her body slide a little further downward again, drawn in by the tendrils around her ankles. Inch by inch, she was being consumed by the warm, slippery flesh of the Catcher. As the dripping mass happily swallowed her spread thighs with wet, slurping sounds, she wondered if this was the same kind of fear that her sister Lawen had felt as she sank into the living floor in Volscork’s dungeon.

It was as though she were being pulled into a giant mouth, rather than a plant fungus. Pools of a clear, slick ooze burbled around her and were spread up over her flesh by the hundreds of thin fingers that continued to hold and tease her. The substance made her skin tingle, and Peleial wondered if perhaps this was some kind of digestive juice from the beast’s innards. It didn’t hurt, and she reminded herself that this wasn’t an animal. The Catcher might digest her much more slowly. Or, the mucus-like slime could be imbued with dark magics and foul toxins with no other purpose than to arouse and stimulate her. If that was its aim, then it was definitely working.

There was a wet burp of trapped air from below her, and her body dropped about a half a foot all at once, so that the soft ‘lips’ of the organism were now closed around her waist up to about her belly button. Her legs were completely out of view, and her arms, which were still at her sides, were enveloped clear to her elbows. A sense of sad surrender came over her as she realized that even if she were somehow able to break her hands free of the smaller tendrils, the bulk of the creature itself had her now. Her limbs were pinned. Any hope of escape would now have to come from someone else, and the only other member of their team near enough, was trapped and even now, by the sound of her cries, being driven insane by a similar lustful torture.

It was at this moment that the she-elf first felt the touch of a second pressure against her sex. Something else other than the furrowed stalk now pressed at her gates, prodding and testing her resistance. She looked up at the bulb-like ‘face’ of the Catcher, and saw it dip slightly, as though it was aware of her apprehension, and was reveling in her fear.

“Nooo…” she groaned, realizing what this new appendage was, and what was about to happen. She immediately tried to clench her pelvic muscles, but the repeated orgasms had done their work and sapped her of much of her strength. She could feel a half dozen thin tendrils reaching into her folds, not to simply arouse her, though they certainly did that, but to gradually open her.

She had a soft, even gentle orgasm as the liquid warmth of the creature’s slime flowed into her tunnel, quietly filling her. What had been a soft tingle on the outside surface of her skin, was a blazing fire of pleasure as it slowly worked its way to the depths of her sex. Her own trembling and twitching only helped the evil substance in this regard, her orgasm literally sucking the ooze deeper.

Peleial had one last hard vision of the Catcher’s head staring down at her before she felt the new appendage start to enter her. Whether it was moving up into her, or she was being pulled down onto it, really didn’t matter as the result was the same. The she-elf felt herself rapidly quickening, her mind nearly lost to the lust that was pummelling her tired body as the penis-like shaft steadily impaled her. In a panic, she pulled and twisted in an effort to stop its penetration, but the slime made that impossible.

Her previous orgasm never fully faded before she felt herself launch into another that held her for the entire span it took for the phallic organ to settle within her. She was shaking and nearly delirious by that time, and offered almost no resistance when the bulk of the Catcher gently urged her to move her hips. It took only the slightest suggestion to get her body undulating. Her staccato breathing slowed into a more steady panting as the elf fell helplessly into a grinding rhythm that eased the shaft deeply into her honey and back out again, over and over. Some part of her was aware that she was fucking herself into certain death, but she couldn’t stop it. She no longer had the will or the strength to resist. There was only hunger and lust and pleasure.

Suddenly, there was a rush of liquid heat, and something else was filling her. She knew at the back of her consciousness that it was the demon plant’s hot seed, and that it spelled her doom, but she no longer cared. Her mind erupted again in devastating ecstasy and washed her into oblivion.