By evening, after a slew of relatively minor slaughters, the four breeders made it close to the edge of the zone. The next one was another forest zone, but the trees were taller and there were more of them. There was a low hum that shook the ground, but it could only be heard when they stepped across the threshold.
Night was not the time to go into a new zone and risk fresh opponents. It was obvious that the next one would have more difficult battles and they were all exhausted. No one argued when Erlea suggested they stay in the lower-level zone for the night.
While Miere crafted the hive under Tira's watchful eye, Billie and Erlea headed out to gather food. They remained together for a few minutes, but the uncomfortable silence made it easy for them to separate and go their own ways without a word being said.
Erlea worried to herself as she buzzed along an animal path. She was supposed to be the leader, but Billie was obviously furious at her.
Miere's limitations made everything difficult. She couldn't fight and she was unable to spend many points in bolstering her defenses. For every dozen of experience Erlea got from a fight—or the twenty-five from her breeding with the orcs—Miere only got a single one. Erlea also suspected that Miere wasn't spending any of her points on defenses; there was a steady improvement in the quality of hives and shelters she made.
Erlea sighed and forced herself from her thoughts to scan her surroundings. It wouldn't be good to lose track of her surroundings and stumble into yet another monster set on raping her.
Coming around a sharp corner, she came up to a cluster of Rabid Squirrels. There were only fifteen or so of them. The large creatures were sitting on every surface. As one, they turned to face her. Their red eyes glowed in the dim light of dusk.
Erlea came to a halt with surprise crawling up her spine. Her eyes flicked form one creature to the other. She knew how it would end if she didn't respond with violence. Reflexively, she switched to multiple attacks on her RKA.
One of the lead Squirrels chattered angrily at her.
Activating her Barrier, Erlea flew back to put some space between her and the Squirrels.
The Rabid Squirrels moved as one, charging forward in a swarm that flowed more than jumped as they came after her. Their red eyes and slobbering mouths were nothing compared to their long, narrow cocks that were growing harder with the possibility of breeding with her.
Claws and teeth tore into her flesh. One of them caught her breast, scoring a long cut down the center and snagging on her nipple. With a screech, it yanked the claw free in a spray of blood and a flash of pain.
Another Squirrel bit down on her thigh. The foam from its mouth splattered along her skin, adding to the blood that poured out from the wound.
Erlea grabbed the Squirrel biting her by the ears and fired off an RKA.
It's head exploded in a shower of blood.
With her powers configured for multiple attacks, she used her other hand to blast away a swath of Rabid Squirrels from around her. But even with her powers, she couldn't kill all of them before they had their turn.
The swarm crawled on her. Claws dug into her hips, breasts, and shoulders. As the teeth chomped down on her, the first unwelcome tingles of her pussy lips starting to spread came coursing along her body.
The Squirrels sensed the tide of battle. One of them started to gnaw on the delicate flesh of her crotch, trying to force it open with its teeth. The fetid heat of its mouth washed over her pussy and she could feel tickles along her insides as the lips began to loosen.
Panic surged through her. She fired as quickly as she could, draining her endurance to ensure she could remove as many of the Squirrels as possible before they could go again. Steaming brains and speckles of foam flew in all directions.
It wasn't enough.
She whimpered as the remaining Squirrels slammed into her again. Their weight drove her to her knees. Hard cocks smacked against her face and breasts as they tore into her skin. Back claws used her breasts as footage as they drove her into the ground.
Erlea fell back, her legs pried open as Squirrels jumped on her knees and forced them apart. Her tight pussy started to relent and one of the creatures jammed their wet nose into the opening.
More Squirrels crawled on top of her and began to masturbate. They pumped their cocks rapidly until cum sprayed out across her scored and scratched body.
She was going to lose. A rush of lust mixed in with in the fear.
Knowing she only has seconds before she was defeated, she shoved both of her hands toward her hips and then opened fire.
RKAs blasted with brutal speed along her body. The heat seared her skin before the creatures exploded in a shower of blood and guts. The smell of scorched flesh, both hers and her attacks filled the air as she skimmed her own body with her attacks.
One of the RKAs came dangerously near her pussy, the blast of heat and power assaulted her clitoris and inner channel with pure agony as the Squirrel gnawing on her pussy vaporized. She only had a brief moment of its skull propped on her pubic mound before it was gone.
With a scream, she rolled over the corpses of her attackers and wildly attacked the new remaining Squirrels.
When the Squirrels made their final attack, her mind was no longer caught in the lust of surrender.
One of the creatures jammed a clawed digit into her opening just as it was slamming shut again. The powerful muscles crunched bone as the creature started to scream in agony.
Erlea ignored the Squirrel with its claws inside her as the others attacked. She blocked and shoved back as much as she could until she could get her RKAs aimed again. As soon as she did, she exploded each one in turn.
By the time she got to the last one, she was standing. Looking down, she stared at the Rabid Squirrel trapped by her pussy. Reaching down with two hands, she dialed back her RKA and then let loose with a stream that vaporized the creature.
Erlea sighed and wince. She still had part of her attacker caught inside her pussy. She could feel it against her insides, the claws digging on her sensitive opening. Looking around, she tried to reach down and pry it loose but her lips had firmly sealed in place.
Squirming with discomfort, she began to gather up chunks of roasted Rabid Squirrel. At least she had dinner and maybe Miere could tease her open to get the claws out of her cunt.
She stopped to wipe off as much of the creature's cum as she could. It smelled rank and musky.
The claw made heading back to the camp uncomfortable, as did the heavy load of roasted meat. It smelled delicious and she desperately wanted to snack on it. But, even as she thought about it, a longing for honey—real honey—rose up. She missed her early weeks of life, when everything was rosy and she could feast constantly.
The thoughts kept her company on the walk back.
When she was only a few hundred feet away, she heard a sound of another pack of Rabid Squirrels. The distinctive screeching and skittering scraped along her senses. Her pussy ground against the trapped claw painfully at the memory.
She took a deep breath and pushed her way through the trees and into the space they had made the camp.
Hundreds of Rabid Squirrels turned to look at her. Their eyes were so bright, it looked like she was staring into the setting sun. Blood dripped from their claws and foam bubbled from their mouths. In the crimson light, she could see hard cocks ready for rape; they were already ready to breed.
A shiver of fear coursed through her body. These creatures had defeated a breeder. Her eyes scanned along the ground, looking for some sight of a bee wing or moth dust.
A flash of naked breast caught her attention. Miere was pinned on the ground with a dozen squirrels holding her knees far apart. There was one between her lover's legs, thrusting with short, rapid-fire thrusts as he drove his narrow cock into her already flooded opening.
More Squirrels were on Miere's elbows and wings, holding them down with the reflexive need to breed to create more. They were pumping their cocks at the same time. Ropes of cum splattered across Miere's heaving body and along the fur of the others.
None of them responded only to push their way to the front to spray cum all over Miere's body.
Lust and anger rose up inside Erlea. She couldn't take her eyes away from the pack but she adjusted her RKAs as she worked out her strategy in the few seconds before they attacked.
The Squirrel raping Miere pulled out. A surge of cum poured out of the Honningbie's gaping cunt. Before more than a few globs could be forced out of her swollen body, another Squirrel jammed itself into the hole, plugging it with his cock, and began to pump rapidly. The rapid-fire beat was almost comical in a different circumstance.
Miere let out a cry of humiliation but it was clear her eyes were no longer seeing anything. She was lost in the breeding lust, orgasming on the cocks as monsters defiled her body.
Erlea almost switched to a Megascale attack but realized she couldn't fire that a second time without risking her love. Instead, she kept with an area attack. Planting her wrists together, she summoned the power and fired a yard-wide beam of raw, golden energy into the mass of Squirrels.
Their screams were unheard over the hiss of power that tore apart their bodies.
With a scream, she swept across the attackers. She didn't care if she was burning her endurance. They were attacking Miere and she needed to end them.
The creatures responded before she could finish their attack. Moving faster than before, they poured off the trees and branches and charged her.
A wave of Squirrels slammed into her, claws and teeth tearing into her skin. She tried to fend them off but they were overwhelming as they staggered her back.
The assault sharp pains on her breasts, thighs, and arms were almost impossible to concentrate. She took in a deep breath and the stench of cum, blood, and sweet choked her. She flailed at them and tried to attack but her beam attack was too broad to take more than a few as the beam shot high into the air.
A chomp on the back of her knee dropped her. She fell back on the writhing bodies of the rats. She was in danger of being pinned line before and her body betrayed her by reflexively starting to warm up.
It was only a matter of seconds before she was being raped like Miere.
Sobbing, she spun her mind trying to find some attack besides using the high energy beam attack against too few opponents. Just as one of the creatures dragged its erect cock against her mouth—the harden flesh probed at her lips and left the taste of musk and cum in her nose—she remembered Gral had given her summoning stones.
Combat summoning was always difficult. It took time and she didn't have much free space. She could see she only had one option. Digging into her pack, she randomly grabbed one of the crystals and pumped energy into it. At the same time, she planted her other hand over her pussy and curled up into a fetal position.
Claws tore at her vulnerable wings and back, but she could only cry out in pain as she concentrated on summoning whatever creature was inside the crystal.
Two cocks probed at her sex, thrusting between her fingers and up against the seam that was already beginning to part. She could feel the slimy tips catching along the ridge before slipping up to her ass or bouncing off her clitoris.
Ropes of cum splattered against her body, soaking her instantly as some of the Squirrels couldn't wait. The hot seed seared her skin as it oozed into every crevice and crack.
Erlea fought back the tears. She had defeated the Squirrels once, she hated the idea of losing to a second group.
A short distance away, Miere let out another cry as another creature mounted her. The muted slap of furry hips against her inner thighs was almost felt more than heard over the creatures massing over her.
Against her bleeding breast, the crystal suddenly burst into brilliance. She felt the energy pouring out of her and reforming next to her.
The Squirrels hesitated.
She peeked up to see what she had summoned, but there was nothing besides a column of spiked vines hanging from a nearby tree. She didn't remember seeing the red-tipped thorns but she couldn't imagine a summoning would bring a plant into a fight.
To her right, she heard Billie's battle cry. The mass of Squirrels shifted as some of them split off the deal with the flashing blade that began to destroy their flanks.
It was Erlea's turn again. She could feel the summoned creature in her mind. With a gasp, she yelled “attack the Squirrels!” just as one of the creatures plastered her face with a load of cum.
The vines burst to life, spiked tentacles spearing out to impale nearby Squirrels through their eyes, assholes, or whatever orifice they could find. The squelch of the thorns burrowing into the creature's bodies was interrupted with the screams of agony.
A name welled in her head, Living Thorns.
Erlea flailed out helplessly until she saw a group of Squirrels gathered together where her beam could be useful. Without hesitating, she clamped her wrists together and fired the thick burst of energy.
The Rabid Squirrels died screaming.
With the space the Living Thorns gave her, Erlea managed to get to her feet and reconfigure her RKA into the low-energy blast. It wasn't the best for so many creatures, but the summoning and the multi-fire attacks had drained her. She could feel the ache deep in her bones.
Between the Thorns, her RKA, and Billie's flashing blades, they mowed through the rest of the pack. Soon, there was nothing but a steaming pile of twitching corpses among the ruined hive.
The last Squirrel was the one still raping Miere. He turned his head to look at the others. Foam boiled out of his mouth but his claws continued to grip the poor Honningbie tightly as he pounded into her with the last few remaining seconds of his life.
Erlea sighed. “You want the honors?”
Billie stepped forward, reforming her hands into hammer. With a surge forward, she smashed the Squirrel's head with both of them. The wet popping noise filled the air and the creature's headless corpse fell back, spraying cum in a fountain before it stopped.
Erlea panted as she reached down. Her brush with losing has opened up her pussy. She concentrated on Miere's soft cunt and her breasts long enough to pull the severed claws out of her and then let her cunt snap shut.
“What is that?” Billie asked as she pointed to the vines.
“Living Thorns. It was one of the OAFs Gral gave me for summoning.” Erlea gripped the gem and released the spell.
The bloody tentacles of the thorns waved a few times before it faded away.
She continued to pant as she looked at the wreckage. It took her a moment but then she realized something. “Where's Tira?”
“Here,” said Tira as she settled down.
Both Billie and Erlea jumped as they became aware of her. Honningbie couldn't fly quietly, but the moth girl was silent as death when she wanted to be.
Billie glared at her. “Where were you? Miere was defeated.”
Tira frowned and then shook her head. “The Squirrels got me over there,” she pointed behind herself. “I couldn't stop them.”
There was something about her tone that bothered Erlea, but she didn't say anything. Her wings fluttered with her thoughts.
Tira looked at her and then sharply away. “I better watch over Miere and kill the baby monsters as soon as he is born. We don't know if these things have Multiple Pregnancy or another advantage.” She hurried away.
Billie sighed and turned to watch her leave. There was a scowl on her face.
Erlea looked at her and then back to Tira. Something felt off.
Billie reformed her hands and t hen shook her head. “After everything I've done, do you trust me?”
Erlea looked at the beetle girl. “You were upset but I do trust you. Without your guidance, we would have been lost to the Shucks.”
“I trust Tira too, but this time….”
Erlea gasped. Billie felt something also. She lowered her voice. “Something feels off?”
Turning back to Erlea, Billie reached out and scooped up a glob of Squirrel cum. “If she lost and was bred, why isn't she covered in this crap?”
Neither of them had an answer.