Tomboy Island

“Let’s get a berry snack and then head back to the tree,” Alex suggested. “There’s that one last area I want to check out, then we have surveyed this bit of the coast entirely.”

“Sounds good,” Tess agreed.

They moved east, inland. From their starting point, they could already see some of the bulbous bushes. Eating a few in passing, the party continued to move. Alex did want to see as much of it as possible. After encountering a giant crab, he wanted to be twice as certain that he knew what kind of wildlife he was dealing with.

SNAP!

Alex stopped and turned towards the sound. The origin was found in a deer. Only the large antlers of the brown-furred animal’s head were visible. The rest were hidden under a piece of greenery. Its leg muscles constantly twitched.

SNAP!

‘Is it eating the branches’ Alex wondered.

“Is it just me or is that deer… off?” Tess mumbled.

The quiet question caused the animal’s ears to rise. It pulled its head back just a bit, revealing a milky grey eye, shining invisibly with nihilism. Alex caught the clenching of the jaw muscles of the deer.

CRUNCH!

“GET BACK!” he shouted at his women and raised his sword. Alex did not need to have ever heard it in person to recognize that hair-raising sound. It was different from wood breaking. It was wetter, fresher, more morbid - the breaking and grinding down of bone and cartilage.

“Mmmmmhhoooongreeeeeellllll,” the deer gargled and pulled its head back. Sharp tooth for sharp tooth, it revealed a blood-soaked maw, curled into a horrid grin. “Mongrrrrrre-e-e—--” The creature coughed up chunks of what it had eaten, alongside several other, undigested meals. A whole, rotting squirrel carcass landed next to torn wings and shreds of larger animals. “MONGREL!” it screamed like a dying woman.

Then the deer lowered its head…

…and began to trot towards him.

Kill.

Alex had one fundamental impulse. A single step forward by him was the deer’s signal to charge. The sharp antlers were coming for Alex’ chest. It was fast. Alex was fast enough to react. The head of the creature slammed against the quickly brought up broad side of the greatsword.

Kill.

Alex shoved the creature back with all of his might. For all of its horrid appearance, the deer was no taller than the Titans’ descendant’s midriff. Thrown back, the deer caught itself on his constantly twitching muscles.

Kill.

Alex turned the shove motion into raising his sword entirely. The deer only craved murder and rushed forward again.

Kill.

The sword came down. Realizing the cataclysmic impact about to befall it, the deer tilted its head at the last moment. Rather than its skull, spine, and organs, it was only its right antlers that were shattered under the impact of the Titanic weapon.

“Mooo-mooooooooo…nnnnn-” The deer stammered and fell back. “Mooonnnnnnngrrrrrr-rrrr-rrrrr—” Its voice turned into a strange clattering sound, like hollow tree branches beating together, or massive mandibles clacking. Its neck jittered, dislocated for a second, before snapping back into place with a horrid crunch. “Death,” it whispered. “Death… Death… Death… to the Mongrel….”

Kill.

Alex went on the offensive.

The creature, if it had a mind, had not been prepared for it. Not for Alex to step towards its terrifying appearance and not for him to use his hand. Moving swiftly, the Titans’ descendant grabbed the shattered stump of the right set of horns and yanked with all of his might. The bone felt like dry wood under his hand, despite its hardness.

His strength forced the creature to stumble. The stumble gave him the space to bring up his sword again. A sideways strike caught the creature in the side. ‘Not strong enough!’ Alex thought, feeling the impact reverberated. Fur was sliced open, blood was spilled, and ribs broke, but the cut went no deeper.

The horrid deer was launched by the attack. As it flew, more of the contents of its stomach were evident. Rotting fish, crushed bird eggs, all swimming in a swoop of blood, fresh and stale.

The deer landed. Alex wanted to immediately follow up on his attack. Going into a flurry of bites and thrashing horn thrusts, it forced the man back before his offensive could begin. Taking in deep breaths, Alex stayed three paces away and glared at the still grinning creature. Its side had stopped bleeding.

‘Is this thing even alive?’ Alex managed to ask himself, between pumps of his heavy heart.

“Death…  Willow… wills…” it whispered.

Alex had heard enough. He had heard enough when he had heard the creature’s first word. This was not something he could suffer to be animated!

A single step forward was met once again with relentless aggression by the horrid deer. This time, Alex was prepared for it. In a motion as confident as it was brazen, he extended his hand. His vastly superior reach and greater control over his power let him backhand the creature.

The harsh smack broke the monster out of its rhythm, leaving it dazed and confused. It immediately went for the Titans’ descendant again, just knowing what direction he was in. On this, Alex had relied.

Stepping aside, sword gripped with both hands, he raised the enormous weapon all the way up while the enemy sailed past him. Then, with one mighty warcry, he brought the weapon down with enough force to quake the earth.

And quake the earth it did. It shattered the second antler, then went further down through the neck of the deer. Separated head and body both fell as if their strings had been cut.

Alex was not satisfied with that. He raised up his sword again and drove it through the separated head. Meat and bones were splattered on the floor. Brain matter oozed out of the cracked skull. It was a blinding white next to the sickening grey of the horn stump.

“What the fuck was that thing?” Selana shouted over.

“STAY BACK!” Alex screamed back, not even knowing if she had gotten any closer. There was something off about the remainders of the skull. ‘The horns… they’re not growing from the head!’ His eyes darted over to the carcass, just as it rose up on wobbling legs. Two branches of dead, grey wood wiggled and extended from deep within the creature’s gut.

Alex immediately went for another swing but had to pull back when the branches extended into whipping tendrils. Miraculously, he managed to block the attacks on his retreat.

The two tentacles immediately spiralled together, forming a tight knot - a spiral column for a rapidly forming ribcage of grey wood. An approximation of hipbones filled out the neck stump of the former deer. Red sap oozed within a heartless chest. Creaking branches extended from shoulders, then broke twice to form the joints of arms. Last, on a crooked human neck, grew the disgusting fusion of a deer and human head.

“No… more… births…” the horrid centaur whispered in a sobbing woman’s voice. “No - more - births!”

“What do you mean by that?” Alex asked, keeping his sword up. “What are you?”

The undead centaur moved strangely. Its wooden bits had an inhuman sway to them, like branches in a strong wind. Its flesh bits, however, continued to twitch and spasm, as if the muscles themselves were attempting to revolt against the control. The improperly fitting upper and lower jaw parted and clacked back together.

“Aih… Aih…” The creature’s voice sounded dull and witless. “Aih… Aih…” It turned deep and male. “I… I wiaahhll…” Alex stared in shock when he recognized his own voice. “I… will… sleeeee…I will slay you. I will slay you. I will slay you. I will slay you.”

The determined declaration he had himself made, when he had felt the life-denying presence in Amethyst’s glade, sent shivers down Alex’s spine. For a moment, his concentration broke. The tip of his sword sunk just the slightest bit.

Shrieking, the creature rushed forward. His sword was quickly brought back up again. The claws of the centaur, now near his equal in height, grabbed the sword. Was its strength greater than his?

“No more births, no more births, no more births, none more like you! None! Nowhere! Everywhere my roots shall reach!” The creature pulled back its head, the long neck curving to allow the sharp tip of its grey skull to snap forward. “No - more - bi-”

A stone rod slammed into the side of the creature’s head. The sudden attack threw the creature’s own of course. A strange, raspy sound came from its un-throat. Silver light gleamed where it had been struck.

“YOU WILL NOT DENY ME MY CHILDREN!” Tess screamed and drew her arm back to deliver a second strike.

The centaur swiped at her with one of its arms, keeping her at bay. In doing so, the creature sacrificed its struggle against Alex. Twice as strong now that he had one of his women to protect, he shoved the creature with such force that it fell over.

Hooves horridly kicked dirt. Grass turned grey and lifeless where the monster touched it. Alex’ responsibility was to eradicate this blight on life and his own future. Aiming for the stomach, he swung down.

The upper body of the creature twisted into the way. The descending sword split it all the way to the strange hip bone that connected host and outgrowth. “AIEEEEP!” The creature screeched, swiping at Alex to make him back away.

Although it was not the hit he had wanted to secure, watching the creature fuse back together confirmed two things. One, that it had a weakness in the deer’s body and, two, that its energy was not endless. Once healed up, the wooden torso was visibly thinner. Eventually, a hit would kill it.

“Do not take a hit for me,” Alex told Tess and the two other women who were doubtlessly looking for their own ways to be useful in this. “Harm is mine to take.”

“I know you will protect me,” Tess stated and slowly retreated from the direct engagement. She knew as well as him that a greatsword was not a precision instrument.

First and foremost, this was a duel.

But all was fair in love and war.

“ALL OUT!” Alex shouted, trusting his haremettes to do the right thing. Then, he stormed forwards.

Alex felt like he was a human whirlwind. The enormous sword created gusts with every broad swing. Previously he had attempted to be precise, now he gave his all to the momentum. Rather than wielding the weight of the sword, he merely guided it, letting the pull move him along to minimize his gaps.

The creature attempted to find them anyway while dancing backwards on its four legs. Taking advantage of its body, it always stayed in motion, riding around the naked swordsman. It knew that his muscles would have to give in eventually.

His motions did begin to slow. Alex breathed heavily. An overhead swing nearly stopped before he could bring it down. At that moment, the centaur struck.

And screeched when a cow-horned women tackled its hindlegs with all of her weight. The body of the deer was still just that and a fully grown woman of Selana’s height was more than enough to destabilize an already weakened being like the undead centaur was.

Having learned its lesson, the creature did not immediately turn around. Instead, it made sure to deflect the exhausted blow by Alex first. Its neck joint cracked, the head turning by 180 degrees the moment after the Titanic sword slammed into the ground. Red eyes focused on Selana first, then snapped to Tess. The angelic goth once again approached, stone road in hand. The silver scar her first attack had created still glowed like the halo of the pale woman.

The torso swivelled like the head had. Raised claws at the ready to shred Tess, the monster waited for the attacker to step into its range. On the very last step, the black-haired woman planted her foot firmly and instead threw the heavy stone rod onto the other side of the centaur.

“Oof!” Charlotte groaned, catching the object at the last moment. Losing her balance for a split second, she lost enough time that the grounded centaur could turn halfway around. One claw threatened to, if not stop, then at least inflict grievous injury to the tanned Frenchwoman.

Alex grabbed the wooden arm. “Whose woman do you think you’re trying to touch?” he growled. Exhausted muscles screamed, an outcry utterly muted by adrenaline and protective instincts. The wood arm was torn out of the shoulder.

Simultaneously, Charlotte grabbed the stone rod with both hands and then rammed it deep into the deer’s flank, where Alex’ attack had made a gap in the fur earlier. The wooden head screeched and tried to hit the man in front of it with anything it still had. Selana grabbed the remaining arm from behind, Tess the head, and both women used their Olympic strength to keep the creature put while Alex raised his sword and plunged through the torso of the monster.

“DEATH! DEATH!” The creature screamed. Summoning what strength it had left, it threw Selana and Tess off of it. The cow-horned woman was thrown with enough force that she would have sailed for several metres, had she not gotten caught by her man. By virtue of fate or instinct, her ass was swiftly planted on Alex’s left palm. Tess effortlessly rolled off the impact, using years of self-defence training. Charlotte did much the same, barely dodging a kicking hoof. Both women came to a halt by Alex’s feet.

Leaving his sword where it was, run through the chest of the creature, Alex grabbed the top of the monster’s head with his right hand. His Titanic grip lent him the power for one last feat of strength. No spine held the skull in place and he ripped it out. A bit of neck dangled from it, as he held it far above the body. The accumulated damage was too much. One last shiver went through it. The monster’s finally dead remains slumped to the side.

Alex was left standing uninjured, trophy raised on high, one brave haremette and her fat tits pressed against his broad chest, the other two all but hugging his muscular legs.

Flawless Victory!