The following is a re-creation of the events surrounding the disappearance of Eronomicon Society Field Agent Hannah Kranisch on Monday, September 23rd, 2019 in the Nez Perce – Clearwater National Forest in northern Idaho. Ms. Kranisch’s belongings were found after weeks of intensive search by federal and local law enforcement after she failed to report to her superiors and was reported missing. Her go-pro and cell phone footage were deemed ‘too disturbing’ for public release, with many officers believing the videos to be an elaborate prank or an attempt at internet fame and concluding she would turn up given time. The Eronomicon Society knows differently. Hanna Krannisch remains missing to this day.-Kate Carver, Eronomicon Society archivist, October 13th, 2021

(Footage and journal entries obtained via FOIA request.)

 

 

The pines swayed in the wind, their pops and creaks reminiscent of an abandoned cabin’s door, drifting open to invite unwary hikers inside. I shivered despite the warm fall afternoon, my imagination getting the better of me. Again. You’d think this was my first assignment, my nerves were jangling so much. Me. Who’d fought and fucked my way through the Encantados of the Amazon and the Almasty of the Caucasus Mountains. The only agent to make it out alive from a Strigoi den in Romania, though it’d taken time for me to walk normally again. I’d thought this assignment would be a cake-walk. Go into the woods, look around a bit for the ‘witch,’ and head over to those hot springs calling my name. See if I could tempt some local tail into warming my sleeping bag. Instead, I’d felt eyes on me the moment I’d entered the woods, a hush that mimicked the dim pools of light in the thick trees. An expectation that had me looking over my shoulder every other minute.

“Get it together, Hannah.” I told myself, looking over the map again.

The site I wanted to reach was north of my position and if I hurried, I would make it before nightfall. Aligning my compass took a moment, and I adjusted my heading, tying a florescent pink tag onto the spikey branch of a blue spruce before continuing along the ridge. The locals in that little gold rush town had been certain of the location, one marking the map for me with the easiest trailhead in. After, he’d asked me if the carpet matched my red drapes. The tool box. As if I’d be interested in his paunchy, Deliverance-looking ass. That had been two days ago. Three days in, three days out. Then, I’d find a town with cell phone reception and more than one grocery store to report my findings. After that, I’d go on a real vacation.

I sighed and took a pull from my water bottle. A vacation wouldn’t help. I wanted to settle down, find a little place on the edge of the wilderness to share with a partner. Someone who’d wear me out on those nights I was restless and chat with me in the mornings. The problem was that my travels for the Eronomicon Society had made my tastes somewhat unusual. The odds of me finding a satisfying long-term partner were slim to none. Resigning myself to the inevitable, a life of assignments getting oh-so-close to cryptids, or, shudder, a job in the dusty archives. I missed it when the forest quieted.

Squatting behind a tree to mask my shape, I waited and watched for movement. One thing most casual hikers don’t realize is how hard it is to spot still prey in the woods. Movement will get you every time. I checked the go-pro attached to my backpack strap, ensuring it still recorded as I waited. Sometimes the camera caught things I missed, only seeing the hidden images and sounds once I went over the footage. A shadow moved in the trees further down the ridge, a darkened shape prowling the woods. I could just make out an enormous set of antlers, though they appeared black rather than the normal pale brown of the whitetails common in these parts. Something was wrong with the shadow; it appeared as if the stag walked on two legs rather than all four… I shook off the crawling sensation making its way up my back. Some deer would walk on their hind legs, especially if engaged in a dominance battle between two males. Those deer were more likely to gore a human rather than run away if said human announced her presence. Instead, I waited for the shadow to depart and the birdsong to resume before continuing to pick my way down the gully.

The pine needles littered around the tree bases made it difficult to find any prints from the stag. Worse yet, it was darker in this area of the forest, the lower elevation blocking the sun. I placed another pink tag on the hanging branch of a massive ponderosa pine when a print caught my eye. It was like a deer print, but much, much larger and missing the hind tracks. It looked almost like an enormous goat print. What the hell was that thing? A deformed elk? I glanced around, almost expecting something to be right behind me. Chuckling nervously, I continued onward, talking to myself to assuage the trickle of nerves trailing down my spine.

I came upon the site unexpectedly; the evergreens opening up into a circle of deciduous trees in full autumn regalia. Golden leaves fell and spiraled from the largest silver birch I’d ever seen standing in the center of the clearing, yellow sails landing lightly upon the undisturbed ground surrounding the stone altar and cairns. Small twigs shaped into unfamiliar symbols and runes hung from the nut laden branches of the oak and walnut trees. Just as they had described it in the legends that had put the forest on the society’s radar. I took out my phone, snapping pictures of the runes closest to me and the site itself.

According to the legends, the local indigenous people warned the first settlers away from the site, saying that it was a place of spirits. That the young women that would go missing only to be found here days later, delirious and dehydrated, if found at all, and were considered god-touched. Later on, several settlers were found here, murdered, their gold left on the altar, in a time when murder and gold theft were common amongst the ’49ers. From then on, every few years hikers would go missing around here, either turning up with accounts of a woman who walked through the forest without her blackened feet touching the ground or a circle of trees that lured them in and felt impossible to escape.

I walked around the clearing without entering, photographing it and the cairns from every angle. There were six spread equidistances around the altar, almost like the graduations of a clock. I’d been told there were five cairns by the last reported hiker who’d ventured into the circle five years ago. He’d described a woman approaching him, nude, her long black hair draped over her breasts and falling to the back of her knees as she floated through the woods. The hiker had panicked and run, getting lost in the pines and building a signal fire that alerted search and rescue. They had pulled him out of the woods eleven days after he entered, but he swore he’d only been in there for three. Given his ramblings about witches, authorities assumed his dehydration had caused hallucinations and that he was extremely lucky to be found. But his descriptions of the clearing had been lucid and exact. Five cairns, not six. Five graves… Who did the sixth one belong to? I inspected them and found one newer than the rest, lacking the moss and lichen that covered the others.

Jotting a quick note in my phone’s journal app, I noted the differences in the cairns and discrepancy in the report comparing it to a fairy circle I’d encountered in Scotland, before tucking my phone back in my cargo pants pocket and readying myself to step in the clearing. The moment my foot landed on the fallen yellow leaves before me, heat flooded through my body. A tingling warmth that tightened my nipples as if hot, wet mouths had encased them. I stifled a moan, searching the clearing as a ripple of desire gathered low in my stomach. The clearing was unchanged; no approaching witch waited in the trees, and the clearing remained still. A wave of desire washed over me, my skin overheated and too sensitive. I shifted the straps of my backpack, running them over my straining nipples and my eyes rolled back with the intense pleasure. Part of my mind knew this was abnormal, even for me, but the larger part that needed to come immediately overshadowed it. I reasoned with myself that I’d be able to think clearly once I’d finished whatever entering the clearing had started. Walking further into the circle, I dropped my pack, stripping off my shirt and sports bra from my sensitive breasts.

I moaned when the air hit them, my voice loud in the hushed forest. Warning bells rang in my dimmed mind, too quiet. The forest shouldn’t be this quiet. Too lost in my lust to recognize it, the eyes upon me no longer felt threatening. Instead, they were… appreciative. A whimper escaped me as I pinched my nipples, rolling them between my fingers as wetness flooded my pussy. Unbuttoning my pants, I snaked a hand into my panties, my fingers finding my wetness. Another moan escaped me, louder than the first as I brushed the hood of my clit, rubbing it first one way, then another before applying more pressure. My nipples strained upward, drawn into hard, dark-pink points. I needed someone to lick them, to suck them. I gripped one breast than the other, tweaking my nipples as I imagined someone biting them. A wave of pleasure shook me to my knees, and I collapsed, ripping at my boots and pants until I was bare. I shoved a finger inside me, dipping into my creamy wetness before rubbing my clit again. Hovering on the edge of orgasm, so close, I strained and tightened my thighs and stomach, willing myself to fall over the cliff. I whined as I chased it, needing more. Needing to be filled with more than my fingers.

My heavy-lidded eyes alighted on a protruding root at the base of the massive birch next to the altar. I crawled to it, noting the smooth polished finished of the wood as I pressed my thighs together. It looked old and well-worn, protruding more than half a foot with another knobby root angled behind it toward the altar. I backed up against it, slowly impaling myself on it like I’d ride one of my dildos at home. A lusty moan escaped me as I leaned back onto the root, my legs spread wide on the golden leaf litter. The second root poked at my backside, and my lust hazed mind was present enough to gather wetness on my fingers before massaging it into my puckered hole. My eyes fluttered shut as I rode the root, pinching my nipples and rubbing my clit as the second root pressed against my asshole, just barely penetrating with each thrust. The root heated and throbbed, sliding within me like a thrusting cock. I leaned further back, the second root pushing past the ring of muscle until it slid inside me. My legs spasmed as I came, shrieking my pleasure to the trees as my vision wavered. The roots seemed to spasm in time with me, and something hot painted my insides. I collapsed forward, pulling myself free of the tree and flooding the forest floor with my lust’s remnants.

I groaned, wiping the beads of sweat that had gathered on my brow before checking the roots. They looked the same as before, albeit glistening with wetness now. The heat rose again, urging me to touch myself, to spread my wetness all over my body and luxuriate in it as I came again and again. God, I hadn’t come like that since I’d found the Ningen off the coast of Antartica. Or I should say, it found me. I’d almost lost two toes to hyperthermia, but it had been worth it. Shaking my head to clear the haze of lust beginning again, I fought to get out of the circle. My field training saved me, allowing me to push past the crazed need filling me. I crawled to my discarded clothing and pack, gathering them to me in a ball I clutched to my sensitive breasts as I staggered upright, my legs shaking so hard I almost collapsed again. I pushed one foot ahead of the other, focused only on the darkened pines outside of the circle. Once I cleared the rune-laden branches, the heat faded to a low pulsing between my thighs. Still noticeable, but it wasn’t the blinding need that had incapacitated me before. What had the hikers said? A circle that felt impossible to leave? I would fucking say so. I sighed, looking at the mess on thighs before my awareness of the forest returned.

A figure stood opposite me outside the circle. A massive male, at least seven feet tall, stared at me, his face a combination of a man’s and a stag, with sharp cheek-bones and a long jaw covered in thick facial hair. His vast set of black antlers protruded wider than his shoulders, his long brown hair flowing from them down his shoulders. Painted blue runes like the ones hanging from the trees artfully decorated his wide shoulders and chest, his sculpted muscles bulging and accentuated. His pelted legs bent strangely, ending in oversized hooves. He was erect; a thick, purplish cock that tapered to a slick, pointed head with the slit underneath the rounded point. A thick bead of pre-cum welled up as I watched him, his rough fingered hand encircling his girth as if he enjoyed my perusal.

I ran, clutching my supplies to my chest. I’d never run from an assignment before, even when death seemed like an imminent possibility. But I’d always been in control then. I’d never been so thoroughly enchanted that I lost myself. Sprinting through the pines, heedless of my direction, I fled, my only goal to get further away from the horned man. I ran until my bloodied feet and body wouldn’t continue; sharp pain stabbing my lungs and side with every breath. I collapsed on the side of a small stream, the smooth pebbles torture on my abused feet. The water was shockingly cold; the snow runoff not warming up yet in the lower elevation of the valley, but after a moment, the cold soothed the worst of the pain. I sat down, trying to assess where I might be on the map. The sun was dipping low, golden light flooding the landscaped, and I held up my hand, squinting to see how many fingers fit between the sun and horizon line. Maybe two? I had thirty minutes of light left to make a secure camp. Tomorrow I’d find my position and hike out.

I pushed away the shame that welled in me at abandoning an assignment. I’d never fled from one before, and he was hardly the most grotesque male I’d encountered. The memory of his thick arms, the air of wildness that surrounded him returned, and I clenched my thighs, the low throb still constant between them. I washed off the remnants of my encounter in the stream, the cold water doing little to cool my ardor and dressed, pulling fresh clothes from my pack since I’d dropped most of my small clothes in my retreat. I eased my feet from the water, bandaging the small wounds before rolling on thick socks and boots. Murmuring a thank you to whatever god had let me keep a hold on my boots, I filled my water bottle and stood, trying to determine the where I’d make camp. Not this close to the running water. It would be impossible to hear anything approach.

West it was. I walked toward the setting sun, maintaining my course even as the trees thickened and obscured the last rays of the sun. Once I couldn’t hear the stream, I set up camp, popping up my one-person tent and unrolling my sleeping bag within. There’d be no fire tonight. Nothing to alert him of my position. I ate a two of my protein bars, tucking the wrappers into a couple ziplock bags to dampen the scent. It wasn’t the safest practice in bear country, but I couldn’t bring myself to litter in this pristine wilderness. After I’d eaten my meager dinner and settled into my sleeping bag, there was nothing to distract me from the tingling in my core. I fought it, ignoring the need growing within me, and clenched the sleeping bag instead. No. I was in control. Not him and not the forest. Even when in the clutches of whatever living myth I’d investigated, I knew I allowed it to happen. I held onto the anger my lack of control had conjured. It was easier than admitting that it had scared me. And that part of me had liked it.

Instead, I pulled out my phone, jotting down notes and memories from the encounter. I described my shameful retreat, recommending a re-assessment of the site and the male. On a whim, I checked if there was any signal. Of course not. I turned off the data so battery wouldn’t die searching for a signal out here and plugged in my phone and camera to my portable battery. I laid back again, burrowing into the bag as I fell into a fitful sleep.

The next morning I woke to find my things rifled through. Someone had spread the contents of my pack across the tent and over my sleeping bag. I scrambled out of the bag into the chilly dawn as dew on the tent walls brushed against me. My clothes and electronics were there, as well as my food and fire starting supplies. Everything remained except my map and compass.

“Fuck!”

I pulled on my boots, exiting the open tent and hoping to find my missing items outside. Maybe a bear had come looking through my supplies? Made little sense though, my tent and pack were both undamaged. I stood and froze. Twigs and branches shaped liked the runes surrounding the clearing encircled my camp. They hung from every available branch, some as small as my palm, others as long as my arm. My bright pink tags I’d marked my trail with spread amongst them in macabre celebration. They even drew runes in the earth around my tent with a collection of river stones forming a large spiraling pattern with my tent at the epicenter. Taking a calming breath, I searched the ground for my map and compass. Nothing. I dismantled my tent and packed my bag, turning on my camera. I took pictures of everything, noting that the stones were still damp, though that could be from the morning dew.

I talked as I walked, attempting to find the stream.

“That’s east, since that’s where the sun is rising. But that doesn’t fucking help me if I don’t know where I am on the map. Best bet is to find the stream and follow it out. All the creeks around here lead to the Clearwater river. That means following it down the mountain to civilization. Totally doable.”

I kept up the pep talk as I walked east until I had to admit that I should have found the stream awhile ago. I’d walked due west for less than half an hour last night. This morning, I’d walked east for over an hour and the stream was nowhere to be found. The trees whispered around me, their pops and creaks no longer ominous but almost as if they murmured in a language I’d only just learned. Turn, they said. I listened, turning left and walking further into the darkened trees. The whispers strengthened through the day, guiding me, and I caught more words and feelings. I put my hand on the base of a towering white pine and I felt a flush of pleasure. The forest was pleased that I acknowledged our budding connection. My heart swelled, filled with the sense of homecoming that overcame me sometimes when entering a rugged landscape. The forest echoed the emotion back to me tenfold, welcoming me.

I staggered back and stared at my palm in confusion. What was happening to me? I took out my phone, punching in notes and trying to describe the moment to myself as I walked, the woods lively around me. Small creatures scurried in the underbrush, chittering to one another as birds sang and flitted from branch to branch. The golden light filtering through the branches was warm, painting the rich, dark earth in dappled shadows. Morels and coral mushrooms littered the bases of the trees. Was it even mushroom hunting season? I continued on, listening to the whispers as the sun moved across the sky and I found myself where I’d begun the day before, standing at the edge of the clearing facing the horned male.

“Please don’t run.” His voice was soft and melodic. It reminded me of the trees, the same musical whispering and touch of wildness.

“Who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking. The urge to run was there, but I was also curious. He was attractive and spoke intelligently. Something I couldn’t say about all of my encounters.

“I’m called by many names. But you may call me Cer.” He didn’t move any closer, staying on his side of the circle.

“What’s the purpose of the circle?” I might as well gather intel for the next agent. Or I could try to salvage the assignment. Just because I ran initially doesn’t mean I couldn’t regain my bearings.

He smiled, white teeth with sharp canines standing out against his sun-weathered skin. “It’s for the ceremonial renewing of the seasons. The birth of spring, the heightened life of summer to an ancient autumn…” He trailed off, pulling a handful of acorns from a low-hanging branch.

Today was the twenty-second, the fall equinox. I tensed, ready to run. “What kind of ceremony?”

“You experienced a taste of it, did you not, Hannah?” His eyes grew heavy-lidded, as if remembering my wantonness. “I’ve never seen a being resist its pull before.”

“Sex ceremony. Got it.” I ignored his use of my name. I’d given myself plenty of pep talks throughout the day, easy enough to overhear. “Where’s the witch?”

At the mention of the witch, his eyes lost their ardor, his shoulders slumping. “Blair decided it was time for her to move on to her next life.” He gestured to the newest cairn.

It filled his voice with so much loneliness and pain, I almost crossed the clearing to comfort him. The smallest pang of jealousy went through me, and I shoved it away. Was there anyone who missed me that much? I didn’t think so. “Did you kill her?”

He frowned. “Of course not.”

Well, that’s good at least.

“So you lure women here and fuck them in the circle for the season changes?”

“It’s more than that. Some want to stay, needing the freedom of the forest for a time. The magic calls to others, like Blair. I search for one who connects to the forest, as I have.” He cut me a sly look. “Most need their inhibitions stripped away to be comfortable enough to express themselves, though. The circle provides that.”

“I didn’t like it.” The words tumbled out of me.

His eyebrows drew together. “You appeared to enjoy yourself.”

A blush rose in my cheeks that I fought. “I like to be free to make my own choices.”

He stared at me for so long, I almost thought he wouldn’t answer. “I don’t wish to take what is not freely given. I apologize.” The sun shone high overhead, and he glanced at it. A wry smile graced his lips. “The days when the Lords of the Forest were eagerly welcomed have passed. Worry not, beautiful Hannah, I’ll pursue you no longer.” He motioned to a tree and my map and compass appeared out of thin air, held in the branches.

I shifted, clenching my thighs. The arousal that had pulsed through me since I stumbled from the circle made itself known again, and it had nothing to do with the circle and everything to do with that smile. He turned to leave, and I called after him.

“Um — what does the ceremony entail?”

He looked over his shoulder before facing me once more. “We’d join our bodies, welcoming the new season in ecstasy.” He hesitated for a moment. “The equinox is more unique than the solstice, but you will be unharmed.”

“And I’d be free to leave after?”

He nodded, a hopeful light beginning in his wide brown eyes. “Yes.”

“Is there any way to tone down the horny magic? I don’t enjoy losing control.”

He tilted his head, an alien gesture that had his antlers resting on his shoulder. “Most women fear me and only welcome my touch once they’re overcome with lust.”

“I’m not your average hiker, Cer.”

He stroked his beard, “I can see that.”

Stepping into the circle, he motioned for me to join him. After a moment, I did, bracing myself for the wave of heat that had enveloped me the first time. I didn’t sense a change, only the same burning attraction that had begun earlier. I took off my pack, hanging it on a branch with the camera pointed at the altar. My arousal grew as I stepped closer, his large body dwarfing mine. He sniffed the air, his pupils expanding.

“Your scent maddens me,” he whispered. He took my hand, tugging me close. I went willingly into his arms, pressing my body against his hard planes. Cer tilted my chin up, and I stared into his eyes, seeing the endless woods reflected in their depths. He was beautiful and monstrous, just like the wilds. His lips stroked over mine and I opened for him, licking his lower lip. He looked shocked at my eagerness, a grin spreading across his face.

He kissed me again, his mouth taking mine in a deep caress, his tongue dancing with mine. I sucked his into my mouth before nibbling on his lower lip. A guttural groan escaped his broad chest, and I pressed closer, rubbing against his furred thigh. He ran his hands down my back before tugging on the hem of my shirt, breaking our kiss to pull my top over my head. I unhooked my bra, tossing it aside before pulling his mouth back down to mine. He kissed me until my head spun, our breath mingling as his rough hands stroking down my back and my sides until I arched my back, practically shoving my breasts in his face.

“Touch them,” I breathed. I toed off my boots and unbuttoned my jeans, shimmying them and my underwear down my legs until I stood bare before him.

“So lovely,” he murmured. He picked me up, and I automatically wrapped my legs around his waist. Trapping his cock between us, right between my folds, I writhed on him, kissing his neck and chest as he carried me to the altar.

I experienced a moment of apprehension as he sat me down on its stone surface, but it passed as he dipped his head to my chest, running his stubbled cheeks and horns against my sensitive breasts. I moaned at the dual sensations, wanting to continue rubbing against the enormous cock that he’d pressed between my legs. His tongue delved into my mouth repeatedly before he trailed it down my neck, encircling one of my nipples before taking it into his mouth. I shouted, gripping his antlers to hold him tight to my chest. He gripped my other breast, his thumb thrumming the nipple in time with the flicking of his tongue. I shuddered, wetness flooding my core as he toyed with them, changing tempo and roughness as he played with my body. I panted his name, urging him to continue touching me.

He switched breasts, his mouth finding my neglected nipple while he let the wind play over my wet, reddened one. I squirmed, reaching for his length to tease him as he teased me. I wrapped one hand around it, my fingers unable to touch as he thrust into my grip. He groaned against my breast, sucking hard, and I squeezed tighter, encouraging him. Cer thrust into my fist once more before gently disengaging my hand, instead crouching low before me. His palms pressed my thighs outward, spreading my legs wide on the stone altar. He lifted one of my feet, kissing my ankle before setting it on the stone and repeating it with my second foot.

I leaned back on my elbows, watching as he moved forward, rubbing his nose through my red curls. I liked to keep it natural and none of my escapades had ever complained.

“Gorgeous,” he murmured before licking my cleft in a long swipe. The breath puffed out of me as he did it again, before concentrating on my clit. He lapped at me gently, moving in a similar pattern that I used on myself when masturbating. Realizing that he must have studied me in the circle ratcheted up my arousal and I tried to clench my legs, only to find I couldn’t. His antlers held my thighs wide open for his pleasure. I shuddered, a fresh wave of pleasure rushing over me as I gripped one of his points, steering his mouth where I wanted it.

He groaned in approval, licking away the wetness flooding my entrance before working one of his thick fingers inside me. My hips tilted of their own accord, attempt to rub and thrust against his mouth as his finger filled me. He added a second, and I moaned, my orgasm hovering on the horizon. I tried to tense my legs and push myself over, only to realize my helplessness. Spread on the altar, held in place by his horns, speared on his fingers and tongue. It sent me over the edge, and I screamed my pleasure to the sky, gripping his antlers tight as I came, pleasure flooding my core and drifting outward as he continued to tease and suck my clit.

I collapsed back on the stone, running a hand down my face as he stood. The tapered head of his cock grazed my entrance, and I held myself up again, wanting to watch him enter me. His eyes met and held mine as he shoved home in one stroke, filling and stretching me as his sack slapped my ass. I gasped. He felt amazing, but I needed more…

He pulled out until only the tip remained inside me and thrust in again. Hard. I moaned. “Yes, Cer. Harder.”

Slamming into me again, he began a punishing rhythm, lifting my hips and angling me for his use. Tension built again within me and I panted as he rutted me, one of his hands tight on my breast, pinching the nipple and rolling it. I thrashed on the stone, heedless of the rough surface as he fucked me. His hand left my breast, trailing down my stomach until he reached my mons, his thumb pressing firmly on my clit. His cock swelled and jerked within me, hot spurts of cum lashing my womb as he emptied himself deep inside me. I came a moment after him, keening and squirming as he held himself still, fighting for more friction.

“Cer, please.” I whined. He pinched my clit, gently applying enough pressure to extend my orgasm. I fell back, spent, and tried to catch my breath.

He pulled himself free of my channel, our mixed spend splattering on the altar. Warmth suffused me, the bridge of renewal and the land connecting to the altar passed through us. The whispers coalesced into a crescendo, one voice speaking. “Turn.”

Alarm rushed through me as Cer staggered, going to one haunch. “Cer? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” he reassured me, even as he bowed his head. “Don’t be afraid.”

He shuddered as the air shimmered and his form shifted and separated, as if I was seeing double. In the next moment, there were two horned males kneeling before the altar. They had the same build and horns as Cer, but one was dark, the other pale. Neither the rich umber of Cer’s pelt. Each male had a crown surrounding their horns. The light wore a circlet of Oak leaves, the dark one of holly berries. My mouth snapped closed when the dark one raised his face to mine, his black eyes so similar to Cer’s warm brown ones.

“Cer?” I asked.

He nodded. “We are Cer. During the months until the solstice, we divide my essence into two aspects. And again in the spring.”

The pale one spoke. “You can call me Nos, if it’s easier, beautiful Hannah.”

My heart pounded as I regarded them. The dual aspect of the Lord of the Forest. This was right… It was what I’d needed. Both of them. I slid off the altar, stepping on the golden leaf litter as I approached the kneeling males. The wind whispered to me again, “Yours.”

“Mine.” I agreed aloud.

Cer stood abruptly. “What was that?” He swallowed. “Did you hear something from the trees?”

I nodded, and he exchanged a significant look with Nos.

“Hannah.” He groaned, falling on me as if he hadn’t just had his cock buried in me. Maybe he hadn’t. I don’t know how splitting essences worked.

Cer tugged his mouth to mine, his tongue delving into me before Nos turned my head for me to kiss him as well. Two sets of hands caressed me, tugging the tips of my breasts, grazing my sensitive clit. My concern for Cer had dampened my arousal, but it came roaring back.

“I need you, both of you.” I whimpered into Nos’ ear as he nibbled down my neck.

He turned me, facing me toward Cer as he ran a hand down my back. Cer kissed me before lowering his head to take one of my breasts into his mouth as Nos spread my legs farther apart. He ran his cockhead through my folds, gathering our wetness on his length before pushing inside. I shivered, my body assaulted with sensation on both sides. Nos began a slow, steady rhythm, relishing the slide of our bodies as Cer toyed with me, running his finger in small circles around my engorged clit.

Nos ran his hand up my back, pushing me further over and forcing Cer to stand, his erect cock in my face. I took hold of the base, guiding the tip into my mouth. Both men groaned as I sucked him, working his tapered shaft to the back of my throat. He took charge, gripping my hair as he began pumping into my mouth, his pre-cum a mix of salt and musk on my tongue. Nos’s thumb pressed against my second hole and I eagerly pressed back against it, encouraging him. He breached the ring of muscle and his thick finger was within me, filling me as his cock shuttled faster in my swollen pussy. I moaned around the thick cock in my mouth, tonguing the underside as another orgasm built.

Cer pulled his cock free, a thick rope of saliva trailing between us, and chuckled at my whine of disappointment. “Not yet, beautiful.”

Nos withdrew his thumb and cock, leaving me empty and bereft. “Please.”

He ran his nose up the side of my throat from behind. “Fret not, pretty Hannah. We’re not finished with you.”

Cer waited on top of the altar, his furred legs hanging off the edge. Nos lifted me, carrying me to Cer and positioning me on top of the waiting male. His hand reached under me, gripping Cer’s slick cock and guiding it into my quivering pussy. I shivered, my nipples hard points as I sank down onto his thick length. Once I sat upon him, spread wide, Nos pressed me forward until my chest met his twin’s, his slick cock prodding at my puckered hole. He pushed into me, a pleasant burn radiating outward as he stretched my forbidden entrance. Nos pulled out a little before inching in, not stopping until his hips rested against my ass cheeks.

Sweat broke on my brow as my legs spasmed. “So full.” I moaned, afraid I’d split being impaled on their girths.

“Perfect.” Nos grunted.

“Amazing.” Cer agreed, pushing deeper until his cock brushed the end of my channel.

Nos thrusted, beginning a rhythm that Cer followed, one cock entering as the other retreated. Hands roamed my body, tweaking my breasts, stroking my clit, before running down my sides and back. The equinox sun shone down on us, golden birch leaves spiraling to the ground around us as we writhed, or bodies moving in a rhythm that had me breathless. I shouted as Cer thrust up harder, his slicked fur rubbing my clit.

“I’m so close,” I moaned.

They picked up their pace, their previous rhythm forgotten as they both gracelessly hammered into me, matching my frantic energy. A hand snaked its way to my clit, pressing it as they slammed into my holes. I screamed as I came, my body clenching them tight until both males groaned, their thick cocks spasming within me as hot cum flooded my womb and ass. My hearing and vision blanked out as pleasure like I’d never experienced coursed through me, my release pushing me higher and higher until I collapsed on Cer as Nos covered my back. We panted together as small spasms wracked my body, each male shivering as I fluttered around them.

“That was—.” I didn’t finish the thought. Ecstasy? Life changing? A religious experience? Words couldn’t encapsulate all the feelings rushing through me.

“I know.” Cer murmured.

Nos kissed my shoulder. “It’s never been so good.”

I smiled, pleased and a little smug. “What happens now?” I asked, imagining a nap and a repeat. Cer swallowed, looking nervous.

“You can leave, as promised.” The light in his dark eyes faded as he spoke.

“Or,” Nos turned my face to the side, his pale blue eyes meeting my own. “Stay with us, undying and eternal. The forest calls to you as it does us. It longs for you to become the Lady of the Woods.”

As if in agreement, the wind blew, the word ‘stay’ singing in the breeze. I thought of my life; the long plane rides and sterilized hotels, the waiting and disappointment for only the briefest thrill as I completed another assignment. The sense of homecoming filled me again, and the forest showed me what my life would be like. Exploring the wilds, swimming naked in icy mountain streams, wildflowers flowing in my wake with Cer by my side. And for half the year, Cer and Nos…

It was better than anything I could have ever imagined.

Cer’s eyes found my own, his cock still pulsing within me. “It’s your choice.”

I smiled. For all that I’d felt helpless, trapped between them, he knew that I always wanted to be free. Like him.

“I want to stay,” I breathed. I laughed as they hugged me close, murmuring all the wonders they wanted to show me as they shifted, pulling free of my body. A pleasant ache began, and I tested my legs before following them from the circle. I looked back once, checking my camera before bounding into the pines and into my new life.