Beth's Journey - Chapter 1: The Farmer's Daughter

By WintermuteX
wintermutex.stories@gmail.com
https://www.asstr.org/~Wintermutex/

Content: Young Girls, Bestiality, Monster Rape, Incest, Pedophilia

Julian stretched his muscled arms over his head, trying to work out the kinks as he walked up the dusty trail to the farmhouse. The long hours at the forge had taken their toll on his strength, but he now had 8 new solid horseshoes. He had been working since long before dawn trying to get an early start on filling the order. Now the golden disc of the sun was rising in a flourish of brilliant rays that cascaded over the mountain and along the valley floor. The cocks crowed their mad melodies into the stillness of the morning air as he trudged up the trail, their music matched by the low gurgling drum of his belly. He was famished.

The old wooden door rattled in its hinges then slapped shut behind him as he entered the tiny house. Before his eyes could adjust, the welcome smell of cooking sausages and fried eggs assailed him, and a sudden weight crashed into his belly with a fervent girlish squeal.

"Daddy!" His daughter was beaming up at him, her slender arms wrapped tightly around his waist in a crushing embrace.

"Breakfast is almost ready Daddy!" She hopped up and down excitedly, rubbing herself against him. "It's sausages and milk and cheese and eggs and everything you like! Come on!"

With a suffering smile, Julian let his daughter drag him by the hand to the modest table that sufficed for their dining. A generous repast had been laid out with care, the eggs still steaming freshly from the pan.

"Sit! Sit!" The tiny girl pressed him down into the chair, as if her slight body could somehow coax his massive frame to do her bidding, then she turned with a flourish and dashed back to the kitchen.

Julian allowed himself a smile, watching her turn. Stray beams of golden sunlight caught in her blond hair as she rushed to the stove, and the firelight sparkled a warm reflection in her merry blue eyes. She gave a self-satisfied giggle as she used a metal prong to give the sausages one last turn in the pan.

"Just how you like them!" she beamed, turning and holding the pan in front of her. Julian nodded, eyeing the crispy links. Browned to perfection and slightly seared on the sides.

"It's alright isn't it Daddy?" the girl asked, tumbling sausages rapidly onto his plate with the prong. "I made sure the milk was fresh - I took the jug from the well just this morning. And I gathered the eggs while you were working. We don't have any butter but I can get more. I'm sorry...it's ok isn't it?

Julian couldn't help the delighted smile that leapt to his face. Here was his little girl, his angel, having prepared the whole breakfast for the both of them by herself, and there she stood biting her lip nervously because they were out of butter. The cheery glint in her eyes had been stolen for the moment by an anxious need for his approval.

"Of course it's ok Beth!" he spouted. "It all looks wonderful. Just perfect!" He swept his giggling little girl into his arms - carefully so she didn't drop the pan - and planted a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek. "What would I do without you sweetheart?"

"Starve, probably," Beth giggled, squirming for only a moment before melting in the embrace of his thick arms. She returned his kiss with a shy enthusiasm. Julian held her for a moment longer before releasing her with a squeeze and then turning to dive into the food.

Beth turned away with a smile, replacing the pan and busying herself at the stove. Julian's gaze followed her as he took note of his daughter. The old tan dress she was wearing was threadbare nearly to the point of being sheer. It had fit her 2 years ago when he got it for her 10th birthday, but now the soft fabric clung tightly to her body at her chest and hips, exposing an elegant, girlish figure just on the cusp of blossoming into womanhood. The frayed edge of the short skirt had already come apart, and small tatters hung along the hem, offering brief glimpses of smooth, rounded flesh. Julian felt a pang of guilt. His daughter should have better than rags to wear.

But Beth never complained about their meager means. She busied herself at the stove with a determined expression. Her long, straight hair rippled like a golden river down her back, and her face wore the perpetual smile of girlish innocence as she worked. That smile - sometimes he thought he could lose himself in it, that he could gaze upon his daughter's beguiling face and lovely form for hours, entranced by the smooth grace of her motion, by the welcoming words that were never far from her lips. He paused unaware, the half-eaten sausage sizzling at his lips. Beth had damped the fire and set the pans aside, a slight sheen of sweat springing to life on her skin from the heat as she bent and began to wipe a stain from the stove with a rag. Her butt was thrust out and the tight skirt was pulled up, the sweet curves of her tart little cheeks on full display. Not for the first time, Julian found himself thrust unwillingly into a fantasy, a vision of his hands touching those plump mounds, squeezing them, then slowly moving upwards to her hips, kneading her skin through the thin fabric of the dress, and then pulling up the skirt all the way to finger the thin strip of cotton that covered her modesty.

He forced himself to blink, then to bite and swallow his sausage. It wasn't right, he reminded himself for the thousandth time. His daughter may be more than pleasant to look at, but a father ought not to have such thoughts for his own kin. He forced himself to avert his gaze, staring at the wall instead, at the table, at the rocking chair in the corner - anywhere other than the mesmerizing view of his daughter's slender form. He really needed to get her a new dress - something that fit better. Something that didn't bind tight around her torso and grip her flat chest in a way that left little to the imagination. Something that didn't cling to her hips and ride up to leave her enticing little curves on display. Well, he had been planning to head into town today and resupply. They needed good leather, iron stock, grain feed - a myriad of things. He could borrow against the order he was working on as he usually did with the grocer, and then get a new dress for Beth while he was at it. Mentally, he took stock of the coins in his purse - he'd have just enough.

His eyes flicked, unable to resist a final trip over the rising curve of his daughter's buttocks, lingering at her flat breasts. She was rubbing furiously at a stain with the rag, her body jerking in motion back and forth. The hem of the too-tight dress had ridden up even further, revealing her cotton underclothes.

Yes. It would be just the thing. Julian mopped his brow, averting his gaze again. A new dress was just the ticket.

Beth's vigorous scratching finally bore fruit: the old stain had been wiped away. She stood up from her bent-over position with a sigh and wiped the sweat from her brow, trying to hide her sly smile. He was doing it again, looking at her in that funny way that he did. Daddy did his best to hide it, but she could always tell when he was looking. It didn't take much - just a casual stretch of her arms over her head as she yawned, or bending over and pushing her butt out with a slight wiggle - just the smallest thing, and he was trapped in a stare like the had forgotten the rest of the world existed.

She turned to look at him, giving her best sunny, innocent smile. He averted his eyes and tore off a hunk of sausage, chewing furiously, but she could see the crimson blush at his throat. Beth loved her father like nothing else. He had always been there, every moment of her life - guiding her naked body as he taught her to swim in the river, picking her up and cleaning her scrapes when she fell, holding his hands out to help her vault onto the backs of their horses. Daddy was always in command of the situation, even when their wagon had tumbled into the ravine that horrible winter on the trail. He was strong, capable, larger than life - she had spent more than a few nights with him as a little girl, crawling up from her truckle bed to lie with her head on the bare muscles of his chest, feeling his heartbeat and dozing off to the gentle lull of his breathing.

Beth gazed at him idly for a moment longer, watching him devour the food, mirth tinging her smile at how he pretended to be unaware of her, then she turned to put away the cooking utensils. Their little farmhouse had just the one table and one stool for dining, but they made do with modest means. She'd wait for Daddy to finish, then she could eat. She took a seat on the bed to watch him as he plowed through the eggs and started on the mighty wedge of cheese.

He looked almost preposterous on the tiny stool, his massive frame perched precariously as he wolfed down his food. It was a wonder the small thing didn't break under his weight - but it was stout wood, and Daddy had made it so maybe its durability wasn't as much of a mystery after all. Everything they had on their farm he had made with his own two hands. Even the horses - the lifeblood of a working farm - had all been delivered and raised from colts by him. With his powerful stature and tremendous strength he could wrangle beasts that would pull her right off her feet. She had been there when he broke the new colts last year. She had sat on the fence kicking her legs and encouraging him with a smile as he wrestled the enormous barrels of water into the fields during the summer drought. She had watched from afar as he raised the timbers for a new addition to their little house. She had listened with rapt attention as he regaled her with tales from his soldiering days by firelight. There was nothing he couldn't handle, no task he couldn't do. In Beth's eyes, he was peerless. Invincible. A mighty giant who turned the world by day and sang her to sleep with somber hymns by night. She always felt safe with him around, warm, with a special tingle in her insides when he bent to kiss her goodnight. He would always protect her. He was always there for her.

He was Daddy.

"Beth!" called Julian. "Hurry up Beth!"

"I'm coming Daddy!" she called faintly. Julian turned to calm the nickering pair of horses.

"There there, Rosebud," he said, patting the mare's mane gently, trying to keep her from impatiently stamping her hooves as they waited. Where was Beth? He swore under his breath - sometimes that girl acted like they had all the time in the world, as if the day wasn't getting on already. He squinted and shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked up. Nearing noon already, and the dry heat already rising in shimmers from the dusty trail. Finally, he caught sight of Beth running down the track from the house. She had tied her hair and donned a shawl to protect from the dust of the road.

"About time," he groused, but Beth just grinned as she drew abreast of Rosebud. She knew he could never really stay mad at her. Julian hooked his fingers together to give her a leg up on the mare, but Beth snorted and jabbed her foot into the stirrup, lifting herself and swinging her other leg up and over the saddle in a smooth, graceful motion.

"I can do it Daddy, see?" she said, taking hold of the reins with a smirk of self-confidence. "Just like you taught me."

"Ahyup." Julian tried to hide his pride. She was growing up so fast. His little girl had twelve summers behind her and it seemed she mastered a new thing every day now. He mounted the other mare, then the pair turned their horses and began a slow plod up the hillside.

It seemed like just yesterday she had been a toddler, harrying the squawking chickens around the farm yard with shrill laughter, doffing her shift to dance gleefully naked in the rain, climbing the old cedar trees until her hands were sticky with sap, and always running, running, this way and that, a happy, shouting bundle of swift-golden joy that filled his days with laughter. And no matter what he was doing, whatever task was at hand, there she was, always watching him at work - perched on the low roof of the rear side of the house and swinging her legs, peeking around the corner of the shed with a sly grin, dancing about in the tall grass and whooping with all of the carefree innocence of childhood. And no matter how her attention flitted from one thing to the next like a dancing hummingbird, she would always appear as if by magic whenever he took up any task, demanding to know what he was doing, why, how it was accomplished. She would wring details from him like a rag, then dance off with gleeful howling when she was satisfied.

When she was old enough, he taught her to ride. And to swim. And to practice with the bow and the blade, their edges carefully blunted. She took to each like a duck to water, practicing with zeal from dawn to dusk. And she amassed no small amount of talent with each, he had to admit. It seemed like just yesterday he had had to lift her up bodily to get her in a saddle, and now she could hurl herself up like a champion, repaying him a haughty grin for his trouble. He rather suspected an ulterior motive though - the quick flash of her undergarments as her dress lifted up, the cotton fabric pulled tight against her rear end.

He spared a glance to the side, where she had pulled her mare beside his, handling the reins with expert care. Twelve summers, and now Beth was on the cusp of womanhood - one moment the bright, gleeful child, and the next applying herself to the work of the farm with dutiful determination. As he took in her smooth, slender figure, her ripe buttocks, her flat chest just beginning to swell with burgeoning womanhood, the grim spectre he feared took shape in his thoughts again - that soon he must endure suitors, the inevitable male attention that his daughter's beauty would draw. He didn't know if he could bear it. It was the reason he would abide no farmhands to help them with the farm's labor. It seemed impossible that Beth could ever be anything other than his precious little girl, but Julian knew that time marched ever onward, and that only a fool set himself against it.

Still, it was a worry for another day. Beth, sensing him watching, turned and flashed her dazzling smile - still the cheerful girl, thrilled to merely share her father's company on the lonely road. The answering grin leapt unbidden to Julian's face - he could as soon fly like a bird as keep from returning that loving expression in kind.

The sun had wandered a fair distance across the sky by the time they entered the village. Not much traffic was about, but the few residents they passed exchanged kindly nods. The sleepy little hamlet had little to boast of, but at least the grocer was always well-stocked. Julian turned down the main street with Beth following, until the pair finally arrived at the shop.

They dismounted and hitched their horses before entering the dilapidated building. Inside stood row upon row of dusty shelves bearing faded goods. Beth made a slight face as they looked around in the dim light.

"Daddy I'll just wait outside and make sure the horses get water, ok?"

"Sure Beth, sure," Julian nodded, turning his attention to the grocer, who had entered from a door behind the counter.

"Julian," grunted the man, an aging, wrinkled widower with a sour look and an even sourer smell. His eyes tracked Julian's dirty clothing up and down. "Reckon you look like you been wrestlin' some hogs."

"Dry today," muttered Julian by way of an answer, doffing his hat in a brief whiff of dust. The grocer looked on disdainfully.

"Got some more tack, if ye needs it," he grumbled. "Stock too. Meat?"

"The usual, Samuel," confirmed Julian, "and pork hocks if you have them."

Samuel turned, grousing under his breath as he began to gather goods in a sack. Julian busied himself walking among the shelves.

"Any flour?" he called out, his eyes searching among the goods.

"Fresh out," growled Samuel, heaving the sack up and onto the counter, then turning to fetch apples from the basket behind him. "Meal only, but nearly a barrelfull in the back."

"Hmmph," Julian sighed. He didn't need any meal. Samuel was the only man in the tiny town to sell such a wide variety of goods, but even he didn't always have everything. Still, since he dealt with nearly every trader that came to town, he was always the best source of information.

"Any news, Samuel?" asked Julian, returning to the counter.

"If ye can call it that," murmured the old man grumpily. "Ravings of madmen, more likely. They say there's sumit wild goings-on out West, creature o' some sort, monsters, runnin' wild n causing chaos." He shrugged. "Men talk, they do. Wouldn't give no account to such things 'nless for what happened yesterday."

"What's that?" asked Julian, his interest piqued.

"Wagons come through, families, sayin' they was chased from their homes. Up the valley it was." Samuel gestured vaguely. "Beasts like nuthin they ever seen, come in the night. Monsters true, they say."

"Rubbish," growled Julian. "No such thing as monsters." He had traveled enough of the nine kingdoms to know. Samuel shrugged at the contention, as if it were no matter.

"You ever going to fix up this place?" Julian rubbed a finger distastefully along the unswept counter. "Feels like walking into a crypt when I come here."

"Ayup," drawled the old man. "Reckon I'll sell. Whoever buys can make it nice 'n presentable."

Samuel stood up straighter for a moment, rheumy eyes fix towards the shop's front window.

"Speakin' o things that catch the eye…" he said.

Julian turned. Beth was just outside, brushing the mare's mane as the beast dipped its head to drink. She had let her hair loose, and was singing softly as the day's pearling brilliance played over it like waves of golden grain.

"Got my son, ye know, he living up the south road," said Samuel.

"How nice," muttered Julian, his voice tight. "Isn't he at least 40?"

Samuel nodded.

"And already married?"

"Aye," nodded Samuel again, blundering blithely on. "Reckon him and his wife don't get on proper. Still got some life in him, he does. I tells him he don't have to visit no brothels when he could get a fine young lass like that for what ails him-"

"Thanks, Samuel," growled Julian icily, cutting him off. He grabbed the sack and hefted it. "Credit as usual." He turned to leave.

"Think about it!" cackled Samuel from behind him. "Young girl like that needs a firm hand, I tells ya! Ask my daughters! Why they was barely done with their first bleeding when we done sold em off for-"

Julian let the door clap shut behind him, seething. The nerve of that man! Beth was waiting for him, wearing her customary smile.

"Everything ok Daddy?" She helped him maneuver the sack onto the mare's back.

"Everything's fine," he grumbled, but his irritation was already fast-fading. The cheerful bounce in his daughter's step always had that effect on him.

"Daaaady," moaned Beth, in her best whining drawl, the one she used when she really wanted something. "Can we visit Thomas now?"

Julian groaned. Visits to Thomas were always expensive, Julian's coinpurse was already light, but when Beth blinked her pretty blue eyes at him he knew he was already defeated.

"Fine," he sighed. Beth squealed and hugged him, then the two set off down the street, guiding their horses by the reins.

The shop of Thomas the bookseller was a stark contrast to Samuel's ramshackle corner store. Tucked in between a farrier and a leatherworks was the unassuming entrance, a simple door of polished cherrywood. Inside though, was like stepping into another world. Fine works of art adorned the dense interior - carvings, urns, paintings, even craftwork of delicate crystal and pearls - but the lion's share of the space was devoted to books. Stacked books. Piled books. Books left open haphazardly, both large and small, their pages dog-eared with long use. Beth gave a low gasp of delight as they entered. She cherished every visit to this store and its eccentric owner.

"Well hello again", murmured Thomas amiably from a thick armchair near the counter. He had a large volume spread open between his hands, and was smoking a small pipe distinguished by its finely carved inlays. "Julian. Beth. How is my sweet little sunflower today?"

"Thomas!" Beth dodged between the towers of stacked tomes to bury Thomas in a thick bearhug. The elderly man hugged her back, his frail arms shaking slightly. If Beth had anything close to an adoptive grandfather, Thomas was it.

"You're looking well little one. Nigh a foot taller than the last time I've seen ye!" He eyed Beth up and down approvingly as she giggled.

"You always say that! I was here last month you dummy."

"Well, well…" Thomas groaned, rising from his chair with an audible creak, "mayhap you grew a foot since then, or maybe this old dotard's memory ain't what it used to be." He gave Beth a sly wink.

"Oh stop!" Beth play-swatted at the cane as Thomas took hold of it. "You're not that old. And you remember everything!"

"Enough, I reckon. Enough to remember to order you one of these." Thomas turned and pulled a long scroll case from a shelf. "You were drooling over my atlas last time you were here, so when I took my trip to Viridium I managed to pick one up."

He opened the scroll case and handed the scroll to Beth, who accepted it with wide-eyed astonishment. It was longer than her arm.

"Go on, open it," urged Thomas.

Beth took hold of the ends and pulled gently, unrolling the delicate parchment. A brilliant world unfurled beneath her hands, a navigator's map of the entire continent, complete with insets of isolated territories. The names of kingdoms and duchies were spelled out in bold calligraphy, and the margins embellished with the names of lord and ladies, alliances, and the flags and standards of each nation. Lavish illustrations of the ancestral trees of the royal families filled the gaps, along with fanciful illustrations of exotic lands. A sprawling grid of longitudinal lines crossed smaller arcs of latitude, marking the length and breadth of the map's ambitious scope.

Beth's breath had been stolen by the majesty of the map and its brilliant illuminations bestowed on the parchment. She stood silent, shocked, until Julian gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder.

"It's...it's beautiful," she gasped. Julian was already groaning inwardly.

"The scribes in the city do fine work," Thomas agreed, wearing a satisfied smile at Beth's astonishment. "I know how you adore such things."

Julian did too. Beth's appetite for anything and everything that could tell her of the wider world was insatiable. The last time they had visited, she had left with the entire set of Zin the Traveler's diaries. The time before that, it was a massive tome detailing the royal lineages of all the Nine Kingdoms. And before that...he didn't want to even think about it.

Thomas had him over a barrel, and he knew it. There was no way he'd be able to disappoint Beth. They couldn't afford much, but books were the one indulgence he allowed for her. Once he had denied her a book, and had cracked after barely a day. He couldn't endure the pouty lips, the soulful stares, the long, mournful looks that replaced her usually sunny disposition. She needed a new dress badly, but if he were to deny her the scroll, it would break her heart.

"How much?" Julian asked, his voice weary with defeat.

"Well if you step over here Julian," said Thomas, motioning to the counter with a wide grin, "I'll give you a fine price. Only the best for my little sunflower."

Beth had stopped listening, standing starry-eyed and mesmerized by the scroll. Julian pulled his coinpurse and began counting out the silver pieces to meet Thomas's price, wincing as he did so. He would need to work double time on his orders for the next month to make it up, but somehow he didn't really regret it. He knew Beth would treasure the map like nothing else.

He managed to break Beth from her reverie, and after saying their goodbyes they departed the mysterious little shop with all its antiquities. Beth, holding the scroll case with both hands like it was a treasure of solid gold, put it delicately in her pack while Julian prepared the horses. The sack of supplies was secure on the mare's back, so he finished by tying her reins to the free horse and then swung himself up into the beast's saddle.

"Can I be in front Daddy?" Beth had her hand on his thigh, looking up. "I want to lead her."

"Sure pumpkin." Julian rocked the saddle back slightly and scooted to the rear, making room for Beth in front. Beth took the stirrup and vaulted up in front of him with ease.

"Thanks Daddy," she said, and twisted to plant a wet kiss on his beard, followed with a light touch on his cheek with her hand. "I love you."

"Love you too baby," grinned Julian.

After a final exchange of smiles, the pair set off down the road, following the arc of the sun.

The afternoon heat beat down harshly as they crossed the low hills toward home. Dust puffed up from each hoofbeat, lingering in the air as if unwilling to settle back to the hot earth. Crickets buzzed their raspy song from deep in the hearts of the grassy fields, punctuated by the buzzing of bees flying their frantic arcs between the blooming wildflowers.

Beth wiped sweat from her forehead with a long pull of her arm, flicking the droplets away. The gentle rocking of the horse was so familiar, the brush of hot, muscled horseflesh shifting beneath her thighs and lulling her into a dreamy, sweltering torpor. The summer day was a bright dream, the grassy fields a waving paradise of lush green cosseting them on their journey. A pair of frolicking rabbits burst from the grass, hurtling across the path in front of them to disappear into the deep brush.

Beth's thoughts drifted and chased each other, swimming in happiness. She knew Daddy had sacrificed a generous portion of their savings for her gift, and her heart swelled in her chest with love for him. What had she ever done to deserve such a magnificent father? He was kind, always patient with her, generous to a fault, yet strong beyond belief. She leaned back further in the saddle with a sigh, feeling his heavy chest brace against her back. Muscled arms wrapped her torso as he hugged her to him, his tremendous biceps resting upon her shoulders. She closed her eyes, feeling as if she could fall asleep right now, safe in his arms. How many times had she watched those immense arms in action? Chopping firewood to keep them warm, swinging a scythe in their fields, wrestling the horses into submission. And hour after hour, the heavy ponderous motions as he drove his hammer at the forge, pounding the reluctant metal into shape. Daddy was so strong. She knew as long as he was around, nothing could ever hurt her.

She wiggled her butt, trying to get more comfortable on the saddle, and shrank farther back into his embrace. She could feel the rough fiber of his trousers brushing her bottom rhythmically where her skirt had ridden up, and sighed happily. She began to move with the motion, feeling a thrill build deep in her belly. It was a good feeling, having his sturdy presence so close, feeling his body move against hers. She wasn't quite sure why it felt so good, but she welcomed it.

"Daddy?" she asked, craning her head to look up at him. "Can you tell me another story of your adventures?"

Her father's grimace was tight, but brief. "You know I don't like to talk much of that, Beth."

"But you were a soldier for such a long time," she sighed. "You got to travel. You went on horses and ships all over. You got to see everything. You saw the Cloud Palace at Arcadia. You saw the Vine Forest of the cat people out in the outer wilds. You saw the Crystal Tree at the Zenith Temple. You even flew on that big airship. You could do all that because you were a soldier. It's even how you met Mom."

Julian's expression softened and became distant. "Yes," he sighed. "It's how I met her."

"You never talk about her," complained Beth.

"You know she left long ago. And when you're a soldier, Beth, you're not sightseeing. We went to those places to fight."

"Can't you tell me about some of the battles at least? Maybe I could be a soldier too someday, learn to fight."

She could feel his arms tighten reflexively around her like a shield, an anxious expression growing on his face.

"Not if I can help it," he murmured, then looked down at her. "Beth, you're my daughter, and you have a strong spirit. I taught you to use the bow and the blade, but I never want you to have to use them. I don't want you to have to fight the way I did. It's nothing to strive for."

He cupped her chin in his hand, peering into her eyes. "You'll never have to fight because I'll always be there to protect you. Understand, my little rosebud?"

Beth nodded. She knew he was telling the truth. He had survived all those wars. Nothing could ever overpower her Daddy. She had seen him take three men in a fight and win. She couldn't even imagine something overpowering him. She would never need to fight. And for some reason she couldn't explain, that made her just a little bit sad.

As her father launched into one of his stories, Beth leaned back into him and listened, enrapt at the places and the people he described. A desert town, where all the soldiers were strong, buxom women who wore slips of fine translucent silk and not much else. Her father had stopped there once, after losing his company in the aftermath of a wicked ambush. They had pampered him condescendingly, amused at the notion of a man wielding weapons. Such didn't happen in their society. As Beth listened, she wished she were one of those warriors, that she was strong and capable like Daddy. Maybe, she pondered, her imagination rising at the vivid tale, one day she would be a fighter, able to face powerful foes and overcome them. She was just a small girl, a meager threat even when armed, but she knew she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice herself and fight to save her Daddy from harm. She would go anywhere, pay any price, to keep him safe, just as he would for her.

And maybe, Beth thought, leaning on her father's every word as he recounted a desperate fight along against a band of desert bandits mounted on fearsome lizards, just maybe, the day would come when she would be able to protect him instead.

"Here's your coffee Daddy, just like you like it!"

Julian smiled and accepted the cup, unable to keep his eyes from his daughter's naked backside as she whirled gracefully, returning to the stove.

While he had worked at the forge as the evening fell after they returned, Beth, in an extravagant mood, had fed and cared for the horses, stocked their groceries, washed their clothes in the tub and put them on the line to dry, and then prepared their supper. This last she had done while clothed in nothing but a clean white apron, her shifts all being set out to dry. When he returned to the house after damping the fire of his forge for the night, Julian had been pleased and not all that surprised to see his lovely daughter in a state of near-undress. Living closely together in a one-room farmhouse afforded them both little room for modesty, and as Julian ruminated on this, leaning back and relaxing in the rocking chair, sipping his coffee as he observed his daughter, he realized he very much preferred it that way.

The coffee was an evening ritual. Beth knew exactly how he liked it, and every night without fail she had the steaming pot waiting for him as he returned from the evening's labor. As soon as he entered she had embraced him, then guided him dutifully to the rocking chair and pushed the low table close for his feet before filling a steaming cup and pushing it into his hands with a benevolent smile.

"Here Daddy." She draped a warm, wet towel on his hands after he had taken a long sip, then smiled widely as Julian used it to wipe his face, the cloth coming away with an oily black sheen of soot and smoke. The forge was dirty work, and his apron was full of holes.

"Pfft, you missed a spot, silly." Beth harrumphed and took the towel, wiping it across his stubbled cheek, her eyes suddenly fierce with determination. Julian kept his sigh silent, submitting to the attention. She did this sometimes, swinging from affection to an overbearing motherliness with alarming alacrity. He contented himself with the pleasant view of her body as she leaned towards him, the white apron hanging loose and granting brief flashes of the pink nipples hiding beneath as she swiped the towel repeatedly down his neck.

"Daddy?" she asked, refusing to meet his gaze as she rubbed the towel methodically down his shoulders.

"Yeah baby?"

"I met Sarah in town. While you were inside the shop, I mean…"

Julian nodded. Beth didn't get to see her sometimes-friend very often.

"She, uh...she said something. That people were coming through town. They were chased from their homes."

Julian nodded again. Samuel's rumors. The old codger carried no end of ridiculous tales but maybe there was something to this one.

"She said...she said it was...monsters." She stopped wiping, looking down with a fearful expression. "Demons. She said they were...doing things...to people."

Beth had stopped wiping. She was staring at his biceps - massive bulges kept tight and hard from long hours swinging the hammer at the forge. Julian realized she was trembling slightly, faint tears beginning in her eyes.

"Hey.." He pushed forward and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her tiny body onto his lap. She was terrified, almost shaking.

"Daddy," she hiccuped. "Are they going to come here? The monsters? Are...are they going to eat you?"

Julian raised a hand and cupped her chin, forcing her gaze upward to meet his.

"Beth, there's no such thing as monsters, or demons. There aren't even any wild predators around here. Nothing will happen to us darling."

Her eyes shone in the firelight, rimmed with moisture. Julian gave her his most comforting smile, and she seemed to relax slightly, leaning into him with a relieved sigh.

Julian hugged the girl tighter, enjoying the feeling of her warmth on his lap despite himself. Up close like this, the white cotton apron was hopelessly immodest, and Julian tried but failed to keep his eyeballs from tumbling straight down Beth's front. Her chest was still mostly flat, he noted, but the pair of pert nipples rested proudly upon a pair of slight mounds just beginning to swell with womanly curves. Julian coughed and tried to avert his gaze, but Beth just hugged him tighter, her arms around his neck, holding him close as if she feared he would vanish out from under her.

Julian had raised his daughter from infancy. He had helped her learn to walk when she was a toddler. Older, he had chased her around as she streaked the tiny farmhouse naked, squealing with laughter. He had bathed her in the tub and washed her hair as she smiled lovingly at him. He had kissed her aches and tended her scratches when she fell. He had rubbed healing ointment onto her naked chest when she was sick with fever, and splinted her finger when she broke it in a wagon's spoke. Year after year, he had had the pleasure of watching his little sun-haired girl grow ever bigger and ever more lovely. He had seen her chest, her bottom, her hips more times than he could count. He had held her in his lap just like this on countless winter nights, reading to her or singing her to sleep. But as Beth wiggled against him, Julian felt twin pangs of arousal and shame. Beth was 12, but in his eyes she had never been lovelier. Her budding chest held his gaze like filings to a magnet. The swell of her arching back under his fingers coaxed a shiver in his chest. His fingers trailed down slowly, instinctively, until they brushed the tight flesh of her buttocks, and Julian had to stop himself - aching to go even farther down the sloping cleft, to squeeze the tender flesh of her rear end and dig deeper to her sweetest spot. Sweat sprang up on his forehead as Beth nuzzled his neck with her nose. It was the same as on the horse that afternoon - Julian sitting uncomfortably as Beth wiggled her warm bottom against him, coaxing an erection from her father's manhood that she surely must have noticed but pretend not to feel even as it dug against her.

"Daddy…" Beth's eyes were wide, glistening pools staring up at him. "I love you." She planted a kiss on his cheek as Julian swallowed nervously. His cock was already stirring, aroused by the supple flesh rubbing his shorts. Beth wore nothing besides the apron. Only the thin fabric of his own bottoms separated his rising mast from the tender cleft of his own daughter's sex. Beth seemed content, having wiggled herself into a comfortable position as if she would doze, her breath hot against his bare chest, but Julian's heart was beginning to race. His daughter's loveliness was unbearable - her hair like golden flax, shimmering with firelight, her eyes closed now, her expression one of contented bliss as she snuggled close. His breath began to race. His chest clenched tight. His prick was exploding, poking up at his little girl as if desperate. He had had no woman for so long, and the mounting beauty of his sweet child called to him like a siren. Her bare back was warm against his arm, the apron gaping immodestly, the girl practically naked. Julian planted a kiss on the top of her head, squeezing her, feeling the flare of pleasure grow tighter in his loins from the tender touch his lovely little girl.

Julian's control faltered for a moment. He let his fingers brush down past the round, full cheeks of her bottom and dip instinctively between. Tender, dewy flesh touched his fingertips: his little girl's pussy, speckled with moisture. She gave a tiny gasp and a shiver, but kept her head against his chest, her eyes closed. Julian's heart beat like the hammer of his forge. The moist cleft was the sweetest thing he had ever touched, and his thrumming, rock-hard cock was only inches away. So close. The iron of his aching prick yearned to slip into that deep, velvet heaven. Just an inch or two, and his lovely girl would be his in every way. He could take her virginity, guide her into the world of sex just as he had guided her all these years in the real world. Almost, he did it. Almost.

"Ahem." Julian straightened suddenly, crimson embarrassment flushing his neck. "Time for bed!"

He stood from the chair abruptly, holding his daughter's weight for a moment until she got her feet under her. Beth sighed and yawned, stretching her arms out. "Aw, I was hoping we could stay by the fire for a while."

Julian hid his pained expression, the shame from being aroused by his own daughter's touch, by how close he had come to crossing an inexcusable line. Beth turned and padded obliviously on bare feet across the room, retrieving her thin silk nightgown from where it was drying. She pulled the apron up over her head in one smooth motion, golden hair streaming as it fell, and Julian turned away, feeling as if his face was aflame. He wished with all his might that he could make the thick erection in his shorts vanish, but he may as well have wished for the moon in his hands.

He busied himself instead with tasks to prepare for their sleep: checking the oil in the lantern, damping the fire to embers, making sure the shutters were closed and the door latched - anything at all for an excuse not to look his daughter's way. He heard her moving, dressing, then pulling the fleece blanket from her truckle bed. Julian knew the thin gossamer silk of her nightgown did little to hide his daughter's nipples or the delicate cleft of her pussy. Most nights he didn't mind getting an eyeful, but not tonight. When Julian turned, intent on his own bed, she was already under the covers.

He adjusted the hood of the lantern, plunging the room into near-darkness, before removing his own shorts. Even though they had always been comfortable around each other in various states of undress, somehow the idea of removing his only garment when there was still light for his daughter to see his waving erection seemed terribly improper. He fumbled blindly for the drying line near the hearth until his fingers found his own bedshorts - still dripping wet.

"Damn," he murmured, under his breath. He could see little in the dark, but somehow felt Beth's gaze boring into him from across the room. Well, there wasn't much for it. He turned, his cock dangling free, and walked across the room to his bed. Surely it was dark enough, he thought. There's nothing at all to be embarrassed about. Nothing untoward happened. And he wouldn't let it, he resolved silently, covering himself with his own fleece. Even as his prick twitched eagerly under the blanket, unwilling to be mollified, Julian rebuked himself sternly in his head. No more admiring your daughter's ass as she bent over. No more sharing horses and digging your eager cock against her bottom. No more canoodling by the fire with both of you so indecent. He would buy her a new dress - and more modest clothes besides - with the money from his next order. Yes. He clenched a fist under the cover and nodded, as if in defiance of his still-turgid member. Nothing would happen. He wouldn't let it.

He turned over with a sigh, drifting off to the low sounds of the crickets outside and trying to ignore the straining discomfort from below.

Beth was breathing hard as she lay in her bedding. The funny feelings flashed through her like a low, rumbling storm. Earlier, as they rode home, she had been surprised to feel something in Daddy's pants digging at her bum. Later, as they had cuddled, she had felt it again. Beth had seen her father naked, seen his thingy hanging down more than once, but that hard lump had mystified her. It was only when Daddy had put the lantern low and turned around that Beth had her first view of what that jutting feeling meant.

Daddy's thingy, instead of dangling like it usually was, was sticking out like a spear! And, bizarrely, it had grown immensely somehow, in size and length. It had been hard to see, and she knew that Daddy, being closer to the light, wouldn't be able to see her in the far corner in darkness, so she had peeked curiously from beneath her cover, only to be shocked by the change in her father. Her eyes tracked the bobbing, slashing penis as he crossed the room, mesmerized by how the rigid length seemed both flexible and firm. Beth knew little of Mommy and Daddy things - Daddy always managing to change the subject when she asked about babies - but they had had a male dog once. Beth knew the thing on the doggy was the same thing as her Daddy had, though it looked different. But she had never known a man's penis could do anything remotely like that.

The brief flash of her exposed father had instantly stoked a strange, warm feeling in Beth - a sudden flash of prickly excitement in her sex. She had investigated with her finger, finding spots of wetness, and shuddered suddenly as her fingers caressed her outer lips. Beth wasn't sure what to do with this information, but she had resolved, somehow, someway, that she wanted to see her Father's penis do that weird thing again. Maybe he could do it on demand. She could ask him, but something told her he might not appreciate this, and the last thing Beth wanted to do was upset Father. He had been so nice to her, getting her that map, that she had worked all evening to try to make sure everything was perfect for him. Speaking of the map...

His breathing was steady from his bed, his form facing away towards the wall. Beth moved, the cover slipping from her body, and pulled the lantern's hood briefly so she could light a candle from it. She pulled out the scroll and unfurled it, gasping in the silence as the glorious landscape of countries and kingdoms was revealed before her. The Nine Kingdoms didn't look much like she had expected, and to her shock there were clearly many more lands beyond. The scope of it dizzied her. Even the nearest town seemed impossibly far away, but it wasn't even a dot worthy of being included in the vast, sprawling array of rivers, mountains, and cities. Forests stretching across wide swaths of exotic regions. Names of lands she couldn't even pronounce. Kingdoms and empires and seapaths illustrated with exotic water serpents all worked together to ignite her imagination with a wild wanderlust. What was out there in this wide world? Kings and queens and knights of legend? Shining palaces and ships sailing oceans that shone like jewels and towers stretching to the clouds? Men and women and beasts of fancy? Anything and everything that could be imagined, and much that could not. Beth's toes curled excitedly, thinking of it. One day she would go everywhere, see everything, experience it all. One day. Who knew what the world had in store for her?

She would ask Daddy about the map tomorrow. He would know where in the sprawling world their little hamlet was located - she had only a vague idea. The thought filled her with excitement. She briefly entertained the thought of waking him now, but discarded it. She'd never do that to Daddy. He needed his sleep from working at the forge all day. No, she could ask him tomorrow.

Outside, the long, low howl of a beast drifted mournfully over the night air. Beth paused. It wasn't the keening of a hart, or any beast's call she could name, but for her the night - like the world - was always full of unexplained mysteries. She rolled up the scroll. Earlier, she had suddenly felt herself thrown into quite a fright, recalling Sarah's warning of monsters. Vicious, ravenous beasts, indescribable, terrors beyond compare. The fears had stolen through her so suddenly, but Daddy had been right there to soothe her. Beth smiled. He was always there. No matter if it was to tend to her hands after she caught them in a stickerbush, or hold her when she was young and the night fears came, or to help her hold the bow properly when he was teaching her. He was a rock, the cornerstone of her world. As reliable as the rising sun.

Beth rolled over. Best to sleep now. She wanted to rise early to make sure breakfast was ready for Daddy. Outside, a pair of nightbirds called to each other in a cheerful chirping melody. Beth listened to their music, her breathing slowing, beginning to drift to sleep. Suddenly she heard the howl again - sounding much closer, and it lingered for a moment, joined by another howl, and another, the long dirges striking a sinister chord, then drifting into low, hacking staccato that sounded faintly of distant snarling.

Beth sat up, a thrill of fear rising in her chest. The shrill sound of a horse whinnying suddenly pierced the peaceful night air. Beth squeaked and almost hid beneath the sheets, but she wasn't a little girl anymore. Something was wrong with the horses. More of them were making noise now. She had to tell Daddy.

She slipped out from under her fleece, shivering as the brisk night air wormed its way in through her thin cotton gown. The wooden floorboards creaked under her feet as she hurried to her Father's bed, pushing the hulking, sleeping mound urgently.

"Daddy!" she whispered urgently. "Daddy wake up!"

"Hrrrgh, grughrrr, Beth...go to sleep Beth." Her Father grumbled drowsily, not really awake. She poked him furiously, but he just grumbled like a sullen bear.

"Daddy please!" Beth cowered against him. The sounds were closer now - much closer, vicious menacing growls seething with fury. The horses were screaming in terror outside. Beth could hear them kicking the wood of their stalls.

"Daddy! Come on! Daddy!" Beth began to beat her fists against her father, tears coming to her eyes. "Wake up! PLEASE!"

Julian lurched awake suddenly just as the sound of a horse's frightful, terrified scream ripped through the farmhouse. He rolled off the bed straight to his feet, standing naked, alert and listening.

"Horse thieves!" he hissed. "Beth! Get up in the loft and hide!" He turned and reached for the sword over the mantle, drawing it from the holder in a fluid motion.

"Wait!" Beth clenched his leg, trembling and stuttering. "D-daddy, I think it's M-mon-monst-"

"Do as I say!" Julian growled, pushing her by the shoulder towards the ladder that led to the small loft where they kept their supplies. "It's just thieves, Beth. They came to steal horses, but they're going to get more than they bargained for!"

Beth lurched, almost knocked off her feet by the shove, but grabbed the ladder and steadied herself. She began to climb swiftly, her heart pounding against her chest. The house was freezing and she had only the meager cloth of her nightgown and nothing else, but she obeyed. Sounds came from the darkness outside, movement and growls. Something banged loudly and the cacophony of screaming horses was abruptly cut off. Beth reached the top of the ladder and rolled upward into the tiny space - it wasn't meant for people and was too close to the roof to stand up. She cowered among the buckets and meal sacks before her hands happened upon a smooth shaft of wood - her bow. Next to it was her quiver. Beth clutched them both with trembling hands.

Down in the room, something smashed against the door like a boulder. Daddy shouted, bracing himself with the sword. Another smash, and loud howling filled the room, like the cry of a tortured beast from the underworld. Beth rushed to string her bow in the darkness, crying, slipping, her hands wet from brushing tears from her eyes. She had never been so terrified of anything before. The sound of splintering wood accompanied the next mad crash, and Beth looked down - the door had been blasted from its hinges, a shattered ruin open to an inky blackness beyond. Julian was brandishing his sword, shouting fearlessly, ready to slice whatever came through.

For a moment, nothing did. The howling was gone, the snarling muted. Beth peered out of the doorway into the night, eyes wide with fright, her mind filling the sudden black silence outside with a horde of indescribable terrors.

Like a horse at full gallop, a massive, dark shape burst through the doorway, smashing the remnants of the wood aside and hurtling into Julian, bowling him over. Beth screamed. For the briefest moment, she caught sight of something monstrous - a furry, hulking mass of slavering jaws and needle-sharp teeth standing over her fallen father, slashing and biting like a rabid beast. Beth seized her fear to yank her bow together, stringing it faster than she ever had in her life. Below, the frightful, savage howl of the creature was joined by her Father's pained screaming.

Fear rattled her chest, her heart striking her ribs like a smith's hammer. Her fingers were numb from cold and shaking uncontrollably. Daddy! The dark form of the beast ripped and tore savagely. Beth couldn't see her father. Beth hiccuped from raw terror, frozen, unable even to draw the string.

"BETH!" The scream tore through the room, her Father roaring with every ounce of his might.

"RUN BETH!" She caught a glimpse of him in the lamplight. He had got to his feet. Blood covered his chest. The sword was on the ground. He punched wildly at the beast's head, swinging his heavy fists like clubs.

"DADDY!" Beth shrieked. It was killing him! He was buying her time, time to escape through the small hatch in the loft that went to the roof. No! The scream ripped from her throat, a wild, wordless howl of denial, piercing the air like the wail of a banshee. In that moment, Beth did something she had never done in her life - she disobeyed her father. She seized her fear, the raw terror rising to gorge her throat, and forced it down into a little ball. Her bow was strung. She pulled an arrow, nocked it with trembling hands, and forced herself to steady. Her father was screaming something - a plea that didn't reach her ears over the enraged snarling of the beast. Beth leaned out from the loft, took careful aim at the beast, and loosed.

A shriek of pain ripped through the farmhouse, powerful enough to vibrate the shutters. Beth had already nocked another arrow, but the beast had entered a frenzy. She could see it more clearly now - something like a bulk of a bear but the form of a wolf, sneering with an ape-like muzzle under a pair of curled horns. A tuft of crimson fur bristled on its chest and the rest of it was covered with coarse, jet-black hair the color of midnight. It howled and pounced in a circle, batting at the arrow lodged in its neck as if to loose it. Her Father had seized the moment to roll away. Beth took aim and loosed again, but she missed the frantically-moving target.

"BETH RUN!" Julian screamed again. The beast was smashing the floorboards and blindly ripping their furniture to pieces in its frenzy. Julian spotted the sword rattling on the floor behind him. As he turned, the beast whirled and pounced lightning quick onto her Father's back, knocking him to the floor again.

Beth shouted in defiance as she loosed another arrow straight down at the beast's plunging back. Again the beast howled like a demon loosed from some infernal torment, drawing back and shaking with pain. It was the break Julian needed. He rolled on the floor, snatching the sword mid-motion and bringing it up just in time to catch the pouncing beast in the neck with the blade. Beth covered her ears and cowered as the endless, bellowing yowl of pain tore painfully at her eardrums, unbearably loud. She rolled over just in time to look down and see her Father, blood and fury on his face, bring the blade around in a solid strike, biting deep into the beast's neck.

The beast howled and limped across the room in retreat. Julian dropped the blade and upended their dining table, driving it before him like a shield to ram the beast against the wall. The creature clawed and howled - the sound marred by a pained, loathsome, gurgling sound from its broken throat - but Julian kept the thing tightly pinned.

"NOW BETH!" Julian screamed. "SHOOT IT!"

Beth took careful aim at the trapped, enraged beast, remembering her father's advice. Envision the arrow. It has already landed. You need only guide it to the path is has chosen. She inhaled and held her breath, then loosed. The arrow struck the beast straight between its malevolent yellow eyes, piercing bone and brain.

The thing slumped, twitching. Julian let the table go and seized his sword. He hacked at the creature again, and again, furious, roaring uncontrollably. His sword bit into reeking flesh with meaty chops until he finally raised it high over his head and brought it down in a clean slice that severed the monstrous head from the beast's shoulders.

The sudden silence after the cacophony of mad snarling was jarring. Julian stood over his kill for a moment, bloody chest heaving, before abruptly falling to his knees on the floorboards as his legs gave way.

"DADDY!" Beth vaulted and slid down the ladder without using the rungs, then dashed to where her father was kneeling. She put her hand to her mouth and almost screamed again from the sight of her naked father soaked in blood.

"Daddy you're hurt!" she sobbed, dropping to the floor beside him. Dark red stains splashed her father's throat and his face dripped with sweat. Crimson slashes crisscrossed their way down the huge muscles on his arms and chest. His dark hair was a matted wreck and he was heaving, the sword held in an iron grip as he stared at the slain beast.

Beth trembled as she touched the oozing blood, but his hand came up to grab hers.

"Not...as bad...as it looks," he gasped. "Most of it...is from...that." He nodded at the dark, furry form lying still on the floor, staring, oblivious to his own wounds.

Beth touched a haggard slash under his shoulder that was oozing blood. She had never seen her father hurt, much less gashed and bleeding, but she tried to hold herself together. Blood was pouring from the wound.

"We have to bandage this," she said. "You're bleeding bad here."

Julian looked down at his own arm in confusion, and finally nodded. "You're right. I'll lose too much blood unless we stop this."

Beth looked around. The room was chaos. She had hung some things near the fireplace to dry but the beast had shredded them.

"All the rest of the laundry's hanging outside Daddy," said Beth. She moved to get up.

"No." Julian said, grabbing her arm tightly. "Don't go out there Beth. There could be more of them."

Tears blurred her vision. Beth wiped the tears away with her arm. Daddy was bleeding so badly. She had to think. Reaching down to the hem of her nightgown, she began to rip the cotton.

"What are you doing?" asked Julian, but Beth tore a long strip of cloth away from the bottom of her clothing. The cotton was thin, but it was all they had.

"Hold still Daddy."

Carefully, Beth wound the cloth around and around his bulging arm, pulling it tight and ending with just barely enough length to tie it off. She leaned against her father as she worked, acutely aware of his nakedness. Perplexingly, his penis wasn't all big and stuffy like it was earlier. That confused her, but she put it from her mind. She had torn most of her skirt away to make the bandage, leaving her thighs bare all the way up to her hips.

"There, Daddy. That should help." Julian looked down at the tightly-woven cloth and fingered it, before murmuring in agreement.

"Do you smell something?" asked Beth, just as Julian leaned forward and clapped a hand to her mouth. She heard it then, outside - more snarling.

"Quickly!" Julian leapt to his feet, pulling her up with him with one hand, sword clenched in the other. The shattered ruin of the door was yawning open to the night, and the sounds were growing closer. "You need to run Beth! Go out the roof hatch! I'll hold them off!"

"What?!" Fury rose inside Beth at the suggestion. "And leave you?"

"I told you to run earlier!" Julian snarled. "Do as I command!"

"NO!" Beth stamped a foot, the tears returning in an instant. "I'm not going to leave you to die Daddy! We go together!"

Julian stared at her in amazement for a moment, before finally nodding in acceptance.

"Ok Beth, but when they come, stay behind me."

His nose wrinkled, and he turned just as Beth saw the flickering light. On the far side of the farmhouse, the lone candle had toppled in the struggle and lit the bedding aflame.

"No!" Beth shrieked and made to run for the fleece, but Julian caught her arm.

"No time!" he hissed, pointing at the ladder to the loft. "Climb! I'll be right behind you!"

"Wait!" Beth darted quickly to the table, scattering items to the floor as she yanked her leather satchel into her hands, then grabbed the case with the precious scroll in it and shoved it inside.

"Now, Beth!" Julian commanded, his expression mingled with rage and fear. Outside, the menacing growls sounded like they were right on top of them.

Beth slung the satchel over a shoulder and scrambled up the ladder, feeling the freezing fingers of the night air brushing her private parts. Just above the loft, a tiny hatch granted access to the roof. Beth flung it open, and the starry night twinkled just above her.

"Hurry!" Julian was just below her. Beth crawled through the opening, the thatch of the roof scratching her bare legs. Outside, the frigid night air hit her all at once, stealing her breath. She rolled to the side, clutching at the thatch, as her Father's massive, naked body came up just behind her.

"We'll jump across to the barn!" he whispered. Beth nodded. It had been a favorite game of hers as a child, jumping between the spreading branches of the two trees that separated the house from the barn.

"I think the horses are hurt Daddy...or worse."

"I didn't stable Natty," Julian said, his face lost in the darkness. "I left her down by the creek."

"Natty?" Beth blanched. The mare was so elderly she could barely run.

"It's our only option. Hurry Beth!" She felt her father's hand on her shoulder. Beth turned to put her back to the roof, facing the old oak. She had never made the jump in the dark before.

"Daddy, I can't!" she complained, fear coaxing tears to her eyes again. "I'll fall!"

"You can. You have to," Julian said. "There's no time!"

Down below, Beth could hear the wild yammering in the yard. More of the beasts. She closed her eyes tightly against the cold, shaking her head to steel herself, then let them pop open. The wide branch was just in front of her, its outline just barely glimmering in the moonlight. She leaned forward, shifting her weight, and then leaped out to it.

The thick branch smashed her chest as she landed clumsily, but she held on for dear life and managed to shimmy up to the crook where the branch met the trunk. Ragged bark and stray branches tore at her frail gown. She felt it rip even further, but ignored it. The tree swayed suddenly with a heavy thunk as her father landed on the branch behind her.

The beasts were tearing into the farmhouse. Beth could hear smashing wood and furniture along with breaking glass. She tried to concentrate, climbing around the trunk, where another large branch led away to the next tree. She stepped out onto it, sliding along, balancing precariously in the darkness.

She could feel Julian's hulking presence behind her, waiting, not daring to speak for fear of them being heard. Beth steeled herself, and jumped again, landing on the outspread fork of the next tree's branch. From there it was an easy scramble across and down until her bare feet slipped down and landed lightly on the wooden roof of the barn.

Daddy was just behind her, his naked, muscled form touching down and making the wood creak. He motioned to the ladder at the side.

"Down," he whispered. We'll hide in the tall grass. Head towards the creek."

Beth nodded. She moved over and turned to put a foot on the top rung of the ladder. Just as she did, a sudden gust of the numbing wind blew out of the night, blowing her loose nightgown all the way up. Beth clutched the ladder and shivered as Julian stared, his eyes seemingly fixed on the naked form of his daughter silhouetted by the moonlight. Despite the cold, Beth felt herself blush, but as the wind passed she stopped trembling, took a breath, and managed to descend the ladder.

When they reached the bottom, the pair crouched down on their hands and knees. Julian pointed silently, and Beth nodded, beginning to crawl through the tall, weedy grass with her Father just behind her. The moon was rising, making it easier for her to see the way. Beth tried to keep her teeth from chattering as the brisk air whipped her bare bottom. She would have pulled the skirt of her gown down if she hadn't ripped it off. She wondered what Daddy thought, crawling just behind her, his face inches from her exposed sex.

They reached the low field by the creek a few minutes later, moonlight bathing the wide expanse of grass in silvery lustre. Beth was relieved to see that Natty was there, though the horse was clearly spooked. Julian guided her with a hand and they both got up and ran.

"Shhh, there's a good girl." Julian spoke soothingly, trying to calm the frightened beast as he took the reins. Natty danced slightly and chuffed, her hot breath turning to steam in the night, but the old nag wasn't all that spirited anymore. Julian jumped and mounted her bareback, patting her neck to calm her before pulling Beth up behind him with his a powerful heave of his arm.

A final screech of pain punctuated the night air behind them before being cut off into a malevolent silence. Her father snapped the reins, urging Natty into a lurching gait.

"They killed all the horses Daddy," Beth sobbed. She turned to look behind them, keeping her arms locked tightly around her father's waist. A flickering orange glow was growing behind them, a bright flare around the dark silhouette of their tiny farmhouse. In the glare, dark, bestial shapes moved in the light like demons.

"Damnit!" murmured Julian tightly, snapping the reins with more urgency. "Getton girl! Go! Giddyup!" Natty was doing her best at a light trot, but the frail mare was already breathing heavily, her breath spouting thick steam into the night air. The snarling barks suddenly began again behind them, closing fast, accompanied by the rushing sounds of hulking bodies tearing through the grass.

Beth had barely drawn breath to warn her father when something suddenly smashed into the pair from behind. Beth screamed as her world tumbled, spinning chaotically until the ground reached up to smash her in the chest.

Her throat croaked, sucking air. The wind was knocked out of her. She tried to push herself up, but her arms slipped in the dirt, shaking, freezing as the night air played over her bare legs and exposed pussy. Her breath came back in a rush and she managed to crawl to her hands and knees.

The world was filled with deafening screams. The wild howl of the frightened mare was a shriek that nearly drowned out her father's cries. He was yanking the reins furiously, trying to draw the horse around, trying to control her but the mare danced in horror, kicking erratically, and Julian barely managed to hang on.

She could hear the beasts all around her, see the sleek, furry forms with their bristling fur rushing to surround them in the moonlight. It would all be over in a moment. Natty was prancing, about to throw her father, and then the beasts would pounce and rip them open. She would die here. They both would.

Beth's scream of defiance joined the cacophony of wild cries. She lurched to her feet and did the only thing she could think of - she slapped the dancing mare on the ass as hard as she possibly could. Natty took off in a bolt, her father hanging on for dear life.

"RIDE DADDY!" Beth screamed, tears brimming in her eyes. "RIDE!"

The mare's terror had charged her with fresh energy. Her hoofbeats tore like a savage drum in the night, a mad, thundering gallop receding into the night. Beth heard her frightened whinnying, heard her father's dwindling yell.

"Ride…" Beth cried, collapsing to her hands and knees again, sobbing in pain and fright. The rabid pack of snarling beasts was right upon her. Daddy had escaped. She would die, but at least her Daddy would live. She would have done it again, she knew. Beth would have given anything for her father, even her own life. The thought was a bitter comfort as she stared death in the face.

A heavy weight bowled into her side, knocking her onto her back. Snapping jaws of sharp teeth surrounded her. Beth screamed, flailing with her hands. The beasts loomed above her, lumpy, nightmarish forms of bristling muscles and razor claws. Fetid breath washed over her face, cutting off her scream and making her gag. Bestial snarling rang all around her, filling her ears with the eager sounds of ravening animal frenzy. Claws dipped and slashed, and Beth screamed again. The beasts were manhandling her, holding her arms tight as they ripped away her meager gown. The slashed and tore, rending the cloth to tatters, their muzzled faces tight with animalistic glee. Beth struggled and wailed helplessly, her arms pinned, her legs kicking uselessly. A fresh breeze of cold night air slipped across her breasts as the beasts tore her scanty nightclothes away.

Shock raced down Beth's spine when one of the beasts towering above her bent down, its drooling jaws an inch from her frightened eyes. Its mouth opened and a foul-smelling tongue snaked out from between the gleaming teeth, dragging itself across roughly across Beth's face, tasting her tears, her fear, and leaving a slimy trail of gooey saliva across her cheeks and nose

Beth shrieked and cowered, but there was nowhere to go. The awful breath reeked of meat and fear, washing over her face, filling her sinuses with a pungent odor that set her coughing. The salivating jaws lapped at her face, hungry, sniffing, the beast's frenzy calmed for the moment. Beth had only a moment of confusion before her eyes widened again in terror - the beasts were moving, shoving each other, jockeying for position. A big one pushed aside two others and moved to straddle her, and as the moonlight washed the creature's body in silver light, Beth saw something that caught her breath in her throat.

The beasts were furry like wolves, but with the shocking bulk and muscle of a bear, and the crimson tufts of fur on their chests were like nothing Beth had ever seen. But Beth's eyes were drawn down, lower and lower, past the rippling muscles of the beasts chest and belly, to its groin, where a massive, jutting cock, thick as her arm and pulsing with the creature's heartbeat, slapped itself down on her groin like a falling log.

The other creatures seemed to relent and take a step back. Beth shook with terror as the beast's twisted leer gazed down at her - malevolent, beady read eyes shining with hunger, twisted with crazed desire and brimming with a hidden intelligence. Its look took her in entirely, seeming to savor her exposed flesh, the slight budding mounds of her breasts, the torn clothing which exposed her frail, nude body to the cold night. Beth's eyes were locked - fixed on the mammoth, bobbing girth jutting from the creature's loins. For the first time, she realized that killing wasn't on their minds.

Her cowering form began to shake again, wracked with sobs, but the leering creatures held her arms to the ground with twisted claws. She felt the solid thump of tumescent flesh slap against her nether regions again as the beast settled into position. Beth kicked, shrieking, desperate to get away. The warm flesh grazed her mound, sliding against her exposed pussy, spawning a surprised flash of energy that raced up her spine. Beth gasped, then clenched her teeth. The creature sneered at her as she kicked out, its muzzle pulling back into a twisted leer.

"Please...please don't," Beth whimpered. The frightening organ had slipped down her exposed mound until the pointed head was nestled snugly against the girl's delicate crack. "No...don't, please. I'll do anything…" Tears swam in Beth's vision. Her dream of a happy life, of giving herself for the first time to a man she loved was about to be ripped away. This was just a nightmare, she thought. I'll wake up and everything will be ok. Daddy will be there and he'll hold me. Just a nightmare...

The thought was driven from her head when, with a roar and a powerful jerk, the beast spread her legs and rammed home inside her with a savage thrust that smashed her pelvis against the ground. Beth shrieked, her virgin cunt spasming wildly. The sudden, tearing fullness was like a lightning bolt to the brain. The beast drew back and slammed in again cruelly, ripping right past her resistance, and Beth felt herself screaming, the high wail of anguish rising to the unfeeling night and echoing over the valley. Beth's mind and body were locked in shock, a terrified rictus broken by the next powerful jolt of the monster's cock inside her. Dimly, she heard the creatures snarl in delight, slavering jaws steaming in the night as they relished the loss of the young girl's innocence. Bright flashes of sensation strobed in Beth's brain, feelings like she had never had before. Her head arched back. Her neck went tight. Her scream devolved into a mindless howl as the hulking beast slammed home, driving its thick, powerful cock into her little 12-year-old pussy in rapid strokes.

The feeling was incredible. Indescribable. Beth's tiny cunt was stretched to the breaking point, quivering in fright around the enormous girth as the fleshy cock smashed in again and again. Each jerking crash of animal energy seemed to split her open like a spear, the beast's organ seeming to dig all the way to her belly with each stroke, so deep, tight flesh throbbing lustily against her quivering insides and sending spasms of crackling energy into her abdomen. Beth's howl died to a deep, guttural whimpering.. Her eyes rolled madly. The world seemed to swirl, out of focus. She felt her body giving way, being stretched like a piece of worn leather, quaking madly as it fell before the blistering, banging assault of the monster's meaty shaft working like a piston in her pussy. The agony turned into a blinding heat behind her eyes. Gasps of heady shock twisted out around her lolling tongue. The thick, violent motions were burning like a tempest, a gale of sudden impossible pleasure searing its way into her brain. She felt herself pushing back. Fingers digging at the dirt, gibbering wordlessly as the bucking motions built into tempo of ecstasy like nothing her young mind could have comprehended. Her head twisted and thrashed. Her hair was across her face. Tears covered her vision. Her teeth clamped together, squeezing, bracing in anticipation as the jolt of each violent intrusion forced another squeaking breath from her lungs.

Beth's hips were shaking hysterically. Her pussy was on fire, a deep raging inferno driving hot winds of ecstatic pleasure through every cell in her body. She could barely hear the choking grunts of ecstasy rattling in the throat of the monster raping her over her own mounting cries. The hard flesh barreled in again and again, splitting her wide open, leaving her shaking, clenching, powerless. She began to lose all sense of time. The vicious rhythm of thrusting cock inside her became the tempo of her existence, the axis upon which her whirling consciousness turned. The pain had long since drowned under a mounting tide of hot euphoria, a blistering tempest of ecstasy that wracked Beth's body into a tortured, trembling, gibbering version of her former self. Tight heat. Wracking thrusts. Clenched teeth and the overwhelming throb of a mountain of pleasure ready to burst like a volcano inside her. Each jerk was a blinding crackle in her head, like those from her father's forge when it burned its brightest. Each thrust beat against her pelvis like the blow of a hammer. She was moaning, squealing, unable to understand the sensations dominating her body. Her young mind was overwhelmed, a broken dam unable to resist the surging energy of the monster's powerful cock and the rising bonfire of her own pleasure.

She felt claws dig into her hips as she was lifted. The beast had picked her up, holding her waist aloft, snarling with rapacious delight as it fucked the tiny girl's body. Beth was jolted like a ragdoll, arms flailing, no longer held, long since past the point of resisting. Her tiny body twisted and contorted as the monster built to a final crescendo of brutal thrusts, ramming the tremendous cock into her frail, quivering pussy. The explosion inside her ripped open just as the beast drove her down one final time on its brimming cock, lighting every nerve in her body on fire with blinding pleasure. Beth thrashed and squealed in the night air, her tiny body held up and fully impaled on the howling beast's throbbing prick. The heady cry of her first orgasm roared from her mouth, the gleeful squeal mingled with whimpering cries as her body shuddered in delight. Through the torrent Beth felt the sensation of warm fluid moving inside her, spurting wildly against the twitching walls deep inside her pussy. She gripped at the creature's fur, holding it tight, her tiny body locked in a blinding bliss as her climax roared through her like a molten wave, igniting diamond explosions of white-hot pleasure behind her eyes.

Grass and dirt dug suddenly into her back as the creature dropped her carelessly to the ground, but the pain was nothing compared to the sudden straining emptiness as the creature pulled its tremendous cock out from its snug position lodged deep in her pussy. Beth shuddered, insensate, her calves and hips still flexing and straining on their own, still convulsing with the frenzied motions of her first rape. She felt deflated. Warm, soupy fluid was on her thighs and on her crotch, and the pussy was throbbing in dull, aching flashes as the pleasure of her orgasm finally began to dwindle. Her small body writhed on the ground, filthy. She could feel herself covered with sweat and saliva and dirty grime from all of the grasping claws. She struggled to take control of her whirling mind, still tossed about by the receding storm of pleasure, heaving raw breaths of cold night air.

Her twitching body had barely begun to recover when she opened her eyes and saw the grinning visage of another of the monsters, ready to take the first one's place. An enormous stick of warm flesh came to rest against her battered, leaking pussy, and she had barely the time for a gasp before the beast thrust in. The sudden violation was no less shocking than the first time, and Beth's head arched back in a mindless, involuntary squeal. Bulging friction slid along the quivering walls of her stretched cunt, sparking shivering thrills of delight all over again.

Beth groaned and went limp, letting the beast have its way. The incredible sensations were building again, no less indescribable or overwhelming now. Beth had known almost nothing about sex, and her child's mind hadn't had the slightest idea of how it felt. Now as the feelings began to contort her neck, as her nipples flushed and her jaw tightened and the jolts of pleasure began to batter the walls of her consciousness, Beth gave herself up to the feelings awakening inside. Deep moans quivered in her throat. She squealed with carnal pleasure. Her tiny body was driven by the monster's massive frame, her nude, 12-year-old flesh brushing along the ground, sliding between fur and grit, pungent monster saliva dripping into her eyes as her tongue lolled out and her eyes rolled back.

Beth lost all sense of time. Cold night air grazed her sweat-slick flesh in the brief moments between each rape. Dirty, twisted claws grasped her, turning her this way and that, and Beth let her fingers dig in, twisting into matted animal fur, holding tight as each beast took its turn raping her. She howled in climax with each of the monsters that finished inside her, exulting in the feeling of warm, greasy liquid filling the deep place inside of her. At some point, she felt a bristling cock brushing her lips and opened her mouth instinctively. The creature didn't waste a moment ramming home inside her mouth, and Beth's choking surprise rapidly gave way to the exquisite pleasure of feeling the thick, tumescent flesh pulsing in her mouth. She began to lick and suck, savoring the meaty taste, and her surprise was complete when a sudden wash of greasy fluid suddenly erupted from the thing and spewed down her throat. She could tell it was the same stuff they were putting in her pussy, but the pungent, salty tang was a shock. She barely managed to swallow the goo, coughing madly as the beast withdrew from her mouth.

The tattered shreds of her nightgown had long been ripped away. Beth groaned on the ground on her hands and knees, legs quivering, aching and sore from exertion. Eyes closed, butt in the air, mouth opened, ready for the next intrusion. She was no longer scared, no longer frightful of the beasts, no longer resisted the violent rape of her young body. There was no more room in her for fear or struggle, the very concepts driven from her by the countless hours of thrusting, ramming, jolting cocks stuffed in her mouth and pussy. She had lost count of the amount of times the pleasure had come. Lost count of the amount of times she had been raped. She only waited, heedless and expectant, for the next beast to pick her up and have its way with her.

When nothing happened, she ventured to open her eyes. The beasts were sniffing the night air suspiciously. A small glimpse of light pearled the sky just above the eastern mountains. Beth heard it now: the distant drumming, getting closer. The sound of someone approaching.

"Daddy!" she suddenly sat up. The creatures were swarming around each other, agitated and snarling. With a crash, Beth came back to reality. Monsters had raped her all night. They had treated her like a toy, made her their mate repeatedly as she screamed. Her body still ached everywhere from the violence, and that greasy fluid they had left in her was still covering her legs and leaking from her crotch.

The sound was closer. Hoofbeats. Horses. "Daddy!" Beth shouted again. She tried to get to her feet, but her legs wobbled and she barely managed to roll over. It was her father! At times throughout the night, she remembered, she had imagined him coming for her. In the brief moments when the thunder of pleasure wasn't crashing through her brain and she remembered what was happening to her, she had comforted herself with a thought: he'll come for me. He won't leave me behind. She had imagined him riding in with a hundred soldiers, the sound of the warhorses like drumming thunder in the valley.

A flank of riders emerged from the woods. Beth squinted in the early light: it wasn't a phalanx of soldiers. They hadn't come with warhorses or armor. It was her neighbors, wielding sickles and short blades and bows. And riding at the head of them, a sword held high over his head, was the unmistakable figure of her father.

Beth felt her heart soar - the first sliver of hope she had felt since she had surrendered to the certainty that she was going to die. It was her father. He HAD come for her! Even at this distance, there was no mistaking the tightly-controlled fury on his face. There were only 4 men following him, but their appearance seemed to have spooked the monsters. They rushed the riders, howling and snarling, and Beth saw her father charging down the slope like a hero to meet them, sword held ready. He wheeled his horse at the last instant, ducking under the creature's swipe, and slashed it across the midsection. The monsters howled, clutching its wound, and Julian, bellowing with rage, took the opportunity to bring his sword back in a clean stroke that took off the creature's head at the neck.

The other monsters scattered, apparently unwilling to face armed resistance. Beth watched the other men pursue the fleeing creatures on their horses as her father galloped towards her.

Julian came flying in, dismounting the saddle on the run and skidding to a halt just next to where Beth was lying on the ground.

"Beth!" he shouted, kneeling over her, crying hysterically. "Oh thank the gods you're alive Beth! Oh sweetie!" He reached down, cradling Beth where she lay, all his control lost.

"Daddy…Daddy…" Beth murmured. Her eyes fluttered. It didn't seem real. Her father was looking down at her, aghast, taking in the scratches and the filth on her body, the mess of white goop on her face and coating her privates and dripping down her thighs.

"Oh Gods, oh my baby girl, what did they do to you…" he sobbed. Beth's father clutched her tightly, weeping in agony. Beth felt herself lifted up, her naked body light as a feather in her father's hands.

"Daddy," she mumbled again. She reached up with a shaking arm, touching his cheeks. "I knew...I knew you'd come Daddy."

"Farris!" shrieked her father, as the men began to return. "Get the blanket!"

Beth felt herself gently let down. She swayed, trying to get her feet under her, leaning against her father. Farris, one of their closest neighbors, hurried up with a clean white blanket. Julian took it and wrapped it around Beth, then helped her sit down on a stump.

"Oh my baby, my sweet girl. I'm so sorry." Her father was in tears. Beth had never seen him like this. "I left you. This is my fault. I should have stayed, fought them off…"

"Daddy, daddy, it's ok. Shhh." Beth reached up a hand to touch his cheek, unable to bear seeing her father in such distress. The blanket slid from her side when she moved her arm, and her father couldn't help looking down, seeing her naked breasts, the filth and grime on her belly and the mess of gooey cum still seeping down her legs. He face was still locked in a rictus of shock, seeing the evidence of what those creatures had done to his daughter.

"I know you would have stayed, but they would have killed you Daddy." Beth caressed her father's cheek, drawing his eyes to her gaze again. "That's why I slapped Natty. Even if they killed me, at least one of us could get away."

"I thought you were dead," Julian said, his chin quivering, desperately trying to keep himself under control. "I thought I had lost you Beth. Natty ran so far and then she threw me and kept going. I had to walk to the next farmstead." He reached down to grasp her bare shoulder, his eyes glistening with barely-repressed sorrow. "Don't ever leave me Beth. I couldn't make it without you. And don't sacrifice yourself for me. Let me protect you. You're my little girl." He took a deep breath, still shaking. "Nothing's going to hurt you ever again."

Beth embraced her father, feeling his arms wrap around her naked body, strong yet shaking with grief. She buried her face in his chest. She didn't tell him that it hadn't been so bad, that she had been terrified but somehow as the beasts raped she began to like it. She didn't tell him about the explosive pleasure that had wracked her body all night as the monsters had their way with her 12-year-old body, didn't tell him about how her pussy still tingled at the thought and ached for another fresh cock in it even now. She let the memories of the violent night mingle and merge and dance seductively in the back of her mind as she sighed in the warm comfort of her father's embrace. Daddy had come. They were both alive. The world was right again.

"Beth, look." Her father was pointing to the West, to the dark horizon not yet streaked with growing sunlight. Beth turned her head, peering past the hills.

An orange glow was dancing under the clouds.

"The town is burning," her father said. "We can't stay here."

"Maybe we can help them…" Beth started, but her father shook his head.

"No. If there are more of those things, there's nothing we can do." He nodded at the other men on their horses. "They'll all want to get back and get their own families out, before more of those beasts come into the countryside."

"The house?" asked Beth.

"There's nothing left," said Julian, shaking his head. "The horses, the farmhouse - it's all gone Beth. We've lost everything."

"Not everything," said Beth, leaning against him. Julian's arms tightened around her and she let herself melt in the warmth of his embrace again.

"Julian!" barked Farris. "We can't stay any longer. We have to get back."

Julian stood, and Beth pulled the blanket around herself again as she sat.

"Go," said Julian. "Get to your families and get them out. At least we know those monsters can be chased off now."

"You can keep Artemis," said Farris, nodding toward the horse her father had rode in on.

"Thank you, Farris," said Julian. The two men grasped each other by the forearms for a moment, exchanging a nod before Farris and the other men turned away.

"Beth," said her father, his voice calm in and control once more. "Get on Artemis. Wait for me. I need to check the house and see if anything survived the fire."

"Yes Daddy," said Beth. She stood, holding the blanket around herself and walked with wobbly steps toward the horse while her father strode across the seared grass to the ruined building. Artemis was a fine stallion with a good, sturdy saddle. He tossed his head and nickered when she approached, but calmed when she let him smell her hand.

"Good boy," she soothed, patting his head. The horse nuzzled her hand affectionately, and she rewarded him with a scratch on the nose, then giggled as he pushed playfully at her arm.

"There there," she cooed. "Save your energy." She moved to the beast's side, but as she did so something caught her eye - something brown hiding in the tall grass a short distance away. Her pack. The strap had torn when she was knocked down. She bent and picked it up. It was undamaged. The fact it had fallen free was probably the only reason it wasn't shredded along with all her clothing. Beth pulled it open and rummaged through it - most of what had been in it was rubbish, but there was only one thing she cared about. There it was. She pulled out the fine scroll case and popped the cap, pulling out the sturdy vellum and unraveling it. The map of the known world rolled out from under her fingertips, the vast expanse of lands stirring her imagination like a song. Kingdoms, mountains, rivers, cities - and in the farthest lands, those about which nothing was known, illustrations of strange and fantastic beasts. Monsters.

Beth had always yearned for the day she could leave their little farmstead, the day she could go out and see the world. Instead, it had come crashing in on her reality, violently overpowering and dominating her. Beth couldn't banish the dizzying memories of her rape, couldn't deny how thoroughly she had enjoyed it. Monsters were real. The world she yearned for was full of peril. The thought filled her with a seductive rush, a tingling eagerness that leapt from her belly to become a wicked throb in her loins. What else awaited her out there?

In the distance, she saw her father approaching. She quickly replaced the scroll in the case, then turned and mounted a stirrup, flinging her leg over Artemis' back. The movement brought a painful twinge, and she winced. Her pussy was sore, her legs bruised. The greasy goo was still leaking from her privates. She thought of asking Daddy what it was, but thought better of it. He came up alongside the horse, shaking his head at her unasked question. He still had his sword, but it seemed nothing worthwhile had survived the fire. Julian hooked the stirrup and mounted behind her.

"Where are we going Daddy?"

"Viridium," he said gruffly. "We'll be safe there. We can find work."

"Oh." Beth lapsed into silence as Julian slapped the reins. Artemis broke into a trot.

"Daddy?"

"Yes baby?" replied Julian after a long moment.

"The monsters in town...are they...raping the people there?"

Julian let the silence linger long, unwilling to answer. Finally he spoke.

"I'm not sure Beth. Probably."

The pair rode in silence for a minute. Beth pondered what must be happening - were the creatures ravaging the town, raping all the women and girls there? Was her friend Sarah being raped right now by freakish monsters, just like Beth had been?

"Don't worry Beth," said her father, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders again; she kept letting it slip. "If we see any more of those monsters, I'll chase them away. They won't hurt you again."

Beth nodded. She didn't tell her father that he didn't have to chase anything away. That if the monsters came again, she'd be perfectly happy letting them pull her tiny body from the saddle and rape her silly all over again. Somehow, she didn't think she could ever tell him that. Instead, she leaned back against her father's chest with a sigh - letting the blanket slip carelessly down her shoulders again.

It was a wide world out there, vicious and savage. Beth knew that now. And if there were more monsters out there like she had encountered last night - frightful demons all too happy to rape a screaming 12-year-old girl into gibbering madness - then Beth knew she would have to learn to fight. But as her father's strong arms slipped around her, briefly touching her breasts before pulling up the blanket again, Beth had never felt safer. He was Daddy. He had promised to protect her. And she knew that she would do the same thing for him - even if it meant sacrificing herself, even if it meant she had to give herself up to hordes of slavering monsters ready to rape her.

The thought filled her with a shiver. Her father hugged her more tightly, thinking she was cold from the morning air. Ahead of them, the valley spread out in a wild expanse, rays of sunlight bursting over the Eastern mountains to tumble over the green hills and babbling streams. Beth's whole life had been lived in the open space of this valley, and now she was leaving it all behind. Already, everything seemed different. Last night she had been an innocent child - before the monsters came, before they had ripped away her virginity and raped her thrashing body with their heavy cocks for hours, turning her into a gibbering, insensate fucktoy eagerly humping and sucking and squealing as they filled her insides with their strange goo.

One thing was the same though - a constant as sure as the rising sun before them. Beth had her Daddy, and as long as he was with her, she was sure nothing could ever hurt them.