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Part VI
Once back at his headquarters, he had no trouble finding faywort.
He pulled up a big clump of it, put it into his mouth, and began to chew.
Immediately, a taste of unparalleled bitterness assaulted him. His stomach
cramped up violently, and a surge of nausea almost brought him to his knees.
And this was before he'd swallowed anything! Somehow, he managed to get the
awful stuff down his throat. Then he lay there, moaning and gasping and doing
everything in his power not to throw up. Perhaps he'd poisoned himself; if
so, he wanted to die before another minute passed.
It took half an hour at least, but the nausea and cramping finally
subsided. He lay still for another half-hour, for he was utterly exhausted.
Could it possibly have worked? He certainly didn't feel as if it had; but
he staggered to his feet anyway, to give it a try. He bent down to run, and
almost before he thought of his destination, he was at the base of the hill.
Then, in even less time, he darted back up to the top. He had never run so
fast, and his fatigue had completely disappeared. He did a few longer dashes,
to convince himself he wasn't hallucinating; the results were just as spectacular. "And
now for Mori," he said.
He found her at the edge of a wheat field. She was as lovely as ever,
and he responded as he had before: getting so erect that he almost came on
the spot. Feeling a surge of confidence now, he didn't bother trying to sneak
up behind her. Instead, he just bore down on her at his new, augmented speed.
She had been chewing on an ear of wheat. When she saw him coming,
and saw how fast he was, she dropped the ear, and for just a moment a look
of terror crossed her face. Then she took off.
He had been a little too confident. She was still incredibly fast,
and bringing her down was going to be work. The distance between them slowly
lessened, but it was taking all his energy to draw close. His desire, and
his fear for his reputation, kept him going. Closer, closer, closer. At last
he was near enough to reach out with his paw. She shrieked as he grabbed
her cottontail. She pulled free and surged forward, but it cost her energy
she could ill afford. He closed in on her once more and grabbed her tail
again, this time with his teeth. Another shriek. Now she darted sideways,
crashing through the wheat into the next row. Her stratagem worked: he lost
his grip on her, and he used up valuable time turning and smashing through
after her.
Still, he made up most of the distance, until he was only about a yard behind.
He didn't quite feel tired yet, but he didn't know how long he could keep up
this pace. Perhaps he was once again going to lose her. No !
He wouldn't think like that. He had to focus his mind on the task at hand.
He kept his eyes on her bobbing tail and forced himself to run faster. It cost
him almost unbearable pain: his stomach was seizing up, his heart felt as if
it might explode. But once again, he came within range and his jaws closed
for a second time on her tail.
She shrieked again, twisted to get away from him again; but this time
she could not. He held on tight, then jerked his head savagely to pull her
off balance. She fell to her knees, and he was immediately on top of her.
She struggled hard, scratching at him with her nails, but they made no impression
on his thick fur. He pushed her down on her back and thrust his muzzle between
her thighs. His teeth punctured her pussy, and its sweetness surpassed even
Popkin's. Mori cried out: a long wail of bitter despair.
When he got to the fallow field, he laid his latest catch gently beside
the others and tied her up with faybind. Then he went over to Mandy, at the
opposite end, and woke her.
"Well, I got her," he said. "I remember my agreement."
"And . . . and you're going to go back on it!" she cried. "I
just knew it! I just knew it! There's some loophole . . . I just knew it!"
"There's nothing of the kind, you little twit. Here, let me cut
that faybind for you." And so he did. "The venom's weakened to
the point where you can get up and run off now, so why don't you do just
that?"
Slowly, unsteadily, she rose to her feet. All the while, she kept
her eyes on him, as if he might spring. He made no move to do so. At last,
when she'd gotten used to being upright again, she left at a brisk trot,
glancing back at him frequently as she went.
"I'll see you later," said Sly when she was out of sight.
Then he returned to Mori. All the bunnies he'd brought down were splendid,
but here was an especial loveliness. It was perhaps the reddish tinge to
her brown hair, or the pale, pink softness of her skin. And there was a .
. . calmness to her beauty. Except for the bite-marks near her genital slit,
she looked as if she'd settled down to a very restful sleep. Her bosom rose
and fell gently. Her face showed no sign of pain or fear. Sly almost regretted
that she'd be awakening soon.
He waited beside her until she did. She moaned a few times, then her
eyes opened. When she saw him, she shuddered. "Y-you! You . . . learned
our secret then?"
"Yes," said Sly. "Thanks to Mandy."
"Ooooo, that . . . treacherous bitch! I'm not . . . not the least
bit surprised!"
"It was very clever of you. How'd you figure it out?"
"You mean f-faywort? I saw its . . . its effect on other . .
. critters that ate it. So I tried it out. The first time almost k-killed
me. I learned . . . for maximum effect . . . you have to . . . have to keep
eating it. M-Mandy and a lot of others . . . d-didn't like hearing that.
Not a big deal . . . while the old lady p-protected us . . . but I knew .
. . I knew . . . someone like you would show up . . . when she was gone."
"Well, you made me work for my fee. You can take some comfort
in that."
"I know a lot of other . . . forest magic . . . secrets that
m-might prove useful to you or your employer . . . if we could just . . .
."
"No," said Sly. "I'm sorry, pretty girl, but what I bag, stays
bagged." (Well, there was Mandy, but he'd
soon set her to rights.)
"But I'm sure . . . I mean there must be . . . ."
Sly just shook his head. Mori began to tremble violently now. Her
eyes filled with tears. A little whimper escaped her.
"Don't fight it," he said. "Don't fight it, my sweet
pretty fay."
The captured bunny began to sob. "It was . . . Paradise!" she
cried. "Paradise! And now it's . . . over! Over!"
"And who was the serpent in this Paradise?" said Sly.
"You! It was . . . you!" More sobs.
"And what did I do?"
"Figured out our defenses . . . and soon you'll . . . catch everyone
. . . the way you caught me! Oh God, I'm caught! I'm caught! It hurts! It
really, really hurts!" And then she just wept, kicking from time to
time with her lovely black heels.
He let her wear herself out. Then he put her back to sleep with a nip, just as he had the others.
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