63. Convalescence and Conversation
They circled around the city, sticking to side streets and avoiding the plaza and main roads, hoping to avoid any guards, but as time passed, they realized none were out. Fortunately, they didn’t meet any other cultists either.
“Miu, can you make sure no one is following us?”
“Yes, nya.” Miu faded into the shadows of the next alley.
It took several more streets and ten more minutes for them to get back to the warehouse. It was well past dark when they finally entered.
Freja was already back, waiting, and worried about them. Willowbelle and Adelina were waiting by the door as well, also worried.
Miu joined them about five minutes after. “No one, nya.”
“Thank you.” Bonny smiled and hugged her. “Though if Wrath is here, he probably already knows where we’re staying. We should warn Colette.”
“Bonny!” Clara called her over as they moved further into the large building.
Bonny left Miu and Eloisss to share the details of the tower adventure, and to introduce Violet to the others, while she went to warn Colette and check on the three cow girls.
“We’ve been waiting for you.” Bess revealed her udder. It was no longer a small bulge under her skirt, but protruded out, swollen and full. “We wanted you to be the first to milk us.”
Bonny laughed and hugged them both. “I’m sorry, but can you wait a little longer? Eloisss and I were injured earlier.”
“Injured? How?” Colette asked.
Bonny quickly relayed the events of the cultist attack, including the weird knives and throwing stars. “So, we’re a little worried that Wrath knows we’re here. Our presence may put all of you in danger.”
“I can handle a few cultists.” Colette wasn’t swayed. “I haven’t heard of the black poison on the knives. May I see the wound?”
Bonny took off her robe and armor covering her torso, leaving just her thigh high leggings and garter belt on. She turned to show the wound on her back, which was oozing a mix of ichor and blood. The pain hadn’t really increased after she triggered pain management and tried curing it, but it hadn’t gotten better, even under the influence of her Regeneration aura.
“You probably shouldn’t touch that. Some of the courtesans have an illness with black corruption that resists healing as well. This looks different, but may be related.”
“Does it hurt?” Nellie asked.
“Yes, but I have a skill to reduce pain.” Bonny hugged her as well, being careful of the wound. “We captured one of the cultists. Let me check on them and I’ll be back in a bit.”
She headed back to the other side of the warehouse, where the group had set up blankets in a stall on the end, on the other side of the cattle they had brought in. Eloisss had stripped the beaver kin cultist and laid her in the corner, on her back. She was unconscious, but they still tied her arms and legs together.
The stomach wound wasn’t too serious, except for the presence of ichor seeping from the wound.
“Bonny, sshe followss Pesstilensce, not Wrath.” Eloisss pointed at a tattoo near the beaver kin’s heart, an arrow with a black tip. “Wrath and Pesstilensce are working together.”
“Spirit Triage!” Bonny examined both the cultist and Eloisss. Black lines were starting to radiate out from the wounds on both of them. “I’ll experiment on the cultist, before trying to heal you, Eloisss. Just in case this goes wrong somehow.”
"Ssoundss wisse." She agreed.
“Demonic Pain Management!” Bonny had previously been warned about this, but decided to try it on the cultist. Instead of a mental visual of a dial from one to ten, this one went from ten to twenty. It amplified pain rather than reduced it, possibly doubling the amount of pain someone felt from an injury. Not something to use on a patient. Bonny dismissed it without changing anything.
She tried mending next. “Demonic Mending!” At first, nothing seemed to happen. The wound still oozed black ichor and she could see the black lines spreading out around it. The beaver kin jerked and convulsed as she concentrated on the wound. That couldn’t be good.
Bonny stopped and examined the wound again. The black lines had shifted under her spirit vision. Something had changed, but the cultist seemed to feel pain even when unconscious.
“Pain Management! Demonic Mending!” Bonny dialed the cultist’s pain levels down to five, then tried again. The corruption was responding to the treatment, better than with Divine healing, but it was still slow. Was there anything else? Bonny pulled up her skills again, “Status Skills!”
Skills: (no skills available)
Create Water (all)
Mending (all)
Pain Management (all)
Panacea (all)
Sacrifice (demonic)
Spirit Triage (divine)
Triage (all)
Ward (all)
Wound Transfer (demonic)
Non-Class Skills:
Invigorate (arcane, divine)
Panacea could also use the Demonic affinity, as could Triage. She triggered them immediately, “Demonic Triage! Demonic Panacea!” This worked wonders, she got a much better visualization of the corruption, as the corruption started to fade away.
The cultist’s wound stopped oozing immediately after it was cured. Afterward, a simple “Mending!”, with no special affinity, healed it as well.
“Eloisss, I have it.” Bonny turned to her and immediately turned her pain level down before triggering the spells. “Pain Management 1! Demonic Triage! Demonic Panacea! Demonic Mending!”
The lamia’s bicep wound stopped oozing and healed as well. Just to be sure, Bonny checked it closer, “Triage! Divine Triage!” Everything looked clean, so she released the pain management channeled skill.
“Okay. As near as I can tell, Divine and Demonic magic repel each other. Since the wound was tainted with Demonic corruption, Divine healing was repulsed and normal healing didn’t have the power needed. How are you feeling, Eloisss?”
The lamia flexed her arm and swung it around. “It iss good. Thank you, Bonny.” She smiled and leaned in for a kiss. Bonny returned it and hugged her tightly.
“I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t have access to demonic healing. My demonic affinity is aligned with Lust, who doesn’t necessarily like pain or sickness, unless it’s related to desire and sex, of course. If I was a champion to Wrath or Sloth, this might have ended differently. How do people normally deal with cultists or sickness?”
Freja answered, “People usually die. Often painfully. It’s why cultists are shunned and executed if found.”
“Oh. Let’s try to get some answers from her when she wakes up, then I guess we need to turn her over to the guards. I don't want to just kill her when she's not doing anything.” Bonny closed her eyes and triggered the same healing on herself, not bothering to turn down her pain further than the three she had set it to earlier, wanting to see what the pain felt like for future reference.“Demonic Triage! Demonic Panacea! Demonic Mending!”
The corruption burned and stabbed at her flesh, like thorns being dragged through a rash of poison ivy. "Fuck! I won't try that again. Anesthesia is definitely necessary for Demonic healing."
She triggered a normal “Mending!” on both herself and Eloisss and released the pain management skill. “I need to go take care of Bess and Clara, but I’ll be back before long. Thanks for the great work today, everyone.” She gave everyone a quick hug and kiss, then left to go back over to the cleaning station, where Colette and the cow girls were finishing up.
“Bonny!” Nessie noticed her first and called out. Her eyes shifted between Bonny's face, breasts, and further down.
“Hi, girls. Sorry for the delay. How are you doing?” Bonny smiled at each of them, then flushed slightly when she noticed her tunic and robe still piled on the floor. She glanced down to see she was still just wearing her pants and belt. Well, she didn't mind if no one else complained.
“It’s painful. Why does making milk hurt so much?” Bess whined back. Both she and Clara had pulled their skirt waistbands down, to relieve pressure on their udders. They eyed Bonny up and down as well.
“I suspect you know more about these things than I do.” Bonny laughed. “Should I take care of you or Clara first?”
“Clara.” Bess pointed to her sister.
“Okay.” Bonny pulled Clara to her feet, leaned in, and whispered, “Should I still treat you like a cow? Do you want to go somewhere more private?”
Clara blushed and nodded her head. “Yes. We, uhh. We can do it here.”
“You’re sure?”
She nodded again and retrieved two pails, handing an empty one to Bonny. The other had grain in it. When Bonny peered over at it, she blushed again and set it down, then stripped. Once ready, she knelt on all fours and started eating grain from the pail. Her teats and breasts both hung down, about halfway to the floor.
Bonny tried not to smile as she sat next to Clara and slid the pail under her. She stroked Clara’s back, from shoulders to tail, a couple of times, then patted her on the hip, “Good girl. I’m going to milk you now.”
The other three stared as Bonny reached under and started milking Clara, alternating teats. Colette finally spoke up, “Clara, is this what you wanted?”
“Mooo!” Clara looked at Colette and lowed at her.
Several of the dairy cows returned her call. “Mooo! Mooo.”
Bess started giggling, which spread to Nellie, then Bonnie. Clara stiffened and flushed bright red.
Bonny stopped milking Clara to slide up and kiss her, hands holding her head. Her lips tasted like the grain, sweet and earthy. “It’s okay if you want this. Don’t be ashamed. Can I explain what you’re doing?”
Clara nodded and answered quietly, “Mooo.” Her large eyes were wet with unshed tears.
“Okay.” Bonny patted Clara on the head and moved back to continue milking her. “Last night, Clara asked for something similar. I won’t go into details, but she said that there was some prejudice against her and Bess because of their udders. Bess, I assume that’s why you both moved to live with Colette out of town?”
Bess nodded.
Bonny patted Clara on the hip again, then started milking the other set of teats. “Where I come from, we have something called animal play, where someone pretends to be an animal. Clara seems to be doing that as a method of therapy. That by acting like a cow, with someone who accepts her and plays along, she doesn’t feel the hurt and pain from the past bullying.”
Colette sat in thought for a moment. “I never knew. I bet I know who did it though. Clara, do you want me to…”
“No.” Bonny answered, continuing to squeeze milk out in alternating sprays. The bucket was almost full. “Let her heal first. If she needs revenge, she’ll ask for it when she's ready.”
“You are special, Bonny.” Colette said, shaking her head with wonder. “I’m glad we met. If you were older, or I were younger, I expect I would be one of your girls as well.”
Bonny blushed, then carefully moved the full pail aside. “Can I get another?”
Nellie handed her one and Bonny slid this one under Clara’s breasts. Her nipples had elongated from the night before, though they were nowhere near as big as her teats. Bonny hefted and felt Nellie's enormous breasts, groping her for a minute before starting. Bonny squeezed Nellie's large areola and pulled down on her tits.
“Age is just a number, Colette.” Bonny grinned over at her. “I think Willow and Adelina are both several hundred years old. Maybe Kanae as well.”
Colette laughed as Bonny finished up, the second pail about half full.
Bonny moved it to the side and started petting Clara. “Good girl. Do you want me to brush your hair and coat?”
Clara nodded. “Mooo!” This time, when the cattle responded, no one laughed and Clara didn't blush.
Nellie ran to get a brush from the wall and tossed it to Bonny, who started brushing Clara’s coat. “Can I help?” Nellie held up a second brush.
“Yes, I think so.” Bonny agreed.
Nellie hurried over and they working together, one on each side.
After a few minutes, Bonny looked over at Bess, who was watching with a look of envy. She stood, “Good girl, Clara. I’m going to let Nellie finish up and brush out your hair. I’ll go get started on Bess. Okay?”
Clara lowed again, still in cow persona, “Moo!”
Bess pulled off her top, but left her skirt on, waistband still pulled low and tucked under her udder.
“How do you want me to do this?” Bonny asked, as she fetched another milk pail.
“Sit here and I’ll lean forward?” Bess said it questioningly, while pulling a stool in front of her.
They sat facing each other. Bonny placed the pail between Bess’ knees and reached forward to pull at her teats, directing the stream of milk down, into the pail.
“I’ve tried to find out what other cow girls like us do, and they usually sit like this and milk themselves.” She leaned forward and caressed Bonny's breasts, then moved her arms around Bonny’s neck and kissed her. “I think I like this better than I expected.”
Bonny giggled as Bess captured her lips again. She milked Bess by feel and sound, trying to keep the milk in the pail. She wasn’t always successful and splashed some on both Bess’s legs as well as her own. It was fine though, they could clean that up later.