Moonlight Kitsune

Eric Drake, known to most as Draco, leader of the Draco Bandits, sat at his desk, the candlelight casting deep shadows across his furrowed brow as he pored over the latest reports of their raids. A knock at the door drew his attention away from the reports. It was John, one of his raid captains,looking paler than usual, followed by the two women he had been waiting for. The first, a red-haired vixen, was dressed in black leather armor with two gleaming daggers at her hips. Her eyes were sharp, and she moved with the grace of a predator before standing protectively in front of the other woman. It was the second woman, however, who caught his attention. She was pale, with long silver hair and wore an elegant black kimono and carried a snow-white katana at her side that seemed almost ethereal.

He studied them more closely before his eyes met those of the silver-haired woman and he felt a sudden sense of dread. He snapped out of it when she spoke, her voice seeming to chill the very air in the room. "Well, this is interesting," she said, a grin playing on her lips before turning to John, "John, thank you for escorting us here, but now it is time for you to leave," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

John, his fear of Draco forgotten in the face of the much more terrifying woman in front of him, practically sprinted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. The guards outside didn't dare to enter, knowing better than to disturb their leader during a meeting.

Draco took a deep breath and composed himself. "I think introductions are in order," he began, his voice steady despite the fear that still lingered. "I am Eric Drake, but you can call me Draco, as I've been known for a long time.""I am Lily and this is my dear friend Luna." Luna nodded, her hand still on the hilt of her dagger, her eyes never leaving Draco's face.

"Now that we got to know each other, I would love to hear the story behind this little rendezvous," Lily said, her eyes gleaming with a hint of mischief. "How did you manage to track us down? And why, pray tell, did you extend such a... 'warm' invitation?

Before Draco could answer, Lily looked him deep in the eyes and added, "And don't lie to me, or I will...," Lily made a gesture with her hand, like she was grabbing something above her head and breaking it off.

At that, Draco turned very pale and started to back away from his desk, his hands raised in a pleading gesture. "W-what are you? How did you…?" he stuttered.

"How I found out that you are a Dragonkin? Your disguise spell may have been sufficient to fool your simple-minded bandits and the townsfolk, but I can see through such trivial illusions," Lily replied, a hint of pride in her voice as she revealed her true form. Her nine tails swished behind her, each gleaming with the light of a full moon, her ears stood proudly on top of her head, and her eyes shimmered with an inner darkness that seemed to pierce the very soul of the man before her.

Draco's eyes widened in shock and the room seemed to close in on him as Lily revealed her true nature. "A kitsune... and a nine-tailed one at that..." he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "The world must really hate me to send me a ghost from a long forgotten past." He leaned back in his chair, all the bluster and bravado draining from his posture.

"A ghost from a long forgotten past?" Lily's curiosity was piqued.

"How much do you know about your kind and their history, girl?" Draco's question hung in the air, a challenge wrapped in the guise of innocence.

"Nothing," Lily replied, her voice as sharp as the edge of a freshly sharpened blade. "I grew up all alone in a forest on the edge of the kingdom, not even knowing how I got there. Just me, the trees, the moon above and the whispers of the wind." Her eyes searched Draco's face for any hint of doubt, but his expression remained neutral.

With a sigh Draco leaned forward in his seat and began his story, "About 200 years ago the Beastkin lived together in a vast kingdom, free from discrimination and ruled by benevolent rulers, your kind, the Foxkin tribe. They were renowned for their unparalleled magical power, rivaled only by the ancient dragons, and their benevolence. This benevolence was also what brought their eventual downfall, for even then the humans were already hunting our kind for slaves and the "materials" from our bodies. Instead of fighting back, these fools tried to make peace with the humans. Foxkin are extremely rare even back then, so when they were called to peace talks, they all went. After that, only one was ever seen again, the youngest princess. Her ears and tail were cut off, and she was forced to bear the emperor's child before she too was killed. With her last breath, she cursed his bloodline, telling him that one day, someone would come and put an end to it. The kitsune blood is also the reason why, to this day, there are so many powerful mages in the Emperor's bloodline, but they are only ever able to have one child. After all of your kind were wiped out, the kingdom quickly fell apart in a power struggle over who would lead us. The ancient dragons had no interest in politics, and all the other clans thought they were the best to lead us, which led to animosity between the clans. When the humans realized what was going on, they seized the opportunity to launch an all-out attack. Our defenses, weakened by the infighting, were quickly overwhelmed. Some of us managed to escape, but most of us were either killed or taken as slaves. As the Empire grows in power, there are fewer and fewer free Beastkin; most are born into slavery and will know nothing else until they die."

Lily, after listening to the end of the story till the end, looked at Draco with disgust. "They sound like weak, spineless idiots, if someone attacked me and mine, the only fate awaiting them would be a slow, gruesome death," she said, her voice as sharp as the blades of the wind she could summon. Luna nodded in agreement, "If anyone dared to touch Mistress Lily, I would first torture and kill everyone they love before torturing them to death," she growled, her eyes burning with the fury of a thousand suns.

"Maybe they were naive, but at the very least, they gave us hope for a future without bloodshed. Even today, some Beastfolk parents tell their children about the Foxkin and the long-lost Beastfolk Kingdom." Draco's words hung in the air, a melancholic echo of a time long gone.

At that, Lily turned to look at Luna with a raised eyebrow, her expression a silent question. Luna met her gaze with a nod, confirming Draco's words. "It is true, mistress, that is how I knew what you were when we first met and that you were very powerful," she said, her voice tinged with admiration.

"Thank you for the history lesson, but I think it is time to get back on topic, why did you invite us to your base and how did you know we were in this inn? If I am correct, you have someone in that town who informs you when young women enter the town. If they follow your invitation, you capture them here and probably sell them as slaves, and if they don't follow your invitation, you just take them by force since the whole town is afraid of you anyway. Correct?" Lily asked.

Draco nodded solemnly. "You're right about everything except one thing, I don't have just one informant in Naly, the whole town is my informant. In the beginning, they sold their daughters to me for protection, but after they were all gone, they started selling young women traveling through their town. In your case, it was the guild receptionist who informed us of two young women who wanted to become adventurers and would be easy targets." His voice was thick with defeat as he spoke the truth, knowing full well the fate that awaited him for his actions.

Luna's grip on her dagger tightened, her eyes burning with anger at the revelation. "How can you live with yourself, knowing that you are tearing families apart?" she spat, her voice trembling with the rage of a thousand betrayals.

Before Luna could act on her rage, Lily put a hand on her shoulder, "Calm down, we need answers before we act." Then she turned back to Draco with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Just one more question, who are you selling the young women to?"

Draco's gaze dropped to the floor and his shoulders slumped. "Count Victor in Taly," he murmured, the name bringing a fresh wave of anger into the room. "He bought most of them. Some have been sold to brothels, but always different ones." The admission hung in the air, a stark reminder of the horrors the people were capable of.

"And what does he do with them?" Luna's voice was low and dangerous as she stepped forward.

"I don't know what he wants them for, I have actually never spoken to the man himself. I was approached by a servant bearing the seal of his house. Each transaction went as follows: A servant bearing the Count's seal would arrive in a carriage, inspect the goods, hand over the money and leave with the goods," Draco's voice cracked as he tried to defend himself, his eyes flickering between the two powerful women.

"Thank you for the information, but you still have to be punished for disturbing Luna's cuddle time," Lily said with a wink to Luna, whose face turned red in seconds as she stammered, "C-Cuddle time? I, I don't know what you're talking about, mistress, I swear! I would never..."

Ignoring Luna's protests with an affectionate chuckle, Lily turned her full attention back to Draco, "Isn't she just too cute?" she mused, her smile reaching her cold, silver eyes for the first time since they had entered his office. "But let's not let her innocence distract us from the matter at hand." She paused, allowing the silence to stretch out like a tightrope, before continuing, "Your punishment will be fun. It will be…"