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Rancent can't help but remember the last time they were this deep into the woods this late at night, the chirping and croaking of the natural nightlife of the fey forest more of a tangible sensation than an audible one, the way it seems to cling to their skin. It's an overload of sound, more than their ears can process, and the dense shadows of the forest seem to echo every bit of it back a hundred times. That time, they had been sent to by their queen to deliver a message to the king of the Night court, but they'd been intercepted by the prince instead.
This time, there is no missive, no reason for them being here other than their queen's cruelty. She thought it would be funny to make them walk home. He's been walking for what feels like days at this point, although perhaps it's only been hours; the blackness makes it difficult to tell time, and the foliage of the canopy is so thick that he doubts he'd be able to see much more even in the daylight.
A quiet rustling in the underbrush ahead makes Rancent hesitate, coming to an uncertain stop. He waits, holding the magically illuminated stone ahead of him, but the edges of the light it casts fade into the shadows blanketing the trees. An eerie feeling begins to crawl beneath their skin, similar to the last time they'd been here.
Leaves crunching behind them sends a jolt through their body. The familiar sensation of being watched settles on the nape of their neck, draping like a weight across their shoulders and filling them with dread.
Rancent turns slowly, and his breath catches as a pair of eyes reflect the light of his magic from the blackness. He takes one slow step back, then another, and then the beast is springing from the shadows.
The wolf hits him with it's full weight, teeth closing on Rancent's forearm which he flings up in an effort to protect himself. The sudden pain tears a sharp cry from him before his back hits the dirt, knocking the air out of him, head smacking against the forest floor. He tries to kick the beast, jams his free arm into it's throat to force it to unclamp its jaws, but it holds fast. Familiar golden eyes gleam as they meet his and Rancent reaches blindly for the dagger at his belt. Panic crawls up his throat as he swings it in a wide arc, attempting to stab his attacker, but the wolf wrenches it's teeth free and leaps back just in time.
Gasping for breath, Rancent attempts to crawl backward, but pain shoots up his arm when he puts weight on it, and instead he slips on the detritus of the forest floor, fumbling his dagger somewhere in the underbrush as his violet blood drips from the beast's teeth.
"You are not welcome here, messenger." The words echo in Rancent's head, and he draws in a shuddering breath, recognizing the voice and the golden eyes of the wolf for what they are. Tenebris, Prince of Dusk. "I warned you that the next time I caught you in my court, you would suffer for it. Did I not?"
Grasping their bleeding forearm with their other hand, Rancent's breath comes in shallow bursts, heart pounding so hard they can feel it in their throat.
"I mean no offense, your Highness," his typically smooth voice trembles despite his best efforts. "It was my intention to pass through this area peacefully, nothing more."
The wolf growls, head lowered as he stalks forward, and Rancent tries again to move backward, kicking up dirt and leaves as he scrambles. He only manages to move a foot or so before there are teeth on him again, clamping down on his ankle and pulling him forward with a sharp tug.
Rancent cries out again, a strangled sound as the Prince of Shadows' fangs puncture his boot and sink into flesh, dragging them over the ground. They twist at the hips, attempting to claw into the earth, but their fingers dig into soft soil which provides them no purchase. Changing tactics, they lift their free foot to kick at the wolf, feeling satsified when the hit lands solidly across his snout and he momentarily releases them. Rancent flips, pushing themselves to all fours despite the screaming pain in their arm, trying once more to crawl away. It lasts all of two seconds before the prince bites again, this time onto Rancent's leg.
A scream rips its way from him as he feels the sharp pull, flesh rending with a sickeningly wet sound. The pain is blinding, and Rancent whines, cheek pressed to the dirt as the prince's shape changes above them.
Tenebris chuckles, pressing two fingers into the exposed and torn muscle of the changeling's leg, admiring the unusual lavender color. Rancent jerks against the pain, sobbing as the prince licks the tears from his cheek in one long swipe of tongue.
"I've heard that feasting on a changeling can grant one the same shapeshifting abilities that you creatures are born with," Tenebris muses, rolling Rancent onto their back. Clawed fingers grip their tunic, peeling layers back until papery white skin is exposed to cool, damp air. Those same claws prick the spaces between his ribs, digging in sharply, and Rancent can't even suck in a breath to scream this time as the fingers grasping his ribcage hold it in place and keep it from expanding.
The prince continues almost conversationally, like he's idly chatting with a friend. "Have you heard this? I often wonder if it's true, or how much one would have to consume for it to work."
Rancent stares into the blackness of the canopy above, one persistent firefly blinking somewhere overhead. The only sound they can manage is a whimper as they curl the hand of their uninjured arm around one of the prince's wrists, squeezing weakly. Tenebris only laughs at their struggle, forcing Rancent to attempt to gasp for air, feeling their ribs threatening to break apart under his grip.
"Let's find out, hm?" Tenebris removes his claws from their sides, and Rancent shakes their head minutely, trying again to kick at the figure atop him. He catches their foot effortlessly, squeezing it until Rancent hears as much as feels their bones popping and cracking under the pressure.
They scream while Tenebris uses sharp nails to slice up one of their pant legs, then sinks sharpened teeth into the meat of their thigh with a snarl. He takes a chunk of flesh out of Rancent's leg, their blood gushing down his chin. Rancent watches, lightheaded and woozy as the prince chews and swallows with a vicious smile. Tenebris grasps their chin painfully with one hand, pulling their mouth open to lick inside of it, and Rancent gags on the taste of their own blood. They groan, feeling sick as Tenebris pulls back, fingers releasing their chin to instead work at their belt, and a new jolt of panic shoots through Rancent.
Summoning a burst of strength, they jerk, trying to throw the prince off balance, but he doesn't budge. Clawed hands rake against the exposed skin of Rancent's abdomen and hips, slicing into him as his belt is undone, and then his pants are being roughly pulled down over his hips. Rancent feels blindly along their belt on the ground for their sword, tries to look for any glint of their dagger in the underbrush, but his hands only grasp soil and plants, clumsy fingers crushing leaves and stems.
"Please," their voice is shredded from screaming and they can barely hold their head up with the way it's spinning.
Tenebris grins, golden eyes meeting Rancent's for just a moment before his fangs are sinking into Rancent's hip, digging deep into the flesh and pulling. Rancent arches his back against the pain, which sends spasms through him as he tries unsuccessfully to wriggle away from the prince, gasping and groaning in fear and desperation. Rancent's blood pours from the wound left behind as Tenebris rends more of his flesh away, but he can barely feel the sticky heat of it coating his skin. The edges of his vision are pushing in, darker than the forest around him. Tenebris must notice him slipping, because he makes a disappointed sound, and then Rancent's face is stinging sharply, forcing him to suck in air as Tenebris slaps him once, twice, three times.
"Stay with me now," he purrs, sliping Rancent's pants down farther. Rancent whines. They're aware of movement between their legs, and then Tenebris is leaning over them, grasping their hip, lifting their bleeding leg. Rancent meets his gaze, trying to focus on the gold of his eyes to stay awake. This appears to please the prince, who licks the wound on their hip once with a smile. "Eyes on me, my little meal."
Tenebris' hand slips between their thighs, groaning at the hot slick that coats his fingers when he dips them into Rancent's folds. His eyelids flutter as he looks down at the changeling, a slow, wicked grin spreading over his face. Rancent can't help the whimper that looses from them, sure that their cheeks would be flushed in humiliation if they hadn't already lost so much blood. The prince hums, considering them for a moment.
There is a burst of magic, cooling and regenerative, and Rancent feels a considerable amount of pain leave him, wounds beginning to stitch closed, breath rushing into him as he surges away from the welcoming depths of unconsciousness.
"Better?"
Rancent swallows several times, nodding shallowly, truly speechless for perhaps the first time in his life. Tenebris smiles balefully, claws puncturing their hip anew, and Rancent gasps and twitches but doesn't try to pull away. Their heart is a jackrabbit in their chest, beating so hard they can hardly catch their breath, still gripped tightly in the jaws of fear.
"Good," Tenebris says, voice a purr that is becoming uncomfortably familiar to Rancent. That's all he says before they feel a hard cock at their entrance, the prince thrusting into them, splitting them open as the girth of it stretches them uncomfortably. Rancent moans, clinging tightly to the hand at his hip, back arching off the forest floor. It's achingly slow, and Rancent is nearly panting, staring into the prince's golden eyes all the while. With a roll of his hips, Tenebris sheathes himself fully in Rancent's dripping cunt and then sinks his teeth into their leg draped over his shoulder, just below the knee.
Rancent bucks wildly, keening at the pain as well as the way the motion pushes him against Tenebris and the resulting drag of the prince's cock inside him. He's unbelievably wet in spite of — or maybe because of — the pain. The sharpened teeth tear a piece from his leg and Rancent thrashes, screaming as claws press into the meat of his hip causing even more violet ichor to pour from him. Tenebris licks Rancent's blood from his lips as he pulls out, then slams back into him with such force that Rancent cries out, squeezing his eyes shut.
Tenebris releases their hip to grab their chin again, pinching until Rancent can feel his jaw creaking and he opens his eyes, meeting the prince's golden ones again.
"Look at me." Its a command, and Rancent intends to follow it.
They stay like that for several long breathless moments as he sets a brutal pace, rutting into Rancent like a feral animal with a grin to match. Tenebris' mouth and chin are smeared with dark lilac, drops of it trailing down his neck and disappearing beneath his shirt. Rancent whines, clutching Tenebris' shoulder with one hand, the other desperately gripping the earth below as he works his hips back against the prince, meeting each thrust with a sound of pained pleasure.
The hand holding Rancent's chin falls away, trailing down his chest, claws cutting deep grooves into the soft flesh of his abdomen. He shudders, arching into the contact as Tenebris' cock hits a spot inside of him that makes him moan, the sound carrying through the woods. Tenebris smirks, angling his hips to hit that spot again and again, leaving Rancent gasping and crying as he writhes against the prince.
"Such delicious prey." Rancent is sure it isn't meant as praise, but it makes him shiver all the same. Tenebris laughs, feeling their reaction. "Pathetic."
His teeth close on Rancent's neck, and they come apart, shaking violently as Tenebris' teeth pierce their skin, blood gushing around their neck and pooling in the dirt below. Rancent's vision begins to fade like before, but more rapidly this time. It feels like falling away from his body even while he can still feel it shaking, feel himself coming on the prince's cock. They can hear the whistle of their breath through their punctured windpipe, and can feel Tenebris' tongue raking over the holes he created — and then the same magic pouring into them again, sealing their flesh.
Rancent sobs, trembling as Tenebris licks the tears from his face once more. He readjusts his grip on Rancent and continues fucking into him, pace growing uneven and desperate. Rancent grips his shirt tightly and whimpers, clenching around the thick cock inside of him, making Tenebris' hips stutter in their movement for a moment before he pounds into them even harder, growling into Rancent's ear, the sound purely animal.
"Tenebris," they breathe the prince's name, and his hand wraps around their throat, squeezing hard as he bites into their shoulder. Rancent groans, pulsing around Tenebris as he cums, slamming his hips against Rancent's one final time, heat flooding their cunt and overflowing, dripping onto the leaves and dirt beneath them.
Rancent can do nothing but lie there beneath him for a moment, panting as the Tenebris releases his grip on their throat. There's a sick sense of satisfaction, seeing that the prince is also breathing heavily, gaze unfocused after his orgasm. When Tenebris finally moves, it's to unhook Rancent's legs from his shoulders, keeping hold of one as the other drops like dead weight. He closes his teeth on the inside of Rancent's thigh, taking one last bite of his meal before forcibly tugging the changeling's pants back up. Rancent cries out, a sob on the end of the sound as the fabric of their pants hits the fresh wound, clinging as their blood instantly saturates the garment. Tenebris silently re-buckles their belt for them, and Rancent just watches, still speechless and breathless, distracted by the burning in their leg and the feeling of the prince's cum leaking out of them and soaking into their pants.
Tenebris tucks himself away, still half-hard, and stands. Rancent watches him look them over slowly, apparently enjoying his work, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Get out of my court." In a blink, he melts into the shadows, leaving Rancent alone on the floor of the dark forest, struggling to catch their breath. They limp the rest of the way back to their court, grateful when no one there mentions the blood staining his clothes, or asks about the dirt and leaves still lodged in his hair.