This is the end of High Road. I'm all that's left, me and Chestnut. A good mule, good girl, still pulling even after three months of madness. Three months of slowly losing everybody we've ever cared about, one by one. Torn apart by monsters. It started out innocently enough. A daring route to bring back our company's fortunes. Too daring. We should have stayed home. Better broke than dead.
We heard the stories, good and bad. Monsters were taking over the continent, eating or enslaving humans as they went. Or they came as liberators, throwing off the shackles of oppressive nobility. Didn't really know who to trust until other caravans started coming in with fantastical tales and, even worse for our company, fantastical wares. A trap I realized in hindsight. Didn't matter. Profits dried up pretty fast, thanks to their superior goods. We started losing people to other companies. Not anyone important, but it was only a matter of time. Our company was our family but our family was built on trade. Had to think fast, move fast, if we were going to weather the change. Pooled gold and the last of the High Road faithful for one do or die route. Those other caravanner's told us that we had been lied to, that monsters weren't monsters after all, just misunderstood since they were different. We didn't trust what we heard completely but their products gave their words undeniable weight. So we planned a route right to the heart of the Demon Realm, but after we'd visited much safer places first. Kingdoms and lands who were either monster friendly or just empty. If things went bad we'd go back and fine another way but if they went good and we made it all the way to the demon capital, we'd be rich. We became neither.
"But you already know all that, don'tcha girl?"
Chestnut the mule gave an appreciative blow of air, happily pulling the cart despite her afflictions. Neither she nor I were directly touched by anything, but in a land as evil and twisted as this contracting an illness was a matter of time I suppose. The poor girl was withering, particularly in the front, her features starting to twist. No way to tell if she's becoming one of them, dying, or both. I know I should've just killed her or turned her loose, but I couldn't stand losing her. Not when I'm all alone.
The Elven forests were supposed to be a safe bet. They normally kept to themselves. Maintained roads in and out of the forest for us but that was it. Ancient tree dwellers like them had no need of man made goods. At least that's the way it used to be. There wasn't a thing the races of man could produce that the Elves didn't already make or could make better once they saw it. But in recent times they've been getting more friendly. Built towns along the roads, little trading posts at first that turned into towns. Never understood why and they never clarified. Some suspected the monster encroachment had something to do with it but that was one of a hundred rumors. They would, at the very least, know more about it than us and that's what we were really after when we entered the town of Little Leaf.
It was pretty as a picture. The Elves, the town, and their hospitality. Visiting Little Leaf made us forget we were on a do or die mission to save our company. They invited us into their homes, looking filthy by comparison, and served us as if they had waited years for us to visit them. Offered us more than fair prices for supplies. Assured that our route was perfectly safe and that if anything happened we would always be welcome back in Little Leaf. Some of our number almost didn't leave. Got smitten by some Elvish beauties, all over each other. We should have left them, knowing what I know now, not least because they couldn't shut up about some Elf honey they had only known for half a day.
We scarcely made it a day and night from Little Leaf before the disappearances started. It didn't take a genius to figure whatever was poaching us was taking those lovesick boys first. At first we thought they were just running away on their own but they kept leaving behind stuff they could have easily walked off with. A week later the caravan was shocked when a whole family had disappeared. Then we heard giggling from the tree's. We ran for the end of the forest to the Great Desert, hysterical. Normally a foolish call to sweat before the hot dune roads but terror had swallowed us. No one saw what had chased us. Whatever it was stole a third of our number.
The desert wasn't so bad, at first, not least because blood thirsty nightmare's weren't chasing us. The road was dusty but the soft sand stayed obediently on either side and it was cool at night. We ended up traveling only during the morning and evening to save everyone from the sun. It got easier to do the longer we traveled. The road, it turned out, was part of one of those ancient kingdoms that supposedly existed back when the Great Desert wasn't a desert. A proper scholar might know more, we just knew we liked the roads and the shelter. Ruins started showing up more frequently the further we traveled, closer to the old kingdom center, according to old Ramacus. He was one of the heads of High Road, had a deep love for the company, for trading, for meeting new people in new lands. When the monsters started really going after the continent it put a damper on his way of life.
"Stuff like this never used to happen before." he told me. "Sure you'd get the odd bandit or corrupt official but all you needed then was a little gold and a lotta charm. Or the other way around. Never had to pay in blood."
I nodded but it put my mind hardly at ease. I wasn't afraid of dying (at least not if it's quick) but I was scared leaving Chestnut alone. I had purchased her only a year prior when I got promoted to my own wagon but I realized pretty quick I bought my best friend. She's playful, smart and makes a pretty good pillow on the road. Don't judge me either when I mess up and get carried away drinking. When I don't drink all my gold I'll splurge it on oats and apples from those outsider caravans. Did wonders for her coat and helps her pull like an ox. Might have spoiled her a bit too much though, every time one of them traders pass by I get a nudge in my backside. She'll pout the whole day if she don't get her way, which is about the only bad behavior I ever got from the girl.
About two weeks into the desert we were in serious trouble. No water. We had dedicated wagons specifically for this but most of them got got in the forest. It's a shame too. Had my lips not been cracked and bleeding I would have enjoyed being in such an ancient, well preserved city. The sun wasn't an issue anymore, the ruins were still intact and getting taller all the time, ascending as we went. Murals of the ancient life and a better time surrounded us. But it hardly mattered, they were dry; dry, dry dry. Just like us. Old Ramacus was especially depressed. His ancestors had once hailed from a kingdom such as this and it was the part of the trip he was most looking forward to. Told me he'd okayed the route partly just to be here. The head's of High Road held a meeting that night, something they didn't do even when the forest started claiming people from their beds. It was that desperate. They argued briefly, but Ramacus said we might be able to find water here in the city if we looked deep enough. The city was big enough that there had to be a deep well somewhere. Seemed a flimsy chance to me but he pointed out that we weren't leaving anyway if he was wrong. We'd start at first light.
Ramacus went missing that night.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know!"
"You see anything?"
"Nothing here, what about that house?"
"We just checked there!"
"I found water!"
The little girl stopped the whole company with those three words. Flowing from further up, water was pushing down centuries of dust and grit downhill. We stumbled over each other past the muddy dust to find places where the water ran clean and drank on our hands and knees. A few of us nearly drowned as we forgot to breathe. We watched as the water would pool up behind a barrier of dust only to pool up and break the damn time after time as it flowed to the very bottom of the city. The street where we had parked was mostly clear by the time we were done, water was flowing neatly down two troughs on either side of the street, deep enough to fill the barrels. We spent most of the rest of the day filling them and looking for Ramacus. Couldn't find him, but that was hardly surprising. We were still pretty weak and could only hope the water found him too and that he would soon have the strength to come back to us. We planned on waiting an extra day to see if he'd turn up. Should've packed up and ran.
Next day Ramacus didn't turn up, we never did find him. The city was changing, exploding with green, at an unnatural rate. Should've ran just like we did back at the forest, but didn't. Too busy admiring the city coming back to life, couldn't see the danger in some plants. I can't judge them, I was just as gobsmacked. Chestnut enjoyed fresh greens for the first time in weeks. There was talk of maybe even staying longer. That talk ended quickly when the dead started rising.
I… don't like remembering this next part. They weren't fast but hounded us day and night until some fell behind. Then new abominations came. Laughing they hunted us, faster and more deadly than the undead ever were. Abominable half me, only they were women with cruel eyes. Some were half scorpion, beast, or snake. They pick off the rest. Was just me and one other lad I'd manage to save on the way out. Chestnut was worth every oat, drove out of there like her ass was on fire. I did too come to think of it.
"You doing alright?" I called back to the young man we picked up.
"Yeah..." he replied in a tone that was anything but.
"Gonna have to stop soon. Girl needs a rest. We do too, for all the good it'll do." I stated grimly. "Still got some apples from Little Leaf. Girl's earned everyone of them today."
"She's earned more than that." he replied weakly, gingerly lowering himself out of the kart.
"True. Suppose if we do make it back I'll have to give her the house and see if she'll let me sleep in the barn." I joked, reaching for the apple bag.
The young man, Johan I think it was, laughed weakly and stepped a few paces from the wagon to relieve himself. A sandworm swallowed him whole.
Chestnut and I wandered after that. Not really sure how we managed to last this long after all that. No way back, either. We slept in a nearby cave once and ended up in this dark hellscape. Always night or overcast, with glowing plants and black earth. We're in the center of the demon realm. The capital should be around here somewhere. I figure if there's a chance we could see it we should. It's the only reason I haven't driven us off a cliff yet, despite the poor girls suffering. She deserves to see what we set out to reach. Before the end.
Chestnut blows her lips at me, as I remove her bridle for the last time. We've made it, almost. I can see the blasted thing from here at least. As evil looking as I'd thought it'd be, gothic, warped and radiating strange colors. Breathing almost. All manner of strange shapes fly above it. How such a city works is beyond me but my curiosity has all but dried up. A heat's taken me, some malady from this cursed land. I expect I'll be dead before long. There's a sword in the cart but I'm too tired to use it now, might just increase our suffering instead of ending it. I'll spend one more night with my Chestnut, out of sight hopefully, and end things tomorrow. I look at the poor girl and wonder how I could ever feel sorry for myself, twisted as she is. Nearly unrecognizable as an equine, let alone a mule. With how short her front legs are it's a wonder she could pull at all. Her snout and neck are shorter too. Looking at her now she almost looks like she's crossing with a human but I doubt a sickness born of the devil would be that kind. If I weren't so tired and her side not so comfortable, I would have ended both of us today…
-
"Hee haw, hee haw!"
The caravanner stirred as best he could, body and mind mired in thick grog. It was like he was physically being weighed down. A weight that was specifically on his hips, grinding into him. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes the caravanner saw a girl desperately rubbing her crotch into his, braying like a mule. No, not like a mule, she was a mule- at least part way. She was mostly human shaped but her long ears and elongated snout were dead giveaways, as were the hooves at the end on her legs and a tail that swished behind her. She was also covered in short reddish brown fur.
"Chestnut?" he gasped.
"He ha… mma. Ahh ah ma." the donkey girl replied, trying to speak. Despite her difficulty with language the monster girl never stopped desperately shaking her hips, her new hands fumbled fruitlessly at the caravanner's pant's. They were almost identical to human hands, save for the fur and shiny black nails.
"Maasa, maaasta… elp pees." Chestnut begged, real pain in her voice. The caravanner understood that whatever or whoever she was she suffered from the same heat as himself. The heat was making them sick and horny. They needed relief.. He had no real strength left, feebly raising his arms to reach his belt. Chestnut saw what he was trying to do and helped his hands to where they needed to go. It was a gentle, tender moment they both shared. Until his pants were off at least.
The caravanner saw his swollen member for only a moment before it was swallowed under donkey girl hips slamming down on him. The caravanner knew he was doomed, not least because the wind was knocked out of him. Nothing in his life ever fit like she did. No glove, clothes or even woman had ever fit on him like this before, like her pussy had been made for him. His mind was going blank with pleasure and it was well that it did. The donkey girl's flanks still retained much of their size and heft from when she was a mule and she was lost in the throws of her heat, slamming her hips violently.
To outsiders it might seem like the couple, donkey girl in particular, were having the time of their lives having coitus in the open under the stars. But the locals of the demon realm, drawn by the sounds of moaning and thunderous ass clapping, knew that Chestnut was viciously raping the man pinned by he thighs. The caravanner was already unconscious, having blacked out after the first ejaculation overloaded his brain. The donkey girl didn't notice or didn't care as his penis was still rock hard and rode his unconscious body for half an hour after that.
When the caravanner awoke next he found that he had been cleaned and tucked into his bed roll. Before he could question reality he saw the ass now bent over and rummaging inside the wagon, giving him an insane view of her ass. The mule girl noticed him stir and stopped what she was doing to bounce over to him. Naked. Furry, but naked.
"You're awake! Thank goodness. The girls said you would be fine but I was still worried." she said, kneeling down to sit beside him.
"Girls? Who… I don't understand. What's going on?" he said, doing his best to ignore her free hanging boobs.
"Oh right." the donkey girl said, slapping her head as if she had forgotten something important. "The pamphlet said I should start from the beginning, especially since I'm an awakened beast type. Ah-hem. Hello, Master, it's me. Chestnut. Your mule."
"You're kidding. That's a silly lie, monster." the caravanner said, desperately looking anywhere but at the insane monstergirl claiming to be his traveling companion.
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. You bought me to pull the wagon for your work in the company. You call me Chessy sometimes when you're feeling affectionate. One time you came back from the tavern so drunk you slipped in shit and-"
"OKAY." the caravanner interrupted, startling Chestnut. "I believe you. But how? Mules don't just… ya know…"
"Stand on two legs?" she offered helpfully.
"Yeah. That." he replied, realizing there were very few places he could safely look when talking to her. She was a very cute girl and the fur was doing less and less to preserve her modesty in his eyes.
"That's what monster mana does, or so I've been told." Chestnut replied, standing up.
"Mana? Like magic?"
"Kinda. Got a pamphlet about it around here somewhere." she said, once again presenting her sizable rear to him while digging around in the wagon. "Some nice girls from the capital talked to me after we- ahem- anyway they gave them to me while you were asleep. It's pretty good at explaining stuff. Here, they gave me one for newly born monsters and one for new hus- I mean one for you." Chestnut said, handing him the folded paper with a blush.
The caravanner had not seen her embarrassment, trying as he might to avoid watching her orbs wobble. Chestnut's front may not have been as developed as her rear but her breasts were plenty big enough to bounce and sway with her motions. He looked at the pamphlet quickly, grateful to have somewhere safe to look and that might also explain what the hell was going on. He scarcely got through the title before he felt her naked boob brush up against his arm as she peered over his shoulder.
"Is there a reason you're naked?" he blurted out.
"I've always been naked."
"Yeah but- uh, nevermind. Anyway I should have some spare clothes in my trunk. You can wear those for now."
"Why?"
"Because I said so!" the caravanner said, frustration bubbling in his voice. He wasn't just having a difficult time adjusting, her bounding about like a nymph was making him crazy.
"Alright. I'll go cover up. I think clothes are pretty silly though."
-
It took awhile for my Master to adjust but we're doing just fine. After an… eventful week in the demon capital we set off again. We're caravanner's at heart and that ain't gonna change, monster or not. I can even still pull the wagon, better than before actually. Monstergirls are really strong as a general rule it turns out, especially when they have a partner. Bending over to pull also helps me display my best, ahem, asset, so I get to tease him all day on the road.
It's been amazing traveling the breath of the demon realm with Master now that we know it's safe. Master still gets a little nervous around so many new (and strange, even for me) girls. Men are in short supply in the demon world so he always attracts looks. Luckily they can smell my mark on him so they know he's taken but I never let him out of my sight just in case. I've actually known this whole time that we were never in any mortal danger but I was terrified a monstergirl would try to poach my Master.
I don't really have memories in the same way I do now, as a person, but I still have vague recollections. Mostly after he started spoiling me with oats and apples from this place. The monster mana is very, very low in such products but if you eat enough for long enough…. Most living things just get a small boost if they consume in moderation but I think I could tell, in my own way, that whatever was in that food was making me feel better, smarter, and helped me be closer to Master. I started understanding things I couldn't before, understood how lucky I was to have been bought by Master, not realizing I was falling head over hoof for him, even when he drank too much and made an ass of himself. Wasn't smart enough for it then.
I am now though. Smart enough and then some. I even get praised for it, being able to read and write so quickly. Master acted like it was supposed to be really hard, but I think he's exaggerating. I got praised even more when I showed him I could easily pull the cart, although it came after I messed up. Just a little bit. Master said that I couldn't pull the cart anymore and that we needed a new beast of burden to do it. I took offence to that. I got a little excited to prove myself and we ended up crashing into a fountain in one of the squares. We were fine but the wagon was smashed to pieces, the last of our goods were destroyed or floating. Thank the Demon Lord people are so nice there, they helped clean up and even found a new, monster made, wagon for us at a ridiculously steep discount. I think that helped Master get over the shock more than anything. That and I apologized thoroughly with my body later~. Now he's not threatened to get so much as a pet and brags about his 'strong girl' every chance he gets. It's a bit embarrassing but it makes me happy.
Now we're headed back with fresh supplies, trading on almost the exact route we came. We got a lot of offers to join other company's but Master decided that even if we were the only one's left, we were still High Road. I agree. So we've been traveling backwards to see if we can't find our old family, knowing what we know now. Monster's being sperm hungry semen demons might sound bad but it's a lot better than them actually eating people so our friends should be fine.
Meeting people you knew before but as a donkey is a happy but surreal experience. It's like meeting people for the first time that you've seen in your dreams. Everyone was doing just fine. Some, like those in the Elf kingdom, simply couldn't take the yearning and ran away to be with their sweethearts. Other's did get snatched, the Elves hunting those they had grown attached to, usually the men but sometimes whole families. One elderly woman told me she was taken because they could tell she wasn't going to live long enough to come back. I had to take her word for it because she had become a beautiful Elf when we got back and the only sign she might be old was her silvery gray hair. I know I shouldn't talk but if she hadn't known mine and my Master's name's I wouldn't have believed her.
The old ruins in the desert are unrecognizable now, it can't even be called a desert there anymore. Master cried when he met Ramacus again, at the side of a stunning bronze beauty with shiny black hair, dressed just like the people on the murals we saw way back. Turns out she was the old queen of this realm, deep in slumber but she felt Ramacus, her beloved, coming in her dreams and beckoned him into her sarcophagus. That was why the city began to revive. A monstergirl's husband gives them great strength, even just from touch alone, that can build each other up endlessly. She's a very powerful, very regal, monster girl but also was very nice. I could feel the difference between me, a lowly donkey and her effortless grace but she took me aside while the boys were caught up and we had my first ever girl talk. Everyone's been so nice to me ever since I became, well, me but that day I felt like I just made my first friend.
The monster's that attacked us that day after the city started waking up were actually servants who slept when the city went dormant and eventually became monsters while they were asleep. They are tied by divine oath to their queen, the Pharaoh they called her, and couldn't stir without her. The undead were just normal humans who were turned but the others were actually divine beings that already looked like monsters, like the sphinxes or scorpion guards. They eventually calmed down after reawakening to their new selves, though the men and women they caught were all raped senseless by the girls. This eventually left many men with more wives than they started with, a fact they mostly seemed to be okay with, at least now. I couldn't really understand it, I could never share my Master with anyone, but the women who were assaulted were turned into monsters now too and could probably kick out the home wreckers now if they wanted to. To my Masters relief the kids weren't harmed. Every monster knows innately that kids are not to be hurt and even the most mindless of monsters wouldn't touch them. Somehow I already knew that and even got a little offended at the notion but I didn't let it show since I know my Master is trying his best for me.
We even found poor Jonah once we left the city for the desert. He wasn't devoured by a sandworm but by a colony of sandworms acting as one super organism. Inside its maw he was being pleasured by a host of fleshly girls bound to the walls. Despite that he (and they) held a conversation pretty well. We bid him goodbye fairly quickly and I was glad Master was just as creeped out by them as I was. I may be a monstergirl but some things are just too weird, even for me.
But despite that I'm super excited to travel the whole of the monster realm, with my Master by my side. We even got a few of the old High Road crew back, inspired by our tales of romance on the road. We can't return to the old country yet but one day when the Demon Lord wills it I know we'll get to see it again. It's the last place from my past I haven't properly seen yet. Maybe when that day comes Master and I'll settle down and start a family in our old home. I'll even let Master sleep in the house!. For now we'll have to content ourselves with traveling the vast and mostly uncharted monster realm and maybe even beyond. The Dwarf lady who sold us the wagon said that it could even sail through the water, but I'm not so sure I want to test that. Hooves should stay on the ground after all.