"We're here, boy."

 

Erin jumped a bit at the sudden interruption. He lurched as the cart came to a stop, and the gruff man opposite him pointed over the front of the cart. "Forest's edge is a quarter mile that way. Another cart'll be here come mornin' to get ya. Assumin' ya don't fuck this up, anyway." Erin nodded stoically (or tried to, at least), and hopped off the cart. His grumpy chauffeur addressed him one more time as the cart began its return trip. "Even a wimp like you should be able to handle a few missin' villagers..."

The young adventurer collected his thoughts as the cart meandered over the horizon. He was kitted out with some shabby leather armor, enough supplies for a day or two, and a cold steel blade forged for defense against the fey, loaned to him by the local Guild that sent him here. He was only here to track down a couple missing persons; hopefully he wouldn't need to so much as unsheathe the sword. He shuddered to think of what the Guild would do to him if it were damaged. Not like they were exactly fond of him.

 

He tried to push down his anxieties as he made his way to the edge of the forest. The comments about his size didn't bother him so much. He may have been 5'10", baby faced, and twinkishly proportioned, but those facts never concerned him when he looked in the mirror. What didn't sit well were the insults over his lack of skill. Not that he was exactly proud. Skill was never the end for Erin, only the means. He dreamed since he was a kid of being a respectable hero belonging to the Guild, beloved and accepted by his community. But to call his tryout performances "lackluster" would be generous. He was on his fifth tryout now, and surely by now the approval committee had to be getting sick of-

 

He cut that thought short. Two trees lined either side of his path, both bound in rope and adorned with talismans. Beyond those trees ended the domain of humankind, and began the domain of more sinister things. No time to indulge his nagging worries, he would need his wits about him if he wanted to complete his mission. He gripped the hilt of his sword for a moment, then mustered his resolve and crossed the boundary. He felt... well he wasn't sure how he expected it to feel, crossing into Fey turf, but he didn't really feel any different. He shrugged, and continued forward.

 

 

It occurred to Erin after an hour of following the path that he wasn't quite sure what he was looking for. He was here to track down two villagers roughly his age, but he had little more information than that. He cursed under his breath for zoning out when the Guild man presumably briefed him about these details. He couldn't rely on tracks either; he'd kept his gaze on the path in front of him since crossing the boundary, but hadn't seen any tracks at all. The forest road was magical, maybe it cleared away tracks of its own accord? He should probably keep his eyes on the sides of the path. The path's enchantments should ward off the minor spirits that lurk these woods, but he might find tracks or other clues off the path. Although if those villagers had left the path... there was probably no saving them by now.

 

The young warrior was stirred from his thoughts by a deep feminine voice, seemingly from all sides. "What a beautiful creature has entered my woods! Would the fetching specimen give me his name...?"

 

A fey. And probably a powerful one, given how it could speak through the forest itself. Erin gave a calculated response. "I- I'm wise to your trickery fey! My name is not for you to have! I'm here to bring home the two villagers who were lost to these woods. What became of them?"

 

The forest chuckled its reply. "How cunning of you indeed, little human. If you want your "villagers", you'll have to come get them~"

 

Erin sighed and continued down the path.

 

 

Erin stopped after what must have been hours of fruitlessly wandering the forest's roads. He was tired and beyond frustrated, and felt an unwelcome brain fog from it all. From what little sunlight he could see, it must have been past midday already, yet not much warmer for it. He sat to the side of the path and took some bread out of his bag, munching on it while he took stock of his situation.

 

The forest around him was quiet save for the constant breeze rustling the trees, which were full of leaves despite the cold. It wasn't winter yet, but it was close enough that he doubted he had much sunlight left. This time of year was also when the fey were at their most dangerous, even if one ignored the lack of daytime separating the twilight hours they preferred.

 

A gust of wind blew through the still leafy trees, carrying the season's chill and the scent of the forest. He could pick out the bitter, woodsy aromas of several local trees and brushes, but among them was a saccharine fruity smell he couldn't place, but swore he recognized.  He could work that problem while he worked his actual problem, and maybe the distraction was what he needed to get him out of this headspace.

 

As he finished his lunch the forest spoke again. "Aww is someone feeling grouchy?"

 

Erin groaned. "This would be easier if I had a clue where to go!"

 

He heard giggles from all around. "If you want to find what you're looking for, maybe you should follow the sweet thing, sweet thing~"

 

The young adventurer blushed at the unexpected pet name, then took a sharp breath to center himself. "Fine."

 

Another round of giggles from the forest, and then he was left to comfortable solitude. Erin decided the fey's clue seemed reasonable, and set to following the sweet aroma.

 

 

How did Erin think "following the smell" was a good idea? He wandered for at least another hour, but the strength of the sweet scent stayed constant, and breathing in so many sharp aromas for so long wasn't helping his brain fog one bit. And he still couldn't place what he was smelling, although he was so close to remember-

 

The voice cut off his thoughts once more. "Is somebody still having trouble~?"

 

"mhmm.. been walking in circles..."

 

"Well you aren't going to find whatever's giving off that delicious aroma by staying on the path, are you?"

 

"...n-no I guess not..."

 

"You've been following the road around the edge of my forest. Walk toward the inner curve of the road and leave the path."

 

That seemed reasonable. Erin climbed over the rope guardrail off the path and took a deep breath. His head swam a bit; he was probably going to have a headache later from all the woodsy aromas.

 

"You never did give me your name, apple blossom~"

 

"Uh, E-Erin," he stuttered through his blush.

 

"Well Erin, it seems you're short on time. You're never going to reach your goal with all that waste weighing you down~! Remove your bag and your armor and leave both on the road."

 

That made sense. He did as he was instructed, setting down the bag before carefully undoing his armor. The Guild had always said his obedience was his strongest trait. He felt much colder in his underclothes, but he didn't plan to be out here much longer.

 

"Mmm you're so very good at following directions~! See you soon, sweet thing~"

 

Part of Erin felt like he should be alarmed by what just happened, but he shrugged it off. It was nearly twilight, and he still hadn't found what he was looking for... whatever that was. He couldn't wait to find it so he could get out of this forest and breathe some clear air.

 

 

"The sky is so pink," Erin noted. He felt like that was a bad thing, but he couldn't remember why. He also noticed his breath getting heavy, which was odd, but he felt so relaxed and safe so it was probably fine. Before he became too lost in what he could charitably call 'thought,' he spotted a clearing and quickened his pace toward it.

 

He froze at the treeline. Sitting on a large stump in the clearing's center was a giant woman, easily twice the height of the Guild's biggest strongest warrior. Her thick figure was breathtaking, implying a life of hedonistic luxury, and her hot pink skin and immaculately curled red-brown hair caught the young man's eye, but most striking was that she was utterly devoid of clothes.

 

"Aww look who it is~! You look even cuter in person, my little peach dumpling~"

 

Erin's heart nearly rocketed out of his chest, and he stumbled for a moment. Mercifully, the shock of the embarrassing and absurd sight before him roused him to something approximating a clear headspace.

 

The adventurer brandished his weapon and took a combat stance. "You! Where are the... the......... the villagers, where are they?!"

 

The woman smirked at him. Not the reaction he was hoping for. He opened his mouth to demand an answer, but was cut short.

 

"Sweetie why don't you put that thing away before you hurt yourself with it?"

 

He couldn't fight back a blush at the barrage of pet names (more in one afternoon than he's used to in a year), but he held firm. "You don't control me, fey! Tell me where to find the villagers before I make you. I know you know where they are!"

 

"Oh but I do control you, puppet. You've been wrapped around my little finger for hours~"

 

Erin glared and dug in his feet, and her smirk grew into a shit-eating grin.

 

"Stick your sword in the ground and walk twelve paces forward."

 

Erin's mind began to cloud over once more at the command, sticking the blade into the ground and pressing down with his body before walking calmly toward the woman. Only on his twelfth pace did it click what he'd just done.

 

"wh- what did you do to me-"

 

The woman cut him off. "Ssssssh, be still for me. Kneel."

 

He felt the cold ground against his knees, contrasting against the incandescent furnace his face had become. She told him to kneel and he was kneeling before he could even think to push back. He watched as the woman rose from her seat and walked toward him, swaying her hips as she did so with her body uncomfortably on display. In his embarrassment he sought her eyes. When he found them, he found his own eyes unable to leave them. Whatever grip over his mind his earlier embarrassment had given him was slipping, and his breathing was getting heavier, taking in more and more of the too sweet smell whose name danced on the tip of his tongue.

 

"You've almost got it sweetie, I'm sure you'll figure out what that wonderful aroma is with just a little more time~"

 

The question was consuming him. Thinking grew harder each second, and he couldn't help but devote each burst of coherent thought to it. The woman crouched in front of him and stroked his hair. "That's a good boy... sink for me."

 

Erin felt his deep breaths level into a slow rhythm. In... out... in... out... and with each exhalation he felt more of his resistance leave him. His eyelids fluttered to a half lidded state, his eyes still lost in hers.

 

The woman chuckled overhead. "Oh my, if only you could see how adorably weak you've gotten for me!"

 

The insult cut through his docile haze.

 

He refused to be weak. He needed to be strong. He needed to rescue the villagers, who he dimly realized she'd also enthralled like this. He needed to get up, grab his sword, and make her reveal them. He needed to guide them out of the forest, bring them back to the Guild, and prove that he was strong.  Useful. Valuable.

 

Through the thick, swirling, viscous haze of his trance, he demanded, "v... villagersss..."

 

"Oooh, my precious little cinnamon bun. There were never any villagers~"

 

Erin's blood ran cold. "nn... nno villagersss..."

 

"That's right! It's been centuries since there was even a village within a dozen miles of my forest! I don't know who sent you on this little quest of yours, but I don't think they much cared for you~"

 

His heart sank.

 

"And sending you into my forest with that pathetic excuse for a sword...? How utterly irresponsible of them. Don't you worry though, give yourself over to me and I'll take veeery good care of you~"

 

This had been his fifth attempt to join the guild. His other tryout jobs were so much more mundane than this, he thought this tryout might really be the one. They kitted him out and sent him on a dangerous rescue mission, like a real adventurer. But they'd been trying to get rid of him for good this whole time. Tears spilled from his eyes as he gazed into the beautiful woman's own eyes, and for the briefest moment his will flickered out.

 

She purred. "Good boooy~"

 

Thoughts of resisting, fighting back, breaking free appeared like little embers of an unseen fire, and disappeared before he could think to want to reach for them. He heard himself giggle, and he registered that he was little more than a passenger on this ride now. He'd failed. This fey had defeated him with nothing but honeyed words and the smell of... he swore it was on the tip of his tongue.

 

But it wasn't so bad. She clearly cared for him. She said as much already. All he had to do was submit, and then he could finally belong. Belong to Her.

 

"mmistress..."

 

She grinned, and out of the corner of his captive vision, he saw Her slide two fingers between her lower lips before pressing those two fingers to his own lips. "That's right. Just sink deeper into obedience for me and suck."

 

She commanded, and he obeyed, worshiping her fingers with as much enthusiasm as he could muster in his delerious state. The world around them disappeared, and all his fears and worries were dissolved in the tide of his blissful submission. She would take care of him. He didn't have to be strong, or brave, or good at fighting anymore. He was already valuable to Her simply for being"

 

Mistress looked up and away, allowing Erin's eyes to shut completely. He dimly heard Her speak. "It's nearly night... I suppose I should take you home before I run completely out of twilight."

 

He felt Her lift him against her chest with her other hand, but continued to service Her as she began to move.

 

"And then I'll play with you all. night. looong. You're looking forward to that, aren't you, pet?"

 

He nodded eagerly. He'd secured a life of joy and belonging, and for the first time, he looked forward to every minute of it.