Strength of the Forest (Centaur TF)

(NSFW Warning; Sequel to Call of the Forest, Heart of the Forest, and Joy of the Forest, and capping off that series of comms)

The caravan had stopped for the night, and Sophia stood watch. Technically, her shift was up, but she’d told the man coming to take his shift that she wasn’t tired and could continue. He’d tried very hard not to look too relieved, thanking her and heading back to the tents and the fires. The knight couldn’t blame him; she’d heard the same thing that they had, when she’d signed up for the job.

It was why the caravan had offered such high pay for protection despite it bringing them through largely bandit-free territory. Safe and easy cash shouldn’t have been as profitable... unless you believed the rumors of people disappearing in the night without a trace, around the forest. It loomed over them now, ancient oaks standing sentinel over a winding dirt road. The camp was practically in their shadow, the darkness kept at bay by the light of just a few too many fires. If it wouldn’t require leaving the wagons unguarded, they’d have camped well off the road and further from the forest, that much was obvious.

Sophia had been something of a hero, once - a high class adventurer. It wouldn’t be bragging to say she herself would be worth the pay of all the other guards combined; for her, this lucrative job was a drop in the bucket. But that wasn’t why she had signed on. She didn’t care about the money. She was there because of the rumors.

Maybe it was just that old heroism resurfacing, a desire to try and find whoever was vanishing. It wouldn’t be that strange; since that day, she’d often thrown herself into dangerous situations with no regard for life or limb. It was her way of atoning, in a small way, for that failure. But no matter what she tried, she couldn’t save everyone. She was never strong enough, or fast enough...

At first she thought it was a trick of the moonlight, filtering through the high boughs of the forest. But she narrowed her eyes, and saw that what she was looking at was definitely there - a little orb of glowing pink, dancing in between the trunks. It started to leave her view, weaving between the trees.

The knight sighed and stood up from the rock she’d made her watch post. It was an old trick and hardly difficult to see through, but she was there for a reason. She was falling into the trap, whatever it was, but she was doing so with her eyes open and with purpose. Besides, the caravan wouldn’t miss her - the rumors only ever spoke of individuals vanishing, not groups, so they’d run along in the morning thankful it was none of them.

She walked after the light, humming softly to herself with her sword off her belt but sheathed. The light was joined by more, yellow and green and blue and more as she followed it. As she walked into the night, leaving the glimmering firelight behind, she heard a soft song somewhere deeper in the forest, and a strange smell tickled her nose. She felt them working their way into her head, letting her relax and not worry about things...

Sophia sighed. “Stop that.” she said. The effect ceased as she focused. She wasn’t going to fall so easily to a little enchantment. She wasn’t going to go relaxing when she was walking into this kind of place alone, either. The orb of light seemed to stop for a bit, and Sophia suspected it’s source was surprised at what she’d done. It stopped taking such a winding path, instead going directly towards wherever it’s destination was. “Thank you. Could have done that from the start.”

She stepped over some roots, and found herself abruptly in a clearing at the foot of a tree. Most of the lights drifted off into the night, but the pink light flew towards two people standing at its base, an elf in a thin silk-looking dress and a being Sophia quickly recognized as a dryad in nothing but leaves and vines - she’d helped a group of them out against some demons infesting their grove not long ago. The light flickered, and now that it wasn’t moving so rapidly (it’s jittery dance having turned into a sedate waltz in the air, floating around the two) Sophia was fairly sure she saw a feminine, winged shape inside of it.

“So, you have me here.” Sophia said, planting her sword in the ground. “Is this the part where you turn me into a tree, or steal my soul, or whatever? I don’t appreciate mental magic, you know.”

“Ah, how rude of us,” the elf said. “I have to confess, I don’t realize what effect my song has on humans, sometimes…”

“Hush, dear,” the dryad said. “No need to be like that. We apologize, lady knight.”

The light flickered, and came shooting towards Sophia. It rested on her shoulder, and she looked over to see what looked like a young woman, albeit a tiny one, standing on her pauldron. “Hey, hey, you’re cute! Do you wanna dance? I like you.”

“Please, love,” the dryad gently chided. “Focus.”

“Fiiine…” the girl grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting.

Sophia sighed. “Alright. Tell me why you brought me here. Faerie lights, mysterious song; the usual abduction. Tell me who you are.” She looked between them, a slight frown touching her lips.

“You could call us the Ladies of the Forest, I suppose~” the elf said. “My name is Leona. My friend here is Danai, and that lovely young lady on your shoulder is Alana.”

Sophia sighed loudly, trying not to move her shoulder too much. It was always annoying to deal with fae. “I want you to stop abducting people.”

“Hmm, why? My sisters are so happy!” Alana asked cheerfully.

“And a lady needs her attendants,” Leona added.

The knight unsheathed her sword, just a bit, enough for the metal to gleam in the moonlight. “Either we can make a deal, or I start using this.”

Danai smiled. “Of course. We’d love to make a deal. I understand you may be ill inclined to trust us, so I shall keep it simple. You shall spend an hour with the three of us. We will put no spells on your mind before or during that time. Nor will we attack you, and you will not strike at us. If, at the conclusion of that time, you still wish to leave, we will let you do so and not take anyone more into our fold.”

Sophia sheathed her sword. That was a shockingly straightforward deal, for a fae. She tried to see how it could be twisted, how the words could be honored without the spirit, but they seemed legitimate; they had closed the “kill her” loophole (can’t decide to leave if she’s dead), the “mental magic” loophole (forcing her to choose a specific thing), and hadn’t narrowed the scope of her demand. “...Very well. I agree to the terms.”

“Oh, this will be so much fun!” Alana giggled, flying around Sophia in an excited, erratic pattern. Sophia felt a little odd all of a sudden, and realized that the buckles of her chestplate had come undone; the hefty plate came loose and clattered to the ground. A cheery giggle emanated from the light of the fairy, laughing at her little prank.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Sophia demanded, dropping her sword and nearly finding herself swiping at the fairy before remembering the agreement.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself so much.” Leona said, having come up behind Sophia as she turned to track Alana, “We’re just helping you get comfortable.” The back plating came off quickly, and with surprising deftness the elf snatched away the gauntlets and pauldrons as well, helping to reveal the leather gambeson underneath.

“Indeed. No need to maintain a metal shell amongst friends.” Danai said, taking advantage of Sophia’s surprise and flusteredness to swiftly remove her boots. “Not an attack, of course, simply assistance; it can’t be easy to take this off on your own.”

Sophia would have pushed them away, but that probably would have counted as a breach of the agreement, leaving her vulnerable to their retribution no matter her will to resist. “S-Stop that. This wasn’t part of our deal.”

“You’re so tense; I understand why, since you thought this would be dangerous, but we just have to help you relax.” Leona said, stepping around until she was behind the knight.

Sophia suddenly felt warm, dextrous fingers on her back, gently rubbing and pressing across it in all the right spots. “A-Ah…” she groaned, as the stress and tension of the moment seemed to simply flow right out of her under the skilled massage of the elven maiden.

Danai, not to be outdone, remained where she was kneeling on the ground. “Indeed; I’ve rarely seen one more tightly wound than you.” Her fingers, as cool as the night soil, joined Leona’s in massage, this time rubbing down her thighs and calves and kneading out the aches and pains of long travel.

Alana giggled softly, and a small, controlled gust of wind flowed between the entangled figures, gently pulling apart strings and buttons holding the gambeson closed, and pulling at her trousers. Sophia was too busy being massaged to notice, too enraptured by the sudden relaxation.

As the clothes began to slip off, Leona and Danai got more… enthusiastic, in their attentions. The elf’s hands started to reach around, massaging Sophia’s waist, while Danai’s hands got adventurous and explored higher around her thighs. The gambeson fell away, and the trousers were slowly dragged down to Sophia’s feet, leaving her with only simple underclothes to protect her against the night air and the attention of the fae.

At this point, however, she wasn’t paying attention, simply enjoying herself and the massage she was receiving, the skilled hands of the fae women helping to drop the knight’s ever present guard as Alana began to tug at her lingerie. It was as her bra untied itself, allowing her breasts to spill free, and her panties fell to rest with her trousers, that Sophia finally noticed what was going on.

But before she could even muster the will to complain, Leona’s hands were massaging her small, sensitive breasts, while Danai’s fingers rubbed her womanhood. It felt too good to worry about, a feeling given rather clear expression by the rigidity of Sophia’s nipples and the slow dampening of her nethers.

“You know us, don’t you, Sophia?” Leona asked, resting her head on the knight’s shoulders as she played with her nipples.

“You remember, do you not?” Danai asked, her fingers drawing circles on her dripping sex.

Alana hovered in front of the softly moaning knight’s face, smiling broadly at her pleasure. “Did you miss us, flower knight~?”

Sophia… knew them. She could feel it. She had suspected since she’d arrived in the clearing, seen their faces just a touch familiar. The nickname confirmed it; she had been drunk after they celebrated their first successful quest, and when she’d thought she was stumbling back to the guild to sleep it off, she’d actually crashed through the window of a florist’s shop and blown half their reward on repairs. “I… I do know you… how...?”

“A wish.” The three said at once.

“With her last breath…”  Leona said.

“She put all her heart and soul,” Danai said.

“Into a wish.” Alana said.

And… Sophia found herself finishing for them. “A wish that we could find a place to be happy… together…”

“Something heard that sincere wish… and brought us all here, together.” Danai said, looking up at the tree. “We can make sure that you’re never too weak or slow again. A body strong enough to match your resolve.”

“And we get to be together again! Forever!” Leona added cheerfully, punctuating the point with a squeeze of her breast.

Sophia let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d held. “Yes. I, Sophia Layne-Brant,” she started, words forming on her mouth almost before they entered her head, “Swear to become a part of this forest… to protect its denizens and peace with all my heart and soul… with my very life…”

Leona and Danai looked at each other and smiled, and got to work. Leona’s fingers danced across Sophia’s breast, the small perky mounds swelling at her touch, while one hand moved to gently pat the knight’s head. Her short brown hair, cropped close to avoid getting in the way of helmets, grew out thick and fast, falling around her shoulders and showing no sign of slowing.

Meanwhile, Danai’s hands stroked up Sophia’s legs, up to reach her bottom. As Danai rubbed and squeezed, she shifted out of the way - it started to slowly expand backwards, more and more flesh separating her rear end from her legs. Sophia seemed to grow taller, such that Alana had to give Leona some assistance and help her float upwards to keep up with the change and continue her work, while Danai continued to work. Fur started to grow across Sophia’s legs, her feet hardening and thinning.

Sophia hardly noticed, too enraptured in pleasure as she was stroked and changed. Alana floated around, sprinkling a soft pink dust wherever she flew that seemed to accelerate the changes, causing muscle to rapidly develop across her body. Her feet, now hooves, were soon joined by a second set from her extended rear to help maintain balance on her new length and give her inhuman speed, as a tail formed on her bottom.

Leona was now carefully positioned on Sophia’s back - or more specifically, the equine part of her. Sophia opened her eyes, feeling her new form and knowing what she had become - a centauress, and a strong one at that. “I renounce my old name, my old self.” she continued her new oath, “From today on, I am Syna, Guardian of the Forest; now, and forever.”

As Syna finished, cementing her new identity, there was a rustling in the bushes around the clearing. More lights fluttered over the clearing, dryads revealed themselves from their trees, and elven women came out from the bushes. The attendants coming to see their newest Lady, and to help celebrate her arrival.

Syna smiled at her companions. “One centauress is hardly enough to protect a whole forest,” she said. “But new retainers can wait. For now… I missed you all, so much.”

“We never should have left each other.” Leona agreed.

“But it all worked out for the best.” Danai said.

“We never have to be apart again!” Alana cheered.

The four embraced; Leona riding on Syna’s back and hugging her from behind, Danai wrapping an arm around her flank, and Alana plastering herself against the centauress’ cheek. They were together again, happy in their new lives as Ladies of the Forest.