Lillian rode the rest of the way to Anchius’s herd on his back. After their encounter with the wolf, and perhaps certain other activities, he was more protective of her. If the wolf hadn’t been enough, the unfamiliar landscape they passed through was all the proof needed to convince Lillian that the phantasm had been real and that this was another world entirely.

There were no towns, vast fields of crops, no roads, and no people. She’d never roamed the country side this long without running into a person. It couldn’t have been her world. They’d been talking about it as Anchius swiftly carried them across the miles.

“What do you mean ‘another world’?” Anchius asked.

“I mean what I say, you said it yourself, you’ve never seen humans before, yes?”

“Well… no,” the centaur conceded.

“Exactly! And where I come from, there are no centaurs. But there are a lot more humans like me,” Lillian explained.

“A whole world of Lillians? Well now you’ve intrigued me,” Anchius mused.

“Last I checked it only took one of me to do the job,” Lillian said with feigned dignity.

“True, true. I suppose I mustn’t be greedy. But if you’re not from here… then how did you come to end up in that field?”

“That’s… complicated,” Lillian said. Though the Anchius wasn’t looking at her, galloping as he was, she cast her gaze down at the swiftly passing ground. How could she tell the story of her family? It was a fresh wound. She laid a hand over her mother’s necklace. It would be hard to explain the theft and chase. That was a discussion for another time. This world felt like a fresh start for her, even if it was filled with horse people.

“Everything about you seems to be complicated. Two legs, slow as a sloth, and yet you attack a wolf twice your size with a flaming branch. Hopping worlds and showing up inexplicitly in fields. What will you decide to take up next, flying?”

“Oh be quiet,” Lillian said, gently slapping Anchius’s side. They rode in silence for a while. The strangely flat countryside sped by. Anchius was as swift as any steed Lillian had ridden on her family’s old estate, though he made for much better company. All this flat open space made her feel vulnerable. She missed the gently rolling hills and forests of her home. Would she ever see it again? The phantasm had said that she’d be the bridge between worlds, that had to mean she’d get back, didn’t it? What did it mean to be a bridge anyway?

“You’ve grown mighty quiet back there, haven’t fallen off, have you?” Anchius inquired.

“No, just thinking,” Lillian replied.

“Oh? Dare I inquire what about?”

“Your herd, are they all like you?” Lillian lied. She just didn’t have it in her to dive into that discussion yet.

“Certainly not. I wish I weren’t so handsome, strong, and charming, I fear my herd will all pale in comparison,” Anchius said sadly.

“Really, I’m a surprised they don’t cast you out,” Lillian said with a grin. Anchius suddenly came to a stop, his hooves tear up grass. Lillian had to wrap her arms around his waist just to keep from flying off.

“What’s going on?” she yelled.

“Don’t joke about that,” Anchius said coldly, half turning his head back towards her.

“About what?” Lillian asked confusedly.

“Exile. Being cast out is the ultimate punishment amongst my people. Worse than death.”

“I… I didn’t know,” Lillian said.

“Nor should you have, but you must watch yourself, the others, they will not be so forgiving as I. They will not understand.”

“I promise, I’ll watch what I say,” Lillian said, placing a hand on the centaur’s shoulder.

They rode in awkward silence the rest of the way. It was midday by the time they came within sight of Anchius’s herd. It looked different from any town Lillian had seen before. There were tents, fires, and centaurs milling about everywhere. It was hard to tell from this distance, but she could see groups of tiny centaurs running around in groups, children? Somehow she hadn’ t been mentally prepared for kids. It seemed so strange.

Anchius came to a halt, though gently this time. “You’ll have to walk the rest of the way,” he said.

“What’s wrong with riding?” Lillian asked, already sliding down from his back.

“It would be… unseemly. It’s best to show my people your strongest front. Strength is what centaurs respect,” Anchius said seriously.

“I understand… but I’m afraid I’m not going to be up to centaur standards of strength,” Lillian said.

“Yes, but we’ll worry about that when we get there. You’re physically smaller, to some degree it’ll have to be expected, come now, prepare to meet my people.” Anchius kicked up into a trot and Lillian had to jog to keep up with him, her cloak fluttering behind her. It and the rest of her clothes were fairly clean now, they’d come across a stream early in the morning and she’d been able to make them halfway presentable..

They approached the makeshift village. A crowd of centaurs gathered around as they got closer. Lillian could feel all their eyes on her, gawping as if she were some kind of freak. She thought back to her first view of Anchius… she’d run hadn’t she? And screamed. She couldn’t judge these centaurs too harshly for their reactions.

“Anchius! What is this thing you’ve brought with you? The top half looks like a centauride, but the bottom half looks like a monkey,” a large centaur called out. He was even larger than Anchius. His complexion was swarthy and he had a large bushy beard. There was a scar running down his face from brown eye to sneering lip.

“Pholus, I present a guest of the herd, Lillian,” Anchius replied coldly.

At his beckoning Lillian walked forward to stand in front of him. For lack of anything better to do she bowed before the assembled group of centaurs. Pholus trotted forward and grabbed at her cloak.

“Why does this strange creature wear so many clothes?” he asked.

“I am not a creature,” Lillian said defensively. “And I wear clothes because I do not have so much fur as you centaurs.”

“Bah, strange taste in guests you have, Anchius,” Pholus said, dropping the cloak and walking away.

A centaur colt approached Lillian and held out a stuffed toy to her. She took the toy and held it up. It lacked any fine details but it had two arms, two legs, and a head.

“It’s like you! Are you a monkey?” the centaur child asked. Lillian smiled and handed the rag doll back.

“No, but you’re right it does look a little like me. I’m a ‘human’,” Lillian said, enunciating the term clearly. The child giggled and galloped back to his friends.

A centauride approached and Lillian tried to keep from staring. The female wore no clothes at all, and her upper half was every bit as true to human as Anchius’s was. She had medium breasts which sat high on her chest, with small, perky nipples. Looking, Lillian saw that the centauride was quite beautiful. She had full lips, a heart shaped face, and flowing blonde hair, which shimmered in the noon sun. Her eyes were a shade of amber Lillian had never seen before. The centauride’s build was much more obviously feminine, not to mention smaller, when compared to the centaurs walking around. Her human half was slender, toned, Lillian could see hints of abdominal muscles beneath her skin as she moved towards Anchius.

“It is good to see you safely returned, Anchius,” the female said.

“It is good to see you as well, Nessa,” Anchius replied, dipping his head.

“I trust you had a safe journey?” Nesa asked.

“Nothing that I couldn’t handle.”

Nesa moved forward and gave Anchius a formal, somewhat awkward hug.

“Open fields before you,” she said.

“May the sun guide your path,” Anchius responded.

These exchanges had the feel of ritual to Lillian, she guessed that the phrases were a greeting. The majority of the centaurs had gone back to their own business, their curiosity in the strange ‘half-monkey’ sated for the time being.

“Who is this ‘Nessa’?” Lillian asked when they were more or less alone, arching an eyebrow.

“She is my betrothed,” he responded simply.

“Betrothed? But…” Lillian began, feeling a little hurt despite herself.

“You don’t understand. Amongst my people, it’s a formal process. She is not my lover, not yet. When the time comes, after the ceremony, only then will we joined, our union blessed.”

“And what we did?” she asked. She was not exactly sure why this was bothering her so much. It wasn’t as if she could really have some meaningful relationship with Anchius, could she? It was doubtful that his people would accept it. And she wanted to go home eventually, didn’t she?

“Has nothing to do with my betrothal. Centaurs are free to consort with whomever they want until they are joined in union.”

“I see,” Lillian said coldly.

“What’s wrong?” Anchius asked in genuine confusion.

“Nothing,” Lillian said.

“Good… you should meet the chieftain now. No guest may remain with the herd without his blessing.”

Lillian followed Anchius deeper into the scattered tents, between centaurs, and skirting latrines and fires. There was a larger tent further on. It was still not a proper structure as Lillian was used to. Unlike the simpler structures the other centaurs took refuge in, the chieftain had large circular tent that had at least eight supporting poles around its perimeter. Two bored looking centaur stood guard on either side of the entrance flap, spears held lazily.

“Anchius, here to see Chief Orieus?” the rightmost guard asked, doing his utmost not to stare in wonder at Lilian.

“Yes, I’ve brought a herd guest.”

The guard lifted the flap and they entered. The inside was dim, there was a fire in center. The top of the tent was open to the sky so the smoke could escape. Off to the side stood an older centaur. If he’d been a human, Lillian would have put him as somewhere in his fifties, but she wasn’t quite sure how to read centaur age. He had a neat beard that was shot through with gray. His hair was cropped short, and had gray to match his beard. Muscles still covered his frame, but the years had taken their toll. A modest gut had formed around his midsection and his skin had a slight sag to it.

“Anchius,” Chief Orieus greeted.

“My Chief,” Anchius replied, bowing. Lillian looked between the two for a moment before doing the same.

“Who… or what… is your guest?”

“I present Lillian, I propose we offer her the protection of herd guest,” Anchius said.

“Herd guest applies to centaurs, not animals,” the chieftain said, eyeing Lillian coldly.

“My Chief, please. She is intelligent, and brave. The characteristics we appreciate in spirit, if not in form.”

“Well spoken, but I’ll not break tradition. What’s next? Will a clever dog be declared a herd guest?”

“But—“ Anchius started to protest but was cut off.

“Enough. The decision is made.”

Anchius turned to Lillian, though he would not meet her eyes. “I’m sorry. You have to leave. I was wrong, you will find no haven here.”

“No!” Chief Orieus bellowed. “She will remain with me. It is my right as chieftain of our herd. I find her amusing.”

“But I told her she would be a guest!” Anchius yelled.

“That is not my problem! You should not assume things on behalf of your chief.”

“I’m not property!” Lillian yelled. “You can’t make me stay here.”

“Quiet monkey!” the chieftain yelled. “Anchius, you are dismissed.”

Anchius said nothing, though he was visibly shaking with anger. He turned and strode out of the tent, leaving Lillian alone with the chieftain. She dashed for the tent flap after Anchius but the guards had materialized as if by some unspoken command. They gripped their spears in a way that brokered no argument. She was trapped.

“Don’t worry, if you behave you’ll find that I can be a kind host. You may not be a herd guest, but that doesn’t mean you must suffer. Though if you try and run again have no doubt that you will be punished. I don’t care if you can talk. You’re not a centaur and that makes you a beast. Beasts are property. As a chieftain of this herd it’s only fitting that I be in possession of a beast so… exotic,” the chieftain eyed Lillian in a way that made her skin crawl.

***

Her first day in the chieftain’s custody was an uneasy adjustment. She was not allowed outside of the tent. Her only excursion had been a trip to the latrines and even that had been under the watchful eyes of the spear wielding guards. She’d stalled as long as possible but she hadn’t seen Anchius anywhere. Food was brought for her every so often and there was a bucket of water with a serving ladle.

It was night when Chief Orieus returned. She could tell by the lack of light spilling in from the hole in the ceiling of the great tent. He entered through the flap, dragging a strange construction behind him. It was a wooden structure. A wide square made of joined boards sat flat on the ground, two boards came up vertically from this square and supported a horizontal board.

He muscled this construct near the center of the room and then walked over to Lillian.

“You’re a most intriguing creature. Half of you so feminine, beautiful even,” he ran a hand against her cheek. She turned her head away. “And you possess a mind capable of speech. But I’m afraid it’s the former that intrigues me. But how could I express a natural appreciation for such beauty? Your bizarre body makes it difficult. You’ve just no proper haunches to grab.”

He turned toward the construct. “I had one of the herd’s craftsmen build this for me. I think you’ll find that it’ll enable me to express all that I wish.”

Lillian looked at the wooden thing in a new light. The horizontal board, just below the height of a rearing centaur… Realization struck her. He meant to use this thing to mount her! The image of Anchius’s enormous cock flashed before her eyes. Just the thought of such a thing inside her was painful. There was simply no way it could fit, it would break her! She looked up to see a similar sized cock hanging between the chieftain’s legs. It wasn’t quite the size of Anchius’s, but on that scale it didn’t really matter.

“You can’t!” she said at last.

“Oh yes I can, just look at the support frame. All you need to do is bend over…”

“I mean you can’t… It won’t fit. I’m not… My people aren’t that big.”

“That just sounds like you’ll make a nice tight fit,” the chieftain said with a leer.

“Wait! I can do something else. Please! Something no centaur has had done before. You’ll be just as satisfied – more satisfied!” she pleaded.

“Go on…” he prompted.

“I can… kneel. Get down below, use my mouth…” she said quietly.

“That is intriguing. Very well, tonight we will do this thing you speak of. Tomorrow, I will have you, my way.”

Lillian resigned herself to her fate and made to slip beneath Chief Orieus, but he backed away.

“No, we will use the support,” he said, pointing to the wooden contraption. “But first I would see you take off all those damned ridiculous clothes.”

Lillian reluctantly took off her cloak and folded it on the floor. Next she took off her shoes and stockings, stalling the inevitable.

“Hurry it up,” the chief snapped, his long cock twitching in either anticipation or annoyance. Lillian stripped off the rest of her clothes and they were left in a heap on top of her cloak. Orieus trotted forward and fondled her breasts, though he was not so fixated on them as Lillian had come to expect from males in her world, perhaps it was the fact that centaurides generally went bare chested. His hands went lower down her smooth stomach. She bit her lip to keep from shivering in revulsion.

“Now, to the support,” he instructed. He mounted it, his heavy forelegs hanging over the board, his back legs still on the ground. His large cock was left to hang obscenely from his horse half. Lillian knelt beneath him, between the two supporting boards. She wrapped a hand around his cock and he bucked his hips. The head of the cock was pressed forward against her face. In its flared and engorged state it covered most of her right cheek and temple.

She wanted this over with quickly so she tried to apply what she’d learned from her experience with Anchius. The chieftan’s cock quivered as she licked and nibbled as much of the flared head as she could fit in her mouth. Without missing a beat she used her hands to rub up and down the last foot of his massive member. Every ounce of her concentration was bent to making the centaur chieftain cum. She could only pray that he didn’t have any unforeseen stamina and demand seconds. Or worse still, step up his demands to take her in a more direct way.

Unlike Anchius, Chief Orieus seemed to have little regard for what his enthusiasm might unintentionally result in. He began bucking his hips wildly after one particularly stimulating flick of her tongue. The head of his cock pushed back into her mouth, stretching it painfully wide. She felt her teeth pressing against his engorged flesh, but rather than hurt it only seemed to drive him on to new heights. The flared head grew and stretched her jaw harder. When he tucked his hips to buck again the head came free and she fell back, putting a hand to her tearfully sore jaw. His cock came back up, flexed and rock hard, it struck her in the chest and she was pushed off balance and landed on her back.

That contact seemed to be enough, he cried out and she looked up just in time to see a thick shower of cum jet from his cock. It spattered across her chest and stomach. His cock went limp whapped against her cum-slick stomach before flexing and shooting cum again, and then a third time. It finally lay still against her in a puddle of its own making.

The chieftain dismounted the support and Lillian had to roll away to avoid getting trampled. She felt the puddle of cum splash down her side and between her legs as she rolled. When she sat up and looked toward him she saw that his cock had, mercifully, receded back to his body.

“Well, I will say that was interesting, yet not altogether satisfying. I think you may have oversold this activity, but it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow we will do things my way, I’ll get some proper satisfaction out of you yet,” he said. His cock had grown half hard as he said this, and she shuddered, trying not to imagine being torn in half by that monstrous thing. It would have been bad enough with Anchius, gentle as he was, but with this brutal tyrant? There’d be nothing left of her by the time he was through! She wiped a few errant droplets of centaur cum from her cheek and brooded. She had to escape before the next night, before the chieftain could make good on his intentions.

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