Monster March: Itiazi the Ifrit

Female Reader x Male Monster

I live in a small village that has become known as something as a  safe haven for mercenaries and assassins. Back in the day it used to be  called Greenshade but as of recently it has become known as Slystall.  It’s off the path from the kingdom of Veleryn, far enough away we aren’t  bothered by the traffic there and hidden in the woods just enough that  we became what we are today.

A lot of people have moved away,  thinking it is safer than staying in Slystall now. But really, for those  of us who have stayed we’ve noticed a steady incline for our town. The  mercenaries and assassins who stay here pay good money for us to keep  quiet. They pay top dollar to the local businesses and they cause  absolutely no trouble. In fact, in trouble that’s started is usually  snuffed out pretty quickly. The supposed criminals keep Slystall safe  and peaceful so they can protect themselves and their families.

It’s actually been nice. For ages my family and I took care of the  sick and injured, but because everyone was so poor we accepted food,  clothes, whatever for trade. But the mercenaries and assassins pay big  money. For once, my family is able to afford the things we need. We’ve  gotten better equipment and supplies for our little hospital. We are  able to take care of the more impoverished families and not worry about  any payment. In fact, there are quite a few of the mercenaries who even  pay to assure we give free check-ups to the children every year.

Of course it isn’t all roses and sugar, there are times when things  seem scary. Being healers my family has seen more than our share of  these times. We’ve had men and women come in with arms and legs missing.  Ears have been ripped off and sewn back on. Gaping wounds in the torso  have been patched to the best of our abilities. We’ve also seen many  horrible infections which have led a couple of times to amputation.

There are times I wish I wasn’t a healer and that I didn’t have to  patch up these men and women who may or may not have barely escaped with  their lives after taking one. I often have sleepless nights wondering  if I’ve saved a monster who is only going to go out and kill and kill  and kill. Despite how nicely these people treat the people of Slystall  and have made it a better place, there is still that guilt we are  harboring people who would kill us if paid enough to.

For the  last few weeks we’ve had a patient who has been staying in the recovery  ward. He’s a mercenary known for his heavy-handed ways and was recently  the victim of an ambush. He barely survived and it took all my know-how  to save his hand. While he was missing his middle finger he would be  able to use his hand again once healed. But he kept getting an infection  in his right leg and no matter what we did it always kept coming back.  We suspect one of his enemies had poisoned their weapons to ensure he  stayed ill.

In a last-ditch effort my mother placed an order  for a special herb that could be made into a balm and help him. It would  also make a tea that would help fight the infection from the inside as  well. It’s rare and often times shipments of it are stolen while being  delivered.

“Then I’ll go get it,” the patients brother replies after hearing my mother’s news.

Both men are half Orc, half Ifrit. They’re massive in size and have  coppery scarlet skin that shimmers with fire underneath. It had been  hard trying to heal the brother has his blood was hot to the touch. This  brother, Itiazi, was far larger than his injured brother. He was thick  and muscular all over, certainly fitting his terrifying career path. His  tusks were coppery in color, as were the three horns on his head, two  in the back and one above his left brow.

Itiazi had a  constant, terrifying scowl on his face at all times. He looked like the  kind of man who knew exactly five ways to kill you and the price of your  coffin. He had come to visit his brother every day since he threw him  onto our operating table and every day he scared me.

“That might work,” my mother remarks. “But I am not so sure they will hand it over to you.”

“I’ll make them,” Itiazi snarls.

My mother sighs and then to my horror she looks at me. I shake my  head at her until Itiazi turns and looks at me as well. “Liris, why  don’t you go as well? Considering the porters in Obresh know you,  they’ll be more apt to hand the delivery over to you. Itiazi will be  able to keep the order safe.” She smiles at him. “I mean, who would want  to steal from this?”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Itiazi bows his head.

Obresh is at least a weeks travel away, on a good week. Sometimes  the trip has taken even longer. That means at the very least I would be  stuck two weeks with this guy who scares the ever living shit out of me.

“It’s important, Liris,” my mother says to me. “Your father and I  will be able to keep up the hospital. You don’t need to worry about  that.”

That wasn’t what I was worried about at all. For a  woman who had invented five new types of sutures she wasn’t very  observant. I make no arguments, of course, I don’t have enough backbone  for that. I also worry that arguing it will piss off Itiazi and I don’t  want to travel for weeks with a terrifying brute who thinks I hate him.

We make the travel plans and Itiazi and I take a small wagon for the  journey. He’s quiet, barely giving single syllable answers to my mom  and dad when they question him and give him the map and supplies. I’m  loading the wagon and turn to look at his back. It’s broad and muscular  and if it were a brick wall you could paint an entire religious effigy  on it to completion. I look down inadvertently and wonder if I could set  a cup on his ass without it falling off.

“Wait,” I whisper to  myself. “What?” I touch my forehead to make sure I am not feverish as  Itiazi tosses his bag onto the wagon.

“Ready?” He grunts at me.

I look up at him, his eyes are chocolatey sort of brown, like pure  cacao whipped into fresh butter. I frown a little bit and now. “If  that’s what this is.” I go to hop up into the front seat of the wagon,  but my legs are too short and I scramble and kick to try and get myself  up.

Itiazi comes up behind me, pushing my butt until I plop  down into the seat. My cheeks feel tingly and hot from the experience  and I watch as Itiazi takes his seat and the reigns. We leave Slystall  and for most of that first day Itiazi and I are stone cold silent.

I feel awkward, as if I should be the one to say something or try to  be polite and make him feel comfortable. But what would I ever possibly  say to someone like him? We come from two very different worlds, what  could we possibly have in common?

That evening when we stop to  rest and eat, he lights the fire with his fingers. He clicks his  fingernails together like flint and they spark and then start shooting  fire from the tips.

“You must have warm hands,” I say and quickly regret it.

Itiazi looks up at me then back down at the fire. “It’s all warm.”

There is another long stretch of awkward silence as we prepare our  meal. We eat in silence and then afterward we separate to go to sleep. I  lay in the back of the wagon while Itiazi sleep sitting with his back  against a tree.

In the morning I wake to a delicious smell.  As I rub my eyes I see Itiazi sitting over the fire with something  roasting over the flames. He turns as I get up and waves me over.

“Come eat. It’s ready.” It’s the most he’s ever said to me.

I slip down from the wagon, landing a little rough, and I go sit by the fire with him. “What is it?” I ask.

“Free food.” He takes the roasting meat off the fire and I think it  might be rabbit. But considering we only had bread, cheese, and a little  bit of preserves for dinner last night I am not making any complaints. I  eat the roasted meat on a slab of bread with some of the preserves on  top and am in heaven.

“Thank you!” I smile up at him,

Itiazi looks a bit confused, perhaps even shocked. He wipes at his mouth with the back of his fist and grunts at me.

We leave not long after. Itiazi ate most of the meat and tossed the  carcass into the woods where already there were foxes waiting for it. It  was silent again for the longest time but somewhere around noon Itiazi  pointed across the way from us.

“Do you need to stop?” Itiazi asks. I follow his arm towards a river where there was a pond.

“That might be nice. But I don’t want to hold anything up.” I shake my head, afraid to hinder any progress.

“Do you need to stop?” Itiazi repeats again.

I flinch and look down, afraid to answer at this point.

Itiazi pulls the wagon up to the pond and stops it. He gets out and  walks over to the edge of the pond. I watch him for a moment before  slipping out of the wagon as well. I take care of business behind some  trees and go over to the pond to wash up a bit.

“If you need something, say so,” Itiazi growls at me. “Don’t be so timid.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I squeak.

His eyes narrow on me. “Sorry?”

I take a small step back and nod.

“For what?”

My mouth hangs open and I quickly close it again. I look down at my  feet and Itiazi scoffs. He heads back to the wagon and checks on the  horse.

It is a quiet and awkward drive again. That evening  when we stop Itiazi starts the fire and then turns to look into the  woods.

“Stay here,” he says. “I’ll be back shortly.”

“Oh. Ok.” I watch him as he goes into the dark treeline, vanishing from  sight. I sigh and sit myself down before the fire. I sniff my clothes  and balk at the smell. It has been a while since I changed so I decide  to do so while Itiazi was gone. I strip down and remove my clean clothes  from my bag. I’m standing naked at the back of the wagon, humming to  myself as I search for what I need.

I heard a loud thud behind  me and I turn. To my horror I see Itiazi standing over the body of a  wild pig. His hands are bloody and it looks like he has some scrapes and  bruises on his body.

“Well, well,” his voice is a low purr.  “I didn’t expect this sort of thank you for finding dinner.” I have  never seen him smile until now. “Let me wash my hands first.”

I scream and drop down to the ground, squatting and trying to cover  myself with the clothes I have in my hands. “Don’t look! Stop it!  Please! Just turn around!”

Itiazi chuckles. “And give up this view? No way?”

I snap him a dirty look over my shoulder. “I was trying to change my clothes! I didn’t think you’d be back so quickly!”

Itiazi rubs his chin, still looking at me. “That’s what’s good about me. I’m fast, but I make it worth it in the long run.”

“Please turn around! I beg you!” I’m starting to whine.

Itiazi picks up the pig by its hind legs. “I’ll go get this ready  then.” he walks away and I madly throw my new clothes on. I sit down by  the fire, angry, embarrassed, and extremely unsure of myself. Itiazi  returns with the skinned and skewered pig which he places over the fire.

“Nothing to be ashamed about.” He sits across the fire from me and leans back against a tree.

“So says the guy who got a good eyeful!” I scoff.

“I did.” He grins and tilts his head to the side. “And I quite enjoyed it.”

I glare at him and squeeze my arms tighter around me. “It wasn’t for you to enjoy!” I bark at him.

“True enough,” he says with a nod. “Happy accident.”

I duck my head down, wanting to fade into the night and disappear  forever. Itiazi slices up the pork, handing me a generous portion. The  meat is fatty and good, it fills me up and makes me feel drowsy enough  to sleep without feeling horrible.

It is silent again the next day until Itiazi pulls us in for a quick rest stop.

“I have an idea,” he tells me.

“About?” I grump, still feeling horrible from last night’s accidental peepshow.

Itiazi places his hand on his belt. “I’ll get naked and you can hold that over my head.”

I scowl. “I don’t want to do that.”

He tilts his head. “Not even a little?”

I close my eyes and frown deeply. “Please stop teasing me. I feel bad enough as it is.” I turn and go back to the wagon.

“What is there to feel bad for?” He scoffs at me. “You got caught  with your pants down. Big fucking deal. You’re cute and chubby where it  counts.”

My cheeks blossom bright red and I turn glaring at him. “Excuse me?”

Itiazi meets my harsh stare. “You’ve got a cute body.”

“Shut the hell up!” I bark at him.

“You have thighs I want to crush my head.”

Everything goes still for a moment. It feels like the world has  halted and I am suddenly jerked forward by the suddenness of it.

“I can’t hold it over your head,” he snarls. “Because if I keep  thinking about it we are going to have a bigger problem than this.”

“Just get back in the wagon and let’s go,” I grumble. “I want to get this job done just as much as you do.

Itiazi snarls and says something low under his breath. He gets onto the wagon again and snaps the reigns.

“Cute women like you are rare in my line of work,” he snarls.

I keep quiet and turn my head away.

“In fact, cute women have been rare in my life in general.” Itiazi scoffs and shakes his head. “Never fucking mind.”

I glance shortly at him and look down at my lap. “I’m not used to  men like you,” I admit. “Ever since the town became Slystall I’ve been  pretty much at a loss.”

Itiazi sighs. “I can’t blame you for that.”

We’re quiet again and pretty much the entire trip until we get to  Obresh. We make it to the port where already I notice several people  watching us. We pick up the order and thankfully the herb is still  there.

As we make our way back to the wagon, we are shocked to  find it missing. “Oh no,” I whisper as I look all over where we had  left it.

“Makes sense,” Itiazi snarls under his breath.

“What are we going to do?” I gasp. “How are we going to get home?”

“Don’t worry your pretty head none,” Itiazi huffs at me. “I’ll get  us our things back.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “Lets kind us a  keep for the night. I’ll have it all settled by morning.”

I clutch onto the package. “I’m scared.”

Itiazi kneels down before me. “I’ll die before anything happens to you, Liris.”

I look into his eyes and my heart jumps about my chest. “I’d rather give up the package.” I chuckle from nerves.

“Neither should happen.” He stands back up and leads me away. We  find a room to rent and Itiazi hides the package in the rafters.

“You stay here,” he tells me. “Don’t move no matter what you may hear.”

“What are you going to do?” I ask timidly.

He shakes his head. “Nothing for you to worry about. Lock the door behind me.” He nods his head and then leaves the room.

I lock the door as he asks and go back to sit down on the bed. I am  unable to sleep or even feel restful. I sit up in bed or pace around the  room. I keep staring up into the rafters even though I know that is a  dead giveaway.

Sometimes in the night I hear something from  outside. I hear a roaring and men screaming. I peer outside my window  and I see a massive glowing shape. The longer I stare I realize it’s a  man on fire. Not just any man, but Itiazi. His body is engulfed in  flames and he roars and screams as he tries to fight men off. He looks  bigger and somehow more monstrous than before, he also seems to have no  control over himself, barreling around and taking down men left and  right.

At one point when everyone has run away he races  towards my window. He smashes against it, roaring and bellowing,  striking his head against it as the glass begins to crack. I scream and  fall back on the ground. I cover my head and lay there on the ground in  fetal position until the noise stops.

Come morning there is a knock at the door and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“It’s ok, Liris, it’s just me.”

I crack open the door enough to see Itiazi standing there. “Let me  in. Everything is ok.” He speaks with a low and irritated voice.

I cautiously step aside and let him in. He moves quickly, taking the  package from the rafters and picking up the few things we have left. He  nods his head to me and I leave behind him. Outside he has a giant  stallion waiting. He loads the saddlebags and then places me on the  stallions back, hopping up and sitting behind me.

It’s silent  again but I don’t want it to be. I then notice his leg is wrapped with  cloth that is becoming more and more stained red.

“You’re hurt!” I gasp and place my hand on his knee.

He knocks my hand away. “Don’t worry about it,” he snarls.

“The bleeding isn’t stopping,” I snap back at him. “We need to stop right now. Let me look at it and see what I can do.”

“We can’t stop!” He roars at me.

“Whatever happened last night doesn’t matter. If you’re hurt I need  to take care of it!” I bellow and jab my finger into his chest.

Itiazi’s lip curls and he makes the horse turn onto a dark path going  through the woods. It’s an old trail, one that was used before the  Unified Road was built. We go down it for a long time until Itiazi stops  where there is an old abandoned cabin.

He gets off the horse  but I can see the pain struggle to keep himself up on his face. He  helps me down and we go into the old cabin. Inside there is the remnants  of a fire in the fireplace and there’s a small bed placed before it.

“Sit down,” I command him. “Let me see your leg.”

He snarls but does as I day. He pulls away the makeshift wrappings and I see the great big cut on his legs.

“It’s nothing.” He growls.

“Bullshit.” I use our skein of water to wash my hands and I take out  the first aid kit packed in my bag. I clean the cut and inspect it and I  know what has to be done.

“I need to stitch this up.”

The look on Itiazi’s face is far from happy or appreciative. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“I have a needle and thread with me,” I say. “It’ll be enough to keep you together until we get back home.”

“No!” He snarls at me.

“You want to keep your leg? Better yet if I don’t you’ll die of  blood loss before then.” I give him a hard stare. “It’s going to hurt  and I’m sorry.”

Itiazi glares at me. He places his hand on my  cheek and my heart begins to jump and jumble about. I look into his eyes  and nod to him. “It’s ok.” I put my hand over his. “I promise.”

He drops his hand and lays back while I set to work. I clean the wound  as best I can before taking out the emergency kit. I start stitching  him and he grunts and cries out as I do. It feels like hours and hours  but eventually I have him stitched and the bleeding as already begun to  stop. I clean myself up and return to his side.

He has tears  in his eyes and he’s breathing hard to get through the pain. I sit  beside him, stroking his cheek. He moves over a bit and places his head  in my lap. I’m shocked but let him have this moment of comfort. Itiazi  falls asleep there and I keep watch over him.

I wake up to  Itiazi shaking me. “We’ve gotta go. Now.” He picks me up and carries me  back out to the horse. I’m not even completely awake as we take off  running. We continue down the old road, racing from what feels like  nothing.

“Wait,” I grumble. “How do you feel? Is the cut ok?”

“No time.” Itiazi snarls. “They’ll be on us if we hesitate even for a moment.”

There’s no awkward silence or time to even think about the quiet  this time. We take the old road all the way back to Slystall. We stop to  rest when we can I keep a close watch on his cut. It’s healing well but  I still worry with all this running we’ve been doing.

Once  we’re home with our package, I notice men stop just outside the village  and watch us for the longest time before they turn and leave.

Itiazi pulls the horse up to my front door but before I can even look  at him he collapses and falls from the horse’s back. My mother and  father rush to get him inside, we tend to his wound and get him set up  next to his brother in the recovery ward. My mother then gets everything  ready with the special herb we’ve brought back.

The next  morning I rush downstairs to check on Itiazi and find him already up and  sitting in our kitchen. I sigh with relief.

“You’re ok,” I  laugh as I approach him. “I was so worried! After you feel off the horse  I was-” Itiazi grabs me, kissing me and pulling me close to him.

As we part he kisses my cheek and forehead. “I was worried I was going to die before I got to do that.”

“Oh-” I’m breathless and barely able to form a thought.

Itiazi kisses me again, gentle and hungry. I lean into it, expecting  it now. His lips and tongue and burning hot and feel good against my  skin.

“You’re hurt,” I pant as I pull away, pressing my palms  to his chest. “We should stop. We should go slow for a second.” I kiss  him again, unable to hold back.

“I’ll be fine,” he chuckles.

I look into his eyes and smile a bit. “Take this seriously.”

“I am.” He grins. “I needed to kiss you before I died. That’s  extremely serious.” He kisses my cheek and down my neck. “I need to make  love to you before I die as well.”

“You-” I moan as my lashes flutter. “You’re bad.”

He bites my neck and I feel a surge of heat between my legs. “You’re  not scared of me?” He laughs and lifts his head back up.

“A little,” I murmur. “I mean…when you were on fire-”

He smirks at me. “Just lost control. It happens when you go a little  berserk.” He kisses me again. “I can do something similar in bed, you  know?”

I grunt and push against his chest again. “My parents will come down soon.”

“Then let’s go to your room before they catch us,” he purrs into my ear.

I shove him again. “Your leg is still healing!” I snap at him. “You’re going to have to wait until it’s better.”

He kisses me again. “I don’t need my leg to make you cum.”

I stare dumbstruck at him before quickly snapping to my senses.  “Give it a week,” I huff and move out of his lap. “Then, just maybe,  I’ll give the idea some serious thought.”

“You sure you want to lose all that time?” Itiazi asks me.

“What’s there to lose?” I ask him, crossing my arms against my chest.

He smirks. “Take me to your room and I’ll show you.”

I roll my eyes and wave him along. I sneak him upstairs to my room  and I sit down on my bed. “Ok then,” I scoff, “what’s the big deal?”

Itiazi kneels down before me and spreads my legs open, he pushes up my robe and kisses my thighs.

“Now wait a second-” my voice trembles.

“Crush my head if you want.” He bites my thighs and looks up at me from between my legs. “That’s all part of it.”

I moan quietly as he kisses my mound. He tugs my hips, pulling them  out a little bit. His warm kisses trail down and his tongue presses to  my slit. I gasp and cup my hand over my mouth. His tongue pushes deeper,  opening me up. The bridge of his nose starts to rub against my clit and  I can’t help but squeeze my thighs a little.

He moans against  me, his tongue slips inside and I bite down on my knuckles as I force  myself to stay quiet. His eyes flick up to me, glowing bright copper. I  gasp and wheeze, locking eyes with him. He lifts his chin, moving his  mouth up. His tongue swirls around my clit and he kisses it. His fingers  then rub against me and after a moment they slip inside.

My thigh squeeze a little more. “Itiazi,” I moan, trying to still keep quiet.

He kisses my clit again, then time suctioning around it. He raises  his free hand, cupping it around my mouth. My eyes rolls back a bit. The  sensation of him sucking mixed with his fingers has me weak and near my  limit. My thighs squeeze more and my legs go stiff as a powerfully warm  sensation courses through my body. My toes curls and I throw my head  back, his hand still pressed around my mouth.

After a few moments and my legs go limp, Itiazi lifts his head and nuzzles his cheek to my thigh. “What’d you think?”

I gulp down a cold breath and bite back a smile. “It’s a start.”