Erica poked her head out of a narrow observation window beneath the engine. The gale kicked up by the high-speed train felt as if it might suck her right out of the frame. Her chestnut hair whipped wildly in the wind, each strand lashing against her cheeks like frayed straw.
"What are you shouting, Jerry?" Her voice was blurred by the wind, but her curiosity remained clear.
Jerry didn't answer. He simply grinned, flashing a somewhat silly smile at her. He reached out, gently patting the top of her head, which was chilled by the wind. Then, with a nimble flip, he leaped down from the engine and disappeared into the open carriage entrance.
The interior of the carriage was a world away from the howling winds and biting cold outside. Stepping in, a wave of heat hit him, sealing out the frigid wasteland. This was the heart of the Pathfinder, uncomfortably warm and thick with humidity.
This heat radiated from the omnipresent, tangled network of brass pipes. They were like the blood vessels of a living organism, climbing through every corner—stretching from floor to ceiling and snaking along the walls. Scalding steam roared through them at high velocity, providing the pulsing power that drove the massive train.
This was no waste. Alchemical engineers had masterfully captured this excess heat. The inner linings of the carriage walls were embedded with special alchemical materials that absorbed and recirculated the warmth, ensuring that as the steel beast crossed the wilderness, it provided a "temperate" environment for its crew.
Erica pushed upward against the overhead hatch that had been blown open by the wind. With a heavy thud, she slammed it shut. Her massive body blocked the draft, briefly isolating the interior from the outside chaos. On the silent plains ravaged by the swarm, no vegetation provided insulation; the nighttime temperatures were low enough to turn a healthy Centaur into an ice sculpture within minutes.
Just as the hatch sealed, the entire train bucked violently. It felt as if an invisible giant hand had seized it and yanked it forward. Then, a lower, more resonant whistle blast—heavy and oppressive—cut through the air. This was the Pathfinder's unique signal. It meant the train had passed the last of the intact old rails. From now on, it was entering autonomous track-laying mode.
The train's speed slowed instantly, losing its thunderous sprint. It was replaced by a heavy, rhythmic Clang-chug! Clang-chug! as the internal machinery engaged. Beneath the engine, the giant drills roared to life, grinding into soil and stone with a tooth-aching screech. The train transformed into a slow-moving metal behemoth, nibbling at the desolate earth—clearing obstacles while laying down sturdy sleepers and gleaming rails in its wake.
With the sudden deceleration, the violent shaking that threatened to displace one's organs vanished. It was replaced by a steady, solid sense of progression. The Pathfinder was a specially modified leviathan; its sheer weight generated destructive inertia at high speeds, but slowed down, that same mass granted it unparalleled stability. Each forward movement felt as heavy and powerful as the pulse of the earth itself.
Jerry turned and headed deeper into the carriage, with Erica following close behind. They walked through a narrow corridor constructed entirely of cold steel and scalding brass pipes. The space felt less like a hallway and more like a maintenance crawlspace inside a giant mechanical body.
The pipes, thick as pythons, pulsed with heat, making the air shimmer. Condensation dripped onto the burning metal walls with a sharp hiss, leaving white water marks. Dim alchemical bulbs tucked into the crevices cast mottled shadows, giving the passage the feel of a steampunk cavern.
The space was suffocatingly narrow. When Erica leaned her muscular upper body forward against the riveted metal wall, her massive frame took up most of the room, leaving just enough space for an engineer to squeeze sideways between her and the burning pipes. Because of this, Jerry and Erica could not walk side-by-side; they moved in silence, one behind the other, through the "veins" of metal and steam.
At the next corner, Jerry stopped and stepped aside to let Erica pass.
"Your room is just ahead. Go get some rest," he said, pointing to a marked metal door. "We have a long journey ahead of us. Save your strength so you can better claim your revenge."
Erica nodded without question, squeezing past him. Her footsteps faded, followed by the heavy thud of the metal door closing.
Jerry turned toward the other end of the passage—the command center, where Kaelia was. He didn't knock; he simply turned the handle and pushed inside. A thicker wave of hot, damp air mixed with a faint, stinging chemical scent hit him. The room was brightly lit, but dominated by control consoles and flickering gauges.
In one corner, behind a heavy waterproof curtain, came the sound of splashing water and a fine, "fizzing" sound of corrosion.
Kaelia didn't look back. When Jerry entered, she was standing naked, back to him, in a specialized metal basin. It was less of a bathtub and more of a treatment station. A dark green liquid reached her upper thighs, flowing continuously from an overhead showerhead to wash over her body.
This wasn't water, but a specially formulated alchemical reagent. The liquid flowed over her smooth back, pooling in the small of her spine before sliding over the curves of her buttocks. But when the fluid touched specific areas—her shoulders, the outsides of her forearms, and her outer thighs—it produced a faint hiss and a wisp of white smoke.
Those areas were once again being covered by a thin layer of black, horny chitin. Like a stubborn parasite, the swarm's influence grew savagely on her fair skin, trying to drag her back into a monstrous form. Kaelia's task was to use this corrosive liquid to peel and melt away the newborn shells, piece by piece.
Her body tensed under the sting of the chemicals, the muscles in her back clearly defined. She raised an arm, her fingers scratching and rubbing forcefully at the black scales on her other limb. The movement carried a frantic disgust, as if she were scrubbing away some revolting filth. The softened black shell fragments, mixed with green fluid, slid down the inside of her long thighs, creating murky ripples on the surface.
Splash!
The water continued to flow. Kaelia finally finished with her arms and turned around. Her stunningly large breasts swayed violently with the movement, water droplets rolling off their full arcs. She looked up at Jerry at the door, her face devoid of surprise; they had long since grown accustomed to this dynamic.
On her pale abdomen were several more patches of hardened chitin. She leaned over, cupping the corrosive liquid and pouring it over her belly, rubbing it in circles with her fingertips. The slight bend caused her heavy breasts to hang low, their dark peaks prominent in the humid air. Her breathing was ragged, whether from the chemicals or the exertion.
Jerry walked over in silence and stopped by the basin, his gaze scanning her bent body. Kaelia's most striking difference from a human was her legs—inverted avian structures covered in fine black scales from the waist down, ending in sharp, hard black talons currently gripping the metal floor for balance. Her massive wings, washed in corrosive fluid, were the dark color of wet crow feathers, clinging heavily to her back as water dripped between the plumage.
Yet her upper body retained the near-perfect form of a human female, her waist slender and her chest heaving in the steam.
"Jerry... could you come help me?" she asked, her voice weary. "Doing this alone is too difficult, especially the parts I can't see... and the parts further down." She looked at him with no hint of shame, as if asking for help with a chore, though the "chore" carried hidden implications.
Jerry didn't hesitate. He unbuckled his belt and shed his clothes, revealing a frame that looked slender—until one looked lower, where his monstrous, unspent spear hung with staggering dimensions.
He stepped into the basin. Splash.
Walking behind Kaelia, his rigid member brushed against her upturned buttocks, causing her body to tighten slightly. Jerry ignored the reaction and picked up a piece of rough pumice stone. Kaelia arched her back, presenting the spine and the newborn shells at the base of her wings.
Jerry gripped the pumice and began to scrub the ugly scales. The stone and the chitin made a scratch-scratch sound. As the chemical softened the shells, they peeled away, revealing an odd layer of skin beneath—not the fair flesh of her upper body, but a shimmering, sickly purple membrane. It was smooth, elastic, and felt like a cross between meat and hide.
As his fingers touched it, a faint, tingling sensation like static electricity shot through his palm. It wasn't painful, but a light, strange itch.
"Nngh... not too hard, Jerry," Kaelia groaned. Her back pressed against his chest, and the tingling sensation caused her to wiggle, her rear inevitably rubbing against the magnificent pillar in front of him.
"Hold still," Jerry replied, but he didn't lighten the pressure. He moved the stone lower, toward the area where her wings met her lower back—the hardest place to reach. He pressed his body closer until they were flush. His semi-suspended spear was now buried deep within the cleft of her lush buttocks. Every scrape of the stone and every shimmy from Kaelia increased the depth of contact between them.
Soon, the upper half was clear. Kaelia turned to face him, her eyes shimmering like they were submerged in water.
"Jerry..." she whispered enticingly. She lifted one leg—the black, avian limb—and rested it on the edge of the basin. This exposed the crook of her white thigh in stark contrast to the black talons. "Help me with the parts... down here." She pointed to her pubic bone.
Jerry's gaze traveled up her leg to the pink, hairless mound at the front of her pelvis. It was smooth, plump, and glistening from the chemicals.
Splash... squelch...
Jerry knelt. His hand reached for her groin. In the dim yellow light, her private parts looked fleshy, swollen, and inviting. His fingertips touched the soft, elastic flesh. Kaelia shuddered, exhaling a puff of steam. Her legs spread slightly wider, her talons gripping the basin as her hips tilted upward instinctively, seeking more.
His fingers slid down into the soft folds. The liquid rippled with a rhythmic sound. With the tingling sensation of the reagents, he teased her gently, causing her breath to hitch and her body to sway. Her lips parted, letting out small, wounded whimpers.
Suddenly, Jerry changed his movement. He wasn't just petting her anymore; he pinched the swollen, engorged bud between his thumb and forefinger. As he applied pressure, a nearly invisible spark of blue electricity—like static—flickered from his nail.
"AH!"
Kaelia bolted upright, a shrill moan squeezed from her throat. Her massive frame shook violently, splashing the basin's liquid everywhere. Her wings snapped open in the cramped space, the heavy feathers thudding against the walls to steady her. Her eyes were completely blown out, lost in a haze of electric pain and pleasure.
Jerry leaned in, his voice low and carrying an authority beyond his years. "You haven't been entirely honest with me, have you?"
Kaelia froze. The bud he held twitched. After a long pause, she gasped out, "I... I told you everything! Every detail about the 'infestation'!"
Jerry shook his head and waved a hand over his discarded robe. With a ripple in space, a thumb-sized metal cylinder appeared in his palm—a cold, mechanical device with delicate switches at both ends and fine wires at the base.
Kaelia's gaze regained focus, looking at the strange device with a Harpy's natural curiosity for metal, but an ominous feeling began to bloom in her gut.
Jerry didn't explain. He reached out a wet finger and touched her tongue, gathering a bit of her saliva, then drove that wet finger straight into her deep, dark tunnel.
"Nngh..." Kaelia trembled as his finger invaded her, her tight walls forced to relax under his probing. He stirred within her, feeling the slick, soft interior. When he felt the space was ready, he withdrew his finger with an audible pop.
Before she could react, he gripped the metal cylinder and shoved the cold "egg" directly into her opened passage.
"AWUU!"
Kaelia's head snapped back. The cold metal against her hot interior was a jarring violation. But before she could process it, Jerry flipped a switch.
Bzzzzzz...
A low-frequency, aggressive vibration pulsed from deep inside her. The itching, numbing sensation exploded through her body. Her legs clamped shut, her talons scratched the metal, and her wings beat against the walls with a dull thud-thud-thud.
Jerry watched her calmly. He traced a complex alchemical rune in the air. The rune flashed and sank into the vibrating toy. Instantly, the patterns changed, becoming more erratic and invasive. The peaks of the frequency forced her private parts into cycles of intense contraction and expansion.
"Nngh... ah... hhh..."
Kaelia's moans became primitive, like a crying animal. Her thighs were forced apart, her talons scraping the floor, looking for a grip that didn't exist. Gradually, a strange sound rolled from her throat—not a word, but a rhythmic echo of pleasure and pain. As the vibration intensified, the sound formed a song.
In a raspy, ancient tone, she began to chant: "...Iron for bone, furnace for heart, the God of All Machines, eternal rhythm... Gears grind, steam for soul, our flesh sacrificed to You... The buzzing sound pierces heaven and earth, glory to the Perpetual Wheel..."
Caught in the peak of the vibration, her consciousness frayed. She was singing a mechanical hymn she didn't even know she knew. At the height of the twisted song, Kaelia reached down, ignoring the madness inside her, and seized the thin cord attached to the toy.
Zip!
With all her strength, she yanked the torturous object out, sending a spray of thick fluids flying as she flung it toward the wall. It was caught mid-air by an invisible force, hovering gently.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Kaelia collapsed against the cold wall, her skin flushed crimson. Water dripped from her body. Her eyes were a mess of shame, fury, and the terror of being exposed.
Jerry didn't speak. The hovering toy flew back to his hand. He waved his other hand toward his robe again. A piece of irregular, black sheet metal—no larger than a palm—flew up and hovered between them. It looked like scrap torn from a building, but when it flipped over, the back was revealed to be covered in tiny, ant-like script carved with a needle.
Jerry's spiritual scan had long ago pierced the metal's surface. He had discovered this hidden plate inside the engine's structure.
He toyed with the still-warm vibrating toy in one hand and pointed to the plate with the other. "Don't you want to explain?" his voice was light but heavy with pressure. "This 'hymn' sounds very strange. The Machine God, the Omnissiah... I've never heard of such a thing in Ironforge."
He took a step forward. His monstrous spear, engorged from the stimulation, swayed in the warm water. He lowered himself, pressing the massive head of his member against the wet, muddy cleft of Kaelia's thighs, nudging her open.
Squelch...
Even a slight nudge from a weapon of that size forced her legs apart.
"Speak, Kaelia."
"I want the real answer."
Kaelia did not want to speak; her clenched jaw betrayed her internal struggle. But Jerry's increasingly oppressive gaze, coupled with the unspeakable afterglow lingering in her body, told her that silence would only invite a deeper "punishment."
She lowered her head, her lush breasts pressing almost entirely against Jerry's chest. Her voice was incredibly low, a suppressed, gravelly murmur. "The Omnissiah is... the Great Machine God."
Her body shuddered involuntarily—not out of fear, but out of an ineffable awe.
"Her messenger!" Kaelia's voice turned ethereal, as if she were recalling a long-buried legend. "Descending from the heavens... just as the Swarm was about to devour my ancestors, it brought salvation... and the method of resistance: Steam Dynamics!"
Kaelia exhaled a long, heavy breath, as if a mountain had been lifted from her shoulders. That secret, that obsessive faith, was finally brought to light under Jerry's coercion.
The Greyfeather Harpy family hadn't been born with knowledge of machines beyond their era. It all stemmed from a miraculous "descent." A landing pod, bearing the name of the Machine God "Omnissiah," had fallen onto the ancestral lands of the Greyfeathers. Inside were the blueprints and knowledge of steam power. To a family of Harpies living in a medieval age of plate armor and swords, it was a holy relic.
Relying on this advanced technology, Ironforge was built and survived the Swarm's encroachment. But to maintain their rule, the faith of the Omnissiah was kept secret, framed instead as a divine right granted only to the Greyfeathers.
Jerry listened in silence, his expression becoming complex. His hand stopped toyed with the vibrator, and the black metal plate hung still in the air. His calm eyes stared intently at Kaelia's slightly parted lips.
Seeing no response, Kaelia's body tightened again. She gripped the edge of the basin, her talons sinking into the metal as she waited for judgment. She could feel Jerry's massive member grinding against her thighs with a probing force, the gargantuan head occasionally bumping against her sealed petals. Each impact made a wet squelch... squelch... sound, sending fresh waves of numbness through her.
Jerry reached out, ignoring the metal plate, and grabbed her waist. His palms pressed firmly against her smooth skin, his fingers tracing her curves upward until he pinched the soft flesh beneath her breasts.
"Still not the whole truth. I don't want myths and legends. Tell me your real purpose. Don't act so righteous—I hate being lied to."
His voice was seductive. He was so close that Kaelia could feel his warm breath and the scent of masculine musk mixed with the alchemical reagents. As he spoke, his member slid another inch deeper, stopping just outside the thin membrane of her virginity, creating an unprecedented sense of expansion.
"No... I didn't..." Kaelia tried to defend herself, but the pleasure in her core broke her words into fragments.
Jerry ignored her. He watched her face, enjoying her distress. He began to thrust his massive spear forward with purpose.
"Gh-aaaa..." With a moan of invasion, her soft walls were forced apart by his sheer girth, allowing the head of his spear to touch that thin, internal barrier. The expansion was overwhelming.
"I didn't want..." Kaelia finally broke. Her voice turned nasally and tearful. "I don't want to turn into a bug... and I don't want to die!"
She slid down the wall slightly, but Jerry's hand held her firm by the waist, tilting her plump buttocks upward and exposing her opening even further.
"Harpies can live for centuries... I'm only thirty..." she sobbed. "But if I become one of those brainless things... is that even living? I'd rather die now!"
Jerry listened as his member, engorged by the heat of her tight flesh, pushed in another fraction. It felt like a thick iron pestle grinding against the softest gel. Every millimeter of progress was marked by a wet squelch and Kaelia's stifled sobs.
"I've been researching... I found a secret..." Her defenses were gone. "Every fortress on the Silent Plains—Ironforge, Windcut, Lava Heart... they all found a 'pod' that fell from the sky!"
She panted, "That's why we all mastered steam power at the same time. The information in the pods says the Swarm's nest... that is where the mother ship crashed!"
Jerry kneaded her waist, his spear now stretching her entrance to a terrifying diameter.
"The mother ship... it might have complete knowledge... maybe... maybe a way to reverse the infection!" Kaelia's eyes flared with hope before dimming. "This is my selfishness. I have to go there. Even if you hadn't appeared, I was going to leave. I can feel my body... it won't last much longer. If I don't try, I'll turn into a monster and be killed by my own people."
She went limp against him, offering her secrets, hopes, and despairs. Jerry looked at her defenseless face, then pulled her hips hard into his.
SQUELCH!
A muddy, wet sound erupted, louder and more visceral than any before.
When Jerry woke up, it was because of damp feathers tickling his nose. He opened his eyes to see Kaelia's gray, pool-like eyes inches from his own.
The moment they locked eyes, Kaelia stiffened. A faint blush crept over her face. She clumsily closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering like fans. They were lying on a metal cot in the command center. It was cold and hard, leaving their backs sore, but the shared body heat and the lingering intimacy replaced the discomfort.
Jerry looked down. His massive spear, which had ravaged Kaelia all night, was still lazily nestled deep inside her soft core. It was like a sleeping python, keeping her filled. He could feel the slight twitches of her internal muscles around him.
Part of her massive wings was pinned beneath him, while other feathers lay scattered across his chest.
"Nngh..." Kaelia murmured, looking at the ceiling to avoid his gaze. Her breath was still shallow; the presence of that giant object inside her made it impossible to fully relax.
"I... just now..." she said weakly. "That song... those hymns. Why did I sing them? I didn't want to."
Jerry chuckled. He thrust his hips slightly, a slow, deep grind that made her shiver. A wet squelch echoed in the small room. He reached for the metal vibrator he'd left on the bedside.
"The 'hymns'?" He toyed with the cylinder. "It's a little toy I designed—an alchemical tool."
As he spoke, he began to slowly, inexorably withdraw his member from her body. Every inch of withdrawal stretched her internal walls. Squelch... squelch... His massive spear dragged the fluids of their union out with it. Kaelia was hypersensitive; she felt every ridge of him leaving her—an experience of both emptiness and intense friction.
Finally, with a wet POP, the magnificent weapon left her body entirely. It was coated in her slick juices, glistening in the dim light, still engorged and proud of its work. Kaelia instinctively clamped her thighs together, her core twitching as a stream of fluids slid down her leg onto the blanket.
"I originally designed this for shy virgins who won't make a sound," Jerry teased, his voice full of irony. "So that during their first night, they would sing like the most decadent whores, voicing the melodies they know best. I didn't expect my first test subject to be you."
He flicked his finger against his slick, massive spear. It wobbled, sending a few thick droplets of semen and juice splashing onto Kaelia's pale inner thigh.