Deep Into Destiny

by Scot C Morgan

  "I suppose you might've liked to have gotten around town more." He touched the pommel of his sword. "Instead of all this training." Cocking his head to the side slightly, he squinted at me as he waited for my answer.

  "I've gotten out in the evenings a fair bit. There are good people here." I nodded toward him.

  "You and your companions are always welcome, especially after how you stood by our side to defend Yedia."

  "Thanks. Though we'll have to leave soon, I look forward to coming back…if I can."

  "When you can."

  "Yeah." I hoped his optimism was warranted, but I wasn't as sure.

  We left the training courtyard and he invited Alara, Nithia, Tara, and me to his home once again for a meal that night, saying he'd be far too busy as of the next morning to see us much, if at all. I accepted his offer with thanks and we parted ways—he to return to the barracks to work with his men and I to track down my women and let them know my training was finished, and of Mettin's invitation to dinner...and of the plan to leave Yedia.

  I walked the town for twenty minutes or so looking for them. Despite the town bustling with activity since the early morning, the people of the city were still busy putting their lives back together. As the sky turned rose-colored with the setting sun, everywhere I looked, men, women, and even children were anything but idle. They moved with a sense of purpose. I was impressed at their apparent resolve and their resilience.

  I'd wondered why people would settle so far north, where the winds were cold and the threat of the dragons were closer than anywhere else in Galderia, but seeing the toughness of the people of Yedia, it somehow made sense to me now. I thought about what Mettin said, about the city being a stronghold, and how the lands across the sea had once been a safer place to live. Reflecting on that as I made my way through the town, Yedia's remoteness was no longer a mystery to me. The people want to live unmolested by the darker forces in the world, I thought.

  Just live their lives without fear and worry. Same as everyone.

  I realized I wanted the same thing. I had it better than I knew when I was back at college, I thought.

  And now, I'm going to run toward the storm.

  Seeing a group of children playing outside a small shop to my left as I walked by, and hearing their laughter, I took comfort at the thought that I was going to travel to the storm that was Kurg to keep them, and so many others, safe.

  I walked a half dozen streets, guided partly by the smells which were now familiar to me: bread baking, the shop with flowers and other plants hanging from the awning by the front door, the local pub. I eventually got to the part of town where I expected to find my women.

  I knew the general area they'd be in, but not the exact place. Seeing them each morning and evening, I heard what they'd been doing—helping with meals for some of the families who'd lost someone who used to do that or sorting through rubble to recover what hadn't been too badly damaged, returning personal effects to those who held them dear. They went where they were needed, and I got a little report each night as to roughly where that was.

  I'd been around town a fair bit too, doing work after training. Several days I joined a group of able-bodied men to do the heavy lifting clearing fallen support beams or removing piles of stone which had collapsed into homes or shops.

  The week had been anything but a vacation, despite what I'd said to Mettin. I was exhausted, but thankful to have a week where no creatures or monsters were trying to kill me—though Mettin and I took our training close to that edge more often than perhaps we should've, despite agreeing we'd pull back after the first injurious day.

  Popping my head inside a few shop doors where I'd previously seen Alara, Nithia, or Tara lending a hand, I finally found them. The shop they were in was really more of a workshop, with only a small corner near the door to offer the pottery and leather handiworks made in the rest of the place. When I opened the door, l didn't see anyone, but I heard laughter and several voices coming from the back room. I recognized three of them as belonging to my companions.

  "Hello!" I pulled the door shut behind me as I stepped inside and past the small counter serving the shop space.

  No one came out from the back room, and the talking kept going, still punctuated occasionally with laughter. I called out to them again as I headed toward the half-open door leading to the back room.

  I gently pushed the door open the rest of the way and took a step into the threshold, leaning into view. Alara, Nithia, Tara, and two women I didn't recognize were sitting around a large table. Each of the five had ceramic steins in-hand or within reach, and three clay pitchers were on the table, two of which were empty—the third being the only one still upright. But I didn't need that evidence to know they'd been drinking heavily. The air in the room was thick with the smell of whatever they'd been enjoying. The alcohol-filled air had a sweetness to it. Honey, maybe, I thought, remembering reading about mead in one of the sword and sorcery novels I drank down a few years back.

  It was yet another party I hadn't been invited to, but that fact didn't bother me like it used to do when I was back in Austin. I'd changed, somehow—not just physically, but in my head, in my heart.

  The talking and laughter stopped almost immediately, though Nithia, who had her back to me, was the last to realize I'd entered. All the other women stared at me, then Nithia quieted down and turned around to my direction—drink in her hand and froth from it on her lips.

  "Oh, it's you." She grinned large, which pushed the froth on her lips onto the skin between her mouth and her nose. "We were just talking about you." She set her drink down, but not before her wobbly hold on it spilled a few drops into her cleavage. She didn't seem to notice, but I did, quickly losing sight of the drops as they disappeared between the two mountains where I'd so fondly gone more than one evening in the past week.

  I glanced to the others. Alara managed to partially compose herself, but Tara was snickering, though without making a sound. One of the two women seated to either side of her winked at me.

  The other one raised her eyebrows and slowly nodded, scanning me up and down with her eyes. "You're right. He is."

  All of them giggled, even Alara.

  I took another step in, away from the door. "You all look like you're having a good time."

  "Oh, it can get a lot better with you here," mumbled the woman who'd winked at me, but if she meant it to go unheard, she did a poor job of it.

  Alara glared at her and the woman shrugged her shoulders. Alara rolled her eyes and smiled. She played two of her fingers around the side of the stein in front of her.

  Tara took a sip of her drink, then—leaning slightly forward while looking intensely at me—used the forefinger of her other hand to wipe a little from the corner of her mouth, afterward putting the tip of her finger into her mouth to suck off whatever she'd collected.

  I laughed. "Okay. I can see you five have been at this for a while." I scanned the lot of them, and seriously considered inserting myself further into...the situation. But the final day of training with Mettin had left me exhausted, and I knew it was only a couple of hours before we were to dine with him at his home.

  The one who winked at me did so again. "Want to join us?" She held up her tall mug, a glazed brown clay piece, which I assumed, from what I'd seen at the entrance, she or her friend had made.

  She appeared older than Tara, for sure. Maybe Alara's age, or close to it. Her breasts were nearly as full as Alara's, which was impressive. I hadn't seen any others so large in Galderia—aside from Sydney's, but she was a Texas girl, and gone home now. They hung a little lower than Alara's, but not unpleasantly so. Just her natural look, I figured.

  The lot of them giggled, pulling my attention away from the winker's breasts, which evidently had entranced me more than I realized.

  "So, yeah," I said before swallowing and clearing my throat. "I came to take these three home. Sorry to shorten the party."

  "Oh," Alara said, setting her stein do
wn a little too hard, which caused a bit to slosh over the top. "I haven't introduced you." She put her arm around the shoulder of the woman who'd winked at me. "This is Maralel."

  Maralel raised her hand and waved to me by curling her fingers.

  I nodded to her. "Den."

  "Yes," Maralel said. "I've heard." She grinned in a way that made it clear one of my women had been spilling certain secrets to her.

  Alara then turned to her other side and leaned toward Tara, reaching past her in an effort to touch the other woman on her shoulder too. But the other woman sat a little too far away, and Tara didn't help either, leaning forward just enough to press her breasts against the side of Alara's face.

  Alara smiled, but didn't draw her face away from Tara's chest. Her words sounded slightly muffled as she said, "This is Corin."

  All of them giggled and Alara sat back into her chair.

  "Nice to meet you both," I said.

  "We don't want to go," Nithia said, making a pouting face.

  Maralel reached for the only upright pitcher and refilled her stein. "We're going to need some more." She looked up at me. "Especially for him." She smiled at me. "He's so...big."

  Getting Alara, Nithia, and Tara and heading back to Mettin's place had been my plan when I walked into the room, but my resolve to follow through on that was slipping. I quickly thought about how long it had taken me to walk through town to find them, and did my best to guess how long it would take to get back to Mettin's place from here.

  Less than two hours until dinner.

  "What is it, Den?" Alara asked.

  "Dinner," I said. I looked at Corin, then to Maralel. "I'm sorry, but the four of us are expected for dinner at a friend's house shortly."

  "No," Corin said. "That's too bad." She glanced at the others around the table before looking back at me. She slid the shoulder of her blouse down a little. "I was about to suggest a...game."

  Alara stood. "No. I think we need to go." She turned to Corin and Maralel. "We've had a great time. Thank you."

  "Dinner where?" Nithia asked me.

  "Mettin invited us," I said. The dinner plans felt much more inconvenient than they had felt ten minutes earlier.

  "Oh," Alara said. "Yes, we should. We must. He's been a gracious host."

  Nithia stood up. "I suppose you're right."

  "If you're sure," Maralel said.

  "I..." Tara glanced at me and then looked around the table at the others. "I think I'll stay a while longer. When is dinner?"

  "Oh," I said. "It's...Are you sure?" I wanted to insist she leave with the rest of us, but I hadn't entirely committed to leaving either. I thought about telling Alara and Nithia we could hang around for a while longer. Maybe we all could play a round of Corin's game.

  I noticed Alara glance at me, then at Maralel and Corin, before turning to Tara. "No. We should go now."

  Tara stared at her, but said nothing.

  "I insist," Alara said.

  Tara's eyes narrowed.

  I watched the two of them and waited. I knew Tara to be strong-willed, and this was the first time I'd seen Alara take an authoritative stance with her since the two of them had nearly clawed it out back in Darguna, before they became friends.

  After an uncomfortably long silence, Tara turned to Corin. "I'll stay a while longer, if that's okay with you."

  "Sure," Corin said. "The three of us can wind it down a while by ourselves." She looked at me. "That is, of course, if you're sure you won't stay longer."

  Before I answered—and I didn't really know what my answer was going to be—Alara came to my side and put her hand on my forearm. "We need to go."

  I looked at her. The carefree expression had vanished from her face. I shrugged. Somehow, a hefty dose of wisdom took over my thoughts. "We do." Corin's game wasn't worth causing a rift with Alara. I turned to Tara. "Maybe you could head back in an hour? He invited all of us. That work?"

  It took a second for Tara to break her stare with Alara, but then she looked at me and smiled. "That sounds good, Den. I'll be back in time for dinner."

  I smiled at her and nodded. "Good."

  Nithia joined me at my other side, and I glanced to her and Alara, then addressed Tara, Maralel, and Corin. "You three have fun." I looked at Tara. "But you might want to ease up a little...to make the walk home a easier. You'll remember the way?"

  Tara grinned. "Yes. This isn't the first time I've had something to drink, you know."

  I smiled and nodded. "Of course." I glanced to Maralel and Corin, and they seemed to know what I was thinking.

  "We'll see to it that she heads back the right way," Maralel said.

  I nodded to her and reminded myself that the people in Yedia were generally decent and kind, and the town had regular patrols, especially at night.

  And she, Alara, and Nithia made quite a few friendly acquaintances between here and Mettin's place over the past many days.

  The walk back would be safe, I decided.

  With Alara and Nithia, I headed out the door without delay, to ensure no more tense exchanges between Alara and Tara. Let her enjoy another carefree hour with Maralel and Corin, I thought.

  And, if the walk back doesn't take too long, Alara, Nithia, and I can get in an hour or so of our own before dinner too.

  Chapter 3

  "She'll be fine, Den," Alara said to me from the bed. I was standing by the door to our room. I'd just closed it after the three of us had returned from having dinner with Mettin.

  After apologizing to him for Tara not being at dinner, and telling him where we'd left her, he'd assured me Maralel and Corin were good women, and that they could be trusted. I ignored Alara and stared at the closed door, wondering if I should go back to get Tara.

  Maybe she dozed off. Probably better than walking back plastered. It didn't really look like they were going to stop drinking anytime soon.

  I thought about the path back from there to Mettin's place and realized it wasn't a hard walk. The streets had been quiet when we came back, I recalled.

  Safe enough, I guess.

  "Den," Nithia said. "She needed some time to relax. She'll come back when she's done."

  Nithia's spoke more softly than Alara, and her tone helped put my mind at ease. I turned from the door to her and Alara. Nithia hadn't gotten into bed yet, but she was standing beside it, naked. I admired her golden blond hair, seeing once more that it was indeed natural.

  She looked at me with wide blue eyes and said, "Surely there's something we could do until then."

  Alara, seated near the head of the bed, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders, drew the covers back. She had red panties on, but that was all. I noticed her top on the pillow beside her.

  I looked at the two of them for a moment. The room was lit by a single lantern on a small table to one side of the space. The light was mostly steady, casting soft shadows to one side of each of their breasts. A brief gentle sway of the flame stretched the shadows around their ample curves, hiding their breasts and Nithia's soft blond patch from my eyes for a moment. I felt cheated in that instant, but the flame fell back in place and I could once again see all they were offering me.

  I removed my shirt and dropped it in front of the door and walked toward them.

  Nithia remained standing, nude and doing nothing to conceal her fruits from me. Alara rocked slightly one way and pulled her panties from one side of her waist, sliding them down past her ass. Then she shifted the other direction and slid them down that side. With her ankles together, she raised her legs in front of her and pushed her panties down her thighs and over her bent knees.

  I stood a few feet in front of Nithia, admiring her and Alara, who finished removing her panties and tossed them off the side of the bed.

  "I feel overdressed." I started to work one of my boots against the other, trying to get it off.

  Nithia came closer and knelt before me. She looked up at me and smiled. "Let me help you."

  I wasn't sure if she m
eant with my boots or something else, but I was hopeful.

  She leaned over and took hold of one of my boots and helped me out of it. Then she did the same with the other. When she'd discarded them, she stayed on her knees but sat up straight again. She wasn't looking up at me now. Her eyes gazed directly in front of her, and I could feel my manhood swelling from her attention and what might come next.

  I began undoing my belt, but she stopped me, grabbing my hands with hers. She looked up at me as she gently pushed my hands away. I was confused until a moment later, when she took to removing my belt herself.

  "Hurry up," Alara said playfully.

  As I felt Nithia's hands taking my belt, and then my leather loincloth off of me, I watched Alara lean back onto a pillow against the headboard while parting her knees slowly. She opened her mouth a little and raised her eyebrows, her emerald eyes bright, as if she was surprised by what was happening. Her ankles spread, gently gliding her feet over the top of the covers. She kept going until each of her legs was nearly touching opposite sides of the bed.

  I was about to tell her that I'd be right there, but my ability to speak faltered as I felt Nithia's warm mouth engulf me down below. Trying desperately to look at both Alara and Nithia at the same time, I glanced at Nithia's golden blond hair. Hanging down on either side of her face, it swayed back and forth with her movements against me.

  "Save some for me," Alara said.

  I felt my legs wobble slightly and I reached down instinctively to grab something to steady myself. But I stopped before touching Nithia's head, not wanting to interfere with her work. As her blond locks bounced away from her left eye, she spotted my hand and grabbed it, leaving her other hand against my hip to brace herself. She pushed my hand around to the back of her head and held it there, forcing my palm harder against her in rhythm with her movements onto me. Evidently satisfied I got the idea, she left me to it and used her free hand to rub her breasts while we continued.

  I watched her hand kneading her chest, but then closed my eyes for a few moments, trying to prolong the experience. Seeing her in action had gotten me going fast. I wanted to answer Alara's request to save some for her, but it seemed Nithia was set on taking the first serving for herself.