by Adam Witcher
The other Wolfgangs were less easy to pinpoint. Two middle aged couples could have been Bartholomew’s younger siblings and their spouses. Four twenty-somethings were probably Lily’s other cousins. All four of them carried young children.
I stopped trying to guess, and just enjoyed the food. Eventually they all retreated into the quarters of various kind servants, and they disappeared from sight as well as mind. All that remained in the dining room were me, Lily, and her parents. Having abandoned her attempt at eating, Lily now sat at the far end of the table, whispering with them tensely. I gave them their privacy and admired the view of a beautiful night sky through the exploded wall. When I was through eating, I walked out into the yard and enjoyed the quiet of the night. I was alone, the horses having disintegrated not long after the battle. Then I heard Lily approach me from behind.
“Guess we need to head for Gragos tomorrow,” she said. “I can only imagine what Neptos must be up to there.”
“Eager to leave?” I turned around and smiled. “Short reunion.”
“Long enough,” she said. “I don’t think they’re holding any of this against me, but that doesn’t make staying any more enticing.”
“Holding it against you? We just saved all of their lives. They should be kissing your feet.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” She hung her head slightly. “Anyway, I’m not interested in their acceptance. Haven’t been for a long time. This is far from over, though. I want to go early tomorrow. It’s a long ride.”
“What about your parents?” I asked.
“They’re going to stay here. Help rebuild.” She turned to look at the ruined house. “They’re real Wolfgangs, after all.”
“You know, I’m not a real Wolfgang either,” I said with a smile. “Seems overrated.”
“Thanks.” She put a hand on my shoulder.
Once my adrenaline subsided and I was stuffed to the brim, I realized how exhausted I was. I went inside and found a room to fall asleep. A quarter of the wall was missing, but the autumn breeze was nice. It felt like my head had only just hit the pillow when I awoke to Lily standing over me and tapping me on the shoulder.
“Right now?” I said groggily. “In your family’s destroyed home? I can’t say I’m not into it, but you might be a little crazier than I expected.”
“Shut up.” She blushed in the pale lamplight. “It’s almost dawn, let’s go.”
“Dawn?” I lifted my head. “The sun’s not even awake, but I need to be?”
She pulled the blankets off me, and I shivered in the cold morning air.
“Fine, fine.”
I changed into my light armor and crept down the staircase into the dining room. Lily was filling her bag with bread and fruit. I did the same. Luckily, death had robbed Milo of his need for sleep, so he stood waiting for us. He stomped a couple of times in anticipation of the journey. We mounted him and took off. Before we crossed the hill that had led us to the estate, I looked back and took one last look at the ruined Wolfgang Estate. A light glow from the emerging sun illuminated it.
We saw almost nothing on the road until the sun sat high above us. Only the occasional farms, small and unassuming, broke up the monotony of the ride. As we rode further, though, the farms appeared barren and deserted. Only occasionally were they inhabited, usually by no more than one or two workers who attended futilely to their dying crops. Even the natural vegetation of the land seemed to thin out. Trees drooped, grass became faded, and the occasional animals were slow and thin.
“What do you suppose could be causing all of this?” Lily called out over her shoulder.
I didn’t need to respond. The next farm we saw was tucked away in a small valley between two hills. Finally, a farm with some signs of life. At least two acres of healthy corn plants. Three shacks surrounded the farmland. Working the land were half a dozen strong men, but they weren’t alone. Four armed orcs and a wagon that displayed the tower’s sigil stood near them. The orcs didn’t mind the farmers, but rather moved through the plants, cutting them and carried what they could back to the wagon. The farmers waited them out, looking defeated. The orcs only left about a quarter of the plants. They laughed to themselves as they loaded the last of it onto the wagon. They apparently didn’t notice us approaching. I began to string my bow when Lily put her hand on my shoulder.
“Wait just a minute,” She said.
“They’re thieves!” I said. “Come on, we can take these orcs like they’re nothing. Let’s kill them and bring these farmers back their crops.”
“Let’s see if we can learn anything else first.”
We watched as the wagon moved toward the road. One of the farmers ran after it, calling out. A couple of the others tried to stop him, but he persisted. The wagon stopped, and one of the orcs stepped out wielding his axe.
“You didn’t pay us for those!” The man yelled at the orc. “We don’t expect full price, but you can’t leave us with nothing. This is our livelihood!”
The orc walked toward the man with his axe raised. The farmer stepped backward and yelped, then tripped into the dirt. I fired an arrow when the axe was right over the orc’s head, and it caught him in his ribcage. He froze for a moment, then toppled over. The farmer squirmed away and ran off toward one of the shacks. The other three orcs jumped out. They were almost too easy to kill. Lily did one in with an ice spear, and I put down the other two with more arrows.
We approached the farmers, who cowered from us.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” I said, putting my bow away. “And neither will he.” I tried to calm an anxious Milo. “Feel free to take your corn back.”
The men did nothing. Despite saving their crops, I wasn’t feeling very welcomed.
“How long has this been happening? These orcs taking your food?” I asked.
“A… a few months,” said the farmer who called the orcs out. “Two maybe. They’re relentless. We barely have enough to eat.”
“Where are they taking them?” Lily asked.
“To Gragos,” he said. The men were beginning to settle. “I can’t say what exactly they’re doing with it, but they aren’t eating it. That’s for sure. I’ve heard whispers of some dark magic happening there. Some wizard is using the food.”
“Stealing from small farms?” I said to Lily. “Gragos is a massive city. They must be desperate. No wonder they were trying to set up a new operation at your family’s estate.”
“How long is the ride to Gragos?” I asked the farmer.
“About four hours from here.”
I glanced over at the vacant wagon. I didn’t love the idea of riding under that sigil, but it looked a lot more comfortable than Milo’s back. Not to mention, nobody was likely to mess with us if they thought we were under the tower’s protective eye. Lily looked at me and shrugged.
“Alright men,” I said. “Let’s clear out that corn. We’ll get this wagon out of your hair.”
We hooked Milo in with the other horses and set off. The living horses seemed uneasy at first, but they got used to him. Inside the dark wagon, I managed to nod off for a while. The dawn wakeup call was far earlier than I was used to.
Sometime later, I woke to a buzzing against my chest. It took me a moment to realize I wasn’t having a heart attack. I realized that so much had happened in the last couple of days, I had nearly forgotten Izmira’s emerald. Luckily, I’d fashioned it into a necklace. I pulled it out from under my shirt and it glowed bright green.
I poked my head out from the front of the wagon and saw Lily sitting and holding the reins. Her head was rolled off to the side. She jolted when I tapped her on the shoulder.
“I’m awake,” she said, “I’m awake.”
“Don’t worry.” I smirked. “Milo seems to know the way. Anyway, what do you make of this?”
She examined my necklace.
“She probably wants to communicate something to you.”
“How? She can’t leave the forest back home.”
“Don’t ask me, you’re the necrodruid.”
I joined Lily up front and looked around. To my surprise, we had exited the farmlands and entered a dense forest. The wagon was almost too wide to fit on the path.
“Stop the horses,” I said. “Give me one minute.”
She did, and I got down from the wagon. I looked around, but there was no sign of anything but trees. I wandered off into the thick of it, keeping my eyes peeled for the nymph when I spotted a beautiful doe walking straight toward me. It had an otherworldly glow that cast light on the trees. It approached me slowly, then bowed. I bowed back. It seemed only polite.
“You’ve done well, young necrodruid,” the deer spoke. It had Izmira’s voice. “But many trials await you. I have come because I have distressing news.”
“How are you here, Izmira?” I asked.
“Alas, I am not truly present.” The deer lowered its head. “This form is only an apparition. Though I cannot leave my own, I have a spiritual connection with the other forests of the realm. The nymph of this forest has welcomed my voice and allowed me to appear before you.”
“So you can’t take your true form?” I asked.
The deer paused for a moment.
“She has decided to allow it,” it said.
The doe’s glow pulsed more brightly for a moment before transforming into Izmira’s shapely figure. When she stopped glowing, my jaw dropped. She was naked, and her voluptuous body was even more perfect than I’d imagined.my eyes explored her curves, from her delicate face down to her large breasts and their perky pink nipples. Beneath them, her perfect hourglass waist nipped in before sloping out into her thick ass and thighs. She was fertility personified.
“Holy hell, Izmira.” I didn’t know what else to say. She strode over and put a finger on my lips.
“Don’t speak, necrodruid.” Her voice was a light whisper. I could feel her breathing against my skin. “We don’t have much time. I am here to say goodbye to you.”
“Goodbye? But you can appear in any forest. We could get something good going here.”
“That is just the problem.” She cast down her eyes. “I cannot appear to you again. Something terrible is happening to the forests. If you keep heading north toward the tower, and you must if you are to confront the sorcerer, there will be no more forests. They’re disappearing. I suspect he is the reason.”
“No more forests?” I said. “That’s impossible. That tower is still far away. The north is covered in forests.”
“Not anymore, necrodruid,” she said. “The creatures are dying. I can feel their pain. You must do what you can. It is your sacred duty as a necrodruid. Lead them against the forces that have destroyed their lives. I only wish… I only wish I could continue to help you.”
“You’ve already done so much.” I put my hand to her cheek. “I can take it from here. Neptos doesn’t stand a chance.”
She didn’t speak for a moment. Her eyes closed and her lips trembled when I touched her.
“Perhaps there is one more thing I can do for you.”
My eyebrows raised involuntarily, my breath stopped short. “I’m listening.”
Izmira leaned into me and pressed her lips against mine. The feeling was electrifying. Her hands ventured across my shoulders and my back, and I could feel her raw energy in every part of my body at once. When she caressed her tongue against mine, I felt myself get so hard that my pants could barely contain me. She pushed her tongue deeper, and pressed her body closer. I couldn’t contain myself then. I pushed her against the nearest tree and reached down, slipping two fingers into her wet pussy.
She bit my lip and grabbed my cock through my pants. I moaned, trying to keep myself from cumming. I didn’t want it to end. But then, as if to challenge my resolve, she dropped to her nears and untied my pants. She pulled them down and wrapped her gorgeous lips around my erect cock. I had to steady myself against the tree trunk behind her as she pushed me as far into her throat as she could. I felt her tongue flick over me as she moved back and forth. I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.
I climaxed so hard that I nearly lost consciousness. I fell to the forest floor. My vision faded in and out, and stars passed through my field of view. By the time I was back to normal, Izmira was gone.
Awkwardly, I stood up and walked back to the wagon. Lily yawned at my approach.
“Everything okay?” she said.
“Well, yes and no,” I answered honestly. I relayed what Izmira told me, leaving out the happy ending.
“Damn. Onward then, I guess,” she said as I climbed back aboard. We carried on toward Gragos.
Chapter Thirteen
Things only seemed to worsen as we neared Gragos. There were many more desolate farms and farmers who all cowered at the sight of our carriage. It felt strange to be riding under the banner of our enemy, but neither of us were interested in ditching our shelter. The tower loomed over us, larger than ever, and I wondered if it could see through our disguise. I wondered, too, if Neptos stood atop it now, watching the realm dissolve into ruins and smiling.
I wondered if this part of the realm had ever been beautiful before this ordeal. I could see the remains of forests and grasslands. Even the air itself seemed thinner the further we went, and the light warm breezes gave way to random blasts of icy wind.
After a few hours, the city of Gragos was visible on the horizon. It was as big as I had imagined, maybe bigger. The grasslands gave way to a hilly region as we approached it, and it seemed that the whole city was nestled into the hills. Gothic spires jutted out from rooftops, chimneys pumped thick smoke into the sky, and even from outside the city limits I could hear the citizens bustling about.
Gragos looked like it was at one point an elegantly walled city, but they had at some point given up on maintaining that status. The sections of dark grey wall that remained were in ruins, transformed from a symbol of safety and order into a decrepit state that could deter entry only through intimidation. When we were very close to the edge of the city, we saw a group of dirty children in rags playing on what was left of it. I laughed at the irony. A couple of them saw the sigil on our carriage as we approached and scattered.
“Maybe we ought to ditch the transport,” Lily said. “Don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. And I think we would make for some pretty ugly orcs.”
“Actually, I think we should stick it out.” I stroked my chin. “Just for a little while. It might be useful to see how the people in this city react to this sigil.”
“Fine.” She shrugged. “But if any enraged citizens decide to storm the carriage, my story is that you kidnapped me.”
“Fair enough.” I grinned.
The blown-out section of the wall that the path led to was easy to traverse. I guessed by the look of it that it used to be a gate. We entered onto a bustling road. We were met with an explosion of sights and smells. If Finnsbruck was disorienting, it had nothing on this city. Throngs of people huddled so thickly that it was hard to see the ground. There were no open town squares. Shops and stalls were set up any place there was room, and people swarmed about them in such masses that it thieves would have their pick of goods, wares, and pockets.
Only a few places seemed to be selling food, and those that did, didn’t have much. Dirty and shriveled ears of corn, bruised fruits, and crushed nuts seemed to be all that was available. The townspeople were all very thin.
It was difficult to maneuver the carriage through such dense streets, but the horses managed it slowly and deliberately. The living beasts seemed spooked by claustrophobia, but Milo marched on undeterred.
Surprisingly, few of the peasants took notice of us. Those that did averted their eyes quickly at the sight of the tower’s emblem. I supposed they had bigger fish to fry, or perhaps wished they had fish to fry at all. I wasn’t able to learn anything, and the giant thing seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.
“What do you say we go ahead and find an inn?” I asked Lily, who was looking arou
nd wide-eyed. “We can regroup from there. Figure out where to go next.”
She agreed.
We directed the horses away from the densest parts of the crowds and after a little while, we found less populated streets. With less chaos around, more of the citizens noticed us, but they did not say anything. We passed two different inns that both appeared to be in disrepair. Their wooden signs were barely legible in the dwindling evening light. Finally, after more than an hour, we found one called The Dragon Hyde Ale and Inn that even had room to leave our horses and carriage. It was a massive place, and when we went inside, we saw that it was packed to the brim with people. We shouldered our way through the crowd and grabbed some ales from the barkeep. I dropped some coins and we headed off to one of the few unoccupied tables in the corner.
“How in the gods’ names are we going to find anything in this city?” Lily asked after taking a sip. “I can barely hear myself think.”
“I’ve heard Gragos is big, but this is more than I was anticipating.”
“Maybe we should just get started tomorrow morning,” she said. “It’s getting late anyway, and we’ve been traveling all day. Besides, maybe Gragos isn’t quite so hectic in the mornings.”
I doubted it, but I agreed to her idea anyway. Drinking ale with a gorgeous girl seemed like a much better way to spend the rest of the evening than wandering the streets.
One cup turned to two, then three, then four. I suspected that the brews were strong, because I was feeling silly and woozy, and Lily seemed like she was too. The crowded state of the place bothered me less and less, and it cleared out the later it got. It seemed that these folks were here to drink, and not to stay the night.