I took a second before answering, reflecting first on that moment. Had I felt anything?
"Does astonishment count?" I asked.
She chuckled, then touched my cheek. "No, Den. That's not what I meant."
"Oh. Then no. I guess I didn't. What does the inscription say?"
"That depends."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it changes…if it's there at all."
"Oh." I felt more lost in the conversation than before, and she looked as if she could tell.
"Is that so hard to believe about a magical staff?"
"Okay, good point."
We started walking again. "This time," I said, "what did it say?"
"It doesn't actually say anything." She held it up at an angle to show me the inscription again, which glowed still, but more faint than before. "When I read it—if you can call it that—it helps to clarify things."
"What kind of things?"
"Feelings."
"So, it's like therapy?" Mental face-palm! "Sorry. I didn't mean-"
"Feelings from the other realms."
"Where the gods live?"
"Yes. And others. It can't be fully understood without experiencing the sensations."
I nodded, playing it safe.
"But that's something for the women of the Order."
I realized that now meant only her, since the others of her sisterhood were slain by Thautus Kurg, or at least his men. I felt sorry for her, how lonely she must feel at times with nobody capable of understanding her mystical experiences.
No wonder she asked Nithia to join the Order. Maybe she will someday.
I took her hand and we stopped walking. Turning to her, I asked, "What did you feel?"
She held my gaze with her beautiful emerald eyes. I waited for her to answer. She slowly shook her head a little. "Something out of place. But I don't understand. I just feel it."
I waited to see if she said more. I had no idea how to deal with what she told me. She might've realized there was little I could say to help her. But she evidently thought I might be able to help in some other way. She stepped directly in front of me, looking up into my eyes in a way I recognized. She had something else on her mind now.
I moved my lips down to meet hers. She wrapped her arms around me and we left words by the wayside. After a few seconds, I felt her breasts pushing into my chest as her breathing became heavy. I reached around her and underneath her loin skirt, giving her ass a good squeeze. She seemed to shift into a higher gear, sliding her hands around on my back, then dropping a hand down to show me she could give as good as she got.
"Get a room!" I recognized Monica's voice.
I slid my mouth away from Alara's for a second to glance back toward the campfire. Everyone except Nithia was standing, staring at Alara and me.
Alara either didn't hear Monica or chose to ignore her, instead frantically reaching up to my head and pushing my lips back to hers.
"We should…move…a little farther," I said between each assault of her lips.
I had to take a step backward to pull away from her kisses to get her to see the others watching us.
"Oh," she said. "Maybe we should find a more private spot."
"You think?" I grinned, then I took her hand and lead her away until the light from the campfire faded to be replaced by starlight.
I felt her tug my hand as she stopped. I looked at her. She smiled and glanced to a spot on the ground thick with grass. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows twice.
"That'll work," I said, pulling her down with me.
Chapter 15
The next day might as well have been night, or at least late evening, for all the sky sat low with dark clouds. I knew the sea lay to the east, and might've carried a storm driving the weather, but the cold wind pushing against us as we rode came from the north. We rode near the middle of a wide plain, the woods far to the west, but occasionally seen from the tops of hills we covered. With the still vivid memory of the giant spiders and what they did to Tara—and what else they could've done if we hadn't fought them off—I decided the risk in taking the woods to get out of the cold wind was too much. The path was more valley than hills, and we'd found the land near the sea rocky late in the morning, driving our decision to move inward to the plains.
So, we endured. Despite wrapping our faces with part of our cloaks or what other cloth we had to do the trick, the air dried and chilled our skin. My barbarian man-chest nipples were hard as rock. The clothes we'd bought weren't cut out for cold as much as I'd hoped. A North Face Arctic jacket would be sweet right about now.
I got a little warmer when I imagined the women's nipples rock hard too. I played a slideshow of Alara's, Tara's, and Nithia's. Then I lingered on the blank slides for Monica and Victoria. I'd been in bed with naked Monica back in my apartment, but I was too much of an idiot to stay conscious long enough to get the details. I'd seen the basic contours on Victoria through the sheer outfit Ruja made her wear, but her mystery hadn't been solved either.
We rode single file, with me in front to make it less bothersome—at least for everybody else. Pudding never once complained. Our bond seemed stronger since the fight with Ruja's traveling men. She rode steady and responded even faster to my guidance through the reins.
Maybe I'd become a more skilled rider. My balls no longer hurt. It felt like Pudding had some high-dollar suspension installed. I hope it's one of those things, I thought. I hope my nuts haven't been smashed to numbness.
"Everyone okay?" I kept my face forward while yelling back to the others. I didn't want my cloak to unwrap from my face. The wind shifted from strong but steady to freakish gusts at least once per minute. The last time I'd been looking back to Alara when it happened my cloak flew over the rest of my face and flapped behind me like a flag. I had to fight the wind to gather it and put it back in place, which caused some confusion for Pudding as I jostled about on her back.
"No!" Alara sounded annoyed, which is how we all sounded for the last hour. "Where is all this wind coming from? We're days from the mountains, from what Jan told us!"
"Don't know!" How was I supposed to know anything about Galderia's weather, I thought. "Could be a storm ahead!"
"We should find cover soon!"
She's right. I nodded in an exaggerated manner to be certain she saw me do it. I didn't bother to pass the message back to the others behind her. The howling wind made it difficult to hear Alara. I knew it'd be near impossible for Tara, Nithia, Victoria, and Monica to hear me.
On the horizon, off to the right a little, a rocky hill jutted into the plains. I thought it would provide a good windbreak at least, and it looked like there might be a cave or at least some overhanging rock there. I pointed to it. "Let's head there! Take a break from the wind!"
We rode for the hill of rocks, which sat atop a high point of the plain. The elevation brought something into view ahead. At least a mile away, maybe more, a structure of some sort rose up from the rest of the landscape. It was large, but I couldn't tell for certain just how big—the distance to it wasn't clear to me and a darkness washed over it from the clouds. A tower. I wanted to ask if Alara and the others saw it, but the wind blew harder still, roaring in my ears.
The noise increased as we closed in on the makeshift roadside stop. When we moved directly behind the hill, the pitch of the wind changed. It blew less on us, flowing past at the edges of the pocket of calm we'd reached. I guided Pudding to take me close to the hill and I turned and signaled for the others to do the same.
Alara brought her horse alongside Pudding. "You saw that?"
"I did." I patted Pudding on her neck to thank her for leading us through the cold wind to our temporary respite. "So, you've never heard of this tower before?"
She shook her head. "No. I haven't traveled this far north, though."
Tara's horse nudged its head between Pudding and Alara's mount. "Who do you think lives there?"
Nithia steered her horse next to
mine.
"I don't know," Victoria said, as she and Monica rode their horse in to join the gathering. "But it'd be nice to get inside to wait out this storm."
Monica glanced back at Victoria. "Yes, I'm sure it would, but it's still quite a ride away." She turned to the rest of us. "Do you think we should settle in here for now?" She looked at the clouds directly above us.
I did too, trying to determine if they'd be dumping rain on us anytime soon. They were gray, but not as dark as the ones over the tower. But the wind's blowing our direction. I tried to remember the week in my general science class which gave us the rundown on all the different types of clouds. Nimbus, cirrus, cumulous. But I couldn't pin a name on any of the ones in the sky. Maybe Galderian clouds are their own thing, I thought and gave up on the exercise.
I felt Alara's horse bump Pudding. Alara put a hand out to brace herself against the sheer rock surface on the hill beside her, tipping her head down. Her breathing looked heavy.
"Alara," I said. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure." Her voice quivered. "It's something…"
"Not what we talked about earlier?" I didn't want to bring up in front of the others what she'd told me about needing to be intimate with me to recharge her battery—talk about a bullshit-sounding story. We knew it was legit, but I figured everyone else would have a hard time with it. That little detail needed to stay private, but she looked troubled and weak. I hoped my cryptic question would work to both ends. The suddenness of her change alarmed me. The way she spoke bothered me even more. I hadn't heard her voice tremble like that before.
She raised her head and looked at me. "No."
"What is it?" Nithia asked.
Alara shook her head, but remained silent for a few moments. She took her hand off the side of the hill and sat up straight again. "We can't go to the tower." I could tell whatever had welled up in her had passed. Her eyes were clear and her voice steady. It was obvious to me, she had decided the debate was over.
"I'm not saying we should." I glanced around at the wind blowing dust, leaves, and other debris everywhere outside our sheltered space. "I'd rather not ride there in this. It seems to be getting worse." I looked at her again. "But why do you say we can't go there? What did you…feel?"
I knew Alara could touch realms I couldn't. She'd communed with the gods—whoever they were—more than once since I'd met her. I trusted her sense of things, even though I didn't understand how it all worked for her.
She stared at me for a second, then glanced around to the others before directing her attention to me again. "I felt a power like something I've only experienced once before. It felt quieter. Not weaker. But like it wasn't meant for me to sense."
Shit. Hope it's a benevolent power. Or maybe she's getting the signals crossed somehow.
"It was dark," she said.
So much for the benevolent angle.
"I think maybe the cold," Victoria said, "and the wind. You know. It's been a hard ride."
Alara glared at her. "Uh, no. That's not it."
"You have to trust her," Nithia said to Victoria, sounding rather insistent. Then she looked to Alara. "I do. I trust you, Alara."
Alara smiled. "Thank you, Nithia."
"But I feel like it might be a good idea," Victoria said. "I mean, it's the only building for what, miles?"
"Are you not hearing her?" Nithia moved her hands out toward Victoria as she talked. She sounded agitated. I didn't blame her. Victoria's persistence on going to the tower—which Alara just said gave her the heebie-jeebies—seemed beyond confused.
"Danger?" I asked.
"No," Alara said. "Because we aren't going there. Right?"
"Worse than what happened back there with those men? Really?" Victoria asked.
Alara turned to her. "Much worse. But…" She looked at the ground as if in thought. "I'm not sure what, exactly. Or who."
Monica shook her head. "I really have no idea what we're talking about, but I sure as hell don't want to get out in that storm again." She dismounted, holding the reins of her horse and giving him a quick rub above his nostrils. "Victoria, feel free to ride on to the tower. We're staying here."
Damn, Monica. Blunt much?
Victoria looked at each of us. She must've realized how she'd come across, finally. "I'm sorry, everyone. I just hate the idea of staying out here for who knows how long." She looked at Alara. "I didn't mean to offend you. Maybe when the storm passes…" She averted her eyes and said nothing more, then she got down from the horse.
Tara dismounted too. "I could handle eating something." She began digging into the pack she had tied to her horse.
"Okay." I patted Pudding on her neck. "It's settled. We'll park it here for a while, eat some food, rest…hope it doesn't rain."
I looked at the clouds again. Still, no clue what kind they were. I felt a little annoyed at not knowing. I'd earned good grades every year from high school to college—up to my forced withdrawal by Alara's portal magic. Why should Galderia's clouds be freakin' special?
We tied the horses to a few thick roots sticking out the side of the rocky hill, then we sat with our packs and dug out food and drink. For the better part of an hour, we ate, drank, and watched the wind blow leaves, twigs, and dust. I felt thankful we had shelter.
We huddled a little farther down the wall than where we'd first been, when Nithia pointed out a large flat rock jutting out from the mound. It was at least twenty feet up, but after looking it over as carefully as I could, I deemed it safely embedded into the hill. It gave us protection from the rain, which started five minutes after we finished eating. We scrambled to put everything away before the rest of our food stores were soaked. All the women took the ground right against the mound, under the rock overhang. I settled for a spot half-covered, but Pudding managed to free herself from where I'd tied her up. She walked over to me and stood with her head and neck above me.
Damn, you're a good horse.
Chapter 16
Within a few hours, the rain stopped and the wind settled down. The clouds still blanketed the sky, but the darker ones had shifted to the east, toward the sea. The cold air was now only a chill, mildly uncomfortable, but much preferable to before.
"We've rested long enough," I said as I got up. I walked over to Pudding with my pack of supplies and slung it over her back again, tying it in place.
Alara stood and dusted off the seat of her pants. "You're right. We should get moving. We still have a long way to Yedia."
"The storm's calmed," Victoria said. "We should be able to continue past the tower now."
I nodded toward the sea. "The storm's moved east. It looks pretty bad toward the sea, but I don't think we should go any closer to the tower."
"So, we keep going the way we were." Victoria walked to the horse she and Monica had been sharing. Monica followed her, coming to the front of their horse and petting it on the forehead.
"No," Alara said. "We can't."
I looked at her. She wasn't about to waver. Whatever she felt from the tower scared her. I was tired of bad surprises.
"Tara? Nithia?" Nithia sat near me. I offered her my hand to help her up.
She took it and rose, stepping closer to me and giving me a kiss on my cheek. "Thanks." She looked me in the eyes. "Wherever you decide to go, I'll go."
I smiled at her and patted her ass. Tara walked past me, looking at the ground. "Hey," I said to her. "You alright?"
She stopped and looked up at me. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" I took a step closer to her and put my arm around her.
She leaned her forehead onto my chest for a second, then she gently pushed herself back, pressing her fingers softly into my stomach like a cat clawing a blanket. "Yeah. It's just…"
"It'll be okay," I said. I knew she was sharp enough to realize with the storm raging along the sea coast and the tower of who-the-hell-knows-what straight ahead, we were heading back into the forest. "We're far from where we ran into those creatures."
> Alara walked by. "Thanks for trusting me on this, Den."
I nodded to her before turning my attention back to Tara. "We'll stick together this time. Right?"
She averted her eyes for a moment, evidently a little embarrassed about how she'd charged into the forest before only to get herself caught in the spider's webs. "Yes."
"Then don't worry. We'll look after each other."
She smiled and nodded.
We packed the rest of our things and gave the horses another sip from the bowls we'd set out to catch the rain, keeping the water from two of them to refill our leather water skins.
I caught Victoria casting lingering glances toward the tower as we rode away from it, heading toward the forest.
We'd taken shelter from the winds far to the right of our original path across the plains. So, it took nearly twenty minutes to get to the edge of the woods, though we cut across the plains at a diagonal to make a little headway north at the same time.
Tara wasn't first into the forest this time. I took the lead, with Alara behind me. She took her staff from where she'd tied it to the side of her horse, and held it as she rode.
The contrast of the light on the plains, despite the clouds, and the darkness of the woods surprised me. The canopy of leaves and branches only let slivers of light through and they diffused the farther down through the trees they came. Each step of our horses made a squishing sound and I saw water seep out around Pudding's front hooves as her weight compressed the mesh of fallen leaves and decayed twigs like a sponge. A fresh earthy smell filled the air.
Pudding walked ahead as I guided her, pushing small branches aside with her head. I decided we should stay close to the edge of the woods. The light shone a little more there, and I didn't want us to lose our heading in the thick of the trees. As we rode, I kept the border to the plains in sight. The trees were less densely packed there too, which gave our horses an easier path.
It seemed like an easy ride, aside from the occasional tree branch whacking me in the face. I watched Pudding as she handled the next such branch, trying to tell if she was letting it snap back on me on purpose. Her head jerked slightly, causing the branch to flick past her. That one I blocked with my arm. The question of Pudding's motive was still unanswered, but my suspicion grew. Maybe it was her way of telling me she'd rather be riding in the plains.
Swing and Thrust: A Harem Fantasy (Sword and Sorority Book 2) Page 10