by James Hunt
Her hips moved again, sliding her wet, filled womanhood up and down his glistening cock. She couldn't rest now, not when she was so close, not after all they had given him. Surely he couldn't last much longer. The fuzzy afterglow of her orgasm was quickly making her sleepy. It was natural for Harpai's to fall asleep after sex, but problematic when they weren't ready to. And she wasn't done with him yet.
Despite her strong will, her mind eventually succumbed to the warm, sedating, fuzzy thoughts this man's thick cock elicited from her. With a long sigh, she resigned herself to sleep atop him and her wings pulled in close to cover them both. Her hands rested on his chest and caressed the curves of his musculature. The rhythmic thump-thump of his strong heart against her ear was lulling her to sleep. It felt so good having him there, still buried deep within her, his warm body keeping her pleasantly cozy in the night air.
She was asleep before she realized he hadn't released his seed yet.
A sharp pain in her throat woke her instantly. The first thing she noticed was that the sun hadn't risen yet. The next was that her human had taken a firm, painful grasp on her windpipe. She couldn't scream but he wasn't applying any more pressure than needed to keep her immobilized.
"Silence, if you want to live." His scratchy, dehydrated voice whispered into her ear. "Do not call out to your daughters and do not move. Or all of you will die." He instructed. "Tap your hand twice on my chest if you understand."
She did.
"We will speak," he said. His voice was softer now, but still scratchy. His words were slow, but carefully chosen, and he had to pause every now and then to regain his breath. Despite his seemingly invalid condition, the strength in his grasp was undeniable. He could kill her easily, but she could also rip out his heart in a second if he hesitated even slightly. But with her daughters asleep and unaware she could not risk it.
"I will give you a choice," he started off. "I will squeeze your neck, blood will not reach your brain and you will pass out. Then I will kill all three of you and make my escape." He paused to let that sink in. "Or I squeeze until you pass out, and I make my escape while you all sleep peacefully. If you try to hunt me when you wake, I will kill you before you get close." He paused again to regain his breath. "Take your pick."
"Please let us live, I choose the last." She said nervously. Her body relaxed, awaiting the forced slumber. But it was the small drops of moisture on his chest that gave him pause. She was afraid, and was crying silently.
"Any child that we would conceive would have killed you," he said regretfully. "Either in the womb, during the birthing, or once they could feed. I understand your pain, but I am not the answer. Seek it in someone else."
"Thank you," she whispered. A sudden surge of relief at his hopeful comments -- they would live! He squeezed suddenly, and his strength surprised her. She felt the blood rush to her head and it startled her how efficiently it muddled her wits and senses. He was strong, and not to be crossed -- one more endearing trait in this human.
She did not resist, it was the bargain they struck. She accepted her fate and put her trust in his word.
His grip released suddenly and the blood drained. The world spun for a moment but her senses cleared.
"Help me to the ground." He growled. "If you would live, help me, I have information to trade that will keep you alive."
Slowly she rose off of him, and she did not argue. Harla and Yuma were covered in rough, woolen blankets; only tufts of hair marked their partially exposed heads. But the soft rise and fall of that mass of fabric told that they were sleeping peacefully. She was happy for that.
The man sat up. It was obvious he was still very weak. But there was enough strength in him to have done what he threatened to do while they slept. He looked at her expectantly, and it was a long moment before she realized she was starring and turned away. He was too damn intoxicating, it was tearing her up inside to just let him go. His body had regained some of its pallor, his chest was already sweaty from the exertion of moving. There was even the lingering smell of their sexual joining that made her hungry for his manhood again.
"What is it?" he asked. She forced herself to look away, and crawled quietly over to the edge of their nest nearest the tree. From under a straw mat, she pulled a very long length of rope bundled up. The knot binding it came loose by her deft fingers, and it spilled into a pile on the floor. Its entire length was glistening with some kind of sap.
"Before my girls could fly, this is how they got down." She explained and tossed the rope over the edge. "Climb," she motioned. "I will catch you if you fall. It will take us both down if that happens, but we won't die."
He nodded and crawled to the very edge. His strong hand grabbed the rope and found it very tacky and gummy. Without hesitation he flung his limp body over and held on tight. The sap helped increase traction, but he could feel his grip slowly sliding down its length. It was possible to simple hold on and wait for gravity to lower him along its gummy length, but that would take hours. Instead he wrapped his limbs around it as best as possible and released his grip enough to slide down a short distance. His strong hand served as a brake to slow his descent and he made remarkable progress down the rope without any problems despite the grogginess.
But the rope ended a dozen feet shy of the ground.
The Harpai floated lightly down on a branch beside him. She sat there perched like a predator, as if she was watching prey dangle before her, caught in some trap. He did not like the look she was giving him, but did not respond to it either. She didn't need to know the extent of his abilities, and that if she fought him there was little he could do at the moment. So he remained calm and they stared and sized up the others intentions.
"Would you have kept your word?" She asked. "Would you have killed us all?"
"Not unless you attacked me." He replied.
"Why let us go? We are monsters to humans." She scowled. A menacing grimace was starting to show on her lips.
"To many, yes," he agreed. "But what does that make me, if I don't think of you as monsters?" he asked in all sincerity. It was at that moment, the elder Harpai's regal nature showed itself. Her aggressive posture disappeared. She rose and her wings folded around her body like a gown as she stood up tall and poised on the branch.
"Worthy," She said as she looked down at him dismissively. "You can fall now, and not die. What information do you have?" The human didn't answer at first. He simply stayed in place, twirling on the end of that rope staring her straight in the eyes.
"I will reward you with half of it for your help thus far," he said. "There are Hekarim patrols in this forest. If they find you they will enslave you and your daughters. If you're lucky..." The mention of that dark name made her smug mood disappear. She looked around half expecting the dark skinned land crawlers to swarm on her that moment and slap her in iron manacles. She leapt at him suddenly then, her aim was precise and both hands grabbed his. It knocked him off that rope and she floated him down to the ground with a few thrusts of her wings.
His weak legs buckled under his weight and he fell to the ground. Seemingly by mistake, she fell atop him. But her strong fingers dug into his shoulder, ruining the deception of an accident. With him at her mercy she leaned in close to his face. A brief lick of the lips exposed meticulously maintained rows of tiny jagged pearly white teeth, meant for tearing flesh.
"My name is Eola," she gasped at him seductively, as she leaned in to let her heavy chest smush up against him. "Are you sure you won't stay?"
"My name is Rad," he replied in kind. "If I do, you will all die. There are Lunarians in this forest as well. They are after me." That name elicited a worse reaction than Zecarins. She jerked up looking to each tree for movement.
"Noo.." she whined, fearfully distressed. "no... no... noo.." she started to cry with growing panic.
"Eola," Rad said and calmly grabbed one of her hands forcefully. "Take your daughters, and fly as far as you can before the sun rises. Head west, to the coast." Hi
s tone hinted at a natural authority that came from experience. "Leave everything behind."
Eola was on her feet searching the treetops as far up as she could see. Then her gaze searched the bushes below for hidden dangers as if an unreasonable paranoia had bewitched her mind. Rad clumsily got to his feet.
"Go, now." He commanded. "And you will be safe. Delay at all, or draw any attention to yourself and they may find you." Without another thought she was gone into the air, flying high up to her nest above. It was the last he saw of her in the pre-dawn light.
Rad managed to stand. It was a wobbly start, but feeling was returning the more he used his muscles. One foot forward started the long trudge through the rough underbrush. Any hidden dangers knew better than to bother a naked man unafraid of the wilds.
******
Niyana lay atop a green grassy hill surrounded by wildflowers and warm sunshine. The rich blue sky soared overhead, populated with scattered white clouds. A heavy wind came and went, scattering her long blonde hair into the air. This field was peaceful. Off in the distance tall evergreens grew all around her secluded meadow.
She knew this was a dream.
With a deep breath she took in the honeysuckle, daffodils, daisies, and baby snapdragons. It filled her body and calmed all the anxiety that had been building. Her eyes opened reluctantly and she stared at the deep blue sky overhead. Slowly, Niyana sat up, and the long sleeves of her white summer dress flapped against her as the wind suddenly picked up again.
"Kreth?" She asked. Beside her sat her
human companion with his head resting under his folded arms. His black leather vest was open and his bare chest exposed to the richness of the sun.
"Hmm?" he mumbled, but his eyes remained closed and his face tranquil.
"I need your guidance," She pleaded a bit reluctantly. "There is something wrong with me, I think. I act without thinking. I say things that I later regret. And the things I've done..." she paused and hid her face in her hands. "The things I've done... are horrible." She finally let out in a whisper. "Did something happen to me? Have I gone mad?"
"You do what you must to survive." Kreth's gruff voice replied without so much as a twitch.
"That's not the whole story," a melodious voice said behind her and came to sit down casually beside her, opposite Kreth. His face was very fair for an Lunarian male, and his pale yellow mane whipped about in the air. She knew him, but couldn't recall his name. "Dear one, you are indeed troubled." He offered his hand. She wouldn't take it; for some reason she was suddenly afraid of him, as if there was something very terrible about this male that she couldn't remember. "It's all right, I understand." He smiled and retracted his offer. "Do you remember the first time you met him?" He asked and smiled at her warmly like a father to a child, but then his eyes went to the human on her other side and turned serious.
"We were..." Niyana started to say, "In a cage. We were captives."
"What did they do to you?"
"I don't want to think about it, not right now." She shied away from him, and for some reason her eyes started to tear up. Niyana rubbed away the wetness and looked at her hands in anxious confusion. "Why am I crying?"
"It's because you have separated some memories from yourself for the time being. You did this so you could enjoy this moment. They are not pleasant memories." He answered for her. It was so clear to her that it had to be true.
"Yes, that is what I did." She smiled as it made sense.
"That is why you cannot remember me. My love." He admitted. Those words made her turn on him suddenly, as if her mind was just about to remember it all, but something held them back. Her face contorted in a mixed array of repressed emotions - love, joy, fear, and grief.
"Niyana, dear, you are meditating." He explained and pulled a knee against his turquoise shirt, it made his skewed-cut skirt bunch up at the waist, dangerously close to exposing more than just his bare leg, "You divided your mind so you could replenish your will. It's alright, I did not mean to intrude. I reside in the part of you that is away, but I can go wherever you go. And I sensed that you needed help. Help he cannot offer, because he is but a memory."
Niyana turned to look at Kreth. Certainly, he was just as she remembered him. But she realized that she never really got to know the man, and wasn't able to put together a personality for him. Niyana closed her eyes, and the human faded away.
"I am afraid to remember you," She said as her tone turned serious and calm, but she did not return to looking at him.
"Then don't. I'll still be here when you are done." He chuckled lightheartedly. "Would you like to go for a walk? Or should we just lay here and enjoy the breeze?"
Niyana pulled her legs up to her chest, and her white skirt fell demurely from the top of her knees and bunched at her waist. She didn't take long to think on it before she started to teeter towards him and let herself fall into his lap. The Lunarian placed his hand on her forehead and started to stroke her hair and head soothingly. It elicited a soft sigh of contentment from his princess.
"I will help channel your memories," he spoke softly, as if she was asleep. "I can call only the ones you need." Niyana closed her eyes and folded her hands over her stomach and let out a long contented sigh. "You first met Kreth in a cage..." he started. "A Hekarim woman gave you something, a poultice of pink liquid, three drops."
Niyana touched a finger to her lips and caressed her bottom lip with the tip, as if remembering the taste.
"Yes," she agreed. "It set me afire from inside. It was so tired, and so sore from the beatings."
"It was a poison that could have killed you." He said and gently stroked her cheek. "Kreth saved you, he quenched your inner fire the way only a man can. But in doing so, he created this curse in you."
"Do you know what it was?"
"No, but I know it is what caused the change."
"How do I stop it?"
"I do not know," He said regretfully with a sigh. He leaned in to look at her as she stared off at the clouds. His straight yellow hair fell in a curtain around her head giving her shade. "You can fight it," he smiled. "But that too, has its cost."
"It must be sated, with blood or with lust," she quoted someone having said. Niyana scowled. "Why do I suddenly remember that?"
"I allowed it," he smiled. "I want to give you peace from yourself, but you need to be whole to answer this question.
"Then I will be whole." She said with authority. And before he could protest the entire hillside disappeared...
Niyana opened her eyes and stared at the bare ground floor of her tent. She was sitting on her legs with her hands in her lap. As all the memories she had pushed aside suddenly came back, she maintained her posture and digested them all. Yet there was one reluctant memory waiting at the end of the line. Even after all others had remerged, it still lingered in the back of her being. She called to it, and it came reluctantly, but obediently. As it merged with her, her stern visage melted, her lips trembled, and she shed a tear for it.
"Gayne," she whispered in sadness. With a brisk deep breath and a forceful exhale, she expelled all the conflicting tension
and steadied her being. She could beat this!
Kelria stirred under her blankets. A groaning moan heralded the waking of the party's new quartermaster. She had impressed the Zecarins with her ability to organize, ration, and keep a mental log of where anything was at any given moment – even the riders' soiled laundry – so the Zecarins had given her status. They now had their own private tent when they camped. A scout patrol this large made camp for two days while alternating groups made their sweeps; one stayed to guard the site and rest while the other was out. The two Lunarian elves had today to rest because tomorrow they pulled camp.
Niyana stretched her back and gave her neck a thorough massage. She wanted Kelria to be awake, but wasn't going to deny the girl the rest she needed. Since they were no longer prisoners, they had duties to perform. Today was Kelria's day of rest. Niyana was given the task of in
structing the Hekarim troops in how to track an Lunarian scout – her. There was a twinge of resentment for having to give up military secrets in order to keep up their cover. With a piece of string she tied her long hair into a ponytail and tucked it into the back of her shirt.
She stood up and stretched her legs. Opening the tent flap, she strode out into the morning sun in just her tanned leather pants and beige shirt. No boots, no cloak, no sword. She fell back into the old training routine of morning exercises. Finding a visible, but out of the way area next to her tent, she began to stretch. By performing a series of poses, and flowing very slowly from one to another, she loosened stiff muscles and tight ligaments. It always brought onlookers, some out of curiosity, some out of suspicion, and some out of perversion. All stood and watched as she moved gracefully, sometimes with only one foot on the ground, and always maintaining her balance. To the more astute Hekarim soldiers, they also noticed she didn't make a sound when a foot moved to step on a leaf or twig, or patch of grass. At the conclusion of her routine she let out a long exhale.