The Trial

by James Hunt

  Tamain ground his knuckles into his temples.

  "I hate you so much sometimes," he bemoaned. Corella smirked and folded her arms over her chest.

  "I love you too, Tam,"

  "Fine. I want to strut naked back into the Elth's camp." Tam admitted with a devious smirk. "I want every single Lunarin to survive tomorrow so I can show them my ass when we're done. If we both suffer too many losses, that would just be cruel."

  "Finally, a cause worth dying for!" Rollis blurted out with a sarcastic snort.

  "Alright," Tamain said with a sigh and pulled his knuckles away from his reddening temples. "I am in it to show my ass. No more gloom and doom. If Niyana reveals who she is, or they figure it out, they won't kill her. They will want to use her. They might kill whoever she takes with her, but the moment they move to strike we give them something else to strike at. It has to be instant terror or they won't budge. These are seasoned warriors. I want... Shadow-wraiths." he said, naming the elite Zecairin guard.

  "That's a little close to home," Ut'van argued scratching his chin. "If we're too convincing, won't that make the Lunarians shoot at us too?"

  "Shadow-wraiths out here? This far out?" Corella said skeptically. "Only a human would fall for that." She smirked. "I like it."

  "But we aren't Shadow-wraiths." Tamain made his point clear. "We jump out swords drawn, pick off a few rats if we must for effect until they scramble. The point is to get them to give chase. So we head for something important inside like we've made our mark. Head for the biggest building or something that looks important... and set it on fire." They could see the wheels of mischief turning behind those wild eyes as he stared into the fire as his thoughts came together. "Duck out a window, pull back to the wall, regroup near the front entrance. If they don't bite and chase you to the wall - up and over and head to the tree line, lose them there. The Lunarians will be waiting. Our allies will have a small group ready to pull Niyana out when she gives them the signal. They'll be coming in the front. We just need to buy some time."

  "Then we try again tomorrow?" Katral asked, speaking up for the first time. She was trying to follow it all and her question was genuine. Ut'van gave her an incredulous look.

  "Then the Lunarians take up high vantage points around the perimeter and pick off anyone who isn't holed up inside one of their buildings. At that point it becomes a siege." Tamain said. "One final point." he squatted before the campfire to choose his thoughts carefully. "There is a Zecairin training among them. Her true loyalties are unknown, but we must assume she is the human's ally." No one liked the sound of that. "We give her no mercy. We can't afford to here. Even if she isn't aligned with them, she may feign captivity to get under our guard. Reports say they're training her, so she owes them some loyalty."

  "Aye," Rollis grunted sourly. "Don't like it, but the last thing we need is a Blooded Mistress trained to fight as well as they do. She'll be a real bitch to deal with, and hard to kill."

  "She will be our responsibility." Tamain said. "We've already discovered a weakness to our new alliance because of the Blooded Mistress Niyana tied to a tree last night - not all of our allies know all our faces yet, and they're erring on the side of caution. Kalek was raped, and nearly killed." Tamain rolled his eyes. He took a bit of perverse pleasure when he had heard that particularly juicy gossip from Niyana.

  "The poor boy," Corella bemoaned sarcastically. Tamain glanced up at her with a doubtful scowl. "Sorry, that was mean. I'm just jealous, he's rather handsome for an Elth. I wanted first shot." Rollis rolled his eyes and snorted.

  "He... is also the Queen's newly appointed consort." Tamain said slowly. Silence followed.

  "I did not see that one coming." Katral said.

  "She works fast." Rollis said.

  "The poor boy," Pemmi reiterated.

  "Dammit!" Corella cursed.

  Tamain let them get it out of their systems, but then he noticed a few absent voices. Pebbles was ignoring all the banter and sharpening her wrist knives with a whetstone. She sat against one of the logs pulled in to ring the fire and seemed to care less what the battle plan was. Her role as lookout and scout rarely changed, and Tamain was tempted to make an exception for this one mission - they needed all the fighting power they could muster. But his personal feelings stalled out tactical mind into a muddle of ambiguity.

  "Scharla" Tamain said softly. The rancor cut off sharply. Faosen, feigning to be napping beside the girl, awoke with a wince at that name. Pebbles looked up to meet his eyes. Tamain saw cold steel start to form in the young girl - a murderous rage wielded by reason and kept leashed by an old personal promise of revenge. Casually, she lifted a hand to brush strands of her black hair from her face to tuck behind her long ear.

  "God father?" she replied politely, but a little too stand-offish.

  "No need to hold back." Tamain said. Pebbles eyes drifted down to her work, and she lifted a knife to catch the firelight. It was a skinny thing, but with a long enough handle and blade to be well suited to throwing or hand to hand combat. She brought her legs up to her, held the blade between the toes of both feet, and with her hands held the stone at such an angle so as to start grinding little serrations into the base of the blade at the handle. Faosen watched her work with morbid curiosity. Corella looked to Tamain, hurt in her eyes, but she understood his reasons.

  "I'll go see if Kelria needs any help." Corella said and wandered off. An uncomfortable silence crept over the group.

  "We've got a big day tomorrow. Don't stay up too late." Tamain said in closing.

  "Yes, God-father," Rollis said in a patronizing tone. Tamain smacked his ass at the archer in taunt as he walked off.

  "If you're not up to it..." Gerrick said gently to Pebbles as he stoked the fire. "You can hang back." Pebbles ignored him for the most part. But gave up on "enhancing" her weapon when it wasn't going as planned. She leaned back, fell against Faosen's shoulder, startling the young man, and looked up at Gerrick with intelligent expression of deliberation.

  "Do you know what I love about being a little girl?" She asked him.

  "The boys?" Gerrick said with a smile, nodding at blushing Faosen who didn't know what to do about this sudden coy expression of affection from the only one here nearest his age. Pebbles lifted her knife up to catch the light of the fire.

  "No one sees the knife until it's too late." She said in all seriousness. "Not even that oaf Brylen..." Gerick shuddered and relented. Faosen smirked at some hidden humor. He strategically repositioned to give her his chest and an arm around her, which was not only allowed, but welcomed as she let go the blade immediately and snuggled up tightly. Without another word, she nestled against him and closed her eyes for the evening. Faosen, too shocked at this and too excited to rest, volunteered for the first watch as the others turned in. Pebbles's stirring commentary settled their doubts, and gave them new steel for thought on the day to come...

  Had he gone too far? Tamain tucked his chin into his collar and leaned against the trunk of a willow tree. The shaded canopy gave him some needed privacy to wrestle with his doubts, and also deafened him to the outside world as he had chosen it as a natural barrier to intruders so he could give his magic a rest.

  Tomorrow he would kill a demon.

  The thought of it thrilled him, terrified him, and elated him that his search for a solution to the Zecairin sickness was finally within reach. To that end, his crimes against his comrades were inconsequential. He took a deep, calming breath and allowed himself to relax. Only the chirp of crickets and the occasional hoot of a night owl in the distance kept him company and it was all he needed.

  He hadn't dozed for long when he felt something pull at his sleeve.

  Tamain looked up but there was no one around him. Instead there were two hands made of bark coming from the tree. It wasn't uncomfortable, but as he struggled to free himself he realized it was becoming problematic. Trapped as he may be, he had a likely suspicion who it was, and was more annoyed than worried. He didn
't want to deal with her right now.

  Footsteps approached from around the wide base of the trunk and even in this sparse moonlight his elven sight could see Kelria's pale skin amid the shadows. But as soon as he spied her, she moved out of range around the tree.

  "My little mouse..." Tamain said affectionately, yet somewhat sadly.

  "Am I?" Kelria said quietly. "You haven't had much interest in me lately." He felt her lean against the tree to his side, far enough he couldn't see her but he could hear her.

  "Women have needs, Tam." Corella said from his left side, hiding around the side of the tree. Ah, there she was, the one he had expected and dreaded. There was a bit of mischievous mirth in her voice, but mostly I-know-better scolding.

  "Men, also have needs." She said and moved around to face him. "-You- need... to sleep." she poked him in the chest painfully to accentuate her point. He was about to protest when she put her hand over his mouth. "And we, are here to help." She moved her hand away and kissed him on the lips. It wasn't unusual, but it was a bit unwelcome by him at the moment. Kelria moved from around the tree, and Corella tore away from Tamain to offer the nervous girl her hand to bring her into the fold.

  Her new attire was breathtaking. It had been altered to fit her larger build. Slits had to be cut at the sides in the black leather to allow for her wider hips and chest, and then laced with remnants of the material to make it fit her curves. The affect was playfully seductive despite its functional approach - it made an onlooker want to play with those laces. Or at least it made Tamain want too. Kelria's hands ran over her body in appreciation of the custom tailoring.

  "I rather like it. I should thank Rollis for it." She said in a teasing way.

  "It looks good on you." he said.

  "Corella made the adjustments."

  "She does good work." he said with a glance in Corella's direction.

  "-She- made the time for me..." Kelria verbally stabbed him. Tamain's head hung low. He was about to retort with something witty when Kelria placed her hand over his mouth. Which surprised him. This was obviously Corella's doing. She had trained the girl in how to thwart his charms.

  "She also told me that sometimes I need to take the time from you because you tend to look so far ahead you forget what's right here." She moved her hand away and kissed him before he could speak. Corella's hot breath was on his ear a moment later.

  "Say one word. Just one, and we both leave you here like this all night long." she whispered huskily. It wasn't a hollow threat, but he wasn't sure which path to take - he had wanted solitude. Tamain nodded his understanding. Corella rewarded his obedience with a nip of his ear, followed with a kiss on the neck, and then her tongue stroked the length of his ear to the tip where she suckled it between her lips.

  Tamain's eyes fluttered back in his head. His tense being went limp all but one faithful part that fought for its freedom against its prison. When the shiver of release finally ebbed away he opened his eyes to meet Kelria's wanton stare. She held his gaze, took a step back, and let her hands drift up the sides of her leather bodice to rest over her concealed breasts. She caressed them through the material them for him.

  "I may have needed to grease the insides with a little pepper oil. I was saving it, but this seemed like a good cause..." Corella whispered devilishly into his ear. "she needed a little liquid courage..." she giggled. A deep flush crept up Tamain's face. This Witch certainly wasn't holding back, she was going to wear him out between the two of them. Pepper oil had a notorious effect on Lunarians. Tamain had feelings of mixed enthusiasm and fear to see this effect.

  Kelria bit her lip and started unfastening the buttons of his high collar. One by one they popped free, followed by the ones down his lapel until his leather jacket was parted, and her hands touched bare chest and roamed over his taut stomach. Fingers traced the lines of his muscled torso as her eyes drank in the curves of his physique. She leaned into his chest, breathed in his smell, and exhaled hotly on his neck. Her breath came in aroused pants against his skin, hovering over him, wanting so much to taste him, but the last vestige of her modesty was still holding out. Her hands trembled as they slowly slid down his abdomen to his belt and undid it. Next came the button holding the two flaps of his trousers together. Then her hand plunged deep inside, feeling the fur of his crotch a moment before wrapping her fingers around his eager cock. Each stroke of his enraged member brought her lips closer, until the fight inside her was decided and she latched onto his neck with her lips and moaned deeply.

  Corella pulled his jacket down his shoulders until it bunched behind him. She slid down his body until her lips found a nipple and bit it playfully. Tamain groaned. Her hand wrapped around Kelria's over Tamain's cock and guided her to free it. She moved from Tamain's chest to Kelria's neck and gave the girl sensual pecks up her neckline to an ear.

  "Gently love," she instructed. Whispering into Kelria's ear before kissing it. "Let's make him last all night." she licked the girls ear, attempting to distract her from her lustful fervor. She knew the girl wasn't attracted to women, and didn't second guess that when Kelria had asked her for help with Tamain, but she had expected a rebuff of her advances. Instead Kelria turned to her with hungry eyes and took her lips with her own. She kissed her needfully, moaning as Corella responded by probing her tongue between their embrace to dance with its mate. They kissed deeply. Their mouths parting as their tongues caressed one another, and the pale girl awoke to a new pleasure she had previously refused herself. Kelria whimpered as her needs overruled her prudence, and her grip on Tamain's cock faltered.

  Despite currently being ignored, Tamain's interest did not lessen as he watched them kiss right before him. His member throbbed angrily against Kelria's lax grip. Corella gave him a knowing glance every other moment during her passionate embrace. She stole Kelria's hand away from Tamain's cock, watched his cock bounce energetically in the night air, and placed it over her own breast. The inexperienced girl took to her instruction and massaged her teacher's tit with interest. Her fingers quickly undid Corella's vest, parted the fabric, and slide inside to cup that mound of warm motherly flesh. Her dark skinned lover purred into her lips and broke away to find the girl's ear and give it a lick.

  "Kiss them," she instructed, and nibbled the tip of Kelria's ear. "He likes to watch." she added with a husky groan as Kelria did as she was told and kissed Corella's breast, her lips traveled over the dark skin until they met a large protruding nipple and kissed it gingerly.

  "Lick it." Corella pleaded into her ear. A soft tongue circled her erect nipple.

  "Suck it." She begged, loud enough for Tamain to hear. Warm lips wrapped themselves around it and sucked. Corella cradled the girl's head to her bosom as she whimpered.

  "Bite it," she growled, and nipped the girl's ear to demonstrate. Nimble teeth pinched the hard flesh between them and pulled away. Corella threw her head back and groaned pleasurably. "Yesssss!" she hissed. Her breath grew heavy, and her hands worked at the lacing to Kelria's leather shirt. Despite having made the alterations herself, her hands fumbled. Her mind was too distracted from the forbidden fruit of her hard won conquest, and she wanted to savor each breathtaking moment of the girl's exploration of her body.

  Then the unexpected happened - a sudden orgasm ripped through Corella and she shuddered uncontrollably against Kelria's heaving chest. She had only managed to get so far stripping her lover as to loosen the lacing, but now she was suddenly spent and couldn't focus enough to finish the deed.

  Kelria wanted more. She practically attacked Tamain, ravaging his lips with her tongue. In a flash she pulled the loose leather shirt off her body and pressed her hot flesh against his chest. Corella regained herself enough to shed her own top, and help the girl out of her leggings. Taking to a task in shedding all their combined clothing it gave her a moment to recover as the two lovers sated themselves with deep kisses. Last came off Tamain's trousers with his cock standing willing and waiting at the two of them. She gave it an appreci
ative kiss on the head, more for affection than pleasure. Then, grabbing a handful of Kelria's long brown hair, pulled the girl down.

  "Kneel," she commanded.

  "Yes, Teacher," Kelria breathed meekly. Corella ravaged the girl's lips at that word. Her submissiveness was pleasurably unexpected, and all sorts of naughty ideas were suddenly coming to mind.

  "Do you like this cock?" She asked as she guided Kelria's head to stare at it.

  "Yes, Teachers," the love-drunk girl breathed.

  "Kiss it." she was instructed, and Kelria ran her lips up and down the side of his member. Tamain could only stare in lascivious bewilderment at the show unfolding before him. Part of him preferred his mouse meek, and timid, not this lustful monster. But if he blamed her change of behavior on Corella's drug, his arousal was peaked. It preserved his preconception, but allowed room for a little fantasy. Had she truly planned all this? His momentary distraction was subjugated by the wet lips on his cock, and his mind was quickly silenced. He moaned deeply.

  Corella looked up to him, smiled lovingly when he met her gaze, right before leaning in to give the other side of his cock treatment from her own lips. Together the two women lavished his manhood with their affection, breaking every now and then to share a deep kiss between themselves before returning to his eager erection.