by Gerard Bond
Madeira on the other hand was stuck fast to the bench. She couldn’t move, fear had gripped her like she had never felt before. She could do nothing but stare at him there on the bed. She was too scared to move, too scared to speak. She felt a stickiness between her legs. I wet myself she realized. Now she moved, watching the still form of that man as she left the cabin. Madeira made her way to the hold. She had stopped a sailor on her way and ordered a fresh robe be deposited at the hatch to the hold. As he had left she had given him a sting mentally to his mind and he had cried out dashing off. That made her feel a bit better.
At the bottom of the stairs she stripped off her robe and walked over to a bucket of water in the corner, she knelt and began washing herself down. She was shaking not from cold but from what she had just been through. Power had traveled through her like she had never felt before. Her own powers still worked and she didn’t seem to be any worse for wear. Collecting her thoughts, she wondered how all this could be? That man had not only cracked her mental defenses open, but when she had fought back, he had brushed her energies aside like a, like a child’s.
A shiver ran through her at the thought. This was more power than she could ever have imagined and not only did he do that but his was such power that she had been physically lifted and pinned. It had scared the piss out of her, but at the same time, now in its afterglow she found it more and more exhilarating. Now she felt an arousal like never before, the energy was coursing through her whole body. It stoked her sexuality to a level she hadn't ever felt and she couldn’t hold back. Standing up she left the hold and walked along the deck to the bow of the Man O War feeling the wind caressing her whole nude body. Her nipples stood out hard, she felt a sexual flow and she exulted in it.
Madeira was oblivious to the stares of the sailors on deck who were agog at the sight. She felt the power, felt its raw energy and was on a high, she cried out to the night with a howl of pleasure. Standing there breathing deeply, she turned and returned to the cabin. One sailor smirked at her and she hit him with a mental blow that made him cry out and collapse to the deck, knocking him out stone cold.
Wollfen awoke in the morning to see a naked sorc asleep on top of her cot. What is this? He looked her up and down, she certainly was a beautiful woman, but what was she doing naked?
Madeira stirred and opened her eyes. Looking over she saw him looking at her, she smiled and stretched in a provocative manner. Yawning she sat up, very happy to have him look at her. Wollfen was perplexed, he had expected fire and brimstone not this reaction, and then it dawned on him.
The last powerful energy burst he had sent out had been one of love to Dark. Madeira had obviously been caught in it too. Thinking about it, he realized it was an unexpected outcome that might pay dividends later. He wondered how long the afterglow would last, it had already been all night.
She stood up and walked over to him, sat by his side, smiling sweetly still. Madeira placed her hand on his thigh and lightly caressed, it was getting a little unnerving. This wasn’t the cold and reserved High Priestess he was used to. Finally she broke the silence.
“I am not sure what I should do?
“Um, I am not sure of what it is you speak of?” replied Wollfen.
“How does one kiss?”
“Ah, I am sorry Madeira but right now you are in the grip of an afterglow of energy that is making you do things you probably will be quite angry about later.”
Madeira pouted.
“I am going for a walk, I suggest you get your robe on.”
Madeira kept pouting. Wollfen left the cabin and stood on the deck looking out over the ocean, back towards where Dark would have turned around to go back to Port. He thought about how he would miss her knowing it would be at least a year before he saw her again and his heart was filled with sadness.
He stayed out there, sitting and staring for a good four hours before returning. When he did Madeira was clothed again and appeared her reserved self once more.
“I would like to apologize for the incident earlier. It was not as would be expected of a person in my position.” Madeira offered.
Wollfen responded quickly,
“It was entirely my own doing and so you shouldn’t have to apologize at all. It is I who should apologize to you.”
Madeira nodded and thanked him. Then after a little uncomfortable silence she came forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“I will say though that I am grateful to you for showing me that side of the power. I have never experienced it before.”
Wollfen blushed a little, he certainly wasn’t going to tell her just what it was he had done or that it hadn’t been for her. One decidedly good repercussion was that he could sense she was thawing to him. It would make it easier for him to talk to her, show her his philosophies on life and have her actually consider them. Even if it was only from an academic point of view and for now he was happy for that to happen. After all his plan would take a long time to set up.
A week later Dark was standing on the bow of the small vessel as it approached the jetty of Port Valderus. She was steadily staring ahead waiting patiently for the boat to dock. Vaughn was behind her also watching, a grim look on his face. Dark hadn’t spoken much at all this past week and had withdrawn from everyone around her. He was worried and concerned for what she might do. There just wasn’t any indication from her at all about what she was feeling.
As the boat pulled up, the ropes were thrown out to be caught by men waiting on the jetty. Dark was out of the boat and off down the jetty with Vaughn trying to keep up. She made for Raz’s old headquarters and went in. Sergeant Burkhard was sitting at his desk.
“Where are Keera and Justin?”
Burkhard looked up in surprise.
“Uh they would be in Port Volarus by now.”
Dark turned and left leaving a bemused Burkhard staring after her. Vaughn had a quick word with Burkhard then nodded at him and left again following Dark. She made a beeline straight back to the jetty. Once there seeing the Captain she called out,
“Make ready to sail again, we leave for Port Volarus immediately.”
The Captain protested,
“Now wait just a minute we only just got here. I have no more orders to sail you around where ever you feel. I did this original trip on the direct orders of Lord Raz himself.”
Dark looked like she would boil over. Anger was in her eyes and she was close to letting loose.
“We need to get to Port Volarus as soon as possible to report to Lord Raz of these developments. There is no time to waste!”
Dark was incensed, she was not reasoning at all. Vaughn stepped in as he caught up and spoke to the captain.
“Captain, I have spoken to Sergeant Burkhard and he informs me that there is only a garrison of soldiers here to watch over the place and be a forward warning post. They already have a fast boat moored here for relaying messages so we are not needed here. I suggest we restock enough supplies for the four day trip south and then move out as soon as is practicable.”
The Captain considered these words and gave his decision.
“Yes I see the sense in that, we should be able to get under way again in about three hours. That is the best I can do.”
Dark looking on nodded reluctantly, it would have to do. She turned and walked to the end of the jetty. Kicking off her boots she went for a walk along the water’s edge, her pent up emotions and angst tumbling over in her mind as she walked along. After awhile she was able to bring about some calm to her troubled soul.
It was about two hours before she returned. Going into the township she found a place to grab a drink of water and sat down. Dark was tired now, more from thinking than the walk. She couldn’t bear to think of Wollfen being away for the next year or more, him all alone and with no friends. She so wanted to be by his side.
It wasn’t long before it would be time to go so she made her way back to the jetty and found Vaughn giving a helping hand to stowing the last few things. She nodded to the Capta
in as she boarded the ship offering a helping hand if he could use it, but they were ready to cast off. The Captain gave his orders and within minutes they were departing Port Valderus for the last time. In four days they would be residing at their new base.
In Port Cholandra Warlord Aristeides was a very worried man. Not only had they failed to find the insurgents since the burning of the warehouses, but also he now knew that the kingdom had awoken to their presence finally. There had been contact with their navy and while they had laid a trap baiting them with some Man O Wars it had amounted to nothing. Also there was a convoy of supply ships that were overdue and without that load of materials his plans for conquest of Kassandrea before the winter were looking even more shaky than before.
He had managed to station his troops at their places of encampment as was planned and the firebase was coming to a finish too. Another week and it would be ready. He had instructed the resident General to send 500 horsemen north and see how far they could get before either Kingdom scouts were tipped off or they made contact with a south moving army. If it was to be the latter, he had instructed that they hightail it back to the firebase and hopefully the Kingdom's army contingent would be in hot pursuit. He felt it necessary now to goad them on.
Time was of the essence and while he had been happy for the Kingdom to react as slow as they had, he really needed to set his plan in motion if it was to succeed and have the capitol in their hands by winter.
There were another 15,000 troops arriving within the month and while he would be able to put them to good use he was starting to be concerned about the ability to feed them all. He had managed to take a fair lot of land in the south here but hadn’t kept any of the farms running or even the fishing boats of the port either. He had been counting on regular ship supplies to supplement the local food, but already one full convoy was overdue and it was becoming a major factor in planning.
There was nothing for it but to press some of his own troops into fishing duties on some of the boats they had confiscated. If he wanted a good supply of food, it meant having to take a few thousand men out of their current duties and get some of the farms going again. That of course had a flow on affect to every other facet of their preparations. He had already ordered that all meat needed for the firebase would have to be caught in the local woodlands as they could. He was in effect cutting them off immediately.
Sealord Gacek of Isogorr was busy looking after the perimeter of the seas off the coast of Port Cholandra, but personally Aristeides didn’t see any use at present. There had been no clashes outside of that one incident which in the end cost a number Man O Wars with no results. Maybe he could ask Gacek to organize a raid? A search and pillage mission, if they turned up any valuable information that was a bonus.
Aristeides bent over his maps looking north and south of his position. There wasn’t much short of the northern deep-water port of Oceania and he wasn’t going there. Being the home port of the Kingdoms navy, it would not be prudent to stir up a hornet’s nest. There were more ports even further north, but they were simply too far away and the risks involved in trying to run past a major naval base at Oceania was too extreme. Due south there were very lean pickings. Port Valderus wasn’t even a deep-water port, but it did have a large fishing fleet. Mostly small boats but they certainly would have a reasonable catch. It wasn’t really a military target as such but right now with their pressing needs for food, it was quickly shaping up as a target of opportunity.
“Adjutant Cresus,” He called out.
Aristeides decided it was time to put the navy to good use.
“Have Sealord Gacek come here as I wish to discuss with him some plans of mine.”
Cresus bowed and nodded, turned on his heel and left immediately. Yes, a raiding party to strip Valderus of its foodstuffs and anything else they could use. Destroy any resistance then confiscate the fishing fleet and press it into use for his own army. Simple and effective with no drawbacks, Gacek will be pleased being able to get in on some action for a change. He sat down and began the writing of orders. There wasn’t much to it other than capture the stores and return them as soon as possible. Outside of that, the Sealord had free reign. Aristeides liked things simple. In five days he would have extra provisions and be able to focus on the bigger plans at hand.
Dark watched as they sailed close to the shore nearing Port Volarus. The captain had been pointing to the features and what to look out for. One thing he did say was she wouldn’t miss the northern edge of the bay and he was right. There was a sheer cliff facing the ocean and it ran for over a mile to the bay entrance. What really made it spectacular was that the cliff face at the beginning ran directly inland at its northernmost point, it was like the land had been sheered and stood up two hundred feet into the air. She could see now why this place would be so much easier to defend than Valderus. There just wasn’t any way you could attack it from the north via the land without a big army. What was also interesting too was that south of the port it was nothing more than swamp and mangroves, impenetrable to any invaders. The mangroves continued down the coast for twenty miles before woodlands became prevalent.
The only way in or out of here was through the bay. She had been told there were a few tricks to that too but as far as she could see, it looked like a nice wide-open expanse of water that you could sail right into. That’s exactly what they did. Their boat turned once clearing the cliffs and made for the large jetty she could see jutting out into the bay.
As they approached she could see the place was a hive of activity. There were wharves and a further two jetties being built parallel to the first. She could see many a large warehouse going up too. Most of them had roofs on and she could see they already held stores while the walls were still being built. Men were everywhere moving back and forth or laboring over some part of this bustling town that was taking on the burden of becoming a city.
There were numerous ships in harbor too. Some of them she recognized as having been part of the enemy fleet, but some she knew to be Kingdom navy vessels. Were they already here? Was the kingdom already operating out of this port? The more she looked the more questions she had.
Upon approached the jetty, she also noticed the catapult and ballista emplacements staged strategically along it. Where was all this equipment coming from? As the boat moored she called to Vaughn and they disembarked thanking the captain before moving towards the town.
Nearing it they could hear the sounds of a sawmill at work slicing up trees into lumber. She could see a very big cargo ship being unloaded, it was the biggest ship she had ever seen. Dark was agog at just how much was going on and what was being achieved. They had no idea Lord Raz had the resources at his disposal to achieve all this. Maybe the Kingdom ships were a clue to that.
They came up to the end of the jetty and a soldier stood forward and called ‘Halt’.
“May I ask what business you have here and to whom you wish to see?”
Vaughn stepped in and spoke,
“This is Darkling Bruadar and I am Vaughn. We have just returned from a three week mission ordered by Lord Raz and are on our way to see him, could you be so kind as to point the way for us?”
The guard reacted quickly and efficiently.
“We have been expecting your return. Lord Raz made it known that you would eventually be arriving. Would you please allow one of my men to show you the way? It is rather difficult to navigate these streets.”
The guard motioned to one of his men and they moved off. The entire city/town was a bustle of activity with troops moving back and forth as well as numerous wagons carrying supplies of all descriptions moving through. It was quite a job dodging all the mess. No paths as yet had been cordoned on the streets and it was every man for himself, or so it seemed.
They approached a large building out of which men came and went in a continuous stream. A voice could be heard shouting from within those walls. It was Raz berating some forlorn figure standing before him. Looking up he saw Dark and
Vaughn watching on with a smile, he shooed his hand at the man who left quickly.
“Dark and Vaughn! Come in! I am so glad to see you have made it.” He beamed.
Dark and Vaughn couldn’t return the enthusiasm and Raz immediately cottoned on to what that meant.
“I take it the mission didn’t go as planned?” Dark shook her head.
“I’m afraid not, Wollfen made it clear he didn’t want to be rescued, he is on a mission of his own design.”
Raz looked on, thinking.
“You talked to him?”
“We managed to mind touch for awhile and he explained that he would be back, but then he cut me off.”
Raz knew how that must feel to her, but he also knew there wasn’t much to do but get her into some sort of work quickly so she wouldn’t brood. Raz thought quickly.
“I am sorry to hear that you won’t be able to get him back for now. I am sorry also that I haven’t much to offer you at present to do that either. As you can see, my little outpost is growing faster than anyone could have imagined a few weeks ago. In fact, I could use some real help with all this.”
]Dark looked at him sensing what he was trying to do and not sure whether she really wanted a part of it.
Dark paused in thought a moment, then let out a sigh,
“Tell me what it is you wish of me and then I’ll tell you if I can help.”
Lord Raz carefully explained his position.
“Well right now I have every able bodied man working away to establish the city and its ability to take care of itself with the building of defensive positions. But I haven’t any spare personnel to scout the top of the cliff inland to see if there are any weak points that the enemy may be able to exploit. I do know of your skills when it comes to tracking and trailblazing as you would have developed them rather well in your past life yes?”
Dark nodded, maybe it would be well to get away for a week or so on the land. She felt more at home there anyway.
“I think that would be most welcome, I don’t really feel at home amongst so many people and they are all so busy too. I agree to the task you are offering, but I would like to meet up with Keera and Justin before I go too.”