by Marcus Sloss
As I walked, I collected sticks that seemed dry enough to burn, a pile forming in my hands before I reached the entrance once again. Illia wasn’t in the cave when I arrived back, but the place had been spruced up to the point that I’d be convinced someone lived there.
I dropped the wood into the fire pit and placed the rabbit on the stone table at the side of the space. I noticed she had already prepared a stone sharp enough to butcher any kills, so I got to work disassembling our catch.
I had seen it done a few times since coming to Jormia, so I figured my time to try had arrived. I removed the horn first, then the feet, both potential catalysts for Aquina’s spells, before finally removing the fur.
With only the meat left to butcher and the rabbit looking more like one from Earth, I found the task much more familiar to me. As I sliced into the beast, carving out the portions that would last two or three meals, Illia came back into the cave.
“I would have done that,” she said as she squeezed out excess water from her hair.
“Where were you?” I changed the subject, having almost completed the task.
“I went to wash up a little in the stream. It was a hot one today.” She shook her head, sending little droplets of water my way.
I smiled at her child-like inclination, wiping some of the water that had landed on my face off with the back of my hand.
“I’m sorry, did I get ya?” She giggled, leaning in close to wipe a stray droplet from my forehead.
When she leaned in close, I realized her clothes were a bit damp too, the water adding a sheer quality to her tunic.
“We can save the meat Aquina gave us for later since the time spell should last a bit more.” I averted my eyes, changing the subject completely.
“That sounds like a great idea,” she agreed, still smiling.
That night, after we’d eaten and made sure Hercule’s was secure, we sat at a stone table situated around the fire in the middle of the cave, enjoying each other’s company.
“So, Nolan. I feel like you know my whole life story...what can you tell me about yerself?”
“Well—where do I start?”
I made sure to fill her in on our journey up till now. Of course, she had questions about Earth, and I answered them truthfully, her eyes shining at all the new information.
“So only humans live in your world?” She tapped the table with her index finger.
“Beast-men, elves, they were all fiction in my world. Made up stories to escape reality for a bit.”
“But you’re mated with Aquina and Cera right?”
“That’s right. It just kind of happened that way. They are really great, I’m a lucky guy.”
Her eyes shifted toward the table, her finger switching from light taps to circles.
“They really are great. You are great too. Do you think...would you...” she started and stopped her words a few times.
I remained quiet, but when I looked at her, I saw that her face was bright red. Putting my hand over hers, I stopped her nervous movements, hoping she could settle herself enough to let me know what was on her mind.
This caught her attention, and she raised her head, her eyes locking with mine. The blush of her cheek looked redder in the firelight, and suddenly I found myself conscious of the feel of her skin on mine.
She didn’t say anything this time, instead she readjusted her hands until they were on top of mine, sliding them up my forearms and toward my chest. She stood, moving closer as her hands brushed my skin softly, until she wrapped her arms around my neck.
Straddling me, she sat on my lap, her mouth grazing the side of my neck as she pulled me in closer.
“Is this ok?” she whispered, a cute desperation in her voice.
Pulling back on her shoulders, I gazed into her eyes, trying to read the desires she kept hidden inside. The glow of the fire reflected in her stare, her body trembling slightly in anticipation. I softly caressed her cheek, her hand coming up to meet my own as she leaned into my touch.
She approached slowly, unsure of my reaction, when I moved to accept her kiss, first brushing our lips together softly before deepening the kiss. Her confidence grew with my acceptance, her hands tracing my cheeks, our lips never separating. A small gasp escaped her lips when she pulled back, forgetting to breathe through the kiss.
I chuckled softly, finding her inexperience endearing. Running my fingers through her silky hair, I kissed her again, reveling in the sweetness of her lips. I shifted my arms positioning, supporting her as I moved from the chair and onto the softened ground she had prepared for the night.
Caressing her thigh as I laid her down, her arms still wrapped around my neck, pulling me back into her embrace.
Her leg wrapped around my torso, and I responded to her desire, moving my body closer to hers, the space between us disappearing.
Her hipbone collided with my fully realized erection, and I found myself responding to the growing need as I brushed back and forth against her body.
Moving down her body, I kissed her neck and then her collarbone, stopping when I reached the wing necklace that sat on the middle of her chest.
I admired its beauty for a second before moving on to the beauty that laid beneath it. Pulling at her shirt, I exposed her breasts, the skin luminescent in the firelight.
She moaned when my hands cupped her small breasts, her hands quickly covering her mouth so the noises could no longer escape.
“I like hearing you,” I whispered, pulling her hands away, our fingers intertwining as I pushed them up over her head.
My hands now occupied, I used my tongue, licking her hardened nipple before taking it in my mouth. Sweet gasps of pleasure left her mouth, begging me for more. I released my hold on her arms and traced my hands down her body, feeling every soft curve.
When I reached her pants, I relieved her of them, her hips instinctively lifting to help me in my task. With her lower body revealed, I glanced up at her, the soft blush returning to her face as she waited for my next move. Lifting her legs on to shoulders, my hands caressing the skin of her thighs, I kissed her pleasure center.
My tongue trailed up and down, entering her warmth before I focused on her clit, the sounds she made growing more intense, letting me know I was in the right spot. As the pleasure built, her fingers dug into the dirt around her, her body in ecstasy.
Sucking on her clit, I helped her reach the pinnacle, her body trembling in release as a satisfied moan escaped her lips. As her body began to settle, I kissed her thigh, moving back up her stomach, then her chest, until I kissed her lips once more. She sighed, a pleasure filled sound, then kissed me again.
My tongue entered her mouth, hers moving to meet mine, their movements in sync. Running my fingers through her hair I pulled her in closer, our breathing labored as the intensity of the kiss strengthened.
Not wanting to pressure her, I resolved to release my need later. She seemed to have other plans, I realized, when her hand drifted down to my erection, softly stroking it above my tightened trousers.
“Don’t force yourself,” I told her, still feeling like she wasn’t prepared for what would come next.
Illia propped herself up beside me, her face revealing her confusion at my words.
“When have I ever forced myself with you,” she said sternly, before attacking with a new resolve.
It happened so fast I’m not even sure how she managed to get my trousers off, but the next thing I knew she had straddled me and was stroking my erection, her hand moving up and down my length. She watched, unapologetically, as she continued to move her hands up and down in rhythm, clearly enjoying my reactions.
“What comes next?” She asked a moment later, her hands never stopping the attempt to pleasure me.
I smiled, took her in my arms, then flipped our positions before whispering in her ear, “Let me show you.”
Moving down her body, I kissed in between her breasts, my hands sliding further down, caressing her form as they moved.
I reached her most intimate area, stroking it gently before inserting one finger into her warmth.
Her body grew tense at first, but she slowly began to relax, giving in to the pleasure. Another finger entered her, and then another, all three moving together, each movement causing small gasps of pleasure from her sensual mouth.
“Are you okay?” I asked, my face still buried in her chest.
“More than okay,” she breathed out the words, her hips lifting with the continuous movements of my fingers, demanding more.
Removing my fingers, I hovered over her, her expression one of anticipation. Having prepared her for what would come next, I slowly inserted my member into her entrance. She moaned sweetly, feeling me inside of her. I kissed her deeply, pulling her in close before I began to move.
Wrapping her arms around my neck, and then her legs around my body, she accepted every desire filled thrust, her own pleasure building with mine.
She pulled away mid stride, a mischievous grin on her face, and the next thing I knew a hand of dirt sprouted up from the ground, flipping our positions before disappearing back into the earth.
She straddled me, our bodies still connected as she ran her fingers over my chest and abs.
She started moving again, her body lifting before settling back down on my erection, her hands gripping my waist for leverage.
The pleasure began building again, her beautifully exposed body making it that much harder to resist the climax.
Quickening her pace, I could tell she was holding back her voice, but when the sensation reached its pinnacle that inclination proved impossible. Another thrust, and she reached climax, her head lifting, her eyes toward the treetops as she moaned, biting her bottom lip.
Her expression, the movement, it sent my own desires to the edge, and I finished seconds after her, my hands instinctively grabbing her waist as I thrust into her one last time. Our bodies trembled together, lost in ecstasy as I released inside of her.
Her fingers grabbed my waist a little harder, another sigh of pleasure leaving her mouth, then as if by magic, her once shoulder length hair suddenly grew long, covering us in a blanket of pale-pink, silken strands.
I didn’t understand what happened, but Illia didn’t seem to mind, her body collapsing onto my chest, her lips seeking mine.
She placed her forehead on my own, gazing into my eyes as her hair fell softly around us, enclosing us in a nest of pink silk.
“That was incredible,” she whispered, before rolling onto the soft dirt beside me.
I propped myself up on my elbow so I could get a better look at her in all her naked beauty. Picking up a bit of hair that remained over my body, I looked at her with a questioning gaze, not sure if I should be concerned by the unexpected occurrence.
“Don’t worry, it is fine. It seems my body reacts this way when I take in an excess of mana,” she shrugged, getting to her feet.
“But when did you—?” Her smirk accompanied by a raised eyebrow stopped my next question and I was suddenly aware that I was the cause for the sudden change.
Unable to say anything more about that situation, I watched as she rummaged through her bag, pulling out a small sachet before moving to place a canister of water over the fire.
“Now what are you doing?”
“Making tea.” She smiled at me like making tea after sex was the most natural thing in the world.
“Tea?”
“Yes. I was informed to drink it if we should—ya know.” She smiled again before turning back to her task.
Aquina—she always seemed to know how things would play out. When Illia finished her tea, she laid beside me, her arm over my chest, snuggling in close for the night. Feeling the comfort of each other’s warmth, we fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.
CHAPTER 8
Unknown mountain
Ninety-five days after arrival
The following morning, Illia woke me, raring to go. She had already chopped off her hair - to her waist this time, deciding to leave it longer, two plaits on either side of her head keeping the hair out of her face.
“Time to accomplish our mission,” she sounded extra chipper as she packed up our belongings from around the cave.
Feeling a bit drained, I tried stretching to wake myself up. A bit more alert from the effort, I joined Illia in her task before heading out into the forest. I looked at Hercules who grazed by the tree we had tied him too, and I walked over to him, petting his snout.
“We can’t take him with us,” Illia said abruptly, her gaze directed up the side of the mountain.
I followed her line of sight, easily agreeing with her statement.
“We can fill his water and change his location, so he’ll have plenty of food around him. We shouldn’t be gone too long,” she nodded to herself, moving to untie Hercules from the tree.
I didn’t see how scaling a mountain would equate to us not being ‘gone too long,’ but I figured Hercules would be alright even if we needed a couple days.
We spent another ten minutes filling the stone trough Illia had created with water from the stream. When we finished, she clapped her hands together, then asked if I was ready to go.
“All set,” I responded, readjusting the empty pack on my shoulder, ready to hold the material we had come all this way to collect.
“Here, take my hand.” She held out her small hand and I intertwined my fingers with hers, both of us examining the large natural formation that we would need to climb.
Readying myself for a hellish day of free mountain climbing, I almost didn’t realize when we began to rise into the air, the forest floor becoming smaller under us.
Illia had created a platform under us, using her gift to slide us up the side of the mountain as if we were in an elevator.
“You are full of surprises,” I told her, genuinely wondering if there was anything she couldn’t do.
“I will take that as a compliment.” She smiled, the platform moving faster than before.
Barely believing it myself, we stepped off the platform twenty minutes later, having reached a ridge close to the top of the mountain.
“If a dragon lives here, it will be just above this point, in the natural caves.”
“And if one doesn’t?”
I had been avoiding the question, knowing we likely wouldn’t have much alternative since the other visible mountains were clearly too far for us to travel in a reasonable time span.
“Well, if one doesn’t live here now, we can only hope one lived here recently. It doesn’t have to be fresh for the tarragon steel to make an effective weapon...it just needs to be present.” She shrugged, clearly expecting things to go in our favor.
We walked along a narrow ridge, making our way up to a massive cave, spanning the tip of the mountain. The ridge ran along the backside of the opening, allowing us the element of surprise should the creature be within its dwelling.
Trying to remain hidden, we slowed our steps as we approached the opening, peeking around the edge rather than just barreling through the door.
Being the one in front, I held out my hand, signaling for Illia to stop when I saw what we were facing in the cave.
We had certainly found a dragon. My eyes immediately focused on the massive form, its glittering scales, more jewel-like than I imagined.
It rested in the center of the space, its body curled around itself, the wings acting almost as a blanket.
“Wow,” Illia breathed out the words, taking in the beauty of the creature.
Then her eyes surveyed the cave, trying to locate the material we came for. She quietly moved to the side of the cave, her focus on a cluster of red gems sticking up from the ground.
“Here we go,” she whispered, signaling me to bring the bag.
I stared, a bit confused. The lustrous gems not quite what I had expected. Illia didn’t answer the confusion she saw on my face. She just smiled at me before accepting the bag. She filled it with clump after clump of tarragon stee
l until the bag could hold no more.
“Are we done?” I asked when she returned to the cave entrance, a bit shocked the task had been so easy.
“Shh -” She held her hand up, stopping any further questions.
Her eyes narrowed at something in the distance, so I turned to see what had caught her attention, praying it wasn’t the dragon waking from its nap. Sneaking up behind the dragon, clearly unaware of our presence were two ratmen, one of which had a cage-like contraption strapped to his back.
My eyes darted around the space, searching for their target, easily finding it close to the dragon's chest. I realized the dragon had arched itself around an egg, protecting its baby while it slept.
I turned to tell Illia my findings, but the look of anger on her face let me know she had figured it out for herself. No longer worrying about being seen, Illia clenched her fists, ready to barge into the cave and confront the egg robbers. As she passed me, I grabbed her wrist, her body twisting in my direction.
“I understand your anger, but we have to be smart about this. If the mother wakes, she is not going to distinguish between who is trying to take her baby and who is trying to keep it safe. I know you are strong, but I’m still not sure we would be enough to take on a dragon that size.”
She glanced back at the beast, weighing my words against the size of its massive body. Finally, she released some of the tension in her shoulder, shaking her head to let me know she understood.
“Let’s try to sneak up on them,” I whispered, realizing they were still unaware of our presence in the cave.
As quietly as we could manage, we hugged the wall, moving in the direction of the ratman. The one with the cage on its back hovered near the rear of the dragon, while the other went in for the steal, tiptoeing its way around the long tail of the dragon, trying to reach the nest in the center of the cave.
Natural pillars of rock were situated haphazardly throughout the cave, giving us some places to hide as we move toward the ratman, his attention solely on his comrade. As the other neared the egg, we crept up to the one that waited and with a quick, heavy-handed chop to the back of the neck, his body slumped forward. I reached out, guiding him to the floor, not wanting any sounds to alert his comrade.