by Cat Wilder
So I changed direction slightly, taking an intercept course toward the creek. I could hear it gurgling over the rocks.
Garik reached my side just before we came bursting out of the forest. We splashed down the creek until it ended in a waterfall. We almost didn't stop in time, and the edge of the cliff crumbled as we scrambled back.
The minions swarmed out of the woods behind us. We spun around, lifting our swords as we dropped into defensive stances. Our pursuers grinned with grim satisfaction. The three minotaur warriors forced their way to the front.
"It's going to be a pleasure butchering you two," the armored minotaur sneered.
"Hell no," I cried. "We deny you that pleasure!"
I shoved Garik with all my might, pushing him over the side. And then I jumped after him.
Chapter 20
"Wahoo!"
I never imagined jumping off a thousand foot cliff could be so thrilling. Garik didn't look the least bit excited. Actually, he looked pissed. He expected to die, yet showed no fear.
I found that oddly disappointing.
Below me, Garik flapped his arms and scowled at the fast approaching rocks below. Despite the fact he weighed at least twice as much as me, we fell at the same speed. I couldn't close with him. And I needed to get my hands on him well before we hit the ground.
I remembered watching skydivers on TV hold their arms flat to their sides and lean downward to "fly" around, so I tried that and quickly caught up with the dragon-knight. He shoved me away. Bastard.
"Stop that. I need to get my arms around you."
"Why would I want to hug the bitch that killed me?"
"Because I have magic and I can save your ignorant ass."
That didn't cheer him up. Garik glared at me, but he didn't shove me away when I approached again. We hugged tightly, and I used Levitate.
He looked down, and then at me with a scowl. "It's not working."
We were too high for the spell to kick in. The forest canopy was rushing up too fast. In a panic, I called up the Heart of Thunder shield.
Suddenly, we plowed into that thick canopy of hardwoods. I immediately activated Levitate to stop our breakneck descent, afraid I'd be too late. We jolted to a stop just inches above the ground.
"Well, that was fun," I said as our feet gently touched the ground, and then I suppressed a nervous giggle. "And you're welcome for saving your life."
"If you say so," he muttered, still giving me dark looks. Garik looked up. "Now we're a thousand feet lower on the mountain. So that'll add another day to reaching the lair."
Of course he blamed me.
"I'm so sorry I didn't leave you up there to die gloriously, fighting impossible odds like a true hero," I sneered. "But, honestly, you would've just been butchered. No one who cared would ever know when, where, or how you died. No one would sing of your masculine beauty and bravery. You'd just be another man to leave town and never come back. A nobody."
His jaw dropped. Garik couldn't speak for a long moment.
"Sorry. Life is ugly," I said. "Enjoy it while you can."
"Unless you are a renner," he said. "Like you."
"I know. It's great being a renner," I said. "I can't remember exactly how many times I've been brutally killed. And each time it was excruciatingly painful, in case you want to know. There's no glory in being killed. Yet, I'll concede, I do get to play this game of life again after dying. Some people might think that is wonderful. Others might think it's hell."
While he contemplated that, I pulled up my HUD. Mana had dropped way down to 1037. Health continued to tick up, sitting at 62 percent at the moment. I wanted to take the other Mana Booster potion, but Alexander said to wait two weeks. So I took a Mana Restore potion, which would restore 50 points, which was better than nothing. My mana began ticking up a lot faster.
"Let's find a goat track and head back up," I said.
A distant dragon roar pulled our eyes upward. Vikarous flew by high above, but we could barely see him through the thick canopy overhead. Garik assured me that the dragon couldn't see us.
"We can see a mouse from the top of the highest mountain, but it has to be in the open," he said. "The trees are our friends."
I nodded, but I didn't believe they could see a mouse from twenty-thousand feet up. No way, no how. Not drinking his kool-aid today. But I would agree dragons had extraordinarily good eyesight.
"So, what do you think? Two more days to reach Vikarous' lair?"
It started out as a three day hard, fast trip after Izzy's kidnapping. As more and more minions got in our way, Garik amended it to a four-day trek. We had departed Horncastle three days ago.
"Maybe two," he said. "Due to this setback. But if we really push ourselves, we can still do it by end of day tomorrow."
"Will we be too tired to fight at that time?"
"Probably, but that's never stopped you before, has it?"
"You're not funny."
"I'll take that as a yes." He looked up at the mountain looming over us, and a crafty smile spread across his face. "This setback might be fortuitous."
"How's that?"
He pointed at something I couldn't see. "That trail goes to a spot above the lair. Feral dragons, like mountain goats, rarely look up for danger. They always look down below them."
I'd never heard that about goats or dragons, so didn't know if it was a real-world fact, or a "game fact." Either way, Garik had to know more about dragons than me.
"I like it. We'll hit him from behind, from above, and by surprise. A Trifecta for victory, I'm sure. Lead on, Sir Dragon-knight, and tomorrow night I'll make you sing my name as we enjoy our victory romp in the dragon's bed."
Garik pulled me in for a fierce kiss. "That's my kind of reward."
He set a brutal pace up the side of that mountain. I had to climb half of the time. I'd been joking about "goat tracks" earlier, but I think he found one. Halfway up the mountain I had to take a healing potion just for my fingers, hands, and knees. We continued upward for another hour after sunset.
"I was starting to worry I was on the wrong trail," Garik said, as he pulled me up to a small ledge. I saw a shallow cave behind him. "We'll spend the night here."
"Are we on pace for one or two more days?"
"We'll reach the Vikarous' lair tomorrow afternoon," he said. He indicated the rising moon. "It's going to be a full moon tonight. It's a shame Izzy isn't with us for a moonlit threesome with such a spectacular view."
"Oh? I'm not woman enough for you?"
"You are more than I can handle, but I do love watching the two of you making out."
"You're a pig."
"No, I'm a dragon," he said, wrapping me up in his arms. I put up a half-hearted fight, but he managed to pin my arms to my sides. Garik smothered my face with kisses. "I'm your dragon, Carly."
My exhaustion washed away as hot tingles fluttered through my body. I couldn't breathe for a second. What if it got wild and one of us fell over the side? Both Garik and I had fallen off the bed during our hot threesomes with Izzy more than once.
I stopped struggling and gave him a wicked smile. "Is that right? That means you'll let me be on top tonight?"
We'd coupled most nights since leaving Horncastle, but I sensed with my Sex Skill that he needed to dominate. Be on top. Losing Izzy left him with a deep need to prove his manhood, so I let him take me any way he wanted, and that had been strictly missionary so far, with him on top. Now I had the opportunity to express myself, yet I still felt a deep need to bolster his manly ego.
Pushing him away, I did a slow strip. Garik watched breathlessly, panting hard by the time I finished. And then I stripped him just as slowly and sensuously, kissing and nibbling his sensitive skin as I went. Soon, he stood before me in all his masculine glory, and his erection long, thick, and painfully hard.
I bit my lip, held his eyes, and dropped on my knees. "You're the biggest, baddest, meanest dragon-knight to ever swing a sword, baby."
Wrapping a ha
nd around his massive member, I stroked his shaft while kissing and licking the bulbous head. Even in that dim moonlight I could tell it was turning the most beautiful shade of purple.
So I went down on him like a boss.
Garik's head rolled back and the most wanton groan escaped his lips. I felt his powerful body tense up. His toes curled. And he buried his hands deep in my hair, holding my head tightly. I groaned when he began thrusting, forcing his way to the back of my throat.
I heard a tumbling of rocks in the middle distance. Did it come from above or below us?
"You really are the best, Carly," Garik whispered. "Even Izzy pales beside you."
"Don't tell Izzy that," I said and giggled. "She'll cut you."
He laughed. "I know! I love her, but she's so vicious."
Thoughts of Izzy, held prisoner by Vikarous, made my heart ache. I missed her more than I'd ever missed anyone before. Stupid magic collar. I bounced back and forth between praying to get over her, and not ever wanting to be separated from her. I worried that I'd stay with her after she regained her position in the Drow Court.
"What's that?" Garik asked, even as I heard the scraping sound.
I squeezed his balls with my left hand, tightening my grip around his shaft with the right, and sucked with everything I had. Bobbing my head with new purpose, I worked my way down until my lips wrapped around the base of his cock. That put him halfway down my throat, and in the place I knew he loved more than anything.
And I started humming as I sucked.
Garik sighed gustily as I felt his cock thicken even more, and release. Hot seed shot down my throat, giving me such a feeling of euphoria. I loved making others come so much that I felt the rush to climax deep in my belly, and a second later perfect pleasure consumed me.
I basked in the glory of it all, belly quivering like crazy. All kinds of wicked fun things I could do next filled my head. Until I heard another scrap.
"That's definitely below us," I whispered. "Shhhh."
I dropped to all fours. Garik dropped down beside me, and then we crept over to the edge of the ledge. Peeking over, I spotted a long line of shadowy figures climbing up the trail behind us.
"Kobolds," Garik hissed, eyes narrowing. "I count twenty-three of those little hellions."
If he could count them, then his eyesight and night vision were a lot better than mine. Then I noticed the glint of moonlight off armor on a few of them.
"How did they find us?"
"Their sense of smell is as good as a dog's."
"Can we defend this ledge?"
"Yes, but they only need to pin us down overnight," Garik said. "Vikarous will spot them, and us, in the morning, and then flame this cave with us in it."
"You know, a full moon provides a lot of good light," I replied. "And I'm not feeling sleepy anymore…"
"If we leave now, we can reach the lair by sunrise."
"Get dressed and lead the way," I said, reaching for my pants.
We dressed in record time. I inventoried everything but the Gloves of Strength. Using them would burn up some mana, but I wasn't at full strength either, so needed any help I could get. I inventoried the rest so I wouldn't drop them if I fell and died, and to reduce my weight.
The higher up the mountain Garik led me, the more I had to climb as opposed to crawling. The trail proved too steep and treacherous to walk at all above the cave. So the going went slow, but Garik kept us well ahead of the kobolds. I slowed them down further with a few well-placed fireballs that took out the closest ones.
At some point we turned and moved around the mountain instead of climbing higher. I almost giggled with relief when our grueling trek turned downward. Though, I quickly learned it was a lot harder to climb down a mountain in the dark than to climb up.
"How much further," I gasped out.
Pre-dawn light lit up the eastern sky. It left the snow-topped mountains black in silhouette against a pale blue sky. It wasn't much light, but still ten times better than just moonlight.
"Shhh," he said, and then whispered. "Just a few more minutes. We're almost there. Maybe we can catch the sentries sleeping."
A thrill rippled through me, goose-fleshing my back and arms. It would feel so great to have a bit of level ground under my feet, and a sword in my hand. I so hoped for a sentry or two to kill. I don't know why, but I was bursting with a need to expend my rage on someone who deserved it.
"Take a healing potion now and rest," I whispered, and quickly drank one.
The healing potion might taste nasty, but it felt amazing while healing my body. Even with the Gloves of Strength, my hands ached from overuse and extreme stress. Also, despite the leather pants, my knees and lower legs ached from being banged and dragged across against countless rocks and way too much crawling. I chased the healing potion with a mana restoring potion.
Ten minutes later, my Health showed 99 percent, and mana sat at 911. I couldn't be more ready under those circumstances. Garik's bloody fingertips had healed as well, and he looked eager.
We continued our descent. I had no choice but to follow him, since I couldn't see any trail at all. Garik swore we'd followed one all night. It was all treacherous rocks to me.
I spotted a copse of trees below us. Garik said it marked the lair's entrance. We slowed even more, crawling down on all fours even though the grade was such that we could walk again.
Garik stopped me, finger over his mouth to stop any questions. He pointed down at the trees. I squinted, and just made out the danger.
A pair of drow warriors guarded our trail at the edge of the trees.
He led me off the trail, and we eased down excruciatingly slowly. If left to my own devices, I might've just screamed like a banshee and attacked them. Garik moved us to within a dozen feet, and then we pounced on them.
I took the opportunity to take my weapons out of inventory, though I left the Dragon Lance stowed.
The two drow warriors never stood a chance. Our swords took off their heads before they could even shout a warning. But we didn't stop to bask in our glory. I charged through the trees to the lair's entrance.
We came to a skidding stop and gawked.
"Hello, Carly," Izzy said. She stood arrogantly before us in full drow armor. She wore a breastplate, painted blackest black, with elaborate silver decorations. Her drow sword curved out from her hand, looking super sharp and dangerous. Ten more drow warrior maidens stood behind my Izzy. All wore silver collars around their throats. "I've been waiting for you."
Chapter 21
"Izzy!"
"Surrender or die, Carly."
"That's no way to speak to your girlfriend," I said, and attacked before she could respond.
Izzy and I squared off, so I let Garik play with the other ten drow warrior maidens. His attack looked vicious and scary, but the drow warriors proved fast and avoided his blade. They swarmed around him, coming at him from every direction. He moved just fast enough to defend and maintain his attack.
Thank God they didn't do that to me, I thought. Did Izzy order them away from me?
If she did, it didn't necessarily mean she was trying to keep me alive. Maybe she wanted to be the one to kill me.
"Congrats on rising in the ranks to be captain of Vikarous' Drow Babe Bodyguards," I taunted. "Love how the armor is perfectly molded to your tits." I wagged my brows at her, leering, "Everyone just wants to pierce you with their sword. Know what I mean?"
"You're not funny, Carly."
"Ouch! That hurt, Izzy."
Izzy closed with me. I saw no regret. She belonged to Vikarous, body and soul. My eyes locked on her silver collar. Somehow, I had to get that off of her. I had to free Izzy, and do it before she killed me.
"Shall we dance, my love?"
I surged at her, my blade a blur. The drow princess fell back, but defended herself with more sword skill than I'd seen from her so far. After a moment, she went onto the attack and forced me to give ground. She slowly forced me back, back, back tow
ard the edge of the lair's ledge.
- 4 -2 -3 -1…
HPs scrolled as Health dropped for both of us. I could see both hers and my health bars flash as they dropped. Izzy's collar either gave her greater health, or some kind of healing boost. She healed after my strikes at a rate of one point per minute.
"Have you been holding out on us?" I gasped out. "Where did you learn to fight like this?"
Izzy smiled cruelly. She tapped the collar. "My master's collar and my sword are one, giving me great skill. If you drop your weapons and submit, maybe he'll grace you with such a collar and sword."
"That's actually very tempting."
"Really?"
"Just joking," I said and took her moment of confusion and anger to lunge and smash the sword out of her hand. The tip of my sword pressed gently into the warm soft skin of her neck, just below her jaw. "A-ha! Victory is mine. Yield, Izzy."
Instead of surrendering, Izzy glared daggers and threw her right hand out wide, hand open. The sword flew back into her hand. I almost thrust my blade into her, killing the drow princess, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Smirking, Izzy bashed my blade aside and threw herself at me. I dodged to the side, and we began pounding at each other's defenses as we circled. I noticed Garik kept the other drow warrior maidens at bay, but he wasn't any closer to victory.
A health bar flashed above his head, showing the dragon-knight down 8 percent. His attack was spread over ten foes, so they were all doing much better healthwise.
"Garik, we have to do something. At this rate they will wear us down while they wait for reinforcements," I called. "Go for the lair and kill Vikarous!"
Before either of us could charge the lair's entrance, Izzy and all ten drow defenders fell back before it. They formed two ranks of five and six. Izzy stood front and center. Garik and I paused to catch our breath.
I shrugged, "Sorry. I didn't expect them to do that."
"The collars are controlling their actions," he said.
"Surrender," Izzy shouted. "We are eleven mighty drow warriors to your pathetic two."
"Yet we still matched you stroke for stroke in our fight," Garik said.