To Claim the Elvin Princess: Apprentice

by Jack Bessie

  “Are you sure? How would you know, if they were well hidden? Didn’t I hear that they were not detectable by the Elvin or the Eridians long ago?”

  Amein frowned even more, considering this. “I’ve read only that when one died, did they revert back to their true form. We have assumed that none exist, having seen none all these years. Once they lived openly...but then...”

  “Then they disappeared? Perhaps they still exist?”

  “Rasten! I find it unlikely that could be so. Sooner or later we would find one...when they died, if not before! The chances of them staying concealed perfectly...I find that ludicrous!”

  “Then why have I had this vision?” Rasten asked, staring at Amein. She stared back, before sitting carefully in a chair.

  “I don’t know. That disturbs me...almost as much as the idea of having Coumaderini hiding from us would!” she sighed.

  44

  As Shocara and her flyers approached Usaritein, she was faced with the necessity of deciding where they should land and begin their attack. This city was not a tenth of the size of the capital, but it still dwarfed any habitation of the Eridians. It was fortunate that they were high up, as this afforded a better vantage than a low approach might have given her. Her eye was drawn to the central part of the place, seeing a large open area, which reminded her of the place in Alarinad they had first landed. Unlike Alarinad, there were not several of such open places to choose from.

  Pointing down, and signaling her warriors to follow, they dropped swiftly down in an ever tightening spiral. As she and the others that would land fell the rest of the way and landed, the others circled low over the area, spread wide to make a less tempting target for bowmen, and watched to make sure no Elvin flyers might come at them.

  Shocara and her warriors barely let their terranaks tuck their wings, before leaping down and rushing at the nearest building, swords drawn. They rushed inside, but were quickly puzzled, their being no Elvin visible. The building, a large space that was actually a meeting hall, echoed, empty.

  “This way!” Shocara screamed, running out a side entrance, aiming for the next building. They had barely crossed half the distance, when the roofs of the surrounding buildings came alive with Elvin bowmen, and a hail of arrows rushed down at the surprised Eridians.

  “Run!” she screamed, intent on reaching the next building, and having refuge from the arrows of their enemy, which had claimed a half dozen in the first volley. Inside, she quickly found herself confronting a dozen Elvin warriors, with swords ready, and before she could react, another dozen appeared, stepping out from doorways on each side. These seemed intent on pressing in, and trapping the Eridians inside.

  “Fight! This is what we want!” she screamed, rushing the nearest Elvin. Their exchange was brief, and she turned away, as the Elvin fell, slashed fatally.

  For a moment Shocara thought they might prevail, being fairly matched against the Elvin, but soon more poured into the building, tipping the balance severely against her men.

  “Cut your way outside! Move!” she commanded, and then concentrated on holding the Elvin at bay as her warriors rushed the Elvin blocking their retreat. The Elvin were soon forced to give ground, against the rush of Eridians, and they made their way outside. Turning her head to assess their situation, she failed to note one of the Elvin draw a throwing blade, and expertly toss it. She screamed, as the blade hit the fleshy part of her upper sword arm, making it impossible for her to easily maneuver her weapon.

  “Run! To your mounts!” she screamed. The Elvin bowmen were not able to target them as well as at first, as the Eridian flyers had drawn bows, and were raining arrows down on them. This was likely all that let her warriors reach and mount their terranaks, and leap skyward.

  Shocara had barely been able to climb her mount one handed; only here state of utter terror had given her the motivation and strength to do so. They flew hard, desperate to reach their own lands before night fall.

  Shocara flew, the Elvin knife completely through her arm. As much as it hurt, she was afraid of bleeding to death if she pulled it. The burning sensation made her fear it was poisoned, but she felt helpless to do anything else.

  We lost half of our men...those on the ground! Had we not kept those awing, none of us would have survived! It was as if the Elvin knew we were coming! How could that be?! she thought, over and over, as she flew, her fear slow to subside. It was only later, when her heart had stilled, and she was no longer so distraught, that she remembered her dream, wherein the Elvin had been prepared for their arrival.

  How is this? Is one among us a spy, somehow warning the Elvin? she wondered, but thought this unlikely. Few came or went from their village, and those that did, their messengers, were well trusted. The few traders who dared to enter the Eridians lands were all well disposed to them, and seemed sympathetic to their cause, even aiding them by spying on the Elvin occasionally.

  When she considered her dream more deeply, her insides seemed to tense.

  Had I paid attention to it, I could have saved many good fighters! It’s my fault, for not understanding what I should have. But how could I? Who obeys dreams? The men would have laughed at me, if I had turned away over such a thing! Dreams frighten children and old women...not warriors!

  The Eridians flew hard, and reached a small village as it grew dark. The mass of warriors were mostly silent, no one boisterous or loud, as they would normally have been. All understood how lucky they were to be alive, and were torn between being grateful for Shocara’s wisdom, in keeping many awing, or being angry, that she had led them into a trap.

  It was only upon landing that they discovered she was wounded, the Elvin knife a sharp reminder of the nearness of their doom. They had to help her down from her mount, and were disturbed to see how pale and drawn her face was.

  “Our Princess is hurt!” one whispered, seeing the weapon in her arm.

  “I am grateful to be alive!” she moaned. They had her sit, and prepared to pull the knife out, having gotten some cloth to bandage her arm from the village.

  “This will hurt,” Hacarim suggested, and steeled himself to pull the narrow blade, as others held her arm and her body immobile. Shocara moaned through gritted teeth, when the blade slipped free, and a tight bandage was tied around her arm. The knife had hit her straight, the blade parallel with the bone. Had it been turned, she would likely have lost any hope of using her arm to wield a sword.

  With this done, they set about fixing something to eat, the villagers having come to talk and assist them. Shocara felt light headed and miserable, but managed to instruct Hacarim to get a count of how many they had lost. When he returned, he squatted down facing her, his face hard and drawn in the light of their fire.

  “Nineteen are missing,” he whispered softly. “Had we all landed, none of us would have returned!” he sighed.

  “I had a dream,” Shocara said, staring unfocused at him.

  “What sort of dream?”

  “One in which we arrived to attack the Elvin, and they were well prepared for us. It went badly for us!” she sighed, the reality too similar to not make her miserable.

  “Exactly what we experienced! Why did you not warn us?!” he demanded.

  “Do I look like an old woman, cursed by fears and dreams? I am no seer, who should live by such a thing!”

  “Perhaps you should reconsider that, considering how many we lost?”

  “Perhaps I should,” she admitted, overwhelmed by their loss. Many families would be lacking both a husband and father now, burdening the rest, who must help them survive.

  “How could the Elvin know we were coming?” Hacarim wondered.

  “I have no idea. Certainly none could out fly us, and warn them of our coming! Perhaps we have an Elvin spy among us?” she suggested, again finding such a thing absurd. Hacarim’s snort suggested he did also.

  “Perhaps the Elvin have some sorcery, that makes this possible?”

  Shocara shrugged, and then winced, her arm
agonizing. “If they do, then we will be doomed! It will be hard to mount attacks that come completely unseen!” she complained.

  The villagers offered to have Shocara spend the night with someone, where she would be warmer and secure. She had no desire to do so, wishing to stay with her warriors, but when a half dozen of them threatened to bodily carry her, she reluctantly gave in. In truth she felt too tired and weak to argue, the blood she had lost hampering her. The bandage on her arm was well soaked with blood, and one of the village woman insisted on replacing it with a clean one, scolding Shocara until she gave in.

  They will think I’m a sick child, too weak to even tend myself! she thought, but was grateful for the care. It had been long since she had been wounded, and she had forgotten how terrible being so seemed. She let the woman tending her cover her well with two course but warm blankets, and in spite of her overactive mind, she soon fell asleep.

  In the morning she woke, still feeling weak, but less tired. The woman changed her bandage again, the bleeding having slowed well as she lay still. She managed to go out, to survey her warriors in the light of the day, noting again how many fewer were present.

  “We will be home today, and then many will hear the news,” Hacarim suggested, stepping close.

  “I would rather I had fallen, than to have to bear such evil news to our people,” she moaned.

  “Many will wish to abuse the Elvin women when they hear!”

  “We must not permit such...having suffered the might of the Elvin, I have no desire to give them reason to visit more of such death onto our people!”

  “So we are to surrender to them?”

  “No, but we must reconsider how we fight them. There must be a better way, which will let us prevail. Until we discover it, we would be fools to throw away more of our fighters!” she declared, certain of this truth.

  “Some may consider your caution cowardly...” Hacarim whispered, so only she might hear.

  “Let any who does declare it, and we’ll see how well they can defend their point of view with steel!”

  “You won’t be doing much of such for awhile...you must heal!”

  “It isn’t my arm that hurts me the most at the moment! We lost too many good men...and have few to replace them easily!” she sighed.

  “You blame yourself?”

  “I can not lead only when things go well! I have no desire to blame others for my choices, good or bad. We must learn from this, and grow wiser...or we are doomed!”

  Shocara managed to climb up onto her terranon, and fastened her belt awkwardly. The fight back to their village was long and tiring, but in late afternoon they dropped toward the ground, and settled in. Many came out, eager to greet them, but seeing so many lacking, there was much consternation and worry. Shocara managed to dismount, as a young man came to lead her terranak towards its pen. She walked silently towards the assembled people, all looking worried and distressed.

  “They are not elsewhere...we lost many. I’m sorry...the Elvin somehow were expecting us,” she sighed. Garen had come, and seeing the bloody bandage on her arm, he quickly moved to support her.

  The village women, who could see no sign of their husbands were distraught, and angry, pushy and demanding.

  “Let any who has not lost their man help the others!” she managed to loudly instruct the crowd, before everything began to spin, and she slipped into the sudden darkness, as Garen struggled to catch her before she fell.

  45

  Later in the week, Rasten had returned to the Citadel after a long day of flight on the terranak. He had thought to have a bath, and relax while reading more, but before he could go eat, Kalida arrived with another idea.

  “Come...go with me! I’ll take you to a saarieum where we can eat and have a drink, and be entertained! You need to get out and enjoy life a bit, while Amein is elsewhere!”

  Kalida suggested, grinning. Rasten suspected he was just begging for trouble, but gave in anyway, having found Kalida to be the best companion and guide. They headed out, walking in the pleasant evening, and went a dozen blocks, to a street Rasten vaguely recognized, it having many shops where he had been taken to add to his wardrobe. They went a short distance and came to a wide doorway, out of which Elvin music could be heard.

  Kalida dragged him in, not giving him the time to read the sign overhead, and he soon found himself in what seemed like a cross between a restaurant, a bar and possibly a medieval whore house. There were dozens of tables, a long and curving bar, scantily clad servers, both male and female, Elvin and humans, several dancers and a throng of patrons, both male and female, eating, drinking and enjoying the blatantly erotic displays that seemed everywhere. Kalida led him to a table, where they could watch the dancers, and they were almost immediately being eyed by a dozen people, one of which was a sexy elvin female with a small device.

  “Food or drink...or play?” she asked, eyeing Rasten.

  “Dinner and some drink!” Kalida replied, “at least for now!” he replied, winking at the server.

  Trying to be discrete and not stare, Rasten surveyed the place, noticing that many of the clientele were being quite sexual, playing and fondling with abandon. Occasionally a couple or three or more would get up, and go off to the far area around the perimeter of the place, to small rooms, and disappear into them. There was a second story above that held more.

  “Exactly what is this place?” Rasten asked. Kalida shrugged.

  “It is called a saarieum, which basically means a place for play! Adults come here to be entertained, and to meet new ones to be sexual with!” he said, grinning. As if to make this point clear, two females stood up a half dozen paces away, and loudly asked if anyone wanted to play with them. They quickly had a dozen offers, and picked two that suited their fancy, and were soon heading up the stairs to an upper room.

  Rasten felt his side bumped, and glanced to discover a well rounded Elvin female behind rubbing his arm. He looked up at her, and she smiled, delighted.

  “If you’d like to play, I’d be delighted to be with you! Do you like my bottom?” she wondered. Rasten lightly ran his hand over it, and smiled.

  “It is marvelous, but we just stopped in for some food and a drink...maybe another time?”

  “Any time you’d like! I always come here on this evening!” she gushed, before giving him a kiss, and moving on. Rasten gave Kalida a harsh look.

  “What? You aren’t doing anything wrong! Amein has been here many times, at least when she was younger!”

  “Really? So the Elvin just...” Rasten hesitated, sure anything he said would seem hyper critical and improper, his life on Earth poorly preparing him for a world where sex was as common as breathing, and where the beings liked variety.

  “Do the humans and Elvin...play together, or is that somehow...not considered...acceptable?” he asked instead, noting several pairs of humans scattered around as well as half-Elvin amid the larger mass of Elvin.

  “They do...the adventurous; many try it a time or two when young, but most find the Elvin and half-Elvin a bit too...intense for their abilities! Still many share with friends in mixed groups. No one would think it odd or unacceptable for you to have a human girl you found cute!”

  “Somehow I don’t think that would include Amein!” Rasten sighed. Kalida shrugged.

  “Would you be upset if she gave in to someone, when you weren’t close? It would likely help get her past her current silly problem! You’d like to try out some of the others, wouldn’t you?” Kalida teased, winking at Rasten, who suddenly had three almost bare Elvin surrounding him, one on each side, and one behind, this one rubbing her bare breasts against his back. Two others, whom Kalida seemed to know, were giving him the same treatment.

  “Please? Won’t you play with us?” the one on his right whispered in his ear, licking his earlobe suggestively. She put her right hand under his nose, and the unmistakable smell of her Elvin pussy was unavoidable. Rasten felt himself getting hard almost instantly, which the one to h
is left quickly discovered, rubbing his crotch with her hand. She intended to unfasten his trousers, but the arrival of their server with their food and drink saved him.

  “Go on and enjoy your meal, we’ll come back later to play!” The one behind him whispered, kissing his neck.

  Rasten sighed, seeing Kalid’s smirk.

  “Those three are sisters...apparently they like the look of you! Trust me, sooner or later they will wear you down, and have you!” Kalida laughed.

  “You’re speaking from experience?” Rasten demanded, frowning.

  “Of course. I made the mistake of letting all three have me at once many years ago. My organ was so abused from their eagerness, it almost hurt to pee! They’re as skilled as any female on this world!” Kalida laughed, obviously admiring them.

  Rasten found the food to be flavorful and the drink refreshing, and devoted some time to this, merely watching the dancers, who reminded him of belly dancers on Earth. They seemed to be astoundingly graceful and managed at the same time to be utterly sexual and erotic. When one gestured in a certain way, several of the crowd would wave their hands, both male and female, Elvin, half Elvin or human, and the one dancing would choose one, slipping onto their lap, to kiss them lusciously, before hopping up, and leading off towards a private room. This one was soon replaced by another dancer, male or female, and the process kept repeating.

  “Do you ever dance?” Rasten teased Kalida.

  “I have...I first came here when I was barely sixteen, and decided to try it. I ended up with a couple, male and female, and spent the whole night playing with both. It was quite educational and much fun!” he declared, laughing. Seeing Rasten’s frown made him pause.

  “You’ve never been with anyone but a female, have you?” he asked. Rasten shrugged.

  “That is generally not common on Earth. There are women who only desire women, and men who only have men, a small group actually, and a few who are eager for either...but...”