by Eric Vall
“Gods, we just had such a lovely time,” Cayla giggled, and she curled her arm in Taru’s. “Anytime you ever want to get out of town and kill things, please don’t hesitate to drop by. We’d all be more than happy to put down whatever we’re doing and join you. Truly.”
Taru gave a shy nod as my women nudged Haragh out of the way for a group hug, and they giggled and wished her more congratulations for several minutes longer.
Eventually, Haragh managed to untangle his woman from them and get out the door, but then Ruela shoved past me and trotted after them to offer her own goodbye.
The wolfish beast nuzzled her blood-crusted snout against the back of Taru’s leg before she could get too far, and when the ogre paused to scruff her behind the ear, the softest and sweetest voice I’d ever heard drifted from the ogre’s lips as she praised Ruela for being a good dog.
My jaw dropped while I tried to decide if I’d imagined it, and by all accounts, it couldn’t possibly be Taru’s voice. She’d never spoken a word around me, but somehow this vicious, mauling, downright scary and nine-foot-tall ogre woman had the loveliest voice in the world. It was like a fairy queen mixed with an angel, and I suddenly understood what people meant when they said someone’s voice was as smooth as molasses.
“D-Did you hear that?” I stammered as I turned to my women. “Was that her voice? Have you heard her voice?”
“Of course we’ve heard her voice, Mason,” Deya giggled as she closed the door. “Haven’t you?”
“No,” I scoffed. “I’ve only heard her terrifying war cries and the purring thing she does to Haragh.”
“That’s called murring when an ogre does it,” Deya informed me. “It’s a sign of affection.”
“She’s just shy around men,” Cayla said with a shrug. “You should hear her sing, though.”
“I cried, it was so beautiful,” Shoshanne admitted, and the princess nodded in agreement.
“She sings, too?” I asked as I blinked in shock.
“Mason, she’s your best friend’s lover, how do you not pay attention to these things?” Aurora snorted.
I shook my head in astonishment as I tried to wrap my brain around all of this, and my women giggled while they looped their arms around my waist and turned me toward the atrium.
“So, did anything else exciting happen while you were out?” Deya asked. “I want to hear everything I missed.”
“Um … yeah, actually,” I said with a grin. “I had sex in the king’s bedchamber, which was a first. Nulena showed up at the castle last night with some half-assed excuse about wanting to talk to Temin about the attack in Rajeen.”
“Well, that was clearly nonsense,” Cayla snorted. “I’m glad she found you, though. I was worried she might be concerned if she showed up and no one was at the mansion.”
“I can’t believe you had sex in the king’s quarters without us,” Aurora sulked. “It’s so inappropriate, I would have had so much fun.”
“I’ve never seen a king’s room before,” Deya said thoughtfully as she took a seat on the edge of the fountain. “Did you wear a crown while you had sex?”
“No, I wore chainmail,” I chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, though, part of me absolutely wishes you all could have been there for the occasion, but I did need some time alone with the Baroness to clarify a few things, so I think it worked out well overall.”
“Is everything alright?” Shoshanne asked with concern.
“Yeah, it wasn’t a big deal,” I assured her. “I just noticed she was a little … selfish in a few situations lately, and I wanted to address the issue personally. It’s kind of difficult to set aside time for that sort of thing when you’re all naked and insisting I do scandalous things to her.”
“Is this about the other night?” Deya asked. “Because I did want to slap her when she didn’t let Shoshanne have her turn after me. Not in a mean way, just to make a point, and because I thought she might enjoy it.”
“I had fun either way,” the healer chuckled. “That thing she did with her hands tied behind her back was impressive. I only wished I could have had Mason in me for my first orgasm. That’s all.”
“I know you did,” I said as I pulled the healer into my arms. “I was right there with you, trust me. Things might get a little convoluted up there sometimes, but as much fun as it is having us all together, I wanted to be sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Aurora let out a devilish chuckle as she caught my meaning, and I sent her a wink.
“I can’t believe you didn’t let me watch,” Cayla groaned. “I love when you get dominating in bed. Did you spank her?”
“No,” I admitted. “Just uh … made sure she understood who was in charge.”
“Please tell me you wouldn’t let her have what she wanted,” Aurora moaned.
I grinned. “Not ‘til she behaved a little better.”
Shoshanne blushed to her roots as Deya bit her bottom lip, and Cayla looked weak in the knees at my words.
“Are you busy right now?” the beautiful elf asked, and I could tell all of my women were thinking the same thing.
“Unfortunately, yes,” I chuckled, “but I have every intention of spending tonight doting on all of you, so don’t worry about that.”
“No cages this time,” Aurora decided. “I want you to pleasure me yourself while you handle the others.”
“Me, too,” Cayla said with a grin.
“Deal,” I agreed. “For now, I need to get some more work done on the dragon for Mors Pass, and engrave another batch of lightning magazines so we’re fully stocked. I’m expecting Kurna to stop by soon and update me about the attack last night, too.”
“It couldn’t have been too bad,” Aurora mused as I headed for my stock of steel. “The town looked the same when we got back to Falmount, and the mages were enjoying themselves in the market.”
“That’s a relief,” I muttered. “I would’ve felt like an asshole if something horrible happened while I was out getting the castle guard drunk and fucking Nulena into submission.”
“What an eventful evening,” Deya sighed happily. “I think we all needed that.”
“Nulena especially,” Cayla murmured, and she sent me a lusty glance. “Next time she acts up, I get to spank her for you.”
“I’m okay with that,” I said with a nod. “I’d watch out, though. She’s a scratcher.”
Aurora moaned as her knees almost gave out, and I shook my head at the women before I turned back to my table.
“I’m going to work on my transmuting,” Deya announced as she stood up.
“No hunting,” I warned.
Deya casually left before responding, though, and I heard her send a half-hearted “huh?” over her shoulder like her excellent elven hearing was somehow failing her at the moment.
“You heard me,” I sighed as I summoned my metal powers.
“We’ll be at the training fields,” Aurora chuckled, and she and Cayla took their time leaving kisses down both sides of my neck before they headed for the door.
I smiled hazily as I watched them go, but before Shoshanne could follow, I caught her by the wrist and pulled her over.
The healer immediately came to me and was about to kiss me, but I lifted her onto the worktable in front of my stool instead.
“What are you doing?” Shoshanne giggled.
“Multi-tasking,” I replied as I parted her thighs. “Lay back.”
“You don’t have to--”
“I know,” I interrupted, and I slid the white silk of her bodice aside before I began gently stroking my fingers along her heated flesh. “I thought you deserved a little special treatment.”
“I don’t mind about the other night,” the healer assured me. “I adore Nulena, I’m just not as dominant as her.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t get what you want,” I countered, and I brought my lips between her thighs before she could argue any further.
The healer gasped as I delved my tongue into her
taut tunnel, and I wasted no time showing her exactly what I thought she deserved. A bazooka crashed down from the wall when Shoshanne tried to find something to brace herself on, but after a few scraps of steel skittered to the floor, she just clutched my hair as her pleasure overran her senses.
I had her panting and moaning on my table for three orgasms while I simultaneously let my metal magic work on more pieces for the dragon automaton, and even though it was difficult to balance my attention between both tasks, I managed to find a rhythm so I could do a more than admirable job on the most important of the two.
I didn’t let up until Shoshanne’s legs were trembling against my cheeks, and the healer was flushed and drowsy-eyed when I looked up and began leaving a few kisses along her silky inner thighs.
“Next time, I won’t bother arguing,” she sighed as she sent me a sweet smile.
“Good,” I murmured.
The healer giggled and managed to right herself without sending any more of my work to the floor, but then I pulled her down onto my lap so she was straddling me. When I began kissing her, she wrapped her arms around my neck and let out a soft moan, and I let her kiss me as long as she wanted while I intermittently enjoyed her plush hips and flawless ass.
Eventually, I was questioning my plans for the day as I tried to decide if saving sex for tonight was really necessary, and I was about to suggest she and I take a trip to our jungle when the woman jolted at the sound of metal clattering to the ground.
Shoshanne’s tongue tangling with my own had completely derailed my attention, and I looked over to see the tibia I was trying to build in a heap on the ground. It looked nothing like a dragon’s bone, and the healer giggled at the sight of the gnarled lump of steel.
“You should be focusing better than this,” Shoshanne scolded.
“I don’t want to,” I chuckled as I slid her skirt up her thighs, but the healer sent me a mock stern look as she narrowed her eyes.
“You’ve already spoiled me enough for one day,” she informed me, “and if you expect any spoiling from me tonight, then you’ll have to be productive until then.”
I raised my brows at the healer’s firm tone. “What do I get if I am?”
Shoshanne smirked as she leaned closer to my ear, and while she began whispering incredibly dirty things to me, my heart just about stopped as all of my blood funneled straight to my dick. It never ceased to amaze me how secretly kinky the modest woman was, and my mouth was gaping open by the time she pulled away.
Then Shoshanne giggled and left a light kiss on my cheek, and I was still sitting there dumbfounded when she slid herself off my lap and strolled toward the entryway.
“I’ll be working with the healers if you need me,” she purred.
The tempting wink she sent me before she left made my balls ache so bad, I shot to my feet, and I ended up having to take a few laps around my shop just to throttle down. My mind remained in a state of erotic shock the whole time, and when I came back around to the table, I gave my scalp a thorough scruff to help redirect my blood flow.
“Holy shit,” I sighed.
“Is everything alright, sir?” Alfred asked as he came in with a steaming plate of food for me.
“Yeah,” I snorted. “Just … regrouping. I’m gonna work my ass off for a while, alright? If anyone comes to speak with me, though, send them in.”
“Very well, sir.”
I hardly touched the plate Alfred brought me while I engraved one magazine after another, and with Shoshanne’s filthy words running on a constant loop in my mind, it was surprisingly easy to wrangle the elements. It was like I had a newfound purpose ingrained deep in my groin, and not even the threat of electrocuting myself with pure lightning could counter that.
I engraved two hundred magazines without taking a single break while Stan trained his dragon to hold still during rune work, and then I promptly switched gears to form more pieces for the dragon automaton.
I had two full back legs formed when Kurna showed up, and he chatted with Alfred for a minute before making his way to the atrium.
“Nice guy,” the brawny mage said as he came in and nodded his approval.
“Yeah, Alfred’s great,” I agreed. “He mentioned an attack, though. Did everything hold up alright?”
Kurna let out a long sigh, but he was grinning as he leaned against my shelf of gold.
“Mason … it went beautifully,” he assured me. “You wouldn’t believe it all if I told you, but that market is set up like a dream right now. We were picking those Chupacabra off left and right, and not a single casualty on our side.”
“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “I didn’t even know the Master had Chupacabra. How many showed up?”
“About as many as those damned spiders, but it was perfect,” Kurna chuckled. “The mages were at peak performance, the ammunition was stocked, the bells went off, and just like that, everyone was in position. We were ready before the bastards even filled the streets. Urn was laughing like a madman through most of it, that’s how well it went.”
“Urn was laughing?” I clarified, and Kurna smirked.
“Most of us were,” he admitted. “You have no idea how satisfying it was. This setup you’ve come up with is flawless. Full visuals all the way around, and I tracked the last few Chupacabra myself. I didn’t know what this element looked like, but I destroyed every tree in the vicinity of where they disappeared just to be safe. It really couldn’t have gone better.”
“Damn!” I said as my grin spread from ear to ear. “That’s beyond awesome.”
“We’re gonna get that fucking Master, too,” Kurna said with a deadly glint in his eye. “I’ve got a good feeling about this. If the rest of the Order stays on top of their shit like we are in Falmount, he doesn’t stand a chance. Plus, I added thirty names to my list of recommendations after last night. There’s a good sixty mages in this town who could be promoted right this second and do a damn good job.”
I stared as I tried to process all this good news at once. “You’re sure?”
“No doubt in my mind,” Kurna assured me. “How’d the celebration go?”
I grinned. “Equally satisfying.”
“Impossible,” he countered point blank. “Nothing could have compared to that battle last night.”
I didn’t bother clarifying the kind of night I had even though I was pretty sure I could trump him. Considering he and Urn coordinated a solid defense in my absence, I was more than happy to nod in agreement and let the brawny mage soak in the glory on this one.
“How are the mages doing after everything?” I asked as I returned to my work, and I cleared a larger space on my table so I could start forming a massive scapula.
“They’re feeling pretty proud of themselves,” Kurna snorted. “Half of them are strutting around the market like they own the damn place, but they’ve certainly earned it. Pindor’s crew alone took out nearly a third of the Chupacabra.”
I paused my work and turned. “No shit? How’d they manage that?”
“Those guns of yours,” the brawny mage said with a grin. “They’re almost as proficient as the princess these days. You oughtta promote Pindor first thing, if you want my opinion.”
“I already did,” I told the man, and he furrowed his brow.
“You did?” he asked. “Why didn’t he mention it to me last night? No one’s calling him a Defender.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, he is a Defender, whether or not he’s willing to own up to it.”
“Oh well,” Kurna chuckled. “He’ll come around. In the meantime, he’s doing a hell of a job, and he’s even volunteered to help the new residents settle in today. We’ve got a handful of shopkeepers bringing over their stock from Serin right now, and a decent number of mages from the Oculus are moving in as well. I better get back there and help out. There’s a particularly beautiful spice merchant who I wouldn’t mind lending a hand to.”
“If it’s Miss Clearidge, I’d say you’re too late,” I infor
med the man with a smirk. “From what I’ve gathered, Urn’s already on a first name basis with her.”
Kurna’s expression sobered into firm resolve. “Like hell he is.”
Then the brawny mage abruptly turned for the door, and I could hear him taking long, deliberate strides all the way down the lane as he beelined for the market.
I wondered if I might end up regretting this new merchant down the line, but I doubted a bit of competition amongst men could do much harm with everything else that had been happening. I still scoped out the situation while I worked, though, and when Kurna made it to the market, I tracked his footfalls while I waited for him to make some brazen introduction.
Judging by the difficulty he had getting a word in, it sounded like about five other Defenders already beat him to the spice shop.
“Okay, so maybe it’ll be an issue,” I muttered as I turned my attention back to my work.
Still, things were looking up, and I could hardly believe the rebuilding had worked out so well. The realization that everything was coming together on our end was just the boost I needed after the sudden change in the tides lately.
If Kurna’s estimation was correct, then Temin having to send our Defenders to their posts would only increase our chances of destroying the Master that much sooner. Which meant I had a lot of work ahead of me in terms of arming them in case that time came sooner rather than later.
So, I finished up the pieces I needed for the shoulders of the metal dragon before I went back to engraving magazines, and while I worked, I kept half my focus on the village.
Cayla and Aurora were discussing the improvement in the mages while they strolled around the training fields, and Shoshanne was speaking with a few healers in the infirmary who offered their congratulations on her recent appointment as head of the Order’s infirmary. I could hear Jenik going at it with Bom Two not far away, and it sounded like he wasn’t nervous anymore, which was impressive considering he was up against a much larger automaton now.
The mages were chatting and practicing all over Falmount while some of them greeted the newcomers and showed them around, and I couldn’t help grinning as I realized how well my town was really coming along. Performance was up, defenses were solid, Shoshanne would be doing crazy hot things to my dick in only a few hours, and life was fucking good.