by Isaac Hooke
He ordered the songbirds to continue their search. Meanwhile, he recalled Solan and Gannet.
When the pair of half dragons returned, he turned to address his party.
“All right,” Malem said. “This is useless. It’s fairly obvious the elves don’t want to be found, at least by us. It’s time we started our little blaze. I’ve heard the tree elves are a little overzealous when it comes to protecting the plants that inhabit their forest. Let’s see how accurate that description is. Abigail, if you will?”
Abigail stepped forward. She hesitated, and he sensed from her energy bundle that she considered what she was about to do some heinous crime against nature.
He tightened his will around her. Light the forest.
Her arms promptly ignited, and she released a stream of flames into the forest in front of her. The leaves caught fire.
The flames spread slowly, as most of the undergrowth was moist, and well-nourished, not dry and dead like kindling.
The flames slowly spread, and Malem watched in satisfaction as a wall of fire ate up the forest in front of him.
“Let’s see if that summons a few angry tree elves,” he said.
11
Malem watched the fire spread. It burned eastward, away from the generated wind.
He glanced at his party. “Spread out. I want a half circle formation.” He visualized the positions in his mind, and ordered the different members like pawns on some game board until they were all in place on the western side, away from the flames.
He joined them, taking cover behind a thick bole, and scanned the trees. So far, there was nothing out there. He felt no creatures approaching on his beast sense; indeed, most animals were fleeing the flames.
He broke some more nearby birds, and placed them on different perches throughout the forest near the fire.
An hour passed, but no attack came. Behind them, the flames had mostly burned out, though in the distance the fire continued to rage. The winds had picked up with the heat, and it spread faster than ever.
He had the party reposition, wanting them to stay close to the conflagration.
“Is that wise?” Brita asked in her sweet, high-pitched voice. “If the winds change direction, we won’t outrun it.”
“I’m not worried,” Malem said. “We have an ice mage among us.” He glanced at Weyanna.
“I can create a wall of ice, if I have to,” Weyanna said.
“And I can expand my magical shield around you all, if we huddle close,” Ziatrice said. She looked at Malem. “Assuming you’ll feed me the stamina I need to maintain it.”
Malem nodded. “I have complete access to the master’s stamina.”
“Well, that’s nice of him, considering he demoted you!” Mauritania mocked.
Though the reminder of his reduced position angered him, Malem let it slide.
He spent the rest of that day following those flames. Sometimes the team had to retreat rapidly when the fire changed direction, but that was the most excitement they saw. The elves didn’t show themselves.
Nightfall came, and the fire, which had been weakening for the past few hours, finally burned itself out.
Malem gave the order to set camp. He recalled his birds, which had completed a full sweep of the forest—the airborne animals had found no sign of any elves.
“Maybe we’re in the wrong forest,” Mauritania commented when he revealed the songbirds had found nothing.
“No, they’re here,” Malem said. “Vorgon wouldn’t have sent me here for nothing.”
“Even Vorgon can be wrong,” Mauritania said.
He shook his head. “I’ve heard rumors about these forests for years. And even met a few travelers who claimed to have encountered the elves while passing through. They described a great magical city, whose buildings, shaped like oaks, were made of marble and gold, and whose fountains were waterfalls containing the purest water one had ever seen.”
“I think, perhaps, they might have lied to you,” Ziatrice said. “It happens, you know.”
“You mean people actually lie?” Gwenfrieda said sarcastically. “Nooo.”
Solan and Gannet created a fire pit, filling it with branches and lining it with a series of rocks, then Abigail ignited it.
Malem meanwhile used a dagger to carve several spits from the broken branches he’d collected, and then summoned most of the birds he had Broken. When they arrived, he broke their necks, plucked and skewered them, and then roasted them over the flames. The party ate well that night.
“You know, I thought these would taste gross,” Gwenfrieda said as she bit into one of the roasted birds. “But they’re no different than chicken. Well, a bony, less meatier version of chicken, anyway.”
“The texture is slightly off,” Mauritania said, her face full of disgust.
“Then don’t eat it,” Ziatrice said. “I’ll take your share if you don’t want it.”
“As will I,” Solan said. “These won’t satisfy my appetite. Tomorrow morning, with your permission, I’d like to go for a food run in dragon form.”
“All us half dragons will need to do that,” Abigail added.
“I can certainly allow it,” Malem said. “There’s a pack of wolves to the west you can dine on.”
Solan frowned. “I prefer venison.”
Malem nodded. “I detected a few deer, earlier, too. I’ll be happy to point you in their direction at first light.”
“Thank you,” Solan said.
When they had finished, Malem said: “Solan, Gannet, you’ll take first watch. Gwenfrieda, Ziatrice, you’ll relieve them at midnight. Abigail, Mauritania, you take the final watch after that. In the meantime, the rest of you, feel free to pick out spots for yourselves on the bare ground. We’ll leave the fire burning overnight.”
“It will go out in about an hour,” Gwenfrieda said.
“Then let it smolder,” Malem said. He glanced at Sylfi and Brita. “You two, join me.”
Sylfi shot Brita a look in the firelight. He felt shear dread emanating from her.
It’s going to be all right, he tried sending her.
She didn’t answer.
He led them a short distance away from the main camp, using his night vision to guide him. Then he sat down behind a big oak that would shield him from the prying eyes of the campsite, and beckoned the pair to join him. The two pixie-like girls sat down on either side. Visually, he couldn’t tell which was which in the darkness, but from the shyness and fright emanating from the woman on his left, he knew that one was Sylfi.
He Broke a family of nearby owls and had them stand guard throughout the clearing along with Solan and Gannet. He also perched one overhead, and used its superior night vision to augment his own, which allowed him to see the women more clearly.
He looked Sylfi in the eyes, though he was unsure if her own night vision was strong enough to register his gaze. When she flinched beneath him, he realized it must be.
“If you don’t want to do this,” he told her. “I won’t force myself upon you. I’ve never forced myself upon anyone in my life. Some say I’ve become evil now that I follow Vorgon, but that’s not the case. I still have morals. To a degree. Though of course if Vorgon commands me to do something, I must do it.”
“Does he command you to fuck us?” Brita asked defiantly.
He shot her a glare. “Watch your tone, Woman. While I’m not evil per se, I am quicker to anger than I used to be. And no, Vorgon has never commanded who should share my bed.”
“Then why don’t you piss off already?” Brita said.
Malem tightened his will around her. “You know, I’m starting to have a change of heart about not forcing myself upon women. You might just be the first, if you keep up that attitude.”
He heard a giggle behind him.
“Ziatrice!” Malem said. He hadn’t sensed her approach: he’d been too caught up with the women.
“Sorry,” Ziatrice said, coming out from hiding. “I was just enjoying the spectacle
. You don’t mind if I watch?”
“Actually, I do,” he said.
“Too bad,” Ziatrice said. “Would have been fun. And you say you’ve never forced yourself upon anyone? Sometimes the way you order us to your bed makes me wonder if that’s true or not.”
“I order you to my bed, but you always come freely,” Malem said. “Even Abigail and Weyanna.”
“Of course they do,” Ziatrice said. “How can we resist the pleasure?” She glanced at Sylfi and Brita. “Once you’ve felt what sex is like with the Defiler, you won’t ever want to go back to another man. Or even woman, if that’s your leaning. In fact, the sex is the only light in the darkness that your life has now become. Trust me on this. Give yourselves to him, fully.”
“I think I’ll pass,” Brita said.
Malem glanced at Sylfi. “You too?”
She nodded quickly. He sighed. “Ziatrice, you will keep me warm tonight.”
She smiled, her pointed teeth glinting in the light of the distant fire. “Goodie!”
Sylfi and Brita started to stand. “No. You stay. You’re going to watch.”
“I thought you didn’t like it when people watched,” Brita said. She nodded at Ziatrice. “You weren’t going to let her do it.”
“I don’t like it when Ziatrice watches,” Malem said. “But you two, you might actually learn something from this.”
“I’d rather not,” Brita said.
Malem was about to contest her, then shrugged. He was in a lenient mood tonight. “Fine, go then.”
“We don’t want your pleasure, either,” Brita said. “If you have a way to shut us out, then do it, because not doing so is tantamount to rape, in my opinion.”
Malem felt suddenly angry at the accusation, but realized she was right. He grabbed onto their minds and silenced them. It would shield them from the shared pleasure, something he had learned while experimenting with the other women. He decided to block Solan and Gannet, too, since he didn’t need the pair distracted while on watch.
Gwenfrieda, would you like to join me and Ziatrice?
I’d rather have you alone and all to myself, Gwenfrieda sent. But if a duo is the only way I can be with you, then of course I accept.
Then come here.
Lately, he found himself preferring two women for company. He wasn’t sure why that would be, but he suspected it had to do with his growing power. And the lust for it.
He could sleep with two women at once, so he would.
But just because one can, doesn’t mean one should.
That was a saying his uncle used to tell him when he was a kid.
Malem ignored it, since it was a stupid saying.
He slipped off his dragonscale armor, and then watched Ziatrice and Gwenfrieda strip. He couldn’t see their respective skin colorations in the dark; to him, they were both the same dark gray at the moment.
Malem slipped off his underclothes, allowing his member to leap free.
“My, my, what big equipment you have,” Ziatrice said.
Malem grunted, and pulled her down onto him. She rode him, and he met her thrusts with his own, slamming into her from below. The thwap, thwap of skin slapping against skin echoed through the night.
From Gwenfrieda’s energy bundle, he felt a sense of being left out, but he didn’t really care at the moment. He was too busy, too concerned with his own pleasure.
“Are you sure you want to take us separately?” Gwenfrieda cooed. “Or wouldn’t you rather munch on this?”
Suddenly a naked crotch thrust into his face. He was momentarily overwhelmed by the smell, but then found himself becoming more aroused by it. He began to lick her.
She moaned.
He thrust even harder into Ziatrice as she rode him.
Gwenfrieda rotated in place while he pleasured her privates with his tongue so that she faced Ziatrice. A moment later he heard a sucking, smacking sound, and he paused to glance past her voluptuous buttocks: she was leaning into Ziatrice, and their faces seemed to be touching.
He realized they were kissing.
That turned him on even more and he thrust all the harder into Ziatrice.
The pleasure he felt grew in leaps and bounds thanks to the echo effect caused by their link. The fact that he was pleasuring Gwenfrieda at the same time as Ziatrice only increased what he felt so that he found himself coming close to the edge very quickly.
He held back for as long as he could, but at last he couldn’t take it and found release. Gwenfrieda came at the same time, judging from how wet his face became. Ziatrice and Gwenfrieda both shuddered on top of him.
He threw them off of him and to the ground, and drained stamina from Sylfi and Brita so that he was ready to go again. He shared some of that endurance with Ziatrice and Gwenfrieda.
“Come here,” he ordered Gwenfrieda.
This time he mounted the half gobling directly, missionary style. He kissed her passionately, and then pushed his upper body from the ground so that he could look upon her while he worked. He loved watching the way her chest jiggled with each pump.
Meanwhile, Ziatrice placed each foot on either side of Gwenfrieda’s head and then knelt, sitting on the half gobling’s face. Ziatrice was directly in front of him at that point, with her breasts quivering eagerly, and so he buried his face between them.
He continued there for some time, in complete ecstasy, but then sat up to rip Gwenfrieda from Ziatrice. Still inside her, he carried the half gobling to a nearby log and set her down. Regrettably, he had to withdraw to swing both legs over the log, but when he was in place, he mounted her anew, partially standing up.
Ziatrice assumed a similar position near Gwenfrieda’s head and promptly sat on her face. Then Ziatrice leaned forward to kiss Malem. He bit her lower lip, and pressed his teeth hard against hers.
“I can taste you, Malem!” Gwenfrieda exclaimed. “You taste so good!”
It was sexy as hell, and he couldn’t help but increase the frequency and fervency of his thrusting.
His tongue darted forward, and Ziatrice parted her lips to let him in, surrendering entirely. He was reminded about those sharp teeth of hers as he explored the inside of her mouth with his tongue, and cut himself. He didn’t care.
Ziatrice seemed to get turned on when she felt the blood flowing from him, and she sucked, eagerly.
Gwenfrieda moaned underneath him, but she must have continued pleasing Ziatrice, because the latter woman began to shudder; finally Ziatrice pulled away from him and bit her lower lip. Whatever the half gobling was doing to her, she was good at it.
Might have to ask her for some tips sometime, he thought vaguely.
He didn’t last for much longer, and finally exploded inside Gwenfrieda. Once again, the combined pleasure was magnified beyond what ordinary humans could experience, and he simply quivered in place for long moments, unable to comprehend that any other reality existed other than this orgasmic one.
When he finally remembered who he was, and where, he rolled off Gwenfrieda to rest between her and Ziatrice. He felt cold, and slick with sweat.
“Well, that was interesting,” Ziatrice said. “I think I learned more about you, gobling, than I have in the six months I’ve known you.”
“And I you,” Gwenfrieda said.
“Did you like what you learned?” Ziatrice asked.
“Very much so,” Gwenfrieda said.
Malem found himself getting turned on all over again. Another hour passed in that manner, maybe two.
By the time he went to sleep, he had a huge smile on his face.
12
Malem awoke with the dawn the next morning. No attacks had come overnight.
Ziatrice and Gwenfrieda were no longer beside him. He vaguely recalled waking during the change of the watch, when they had taken their shifts.
He pulled on his dragonscale armor.
That was a mistake, not suiting up before sleep last night. If an attack had come…
But he had been too spent. And
too lost in bliss.
He finished dressing, and then strapped Balethorn’s scabbard to his waist. He rounded the tree, and returned to the camp proper.
Everyone was awake. Mauritania, Abigail, and Weyanna gave him satisfied smiles when they saw him.
Sylfi and Brita noticed the amorous exchange of glances, but said nothing. He sensed curiosity from their energy bundles, along with a sense of missing out.
Good. Let them wonder what they’re missing. Eventually, they’ll come around.
“Where are Solan and Gannet?” Ziatrice asked.
Malem searched the camp, but they weren’t anywhere in sight.
“I didn’t see them go,” Abigail said.
“Neither did I,” Weyanna added.
Malem frowned. “You were both on watch, and you didn’t see them?”
“Sorry…” Abigail said.
“We’ll talk about your punishment later.” He reached out with his mind, and sensed the two dragons a few miles to the south. They weren’t moving.
“They probably couldn’t stand the hunger anymore, and went hunting for food,” Malem said.
Solan, Gannet, are you there?
No answer.
He tried to access their vision, but received only darkness. That would only happen if they were asleep.
Or unconscious.
“Something’s wrong,” Malem said.
An arrow struck Abigail in the center of her chest. She gasped, clutching her throat, obviously unable to breath. Blood bubbled up from her lips as she drowned on her own sanguine fluid.
“Down!” Malem said.
He ducked behind a nearby tree, and the others similarly dropped around him. He reached out, searching for whoever had done this, but his beast sense still registered a blank. He was about to switch his viewpoint to the nearby owls, but then his connection to the birds severed, almost at the same time, and he slumped from the whiplash effect. One of the birds fell from a tree nearby, impaled by an arrow.
He searched for other nearby birds or animals to break, but there were no others in the area. It was almost like all animals had been systematically flushed.