Drowning at Dusk Ch. 03

The dryad between the dusk elf's legs turned: her eyes glowed, and Xelari's moisture dripped down her chin. She offered her fingers, which were just as soaked as her mouth.

"We have prepared her for you," she cooed. "Come. Take what you need from her."

Terakh lowered his sword. Tempted as I was by the offer, I didn't want to witness my captor's soul be devoured in such a fashion. I brushed past the orc and ran for the creatures.

They giggled as one, and their bodies shifted into puffs of golden fog that flitted to the edge of the cavern. Xelari remained on the altar, writhing and moaning, her eyes rolling back into her head as if those dryads were still licking at her.

"Xelari," I growled, and reached out to grip her shoulder.

She moaned, as loudly as if I'd slipped my fingers inside of her.

"More," she sputtered, her head thudding against the altar.

"Snap out of it," I said, slapping my hand across her cheek.

All she did was whimper.

If growls and slaps wouldn't do it, maybe I'd have to try something else.

I shoved my hand between her legs, finding her even more soaked than she'd been when I'd licked her the night before. I immediately sought out the delicious clit I'd worshiped with my tongue before, giving it a few firm rubs.

Ten seconds of that, and her legs shot up into the air, a ragged scream erupting from her lips and bouncing off the cavern walls.

Her eyes closed, then flashed open. Gone was the haze of lust and need, replaced by the cold fire she usually displayed.

She glanced down at the mess of her leggings, and the fingers still caressing her sex.

"That will do," she said coldly, and shoved my hand away.

"What happened?" Terakh said, his senses apparently restored. He approached the altar and offered Xelari his cloak, which she used to cover up her torn and ripped clothing.

"I thought I would be able to bargain with the dryads, to secure safe passage and the location of the circlet." She glanced at me. "Until your intervention, our negotiation was going quite well."

"How in the Voids was I supposed to know what you were up to?" I snapped. "I thought they were killing you. Draining you."

"A reasonable assumption, given the fate of my hirelings in the other chamber and my earlier warnings." She collected her knife and runestone. "No matter. We proceed."

I wondered if that was a calculated lie, a ruse to mask the fact that she'd nearly succumbed to the dryads, when Terakh and I had resisted. Whatever the case, it wasn't the time to challenge her on it.

"Proceed?" Terakh growled. "Half of our crew is dead or wounded. Those who remain are probably half-mad from the visions those dryads showed them. We should withdraw. Regroup. Send for Valrafein and the others at camp-"

"By the time reinforcements arrive, the temple will have replaced the guardians it has already conjured. We will not have this window for long."

I sighed, wiped the mess from my fingers, and glanced back at the doorway. Given the state of the rest of the band, it would likely just be the three of us for the rest of the way.

"We must be close," Xelari said, walking to the other side of the cavern. She brushed her fingers over the vine-covered walls. "Here."

She pointed to a cluster of vines, which Terakh hacked and hewed away with his sword. Doing so revealed a patch of smooth green stone, and a glowing, spiraling blue rune.

"A ward," Terakh said.

I stood before it, taking in every detail. This one was leagues more complex than the one I'd defused during my infiltration of the camp.

"Can you handle this one?" she asked.

"I have to, don't I?"

Our other option was to wander about the temple, getting picked off one by one by ghouls, dryads, or even worse horrors.

I knelt before the symbol, readied my knife, and slowly traced it out on the back of my hand. Once I had a feel for the swirls and spirals of that rune, I committed to the act, gouging slightly into my skin to draw blood. The minutes dragged on. Blood dripped onto the ground, forming a tiny puddle at my feet by the time I was finished.

With a deep breath, I placed it to the symbol.

The wound ignited with blue light, the cuts cauterizing themselves instantly.

The rune flashed, then vanished. Vines curled into the gaps between stones and peeled them to the side, revealing a wide cavern adorned with glowing candles.

At the far end rested a life-like bronze statue of Amisra: nude, resplendent, wanton.

Resting upon her head was a circlet of gold, adorned with bright emeralds, and entwined with strands of glowing green vines.

Xelari let out a hungry growl and darted forward. Terakh and I advanced, weapons drawn in case more dangers awaited.

"Blessed be the final death," Terakh murmured, his red eyes aglow with the radiance of the circlet.

"Blessed be the final death," Xelari repeated, and reached out to claim her prize.

I flinched, but no ghouls emerged, no golden mist conjured more dryads, and no wards ignited once Xelari claimed the circlet.

"As payment for my services," I said, watching warily as Xelari tucked the circlet into her satchel. "It'd be nice to know that the fuck that 'final death' business is about."

"In time," Xelari said.

We retraced our steps, moving past the altar where those dryads had ravished her, and back out into the main chamber where Vlanda had restored a semblance of organization to the surviving bandits. The dead had already been thoroughly looted, and poultices and potions had been given to the survivors.

I glanced over at Rodnir's smiling corpse, and I wondered if his last thoughts had been of his old lover Amelia and that lilac scent of hers. Someone had already snatched his satchel and axe. Though I hadn't known the man well, I knew he would have gladly been looting the dead if he himself had survived.

"Leave the dead," Terakh grunted. "Dragging them with us would just slow us down."

Leaving behind the bodies as a feast for the ghouls would thus delay any pursuit. I helped Vlanda steady a man whose leg had been torn open by a dryad, and together we shuffled back up the way we came. Occasionally we heard the echoes of giggles or the distant, chittering scream of a ghoul.

Nothing emerged, though. If I had still worshiped Venkaya, I'd have been sputtering out prayers of gratitude for that respite.

When we emerged at the entrance, a dozen sentries greeted us, weapons drawn. Terakh growled and batted a spear out of the way.

"Did we get it?" Klevek asked.

"Aye," Vlanda snarled. "Left behind a lot of us, though. Ugly down there."

"Rich!" shouted one of the sentries, raising his sword high. "We're gonna be fucking rich!"

Only a handful joined in with the celebration, while Terakh organized a crew to cover up the entrance. A dozen of us toppled over one of the pillars of green stone, and dragged the heavy blocks over to the doorway. A particularly determined band certainly could clear the way themselves, but at least no ghouls or dryads would stray out into the meadow that night.

That effort expended the remaining strength in my limbs, and I leaned against the pyramid and guzzled down a flask of water that Vlanda handed to me. Xelari, her torn leggings still covered up by Terakh's massive cloak, moved to stand beside me.

"And how do I rate after all that?" I asked, wiping water from my lips. "Still 'adequate?'"

"You fulfilled the task I set before you. The circlet is in my hands thanks to your work. So yes. 'Adequate.'" Her eyes flitted towards the treeline, then she tapped my elbow. "Follow."

I obeyed like a good little hound. Surely she didn't want sex, though. Not after the bloodshed and the carnage we'd endured. With the haze of lust inflicted by the dryads lifted, a snog or a fuck was the absolute last thing on my mind. I'd much prefer a flask of liquor and a warm, comfortable bedroll to ease the ache in my limbs.

Without offering any explanation, she continued through the woods until we reached a tiny stream that ran from a rocky crevasse. Without a word, she tossed off Terakh's cloak, and stripped out of her armor and the torn leggings, and stepped into the stream to wipe away the blood of ghouls and dryads, and the mess left between her thighs.

My eyes wandered up and down her curves. Rather than drool in lust at the sight of her, I took in the view the same way a museum visitor might appreciate a well-made statue or portrait.

"You dragged me all the way out here to watch you bathe?"

"To watch over me while I bathe. Who knows what other dangers lurk in these woods?"

I climbed up one of the rocks for a better vantage point, glancing out into the woods in between admiring glances down at her.

"I offered you answers," Xelari said, running her water-soaked hands through her silvery hair. She looked up at me, water running over her full breasts. The dying light of the sun cast an alluring glow against her freshly-cleaned skin.

"I serve an order known as the Deathless."

I cocked my head at that. During my training in the White Talons, we'd been given countless lectures on the practices and organizations of other faiths. Not once had they ever mentioned any group by that name, nor had I encountered it during any of my other contracts.

"I am not surprised by your ignorance. We are relatively new organization, and we have worked hard to keep our activities a secret."

She stepped out of the creek and used her torn cloak as a makeshift towel.

"Our goal is simple: the complete eradication of necromancy."

My laughter spooked a few owls roosting in a branch above me.

"You mean to destroy an entire aspect of magic? How in the Voids are you going to do that? Hunt down every single ghoul, barrow-walker, and necromancer in the damned world? You'd needarmies to do that. You'd make enemies of kings and queens the world over, too, considering how many places legalize or utilize necromancy."

"I need no reminders as to the difficulty of our task, for we aim to assail the very fabric of magic itself. To strike a blow at the weaves of sorcery, to tear the very possibility of necromancy from this world. To completely sever the strands between life and death. To make undeath itself an impossibility."

I laughed once more, that time scaring off a few frogs that were chasing after fireflies down near the stream. I had undertaken work for a few particularly deranged clients over the years, but Xelari had risen towards the top with those revelations.

The death of undeath. The destruction of necromancy. An assault on the essence of magic itself.

"How are you going to pull it off?"

"The divine relics are the key. Since it was the gods who first weaved magic into usable form, the power of the gods can be used to alter it. Powerful relics such as that circlet are the key to a ritual that can be used to strike at the heart of undeath itself."

"Fucking madness."

"Indeed. Mad. Suicidal. Perhaps even impossible. But no less critical. Imagine a world, Esharyn, where travelers no longer need to fear undead horrors in the night. Where farmers can tend to their crops without fearing a sudden attack by cryptwolves. Where souls can be laid to rest for good, where ghosts or wraiths will never haunt their descendants, where no corpse will ever be risen from the grave and utilized for dark purposes.

"Recall every necromancer you ever hunted for the White Talons. Now imagine them without any power. Imagine all of the dark deeds such death mages unleashed. Imagine a future free of such cruelty. A world that would still be imperfect, yes, but a world with one less threat arrayed against it."

"A noble goal, I'll grant you that." I chuckled, my mirth a bit less harsh than before. "Let's just say that I'm glad you pay well, Xelari, because this is not the sort of crusade I'd sign on for just for the ideology alone."

"I would not expect you to swear your soul to the cause. But there is still far more work to be done. Work that could use your talents."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Does this mean I'm free to go, if I don't wish to keep helping?"

Her green eyes drifted to my thigh. I squirmed a bit, recalling the pain she'd unleashed with the chain-rune when she'd first affixed it to my body and soul.

"No. I still have use for you. Another mission, and then I will consider destroying the rune."

"And what will that be?" I asked. "Another ruin to explore? More barrow-walkers to hunt?"

"No. I want the head of the man who tried to kill me. I want you to help me kill Lord-Protector Heroth."

I laughed as loudly at that as I had to the notion of striking at undeath itself.

"One of the most powerful and well-protected men in the Commonwealth. It wasn't enough that I failed in his contract and am helping you, you now want me to turn directly against him?"

It was not the first time a target had tried to turn me against a client. On two occasions, I'd even taken the offer. Once because I was in dire need of silver, and the target offered twice as much, and on the second occasion, the target had not in fact been a devious demonologist, but had in fact been a scared young woman on the run from an abusive archmage.

"Are you saying you cannot do it?"

"It could be done, I think. Not just on my own. Not just with you. We'd need help. Time. Resources. And most of all, I'd need motivation. Aye, the chain-rune helps spur me on, but Heroth could do far worse to me than just stab my thigh with magic. I'll need the right incentive."

"What was the price on my head?"

Fully expecting her to double it in order to sway me, I lied and went a bit higher than the actual offer.

"Four thousand pieces of silver."

She wagged her finger and gave a little chiding shake of her head.

"Come on now,malrixi. Do you think me that foolish?"

I flashed her my most devious grin.

"Was worth a try, wasn't it? It was three thousand, five hundred."

"I'll give you one thousand now, four thousand when he's dead."

My eyes bulged.

"How does a wandering cult of undeath-hunters have that sort of coin?"

"During our delves we usually end up finding many other relics and trinkets that are of no use for our cause, and simply sell them off. As a result we've been able to build up quite the treasury. But silver alone is not the extent of my offer, Esharyn. I will also restore the power to the runestones we confiscated from you. Moreover, I will enhance them so they will recharge with the moonlight like my own. No longer will they be single-use trinkets to be discarded."

Given how expensive it was to hire a runecrafter to empower the stones in that fashion, that offer was worth another thousand silver or so, easily.

"Not good enough," I said.

Now it was her turn to send laughter echoing through the forest, scattering nearby birds and squirrels.

"Really? It is not enough that I spared you, and offered to shower you with silver and runestones? You have further demands?"

"One more thing."

I hopped down from the boulder, stood at the edge of the stream, and admired her naked beauty for several long moments.

"One of these nights, on our way to Arkostead, I want to turn the tables. I want you to be the bound and helpless one. I want you to be the...pet."

Xelari licked her lips and affixed me with a glare that was hungrier than any ghoul's. She stalked closer to me; a shiver rippled through me, despite the fact that she was nude, and I was armed and armored. I wasn't sure whether she was planning to kiss me or strike me.

Perhaps both.

Instead she stood before me in all of her naked glory, and brushed a finger over my chin.

"A foolish thing to ask for, malrixi. Because I was planning on doing that anyway. It's no fun, after all, always being in control. One needs to relinquish power from time to time, to truly cherish power."

I shivered as her finger ran along my jawline.

"But not tonight, Esharyn. Tonight you will be mine."

"Tonight?" I said, my voice barely audible over the chirps of the birds above us. "After everything we endured today, you-"

"Of course. Do you not wish for the warmth of passion after the cold fury of battle? And what better way to celebrate our survival?"

Back at the temple entrance, all I'd wanted was a good drink and a comfortable bedroll. But after seeing her strip down and hearing the heated promise in her words...

All I wanted was to kneel down, be a good little pet, and let her do with me as she wished.

"All right," I muttered.

"Good. And since you performed so adequately today, I will even let you choose your method of punishment." She quickly dressed herself, then gestured towards the stream. "Wash up first. I'll keep watch."

My shaking hands tore off my armor and leggings, and I hopped into the stream. I splashed away the sweat and blood as quickly as I could, while Xelari watched me from the perch atop the boulder.

Once I was done, she clambered back down and gently tapped my elbow.

"Follow," she said.

I quaked at that simple gesture and that simple word. Something about the cold casualness of it...the implied threat...

I obeyed, keeping pace with her as we made our way back to the temple.

By the time we'd returned, the other bandits had already gotten a fire going, and one of them had even taken Xelari's tent from her saddlebags and set it up for the evening.

We passed by the bandits drinking around the fire. Many of them looked up, giving me a respectful nod, while others regarded me with obvious jealousy.

I returned the respectful nods in kind, and winked at the envious among them.

I locked eyes with Terakh, who sat at the other end of the fire wiping down his blade. Those fierce red eyes drifted back and forth between Xelari and I. He huffed, then went back to his work.

When we entered her tent, Xelari flicked her fingers against the straps of my armor in a silent command to undress. I tore the armor and clothes off as quickly as I had down at the stream, while she knelt and rummaged through her saddlebags, and withdrew a bundle of black cloth.

"One of the downsides of traveling so much is that I needed to streamline my collection," she mused, placing the bundle upon the cot. "So my 'armory' is not quite as extensive as it usually is. Still. I make do."

She flung open the bundle, revealing two fake phalluses of varying length, each made of immaculate, polished black stone. They bore little ridges and bumps that would likely drive the recipient mad with bliss, and the larger one had glowing red runes running down its length. Alongside the toys were a few straps, some silken ropes, and a small whip.

"As I said. You may select the means of punishment."

I brushed my fingers beneath the dildos.

"These runes...what are they?"

"Sensory runes. They allow the wearer to feel an echo of the pleasure they inflict upon the recipient. They can yield climaxes that are a bit less sharp and intense than a true one, but they can still be quite delightful." She raised an eyebrow. "Is that your choice?"

I stared, enraptured by the thought of that toy sliding in and out of me, grasping at Xelari's breasts while she plowed into me...

I bit my lip, barely able to stifle the moan inspired by the thought.

"Yes. That's my choice."

"Daring."

She picked up the toy and the straps. To my shock, she did not undress to affix the device to herself, but instead reached out and attached the cushioned straps around my hips, settling the toy and its harness snugly upon me.

"Wait," I muttered. "I thought you were-"

"This is to be punishment, Esharyn. Remember, this toy only gives an echo of pleasure. And since you haven't used it before, your body won't be as attuned to the sensations. You might drive yourself to the edge of climax again and again, without ever truly going over." She leaned in and nipped at my lower lip. "Meanwhile, I'll ride you until I see stars, climaxing as much as I wish. Over and over."