“How far to the north?” asked Ari. He couldn’t keep an edge of excitement from entering his voice.
“An impossible distance for you to travel,” said Rin. “It would be suicide for you to attempt the trip, even with sufficient supplies and weapons. The first hundred miles alone would involve traversing the Vodakai Sands, a desert that has never been crossed on foot before.”
“It still might be worth trying,” said Ari.
Rin shook her head. “When I said before that your current location is a safer place, I meant it. Heading into the desert would show you what I mean. The vodakai born from the windstorms in that region are hundreds of times larger than the ones you faced outside this tower. I am not exaggerating, chala.”
“There must be another way,” said Ari. “You mentioned ships. Could we sail there?”
“The leviathans rule the ocean,” said Rin. “They are not monsters like the Weatherblight, but they are equally if not even more dangerous. They grow aggressive whenever the water becomes turbulent, or when they get hungry. They threaten even the largest ships, let alone whatever vessel you and your companions could feasibly build.”
Ari slapped his hand down on the table, his frustration finally boiling over. He felt useless and being confined to the tower the windstorm only amplified the sensation.
“You are not as poor off as you might think, chala,” said Rin. “This tower is sturdy. It will hold through the windstorm, and we’ll have at least a day or two before the rain follows to consider what to do next.”
“You think it’s going to rain after this windstorm is over?” asked Ari.
“It usually does,” said Rin. “The clouds will follow in the wake of the winds, almost without fail.”
Her words did little to reassure him. Ari sighed and leaned back against the wall, hearing the echo of the name of the human city Rin had mentioned in his head. Cliffhaven. Knowing that it existed was both a blessing and a curse. He had to find a way to get Kerys there. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.
CHAPTER 37
Dinner was a quiet, borderline somber affair. Kerys brought the pot out and set it down on the center of the common room table, and they each passed around the ladle, taking small sips of broth and eating the boiled vegetables. It could have used some salt, but Ari didn’t say that out loud.
“I didn’t use all the vegetables,” said Kerys. “We still have enough for one more pot of stew tomorrow.”
“That’s probably all we’ll need,” said Ari. “The windstorm can’t last for that much longer, can it?”
The silence of the others left his question hanging on the air. They finished eating under the weight of that same tension and split off to each spend the remainder of the night in different ways. Kerys and Eva head up to the library together to take a stab at translating some of the old Sai texts. Rin headed straight to bed.
Ari remembered the tool belt that he’d found during the last foray they’d made into the labyrinth. He took out the hammer and nails, collected some of the currently useless firewood, and got to work.
He had two chairs finished an hour later, with a third on the way. They weren’t pretty by any definition of the word, and they were more like stools than proper chairs with backs, but at the very least they’d be able to sit around the common room table with them.
He finished two more for good measure before retiring for the night. Eva was already in her room, and he hesitated outside her door for only a moment before opening it and slipping inside. He felt a flush of excitement as he approached her bed, noticing her clothing in a pile next to it.
“Lord Stoneblood?” whispered Eva. “Is that you?”
“Yeah.” Ari sat down next to her. “I thought you might be interested in, uh, you know. Strengthening our bond.”
The words had a hot, electrified feeling on his tongue, even though there was nothing technically illicit about them. Eva sat up in bed and her blanket slid low enough to reveal the nipple of one of her small breasts.
“I do not fully trust the Ravarian,” said Eva. “I worry that focusing on strengthening our bond with her under the same roof may reveal too much.”
“She doesn’t have to know that’s what we’re doing,” said Ari.
“Even so,” said Eva. “It would mean the two of us letting our guard down simultaneously.”
“You think she might try something?” asked Ari. “She’s in the same situation that we’re in.”
“It is as I said,” said Eva. “I do not fully trust her.”
Ari sighed and tried not to look as disappointed as he felt. He rubbed Eva’s knee and then left her room. Kerys hopped back from the door, which she’d apparently been nearly pressed up against, and brought her hand up to her mouth in surprise.
“Kerys…” said Ari, remembering her peeping from a few nights before. “Were you…?”
“I wasn’t doing anything!” she said, cutting him off. “I… I was just on my way to my room.”
“Kerys Weaver,” said Ari. “Are you lying to me?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” snapped Kerys. She turned and hurried away from him, into her room. Ari followed, leaning against the doorframe and watching her.
Her face was as red as he’d ever seen it before, and she wouldn’t make eye contact with him. Ari felt a little bad for her and he had to silently remind himself that she’d been the one invading other people’s privacy and doing something wrong.
“Look,” said Ari. “That wasn’t the first time I’ve seen you. You did it the last time Eva and I were together, Kerys. I would have said something, but too much happened on the day after for me to have a chance to bring it up.”
“No…” whispered Kerys.
“Sorry, but we have to talk about it,” said Ari. “I care about you. You know that. Be honest with me.”
Kerys sighed. She blinked a couple of times and finally looked up at him. She looked so small and vulnerable that Ari found himself remembering the way she’d been treated back in the Hollow. Little Kerys, the frail daughter and youngest child of the Weaver family.
“I… admit it,” she whispered.
Ari waited for the explanation, but it didn’t come.
“Kerys,” he said. “Is this because of how you reacted to the idea of me and Eva originally?”
“You mean because of how jealous I got?” asked Kerys. “Yes… and no.”
Kerys sighed. Ari could sense her distress and decided to step back from the role of the interrogator. He shut the door to her room and took a seat on the bed next to her, wrapping one of his arms around her side.
“It does make me feel weird, knowing that you and Eva have started to care for each other,” said Kerys. “But it was more than just that. The truth is… I was curious about how the two of you would act. In… a sexual way.”
Ari wasn’t sure what to say to that. He gave her a squeeze with his arm and left her space to continue.
“It gave me this weird rush,” said Kerys. “I know how creepy that must sound, but it was so exciting watching the two of you. I didn’t even think about whether it was right or wrong.”
“It didn’t make you feel uncomfortable, given what you said before?” asked Ari.
“Of course it did.” Kerys scowled a little. “I felt jealous, and hurt, and betrayed, and… really, really excited.”
Ari knew how much her honesty was taking out of her, but he couldn’t resist.
“Kerys, that’s literally voyeurism,” he said. “Like Peeping Pete used to do back in the caverns before the Hollow Lord started punishing him.”
“Aristial!” said Kerys. “Don’t compare me to him! I… I was just curious, and then once I started it was so hard to stop, and…”
Ari kissed her, and ran a reassuring hand through her hair. She’d been honest with him, and it wasn’t her fault that the truth was weird. He cupped her cheek as their lips parted, staring into her eyes and feeling a not unwelcome warmth in his chest and heart.
“We should find a better outlet for you, with this,” said Ari. “What if you just watch me?”
“Watch you… doing what?” Kerys gave him a small, teasing smirk.
“You know,” he said. “Having a good time. Solo.”
Kerys furrowed her brow. “I could. I’m not sure if it would be as much fun for me, though.”
“What if we watch each other?” asked Ari.
The mere suggestion was enough to bring color to Kerys’ cheeks. She glanced away from him and had a tiny, embarrassed smile on her face when she finally looked back.
“Okay,” she whispered. “That… could be fun.”
Ari felt both the tension and temperature go up as he leaned back on Kerys’ bed.
“You’ll have to be the one to start,” said Ari.
“What?” said Kerys. “That’s no fair.”
“Yes it is,” said Ari. “You’ve already watched me and Eva several times. Without permission.”
Kerys rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling as she stood up from the bed. She stood facing away from him and let one hand come to rest on the shoulder strap of her recently re-tailored dress.
“Are you ready?” whispered Kerys.
Ari got himself ready, opening his tunic and sliding his trousers and underwear down far enough to free his growing arousal. He was far more excited than he’d expected to be. He’d seen Kerys naked before. She’d been naked against him that morning, even. But this felt different. Dangerous, somehow.
“Take your dress off, Kerys,” said Ari.
She turned around, her eyes lingering on his hand, and more specifically what it was now holding onto. She was blushing furiously as she pulled one shoulder strap aside and then the other. She held the top hem of the dress over her cleavage for a couple of tantalizing seconds before pulling it down and letting her breasts pop loose.
Ari saw a shudder run through her as she stood in front of him, topless and turned on. He was hard, and he let his own hand slowly stroke his cock, feeling a similar surge of pleasure at the knowledge that Kerys was watching him do it.
She let her dress fall to the floor and shyly pulled an arm across her chest as though she could take back what she’d already shown him. Her breasts were large compared to her body, and she couldn’t quite get the angle of her forearm right to cover both nipples completely. Ari grinned at her girlish embarrassment and gestured to her panties with his free hand.
“Those, too,” he said. “I want to see all of you, Kerys.”
“Then you have to show me everything, so it’s fair,” she replied.
Ari had no problem with that. He took off his remaining clothing in record time and sat on the bed stroking himself as he waited for Kerys. He felt like a dirty old man in a young man’s body, and Kerys’ girlish appearance and flustered state only amplified the sensation.
“You can only watch, remember,” she said.
“Of course,” he replied. He wasn’t sure if he was making a promise that he’d end up keeping, but he would have said just about anything to keep the encounter going.
Kerys let her arm fall away from her breasts, which swayed from side to side as they came back into view. She slid her thumbs into the waistband of her panties and leaned over as she dropped them, taking up the posture of a lewd portrait as her breasts hung forward, and her naked crotch came into view.
“Oh, Kerys,” groaned Ari. “You have a total wife body.”
“Shut up,” she said with a smile.
“That’s what all the boys in the Hollow used to say about you,” said Ari. His hand was moving faster now. He could still see her eyes fixated on his cock, and the erotic tremor that ran through her voice as she spoke was almost too much for him.
“What else did they say?” asked Kerys.
She slid onto the bed and leaned on her elbows opposite the way Ari was laying. It made it so all they could do was look at each other. Kerys had her legs crossed, but one of her hands was already running through the fine blonde hair down there, and Ari knew it wouldn’t be long before she’d be touching herself alongside him.
“I usually punched the guys who said anything too lewd,” said Ari. “I didn’t like the idea of them thinking about you like that.”
“But they did say that they wanted to do things to me?” asked Kerys. “Pretend it was you, then, and tell me what they said.”
Kerys was biting her lower lip and teasing one of her nipples with her fingers.
“Lift your dress up,” said Ari. “See what was underneath.”
“They wanted to see this?” Kerys opened her legs a few inches, and ran her fingers up her flowery, pink slit.
“Bend you over one of the upper cavern railings,” said Ari. “See what kind of noises you made while getting pounded.”
“Oh…” Kerys let out a soft, fluttering moan. “I… wouldn’t make noises.”
“You’re already making them,” said Ari, pumping his hand faster. “I think you’d be loud, Kerys.”
“No…” she whispered. “I… I’d control myself.”
“I wouldn’t,” said Ari. “I’d take you like an animal, Kerys. I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from being rough.”
“Aristial!” she said. “Don’t… don’t say things like that!”
Despite her protest, her hands started moving faster. She touched herself with lewd urgency, arching her back slightly, legs now fully open.
“Like I said,” whispered Ari. “I don’t think I could stop myself. I might not be able to stop myself right now.”
Kerys let out a tiny moan and bucked her hips in his general direction.
“It’s so tempting,” said Ari. “I wonder if you would really stop me if I kissed you, pinned you down, and then slammed into you as deep into you as I could…”
Kerys let out a high-pitched squeal, followed by a roiling, full body shudder. Ari watched her collapse back on the bed, naked and vulnerable. She wouldn’t stop him. He could do it. All he needed to do was crawl forward, press down on her, and…
The mere thought of it was enough to push him over the edge. Ari let out a small gasp as the orgasm sneaked up on him. His seed blasted forth, the first stream of it glazing Kerys’ inner thigh and the rest spurting out over his fingers and hand.
Kerys blinked sex-spent eyes at him, only seeming to realize how lewd the aftermath of what they’d just done still was. She cleared her throat and pulled her blanket over her, which was blessedly still clean.
“That,” she said, “was interesting.”
“Better than spying on me and Eva?” asked Ari.
Kerys shrugged and flashed a mischievous smile. She slid across the bed to cuddle against his shoulder, pulling the blanket over them both. A couple of minutes went by in comfortable silence. Ari could feel her heartbeat and sense each breath she took. Mud and blood, he loved her so much.
“I’m worried,” whispered Kerys.
“We didn’t even touch each other,” said Ari. “You’re still as pure and innocent as ever.”
“Not about that,” said Kerys. “About our situation. We’re basically out of food, Ari.”
Ari clenched his jaw. He’d managed to forget about that for a while, focusing all of his attention on Kerys’ and her blushing, naked body.
“We won’t starve,” he said.
“How do you know?” asked Kerys.
“Because we can always just eat Rin,” said Ari. “She has a ton of meat on her.”
“Aristial!” snapped Kerys.
“What?” he said, chuckling. “I thought you didn’t like her, anyway.”
“Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I’d agree to something like that,” said Kerys.
“Come on…” said Ari. “I bet she tastes like cave chicken.”
“Aristial Stoneblood!” she said. “You had better be joking around!”
“You’re too easy, Kerys.”
CHAPTER 38
Ari sat on one of his newly crafted
stools, staring at the pot in the center of the common table. The last of the stew was more broth than anything else, and knowing that there was literally nothing else to eat left a heavy tension lingering over the room.
“I’m not hungry,” said Ari. “You three can split up my portion.”
“I can go without eating for a time,” said Eva. “My body does not require nutritional sustenance while I’m in my sword construct form.”
“That’s not a solution,” said Kerys.
“It could be,” said Rin. “There’s no telling when the windstorm will end. We could conceivably last for a few days without eating, which might be long enough.”
Ari scowled and drummed his fingers on the table.
“I don’t like our odds,” he said. “If we try to wait it out, we might end up having to go outside on the brink of starving to death. We won’t have enough strength to address the problem then.”
“But it’s not as though we could even attempt to forage in this weather,” said Kerys. “The wind will make it impossible to search through the forest, assuming there’s even anything left to find.”
“I know,” said Ari. “But there’s another way. Rin, your fellow Ravarians left in a hurry. They couldn’t have taken all of your food and supplies along, right?”
Rin nodded slowly. “Correct. We left a cache of dried food behind, as we always do, so on return we don’t have to worry about provisions immediately after we land.”
“Would you be able to get to it?” asked Ari.
Rin ran a finger across her lips. Her face was elegant, but harsh, almost like the refined features of an actual bird, if a bird could be so attractive.
“I might be able to get to it, but I wouldn’t stand a chance at bringing it back on my own,” she said. “Splitting it up and taking multiple trips isn’t something I’d be willing to do, given the amount of danger it would expose me to.”
“Less dangerous than starving,” said Ari.
“I’ve already shared my thoughts, chala,” said Rin. “I am not your servant. I will help you, but I’m not fool enough to sacrifice myself for your sake.”
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