The Tainted Wood

by Alara Branwen

  NINETEEN

  Laryhalla beckoned for Cleave to sit down. She moved next to him, touching his thigh. The small touch was enough to send shivers down his spine. He felt bad that he reacted to her touch. He and Tarka had shared something deep and primal, but that didn’t seem to stop him from reacting the same way he always had to physical and visual stimulation. He didn’t know if Tarka was even alive at this point. Laryhalla said she was, but he hadn’t seen her. "So how do you differ from the elves that are hurting us? What is up with the necromancers?” he asked her.

  "Well, the elves that you fought are called the Severed Elves,” she said.

  "And why are they called that?”

  "They used to be like me; they worshipped nature. Most elves do. You are an elf player, so you don’t focus on nature, but typically your average elf will go and worship a god of nature. The problem is that our former leader decided to create a schism, and from there, we were all separated. Some elves continued to follow the path of worshipping nature and keeping nature strong, while others focused on death more than life. I don’t know the goal of these people, but I believe there is a sacred ‘grove’ that they’re looking for. Whatever is there, I believe, is strong enough to do away with the entirety of this forest, and kill off the elves on either side. If those who worship nature find the grove first, we could put an end to those who are worshipping the dead, but for those who are on the other side, it could put an end to our side forever,” she explained. "You have a Scrying Eye, don’t you?” she said.

  Cleave tensed, wondering if he should show her. As if on cue, she spoke. "You don't have to worry about me. I know about it. I want to see it,” she said.

  He paused, looking around to make sure that nobody was there before he gave it to her.

  "Grove,” he said, opening it up. Her eyes widened as she stared at the place.

  "Wow, I thought this was only the stuff of dreams. But you’ve found it!” she cried out.

  "I did. I hope it’s of use to you,” he said.

  "It is. But, let me give you a history lesson about how the forest became this way. Once our leader decided not to follow the ancient ways of preserving the life force, the elves that followed him, ‘severed’ themselves from the rest of us. Hence the name. They broke all ties to the forest, damning the place and our existence. However, what that does to an elf is much bigger than one would think,” she explained.

  "What does it do?

  "Your magic becomes tainted. All elves have magic, like you. We just have different degrees of usage. When the magic became tainted, it started changed this forest. The Severed Elves, along with their leader, have the end goal of making sure that the forest dies, because if the forest dies, so do the many people who depend on the forest, not just the elves,” she explained.

  “That explains what Phil meant when he said if we fail this campaign, it won't just affect a few players, it will affect many. Now I understand. I was told by the leader of this game that my actions will have great bearing on the future,” he explained.

  "Yes, they do. That is why we must stop them before they run rampant. It is probably why whoever helped you unlock this, made sure that you did so, and that you would search for the grove.”

  Things were starting to make a little more sense, and he wondered what the hell was going to happen next. There were still many questions, and the one that rested at the forefront of his mind had to do with the damn elf woman that he met, the one that got really friendly with Padwin. "By the way, do you know of a woman named Posie?” he asked.

  Her eyes immediately widened, and he took that as a sign that she did know her, and she seemed unhappy to hear the name. “Unfortunately, yes I do,” she said.

  "Who is she? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  "Well, that’s the name of a Severed Elf that I once knew. I don’t like her though.”

  "I can tell. Do you have any other history with her?” Cleave inquired.

  "Yes. I was actually an associate of hers once. We were close, but she chose the side of the necromancers. The falling out caused her to leave, and I haven't spoken to her since,” she explained.

  "It sounds like whatever happened between both of you is bigger than what I can imagine,” he said.

  "It is. We were good together. I would like her to come back. She was a good associate, but I doubt that will happen,” Laryhalla said.

  Cleave nodded, listening. He wondered if before this campaign they were friends, or maybe even lovers. It sounded like Laryhalla did like her a bit, maybe even looked up to her. After a moment she spoke.

  "Where do you plan to go next?”

  "I want to go to the troll’s hut, and make sure that my friends are okay. I need them. You see, I'm playing a campaign to help all of you, and if I fail, we all suffer,” he said.

  "Ah, yes. I've heard about this one,” she stated.

  "What do you mean?” he asked.

  "What I mean is that I knew of a new patch being put in, a new campaign that we’d all be a part of, I just didn't expect it to be this,” Laryhalla explained.

  "That makes sense,” Cleave said. After I get my friends, I need to head east, to find Devdan and this grove, so that I can stop the Severed Elves from ruining this place further,” he said.

  "That is quite noble of you. If you don’t mind, I'd like to join you. The troll’s hut is this way. I noticed that you had a dryad with you, but she can’t handle all of the healing. That cat girl is a fighter, not a healer, so I'd like to assist you in any way that I could, if that’s okay,” she offered.

  Cleave nodded, smiling at her. "Works for me.”

  The duo went over towards the hut, but Cleave got a bad feeling in his gut. He noticed that the area seemed a bit darker, and then, he felt the presence.

  "Severed Elves!” Laryhalla cried.

  "Aww, why if it isn’t little Laryhalla. I see you met my little friend,” a familiar voice said. Sure enough, the large-chested elf from before was back, and she had a smile on her face.

  "So, you’re just a turncoat that wants to get information for both sides," Cleave said.

  "You could say that, or I could say that you’re a gullible goddamn fool for trusting me you foolish little elf. That’s what you get for thinking with your dick instead of your brain,” she said with a sneer.

  Cleave pulled out his sword, and when he did, a whole bunch of Severed Elves began to attack. Various magics flew through the air. Cleave dodged them in noble fashion. Laryhalla was about to join the fray, but then, Posie walked up to her, smirking. "Nah sweetie, you’re with me. We have a bit of unfinished business,” she said.

  "Posie...”

  “Miss me sweet cheeks? I know you did. You keep ogling my body like it was the first time,” Posie teased.

  "Shut up,” Laryhalla said.

  Cleave realized that the two of them had been lovers, but they were estranged now, to say the least. His member started hardening as he thought about what the two glorious creatures must have done together. As if on cue, he stopped. He could hear Tarka telling him to stop thinking with his dick. Thinking about Tarka made him wonder if she was okay. He wanted to feel her in his arms again, to hold her and touch her face, to run his hands through her hair. In truth, he did miss her, and as the Severed Elves started to attack again, he grasped his sword, holding it up in the air to deflect them.

  He went for a couple of elves that were closest to him. He swung his sword, managing to deal deadly blows to both elves. As he moved through the ranks of Severed Elves, he took his time, trying his hardest to ensure that his attacks landed in all of the right places. Every single blow that he delivered to the enemy, seemed to make perfect contact. Soon the last elf near him had fallen. He noticed that Posie and Laryhalla were in the heat of battle.

  Beams of white, purple, and red beams came out from their hands. Both of them were proficient magic users, which put them on almost equal playing fields. Posie launched her next attack, sending a purple beam straight at
Laryhalla. Laryhalla parried the attack with a white beam of her own. Both of them were moving their hands, sending beams of energy in all directions, each of them insistent upon getting through the defenses of the other person. Cleave had to dodge a couple of blows from other elves that had arrived. He countered and stabbed them in the chest with his sword. As he was distracted fighting the elves, he got hit with a bolt of lightning straight in the back, causing him to groan.

  Cleave:

  HP: 82% (-18%)

  Stamina: 85% (-15%)

  Mana: 100%

  Character Status:

  Healthy

  He needed to be careful. But, the Severed Elves seemed to back off at that point, as if the target wasn't him, but instead, it was Laryhalla. He wondered if that was why they didn’t come after him, because they were more interested in the elven woman. Laryhalla soon started to move back, muttering an incantation that shocked Posie.

  "What are you doing?” Posie asked, fear in her voice.

  Laryhalla didn’t respond. Cleave used that small break in the action as a chance to stab a few more of the elves, moving his sword as fast as he could. His stamina was dropping, but he managed to take down a few more of the elves. The Severed Elves stepped back, and they began to hide in the trees.

  "No, don't do this!” Posie cried.

  "Fiery meteor!” Laryhalla said. Suddenly, a huge fireball flew out and exploded right against Posie. Cleave fought off the rest of the straggling elves that were there. The elves all retreated into the forest to hide, and Laryhalla moved closer, looking at Posie, as she laid unconscious on the ground.

  "Did you kill her?”

  "No. I only did enough to maim her. She is probably down for the count though. She’s beaten,” Laryhalla said.

  Posie opened her eyes and looked at them, finally managing to get up. When she got to her feet, she started to run. Laryhalla immediately started to run after her. As Posie got past the small cluster of trees, she simply disappeared.

  "Goddammit,” Laryhalla said.

  "Did she use an invisibility spell?” Cleave asked.

  "No, she just teleported. I could try to figure out where she ended up, but that’s much easier said than done, you know,” she said.

  "Yeah. We need to make our way back to the troll’s house. I think our fight took us somewhere else,” Cleave pointed out. Sure enough, the troll’s house wasn’t in the distance anymore, and immediately, Laryhalla grumbled.

  "Of course we'd end up going to some other random location. Fuck, I hate when that happens,” she said.

  "You have quite the mouth for an elf.”

  "Sorry. I’m a bit tired, and I just don’t like it when things don’t go my way. It’s definitely taking a lot out of me to stand right now,” she said.

  Cleave grasped her body as she started to fall, holding her against his own. He stroked her hair, and Laryhalla looked at him with a bit of surprise.

  "You...you’re gentle,” she said.

  "Of course I am. Did you expect less?”

  “I didn’t know what to expect. but I like it. It’s been a long time since I've had intimate contact like this,” she admitted. They were both tired, and while this forest wasn’t the ideal location to fuck, he felt his member start to harden at the idea of it. He thought of what he had shared with Tarka earlier. They had reached a deeper level, and yet sex was always something they had used to heal in the game. He and Tarka both enjoyed sex with other people. Was this attraction to Laryhalla wrong? Yet, he had sustained injuries in the battle, and he did need to heal.

  "Do you...want to?” he asked.

  "I've only ever been with women, but...I could try,” she said. Laryhalla moved down between Cleave’s legs, lightly moving her hands so that she could get the fly of his pants open. She slipped them down, revealing his hard erection. She gasped at the size, touching it lightly. Immediately, Cleave groaned.

  "You’re so big. I've always heard that elven men are well-endowed, but wow,” she said.

  "You can do whatever you want to it, just don’t hurt me,” Cleave said with a smile, gasping as she kissed the tip.

  "I wouldn’t dare do that,” she said with a wry smile, looking up at him seductively. She began to run her hand up and down his erection, causing him to moan. He felt his entire body coming back to life, gaining strength as she pumped his cock. She wrapped her lips around his cock, and moved down the length of it until the head was hitting the back of her throat. She then moved back out, so her mouth was just around the tip and swirled her tongue. She continued moving up and down his shaft in slow, steady strokes. Cleave began to groan, feeling everything within him tighten up..

  As if on cue, Laryhalla hiked her dress up her thighs. She stood up and jumped on Cleave, wrapping her leg around him. She slid herself all the way down on his rigid shaft. Her elven pussy was so welcoming, and when Cleave pushed all the way in, she cried out.

  "Sorry, this is just new to me,” she admitted.

  "It’s all good. I'll take it nice and slow,” he told her. He started to move his body against hers, pressing his cock inside. She began to moan, bucking her hips as she moved up and down against him, moaning in complete pleasure. This was her first time with a man, and he could tell from the noises she was making that it was something she could get used to. He grabbed her by the hips and began moving her up and down at a much faster, needier pace. She screamed out her orgasm as he drove his cock deep inside her. It was heavenly. With a few more thrusts, he reached his own orgasm. He placed his hands on her clit, rubbing that special spot, and they both came together, moaning loudly.

  When they were done, Laryhalla sat back, sighing in pleasure. "Wow! I had no idea what I was missing. Sex with men is pretty nice if I do say so myself,” she admitted.

  "I'm glad I could make your first time one to remember.” he said.

  "You were a great first,” she admitted.

  The two of them cuddled for a long time. Neither wanting to leave. But they knew that they’d have to make some headway soon. A bad feeling hung in the air, and they both knew that they needed to find the source of the blight to the forest and do so fast.

  TWENTY

  After they got a tiny bit of rest, the duo soon made their way to the troll’s house. What they didn’t realize was that they ended up going in the opposite direction. Laryhalla had to use a bit of mana to figure out how to get them back on track. Cleave simply followed her lead, his hands chopping away at some of the brush as they moved through the forest. They didn’t seem to be covering much ground, and Cleave wondered how soon they would arrive at their destination.

  What they soon realized was that the closer they got to the troll’s home, the harder it was to get through. For one, the Severed Elves were hanging out in this area. They had to be careful of surprise attacks. Every attack took about 5% damage off his HP, and he didn’t want to get to a critical level. It required a much higher level of concentration to avoid the attacks. Laryhalla, tried to work fast and counter the attacks, but the enemy, due to their higher numbers, tended to be stronger than she was. Cleave continued to fight through, and anytime he was low on health, Laryhalla would try to heal him. He thanked her for that and realized she was becoming a vital part of his party at this point.

  The two of them continued to fight groups of Severed Elves as they made their way through the forest, each of them taking a few hits, but then, finally, they saw the outline of the hut in the distance.

  "There it is!” he cried out.

  "It looks like the place is being watched by the elves. I suggest we take them out before we continue.” Laryhalla then stepped forward. She raised her hands up, and sparks of energy shot out of her palms. Cleave realized she was going to take care of the elves single-handedly. The sparks of energy spanned out, hitting each of the Severed Elves. They fell to the ground. Cleave watched, whistling in surprise. "That should take care of them for a bit. Let me put up a protection barrier too,” she said. Laryhalla said another incant
ation, causing the air around the hut to sparkle. Soon, the hut could no longer be seen, barricaded behind a veil of magic. She looked at Cleave, and Cleave smiled at her.

  "Impressive,” he said.

  "Let’s head in.”

  They walked to the doorway, only to find it open. As they stepped in, the troll immediately grasped his club, swinging it at Cleave’s head.

  "Whoa, hold on there a second!” Cleave said, hands in the air.

  The troll put the club down, looking at them with surprise in his eyes. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!” he said.