“Shut up,” Caldric hissed, spotting a familiar figure hurrying towards them. “Faylana!” Caldric said as the elf slowed to a stop before them, beaming. “There you are.”
“I got ready as quick as I could!” the elf giggled, brushing a hand through her long blonde hair. “Sorry if I made you wait.”
“Lass, we’d wait for the sun to go out if it meant catching another glimpse of you,” Tavek grinned.
Caldric glowered as Fayalan giggled. “Anyway, we got a job,” Caldric said, holding out the sheet. “Some girls have gone missing from a couple farms. The uh… the lord of the realm himself has concerns! Yeah. He suspects occult involvement.”
Faylana gasped. “Oh gosh!” she breathed. “That sounds so serious.”
“Oh aye,” Tavek said. “Very serious! Life threatening. Why, if we fail here, who knows what dark things those cultists may summon up.”
Faylana scrunched up her lips and straightened, nodding with as much seriousness as she could manage. “Then there’s no time to lose! We have to save those girls.”
“Yeah,” Caldric said. “Let’s go and… do that.”
The Farm
Tavek’s snores were audible despite the hay the dwarf was half buried under.
Caldric did his best to ignore it. Fortunately, he had a wonderful distraction in Faylana. The elf sat with him on the back of the farmer’s wagon, who had been kind enough to give them a lift to their destination. He’d grown somber when Caldric explained the nature of their task, nodding.
“Anything to help out Orson. He’s a good man, and his daughter a good girl.”
The heavy words had made Caldric feel awkward, knowing the girls would most likely be found at an inn down the road, thrown away by their beau once he had what he wanted from them. A thought that plagued him as he sat beside Faylana.
“Caldric?”
“Hm?”
“Is something wrong? You’ve been awfully quiet…”
Caldric flushed slightly. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s okay,” she said, taking his hand, smiling like the dawn. “It’s nice, actually. Knowing you’re so worried about the girls. But it’s comforting too, that they have such an experienced adventurer after them. Why, the only way it could be better is if there were a huntress of Ctharne!”
“Oh, well. You know how it is,” Caldric said. “But I uh…want to make sure we explore every possibility too. I doubt the girls just… wandered off. But we should be prepared for the that.”
“You think so?”
“I like to be prepared for anything.”
Faylana giggled. “You sound so ready! I wasn’t at all when I first left the groves. Goodness, I felt like just a silly little girl wandering on my own.”
“You did?”
“Oh yes. I don’t know if you noticed, but the elders of the grove thought I was… well, a bit of a ditz.”
“Oh, well…”
“They were so worried I’d screw up my quest. But I wanted to prove them wrong, so I left. And look! No sooner do I, then I meet you. And you’ve been so nice to me, even when you didn’t have anything to gain.”
Caldric felt a blush creep across his face. “Oh, well. I mean, I couldn’t just leave you wandering.”
“I know,” she said, giggling as she shuffled closer, leaning against his side. “And it really means a lot to me.”
Caldric looked down into her face, her blue eyes shining. Her soft lips parted. Trembling. Before he knew it, he was leaning down, and they were kissing.
His lips were shy, but hers were not. She knew how to kiss, her arm threading around his neck, drawing him down. Pressing their lips together. Caldric groaned as she moaned, their lips parting, their tongue twining. Again, he remembered those lips wrapped around Esven’s red cock. How she was sucking him. Bobbing. Her eyes filled with adoration as she lovingly took the man’s shaft. As he filled her mouth with cum.
Faylana broke the kiss, panting. “Is… is something wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, um. No. No, of course not,” he said quickly. “I was just a bit… um… startled.”
“Then you… didn’t mind the kiss?”
“Never!” Caldric gasped.
She giggled again. “Mmm. That’s a relief,” she breathed, scooting again closer, the softness of her breasts pressing into his chest as she looked up into his eyes. “Because I was having fun.”
His cock throbbed. His arms looped around her, pulling her flush against his chest. Faylana moaned, sinking into his arms, kissing him again with even greater energy. His hands explored her shapely form. He moaned softly as he cupped her breasts, squeezing them, making her gasp and keen with desire.
“Oooooh Caldric,” she moaned.
“Faylana. I…”
He was nearly thrown off the wagon as it jarred to a halt.
“We’re here!” the farmer called.
Caldric looked around himself. They were indeed. The wagon sat before a small cottage which bordered a stretch of some fields, fenced off from the encroaching mass of the forest, a scarecrow standing desolately among the growing wheat.
“Whazzat? Eh?” Tavek grunted from the hay.
Caldric sighed and yanked the dwarf’s foot. “Come on. We’re here.”
The dwarf grumbled and straightened, hay showering off of him. He blinked and peered at the little farmhouse sitting in the forest. “Ah,” he said. “Right then.”
As they climbed out of the cart the door opened and a man stepped out. He would have been a big man, and still was, but not in the same way. His shoulders slumped along with the rest of him. His eyes were rimmed from lack of sleep and his lips were tight and wary. His clothes were rough spun and hung in a dishevelled mess off of him as his thick hands slowly tightened into fists.
“Orson!” the farmer who’d brought them to the farm called. “These’n are here from the city. Says they’ve come to help.”
Orson’s eyes flicked to his fellow farmer’s, held the other man’s gaze for a long moment. At last, the tension in Orson relaxed, just a little, his shoulders sagging even more as he nodded at the trio, though this time in relief.
“Well, alright. Suppose it’s fine they sent someone. At last.”
For the first time since being given their mission, Caldric felt concern. That maybe this wasn’t just another waste of time. That maybe something had happened other than a girl’s foolish decision.
He cleared his throat, approaching the tall farmer. “Hello. Caldric. This is Tavek and Faylana. We’d heard that your daughter went missing?”
“Aye,” Orson said gloomily. “Three nights past, she went up to her room and bed, but never came back down. I went to check on her midafternoon, but her room was empty. I looked all over the farm but she’d not been there. T’was then I started to worry. She’s a good girl. Never wandered far before. Checked the neighbours, but they ain’t seen her. And I heard about how Laddis and Evens lost their daughters too not long past.”
“Has there been anyone around your farm recently?” Caldric asked.
Orson shook his head. “No. Not a soul saw Bes wanderin’. But… she’d been acting a bit queer of late, it’s true.”
“Queer how?”
Orson shifted uneasily. “Bes… she was a good girl, mark me. But she’d been reading lots, lately. Hanging out with the other women folk at the tavern. Rikkard’s. There’s been some off folks there lately. Big woman. Always comes in wearing black. Talks to the girls a lot. Only… haven’t been seeing her lately. Not since Laddis lost his gal.”
Caldric frowned deeper. “I see,” he said, his spine pricking with unease. “Can we take a look at her room?”
“Course. Course. Come in.”
Orson stepped aside, ushering the trio into his home. It was very much like the man who owned it. Simple and austere in the way of men who work their land and homes themselves. Simple furniture. A kitchen. The table a rough-hewn slab of wood on legs of sturdy if not fine craftsmanship.
Some flowers bloomed in a box by the window, and Caldric had a sudden vision of a young woman there, looking out across the fields and the forest, longing in her ears.
The thought made him uncomfortable, and he quickly followed the others up the stairs and to the second floor.
Bes’s room was typical of most young women. It had a window that let in the daylight, her sole bed and a small table she used for whatever it was she needed it for. A small dresser, as crudely but firmly made as the table downstairs filled a far wall, while a small bookshelf took up a part of the wall above the bed.
Orson lingered in the doorway as the trio took a look about. Caldric’s hand brushed along the dresser, then he pulled it open, revealing a number of frilly undergarments.
“What are you looking for?” Faylana asked.
“Diary,” Caldric said, rooting through the unmentionables, slightly red as his hands dug through lace and likewise.
“Um, wouldn’t it be on the bookshelf?”
Caldric laughed softly. “When my sister had a journal, she wouldn’t dream of leaving it on a bookshelf where anyone could find it. She always hid it.”
“You think there’s a journal?” Tavek said.
“If a girl can write, she’ll keep a journal. It’s one of those… what do you call it? Universal truths. Aha!”
Caldric turned about, brandishing a small notebook held shut with a leather strap. Orson shifted uncomfortably in the doorway as Caldric opened the book up, leafing through the pages to the rear.
“Anything?” Faylana asked.
“Lots of the usual. Complaining about life. About being on the farm. Gossip about other girls… Oh! Wait, here we go.” Caldric cleared his throat. “I met a woman at the tavern last night. Gina introduced us. Her name was Mother Mira. She had such a lovely voice, and some very interesting ideas. She talked all about how it was a woman’s right to be beautiful and desired. She’s so pretty and kind.”
“Gina?” Orson interrupted, straightening his neck sharply. “That’s one of the girls that went missing.”
“Hmm,” Caldric said as he resumed reading. “Ah, here she is again.” He cleared his throat and resumed reading aloud. “I met Mother Mira again yesterday. She was talking to all the girls about the new order and the goddess. She had some just amazing thoughts on life and our place in it. And she talked about women. Like me. How we yolk ourselves to the slow life. But she said that was so unnecessary. That we had to free ourselves from such life. She had some really amazing eyes. They were so intense, I just couldn’t look away. She said she would teach us some ways to free ourselves. A ritual to do in the name of the goddess. I tried it out last night and… Oh goddess. It was incredible! I’d never felt so good.”
“Oh goodness,” Faylana gasped. “It is a cult!”
“Yeah,” Caldric said, frowning as he flipped further through the pages. “Here. It’s the last entry. Mother Mira came to the farm yesterday. She was so kind and understanding. She said she had brought both Gina and Diane to the fold, and wanted me to come next! I’m so excited, but daddy has been so suspicious lately. I’m gonna have to wait for my chance. She drew me a symbol to find in the forest. That’s how I’ll know the temple is near.”
“What symbol?” Faylana asked.
Caldric turned about the diary so the others could see the strange shape. Two circles, the smaller one breaking halfway through the larger with two dots in the middle of them.
“Did she say anything more?” Orson demanded. “Anything else about the woods?”
“Nothing,” Caldric said, grimacing. “Seems she’d know the general place. But the woods go on for ages. It could take us years to scour it…”
“Wait,” Tavek said. “Here. Gimme that.”
Caldric handed the book down to the dwarf, who scrutinized the page in question closely. He slowly cocked his head to the side, then nodded. “Aye. I remember this sign.”
“You do?” Caldric said.
“Yeah! Near that abandoned mill where we were supposed to be hunting the rats. I saw it carved in a rock not far from there.”
“That must be where the temple is hidden!” Faylana cried. “We’re on the right track!”
“Please! Bring my daughter back,” Orson said. “I beg you!”
Caldric nodded uncertainly. “Oh, well. We’ll see what we can do.”
And inwardly, Caldric balked, and wondered if they were deep over their heads.
The Old Mill
It was a two storied building set against a sloping mountain cliff. The wheel still ran, rattling in the river that spilled down the rocky embankment and into the woods. Trees had grown about it, hemming it in with pine shadows, the ancient wood cracked in places and a number of holes in the walls.
And of course, there were rats.
“Figures,” Caldric grunted as he kicked aside a spar, sending a number of the furry rodents scampering. He looked up at the looming building, its rotting shape creaking in the breeze. “Where’s the symbol you saw?”
“Give me a second. I wasn’t exactly paying a whole bunch of attention at the time,” the dwarf grunted, squinting.
“Let’s split up. We know it’s here, so let’s just find it and give a shout,” Faylana said.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Caldric said.
“Quit bellyaching. Let’s just get this bloody thing done,” Tavek grunted. He stomped off before Caldric could raise another argument. The dwarf swaggered up towards the cliffs that rose behind the old mill, his eyes wandering among the rocks and crests where scraggly weeds and some trees clung. Where had that symbol been… Now that he thought about it, he seemed to recall that the symbol had been etched into a rock a bit higher up…
A path soon presented itself, and the dwarf stumped up it heavily. Soon he was among the ridges, partly hidden from below. He stood at the top, looking down with interest. From here, he could see everything. Including how Caldric and Faylana had followed his advice.
Ah, Faylana. She was making her way along the southern end of the old mill and the rocky cliffs. The dwarf hummed deeply, feeling his cock swell against his pants once more. Such a lovely young woman. Shame Caldric had his eye on her, but if that big oaf didn’t make a move, it was no skin off the dwarf’s nose if he happened to instead. And it would be such a shame to leave the poor girl to herself. A shapely slut like that deserved a good, thorough fucking, that was for sure.
The wind was quite strong so high up. He cocked his head, listening to the whisper of it. Only, it sounded different from the wind he was used to. As his eyes wandered along the cliff once more, movement flickered from the corner of his eye.
Tavek frowned. He turned towards the bend in the path and loosened his axe from its loop. He drew the heavy weapon warily and slunk in the direction. As he turned the corner, he caught another flash. The flicker of dark fabric fluttering into a small cave.
Tavek glanced about warily, then paused, smirking. Ah. He knew he’d seen that symbol before. And lo and behold. Just to his right, carved in the rock, was the unmistakeable shape of two overlapping rings and dots.
“Gotcha,” the dwarf grinned. He glanced back towards the rickety mill, considering calling out, then dismissed it. A good triumph against whatever piddly cultist within would make Faylana swoon with lust, not to mention the gratitude of the girls he’d rescue. Yes. That did sound nice.
Smirking to himself, Tavek stalked towards the cave entrance, his axe held tight in both his hands. The cold stone greeted him, but a few feet down a curtain had been strung up to keep out the elements. Just beneath, he could make out a flicker of light glowing beyond. His every step slow, careful, he approached the curtain, grabbed it, and yanked it aside.
A robed woman in a mask stood before him, powder filling her upturned palm. She smiled, then blew the sparkling powder right into his face.
“Ack! Ptoo!” Tavek coughed, staggering back. “What’s… What the…”
He lifted his eyes, blinking blea
rily.
And stared.
The woman in the mask was smiling down at him, but her robe was open, baring soft curves and a pair of heavy, naked breasts. She was smiling teasingly, her hips slowly swaying, her pussy glistening and needy.
“Do you want me?” she cooed, her voice seeming to reverberate around him, through him like a physical vibration.
“Uhhh…”
“Or… me?”
Tavek turned as another woman swayed out from deeper in the cave. She too was masked, but that mask was all she wore. The rest of her plush curves were bared to the stunned dwarf.
“Or me?”
Tavek turned again as a third woman stepped out.
“Or me?”
“Or me?
“Or me?”
Tavek gaped as almost a dozen women stepped into the light. All masked. All giggling. The room seemed to turn slowly, as if only the spot he stood on was still. The women fanned out about him, moving in a slow, lazy, swaying dance. His cock was hard as steel. His heart pounding and his brain felt like it was two sizes too big for his head.
“We want you,” a woman said, taking his axe from his unresisting hands.
“We need you,” another moaned, unbuttoning his jacket.
“Please,” a third sighed, running her hands down his hairy chest, his waist, stripping away his pants to reveal the throbbing hardness of his cock. “Please…” she breathed, her palm engulfing his shaft. Giving it a long, lazy, stroke.
“Gnnnnn,” Tavek groaned, pleasure bursting like fireworks in his mind.
Soft hands touched him. Half carried, half led him deeper into the cave. Torchlight spun and wavered, twisting like snakes. A bed of cushions scattered in the far part of the cave rose, welcoming him. Tavek was lowered into it. The women were around him. Smiling. Giggling.
“Just relax,” one crooned.
“Just enjoy,” another giggled.
“Just…”
“Surrender…” a masked woman sighed, her breath teasing the tip of his cock moments before her lips moved down, and engulfed him.
“Oooooh!” Tavek moaned as her lips slid up and down his throbbing shaft. He clutched at the cushions as her wonderful mouth adoringly sucked at his hard cock. Giggles surrounded him as two other women pressed against him, their soft breasts rubbing against his shoulders. His head was turned, and an adoring kiss was pressed to his lips. His head was turned the other way, and another kiss pressed him deeper into the cushions.
Seduced by the Black Queen Page 3
