by Jason Cheek
The climb itself was grueling. Heading back up the mountain was even more difficult than the original trip down the mountain. Being a native Floridian, I hadn’t realized just how much of a pain in the ass climbing back out of the valley would be. While my virtual body was stronger than my in-real-life body, my arms and legs still felt somewhat rubbery from the constant effort required to climb the trail up the mountain.
I had just hunkered down on the trail to recover my stamina and endurance when a commotion below caught my attention. From what I could make out, it looked like the Goblins below had managed to seal up the doors to the main keep. At least that’s how it looked from my where I was perched. The pile of rubble stacked up in front of the large doors was visible even from this distance. While that in itself was somewhat interesting, that wasn’t what had caught my attention. No, it was the coarse chanting, and the blowing war horns as the spread out army below began to slowly migrate to the side of the pass I was currently headed towards.
An icy chill ran up my spine as I realized what that meant. Now that the top leadership had been taken out, the invasion force was moving out to rape and pillage … or was that eat and pillage … or rape, eat and pillage. Either way, it wasn’t good. The invasion force’s first target would be Delonshire, but that meant they’d probably run across Requiem in the process. Even if they didn’t send their whole force against my settlement, a few hundred Goblins would be more than enough to finish off the NPCs.
Swearing loudly about pain in the ass game developers, I began moving up the trail as fast as I could run. I had to get my people through the pass ahead of the invaders and prepare my people for the coming invasion, or everything I’d been working towards would be lost. I’d have a ruined castle without any NPCs to help fix it up and make it into a thriving home. Reaching the top of the trail a half hour later, I was just cresting the ridge when I heard a familiar voice call out.
“Took you long enough to reach the top!”
The Dark Blade of Lord Kayden was in my hand before I realized it was Ulia as she stepped out of the rocky alcove before me. I lowered the point of my blade as she hurriedly took a step back with her hands raised.
“Wow, jumpy much?” Ulia asked, raising an eyebrow at my drawn blade.
“Sorry about that.” I apologized, sheathing the sword at my hip. Seeing no one else around, I cocked my head questioningly. “Where is everyone?”
“I sent them on ahead,” Ulia said as she stepped forward and gathered me up into her arms. Ignoring the shocked look on my face, she tucked her head into my neck hugging me tightly. “Don’t worry, Keela and Theric are leading everyone back towards the pass just as we’d planned. Once we made sure the ridge was clear, I headed back to make sure you made it out alive.”
For a long moment, I was unsure of how to react to the swordswoman’s closeness. Even though Ulia was older, she was still a beautiful woman … er, Half-elf. Even more important than her looks or age was who she was inside. Throughout my life, I’d always been drawn to strong women. Besides her obvious skill with a blade. Ulia didn’t complain about the harsh terrain or the freezing cold. She just did what needed to be done but, even more important than anything else, it was her sense of honor that truly touched my soul.
She was willing to put her life on the line for the House of Kayden’s children. In doing so, she risked not only her life but faced the possibility of a truly gruesome death if she failed. Maybe I was putting too much forethought into the personality traits of a software AI, or maybe I’d been alone for far too long in the real world. None the less, I found myself drawn to this amazingly capable woman. Especially with her tight, hard body pressed up against mine like this.
I don’t know who started the kissing first. One second my arms were holding her close and the next my hands were underneath her fur coat and cupping her tight ass. The passion that rose up between us was hot and intense. Her teeth nipped at my lower lip in-between deep passionate kisses as our tongues fought a battle of their own. Moaning into my mouth, Ulia’s hands began urgently ripping open the straps of my armor as she pulled me towards the rocky alcove that we’d used as our camp the night before. My skin burned like fire as her hands clawed at my flesh with her need.
Yanking the breastplate over my head, Ulia tore my hide-tunic away. Her teeth bit seductively at my bare chest as I ran my hands through her short-cropped hair. Pulling her up to my face, I sucked her questing tongue into my mouth as my hands ran up her back underneath her clothing. In one swift move, I pulled off the Goblin leather chest piece and the thick, fur blanket she was using as a coat as my hands kneaded her soft skin. Raising her arms over her head, Ulia pulled her lips away as she shimmied the rest of the way out of her top.
Instead of coming back for a kiss, Ulia shoved my back against the rocks as she yanked my armored leggings down to my boots in one swift motion. Falling to her knees, she wrapped her arms behind my knees as she took the whole length of my hardness into her mouth in one go. Grunting from the intensity of her warm mouth on my sex, I arched my bare back against the freezing stone as I suddenly remembered the invading army marching below. The mixture of her sensual mouth covering my flesh and the searing cold was almost too much to take as I squeezed my eyes shut from the mixture of extremes. Forcing myself to focus on the issue at hand, I gripped Ulia’s bare shoulders as I tried to pull her off my sex.
“We don’t have time for this now.” I panted out in a ragged breath. “There’s an army headed towards the Delonshire side of the pass.”
With a wet pop, Ulia reluctantly pulled her lips away from my hard shaft as she growled in annoyance. “Keela knows to keep everyone on the ridge away from the trail. So, either enjoy my ministrations, and we’ll catch up with everyone when they make camp for the night, or we can forget this and join everyone on their trek through the snow.” Arching her eyebrow, Ulia sassily looked into my eyes. “Which is it going to be, my lord?”
I almost busted out laughing at the unrealness of the situation. Besides, the look of annoyance plastered on Ulia’s face as she waited for me to make the obvious choice was priceless. Honestly, it had been too long since I had a beautiful, naked woman in my arms. Pulling Ulia back to her feet, I nuzzled her neck as we gently kissed. “As long as our people are safe, I’m yours to command, milady.”
The delicate touch of Ulia’s lips as she aggressively pulled my head back by the hair was answer enough. I felt her teeth run down the edge of my jawline and down to my neck as she sucked and nibbled at my skin softly until she buried her face into my collarbone. Swinging me around suddenly, Ulia bore me down onto the pile of our coats and armor with her naked body plastered against mine. Coming to a stop on top of me, she wiggled out of her leggings before straddling my waist as she rubbed her sex over the length of my engorged shaft moaning softly.
“Now that was the correct decision, my lord.”
I had a second to grit my teeth from the fiery heat of our touch before Ulia fully drove herself onto my cock. Locking her sky-blue eyes onto mine, she began lifting herself to the tip of my shaft before ramming herself back down to the hilt. Our coming together was fervent and physical. It wasn’t making love as much as a release of the fear and tension. Similar to the stories I heard of mixed combat teams having sex after a shoot-out. How the soldiers always described the sex afterward as being better than their near-death experience. With her elbows locked on either side of my head, Ulia fucked me with an intensity that I’d never experienced before as my hands ran over her soft flesh. Her burning lips sought mine as her body shook through its first orgasm.
Ulia hips didn’t stop there. Leaning over me onto her elbows, I felt her rock hard nipples rub up and down my chest as she began to seriously grind her sex on top of me. I urgently thrust my hips to meet her need as she wildly bucked on top of me. Sweat drenched her face and ran down her chest as she rode me like a woman possessed. I felt her lips suddenly locked onto mine as she moaned into my mouth as her body spasmed thro
ugh a second orgasm.
I felt Ulia’s body go limp on top of me as the strength suddenly left her limbs. Her forehead dropped to my chest as she panted to catch her breath. Unknowingly to her, I was too close to my own climax to stop now. Lifting her up above me with one hand gripping a pert breast and another digging into her meaty ass, I began bucking my hips into her as my own need took hold. I felt Ulia’s hands urgently clutch at my arms as her head lolled back and her eyes fluttered from the overstimulation she was feeling. A low, continuous moan rose from her lips as my sex swelled up inside of her as my thrusts became short and urgent. A moment later we came together as I exploded inside of her with a groaning cry of ecstasy.
As soon as I let her go, Ulia collapsed on top of my chest in a sweaty mess. Her hair was plastered against her face and neck as she panted on top of me from exertion. Tenderly I wrapped my arms around her as I laid my head back deeply satisfied. The cold wind whipping through the alcove became suddenly uncomfortable now that we’d filled our needs. Flailing around for a half moment, I found Ulia’s fur blanket-coat nearby where she’d let it drop at the beginning of our lovemaking and pulled it over our naked bodies as Ulia gave a sigh of relief as she snuggled deeper into my chest. Closing my eyes, I gently stroked Ulia’s sweat-soaked hair.
Our coming together had been fervent and physical. It wasn’t love-making so much of a release of the fear and tension from the last several days. Again I was reminded of the stories I’d heard of mixed combat teams sexual escapades after a nasty shoot-out. How the soldiers had described the sex, they’d shared together afterward as being something above and beyond the connection they’d shared with their spouse. Supposedly the intense feelings came from the survival of their shared near-death experience. At the time, I wasn’t sure I’d believed in the psychobabble that had followed from the shared interviews from the soldiers. It sounded more like an excuse for those that had cheated on their spouses and lovers while they were deployed in combat zones, but now I found myself re-evaluating my initial impressions after my own experiences.
Running my hands down Ulia’s broad back to her toned ass, I held her in my arms as my shaft softened and slowly slid out of her sex. Our time together had felt more like a workout then lovemaking as she’d sweated above me in all of her glory. Not that I was going to complain. To be honest, the mind-numbing exertion was exactly what I’d needed. While I’d wanted to roll her onto her back and take the lead again, I had a feeling that she needed to be in control after everything she’d been through. Even several days after being healed, the scars that marred her skin from her time in captivity with the Goblins were still clearly visible, so, instead of taking control, I’d mostly laid back and enjoyed the pleasure she was willing to share with me.
The only problem was, now that our intimate moment was over, I found myself worrying what this would mean to Ulia. Was I now suddenly expected to be her man? To be beholden to her because we’d slept together one time. The thought was unsettling. After the abusive relationship, I’d endured with my ex-girlfriend Julie, I wasn’t willing to give my heart out to the first person I fucked. In my mind, sex was something two consenting adults decided to share between one another. It wasn’t love, nor was it a commitment to a full-time relationship. Neither did it automatically mean that one person suddenly owned the other.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed the discordant thoughts out of my head. Even though Julie had really messed me up when it came to relationships, I couldn’t put that on every woman I slept with. Although without a doubt, I’m sure it was one of the many reasons I was still single. The chance of meeting a woman with my same interests, who was strong and independent and was willing to meet me half way in a relationship was like trying to find a unicorn in the real world. Aka, not fucking possible.
Before I could completely freak-out by over thinking the situation, the urgency of our physical needs took over as my thoughts completely focused on Ulia’s sweating body on top of me as she made love to me again. I ran my hands down her slim waist to cup her curvaceous ass as she crushed her breasts into my mouth and ground her sex onto me repeatedly with a single-minded intensity. The worry and concerns that had been weighing down my soul were wiped away as we focused on our growing pleasure. Just when I thought I could take any more, Ulia threw her head back and howled as we climaxed together hard soul-wrenching orgasm. Coming down from her pleasure, she collapsed on my chest out of breath once again.
For a long moment, we just held each other as our beating hearts began to slow down to a more normal pace. Closing my eyes, I enjoyed the warm glow filling my body as Ulia’s soft lips tenderly kissed my neck, before snuggling into my shoulder with a satisfied murmur. As the cold slowly began to make its presence known, I heard Ulia’s sigh into my ear.
“By the dark, I needed that, milord.” I froze on hearing the words, unused to such a vocal display of pleasure after sex as the swordswoman stretched out above me like a satisfied cat. “Keela is going to be so jealous.”
“Wha … what do you mean, Keela is going to be so jealous?” I stuttered as my voice cracked. “And, what’s with all this ‘milord stuff’ all of a sudden?”
Propping herself up on my chest with both elbows, Ulia looked at me questioningly in the eyes. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“Well, first off. You saved us both from being tortured and eaten alive by Goblins.” Seeing a frown momentarily cross my face at her words, she spoke sharply. “You act like that’s nothing special but trust me, it is.”
“I’m not owed anything for saving your lives,” I replied somewhat gruffly. “It was just the right thing to do.” I sputtered for a second searching for the right words. “My actions reflect the type of world I want to live in.”
Looking away from Ulia for a moment, I frowned at how odd the words sounded taken in the context of a video game, but after a moment of thought, I realized that none the less it didn’t make them any less true. While my actions were not completely altruistic, I couldn’t have passed by without saving those NPCs from such a horrible fate even if it had meant my death. Meeting the swordswoman’s eyes once again, I saw her eyebrow arch expectantly for me to concede her point as my hands came to a rest on either side of her slim waist.
“Okay, let’s say it was somewhat special.”
Ignoring my comment, Ulia continued ticking of her points. “Second, you went out of your way to save the children and the rest of our people held prisoner by those monsters even though it could have meant your death.” She paused a moment to see if I was going to debate her words or not. Taking my silence as acceptance, she lowered her voice. “Not only that, you allowed Keela and me to keep our promise and our honor.”
“Besides,” Ulia mischievously smiled as she ran her hands over my muscular chest. “What better way to celebrate our new Lord for House of Kayden then by getting laid?” Seeing my surprised look, Ulia snorted derisively before grabbing my semi-hard shaft with a chuckle. “What member of our house wouldn’t recognize the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden? Besides, once Keela hears how good you are in bed, I’m sure she’ll be wanting to get a piece of this.”
I felt my mind go blank at Ulia’s unusual reaction towards me sleeping with her friend as I shifted uncomfortably in her firm grip. “You won’t be jealous or … anything if I sleep with Keela?” I manage to squeak out in surprise.
“What, did you grow up around a bunch of humans?” Ulia throatily laughed as she leaned forward and kissed me. Smirking, she rolled onto her back and began shimmying into her clothing under the blanket. “Unlike Light Elves that only sleep with each other, or Humans who are uptight about sex. Half-elves enjoy fucking.” Jumping up to her feet, Ulia snatched her fur coat away from me laughing playfully as I hurriedly scrambled into my clothes. “Enough lazing around, sexy-butt. It’s time we got moving.”
Still laughing, Ulia gave me a few swats on the ass as I hurriedly got dressed before I froze something important off. I was unused to seeing the serious s
wordswoman so relaxed, but then again, that what good sex is for. Neysa momentarily peaked her head into the alcove and gave me a whining yelp as if to say hurry it up already, before high tailing away as I threw a boot in her direction. Rolling my eyes, I finished dressing and grabbed the last of my gear as I followed the little Silver Dire Wolf out. I saw the flash of Neysa’s tail as she trotted up the ridge after Ulia. Shivering in my furs, I rubbed my arms to get warm as I followed at a slightly slower pace grumbling about them both taking off without waiting for me to catch up. Reaching the crest of the ridge, I paused for a long moment to study the invaders below.
In the many Fantasy and Fictional novels I’d often read while growing up, the main characters would always talk about judging the size of the enemy from a distance like it was something easy to figure out. Looking down on the disorganized mass of Goblins below, it was hard to determine their numbers as they moved across the uneven ground. Were there five hundred, a thousand … two thousand? Honestly, it was difficult to tell. I’d quickly tried estimating groups of fifty to figure out the approximate size of the overall force, but it was near impossible with how the Goblins were moving down the trail. I’m sure if they’d been marching across a flat plain in set formation it would have been an entirely different story to get a more accurate count. Not that it really made a difference one way or another, since I didn’t see how we were going to meet them in any kind of straight up fight and hope to win.
I could always try to sneak around the invaders with my people and retake BrokenFang Hold, but if I did that, nothing was stopping them from coming back and taking us out once again. No, I’d need to figure out a way to destroy this invasion force before I started building up my base of operations. Turning around with a heavy sigh, I headed down the trail after Ulia and Neysa deep in thought.
