by Mark Albany
“I didn’t know this was a competition,” I whispered back, smiling gently as I could feel the sensations rushing through her body and coming to a halt between her thighs, which I could feel squirming against me.
“Not a close one, anyways,” she grumbled back to me, pushing herself down my body, placing light kisses where she could, lifting my shirt and pushing my trousers down, her lips not stopping around my stomach, letting the blankets cover her but not give her pause.
I shuddered, feeling her hands pulling my cock up to her mouth. She sucked the head in eagerly, not letting my hands move away from her, letting the magic rush through her body as she continued to push herself beneath the blankets, enjoying the taste of me in her mouth. I couldn’t help a gently shudder of pleasure as she gripped my hips and pulled me up to meet her, starting to bob her head.
I was only able to see what she was doing from what was happening under the blanket, but the sensations were a good deal more erotic, feeling her lips wrapping around me, pulling me in closer to feel more of me fill her. My hand remained on the top of her head, not pushing her any harder than she could take, but letting her continue to push herself harder, enjoying the magic rushing through her body, pleasuring her deliciously to the point where she couldn’t help but push in deeper.
I gasped for breath, wanting to feel her closer, wanting to have her closer, reaching down into blanket and trying to pull her back up, wanting to feel her naked against me.
She pushed the blanket up over her head, showing me that she had changed her appearance once more, this time in the look that she had sported while pretending to be a human when she had been the Official. The long, golden locks met by the full curves that were starting to fill her clothes out was only too mouthwatering for me to see.
“What?” she whispered, still working me with her hands.
“Take your clothes off,” I ordered, pulling and tugging at her shirt as she removed her trousers first and then helped me with the rest.
Once that was finished, she quickly settled between my thighs, letting me watch this time as she wrapped her lips around my cock. It was oddly arousing to see her in human form again, running my fingers through her long, blonde hair, watching her mouth working me smoothly, rhythmically.
She looked up at me, smiling and winking as she pulled up from my shaft, her form shimmering again to look like Lyth this time as she looked down at herself, running her fingers over her bare skin.
“I can see why you like it,” she whispered, leaning down and squeezing her breasts around my shaft as she watched for my reaction. “I have a taste for the curvier myself, but the slim, graceful beauty is not something to be ignored.”
I couldn’t help a low rumble in my chest as I took hold of the back of her head, letting her body rush with pleasure once more before filling her mouth with me once more. She grunted with surprise but didn’t pull away. Instead, one hand gripped my ass and pulled me in closer, pushing deep into the back of her mouth as her other hand moved down between her own thighs, rubbing over her clit before slipping inside.
Between the shared sensations and the erotic sounds and sights that we were enjoying, there was little I could do to stop myself, and nothing she could do to stop herself either. I felt her crashing hard onto a climax, one that reverberated on me and guiding me towards my own, feeling myself shudder inside her mouth, her tongue eagerly cleaning the mess that would have otherwise resulted, and keeping me inside her mouth until she could feel me relaxing back against the wall again.
Faye quickly finished up, and once she had reverted back to her original shape, she slowly pulled herself up on top of me, letting her bare body press against me gently as she lay her head on my chest, her fingers lightly running over my torso.
“You’re going to have to teach me that trick of yours,” she whispered, lifting my shirt up so that she could place a light kiss to my chest.
“What would that earn me, I wonder?” I whispered, lightly stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head.
“Mmmm… the same thing that it earned me?” she mused, starting to drift off. “Or is pleasure not its own reward for you?”
I shrugged my shoulders and held her close. “I’m sure that I’ll think about it.”
“Tease,” she said, smiling and slowly falling asleep.
And I was following right behind.
13
I wasn’t sure how I knew it was morning. In fact, I couldn’t even be sure that it was morning, proper, as the darkness remained as constant as it had all night. The gentle sounds of the storm were no longer audible, however, and as I opened my eyes, there was little that could be seen further than a couple of feet away from the dying embers of the fire that we’d build however long ago it had been.
Sure, the snow piling up over the cavern’s entrance had mostly isolated us from the storm outside, but we’d still been able to hear it, but now, everything was dead silent.
It was still icy inside the cave if I moved away from the fire, and so it was with a great deal of quiet and consideration that I pulled myself away from Faye, who was still sleeping with her head on my chest, and moved away while trying not to wake any of the others.
I pulled one of our last logs and placed it over the fire, or what was left of it anyways, letting the flames start to pick from the embers that were still producing some heat before moving away from the flames. I still kept the blanket wrapped around my shoulders as I moved towards the entrance of the cave. With the light of the fire, I could see that the snow had been packed in at the entrance, with a gentle rolling hill pouring inside. If we were ever going to find a way to break free, it was going to be through a literal wall of snow.
It wasn’t impossible, of course, but it would definitely slow our start on the day. It wasn’t like we had anything else to do or anywhere else to go.
As I came back to the fire, I could see that the other four were already starting to wake, and from the looks of it, they had appeared to have a good night’s sleep. While not fully rested, it was certainly better than how we had all felt the day before, and that was something to look forward to.
Especially with how our day was going to start out in mind.
Some time was spent in plundering our limited food reserves in silence, taking a moment to rest and repair before we started fully engaging with the troubles of the day.
Eventually, though, we did need to turn our attention towards what we were going to do, and Norel appeared to be the first that was going to be tackling the issue ahead of all of us.
“I take it that the cave entrance has been sealed in by the snow?” she asked, looking around and trying to catch a peek of the entrance in question.
I nodded. “Padded up. Looks like it snowed all night to cover the entrance up, and didn’t let up until... well, I would say this morning, but I’m not really sure what time it is outside.”
“We probably can’t even tell if the storm has stopped outside,” Braire pointed out.
“Quite, but I think that it has,” I said, rolling my neck. “Besides, it’s not like we can afford to stay in here for days on end, hoping that the snow will melt in time for us to be of any help for the men and women fighting down there.”
“Agreed,” Faye said, pulling her clothes back on before joining us near the fire.
“I think we could probably find a way to blast our way out of the snow outside,” Norel said, shrugging her shoulders. “Of course, even if we get outside, there will be the problem that the snow won’t just be covering the entrance of the cave. It’ll be coming down from the mountain as quickly as we can clear it, and even if it is well-packed in, we still will need to clear a path further up the mountain.”
“Sounds like difficult going,” I said, stating the obvious. “Is there anything that we can do to help?”
“I think we’re all ignoring something that should be fairly obvious, aren’t we?” Faye asked, looking around at us with an inquisitive look on her face.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The fact that this cave leads deeper into a tunnel?” Faye pointed out, indicating towards the back of the cave.
Or what I could have sworn was the back of the cave, but was, in fact, blackness that seemed like it could indeed stretch out forever. It could have been the back of the cave, but in the dim light of the fire, it was almost impossible to tell.
I stood up, pulling my sword away from its scabbard and pushing a bit of power into it, just enough to light up the runes with a white glow as I approached the back, seeing the walls peeling away to reveal what could only be described as a tunnel.
“How did we miss that?” Norel asked, narrowing her eyes. “How did you see that?”
“I looked on ahead,” Faye said. “Lyth should know, she was the one that taught it to me.”
“No, I didn’t,” Lyth pointed out.
“Well, I saw you doing it, and that was how I learned, anyways,” Faye replied. “Pushing my spirit out of my body as you do sometimes, I was able to look around the tunnel, and it does lead deeper into the mountain, and I am no expert, but I don’t think that it is naturally occurring.”
I looked around the cave and couldn’t help but agree with her assessment. There didn’t appear to be any sign of tools being used on the cave walls around us, but even so, the curved look of it made it seem less like it had been made through natural means. I wasn’t sure how something might have carved its way through the tunnels this way, however.
“What could have done this?” Braire asked, echoing how I was feeling.
“There are kinds of magic that allow one to manipulate the earth, carving it without the use of tools,” Norel said, reaching out and gently, almost reverently placing her hand on the wall. “I suppose that similar magic can be used to manipulate stone, pushing it out of the way. I just don’t see how or when it could have been done.”
I didn’t want to say it aloud, but considering that we were in more or less the same area as the monsters that Norel was so afraid to face, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe those beasts that we already knew to possess powers that were previously unknown to the world, might have been able to find other ways to create a labyrinth in the mountains that they lived in.
Braire turned to me, sensing the sudden dread that filled my mind and tilted her head, quickly coming to the same conclusion that I had. “Norel, how close are we to where you found those monsters?”
“About a day’s climb,” Norel replied. “Why?”
“Is there any chance that this tunnel might be one that leads up to the spot?” Faye asked, joining in the train of thought.
“I... suppose,” Norel said, suddenly understanding the feelings that were spreading through our collective connections.
“It would appear that if it heads up to the monsters that we came here searching for, it might be best to follow the tunnels instead of forcing our way out of them,” I said softly, looking around to the rest of them.
None of us wanted to head deeper into tunnels that contained beasts that had the likes of Norel terrified, but there wasn’t much of a choice either. It was how we were going to be getting up there in time for us to be some help to the fighting that was bound to start sometime soon.
I took a deep breath and nodded, coming to the decision in my mind. Now it was just up to the rest of my body to make the same decision as I turned around to face the rest of the team.
“Well, it would appear that we need to head in deeper,” I stated with a confidence that I didn’t feel. “Any volunteers to go in first?”
Norel seemed to be trying to push herself to head into the blackness that appeared to carry on forever, and the rest were in a similar state of mind.
Turning back around, and keeping my sword lit, I sighed, steadying my nerves. “Pack up camp. I’ll... lead the way, I suppose.”
We moved quickly, gathering up our supplies and lighting a few torches on the fire before putting it out. It wasn’t long before we had gathered to what we had thought was the back of the cave and started moving forward into the cavern.
It was like I could almost feel the world closing in around me, drawing in closer and tighter until there was nothing but the cave and the mountain around me. It was almost overwhelming to feel, and not something to be enjoyed, but as we moved further into the tunnel, the less it seemed like there was anything else in the world.
Norel was managing to keep her own anxiety under control, with a great deal of effort, whereas the rest seemed to be wearing their nervousness on their skin. Braire had her daggers drawn, Lyth had declined to string her bow, keeping her hand on the sword that she had at her side, but not drawing it just yet. Norel had a pair of globes in her hand that illuminated the cave alongside my sword better than any torches, and like the sword, could be used immediately for attack if it was needed.
The deeper we moved into the mountains, I could feel the cold being left behind, like there was something insulating the rock around us from the icy temperatures outside. The humidity that was being captured inside was difficult to ignore as well, and it wasn’t long before I found myself sweating under the heavy winter clothes that I was wearing.
From the looks of it, the others were in a similar state.
“What the hell is the matter with this mountain?” Braire asked, pulling her coat off and wiping some sweat from her forehead. “Standing outside and it felt like it was trying to freeze us to death or blow us over the edge. Now, I feel like we’re in the Southern Islands.”
“There would be more sunlight in the Isles,” Norel complained, rolling her shoulders. “Maybe a little wind. It feels like we’re in a pot, slowly being boiled alive.”
I wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but then, I had never been to the Southern Islands. My memories were brought around to the summers that I had spent out in the open, in the sunlight being trained by Vis, or rather, by the man pushing me to powers that he wanted me to access, but only to be contained by what he wanted from me.
It hadn’t ended well for him, and I had been there to ensure his demise.
Ahead, I thought I saw something. The sudden pause in my step brought the conversation that was happening behind me to a halt. We were all tense to the point where any sign of danger would bring about a flurry of violence.
The silence lasted for a moment before Braire came to the front, where I was standing still, looking around and trying to make out what it was I could see that had stopped our advance.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, looking around at me.
“On the ground,” I whispered, lowering my sword, but wanting to keep my eyes ahead at all times. Just in case.
Braire’s eyes turned downwards, near my feet where she took a step back as well, her hand on her dagger tightening its grasp.
“What is it?” Faye asked, coming in closer, and seeing what it was that had given me pause.
I hadn’t actually seen it very well, but what little I had been able to make out was enough to have me on alert. The sight of a skeleton on the ground had that sort of effect, and there wasn’t much more that could be said on the topic.
Norel moved forward to take a look at what had once been a body, careful not to touch it as it appeared to be about to explode into a cloud of dust.
For myself, I was content to keep my eyes forward, and my blade pointed out at whatever it was that would be coming out of the darkness.
“From the shape of the skull, and the make of the armor, I would say that it’s human,” Norel noted, keeping one of the orbs close enough for her to inspect it. “The shape of the skull tells me it wasn’t just an elf in human armor.”
“What was he or she doing down here?” Fae asked, leaning in closer.
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Norel admitted, tilting her head. “Although I think I can say with some certainty that I know what killed him. Or her.”
I managed to tear my eyes away from the darkness to see what Norel was pointin
g at. I hadn’t even seen that the skeleton had been wearing a full suit of armor, but now that I could, it was plain to see a large, shredded hole right in the middle of the shirt of mail. And if there was any doubt on top of that, it was also easy to see that the ribs around the hole had been shattered.
“As dark as this might be, I think we I can now say that we are on the right path,” Norel said, straightening herself up and trying to hide the hint of panic that had started to creep into her voice. “I would say that we’ll find their nest ahead, although I’m not sure how far.”
“What could have done something like that?” Lyth asked, ever the curious one.
“A very large and venomous stinger,” Norel explained. “I think we should keep moving. The longer we stay here, the longer they’ll have to realize that we are coming.”
We didn’t want that. There was a sense of dread starting to fill me, strong enough that it felt like there was lead in my boots as we continued to push forward, trying to stay calm, be silent and not allow for any advance warning that we might be closing in on the monsters.
It wasn’t long until another body was found, in similar decay as the last, although this one was wearing distinctively different armor.
“Still human,” Norel said, not wanting to stop for this one. “A bit more recent, I would say. Maybe in the past fifty years?”
“How did they get this far away?” Braire asked.
“They were stung but managed to slip the nest and run a short ways before the poison killed them,” Norel explained. “The monsters would have taken their time in reaching the spot, as fresh meat is not something that they are fond of, at least, from what I could tell. Either way, we should keep our wits about us.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” I grumbled under my breath.
14
I gripped my sword a little tighter, taking in a deep breath and trying to keep myself calm. It was like I could hear the thudding of my heart in my chest, and if I could hear it, I could only imagine what could be heard by any monsters that might be loitering around the area.
