Then Janaza backed up into his side, and he felt her comforting presence in his magical senses. “Relax, Vann,” he heard her murmur over the Song. “Just relax and play,” Warmth bubbled over from her magic, swirling around him.
His mind calmed. His fingers became accurate again, lighting down upon notes and plucking them with ease. Janaza leaned against him, her weight grounding him to the floor of the cave. He looked down, watching his fingers on the neck of the guitar, letting the music flow. It began to stop resisting him, and coiled around him like a pet snake.
He felt a chill behind him, and watched as Rorzan's ghostly fingers curled around the neck of the guitar, reminding him where to go next. The old Lord didn't say anything, not daring to break the spell. Vann's fingers slid down, and he played faster, the Song's magic growing in strength. The crystals in the cave began to return to their teal color, then passed that and began to glow a gentle blue as Vann brought the Song to a pulse-pounding crescendo. He looked over at Janaza. The orc was focused on her playing, her eyes suffused and glowing a soft gold with her magic. She spied Vann looking and winked at him, and Vann felt a ripple of something incredibly powerful ripple through their magical connection.
Slowly but surely, the large crystal began to break apart from within. Fractures spiderwebbed out from the elf trapped within as the light began to fade from the crystals. They became drab and empty, then began to disappear into motes of light that vanished as quickly as they appeared. The ones at the back of the cavern broke apart first, then the larger ones in front of them. As they held the final note, more and more of the crystals broke apart, until at last the big one holding the elf itself began to fade away. Vann and Janaza held the note for a little while longer, then let it drop.
Rorzan huffed out a heavy breath. “Holy shit, never scare me like that again, either of you.”
“Why are you breathing out when you have no lungs?” Janaza asked.
“It's an instinct!” Rorzan protested.
The prison crystal faded away from front to back. As it did, the image of the elf inside grew clearer and clearer, until the crystal finally dissolved around her and they could see her.
“Arielle...” Rorzan breathed.
Vann understood immediately why much of the High Lords version of history presented Arielle as a fair maiden who had been corrupted by Rorzan. The elf was gorgeous, slender yet strong with long, wavy silver hair. The clothes that she had been entombed in were perfectly preserved, a simple shift that covered her torso and ended mid-thigh. As the crystal holding her in place faded away, she slumped forward, falling onto the ground of the cave as the crystals vanished completely.
“Arielle!” Rorzan yelled, floating over to her prone body, Vann and Janaza following behind. “Arielle!”
Nothing happened for a long moment. Then one of the elf's fingers twitched and she stirred. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a thick cough. Janaza ran and retrieved her canteen, and pressed it into the elf's trembling fingers. Without a word, without getting up, she took a long, deep drink, downing almost the whole thing in one go. Then she coughed and spat onto the floor, picking herself up shakily. The elf raised her head. Her eyes were open – they were an icy gray, somewhere between silver and diamond, and there was a desperation in them so profound that Vann knew he'd likely never understand it's depths.
“If this is a trick,” Arielle said, “some manner of illusion, then please, I beg of you, do not bother.”
“Arielle,” Rorzan said, floating down so his eyes were level with hers. “It's me.” His voice sounded choked. “It's me.”
Arielle reached out a hand, curved to cup Rorzan's cheek. It passed right through his ghostly form. “Rorzan? It's really you?”
“Well, most of me.” Rorzan floated up so she could see that he was only half of a body. “Had to make some concessions to make it this far, y'know.”
Arielle stared at him for a long moment, then, slowly, she smiled. And then she started to laugh and cry at the same time. “You could've come a little faster, you know!”
Rorzan placed his ghostly hands in hers. “I know. And I'm so sorry.”
Arielle pulled herself together, wiping at her eyes as she sat up. Her shift slid up her legs, revealing more of her pale, soft thighs, and Vann realized that the elf's nipples were jutting up against the sheer fabric, hard as diamonds from the cold. He threw off his cloak and hurriedly draped it over the elf's shoulders.
“Thank you,” Arielle said. “And who might you be?”
“Vann,” he answered, smoothing the fabric against her shoulders. “And she's Janaza.” The orc waved.
“You two must be something else if just the pair of you could undo that spell,” Arielle said, shivering inside the cloak. “How did you two come to know Rorzan?”
“Bit of a story,” Janaza said. “We can hole up here for the night and-”
“No!” Arielle yelled, her eyes opening wide. Janaza clammed up. “No... sorry. No. I can't stay here,” Arielle said. “Not one more minute. Please. Take me away from this place.”
Vann and Janaza shared a look. “It's getting late,” Janaza said gently. “It's going to get really cold, and you're in no condition to go anywhere, Arielle. We can head down the mountain tomorrow.”
“There has to be another cave somewhere around here,” Arielle said, her eyes wide and frantic. “Somewhere close!”
“Arielle, relax,” Rorzan said, floating close to the elf. He reached out to cup her face, and his hands slipped inside her body a little. “It's okay. We can stay warm here tonight, then make our way down tomorrow.”
The elf stared at Rorzan for a while, until she slowly shuddered and nodded, sitting down on the cave floor. “Very well.”
They made a small fire using the kindling that Janaza had brought from the previous cave, and it crackled and sparked merrily. Arielle accepted a small hunk of bread from them, ate it, then curled up by the fire and feel asleep almost immediately, her silver hair fanning out around her. Both Vann and Janaza watched her. “Why was she so desperate to get out of this cave?” Vann asked.
“Not sure,” Janaza answered, chewing a piece of jerky slowly.
“It's because of her prison,” Rorzan answered. He was hovering over Arielle protectively, his face hard. “See, I told you before, the elves don't believe in capital punishment. But that doesn't mean they don't not believe in being cruel.” He looked back towards the back of the cave where the crystals had been. “Here's a fun fact about elves – they can subsist off magic. And these crystals don't put you to sleep or anything.”
Horror dawned on Vann. “So you mean for three hundred years while she was trapped in there... she was aware of it all?”
Rorzan nodded, floating down to hover protectively over Arielle. “But the two of you set her free. And you did it almost flawlessly. Now that we have her, we can head down the mountain and towards the coast, find a boat and get away from here.” He reached out, and his ghostly hands flowed through her hair. “Just get away.”
Vann and Janaza shared a look, and Vann saw his horror reflected in the orc's golden eyes. The light from the fire caught them and reflected, making it seem like they were glowing. Vann felt himself blush and looked away, staring into the fire as if he could unravel the mysteries of the world within the flames.
Arielle shivered, murmuring and shifting in her sleep. Janaza scooted around the fire and layed down next to the elf, throwing her cloak over her thin body. “Spirits, she's freezing,” the orc muttered. “Vann, get over here and get on her other side.”
He blushed. “I, erm...”
“Oh, just do it, Vann, would you please?” Rorzan said, his tone snippy out of concern for the elf.
Vann swallowed. He needed to do this. The orc and him hadn't almost blown themselves up just for him to get cold feet and let Arielle freeze. He pushed down his discomfort, admonishing himself – men the world over would give anything to be snuggled up next to an attractive orc
and elf. Why was it such an issue for him?
Vann moved over around the fire and layed down on Arielle's other side, their feet to the fire. He pressed up against her back. Her skin was soft, and smelled faintly like leaves, some ingrained eleven scent that even her long time in the crystal couldn't dispell.
The elf stopped shifting and relaxed against him. “Warm...” she murmured. “Not like the crystals... much better than the crystals...”
***
Ansel and his trackers waited like the patient hunters they were.
The denizens of Briarhaven had been incensed that a wanted criminal had simply strolled through their town and stolen things from their people, as well as apparently sparking a marital argument between a well-known shopkeeper and his wife. Small town drama didn't concern Ansel at all, but he hadn't turned down the opportunity to bring two of the local trackers into his fold. They'd shown him and his men a secret passage through the mountains, and now they lay waiting on the other side. Let Vann climb the mountain, whatever his reasons were. By the time he came down the other side he'd be exhausted, and it would be a simple matter for Ansel to deal with him as Lord Branna had demanded.
“You're sure they'll come this way?” he asked one of the Briarhaven trackers.
“Positive,” the man grunted. “Y'said the boy was making for the coast, and this is the fastest way down from the top of Adagio to get there.” he smirked. “Well, short of fallin' that is.”
Ansel had spread his troops out through a league wide stretch of forest to keep an eye out for the Voiceless. As soon as one sighted him, they'd made a nightingale call, and the rest of the force would collapse on him. There'd be no escape. The Guard Captain smiled to himself. Soon he'd be heading home, and they'd all be able to put this all behind them.
Chapter Seven – Descent
Getting down from the mountain turned out to be more of a trial than getting to the stop.
They set out the next morning, Arielle wrapped in Janaza's cloak as the orc gritted her teeth and bared the icy winds of the mountaintop. They made slow progress, as the elf's stride was wobbly and hesitant. Rorzan cast about and found a path down the other side of Mount Adagio, and the three of them made to follow it.
Only an hour went past before Arielle stumbled. Vann heard the snow shift and turned just in time to get his hands up and catch the elf as she almost slipped and fell past him. His boots dug into the rocky ground beneath him, his hands looping around her chest and hips as he caught her. He realized he was grabbing the small of her back, just above her ass, and almost dropped her out of embarrassment. “You okay?” he asked.
Arielle put her hands on his shoulders as he set her down, balancing on him. “My legs aren't what they used to be...” she said. “I haven't walked in three hundred years, it's going to take me a bit of time to get used to it again.”
Rorzan floated up next to them. “But if you trip and fall down the mountain...”
Arielle nodded. “I'm sorry.”
“Don't be,” Jazana said. She walked up behind the elf and held out her hands. “I'll carry you.”
The elf blinked. “All the way down the mountain?”
Janaza nodded, a cocky grin turning up the corner of her mouth. “What? Think I can't hack it?”
“I...” Arielle trailed off, then she smiled. “Seems orcs haven't changed at all since I've been gone.”
Janaza beckoned with her fingers. “Come on.”
Gingerly, Arielle let the orc pick her up, one hand under the elf's rear and the other on the small of her back. Arielle looped her thin arms around Janaza's neck and hung on gamely as the orc adjusted, compensating for the new weight in her arms. The orc looked bemused. “Gonna have to get some food in you once we get back down,” she said. “Vann, lead the way. And try to keep to more stable paths if you could.” She winked at him.
Vann nodded. “Right.” He turned and started downwards again, his palm tingling with the memory of being so close to the elf's pert bottom. A part of him wanted to think about what it would be like, but then again, Arielle had been Rorzan's love. Then again again, the ghost had claimed that they were very loose with their affections.
He pondered what kind of relationship the two might have had as they descended. He avoided small talk with Janaza so that the orc could focus on where her feet were falling, away from icy patches where she could trip and complicate things in a bit way. It was slow going, but with Rorzan scouting ahead to map the path for them, they avoided major catastrophes as they descended from Adagio. Vann felt the temperature rise just a few degrees, not enough to make much of a difference but enough so that his breath didn't frost with every exhalation, and he could see trees in the distance. Beyond them, through a gap in two of the mountains, he could see another forest, this one more dense as it flowed outward from the base of the mountains like a plush green carpet. And even further beyond that, he could see the mists that shrouded the far eastern shores of the West Continent.
Rorzan noticed too, nodding with approval. “Another week or so of walking will get us to the coast. From there, just a matter of finding a ship.”
“What will we do on the East Continent?” Vann asked.
“Haven't planned that far yet!” Rorzan chirped, floating on ahead. “Working on it as we speak, don't you worry.”
Vann sighed and kept walking, and by the time the sun had gone down they were out of the snow and into the trees. It was getting dark by the time they found another cave to hole up in, though they had to chase out an irate bobcat so they could bed down for the night.
The fire they built was bigger than the one they had been able to build atop the mountain, and Arielle looked better than she had just that morning. Though she'd barely eaten, color had returned to her face, her skin a healthy peach color. She was able to keep a full meal down, and her hair seemed to gain a luster that hadn't been there before. While Vann had seen a glimpse of her beauty after freeing her from her crystal prison, only now was he beginning to see her as she'd been, a slender, elegant creature with beautiful hair and eyes that sparkled. He was acutely aware of her body under her shift, her nipples perked from the chill in the air.
The elf was making motions with her hands, her face pinched in concentration. She thrust her palms out suddenly. Nothing happened. She growled and relaxed, her hands closing around her crossed ankles. “Still not much magic in me yet. I don't know when it'll be back.”
Rorzan hovered next to her. “It'll be back in time, Arry.”
She smiled at him. “I know.”
“Spirits, you two are cute,” Janaza said.
Rorzan and Arielle looked at one another, and even though they were separated by barriers of mortality, Vann saw the depth of the connection between him. “Well, he can't exactly show his appreciation for me any more,” Arielle said.
“I will find a way,” Rorzan said, smirking. “And when I do...”
He dipped down, his head vanishing into Arielle's lap. She laughed and squirmed away from him. “You ass!”
Vann averted his eyes, choosing to stare at the cave wall past Janaza. He saw her golden eyes turn towards him, and felt his throat constrict.
“See, now we're balanced out,” Rorzan said, righting himself and floating above the fire. “Equal pairings so nobody's left out of the inevitable orgy that we'll all have.”
Vann made a choked noise as Janaza and Arielle laughed. “How will you get that done when you don't even have a lower half?” the orc asked.
“I will find a way!” Rorzan proclaimed. “And when I do there will be no stopping me or Vann with that massive cock of his that defies belief.”
“Can we not talk about that?” Vann asked, his voice a little squeaky. But he saw Janaza and Arielle exchange a look. The elf's eyes were questioning. The orc simply nodded once, and the elf slowly looked over to him. Her gaze was hungry. Oh, come on, he thought.
“You know you cannot contain me, Vann.” Rorzan had affected a deep, dramatic voice, and it cam
e from below him. He looked down to see Rorzan's ghostly hand emerging from the crotch of his pants, his hand formed in the shape of a mouth. “Free me,” Rorzan said, moving his fingers to mime the hand talking.
“Dammit, Rorzan!” Vann yelled, his face growing red. He got to his feet and stomped out of the cavern, rounding the corner of the rocky outcropping and heading up into the trees. He ducked behind a tree, setting his back to it. He sighed heavily.
“Vann?”
He turned his head. Janaza strode up the slope after him, her eyes concerned. “You okay?”
Vann rapped his knuckles against the rough tree bark. “Yeah, I... yeah...”
The orc folded her arms. “Clearly you're not.”
He looked away from her. He couldn't really talk to her about what was bothering him. She was wild, unfettered and free with her sexuality and he was... not. But for the life of him he didn't know why. Memories of the handjob in the cave came back to him, and he swallowed as he felt himself growing hard again.
Janaza didn't move, waiting for an answer. The proximity of her made the memory stronger, and that only made him get harder and harder. He became acutely aware of the bulge in his pants. The orc's eyes flicked down. “Ah...” she said, smiling at him. “You need someone to take care of you.”
Vann blinked. “Wait, I...”
But then the orc was there, her scent in his nose and her hand cupping him through his pants. “And now that have some more time, I can take care of you in a more proper way...”
Vann squirmed, his fingers gripping the tree. “W-what do you mean?”
“Well, that's up to you,” the orc murmured, leaning close to him. “Do you want me to use my mouth or my pussy? Or maybe both?”
His body was betraying him, responding to her touch, her scent, her presence. The idea of what she promised was enticing, deliciously so, and that made it all the worse for him.
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