Elven Mage's Submissive Passion

by Reed James

  We still had plenty of the day left.

  Like the last group of Rockbite Kobolds, these ones had signs of the blight infecting them. It was creeping up in the plant life, too, yellow grass spotted with purple dots. We passed the occasional tree with shriveling leaves. It made me nervous.

  What were we marching into?

  Around midday, on our fourth plateau, we found the bridge had been collapsed. It dangled down on the far side of the ravine. The fog had grown less thick with the sun overhead. We were on a small plateau.

  “Is there another way across?” I asked.

  Kulri shook her head. “Not that I can see, Marcus Aurelius.”

  “We could backtrack,” I said. “There was another bridge leading off the second plateau.”

  “It is an option,” said Dëshoma. “Though it means the last few hours were for naught if we are forced to retrace much of our progress.”

  “Yeah.” I glanced at the far end. “Shame we don't have an archer.”

  “Archer?” Twist asked while Maria bent down and examined the remaining rope on this side.

  “Yeah. We could tie a rope to the arrow and she could fire it at the planks. Then we could pull it up and reknot it. It would be faster than backtracking.”

  “We could throw the lightest of us across the chasm,” the elf suggested.

  Twist broke into a hissing laugh.

  “What?” gasped Éjyona as I glanced at her. “Wait, why me?”

  “Marcus could throw you across it,” Kulri said.

  “Maybe,” I muttered, staring across.

  “We'd tie a rope around your waist,” Twist said. “So if Marcus fails, well, you won't fall too far.”

  “Just swinging into the cliff face,” Éjyona muttered.

  “Brace with your legs,” Twist suggested.

  “It is a sound plan,” the elf said. “Once across, you scramble down the bridge to the bottom, tie the rope to it, and we can pull it up and fix the bridge to get across.”

  “Twist can do that,” Éjyona muttered.

  “I weigh three times as much as you,” the dragonborn said.

  The halfling sighed, looking down at her nearly naked body. The tassels dangling from her leather pasties fluttered in the breeze. “This is the price I pay for not being fat.”

  “What does that mean?” growled Twist.

  “I'll do it, Marcus,” the halfling said and unslung her gun. She shoved it into her magical belt pouch, the small container swallowing it up. “Anyone have rope?”

  “I do,” Twist said, her voice holding a malicious edge.

  “The bridge was cut,” Maria said, standing up. “Not frayed. It was cut with a blade. I think recently. There's no weathering on the exposed parts.”

  “Who would do that?” I asked. “The kobolds?”

  Maria gave a helpless shrug.

  “It doesn't matter,” I muttered. “We'll fix it and cross.”

  Soon, Éjyona was tied up. I picked up her light body by the waist. She had a nervous look on her face. I took a deep breath. Javelin throws in track and field took a running start, right? It made sense. A little extra momentum.

  I roared and charged forward. She squeaked. I pounded to the cliff edge and threw her forward. I skidded to a halt as she flew out from me. Her silvery hair flashed in the sunlight. The rope played out as she flew farther than I should have been able to throw her.

  But I was a Shardhunter. My Strength went up with every level I gained. She arched over the chasm and then plunged down.

  I clutched my end of the rope as she shrieked, dropping. Would she land on the other side? Or would she just miss? A sudden fear shot through me. What if she hit the far side of the cliff and injured herself. Then she would swing into the rocks below us, unable to brace herself with her legs. She could be badly injured.

  Then she landed on the other side. She hit right on the edge. She gasped, arms windmilling. She tottered, leaning out. I held tight to the rope, ready to start pulling her in if she were to fall. Sweat tumbled down my brow.

  She caught herself.

  “Aphounga's shattered sword!” she screeched. She whirled around and then flashed a thumbs up.

  She climbed down the bridge with ease, treating it like a ladder. She undid the rope on her waist and attached it to the bottom. Then she scrambled back up it with ease. She reached the top and grinned. I hauled. It creaked up and up until it was level. Fresh rope was knotted to it, Twist making the knots. She seemed to know strong splices to join two ropes together.

  I crossed alone, hiding my fear that the repairs wouldn't hold. But they did. I reached the other side. Dëshoma crossed next, her face pale and halo fluttering, but her confidence was mounting after several crossings.

  On the other side, another flock of red-feather vultures attacked us. They savaged us, claws scratching at faces. Magic burst through the air, Kulri's arcane burst killing three. Éjyona's gun fired. I hacked and slashed. We finished even more battered. Dëshoma was nearly out of Magic Points, Kulri too. I had enough TP and MP to get off an attack each and was down a quarter of my Hit Points.

  “They're even more blighted than the last flock,” Kulri noted.

  “Maybe the bridge was cut to quarantine this plateau,” I muttered, looking around. The patches of blight looked larger. Wilted tufts of grass dotted the rolling hills.

  “Perhaps,” Kulri said.

  Should we turn back? That question rippled through me as I stared out ahead of us. We had magic. So far, we hadn't gotten sick. If there was something blighting this land, it wasn't natural. That screamed a goal. A quest to accomplish.

  We pressed on.

  * * / *

  Kulrigiizhai

  “I do not like the look of those clouds,” Maria muttered a quarter hour after the fight with the vultures.

  The elf lifted her gaze to the clouds north of them. They were dark and approaching them. Lightning flashed through them, illuminating their interior for a moment. A few heartbeats later, thunder growled around them.

  “They do not look like rain clouds I have seen,” the elf said.

  “Weather's probably fairly extreme up here,” Marcus Aurelius muttered. “It's coming for us, isn't it?”

  Kulrigiizhai nodded. Her ears felt the wind's intensity picking up. Grass rippled around them. The scent of electricity filled her nose. The dark clouds approached, the ground before them swallowed up by the shadows the storm cast.

  “It's not raining as of yet,” said Kulrigiizhai.

  “Wind's picking up,” Marcus muttered.

  Iris landed on his shoulder. She grabbed a lock of his black hair, holding it as she stared up. Her wings fluttered. Does she sense something, Kulrigiizhai wondered. She had very little MP left. She could cast two spells, or three if she only used Arcane Shield. But what good would that do her if cast three times?

  The wind blew fiercer. Her hair whipped in it now. Her robes fluttered behind her. She felt it gusting over her exposed nipples. Marcus lifted his hand against it. Iris clutched tighter to him. The elf stared up at the clouds. It roared.

  Like that bear. Suffering. Hurt. Sadness filled the elf. She did not understand why.

  Lightning chained through the clouds, illuminating them. Patches were lighter or darker. Her brow furrowed. One was very dark. Black. It was small, but... Unease rippled at her. There was something in the storm. The clouds boiled, rippled around it.

  Before she could cry warning, the shape burst out of the clouds. Winds spread wide. Wet scales gleamed gray. A long neck thrust from its body. It snarled as it rushed down at them. Electricity flickered from the tendril-like whiskers dangling from its chin.

  “Storm Dragon!” she cried.

  Its maw opened. White-blue arcs of current zapped from its teeth. Fear rippled over her skin as Marcus cursed. He set his shield. Twist and Éjyona Vanished. A bolt of sizzling lightning arched down. It broke off into a dozen branches as it crackled at them.

  It struck.


  Pain exploded through Kulrigiizhai. Her Hit Points dwindled. She screamed as she flew back and hit the ground. Flesh sizzled. Maria lay prone near her, body twitching. Marcus fell to his knees, snarling through clenched teeth. Dëshoma whimpered on her side.

  The dragon hurtled down at them.

  Chapter Twelve: Dragon's Fury

  “Fuck!” I snarled as the dragon pulled out of its dive and soared over us.

  The wind of its passion lashed over me. I snarled and forced myself back to my feet. I shoved my right hand into my pouch and snagged a Potion of Mild Angel's Passion. I quaffed it in a single gulp.

  The enhanced pussy juices surged healing energy through me, bringing my HP up near half-full. Groans echoed around me as the dragon swooped around. Its gray-scaled hide gleamed wet. Black and purple patches of corrosion marred it in places.

  Infected. Great.

  “Get up!” I bellowed. “It's coming back.”

  Éjyona rippled from her Vanish and fired several rapid shots that struck the dragon's head and neck. It didn't crash to the ground, stunned. RNGesus wasn't blessing us right now. Everyone was trashed. Maria drank her own healing potion followed by Éjyona. Kulri began casting as she rose from her crouch, holding her Swiftsong Yew Staff before her. The songbird carved to perch atop the pale-white wood almost seemed to trill a song as she finished chanting.

  Three arcane shards lanced out and struck the dragon. Another shot from Éjyona's blunderbuss struck the dragon. I rushed forward, shield set low. Maria moved out along to my right, opening up the distance so she could rush in when it landed.

  “Come on,” I growled.

  Dëshoma's healing magic surged into me, bringing me up towards near full HP. The dragon landed. Kulri chanted to my right as the dragon's wings spread wide. The cancerous blight had spread down the wing bones. It had eaten small holes in the thin membrane stretched between the digits. It flapped hard and lighting burst from it.

  Arcane shards flew from Kulri's staff as the lightning struck the ground, not us.

  “What is it doing?” I muttered as I charged forward at it.

  The places where the lightning hit burst into whirling storm clouds. They sped past me, mini-tornadoes crackling with thunder. I reached the dragon and slammed my ax into its snout, delivering a Hard Strike, using up the last of my TP.

  Blood spurted. The dragon snarled. Teeth snapped down at me.

  * * / *

  Dëshoma

  “Storm elementals!” squeaked Iris as the two whirling cyclones rushed past Marcus.

  Dëshoma halted, close enough to rush to Marcus to heal him but also where she could support Kulrigiizhai and Éjyona as they hung back. The Cleric's head whirled to track the left storm. It rushed at Kulrigiizhai.

  The elf thrust her hand into her pocket. Dëshoma could sense the Wizard was out of magic. She produced a milky potion and downed it. But then the storm elemental was upon her. Lightning crackled out from it, striking the elf.

  She shrieked in pain.

  “Allow the positive energy to suffuse mine ally with healthy endurance!” Dëshoma cast, clutching her bible and focusing on the elf. The other storm elemental went for the halfling while the dragon's teeth crunched into Marcus's shield.

  Her miracle, powered by her knowledge of arcane theory, engulfed Kulrigiizhai as the elf chanted her own spell. The radiance sparkled across her skin, slowly healing her as the storm elemental fired another bolt of lightning.

  A flash of purple engulfed Kulrigiizhai. The lightning struck her and a small amount reflected back into the elemental. Its winds quivered. It gusted with annoyance. Kulrigiizhai backpedaled and chanted her spell. Arcane shards slammed into the cyclone.

  Be safe, thought Dëshoma as she pulled out her own Mild Potion of Angel Milk to restore her dwindling reserves of magic.

  * * / *

  Twist

  The rogue stalked invisible around the dragon. Gunfire burst from Éjyona as the halfling retreated back from the storm elemental. She pumped her bullets into the whirling clouds, ripping through the winds and disrupting their swirl. Kulri's Hit Points fluctuated, going up as Dëshoma's miracle slowly repaired her wounds but dropping as the second elemental zapped her with lightning.

  “Everything burns!” snarled the dragon in Draconese, the tongue of the dragons. “Itches. Tears. Digs. Festers! PAIN!”

  I'll put you out of your pain, thought Twist.

  Marcus held the dragon's attention. It snapped jaws down into his shield. Lightning crackled from its teeth. He snarled through the pain, taking minor damage even when he blocked. He hacked with his ax, cutting into its side. Maria thrust with her rapier, landing precise strikes.

  Twist reached the dragon's side. She unleashed Knife Flurry as she came out of her Vanish. The dragon wasn't prepared for the sudden ambush. Her sacrificial dagger slashed into the hide, leaving bloody ribbons behind. The dragon snarled. A wing slammed down at Twist.

  She dodged and thrust her blade into the dragon's side, her legs moving as the dragon pivoted. Marcus snarled, hacking hard. The wings flapped hard, wind gusting around Twist. She grinned as she fought the beast.

  Its tail whipped around.

  She twisted to dodge it. The blow hit her in the back. She hit the side of the dragon's flank and fell on the ground coughing. She struggled to move, stunned by the hard blow, wheezing to catch her breath. The dragon's foot raised up and crunched down on her.

  She plummeted to critical Hit Points.

  Get your scaly ass up! Twist hissed at herself, struggling to move her body, but the tail slap left her dazed.

  * * / *

  “Dëshoma!” I shouted, my Hit Points bleeding out of me from the lightning bursting off the dragon's attacks that struck my shield and armor. “Twist!”

  “Yes, Lord Marcus! Let mine understanding of the positive energy of this world...”

  I threw a glance behind me. Kulri weathered lightning bolts and fired another spell into the storm elemental. The arcane shards ripped through its winds. Her Hit Points were nearing critical. Dëshoma's HoT was about to wear off, too.

  “Maria, go help...” The storm elemental dissipated. “Never mind.”

  “...flow out and heal my companion!” Dëshoma's miracle finished casting and hit points surged into Twist.

  Gunshots echoed. Éjyona had kited her enemy with skill, a maneuver that let her lead the enemy away from the rest of us, dealing it damage while she stayed out of its range. She killed the storm elemental with skill. Now we just had to deal with the dragon. I hacked into it, my Hit Points dropping past the midway point.

  Dëshoma was already chanting.

  The dragon roared. It reared up, blood spurting from Twist's next attack. The dragon's front paw swiped down at me. It struck my shield and battered through my defenses. Claws tore through my breastplate and threw me back. I hit the ground hard, my Hit Points plummeting towards zero. The attack then struck Maria as she tried to twist.

  She screamed as it ripped deep into her flesh, delivering a critical hit. She tumbled and hit the ground, bleeding badly. She struggled to stand as the jaws snapped down at her. The dragon sensed weakness.

  “Fuck!” I snarled as healing magic suffused me. “Maria!”

  * * / *

  Maria du Marne

  Death swooped down at the human. Pain blazed across her body. She bled badly. It had almost killed her. She had a handful of Hit Points left. She sheathed her parrying dagger and then thrust her hand for her pouch to grab a potion, knowing that she wouldn't pull it out in time. Dëshoma's ranged healing spells took too long to cast.

  “Now!” Dëshoma shouted and thrust her bible up. Her purple skirts suddenly fluttered up, flashing her panties.

  Healing energy dumped into Maria. It was like Dëshoma had used her Healing Touch miracle at the range. Maria's body trembled as her Hit Points rose a fraction before the electrified fangs sank into her arm and bit down hard.

  She screamed as her health plum
meted toward the critical. The dragon ripped its teeth from her flesh, leaving the redhead snarling at the pain. She had two HP remaining. She pulled out that potion and downed it before the dragon could attack again.

  Then Marcus stood over her and slashed his ax into the dragon. She drank her potion as the next attack slammed into his shield. Sparks burst from it, the electricity arcing into Marcus. He snarled and slammed his ax hard into the beast's neck.

  Maria rose to her feet and rushed in. She barely had a quarter of her Hit Points, but she charged up beside her party leader. She screamed her battle cry, red hair flying about her. The savage fringe on her bra fluttered, full of the same fury that animated her.

  She plunged her shadowy blade into the dragon's neck. It roared in pain. Marcus's ax hit it. Twist's knife slashed and stabbed. Three arcane shards slammed into the dragon's neck. Blood spurted, the air sizzling.

  The dragon's wings spread wide again. The lightning struck the ground. More storm elementals burst into life. They howled in fury as the dragon roared in pain. A bullet struck its shoulder. Maria's sword stabbed into its exposed throat.

  The storm elementals whirled for Twist.

  * * / *

  Twist

  “Rūzem's greasy touch!” the dragonborn hissed as the whirling twisters rushed at her. “Me?”

  They surged in at her, lightning crackling from their vortices. She twisted, dodging the first blast that shot past her head. The next struck her in the side. Her forked tongue fluttered in her mouth from the hit. Her body shuddered as the current ran through her.

  Then they were on her.

  “Shit, help Twist, Maria!” Marcus cried. “Dëshoma, drop any support you can on her!”

  “I have thisssss!” Twist snarled. She activated her Dragonbreath Boiled Leather straps. She felt the flames, no different from whatever the dragon who had fucked her mother had breathed, blazing in her lungs. She exhaled.

  A gout of fire burst out before her. A sweep of flames that set ablaze the grass and swallowed the whirling elementals. For a moment, the dragonborn felt the heady rush of destruction. Her body trembled as she exhaled the last of the flames.