Blessed Blades (The Elven-Trinity Book 5)

by Mark Albany

  “Well, they were dead,” Norel said. “I don’t think they cared about dying a little bit more on top of it.”

  I nodded. We started moving—inching, really—through the hole they’d left behind. It was a tight fit. I felt the tunnels still aching to drop on top of us. I didn’t like the feeling and I liked the thought of being buried alive even less, which made me watch my step as we worked our way back to the entrance. I didn’t like the thought of dealing with these creatures in close quarters again, either, and if there were any of them left in here, I didn’t want to tackle them again.

  I just wanted a damn night’s sleep. Was that really too much to ask?

  We moved through the tunnels, finding our way back to the entrance. I smelled the fresh air almost before I saw the light coming through the archway, and I pushed toward it instinctively. I was at the front of our little group, which meant that it was my responsibility to make sure nothing waited for us out there, but all I could think of was how wonderful it was to be out in the open again. Screw the damn monsters for pushing us into the damn place.

  I sucked in a deep breath of fresh air as my eyes adjusted to the light again. It didn’t take long since the sun was already setting, with sunset looking like it was less than an hour away. The days were getting shorter, of course, with winter drawing closer. I estimated that we had been down in the tunnels for about eight hours. That wasn’t a pleasant thought, even if most of it had been spent in a world adjacent to ours.

  It just didn’t seem right. Even with the lushness of the flora and fauna, there were still tiny little flaws, the differences from one pine and oak to the next. More importantly, the sounds of birds and animals made it seem more alive out here than even the most perfect pocket world could be.

  “You seem happy to be back,” Aliana said as she moved up next to me and kissed my cheek.

  “I just didn’t feel right about spending the night in a tomb,” I replied, shaking my head. “No matter how historically significant it’s supposed to be.”

  She chuckled in response and we headed into the forest surrounding us. I took a couple of moments to enjoy the scenery before we moved deeper into it. There was a hint of worry that there might still be monsters out here trying to hunt us down, but the further we went from the tomb and the lower the sun fell, the more our fears went away. It didn’t seem like the monsters had bothered to spare themselves from the attack, making those that we had killed the only ones that were around. More could be coming, of course, but I didn’t want to think about that right now.

  As the sun disappeared behind the mountains to the west, Lyth offered hers and Faye’s services to hunt some food for our evening meal. With the kind of day we’d had, I thought that forgetting to eat couldn’t be held against us. The moment that it was mentioned, though, I realized just how hungry I was and how drained of energy we all were.

  “We’ll find the food,” Lyth said, pulling her bow off her back and quickly stringing it as she walked. “You lot fix up our camp.”

  That did seem fair to my mind. As they veered off in a different direction, I looked around for some wood to use for a fire. That was the thing about the pocket universe, I thought. Sure, it was painting-perfect, but no forest was complete without a couple of trees knocked down by storms, maybe a handful left hollowed out by lightning here or there, gifting some passing travelers with wood to use for warmth.

  I suddenly froze as I felt a pair of arms wrap me up from behind. Braire was there, hugging me tightly. I smiled and leaned back into her embrace, smiling even more as Aliana and Norel both moved in to join us. The pile-up of hugging and kissing that developed was more than welcome as I returned as many as I received.

  “They were worried about you,” Aliana said with a chuckle as we broke away from each other. “Knowing how drained and tired you were, they didn’t think you would make it. Braire was at the point of panicking.”

  “I… panicking might be too strong a word,” Braire grumbled, shaking her head. “We were all worried about you, since we couldn’t find any of the monsters where we had been sealed in. It was easy to assume that they had all gone the way that you had, and it left us feeling a little helpless. All that allowed me to call up old Bertrant back there to tear everything up. It was worth it, I think, just to see him again. I think he likes you.”

  Bertrant. I had to remember that. It was made easier by the fact that it sounded vaguely like bear. I could even shorten it to bear, if I thought it would work.

  Either way, we seemed to be finished with that. Aliana and Braire set up our little campsite while Braire and I gathered what wood was available. During the late fall, there was more than enough of it lying around to make a respectably-sized fire.

  We finished putting the pieces together for the fire as Faye and Lyth returned. As short as their hunting trip had been, it was successful. Lyth had a small white-tailed buck slung over her shoulder.

  I honestly had no idea how she had done it so quickly. There had to be some kind of overlap with the astral projection power that she had, but even that took time, I assumed. It meant that she had been lucky, though, so I didn’t know why Faye had gone with her.

  Maybe it was to allow me and the three sisters to have a moment together after having been parted for most of the day.

  Lyth was quick with her work, smoothly stripping the buck of its skin and easily pulling the guts out. There was something to be said about someone of the royalty like her getting her hands dirty as the rest of us finished setting up camp in comparative silence.

  When she finished skinning and cleaning the meat, I helped her put it on the rack over the fire to be slowly roasted. It would be a little while before the meat was ready to eat. The sky was awash with stars, large parts of it blocked out by the forest around us.

  Despite how tired I was, I was hungrier still, and the smell of meat roasting on a spit over the fire was enough to keep me awake until Lyth started to cut pieces from the flank, the part that was the most cooked.

  Even with the lack of spices and salts, the meat was still smoky and delicious, especially when added to the flatbread that we’d brought along for the journey. Norel had brought some mead as well, which she passed around, but I declined and sipped from the skin of water that we’d brought along.

  After I ate, I leaned back against one of the nearby trees and enjoyed the heat from the fire while still basking in the cool, refreshing evening air. My eyes started to drift shut in contentment. Lyth was drifting off as well, although she appeared to be going into a trance for her astral projection, allowing her to look over the area around us to make sure there weren’t any monsters nearby. Aliana and Faye were talking, although I couldn’t really hearwhat they said. I didn’t know if they were talking in elvish, or if I was just too tired to keep up with what they said.

  I supposed that it didn’t make sense for them to speak in anything other than elvish, since Faye would probably want to reconnect with times past, and Aliana felt more comfortable speaking in her native language.

  I adjusted my position and settled against the tree again, planning to get some much-needed sleep, but Aliana and Faye both came over and sat down next to me.

  “What?” I asked them, a little annoyed that they seemed to want to talk when I wanted to get some sleep.

  “Faye had something she wanted to tell you,” Aliana said softly, and from the feeling I received from her side of the bond, there was something that she wanted to do to me, too.

  I turned my head toward Faye just in time to see her lean closer. Her breasts pressed against my shoulder as her lips met mine in a way that felt rather familiar. She did say that she was the mist-creature that had come up from the gravestone, and that meant she had kissed me before. This time, though, knowing that a punch likely wasn’t going to follow in quick succession, I leaned in and enjoyed it, as surprising as it had been at first.

  “What was that for?” I asked, looking at Aliana, who was watching us with hunger. She licked
her lips and leaned in to kiss my neck as my eyes turned back to Faye, who tilted her head and appeared to be running over what had just happened in her mind.

  “Well, I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t something that I hadn’t wanted to do for a while,” she whispered back to me while leaning in to place light, tender and teasing kisses over my chin and jawline. “If you like, you can call it a very sincere thank you for breaking me free from Abarat’s control.”

  “Well, Lyth had a lot more to do with that than I did,” I pointed out, not sure why I was even talking at this point. Why did I want her to thank Lyth instead of me right now? Decision-making wasn’t going to be my strong suit at this point. It hadn’t been for a long time.

  “Well, I think I can thank her later,” Faye said softly. “She appears to be busy at the moment.”

  I looked over at Lyth, who did seem like she was deep in her trance, too deep for any thanking of this kind. I did want to be around if that ever happened, though.

  Odd where the mind went when there were two women running their hands and lips over me, I mused. Not much could be said that wouldn’t have them thinking about what was happening, not even when Norel and Braire approached. From the way that their eyes were on us, I could tell that their intent was to join, not stop what was happening.

  “From what Faye’s been telling me, I think she means to provide a good deal more thanking, too,” Aliana whispered in my ear, close and hot enough that I felt her lips and tongue lightly brush my earlobe as she pulled me closer.

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked, looking at her as she pressed tight to me. Her clothes were already gone, I realized, and as I thought about it, so were Faye’s. I wondered if she wore the same kind of clothes that Aliana did. Well, neither of them was currently wearing clothes, but…

  No, it wasn’t time to think about what they were or weren’t wearing. Norel and Braire joined in as well, also wearing less than when they’d walked over, and from the way that Aliana’s and Faye’s hands were moving, I would soon join them. I let out a low moan as Aliana’s hands undid my trousers and Faye’s moved over the growing bulge pressing against her hand.

  “Oh fuck,” I whispered as Aliana pushed the trousers down far enough that my cock came free from the confines, right into Faye’s waiting hands. I didn’t know how they were doing it, working in tandem like this, but I was very interested in finding out the results. I pulled Aliana closer and pressed my lips to hers as Faye kissed her way to my chest, now bare as Aliana tugged my shirt off and tossed it off to the side. Faye’s kisses continued down over my chest and stomach while her fingers slowly ran up and down my shaft. Braire and Norel had settled nearby and undressed each other, giving me something to watch as Faye moved closer to my cock, her fingers playing with the head as her tongue flicked out to play with the balls and the base of the shaft.

  “Well… you’ve done this before,” I whispered, trying to keep my mind working as she kept toying with and teasing me. I sucked in a deep breath as she looked up into my eyes, smiling.

  “Perhaps this would make you feel more comfortable?” she asked, tilting her head, and I realized that her hair had changed back to the golden locks that she’d had before, and her features looked a lot more human as well.

  “How… What?” I asked, watching as she leaned in and took the head between her lips, massaging the balls underneath with her hands as she slowly started to suck on my cock. Aliana shifted over, licking her lips as she moved in behind Faye and placed light kisses around her neck and shoulders. Aliana’s hands were stroking over my parted thighs, her finger playing on my bare skin as she moaned softly and slowly moved down Faye’s body, hands finding her breasts and kneading them before moving deeper between her legs. I shuddered as I heard and felt Faye’s moans vibrating against me, her lips moving further and further down my shaft. Braire and Norel grew interested as a shimmer of movement across Faye revealed that she seemed to be able to change her form again and again, making me realize that her looking more human hadn’t been a trick of the firelight, but rather something that she seemed able to do on a regular basis.

  My thoughts, of course, were interrupted when I saw Norel move in behind Faye and dip her head between the fae woman’s legs and join Aliana’s teasing fingers with her tongue, making the vibrating moans from Faye’s lips more intense. I gasped for breath as Aliana dipped her head between my thighs as well, her lips sucking gently at my balls as I watched Braire start to play with herself.

  “Over here,” I growled softly, pointing for her to join me near the tree. She followed my instructions, coming over and pressing her lips to mine while pulling herself closer, then grabbed my hand and pushed it between her thighs, fingers running over her already-drenched pussy. I licked my lips before pressing them to hers again, moaning softly as Faye picked up the pace with her mouth on my cock, working together with Aliana again. I felt a bond starting to form between me and her, starting with Norel’s tongue slipping inside her then stroking and caressing her clit before pushing in as deep as it would go. Faye wasn’t the only one here who knew what she was doing.

  “Fuck,” I heard her whisper as she pulled herself up from Norel’s ministrations. I could tell that she was close to a climax, or it seemed liked it, anyway, as she pulled me away from where I was still working on Braire, and pushed her to move over to where Aliana and Norel were now playing with each other.

  “How do you do that?” I asked, watching as her physique changed again, back to her more fae-like appearance with the silvery hair. She smiled, tilting her head as she dropped onto her hands and knees, inviting me to come in behind her as she pulled Norel closer and returned the favor of burying her head between the elf woman’s thighs, hungrily tasting what I knew to be a delicious pussy. I guided my cock into her, pushing my hips forward, and felt her tight walls wrap around me.

  “Gods…” I whispered. As tired as I was, I enjoyed the sensation of my magical power being filled to the brim again as I felt Braire pushed over the edge. Her powerful orgasm crashed into me through our bond, and pushed me to start pumping my cock in and out of Faye’s tight, warm body at a faster pace. I couldn’t help myself. Aliana felt like she would be cumming soon as well, watching as she rode Norel’s mouth avidly, letting Norel slip her tongue inside her.

  The sight was arousing enough that I pushed harder, fucking Faye roughly. Fresh fire rushed through my veins in spite of my exhaustion. I felt Aliana and Norel cumming at the same time, suddenly joined by Faye. Her warm pussy wrapped tighter around me all of a sudden, drawing a hard gasp from me as I pulled her back to meet my hips driving forward. I licked my lips as the moans started to mix with the wet sounds of our sex. I growled softly and pulled her closer to me, my hips pushing deeper and harder. I couldn’t stop when she, Aliana, Norel, and Braire all seemed to cum in a sudden, overwhelming wave that crashed into me. All the sensations washed over me to the point where I didn’t even realize that my hips were bucking into Faye hard enough to push her forward as my cock twitched inside her, my cum mixing with hers as I bent over her, pushing myself deeper, trying to understand what had just happened.

  “Oh… what… wow…” I whispered, and I could tell that the four of them were in a similarly wordless state as I pulled her closer to me, hands running slowly over her body, stroking her bare, smooth skin and cupping her breasts, toying with the nipples.

  Having four orgasms suddenly crash against mine was something that I was struggling to comprehend, and the high lasted longer than I thought was possible. By the time my mind came back to the ground, I was lying on my back, with Faye’s head on my chest.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Plenty,” she whispered, licking her lips. “I’d heard about the elves’ ability to bond with each other during sex, but that wasn’t quite…what I was expecting, in the best of ways.”

  “They do tend to be like that,” I murmured, reaching over and running my hand over Aliana’s bare skin, and then Norel
’s. And then Braire’s too, when she growled at me.

  “Well, yes, but then there are few people that experienced more than I have, and that was something that I never experienced,” Faye whispered, looking up at me and licking her lips. I realized that, in the firelight, her appearance had changed again, making her look a little like Aliana, with the glowing horns for matching effect. I tilted my head, trying to understand.

  “The fae are shapeshifters,” Faye explained, pulling herself on top of me and grinding herself slowly against my body. “We can take on any appearance that we’ve seen before. I think for someone in the kind of situation that you find yourself in, that would be something…interesting.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I think she means that she would like to try fucking you with me, while looking like me,” Aliana said, moving closer and tenderly kissing Faye’s lips, pulling her over just enough that there was enough room on me for her to join and kiss my lips as well.

  “That… would be interesting,” I admitted. It was an interesting concept, I supposed, but I didn’t have much time to think about it. Even with my power restored thanks to the sex we’d had, it didn’t change the fact that it had been a very long day for all of us. Norel and Braire had already fallen asleep in each other’s arms, and I wasn’t far behind. Aliana wasn’t either, and neither was Faye.

  As I drifted off for the second time tonight, my eyes turned toward Lyth, who was still sitting across the fire from us. I did notice that her eyes were open, and she looked like she was rather interested in what she saw.

  I couldn’t help a smile as I pulled some blankets over us, covering all of us partly out of modesty, and partly because I knew that the cold would touch us during the night. Well, not Aliana, but the rest of us needed some warmth.

  Lyth chuckled, shook her head, and looked out into the woods, although it seemed like she was trying to get some sleep as well.