Tested by the Night

by Maxine Mansfield

  “So you’ve finally come to try and take back the spear your Queen Adrina gifted to my people so long ago? Mooktar told me to be expecting you. He says you are on a quest of some type?”

  Mia’s mouth fell open, and the Sen Jeasa continued. “Don’t look so surprised, young princess. Do you really think your god Draka is the one and only spiritual entity in the entire universe?”

  Mia shook her head, and the shaman chuckled. “Of course, you don’t, deary.”

  Then the Sen Jeasa of Mooktar became completely serious. “But I’m afraid you’ve traveled a very great distance for nothing. Queen Adrina’s spear must remain where it is. It’s the only object, in all of Albrath, cold enough to slow the flow of the lava. Without it, this volcano would most certainly erupt, and my people would all die.”

  Mia gulped and fingered the hilt of the blade in the pocket of her breeks. “I only need the spear for a very short time, and I’ve brought a…a replacement.”

  Pulling the object from her pocket, she held out the jeweled dagger for all to see. The blood red gemstones encrusted upon the dagger’s hilt glittered in the smoky light and matched perfectly the color of the molten lava swirling around them, and its blade sparkled a cold icy blue. “My mother, Queen Lizbeth Hammerstrike, imbued this dagger herself with her very own hands. She enchanted each and every gemstone with perseverance and infused the blade with the power of an ice so cold it cannot melt. At least, not for quite some time.”

  Mia took a steadying breath. “You see, she’s a very powerful enchantress amongst my people. And though I realize this piece of metal and gemstone is not nearly as powerful as Queen Adrina’s spear, perhaps it can take its place for a short time. Just long enough that I can use the spear in order to fulfill my quest. I’ll return it to your safekeeping as quickly as I can. I give you my word.”

  The Sen Jeasa of Mooktar shook her head. “Barbarians are not to be trusted. Everyone knows this. Your people have been trying to steal back what their very own queen gifted us with for centuries.” She turned her back on Mia. “Why should I believe anything you have to say, Princess? Why should I even care about your silly little quest? And why would I ever take such a dangerous chance with the lives of my people? You and yours mean little if not nothing at all to the ogre nation. Be gone from this place and never return.”

  Mia tried to no avail to swallow past the lump forming in her throat. All this way just to be turned down? There must be something else she could say, something she could do? Something she hadn’t yet thought of? Some other angle perhaps? Anything?

  It was on the tip of her tongue to beg when suddenly Ohfeelya spoke up. “I mean no disrespect, but you are wrong, oh wise shaman. The spear needs—must go with Mia. It’s…it’s sick, and Mia is the only one who can see it healed. At least, I—I think she’s the only one. Somehow, she’s as tied to the destiny of Queen Adrina’s spear and to the continued wellbeing of the ogre nation as we are.”

  The Sen Jeasa of Mooktar turned toward Mia and roared. “How dare you bring this charlatan of a holy woman onto my mountain? Into my presence and the presence of our god?”

  Mia shook her head. “No, no, no. Ohfeelya isn’t a holy anything. She’s my friend. I don’t know why she’d say what she did. Perhaps the heat is getting to her?”

  She expected the ogress leader to explode with anger right before her eyes, but it was Talmuk, the warlord, whose voice she heard next. “Calm yourself, Sen Jeasa. I told you the little ogress they called Ohfeelya was special, didn’t I? I sent you a missive last evening. You did receive it, did you not?”

  The Sen Jeasa nodded, and Talmuk continued.

  “I’ll tell you now as I told you then. I can feel the very same power emanating from her that I do from you and this mountain. Perhaps this barbarian princess has brought us something far more powerful than her dagger of ice? Perhaps she has brought us your next apprentice. The very same alcolate we’ve all been praying so diligently for.”

  The ogress suddenly smiled, and her long, yellowed canines made indentations into her chin. “Perhaps she has. Yes, perhaps she has at that.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Darkness surrounded her, and Mia lay on her side listening to the soft, subtle, sounds of the night mixed with Talon’s not so quiet snores. What a day it had been. Queen Adrina’s spear was safely in her possession. The dagger of ice magic her mother had gifted her with resided temporarily in the spear’s place. And on the morrow, they’d head back to The Academy of Magical Arts. The second of her three quests complete. And she hadn’t even had to use her Mystic powers of persuasion or her increased knowledge from the potion of increased intelligence to accomplish her task. It seemed fate itself had stepped in and solved all her problems very nicely.

  She should be happy, ecstatic even. So why wasn’t she?

  She punched her pillow for good measure and flipped onto her back. The continued goodwill and health of one Miss Ohfeelya Upz was why Mia wasn’t happy, and she didn’t have the first clue as to what to do about it.

  Her gnome-ogre friend wouldn’t be traveling back with the rest of them tomorrow. Oh, no. Ohfeelya had volunteered to be a willing hostage of sorts for these people and wouldn’t be stepping one foot out of Oreeghan until Mia returned Queen Adrina’s spear, good as new, to its rightful owners and place. That was, if her mother, the queen, was even capable of imbuing the power back into the spear in the first place, as Mia had promised she would.

  But could it be done? Was it possible?

  Perhaps Aunt’s Briar and Lark could help Queen Lizbeth with the spear? Perhaps even Uncle Leeky and Aunt Laycee could lend a hand in some way? And if she became desperate, truly desperate, she could even ask, her instructor, High Mystic Purrell, to put his big brain to the task. Or Head Mistress Seychelle’s enchanter abilities. After all, restoring Queen Adrina’s spear to its original power wasn’t part of her original quest and so help with the restoration of its icy powers shouldn’t be outside the realm of her stringent guidelines.

  Even though she still didn’t enjoy talking with the man, she’d have to ask Alistair in the morning, to be sure.

  Mia cringed.

  Fixing the spear, if it was even fixable, was one thing, but how on Albrath was she ever going to explain to Leeky and Laycee Shortz why their precious niece was now an ogre captive? And though it was true, Ohfeelya was staying of her own volition and was being treated more like a princess than a prisoner, right this moment anyway, the fact remained she wasn’t free to simply roam about and do as she liked. And she certainly wasn’t free to leave.

  Eyes were on her at all times.

  Talmuk’s eyes to be precise.

  Talmuk’s hungry, seeking, ever questioning eyes.

  Mia shuddered.

  The great warlord was probably considered quite handsome and sought after amongst his people, but to her, he was just plain scary with his razor sharp canines and his bulky muscles. At least he was a frightening sight until he glanced Ohfeelya’s way.

  Mia had to admit Talmuk wasn’t the least bit terrifying when he was in Ohfeelya’s presence. As a matter of fact, the big oaf melted before her like a cuddly, ogre-like, teddy bear.

  She smiled as the realization came to her that what she’d once thought was flirtation aimed in her direction had probably been meant for her ogre-gnome friend all along.

  But did the reality that Talmuk obviously liked Ohfeelya with more than a passing fancy exonerate Mia from deserting her friend to whatever ogre whims the Sen Jeasa and the warlord might think up in her absence? Was becoming ruling queen someday really more important than the possible safety, the wellbeing of an innocent? A friend?

  Not that she didn’t know beyond any shadow of a doubt that with leadership came the necessity to make hard choices when hard choices needed to be made, for she did. After all, how many times as she was growing up had she watched as her father sent his most trusted men off on this or that important mission.

  Most of the time those men ret
urned unscathed, but at times they didn’t. And there were even those very rare times when they hadn’t retuned at all, at least not as they’d been when they left Alaria. Even worse, on a couple of occasions, very good men under the direct orders of King Adan Hammerstrike had been returned cold and lifeless, in a plain pine box or in pieces.

  Mia shuddered again.

  Being a true ruler meant making hard choices even when that ruler would rather not, and she knew that, had always known it. But what she was having trouble grasping was exactly where the line was drawn between putting people at risk for self-gain as opposed to putting them at risk for the welfare and the good of the barbarian nation as a whole.

  Mia gulped.

  What kind of horrible person allowed her friends to step up and put themselves in danger for her own needs? In reality, anyone with half a brain could effectively rule the barbarian nation, couldn’t they? But friends, true friends were few and far between.

  Talon and his cousin had put themselves in danger for her in Bane and now Ohfeelya here in Mooktar. It wasn’t to be borne.

  She promised herself then and there, it wouldn’t happen again. For in the end, a crown being placed upon her unworthy female head wasn’t equal compensation for the wellbeing of a friend, any friend? At least not adequate compensation. That was for sure.

  She was on the verge of shaking the big barbarian sleeping next to her awake, of collecting her entire little group, including Ohfeelya, and giving the ogre’s back Queen Adrina’s spear when Talon gathered her into his big strong arms and squeezed.

  “Stop torturing yourself, Princess, and get some sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us on the morrow, and all your thrashing about, sighing, and pillow punching will wake the dead.” He tucked her in close, the beat of his heart steady, sure, and comforting through the thick wall of his chest. “It was Ohfeelya’s decision to make, Mia, not yours. And one she made willingly.”

  “But I can’t allow it,” Mia cried. “What if Mother can’t fix the stupid spear? What if I can’t get back here before the dagger loses its power? What if Ohfeelya and an entire race of people perish because of me? I can’t live with that possibility, that responsibility on my conscious, Talon. I simply can’t. To VoT with the stupid crown and being queen of the barbarians someday. It’s not worth it.”

  She gulped.

  Talon rubbed her back. “Stop it, Mia. Stop second guessing yourself. Your judgment has always been sound. It’s one of the things I love about you. And the what-ifs of the world will only serve to drive you crazy if you allow them.”

  He kissed her temple. “I mean, what if, by chance, the sun didn’t rise in the morning? Would that be your fault, too? And what if all the stars in the sky suddenly rained down upon Albrath? Or what if a random lightning bolt took the life of someone you cared for? Would you blame yourself?”

  Talon could feel Mia ramping up for yet another bout of self-incrimination and to stop it before it could start, he pressed his mouth against hers, sweeping his tongue across the seam of her lips.

  With a sigh, she relented and opened to him.

  She tasted of wild Mooktar mountain berries this evening, tart and yet sweet, mixed with equal portions of passion and anxiety. He took the kiss deeper, thrusting his tongue in and out of her mouth with the very same motion his VoT-hard cock longed for. And she kissed him back, tit for tat, giving, receiving, warring, and surrendering.

  When the kiss finally ended, he nuzzled the tender skin of her neck. “Ohfeelya is doing what she’s doing because she believes in you, not because you demanded it of her. I believe in you. We all do. Now, all you need do is love this barbarian back for a little while and believe in yourself.”

  “But—but,” she cried.

  “No buts.” He glanced up at her and winked. “At least not yet.”

  His hand caressed a breast, full and soft and yielding, with its rosy nipple pert and begging for a kiss and a quick nip. “How about if we start a little higher than that sweet, little ass of yours?”

  He latched his lips around the pebbly hard nipple and sucked.

  Mia gasped, and then moaned. “Oh, that’s nice, very nice.”

  He chuckled.

  She was like warm butter in his hands, all soft and silky smooth, and the closeness of her enticing scent wafted all around them and mixed with his musky arousal. It was a heady concoction and one that had him hardening almost to the point of pain.

  He kissed her again. The tip of her cute little nose, the edge of her delectable lips, her cheeks, her earlobes, and her neck before going back, fully capturing her mouth, and luxuriating in her essence. She tasted like what he’d always thought a queen would taste, exotically sweet mixed with a hint of something tart, combined with power—true, undeniable power. It emanated all around her, seeped from her very pores.

  Mia Hammerstrike herself might be confused about her destiny, but Talon Starkweather wasn’t in the least. He knew exactly what she was and what she’d someday become. It humbled him to touch her like this, to comfort her, to love her if even for a short time. His cock pulsed, making its demands upon his mind and body.

  How he needed this woman even more than his next heartbeat or breath.

  “I’d like to draw this out all night and pleasure you for hours on end.” He sighed into her neck as his cock rocked against her, seeking her heat, her moist opening. “But God Draka help me, I can’t this time, Mia. I need you too badly. I must be inside you this very moment.”

  She had the audacity to giggle, and he swatted her on the rump. “Laugh now, but it’ll be your sighs and screams of pleasure I’ll be hearing in a moment, minx.”

  He rose up on his knees and brought her with him, sitting back and positioning her directly in front of him, on his lap, with her legs spread wide and her knees up against the outside of his hips. He took a warm, soft breast into each of his hands and tweaked her nipples again before wrapping his arms around her. He hauled her snug up against his chest and captured her mouth once more. In the same motion, he slid his hands to her ass and lifted her high enough to impale himself deep within her moist, tight, awaiting heat.

  She did sigh then as her sleek pussy enveloped him, and with a smile, he grasped her hips, and over and over, he thrust and thrust and thrust.

  Her pussy was like warmed liquid silk caressing his cock, and he almost shot his load with his very first strokes. He didn’t though. He held himself in check with every bit of willpower he possessed.

  For the trickling of sand through a full hourglass, he’d listened to Mia’s anguish, wracking his brain as to what he could do to ease her suffering. Plunging in and out of her sweet pussy, driving her wild with ecstasy was all he’d come up with. He hoped it would be enough.

  The red mist of barbarian lust threatened to overcome him, and he fought it back. Tonight wasn’t for him. This was for Mia.

  Instead of allowing the lust fog to descend, he slipped a single finger between her folds, found her little nub of pleasure, and stroked, hard and fast.

  She gasped, then moaned, as she suddenly took over the rhythm of their lovemaking.

  He allowed it without even a thought and simply sat back enjoying the sight of her satisfying herself upon his cock. Her rich cinnamon tresses playfully slapped her ass as the muscles of her thighs contracted and then relaxed as she rode him. Her head was thrown back, her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open, her breath coming in quick little gasps, and her nostrils slightly flaring.

  God Draka help him, but she was beautiful and perfect and smart and everything he could never truly possess. But his heart was hopelessly lost to her now and forever, and he didn’t have a clue as to how to remedy that situation. There was nothing on Albrath or in the heavens above that would ever change his feelings for her.

  How was he ever going to walk away? She slapped him on the shoulder. “Am I boring you, Barbarian? Just because I’m on the top doesn’t mean I should have to do all the work. Move your ass.”

 
He chuckled and put his worries from his mind for the moment. Mia was right. Tonight was for her, and she certainly shouldn’t have to work too awfully hard for her prize.

  Without effort, he rose with her still impaled upon his cock and walked toward the wall of the small chamber they’d been given for the night. Her eyes widened as he pressed her back up against the cool panels of the wall, but she smiled that impish smile he so loved as she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist.

  He chuckled again as he leaned in close and whispered, “Hold on, my lady. This barbarian is about to move his lazy ass a time or two just for you.”

  Not another word was said as he gripped her hips, pulled back, and plunged into her sweet pussy once more. Sweat beaded his brow, and his breath came fast and hard, but he ignored it. He even ignored his still very tender muscles from the friendly scuffle he’d participated in with Talmuk.

  Nothing else mattered.

  Nothing but Mia and being deep inside of her, being one with her.

  This time, when the red fog of barbarian lust threatened to overcome him, he allowed it to envelope them both. He welcomed it even. And when, a short time later, she spasmed around him and her screams of ecstasy filled his ears, his cock contracted of its own volition and his hot seed spurted forth, filling her right back as his only coherent response.

  ****

  The two day journey back to The Academy of Magical Arts had been much easier than Mia anticipated. It seemed they were in God Draka’s favor, after all. The winds had been at their backs from morning ’til night, the sun above bright and shiny, the blue sky cloudless, and the portals they traveled through free of delays or glitches.

  The nights had even been exceedingly pleasant.

  Though summer was closing in around them quickly, the evening temperatures had been just right for sleeping. Not so cold as to have need of heavy furs, but not so warm as to wake in a sweat. Even with a big barbarian wrapped snuggly about her.

  The thought brought a smile to Mia’s face.