Dawning Ceremony (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 3)

by Edmund Hughes

  Her style was different from anything Hal had seen before. There was a good deal of variance between any two people in how they performed the Kye Lornis flows, but overarching styles tended to form between people that practiced together. Hal and his best friend from back in the Collected Provinces, Mauve, had shared many of the same characteristics in their dancing.

  The black haired maug woman moved with fluid, feminine movements, taking her time and dancing at easily half the pace of Hal and Vrodas. As soon as she’d finished her warmup flows, Hal hopped out onto the center of the stage, bouncing from foot to foot and swinging his arms.

  Both of the maug women gave him a strange, disbelieving look. Kye Lornis was not a style of dance that humans normally learned, and he understood their reaction. It still made him feel a little nervous to see the way they were looking at him, sizing up his movements, obviously expecting him to make a mistake or fumble in some way.

  Hal brought the energy level of the session up a notch, dropping to the ground and sliding into a spin across his back. Cheers came from the crowd as he pushed up onto his hands, briefly balancing on a single palm before coming back to his feet. He crossed his legs, turned back to face the maug women, giving them a quick nod and a cocky smile before backing away.

  The petite woman took her turn, going above and beyond anything Hal had ever seen before with the dance. She only spent a couple of seconds on standing movements before falling onto her four arms, catching and tossing herself into beautiful spins at dangerous angles. Her style took advantage of her slight figure, lifting and shifting in a manner that would have been restrictive to anyone who weighed more than a hundred pounds.

  Vrodas took another round after her, his face set into an expression of grim concentration. The maug women watched him differently than they’d watched Hal, their eyes serious and full of judgement. Vrodas stared back at him as he dropped to the ground, kicking his legs out and around in a circle while holding himself in the air.

  His style was clearly limited by his injury, but it gave his movements a uniqueness that the maug women didn’t seem to know how to react to. Hal clapped and gestured to the crowd, urging them to make noise for his friend.

  As soon as Vrodas finished, he snuck out to the center of the stage, trying to steal a round before one of the women could take their rightful turn. The black haired maug stepped out across from him, her mouth forming a small circle as though she couldn’t believe he’d be so bold.

  Hal danced across from her, holding eye contact as he spun into one of the exaggerated kicks that formed part of the base of Kye Lornis partner dancing. The woman ducked underneath it, pushing forward as Hal spun toward her. Her breasts pressed against his chest for an instant, their faces drawing within inches of each other, and then they were both moving again.

  The woman leaned back, signaling that she was about to jump at him. Hal rolled as she flipped, the two of them passing by each other in one of the classic acrobatic partner flows. He continued off to the other side of the stage, letting her take the round by herself. He was sweaty and smiling, and he saw the petite maug woman on the sidelines looking at him approvingly.

  The dancing continued, with Hal and Vrodas partnering with each of the maug women several times. Hal was looking for a chance to show off his signature backflip, and it came near the end of the session. He danced in a wide circle, prepped his legs by hopping a few times, and then launched forward, swinging his leg into a kick that carried upside down and back around.

  The maug women looked impressed, though in a curious kind of way, more to do with seeing something unexpected. The dancing slowly died down as Donnel’s drumming faded, and the crowd gave all four of them a raucous round of applause.

  CHAPTER 3

  Hal and Vrodas returned to their table, but before they could sit down, the maug women approached them. The black haired one nodded to Vrodas and let her gaze linger on him.

  “That was a good effort, brother,” she said. “We will not shame you further with our account.”

  Vrodas brought a hand to his chest. He closed his eyes and leaned his head down into a bow.

  “Thank you,” he said. His hands moved fast, dancing through several different signs that Hal couldn’t make out from his angle. The women glanced at Hal briefly, and then headed back to their own table.

  Hal furrowed his brow, feeling more than a little confused.

  “That’s it?” he asked. “You aren’t going to talk more with them, or…?”

  “They’ve already given me a great honor,” said Vrodas. “I am… an outsider, not just to my tribe, but to my people in general. I would not force my company upon them.”

  He lifted his mug and drained the rest of the ale within it. Hal was about to press his point further, but Vrodas was already standing up and heading for the door.

  “Vrodas,” he said. “Come on! Who am I supposed to drink with now?”

  Vrodas shrugged. He didn’t seem upset or put off by the experience. If anything, he seemed happier than he had when Hal had first sat down at his table, but he clearly desired some time to himself. Hal watched as his friend headed out of the inn and into the night, feeling vaguely anxious at the threat of any roaming husks in the dark.

  He stood up to refill his mug and noticed that the maug women were staring at him. He hesitated for only a couple of seconds before taking the hint and making his way over to their table.

  “The two of you are both very impressive dancers,” said Hal. He couldn’t keep a small smile from spreading across his face as he hand danced the maug sign for the word “appreciation” as he gave his compliment.

  Both of the women’s eyes went wide. Hal felt the pressure of their surprise, and had to fight the impulse to apologize, or immediately begin explaining.

  “What is your name?” asked the black haired maug woman.

  “Halrin,” he said. “And you?”

  “I am Straya,” she said. “This is my tribemate, Moon.”

  The petite woman gave a small nod, but didn’t say anything.

  It looks like Straya does most of the talking.

  “Who taught you what you know of our ways?” asked Straya. She gestured to an empty chair at the table. Hal sat down at it and took the liberty of refilling his mug from the pitcher at their table.

  “I’m not from Krestia’s Cradle,” he said. “I had a teacher in my homeland. A maug by the name of Roth. He was… a dear friend to me.”

  His hands automatically danced a sign for “peace” as he spoke, hoping that they would understand his meaning. It still hurt to think about Roth, about everyone he’d lost when his home had been destroyed. Straya was watching him closely, and he tried to keep his expression from darkening too much as old thoughts of friends and family swam through his mind.

  “You have a very strange style,” said Straya. “And not just because you’re human. It’s different, brutish and ancient.”

  “Thank you for noticing,” said Hal. He took a sip of his ale. “How did the two of you end up here?”

  “We travel with the southern trading caravan,” said Straya. “We… represent our tribe in negotiating ongoing trade deals. We are not exiles, in case that what was what you’d assumed.”

  It had been, but Hal shrugged as though the thought hadn’t even entered his mind.

  “Of course not,” he said. “It’s just surprising. Lorne doesn’t get many visitors.”

  Straya was looking at him with an odd look in her eyes. She shifted forward, setting two of her elbows on the table while her lower arms hugged just underneath her breasts, a posture that did amazing things for her cleavage.

  “My tribemate and I must retire early,” she said. “Would you like to come up to our room with us?”

  Hal’s surprise must have shown on his face, as Straya’s smile grew even broader.

  “As I said, you have a very… strange style, human,” she said. “The Kye Lornis serves many purposes in our culture, and much is communicated throu
gh it.”

  Hal had no idea what to expect as he followed them upstairs and into the cramped quarters of their rented room. He wasn’t entirely sure that he’d interpreted their proposition correctly, at least not until Straya began to undo the ties of her blouse, and Moon pulled her tunic up and over her head.

  He’d never seen a maug woman naked before, and couldn’t stop himself from staring. The addition of their lower set of arms made their upper bodies slightly larger proportionally, which extended to the size of their breasts. Hal blinked, feeling caught off guard by their forwardness and incredibly turned on.

  They didn’t wait for him to undress. The two women approached him and began pulling loose his clothing, their extra hands making quick work. Straya pulled him into a four armed hug as soon as he was naked, kissing him deeply and undulating against him.

  Hal reached around and groped at her butt, surprised by the strength of her arms. He couldn’t have broken loose from her hug if he’d wanted to, not that he did. His erection was pinned against Straya’s crotch, and he ground into her as he kissed her a second time.

  Moon dimmed the lantern on the night table, and Straya roughly pushed Hal back onto their bed. There was an element of intimidation that Hal hadn’t been expecting that was hot in an incredibly confusing kind of way.

  Straya straddled his thighs, and each of her hands set about doing different things. One of them took hold of his shaft, massaging it with a much softer palm than what Hal had been expecting. Another pushed down on Hal’s chest, bidding him to stay in place, as though he had anywhere else pressing to be. And the last two stroked his cheek and ran through her own hair, respectively.

  Hal let out a slow sigh, watching the dark haired woman working his tool with gentle movements. It had been a while since he’d last been intimate with anyone, and the pleasure had a sharp, sensitive edge to it. Moon came around on Hal’s side and slid into the bed next to him, her hands focusing on his upper body and leading his face to kiss hers.

  He felt something soft and wet run across his shaft and looked down in time to see Straya running her tongue along the length of it. Moon was still kissing his neck and lips. Hal watched Staya sucking on the tip of his erection and glanced back and forth between her and Moon several times. Moon didn’t take the hint.

  With as much gentle dominance as Hal could muster, he ran a hand through Moon’s short hair and slowly guided her head downward, until her mouth was alongside Straya’s, and his achingly hard shaft.

  He let out a moan as Moon’s tongue joined with Straya’s, the maug women already seeming to be very familiar with each other in a sexual capacity. He shifted slightly as two sets of tongues and lips began caressing his manhood with licks and kisses.

  His heartgem, was pulsing a bright ruby red as it filled, but the maug women didn’t seem to notice or mind. In the dark of the room, it gave the encounter a decidedly evil feeling, as though Hal had let the two women tempt him into the realm of darkness.

  Straya began to suck gently on the upper half of his shaft, while Moon ran her tongue against the base, occasionally veering off to kiss his inner thighs and crotch. Their hands ran across Hal’s stomach, chest, and legs. Even though their mouths were on his manhood, it was a full body experience, a massage combined with sexual pleasure. Hal couldn’t have asked for anything more.

  They pulled back just as he was nearing his limit, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from expressing his disappointment. Straya shifted, climbing over Hal, and mounted him. She took his shaft into her without much trouble, lowering herself down and giving Hal his first taste of real sex with a maug woman.

  He groaned with pleasure as Straya began to rock back and forth, building up to an intense speed within the first few seconds of movement. She used her arms to brace herself against the bed and rode him in every sense of the word, her body lifting and dropping in a circular motion.

  Hal reached up to her breasts, his hands squeezing and judging their softness. The bed creaked noisily underneath them, which reminded him of how most of the patrons downstairs were still awake and still very much in position to overhear.

  Straya was relentless in her pursuit of her own release, riding Hal with enough speed to make her breasts bounce and her hair shake messily across her shoulders. Her moans slowly grew louder, until she was crying out in ecstasy.

  She was in a rush, and as such, it didn’t take her long. Hal felt Straya lean herself down onto him, wrapping him in a tight, four arm hug. She let out squeals of pleasure as her hips gyrated against him the last few times. She squeezed him so tight that it was hard to breathe, let alone find his own release, and then went suddenly limp on top of him, breathing deep.

  Hal only had a few seconds to be disappointed before Moon gently slid her companion aside and took up a position with her mouth on his shaft. She slowly began to suck where Straya had left off, and seemed eager to display her own skill in the sexual art.

  And quite the skill it was. Hal watched, wide eyed in the darkness, as more and more of his shaft disappeared between her lips. He watched until the entirety of it was in Moon’s mouth and, quite probably her throat. He felt her tongue still moving, pressing sensitive spots, her lips pulling tight to keep the seal.

  She began to bob her head up and down. Hal groaned, running a hand through her hair. Straya had regained her facilities and was joining in again, kissing wherever she could find an exposed patch of flesh on his shaft. Hal had a hand on each of their heads, and pulled them both in close as he reached his limit.

  Moon took most of his seed in her mouth, but she had to come up for air before Hal’s explosively pleasurable release reached an end. Straya was there, licking and cleaning with her tongue, her breath hot against his wet, sensitive skin.

  “You have a very strange style, human,” whispered Straya. “So very bold.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Meridon had provided Hal with a room of his own while he was in Lorne in exchange for handling the town’s more dangerous odd jobs. Hal slipped away to it once he was done with Straya and Moon, not wanting to have to share their tiny bed or the awkward morning that would likely follow.

  He slept in later than he wanted to, and woke up the sound of the morning breakfast crowd. The trade caravan, along with the two maug women, had already left. Hal took a morning meal of potato and bacon stew, and then headed out to start his own day.

  Toothy was Laurel’s horse, but she’d been lending him to Hal more and more as his trips between Lorne and the homestead became more frequent. Toothy was a young, tan stallion, named after his most memorable physical attribute, a massive set of teeth that he seemed to love to show off.

  “Let’s stretch your legs a bit, shall we?” said Hal, as he led Toothy out of the stables. “No point in wasting time on the way back.”

  With no wagon and only one rider, Toothy was able to make good time along the meandering road that led through the hot, southern desert. It was late autumn, and the weather was bearable during the day, and downright cold at night. It was still early enough in the morning for the temperature to be somewhere in between.

  Hal spotted Fool’s Valley after two hours of hard riding. It was impossible to miss, nestled north of the desert, up a long, dirt slope, in a high valley formed in the space between three mountains. It looked like a raised garden over the desert, the mountains providing favorable wind and weather conditions, along with freshwater flowing from the snow melt off the high peaks.

  Hal let Toothy walk the path up the hill. The homestead had grown slightly since he and Laurel had returned from Meldence. They’d built a fence to contain the gardens, which had done a surprising amount to deter the would-be vegetable thieves of the animal world.

  They’d also built a small shed off to the side of the homestead. Ostensibly for storage, it served the secondary function of housing Karnas whenever the dragon decided to stay out later than Hal and Laurel were willing to wait up for him.

  The money to upgrade the homestead
had come from a combination of what was left of their earnings from the clever bet Zoria had placed on Hal’s last tournament fight combined with what he and Laurel had made from selling their harvest. Most of the harvest had been bought by Meridon and Koda, but they’d made wine from the apples, which was always easy to sell to travelers heading through the mountain pass.

  Hal had fallen into an easy rhythm in the valley, and it had begun to feel like home. He still thought about his family, his sister Lilith, his father, and his best friend Mauve. The ache of their deaths was as painful as ever, but Hal had recovered somewhat.

  I didn’t do it alone. My friends helped me, and I stayed busy.

  He still visited the memorial that he and Laurel had built in honor of his family on a regular basis. Hal had all but given up hope on ever returning to the Collected Provinces, but he was alright with that. There was nothing waiting for him there. His life was here, now.

  He brought Toothy to the small stable on the edge of the property and then headed into the cabin. Laurel wasn’t inside, but he saw evidence of her breakfast, sliced fruit and a half eaten piece of bread left out on the table. Hal changed into fresh clothes and headed outside to look for her.

  He’d barely begun to head out back, into the garden, when he heard a surprised gasp. Hal instinctively looked in that direction, toward where the mountain stream fed into the valley’s small spring, and saw something that he was not supposed to see.

  “Uh… whoops,” said Hal.

  “Sorry!” shouted Laurel. “I didn’t realize… I didn’t think… you’d be back so early.”

  Laurel was bathing in the spring. And she was not wearing any clothes. Hal turned around, feeling his face heat up.