by Eric Vall
I caught it, laid it out across Cayla’s breasts, and trailed my finger along the road for longer than necessary just to make her squirm a bit.
When her cheeks began to turn a light pink, I knew I’d found her sweet spot, and I teased her a little longer before I sent her a roguish grin.
“You know I hit harder than Aurora,” she warned, and she parted her legs as she leveled me with a heated look.
“More?” I asked, and when she nodded, I slid my hand up the length of her leg to oblige the princess once more. I gently stroked the moist flesh between her thighs to ease her into my touch, and she let out a satisfied sigh as her eyes fell shut.
Then I noticed Deya slide her slender fingers between her own legs while she watched me with Cayla.
Shoshanne chuckled and took over the map to find out where we were, and while Deya looked on, I stooped to flick my tongue across Cayla’s nipples.
The princess hitched her leg up higher and clutched at my wrist, and she moved me inside of her as her breath began to quicken.
Then a slight moan slipped from Deya’s lips, and as I drew Cayla’s nipple into my mouth, I tilted my head to watch the beautiful elf pleasure herself.
The moment Cayla climaxed again, Deya threw her head back, and her sigh of longing sent a carnal surge through every limb of my body.
I shifted Cayla aside to pull Deya closer, and I dropped down to kneel on the floor and take her from behind this time.
She was so tight I couldn’t resist emptying myself into her one last time, and I pinned the beautiful elf firmly in place by the meat of her ass. Deya shrieked with every thrust as I hungrily pushed deeper, and as she began to quiver with pleasure, she braced herself on the seat and let me pound into her.
Aurora said something from the front seat, but the words were lost in the sound of Deya’s ecstasy, and I didn’t let up.
Then Shoshanne quickly crawled over to clamp a firm hand over Deya’s mouth, and when the beautiful elf immediately climaxed between our holds, I finally released myself deep in her trembling center.
I was still throbbing insatiably inside Deya when Aurora cleared her throat, and as I glanced over my shoulder, I finally noticed the car was stopped.
“What’s up?” I asked as I worked to steady my breath, but Deya was already grinding against me and asking for more.
I clutched her hips and stooped to trail my lips up her spine, and as she bucked in response, Aurora giggled behind me.
“So … that stone archway is the gate to House Orrel,” she pointed out. “I figured I’d stop here until Deya was done being fucked by the wrong guy, but you two just let me know when you’re done.”
Deya giggled as I pulled myself out of her, and Shoshanne couldn’t help but laugh when I began scrambling to find our clothes.
“You definitely could have said something sooner,” I muttered to the half-elf as I scanned the trees ahead to be sure there were no guards who could have heard us.
Aurora shrugged. “I could have,” she allowed, “but I was enjoying the view. You two go at it like animals, I like it.”
I sighed and reached over the seat to catch her neck in my grip, and the naked half-elf lazily laid her head back to send me a wink.
I couldn’t even be irritated with her when she melted against me like that, so I just kissed her and shook my head before I grabbed my pants from the floor and unsealed the doors.
I tripped out onto the road as I struggled to get dressed as quickly as possible, but Cayla sauntered out behind me fully naked and at ease.
“What?” she said with a smirk as I raised my brows. “I’m not forbidden goods.”
The porcelain beauty tousled her jet-black hair, and I leaned against the car to admire her flawless curves while she casually dressed herself right out in the open.
Then she shimmied her hips for me as she bent across the edge of the trunk, and I took my time cinching the ribbons of her corset to lock her in her leather once more.
When I finished the final loop, I came around to the passenger’s side to climb in beside Aurora, and I rubbed my aching neck as the bruises began to swell.
“Everyone ready?” I asked.
Aurora snorted. “As soon as Deya’s presentable.”
“Already on it,” the healer sighed, and I turned to see her applying a soft white paste to Deya’s slender neck.
The elf smiled sweetly and sent me a wave, and I took a steadying breath as I turned forward to look at the ancient archway of House Orrel.
I still couldn’t see any guards around, and as far as I could tell, the road and jungle leading to the entrance was completely deserted.
“We’ve got this,” I mumbled to myself.
“It might be too late to ask,” Aurora muttered, “but … do you have a shirt to cover all that up?”
“Nope.”
“Well … just tell them you got attacked by something,” she suggested.
I glanced down at the bloody claw marks all over my shoulders and chest, and the bruising on my neck throbbed angrily as I did.
“Yeah, that’ll work,” I decided. “Next time, though, we’re taking a break from the biting. Don’t get me wrong, I dig it, but I can’t turn my head for shit now.”
The four women giggled proudly and refused to make any promises, and I rolled my eyes as I gestured for Aurora to take us onward.
Chapter 9
The road didn’t really end at House Orrel, it was more like the jungle swallowed it up before it made it there. We stopped where the undergrowth began, and ahead of us, a steady stream rippled down from beneath the base of the massive arch to wind its way toward the ocean.
We must have descended since Aurora dragged me to the car, because the mountains loomed above us at our backs now, and the air smelled like brine and seaweed again.
As we stepped into the jungle and slowly made our way towards the arch, the dappled sunlight shone through the canopy and illuminated the fine mist and small bugs drifting around the place. Moss grew over the ground and every rock in sight, and it made an honest effort at overtaking the archway as well. Where the moss ended, old vines that had lost their leaves years ago wound around the aged stones, and fresh vines grew right over them with soft green leaves and cascading flowers that draped down from the top. I could see the nest of some bird peeking over the upper ledge, and I craned my neck to take in the hundred-foot structure as we drew closer.
“Are those the steps?” Cayla asked, and I looked at the stream that poured gently from the base.
Beneath the water, it did look like brittle steps led upward and through the arch, and as I looked around the misty glade, I didn’t see anything else resembling an entrance.
“Must be,” I decided, and I carefully stepped up into the water.
The stones weren’t too slippery, but they were well worn from age and running water. We stepped lightly as we made our way up the large staircase, and when we came to the top, we were looking out at a lagoon on the edge of the sea.
Stagnant inlets wove between trees that looked larger than any we’d seen in the south, and the low-lying branches grew heavily in a knotted and winding fashion. Their leaves provided such thick cover that everything took on a deep green cast, and even the water was more green than blue here.
We left the stream to follow the mossy undergrowth toward a small dock at the edge of the nearest inlet, and a single elf with no weaponry sat with his legs crossed on the rotted planks. He had his back turned to us, but he spoke in Elvish as we got closer, and Deya responded kindly while she came to his side.
The elf nodded to the water in front of him, and a boat drifted from around the bend to our left with no one in it. When it came to a stop at the foot of the dock, Deya stepped in, and I noticed the water didn’t even ripple in response. She sent us a sweet smile and beckoned us forward, and we all strode past the seated elf to climb into the boat.
It rocked with our weight as the five of us tried to fit, but it stayed afloat des
pite how rickety the wood looked.
Then I glanced over at the elf on the dock, and I realized he didn’t have any pupils or irises.
His eyes were entirely white, and his face was pale and deeply lined with age. His head was completely bald, and he wore a dull brown robe that looked like it had never been cleaned in the elf’s long life. He didn’t speak to us again, but he raised a shaky hand toward the water, and the boat suddenly began to drift from the dock.
I didn’t even bother to rein in the grin on my face as the boat took us out into the inlet, and I looked up at the stout branches that wove not high above our heads.
“Is he blind?” Aurora asked quietly as she kept her eye on the elf across the water.
“Not exactly,” Deya replied. “I’ve only heard of this sort of magic, but Dragir says those who practice this craft do not see what is in front of them, but rather all else. Their vision drifts far from them, but I do not know where it goes.”
My grin only grew. “Hell yes,” I sighed as I looked around the lagoon. “This is what I had in mind when I came to Nalnora. This right here.”
Cayla chuckled. “You imagined House Orrel?”
“Yes,” I said with a hearty nod. “This is the kind of shit I’ve only read about in books. It’s … ”
“Ancient,” Deya finished for me. “This is what the old world was like.”
“I love the old world,” I decided as we drifted around a bend and the elf on the dock disappeared from view.
More inlets wound ahead of us and intersected all over the place, but my eyes were glued to the structures with small lanterns glowing at their doorsteps.
Hovel-type homes were built around the bases of the ancient trees, and moss grew over every roof and steppingstone in sight. Vines hung down and created curtains of flowers along the edges of the water here and there, and mounds of mushrooms dotted the walkways leading to the wooden doors.
We didn’t see any of the inhabitants, but as the boat took us through the maze of inlets, the hovels seemed to go on and on, with a lantern glowing outside each one. Above us, small orbs of amber light dotted the gnarled branches, and their light glittered on the surface of the deep green water. I noticed the golden glint of a pair of eyes between the limbs as I studied the strange orbs, and only when the creature’s head turned to follow us, did I recognize the feathers of the owl.
Once I caught sight of one, I began seeing owls everywhere, and I counted at least fifteen quietly watching from the shadows of the dense canopy.
Then the boat turned us inland, and sunlight shone ahead as we left the maze of inlets behind us.
Where the ancient trees dispersed, a glade opened up at the base of a steep valley, and in the center of the glade, a structure as ancient as the archway we’d walked through was practically overrun with plant life.
The canal ended at another rotting dock, and an elf with white eyes sat waiting with his own hand extended. He looked younger than the elf we’d met on the other side, but not by much, and his humble robes were the same dull brown.
The boat drifted to a stop, and I thanked the elf as we climbed onto the dock, but he didn’t turn or respond at all. He lowered his arm to rest on his folded knee, and Deya walked past him to lead us to a mossy pathway.
The sunlight shone bright throughout the glade while we followed the pathway, and Shoshanne pointed to seven different medicinal plants she recognized as we went. They grew wildly all over the place in various shades of yellow and green, but the aged stonework of House Orrel was covered in a myriad of vines and moss that left only the topmost towers visible.
The main entrance lay beneath a domed roof that must have been copper at one time but had aged to a mottled green beneath the vines, and blooms of lichen dotted the stonework in its shadow.
More steps that had clearly survived the test of time stretched high up to the entryway, and when we finally made it to the top, I turned to see the dim inlets glowing with dotted light far behind us.
There were no doors barring the entrance to House Orrel, and we walked into the shade of the dome to find the walls on the backside opened up to a long walkway whose roof was supported with old stone columns.
To our right and left, the dome was open to the air except for two arching doorways, and an elf in white robes stood waiting at the doors on our right.
We came toward him with Deya leading the way, and when she spoke to the guard, he bowed low before responding.
Then he said two words, and the doors at his back opened themselves.
I followed the four women through the lofty doors, and we all slowed to a stop as we looked around at the aged hall. It reminded me a lot of the hall of the Elven Council, with the floors cracked open to allow ferns and moss to grow up all around, and vines with bright yellow flowers grew in through the large circular windows.
Humble stone benches lined a few of the walls, and white-robed elves moved silently and without haste as they crossed from one side of the chamber to the other on their way to other halls. They carried stacks of books and linens in their arms, but some pushed carts with large cauldrons or goblets.
No one looked as us as we walked out into the hall, and the few who spoke to one another kept their voices low without seeming to comment on our presence at all. We crossed the chamber and headed to the identical arching doorway on the other side, where an elf much like the last guard stood waiting.
He bowed lowly to Deya, and then she spoke with him for a few minutes. Judging by her gestures, it seemed like she was explaining our errand here, and the elf nodded solemnly along before the doors at his back opened themselves. He turned to lead us into the next chamber himself, but he stopped midway into the room to turn and address all of us in Elvish.
Deya listened carefully and nodded her agreement, and then the elf turned to me and asked me something I couldn’t understand.
I looked at Deya for an explanation, and the beautiful elf had a silly grin on her face.
“He is asking why you are not dressed appropriately to meet with their leader,” she told me, and I turned to see the guard eyeing my chest and shoulders before he studied the shadows around my eyes more carefully.
“I got attacked by something,” I said mechanically. “Some … creature. It was pretty intense.”
To my surprise, the elf nodded his understanding and gestured to a passing elf to speak with him in a low voice, and Aurora managed to rein in the grin on her face by the time he turned back to us.
Then the guard motioned toward a long bench against the aged wall, and he left through the doors we’d entered from without another word.
“Some … creature?” Aurora snorted as we all sat down on the mossy bench.
“Shut up, I’m still a little stoned,” I muttered back and rested my head against the stonework behind me.
“Me too,” Deya giggled, and we all turned to find a vaguely red tint around her violet eyes.
I grinned. “Well, that’s cute.”
Deya’s smile spread from ear to ear as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, but Shoshanne immediately pulled the pink strands back into place to conceal her neck a bit.
“I wouldn’t do that in here,” she muttered. “Cayla got you pretty bad on that side.”
Then another white-robed elf silently entered, and he held a stark white shirt folded in his hands. He stooped and held it out to me, but before I could thank him, he was already exiting as quietly as he’d arrived.
“Still better service than House Aelin,” I decided as I pulled the shirt over my head.
Whatever the light fabric was, it felt like cream washing over me, and it didn’t even chafe against the tender marks left by my women. There was an intricate silver stitching just barely noticeable around the loose collar, and although it didn’t cover all of the damage, it was a vast improvement.
“That looks expensive,” Cayla mused as she reached over to rub the fabric between her fingers, and her blue eyes widened as she grinned. “It feel
s expensive.”
“It feels amazing,” I chuckled. “I can’t believe these elves just hang out in this all day.” I stood to tuck the shirt in, and I grinned at Aurora as I caught her admiring gaze. “How many mages do you think have worn House Orrel’s personal garb?”
The half-elf immediately rolled her eyes. “Well, that went straight to your head.”
I sent her a roguish wink and dropped back onto the bench, and then I turned to Deya.
“What did the guard say to you before he left?” I asked. “Are we just waiting here?”
Deya nodded. “He says we must not speak unless the head of House Orrel speaks to us directly, and we cannot sit in his presence. He will arrive when he is able, and we’re supposed to stay here until the doors at the top of those stairs open.”
I looked up the dilapidated steps on the other end of the hall and was glad to see the doors weren’t made of gold or diamonds here. They were a dark, knotted wood with large brass rings, and no guards stood glaring at us or Aurora for once.
“What did the first guy say?” Aurora asked curiously. “Was it an enchantment to open the door?”
“No, he used runes to do that,” Deya told her. “The guard was welcoming me home. It’s customary since my father’s ancestors were from House Orrel.”
I smirked. “Oh yeah … I think he mentioned that.”
“It is quite an honorable thing,” Deya explained. “Not every elf who left during the great wars was a direct descendant of the original inhabitants, but my father’s family were, so they greet me in this way. It’s House Orrel’s way of extending the offer to return to this place. It’s a very prestigious offer, because they’re only forgiving of their own bloodline. If I were Rhys, they would not say this. They would simply treat him like any other elf.”
“Wait a minute,” I cut in, “Rhys is from House Orrel?”
“Not directly,” Deya replied, “but his ancestors joined with House Orrel thousands of years ago, and then rebelled during the great wars to form House Fehryn in the south. He is not related by blood.”
“I take it that’s why he doesn’t want me mentioning his troubles to the leader?” I guessed.
