Wraith King 3

by Jack Porter

  10

  Our journey to the forests in the south was largely uneventful. Since we’d been systematically killing bands of slavers for four months, there weren’t as many barriers to travel, a fact I was proud of. Still, there were always Hell beasts to be concerned about, and few roads going this direction. It seemed that Wren had been correct. The wood elves did not encourage intermingling with other peoples.

  The half-elf made herself useful, helping in any way she could, and she was great at gathering edible plants so we didn’t have to survive solely on meat. She also often bagged other plants that weren’t edible, but which she said would be useful for potions.

  “What kinds of potions?” I asked.

  “All sorts,” Wren replied as she carefully tucked a small thorny branch into the bag Ilana had given her for the purpose. “I’ll take anything that I think might be useful in the future. Like a potion for healing.”

  “The Dark Elves of Castle Blackhold have pastes and salves like that,” I said. “Is it the same thing?”

  Wren avoided my eyes. “I do not know. Most of them are of my own invention.”

  “And what about the others?”

  “I learned a few by watching travelers who came to the inn and questioning them after…” she trailed off, and her cheeks flushed.

  “That’s okay,” I said. “You don’t have to tell me.”

  She nodded gratefully, and we didn’t speak about it again.

  I watched the half-elf gain the trust of the horses and jump to do any work the rest of us should have been doing. But I kept her at arm’s length after that first night. I didn’t want a repeat of my nightmare, or to wake up and find that I had accidentally killed her in my sleep. She was so delicate that I feared one good blow would take her out.

  The half-elf watched me with Ilana and Sarina, too, and I often caught her enjoying the sight of our lovemaking. It didn’t bother me, but I found it a little odd, perhaps. At any rate, Wren seemed interested, but kept her distance, as well.

  Three nights after my terror, we looked down on the edge of a forest. It looked dark inside, and the gloom seemed to rise above the trees as well as below them. The trees were smaller than the ones in the mountains to the north, near the sacred waterfall, and it looked as if the undergrowth had fully taken over. The leaves were brown or black, as they were of all trees in Hell, and I again wondered if they had ever been green.

  “Where are we?” I asked Wren, who was again riding behind Sarina.

  The half-elf pointed west. “The Sacred Forest is that way, around the curve of that big mountain there. This smaller forest has no name, and few live here because of the large beasts that make it their home.”

  “Monsters?” I asked, for that was usually what people in Hell meant when they said ‘large beasts.’

  “Just... beasts,” Wren repeated. “I do not know about monsters. I was first captured by slavers here, after finding my way from the Sacred Forest.” She paused, as if considering what she’d already said, then shrugged. “I do not know why it is called that. I don’t think there is anything sacred about it.”

  “You wandered all that way as a three-year-old?” I asked.

  “I was five, I think, by that time. But it is hard to judge as one so young. I am not sure of my real age.”

  “Guess,” I said.

  “I have been a slave for fifteen years, of that I am certain.” She looked at me. “And I have been free for four days.”

  I nodded, feeling her gratitude. “So you are about twenty years old?” I asked.

  Wren nodded.

  That was good, I thought. I didn’t want to be fighting lustful thoughts about a teenager. Not really. Things in Hell were different, and I knew that girls much younger than Wren took husbands or were sold into slavery as whores, but that didn’t make it okay to me.

  “Well,” I said. “We better keep moving if we’re going to reach the trees by nightfall.”

  I urged my mare onward. “What about Diamond?” I asked her. My horse shook her head. “No? How about Dusty? You certainly need a bath.” My mare snorted and bucked, kicking her hind legs out behind. “Okay, okay. Easy!”

  On our way down, I noticed crows and maybe some other birds flying high above. The Wraith King often used them as spies and messengers, but there wasn’t much I could do about them from my place on the ground. I watched them for a few moments, making sure that none of them were ravens, possibly sent from Nya with news. She rarely sent them, and only for great need. Warnings, sometimes, that had allowed me to stay hidden these last few months.

  But none of the birds were of that type, so I did what I could to put them out of my mind, and tried not to worry about the Wraith King searching for me as we made our way toward the line of trees.

  11

  Before we entered the nameless forest as a group, Sarina shifted into her Hellhound form and trotted in to scout. Wren, who had seen the Hellhound once before, didn’t even blanch. I watched the half-elf closely, wondering if it was going to be a problem for her. But if she had any reservations about Sarina, she hid them well.

  Tired of riding, I dismounted and unsaddled my as-yet-unnamed-mare. She needed some time without the saddle, as well. Ilana followed suit with her horse, and Wren took care of Sarina’s gelding. The gray horse had come to trust Wren, and nuzzled her cheek before wandering off a short way after the other horses.

  Wren went to look after them, following close behind, and Ilana came to stand beside me. We were protected from the harsh heat by an overhanging rock that cast a welcome shade from the red sky.

  “That forest is going to be treacherous for the horses,” I said. “Do you think they can make it through?”

  “I think we should try,” Ilana said. “Don’t you?”

  “Yes. For no other reason than I don’t want to leave them here.”

  “Jon, you’re soft when it comes to that mare.”

  I shifted and brought my lips close to Ilana’s ear. “I never thought I’d say it, but yeah. I never thought I’d be a horse person. But you know what?” I asked, grinning. “There’s something else I’m never soft about.” I kissed her just below her ear and then took her earlobe into my mouth.

  I had a lot of sex these days. Not only did it help curb the more dangerous urges I felt, but Ilana and Sarina were always up for fun, when we could.

  The succubus tilted her head to allow me better access, and I reached down to pull her corset off her breasts as I loosened the string from behind. Those ample mounds seemingly broke free, and I took a dark nipple in my mouth, swirling around with my tongue before biting down with my teeth and letting my hands slide lower.

  Ilana gasped and threw her head back, winding her hands into my hair, which she tugged out of its ponytail. “Fuck me, Jon,” she said.

  I slid my hand into her riding pants, feeling her always hairless pussy and sliding my fingers down into her slit. She opened her legs for me, and I entered her with two fingers while my thumb circled her clit. The succubus was already wet, and warm. She moved against my hand, and I laid her gently on the ground for better access.

  “Take them off,” she said. “Hurry.”

  Regretfully, I removed my fingers and pulled her riding pants down to her boots, which stopped everything for a moment while I pulled them off. Then, with me on my knees, her lying on the ground, naked below the waist and her corset around her waist, I resumed fingering her and kissing her seductive lips. Her tail arched up and around to slide into my pants, and I felt its soft flesh cup my balls.

  She was marvelous with her tail. I let her stroke my length for a while as she became more animated. Using my fingers, I found her g-spot and rubbed against it while I increased the pace and pressure on her clit. Ilana arched her back, and I increased my pace yet again, feeling her wet walls clench around my fingers and my hand become slick with her juices. The succubus let out a stifled cry as she came, and rather than letting up on her, I kept up my strokes while she rode the wave fo
r several minutes. Finally, she relaxed, and her tail resumed stroking my erection.

  She smiled deviously, and I knew that look, but we had some time, and I wanted to use it. “You know that thing I love so much? What you do with your tail?” I asked.

  Ilana nodded and licked her lips.

  “Do that for me,” I said, my voice raspy.

  She withdrew her tail from my pants, and while I watched, she spread her legs even farther. Her tail lashed around me for a moment, and then it went to settle on her pussy, sliding up and down between her folds. I watched with my heartrate increasing, as she slowly, ever so slowly, slid the tip of her own tail into her entrance. Her eyes closed for a moment, and I grinned. Sitting where I could get a good view, I reached over and flicked her nipples, watching as she pushed her tail further inside.

  “I want you to come this way,” I said, still watching.

  Ilana opened her eyes for a moment, the golden flecks shining even brighter as she grinned at me. Then she settled back, began to play with her own nipples, and her tail began moving in and out of her pussy.

  My erection was straining against my pants, but I wanted to leave it there for now so I wouldn’t be tempted to interrupt Ilana. Taking her feet and putting one of them in my lap, I watched as her tail pulled out of her, circled her clit, and then pushed back inside. Ilana gasped as she thrust in and out, and I wondered if when Sarina returned the succubus wouldn’t do this to her. We’d had threesomes, but Sarina was still learning to enjoy her sexuality after a lifetime of celibacy, and we’d progressed slowly in that area.

  Ilana’s tail pushed even farther inside her, and I couldn’t help it. I leaned down to kiss her clit as she thrust in and out. She cried out at the sudden extra stimulation, and so I swirled my tongue around her swollen bud, tasting her sweet essence, and enjoying driving her crazy. With three quick gasps, she came once more, and I watched in fascination as her pussy seemed to milk the end of her tail, just as it would do with my cock.

  Which was now aching to be free. Unable to tease myself any further, I untied the laces. Ilana was still quivering from her orgasm, but she slid her tail out slowly and then ran it along my lips. I smiled and licked at it playfully. And to my surprise, Ilana gasped in pleasure once again.

  “Are you sensitive there?” I asked, intrigued.

  “Sometimes,” she said, grinning wickedly. Then, she grabbed my arms, and pulled me on top of her. She spread her legs wide for me to enter. Without any more fooling around, I obliged, sliding between her wet folds and reveling in how good she felt.

  “Fuck me hard, Jon,” she said. “No more teasing.”

  “As you wish,” I said. Then, I slid almost all the way out and then rammed myself into her. Her entire body moved, and she moaned.

  “Again,” she said, pushing her hips up into me.

  And so I repeated the movement, each time ramming myself inside her, and before long, her moans turned to screams and I was barely able to hold my own orgasm back. I pounded her, and the succubus began to writhe beneath me. “Harder,” she said. “Faster.”

  I did just that, and if it had been anyone else, I would have been afraid of hurting her, but not Ilana. The succubus could take everything I had to give, and soon we were both yelling, lying under the rock, and I felt the familiar tingling and rush as I came.

  She came at the same time, her pussy growing even wetter and increasing the sensation around my cock, which was buried in her as deep as it would go.

  It took us a few minutes to calm our racing breaths and heartbeats, and I stayed there inside her, still hard, wishing more than anything that we could just abandon this quest and run off to some more comfortable place to stay. And that I could have all my girls with me, at all times. Ilana, Nya, Syn, and Sarina.

  I missed Nya and Syn, and I wished nothing more than for peace to fall on the land, and to spend my days making love to these beautiful females, and maybe even having some children with them.

  The thought of children was new to me, and I dismissed it quickly. These warriors didn’t want to have my offspring, which would likely be just as twisted as me.

  “Jon?” Ilana said, still beneath me. “What are you thinking?”

  I smiled. “That I wish this could last longer.” Then I pulled out of her, tucked myself back into my pants, and laid down on my side so I could look at her.

  Ilana laughed a little. “If it lasted any longer, we would never do anything else.”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  “No,” she said. “It would be wonderful.”

  I sighed.

  “What’s bothering you?” she asked.

  “Just the usual,” I said. “Or rather, nothing worse than usual. Let’s see what Wren’s got up to, huh?”

  Ilana sat up and smirked. “She likes you.”

  “I noticed,” I said, sitting up as well. “The first night she curled up to me. But I’m not sure that’s what I want.”

  Ilana shook her head. “You do have a way of attracting just about every female that looks your way.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “Please, not all of them.” Then I made a face.

  Ilana joined with me in laughter before she said, “I know what you’re thinking. But ugly women deserve to enjoy someone as wonderful as you, too.”

  “I’m not sure I like where you’re going with this, Ilana,” I said, helping her gather her clothes and put them on. Then I smiled at her. “Are you saying I’m shallow?”

  She shook her head and grew serious. “No, Jon, but you are a man.”

  “A man who likes to fuck his way through Hell, you mean.” I frowned.

  “No,” Ilana said, “but it doesn’t bother me how many women you fuck, and you know that. But what I mean is there aren’t any other men like you in Hell.”

  I looked out over the dusty hillside with its sparse grass. “And?”

  She smiled. “Maybe there should be.”

  Her meaning was clear. She was talking about children, and the timing couldn’t have been more interesting, considering my own thoughts. But all I did was smile. “Maybe when there’s peace,” I said.

  Ilana smiled. “Yes, maybe.”

  12

  Sarina returned from the forest a couple of hours later, and when she shifted into her human form, Wren was there to hand the warrior woman her clothes. Sarina seemed slightly taken aback, and Wren noticed.

  “Is it acceptable that I help you?” Wren asked.

  “It’s more than acceptable,” Sarina said. “But you don’t have to.”

  “I want to help,” Wren said once more.

  Sarina nodded her thanks, and the half-elf moved away.

  “What does it look like?” I asked Sarina.

  She frowned. “Dark and gloomy. I scented all kinds of animals in there, but I didn’t smell orcs or catch any hint of wraiths. It will be good hunting grounds for us while we’re in there, but by the size of some of the tracks I spotted, we’ll need to watch that no predators sneak up on us from behind. Of course,” she said with a smirk, “I’m sure none of them could contend with you, Jon.”

  “I’d rather not be caught unaware, though,” I said. “Can the horses get in there?”

  “There are trails and animal paths large enough that they could be led through. And, we may want them when we exit, so I don’t see any reason not to bring them.” She whistled, and her own horse trotted up to her.

  “What about camping in there?” I asked. “Did you find a place or should we wait until morning.”

  “I don’t see much difference between night and day in there,” Sarina said. “Just like any other forest in Hell in that regard.”

  “Good,” I said. “Wren, let’s get these horses ready to go.”

  She seemed happy that I asked her to do something, and hurried to go get my horse. I shrugged at Ilana’s raised eyebrow. “You heard her,” I said. “She wants to help.”

  The succubus’ smile irritated me a little, but I was too sated
to let her rile me up much. I knew what she was thinking, and yes, I found the half-elf attractive, but I wasn’t going to fuck her. Not unless she made it clear she wanted to. And even then, I had some reservations. The last unknown woman I’d gotten involved with had turned into a serpent and tried to kill me in broad daylight, so yeah, I was a bit more cautious now about where I stuck my dick.

  And, again, how many women did I need? I laughed to myself as I saddled my mare—with Wren helping—and thought that at this point, a few more wouldn’t matter. But I didn’t want any random entanglements.

  My mission was too important, and I couldn’t afford to have a stranger waylay it.

  13

  As we led our horses into the trees, I pressed a hand to my chest and felt the jewel Ferlenna had sent to me. For whatever reason, the woman had wanted me to have it, and I hoped that reason would become clear eventually.

  The forest was as dark as Sarina had reported. Once again, I felt the oppression of the gloom, which seemed not only to hang over the ground but the trees themselves. And it was stuffy and close in here. Still, we didn’t have much of a choice. We needed to pass through these trees to reach the Sacred Forest of the wood elves. So I checked my sword and made sure it was loosened over my shoulder, and led the party on.

  At first, the going was slow, and I picked my way over roots and vines snaking their way across the forest floor. My horse, ever trusting, followed dutifully, her nose sometimes butting my shoulder when I led her through particularly nasty areas of moss and brambles.

  “Sorry, girl,” I whispered. “Hopefully this will just take a day or so.”

  At some point, Wren wandered up to me. If she’d had wings, she could have been mistaken for a large fairy. However, I didn’t think Hell had fairies. It wasn’t that kind of place.

  “The trees are listening,” Wren said softly.

  “The trees?”

  “Yes,” Wren said. “Many dryads live in these woods. The only ones in Hell.”