Wraith King 3

by Jack Porter

  What if the prophecy wasn’t going to save anyone except me?

  “Will you think about it?” Sarina asked.

  “I will,” I said. It was the exact same question Ilana had asked me only a few days before. And I had failed her as well. I looked over at the succubus, and the half-elf was already asleep in the bed. Ilana had been listening, of course, but she had already said her piece and wasn’t the type to harp on about it. “I will,” I repeated. “I swear it.”

  “Come to bed, Jon,” Ilana said, patting the bed beside her.

  But I shook my head. “In a little while. I’m going to do one more check on the horses, and then I’ll be back.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Sarina asked.

  “No. Get some sleep if you can.”

  Then I left, pushing aside the curtain that acted as a door. The night was stuffy, and the air a bit denser than it normally was in this forest. I looked up toward the foothills in the mountains that the city backed up against. On the other side were the Wraith King’s lands. The sheer cliffs and impossible passes meant that the elves were as safe as anyone in Hell. But I wondered if someday this would be a good starting point for a covert mission.

  With that thought, I turned on my heel and made once again for the stables. Maybe if I could come up with a name for my horse, all my problems would be solved. Then I laughed. If only it were that simple.

  I knew that what the girls were saying made sense, but I also knew that every day we delayed were days that Nya would have to fight or hold the line against her enemies alone. And while I understood she had been doing this for far longer than I had, I felt just as bonded to her as I now did to the wood elves, and more. Nya and I shared more than some poison and some berries.

  So why had I come on this quest in the first place?

  I pondered the question as my feet carried me into the stables. The now familiar smell of horses and straw filled me with a sense of calm, and I went over to pat my mare on the nose. She pushed me gently in the chest, and I knew it was a rebuke for leaving her.

  “You’re ready to run, aren’t you?” I asked. “Me too. This forest is beautiful, in its own way, but I don’t think anything can beat the plains where we can gallop at full speed.”

  My mare continued to nuzzle my shirt, but I knew she was listening. She had been well cared for here, and her coat gleamed in a way that it hadn’t done since we left Blackhold all those months ago.

  “What about Abby?” I asked.

  The mare snorted. No, that wasn’t it.

  “Blackfire?”

  She stamped her foot.

  “Charm?” I tried.

  At this, the mare pulled her head away from me and backed further toward the wall.

  “Well, at least I tried,” I said. “One of these days you’re going to have to keep a name that I pick for you whether you like it or not.”

  She snorted loudly at that and shook her head. She knew I was bluffing, and so did I.

  I remembered when I’d ended up in Hell, and how I had landed in the stable. It was Sarina’s stable, as a matter of fact. I still didn’t know how I got there, but I’d meant what I said when I told her that I had much to lose. When it came to my girls, I had everything to lose.

  And perhaps that’s what was driving me to go help Nya. I had sworn to help her in any way I could, and I couldn’t help feeling that she needed me. If that meant abandoning my quest for a while, then so be it.

  I turned, knowing that I needed a good night’s sleep just as much as everyone else, but I wasn’t quite ready to go back yet. I didn’t want another discussion, another reason why I was doing the wrong thing. So I sat down against the wall and inhaled deeply, listening to the horses as they slept and the nighttime birds in the trees.

  The city wasn’t as quiet as other parts of the forest, and I attributed that to its relative safety. Really, the elves couldn’t be blamed for not wanting to leave here, not when they finally had everything they wanted.

  Well, almost everything they wanted.

  The world was still a dark place.

  38

  I awoke, still in the stable, when one of the girls put her hand down my pants.

  It wasn’t uncommon for us to steal moments in the quiet of the night. To wake from terrible dreams and seek comfort from one another. More than likely, I thought it was Sarina.

  But the woman who laid herself on top of me smelled and felt different. For one thing, she was tiny. I opened my eyes and was only mildly surprised to see Wren. She wiggled on top of me as her hand found my dick, which responded to her touch more quickly than I would have liked.

  “Hey,” I said, grabbing her arm. “Wait.”

  Wren shifted to kiss me on the lips, and she tasted a bit like the forest smelled. Then she said, “You don’t want to?” Her eyes looked hurt.

  “I… ah! I didn’t say that—”

  Wren had just pumped her hand down my shaft in an expert move that only made me want more.

  “Wait,” I said again, this time gently pulling her hand out of my pants. “Wren,” I said, trying not to inhale her scent too deeply, “I don’t want you to feel like you have to, you know? You can stay with us as long as you want. But you don’t have to convince me with sex.”

  She stared down at me and laughed lightly. “I know that.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course. You’ve been a perfect gentleman. I like you.”

  It was so, so tempting to give in to her. This delicate, pretty half-elf who was now nuzzling my neck with her soft mouth. And really, I could see no reason not to. Not anymore.

  Her body was so close, her scent so beautiful—that of earth and leaves and grasses on a summer day. And when she looked at me with those eyes, I suddenly really couldn’t remember why I had refused her in the first place.

  She leaned in to kiss me, then stroked my face, but I wanted her to stroke something else some more, so I grabbed her other wrist to give her encouragement. She smiled then and leaned in to kiss me once more. If I said that her lips tasted purple, that was the only way I can describe them. Like a delicate flower growing here in the barn. She deftly unlaced my pants and pulled them off me while I half sat up to remove her shirt.

  Then, I watched the half-elf remove the rest of her own clothing a piece at a time, revealing what I’d seen before but never given myself permission to touch.

  Before I could, though, she straddled me once more and sat down on me urgently, with a soft sigh. And then she began to rock her hips into me, riding me as she looked into my eyes.

  I had a vague thought that if we were caught, it might mean some embarrassment. The wood elves seemed less open about their sexuality than the dark elves. But for some reason I didn’t feel too bad about letting this beautiful half-elf ride my cock, even if it was in a semi-public place.

  Wren had her eyes closed and continued to roll her hips on me, riding me, seeking her own pleasure. And I was happy to let her do it.

  I grunted as she squeezed my shaft, and finally began to move my hips against her, no longer content to let her do all the work.

  Wren began to move faster, grinding against me, and her thighs quivered as her pleasure built. I held back, enjoying watching her body move over mine, enjoying watching her small breasts now bouncing freely up and down. Finally, I leaned up and took one of those nipples in my mouth, sucking it greedily. The half-elf in my arms gasped and moved even faster, and I began to meet her, using my arms to bring her up and down, thrusting in and out of her. Our bodies met in the rhythm as old as time, and in that moment, I couldn’t believe that I had wondered if this was right. It felt too good not to be.

  Her walls tightened around me, and she was so close. Her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth opened. I reached up and touched her hair, winding my fingers through it and tugging her head back as I leaned in to kiss her neck. It was a difficult position to be in because we were still thrusting, but all I wanted to do was devour her. And she seemed to w
ant the same, because her hands snaked under my shirt and her nails dug into my back, and I felt the scratches drawing blood as she tensed and rode out an orgasm that caused her walls to clench so tightly around me that I was forced to come as well.

  I thought we were done, but we weren’t. Wren continue to ride me, and since I was still hard, I continue to let her. She moved again and again and again. Her body still grinding against mine, her walls still clenching my shaft as if they would never stop. I let her ride me until she orgasmed once more, this time with a soft cry that the horses responded to with snorts and whinnies. To stop herself from getting too loud, Wren leaned forward and bit into my shoulder, and I felt warm blood flow over my chest. I stroked her back as she came down from her high, and we panted a moment there in each other’s arms.

  Finally, slowly, the half-elf sat up, and even though I was still inside her, she didn’t make any move to pull away. Her fingers went to the bite on my shoulder and she wiped away the trickle of blood.

  She kissed me and then said, “Did you enjoy it?”

  “Mmm…” I said, pleasantly relaxed. “How could I not?”

  I smiled and kissed her.

  Wren had pulled my tunic to the side so that she could bite me. Somehow, I had forgotten to take it off, but she reached down to the hem and began tugging it off for me as if she were ready for round two.

  I laughed and helped her, watching her toss the shirt aside and put her hands on my chest.

  But her gaze immediately fell to the jewel that hung around my neck. It was the one Ferlenna had given me and that I had been wearing all this time.

  Wren frowned and tentatively touched the jewel. “Where did you get this?”

  “It was from Ferlenna,” I said. “She gave it to me as a token of good faith. But I never had a chance to give it back to her.”

  The half-elf took in her palm and tried to pull it over my head. “Take it off,” she said urgently.

  “Why?” I grabbed her wrist. “What’s wrong?”

  “Do you trust me, Jon?” Wren’s eyes bored into my own, her gaze so intense that I was a little bit shocked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then take it off now.”

  I grabbed the chain, slipped it off over my head, and handed the jewel to her. Immediately, she shifted off me and sat down on her discarded clothing. Then she placed her hand over the jewel and closed her eyes. Her lips moved, and I heard faint chanting that sounded more like a whisper.

  She was performing a spell.

  I watched, fascinated, until she had completed her task. When she moved her hand away from the jewel, runes had appeared on it.

  “Do you see these?” she asked.

  “I don’t really read runes,” I said, although I was thinking more and more that I needed to.

  “This is a spell to harm you and to bring you bad luck,” she said seriously. “It has meant to hurt you all along. It might even explain the terrible visions that you’ve been having since you entered the forest.”

  “But… I have been having bad dreams for a while. The forest wasn’t the first time.”

  “Ilana said it was the first time you weren’t sure it was a dream.” Wren looked a little bit unsure of herself, as if she wasn’t certain that she was supposed to have this information. But I nodded. It was only natural that Ilana would’ve confided in her, and I was trusting her more and more, obviously.

  “So,” I began, thinking, “if Ferlenna sent this to me and it was meant to harm me, then she wasn’t there to help us after all.”

  Wren nodded. “She may have even been a plant by the Wraith King himself.”

  “Don’t know,” I said. “But it’s a good possibility, isn’t it? Wren, I’ve been a really big idiot.”

  She smirked. “Just now?”

  I smiled, but I didn’t really feel like joking with her. No, if Ferlenna was a spy for the Wraith King, then the seer had done me a favor.

  I stood and began looking for my clothes. As much as I would’ve liked to linger there with Wren, I had something else on my mind now.

  Once I got dressed, I leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. “I’ll see you later?”

  She smiled. “Of course. And Jon, don’t forget the jewel.”

  39

  I immediately went to find Raven, and found her some distance away near one of the larger houses built higher up into the rock. I knew that she lived here, but had never been inside. When I asked a servant to if I could speak with her, she came out herself and met me at the door.

  “I need to see the queen,” I said without preamble. “I wish to have an audience with her.”

  If Raven was surprised by my appearance, she didn’t let on. “You can’t have one immediately,” she said. “Kali is sleeping. But I will ask her tomorrow.”

  “Raven,” I said, “I know you’ve been disappointed in me the last few hours, but my question for the seer is important. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here in the middle of the night.”

  Raven shook her head and opened her mouth to argue.

  However, a voice from within interrupted her. “Let him in, Raven.” It was Kali. “I have a message for him, but he needs to experience it himself. Tell him to enter.”

  Without another word, Raven nodded and parted the curtains that separated the front porch-like structure from the room beyond.

  I was surprised to see it was just one room, and there was a fire in a stone fireplace further back, casting a warm glow throughout the cave-like room.

  However, there was also another fire pit in the center of the room, ringed with colorful stones, and Kali was sitting next to this one just like I had seen her near the fire at Maelon’s camp a few nights before. However, now she wore a garment of only leaves, and a cape with a high collar.

  I hesitated at the door, wondering if I was supposed to stand or sit.

  But Raven practically pushed me toward the firepit and gestured for me to sit.

  “You may leave us,” Kali said to her. “And thank you Raven. Please get some rest yourself.”

  Kali looked up at Raven, and I could tell that she was trying to soften her dismissal. Raven nodded and after a look at me, left the room.

  “You said you have a message for me?” I asked. “Is it about Nya?”

  “Please, Jon,” she said. “Sit down across from me. Just like it was the other night.”

  I knelt across the fire pit from her and watched as she struck a flint against the stone and caught some tinder on fire. She carefully fed it until it was flaming on its own, and then she sat back on her heels and looked at me. “I was hoping you would come to me tonight. If you didn’t, well…”

  “Well what?” I asked when she didn’t continue.

  “It doesn’t matter. It only matters that you are here now.” She reached into a small cloth bag that sat beside several jars and clay pots that seem to be filled with different substances. The powder she threw into the fire caused it to blaze bright yellow, then pink, and then blue. The blue matched her eyes, which were glowing once again.

  I also noticed that she no longer had twigs in her hair, and she looked cleaner than she had since I’d last seen her. Even at supper, she looked tired and as if she hadn’t taken much time with her appearance. But now, her hair was glossy and smooth and free from twigs, there was color in her cheeks, and her eyes looked even brighter than before.

  “If you look behind you on that stand,” she said, “there is a potion I want you to drink. Because the message I have to deliver to you isn’t something that I can just tell you. You are meant to see it for yourself. For only then will you actually believe it.”

  I turned, and sure enough there was a goblet of some rich-smelling wine. I picked it up and then returned to where I was sitting. “Now?” I asked.

  Kali nodded. And so I smelled it, and then took a sip.

  “You must drink all of it, Jon-man,” she said softly.

  I did so, drinking it down until there was nothing left.

&
nbsp; The seer then fell into a trance, her eyes glazing over and her arms falling limp at her sides. I almost wondered if she was okay, but before I could do anything about it, I felt the pressure of another vision coming on.

  This one wasn’t like the one that had tried to present itself that night in Maelon’s village. Instead, I felt like I was falling, like the ground was shifting beneath my legs and the fire was opening up. At the same time, I could still feel the ground beneath me, but my head was floating, and I wondered what sort of potion she had given me. And then the vision began to press in harder from the sides, and my vision tunneled.

  Except… It wasn’t full of images of bloodlust and fear and death.

  It wasn’t dark like all the others.

  This was something else.

  40

  When I stopped falling, I landed on what felt like hard stone. But the light around me was blindingly bright, much better than Kali’s cave had been. When I finally adjusted, I realized that what I thought was a bright light were many lights, rather reflections, shining off gems in the walls.

  I was in a cave.

  But it was unlike any cave I’d ever seen or dreamed of before. The walls were glittering with all the colors of the spectrum, as if they were made up of tiny crushed jewels. And maybe they were, but the light came from a pool of water. I got to my feet slowly and looked around, but there was no one else in this chamber except for me, and all I could hear was the sound of the water lapping against the sides of the pool and my own increased breathing.

  Everything certainly felt real, sounded real, and smelled real. As far as I knew, I was fully awake. And yet I wasn’t sure how I had managed to arrive here. Had Kali opened some sort of new portal? I really didn’t like that thought, but then I remembered feeling the vision coming on and thought perhaps maybe that wasn’t the answer here.

  Just to check and make sure I wasn’t dreaming, I withdrew my dagger and was about to prick my finger to see if I felt pain, when a voice came from the other side of the chamber.