by Gerard Bond
Sleep did claim him, faster than he realized. It was exhaustion that did it. Towards morning he awoke to find Keera cuddling him, he also noticed she was naked, it gave him an instant erection. Oh crap, what should he do? Thoughts of Darkling immediately came to mind, oh this is not good. He tried easing himself out of her embrace but in her deep sleep she cuddled closer. He didn't want to wake her, with a sigh he relaxed and started thinking about other things. Come on Wolf, get your mind off of her.
Luckily for him she stirred and opened her eyes, she smiled a little with a yawn rolling off and facing the other way. Man that was a close call. Yeah a powerful reminder he had needs, damn, how long had it been? He turned his back to the center of the bed and tried to go to sleep but it was to no avail. Dawn was breaking and he lay there watching as the sun's rays grew stronger by the minute and illuminated the room.
Finally he decided to get up and go for a walk to the infirmary, he wanted to see how Kane felt this morning. Upon entering the building he found his way to a room on the right and saw Kane asleep in a cot, Solynne was under a blanket in a chair beside him and she lifted her head as he entered. He spoke in quiet tones,
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
She shook her head and gave a big yawn, then stretched out before looking across at Kane. He appeared comfortable enough and his color had returned, the man had looked quite pale the night before when the surgeon had to stitch him up. She turned back to Wollfen,
“So any news?” He shook his head,
“No, I haven't spoken to anyone other than Keera, she is asleep back at the tavern.”
Solynne sat up pulling her boots on and then standing,
“Come on let's go talk to someone about what is happening.”
The two of them walked over to the town hall where two guards were on duty at the entrance, one of them was from the wall the night before and recognizing the two spoke up,
“Sargent Dunn wants to see you please.”
“Oh? Where is he?”
The soldier simply pointed inside and the two of them walked in looking about, there was some noise in an antechamber to the left and they headed in there. Inside was Lord Hales body laid out on what looked like a door removed from its hinges, the door was sitting on two end tables. Sargent Dunn was sitting by it at a desk looking out a window beside him, he turned when he saw the two enter.
“Are you Wollfen?”
“Yes, we met once before but you were, uh, indisposed.”
“Oh.” The man sighed looking at the body, “I heard all about what transpired, how you went out to rescue the Lord and brought him back safe only to see him die inside the gates.” Wollfen simply nodded.
“All I want to say is thank you for your efforts, I know it has proven futile, but it was more than anyone else here would have done. Even if I was sober I couldn't have mounted a rescue.”
A look of shame came across his face at the last part, he knew he wasn't doing a good job and his conscience was kicking in. At least he had one Solynne thought. Wollfen on the other hand had other ideas,
“So tell me Sargent, what are you going to do about it now? If you do nothing it will only embolden the bandits to become even more daring.”
The man looked up with his hands open,
“What would you have me do? I have maybe six men to guard the entire town, normally it is self regulating and up to now it has worked, but we face a threat from a well organized criminal organization that knows we are easy pickings.”
“Who is left in charge? Who can you turn to that can organize and hire more personnel?”
The man simply shook his head,
“You don't get it do you? This is a back water that the Kingdom doesn't give two shits about, Lord Hale there and Oberon were all the authority that we had. They are both dead now. I am a simple soldier expected to take orders and that's it. You get posted here it's because the Kingdom is either punishing you or you are incompetent.”
Wollfen looked at him sternly gathering an understanding of the situation, this man was all there was in the way of an authority figure in the town.
“So tell me Kane, which one are you? Punished or incompetent?”
The Sargent looked away while speaking,
“Punished.”
He made a drinking motion with his hand so Wollfen understood what the punishment was for.
“Well now's your chance, time to take it on the chin and stand up for the people of this town.” The man looked up in surprise and Wollfen went on, “I personally don't care if you care for them or not, you have a duty to them, you are a soldier first. To protect the people is your charge and right now all of them are in your care so you better forget about losing yourself in a bottle and start thinking about what you need to do to turn this situation around. In the meantime I am going to go off and do some stuff, I will come back after lunch and we will sit down and discuss your options alright?”
He simply nodded and stared.
“Alright, you also had better organize a burial ceremony too, get the undertaker in here and start getting things done.”
Wollfen turned on his heel and walked out without another word, the Sargent staring after him as they left. Solynne caught up next to him and spoke up,
“That was a bit harsh don't you think?” She could tell he was angry.
“The Lord of the town is dead, there is no one else to take care of things, he is it and he better pull his finger out otherwise this place will go down the tubes so fast it will be shocking to see. Do you think this place is going to hold together without any leadership?”
“Surely the Kingdom will send replacements?” Wollfen laughed,
“Come on Solynne do you really think the Kingdom is going to act quick on this? Kassandrea the capitol is two weeks ride from here and then they will take how long to find a replacement? A week? A month? Six months? Who knows? No, that Sargent is all these people have right now and like it or not he has to step up and start taking action. I'm sorry Solynne but this town doesn't have the luxury of time to wait for him or anyone else.”
She sighed and thought about what he said, she wasn't one to think much about politics or government administration or how it worked. She could see he was right though, they were all out here alone.
“So what are we doing now?”
“I'm having a bite to eat I haven't had anything since yesterday morning.”
At the mention of food her stomach grumbled and she realized she too was famished. The two of them went back to the tavern and found Keera in a booth munching away on a big bowl of food, she motioned for them to come over unable to speak with her mouth full. They sat down and when she managed to swallow she spoke up,
“I got the cook making up more food it will be ready soon, I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away without anything in your tummy for too long.”
“Thanks Keera, it's much appreciated.”
“So what's going on?” Wollfen sighed,
“Not sure how things will go yet, we will find out after lunch I suppose, if things don't go well I imagine there will be quite a number of people leaving soon to head west to the coast.”
“Really? Is it that bad?” Wollfen gave it some thought before going on,
“Let me explain, right now the gates are closed and everyone's feeling basically safe, but I am sure the bandits on the outside know just how weak this outpost really is, they would have to know how few soldiers there are here. I doubt it will take long for them to figure out that they can waltz right in here and sack the place for whatever they can find. There wouldn't be much resistance at all.”
Keera shook her head, Wolf was right, six soldiers would be pushed aside quite easily by them. Then the townspeople would be at the mercy of the bandits. This wasn't good at all.
“So what do we do? Leave or fight?” Wollfen had an idea,
“Kane is the key here, if he is up and about in the next twenty four hours I think he will be able to organize a good defense, he wi
ll be able to get this town to hold out until I get back.”
“Wait what? Get back? Where are you going?”
“I think it best I head directly west to Port Cholandra with a written appeal from the Sargent explaining the situation, I am sure they will dispatch an expeditionary force in the short term to defend the place until Kassandrea can send relief and a new Lord.”
“But Cholandra is almost a week away?”
“Yes Keera, you lot are going to have to hold out for two weeks, then the soldiers will be here. Also I will head to Comberwell and go pick up Darkling from there before returning here so I will be gone four weeks. In that time I want you all training up as many willing recruits as you can find. Make sure there is a defense here that can hold their own in the short term.”
Solynne was wondering why Wollfen would want to bring Darkling down here and she said so,
“What's the point of everyone rendezvousing here?”
“Oh, I have an idea about that and I will tell you after our meeting later with Sargent Kane okay?”
“Fair enough, well, I am going to go check on Kane and see how he is doing, I have eaten enough out of Keera's bowl to keep me going for now. I'll see you all at lunch.” She smiled and left.
Keera looked back at Wollfen,
“I got a totally unrelated question for you.”
“Alright, shoot.”
“How did you get me out of my clothes last night?” Wollfen's eyebrows shot up,
“Me? I didn't do anything, you were like that when I came to bed.” Keera shook her head slow with a smirk,
“Likely story.”
Chapter Five
The Plan
Wollfen had spent two weeks on the trail riding to Port Cholandra and then onto Comberwell, he was getting very stiff and tired but there was still much to be done. Two weeks ago it had been decided that his three companions would stay in Outrock to not only help defend the town but also train up some recruits as well. His trip to Port Cholandra had produced the desired results and a squad of fifty soldiers had been dispatched on horseback to Outrock with a temporary Lord to run the town, they should be there by now he surmised.
Now as he approached Comberwell on this late afternoon he was finally able to start relaxing, he had managed all he had set out to do and there wasn't much else to be done for Outrock. Not for awhile at least and he intended on taking a couple of days break before heading out again. He was looking forward to seeing Dark and catching up with her. He hoped she wasn't going to be too upset considering he had been gone so long, what was it, over a month now?
Entering the village he looked around, there was the usual traffic. People going about their daily routines, it was a far cry from what he had been experiencing lately. He pulled up outside the tavern that Dark normally worked in, would she be there? He would find out soon enough. Walking inside he saw Kels behind the bar and waved, the man smiled back and motioned him over.
“Hi there Wollfen, you been avoiding us eh? Dark's not too pleased with you.”
“Yeah,” Wollfen acknowledged, “Things came up I couldn't avoid. So tell me Kels, where is she?”
“She is at home right now, keeping herself busy cleaning up, go on get over there, you spend too much time here not seeing her it will only piss her off more.”
Wollfen chuckled and retreated back out the door, mounting his horse he made off towards Dark's cabin closer to the woods. It wasn't long before he got there and as he approached he could see her front door was open. That was good, she was definitely home.
He went inside and looked around, it was very quiet. Where was she? He walked into the kitchen area and saw a trap door open in the floor, he peered down into the darkness and saw the glow of a light down there,
“Hello? Anybody down there?”
“Wolf? Is that you?” Yes that was Dark no mistaking.
“Yeah your friendly neighborhood furry is here my dear.”
“Get your ass down here!”
He didn't waste any time and let himself down the ladder into the gloom, he looked across to Dark standing there near a torch burning on the wall, well at least she was smiling.
“Hey there Dark, it's good to see you.”
“And where the hell have you been? I have been waiting for you for a month!” She walked over to him as he tried to explain,
“Well I been in a bit of...”
He didn't get to finish as she hugged him kissing his lips firmly, he responded in kind and they embraced for awhile, kissing and tasting each other. Finally they pulled away and took a breath,
“Well hello there, nice to see you.” He said with a smile, she gave him a slap on the arm,
“I'm still mad at you, why no word?” He tried to do a good impression of looking sad,
“There's been trouble in Outrock, I'll tell you all about it later.”
He embraced her again kissing her deeply, tasting her warm soft mouth. She moaned in response holding him close, one hand sliding down and fondling his hardening organ. She pulled away and whispered hoarsely in his ear,
“I want you, now.”
He didn't hesitate unbuttoning her slacks and sliding a hand in, he felt the moist lips of her mound and stroked them gently. She moaned and tilted her head back, bending it over to one side so he could kiss and nibble her neck. She also had his organ out and was stroking him slowly, their passions continued to rise.
Wollfen pushed her slacks down and off, lifting one leg wide and high, then he pushed her against the wall and Dark guided his hard rod into her wet hole. Sliding in deep she moaned out loud as he gyrated into her, pumping her slowly. Dark gyrated to his movements working together with him.
“Yes baby, fuck me deep, I wanna feel you.”
It drove him on and he pumped harder, making her gasp. Dark pulled her shirt open and lifted a breast to his mouth, he licked and sucked at her hard nipple now as he continued to thrust. The position was difficult to do both at once though and he slid her to the ground, turning her onto her knees. Now he entered her from behind grabbing her hips, thrusting hard and slapping into her. She cried out more,
“Give it to me! I need it! Fuck me harder!”
He didn't need any more encouragement continuing to pump her harder and faster, his own needs driving him on. Finally he started to groan and Dark pushed back hard, she could feel his organ starting to pulse,
“Ohhh yeah c'mon baby give it to me.”
Wollfen erupted with a howl and shook as he exploded, no longer able to keep up the rhythm he simply held himself deep as his rod pulsed deep inside her. Then he fell back onto the ground feeling the cool soil on his back and butt. Dark wasted no time in turning around and mounting him, he was still hard and she wasn't done yet.
Staring into his eyes she stroked him deep, gyrating at the end of each thrust into herself, then within a few minutes she came hard crying out and grinding down onto his rod.
Laying on his chest she panted and slowly licked at his sweaty skin,
“Mm, baby, I needed that.”
“Mm yeah so did I.”
They lay there for awhile panting and slowly cooling off, their heart rate returning to normal. She gave him a slow sensual kiss, filled with tenderness.
“Thank you.” He smiled.
After laying there totally relaxed and content Dark finally lifted up off of him,
“Come on hon, can't lay in the dirt all afternoon.”
They went upstairs after they rubbed the dirt off each others backs and sat down beside each other.
“So tell me how you feel Dark, you seem to have recovered well from your wounds.” She smiled and looked down at herself,
“Yes I have been doing pretty well this past week but damn I'm sore now.”
He chuckled,
“Not my fault.” She batted him with the back of her hand and commented,
“I think we are both to blame, but I am not complaining.” She had a big grin on her face, “It's just what the doctor o
rdered.”
“Sounds to me like we may have to do more of that.”
“Later big boy, I want to hear news of what you have been up to?”
He told her of the journey down to Outrock and the kidnapping of Lord Hale, also their rescue and his subsequent death too. Dark was shocked, these bandits Wolf was speaking of were certainly audacious. He went on though talking of his trek to Port Cholandra and travel back to here, it certainly all sounded like an exciting time.
“So what do you want to do now? Are you going to leave the other three in Outrock?” He shook his head,
“No, my plan is for us to travel down there in a couple of days time and meet up with them. I told them before I left that I wanted to come see you and offer you a place with us.” She smiled at his last words,
“Gladly lover, I want out of this place and being by your side sounds like a dream.”
“Yah well, let me finish before you decide, you may not like the next part.”
“Okay go on.”
“Well when we get there I want to organize a team of at least six or eight of us to go after the bandits, pick them off out in the wilds. We will have to stay mobile and hit them with guerrilla tactics.”
“Sounds dangerous, but why would you want to go back and get involved?”
“There's a number of reasons, first up I feel responsible for what happened to Lord Hale, he died in my arms, I had to watch the light go out of his eyes. That's not something you can get over easily.”
Dark knew exactly what he meant, she had seen it too often herself.
“Go on my dear.”
“The other thing is, I need to properly blood my team, get them all working together and understanding each other, so far it's worked well but at the moment it's only four, I want it to be eight.”
“You think I'm up to it?” He looked her in the eye,
