by D. R. Rosier
We waited there patiently for them to pass; unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to do the same for the farms and Cliff’s Edge. The area was just too large and spread out to try and hide.
We went back to the house for our packs, some horses to speed our travel, and said our goodbyes. There was definitely a sense of urgency; we only had so much time. I cast the spell I’d learned to keep the horses from panicking.
I fast travelled the four of us to Steve and Sandra’s farm. That put us about two days in front of the horde. We’d be able to warn the farmers on the way to Cliff’s Edge, I assumed the mayor had the town evacuation in hand, but verified that with Serina in another quick message.
I also told her I loved and missed her. I had a feeling we wouldn’t be getting back to the capitol as quickly as we believed. Once the evacuations were under way, I wondered if it would be prudent to start attacking the edges of the goblin horde. I wasn’t sure where they were going yet, but whatever the ultimate destination I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be very good.
But I’d let Serina and the local mayor work that out. The new local mayor was someone we were all familiar with and I knew he was competent. It was the old mage Linden that we met at Hunter’s Ridge way back when. Serina informed me he had asked for retirement, and she’d given him this cushy job at the ass end of nowhere and apparently Amy had followed him.
I bet he was thrilled about his semi-retirement now…
Chapter 8
I felt a little déjà vu as I headed toward the farmhouse. Steve had taken notice of us and started walking in from the field. As he got closer I could see the half smile on his face and the cautious look in his eyes. I couldn’t really blame him, it’s not like I’d ever been here to deliver good news.
Steve said carefully, “What can I do for you mage Marcus? Would you like to join us for the evening meal?”
I was confused by his formal speech, then remembered I had the damned robes on.
I shook my head, “Unfortunately we don’t have time for me to enjoy a seat at your table and Sandra’s wonderful cooking. I come to warn you about… well this time it’s a little more sure than last time. Perhaps it’s easier if I show you the problem.”
I opened a large scrying whirlwind pointed away from us, within the center of the funnel we could clearly see the breadth and length of the enemy column.
“They’re marching toward us right now. As far as we can tell, they’re headed east to the Northern Mountains going through all the farmland down this road and probably straight through Cliff’s Edge before they leave Cirenthia for the mountains. You have less than two days and we don’t have the people to fight them off, the best we can do right now is get out of their way.
“You need to go south, at least twenty or thirty miles and wait for them to pass by.”
Steve looked angry at this; I could imagine what was going through his mind. We couldn’t protect him, and most likely the goblin horde would destroy the farm on the way through. He’d most likely lose everything but their lives and what he could fit on his cart.
He said bitterly, “I can’t thank you for this news, but I’ll do what I need to, to keep my family safe.”
He turned and walked away, I let him do so. Maybe once this was sorted out there would be a way to help them recover from what I was sure would happen.
There weren’t many hours of daylight left, but the same scene repeated itself a handful of times before we stopped to rest for the night. I sent Serina an update before we turned in for the night. It was still Alethea’s and my mating day, so at the farmhouse we stayed at we took our own room. At first neither of us was really in the mood from the stress of the day and trying to figure out where the goblins and the other races with them were all going.
But after a while of holding her in my arms naked, scenting and feeling her skin against me, we rekindled our earlier ardor and wound up making love again before falling asleep. I knew I’d have to find a way to make things up to her, even if it wasn’t my fault our mating day was not ideal.
The next morning we were up before dawn for the sword dance and a little training. Despite that we still managed an early start, and we were able to warn the remaining farms on the way to Cliff’s edge and still arrive in the town itself before noon. A few of the farmers had been stubborn about leaving, but that changed quickly when I showed them what was coming.
When we approached the city my eyes widened in disbelief when I actually saw walls. Oh, we’d past the cottages on the outskirts, but where I knew the core of the city stood there were actual walls where none had stood before. Thirty feet tall with soldiers standing on them. There were a few soldiers at the gate, but they took one look at my robes and let us in without question.
I was of two minds about that. I didn’t really want political power, or to try and influence Serina. But there was no doubt I had some as a recognized mage, not to mention the whole prince consort business.
We rode straight to the government building but I didn’t detect any other mages besides the three of us.
I dismounted and asked the soldier stationed there, “Where is Linden?”
The soldier replied smartly, “Building the outer walls.”
The answer confused me for a moment, until I remembered he was an Earth mage.
“Can you get a servant out here please?”
He nodded and stuck his head inside the door a moment before returning to his post next to the door.
“Just a minute.”
One of the servants came out. We left him with orders to have our horses taken care of, put our belongings in the room we used when visiting Serina, and then we went to the kitchens to get us something fast for lunch. I wanted to catch up with Linden but if we didn’t eat and take care of ourselves we wouldn’t be able to help.
Ari asked, “What do you think Linden’s up to?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, the idea of building walls and trying to defend is crazy, but then I have no idea what his full plan is yet. He’s been fighting goblins for forty years right? He used to run Hunter’s Ridge military, so I wouldn’t put anything past him. Once we finish eating I’d planned to track him down, unless you have a better idea?”
No one did, so we went in search of Linden after we ate. It wasn’t hard to find him. The wall wasn’t complete yet, it looked like the man was building it in sections. We just followed the wall until it ended. We did notice the city was practically deserted, and those that were still here seemed to be packing. Linden was in brown robes and he had a look of extreme concentration on his face as he muttered the words of a spell.
We just stood there silently not wanting to interrupt. When his chant ended, another fifty yards of wall appeared. It was thirty feet tall and fifteen feet deep, just like the rest of it. Where it joined together the seams was flawless, it didn’t even look like there was one.
Linden turned and smiled, “Welcome to my semi-retirement. What do you think of my wall?”
I asked curiously, “I was wondering why a spell if you’re an earth mage?
Linden scowled, “Use your magic and brain boy, take a look.”
I reached out with my magic toward the wall, feeling Ari and Alethea doing the same. The wall was mostly earth, but there were threads of elemental water, air, and fire as well. When I turned back and lifted a brow he explained.
“That’s why the spell. Having a construct of multiple elements will make it harder for an earth mage to simply knock it down. The other elements will resist them taking a hold of it. Luckily, the spell requires mostly earth and just a little of the others, so the spell doesn’t take too much of my power to pull off. I should be finished before they get here.”
I asked, “So what’s your plan and how can we help? Oh, you haven’t met everyone yet. This is Alethea, a fire mage and my mate.”
He nodded at the greeting, “Well, the plan is simple. I was told you can travel extremely quickly through the elemental realm. I hope that’s true be
cause otherwise my plan is shit.”
When I nodded he continued, “I sent away most everyone except a two score of soldiers and a few servants. The rest of the commoners should be gone before nightfall or I’ll kick them out myself. I didn’t want to just let the enemy destroy the city I’m supposed to protect however.
“So we stay here and man the walls, start killing the bastards. Of course, there is no way to win, but I think we’ll be able to take out a nice chunk of them before they overrun us and destroy the city. The trick of course is when we are overrun, we retreat, gather and you take us out of here.
“I was thinking there is also a chance they are mostly focused on moving to their destination. In that case, when they meet stiff resistance here, they may break their lines and just flow around the city and not bother with it.
“Granted, that’s the best case scenario, but either way we get to kill some of them. I don’t know where they’re all going but I have a feeling we won’t like what happens after they get there. You know there are the southern mountains west of the Great Sea where these fellows are coming from. Then we have the Northern Mountains that run all the way across Cirenthia, which had tens of thousands of the critters as well.
“Then there are the Eastern Mountains between us and the damn Empire, where even more goblins were. Then there are other mountains that don’t even touch Cirenthia out there in the empire. That’s a lot of monsters put together. What’s even more disturbing is they seem to be working with the wolves, ogres, and trolls as more than a simple meal.”
I blew out a breath, “I like the plan. Ari and Alethea can fast transport as well. If Serina hasn’t told you, we’ve evacuated all the farms west of here. So what can we do to help prepare?”
Linden rubbed his chin and replied, “Well it will take all the magic I can muster to be done before they arrive, so can the three of you start warding the walls and pumping magic into them? Just make sure you are full when they get here in a day and a half.”
I nodded slowly. “Sure, but they won’t be spelled wards.”
He frowned and shook his head, “I know you didn’t fully graduate for those robes, but I imagine you have earned them in other ways. Show me what you mean; I assume this is some Elven technique of affinity magic?”
I released one of my protection wards, but instead of on myself I cast it on the new section of wall and put a little power into it.
“That’s it.”
He raised an eyebrow and took a look at it, he even tested it with an attack which was pushed aside by elemental air.
“Not bad, I need to get back to my building. I’d suggest splitting the walls between the three of you in a leapfrog fashion. Set all the wards now then feed them power slowly. If you start at the other end, I should be done with the wall before you catch up to me.”
I replied, “Sounds good, do you have any idea why they are all moving to one place?”
He shook his head, “I know a legend, a bedtime story used to frighten children. But it’s probably just coincidence or has so little actual fact in it to make it worthless. I’ll entertain you all with the story tonight, for now we have work to do.”
We left him to his work and walked back to the Northwest point of the village, where the wall was flush with the northern cliff the town was built against. I released a ward covering the first twenty yards as Ari and Alethea did the same. Then we all moved down sixty yards and did it again, and again. It was actually pretty simple.
Sienna stayed with me as we walked and had a thoughtful expression on her face.
I asked, “What are you thinking love?”
She shook her head, “I think I know what legend he’s talking about. It concerns how the goblins and trolls arrived on this world, and how the wolves and ogres were created. I hope for all our sakes it is just a bedroom story, if it’s real… we’re in big trouble.”
“Worse than the Rhimera Empire?”
For some reason her reply disturbed me, “If it’s real the Rhimera Empire’s days are numbered.”
I frowned and took her hand, “We’ll figure it out. If we had the army which ironically is out of position being on our eastern border, I believe we could have taken out this group.”
She smiled as if I’d said something funny, “I’m sure it’s just a story, you’ll see what I mean tonight. I love you Marcus, thanks for trying to make me feel better, and I’m sure Linden is right, it’s just a story.”
I replied, “I’ve been meaning to speak to you alone if I can change the subject?”
I released another ward and we kept walking as I continued, “I was just thinking that four mates was probably as many as I can handle. I hope you agree?”
She pursed her lips and looked me in the eye, “Four works if that’s what you want. But powerful men usually have more than that, and mistresses besides.”
I pondered my answer for a minute before I spoke.
“But it’s different for me. I love each of you, and that means I need to spend time with all of you alone, often enough to make sure we are and stay good. Those men you’re thinking about probably don’t spend all that much time with most of their wives, and their mistresses are simply used for variety in bed and to send to the bed of others as spies or what have you.
“You know I have no interest in doing that.”
She pulled me to a stop and kissed me softly. By the time she ended it I’d almost forgotten where I was and what we were talking about. I’d guessed I said something right, but she should have already known that.
“I love you, and I do know that. I don’t promise though, if I meet someone I think will fit in our family I’ll let you know. You always did have the final decision you know. After all, I didn’t make you fall in love with Alethea or Serina.”
I squeezed her hand, “You’re amazing love, did you know?”
She smiled brightly, “And all yours Marcus. Stop with the compliments or I may have to drag you into one of these empty buildings to properly show my appreciation.”
I snorted, “How was that a threat?”
She giggled a little wickedly and licked her lips, “And here I thought it was a temptation.”
I spanked her lightly but said in a teasing commanding voice, “Later temptress. I’m afraid duty calls.”
She faux sighed in sadness, but I could see the corners of her mouth twitching. It was hard not to just give in and bodily drag her into a building; I could clearly scent her arousal, she was only partially teasing.
We finished setting the wards. There were so many and they all depended on me. I could see how a spell would be better. I fed all the wards I’d created until I was about half full and stopped. We weren’t sure exactly when they would get here, so I decided to wait until I was recovered close to full, and then turn on a constant trickle to the wards equaling my recovery rate.
It was probably the best way to get them powered and make sure I was at full when the horde arrived. I didn’t think there was much else we could do to prepare for the enemy so we were down to waiting for the enemy and charging wards. The four of us took baths when we got back to the mansion and got ready for dinner. Ari and Alethea went first, and then Sienna and I bathed each other as they got dressed.
I was surprised for a moment when the other two left, but figured out quickly she’d set it up when her body pasted itself against mine and she claimed my lips. I hadn’t forgotten our earlier flirting either and welcomed it. I allowed her to guide me with her hands to sit on the edge of the tub.
She looked up at me with desire in her eyes and said in sultry tones, “I’ve wanted to feel you in my mouth, sliding between my lips and along my tongue for hours now.”
I was already partially hard, but by the end of her sentence I was a rock as I stared down into her bright blue eyes, her beautiful light blonde hair framed her innocent and sexy face as she parted her lips and took me in.
I was absolutely speechless; there was no room to doubt that she loved me, that she wante
d to be on her knees pleasuring me. The way she took me in and moaned in wanton approval, her eyes hooded with pleasure as I watched my long length disappear between her full lips.
I groaned in pleasure as my sensitive tip popped into her throat and she continued taking me in until her nose was buried into my flesh. She started to hum and swallow, all while looking up at me with her innocent wide blue eyes. One of her hands were supporting and playing with my balls, the other hand was below the surface of the soapy water.
I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it with my water senses as she played with her hot core while she continued to hum, suck, swallow and lick, pleasuring my entire length in one way or another. I felt myself quickly building to completion, she didn’t pull back, or stop in any way as the pleasure of her talented mouth brought me closer and closer to bliss.
With a thought I released a little water magic, essentially surrounding her finger with a whirling power jet to increase her self pleasure as she continued to rub her clit. I smiled as her eyes widened from what must have been intense stimulation to her sex.
Her name fell from my lips, “Sienna.”
There was so much meaning behind it as I gasped her name, how much I loved her, warning her I was about to cum, amazement at the amount of pleasure she could give, and wonder at how devoted and loving she was toward me. I’d never imagined such a thing in my life before I’d met her.
I felt my balls tighten and legs numb. She just kept sucking, licking, humming and swallowing as I emptied my essence into her mouth. Her ecstasy was reached moments later, my girth and length muffled her cries of ecstasy. When we came down she made sure she’d claimed all I had to give.
I slid back in the tub and wondered if my face looked as satisfied as hers did. We finished the bath and got dressed, sharing one more kiss before we headed down to dinner.
