Welcoming
"One step, down." Elena said quietly to herself, doing the first forward step of the exercise sequence and bringing the but of her spear down on the flagstones with a sharp crack. "One step, back." She accordingly took a step back, flipping the spear horizontal and thrusting backwards with it. "One step, forward."
A step forward and an accompanying thrust in that direction.
"Step, left cross, down."
She stepped to the left, swinging the razor-tipped weapon across to the left and bringing the butt down sharply again, her arm now across her belly.
"Step, right cross, down."
A step to the right, a swing, and bringing the spear down again.
"Step, left cross, back, right cross, forward, back."
Again, she stepped left, swung the spear and thrust it back, swung the spear right and thrust it forward... and felt it be caught as if in a grip of stone as she brought it back again.
"Back, forward, Elena." A rumbling voice murmured in her ear, causing her to smile. "Not forward, back. The enemy in front of you is already dead but the one behind you seeks to serve you the same."
Elena let the spear go and turned around, throwing her arms around the slightly taller male and embracing him tightly.
"Ersi!" She exclaimed happily, briefly hugging her older brother more tightly against her. "You've returned!"
He gave a grunt that was a mix of surprise and enjoyment as he dropped the spear, letting it clatter to the ground, and hugged her back, briefly lifting her up off of the ground. "And with honor, Ela." He rumbled to her in his kindly resonant voice. "For our lady commanded and I obeyed, leaving her enemies slain and carrying her honor to one was honorable in turn."
Elena smiled up at her brother, letting him go, taking her customary enjoyment in admiring his handsome features and chiseled physique covered in the fine silk robes and scale-woven armor of a highly honored retainer. "And who was this one whose honor you admire?" She inquired, stopping to pick up her spear.
"A lady of mixed lineage." He replied, walking towards the main home at the center of the estate gardens, gesturing for her to follow. "A Knight of the Teutonic Order, in fact."
"I had believed them all to be human." She commented, increasing her pace to catch up to him, waking alongside him through the peaceful streams and rocks that provided an ideal environment for study and exercise.
"As had I, Ela." He admitted, welcoming her to his side with a look of distinct affection. "And from such flows the honor I perceived for they accept none but the mightiest swords and in her they must have seen a great warrior indeed."
"And you?" Elena gave him a look of curiosity and interest.
"She was an innocent, of course." He replied reaching up and gesturing towards one of the light wooden screens that served as a door, causing it to slide out of the way with a gentle wisp of magical command. "A righteous soul as well, crusading and without any fear. Our lady's enemies were her enemies, having foully slain someone close to her, but she was gracious in permitting me to settle her debt on her behalf."
"You sound as if you admire her." Elena noted lightly.
Ersari laughed and gave her a chiding look. "Now, now, Elena... are you being jealous?" He teased.
"Well, I'd think that if I came home talking so highly of a male, you'd be a little jealous too." She teased right back.
He just chuckled at that and, without warning, swept her up into his arms and kissed her. It wasn't just a normal sibling peck either but the warm deep soft thing one lover would deliver to anotherâ€"which was their favored way of sharing affection in private. Elena happily returned it, twitching her tails lightly with enjoyment of the simple pleasure of sharing the kiss.
"I missed you, dear one." He told her gently as their muzzles parted with no small amount of reluctance.
"As did I." She told him, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. "I know you are stronger than almost any creature but you know that I worry for you when you go out in the service of our lady."
"And I worry for you as well." He replied, stepping back and using a paw to gently lift her head so he could look tenderly into her eyes, the paw moving to a side to lovingly stroke her cheek. "Except for the Eighth and the Ninth, all the Helles bow to our lady but the enemies that define her honor and goodness would think nothing of harming the beloved of her most honored servant."
"I keep a watch, Ersi." She assured him, taking the paw in both of hers and nuzzling it, sighing happily at the feel of such a strong hand cradling her cheek with such loving care. "Our own bond-servants are loyal without question to Drae'thul and they would not permit an assassin to pass without killing them first. And Rijii's abominations are as cowardly in the end as their master."
"Their cowardice is a comfort." He smiled and turned, opening the door to the hot springs in the middle of the home with another gesture. "Would you care to set the tea? My task was not great but I wish to savor some time with my sister before I am called upon again."
"Of course, Ersi." She replied warmly, making her way to the kitchen, eagerly anticipating spending some quality time with him. She had numerous siblings, to be sure, but Ersari was the one she loved best, a kind person soft of touch and speech despite the considerable honor he had gained as a warrior in the service of Lady Drae'thul, the servant she most often sent to destroy her enemies or bring her the head of a particularly evil abomination. More often than not, they had the entire home to themselves which had fostered their closeness... among other things. When she returned with the tray containing a flask of boiling tea and cups, Ersari had changed from his armor to the comfortable house robe preferred by a sworn lord of considerable status, one of the many gifts he'd been given by the gentle and generous lady the Bloodwind clan was sworn to. She'd also changed into her more casual kimono, something she'd bribed one of the few gremlins talented in weaving into crafting for her and felt was worth the effort to get a hammer of precisely the right metal, shape, and handle (discovering in the process that gremlins had strange ideas about value).
"Mmm... is that white apple tea I smell?" He inquired, smiling as she sat down next to him at the edge of the steaming water. "Oh, it is! You're also so considerate to me, dear sister... brewing my favorite tea."
"It is one of my favorites as well, remember?" She reminded him, pouring into his cup before her own, sipping the sweet fragrant liquid relaxedly.
"So it is." He nodded, taking a sip himself and closing his eyes to sigh with pleasure. "It is indeed the simple things that make the difficult ones worthwhile."
"Indeed." Elena agreed, finishing her cup with a gulp. "Of course, there is something to be said for the things you can gain in the arms of another."
At this, Ersari tilted back his head and laughed heartily. "Ela, can you possibly be more obvious?" He inquired affectionately. "It's not as if either of us live the brief candle of first mortals... there is time enough to think of seeking a mate."
"You say that as if it would require effort." She pointed out to him with the slightest hint of suggestiveness.
He shrugged in response, refilling his cup. "It wouldn't." He acknowledged. "But be patient, beloved... I realize that as things appear right now, the war could take some time. But there are things you don't know and that our lady does because her master does as does her fellow advisor to the High Lord. That idiot pretender hurtles heedlessly to his certain doom and..."
"Ersi..." She interrupted him.
He paused and smiled. "I'm sorry, Ela... I'm getting far too fixated on ceremony." He gestured her to come and sit beside him, an invitation she took eagerly, laying her head on his shoulder as she sat down.
"Yes, you are." She agreed after a moment with more than a hint of chiding affection.
"I do so wish there was a way I might bring you with me... have you fight at my side..." He sighed, embracing her with an arm and resting his chin on the top of her head. "Nothing would be a more worthy ceremony than forging a bond in battle."
"All formalities, love." She murmured to him with a sigh of contentment. "Relax... let me take care of you..."
"You mean the tea and the snuggling doesn't qualify?" He teased coyly.
"Only if you want it to." She replied, just as coyly, turning to give him a deliberately sultry look, one of her paws resting on his knee and slowly stroking its way up his leg.
"If tea and a nuzzle is all we wanted, love, we wouldn't have a nice hotspring all to ourselves, now would we?" He replied in a deeper and more desiring tone. One paw slipped under her robe to cup her firm tush, the other cradling the back of her head as he guided her in for a strong passionate kiss, his tongue wrestling briefly with hers as she returned it eagerly.
"Indeed not." She whispered to him in a smoky voice, letting their lips drift apart as she began nuzzling his throat tenderly, rubbing her cheek against the smooth fur of his strong chest, slipping herself out of her kimono as she backed gradually into the hotspring, moving around to the little ledge she knew about through experience until she was kneeling at his feet, her nude body presented fully to him, tongue running over her teeth in concentration as her paws stroked his sides.
She felt his paws grasp her shoulders gently, guiding her forward to where his sheath, already starting to swell with excitement, lay and she leaned forward eagerly, slipping her tongue out of her muzzle and lightly running the tip over the skin stretched taut over his considerable wolfhood. He started a little at that and looked down at her with a grin. "Someone's been taking lessons from the slut in the First." He commented, licking his lips.
"You are such a traditionalist." She grinned back and returned to the teasing of his sheath, her hands moving down his sides to cup and massage his very well-exercised buttocks, mmm'ing happily at the firm strong feel of his flesh under her paws and his maleness just starting to peek out from the concealing sheath. "She's not a slut."
"Oh..." He shivered as her tongue moved up to play with the emerging tip of his member. "And... what is your word for someone... who craves sex... with any good-looking person... who crosses her path?"
"Inspiration." She leaned up further, curling her tongue around her lover's cock as it emerged from its hiding place, rubbing it and drawing it into her muzzle. She felt her brother stiffen a little as she enclosed his lupine pride in her mouth, caressing it with her tongue, teasingly running the sharp points of her teeth over the delicate flesh, suckling on her lover with undisguised lust as she massaged his ass vigorously.
"Helles and Light, Ela!" Ersari exclaimed, sounding surprised and delighted at her eagerness. "I haven't... been gone that long...!"
She rotating her eyes upward and gave him a playfully lustful look as she started bobbing her head, coaxing him completely out and making sure the well-sized wolfhood was well and truly lubricated to the delighted moans of her most intimate companion. When she finally released him, licking her lips in a blatantly sensual way, he was actually panting a little, no small accomplishment with someone in such pristine physical shape.
"I... had forgotten how... incredible that muzzle of yours is..." He smiled, his paws stroking down her arms gently, passing down to her sides and, as he straightened up, her hips. "Have you been practicing behind my back, my beauty?"
"Now, if I had, why would I say so?" Ela teased him. "You'd be surprised what you learn from a professional, especially in between the orgies."
He laughed and, with a firm grip on her hips, effortlessly hoisted her up and set her on his lap, ignoring her sodden fur dripping all over the priceless casual robe he wore, smiling as she straddled him, her eager sex positioned right above his trembling manliness. "Now I know you're teasing me." He told her, leaning forward and taking her mouth in an impassioned kiss.
"Mmm..." She sighed into the intimate gesture, enjoying the simply pleasure of her beloved's lips against hers. "You know me too well, brother."
"Not as well as I hope to." He responded, nuzzling her. "Somehow, it feels so... so..."
"...wicked?"
"...so delightfully wicked to have my lover whispering ‘brother' into my ear as we mate." He grinned. "I hear tell that mortals regard this as taboo."
"Maybe it is and you're just a dirty old wolf." She stuck her tongue out at him, mmm'ing in delight as he responded by catching it in his muzzle and suckling very sensually on it.
"Maybe I am." He agreed, leaning forward to whisper into her ear. "Maybe you should begin riding your dirty old wolf, sister."
"Maybe I should, brother." She whispered back, exhaling sharply with a lingering moan as she slid him into her, shivering and panting lightly as she was filled by her lover's maleness. "Ohhh...it's been far too long, beloved..."
He laughed softly. "Oh yes... three days is such a long time..." He began to stroke one of her tails, giving her some pleasure by caressing the base firmly. "You spend too much time around the First."
"I don't hear any complaints." She licked her lips, shivering as his other paw reached up, cradling one of her breasts and teasing the nipple with a thumb.
"You might if you sit there trembling like a virgin with her first cock." He teased, leaning his head down to flick his tongue over her aroused tit.
She gasped with the pleasant sensation, shivering as she drew him partly out and then plunged him back in again... and did it again... and again... and soon, was moaning and whimpering with delight as she rode her lover vigorously, panting with delight, feeling his skilled hands rub at her ass or play with her breasts as they coupled, words insufficient to the moment of supreme intimacy. Some part of her, the part that was somehow rational in the midst of spikes of pleasure and the hazy cloud of desire and need that enfolded her mind, noticed that he wasn't moving, was letting her enjoy the mating at her own pace, one of those subtle gesture of love of one mate to the other and the realization made her smile and, gently guide his head back up from where he was lightly sucking one of her nipples and muzzlelocked with him, moaning into the fiery kiss, her sounds of enjoyment matched by his low pleased growls.
Gradually, after far too short of time to her, she felt her climax building towards a crescendo, her primal instincts pleading with her rational mind to let herself go, let her snarl and howl like a bitch in heat being serviced and ride with wild abandon. The struggle so consumed her that the surge of orgasm caught her totally off guard and she couldn't help herself, tilting her head back and howling with satisfaction, feeling her mate's seed surge into her trembling depths as she hilted him one final time... and felt his muzzle latch onto one of her breasts and suck vigorously, pleasuring her through their shared peak, stifling his own primal snarl of triumph in the gesture.
They sat that way for a good few minutes, panting, licking lips, staring with love at one another, until he straightened up a little and held her against him, his muzzle buried in her cleavage as he sighed happily. "Bless the Reaper for you, my love." He whispered to her tenderly. "To have slipped such a beautiful soul into my life was surely a gift."
"Then it is a gift to us both, dear one." She purred back to him, slowly lifting off of him, her body shivering with longing for that full feeling for a moment before she sat herself down beside him and nuzzled, sighing with satisfaction and contentment. "I hope that you can stay for a time..."
"Alas, then, that the currents of war do not permit such a reward." They both jumped visibly, Ersari tensing a little as they both hesitantly turned to regard the speaker, knowing exactly who it was.
She was tall and looked taller still, slim and beautiful with the most vividly green eyes Elena had ever seen, a sharp contrast to the shining ruby of her scales and the long ivory-white mane cascading down her back. Lady Drae'thul, the Sixth Prime, the Sword and Shield of the High Lord, General of the Elite Guard, stood there in the priceless dragon-crafted armor with her crest, the double red dragons, on the breastplate and a naked sword of supernatural sharpness and power in her hands... and promptly laughed at the shocked looks from the two of them.
"Have I come at a bad time, Ersari?" She inquired laconically, mirth and playfulness dancing in her kind eyes.
"I... uh..." Ersari blushed a little, struggling for words. "Of... of course not, my lady."
"Liar." She chuckled. "I apologize for interrupting you, my friend but the matter couldn't wait until you were in a more... concealed state."
"Is there a task you would have me do immediately, my lady?" He inquired, both of them relaxing although Elena couldn't think of why they would be so nervous in the dragoness' presence anywayâ€"her warm gentle nature was well-known.
"Not immediately, Lord Bloodwind, but soon enough." She told him. "I will shortly need a message placed into the hands of Lady Heccate and while any servant might do this, no servant would make the impression upon her that my most honored retainer would." She paused. "Also, no servant could so effectively chastise my enemies should they impede his progress."
"Thank you, my lady." He replied, inclining his head, trying to conceal the hint of sadness that Elena could feel from him.
Amarra Drae'thul chuckled. "Ersari, Ersari, Ersari... you are loyal and strong. You needn't pretend delight at being sent away from your beloved again so soon; you have no need to fear being fully candid and honst with me." Elena suddenly found her gaze met by the other female, the genuine warmth that Amarra felt for her plain to see. "She is indeed a beauty and a worthy mate for you. When this war is done, we will see to the ceremonies."
"Thank you, milady." He smiled easily and honestly this time.
"In the meantime, enjoy the intimacy of your companionship." Amarra smiled. "By the by, Ersari... have you ever contemplated the frenzied rutting of feral wolves?"
Both Elena and Ersari didn't have to conceal their mutual surprise at the sudden tangent. "I... admit that I have not, milady." Ersari replied with a slight blush.
Amarra grinned toothily at him. "Perhaps you should think on it while you enjoy your beloved's beautiful form." She commented lightly with a teasing touch of suggestiveness. "I await your presence at my citadel in two weeks' time, Ersari. Enjoy."
The dragoness turned and strode gracefully out of the room, the screen sliding shut lightly behind her.
Elena looked at Ersari.
Ersari looked at Elena.
And slowly, as mutual understanding dawned, they shared a fierce grin.