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WANDERLUST AND LUST

The sky was just wonderful. Both the blueness of it with no single cloud and the fact that it was just beginning of spring marked the best time to start adventuring. Axton was a feathren - a creature of both avian and feline ancestry - with uttermost curiosity and interest into the surrounding world.

True, he wasn't really sitting at one place for the past winter and spent a lot of time to explore the snow-covered surroundings of the ruins that usually sat in the never-forgiving sunlight. They were easily reachable but mostly unlivable thanks to some crystal mountains which enhanced it into horrific warmth.

But now Axton had a new goal. Beginning of the spring meant he could go a little bit north without possibility to freeze to death. Usually, some places in the icy north were rather calm during springs and summers, but in any other period - unlike the ruins he had went to - the coldness could scare away even the ice dragons. And that meant something if even these would immigrate into warmer areas during the snows.

The feathren quickly found a neat place nearby the icy peaks of Harrandur. A small village that didn't seem to be anything else but a few houses rounding the only inn in the immediate area. Once he entered, Axton's presence didn't go unnoticed. His kind wasn't really seen often in this region, unlike the humans or even orcs who visited this place.

"Ale," he asked the barkeeper.

It was an older creature who looked like a tabaxi but unlike them the man bore a distinct likeness to the local mountain lynx. "Sure thing." The cat man quickly poured the brownish liquid into the glass. It was likely imported from the plains of neighboring Taluk, inhabited mostly by dwarves and halflings who gladly used the chilling properties of icy winds from Harrandur.

"Ah, wonderful..." Axton smiled to the barkeeper and leaned a bit towards him. "I am a newcomer here... and I was wondering if there's any job to be undertaken here. I have my own quest, but it seems I came too early."

The feline looked at the feathren and tilted his head a little bit. The tail of his moved a bit in the agitation. "There might be something you'd take care of, since along with spring there is some motley to come. Year to year, even if there's not much bandits to flood our village, the remoteness of it gives us a little small... advantage on terms with justice if you know what I mean."

The avian-feline chuckled. "You see, this isn't kind of job I was looking for..."

"Oh."

"...but I could try to do something that would make them a little bit scared for now," Axton finished.

The feline lifted his brow into the air. The tail stopped to move as well.

"You see, I am more of a craftsman and not warrior, but I do not shy away from doing some side works if necessary. I don't like when the innocents suffer, after all," Axton continued but quickly noticed that the barkeeper wasn't really interested into that.

Could be that this guy was more used to the mercenary type who didn't really care about anything else but money... and women. Most likely women, seeing the interesting surroundings in the inn. Axton couldn't really say if any of them were patrons or just worked here, though.

"If you search for something else and you are a craftsman, I guess you could always help the local priestess. Her temple had been struck hard by the storm - which, by the way wasn't the natural creation." The barkeeper grabbed the money out of the table right when the feathren pulled them out. There was something very greedy in that move, too. "The temple is hard to miss as it sits in the middle of the village and... are you listening to me?"

Axton blinked. He had been working on a small sculpture of a bird, as it was his hobby in order to gather thoughts. However, sometimes it worked the opposite way and the words knocked away back to the talker. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. What did you say?"

The barkeeper grumbled. "That the temple is hard to miss. Now, get out. Another client is waiting.

>>>

Axton walked up to the temple and blinked. Sure, the village wasn't that big but the avian-feline did not expect the complex that was built into the mountain and basically towered over everything else. He didn't know how his eyes didn't notice it in the first place, but that might have been caused by how the entire village was built: to avoid enemies if necessary. There could be some magic involved but

The featheren didn't recognize the deity but he thought the goddess was close to something other cults revered: gods connected to snow, ice and overall cold.

The priestess, to his partial surprise, was a barn owl-like creature. Like a few avian species Axton already knew, she had taloned hands and wings at her back. They were big enough to let her fly or at least glide for some time but they weren't a burden at the same time to move around without trashing items around.

"Good day child!" The girl welcomed him before Axton could even say a word. "How can I help you?"

The featheren fought the thoughts on how weird these words sounded in her beak, because she couldn't be older than him. But then again, magic - especially if you cultivated beliefs into The Void - could make one even hundreds and thousands years old.

"I... I've heard that you might be offering some job to someone who crafts. Like carpenters. I am a... carpenter."

The owl smiled and looked at him with his pure blue eyes. If not the small pupils in them Axton would say she's a Void Speaker.

"Oh, that indeed! I always need hands in making a lot of stuff around the temple!" The owl clasped her hands and clacked her beak with excitement. He could say she was rather happy to see someone offering such services like his. "Can I see your skills?"

Axton handed her one of his small figurines.

The girl looked at it from really close, as if checking all the details in the cravings. The featheren couldn't say if her inspection was positive or negative, at least until she would say something.

"It's wonderful!" she finally exclaimed and threw him the wooden piece back. It was done in such a manner Axton barely caught it. "Now, what I need you to do is to fix a few things at the top of the temple... I know it's very menial but I guess the pay would compensate for that. Oh!" She turned around and looked at the chunks of wood in front of one shrine. "You may use these. The temple offering to the goddess is always to serve her glory... and our everyday lives!"

"It's the first time I saw someone offering wood, to be honest," the avian-feline noted and took one of the items from the shrine. "Especially if that's meant to deity connected with... winter, I presume."

"What do you use to warm your house in winter, hm?"

Axton never felt so defenseless against such an obvious argument, so he remained silent.

The owl girl blinked at him. "That's what I thought. Now get to work, pretty please. Oh, and the name's Talaha."

The featheren grabbed the timber and took stairs to the upper level of the temple. It wasn't really specific on what needs fixing, but it quickly turned out the owl priestess meant the rails which surely had seen better days. For some odd reason the wood chunks from the shrine matched the rails as well, as he removed the older worn out topping.

Axton moved his fingers across the timber and found no splinters, as if they were polished before. The texture of the chunks was rather alien to him, too. This wood almost didn't belong here, but at the same time it was more fitting than anything else.

Out of curiosity the avian-feline would need to detect magic but given no such skills there was nothing he could find at the first try. The timber... was simply wood. Even if it was alien and outlandish after closer inspection. It didn't stop him from taking one smaller piece to check it in some way with the help of a proper appraiser.

Before dawn, the work has been done. Axton didn't want to rush or rather couldn't rush anyway. Any sort of woodwork was like a meditation to him after all.

>>>

The sleep proved itself to be longer than expected. Axton woke up in some pain, as he wasn't really used to such lay downs, especially on such a comfy bed. Being in constant travel gave a lot of disadvantages, as being not that familiar with a lot of warmth and comfort straight from the noble houses. To the featheren, the priestess' hospitality was such.

"Tired after the job? I didn't really want to wake you up, child..."

Axton nodded and munched on some cornflakes with local berries and milk. They weren't any top-tier food over here but more than enough to him. And healthier than some fatty piece of meat he still ate with pleasure. "It wasn't anything hard, it was just it didn't give me enough focus."

"Told you it was pretty menial," Talaha noted and sat next to him.

"It doesn't mean it's not important, though! The wood was very worn out and it needed replacing. How long ago were the rails replaced?"

The owl girl had a longer pause, as if recalling some event. "Never, likely. Only the bottom floor had most of its wooden elements replaced on a yearly basis due to guests and faithful souls visiting the temple."

"Oh. That explains the difference, but I wouldn't tell it if not for the fact I worked on the timber... So please tell me..."

His words were cut by the fact that the barn owl girl was topless. Axton couldn't make anything out of that sudden openness and his eyes started into Talaha's eyes. If there was a cosmic event which he could relate to that would be an exploding star that turned into a cloud of colorful, mythical energy that gave birth to entire worlds.

"...what are you...?"

Talaha chuckled a little bit and tilted her head. "I told you the payment would be worth this menial job you've just undertaken."

The featheren couldn't just stop himself from touching her feathers. They were so creamy white and so soft, especially after actually touching them. "I... I expected your hospitality to be more..."

"Innocent?" Her voice kicked into his sentence, along with the finger that touched his jaw which still was half-dropped due to an unexpected event. "Don't overthink, just fly with the wind as I tend to say. Being a priestess doesn't mean I have to restrain myself from the most natural thing our lives have to offer."

Her hand slowly reached into his pants to prove herself she made a good impression on the guest. Talaha's fingers were like those of a thief. "I think you may need help with this kind of... woodwork," the owl added teasingly. "I am someone of a craftsman myself."

Their bodies became one once Axton's pants had been removed. Talaha's chamber was very welcoming and warm like an oven, clenching on the male's member. Her feathers brushed against his feathers and fur, with legs having her toe talons curled with each downward thrust the owl made.

Axton kissed Talaha's neck and became lost in the void of love making. He didn't mind that at all, as he welcomed such an event with a lot of pleasant surprise. Especially in such a cold place like this.

Their moves became faster, as the male started to thrust upwards, harder and faster. The wooden bench they were on started to creak underneath them. The girl moaned loudly a few times, as her own orgasm kicked in a few times. Soon, after a few more moments, Axton's warmth filled the priestess as he let out a harsh, failed-to-silence moan.

Talaha refused to get off the featheren as she straddled Axton and slowly brushed his chest underneath his clothes, with his member still inside. "You are working with The Prospect, aren't you?"

Axton's eyes focused on the priestess. "How did you know? I never spoke about him."

"Let's say the goddess herself gave me such an insight," she laughed and leaned over the feathren. "I can give you our special wood, but not for free."

His eyes crossed a little bit. "What's the price?"

"You. For some time, at this temple, helping me... and the goddess of course!" The owl girl winked at him. When Axton nodded - the temple was in need after all - Talaha started to ride him and their moans filled the room once more...