WindSwept, Chapter 9

Story by FrostDragon on SoFurry

, , , , , , , , ,

#10 of WindSwept Adventure


Another short one, but you'll live :P This one may seem a little over the top or w/e but it's been sitting in my head and begging to get out >< I've been really pressed for time so I apologize for any loss in quality @@ PART 9 The next day, Corin and Lara left us to go look for some big game in the early morning. I was still asleep, but not for long; my dream of fucking Flora led me to wake up to find her bouncing up and down on my erection, riding me as hard as she could. I couldn't speak, I was already near my climax and she knew it. She moaned loudly and then gasped in surprise and pleasure as I caught her off-guard with my loud moan of release, filling her begging womb with its favorite treat. Flora sighed as she felt me filling her and lay down on me, giving me a slow, loving kiss as I opened my eyes again. "Morning..." she whispered. "They've gone to scout the area, they should be back soon." "And you can say that so calmly with my penis inside you for them to see?" I joked. She laughed and pulled off, letting me sheath myself before she did her usual water cleaning. She rubbed her belly and sighed. "Your cum feels so wonderful," she murred. Now's not the time for that! Flora's dad startled us pretty badly. "Dad!!! Dammit, give us a warning when you're spying on our sex!! Sicko!!" Think what you want but Corin and Lara are in danger! In a cave east of here, you'll find it with their equipment outside! GO!! In a heartbeat Flora and I were off and flying to the east, guided by Flora's dad. In the back of my mind I could feel Aznor growing more present until he overpowered her father. Hang on...something's not right ahead...this is a trap for us. "Oh really?" I asked, suspicious. Flora stopped and waited for me. Yeah...her father just scoped the area. Mages are attacking them to draw you out here...but they're already winning. He fell silent; I could feel him searching. Go to the cave, but wait. I'll see what I can do. "Gale?" "Aznor's gonna try something, he wants us to wait outside of the cave." "Can we trust him?" she asked uncertainly. "I don't know...but he's bonded to me so he can't really go anywhere." I wasn't too sure about this, but...Aznor had been pretty quiet and moody lately...maybe he was reforming? After a short flight the two dragons landed and Gale stood in the cave mouth. Flora found the humans' gear hanging on a nearby tree and waited there. Gale felt Aznor leave and reach into the cave. There was a loud, bone-chilling cry from inside, followed by Corin and Lara's voices shouting in fear and rage. They could hear metal clanging as Corin clashed blades with something. Gale, I apologize for this, but there's no other way... came Aznor's voice as the two humans came into view. Before Gale could ask, there was a loud blast of fire that threw Corin forward before enveloping them both briefly in tongues of fire. Gale and Flora yelled in surprise in anger, but stopped in confusion when they saw Lara holding Corin, having caught him before he hit the floor. "I'm..I'm okay," he panted, sitting up in Lara's arms. He had ash marks on his skin but surprisingly neither one of them was burned from the onslaught despite the red heat-marks all over them. Lara helped him sit up, and then suddenly gasped in shock and covered herself. Corin looked back, and then quickly down at himself, and he yelled in surprise and covered himself too. The fire had burned their clothes right off their bodies. Several hours later we came to a stop by another small cave to rest. Lara and Corin retrieved their gear from the trees outside the previous cave but wouldn't wear the stuff without clothes, so their equipment was draped on our backs. Lara sat on Flora's back and Corin on mine, and both our wings were sore from holding them up---our companions had insisted that we use our wings to shield their nudity from each other. Out in the fresh air, we stopped for a breather, and Corin and Lara sat on the ground with us two dragons in between. Lara shivered in the wind and Flora folded her wing over her. "We're too far from anywhere to get clothes," she complained. Flora suddenly growled loudly and we all looked at her in surprise. "Corin! Lara! If you two are gonna be mates, you're gonna see each other without clothes at some point! There's nothing to be done right now, and frankly, I'm tired of acting as a shield! C'mon Gale, let's get them some food and let them sort this out." "Should I come too?" Corin asked. I brought my head next to his under my wing. "I'd leave it at Flora's word, Corin---last thing any of us needs is her getting pissed off. Sorry." I stood up and followed Flora, but not too far away she looped around and guided me back. "Flora?" "Shh, I wanna see how this goes." She and I sat quietly behind some low-lying trees and bushes, lying as flat and still as we could. (note: I don't remember this part verbatim so I'm probably not gonna make much sense...I'm ad-libbing most of it but I do remember...wait, nevermind, I'll just narrate...y'know what? Fuck that I'll let this read my memory.) Corin and Lara sat there, nervously glancing quickly at each other, sometimes making a move to get up but then hesitating and then forgetting the attempt. Finally Corin sighed and quietly approached Lara, sitting down behind her at an angle so neither of them could see the other easily. Gale and Flora just watched. "Lara..." "What?" "Might not help much, but this...somehow it reminds me of something." "Oh great..." "Well...I think I'm remembering my homeland, but there was this test for teenagers who 'came of age'...they had to endure two entire weeks without clothes. No clothes at all. It was like a rite of passage." Lara sighed and turned her head to him. "Corin...can I tell you something personal?" "You can tell me anything you want." "I'm afraid of your reaction." "You should be, but if it's personal I'll try not to make it worse." She sighed nervously and hugged her knees tighter. "Corin...to tell the truth, I really don't like clothing. My parents never wanted it known, but when I was really little I'd throw fits if I had to wear anything." Corin smirked and nudged her. "That why you don't wear your underwear and bra?" She turned around in shock and Corin burst out laughing. "How the hell did you know?!?" "Let's see here..." Corin started counting on his fingers. "Two years ago you slept in my cave for three nights, and a rat woke me up and I saw your shirt rolled up over your..." He glanced at her chest and she gasped and turned deep red, covering herself. "Then there was the hike in the mountains after your dad almost gave you a concussion, we swam in the stream and I didn't comment on it but your...lower areas were perfectly visible through your shorts..." She shrieked. "YOU SICK FREAK!!" "Hey whoa! I only noticed, I ignored it and focused on the trip! It was like noticing a loose knife sheath but saying nothing. Nothing we could've done at the time anyway, I wanted you to have fun." She glared at him, but sighed and turned back around as she realized he was right. "And what's your excuse here?" "Well, I'd say simple, but it isn't really. I mean, we have no clothes now, we can't get any for a while, we need to keep travelling...Lara, we're gonna end up seeing nudity sometime, might as well be now and get used to it." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Besides, now I know the color of the rest of your skin and how you really look." She glanced over her shoulder at him and he smiled. "Makes me even more proud of having a girlfriend like you. Mokar was an idiot to desert you for your bruising." Lara sighed again, unsure of what to think. Flora nudged Gale and he looked at her. "Gale, I'm gonna go nab something or we'll look suspicious." Gale nodded and Flora quietly slipped off, and Gale watched the two humans again. Corin rubbed Lara's shoulders and at length she gave up and leaned back against him. After a few minutes of quiet Lara stood up nervously and Corin stood up after her, and they just shyly studied each other. Lara giggled to herself and hid behind her hair. "You look kinda tough without that mage-shirt..." She looked down and covered her breasts with a sigh. "What's that for?" "The guys in the village laughed at me for my chest," she said, but looked up at Corin when he put his hand on hers. "Well guess what? They're morons; they want women with back problems." He firmly but gently pulled her arms down and brushed back her hair, looking her in the eyes. "Am I the first one to tell you that you're perfect in every way?" Gale couldn't quite see, but she heard her sniff back tears and she nodded, and then to their surprise she hugged him tight. Corin hesitated at the suddenness of it but he hugged her in return and gently rocked her side to side. Flora came back with a large karse in her jaws and landed not too far from Corin and Lara. "So, settled the dispute now?" They nodded and continued their embrace. "Where's Gale? I just remembered something I wanted to ask him about," Corin said. "Dunno, he went off on another trail. I hope he got something; I don't think this bird's gonna feed two humans and two dragons." Gale's eyes widened and he quickly slunk away. Luckily for him, not too far away was another karse, a big fat one. Lara jumped as they heard a loud cry of an injured animal, and not too long afterwards Gale came back and dropped the huge bird by Flora's catch. "Sorry...finally caught something. The deer got away." "I'll get these cleaned," Corin said, kneeling down by the two birds, but he paused as Lara came up to him. "Here, lemme help," she said, picking up the smaller of the two birds. Corin grinned slightly and took the other one, and when they were out of earshot Flora walked up alongside Gale and rubbed against him. "Deer?" "Well when you came back you said something about me being on another trail, so I rushed off and caught that karse." "I wasn't expecting you to nab something, Gale; I got two karse and brought one back." "Oops..." Flora giggled and kissed him. * * *

function=standby function=storylog_init; newcode=true Verifying code, please wait... ... ... Code verified. entrant_name=Corin (note: Sorry about that. Flora came in about five minutes ago and told me Corin got his own journal and has it updated to roughly the same point I'm at right now. So, guess what? I'm gonna let mine steal from his while he downloads from mine, haha.) repeat_previous=true

  • * * Nearby, Lara and Corin quickly de-feathered the birds and were starting on gutting them. Lara snorted back a laugh and Corin looked at her oddly. "What? What's so funny?" She blushed and turned her attention to the bird. "Nothing..." "C'mon, tell me." "Okay, fine..." She took a deep breath, obviously embarassed still. "Know how my dad was...very 'my way is correct' kinda attitude?" "Yeah." "Well...sometimes he'd...well...you're not the first guy I've seen naked." Corin almost dropped his knife. "That bastard forced himself on you?!" "No! At least, not in a sexual...well...okay, he forced himself on us, as in forcing us to deal with him. He'd read his books totally naked on some days...and I can safely say this, I think he's jealous of you." Corin just stared at her, utterly lost. "Huh?" "Dad was always jealous of other men...I can see why now." She glanced down at his penis. "Oooohhhh..." There was silence for a brief bit while they cut through the ribcages. "Corin...that kinda reminds me...Do you...uhhh...have you..." "Have I what?" She laughed at herself, blushing again. "Have you ever...y'know...pleasured yourself?" "No, I'm saving my virginity for the one I marry." He sideglanced at her with a sly grin, and she giggled. "What about you now that the topic is brought up?" She sighed nervously and let go of her knife, flexing her fingers. "Yes...but I'm still a virgin." "Wha?" He was confused again; he knew very little about the female body. "This is so awkward..." She shyly told him about how girls were able to excite themselves just by rubbing in certain places, and that there was a tissue in her that would be broken if she ever had sex with someone. "And...well...I haven't had sex with anyone yet, but I...well, when I was really pissed off at dad and mom wouldn't let me out of the house, I'd hide in my room and rub my pussy until...I guess it was a climax, it wasn't much but it helped me get through. Felt really, really good and relaxing." Corin laughed and finished with his bird, grabbing some moss and wiping off his knife the best he could. "Gonna hafta get Flora to wash us off..." He helped Lara stand up and they picked up the prepared carcasses. "Lara...if given the chance, would you do it with someone? All the girls your age in the village were a little...frisky." "No...like you I wanna do it with the one I want to marry." Like he'd done before, she gave a sly sideglance at him and he smirked. Flora already had a good fire going, and in a little while, with help from some herbs Lara had scavenged nearby, the food was ready. Two hours later, the sun was about an hour from setting, and Corin and Lara were yawning on Gale and Flora's backs. I leaned closer to Flora and she leaned her head near mine. "Let's land and find some water." "Sounds good, I could use some fresh water." We landed by a small lake at the foot of the mountain, and downed as much as we could while Lara and Corin cleaned off their supplies and found suitable areas to store the gear. They came back as we finished cleaning each other off. "I think Lara and I'll take a bath," Corin said, his arm around Lara. "Go right ahead, I think Flora and I should find a place to stay for the night." They headed into the water and Flora and I went into the woods. (note: I'm tempted to connect to Corin's journal again for this...dunno if I should...oh what the heck.) Corin splashed Lara and she shrieked, ducking into the water and then resurfacing with a large wall of water that drenched him. He yelped from the shock of the chill, and they quickly scrubbed themselves off and jumped back onto warm land. "How do Gale and Flora survive that water?!" Lara asked, hugging Corin tight for warmth. "Shit that's cold!!!" There was silence for a bit as the setting sun's rays warmed them up. Corin ran his hand through her hair. "Lara...I know it's really early, but what you said earlier..." She looked up at him curiously, sitting up, and he took her hands in his. "Lara...next town we get to, will you marry me?" Her eyes exploded and he fell over with a surprised yell as she tackled him. "Yes!! I've been waiting so long for you to ask!" He hugged her tightly and she kissed him on the cheek before he pushed her away a bit. "C'mon, since the water's too cold we should get back to Gale and Flora." "Race ya!" She bolted away with a laugh and Corin laughed and chased her. (That was short...well, it makes sense, they weren't gone for very long when we left.) ---jump back to my note, this is what happened to us right after we left--- Once we were alone and well out of earshot (basically we were in the same spot we'd landed), Flora let out a gasp as if she'd been holding her breath. I laughed. "So...how's the heat?" "You have no frickin' idea," she groaned, her hind legs clenching. "Mmmph...dammit..." She was panting and the smell of her heat was starting to permeate the air. "Gale...you gotta take me!" "Here? Shouldn't we wait for them and tell them we're going off somewhere?" "No! I need that penis of yours inside me!" she begged, looking absolutely pathetic. Who am I to deny an offer like that? Corin and Lara were only just starting the wash, and no doubt they were gonna goof off and splash each other or take a swim or something... Flora purred loudly with eagerness as my cock started pushing its way out of my sheath. We both watched as it grew and grew until it was almost up to my chest; Flora's sweet scent was getting to me. "Oh yeah..." she moaned, her hips bucking very slightly. I couldn't help but laugh. "You just can't wait can you?" "Gale, I'm in pain and I need to mate with something! Please!!" She turned to me, lifting her tail and spreading her legs to reveal her dripping vagina. She looked over her shoulder, and her face almost sent me over the edge with lust. "Gale, you gotta fuck me now!! I know I don't say that often, but you have to!!" She tensed with the pain and gasped, needing something to sate her intense lust. "Let's get you a little less angsty first," I said, walking up to her and pressing my nose against her undertail. She let out a deep moan of pure pleasure as I took in her beautiful scent and blew out against her, and then stuck my tongue deep inside her. All she could do was moan and whine in bliss as I serviced her, until finally her wings shot out from her body and she screamed as I brought my tongue out and played with her clit. Her whole body shook and I brought my mouth to her pussy, letting her fill my maw with her sweet juices. I let her flood my mouth and spill out onto the ground as I slowly drank what she gave me. When she recovered she looked back at me with a lustful smile, her tongue hanging out as she panted. "That was awesome...but not enough." She wiggled her rear in my face, much to my satisfaction, and she giggled as she saw her actions make my penis start to throb. "Please, Gale?" I laughed and slowly stood up and stretched, planting my paws on her hips and bringing my member to her entrance. As I pushed into her perfect tunnel, Flora suddenly tensed and froze, and I looked up to see Corin and Lara standing stock-still, watching us as they came back from their bath in the stream. What surprised me the most was that Corin's penis was fully erected and Lara had her hand on her breast as they watched. They'd caught us having sex, and we'd caught them watching. Talk about the most compromising situation possible at that time. Finally Flora cleared her throat and I slipped off her back, struggling to un-arouse myself, but something about this whole situation kept me stiff. "Uhh...well, guess we were caught..." Lara and Corin went red in the face, and tried to cover themselves. "Uhhh...yeah, sorry...uhh..." None of us moved, just nervously glancing at each other, and I decided to say something stupid to break the ice. "So you liked what you saw?" They looked at me in shock, but it was true, and they couldn't bring themselves to deny it. "I guess so..." Corin said. Lara giggled and Corin looked at her oddly, and she blushed and looked away shyly. "Nevermind..." "What's so funny?" She sighed and brushed back her hair, uncovering herself. "Well...oh damn this is awkward...I've kinda always wanted to see...well...when I heard you two were mates and all that..." She glanced at Corin and grinned shyly. "And I've...well, I know you've...agh! This is so awkward!" Flora groaned slightly and her hind legs clenched a bit...her heat was really bothering her now. Finally she sighed. "Okay, well...I'm kinda in heat guys...Gale 'n I are gonna...well, settle it, you can watch if you want." Thankfully I was still fully erect, so I nervously turned to Flora and mounted her, glancing at Corin and Lara before pushing into Flora's pussy again. Flora moaned and her velvet walls began throbbing against my length in anticipation. Corin turned to Lara. "You...uhhh...wanna sit down?" Lara nodded and Corin sat down against a tree. Lara surprised him by sitting on his lap, but he wrapped his arms around her and they watched as I slowly pumped Flora's dripping vagina. Damn, she was tighter when she was in heat! The pressure and warmth around my penis was pure paradise, and she shivered and moaned under me every time I pushed in and my cock pushed into her womb. She looked over her shoulder at me, and I just let go of everything else and kissed her, speeding up my thrusts, feeling her juices literally flowing and dripping off my member every time I pulled out and squirting a bit when I pushed back in. There was a loud gasp and moan and we both looked over to see Lara flat on the ground, frantically rubbing her breasts and moaning as Corin bent over her and pumped his erection into her virgin pussy. That just sent Flora and me over the edge and I started thrusting madly into her, and she squealed and pushed back against me rapidly as I pounded my penis into her warm depths. Corin let out a loud moan and fell onto Lara, hugging her tight and kissing her, and she wrapped her arms around him and held tight as she returned the passion. Flora groaned loudly and then screamed repeatedly, and I just went harder as her pussy started caressing my cock mercilessly, her nectar almost pouring from her every time I pulled out. Over to the side, Lara suddenly grabbed Corin's hips with a loud squeal, and he yelled and they suddenly stopped, kissing madly; through my haze I could tell that they'd both just had their first orgasms. Corin pulled out of Lara, his penis still spurting cum, and she grabbed his member and just ran her fingers all over it while he rubbed and squeezed her breast. It was too much...my sight suddenly exploded and I was lost in a realm of total pleasure, dimly aware of myself filling Flora with all the cum I could give her. To my confusion she shoved me off her back and whipped around, catching the rest of my cum in her mouth as she licked my penis clean. I looked under her and saw her still dripping freely with my semen and her love-fluids. Apparently that set Lara and Corin off again and Lara sat on Corin, hilting herself on him almost instantly. Flora watched as Lara brushed back her hair and squealed repeatedly as Corin thrust off the ground into her. "Hey Gale...wanna have some fun?" she asked, and washed us both off with water. We both shakily stood up, our bodies recovering from that awesome round of sex, and we walked over to the two humans as they lost themselves to each other. It wasn't long before Corin again yelled and stopped thrusting, and Lara shrieked and rubbed her clit rapidly before falling onto her boyfriend and indulging in another passionate kiss. Corin's cum was slowly leaking from Lara's wet pussy and running down his length, and to their surprise they were quickly covered in warm water and washed off. They looked up and saw us standing nearby. I forget how it happened, but what I do remember is that I was lying on my back, and Lara was doing whatever she wanted with my stiff cock. It felt weird, yet strangely good, as she pulled up and down my length with her hands, constantly licking various areas. I looked over to the side and saw Flora on her back too, moaning and clawing at the ground with Corin's arm almost up to his shoulder in her pussy. Lara moaned and started fondling herself again, and she squealed with surprise as my tail found her mark and starting playing with her. I so wanted to take her, and I knew she wanted me inside her, but my erection was a bit longer and thicker than Corin's arm; there was no way Lara could safely take my girth inside her. It didn't really matter, though; suddenly Lara started rubbing the base of my cock with one hand while still pumping my length with the other, and before I knew it I was moaning loudly and my penis was throbbing madly and coating this pretty human girl with my hot dragon cum. She gasped in surprise as I literally bathed her in cum...oh damn it felt good to be climaxing like this. Flora suddenly squealed and started thrusting off the ground like crazy, and Corin yelled in surprise as his arm and his whole side were covered in her pussy-juices. Still panting, I glanced up at Lara, and she was licking herself clean, but she stopped when warm water engulfed us briefly and washed us all clean. As tired as we were, Corin's penis was erect again and Lara was still aroused. Again, I forget how it happened, but I was still on my back, and Lara was bent almost on all fours, using my chest as a support for her elbows as Corin fucked her from behind. I was caressing Lara's breasts, and behind Corin, Flora was under their legs and licking their privates every time Corin pulled out of her. The two humans couldn't even speak anymore; they were shouting incoherent exclamations of pleasure. Flora repositioned herself under them so she could still tend to them, but as I craned my neck to watch, I saw her reach up and start stroking my cock with one paw while she serviced herself with the other. That set me off and I accidentally roughly squeezed Lara's breasts, but she only screamed and pushed her chest against my paws, wanting more. I guided my tail to Flora's perfect cunt and she gasped as I pushed into her, and she started jacking me off more rapidly. This was just too much...next thing I knew I was roaring loudly and ejaculating all over our human companions, Flora was climaxing too judging by her heated yelps, and suddenly Lara and Corin hoarsely screamed and slumped onto me. I could feel Lara's body contracting with a powerful orgasm, and amid their constant moaning I could see Corin's face contorting as he again came inside his girlfriend. Flora slowly and shakily crawled around behind them and we kissed each other as she cleaned all of us off again. Corin and Lara finally pulled off of me and Corin pulled his penis out of her, both of them watching in hazy fascination as his cum and her juices poured out of her open vagina. Flora once again cleaned them off, and all four of us just cuddled together as the night became colder and colder now that the sun had finally set. Corin and Lara just fell asleep instantly with content smiles, hugging each other tight, and Flora and I quietly helped each other bury my again-erect penis inside her pleasantly warm depths for the night before we folded our wings over the two humans to keep them warm. (In hidsight that seems a little over the top or something but that's what happened; I think Flora's pheromones were strong enough to affect all of us that way) The next week was crazy...not to mention stressful. Unfortunately for us, Gormath was swift in locating us; our stay at the village had allowed him to make up for lost time. However, he was afraid of Flora...deathly afraid. He aimed for me, but stayed away from her like two similar poles of magnets. Halfway into the fight he disappeared, and out of nowhere an entire swarm of Umbrok appeared and attacked us. I thought the ones I'd fought when rescuing Flora after her first kidnapping were tough, but holy shit these things were mad! They didn't last long though against Lara's insane archery skills and Corin's swordfighting talent; together they cut through Gormath's little army. The damn bastard escaped though, terrified of us but nonetheless still on the loose. Lara needed a new set of arrows after that, many of them had been damaged on impact with the tough hides of the Umbrok. The days were painful with our cuts and bruises...however, every night...was fun, to say the least; Flora was still in heat and her scent seemed to be affecting both Corin and Lara. It was still a day or two to the safest village, but as night fell on the seventh day after that whole mating frenzy, we suddenly realized...Flora and I were as much enemies here as we were in Corin and Lara's village. Not only that, but Corin and Lara together didn't have enough money to get anything except clothes, and Lara definitely needed new arrows. "I could make my own arrows, but the wood around here isn't good enough for the force from this bow." "Wouldn't splintering on impact make them more lethal?" Flora asked, but I shook my head. "She'd need to make a lot more if that were the case, and I doubt the soft wood around here could even penetrate armor or scales properly." Our troubles were far from over...late that night a band of scouts was sent out from the village on patrol, but we didn't know about it until Flora and I woke up in cages and Corin and Lara woke up tied together. At least they got free clothes...but we were scared; what were the villagers planning with us? Around midday we were carried to the center of the small village, where several elders sat ready to judge us. What had we done wrong? Corin was the first to voice our thoughts, and he wasn't afraid to make himself known. "Sirs, what's going on? Why were we bound during our sleep?" "Trespassers from Ingris on our lands, and with dragons no less. You were sent to burn the town and as a result--" "We were WHAT?!" Flora shouted, infuriated, and she yelled in pain as a whip lashed her back. Corin cleared his throat, nervous about how this may turn out. "Sir, with all due respect, we could care less about this village; we're runaways, thrown out of Ingris. The town has fallen to corruption, greed, and laziness, and we were thrown out for being the few voices of opposition. The dragons mean no harm; they're on their own mission that seems to be tied with my search for my memories." "Your search for your memories?" Corin looked at Lara and she sighed, thinking back quickly. "Corin here was found outside the gates of Ingris with nothing but a sword and the necklace he wears. When we brought him in he had no idea who he was, where he was, and no memory of anything before waking up in our house." The elders looked at each other sarcastically, but one in particular eyed Corin a bit oddly as if remembering something. "Well what of the dragons?" Flora and I looked at each other. "We're looking for a way to stop an evil threat from returning. It's already affected several important dragon research groups, and we intend to stop it before it spreads to the human realm." "Why do you care if it affects us?" "Well, it'll basically cause you to not only wipe out dragons and other creatures, but it'll lead you to start eradicating yourselves as well." "And what's the name of this evil?" I sighed; I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell them. "Aznor, Lord of Anger, and his master Orcharis." A deathly chill and silence fell on the entire gathering. All at once, everyone carrying one drew their swords and turned to us. __________________________________________________________________ function=standby display=n