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The Elemental Portals

Book II – Medioterrae

Chapter V – Feel the Magic

“Everybody freeze. Don’t move or the elf gets it.”

Paul froze, more from the shock of hearing that gruff disembodied voice than anything else. Beside him Ladread did likewise, making him suspect that their foe must be a formidable one. His eyes scanned the rocks ahead, seeking a troll with a crossbow or perhaps an ogre with a tree-sized club. His brow furrowed in confusion when he could not find either.

“Down here, genius.”

The collie’s gaze dropped almost to the base of the cliff. There, crouched behind a boulder that barely came up to Paul’s waist, was an old man with snow-white hair peeking out from under a rough-woven cloth hat with a full beard to match. He was pointing a long tube with a fluted end at them. At the other end, near the old man’s red cheek, there was a sputtering spike of some kind of metal that gave off purple sparks.

Seeing that his command had been obeyed the man came out from behind the boulder. I fact he merely stepped out from behind it, because he had not been crouching at all.

Paul’s eyes went wide. “You’re a dwarf!”

“Oh, what gave it away?” The dwarf said sarcastically. “The gold jewelry? The magnificent beard? The pointy hat?”

“Well actually, it as your stat- ...”

“Don’t say it.” Ladread hissed.

“... standard of dress. As soon as I saw the .... uh ... quality of your ... uh ... robes, I knew right away ... and the jewelry too, of course.”

Now that he had time to study the dwarf Paul noted that the fellow was indeed dressed in good quality leather and chain mail armour over fine linen robes. The armour had gold rings and small jewels woven into it, as did his beard, which hung down to his knees. It was tucked under a gold chain that hung around it his neck, weighed down by an amulet with a large purple stone in the centre. He had jewelled bracelets on his exposed wrists and small silver-rimmed glasses that he peered down the length of the tube at them through.

“What is that?” Paul asked, indicating the tube with the sputtering spike with his muzzle.

“That is a blunderbuss.” Coyotka’s voice came from behind him; the others must have closed up quicker than he thought. “It is an early projectile weapon developed on several worlds where the laws of science rule. They are not very accurate at a distance but can be very effective at short ranges; the distance from us to him, for example. Its name derives from the old ones’ words for ‘thunder’ and ‘pipe’ although there is considerable debate as to when and why the initial aspirated ‘D’ was changed to a ‘B’ and ....”

“Can you please shut her up?” Ladread pleaded with Paul. The collie waved the coyote silent and turned back to face the dwarf.

“Does she always talk like that?” The dwarf asked.

“Usually.”

“Huh. Why do let her stay?”

“Despite a tendency to lecture before getting to the point, she does know a lot of things about the worlds we need to travel through. Or so I thought.” he turned to Coyotka again with an irate look on his face, “She told us that chemical weapons like firearms did not work on this world”

Coyotka’s ears drooped and her mouth dropped open but all she could do was to shake her head, as puzzled as Paul was.

“Oh, she’s right about that.” The dwarf said, drawing Paul’s gaze back to him. “This one is powered by magic. It’s designed for killing large monsters; trolls, ogres, dragons.” He looked over Paul’s shoulder at something farther back on the bridge. “Not little ones, like your blue one there. Big ones. Thirty, fourth footers.”

Ladread began to bristle as the dwarf spoke about killing monsters. She took a half step forward.

The dwarf swung the business end of his blunderbuss to point directly at her. “It works fine on elves too.” He warned.

Paul was about to tell everyone to relax when James and Junafir, who had been watching the rear, came around the bend on the far end of the bridge at a run. Seeing the rest of the group apparently in a standoff with some fierce creature the lad drew his sword, bellowed and charged in to help. Junafir did likewise, roaring a challenge and swinging her mother’s cleaver over her head as she bounded across the bridge beside the bearded human.

“James ... wait!” Paul blurted out but it was too late. Startled by the sudden appearance of a red-haired warrior and a tiger the dwarf pulled the trigger on the blunderbuss. There was an audible ‘click’ as the mechanism released and the rod spitting purple sparks dropped down into the narrow end of the tube.

Paul braced himself for a loud ‘boom’ and a fiery discourage, hoping that the spread of the shot was not too wide, even though that would mean that the elf would bear the brunt of the impact. But instead of the expected explosion there was only a comical ‘pop’ and out of the muzzle a full-sized chicken flew three feet then dropped to the road.

“Dammit, not again!”

“Why you little sawed off ...”

Ladread went for the dwarf. Paul grabbed her around the naked waist and fought to hold her back. She dragged him close enough to snatch the blunderbuss from the dwarf’s hands and reverse it to use as a club.

“I’m going to knock your brains down into your little pointy shoes”

“Ladread, wait.” Paul was having a hard tome wrestling the naked elf lubricated as she was in troll blood and guts. “You disarmed him already, but I want him alive to, uh, question him.”

James and Gael had already stepped up to grab the dwarf by his arms. “What could this rock sniffer know that’s of any value?” The elf sneered.

“What he was doing near a bridge infested with trolls, and what’s with the chicken musket?”

“Blunderbuss.” Coyotka corrected.

“Shut up!” Paul shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put it that way. But could you all just be quiet and let me think.”

The clamour of several voices fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“Right. Chris, search the dwarf and tie him up so he can’t escape. Ladread and I will wash up and question him after we eat. We’ll camp here tonight, so the rest of you finish dumping those trolls into the gorge.”

The group dispersed to their various tasks and Paul and Ladread headed for the spring. The water turned out to be not so cold as to be chilly, just pleasantly refreshing. Still, Paul was grateful that it was cold enough to douse the unexpected heat in his groin when he stole glances at the muscular elf as she washed the blood and gore from her taut, smooth skin.

He dried as well as he could by shaking the water from his fur and tail while she shucked the drops from her skin by flexing her muscles and running the edge of her rock-hard hands across them. Both naked, although he had his fluffed-up fur to hide mostly everything, they made their way back to the bridge, passing James and Gael carrying leather buckets they had found somewhere to the spring to fetch water to wash the noxious black blood from the stones. The two males kept their faces forward, but Paul could see their eyes straining to stay on the admittedly magnificent form of the elf warrior as they passed.

They were mostly dry by the time they got to where the others had set up camp. Annie and Junafir were already cooking supper, surrounded buy chicken feathers that looked familiar to Paul. Chris had laid out the dwarf’s goods on a hooded cape he had found in the dwarf’s bag. It looked to be mostly tools and a couple of dozen metal spikes like the one that had been stuck in the blunderbuss’s touch hole. There was also a large leather sack full of purple powder. Coyotka was examining the blunderbuss.

Paul put his clothes back on and Ladread put on her cloak, much to his relief. Now he could concentrate on the dwarf.

He squatted in front of the little white-haired fellow. At least, he assumed it was a fellow.

“What is your name, uh, Mister Dwarf?”

“Yup.”

“Yup?”

“Yup, Yup.”

“Are you trying to make me angry?”

“Nope.”

“So, your name is ... Yup? Please answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

“Yu- ... yes.”

“Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere. Is that your first name or your last name?”

“My first name. My family name is Thachwatyahurd, Yup Thachwatyahurd.”

“Are you trying to be funny?”

“Sorry?” The dwarf looked genuinely puzzled.

“Maybe I can help.” Coyotka said, stepping forward. “Dwarves don’t have a sense of humour. Yup is a fairly common dwarf name, a diminutive of Yupitsphukednow. Thach means ‘son of’ and yahurd means ‘of the mountain’ so he would be Yup, son of Wat of the mountain. Wat is short for ...”

“Hey, watch it with the ‘S’ word!” Yup bleated.

“What?”

“What Wat, my father?”

“Nope, I mean no.” Coyotka responded. “I mean, does the word ‘short’ offend you?”

“There you go, using it again! Best I can expect from a bunch of pituitary giants like you ruffians though. I suppose you’ll eat me next.”

“We don’t eat people.” Paul assured him. “We just want to ask a few questions.”

“How am I supposed to know what you consider ‘people’? You didn’t hesitate to drill that troll a new poop chute, and I didn’t hear you ask him his opinion on that first.”

“Oh, you saw that did you”

“Yup ... I mean, yes. And that elf looked like she was going to take a big bite of troll dick. An unprovoked attack if you ask me.”

“But trolls eat people.” Paul said, flustered.

“Bears eat people, and lions kill bears, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to socialize with lions.”

Coyotka turned to Paul. “He has a point there, I think.”

“Okay, okay. You have no reason to trust us, but you were the one that tried to kill Ladread with your chicken cannon.”

“Blunderb- ...”

“Please, Coyotka, please.” Paul rubbed his temples before continuing. “With your blunderbuss. So let’s start there. What is that thing and what is it supposed to do?”

“Well, as your coyote said, it is a blunderbuss, made from the finest dwarfish steel. You see, I’m a tinker of some renown in my part of the mountains. That’s why I have so much gold.” He tilted his chin to indicate the rings still woven into his beard. “A few years ago a human warrior and a party of other creatures came to my forge with a commission. They were headed north to hunt monsters and needed a weapon that could take out the biggest and toughest of them. They had the design of this off-world firearm and a Wizard named Merlin who was going to enchant it for them.”

“Oh, Merlin! I’ve heard of him.” Annie said from a few feet away where she was roasting the chicken.

“He is also known by the name Myrddin Wyllt in Welsh and ...”

“Yes, thank you Coyotka. Please let Yup continue.”

“Yes, well, I worked for a full three moons forging and crafting the barrel, carving the stock and creating the mechanism according to their specifications. I also made the little metal sticks from a rare ferrous metal we have in our mountains that is particularly easy to enchant. Meanwhile that wizard spent his time drinking and chasing our females around trying to impress them with cheap tricks like making doves appear from his sleeves and producing flowers from a wand.”

“A charlatan, was he?”

“I don’t know where he was from, but he was a fake, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“He claimed that he was famous where he came from, I forget where it was, some place where they sell camels. Anyway, by the time the blunderbuss was ready he was so far gone in an alcoholic stupor that he could not remember the formula for the magical propellant. He assured me that he could do it with the materials at hand, though. He crushed up some of our low-grade amethyst and cast a spell linking it to that one, there.” Yup indicated the large stone on the gold chain that Chris had removed and placed on the cape.

“Did it not work?”

“Well, that depends. It works about fifty percent of the time, usually when you really need it to. The rest of the time the results are ... well you saw the chicken. Sometimes it’s a chicken, sometimes a sausage. Muffins once. Anyway, when I get hungry I fire it at nothing and see what turns up.”

“So, the warrior refused to take this unreliable weapon?”

“Oh, I never saw him again. I assumed that he got killed on his search for monsters. Probably ran into a dragon, they were very active back around then when Morholt took over Lyonesse.”

“Wait,” Ladread interrupted, “was your monster hunter a tall, dark human dressed all in green with a sword that glowed when enemies were near?”

“Yes, that’s the one. Why, did you know him?”

Her gaze went up and to the left as she remembered something from her past. “Oh, I think we may have crossed paths.” Then she snapped back and scowled at the dwarf. “Continue your story, dwarf.”

“Well, yes. The wizard disappeared before I discovered how unreliable the gun was, leaving two pregnant dwarf women and a huge bar bill behind him, which he named me the guarantor for. Since then, I’ve been working my fingers to the bone to pay off the debt and to rebuild my reputation. Having a gun that produces poultry that are worth half the cost of the powdered amethyst used to fire the thing has not helped.”

Ladread laughed, and even Paul had to smile.

“So, what were you doing here with it?”

“Well, through trial and error I managed to determine that it does seem to work properly when in dire need, and my people are in dire need at the moment.”

“How so?”

“With the patrols gone and vile creatures moving in from the north the only avenue for trade is across this bridge, which the trolls took last year. Trade is essential because while gold looks nice inlaid on a sword hilt you can’t eat it and the farming is terrible up in the mountains. So, I thought that I would rebuild my reputation by coming down here and ridding us of these troublesome trolls, but you, ah, beat me to it.”

Ladread smiled maliciously. “When they saw your fearsome weapon did you think they would turn chicken?” She collapsed in laughter when she finished.

“That would have been fine.” Yup said, not catching the joke. “But I was prepared to fight them if they did not run.”

“They did not know what was at ... steak!” She howled. “They didn’t realize what a ‘pickle’ they were in because your food firearm was sure to ‘beet’ them. That you would go on the ‘a-salt’ as you ‘peppered’ them with ‘lead-uce’. One should rue such a ‘meat-ing’ least they run a ‘fowl’ of you”

Yup turned to Paul and shook his head. “This is why elves and dwarves don’t get along so well.”

* * * * * * * *

Sevade and Nahal were summoned to the castle late on their third day in Lyonesse.

“I am told that you are agents of Rory Douglas.” Morholt said after the introductions.

“Yes.” Sevade said, stepping forward. “I have a device that can put you in contact with him if you desire proof of our claim.”

Morholt waved them off. “No one would go around claiming to work for that bastard other than those who did. Doing so would earn you a dagger in the gizzards nine times out of ten. Why did he send you to me?”

Sevade explained their mission and the difficulty they encountered back on Terra. He gave a detailed description of the gems that Rory knew must be responsible for his nephew’s good luck.

“You need something to overcome the power of those jewels?” Morholt shrugged. “If I had anything that powerful I would have used it on that dragon what has my spear.”

“Outpowering foes is not exactly the preferred tactic for assassins, m’lord. It’s easier to sneak down a chimney than to blow open a fortified door, and it leaves your victim unaware.”

Morholt scratched his beard. “Hmmm. Something subtle and sneaky. Sounds like Rory, and its probably something he knows I own. Let’s see. Oh! I know.”

Morholt called a page over and whispered in his ear. The page hurried off for the private chambers through a door behind the throne.

While the page was away on his errand Morholt looked back and forth between the two assassins.

“Take off your cloaks and make yourselves comfortable.” He told them.

Sevade preferred to keep his hands and the weapons he was clutching out of sight. “No, thank you m’lord.”

A scowl settled onto Morholt’s face. “That was not a suggestion.”

Nahal shrugged and doffed her cloak, folding it over her crossed arms so that it still hid most of her curves. After a moment Sevade did the same.

“Second page, take their cloaks.”

They reluctantly handed them over.

“You must be warm still with those clothes over your fur. Why don’t you take them off too?” His eyes were darting back and forth between them.

Sevade looked uncomfortable. Nahal stepped forward and bowed slightly. “I don’t have any fur, Lord Morholt. I’m a human, like you.”

“Oh, you are nothing like me. He said with a grin that sent chills down her spine. “And I’m sure that your companion would feel uncomfortable being the only one naked, so join him, won’t you?”

Both assassins began to disrobe. When they were done Sevade covered his sheath with his hands. “As your Lordship can see, we have no weapons that can threaten you and your servants have thoroughly searched our clothes and removed any that may. Can we get dressed now?”

“No. Your discomfort amuses me,” Morholt said as his page returned with a wooden chest bound with brass, “and it will make negotiations easier.”

“Negotiations? I thought ...”

Morholt held up a pair of copper bracelets that were heavily etched with strange symbols. “You thought that I owed Rory Douglas such a debt that I would just turn these over to you?”

“What are they?”

“These are Bracelets of Concealment. They are useless on Terra and modern-day Earth, but here where magic still hold sway they provide a vital function for thieves and assassins. They overcome magical barriers, alarms and traps. Your quarry will not know you are coming, and therefore their storms and fogs will not bar your way. The animals they may command to watch their trail will not notice you nor raise an alarm.”

Morholt twirled them around his thick finger. “I would not bet on them turning the tide of lava you described but they will throw of the aim of a moderate fireball, I can attest to that. Would they be of use to you, assassin?”

“Very useful indeed, sire.” Sevade had to admit.

“Then you would agree that they should fetch a fair price?”

“Uhm, yes, sire.”

“Well, you see, here in Lyonesse we do not set the price of an object on how much the seller values it, but on how much the buyer needs it, and I would say that your need outweighs the value of my debt to the fox Douglas. So, I’m going to need a little extra.”

Morholt glanced over them to where his guards had just finished searching their clothes. The head guard shook his head.

“Unfortunately though, you carry nothing I need and the amount of gold on your possession is far to little to interest me.”

Sevade slumped, but then noticed the look on Morholt’s face. He had seen it on his own in the Inn’s mirror just last night when he was preparing for his session with Nahal.

“Did I, uh, mention that my companion has only recently become an apprentice assassin? She used to ply another trade.”

“Oh, did she now?”

“Yes.” Sevade went on to describe the circumstances of Nahal’s employment with Rory Douglas. He included the girl’s recent experience working through the Kama Sutra with both Douglas and him.

“Don’t let her scars or her hard looks fool you, Lord Morholt. She is something special.”

Morholt smiled in a way that made the red fox uncomfortable, a way that reminded him of Rory Douglas. Below his sheath his testicles tried to crawl back up inside his pelvis.

“Something special, eh? And you say you did all these things with her on your travels? Must have been quite an experience.”

“Oh, yes, sire. It was.”

Morholt sat back. “In that case I have a proposal. One night doing as I will and in the morning I will give you the bracelets.”

Nahal opened her mouth to protest but Sevade put a hand to her mouth and answered for them.

“You have a deal, m’lord.”

“You won’t mind being deprived of her company for one night?”

“I’ll make do, sire.”

“Of course you will, what choice do you have?” Morholt raised his chin to the men behind them. “Give them back their belongings.” He lowered his eyes to the pair before him. “Go back to your Inn to rest and prepare. My men will be there at sundown.”

“Very gracious of you, sire.” Sevade began to back away from the throne, dragging the struggling Nahal with him.

They donned their cloaks when they were thrown at them and carried the rest of their clothes and goods.

“I’m going to kill you.” Nahal snarled when they were out of earshot of the guard.

“No, you are not.”

Nahal mumbled something that sounded like “Yes, I am.” But otherwise she kept silent as they made their way back to the inn.

Feeling generous, Sevade let her wash up first while he ordered supper from the tavern downstairs. Then he went to clean up himself while she dried and combed her hair.

She had still not spoken a word when the food came, just as the sun was going down.

“You better eat. Morholt’s men will be here soon and I doubt that he will feed you.”

She gulped down her portion of hot stew and a couple of biscuits, hardly tasting it at all. As she wiped the gravy from her face a knock came at the door.

“Lord’s men!” One of the guards shouted before he finished knocking. Sevade hurried to open the door.

Three burly guards crowded the doorway.

“Are you ready?”

Sevade stepped aside and held his hands palm up toward Nahal. “All ready.”

The guard looked confused.

“Why are you pointing at her?”

Now Sevade looked confused. “Because you have come to fetch her for Lord Morholt, haven’t you?”

All three guards laughed. “You thought ... ?” One began.

“... Lord Morholt ...?” A second continued.

“... wanted her? A woman?”

“Ahh ... yes?”

Still laughing the largest of the guards stepped in and stood right n front of the befuddled fox.

“Did you see any women in the castle? Any in the Lord’s chambers? Any at all?”

“I heard he kept an elf ...”

“Phfftt. She’s more manly than anyone in the Guard.” The big one sputtered. “And even Morholt doesn’t dare lay a hand on her ... not that he would. No, his Lordship, as we say, leans in another direction.” He finished by waggling his eyebrows suggestively at Sevade.

The fox backed away as the guard reached for his arms. “But ... but. He said he wanted something special!”

The guard twirled Sevade around and bound his wrists. “After you left the Lord did say, ‘What could be more special than a night with a fine piece of furry ass that has recently learned all of the famous Kama Sutra?’.”

He turned Sevade around and shoved him toward the two other guards. “Take him down to the lobby where there’s more room to search him.”

Together they dragged the fox backwards though the doorway. Sevade struggled, leaving claw marks from his feet on the threshold.

“Nahal!”

The big guard turned on his way out, touched the rim of his helm respectfully and offered her a “Good night” before closing the door behind him

Nahal regarded the door as the fox’s screams diminished down the stairs. When they had faded away completely she got up, circled the table and sat down in Sevade’s chair.

“Well, how about that?” She shrugged as she began to dig into his portion of stew.

* * * * * * * *

They suspended the interrogation of the dwarf, Yup, while they ate supper. While they savoured the chicken stew Annie and Junafir had managed to whip up Coyotka provided a non-stop stream of trivia and lore about the dwarves of Medioterrae.

“The most wonderful tinkers.” She assured them. “And the number of rings in Yup’s beard indicate that he has achieved the highest honours among them.”

“It is true.” Yup said without a trace of modesty. “Until the blunderbuss fiasco I was ‘the’ most respected dwarf in the western mountains.”

“Really?” Ladread sneered. “You had some better way of producing poultry before this?”

“You laugh, elf. But I am considered a genius when it comes to designing mining apparatus and engines of war. I have yet to find an engineering problem that I can’t solve.”

“Prove it.”

Yup looked around. A large boulder caught his eye.

“That stone there, the one yon horse was saying the trolls had moved to block the approach. I bet I can move it out of the way with no help from any of you oversized creatures.”

Paul looked skeptical, but he waved to James to untie the dwarf.

Yup jumped to his feet, which was not very far. He ran around the rock muttering to himself.

“Fourteen degree slope ... clay mixed with shist ... two and a half ton boulder ... Can I borrow your spade?”

“Sure. Gael said, passing the small shovel he carried to the dwarf.

Yup dug a bit of the ground out from the side of the boulder that was facing the road. He pounded the dirt from the hole into a slope behind the rock. He finished by stringing all their ropes together around the boulder and through the branches of a tree on the uphill side.

“There!” He declared when he was finished.

“There what?” Paul asked doubtfully. “You have a trench that would only bring the boulder farther into the road and a slope that keeps us from rolling it back the other way, if it doesn’t get tangled in the ropes first.”

Yup grinned with confidence and grabbed the ends of the rope. Planting his feet against the rock he pulled and released it alternately until he had enough momentum to make it climb the small slope he had built behind it. It stopped, balanced, just short of the apex.

“Like I said. You’ll never get it over that hump.”

Yup jumped down and threw the ropes aside. “Wait for it ...”

Slowly at first, the boulder began to roll back the way it had come. But instead of settling back where it had been its momentum carried it into the short trench Yup had dug, and it continued to roll out onto the approach to the bridge.

The approach had a slight slope and was worn down in the middle from centuries of use. The boulder rolled along this natural course, away the bridge and around the corner, disappearing from sight.

Paul was impressed. “Where is it going to end up?”

“Uh, I’m not quite sure. Did you pass any villages on your way here?”

“There’s a place called Phelm at the base of the hill, but there are a number of ‘S’ turns before it where the boulder will likely run off the road.” He slapped Yup on the boulder. “Okay, I’m convinced. You’re a genius. But you did try to kill our companion.”

“That was a bit of an accident, I’m afraid. I’m an engineer, not a warrior dwarf. I have never fired the blunderbuss in anger, only when startled.”

“Kill anything with it yet?”

“Yes, once. The only time that the damned thing worked properly, actually. An ogre jumped out at me from a bush and I pulled the trigger without thinking. I could hardly miss anything that size, and the poor beast turned into a cloud of red and green mist when the blast hit him.”

“How big are ogres?”

“Bigger than trolls, and tougher to kill.” Ladread answered.

Paul was even more impressed.

“That thing is designed to kill monsters like ogres ... and dragons, you say?”

“Well yes.” Yup bristled. “And I can guarantee the design and the workmanship. It’s this stupid enchanted propellant that is to blame.”

“What would it take to fix it?”

“Whoa, canine.” Ladread protested. “If you are thinking of bringing the half-pint along ...”

“Any competent wizard should be able to fix it.” Yup spoke over her. “And as it happens, I’ve heard of a wizard that is getting rave reviews working up the valley from here, near the border with Muspelia.”

“If we set you free, would you join us on our quest?”

Yup hesitated. James stepped forward. “Taking out a great dragoness like Aldreda would go a long way to restoring your reputation, I’ll bet.”

The dwarf scratched his chi under his long bread. “Yes, it would, wouldn’t it?”

“And a dragon like that is sure to have a considerable horde, more than a dozen dwarves could carry away.”

“Oh, I can carry a lot ... but what you say is true. Alright. I’ll join you on your quest.” He glanced sideways at Ladread, who’s mouth hung open, aghast at the thought of the dwarf joining them. “If only to protect you from the elf.” He added.

Ladread stood up with a huff and stomped off. Paul gave Yup back his blunderbuss, but kept the metal rods that sparked it. The rest gathered round the dwarf and welcomed him into their group.

“Did you know,” Coyotka said, pointing to the firearm, “that the handheld version of the blunderbuss is called a ‘Dragon’? It’s because the flame and smoke it belched made people think of dragon fire, and that, of course, led to the term ‘Dragoons’ being applied to the cavalrymen that carried them. In fact ...”

Paul wandered away from the group. He wanted to be alone to think. Was he right to trust the Dwarf, he wondered? Had he upset Ladread by accepting Yup, and if so, how would she react?

Paul found himself at the spring, out of sight of the others. He sat on the low stone wall that surrounded the pool and put his feet in to cool them. He was so lost in thought that he almost fell in when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

Jumping up and turning at the same time he barely managed to get his footing on the slippery rocks. What he saw when he turned make him take a step back and again, he almost tumbled into the pool when he slipped on a moss covered stone.

It was the elf, Ladread, in her blond, more feminine form, and she was naked.

Paul’s eyes went wide as he stared at her pale, smooth skin, her large, dark elven eyes and her firm, round breasts. He had only really seen her backside before she was covered in troll innards but now he had a fell view of her clean, flawless, body, from the pointed ears that stuck straight out from her blond tresses to the shapely legs and the patch of straw-coloured pubic hair above an otherwise bald mound.

“Ladread! What are you doing here? I thought you got mad and left us.”

“I was mad,” she admitted, “but I got over it quickly. As to why I am here, it’s for the same reason as you I assume, to rinse off after a greasy meal.”

She stepped over the low wall and stood in the shallow water, bending over to splash the lukewarm water on her legs and arms. Paul could not help but stare. She was as curvaceous as Ruth, his lapine lover but with skin as tight as Selina, the cheetah prostitute from Doug’s-ur-Mark. Her hair was as fine as silk, and her skin shone with health and youth.

At that moment Paul realized that he had no idea how old Ladread was, or how long elves lived. As magical creatures he assumed that it was a long time. In fact, other than her ability to transform from a tall, musclebound warrior into a petite, seductive temptress he knew nothing about her.

“I, uh, was just wondering, Ladread, how old you were … in comparison to other elves that is. Are you considered a, uh, young elf?”

Ladread giggled, something he had never heard her do in her warrior form. It fit this image of her better.

“Oh, no. I’m old, Paul, very old, even compared to other, uhm, elves.”

“Do they all have the ability to transform?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Darryl seemed surprised when you changed, but he admits that he is not an expert on elves.”

“Well, there you go then. Don’t be trusting the word of those with no first-hand experience.”

It took him a few seconds to realize that she had not actually answered his question, and during those few seconds she switched from washing her arms and legs to rinsing her torso, although he could see no signs of grease or dirt on it, and he was looking awfully hard at it, especially when she began to rub the mound of her sex with one hand and pull at one perky, pink nipple with the other.

Paul was suddenly extremely glad that he had kept his long tunic on.

“Uh, say, Ladread … what happened to your armour?”

“It doesn’t fit this form, so I hid it among the rocks; wouldn’t want a peasant wandering across it and stealing it now, would I?”

“Oh, is it valuable?”

“I’ll say. It’s made from dragon scales, the hardest and rarest material on Medioterrae.”

Paul was impressed. “Where did you get it from? Did you have to kill a dragon for it?”

Ladread frowned and moved away from him. “I don’t want to talk about that.” She sat down on the low wall and patted the stone beside her. “There is something I’d like to discuss with you though.”

Paul waded over to her and sat down with about an arm’s length between them. Ladread slid over beside him and wrapped her arms around his before he could scoot away.

“It’s about the dwarf.”

“Yup?”

“Yup … I mean, yes, him. I want you to send him away.”

“I don’t think I can do that. The others have already accepted him into the group.”

“You’re the leader.” She said, leaning in to press her naked breast against his arm. “They’ll listen to you.”

Paul cleared his throat, about to explain why he couldn’t act arbitrarily and still command respect as a leader but before he spoke Ladread pulled his head down to hers and sealed her lips around the end of his muzzle. He tried to resist, a little, but she was surprisingly strong. Before long he surrendered to her probing tongue and started kissing her back in earnest.

His hand came up to caress the bare breasts pressing against his tunic. When she felt his tender touch, she released his head and let one of hers drift down to rest on his leg. It was not idle for long though, as it began rubbing the inside of his thigh, moving higher and higher with each passing moment, until her fingers were brushing his furry scrotum and the swelling inside his sheath above it.

Paul disengaged his face long enough to pull his tunic up and with her help he pulled it up and off and tossed it onto the road. He immediately returned his hands to her body; one to her breast, the other to the soft curve of her hip.

The elf did not shirk either. Her left hand returned to stoke his erection as it grew inside his sheath while her right toyed with the sensitive spot just above his tail. Soon his pointed pink prick was poking out and his back was arched in ecstasy from the ministrations of her long nails through the fur at the base of his spine. They felt like claws, almost, he thought as he tried to recall what the tips of her fingers looked like, but the only image he could call to mind was one of her buttocks rolling gently together as she walked away from where he and the others were hiding earlier.

Her teasing had succeeded in drawing his penis fully out of its sheath. Leaving his lips, she trailed kisses down the sparse fur of his chest until she could take the tip into her mouth. Working her lips and mouth she produced enough saliva to lubricate it all the way down to the base, where a knot began to form. A few bobs of her head were all it needed and within seconds it was too swollen for her to get her lips around.

She had moved into a crouching position on the rim of the pool as she sucked and licked him until he was fully erect. Paul reached back with one arm and rubbed her between the legs, pleased to find that her twat was already swollen and wet too. He slid his two middle digits inside, pulled them out again and used them to spread the sweet-smelling juices around her mons and up between her ass cheeks. He was thrilled when she wiggled and pressed herself against them as they crossed over her little pink butt hole. He repeated the sequence several times until both her holes were sodden and grasping at his fingers.

Before he could cum in her mouth Ladread stopped and sat up.

“About the dwarf …”

“No.” He grunted, as the cool evening air stung his burning cock. “I won’t let you seduce me into changing my mind.”

“Are you sure about that?” She said as she knelt and rotated on her knees until her ass was facing him. She placed her forearms against the stone and rested her head on them, looking around and up at him as she rolled her hips to let the scent of her love waft towards him.

“Very sure.” He replied, kneeling on the shelf behind her and stoking his cock back into life.

“You could have me now if you agree to get rid of the dwarf.”

“I can’t, not without consulting the others.”

“Pleeeease? I want you so badly.” One of her hands appeared between her legs and she began to thrust her fingers inside herself.

Paul opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again before shaking his head.

“No. No, Ladread. We are on a quest to defeat a dragon and the dwarf has offered to help us, whereas you seem only interested in helping yourself, although what you hope to gain from this, I have no idea.”

Ladread’s teeth were grinding as she continued to rub her twat. “Dammit! Your integrity is so frustrating!” Yet she could deny to herself that she found one with so much strength of will appealing. “Will you at least talk to the others about it?”

Paul had intended to do so anyway, in order to make sure everyone was okay with his plan to use the dwarf and his magic weapon against the dragon, so he was able to promise sincerely that he would.

She raised her ass to him and dropped her hand away from her cunt. “Have it then. Take me from behind the way you canines like it.”

“That is a stereotype.”

“Oh, if I’ve offended you then, I’ll go.” She began to straighten up.

Paul pushed her head back down to the stone. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I’m offended.”

He ignored her knowing smile as he drew his hips back and shuffled into position. With a quick probe of his thumb, he verified that she was well and truly ready before he guided the tip of his cock between the soft pink flaps that now protruded from inside her twat. Holding her ass and rolling his hips he thrust it knot deep inside her.

Paul did the driving, with Ladread rolling her hips and rocking her ass to let his stiff cock explore every bit of her insides. He marvelled at how tight she was, considering that she had recently taken on a troll with a cock roughly the size of his forearm, fist included. He could feel the resistance with each push and when he pulled back he could see how tightly her cunt lips were wrapped around his retreating prick. He wondered if resizing her vagina was part of her elf magic. If so, he approved.

It had been while for him, since the day the assassins attacked Dougs-ur-Mark, in fact. He had to rely on his training with Selina and certain relaxation techniques he had learned as a soldier. He began drawing in deep, slow cleansing breaths, and holding them in before letting them slowly out again. He timed them with his thrusts; three to breathe in, three to hold, three to exhale and two more before repeating the process. Doing so earned him a few extra minutes before he felt his balls swell to the breaking point.

She must have sensed that he was close. She had been rubbing her clit but now she reached back between her legs to squeeze his sack gently. It was at the limit of her reach though, so the next time he thrust in she pushed back, forcing his knot inside her.

Paul gasped with pleasure. He tried to pull back out but found that she had clamped down on his knot like the canine partners he had experienced over the years. Like the best of them, she knew how to make the muscles inside her twat ripple and squeeze so that the absence of friction on his cock did not mean the end of his stimulation. A twisting motion with her hips, like she was trying to work the cork out a tight bottle of wine, also provided friction on his super-sensitive knot

He leaned over her back, wrapped his arms around her waist and started making short, sharp thrusts that drove his pelvis against her clit, which was fully exposed as the knot trapped inside her stretched her twat to her limits. He resisted the urge to bite one of those pointy ears as his digits wandered down to rub her clit in little circles between thrusts.

They were both panting and swearing in different languages. Paul was up on his toes as he thrust as hard as he could. Ladread was shoulders to the rock as she raised her ass to take them. She had also stopped squeezing his balls and now had a tight grip at the top of his sack, pinching it closed with thumb and forefinger. It was the only thing that was keeping him from cumming.

She emitted a high-pitched squeal, one Paul was sure non-canines could not hear, as her twat was flooded with sweet waters that squirted out around the tight grip she had on his knot. She released his sack as she came, and he followed an instant later with a wad of sponge that felt like a fist forcing its way past those tight cunt lips and though his shaft. He could feel the fiery fluid leave his cock as well as the spasming of her twat when it painted her insides.

He kept his hips pressed firmly against the soft, round globes of her ass while his balls jerked with several successive shots. His middle digit, trapped between them, continued to rub her clit, giving her several small subsequent orgasms until she slapped his hand away.

“Enough!” She declared when she could catch her breath. “That’s not a call-bell you can order up orgasms with like toast at the Inn.”

He chuckled and slipped his finger back in against her, laughing when he felt her shudder again. He immediately regretted it though as she grabbed his hand and squeezed the fingers together hard enough to make them crack.

“Ouch!” he cried, pulling his slick fingers out of her grip. “Where do you hide all that strength?”

“I have the same strength whatever form I’m in.”

Paul recalled her big, solid hands when she was in warrior mode. Those hands could easily crush his. Then he remembered her great muscular thighs and shuddered. He reminded himself never to get trapped between those legs.

He felt a change in her where she was locked around his knot. Her cunt loosened and she pulled off as easily as she had taken the great knob off the troll’s dick in earlier. Paul was about to ask her how she did that, but she stood, turned and spoke before he could.

“We should get cleaned up and be on our respective ways.”

Paul rolled into the pond and poured warm water over his aching knot. “You aren’t going to stay in the camp with us again tonight?”

“No, especially not since you invited the dwarf to join you.”

“What is it between elves and dwarves?”

Ladread heaved a sigh. “Interspecies animosity goes back a long way here on Medioterrae.”

“You seem to get along with the humans well enough though.”

Her expression hardened. “I have my reasons. Best not to get involved with it least you make enemies on all sides.”

She finished washing in silence. When she was done she stepped out of the pool and began to walk toward the north.

“That was fun.” She called over her shoulder where Paul was standing, watching the way her butt rolled as she walked. “Maybe we can do that again in my other form some day.”

She winked over her shoulder and turned away. Within three paces she was back in her familiar warrior form. Paul had to admit that while her ass did not have the same seductive roll in this form, the way the hard muscles stood out from buttock to ankle with each step had an intriguing attraction all their own.

Paul gazed at the spot where she disappeared around the bend long after she was gone, absorbed in thought. So absorbed that he did not hear the rustle of the bushes near the end of the bridge.

On the far side of the bushes Darryl and Yup crept backwards until they were safely out of earshot.

Yup wiped away the sweat that had formed on his brow despite the cool evening air. “Whew! Thinking of that will keep me up half the night, if you know what I mean.”

Darryl nodded with understanding. “I told you these two were worth keeping an eye on.”

Paul Collieman © Collifan

Gael Tholkes © MarcusXLight

Junafir Pawstone © Frostlupus

Chris Cinereo © Kyroo Echos

Yup Thatchwatyahurd © Kyroo Echos

Sevade © Frostlupus

Constance “Coyotka” Jotkowska © Coyotek

Darryl D. Dragon © Major Matt Mason

Ladread © White Tiger Hunting

Aldreda © White Tiger Hunting