Orc Bait - Chapter 2 - Part 1

Chapter 2 - Part 1

-1528, day 11, month 05, Issendora Mountains.

Clouds gathered overhead and dimmed the afternoon sun, bathing the plains around me in overcast light. I slowly and quietly moved forward and peered over a large rock. There was a grey stone building around thirty meters in front of me at the foot of the sprawling mountain range.

I scanned the area and couldn't see any defences around the keep. That didn't mean there weren't any.

I cautiously made my way to the building. Plants and weeds had taken over the front entrance. No one had done any gardening here for a long time, but I knew the place was occupied. I was trying my best to be stealthy, I didn't want my presence to be noted until I was ready, but when you're dealing with mages you never know when you're being watched.

I came to the large door at the entrance of the keep and scanned the area again. If any place was being watched, it was here. I reached out and felt the tingling resistance of a magical barrier around the door. Expected, and I came prepared.

I reached into my pack and pulled out a scroll. I undid the ribbon, unrolled the parchment and wasted no time reciting the ancient words that were scrawled on it. Thankfully the passage wasn't too long. When I finished, the words started glowing a bright red and the paper quickly disintegrated in my hands.

I reached out in front of me and the magical barrier was no longer there. I tried the door, it was still locked. I got my lockpicks out from my pack. I was no master locksmith, that was for sure, but this lock seemed simple enough for me to handle. Pretty soon I had slid the tumblers into place and the door unlocked.

I quietly entered the keep. I was not sure if my intrusion had been noticed yet, there was no sign that it had. The interior seemed more homely than the outside, with sconces burning along the walls, casting out flickering warm light. There was some simple wooden furniture dotted around, and a large dusty rug spread out in front of me in the entrance hall.

I started making my way down a passageway to my left when I saw a glowing light down the end. It was getting brighter. I quickly hid behind a pillar, hugging my body to the wall. There was a figure moving down the hallway toward me and the bright light made the shadows in the hallway dance about. I could hear no footsteps. The creature floated past me and I could feel the heat radiating off it. It was a fire elemental; dancing yellow-orange flames that took on a human-like shape.

There were summoned elementals guarding the keep. Again, it was something I was expecting. It would be best to keep out of their sight. The floating apparitions would attack anyone it didn't recognise, and I didn't want to have to suffer any severe burns right now.

I waited until the elemental turned off, and the light dimmed, then I continued making my way down the passageway. I came to an open door and I could faintly hear a man's voice from within. Beyond the doorway were stone steps that lead down into the dungeon. I peered down and saw dim light coming from below. The voice continued, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

I quietly made my way down the stone steps, descending into the pit. The male voice became clearer to me, he seemed to be reciting the ancient tongue, like I had earlier with the scroll. Someone was performing dark magic down there.

I stopped when I came to the bottom and could see a figure clad in grey robes. He had his back to me and was standing on the edge of a large, bright red circle painted in the centre of the gloomy, empty dungeon. Dozens of eerie red candles burnt all around. A red pentagram was painted inside the circle.

I stood in the shadows by the stairs and watched as the robed man continued to recite his magical words in a loud, clear voice. He held up a vial and then spilled a dark liquid onto the ground. I could see that it was blood, which splashed onto the stone floor at his feet. I had come by in the midst of a diabolical summoning.

Suddenly there was loud rumbling sound, and I could swear I could feel the room shaking around me. It had me feeling uneasy and reaching for my blade. A burst of flames suddenly rose up from the centre of the pentagram. My place in the shadows was bathed in bright light. If the mage turned around he could plainly see me, but he was transfixed on the red and yellow flames in front of him.

I was transfixed too. I watched as a dark figure emerged from the flames. It was a humanoid form, straight away I noticed the shapely feminine curves and a long thin tail and small bat-like wings. The flames died down and dissipated and the figure was left standing there in the candlelight. She had smooth red skin, long black hair that flowed down to her waist, curved horns sprouting from her forehead and scary glowing yellow eyes.

The demon was also completely naked. Her large round breasts poked out in front of her. Thick metallic rings hung from her dark, protruding nipples. Her feminine body was curvaceous and well proportioned. Her face youthful and symmetrical. The hellspawn was really quite attractive, despite her scary glowing eyes and goat-like hoofed feet. I had never seen one in person before, but recognised it as a succubus.

I stared down at her hairless crotch, with it's smooth red mound curving up between her thighs. A tingle went through my body and I felt the nice warm feelings as I became aroused. There was something very erotic and exciting about her.

The succubus seemed disoriented as she looked around. She looked at the robed man and hissed, and then looked behind him, directly at me. Her glowing yellow eyes seemed to pierce my soul briefly before she turned her attention back to the summoner. She lowered herself down like she was ready to pounce and hissed threateningly at him.

"Eka waise ebrithil." said the summoner in a commanding tone. His words seemed to carry some real power. The succubus raised her head and hissed wildly. "Sitja mor'amr eom eka." The succubus then turned around and bent over so that her hands were on the floor in front of her. Her red ass was raised up high with her long thin tail lifted and swaying from side to side in the air. I was treated to nice view of her puffy red pussy lips and puckered little anus.

"Yes. I'm your master now, you little demon whore." said the summoner. The succubus turned her head and hissed again, but didn't move from her position, seemingly bound by his command.

He stepped forward, into the circle. "You're quite nice for a wild one, aren't you?" He reached forward and rubbed his hands along her backside and down her thighs. The demon stopped hissing and seemed to smile at him. She wriggled her ass seductively at him and her tail swayed back, rubbing up against his body.

"Yes, you're all the same. You need it badly. Well I'm going to give it to you, you little demoness slut!" His hands moved back and started undoing his robes, opening them at the front. I couldn't see it from my position, but I knew he had his hard cock out.

He stepped forward, getting right up behind her. I crept along so that I could get a better view. I risked him spotting me, but I didn't much care. He seemed to be focused on his submissive demoness anyway.

I crouched there by the wall and could see he had hold of his hard average-sized cock and was rubbing it along her glistening red snatch. The succubus was still looking back at him and smiling. She was fixed to the spot, but trying to move her ass back onto the cock. Her tail was wrapped around his waist, as though trying to pull him forward.

The lewd, exotic sight had my heart racing and my pussy tingling.

Then he pushed his cock forward, it pressed up against the small opening and then speared its way into the red demon flesh. The succubus let out a throaty moan. The mage wedged it in deep and groaned, "Ooooh yes! Such a nice hot pussy!" He grabbed her ass tightly and pulled back and then thrust his hard cock in deep again.

My pussy tingled wildly and demanded attention as I watched him pump his cock back and forth. Damn! The overpowering urge came over me and I had to move my hand down to my crotch and rub it forcefully through my leather pants. I could feel the juices dribbling out of my tingling slit. The demon's moans and the slapping sound of the cock was setting me off.

I wanted to take my pants down and slip my fingers into my wet pussy and start vigorously pumping it. But no, I would restrain myself.

With some difficulty I managed to pull my hand away from my crotch and stand up. The robed man groaned as he continuously slapped his cock in fast and deep. I silently approached the circle, moving up behind him. "Ah yesssss, who's yer master, Bitch? Who’s yer master?"

I stood there watching him fornicate with the demoness for a while longer. My pussy was still throbbing and drooling, I took deep breaths and calmed myself. Then I spoke out, "I thought you weren't allowed to do that any more, Duane."

The man literally jumped and his cock popped out from the red succubus pussy as he spun around and saw me. He stumbled and staggered out of the circle and seized a ceremonial dagger that was lying just outside the circle. I had to stop myself from laughing at his clumsy panicked movements.

He stood up and looked at me, his dagger and wet cock both pointed out in front of him. The hood of his robe had slipped back and I saw his surprised familiar face. The wizard was in his fifties, and balding with short dark grey hair around his large ears, and a short grey goatee. He looked at me with his pale blue eyes.

"Put that away, you have no chance!" I didn't specify whether I was talking about the dagger or his cock.

He blinked at me, "Rohme?"

"Hello Duane."

"Rohme the Ranger, wh... what are you doing here?"

"Visiting."

"I never get visitors."

"Really?" I nodded over at the succubus who was still bent over in the middle of the circle. She was looking back at us and hissing and waving her red ass about, her tail was swooshing from side to side. She looked very annoyed at the interruption.

Duane's face had gone bright red, he quickly drew his robe closed, covering up his cock. "Evil hellspawn...she...she used her powers to seduce me. I should not have been so weak."

I smirked at him, "She's cute, are you going to introduce me?" I stepped forward, getting a closer look at her.

"STOP!" he cried out, making me halt just outside the circle. "You do not have control of the demon. If you step in the circle anything could happen. She's a wild succubus, she could rip you apart. You cannot trust her kind."

I let out a sigh, "Yeah, I have some experience with demons, thanks to you." I turned and started walking away. "I'll let you finish up here. I'll be upstairs."

"Uh, ...yeah ...sure, make yourself at home. I'll be up there soon." As I started walking up the stairs he yelled behind me, "Watch out for the elementals."

It was only around ten minutes later when Duane came back up. I was sitting in his cosy study on a padded chair sipping fine wine from one of his goblets. I had managed to get my raging libido under control after the exciting spectacle. He stood in front of me smiling, "Rohme the Ranger."

"Duane the Wizard."

"It's good to see you again old friend. It's been too long. You're looking as lovely as ever. How did you get in here? ...You caught me with my pants down there, didn't you?"

"You don't wear pants."

"Touche." He looked over at the open wine bottle on the table. "My Cyrnian Sauvignon! How did you find it?"

"I'm good at finding things."

He shook his head, "When I said make yourself at home, I didn't mean steal my best wine." He went over to the table and started pouring himself a goblet.

"I didn't know that." I said innocently. I took another sip, it was a good drop, with rich fruity flavours. I swirled it around in my mouth before swallowing it down.

Duane turned back to me, "Where are your companions? Sierra the sourceress, Cordelia the cleric, and your strapping swordsman...what was his name again?" He scrunched his face up as he tried to remember, "...Streek?"

"Strafe."

"Yes, Strafe."

"They're dead."

He seemed genuinely shocked at the news, "Oh, I'm sorry. That's terrible. I'm afraid I'm living in a bubble here. Completely cut off from the outside world. How did they die?"

"Saving the world."

"I believe that, you lot are the bravest, most heroic people I have ever crossed paths with." He raised his goblet, "To Sierra, Cordelia and...Strafe. Our saviours." I raised my glass too, toasting my fallen comrades before taking another sip.

After a few moments of silence I spoke again, "So...still summoning?"

Duane looked embarrassed as he nodded his head, "My scholastic pursuits. Here let me show you something." He set his goblet down on a table and walked over to a desk and picked up a large book. He came over and put it down on the table in front of me and opened it up. I leant forward and looked over the pages. There was a large picture of a menacing horned demon and a large block of written words.

"What's this?" I asked.

"My research. I have been observing and cataloguing all manner of demonic creatures from the underworld. There are still many strange demons that are unknown to us. I have made it my life's work."

"Oh. So that's what you were doing down there with the succubus...research?"

His face went red again, "Uh, yes, well, succubi are known for their seductive powers...It warrants further study."

I flipped through the book, it seemed he had been busy, there were many more pictures of demons of all shapes and sizes. Some of them looked quite scary. "So you can summon any of these specific demons again if you wanted to?"

"Oh yes. I discover them by blindly 'fishing' in the outer layers of Hell, as it were. But once their form is known to me, I can call on their kind again.

I turned the page and saw a very interesting illustration. The demon was almost the shape of a squid. It had a large bulky body with one large eye and a mouth full of sharp teeth. It had scores of long tentacles coming out from its body. I looked closer and saw that the tentacles had round tapered heads at the tip.

"Are those cocks?"

"Oh yes. Fascinating creature isn't it? I called it the Drogus. All those tentacles are its genitals. It enjoys putting them to use too, with whatever warm body it can find. Succubi enjoy feeding off its abundant sexual energy."

I closed the book and looked up at him, "I was there when the King expressly forbade you to summon ever again. What I witnessed down there, apart from being quite perverted, was an act of high treason, punishable by death."

Duane visibly paled, "But...but surely an old friend saw nothing out of the ordinary down there...Did she?"

I just took another sip and drew it out, letting him squirm. He continued, "I'm not taking any risks, it's all quite safe, I assure you. I’m not taking on any more than I can handle, there will be no repeat of what happened before."

"When you unleashed powerful demons on the capital?"

"Accidentally unleashed, it's an important distinction."

"And me and my party had to clean up your mess. Those demons were freaking tough."

"Yes, I know. I was very lucky you lot happened to be there. The King wanted to take my head, but Sierra managed to convince him to let me live here in exile. She really had a way with people, even Kings."

"Kings are people."

He nodded, "Don't tell them that...Is Farquad the Second still sitting the throne?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"So you won't say a word about my summoning activities, will you?"

"No, and I don't need to hold that leverage over you either. Not when you owe me."

He looked at me and stroked his short beard, "Ah, so now we're getting down to it. You want something. And I thought you had just come to visit me."

I smiled at him, "That too. I'm going after a witch."

"Which witch? I have been out of the loop for a while, but perhaps I know her, or of her."

"Her name is Aerowyn, a red-headed half-elf. Quite proficient with poison magics."

He shook his head, "...No, not ringing any bells. Do you need help finding her?"

"No, I know where she is."

"Then what do you need me for?"

"I want you to help punish her."

"Really? What did she do?"

"She wronged me, let's just leave it at that."

"What exactly is it you want me to do?"

"Come with me."

He looked a little startled, "What?...Like a quest?...Out there?"

I nodded.

"...I haven't left this keep for over ten years. I'm an exile, if any of the King's men find me, I'll lose my head."

"The King has other things on his mind, with the war to the north and the orc raiders invading his land."

"There's orcs too?...Look...Rohme, I would love to help you out. If this witch has wronged you then I'm sure she deserves to be punished, but..."

"I'm asking for your help Duane." I stood up and looked him in the eyes, "Are you really going to say no to me? Really?"

He was flustered and looked away, "Damn you...old friend. You break into my keep, interrupt my studies, take my best wine, and ask me to risk my neck for your petty revenge. Is there anything else you want while you're at it?"

I smiled, "Can I take a look at your scroll collection?"

---

Duane was reluctant to leave his keep, to say the least, but he came. The debt he felt he owed my party meant he couldn't turn me down. I was counting on that. I think he was glad to have some non-diabolical company for a change. Though there was no mistaking his unease as we left his keep behind and started trekking through the wilderness.

It was dark when we arrived at the town of Codwallow at the Degray River. Duane was complaining loudly of sore feet and weariness. Oh crap, we had another couple of days walking to do before we got to our destination. It wasn't going to be much fun for either of us.

We got a room at the Horse-head Inn, a cosy little place I had stayed a couple of times before. We shared a room with two single beds. Not long after we had both slipped into bed, I heard Duane snoring loudly. Oh great!

I had my soft undershirt and panties on under the blanket. As I lay there unable to sleep because of the loud rumbling snores that filled the room, my mind started filling with dirty thoughts as it often did lately.

I was thinking about the exotic, sexy succubus and her red juicy snatch. About the cock pushing its way in and pumping it with deep strokes. My hand slipped down into my panties and I sunk a couple of fingers into my warm, wet pussy and started forcefully stroking. I moaned softly as my other hand groped at my tits and rubbed around my hard nipples. It felt so good, I was giving my body what it had been yearning for.

As I hungrily fondled and fingered myself under the covers, my thoughts of the succubus faded. I started thinking about the big green orc cocks again, as I often did. The way they roughly penetrated my tight ass and filled it up. The way they forcefully rammed deep into me over and over again until they spurted their hot, wet cum inside my body.

Damn it! What had that witch done to me? She had turned me into a dispenser of deadly magical poison. Enough to kill over sixty orcs. As soon as I could, I went to see a healer to determine exactly what toll it had taken on my body, only to be told I was in very good health. There was no trace of poison in my system at all, and no magics affecting me. A second healer told me the same thing.

Yet that incident at Fort Nikes had changed me. Before that night, I had not had sex for some time, and I was doing just fine. Now dirty thoughts filled my mind all the time. My pussy juiced up at the slightest provocation and demanded my attention. My nipples were more sensitive than normal and can make me moan and shudder just rubbing against my leathers. I did this every night, furiously finger myself until I have had several intense orgasms. I even fingered my ass, wishing that it would be filled with a large cock.

Aerowyn had done this to me. I will make her fix me, and I will make her pay.

I had four fingers pushed up my soaking wet cunt and my thumb circling around my sensitive clit. The pleasure was heightening, I was heading for a strong climax. I was breathing heavily and moaning as I worked my fingers deep into my constricting orifice. I moaned as the strong pleasurable sensations hit my mind and my throbbing pussy squirted over my hand.

I caught my breath as I brought my wet hand up and wiped it on my shirt. I laid there in the warm afterglow of my climax. I could still hear Duane snoring loudly over on the other bed.

I wanted a real cock badly. I had seen in the dungeon that my wizard companion was quite capable there. I imagined being like the succubus, bent over as he pumped his cock into me from behind. No, better not. He had been alone for some time. He might end up wanting more than just a casual fling with me, and I didn't want to go breaking his heart. We should just remain friends.

The thought had taken hold in my mind though, and I started gently caressing my soaking wet pussy with my hand again. I would probably need to bring myself to orgasm a few more times before I could get to sleep. Damn that witch!

---

We took the main road on foot, heading west the next day. Duane would visible tense on the few occasions we passed some of the Kings soldiers, but they paid us no heed. He had plenty of questions about what had happened in the kingdoms while he was in exile and I filled him in as best I could.

He talked mostly about diabolical creatures, it's what had occupied his life for the past ten years. I asked pointed questions about their weaknesses and how to fight them. That kind of knowledge could be helpful some day.

We stayed at another inn that night and it was the same nocturnal activities, with Duane's snoring and my masturbating.

The next day we left the road and headed into the forest. The wizard had slowed me down quite a bit as we trekked through the wilderness. "Can't you walk any faster than that?" I asked as he started falling behind again.

"My feet hurt. I have blisters."

"Then summon a demon to carry you on its back."

"It doesn't work that way."

I sighed, "No, of course not. Just keep up, or we won't make our destination by nightfall."

We walked on a little further through the wood when he eventually said, "Rohme..."

"What?"

"You were there when your companions died, weren't you?"

"...yes."

"What happened?"

"After years of dangerous quests, we finally took on more than we could handle."

"What was it?"

"Just a crazy cult, full of powerful mages. They were performing dark rituals that threatened the entire kingdom. We took them on, things got desperate, we had to bring their temple down on top of them...and us. I was the only survivor, by pure chance."

"Oh. Then how did you..."

"Look, if you want more details you can read the book."

"What book?"

"People don't even know the sacrifice my companions made for them. I come by some money recently so I'm having a scribe write a book about it."

"I could have written it for you. I kind of consider myself to be the fifth member of your party you know."

"Do you? ...You should just stick to your demon picture books. ...Come on now, don't fall too far behind, a drop bear might get you."

Duane looked startled, "There's drop bears?!" He quickly looked above him at the tree canopies. "What are we doing here if there's drop bears?! It's like walking into a forest minefield!"

"Relax Wiz, You're with Rohme the Ranger. I know how to avoid drop bears." Duane stayed a lot closer to me as we strode deeper into the forest.

---

We walked at a brisk pace, only stopping briefly for breaks. Eventually the sunlight started to fade away and the day was beginning to turn to night as we reached our destination. I was glad to see the isolated wizard tower up there on a hill, bathed in the dim twilight.

Duane looked the tower over as well. "Kabore's Tower. I used to play cards with him, a long time ago. Is he really dead as well?" "It's likely. Unless Aerowyn's holding him prisoner. Who knows? She seemed a tad unpredictable to me." She had let me live, even after I had threatened to kill her. That was likely because she was attracted to me.

In my search for her, I discovered that she had recently hired a band of mercenaries to take this tower for herself. Paid for with her ear money, no doubt. Kabore had a number of golems protecting the place, but it didn't do him any good. The witch had taken her new home by force. She didn't have her mercenaries with her any more though.

I considered hiring my own band of adventurers to come and take her down. But there was another way. I clearly remembered what she said to me when I had threatened her, "I hope you cool down and change your mind about that. I would much rather be your lover than your enemy." It made me so angry, that she thought that what she did to me was forgivable. That I might just let it go and fall into her arms.

She was deluded, but I could use that.

"So your plan is to just walk right up and say hello?" said Duane.

"That's right."

"What if she tries to kill us, or throw us into her dungeon?"

"We fight."

"I haven't been in a fight for ten years."

"Just summon something to fight for you and give me magic support. That's what you do isn't it? But we shouldn't have to fight. She more or less invited me to come see her. Just follow my lead, okay?"

"I have a bad feeling."

"You've had a bad feeling since we left your keep. Come on, it's getting dark."

We got closer, and the tower loomed above us. It was surrounded by a high circular stone wall. The gate was open and we couldn't see anyone around. How inviting. We cautiously entered the courtyard, I had my bow equipped and an arrow ready, just in case.

There were piles of grey stone all around the courtyard. It was like it was left over from the towers construction and no one had taken them away. But the tower was built centuries ago. Perhaps there had been some reconstruction recently, maybe Aerowyn's assault had taken its toll on the structure.

"What the hell am I doing here?" said Duane nervously.

"Helping out an old friend remember. Let's go knock on the door."

"Rohme!" he was startled.

"What is?" I said, tensing up and looking around.

Then I noticed glowing runes appear on some of the stones around us. I had my bow raised and the arrow drawn. The rocks started to move. Humanoid shapes rose up from the piles around us. There was a bulky figure in front of me, it stood around eight feet tall and had a featureless head, it's body was covered in glowing runes. I knew what it was; a Stone Golem.

Kabore's Tower was known for it's golem protectors, but I thought they would have all been defeated by Aerowyn and her mercs. I had fought different types of golems before, flesh golems, bone golems, clay golems, and even a dreaded iron golem. I knew a ranger who swore he had once seen a shit golem. Nobody would want to fight that.

I scanned the area around us, there were five stone golems. I was unprepared for this.

"AEROWYN!!" I called out. "We come in peace. Call them off!!" The golem ahead started lumbering toward me with heavy steps. I loosed my arrow and it deflected off its stony head. My arrows would be about as useful as insults. I tossed my bow aside. I wanted to draw my blade, but that wouldn't do me any good either.

I leapt sideways as the golem's big heavy fist slammed down where I was standing. "Oh shit! Oh shit!" said Duane as he tried to stay away from the approaching creatures. Another golem had a large rock in its hand, it hurled it at me and I barely managed to fall backwards and dodge the missile as it flew past.

Duane started casting magic missiles. The glowing red bolts shot into the chest of a nearby golem, but didn't seem to be slowing it down at all. "Summon something Duane!" I called out.

"I need you to keep them off me!" he called back. Without hesitation I ran toward the golems that were lumbering toward Duane. I frantically dodged their swinging fists and legs as I yelled out at them. I rolled past one as it tried to bring its heavy foot down on top of me.

I got to my feet and ran off again, I had three large golems charging after me, their heavy footfalls were making the ground shake. I led them toward the stone wall and turned with my back to it. I dodged out of the way of a flying stone fist and it smashed into the wall. I dove out of the way as the crumbling wall came down on top of two of the them.

I rolled out of the way as another golem almost slammed a large boulder down on top of me. I quickly got to my feet and was running again. I saw a new large hulking figure near Duane. The creature was ape-like and hunched over, around as tall as the golems, with huge arms and fists. It looked to be made of brown dirt, with roots, grass and rocks in various areas of its large body. He had summoned an earth elemental.

A golem approached Duane and the elemental swung its huge arm, knocking it back. Another golem swung its fist and a large chunk of the elemental's body and half of its huge arm was smashed away, as dirt scattered through the air. The elemental tackled the golem and they both tumbled to the ground. The stone golem struggled underneath it. Then I saw more dirt rising up from the ground and covering them both, the golem was soon buried under a large hill of dirt.

I was distracted by the spectacle of the huge magical creatures battling and barely managed to dive back and dodge the large rock that was hurled at me. I was on the ground as the golem was charging at me. Suddenly it dropped and slammed into the ground. I saw green vines wrap themselves around the golem and pin it down.

Another golem had its fist raised and was about to smash it into the cowering Duane when vines wrapped around it and pulled it down to the ground as well. I stood up and dusted myself off and caught my breath.

The golems struggled, but the strong magical vines had them immobilised. They looked familiar to me, I knew where they come from, "Are you allright?" I asked Duane.

He was visibly shaken, "Seven Hells Rohme! I didn't sign up for this!"

"Aerowyn, where are you?" I called out.

"Right here, Rohme." said the half-elf emerging from the shadows near the tower. The last remnants of sunlight were fading, but I could see her standing there, smiling at me. I expected to be angry when I saw her again, instead I was struck by her beauty, with her long red hair and pale youthful face and slim, petite body under her elaborate green mage robe.

I drew my shortsword and stood there threateningly. Duane came up behind me. "Have you come to kill me?" she asked casually.

"No. But I wasn't expecting to be attacked."

"So sorry about that. Those golems tend to crush first and...well, not ask any questions." She stepped closer and her face lit up with a broad smile. "It is so wonderful to see you again, Rohme. I knew you would come and visit me. Welcome to Kabores Tower."

"You're still calling it that?" said Duane.

"And who are you?"

"This is Duane, he's a friend." I said.

"Nice to meet you, Duane. Any friend of Rohme's... Nice dirt monster, but why did you only summon one?"

"Only the most powerful master wizards can summon more than one elemental at a time."

Aerowyn let out a, "hmphh." Then gestured for us to follow her, "Come on, let's go inside."

We followed her through the front entrance and into the tower. We had entered a large, round, open room which was lit with a large chandelier holding many candles. It had other simple pieces of furniture scattered around. "Penridge," called out Aerowyn.

A short, skinny man appeared on the stairway on the wall. "Yes Mistress?"

"We have guests. Prepare some food." He nodded and looked us both over. I could see the recognition on his face as he looked at me. He smirked, probably remembering me naked. He turned and went up the stairs again. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked.

"No, I have something." I said as I unslung my pack and started going through it. I was tired, physically and mentally, we had been walking through the woods all day, and now that the adrenaline had worn off, I was sore and fatigued from the fight. I pulled out the blue rejuvenation potion from my pack. It was just what I needed.

Aerowyn was watching me, "Careful, people get addicted to that stuff." I drank it down, it had a horrible bitter taste, but I immediately started feeling better; re-energised. Aerowyn didn't stop smiling at me. If she was wary and suspicious of my intentions, she didn't show it.

I looked around, "Nice place you have here."

"Yeah, it'll serve, for now."

"Yes, you wouldn't be able to tell it was payed for with blood." added Duane.

"So many things in this world are." said Aerowyn. "How do you think Kabore came to live here. He didn't build it."

"It was home to an evil necromancer who was menacing the region. Kabore did the kingdom a favour."

"So, he was a good wizard, and I'm an evil witch for taking it from him, is that it? You sound like a simple minded paladin, looking at the world in terms of good and evil. The world I live in is not black and white, it's a broad spectrum of different colours. One man's act of evil is another's act of salvation. I thought a fellow mage might understand that."

Duane scowled and then looked over at me. I frowned at him, I told him to follow my lead, I didn't want him getting into a confrontation with our mad witch. We were to play the role of gracious guests for now. Duane seemed to understand this and held his tongue, "I'm tired, and I was almost crushed to death by your golems. Let's continue this discussion another time."

"Yes, of coarse. Let's go up to the dining room. I'm sure you're both quite hungry."

We followed her up the stairs to the second level, where the dining room and kitchen was. Penridge had some bread, cheese, olives, meat and other food laid out on the large table in the centre of the room. Duane went forward and started picking at the food.

I stayed back at the stairway with Aerowyn. She turned to me, "Not hungry Rohme?"

"Not really."

"I've been thinking about you a lot. I'm so glad you're here. Have you been thinking about me?"

"Oh yeah. I'm still angry about what you did to me, Aerowyn. I want you to apologise."

"Apologise for what? It all turned out well in the end, didn't it?"

I grimaced at her, "You did something to me. I can hardly think straight anymore."

"Oh, you did something to me too, Rohme." she said playfully.

"You know what I'm talking about, with your magic poisons and spells, you made me...hypersexual."

She gave me a big smile, "Oh, I see. You've been a horny little ranger since we last met."

I stared coldly into her mismatched green and hazel eyes, "What did you do to me? Fix it. Now!"

"Okay, okay. Come with me, I'll see what I can do." She turned to her servant who was bringing out another tray of food. "Penridge, I'll be upstairs with Rohme. See that our guest is comfortable and arrange a room for him."

Duane turned and looked at me, "Everything okay?"

"Fine, you get some food and rest."

"Make yourself at home Wiz," said Aerowyn. "But I wouldn't go casting any spells. I won't be held responsible for what the tower's defences might do." She turned and started making her way up the stairs and I followed her.

We got up to the third floor. It wasn't as open as the other floors, it was walled off with three doors set in the stone wall. Aerowyn went forward and opened the middle one. As I followed her in, I saw that it was a fairly large bedroom. There was a window on the far side, through which I could see the dark treetops and night sky. There was a large bed by the wall, a big round rug and other simple pieces of furniture around the room. It looked like it was her sleeping quarters.

Continued in Chapter 2 - Part 2

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