The World of Alderest - III - To Kathaln and Back - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The day of the funeral was bright and sunny. A light spring breeze blew through the cemetary, causing flower blossoms to float in the air and drift over the large gathering of people around the coffins of Solyma van Dolceis and Tancred Guiscard.

"...may their souls find their eternal reward in the next world," a priest of Aeleon finished.

The group began to slowly disperse as four gravediggers moved forward to lower the coffins into their graves. Duke Adelard Quiton stood a while longer near the polished wood coffin of Solyma. He sighed softly and placed a bouquet of flowes on the surface before turning to join the rest of the mourners. He looked around at the brown clad figures, Princess Taladron isn’t here, he thought. He grunted. Ungrateful wench, he thought, Solyma gives her life for her and she doesn’t even bother to show up for the funeral.

He sighed again. "Damn, fool woman," he said to no one. "Who was she trying to impress?" He shook his head. "I should have kept a closer eye on her. Just can’t trust a woman to be a mage."

---

Penelope sat in the College’s library surrounded by piles of texts. She had spent the entire day here, searching the ancient tomes for a way to find Solyma. She sighed as she thought of the woman’s bravery and wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief.

She had found nothing in all the books; no weave that would magically find Solyma wherever she might be; nothing that would allow her to communicate with the College, and nothing to bring her back. With the setting sun shining on her back, Penelope laid her head down on her arms and closed her eyes, not noticing the large sign declaring, "No sleeping allowed at any time." With a sigh she felt herself drift off...

Penelope gasped as she was thrown onto the bed. She quickly brushed her long blonde hair away from her eyes and looked up at her assailant. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him. He was a human, broadly muscled and roguishly handsome. His dark hair was cut short and swept back from his face. Something from her late night fantasies, someone to take her away from the stuffiness of the elven court. Someone to take her away and... She shivered despite the warmth of the room.

"You picked the wrong time to fall asleep, my lady," he said with a grin, "you might have escaped if you had been awake to run."

Penelope looked around. The library was gone, in its place was small stone cave with a door set in the far wall, hung with expensive tapestries and furnished with the best hardwoods and rugs.

"Where-?" she asked.

"The lair of Vincens, Master Bandit of Culvan Pass," he said with a bow. "I am honored by your presence. Not many fine ladies such as yourself travel through this area of the country. But I always give them my full hospitality."

"Culvan Pass? But that’s hundreds of miles from Corannon. How did I-." She stopped. Now she remembered, the coach carrying her to the estate of that horrible Lord Loradros had been attacked while she was sleeping, her guard knocked unconscious while trying to protect her. "I’ll have you know that I’m the betrothed of Lord Loradros! He’ll storm this place and kill every one of your bandits!"

Vincens laughed. "Lord Loradros, indeed. He is a lucky man to be your betrothed. Although you may not be so lucky if the rumors of his tastes are true." He shook his head. "Although the ‘good’ lord will be deprived of your sweet company, for I doubt that your Lord would risk his hide trying to invade my domain - even for a treasure such as you."

Penelope jerked at the mention of Lord Loradros’ tastes. She had heard the rumors herself, of his predilection for whips and the screams of his servants. No matter, she thought, better a civilized man than this crude thief. "What, what are you doing?" she gasped as Vincens sat on the bed next to her.

"Surely you’ve heard tales of what bandits do to their lovely captives?" he whispered into her ear, his hand sliding her dress up her leg.

Penelope jerked away from him, moving up to the head of the bed. "You are a monster!" she hissed, her eyes narrow. "You would do that to a defenseless lady? You would ravish me?"

"Oh yes," Vincens said, following her. "All that and more." He was grinning broadly now, his eyes slowly and deliberately raking over her body.

Penelope wished she had worn something heavier than the silk summer dress. Its fabric draped far too revealingly over her legs and body. She began to breathe heavily when Vincens touched her ankle and began to slide his rough hand up her leg. She watched, frozen, as he pushed her dress up to reveal her shapely calves.

"Oh, no," she whispered as both her knees were revealed to him. Her hands lay limp at her sides, seemingly helpless to do anything. Her eyes widened as he lifted her leg into a scandalous position and kissed the soft skin on the inside of her knee. Penelope’s eyes closed in unconscious bliss at his touch while the fabric of her skirt fell down her thigh to reveal almost all of her leg. Only her pair of flimsy underclothes kept him from seeing her most intimate parts.

Penelope moaned softly as he gently lowered her leg to the bed and pulled her closer to him. Her eyes flew open when he kissed her, his tongue pushing into her unresisting mouth. She pushed at him feebly, her hands pressing against the hard muscle of his chest. She gasped for breath when he broke the kiss and lifted her into his arms. She watched, heart hammering in her chest, as he drew back the covers and lowered her onto the bed.

"Please, no. Oh gods, help me," she whispered as he kissed her again.

Her hands found themselves buried in his hair despite her protests. She found herself reluctant to part lips as he set her down on the sheets. Penelope looked up, her eyes wide, as he stood by the bed and drew a shining dagger from his belt.

"What are you going to do with that?" she asked, her voice trembling.

He remained silent as he hovered the tip of the dagger over the bodice of her dress. With his other hand lifting the fabric, he deftly cut downward, slicing her dress in two. Penelope blushed and covered her bared breasts as Vincens tugged the remains of her garment from under her and dropped them to the floor.

"Perhaps now you will be less inclined to attempt escape," he said, beginning to pull his shirt off. "The men and women who serve me may be less gentle. I cannot guarantee their good behavior, should they find a naked elf woman in their lair."

Penelope remained silent, entranced by the sight of his naked chest. She watched, mouth dry, the motion of his muscles as he removed the rest of his clothing. She gulped nervously at the sight of his cock, jutting stiff and long from him.

She moaned as he leaned over her and uncovered her breasts, pinning her wrists to the bed. A sharp gasp escaped her mouth as he bent to kiss her breast and then sucked her nipple into his warm mouth. Penelope tossed her head to the side and struggled against his unbreakable grip as he moved to her other breast and lavished the same exquisite attention on it.

"Stop," she moaned, panting loudly, as he tugged her underclothes down her legs to gather around her ankles.

He kissed her again, one hand cupping her breast and squeezing gently as he lay beside her on the bed. Penelope kicked her underclothes free as he spread her legs apart and positioned himself above her. Her hands free, Penelope clutched at his shoulders, her eyes wide as he brushed against her inner thigh. She looked down her body to see him kneeling between her legs, and she whimpered.

Vincens smiled as her hands tightened against his shoulders and he slowly pushed into her. Penelope’s lips parted as her knuckles whitened. She made a high gasping sound as she was penetrated, her legs spreading wider. She bit her lower lip as he pushed deeper into her, seeming to fill her completely. Penelope moaned as he gave a last push and hilted himself inside her.

"Ohh, you monster," she whimpered, "you beast-" her words broke away into a gasp as he moved back and then thrust into her again.

Vincens held himself there, savoring the feeling of the young elf’s tightness. He kissed her again and her lips parted willingly for him. Rising from the kiss, he gently took her hands from his shoulders and held her slender wrists in one hand. He pinned them to the pillows above her head and ducked to kiss her again.

Drawing slowly out of her, he watched as her hands clutched wildly at the air and then clenched into fists as he pushed back into her. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, as if to block out the pleasure she was trying desperately to deny. With a smile, he plunged back into her and delighted in the unmistakable gasp of pleasure that escaped her lips.

Penelope began to moan with each of his thrusts. She struggled against his grip on her wrists for a moment and let her arms go limp as he continued to pump into her.

"Evos," she whispered, yes, in the tongue of the elves, praying that he could not understand her. "Evos! Evos, oh, ahhh, eevoss!" she cried as each thrust of his cock stoked a previously unknown fire within her body.

Her eyes flew open, staring blindly at the ceiling as she climaxed. Her legs shook and slid rapidly over the sheets as she let out a long wail of pleasure. This seemed to spur on Vincens, driving him faster and harder into her. He crushed his mouth to hers as his orgasm burst, and he groaned loudly against her mouth. He continued to pump into her at a dizzying rate. Penelope panted for breath as she pushed her hips wantonly back at him, feeling a second climax rising within her. Her vision wavered as she screamed in ecstasy, the orgasm tearing her away from consciousness, leaving her floating in darkness.

Penelope woke with a start, her head resting on an opened tome and her sweaty palms squeaking across the polished surface of the table. She quickly sat up, looking around at her surroundings. No cave, no bed, no Vincens, only the quiet shelves of the library. She jerked at the sound of a delicate cough behind her. She turned to see the Head Librarian of the college library standing with hands on her hips and a stern look on her face.

"I don’t know what you were doing, young lady," the librarian said, "but do it somewhere private. You were lucky no one else was here, I could hear you from the front desk."

Penelope blushed, a sickening feeling of embarrassment rising in her heart as she looked at the librarian. "I’m terribly sorry, Miss..." she thought furiously, "DeWin. It won’t happen again."

"Lady DeWin," snapped the librarian. "Make sure that it doesn’t." She walked off, heels clicking on the floor and her normally pleasant face clouded with anger.

Penelope swallowed nervously as she wiped the sweat from her face with her sleeve. I’ve never had a dream that real before, she thought as she hurriedly gathered up the books she planned to read over the weekend.

She looked down at the floor as Lady DeWin recorded which books she was checking out and handed them to her. She could feel the gaze of the librarian burning on her as she rushed out of the library and into the cool air of the gardens. Continuing to blush, Penelope hurried back to her room, unaware of unseen eyes still following her.

---

Solyma cursed and slashed down at the Corthronos attempting to scale the rocky pillar she and Tancred had climbed.

"Down! Get back you maggots!" she yelled, swiping again with Tancred’s rapier. She caught the Corthronos across the eyes and shouted in triumph as it fell the twenty feet to the ground.

"The beasts have ceased their efforts to reach us," Tancred said from the other side of the pillar. He turned to Solyma, face filthy from a week without bathing. "Now what should we do?"

Solyma sat on the edge of the pillar and tore another strip from her tunic to clean the rapier. In the time they had been trapped on the Corthronos’ world, she had torn so many strips from the bottom of her tunic that it now barely covered her midriff. She sighed and stretched, causing her tunic to ride further up her bare stomach. She looked around the pillar, assessing their position. Luckily, there was enough space for two people to lie down. Unfortunately, that was all there was on the pillar. Even the cracks in the rocks held no weeds or moss.

"I suppose we starve to death, or in your case starve to torpor," Solyma said, looking down at the milling Corthronos. She noted that none of them had spears or bows, otherwise she and Tancred would have been dead long ago.

Tancred sat by her. At least he didn’t smell, she thought.

"I could change you," Tancred said, throwing a pebble at the Corthronos below. "You would not die and we could both remain here until another person arrives."

Solyma thought for a long while. "I suppose so. At least if nothing changes in the next day or so," she finally said. "Of course, the Corthronos will just climb up and tear our bodies apart."

Tancred grimaced. "Maybe. They might think we’re dead and leave us alone."

Solyma shrugged. They had both seen more Corthronos behavior in the past week than they had ever wanted to. The Corthronos didn’t seem likely to leave anything alone if there was a chance they could tear it apart. They had both seen carcasses of some of the native life torn apart by a Corthronos weeks after it had died.

"No, nevermind," Tancred said suddenly. "You wouldn’t survive the sun. I’m old enough to cope with it but you’d be a youngster, it would char you to ash."

Solyma nodded and combed her hair with her fingers, trying to work out some of the tangles that had filled it in the last week.

They sat for a while, looking out at the seemingly endless desert of the Corthronos world. On the horizon, the sun was setting behind the crooked towers of a vast city, long dead.

"I wonder who lived there," Solyma said idly.

After a minute of silence, Tancred replied, "A great race of people, strong and tall - builders of mighty cities and conquerors of all. But in the end they were toppled from their glorious pedestal by hubris."

"Did you think that up yourself?"

"I read it in a book somewhere. It was a poem, I think."

Solyma nodded. The Corthronos had settled in the for the night below them, surrounding the pillar four deep in every direction. There was no chance of escaping undetected during the night.

She looked up as the sun dipped below the horizon. Night fell quickly on this bleak world - in an instant the landscape went from a dim yellow to pitch darkness. No stars shone overhead. The only light was a swollen yellow moon that hung low in the horizon. She moved to the center of the pillar and lay down, staring up at the empty sky. After a short time, Tancred joined her.

"Solyma," he said, his hand resting on her thigh, "considering that we might both be dead in a matter of days, I believe we should use this time well."

Solyma looked up at him, a grin forming on her face. "What did you have in mind," she whispered huskily.

Tancred answered by leaning over and kissing her. His hand slid underneath the remains of her tunic to caress her breasts, as she pulled him closer. He kissed down her neck and pushed her tunic up over her breasts as she buried her hands in his hair. Solyma moaned as Tancred sucked and licked on her breasts and began to open his breeches. She reached past his hand and pulled out his cock, already rock hard. Tancred groaned, his mouth full of her right breast as she stroked and squeezed him.

He sat up long enough to pull her breeches down to her ankles and off her feet. He awkwardly moved over her as she spread her legs, and drove himself into her. Solyma’s body jerked across the warm stone with each of Tancred’s thrusts. Tancred kissed her again before she rolled over onto him, and straddling him.

She began to ride his cock, moving her hips up and down slowly. Then she leaned over, palms flat on his chest as she began to rock her hips rapidly. Tancred groaned and reached up with one hand to hold a breast, his other sliding down her back to squeeze her ass.

Solyma tossed her head, hair slapping Tancred’s face, and arched her back as she increased her pace. She lay down on him, her hard nipples rubbing against his chest, as her hips continued to grind against him. Tancred grunted as he neared orgasm, both hands roughly squeezing her buttocks and helping her pump up and down.

"Do it," she moaned into his ear, exposing her neck to him.

Tancred obliged, sinking his teeth into the curve of her neck. They both cried out as they orgasmed together. Solyma’s hands squeezed his shoulders as she felt his cock throb and fill her with his seed. After a moment, Tancred sat up, his hands supporting Solyma. Her arms draped over his shoulders as he forced himself to pull his mouth away from her neck. Solyma let herself fall backward, her hands loosely grabbing at Tancred’s arms and her back arched, breasts thrust forward. Tancred bent his head to suck gently at them, rubbing the side of his fangs against her sensitive nipples. Solyma tensed and her hips quivered with anotehr orgasm, her cry ringing across the plain.

---

"There!" Hector shouted to the assembled mages. "Did you get that?"

"I’ve got a general location on the Corthronos home world," said Bradley from his place at the center of the weave. He shook his head. "We’ll need something else to get a fix on her."

The Chancellor swore and slammed his fist onto the table. "If only we could get a message to her," he said.

"Wait, I feel another one arriving," Hector said, his voice tight with concentration.

The mages gathered around the weave turned all their attention to Solyma’s distant cry.

"Got it!" shouted Bradley. "Form the portal!"

Around him, the mages started to weave together the portal. Each mage focused on their individual weaves, with Bradley taking the separate weaves and tying them together into the final form of the portal.

"Here we go," he said, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead as he led the effort to push through the planes to the Corthronos home world.

---

Tancred and Solyma lay naked side by side on the warm stone, idly gazing up at the starless sky. Tancred had one hand resting on Solyma’s breast. He stopped as something shook the pillar. "They’re shaking us?" he said.

"No," Solyma sat up, "everything’s shaking."

There was a low humming that set their teeth on edge and then a *snap* accompanied by a rush of wind. Beside the pillar, a small portal was forming. Light spilled out from it to wash across the surprised pair and the rock they sat on.

"Come on!" Solyma yelled. She began yanking on her clothes as she moved to stand by the forming portal. "As soon as it forms, we jump!"

"But we do not know where it goes!" Tancred yelled across the increasingly loud humming.

Solyma looked back at him sharply.

"I see, I see. Anywhere is better than here," he said with an apologetic grin.

In front of them the portal finished forming with a dull rumble. Through the swirling light, they could see a tall, robed figure standing outside a circle of protection. Rapier in hand, Solyma jumped into the portal first. Tancred leapt after her, still pulling on his shirt.

---

"Well? Where’s the portal, Bradley?" the Chancellor said after the woven portal had suddenly fallen apart.

Bradley rose unsteadily from his cross legged position. "I think someone else was sending a portal at the same time. Our ending point replaced theirs, and their starting point replaced ours."

"So what happened to Solyma and Tancred?" asked Hector.

"They ended up with whomever or whatever was attempting to summon Corthronos."

"Bad for that person, I’d say," the Chancellor added. "Well... get to work on finding them again. With any luck they’ll be in a closer plane."

---

Solyma coughed as she raised her head from the cold tile floor. She groaned, every bone in her body seemed to hurt and a loud, dull thumping echoed through her head.

"Where are we?" she managed to say.

"Silence!" a dry voice rasped from above her.

Solyma looked up. She saw a pair of withered legs rising above her. She followed them up and saw the tall form of some sort of undead humanoid standing above her. She groaned again and sat up.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Beside her Tancred rolled onto his back and tried to sit up.

"I ask the questions, Corthronos! Take your true forms, I command it!" the dry corpse said.

Solyma shook her head and realized that the thumping was coming from a large iron bound door set in a wall to her right. She watched as it shook, its hinges rattling.

"Stand and protect me!" the corpse commanded.

The corpse pulled dried lips back from yellowed teeth in a smile as Tancred stood unsteadily. The creature pointed at the door, "Kill the intruders!"

Solyma slowly stood, watching as Tancred walked over to the door. She reached down to pick up the rapier at her feet.

"Open the door, Eikaegor! It’ll go easier on you!" a deep voice yelled from outside the door. "If you summon the Corthronos, it’ll be the end of us!"

"It’s too late now, Leceres! I’ve summoned them already! Soon you’ll die!"

Tancred had reached the door. He turned the massive bolt securing the door and flung himself to the side.

There was a loud crash as the door slammed open. In the doorway stood a group of humanoids, heavily armed and armored.

"Kill them!" Eikaegor shouted, pointing at the figure in the doorway. The intruders paused for a second, waiting for Solyma or Tancred to attack them. When neither made any threatening move, they charged into the room.

Solyma lost sight of the summoner as the armored figures came between it and her. She carefully backed away as loud shouts and hacking noises came from the center of the group. She moved quickly to where Tancred was sitting by the door.

"Perhaps we should leave," he said quietly, wincing as Eikaegor’s head was chopped off and flew across the room.

"Perhaps you should not," yelled one of the armored figures.

Solyma guessed it must be Leceres. The figure advanced toward them, a massive double headed axe held in one hand. Solyma stood and brought her rapier up into a guard position, swearing quietly.

Leceres asked, "What are you doing here?"

"We snuck through the portal that the summoner opened. We’re not Corthronos," Solyma said, watching as a more lightly armored figure entered the room and began to dismantle the portal.

"I can see that," Leceres said. "What were you doing in the realm of the Corthronos?"

"We were caught on the wrong side of a portal after they invaded our city. We’ve managed to survive for a week, but we would be dead within a few more days."

Leceres lowered his axe and swung up the visor on his helmet. A face formed out of shadow made solid, looked out at them with eyes of fire. "Welcome to Kathaln," he said.

---

In her room, Penelope slept uneasily. She hovered between wakefulness and deep sleep, tossing and turning in her bed. Visions of Vincens and another man flew through her mind. She saw the second man again, an elf, a warrior. Who was he? she thought.

Penelope sat up in bed with a start. She wiped the sweat from her face as she looked around... the cave. She had been dreaming again, dreaming of attending the College at Corannon. Something which she wished she had done.

"Good, I see you are awake," Vincens said from his seat at a desk across the room. "I’m drafting your ransom note. How much money do you think Lord Loradros would be willing to pay for your safe return? I imagine at least a thousand marks, possibly two?"

Penelope shot him a angry look and pulled the covers higher over her naked body.

"Two thousand it is then," Vincens said, turning back to the note. "Would you like something to eat? There’s some very good fruit, and a delicious quiche on the tray over there."

"Quiche?" Penelope asked.

"Yes, it’s an egg dish with- oh, I see. You want to know how a quiche could be made in a bandit camp. I suppose it’s my fault. I employ the best scouts and trackers in the area, and one must deal with certain, eccentricities, to get the best talent. Osgert is the best tracker in the kingdom. He is also the best cook. Something about his nose, I imagine. I personally can’t stand quiche, but it would break his heart to hear that." Vincens finished signing the ransom note and began to fold and seal it. "So, would you like some food?"

"I am not hungry," Penelope said haughtily.

"Really? You had such an exhausting night," Vincens said with a lecherous grin. He stood and picked up the tray of food. "It really is delicious," he said, walking to the bed.

Penelope’s mouth began to water involuntarily at the smell of the food. It looked as delicious as it smelled. She shook her head, "No, I have no wish to eat your food." She was immediately contradicted by her stomach’s loud growling.

Vincens laughed softly. "Very well. You protested. I insisted. Then I begged, and finally threatened you with all sorts of horrific punishments should you not eat. Having proven your bravery and independence, you finally deign to eat my humble food," he said, setting the tray on her lap. "Go on, eat now. I will not think less of you for it."

Penelope glared at him. She started to reject the food once more, but then saw there was a dish of orange slices on the tray. "Very well," she said. "I will eat, but only to keep up my strength for resisting you."

Vincens laughed loudly. "I bow to your willpower, my lady," he watched as she began to dig into the quiche.

Penelope ate quickly and neatly, finishing the slice of quiche and the accompanying bread and cheese in a few minutes. She gulped down a glass of spring water, her appetite somewhat sated. Vincens watched her closely as she picked up an orange slice and slowly bit into it, savoring the taste and the juice.

He watched as she carefully ate each slice, taking her time with each one - ffirst delicately biting into the slice and then slowly chewing and savoring it, before finally swallowing. She seemed unaware of the trickle of juice flowing down her arm. As she finished the last slice, Vincens lifted her arm and licked the sweet juice from the inside of her elbow.

Penelope gasped as Vincens began to lick and kiss up the inside of her forearm, finishing with a kiss on her palm. She watched, frozen, as he began to suck each of her fingers into his mouth. Her eyes closed and her mouth opened slightly as he ran his tongue over her slim fingers, sucking all traces of the juice. She couldn’t help but moan, as he slowly withdrew her last finger from his mouth.

Her eyes opened wide as she realized what she had let him do to her. "You disgusting beast!" she yelled, raising her hand to slap him.

Vincens caught her wrist easily and forced it down to the bed. With his other hand, he lifted the tray and moved it to the bedside table. He seized her other wrist as she tried to free her hand from his grip.

"Let me go!" her eyes blazing as he took both her wrists in one hand.

"Or?" he said quietly. He smiled at her sudden silence, and used his free hand to tug down the sheet covering her.

Penelope’s eyes widened. "No," she whispered, her body still.

Vincens smiled and pulled the sheets fully from her body, leaving her naked on the bed. She struggled weakly as he turned her away from him and pushed her down on the bed. Penelope closed her eyes and lay still as he freed her wrists and stepped back. She could hear his clothes dropping to the floor of the room and moaned softly as he took her waist in both hands and pulled her up onto her hands and knees.

She knelt there, staring at the headboard as he positioned himself behind her. Another moan escaped her mouth as his hands slid down to cup her ass. He squeezed each cheek and then slapped it sharply, causing her to cry out loudly. Penelope licked her lips and closed her eyes as she felt his cock rub against the inside of her thigh. She unconsciously spread her legs further apart for him as he slid his cock up against her womanhood.

Penelope moaned again as he buried one hand in her silky hair and grabbed her hip with the other. The seconds seemed to stretch into hours as she waited for him to-

"Ahhhh!" she cried out as he pushed into her.

She whimpered in pleasure as he drove deeper into her with each thrust, until his entire length was within. She felt his hand tug on her hair as he pulled out and then drove himself back in. He began to fuck her in earnest, his hands tight on her waist as he pulled her back onto him, impaling her with long hard strokes. Penelope moaned and twisted her body with each jarring impact, hands twisting the sheets beneath her. She yelped as he slapped her ass again. He was laughing when she turned her head to look back at him.

He leaned over her to kiss her, his hands moving up her body to cup and knead her breasts. His thrusts became shorter, moving a slight amount out and then pushing back in. Penelope cried out in pleasure as he gently stroked her nipples and lightly squeezed them. Groaning in pleasure, she fell forward and buried her face in a pillow to muffle her cries as she pushed her ass back against him.

Vincens leaned back, looking down at her slender body. He ran his fingers over the soft skin of her back to her delicate waist. He gripped her tightly there and began to vigorously fuck into her, grunting with each thrust as he felt himself near to orgasm.

Penelope was crying out almost continuously into the pillow. She turned her head to the side and screamed loudly as she felt herself climax. Her pale thighs trembled as she pushed helplessly back onto Vincens’ driving cock. She heard herself whimpering as Vincens suddenly stopped his motions. Her eyes snapped open when she heard another voice in the room.

"Get off her now. I don’t want your filthy blood on her when I cut your throat," a low voice said.

Penelope craned her neck and saw the wiry figure of a male elf standing next to the bed, his dagger at Vincens’ throat. She reddened in embarrassment when she couldn’t stifle a moan as Vincens pulled out, his cock glistening and still hard.

"You stinking human bastard," the elf said, "I should cut you to pieces."

Penelope rolled over and pulled the sheets to cover herself as soon as she could, her face burning. She could make out the elf’s face clearly now. It was her bodyguard, "Theleos," she whispered.

"I’m sorry, Penelope, I’m so sorry," he said, his voice strained as he forced Vincens onto the floor and stood over him. "I should have been quicker." He pulled his long sword from its sheath as raised it to stab into Vincens.

"No!" Penelope yelled, stilling his motion. "Don’t. If you kill him, his bandits won’t rest until they kill us. I’ve seen them, they’re fanatically loyal and they have the best trackers in the land."

"Then I’ll kill every one of the scum!" Theleos snarled, the tip of his sword resting on Vincens’ back.

"Please, Theleos!" Penelope begged, standing up with the bed sheets wrapped around her. "I don’t want to see you hurt!"

Theleos lowered his head. "I failed you once, I won’t do so again," he said. He reached down to pull up Vincens by his hair. "We’ll take this one hostage. If they try anything, it will be his guts on the dirt."

Penelope nodded. "Thank you for rescuing me," she said softly. She slid off the bed and pulled some of Vincens’ clothes from a chest to put them on.

Theleos shook his head violently. "We’ll talk later. Let us depart this place."

With his sword by Vincens’ throat, Theleos pushed the bandit through the door and into the cave beyond. A few bandits went about their business in the morning light shining from the cave’s entrance. An alarm was raised as soon as they were spotted. Bandits rushed from every corner of the cave, each of them armed and ready.

"Order them back," Theleos said, pinking Vincens’ throat.

Vincens did as he was told and the bandits drew back, anger apparent in their faces.

As they reached the entrance, Penelope turned and rushed out, followed by Theleos and Vincens. The sun seemed to swallow her, shining so bright that she couldn’t see. Penelope stopped and called out for Theleos, only to hear her own voice echoing back to her as the light dimmed and faded and... shone through her bedroom window.

Penelope lay there, staring out the window, entranced by the flight of a seagull over city. She slowly sat up, looking around the room. It seemed different, strange to her, as if she had never slept in it before. She shook her head and began to disentangle herself from the sheets.

Continued in Chapter 2

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