Love as a Form of Binding Ch. 17

Tereth felt a little of the tickle of a mane being dragged softly over his shoulder as well. He relaxed just a little, and the space that the movement bought him was immediately taken up in that tight grip. He watched as the eyes looked around the cavern for a little longer and then he saw them as they regarded him for a moment. "Shh. No sound."

Tereth nodded and the hand moved from his mouth.

"You," he whispered, looking at the long dark mane and the little braids in it there in a few places, "Slayer?"

"Uhh," the voice said and Tereth watched the face nod once. Before he could think to ask anything else, the slayer pointed toward the goblin and hissed quietly, "Dead."

The face came near to his own and Tereth watched as it slipped past a little. He heard whispers in his ear and felt the graze of lips while his own touched the ear there which flicked up and swivelled carefully for a moment, searching, before it came down to rest on his lips again. Tereth found the feeling to be a little exciting. That ear was warm and very soft.

"I kill goblin, smell more goblins there. You can smell? You can use bow?"

He wondered at the turns of phrase that were used. It was an archaic form of demonic speech.

Tereth nodded and the other one released him, though the motion of it caused their heads to touch for an instant. It had felt so good to stand with his head touching the slayer's. Tereth didn't know why, but he now wanted to feel that again.

Tereth would have wanted nothing better than to stay. He wanted to see more of this creature, but using the gift of his glowing eyes would have been much like yelling at the moment. He could see well enough in the dim glow of the plant life, but he couldn't see anywhere near the level of detail that he now wanted -- because there were a few details that he so wanted to see. The light came down from above, and there wasn't enough of it being reflected upward from the ground or the other varieties of scrub plants here to light anything. Anything which cast a shadow here, cast it in blackness.

It was the first chance that Tereth had to look much at a slayer from close up. He'd had some trouble looking at them the evening before. They all looked very similar between them looking at their armor. This one was as naked as he was.

And he couldn't see a damn thing.

He wanted the slayer to stay for at least as long as it took him to know. He looked at the face again, the goat-like eyes regarding him thoughtfully. His eyes drifted a little lower to that mouth. Tereth thought that he was getting a clue, anyway. He looked at the powerful shoulders and that chest, straining to make out enough detail to see breasts, but that long mane finished what the shadows had begun, spilling over the shoulders and far down the chest.

Tereth couldn't see anything other than muscles, and that chest, covered as it was in just the maddeningly strategic places to preclude him being able to tell if there were breasts, was also plenty deep enough to cast everything below it into darkness. Under that shadow, he got only quick glimpses of a hard belly and a navel. Below that, nothing until he got to the thighs.

The only other slightly pleasant thought that came to him was that the slayer seemed to be paused, as though hung up in the same moment as he now was. Tereth suddenly felt very shy as he watched those slightly soft-looking eyes as they looked at his body. He felt a bit of joy that he had the ability to raise such interest in someone so beautiful to look at, but at the same time, he felt like the sham that he really was when those eyes settled on what the slayer must be thinking was a true female mound.

Tereth decided that whatever interest this slayer might have in him was bound to end in disappointment, so he tried to steel himself for it when it came, since it was bound to at some point.

"My name is-"

"Tereth," the slayer whispered, and the hunter felt his jaw fall open.

Tereth nodded, "Why are you here?" he asked, "why no armor now?"

"Armor makes sound," the other replied, just as Tereth decided that his companion was a female, "Need quiet now. I sent to help hunter Tereth." She looked a little embarrassed for a moment, "Help Tereth," she said, "follow and guard Tereth. I kill goblin there waiting for Tereth to come."

Tereth looked down, noticing a tiny motion. The slayer's eyes went wide when Tereth bent down and came back up with something squirming in his grasp.

"Look, friend," he said, holding up the pale-toned little scorpion what was waving everything that it had at Tereth, who gripped it by its tail behind the stinger, "This was on its way to you. I don't know how it can live down here, but if there's one, there are many. The thin thing here in the stinger. Just look around if you're going to stand somewhere, or sit." He tossed the scorpion.

She nodded her thanks and looked past him for a moment, but he knew that there was something that was not being said here. He could feel that she was very uncomfortable about something.

The slayer looked a little shy and embarrassed. "I help Tereth. Follow and guard Tereth, General said. Tereth can really use bow?"

He nodded. He hadn't needed to use one in an age, but, ...

Her hand rose up between them. "Wait."

He was astounded to watch as the slayer ran off almost silently toward the sentry with an impossibly long mane trailing behind. How such a powerful-looking beast could do that amazed the hell out of him -- until he saw that she wore some sort of black socks over the large hooves to be quiet. Until then, he'd thought those were her feet and now wanted to smack his forehead.

He also noted that the slayer had a large bow hanging from one shoulder to her hip as he watched the silken tail dance in the air behind a nice set of bare haunches. That was about the softest touch that Tereth could make out. The rest, wherever he looked, was serious muscle.

He tried to remember whether he'd seen the slightest hint at hips, but then he'd found out the evening before that it wasn't always a certain indicator of gender in these ones. Several of the females that he'd seen had wide shoulders as well.

In an instant, the slayer reached to the shelf, pulling up before grabbing the goblin's corpse to pull him off. The body landed quietly in the plant growth there and then Tereth could see that the slayer beckoned to him after retrieving the arrow that had pinned the thing to the wall.

A little to his own surprise, Tereth found himself trotting over as quietly as he could. The slayer held out the goblin's bow and the quiver stuffed full with arrows.

He was still having trouble even now in the low light. He'd have laughed, he supposed, at being this hard-pressed to decide the gender of this warrior. It was just stupid, he thought as he looked at the one thing that he could see clearly in the dimness -- her face. He looked at that face and decided that he liked her -- and he was basing his assumption on her eyelashes, of all things. He'd already tried without success to see if there was an Adam's apple. The slayers all had such muscular throats, he thought. Still, he hadn't seen one, so ...

He moved his gaze before he caused her to ask what he was looking at. It was all that he needed, he thought, to annoy her with his stupid answer. He could almost see it in his mind. She'd ask, and he'd tell her that he was trying to figure out her gender. He almost smirked. She'd probably throttle him.

She indicated an alcove in the rock under the shelf as she dragged the corpse inside. He followed after she beckoned to him. There was a lot more room in there than he'd have thought. The only downside to him was that inside, he could see even less of her.

"I, Gortruk," she said, pointing to herself. She almost asked him why he looked as though he wanted to laugh, but didn't want to risk offending him, knowing that their speech was different.

Tereth was amused by the irony of trying to learn the sex of a slayer from the sound of her name. He'd thought of it a little earlier and was now very glad that he hadn't asked. These things had such strange names, he thought. He realized that it didn't make that much of a difference to him, but he did like her -- as little of her form as the darkness of the alcove would reveal to his eyes. He tried to think of a pretext for using his glowing eyes, but couldn't, not wanting to chance ruining any cover that they had.

But there were things to be done, he decided. This lovely few moments of attraction that they seemed to share had to end sometime, and he'd come here to investigate something, so he thought that he might as well get to it. Taking an arrow, he decided that it would probably be a good thing to learn whether his old skills with a bow had translated to this changed body of his. He knew that he had nowhere near his old strength and power, but then again, this bow wasn't the sort of powerhouse that he'd always used. It might work out.

He searched for a target outside and saw something which had the same general outline as a barrel cactus that he was familiar with in the drier parts of the deserts on this human world. The bow presented him with no difficulty in the drawing of it, but he was still surprised that there seemed to be at least some power in the wood.

His first arrow went wide, but now that he had the feel of it, his next two were bang on. He shouldered the quiver.

Looking down at Gortruk's lovely hooves, he smiled up, "I'll go from here. Can you cover me from behind, in case I need it? I don't know what's around the bend, but I can smell goblins."

She nodded, and he was gone, working his way quickly and silently around the bend. It took him only moments to get an overview, and perhaps two minutes to see and decide. After that, one minute more and he had a plan, and then he worked his way back to where Gortruk knelt.

She looked relieved somehow.

"There, others," he said, pointing in the direction around the bend, "One hundred females and more. No fighters among those. Also, there are ten ogres, all male. It looks to me like the females are here to grow food of some kind."

Gortruk nodded, "Legions need food. Soon."

"Alright," he said, "we can work on that later. I don't think that you can move quite as quietly as I can here. Just drift behind me a few yards, and try to stay in cover if you can. I hope I won't need you, but I might need backup. If I'm spotted, I'll need help." He looked down at himself and shook his head, "I'm not very strong."

The slayer looked for a moment and smiled at him, nodding, "Tereth strong enough. Gortruk watch and follow Tereth" she said, "We need two bows now." she held out her hand, "Follow Gortruk a little. Know better place to start from."

He took her hand and walked where she led him in the darkness. For such a strong thing, she held his hand very gently. When he'd lagged behind a little because he'd almost tripped, he'd heard her quiet gasp and she'd spun around to hold him up for a moment. "Careful Tereth, "she'd said, before allowing him to walk again. They reached the end of the hidden passageway that she'd found while he was scouting and she pointed. He was amazed. She'd gotten them closer, though her way wouldn't have given him the details or the numbers of the goblins as well.

He knew that they had to be very quiet from here on out, but he had to know something. He leaned toward her, and placed his hand on her bicep. It felt several times thicker than his own and there was a leather thong or something like that around it. His fingertips felt some sort of stone woven into the thing. "Gortruk," he whispered, "what is your job in the legions?"

The eyes in front of him looked confused for a second, but then she said, "Gortruk is scout. Too big to be first scout, "she shrugged, "Gortruk's group slayer scouts."

He thought about it for a moment, and the best thing that he could think of was a sort of armed reconnaissance unit. He smiled, looking at her. It fit. He moved his face to her ear.

"I'm going to go on," he whispered, trying not to give in to the desire that he felt to drag his lips there. After a moment, he did it anyway and he heard her sigh as he began. "If I can, I'll try to bring back a little of whatever it is that they're growing there. I need you for overwatch. Help me if I get into trouble, alright? I'll have to go out there a long way for that."

He felt her arm on his shoulder and she pulled him just a little closer, "Gortruk makes promise. Protect Tereth." She placed her other arm on his shoulders and she smiled, wanting to explain, "Want learn from Tereth. I wait for Tereth, follow, but lose Tereth many times. Have to track and not watch." She smiled genuinely, "Very hard to track, Tereth."

She stepped back and looked at the amulet there on her arm. She pulled it off and held it out to him. "Take this," she said, "Gortruk's charm."

He looked at it and shook his head a little sadly, "My arms are too thin."

She nodded, thinking about it, but he could see that she was serious about wanting him to have it on him for some reason. She sank to her knees and took his hand to put it onto her shoulder. "Lift foot."

Tereth stared a little, but since it seemed to mean something to her, he obliged and held his clawed toes together for her to slip the band over them before sliding the charm higher. It ended over the thickest part of his thigh and she seemed satisfied for a moment. He tried not to groan when he felt her fingertips graze his underside.

Then she stared and he knew what she was looking at, trying to see in the darkness. Tereth felt more like a lame duck now than he ever had.

But she surprised him, taking his haunches in her hands to kiss his thin belly for a moment before she kissed the furrow that was all the phony female that he could ever be to anyone. She stood up then and looked down at him with a soft smile, "Stay alive, Tereth," she said, "Careful, yes?"

He looked at her and grinned, feeling better in spite of his own doubts, and wondering if this was some sort of curious custom among the slayers. He nodded and turned to go. When he was a little way off, he turned to look back and he saw her nod to him. She was all business now.

Tereth smiled, He still couldn't see what he wanted to see, but he really liked her shape, not that it was especially feminine in any regard. He just liked her and he admired the way that she drew that bow a little in readiness so easily. He watched her crouch down a little and then she nodded to him to go on.

It took Tereth some time to work his cautious way to a place where some of the crop -- or whatever it was there, was growing. He hoped that he could pull this off, because he was far out in the open here. He watched as one or two of the goblins ate a piece now and then, so he tried some and found that it was indeed some sort of food, though he'd be damned if he could make the distinction between whether it was a plant or some sort of fungi. There seemed to be many varieties being cultivated here. He tried a different variety from another patch nearby and it tasted even better, not at all like the first.

Tereth was rather absorbed in trying to find the nature of the stuff, but the stems that it seemed to spring from were just as enigmatic as the rest. They moved when he touched them down low. Still, he puzzled over it while keeping an eye on the individuals some distance in front of him. Mostly, he clung to just about ground level, but now and then, a little of his head was visible. He knew it and did his best to select a piece to bring back while keeping his head down.

Gortruk watched over him on needles and pins, willing Tereth to hurry. But everything changed when a male goblin came into view from behind Tereth. He wasn't all that large, and he wasn't an ogre. He seemed to be interested in the quality of whatever it was that they grew. Gortruk drew the bow back a little farther and waited. The goblin was between the slayer and Tereth. He was bound to look up any second.

As his eyes came up and he saw Tereth, he drew a breath to shout in alarm.

But he didn't.

Instead he stood looking down in confusion and some fascination as he regarded the point of the arrow which now protruded from near to the middle of his chest. He hung there for almost three seconds, and then he fell on his face.

The noise of that was more of a swish as he landed on the plants. But that was enough of a sound for all of the others to turn. Tereth picked up his bow.

He thought that he'd be doing alright if he could use his bow to convince them to keep their heads down while he left, but it didn't work out like that. Since these things didn't seem to be all that afraid of his arrows, he began to play for keeps, though it was a little difficult to hold on to the one piece of what was growing here while trying to find a soft spot on his targets with his bow.

His first serious arrow missed the nearest ogre, but he had a better sense of the bow now and he'd expected something like this anyway. His next shot thudded squarely into the thing's chest. Before that one had even fallen over, his next arrow was on its way toward the next closest ogre. It struck that male somewhere in the face. He couldn't tell in the dimness, other than the thing howled in pain and clutched at his face before landing to twitch on his back.

His third attempt wasn't all that successful, hitting one of them in the knee, but it crippled him and he dragged himself and his leg toward the females, who now ran shrieking in the other direction.

But the others were alerted now and seeing Tereth, they ran toward him bellowing. It would have struck him as funny at about any other time, the seven ogres running without even remembering to try to use their own bows. He shot another in the chest before their attention was drawn by Gortruk, who now stood out in the open, working the bow as fast as possible, one arrow after another.

One male stopped and flew backward as though he'd been yanked off his feet, and another thrashed around in the undergrowth with an arrow in his throat. After that, she was closer to Tereth ,who had been trying to work his way toward disengaging, which he realized full well was another term for running away as fast as he could. The trouble was that it wasn't working very well just yet. Some of these idiots were throwing rocks.

He dodged a few, but one of them stunned him a little as it clipped him on the side of the head on its way past. He shook his head to clear it.

That was a huge mistake, and Tereth knew it when he held his head still, but everything still seemed to want to move wherever he looked. He sank to his knees.

Gortruk was out of arrows, so her next target got her bow in his face as she swung it and then she was among them, killing them by way of rapid dismemberment with her sword. Tereth was astounded.

He wanted to shoot at one of the males, but the action was so frenzied and the light level so bad that he didn't dare, the way that he was feeling dizzy now. She was almost through with the last of them when Tereth realized that something was very wrong.

The fingers of a huge hand appeared through the vegetation and then he saw the last ogre as he pulled himself up far enough to reach for Tereth. The hunter struggled to his feet to back away, but his legs weren't answering the call much.

Tereth lunged with an arrow in his hand, but it broke against one of the thing's cheekbones. He jammed the broken shaft into the ogre's eye, but it was a little late for that. The ogre lunged himself and grasped Tereth by one ankle and tried to pull him closer off his feet, raising his huge fist. He swung, but Tereth leaned back, losing the fight against his vertigo at the same time.