An Apocalypse Rising Ch. 05

She looked down at the reins before glancing at him before focusing on the path ahead. "Trite, Husband."

"I'm sorry." There were many levels to those two words for him.

"It is not your fault. It had to be done. But do not give up on them." She hardened, resolving to make any sacrifice that would be required of them mean something. "When we get there it will be because they got us there and we will get there together still. I believe it."

She remembered their faces. She remembered them all through the years. She remembered the friends that had fallen next to her and the ones she had ordered to fall on her behalf. It disrespected them to forget. "We'll find a place clear of the woods, set up camp and wait as long as we can afford to do so. If we have to leave without them we may meet them farther along the path, or, once the witch is dealt with we'll scour the woods for them.

Dion pondered that strategy. "That'll be fun with the place still crawling."

"I don't think that will be very true once she's dead, Maylin said. "From what I observed before coming to find help, they are tied to her to varying degrees. She has bound their will to hers. They act as she wills whether fully aware of it or not and, from the beasts to the half-mages, I've seen nothing to dissuade me of that."

"When she dies, they die?"

"That's our belief and our hope," Deres, said.

Bryana added. "It's why the man dies hours after his wife passes to the next world. Give up the will to live and the body dies."

Elan concluded, "So...they're all sort of walking dead anyway."

"That's a reasonable way of seeing it," Maylin agreed.

Neral rode on in silence. The witch would pay for much, but her heart ached with the knowledge that the final tally had most likely not been written yet. She kept her eyes ahead so she didn't have to look at anyone and imagine them gone.

***

Kress and her soldiers rode hard and Deres' little toys worked well. They had cleared the field well enough for Neral and the rest to break for it, Kress seeing them riding hard at the edge of her vision just before the trees became the world. Tossing a couple more for good measure gave them a deep wall of flame to cover their journey inward. Her lips pursed as they rode. Here was where she was needed. Here was where she would do the most good. Even so, she wished she could be two places at once. Neral needed her too, otherwise there wouldn't have been that knock on her door in the dead of night.

You're doing what is needed. You're doing what needs to be done to give them the best chance to complete the mission. Now, the new mission was simple: get through these woods with her party intact. And, in all honesty, she'd rather have the woods than that beach.

The way the rain hit them changed as well. The trees were high enough and with leaves the size of her open hand that they could all but block out the sun. The rain collected and dropped almost as if buckets of it were being poured directly on their heads. But they rode on.

Not long after the horses demanded they slow their pace the rain finally began to taper, leaving a mist in the air but allowing them a real look around. The grass was short with most of the water to be had feeding the trees. All took turns looking up. Hennis wrung out her braids as she examined the plants that hung on the thickest branches some twenty feet in the air. Larger versions of the hand-sized leaves layered tightly into one another creating what looked to her like a massive green pine cone, which made sense, she supposed, given the size of the trees and the almost constant dropping of pollen. Now that the rain had all but stopped they could see it fall like fine snow, spiraling downward on the wind, trying to cling to everything they touched. She and the others stopped after only a few half-hearted attempts to try to keep clean of them they accepted that it was going to be its own job and more or less gave up.

Pel didn't mind. She breathed in the moist, thick air and reveled in it. She didn't know why, but the forest didn't intimidate her. It was just a curious place and everything in it was just a natural part of that. She kept an eye out for more threats and predatory creatures in general, but she didn't share the general unease her compatriots seemed to. Maybe Hennis was right. Maybe I'm just figuring out what's normal for here. She looked around. "At least the big creatures are not chasing us through here."

It'd have a hard time in anything this dense," Zynn said, looking around, flipping her soaked hair out of her eyes, "though I bet that rock thing could smash a nice path for the rest."

Kress nodded. "If he didn't hate fire worse than the rest of them, maybe. I'm guessing there's a really soft underbelly going on with him."

Hennis wondered, "Do you think it's natural for here or she made it?"

"Didn't look all that natural to me," Misha answered derisively. "It's probably meant to keep people out of the woods. If she wants to grab everybody she can get her hands on these woods wouldn't be all that good for her. There's plenty of food and water by the looks of it. Keep moving and you could hide out forever."

"Or drive them in, maybe," Makleen threw out there to be considered. "We can't be the first one with the idea and I don't see anybody else around or signs of them."

"I'd be as far in as I could get," Pel said, contemplating having her heels nipped by those things.

Kress let the banter go. She almost always did so long as it was productive. It built bonds and gave her ideas, perspective, and a clue to their strengths and weaknesses, which helped her be a better leader for any particular group. "Well, we have to go deeper in in order to make our way out. If we run into anyone we'll see how we can help them and how they can help us. In the meantime keep your eyes open and we're going to keep pace until sundown, then make camp."

"Do we get a fire, sir? I'm not complaining, but I so want a fire." Despite her words, there was the slightest edge of whine to her voice.

Misha shook the water out of her hair like a dog. "I have to second that request, sir. I'm soaked through and not in the fun way."

Kress coughed to keep a chuckle at bay, taking on a stern tone. "I've noted your opinions and given them all the weight they're due in light of the fact that mine is the only one that counts. We'll take stock of our situation then and I'll decide, but, if things stay uneventful, I think a fire would probably be all right." All made approving sighs and even Kress found herself hoping that she could give that order for herself as much as them.

Kress found a place with good cover, but still open enough to set up an effective perimeter. Pell kicked mud around. "Someone made it through here."

Kress nodded at the telltales of an abandoned campsite. "Good enough for them and it looks good enough for us." She knew the sun was setting soon and the bone chill and misery would only get worse. They all wanted to be warm, dry, and clean. That coupled with the fact that they hadn't seen anything larger than a horse, and all seemed to avoid their numbers led her to give the order to find dry wood for a fire while she set out to see how idiot-proof these warding jewels actually were.

After that was done she looked forward to getting dried off as best she could herself. She lifted her chestplate and looked past the padding and the linen to see that the pollen did indeed get into every place it could. When she rubbed it away from her hands she noticed how it left the tiniest trace of dew, that combined with enough others, left her skin softer than before and it was a welcome bit of luxury after all the grief.

She found also that, with a clear purpose and a straightforward plan, a lot of the anxiety she came into the woods with was gone. There was still concern, of course, for herself, her people, Neral, and the goal but the edge was gone; it wasn't making her quite so crazy. If our luck holds we'll make it out, rejoin the general, and end this.

She rubbed the oil into her hands as she contemplated exactly where to place the wards.

***

By the time sunset gave way to darkness camp had been made. Finding wood that could burn was difficult, but they managed while Pel and Misha found game. They didn't examine it too closely beyond its features to determine them probably natural and worth eating. That they were rich in fat made them particularly tasty.

All the while, the pollen drifted about, the women officially giving up on avoiding it and indeed absent-mindedly crushed the oil into their skin.

Shields, swords, and armor stayed within reach as they huddled around the roaring fire, sitting on their bed rolls letting their linens dry on their bodies. With bellies full and bodies warming they let themselves talk.

"I'll be dry in a couple of days," Zynn said, her thick red hair that much darker from the wet of it, leaning forward to bring the back forward to be warmed.

Kress ran her hand across her nearly smooth head. "Try my way, mine's dry."

She flipped it back. "Bald is not for me, sir."

The fire played interesting tricks on Hennis's sharp nose and jaw, accentuating her attractive but hawkish look. "Do you think they made it?"

Kress sighed and shook her head. "Are you asking me if General Neral Jaye made it?"

Hennis shrank back a bit. "No. Yes, sir. I mean..."

Kress looked to each of them, hoping to lift them with her words and her faith. "She didn't waste the chance we gave. I could tell you some of the things that I have seen her accomplish with my own eyes, but you would not believe me. I am exaggerating when I say that tomorrow afternoon she will be ride through to collect us and we will all go home."

She looked into the fire. "But it would not be a complete surprise to me if it happened."

"I'm hoping," Pel said, feeding a twig to the flame just for something to do. She laughed at her own joke. "Parades and cheers and gifts from the queen."

They all laughed then. No one would ever know what they did here and they all knew it. The best that they would do is a yearly gathering someplace private and drink each other under the table with stories.

Pel sighed deeply. "I'll settle for a warm bed with Ahren and a warm pussy full of him. That'll be just fine."

Eyes drifted to the dark for most of them, imagining their respective reunions. Makleen's hand pulled the pollen down her neck.

"The rest of us pretty much know each other, but, what about you, Hennis, anyone special waiting?"

Her cheeks reddened and she shifted her weight. "There's no one I like yet."

Misha sensed more in the tone. "Ever?"

She was a little defiant. "No. not ever. The first time was over before it started and he was done with me after he was...done with me, so I choose to wait until it feels like it should happen."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. Something to look forward to; you know, finding the right one."

Hennis liked thinking of it. "Yes. But, also to be fair, I do think about it lot," which sent laughter around the fire.

"Just men," Zynn wanted to know. "Or are you flexible?"

"Men for sure."

They went around the fire and each spoke a bit of their lover and what they missed most about their play. Kress listened and debated putting a stop to it. She never minded a little veiled reference here or double entendre there. Man or woman it was all simply a way to vent anxiety. But they were getting exceedingly crass in a way that was technically a breach of regulations and certainly a breach of etiquette. She wrung her hands together, feeling the softness of the skin.

All the talk was creating lovely metal imagery however.

Misha's green eyes matched the envy in her voice. "I'd feel way better if I had mine with me like Neral does."

That snapped Kress to. "Watch your place, girl."

She froze for a second. "Apologies, sir." She took a deep breath, then another. It was an image she couldn't shake. "Did you see how they sleep? No space between them."

"And they're comfortable like that."

"The general is a genius," Zynn said, smearing the pollen down her left cheek. "Whatever itch she wants scratched, she can get it done. She wants soft and sweet, there it is. She wants to get...power fucked by a bull from the southern quarter, she can have that, too."

Pel giggled like a teenager with a secret and raised her hand. "Both at once, all the time."

Misha had some time in, long enough to have truly been connected to the gossip-mongers in the military. "I had no idea that she even liked girls."

"It's new." Kress flushed with embarrassment at blurting it out. It was none of their business. By the Goddess, it wasn't hers either. She didn't even know why she'd said it. She looked at them, judging their reaction to her own, under other circumstances, unpardonable breach, but they didn't seem all that bothered. Indeed, they seemed tantalized by it and that embarrassed her because it excited her.

"I wonder what they do."

"What the fuck do you mean you wonder what they do?" Misha rolled her eyes at Zynn. "You know how women fuck men, you know how women fuck women, there's no mystery.

"But...mages," Zynn countered. "I bet they have spells and things." The tip of her finger brushed her lower lip. "I bet they can make all sorts of energy come out of their hands. That broad chest of his and those arms. By the Goddess, he's finely sculpted. Have you noticed that?"

Misha and Hennis both softly admitted that they had. "You'd think a mage wouldn't bother," the former purred, hand caressing her neck.

"You have to wonder if she is, too."

Kress took a deep breath, breaking another taboo within herself. "She is."

"Oooo, how do you know?" Hennis' eyes reflected the fire. That her nipples were pushing against her linens could be seen as well."

"Day before yesterday I bathed wi...near her in the pond." Her hands slowly made some of the shapes she saw in the air. "Tattoos...symbols all over. Her back...legs...serpent thing that starts under belly button. Her body is... firm."

Pel nudged her. "Desirable?"

"Yes."

Pel's head tilted in curiosity towards. "You never said if you had anybody waiting at home."

Kress reached down to scratch her leg before her fingertips flattened against her skin, spreading that softness even as she spoke, resigned to the way of things. "Not anymore. She could no longer share me with my position."

"You let her go for us?" She came closer, sitting on her knees next to Kress. "Have you ever...with a fellow soldier like us?"

She was taken aback, but her anger at the suggestion was muted, even to her. "With a subordinate? Never. Never...I..."

"But you've wanted to. How could you not? You are surrounded by fine examples of what you need all around you. And they understand that you are the soldier you are. They understand your duty and your needs. You have to have considered it."

Kress felt goosebumps tease her flesh when Pel touched her. She gripped her hands more tightly with her laced fingers. "Yes." It was a hoarse whisper.

"Fantasized?"

She nodded slowly.

"About someone here?"

Her head snapped towards Pel as though she'd been caught.

Pel's tone was playful again, much like the banter before. "Ooooooo" When she did, everyone perked their ears. "Someone here? Who?"

"It doesn't matter," Kress told her, wanting to be away from the question, but unable to bring herself to order Pel to keep quiet. A part of her wanted it out, and that urge was taking up more and more of her mind.

"It's ok." Pel caressed her arm to comfort her. "None of us mind. It's just fantasy, right?" She looked to the girls who all urged Kress to speak it.

"See? We all want to know. Who drives your fantasies out here on this grand, secret mission? Who do you want?

"Hennis." When it burst from her lips she felt shame for dishonoring her position, but it excited her, too in a way she'd never allowed but couldn't deny.

There were giggles all around as they took it in. Hennis, for her part, blushed madly.

"Why her?"

She eyed Hennis. "I...like the contrast to me. I like the height difference. I like her strong, rounded body. I like everything about it. I want to see it." She found that commanding core once again. "Show it to me, Hennis. I want to see it."

Everyone froze and stared at Hennis, who seemed hopelessly confused. It was wrong and she knew it was, but the words slammed her like punches after having been trained to obey orders almost to the point of instinct. "Sir? I..."

Misha's voice snapped like an order on its own. "Show her. I would if it were me she wanted to see." Her hand caressed her breast over her linen. "You know she would fucking die for you. If she wants you, so what?"

There's was a hint of the same wild in Zynn's eyes, but she was still shocked at the outburst.

Misha was having none of it. "What difference does it make? We're probably never getting home, so, so, what if she asks for a look or a chance to cum before whatever happens happens." She took a deep breath, squeezed her left breast to the point of making herself wince and watched to see what would happen. "A little fucking sounds good right now."

"Show me, Hennis. Now."

Hennis, feeling like she was being pulled from her bedroll by the order, stood and, with trembling hands untied the knots at her neck and waist, letting the top of the still damp garment peel away while she wriggled herself from the leggings that hugged her just above the knee.

She stood nervously once it was shed, feeling like her first day at attention, feeling those eyes on her, the little hairs on her body feeling the near imperceptible pressure of the pollen now drifting all over her body as Kress drank her in.

For her part, Kress ogled the apple body, from wide hips, to full thighs to small, perfectly rounded breasts and was pleased. Pel watched her. "Misha's right. We can worry about orders and duty tomorrow. Look at her...terrified...excited. If you go over there you know she won't resist. Give in. Why not?"

Kress walked to her as she might with a recruit that had something out of place on their uniform. She looked down at the woman as the palm of her hand slid down Hennis' belly and over the fine hair between her legs and Kress relished the gasp she heard when her index finger started turning that tiny bud of flesh in firm circles under it. "That boy wasted the gift that was you."

The younger woman's eyes widened, lower lip quivering at the pleasure.

"You need a lover that knows what she has." Index finger was replaced by thumb as two fingers pushed deeply between folds to be far warmer than the rest of her had been all day, though nearly as wet. "You need a lover that will please you until you are the one spent and rolling away simply because you are numbed from the pleasure and can't take my touch even one more time."

Her fingers plowed forcefully as Hennis pinched and pulled her nipples outward in an obscene display. "He was done already."

"Then I should stop?"

"No, sir. More."

Her feet spread and the group watched Hennis simply standing there to be taken. She heard them whisper, urging both on.

Pel moved to stand at the younger's ear. "Imagine yourself her secret toy with stolen moments where you can find them. She will order you to cross a river and you will."

She clawed her breasts. "Yes."

Kress had a sneer. "And I will order you to your knees in my tent and you will obey."

"Yesssssss." Her hips began to thrust forward of their own volition.

"And then I shall pleasure you until you stumble from my tent as if you were drunk."

Oh, yes. Please, sir." She didn't notice Pel's hands on her body beyond the fact that there was suddenly more pleasure.