Azerothian Dream Ch. 09

Chapter 9- Amberstill Ranch

Thirty-three days later -

It was a much longer trek to Amberstill Ranch than I ever would have imagined. Much, much longer!

We made no better travel time for having a wagon and rams than we did by foot. As a matter of fact, I think we made worse time. I set the goal of trying to make thirty miles a day, but we fell short. By five miles one day or ten the next. On average though, I think we traveled twenty miles a day, so not too bad.

The first day Pinkerpie and Mandalay drove all day giving Shaelah and I much needed time alone. That first consummation of our marriage was... nothing less than spectacular, but as soon as Shaelah peaked her exultant exhalations became body shaking sobs. Collapsing to my chest, she hugged me so tightly as she wept of the loss of her husband. Wrapping her up in my arms, I held her tight and caressed her hair and back. We laid there together for a long time until we both fell asleep.

I woke up first. Shaelah was still laying on my chest, her long curly auburn hair fanned out over us like a cloak. I had long since shrunk out of her, and I very much feared that we were now adhered to each other by our pubic hair and my cum that had no doubt drained out of her while we slept. Running my fingers through her hair, I hugged her close and tried not to awaken her. The wagon rumbled on for a long time before she woke up, making a hissing sound as she sucked drool back into her mouth before it dribbled onto my chest.

"Sorry," She mumbled as she wiped her mouth and pushed herself up so that she straddled me. Looking down at me she continued, "I can't believe I cried after our first time together. Ye must think I'm horrible."

"No, I don't," I replied as I squeezed her thighs.

Shaelah smiled tremulously before saying, "What do ye say, shall we give it another go?"

Flipping her over onto her back, it was my turn to be on top. We gave it another go five times in a row before we stopped to eat lunch, and then another six times before dinner. Shaelah was quite determined to pay her dues as a wife, without crying afterwards. Honestly though, she didn't cry again after that first time. She made love with the zeal of a woman trying to forget her pain and I was her diversion, and I think she was determined to make me forget that first time.

Later that evening feed bags were put on the rams, but they were left harnessed to the wagon just in case there was trouble and we needed to move quickly. Afterward supper was made of chopped roast and beans with additions of bread and cheese. That evening we figured out the sleeping arrangements. It was me between Shaelah and Pinkerpie, who insisted on sleeping nude, and Mandalay slept on the other side of her mother.

That night, after everyone was asleep, I was awakened by the soft shuddering cries shared by Shaelah and Mandalay. Reaching out, I rested a hand on Shaelah's thigh in support until she took it in her own tight grasp and squeezed.

That was how it was for the next twenty days. At night after Pinkerpie and I were asleep, Shaelah and Mandalay quietly cried until they fell asleep. The last three days, whether it be exhaustion or closure, their crying dried up though they still clung to each other and fell to sleep along with Pinkerpie and I.

After that first day of Pinkerpie and Mandalay driving the wagon all day, we all started taking turns driving the wagon for two hours before being relieved to take shelter in the wagon and warm up. Shaelah and Pinkerpie also had a quiet discussion, while Mandalay and I drove the wagon, about splitting my time between them. Both when driving the wagon and when resting. Intimacy was also discussed and the fact that there was not to be any marital intimacy in front of Mandalay. She was old enough to be curious, but too young to marry.

However that discussion went, one thing was certain, neither Pinkerpie nor Shaelah would so much as flirt when Mandalay was around. However, whichever one was with me while driving the wagon, they cuddled up close. When it was time to rest in the wagon Pinkerpie and Shaelah both made sure I was kept very busy. It was almost as if they were in a competition with each other. The only time I really got any rest at all was the few hours a day when Pinkerpie and Shaelah were both out. Shaelah drove while Pinkerpie rode shotgun leaving me alone with Mandalay. We both wound up sleeping right through those breaks.

It took two and half days to reach the Quarry Road. Then another thirteen days before we passed a small road that branched off north leading to Misty Pine Refuge. I knew it was there from my knowledge of Dun Morogh in WoW. Part of me wanted to turn off and investigate just to see if it would be like the game, and what I might find. I squashed that desire though and we stayed on our chosen course.

The Quarry Road was a good road. A dwarven made road, which meant the best of the best. It was broad and spacious and made of the most finely cut cobblestone. Every piece fitted so tightly and so well, that despite the harsh winter climate, there were no ruts and no holes. The whole breadth of the road was smooth. The only obstacles were large snow drifts that marched across the road in certain places.

Another thirteen days passed before we turned off the Quarry Road and headed north toward Amberstill Ranch. A day's north and we passed by the Mountaineer's outpost. In the game it was a single residence half buried in a mountain. What we found was a huge fort with many supporting houses and families. I stared in amazement. It was so much more!

Mountaineers waved as our wagon slowly trundled by. They said nothing about the strange group consisting of one human, two dwarves, and a goblin. Nor did they mention how strange it was that it was one man and three women.

The road sloped upward, curving west around the Mountaineers outpost, and then curved back again sinuously toward the east. We rolled slowly through a canyon that eventually led to a valley in the foothills of the Khaz Modan Mountains. The home of the Amberstill Ranch. On the thirty-third day after setting out from Kharanos, with the sun almost touching the western mountain peaks, we rolled into the Amberstill Ranch.

The ranch was a much larger estate than the game made it out to be. Three large stables were built out on the rolling, snow-covered valley while a large keep was built right into the rock face of a tall ridge. Around the mountain home was a short wall, and then, on the other side of the wall were rolling hills. All around the thousand acre ranch stone walls or wooden fence marked out the perimeter of the Amberstill Ranch and split the property into quadrants. One quadrant for female rams and mountain goats, another for the males, and another for the gelded males. The last quadrant was where houses, barns, and training grounds resided.

I was familiar with the quests associated with this place, but honestly, I figured that the Wendigo quests would have been completed years ago. So, it was to my surprise when we saw fresh blood and signs of a large body being dragged through the snow away from the ranch.

"Ho there!" Called out a ranch hand as he came trotting up, "How may we help ye today?"

The night before our arrival it had already been discussed how best to show up at Amberstill Ranch. At great length they had argued the merits of who should meet, greet, and negotiate the purchase of the animals they needed. That was why it was Shaelah and Mandalay up on the driver's seat and Pinkerpie and I sitting inside the small house wagon with our ears pressed against the exterior wall listening to what was said outside.

"Aye," Shaelah answered from her seat as she set the break and handed the reins to Mandalay, "I do be here lookin' to procure twelve animals trained for wagon pullin'. To whom should I be speakin' in order to negotiate such a purchase?"

"That do be me, Veron Amberstill. I negotiate all sales," Veron Amberstill said loudly, "Redwin, go back to ye duties! I do be seein' to our guests."

Redwin nodded, then turned to leave after giving Cyduna and her pups a curious look.

"Come down good woman and tell me ye name. Let's go inside out of this chill and discuss why ye need to procure twelve o' me rams just to pull ye lone wagon," Veron said once Redwin was headed back to work.

"Aye, thank ye for the hospitality," Shaelah replied as she climbed down from the driver's seat.

"Hospitality! Ha!" Pinkerpie sniggered scornfully with a shake of her head.

"Be nice," I replied in a whisper, but I did smile. Dwarven hospitality could be hot or cold depending on who they were receiving, and recently we had been on the cold side of those receptions.

The wagon rocked as Shaelah climbed down.

"Aye, bring ye lass too," Veron said expanding his offer, "I'll have a lad move ye wagon into a barn and ye team unhitched and stabled."

"Aye, well, in that case," Shaelah answered, "Mandalay, come down. Master Veron, if ye don't mind I also have two employees riding inside the wagon at the moment. They did most of the driving from Kharanos. I drove only these last few miles. If ye don't mind, have a man show 'em where to drive me wagon and they will handle the rest."

"I see," Veron answered, "I will do that. Then if ye would follow me? Oh, and ye wolves, they be trained, aye? We needn't worry about an attack from 'em too?"

"Nay, o' course not," Shaelah replied as they moved away. Her voice faded away as she and Mandalay were led up to the keep.

"Okay, now it's our turn," I whispered.

Pinkerpie nodded. Flipping around she scooted off the slim bed we were both sitting on and grabbed her cloak as she turned the latch and swung the door open. A blast of cold air chilled me to the bone before I donned my coat and cloak. Stepping out of the cart, I followed Pinkerpie around to the driver's seat. I gave her a butt grabbing boost up and then followed. That was when I saw the blood in the snow and the drag marks.

"Having trouble with predators?" I asked when Redwin came walking up.

Redwin was a thickly built dwarf with a mane of thick black hair and a long bushy beard. Half turning to look at the blood in the snow he replied, "Aye! Somethin' big it be too. Hadn't any problems for four years since Vagash was slain by some heroes back then, but now it's all started up again. Smarter 'en Vagash it be though. Comes down out o' the mountains, ye see. Abouts once a week. Kills one o' the rams it do, and then disappears like smoke."

"Did it attack last night?" Pinkerpie asked.

Redwin gave her a sharp look, but nodded, "Aye, so it did. Appeared out o' now it did, likes a spirit, killed the one o'the male rams used to stud the females it did, then disappeared as quick and silent as a spirit."

"So there isn't likely going to be another attack before next week," I asked as I scanned the killing ground again.

"Nay," Redwin replied, "Not likely. It'll come again, next week though."

"Has anyone been killed by this... thing?" Pinkerpie asked.

Redwin shook his head solemnly, "Nay, 'ere hasn't been anyone come out this far since last fall. Ye are the first we seen in six months, and nary a one of the men here will go huntin' the thing."

"I see," Pinkerpie mumbled.

"Welp, I better be seein' ye to the barn," Redwin said in a resigned tone, "I'm sure ye mistress will have ye sorted out before long. If ye don't mind me askin' though, what do ye do that ye need to procure so many animals for?"

"Trading," I answered as I released the brake and snapped the reins, setting the rams to pulling the wagon slowly behind Redwin, "Our mistress is a trader. We need teams of animals to pull her wagons."

Redwin nodded. We stopped in front of the heavy doors of a large stone stable and Redwin opened them before motioning for us to proceed inside. He closed the doors as I pulled the brake on the wagon and hopped down out of the driver's seat. Pinkerpie grinned at me as she allowed me to help her down, and then we unhitched the rams while Redwin watched. One after another the rams were unhooked from the harnesses. Redwin stepped up then and led each ram to its own stable. They were given hay and feed, and then Redwin helped us maintain the harnesses before hanging them up. When everything was done Redwin took us to find Shaelah and Mandalay.

"I will bed down with the pups here in front of the wagon," Cyduna sent.

"Good, thank you," I replied in a silent sending, "Do you need me to bring any food back?"

"No," Cyduna answered, "The boar we killed earlier today was enough to fill us up for the day."

"Good," I sent, and then felt Cyduna's consciousness retreat as she got onto Fennic for nipping at his sister's ears too roughly.

----(!)----

Veron Amberstill led Shaelah and Mandalay into the keep only to see that it was fortified at all. It was large, yes, but it was a home. A young dwarf girl only a year or two younger than Mandalay. She was watching over a half dozen more children all younger than herself, the oldest appearing to be two years younger and the rest seeming to be a year or two apart from there.

Veron saw where Shaelah was looking and said, "Oh, that be Yarlyn. She do be growin' up so fast. She do be baby-sittin' her younger brothers and sisters now. If ye be wantin', the lass can go over and get to knowin' 'em."

"Would ye like to go over and meet 'em," Shaelah asked Mandalay.

Mandalay shook her head before answering, "No point. We'll be leavin' soon and makin' friends will only make it harder."

Shaelah nodded.

Yarlyn looked up, having noticed she was the topic of conversation.

"Mandalay will stay with me," Shaelah informed Veron, "Now, if ye don't mind, let's get down to negotiatin'."

Veron led the way to a study where there was a fire burning in a fireplace, several lamps were set on tables or on lamp stands. The room was well lit for being carved into a mountain, and it was warm. It was something Shaelah hadn't been all day.

There were two chairs set in front of the fireplace. One was already occupied. Veron pulled two more chairs over. Much lighter things that looked like they would break beneath Shaelah and Mandalay's weight, and neither of them were particularly heavy. Once the chair were in place by the fire Veron introduced the woman already sitting by the fire, "Shaelah and Mandalay, this be me wife, Rudra. Rudra, this be Shaelah and Mandalay. They be here to procure some rams."

"Really?" Rudra said as she put down the sock she was darning and looked up. She smiled broadly as she took Shaelah's measure, and then asked, "How many animals do ye be wantin' to purchase?"

"Twelve," Shaelah replied.

"Twelve," Rudra perrited in a musky purr, "That do be quite a few beasts. Why so many?"

"I have three more wagons in me convoy," Shaelah said warily, "I was ambushed by brigands, now me wagons are stranded with no animals to pull 'em other 'an the one wagon I have."

"Well, that is rotten luck, it do," Veron contributed but then fell silent again when Rudra added, "Rotten luck to be sure, but what ye be asked for, it do be a hard order to fill too."

"How so?" Shaelah asked, her tone skeptical.

"As it stands, I do have eight wagon trained rams," Veron answered as he shook his head in dismay, "That damn monster keeps eating my rams, ye see, the stink of it is, it do be killin' me wagon trained rams. Pure coincidence, mind. I hadn't fretted over it seeing as they were trained to pull carts and wagons. Not much call for 'em, and when there do be, an order do be put in months ahead o' time. That do be what these were before the merchant declined to pay the agreed upon price for 'em. So here they stayed. Well, until whatever do be eaten 'em ate 'em, that do be."

"Mmm," Rudra agreed in a hum and a nod. However, she was very sharp in how she cut her eyes from Veron to Shaelah and then to Mandalay. With a nod to herself, she appeared to have come to a decision before making her offer, "I do have me own personal team o' rams. Four, to be precise, and I do be willin' to sell 'em to ye if ye do be doin' somethin' for me."

"And what do that be?" Shaelah asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise while she frowned in skepticism.

Rudra seemed to be sifting, weighing, and measuring Shaelah just as if would flour for making loaves of bread. It made Shaelah shift uncomfortably in her seat. Rudra smirked. She smirked! Then answered, "Ye seem to be a smart woman. So I imagine ye hired help. What I request do be for ye to gather ye folk and hunt down the creature that do be killin' our rams. If ye do this for me then I do be makin' me rams available to Veron to sell to complete ye order."

Shaelah sat back in her chair. So, this was what Rudra wanted. She didn't want to think ill of the Amberstills, but if Shaelah and her folk died trying to complete this quest then the Amberstill's would claim their belongings including her wagon, rams, and maybe they thought Cyduna and her pups would protect them. However, if Shaelah and her folk killed the creature eating their rams, they would still make a profit off of the sale of twelve rams to her. The risk here was completely one sided. Rudra and her husband would profit no matter what.

Sitting up, straightening her back, Shaelah smirked as she countered, "Seein' as all the risk in this quest do be on me and me folk, and seein' that if we die in the attempt ye do be gettin' what is left o' our possessions, if we succeed in killin' or drivin' away this menace, then upon our return ye do be sellin' twelve rams to me at half price."

"Three quarters the standard price," Rudra replied.

"All the risk do be mine and me folk, ye share none o' it. For that, ye will sell us twelve rams for no more than five-eighths the standard price," Shaelah returned firmly, then added, "Otherwise, I will purchase the eight Veron has and leave ye with ye predator problem. I will purchase the rest elsewhere, while this monster eating ye rams will move on to the saddle trained rams and goats. I wonder how many ye will lose before ye find someone else to go huntin' this creature?"

"Agreed," Rudra hissed.

"I will draw up the contract," Veron said, standing up and moving to his desk.

He pulled out a large parchment and then gathered his inkwell and pin. In the meantime, Rudra stood up and offered, "No doubt ye be tired and hungry. Come with me and I will prepare some stew for ye and ye men. Ye will need strength to hunt this beast I think."

Shaelah nodded, and then she and Mandalay stood and followed Rudra to the kitchen.

----(!)----

Yummy smells of roast, fresh bread from the oven, boiled collard greens, and baked sweet potatoes greeted us as Pinkerpie and I walked into the kitchen.

Shaelah and Mandalay were already sitting at a small table in the kitchen usually used by the cooks and maids to eat dinner while the Amberstills ate in the dining room. At least, that was how it had been in bygone days. Now, Rudra cooked and talked of children and the challenges of raising them in a land full of dangers whether it be animals, trolls, or troggs. Everything seemed hell bent on killing them or their means of living.

Shaelah nodded along and responded appropriately. Agreeing with Rudra's concerns, and then telling the tale of her husband's death and of almost losing her daughter too. Rudra gasped over Shaelah's loss of her husband, and empathized with her over his loss. She was jubilant over Mandalay's recovery, and furious when Shaelah told her of her brother-in-laws grossly ill-timed ultimatums. Which, in the end, led Shaelah to the decision to become a trader like her parents were.

The table was forty inches square. Mandalay sat on one side with Shaelah to her right. I sat down next to Shaelah and Pinkerpie sat next to Mandalay.

"I take it these are ye employees," Rudra said in a skeptical tone that only grew cooler when she saw Pinkerpie.