Blood Black, Fire White

Author's Note: This story was requested by an anonymous user, an obvious person of culture. It was originally to be edited by Jemima, the editor, but an email-related SNAFU has made it impossible for me to receive her messages. I just wanted to let you know I recommend her wholeheartedly.

Enjoy!

On the third night of the third week of their trek across the steppe, Blood Black's concubine brought Fire White her weapons.

"You are to come to his yurt at the eighth hour," the concubine said, as she helped Fire White out of her torn clothes, exposing her lithe, unnaturally white body and the taut, wiry muscles underneath.

Fire White watched, as the woman's gaze lingered on her body, her touches lingered over the small of her back, her thighs as she undressed her. She was so engrossed in her elfin beauty, she barely noticed Fire White sliding her curved blade from its sheath, almost soundlessly, only to rest the tip of it against her chest. A mere touch was enough to draw blood.

"What makes Blood Black think I will come?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You are stranded in the middle of the steppe, your home and allies scattered three weeks' ride away from here, surrounded by the brunt of the might of the Orcish horde. Do you really think you have a choice?" the concubine said. Without a word, Fire White withdrew her weapon, placing it back into its sheath.

"Draw me a bath. And bring me clothes. I will not appear before your warlord naked like some tribeswoman," Fire White said. The woman complied.

***

The Orcish horde struck the Borderland like the waves of a raging ocean, smashing into their defenses only to retreat, regroup and strike again, as soon as any force could be mustered. They descended on their cities like the wrath of God themselves, killing any they would find, only to return, so they could enslave or execute the mourners.

Fire White had fought them, time and again. She had pursued their mounts and killed their champions. She and her braves had bled their giants with a million nicks from their swords. They fought with the majesty and the finesse of a three thousand year civilization...

And yet the savages, in their starving, monstrous masses, their near-feral horses ran almost ragged across the endless steppe, tore them apart.

"They are hardy creatures. Like iron," the concubine offered as she washed Fire White's hair with scented water. Her white-gold hair shone against the torchlight, the water spilling down across her body, making her glisten like a goddess.

"Iron is common. It can be melted, shaped, beaten into a useful shape. These creatures..." Fire White said, looking over her shoulder at the misshapen Orc that stood by the entrance to her yurt, sneaking glances at her with its one good eye. Its jaw dropped at the sight of her slender back, the mere hint of her round and perfectly shaped behind. Too late, it turned its attention away from her, "they are less than impure ore."

"And yet here you are, their captive," the concubine said, running her sponge down Fire White's neck, letting the water pool between her small breasts, moving down to trail the edge of her areolae. The sensation was arousing, but White Fire maintained her composure.

"What is your name?" White Fire said, leaning back against her bath as the concubine's touch moved down her body, across her breasts to her belly.

"I have no name, my lady. But Blood Black calls me Favorite," the woman said, her free hand reaching down to test Fire White, her thumb and index finger teasing her nipple, the other moving further down below, to the hairless sex between her legs. Fire White broke away from her touch, motioning toward her clothes.

"Bring me my clothes, Favorite; the hour approaches, and I would be done with your master," Fire White said.

***

Even in the gaudy attire of a taiga noblewoman, Fire White was as beautiful as a vision, her mere presence drawing the eye of the Orcish tribesmen that gathered to whoop and call to her, as she made her way to Blood Black's yurt. Her weapons, strapped to her waist, gave her some comfort and Favorite followed closely by, lighting her way.

"Out of the way, Shark Tooth. Your father wants to see this one," Favorite told the giant sitting by the entrance to the yurt, its mouth filled with rows of filed, pointed teeth.

"Search her then," Shark Tooth mumbled as he reached to grab Fire White with one hand, the top part of the middle finger missing "head to toe."

"Your brother was Iron Jaw, wasn't he? I took his eyes before I cut his throat," Fire White said, "you lost the top of that finger to my sisters that day."

"Dirty Elfin slut. I'll crush you," Shark Tooth roared and reached for Fire White.

There was the briefest flash of silver in the moonlight, then Shark Tooth fell to the ground, clutching the stumps of where his pointer and middle finger used to be. Favorite screamed and tore at her dress, rushing to bandage the wound.

"My boy! My sweet boy!" she cried. Fire White stared in confusion as the giant clutched at the stumps that had been left of his fingers, when the voice came from behind her, a deep and rumbling baritone.

"I see I was right to trust you with your weapon. Come, Fire White. I will see you now."

***

Blood Black was an anomaly among his kind: while he shared the hulking physique of his race, he was not misshapen or blighted with cankers. He wasn't cursed with eyes or vestigial limbs. His skin (despite its emerald green color), was man-like and neither scaled nor rubbery, like most males of his kind. And his stature, while tall, was neither hunched nor bow-legged from the saddle.

From a distance, Fire White thought, one might even take him for a man.

"Will you break bread with me?" Blood black offered, presenting the gilded tray of meat and bread and sweet things, the goblets full of fermented milk of mare.

"I would rather stand," Fire White said, looking down at Blood Black as he lay on the floor pillows by the drink table.

"A drink, then, perhaps," Blood black offered.

"Thank you, but I cannot abide the stink," Fire White said.

"A rude Elfin princess, how quaint," Blood Black laughed, "to business, then?"

Fire White squinted her eyes at the warlord, laid across the ground. Despite herself, she found her gaze drawn to the scars across his face and neck, the indelible images in blue ink that ran down across the length of his powerful arms. She thought of the Hinterlands she had seen in her youth; their long manes and their bodies covered in hair. Those looked like upright animals, but this one...

"You ravaged my kingdom, divided my sisters among your chieftains like cattle. You tore down three thousand years of history, burning the bulk of our wisdom as you went. What pact could we ever make?" Fire White said, tearing her eyes away from the warlord to the yurt, its plain interior lined with the flayed skins of animals and the gilded saddles of his mounts.

"Survival," Blood Black said, "of both our kinds."

"You could have started without the slaughter," Fire White said.

"Merely a little blood-letting. Your kind was stagnant and mine...you saw Shark Tooth," Blood Black said, gulping down half the contents of his goblet, before filling it again.

"Stagnant? Hardly; we merely lost ambition. A hundred years ago..." Fire White began.

"A hundred years ago, you were a babe. And even then, you were being pushed to the Borderland by men. And as for us, we lived in the steps, stitching together overcoats from field mouse hides. But we were whole, then. Miserable and hungry, but whole..."

"A natural thing. Your impurities are showing," Fire White spat. Blood Black's look of cool rage sent a shiver down her spine.

"The Orc is a reflection of its environment, shaped by the circumstances of its birth. In the depths of the steppe, we were hardy and small. But as we pushed further away and became more adept at violence, our bodies grew to match our way of life," Blood Black said, "in a handful of generations, Orcish bodies will have become so monstrously bloated with brains so diminished, we will be less than beasts."

"Then the world should wait, and the Orcs will take care of themselves," Fire White said, sitting across from Blood Black.

"Yes, while Elven seed grows thinner and thinner and men drive our kinds from the earth," Black Blood said, offering a goblet to Fire White. She took it without thinking, "Tell me, Elfin lady: when was the last time one of your kind had young?"

"You're suggesting..." Fire White said, clutching the goblet so fiercely, her knuckles went white. "With a...creature like you..."

"Yes," Blood Black said. Fire White shot to her feet, stopping herself from emptying the goblet at his face.

"What about Favorite? What of your other concubines?" Fire White said, disgusted.

"Prisoners of war, broken against their will. They can only bear me monsters."

"And I am expected to bear you an heir?" Fire White spat. "A healthy Orcish babe?"

"You must be willing."

Fire White threw the goblet across the yurt, letting the mare's milk spill onto the ground, the splatter soaking the rugs laid out across the floor, the spoils of Blood Black's wars. Finally, she stepped outside, past the wounded giant and his doting mother, her heart beating in her chest.

Only after she returned to her tent and her rage finally abated, did she notice the heat that lingered between her legs at the thought of the warlord's proposition.

***

"She takes well to her horse, my lord," Favorite said, shivering as Blood Black's massive, rough hand moved across her body, cupping her breast to pinch her nipple over her dress. She was still dressed in her plain clothes, her body unscented or prepared for the warlord's attention.

"Our Elfin princess has given up on running, then?" Blood Black said casually, pulling down the straps from Favorite's shoulders, exposing the freckled flesh, the curve of her breasts, made heavy from breastfeeding his progeny, exposing the dark outline of her areolae. Favorite reached up a hand to keep the fabric from falling all the way down.

"There's nowhere for her to go. And she knows we're in wild man lands, now. They hate her kind, out here," Favorite gasped, as Blood Black wrapped his hand around her waist, pulling her to him. His hand cupped her behind, squeezing the flesh, digging nails into it through the fabric. She felt his massive bulge against her legs and ground against it.

"But they hate Orcs more," Blood Black growled as Favorite leaned to kiss his lips, her tongue teasing his. Her hands cupped his massive, growing erection with practiced care over the fabric of his trousers. She shuddered against him as he began to pull up her dress, exposing her legs, her thighs, her sex.

"They're like bucks, my lord. In need of breaking," Favorite began, then moaned as two of Blood Black's fingers slipped inside her, knuckled deep. Hooking them against her pleasure spot, he began to move them. The wet, sucing noise of her sex whispered in the yurt.

"You're proof enough of that," Blood Black said and pushed into her, his fingers filling Favorite. She reached down, hands slipping into his trousers to grasp his massive erection. Blood Black grasped her wrists, pinning them in place. Favorite whimpered, desperately trying to reach, to grind against him. She kissed his lips, then bit hers, before starting to buck against his fingers.

Favorite moaned, the first pangs of an orgasm running through her as Blood Black's fingers sawed in and out of her. Her hips shivered, her knees buckled. She kissed her way down his chest, his belly as she knelt on the carpeted floor. She took in his deep, inhuman musk as she ground her face against his erection, kissing it over the fabric, down to the head, aiming for the drop of pre-cum that seeped through...

"Is she considering my offer?" Blood Black said, tugging Favorite back by her hair. Her tongue lolled in the air, a hair's breadth away from the object of her desire. The pang of pain made her trained body ache for him.

"She's a haughty creature. Stubborn. Hardly breeding material," Favorite gasped. Blood Black let her wrists go. She leaned into the huge tent in his legs, fingers running across the concealed shaft, but didn't dare move without permission. Blood Black tugged her hair back and Favorite gasped in pain, forced to stare into his burning orange eyes.

"Shark Tooth's maiming was well deserved. The boy overextended himself. You should learn from his folly," Blood Black said, his free hand wrapping around Favorite's neck, fingers choking her, turning her pleasure into fear.

"Yes, yes," Favorite whispered before Blood Black finally let her go, dropping her to the floor.

"Have her brought to me at midday tomorrow. Get her a bow and arrows, too," Blood Black said, turning his back to Favorite. She lingered for a while, pulling up her dress before she left the yurt, her face a mask of barely-contained rage.

***

Fire White rode to Blood Black's side at midday, by the lakeshore. Tall reeds rose around its edge, hiding the water from view. She steered Midnight, her destrier, along it, searching for Blood Black. The heads of egrets stuck out from among the reeds, examining her briefly before darting back into cover.

Looking out into the distance, Fire White caught the barest flicker of movement: men on horseback, running across the windswept vastness of the steppe. They moved in a loose formation, a trail of horses following behind each rider. Focusing her Elfin sight, she tried to make out a hint of their colors, the flapping of a banner. Something silvery, almost familiar, glinted. Fire White tried to focus further into it when the sound of splashing water distracted her.

Turning, she saw Blood Black's body moving under the clear waters of the lake, his naked form perfectly visible through the water: his body was a mass of muscle, covered in hair, the emerald of his skin blending in with the bottom of the lake. She caught her heart skipping a beat as she saw him reach the shore, then pull himself out. The water cascaded down his long, braided hair, along his powerful back, and down his chiseled buttocks. Despite herself, she caught a hint of his nakedness as he reached for a piece of cloth to dry himself off.

Gods, she thought, what an awful thing. Unable to tear her eyes from his member, the bulging of his muscles, his powerful thighs. Something inside her stirred with desire as she compared Blood Black back to the lithe, caring lovers of her homeland. She thought of his body against her, crushing her against the soft, wet ground...

"So the Elfin lady has manners after all," Blood Black said, taking Fire White out of her reverie. She looked away, too late.

"Merely being courteous," Fire White said, staring off at nothing in particular while Blood Black dressed in his furs and tied his own destrier from its covers behind the reeds.

"Good. Allow me to extend the courtesy," Blood Black said, offering a bow to Fire White. It was a large thing, made out of bone, its string long and tough. The arrows that came with it were black-feathered with flint tips.

"Am I to ride at the front, warlord?" Fire White asked.

"You? You can barely drive a horse. An Orcish pup could outride you," Blood Black said, drawing his own bow, "no, you'll have to do better than that."

Blood Black reached into a pouch by the side of his saddle, then tossed a handful of marbles into the air. Fire White winced as they exploded into clouds of black dust with an audible crash. At once, two dozen egrets flew out of cover. In a single, fluid motion, Fire White nocked an arrow on her bowstring and shot it, killing one outright.

"Now do it at full gallop," Blood Black said, and raised his hand to slap Midnight's behind. The destrier neighed and broke into a run, almost sending Fire White tumbling into the ground. Arrows spilled from her quiver as she went. Blood Black laughed, as her face burned from embarrassment.

Again and again, Fire White shot at the egrets, her arrows going wide as the horse moved and bucked. By nightfall, her feet and legs trembled in agony and her plain tribeswoman clothes were soaked in sweat.

"Rest," Blood Black said, as he rode away from her, "you won't hit another with the light gone."

Fire White gritted her teeth but finally gave up. Already, the fires in the Orcish camp burned against the starless night. She thought of returning to her tent, but she was sweaty and her clothes were soaked through. Exhausted, she drove Midnight to the shore and removed her clothes, letting her pale, lithe body sink under the cold waters.

She bathed in them, washing away the day's grime, then lingered by the shore. The image of his powerful hands, his bulging muscles, flashed back into her mind as she began to wash her hair. Slowly, her hands drifted down as she imagined his touch against her neck, her small breasts. She thought of his thumb flicking and teasing her nipple, already aroused. How would those filed Orcish teeth feel, grazing across the pearly white skin of her chest?

Leaning back against the shore, Fire White ran her hands over her breasts and bit her lip. She tried to think back to the lovers at home: their loving embraces and careful caress, then her mind snapped back to Blood Black's lips, running down her breasts, lapping at them before his tusks moved down her body, her belly.

"Stop," she whispered, more to herself than anyone, as her hand moved across the smooth skin between her legs, parting the flesh there. She felt the wetness almost drip out of her as she ran a finger across her slit, teasing the nub there. Fire White shuddered at the feeling, tried to think of the ministrations of her court-appointed comfort lover, but her mind moved back to Blood Black's tongue, running across her, grunting like an animal as he tasted her. Biting her lip to hold back a moan, Fire White circled her clit, again and again, teetering on the edge of fulfillment, before her fingers slipped inside her.

Pleasure exploded behind her eyelids, and she bucked and thrashed on the shore, imagining her body bucking against the warlord's huge form. Fire White bucked her hips, letting her orgasm wash over her before she finally pulled her clothes back on.

Midnight neighed in protest, as Fire White spurred him. She threw a handful of stones at the reeds, alarming the egrets. They flew and Fire White rode after them, nocking an arrow on the bowstring and pulling it back. She held her breath as Midnight's hooves left the ground mid-gallop...

And let fly.

***

"Shot out of the sky mid-gallop," Fire White said, letting the dead egret drop to Blood Black's feet.

"You may ride behind my Blood Riders," Blood Black said, trying his best to look unimpressed.

"A princess does not ride behind the guard," Fire White said, "I ride beside you, or not at all. And I will no longer have my tent set beside your concubines or the rest of the women."

"Then you'd best keep up," Blood Black said, offering his goblet filled with mare's milk to Fire White. She drank deeply from it, savoring the taste.

***

From her perch on top of Shark Tooth's shoulders, Favorite watched the distant fires of the horde's pursuers. They had been closing in for weeks now, switching horses mid-gallop almost without rest, in the way of the Hinterland tribesmen she'd one belonged to. They had kept up the pace for an inhumanly long time, however, for both man and mount. Favorite had to wonder if the tribesmen were acting alone.

No matter. She'd know soon enough.

"Leave me here. I will go to them," Favorite said. Shark Tooth reluctantly placed her on the wet grass.

"What if they take you?" Shark Tooth groaned, nervously running his hand over the stumps where his fingers used to be.