Captured by the Elves Ch. 05

Note: All of the characters in this story are over the age of eighteen, the elves even more so. This story does not represent any real people or groups. Any errors or omissions are my own. This is a fantasy. Quite literally since there are elves. It does contain magical transformation. Please look at the story tags. If you don't like those things then you might want to move on.

"What're you doing?" Braith asked. "No, put that down and then take that over there."

I did as she asked. We'd been cleaning and organizing the bathhouse since the first rays of sun came over the horizon. In the forest it resembled twilight more than a morning where I was from. Hard work was the same everywhere though: it never ended.

"I'm not sure we can save that," she said. "Even if I had you scrub it all day."

I knew not to say anything. Braith was essentially thinking out loud. I was simply her second pair of hands. The settlement was filled with activity. Elves were busy tending to the walls and towers. The hole that I'd squeezed through before had been filled with earth and covered over with more blood-thirsty briars. I'd never be able to get through it again, however, their focus was on preventing people from getting in rather than getting out. As someone who'd once labored everyday to create defensible encampments for my army, I respected the quality of the elves' defenses.

The previous day Braith had lent me to some other elves, but this time it wasn't for any sexual favors. I helped unload and store a large portion of dried food and several barrels of water. They were preparing for a siege, and while I wasn't entirely certain that such a thing was even possible, I was tapped to do a good portion of the labor. Once it was done there was no time to rest, and Braith said we needed to clean. As I moved several things out of the bathhouse for Braith's assessment and perusal I was able to watch Raina and several of the other elves do their exercises and train with weapons. Spears and bows were the favored arms, but there were a handful of swords in the mix. Yanitza was there with the others—though her own skill was more than sufficient already. She handled my former blade with preternatural grace that was a world of difference compared to how I'd once fumbled with it. That was how the elves tended to do everything.

I tried not to let Braith catch me watching Raina, and that was proving to be difficult. My friend, formerly called "Brendan", took to their drills quite well. Raina was still a soldier at heart despite how beautiful she had become. We hadn't spoken since that one time. The situation had become more tense after word of the apparent human invasion.

Fewer torches lit the perimeter at night and the wall guards doubled. Elves could see remarkably well in the dark and they wanted to have complete advantage over any clumsy human force entering the forest. Every moment of daylight was used to prepare. Watching the discipline of Raina and the others I couldn't imagine any attackers doing well against them, but the she-elves refused to relax.

After several hours Braith said that we were much better. We'd cleared a great deal of clutter throughout the house and the area surrounding it. When she showed me how she wanted the bedding to be made I knew what we were doing.

"We're making beds for any wounded," I said.

"That's right. We haven't had to deal with a large number of casualties for a long time, and I want us to be ready. We can't change whether or not there will be a fight, but we'll respond properly."

"You believe that the human army is going to attack? How can they even find us in this forest?"

"Your human scouts might not be as good as ours, but by now they'll have learned something of the region. Humans have learned enough about us over the generations."

"Has there been any word?"

Braith looked at me. Her patience had been wearing thin. She was happy to have me back in her home, but the danger that these as yet unseen humans represented was wearing on everyone. She wiped away sweat-drenched locks of her short black hair from the front of her eyes. Her hand left traces of dirt over her cute freckled face.

"I'm often the last to learn these things," she said. "Sometimes I don't mind it, but the uncertainty..."

I stole another glance towards Raina and the others. They were sparing hand to hand then. Back home Brendan had been famous for his skill at wrestling. It was nice to see that even as "Raina" the skills were all still there. I found myself wanting to brag to somebody about all the matches I'd seen Brendan win during the festivals, but that wasn't going to happen I turned back to see Braith watching me.

I looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said. "I can't blame you. They made her quite beautiful, didn't they? And tall too. I'm sure that Teagan is quite proud."

"Will she be allowed to go out and fight with the others?"

Braith shrugged. "Typically, a new convert will be kept on a short leash for a year or more if they're suspicious. It depends on the times and on the person. Some are accepted faster. Since we happen to need more fighters it's likely that she'll do quite well."

"I'm ready to fight on your side," I said. "I wasn't the best by any means, but I still know how."

She smiled. "That means so much to me. Truly it does, but I don't want you to be seen touching a weapon. Do you understand?"

"I want to protect you."

"I know you do, and I love for you that. However, I don't want one of the sentries to see some other human running around with a weapon. They'll put a dozen arrows in you and apologize to me the next day. I'd rather that not happen."

Her concern was clear enough, and I had little doubt that the sentries would be even more on edge than everyone else. We continued working, and then I stood at obedient attention when I noticed Landa and Teagan approaching us. The elf leaders were dressed in their best skimpy ranging gear. Not only did Teagan wear her headdress atop her mane of blonde hair, but Landa adorned herself with one as well. In a time of crisis, it was important for each of them to display their authority. They were trailed by a large group of she-elves that formed one large raiding party.

"Still a human," said Teagan with a tinge of disgust. She looked down at me with annoyance. Her blue eyes were cold.

The red-headed Landa came up to grab me. "Don't be scaring our man," she told Teagan. "We should treasure him while he's here. He's a symbol of our dominance."

Braith came forward. "He's been minding himself and working very hard," she said. "Our village is better off from his efforts."

"I have no doubts," said Landa. "I'm sorry that we stopped you from your labors, but I wanted to see him before we left."

I asked, "Where are you going?"

"That doesn't concern you," said Teagan.

"Nonsense," snapped Landa. "We're going out to defend our home. Your fellow humans are here, so we go out to meet them."

I wanted to know who was out there. It probably didn't make a difference in the end, but curiosity about my fellow humans was hard to resist. Even my sense of time was in question. I didn't believe that I'd been away from other humans that long, however, I couldn't help but to wonder. The stories said that the fey folk had powers over the passage of time. Magic, at least in some form hard turned out to be real, so how was I to know?

Landa held my hand. Her large green eyes drilled into mine. I'd gotten used to some of these women, but Landa still held some mystery. She'd been the first to take me, and it was difficult to forget.

"Would you miss me if I died?" she asked. "Or do you want us to go out there and be killed because you desperately think that this whole debacle will lead to your escape?"

"I don't want anyone else to die," I said. "This is home now."

Landa got ever so close to me, and finally kissed my cheek. "I'm so very glad to hear that. I didn't doubt you."

"We should believe him," said a voice I hadn't heard for some time. Delphi, the elf I'd admired in the tub stepped forward. She was the former paladin and still bore the copper star necklace that signified her former occupation. Delphi had been ranging deep and long since word of the humans had come. She looked tired and unkept—still beautiful though. I couldn't help but stare at the magnificence of her breasts straining against their silk and leather coverings.

Delphi said, "I still have some of my former powers. This one has a good soul that will not betray us."

"I'm not sure I trust in powers drawn from a human religion," said Teagan. "If I recall, Delphi, that religion didn't protect you from the change."

Delphi gently stroked her pendant. She said, "That's one way to look at it. I like to believe that my old life was heading towards doom. I'm a much better person now. Both our lives make us who we are."

There were murmurs of agreement. Many more of them than Teagan was happy with. She looked at me with such contempt that it felt like an assault upon my physical being. There was no way for me to change her judgment of me that she'd had from the beginning.

"As you will," Teagan said finally. "I'll feel better once there are fewer humans in our forest."

The elf raiding party set out from the settlement. I watched them as they receded into the distance until the forest swallowed them up. People are going to die out there, I thought. There was nothing that I could do to stop it. It wasn't like I could tell them that my fellow humans were going to be kind and understanding. I could remember days on the march with my late army when the men would've given anything to capture a village full of beautiful women. Teagan's concerns were likely just.

The work in the settlement continued. Every supply gathered had to be doubled and every chore done twice over because we didn't know if there would be a chance to do it again. It was something of a new experience for me. My old human town had its struggles for sure, but it was of so little consequence that no one bothered to attack it during my lifetime. Our kingdom managed to keep most of its fighting to foreign lands.

I was struggling to move a wheelbarrow loaded down with fire wood later that day. My health had come a long way since I'd arrived, but it was still too much for me to lift. I was about to lose control when another pair of hands took hold. Raina appeared next to me, and working together we right the barrow.

We both stood there a moment. I had so many memories of Brendan helping me with the constant chores back home. Despite all of the changes some things were the same. I looked at Raina and she at me. She was all smiles, and I returned the affection. Her big brown eyes and beautiful brown hair made me forget for a moment that this had been Brendan.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," she said. "It's nice to be useful. They won't let me fight yet."

"Do you want to?"

She avoided my eyes with her gaze. "It's not that simple," she said. "You and I both know that when we were in the army, we could've been out there killing anybody depending on what our lords said."

"I didn't say that we wouldn't."

"Do you still think about leaving?" she asked.

"I try not to. Why?"

Raina took my hand in hers. "I don't want you to leave."

"Well, it's unlikely to happen anyway. The sentries on the walls would spot me. Besides, I tried getting out through the forest and it didn't go so well."

She stared at me with her mouth open. "You made it out?"

"By digging like an animal beneath the wall. The thorns in the briars cut me up. Also, there's monsters in the woods. Like the ones we saw during that last run."

She said, "But, if you had help and weapons it might be possible, right?"

I studied Raina for a moment. Was this a test? Some ruse designed by Teagan to root out my disloyalty? "This is home now," I said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"If you say so. This army they're talking about...it sounds like it's in much better shape than ours was. Maybe that means they came from the other direction and are not from our country."

"That could make things worse," I said.

"Yes. We may have survived all of this to only be killed during a siege."

I knew that Raina was correct. Even if I was willing to stay something else was coming down on us. The old enemies that I would've faced as a soldier were still out there. At least it was possible.

Raina said, "I was ready to die before. More so now maybe, but if that's going to happen then I want to make a request."

This was something that we talked about when we first went off to war. We knew that being killed a was a real possibility. As friends we'd wanted to help each other as best as we could. It was intended that such a request would likely be a merciful quick death if things had become bad enough. There were too many stories about what happened to soldiers who were captured by the enemy. The priests back home claimed that they were cannibals. That didn't seem likely to me.

"What kind of request?" I asked. I dreaded what it might be. Did Raina harbor some hope that I could somehow get us out of there? Raina would definitely be more useful as a fighter out there than I was, and she even mentioned getting weapons. In more familiar territory that would help. I struggled to recall the map that I'd briefly seen. Somewhere out there was a river. Even if we found people though, how would I explain Raina to them?

Raina said, "I asked you to remember the way I was. I still want that. The longer that I'm 'Raina' I'm not sure how much of Brendan is left. I...I have wants."

Raina looked around to see if anyone was watching, but they were all still about their preparations. Then she closed the distance between us and fiercely planted her lips on mine. I froze at first. I'd grown accustomed to the advances of the other elves, but it was different. Eventually, I gave in and kissed her back. Raina pulled me close—crushing me against her scantily clad body. She may have been even stronger than Brendan was at that point. She pulled away from me and there was a look of pure lust in her big brown eyes.

"I want you," she said. "Since I changed, I've had cravings. Some of the other elves are making advances to me. I know I'm going to give in, but I want you first. Please. Please, William."

I rarely heard my name in the settlement. Usually I was just "him" or "you". Back home I didn't have much care for my name. My parents had named me after a famous local lord probably hoping to get political or financial favor knowing them. Some people's names mean so much, but those were nobles. Amongst the merchant class a name was just a name.

Raina stared at me with such want. More than I could ever have hoped to achieved in a girl back home. She was different than those girls, but I still had wants as well.

"I want you too," I told her. My training from Braith and the others took over, and I knew that I had to be eager to please her. No...it wasn't just that. This was Raina. I truly wanted her.

Raina grabbed my hand and led me away from the open. We walked for some time to the far edge of the settlement. While my mind was still addled by the prospect of sex it soon realized where we were going. The same ancient, near-destroyed building that had almost been reclaimed by the forest. It was the ruin in which I'd witnessed Landa and Teagan convert Brendan only days before.

"You want to go in there?" I asked.

"It's out of the way. We'll have plenty of room. What's wrong?"

What was I to say? No? "Nothing," I said.

She smiled. "Trust me, William. I care about you. That's not a lie."

It was a nice thing to hear considering that I was facing either death or my eventual conversion. Braith came to mind. I knew that part of me would always be hers, but this was a chance to own my own decisions. And with Raina...I nodded. Her hand squeezed mine in reassurance. I felt safe with her despite all of my fears. My only true option was to live the best life that I could with what I had to work with. The threat of death had that effect. We entered the old structure and it was as isolated and silent as I remembered. The wooden baths were still dry and ruined, and the ovens long since cold. I felt that I still had to be cautions and quiet as I walked in. Like I was in danger of being captured again. I remembered how Landa knew that I'd been there to witness Brendan's conversion. She told me that my conversion was inevitable and that there was no choice but to accept it. In the corner was the old wooden chair that she'd been sitting in. I imagined her still in the chair—watching me.

Raina kissed me again. "Tell me that you're not afraid."

"I'm with you," I said. "I trust you."

She smiled. "Don't forget that. No matter what happens."

She took me down to the center area where Landa and Teagan had kept Brendan. The bedding was cold and astray and the candles long burned out. I could make out more of the ancient tiled floor that had been shattered generations ago. Raina was able to relight the candles from supplies the elves had left there. The glow of the candles combined with what little light there was from the broken roof painted the space just right.

"I'm surprised that you brought me here," I said. "I thought you might not like this place since they kept you here."

Raina shrugged off one of her vests and began working at the other straps of her outfit. She said, "I thought I was dying in this room. The change took a while for me. How could I not think I was dying? But I lived and I feel so good now, William. I swear." She pressed her face against mine. "If things were different, if I had been a woman and with you...I'd love you, William. I know it. We'd be back home, and I'd give you a son, William. I promise."

I touched her cheek tenderly. "I...oh, Raina...you're everything that I want right now."

She shrugged off the rest of her coverings exposing the brilliant wholesomeness of her new body. Raina's breasts were plump and ripe. Her light pink nipples beckoned to me. I took the left one in my mouth and suckled at her. She held my head as I did so. Raina enjoyed experiencing her new body as much as I loved exploring it. She then held me away and smiled. "You seem to like me this way. I'm glad. Teagan likes me as well. She says I'm her favorite now."

"How is that going for you?"

Raina laughed. She'd probably learned that Teagan and I didn't have the best relationship. "She's talked about you before."

"She hates me. I think she wants to kill me."

"That's not true. I think she respects you for not giving in too soon. Something like that."

I didn't believe her, but paid no mind to it. Raina was with me, and my whole body was excited by the prospect. My growing cock tented the front of my linen tunic. Raina noticed this—her hand darting under my tunic to take hold of my growing sex.

She said, "You were never as big as me, but the girls in town never complained."

Being so long amongst the elves it was hard to remember what it was being a man like we were back home. Even my brief triste with Yanitza was different. And Braith...I didn't know if I could ever make that conquest. I pulled my tunic over my head and let it fall to the floor. It was such a simple garment that it barely felt like anything when I was wearing it. Raina took a moment to look me over.

She said, "You're still too skinny from the march."

"You larger lads ate all the food."

We both managed to laugh even though we both knew our struggles in the wild had been the worst time in our lives. Brendan and I were the last. No, I thought, Brendan is Raina now. So perhaps I was the last. If Raina's memory faded then it would definitely be the case.

Raina pulled off the last of her clothing. Culminating in the removal of her silken panties. During my time in the settlement I'd learned that the panties were a luxury item that the elves developed a taste for and while they made what they could they were also willing to trade with far away peoples to satisfy that need. The delicate white garment fell to the ancient dirt-covered floor. Revealing the growing cock that it had been concealing. Brendan had always been well-endowed. Big, strong lad, known for his wrestling and affinity with the girls...if he hadn't been big it would've been a cruel trick of the gods. I couldn't help but look and upon inspection it appeared that Brendan's transformation had made it even larger.