Dagger and Crystal

"Not bad for a tree-hugger at all," she hissed, dragging her nails across my chest. Then she leaned forward, placed her hands to either side of my head and kissed me, hungrily. I moaned into her mouth as her hips slowly rose, her hot tunnel causing delicious friction along my shaft. Krejula rode me, slowly at first, but picking up speed as the lust gripped her. Our kiss became more urgent as I added my own thrusts to our rhythm.

Heated breath and wet, slapping noises filled the tent. Suddenly, Krejula growled and broke the kiss. Before I knew what was amiss, she bent her head low and licked sweat off my neck then she bit down, burying her teeth in the soft flesh of my neck. I wailed in shock and pain, my behind shooting off the pelt as my body went rigid in shock. Krejula gasped when I rammed my rod deep into her. The growl was back as she mercilessly rode me. I tried to buck her off me but Krejula simply grabbed my wrists, still not letting up on the bite and kept my flailing body in check through sheer weight alone. Caught somewhere between lust and panic, my body acted on pure instinct. It matched each savage act with a deep thrust into Krejula's pussy, causing her to snarl into my neck each time I rammed my rod home. The more I struggled, the harder she rode me and the harder I fought to get her off me. The rush was intoxicating! Before I knew it, I was spewing hot seed into her. Krejula jerked into a sitting position atop of me, opened her mouth and screamed, bloody droplets spraying from her lips as she announced her own release.

I felt hot, sticky wetness seep into the hollow near my shoulder. Krejula, my rod still deeply embedded in her grasping pussy, looked down, her feral frown wiped away.

"I am so sorry, Declan," she murmured, voice shaky from the force of her climax. "Does it hurt?"

Carefully, I touched the point where she had bitten me. The flesh was raw and ragged to my touch, and my fingers came away sticky with my own blood. The sting came a heartbeat later and I hissed in pain.

"Wait. I'll take care of it," Krejula said. She slowly rose off me, leaving a pool of our combined juices on my skin. On hands and knees she slithered to the chest nearby and pulled a small pouch from it. She knelt by my side and rummaged in the pouch until she brought forth a small jar. She coated her fingertips in a sickly gray paste and smeared it onto the wound on my neck. I recoiled at the icy chill the paste emanated. Only a heartbeat later, I noticed my flesh knitting while Krejula treated the gouges she had made with her fingernails earlier.

The pain receded and I tried to relax a bit.

"Do you always bite your lovers?" I asked, not caring if she wanted to cut me open for my insolence.

"I tried to restrain myself, honest," she said, a wry smile playing around her lips. With her tousled hair, sparkling eyes and that little smile, she looked very adorable. Were it not for her bloody lips and chin. "You should see me when the chieftain is done with me."

"The quick in-and-out number, huh?"

"The dominant partner in an orc coupling wants to make sure the submissive one doesn't run off," Krejula explained, her hands caressing my stomach. Then they wandered lower. Her fingers scooped up a bit of our juices. Looking deep into my eyes, she licked them clean.

"I'm no orc."

"I tried not to bite too hard," Krejula said, leaning forward. Her mouth engulfed my rod and she hungrily licked me. I reached out and caressed her back, noting the scars under my fingertips. She moaned appreciatively as my hand traveled lower, towards her butt. Her attention caused me to get hard again and before I knew it, I gently fucked her mouth.

The tent flap flew inwards and an orc, even bigger than the one who had carried me here, towered over us.

"What are you doing to that?" he roared, a dismissive hand cutting my way. His other hand pulled a short hatchet from his belt. Krejula gave one last, hurried suck, then she stood up, wiped her mouth on her hand and glared at the orc.

"I was blowing him, if you haven't noticed," Krejula hissed at him, her voice taking on a dangerous undertone I hadn't heard from her yet. From out of nowhere, the knife was in her hand. The orc - probably the chieftain, going by the amount of jewelry on him - seemed genuinely intimidated by the naked woman in front of him. Krejula raised the knife until it was at eye level, hissed a sharp syllable and the blade ignited in a glaring white flame. "He is mine. Until the time I'll sacrifice him for the glory of Lorec Bloodhand, I can do what I want with him."

His free hand shot out and slapped Krejula, hard enough to send her stumbling back.

"You are not allowed to taint your body with elven seed!" he roared.

Krejula righted herself, growling softly. "If you don't want to end up as my next sacrifice, you'd better go," she hissed, jabbing the knife his way. "Your son would make a great warlord. And he respects me."

"You wouldn't dare!" He looked from her face to the hatchet, then back again. Krejula slowly stepped closer. Even from where I was laying, I could feel the intense heat coming from the weapon.

"I wouldn't? I am your shaman. I speak for the Bloodhand. And right now the Bloodhand demands you get your stinking carcass out of my tent!" Krejula screeched, raising the knife to strike. The chieftain stepped backwards out of the tent, his eyes never leaving the knife.

* * * *

That wasn't the end of it. No. Only a few minutes later, the chieftain was back, this time with four other orcs. I recognized one of them by the dagger in his boot. In front of his men, the chieftain had more power, and the cunning brute knew it. Thankfully, Krejula had me dress once she kicked out the chieftain, and so I was spared the humiliation of being dragged naked through the camp. Dragged I was nonetheless, until they bound me to a tree directly across from the chieftain's tent. Once I was safely affixed to the trunk, my arms bent backwards around it, the chieftain paraded the survivors of my caravan, Lumea and Frida, into his tent, the dwarven woman fighting every step of the way until one of the orcs smacked her across the head and carried her the rest of the way. Lumea shot me a sympathetic look as she entered the chieftain's tent.

Wasn't I the one supposed to pity them? Going by the sounds from the tent, the chieftain didn't hold back as he went about raping them both. Surprisingly, I only heard Frida scream her impotent rage. Lumea kept suspiciously quiet. Maybe she thought by playing along she would escape the worst of her ordeal.

What I didn't expect was the amount of cruelties the orcs heaped upon me. By the time midnight came around, my head rang, my jaw ached, I had several bruised or broken ribs and I smelled of orc piss as some of the guards marked their territory at my feet.

I was tired beyond belief but sleeping like that was impossible. Instead I tried to think of a way out. My options were limited, to put it mildly. Lumea had been right. Someone had taught these orcs how to tie good knots. Maybe Krejula? Whoever it was had done a great job. There was hardly any slack in the ropes and even if I could have moved, by the time I mustered the strength, my arms and legs had lost all feeling due to lack of circulation.

Another orc walked up to me, a dripping goat leg in one hand, a wooden mug in the other. Grinning, he kept on tearing large chunks of meat from the goat leg with his teeth and wolfing them down. When he was down to the bone, he tossed it at my feet, burped fondly and strutted off. I had expected him to douse me in ale just for the fun of it but he obviously thought drinking it was a better use for the ale than to humiliate the prisoner.

"Too bad he's leaving," a soft, female voice murmured behind my right ear.

"Who are you?" I hissed. For a moment I had hoped Krejula had come to save me, but that voice sounded different. More silken hiss than Krejula's full-bodied tones.

There was motion at my back, the hair-raising sensation of a sharp object passing very close by my fingers, and then the ropes holding me gave. I fell on hands and knees as my numb limbs refused to carry me.

"This is your lucky day, ...friend," she hissed, stepping into my field of view. I saw knee-high crimson boots, the left one had a dagger sheath strapped to it. Between her naked, black-skinned thighs, a long, crimson loincloth hung down. My eyes traveled further up, over a slim black leather belt holding a slender blade and a whip, until I saw her bare stomach. A golden spider ornament sat in her navel, four legs on either side sunk into her skin. Above that, more crimson leather cupping her breasts, adorned with black spiderweb patterns.

She knelt down, a thick copper braid falling over her shoulder, and looked straight into my eyes. Hers were the blood-red of a true dark elf, or drow, set in an angular, jet-black face with pointed ears peeking through her hair. Her lips curled into a playful smile. "You may call me Xandrith, and I am your faerie godmother tonight. Get up."

She grabbed my wrist and hoisted me to my legs without any apparent effort. Standing next to her, I realized she was nearly a head smaller than me, but her whole composure, her presence made her appear much taller than she was.

"What do you want with me? And where did you come from?" I asked her. There was no backpack, no cloak, nothing. Only the revealing garments she wore on her person. The strong presence of spider imagery suggested she was a follower of the Chaos Queen, and I decided to tread carefully around her.

"You ask too many questions. And by the Mother, you stink!" Xandrith snarled some strange syllables, waved her hand my way and a prickling sensation washed over me, taking fatigue, pain and the nasty reek of humiliation off me. She was also a spellcaster, so caution was definitely advised. There were a thousand tavern tales filled with the exquisite cruelties drow priestesses loved to heap upon those who displeased them and I didn't intend to become another one.

"If you don't have any more pressing questions, how about we make a quiet escape? If we move now, the orcs would be none the wiser," Xandrith suggested.

The offer was tempting. I didn't want to stick around and see what kind of entertainment the war chief would derive from my spindly body. But there were at least two others to consider. Frida and Lumea. I couldn't leave them to suffer at the hands of these brutes.

"I can't."

Xandrith, already a few paces away, shot me an incredulous look over her shoulder. "You can't be serious."

"The orcs hold two of my friends hostage. I can't leave them here."

"Why not?" Her hiss could have impaled me.

"It's the right thing to do."

She sighed. "Listen. There are about fifty orcs in this camp. We are blessed by the Mother no one has noticed you slipping free yet. We could be gone like the morning mist and yet you want to jeopardize your clean escape for... what? Two people who owe you nothing? No one told me I would be saving a bloody Paladin!"

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't try."

Her mouth worked until her furious face relaxed. After taking a deep, calming breath, she said: "I will help you. But in return, you will owe me. Do you agree to that?"

There was no hesitation on my part. "I accept."

She embraced me, her arms pinning me in place as strongly as any set of ropes could do, then her mouth found mine. She kissed me, hard, then her teeth found my lower lip and bit down until blood came. She licked the blood off my lips and let me go.

"By the blood that binds us," she gasped, grinning wickedly. She intoned another spell, and a moment later there was a small pile of gear at my feet. A shortbow, a quiver of arrows and a sword, all fashioned from simple materials and without any adornments, but they seemed sturdy and well-made.

"And for the love of all that's ...holy, please be quiet. I don't want to raise more of a ruckus than I have to," Xandrith whispered. "Do you have any idea where your friends may be?"

Arming up, I nodded. "They are in the chieftain's tent over there."

"Hm, two guards. You think you can get past them?"

"No problem. Your spell worked wonders on me."

"Good. I will circle around to the far side of the camp and distract any attention away from you. Once you're done freeing your friends, we'll meet to the east of here. There's an old, leafless oak in a small clearing. You think you can find me?"

"Sure."

Without another word, Xandrith ducked into the shadows and crept to the west, away form the chieftain's tent. I pulled my cloak over my head and crouched low, silently creeping forward until I was out of sight, hidden in a thickly-leafed bush. One of the guards just marched off towards the still blazing bonfire in the camp's center, carrying two empty mugs with him while the other one cocked his head and scratched his balls. I heard muffled sobs and the slapping of flesh against flesh. My keen eyes recognized the guard. It was the burly one who had taken my dagger as his prize.

Now it was my turn to grin. I readied the bow, nocked the arrow and took careful aim. Taking down a deer or taking down an orc, it all took but one perfectly placed shot. I couldn't risk him alerting the whole camp so I aimed for his neck. Inhaling, I pulled the string then held my breath and took the shot. The arrow hissed off the string and found its mark. Gurgling helplessly, the orc clutched at the arrow protruding from his neck, blood spurting between his fingers as the life seeped from him. I dashed from the shrub, bow in one hand, sword in the other and jumped him, finishing him with a lightning-quick stab between the ribs. Not waiting for his death throes to stop, I dragged him past the tent, into another bush. Not a moment too soon. My heart hammering in my ears, I nevertheless heard the tuneless whistling of the returning orc. Quietly, I slung the bow over my shoulder and sheathed the sword, then I bent low and pulled my dagger from the orc's crude boot.

The second orc had stopped. He sniffed the air then looked around. I snatched a pebble from the ground and chucked it against a tree trunk close by. Predictably, the orc's head turned around. Like a pouncing shadow, I was on him. My hand snaked around his neck and clasped over his mouth, the other, wielding the dagger, mercilessly slit his throat. I held him as he bled out, struggling against me, then I let him sink down onto the trampled grass.

From the far side of the camp, I heard muffled grunts and the noises of combat. Xandrith had gone to work too. With the bonfire between us, I couldn't make out any details, only the huge shadows of orcs joining the melee and the sounds of them dying horribly, torn to shreds by a huge, many-armed shadow. Briefly, I wondered what she was doing but then I reminded myself that I didn't have much time. I circled back around to the tent's entrance and slipped through the flap.

No one seemed to have noticed me. It was dark in the tent apart from the light coming through the smoke hole overhead, just enough so my eyesight would work. Tied to the center beam of the tent was Krejula, one eye swollen shut and her jaw at an unhealthy angle. The orc chieftain was balls deep in Frida's ass, brutally fucking the unconscious dwarf woman. A thick lump had sprouted on her temple where he had brutally beaten her. Only Lumea was unharmed, kneeling behind the chieftain and fondling his ass and balls. Her face and hair were caked with generous amounts of orc cum, her lips pressed into a determined line. Getting at the orc would be tricky, wedged as he was between both naked women. Krejula's head hung low, she hadn't seen me either. Placing one foot before the other, careful not to trip over discarded clothing or toppled decorations, I crept towards her. The orc chieftain grunted faster, he was close to his release, completely focused on tormented Frida.

Krejula's head came up and our eyes met. I already knew she could see in the dark well enough so I placed a finger on my lips to keep her quiet. She nodded. I pointed at the orc chief and slashed my hand across my throat. Another nod. Now came the tricky part. I brandished my dagger, pointed at her wrists and then at Lumea. She furrowed her brow then half a smile distorted her face. I stepped behind her and cut her loose. Krejula, without missing a beat, tackled Lumea off the orc chieftain's back. With her out of the way, I swept in. The orc didn't have time to blink, let alone cum. My elbow against his temple stunned him so I could topple him onto his back then I pinned his arms to the floor with my knees and rammed the dagger into the chieftain's eye, killing him instantly. His body spasmed and convulsed under me.

Besides me, the two women wrestled on the floor until Krejula knocked Lumea out with a vicious punch to her head. The naked shaman rose and looked around until she found a pile of clothing, from which she extracted her medicine satchel. She fumbled around in it and produced the cream she had used on me before. The ointment worked almost immediately, the sound of bones scraping against each other was unpleasant. A moment later she cleared her throat.

"You are a welcome sight, Declan."

"Glad we understood each other."

She crossed the space between us, bear hugging me against her. "Thank you for saving me."

"What had gotten into her?" I asked, nodding at Lumea.

"Oh, to be spared the worst of his rage, she had agreed to become his first wife. They tormented the dwarf together, poor thing."

I sighed. Lumea had always been the opportunist but I never would have thought she'd go that far to save her life. She and Frida had been friends forever.

Krejula cocked her head at an ear-piercing wail. "What's happening out there?"

"A ...friend of mine is causing a bit of a mess out there. Can I ask a favor of you?"

"I owe you a blood debt, Declan. You can ask me anything." The way she said the last word sent a shiver up my spine and I had visions of her, writhing under me on a thick pelt, her skin painted gold and dark by flickering firelight. Her hands kneaded my behind and she ground herself into me.

"As much as I'd love to stay, I'll have to go with that ...friend of mine," I said, casting down my eyes. Explaining about Xandrith would be difficult, especially since I didn't quite understand everything myself. But some unseen force prompted me to go with her, something strange, primal, acting against my own will. Krejula pressed her lips to mine, kissing me hungrily. I embraced her, caressing her back, fondling her curvy behind, but then I broke the kiss and disentangled myself from her.

"You may be bothered by your tainted blood," Krejula said. "I am not. In fact, you are a very welcome sight indeed." Her lips brushed mine again. "What do you need of me?"

"I guess after what my friend and I have done, you won't be welcome here any longer. When you leave, can you take them to safety?" I again nodded to where both unconscious women lay.

"To tell the truth, after the latest beating I've decided to quit this tribe, go back to civilization for a time. I heard the Northern Mountains are a nice place this time of year. When you're done, find us in Roarfell. Even if I have to drag these two, I'll swear on my life they will arrive there safely." Her eyes passed over Lumea. "Not sure if she's worth the trouble, though."

Krejula bent low and collected her things. When her eyes met mine again, I saw an eldritch gleam in them. She opened her mouth to speak then shook her head.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Declan," she whispered. "Be safe."

With a lump in my throat, I turned to leave. My foot caught on something and I bent low to inspect it. On the floor, together with other shiny pieces of gear and jewelry, I found my chain shirt. I took it and left the tent.