Graul

"Gotcha now, me heart!" Talov crowed in triumph as he finally managed to claim a chair Maekrix would never fit into and pulled the laughing female over his lap. He just managed to hold both her wrists in one huge grip while he pulled the skirt of her green gown up to expose her kicking legs and jiggling backside.

Graul craned his neck as Talov cooed in surprised pleasure, trying to understand what he was seeing. There was a pale, silky bit of underclothing which covered her bottom from full view.

"Ye naughty sweet!" the redbeard exclaimed. "Not wearin' those fuckin' bloomers, thank Rod's Iron, but ye might as well be nekkid 'neath here yet still I get tah unwrap ye?"

"Wore it only for ye, Talov," she giggled in satisfaction, spreading her well-muscled legs a bit to where the male leaned immediately to see how the smooth, thin fabric cupped her sex.

"Don' buy that fer a moment, cutie," he muttered with amusement, eyes still glittering with interest.

"Whatever. Ah can feel that ye like it!"

She squirmed as if to rub her belly across his crotch, and a low rumble came out of his chest as his rough, male hand stroked her inner thighs appreciatively, and he still stared at the new garment.

"Didja trim up, 'er somethin'?"

"A little," she admitted. "Piece works a tish better if the curls ain't all wild."

"Hmmmm...cannae wait tah see ye groomed like a proper pony, then. I brought a crop just fer such an occasion."

She grasped, squirming some more. "Cad!"

Chuckling, he slipped one thick finger beneath the slim underwear and tugged it up, bunching part of it in the crease of her buttocks and tightening the view on her crotch to show distinct, plump lips such as Krithannia had.

Elf and Dwarf females mate like Humans, Graul noted, having already caught plenty of Humans in the act during their travels.

"Mmmm," Talov hummed, smacking his lips audibly as if he'd eaten something tasty. Then he covered the one cheek he'd exposed and smoothed his hand over it, giving her a pat. "Wanna wager I ken coax ye tah soakin' thru this 'spensive wrapping 'fore I even pull me prick out?"

The female laughed, finally having tugged her wrists loose and willing holding on to the legs of the chair as she wiggled her bottom. "Wager what? Ye double me earnings if I do?"

Talov used both his hands to rub and squeeze her backside. "Oohh, 'tis hard business now, eh?"

"Aye. Ah feel it right 'neath mah gut, randy hound!"

""Ye know personal I'm good at it, Jeri," he boasted. "Ye should pay me!"

She turned her heavily curled head toward him. "An' Ah can't make tha' mess fer anyone, Talov, sweet pea. Takes time."

"True, true. But it's a pretty coin. How 'bout I double if ye ruin these pretties here fer me, Jeri, but ye also open t'take it in any hole an' where I fin'ly spout off is a s'rprise?"

She cooed, giving it some thought, distracted as he stroked the pads of his fingers along her plump, silk-covered sex. She hummed again, kicking her small, pudgy feet. "On condition."

"Aye?"

"Ye can have mah pooper if ye promise ye clean off proper 'fore goin' elsewhere."

The male grinned huge at the simple practicality, but he couldn't help teasing a bit more. "'Cluding yer tits?"

"'Cluding mah tits."

Talov gave her a hard smack on the rump, making her yelp as he cried, "Done! A toast tah seal it! Can ye reach just o' bit to yer left...?"

The Dwarves were getting harder to understand the drunker they got, and for Graul the female Jeri started talking in the lilting rolls and slurs which sounded like a bawdy song before it sounded like a conversation—although that was more due to greater familiarity with the male.

As it was, the drake watched with high curiosity, all his senses open as Talov—with great ceremony and lots of talking which the female seemed to enjoy—alternated between slapping Jeri's wriggling buttocks and slipping his thick fingers down between her legs to tease the cleft of her sex. She squeaked and moaned and rubbed her belly into his lap, which seemed to be causing the shade of Talov's face to get darker as he constantly rumbled, growled, or purred something to the "perfect biscuit" in his lap.

At one point, Jeri impatiently tugged loose the ties which were squeezing and lifting her milk givers, gripping the chair leg with one hand while pulling her dress of her shoulders with the other, one at a time, and even Graul blinked in amazement at the size of them.

"Nah fair!" Talov cried, distracted from his task as he tried to see the new expanse of flesh revealed.

"'Tis fer me, ya sodden krumpkie!" she retorted, twisting rose-pink nipples with one hand as her face was now easily as flushed as the male's. "Keep goin' if ye want tah see me mess m'self! 'Less ye mess yerself, first!"

Talov spanked her again as if in retribution for the demand, except that this was exactly what she'd demanded so Graul didn't quite understand that part except that it would get him closer to mounting the female. The familiar did notice how pink Jeri's bottom was becoming, causing her pale, silk undergarment to stand out all the more.

Talov's thick fingers slipped beneath the garment more than once to do something which made Jeri's red curls bounce as she tossed her head on further gasps, mewling and grinding her hips against the male's trousers, one hand squeezing and massaging her full and heavy "tits." The spankings became less regular, more surprises to distract Jeri and give Talov a reason to growl something lewd at her.

Abruptly something seemed to change; the banter stopped and there was an increased urgency in each of their movements as they muttered back and forward to each other. Jeri's face was deeply flushed and lightly sweating, and she kept her legs open as Talov played with her from waist to knees, and Graul slinked carefully to another shadow to see whether what he smelled would match in sight.

Basically, it did. The female's deeply reddened sex was practically visible through the pale silk as there was moisture aplenty causing it to stick to her flesh. Talov loved this and stared as he touched her with intense focus, as if to lock it into his memory. Then something else happened which genuinely surprised the drake.

"OOohhh, OH! Talov! Fook...! Aye-aye-oh! Dinnae stop!!"

Jeri humped against the male's thigh, clearly in urgent heat as she mauled her own breasts, eyes closed and face scrunched in concentration. Talov seemed to have lost conscious control of his mouth as it hung open and he watched the female in her throes, sniffing deeply of the warm air around them.

The cries and imminence reached an apex of some sort at last, and Jeri tensed up rigid as a plank, crying out and screaming in pleasure even without a male being mounting on her. Then quite a lot of clear, hot fluid released from between Jeri's thighs, overflowing her ruined silk and running down her legs, soaking into the male's trousers—and he didn't seem to mind at all.

"Ahhhhh, good girl...!" Talov gasped, sweating quite a lot himself by now and he kept his fingers deep inside her undergarment, moving in a hard rubbing motion as Jeri trembled and encouraged him with gibberish.

Lose control of bladder? Graul wondered, flicking his tongue out and tasting the air. The smell of urine was pervasive in any place where the two-legged races convened in large groups—be it ship or settlement—but that wasn't what the drake detected here. The female Jeri only seemed moist and ready for mounting.

Very strange mating signal.

"By th' forge, honey, I never..." Talov gasped, shaking in lust and appreciation as he somehow managed to both lift his female and stand without pushing her off onto the floor.

The male was obviously supporting her weight as she quivered in the aftershock of her climax and he gently kissed her forehead and cheeks, murmuring foreign endearments as he squished her large breasts up against his chest, holding her close. Next he reached to pull her dress down the rest of the way, letting it pool at her feet and peeling of the saturated silk next to reveal a trimmed patch of orange-red hair, which he admired as his rough palms glided over her wide hips. Then he pulled back the covers on the stout bed and helped her lie down on it before undressing himself.

"No goddess has anythin' on ye, Jeri," he said, tossing his clothes aside and climbing onto the comfortable nest with her. "Worth e'ery doubled coin a dwarf c'n mine."

The female smiled and spread her legs, opening her arms to welcome him as the hairy male covered her, kissing and burying his face in between her breasts and humming. Graul expected Talov to immediately press his painful-looking erection between the slippery lips within Jeri's matted fur to complete the mating, but it seemed the male Dwarf wasn't finished yet with the kissing and squeezing of the female's curves and talking to her, though even the drake couldn't hear what he was saying.

Eventually, at Jeri's own insistence, Talov grabbed his broad cock and guided it in, now lustily humping his female and—at last! —mating her properly. Her hands clutched his broad back and she moaned happily beneath him, reminding Graul strongly of the water drake from the Lonely Ones as he'd borne her down to give her young.

Graul would not get to watch all of it as his Maekrix would send for him before that. However, both Krithannia and his mage would confirm in their looks to each other that they, too, heard and smelled the Dwarf and his mate continuing late into the night.

*******

Augran was much larger than Taiding, and it had a different tone underlying the thick scents of more Humans than Dwarves. It was a patchwork of styles, ranging from buildings and the patterns of streets to the favored colors and materials of everyday dress. There was a presence, hints from faraway lands, a busyness and often-voiced a concern for events going on outside their city walls even if they also sounded unsure how to address it, or whether they could.

It was the first place Graul overheard—at least what fraction he could understand in Common as he got better listening and sharing with Maekrix—many conflicting perceptions and points of view. There had been a broad "sameness" in the smaller settlements which reinforced their identity and their place in the land, but with it came a lack of concern for travel or gossip of threat that wasn't over the next hill. Taiding had the sameness as well, only in the opposite direction of managing a hard-earned chain of resources and trade agreements spanning the Great Lake.

Augran felt different; there was no single sameness, though there were small groups of likeness living next to a different small group of likeness. Talov's earlier mention of three different city councils became quite believable as promises were being made for the spring trade season, but only if certain influential or wealthy families would support a particular Man for tasks linked with managing the complex needs of so many different Humans living together.

"This place should not stand on its own, but it does," Maekrix reflected during a meal where his tail had to sit in his lap lest the server trip over something they couldn't see.

"Started as three fishing villages that grew together," Talov told them. "The centers still exist, Alron, Bor, and Niss, with diff'rent political and municipal groups governin' them. They been cheek 'n jowl together fer so long, they kinda have tah work t'gether even as they reg'larly deal with some jackass who wants tah be King o' Augran. They've managed tah reject it so far wit' three power bases, but the key tah that is in the structure o' their fighters. All defense. Th' agreement in signed an' copied documents—three o' 'em—which says they won't support givin' up their young men fer conquest. Army is good defense an' peacekeepers but relatively small compared tah Manalar."

"Interesting," Mourn murmured, absorbing more than questioning at this point. "And 'documents' mean this much? They could be burned."

Talov grinned. "Augran had th' foresight tah open a few magic schools. They 'ave mages fer hire here an' a Guild managing 'em, unlike most places. The documents become bindin' when they can resist fire. Even the periodic burnin' o' a record hall sees th' important shit intact from th' ash."

"Guild," Krithannia said. "This is a merchant agreement for shared accountability and stabilized trade, yes?"

Talov winked at her. "Ye've been listenin,' I see. Aye. Couple o' Guilds here but kinda splintered in bureaucracy. Hard tah find who's in charge o' which at a partic'lar time, since they can be from any o' th' three cities."

Mourn constantly scanned the Humans around him, his drake sitting a bit unhappily beneath the table, appearing as a clean and groomed dog to onlookers. He had to be well-behaved not to be asked to leave the meal-hut before they were done. At least his Maekrix fed him scraps beneath the table.

"You think enough would be open to Yungian trade?" the half-blood asked.

"Aye, I do," Talov replied. "Enough Dwarven influence here to tilt the scales if an offer came tah th' table."

"There is still some space to build to the South and West near the river."

"Getting' a bit ahead o' yerself, ai'ntcha?"

Mourn grunted, more forethought and interest passing through his mind than at any point in the past twenty years. Graul could feel his excitement.

Trading. Bargaining. Extra hands bringing wealth to one place from farther away. Easier to collect...

Graul agreed. We not have to reach each shelter or caravan to trade or steal. They come to us.

If the Guilds are splintered...what if they were one?

Outmaneuver army and council without breaking cities, Graul supplied.

They liked this idea. Something about it scratched an itch Maekrix hadn't even realized he had. It was brought up quietly in whispers at first, and Talov was looking a bit proud with the initiative, Graul thought, though Krithannia pursed her lips in cautious thought before agreeing to anything. She was the balancer and tester of their budding ambitions, asking the questions that addressed possible failure. His half-blood mage never enjoyed the idea of failure but had experienced it enough—either being punished for it by his Matron or simply going hungry a while longer in the wild— to understand it was just as valid a concern here.

"We act too aggressively, the Humans will respond fast and may overturn their order," Krithannia counseled. "They escalate things quickly and have less to lose not foreseeing a coming fall."

"Tha's an interestin' way tah look at it," their Dwarf commented, resting on his elbows and watching her in her believably Human disguise. "How would ye know this, Krithannia, and why would they have less tah lose?"

"I studied our history with Humans," she replied somberly. "This was the pattern, over and over. Their leaders never live long enough to regret choices affecting ten generations of their children, so they have less restraint when it comes to destruction of their own rules."

Talov nodded. "Or they're jus' respondin' tah the changes fast as they come out here. Choices made in a storm has more concern fer th' storm than ten generations from then."

Krithannia nodded in agreement. "They are closer to the animals than we are."

Talov raised a brow. "Ye incluin' me in that statement?"

"I've seen evidence of foresight, Master Talov. Your kind may only live three to four hundred years, but that is several times the average Human."

He shrugged. "True. Yet we're prob'ly close tah the animals as they are."

"I disagree," the Noldor replied. "Dwarves do more with their comparative longevity."

"Hard tah say that when we don' have a few three-century Humans tah compare that to."

"You are defending them? You are too humble, Master Talov."

The Dwarf shrugged. "Don' underestimate their own ingenuity in a crisis. Some problems they create themselves, yeah, I'd even wager there's ones yer own kind have done, if on a slower scale. But even th' Dwarves 'aven't managed tah survive in every single environment we know 'bout. When all around ye is Human, ye best know some o' the rules they play by and be willin' tah change it up 'r yer not gonna keep up. Might be why both o' yer kind—as I'm trustin' what ye say—are hiding out. Fell behind. Yer never gonna keep up now."

Krithannia frowned. "We serve a different purpose, Master Talov. One which the Humans cannot offer the rest of the world."

"Oh? An' that is?"

Her eye contact broke then as she looked down at the table. The regret for leading the direction here was obvious. "It is...difficult to explain. It's not...'practical,' or in a sure reality you would grasp, Master Talov."

"Try me sometime when yer ready tah spill, Krith. Ye might be surprised."

It was only a few nights later that Mourn caught a scent which sent Graul immediately into a shadow-jump down an alley and the hybrid's tail to lashing as he growled without thinking.

"Shh," Talov hushed, nudging them quickly into the alley where Graul had vanished. "Soundin' like a White Wolf there, kid, watch tha' someone realizes it's comin' from ye."

"What do you sense?" Krithannia asked him earnestly.

Even looking Human, Mourn's tongue came out as he inhaled and moved against the wall into the deepest shadow to peek out, scanning the area. They'd entered a public space with performers for some kind of festival, and the crowds and noise and scents of food had risen sharply. They hadn't even decided whether to enjoy the revelries before Mourn caught that scent he didn't like.

"There is another here," he murmured, his lips barely moving as the words came through clenched teeth.

"'Nother what?" Talov asked frankly.

"To'vah-krav, " he answered without blinking or without looking away from the crowds.

"What?"

"Dragonchild," Graul hissed softly in translation from his shadow.

Krithannia gasped softly, meeting Talov's gaze in alarm. "Where? Is this other aware of us?"

"Not sure."

"Ye two still dampenin' yer auras?"

"Yes, Talov."

"Male 'r female?" the Dwarf asked, leaning out toward the crowds himself.

"Male," Mourn replied. "But not Baenar."

"An' yer gut says that's a threat t'ye?"

"It does."

"O-kay, then...let's move a bit away an' collect ourselves."

The hybrid wouldn't budge. "I am still trying to see through the illusion."

"Ye aren't thinkin' straight, kid. Let's step away."

"He is a threat to each of you as well," Mourn added on a growl, "if he realizes we are allies."

"Is this just the Dark-Elf talkin'?" Talov asked bluntly. "Have ye ever met another o' yer kind? Maybe he'd be glad tah have comp'ny."

Mourn just shook his head, muscles standing up in his neck as he sniffed and probed for magic.

"Our own tales...contain a few of battling Dragons causing massive destruction, Master Talov," Krithannia whispered sadly. "We cannot know the cause, but the Great Drakes have never been seen moving cooperatively together. If Mourn is so certain of this, I trust his instincts in this."

"So, then what?" he asked. "Ye gonna challenge 'im tah a fight here an' now?"

At first Mourn didn't reply, though he did not deny the thought.

"Sure way tah get us all killed if ye do," Talov continued sternly. "Bastard's been hidin' in Augran much longer an' ye an' understands Humans enough tah be at a festival wit' 'em. Ye know nothin' 'bout 'im. He could be older, have contacts an' resources to draw on. Move on stupid impulse now, kid, an' ye lose th' advantage if he hasn't seen ye yet."

This time Graul slipped back into view, climbing up a startled Talov's back and resting on his heavily muscled shoulder. The Dwarf understood the support and allowed it as Graul looked up at his Maekrix, urging him through their bond until Mourn finally looked away from the festival and turned his head to his familiar.