New Rider 1

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My world may not necessarily conform to your preconceived notions - or even to standards or rules set forth in my other works. The joy is in the journey. Strap in and mind your elbows. This work of fiction is part of a series. This series contains descriptions of sex-acts between consenting adults but that will not be the focus of the account.

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~~~ Prologue ~~~~

"Get ... ", the male voice was firm but labored. The warrior's words were interrupted by a pained gasp. "Get the princess ..." He paused to take another ragged breath. "Into the cave ..."

I could sense four individuals - wood elves by their scent - moving into the mouth of my grotto. The elves had crossed between my wards a moment before that. One of the adults was older. The other three were far younger - two barely old enough to be called adults. The oldest of the group was severely injured. One of the younger males was helping him walk. Those two were followed by the female. The last male was bringing up the rear.

It looked like my extended period of selfish introspection had come to an end. From the sounds that followed the group, they were being pursued - by individuals that either had no desire or no need to control their noisy breathing.

I changed to my human form, threw on a cerulean blue shirt and pants that were trimmed in fine silver embroidery, strapped one of my swords around my waist, and headed out of my home.

The doors that exit my living quarters open to the east. Stepping out of my home brings you into a large cavern that runs from that point to the south, down a gentle slope. I walked through my large double-doors to greet my guests as they came up the long incline.

One young soldier was helping the wounded leader and one stood between the young blonde woman and whatever was coming after them. The one by the princess looked scared but he had his sword out and was doing his best to hold up in the face of what he was certain would be their doom. It was obvious to me that, if I hadn't been here, these four would soon join the rest of their compatriots.

The elder elf looked old enough to be the sire of any of the youths - but he didn't share their smell. I focused on him for a moment. At almost a hundred years of age, the man was no longer a youth - but he wasn't that old for an elf. Even as injured as he was, he had the bearing of one who was used to giving commands and having them followed. I didn't know what had happened to the rest of their group but - based on the ages of the younger soldiers - their party had lost several skilled fighters already.

My cave is not near the road - and they (or the princess at least) were not dressed for walking - which meant their mounts (and presumably the rest of their party) had been captured or eliminated.

"Welcome to my humble abode," I said, walking down the ramp towards the entrance to the cave. "How may I help you?"

The two young soldiers turned and gaped at me; the woman - barely more than a girl - gasped and said, "We are under attack. We've brought disaster upon you!"

"18 years and 3 months, unwed - and untouched - second in line for the throne of your father," I said as I analyzed her. "You, my dear, have beautiful eyes."

Her eyes were sky blue and sparkled like diamonds. Her straight, fine, light blonde hair (so light that it was almost white) hung past her shoulders and gave a soft golden glow to her pristine features.

"How do you know ...?" she asked.

I knelt next to the wounded warrior and pressed my hand to his chest, pouring healing into his body. My hands glowed with a light blue sheen as I healed the worst of his injuries.

"Catch me up, if you will, Captain," I asked him.

His eyes widened as the pain decreased and he saw me healing him.

"What are you?" he asked.

"Later ...," I told him, "What am I fighting?"

"Not your fight," he coughed out. His breathing was still labored.

"This is my home," I informed him. "You have sanctuary here. I will explain that to those who follow you. If they choose to attack, I will fight. They smell like orcs. Who and what are they?"

"Orcs, yes ...," he said, "a war-party ... maybe a few goblins as well ... came after the princess. We were a dozen strong. I don't know how they knew our route."

"Shaman? Berserkers? Warriors?" I asked.

"At least one shaman. Maybe a necromancer. The rest just seemed like grunts. Leader is a mid-level warrior. They're probably 50 strong."

He coughed again. At least no blood came out with the spittle that slipped from between his lips. He would live. I decided to deal with the orcs and finish healing him when I returned.

"Stay put," I told him. "Keep the young ones close. Tell them not to touch my shit."

He looked into my eyes and he nodded.

"On me!" he gasped to the others.

The soldiers stepped closer.

"Princess," he called. "Join us, please."

I stood, turned, and strode past the younger elves. I walked towards the entrance of the cave. It was quieter than it had been a few moments ago. I stepped into the late afternoon light.

An orc scout, perched in a nearby tree, shot an arrow at me, grinning evilly. I caught the shaft in my hand and grinned back. His smile disappeared. I sent a pulse of lightning into the arrow and flung the thing at his face with a good amount of force.

His red eyes widened as it sped towards him. Those same eyes rolled back into his skull when the dart struck him in the forehead. It almost looked like the two orbs were searching to see where the tip of the arrow had gone. His body twitched once and he dropped dead, tumbling off of the branch, to the ground.

I headed down the mountain to find a couple dozen orcs that were climbing the steep incline towards my residence.

"Greetings and salutations," I called out.

A burly orc with a club charged at me. I drew my sword and threw it at him. It spun in the air - end over end - as it flew at him. It pierced him through - coming to rest in his chest. The force of my throw drove the green-skinned attacker back to where he'd started his sprint. I flicked my palm up, called the sword back to my hand, and sheathed it once more. Seeing what had happened to the first grunt who'd tried me, the rest of the cannon fodder decided to wait for the big-brains to talk it out.

"Give us the princess and nobody dies," the biggest brute among them said.

I looked the beast over. He had some scars but he was fairly young for an orc war-party leader. He was a stocky fellow. I had him by a span in height.

"Nobody else," I replied to him.

"Else what?" he asked.

"You said 'nobody dies' - but I've already killed two of yours - so you should really say 'nobody else dies'."

"You think you're funny?" he growled.

"I AM funny," I told him, "and you're funny-looking. Get off my mountain."

"Your mountain?"

I nodded and said, "My mountain. The people you were following are now under my protection. You have an hour to be gone."

"Din't see no fucking signs," one whelp to the leader's left barked at me.

I flicked my palm towards him and sent a bolt of lightning through his skull - which popped like a zit that had been ignored for too long.

"There's your sign," I said to the others, letting my eyes encompass them all, before settling my focus back on the leader. "One hour. I have a really keen sense of smell and you smell to the fucking heavens - so don't try to leave any of your vermin behind. If you do, I'll come collect an extra hide for every one that I find between here and the road."

A shaman stepped forward, pulled some knuckle-bones from his leather pouch, and dropped them at his feet. He knelt down and examined them. His eyes widened, he collected his bones, stood to his feet, and he turned to head down the mountain. When the big brute saw that, he ordered a withdrawal - by turning and following the shaman.

One little shit with a bow - hiding behind a tree, farther to my right, was eye-balling me. I pulled my sword, and threw it through the tree trunk. The tree was only a foot wide; the other foot and a half of my blade skewered the fucker. The rest of the maggots moved faster after that.

My magic couldn't get a good pull on my sword so I walked over to retrieve it. Just for shits and giggles, I popped his melon-head with a burst of lightning before I pulled my sword from the tree. The last of the retreating orcs weren't quite in the splash-zone - but the sizzling pop - followed by the explosive splatter - put a little spring in their steps. I'm kind of a group motivator, I guess. I should probably write a self-help book and do speaking tours.

I swept around to the left, looking for stragglers, and smelled one lingering orc - with an extra bit of lingering foul odor. This one had, apparently, thought the negotiations were going to last longer - and had decided to take a shit in my woods.

I stepped past the tree that the gaunt female was squatting against and her eyes bulged out of her head. Her black hair was done up in dreadlocks that hung just past her shoulders. Her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in several months. Her spear was lying on the ground a couple feet away. At around six and a half feet tall, she was a foot shorter than me. Her skin was a bit lighter than most of her kind and her facial features were a bit finer and I wondered a little if she wasn't a half-orc instead.

"You headed out after you're done?" I asked her.

She nodded fearfully.

"I'll leave you to it then," I told her. "For future reference, I'd prefer that you shit closer to the road but I realize that, sometimes, it just kinda creeps up on ya."

She nodded again, watching my eyes.

I turned to head home.

"Master?" she called out.

I turned back to face her, slightly amused that we were holding a conversation while she was still defecating - although, thankfully, she seemed to be done.

"Can I serve you?" she asked.

"I need no servant," I told her.

"Please?" she begged. "I'll do anything. All I ask is for food and a place to sleep."

I looked her over. Her eyes were clear - wide with a bit of fear - but focused. She was nearly 20 - and still a virgin - a little unusual for an orc. She was either a loner or a bit of an outcast.

"What about your war-tribe?" I asked.

"My mother is dead. I don't know who my father was. My brothers are gone. I'm only allowed to eat what I can beg for. The warriors offer food for fuck but I don't want their fuck."

She spoke better than the average grunt. I looked into her eyes. They were dark brown. I'd always associated that eye-color with intelligence and solidity. She didn't look away as I studied her - she was simply waiting for my response. The steady look in her eyes suggested that she was telling the truth - and that she was serious about her offer.

Finally, she wiped her ass with some leaves and stood to her feet, lowering her loin-cloth to cover herself. She was thin - emaciated. She pointed to where she had shat, "That was some berries I tried. I won't eat those again." She offered me an embarrassed smile.

Intriguing.

"Grab the spear, then," I told her. "I'll ask the princess if she needs another attendant. If you try anything stupid, I will eat your beating heart while you watch."

She swallowed hard, grabbed her spear, and then unstrung a thin leather thong and hung the weapon behind her back, showing that she was not actively defending herself. I nodded at her intentional display of non-aggression and submission. I turned and headed towards the cave. She followed a few steps behind.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

It had been more than 120 years since I'd left my mother's nest. She had kicked me out because she planned to hook up with my father, once again, to try to produce another of our kind. I never knew if she succeeded or not. I never went back. Male dragons shouldn't be near each other for too long. It causes problems.

I had been old enough that my mother would, likely, have been close to pushing me to find my own territory soon anyway - even if she hadn't decided that she wanted to ween and train another dragon.

Her bond-mate had taught me everything he could about fighting as a man. He had spent years honing the skills of my human form. Mom had taught me everything I needed to know about being a dragon. I never saw either of them again.

Several years passed and I found a young beauty that captured my eye - and my heart. "Marry them young," mom had always said, "you can train them the way you want."

Thinking back, now, I'm sure that my mother's bonded-human was not her first - and he might not have lived long enough to train my future sibling - but mom hadn't talked about the pain that came when your bond-mate passed.

Ashlyn - my first mate (and rider) - hadn't been killed in battle. It was Time that took her from me. Time, then, sat there and watched me lie around my home, despondent and lost. And now, Time had brought me some new guests.

The princess was beautiful - and spirited - and seemed kind. Maybe it was time for me to take a new mate. It was time for the dragon to have a new rider.

~~~ New Rider ~~~

"I'm back," I called out, as I entered the cave. "I have an orc girl with me. Your pursuers are gone."

I walked up to the wounded guard-captain and squatted down to heal him some more.

"Orc-girl," I asked her as I worked, "what is your name?"

"Tala, sir," she replied.

"Tala, go find some firewood," I said, "enough to last the night."

I glanced at the younger of the soldiers.

"Go, help her, if you would, please. I don't have any firewood."

"You live in a cave and don't have any wood for a fire?" he asked.

"You'll understand soon enough," I told him.

I bent down, scooped the warrior up in my arms, and headed farther up the ramp.

"Your blood is green?" the princess asked me.

I glanced down and saw her looking at my arm. There was green blood where she was looking. It must have come from the orc I had stabbed through the tree.

"That's not mine," I replied.

At the top of the ramp was a campsite with a few rustic amenities. I carried the man to one of the seats that encircled the fire-ring and set him down.

"You may want to take off some of that armor so I can make sure we're getting everything healed," I told him.

He looked into my eyes and nodded. "Thanks," he said, "for everything. The king will have my head."

"Not unless he warned you that there was a war-party waiting," I told him.

"Still," he said. "I nearly lost the princess. He'll be incensed."

"It's good that he cares for his heir," I replied.

He rolled his eyes a little.

I raised my eyes at him, suggesting that he expound on his thoughts.

He shook his head and said, "His majesty would be upset if something happened to her - but mostly at my failure to protect the royal family." He turned to the youthful female and said, "Sorry, princess."

"It's well-known that - so long as my brother lives - I'm just trading stock," she replied, somewhat tartly.

"Beauty as rich as yours," I said, "is worth several kingdoms."

"Thank you, sir knight," she replied, blushing a little. "The girl?" she asked looking towards the entrance to the cave.

"She said they didn't want her. She asked to serve me," I replied.

"You've need of a servant?" she inquired.

"Hardly," I said, chuckling. "I'd meant to see if she could serve you. She seems fairly bright - for an orc. She might have a little human in her somewhere."

The blonde wood elf nodded and said, "We've lost all that we had, but I wouldn't turn her away regardless."

"I thought as much," I replied, "on both accounts. I'll get you home - if that's what you wish?"

"What I wish?" she asked. "It's what father will require."

"You said you're 'trading stock'?"

She nodded, looking at me inquisitively.

"What if I proposed a trade to your father?" I asked her.

"You would barter for my hand?" she asked.

"If you allowed it," I said.

The captain looked back and forth between us and then looked at me and began to open his mouth.

I looked at him and said, "I am ruler of a small kingdom. I'll negotiate with her father after I've made sure she's not opposed to the idea."

His nod was interrupted by the princess' words.

"I'll get no say in it," she groused.

"You'll get a say in it from me," I told her, "and there will be no negotiation without it."

She looked steadily into my eyes, analyzing me, but stayed quiet.

"I will protect you and get you home, princess," I told her. "Before we enter your father's domain, I will ask for your hand. If you are willing, I will ask him next."

"We are in my father's domain now," she said, smirking.

"If that were true," I told her, "you wouldn't have been running from a band of orcs."

"We've no soldiers," the captain interrupted. "How will you see us safely home?"

"Are there orcs following you anymore?" I asked him.

He lowered his head, and said, "I guess not."

Tala and the soldier came trudging up the incline with armloads of limbs and branches. The orc was struggling because she was trying to carry more than she should. I hurried down to take the burden from the orc girl - who was carrying twice as much as the soldier - but couldn't figure out how to take what she held in her arms without losing it all. She gasped as I scooped her up - burden and all - and trotted up the hill, passing the young man on the way.

"You need a bath, orc," I told her, as I set her down.

"Sorry, master," she said.

"Let's get a fire going and then I'll see to your hygiene, young lady," I told her.

"Lady?" she guffawed.

"A servant of the princess should be a lady," I told her. I turned to the princess and asked, "Am I wrong?"

The elf snickered, covering her mouth, and shook her head.

"Are her eyes not the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" I asked Tala.

"She IS stunning, my lord," the orc replied.

I started breaking the branches and limbs up and arranging them in the fire pit. Once I had a good base, I called forth flames into my palm and eased it into the smaller pieces of wood until it caught. Soon a fire was warming the space.

"You had a fire pit - but no wood," the young man said, implying a question.

"I've been by myself for over a year," I replied.

"You don't need a fire?" he asked.

I shook my head.

He just stared at me, incredulously.

I stepped over to the princess, dropped to one knee, and extended a hand to her. She looked at me like I was crazy - but took it.

"I've already told you what I propose. I want you to make your decision based on how you feel about ME - but I won't withhold anything from you. That wouldn't be fair."

She nodded.

"I'm going to reveal my true form to you. Please do not run off. I will protect you, regardless of your decision about our future together. Promise?"

She raised her eyebrows, but nodded.

I raised her knuckles to my lips, kissed them, and walked into my home.

I had thought about changing near the entrance to the cave - but - when the group saw my true form - they might feel trapped - with me between them and their only exit. If I were deeper in the cave, they could escape by running out. It was now full dark - so that wouldn't be too safe of an option - but it would at least be a choice.

I transformed and padded through my doors - back towards my five visitors.

I didn't need to see my reflection in a mirror to know what I looked like. My body was easily 50 feet long - without the tail. That added another twelve feet or so. My neck was nearly as long as my tail. My head looked as much like a lion's as it did a snake's - with my 'mane' a frilled mass of spikes and horns. My scales were mostly a charcoal color with highlights and accents of cerulean. Bolts of electricity occasionally arced along my back and sides. My eyes were the color of the princess' - with tiny bolts of lightning flitting back and forth across their surface. My wings were folded behind me but each one was about as big as my body. They were protected by layers of scales as well.