Sindara Ch. 01

"Goodnight," she said with an enticing stretch.

"Uh, yes," I said, "Goodnight." I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the ground, but I slept restlessly. The ground wasn't very comfortable, surprise, surprise, and Ilnara kept making strange little noises behind me. Finally curiosity got the better of me and I turned over to see what she was up to.

She was facing away from me, but it was no secret what she doing. One of her legs was up so I could see her tail was pumping in and out of one of her holes, though from my angle I couldn't tell which one. I could also easily see her fingers rubbing her sex as she made little coos and moans. When I wondered what her other hand was up to, she turned slightly and I realized she was fondling one of her breasts and twisting her nipple. She almost caught me watching her but didn't say anything if she did. This was an... interesting turn of events.

Since we were both naked and sleeping just across the campfire from each other, that made it difficult to just put her out of mind. Whether she knew I was asleep or not, she was putting on a show. Given that neither of us had any privacy, I figured some harmless voyeurism wouldn't hurt.

Her thighs glistened with moisture in the dying light of the campfire, and the tip of her tail was covered in the same drippings. She replaced it with her fingers, driving them into her pussy three at a time then brought the tip of her tail up to her mouth to lick her own juices. A shiver run down her spine and she slowly lowered her tail back between her legs.

If only Master Delvo could see me now. Well, actually not, that would be weird. If he knew what all of us younger paladins did during the night, he would probably pop a blood vessel. I respected the old warrior like a father, but he was of the old school of thought: that our order's code of honor demanded celibacy. I had read them myself though, and nowhere did it say that, but many older knights insisted it was an unwritten rule.

As I watched Ilnara succumbing to sexual bliss, I couldn't help but imagine it was my fellow Paladin Sharonna lying there instead. Her bedroll was always an open invitation for me, but this girl wasn't her, so for the moment I might have been able to look, but couldn't touch her. But even watching the Sindaran girl pleasuring herself in front of me, I still couldn't help but think of Sharonna.

She was not the only woman I'd been intimate with, but she was the fairest woman I had ever met, and if I had lived a hundred years ago, I would have fought to the death with anyone who claimed otherwise. Weird customs they had back then, but I can see where they were coming from. Since she was of Dragonblood, the magic flowing through her veins made her uncommonly gorgeous, but even then she was exceptional. Her hair turned from gold to silver depending on the light, I swear her piercing blue eyes had hypnotic powers, though she denied it, and her body supposedly made goddesses envious. The perfect mix of strength, beauty, and fertility, but I'd be lying if this girl I had just met today wasn't a very, very close second place.

Ilnara finally quivered and stifled a loud moan then relaxed. I realized she was finished now, but just as soon as I fell asleep, a howling shriek issued from the marshes. I bolted upright and reached for my sword. Ilnara was right beside me not a moment later with her sword already drawn. I stole a peek and noticed her cheeks were still flushed with lust and her thighs still glistened with her juices, but I made no mention of it. She looked away shamefully but we didn't get the chance to speak about it though because there was movement on the shoreline, though in the dark I couldn't make out what it was.

"What is it?" I asked right before another shriek.

"Night drakes," Ilnara hissed.

"Night drakes?" I asked, "What is that, a creature of some kind?"

"It's complicated, no time to explain," Ilara said then stuck her bare foot right in the fire, again without even flinching, and stamped it out. Then she picked up her cloak and hastily tied it around her shoulders.

"They're sure to outnumber us," she said, "We need to hide now." I looked around, not that I could see much, but I remembered in the daylight that there hadn't been any cover in the marshlands.

"Hide where?" I asked. Ilnara simply grabbed my arm and dragged me along behind her. I followed blindly putting my trust in her night-vision. The way our feet sank into the mud with every step, I knew the two of us had to be leaving behind a very easy-to-follow trail. However, I got the impression it was most important right now to put some distance between us and these night drakes. I at least hoped it was dark enough to hide our tracks until morning.

There was another shriek, much closer this time, and Ilnara led us away from the shoreline and into the lake. It was shallow enough that my blanket stayed dry, but that also meant I had to tread lightly so I didn't make a splash. Finally she showed me our hiding place: a camouflaged hunting blind hidden among the reeds. It floated gently on the surface of the lake like a raft, and while it was drafty, it was at least dry. She bid me to climb in first while she made sure we weren't followed, then crawled in next to me.

"I think we're safe for now," she said.

"How dangerous are these creatures?" I asked, "I've fought hordes of demons all at once, they can't be any worse than that."

"I assume you had armor then," Ilnara said. I raised a finger to protest and remembered I wasn't wearing more than a blanket, let alone my armor which I couldn't summon.

"Better to wait this one out, sir knight," she said and I nodded in agreement.

I heard one of the night drakes shriek again and peered out of the blind to try and catch a glimpse of the creature. At first there was nothing. The only light was the moons and their reflection off a glassy pond. Then something disrupted the water and there was a vaguely humanoid silhouette. What little I was able to see of the creature made me very glad I didn't have to fight it. It looked to be the same general shape of Ilnara, but its proportions were all wrong, and the way it moved and carried itself looked much more feral. Its long spindly fingers ended in claws which gleamed in the moonlight. Its horns, in contrast to Ilnara's short curly ones, were long and angular, and I noticed they came to a point forward instead of behind its head. Finally, I noticed a row of short spines that ran down the length of its back to its the base of its muscular tail, then it disappeared back into the dark of night.

"What are they exactly?" I whispered.

"Legends say they're a cursed bloodline," Ilnara said, "You want to know why I'm so desperate to find a mate, that's partly why. They have been parthens for countless generations after they were corrupted by foul blood magic. Now they are neither half-dragon nor beast, but something in between. It's said they don't need to eat because they draw sustenance from their own cruelty, spurred by their reckless hate for all of Sindara."

"I imagine they are called night drakes because they only come out at night," I said.

"They fear the sun more than anything else," Ilnara answered, "And they love the winter months because the nights are longer and they are as cold and as cruel as them."

"And you sure they can't find us in here?" I asked.

"No but it's better than waiting for them out in the open," she said, "I'll keep watch, you try to get some sleep." I wondered for a second if her keeping watch would involve more playing with herself, but I was exhausted now that the wave of adrenaline had passed. Now I was having trouble keeping my head up and my eyes open, so I spread my blanket over me and stretched out on the floor of the blind.

I woke up later shivering. The blanket was too ragged and thin to keep out the cold without a campfire. I tried curling up and pulling it tighter but it didn't help any. Ilnara heard my soft whimper and crawled up beside me.

"Adiran, are you alright?" she asked.

"So cold," I said through chattering teeth. She felt my hands again and sighed.

"It's even worse now that it was this evening," she said, "I'm sorry but I can't build a fire. They'll see it."

I nodded and said, "Get yourself out of here. I'll only slow you down, but please find my friends if they are on Sindara."

"Don't talk like that!" she said, "You'll survive a winter night in the marshes if I have anything to say about it." Then she laid down right behind me, wrapped her arms and legs around my freezing limbs, and then draped her cloak over the two of us for some extra warmth.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Keeping you warm," she whispered.

"You sure about this? Shouldn't you be watching for those night drakes?" I asked.

"Do you see any other sources of heat?" she asked, "If we're quiet they won't find us." I nodded and sank into her warm embrace. Although she couldn't breathe fire, there was still enough inside her that she was much warmer than a human woman. Finally the life returned to my extremities and I could drift back to sleep.

Yet I still didn't sleep through the whole night. Come to think of it, this night seemed like it had gone for much longer than one on Cadionia. Whatever the reason, I was wide awake now, though Ilnara had finally fallen asleep behind me. She had nuzzled her way into the base of my neck while resting her chin on my shoulder and breathing softly. As much as I wanted to enjoy it, something had woken me, so I gently let Ilnara down and peeked outside.

I saw nothing, but then there were footsteps splashing in the shallows. And they were getting closer. I scooted away from the edge, clenched my jaw, and drew my sword. Whatever was stalking the night, I assumed it was one of those night drakes, stopped only meters away from the blind, close enough that I could hear it breathing. It was labored and deep, like each breath the creature took was painful. After it was done sniffing, it growled and finally it started to leave.

I let go of the breath I was holding, but then it was Ilnara's turn to start chattering her teeth, too cold now that she was away from my warmth. Cursing under my breath, I crawled back to her and got under the blanket. She instinctively grasped for my warmth and I wrapped my arms and legs around her. He breathing became more natural and her teeth stopped chattering, but the thing stalking outside had already heard her and was drawing closer. Worse still, something else was approaching from the other direction.

"Back away!" one of the creatures growled, "This one is mine!"

"You overstep yourself!" the other one growled in response, "The human goes to the mistress, along with everything else."

Well that was surprising and unnerving, I thought.

"I'll be dead in the ground before I let you tell me what to do!" the first one growled and made a dash for the raft. Thinking fast I took my sword in both hands and stood up. I couldn't fight them off, but if this worked I wouldn't have to. The problem was, I didn't think there was any way it was going to work under the circumstances. The weapon had been forged on this planet by a dragon, though, so at least there was dragon magic in it, so it could work. If it didn't, we probably wouldn't live long enough to regret my line of thought.

"Reggia... sespin... LUMINUS!" I shouted the incantation and the blade started glowing as bright as the sun. I was just as shocked as the night drake which stopped dead in her tracks and threw her hands up in front of her eyes while screaming in pain. I spun around just as the other one tried to move in and she did the same.

"You will not touch us!" I shouted, "Go back to the shadows!"

The night drakes kept screaming and they were visibly torn between moving to attack us and cutting their losses and running away. Finally the first one made a break for it and fled blindly back into the marshlands. The other one gave one last snarl and did the same a moment later.

Now even I was starting to get overwhelmed by the radiance, so I willed the light to dim but didn't let it go out entirely while Ilnara lay there looking up at me wide-eyed and slack-jawed. I sat down beside her and stabbed the blade into a crack between the floorboards.

"Is that enough heat now?" I asked. Ilnara grabbed my face and pulled me into a deep kiss. When she came up for air I swore a little puff of smoke escaped her lips and her eyes were glowing like coals in a dying campfire.

"I'm sorry," she said looking away. Her whole face down her chest was bright red and she was grinning ear-to-ear, "I got caught up in the moment."

"Actually," I said, "I enjoyed that. A lot."

"What?" she asked.

I quickly turned away and folded my hand in my lap again, but this time there was no hiding my erection from her. When I glanced back at her, she was still staring and the light in her eyes had gotten more intense.