Surfacing Ch. 27

However, when everyone looked expectantly to him, he rubbed his forehead tiredly, picked up his belt and other oddities and said, "The different essences need time to mend together. Following any surgery of flesh, one must remain in bed for a time not to reopen the wound, correct? It is the same here. Let her sleep, and if we need to somehow give her food and drink, we'll see about that when the time comes."

"Will she be like Deshi?" I croaked, wincing at the tenderness of my head, not caring whether the others understood or not as my vision swam for a brief moment. I closed my eyes.

"No," Gavin answered. "I recall no agreement of service. Do you?"

I barely shook my head without speaking. No. I didn't. Just the Crow Woman...Nyx... asking if Gaelan and Graul were both ready to die and be reborn. Unless it was without asking, the Grey Maiden had taken nothing in exchange.

She just showed up when Gavin was blocked and struck. By me. Otherwise, perhaps, we may never have seen her? Iethys had recognized her in that form, though. I knew that she had...

I hissed then, clenching my teeth as my arms tightened on my middle. Fucking Abyss, I needed to eat!!

*****

Once we got outside the giant circle of trees, we paused long enough to sort out our belongings and don clothing and weapons since it was easier than carrying them along with three bodies. I was embarrassed that I still needed Jael's help to dress myself, though; the weakness, dizziness, and stomach pain wasn't going away until I had eaten, I could barely concentrate on wiggling my foot to squeeze it into my boot, and I even blacked out for a few moments when Mourn picked me up again following the replacement of his pants and harness with sliders.

The retreat back out of that ancient, dark forest was longer than it had been the first time, although part of that was that I kept waiting for some light poke through the canopy. It was a muchly delayed response before I realized that it was dusk and would only be getting darker for the entire night before it got any lighter.

Nioah proved a good sprinter, as hijr promised to go retrieve supplies for us and meet us at Gavin's nest before splitting off. It was full dark by the time we reached there and I was squirming, trying not to whimper from the sharp, insistent pains in my hollow stomach, wishing I'd blackout again. I really didn't feel like being carried up the tree ladder until the storyweaver came back and I protested the suggestion.

"No threat on the ground, I suppose," Gavin muttered, turning his head when Furuc and Iethys turned theirs toward their tribemate running back to us with a heavy pack on hir back.

"Here," hijr panted, passing out skins of water and several packages wrapped in oiled skins from... this main production camp I hadn't seen yet.

I didn't care. I just needed what hijr brought.

First I received more of that strangely refreshing, slightly salty milk drink that Mourn had given me when I had first awoken in the Wilder Valley. Once I had proven I would keep it down, I was given solid food in the form of two of those delicious crushed and pressed bars, then some recently dried meat that still had some teeth to it, a bag of fresh, green pods, another small one with small seeds, and pretty much anything that no one else claimed before I did. I eyed the large wedge of dried fruit halfway to Jael's mouth and she glared at me and took a bite, chewing possessively.

"I suggest dividing meals out first and simply giving her the rest in the future," Gavin said, giving me half of his as he claimed he didn't need that much; I didn't refuse his offer, and didn't comment as I had my mouth full.

"So I see," Nioah replied in clear amusement. "Any normal psion would be famished after working so long, but one expecting...well...I can only imagine."

"How long was?" Iethys asked curiously.

Furuc looked above us and drew in a deep breath, his long ears shifting slightly to catch whatever sounds carried his way. I didn't understand how that helped him tell time, but he answered, "Two days since we entered the grove."

I almost stopped chewing. Two...days?!

"She'll be hungry again in an hour," Mourn said without looking up from his hands as he tore a piece of meat in half with his claws. He was eating because his body needed it but he didn't look to have much appetite.

"Ah. In that case, I will return with much more," Nioah said, and took off again.

Soon after that we climbed up into the nest, swaddled Gaelan and Graul each in an available blanket from the small storage chest, and let it all sink in. No one spoke for some long moments. Gavin took out his grimoire, unsurprisingly, and kept himself busy as we waited for the inevitable urge to lie in reverie now that we had our bellies full. If it really had been two days, it was coming.

"Morix," Iethys said softly, tenderness in her tone. "Air was Graul's element. How you wish Cyr'henaxl?"

She must not know the Common word for "death ritual." Then again, neither did I.

"I will decide in tomorrow's light," he answered, sitting cross-legged and hunched over on his elbows. "I am too...hm...sore right now."

"Of course," the guiding sister said, and she stepped over to kneel and put an arm around his broad shoulders in affection, the opposite side of Jael. She was also careful not to put pressure on the burgeoning lumps on his back...which looked a little larger, even.

He accepted this with a nod of thanks, saying "Shenho, Inhula'vey," before there followed, firm squeeze on his shoulder from Furuc.

"It'chgiahl furuhana, Graul," the bear-Elf said with intense, deep brown eyes, holding on to Mourn's shoulder another moment more before letting go.

"Shenho, Inhula'koe."

Jael and I glanced at each other uncomfortably and didn't say anything.

Beyond this point, sleep would drag us down and none of us seemed capable of resisting it, not even Gavin, what with the cool night breeze the sounds of more secretive, nocturnal animals chirruping and rustling about the forest and my spiders going hunting about the hut. Despite my ill-defined but keenly-felt uncertainty, Mourn and Jael encouraged me to lie close with them to sleep. At least we would all be warm.

Nioah arrived at some point after we had all drifted off but merely placed the supplies in the chest to wait for us and joined us inside the hut which broke the breeze and kept the dew off us. In an hour or so, just as Mourn predicted, I woke up hungry and followed my nose as Nioah anticipated me and push several things from the chest within my reach. I didn't care to break the silence with words so just signed my thanks with a hand and devoured what hijr had given me. The storyweaver didn't speak either and let me eat in peace before I returned back to the warm spot on the floor.

In spite of my being very quiet and try not to wake the others, Mourn's eyes were open. He lay on his side with Jael spooning him, each of them with their arm tucked under their heads; she was sound asleep, I could tell. Mourn had told me before he was uncomfortable on his back because of the spines, but now would probably be agony.

I got down again thinking to spoon with my Sister, as I had been, but the hybrid never looked away and I found I didn't want to put my back to him. Not yet, anyway. I got down on my side facing them, my own arm tucked beneath my head, and get close enough to feel some of the heat without our knees knocking together too bad. I had put myself at eye-level with Mourn since he was awake, and by default Jael was at chest-level.

I watched him in the dark. Perhaps he had had a very short nap? He did look a bit revived, but I could not tell at all was going through his head. I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

*Do you ever sleep?* I signed, one-handed. I was willing to bet Nioah didn't know Drow sign outside of a fire story, even if hijr hadn't started dozing.

Mourn blinked slowly and I heard his tail shift slightly on the floor. His arm had been around Jael's middle, but he lifted it to sign back. *I slept after the story. I slept after escaping Manalar. And after bringing Gaelan here then returning to fight the Chaos cult for you.*

I rolled my eyes. *Without magical assistance, or spending yourself into exhaustion?*

*Then, no.* His answer was blunt and entirely serious, but then he refined it. *Or, not as you do.*

*Clearly.*

But he did sleep, somehow. I wondered if there was a pattern at all. I smirked and allowed myself a small smile but it faded quickly.

*I regret shouting at you and Graul,* I said, *especially given what you must have been discussing. I wish I had not done that.*

Mourn nodded. *You were grieving. I understand why. Thank you for the apology.*

I felt my jaw firm up a bit. *And now you are grieving.*

*Graul came here to die. I would be grieving regardless, now or a few more days from now.*

*You won't resent Gaelan if...when she wakes up?*

*It was Graul's choice.*

*That doesn't answer my question.*

Mourn exhaled slowly. *I am curious now what kind of Baenar she will be.*

*You're going to judge her worthy of your familiar's essence? Comparing her to him?*

He shook his head just slightly, still looking sad. *Not if I can help it.*

I let him sit on the defensive for the moment, then asked outright, *What about her daughter?*

He narrowed his eyes briefly at me. *What about her?*

I frowned at him. Of course he hadn't said anything before, but why had I not heard it the first time? Was it because I hadn't been ready to hear it or had he somehow been keeping it secret even then, during that joining when he'd been tied inside me? If the latter...how did I recall it now?

Mourn somehow read my face and he blinked with his realization. *You never even knew she had a daughter. Not until I only now confirmed what I heard.*

*And because of that, you didn't kill her, isn't that so?*

*I know the look of a mother when she fears for a child not yet grown,* he said. Then he hesitated again and corrected, *Among the Wilder.*

*That's what you saw in her?*

He nodded.

*You were so sure.*

*She was dying, she knew it. What did she have to lose showing me the thing she cared for most in her life?*

That seemed to rid the doubt for me. He could hide extended, informational knowledge related to a memory, such as the Wilder—where I would get nothing but a name whispered through strong block. But he hadn't hidden selective, sensory knowledge from within the memory itself, if he was even that good. I had seen Gaelan's face, heard her whispers even the first time; I just hadn't been able to read or understand all of it at the time. My own perception wasn't any more absolute in psionics than it was when I was awake in the real world.

But neither of us would know anything more about Gaelan's daughter unless she woke up, unless she remembered some of who she had been.

We lay in silence still facing each other, our signing hands down upon the floor moment. I was looking at the relative sizes, how his fingers arched taller simply because they were longer with thick, unbending talons. Without thinking too much on it, I lifted my first finger to trace it first along his knuckles then to the stretch between his thumb and forefinger. His skin was hot, rougher than mine, even if the nearest scale patch itself didn't start until one was further up his forearm.

As a male Drow, this meant he was a hard worker, and a hard fighter. As a Dragon...I really didn't know what his hands meant, whether they would be like this regardless.

Suddenly Mourn lifted his hand to take mine, closing his palm and fingers around it and rubbing his own thumb along the top of my hand, back and forth, back and forth. For a few strokes, his tail mimicked his thumb on my ankle, as I'd removed my boots to sleep. It felt pleasant and I smiled.

He shifted forward enough to really mold himself to Jael's back, keeping her close as his groin thrust slowly against her; she smiled in her sleep and moved her ass side-to-side encouragingly. I looked up and watched Mourn's eyes close as he drew in a deep breath, scenting her and probably me through his teeth, and let it out, holding my hand tighter.

I was sure I felt more than a flash of mere arousal pass through them; the shared aura, maybe, even if I couldn't see it on command. It was sudden, abrupt, with a trace of urgency. It was welcome, like that rush after a battle when the ones still alive could celebrate being so. Yet it was also sobering, like an affirmation. If anyone else was awake to be watching, I didn't think any of us cared.

Mourn could push his loose pants down easily enough on his own, his tail strong and flexible enough to pull itself out of the restriction as well, but Jael's leather pants were much tighter and the ties to one side were under her hip; and my little Sister seemed intent on preserving things as a pleasant reverie. She managed to grope about, pushing clumsily in sleep at the leather on her hips, eager for the sex but without the awareness and coordination to make it more than fumbling in the dark.

I could help with this, so I did; I shifted closer and reached to tug on her pants and get them out from beneath her left hip so we could push them down to her knees. I ran my fingers through her white bush—now fully recovered from the bare wax-stripping Thena had done in her initiation—and tested between her pouting netherlips gently with my fingers. She gasped and shivered; she was definitely wet, and I was close enough now that she nuzzled at my breasts beneath my shirt, putting her arm around my waist to hold me there while she used her nose and lips to prod at them. I was relieved that she didn't start by biting them.

Mourn's tail looped around Jael's leg and pulled her thighs open just enough as he reached between them to try and fit himself. I narrowed my eyes in amusement, listening to his shuddering breath and watching him try twice to get more than just the crown inside. Part of it was that while Jael was receptive and moist, she was still asleep and this had all begun pretty quickly. He had a fair length of himself that was still entirely dry.

I brought my hand up to my mouth and gathered enough saliva to then reach between Jael's thighs and wrap my fingers around Mourn's shaft, slickening it up for them before aiming him for another shot. He grunted something that might've been surprise or might've been thanks, as he pushed in. I felt Jael's pussy spread and the hard length pass between my fingers until he bottomed out and held himself still, buried deep as her body adjusted; his Daratrix whimpered in pleasure from between my breasts while I gently rubbed her nub with my split-slick fingers.

I think I was smiling and showing teeth the next time I looked up at Mourn's face, about to whisper the suggestion to pound her good until she came, but I reigned the lust back a little when I saw his expression. He wasn't just horny, embracing the sudden urge to get off in the nearest, willing hole. Nor was he merely excited at the prospect of us sharing my Sister when she was only half-aware, as some kind of first-time thrill, though that was certainly part of it for me.

He watched me as if he wanted something, and it reminded me of Auslan the last time I had seen him in the Red Sands. I tried to decide on the word I sought. I was almost certain that Krithannia would've been able to tell me at first glance, though thinking of the Noldor right then brought it to the foreground: specifically mine and Mourn's comparisons of kissing, and what it meant to each of us.

Krithannia had taught him how to kiss, and had given him at least one reason why to do so which was much different than anything he'd witnessed before.

That was it! I recognized it now; he wanted to kiss me. But he was far less certain I would accept if he asked as he had the first time. Especially considering how both Jael and Gaelan were tangled up with him now as well. Maybe even he wasn't sure how to feel about it all. Neither was I, but the idea felt...calming. Or maybe "comforting" was the right word.

I smiled again and huffed out a small breath, reaching up with my damp fingertips—heavily scented by Jael's slit— to lightly touch his jaw. He hadn't blinked at all.

"May I kiss you, Mourn?" I whispered. "I would like to kiss you."

Jael made some sudden delighted noise against my chest, as if he might've become stiffer, or his cock pulsed inside her, or he'd started spreading her with his knot. I never found out exactly what as he leaned his head forward, inviting me to kiss him. He put his arm around me so that I had his large hand spread between my shoulder blades and Jael's dainty one at the small of my back.

Once again he used only lips, brushing against mine and capturing them to fulfill longer need for earnest connection. I did plenty of light licking and nipping in between the pressing and sucking, holding his face between my hands. We enjoyed slow, sensual kisses for I didn't know how long before Mourn finally thrust his hips, pulling far out of Jael before penetrating again deep.

I put one hand back down to cup Jael's snatch, rubbing it for her and helping her feel everything down there except her netherhole. She breathed hard and unsteady, yanking up my shirt to kiss and nuzzle my bare breasts, her whimpers growing more and more urgent. Her eyes finally came open and they were wide as she gasped hot breath and a groan against my chest.

"Oh...! F-fuck...!" she squeaked right before she came, her throat clamped down on that hard, sensual spike.

Mourn grunted on three more thrusts, stole one more, wet kiss from me before he hissed and pushed all the way into her, holding himself still and mostly quiet as he climaxed as well. His eyes were closed tight, his face grimacing so close to mine; the growl was almost too low to hear. I stared at them, my body breaking out into a sweat as I felt...something...very intense sweep through me, as I had with Tamuril. I felt their orgasms and maybe, maybe, the aura, too.

Mourn exhaled on a liquid, relieved sigh, coming down with Jael. All the tension seemed to go out of their bodies, and mine along with them. Even though technically I hadn't cum myself, the foggy pleasure settling in my mind and the deep warmth in my belly sure made it feel like I had. We didn't even have the energy to separate and pull up their pants before at least Jael and I fell back asleep.

******

If Gavin or the three Wilder were aware of the fucking during the night, they did not comment on it in the morning. At the same time, it wasn't ignored; both the hybrid and my Sister needed a bucket of water and some cloth to clean up, something Nioah anticipated and had ready, and Iethys that one point give me a beautiful, peaceful smile I thought it could have been a kind of appreciation.

I was probably right as the guiding sister took the hybrid's less-leaden body language as an opportunity to speak quietly with him after our breakfast. They stood farther out on the platform, where Roh had been before she flew over to the waterfall. Furuc and Nioah stood just behind Iethys and they spoke in the Wilder's native language as they worked something out.

Not Gavin, Jael, or myself were invited to do anything but bear witness as Furuc nodded, moving to retrieve Graul's body and carry him out to where the other two and the Dragonblood prepared a small pyre using as a brace the metal poles Gavin had been using a few days ago to heat water.

While they did this, Gavin kneeled down beside Gaelan and took her chin to turn her face toward him as he studied her once again, his eyes trailing down her body though she was covered with a blanket. He tested her fingertips and her toes with a needle from his kit, poking her hands and feet to see a response. I was encouraged to see them jerk slightly in reflex.