Tales of Decadence - Dark Elf Town Ch. 03

"Wow..." Celedwin gasped, the dark elves waiting at the entrance nodded in greeting.

"Hello, visitor. Came to see?" They were polite to a fault, Celedwin had to admit.

"Just looking." She bowed, making them smile.

"We accept all races and genders to the academy should you ever want to see how we breed and train our human stock. But a strict nudity rule exists for humans. You must strip naked if you wish to browse." They curtsied politely. "Followed by gagging and turtle bondage. Sorry but we cannot have humans wander off or be mistaken for saboteurs." She smiled apologetically, chocolate face splitting into a grin with pointy ears wiggling.

"Some other time maybe..." Celedwin laughed them off, and turned to leave. They smiled, and politely bade her goodbye.

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"Whew...I'm glad nothing else happened. Poor things..."

A Lamia piped up.

"Hoping they'll land good owners, humie?"

Celedwin slowly turned around to regard the snake girl. "Yeah. Don't know if I should feel guilty..."

"...or happy that they'll supply us with mana you stingy humans can't give." Lamia smirked.

That made Celedwin angry. flashing a frown, she walked up to the Lamia girl, now fully dressed, her stash returned.

"Last time I remember Spon Plague wasn't ours. Be grateful they suffer for what happened here. Poor humans." She stomped off home, leaving the bewildered Lamia muttering apologies. "Of course it's bad!"

"High Heavens' Chief God, forgive those idiots!"

She ran out of fucks to give today...

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"Coming~"

A Blue Oni opened the door, only to see Celedwin curtsy and deliver a letter.

"Teladrus Tower delivery!"

She politely thanked the human, shaking her hand.

"About time. Are you Celedwin we heard so much about?"

The human's gut wrenched. Did people see her at the slave market?

"I heard about you at the Wizard Conference!"

Celedwin sighed in relaxation.

"Please! Would you come for a tea? I'm Azura!" She invited her inside, playing with a small Blue Oni babe in her arms. Celedwin found the house comforting, her husband preparing tea and snacks, a young man with sandy trademark blond hair of Reik slaves.

"Evening! Thomas here!" He chimed, wearing no collar but custom made clothes, and a hat. "Tea is ready miss, please sit!"

Celedwin sighed, relaxed, and finally having delivered her last letter, sat down.

They ate, exchanged pleasantries, and laughed, arm in arm, joking as the Blue Oni babe suckled on a baby bottle in the corner.

"...So, you have three months and your work is done? When are you returning?"

"I haven't decided on it." Celedwin sipped her tea, playing with the Blue Oni pup.

"If you like, our house can be your house! A friend of Teladrus Tower is a friend of ours!"

"You are a wizard?"

"Yup!" Azura chimed. "I work at the water purification shed." Azura snuggled close with Thomas. "I see you really like children! How's the Reik treating you?"

Celedwin's face fell. "Don't know. Crazy Lewd but I saw the slave market...Don't know if I should feel guilty or hot..."

Azura and Thomas exchanged meaningful stares:

"Fair enough. It's... something. Sadly millions of monster girls need their husbands and labor from there...at least until laws relax and we can have humans to stay with us from the outside empires." Thomas explained. "My mistress was quite adamant in educating his humans in trades and education to earn quick money. I miss Greba-sama, she is one dark elf that will make a professor out of an idiot."

"Oh? And you are one?" Celedwin teased.

"Guess I was even dumber!" Thomas laughed out loud, Azura joining in.

"Still, offer stands. If visa runs out, I could vouch for you, Cel." Azura nodded, drinking tea. "Wizard ought to look out for each other. Do you think of a job you can take for three months? Tourists are not taxed."

Celedwin looked outside the window when a centaur woman laughed wildly, galloping with her daughters, carrying her husband on her back. It warmed Celedwin's heart as people laughed, trying to be happy as they can.

"I don't know Azura. I fought in the last Demon War as a fourteen year old battle acolyte..."

Everyone was silent.

"I carried scrolls, cast when I could and smashed these..."drow" who came from other realms to enslave us all. I think it stuck on me. I bled for freedom when I was a child...Do you know I was nearly raped by a Drow raiding party?"

Azura was silent, terrified.

"He came to save me."

Both gasped.

"He was like a god of war, a monster, spewing blood and tearing the Drow to pieces. My potential rapist..." Celedwin talked... "He slowly strangled him until his eyes burst. So maddened he was."

Theophilos. The Boogeyman.

"He was raging, screaming as he hacked every living thing, luckily they were all Drow save for me... Then he slung me over his shoulder and delivered me to a medical tent..before diving back into the slaughter.

Celedwin was crying.

"He threw himself on orphans to shield them from arrows, roared with rage, burned as the arrows pierced his back..." Her hands were shaking.

"CEL!"

They were holding her hands.

"You are here. They lost. You finished your education. You won, they died."

Thomas intoned, rubbing her back:

"The laughter of our children will be the greatest revenge on an uncaring world..."

Celedwin hugged him wordlessly. "Enouard Danton. Frankish revolutionary, first Crusader. I know him. We won. But this...slave business..."

"...will fade...Don't let the dark elves fool you, the market is at a loss this year." Azura consoled her. "Humans and monster will coexist."

"It's the only way."

Celedwin smiled, wiped her tears and thanked them for the tea.

"Sorry. I talk too much."

"Think nothing of it."

So Celedwin left back for her room, to brood and think on what to do...Enjoy the dark pleasures of the town, or go back home...

When she nursed a glass of beer alone with Helga, who sang a high pitched Ulmic song, she was thoughtful...

Was all we fought for worth something? Or will we degenerate into the Drow's folly?

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The night blanketed the saturday night in the markets, stalls and the city when all the slaves and monsters and freedmen could finally have the Sacred Sunday off, and relax.

Celedwin was fast asleep back then...where everyone loved, had sex, and fun.

When sounds of sex, screams of pleasure and laughter died down, a lonely harp echoed across the city... With many decadent tales to follow...