Tender Mercies

At the same time, Alesha moaned into his mouth and orgasmed as well. She set up a circuit between them, taking the lust and power and sexual energy she was absorbing from her pussy and funneling it up through her body and back into Brian. Once in him via the kiss, it looped down through him and completed the circuit. Alesha felt herself growing stronger at first, then weaker as she transferred her power to Brian, then stronger when it came back into her. This continued for nearly a minute until Brian could take no more and he broke the kiss and collapsed on top of her, exhausted. Alesha felt similarly tired, but exhilarated at the same time.

Pushing Brian off of her, she went to stand before Rosa, the maid. Rosa looked at her, terror hidden behind her paralyzed face. Alesha released Rosa from her paralysis to see what she would do. The woman screamed and turned to run. Alesha smiled and let her go, watching her as she rushed into the kitchen. Alesha knew she could do her no harm, being labeled as little more then an insane illegal immigrant if she told anyone what she had seen.

Brian turned around and looked at Alesha, his own strength returning rapidly. Jeff was still nursing on his cock, it too soft to provide any more cum, so he had tried to piss on himself. The smell and sight of it was quite disgusting, and Alesha realized the man had probably been driven insane. She looked back to Brian in time to see his eyes grow wide and his mouth open to shout a warning.

To late, Alesha tried to turn around. Rosa had returned, kitchen knife in hand. She slammed it into Alesha's back, just below her left shoulder blade. It plunge in deeply, glancing off a rib but otherwise finding nothing but meat. Meat that included Alesha's left lung and even a part of her aorta.

Brian lunged to his feet, his fatigue forgotten. He watched Alesha fall to the ground and screamed in outrage. Even before the strange events that day, he had loved his sister dearly. To see her stricken down before his very eyes evoked a murderous rage in him. He charged into Rosa and tackled her to the ground. He punched at her time and again, beating her senseless. Then when she no longer responded to his fists, he picked the 250 pound woman up as though she weighed no more then a pillow and threw her at the brick fireplace. She bounced off the wall and fell to the ground, catching the fire poker on the way so that it impaled her neck and caused the already unconscious women to drown in her own blood.

He stared at her for a moment, breathing deeply until his rage had cooled enough to realize what he had done. Shaking his head in mute horror, he turned around to check on Alesha. She was laying on the ground and smiling at him, knife laying in front of her.

"Well done, brother!" Alesha said, truly pleased with his protective actions. "Come, Brian, we have much to do!"

*****

A month had passed and the elven army, or the 5,000 plus that remained of it, were finally getting close to Silverton. It had been the same story every city along the way, battle after battle trying to stop the dark elves from reaching their destination. Finally at Evermoor, they had been forced to a halt by the army of 6,000 humans. Fighting poor odds all the way, it was not the size of the attackers that stalled the elves, but rather the treacherous footing of the swamp and the limited venue of attack they had. Then the lizardmen that inhabited the swamp had fallen upon their left flank, and all seemed lost. On the verge of a retreat, more a rout really, a miracle had then appeared on the horizon. Scores of metallic dragons had arrived, seeking out the army of the elves to aid them in their search.

Sweeping through the attackers, the dragons reduced the human army to a screaming and fleeing rabble in minutes. Free to deal with other threats, the dark elves turned on the lizardmen then, driving the small force of attackers back into the swamp easily.

They moved quickly then, with no city threatening them as they moved onwards. By sunset of the 30th day since setting foot on Belurian for the first time in thousands of years, the elves saw the campfires of the armies of the resistance gathered around Silverton. Cheering at the seemingly impossible victory of reaching the place, they ran forward happily, forgetting their exhaustion and fatigue.

Vallanius met with Kayala happily, hugging her in relief to see her alive. He looked around, more then willing to hand command of the dark elven army back to Marthollin. A shake of her head from Kayala told Vallanius all he needed to know. He nodded understanding and sighed deeply.

"Who commands the elves then?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"Marthollin named you as commander in his absence," Kayala said, surprised her would ask.

"He did, but I lost over 2,000 of our brothers and sisters on the way here, I am clearly not fit for so great a command," He argued.

"I think you would have quite an argument there," Kayala said, smiling at him. "But your fears can be set aside, Marthollin fell while Kelnozz survived. While it is sad to see him slain, at long last the proof the elven people needed to see that Kelnozz was the greater of the two is given to us."

Vallanius felt relief flood over him. He was a soldier and an officer, he would do whatever duty was required of him, but he felt his abilities were lacking, and command of the entire elven forces was clearly more then he felt he could handle.

"Where is Kelnozz?" Vallanius said, looking about but seeing only the barbarians and humans greeting the elves as friends and brothers. A welcome relief from the greeting that the other humans of Belurian had thus far given the dark elven army.

"He and Martin stopped to try and talk the dwarves of Rifton into joining us," Kayala said, worry showing on her face. It had been several weeks with no word from them yet.

"What of the Stone Isle Dwarves? We sent emissaries there months ago," Vallanius said.

"Who are they?" Nordan said, coming up behind them and clapping Vallanius on the shoulder in a celebratory manner.

"Well met, Nordan," Vallanius said, recognizing the man from his time spent on Innowendyn with Martin and Kelnozz. "The Stone Isle Dwarves are a dwarven kingdom encompassing a few large islands far to the east of Belurian, yet north and west of Innowendyn."

"Hey, we might have flown over them when Luingirth brought us back from Innowendyn to fight that white dragon bitch!" Nordan said, remembering the many islands they had flown over that he had never heard of before.

"Aye, indeed you may have, a great many civilizations are out there, with those living on Belurian being too concerned with their own lives to explore outward," Kayala said, walking beside Nordan and laying her hand on his arm in a familiar fashion. "Come Nordan, let Vallanius get his men settled in, I am certain they are weary."

Vallanius raised an eyebrow at the intimate gesture and said, "Aye, that we are, I will seek you out on the morrow for a more official meeting."

Kayala blushed slightly and Nordan grinned. As Vallanius departed, Nordan turned to the dark elven sorceress and said, "In need of some more unarmed combat training?"

Kayala grinned and slipped her hand in Nordan's, "Perhaps, but be careful, I might just have to cast a spell on you..."

"Bah, keep your magic to yourself, witch, and I'll show you how to be a proper woman!"

The two laughed and teased each other on their way to the room they shared at the inn in Silverton.

*****

It had been a week since Kelnozz had argued on behalf of the elves for the aid of the dwarves, but now he knew his time was growing short. Summoned to their council chambers again, he stood before King Throin, expecting to be turned aside yet again.

"Kelnozz Risingmoon, Champion of Innowendyn," Throin said, rising to his feet and walking forward from his throne. Kelnozz noticed some additional dwarves in the room, ones he had not seen before.

"King Throin," Kelnozz bowed, uncertain as to what would make the king approach him.

His confusion doubled when the king stopped in front of him and pulled a hand axe from the belt at his side. Pulling the blade across his palm, he opened a wound from which blood flowed freely. Blood dripping slowly to the floor, he extended the hand to Kelnozz.

Somewhat confused at what was happening, Kelnozz pulled a dagger from his belt and did likewise to his own hand, then took Throin's in his hand and shook it firmly. "I will send 3,000 of me stoutest warriors with ye."

Kelnozz brightened up at the news. It was not as much as he had hoped, but any help was better then none. "My thanks, King Throin, with Martin out securing the help of the resistance and the elves of Innowendyn already there, I hope we have enough to stop the forces arrayed against us."

"I wasn't finished, treehugger!" Throin roared, scowling. "Ye'd think an elf would have the patience not to cut me off! I was saying, I will send 3,000 of me stoutest warriors with ye, and another 7,000 have come from the dwarven Kingdom of the Stone Isles."

Kelnozz grinned, rebuffed by the king but accepting it gladly to hear that their army had grown by 10,000 instead of only 3,000. "With me leading the dwarves, of course," Throin said, puffing out his chest proudly.

"I am but one man, but should the dwarves of Rifton or the Stone Isles ever need anything, they need but call on me," Kelnozz vowed, grinning happily. "When will the Stone Isle dwarves arrive?"

"They be already here," Throin said, waving to the handful of dwarves that Kelnozz had not recognized.

"How?" Kelnozz asked, stunned.

"We're dwarves, elf! Ye think we wouldn't have a tunnel between here and there?" Throin laughed at the thought.

"That's hundreds of miles! Under the Swiftwater Sea as well!" Kelnozz was incredulous.

"Ye calling me a liar, elf?" Throin said, scowling.

Kelnozz laughed. "Far from it, King Throin, I'm just amazed at the resourcefulness of your people. You are doubly welcome to join us, and we are doubly grateful! So when do you we leave?"

Chapter 15

Another two days of waiting saw Kelnozz return on Luingirth's back. He was greeted warmly by his companions, and was surprised enough by the growing size of the army that he forgot to question Nordan on his strange new relationship with Kayala. Then again, he supposed he should be questioning Kayala, since he knew Nordan could overlook almost any fault provided the woman was warm, wet, and willing (the willing part not always required).

The dwarves from Rifton and the Stone Isles arrived a week later, swelling the ranks of their army to close to 20,000. Confused as to where the additional numbers had come from, the newly appointed dark elven commander learned that men and women had been coming in from all directions, solely or in groups. Martin's work to unite the resistance under their cause appeared to be working, but their problem was now in finding Martin. The ranger and Fyrentennimer had left Kelnozz and Luingirth in Rifton with the intent of gaining the support of the resistance, nearly three weeks later, he was nowhere to be found, and all of them knew that if they did not march soon, they would never meet the evil armies in time to stop them.

*****

"They'll come through here," Martin said, as much to himself as to his companions.

A large valley lay ahead of them. On the outer edge of the Periphery, steep hills and broken terrain prevented siege engines and the like from coming through, but it was not so steep as to prevent large numbers of troops to passing through. At the far end of the valley lay a deep chasm. Across from that was more low, broken hills and then the Lost Lands beyond.

"What makes you think they will come through here?" One of Martin's three companions asked him.

Martin turned to face the three woodsmen he had recruited to scout with him. "Have any of you ever been across the Periphery before?"

All three shook their heads, indicating they had not. "I have, many times now. Mostly along the southern edge," he explained. "It is harsh, treacherous, and all but impossible to cross in many places. An army could cross, provided all were skilled climbers, fully equipped, and had months of time at their expense. Our foes know that time is critical, and this is the best place they could cross over."

"Why is it so few people have crossed over?" One of the woodsmen, named Robert, asked.

"The Periphery is home to a great number of monsters, as well as regular patrols of orcs, ogres, light elves, and other evil humanoids." Martin answered, feeling proud of his greater experience.

"Giants?" One of them asked.

"Yes, I suppose so, though I have seen few of them myself," Martin responded, nodding his head.

Eric, the man who had asked the question, pointed. The others turned to look and saw 6 giants coming towards them from behind.

"Aye, giants," Martin muttered, slipping his bow off of his back. "This must be the route, if they have scouts this close to the outer edge of the Periphery. Eric, run back to Fyrentennimer and return to Silverton, mark the way well, for you must guide them here."

"What are you going to do?" Eric asked, clutching the axe at his side firmly.

"We're going to kill some giants and hold the pass."

Eric's eyes got wide, checking again, he saw that the giants were all three times as tall as any of them. "Wait until we get them committed to fighting us, then sneak around behind them." Martin instructed. Eric nodded and waited while the others prepared their bows and weapons.

As soon as the giants came around a bend in a small gully, Martin fired his bow for the first time in combat since he had acquired his new arm. He had spent hour upon hour training, striving to be as good an archer as he had been before, but his results were not satisfactory to him. This time, however, his arrow flew true, striking the giant in the shoulder. Martin scowled, he had been aiming for the giants throat. Two more arrows thudded into the giant, one in the hip and another in its chest. None stopped it, nor its five companions behind it.

The archers continued to rain arrows upon the group of giants, felling the first one in the second volley and driving another to the ground with a well placed arrow in the groin. The giants returned fire then though, picking up large rocks and small boulders from the gully they moved through and throwing them back. Caught unprepared for such a tactic, Robert was crushed under the first hurled rock. Eric, Martin, and the other woodsman, Kevin, sought cover from the dangerous rocks. Eric grabbed up Robert's bow and quiver on the way and began firing back at them himself.

The three archers had rid themselves of another giant by the time they reached them, but Kevin's leg was broken from a thrown rock that bounced off another boulder to catch him from behind. A final volley of arrows and Martin shouted to Eric, "Run boy, run!"

Eric was off like a shot, darting around the giants before they could react. Two turned to follow him, but Martin charged at them, wielding his bastard sword in both hands while Kevin fired at them to gain their attention. The giants turned back, seeing Eric fleeing instead of trying to flank them. Battle was joined.

Martin danced away from the wooden club of the first giant and lashed out, his sword biting into its forearm. Another had a giant sized sword that even Nordan would have been hard pressed to wield with two hands, let alone the one arm the giant used. It crashed into the rocks beside Martin, showering him with sparks and stone splinters.

The third giant advanced on Kevin, who was grimacing in pain as he tried to retreat and gain distance so he could continue to use his bow. The arrows he shot at the giant pursuing him did not slow the giant at all, and in his haste, he even missed the immense figure a few times. The giant raised its giant sized warhammer in preparation of ending the threat Kevin posed.

Martin lunged forward and hacked at the side of the sword wielding giants leg, feeling as though he was hacking wood more then anything else. The giant roared in pain, but did not fall. As Martin retreated he saw the danger that Kevin was in and after a feint towards the club using giant, he turned and ran up behind it, a stray arrow narrowly missing his head in the process.

Kevin strove to knock a fresh arrow but the giant about to crush him made his fingers suddenly unsure. Then the giant suddenly fell to its knees and then back, with Martin already turning from it, blood running down the edge of his blade from where he had hamstrung the giant. Kevin offered a quick prayer to Carson and finished knocking his arrow. Aiming carefully, he loosed it and smiled as it flew true and pierced the downed giants throat at an angle that took the point up into its brain.

Martin did not have far to run, the other giants had followed him. He caught a glancing blow off his hip by the club, and because of the momentum pushing him out of the way, was spared being split in two by the giant with the sword. He thrust out, off balance, and felt the tip of his sword sink into the swordsmen's thigh.

Recovering his balance, Martin saw Eric disappear over a rise in the gully, he had gotten away safely. Turning his attention back, he ducked under the sword that slashed at his head, but was caught square in the ass by the other giant with the club, driving him forward to the ground and stunning him for a moment.

Kevin continued to fire arrows, turning the sword wielding giant into a veritable pincushion. It finally turned to finish him off, but misjudged its balance and tripped on a rock, driving it to one knee. It struggled back to its feet, holding an arm in front of its face to protect it from Kevin's arrows. Kevin put two arrows in the forearm of the giant, cursing as he was almost out of arrows.

Martin rolled away from the giant and struggled to his feet as quickly as he could. Fire shot up his spine from his newly broken tailbone, but he forced the pain aside and lunged towards the giant, stepping inside the range of the next swing that came at him. Reacting quicker then Martin thought they could, the giant lifted its leg and drove his knee into Martin's chest, knocking him to the ground on his back.

Martin rolled to escape the quickly descending club, struggling to suck air back in at the same time. The ground shuddered where the club connected, sharp stone pieces drawing blood from the exposed skin on his neck and arms. Martin came up to one knee and swung his sword as hard as he could, cleaving cleanly through the giants ankle.

Roaring in agony, the giant collapsed. It dropped its club and clutched at its brand new stump of a leg. Martin rose up and moved as quickly as he could to slash at the back of the giants neck. He sword rose and fell twice to be certain, then he turned to see how Kevin faired.

Kevin had exhausted his arrows on the giant, firing them into the giants stomach and chest as it approached him. The giant staggered a bit from all the blood it had lost, but it raised its sword and took the remaining two steps necessary to get in range with Kevin. Kevin had dropped his bow and drawn his long sword. Standing with one leg nearly useless, he waited for the giant to swing.

Swing it did, knocking Kevin to the ground by smashing his sword with all its power. Recovering from the swing, the giant raised its sword for the killing blow but was distracted by fist sized rock bouncing off the back of its head. Looking back it saw Martin limping towards it as quickly as he could. Judging the distance great enough, it turned back to finish of Kevin and was surprised to feel a white hot agony in its belly. Looking down, it saw Kevin's back on his feet, clearly favoring the one that worked, with his longsword buried in the giants belly halfway to the hilt.