The Hearts of Elves

He went on to mention some more people. I noticed that Lagathor kept sneaking looks at me, as if hoping that I'd look back. I thought it was rather strange... A man who was so serious about keeping his cover, but was now trying to catch my attention in a room of very influential men. I didn't look back, to protect him, but perhaps also for myself. I did not want to be killed by these people. In fact, they already seemed biased enough to find any excuse to string me up by a rope.

After the meeting was over, we all headed to our assigned posts with a heavy degree of speed. The orcs were already only a hundred feet away from the walls, a lot of them throwing fire over at the archers. Many of the archers were already shooting blindly into the air, trying to hit random targets.

As much as we fought against these invaders, they seemed to be winning the fight. Many threw ladders against the walls, and for every orc we shot down, three more seemed to take his place. I knew that I might not live to see the next day.

As I was shooting down climbing orcs, I cried out when I felt two hands grab me from behind. Turning, arrow drawn back, I came face-to-face with no other but Lagathor.

"What are you doing here?!" I hollered. "We're about to be taken over!"

"Aryan, look around! The castle is going to fall--most of your men have already run for safer pastures."

I had not taken the chance to survey how many of my men remained with me. Some lay in puddles of blood on the stone floor while I watched as others climbed their way down the passages inside of the castle.

I motioned to shoot down an approaching orc before responding, "You have a duty to defend your people, and I was hired here to do a job. Now is not the time to be melodramatic."

"You'd be willing to die for 'a job'? It's a lost cause. We need to run."

I looked around me once more, knowing it to be true.

He grasped at my hand. "Come, I know a faster way out than you would. We must hurry."

I furrowed my eyebrows, choosing not to say anything. He led the way, down into the castle and out the back way towards the woods. We ran together, safely away from the danger, and watched as the castle burned.

At least, we thought that we were safe.

Lagathor climbed up a tree, telling me to stay behind while he surveyed the area for a secure place to hide until the action died down. I waited patiently down below, hand on my blade. Despite my stance, however, I was grabbed from behind and dragged off by some orcs. Lagathor cried out for me while I was taken away, trying to make his way down the high branches as quickly as he could. I was long gone by the time he hit the forest floor, however, and I was away with the orcs towards their base at the castle.

As they dragged me away, I tried to cover my face to guard away from the stench of their bodies. They huffed and spoke in high-pitched squeals, delighted to have fresh meat in their possession.

"Perhaps we should put him on a spit tonight, and eat him as the main dish for our feast," said one with high, pointed ears.

"This one is too beautiful for that. I think we should keep him alive. Have him around for... Our other appetites."

They laughed among one another. Soon, then threw me against a wall and chained my ankles. My wrists were buckled as well, though they were hung up above my head to further keep me from moving too much. A much larger gang of them were dancing around a fire, chewing on the fat of their enemies. I admit that I was not of the most positive disposition at that time. I thought to myself that I should have just stuck around with the archers and gone done with them. Better than to be alive in the captivity of terrible, bloodthirsty orcs.

The three orcs who had run me back to the castle stood in front of me, pondering their horrible thoughts. I swallowed, looking up, and decided then that I would rather keep my dignity and die a terrible death than to give these creatures anything that they might want.

"You, elf," said another. He was morbidly obese and clutched at his belt. "If you want to live, you'd best be to givin' us some favors."

"Just kill me now then."

The one with the high, sharp ears produced a machete and pointed it towards me. "I'm thinkin' that I can make that happen, elf."

I just stared at him, glaring.

"Look, look," said the short one. I didn't know why I thought this from his appearance, but he seemed to be the 'brains' of the group. "We won't need him to do nothin'. We'll do all the work."

He approached me with a knife in his grimy hand. I pushed back against the wall, and closed my eyes, waiting for whatever he intended to do. I heard the tapering sound of my clothing ripping, and opened my eyes to see the orc cutting my shirt down from top to bottom. I sighed miserably, deciding that any squeamishness on my part would only further delight these pieces of shit.

They didn't need much encouragement on my part, however. The orc sliced the rest of my clothing off, displaying my flaccid cock and bare legs. I have to admit that I was sweating profusely when his blade reached my genitals.

He began playing with my dick, and without much effort on my part, I remained soft. Then he began sucking on me with his disgusting mouth, and I had to muster everything in my body not to vomit all over him. I hoped that if I got out of that situation that I wouldn't be left with some kind of crippling disease plaguing my penis. Still, I told myself not to react. Not to get upset. Not to scream.

I heard some shrill cries, and looked up. Lagathor had stabbed both of the orcs through the neck, and was fast approaching the short orc that had been sucking on me.

Thank the Gods.

Lagathor stepped with a swift slash towards the little orc. He searched through the pockets of the creature for a key to set me free, and in the darkness of night, unlocked my chains and snuck me back towards the forest. Once were safe in the clear, he took his long vest off and covered my naked body with it.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"Don't worry about it," he shrugged.

We continued walking long into the night, deciding that stopping would be too risky considering what had happened before. We also didn't talk much, not wanting to attract attention. Stepping about could be difficult, especially since we were not on any kind of trail. I stepped on some rocks and branches more times than I'd like to admit. But the nice thing about being in the middle of nowhere in the cover of dark was that Lagathor and I were alone. Our hands touched once, twice, until they snuck into holding one another. We looked to one another smiling, and walked to the safety of a cave at daybreak.

When we awoke, Lagathor groaned in way that was unusual to me. I propped myself up on my shoulders and looked over him, a pensive expression on my face. He began grabbing at his side, wincing.

"Hey, Lagathor, what's the matter?"

His eyes gradually blinked over towards me, and he waved me away. "It's nothing."

A hand jerked away for a moment, and I noticed that the fabric on his tunic was red. "It's not 'nothing'! You're bleeding." I brushed his hands away and pulled his clothing off over his head. Inspecting closer, I saw that he had a cut--not a large one, but bad enough that it needed some medical attention. He had stopped bleeding ago, though I could tell that the wound needed to be sewn back together. Being out in the middle of the forest with no medical supplies, there was not possible way that I could do anything to help him. "What didn't you tell me about this?"

"I don't know..." He said. "I didn't think it was that bad. I barely noticed last night, when he were walking."

I raised my eyebrows. "Uh huh. Was it an orc that attacked you?"

"Yes, when I saved you."

I looked at his injury and thought on it."You know that orc weapons can be lethal, right? You would be dead right now If the blade that cut you was laced in poison. I suspect that it wasn't because it had already gone through enough people to wipe the bad shit away..."

He gazed at me, then reached for his tunic. "There's nothing we can do about it, so why worry? We need to get back to a town, or civilization, or somewhere."

I touched his hand. "You're free now."

He blushed, throwing his shirt over his head. "In a way."

"What do you mean, 'in a way'? Your home is gone now, you can go wherever you want. You can love whomever you want."

He shook his head. "And go where? To another castle, another town, with the same customs and prejudices? It's foolishness."

"But you don't know that every place is the same. You've never tried."

"I know the hearts of men. They are all very much the same."

"What about the hearts of elves?"

He kissed me on the lips, moving slowly and gently touching me with his tongue. "What I do know of your heart I like," he said.

"Come with me, back to my home of Galantria. You can start a new life there, and forget about all those rules that men put on you. I'd help you."

"You would really do that?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then... I'd say that you deserve a reward for that." He had a sly smile on his face, then placed himself between my legs. I giggled and lay back as he pushed my tunic away to reveal my cock. His tight mouth sucked on me, springing my dick to a hard, stiff erection. I moaned, pumping into his mouth while he bobbed up-and-down on me. He began sucking hard on the end of my penis, causing me to orgasm into his mouth without much time to spare. I felt bad that I had come so soon—I think he was looking forward to the opportunity to give my cock a nice, long massage with his mouth. He even took his time carefully sucking out all of my semen and taking last licks of my hard cock.

I leaned over to him, wanting to return the favor. At first, it seemed a strain for him to lay back and relax while I pleasured him. I didn't really know exactly why this was, I could only assume. Perhaps it was because he was not accustomed to receiving this kind of attention from men? Maybe he was afraid that some men would somehow find out what was going on in our secret hiding spot? In any event, he eventually did give himself over to me. He liked touching my body as I sucked him off, and often caressed at my legs and thighs while watching me. I liked the feeling of being an exhibitionist for him, though I tried not to let it on. Showing that I enjoyed blowing him, while at the same time not letting on that I was conscious of him watching, was a skill that I had adapted from practice.

When his load has built up and he was about to come, he held hard to my body. The sensation of orgasm seemed too much for him to handle easily, and that he needed to hold down hard to something to contain the intensity. As the cum shot into my mouth, I heard him grunt deeply with every gush. When he was finished, he lay back, pacing down his breaths, then stared at the ceiling before closing his eyes in rest. I laid next to him, touching his chest and looking at him.

"Are they elves really tolerant of people like us, in Galantria?" He asked, eyes still closed.

"Yes... You'll probably fit in fine there. They could probably use a strong man like you there, despite your race."

His eyes opened and looked to me. "If things don't work out there for me, I don't know what else to do for myself. I feel like I can't go back now. Feeling love in this way is something I can't run away from any more. Perhaps I thought that I could do that before, when the castle of Empora still stood, but that life is gone now."

I continued brushing at his chest, then pulled a stray hair away from his face. "Don't worry about the future. Just think about the present. You're happy now, and belong with the kind of person that you can be yourself with. Don't think about tomorrow."

He looked away. "I will try to take your advice."