The Journey

Foreword.

This story has been brewing in my mind for a very long time, and I finally decided to go ahead, and actually write it. After some deliberation, I also decided to post it on this site. I've been a long time reader of Literotica, and found many very enjoyable stories. Fulfilling stories, satisfying st... Ok, you get the point.

Now, it is entirely possible that I may be drawing from other stories, but please understand that it isn't intentional plagiarism. I respect other people and their work too much to do that, but when you've read as much fiction as I have, erotic or otherwise, some things are bound to influence you, without you necessarily realizing it.

Please note, that I use a bunch of names, that come from different sources, such as D&D, but this story has nothing to do with any of them. It takes place on the fictional world I call the Continent, and shared its world with another story I wrote, called 'Mine'.

Anyway, this story features dominant orc futanari (they don't have vaginas), and a submissive half-elf. There will be very little sexual humiliation, or degradation of any sort, however. I'm somewhat uncomfortable writing something like that. Having said that, I am, perhaps a little hypocritical, as there is a short instance of non-con, a bit of mind break, some dub-con, which leads to a full blown loving relationship between the main characters. I'm a huge sucker for romance.

This is a fantasy, and as such, a lot of what happens, is not necessarily physically probable, or possible, in the real world. There are a lot of very large cocks, excessive cum, cum bloating, and cum eating, cum addiction... Let's just say, that Futa cum is a very large part of this story.

As a kind of high fantasy epic (hopefully), there are some fights, but they're generally very short, and to the point. I hate long, drawn out fights. The last battle in Man of Steel, anyone? Or any mangas about martial arts, or sports... Do people actually enjoy reading a hundred pages of Ippo fighting against Sendo? Or Mashiba? I swear, there's no character progression. At all...

Sorry. I went off on a tangent, there. Moving on...

This is not a story for a quick wank. It's long. 84 word pages, to be exact. (I thought about breaking it up into chapters, but I felt it flowed much better this way.) I was trying to write a story with a little depth. A story where people care about the characters, so there's quite a long build up to any of the sexy stuff, but once they start, there's rather a lot of it, as they're quite insatiable.

One more thing. As a Wesfjordian, I am not a native English speaker, so there are most likely some grammatical errors present, as well as the occasional weird sentence structure, but I hope the story isn't wholly illegible, and I apologize for any errors I may have missed.

And, of course, any who engage in anything sexual in this story, are adults.

The Journey

Jared walked through the halls of Castle Greyhawk at a brisk pace, ignoring the looks of disdain and disgust most of those he passed sent his way. It was easy for the young Half-Elf. After all, he'd been doing it, ever since he had been left on the doorstep of the castle, when he was five years old. Thirteen years, he'd dealt with their scorn, ridicule and animosity. Which was why he spent most of his time outside, in the forests surrounding the large castle he called home. Or in the stables with the animals.

It wasn't that he was ugly or deformed. On the contrary. He was quite good looking, of medium height, had blonde hair and emerald eyes, a delicate face and a lithe body, built for speed and agility. The reason for all the hatred? He was a Half-Breed. While there was some racial tension in all the kingdoms and territories of the Continent, the twenty or so years of peace and prosperity after the Last War had only strengthened the desire of the races to coexist in peace.

Elves, Men, Dwarves and Orcs generally treated each other with a grudging respect. (Though the orcs had maintained an isolationist mindset, for the most part). Except the Half-Breeds. They were considered anomalies at best and freaks at worst. And what made Jared's life even more difficult was the fact that he was a Royal Bastard. Literally.

Jared came under during a drunken night between his father, who was the current ruler of the Kingdom of Men and an elven serving girl during a diplomatic mission to the Elven Theocracy a couple of years after the end of the War. Jared's father hadn't been a king back then, of course, merely a third son, sent off into the world to gain some experience. Two years and a few 'unfortunate' deaths later, Marcin had been crowned king.

King Marcin had been a vain and arrogant man, but turned out to be a surprisingly capable king, mostly due to his intellect and excellent advisors. Three months after his inauguration, he had entered a pre arranged marriage with Gabrielle, a noble's daughter and nine months after that, a prince was born, William. And soon after that, Gabrielle was thick with child once more and after a full term, another prince was welcomed into the world and was named Tristan.

Then, in what was generally thought of as the greatest scandal in the history of the Kingdom, a Half-Elven boy child appeared outside the gates of Castle Greyhawk. An elf had travelled with the child, carrying a letter stating the tyke was the son of the King, which the elf handed to the guards and quickly left without so much as a word to the boy. Apparently the boy's mother had died some time before, and the boy's grandfather had finally reached the end of his rope and figured he'd borne the shame long enough.

As the King read the letter, the hazy details of the night with the elven woman came back to him. He thought about rejecting this, certainly outlandish claim, but thought better of it. There could be no doubt he was the boy's father; Jared was the spitting image of him, aside from his smaller stature, pointed ears and emerald green eyes he'd inherited from his mother.

Predictably, the Queen was absolutely livid and screamed at the king, demanding 'that thing' be sent away, or better yet, drowned along with the unwanted kittens the kitchen cat had had a few days earlier. The King understood her anger, of course. She'd done her duty and borne him two sons, and then came along this other boy. An older son, who would have a stronger claim to the throne than her own, when the time came.

Marcin could do nothing about it, those were the laws. Unless he murdered the boy and he most certainly was not about to do that. Nor would he throw him out. The King regarded the child and recognised the intelligent look in the eyes and a hidden strength.

A spark of affection formed in his chest, one that he would have to hide, but such was the world they lived in. The king decided he would take responsibility for his actions, as an adult should and take the Half-Breed in. He would feed him, clothe him and educate him the same way he would his other two boys.

The boy's life would be hard, but Marcin was certain the lad would have the strength to reach his majority. Eyeing his wife out of the corner of his eye, the king knew he would have to have a pair of his Shadows watch the boy at all times and thwart or prevent the assassination attempts he was sure Gabrielle would arrange in the coming months and years.

As time went on, it became clear that Jared was exceptionally bright and kind hearted and he showed he had a way with people, despite being painfully shy. He quickly endeared himself to most of the lowest serves in the castle and the Beastmaster and Groundskeeper as well. And he delighted in teasing and generally making life difficult for his two bodyguards, Jaspar and his student, Jackson. He had befriended both men, and the two quickly began training the young man. It was all done in secret, as the Queen could not catch wind of it.

Jared scoffed softly. It wasn't all roses. The Queen hated him with a passion. His two brothers, at her urging tried their best to make his life miserable and Jared quickly learned to spend most of his time outside of lessons, away from the castle.

The time spent with Groundskeeper Duncan had learned him a great deal of woodcraft; tracking, hunting and other such survival skills, and he became a master bowman under his tutelage. Similarly, he learned great many things from Kurgan, the orc Beastmaster, mostly how to treat animals and care for them. Treat your animals with care and respect and they would never let you down. That was an advise the young man applied to people as well.

Jared stepped up to the great double doors that led to the Great Hall, where his father had summoned him. The guards barely gave him the required salute and raised their halberds and through the open doors the young prince went. He strode along the carpet with confidence, and approached the dais, where his father sat on his throne. To his left sat his wife, who sneered disgustedly at her supposed nemesis. Jared suppressed a sigh. Would she never stop?

He got down on one knee and lowered his head. "As you have summoned, so have I come, my King."

The King sighed at that. He had asked his son not to do that, when it was just him and his wife and their two sons in the Hall, but the boy persisted. Marcin strongly suspected Jared did this to make certain Gabrielle and the boys had less cause to trouble him. Oh, well, he could rile them up in his son's stead, then. In the grand scheme of things, it was only a small measure, but the king knew the lad would appreciate it.

"Rise, my son, and be at ease," Marcin said and had to tighten his stomach to hold in the laughter that threatened to escape when he saw the annoyed looks on the faces on the other three people present.

"Why have I been summoned, my lord?" Jared asked as he stood and clasped his hands behind his back, the same way the soldiers did when they were told to 'be at ease'.

"Now that you've entered your eighteenth year, I have decided that you, as is custom for the royal family, shall go on a journey. Explore the world, as my father did before me and I did before you. Your brothers have both done so and acquitted themselves with honour."

"Yes, of course, my lord," Jared said and gave his brothers a respectful nod, ignoring their mocking smiles. "And where shall I go?"

At that, the King motioned for a previously unseen servant to step forward and bring a small, locked box with him. The servant handed Jared the box and a key, which the young man accepted before proceeding to open it up. Inside was an official looking letter, with his father's seal waxed on.

The young man was knowledgeable enough to understand what it was, when he recognised the other thing lying in the box. It was a ring. A ring that guaranteed the wearer safe passage through the lands it originated from. He looked at his father, who had an almost imperceptible smile on his lips. Oh, how the other three would react to this!

"I'm bound for the Hinterlands, then?"

The King nodded. "Yes. I want you to finalize the trade agreement with Queen T'alis of the orcs. Most of the work is already done, in all honesty. All it needs, is the blood of one of our line, for the signing. Of course, if you feel the need to change anything, you have my complete trust, and confidence."

Jared allowed himself an honest smile at the news and engraved into his mind, the outraged looks on the faces of the Queen and his brothers. This was fantastic for quite a few reasons. For one thing, it meant things were finally moving along between Men and orcs and it would truly benefit both races.

Jared hadn't read the contents of the deal yet, but assumed the orcs would receive the various foodstuffs in return for skins, furs and precious metals at a lower rate than otherwise. And to send a Half-Breed indicated an open mind, which was a must in this instance, since it was well known that Queen T'alis was personally quite accepting of Half-Breeds.

On a more personal note, it was great news for Jared himself. It would be a nice reprieve, since the trip was bound to take at least a year, since the Hinterlands lay beyond the Wall; a massive mountain range that separated the rest of the Continent from the extreme Far North.

It ran from coast to coast, from West to East, and the only way the enter the Hinterlands, was through the Dragon Pass to the North West, a gap high in the wall, that was only open for six weeks or so from the middle of July, through August.

"The orcs will not suffer a large group of foreigners to wander through their lands. Will I be travelling alone?" Jared asked.

The king frowned at that. "Naturally not. One of my Shadows shall accompany you to Crossroad Keep. There, you will meet an orc escort, provided by her Majesty T'alis."

Jared nodded along with his father's words. It was a good plan. A team of two could move quickly and would not arouse suspicion.

"Then, by your leave, your Highness, I shall set out at once," the young man announced and turned around sharply and strode out of the hall with a purpose.

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A knock on the door frame alerted Kurgan to the presence of the only person who ever bothered to knock and the only person the Beasmaster was ever actually glad to see, outside of his home country.

"So the time has come, has it?" The old orc said as he turned around to regard the young prince who was carrying the saddle and bags the pair of them had built when the lad was fourteen. Kurgan walked to the back of the stable and brought with him the Prince's horse, Mist.

"She was put in new shoes last night, and her hooves inspected. She's quite ready for a long journey," The Beastmaster gave the young man a stern glare. "You've not been by for a while and neglected your friend here, and she's been miserable for it."

Jared hung his head, properly chastised. He accepted the reins from his orc friend and cradled Mist's head to him, scratched her neck beneath her mane and whispered soothing things in her ear and the horse leaned into his touch.

"So. Where are you headed, brat?"

Jared put the saddle on the horse and tightened the girth. "The Hinterlands."

The young man was busy preparing the saddle and missed the widening of Kurgan's one good eye. This was unexpected, seeing as how the two pampered pansies had been sent on a pleasure cruise along the coast to meet distant cousin, who was stationed at the elven capital of Starling Cliffs as an ambassador to the elves.

"Trade agreement happening?" the orc asked, as the two of them had often discussed the possibility of it.

Jared simply nodded in return.

The two of them then walked slowly outside and Kurgan turned and gazed wistfully at nothing. "I envy you, lad. To see the Frozen Wastes as Lord Winter retreats, and Lady Summer embraces Karaduk. It is a beautiful place, this time of year."

"I've listened to your stories since I was five. I can't wait to see it, Kurgan."

The orc grinned at Jared and clasped him on the shoulder and the Prince felt as if he was a child again. Now, Jared wasn't that small at five seven and one hundred and thirty pounds but anyone would seem tiny compared to an orc who stood at well over seven feet and had to weigh in at at least three hundred and fifty pounds.

"So, I take it from the lack of activity, that you'll be travelling with a single Shadow?"

"Yes. Jaspar, if I was to guess. We'll meet up with an orc at Crossroad Keep and that person will take me the rest of the way, and Jaspar will return home."

Kurgan rubbed his chin and frowned. "The Queen will most likely send her best, given the importance of this treaty. And if she's sent her best, then that can only mean her sister, Za'ira. She is the greatest fighter among the orcs, or she was, back when I was among them, still. She'll be in her late forties by now, but do not doubt you'll be in good hands, boy. I'll bet she'll be surprised when she gets a demonstration of your own skills!" Kurgan exclaimed and laughed uproariously.

"I'm not that good, old friend," Jared protested.

"Nonsense! The only reason those two Shadows keep defeating you, is because they have more experience. Once you've gotten a real fight or two under your belt, they won't be beating you any more, rest assured."

Jared smiled shyly at his friend, who got this weird look on his face. By the gods, if that boy did not get over himself, Za'ira would eat him alive. Well, she would most likely do that anyway, seeing as they would be travelling alone for weeks in the wilderness, and there were great stretches of nothing between villages in the sparsely populated North. And if the warrior did not claim the boy, her sister the Queen certainly would, once they reached the capital.

"Well, there's no time to lose, boy. Today is the twenty-fifth of April. If the weather remains favourable, and you do not encounter too much trouble, you should reach Stormhold by the end of July."

Jared nodded. The Continent was very large and it would take around six weeks to reach the border and Crossroad Keep, which was almost five hundred leagues from the capital of the Kingdom of Men. Once there, he would have to leave Mist behind, as the orcs did not ride and the terrain was reportedly so rough, you travelled almost as quickly on your own two feet anyway, so it was much less of a hassle, to simply leave the horse behind.

Jared took one last look at his equipment. Sturdy leather boots, protected by a pair of steel plated shin guards, a fine, ultra light Mithril chain mail and a reinforced leather jerkin, and finally, a pair arm braces that matched the guards on his shins.

Jared checked his bowstring and made sure he had all five of his spares and a bottle of wax. Once he'd done that, he properly secured his sword inside his bedroll which was fastened behind the saddle and made sure he had both of his long knives in their sheaths on his lower back.

"Well, I'm off. Take care of yourself, Kurgan."

"Aye, lad you too."

This would especially apply if he would be journeying with Za'ira. Then again, if she set her eyes on him, she would ensnare him and the man who emerged on the other side of that adventure would be very different from the one who'd left the Kingdom.

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Jared had been travelling for half a day when, almost as out of thin air, a horse and rider appeared next to him on the road. It was a man wearing a black hood and cloak and a mask. Jared acknowledged his companion with a nod, and they rode together in silence for while.

"The weather is nice this morning, my Prince," Jaspar said.

Jared arched an eyebrow at Jaspar. Small talk? Really? They did not do that, preferring silence to speaking about nothing. Then, the Prince leaned his head backward quickly as a hand came flashing from the cloaked man, and Jared retaliated with a similar swipe of his own, which the older man had to block with his arm.

"Oooh! So the great, fancy diplomat still has his touch, then?" Jaspar mocked and Jared could see the smile in the other man's eyes.

"Haa haa," the Prince said sarcastically and cuffed his friend upside the head. "So. Six weeks to reach the border sound about right, to you?"

The Shadow nodded. "It should. I went to the Watch this morning and apparently, there have been some reports of bandits on the road in the provinces to the North and we were urged to proceed with caution."

Jared acknowledged his teacher's words and rode on for a while, keeping a vigilant eye on his surroundings. He would not be caught unawares and he knew he should expect an attack fairly soon.

"You expecting trouble, Jared?"

The Prince eyed his bodyguard incredulously. "You don't seriously believe the Queen is going to let this opportunity slip by, do you?"