The Kingdom Pt. 02

But I'm suddenly jerked to a halt, nearly losing my grip on the harness. I turn to see Corinne holding tightly to a smaller branch just below the surface with one hand. The river tries to claim me as I pull myself towards Corinne, until I too am finally able to grab the branch she's holding onto.

Working together, we manage to drag our exhausted, water-logged bodies out of the torrent to the thicker part of the tree branch. As we rest and catch our breath, I see the branch is still attached to the tree it belongs to, the tree roots somehow gripping the rocky outcropping firmly enough to keep it from being swept away.

"I think we can climb up that," I tell her, pointing to the rough, uneven rock face as I slowly reel in the tow rope. It appears to be no more than twenty or thirty feet high before the cliff gives way to a ledge.

She nods, then after resting for a few more minutes, she crawls over and hugs me fiercely.

"Thanks for sticking with me," she says.

"I wouldn't dream of letting you go through this on your own," I reply, hugging her back just as fiercely.

We hold each other for a bit until she lets go to slowly climb out of the water and further into the tree. We carefully pick our way through the branches to reach the stone face of the cliff.

After another short rest, we assess the climb and discuss how to tackle it. We carefully inspect the rope for flaws and decide most of it is sturdy enough to assist Corinne as she climbs, or as a fail safe in case she slips. Being the slightly stronger one, and because I'm the one who isn't afraid of heights, I will climb up first with the rope tied around my waist, then assist her. I cut away at least thirty feet of rope and coil the rest over my shoulder.

Handholds are plentiful and the rock is solid. The climb would be easy if I and my hands weren't so tired already. About ten minutes later, I reach the ledge, toss the rope down, then roll onto my back to catch my breath and look around.

The ledge turns out to be mostly that, just a recess in the rock face no more than seven feet deep running the length of the cliff in both directions. Upstream, it narrows after ten or fifteen feet until it merges with the vertical cliff face beyond. Downstream, the ledge narrows a little and slopes gradually upwards for maybe thirty feet. The cliff face above me curves slightly outward, creating a narrow sheltered area no more than a few feet deep and just a bit wider.

A tug on the rope reminds me Corinne is waiting for me, probably just as cold and just as tired as I am. I get to my feet and peer over the edge. She already has the other end of the rope tied around her torso just under her arms, ready for me to pull up the slack. I wave and reel in about twenty feet. I yell down, letting her know I'm ready. She yells back then begins her ascent.

Corinne scrambles up the cliff face in far less time than it took me.

"Wow. That was fast," I comment, grasping her hand and pulling her up onto the ledge.

"After hanging over the river more than a hundred feet in the air, this was like climbing on top of a wagon," she explains. "Plus, I was highly motivated."

"Sorry. I suppose you were beginning to feel lonely down there by yourself, like I abandoned you," I say apologetically.

She looks at me compassionately, her lip quivering. "No Quill. I didn't feel like you abandoned me. I know you would never do that," she assures me, taking my hands in hers. "It's because I'm freezing." Her hands are like ice.

"Oh. Me too. Let's get going. Follow me. I think we can get up to the treeline this way. Maybe we can find a better place to hunker down than this exposed cliff. Somewhere out of the wind."

I lead her to the right and up the sloped part of the ledge. When we can't follow it any longer, we climb. Most of the climbs are less than ten feet vertically with ledges to rest in between. At one point, we need to walk nearly a hundred feet before we find a place with enough handholds to make it up.

An hour later, we've scaled only ninety feet of the hundred and fifty we need to, but we're running out of daylight fast. Corinne is shivering and I'm close to it despite all our physical exertion. Unfortunately, the ledge we're on doesn't look any more inviting than the others we've seen. I wouldn't choose this for a stopping point but our next climb looks tough and I don't think either of us will make it without warming up and getting some sleep.

"I think we should stop here," I say. "It's getting dark. This ledge is deep enough to sleep on and those bushes will help shelter us from the wind. There's enough kindling to get a fire going and hopefully dry our clothes."

"O-k-k-kay," Corinne replies, her teeth chattering. "I'll g-g-gather some w-w-wood."

As she does that, I fish the flint and steel out of my pouch, gather a few pieces of tinder and kindling strewn about, then prepare a place for the fire. Because of the wind, I'm forced to build the fire closer to the bushes than I normally would, even with the pile of rocks I stacked as a wind-break.

Naturally, everything in my pouch is soaked, so I have to blow on them until they're dry before I begin. Eventually, I get a fire started, which draws Corinne like a moth. She's gathered a fairly large pile of wood. I add some until a decent blaze is going. Corinne sits down, getting as close as she can without being burned.

"You get warmed up. I'm going to gather more wood. It's going to be a long night, but together we'll make it through," I say, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Thanks Quill."

I wander around in the fading light, gathering everything I can find. Eventually it's too dark to see well enough, so I bring a final load back to our makeshift campsite. After adding it to the pile, I turn to join Corinne and see that she's removed all her clothing and gear, and hung it up on some nearby branches to dry. She looks up at me from where she's sitting, her knees pulled tight against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Come join me," she says. "You've done enough. You need to get dry and warm too."

I'm so tired and cold I don't hesitate to strip off my gear and wet clothes. Corinne stands up, taking each piece of clothing from me to hang them up to dry. Our clothes actually make our little shelter feel like it has walls.

When I'm finished, I sit down next to the fire and she wraps her arms around me. Her warmth makes me painfully aware just how cold I really am. Once I make it through the shivering phase of warming up, I'm able to relax and enjoy the comfort of Corinne's proximity.

Neither of us has spoken of it since we dragged our waterlogged bodies out of the river, but now seems like the appropriate time. "Do you think the others searched for us?" I ask, adding a few large pieces of wood to the fire.

Corinne doesn't answer right away, but I can tell she's thinking about it.

"If they did, I don't think they spent too much time on it," she replies. "The mission is too important. They're probably half way to the Temple by now. Teritha is a good leader. She would have allowed everyone a short time to grieve or pray when they didn't find us, but she would have gotten them moving again soon with one of her rousing speeches."

In spite of the circumstances, I can't keep from laughing. "That does sound like her," I chuckle.

More seriously, I add, "I hope Micaelah is okay. Kendric too."

"You love her, don't you?" Corinne asks gently.

Tears come unbidden to my eyes. "Yeah, I do. I don't think I realized it until just this morning at our meeting," I admit, brushing the wetness from my cheeks. Corinne squeezes me tighter. "When I thought about the possibility of losing her due to this mad quest we're on or from the fallout if we fail, I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest." A sob escapes my lips.

"Yep, that sounds like love to me," she says, her voice cracking. I turn towards her and see that she's crying now too. I extricate my arm and place it around her. As I hold her close to me, I realize I'm as dependent on her right now as she is on me. All this time I've felt like I had to be strong for her sake, but now I wonder if I'd have the courage to get through this predicament by myself. As we watch the flames dance amidst the darkness, I hug her tighter.

Looking up at me through her tears, she says, "We'll get through this Quill. We'll find our way back to the others, we'll make it to the Temple and we'll save the Kingdom."

I want to believe her words, so I try to smile convincingly. But she must be able to see the doubt it's masking because she reaches her hand up and places it on my cheek, then says, "We will. We must." Then she kisses me briefly on the lips. Examining my face again, she decides I need more convincing, or maybe she does, because she kisses me again.

She only backs away far enough to take a breath this time. My lips must be as reluctant as hers to part, because I initiate the next kiss. Soon our tongues find each other, but not in passion. It's more like quiet desperation, a need to feel connected, to say 'I need you right now and I'm here for you too'.

I gather her into my arms as I recline on the warmed, stone shelf, our kisses intimate yet tender. She straddles my waist and relaxes on top of me. We don't engage in playful lovemaking or rush toward a desperate release. Instead, we gently explore the non-sexual areas of each other's bodies with hands and lips.

As I caress her back and hips, her fingers trail across my chest and shoulders. We take turns planting kisses on ears and necks, cheeks and chins, brows and foreheads and temples. Eventually though, our hands and mouths stray close enough to those other places, sparking the inevitable chain reaction.

Her wetness encounters my erection. At first it's merely contact, but as the seconds pass, almost imperceptibly, she begins sliding along my shaft, her movement becoming intentional.

Forward and back, slowly, a little further each time, until the head of my cock enters her, and she reverses direction until I'm completely buried inside her in one smooth motion. A short, quiet moan is all the sound she makes.

I let her set the pace. She slides forward and back, her cheek pressed against mine as she slowly rides me. I kiss her neck and ears, while I drag my fingertips lightly across the small of her back and over her ass cheeks.

After a few minutes, her mouth finds mine again and her tongue probes deeper. Her pace increases, but only slightly. Nevertheless, a minute later her body begins to tremble as her pussy clamps down on my shaft. I feel her juices trickle down and wet my balls. She ends our kiss and relaxes on my chest. I wrap my arms around her protectively, and we just lay there, basking in the warmth of the nearby fire and in each other's closeness.

§ 7 ~ Sustentation

The chilly air wakes us up. Our fire has burned down to coals. The position of the moon in the clear night sky tells me only a couple of hours have passed. Corinne is still on top of me, her dark, still damp hair cascading over my shoulder. My arms are still around her, my hands resting on her firm ass cheeks, and my semi-erect member still snuggling inside her.

"Brrrrr, I'm freezing," she says groggily, lifting her head and sitting up.

"Me too," I concur. "Let's get the fire going again."

"That's a great idea" she agrees, rolling off but still huddling close. "How did you fall asleep with all my weight on top of you?"

"I guess I was more tired than anything else," I observe, grabbing some tinder and kindling and arranging it strategically. I blow on the coals until it catches. After a short time, the fire is throwing off plenty of glorious heat.

"I can make sure this stays going if you want to go back to sleep," I tell Corinne.

"No. I don't want to lay down without you," she says, rearranging our clothing so the wetter parts are facing the fire. Then, with mischief in her voice, she adds, "You're more comfortable than the hard ground."

"So I'm just a mattress to you?" I say with mock indignation. She laughs at my reaction as she sits back down next to me. "Not at all. You also throw off lots of heat."

I laugh. "And you make a good blanket," I jest.

She laughs. "Corinne the Blade Master and emergency blanket, at your service!" she quips.

In all honesty," I confess. "I slept well. I wasn't uncomfortable at all, even with you on top of me."

"Thanks... I think," she chuckles.

We soak up the heat for a few minutes before she adds, "Well, if you find the arrangement agreeable, I'd be willing to lay on top of you again."

I turn my head to find her smiling innocently back at me.

"I will need help staying warm until morning," I observe. "That would certainly help."

"Most definitely," she agrees, nodding her head as she holds my gaze.

"Maybe we could start with me laying on top of you for a little while," I suggest. "Then we could switch. You know... take turns keeping each other warm."

"That sounds fair," she says judiciously. Then, with a meaningful look, she adds quietly, "I think both of us would benefit greatly from that."

She stretches out next to the fire. Crawling into position, I watch as the flames throw various shades of red and orange dancing across her naked body. Whether from a cold breeze or anticipation, her nipples grow long and stiff, casting shadows against the stone face of the cliff nearby. Watching me watch her, she smiles almost shyly, parting her legs further as I move between them.

I lean down to kiss the inside of one thigh just above the knee, then move to the other. Alternating back and forth, I kiss my way closer and closer until the tip of my nose brushes her labia on my way up to her tummy. A quiet moan of hunger escapes her lips as she licks them.

I continue kissing my way up to the valley between her breasts, then plant a few kisses on the inside slope of each one. From the sides, my hands slide up her ribcage to cup them and push them together, squeezing gently as I open my mouth and take both nipples inside, sucking them in unison.

Corinne throws her head back and coos, pushing her fleshy mounds into my face. I pull back, causing her nipples to come out with a pop. Then I flick my tongue across each one several times, followed by some gentle biting.

Giving her breasts a final, firm squeeze, I drag my fingertips down across them as I kiss my way down to her snatch. As she grabs her legs and pulls her knees back, the smell of her arousal greets me. I breathe her in, then tease her labia with my tongue, lapping up the steady stream of nectar trickling out.

Her panting increases to a feverish pace. When I finally expose her clit and suck it into my mouth, she instantly orgasms, letting out an ear-piercing scream and drenching my chin with her juices. Thrashing her head from side to side, her hands hold my mouth tight against her pussy. I continue to suck and lick until she pushes my face away and pulls me on top of her.

She holds me tight as she recovers. When her breathing slows down enough, she turns my face to hers and kisses me, her tongue exploring my entire mouth. Finally gasping for breath, she pleads, "Now fuck me Quillion. I need you inside me."

I reach down and push two fingers inside her drenched opening, then grab my erection, coating it with her juices. Lining it up, I push it in until I'm balls deep. She cries out loudly, "Mmmmmmmm!" and wraps her legs around my waist.

I pull back then slam it home again. "Ooooooooh!" she cries. I pound her at frenzied pace, my balls slapping her again and again.

"Oooooh yeah! Oooooh yeah! Fuck me! Fuck me! Oooooh yeah! Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me! Fuck me!"

She cries out another orgasm, "Ooooooooh! "Ooooooooh! "Ooooooooh! Mmmmmmm!"

Her pussy clamps down on my cock like a vice, coaxing me towards my own orgasm. I continue to pound her, feeling myself nearing the point of no return.

When the moment arrives, I pull out and quickly straddle her chest. She grabs my cock with both hands and pumps my nine-incher from its base to the head, suckling the tip. My jizz gushes into her mouth. She sucks the entire head inside as she swallows my load and continues to pump. I fill her mouth again. She swallows again, sucking in a few more inches of my cock. I push it in even further before I blast a third load down her throat. Her tongue massages the underside until I pull all the way out. She licks all around the head then sucks it into her mouth one last time.

"Wow," she says. "I feel really warm inside now. Thanks for the liquid fire." She laughs, squeezes out a final rivulet of jizz, then swallows it.

"Uhm... You're welcome I guess," I reply, amused. "Thanks for warming me up earlier with your own liquid fire."

"It was my pleasure, Quill." She smiles up at me. I climb off her chest, then throw a few logs on the fire before laying down, spooning her from behind and wrapping her in my arms. Despite our earlier discussion, she seems content with this arrangement, so I continue to hold her close until sleep claims us.

§ 8 ~ Acceleration

The morning brings even more chilly air. I wake first, my backside freezing, while Corinne dozes comfortably with me as her blanket. The fire is cold and dead without even a wisp of smoke emanating from it.

Reluctantly, I move my arm to reach out for whatever clothing is hanging near enough. It feels mostly dry, but cold. Better than nothing I surmise, so I grab what I can and lay it over Corinne before extracting myself. She moans discontentedly.

"Sorry to disturb your rest," I tell her. "But I'm cold and we need to get going so we can catch up with the others." First things first though. I get a fire going to warm our bodies and our clothes as we dress and strap on our gear.

"Hopefully we'll find some game to hunt when we reach the top," I say hopefully, securing my last throwing knife in it's place.

"It's too bad I don't have my bow," Corinne says dejectedly, strapping on her sole hunting knife.

"We'll figure it out," I assure her, turning to assess our next climb as she double checks our campsite and makes sure the fire is definitely out.

"Alright. Let's go," she says.

The climb, while longer, turns out to be easier than previous climbs thanks to the cliff face being less steep, gradually sloping inward away from the river.

When we reach the top, the ledge is much wider, with more options for hiking steep grades and less need for vertical climbing. We follow the widest path probably a half mile in a generally eastward direction towards the sea, yet curving northward, where it eventually widens then opens up to the forest beyond.

Since neither of us knows the way to the Temple, we decide it best to follow the river upstream as close as we can and try to find our waback to the bridge. The others would surely mark their passage so we could follow them in case we survived.

Unfortunately, the terrain along the river is repeatedly impassable and we're forced to go around and double back often to stay within hearing distance of the rushing water.

Around midmorning, we're fortunate enough to stumble upon some edible berries, which we eat ravenously until there aren't any more to pick. There aren't nearly enough to satisfy our hunger, but we're grateful nonetheless.

We must have been driven down river further than I guessed because it's mid afternoon by the time we finally come to a trail. Turning left towards the river, we follow it for several minutes and breathe a sigh of relief when we see the bridge. There we find our gear and a brief message carved in the log next to it.

"We'll mark the way. Catch up as quickly as you can. May the gods watch over you."

Corinne and I hug each other joyfully, then sort out our equipment.

"Oh thank the gods indeed!" Corinne exclaims, pulling a small bundle out of her pack. "They left food and water!" She rips a loaf of bread in half then hands one of them to me as she bites into the other. A rest would be nice but we don't waste time sitting and eating. Instead, we fill our bellies as we hasten down the trail after our companions, finding our way easily thanks to the clear trail markings they left behind.