The Northern Outpost Ch. 02

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Teyl Dati marched at a steady pace through the thick snow that covered the Border Road. Near the Northern Outpost the road was more of a trail, barely wide enough to handle a single cart. And it was so infrequently used that the fresh layer of snow that lay on the ground had yet to be disturbed by person or beast.

Tall pine trees towered above him on both sides of the road, looming more than forty feet above his head. Their thick, dark needle filled branches were covered in snow as well, making them seem even more like a solid arboreal wall that pressed in on him. A thick ice fog had begun to descend on the path just as dusk had set in, making the world before, behind, and above him begin to disappear. As the mist grew thicker his world shrunk, till he could barely see the tree tops above him or more than thirty feet or so before him.

As the sun set the fog before him lit up with a final burst of light. Slowly it changed from white to yellow to orange then began to fade into a dark purplish green, same as the shadows in the trees that surrounded him.

He stopped and pulled an emberstone torch out of his traveling pack. The top of the torch was wrapped in a black cloth, which he removed to reveal a chunk of semi-transparent orange stone about the size of his fist. As the open air hit the emberstone it lit up, bathing the surrounding area with an orange hued light. The stone shown about as bright as a flame tipped torch would, but its orange-hued light was steadier and the glowing stone required no fuel. Emberstone had a long life and his torch would last years if he remembered to wrap it well when not using it.

Holding the torch up he saw that its light barely lit the distance from one side of the road to the next because of the thick ice fog. And as he stood trying to decide what to do next the fog only grew thicker.

"Won't be much good to try and patrol in this..." he mumbled. He trudged forward a little more till he found a small clearing on the side of the road that was used as a resting area. There were places like this all along the road: patches where the thick underbrush had been cleared out and the ground was relatively flattened. Remnants of past fires could be found in them, or maybe even small makeshift shelters made of tree branches.

The trees above this small area gave natural cover, leaving the ground mostly free of snow. There was the chance this was a natural occurrence, but from the way the tree trunks were shaped and the branches of different trees were interwoven above, Teyl was fairly certain a druid had used their magic to shape this little rest area.

The night was young but already growing bitterly cold, the ice mist only adding to the chill he felt. It pressed in on him from every angle, filling his body with a damp chill that would eventually freeze him to the bone. He took his pack off and planted the emberstone torch in the ground, moving out into the illuminated forest to find some firewood. As he had hoped, there was a pile of wood hidden under the nearby snow, collected and left by someone who had previously used the spot. "Hell," he mumbled as he picked the wood up, "might even have been me that left it here."

With an armful of wood in hand he sat on a large rock, obviously placed there to function as a makeshift chair, and began building a fire. Before using his flint to ignite the piled wood he had built up in the fire pit, he held his hands out above it. He mumbled a few words in an arcane language, watching as his hands glowed green for a moment before the green energy transferred down into the fire pit and soaking into the wood as it disappeared from view. The simple , one all the Rangers knew, would ensure that a single load of wood burnt all night and that the heat that came off of it was far warmer than its size would normally allow.

With a strike on his flint the kindling below the stacked wood ignited in green flames that quickly enveloped the wood, creating a large flame that quickly warmed his cold flesh. For a few minutes Teyl simply sat, enjoying the feel of the warmth from the flickering green flames chasing the chill from his body. He was just about to get to work building a shelter for the night when out of the corner of his eye he saw a light appear in the fog, down along the Border Road.

He quickly got to his feet and drew his sword, crawling into the shadows of the nearby trees, far away from the green light of the fire and his bright emberstone torch. It was the sworn duty of all Rangers to protect those that traveled Vulfrell's roads, but this far north anyone met on the road was just as likely to be a bandit as an honest traveler. And bandits, knowing the Rangers were sworn to protect others from ones such as them, were in the habit of attacking Rangers on sight.

Keeping low to the ground he waited. The bobbing light slowly moved forward, casually taking shape. It was a traditional torch held in a cloaked traveler's hand. The figure was walking in the center of the road, doing nothing to hide their advance. Bandits didn't act like this... And the way the figure was dressed indicated they were no skulking bandit. They were either a mercenary or adventurer, although most Rangers saw little difference between the two types of travelers.

Crawling out from his hiding place Teyl got to his feet, brushing snow from his clothing. He stood tall, making it clear he held a weapon but not holding it up in challenge. "Ho!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the imposing forest around him. The cloaked figure froze where they stood, one arm moving to grab the hilt of their own sword. "I am Teyl Dati of the Vulfrellian Rangers. I watch over this road. Come forward and identify thyself."

He watch as the figure relaxed, their hand falling from their weapon. "Ho!" a feminine voice called back as the woman began to approach. "I am Rothais Pianta. My legs are weary and my feet tired, may I join you at camp this night?"

It was the traditional exchange of strangers on the road, declaring they were both beings of honor and were to be trusted. Teyl put his sword back into its sheath and waved her over to his small camp. The stranger put her torch out in the snow as she approached, tucking it into her traveling pack then approached in shadow.

From a distance Teyl had thought the woman fat and under dressed for the cold, perhaps maintained by her significant bulk. But as she came into the light of his torch and fire he could see he had been mistaken. Under her green traveling cloak she had on many layers of thick furs that were more than enough for the winter cold that surrounded them. And although it was hard to tell for certain under all those layers, he suspected the woman actually had a rather petite figure.

"I'm glad I found you," she said as she sat down on a rock near the fire, shivering as the green flames began to warm her body. "This fog seems to be growing thicker by the minute and I was starting to worry I would lose my way. The road is easy enough to follow in the day, but if the fog grew any thicker I might have missed a turn and found myself taking a side path and getting lost in the woods."

She turned to Teyl and threw her hood back, revealing a young and pretty face with narrow, thin features. She had thick, dark eyebrows that made her large eyes look even bigger than they actually were. Her brown hair was cut short in the back but long in the front and would have covered her face if it hadn't been pulled to the side behind her ears. As she spoke the hair on one side fell from ear, cascading forward and covering one side of her face.

Faint steam came from her mouth as she spoke, the fire not having had enough time to fully warm the air around it. The wisps of frozen water vapor drew Teyl's attention to the woman's mouth. It was small, but wide. Her lips were thin and narrow, yet compared to the rest of her narrow and small features they looked plump and inviting. He immediately felt himself grow hard as images of this woman using that pretty mouth on his manhood filled his mind.

He shook his head, chasing the mental images away. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I got lost in my own thoughts there for a moment. What were you saying?"

Rothais laughed. "Obviously! I asked if I could make camp with you for the night. I'd be more than happy to share some of my provisions with you," she said, pulling her traveling pack off her back and setting it by her feet before reaching into it for some food.

He held up his hand. "There is no need for that! If anything I should offer you some of mine. I'm less than a day's journey from the fort I call home. My guess is you've already been on the road for a long time and won't have the chance to get new provisions anytime soon. Tell me, what brings you so far north? Does your destination lay further east along the Border Road?"

She began chewing on some provisos from her pack, stopping only after a few bites to answer his question. "No, I actually planned on heading north into the Great Northern Forest soon. I'm looking to explore some of the ruins that lay beyond. I was hired by the College of Magic to look for ancient artifacts to bring back to them at the capital for study."

"So you are a mage?" Teyl asked, suddenly thinking he had misjudged the traveler.

"Oh no," she said before taking another bite of her food. "I'm just an adventurer working for the new bounty they recently decided to pay for such artifacts."

Teyl tried not to let the disappointment he felt show on his face. Rangers looked down on mercenaries and adventurers. Both groups had the skills and experience to keep Vulfrell safe, and in fact most of their actions did just that. But mercenaries did it when paid, while adventurers... well, they worked for coin too, but seemed far more interested in the personal glory that came from their hectic and dangerous lifestyle.

For a time they sat in silence, Teyl pulling some provisions of his own out and joining her in the evening meal. Rothais seemed exhausted from her day of travel, happy to just sit and stare into the green flames of the fire. Her state of weary distraction was a good thing because Teyl was having a very hard time not staring at her pretty lips. He was certain that if she had noticed there would certainly have been problems.

Once his stomach felt full he got to his feet and began building a shelter for the night, hoping to distract himself from the pretty young adventurer sitting so near. Using branches covered in thick pine needles he cut from nearby trees he weaved a kind of thick covering that he placed over skeletal framework made of thicker stripped branches. Together it formed a domed hut that sat low to the ground, just all enough for a man to sit up in. The side facing the fire was left open so the heat from the magic infused flames could warm its interior. When finished the structure was big enough for both he and adventurer to spread their bed rolls in.

It would keep some of their natural body heat in while they slept, but on its own it wouldn't be enough to keep them warm enough to survive the night if it grew any colder. Teyl stood between the hut waving his hands about and muttering another incantation. Using another simple cantrip he made it so the heat coming off the fire would flow mainly into the small hut, making the makeshift shelter more than warm enough no matter how cold the night grew.

"There we go," he said, rolling his own bedroll onto one side of the hut. "It might end up being a little crowded in there, but it should keep the cold out." He turned back to the adventurer and gave her a kind smile, waving at the side of the hut he had reserved for her.

She didn't look particularly impressed. She was probably able to construct similar shelters if she was traveling out her on foot. But as she got to her feet and spread her own bedroll into the hut she did thank him for his work before sitting back down by the fire. She stretched, yawning. "I tell you what, I'm beat and looking forward to the warmth I can feel flowing in there, but I'm not yet ready for sleep. Sit down with me, Ranger, and tell me what you know about the ruins I'll be heading off in search of once the sun rises."

Teyl sat down across from her, filled with disappointment. He didn't realize it till then, but he had been eager to get in the small shelter and spend the night sleeping close to a woman. Sure, he slept next to Anneyce like that when they went on patrol together, but he didn't really think of her as a woman.

Consoling himself that he'd still end up sleeping beside the young beauty before long he made himself comfortable. "They are much like the ruins spread over the rest of Vulfrell," he began."No one really knows who made them. Most are simply empty ruins of forgotten and abandoned keeps or outposts. Some are tombs, crumbling with age. There are some that hold ancient treasures, but those tend to be guarded either by defenses their builder's left behind or monsters that have been drawn to the treasure hidden within."

He took a deep breath then continued. "We Rangers tend to ignore them. Unless something sinister that's attacked travelers has made home in a ruin we mostly pass them over on our patrols. And almost all of the ruins lay beyond the Border Road on the other side of the Great Northern Forest out in the Frozen Wastes. We rarely travel that far north unless it's to chase specific prey. We are concerned with keeping things out of Vulfrell, not with exploring those lands that lay beyond our borders."

She nodded her head. "So you don't know much about what lies in the Frozen Wastes?"

"Well... Our patrols do take us there at times. As the name suggests it's mostly a vast wasteland, hilly tundra covered in thick blankets of snow and rocky outcroppings. Little is to be found there other than the occasional ruin, at least until you get to the World's End Mountains. Few Rangers have ever traveled that far north, and those that have rarely return. There are ruins there; you can see them from a distance built into the mountains. They are rumored to be haunted by ancient evils. But, well, you hear such tales about all places now abandoned and infrequently visited by people."

While Teyl spoke Rothais sat and listened. He suspected he hadn't told her anything she didn't already know. He noticed that she hadn't eaten beyond the first few bites of her food. He pulled his out again and offered some to her. She shook her head no.

"Please," Teyl said. "I really think you should have some of mine."

Rothais blinked then looked down at the food as if seeing it for the first time. "Well... okay, I suppose it would be prudent. You can resupply sooner than I can." Teyl was surprised that she had changed her mind so suddenly. She had seemed determined not to accept the food he was offering.

As she reached out to take the food he noticed a strange ring on one of her fingers. He'd seen a ring like that before, been shown it while he was being trained to become a Ranger. His teachers had made all of the Rangers in training memorize the rings by sight, warning about what the enchantment placed upon such items did to those that wore them.

"Ring of suggestion," he exclaimed under his breath.

"What did you say?" Rothais asked as she chewed on the food she had just taken. Obviously she hasn't heard him clearly.

"Oh, uh... I was just admiring that ring on your finger."

She held her hand up to the firelight and admired the ring. "Oh, this old thing? I found it in the treasure pile of a troll I slayed. I'd thought it was magic, but as far as I've seen it doesn't do anything. Still, it's pretty and since putting it on I've found myself unwilling to part with it. Somehow it just feels right to wear it. Strange that, isn't it?"

"Yes," he mumbled, "strange." It was, in fact, not strange at all. Once on your finger the wearer would be magically compelled to never part with the ring unless it was suggested they take it off or removed by another. As long as the ring remained on her finger the adventurer would be compelled to do just about anything that was suggested to her. Not commanded, but suggested. It was subtle but important difference. Upon being given a suggestion the ring would then work its magic on her mind, making her believe she agreed with the suggestion given. Her taking his food after he suggested it a second time began to make sense to him.

His mind immediately filled with all the things he could do with an attractive woman wearing a ring of suggestion. His eyes rose from her hand to her mouth, taking in the sight of her lips once again. All he could think about was how perfect her mouth was for sucking cock, and he knew all he had to do was suggest that she come suck him off and she'd do it.

For a brief moment he started to steer away from the temptation. But then he remembered why he was out on patrol alone. Ilvuna had awakened the hungry sexual beast that he had managed to keep subdued inside him for the past few years. He felt it rumble to life, demanding he satiate its carnal hungers.

Besides, he told himself, no one would know about his actions. None of the other Rangers need ever know what he did with this adventurer or even that he had met her. And because of the ring she would think everything he suggest she do was her own idea, something she wanted as much as him.

"Why are you looking at my mouth like that?" she asked, a cutely perplexed expression on her face. The expression included a smirk that made her lips look even more delicious.

It was too much for him to bear. He had to have her, had to take advantage of the situation that had presented itself. "I think you should come kneel before me," he said to her, sitting up straight and spreading his legs.

For a moment she stared at him, then slowly blinked. "Yeah," she said softly, "yeah, I think it would be good if I came and knelt before you."

Slowly she rose to her feet, throwing her cloak back. "Wait," Teyl said, holding a hand up. "The fire is nice and warm now; I think it might be a good idea if you took all those layers of furs off before coming over here."

Again she held still, staring ahead for a moment before blinking and beginning to move again. "You know, you're right. I am getting rather hot. You did a good job enchanting this fire!" She began taking the furs off, tossing them towards the shelter, intending to use them as blankets later on.

Under the furs she wore a simple gray garment that clung tightly to her thin, fit body. It was sleeveless and low cut, revealing small perky breasts that looked to each be about a plump handful in size. He smiled, pleased at the sight and thinking they perfectly fit her petite body. With the furs removed and the cloaked pulled back all the skin form the top of her breasts up to her neck was exposed to the light of the torch and fire. Green and orange light mixed strangely on her bare skin calling to Teyl and making him grow hard with anticipation.

His eyes returned to her lips as she came forward and carefully knelt before him. She looked up at him, giving him another cute smile. Then she started to look confused. "You know," she said with a nervous laugh, "I'm not even sure why I thought this would be a good idea."

He knew he had to act fast, plant another suggestion before it occurred to her something was off. "Oh, I thought maybe you had found me attractive. I thought, maybe, that you wanted to come over here and pull my cock out of my pants. It might be a kind gesture of thanks to give me a blow job after providing you with warmth and food and shelter for the night."

For a long moment she stared up at Teyl, her pretty features looking painfully innocent in that moment. Then she blinked and afterwards the corner of her mouth moved up into a sultry half grin. "You know, I think that's a pretty good idea. You've done a lot to make me comfortable, now I'll do my part to make YOU comfortable."