The Peachwillow Chronicles Pt. 03

"What... what was that?"

"I... I don't know, Willow. It looks like something scared them away."

"What would those monsters be afraid of?"

Cethaz shivered. "I'm not sure. Let's hope it doesn't like to come out during the day."

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"Hold on, Cethie, let me help you."

Aatos picked Cethaz up and lifted her up over a rock. There were trees all around each side, and they were in a hurry to escape the forest before nightfall. He strained as he hoisted her up; the full weight of her armor and equipment was tough for him to handle (particularly the heavy axe that she had strapped to her back), but he managed to boost her to the point where she could get over the rock with his help. The part of the forest they were traversing was a bit more uneven than the route that they had taken to get in, and Cethaz needed more than a little help from Aatos making it over some of the bumpier spots.

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes, but I can handle it. Thanks, Willow."

Aatos put his arms over the rock and pulled himself up. He looked south into the distance; the terrain seemed to smooth out considerably from that point on. He took Cethaz' hand and led her downhill. They traipsed through the forest until they finally saw light in front of them; it was late afternoon and they had just made it to the edge of the forest in time. Aatos felt overjoyed until he felt Cethaz tap his shoulder and pointed to a group of bushes without a word.

He wasn't sure what she wanted him to see at first. Then he saw some black and yellowish stripes moving behind the bushes, and his blood turned to water. Cethaz had assured him that they wouldn't have to worry about running into a Lufani tiger; they hadn't been seen for decades. But there was one standing right before them. It was a muscular, heavy-set beast, with powerful jaws that he hoped not to get a better look at. But Aatos knew what to do.

Aatos started moving his hands and focused on Cethaz as he began to cast a camouflage spell. She was quivering with fear; except for when she got shot through the throat, he had never seen her like this. He was unsure if tigers hunted by smell or not; if they did, they were probably dead already, but the camouflage was all that he had. It was a silent spell; chanting would make it useless when one needed it most. As Aatos gestured wildly, he saw Cethaz blur into the forest, and he looked down at himself and sensed that his color had changed into mottled greens and browns. The spell had worked.

He looked back at the tiger, and felt an immense relief when it started moving away from them. He held Cethaz close to him for what felt like an hour, until they were sure that the great cat had left them for good. They then proceeded to move towards the forest's edge until they had left the trees behind entirely.

"Oh Willow, thank you so much, but you didn't even need to cast that spell. Tigers almost never attack from the front, we could have just slowly backed away from it. But you didn't know that."

"Ceth, I didn't want to take any chances at all with that thing around. Thanks for the advice, though." He gave her a weary smile. "Now we need to make our way back to the town, right?"

"Yes, I think I need a good day or two of bed rest before we head back to Zalfahan. But you did very well, honey. I knew you could step up and be the strong one when I got wounded."

An uneasy look broke out on Cethaz's face. "But... there's something I want to tell you."

"What is it, Ceth?"

"After all you've done for me, I think that I... I think I love you."

Aatos paused in astonishment. "You... you've never said that to me before."

"Well, I've been thinking it for a while, but I wasn't sure if I was just addicted to sleeping with you." Her cheeks began to grow red with embarrassment.

Aatos stretched his arms out and held Cethaz in a warm embrace. "Oh, Cethie- you've never said it before, but I've known it for a while."

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"Do you have any idea if my voice will go back to normal? Cethaz said. Her voice was still an unpleasant rasp. She was lying in bed at their room in the inn; her bandages were off and her neck had healed, but it still had an ugly scar on it. She was lying under the covers of the bed in her underwear.

"I'm not sure. I seem to recall that sometimes the voice of someone with a damaged throat will return with no warning at all. I do know that you'll always have that scar on your neck. I wish that I had been better at healing magic..." A look of sorrow came over Aatos' face.

"Oh, don't worry, Willow. Now when people see me, they won't just see the biggest dwarf there is- they'll know that I'm tough, too."

"You were obviously tough before you had that scar." Aatos got down on the bed and sat next to her. "I've thought about it, and that trap wasn't designed for a dwarf as big as you. It was designed to go right through a dwarf's head- you were lucky that it could only reach your throat."

"Do you really think it would've gone through my helmet?"

"It went all the way through the front of your throat despite the chain mail on your neck- I think it could have penetrated your brain. And you may have been dead before I even knew what was happening."

"You're right. I could have been saved by my height. But I was definitely saved by a wonderful elven mage." Cethaz gazed at his handsome, boyish face, and moved her eyes down to his smooth chest. Then she threw her arms around Aatos and threw a sultry grin towards him. "I've been thinking, honey... our journey has taken quite a bit longer than we had planned. I could make a special exception for some amorous activity tonight."

"That sounds great, Cethie- but are you still in pain?"

"My throat hurts a little but my left side is bothering me more. Could you keep that in mind?"

"Of course, honey."

Cethaz got up over the covers and leaned against the bed's backboard. She still had a sizable bruise on her left side from when the machine had thrown half of its shield at her. Other than that, Aatos thought she was looking fine. He looked at her large breasts and wide thighs; she packed quite a bit of muscle on her frame.

"Sorry that I didn't bring anything a little sexier along, but I wasn't really planning on doing anything like this." She motioned towards her underwear, which was designed for strenuous pursuits such as hiking and climbing rather than seduction.

"Oh, I think your athletic underwear is quite arousing, honey."

Aatos gave her a soft kiss on the lips; he moved his hand down to her midriff and began to rub her stomach, moving his palm up and down on her. He put his other hand on her head and caressed her short, blue-black hair; it was a bit messier than normal because she hadn't been able to give it a good washing in a while. Their kissing intensified as their tongues started to move against each other; Cethaz reached up with her hand and started to dust her fingers over Aatos' shirtless chest.

He took his mouth off of hers and murmured with passion; his lover responded by moving her mouth to his nipple and licking it. She moved her tongue back and forth across his areola; he shivered as he felt his nipple moisten under her. His fingers nestled a bit further into her locks as she worked on him, and he moved his hand onto her back, taking great care to avoid the painful bruise on her left side. He swept his hand over her back, gently pressing his fingers into it, all while he savored the feel of her tongue on him.

And then Cethaz rose up off of him, and asked, "Could you take off my bra, Willow?"

"I thought you'd never ask, Peachie."

Aatos took his hands and moved them onto the clasp at the front of Cethaz' brassiere, and undid it with a soft click. He opened her bra up, revealing her bountiful tanned breasts, removed it from her, and dropped it onto the bed.

"You did such a nice job of sucking my nipple, and I'm going to repay you right here."

Cethaz tittered with excitement as Aatos moved his mouth onto her breast and began to suck on it. He was gentle at first but he started sucking a little harder after a while, and he moved his hand down to her panties and started exploring the front of them with his hand. Cethaz leaned back a little with an ecstatic look on her face, savoring the warmth of his mouth on her breast and his fingers on her nether regions.

"Yeah, Aatos, keep doing that... oh yeah, rub my pussy harder, that's it."

His hand moved faster on her crotch, dancing around her genitals with quick motions. She put her arms around Aatos, clasped her hands together and held him tight with her iron arms as she squirmed in passion. And then he took his mouth off of her breast and set her down onto the bed. "What do you want me to do now, Cethie?"

"Actually, I'd like to be a little more aggressive, if that's okay with you."

"Oh, I'm more than fine with that, believe me."

Cethaz got up and pulled down Aatos' pants. She grinned with lust as she laid eyes on his throbbing erection. He pulled his pants off the rest of the way, dropped them off of the bed and returned to face Cethaz. She then got down on her hands and knees and looked at his penis; there was already some pre-ejaculate coming out of it. Aatos' breathing intensified as she took him in her mouth. She was gentle at first, moving her tongue around the head, and then she put more of in her mouth and bobbed her head back and forth. She didn't want to take him too deeply in her mouth, as her throat was still quite sore, but she worked around that, moving her fingers onto his shaft in order to stimulate it. He felt a fire begin to burn within his erection as she worked on it.

"Ohhhhhhh, Cethie... you're amazing, but... I want to go down on you, too."

She took his erection out of her mouth and looked up at him with a mischievous smile. "Oh Willow, you know I'd never turn that down."

She moved back onto the bed and spread her legs apart, wearing nothing but her panties. Aatos moved his face to her crotch and began licking her genitals through them, listening to her gasps and moans as he moved his tongue along the outline of her labia. She felt a rush of passion, and her womanhood begin to grow damp as she felt him brushing against it.

"Willow, please... stop teasing me, touch me directly, take my panties off..." she whimpered.

He responded by pressing two of his fingers onto her thigh and moving them under her panties. Aatos loved the feel of her soft pubic hair as he moved his fingers onto her entrance. Cethaz cried out as he slid the tips of his fingers into her opening; the heat within her loins was growing.

Aatos decided that he had toyed with Cethaz for long enough. He removed his mouth from her, placed his hands on her panties, and brought them down to her knees in one fell swoop. He moved his face back to her genitals and began to suck on her orifice; she grabbed the bedsheets with both of her hands and almost screamed as her body was wracked with sweet pleasure. "Oh Willow, Willow, ahhhh... bring me to heaven, please, honey, ah!"

He moved his tongue into her crevice, making rapid motions as it moved against her folds while he heard her passionate cries. Then he moved his face backwards and moved his thumb and forefinger onto her nub, twisting them around it. She threw her head back and groaned as he stimulated her jewel. He put his face back on her and put his tongue onto her clitoris, thrashing it back and forth as she reached new heights of passion. This finally brought Cethaz over the edge, and she arched her back as she said,

"Oh Aatos, I, I... OH BY THE FLAME I'M COMING SO HARD!"

Aatos watched as her genitals pulsated as she reached her orgasm. He always felt so fulfilled after bringing Cethaz to ecstasy; the fact that he had saved her very life with his magic a few days earlier did not diminish his satisfaction one bit. He got up into a kneeling position and looked down at Cethaz; she was covered in sweat and panting hard, with her face flushed. She looked up at Aatos, who was equally drenched with sweat, glanced at his erection, and said,

"You... you can take me, Aatos, but I have a special request. That bruise on my side still hurts a bit- could I lie on my other side when we make love?"

"Of course, Ceth."

Cethaz moved over onto her right side and moved her leg upwards. Aatos pressed his hardened member to her opening, and gently guided the head into her as she sighed with happiness. Aatos steeled himself as he moved deeper into her velvety sheath; he began to thrust his hips as she raspily cried,

"Oh Willow, you make me feel so good... ohhhhhh..."

Aatos gritted his teeth as he undulated, moving his erection in and out of her. They had never tried this particular position before, but it didn't feel that much different than entering her from the front or behind. His breathing quickened as he felt intense pleasure well up within his hardness; just like Cethaz loved him going down on her more than anything else, he loved entering her between her legs most of all. He knew he was trembling on the brink as he felt her tight crevice all around him.

"Oh Cethie, Cethie... I... I'm gonna come inside you, Peachie..."

"I... I'm going to come again, Willow... Ah, ah, AHHHHH!"

Cethaz bit her lip as her orgasm overtook her; moments later, Aatos yelled her name as he lost himself and released a hot spurt of wetness within her inner walls. After they had cooled down a little, Cethaz leaned back onto the bed and Aatos laid down on top of her.

"I... I'm exhausted, Peachie."

"I am too, Willow. Let's just fall asleep together."

And they got under the covers, held each other tight, and were asleep within minutes.

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"What's wrong, Ceth?"

Aatos and Cethaz had just returned to their apartment on the previous day from their adventure in Lufanistan. It had taken about a week for them to get back, and they were going to present the crown to Empress Zelsi on the next day.

Cethaz half-sobbed, "It... it's my voice. I'm really scared that it won't go back to normal. And we have to go before Her Highness tomorrow- I know it sounds weird coming from me, but it's quite intimidating for me to come before her with my voice so damaged. My side is all better and all the pain is gone from my throat but I'm still nervous about how I sound."

Aatos smiled. "Hold on, I have something just for this. I read about this in a book of dwarven war rituals that I was translating a few weeks ago." He went back to his knapsack and pulled something out. He went over and held out an arrow with a dark stain on it.

Cethaz gasped. "Is... is that..."

"Yes, it's the arrow that wounded you so badly."

"W... why did you bring it all the way back here?"

"Don't you remember the ceremony of the Missile?"

"Wait, is this a religious thing? I... I'm not that observant, I only go to temple twice a year..."

"It's the ancient dwarven ritual where you show that the weapon that wounded you doesn't have any power over you anymore. You break it and then throw it into a fire under the full moon, and it's supposed to heal any nagging injuries that the weapon gave you."

Cethaz croaked, "I don't think this is going to work. It's just old mystical nonsense. Maybe the high-ranking dwarf-priests can do something like this but I'm just a dwarf who's really big and strong."

"What's the worst that could happen? Just give it a try, Cethie."

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Aatos was on the roof of their building, and he had prepared some firewood. The city of Zalfahan was all around, and the buildings surrounding him were peppered with lights coming from their windows. Aatos felt lucky that he managed to get permission to do the ritual on the roof; he had expected to have a devil of a time convincing the landlord to go along with the ritual, but it turned out that he was a very religious man and completely understanding.

Cethaz walked up the stairs that led to the stone roof. She was wearing long robes and had red ritual paint on her face. She needed no torch, as the light of the shell-pink full moon was just bright enough for the two of them to make out their surroundings.

"I know this sounds weird but I kind of got into the whole ritual thing more than I thought I would. I'm still pretty skeptical that this will actually work, though."

Aatos smiled. "I knew you'd warm up to this, darling." He stepped back and waved his hands in all different directions before pressing them outwards; a small ball of fire flew out of them and hurtled into the firewood, causing it to burst into flame.

Cethaz took the bloodied arrow out of her robes and held it out in front of her. She wheezed, "Oh, most devious of arrows, thou hast injured me grievously, but I have triumphed in the end. I survived thy bloodying of my throat, and was healed of the wound, and thou hast no power over me any longer. I sentence thee to return to the Ur-fire from which all comes." And she snapped the arrow in two, and tossed it into the fire. Then she watched the flames for a brief while.

She turned to Aatos and said, "See, I knew that it wouldn't work." And then she stared at him bewilderedly; she realized that the raspiness in her voice had just vanished.

"How... how... how did this happen?"

"See, I told you that this was a good idea, Cethie."

"My... my voice was probably just going to go back to normal anyway. Just like you said, a damaged voice will sometimes get better without warning, right? Right?"

Aatos chuckled. "I think that maybe you should have a little more faith, Ceth. It's a beautiful night- why don't we watch the stars together?"

Cethaz gently let the crown down on the roof before they lay down on their backs and looked at the stars. "What does the elven religion say that the stars are?"

"The ancient scriptures say that the sun is at the center of a massive, hollow sphere, and the earth revolves around it, and the stars are little holes in the sphere. Beyond the sphere lies Heaven, where all of the gods live, and where righteous people go when they die."

He looked over at Cethaz. "I've studied dwarven religion enough to know what the stars are supposed to be, but what do you remember about it?"

"Oh, I remember learning about that! The sun is an avatar of the ur-Fire, and all the stars are other suns, they're just really far away, and many of them have their own earths. But the Void is in between, and the other suns are so far away that not even the most determined bird could fly even half the way to them."

"And the earth revolves around the sun?"

"No, of course not, that would be silly! The sun revolves around the earth, and it's farther away than the moon. We can't really see the other suns rotating because they're so far away, remember?"

"Eh, I guess that makes sense." Aatos put his arm around Cethaz' shoulder. "Do you want to... get intimate tonight?"

"I'm still a bit anxious even with my voice back. I just want to get to sleep early so I'll be rested for tomorrow."

"Oh, that's fine, Cethie. I guess that I could use some rest, too."

And they kissed each other before getting up to go downstairs.