The Sunblade Chronicles Ch. 02

'Pull yourself together, man!' He told himself. 'It's just a naked woman, and it's just a bath, nothing more. Besides, she said no sex for a year, so don't get your hopes up!'

Exhaling in defeat, Aran shuffled to the steps and gingerly descended into the water. Small clouds of dirt billowed around him in the water as it came loose from his skin.

"How do you feel?" Elaina asked him. There was a bench cut into the opposite side of the bath, and she perched herself on it, resting her arms out to either side on the pool's edge. Unfortunately, this put her tits on full display, and they looked even better wet than they did dry.

The humming in his gut had moved to his loins, and his skin had gone from tingling to itchy, particularly where he'd been hurt.

The fireplace behind Elaina gave her a sort of flickering orange aura as she watched him intently, waiting patiently for his answer.

"Like I've been trampled by a wagon and team," he told her dryly, wincing as he began to rub at his arms to get them clean. He hoped tomorrow was not to be the same as today.

Elaina nodded as if she were expecting that reply. "That is good. It is to be expected, on the first day."

"And tomorrow?" Aran asked, frowning at his left arm. Now that the dirt was gone, it was a wild display of lacerations. His right arm was worse.

"Is tomorrow," Elaina said simply. "You should be focusing on the now, as now is the only time, no?"

Aran pursed his lips at the cryptic answer, but offered nothing in return. He had learned the hard way about talking back to Elaina.

Suddenly she moved, leaving the seat and wading across the pool towards him. "Turn around," she instructed when she was no more than a foot away. "Let me inspect you."

Aran did as she said, grateful to not have to face her this close, with both of them unclothed. His vala intensified slightly at Elaina's proximity, and his skin went from itching to a near-burning heat.

"Hmm," Elaina murmured. Aran felt a soft hand touch his lower back, and it was like a small lightning bolt shooting up and down his spine. His cock flexed beneath the water, and he suddenly found himself on the verge of release. He tensed every muscle he had, desperate to maintain this one scrap of dignity.

"Nothing too serious," she said after a moment, taking her hand away. "In fact, some of the minor scrapes are already disappearing."

"What?" Aran asked in surprise. He spun back around to find Elaina hadn't moved. One small motion, and he could be cradling one of those plump breasts in his hand, feeling the soft fullness against his palm. He could bring her close, run his hand over the curve of her hip, taste her lips...

"See for yourself," she said, bringing him from his fantasy and gesturing to his left arm. He lifted it from the water to find she was telling the truth. The smaller cuts and scrapes were slowly closing, mending themselves incrementally before his very eyes.

"I don't believe it," he muttered, amazed.

Elaina chuckled. "Believe it, par'vala. This is how you will keep up with the training. By tomorrow, you will be feeling as if you've rested a week." After a moment she added, "Why do you think I'm bathing with you? Your vala needed to be stimulated in order to start the healing."

"Does this mean we'll be bathing together every night?" Aran asked, trying not to sound hopeful. Even if she never let him touch her as long as he lived, he would still happily attend every evening.

Elaina shrugged. "Perhaps some nights. Nothing is certain, par'vala. At first, you will require some additional help to heal quickly enough to keep up with the training, but after a month or so, you should be able to manage yourself."

At that, she waded to the side of the pool where a small soap dish held a bar of yellow soap. To Aran's simultaneous delight and disdain, she stepped up onto the bench seat, exposing herself completely, and began to soap her luscious body right there in full view.

Aran tried closing his eyes, but they kept drifting open of their own accord, watching the way she ran the soap around her neck, down over her epic breasts, coating the pale orbs in slippery suds before moving down to her flat stomach and smooth mound. She turned a little, giving him an excellent view of her plump ass, the full, round cheeks smooth and firm.

Her long thighs matched the rest of her; lush, round, womanly. How she managed those dimensions without being fat, Aran had no clue. He knew first hand exactly how strong she was, which meant she was well-muscled. She certainly didn't look muscular, though.

She looked perfect.

Once done with her soaping, Elaina hopped back into the water with a small splash and rinsed herself off before casually wading past Aran and sashaying up the steps. His eyes were glued to her bottom the whole way, in particular the way her pussy winked at him between each step.

"I'll be in the kitchen," she announced as she bent to pick up her robe. Did she have to bend at the waist like that, facing away from him as she was? It was bloody indecent! Not to mention cock-breakingly arousing. "You'll be hungry soon," she continued, turning to face him, leaving the robe dangling in her hand. "If you aren't already. Get cleaned up and join me for dinner."

At that, she swayed to the towel rack that hung just inside and to the right of the archway and grabbed a towel.

Aran busied himself getting clean while she dried off. He was longing to take his aching shaft in his hand and relieve himself, but he could wait until she left the room.

She hung the towel back up and made for the exit, but stopped and shot him a knowing look over her shoulder. "Don't be too long," she said with a wink before strutting out.

Aran didn't think it would take too long at all.

*

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CHAPTER 2.5: Shadowglen

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Braith growled in his throat as he mounted Lyrra from behind and buried his angry cock into her hot cunt. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the shafts of moonlight that pierced the forest canopy above. Her ass was full and lush, and he slapped it as they began to fuck.

She pushed back against him insistently, wanting more. Braith seized her generous hips and gave it to her hard and deep. She threw her head back and uttered a low, rumbling purr when he tangled his fist in her long, fiery-red locks and used them for leverage.

He reached down with his free hand and took up a heavy, swinging breast, palming the soft flesh.

"Fuck me, Braith!" Lyrra grunted gutturally. "Fuck the shit out of me!"

Lyrra was always an exciting fuck. Tall and fit, she was also well-curved, with good, child-bearing hips and large, round tits. Braith, as clan alpha, had his pick of either of the two women in his clan whenever he desired, and right now, he desired Lyrra.

Nearby, three of the other four members of Braith's clan were amusing themselves in a similar fashion. Fergin was the tallest of them all, a hulking brute with massive shoulders and long, shaggy hair on both his face and head, and a dense carpet of body hair covering his bronze skin.

Pale Leif was squat but almost as thickly muscled as Fergin, with shorter hair on his head and face, and somewhat less hair everywhere else. His nose was broad and flat, with wide nostrils, and his strong arms were a little longer than that of a normal man, for good reason.

Then there was Fionn, sleek and slender and darkly beautiful, with hair in a tight cap of black curls. Her ebony skin shone with a sheen of sweat as she rode Leif, her hands planted firmly on his barrel chest. Fergin stood next to them so that Fionn could fist his massive cock while he waited his turn.

Grunts and growls and purrs filled the glen as they fucked, both for pleasure, and in the increasingly futile hope of the females bearing cubs. Braith's people had been dwindling to dangerously low numbers over the last few hundred years, and there was no explanation. The women, or the men, or both, had suddenly become infertile, and so Druid children were now a long-lost memory for most.

He drove himself deeply into Lyrra, as far in as he could go, and stayed there as his cock began to spasm. Hot seed jetted forth, quickly filling her slick channel and spilling back out onto the leaf-carpeted ground.

Fionn and Leif both cried out as the shorter man erupted inside the dark beauty. As soon as he'd finished, she stood and leaped at Fergin, who caught her easily in his bulging arms. In a flash, she had her slim limbs wrapped around his brawny body and was lowering herself onto his truncheon of a cock.

Fionn was facing away from Braith, so he could see the thick shaft disappearing inch by inch into her eager body. It was quite a sight, but not the first time he'd seen it.

Lyrra flopped over onto her back, a happy smile on her face. Her sun-coloured eyes looked up at him, shining in the moonlight. She stretched languorously, then opened her pale thighs to show him her bald slit. "Fuck me again?" She purred coyly.

Braith grinned toothily and shuffled forward on his knees, ready to give her more. As the head of his cock touched her pink lips, though, a sound reached his ears. Something was coming, and fast. It was probably Aeden, but Braith was not a risk-taker. Not in these times.

"What is it?" Lyrra asked, sitting up.

He didn't bother to answer. With a growl, he surged to his feet and began to shift into the wolf. His bones cracked and ground against one another as they rearranged themselves inside his skin. He fell forward, landing on large, heavy paws. Thick hair sprouted all over his body, and he felt a tail emerge from his lower back.

In moments, it was over, though it often felt like the transformation took hours. Thankfully, it was not painful. He was a large, four-hundred-pound wolf, standing as high as a man's shoulder, with jaws that could take the leg off a horse, and they had done.

Seeing Braith change, the others followed. Leif became a huge ape, broad-chested with arms like tree trunks. Thick black hair carpeted his body but for his leathery-skinned chest and stomach. Fergin was an enormous bear covered in shaggy brown fur. On all fours, he was taller than Braith in man-form. On his hind legs, he was a terrifying sight indeed.

Fionn shifted into her panther form, while Lyrra became a tiger. Both females were of a size, almost as large as Braith's wolf. Their sinuous tails lashed as they focused on the direction the intruder approached from.

As one, the five Druids watched and waited, the sound of crackling underbrush and heavy paws eating up ground growing closer and closer. Finally, a huge wolf came crashing into the glen, skidding to a stop.

Braith growled in frustration and shifted back, chastising his brother once he had his Human mouth back. "What have I told you about racing into the glen like that?" He stepped up to the beast and cuffed him roughly, hard enough to turn that big black head sharply.

The wolf snarled warningly and showed Braith his long fangs, but did nothing more. Aeden knew who was in charge. The newcomer shifted back to Human, becoming a tall, strong man. Lean, fit and hard, and handsome to boot, according to Lyrra and Fionn. He wore stubble on his face, and his dark hair was wild and shaggy, like Braith's own.

With no need to remain in animal form, the others shifted back, too.

"I smelled it again," Aeden said quickly. "That horrible stench that burns the nose. Makes me want to howl with rage!"

Aeden was certainly worked up. His face was hard, his jaw set, and his citrine eyes flashed with barely constrained fury. Maybe Braith had been too quick to hit him. In this state, Aeden was likely to issue a challenge.

Braith held his hands up, palms out. "Be easy, brother." He soothed. "Where?" Aeden had come back to the glen in a similar state a few weeks back, raving about some maddening scent, some creature in the forest that brought up ancient memories. Braith had called a hunt immediately, but it had yielded nothing.

"Same area," Aeden answered gruffly. "Fifty miles northwest, or thereabouts. There were two of them, this time. A man and a woman. We must go back and destroy them!"

"And did the trail vanish, as it did last time?" Fergin asked casually, elbowing Leif. The two of them started snickering. They thought it a grand joke that Aeden was smelling 'spirits on the wind' as they called it.

Aeden growled in warning, but Braith intervened. He didn't need his clan destroying each other over insults. It was hard enough keeping balance with four males and only two females. "Silence!" he snapped at Leif and Fergin, whom immediately obeyed. It had been a long time since either of them had challenged him for pack leadership. They remembered well.

"We will hunt tomorrow," Braith said firmly to his brother. "You will take us to where you picked up the scent, and we will see what is to be seen."

Aeden stared back for long moments, until Braith thought he might have to fight him. Finally, though, he dropped his eyes. "Very well," he agreed, his mouth twisting with reluctance.

"Fionn. Lyrra," Braith called without looking back at the two females. "Welcome Aeden home."

At once, the women came forward and embraced Aeden from either side, their hands caressing him. He growled appreciatively and kissed them one at a time. Fionn's dark hand found his cock and began to tug it to full hardness, while Lyrra took his hand and placed it on her ample breast.

Braith was a fair leader, and often rewarded obedience, hence the greeting Aeden was receiving from the females. He had also sent the women to Aeden to take the man's mind off whatever this strange scent was. Braith thought things through while Fionn and Lyrra pulled Aeden to the ground and mounted him, Lyrra on his cock, Fionn on his face.

Aeden was different since he'd first encountered the scent. He'd always been headstrong, but lately he was becoming brash, angry, and sullen. What could have affected him so profoundly? Was there really some strange creature somewhere in the forest? Or was Aeden losing his mind?

Tomorrow would produce answers, Braith hoped.

*

To Braith's dismay, and Aeden's discredit, there were no unusual scents to be found the next day. Rabbits, foxes, badgers and birds aplenty, but no Humans, especially like what Aeden described.

It was early afternoon, now, and the six Druids were taking their rest in a small hollow, lounging back against trees in a rough circle. It was dangerous to spend too long as the animal, if you wanted to retain your Human side, too. Some Druids gave it up completely, choosing to live as beast over man, but Braith and his clan favoured balance, and so they rested in their Human forms.

Still, the more time you spent as the beast, the more you began to resemble it physically. All present except Leif bore slightly elongated eye teeth and eyes of yellow, amber or similar, as well as gently pointed ears. The males were liberally coated in body hair - except for Leif, who merely had it on his arms, legs and back - while the women were smooth-skinned in Human form, devoid of any hair but for their heads. Braith supposed it was a female thing.

Leif's features were unique with his prominent forehead, flat nose and long arms. Traits of the ape spirit that shared his body.

Aeden was on Braith's left, softly tapping the back of his head against the trunk of an elm, his eyes squeezed shut. "I know what I smelled, brother." He said without opening his eyes. "I'm not mad."

Braith shot a warning look at Leif and Fergin, who were likely to poke more fun at Aeden. Just as he'd thought, Leif already had his mouth open, but he snapped it shut at Braith's glare.

"I believe you, brother," Brath assured Aeden. "You'll pick it up again, I'm sure. The Emerin is vast. It will take us weeks to search it thoroughly."

A light breeze blew through the hollow from the north, and it carried a scent that made Braith sit up straight. "Horses," he announced, sniffing the air. "And Humans."

"Surely? In the Emerin?" Leif looked uncertain, but he had the weakest nose.

"I am sure," Braith replied, getting to his feet. Aeden nodded agreement after testing the air himself. As wolves, Braith and Aeden had the best sense of smell in the clan.

"Why would men be in the forest?" Lyrra mused, standing and crossing her arms beneath her bare breasts.

"It doesn't matter," Fergin growled menacingly as he rose. "They're already dead."

Braith held up a hand for silence. All were on their feet, now, braced to shift. "We hunt," he acquiesced after a moment. "But I, too, would like to know why there are men in my forest. Leave some alive to talk."

"And if they have women?" Leif asked eagerly. Fergin grinned, too.

"Do as you will with them," Braith said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Just make sure they don't live to spread tales."

At that, he shifted into the wolf and loped off north, his clan falling in behind him.

*

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CHAPTER 2.6: A Snack

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As expected, Aran's over-excited cock erupted less than a minute after he began stroking it beneath the steamy water. Despite his best efforts, he cried out at the sudden and intense pleasure as the climax ripped through him. A white light burst behind his closed eyes, and a roaring filled his ears. Coherent thought fled.

When his eyes came open again, he was floating on his back, staring up at the white stone ceiling. He'd never experienced pleasure like he'd just felt. It had been... transcendental, like he'd just crossed vast, unfathomable distances in a short amount of time and his mind couldn't process it all at once.

Aran just floated for a time, not really thinking about anything. His body still hurt, though less than before. Dimly, he noticed the water had gone tepid, meaning he'd been unconscious for some time. The sunstones were beginning to flicker, too. How long did they take to go out?

Strange; he'd never before noticed the images and symbols carved into the stone above. He blushed as he realised that some of those images depicted people engaging in some very adventurous sexual acts.

'Everywhere I bloody turn, I'm surrounded by it,' he thought glumly. Then he chuckled softly. How many men his age or close to it would give their left arm to be in his position? All of them, probably.

'Maybe I should stop complaining and get on with it. Ma didn't spend all those years hiding me so I could grumble all day.'

His situation was certainly weird, but he could cope. Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't enjoy looking at Elaina. She was as perfect a woman as a man could wish for. Sexy, smart, capable. A fierce warrior. Eyes that could drink his soul.

And Aran would have to wait a year before laying a hand on her, and that's if she even wanted him to.

Sighing, he righted himself and climbed out of the pool, pulling the chain that ran to the plug in the floor on his way. Finally beginning to feel an inkling of comfortability, he made for the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, hoping Elaina was still there.

To his simultaneous relief and dismay, the kitchen was vacant. His spirits perked up, however, when he noticed the large plate resting on the stone benchtop. It was piled with thick slices of beef, green beans, peas and potato. Grinning, he snatched up the knife and fork next to the plate and dug in right there, standing at the bench.

The food had gone cold -- making him wonder just how long he'd been in his post-climax catatonia -- but it didn't slow him down. Cold or not, it was delicious. Forkful by forkful the meal disappeared, until there were only a few smears and small crumbs remaining. He washed it down with a big mug of fresh water from a nearby pitcher.