Edited by:tommyjl7, Flubbykin
I had to be within the tree for more or less thirty minutes, yet to me, it seemed as if ages passed. No, not because of some distortion of reality or time, no. The only reason I felt his way was because I left a peaceful clearing, and I came back to a raging inferno.
Quoting Joseph Conrad appears to be valid, taking into consideration the current situation – crumbled altar, broken trees, and total chaos in behaviors of other druids. “Horror, horror”.
Gisele, tied with vines was being dragged toward hierophant which was sharpening ritual blade next to one of the oak trees. In same the same time the wall of notifications flooded my vision
You have received the [Kiss of Aira]The marked individual was marked as the [Oracle]
You have achieved the title [Oracle of Aira]
The [Oracle]Just as [Luxia] marks a young girl at the day of her birth as [Prophetess].
Just as [Heira] marks those she deems worthy as [Touched one]
Aira can mark one of her children as the [Oracle]
[Oracle] is highest rank (in religious aspect) priest of the nature. He/She can freely contact her during meditation to better perform his duties.
They possess an extraordinary affinity with Nature, they are told to have tamed the wildest beasts, even [Draconis Vulgaris] - the stray dragons.
The community of worshipers of Nature highly values his/her opinion and presence.
The [Oracle] perksYour affinity with [Nature] increased:All [Nature] based spells are 10% stronger and may have additional effectsYour affinity with [Nature] increased:[Neutral], [Untamed], [Not-manipulated] and [Non-hostile] beasts and animals will no longer attack the [Oracle]Your affinity with [Nature] increased:You can now communicate with [Mentioned above groups] in limited wayYour affinity with [Nature] increased:Your mind can now enter [EverGreen] plane during meditation
- “Excuse me, but what the fuck!?” I raised my voice hopeing someone could explain why they wanted to slit my girl open.
They froze in place looking at me, then at the tree into which I turned moments ago, which now was cracked open. And I have no idea why, but their expressions changed – in creepy way, especially Lanele and Ancient one. I almost thought they were about to snuggle against me, or at least Lana, for the Sage was still merged with the tree.
- “So… quickly? I thought the process was supposed to last months, years even… yet…”
- “There is no doubt, he is overfilled with an aura of the Backwoods of EverGreen. I can almost taste it…” NOW! That sounded waaaay too kinky for my taste, old man. We shall not follow that path!
- “May you explain to me… why is my woman being turned into a sacrificial goat?”
- “The list of her crimes is long, though she committed them in mere minutes, that’s something even you can’t let go unpunished, Oracle. The groves were meant to be untouched, yet she wrecked havoc over it. Her blood will nourish the grove helping it to re-grow.”
- “Is that true Lanele?”
- “It may appear like that, but I am pretty sure that Mother tricked her to do so! She was merely an avatar, she couldn’t be harmed no matter how much Gis would try, yet she kept dodging and moving closer to the altar so she would smash it!”
- “Yet, she said that by herself: to punish the dragoness.”
One of the hierophants pointed out.
- “That’s what she said?” it caught me a bit off guard “… did she literally say to gut her alive?”
- “W-well, no, but she said to
- “Brother…” I silenced him “… I know you have quite a different opinion about the Mother, but, let me pop your bubble, she is bored. Just bored. One, she promised to never influence mortals directly, so she never orders around, she would merely ask or act indirectly, two, she loves playing with people, what she said could be interpreted in numerous ways. By
That plus just as they said – the process of my “enlightenment” was supposed to last for months, even the vision of “world making” seemed to be weirdly “accelerated” as if she wanted to kick me out from EverGreen to save Gisele.
Then again, why would she drop a death sentence on her, but not really kill her at the end? – because she really did not like Gisele, yet she knew that I would never talk to her again if my mate would be harmed because of her.
“Just a prank”, you could say. And I bet, only Aira thought it was funny.
- “Still, the altar is broken and…”
- “You fool!...” I yelled not with scorn, but amusement “… The mountain is the Altar, stone table was built eons later! It served no other purposes than to be a symbol of Conclave. You can simply rebuild it before next ritual and I assure you, none of you would see the difference…”
- “We would
Other hierophants weren’t pleased seeing me defending dragoness, they knew I was siding with my mate.
I looked at the grove, quite a few trees were dangerously broken, still alive for now, yet definitely would die within days left with no way to feed themselves.
I gazed over my mana bar, it was still awfully “bloated”. Literally. Usually, the rectangular bar was now a bit rounded on every line and edge, as if it was about to pop open. That and my boosted Nature affinity should do the trick.
I stepped into the center of the broken altar, kneeled and clasped my hands to the prayer.
- “I sing my song to spirits of oak,
Heed my call through the ancient fog,
Answer my words, oh forgotten and old,
And unfold the tales that were once told,
The tales of Fire, of Earth and Wind,
The tales of Water and deeds they linked,
May they reach through the veil of the night,
And let their life once again see the light.”
The grove started moving as if havinga will of its own. The mana from my body and air started vanishing rapidly as damages started healing almost instantly. No matter how much mana I would use though, there was no way of treating this many serious damages, instead of removing these, I would rather fix them. Vines started creeping over trunks of trees, hugging them tightly in strong embrace supporting partially collapsed branches or merging with hole acting like artificial living tissue. You couldn’t much tell that damages were gone, but at least they were treated nicely.
- “Would that do the trick?”
- “Why are you trying to protect her that much? We can understand that the two of you may have bit more intimate relations but…”
- “That’s true too, but as we entered into the forest both me and Lanele vowed that she will not harm the grove nor its habitants, her sins are ours, her punishment is ours. You could say that I am trying to avoid being nailed next to her. I know our laws, the whole group is guilty of sins of the individual, for the group shaped the individual the way it is. By fixing her sins I am trying to make you withdraw your accusation against her, Gisele and me.”
Grand finale, bastards. Try killing the Oracle that was just born. Your move now, tree huggers!... wait, I am one of them…
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
- “There is one more crime, the one that can’t be… as you say,
Once again I raised a brow, asking sage to elaborate the subject
- “… she called her… well, a female genital…”
- “A cunt…” younger druid wasn’t trying to be polite at all “… she called her a cunt.”
Aye, I could believe that. First to insults, beer and brawl, that’s my girl.
- “With those vulgar lips you used to kiss your mother, Gis? I am sooo disappointed.” I shook my head in disbelief
- “Ah, we may as well ask the Oracle for its verdict.”
- “Would you care, if I would punish her personally.”
- “Something already on your mind?”
- “Yes.” I knew that he wanted to hear the details, unfortunately, I wished to keep it secret till the very last moment, so Gis wouldn’t even know what hit her.
- “…Very well…” ancient one said with bits of disappointment in his tone.
- “Pff, right, what will you do, bite my ass?” dragoness tried mocking me.
She is a dominant type, she loves knowing that she has the situation under control. The knowledge that her life depends on my action (non-combat-related) was driving her nuts, the idea that she will be punished by me – even more.
- “As much as I would love to, no Gis, I am afraid that no. I can only promise you, that when I would end with you, you would regret not being sacrificed.”
I answered with a serious tone. And I meant it. I left her alone for thirty-god-damned minutes.
Rest of druid were not pleased with this outcome of our little quarrel, not because they were blood lusting beasts, but because they knew I wouldn’t protect anybody else like that. What could I say, I don’t give a damn about anybody else, but she, she is mine.
Dagger wielding hierophant with a sigh used ritual blade to cut vines holding Gis in place. She got up, shook dust off her shoulders and eyed group of magicians.
- “… and remember, next time I won’t go easy on you.” She tried maintaining her
- “We shall end for today…” ancient one raised his tone again “… we may continue tomorrow, for now, I am sure that power of moons… affected you. So go, my brothers and sisters, tend to each other. It’s the night of the Lover.”
Hierophants nodded slightly leaving their places.
I understood what he meant a moment after. Because of adrenaline caused by recent events I was forced to cast aside other worries. Worries, which now returned, reminding about themselves in one of the most painful way.
The ray of pure life magic passed through us and it screamed in pain begging for release. The 99 END and VIT bonus was slowly clouding mind and numbing body.
Two hierophants holding hands moved to some secluded part of the forest. Few, together with priestess of elves, sat around the altar trying to clear their minds by meditation, and few – mostly the younger, decided to completely leave the sacred grove and… “join” the other witches and magicians celebrating the sacred night on the peak of the sacred mountain.
<18/21+ content, kinds, avert your gaze. Seriously, stop reading it’s all pervy till the end of the chapter. To you, my fellow perverts. I tired changing the approach to this scene a little. I encourage you to tell me what ya think. If it’s good, it’s good, it it’s bad and you won’t tell me what’s wrong, you will be stuck with this version for quite some time.>
It was awkward, I know, in one moment you are all tensed trying to find a way out of some nasty mess, in other you just look into those jade-green eyes and can’t force your brain to muster a single thought.
That silly woman, with silver light of three moons falling on her face, face still twisted with bits of grimaces of both anger and humiliation. Grimaces, which were slowly vanishing as she turned her face toward me.
She wanted to scold me, I know it, something along the line
Her lips, though that looked pale in the flashed of the moon, to me they seem to be as red as crimson rose bathed in blood. I didn’t even notice when she walked toward me, or maybe it was me who came to her? It didn’t matter, not for me. All that matter in this one moment, are those teasingly beautiful lips, shaking because of excitement.
I heard a single moan, somewhere from depths of the forest, apparently, other couples already started celebration of Mother’s resurrection. That single sound was a signal that triggered something from me. That switched something in my brain. Just a moment ago I was admiring her as some form on wonderful, sacred statue that I was afraid to touch because of how fragile she looked, as if mere touch could shatter her into thousand pieces.
Now, my heart raced, it started jumping, trashing everyone as if it wanted to carve its path off my chest.
At the same time we both leaped onto each other, pressing our lips together in almost brutal, possessive, hungry kiss. I moved my arms behind her back, one of them I pulled her waist closer toward me, second I put on her head, gently stroking her, petting, playing with her wonderful red hair.
Ah, my love, not less fierce than before. Her warmth spread across my body like a drug, drug to which I was addicted.
And then, it all stopped, no, no kiss, no passion nor hug. It was like the whole world stopped, my mind and heart became completely calm at once. The serenity, everything around I saw in shades of grey, except Gis. She was the only colorful existence in my field of vision.
Was that some twisted allegory? Was she the only being that brought light into the dullness of my life?...
… who cares. Who would care about such petty things like life, philosophy, knowledge or death, when you had this warmth on your body, and these lips on yours.
It seem almost funny, the way Gisele acts. Always so pushy, yet now, her tongue, her sweet, sweet tongue seem to keep losing its strength, as if magical she was being drained of her usual power. With each passing second, she offered less and less resistance, she put less fight, welcoming me in depths of her mouth, and when her spirit seem to completely give up to this simplest of pleasures, she moaned right into my lips.
The vibration of her voice, so delightfully being passed through my body send a shiver down my spine.
I opened my eyes just to once again gaze into hers. Her usual playful glimmers disappeared almost as if she was drugged. Her lips kept moving submissively, tasting more and more of me.
For a moment I parted our lips, we used these splits of seconds to greedily swallow air. Then I attacked again, yet not her mouth, but neck. Gently, yet possessively, I bite on her soft skin. Her neck was fascinating me for quite some time, so slander. Each time I tried tasting it, she would either push me aside, hit me, or hide it in the collar of her clothes. Then she would yell she had tickled or it was sensitive. Now I could indeed confirm that it was the case.
She was not ready for my assault. Her whole body tensed, yet in spite of her former struggles, she throw her head back giving me even better access to sensitive flesh, skin I started adoring, almost worshiping. Tempest of kisses and bites left dozens of red marks over her body, every single one of them caused her body to shiver.
Both her hands hugged the back of my head pulling me closer, her breath became ragged as moaning she whispered…
- “Za..Zari…”
The whisper. It was something I have never heard before. She never spoke my name like that. In that moment, that single action, that single word was something that made me completely cast aside my sanity.
When did we end in this part of the forest? Did we actually kept walking this whole time? And once again, who cared.
Still in our embrace, we tripped over some root, yet the fall did not cause any pain, as we ended on soft moss.
Laying atop of her I decided to once again taste these lips, I used one of my hand as support my body as the other one was taking off her clothes, or the more correct statement was tearing it off of her.
Stupid leather armor, stupid metal reinforcements, stupid straps and stupid shirt! These damned pieces of unnecessary covering kept getting in my way to feel her warmth. When the last part of her upper suit was thrown to the side, I put my palm on her belly.
The electric like shock that I felt when our bodies touched directly made me flinch, yet left me hungering for more. More, faster, stronger.
I pushed my whole body in her embrace, the way she was melting under my touch was sending me into higher planes of euphoria.
One last time I parted our lips as I raised on my palms above her. I wanted to see her in her whole beauty.
Hazy gaze, rigged breath, flushed cheeks. Because of her life style, her body was quite tanned, except for places covered by armor, leaving most seductive marks over her wonderful body.
She moaned my name in anticipation, as she raised her arm offering an embrace of absolute love and affection.
And once again, I crumbled to my desires as I descended into these open, welcoming arms.
Another warmness embraced me in the moment our bodies connected, in the instant her legs and arms locked around my waist and neck trapping me, as if she did never want to let me go, I had almost no place for any maneuvers, barely enough for shallow, yet forceful pushes.
The more we got into the dance, the more pleasure I gave her, the weaker her grip became allowing me for faster, deeper strikes.
Her voice kept ringing in my ears, her moan, her screams, the way she kept calling my names. The leftovers of sanity that remained after blessing of lover completely took over our bodies made her remind about presence of other people all around us, of other druids, witches and magicians. The embarrassment of being seen made her struggle against the urge to scream, all the time she was trying to limit her noises, muffling her moans.
The sweetness, the cuteness of this act was constantly pushing me over the edge, part of me wanted to break her resistance, to ravage over, to seize and conquer her last inhibitors, to hear her voice screaming my name.
Once again I gazed over notification that was counting down the time till the effects of blessing would perish.
You were in the epicenter of [Blessing of Lover] cast rangeVitality+ 99 [10h31m11s]Endurance+ 99 [10h31m11s]
Then again, night is still young, and I wish to remain in her embrace forever.
For a moment I stopped moving, lack of my caress made dragoness moan in disappointment, yet was enough to draw her attention, she looked at me full of agitation.
- “Gisele?”
- “Y-yes?”
I look her deep in the eyes, in the eyes I sank so many times.
- “I love you.”
I said forcefully, as if challenging the whole world if it want to prove me wrong.
Normally, she would turn it into a joke, answer with
She blushed and hide her eyes with her arms.
- “I-idiot!”
She moaned.
The cuteness she was hiding under the mask of confidence once and for all pushed me over the line. I didn’t care about embarrassment, about someone finding us or pleasure itself. I was more than motivated to prove that I meant what I said. And I was not going to stop before she would acknowledge it, not before the world would meet its end.