Chapter53
Tori
Ithappened every night just as we settled in.Theground would shake and the trees quiver, and we would completely lose our bearings.Wehad tried to exit the forest and found very quickly that the path we thought would lead us straight out actually led us deeper in.Butevery day we journeyed, hoping to find sight of a lost waypoint or just a landmark that looked familiar.Wefound nothing.
Ourcamp was tense.Thecohort barely slept despite the unending darkness.Foodrations were starting to dwindle, and despite the growing chatter of animals around us, nothing could be caught to eat.Whispersof ghosts and phantoms traveled through the soldiers, despiteAbraxas’ attempts to quash it.
Ilay in our tent, trying to sleep whenAbraxasjoined me.Hemust have just finished his watch and he looked haggard.Iknew he hadn’t slept in days, despite his insistence that everyone else did.Heslumped down quietly on the edge of our pallet and hung his head in his hands.Irolled over and rubbed his back gently.
“Ididn’t mean to wake you,” he murmured.
“Youdidn’t.”
Hegrunted; our mutual sleeplessness understood.Isat up and grabbed his hand from his cheek, kissing his fingers gently. “Laywith me?”Heshook off his armor and clothes then wrapped me in his arms, cradling my back to his chest as he always preferred.ButIwasn’t feeling sleepy now, and a distraction was welcome.
Irubbed my ass back into him and purred asIfelt him harden in response. “Oh,Ithought you didn’t like the idea of the camp hearing us?”
Ispun to him, and pushed him down onto his back, “ThenIguess you will have to be very quiet,Abraxas.”Istraddled him and ground my hips so that he could feel the wetness of me through his silk shorts.
“Nopromises.”Ilifted my hips and he quickly pulled himself free and placed his broad head at my entrance.Icircled and pulsed, slowly taking all of him into me.
“Fuck,Tori, that wet cunt—” butIclamped a hand over his mouth.
“No, no,Abraxas.Wemust be quiet now.”Ifelt him bite at my fingers, but just pushed down harder with my hand, whileIrose all the way up to slam back down onto him.Hedug his fingers into my hips with bruising strength, signaling his displeasure, but it only spurred me on further.Irode him harder and faster, his hands assisting me and his hips rose to meet my own.Hepushed his head back, and his thrusts were more desperate, “Nowit’s your turn to come for me,MyKing.”Heshot me a look that was all menace, butIsqueezed my inner walls around him, and he couldn’t refuse me.Ifelt the warmth of him fill me as his hips jerked, andIremoved my hand to place a tender kiss on his lips.
“DomineeringPrincess.”Hekissed me back, wrapping his arms around me.Irolled off him, and positioned myself back against his chest, draping his arm over me. “Goodnight,Abraxas.”Heplaced one kiss on the tip of my ear beforeIfelt him finally fall asleep.
AfterIwas sure he was asleep,Ioh so carefully extracted myself from his arms, pulled on my leggings and cloak, and snuck out of our tent.Igrabbed my sword near the entrance and belted it to my waist asIwalked.
Thecamp was a sea of shadows, torches lighting up the canvas tents with an eerie glow that the forest seemed to try and consume.Imade my way to the edge and foundKaleoson watch withOryxsitting by his side.Perhapsthey were having a moment, soImade to turn around whenKaleoswaved me over.
Iplunked down next to them, staring out into the forest.Icould only see the shadows of the first set of trees before everything was swallowed by the perfect darkness.Weall stared in silence for several minutes beforeOryxspoke.
“It’sfunny, these trees are just the same as the onesIgrew up with, but somehow they seem foreign.”
“Whatdo you mean?”Kaleosasked.
“Imean they are all the same species as the trees just west of here, but maybe they’ve been changed by the darkness?Theylook the same, but something feels different underneath.”
Kaleoslet out a laugh with no humor, “Oh, and what’s that?”ButIfelt it too.
Ididn’t know the trees the wayOryxdid, butIcould tell they felt, “Angry.”
Oryxnodded in agreement.Kaleospressed his lips together, about to say something else, when the very distinct sound of a twig snapping drew all our attention.Ithad been loud, just outside our ring of light.
KaleosandIboth shot up, our swords drawn.Withoutturning his head,Kaleosspoke toOryx, “Getback, now.”
“Whatabout you?”
“Gotell the night guard we need—”Thena creature taller than any of our tents lurched out of the forest.Itwas wider than two carriages and covered in dark brown fur.Itsfront paws had long claws bigger than most daggers and its legs were thicker than tree trucks.Itlooked like an enormous version of the small, and somewhat cute, black bears we had in thePearlKingdom.Thiswas not cute, but a vision pulled straight from hell, as its bulky neck led not to a pair of adorable round ears, but to a bone white skull protruding from the fur, with glowing red eyes that hovered in the empty sockets and long canine teeth that gleamed in the torchlight.
Thecreature rose up on its hind legs, and it scraped the tree branches above us it was so large.Ibarely heardOryxwhisper, “Nalle,” behind me when a scream broke the strained stillness between us, and the beast attacked.Irolled to the side, just narrowly avoiding a deadly swipe from that powerful paw.KaleosgrabbedOryxand did the same.Thecreature barreled between us, making its way into the camp.Tentsflew as it ran through them, ropes and stakes dragging behind as screams from the soldiers trampled underfoot rang out.
TheNallemade straight for the center of camp, like it had a target.Andthat target was the king.Ijumped to my feet and flew after it, screaming asIwent.Thetents were slowing it down, andImanaged to catch up.Ijumped, one foot landing on a barrel of supplies to give me more leverage asIflew into the air and brought my sword striking down into the creature’s back.Itscreamed, the sound like howling wind mixed with a deafening roar and it rose up again.Itswiped at me with its razor-sharp nails, butIheld on to my sword, dangling like a tick off the creature's back, despite my left arm’s protests.
Soldierspoured in, slicing at the creature’s legs, doing their best to avoid its claws.Butthe creature smashed back down onto all fours, and its enormous jaw clamped down on the nearest man, and blood and guts flew everywhere as it shook him back and forth.Hisscreams died out as a definitive crunch filled the air, and theNalledropped him before heading for another.Iplanted my feet on its back, retching my sword free, and moved to strike its neck when it reared again, andIwas flung backward.Iwas caught byKaleos, my left arm cramping. “Theking?”Iasked frantically.Kaleospointed andIsaw him fighting at the head of the beast, in a state of very unprotected undress.
Hedanced in front of the beast, engaging its fangs as if this were some kind of game, managing to land numerous strikes.ButIsaw those strikes heal even faster than they would have on the king, so the beast just kept coming.Itsnapped its jaw, trying to captureAbraxasas it had the other man, but he leapt away, landing another strong blow on the creature's skull, to no avail.
