Ancient Watchtowers Ch.02

She had to stop as she and Naïsa laughed over Loriel's wide-eyed expression.

She put her head back down, "Then move your tail Bolga, if I can ask it."

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The work was done and Loriel still hadn't felt any pain or discomfort. She sat in a little wonder at the parts of her which she could see a little of in the darkness. Overall, she was happy, very happy.

There was a soft little sound from the doorway and when they looked over, Chicha stood there on two legs, a very sweet-looking little fox girl, though with some easily-visible human attributes as well.

She finished her yawn and began to walk a little unsteadily toward them. From the way that she looked, Loriel wondered if she might make it all the way or just curl up and fall asleep before she got there. This was a very different little huldra that she was looking at now and she wondered about it.

Bolga saw her and held out her arms and Chicha half-stumbled over a little quicker and a lot more unsteadily.

Bolga interpreted the stares of the elves and whispered, "Do not say anything or she will waken fully. This way of walking is something that she shows only to me."

They looked confused and Bolga read that as well, "I see that your knowledge came only from the words on the page. She is larger than just the little fox which she shows. You look to see signs like what an elfling shows or maybe a human child, but it was you who said it when we met, Loriel.

Huldras are supernatural things. We grow faster and slower than humans and elves both and there are many leaps and jumps along the way where huldras pass the others by. You last saw a small fox and now? How old would she be if she were a human child at this size?"

Naïsa shrugged, "Perhaps four?"

Bolga smiled as Chicha stumbled into her arms to lean against her mother.

"Not even a year yet, but she can swim and now walks better like the four year-old, no? There really is much of a little fox in there somewhere and foxes are grown by a year. But after something like this, she will hang again and spend maybe more time like this before she grows again."

She kissed her daughter's face, "Did the cats wake you?"

Chicha's face was toward Loriel and Naïsa. They watched as one pawed hand was raised so that a finger could be sucked and she nodded, her eyes open now and considering. After a moment, she pushed herself away and reached for Loriel.

Loriel took Chicha in her arms though she melted completely.

"I think that she would rather sleep with you," Bolga smiled.

Loriel gasped, "Can she? I mean, is it alright?"

The huldra grinned, "She has already decided it."

Loriel moved carefully to lie down and Chicha was settling herself a moment later. Loriel looked into Chicha's eyes and lost the rest of her heart when Chicha kissed her cheek.

While the elf was still absorbing it, the fox girl wriggled slowly and slid down so that she could sleep with her face against Loriel's breast as the elf put her arm carefully over her so there was no weight on the little one. Chicha's eyes closed and in three breaths, she was falling asleep.

"Since we will be together as we go," Bolga said, "I see it as a good thing that you come to know her better."

Naïsa nodded, and Bolga looked slightly troubled, "You should not be too quick to judge her in some things. I have already caught her ... exploring herself, I could say. I see no harm in it, but I would tell her to do that in a place where she can be alone. We have no such place here. The two cats follow her everywhere. It is a worry then, in a way."

Naïsa nodded, "In only a little while, she can have a room for herself if she wishes it, I am sure. The place that I think to go has many empty rooms. I see what you try to say. She is young, but not too young for a huldra? Am I right?"

Bolga nodded, "She may hang at this size until she is six. The purpose is so that she does not leave the fox behind and can change back to four legs if she needs to hide like that."

Naïsa nodded thoughtfully, "And all the while, she is like any other young girl in many things."

Loriel hissed in discomfort, "And yet not all the way now. She tries to suckle, Bolga. Her teeth ..."

Chicha fussed a little as she was handed over and Bolga turned to go. But the elves pointed to the middle of the bed and told her to stay with them.

Bolga got them settled and offered Chicha the breast, but the little girl refused as Loriel watched.

"Then she was only trying out of curiosity," Bolga decided.

Naïsa moved to lie down behind Bolga and covered them all with the blanket. Chicha moved up so that her head was clear and she settled to sleep again in no time.

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The next day, Loriel stepped out into the bright morning sunshine, wanting to see what had been done. She could see well in the dark, but there was a limit.

She stood in a few strange poses, trying to see where she could not. Bolga's fingers in that place had been such torture as she put the markings on down there. Finally, she bent down and looked.

She groaned a little to hear a soft chuckle not far off.

"If I did not know the why of it," Naïsa grinned from where she stood with Chicha on her shoulder, "I would already be wiping my tears from laughing. Let me look for you, sister."

Loriel nodded and it grew worse as Bolga stepped over, "I wish to see in the light also. Stand on these two stones."

Loriel rolled her eyes, but she did it and the distance between the rocks gave the pair all the room they needed to be objective about it, with Naïsa praising them both because she liked what had been done.

When she got down, Loriel turned to Bolga and pointed at the rocks, "You now, Bolga. If we're showing our treasures to each other, then I want a look too."

Bolga surprised Loriel by laughing and jumping up. They stared in a little wonder at the red hair in that place and said that it was lovely, each one asking to be allowed to touch it just a little.

That was alright, but the inspection ended in hilarity when Bolga pointed and they turned.

Chicha was standing in the most comical postures, not knowing what they were looking for, but now wanting to see on herself.

She ended up on her head for a moment and then fell over to bend down and try to see from a sitting position as the three of them howled in laughter.

"When will she begin to change more?" Loriel asked as she slid her arm around Bolga's thin waist while the three walked together, "She will be like this until she's six?"

Bolga shrugged, "She changes all the time, but it is nothing done quickly. As she grows and gets older, Chicha will find that she can change a little more at a time, with more coming to her as she grows older still.

Right now," she smiled as she saw Chicha run after the boys, wanting to ambush them, "or soon, she will find that she can stand on only two legs more and longer." She rolled her eyes, "And then ... she will begin to speak."

"Too late!" Naïsa laughed, "She has already begun. As I watched Loriel just now, Chicha was on my shoulder and I heard no struggling learning from her. It all came out at once in her babble, almost faster than I could understand it. The last of your mother's peace has left you, Bolga."

The huldra nodded, for she'd been expecting that dam to burst for a time now, "I must ask Nila if she minds the thought, but as it comes to my eyes, and if nothing changes, I see Chicha having her pair of males in those two there, though as it comes to me, she will rule them with her little thing. I only hope that all three are happy with her rule."

Naïsa leaned in as her hand slid over Loriel's arm to lie against Bolga's flank, "It might work, but I also see that the smaller one will like what he gets from his brother, no matter what. Chicha might need to be watchful that she does not overstep herself."

Bolga looked over and then looked to where the three young ones were back to being the rolling, snarling ball again.

"You might be right," she smiled, "Who can say?

"We are all together," Naïsa said as they began to walk along the shore, "There is a matter which I think concerns only us three. It relates to the place we go to.

I have been there, and by the first blush, it looks to be charming and quaint, and it seems to be the sort of place where Loriel might have lived.

But then one of their wagons rolls past and the picture is changed in an instant, for their wagons have no horses in front."

Loriel tilted her head, "Where are the horses then? In the back pushing? What kind of folks have wagons like that?"

Her brows knit together, "These humans aren't ... Germanic, are they?"

She looked away at the cliff for a moment, "Those ones get some funny ideas ... though I have to say that they make them work, most often."

She snorted as she imagined wagons like that, "At least you don't have to watch as the horse drops a load almost in your face."

Naïsa shook her head, "That is it. There are no horses - and yet the carts roll, many beyond count. And that is not the end of it. I have seen humans walking about with little things which look like smooth stones held against their heads and in colours.

I thought at first they were mad, but there are so many.

I stood close to one, wondering why he laughed so and why he spoke to the thing - but then I heard a tiny voice from the thing and thought that perhaps a pixie had been caught and was trapped inside the stone!

But as I listened, the voice in the stone laughed, so I knew that I was wrong. Pixies cannot laugh if they are not free.

I was with one of the elves there and she told me that there was no one inside the thing and that it is used to speak with another human far away!"

She sagged a little, "The human magic is fair to passing even my own! That is why I fear time now. I will never use the river of time again. I was taught how but the farther one goes, the greater the peril, for I can go only ahead and never back."

She looked at Loriel, "I see that you are no stranger to the use of a fast blade. I am the same, but there is almost no use for them any more in that place. My bow as well, they have learned far better ways to war. Remember what Nila told Bolga about the sticks."

They walked on a little and Loriel asked, "What do the Drow use? They've been there a long time, you said."

"They stay with the old ways," Naïsa said with a shrug.

Bolga had been listening in between the elves. She laughed now, "I think that you try to look for problems. I have magic - and you do also - I have seen what kind you can wield.

Loriel has a little knowledge, but I know a way to join what power can be commanded. We all could gain - the pretty thief most of all. But it must be hidden and seldom used - if these humans are that quick to learn. I have no fear of them."

She turned to Loriel, "And I will protect you then, I think."

"Why?" the elf asked.

Bolga looked away across the lake as she spoke, "Because I am learning about friends. It is something that I want to know of more than anything."

"I have some thoughts," Naïsa said and the others listened intently as she spoke of what she knew was there, where they would be journeying to as well as some of the history of the place and also a dark legend some miles up the coast. She had the beginnings of a plan in her mind and now she wanted to broach a few things, now that Bolga had brought up the concept of joining.

They walked on for a little while and Bolga looked from one to the other, "I see strong love between you. Is there any room?"

Loriel looked to Naïsa questioningly and found the same look returned to her.

"I think there is enough," Loriel said in an offhand sort of way, "We travel together tomorrow as we agreed. Chicha is full of mischief, and her boys will need their new mothers to keep them sure of themselves.

They took Nila to hold in their mother's place. That ends tomorrow and before they leave the last of their childhoods behind them, Naïsa and I must go the last lap with them in her place. It will be a time of trials for us all.

But I have my Naïsa and we both want you with us in the place we go to.

Why? Do you think you have a want for the hearts of elves now?"

Bolga nodded, laughing a little, "That would be a test, but I think that I can manage it."

She looked over to Naïsa, "Thank you. It has been a long time since anyone has held me in a bed. I wondered at first, but when I moved each time, I found your arm around me again."

Naïsa chuckled, "I cannot say much on the matter Bolga. I slept like the dead, but before I was asleep, I had a feeling that we have all come to some understanding in a way, and I liked the thought."

They walked on, splitting up to hold hands sometimes as they walked.

Whether they were aware of it then or not, no one could say to watch them, but they'd formed their triumvirate, ready to make their way forward together.

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As the fox romped with the cats along the shoreline, Loriel looked at the others with uncertainty as they knelt together on some grass, facing each other inside of a ring which Bolga had inscribed with a sturdy stick.

"I can do only a little more than any elf can," she said, "I will be left behind almost as soon as we begin."

Naïsa shook her head, "You throw faerie fire and your little light that you have - that small stick, I am almost certain that it would not light for almost any elf who comes from the ones in a town. You sell yourself short, Loriel. You HAVE ability, though maybe not enough knowledge yet. This can be remedied."

Bokga chuckled, "That is one of the purposes for this. We share ourselves and all can gain. My mother used to do it with my aunt and one of my sisters. Remember Loriel, everything in threes - as three - as much as it may be done.

Remember also, roguish elf, that there is another reason for it. We are only three to begin and from what our friend has said of it, we will be in a lonely place. Three witches are far better than two. Come. Let us see what can be given you in this.

We start by holding together like this."

She placed her hands on their shoulders, one each and the others followed. Loriel nodded and they began it only looking at each other as Bolga began an ancient chant. The others searched for words in it and found none that they knew.

But they also found that it was not a difficult thing to learn and Naïsa began to mimic what she heard, followed by Loriel as the last of it came to her.

As much as they could, they kept up the chanting and after a time they began the rest, following Bolga's lead by leaning in, and after a moment, they all began to kiss one another for a time, still chanting as much as was possible - even if it turned to humming for some moments.

Hands came into play not long after and they began to explore something together. It caused some careful shifting as they all rose on their knees.

One after another and by unspoken agreement, two would begin together to love the third. Whoever that third happened to be at the time, that one would become passive while the two kissed and caressed her. Fingers slid to intimate places in it all, and several times, hands would meet on the way - under Bolga's tail for example when she was the third.

Bolga had a great deal of earthy power, while Naïsa had revealed that long before she'd taken up the mantle of the kind of warrior that she was now, her training at the academy had prepared her to be the sort of mage who could be hired before a battle, because what she cast could be done quickly and to maximum effect. The choice had been made by the academy with an eye toward hiring Naïsa out to the highest bidder once her reputation grew. Of course Naïsa had other plans and intended then to work for herself and never return to what really amounted to her prison.

That had never happened because she'd become what she was now. But her former abilities were still there in her.

Loriel was the weakest link, mostly because only her aunt had known what was in her and could never convince her father to allow her to learn. Naïsa and Bolga now sought to rectify that and this was the beginning.

It finished with them lying in a three-sided ring, each one with her head between the thighs of the next. The very first time that Loriel had thrown a fireball after that, she'd almost shattered the boulder that she'd tossed it at, cracking it and sending shale splinters flying.

She'd been more shocked than the others, but then she nodded with a grin.

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The sun had moved high in the sky some time later, though where they were after their joining together was still in sun-dappled shade.

"I would offer something," Bolga said, sitting with a stalk of grass between her teeth as she looked off out from the sandy shore of the cove they'd found.

She was leaning back a little against the curl of Naïsa's hips with her legs apart, softly stroking Loriel's cheek as the elf used the inside of her thigh for a pillow.

"I have seen how you love now," she smiled up at the clouds for a moment and then looked around for her daughter. Seeing that the three were still exploring nearby, she continued.

"If you make for me one of the things that you wear, I will teach you both what I know of it. I do not fault your way, I would only see you do it in a ... fuller way."

Loriel tsked, not even opening her eyes, "Bolga, all of us have lived without mostly anyone. But friends are not always about bargaining. If you want your friend - me - to make you a harness, you need only ask me, and then you and Naïsa must carve the bone rings that I will need. I think that I can do it, but not if we are to travel and not if you want it soon."

"But," Bolga hesitated, "but I offer an exchange."

"That is well," Loriel smiled as she leaned in and kissed the huldra's mound softly for a moment, "but friends just do what they can for each other. Exchanges are nice, but I would make one for you and for nothing."

"Though we would like to know what you meant," Naïsa threw in, "as your friends."

"Why do you want one?" Loriel asked, her eyes open now and her fingers lightly tracing over Bolga's furry cleft.

"I see how you hold your knives with it," Bolga answered in a soft tone, "I have never thought of it. I like to hear it as one names the other sister and ..."

"And you wish to be named that also," Naïsa smiled as she ran her hand over Bolga's other thigh lightly.

Bolga was about to deny it, but the elf advised her not to.

"If we now share a friendship and we think to go on so that each one is helped by the others, then even a wild huldra girl must learn that friends do not cover truths with false denials. What was done was between three, not one of a kind and one of another and then a third.

None of us is a hollow, empty thing sister, you perhaps least of us all as I am coming to learn."

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Bolga moved to rise up onto her knees, looking down at Loriel, who looked up at her with Naïsa sitting nearby to watch.

She moved in, her knees straddling Loriel's thigh, gazing into the elf's green eyes as she came.

She took Loriel by one hip, lifting a little and then moving herself so that their vulvas touched. Loriel smiled up after a moment, but that changed when Bolga began to grind into her, very gently at first.

As it progressed, Naïsa sat forward, watching closely.

Bolga reached and took Loriel into her arms, lifting her while being careful to maintain the angle as best she could and she began to kiss the elf, who moaned and writhed in response.

Bolga was in heaven herself, but she kept to the task that she'd set herself. These fine elven beauties deserved to learn this, if this was what was wanted.

Loriel cried out and threw her arms around Bolga to hang on loosely and whisper her praises to her as she moaned.