Elan Pt. 03 - Honey

Author's Note: Dreams and flashbacks will be marked with a ~ separator, rather than the normal dashes.

Honey

----

Talos looked over the food stalls under the cold sun of an Isbryggan morning. He picked up another fruit he did not recognize and smelled it before returning it to the cart. He sighed, thinking how wonderful the world would be if all men were required to grow apples. He finally decided on the purple fruit, figuring it's sweetness to be close enough and paid the vendor three coppers for a dozen before placing them in his backpack.

"Talos... everyone is staring at me," he heard Casiama whisper like a frightened girl behind him, now changed back into her comfortable travel clothes.

"Well honey, you should kind of expect that after dancing in front of fifty-some odd people the first day you arrive in a town," he replied with a smirk, simultaneously realizing he should go buy some honey.

"Well you could have stopped me. Why didn't you stop me?"

He turned to face her before answering. "Cass, you're joking, right? There was no way I was going to stop that. It may have been the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

He paused before continuing, scanning the elf's figure from head to toe, "okay, second most beautiful after Tor Casiama," he chuckled, referring to her naked body as he had done in the past. She pushed him playfully before smiling.

"Well, maybe don't let me drink too much next time. I don't like losing control."

Talos shrugged. "Who am I, your wetnurse? Cass, don't worry about it," he consoled her, grabbing her shoulders. "Seriously. You danced like an angel for an hour or so, collapsed on me and I carried you to bed. As innocent a night could be."

"... I danced on a table in front of strangers, Talos. In my skirts...", Casiama explained slowly, as if he hadn't seen the performance. Her face reddened as she thought back to the events again.

"Okay, like a lusty angel then," he smirked and added, "it was awesome," before raising his sight and scanning the small market place for a honey vendor that wouldn't exist.

Casiama wondered why Talos would allow her to perform as she did last night. It was incredible to her that he didn't mind; any other man would keep their woman from doing the same, hoarding her body as if they owned it.

Sure, she wouldn't mind if Talos ever asked to sleep with another woman; as long as she could watch. Heck, her first dozen or so orgasms were at the sight of Talos fucking a voluptuous auburn-haired sorceress in front of her. But how carefree could he be, any way?

"Cass, got any honey?" Talos asked, snapping her out of her train of thought. She shrugged and shook her head once.

"Ah well. Let's get going then."

--

Torvald had set out early that morning from Vitvarg, finding his bed still shared with a northerner woman that didn't quite look as pretty as she did the previous night. He had packed, said "sorry" as well he could in their language, and departed as quickly as he could.

The weather was fortunately cooperating, the cold evening sun shining down on his travels as he trekked southward. He found his mind constantly returning to Cass, the elf having danced graceful and seductive long into the night. As soon as the elf had ended her routine had Torvald found himself dragging his own woman upstairs to sate his needs, as did most of the inn if they were fortunate to have a woman that night. Talos likely had the best night out of them all.

Lucky man, the cap'n is.

Torvald found himself making excellent time, covering almost twenty miles that day through the foot-deep snow pack of Isbrygga. He looked forward to his next meeting with the cute sorceress back in the Empire, assured he would finally then have his needs completely fulfilled.

He arrived at the next settlement, a small village, just as the sun began to drift below the mountainous horizon to the west.

A small boy, no older than eight, scrounged through the trash of the town's only inn. Torvald frowned and was reminded of his own terrible childhood at the sight. He fished out a silver Imperial from his coinpurse and handed it to the kid with a smile. The kid gripped the coin with both hands and looked down, as if unsure what to do with his new-found wealth.

Ah... right, Torvald thought, realizing his mistake and grabbed a hardbread sandwich and a cut of cheese from his pack.

"Here ya go little lad. Stay strong, eh?" Torvald reassured the boy in a language he wouldn't understand, patting him on the head before entering the inn to hopefully greater conquests.

--

Talos and Casiama were a day's out from Vitvarg, traveling south as the shadowy skies of dusk were already enveloping the serene landscape around them. Casiama was crouched low and behind a fallen pine tree, her bow at the ready not forty feet in front of Talos. She waved him forward.

"What?" Talos whispered, his eyes following where the elf's fingers were pointing. He spotted a group of travelers, Talos thinking they were likely a group of merchants judging from the pack mules trundling beside them. They wore the standard clothing of Isbrygga, furs over baggy clothing, and each held a torch.

"So?" he asked again, still in a whisper. His hand shot up to the elf's white-gold studded bow, forcing her to lower it.

"They're armed," she whispered back, her eyes not leaving the group in front of them. Talos rose to his feet.

"Cass, you can't just attack every person you meet on the road that looks half dangerous," he chided, now speaking at a normal tone of voice. A traveler below with a brown bearskin cape noticed Talos on the ridge above, and reached for his sword.

"See, now you have them nervous. We look like damned raiders hiding like this," Talos explained gruffly, waving to the man below him as if to apologize.

"They could be bad people!" Casiama whispered worriedly, still crouching, albiet unnocking her bow. Talos rolled his eyes.

"Most likely they're not. Look... this kind of thing, Cass? This is what almost got me and Alanna killed when you first met us in the borderlands. If you're going to travel with me, you can't-"

"Okay, okay," she whispered, rising to her feet as well. She slung her bow over her shoulder and finally looked at the man beside her, then cleared her throat. "I thought you said you were over that."

"I said I forgave you, Cass. Big difference," he retorted with crossed arms. Casiama pushed him, just enough for him to lose his balance for a moment, and giggled gleefully.

"Speaking of travel. Where exactly are we headed?" Casiama asked playfully.

The man shrugged his shoulders, opening his palm to the chill wind.

"South," he replied, "because it's cold here, and I just realized that I hate it."

"Where south?"

"Anywhere it isn't snowing, I reckon. We can winter in Catriona, maybe rent out a nice townhouse by the water. The winter sunsets of Catriona are famed, supposedly," he justified. If Talos was honest to himself, he really had no idea where he was going. He did, however, suppose that watching two dozen sunsets with Casiama would be a worthy enough cause.

She shrugged her own shoulders, not seeming entirely convinced of the notion. An elf did not want to be reacquainted with a particular sorceress, fearing her pull on Talos.

"Is Evora on the way?" she questioned, reminding him again that he still hadn't shown her his birthplace.

"It could be. We'd have to go southeast a ways, head through Graelyn's Pass to Skymarch since Evora is inland." The plan would remove the possibility of traveling by sea from Villjord, much to Talos' dismay. Still, if it made Casiama happy...

Talos looked down and sighed, thinking of Rayya; a girl that, while not bonded by blood, was the closest thing the man had ever had to a daughter. He had saved her life from some wolves in Graelyn's Pass, once.

He had promptly returned the runaway to her father, the Marquis of Skymarch, before she had somehow found her freedom again that same night...

~~

A twenty-eight year old Talos drank contentedly at the bar of an Aindarnian inn, tossing his loaded coinpurse in his hand with pride. He could not believe the Marquis would pay such a hefty sum -- twenty golden Imperials -- just for the simple three-day job of finding his daughter. Talos would live in luxury for a good half year on this.

He sighed, remembering the helpless look on the girl's face when he returned her to her father. She really was too good for this world, he thought. But he wasn't being paid to make a girl happy.

A short, hooded figure soon took the barstool next to him. He glanced towards the invader of personal space only briefly, making a grunt of dissatisfaction on accident. Most of the tavern was empty, and Talos wondered why they had decided to take the seat beside him.

"Hello, mister mercenary," a girl whispered from beneath the cloak of said figure, then lifted the hood from her face. Talos nearly spit out his mead.

"Rayya!" he exclaimed, startled, before quieting himself. He glanced around the hall of the inn to ensure no one was watching, then leaned in closer to her for a whisper.

"Rayya, what in the god's names are you doing here?" he asked impatiently. The girl giggled sweetly, bringing a hand to her mouth. She swept her long blonde hair to the side before answering.

"I was looking for you. Did you not miss me?" she pouted.

"No... what I mean is... how are you here, Rayya?" he restated his ask with incredulosity. He had just returned her not two hours ago, had he not?

"Oh, you know. Father put some guards outside my door, but he never checks the window. How simple a climb, really," she explained cutely, flashing her sky blue eyes at him. "I want you to take me with you, to... wherever it is you are going. I don't want to be here. I can't pay, but-"

Talos slammed his drink down. "Like hells you are, Rayya. I was paid to bring you home. In fact, let's go visit your father again," he whispered, forcing a tight grip on her shoulder. She shook her head and pouted.

"You already returned me to him, mister. And you already got paid. Please? Just 'til the next town, or, or..." Rayya stammered, her eyes starting to well up. Talos released her shoulder with a sigh, and shook his head.

Perhaps I can get another reward for returning her a second time. Or maybe... maybe she's right. I have already gotten paid, and the contract has been fulfilled. Plus, the Marquis is kind of a cock, Talos thought to himself. Rayya giggled, nodding her head.

"Yeah, yeah. The second one!" she exclaimed. Talos raised a brow.

"The second what, Rayya?" he asked worriedly.

"That my dad is a... uhm..." she giggled again, "well, your contract is already fulfilled, right? So there's little harm in pleasing my request," she said with a cute shrug of her shoulders. Talos furrowed his brow.

"I suppose..." Talos muttered, bringing a hand to his chin.

"Are you an empath, Rayya?" he asked nervously after a moment. He'd never met one, but an old sorceress acquaintance of his had mentioned the naturally-occurring ability to him in passing.

"Maaaybe," she answered childishly. He spoke after two moments to confirm, the girl's suddenly calm gaze dancing over his face.

"Okay, what am I thinki-"

"A big black horse named Fang. Which is a strange name for a horse, mister," she interjected with an adorable smile. Talos looked around the inn once more, ensuring no one of importance was paying attention. He leaned towards her, his voice barely raised louder than a gruff whisper.

"And why do you want to travel with me?"

Rayya pouted. "It's like you said in the pass, sir. The best part about being a wanderer is getting away from it all. I want to... get away. From all of it."

Talos made a hasty decision. Because of a troubled girl's frown? Perhaps.

"Fine, Rayya. But we're leaving now, or you're not coming with," he offered sternly. He still wasn't sure why he was doing this, knowing his life was on the line. But there was something about her...

~~

Casiama cleared her throat in the present, a hand on her hip as she waited patiently for his reply.

Talos' eyes returned to hers, his lips settling on a frown. "Sorry. It's an extra month or so of travel if we do go that route. Is Evora worth that much to you?"

Casiama nodded, smiling sweetly as she wrapped her arms around Talos' neck.

"Fine," the man conceded, grinning as her lips met his for a quick kiss.

"How about we get you out of the cold, though? Let's visit Tor Casiama," the elf laughed, somewhat disbelieving that she had joined in on her lover's stupid joke. She shut her eyes as the pair blinked from the world in a blinding light.

--

"So Cass, I've been meaning to ask you..." Talos said, laying naked atop Casiama's giant, plush bed far away from the world in the elf's personal plane of existence. The elf was capable of teleporting herself and others to this realm on a somewhat irregular basis through her mastery of conjuration magic, a realm which was only accessible to her.

Casiama was already stroking Talos, preparing him for the night's festivities. She wore only her sheer nightgown.

"Yes, my love?" Casiama purred, her eyes on his member as it stirred at her touch.

"What happens if I'm here and you... say, I literally fuck your brains out, and you die. What happens then?"

Casiama giggled, finding a bead of precum on his cockhead and smearing it over his shaft. "I guess you'd be stuck here," she teased. The answer didn't help Talos' conscious, or his preparedness for that matter. Casiama noticed him soften a bit in her hand.

"Maybe it all just winks out of existence when I do. Does that make you feel better?" she asked coyly.

"No it absolutely does not."

"Then try not to kill me?" she retorted childishly, shifting herself atop him. She pulled the hem of her nightgown up just a pinch to grant his manhood access to her, and slowly rocked her thighs to get him interested in the task at hand.

"Stop thinking about it," she commanded with a smile. She placed a hand on his leg for support, bringing one of his up to her tits with the other.

"I'm the only thing that should matter right now."

"You have to offer me at least one existential crisis a week, Cass," he grinned, playing with the elven beauty's nipple as his other hand met her hip. She sighed at his remark with a pitiful smile, but found that strength had returned to him below. She lifted off of him just enough to work his cockhead into her slit and sighed.

"Mmm... okay," she conceded, biting her lower lip. "One crisis, but only when we're done making love."

Casiama slid down his shaft slowly, feeling fulfilled once more as her pussy stretched eagerly for him. Her womanhood always felt unprepared to take his girth each time even though they made love almost every night. Talos gripped her hips with both hands, guiding her down to the hilt as she moaned to the heavens.

She let his cock sit there for a couple seconds, completely enveloped in her warmth, before rising once more. She brought both of her hands to the mattress to support herself as she started to rise and fall in earnest, guided by Talos' strong grip on her.

He seemed distracted.

"Stop thinking about it!" she mewled, now riding him at a steady rhythm.

"Seriously, any second and bam," he slapped her ass playfully, "just gone. It's insane, Cass."

Casiama rolled her eyes, sighing in pleasure as she dipped her body towards his. She kissed him deeply on the lips in hopes of distracting him, but found it too difficult to ride him from this position. Clearly Talos agreed with the sentiment as he rolled her onto her back with their lips still locked, then started to pump into her. Their kiss ended when he began fucking her harder.

"Ohh..." Casiama moaned, her eyes clenching shut at the rough pounding she was receiving. She wrapped her legs around his hips as they rocked, appreciating that she fell in love with such a well-endowed stud and the feeling of fullness that came with it. Talos brought a hand down to her clit and rubbed against it as he overwhelmed her carnal senses with his pillar and thumb.

"Gods Talos..." she sighed, her body spasming in pleasure. The lights began to twinkle out in the back of her head, and she couldn't take any more of his treatment. Casiama moaned lustfully, an orgasm washing through her in full as Talos worked double duty on her womanhood. She opened her eyes a moment later to look into his, her eyebrows risen in ecstacy as he showed no signs of slowing down.

"Yes! Fuck my brains out, Talos!" Casiama whimpered in jest, now somewhat undistracted by her desire. She smiled coyly for just a moment before Talos brought a hand to cover her eyes and mouth as he continued his relentless pounding of her sodden cunt.

"Not now Cass!" he exclaimed, using her face as support as his climax drew nearer.

"yff aff-fushiff ashhol alosh!" the squirming elf declared undeniably, ruthlessly, and unambiguously. Talos grinned.

"Yep! whatever you say honey!"