Fae Woods Ch. 05

I do apologize for the long wait on this chapter. I got a little distracted with life. You know how that goes. I tried to make this chapter a bit steamier and longer to make up for the missed time. I hope you enjoy please vote and comment. I read them all.

~sylentpoet~

***

"You speak? There is no record of your kind doing so before now." Sienna said to the tygerwud her voice laced with awe.

"None of your kind has ever bothered to ask." Baring her teeth with a growl she quickly responded.

"That may have been hard to do when one is being ripped to shreds!"

"Nor did mine have a chance to do so after being mercilessly hunt for being as you said 'mindless beast who will tear you apart without blinking and eye.' We hunt for food and to survive, yet YOUR kind are the ones who hunt to sell our pelts and glands for profit or try to break us so that you can enslave us, keep us as pet." She spat out the word pets as if it left a bad taste in her mouth. "Better we get you before yours destroy us all."

"It would not have been so had you made your intelligence known."

"So it is alright to hunt us so long as we are 'mindless beast'? Do you truly believe it would be different if your kind knew we could think for ourselves? Don't be so naive fae, your thoughts are as flawed as the rest of your kind. There was a time when your kind did know and were trusted by mine. It made no difference, that trust was betrayed and many of mine were slaughtered for this. Which is why we do not bother to reveal our true selves to other fae as you have proven yourselves NOT to be trust worthy." Turning her attention back to Dillon "You, on the other hand, are the Chosen. Your coming has been for told to us for many centuries among my kind. I apologize for the wounds and fear that has been inflicted upon you. That was not our intent." Dillon felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He tried shaking his head to bring his blurred vision back into focus on the giant feline.

"You must be feeling the effects of the poison from my claws now. I tried to retract the poison, it was not meant for you," With that she looked at Sienna then to Dillon. "When we collided but apparently not enough. Please, allow me to cleanse the wounds. Along with helping to speed the healing process, the saliva of the tygerwud has a natural antigen that counteracts the effect of the poison. A natural protectant the Fates gifted us for when we fight each other. It is either that or die. Your choice?" She stated in a very blasé tone.

"Well, uhmm, I have no intention of dying today, do what you must." Dillon said wavering on his feet.

The tygerwud stood once again and approached Dillon slowly. When she stood near enough for Dillon to feel her breath on his face she bent her head to the side and began to lick the wounds she had inflicted on his arm, coating them liberally with her saliva. When she completed the one arm she started on the other giving it the same attention as the other. To him her tongue felt warm and ruff, like that of the cats in the earth realm only on a much larger scale. He started to feel a tingle at the point where each mark was made on both of his arms, and right before his eyes the flesh knitted itself back together. She stepped away from him.

"Chosen, You must come with us now. The saliva has stopped the poison but you will still feel some after affects. You will need your rest and soon but my queen will want to meet you." And began to walk away not waiting for a reply. Then she stopped angling her head to look back at Dillon. "Your little group of friends may come as well, we have no intention of hurting you but if the fae female insist on attacking, we will not hesitate to destroy her." Said the tygerwud female. Dillon looked quickly over to where Sienna had landed after he had pushed her out of the way and found that she was easing her hand over the bow that had landed within reach of where she had.

Using the last bit of strength he could muster, "Sienna, enough is enough!" His voice brokering no argument, and Sienna stopped the movement and Dillon again met the eyes of the Tygerwud which was quite easy as she stood near his height of 6'3 at 6' feet high if he were to guess. "Madam, what is your purpose here with me? Why do you call me Chosen?"

"All will be revealed shortly we must return to the pride first." Speaking to her pride mates she said "Gather his gear and the other. The fae can move of her own will." The other tygerwud moved to do her bidding carefully putting the little nymph that Dillon had previously carried but not yet awakened from when she had passed out earlier, onto the back of one of the tygerwuds. Dillon shakily took a step to follow the leader of the group of tygerwuds, his vision still a bit blurry, but his knees quickly gave out on him. Sienna rushed over to his side.

"What did you do to him?!" She screamed.

"I healed him. It was your rash actions that caused the need in the first place. As I said, he is still feeling the after effects of the poison and it has weakened him." Dillon slumped over in Sienna's arms and for the second time in less than 24 hours passed out.

"Along with all of the energy he exerted to save the nymph, his body is begging rest that is all." With that she instructed yet another to take Dillon up to head out on their way.The tygerwud leader said.

Sienna stopped them saying. "No, I will take him. We were on our way my village. I can take care of him myself!"

"You overstep yourself in thinking you have any authority princess!" Sienna gasped. "Yes, I know who you are First born of Fae King Erolus, Ruler of the Fae Woods. Do not mistake what I say when I said we will destroy you. We will. Your high born birth nor your title mean anything to me or to those where we go. It would do you well to remember this. You either follow us or go back to your home. We have no need of you. And for the gods sake put out that orb of light you make us a beacon for all manner of 'mindless beast'. " If a cat could smile that would be the look Sienna got a glimpse of along with the snickering from the other Tygerwoulds as she extinguished the orb.

The female tygerwud turned again to walk away. Outnumbered and out fanged, this time when they attempted to take Dillon from her arms, she let them. After he was situated on back of yet another tygerwud Sienna was right at his side walking into the woods and into the heart of the pride lands. She also found out how her people did not know how to find the lands of these beasts before now. Their portion of the woods was warded against intruders and they had to go through a portal to get to the pride lands. This had to mean that the tygerwud had great powers. That or they knew or were friends with beings that did. And with the antisocial xenophobic ways she had seen thus far in them, she put her bet on them having a power all on thier own.

***

Dillon woke in one of the most pleasurable ways possible. He felt lips move across his sending shivers down his spine to the tips of his toes. He reached his hands up and tangled them into the hair that was attached to the head of the owner of those soft lips. Dillon pulled her closer tightening his grip in her hair, deepening the kiss. Then she stared moaning those delectable little noises that drove his passion for her higher. He turned rolling her beneath him and released one of his hands from her hair and let it travel down the side of her face, neck and down to her breast. He filled his hand with it kneading the soft orb.

He her moans got louder as she writhed beneath him. Her nipple pebbled under his attention to it. Dillon then concentrated all of his attention on the prominent bud of feeling. Pinching and twisting while plunging his tongue in and out of her mouth, intimating what he would like to do with another rock hard part of his anatomy. Feeling her was one thing but he had to taste her. He reached his hand under her top making direct contact with her flesh and it felt oh so good. He left a heated trail of kisses down her cheek, neck and lingered on the swell of her breast that spilled over the top of her blouse. Just as he was about to lift the top and get his first taste of her soft breast in his mouth he heard a voice in his head.

"Now that's what I call a wakeup call." He froze as he heard the little nymph in his head.

Sienna was still writhing beneath him trying to continue what they had started. He reluctantly lifted his lips from Sienna's body but she continued to moan and writhe beneath him. He looked over to see the little nymph wide eyed and a severe case of bed head wrapped in a pallet of covers not too far from where he and Sienna lay. The covers had made their way down to his hips from all of the activity he a Sienna had going on so the nymph had a ring side view of what he and Sienna had been doing.

"Don't stop on my account. I'm just enjoying the view." She said as she smiled. He looked back down to Sienna who had stopped her movement as she noticed his non participation. She was looking over at the nymph then turned her eyes back to him.

"What did she say?" Sienna asked

"She said that she was enjoying the show we are putting on for her and to keep going if we want." Hell, he was he tempted to do just that. With her kiss swollen lips and desire still swirling in her eyes he was very temped. She smiled up at him noticing his attention was captured by her lips.

"You won't have any complaints from me with that request" At that, Sienna ran her hands up Dillons bare chest and that is when Dillon noticed that not only was his chest bare but the rest of his body as well. It wasn't that he was ashamed of his body but damn. Where were his clothes? He snatched the blanket up as he was just shy of literally being ass out. He sat up wrapping the blanket around him at the same time. This brought other questions to mind but first thing first.

"Where are my clothes? Why am I naked? And by the way, where the hell am I?"

"Here we go with the question, but your clothes were filthy with blood, sweat, and dirt from yesterday. Apparently, the tygerwuds pride themselves on cleanliness and your clothes were not repairable. We are in the pride lands of the tygerwuds. The birthing caves to be exact. They would not allow you in here without being cleansed. They left you clean clothes and your boots over there." She pointed to a pile of just at the head of the pallet he had so recently shared with Sienna.

"Damn, I really got to get used to all this." He riffled through the pile finding a pair of ruff hewed brown pants. He didn't find any underwear so commando it would be. The pants were a perfect fit when he tied the laces in front. The shirt was more of a sleeveless tunic and a vest matching the pants completed his ensemble. He pulled on his hiking boots which had also been cleansed of dirt.

When he looked up after he finished dressing, he noticed that he had the full attention of both his cave mates. When his attention turned to the nymph and stayed there, he saw her face shade to pretty pink as he realized that she had been unconscious the last time he saw her. His attention turned to concern. He walked over to her knelt and took both of her hands in his.

"Are you alright? The last I saw you, you weren't doing too well." She answered in his head

"I'm alright. The beast also healed me last night with their saliva. The one you spoke with said that you had put so much effort in saving me that they thought they would help. They were able to heal me of everything except the broken leg. It did help but it still needs to be wrapped up for a while. They have this walking stick to help me until the leg heals completely."

"When did they do this?" Dillon asked

"Just after our arrival last night. I woke while in the midst of two of those beast laved me over with their tongues. I was afraid they were going to eat me but after I got over my initial hysteria, I was told all that happed since I passed out. They can communicate with me easily hearing my thoughts as I send them out. But it seems you took over where I left off in the unconscious arena."

"Hey, can someone clue me in on what's going on? I'm only getting one side of this." Sienna said. Dillon gave Sienna a rundown of the conversation with the little nymph it was then that that he realized that they did not know her name so he asked her just that.

"My name is Ayla, of the Alistien tribes of from the north." she replied. "And to you Dillon I owe a great debt of gratitude," Dillon was relaying what she said as she spoke then she placed a fisted left hand over her heart bowing her head, "I am forever your servant or until such time that my life dept to you is repaid. For without your help I would have died." Though they were in a room with no windows and only a leather flap for a door Dillon felt a breeze and the now familiar tingle of magic in the air as Ayla's promise settled over him.

Seinna "No need to translate that. The magic in the air is enough for me to guess the picture of it."

Just then, the flap of the cave opening was moved aside, and then entered a tygerwud and it was the same one that he spoke with the night before. Since things had been so hectic on their original meeting, she took the opportunity to introduce herself to them. "Good day to you all. Since we did not have an opportunity to introduce ourselves to each other, it would be remiss of me not to do so now. I am Zhana, second born daughter of Rayzahn, warrior queen and leader of the Fae Woods Tygerwuds. I am to take you to break your morning fast then to meet with Queen Rayzahn herself. She requests an audience with you today. Follow me."

With that she turned to leave not waiting to see if anyone followed her. With a rumble in his stomach and a curiosity for this new land that he was in Dillon made his was to follow Zhana and his little troop followed behind him.

When they all exited the flap entent on leaving the caves, Dillon was again reminded that where they were residing was where the women of this tribe did their birthing by all to the little niched that where in the walls dividing off into more individual chambers. Only the one that he had occupied seemed to have a cover. For privacy would be his guess.

As they walked nearer to the entrance, a cub ambled its way up to him purring and rubbing itself through his legs nearly tripping him as he walked. He could not determine the age of the cub as the size of these creatures was larger than any he'd ever encountered in the Earth realm. To him the cub was the size of household dog. After he nearly tripped for the third time he reached down to pick up the overly affectionate animal. When he lifted it, it began to lick his face, bathing him with its rough tongue. Laughing, he was thinking that he would not have any skin left when the cub was done with him.

"This speaks well of you Chosen. The cubs are of a pure spirit and are attracted to the same." Zhana said. And as Dillon bent to put the cub down he saw that he had been surrounded by the little ones and they all mobbed him knocking him over stepping on each other to take a swipe at his face or any other part of him they can reach with their tongues. Zhana came over to where Dillon was being pleasantly mobbed by the cubs and ordered them to leave. The cubs left and they continued on their way.

It amazed Dillon how they set up the camp and a few questions were answered for him as they walked through the village and to get their breakfast. They were seated in a cleared out area of the woods and a huge fire was burning in the center. Many of the tygerwud walked around attending to this thing or that but all eyes still came to their group as they passed by. He heard a few hisses aimed in their direction but one look from Zhana and everyone went back to their task.

It seemed to him that there were men in this society but they looked like regular men, overly large linebacker looking men of the biped variety, that were subservient in a domestic capacity to the women. At least now he knew where his clothes came from as the men seemed to all be wearing a similar set up as what he currently wore. The only difference in their wardrobe and his was the medallion that hung around the neck of each male member of this feline community almost collar looking in its appearance. He wondered if the men who served actually were slaves to the women but they all seemed to be happy no bruises that he could see, outwardly at least. The men were all ebony colored like him, with darker striped coloring in their skin. If there was one thing he could tell about the men was that they were all of the same species if anything for the look of them were so much alike in build and coloring.

Dillon and his group were served by these men who had been preparing the meal as they approached. He took a good look around as he ate his surprisingly tasty stew he'd been served. As Sienna had said, they people here liked to be clean. For them to be outdoors everything seemed to be very neat, organized, and orderly. He saw how some of the tygerwuds napped in nest that were made from the nearby foliage. Some high up in trees but he knew they were there by the swinging tails of the sleeping felines.

At the curiosity that was obvious on his face, Zhana began to explain the workings of the society to them. She had noticed his interest in the medallions the men wore and told him that not only the men wore them but one was given to each member of the pride and it bore a kind of coat of arms denoting the particular pride of tygerwud one beloged to. There were different for each pride. It was a badge of honor and held a kind of magic that allowed the pride members to bond with each other. Any member wearing one could be found at any time and could even talk to each other using their telekinetic powers.

Zhana also spoke about why some members may seem to be inactive or sleeping. They were those women who were to go out to hunt that night. The women were the only ones that went out on the hunts as their feline form was much bigger and stronger than that of the males in the pride. These women huntress and warriors rotated out each night. Contrary to the common belief about the tygerwuds, they were not nocturnal but instead took advantage of the night and the natural camouflage their coats of fur gave them.

It was when they were out on their hunt the previous night that they had seen Dillon and Sienna trying to help the fae girl Ayla. Zhana told them of how close they came to being the meal for last night's dinner when Dillon's show of strength and power stopped them. When they saw the markings given him by the Fates that let them know who he was. The Chosen. After that they knew that he had to be brought back to the village to meet their leader and followed when they fled the rock side.

At the completion of the meal, as they listened intently to Zhana tell her story, there was a hush that came over everyone around. Everyone started to bow and Dillon knew that the time had come to meet the Queen Rayzahn. If he thought that Zhana was huge, the Female sauntered into the clearing was at least a third lager than her. She came through and seemed to wear a cloak of power about her. She stepped up onto a dais that Dillon had first thought was just a long table of some sort but soon realized that it was her throne. Dillon was mesmerized by her, drawn by her power. He stood and walked over to her going on pure instinct he walked up to the dais stopped just short of touching it. He went down on one knee with his fist over his heart and met her stare. He held her gaze as he felt trendless of power reach out to him like fingers and slithered around him caressing him as they went by. It seemed as if hours went by but it was only seconds.