Fantastic World Ch. 09

You belong to me...

The soft words repeated themselves in her head over and over until she spoke them aloud.

"You belong to me..." Callia called out as she thrashed about on her fur pallet. "You belong to me..."

She felt something shaking her and shifted quickly towards it. Her eyes flew open and she focused on the sight before her. Jaz'rin knelt beside her, his hand hovering above her prone form.

"Callia..." he spoke softly, "You were dreaming again."

"Dreaming?"

"Yes, you've been out for nearly ten days. I've been watching over you, tending to your wounds. I've made sure you drank enough liquids and healing draughts. Though, you've been having the most violent of dreams. Thrashing about. Calling out our names. I feared you would hurt yourself so I was forced to bind you until you ceased." Jaz'rin replied, a look of concern on his face.

"Ethilathain? Where is he? I must see him." Callia insisted, remembering the vividly erotic dreams she had had of herself and the dragon.

"He has left the cave. He had to hunt, my sweet." Jaz'rin smiled as he brushed back several loose strands of hair that fell across her face.

"He left me..." Callia replied. It was more of a statement than a question.

Jaz'rin chuckled. "I'm sure he'll be back, sweetling. Why does it matter where he is?"

Callia looked up at Jaz'rin, their eyes locking. "It just does."

"Ahhh...I see. This has something to do with those dreams you were having, doesn't it? Callia, you would do well not to fall for him. Don't you see, ussta 'chev? He is using you. You are the only way for him to leave this place. He wants to leave this realm and go to ours where he will not be hunted. He knows if he is discovered here, it'll be the end so he needs you. Please, do not fall for that."

"And you know this for certain?" Callia retorted, pushing herself to her knees. "And just pray tell what do you know about my dreams?"

"I don't know the details, my sweet, but I watched you for days. For some of that time, he was laying right next to you. It was incredibly intimate the way he would whisper to you in that special lover-like way." Jaz'rin replied with a satisfied smile. "I have warned you, my sweet."

"Jaz'rin?!?"

"Hmmm..."

"You didn't answer my question!"

"And which one was that?"

"That you know this for certain?!?"

"Isn't it obvious? Think, Callia."

A pondering look crossed her face. It did seem all too convenient. Perhaps Jaz'rin was right. "What should I do?"

"I can tell you what you shouldn't do. Your body isn't 100 percent healed yet, especially your nether regions. As much as I hate to say it, I would advise that you refrain from any lovemaking until you are better. Though, I have to tell you that I miss you very much and I look forward to the time when you are healed. We are good together, my sweet." Jaz'rin flashed her that special lover's look he'd bestowed upon her so many times.

She smiled in return, wondering what to believe. Her mind was buzzing. On one hand she didn't think Ethilathain would deceive her in such a grandiose fashion. Yet on the other, why would Jaz'rin lie? She could easily see where Jaz'rin may be jealous of Ethilathain, but she couldn't understand why? There had to be real feelings involved for jealously to surface or so she had always thought. Maybe not feelings of love, but strong feelings nonetheless. With Amakiir, it was domination and ownership. But with Jaz'rin, it couldn't be any of those. He wasn't in love with her. He had told her his kind didn't fall in love. Perhaps it was jealousy because he enjoyed the feelings her body gave him. He liked...for the lack of a better word...fucking her. The sex they had had could only be described as incredible. He knew her body well and knew what made her explode with passion. They were good together. About that, he was right.

Callia sighed, knowing the answers wouldn't come as quickly as she wanted them to. She wasn't sure what to believe, but there was one thing clear in her mind...doubt. She would be more careful in her dealings with the dragon, just in case Jaz'rin was right.

O.O

Three more days passed before Callia was well enough to make the return journey to the dryad's glade. Her torso no longer pained her. The ragged wounds had knitted completely, leaving behind long faint scars. She hated the sight of them, yet they were a badge of honor that she had survived the terrible ordeal.

Her other scars were healing as well, especially the mental ones. When her menses had begun in earnest, she resigned herself to the fact that it would be even longer before she would have a chance to discover the truth. She knew she was avoiding certain situations with both her companions, especially Ethilathain. That was all despite the fact that he had placed his bedroll near hers and she often woke firmly ensconced within his warm embrace. He often whispered sweet little nothings to her as she slept, but they were always in the draconic tongue. She couldn't understand exactly what he had said, but could tell by the tonal inflection what he meant. It was all so romantically endearing. She wasn't sure how long she could resist it or him. Yet he was ever patient with her. And Jaz'rin...her dear Jaz'rin...with his alternating glances of disapproval and desire. What was a girl to do?

Her ever-troubled thoughts threatened to chip away at her already crumbling sanity. She knew what would be best, but she didn't have the heart to bring herself to do that. She had convinced herself that the key to her success was as much help as she could get. She wouldn't have triumphed over the legion of trolls without both of her companions. They both had played a vital role. She needed them...didn't she?

Callia shook her head as she rummaged through her pack for her armor. The black Shadowhisp silk armor had been destroyed by the daemonfaey while she was unconscious. Pulling out her bulkier suit of elven chain mail, she grabbed the silk body suit she normally wore beneath it and clothed herself in it. Then she donned the ornate suit of armor. She was most proud of the way it looked on her. The way it fit her, molding itself to her bountiful curves. Though it wasn't as form-fitting as the Shadowhisp silk, it made her feel feminine and beautiful. Callia needed that right now.

After she fastened all the buckles, she threw her haversack on her back and exited the small side cavern she had recuperated in. The main cavern as well as the remaining ones inhabited by the trolls was blissfully empty of all of the carcasses of the foul beasts. Callia figured Jaz'rin and Ethilathain must have removed them. She shook her head. She didn't need the reminders and hurried up the passageway which would lead her outside.

It was there she met her companions. Ethilathain had already taken dragon form and sat surveying the area quite haughtily. Jaz'rin had perched himself on an outcropping of rocks. He appeared to be a bit singed around the edges. Callia frowned and eyed him with a brooding expression then turned her gaze towards Ethilathain.

"What the hell is going on?" Callia demanded as she marched over to him to see how much damage had been done.

"Do not worry your pretty little head, ussta 'chev," he replied. "We had a small difference in opinion."

"Over what?" Callia huffed, angrily glancing between the dark elf and the dragon.

"What do you think?!?!" Jaz'rin retorted, his eyes flashing red.

"Me!?!?!? Why?!?" She tapped her foot.

"You know why! Nindel phraktos tlu xsa tagnik'zur zhah kl'aein dos lu' Usstan orn naut fre'sla whol ol." He shot back, his eyes glowing even redder. ("That gods be damned dragon is using you and I will not stand for it.")

"So you think you are going to fight a dragon!?!?! He could eat you alive! One bite and that'd be it! Jaz, he isn't using me!"

"That's what I said!" Ethilathain spoke up. "The darkling doesn't believe me. I don't need you in order to be free. I could go anywhere I want to go, but I prefer to stay in your presence. You are pleasing to the eye and I like beautiful things."

"Pfft... Z'reninth vel'bol dos saph, ussta lotha ssinssrigg, drill Usstan xun naut khaless ukta. Lu' nausbyr zhal'la dos." He replied, his eyes darkening even more. ("Believe what you like, my little love, but I do not trust him. And neither should you.")

"Why do you even care if he's using me? Who gave you the right to judge?! You enjoy fucking me, but YOU don't LOVE me." Callia yelled back. "Your kind isn't capable of that emotion!!! Isn't that what you've said?! That your heart was your own!"

"Ussta ssinssrigg, you must not say that. You are...special to me."

"Shove a cork in it, Jaz'rin. Neither of you will EVER touch me again if you keep behaving this way. No more fighting! And you...," she whirled around and stomped over to Ethilathain. "Don't you ever dare breathe your fire on Jaz'rin again! You are a hell of a lot bigger, stronger, and more powerful than he is. I do not need this right now. Let us just return to the damn dryad's glade and get my damned key!"

Ethilathain immediately transformed back into the black haired elf she'd become so accustomed to and laid his hands upon her shoulders. "Sia itov, what will you do about the fair dryad? She is as much as prisoner as I was. The kind thing to do would be to release her from this realm."

Callia let out a sigh, glancing from the dragon to the dark elf and back. Both of them had called her 'my love' in their native tongues. She wasn't sure what or who to believe.

"Callia?" Ethilathain asked.

"Yes?"

"The dryad? Have you any thoughts on her plight?" He questioned, as he cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh...well...I hadn't thought of it, but I will on our way back to her glade."

"I may have an idea," Jaz'rin interjected as he came up behind her and placed his hands on her shapely hips. He caressed her, his fingers kneading her softly. "Do you remember the forest you first arrived in?"

"Yes."

"I arrived there as well, after you. It was so utterly devoid of life." He pressed himself against her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yes! It was!" Callia pulled free of his embrace and did a little dance of joy as the realization hit her. "I thought it was extremely odd that there were no small animals or forest life. She would be perfect there. Do you think she will agree?"

"We can hope," Ethilathain interjected. "We should offer this to her and if she agrees, we should take her to the forest and see that she settles in before continuing on to the third portrait."

"You are right. We should. Good, now that that has been decided, let us return and give her the heads of Kagard and the daemonfaey."

O.O

Ethilathain returned to his magnificent draconic form and allowed Callia and Jaz'rin to climb onto his back. "No kicking this time!" He warned before flapping his great wings and taking off into the sky above.

It was a short flight back to the glade of the dryad. She was awaiting them when they returned. Callia hopped off the dragon's back and tossed the heads at her. The dryad gave her a stunned expression and sputtered as she tried to find the words.

Ethilathain shape shifted again and approached the dryad. "Fair one, we bring you the thing you seek plus a boon of an additional foul being who would have relished greatly in your demise."

Meridia clapped her hands as she pulled the heads from the sack. She danced about merrily before impaling the heads on a couple pikes she had stuck in the ground. "You have done well, chas kesir. I wondered what had become of you. Many moons have passed since you departed here. Tell me of the battle."

"We killed them all. The hideous beasts are no more. You have nothing to worry over."

Meridia cocked an eyebrow at her then glanced over at Ethilathain. "Will you not elaborate any more than that?" The dryad inquired.

"It was a very hard fought battle and my lady was sorely injured. She does not wish to speak of it." Ethilathain replied.

Meridia nodded. "I see. I owe you my sincerest thanks, chas kesir. You have made my home safe and I thank you greatly. I bestow upon you my key."

The dryad pulled a golden chain from beneath her clothing made of woven plants and flowers. Upon the chain hung the golden key. She handed it to Callia and bowed before her.

"Nandin," Callia began. "Would you like to leave this realm?"

"Leave? Where would I go?"

"Do you remember what it was like before you were imprisoned within this forest realm?" Ethilathain asked. "I remember well my own life before I was brought here. Would you desire to be free of this place?"

A pondering expression came over Meridia's face and she gasped. "I do remember. I lived in a great forest near the mountains. A hunter captured me and my sacred tree. He brought me to a wizard. After that, I woke up here."

"Do you wish to return, fair Meridia?"

"YES!" She exclaimed as realization dawned on her. "But how is that possible? I am bound to this place for an eternity."

"As was I, but with her help," Ethilathain motioned to Callia. "It is possible for you to leave. We shall return you to your forest home. It needs you to become what it once was. The spirit of the forest has died. You must revive it, fair lady."

"What about my sacred oak? I do not wish to be without it. It would mean my utter peril."

"I also have the solution to that." Ethilathain pulled at a wand and pointed it at the tree. He murmured a few arcane words to activate the device. A brilliant green light burst from the wand and engulfed the mighty oak, shrinking it the size of a small branch. He scooped it up out of the ground, roots and all, and packed it within a wet length of cloth that Callia handed him once she realize what he was doing. "We shall transport it like this. I shall replant it for you once we arrive at our destination and return it to its proper size. Now fair lady, you may bring with you anything else you think you need."

Meridia nodded and set about gathering a few items as well as the heads of the troll and daemonfaey from the pikes. "What about my animal friends?" She turned to Ethilathain and asked. "I would hate to leave them here."

Callia looked at her ponderingly. "How many are there?"

"A small flock of birds, a couple squirrels, a few rabbits, a raccoon, a badger, a couple foxes, a black she-wolf, and oh yeah, a brown bear." Meridia smiled. "I shall call them all."

A series of various bird songs, whistles, chitters, yips, howls and growls issued forth from the dryad's throat as she mimicked the animals' calls. It took several long minutes, but soon all the animals mentioned had to the glade. They eyed the visitors warily before seeking shelter around, on and near the dryad.

"Now what do we do?" Callia hissed at the Ethilathain. "How are we possibly supposed to transport them all?"

Meridia laughed, her eyes mocking. "Simple, chas kesir. You should learn never to judge a book by its cover and that things are rarely what they seem. Right, darkling?"

Callia flashed the dryad a dark look before turning to Jaz'rin. She cocked an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. Her gaze shifted back to the dryad after noting the extremely neutral expression on Jaz'rin's face and watched as each one of the animals individually changed their shapes into humanoid form. The birds turned into beautiful elvish looking beings.

Jaz'rin gasped, causing Callia to look his way quickly. "What?" she asked.

"They are the ancient Elysian I told you about."

"I thought you said a small group of them still inhabit this world."

"They do, but they have been diminished. Now I see why. Their elders have been here. Unlike the elves of our world, the Elysian are immortal."

"Immortal, you say. Hmmmm...," Callia perused each one of the men and women. They were tall, slender and otherworldly graceful beings with pale hair and big voluminuous green eyes. Callia smiled as she intently studied each one of the Elysian males.

Jaz'rin nudged her. "Behave. You are not healed enough for what I know you are thinking," he whispered.

"And what am I thinking?"

"How much you'd like to fuck each one of them! I've seen that look on your face before, my sweet. They are fresh meat to you, like a banquet of passion to gorge yourself upon. You would do well to forget it because if the fair dryad doesn't object and bespell you horribly, then I'm sure the damned dragon would roast them alive. And surely they wouldn't relish finding themselves at the mercy of a sadistic dark elf." Jaz'rin growled, his eyes momentarily flashing red.

Callia huffed and glared at him. "Neither of you own me. I'll fuck whoever I want whenever I want. Understood?"

He returned the look she gave him with one of his own all the while cocking an eyebrow. Callia turned her head away from him, ignoring him. The transformations continued as the remaining creatures turned in their human counterparts.

The bear man had coarse shaggy hair and a long grizzled beard. He towered above Callia by almost two whole feet. His rotund body shook as he unleashed a roar of freedom. The squirrels changed into smallish humanoids, like the halflings of her world.

"Latroekas?" Jaz'rin stated questioningly.

Callia shrugged and kept an eye on her pack. In her mind, most halflings were notorious for pick-pocketing whatever they could. Jaz'rin chuckled softly.

The she-wolf turned itself into an elven female with dark dusky skin and topaz eyes. Dark furs scantily covered her bountiful charms. It then became Callia's turn to nudge Jaz'rin as his jaw dropped open.

"You're staring!"

"I..."

"Uh..."

Callia nudged him harder.

"Wha..."

She laughed softly, shaking her head as she admired the magnificent creature. She quickly ran her hand the front of Jaz'rin's body, noting how tense he was. She skimmed it quickly over his crotch. Jaz'rin was as hard as steel. "Nin vel'uss ssinssrinen ulu vith vel'uss?" she teased. ("Now who wants to fuck who?")

"Uhhh...What? Did you say something, my sweet?"

"You can pick your jaw up off the ground, Jaz." Callia chided, stroking her fingers over his hardened cock.

He pushed her hand away and hissed. "Stop that!"

Defiantly, Callia grasped hold of it with a firmer grip, her nails sinking into the material of his shadowhisp silk armor. He yelped, glaring at her with blazing red eyes.

"My dear Jaz'rin, isn't she one of those dominant dark elf females that you so despise? I believe I recall you saying you had had enough of their kind. I thought you preferred being the dominant one."

Jaz'rin pushed her away from him, dislodging her hand. "How dare you throw that back in my face?!?Who are you to tell me who I can and cannot fuck when you swear up and down that you can fuck whoever you want whenever you want!?! Answer me that!"

"Somebody is jealous..." Ethilathain murmured to Meridia.

"Fine, fuck her if she'll have you...," Callia snorted derisively. She turned away from him and walked to Ethilathain's side. She wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his shoulder. He softly stroked her hair and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before embracing her fully within his arms.

She stayed within the shelter of his embrace for several minutes, relishing in his warmth. Tears seeped from her eyes. She hastily wiped them away.

"Calm down," Ethilathain whispered. "Let him have his fun. After all, you have been having yours."

Callia nodded. She turned back to the dryad and her "animals." The pair of foxes had turned into a human male and female with waist length reddish-orange hair. The rabbits, badger and raccoon had all turned into human males and females as well.