New Life in a New World Ch. 03

Sasha then gently placed her hand on the side of his face, turning his gaze back towards her deep blue eyes. "I can't imagine how lost you feel right now. But trust me, everything will fall in place."

Sasha moved her hand to the back of his head as she kissed him deeply. Lydia forced herself to look away from the two lip locked lovers. John finally smiled back as the lovely dragoness broke the kiss. He knew she was right. Even before arriving to this world, it had been weeks since John had a chance to wind down.

"Besides I think I have an idea of where we should go," Sasha said as she ran her fingers through the young man's hair.

"What did you have in mind?" Lydia asked from the doorway, looking a bit uncomfortable at Sasha's display of affection.

"The elven city in the east," she replied. Lydia had a confused expression on her face as she wondered how the elves could help them. Sasha smiled softly at her, "It was the elves and the dragons who discovered the prophecy together. They decided that the elves would document everything they could find out about Solomon while the dragons, well...me, would look for the warrior since we have longer life spans."

"I thought elves were immortal...or something?" John inquired. At least that's what he thought from the various fantasy books he used to read.

Sasha shook her head, "No one is immortal, except for gods and demons. Elves live a long time, about a thousand years. But not nearly as long as us."

"So in this elven city I'll find..."

"Answers," Sasha interrupted, "Answers about the prophecy, Solomon, and how you got here."

John's eyebrows perked up. Did she just say the elves might know how he got there? Would that mean that they would know how to return him home? Did he even want to go back? Dozens of questions buzzed around in his mind. John shook his head, those questions could wait. For now, he would trust Sasha's advice that things would fall in place.

"Ok, tomorrow morning we head east," John instructed, "We keep moving and make as few stops a possible. It sounds like we have a lot of ground to cover and a short time to do it."

"John..." Sasha warned, thinking he was becoming uptight again.

"Don't worry I haven't forgotten," he reassured her. "In fact, I believe there is a performance we should be getting to."

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Night had fallen in the village, the market and shops had long since closed. Small cauldrons of fire provided some light on the streets. However many of the villagers did not return to their homes, they were heading to the amphitheatre along with John and the girls. The amphitheatre itself was large, obviously not the size of the coliseum, but certainly larger than a circus tent. The mass of people started to sort themselves into neat lines as the approached the entrance. Once their tickets were taken, they took their seats. The seats were in a stadium seating arrangement, the rear seats stacked much higher than the front. Sasha still made an effort to keep her wings tucked in to prevent them from blocking the view of the spectators behind her. The stage seemed to be divided into two levels. The rear of the stage was slightly elevated higher than the front by a few feet. Two curved ramps along the sides connected the upper and lower halves of the sage. The entire stage itself was covered in sand or dirt.

More and more people started filling the seats in the auditorium. The tickets that John, Lydia, and Sasha received from Max placed them in the center and a few rows back from the front. John started to feel exposed, he would have preferred seats in the back row where he could keep a keen eye on everyone. John started to look around and scanned the faces of the audience members when he felt someone give his knee a squeeze. He looked over to his right to see Sasha cracking a smile, reminding him to relax. John took a deep breath as he calmed himself down a little.

John turned to Lydia, "So what have you heard about this show?"

"Only that it's supposed to represent the bond between man and horse," Lydia replied. "Have you ever ridden a horse before?"

He nodded, "I did a few times when I was a kid. I also had to ride a horse a couple times when I was in Afghanistan." He turned to Sasha, "What about you, do you like horses?"

"I love horses," Sasha replied, "They are incredibly tasty, but wild horses are hard to come by and humans don't like it when we eat theirs."

John did a double take when he heard Sasha's reply, he stared at her with a shocked expression on his face.

"What? A girl's gotta eat," Sasha said with a shrug.

Before he got a chance to reply, the lights started to dim and the audience quieted down. A guitar started playing somewhere offstage, only a few chords at a time. Two brown horses entered the stage from the side, but they had no riders. There were no marks that they were trying to hit. They just wandered the stage, exploring it and each other. It was so simple yet beautiful, horses just being themselves. The sound of a woman singing filled the theatre, the singer soon came onto the stage. She slowly walked across the stage, her beautiful voice filling the air. The two horses played and danced around her, she reached out her hand and lightly rubbed their noses when they came close. As she reached the end of her song, she exited the stage with the horses following her.

The next act started with another horse coming onto the stage, a dark brown haired Warmblood. There was a shallow pool of water, center stage. The dark and mellow tone of a viola started playing. The horse wandered around before making it's way to the water. A young woman then entered from the back of the stage. She carefully observed the horse as it wandered about, almost with a sense of wonder. As she stepped closer to the horse, it backed away. She also backed away, seemingly frightened by the horse's sudden movement. She held her curled hand to her face, her curiosity overpowering her fear. She moved toward the center of the stage, standing in the pool of water. She reached out as the horse passed by, wanting the majestic animal to come closer. The Warmblood took notice and moved closer to the girl. Lightly placing her hand on the side of its face, she looked into the eyes of the horse. The horse then began to trot around the edge of the pool. The woman danced alongside, kicking up water as she joyfully twirled and jumped. She then reached down and scooped some water into her cupped hands. The horse came over and drank from her hands, signifying the trust that had been created between them. The theatre filled with applause as she led the horse off the stage.

The rest of the show continued to be a wonderful display of equestrian riding, acrobatics and art. There were acts that displayed expert horse control and other acts demonstrated stunt riding. Thrown in the mix were acrobatic acts that would rival Cirque du Soleil. John, Sasha, and Lydia found themselves on the edge of their seats with some of the more exciting acts that included Roman horse riding, where the rider would be riding two horses with a foot planted on each horse, and rodeo stunts. John enjoyed the rodeo style riding as he remembered how his parents used to take him to the rodeo up in Albany. The show reminded him just how beautiful horses were. For the large beasts that they were, they moved with such grace and composure.

Throughout the performance Sasha remained snuggled up to John, her arm wrapped around his and her head resting on his shoulder. Every so often she would sneak in a small kiss on his cheek. John would smile softly back at her, acknowledging her attention to him. However, he found himself looking over to Lydia. She seemed to be intently watching the show. However, he caught her on more than one occasion glancing over to him before quickly looking back toward the stage. Her hands were gripped tightly on the armrests of the her seat. As she observed Sasha's display of affection for John, she noticed something that she hadn't thought about all day. While John was certainly not rejecting the dragoness' affection, he was not really showing much affection in return. He seemed to just be going along with it, but never initiating. Did John not have the same feelings for Sasha as she had for him? Did this mean that she might actually have a chance to tell John her true feelings and win back his heart? Then what about Sasha? She did not seem like the violent type, but Lydia did not want to go toe-to-toe with a dragoness to find out. She further tightened her grip on the armrest as these questions raced through her mind. She let out a small gasp when she suddenly felt John softly place his hand on hers. She looked over to him, and saw he had that comforting smile on his face that she loved so much. She breathed a sigh of relief and let herself relax. They soon both turned their attentions back to the stage for the final act.

A single white horse galloped onto the stage. A guitar started playing a slow, tranquil melody. The music made John think about the meadow he passed through on the way to Wolfdell. That horse was joined by another, then another. One by one, horses entered from each side of the stage until there were eight horses total. Just like at the beginning of the show, the horses just acted like themselves. A couple of them nipped at each other while another was rolling in the dirt. Two of them ran around the stage excitedly while the rest stood around without a care in the world. That's when the woman entered.

She entered from the right side of the stage, lightly bowing her head to the audience with a small smile. She looked to be close to John's age, maybe a bit older. Her white hair was tightly braided and wrapped into two, tight buns on the top of her head. Her smooth skin was pale, almost albino like. Her long legs were visible in a slit that ran up the side of her dress. One of the horses raced up to greet her. She gently placed her hand on its head, calming it down. At first, the rest of the horses did not seem to take notice of her as she walked between them. She then reached down and picked up a small handful of sand and tossed it toward the center of the stage. Catching their attention, the horses stopped what they were doing and started to lightly gallop in a tight circle around her. One by one they started to sort themselves out until they were single file. A light applause emanated from the audience. She suddenly raised her arms, the horses immediately stopped galloping and spun around in place. Another burst of applause filled the theatre. Only using hand signals and voice commands, she had the group start galloping again. She sent four of them to run to the upper stage and back down while she kept the remaining four in place. They returned to the lower stage and resumed running their tight circle around the woman. However, she then took the remaining four horses and had them run the opposite direction. The audience applauded again as they were presented with the sight of two groups of horses, one running clockwise and the other counter-clockwise with perfect coordination. She then lined them up side by side, walking around the stage in perfect formation. The horses were then lined up at the front of the stage, completing the act. The woman took a bow as the amphitheatre was soon filled with a roaring applause. John was one of the first to rise from his seat as he clapped his hands. He was soon joined by the rest of the audience in a standing ovation. The rest of the riders and acrobats, accompanied by their horses, joined the woman on the stage and took one final bow.

John and Lydia moved with the large crowd as they exited the amphitheatre. Sasha had stayed behind to thank Max for inviting them to the show and to discuss the best route to the elven city. As they walked through the crowd, John listened in on the various conversations around him. Most were recalling just how incredible the show was. A couple people said that it inspired them to take their own horses out for a ride the next day.

"It's true what they say, horses are the Gods gift to man," said a passing couple.

John immediately froze when he heard this. Lydia soon realized that he was no longer walking beside her. Concerned, she turned back to him.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied seemingly lost in his thoughts, "It's just that I've heard that before. It's an old Arabian proverb from my world."

"Come on, we should be getting back to the inn," Lydia said, smiling warmly as she lightly grabbed his hand and started leading him back to where they were staying. John smiled back, this was the first time they had held hands since their night together in Wolfdell.

When they arrived back to the inn, Lydia retired to her own room while John sat in the room he would be sharing with Sasha. Amazingly John had too much energy to sleep. He cracked a smile as he thought about how Sasha might suggest he burn off that extra energy. John reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace that he had bought in the market earlier, he had almost forgotten to give it to Lydia. He made his way over to Lydia's room next door and lightly knocked.

"Come in," she replied.

John peeked his head in to see Lydia laying on her front, facing the door and the foot of the bed. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow as she looked up at John. He was unable to say a word as he stood in the doorway admiring her. She had removed her armor and her skirt. Topless, her breasts were hidden from view as she laid on her front. Her smooth, silky legs were bent upwards as she rested her heels on her panty clad butt. Her tail wagging lazily side to side. The situation reminded John of when he caught Lydia ogling him back at Anya's, only this time the roles were reversed.

"Need something?" she finally asked, giving him a small smile.

"Umm...yes," John finally stammered, "Actually, I wanted to give you something."

John presented her with the necklace. Her eyes went wide as he placed it in her hand. "John...it's beautiful!" she gasped.

"I saw it in the market today and it made me think of you."

Lydia ran her fingers over the smooth, pink crystal. John came over and took the necklace out of her hands, offering to help her put it on. Lydia reached behind her and moved her snow, white hair out of the way while John tied the ends of the necklace behind her neck. She let her hair fall back into place as he finished. She turned toward him, the crystal rested just above her bare breasts. John's eyes lowered from the necklace to her chest. He had almost forgotten how beautiful her tits were, topped with her pert nipples. He shook his head to bring himself back to reality.

John smiled, "Looks great on you."

Her cheeks went slightly red as she blushed at his comment. Her heart started beating harder as she realized their faces were only inches from each other. Her golden eyes locked with his, silence filled the room. She realized this was her chance, she needed to tell him how she really felt. As John got up to leave, she quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Wait..." she said softly, her eye pleading with him not to leave. "I...I just..." she had thought about all day what she would say to John if she could only get some time alone with him. But now she couldn't even formulate simple sentences.

"I...I wanted to say...I am sorry for what I said the other day," Lydia finally managed to speak, "I feel I....I came off too harsh."

"That's ok," John replied, "I mean...it came as a shock, but my feelings were not hurt."

John realized that Lydia had not let go of his wrist yet. He looked back to her beautiful face, she was biting her lip apprehensively. Dammit Lydia, just tell him you love him. She knew the words to say, but she just could not get them to come out.

"John, do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked softly.

"Well...Sasha seems to think so," he replied with a nervous chuckle.

Lydia pouted at his reply, "I don't care what Sasha thinks. Believe me, she has made her feelings for you very obvious. I'm talking about you. Do you believe in it?"

"Well...," he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to avoid giving a direct answer. "Why do you ask?"

Lydia swallowed as she prepared her answer. She really hoped for a better way to segue into this. But she needed to be bold, it was now or never. "I ask because...I think...I lo..."

"Hey! There you guys are," Sasha interrupted as she peeked her head into the room. She came to the sight of John with the topless half-lycan, her breasts on full display. "Um...What's going on in here?" Sasha asked suspiciously.

"Just talking," John quickly replied.

"If you say so," She said, still giving him a suspicious glare. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the new piece of jewelry around the half-lycan's neck. "Lydia, where did you get that beautiful necklace?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well...John gave it to me?" Lydia replied nervously, unsure of what the dragoness' reaction was going to be.

John was not sure how Sasha would respond either, she did seem a bit possessive of him. Sasha calmly walked over to Lydia, studying the necklace. He readied himself to possibly break up a fight. However to his surprise, Sasha's reaction was quite the opposite.

"Gods, it looks so beautiful on you," Sasha replied cheerfully, "John's sure got great taste".

"Thank you," Lydia replied while quietly breathing a sigh of relief.

"So, I have some great news," the dragoness said with some excitement, "Tomorrow late morning there will be an armed caravan that will pass through here and continue east."

"What are they transporting?" Lydia inquired.

"Food, ale, clothing, nothing special," Sasha replied. "The merchants hired some security because of a rise in bandit raids. However, the best part is Max will convince them to allow us to tag along. It won't be all the way to the elven city, but having the extra protection during part of our trip will help."

"Well, that is...*YAWN*...um, great news," John replied, his eyelids starting to get droopy.

"Well, looks like someone is ready for bed," the dragoness laughed as she grabbed John's arm. "Goodnight Lydia," she said as she yanked John out of the room.

"Good...night," Lydia tried to say, only to have Sasha close her bedroom door before she could even finish.

The exotic dragoness quickly pulled John into their room and embraced him in a deep kiss. Her tongue slid in and out of his mouth while she locked the door with her free hand. Undoing the laces on her vest and skirt, she let her clothes fall to the floor and pool at her feet. She finally broke the kiss, her deep blue eyes giving him a hungry look. She fell to her knees, dragging her hands over his broad chest.

"What happened to going bed?" John protested.

"Oh we will certainly be going to bed baby," she replied as she started to unbuckle his belt, "but I've been waiting all day for this."

"Well, I just don't want Lydia to hear...uuhhh...God..." John was interrupted as Sasha pulled out his cock and began ferociously sucking on it.

"Mmmpphh," She tried to reply back with a mouthful of cock before having the sense to release him, "Don't worry about her, she won't hear us."

Before John could argue, she quickly engulfed his member. She gave him a little wink as she wrapped her charcoal lips around him. He was in absolute bliss as she ran her serpentine tongue along the underside of his shaft. She tightly gripped the base of his shaft as she took more of him in. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of John's member becoming harder in her mouth. She reached down between her legs and started rubbing her clit as she bobbed her head on his growing shaft.

John groaned as she pushed her tongue in the tip of his engorged head. The surge of pleasure that shot through him weakened his knees, causing him to reach for the nearest wall for support. He ran his fingers through her light blue hair, lightly gripping it as he gave her an encouraging push back down on his cock. He then moved his hands along one of the smooth, twisted horns that sprouted from the top of her head. God, what an exotic creature she was. Her slurping only got louder as he finally became rock hard. With a soft touch, the dragoness lightly fondled his balls. John felt a sudden surge grow within him, he was getting close.