Welcome to Aht Urhgan

            The ship
finally docked in Aht Urhgan Whitegate’s port after hours of sea traveling.
Lynuma preceeded Redrelian off the ship, hopping around with excitement from
coming to an unknown land. Aht Urhgan has been recently opened to traveling, in
desperate need of mercenaries to fight off the beastmen constantly threatening
their city.

            Lynuma
turned around on herself in a poor attempt at seeing everything at once.
Redrelian couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. As an Elvaan, he was
rarely showing any emotion. Considering he also was an adventurer and was used
to battles, wounds and deaths, he made himself tougher to try and block out
pains and sorrows. Although Lynuma tried to do the same thing in several
occasions, she couldn’t completely do it. She always had a hard time turning a
deaf ear to mean words, or a blind eye to people in trouble. And that was just
how he loved her. They have been together for several years.

            Redrelian
was a tall Elvaan with long white hair tied in a ponytail on the back of his
head. He was a strong thief. Lynuma was a Mithra. Although tall for her kind,
she lacked a couple heads to match Redrelian. She had short white hair with a
blue bandanna around her forehead. She was a tough red mage. They have been
together for three years. Redrelian was already an adventurer, trying his best
to make a name for himself, training hard to become stronger and do his part to
save the world from the coming back of the Shadow Lord. He met Lynuma a couple
months after he started his adventuring. She was a newcomer in San d’Oria,
where he also was from and he helped her around. Eventually, they started
fighting side by side, trusting each other with their respective lives, growing
closer until they finally fell for each other. In search of new challenges,
willing to broaden their horizon, they hurried to the eastern empire the moment
they new the road was opened.

            “Wow, Red,
check this out! It’s incrrredible!”

            The people
around were dressed differently from the western continent they were from. The
city was surrounded by a tall wall. It was like a fortress. Redrelian put a
hand on his hip.

            “I’m not
much into sightseeing, Lyn. I’ll seek out that mercenary office we heard
about.”

            Lynuma
stopped and turned to face Redrelian, pouting.

            “Awww you’rrre
no fun, Red. We just got to a new city
and you only think about fighting. Can’t you relax and take it easy for once?”

            He walked
to her and bent over her to kiss her.

            “The enemy
never relaxes, Lyn. The Shadow Lord may be gone from Vana’diel, but if there is
another threat elsewhere, I want to know what it is and fight it with all my
strength.”

            Lynuma’s
eyes started shining slightly, moved by his words. He was always so full of
life when he was talking about fighting. It was not an obsession, it was a
passion he had. He could truly feel alive on a battlefield. There was only one
other thing that made him feel that way: laying next to Lynuma, holding her
against him.

            “Fine, but
I’m gonna explore a bit. I’ll meet you later.”

            “Where? We
don’t know the place yet.”

            “Let’s meet
back here in 4 hours?”

            “Alright.
Be careful now.”

            “I’m not
the one going to a mercenary office,” she replied winking and sticking her
tongue out playfully before walking away.

            Redrelian
stared at her tail a moment, hypnotized by the back and forth movement, then
went on to find the mercenary office.

            The city
was large, but not as much as San d’Oria, Bastok, Windurst or Jeuno. Lynuma
lent an ear to anything she could hear, looking for a task to accomplish, someone
to help. She managed to find a map of the city to realize it was even smaller
than she first thought. Although there was the imperial palace on the eastern
most part of the city, it was off limits to visitors. The western gate lead to
another part of the city called Al Zahbi. It was about the same size as
Whitegate. She headed there. Once in Al Zahbi, she headed north. She saw more
fortifications. There were bridges that could be brought up to limit the inner
city access. Past those bridges were exits that lead outside to the Wajaom
Woodlands, and the Bhaflau Thickets. She was very curious about what kinds of
monsters she would find there, but she promised herself to find that out with
Redrelian, so she decided to explore the city some more.

            She climbed
a set of stairs leading to the top of the walls and noticed some people that
were sticking out compared to everyone else she saw so far. She walked all over
the wall and noticed five people wearing red armor and each carrying a
different weapon. Northwest was standing a male Hume with shoulder length brown
hair partially hidden by a turban carrying a white scythe on his back.
Northeast, standing on the edge of the wall was a Galka with a pair of knuckles
dangling from his waist. On the way there, was a Mithra with a club on her
side. On an opposite wall was a female Hume with short black hair partially
hidden by a red hat. She was carrying a long bow. Close to the central tower
joining 3 of the walls was a tall Elvaan with a helmet almost completely hiding
his long black hair tied in a ponytail. He was carrying the most impressive
great sword Lynuma had ever seen. It was a silverish blue and split in the
center up to the tip. It was quite large. When she caught sight of him, she
froze. She couldn’t help it, he looked quite like Redrelian except for the
color of his hair.

Like the other four, there was a
guard standing close to him. She decided to talk to her.

“Excuse me, who is that?” she asked
still staring at the Elvaan.

The guard looked at her from head
to toe before answering.

“You are not from around here, are
you?”

She shook her head.

“I arrived today by the boat. I
come from the west.”

“That, newcomer, is the mighty
Skyserpent General Rughadjeen. He is the leader of the five serpent generals
and the stronger one. He is responsible for the security of this city and its
inhabitants.”

Lynuma remained speechless. There
were royal and temple knights in San d’Oria, iron musketeers in Bastok and war
warlocks in Windurst but this was a completely different system of defense. She
walked a little closer to him, traced by the guard who showed an amused smile
from the girl’s impressed behavior.

With force staring, she ended up
getting the Elvaan’s attention and he turned to her. She would have expected
him to have a grave look on his face, a hard expression from countless battles,
but it was just the opposite. He looked quite warm and showed interest in her.

“Can I help you?”

Lynuma slightly jumped in surprise.
Even his voice was softer than she expected. That was when she realized she was
staring. She quickly looked away and blushed.

“I… I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to…
to stare!”

 Why am I
stuttering?

He seemed amused judging from the
light smile that came upon his lips. Lynuma widened her eyes in surprise.

He
looks like Red!

“I am Rughadjeen, Skyserpent General
at the service of her Magnificence, the empress. You came from the west, am I
correct?”

“Yes. I am Lynuma. I came when I
heard of this place. I must say that it is quite amazing.”

“If there is anything you wish to
know, feel free to ask me.”

“Oh, but I wouldn’t dare…”

“It is quite alright, I assure you.
I am aware the Empire has remained discreet for a long time. Far too long in my
opinion, so I wish to help anyone who comes here to make their stay as pleasant
as possible. I can give you a quick tour of Al Zahbi, unless you already took
that liberty.”

“Well, I took a quick look around,
but I am quite clueless.”

“Very well. Come with me.”

He walked ahead and she quickly
followed him.

“I will be back shortly,” he informed
the guard who simply nodded.

Walking by his side like she was
his equal made her uneasy. She eyed him from time to time and he ended up
noticing.

“Something wrong?”

“Hum… General… Sir…”

“Please, call me Rughadjeen.”

She widened her eyes like the mere
thought was completely absurd.

“I couldn’t!”

“I am a man protecting his city
before anything else. I bear authority over the guards, not over people from
oversea.”

“This is so different from where I
come from… The leaders are usually protected inside the castle or the palace
depending on the way they work…”

“Well you see,” he started waving
his arm out to show the city. “My comrades and I stand watch for the beastmen.
We can not protect these walls hidden in a palace.”

“Keeping watch from beastmen? Do they
attack this city?”

“Yes and unfortunately, more often
than we can sometimes handle. This is the main reason the road was opened
again, we lack man power.”

“Why do the beastmen attack the
city? Don’t they have their own territory?”

She was used to orcs, yagudos and
quadavs which were quite aggressive, but they did not attack a city since the
Crystal War.

Rughadjeen remained silent a
moment, thoughtful.

“I’m sorry, did I ask something I
shouldn’t have?”

“No, do not worry. The matter is
the beastmen come here in search of the Astral Candescence.”

“The what?”

“It is a device kept in the Hall of
Binding. I will show you.”

He guided her to the northeast part
of the city. There they stood in front of a closed gate.

“The Hall of Binding is beyond this
gate. No one is allowed inside. During a beastmen attack, we generals focus all
our power into sealing this door to stop the monsters’s advance.”

“But… what is the Astral Candescence?”

“It’s an orb of light that protects
the city from the western plague. No one really knows what it really is. Some
suppose it came from Bastok. It is dangerous and the candescence protects us
from it, keeps us safe.”

“Why do the beastmen want it?”

Rughadjeen grew more serious and
looked around. No one in sight to hear what he had to say.

“You have to make me a promise,
young Mithra.”

Lynuma suddenly grew excited. The
thought of sharing an imperial secret with the leader of the forces made her
enthusiastic. She quickly nodded.

“On my honor, I will promise.”

“This is secret information, mostly
rumors so you must keep this to yourself.”

“I will.”

He nodded, trusting her words.

“The beastmen are attracted to the
Astral Candescence. The reason is unknown. Perhaps it calls to them, we do not
know about it. The only thing we know is that as long as the Astral Candescence
is in Al Zahbi, the beastmen will keep attacking. And we can not get rid of it
without facing certain doom.”

“Wow, it is a tricky situation.”

“The beastmen grow stronger all the
time and I fear the day when they get their hands on it to grow nearer.”

He suddenly looked so worried,
Lynuma felt ashamed.

“But you did push them back before,
didn’t you? Plus, you generals all protect the access to the Hall of Binding,
don’t you?”

“Yes but don’t be mistaken in
thinking it is an absolute defense. If we should fall, the doors would open
wide and allow the beastmen to enter without any resistance.”

“If you should fall?” she asked
with wide eyes.

The general smiled at her concern.

“We are not invincible, my friend,
on the contrary. And you should know that it did happen before that some of us
were made prisoner by the enemy.”

“What?”

“The beastmen like to take
prisoners to scare us. They like people who look important, thinking the
citizens will go crazy, believing they are lost and make it easy to attack the
next time. Although some courageous souls always run to enemy territory to
rescue the prisoners so they are never kept long.”

They made there way back to the
city exit. Rughadjeen decided to tell Lynuma about the other generals.

“The man with the scythe is the
Flameserpent General, Gadalar. He is the first one I chose to become a serpent
general.”

“That you chose? You recruited the
other four?”

“Yes. I was made Skyserpent general
after leading the defense forces against an enemy attack on the city. I was
punished at first for overpassing my authority. I had just been removed from my
post by my superior. I disagreed with his methods and he did not like my
disregarding his authority. When the beastmen attacked, he ran away, leaving us
all dumbfounded. I took full responsibility and lead our men to victory. I was
first confined for days, then received in the palace, and promoted to
Skyserpent, a title not seen in a long time. I was given this great sword, the
Algol, by the Empress herself. That is why I devote every moment of my life to
the protection of this city.”

Lynuma was literally swallowing his
every word. She was fascinated.

“I was told to recruit others for
positions of serpent generals to assist me. Gadalar was the first one. He is a
powerful mage with a hot temper, but he is priceless on the battlefield. His
thirst for blood often finds him to get carried away. The enemies turn on him
very often, outnumbering him by a lot. I lost count of how many times he was
taken prisoner.”

As he spoke, he smiled,
reminiscing.

“The woman is Galeserpent General Najelith.
She is a lot softer than Gadalar, but just as strong. She is also brilliant.
She might look soft, but do not be fooled. During battle, she is just as hard
as I can be. Then you have Stoneserpent General Zazarg. He enjoys fighting
beastmen. He just loves watching them collapse under his punches. Waterserpent
General Mihli Aliapoh, is a Mithra like you. She can stand her own ground as
well but she always gives her most at the beginning of the battles, causing to
grow exhausted before it is even finished. Even so, she keeps going.”

He stopped and turned to Lynuma,
putting a fist on his hip, just like Redrelian always did.

“Did this help you?”

“Oh, yes! Thank you very much,
Rughadjeen.”

“It was my pleasure. I hope you
stay in Aht Urhgan for a while.”

“I will. My boyfriend went to
register as a mercenary, but I’m not really interested. I’m more curious about
the beastmen attacking the city.”

“You came with your boyfriend?”

“Yes, his name is Redrelian, an
Elvaan and he looks a lot like you as a matter of fact.”

“A word of advice, Lynuma. Avoid
talking about mercenaries too much. Some people see them as heartless people
who would do anything for a mere gil. Especially Gadalar. He does not trust mercenaries.”

“Oh, I’ll keep that in mind.”

All of a sudden, a voice echoed all
across the city.

“Al Zahbi is under attack! The
Troll Mercenaries have breached the Balrahn defense line! Martial Law has been
declared in Al Zahbi! Repeating… Martial Law has been declared in Al Zahbi! Non-combatants
in the commoners’ ward are to evacuate immediately! Repeating… Non-combatants
in the commoners’ ward are to evacuate immediately!”

Rughadjeen looked towards the
gates. Huge monsters were coming in from the doors.

“By the Empress! It’s the Troll
Mercenaries!”

Lynuma spotted them right away. She
could hardly do otherwise from their size. They had to bend to get through the
gates. She widened her eyes in horror.

“Altana protect us…” she trailed
off.

Rughadjeen spun around and stared
in her eyes, awfully serious all of a sudden, she could hardly believe it was
the same person she just spent a couple hours talking to.

“You must leave now! Make haste
while you still can!”

“I can’t leave! You need all the
help you can get!”

“You have just arrived. I can not
ask you to fight for a city you do not belong to.”

“And I can’t run away after you
were kind enough to tell me so much about this city!”

“If you want to stay to repay me,
know that you owe me nothing, you must leave!”

“Please, let me fight by your side!
I may not look like much, but I can be helpful, I will show you. This is the
reason I became an adventurer in the first place! Not for fame or fortune, but
to help and protect! Please, Rughadjeen!”

He kept silent a moment, impressed
by the determination he saw shining in her eyes.

“Hey, Rughadjeen, move your ass,
will ya!?” yelled Gadalar over the noises of the trolls beginning their attack
and the people fighting back.

“Very well, you may stay, but stay
close to me. I would never forgive myself if you would get hurt here.”

“At least, thanks to you, I know
what I must do. If you wouldn’t have told me, I would have panicked and
probably get myself badly hurt or worst!”

“Alright. Let’s protect the city!”
he exclaimed taking out his sword.

Lynuma followed him right away.

In Whitegate, after his
“interesting” meeting with Naja Salaheem, leader of Salaheem’s Sentinels, the
mercenary group he heard about, Redrelian really needed to change his mood.
Although Naja was a Mithra, she was scary. She kept swinging that morning star
around and slamming it on her desk. Not to mention the Hume she was always
yelling at. He always seemed terrified and always ran to hear her out when she
was calling.

Basically, Redrelian learned that
by signing in with the Sentinels, he was to run in when she would call,
whatever pay he would be rewarded, she would get a percentage of it (nearly the
total of it) and if something would happen to him during a mission she would
give, she would not be held responsible in any way.

Redrelian sighed and scratched the
back of his head. He started to think maybe it was not such a good idea after
all. He only wanted to find Lynuma and hear what she found out about this new
place. His encounter with Naja exhausted him completely. He was hoping Lynuma
might have found a place to stay so he could rest and maybe get a little
intimate.

As he walked close to the gate
leading to Al Zahbi, he heard the echo of the warning resonating across the
city. The guard next to the door frowned.

“Damn, they attack again. Don’t
they ever get tired?”

Redrelian looked at him in shock.

“What? Monsters attack this city?”

The guard turned to him and looked
at him a strange way.

“Of course they do, they do it all
the time. They’re not about to stop either. The defense forces always manage to
drive them away but I fear that one day, they will fail… I guess it’s a risk to
take.”

The San d’Orian lost the end of
that sentence as he rushed towards the other part of the city when a bad
feeling suddenly struck his stomach. He knew Lynuma was in there at that
moment, he could feel it. He did not know why the beastmen were attacking, and
he did not even wonder why. The only thing that mattered was that Lynuma was
there while the city was under enemy attack and that he had to go help her.

When he caught sight of the first
troll, he froze.

“It’s huge!” he exclaimed.

The monster was twice his height,
and even larger. There were different kinds of trolls. Some were brownish,
others were green. Some wearing thick armor, others carrying flamethrowers.
They were accompanied by bombs, scorpions and gigantic insects that looked like
moths. Redrelian quickly took out his weapons, ready to fight his way through.

“I didn’t expect this at all! Lyn,
I hope you’re alright.”

Lynuma was in fact just a little
further ahead, fighting side by side with Rughadjeen. She was amazed by his
strength. He was able to fight almost at the same level as a troll. She felt so
useless and insignificant; she even thought she was more of a burden than any
help. And she thought she had gotten stronger… She bit her lip and decided to
try and support the general instead. As a red mage, she carried a load of
enfeebling spells and quite a few enhancing ones. So she cast Protect and Shell
on him, followed with Haste to allow him to attack faster despite the size and
weight of his sword. She also tried to weaken the troll’s defenses with Dia,
and attempted to slow it down.

The troll packed quite a punch, so
when Rughadjeen took a hit, he gritted his teeth and kept fighting like nothing
happened. Lynuma quickly healed him.

“Thank you,” he said slashing once
more.

“Don’t mention it.”

Even though she felt useless, she
still tried as much as she could. The Elvaan really appreciated the effort she
was putting in it, refusing to simply stay behind and wait.

Screams of horror came from the
west gate. When the troll fell down, Rughadjeen and Lynuma turned their head
simultaneously. Lynuma’s jaw dropped at the sight of a purple skinned troll, he
was twice the size of the others.

“What the…”

“Gurfurlur the Menacing, the leader
of the trolls,” Rughadjeen explained. “They must be getting desperate.”

Lynuma did not know what he meant
by that. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to be anywhere but there
at that moment. She wanted to get as far away from that thing as possible. She
was so scared she couldn’t even move. Even when Rughadjeen charged the monster,
she remained there, staring at it.

The Skyserpent general was not
scared in any way. His devotion to the empire was stronger than fear.

From where he was, Redrelian could
easily see Gurfurlur. Who wouldn’t have? The thing was huge. He froze as well,
staring at the thing.

“Altana protect us…”

That’s when he noticed Lynuma,
ahead of him, also staring at the monster, unable to move. He tried to head her
way, but there were other monsters in the way, and people fighting them. He
decided to fight them off to get them out of the way.

Rughadjeen was hardly doing
Gurfurlur any damage. It had incredible vitality and so much strength he was
barely making a scratch on it. It did not stop him one second. He kept
attacking, unleashing his sword techniques on it as much as he could. He was so
busy fighting Gurfurlur he did not notice the troll coming his way even though
it was making the ground shake. He supposed it was Gurfurlur’s doing. But
Lynuma noticed it. She got back the control of her limbs at that moment,
realizing the troll was going straight for him. She started running.

“Watch out!” she screamed.

Hearing the warning, Rughadjeen
turned his head towards the Mithra running to him. She jumped and tackled him
so hard he fell a few meters away from where he was standing. He looked up
quick enough to see the troll hit Lynuma with a club like it was a baseball bat
and she was the ball. A scream choked in her throat when she flew at incredible
speed towards the wall and slammed against it, slid down and collapsed on the
ground where she laid motionless.

“Lynuma!” Rughadjeen called in
fear.

“LYN!” Redrelian yelled for he also
witnessed the scene.

He used his most powerful attack to
finish off the monster he was fighting and ran as fast as he could towards
Lynuma. To his horror, he noticed the troll that hit her walk straight towards
her. Rughadjeen also tried to go to her, but his way was blocked by Gurfurlur,
being attacked from everywhere at once, trying to get rid of those insects.
That’s when a message was heard.

“The troll mercenaries are
retreating.”

Rughadjeen turned to Gurfurlur to
see him cast Warp on himself. He was running away, like always seeing the
battle was lost. He had a smirk on his face, as usual. The other troll grabbed
Lynuma by one of her legs, lifted her up, and warped with her in his hand. She
was unconscious and blood was rolling down her face.

Redrelian held his hand out towards
her. She was so far from him.

“Lyyyyyyyyyyn!!!” he called as he
saw her disappear.

Rughadjeen dropped on his knees,
Algol falling on his side with a metallic sound. He rested his palms on the
ground and lowered his head.

“No… I failed! I told her I would
protect her but I failed!”

He punched the ground in despair.
Hearing his words, Redrelian rushed towards him and grabbed him by the collar,
pulling him up on his feet. The other generals gathered there to take notice of
the losses. Seeing their leader threatened, they gathered around him and took
out their weapons. He waved out at them, signaling them to stay where they
were.

“Was this your fault?” Redrelian
asked with a frown, madness in his eyes. “Were you the one who caused Lyn’s
disappearance?”

“I am. Forgive me. I should have
insisted with greater strength for her to leave this area when the trolls
arrived.”

“She got hurt for protecting you,
dammit! I saw it! And now these… trolls took her away! It’s your fault!”

He was breathing hard, devastated.
They just arrived in the new city
and Lynuma might already have been dead.

The other generals were ready to
attack to defend their leader.

“Unhand him!” Gadalar commanded in
a tone that would not accept a negative answer. “Do you know who he is? This
man is Rughadjeen, the Skyserpent!”

“He would be the empress, I
wouldn’t care! Lynuma means more than anything to me!”

“You dare speak of the empress so
casually?” Najelith asked readying an arrow.

Rughadjeen then realized who this
Elvaan was.

“You are Redrelian, am I correct?”

Redrelian appeared to calm down
slightly and let go of Rughadjeen. The general turned to his fellow comrades.

“Lower your weapons. This man meant
harm only equal to the pain in his heart for losing the one he loves.”

The others all put their weapons
away. As he took a second look at Redrelian, he had to admit his resemblance
with him really was striking except for the color of his hair. He couldn’t help
but feel for his brethren’s pain.

“I will go to Halvung,” he stated.

The four generals were shocked.

“What?”

“Are you serious?”

“No way!”

“Rughadjeen, no!”

The Skyserpent did not grant them
another look, he was looking at Redrelian.

“Halvung is there base. I will go
there and rescue her.”

Redrelian looked up at him in surprise.

“Why?”

“She supported me during the
battle, and saved me from that monster, getting herself kidnapped in the
process. She put her life in line for me so it is only natural that I now risk
mine to save hers.”

The other generals gathered closer
around their leader, outraged.

“You can’t be serious, Rughadjeen!”
Gadalar objected. “That girl is just a commoner, a mercenary, she’s not worth
saving!”

Redrelian was about to turn to him
to tell him a thing or two, but Rughadjeen got between them before anything
would happen.

“A commoner who fought to protect a
city after she arrived earlier today. My mind is made up, Gadalar, my friend. I
will go there and there is nothing you can say to make me change my mind, so
give up.”

Gadalar opened his mouth to protest
some more but closed it seeing the determination in his friend’s eyes.

“At least let me accompany you.”

“No, you will stay here in case I
do not make it back. It may be a selfish decision of me to go and attempt to
rescue a commoner, it is not necessary to risk more of the serpent generals’
lives.”

“Then let one of us go in your
place!” Zazarg suggested.

“That’s rrright!” Mihli approved.
“You are the Skyserpent, you must stay!”

“I have made my decision. I will
take that task alone.”

“Not alone,” Redrelian cut in.

The five turned to him.

“I have no idea if I can be of any
use, but I won’t simply wait here while you go try to save her. I am coming
with you.”

Rughadjeen opened his mouth, but
Redrelian cut him before he would start.

“I can accompany you, or follow you
from a distance, but I will go there, whether you like it or not.”

He folded his arms and frowned. The
general couldn’t help a smile.

“I admire your courage, Redrelian.
It is no wonder Lynuma holds you in high esteem. Follow me.”

They headed north and took a
chocobo to leave the city, while the other generals traced them, powerless.

“Do you think we should follow
them?” Mihli asked.

“The general gave us an order,”
Najelith answered. “We must stay here and pray for his success.”

“Do you think he will find the
girl?” Zazarg asked.

“If she is still alive, he will,”
Gadalar answered staring at the distance. “If she is still alive…”

Lynuma woke up in pain. Her whole
body was painful and sore from the hit from the club and her landing in the
wall. She tried to test her limbs, but she could hardly move. Her hands were
tied behind her back. She could not see a thing, but it was not from becoming
blind or the lack of light of the place she was in, it was due to a cloth over
her eyes. There was also one over her mouth to keep her quiet. She was locked up
in a cell deep inside Halvung. The smell was awful, and the taste she got from
the cloth over her mouth was even worst. She tried to block it out but failed
miserably. The pain from all over her body worsened it yet again. She got
nauseous and even though she tried to focus not to, she vomited over the cloth,
drenching it in her own stench. Her eyes started burning and tears rolled down
from under the blindfold. Once her stomach settled down, she realized she had
nothing broken. She was lucky, but did not have the time to feel relieved. She
heard footsteps coming her way. They felt too soft and light to be a troll.
They stopped right in front of her cell.

“Female sick, but not broken,” said
a small and screechy voice.

She turned her head towards the
sound.

“Me goblin, interpreter of
Gurfurlur. You lucky female.”

She had a hard time understanding
how she could be lucky.

“If you male, you food.”

At that moment, a desperate scream
of pain echoed in the whole hallway. Lynuma didn’t want to guess what happened
to the owner of that voice. The scream was heard a few more times, then it
turned silent.

“You female, you fun.”

She arched an eyebrow behind her
blindfold. That’s when she heard heavier footsteps. More than one set. They all
stopped at different places, away from her cell though. It was silent a short
moment, then she heard sounds of clothes being ripped, followed with screams of
fear. Those screams were feminine. Then she heard groaning, deep groaning
sounds from trolls in the cells around hers. The groans sounded in rhythm with
girls’s screams. Lynuma was afraid she now understood what the goblin meant.
The screams did not last very long. A longer and deeper scream was heard now
and then, accompanied with a deeper and longer groan. Then footsteps heading
away, and silence. The silence was slightly broken by few sobs of both fear and
pain.

“You fun, you live,” the goblin
told.

Heavy and slow footsteps sounded in
the hall. Heavier than the previous ones. Lynuma held her breath in terror. The
goblin moved aside. The footsteps were so heavy she was jumping off the ground
with each one. They got louder, and closer.

Please,
don’t let it come here, please!

Unfortunately, the steps stopped
right next to her cell.

“Grumph.”

The sound was so deep it made
Lynuma’s chest vibrate.

“You very lucky. You Gurfurlur
fun.”

She started moving around, trying
to break free, moaning with force.

“Grr, grr, grr.”

It was apparently laughing.

“You lively. Gurfurlur like.”

The cell was opened in a rusty
noise. Lynuma tried to break free with despair, but her binds were too strong.
The heavy steps entered her cell. She got on her knees and tried to crawl in the
opposite direction, until she hit the wall and had nowhere else to go. The
troll bent down and grabbed her in his hand. He was so big he could cover her
from neck to waist in his fist. He could crush her in an instant if he desired.
But apparently, it was not the case. For a moment though, Lynuma wished he
would have.

The troll groaned a way that made
it sound like words in an incomprehensible language.

“Gurfurlur take you now. Others
break, so only you left. You don’t break, you live.”

Lynuma was so terrified she didn’t
pay attention to the goblin’s translation. She did not even hear it. The troll
opened his hand so she would lie in his palm, grabbed the bottom of her robe
and ripped it up. Then he ripped up her pants, causing her to shake her legs
around trying to make him let go of her. She screamed to the top of her lungs,
but with the cloth over her mouth, most of it was deafened out.

The troll pulled her up to his
face, allowing him to check up her pussy. He took one of her legs and moved it
aside to make way. Then he brought his face close to her pussy and licked it.
She stiffened and yelled, once again, silenced by the dirty cloth. His tongue
was so large and long he could lick her ass, pussy and clitoris at the same
time. He was slobbering a lot, causing her to drip from his stinking saliva.
The feeling was disgusting. She wanted to die so much she would have bitten her
tongue if she could have opened her mouth. The cloth was cleverly keeping her
mouth shut to avoid such a thing.

Gurfurlur licked her back and forth
a few times, pressing the tip of his tongue against her hole without going in.
When he let go of her leg, she tried to catch her breath. She was so scared and
stiff, she was panting. Her eyes were still shedding a lot of tears. The
monster grabbed her arms in his large hands and started licking her whole
front, making her breasts wobble every time the tongue touched them. He ran his
large tongue back and forth on her body. From top to bottom, left to right,
covering her in thick, smelly slobber. He groaned once more.

“You taste good, Gurfurlur like.
You taste Gurfurlur now.”

She really hoped she would not have
heard that. She saw the size of the troll, she could only imagine the size of
his dick. And she wished she did not. There was simply no way it would ever fit
anywhere inside her.

The troll ripped up the cloth over
her mouth, allowing her to take a deep breath, coughing what vomit was left in
her mouth. He held her in one hand while his other moved aside the cloth hiding
his inner thighs. What he let out, Lynuma could not see it, lucky for her. It
was larger than her thigh, and longer as well. Just the tip of it was almost as
big as her head. He moved her down to put it against her face. He groaned.

“You taste now.”

The smell was so strong she would
have vomited again if she didn’t already have. She could sense something oozing
off it, brushing her face. She tried to turn her head, but it was just too big.
Gurfurlur grabbed her head and forced her to keep it facing his dick. She
opened her mouth to scream from the pain and that’s when he pushed it against
her mouth, silencing her scream in her throat. He rubbed it against her face,
forcing her to taste it. He groaned in laughter from her disgust, it seemed to
amused him, maybe even arouse him.

Finally, he released her. She
coughed several times, and spitted out whatever got in her mouth but the taste
was just too awful, it wouldn’t leave. Then he grabbed both her legs, one in
each of his hands and spread them open. Lucky for her she was quite flexible,
he would have ripped her apart.

“No, wait… you can’t, it’s too big,
it won’t fit inside me, please I beg you!” she cried with sobs.

The monster ignored her and brought
her down over his humongous cock. She felt the large tip press against her so
small pussy hole.

I
have to calm down. He will force it inside me anyway, if I relax, I just might
survive it… Red, I’m sorry…

She relaxed her muscles as much as
she could, trying to think she was elsewhere, trying to ignore the pain, her
binds, the smell. At least Gurfurlur didn’t seem too hasty or he would have
ripped her apart. Like he knew what she was thinking, he groaned.

“Gurfurlur wants fun, you break, no
more fun. Gurfurlur care.”

He did not push his dick inside
her, he lowered her over it. Slowly, allowing her to relax as much as she
could. She could hardly believe it when she felt the tip slide in. She was not
wet from her own juices since she was not aroused one bit. It was due to his
thick saliva. She could not believe her hole would open large enough for that
cock to fit inside her. The length would pose problem though. It was too long
to fit in completely. The deeper it went, the more painful it got, forcing her
lips wider and wider. She could finally scream in peace, not trapped behind a
cloth anymore. Gurfurlur let out a different groan this time that the goblin
didn’t seem to need to translate. This one was not words, it was lust.

He started moving her up and down
on his cock, realizing he could not move it deeper inside her without risking tearing
her in pieces. When it was moving out, it felt relieving, but then the pain
came back when it went back in. Relief, pain, relief, pain. She started
screaming with each thrust like the girls she heard before Gurfurlur arrived.
She was bleeding, she could feel it rolling out of her. Gurfurlur started
showing less care and more haste as he moved her faster over his cock. He bared
his teeth, groaning with each thrust. White foam was oozing from his mouth. He
moved her faster, and faster. She was choking in her own screams, unable to
catch her breath between two thrusts. The cock suddenly grew larger inside her,
making her think it was the moment she would break in two, but it was in fact
the moment the troll came in a deep and powerful groan. His load was so large
Lynuma’s womb blew up from being filled up all of a sudden, causing her to yell
at the top of her lungs. She yelled so loudly she was certain her lungs would
explode from asking them so much.

Gurfurlur panted in groans a
moment, then freed Lynuma from his cock. Her womb emptied itself from the
monster load inside her and spilled it on the floor. Gurfurlur put her on the
ground and walked out of the cell in his heavy footsteps. The goblin closed the
door behind him. The troll groaned several words then laughed before leaving.

“You much fun, Gurfurlur pleased.
You rest. More fun later.”

The goblin walked away as well.

In her cell, Lynuma’s body was
shaken by spasm from time to time, thick green liquid oozing out of her pussy
for several minutes, mixed in with blood from the extra effort her insides had
to give. Her eyes were rolled back in her head behind her blindfold, her mouth
opened, allowing her to slobber on the floor. She was sobbing along with the
spasms shaking her body. She had lost consciousness the moment the troll came
inside her.

As Redrelian’s chocobo was running
next to Rughadjeen’s, the Elvaan general decided to tell Redrelian the truth.

“The beastmen take prisoners that
they think look important so they can use them later on. I have been into
beastmen territory before in attempts to free prisoners.”

“But Lyn will not look important to
them will she?”

“I do not know. When I went there
in the past, I came upon remains of male prisoners, but never found female. It
is to my understanding that they eat unimportant male prisoners.”

Redrelian widened his eyes in
horror.

“Then… what do they do to females?”

Rughadjeen remained silent, keeping
his head down.

“I wish I did not know…” he trailed
off, his words covered by the wind.

            How much
time had past? A few minutes? A few hours? Who knew? The only thing Lynuma
realized was that despite her efforts to believe what she just went through was
only a horrible dream, she had to accept that it really happened. She was
dizzy, the room just kept spinning, forcing her to keep her eyes closed, laying
on her side because of her hands still behind her back. She was slightly
withdrawn though. She could remember what happened, she could still feel the
pain stirring inside her, but she did not feel as much fear as she did before.
Even when she started hearing loud and heavy footsteps heading her way. She
could already recognize those footsteps. When they stopped in front of her
cell, she managed to sit up. Her move was immediately followed by a series of
groaning sounds.

            “Gurfurlur
hope you rested. Gurfurlur ready more fun.”

            The door was
opened and Gurfurlur walked in. He stood in front of his new play toy a moment
then groaned some words. The goblin walked to the prisoner. He went behind her
and cut off her bounds and took off her blindfold.

            “You not in
shape to leave. Gurfurlur wants you look at him.”

            He walked
out of the cell and closed the door.

            Gurfurlur
was standing right in front of Lynuma. She slowly looked up to see his face. He
was staring at her naked body with lust, slobbering all the way down his chin.
For a moment, Lynuma did not seem to care at all, but after a few seconds her
eyes lightened up like she just realized and panic covered her eyes.

            “Grr grr
grr,” the troll laughed.

            He grabbed
her with one hand. Even though he was not holding her tightly, she was too weak
to try and break free. Her poor attempts at moving her legs to get free made
Gurfurlur laugh even more. He spread one of her leg open and licked up her
pussy again. A dark veil past over Lynuma’s eyes and her face changed slightly.
Her eyes turned blank and she stopped moving a few seconds. Then her face
changed completely. Her mouth turned up in a pleased expression and she moaned.
Gurfurlur smirked. He ran his thick tongue all over her, listening to her
moaning getting louder, her breathing getting heavier.

            “It
starting,” the goblin said.

            Gurfurlur
ran one of his huge fingers over Lynuma’s breasts, pressing on it and moving it
left and right. He licked her up all over like he did earlier.

            “I want
it…” she said in a whisper. “I want it…”

            She kept
repeating the same words again and again, so Gurfurlur, delighted, put her on
the ground and kneeled down next to her. Her eyes still empty, she crawled up
to him, her tail motionless between her legs and moved the cloth hiding
Gurfurlur’s long hard cock by herself. She grabbed it in her two hands even
though they were not big enough to cover it and she started licking it up. She
licked the tip and rubbed the rest with her two hands. Gurfurlur laughed and
groaned in pleasure.

            Lynuma
stopped licking it and rubbed it with her two hands, faster and faster. She
started chanting again.

            “I want it…
I want it…”

            She was
saying it slightly louder every time. Gurfurlur grabbed her and turned her
around. Even on his knees, he was too big to be at the same level as her on her
fours, so he took her up and placed her over his cock. He brought her down and
it went in right away. This time, she was wet from her own juices. She
stiffened when the huge dick went inside her, but she was not in pain anymore.
She was stiff with pleasure. She let out a loud moan when it got in. She
reached her hands to her pussy, feeling the gigantic thing inside her, touching
it.

            “It’s so
big and great… Ahhh!”

            Gurfurlur
started moving her up and down, but not slowly like he previously did. This time,
he went fast right away. She started screaming, but it was not from pain this
time.

            “I’m losing
my fucking mind!!!” she yelled as she was jumped up and down.

            “Grumph,
grumph, grumph,” Gurfurlur groaned with each jump of the Mithra.

            “More,
more, more…” she kept repeating.

            Although
the troll was pleased with how things turned out, he still knew he should not
get carried away. He could still rip her up if he went too far, so he just kept
doing the same thing again and again, jumping the mithra up and down on his
dick. Each time he was bringing her up, she was leaving a thick trail of juices
on him, rolling down his shaft and unto the ground. She had a twisted smile on
her face as her mouth let out more screams.

           The troll
stiffened when he filled the mithra up once more and at that moment, she froze
and yelled, but not from pain. She just had the most incredible orgasm she ever
had and Gurfurlur was counting on that. The fact that she came was her
downfall.

            The orgasm
was still shaking her when Gurfurlur lifted her off his dick to empty her
before putting her right back on his still hard cock to start over again. Her
gaze got even blanker and her mouth twisted some more. She was losing her mind.

            The
chocobos left when their riders disembarked at the entrance of Halvung.
Redrelian was hasty to get in, but Rughadjeen had a strategy.

            “Listen,
this is Troll territory, it’s their headquarters. Do not suppose you can get
inside and reach the prisoners’ cells then free Lynuma and leave unnoticed. The
place will be crawling with guards. I know the way to the prisoners’ cells, so
I will go there. To do so, I will require a distraction.”

            “And I
suppose you want me to do that.”

            “I have
been inside in the past. I can get in, find Lynuma and make it outside quick
enough. I require you to get inside, get noticed by as many trolls as possible
and flee out of their reach. During the commotion, I will be able to sneak
inside without any problem.”

            “You have
to promise me to get her out of there. I don’t even care if I get caught, I
just want her safe.”

            “I will get
her out and bring her back to you so you must get out after getting their
attention. She will need you.”

            “What do
you mean?”

            “We are
running short on time, we must make haste.”

            “Alright.”

            They
entered the enemy base quietly. At first, no trolls near the entrance, but
further in, there were a few. Where they were standing, the two Elvaans were
safe, but if they were to move, they would get caught right away. Rughadjeen
signaled at Red which way to run to.

            “There is
another exit further that way,” he whispered. “I will meet you there.”

            Redrelian
nodded. He wanted to go get Lynuma himself, but as Rughadjeen put it, he didn’t
know his way in, unlike him. He had to trust him with this.

            He made a
step ahead but Rughadjeen stopped him.

“One last thing: whatever you see
or hear, do not stop running, do you hear me? You must keep running.”

“Alright, alright, geez.”

The thief silently walked towards
the troll. He took out his crossbow and shot one of the trolls right behind the
head. It barely did any damage, but it got its attention.

            “Come get
me if you think you can!” Redrelian taunted.

            The troll
went right after him, followed with some more of his friends. Redrelian started
running faster in the direction Rughadjeen showed him. Seeing this, the General
nodded approvingly. When the trolls were all gone after Redrelian, he hurried
in the other direction.

            Meanwhile,
down in the cells, the goblin looked up hearing noises. He had a good ear
compared to his brethren who were better with their eyes. He managed to hear
the commotion through Gurfurlur’s groaning and the Mithra’s screaming of
pleasure.

            “Intruder,”
the goblin said.

            Gurfurlur
unleashed another load inside the poor Mithra, making her come once again in a
yell. He let go of her, nearly throwing her off him onto the ground where she
once again released a load of green ooze onto the floor. She laid there, almost
completely naked, arms and legs spread opened with green stuff oozing out of
her pussy, and covering parts of her body. Her chest was moving up and down
fast from hard breathing. The troll did not pay any attention to her anymore
and left the cell. He wanted to show that intruder to disturb his fun with his
new toy. He walked out of the prisoners’ ward, the goblin right behind him.

            When he
went out, Rughadjeen came out from his hideout and hurried to the cells. He
took some quick looks inside each one and quickly looked away every time.
Ripped up girls’s bodies in every one of them. He was starting to worry he
would find Lynuma in the same state.

            In the last
cell, he noticed a full body of a girl. He had to take a closer look to realize
it was Lynuma. He widened his eyes in horror.

            “Oh, no… I
am too late…”

            He took out
the Algol and broke down the rusted door easily. He carefully kneeled next to
her, hoping he was mistaken but there was no room for mistakes. She really
stank, covered in troll cum, oozing it out of her pussy. Her clothes were
ripped off except for her boots and gloves. There was also a piece of her robe
hanging around her neck. He took out a cape he brought with him and covered her
with it. She did not even flinch.

            “Lynuma,
can you hear me?”

            She did not
move one muscle. She neither heard nor saw him. Rughadjeen clenched his fist.

            “She has
been contaminated… I must hurry.”

            He took her
up in his arms and she did not oppose any resistance. Rughadjeen hurried out of
the cell and back up the tunnel he used to get to it. No trolls in sight yet.
He only hoped Redrelian made it outside safely. He kept his fingers crossed
that the trolls would not come back before he would be safely outside with the
girl as well. When he saw the light up another tunnel, he held his breath and
tightened his grip around Lynuma. It was not the time to drop her. He started
hearing heavy footsteps in the tunnels behind him, but they were not running.
They probably lost track of Redrelian and were going back to their posts.

            Rughadjeen
finally made it outside and took a deep breath. He made a few steps and saw
Redrelian pacing nervously in front of the cave. When he saw him and what he
was carrying, his face lightened up with hope and he ran towards them.

            “Is she
alright?”

            Rughadjeen
quickly hid her from Redrelian’s sight, holding her close to him.

            “We must
head back to the city.”

            He walked
past Redrelian without looking at him. It got him really worried.

            “What’s
wrong? She’s not… dead is she?”

            “No, she
still breathes… for now…”

            “Wait, what
do you mean for now?”

            Redrelian
ran in front of him and pulled the cape from over Lynuma’s face before
Rughadjeen could stop him. He could only see the poor Elvaan’s face turn to
complete horror when he saw her eyes were blank, her mouth twisted in a
permanent sign of delight and some of the green ooze left on her face and in
her hair. When he caught a hint of her awful smell, he staggered a few steps
back.

            “What… the…
hell…? What did they do to her?”

            Rughadjeen
lowered his head and sighed.

            “We must
hurry, so I will explain on the way. I told you trolls eat male prisoners, but
did not mention what they do to females. They keep them for personal pleasure.”

            Redrelian’s
face turned green. He started feeling really sick.

            “Tell me
you’re kidding… These things are huge there is no way…”

            “Most
kidnapped girls were never found again… not whole at least. They are ripped in
pieces by the trolls’… overwhelming enthusiasm.”

            “Don’t tell
me one of these things… that Lyn was…”

            “I wish it
was as simple…”

            “I don’t
understand.”

            They were
keeping a quick pace since they were now on foot with no more chocobo.

            “She ended
up Gurfurlur, the leader’s play thing.”

            Redrelian
shook his head several times.

            “That huge
purple troll?”

            Rughadjeen
nodded.

            “All trolls
come in white, like us, but Gurfurlur’s is green. Why? I do not know, nor wish to
know. What I know is it contaminates whoever tastes it, or gets filled with it.
She is losing her mind, shutting off from the overwhelming pain it caused. That
twist on her face is caused by her body reactions. Her mind rejected what
happened, but her body enjoyed it. The more she was raped, the further her mind
went, the more her body welcomed it. A little more and she would have been a
simple meat sack, which is fortunately not the case yet.”

            “Fortunately?
So it is reversible?”

            “I do
believe it still is. Although the required healing method would sound unusual,
I will have to ask you something.”

            “Anything
if it can save her!”

            The city
walls were in sight but instead of getting faster, Rughadjeen stopped and
turned a very serious face to Redrelian.

            “The
Serpent Generals are blessed by the Empress and as such, hold greater powers
than any other living beings. I mean holy powers. My body fluids are an
antidote to the beastmen’s accursed fluids. As well as all the other Serpent
Generals. In order to clean her body up and attempt to free her mind, I must
have intercourse with her.”

            Redrelian
could not help but arch an eyebrow at the words even despite the critical
situation.

            “You’re…
kidding right?”

            “I am not.
She was contaminated by Gurfurlur’s fluids. He has a strong evil aura and only
one of opposing force can cancel out the effects. Unfortunately, I cannot
guarantee that it is not too late to preserve her life. So it is why I am
asking you. Do you give me and the other generals permission to proceed?”

            Redrelian
looked at Lynuma’s face a second and felt his heart squeeze in his chest. He
could not bear to see her like that.

            “Alright
but on one condition. I want to watch. I want to make sure you only do what you
must.”

            “Very well.
I must warn you, it might fail. I have never seen a case like hers. She has
clearly been raped numerous times… If it should fail, I hope you do not hold me
responsible and believe I only wanted to entertain myself with a dying girl.”

            “If there
is the slightest chance, please do anything you can!”

            “I must ask
you to keep this to yourself. What we will have to do is an important secret
ritual that must not become public. You must promise never to divulge this
information to another soul, living or dead.”

            “I
understand. I swear on Lynuma’s head I will never speak of this to anyone.”

            Rughadjeen
nodded, satisfied. They quickly headed towards the gates of the city.

            Standing
watch on the wall, Gadalar was the first one to notice them.

            “I don’t
believe it, they made it!” he exclaimed.

            The other
three quickly ran outside to meet with their leader when they all noticed the
pitiful state the girl was in. Najelith covered her mouth in horror, Zazarg
closed his eyes in respect and Mihli widened her eyes.

            “What
happened?” she asked.

            “We must
perform the purification ritual, fast,” Rughadjeen told them.

            Gadalar
arrived at that moment and caught his friend’s demand.

            Seeing the
surprised looks on their faces, Redrelian cleared all last traces of doubt
towards Rughadjeen’s intentions. They clearly knew what he was talking about.

            “Is it that
bad?” he asked.

            “She got
Gurfurlur.”

            Mihli
slapped her mouth in horror with both her hands to bury a scream of horror in
her throat. Najelith’s face turned white as a sheet, Zazarg cursed out loud and
Gadalar frowned.

            “Let me get
this straight… First this mercenary fights off trolls even after you told her
to evacuate with the other civilians, then she gets taken to Halvung by the
trolls, she gets raped by Gurfurlur, you run there to save her, then you bring
her back and want us to perform the Purification Ritual on her? A commoner?”

            The other
Generals all turned to him with frowns of disbelief.

            “Gadalar!
We can’t turn our backs on someone in trouble, no matter her social rank!”
Najelith said, outraged.

            “Yeah, why
can’t you everrr be nice to anyone, you’re so mean!” Mihli exclaimed.

            “Sorry, but
I stand by the girls on this one, Gadalar,” Zazarg said.

            Gadalar
shrugged.

            “Pfff… Do
as you please, but count me out,” he said heading away.

            “I can not
do this by myself, Gadalar,” Rughadjeen called him back.

            Gadalar
froze and the others turned to the Elvaan in surprise. The Hume turned around.

            “What do
you mean?”

            “I am
afraid the contamination is running too deep. My powers alone are insufficient to
neutralize the troll’s cum. I will need you to assist me.”

            Gadalar did
not accept, nor objected. He remained there, motionless, expressionless.

            Rughadjeen
held Lynuma out to Zazarg.

            “Take her
to the Hall of Binding and be very careful not to be seen.”

            “Alright.”

            “Girls, I
will count on you to wash her up as much as you possibly can. And focus your
aura into it.”

            “Of
courrrse!”

            “You can
count on us!”

            The Galka
took a secret path that lead to the Hall of Binding, followed with the two
girls while Rughadjeen remained facing Gadalar, Redrelian still standing behind
him.

            “You are
the Skyserpent, you do not need me…”

            “I have
seen it, Gadalar. She is contaminated to the point where her mind hangs by a
thin thread. She was raped several times, so she must receive our fluids
several times as well in order to purify her completely. I will not be able to
do it alone, I need your help.”

            Gadalar
seemed uneasy.

            “You showed
me how to let out my holy power but I never tried it before.”

            “Neither
did I. We know we can do it, we were made so. The only thing left is to apply
what we know.”

            “I…
Rughadjeen…” he did not sound tough anymore. “I… never… at all…”

            Rughadjeen
could not help but have a light smile that quickly left his lips when he
recalled the emergency of the situation. Gadalar always was a fighter. He grew
up on a battlefield, was raised on a battlefield, and lived on a battlefield.
He never found the time for anything else, not even a girl. In the past, it did
not really trouble him but at that moment, it did.

            “I know the
more feeling she gets, the better the treatment acts, but… I don’t know how to
please a girl…”

            “You will
know. And I will be there with you. You will be assisting me, not doing the
work alone.”

            Gadalar looked behind
Rughadjeen and seemed to notice Redrelian for the first time.

            “He knows,
now, doesn’t he? Civilians are not supposed to know.”

            “Yes, he
knows, and he will watch as well. She is his girl, and he needs to settle his
mind knowing we are not taking advantage of our Serpent General position to
have our way with his girl. He swore to keep quiet.”

            Gadalar
looked at Redrelian a moment. He could not help but notice the concern in his
eyes.

            “Fine,
let’s go.”

            The three
walked towards the Hall of Binding using the usual way. Zazarg was standing in
front of the gate when they got there, his arms folded across his chest.

            “Are the
ladies done?” Rughadjeen asked.

            “They just
finished.”

            He opened
the gate and moved aside to let Rughadjeen and Gadalar in and eyed Redrelian
suspiciously. Rughadjeen signaled him to stand down so the Galka let him in as
well.

            The room
was darkened. The only light was coming from the Astral Candescence at the end
of the hall and some candles in the corners of the room. Lynuma was laying on
her back, on a sheet on the floor, a thin white sheet covering her, showing her
curves through it. Her eyes were opened, still completely blank and her face
still twisted. Rughadjeen walked to the girls who also walked towards him.

            “Any
reaction?”

            “None,”
Najelith said with sadness. “She’s disconnected. I hope you will be able to do
better.”

            “We will
succeed. Any wounds?”

            “None
outside at least,” Mihli said putting her elbow in her palm. “You will have to
be extrrra careful downstairs, it was really pulled apart. It’s a miracle it
didn’t rrrip. But I suppose after getting the troll, you should not bring her
any pain. I hope you bring her the opposite.”

            Rughadjeen
nodded, then the girls wished them luck and left through a side door, telling
them they would go back to their post, leaving Zazarg to guard the room.

            The room
was built of thick walls, so any sound inside would not be heard outside.

            Redrelian
started feeling uncomfortable. He did not really know what to do. Rughadjeen
showed him the corner of the room.

            “You should
sit there. I ask you no matter what you see or hear, do not interfere. Her
contamination level makes her body want sex more than anything else although
her mind is off, so she will ask for it. Don’t worry, it will be normal.”

            Redrelian
didn’t reply, he did not know what to say. Rughadjeen turned to Gadalar.

            “Do not
lose focus of what you must do Gadalar, it is very important. Especially for
you since you never experienced this. She will enjoy it at first, she will
scream for more, you must resist.”

            Gadalar
nodded, determined to show he could help.

            The ritual
was taking place in the Hall of Binding because the light from the Astral
Candescence was enhancing their holy power, thus canceling out evil.

            Rughadjeen
took off his helmet, rested Algol against the wall and started taking his armor
off. Gadalar started doing the same thing. They placed their armor on the floor
against the wall, and stood side by side in front of the motionless Mithra.
They were not completely naked yet. Rughadjeen still had knee long tights and a
short white top while Gadalar was wearing tight overall with short sleeves.
Rughadjeen kneeled down to the girl and took off the sheet. She has been
cleaned off, and the rest of her worn up clothes had been removed, she was completely
naked. Gadalar could not help but feel his throat getting slightly dry.
Rughadjeen looked at him.

            “Stay
focused, my friend.”

            Gadalar
closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them back. He nodded.

            “I will
begin down, you work her chest. When she asks for it, you give it to her.
Although she might go to it herself.”

            The Hume
had to fight the image that was trying to sneak past his concentration to
disturb his mind. He simply nodded once more. He kneeled over her head while
Rughadjeen went to her legs. He gently spread her legs opened. This time, she
reacted. She let out a slight moan of both surprise and anticipation. Gadalar
stared at her face. When Rughadjeen lowered his face to her inner thighs, her
face switched and Gadalar could not help but stare at it. The Elvaan brought
her legs up on his shoulders, holding her thighs each side of his head and
buried his face in her burning, already wet pussy. He started licking her up,
cleaning her up, making her arch her back and moan with pleasure. Gadalar shook
his head, and brought his hands to her chest where he placed them on each of
her breasts. He remained like this a moment, focusing, trying to ignore the
stirring in his pants. He moved his hands over her breasts, noticing the
nipples getting hard under his hands.

            Focus your aura in your hands… Push it under
the skin to purify it…

            He moved to her side and lowered
his face to put one of the nipples in his mouth. She moaned some more. He kept
working her other breast with his hand while he licked the other nipple,
sucking at it, focusing his aura in it. Then he switched sides to do the same
thing with the other nipple.

            She started
jerking around, so Gadalar rose, concerned.

            “It’s a
normal reaction,” Rughadjeen explained. “Whatever she does, you let her do it.
She does not have control of her actions, but we can make the most of it all.”

            The Elvaan
brought his face back between her legs and sunk his tongue inside her hole,
turning it around to clean the inside. The girls did a great job at cleaning
her up, there was no taste of Gurfurlur left.

            She arched
her back again and started moving her arms around like she was looking for
something. She grabbed Gadalar’s head on her chest and pressed it against her.
Then she followed the back of his head to his neck, to his chest and started
heading down. When she placed her hand on his crotch, he couldn’t help but jump
slightly at the touch.

            “I want
it…” she said.

            Like she
completely forgot Rughadjeen was working her between her legs, she sat up,
forcing the Elvaan to get up on his knees. Gadalar was a little lost, but his
friend signaled him not to move. The girl turned on all fours and went straight
for Gadalar’s pants. She started pulling on it to take them off. The Hume
widened his eyes at the strength she was putting in it, for he saw her
half-dead just a moment ago. He remembered Rughadjeen telling him to let her do
whatever she wanted so he helped her. Once his pants were down, she threw
herself at him and put her face right between his legs. He dropped on his rear
from her assault. She took his dick in her mouth right away, taking it all in.
The sudden warmth caused Gadalar to freeze, shaken by a pleased shiver. He
never felt such a thing in the past. For a moment, he wished he could forget
the reason he was there, forget Rughadjeen, forget the girl was in a life and
death state, and forget Redrelian sitting in the corner. The poor thief was
feeling very awkward, but quite aroused by all this.

            “We have
just begun, Gadalar.” Rughadjeen reminded him. “It will get easier with each
shot and we will not have to be as focused as we must now, you must hang on, my
friend.”

            Gadalar
swallowed and tried to take command. He grabbed the girl’s head and got up on
his knees. She never allowed the dick out of her. Rughadjeen went behind her,
on his knees.

            “You must
release it inside her. She had a taste of Gurfurlur so she must drink yours.
But it must remain pure, if you lose your concentration, it will be pointless.”

            Gadalar
nodded and gritted his teeth. The Mithra was really putting her heart to it.
She was pulling on it like she was starving, sucking it like he was a straw.
Gadalar focused all his power down to his dick.

            The
Skyserpent took off his own pants, and Gadalar was quite ashamed to notice that
unlike him, he was not hard yet. Eating the girl up did not arouse him. His
face never betrayed any lust. When he got behind her, she noticed his presence
and brought her rear up to him. He grabbed his dick and as if he had perfect
control over it, it grew big and hard at this precise instant and he brought it
against her hole. She started breathing faster. Gadalar tried to take example
on his friend. Instead of letting the blood go to his dick, he sent his power
there. It managed to make him calm down a little.

            When
Rughadjeen sunk his dick inside Lynuma, she screamed out in pleasure. He
grabbed her waist and started rocking her. As she was pushed back and forth,
she also moved Gadalar in and out of her mouth. He gritted his teeth.

            “Rughadjeen,
I… I’m almost…”

            “You have
to focus, Gadalar. You will need to do it again so don’t waste it.”

            Gadalar
closed his eyes and calmed himself. He was familiar with the orgasm for he did
experiment solitary pleasure in the past. His body was craving for pleasure and
he had a hard time keeping his head in charge of the matter. Lynuma was
slobbering all over the Hume’s cock as it moved in and out of her mouth.
Gadalar remembered being told she needed to swallow it, so he got ready. He
felt the release imminent, so he grabbed her head. Noticing, Rughadjeen paused
his moving and gave his friend a moment. He bursted inside Lynuma’s mouth,
holding her in place to be sure she would not lose any of it. He was ready to
plug her nose to force her to swallow, but he did not even need to. He felt her
do it on her own. It felt erotic to him. Even more when she started licking it
up again, cleaning it up to get it all. Gadalar moved away from her, and
collapsed on his rear, catching his breath.

            “Rest up
while I take over.

           He grabbed
the mithra’s thighs in a firm grip and started rocking her again. With nothing
blocking her mouth anymore, Lynuma screamed in pleasure.

            “Yes! Yes!”

            Gadalar
moved aside so he would not distract the process and so he would be able to
observe the Elvaan’s technique and try to do the same thing when his turn would
come back. Rughadjeen looked perfectly relaxed, not the least bit disturbed. He
was slightly sweating from the effort he was asking his body, but he was not
letting himself get carried away. Lynuma rested her front on the floor,
allowing her rear to be higher so she would get a better taste of the Elvaan’s
cock. Her breasts were pressed on the ground, rolling back and forth from the
Elvaan’s assault. Her mouth was opened as she was gasping for air. She kept
screaming, asking for more.

            “Oh, God!
Fuck me… fuck me!!!”

            Gadalar was
surprised to hear her speak that way. He figured it was because of the
contamination. Rughadjeen’s face changed slightly and he dug his fingers a
little more in the Mithra’s skin. He was ready. He was keeping a straight face,
but the truth was he had a really hard time doing it. The girl’s pussy was
tightening around his cock, loosening and tightening again. The warmth of it
was giving him a hard time as well. And how easily his dick moved inside her
because of how wet she was. He knew he had to at least like it a little if he
wanted to come inside her, but he was not sure how much enjoying would become
too much.

            He felt his
orgasm build up and he released it in a last thrust, slightly clenching his
teeth as he did. Gadalar was amazed.

            “Wow, you
make it look so easy.”

            Lynuma did
not come though. And she was ready for more. She sat up, looked at Rughadjeen
without really seeing him because of her condition, then turned to Gadalar. The
moment she placed her eyes on him, he got hard again. She noticed it too. She
started crawling towards him, slowly, her tail slightly curved over her ass,
her breasts tightly pressed between her arms, her tongue running over her
teeth. Gadalar swallowed.

            Why can’t I just be a normal guy who gets to
fuck a chick? No, I gotta be the Flameserpent General who needs to purify a
girl contaminated with troll cum by releasing my own inside her, but I can’t
like it… This is bullshit!

            He grabbed her shoulders when
she got to him and switched her on her back. Rughadjeen watched him closely,
hoping he was not getting under her influence. Lynuma was looking towards him,
but with her blank gaze, it was hard to tell if she was even seeing him.

            I’m just another cock for her… I’m nothing
else…

            He shut his
eyes a moment, and opened them again. She spread her legs with her hands, then
reached for her pussy. He watched her as she pulled on her lips to open it and
show it to him. He looked down at it. It was dripping with her juices and some
of Rughadjeen’s cum.

            “Take me…
take me… take me…” she kept repeating.

            Gadalar was
not sure if he should. He saw Rughadjeen lick her up before he took her, so he
looked at him for information. Rughadjeen simply nodded.

            “Give her
what she wants and make the most of it.”

            The Hume
nodded and got in place. He was trembling with anticipation. She sucked him,
but he figured this was going to be completely different. He got his cock down
to her pussy. She already started panting. He could feel her dripping on the
tip of his dick. He got closer. He could feel the warmth of the soft skin from
her pussy. He started pressing his cock against it, slowly. He wanted to sink
the feeling inside him. He saw her close her eyes in delight, feeling the dick
slide inside her. He felt the warmth surround him, swallow him up as he pushed
himself further and further in until he was completely inside.

            Damn, I wish I could stay like this forever…

            She was
already moaning and he could feel her pussy tighten around him. Rughadjeen
moved to her front, causing Gadalar to jump slightly, like he forgot about him
for a moment. The girl brought her legs up on Gadalar’s shoulders, forcing him
to stand straight. Rughadjeen moved next to her face and she immediately grabbed
his dick next to her face and took it in her mouth. It was now Rughadjeen’s
turn to jump of surprise.

            “She
really… takes it in…”

            Gadalar
ignored him. He held the Mithra’s legs and started thrusting.

            “Mmm! Mmm!”
the girl moaned, deafened because of the cock in her mouth.

            Like most
males, he was proud of his dick, convinced it was the best there was even
though he had never used it. Even though he tried to repeat himself Lynuma was
only enjoying it because of her contamination, she was still enjoying his dick. He was giving her all that
pleasure, he was making her drip like that, scream and pant. He was losing his
concentration and his sight got blurry for half a second. That’s when he
realized he was not strong enough. He bit his lip so hard it started bleeding,
bringing him back. He slightly lent backwards, making his dick brush the upper
part of Lynuma’s pussy. Her moaning strangely calmed down a little and she
seemed to not enjoy it as much. Rughadjeen got hopeful.

            “Keep doing
this, Gadalar. The fact that she is calming down is a sign that she is getting
close to a normal orgasm. You are putting your aura right where it’s needed.”

            The Hume
felt proud. He did that, not
Rughadjeen, him. He kept going,
feeling strangely relaxed despite the tightening pussy around his dick. He
bumped on the upper part of the inside of her pussy repeatedly. It was so
tight. Suddenly, her breathing started getting faster and she stiffened every
part of her body. Rughadjeen grabbed her head to keep her in place and thrust in
her mouth himself.

            “Just a
little more. Try and hold it to come with her, Gadalar. It will make it more
effective.”

            Nodding,
Gadalar could feel the sweat rolling down his face, his hair sticking to his
forehead with the effort he was putting. Rughadjeen bit his lips and came in
her mouth and once again, she swallowed it but this time, she did not keep
sucking at it. She looked like she was in a trance rather than some dream.
Rughadjeen backed away to catch his breath and waited.

            The Mithra
withdrew her head backwards and something happened that Gadalar could not
control. She stiffened all over and her pussy started tightening and loosening
repeatedly around his dick so much he could not hold it anymore and came as
well. He shut his eyes at that moment, sinking in the feeling while trying to
stay focused which was very hard. She did not make a sound though, which he
found strange. She was panting and moaning so much until now, what was wrong?

            Rughadjeen
nodded approvingly.

            “One more
time should do it. You up for it?”

            Gadalar
widened his eyes at Rugahdjeen. Again? Was he a machine or what?

            “I don’t
know if I can…”

            “For this
last time, you can be a lot more gentle, Gadalar. We don’t need to screw her,
anymore, we can actually make love to her. As long as you keep a minimum of
concentration, for the final shot, it will be enough.”

            Make love
to her… The Hume watched the girl’s gleaming chest moving up and down with
every breath. Her sweat covered stomach, her dripping pussy from both her own
juices and his. To be able to touch her where he actually wanted and not where
she would ask him to… He felt aroused.

            “I think I
can do it. Yeah, I can.”

            “Good. I’m
pretty beat too, so let’s do it in one shot, you and me. Front and back.”

            Gadalar
arched an eyebrow.

            “What? You
mean… Pussy and ass?”

            The Elvaan
nodded.

            “The first
two were to cleanse her with our own fluids. This time she needs to feel good
so we have to be more careful and gentle. She was raped by Gurfurlur we must
make her forget that.”

            “Ok.”

            “I’m
letting you choose, which side you want?”

            Gadalar
looked at her again. Her half closed eyes, he wondered if she was conscious
yet. He decided.

            “I want
front.”

            Rughadjeen
nodded once more and got up.

            “Pick her
up,” he told. “If you’re too tired, you can lean on the wall and I’ll stand
behind her. I trust you have no problem with that?”

            “No, it’s
fine by me.”

            He crouched
down and grabbed her arms. He pulled her up with care, gently. Her legs did not
seem to be able to hold her so he lifted her up and walked towards the side
wall.

            Redrelian
was still sitting in the corner and he was feeling so weird and awkward he was
close to passing out. Watching two other guys have sex with his girl and hear
her scream for it more than she ever did with him was driving him crazy and at
the same time, made him incredibly horny, beyond anything he had ever
experienced. He wanted to be rid of this feeling. He wanted to jack off but he
was afraid, unsure. Even though there were two naked men in the room, he felt
ashamed. He was the one who asked to see this and he regretted he did.

            As Gadalar
made his way to the side wall, Rughadjeen followed him and took a look at
Redrelian. His eyes were strange and his whole face was covered with sweat even
though he was not doing anything. The general felt some pity for his brethren
and nodded at the poor fellow. Redrelian noticed the signal and like it was all
he needed to see, he reached his hand into his green puffy thief pants to work
on releasing his tension.

            The Hume
placed the girl on her feet, supporting her since she was unable to stand on
her own. He placed her arms around his neck and brushed sweaty locks of hair
from her face. Then he pressed his lips against hers, gently, simply. After a
few seconds, she kissed him back and he felt something squeeze in his chest. He
felt some strength returning in her muscles and she stood on her own feet, her
arms still around his neck. He stroke her back and brought a hand to her chest,
gently squeezing her breasts and playing with the nipple. She breathed out a
light moan inside his mouth. If he felt aroused before, it was nothing compared
to how he was feeling now. He ran his hand down her back and to her ass, making
her raise a leg as he ran his hand along her thigh, causing her pussy to press
on his erection. He felt like they were alone in the whole world. He grabbed
her other leg and pulled her up. His dick went in right away. She shivered from
pleasure. He looked at her and was under the impression that her eyes looked
different for a second. She was coming around. A wave of joy overcame him a
moment. He wanted her to come around, he wanted her to see him, realize who was
giving her that pleasure.

            “You will
have to lean backwards so I can reach her,” Rughadjeen said, abruptly breaking
the moment.

            Gadalar
tried to do as he was told, but it was hard. He grabbed Lynuma’s ass to make it
stick out, hoping it would be easier for Rughadjeen to reach it. And apparently
it was, the Elvaan stuck his dick in the girl’s ass and she stiffened, widening
her eyes and moaning with pain this time. Gadalar grabbed her mouth and kissed
her comfortingly, trying to make her forget about that sharp pain in her ass.

            “Good,”
Rughadjeen approved.

            He started
moving her up and down on his dick and on Rughadjeen’s in the process. Her
slight moaning of pain slowly turned into pleasure and Gadalar enjoyed it. He
pressed himself against her, mixing their sweats together. He knew it was the
last time, last time he would feel like this with her, last time he needed to do it. Otherwise he would
never even have been able to do that. He would probably never have met her if
it was not for the trolls’ attack.

            Shaking
those thoughts out, he focused. The smell of her hair, the touch of her skin,
her wet pussy around his dick, moving up and down on it. He felt her tighten
up.

            “Almost,
Gadalar, I think she’s almost there.”

            But Gadalar
did not hear him. He knew anyway. He was the one inside her when she came
earlier, he could already tell she was close to doing it again.

            He kept
going, his heart pounding. He was exhausted, but he still wished he could do
this forever. When he felt her stiffen, he grabbed her head with one hand, his
other still supporting her ass, but Rughadjeen took over for that. He wanted
her to look at him, to see him. When he felt her pussy tighten and loosen
around his dick along with her screaming in pleasure, he also released himself
inside her, plunging his eyes inside hers and he saw a dark veil lift up in her
eyes. It worked, she was free. He smiled as he jerked up from his orgasm while
she was still moaning and panting from her own, their eyes locked. When the
feeling started wearing off, her eyes closed and she went limp. She passed out.
Gadalar supported her and collapsed against the wall, Rughadjeen already out of
her. The Hume placed the girl in the nook of his arm, staring at her face. The
Elvaan decided to give his friend a moment. He knew it was tough on him and was
also proud of the result. He went back to his clothes and put on his underwear.

            He seemed
to remember Redrelian and turned to him against the other wall. The Elvaan
thief was passed out as well. Rughadjeen figured he probably did when he came,
probably around the time Lynuma did.

            As he put
on his armor back, he went for the door and knocked once, with strength. The
door opened and Zazarg got his head through.

            “So?” he
simply asked.

            “We did all
we could, I think it worked.”

            Zazarg
smiled.

            “Go get the
girls, please. I might require their assistance.”

            The Galka
nodded and went away after closing the door.

            The proud
skyserpent general went back inside and was a little surprised to find Gadalar
still naked in the corner holding the fainted Mithra.

            “Gadalar,
it’s over. I am confident we were successful. You should get dressed and go
rest.”

            He frowned
when the Hume didn’t even make it look like he acknowledged the words he spoke.

            “Ah, no…”

            The hidden
side door opened and the other three generals came in. Rughadjeen immediately
turned to them.

            “I think we
have a problem.”

            The other
three stared at him, wondering what he meant. He turned to Gadalar.

            “It seems
he will not let go of her.”

            Mihli shook
her head and noticed Redrelian on the other side.

            “What
happened to him?”

            “I suppose
it was more than he could take, he passed out at the end. Ladies I want you to
bring him to a nice room in the hotel so he can rest. Zazarg, you will help me
with this little problem.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Mihli and
Najelith went each side of Redrelian and each grabbed one of his arms and
placed them around their neck to carry him outside while Zazarg followed
Rughadjeen to Gadalar and Lynuma. Rughadjeen crouched down, willing to try
talking first.

            “Gadalar,
listen to me.”

            The Hume
looked up at him and tightened his grip around the Mithra.

            “She is alright
now, but she needs rest. Much rest to recover. Let got of her.”

            “I… Just a
little longer?”

            “It’s
important she rests, Gadalar. She has been through something that people only
experiment in their worst nightmares. She was cleansed, her soul is saved, but
her body was ravaged and she is physically exhausted. If she does not rest, she
can still die, do you understand?”

            Gadalar
looked at the face of the Mithra. She seemed at peace although her face was
betraying exhaustion. Then he looked back at Rughadjeen’s calm and trusting
face and gave in.

            “All
right…” he trailed off as he gestured to release her.

            He
hesitated.

            “Let me
take her to her room myself.”

            Zazarg eyed
Rughadjeen an instant which the Elvaan did not notice.

            “All right,
I will trust you with this last task. Then I want you to reintegrate your
quarters and rest, is that clear?”

            “Yes, sir.”

            Rughadjeen
nodded, satisfied. He got up and turned around, inviting Zazarg to follow him.
The Galka was uneasy.

            “Are you
sure about this?” he asked once they got outside.

            “I trust
him. I need to.”

            An hour
later, Rughadjeen wanted to know if the couple was resting fine in the hotel
room he asked was given to them. Mihli Aliapoh, the Mithra general was standing
guard in the corridor of the hotel. When she caught sight of her superior, she
let out a heavy sigh.

            “Finally!”

            Rughadjeen
frowned.

            “Finally
what?”

            Mihli was
coming to meet him, but she froze in her tracks.

            “She’s not
with you?”

            “Who?” the
Elvaan asked getting impatient.

            “The Mithra
you saved an hour ago, I thought you were bringing her here!”

            “I intended
to do this, but Gadalar insisted to do it himself.”

            Rughadjeen’s
gaze darkened and he got concerned.

            “Oh, no…”

            “What is
it?” Mihli inquired.

            Rughadjeen
spun around, ready to leave quickly.

            “Stay here
and keep your guard up, I will take care of this matter.”

            “Yes, sir!”

            Once the
Elvaan was out of sight, Mihli kicked the ground, pouting.

            “I wish
you’d tell me what’s going on sometimes…”

            Once he was
certain Rughadjeen and Zazarg were gone, Gadalar gently rested Lynuma on the
floor and dressed up in a hurry. Then he grabbed the two white sheets on the
floor to wrap her in them. He grabbed her back and left. He took a different
route, one rarely ever used by anyone. No one saw him getting back to his
quarters. He locked the door behind him and gently rested the girl on his bed.
He freed her from the sheets and took a couple steps back to stare at her a
moment.

            “You don’t
seem that different from any other girl,” he said like she was listening to
him.

            He got
closer and climbed over her, staring at her face from up close. He caressed her
cheek with one hand. Her skin was warm.

            “But… for
some reason, I don’t want you away from me… ever…”

            He lowered
his face over hers and put a light kiss on her lips. She took a deep breath.

            “Red…” she
trailed off.

            “You are
mine, now.”

            He smiled.

            When he
reached the walls, Rughadjeen went for Zazarg’s guarding point immediately.
When he saw him arriving so quickly with concern on his face, he got down the
wall he was always standing on.

            “What’s
happening?” he asked.

            “Gadalar
did not bring the girl to the hotel, I should have paid better attention to
your words.”

            “Argh,
damn! What is he thinking?”

            “I fear he
might have been slightly contaminated. Not enough to turn him into a zombie,
but enough to alter his judgement. Follow me.”

            Zazarg
followed Rughadjeen to Gadalar’s private quarters. He knocked on the door with
force. There was no answer so he moved away from the door.

            “Open it,”
he asked the Galka.

            “No
problem!” he replied cracking his fingers.

            He took
some steps back and ran his shoulder through the door that did not resist. It
broke down. They ran in to find Gadalar jumping on his feet and taking out his
scythe, pointing it at his comrades. Zazarg reached for his own weapons, but
Rughadjeen stopped him with an arm.

            “Force is
not an option, here.”

            “Tsk.”

            He still
pulled back.

            “Get out!”
Gadalar commanded. “Leave now!”

            Rughadjeen
immediately noticed the girl on the bed behind his troubled friend. She seemed
unharmed and unspoiled. At least as unspoiled as she could be after everything
that happened.

            “Gadalar,
you are not yourself,” Rughadjeen told. “I’m afraid that by having intercourse
with her, you got slightly contaminated yourself, and that is why you are
obsessed with her.”

            “That’s not
true!” he objected brandishing his scythe. “I… I love her! She will stay here
with me!”

            “There is
already someone else that she loves, Gadalar, and he loves her very much as
well. If you keep her here against her will, that is not love. True love is the
one that gives, not the one that takes. If you take her freedom, that is not
love.”

            Gadalar was
trembling and sweating. Rughadjeen never saw him like that, not even in battle.
Even surrounded by a hundred enemies, Gadalar always kept his cool.

            “I can help
you,” Rughadjeen continued. “You are still conscious, only your judgment and
reasoning is altered, that can be easily and quickly remedied.”

            Rughadjeen
was slowly moving closer to Gadalar, moving his feet without raising them so
Gadalar would not see it immediately. Then it went bad.

            “Get away!
Stay away from us!”

            He raised
his scythe, ready to strike Rughadjeen with it. The Elvaan was usually quick at
drawing, but he wanted to trust Gadalar so much he did not even try to take it
out. A knocking sound was heard and Gadalar dropped his scythe before he
collapsed to the ground, Zazarg standing behind him. Rughadjeen frowned at him,
upset.

            “I thought
I told you to stay behind.”

            “Put me in
jail for all I care, I was not gonna let him attack you, even if he doesn’t
have all his head.”

            Rughadjeen
scratched the back of his head.

            “Actually,
I think it’s worst than I first suspected. How is the girl?”

            “Well he
was fully dressed and there are no signs of anything suspicious on her. She looks
fine except from exhaustion.”

            “Excellent.
Bring her to her room, now. I do not believe Redrelian will be unconscious much
longer, he will want to see her. He will also probably be in a better position to
take care of her.”

            Zazarg
nodded and covered the Mithra with the white sheets again. When he took her up
in his arms, he walked back and stopped next to Gadalar, unconscious on the
floor.

            “What about
him?”

            “Leave him
for now. I will have guards posted in front of his room with the mission to not
let him leave.”

            “What if he
fights them?”

            “Let’s hope
it does not come to that.”

            When
Redrelian opened his eyes, his head felt really heavy. At first he wondered
where he was, then he remembered everything in a flash. He widened his eyes and
jumped on his feet.

            “Lyn!” he
exclaimed as his heart started racing in his chest.

            He could
recall how aroused he felt from seeing two men have sex with his girlfriend,
and how badly she wanted it. It felt wrong and incredibly arousing at the same
time. He cursed himself for not being able to watch everything to the end. He
did not even know if the ritual was a success or a complete failure. He was
ashamed.

            As he spun
around, ready to leave and go ask the generals how the ritual ended, he noticed
her on a second bed in the room. She was wearing a light gown, barely enough to
cover her naked body. He wondered where it came from; he could remember her
clothes were torn off. He recalled a Mithra amongst the generals and supposed it
came from her. He stopped wondering and simply hurried to her side. He sat on
the bed next to her and watched her in her sleep. He placed a hand on her cheek
and for a second, her face was replaced for the one she had after Rughadjeen
got her out of the trolls’ hideout. He shook his head to get rid of the image
even though he knew it would probably hunt him for a long time. He lowered his
head and brushed her lips with his. She had to rest, he was aware of it, but he
wanted to hold her in his arms so badly. He lay down next to her and simply
wrapped an arm around her, wishing she would feel upon her awakening how much
she meant to him, the way words could not say it.

            Not much
time passed before she started moving against him. He stiffened slightly and
held his breath a moment. Would she recognize him? Would she even acknowledge
his presence? She opened her eyes a little, blinked several times and turned
her head. Redrelian did not move a muscle. Her face twisted and turned into
sadness.

            “Red… I’m
so sorry…” she trailed off as tears rolled down her face.

            The Elvaan
wrapped both his arms around her and held on tight. He could feel her body
temperature rising due to her attempts at keeping her sobbing quiet.

            “Stupid…
what are you sorry for?”

            “I was not
strong enough, I stopped fighting! I… at some point I even wanted it!”

            He stroked
her hair.

            “I know,
but it’s not your fault. Your mind shut off from the awful experience, but your
body kept feeling everything and enjoying it. It’s not your fault, and I am not
angry with you. You have nothing to apologize for.”

            She moved
her head away and looked at him. Their eyes locked and he gave her a warm,
comforting smile. She half-closed her eyes and they kissed. The kiss went on
for a moment, then tongues came out, playing with one another. Redrelian felt
Lynuma reaching for his thighs and he wondered if she was in a good enough
shape to go further. He was not sure if he had the right to make love to her
after what she went through. As he was wondering these things, he suddenly felt
something cold run him through, bringing sharp pain in his side. He stiffened.

            “Argh!”

            Staring at
him, Lynuma had a mean grin on her face, frowning madly.

            “I knew you
would let your guard down if I pretended to be all vulnerable.”

            She jumped
on her feet, one of Redrelian’s daggers in her hand, dripping with blood. His
blood. She dropped it on the floor. Shocked, Redrelian could not even move.

            “Lyn? What
are you doing?”

            “What? You
thought I was happy here maybe? I’m going back! And this time, don’t come for
me! I spare you now, but don’t expect me to do it again!”

            She started
going through her stuff that was brought to the room and put on some more
decent clothes, and grabbed a sword and a shield. All that time, Redrelian did
not move, a hand on his wound. He was too shocked and devastated to move.

            “You are
still contaminated… The ritual failed…”

            “Not
exactly. I had fun. Plus, I made a new friend, and I think I’m gonna go get him
now.”

            She walked
towards the door.

            “Lyn,
please…” Redrelian begged as he struggled to get up.

            She
stopped, a hand on the knob, but she did not turn to look at him.

            “Do
yourself a favor, Redrelian, and stay as far from me as you can. Don’t ever
come close to me again.”

            She opened
the door and left, closing it behind her. Trying to reach it, Redrelian lost
his balance and collapsed against the wall.

            “Da…
dammit…”

            He shut his
eyes and gritted his teeth from the pain. He slid down the wall and rested his
head against it, feeling his heart break.

            “She did not
call me “Redrelian” since the day we met…”

            Tears
started burning in his eyes and his sight got blurry.

            The day was
almost over without any incident when a guard suddenly came running to
Rughadjeen. He stood on guard immediately, as a reflex.

            “Skyserpent
General, sir! Something has happened!”

            “Speak!”

            “The two
guards you requested be placed in front of the Flameserpent General’s quarters
were found unconscious!”

            “What?”

            The other
three generals arrived at that moment, realizing something was up.

            “What of
Gadalar?” Rughadjeen inquired.

            “Missing,
sir.”

            “Alright, I
will head there myself.”

            “We’re
coming too,” Zazarg added.

            The four
generals all walking across Al Zahbi together caused people to turn around on
their passage, wondering what was wrong even though they all attempted to keep
a straight face to avoid unnecessary panic. Once they reached Gadalar’s
quarters, they spotted the two guards, unconscious on the ground each side of
the wide opened door. One of them moved, regaining consciousness and Rughadjeen
hurried to this one. He pointed the other one and Mihli went to check if he was
fine while he helped the other one to sit up. He was rubbing the back of his
head with a grimace of pain.

            “What has
happened, here?” Rughadjeen inquired.

            “We were
attacked,” the guard told.

            The four
generals widened their eyes in surprise.

            “Beastmen?”
Najelith asked although she seriously doubted it.

            Beastmen
don’t simply knock people out, they kill. Plus, they would not have left with
Gadalar alone.

            “No. At first
we did not see anyone or anything. I was just standing there, doing what I was
asked when I was hit with a paralyze spell and I got numb.”

            “Me too,”
the second guard added as he regained consciousness as well.

            Mihli
helped him sit up while Zazarg went inside the room to check it out.

            “Did you
see who did this?” Rughadjeen asked.

            “She came
out from the corner. She was dressed in red and I could see some white hair
sticking out of her hat.”

            Rughadjeen’s
heart missed a beat. That description…

            “She attacked
you both alone?” Mihli asked, slightly impressed.

            “Not
directly, she approached then she cast a spell. I could guess from the way she
placed her hands and I could feel the power coming from her.”

            Zazarg came
back out at that moment.

            “No signs of
struggling. Whoever did this got Gadalar following of his own will.”

            This added
some weight to Rughadjeen’s suspicions.

            “Then
what?” he hurried the guard.

            “Something
hit me on the head. It was really heavy and it knocked me out.”

            “Me as
well.”

            “A stone
spell I presume,” Najelith said.

            “A black
mage?” Zazarg wondered.

            “No, not
with the red gear.”

            “A red mage
Mithra,” Rughadjeen said under his breath.

            “You don’t
suppose…” Najelith asked, seeing where he was going.

            He got up
and asked the two guards to take the rest of the day off. He faced the other
three generals and took his elbow in his palm, his chin in his hand, thinking.

            “If it was
her, then the ritual was a failure.”

            He stated
it, not supposed it.

            “Why would
she have come for Gadalar?”

            Rughadjeen
shook his head, concerned.

            “He was
contaminated as well, we never experienced something this severe, we know
nothing of the other effects it might have on the human mind.”

            “Wasn’t she
left with her Elvaan friend? I would have thought he would attempt to stop her.”
Mihli stated.

            Rughadjeen
dropped his elbow and his frown turned into concern and fear.

            “I do not
believe he did not try…”

            He made
haste towards the hotel where he was hoping to find Redrelian unharmed, the
other three on his tail. He was even going faster than he did when they learned
of Gadalar gone missing. In that case, he already knew he was gone and there
was nothing left to do, but in Redrelian’s case, he was unsure of his fate.

            As the four
arrived closer to the hotel, Rughadjeen started running, a bad feeling
squeezing him on the inside.

            The door to
the room was closed, but unlocked. Rughadjeen quickly opened it and his heart
skipped a beat when his eyes caught sight of Redrelian, lying on his side in a
small pool of blood, a hand to his side.

            “Oh,
goodness!” Najelith let out, reaching for her mouth.

            Rughadjeen
ran to his brethren and dropped on his knees next to him.

            “Redrelian,
can you hear me?”

            The thief
did not answer, nor moved. He was unconscious.

            “Mihli!”
Rughadjeen commanded.

            “Yes, sir.”

            She kneeled
next to her leader and gently turned Redrelian on his back. He did not even
flinch, as if he was disconnected.

            The Mithra
placed her hands on the wound and kept silent for a few incredibly long
minutes. Then she withdrew her hands with a sigh of relief.

            “The wound
is not lethal, no organs were touched, but he lost a lot of blood. This wound
needs to be closed.”

            “I will
attend to that,” Rughadjeen said putting his hands together to cast a spell.

            The energy
gathered around him a while before he released the healing spell directly into
Redrelian’s open wound. The treatment got a reaction out of him this time. He
arched his back and gritted his teeth, letting out a moan of pain in the
process. The wound closed up nicely, leaving only a white scar that would fade
with time on the Elvaan’s naked stomach. Rughadjeen got up.

            “He shall
require some rest, now. I will remain and await his awakening while you return
to your duties. I will let you know if I learn anything of use.”

            He crouched
down to grab one of Redrelian’s arms and pulled him around his neck to lead him
to one of the beds where he rested him.

            “Sir, if I
may,” Zazarg started stepping forward. “What if the girl corrupted him?”

            “I do not
believe it to be the case, Zazarg. After all, he is still fully clothed.”

            He kneeled
down to grab a bloody dagger on the floor.

            “This
belongs to him, so I would guess that she grabbed it while it was still on his
waist.”

            He pointed
at the unconscious Elvaan.

            “He still
carries his second dagger.”

            Standing
serious and straight, he ran a grave look on his comrades.

            “That was
an order, generals.”

            “Yes, sir!”
they answered simultaneously before turning around to walk through the door.

            Najelith
closed it behind her and the three generals went back to their duties on the
walls. Rughadjeen pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down to wait.

            The wait
was short, twenty minutes had past when he noticed Redrelian moving. He bent
forward on his chair and waited. The thief frowned and moaned a little, then
opened his eyes, blinking several times, unaware of his surroundings or of Rughadjeen
sitting next to him. His eyes suddenly opened widely and he sat up.

            “Lyn!” he
exclaimed.

            His head
started spinning and he collapsed back on the pillow.

            “Easy,”
Rughadjeen advised as he got slightly closer. “You lost a lot of blood, but
with proper resting, you will recover.”

            Redrelian
placed an arm over his eyes and took a deep breath until it stopped spinning
and his nausea settled down.

            “Where is
she?” he asked in a low tone.

            “I was
hoping that you would be able to answer that question. Tell me what has
happened.”

            Redrelian
closed his eyes and shook his head, looking desperate.

            “I was so
stupid… There she was, crying and apologizing for everything like she always
does when something goes wrong, even if it’s not her fault. She got me
convinced she was vulnerable so I got closer to comfort her and that’s when she
grabbed one of my daggers and…”

            He was
unable to finish his sentence. He did not have to anyway; Rughadjeen could guess
what happened afterwards. Redrelian swallowed hard, a ball caught in his
throat.

            “She told
me… never to come near her again…” he whispered.

            “She is
still under the curse, Redrelian. Do not take her words to heart.”

            “I was so
sure she was alright, she looked fine, she sounded right too…”

            “I still do
not know the complete effects of this curse, my friend. Perhaps she appeared
cured for a while, but some of it remained in her and took effect later on.”

            Redrelian remained
silent and reached for his side previously wounded.

            “Your wound
has been healed,” Rughadjeen told him. “You need rest to recover from the loss
of blood. Tell me, my friend, has Lynuma mentioned her destination?”

            Redrelian
turned his head to look away. Even though the wound was healed, he could still
feel pain eating on his insides. Rughadjeen’s words were no comfort at all.

            “She said
she was going back, along with the new friend she made. She also said not to go
for her this time…”

            “I would
wager her new “friend” would be Gadalar. He was slightly contaminated during
the ritual, maybe this is the reason it ended up in a failure. He was found
missing a while ago and a person with Lynuma’s description was seen on the
site.”

            Redrelian
shut his eyes again, freeing a lonely tear. Somehow he still had hope she was
not really gone. This was proving otherwise.

            “What will
happen to her if she goes back?” he reluctantly asked in a low voice.

            He had to
know and at the same time, did not want to know. He feared the truth.

            “I honestly
do not know. This has never happened before. The worst case would be that
Gurfurlur would claim her as his once more and erase everything the ritual
managed to heal. But I am concerned about Gadalar’s presence there. He acted quite
possessive towards Lynuma, and I am worried he might even challenge Gurfurlur
for her.”

            As far as
he was concerned, Redrelian did not give a damn about Gadalar. When he heard
Rughadjeen say Lynuma might become Gurfurlur’s toy again, his ears blocked out
everything else. He could not let this happen. He brought his legs out the bed
and sat up but Rughadjeen got up first to stop him.

            “What do
you think you are doing?”

            “I can’t
just leave her to be that… that thing’s toy again! I let her down once, not
gonna let her down twice!”

            He tried to
get up but his remaining strength could not hold his weight and he collapsed
right away. Rughadjeen quickly kneeled next to him to help him up.

            “You do not
have the strength to perform this task yet. I have told you, you need to rest
to recover from your loss of blood.”

            Leaning on
Rughadjeen, Redrelian clenched a fist and gritted his teeth, powerless.

            “Damn it
all!”

            The
skyserpent general helped him back in bed. He felt quite powerless at giving
hope to the tortured Elvaan. Nothing he could say would help. He sat back in
his chair, willing to at least be there for the time being.

            The moment
they stepped back into Halvung, Gurfurlur knew, so he gave strict orders not to
harm the intruders. Not those ones at least. The couple quickly reached him and
found him standing tall and strong, the goblin translator at his feet as usual.
Gurfurlur had a pleased grin on his face. He grunted.

            “Gurfurlur
knew you return here. Gurfurlur pleased you brought guest together.”

            The troll
laughed and grunted some more.

            “Gurfurlur
pleased you back, more fun.”

            The monster
reached a huge hand towards the Mithra when Gadalar jumped in and grabbed
Lynuma possessively.

            “Back off,
she’s mine! I will not let you touch her!”

            “Insolent
human,” the goblin said, shocked.

            But
Gurfurlur laughed, apparently very amused by Gadalar’s behavior. He grunted
some words for the goblin to translate.

            “Gurfurlur
likes you. Rare to like male, you lucky. You keep female, gift from Gurfurlur.”

            The troll growled
more words for a moment.

            “Gurfurlur
says rest now, tomorrow we prepare.”

            “Prepare
for what?” Lynuma inquired.

            “Battle on
human city. You will join.”

            “Yes!”
Lynuma and Gadalar answered at the same time.

            Gurfurlur
nodded approvingly then walked away heavily, the ground shaking with each of
his steps.

            “Follow,”
the goblin required before leading the couple down into the bowels of Halvung.

            They
followed him obediently without a word. Eventually, they stopped in front of an
opened cell door.

            “You rest
here,” the goblin instructed.

            Gadalar
walked in first, pulling Lynuma’s hand after him. It was still a cell, but this
one was cared for a lot more than the cells where Lynuma was first kept. It was
actually clean and did not smell as bad. There were actually clean sheets on
the ground where they would be able to properly rest.

            “This is no
hotel, but it will do for now,” Gadalar stated.

            “It’s
actually a lot better than it was when I was kept here.”

            “Gurfurlur
cares, so me care. Me clean room for you.”

            “Thank
you,” Lynuma said.

            “Leave us,
now,” Gadalar demanded. “And do not come for us until tomorrow.”

            “Yes,
tomorrow, we prepare. Now, rest.”

            As he
walked away, the goblin made a sound that somehow reminded of giggling. Once
his steps were too far to be heard anymore, Gadalar spun around to Lynuma,
grabbed her shoulders and roughly pinned her down on the sheets forming their
bed. She let out a faint scream of surprise but when he pressed his hungry
mouth against hers, she did not object.

            “I couldn’t
wait any longer,” he trailed off in a fast breath between two kisses.

            He sunk his
tongue in her mouth, mixing their saliva as they played with each other’s
tongue. He switched for her neck, licking it all the way down and suckling at
it. Then he went for her vest, which he quickly opened on her bare chest. He
stared at it a moment.

            “God,
you’re beautiful.”

            He got off
her and started taking his armor off.

            “Undress,
now!” he commanded.

            And she did
with a seductive smile on her face. Seeing this, he took his armor off and
threw it aside without any care and threw himself back on top of Lynuma, his
dick fully hard, throbbing against her thighs. He covered her mouth with his
and grabbed one of her breasts roughly.

            “I want you
so badly… I wanted you since you were out of my arms…”

            He moved
his mouth to her breasts and licked them one after the other, sucking the
nipples. She grabbed his head and even pulled his hair under the intensity of
his actions. She moaned and started breathing faster herself. Gadalar reached a
hand between her legs and felt his dick throb from what he felt. She was
dripping and burning.

            “Oh, god,
this is too much…”

            He spread
her legs and placed himself between them. He got in position and pushed himself
in, feeling a pleasant shiver run up his spine as he slid inside her.

            “Oh, yeah…”
he trailed off.

            Lynuma
withdrew her head backwards in moaning. His palms each side of her head, his
arms supporting all his weight, he moved his hips alone, thrusting her quickly,
like he did not have sex in months and desperately wanted to give it away.

            “Ah… ah…”
the Mithra breathed out with each thrust in her wet pussy.

            Gadalar
kept going, feeling the orgasm coming. He never slowed down, not even thinking
about her. He shut his eyes and opened his mouth when he released himself
inside her. Trembling with the spasms of the strong orgasm, he collapsed on top
of her, catching his breath. She wrapped her arms around him, catching her own
breath quicker than him since she did not come herself.

            “I… I’m
sorry,” he whispered in her ear. “I just wanted it so much… I’ll make it up to
you, I promise.”

            “It’s
alright, I am your gift after all, you can do what you want with me.”

            Gadalar
came out of her and lay next to her on the sheets. They turned on their sides,
looking at each other.

            “I want to
pleasure you, that’s what I want.”

            He brushed
her face with the back of his hand and she shivered pleasantly, closing her
eyes to take it in. His hand followed her arm down and eventually switched to
the curve in her waist, her hip and the upper part of her thigh until his hand
could not go further down. He brought it all the way back up to her head and he
caressed her white hair and played with her ears a little, making her shiver
again. He placed his hand on the back of her head and gently pulled her closer
to him so he could kiss her. He showed less haste this time, he simply pressed
his lips against hers. They shared many polite kisses until they both opened
their mouth to bring out their tongues. That’s when Gadalar’s hand wandered
over her curves again.

            It lasted
the whole night, Gadalar really made it up to her as he promised. He showed
much more care and passion. He gave her quite a few orgasms and he seemed
impossible to exhaust. Like he had limitless reserves.

            Dawn was
coming soon although the lovers were unaware of it in their underground room.
As he was inside her once again, thrusting her pussy some more, Gadalar kissed
her and looked at her.

            “I… I love
you…” he trailed off in a barely audible voice.

            That was
the moment he came, at the same time she did. As Lynuma felt another orgasm
take her over, something else happened at the same time. A veil lifted off deep
inside her eyes and she opened her mouth in silence. Gadalar’s arms did not
support his weight any longer, he collapsed on her and slid on his side, next
to her, an arm wrapped around her. They fell asleep like this.

            A few short
hours of rest later, the sound of a horn resonated against the walls of the
underground hideout, startling the lovers awake. They recognized it as being a
call for a meeting so they got up and dressed up, arranging their look as much
as they could. Then they left their room and took the tunnels to head up where
they found trolls, many trolls gathered in lines in front of some sort of
pedestal where Gurfurlur was standing, still as large and strong as always. He
was pretty high up which made it easy for the humans to see him despite all the
trolls gathered there that were still twice as tall as they were.

            Gurfurlur
started addressing the crowd and the two humans could not understand, of
course.

            “Gurfurlur
speaks the plan,” the screechy voice of the goblin translator spoke.

            He suddenly
showed up next to them, probably seeking them out as asked by the troll leader.

            “Gather
pets, weapons, get everything ready for attack. Attack in five days.”

            Gurfurlur
kept talking, but the goblin did not translate.

            “What is he
saying now?” Gadalar inquired.

            “Trolls
strong, trolls superior, orb not for humans to keep, trolls get orb, humans
weak… Usual.”

            A pep talk
mostly, nothing important for them to know. Then Gurfurlur roared, raising a
giant fist over his head and the other trolls all did the same thing in
response. The leader got off his pedestal and the trolls started dispersing to
get everything ready for the attack.

            “You stay,
Gurfurlur wants talk to you,” the goblin told.

            All the
trolls had left when Gurfulur heavily arrived to face the two small and
insignificant humans. He had a strange grin on his face as he turned to the
goblin and started grumbling something.

            “Gurfurlur
says you join attack, but need not prepare. You had fun, now you rest.”

            He paused
when the troll added something. Then he grinned.

            “You, male
will be important in attack. You one of guardians. Tactical advantage.”

            “You mean I
know the terrain, right?” Gadalar asked.

            Gurfurlur
nodded his small head in approval.

            “Surprise,”
Gurfurlur said in a very deep growling voice, almost impossible to understand.

            “Effect of
surprise,” the goblin added. “You old comrade of humans, not expect attack.”

            The
Flameserpent general nodded, understanding. Gurfurlur grinned again, pleased,
then turned around and walked away. When the goblin followed him, the Hume
turned to his Mithra companion. She smiled at him.

            “You don’t
really want to rest, right? You want me some more?”

            “It’s not
that I don’t want to, it’s just that… I feel weird today.”

            Lynuma
placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

            “What’s
wrong?”

            He took her
hands.

            “What I
said earlier, I meant it. I love you. I want to know you.”

            She
giggled.

            “Didn’t we
already get past that when we had sex?”

            He grinned.

            “I know
it’s stupid but…”

            “Shhhh,”
she cut him placing a finger on his lips.

            She
tip-toed and kissed him.

            “General,
sir! The scouts have reported growing activity in Halvung!” a guard reported to
Rughadjeen.

            “So the
trolls are preparing another attack. Keep watch.”

            “Yes, sir!”
the guard saluted and left.

            Rughadjeen
looked over the wall towards the Wajaom Woodlands and sighed. Standing next to
him, Redrelian was nervous.

            “They will
attack, then?”

            The
Skyserpent nodded. He was frowning.

            “With
Gadalar with them, it makes one seal down from the Hall of Binding’s
protection.”

            “You think
he will be on their side?” Redrelian asked with wide eyes.

            “Yes, I
believe he will be. I also believe Lynuma will be there as well.”

            “No, way…
Rughadjeen, I can’t fight her!”

            “Then pray
you will not have to, my friend.”

            Redrelian
could not understand how it could be avoidable. If he would try to avoid
contact with Lynuma, others might not feel the same way. He did not want to see
her hurt or worst, no matter what she did.

            For the
next five days, Gadalar and Lynuma spent a lot of time wandering the tunnels of
Halvung together, talking. The more time past, the more Lynuma realized she was
free of the curse while Gadalar was still under it. She did not know how it
happened and did not give it anymore thought. She tried to keep the charade up
because she knew at least one thing: the moment the trolls would realize she was
no longer under their influence, they would probably kill her. Or maybe even
worst. Gurfurlur might attempt to control her again through sex. She shivered
at the mere thought of it. Which brought her thoughts to Redrelian. Then her
heart ached. She remembered only too well the words she spoke to him and the
pain she caused him. She did not even know his fate and she was very worried.
Although the Mithra once again could not afford to let it show.

            It appeared
Gadalar was under very slight control. Just enough to influence his obedience
to the trolls instead of the empire, but not enough to make him a horny puppet
like Lynuma had become a few days ago. She wanted to believe she regained her
senses when Gadalar let his heart speak and he told her he loved her. Maybe
this thought in mind as he came inside her made him purer than he was before,
just for a moment, even though he was tainted. Maybe then, this moment allowed
the ritual to be completed and finish cleansing her body, mind and soul.

            Gadalar
turned to her and smiled warmly, with that small veil deep in his eyes that she
started noticing shortly after coming around. He grabbed her hand like he often
did since he told her he loved her, something he repeated to her often.

            “It’s
strange. We’re underground, surrounded with trolls, but I don’t even care. As
long as you’re with me, where I am doesn’t matter at all.”

            She felt
blood rush to her cheeks and felt her lips curve up in a smile. They did not
have sex since they arrived. They did share a few kisses and Gadalar hugged her
a lot, but his urges seemed to have calmed down a lot. Maybe by purifying her,
the curse held a smaller grip on him as well.

            “We’ll
probably start gathering for the attack soon,” he said, becoming suddenly
serious.

            He stopped
walking and turned to her, not smiling anymore.

            “I am gonna
face my former comrades in that battle. I don’t intend to fall in that battle
but should that happen, never forget what you mean to me. I would die for you.”

            Lynuma felt
her heart squeeze up and a ball get stuck in her throat. He sounded dead
serious and she did not know how to take this. They have only been together a
few days, not even a week and she felt very attached to the man. Maybe because
he was the only human around and the only thing keeping her from going insane
in this troll infested hole. Or maybe because even though he was under a curse,
she could feel his words were true and she knew she could not repeat them. He
did not seem to bother that while he told her he loved her many times, she did
not say it back even once.

            He pulled
her close and gently wrapped his arms around her once more but this embrace was
different.

            “I love
you,” he whispered.

            He pulled
away and kissed her softly, for a long time. There was something in that embrace
and that kiss that made her uncomfortable, scared even.

            “Gadalar…
you…” she trailed off when he released her.

            A horn
sounded the time to gather together for the attack. The Hume grinned.

            “Finally,
some action!”

            He made
sure he had every piece of his armor on him and his scythe on his back then he
grabbed Lynuma’s hand, smiling at her, and started running towards the meeting
place, pulling her with him.

            When they
arrived, the trolls were almost ready. Many trolls, brown, green, armored or
not, armed with flame throwers, some with insects around them and Bomb
monsters. Gurfurlur was in front of this very large crowd. The trolls were
excited, eager to walk on the imperial city and start killing. Gurfurlur
scanned the room a moment, then he grinned. He raised a fist to the sky with a
triumphant growl that was repeated all over the room, deafening, resonating
against the walls, making the ground shake. The combat fever was spreading
around, even Lynuma got excited and started feeling eager to kill something.

            Gurfurlur
started walking at his usual heavy pace and the trolls started moving after
him. Gadalar grabbed Lynuma’s hand firmly, afraid to lose her in this tall and
thick crowd. They exited the tunnels and started heading for Al Zahbi. The
Troll Mercenaries were marching on the empire once more.

“Al Zahbi is under attack! The
Troll Mercenaries have breached the Balrahn defense line! Martial Law has been
declared in Al Zahbi! Repeating… Martial Law has been declared in Al Zahbi!
Non-combatants in the commoners’ ward are to evacuate immediately! Repeating…
Non-combatants in the commoners’ ward are to evacuate immediately!”

            “Here they
come!” Rughadjeen said taking his sword out as the first trolls started passing
the gates with their pets.

            Redrelian
stood by him and took out his daggers.

            “I am not
asking you to do this, Redrelian. You can still leave.”

            “I rather
face her myself and attempt to talk her out of this rather than see someone
kill her, or see her kill someone else while she is not herself.”

            “Very well.
Be strong.”

            Rughadjeen
hurried to the long hall leading to Whitegate where he was always making his
stand. Redrelian followed him. They did not wait long, monsters started showing
up very shortly after that.

            Upon
entering, Gadalar looked around at the people fighting for the empire, trolls
and humans. Mercenaries, volunteers, even quqirn fighters were all working
together to repel the enemy.

            “I’m going
in,” he said as he took out his scythe.

            It gave a
flaming aura as he swung it around and he turned to Lynuma.

            “Catch ya
later! Don’t get yourself killed now!”

            He ran
forward into the thick crowd of fighters and she quickly lost sight of him. She
looked around as well, trying to find the best course of action. There was no
way she was putting up the act to killing other humans. She had to stop playing
around. But she also kept in mind the people might have been warned she was an
enemy so she tried to be as discreet as she could. Red mages were very common
on Vana’diel so if she would just attack trolls with other people, she would
blend in easily. She wanted to look for Gadalar as well before he would hurt
someone or get himself killed. His face was known across the place, he would be
targeted very quickly.

            As
Redrelian was fighting side by side with Rughadjeen, he kept a sharp eye out
for Lynuma. He was hoping nobody got to her yet, or vice versa. He was fighting
a green armored troll with Rughadjeen, unleashing special attacks every time he
could along with his brethren when he felt something cold slash across his
back. He arched backwards with wide open eyes and dropped on his knees. What
was first cold was now warm and rolling down his back. He rested his palms on
the ground and gritted his teeth as Rughadjeen brought the finishing blow to the
troll he was fighting.

            “Redrelian!”

            Rughadjeen
immediately brandished his weapon, placing himself between the wounded Elvaan
and his mysterious opponent. The Skyserpent quickly cast a Cure IV on Redrelian
which healed the wound almost completely. The thief got up.

            “Are you
all right?” Rughadjeen inquired.

            “Yes, thank
you.”

            The general
looked straight in front of him and immediately recognized the brown haired
Hume wearing a set of Amir armor with a scythe in hands.

            “Gadalar,”
Rughadjeen simply pronounced.

            “Out of the
way, Rughadjeen. He’s all that still stands between me and her. When he falls,
she will not hesitate anymore.”

            Redrelian widened his eyes in
surprise.

            “Lyn? You
mean Lyn, right?”

            “Keep
quiet! I will kill you!”

            “You will
have to go through me, Gadalar!” Rughadjeen insisted, holding his sword high.

            The Hume
grinned, delighted.

            “Fine,
then. I will kill you first. Have you noticed how there are only 4 seals on the
door to the Hall of Binding even though I am here?”

            Rughadjeen
did not look disturbed.

            “Soon,
there will be only three left and I will take care of those as well.”

            “Gadalar,
you can still back away, you do not need to do this!”

            Gadalar’s
face darkened.

            “Yes, I do.
For her…”

            He did
something Rughadjeen did not expect: he smiled. An honest smile.

            “I love
her. I will do anything for her.”

            He swung
his scythe out.

            “Come to
me, Rughadjeen!”

           The Elvaan
brought his sword up and rushed his former comrade. Redrelian remained standing
where he was, frozen. When he saw the blades clash, he shivered.

            “Are they
even human?” he wondered out loud. “Their strength is way beyond anything I
have ever seen before… If Rughadjeen were to lose, I wouldn’t last two minutes
against Gadalar. Damn…”

            The words
of the cursed Hume rang in his ears along with his strange smile.

            “I love her.”

            “Is it the
result of the curse, or is he serious…?”

            Gadalar had
a pleased smile on his face. He was living to fight, fighting to live. That’s
what he was, that’s what he knew. Clashing blades with Rughadjeen reminded him
of the day they met, when Rughadjeen came to help him but he did not believe
him to be a friend and attacked him. This time, he was attacking for another
reason. He was not fighting for himself anymore, he was fighting for love, for her love. He figured this was why she
did not say she loved him back, because she still had feelings for that Elvaan
thief. Well once he would be dead, she would eventually forget him and be his
forever.

            He pushed
Rughadjeen away from him and swung again, forcing him to jump backwards to
avoid the blade as Gadalar knew he would. So he put his scythe aside and
readied a strong fire spell. Rughadjeen knew he would not have time to stop his
casting, nor run far enough to get out of range so he braced himself to endure
it. Gadalar spread his arms, releasing the burning fury of the fire spell on
his opponent. Rughadjeen was engulfed in flames for a brief moment, sustaining
heavy burning.

            “Rughadjeen!”
Redrelian exclaimed running towards him.

            The general
waved his sword out, dismissing the flames and he kept his sword pointed at
Redrelian.

            “Stay away!
Do not forget you are the one he wants. If you give him the opportunity, he
will strike you down in a second.”

            “Tch!”

            The thief
stepped back, angry, feeling completely helpless while Rughadjeen stared at
Gadalar.

            “You are
serious, then,” he said to him.

            “Dead
serious. I would die for her!”

            Rughadjeen
lowered his guard on purpose a moment, lowering his head and closing his eyes.
Gadalar took the bait and rushed, scythe held back with both hands.

As he started swinging it towards Rughadjeen, the Elvaan
opened back his eyes, resignation in them.

            “So be it…”

            He grabbed
the hilt in both hands and used all his body to swing it horizontally.
Gadalar’s face changed when he realized Rughadjeen was faking. But it was too
late. Algol clashed on the scythe, forcing it out of its owner’s hands. It went
flying on the ground further on the side and Gadalar was thrown back. He hit
the wall at high speed and spat some blood on his landing as he slid down the
wall to the ground.

            Lynuma came
from the north gate at that moment, forcing her way through people either
fighting or taking care of wounded comrades, trying to take them somewhere
safe. She arrived just in time to see Gadalar fly to the wall and collapse
there. She widened her eyes in horror and hurried on through the crowd.

            Rughadjeen
walked to Gadalar, his sword in front of him, pointing at the wounded Hume on
the ground. Redrelian came closer as well.

            “I believe
you are seriously wounded,” Rughadjeen told. “Please, Gadalar, I do not want to
kill you, resign from your position.”

            “Never… I
told you, I would die for her… and I mean it! If you spare me now, I will come
back for you,” he said with a frown as a little streak of blood was coming out
the corner of his lips and rolling down his chin.

            Rughadjeen
sighed, saddened, but resigned. He brought his sword up, readying the final
blow. Gadalar was smiling.

            “Lyn…” he
trailed off.

            Redrelian
felt his heart squeeze. He also called her that…

            Rughadjeen
brought his sword down.

            “No!” a
voice screamed as a red figure suddenly appeared between Rughadjeen and
Gadalar.

            Lynuma
stood there, arms spread, facing Rughadjeen who quickly interrupted his swing.

            “Lyn!”
Redrelian exclaimed as his face lightened up.

            He tried to
ignore the stirring on his side where she wounded him. It was like it was
nagging him, reminding him she was the one who did it.

            “Move,
Lynuma, or I will strike you as well.”

            Redrelian
spun to him, his heart skipping a beat and his eyes widening in surprise.

            “What?
Wait, you can’t do that!”

            “You have
both been branded enemies of the empire, you will be disposed of as you
should.”

            Lynuma
quickly shook her head.

            “Wait, you
don’t understand, we are not cursed anymore!”

            She turned
her head to Redrelian, desperately looking for his support.

            “Red, I am
free, now! Can’t you see?”

            His ears
flinched when she said “Red”, but he tried not to let it show.

            “You fooled
me once…”

           “And I know
no matter how much I apologize, it will not make up for it, but please! I am
not sure how, but I am free, I no longer feel any urges and I am no longer in a
fog. I can see clearly!”

            Her hands
in the air, she kneeled down next to Gadalar and looked at his face.

            “Look at
me,” she asked him.

            He raised a
hand to her cheek and rested it there, staring in her eyes as she stared back
in his.

            “The veil
is gone as well. You are no longer under the curse, Gadalar.”

            “Then… why
do I still love you…?”

            Rughadjeen
sheathed his sword on his back when the The
Trolls Mercenaries have retreated message sounded in the air. Apparently,
things did not go according to Gurfurlur’s plan. The trolls withdrew and the
proud defenders of Al Zahbi were raising their weapons in victory.

            The general
kneeled in front of the couple and stared at the two a long time. Then he
smiled.

            “It is
true, they are both free of the curse.”

            Gadalar
attempted to get up but shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth.

            “Argh!”

            Lynuma held
him down, concern showing on her face as she was searching for the wounds along
with Rughadjeen.

            “Do not
move,” he told him. “I did not go easy on you.”

            “Neither
did I… I was never able to beat you, anyway, I don’t know why I expected this
time to be different.”

            Rughadjeen
started casting cure spells on Gadalar along with Lynuma while Redrelian
remained slightly behind, standing and watching. Gadalar was repeatedly
engulfed in white light, closing his wounds. Once the treatment was over,
Rughadjeen got up and held a hand to his friend. Gadalar looked at the hand a
moment then grabbed it and Rughadjeen helped him up. The Hume turned to the
Mithra by his side and stared at her.

            “I thought
it was the curse that made me feel this way but… I still feel the same. Are you
sure the curse is lifted, Rughadjeen?”

            “Positive.
Your eyes are your own, now. They are not the same as when you attacked me.”

            Gadalar
reached a hand to his heart.

            “Then I
really…”

            “I would
suppose this is the reason the curse was lifted on Lynuma first. When you no
longer felt the pressure of focusing your aura into her, no longer felt only
desire towards her, but love, you remained pure and you must have purified
her.”

            “Wait a
minute,” Redrelian interfered. “You two had sex after you left?”

            Lynuma bit
her lip and when Redrelian turned his head to her, desperately looking for a
denial, she avoided his gaze. He did not like the idea of Rughadjeen and
Gadalar having sex with her to cure her, but this was different. This time he
felt betrayed. He stared at her a moment but she did not look at him. So he
looked away, deeply hurt and ran away. Lynuma turned back to him and extended a
hand in his direction.

            “Red!” she
called with tears in her eyes.

            But he was
already gone. She dropped on her knees and started crying. Gadalar fell to her
side and placed a comforting hand on her back. Rughadjeen was surprised. He
never saw Gadalar show any compassion to anyone before. Even while Lynuma was
on the verge of death he did not want to care for her. This experience changed
him and Rughadjeen was pretty sure he changed for the better. He put a knee
down and Gadalar looked at him, clueless of what to do.

            “Redrelian
is hurt, but I do not believe he is angry at you. If anything, he is probably
angry at himself for not saving you in the beginning and avoiding all this. You
must go to him. He will probably have gone back to his room at the hotel.”

            “I… I don’t
know what I should say to him… I hurt him so much…”

            She lowered
her head and closed her eyes, sobbing. Gadalar’s heart ached as well. He could
not bear to see her like this.

            “Just tell
him the truth. Tell him everything. He loves you, he will understand. He has
to.”

            She brought
her head up and met his smiling face. She found a smile inside her as well and
brought it to her lips.

            “Yes, I
will do that. Thank you, Gadalar.”

            He got up
and gently pulled her hand to help her up as well. He smiled and nodded at her,
encouraging her to go. Light hearted, she ran after Redrelian. Gadalar remained
where he stood, not turning around to watch her go, keeping his fake smile on.
The smile eventually turned upside down and his head lowered. Rughadjeen turned
to him.

            “It was the
right thing to do, Gadalar,” he said in a comforting tone as he placed a hand
on his back.

            “I know…
She loves him and she’s happy with him so… That’s all that matters…”

            Rughadjeen
noticed the voice of his friend was trembling. His head was so low locks of his
hair were hiding part of his face. Looking twice, he noticed Gadalar’s
shoulders were trembling as well. He opened his mouth in surprise. Could it be
possible?

            “Gadalar?”
he called in a soft voice.

            The Hume
slightly lifted his head, showing something only Rughadjeen could see. Pained
eyes, a pained heart spilling on his face. The Elvaan could not believe it.

            “It hurts…
I want her to be happy, but… it hurts so much… Why does it hurt so much?”

            Rughadjeen
pressed the shoulder of his tortured friend even though he knew it was very
poor comfort for a broken heart.

            Lynuma
literally burst into the room where she found Redrelian, standing in the middle
of the room, his shoulders up and his head down. She closed the door and he did
not even move.

            “Red…” she
said.

            How he
longed to hear her say that. When she left and called him by his full name, he
was sure he had lost her and would never hear her call him “Red” again. While
he was torturing himself, she had moved in front of him, looking at him.

            “Red, look
at me.”

            He moved
his head to look at her. His eyes betrayed some anger, as she expected. She saw
disappointment as well.

            “Listen to
me, I…”

            “You had
sex with him…”

            “Yes, I
did. The day we got to Halvung and were given a room, we had sex all night.”

            Redrelian
had a mocking smile.

            “Then you
are gonna tell me it was the best sex of your life? That you came a dozen times
maybe? Why don’t you just rip my heart out, while you’re at it? Oh, and don’t
forget to use one of my daggers to do it!”

            “Red,
you’re being stupid.”

            “You have
sex with another guy and I’m stupid…”

            “You didn’t
mind when Rughadjeen and Gadalar fucked me together!”

            “It was
supposed to heal you, save your life!”

            “Yes,
because I was under a curse! When I went to Halvung, I was STILL cursed! Yes, I
had sex with Gadalar that night, but only that night! Because after that, I was
healed. He slightly recovered at that moment as well, so he did not throw
himself at me anymore. He told me he loved me and he wanted to know me.”

            Redrelian
did not seem convinced.

            “And what
did you tell him? You love him too?”

            “No, I didn’t. I love you, Red, not him. I admit we shared some
kisses after that, and we hugged. Plus we were sharing the same bed, but we did
not have sex anymore once I got free.”

            Redrelian
turned his back on her.

            “Why didn’t
you come back after that, then? Why did you stay with him four days?”

            “I couldn’t
just leave him there! He got there because of me, if I would have fled who
knows what those trolls would have done to him! And I had to pretend I was
still under their curse so they would not try to… put it back…”

            Her last
words were said with so much pain and fear, Redrelian’s anger dropped and he
spun around. He wrapped his arms around her and she pressed herself against
him.

            “I missed
you so much…” she said in a whisper. “I know saying that I’m sorry is not
enough to make up for it, but please don’t be angry at Gadalar. He was very
nice to me. Plus he was the one who told me to come find you and tell you
everything.”

            “He did?”

            “Yes, he
did. Because he truly loves me and wants me to be happy more than himself. Even
if it’s with someone else than him. I love you, Red. I always have.”

            “Lyn…”

            She
tip-toed and he lowered himself down to kiss her, closing his eyes. This time,
the kiss was true, not a distraction. This time, her hands remained on his
back, not sliding to his daggers. This time, she took off her own clothes and
dragged Redrelian to the bed where he climbed after taking off his own clothes.

            Two weeks
later, after helping in repelling more enemy attacks on Al Zahbi, Redrelian and
Lynuma were waiting for the boat heading back to Mhaura. The serpent generals
were all standing in front of them to bid them farewell and wish them a safe
return home. Gadalar was standing slightly aside.

            “Such a
shame you arrren’t staying longer,” Mihli said. “I was starrrting to like you
two.”

            “We have
unfinished business at home. Plus we have to tell as many people as we can
about the situation here.”

            “You will
return, will you not?” Rughadjeen inquired.

            “Yeah,”
Redrelian answered with a smile, a hand on Lynuma’s shoulder. “And with friends
next time.”

            The ship docked
in and the passengers started embarking.

            “Be careful
on your way home,” Najelith advised.

            “Come back
soon, ok?” Zazarg asked.

            “We will be
waiting for ya!” Mihli added.

            Rughadjeen
extended a hand to Redrelian who took it.

            “Farewell,
my friend. You will both always be welcome in Aht Urhgan.”

            “Thank you,
General,” Redrelian replied, shaking the hand. “Thank you all for everything.
We owe you so much.”

            “You owe us
nothing. We did what we needed to do, nothing more, nothing less.”

            Redrelian
released Rughadjeen’s hand and turned to the dock.

            “Let’s go,
then.”

            Lynuma
looked at the generals and her eyes stopped on Gadalar who avoided her gaze.
She walked to him and this time, he looked at her. She could still see the pain
in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He froze
and widened his eyes. He hesitated a short moment then wrapped his arms around
her as well, closing his eyes, shutting them tight. He wanted to carve this in
his mind, remember her smell, her warmth, her size, everything. The other generals
had a smile seeing this for they also shared their comrade’s pain.

            “Lyn, the
boat is leaving,” Redrelian called her.

            There was
no anger or haste in his tone.

            Gadalar
released her although it was reluctantly that he did, she could tell.

            “You will
come back, right?” he asked her.

            “I will,”
she answered with a smile.

            “I mean, I
know I don’t stand a chance, but… Can we at least be… I dunno, friends?”

            “We already
are, for my part.”

            Gadalar
smiled.

            “Thanks.”

            Lynuma hurried
to the docks and climbed on board just as the ship started sailing away. She
ran up the stairs to the deck and threw herself against the ledge. Gadalar was
right there on the dock, the other four generals behind him. His face was all
lightened up a way it never was before. He raised his hand and waved. Behind
him, Najelith waved as well, along with Mihli while Zazarg and Rughadjeen
simply raised a hand. Lynuma remained there until Aht Urhgan was out of site.
Then she placed her hand on the ledge. Redrelian arrived behind her and placed
a hand on her shoulder.

            “We have so
much more there to see.”

            “And we
found new friends. I can’t wait to return here.”

            “We will.
And we will find what is really happening here.”

            “Yeah.”

            She turned
to him and smiled warmly.

            “I love you
so much,” she said.

            “I love you
too.”

            They kissed
as the ship sailed toward the continent of Mindartia, followed only by the
sound of birds and waves.

The End

Carole M. March 8, 2008, 11:46 PM