Demons Dreamin'

[Redeemer]

Voiceless screams. A figure in front of me bound hand and foot. He writhed under his restraints to no avail as darkness swirled about him. Specters moved upon him like hungry vultures to newly slain prey, one could almost sense their hunger. Swarming about, they danced with glee like children on holiday, happy at such a pleasant sight. Blades of all shapes and sizes seemed to appear in their wraith-like hands as they went mercilessly to work on their helpless victim, who could only mouth the pain he felt. His long brown locks swiveled from his violent convulsions, his shirtless torso soon bleeding from newly opened wounds. I tried to call out to him, but to no avail. My screams were hushed by the silence that could not be broken. I ran towards him, my pale hand outstretched, trying to bring some comfort to his suffering. The closer I got, however, the further he and his captors moved away. Like some twisted comedy, I could not catch up, no matter the speed I pursued.

***

I awoke with a start, my breath in heavy gasps. Night had fallen, and the forest where I slept was draped in subtle darkness disturbed only by the stars. How long I had I dreamt I could not tell, but the moon had only just risen. At least that accursed sun would no longer assail my skin. I wondered how it must feel to vampires that died at the very rays of sunlight, it seemed so far fetched. But I had led a sheltered life, in one form or another.

Slowly, I rose to my feet, trying my best not to collapse from exhaustion. Apparently my nap had done little to ease my fatigue. Placing one hand against a tree, my other soon found it’s way to my head. I was dizzy, ill, and slightly weakened. Still, I soon found strength to stand on my on, and have a look about. Nothing was stolen off my person, however beside my clothes there was little to steal. ’I haven’t been harpooned in the chest, so I suppose no brigand found me during my slumber,’ I thought bitterly. I was groggy and a bit angry I’d woken up, but I knew that dream had done me a favor. I needed to get moving, a journey still lay ahead.

It’d been only a week since I’d escaped from my master, his tyrannous grip on me loosened in a second of lust. Now, I searched for my brother Vincent, held captive far from my reach. He was the only connection I had to my old life, the life I'd once known before Irael'rar came along. 'I need him...'

Dusting myself off, I headed down a worn dirt path, illuminated in the waning moon. My first instinct was to find a town, a city, any place where people gathered. That would be my best chance to find any information on Vincent’s whereabouts. Each step was labored and I felt my heart pounding hard. I knew no concept of time, nor how far I'd gotten. I just kept walking, keeping my head down, thinking about the dream. 'Was the man Vincent, or something different... I didn't know the answer. Then, before the thought had finished, I heard something I never expected.

People. It came from a distance in front of me. Somehow, I managed to muster the strength for a short sprint, the blackened trees around me becoming a blur. Like a child, I was both excited and scared at what I would find. And then I saw it. A town.

[Redeemer]

I arrived in the town with hands dragging at my side. The sprint had left me weary, tired to the point of collapse. Somehow, I managed to lumber into town with the grace of a freshly stiffened corpse. The town itself lacked cleanliness, scraps of paper rolled along the dirt path with the slightest breeze. The pale stone ways were marred with dirt, once glorious windows shattered and lying in ruin near their sills. The place looked bleak to say the least, and I couldn’t imagine it any more cheerful during the day.

Still, as I looked and listened to the people, I found them in far better spirits than their city seemed to be. A woman to my right chatted about a new tax increase that might send her family poor house, to my left a whore was trying to charm her way into a man's pocket. These people were so open, so free. I became a little vexed, Mak'Irael was nothing like this. No, my hometown was so much more closed. People would never let others hear their conversations, merely saying the word whore could get you flogged in the streets. As I moved deeper into the city, I began to notice the lack of religious buildings. No signs for gods, no churches, not even a priest. This place had no where near the religious fervor of Mak'Irael.

I grew envious like the youth I appeared. These people knew freedoms I could never have dreamed of. I suppose my jealousy was misplaced, but gods did I feel resentful. These mortals were blissfully ignorant of what troubles I faced as they continued to laugh and joke, charm and tease.

A barking dog in the distance helped me regain my senses. After all, I was on a mission. I wanted to find a town for information. Of course, I was no where the optimist to believe anyone here new of Vincent, but they could point me to bigger and better cities. Large cities, like the one's I read about in my master's journals, held more knowledge than a thousand of these country folk. My mind was made up, I was going to find someone to tell me where I was. 'But first, a rest...'

I began to feel a bit woozy, my legs buckling underneath me. I needed to sit down, and fast. I did not wish to find out what sort of health care these people had. Slowly, the wall guiding my hand, I walked through the streets. Curious glances were thrown my way now and then, but I shrugged them off. I was in no mood to be bothered now, I just needed to find a clean enough spot to sit down in. Too late.

My legs finally gave out, buckling like a swaying bridge. I fell to the ground, a soft thud followed by a dust cloud came with it. I hoped no one had seen me, I could care less for pity right now. I tried to push myself up with my arms, but to no avail. I was tired, too tired to really give a rats ass that I lay now in a nest of filth.

"Havin' trouble son?"

[Beauty]

Lord Gregory Carth was in a good mood as he strutted down the streets of town. Trailing behind him, as always, was a young woman, about 20 years old, carrying a travel bag over one shoulder. While he wore black, tight fitting pants and a white shirt of fine linen, she had only a single rag of dress to cover herself. It was barely long enough even to be called a dress.

The lord’s purpose in this town was nothing more than a pause on his way to other, more grandiose places than his home in Salvar. It had been boring there and he wanted adventure. At least that’s what he told everybody that he decided should be permitted to know anything about where he was from. Currently, his only ‘real’ purpose was to find a respectable inn and find some willing girl to occupy his bed at no charge.

The young woman trailing along behind him had a look of contentment on her face, a sharp contrast to the scowl her lord wore at the moment. Her brown hair reached down to her knees and was quite thick. Her hair was yet another contrast to her lord; his hair was much shorter and was silver in color. Despite how her clothes looked, she herself was quite clean and her hair was neat. She wore no shoes on her slender feet, but did not seem too alarmed at the idea of walking everywhere barefoot.

“Hurry it up, Slave. I want to find an inn before sunset.”

Without answering, Slave, as her master called her, picked up her pace. The travel bag hanging from her shoulder did not contain much and so it was not overly heavy. It was a simple bag of plain brown cloth, holding only a few wash items and extra clothes for Lord Carth. There was nothing in the bag that belonged to Slave, unless you counted the hairbrush he used on her hair twice a day.

[BlackPorcelain]

People screaming, children crying, dogs barking… Calls of distress were a top priority, almost a daily basis for everyone. Bodies were scattered everywhere, used and abused, scarred with massive slashes caused by unknown weaponry. Blood was covering the road on each of the two sides.

Alex had been wandering on this path for days now, the stray of bodies never seeming to end. Limbs, loose flesh and bones were everywhere, much to the DragonLord’s dislike. Many a time he had made a stop to try and eat, but with each attempt came another increase in the constant puking. The sight was simply appalling, yet Alex did not give up on trying to find survivors between the massacre – Albeit there had been none thus far.

“Whatever has crossed this road, it must’ve been one hell of a fierce demon, if not several”, Alex concluded within the boundaries of his own mind. At the first sight of the dead bodies tears fell down his tender facial feature, and still every now and then a single tear of despair reached out for the ground. “Lenore, did you do this? Have you completely lost your mind?”

The woman in question, a full DragonLady of the Night Subrace, a wondrous ice sorceress capable of bringing utter destruction upon a single city within days. In the past the DragonLord had heard about her, stories of frozen bodies left to melt with the coming sun, left to rot for the very soil to take their bodies, their souls.

Quickly dismissing the idea again, he continued to walk along the road of madness. Finally the last few corpses were coming within view at the end of the horizon. Amounts of bodies had already started a steady decline, though as the bodies decreased the injuries caused to them increased. After another mile of walking Alex was walking in bits and pieces of a splattered stomach, along with other intestines – Limbs that had been torn apart, shred to pieces or set aflame were not an uncommon sight either.

The already somewhat depressed man couldn’t help but to feel nauseous, burping almost constantly as stomach acid would find a new way to make him feel sick. His heart was racing in the back of his throat; sweat swooping down from his forehead and all the while Alex continued to walk, eyes growing heavier as the burden of depression and lack of sleep took over.

“Finally, you found me…” A voice said, appearing out of nowhere. The words echoed through Alex’s head, his eyes trying to focus but closing repeatedly, only to reopen again. Opening his mouth in an attempt to talk, he spoke but in silence – His words making him choke as they were trying to crawl out from underneath his tongue. Sliding a hand across his chest, a wet feeling released itself a little above where his twin hearts were located. Blood oozing out of the opening that the DragonLord hadn’t noticed up until now, a wound that would prove to be fatal. Once again tears befell on his face, as the young sailor tried to scream out in pain but without his vocal chords allowing him to make even the slightest of sounds.


---

“Sir? Sir!? Are you alright?” A strange looking man shouted, his arms clutching to the half DragonLord. Raising his upperbody from the bed with unnatural speeds and eyes wide open, Alex stared right into the eyes of another man. The tingling blue remembrance of the ocean showed pain, sorrow… a single tear. Not speaking, nor blinking his eyes, the sailor just stared blankly in front of him trying to comprehend what had just happened.

“Sir? Answer me. Are you alright?” The odd fellow asked again, though sounding a lot calmer than before. His eyes had not been placed away from the creature, not even for a single second. “Huh? Wh- What hap- what happened?” the blue eyed boy muttered quietly.

“You were… found… a few days ago. Badly dehydrated.” The man spoke with a mysterious tone in his voice, seeming as if he wanted to share the information but just not everything. “Our… women… took care of you”, he hesitated with the mentioning of women for some odd reason, though Alex wasn’t really bothered by it just yet. Lifting himself up further from the bed, he caused the top part of the blanket to fall down, showing his well-built chest to the man in front of him. “Alright. Thanks for that. So who are you anyway?” Alex asked, still feeling a tad on the off side, but he was making progress steadily – Much to the man’s surprise.


“I’m Johnny FeatherLight of the Tied Tubes clan, and you are?”
“I am Alex, that’s all the information you’ll need for now.”

Letting out a short sigh the DragonLord prepared himself to get up out of bed. Throwing the blanket away, he leaned backwards for a quick moment and jumped on his feet. Though much to his astonishment Johnny turned red and swiftly turned around, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to leave. Feel free to check out the area for a while, if you don’t wish to part from us just yet you’re welcomed to eat with us later today”. Turning his head to Alex for a slight moment, he nodded to himself and dashed off as fast as he could, leaving an amazed Alexander behind – Who wasn’t wearing any clothes at all, without realizing it just yet.

[Redeemer]

Slowly, my head rose to meet a vision I never expected to see. A man, old and worn, yet with a warm smile across his chapped lips. His dark skin face was wrinkled and reminded me of a worn leather glove. Three of his teeth were missing, two fronts from the top and a canine from the bottom. But even with them gone, his lips contorted to a warm smile that just caught me off guard. He wore a dusty brown onto of his hair of black nappy hair.

I rose to my feet, still silent from that disarming smile. He meant no harm to me, honestly cared if I was hurt. I felt so strange, I'd never known someone so concerned with someone they've never met. As soon as I rose to my feet, I dusted myself off. I needed to give this man a quick look over, hoping that he wasn't some vision my sleep deprived mind had made up.

With a pair of dark red pants, he sat upon a wooden crate near its breaking point. He held a guitar tightly to his breast. It was worn, made of some cheap wood and the color clashed with his stained, white frilled undershirt. He was homeless, and it wasn't hard to tell. But he wasn't as bitter as worn as he should be. He was far from it in fact.

"I'm fine." I spoke while rubbing my head slightly, an ache starting to creep into my mind. I was about to turn away, when his fingers made a slight strum on his instrument. His guitar sang, and for a moment the sound filled my head with a wonderful feeling. I hadn't heard music in ages, and his would not have been my first choice. Still, it soothed me in these moments.

"Like my Guita' playin'?" Even as he spoke, he made a few more notes of music. I almost closed my eyes and let the waves of sound reverberate in the corners of my skull. I had to admit it, he wasn't too bad at that instrument.

"You play it well. Did you study some place?"

"You don' need ta' study a' know music. It's deep with'in ya'. All ya' need is somethin' to play it on." He looked down upon the dirt once he had finished speaking, continuing to play. It was a soft melody, slow paced and easy going like a sunday morning. Yet I stood puzzled at his answer.

"Learning an instrument has to take more than that." I was sure he was being sarcastic, making me a tad bitter in my response.

"Did'ya take a class to learn'ta walk?" Still looking at the ground, his rate had increased. He wasn't trying to convince me, only answer back. "Now set down an' listen if ya' want a lesson."

Defeated, I complied with his simple demand. they crate he was on had enough room for two, and although it was uncomfortable for me at first, he quickly became easier to be around. Soon, he was strumming his guitar, a fast paced song that I'd heard once before. I didn't know from where, but it was just one of those songs that seems so familiar. I was lost in thought, even as he put down a bindle bag so passersby could throw coins in.

There I sat, only the gods know how long, day dreaming to his music.

[BlackPorcelain]

“Dehydration, suave…” The DragonLord thought as he wandered around the room for a while. The place itself was empty, bar for the bed and a door leading to a small balcony, which had a cement wall for protection that reached up to Alex’s stomach. Walking over to the doorway he moved the door out of its casement and opened the wooden ingress.

Voices from outside met up with the newcomer. The people were busy as bees, and countless as ants – A feature about the town that Alex enjoyed. Though it was hard to catch individuals standing by themselves, there were two guys who did not meet the norm. Both with dark hair, they seemed to be having a conversation that Alex would love to hear. Attempting to read their lips, the sailor reached forward – Almost falling off the balcony while doing so.

Gripping his arms tightly around the cement wall, people could’ve easily seen Alex’s bum as he tried to get himself up to the balcony again. Looking downwards for a quick moment, the sailor noticed a young lady not only staring at him but whistling too. “Hi to you too, miss!” He smiled at her and quickly pulled himself back up. “What was that all about?” He raised his eyebrow and looked down to brush the dust off his clothes. “Oh. My. GOD!”

Swiftly running back into the building again with his head as red as a tomato, Alex looked around to find a set of clothes, though finding none. Opening the door to enter the rest of the building, the sailor ran through the hallway all the while transforming his usual tender skin into silvery scales resembling those of a dragon. If a normal human being would’ve seen him like this, chances are they would not have recognized him and would have probably terminated him at the spot – Lucky for him no one seemed to be around right now.

“Ah, there you are...” Sliding his leather pants on as quickly as possible, he buckled up his belt and sash, heading back to his room.

The minute I entered the room again he noticed that something had changed. The bedsheet had been taken off, and the blanket had been folded and put into a corner – The bed itself seemed forsaken, simply abandoned. Somewhat torn apart at both the top and bottom half, Alex couldn’t imagine having slept in it. Shrugging lightly he wandered over to the balcony again and listened carefully as music filled his ears. “Such a soothing sound. This I gotta hear from up close and personal!” The blue-eyed guy thought and leaped over the balustrade, landing on the roof of a small building. Several people spotted his actions, however they did not seem to move in a direction that made them look like they cared.

“One down, one to go!” He thought and jumped off the building, coming in touch with the ground down below mere seconds later. Eyed by the by-standers for a short while, Alex simply smiled and waved as he slowly walked in the direction of the guitarist.

[Beauty]

The young elven lord continued down the path with his usual aristocratic grace. He had spotted a sign indicating an inn and was eager to get to it. He ignored out of habit any and all beggars and homeless people he saw. As far as he was concerned, they were too far below him to even be acknowledged as people.

As they passed by an alley, Slave heard the lilting music of a guitar being played and slowed to see what the source was. She had heard many different instruments being played at her master’s house in Salvar, so music was not strange to her. Slowly, she came to a stop, watching an old man’s fingers with great interested. Master Carth had never allowed her to learn anything, even an instrument. She stood there for a few moments till an angry shout from further down the sidewalk reminded her that she was lagging behind. Turning, she ran as fast as she could to catch up.

“Why did you stop?” Carth’s voice asked coldly, his hands placed on his hips. “You know better than to stop anywhere without my say so.”

“Slave is sorry, Master. She heard music and it was so pretty. It made her forget to keep up.” The young woman bowed her head dejectedly, staring at the ground. She didn’t like it when she made her master angry with her and not just because his anger might mean a beating. His disappointment in her made her very sad.

Carth sighed heavily, then turned on his heel and strode on toward the inn he had seen. He was in too good of a mood to let her instance of forgetfulness ruin it. At last coming to the inn, he opened the door and strode inside. “I need a single room, the finest you have available.”

The clerk behind the counter looked up with a very bored expression on her face. She wore her blonde hair in a tight bun. Her shirt was of white cotton and appeared very formal. “That’ll be 25 gold pieces, sir.”

“All right, also dinner and two baths.” He said as he pulled out his money bag and began counting out coins.

“Dinner’ll be 10 and the baths five gold pieces.”

Carth carefully counted out the 40 required pieces of gold, then scooped up the room key the young woman handed him. She thanked perfunctorily, then went back to the book she’d been reading when Carth had first walked in.

He lead the way quickly up two flights of stairs to the finer rooms the inn held. The oak door to his room opened easily without any squeaking. The room inside was quite fine. The bed frame was of polished oak and was quite large. There was a very large area rug spread out in front of the bed, so that customers would not have to step on a cold floor in the mornings. It had red and black diamonds designed on it. A large, east-facing window overlooked the small town, framed in heavy red drapes. A porcelain wash basin and pitcher stood next to the window, full of water fresh that morning.

Carth nodded approvingly as he took in what would be his room for the next night or two and beckoned for Slave to enter and start about her chores. A fire had been laid in the stone fireplace, though it had not been started. Candles stood on the mantle and the table that stood against the wall the door was set in. An oil lamp stood on the bedside table.

"This is quite adequate. When you have finished with getting the room ready, we will go to dinner."

Slave nodded in acknowledgement and quickly went about the few chores she needed to do at the moment.

[Redeemer]

The night was waning, and I could feel dawn's heat only an hour away. A few pedestrians had thrown in gold coins, and I could count nearly thirty in his bindle. He was good, better even, and his soft melodies made a pleasant duet with the night's sounds. I tensed a little, knowing I’d have to leave soon. The sun was not my ally and I did not wish to meet it. The people's activities began to drudge during the night. These people were nocturnal, but even they needed some sleep. I began fingering my scarf, nervous about just how to say goodbye. After all, our meeting was unusual and our time together spent with little chit chat. However, in the blink of an eye a black streak came flying past. Its footsteps so fast that they were barely heard. And as it passed, I noticed the man's bindle was gone. His gold had been taken without us even thinking.

"My Money!" The man shrieked. So kind hearted, I doubted he had ever faced such villainy. Without even thinking, I gave chase. My feet seemed to have a mind of their own as my worn boots clicked hard against the road, raising a cloud of dust behind me. Faster and faster I dashed, shadows of darkened color whizzed by.

Soon, I found myself in an ally. The stench of rotting fruit was heavy in the air. I found myself wondering, had I lost my prey? Had the thief beguiled me? Still, I looked around. Behind broken crates and dented cans. Sheets of papers rolled by my feet as the wind gave a warm gust of air. Dawn was even closer now. 'Perhaps I should heed the sun, stop my pursuit. Why did I even follow?' Annoyed at my stupidity, I prepared to turn around. However, the sound of a sudden scratch caught my attention. A rock had move, grinding against a nearby wall. Someone was near me, and I had a good idea that it was the specter that had dared to steal that man's money. I turned around, hoping to see this creature face to face. Nothing. Only the sky showing the first light of day.

Suddenly, a harsh screech broke through the air. My head turned once again, only to meet with a large wooden stick. In an instant, great pain surged through my head as my vision went black. I lost control of my body, and I could feel my weight falling to the ground. And then...

Nothing.

[BlackPorcelain]

Step by step more people seemed to look at the sailor, his way of clothing showing more flesh in the open than any of the other costumes worn by other men and women. “Geesh, haven’t they ever seen anyone like me?” Alex contemplated and quickly moved on again. Slightly humming along to the rhythm of the guitar’s song, the half DragonLord caught himself enjoying the music more than he expected.

Brushing his left hand against his leather pants, the sailor used his other hand to keep the trident on his back in place. Obviously he still hadn’t figured out that these people had never laid eyes on a Haltimeran trident before, let alone a man with gills on his neck and skin in between his fingers.

Suddenly a creature bumped into him, too fast for Alex to get a good glimpse of it, and too weak to place him out of balance. Moments later he could hear a man scream for his money, the same rushed thing apparently getting away with it. “How rude…” he spoke out loud and made a quick gesture to the direction opposite to where the shape was headed off. Summoning a speedy gust from behind him, the man in leather started accelerating his pace until he was running at full speed.

Jumping over the few people who were still around, Alex had no trouble keeping up with the man – Though he did notice another person in hot pursuit of the criminal. Identifying this man as the one who was with the musician, the DragonLord decided to take things a tad slower until finally the other person chased the thief down to a dark alley.

Putting the winds back to rest again while breathing heavily from the run, he leaped on a wall and reorganized his balance swiftly. Taking a detour over the wall, the youth heard a loud scream as he reached the unfamiliar person - Just in time to see him being struck down with a wooden stick. “What the…” Alex thought. Contemplating about whether or not he had to attack the scandalous person, he quickly decided to refrain from any violent action and waited patiently for what was to come up next.

[Beauty]

Dinner was not a very long affair for Lord Carth and his slave. It was also quite boring with nothing of interest happening. After dinner, he and Slave went to the bathhouse located in the basement of the large building. Two large tubs had been filled to the top with steaming, rose and lilac scented water. Two towels and a bar of soap sat on the stools that were beside each tub.

“Perfect...”

The young lord helped Slave into one tub and then proceeded to thoroughly wash her long hair. Despite the fact that he let her run around in a dress that was little more than a long shirt, he did like for her to otherwise look very nice. Her hair and skin were nearly as well cared for as his own, for he took pride in his possessions. Once her hair was clean, he handed her the soap and bath towel so she could wash her own body.

“There you go, Slave,” he told her kindly. He quickly stripped and stepped into his own tub, sighing pleasurably as the hot water caressed over his smooth skin. He sat there for quite some time, just soaking in the pleasant warmth. He was in no hurry to get out and knew that Slave would be enjoying having her own bath of water all to herself. She had been very good and deserved the extra special treatment.

Slave obediently washed her body when her master handed her bath towel and soap, then set both back on the stool. She sat still for a few moments, then switched positions so her back was facing the door. She was unused to being allowed to soak in the hot water and although she found it very relaxing, she also found it very boring. Eventually she found a position that was most comfortable and slipped into a light doze.

While she did all her moving around and dozing, Carth washed himself and his hair. It was not until the water went from being hot to lukewarm that he at last decided that they’d had enough soaking. He got out of his tub, quickly dried off, dressed and then went to help Slave do the same.

Back in their room, Carth sat down on his large bed. It was quite large enough to share comfortably with anyone. He thought for a moment about the waitresses he’d seen in the inn’s restaurant. He had tried to see if any of them would be interested in sharing his bed, but they all seemed to feel they were above such fun things and had turned down all his offers. Wishing now that he had not chosen such a fine inn, he called Slave over to him.

[BlackPorcelain]

For minutes in a row the man covered in rags sat still. Leaning over the small guy he had struck down with his wooden stick, he inspected him for everything. To Alex there still hadn’t been a single reason for this sort of action and thus he kept staring, his glance hardly changing direction.

Dozens of paper sheets flew through the alley, along with small boxes. Hell, there was even a wooden box that made its way as its wheels at the bottom were propelled by the wind. Gesturing his hand slightly, Alex casted a spell to put the wind to rest – Putting a halt to the wooden crate before it could slam in to the wall, a thing that could easily turn the criminal’s attention to the sailor.

“Sleep well kid. We’re not done with you just yet”, the youth could hear coming from the stranger’s mouth upon which he got himself off the ground. Putting the boy in his hands, he carried him from his place and disappeared into a nearby building.

Mere moments later Alex had placed himself in front of the door, gazing through the watered glass in an attempt to see what was beyond. Not able to see it too well, he decided to give the door a light push and enter carefully. What lied beyond him was an empty hall with nothing there but a duo of doors – One with a wooden frame, the other obviously made of some sort of metal. “eenie meenie minie moo…” Alex whispered to himself as he tried to choose his path.

Softly one of the doors made a crack, the wooden one. Assuming someone was on his way back, Alex quickly grabbed the metal door, opened it and swiftly locked it behind him. “Heh. Where is this place?” The youth thought as he found himself stuck in a room with several baths in it. Some even had water in them, while bubbles were rising from the bottom to the surface.

Peeking around if no one is was around, the sailor set out into the large chamber. Looking around all of the corners that were around, he couldn’t find a single trace of a person having been here. At least, until he heard a knock on the door opposite to the metal door he himself came through. “Ah. Not again!” His decision was a quick one, instead of running away again he was going to try and hide.

Quickly kicking his pants and other pieces of clothing off, he deposited them into a large box in a corner of the room and swiftly jumped into one of the bubble baths. In rapid succession bubbles came up to him, practically blinding his eyes as he was tumbling to the bottom of the bath – An unexpected and rather long way down.

*Thud* “God, that hurt!” Alex shouted underwater, bubbles inevitably flowing into mouth and gills. A moment later the sailor coughed loudly, inhaling even more bubbles. Suddenly a duo of feet sank into the water, followed carefully by the young body of a female figure. Her lithe form did nothing for the half DragonLord who was stuck in the bath, other than instilling an odd fear to be caught. Shifting uneasily through the water, Alex took a closer look at the bottom of the pool, noticing its strong silvery colour that resembled his scales so much.

Forgetting almost entirely about his shadow, the fellow looked at the lass as she washed herself clean in the water. Her body has many a curve, her head covered in a strange and mostly unnatural blond bundle of hair that was carefully put in a ponytail. Her green eyes were scanning the lower regions of the bubble path, staring mostly at the odd shadow that presented itself only five feet away from her.

[Beauty]

Slave obediently walked across the room to stand in front of her master. Lust shone in his eyes as he gently pulled her into his arms with her back against his chest. He held her close to him and rested his chin on her shoulder. Holding one of her hands in each of his, he crossed her arms over her stomach.

“You’ve been very good lately, Slave...” he told her softly, turning his face to let his lips caress her neck. He smiled as she shifted a bit in his arms, he knew all her buttons and had every intention of using that knowledge to its fullest extent tonight. Softly he pressed feather light kisses along the young woman’s neck, leaving a trail down to her shoulder.

A soft moan escaped Slave’s lips as she tilted her head opposite of Carth’s, stretching her neck somewhat. She liked the way Carth’s tender lips felt against her smooth skin. He always made sure that she was enjoying what he called “fun”. She didn’t move, savoring the soft, tender kisses she was receiving.

Gently, he spun her around so she was facing him and pulled her into his lap. Still moving with gentleness, he slipped on arm around her back to rest on her outer hip. He looked deep into her eyes and realized that as many times as he done this with her, she was still nervous. “Don’t be afraid, my dear. You know I won’t hurt you...”

Gently, he lifted his free hand to her face and tilted her chin upwards. Softly, tenderly, he kissed her young lips. After a moment, Slave began to relax and return her master’s affection. The hand that had tipped her face upward now slid caressingly over her still clothed body to her thighs. His hand stopped about half way down them, just at the edge of her dress, with his fingers nestled between her thighs.

Timidly, Slave returned her master’s kisses as she finally moved on her own for the first time. Slowly, her hands crept up his chest to his shoulders. One hand stayed there while the other slid back down his arm to rest in the crook of his elbow. Bit by bit she was losing herself in the pleasant feel of her master’s touch.

Slowly the young elf lord deepened the kiss. As he did so he gently grasped the hem of Slave’s dress and began pulling it up and over her head. He paused a moment after tossing the garment to the floor, admiring her perfect body. Then in one swift movement, he stood, lifted her and pulled the bedcovers back. Depositing her on the bed, he swiftly disrobed and slid into bed beside her, his hands seeking her body’s most tender areas even as his lips sought hers once again.

Slave lay beside her master, savoring his touch even as she hesitantly began to return it. Hands caressed over smooth skin, producing light moans of pleasure. Lips traversed down the length of one body and then back up it again, each kiss, each touch becoming more and more impassioned with each new kiss or touch.

*~*

Several hours later, Carth lay in bed with his hands folded behind his head. Slave lay beside him, her head resting against his chest. He watched the steady rise and fall of her breasts as she breathed deeply in sleep. Tonight had turned out to be a rather good night after all and he was quite pleased with himself. Settling an arm around Slave’s shoulders, he too slipped into deep slumber.