Chapter 16: Through the City Gates
By the time the city gates came into sight, looming over the forest’s edge like the face of an enormous sheer cliff, the day’s light was fading fast. So imposing was the sight that Lexi had to make a concerted effort to actually close her jaw. Never having left the suburban confines of her old hometown, the paladin was completely overawed at the spectacle of a genuine medieval curtain wall that surrounded the capital — the whole thing looking, to her mind, like one giant castle.
The gate through which they entered had to have been at least thirty feet high and ten across. Enormous hardwood doors that opened outward were banded with huge strips of black iron, and the spikes of a portcullis could be spied hanging above them as the two adventurers passed beneath. Even the short passage through the gate itself shocked Lexi, opening her eyes to the realization that the outer wall must be at least twenty feet thick. And, since the gate’s opening barely came a third of the way up the face, it was probably a hundred feet high.
The scale of such a monstrous edifice rocked the paladin back on her heels momentarily, as the math whizzed through her head.
“T-This wall around your city is enormous!” Lexi exclaimed, her mind boggled at the architecture’s sheer scale. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“Oh,” Gretel said nonchalantly. “Your city’s curtain wall is a lot smaller?”
“Hah! My city doesn’t even have one. I’m serious, this is completely amazing.”
“But,” the mage’s face scrunched up in confusion, “if you don’t have a wall, how do you keep out the monsters?”
Fuck me sideways!
“Err…” Lexi stalled, scrambling to find a way out of this hole she had dug herself into. “That’s because my city was on an island, so we were surrounded by the sea.”
“Ahhh,” the mage nodded sagaciously. “That’s got to be a great way to build a defensible city.”
“It is,” Lexi agreed, wiping a few beads of sweat from her forehead covertly. “Most of the time, we had more problems from other humans inside the city than from monsters.”
“Mmm hmm, it’s really not too different here. The capital’s big enough that crime can be a serious problem. The city guard does a lot, but I’d imagine that kind of thing is impossible to stamp out entirely in any large city.”
The girls walked on, Gretel leading the way to the inn she had mentioned earlier. Lexi followed closely alongside her, eager not to be separated from the mage amid the city’s bustle. But, it was hard for the paladin to not be entranced by the milling populace through which they wove. It was exactly like something she would have expected from any fantasy MMORPG.
Peasants, craftsmen, guards, and adventurers all milled about, going on their varied ways. Most were human, but Lexi soon saw that small numbers of other humanoids appeared to be interspersed throughout, mingling freely with the humans. A pair of short bearded fellows, nearly as broadly built as they were tall, walked by as Lexi caught a snipped of their conversation involving something about “mines” and “ore.”
Those must be dwarves!
She noted this to herself excitedly, drinking in the fantastic scenery like a kid in a candy store.
And elves too!
This she added seeing a solitary figure wending her way through the crowd, small statured, but incredibly elegant — with unmistakably long and elegantly pointed ears peeking out from her light blue locks.
Is that…a…fucking FURRY!?
She had almost missed the creature entirely, but out of the corner of her eye a flash of ginger colored fur caught her attention. Whipping her head to the right, she caught a momentary glimpse of something that she would have seen described as either a “furry” or maybe “beastkin” back on the imageboards at home. Caught somewhere between the form of a shapely human woman and a shockingly ginger colored fox, the “foxgirl” — as Lexi mentally dubbed her — sported soft looking fur from head to toe over a body that was otherwise quite human looking in terms of proportions and shape.
However, the large fluffy tail that poked out from a cleverly designed slit in her long skirt made the fox-like nature clear. As did her face, which was thoroughly akin to a true fox’s, but was blessed with a mouth and eyes as expressive as those of any human woman — like something you would expect to see in a Disney movie. The overall effect was like nothing Lexi had ever really dreamed of seeing in the flesh, and she was a bit surprised at how fetching the foxgirl looked in her long skirt, white blouse, and tight fitting bodice.
For her part, Gretel hardly seemed to notice any of the “wonders” that kept catching Lexi’s eye, which — for the mage — were all simply normal aspects of life in Astyanax. For Lexi though, the entire quarter mile walk from the gate to the inn was a parade of marvels and curiosities, all of which piqued her interest one after the other. By the time the pair reached the inn, Lexi’s mind was just as exhausted as her body, from racing to take in the densely populated palette of living information through which Gretel had led her.
The two adventurers shared a simple dinner of beef and carrot stew, with a side of fresh baked bread and a flagon of red wine to wash it down. Both girls were completely exhausted at that point, and opted to immediately retire to their room, rather than spend any more time in the tavern portion of the inn which took up most of the ground floor. It was not a particularly rowdy establishment, but both Lexi and Gretel had nothing on their minds but a good night’s sleep.
Despite their earlier banter, neither the mage nor the paladin had any remaining energy for any “dessert” — and the girls almost immediately fell asleep as soon as they stripped out of their gear and hit the mattress of the room’s moderately sized single bed. The next morning, however, Lexi could certainly have been persuaded to engage in any number of erotic activities with the curvy young mage.
Apparently “morning wood” was as much a part of being a futanari as it was for any other healthy cock-owner. And, the erection that Lexi awoke to was almost painfully hard. Remembering something she had seen boys talking about on some web forum or another, Lexi recalled that strenuous use of the thigh muscles was supposed to help get rid of unwanted erections. Feeling a bit ridiculous, the paladin started doing squat exercises right there in the middle of the room, still fully nude from having just awoken. While her cock stayed rock hard for the first few squats, after a minute or so of vigorous exercise, Lexi was pleased to see a nice floppy member hanging down between her legs.
“That’s that!” she chuckled to herself. “But where did that mage get off to so early?”
It struck Lexi then that she did not really know if it was early at all, or if she had just slept in. After all, she had no watch or smartphone in this world, and thus no way of telling time. Judging from the newly risen sun that she could see through the curtains, it still looked like morning though. So, she surmised that Gretel must have just woken up a bit early, and likely had snuck downstairs for some breakfast while letting Lexi catch a few more winks.
Assuming that they weren’t pressed for time, Lexi found a basin of water that looked and smelled clean, and assumed it had been left out for washing. Even though she and Gretel had bathed in the creek yesterday, the trek to and through the city had definitely put its mark on the paladin, so she was grateful to be able to wash up before getting her clothes and armor back on. She also took the opportunity to redo her twin braids, glad that the braiding motion — something she had never done in her past life — seemed to come naturally to this new body.
Ready to meet the day, Lexi strapped on her enormous broadsword and headed downstairs to find Gretel. The paladin’s heart skipped a beat when she rounded the bend and her nose caught the most glorious of all scents that one can dream of smelling in the morning — coffee. She dashed through the doors into the tavern area, and found the mage sitting comfortably at a table by herself, enjoying a large steaming mug. Lexi’s mouth watered as the heavenly aroma wafted to her.
“Morning!” she said, extra chipper with the knowledge that coffee not only existed in Astyanax, but that she could actually have some. “How can I get a nice mug of that?” she pointed at Gretel’s mug grinning.
“Good morning yourself,” the mage replied with a wink and smile. She waved down the barmaid, a matronly woman with pretty silver streaked brown hair and an absolutely vast bosom displayed prominently by her tight bodice and low-cut blouse. Lexi had never specifically had a “thing” for MILFs, but it was difficult not to stare when the busty barmaid leaned over the table to take Gretel’s order. A teasing whisper broke the spell, snapping Lexi back into reality.
“Didn’t anyone teach you it’s not polite to stare?”
A beet red blush bloomed across the paladin’s cheeks as she meekly looked back to the mage, tearing her gaze from the retreating barmaid and her massive tits.
“At least,” Gretel said in an even lower whisper. “I think I can compete on that particular front.” She leaned forward just enough to give Lexi a very good look down the front of her own tightly laced corset, presenting an array of milky white flesh that was, to Lexi’s eye, even more appealing. The distinction apparently was also clear to the futa’s cock, which had a mind of its own, and had decided that all the tits on display meant that it was time to start standing up straight.
“Err…I…” Lexi fumbled, trying desperately to hide the bulge that was beginning to tent her tabard. She resolutely crossed her legs, once again intently flexing her thighs, praying that she would not embarrass herself further.
Gretel’s easy laugh cut the tension immediately, and also helped to relieve Lexi’s “problem,” at least a bit. “I’m just teasing you,” the mage quipped. “Did you sleep OK?”
“Yeah, I sure did. I didn’t realize you’d even gotten up until I rolled out of bed and saw that I had the room to myself.”
“Well,” the mage said coyly. “When I woke up, there was a big fat cock poking me in the butt. So, I figured I’d better get out of there quick before I found myself needing another bath.”
Lexi’s blush returned with a vengeance. “I-I can’t help what it does when I’m asleep!” the paladin whisper-yelled.
“I didn’t say I was complaining,” Gretel chuckled. “I’ll take it as an unconscious compliment you were giving me from your dreams.”
Before Lexi could think of a snappy riposte to continue the verbal sparring match, the barmaid returned, and Lexi’s thoughts were completely consumed by the glorious scent of the mug of coffee she delivered.
Thereafter, while the two adventurers caffeinated themselves and broke their fasts on a meal of hard boiled eggs and fresh bread, they laid out their plans for the day. Lexi’s initial suggestion was that they might go to the guild hall so that she could formally register as an adventurer.
“The guild halls can be pretty congested,” Gretel explained. “And since we can’t register as a party unless we have at least three members, it would probably be best if we focus on finding another person to join us first, and then take care of both registrations at the guild hall together.”
“Sounds good to me,” Lexi agreed, slurping down the last bit of her coffee. “Since you’re exclusively a magic-user, I’m thinking we’d best look for another fighter.”
“That would be my suggestion too. You never want a party to be too unbalanced when it comes to mages or clerics, since we’re all but useless in combat once our spells run out.”
“Right,” the paladin nodded. “So, any idea where we can look for a good fighter that’s unattached at the moment? A tavern really doesn’t seem like the optimal place, but I don’t really know the city at all.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Gretel said, standing up and slinging on her pack. “We’ll head to the guild’s arena.”
“Arena?” Lexi asked tentatively, as visions of gladitorial death matches swam through her mind.
Her consternation must have been apparent, because Gretel waved her hand as if to brush it away. “It’s nothing to worry about. But, we do need to get there soon — before the ninth hour’s bells ring. C’mon, I’ll explain on the way.”