Ch71: Returning Home
Cold stone surrounds Drakling and Dwarf as they head deeper into the growing darkness of the cave, leaving the sunlight behind to follow the path to Krvavy’s home.
This last stretch is complete agony for the barbarian. She is so close to finally seeing her girls again, yet so very, very far. Inanna, with her short Dwarven legs, walks so damn slow.
Krvavy is tempted to just pick the Dwarf up and carry her, like she has been doing these past two days. But Inanna wanted to walk, so walk she will. Even if it is quickly wearing away at the barbarian’s patience.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they could just talk, maybe get to know each other a little bit.
But even though they have spent a few days together now, Inanna is still as much of a stranger to Krvavy as when they met. The Dwarf just doesn’t seem to be in the mood for idle chat. Though, to be fair, they haven’t actually had much time to really talk. Krvavy has found that holding a conversation with someone slung over her shoulder is rather difficult.
And every other chance they do get ends up being overshadowed by a feeling of awkwardness.
Like in the mornings, when Krvavy’s pent up cock stands stiff and tall. Neither of them addressed it, but that isn’t something either of them can just ignore. Even now Krvavy is having a bit of a hard time, with her dick semi-stiff beneath her loincloth.
It really doesn’t help that her cock is right at eye-level for the Dwarf. Inanna is pretty much at the perfect height for a standing blowjob right now...
Krvavy abruptly clears her throat, doing her best to ignore the steadily growing need throbbing between her legs. She’ll be home soon enough. She can last until then.
“[Hey,]” Inanna speaks up, surprising the lusty barbarian, “[what are your... girls... like? Are they all Orcs?]”
“[Oh.]” Krvavy’s face flushes, half in embarrassment and half in guilt. In the few times that she has tried to talk to this Dwarf, she never thought to talk about her girls. “[Um... No. Only one, Khalia, is an Orc. Though she is... a little different.]” The barbarian pauses and deeply sighs out. “[To be completely honest, I broke her.]”
Inanna simply raises an eyebrow, gazing almost straight up to look Krvavy in the eye.
“[Well... You saw how I... don’t exactly have the best control of my emotions. We met in... less than ideal circumstances, I got a bit carried away and, well...]” Krvavy shrugs awkwardly, uncertain on how to exactly say it, before just shaking her head dismissively. “[We tried fixing her, with magic, but now she just... she acts like a dog.]”
“Mmm.” The Dwarf hums out, though Krvavy has absolutely no idea what that could mean. “[Have you tried raising your Composure?]”
“[What?]”
“[To help with... self-control.]”
“Huh.” Krvavy actually hadn’t thought about that. And now she feels like an idiot, as that is so obvious. Fuck. She is going to have to do that, isn’t she? Well, that is at least three levels spoken for. A bit annoying...
“[What about the other two?]” Inanna asks as they walk through the dark cave.
“[Oh, yeah. One is a Human, Thea. She can be a bit of a brat at times, but she’s pretty lovable when you get to know her.]” The barbarian can’t keep a slight smile from creeping onto her face, though it quickly falls into a faint frown. “[And the other is an Elf, Beryl. She is almost certainly going to yell at me quite a bit when we get back. I... have been out here a little longer than intended, and she’ll be worried.]”
“Mmm.” The Dwarf once again hums in such a neutral tone that Krvavy has no idea what it could mean. “[Quite the ragtag group you have. Did you meet them in the same way that you met me?]”
“[I... kind of?]” Krvavy shrugs her shoulders. “[At least for Thea and Beryl. As you can imagine, meeting Khalia was a bit more... aggressive. But Thea was captured by bandits and trapped in a cage, so I ‘rescued’ her from that. And Beryl lost a fight against a fire mage, so if I hadn’t shown up and killed him...]”
“Mm.” Inanna hums back as they walk alongside the river, slowly approaching the faint light of the grotto. “[What are you? And I do not mean your odd magics or the strange way you act. I simply do not know what race you could be.]”
“[I’m a Drakling.]”
“[Hah.]” The Dwarf makes a single fake sounding laugh. “[Really? I should have known.]” She slowly shakes her head, causing the thick mass of her coal-black hair to bounce around. Her intense eyes almost critically look the comparatively giant barbarian up and down. “Mm. [It is obvious, now that I think about it. What other race could you possibly be? It is just that... I was uncertain of if your people were even real. Or, if they were, that any would still be alive.]”
Krvavy looks down at the grey-skinned shortstack with an almost bewildered expression.
“[Drakling’s are straight from the history books.]” Inanna calmly explains, her tone steady and neutral. Which seems to be normal for her? “[As tools of the Dragons, I would have thought your kind would have faced the same fate that awaited them: hunted to the brink of extinction.]”
“[Oh, well...]” Krvavy doesn’t actually know much about her race, but she is pretty sure that they are far from extinct. The Duke and his wizard knew what she was, for one. “[We’re not exactly common, I don’t think, but... Well, here I am.]”
The Dwarf simply shrugs her shoulders and falls back into silence, though surprisingly that silence only lasts for a few minutes. It would seem that she is more open to talking now that she is actually walking on her own. She must have found carrying a conversation while being carried just as awkward as Krvavy did.
“[When I first saw that dreadful open sky... I was afraid that a Dragon would swoop down out of the clouds and attack us. I knew it was a foolish fear, as the Dragons are as good as gone, but I was raised on histories and stories of the past. Dragons are an age old threat, a constant antagonist. Even worse than the Elves. I felt like a child afraid of my own shadow. But now... Here I am, completely at the mercy of what is hopefully the closest thing to a Dragon that I will ever meet. Fate is a funny thing, is it not?]”
Krvavy has absolutely no idea how to respond to that.
Inanna slowly sighs out, once again looking like she is tired of everything, even life itself.
Still unsure of what to say, Krvavy decides to try changing the topic. Hopefully talking about something else will take the Dwarf’s mind off of... well, everything that has happened these past few days. “[We’re almost at the grotto. It’s the, uh, main cavern here, I suppose. You can see the holes in the ceiling letting in light up ahead, and beneath them are a lot of plants and three little lakes. Though I guess they’re more like large ponds...]” She awkwardly trails off.
Inanna doesn’t respond, though she does look around the place. Her eyes linger on the thick pillars of stone and the various short cliff walls that the path twists around. “[This is quite the cave.]” The Dwarf idly states after a few more minutes of excruciatingly slow walking.
“[Yeah, it’s great.]” Krvavy replies with some pride in her voice. “[But you haven’t seen anything yet. Our home is set up on a platform overlooking the entire cave, and it is really a whole different view from above. You can just about see it from here too, though those pillars are kind of in the way...]”
“Mhm.” The Dwarf hums and nods, the light around them growing brighter with each step.
[“There is an even larger section further in too. It’s pretty dark and kind of empty though, not really filled with anything beyond the hot springs. And there are a lot of hot springs. Seriously, there are three separate clusters of them, and they are all filled with magical healing water. And it’s that water which is flowing all the way down here, though it kind of loses its glow in the grotto.]”
“[How interesting...]” Inanna slowly responds, before her eyes gradually trail down to the ground beneath her feet. “[This path winds around quite a lot.]”
“[Oh, uh, yeah. It’s kind of annoying. But unless you want to climb up some little cliffs there isn–]”
“My dearest love?! Is tha’ ya!?” Beryl’s voice calls out from above, drawing Krvavy’s attention up to the top of the short cliff ahead of them. The exact one that the barbarian is gesturing to. “Oh, it is~!”
Before Krvavy can react, the tomboyish Wood Elf goes right to the edge and jumps down, falling a distance almost three times her height and gracefully landing beside a bush.
The Elf doesn’t stay there for long though, as she immediately lunges forwards and throws herself at Krvavy, slamming into the barbarian and tightly holding on with both arms and legs, the latter of which lock their ankles together above the base of Krvavy’s tail.
“Whoa! Watch the horns!” The Drakling calls out in concern as Beryl plants kiss after kiss on her cheeks. “Don’t want you getting hur–mmph!”
Beryl silences the barbarian with a hungry kiss, one which Krvavy is more than happy to return.
This extremely enthusiastic greeting is too much for the barbarian. The feeling of Beryl’s warm body hugging tightly onto her own is pure bliss, heightened by the ravenous lust buried in their kiss. Her cock, which Krvavy has done her best to ignore for a full week, jumps straight up. Throbbing painfully hard, it pushes aside her loincloth and slaps against Beryl’s completely bare rear, desperately wanting to enter the lithe Elf.
With a great amount of effort, Beryl pulls her face back from Krvavy. “Oh, my dearest love, Ah was so worried! But now tha’ Ah have ya back Ah–” The Elf abruptly cuts herself off. A look of shock fills her face as her eyes stare straight at the new scar on Krvavy’s left shoulder. “Ya... ya got hurt!”
“It was just a little wound. I’m fine now. Even the bone healed back up, though that took a while longer...”
“The... bone...?” Beryl’s eye twitches slightly as the words leave her lips, causing an icy chill to run down Krvavy’s spine.
Krvavy flinches slightly as the Wood Elf’s hand flies up towards her, ready to slap her across the face. But Beryl’s palm stops just short of her cheek.
Beryl sucks air in through her teeth, wincing as she quickly grabs onto Krvavy’s upper horns, giving them an angry shake. “Ya idiot! Wha’ do ya mean the bone?! Ya almost died, didn’t ya?! Just a ‘little walk’ my arse! Ya damned Dragon!”
“Look, I–”
“No excuses!” The Elf hisses out. “Don’t make me worry like tha’! Please! I don’t want ta ‘ave ta keep goin’ ta sleep bein’ afraid tha’ Ah’ll wake ta ya walkin’ out o’ tha’ wall, ‘avin’ died again!”
Krvavy’s heart sinks seeing the tears well up in her Elf’s eyes. “I... I’m sorry. I–”
“Ya’d better be!” Beryl huffs back, burying her face in the crook of Krvavy’s neck, hugging onto the barbarian.
“Is there anything I can do to... to make it up to you...?” Krvavy hesitantly asks, rubbing a hand across her Elf’s toned back.
Beryl grumbles angrily into Krvavy’s neck. “Yes, ya damned Dragon, yes there is! Ya ‘ad best be–”
A sudden silence lingers over them both as Beryl abruptly stops talking, leaving Krvavy rather confused. “Be... be what...?”
The tanned Wood Elf slowly pulls herself back, pushing her arms against Krvavy’s chest while still keeping her legs locked around the barbarian’s waist. Her head slowly turns to the side, glaring down at where Inanna is patiently standing, completely still and silent.
“[Hello.]” The Dwarf gives the most neutral and emotionless greeting that Krvavy has ever heard.
“My dearest love. Care. Ta. Explain?”
“W-well...” Krvavy nervously begins, actually feeling a little bit of fear from her Elf’s sudden change of tone. “I heard a noise... I went to investigate it... and... Long story short, I found her.”
“Oh, Ah’m sure tha’ is ‘ow it ‘appened. As if ya can just find a Dwarf like tha’...” The cold, sarcastic words leave Beryl’s lips as she unlatches her legs from Krvavy, deftly returning to the ground.
The Elf critically looks Inanna up and down, stepping forwards and slowly circling around the Dwarf like a vulture.
“[What is she doing?]” Inanna asks, raising an eyebrow as she cautiously watches the clearly hostile Elf.
“[I... have no idea.]”
“[You should have mentioned that she was a Wood Elf.]” The Dwarf tiredly sighs, glancing up at Krvavy with a look of... disappointment? “[A lot of bad blood there. To put it simply... they love their trees, and didn’t like that we used to need them for our forges.]”
“Beryl... My sweet berry, wha–”
“Yer sweet berry?! If ya think tha’ makin’ a cute nickname fer me is goin’ ta ‘elp, ya are dead wrong!” The Elf spits out, though her cheeks do flush a little. “Now is not the time fer tha’!”
Krvavy sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. This could have gone better. “Look... Beryl, this is Inanna. [Inanna, this is Beryl.]”
Beryl simply narrows her eyes as the Dwarf slowly waves at her.
“[If you would like, I wouldn’t mind if both you and your Elf were to use Inspect on me.]” Inanna tiredly states, clearly having resigned herself to... whatever is happening.
“Wha’ did she say?!” Beryl immediately demands to know.
“She offered to let us Inspect her.”
“What.” The Elf forcibly breathes out that single word. “Are ya... are ya tellin’ me tha’ ya ‘aven’t done tha’ ta ‘er already?!”
“I... well, that’s a bit rude, isn’t it?”
That response clearly isn’t a good one, as instead of responding Beryl simply makes an unhappy noise and takes a very deep breath.
Biting the inside of her cheek, Krvavy decides to Inspect this Dwarf. Judging by Beryl’s intense gaze, the Elf is already doing so herself.
Enduring Education I: Increases Endurance by 2.5% and improves affinity for all scholarly & academic skills. Associated attribute = Endurance.
Rational & Reasonable I: Increases Rationality by 2.5% and greatly strengths the effect it has on Mana. Associated attribute = Rationality.
Stout & Sturdy: The indomitable Dwarves are famously resilient and durable, with unparalleled magic resistances.
Tough Tutelage I: Increases Toughness by 2.5% and improves affinity for all scholarly & academic skills. Associated attribute = Toughness.
Will & Determination I: Increases Willpower by 2.5% and greatly strengthens the effect it has on Mana. Associated attribute = Willpower.
Enchanting: The magic of infusing items, typically weapons & armour, with power. Associated attributes = Rationality & Willpower.
Imbue Mana: Magical energy is channelled into an item, giving it power. Associated attribute = Willpower.
Rune Magic: The magic of creating inscriptions & written words which contain power. A more mana efficient method of enchantment. Associated attribute = Rationality.
Infuse Rune: Magical energy is channelled into runes, giving them power. Associated attribute = Rationality.
“Ya are damned lucky tha’ she seems harmless.” Beryl speaks up, hardly giving Krvavy any time to take in all of that information. “Ah can’t believe tha’ ya would just bring some random woman ‘ome without seein’ if she’s a threat first...”
“Hey, I–”
“Ach, no, Ah don’t want ta ‘ear it.” The tanned Wood Elf clicks her tongue and shakes her head, before reaching out and grabbing onto Krvavy’s hand. “Come on. Let’s show this... Dwarf... ‘er new ‘ome.”
Krvavy simply raises an eyebrow as Beryl begins to gently drag her along the path.
“[This is... not what I expected.]” Inanna idly comments as she follows after Beryl and the barbarian. Despite being a bit more than a step behind those two, this Dwarf still dictates their pace. She can only walk so fast.
“[What do you mean?]” That question earns Krvavy a light glare from her Elf. Who has no idea what she just said.
“[I thought that your women would be more... possession than person. Not... like this.]”
Krvavy doesn’t know how to respond to that, and she doesn’t know if she should be insulted or not. But luckily it doesn’t look like she needs to respond, as the Dwarf is visibly deep in thought.
Beryl squeezes the barbarian’s hand as they gradually make their way through the grotto. “{Does this Dwarf not speak that Human tongue?}” She asks in her lyrical Elvish language.
“{She doesn’t seem to, no.}” The barbarian responds in kind.
“{Really?} So she won’t react if Ah called ‘er a fat rock cow? A stumpy cave hippo? Gold digger? Lumberfoot? Fleabeard? Hairy Gnome?”
“Beryl...” Krvavy cautions her Elf, who simply shrugs the warning off.
“Wha’ about rock humper? Oath breaker? Footstool? Short? Nothin’?” Beryl seems oddly disappointed that Inanna hasn’t so much as bat an eye at any of that. “My dearest love, ya do know ‘ow difficult tha’ makes this, right?”
“I...” The barbarian immediately trails off, shoulders slumping as she stifles a sigh. “I don’t exactly think these things through. You know that.”
Beryl just clicks her tongue again, falling into silence as they make their way through the grotto.
The already long walk is dragged out even further by Inanna’s slow stride, though that can’t exactly be blamed on her. It isn’t the Dwarf’s fault that her legs are so short compared to those of the Drakling and Wood Elf...
“Nghhn~!” Krvavy abruptly grunts out in pleasured pain as Beryl idly reaches out and gently flicks the still-hard tip of her cock.
“Ya are quite pent up, huh? Didn’t slake yer lust on yer newest woman?” The Elf’s fingertips dance across the top of Krvavy’s length.
“N-no. I...” Krvavy can hardly keep herself in control, with the haze of lust circling her mind and her body demanding relief. “She isn’t really mine. Not yet.”
Beryl raises an eyebrow at that, before glancing critically at the Dwarf. “Ya don’t really ‘ave a type, do ya? It’s just women, isn’t it?”
“Wha–ngh~!” The barbarian’s confusion is cut of with a squeeze of her cock. “Y-you are playing with fire.” She lustfully growls out.
The tomboyish Wood Elf’s eyes twinkle mischievously, and a little maliciously, as her fingers trail to Krvavy’s tip and then pull away from her length. “This Dwarf is so different from yer other girls. Khalia is a bit busty, but not like this. Thea is dainty and Ah am even slimmer wit’ a lean body, both o’ us so unlike this plump woman.”
“I wouldn’t call her plump.” Krvavy’s eyes look down at Inanna’s ridiculously large breasts, causing her dick to twitch.
“She’s a Dwarf. They’re all plump. And Ah see where ya’re lookin’. Imaginin’ those fat udders wrapped around yer length~? Their soft yet firm flesh yieldin’ beneath yer mighty thrusts~? Her dark stony skin covered in ropes o’ yer delicious white see–”
“BERYL!” Krvavy loudly growls through clenched teeth, moments away from losing herself to the overwhelming lust. “Stop. That.” She heavily pants, nearly gasping for air.
Beryl dramatically exhales. “Fine... Ah’ll stop. Fer now.”
That is really all the barbarian can ask for. As they fall back into silence Krvavy focuses on trying to calm herself, though that is a game she cannot win. The best she can do is push the lust back a little bit. She is simply too horny, and Beryl has fanned the flames of her arousal past the point of being able to push it aside completely.
“How many Dwarves did ya kill?” The Elf speaks up after a few short minutes, clearly getting impatient at their slow pace.
“Just the one that made this scar.” Krvavy slowly sighs out. Part of her is quite annoyed at the fact that she didn’t take that gun. It isn’t like she could have really used it, as she doesn’t have bullets or gunpowder, but it was a fucking gun. That is cooler than a pickaxe...
“Good.” Beryl nods her head, happy that the one who scarred her dearest love paid the ultimate price for it. “Ya will ‘ave ta tell me more later. When ya aren’t about ta lose control o’ yerself.” She tacks that last bit on as if it isn’t her fault that Krvavy is so on edge.
With that the Elf falls silent once more.