Hellbound (Reader Release)

I just put up this month's midmonth Reader Plus short so here is last month's for the rest of you. This one definitely challenged me a bit more than my regular shorts. I hope you enjoy the results.

***

Hellbound

The rain beats down against the mountain so hard it was as if the gods themselves were trying to hammer it back down into the earth. My cloak wrapped tightly around my lithe frame I lean my shoulder into the unrelenting wind and carry on to my destination. Silhouetted now and again by forks of lightning that split the dark sky the looming walls and towers of the monastery, like the faith of those who dwelled here, stood defiant against a hostile world. Weary and soaked to the bone I trudge to the sturdy gates with both my soul and my battle vestments are in a similar state, shredded to pieces and stained with the ichor of the unholy.

I slam the great iron knocker three times against the stout timbers of the gate and wait. From the other side I can the rattle of armor as the gateman hurries to the peephole. The shutter opens and the grizzled face of a mustached human man fills the space.

“Who comes knocking on this night not fit for man nor beast?”

“And what of elves?” I pull back my hood to reveal long pointed ears, short silver hair and flashing amethyst eyes. At the same time I release my cloak to let it part and reveal the symbol of my rank and order that I wore around my neck.

The man squints a moment before his eyes widen. “Templar Sylpharen!?”

The shutter slaps shut, the bar is lifted and the gates parted just far enough and just long enough for me to pass through. Slamming the bar back down to secure the gate the guard gives the ones in the flanking towers a wave of ‘all is well’ then turns to me.

“We’d been told a Templar was on the way. I didn’t realize it would be you.” Despite the sheets of rain lashing down over us the man stands there a moment just staring at me.

I look up at the man’s grimy awestruck face. “Do I know you?”

“Oh! No. No, Sir.” He shakes his head. “I was just a boy the last time you were through. I stabled your horse.”

“Ah, yes. Young Galien.”

His eyes widen at my recollection of his name. It never seemed to fail to impress humans that we elves could remember things just as well as they did. I’d had it explained to me once by a barbarian in his cups that they viewed the mind like a sort of bucket that could only hold so much water. They assumed since we elves lived so long and had so much to remember that the smaller details would pour over the sides to make room for more important memories.

“Why…yes! That’s right, Sir. Galien.”

With a nod to the central keep of the monastery I say. “You didn’t join the order?”

“No, Sir. Got a girl with child on my sixteenth year.” He says. “We’ve had three more since.”

“Fruitful. I suspected that our Lady had another plan for you.”

“Yes, Sir.” He makes touches his fingers to his forehead then heart in the common gesture of our faith when the goddess was mentioned.

“I will find my own way to the abbess.” I say. “I will need a fresh steed by morning. Mine was lost on the road.”

“Of course, Sir.” He snaps to attention. “I will inform the stables.”

I turn and make haste for the shelter of the keep. Stepping into the dry entry chamber I surprise the napping novice who was stationed there. The woman was clad in the habit of an infirmer in training which told me two things right away. The first was that the infirmary was empty enough that they could spare a nurse for other duties. This was the reverse of most of places I visited where any able hand might be summoned to help tend to the wounded. It was good to know that the wars had not yet reached this deep into the mountains. The second thing it told me was that this woman was being disciplined for some minor but embarrassing lapse of her oaths. What ever she had done every man and woman of the monastery would know it by now and she would be forced to greet each and every one of them as they came and went from this main building. This too spoke to the sheltered peace that this place enjoyed. Closer to the front there was no time for such trivial matters.

The nun hurries forward to take my wet travel cloak. There was an unease in the woman that I knew well. It was likely that I was the first elf she had ever seen. To her human eyes she would see a petite and fresh-faced young woman with delicate features barely twenty years old wearing the insignia of a Templar, an exclusive order of warrior-priests that required years of hard training and deeds to qualify for.

“Inform the Chamberlain that I will require fresh vestments by sunrise and not a moment later.”

“Yes, Templar.” She bows. Her wide eyes pan up and down my gore stained clothes. “We will ready a bath for you and bring clean robes.”

“I will take the bath after seeing your Abbess.” I say, already on the move.

“But…”

Flustered at my disregard for etiquette the girl runs off. Walking with purpose I stride past the gawking monks and nuns who offered me greetings and asked for news from the front to the inner offices beyond the chapel. The abbess I find exactly where I’d left her those years ago, sat behind her desk writing feverishly by the light of three candles which also sat placed around the desk right where they’d been before. There were changes of course. She wore spectacles now and her once gray hair had turned a snowy white. Her season was well into the winter years now and I knew that this would be the last time I saw her.

“What is this I see?” She peers at me over her glasses. “Sylpharen? I didn’t realize it would be you.”

“Abbess Gotlinde.” I approach her desk and stand opposite her. “I was on the way to the Inniswater breach when I was waylaid by your summons. I lost my steed on the slopes up here along what you call a road.” Producing the folded and tattered vellum upon which my orders were written I toss it onto the stack of parchment in front of her. “Five days have been lost to this detour, five days and only the Lady how many lives. This better be important.”

She bristles at my brusque tone. Out here she was the master of her little world inside these walls and she was not accustomed to disrespect. The abbess gives me a glare, one that she receives right back, then takes the vellum and begins to unfold it.

“The years have not helped your manners, Templar.”

“Manners are not called for in the places that I serve our Lady.” I say. “Your monastery has gone soft, Gotlinde. You are not prepared for what is out there. You would do well to…”

“I will not take advice on these matters from you, Templar.”

“Very well.” As she at last opens the letter and squints to peruse the writing I cast a prayer of light to aid her aged vision.

She scowls but says nothing. After reading the document she nods and files it away. “This is in order. Just as I wished it.”

“You abuse your authority, Abbess.” I say bluntly. “Had the Bishop not been away…”

“But he was. And he is.” She cuts in. “And in the meantime you will follow your orders like the rest of…”

I return the courtesy of interruption. “I will not be waylaid here for long. I ride at sunrise. I am here. Now tell me why.”

“You shall ride out in the morning.” She says as if giving permission. “And you shall not alone.”

For a long moment I stare at her blankly. “You summoned a Templar to act as an escort!? Gotlinde, you truly are sheltered here if you think that even a single one of us can be spared for such an errand. The war…”

She raises a hand. “You are not here to be an escort. You were called as Mentor.”

“Mentor?” I shake my head. “No. Not now.”

“No?”

“From here I am headed to straight to the breach.” I say. “It is no place for a Novice, Gotlinde. Perhaps afterward.”

“She has been tested.” The Abbess says coolly. “Her time is now.”

“Then find a Templar away from the front. Where I go she will only find death.”

“The Lady’s will has guided the orders to your hand, Sylpharen. Do you doubt her wisdom?”

“This is not the time!”

“And this is not a request. You will follow orders, Templar.”

With a resigned sigh I shake my head. “I pray her soul does not visit your dreams when she is gone, for I know it will visit mine.”

“Have faith, Sylpharen.” She says. “Novice Morven has proven herself to be an exceptional talent.”

“Morven? That is a Futanaren name.”

“It is.”

“Shit.”

“Templar! Mind your tongue in the Lady’s house.”

Closing my eyes I pinch the bridge of my nose to and cast a prayer to ease my rising headache. This day had just gone from bad to disastrous. The women of the island nation of Futanara, a subrace of human lineage, were famous for many things. Their fierceness, physical prowess, robust appetites, and the unique combination of genitalia beneath their tartan kilts were the subject of many rollicking and bawdy tales far and wide. Combined with these features was a host of flaws as well, chief among them a lack of discipline that would be the envy of a chaos imp. If there was one thing that would save your hide when battling Hell’s hordes, especially as a neophyte, it was discipline in battle.

I look up to address my Lady directly. “What have I done to earn your ire?”

“You might start your amends by cleaning up your language while on holy ground, Templar.” The Abbess quips, completely unmoved by the dire fate we were bestowing upon this unfortunate Novice. With a wave and a whisper she casts a prayer. A moment later the door to the office opens.

“You summoned me, Abbess?” Asks her assistant.

“Bring Novice Morven Wallace.” She commands. “Tell her that her Mentor has arrived.”

“Yes, Abbess.”

“Wallace?” I say. “She’s not yet shed her surname?”

“Her family bond is a strong.” She says. “But her faith is even stronger.”

I stare at Gotlinde, awestruck by her naivety. Safe in these lands the severing of family ties was a simple custom, a show of loyalty toward the faith, but out there where demons could and would find your every weakness, both mental and martial, the separation from the ones you once loved was more valuable than armor. I’d lost count of the times I’d had to strike down my own mother.

A few minutes later a loud knock comes to the door. “It’s Morven, Ma’am!” The distinct roll of the r would have identified her heritage even if I hadn’t have been told.

“Enter.”

I turn. Through the door steps a woman who was every Futanaren stereotype rolled into one. She stood easily a foot taller than me, tall even for a human, with wide shoulder, thick limbs and a curvy hourglass figure far beyond even the most voluptuous females of my race. Her hair was a true red and her eyes a blazing hazel. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties with her broad, friendly face. By human standards, and orc too for that matter, she was a comely woman though I knew she was going to be trouble with just one look.

The Novice cocks her head as she studies me as keenly as I studied her. Striding forward with a bold gait that hinted at the organ hanging between her tree trunk thighs she stops an arm’s length from me to peer down curiously.

“Yer havin one over on me.” The towering woman says. “She’s to be my Mentor?”

“He.” The Abbess corrects

“HE!?” Her hazel eyes widen. “Why…he’s just a slip of a lad!”

“This ‘slip of a lad’ was slaying eurynomes when your great-grandmother was still suckling at the teat.”

“Oh yeah?” She says, appraising me anew. “Damn yer pretty!” She grins. “Real pretty fer an old fucker.”

“Morven! Language!”

I roll my eyes and turn to Gotlinde. “She is not ready.”

“I am!” Morven says, offended at my suggestion. “How old were ye?”

“How old was I when?” I sigh.

“When ye killed yer first eurynome? I done that by my 16th summer.”

I look to the Abbess who nods. “As I said, she is not your average Novice. This one is special.”

“I been blooded.” The young woman brags. “I can fight. I can cast too.”

With that she mutters a prayer. To my astonishment the light I’d cast fades then blinks away! Non-combat magic was hardly my forte but even so, for a mere Novice to counter my spell was…extraordinary!

With a too proud grin she says. “The Abbess prefers candlelight.”

“She is disrespectful.”

“Didn’t you just tell me that manners were not needed in the places you serve?” The Abbess hoists me upon my own words. “She is yours now, Templar.” I swear I see a smirk as the she makes the sign and says. “May the Lady bless you both.”

***

And so, the next morning, my partnership with Novice Morven Wallace begins. She strolls into the stable chewing on a tough crust of bread just as the final bell for morning prayers is sounding. Another few seconds and she would have been late as per my order to her the night before. As she had technically arrived on time I swallow the words that I wanted to say. She wore a battle kilt and armor consisting of thick studded leather. Her arms and legs were left bare and across her back was a great Futanaren claymore nearly as tall as she was. On her belt she wore a pair of throwing axes on one side and a warhammer on the other. Despite her gear she moved more comfortably than she had in the wool robes I’d seen her in the night before.

She approaches the strong chestnut steed that had been tacked for her and pats its neck. “Good mornin, Mentor.”

A nod is my only reply.

As she checks the straps and buckles of her saddle she says. “Heard ye lost yer ride on the way here.” The comment sounded like friendly small talk though the subtext was anything but innocent.

“The stones were wet. The slope steep. The night dark.”

“I hear that.” She says. “I arrived here during one of those terrible mountain storms myself.” She strokes her horse’s neck. “A few tricky bits but Brandy and I made it okay. Isn’t that right, girl?”

“Good for you.” I say flatly. “You’ve named your horse?”

“Well…yeah.”

“Unname it.” I order. “It is a mode of transport. Nothing more.”

“Nothin more? Why Brandy and I have been through everything together. She’s…”

I fix her with a flash of my lavender eyes.

She huffs. “Yes, Mentor.” Taking the reins she leads her steed from the stable. “Come along…horse.”

“She’s a feisty one.” Warns the stable boy.

“Good to know.” I say as I take the reins of the lissom black mare they’d given me.

“I wasn’t talking about the horse.”

Morven is saddled and ready to go as I arrive at the main gates. Around her stand a gaggle of monks and nuns wishing her fond farewells. They scatter the moment they see my scowling face approach. Sliding up into my saddle I look at my charge and shake my head.

“Have you learned nothing about Templar ways in your studies?”

“Of course I have.” She says. “They weren’t friends. They were just…cohorts offering me their blessings.”

“You’ll be seeing them again soon.” I say grimly. “I pray you find the strength to cut their throats when you do.”

“I know about mimic demons.”

“Do you?”

“I’ve…I’ve read about them.” That momentary hesitation spoke volumes about the fear she hid behind the cocky bluster and it gave me hope. Where I was taking her that fear might just keep her alive long enough to learn something. “I know their tricks. I know the prayers. I’m ready, Mentor.”

“We shall see.”

***

As we make our way down the mountain and begin our journey through the settled lands beyond I quickly discover that Morven to be absolutely…INSUFFERABLE! Whether it was some insecure need to prove her worthiness, a cultural hangup for demonstrating superiority over males, or if she was genuinely trying to impress me but at every opportunity she can find Morven attempts to better what I had done. The most annoying part was that more times than not she actually would. When I jumped my horse across a stream she would jump hers further across a wider section. When I stopped to pray at a hidden shrine we stumbled upon she made a show of praying longer and more fervently. When I cast a prayer of direction she would cast her own then suggest that mine was off by a degree or two. As we were gathering firewood for our camp that night she made sure to bring back twice the amount that I had. And the examples or her petty oneupmanship went on.

She finally takes it too far when she unexpectedly steps up beside me as I was urinating to whip her own cock out to piss as well! I didn’t realize at first it was a part of her showing off until I glanced to see that she sported a specimen prodigious by almost any race’s standard and far beyond even the most hung of elven males.

“Morven!”

“I had to go too.” Glancing over her curious eyes follow the slender golden arc of my urine back to silver inch wide and inch tall domed cage that encased my penis. “Oh no!” She sputters and her face contorts as she tries to hold back her laughter. Her attempt was in vain. “BAHHH HA HA HA HA HA!” Her piss stream jitters and sprays across the bushes with her uncontrolled laughter. Thankfully the wind was carrying it away from me. “IT LOOKS LIKE A SHINY COAT BUTTON! HA HA HA!”

Annoyed at her jocularity at my expense I turn away from her to finish my business. “An enchanted chastity device is the best defense against succubi. You will be issued one as well at our earliest opportunity.”

That stops the chuckles in an instant. “Me?”

I scowl over my shoulder at her. “Do you wish to follow the Templar path or don’t you?”

“I do. The Lady has chosen me.” She says contritely. “They…make those things is bigger sizes?”

With a roll of my eyes I say. “Yes, Novice. They make them in larger sizes.”

“I just don’t think I’d fit in, err, what you got there.”

“Clearly.” I snap. With a touch of magic I cleanse my cage then put myself away.

“Mentor?”

“Yes, Novice?”

“I’ve…heard it said that elven lads are…well, I heard yer smitten for the big’uns. Big cocks I mean.”

“Do you believe everything you hear?”

“No. Course not. But…is it true?”

With a breath I calm the anger that she was riling up inside me. Though not something I would have shared with any passerby she, as my Novice for the next three or more years, would at some point need to know the truth, if only to understand my vulnerabilities better. Her bluntness was an annoyance but side-stepping niceties certainly saved time.

“Crudely put, but yes.” Behind me I hear her finish her piss. “During the years that my race was subjugated to the Orcs we were adapted to fit their debaucherous needs. Members of both sexes find a large penis most…pleasurable.” Walking to my steed I double check to make sure she was tethered securely. “You will see lust demons attempt to tempt me with their phallus. They will find your weakness and use it against you as well. You will see the most handsome Futanaren women, beyond what you can even imagine. Be prepared.”

Walking to her bedroll Morven then sits down cross-legged to start inspecting her armor. As I come to sit across the fire from her my eye catches the blush that had risen across her freckled cheeks.

“Is there something I need to know?”

“Know?”

“This topic bothers you.” I say, returning blunt for blunt. “Do you have deviancies I need to be aware of?” She glances up a moment then down again, her usual bravado was nowhere to be seen. She looked almost vulnerable. I had definitely hit upon something. “I am your Mentor. Share with me what you must before we see it play out on the field of battle.”

She clears her throat and shifts uncomfortably. “We, um, we won’t be seein any strappin Futa lasses in our travels.”

“I see.”

“I…was alway one fer the prettier things. Pretty…” She glances up again then right back down again. “…males.”

“Pretty…?” I cover my face and whisper a prayer of forbearance. “Why did you not tell me this back at the monastery?”

“You wouldn’ta taken me.”

“For good reason!” A pop from the small fire between us punctuates my exclamation. “Novice. Are you attracted to me?”

“I said you were pretty, didn’t I? Ye need a written statement? Aye, I think yer a bonnie waif.”

“This complicates things greatly.”

“In fact I think yer the prettiest thing I ever…”

“Stop.”

“I can’t help the way I am.”

“But you can!” I shoot back. With a wave of my hand I say. “The fifth martial form. Now.”

She bristles at my command but knows that she cannot disobey it. “Which movements?”

“The fifth form.”

“All of it!?”

“And pray.” I say firmly. “Pray for fortitude against lust.”

Her jaw clenches and her eyes narrow. Grabbing the ricasso of her great sword she rises then stomps off to begin going through the moving meditation that acted as both prayer and solo combat practice for our order. As I prepare our meal of hardtack and warmed lentil gruel I watch the powerful swings and controlled blocks of my Novice as she went through the form. As much as I hated to admit it, I was impressed. Her motions were crisp and powerful, her focus as sharp as the massive blade she wielded, and her magic was woven in so subtly it took an experienced eye to even catch it. In my years I had met and trained Templars whose deeds had since passed down into legend that had never honed their form to where she was already at as a Novice. The true test of her abilities would be in combat but already I could tell the Abbess had spoken truth. The woman was special.

Setting our meals to the side I rise and approach her. With my arms crossed just a couple strides away I watch her closely as she runs through the rest of her exercise. Breathing heavy and with a sheen of sweat across her flesh she glowers at me.

“Did it help?”

“Yes.” She says flatly. “I nay longer feel any attraction whatsoever toward ye, Mentor.”

I smile. “Very good.”

The rest of the evening is blissfully quiet as we eat our meals, cast our protections, then lay our heads down to rest.

***

A noise stirs me from my slumber. My keen elven hearing barely makes out the sound of a footstep pressing into the damp earth. I open my eyes to see Morven standing over me with the moon gleaming off of her naked flesh. In front of her stands her great cock as hard as the sword she wielded. I try to speak. I cannot. I try to move. I cannot. All I can do is watch as she steps across my body to straddle me then sinks down to sit upon my chest, her powerful legs pinning my arms to my sides. My heart beats faster as she takes a hold of her big dick to begin to rub it back and forth across my face.

I try to scream but it comes out as a lusty moan. “Ohhhhhh!”

Morven grabs my silver hair…then rams her cock through my open lips!

“MMMMMM!” I hum in forbidden ecstasy as her member fills my maw and begins to press down my throat! YESSSSSS!!!

***

“Hah!” I wake a second time, roused by a piercing pain in my penis. The cage, always snug, was now tight to the point of discomfort but the real pain came from the enchantment within the item punishing my arousal. Reaching down I feel the small hole at the peak of the silver dome of the cage to feel the wetness I feared would be there. Precum!

Sitting up I look around. The fire was dead, a faint glow silhouetted the mountains, and across from me my Novice slept soundly. All was quiet and still except for my rattled spirit.

An hour later Morven wakes to find me going through the final movements of the fifth form.

***

That day the conditions were perfect so we ride hard. For me it was a mercy as it gave me a chance to reflect on my dream without the pestering of my Novice. My passions being roused like that was something I thought I had put behind me a very long time ago. In all the rituals of denial and discipline I’d subjected myself to attraction to Futanaren women had never been broached. Their island was isolated enough and they were rare enough outside of it that I’d always felt my energies would be more valuable elsewhere. It was something that I would have to rectify after this mission.

The heat of mid-afternoon was peaking when I slow my panting steed and steer her for a sheltered glade beside a stream.

“We will rest here for a spell.”

“Brandy and I are good for another few miles.” Morven brags, then after a second quickly corrects herself. “I mean, the horse and I.

“Mine is flagging.” I slip out of the saddle and allow my mare to make for the water.

“She’d run harder for ye if ye treated her nice.” Morven dismounts and leads her horse to the stream.

“I do not mistreat my animals.”

“Mistreatin and treatin nice are two different things.” She takes a deep breath and looks around peaceful clearing. “Ye know, ye haven’t even told me where we’re goin yet. I mean, I’ll follow ye to hell and back but it’d be nice to know.”

“To hell and back is precisely where we’re going.” I toss her a hardtack which she snatches out of midair and begins to munch on. “And the second part only if we keep our wits about us.”

“We’re going to battle?” She doesn’t even try to hide the excitement in her voice. Nothing indicated a greenhorn more than actually wanting to draw blades against the hordes. Like so many before her she would learn soon enough that it was nothing to be celebrated.

“We ride for a breach. You’ll get your fill of bloodshed.”

“YES! To test myself against the hordes…at last!”

“You are gifted.”

“You noticed.” She wanders over to sit down beside me on a fallen trunk. “Hard not to I suppose.”

“That pride of yours is dangerous.”

“Why shouldn’t I be proud?”

“Humility is a virtue, for warriors more than most. Pride is a weapon that you give to your enemy.”

“I am so humble. Humans have to be humble. No special powers. Short lives. We’ve have to have the most humility.”

“That…has not been my experience.” I take a bite of my tack then tuck the rest away. “Once we are in it you cannot hesitate. Not for love nor lust nor pride. You see an opening and you strike to kill. Demons are not enemies to be toyed with.”

“I’m blooded.” She reminds me.

“How many?”

There is a long pause before she says. “Just the one, so far.”

“From your sixteenth year.”

“Mm.” She nods. “But I killed it easy.” I turn to look her in the eyes and wait. Slowly her vainglorious grin begins to fade. At a whisper she confesses. “It…was nae easy.”

“It never is.”

“It…took…my sister. It didn’t just kill her it…it…”

I lay a hand on hers. “I know what they do.”

She takes a deep breath, her sassy mask going up again. “I promise ye that if I see a chance to slay one o’ them bastards I will nae hesitate.”

After a rest we carry on swiftly. Over the next two days we pass through the fields and villages of the Northern Reaches making our best time for the unfortunate town of Inniswater. Along the way we find the peasants frightened and suspicious, as they always were when these things happened, but through them I am able to gather enough intelligence to know that the battle for the breach had begun without us. It was a courageous act of faith by the soldiers to start the fight without a Templar there to seal the rift and it gave me even more impetus to get there as soon as we could.

Along the way Morven continued with her constant showing off and one-upping me. Yet, for all of her preening overconfidence, she always took my words to heart. When I warned about casting more taxing prayers for frivolous uses she bragged that she didn’t feel the strain, but I couldn’t help but notice that she stopped doing it. When I gave her pointers on her combat exercises she would tell me that what I saw as flaws was simply ‘her style’, yet she quietly makes the corrections just as I suggest. When we stopped to help with an overturned cart, where she took pains to demonstrate her superior strength over not just myself but the farm hands that were there as well, she at first scoffed at my advice on heavy lifting and yet on the final heave to get it upright her back was straight just as I’d suggested. She was a sponge for my centuries of wisdom, if a noisy one. As annoying as Morven could be she was turning out to be a damn fine pupil. I’d had Novice’s in the past that were the opposite, all respect but little learning, and I knew which approach I preferred. Out here kissing ass wouldn’t save your hide but knowledge just might.

With my grudging respect comes an unwelcome affection. Remarkably I found myself growing fond of the young human. She was…different. Different in more ways than just her anatomy. Her braggadocios bravado and unvarnished talk was a refreshing change from what I was accustomed to. She even managed to elicit a laugh or two from me and each time she did she shot me a little smirk as if to say ‘gotcha’. Despite my stern and surly mentorship she was clearly warming to me as well. This concerned me. Emotional attachment was a weakness that could be exploited and produced blind spots in otherwise sound judgment.

Even more concerning were the fantasies that continued to haunt my dreams, each one being more erotic than the last. Over the past three nights I’d been awoken five different times by the punitive magic within my cage. I’d begun to weigh up the pros and cons of taking it off. Having my wits dulled by fatigue was not ideal but neither was allowing my lustful urges a free reign. After decades of nary an improper thought these damned dreams and the feelings that they stirred inside of me had me as perturbed as a elfling in a brothel just past his season of blooming. And they were beginning to bleed into the waking world as well. Time and again I would catch myself glancing Morven’s way to admire the curve of her hip, the muscles of her arm, or just stare at her kilt and remember what it hid. More than once she catches these glances and returns a smile. More than once I catch longing glances coming the other way.

Fuck! We were a distraction to each other at a time when an instant of slipped discipline could cost a life or a soul. Given the time restraint there wasn’t much I could do about it. Had I been of an ascetic order I’d have a host of prayers at my disposal for quelling fleshly temptation, but, as a Templar, my magic was focused on combat and survival. As things stood we would just have to persevere and take corrective measures after the rift had been sealed. It was not ideal but few things ever were in this calling.

***

After another restless night of hot, half-remembered dreams and sharp pains I awake to find myself alone. Confused I rise and look around. The sun was already above the horizon. I’d slept in! That hadn’t happened in…I couldn’t remember when! Around me in the small camp that we’d tamped down the night before among the tall switchgrass there was no sign of a disturbance and the protective alarm prayer was fading but still active yet Morven and both horses were nowhere to be seen. Had they been beguiled away and I’d slept through it? Hurriedly I wrap my weapon belt around my hips and prepare myself to go in search of my Novice. I had only just begun looking for their trail when a nay from my mare from the direction of the nearby creek draws my attention.

“Drink up, lassie. It’ll be another hard day for ye after ol’ sleepy bones rouses.” A splash follows and a barely contained laugh.

On hearing Morven’s voice among the babble of the water I grumble and grit my teeth. Looking about I then notice that she’d also taken our waterskins as well. Without waking me she had taken it upon herself to water the horses and prepare for the ride. I commended her intiative though her choice of timing was lousy. This close to a rift there may be even keener ears than those of an elf listening for the sounds of a frolicking maiden on her own. Morven was hardly some defenseless peasant girl but she was alone and she was inexperienced.

Irritated by her carelessness and angry at myself for my laggard awakening I weave through the six foot blades of grass toward the sound ready to give her a dressing down for the ages. As I break through to the bank of the creek my voice is stolen from right out of my throat. A dressing down would not be necessary…as my Novice was not dressed at all!

With a mare to either side of her Morven stood bare ass naked in the center of the creek. In the gold-green morning light that cast down through the canopy of a nearby sycamore my Novice’s thick, fair, curvaceous figure glistened like an angel’s, the droplets of water clinging to and rolling down her flesh twinkling the stars. She stood facing away from me, her feet about shoulder width apart, as she scrubbed her face. Slowly my sight pans up her powerful, shapely legs to her full, round ass and wide curvy hips to her narrow waist to the thick muscles of her back down the middle of which hung her red braid then to her wide shoulders. And there, hanging between her thighs, were the large balls and low hanging flaccid cock that marked her heritage. A yearning deeper and older than my faith fills me. Oh how I wanted to wrap my lips around that shaft. As I watch in awe she bends down to take another handful of water, as she does so the fleshy petals of her pussy lifts into view. For a human it was a prodigious cunt though by elven standards hers was downright dainty. The males of our cursed race weren’t the only ones still bearing the legacy of those millenia as orcish thralls. She stands again to finish rinsing her face. At the edge of the creek I can only stand and stare. In one instant, in one image, I saw fertility, virility and the shining vivacity of her short-lived but hot-burning race all at once. Even the sting of my cage could not make me pry my eyes away.

Though I make no noise Morven freezes as she senses eyes upon her. She suddenly spins to face me, sending up a spray of water to distract me in case I was the enemy. As she stops, her fierce hazel eyes locked on me, her large, heavy breasts bounce and her annoyingly fat cock sways to rest. Seeing me there…she smiles, her pose relaxing.

“You peepin on me, Mentor?”

“Pff.” I scoff. “You should have woken me. We’ve lost an hour at least.”

“But ye were snoozin so soundly.” She says, making absolutely no effort to cover herself. “After all that tossin and turnin and moanin last night I thought ye could use the rest.” Her grin grows as she puts her hands on her hips, brazenly daring me to check her out. “Bad dreams?”

“Yes. And letting me sleep was not your decision to make.” I spin on my heel and head back for camp. “We’ll have to make up time.”

“Ye sure ye don’t want to take a plunge. The water’s…”

“Get dressed!”

“Aye.”

***

As the day passes we meet more and more locals heading the other way as they evacuated their homes to flee to safer lands. Then, about mid-afternoon, the stream of refugees winnow down then stops altogether. The wind soon dies, the temperature rises and an eerie quiet sets in as we pass by abandoned farms and through empty villages. I slow my steed to a walk, my eyes scanning for any hint of movement. Morven trots up alongside me.

“It’s still.” She whispers.

“We’re on the border.” I say. “Hell is just ahead.”

Her gaze scans the distant fields on the horizon. Except for a subtle amber tint to the afternoon light there was nothing out of the ordinary to see.

“Hell is a mirror to our own world, as is heaven.”

“I know that.” Morven says. “I just…I thought there’d be somethin…obvious.”

“The breach had consumed Inniswater before they even knew what happened.” I pull my mare to a stop. “Here.”

“Here?” Morven rises and leans forward in her saddle to study the road in front of us. “How can ye tell?”

“You feel it.” I say. “Take a breath. Quiet your mind. Reach out with your senses.”

Settling back down she does as I command. A sharp gasp marks the moment that she feels it. “Oh. It’s…like worm in me tummy and treacle over me brain.”

“Poetically put.” I turn to look at her. “Morven. We will see things in there, things that mortal minds were not meant to see.”

Letting her mask down to reveal the frightened novice behind it she nods. “Aye.”

“You are gifted. You are strong. Your talents honed by training. Have faith in the Lady’s wisdom for guiding you here.”

I’d said these words a dozen times before but never had I seen them have such an effect. Morven’s eyes narrow, her shoulders rise and her courage hardens. “I will not let ye down, Mentor.”

I give her a nod. “From here we walk.”

I then slip off of my horse, gather my gear, step back a few paces, then sink an arrow into the beast’s beating heart. The thud of the horse’s still kicking corpse hitting the ground startles Morven who had just dismounted. She spins about in time to see it’s final throes. Her wide eyes stare at the feathered fletching the sprouted from the body like stumpy tulip then slowly up to me as I shouldered my bow. She looks at me as if I’d gone mad.

“What are ye doin, man?”

“Hurry and fell your animal.” I say, my gaze as steely as my words.

“I will not…!”

“You will!” I snap. “And you will do it now.”

“Nae! Brandy and I have…”

“…been through everything together.” I finish her sentence. “I heard you the first time. This is where her journey ends. Say prayers if you must but make it quick.”

“Nae! Nae!” She shakes her head. “I will not.”

“Then I must.” I unsling my bow.

She steps across her mount to shield it with her body. “This must be hell for I’ve seen me first demon!” Her booming voice trembles with emotion. “I will NOT let ye strike her down!”

“She is hell touched.” I say calmly. “If she goes back she will turn aberrant within a day. If she continues it will be within the hour.”

“Then why didn’t we stop sooner!?”

“Perhaps had I not been waylaid by the monastery we could have spared the time. And the hour lost this morning didn’t help. We are over ten miles from Inniswater! And that town isn’t even the source. Every minute that we’ve delayed has made our journey through hell that much longer and our chances of success that much slimmer. We waste time, Morven. Slay the beast or step aside!”

“Yer…yer wrong! Mortals have a month or more before the change takes’em.”

“Mortals with a soul.”

“Brandy’s got more soul than ye ever had ye damned elf!” She screams. “Where is written? Why haven’t I learned of this afore now?”

“That I cannot answer that except to say that had you shed your bonds to all but our Lady as you ought to have by now this would not be a problem.” I let some warmth into my voice. “The abbess assured me that your faith was stronger than any other bond. Now is your time to prove it.”

“Nae.” She shakes her head as tears gather in her eyes. “Nae. Mentor, please. We were both wee fillies when she was given to me. Please!”

“I understand.” Stepping forward I lay a hand on her arm. “As a mercy to Brandy, if for no other reason, it must be done. If you cannot…”

“Nae.” She says at a harsh whisper, the first of her tears spilling down her freckled cheek. “I’ll…I’ll do it.”

I step away and wait. Morven approaches her steed. Hugging it she lays her forehead upon its and whispers a message to her friend and a prayer to the Lady. Moving around to the side she draws her greatsword…and cleaves the steeds head from it’s neck in one mighty swing. She stands like a statue for long moment, her eyes closed. She slows her rapid breath, relaxes her taut muscles, and when her eyes reopen they are dry. In them I saw the wound of the freshly severed bond upon her soul, a wound that would eventually leave behind a rugged scar to make her next loss just a little bit easier, and a small glimmer of hatred for the elf that forced her hand.

After a long shuddering breath she says flatly. “I am ready, Mentor.”

I give her a nod then turn to carry on by foot. “Stay close, Novice.”

***

The first few miles are quiet ones and it wasn’t simply because we had to stay on high alert as we traveled. My Novice was still brooding, her emotional wounds fresh and bleeding, as we hustled across the landscape.

Those ignorant of Hell’s creeping influence would have seen the fields of crops, the dense copses of trees, and the swaying grass around us as unremarkable. Indeed, except for the slight piss yellow hue to the light, the steadily rising temperature, and that foul gnaw of corruption for those sensitive enough to sense it these pastoral surroundings seemed entirely mundane. But the keen eye noticed the grasses twisting and swaying against a nonexistent wind, they saw the slow shifting of tree roots through maggot infested soil, and they noted the absence of birdsong and the churr of insects. As with people, the land could appear normal at a glance even though evil had already rotted it to the core. The one thing that was obvious, even to the innocent, were the dozen or more pillars of thick black smoke rising from the town of Inniswater in the distance.

Our first engagement is with a trio of aberrant cattle, their bodies twisted and mutated nearly beyond recognition. These we dispatch with ease, the final one burnt to a cinder by Morven’s prayer of holy flames. I am heartened to see my Novice in action. Though she’d shown incredible promise in what I’d witnessed already it wasn’t until blades were drawn in earnest that you could take the true measure of a warrior. Morven measured up and then some.

“You did well. Though mind your energies.” I say as we return to our trotting pace. “Unless the need is dire save your magic for true demons.”

“Aye.” Is all she says.

We didn’t have to wait long to meet one of hell’s native inhabitants. Barely over the next rise we spot a child, dirty and bedraggled, scrabbling out from one of the nearby thickets that dotted the landscape.

“Sir! Ma’am!” It weeps, it’s large brown eyes beseeching us to stop and listen. “My mama!” It points down the road. “They’ve got my mama! Help her! Pleeease…” Beside me Morven’s steps falter. The cambion, a girl child in appearance, sees it too and shifts its focus entirely onto her. “They’re hurting my mommy! I’m scared!

“Aw, ye poor lass.”

I whisper a prayer over an arrow and…whap…I fell the foul demon without breaking stride. “Keep up!”

My Novice sprints to catch up. Her wide eyes follow the slain creature as we pass by. “Cambion?”

“Yes.”

“How could ye tell? She looked so…real.”

“It was all too real. They are hard to spot and escape detection by magic, being part human, but anything coming out of those woods is no mortal child.” I nod ahead to a small farm along the side of the road. “It likely came from there. Keep your wits.”

“Aye!”

As I surmised the demon child had indeed been spawned in the farmhouse. Outside we slay a host of the vicious little hellions. As I was distracted putting down the last two with my short sword and mace Morven charges for the source of them. Too late I warn her back. “Wait!”

The Novice kicks the front door of the house off of its hinges in a single go then charges. A moment later she staggers back out again, her eyes bugged out and her mouth agape. The breeding demons ravishing the farm wife and daughter within she dispatches easily enough with another spout of holy flame but the sight of what they’d been doing to those unfortunate women had left damage that no simple healing spell could fix.

With hands trembling she stands staring at the doorway of the house breathing heavily. Walking up beside her I lay a hand on her shoulder.

“That is what we fight.” I say softly.

She turns to me a lost soul, her eyes searching mine for comfort or connection or meaning. She shakes here head and begins to cry.

“Oh!” I gasp as suddenly Morven lurches forward to grab me in an embrace! Hunching down to bury her face in my shoulder my Novice sobs like a child. Slowly, hesitantly, I put my arms around her. It was something I wouldn’t have done with any of my previous Novice’s. With them I would have told them to find solace in prayer. But Morven had not yet shed her worldly bonds. She required a more personal touch. “You saved them. Their souls shall find their way to the Lady, thanks to you.”

“I’m nae ready! I’m…nae…I’m nae strong enough…”

“You are! You are, Morven.” I say with heart. “Books and scrolls cannot prepare you. I too wept the first time. It is natural. You would be soulless if you didn’t.”

Her moment of weakness lasts but a minute or so. Before long her great heaving shoulders go still, her arms that had been clutching me tightly go slack, and she steps away. My hand on her shoulder I look her in the eyes. Gathering her courage she takes a breath then gives me a slow nod. The courage soon turns to a fierce determination as she shakes the gore from her blade then wipes it clean before sheathing it.

“Thank you for your…comfort, Mentor.”

“I owe you this.” I nod. “You are my Novice. We shall move on when you are ready.”

“I am ready.” She turns her burning gaze to the black plumes in the distance. “More than ever.”

***

On the outskirts of Inniswater we find the main encampment of the King’s army. At the rear entrance of the barricades I show my symbol and we are ushered straight in. As we walk through their ranks the exhausted soldiers around us rise to nod and share hopeful looks. As we pass by the infirmary, filled to overflowing with groaning and wounded soldiers, I wave Morven toward it.

“Help where you can.” I say. “But do not drain yourself. Heal the ones that can fight. Leave the rest.”

“Yes, Mentor.” Uncharacteristically Morven obeys without comment, peeling off to immediately begin conferring with the nearest healer.

Once more the girl impresses me. Given the reputation of her people and her own behavior I’d worried her sass might follow her here. It had not. The events of the past few hours had sobered her but not paralyzed her. Back in our world we had the luxury of impudence and bluster, once in the shit that was an indulgence we could not afford.

I am taken to the commander and given an overview of the situation. The forces had thus far held up well but, fighting in enemy territory that they were, attrition would inevitably take its toll.

“We’ve sent scouts searching for the source.” The commander, a granite faced human who appeared older than his years. “None have returned.”

“Save your scouts.” I say, studying the tactical map he had laid out across the big table that dominated the center of his tent. “My Novice and I will make for here.” I jab my finger down on a small country chapel a few miles past Inniswater. “This will provide a sanctuary from which to search the area. Based on what you’ve got laid out here the breach can’t be too far away from it.”

“Thank the Lady!” The commander lets out a hard breath and nods, his spirit renewed. “With a Templar maybe we can at last go on offense and drive these bastards back.”

“Watch the skies for a light to the west. If I’m able to seal the breach you’ll see it from here.”

“I can provide you with a group of my best men.”

“You’ll need them here.” I stand tall and let my gaze drift across the map, committing to memory. “And they’ll only slow us down.” Looking to a nearby soldier I snap. “Fetch my Novice. We leave at once.”

***

Within the hour Morven and I are dashing from building to building as we followed the edge of Inniswater to get to the other side. From hut to stable to chicken coop we pad along staying out of sight of the enemy where we could and slaying them when we could not. Though she couldn’t come close to matching my shadow like stealth Morven keeps up well enough. For her size the woman moved like a cat. Thankfully, when we do have to fight, being this close to the front the majority of hell’s legions that we encounter are simple battle demons. They were nasty foes against your average soldier but against a Templar and a Templar in training they fall like wheat to the scythe.

At an empty hut on the western fringe of the town we pause to take water and catch our breath. The light was beginning to fade but we strike up no lantern. Though it would cost her precious focus and energy Morven would have to maintain a night’s eye prayer from here on out. We were well behind enemy lines now and drawing attention to ourselves was the last thing we wished to do.

“Those men.” Morven whispers after she’d had her drink.

I look to her to see that fire that was lit back at that farmhouse had not ebbed one bit. She and her blade had tasted demonic blood and they craved for more.

“The soldiers?”

“Mm.” She nods. “The way they looked at us. Almost…in awe. The men I healed…it was as if an angel had descended.”

“We are Templars. The Lady’s finest weapons against evil. Hard, sharp, unrelenting. Back home we inspire fear and guilt for no man nor woman walks without sin. But out here, out here we give them hope. A ray of hope in the darkness.” I say. “Though I knew where we headed already it is always worth making an appearance among the fighting men. Remember this, Morven. If the hope dies in them what we do out here is of little use.”

“I will remember.”

“You’ve done well. I’ve rarely fought beside a more fearsome ally.”

She grins as a sparkle returns to her eyes. “Did ye expect anything less? I’m a prodigy don’t ye know.”

I roll my eyes and shake my head, all with a grudging smile. “Cast your night’s eye, prodigy, and we’ll be off.”

With a wink she quips. “I already did.”

***

Once we break from the town’s border the going becomes more challenging. Not only were we nearing the source of the rend but we crossing mostly open crop lands on our way to the chapel. Given what hell’s influence did to the foliage we dare not risk the cover of trees. As it was our progress is slowed by the fibrous stalks of the grains grabbing and gripping at our limbs as we passed. Before long the chapel was in sight. Perched atop a small rise it was among the most humble of our Lady’s homes but to our eyes it was a beacon of good in this blighted land. Guarding it we counted a score of battle demons, their misshapen spiny forms standing out against the gloam of the western horizon.

“Be ready.” I whisper just before we strike. “They’ll be a leader among this lot. Watch for it and alert me if you spot it.”

“Aye.” Her grip on her sword tightens. “Now?”

“Now.”

Rushing forward we strike down a half dozen of the fiends before they’d even smelled our presence. Fighting side by side or back to back we quickly dispatch with most of the snarling demons. And then, from around the low wall that surrounded the church grounds, the light of a lantern begins to glow. Stepping out from around the wall is a girl of no more than thirteen years. She wore a simple white cotton nightie and it was in her hand that lantern is carried. Her long curly tresses were a familiar shade of red, her eyes a striking hazel.

“Morven?” The girl says, her voice small and scared. “Is that ye?”

My Novice spins and freezes in place as she catches sight of the figure. “Hah! Aisling?”

I spare a moment in my fight to utter a quick prayer to bolster Morven’s mental defenses only to find the magic of her protections already scattering like dandelion seeds on the wind. There hadn’t been anything wrong with the magic, the unhardened mind it was protecting simply couldn’t wield it to its full potential against a foe so skilled. The mimic must have been watching us for a time, perhaps as a rat scurrying among the wheat, as it had sussed out Morven’s greatest vulnerability. In the end my worries had been well founded. Physically and magically Morven was more than ready for the worst of hell’s hordes but psychologically she was still far too raw to be here. Damned that fool Gotlinde for rushing this girl to Novice!

“Morven! That is not who you think it is!” I duck just in time as a demon’s claw whistles past my head. “Morven!”

“Aisling!” She smiles, her sword dropping to her side. “My sister! I’ve found ye!”

Suddenly fighting on my own it is all I can do to defend both myself and my beguiled Novice. As a fighter as lithe and quick as I avoidance had always been my primary defense. Shields and armor only weighed me down. Suddenly having to block, parry and deflect the blows aimed at Morven was testing my skills to their limits. I am able to incinerate two with a prayer but a third makes contact to leave a slice down my arm.

“Morven! Snap out of it!”

“I’ve come fer ye!” Morven says as she walks toward the demon. “I’m a Templar! I’ve come to hell to find ye!”

“You’ve found me, sister. My hero.” The false Aisling calls, her free hand outstretched. “I want to come home!”

“I’ll bring ye home lass.” An ecstatic Morven leaves the fray as if it wasn’t even happening. The heavy claymore hits the ground with a thud as she approaches the mimic with her arms out welcoming its embrace. “I’m takin ye home!”

“Fuck!”

I should let her go. I should let her fall. It would be shame to see a Novice so talented wasted like this but the logical thing to do was leave her to her fate. Fighting on my own, as I was accustomed, this group posed little challenge. But trying to protect a defenseless woman tipped the odds to their favor. Before I can abandon her however there comes an image into my mind’s eye. It was an image of Morven in better times with that brazen look and that twinkle in her eye. “FUCK!”

Grabbing my holy symbol I pray. A moment later a burst of divine wind sends my foes scattering in all directions. They’d regain their feet soon. I hadn’t a moment to lose. I sprint past Morven to the source of her bewitchment, or I try to sprint past her. I am yanked back by a vicelike grip around my forearm.

“Morven! Let me go!” I twist and pull but her grip was too strong.

“Sylpharyn.” She says. “She’s not like Brandy. She’s got a soul. She can be saved. It’s me sister!”

From all sides the demons close in. By the light of the lantern I could tell the mimic was as well. “Blast!” In desperation I drive the butt of my sword into Morven’s hand while at the same time levering my forearm from her grasp. Free at last I spin toward the mimic. Had it not been for the curling grass around my feet slowing them for just an instant to throw off my parry I might have been okay. As it was the wickedly jagged sickle of hellfire obsidian that had been hidden behind the lantern buries itself deep between two ribs.

“Gnngh!” I grunt as what I already knew would be my fatal wound sinks deep into my chest.

In that instant, as the burning blade boils my blood from within, I curse myself for my foolishness. From the moment I’d received that order to go to the monastery every step I’d taken brought me closer to this fool’s fate. I should have ignored the order. I should have refused the still bonded Novice. I should have turned back or left her behind the moment I sensed a bond establish between us. I should have left her with the soldiers and gone on alone. Five hundred years of experience and I was every ounce as foolhardy and overconfident as that vivacious Novice who followed me. My fate was sealed…but she still had a chance.

I slash back at the fiend, slitting it’s neck with my holy blade. With the crunch of bone and sickening squish of twisting flesh it reverts to it’s fearsome and fanged natural form then slumps to the earth. It’s cursed sickle pulls from my chest, the jagged barbs ripping pieces of me out with it. Dropping my mace I clutch a hand across my wound to stem the flow of blood as best I could then turn to try fight on. The strength in my legs give out after just a step and a moment later I crumple down beside my felled foe.

“M-Mentor!” Morven gasps as her wits return. “Oh, Lady! What have I done?”

“F…Fffight.” I groan as pain drowns my senses. “Nngh!” Angrily I spit blood across her boots. “Fight damn you!”

Her eyes cast about, taking in the situation in a second. Scooping up my mace the spirited Futanaren fights her way back to her claymore. Once she had that great blade back in her hands the tide turns. It was all I had to remain kneeling. All my will was focused on a breath…and another…and another. My vision dimming I watch in awe as my Novice, outnumbered ten to one, slays the slavering demons with holy magic and flashing steel. By the Lady, she was magnificent!

I must have faded away a moment for the next thing I knew Morven was knelt over me, my head cradled in her arms. “Mentor.” Her voice trembles in fear, though she was not afraid for herself. “I’m sorry! I’m…I’m sorry!”

“Do not…be. You fought…well.”

“Mentor, I cannae heal this wound.”

I swallow hard, the taste of blood fills my mouth. “Hellfire…obsidian…”

“Okay. Okay.” She says, her mind frantic for answers. “Three days. I cannae heal it for three days. It’s just three days.”

“I…will not last…that long.” Each wet, rattling breath was a struggle. Looking up at her…I smile. My arm weak, my blood covered hand trembling, I touch her soft cheek. “So…beautiful.”

Her eyes widen.

“You are…special, Morven Wallace. Nngh!” I writhe as pain wracks my body, my arm slumps to my side. “You are…the best of us. Nnngh!”

“Shhhh. I’m…I’m going to save you.”

“Bring…me to my Lady.” With my eyes I draw her attention to the humble stone chapel within the walls.

“Yes, Mentor.”

I feel her arms scoop me up off the ground…

…then in the very next moment I am laid out on the altar beneath my Lady.

“Ohhhh.” I sigh as I gaze up at the statue that stood at the head of the chapel. The craftsmanship was simple and rough but the Lady’s mercy still shone through the stone and down upon the sinner before her. Closing my eyes I whisper a prayer for Morven, beseeching the Lady to watch over her on her journeys. Just then my tunic is torn open then roughly removed from my body. Opening my eyes I look at Morven who stood over me unwrapping a spool of fresh bandage. “What…are you doing?”

“Patchin ye up.”

“No.” I try to push her off of me but I was far too feeble. “Go.”

Ignoring my objection she sits me up and proceeds to dress the wound, which had already been cleaned at some point while I was unconscious, then begins to wrap the bandage around and around my slender chest.

“Fool girl.” I wheeze. “Go!”

“We have a breach to seal.” She says stubbornly. “And I cannae do it meself.”

“No. You cannot.” I say. Closing a breach was far beyond even a gifted Novice. “Nngh. Go back. To the camp. Help them…until…another Templar…comes.”

“Nae.” Summoning what little power I had left I attempt to to force her back with prayer. As if expecting it she counters my magic with her own. Grabbing my hand she slaps it down onto my leg and smacks it like I was a youth reaching for the cookie jar when he was told not to. “Save your strength. You’re gonna need it if we’re ever gettin outta here.”

“I…am going nowhere.” I say, my voice barely a whisper. “I will not…survive this wound.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“They will…find you.”

“Then they’ll find a snortin mad Futanaren lass.” She says. “Ain’t nothin in hell that can match that.”

“Enough!” Again I try to fend her off, again she swats my efforts away. “This isn’t cute…anymore.”

“So you admit it was cute.”

“I can’t…argue with you.” I swoon back to be caught in her strong arm.

“Agreed. Ye can’t argue with me.” She says. “Now be still. Yer just makin yourself bleed more.”

“You are leaving.” I say with the last of my strength. “Now. That is…an order.”

“Nae. I will not.”

“Morven.” I plead. “You cannot…disobey your Mentor. You cannot. Certainly not…under the eyes of our Lady.”

As she ties off the bandage snug around my ribs she says. “The Lady be damned.”

“Morven!”

With fury in her burning hazel eyes she looks up at the figure over us. “Ye want hell takin our home? Then go ahead. But who’ll be left to pray fer ye? Hm?”

“Morven…”

“Save him, Lady, and let us save this land. If not…then ye can join us in hell!”

“No.” I whisper. “You’re…throwing it all…away. You could have been…the best of us. A Templar…they write books about.”

“I don’t care about bein in any damn book.” She lays me back down. Putting her hand over my chest she looks down into my eyes and says softly. “I care about ye.”

“Nooooo.” The world closes in around me, all of it swallowed by black. I stare up at the statue’s cold stone face, wanting it to be the last thing I saw before the end. But…at the very last moment…I turn my eyes to warm, worried face of my Novice. My final thought was one of both joy and sadness.

***

The Lady does not welcome me to her heavenly gates. Instead I find…void. Nothingness. An impenetrable darkness…punctuated by hazy moments of excruciating pain…shivering fever…a gentle cloth across my flesh…and the coolness of water against my lips.

***

My eyes flare open. Above me still stands the still statue of the Lady. Around me is the chapel, the light streaming in from the slender windows still with that sickly amber hue. I was drenched in sweat as the building now felt like an oven. I was still in hell…but I was alive! I was alive and I was happy for it! Not simply relieved that I might go on with my mission, I was grateful for the breath in my lungs, the pain in my side and the sweat on my brow. And in that moment of jubilation comes the terrible realization that my days as a Templar were behind me. For all my years and all my training it is revealed to me that I had not shed the one bond that our Lady demanded be sacrificed most of all. The bond to one’s mortal existence. Like a babe refusing to be weaned I clung to the fleeting now over the eternal. My faith had been tested and I had failed.

I try to sit up only for a sharp pain my ribs to force me back down again.

“Nnngh!”

“Easy there.” Comes Morven’s voice from across the room. “You’re still as weak as a wobbly legged foal.”

Turning my head I see the woman peering out one of the windows, her sword in her hand. She was out of her armor and her tunic she had torn the sleeves off of to deal with the oppressive heat. She had on her kilt though her legs were bare. Her red hair had been re-braided but was frizzy and loose. The light bathes over her giving her sweaty flesh a heavenly sheen.

“I had to take out a squad o’ them beasties a day back and a pair o’ eurynomes this mornin. Been quiet since.”

“You damned fool.” I croak. “You damned fool!”

She looks over at me with one of her signature smug smiles. “Sometimes the only plan’s a fools plan. Workin out so far.”

I turn my head back to look up at the Lady and begin to laugh. “A pair of perfect fools, the both of us.”

“Me gram’d say, we’re like two nuts in a sack.”

“Ha ha ha!” I cringe from pang in my wound. “Nnngh.”

“Easy, I said.” I hear her footfalls approach. “Yer just a wee delicate elf.”

“This…wee delicate elf is gonna kick your ass as soon as he’s able.”

“I’d like to see him try.” She comes up beside, her face beaming.

“You should have left!”

“I was never much fer listenin.”

For a moment, a long still moment, I gaze up into her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She says. “You are my Mentor. I owe you this.”

“Some Mentor I turned out to be. I lead you straight to ruin.”

“Some Novice I was, I let ye.”

We laugh. Morven slowly turns to look at the statue. “She’s nae talkin to me.”

“She won’t.” I sigh. “You get but one chance to be a Templar. You…we…have made our choice.”

“What now?”

“I think…I’ve got enough magic left in me to seal that breach.” I say. “As long as I don’t cast before then.”

“I can cover for ye.”

“Once the magic is gone…”

“It’s gone.” She says. “Aye.”

“We’re not spent yet. One last crusade for the Lady. Let it not be in vain.”

“Aye!”

As I gaze upon her I notice how the white cloth of her tunic clung to big, round breasts. The damp of her sweat revealed the shape of her tits and the dark circles of her nipples. For the first time in centuries…I allow myself to enjoy the sight.

Morven’s left brow raises as she notices where my eyes lingered. “Soooo, what’s this about me bein beautiful?”

“Who said that? I don’t recall.”

“And cute?” She grins. “Did ye call me cute?”

“That doesn’t sound like me. I must have been delirious.”

“You were somethin.”

“Nnngh!” I writhe in pain.

“Sss.” She lightly touches the wound at my side. “Want me to kill the pain?”

“Mmm.” I shake my head. “Save your power for the final push. Besides…nngh…it’s not the wound.” She cocks her head curiously. “Could you take this fucking cage off of me!”

Her face lights up as she laughs. “I thought ye’d never ask!”

She tears the blanket from my body and none too gently, despite my condition, she roughly tugs my trousers from off of my legs. Every jostle and yank sends another shooting pain through my cock as her power and excitement stirs my elven lust.

“Hoh!” With me laid and naked except for my tiny silver dome of a cage Morven gawks at my lithe pale body. “If yer not the prettiest thing I ever seen I don’t know what is. Even prettier than in me dreams!”

“Have you been dreaming about me, Morven.”

She grins. “I wasn’t just washin me face at that stream that mornin.”

“Most unbecoming of a Templar.”

“Ye damn right!” She makes for my cock.

“The key is…ACK!”

She leans her weight down onto me. Hooking the tips of her fingers under the hemisphere of silver she then holds down the ring that affixed it to my balls with her other hand and she HEAVES! With a snap she tears it in two then throws the cage with all her might to the nearest stone wall. In flash she removes the ring and tosses it over her shoulder.

“There ye go.” She quips while at the same time grabbing my penis between the tip of her thumb and index finger and begins to stroke.

“Um…”

“How long has it been since a lass touched yer wee willy?”

“Pffft! Wee willy?” I chuckle. “How did the abbess put it? When your great-grandmother was still suckling at the teat.”

“So it’s been awhile.”

“You could say that…ohhhhh.” After so many years of denial the pleasure from just her two fingers had me melting.

“He he he. He’s wakin up well enough.”

“I wasn’t…ohhhh…sure he even worked anymore. Ohhhh fuck!”

“Ohhh, he’s workin!” Her eyes grow in proportion with my penis. To her human eyes my member must have seemed so pitiful, barely larger than her thumb at full erection, but if she was disappointed I saw no evidence of it in those hungry eyes. “He’s workin just fine.”

“Hmmm! Mmmmm!” I grab the sides of the altar as the pleasure rises. “Ohhh fuck!”

“Yer gonna cum fer me, me bonnie boy?”

“Mmmm!” I nod, my already soft voice rising.

“Then lets make it a good’un.” Bringing her left hand to her mouth she wraps her lips around her middle finger and slowly slides it inside. “Mmmmm.” She pulls it out again, glistening with spit. “Ye may feel a little pinch.”

“Oh fuck!” My legs start to spread on their own, my ass twitching with a yearning born from my blood. “Morven!”

“Hold on, laddie.” She continues to stroke me. “I wanna feel ye cum.” Her finger finds my ass and after just one ring around the my anus she then plunges it into my to the knuckle!

“OH FUCK! GNNNNNNGHHHH!!!!” My body shudders. “YESSSSS!!!”

“Yeaahhhh!” As my cock spits little wads of semen out over my belly Morven commences to finger fucking my ass hard and fast!

“GNNGH!!! FUUUUCK! HAAAHHNNNNGHFFFF!!!” My back arches, the pain of my wound drowned out by the waves of ecstasy coursing through my body. Helpless in the spasms of orgasm all I can do is moan and writhe and give myself over to once forbidden pleasures. “OHHHHH!” Faster, harder, rougher she fingers my asshole and before long wet, sloppy sounds fill the air.

“It’s true!” Morven grins. “Ye elves lads lubricate all on yer own!”

“OHHHH FUUUCK!” I whimper. “I can’t…stop…fucking…cummming! MMMMMM!!!” Soon Morven had milked every drop of cum she was going to get out of my twitching todger but that didn’t stop my climax. It didn’t stop her either. Not only did she continue stroking she then adds a second and third finger into my hole! “OHHHHH!!!”

Schluk, schluk, schluk, schluk. The rapid raunchy sounds of Morven’s finger fucking drift up over our silent watching Lady. To be doing this in front of her, upon her sacred altar, in a chapel in hell…we’d gone way past disrespect into desecration! Right now neither of us cared.

“NNNNNGHHHH!” My blissful wails rise and rise until at last. “OH FUUUCK! STOP!!!”

Three more stroke and four more thrusts later Morven mercifully slows to a stop.

“Ohhhhhh.” I warble, my overwhelmed flesh shivering despite the heat.

“How many centuries since you’ve cum like that?”

“Too many.” I huff. “But it was worth the wait. Wowwww.”

Pulling the fingers from my ass she begins to rub my tender and empty balls, which looked like mere marbles against her large hand. She was not gentle about it either. She pulled them to the limits of my scrotum then pushed the back into me again then squeezed them together and rolled them around in a firm grip. I might not have made it to heaven but this was the next best thing. Pulling her hand away she pauses then gives my testes a stiff swat!

“FUCK! Ohhhh, Morven.” I groan. “Where ever did you learn how to handle an elf man?”

“I hear things.” She grins proudly. “Ye pretty boys have a bit of a reputation ye know.”

“Ohhhhhh.” Engulfing my still stiff penis in a hard grip she pulls it to the side then leans in. Extending her long pink tongue she presses it squarely in the center of my load and take a looooong lick up my belly before scooping up my seed. Holding my mess in her mouth she continues up and up toward my head until… “Mmmmf!” …she presses her lips hard to mine. Her strong, cum coated tongue plunges through my lips to share my taste. “Mmmmmmm.” I relax beneath her as she climbs on top of me, careful not to put any weight on my ribs. Her strength…her size…her dominance…the feel of her massive growing cock touch my balls…these things were ambrosia to my elven soul. And to feel such things with a woman, a beautiful woman, it was the best of all possible worlds. She crushes her lips harder into mine and pins my shoulders down. “Mmmmmm!”

When our lips part she rises just a foot above me to gaze down into my eyes. “Sylpharyn.”

“Yes?”

“I think…I think I might love ye.” She laughs that good, honest laugh of hers, a more wholesome sound than hell had ever heard. “I love me bonnie man.”

“Yours? Love?” Love!? Humans used that word so cheaply. Or…just maybe…it was we elves who were too stingy with our heart? “I’m…rather fond of you as well.”

“Hmm.” She nuzzles into my neck to smooch and suck at my flesh.

Reaching down I slide my hand beneath her kilt to take a grip on the huge member I’d been dreaming about since the moment it bewitched me. Succubi had NOTHING on Futanaren as far as this elf was concerned.

“Mrrrrmmm!” Morven growl as her hips begin to rock.

My free hand claws across her back. “I want to taste you! I want to suck your cock!”

“Mm!” She kisses me again.

Pushing up and off of the altar she slips to the floor. Impatiently she tugs off her sweat soaked tunic and throws it to the side. Moving gingerly I throw my legs over the side of the platform. Leaning forward I fill my mouth with the plump nipple of her right breast and begin to lick and suck upon the supple flesh.

“Hahhhhh.” She grabs my silver hair in a tight grip. “Good as that feels I’m not sure how much time we got and I got better uses for that pretty mouth o’ yers.”

“Yessss!”

Half forcing me to my knees and half helping me off the altar Morven was rough lover and nurse in one. Holding me out at arms length with one hand she uses the other to unfasten her kilt and twirl it from her body. And then, there before me, was a cock worthy of worship in this holy place. When I’d seen it before it was fully flaccid and spent from a recent orgasm. The throbbing turgid member hovering before me now was the girth of my forearm and as long as it too if you included the fist!

I open my mouth and go to kiss it but I am held back. Turning my head she holds her cock by the base and begins to bounce it across my nose, cheek and chin. “Ahhh! Ahmm!” Though I reach for it with my lips she keeps it carefully away. My raging elven libido allowed to soar free I whine like the slut I was born to be. “Let me suck it! Pleeeease!”

“I love me bonnie boy.”

“Huh?”

“I said I love me bonnie boy.” She stares down into me. “I love ye, Sylph.” Leaning closer she whispers. “This is where ye say, ‘I love me bonnie lass’.”

I laugh. “And I suppose I have to mean it.”

“Mm.” She nods, hazel eyes twinkling.

“This is absolutely forbidden you realize, a Mentor and his Novice.”

She bats her eyes. “I love ye.”

With a sigh I surrender. What was the point in denying what was plainly true. The woman had saved brought me back to life in more ways than one. “And I love me bonnie lass.”

“He he he! I knew it!” She stands tall again then pulls my head toward her cock. Just before my lips touch her tip she stops me again. “Yer not just sayin that for me big dick, are ye?”

“No!”

“Cause ye’d break me little heart if ye were…”

“Damn it, Morven! I love you!” I cry. “I LOVE YO…MMMPH!”

Her knob buried between my lips she winks. “Shhh. The beasties might hear ye.”

“MMMMMM!” Wrapping my lips tighter around her shaft I begin to suck my first cock in centuries. A finer cock I had never tasted. A larger cock I’d never felt. It was salty with sweat and the heavy musk of her scarlet pubes filled my nose and I couldn’t have been happier. “Mmm!” Pressing forward I take her deeper and deeper, eventually opening up my throat like only we elves could to let her glide down my gullet. “Mmmmmm!”

“Ohhhhhhh fuck!” Morven groans as my wide mouth continues steadily along her veiny shaft until I am nuzzling my nose in among her short and curlies. She eyes bulging she stares down at me in disbelief. “Oh!”

Straining my eyes up to meet hers I shoot her a wink then get to work. Pulling all the way I grab her great shaft in both hands and begin to slobber and slurp all across her fat knob. The more I sucked on it the more I wanted it. Her immense size was driving me wild!

“Yeah.” She huffs, still holding my hair but giving me free reign. “Ohhh yeah!”

“Mmmm!” I nuzzle into her balls and give them a quick tongue bath before quickly returning to her penis. Morven was right. We might be interrupted at any moment. We could be killed at any moment. And before either of those happened I simply had to feel her inside of me, even if it was the last thing I did. “Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! Mmm!” My hands stroking in quick, strong strokes my head bobs forward and back on the front of half of her meaty claymore. “Mrrm! Mrrm! Mrrm!” The more I sucked the more ravenous I became and the deeper I took her.

“Gah!” She gasps and all at once grabs my skull in both her strong hands. YES!!! I relax my body and open myself wide to send the signal that her ‘bonnie boy’ was ready to be used. And use me she does!

Shlurk! Schlurk! Schlurk!

Over a foot of thick female cock plunges in and out of my sloppy maw. As she face fucks me I suck and pulse my throat in time with her thrusts but mostly I just let her do her thing. Her breasts jiggle with the force of her impacts, her big balls bouncing off my fine chin on every thrust. Every fiber of my being was singing with joy. I was a man bred for hard sex and that was just what she was giving me. Never had I felt a cock so deep and so good. She stretched even my elven capacity to the limits and it was in that stretch where true sinful bliss was to be found.

“Glrg! Glg! Lg!” I gag and glug, spittle streaming from my pretty elf lips, as my former Novice has her way with me.

“Ohhh, Sylph! Ohhhhhh my goddess! OHHHHH!”

I put my free hands to use by caressing her balls and fingering her hot, wet, and surprisingly tight pussy.

“HAH!” Her legs tremble a moment and her rhythm is thrown off.

Her cunny grips my finger like none had before it. It felt so good, it smelt so good, that it made me wish I had two mouths with which to pleasure her.

Shlurk! Schlurk! Schlurk!

“Mlrm! Glm! Mm!”

She picks up the pace again, mouth fucking me more passionately than ever, before all of a sudden she pulls me away. Through panting breaths she looks down at me with in a wild ecstasy. “I want ye!”

“I’m yours!”

With ease she lifts me from the floor by the armpits, brings me up to her level for a surprisingly sweet and tender kiss, then spins me around to bend me over the altar!

“Yes! Yes! Fuck yes!” I scooch forward and spread my slender legs wide. Raising my ass I offer it to her. The stone against my chest hurt my side like a bitch but right now I could barely feel it. Grabbing the folded blanked that had acted as my pillow I clutch it to myself and bite down. “Mmmm!”

Pap, pap, pap!

Spreading a cheek wide she slaps her cock against my aroused and dripping booty hole. She doesn’t tease me for long. Centering her tip against my ass she presses the tip through without issue.

“Nnnngh!” I groan into the blanket as my asshole is spread wider than it ever had before.

“Ohhhhh!” Morven throaty groan fills the room as her thick, hard schlong glides down my smooth, slick, gripping boyhole. “Ohhhhh fuuuuuuck! I ain’t never felt nothin this good!”

“Hmmmmm!” My lilting voice whimpers. She wasn’t the only one! The girth! The length! The hardness! Had I felt a cock like this in my youth I NEVER would have joined the Lady’s elite Templars. Morven…fucking…FILLED ME! “NNNGHHH!!!”

“Hah!” She yelps. “Are you cumming again!?”

“NNNNNGHH!!!” I nod as I spray what seed I had against the side of the holy altar. Letting the mouth slip from my teeth I cry. “AHHHH!!! FUCK MEEEE!!!”

Her large, strong hands wrap around my narrow waist and she begins to pound my twinkish elf ass!

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

Biting back down on the blanket to muffle my voice…I SCREAM! “MMMMMMMM!!!”

My mighty Morven fucks me deep, she fucks me hard, and she fucks me good. No brutish orc of yore could have matched her passion and ferocity. And yet, through it all, she is careful around the flank that carried my wound. Great size, great power, great stamina, great beauty and a caring heart? I could search heaven and hell and the world between and never find a more perfect lover.

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

“RM! YEAH! Ohhhh my pretty man! RRRRMMM!”

“NNNNNGHHHH!!!” I am wracked by another powerful orgasm which was swiftly followed by another. “MMMMMMMM!!!”

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

The sweat ran off of our bodies in rivers. The thunder of flesh on flesh echoes through the chapel. My bones rattling, my flesh quivering, I am pounded like an ogre’s war drum.

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

I cum and I cum and I cum. Though my tunnel gripped at her and milked at her she continued fucking me without pause. Was she still trying to show off even now? I didn’t know and I didn’t care. All I knew was it felt fucking INCREDIBLE! Tirelessly, powerfully, relentlessly, her thick rod stabbing into my guts again and again, my strapping lover fucks my mind into oblivion.

“Yeah! Cum for me, me pretty, pretty man! MM! Cum for yer lovin lass!”

“NNNNNGHHHH!!!!”

She slaps my ass. She pulls my hair. She bring my hands behind my back to pin them against my spine. She handles me rough and hard, just the way I needed it.

PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!

A sudden rise in her tempo and a flexing of her cock told me the time had come.

“Yes!” I mewl. “YES! FILL ME UP!”

“Ohh! Ohhhh! OHHHH! I love ye! I love ye! I FUCKING LOVE YE!” She slams in one last time, deeper and harder than ever. Her cock throbs with power as she blasts her hot load deep inside of me. “NNNNGHHHHH!!!”

“YESSSSSS!!!”

***

My wound sore, my ribs tender, I am nevertheless a contented man as I lay spooned by my much larger lover. My body glowed with joy and my happy ass leaked the cum of my lover. Clutched to my body Morven slept upon the altar behind me. The poor girl, she had barely caught a wink during the days of my recover. Between that and what we’d just done she had earned this rest. I could at last keep watch as well.

Above us our Lady peered down upon her fallen Templars. If we got out of here, had our sins fated us to return to this god forsaken realm? Even if we escaped this time and laid down our Templar mantle, were we still to be hellbound in the end? In my heart I could not believe that.

I think back upon my training and the many long years of hard lessons behind me. I’d forged a bond. One powerful and enduring. And like all bonds to mortal things it made me weak, for what sin would I not commit for the woman I loved? It would also bring pain, for if we did survive I’d have only get a scant few dozen years with my short-lived mate where I would have to watch her grow old and die. And it had cost me everything that I was until now. What path lay before me now that I didn’t have my Lady’s rules and oaths to guide me? Who even was I without my Templar’s badge? It had been so long…I couldn’t remember.

And yet…that bond also brought hope and comfort and a strength of its own and a courage to face my uncertain future. After so long in my rigid ways the uncertainty was frightening, yes, but it was also exhilarating. A life of my own! A life with love! What a blessing. As I reflect I wonder if this had been my Lady’s will all along. Perhaps a reward for my centuries of service. As with that guard I’d met at the monastery who in his youth had planned to join the priesthood, perhaps the Lady now had another plan for me. Only time would tell.

“Mmmm.” I snuggle back into my lover. Unconsciously her arm tightens around me to hold me close.

The one thing that I did know was that I would see the breach closed one final time, take out as many of demons as I could along the way, then Morven and I would walk out of hell hand in hand.

The End