Yamada shot awake with a gasp. A familiar soreness and searing pain radiated through his body. Bruised muscles, and creaking bones. He sat up with his torso bandaged. He scanned his surroundings. A wooden hut, designed for a small family of three or four. The bed made for two people, or one obese person. Made of cheap quality and poor craftsman ship. The aroma of spices and meats brewing, caught his attention. However seeing Harbinger, resting in the corner, replaced his exhaustion with anxiety. Yamada summoned his armour and quietly crept over to Harbinger. He pushed the door open slowly, creeping outside. Yamada froze seeing Jacara and Ul'lanna tied back to back, sitting on the ground of the living room. Both of them were unconscious and gagged. He quickly rushed to them trying to remove their gags and untie them.
"Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't do that." Skora said from behind. Yamada spun around seeing Skora. She wore a simple cotton blouse and leather pants. Without the cuirass, her cleavage peeked out from her low cut blouse. She raised her hand, and Yamada became immobilised in his armour. He was pinned against the wall, and levitated upwards. The loud thud awoke Ul'lanna, and Jacara the two of them thrashed around in the bindings. "Good everyone is awake. Now we can finally talk." She said kindly dropping Yamada. "Crazy woman." He muttered under his breath, rushing to cut Ul'lanna and Jacara free. Jacara gasped for air, and slapped Yamada across the face, stunning everyone. He shook his head confused and puzzled. "What was that for!?" Yamada scolded. Jacara gave him a scowl, and then bowed to Skora. "I apologize for his vulgar words Miss. I am Jacara-"
Yamada's arm clasped around Jacara's mouth. The both of them went wide-eyed. "Yamada, what are you doing?" Ul'lanna asked, trying to free Jacara. "I'm not doing this!" He said trying to free his arm. Yamada took a deep breath and released his armour. The three of them fell back. Skora took a seat, crossing her leg and rested her elbow over it. She rested her chin down onto her palm, staring longingly at Yamada. "You continue to impress me." Skora said, biting her lower lip seductively at him. Jacara raised his hand to speak. Yamada clasped his mouth shut. "Shut up, and don't say anything. This woman is more powerful than all of us." He said slowly letting go. The three of them settled down, taking a nervous gulp. "Why are we here Skora?" Yamada asked, clenching his fists. "Tell me everything, you learned about Valsko, in your brief encounter with him?"
"His affinity is wind, he hides the placement of his gate, and he's weaker than you." Skora applauded Yamada. "You are special. Underneath all that strength, lies a big heart and brain." Jacara scoffed. "That's debatable." Skora sighed, rolling her eyes. "For defeating Valsko, I'll give you a boon of your choosing. And another if you agree to my proposition." She said with a sly smile. "What can you give?" Yamada asked. "What do you desire? Wealth? Fame? Land? Women? Simply name it, and I will arrange it." She listed off. "You've been watching me. You know what I want." He growled. "Ahh, the one thing that corrupts us all. Power." She said walking over to Yamada. She caressed his face, to Ul'lanna's irritation. "Very well, I'll teach you the secret to becoming powerful."
Skora leaned into Yamada, whispering softly into his ear with a sultry voice. "Devour Draken hearts. As many as you can stomach." His eyes widened as she pulled back. The other two had thoughts, racing through their minds of what, she had said to him. "How many have you had?" Yamada asked. "Lost track around fifty. Been years since I kept count." Yamada clenched his fists tightly. "Where are we?" Ul'lanna asked. "Ah, I suppose your ears are picking it up." Skora said taking a seat again. The sound of rushing waters, tenderly graced her ears. "As a thank you to Yamada, for teaching Valsko a lesson. I ushered you all here. What you're hearing Ul'lanna, is one of the Eight forks." "That's impossible!" Ul'lanna shouted. Her shock surprised both Yamada and Jacara.
"It would have taken us almost five months, to march that distance." "Are you calling me a liar elf?" "You expect me to believe, you carried all of us that far in less a day?" Ul'lanna scoffed. "How do you know it's only been a day?" "No atrophy of our muscles, hunger or dehydration." Skora leaned back in her seat, pleasantly surprised at Ul'lanna's analysis. "Hmm, you have potential girl. But if you continue south-west to the Silver City. You'll believe me then. For now I would like to discuss a proposition with you, Yamada." She said leering Yamada up and down. Ul'lanna and Jacara gave her a look of disgust, however Jacara's reasoning differed from Ul'lanna's. "What is it you want?" Yamada asked. The three of them cocked their necks to the side, confused and in disbelief at, Yamada's obliviousness. Jacara slapped the back of Yamada's head. "She wants to fuck you."
"WHAT!?" Yamada exclaimed, his face turning bright red. Ul'lanna and Skora melted at the sight of Yamada blushing and flustered. "Why would you want that? Jacara does it way more. He'll be better at it." Skora reeled back, scrunching her face in disgust at his proposal. "It's you or no one else." She said firmly, crossing her arms. Ul'lanna glanced at Yamada, seeing his stoic face. She let out a small sigh of relief, bowing her head down.. 'He's going to refuse, because that's the kind of man he is.' "I accept." He said. 'I knew it. He's a righteous and devout ma-' her train of thought shattered, and she shook her head. "WAIT WHAT!?" Ul'lanna and Jacara shouted. "I get a reward for doing this right?" He asked. "Oh, a little greedy are we?" Skora said with a smug smile. Yamada was redder than a ripe tomato. "It depends on how well you do. The better you do, the better the reward." "Yamada, you can't seriously consider her offer. Also, who is she!?" Ul'lanna shrieked.
"She was the woman in the cloak." Yamada said. "And yes I am accepting the offer. Because I don't think, I would be able to stop her if she wanted it." Skora nodded along. "He's right, you know." "What makes you think we're gonna sit back and watch you r-" Stone slabs shot up from the ground, encasing Ul'lanna and Jacara. "ape..." Ul'lanna trailed off, dropping her head in defeat. "Well, guess it's just us two." Ul'lanna grimaced. "Anything but this." She whimpered quietly to herself, before slowly panning to her left seeing Jacara. She took a deep breath through her nose. Yamada watched as the stone pillars sank into the ground. "Are they going to be okay?" "Relatively. I get the feeling Encara's brat, can be a little....trying." Yamada nodded along. Skora clapped her hands together reaching to take off her blouse. "Wait." Yamada called out. She stopped and pouted at him. "What now?"
"I need to know before we begin. Did you want to make love or just have sex?" Skora froze and gave him a nod, mixed with amazement and surprise. "I'm surprise you know the difference. But why don't you surprise me?" She said, winking at him and pulling up her blouse. In the brief moment, of removing her blouse. Yamada had closed the distance between them. He ran his fingers through her hair, and pulled her in close, pressing his lips onto hers. Her eyes went wide with bewilderment and she melted into his strong grip. He hoisted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Yamada carried her into the bedroom, shutting the door shut with a kick.
Ul'lanna sat in the corner of their stone prison, hugging her knees. The air is too thin in here. Attempting to use my magic in here, would suffocate us. Jacara shuffling towards her, broke her concentration. She shied away. "Why do you hate me?" He asked. "I don't hate you." She muttered. Jacara cocked an eyebrow, and let out a nervous chuckle. "You sure act like you do." She sighed. "I don't want to talk about this." Jacara gazed around the stone prison, dimly lit by tiny holes seeping with sunlight. "Yes, because we have plenty of other things to do." Ul'lanna rolled her eyes at his sarcastic tone. "Come on, you can tell me." He urged. "If we are at, one of the eight forks. It still means we're a month trek from the Silver City." "And that means...?" She glared at Jacara. "It means, if I tell you what I honestly think of you. We're going to have a very uncomfortable journey." She snapped.
The prison was silent, the sound of their breathing filled the room. Jacara fidgeted around, his lips drawn to a line, panning around for anything to entertain him. "What do you think he's gonna ask for?" Ul'lanna rocked her head back blowing out a long exasperated sigh. "I don't know. I just want it to be over and done with." "I think he's gonna ask for weapon." "Can we please just be silent for this?" She pleaded. "How about we come to our own arrangement?" She squinted at Jacara's lewd proposal. "You tell me the truth, and I'll be quiet." "You're not going to let this go are you?" Jacara shook his head. Ul'lanna took a deep breath, looking up to the holes.
"I don't hate you." She said, before locking eyes with him. "I despise, what kind of person you are." Her words gored a hole through his heart. "A lazy, perverted, and vain man. Who takes pride and joy in putting down others, but can't stand it, when it's done to him." Jacara leapt to his feet. "You don't even know me ELF! Where the hell did you draw that conclusion from?" He yelled, his face red. She stood up meeting his gaze. "You have over twenty cards, each one has their own magic on it. Which means you have incredible talent for learning new magic. But you can only use eleven in a battle. That tells me you never trained with them. You relied on your raw talent to win." Jacara shrivelled, as Ul'lanna berated him to the corner. "You lack any muscle, even though you're well fed. It means you were lazy and pampered. You probably never once thought to train your body with your mind." He slumped down against the wall.
The words hacked him to pieces, hurting more than any broken bones or bruises, Yamada had given him. "You wanted to know, why people gravitate towards Yamada. It's because he's earnest and kind. He doesn't judge them based on appearance, affiliation, wealth, class or even their past." "I don't judge-" "If I was hideous, you would have never even paid attention to me." Jacara shrunk. The truth had crushed him to dust. He sat defeated in the corner, with Ul'lanna scowling down at him. She scrunched her face, the frustration and regret of snapping, hit her like a crashing wave. "I'm sorry." She sighed, before walking back to the other corner. She slumped to the ground, bowing in her head in frustration and shame.
'Damn it Ul'lanna! Why would you go and say that to him? You just made the son of Encara sad. Stupid.' "How does not having any muscle make me pampered?" Jacara asked, staring at his boots. Ul'lanna was silent, hesitant to answer. "Your rations. They're going to rot within a few days. You aren't accustomed to eating jerky and salted foods." Jacara nodded with her assessment. "They make thirsty. But in hindsight, I should have known better than to bring, bacon and chicken." He smiled. Ul'lanna smiled as well. "And just to let you know. If you want to be with Yamada, you need to have something he wants, or tell him out right." Ul'lanna perked up, staring at Jacara with bulging eyes. "Wh-who said I want to be with him." She stammered, the tips of her ears burning and red.
"Okay, if you want to let his Wyrm sleep in your cave-" Ul'lanna shook her head puzzled at the statement. "Let his what, sleep in my what?" She asked. Jacara cocked his eyebrow up. "You know, putting the sword into the scabbard." He said, nodding his head, waiting for Ul'lanna to understand. She scrunched her face at him. "Is that you call sex up here?" She asked chuckling in disbelief. "Well, what do the Elves of the Kal'Nar call it?" "We call it filling her quiver. Or filling the board." Jacara gave a puzzled expression. The morbid realisation finally hit her. Ul'lanna broke out into a chuckle. "I almost forgot, the women up here aren't fucked by multiple men at the same time." Jacara nodded along, with an uncomfortable smile across his face. "How long do you think we've been in here for?" He asked staring up at the rays of light.
She looked up to the rays of light, their angle had moved slightly. "About an hour or more." "So they've been cuddling for the hour, while we're stuck in here." Ul'lanna shook her head smiling. The sound of steel slashing through the earth, caught their attention. They glanced up to see the tip of Harbinger. Yamada cut open the earth, creating an opening. The slab of earth crashed down. Ul'lanna and Jacara looked up to Yamada, dripping sweat, and heaving. He let out a sigh of relief, seeing them safe. "Oh thank the Ryujin, you two are okay." Jacara and Ul'lanna shared a concerned glance, before being helped out. The two of them gazed around in shock and panic.
The wooden hut had been destroyed by several stone pillars. Each one jutted out from different directions, in an abstract art of destruction. "Oh no. You did a terrible job." Jacara said. Yamada shook his head puzzled. "What?" Jacara rushed in. "Don't worry, I'll fix this." He called out. Yamada looked to Ul'lanna, who gave him a defeated shrug. Ul'lanna entered after Jacara, to see him staring through the bedroom door in wonder. His jaw hung low, and he was frozen in place. "Jacara, what's wrong?" She asked. "What are you doing? Grab your stuff we have to keep going." Yamada scolded, grabbing the rucksacks. Ul'lanna peeked over Jacara's shoulder, her eyes went wide with excitement and shock.
Skora was covered by the blanket, the room was destroyed with her clothes scattered. Her hair was a mess, the bed drenched. Breathless and in a daze, her eyes glazed over and her body quivering. Jacara and Ul'lanna turned to Yamada, flustered, red and in a rush to leave. "What did you do to her?" He asked. "I don't want to talk about it. Now, can you two stop being so rude, and give her some privacy?" He said grabbing all of their gear. Skora flopped out of bed, landing with a solid thud. "Wh..wh...why...why can't I feel my legs?" She asked with a euphoric smile across her face. She scanned the room, with a grin across her face. "Oh right." She giggled.
The two of them turned back to Yamada, walking out the door, carefully evading the spikes and to not drop everything. "Teach me." Jacara said. "What?" Yamada stopped turning around. "You can demonstrate on Ul'lanna." Jacara said. "Yes please demonstrate on me." Ul'lanna said. Yamada shot them a shocked gaze, scrunching his face at them. "What is wrong with you two?" He said storming out. "Wait, teach me!" Jacara called out running after him. Ul'lanna walked over to Skora, filled with vulgar and lustful curiosity. "UL'LANNA!" Yamada called out. She stopped, watching Skora fall asleep on the cabin fall. "Lucky woman." She muttered under her breath, before walking out.
Jacara followed behind Yamada, continuing to pester him, as he strapped his deck belt on. "Just tell me what you did." He pleaded, clasping his hands together. "No! It's rude to even ask, let alone go and look at a woman after...after that." Ul'lanna caught up to them, quickly strapping her armour on. Her mind racing with thoughts, of what could Yamada, have done to her. He had only ever been with Gwyneth. What did he teach her? "Ul'lanna." Yamada's voice faintly appeared in her mind. Or did he already know the secret to making a woman crumble? She thought biting her lower lip, filled with excitement. "Ul'lanna!" Yamada's voice became louder. She had already seen it before, but never in action. "UL'LANNA!" He bellowed, snapping her out of the trance. She shudder snapping back to reality. "What?" She asked confused. "You've been staring at Yamada's crotch for the last 5 minutes." Jacara informed. "Are you two going to be like this, every time I...lay with a woman?" He asked blushing as he, slung the rucksack over his shoulder. "Depends on who you do it with." They both said.
Yamada took a deep breath, forcing his frustration and embarrassment down. "Which way is south west?" He asked. Ul'lanna took point. She dismissed the sound of rushing water. No matter how powerful someone could be. To traverse that far in such a short span would be impossible. Skora must have a draken state with wings, that's the only possibility. After a few minutes, Ul'lanna was at a loss of words. Skora had been telling the truth, they stood before one of the eight forks. A dividing river filled with raging rapids, that stretched for metres. Jacara and Yamada gazed on in awe. They had heard stories of the eight forks, but it was different sight to behold in person. The crashing waves, the rushing torrent of water, geysers of mist exploding against the rocks. Ul'lanna swallowed her saliva, a sense of dread filled her body. 'If Skora is this powerful, what kind of organization is she a part of?'
"How do we cross this?" Yamada asked staring in awe. "This part of the fork is too large to cross. We'll need to walk further down. It will narrow down at one point, and then we can-" Ul'lanna's voice trailed off in Yamada's mind. He felt the energy pulsing from the fork. Calling to him. Drawing him in. 'Devour it.' The serpent hissed. Yamada pulled back wincing, clutching his head. 'DEVOUR IT!' Yamada fell to his knees, clutching his head. Ul'lanna and Jacara rushed to his aid. His armour appeared and wings swatted them away. The two of them fell onto their backs. He let out a roar flying into the fork. "What was that!?" Ul'lanna shrieked, sitting up. "I guess, he was thirsty from that amorous activity."
Yamada submerged himself feeling the energy of the fork surging through his body. He took a deep breath, letting the water fill his lungs. Yamada spun around in shock. He could breathe underwater. The water felt better to breathe than air itself. His scales pulsated with energy. The energy raged inside of him, it thrashed and boiled inside his veins. Yamada let out a roar and leapt out into the skies. He crashed in front of Jacara and Ul'lanna, the earth kicked up around him. Heaving and puffing, he dismissed the transformation. His injuries had healed, and he felt more energy raging inside of him than he ever had before. Ul'lanna and Jacara stared at him wide-eyed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He stopped, noticing the lack of raging waters. Yamada spun around to see, what had silenced them. The fork had been quelled. The water reflected the clear sky, clearer than any mirror. "We...we should cross..." Ul'lanna stammered in be wonderment. Jacara nodded his jaw hanging, and blinking vacantly.