Eskil knelt onto the luxurious bed beside Libelle, gawking at the ivory colored silk fabric with gold embroidered flowers all over the plush comforter. The four poster bed was exquisitely crafted, commissioned by an under paid craftsman for an overpaid lord.
Restrained into a room for the evening that commoners only dreamed of. Eskil peered at the overly lavish room, one that appeared to be fit for a human king. With two large fireplaces on opposite sides of the room, crafted from carved white marble.
There was furniture in all corners of the room, tables with ripe fruit in clay bowls that had been hand glazed. Placed strategically around each table littered with food he wouldn't eat, books he wouldn't read, and candelabras he wouldn't use were chairs and couches. Each crafted from carved wood and thick cushions with matching ivory fabric and gold embroidery.
Bookcases covered the northern wall, each shelf filled to the brim with leather bound books. On the eastern wall were two large windows that reached from floor to ceiling, with heavy red drapery that were drawn open. A full moon stared into the room, illuminating the dark room with its vibrant light.
However, no matter how lavish a room, a manor, or a castle was. Its beauty could never compare to the sight he could never get enough of. His lovely lifemate rested on the plush pillows, their twin children slumbering against her sides beneath both arms. It was a sight he would rise to, and fall to.
Her golden blonde hair was neatly braided and draped over her shoulder. The thin material of her cotton night gown clinging to her feminine figure, filling his head with all sorts of lewd thoughts. Gala and Raynor wearing similar gowns, except both children's hair were wildly splayed about.
Libelle looked up at him, her vibrant blue eyes gentle as she smiled up at him. Her full lips puckering as he bent over her for a tender, good-night kiss.
"I should have listened to you." he murmured, resting his head on the stack of pillows beside her.
"Yes, you should have." she chuckled, teasing her fingers through his thick black hair.
"That jarl has a brain that could compare to murky pudding. There is absolutely nothing going on within his head besides feasting on salty meat and fucking sultry women."
Libelle laughed, "You say that about all of the jarls."
"Because it's true!" he sighed, "That man does not talk about obtaining peace with new lands, what he discusses is genocide."
Libelle's tender expression grew solemn. "I know. I don't like it."
"I want our kin to have new lands, especially ones that are more than suitable for nesting grounds. Yet, if it means I need to slaughter or enslave an entire race…"
Libelle's warm hand cupped his cheek. "I understand love, it is not something I would wish for either. However, this land is at least worth looking into."
He sighed, rolling onto his stomach. "I know."
"If the beings who dwell on these lands are as the jarl and his men say they are, they could pose a threat to all of us."
His blood red eyes focused on a fabric of the comforter. "They are not human, nor are they elven. Not even a lost colony of dwarves. Their skin is black as ash, eyes red like blood, hair as white as snow, and flesh as hard as stone. I've never heard of creatures like these before."
Libelle lifted the small roll of paper by the foot of the bed, twisting the red ribbon between her toes and lifting it up to where she could grab it with her hand. She unrolled the paper and read over the inscription on it.
"According to the last party of men who investigated the islands, only a small handful returned. Fifty men set sail to investigate, and eight returned. They said in the report the men found large islands that radiated warmth like the sun, a climate different than what we experience here on the main lands."
"It is probably an underground volcano, they warm the soil and air. Rather comfortable to live near until they erupt."
"At first they did not find any signs of… intelligent life. Quite a bit of wild life, incredible amounts of vegetation. They found sweet tasting fruit that grew from the trees and small brush. Many of the creature's that live on the islands appeared to be highly skittish, and the ones the men came across did not appear to be carnivorous."
Eskil rolled onto his back, teasing Gala's hair. "Yet there are humanoid creatures that prowl the lands like cursed beasts."
Libelle sighed, reading further down the roll of paper. "The creatures appeared the sixth night the men slumbered. Ten were slaughtered in their sleep before a man named Harold awoke and alerted the camp. The one creature they were able to kill disintegrated into a pile of ash once its heart stopped beating.
"The men continued to explore the islands for another week, until they were ambushed once again at night. The eight men who returned were the only ones who were able to escape the attack. Each man gave a statement of the attacks upon their return."
"What did they have to say?"
"They all seemed to say the same thing. The creatures stood taller than an average man, yet their forms were lean like a woman's. The eyes they possessed appeared demonic of sorts, void of any emotion. Solid red, almost like they were illuminated.
"They wore no clothing, their entire hide was stony gray color. The men tried to attack them, yet their blades never collided. The creatures evaded attacks like tricksters. Yet when their attack's landed, their translucent appearance became solid in an instant as if they were stone. Only a few attacks were successful, and they all appeared to have struck by luck."