4/25 afternoon
I hadn't known what to expect when Drusilla was captured, but a hot girl inviting me to a bedroom would not have been my first guess. She was my first capture, and she didn't have a necklace on so far. The shop said that the binding would "ensure a companion's loyalty, friendship, and romantic and sexual interest in you, and nudge them in that direction toward your other companions." I hoped that meant I could trust her.
"So" I whispered, "care to have a chat in my bedroom? I don't think yours is the safest place right now." She turned for a moment and nodded.
••••••••••
My tiny cubby of a bedroom had enough room for both of us to sit, at least. Very close to one another, but that was definitely not a drawback in my book and she didn't seem bothered either.
She turned towards me, leaned in, and quietly asked "So. What the hell did you do?" Her tone was deadly serious. I wasn't sure how to answer, but I decided something approximating the truth would be best. "Well. I need allies in order to protect the world. So I used magical means to make you into an ally of mine. I haven't done it before so I didn't know exactly how it would go. How do you feel?"
I was expecting shock, anger, or disbelief. Instead she looked thoughtful. "Hmm. That sounds about right. I abruptly de-aged about thirty years and then couldn't think of anything but finding you. So what, am I your slave?" She seemed weirdly okay with that idea. Not eager; just entirely resigned to it.
"If you aren't bothered to think of it that way, basically yeah. I've been told you will always be loyal to me, and predisposed to see me in a positive light. Other than that, you're still you. You can still disobey, I think, but I haven't done this before."
She seemed thoughtful. "And will you be doing it again?" I nodded, "quite a lot, actually."
"I see. Why me, in particular?" She seemed more curious than upset or demanding. It was a little off putting.
"Well. The easy answer is that you were susceptible. I have the ability to sense ways I can change things. Rituals only I can do. One of the ways was to ruin your reputation; when I did that I'd get you on my side."
She showed her first sign of emotion at that: a bitter sigh. "Of course I was a target of opportunity. Why would I ever think I was chosen for my power or my experience?"
"To be fair, I hardly had any contact with you. I don't really know your past, but I imagine you are more powerful than me. That's the whole idea of warlocks, isn't it? Great power if you can handle it." She probably wasn't a powerhouse by warlock standards, but I'd bet she was a lot better in a fight than I was at this point.
She rallied at that. "Yes. I suppose so. Might I ask what exactly are the objectives to this faction I have been drafted into?" Fuck it, worst case scenario she disagrees with me.
"Azeroth is divided. There are lots of decent people all over the world who will fight each other for all sorts of reasons, but that doesn't usually help anyone. What they really want is whatever they are fighting for, not the fight itself. I intend to keep growing my influence, until I can stop the stupid wars and make the smart wars go a lot quicker. The Legion will be back eventually, the Scourge controls an entire continent, the Worgen are on our doorstep, who knows what's going on in Kalimdor, and the Alliance and Horde are fighting each other like two dogs with a scrap of meat. I intend to rule the world; at least theoretically I think I could manage it, and I'd be better for normal people than most of the people trying to get the job. Plus I'm immortal, so are you now by the way, so I have a vested interest in the long term prosperity of Azeroth."
She continued asking increasingly technical questions, accepting my goals as at least reasonable to want. I explained everything I knew, about the jewels, about the shop, about the company. With slight edits to avoid causing existential dread; she didn't need to know that her entire world was designed to amuse people with eternal pointless conflict and annual threats to all life on the planet.
"So they developed these powers, but before they give them to people and worlds they have a stake in, they want to be sure they will function. They might backfire, or twist around and cause harm or unexpected consequences. So they gave them to someone in a world they don't have interest in, so that won't hurt them if it does."
Drusilla took this in stride. "You of course won't simply refrain from using this power just because of potential consequences. I can respect that. Be wary of this 'company' though." It all fell into place. She is a warlock. She was entirely comfortable with risky, costly power. I told her I was using a mysterious power to enslave people to protect Azeroth. To her, especially a version of her that would always see me as a valid friend, lover, and leader, that was just fine. Maybe it was even praiseworthy.
"Thank you. I was worried how it would go over, the first time I told someone about it. There is one other part I left out, though." I leaned in and kissed her gently. When I leaned back she had a slightly dazed look in her eyes, and a small smile.
"Mmmm" she reached around the back of my neck gently, then dragged me in close for a far less gentle kiss of her own.
"I'm guessing this was part of the magic as well?" She whispered in my ear, reaching down into my trousers with a soft, gentle hand. "You're handsome, Erich, but I don't think that I was ever this eager, even when I was actually young. I'd have let you buy me a drink perhaps." She finished fishing out my cock, and glanced down at it approvingly. "But now? Now I want more than that." She started undoing the ties on her robe, and I moved to untie her sash. She was efficient, and her robe was off in moments. Her simple, functional bra and panties followed immediately.
I smiled, "Well, I did say I wanted to live well. This is a part of it." Her body was toned and athletic, probably thanks to body talent, with an hourglass shape. She stood in front of me with a smug smile, seeming to bask in my gaze while she surreptitiously looked her newly young body over with wonder. The tiny room made it easy for me to reach out, grab her by the hips, and pull her down onto my cock.
Her breath caught in her throat as I entered her slowly, an inch at a time, as she moved her knees onto the cot for leverage. When I bottomed out, I kissed her again, nibbling her bottom lip and tasting the inside of her mouth as she pressed against me, responding in kind. She started bouncing on my cock, and I thrust up into her each time as she came down.
After a few minutes of heaven she squeezed me, her nails digging into my back, and raggedly whispered "harder, harder." I did my best to oblige as she squeezed around me, and the pressure was enough to push me over the edge soon after her. After I shot my load, she settled onto me, leaning against my chest with me hilt deep inside of her.
"I hope that plays a vital role in your grand crusade. I'd like to do it more." That, and the accompanying nibble to my ear, was enough to get my weapon of choice to respond again, but I still had work to do today and so did she. "I assure you it will be. But I have some things I'll need you to do for me. Would you like to get clean before I tell you?"
"Mmm. No. I'm very comfortable right here." She shifted her hips slightly on my sensitive equipment, "maybe I'll get another round before I have to leave. I haven't gotten fucked in more than a decade, so I really needed that."
"It's not complicated. I need you to go to Goldshire with one of my necklaces. Then when you are there, I'll need you to go off into the woods a bit. That's all." She was skeptical, but didn't complain. She grudgingly dismounted after another minute or so, and looked around for a rag she might use to clean up. I handed her a pair of boxers I had. Worst case scenario I'd need to clean them in the river, best case I could clean them with the light.
As we were washing up and getting dressed, I asked, "did you actually sign up as a new trainee?"
"No. I asked about every little detail and did my best soft merchant impression. I don't think they will be surprised when I clear out, but I needed a plausible reason to be here suddenly." Excellent.
"Then you should probably get going whenever you are ready. The sooner you are in Goldshire, the sooner I can complete another ritual." She seemed to have bought into the mission system as a set of esoteric rituals, so I figured I might as well just continue with that line of logic. It fit; I do some random things and then a loosely related final outcome happens magically.
"I'm ready now. I stowed most of my belongings under some bushes in the graveyard, but it would look a bit suspicious if I left in the evening." Probably for the best. I wouldn't have liked to go another evening without access to the app, and I'd have a new necklace for her in the morning.
I left to go to weapons training. It's been an eventful few days, so I haven't been getting anywhere near as much practice as I should be. Once it was established that I was a gifted spellcaster and awful combatant, they shifted their focus to training me in how to block and parry while casting. Their logic seemed to be that the magic could account for most of what I'd be doing proactively, so they just needed to ingrain defense. It was hard as hell to focus on two things at once when both were so mentally demanding, but I reached the point where I could slowly walk or take a hit while I was focusing on a smite without completely losing the spell. Soul talent wasn't chiming in on this one, so I guessed that if I was getting any help it was from stress defense.
Eventually I got to bed, and pulled out the "arcane orb" that had come along as a bonus with Drusilla. It was a simple, if faintly glowing, orange glass sphere on a stick. I had absolutely no idea what it was supposed to do, but when I was holding it by its handle I felt a pleasant tingling feeling, and when I touched the orb itself I felt a rush of energy. Only the first time I touched it, though. After that the glow dimmed and I was worried I'd damaged it somehow. I put it away, but I was also suddenly very awake, and regretted that Drusilla had gone to the temporary room she'd been assigned to stay in.
I lay awake for a while, unable to get to sleep with the magical equivalent of five shots of espresso raging through me, realizing that I was already almost done here. Almost every high value mission I'd been given was pushing me to go to different regions, and the majority of people I'd find here would be fresh faced trainees with virtually no power or influence. I was getting training, sure, but it was basic training primarily intended to make sure volunteers could hold their own against bandits and gnolls. Most of the trainees went on to either go to real boot camp in the army, or return home to guard their farm or town.
Thanks to apportation, there wouldn't even be any real problem with leaving Anetta behind to scout promising trainees, or maybe she could give the Marshal an amulet whenever she leaves to join me. I could summon her at any time, or come back to her. Being able to teleport someone to Northshire at the feet of a healer could probably come in handy in a pinch.
Once I thought it through, I sent Darcell a whisper. "Change of plans; I'm getting you out late tomorrow. Just don't get caught before then. Tell Padfoot he won't have to risk his neck after all." Once the defias were out, that would really be it. Unless I found something else exceptionally promising in Northshire, it would be time to move along.
The only question was where to? I had missions in Tanaris, Redridge, Duskwood, and the Plaguelands. Duskwood and the Plaguelands seemed like the most dangerous destinations, especially given what I was supposed to do there. Tanaris was a huge desert on another continent. When I thought about it that way, Redridge seemed like it might be the safe option. Sure, it was a warzone, but joining an assault on a fortified mage tower somehow seemed like the least dangerous thing that my amulet wanted me to do. Duskwood, on the other hand, had multiple missions, and the payouts were pretty nice. Ignoring missions completely just seemed like it would screw me over long term; I was almost at the cap and I wasn't sure how often I'd be getting tickets to trade them out.
I was still just one guy, but if I was going to keep up with world events I needed to move quick. I hadn't seen any signs of great heroes rising up to do glorious battle with the forces of evil. An Old God would be unleashed into the world in a handful of months, and for all I know, I was all this world had.