Fresh air.
Roosters screaming at the top of their lungs. Yawning farmers leaving homes. Yup- it was a new morning. A fresh start.
I stared at the city from my room. I stayed at this place for over two months now. Since I was going to leave today, felt kind of sentimental. I guess, I got a bit attached? Though that was kind of saddening, the thrill of adventure had dulled the bitter taste lurking inside. Besides, two months to an elf wasn't really that long anyway.
But maybe I shouldn't travel alone-?
After all, I needed semen every single day. If not… I wasn't going to make it. Not having sex, was a no go. Meaning, I definitely couldn't travel solo.
Then again, caravans often took in people as long as they paid enough, so I suppose I could always make that work. So. Taking everything, I just left…
***
I walked the streets alone.
Headed for the gates. The best way to find a caravan was to actually head over to the merchant guild and offer assistance.
However, given my lowly rank, it wasn't going to mean much and no one would probably hire me. And paying them too much money wasn't something I could afford either because for that I'd need the 'too much money' first anyway.
So.
Instead. I had a better plan.
"It's sad to see you go, miss-" The same guard from the other day. Apparently, he worked half of the month on the other gate and half of the month on this one- the south gate. I guess I let him down considering we never really got together and had some fun.
"I like it here. Might come back in a while," that said, I walked out.
"God speed." He didn't seem that heartbroken though. Actually, he genuinely meant well.
To leave a city, you didn't need much of anything. To enter a new city however, you needed to show your identification and pay a fee. If you didn't have an identification then you were going to have to pay twice or even five times the fee.
Not pleasant, no. But my adventure card was going to serve as an identification, so it wasn't a big deal for me. And though I had my things with me and pretended like I was traveling alone, I wasn't.
Just before me, a caravan also left. And I just: Tailed them…. From a distance of course.
It was monster season and even if nothing happened- I could always just pretend to be lost and get into their caravan at night anyway….
But after half a day or so, it happened.
Yes.
Monsters.
***
Large wolves. White, slightly pale and, in broad daylight.
"AAHH!!" Frail shrieks ran across the field.
This caravan did have guards but they weren't equipped enough to fight the wolves.
Why? Because wolves generally didn't show up here. But. They did. And now they could either fight or die running.
It was common knowledge for me that abnormally strong monsters would appear near this time of year but for typical adventurers who hadn't been doing this for decades, it sure wasn't. This pattern, after all, every year and a few decades it changed a bit. Only long living races could keep track of when monsters show up.
Anyway, enough of that.
People were dying in front of me and I couldn't just sit here doing nothing in the distance… I mean… my ride and life depended on it…so-
Taking a stance, I blitzed forward.
Swift.
Swift as the air. Dancing almost.
Slash!
A streak of red, the wolf fell on the floor. About eight of them were left.
Meanwhile, the adventurers and merchants all somehow gathered behind me. They clearly understood the difference between me and themselves. I didn't have to say a single word, no.
Grr… the wolves though-
Three lodged forward while the other ones watched.
"Take the one on the left!" I swirled my rapier- thrusting it forward at the head of a wolve just between its eyes, kicking away the other one. It squealed, and ran back.
And the third? The three adventurers took care of that. Or rather, the wolf took care of them…
Anyway. The rest of the five growled but quickly turned tails and just ran.
So much for pack loyalty. Turning back- Slosh!
I punctured the wolf which was still fighting the three adventurers like an idiot.
"Sirrgh!" somewhere between a sigh and a groan, they all plummeted to the ground. "Thought I was going to die-" One of them managed.
They looked at me as though expecting me to say something.
"Be glad you didn't?" I said.
Chuckles. Large chuckles. They just got out of a life and death situation. They needed some laughs.
But. Yeah. There were dead people here. Lots of blood… and lots of hopes and dreams.
Gone.
This was reality. Though I needed this to happen for me to live, they had to die. No, somewhere deep inside of me, I wanted this to happen. I wanted… Yeah…In the end-
Doesn't this make me…just like him?
***
We cleaned up our mess, buried our dead, and hit the road before the afternoon.
I convinced them to let me into the caravan for a small fee. Yes, they were paying 'me.' Actually, I was expecting them to ask me to guard them for a free ride but I guess I was too good for that.
Yeah, things didn't go as I expected and they were way more desperate for my help than I'd anticipated.
We didn't see any more monsters. Or rather, none dared to attack us again. Most of the heavy hitters were easily avoided thanks to my expertise. And the local monsters weren't that big of a threat.
Eventually, evening came, and then the night. We camped…And by midnight, I found a rat in my tent. Aka, the leader of the three adventurers.
Why? Signaling of course. All that, smirking during dinner by the fire had paid off!
"I was getting worried you got a bit lost?" I said.
A medium sized man, not quite big, not quite small. But that beard of his- quite large. Brown hair, brown eyes, and a lovely toned body. Judging by that bulge, something else was also pretty large. He seemed human enough but I had a feeling there was some dwarven blood mixed in.
"Well, aren't we all a little lost?"
"You studied philosophy or something?"
"Never went to any academies, only filed with rich noble brats." With a shrug he took off his shirt, slowly coming for me. Impatient?
The tents were small, and close to the other ones. So yeah. We had to be quiet.
"Ah!" I grabbed my mouth-
Muffled.
He'd touched me down there instead of up here. It wasn't a moan from pleasure, no. Just a surprise squeal. I was for sure, wasn't expecting him to grab my thigh like that! But given that reaction on his face and- grin- oh, he liked it rough. And probably thought he could dominate me.
Grin widening.
Oh, we'll see about that…
***
Sometime before sunrise, it was my shift to guard the tents. So, I got out of bed, put on my stuff and watched the drained sleeping adventurer, still there. Poor guy started off really rough but then begged me to stop.
I didn't.
And-
Yeah- eight rounds later, he kind of fainted…. It was a good thing he wasn't fully human because otherwise he might have even kicked the bucket from being drained too hard.
I hope I didn't cause any permanent damage…
Oh well…
Yawn. The adventurer guarding the place noticed me and immediately went back to his tent.
'Hmm?'
This night was quite passionate… so maybe… yeah, not maybe, I'm sure everyone heard… Oh well. It was still dark. Pyres were mostly burnt. Stars racing across the sky at a snail's pace.
Mild wind. Barely any smell. I felt great. The more I did it, the better I felt. The less, the worse. This was a curse- and a blessing. A curse because I couldn't live without sex. A blessing because I felt the most alive while doing it.
But-
Wasn't being bound to something, being bound like this, also a curse? And then the question still lingered. Didn't I enjoy this?
So.
Do, I really want to break this? Assuming there was even a way to break it in the first place.
Yeah, lots of questions but no real answers. Which was why. Staring as the sun rose up from slumber. And letting out a half sigh- was all I could manage.
***
After a quick breakfast, we resumed our journey. Just two carts. One cart carrying goods, the other- us. The group was oddly quiet…
The three adventurers, on the opposite side of me while Me and the leading merchant on this side.
One woman- one of the three adventurers was giving me…. quite awkward stares. Actually, not just her but the other guy too… while the leader was just- glass. Yeah- he had a stoned expression whenever he stared at me… almost shivering… I might or might not have gone a bit too hard last night….
Meanwhile, as I continued observing the three, one thing caught my attention.
Was it me or did she… have a thing for the leader? And the other adventurer had a thing for the girl while the leader didn't understand anything? I mean, that's what my intuition and those awkward glances indicated. Or maybe I was missing the whole picture…? Well, I probably wouldn't see them again after this week's traveling, so I didn't really care all that much.
I didn't want to get involved in their trouble.
But. The girl came over to my side sometime later and sat next to me- "How… how does it feel?" she whispered blushing.
Um… what?