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Finally recovered from her run-in with the rogue vampire spawn, Tav decided it would be the perfect time to tell Dame Aylin about the wizard who was trying to kidnap her. She found her sitting with Isobel out on the roof of the Elfsong.
“Mother’s milk, your visage speaks of ill tidings. Speak, ally mine; what troubles you.” She said as Tav approached.
“So we came across this wizard named Lorroakan. He’s looking for you.”
“Is he indeed? Pray tell, what does he seek from Dame Aylin?
“We’re not exactly sure, but it’s something to do with stealing your immortality. He’s offering a lot of money to have you captured.” Both her and Isobel’s faces turned dark.
“Magicians and their machinations! I have had enough for an eternity. I will ring his neck until he’s dead. Oh, his end will be one more strand in the great braid of our friendship!”
Tav smiled at her strange ally. “I thought you’d be down for that. Shall we?”
*
They walked into the chamber where they had met Lorroakan previously to find him slouched in a chair with a mountain of books surrounding him. He waved a hand and the book he was reading moved to sit neatly on top of the pile.
Aylin strode forward to confront him. “What have we here? A magician in a tower hiding away from the frightening world? What are you so afraid of, Magus? Not the Nightsong, surely. Why, she’s nothing but a relic to be purchased and pursued.”
Rolan stood behind Lorroakan, his eyes wide in regret and horror. “My gods…the Nightsong is a person!”
Ignoring his apprentice, the wizard rose to greet them. “There you are, my dear.”
“Oh gross,” Tav muttered beside Aylin. “I didn’t think I had to add misogynist to the list of his flaws.”
“You will address me with due deference!” Aylin boomed. “I am Dame Aylin and you are a whelp without honour, without pride. With nothing but a tower full of trinkets.”
He bowed with false regard. “Apologies, Dame Aylin. I meant no disrespect. I asked our mutual friend here to make an introduction that I might get to meet the famed daughter of Selune. Forgive me for that impudence. Perhaps our friend can bridge the gap and do what I believe they came here to do.” He gritted his teeth and stared at Tav.
“You didn’t really think I’d just hand her over to you? I knew you were arrogant, but I didn’t think you were stupid.”
Lorroakan screwed up his face and took a deep breath while clenching his fists. She could see the faint glow of magic surrounding him the same way it did Gale when he was mad and trying not to react. She fought the urge to step back from him. Gale discreetly placed his hand on her back to provide support.
He turned back towards Aylin and using a different approach, tried to appeal to her good side by evoking her mother and explaining how he would “borrow” her powers, a tactic that, instead of convincing her, insulted her greatly.
Giving up with the whole pretence, he turned to Rolan. “Boy! At the ready! Once I’ve taken control of the aasimar she must go directly into the caging runes.”
Rolan hesitated for a split second before defying him. “No, Master Lorroakan. I never would have assisted you if I knew you planned such horrors. You lied to get the Nightsong here, made us all believe she was nothing but a relic.” He looked over at Tav. “I have seen what true leadership can accomplish, but never under your tutelage.”
Lorroakan backhanded him, bloodying his nose and sending him to his knees. “Watch your tongue, child. I can make it such that no wizard in the realm will touch you.”
Rolan wiped his nose. “If they’re all like you, I think that sound like an excellent bargain.”
Aylin grinned. “Oh face us, charlatan! We who detest you so.” With that, everyone drew their weapons and got into position while the wizard summoned a handful of magical elementals.
It didn’t take long for things to go sideways. Rolan got one spell off before one of the elementals downed him and with the others distracted by the creatures, Lorroakan somehow managed to capture Aylin in the caging runes. Tav was almost immediately cornered. Karlach was able to get to her to pull her out of harms way, but that meant she was the only one free to stop Lorroakan.
She was able to sneak around the outskirts of the room, avoiding notice, but couldn’t get close enough to the wizard for melee combat. She took a risk and threw a dagger, hoping to, at the very least, distract him enough to stop using his staff to hold Aylin. But the shot went wide and unnoticed by the wizard. It was time to bring out the big guns - literally. She pulled the shotgun off her shoulder and loaded it. He turned towards her, hearing the gun cock.
“You think you can defeat me with that?” He scoffed. “Whatever it is.”
“This?” She mocked the arrogant wizard as she raised it. “This is my boomstick!” She laughed, stealing a line from a movie. Why not, she thought. No one would ever know. “FORE!” She yelled to her companions, using the safe word they picked to indicate one of them was going to do something daring, stupid or that would cause a lot of damage so they could get out of the way in time. They all dived away from their stances.
The sound was deafening and the kickback knocked her flat on her ass, as she predicted it would, but her mark was true and the bullet was too quick for him to put up any sort of shield. The elementals vanished and everyone turned to stare at the space where Lorroakan’s face used to be before his lifeless body dropped to the floor. The room was quiet except for the ringing in everyone’s ears.
Gale quickly went over to where she had fallen. She winced at the pain in her shoulder as he helped her up off the floor - she as going to have one helluva bruise. They walked over to where everyone else was standing, next to the wizard’s corpse.
“Well, I’ll be godsdamned!” Karlach finally spoke.
“Told ya.” Tav said, smugly.
Wyll examined the splattered brain matter dripping down the column behind where Lorroakan had stood. “By the blade! While I can’t argue the effectiveness of your weapon, it seems a bit…excessive.”
“It’s not usually quite that gruesome, but it was pretty close range.”
They took some time to loot the room before bringing Rolan back to consciousness. He thanked them profusely and declared himself master of the tower. Tav didn’t think that would last too long once other wizards found out, especially since he hadn’t even finished his apprenticeship, but he assured her that the tower’s defences would deter those looking to stage a coup.
As they were getting ready to leave Tav noticed Dame Aylin still staring at the body, her features painted with anguish. She walked over to join her.
“Hey, you okay?”
“The fire-haired fool is dead. Yet, as I stare upon his corpse, I feel…sadness. Why?”
“Oh, uh, I don’t know. What does it feel like?”
“A gripping in the chest. As though I’d lost someone. Something.” She continued to look distressed for another moment, then shook it off. “A paladin’s fatigue, no doubt. You were excellent in battle, as is your way. And I am proud to fight by your side. I will catch my breath, then to camp I will bring my bones. Moon Maiden be with you.” She sat down on a step and continued to stare at Lorroakan’s corpse.
“Gale, can you take everyone downstairs?” She asked him quietly.
“Of course, my love.” He kissed her on her forehead. “And dearest, that was spectacular.” She grinned.
Once everyone had left, she sat on the stairs next to the Nightsong.
“Aylin, I can’t even imagine what you have lived through. But in the weeks since knowing you, you’ve gone through more than what most people would in a lifetime. It’s okay to feel some kind of way about it. This,” Tav gestured to the remains of the combat they just had, “should never be okay. It’s not a bad thing that you are sad about it. The day you’re not is the day you should stop.”
Aylin looked at her for a long time before nodding. “Wisdom becomes you, my friend.”
“I like to pretend that I know what I’m talking about every now and again.”
Aylin huffed out a laugh. “Go and tend to our comrades in arms. I shall see you when I return. Then you must reveal the secrets of the relic you call ‘boomstick’. Long and cold as a steel serpent, yet it sings with thunder when you wield it. It must be your world’s wand of war.”
“Yeah, it’s something like that.”
*
By the time bedtime rolled around, Tav could barely lift her arm.
“Gods below, I thought you said you knew how to use that thing,” Gale scolded her as he helped her out of her shirt so he could survey the damage. She flinched when he touched the large, purple bruise that had formed on her shoulder and collarbone.
“I do. It’s just the wrong size for me. I’ll get some padding or something for next time.”
He sighed and shook his head before digging through her pack for a healing potion. He passed it to her. “My love, what am I going to do with you?”
“I can think of a few things.”
“It’s a bit crowded in here for that,” he said, his ears turning a bit pink. He looked around to ensure no one heard her.
“You’re no fun at all,” she laughed, opening the potion. She downed it in a few swallows, then put her sleep shirt on.
Settled into bed, Gale partially upright against the headboard and Tav curled into his side, he picked up his book and began to read. She looked over to see if she could understand any of it. She couldn’t grasp much, but the few words she did peeked her interest.
“Mr. Dekarios, are you reading smut?” She teased in a low tone, not really thinking he was. It was probably some book about the mating rituals of some weird creature she’d never heard of.
Heat flushed his face as he sputtered, caught off guard by her question. She sat up with a huge grin. “You are reading smut!”
“It’s not ‘smut’,” he said, indignantly. “I…um…It’s just a simple fiction that happens to contain an element of romance.”
“Mmhmm. Read me this line.” She pointed to the sentence that had originally caught her eye.
His face turned red. “Tav, please. There are others around us.”
“Then put up the silence thingy. I wanna know what you’re reading.”
He looked at her for a few moments, waiting to see if she would retract her request. Seeing her unwavering resolve, he sighed and cast the spell that would prevent the others from hearing them.
“Read it,” she demanded, settling back down next to him. She rested her hand on his lower abdomen. He felt himself twitch.
“She gasped as his hands gripped her thighs, spreading her over velvet sheets like a masterpiece begging to be ruined. His mouth followed—hungry, relentless—and every breath was stolen, every nerve ignited by the sin of his tongue.”
“The sin of his tongue, eh? Keep reading.” She moved her hand down to his groin to find him already half-hard. She palmed him over his sleep pants.
“Tav...”
“Do you want me to stop?”
He did not. With a shaky breath, Gale continued reading the not-smut novel out loud while Tav toyed with him under the blanket. When he was fully hard, she pulled his cock out of his pants and gripped him, running her thumb over the fluid slowly leaking at the top. He jerked, almost dropping the book.
“Keep going. I want to know what happens.”
She brought her hand out of the blankets, spit into her palm and went back to stroking him. Gale wasn’t expecting the vulgar action to turn him on as much as it did. He tried to refocus on the words in front of him.
He started reading again. “He gripped her hips, pulling her back into him with a force that made the bed creak. Skin…ahhh…slapped against skin, each thrust deeper…fucking hells, Tav…harder, relentless. Her breath hitched with every movement, nails clawing at the sheets, lost in the rhythm of raw desire.“You feel that?” he gr…oohhh…owled against her ear. “Every inch of me, buried inside you.””
Tav threw her leg over his and began slowly thrust her hips against his thigh as she continued her ministrations. He could feel how wet she was through the thin cloth covering him and her low moan sent a shiver down his spine. He bent his knee slightly to allow her more friction.
When she changed the rhythm of her stroke and focused on the head of his cock, her loose fist caressing it in a twisting motion, he could no longer summon the brainpower to continue reading. He dropped the book to the side and closed his eyes, letting the sensations she was creating take over.
Tav’s breath came in quick gasps as she neared completion, her hips stuttering against his leg. As her orgasm overtook her senses, her fist around him tightened and the sound she made went straight to his balls. He groaned and thrust into her hand, spilling himself over her fingers, the blanket and his sleep clothes.
It felt like an eternity before he could muster speech again. “By the Weave, that was…I should read smut to you more often.”
Tav snorted. “Thought you said it wasn’t smut?”
“Shush you.”