text stringlengths 0 41.4k |
|---|
Nika’s eyes flicked to Astarion’s, she looked just as confused as him. |
"What do you mean by True Soul?" she said. |
"The chosen of the Absolute, to lead us to glory in her name!" the goblin replied with fanatical fervor, no longer stammering or nervous "are you here to see the other Drow True Soul, Minthara, my lady? Anyone in the village will be happy to take you to her! We know how to treat our Drow mistresses around here," a proud tone entered his voice. |
"Well, would you look at that. It seems we’ll be able to just walk right in with you as our figurehead my dear," Astarion said, "are you done with him darling?" |
Nika nodded. Astarion instantly snapped the creature’s neck and wiped his hands on his trousers with a look of disgust. When he caught Nika eyeing him with amusement he spoke, |
"What? That thing smelled like it hadn’t had a bath in weeks, and I just touched it." |
Nika snorted and dispelled the silence spell as they began to pick their way down the hillside back towards their companions. |
Upon arriving back at the entrance, they relayed the information to the rest of the party along with the discovery of yet another goblin mentioning this Absolute and now "True Souls" as well. |
"So... we’re just going to... walk in...? And Nika being here means they won’t descend on us like a swarm of flies?" Gale asked, clearly skeptical. |
"That’s the plan." Nika replied, "I can make myself look a bit more Drow Matriarch to help our chances hold on." |
Nika shed her long grey robe she had been wearing since he had met her. A moment of stunned silence followed. |
Wyll was the first to recover, whistling appreciatively with a grin, "well, if the whole True Soul thing doesn’t work out hopefully, they’ll be too busy ogling to notice us taking aim at them!" |
Nika gave him a look that would curdle milk, but there was no dampening the Blade of Frontier’s spirits, he simply laughed "What! It’s a compliment!" |
Shadowheart interjected with throwing an exasperated look Wyll's way, "if all the menfolk are ready to pick their jaws up off the floor, shall we go?" |
Gale coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and turned to follow Shadowheart toward the village. The others began to move off too, Nika made to follow when she noticed his gaze upon her. He hadn’t moved, his gaze transfixed on the vision standing before him. His eyes roamed hungrily over her exposed flesh, lingering where iridescent black scales trailed down her spine and fanned out towards her hips. When his eyes eventually met hers, he knew that his blood red gaze held nothing but pure unguarded desire. |
He stalked towards her then circled her slowly. A predator closing in on prey. He felt Nika tense, unsure how to react. Then he stopped at her shoulder and leaned in so close that his breath tickled the sensitive shell of her ear, as one finger trailed up the line of smooth scales at the base of her spine. |
"Darling... Show me the rest..." he breathed. |
He felt Nika jolt and take an involuntary intake of breath, eyes blown wide as she pulled back to look at him. The intoxicating scent of her arousal hit him, and his nostrils flared as a fire lit in his belly. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted. |
"Hey! Are you two coming or not? I thought the main part of this plan was to have a Drow at the front of the group not so far behind that we’ll all get massacred while she takes her sweet time catching up!" Wyll called out with a wave. |
The intense moment shattered, and Nika stepped back away from his touch. |
"Come on" she murmured quietly and made to catch up to the others. |
It turned out that looking like a Drow Matriarch did indeed do wonders for their safe passage into the village. Goblins scraped and bowed and scarpered out of her path. As the sky began to glow a warm orange as the sun waned they were shown to the mostly intact remains of the abandoned inn where they could resupply for the coming days and have a proper shelter for the evening. |
The group located the most stable looking rooms in the inn and began to drop their packs to the floor with relieved sighs. Shadowheart went in search of the inn’s larder in case any unspoilt food or intact cooking implements could be found there. Gale used his magic to light a campfire in the centre of what used to the common room. There were enough rooms for everyone to have their own space for the night, a rare luxury. Nika picked a room that was missing a roof, she liked to see the stars above. This room even had an intact bed frame, albeit a lumpy mattress. |
Nika headed out into the village hoping she might catch the sun setting. She found Shadowheart already outside who looked up at the sound of her approach. |
"I do not know why but I find myself ill at ease in this place, I think sleep shall be hard to come by," Shadowheart said softly, "come, let’s go for a walk." |
The two women explored the village at a leisurely pace, enjoying the evening sunlight on their faces. The goblins left them alone. The found themselves in a village square, the centrepiece being an old well. Nika picked up a pebble and dropped it into the well. No sound of it hitting water or the bottom came. Nika and Shadowheart exchanged a curious look. |
"Let’s try this instead," Nika said, picking up a pebble and this time infusing it with light, then casting feather fall upon it. |
They watched the tiny ball of light descend slowly down the well, it began to get smaller and smaller until it simply disappeared from their sight. |
"That is a long way down," Shadowheart said with a shiver. |
"Indeed, perhaps there was water in this well once and it eroded away the bottom, exposing a much larger underground chasm? The Underdark itself perhaps?" Nika mused. |
"Let’s go, I don’t fancy falling into the Underdark any time soon. Err... no offense" Shadowheart replied, smiling awkwardly. |
Nika snorted, "none taken. I don’t even remember it." |
They found a plaque on the wall, stating the village was called Moonhaven once upon a time, before heading up a small hill towards an old windmill. As they rounded the windmill a broken statue came into view. |
"Selune..." Shadowheart said, a note of disapproval in her voice. |
Suddenly a shifting mist swirled around her hand, Shadowheart gasped staring at her hand wide-eyed. Within seconds it was gone. |
"What was that?" Nika asked. |
"I- it’s nothing... a trick of the light." Shadowheart stammered weakly. |
Nika sighed "Shadowheart. I know what I just saw wasn’t a trick of the light and you’ve been staring at that statue of Selune the whole time." |
Shadowheart sighed in return, "you’re not going to let this go, are you? I worship Shar, the lady of loss. The destruction of this Selune statue looks like the work of my brothers and sisters. This whole village must have worshipped Selune, I suppose it explains why I’m ill at ease here. Now that you know the truth, please don’t make a big deal of it." |
"You worship Shar? She and my beloved Mystra don’t exactly see eye to eye" Gale’s voice interrupted them as he strode around the corner, "how long were you going to keep this a secret? Why didn’t you tell us?" he continued, crossing his arms with a frown of disapproval. |
"Forever, ideally." Shadowheart replied simply, before her face twisted in anger as she turned on Gale "but you presume too much about what I can and can’t tell. Secrecy is everything to Shar’s children, it is our code, our creed, our shield." She turned back to Nika, "I don’t regret not telling you, not one bit. But perhaps that will change with time if you can have an open mind." |
Nika studied the other woman. As mysterious as Shadowheart was, she had not expected her to be a Sharr worshipper. It was of no consequence to Nika who she worshipped. Lolth wasn’t exactly seen in a much more favourable light than Shar by surfacers. |
"I don’t care who you worship," Nika shrugged, "if not for our unusual circumstances, no doubt Lolth would demand I kill all of you anyway." |
"That’s... surprisingly refreshing... if a little unnerving." Shadowheart chuckled, "Perhaps I would have told you sooner if I’d known you’d react so ...rationally doesn’t feel like the right word but... without judgement." Shadowheart said, clearly relieved. |
"I’m not sure I can be quite so indifferent as Nika there..." Gale said, "I’ll try to look past this given we all have the problem of the tadpole to overcome together... but my devotion to Mystra behoves me to be cautious of a Shar worshipper." He raised his hands in mock surrender, "There, I’ve said my piece. Let’s put it behind us for now and be about our day, ceremorphosis waits for no god or goddess after all." |
Returning to the inn they joined the others by the fireplace as they eat a dinner of scavenged dried foods from the larder and a vegetable soup that Wyll had concocted over the fire. One by one, they bade their goodnights and headed to their bedrolls. |
Nika placed her bedroll atop the mattress, not trusting it’s cleanliness by a long shot. She settled down for her evening trance, finding it was a mild enough night that she didn’t feel the need to put her grey salvaged robe back on. She spent a few minutes getting comfortable, finally settling on her side facing the wall. The sounds and sensations of the night melted away as she fell into her trance. |
Nika didn't know what awoke her from her trance that night. Perhaps it was some base survival instinct kicking in. But all she knew was she awoke to the sensation of someone behind her. Nika's eyes flew open as she whipped her head around. |
She found Astarion, on his knees behind her, his face inches from hers. He shrank back, still on his knees. |
"Shit" he muttered sheepishly. |
"What. Are. You. Doing." Nika bit out, her voice laced with venom. |
"I wasn't going to hurt you! I just needed, well... blood" he trailed off quietly. |
Nika could have kicked herself. The pieces slotted into place. It was so obvious now. He never eat with them, he disappeared at night, his pale skin, those burgundy eyes, that damn drained boar. |
"You're the vampire." She stated flatly. "And you thought what, exactly? That you'd just make me your dinner?" |
"I- no! I'm a spawn not a true vampire. I usually feed on the blood of animals... not people... I'm just too slow right now... too weak" he pleaded; his expression pained. "If I could just have a little blood, I'd be stronger, able to fight better." |
Nika tilted her head to the side as she studied him. Astarion was a formidable fighter, she would not deny that. And that was him with just animal blood... she mused. How powerful would he be with draconic blood she thought wryly? A formidable force indeed. |
She shook herself mentally. Was she seriously considering letting a surface elf she had only known for a handful of days drink her blood? Put herself at his mercy? Give over the advantage? Surely any normal Drow would laugh at the idea of such idiocy. And yet... power was the highest currency to Drow. Perhaps it was a scholarly curiosity, perhaps it was arrogance... but she wanted to see how powerful her dragon blood truly was. |
Astarion was still watching her carefully. She could tell he was primed to fight or flee. He really must have been starving to take such a stupid risk. |
"Fine." Nika answered. |
Astarions eyebrows flew up. "Really?" He recovered quickly, some of his usual confident charm entering his voice. |
"I won’t take a drop more than I need. Now let's get more comfortable..." |
He moved to stand over her, but she halted him with a hand to his chest. Did he seriously think she was going to lie back and let him tower over her? If they were going to do this, Nika needed a way to escape. She gestured for him to sit behind her on the bed. This way she only needed to dart forward out of his reach if he decided to test her generosity. |
He didn't offer any complaint and settled behind her, she sat cross legged between his outstretched legs with her back to him. |
It took all Nika's willpower not to shiver in anticipation as she felt his fingers gently sweep across her neck to move her hair aside. She did shiver when she felt his breath ghost over the same spot. He hesitated. She turned slightly and caught his eye, slowly she tilted her head to the side in silent invitation. |
Something shifted in Astarion and Nika swore she heard a low growl before all she could concentrate on was the searing pain in her neck. It was like shards of ice, and yet burned at the same time. Nika's breath caught in her throat with a gasp of pain. After a few moments however, it faded to a tingling, almost pleasant numbness. Even the pounding of her ever-present headache faded away to nothing. |
Her eyes fluttered shut in the bliss of oblivion. She didn't know when Astarion had snaked both his arms around her, pulling her body flush to his chest. She wasn't sure why she let her head tip back onto his shoulder and her body melt into his hold. |
Nika had no concept of how much time passed like that. Her thoughts began to drift to the way his hands clutched at her hip and waist. The feel of his lips on her neck. The press of his body at her back. Heat began to pool low in her belly. |
Without warning, the illithid bond opened. She saw herself through Astarion's eyes, draped against him. Willing, compliant. The thrill of such a powerful creature, submissive in his arms. The predatory desire to dominate. The overwhelming urge to pull her fully into his lap. To tear off her robe and give in to another hunger that was rising. |
The bond was over as suddenly as it had begun. It had only lasted the barest of moments. Astarion's arms had wrapped further around her, a hum of appreciation sounded deep in his throat. Nika slowly opened her eyes and realised her vision was blurred. |
"Astarion..." she whispered, thoughts coming slowly. |
His grip tightened momentarily. |
"Astarion, stop" she managed, slightly louder. She squeezed his hand. |
With a surprised hum he pulled his mouth from her and loosened his grip. She immediately swayed violently despite her sitting position. |
He grabbed a hold of her again to steady her. He gently eased her back against his chest. Her head lolled back onto his shoulder. |
"That... was... amazing" he said, panting softly. |
In a strangely intimate moment, he cupped his hand against her cheek and slowly licked at the wound on her neck to staunch some of the blood seeping from it. After which Nika felt him press a wad of fabric against it. She rolled her eyes back to meet his. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, and her thoughts sluggish. |
"You'sh bett-be reeeeally stlong t-morrow" Nika slurred. |
Astarion chuckled. "My apologies darling, it seems I may have slightly overindulged. I'm going to give you a potion and put you to bed. Although I daresay it was worth it to see our ferocious Drow dragon reduced to a babbling mess" a playful smirk upon his face. |
Nika soon found herself lying upon her back on her bedroll, Astarion leaning over her applying some drops of healing potion to the punctures on her neck. The bright moonlight through the broken roof filtered through his silver hair like a halo. It struck Nika in that moment how truly beautiful he was. Oh, she knew Astarion was handsome, and he carried himself like he knew it too. But in this moment, with his expression unguarded, the haughty smirk replaced with a small frown of concentration, his features soft; it took Nika's breath away. |
"S-like you're wearing a crown of starlight" she whispered, slightly more coherent than before, a hand drifting up towards his face. |
His eyes snapped to hers and he deftly caught her wrist before she could touch him. He froze like that for a moment, staring at her in confusion, his eyes darting from side to side as they searched hers. |
"Ele ph'dos ji ssin'urn...?" she whispered, as her eyes fluttered closed, and unconsciousness claimed her. |
Reading in his tent, Astarion waits until the commotion dies down. He waits until everybody's asleep, and then he sneaks out to the forest. Deeper in the woods, Astarion bathes in the stillness of the night and in the breeze caressing his skin. He looks for the signs of the one he's here to see, but there's nothing. Maybe he's changed his mind, Astarion wonders. But then again, he was so adamant about his decision. |
When the twigs snap to his left, alerted, Astarion searches for any danger. He catches the shape of a big brown bear and watches the animal in anticipation. Is it who he thinks it is? Or is it a wild animal that he can finally feed on? The animal roars, and, with a bright glow, it turns into a familiar druid. |
"Ahh, Halsin..." Relieved, Astarion greets him with a small wave. "I could bearly see you out there in the dark," he laughs. |
"Astarion," Halsin laughs at the pun softly, walking towards him. "It's so nice to see you. I was getting worried that you might've changed your mind." |
Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events? Not about to let his hunger show through, Astarion simply pretends that it's not there. "Well," he flashes his eyebrows, "I've already agreed to our little rendezvous, haven't I? And you were so eager about tonight's meeting, it would've been incredibly rude of me to let you roam these woods all by yourself." |
Astarion watches the druid's posture—straight back and tense shoulders, which means he’s probably way too anxious than he lets on. "Indeed, it would be. But the choice is entirely yours, Astarion, and I wouldn't want you to feel otherwise." |
The words take Astarion by surprise. Choosing has always been such a luxury to him. Only on special occasions had Cazador granted him free time and the opportunity to choose how to spend it. When he actually did, it was a special occasion by itself. |
Yes, Astarion thinks. Yes, I suppose I could if I wanted to. "Well," he says with a smile and in a voice that he hopes sounds cheerful, "I'm here now, aren't I? So how do you want us to proceed? Are you going to lie down for me right here, or...?" Astarion’s voice trails off as he wonders why couldn’t they do that at the camp since everybody else is asleep anyway. He’d imagine Halsin feeling way more comfortable in his tent than lying down in the soil in the middle of the woods. |
"Actually," Halsin interrupts Astarion’s thoughts, "I found us a spot." Halsin points to the direction he came from. "Here, follow me, please." |
Curiouser and curiouser, Astarion thinks as he walks closely behind the druid to what looks like an abandoned campfire. The logs lie in a circle around a natural pit protected with stones around it. Inside, there is coal and dry twigs—ready to be lit if needed. Astarion takes the sight in for a second. He wonders if Halsin has stumbled upon this little spot and everything was already here or if he may have created this campsite just for their meeting. He looks around, but there are no signs of anyone sleeping here before them. There is no cauldron, or a bedroll, or even an old tent. |
"How... charming," Astarion says flatly. "You know, I"m pretty sure you said a meal. Not a full on date." |
Halsin doesn’t seem to mind the remark—his shoulders relax as he laughs softly, and he sits down on one of the logs. "It is a meal. Unless," he looks back to Astarion and hesitates, "unless you want it to be a date?" |
Astarion's body tenses up at the words. Now, to really think about it, the suggestion doesn't strike him as a complete surprise. They flirted every now and then, and Halsin gave him a couple of compliments. However, it was done in such a calm, platonic manner that made Astarion think that Halsin was not interested and was simply being polite instead. There was no excitement in Halsin's voice, nor was there an extra spark that Astarion is used to seeing in others" eyes when they want to get him to bed. |
On the other hand, Astarion wasn't sure how to read Halsin fully. In Astarion's previous experience, all druids he met were very similar to Halsin in the ways they portray themselves to the world. Always think things through. Always calm and polite to the point of being boring. Well, aside from Kaugha and her trusted circle at the Grove, perhaps. Those druids seemed to be exceptionally angry and aggressive compared to what Astarion had seen firsthand. Now that Astarion thinks of the Grove and the following events such as saving Halsin from the goblins’ camp and the night he first approached Halsin at the tieflings’ party with one of his propositions, it makes him wonder—was he really interested in Halsin? Or was it one of his basic instincts that he developed while being a slave to Cazador? Was he afraid of yet another dangerous stranger, which Halsin was back then? Was he trying to make Halsin lower his guard down and care for him by offering to spend the night with him? |
Astarion remembers that celebration party well. Tieflings singing and dancing, alcohol all around, and him being drunk on a wild bear's blood. He remembers coming up to Halsin with the feeling of adrenaline, excitement, and anxiety in his chest. "You know, you don't strike me nearly as boring as the other druids I met before," he told him. |
He remembers Halsin's heartfelt laughter. "Perhaps you haven't met enough in your lifetime? But I thank you. You have a rather riveting personality yourself, and I could spend all night with you just talking. I would love to get to know you better." |
Even at that moment, Astarion remembers making a mental note of how everything was going according to plan. "You would, wouldn't you, darling? Well, talking is not exactly what I have in mind, but we could get to know each other better, if you know what I mean?" |
Halsin then exhaled heavily, a look of surprise appearing on his face. He took a moment to collect himself. "I think I do," he told Astarion. "Well, perhaps later, when my mind is clearer and we no longer have to deal with the Shadow Curse?" |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.