Rating: NC-17
Uber Setting: Diablo II
Disclaimer: Based on characters from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, created by Joss
Whedon and his talented minionators, and Diablo II by Blizzard Entertainment.
All original material is copyright 2003 Chris Cook.
Distribution: Through the Looking Glass http://alia.customer.netspace.net.au/glass.htm
The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
River Map City Map
Willow and Tara's Bedroom Wallpaper
Feedback: Hell yeah!
Pairing: Willow/Tara
Summary: A headstrong sorceress and a young Amazon join forces to locate and destroy an ancient source of demonic power.
Chapter 26
Willow opened her eyes and blinked slowly, trying to work out what had woken her up in the first place. Rain was beating on the wagon's canvas roof, but it was a steady sound that she had to concentrate to really notice, and not the kind of thing she thought would have woken her. She had a vague memory of Tara saying something, and a moment later her curiosity was sated as Tara murmured something incoherent in her ear from behind. Willow smiled and slowly turned herself over to face her lover, finding her still asleep and, to all appearances, in the middle of a very enjoyable dream, arching her body against Willow and murmuring a lot of 'mmm' sounds, along with a word here and there that Willow didn't quite catch.
"Someone's having good dreams," Willow whispered to herself, careful not to disturb Tara from her pleasant slumber. 'Not that I can complain,' she added in the privacy of her own mind. Willow's dreams had featured the occasional disturbing moment of something moving in shadows, and a chilling, hissing whisper, but always the unsettling images and sounds faded away into inconsequentiality, in the face of a dream-Tara holding her, stroking her hair, whispering sweet words and touching her in sweeter places. She had also dreamed something about a school of fish singing in harmony, with a swimming mouse accompanying them in a resonant bass, but she had long ago learned not to spend too much time analyzing those kinds of dreams.
Willow was drawn pleasantly out of her reverie by Tara's voice, mumbling something that sounded like 'Willow'. Willow smiled widely, wrapping an arm around Tara's waist, stealthily so as not to wake her, delighted that she was in Tara's dreams just as Tara had been in hers. Tara's eyes remained closed, but on some level she seemed aware of Willow, the hand that had been around Willow, now loosely draped over her back, lightly clutching at her, as if in her dream Tara was pulling her closer. Willow eagerly obliged, weaving her legs between Tara's and pressing their bodies together. She was surprised to feel just how much heat and moisture there was against her thigh when Tara clamped it between her legs and rolled her hips forward.
"Very good dreams," Willow murmured. She stayed still for a moment, letting Tara move against her which she did with increasing vigor, then succumbed to the temptation of Tara's breasts pressing against her, and leaned down. Tara moaned quietly as Willow took her nipple into her mouth, encouraging Willow to hold her a little firmer between her lips, and flick her tongue back and forth.
Tara's body shuddered and both her hands went at once to the back of Willow's head, holding her to her breast as her hips rocked heatedly against her thigh. Willow slid her leg forward rhythmically, meeting Tara's thrusts, thoroughly enjoying the feel of Tara's fingers in her hair, urging her to a task that she needed no urging to undertake in the first place. She stilled her tongue for a moment, concentrating purely on the sensations she could give with her lips, sucking voraciously, and a moment later Tara gasped, squeezed her legs tightly around Willow's thigh, and her body released a wave of pleasure. Willow leisurely trailed her hand up and down Tara's side as she recovered, feeling her tremble from the contact.
"Good morning," she said with a grin when Tara finally opened her eyes and looked down at her.
"Willow," Tara whispered, smiling, "oh goddess... good morning to you too, Miss Understatement." Willow laughed.
"You seemed to be having a nice dream," she explained, "so I thought I'd join in."
"Oh, I was having..." Tara trailed off. "Actually, it was kind of strange. Not strange in a bad way," she hastened to reassure Willow, "just, you know... not something I'd have quite expected."
"Oh?" Willow said, all curiosity. "How so?"
"Well," Tara said slowly, "it was about you—that's not the strange part," she added with a quick grin. "Um, it was at home—Tran Athulua—and we were in my room, and you lay me down and leaned over and you were kissing me... really kissing me, and I was getting so worked up, I felt like I was going to burst... and then, you, um, started kissing my breasts..." Tara trailed off, looking very shy.
"And?" Willow prompted gently.
"And," Tara said, blushing, "I, um... you were sucking my nipples, and I... um, I was giving you milk." At Willow's surprised look, she quickly went on: "Not like you were a baby or anything, I mean, it was, goddess, i-it was so... erotic, I felt so... um, anyway, I think that's when I woke up, and," she smiled, "things weren't too far from what I'd been dreaming. Um, is that okay?"
"Is it okay?" Willow echoed. "Of course it's- Tara, I love you! Of course it's okay, I mean, yes, it's, well..."
"Unusual," Tara said.
"Okay," Willow admitted, "it wasn't the first thing I would've guessed, but you know, I don't think there's anything wrong with what you were dreaming."
"I-I don't want you to think I'm thinking of you like a child, or anything," Tara said hesitantly.
"Not at all," Willow assured her, "I think... I think that was a really beautiful thing you were imagining, and I think it was about you sharing something very, very intimate and loving with me, a-and I love you so much... I love that you want to take care of me, and that you share your, your life, everything, with me so completely..."
"I know," Tara said, "I just didn't want you to think I was imagining you... I don't know, um, in a, a passive position? Or something like that."
"No, honey," Willow cooed, "no, I never thought that... I mean, it's okay for you to feel that way for me, I feel the same way for you, and I know you accept it, you let me take care of you in all these ways, like bathing you, and getting our meals ready, and stuff... I think what your dream was about was you caring for me, and us being in love."
"I do love you Willow," Tara murmured, "so much..."
"I love you too," Willow replied. "Just out of curiosity, do Amazons breastfeed? Is it something you talk about, or—well, not just talk about randomly, but, I mean, where I was born for instance, it was this really private thing, a mother would never do it in public. Is it like that?"
"No," Tara said, "no, it's just... if a mother has a baby that's hungry, she feeds the baby, I don't think anyone would ever object to it. I was just, well, a bit nervous about what you might think... you know, with it being something between a mother and child."
"Well, I've never felt like you were treating me like a child," Willow said, "and you're really nothing like my mother. I think, for us, it's between you and me, as lovers. Okay?"
"Okay," Tara said.
"Okay," Willow echoed. "So, now that that's out of the way, are you going to keep telling me about this dream in exquisite detail?" Tara grinned, a lot of her shyness gone.
"It was... intense," she said. "Wh-when I felt you drinking from me, it was like we weren't two people anymore, I was physically becoming part of you... and it was creating this incredible heat inside me, and I was getting so wet it was unbelievable..."
"Actually that part wasn't just a dream," Willow smiled, "and my thigh definitely believed it."
"Heh," Tara chuckled, "yeah... I felt as if... as if I was going to come, but not just my sex, I felt it in my whole body, every part of me, and I was giving it all to you..." She took a deep breath. "I'm pretty sure I woke up around then, and suddenly it was real, you were sucking my nipple, and I was coming so hard I... wow," she said with a grin, "you really know how to make a girl glad she woke up."
"Well, you know," Willow said dismissively, smiling cheekily, "all part of the service when you get me to fall in love with you. I'm just glad my dream-self is keeping up her end of the bargain." Tara hugged her warmly.
"I love that you're in my dreams," she whispered, "even when I'm asleep you're with me."
"You're in my dreams too," Willow said, "all the time. Though, I wouldn't say no to a few of your dreams... I think my imagination wastes too much time on singing fish."
"Singing fish?"
"They had this little song," Willow explained without thinking, "sort of, 'It's good to be a fish, it's good to be a fish, even if you're a mouse...' There was a mouse, too, that was his line..." She grinned at Tara, who was struggling not to laugh.
"The mouse was singing too?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, in this deep bass voice," she pitched her voice as deep as it would go, "'even if you're a mouse'." Tara burst out laughing, and Willow joined in.
"I love your dreams," Tara said.
"More than yours?" Willow asked with a grin. "Because, you know, soprano fish versus orgasmic experience... I know which one I'd choose." Tara smiled and stroked her cheek.
"Oh Willow," she said softly, "right now, this moment... every moment I spend with you is so much better than any dream I've ever had."
Willow held one side of a waterproof tarpaulin as Tara climbed down from the wagon, quickly taking up the other side to shield them both from the rain. Together they made their way across the muddy courtyard to the guardhouse, where the caravan had made its headquarters for the night, and where breakfast would be found. Instead they found Shan and Gerrid engaged in a heated argument, with Kert, Tryptin and Melcan watching silently from the sidelines.
"-bloody dangerous, that's why," Shan was saying flatly as they closed the door on the rain-soaked courtyard.
"Surely not for a caravan this size, this well-armed," Gerrid protested.
"Large and well-armed we may be," Shan countered, "but I tell you sir, if we take the west road we're asking for trouble."
"The prospects do not look good for the Duncraig delegation to make its detour to Jesram," Tryptin explained, as Melcan poured Willow and Tara each a bowl of hot soup from the pot on the fire.
"It's a town of three hundred people," Gerrid said, "and barely two days from the realm's border, surely you don't think there's any real threat."
"It's not the town I'm worried about," Shan said, "it's the road. You've seen what it's like outside. Well sir, I was up at dawn watching the weather come in, and I tell you we'll be lucky if the rain lifts before the week is out."
"Can't we deal with some rain?" Gerrid asked.
"The rain's not the danger," Shan countered, "that road's not a hard surface like the highland is, in this weather it'll be three days to Jesram and another four to Harthim, and that's if we're lucky and don't throw a wheel, or sink one of the carts axle-deep in a pothole. That's seven days that we're a slow-moving target for any band of these creatures that sees us!"
"Is the threat really so severe?" Gerrid asked, turning to Kert. The lieutenant squared his shoulders, and spoke in a grim voice.
"I think it may be," he said, "I've talked to all the guards here, and they've kept records of what was said by all who passed through this crossroads. From what they've heard, there's been no less than three incidents on the Jesram road involving loss of life due to creatures of some kind. One of the parties gave their word it was demons that attacked them. And this is a highlands storm; we know all about this kind of weather, we get the like of it at home. It'll sit here for a week or more, foul any road barring proper hard surfaces... our scouts won't be able to see far enough to be useful, and trumpets or lit arrows won't serve as signals in this downpour, so our outriders'll have to stay within sight of us. I'm not saying we'll definitely be attacked, or that we won't fight well and a damn sight fiercer than any demon will expect, but... I don't like it, sir, and that's a fact. I'm with Master Shan—we should make for the ford, and Harthim."
"Well..." Gerrid hesitated, "I'm loath to risk the safety of the caravan, of course... you're sure the road will be good? The ford will be safe to cross?"
"The highland road's solidly-built," Shan said with authority, "it'll hold a hard surface to anything less than a hurricane, and the ford likewise. It's reinforced, far sturdier than it need be, for the size of the river. I've crossed it safely in spring, with the melt water from the mountains swelling the river—this rain won't be a problem."
"I see," Gerrid said, obviously not happy with the way the argument was going, "well, then, if this route is that much safer... but the Duke is expecting the reports from Jesram, you see, the dispatches we were to bring back cover all the Kingsway mountains, you must know how important they are, the mines and so forth..."
"Begging your pardon, sir," Kert said, "but I could go alone, and fetch your reports. If there's nothing to do but collect them?"
"I suppose," Gerrid began, then frowned. "But you'd be in just as much danger, surely- no, more, one man alone instead of an armed caravan!"
"I'll take my horse and a remount," Kert explained patiently, "set a quick pace there and back, cut across country north of the river rather than following the road's route. I know these horses, they won't complain about the ground in this weather. Would you say two days?" he asked Shan.
"Two," Shan said, "if you start early and ride hard. It could be done."
"And I don't know monsters," Kert went on to Gerrid, "but if they're anything like brigands, they'll not be trouble to a soldier riding fast. They'd have to catch him, kill a trained man, for no reward other than what he carries on him. No supply wagons to loot. It's not profitable. That's if I'm spotted—they may watch the roads, but it'd be a sure-sighted creature that'd find a man riding across country in this rain."
"Well..." Gerrid said again, "it's not that I doubt your capabilities, of course, the Baron highly recommended you, and your men... but still, to ask you to ride off alone, in these conditions with these creatures about-"
"You're not asking me, sir," Kert said, "I'm volunteering. This is important business of yours and Duncraig's, and as an officer of Kingsport it's my duty."
"Very well," Gerrid said, after a brief hesitation, "very well... come with me, then, I'll explain what you must do when you reach Jesram..." He and Kert left the guardhouse, and Tara watched them through the window, splashing across the courtyard towards Gerrid's wagon.
"So we're going where now?" Willow asked.
"Staying on this road, by the look of it," Tara said, remembering what she had seen of Kert's map. "There's a small river that runs down from the mountains to the Kingsway. Up ahead there's a ford where the highland road crosses it, then Harthim, where Duncraig's border is."
"How long will it take to go that way?" Willow asked Shan.
"Two days, I expect miss," he said. "I'd have said a day and a half, and we'd be in Harthim tomorrow afternoon, but in this weather we'll probably have to make camp just on the other side of the ford, and it'll be evening by the time we reach the town. Good solid road all the way, though," he went on, noticing Tryptin listening in, "I doubt you'll notice the rain having much of an effect, so long as we all keep the wagons covered. The road up to Jesram and back is really just a wide trail, it'll be mud as deep as the ocean by now. But Kert'll be fine on horseback, I wouldn't be surprised if he reached Harthim same time as us."
"Don't people travel up there much?" Tryptin wondered.
"Not often, no," Shan said, "it's a big town, but all they really do is operate the mines. Duncraig sends a barge up the river every season to bring out the minerals, so I suppose they've never seen the need for a proper road up there. New town, you know, when I was a boy it was just getting started. The highland road, now, that's been here for centuries. We'll be fine."
"Pity," Tara said quietly to Willow, "I was looking forward to seeing the mountains. I've never seen realm mountains, apart from the ones at home. I thought I might do some sketches."
"One day," Willow promised, "we'll follow the route I took when I first went to Entsteig. We got on a riverboat high up in the ranges and sailed down... sometimes the cliffs on either side of the river reach up to the sky, it's like another world. You'll be able to sketch to your heart's content."
"It sounds amazing," Tara smiled, "but you realize, of course, if you insist on taking me to these wonderful places, we'll be too busy doing other things to our hearts' content."
"Finish your soup," Willow whispered with a seductive look, "our wagon is beckoning."
They passed Kert, on his way to the stables, and Tara put a hand on Willow's arm for a moment to halt her, then ducked out from underneath the shelter of their tarpaulin to face him.
"Gods be with you," she said, meeting his gaze. He nodded, one warrior to another, then went on his way as Tara ducked back underneath the shelter with Willow, and they both scurried back to their wagon as quickly as they could.
"He'll be okay, won't he?" Willow said once they had scrambled back out of the rain. "I mean, all that stuff he said about riding quickly, and no-one spotting him or paying any attention...?"
"That's all true," Tara said reassuringly, pulling off her boots and wiping the mud off with a cloth before storing them, "I think he'll be fine. H-he seems a very good soldier, from what I've seen."
"Can never have too many prayers, though?" Willow asked.
"That's about it," Tara said. "Brrr! I don't envy him the ride." She shivered, prompting Willow to reach for a towel to help dry her off.
"First things first," she said, "let's get you out of those wet clothes."
"My Willow," Tara smiled, "you never miss an opportunity..."
"Look in the mirror sometime and see if you can blame me," Willow joked. She helped Tara off with the heavy tunic she had chosen to keep the rain out, then got distracted kissing her stomach as she was undoing her skirt.
"You know," Tara mused, "I'm starting to think you had an ulterior motive for getting my clothes off. Eeep!" she added as Willow plunged her tongue into her navel and tickled her.
"Not at all," Willow said as she resumed pulling Tara's skirt down, "if it was ulterior it'd be all subtle and unnoticeable. Whereas I make no secret of the fact that I find you utterly," she punctuated with another kiss on Tara's navel, "totally sexy, and that your mere presence is enough to turn me on unbelievably."
"My mere presence, huh?" Tara said, sitting up after lying down to help Willow get her skirt off. "So, if I was, for example, just sitting here, fully-clothed, reading a book, that'd be enough to turn you on?"
"Yep," Willow happily confirmed.
"So," Tara said, her voice low, "what if I was sitting in front of you just like this, completely naked, and I were to tell you that I'm seriously considering lying you down, straddling your hips, kissing you until you moan, reaching into you, bringing you to climax, and then licking your juices off my fingers afterwards?"
"Uh..." Willow managed, her mouth hanging open.
"I'll take that as a 'yes', shall I?" Tara smiled.
"Uh-huh," Willow replied. Tara's smile widened as she put her hands to Willow's shoulders, gently pushing her down to rest on the blankets. As promised, she straddled Willow, placing her hands on her hips and straightening her back, reveling in the lustful stare she received from Willow. She gave Willow a wink, then leaned forward slowly, bringing her lips agonizing close to Willow's without quite touching.
"You want me to kiss you," she murmured, more an observation than a question. Willow let out a desperate whimper.
"Oh gods please," she sighed.
"Not yet," Tara whispered, as her right hand trailed down Willow's body, reaching the hem of her skirt and pulling it up her legs to bunch around her waist.
"Not just yet," Tara repeated softly, "just... little tastes..." She brushed her lips lightly against Willow's, enjoying the way Willow would gasp and move for her with each contact. She kept up her teasing half-kisses as her fingers crept down through Willow's curls, pushing her underwear down as she went, reaching down further to stroke the lips of her sex.
"Oh gods please," Willow moaned again.
"Not yet," Tara insisted gently, "when I enter you... when I reach inside you and touch your soul... then I'll kiss you... would you like that?"
"Ah," Willow gasped incoherently, as Tara's fingers parted her lips and teased her entrance.
"You're so wet," Tara breathed.
"For you," Willow gasped, "yours..." Tara lowered her mouth onto Willow's, at the same time as her finger slid deep inside her, Willow's wetness offering no resistance. Willow's body surged beneath her, her hips and mouth mirroring each other as both reached towards the penetration, deepening it. Tara swirled her tongue in Willow's mouth, exploring every angle, as her finger stroked Willow inside, pumping gently, pressing against her walls. She fixed her attention on Willow's tongue at the same moment as she found her sweet spot. Willow jolted as if an arc of power were running between the two points, electrifying her body with every thrust. She moaned loudly into Tara's mouth as Tara's thumb brushed her clit—only a single, light contact, but it was enough to release the orgasm building inside her. Again and again she moaned, Tara swallowing the sound, as her body shook, and rewarded Tara's questing finger with a gush of her juices.
When Tara finally parted her lips from Willow's it felt strange to her, as if having Tara's lips pressed against her mouth was her natural state, and she was somehow exposed and unfinished without it. The feeling lasted only a fraction of a second before Tara was gently kissing her cheek and neck, renewing the contact that Willow craved. She had just the strength to roll her head sideways to look at Tara, as she leaned back, supporting her head with one arm.
"I love you," Tara said, "you're beautiful in every way." She lifted her other hand, glistening with Willow's wetness, and carefully licked the juices from it, her blissful expression showing Willow exactly how much she was enjoying it.
"My goddess," Willow whispered.
"Do you want to play a game?" Tara asked.
"Ooh, what kind of game?" Willow replied with a mischievous grin, causing Tara to laugh. The rain outside had continued through the morning as the caravan set off for the ford, easily slightly now and then but keeping up a steady downpour nonetheless. The turn-off for the Jesram road, only a few hundred meters beyond the crossroads outpost, had already begun to look weather-beaten and difficultly muddy, but the highland road held firm, just as Shan had said it would.
"Not that kind of game, you insatiable creature," Tara said, "it's a mind game. Strategy, logic, that kind of thing."
"Hey, it's me," Willow said with a grin, "logic is a turn-on."
"You're hopeless," Tara said fondly. She opened one of her bags, unloading her ceremonial armor and producing a slim wooden box from beneath it, which she handed to Willow as she repacked the armor. Willow looked at it curiously—it was half as deep as it was wide, and both top and bottom were patterned with painted squares, red and dark gray.
"Open it," Tara said, laying her breastplate back on top of the accompanying leathers and strapping the bag shut again. Willow flipped open the latch of the box and found the inside divided in two, each with a selection of carved playing pieces, also red and gray. She picked one and examined it closely—it was finely made, a tiny woman with a bow on her back, crouching like a tracker on her base. Tara took the box and upended it on a blanket, tipping out the other pieces, then laid it out so that the hinged halves of the box came together to form a playing board.
"It's called Lycander's Command," Tara explained, setting the pieces on the board. "After one of our greatest generals. Hundreds of years ago the Zaggasi pirates mounted a huge assault on the islands, and conquered Skovos and Philios. The island that's called Lycander now was the last bastion we had. Lycander was the husband of the Grand Mistress, the commander of all our armies, and when she was lost in the retreat from Philios, and there were no other veteran warriors, he took command. He was a strategic genius—our warriors were outnumbered, the pirates had great warships and they'd built forts on Philios and Skovos, but Lycander outmaneuvered them, and after four years drove them off the islands completely. When the government was restored and a new Queen was chosen, she offered him permanent command, as our first Grand Master, but he chose to go back to being a farmer, and caring for his daughter." She finished arranging the pieces, ranked against each other on either side of the board.
"These are the Governors," she said, pointing to the matching pieces in the centers of the red and gray lines, the only ones that were male. "They represent the people the warriors are protecting. They can't fight as well as most of the other pieces, but if you lose your Governor you lose the game. This is the Grand Mistress," next to each governor was a figure of a woman in ornate armor, with a long spear, "she's the commander of the army, and she's the best fighter. These two are Champions," women in tall full-face helmets carrying crossbows, "these are Huntresses, they can move behind enemy lines," the crouched bow-wielding figures Willow had examined one of earlier, "these are Ballistae," crossbow-like war engines mounted on wheels, "and these are your Warriors." The front rank of each 'army' was composed entirely of Warriors, eight on each side, with bucklers and javelins. Tara demonstrated briefly how each one moved, then explained the special rules for Warriors advancing on their first move, and how Huntresses could move through enemy pieces, but no one else could, and how the Governor could make a 'decoy' switch with a Ballista. Willow moved a couple of the pieces experimentally, and found that they stuck to the board.
"How's that work?" she asked, peering at the figures' bases, each of which contained a tiny metal disc. "Magnets?"
"It's something the priests of Zerae can do," Tara explained, "they treat iron with a little of Zerae's power, and the metal attracts or repels depending on which way around you have it. I'm not sure exactly how it's done. They use it for all sorts of things."
"We call it magnetics," Willow said, "lightning sorceresses can create magnetic iron out of normal iron."
"What do you use it for?" Tara asked.
"Well, nothing much," Willow admitted, "keeping cabinet doors closed, that kind of thing. Nothing very impressive. There's rumors that the assassins use magnetics to create their weapons, make metal move and fly the way we do with fire and ice. I don't know if that's true, no one knows much about them. There's stories that there's even a way to make iron alive, but I have no idea how that works, or who's supposed to be able to do it. It's probably just a myth." She peered at the figure in her hands, then replaced it and tilted the board slightly, watching the pieces hold their positions. "Cool. Who goes first?"
Tara gave Willow and her small army of red pieces the first move, and the game began. At first Willow concentrated on trying to maneuver her pieces into striking positions without risking them to counter-attack, spending most of her time countering Tara's moves and making it risky for her to advance. After several turns the lines of Warriors had become staggered and some of the second rank had moved forward. Willow was surprised to see Tara leave one of her Ballistae in a vulnerable position, and hesitated before she could strike with one of her Huntresses. She withdrew her hand, aware of Tara watching her intently, and studied the board, seeing the trap after a moment—her Huntress would have fallen next turn, to a Champion currently halfway across the board.
"I get it," she said gleefully, "nice try."
"Drat," said Tara with a grin.
"Your problem," Willow said, moving one of her own Champions to threaten a Huntress instead, "is that I *know* you're not careless enough to leave an opening like that."
"I'll have to make my careless moves more carefully," Tara smiled, swooping her Grand Mistress in to take a Warrior and threaten Willow's Governor. Willow stared at the board for a moment, working out how Tara had maneuvered her pieces into that position without her noticing.
"Nice," she grinned, biting the tip of her tongue in thought, "very nice... but the brain of Willow does not submit so easily." Over the next dozen or so turns she and Tara dueled for position, sacrificing a Warrior or two along the way to draw the other into a difficult strike. Finally Willow managed, with considerable difficulty, to draw Tara into a position where both a Ballista and a Huntress were threatened. Tara raised an eyebrow.
"You catch on fast," she murmured, "but then again, I already knew that."
"Hey, no fair," Willow protested, "it's hard enough concentrating with you leaning forward like that." Tara looked down at the neckline of her top, which, as she leant on her arms to ponder the board, was more than a little revealing.
"A good tactician uses every advantage at her disposal," she said with a placid smile.
"Well fine," Willow said with an innocent-looking bat of her eyelashes, "but just remember, if I lose this game because my thoughts were elsewhere, you owe me a rematch and I'm taking my skirt off."
"That sounds like plenty of incentive for me to win," Tara laughed. She protected her Huntress, and made Willow give a Warrior next turn in exchange for the loss of her Ballista. With both defensive lines slowly being whittled down the game became faster and more fluid, with risks paying greater rewards, but the loss of each piece sacrificed for a striking position more keenly felt. Finally it came down to both Governors, Tara's Huntress and Champion, and Willow's Grand Mistress, all stalking each other around the board.
"Nuts," Willow frowned, when finally, for all her Grand Mistress's flexibility, she couldn't keep her Governor from being boxed in and immobilized by Tara's pieces. "You win."
"Not quite," Tara said, "if you can't move but I can't strike with the pieces as they are, it's considered a draw in my favor. What do you think?"
"I love it," Willow said. Tara smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Want another round?" she asked.
"Does a draw in your favor mean I take my skirt off?" Willow asked, already undoing her belt.
"Difficult to say," Tara said, doing her best to sound offhand, "I don't think there are formal rules for strip Command."
"Well, we'll just have to make some then, won't we?" Willow said, stretching up on her knees and letting her skirt drop.
The caravan reached the ford just as afternoon was turning into evening, and crossed the river with the last light of the day. There was much to do to prepare the camp site on the other side, which hadn't seen use in some time, and it was well into the evening by the time the wagons were corralled, the horses set to graze and sleep under the watchful eye of their handlers, and the night shift of guards stationed nearby, keeping watch as best they could through the rain while huddling beneath their cloaks and hoods for warmth. Finally, within a tent to keep the rain at bay and prevent the light from shining too brightly, a fire was started and the caravan's amateur cooks set to work.
Tara chose her time carefully, scurrying out in boots, a thick robe and waterproof cape and hood, while the rain eased off for a few minutes to a light drizzle. She had insisted there was no need for Willow to come with her, and was duly rewarded when she returned to the wagon with two covered plates, and Willow pampered her outrageously, drying her, vigorously rubbing her thighs and arms to warm her, and not coincidentally stirring Tara's appetite for more than food. They talked during dinner, about the journey ahead and the prospect of reaching the border of Duncraig realm the next day, but increasingly their eyes were drawn to the other's stare, and they would lose track of what they were saying. Finally Willow set aside her empty plate and moved to sit beside Tara, stroking her thigh idly as she finished her meal.
"So tell me," she said as Tara leaned over to discard her plate, "what's it like on the islands? Impressive mountain ranges?" Her hand made its way up Tara's body and settled in her cleavage, her fingertips stroking lightly up and down.
"Uh-huh," Tara breathed, lying back. Willow lay beside her, head propped up on one arm, her other hand continuing its leisurely study of Tara's chest.
"Yes," she said, watching Tara's breathing deepen, "very impressive... proud peaks..." She trailed a fingertip up Tara's breast and over her nipple, then began stroking her stomach. "Plains, too, I bet?"
"Beneath the mountains," Tara whispered, biting her lip and grinning.
"And let me guess," Willow went on, her hand moving lower, "then comes the jungle." She ran her fingers through Tara's curls, smiling at the reaction she saw in Tara's expression.
"Oh that's divine," she whispered as Willow's fingertips brushed back and forth.
"But we haven't finished yet," Willow purred, "there's still where the land... meets the deep, seductive sea." Tara gasped as Willow's fingers skirted either side of her clit and gently parted her lips.
"Willow," she breathed, "please... I..." She touched Willow's thigh, and Willow at once understood, and lifted herself up on her knees, half-straddling Tara, staring up at her with lustful eyes as she delicately kissed each of her nipples. Tara closed her eyes and moaned, a blissful smile on her face, and her hand moved up the inside of Willow's thigh to touch her sex.
"Together," Willow said in a gasp, positioning the tip of her finger at Tara's entrance.
"Yes," Tara sighed, her fingertip between Willow's lips, ready.
Willow and Tara entered each other simultaneously, both sliding their fingers into the wet, gripping heat that awaited them. When they reached their depth inside each other they were still for a moment, then Willow began to rock her hips slowly back and forth, and started a series of gentle, firm thrusts into Tara's sex. Tara matched her move for move, and Willow lifted her head to catch Tara's lips in a searing kiss as they moved as one, each cupping the other's mound, rubbing her clit, each rolling their hips forward, welcoming the other into her sex, gasping in their kiss as they found each other's special spot and applied a firm pressure with every thrust. There was no separation; their two bodies were a single form, their mirrored pleasuring of each other drawing on a single orgasm the stirred deep in both their bodies, fuelled by their desire to please each other and accept the other's pleasure in return, gaining strength in both their sexes, electrifying both their bodies, reaching up into their breasts as they pressed against each other, and to their lips as they kissed, and as one they came. Both moaned into the other's mouth—loudly, though if they were heard there was no sign of it—and Willow eased herself down to lie half on top of Tara, her body completely spent, her finger still within Tara and her sex still treating her to ripples of pleasure as Tara remained within her.
"One day," Tara promised, using her free hand to draw the heavy blankets over both of them, "we'll see the islands... I'll show you everything..."
"I have everything I need right here," Willow murmured, kissing Tara's neck and nibbling lightly on her ear. "I love you forever, baby."
"I love you, my Willow," Tara whispered, sleep starting to get the better of her. "My love, my heart... my soul... my joy... goodnight, my sweet Willow."
"G'night," Willow mumbled, "love you... forever."
Tara woke, yawned, and smiled down at Willow, who was pillowed on her breast and, even in sleep, gave every indication of enjoying her position. She wriggled slightly as Tara stretched, then opened her eyes and blinked lazily.
"'lo," she murmured.
"Hello," Tara replied, grinning.
"Wha' time's it?" Willow asked.
"Early," Tara said, "we're not moving yet."
"Oh, yeah. Raining still," she observed. She peered at Tara in the gloom of the unlit wagon. "What're you grinning at?" she asked.
"You must've been having a good dream," Tara said.
"I must've?" Willow enquired.
"My thigh's between your legs," Tara whispered, "it's, ah, pretty hot and wet down there."
"Heh," Willow chuckled, "yeah, guess it is..."
"Seems a shame to let all that lovely Willow-goodness go to waste," Tara purred, "why don't you bring it up here?" Willow looked hesitant for a moment, but at Tara's obliging nod she lifted herself up on hands and knees and straddled Tara's waist.
"Come on," Tara murmured, "don't be shy." Willow slowly moved further up, letting the blankets fall off her shoulders as she straightened up. Tara reached down and wrapped her arms around Willow's thighs, pulling her hips closer to her mouth.
"That's right," she breathed as Willow knelt on either side of her head, and gently lowered herself. "What a way to wake up..."
"Mmm," Willow agreed as Tara's tongue reached out and made contact with her sex, teasing her lips lightly. She held herself in position, her hands clutched around the front beam of the wagon, enjoying Tara's attention immensely but hesitant to overwhelm her in what was, she had to admit, an extremely vulnerable position. Tara substantially banished those doubts when her arms around Willow's thighs tightened, her mouth opened, and she firmly pulled Willow down onto her.
"Oh gods!" Willow gasped, barely able to stop herself from raising her voice to a pitch that would've had the whole campsite awake. "Oh I love you!" Her hips moved of their own accord, rolling her sex back and forth over Tara's lips as her tongue delved inside her. She still worried a little about pressing down too firmly on Tara, but with Tara not just allowing but downright insisting on such a strong contact, Willow began to let herself enjoy the moment, trusting to Tara to let her know if she needed to lift herself.
For Tara's part, she felt as if she was in heaven, with barely a moment since she had woken up, and already her lungs were full of Willow's scent, her mouth full of her taste, and her ears catching every sigh and moan that came from her lips. She felt Willow's thighs on either side of her tremble, and knew that her climax wasn't far away. Unwinding her right arm from around Willow's leg, she moved her lips up a little to her clit, nibbling and sucking with abandon while clearing the way for her finger to find Willow's entrance and slide into her.
Willow's breathing was fast and shallow, her lungs working to the rhythm Tara was setting within her. She let her head fall forward, staring down at Tara's eyes, which glittered with joy. Between Tara's lips on her clit and the thrusts of her finger into her, Willow felt as if she would either come or explode. Her breath caught, her body tensed and her sex tightened as she began to orgasm, and at that moment, on her last thrust, Tara drove two fingers into Willow and hit her sweet spot hard.
Willow threw her head back and opened her mouth in a silent scream of joy, feeling her insides flip over themselves as her climax began. As her sex began to spasm she suddenly needed Tara desperately, and lifted herself off her, kicking blankets out of the way as she moved her hips back to straddle her waist, grinding her wetness onto her stomach as her mouth found Tara's. She kissed Tara intensely, her passion only strengthened by tasting herself on her lover's lips, her tongue delving into Tara's mouth as she coated her waist with her juices.
Tara cuddled Willow and returned her kiss with matching passion, holding her as her body shook and trembled its way through the aftershocks of her climax. Willow's lips became softer, gentler and less insistent as her body relaxed, and finally she trailed downward, kissing down Tara's jaw and finally resting atop her, her lips pressed against her neck.
"A-are you okay?" Tara asked quietly. "That was kind of..." she paused and searched for the word.
"Wonderful," Willow finished for her. "I'm fine, baby, oh gods I'm fine."
"Good," Tara smiled, "I just... I was a bit, um, well, I came on strong a bit there at the end, I know."
"And I loved it," Willow said, pressing kisses to the side of her neck. "I don't think I'm ever going to sleep in again, if this is what happens when I wake up."
"You liked?" Tara asked rhetorically.
"Oh, baby, I loved," Willow enthused. "At first it was a bit, you know, strange to be... well, sitting on your face," she giggled. "But... oh, you make love to me so beautifully... a-and looking down at you, seeing you like that, enjoying me so much... I swear I could've come just from that sight alone." She smiled, then shifted up a little to bring her eyes level with Tara's.
"What about you?" she asked.
"Me?" Tara smiled, and then adopted her most sensual purr. "The first thing I did this day was to have my beautiful Willow come all over my face... and my stomach... and my leg, if you recall..." She grinned cheekily. "I guess you could say I'm well covered."
"Minx," Willow said, kissing her.
"It was exciting, hot... I felt really close to you, really... intimate," Tara said. Willow wrapped her arms tight around Tara and hugged her.
"I love you," she murmured. "Have I mentioned that yet today?"
"Yes you have," Tara grinned, "vehemently. I love you too, Willow. I love everything that you are, completely."
"You've got everything that I am," Willow promised, "completely. Ahhh," she sighed.
"I guess," she added after a moment, "one of us is going to have to go out in that rain and get breakfast."
"I'll go," Tara offered.
"No, I'll go," Willow insisted, "you went out last night, it's my turn."
"I'll change the blankets while you're out," Tara said.
"Yeah, we could probably use a new set," Willow mused, sitting up and reaching for the bag with her traveling clothes. "Oh, hey, how about you put a pan out on the front and catch some rainwater? I've got an itching to run my hands all over you, and a bath seems like a good excuse."
"Since when did you need an excuse?" Tara joked, sitting up as Willow dressed. Willow leaned over to her, cupping her left breast and squeezing firmly while her lips sought out Tara's mouth, opened it, and her tongue dove inside.
"I'm trying to be a modest lady," Willow said with a formal air, and a sly smile tugging the corners of her mouth, belying her claim.
"You're not trying very hard," Tara countered.
"No I'm not," Willow admitted. "Better put an extra pan out for water."
"Why's that?" Tara wondered. Willow grinned mischievously.
"Because," she explained, pulling on her boots, "probably about half-way through your bath I'm going to be making you all hot and sweaty again, and then I'll have to start over." She winked at Tara and disappeared out of the wagon, leaving Tara to smile after her.
When Willow returned, Tara was leaning out the back, with a cloak over her head to keep dry, attaching a sack full of blankets and other laundry to the outside of the wagon. Willow leaned under her hood and gave her a quick kiss, then gratefully scrambled back into the warmth of the wagon's interior, leaving her waterproof cape on a hook outside.
"What's cooking?" Tara asked, hugging Willow from behind and rubbing her arms, warming her quickly.
"Porridge," Willow said, uncovering the single large bowl she had brought back, releasing warm steam and an enticing aroma.
"Nice and warm," Tara smiled.
"Warm indeed," Willow agreed, leaning back into Tara's embrace and tilting her head to smile up at her.
"Eat up, vixen," Tara teased, picking a spoon out of the bowl and offering Willow a spoonful of the hot meal. Willow swallowed obediently, kissed Tara, then sat back and took her own spoon.
"I spoke to Tryptin," she said as they ate, "he said we'll definitely reach Harthim tonight. The north lookout saw that the weather at dawn looked lighter that way, he said. The storm's moving west by the look of it."
"I wonder how Kert's doing," Tara mused.
"Probably wet," Willow replied. "Shan just got back from checking the ford, he said the river's flowing high, so it's probably raining buckets up near the mountains."
"I hope he's okay," Tara said quietly.
"Yeah," Willow agreed. She glanced at Tara. "Fellow-warrior-type sentiment?" she asked with a half-smile.
"Something like that," Tara replied, an answering smile appearing on her lips. "He seems a good man, he takes his job seriously... No warrior really wants to be out there, alone, let alone soaking wet and miserable," she added with a grin. "We're taught, in training, that sometimes a warrior has to be alone, and when that happens, we recognize the courage it takes, and offer a prayer for her. Or him, in this case. I'll be glad to see him safe and sound when we get to Harthim. So long as we're on this journey together, he's one of us. I guess I've got that from Tryptin, wanting everyone to be safe and happy."
"No, I think you get that from you," Willow said softly. "It's just one of the many, many reasons I feel blessed to be loved by you." She leaned over and kissed Tara, gentle and tender, her lips soft as silk, warm as sunlight.
"My love," Tara whispered, her eyes still closed from the kiss.
"All yours," Willow said, "you'll never be alone. That's a promise." Tara opened her eyes and fixed Willow with a brilliant smile.
"Eat up," she said warmly, "I put the pans out on the front seat to fill with water, they're probably about full by now."
"Bath-time, then," Willow grinned, gulping down another spoonful of porridge.
"Absolutely," Tara purred, licking her lips.
In no time both Willow and Tara had polished off the remnants of their breakfast. Tara retrieved two water-filled pans from the driver's seat, holding the canvas flap in the front of the roof above herself to keep from getting wet, then sealing it securely shut to keep the rain out. She lay the pans on the flat, steady surface of one of the small crates lining the front of the wagon, and busied herself finding soap and washcloths from the baggage, while Willow laid out towels to keep the blankets dry.
"You first?" she asked when Tara looked back at her. Tara nodded and reached for the hem of her tunic, only to have Willow's hands beat her there.
"Lie back," Willow whispered, beaming. Her smile warmed Tara immeasurably, assuring her than nothing she could do would make Willow feel so content as to simply lie back and let herself be taken care of. Willow gently pulled Tara's tunic up her body as she lay down, pulling it over her head and off her arms.
"No underwear?" Willow asked slyly, undoing the cord of Tara's skirt to confirm that she was just as naked beneath her clothes below the waist as above.
"Didn't seem any need," Tara smiled, "you, ah, didn't exactly conceal your intentions to have me naked right after breakfast."
"No, I didn't, did I?" Willow mused playfully. "Better make good on those intentions, in that case." She slipped Tara's undone skirt out from underneath her and sat back on her heels to survey her naked lover. Tara, basking in the warmth of her gaze, stretched languorously, slowly reaching out her arms above her head as her legs flexed expansively, toes pointed. Willow bit her lip and leaned down to speak directly to Tara, staring into her eyes.
"You are, without a doubt," she said slowly, "the sexiest creature ever to walk the earth." Tara blinked slowly, a sensuous smile spreading across her face.
"And I'm all yours," she replied. Willow chuckled and kissed her, nibbling on her lower lip. She sat back and surveyed Tara again, her eyes following every curve of her body. She took a washcloth, wet it, and began rubbing soap into Tara's legs, lifting them from the blankets to work underneath them. Tara obediently held her legs up, one then the other, as Willow ran her hands up their length, starting at her toes and rubbing firmly all the way up her calves and thighs. She spent a while longer than was necessary running her hands over Tara's thighs, and the way Tara's breathing caught slightly each time her hands made their way up near her hips was not lost on her. With a smile full of promise she rinsed off Tara's legs and followed with her arms, soaping and rinsing while giving every indication of immense pleasure in touching her.
Tara sighed with delight as Willow, having dutifully soaped her stomach and shoulders, naturally came to her breasts and lingered. Willow took a breast in each hand and massaged steadily, establishing a rhythm where she would squeeze in with her fingertips as she pressed upwards, then stretch her hands flat and press her palms against Tara's nipples as she moved her hands down again. She paused a moment to quickly pull off her tunic and skirt, and straddled Tara clad only in her underwear, her bra slightly tight as she breathed deeply, and her briefs accomplishing nothing in terms of concealing the heated moistness that she settled on Tara's waist. Smiling down at Tara from astride her, she resumed her attentions to her breasts, slow and rhythmic, matching her motions to Tara's breathing.
Tara's nipples were already hard, and she began sighing and lazily tossing her head from side to side as Willow worked steadily on her breasts, massaging her with a determination that offered no respite for Tara to cool off or be distracted by other sensations. She closed her eyes and limited her world to only two sensations: one, Willow's hands on her chest, kneading her breasts in the most exquisite way, and two, the heat of Willow's sex, wet and inviting through the thin film of her underwear, pressed against her waist.
"You like that baby?" Willow murmured softly.
"Oh goddess yes," Tara sighed. Quite involuntarily she began arching her back, pressing herself into Willow's hands, unashamedly conveying the pleasure that Willow's touch was causing her. Willow got quite lost in her fascination with Tara's breasts, the way they moved, their softness, the sensuous way Tara moved when she squeezed them, the lusty way she would let out a long, deep sigh every time Willow rubbed her palms against her nipples. Without realizing it she too began to move, her hips rolling back and forth, her sex pressing against Tara's stomach. She leaned forward, trusting Tara to support some of her weight, and angled her hips back to press her clit against Tara, the barrier of fabric between them inconsequential.
Tara opened her eyes and fixed Willow with a needful gaze. Willow leant further forward, her hands still massaging Tara's breasts as they kissed, and Tara's hands reached down to pull Willow's briefs down her thighs.
"You're so hot," Tara breathed, her lips still close enough to brush Willow's as she spoke. Willow moaned in reply, and Tara put one hand to the back of her head, drawing her into another, more intense kiss, while her other arm went around her waist, pulling Willow's hips back as she raised her thigh. Willow moaned again, louder, into Tara's mouth as she felt the firm contact, the lips of her sex spreading against the top of Tara's thigh as her clit pressed against her hip just above. Tara raised her thigh higher, and Willow, with her underwear still around her thighs keeping her from spreading her legs very far on either side of Tara, instead rested more of her weight on her hips, on Tara, bucking wildly as her clit ground against Tara's skin.
"Oh baby," she moaned as she came, "oh gods, oh gods, oh... gods... Tara..." She kissed Tara again, deeply, then took a shuddering breath and collapsed on top of her, all will to move momentarily abandoning her.
"My beauty," Tara whispered, "my perfect love Willow..." Willow opened her mouth to say something, though she couldn't imagine what, in reply, when she was interrupted by a creak from the front of the wagon, as someone climbed up and settled onto the driver's seat. Willow met Tara's stare, and both giggled like schoolgirls with a shared secret.
"Good morning!" Willow called.
"Morning miss Willow," the driver replied through the canvas screen between them. "Morning miss Tara."
"Good morning," Tara called out, glancing up at the canvas. When she looked back at Willow she giggled again, silently. Willow, with some effort, lifted herself up to once again sit across Tara's waist, taking a moment to free her soaked briefs from around her legs. She steadied the pans of water, making sure they wouldn't tip as the wagon lurched gently into motion. Then she made sure she had Tara's full attention, licked her lips, dipped her gaze momentarily downward, and put a finger to her lips.
"Shhh," she advised softly. Tara smiled and nodded. Willow got up on hands and knees, moving slowly and with rhythm deliberately to give Tara a delectable view of her pert breasts swaying beneath her, then settled luxuriously down between Tara's legs, her head pillowed on her right thigh. She reached out with her tongue and gave a long lick to the opposite leg, tasting her own wetness so recently spread there. With long, careful strokes she cleaned her arousal off Tara's skin, making sure she accounted for every trace.
Tara steadfastly resisted the temptation to moan when she saw, and felt, what Willow was doing. 'Licking her own juices off my thigh,' she thought, 'oh goddess she's sexy, I think I'm going to burst!' She bit her lip and endured the pleasurable torment as Willow's tongue slowly worked its way closer and closer to her center, which was adding ample amounts of her own arousal to the bouquet her lover was tasting.
Finally Willow's tongue touched the base of her sex and ran up, the tip nudging between her lips, finally passing over her clit as Willow nuzzled into her dark gold curls. Willow lifted her tongue and returned it to the bottom of Tara's center, repeating her motions again, and again, each long, firm lick following just the same path through her. Tara closed her eyes again, swallowing the urge to moan out loud as Willow patiently, sensually continued to lick at her sex, enjoying her like a gourmet with a fine desert.
Willow grew more bold, pressing her tongue down harder as Tara began to rock her hips in response to her attentions. She braced herself with her arms and moved her head back and forth, Tara's hips moving quite dramatically, both falling into a rhythm in which Tara would lift her hips off the towel beneath her with each stroke of Willow's tongue, as if Willow's caress was lifting her. In a strange, wonderful way Willow felt that Tara was making love back to her, her sex kissing her tongue, enfolding it in warmth with every stroke. She leaned further into Tara, her lips now pressing against her as well, paying closer attention to her clit with every thrust of her tongue. She could feel Tara close to climax, and wanted her orgasm to flow from this contact, this caress she had started, that had so beautifully escalated to the point where Tara was lifting herself up, pressing herself into Willow's mouth, freely offering her arousal, the warmth and wetness of her sex, with the utmost certainty that Willow would accept her, all of her, her warmth into her skin, her juices into her body, the total immersion of her senses into her body, just as freely.
Tara reached down and wound her hands into Willow's hair, holding her against her sex as she finally came. Willow opened her jaw wide, engulfing as much of Tara as she could within the warmth of her mouth, her tongue working up and down furiously, gathering the juices flowing from Tara and stimulating her clit, urging more from her. Tara's mouth opened in a silent exclamation of passion, and for a long moment she was motionless, hips held up in mid-air, Willow pressed against her, perfectly still as her insides roiled and surged with her orgasm. She made not a sound, until all of a sudden she went limp and thudded back to the towel and blankets beneath her, and a tiny sigh escaped her. She let her head fall sideways, to allow her to look down at Willow, who was slowly making her way up her body, her sensual gait on hands and knees, and the supremely satisfied smile on her face both reminiscent of a big cat, content to prowl and bask in the sunlight.
"You're amazing," Tara whispered as Willow lay down on top of her, kissing her chin and neck.
"How could I love you, and try for anything less?" Willow replied.
"Oh Willow," Tara sighed, "you're so... oh goddess, there aren't words. I love you."
"I love you," Willow repeated. "Heh, I was right," she added with a chuckle.
"How's that?"
"I am going to have to wash you again."
Willow and Tara's bathing, with its accompanying teasing, touching and kissing, ended up taking much of the morning. With the rain keeping up a steady downpour outside, easing compared to the day before but still far more than would be enjoyable, even in a heavy cloak and hood, both then settled into the confines of the wagon for the day. Willow leafed through Ember's journal some more, finding a rough map of the area they were in, which Tara compared to what she remembered of Kert's map. While searching through Willow's satchels after lunch for a more detailed chart, which Willow was sure was in there somewhere, Tara came across a small set of pipes.
"Are these yours?" she asked curiously.
"Yep," Willow confirmed with a glance. "My artistic side. I'm not that good, but I can carry a tune. Better than I sing, anyway."
"Would you?" Tara asked, offering the pipes to Willow, who accepted them with a hesitant smile.
"I might be a bit out of practice," she cautioned as she crossed her legs and raised the pipes to her lips. She blew a couple of random notes, bringing the tones of the instrument back to her mind, then smiled at Tara and sounded the first three notes of a scale, pure and gentle.
"Do re mi," Tara sang in reply. Willow smiled wider, then repeated her three notes, which Tara again echoed. Willow improvised a quick melody.
"Do re mi, do re mi, fa, mi, re," Tara followed. Willow repeated it again, then kept going as Tara followed her in time, two bars behind and harmonizing perfectly. Willow let herself flow through the music, as she had occasionally used to do when the mood took her, now delighted to find this new way of bringing a smile to Tara's lips. She felt too a wonderful sense of contentment at her music joining with Tara's, the two of them creating something beautiful together, and it was with no small regret that she finally drew their melody to a close, scaling back to the simple sequence of notes that she began with.
"That was fun," she said, grinning.
"Yeah," Tara agreed, "you've got a good ear for music."
"Just not when I sing," Willow joked.
"Maybe," Tara said, "you never know. I didn't try singing until I was fifteen, until then I had no idea I'd enjoy it, or be any good. How would you like to try a duet some time?"
"For you, anything," Willow smiled.
The caravan was within sight of the torchlights of Harthim when the sun set, and with their forward scout letting the townsfolk know they were on their way, and thus to keep the gates open, they entered the town just as evening was setting in. As it turned out the only inn was too small to accommodate more than a handful of the caravan's passengers, so Willow and Tara, along with the Amazons and most of the Duncraig ambassadors, stayed in their wagons.
"No great loss," Willow proclaimed ruefully, returning after fetching a hot dinner from the kitchen. "I had a peek in one of the rooms, the beds are tiny and they look kind of draughty." Tara shrugged and gratefully accepted a vegetable stew Willow had scavenged before the inn's cook had tipped in any bits of rabbit, which most of the other travelers were having. They sat down to eat outside their wagon, the caravan's wagons having been parked underneath a wide wooden shelter, somewhat like a barn, that served to keep the rain off the carts and baggage of visiting travelers.
"I was thinking," Willow said as they ate, "I might stitch an extra layer into my book pouch. Keep Ember's journal on hand, as well as our journal. What do you think?"
"Good idea," Tara agreed. "I was having a look through it this afternoon. She's certainly seen a lot of interesting things."
"Yeah, she used to be quite the traveler," Willow said. "She got a bit of a reputation as an adventurer in the Order. Some of the students said she only accepted the sponsor's position in the city because she'd run out of new places to explore."
"What's she like?" Tara asked.
"Oh, gods, where do I begin?" Willow replied. "She's... she has this sort of manner about her, it's like she knows everything. She doesn't go around spouting off knowledge like a walking library or anything, just... whatever's going on, or whatever's being talked about, no matter what it is, she's got this little smile, like she knows it already. She's kind of fun to be around, a lot more than most of the tutors anyway. Once she accepted me as her apprentice she'd take me all sorts of places, like the Zakarum city, and the villages far up the Argentek River - nothing to do with sorcery training, but she never explained her methods, just smiled and said 'it'll be fun'. I learned a whole lot without even realizing I was learning anything."
"She sounds a good teacher," Tara observed.
"Oh, yeah," Willow agreed, "the best. Earlier, when we were all learning together, it was all about the theory of magic, how spells are formed, practicing until we got it right... you know, the first three months I was with Ember, she never even tested me with spells? She'd just ask talk with me, about all sorts of things, like history and wildlife, and how the clouds moved, and what different kinds of rocks looked like... and, the funny thing, it wasn't just her telling me things, I'd always end up talking just as much as she did, and she'd always listen to me, like she was really interested, and never give me any indication I was babbling too much, or that she wanted me to keep quiet and learn."
"The other sponsors weren't like her?" Tara asked.
"Not exactly," Willow said, "it's pretty common for a sponsor and her apprentice to become good friends - I mean, you spend a fair chunk of your life as a trainee with them, I guess you either love 'em or hate 'em, and sponsors are always the love 'em kind. That's sort of a trainee joke," Willow chuckled, "we said that all the nice sorceresses become sponsors, and the ones that turn into crabby old bats become councilors. We never saw much of the sorceresses who actually run the Order, they were just these silent, stern-looking women who'd come by the training halls occasionally when we were practicing and glare at us as if we weren't trying hard enough. Anyway... but yeah, Ember was pretty special as a sponsor. She was a bit like a mother, and a bit like a sister - sometimes I'd go to her for help about one thing or another, and she'd listen to me and give me advice, and it was like she was older and wiser, and I was this young thing listening to her wisdom. In a good way, I mean, it was comforting... she could be someone I'd look up to. And then other times we'd be talking and laughing and, it was like we were on the same level. She's about forty, but she could seem so young. And yeah, some of the other girls were a bit jealous of me, getting her as my sponsor... they'd have to practice creating fireballs and chain lightnings and stuff, and I'd be practicing by making snowmen out of water, or we'd make little birds out of ice and fly them around the cloisters."
Willow's anecdotes about her training kept Tara entertained until both their plates were empty, and she offered to take them back into the inn. When she returned Tara was still outside the wagon, arms crossed, staring uneasily out across the town's main square. The gates on the other side, only their covered torches plainly visible through the rain, were closed. Tara could just make out a handful of figures moving slowly back and forth.
"Kert hasn't come in yet," Tara said quietly. "Shan just went out to go up into the tower and see if he can see him. Not much chance, in this weather."
"He's probably just running late," Willow said, "what with the heavy rain out to the west..." She put an arm around Tara's shoulders, and together they stood silently for a while, watching as Shan returned from the gate, shaking off his wet cloak once he reached the shelter of the wagon enclosure. He spoke with a young sergeant, Kert's second-in-command, then paced restlessly back and forth as the sergeant made his way towards the town sheriff's office.
Without any conscious intent, a small group of people formed near the wagons, sitting on stools around the warmth of a fire that had been started, staring silently into the flames, and occasionally glancing up at the closed gates, barely visible in the gloom across the square. Shan checked the view from the watchtower again, before giving up and returning to his pacing. Tryptin sat by the fire, staring off into the night. Gerrid drifted out from the inn to join them, his restless manner clearly showing his unease. Kert's sergeant, Grant, joined them, staring into the fire for the most part, every once in a while stoking it idly with a stick, or fetching a new log to keep it going against the night's cold. Melcan appeared with some drink, and bread still hot from the kitchen's oven, which was eaten in silence. Tryptin asked idly a while later if Tara had brought a Command set, and played a game against her, with Willow, Shan and Grant watching, though always glancing over their shoulder every now and then.
A short while later Gerrid asked if there was any chance of going out to look for Kert, but Grant said quietly that, between the dark and the rain, they might ride right past him without knowing, and carrying open flames ran the risk of attracting any animals prowling the night. A long silence fell, during which Gerrid stood at the edge of the enclosure, his cape keeping off the occasional gust of wind that blew some rain in, and Willow and Tara sat together on the tailboard of their wagon, close enough to have a view of the square but well out of the rain, both huddled in a blanket around their shoulders.
"Thank you," Tara said quietly, out of the silence.
"What for?" Willow asked.
"Just... being you," Tara said, glancing at Willow with the ghost of a smile. "Sitting up with me, without question, just because a soldier neither of us really knows is out there somewhere."
"I'm worried too," Willow said softly. "And hey, it's not like I could just leave you and go to sleep inside. You're here, so I'm here, and that's how it is. Wouldn't have it any other way." She gave Tara's shoulders a squeeze, getting a smile out of her, then with her free hand took Tara's, and rested her head on her shoulder, staring out with her into the night.
"When I was old enough," Tara said quietly, "Eponin told me about my parents. So I'd know what they died for, so I could sit memorial properly for them. I wasn't born on the islands, it was on the mainland. My mother and father were living in a town not far from the coast. There was still a lot of unrest, because of the Reckoning. Evil creatures, packs of demons and monsters, all through the mainland jungles. Not long after I was born a huge wave of them came down out of the mountains and swept through the jungle. My parents brought all the people from the town to the shore, got them onto boats, including me, and then they went back. My mother was a warrior, and my father was very strong, and very brave. Once I was safe they went back, them and two other Amazons, my aunt and another woman, to bring more people out, to get them from the villages around the town to the boats.
"All through the night the boats waited, and every now and then a group of people would reach the dock and board, and they'd tell the master of the boats that the Amazons were still out there, making it safe for more people to reach the road to the shore. They kept waiting as long as they could, even when they could see the jungle on fire on the horizon, this glow in the night sky. But then no more people came, and just before dawn creatures started coming from the edge of the jungle, trying to get across the docks and onto the boats. They fought them off for as long as they could, with longbows and crossbows, shooting them down as they tried to get across the dock, just... trying to wait one moment longer. But eventually there were too many, and the boats had to leave.
"And that was it," she finished. "They sailed to the islands, and I was taken in by Eponin's family." She shrugged, and Willow hugged her tighter.
"I-I'm sorry," Tara said, "I don't mean to be all depressing..."
"It's alright," Willow said, with absolute conviction. Tara nodded her thanks, and hugged Willow in return.
"Two hundred and thirty-seven people were on the boats," she said after a moment. "Ninety-two of them arrived after the first group, when the town was evacuated. Every year, I sit memorial for my parents. My aunt and her friend, too, but they have other loved ones who sit memorial for them. It's not a ceremony or anything, just on the day they gave their lives to save those people, I sit for a moment and remember what they did, and remind myself that I'm proud of them. Is it after midnight, do you think?"
"Definitely," Willow said, "at least an hour." Tara nodded, and gazed up at the sky, such as was visible through the rain.
"Mom, dad," she whispered, "thanks. I'm proud to be your daughter." She sniffed quietly, and Willow saw a single tear fall down her cheek. She reached up and tenderly brushed it away before resting her head back on Tara's shoulder.
"I love you," Tara said simply after a moment.
"I love you too," Willow replied. They both looked up as a shout echoed across the square from the gate. Gerrid hurried out into the rain with Grant, while Tryptin and Shan stood at the edge of the enclosure and watched. The town gates swung open a little way, enough to admit a man on horseback before they were closed again. Willow and Tara both recognized it as Kert, from his clothes and the gear on his horse, before he got under the shelter of the enclosure and dismounted, casting off his rain-soaked cloak. Gerrid was at his side talking quickly, while Grant followed a few paces behind him, waiting for orders. He spoke to Tryptin and Shan briefly before heading towards the inn, but as he went he caught sight of Willow and Tara sitting outside their wagon, and inclined his head with a brief smile. Tara nodded in return, and then he was gone, headed towards the warmth of the inn's kitchen, and Willow was stretching her legs off the tailboard.
"Come on," Tara said sleepily, "let's go to bed." She and Willow climbed into their wagon, undressed, and burrowed together underneath their blankets, quickly warming each other and their bed against the chill of the night. Willow snuggled back into Tara, and Tara stretched and curled herself around Willow, enfolding her in her embrace.
"Love you," she murmured, "goodnight."
"G'night," Willow yawned, "love you too."
Chapter 28
Willow poked her head through the flap in the wagon's rear and squinted in the sunlight, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Sorry to wake you," Tryptin said, standing outside and looking none too rested himself, "breakfast. We're setting off in half an hour or so, but we'll be stopping for lunch today."
"Thanks," Willow said, accepting the covered dish and flask Tryptin offered. He left, and she ducked back inside, putting the food and drink aside for the moment on top of one of the crates.
"Wassat?" Tara murmured from beneath the blankets.
"Breakfast," Willow said sleepily, crawling back under with her. She rolled over and nestled her back up against Tara, smiling and wriggling gently as Tara's arms went around her and pulled her close, her palms pressing into her stomach and waist.
"Should get up?" Tara asked with a yawn.
"No need just yet," Willow replied, "it'll keep a few minutes... and I don't know about you, but I don't really want to move just now."
"Good," Tara said, tightening her hold on Willow, who chuckled.
"Feels nice," she murmured, "I love the way you hold me... makes me feel safe... warm all over..."
"All over?" Tara asked silkily. "Or anywhere in particular?" One of her hands strayed up towards Willow's chest, while the other remained tight around her waist.
"Woke up frisky, did you?" Willow teased.
"And why wouldn't I," Tara countered, "when my sexy sorceress snuggles up against me... mmm... your legs are trembling... are you cold?" Tara whispered, right into Willow's ear, "I should keep you warm..." She slid her leg over the top of Willow's, pressing her thigh down on her legs and rubbing her calf against Willow's shins. The shudders running through her body had nothing to do with cold.
"Oh... sexy legs..." Willow murmured with a smile.
"You like my legs, baby?" Tara asked sweetly.
"Oh yes," Willow said, "I love them... strong and curvy... and soft... can't get enough of them..." Tara grinned and pulled her thigh up close to her chest, her leg draping over Willow's waist.
"There's that Amazon flexibility, too," Willow said appreciatively as she leaned down to kiss Tara's knee, both her hands running up and down her calf and back over her thigh, squeezing her muscles fondly. She laughed quietly to herself.
"What's that for?" Tara asked fondly.
"Oh, just thinking," Willow replied vaguely. "A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in this very wagon thinking that I'd have nothing to do on this trip except read... and now here I am, with the most perfectly beautiful woman in the world... quite literally wrapped around me," she added with a grin over her shoulder at Tara, "and feeling like I'm in paradise every moment."
"Two weeks," Tara mused, "feels like longer."
"Well, two weeks, two-and-a-half days," Willow clarified. "It does, doesn't it? I can think back to when I was in Kurast and it doesn't seem so long ago, but when I think about being without you... it seems like it's someone else's life I'm thinking of." She took hold of Tara's hand, which was hovering around the bottom of her breasts, and brought it to her lips, kissing the palm tenderly.
"I love you," she whispered, and Tara saw there were tears in her eyes. "I love you so much, I don't want to ever be without you..."
"You never will," Tara promised. "I swear to you Willow, on my honor as an Amazon, I will love you always." She stroked Willow's cheek affectionately. "You got me, and you're stuck with me," she added with a grin. Willow glanced over her shoulder, her yearning expression giving way to a smile which became a full-bodied laugh.
"Funny," Willow said, "from where I am, it looks like you've got me." Tara gave Willow's waist a squeeze.
"I have indeed," she said in a low murmur, "but the question is... what am I going to do with you?"
"Ooh, I know that tone of voice," Willow grinned.
"And what tone of voice is that?" Tara murmured.
"The one that says I'm about to get ravished," Willow gasped, as Tara's hands both reached for her breasts, fitting around them perfectly.
"Very observant of you," Tara whispered in her ear, as Willow moaned and writhed gently in her grip. "You like this, my sweet Willow?" she purred.
"Oh gods yes," Willow sighed.
"I know how much you like touching my breasts," Tara went on, squeezing Willow and rubbing her nipples between her fingers. "How you love feeling them... soft and warm in your hands... but it's my turn now... how does it make you feel, Willow? Tell me."
"H... hot," Willow gasped, "so hot... oh gods..."
"And...?" Tara prompted, gently giving Willow's nipples a particularly arousing pinch.
"Oh! Oh... gods... wet," Willow said, "wet..."
"Tell me," Tara whispered.
"I... I want you, soooo... much..." Willow managed between moans. "A-all the... time... but when you... touch me... oh... gods... it's too much, I can't... stop myself... I just want you, a-and... oh... need you..."
"I want you too, Willow," Tara murmured in her ear, "I need you too..."
"Oh gods," Willow whispered, "oh, touch me, please, please Tara..."
"I would," Tara said, "but I like where my hands are now... and I think you do too?" Willow moaned in response, as Tara flexed her fingers.
"Yesss," she hissed.
"Touch yourself, Willow," Tara breathed, "just... softly... and slowly. That's right," she urged, as Willow's hands crept tentatively down her body, "yes... just touch your lips... good..." Willow gasped involuntarily as she felt her own sex. Somehow, it was very, very much more than all the times she had touched herself before.
"Oh gods Tara," she whimpered, "how...?"
"Because I'm touching you," Tara replied softly, "it's not you doing this... I'm the one who decides that your fingertips are going to part your lips... aren't they?"
"Oh yes," Willow said, her hands complying without her even having to think about it.
"If I tell you to," Tara murmured, her tongue darting out to tease Willow's ear, "you'll keep yourself on the edge forever... aching, needing... until I let you come."
"Yes," Willow repeated.
"Move your fingers," Tara instructed, "up and down... gently... that's it... feel how wet you are. You're very wet, aren't you Willow? So very wet... and so desperate for release... that it would just take a touch, in the right place. Isn't that right?"
"Oh gods," Willow sighed, her fingers teasing her, completely beyond her conscious control. She felt as though they were truly Tara's hands on her sex, Tara's fingers stroking through her wetness. All the while, Tara was cupping her breasts, squeezing and stimulating, sending little shivers through her each time her fingertips closed on Willow's nipples and gently tugged them.
"Yes," Tara whispered, "just a touch... but not yet. First, let me taste you..." Willow brought a trembling hand to Tara's waiting mouth, her eyes following it in fascination all the way. Tara closed her lips around the offered fingers and stared at Willow as she sucked the juices from them.
"Divine," she whispered at last, releasing Willow's hand. "I think you're ready. Do you want me to make you come, my sweet Willow?"
"Yes, gods yes," Willow pleaded.
"Oh, yes," Tara purred, "you're definitely ready... touch yourself for me, Willow... part your lips... tease yourself... just the tips of your fingers..."
"Yours," Willow gasped.
"Yes," Tara smiled, delighted at how Willow was becoming absorbed in their play, "my fingers... teasing you... giving you just enough to whet your appetite... to wet your sex... you want more, don't you? You want me to go deep inside you... get ready, Willow... it's close now. Get ready..." Tara was breathing heavily, as Willow writhed in her embrace, every inch of their bodies pressed together and moving.
"Now," Tara breathed. Willow jolted almost out of her grasp as she plunged her two fingers into herself, her climax starting the instant her fingers reached their depth and her palm flattened against her clit. Tara held on tight, moaning as her own body responded to the way Willow thrust her hips, worked her legs, forced her breasts into Tara's hands, and tossed her head back, eyes closed, mouth open, gasping with release. She kissed along the back of Willow's neck, licked her earlobe, nuzzled into her hair, anything to convey her love as Willow slowly relaxed and settled back, almost entirely lying on top of her.
"Oh baby," Willow sighed, "oh... oh you are so wonderful..."
"I'm not sure how much credit I can take," Tara murmured, as Willow slowly rolled over to face her.
"Hmm?" Willow enquired.
"Well," Tara pointed out, "it wasn't my hands... apart from up here," she added, tickling the sides of Willow's breasts, pressed against her, before wrapping her arms around Willow's back and hugging her.
"I know," Willow grinned, "but then again, it kind of was, wasn't it? I mean, you told me what to do, a-and you know, I really felt as though it was you touching me, because... it's so much more, when it's you. Heh," she chuckled, "I don't think I'll ever be able to be satisfied masturbating again."
"Are you sure?" Tara said with a smile. "Even if I was there, and telling you how unbelievably aroused I was getting from watching you?"
"Oh, well," Willow conceded, wide-eyed, "that's different, of course... Gods, are all Amazon warriors as sexy as you?"
"I don't know," Tara said with a straight face, "maybe you could try some others sometime and find out?"
"Nah," Willow countered with a knowing smile, "why would I waste time even looking at anyone else when I've got you?"
"Mmm-hmm," Tara agreed, "right answer." Willow laughed.
"Keeping me on my toes, eh?" she said.
"They're such cute toes," Tara mused. Willow rolled off to lie beside her, stretching expansively.
"Breakfast's here," she said, "can I tempt you?"
"You could tempt me in your sleep," Tara replied, touching the tip of her nose to Willow's, which made her giggle as she sat up and reached for their meal. "What've we got?"
"Omelet," Willow said, lifting the cover off the dish, "not quite piping hot, of course..."
"Doesn't matter," Tara replied, sitting up, "I think the delay was well worth it."
"Absolutely," Willow concurred, passing Tara a robe and pulling her own around her shoulders to keep warm. Tara handed her a pair of lacquered wooden plates and mugs from her baggage and Willow divided up breakfast and poured Tara some fruit juice. As they were eating they heard Shan outside calling the caravan to order, and their wagon lurched into motion.
"Oops," Tara said with a grin, "we missed seeing a whole town."
"Yeah," Willow smiled, "what with one thing and another... who knows, maybe we'll come back this way some day? See what the place has to offer. Sorceresses are kind of expected to travel wherever they want, and Ember was definitely a mentor along those lines."
"Heh," Tara chuckled, then grew speculative. "I thought this journey was a special assignment?"
"It is," Willow explained, "but in any case, if I'd concluded my apprenticeship the normal way, the next stage would be to just up and travel for four years. You know, see the world, find out where we belong... I guess I got a head-start on that," she added with a wink at Tara, who blew her a kiss.
"And sometime during that four years, you work out what you want to do, and settle down to do it?" she asked.
"That's the idea," Willow agreed. "It wasn't always that way, of course... I mean, up until the end of the Reckoning, the life goal of a sorceress was to refine her battle magics as much as possible, and then pass on that skill to the next generation of sorceresses. Ever since the Order was established we've had Oracles who could see parts of the future. It's something that happens, very rarely, to lightning sorceresses. They can learn to sense the part of their energy that exists outside time, that sort of... powers time, moves it forward, from the outside. I'm not really sure how to explain it... well, no-one is, except the Oracles themselves. They tune their sight to that energy, instead of seeing the normal world – they're blind, always, once they become Oracles – and they can see things to come."
"Priestesses of Zerae sometimes get visions of the future," Tara said, "but nothing that specific. They're always... symbols, and feelings. They write them down, and then spend most of their time trying to work out what they mean. But I've heard people say that they're blind while they're having visions. It doesn't last, though, they can see again when it's over."
"It might be similar," Willow mused, "Zerae's your lightning goddess, so she would understand its power... perhaps she grants it to the priestesses briefly, when it's important. Oracles are tuned to timeless energy permanently, and lose their sight forever. I guess it's a sacrifice they're willing to make... not that it's crippling to them, of course, but... well, it must be a tough decision. How did I get onto Oracles?" she wondered aloud.
"The Reckoning?" Tara guessed.
"That was it. Yeah, ever since the Order was established, the Oracles we've had predicted that the Prime Evils would rise again, even though everyone thought they'd been defeated once and for all in the Sin War. They called it the Time of Emergence, because it would be the emergence of evil, and the time when we – sorceresses – would come out of hiding and fight the Prime Evils. Until then we'd always stayed remote, traveled in secret, and just about no-one in the outside world knew we existed as an order. So whatever servants the Evils had wouldn't know about us until we were ready to fight them."
"And now that it's over?" Tara asked.
"We're still working that out," Willow said, "mostly by following the Vizjerei methods. They're the closest of the other clans to us, most of the other clans sort of flipped a bit when we showed up during the Reckoning. They weren't sure what to make of us, and I guess we scared them a bit – well, the whole world was under threat from hell, and suddenly these women no-one's ever heard of show up, hurling meteors around, freezing whole tribes of demons in one blast, casting lightning strong enough to break open a boulder like it's nothing. It was probably a bit of a shock to them... um, no pun intended," she added as Tara rolled her eyes. "Anyway, during the Reckoning a lot of sorceresses ended up fighting alongside the Vizjerei, and when it was all over, I guess they reported back to their masters, and their clan accepted us pretty easily, when the others were still wary of us. And we adopted a lot of their ways, now that the Emergence was all over and done. I mean, there was no point anymore in secluding ourselves and training for a battle that's already finished and won, so we had to figure out how we were going to fit into the rest of the world."
"So, court mages?" Tara asked.
"Often," Willow agreed, "the Vizjerei are really the only clan to pay much attention to the Western Kingdoms and send their mages here, but there's never enough of them to go around, so there's lots of courts and rulers who want a mage on hand. A lot of the older sorceresses, those who haven't stayed with the Order as teachers or administrators, have settled down at courts all over Khanduras and Entsteig. Not so much Westmarch yet, seeing as it's the furthest away from Kurast, so, hey, I guess I'm one of the pioneers." She grinned.
"Is that what you'd like?" Tara asked. "Become a court mage?"
"Well, it goes without saying that I'm not settling down anywhere you're not happy being," Willow replied, earning an adoring smile from Tara. "There's a lot of other options, especially now that we're not just concentrating on battle magics. For generations the Order's goal was to be the best battle mages in history, so we perfected our control of the elements pretty much always with a view to using them to blow demons right back to hell. But elemental magic is much more than just firepower... or ice-power, or lightning-power or whatever. We've got the skill, the talent to wield massive amounts of elemental magic, now we're learning how much we can do with it. Apart from blowing things up. Lightning mages, even if they're not Oracles, can develop prescience and clairvoyance, plus there's telekinesis – that used to be just a battle skill, but now they're training to use it in all sorts of ways. Elemental fire has a lot of healing properties, not just battlefield stuff, but against diseases and so on. That's why we established the presence at the Hospice in Entsteig, to develop those skills, as well as make use of the library." She shrugged ruefully. "They've probably finished rebuilding it by now," she added. "And a talented cold mage can do all sorts of things besides just shielding herself and tossing icicles around. They say lightning is the most versatile element, but cold actually has a whole load of secondary effects that you can work with. Condensation, for example, drawing water out of the air – I could make it rain, as if we didn't have enough rain already. But anyway, there's all sorts of applications for our magic, and of course there's all the magical theory we know, aside from just elemental magic. Some sorceresses travel with big caravans, as advisors, or work with architects on construction. That dock we saw back at Kingsport, that was probably built with a Vizjerei mage's help, but a sorceress could do the same thing. Or just travel around researching magic and sending reports back to the Order every now and then. Lots of options."
"Any preferences?" Tara asked.
"You know, a while ago I didn't really think about it," Willow said with a grin, "but just lately, I've been thinking... after we're done traveling, of course, do you suppose the Amazon Nation could do with a resident sorceress?" Tara smiled, then leaned over and kissed Willow lightly on the lips.
"If that's what you want," she said softly, "I have it on very good authority that you'll get the highest recommendation."
"Thank you," Willow whispered.
"You're welcome, my love," Tara replied. "Besides, it's not just a matter of me doing anything to see that you're happy. You're a brilliant mage, you've got a wonderful mind, and I think the Queen's court would find you invaluable."
"Aw," Willow blushed, "now you're making me shy... Queen, huh? So I'm going to be a court mage after all. And among the Amazons, no less! Gods, the girls who trained with me are going to be so jealous. Especially if we ever meet any of them and they get a look at you," she added with a sly grin.
"Flattery will get you... well, kissed and cuddled as soon as we finish breakfast," Tara admitted with a smile. "You'd really like to live on the islands? It's a long way from your home... you know you don' t have to just for my sake."
"There's plenty I'd do just for your sake," Willow countered, "but I've thought about it seriously, aside from that. The way you talk about it, the way you get that ‘this is my home' smile... I know you want to go back there one day. And I can't think of anywhere I'd rather go. I never saw myself settling down with the Order, so... yes, it's really what I want. When you go home, I'll be at your side, and it'll be my home too."
"Willow?" Tara said softly.
"Yes?"
"Come here, my love." Tara pushed her plate aside, and as Willow came within reach she enfolded her in a warm, tender embrace and kissed her.
Tara looked around curiously as, outside, the order to halt was called down the length of the caravan, and their wagon slowed.
"Oh, I forgot," Willow said, "Tryptin mentioned we'd stop for lunch. I guess the road's safer from here on."
"Probably," Tara shrugged, "we're in Duncraig realm now, it's likely that bandits would prefer to work beyond the borders rather than within them. I don't know about these Carvers, though."
"They probably go wherever it seems most lawless," Willow mused, "they're dangerous to travelers, but a trained army would wipe them out pretty quickly. The ones that are left are probably the ones that preferred remote areas, even if they are less traveled than the roads within the larger realms."
"Well, whatever the reason, it's just as well," Tara said with a lop-sided grin, "the rain's stopped, I could use a bathroom break."
"You're not the only one," Willow replied, "chalk up one big disadvantage to living in a wagon. I'll go see what's for lunch first, meet you back here?"
"Okay," Tara agreed, pulling on her boots.
Willow gave Tara a quick kiss as they both jumped down to the ground, then they went their separate ways, Willow towards the supply wagon to see what was on offer. When she arrived, Kert and Tryptin were already there, in conversation.
"...probably a good choice," Kert was saying, "the roads were in a sorry state, especially from the crossroads up to the mountains. Hello, Miss Willow."
"Hello Kert," she replied.
"Good morning. Did you see any hostiles?" Tryptin asked, turning to Kert again.
"One band, far off on the first day. I rode around the back of them, but I think they were watching the road. Didn't seem to be too many of them, but in that rain, who knows? There may have been others. The ones I saw were small, rags for clothes – probably those Carvers you spoke of?" he asked Willow.
"Sounds like them," she agreed.
"All in all, best we avoided the mountains," Kert went on. "When I spoke with Master Gerrid last night, he said he'd have a word with the Duke about improving the roads up to Jesram. Maybe some soldiers, too, to see if they can't get rid of these creatures for good..." His voice faded away as Willow returned, parcels of food in hand, to the wagon, just in time to meet Tara returning from the edge of the forest across the road.
"My turn," Willow said, handing Tara the parcels. By the time she got back, Tara had unpacked them and was sitting on the tailboard of the wagon, just about to bite into a bread roll filled with cheese and tomato slices. She handed another to Willow before starting, and Willow relayed to her what Kert had been saying.
"Sounds like he's right," Tara said, "seeing as he wasn't in danger, it was best we didn't all take the detour. Even if the Carvers weren't around in great numbers, they could've caused some damage if they surprised us, especially in bad weather, and with the wagons moving slowly."
"All's well then," Willow concurred as they ate happily, enjoying the sunny calm the break in the rain was allowing.
"It's your turn," she said to Tara after a moment, "I've told you what I'm looking forward to, after all our travels are over and done with. So what's the most beautiful woman in the whole world going to be doing in five years' time?" Tara grinned at her.
"You'll be lying on a bed, with soft silk sheets," she purred, "writhing and moaning as I make love to you."
"And what I'll be moaning is how much I love you," Willow grinned. Tara smiled and bit her lip lightly, which was too adorable for Willow to resist leaning across and kissing her, brushing the tip of her tongue lightly across Tara's lips for an instant.
"Seriously," she said, "once we go home, to the Amazon Isles, what do you see yourself doing?" Tara smiled at Willow then leaned back, gazing thoughtfully into the sky.
"I occasionally wondered what I'd do, if I didn't join a warrior pride," she said. "I think perhaps, I'd become a priestess."
"There isn't a vow of celibacy attached to that, is there?" Willow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not in the slightest," Tara grinned. "I think... five years? I think I'll be a priestess... a priestess of Athulua. I've always felt closest to her. Apart from the priests and priestesses who maintain her temple in Tran Athulua, and the smaller temples in the other cities, her devotees live among the people. They... well, they listen to people, listen to their problems and worries, and try to help them, to give them good advice and guidance."
"Yeah," Willow agreed, "I can picture that. You're the most compassionate person I could imagine." Tara smiled her thanks.
"When I was a child," she went on, "sometimes I'd stay with Jenavria, Eponin's eldest daughter, when Eponin had to travel to one of the other cities. Before she married her husband, she lived in a little house on the eastern edge of the city... it's right up against the edge of the lakes, and it's the only place where Tran Athulua comes right down to ground level. The house is empty now, but still in Eponin's family... I'd like to live there with you. We'll get an architect and some builders and expand it into a proper home for both of us."
"Our home," Willow smiled, "wow..."
"I know," Tara agreed, "it's a lot to think about... and I know we're still newly in love, and we'll come to know each other a lot better as we travel. But I know at the end of it, we'll be in love just as much as now, if not more. I've never been more certain of anything in my life."
"I..." Willow started, "I... I can't think of anything to say but I love you, a-and I wish I could, I wish I knew some way to, to tell you what I'm feeling, because it's so wonderful..."
"You don't have to say anything," Tara replied with a smile, "I know. I... every time I look at you, or touch you, or even think of you, I know."
The caravan got underway again soon, and Willow and Tara passed the time leisurely as the train of wagons ambled along the road towards the night's camp site. Tara unpacked her bow, and Willow's, and both spent some time working bramble oil into the wood, talking aimlessly about sorceresses and Amazons, and all the things they might one day see and do. There was just enough light, when the caravan halted, for them to bathe quickly in a nearby stream. With a rock wall some twenty feet high on one side of the stream, and a clump of trees on the other, they were secluded enough from the activity of the caravan, within easy earshot if they had some reason to call out, but with enough privacy that, after a glance over her shoulder to confirm that no-one else could see, Tara slipped her robe off her shoulders and strode naked into the stream.
"Join me?" she asked in a low voice. Willow, eyes riveted on Tara, quickly divested herself of her own robe and stood in front of Tara, her arms around her waist.
"What if someone sees?" she asked half-heartedly.
"No-one will," Tara replied with a serene smile, "they know we're here, and they won't risk offending the ladies by coming to the stream until we're done. I think we can afford a moment or two for... whatever we want." Her smile turned seductive, and Willow grinned in reply.
"So..." she murmured, "what do you want?" Her hands moved down Tara's back, cupping her bottom and squeezing playfully.
"Mmm," Tara purred, "well... I think, I want you to make love to me."
"Here?" Willow asked, caught between discretion and desire.
"Right here," Tara said, "right now."
"Well then," Willow grinned, "how can I refuse?" Tara draped her arms over Willow's shoulders, leaving her body quite unprotected as Willow wrapped one arm around her waist, and her other hand traces a path around her hips towards her center.
"Yes," Tara moaned as Willow's fingers brushed through her curls, "yes... just you and me... nothing else in the world." Willow kissed her deeply, as her fingertips touched her wetness, and poised themselves at the entrance to her sex.
"Ready?" she whispered, her lips still touching Tara's.
"Always," Tara whispered, "always, my love, every moment I exist, I'm yours."
"I love you, my Tara," Willow whispered in reply, as she gently thrust two fingers into her, catching her lips in a kiss as Tara's hips shuddered down against her hand, and her eyes fluttered closed in bliss. She knew they couldn't afford to spend too much time indulging their desires, in the middle of the countryside no less. Her thumb stroked across Tara's clit, not quite pressing as hard as she might, but nonetheless urging her towards a climax that would not be long coming. Her fingers inside Tara's warmth found the special spot that made her moan and quiver, and touched it with every thrust. At the last, Willow buried her fingers in her lover's sex, her fingertips stroking back and forth as her thumb worked on her clit, and she held Tara's waist in a firm hug, their bodies pressed tightly together, as she moaned with her orgasm. A second later Tara's mouth found hers, and they kissed for a long, long moment, both completely open to the other's advances, as their tongues danced in the blissful aftermath of their greater pleasures.
Afterwards, neither of them said anything – Tara's sensual smile, and Willow's gleeful grin, spoke all the words they needed. They quickly washed and retrieved their robes from the edge of the stream, and, with matching grins of a shared moment away from the rest of the world, returned to their wagon for dinner.
Later, naked and cocooned in warm blankets and the warmer contentment of each other's arms, Willow lay beside Tara, one arm around her waist, her head cushioned on her chest. Tara looked down at Willow's adoring gaze, and stroked her hair gently.
"In five years," she said quietly, "the sunlight will come streaming in through the windows of our bedroom, and we'll wake up, with you cuddled in my arms, like this." She rolled onto her side, and Willow nestled up against her, smiling blissfully as Tara's arm went around her, holding her.
"We'll wake up," Tara went on, kissing Willow's hair lightly, "and I'll kiss you, and tell you how much I love you, every single day. We'll get up and go out to the lake, which will be right up next to the house, and we'll bathe and play in the morning light. We'll dry each other off and have breakfast, and then you'll go off to the Queen's court to meet whoever you're meeting that day, or to study in one of the libraries. I'll have a place near the palace where people can find me if they need my help, so at lunch I'll come and meet you, and we'll eat in the gardens, and laugh and I'll stroke your hair like this, and... well, there are a few spots in the palace gardens that are pretty secluded," she said with a grin, teasingly licking Willow's earlobe.
"Once we're done having lunch, of whatever we get up to, you'll go back to the court, and I'll go back to being a priestess, and in the afternoon we'll meet up again, and go to the market, or take a walk in the forest below, or meet some friends. We'll go back home in time to watch the sunset, lying together in a chair on the balcony. Then I'll help out while you cook a delicious dinner, and we'll eat in front of a great big fire in the hearth. And then, we'll go to bed, and make love, and eventually we'll fall asleep, cuddled together. And I'll thank all the heavens that my time in this world is spent with such a goddess as you." Tara kissed Willow on the back of her neck, then frowned as she heard Willow stifle a sob.
"Willow?" she asked.
"I'm-" Willow choked back. She rolled over, and Tara saw, through the tears on her cheeks, the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.
"That's so beautiful," she tried again, "I... gods, how could I deserve something so wonderful?"
"Do you trust me?" Tara asked gently.
"Completely," Willow replied without hesitation.
"Then trust me to know that you deserve every happiness I can give you," Tara said. Willow nodded, and smiled up at Tara.
"I do," she said, "I don't know how, but I do... oh gods, Tara, you are... the most beautiful, lovely, wonderful, heavenly, divine... I love you. I love you, I love you I love you I love you..."
"And I love you," Tara whispered, "with all my heart, with everything that I am and everything I will ever be. I love you, Willow. And we'll have our home together one day."
"Yeah," Willow agreed, "and you'll always be my home. Now and forever."
"Now and forever," Tara echoed.
Tara lay awake for some time in the morning, watching Willow sleep. Occasionally she murmured something, but the few words Tara caught were too nonsensical to offer an insight into her dreams. Once a frown marred her otherwise peaceful face, but it took only the lightest of kisses on her brow to banish whatever had troubled her, and she fell back into a restful, content sleep. Tara smiled sadly, wishing Willow's sleep were not troubled by demons from her mind, but oddly proud that she was able to help keep them at bay. Whenever she wondered what she could possibly offer in return for the joy of Willow's love, she only had to look at her sleep, note the way Willow curled up in her arms, with a smile turning up her lips, and she was reminded that Willow felt equally loved, and that completed her as much as she did Tara.
Tara continued to hold and watch her love, silent as her eyes stirred and opened, squinting for a moment in the warm light shining through the canvas overhead. Willow blinked a couple of times, then looked over her shoulder, not seeming at all surprised to find Tara already awake and staring at her with a fond smile.
"Hey," she said softly, "been awake long?"
"Not that long," Tara replied, "I've just been watching you dream."
"I know," Willow said, "I was in a dark place, and then I felt the way I do when you kiss me, and everything was better." Tara grinned shyly.
"You looked a little unsettled," she said, "I thought a kiss might help." Willow rolled over in her arms, draping her leg over Tara's hips and snuggling up to her.
"You know," she whispered, "until I met you, it had been so long since I'd gotten a good night's sleep. And now, I'm always safe, and I always wake up to you... I know I've said it before, but you are so wonderful."
"You don't have to tell me," Tara smiled, "when I see you sleeping soundly, it's... I love you," she finished with a kiss.
"Aw," Willow said with a playful smile, "you'll make me blush."
"Just wait until after we've had breakfast and washed," Tara purred, "I'll make you do more than blush."
"Is that a promise?"
"It is indeed."
"Good," Willow grinned. "I love you too, you know, completely." She returned Tara's kiss, with a long, leisurely kiss of her own.
"Three things I will never get tired of," she went on, with her lips still brushing Tara's, "telling you I love you..." A mischievous grin crossed her face. "*Showing* you I love you... and being loved by you."
"That's good," Tara agreed, "because I won't either." Willow kissed her quickly, then amused herself by rubbing the tip of her nose against Tara's, making her giggle.
"Is that actually daylight outside?" she asked after a moment.
"Strange, isn't it?" Tara joked. "Looks like the storm might have waned sometime during the night. Maybe we'll actually get to spend some time out in the fresh air today."
"Hmm, aren't I washing thoroughly enough?" Willow asked, with a cheekily raised eyebrow. Tara laughed and swatted her lightly on the bottom.
"You're perfect enough to eat off and you know it," she said. Willow bit her lip and gave Tara the benefit of her most adorable stare.
"Eat off?" she asked.
"Among other things," Tara grinned.
"I'm glad to hear it." Willow yawned and stretched idly. "You're right, it'll be good to get out of this wagon for a little while. Not that I mind one bit what's been going on *in* this wagon..."
"You're insatiable," Tara laughed, pretending to push her away.
"Yup," Willow grinned, clinging to Tara.
"So what's the plan for today?" Willow asked as she and Tara ate breakfast, the caravan having started on the day's journey. The sky to the north looked quite clear, and much of the activity before setting off had been washing clothes and blankets in the stream, which were now strung out on the sides of the wagons drying in the sunlight.
"I heard Shan say we'd stop for lunch," Tara said, "maybe a bit of practice with your bow? I could use some, actually, I don't normally go this long without practicing at least a little."
"Worried you'll get rusty?" Willow grinned. "Bet you I score the first bull’s-eye."
"Oh really?" Tara countered. "And what might you be wagering on that bet?" Willow put on a thoughtful expression, but couldn't really conceal the glee in her eyes.
"How about... loser does whatever the winner wants, after dinner?" she asked.
"Done," Tara said at once. "You really think you'll win?"
"I think I'll win either way," Willow quipped. Tara shot her a smile, then leaned over to the bags containing her clothes, half-empty now that most of her tunics and skirts were outside drying off. She searched for a moment, then came across her leathers and held them up speculatively.
"I suppose," she mused, "if I'm going to compete, I should look the part of a Warrior." She held the armor against herself for Willow to see.
"Oh yes," Willow said, "definitely. Have I ever mentioned how good you look in leather?" Tara smiled a promising smile and dropped the leathers, then undid the cord at the waist of her robe and shrugged it off her shoulders.
"In leather, or out of it?" she asked huskily.
"Either," Willow breathed. Tara grinned and stretched out her legs as she sorted through the various pieces, choosing an outfit she didn't recall wearing yet on the trip, that fastened in front and behind to a collar, rather than having shoulder straps. It was functional and comfortable, but rather more revealing than Tara had wanted her attire to be in the unfamiliar realms of the mainland. Now, however, her priorities were quite different. She laced the corset around her waist and held up the collar for Willow to see.
"Yummy," Willow murmured, biting her lip. Tara fastened it around her neck and attached the straps at the front, taking a moment to ensure that the armor’s contours, which held her breasts snugly against her, were showing off her cleavage admirably in the small space between the two upper chest sections. She turned herself towards Willow, pretending to be absorbed in her work but actually very attuned to her reaction, and reached behind herself to fix the straps from the back to the collar. This had the effect of arching her back and thrusting her chest out, and Willow actually gasped audibly.
"Hmm?" Tara asked.
"I think I just figured out what you do when you watch me sleep," Willow said with a mischievous grin.
"What's that?"
"You think up new ways to turn me on incredibly."
"Just so long as I'm putting my time to good use," Tara said in reply, somehow keeping a straight face. She leaned back and lifted one leg, then the other, elegantly in the air to loop her feet into the leather underwear that went with her armor, then knelt upright and pulled the briefs up her thighs and over her hips. She gave a little wiggle as she snapped the waistband high on her hips, then winked at Willow and ran a finger lightly across the leather covering her sex.
"You're enjoying this," Willow observed in a sultry murmur.
"The way you're looking at me?" Tara replied. "You bet I'm enjoying it." She fastened a skirt around her waist, leather to match the armor and with wide gaps at either side, then leaned back to pull on her boots, strapping them tightly just below the knee.
"I get it," Willow joked, "you wear this into battle, and the enemy drown in their own drool." Tara's smile quickly became a full-bodied laugh, which made Willow laugh as well. Both lay down, Willow lying on top of Tara as she giggled her way back to being able to breathe normally.
"I love making you laugh," Willow said quietly as Tara caught her breath.
"You're very good at it," Tara smiled.
"That's me," Willow said with a grin, "goofy girl at your service."
"Not just like that," Tara said, stifling another laugh, "you're... when I'm around you, I feel more, well, peaceful."
"I'm can't imaging you ever being otherwise," Willow said seriously, "you're the most, oh... you've got this serenity, and when I'm with you I feel it, and it's like nothing I've ever felt before."
"Thank you," Tara said, "but there's peaceful and there's peaceful... I know all about being calm, relaxing, meditating now and then. But you make me feel like everything's new and, and wonderful, and I can just... laugh. Sometimes you make me laugh just for the joy of it, and it's... it's a gift, truly."
"Well then it's yours," Willow said, "like everything else I have to give." She brushed her lips over Tara's, then lifted herself up on her elbows and glanced down at Tara's proudly-displayed cleavage.
"This is armor, though?" she asked.
"It's tracker armor," Tara said after a brief giggle. She sat up. "A really good tracker, a Huntress, can literally feel the world around her, every creature, every plant, every air current, because she can tune herself to the world so well she becomes a part of it all. But there are some parts of the body that are points of focus for those abilities. Here," she motioned the exposed skin between her breasts, "here," the small of her back, where the leather corset sat a couple of inches higher than the waist of her skirt, "here," she tapped each shoulder, "and here," she finished, lightly touching her fingers to the tops of her thighs just below her hips, left visible by the open slits of the skirt.
"Wow," Willow murmured, "you can do that?"
"Well, I can't," Tara admitted, "not very well. I've had the standard training for a Warrior, which includes tracking, but it takes years just to be considered a tracker, and half a lifetime to be considered a Huntress. I can manage a couple of tricks."
"Like catching a crossbow bolt," Willow pointed out, "that's hardly just a 'trick'."
"Oh, that," Tara said dismissively, "all Warriors are taught to do that."
"Well I'm just glad this Warrior can do it," Willow said fervently. "So it's sensing movement?"
"Movement by air currents," Tara agreed, "picking out what's just a breeze, what's an animal, what's the breathing of someone a hundred yards away... really miniscule effects, but if a tracker is good, she can feel them, and because she knows what the forest around her *should* feel like, she can spot something out of place as easily as if it were standing in plain sight."
"You can do that?"
"A hundred yards? Maybe," Tara said, "on a good day. If the person were moving, disturbing the air more, causing more disturbance to the forest, it'd be much easier. But a Huntress could pick out one person out of a dozen half a mile away, while it's raining, and tell you whether that person was walking confidently or trying to move silently."
"Wow," Willow said again. "How many Warriors become Huntresses?"
"Not many," Tara said, "maybe one in ten become trackers, but a Huntress is something else... they're almost like mages, that level of skill can't be learned, it's something a girl is born with. At the moment, there are seven trackers, out of all the Amazons, who are considered Huntresses."
"Only seven?" Willow wondered.
"Seven is enough. Now you know why they're so useful as Command pieces," Tara grinned. Willow chuckled to herself, then took another long glance down at Tara's leather-clad form.
"And they all dress like this?" she asked with an appreciative smile.
"Something like this," Tara replied, sitting up and reaching for her gloves and the bracer for her left wrist. "It varies with the individual. This is just standard tracking gear, the same as every Warrior starts out with. The more experienced a tracker gets, the more she customizes her armor. The contact points for sensing are slightly different for each person, so, perhaps, a Huntress might leave more skin uncovered on her back, and cover the chest. Or vice versa."
"Vice versa sounds tempting," Willow said with a wink. "Gods, you look like a dream!" Tara blushed, but her shyness quickly turned into an aroused smile.
"I remember you telling me about a dream like this," she murmured, "where I was armored, the image of a proud Warrior." She knelt upright again, lifting her chin regally and looking down at Willow with an expression of supreme confidence. "And you were...?"
Willow, who had remembered the same dream, nodded weakly and fumbled with the sash at her waist as she undid it and practically tore her robe off, flinging it into the corner of the wagon. She knelt in front of Tara, sitting back on her heels and looking up at her, her gaze hopeful and intense.
"You remembered," Tara grinned.
"It's not the kind of thing I'd forget," Willow quipped.
"I'll make sure of it," Tara promised. She put a finger to her bottom lip and tapped it thoughtfully. "Now, what happened first? Oh, yes, the kiss..."
Willow closed her eyes and tilted her head back with a little sigh as Tara leaned down to her. The first touch of her lips was fleeting, there and gone in an instant, just enough to make Willow whimper and crane her neck up, seeking Tara's lips again. Tara gently wound her hand into Willow's hair, just above the top of her neck, and held her firmly as she leaned back down to continue the kiss. Willow opened her lips eagerly, allowing Tara whatever she wanted, and Tara took full advantage of her offer, swirling her tongue across Willow's lips, feeling the edges of her teeth, exploring her mouth and teasing her tongue into action in return. Willow's continuous moaning vibrated through her lips, and she shifted her hips enticingly as she felt Tara's other gloved hand trail down her back, spreading her fingers across Willow's bare skin. Tara's hand finally reached Willow's bottom, and she gave it a cheeky squeeze just as she leant back.
"Oh!" Willow squeaked. Her eyes flew open, and after a moment both of them were giggling.
"That was some kiss," Willow said when she'd caught her breath.
"Did it compare favorably to your dream?" Tara wondered with a sly smile. Willow licked her lips slowly.
"Better," she said firmly.
"So... shall we save the rest of your dream for later?" Tara asked. Willow looked surprised, then glanced ahead at the canvas that separated them from the driver's seat outside.
"Probably best," she agreed, "I don't quite think I'll be able to stay silent. Neither will you," she added with a quick kiss to Tara's neck. "Damn, that's something the rain was useful for, soundproofing." She knelt upright and hugged Tara tightly. "Oh I'm so hot!"
"Yes you are," Tara observed with a thoughtful expression, "and you're not the only one." She leaned down slightly to whisper in Willow's ear: "Just think how hot we'll be by this evening." She flicked Willow's ear with her tongue, then sat back to let her consider the idea.
"Hmm..." Willow murmured, her eyes half-closed, "yes..." She shook herself slightly and focused her eyes on Tara again. "Tease now, please later. I like it."
"Tease now, please later," Tara repeated with a grin. Her eyes twinkled as a thought struck her. "But if the teasing is so pleasing, is it really still a teasing?" Willow laughed.
"If the pleasing of the teasing is because it is a teasing," she replied, trying to keep a straight face, "then the teasing may be pleasing but it's really just a teasing, for the pleasing is in teasing of the pleasing in the evening." She and Tara collapsed onto the blankets laughing.
"Did that make any sense?" Tara laughed.
"I don't know," Willow admitted, "but it rhymed! And that's got to be just as good as sense." She caught her breath and rolled over to rest her head on Tara's shoulder. "I mean, people see something nonsensical and say it's without rhyme or reason, a-and if rhyming didn't count, they'd just say 'That's without reason!' Stands to reason. Or rhyme, even. So rhyming must count for just as much as reason." Tara laughed harder, and Willow went on: "But if you think about it, that's kind of odd, because it's not like you can convince people you're right just by rhyming. You don't get generals standing up in front of their troops and saying 'Men, we're outnumbered a hundred to one, so I want you to attack at dawn and there'll be no reason for us to mourn,' and all the soldiers thinking 'Yeah, it rhymes, so it must be a good plan.' Or maybe that does happen, but we never hear about it because those armies always get defeated."
"Maybe," Tara laughed, "after all, it would limit the tactics they could use. I mean, what rhymes with 'enfilade'?"
"Um, 'stockade'?" Willow suggested.
"That only works if your enemy is in a stockade," Tara pointed out, stifling another giggle.
"Well, you could have your troops build a stockade, then fall back and invite the enemy to occupy it, then go ahead and rhymingly enfilade it. What's enfilade mean, anyway?"
"When you put you archers on the flank and fire along the length of the enemy lines," Tara said after a moment's thought.
"Oh," Willow frowned, "so it wouldn't work if they were in a stockade."
"Not really," Tara agreed. "You're so wonderfully cute."
"And I love making you laugh," Willow added. "Convenient, isn't it?" She sighed and sat up. "Oh well, guess it's getting-dressed time. Drat. Why can't we frolic naked all day?"
"I'm sure we'll find the right day to try it," Tara grinned. A thought occurred to her.
"What?" Willow asked slyly, Tara's speculatively raised eyebrow not escaping her.
"I was just thinking," Tara said, "seeing as you're a budding Warrior, with a gift for rhyming strategy no less, how do you feel about dressing for the role?"
"What, like you?" Willow wondered. "I don't have... do you have armor that'd fit me?"
"You just lie there, my naked nymph," Tara purred, "let me see what I can find..." She leant over to her bags and rummaged around. "My light leathers wouldn't fit, but the other pair is adjustable... I've actually had them for years. Yes," she concluded, holding up a leather bodice, "what do you think?"
"Wow," Willow observed, "for me?" The outfit was much like Tara's usual armor, slightly heavier in parts, with double layers of leather over the chest and sides. It nonetheless looked, to Willow's imagination, eminently sexy.
"Why not?" Tara asked. "And besides, if you like it... well, maybe you can try being the proud Warrior sometime, and see what it's like to have your naked lover kneeling in front of you waiting to be kissed?"
"Deal," Willow said at once, sitting up and reaching for the leather. With Tara's help she fitted herself into it, wriggling to settle everything into place.
"Nothing underneath?" she asked, as Tara busied herself adjusting various straps that were concealed beneath several of the overlapping layers.
"You can wear a tunic or something with it," Tara said, "but it's designed to be quite comfortable without. The inner lining is a special weave blended with fire spinner silk, it won't chafe."
"Feels nice," Willow commented as Tara adjusted the chest to fit Willow. Tara grinned and gave her a squeeze through the leather, then returned to work. Willow was surprised at how adaptable the outfit was – there seemed to be straps everywhere, out of sight for the most part, which allowed it to be fitted exactly to the shape of her body.
"How's that?" Tara asked, tightening the outfit around her body, the laces running down Willow's back, rather than at either side as on Tara's usual armor.
"Divine," Willow murmured, "nice and tight."
"That's the second time you've said something like that when I've laced you up," Tara observed, "don't think I'm not going to hold you to it one day."
"I never doubted it for a moment," Willow grinned. Tara pulled the laces tight enough that Willow was snugly encased, but not actually uncomfortable. "That's good," Willow said.
"It certainly is," Tara said, sitting back and looking at Willow. Willow ran her hands up and down her leather-clad body, smiling back at Tara.
"Do you feel this aroused just from wearing leather?" she asked.
"When you look at me, I do," Tara admitted with an answering grin. "Come on, let's get you decent."
"Why the hurry?" Willow asked, bending down to kiss Tara's thigh as she leant over to her bags. "I'm perfectly happy being indecent."
"So I see," Tara grinned over her shoulder. She found the matching leather underwear and frowned at them. "Now that won't work. These are custom-fitted, and there's no way to adjust them."
"Nuts," Willow said flatly. "Oh! I know, wait a minute..." She jumped over to her bags and rummaged through them, inadvertently giving Tara a wonderful view of her rear. Tara smiled and stared unashamedly.
"Here we go," Willow declared. She glanced over her shoulder. "Turn around." Tara obediently, if reluctantly, looked the other way, resisting the temptation to peek.
"Ta-da! You can look now," Willow told her. Tara turned around to see Willow facing away, looking over her shoulder with a playful grin. She gave her a careful examination below the waist.
"You're... not wearing anything?" she pointed out.
"Huh? Oh," Willow said, twisting around to look at her own backside. She grabbed the bottom of her armor and lifted it to reveal a thin waistband, with a wisp of silk descending between her cheeks. She turned around to reveal her mound covered by only the flimsiest layer of silk.
"You're wearing *that* with full body armor?" Tara asked incredulously, at the same time unsure whether to laugh or perhaps ravish Willow, regardless of the certainty of being overheard.
"And why not?" Willow grinned. "What do you think?" Tara shook her head, smiling, and leaned across the space between them to kiss Willow, who moaned as Tara's tongue slipped past her lips and licked up and down the length of her own.
"I think you're beautiful, and sexy, and I love you," Tara replied when she finally leaned back.
"I love you too," Willow said. "Now, what's next? I'm still not entirely decent."
"Actually I think you're less decent than before you put those panties on," Tara said with a grin. She found a short leather skirt, holding it around Willow and adjusting it so that it fit snugly around her waist. "Do you have any tall boots?"
"One pair," Willow said promptly, "where did I put them? Ah." She located the pair of boots she had worn with her battle gear the night of the dance and put them on, making a show of tightening the laces at their sides around her shins, and finally snapping the silver bands closed below her knees.
"They go well together," Tara commented.
"Thank you," Willow replied, putting on her belt. She found a pair of leather gloves and started pulling them on.
"Actually, you'll want to leave your arrow hand uncovered," Tara suggested.
"Oh, good idea. How come you've got both gloves on?" Willow asked, discarding one glove and moving on to strapping on the bracer Tara had given her.
"I like to practice in gloves," Tara said, "it makes it harder, so if I really, really need to aim well, I take off a glove and it's easier. Warriors learn to fire a bow either way, just in case we get into a situation where we have to fire and then switch to hand-to-hand fighting quickly." Willow nodded and snapped her silver wrist bands on, the left one just beneath the edge of her bracer.
"Well?" she asked. "Is Amazon-sorceress a good look?"
"Good enough to eat," Tara replied with a sultry stare.
"I like the sound of that," Willow observed, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll like the feel of it a lot more this evening," Tara purred.
When the caravan halted for lunch, Willow and Tara gathered their bows and stood outside their wagon, looking for a likely spot for archery.
"How about over there?" Willow asked, pointing to a spot across the road, where beyond a meandering stream there was an expanse of grass, with a few trees dotted about.
"Good choice," Tara said. "Hello Tryptin."
"Ladies," Tryptin said, on his way past. "I didn't realize we'd brought a second Warrior with us, how do you do?"
"Hi Tryptin," Willow grinned.
"Long lunch break," Tryptin said, "there's a good camp site less than half a day's journey from here, so Shan's decided to wait a while and make for that at a leisurely pace, rather than press on and camp in the open." He smiled and made his way back towards the supply wagon, glancing back at Willow and shaking his head in amusement.
"Do you think he recognized me?" Willow asked out of the corner of her mouth as they crossed the road and the stream. Tara laughed and set down her pack, opening one of the two quivers attached to it and handing Willow a few arrows. She strapped her harness, with its own quiver, over her shoulders, and tested the string on her bow.
"What's the bull’s-eye?" Willow asked. Tara looked at the trees nearby, then opened one of the myriad pockets in her pack and drew out a rolled-up piece of cloth, which turned out to be marked with a circular target.
"We should have a proper bull’s-eye," she said seriously, belied by the twinkle in her eye, "if we're competing." She wandered over to the tree and pinned the target up. One of the Duncraig guards crossed the road and began filling waterskins in the stream, offering one to Willow once it was full.
"Thank you," she said, as Tara came back and took up her bow.
"Oh, wait," she said, putting it down again. She fixed a ribbon around the end of her spear and stuck it in the ground, point first. "It's a bit gusty," she explained, "remember to check which way the wind's blowing before you fire."
"Okay, ready," Willow said, offering the waterskin to Tara, who declined, before handing it back to the guard, who picked up his load and turned back towards the caravan.
"First bull’s-eye," Tara said, drawing her bow. She glanced at the ribbon fluttering in the breeze and paused.
"Hmm?" Willow asked. The ribbon was dancing in circles. "There's not that much wind, surely? It... do you feel that?"
"What?" Tara asked, though as she said it she did have a vague impression of the air being slightly greasy in texture. Willow had already turned back, drawing breath to call out towards the caravan, when a colossal blast sent them both staggering to their knees. A great tide of earth leapt up from the middle of the road, throwing chunks of dirt and rock everywhere and obscuring the caravan beyond with a mammoth dust cloud. Dirt showered over Willow and Tara.
"What the? Pft!" Willow coughed, spitting out dirt. "What the hell?"
"Oh goddess," Tara said softly, her voice somehow penetrating the ringing in Willow's ears. She turned to see Tara staring to her side, where the body of the guard lay, his entire left side torn and bloody. Tara was just staring at him, in shock, and Willow felt herself trembling. A bolt of stubbornness shot through her – 'Get a grip,' she thought, 'something bad's happening, don't go all dazed now!'
"Tara," she said, turning back towards the caravan, "Tara! Tara!" Tara's head snapped around, and they both leapt to their feet as quick, darting shapes began to emerge from the dust cloud. Willow had a sphere of swirling cold in her hand even as she recognized the short, lanky demons, and when she glanced to her side she saw Tara had set her spear back into the ground beside her, and was already drawing an arrow.
They let fly together, Tara's arrow catching a Carver in the neck, Willow's cold bolt blowing a glittering, icy hole through another's stomach. Willow automatically cast again, and again, aiming at one creature after another, knocking them from their feet. Arrows were flying from Tara's bow almost as rapidly, each finding their mark in a Carver's neck or chest. The demons seemed to falter in their charge, realizing the two women were not as vulnerable as they seemed, and Willow took a moment to cast a chill armor. Tara fired another arrow, which caught fire in mid-air and exploded against the Carver it struck with such force that only a pair of legs remained, and the others nearby were thrown to the ground.
"Nice shot- Tara!" Willow yelled, turning just in time to see the dead guard rise up behind Tara and grab at her. Tara heard her and spun around just in time to wrench her arm free of the corpse's grasp, crying out as the jagged, broken tips of its fingers dug into her flesh. Willow wasn't even conscious of thinking, but in the space of a heartbeat her hand was extended and the thing was hurled to the ground several feet away, shattering as it landed.
"Are you okay?" Willow yelled, looking back at the Carvers, which seemed to be regrouping.
"Yes!" Tara said, flooding Willow with relief. She turned her attention back to the demons in front of them, noting with a sinking heart that there were more of them. They charged, and Willow abandoned her single bolt strategy in favor of letting fly with a stream of freezing magic from her fingertips, lashing the torrent of cold from side to side like a whip across the charging Carvers.
Tara flexed her fingers, glad that despite the throbbing pain in her upper arm she hadn't lost any mobility in her hand. Seeing the demons drawing closer she flipped her bow over her shoulder, feeling it slide into place on her harness with practiced precision, and pulled her spear from the ground. The feel of it, even though she chose to control it with her left hand, in case her right had been hurt more than she noticed, was comforting – it was Silverstrike, the storm-caller, a legendary weapon. Her fright at the attack, and the terror of seeing the horrible, bloody thing reaching for her, were washed away in a wave of protectiveness as the Cavers charged her and Willow.
"Go to hell!" she yelled, decapitating the first demon to come within range with an efficient slash of the spear's curved blade. She summoned Zerae's favor and impaled another Carver through the chest, the spear unleashing a bolt of lightning that charred her target black and leapt to the creature behind it, blasting it from its feet. It didn't get up, and the first demon collapsed in a heap, smoke wafting from its mouth.
There was a terrible roar from the dust cloud, causing even the Carvers to check and scuttle about, as if frightened. For a moment there was only the sound of their harsh chittering, and the distant clanging of swords from where the caravan was, then the roaring resumed, a deep, braying war-cry that chilled Tara to the bone. She glanced at Willow, and saw she was just as frightened.
A new shape emerged from the dust, striding up over the edge of the pit which was just becoming visible as the swirling wind blew the cloud apart. Its legs were shaggy, ending in hooves, but its body and arms were those of a man, though obscenely muscled and colored a deep red. From atop its shoulders the head of a goat swiveled, surveying the battlefield with tiny, mad eyes. It lifted a huge poleaxe in its hands, let out another deafening bray, and swung the weapon, lifting the nearest Carver and tossing it through the air, trailing gore from the massive wound in its side.
"Oh gods!" Willow exclaimed. "Not good! Really not good!" More of the goat-men were climbing out of the pit, braying and swinging their weapons, throwing the Carvers into disarray. For a moment the demons fought amongst themselves, then one of the goat-men caught sight of Willow and Tara, and brayed a signal to its comrades. As one, they turned towards the women, charging towards them, bashing Carvers out of their way.
"Crap!" Willow yelled, letting loose a blast of cold that struck the leading demon square in the chest. Tara concentrated as hard as she could, and a bolt of lightning flew from her spear, leaping across the space between her and the staggering creature. It fell to the ground, but then, to both women's horror, staggered back to its hooves. It reeled from side to side drunkenly, and bled copiously from the gaping wound in its chest, but nevertheless it fixed its red eyes on them and lurched forward, as its undamaged fellows charged on either side of it.
"Run!" Tara yelled, snatching her pack off the ground and slinging it over her shoulder. She let fly a last bolt of lightning, as Willow fired bolt after icy bolt at the towering demons, then as one they turned, took each other's hand, and ran.
Willow sat on a rock, exhausted and trying to rub some life back into her aching legs. Beside her Tara stood, eyes closed, perfectly still. Willow glanced at her every few seconds, keeping herself from despairing by the constant reminders of her presence. She knew neither of them could afford the luxury of being scared.
"Nothing," Tara said after a moment, opening her eyes and sitting down.
"How far away can you sense?" Willow asked quietly.
"Maybe a mile," Tara guessed, "no less than that, certainly. Creatures with demon blood are easier, they feel... wrong. Like something sick, or dying. And the fact that they're pursuing us should make them easier to sense. Their thoughts are turned towards us, so my thoughts can find them. There might be some closer to us than a mile, but if there are, they either don't know about us, or aren't interested in chasing us." She sighed, her shoulders slumped. "Are you okay?"
Willow smiled, sadly but sweetly, and put her arm around Tara's shoulders, comforting and warm.
"I should be asking you," she said softly, "does it hurt?" Tara glanced at the bandage on her arm, and absently brushed her fingers lightly over it.
"Not really," she said, "they're just scrapes, really... they'll heal." Willow nodded, then put both arms around Tara's waist and hugged her fiercely.
"Thank the gods you're okay," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, "if you were hurt, or, or... I don't know what I'd do, Tara. You're everything to me, everything in the world." Tara sniffed back her own tears and put her good arm around Willow's shoulders, kissing the top of her head.
"Nothing can take me from you," she promised, "nothing, not demons or monsters or anything." Willow smiled, knowing how perilous their safety was, in a wilderness seemingly overrun by brutal demon creatures, but unable to hear Tara's words without being heartened by them. She hadn't realized just how badly she had been scared – at first everything was happening too fast, and she had reacted purely by instinct, to protect Tara and fight as she had been taught. And then she had had no choice but to bottle up her fear and panic, and concentrate all her will on keeping up her pace at Tara's side, not slowing them both down – for she knew Tara could never leave her behind – as the braying, roaring goat-men chased them across the broken, rocky ground of the Kingsway highlands. It had seemed to go on forever, staggering along with one hand in Tara's, the other clumsily clutching her staff and bow together, snatched as they ran from the road. More than once Willow had wished she had spent less time reading in libraries and more time exercising. Fit as she was – for the Zann Esu maintained that a healthy body was as necessary as a healthy mind for proper mastery of the elements – she tired far earlier than Tara. Whenever those thoughts crossed her mind, she found herself noticing Tara's body, the tireless striding of her powerful legs, her elegant, efficient gait, and the sheen of sweat that made her skin glisten. But always the sounds of pursuit would drag her mind away from the only joyful thoughts she could muster.
Eventually, when even Tara was showing signs of fatigue, and the sun was dipping low in the west, edging towards the distant mountain peaks, the braying and thundering of hooves was just an echo on the wind, and then not even that. There had been no question of trying to double back or circle around to head back towards the road, not with the mass of goat-men spread out behind them, but in a straight line their legs, powerful as they were, could not carry them as fast as the two women, or negotiate the rocky terrain as easily. Tara had stopped, able to detect no trace of pursuit with the skills her Amazon tutors had taught her, and when she and Willow risked a trip to the summit of a nearby hill, they could see nothing moving towards them. It took half an hour to find a suitable place to stop – a hollow on the edge of a small wood, several miles from the hill – but at last, by the standards of the day's terrible events, they were safe. Willow had barely managed the strength to help Tara bandage her wound before she sat down, her legs refusing to support her any longer, and Tara had stood beside her, pushing her tracker senses as far as she could for any sign of danger.
"D-do you think the caravan made it?" she asked after a moment. Neither of them had any way of knowing, of course, but her concern for the people who, over the past two weeks, had become her friends was such that she had to ask.
"I'd say the odds were in their favor," Tara said hopefully. "The Carvers looked pretty shaken up by the goat-men, and remember how you said they retreat at the first sign of trouble? There were lots of guards, and Amazon men can fight pretty well, too."
"I hope they're okay," Willow said. "What about the goat-men?"
"They seemed to all be interested in us," Tara said morosely, but with a touch of a smile. "All the ones I saw when they appeared charged us, none towards the caravan."
"Well that's good to know," Willow said with a wry grin.
"Yeah," Tara replied, a genuine smile on her lips as Willow looked up to her, "just as well the most powerful demons I've ever seen got a fixation on us and chased us half-way across the highlands." Willow laughed, the stress of their flight releasing itself.
"If you think about it, it's really quite flattering," she joked, as Tara joined her laughter. They laughed together for a moment before subsiding, their tension spent.
"Well," Tara sighed, "I suppose this is as safe a place as we'll find to spend the night." Willow looked worried.
"In the open?" she asked.
"I'll know if a demon comes near us," Tara assured her, "and I don't see much sign of animals moving through here. So long as we're careful, there's no reason to think we'll give away our position. If those goat-men are searching thoroughly for us, it'll take weeks to cover all this ground, and if they're not searching thoroughly, they won't see us from a distance."
"Good," Willow said, "good... did I mention how glad I am you're here? Not that I'd wish this sort of thing on you, you understand, just-"
"I know," Tara smiled fondly, "I'm glad I'm here, too. I'm with you."
"No campfire though?" Willow asked ruefully.
"Not unless you know a way to make warmth without smoke or light," Tara said with a shrug.
"Drat," Willow said, "I knew I should've been a fire sorceress, they can do that."
"You can condense fresh water," Tara pointed out.
"That's true," Willow nodded, "at least we won't need to hunt a clean stream to drink from."
"Alright," Tara said, sliding off the rock to sit on the ground, Willow joining her, "we need a plan."
"Do you think we can make it back to the caravan?" Willow wondered.
"It'd be risky," Tara said, "those creatures are still out there, and we'd be heading straight for them. There's no telling how far they've spread out... I looked back a couple of times, and they were moving outwards as they chased us, to stop us doubling back. Besides, we don't know exactly where the caravan will be. Assuming they fought their way clear – which I'm sure they did," she added with a reassuring smile, "they'll have headed for the next camp site, so they could defend themselves properly if there was another attack. Once they find we're missing, they'll probably have the outriders look for us, but I don't think they'll come this far from the road – there's too much ground to cover, and too much chance of a rider being ambushed while they search."
"So, no caravan," Willow mused, "damn, I was really starting to like our wagon."
"We have an advantage," Tara pointed out, "the Amazons still with the caravan. Tryptin, and probably others among them, will know what direction I'll take. Amazon warriors have clear rules when they get separated from their pride. Tryptin will assume I'll follow those rules, and so they'll know where we'll head."
"Where's that?" Willow asked.
"The nearest safe town or village," Tara said. "From what I remember of Kert's map, there's a town close by here, further east. Kotram, I think it was called, and the map showed it as being fairly large. It's on the road leading from Harthim down to the river. It's not on the caravan's route, but it's easily the closest town to where the attack happened. They'll assume we'll head for there, and send a rider along the roads to meet us."
"Sounds like a plan," Willow said. "How far do you think we are from it?"
"You remember the ridge east of us we saw from the hill?" Tara asked. "From the map, I think it's probably no more than a day's journey on foot past that. Say, a day and a half from here, traveling carefully, and only during daylight. Think your legs will make it?" she added with a grin.
"Absolutely," Willow said, "so long as it's not all-out running, I'm full of stamina. Stamina-girl, that's me."
"Pity we have to stay alert," Tara mused, her voice low and seductive, "otherwise we'd be able to confirm that for ourselves."
"Demons are so inconsiderate," Willow agreed, almost with a straight face. She leaned over to give Tara a quick kiss, then sat back.
"So, Kotram it is," she said.
"Kotram it is," Tara agreed. "We should plan ahead, hopefully we won't run into any more demons, but it still won't be a particularly easy trip. Let's take stock – what do we have?"
"Item: one mildly exhausted sorceress, with staff and bow," Willow said promptly. "Luckily, clad in hard-wearing armor. Unfortunately, wearing really silly underwear." Tara stifled a giggle.
"The armor won't interfere with your casting, if you need to?" Tara asked. "I-I mean, you were wonderful today, but your battlegear, the open body?"
"Oh, no," Willow said dismissively, "that's just for really refined magic, absolute control, that sort of thing. For hurling ice bolts at monsters, it's no different than, well, you wearing tracker armor, rather than your usual leathers."
"Good," Tara said, "what else?"
"Scrolls," Willow said, "nothing particularly useful, unless we happen to find something magical and we need to figure out how it works. Runes, again more useful for studying things than roughing it in the wilderness. I could rig up a circle around us that'll wake us if it's disturbed, but only about twenty feet across."
"That's good," Tara said, "I don't think we should both sleep at the same time, but that's a good precaution to take anyway."
"That'll only take a couple of minutes," Willow went on. "Potions, for healing. They're... I don't think we should use them unless they're really necessary, I've heard they're kind of unpleasant."
"I'll see how my arm feels tomorrow," Tara said, "but at the moment, I think it's okay. Let's not use them until we have to."
"Okay," Willow agreed. "Spell components for basic stuff, lighting fires – not that we can risk it – creating light, setting up protective circles against enemy magic. I don't think there's ever been an account of goat-men using any kind of magic, but I'll set that up with the alarm circle, just in case a Carver strayed this far. It won't be that powerful, but you never know, eh? Um, charms, the only one that might be useful is a shroud charm. You break it open, and wherever you are, everywhere within about fifty feet becomes dark as night for an hour. I'm not sure if that'll be useful," she said hesitantly.
"It might be," Tara said, "it's good to have it as an option, just in case."
"Lastly," Willow finished, "books – our journal, and Ember's. I have no idea how, exactly, but I think that'll be useful."
"From what you've told me, Ember's a very experienced sorceress," Tara pointed out. "Her journal could be invaluable. It's a good thing you added that extra book pouch."
"Yeah," Willow agreed. "Oh, and your drawings, of course. Just in case, at some point on our perilous journey, we really need to stare at pictures of ourselves naked."
"I wouldn't say no," Tara grinned, "though, whenever it's safe, feel free to stare at the real thing."
"Oh I will," Willow promised. "What else do we have?"
"One inexperienced but determined Amazon," Tara said with a smile, "also in armor, but with more practical underwear."
"Durable and sexy," Willow mused, "I've got to get myself some of those."
"Leather isn't quite as comfortable as yours," Tara pointed out. "Bow and spear, total of three quivers of arrows. Not that fighting all the demonic creatures around here on our own is a good idea, but if the goat-men and Carvers haven't wiped them all out, I can probably catch us a rabbit or something to eat, and we can have a small fire while it's still light to cook it."
"You'll eat meat?" Willow asked, surprised.
"If I have to," Tara said, shrugging. "I'd rather not, but I haven't seen much in the way of edible plants around here. In any case, there's dried rations in my pack, not very tasty – well, actually, about as bland as you can imagine – but enough for three days, for the two of us, so with luck we'll be at Kotram before I have to hunt for food."
"If it's, I mean, if you'd rather not," Willow offered, "I could probably catch something, and you could have the rations, that'd last six days then, wouldn't it?" Tara smiled and stroked Willow's thigh affectionately.
"It's alright," she said, "I appreciate it, I really do, but if it's a matter of survival, I don't have a problem. Normally I wouldn't, but normally I'd be in a city, with farms and gardens. Out here," she waved her other hand around airily, encompassing their surroundings, "this is how the wilderness works, and this is how we'll survive."
"Well, okay," Willow said, "if you're sure..." Tara gently took Willow's hand and kissed it.
"Thank you," she said.
"I love you," Willow said simply, by way of explanation, warmed by Tara's smile. "So, apart from super-bland rations, what've you got there?"
"Two blankets and a bedroll," Tara said, "not very luxurious, but weatherproof, and enough to keep a person warm during the night. Needle and thread, and some leather scraps, for patching armor. A waterskin, empty, but-"
"But I can draw water out of thin air," Willow finished, "so it'll be full soon enough."
"A bottle of bramble oil, and a small flask of normal oil, the burning kind. Some more bandages, a few herbs and lotions, for healing. Spare bowstrings, a shoulder satchel, a couple of small pouches, cotton cloth, pen and ink, a knife, um, some chalk, I think... I'm pretty sure that's all."
"Amazons believe in being prepared," Willow observed.
"That we do," Tara agreed. "You never know when you're going to be ambushed and chased all over the place by rabid goat demons."
"Yeah, that's what everyone says," Willow joked, "I guess you just don't ever think it'll happen to you."
With the sun already starting to disappear behind the mountains, Willow and Tara both began their preparations to see out the night in their current location. Willow used Tara's knife to draw her circle in the ground around the edge of the hollow they were in, placing a rune stone at each compass point and sealing the sentry spell with a pinch of Aranoch night sand dropped in the exact center. Tara spent the time studying the surrounding landscape, memorizing the positions of trees and bushes, the contours of the land and, as she explained it, 'the feel of the place'. With the last of the day's light she opened their journal and copied the brief map of the area that Ember had made, adding in as much detail as she could remember from Kert's map.
The sun vanished not long after, and by moonlight Willow arranged the bedroll and blankets in a little depression in the ground Tara made with her spear-point, as protected from the elements as was possible. With the soft, broken soil beneath the sleeping bag's sturdy material, Willow found it not entirely uncomfortable when she slid herself into the bedroll, her head pillowed no one of the blankets, rolled up. Tara divided up their rations and they ate in silence, both worried about what lay ahead, but thankful to be together. When they were both finished, Tara leant over and lay the other blanket over Willow, kissing her softly on the cheek.
"Love you," Willow said quietly.
"I know," Tara replied, and Willow could hear her smile, just from her voice. "I love you too."
"Just thought of something," Willow added.
"Hmm?"
"Who got the first bullseye? We both hit the Carvers at the same time." With the moon waning and its light only slightly penetrating the canopy of trees, Willow sensed rather than saw Tara sit back slightly as she thought.
"You did," she said at last, "your spell flew faster than my arrow, I think." She chuckled ruefully. "You win the bet. Anything you want me to do?" In the dark, Willow reached out and found Tara's hand.
"Don't get hurt," she whispered, her voice wavering. "If... if something happened... I couldn't." She paused, gulping back a sob. "I need you."
"Oh Willow," Tara whispered, leaning over to kiss Willow's forehead tenderly, then moving down a little to capture her lips in a brief, intense kiss.
"I'm going to make a promise to you," she said, "as an Amazon warrior, a matter of honor. Somewhere up ahead is a safe place, and in that place there's a bedroom with a fireplace, and a warm fire burning, and a big, big bed with soft pillows and warm blankets and silky sheets. We will get there, Willow, you and me, we will get there, and I will lay you down and make love to you all night until the sun comes up. On my honor as an Amazon, a faithful child of Athulua, I swear this." She kissed Willow once again, on the lips.
"Did I mention I love you?" Willow said, her voice small but warm.
"Yes you did," Tara whispered fondly, "I love you, Willow. I always will. Now sleep, my sweet sorceress. I'll watch over you."
"You'll wake me after midnight?" Willow asked. "You need to sleep too."
"I will," Tara promised. Willow brought Tara's hand to her lips and kissed it, softly, then lay back. Tara sat beside her, listening to her breathing as she fell asleep, tiredness winning out over tension.
As the night wore on, Tara sat, and thought. At times Willow would stir, or perhaps breathe a tiny, pleading sigh that gave some indication that her dreams were less than peaceful, and Tara would reach beneath the edge of her bedroll to lay a hand on her shoulder, or lean over to kiss her forehead, which would calm her. Every now and then, when Willow seemed content, she would get up and walk around a little, her footfalls silent, to keep herself from getting sore from sitting too long in the same position. The night was chilly, but while she was sitting, close to the ground in their little hollow, the winds skimmed overhead, and in the still air beneath them the cold was bearable.
Tara thought back on her actions during the day. She had no memory of willing herself to set her spear in the ground and nock the first arrow to her bowstring, it had just happened, as instinctive as reaching out when she needed to grab something, or walking to cross a room. Of course, they were instincts trained into her all her life, when as a young girl she had been shown how to take care of herself, and later had decided to continue training, to learn to handle weapons and truly fight, rather than just defend. Why had she made that choice? She thought back, trying to recapture the motives of a moment years ago. Necessity? No-one ever made a point of it, and certainly no-one was ever pressured into training if they didn't want to, but it had been no great secret that the Amazon Nation had lost some of its best during the Reckoning, and even ten, fifteen years later there was a great demand for trained women to join the prides that defended the Amazon Isles. But no, Tara mused, she had never felt as though her training was something she had to do, out of motivations not her own.
She had wanted to be a warrior. Part of it, she acknowledged, was that once her training truly began, and she was taught to focus magical energies, she turned out to be unusually proficient at it. She had thought more than once that, with this gift inside her, it would have been foolish not to learn how to use it. But now that she thought about it, that wasn't the same thing as wanting to be a warrior. She had learned how to wield a bow, a spear, a sword in a pinch, and how to shoot fire arrows and let loose lightning strikes from her spear – but they were skills, and the satisfaction she felt from practicing and improving at them was no different to her satisfaction in drawing, or singing. She had to admit, perhaps she had mistaken that satisfaction for the drive to succeed as a warrior. After all, she knew – if only from second-hand accounts – that men in the other realms of the world often joined the armies of their lords, sometimes with little training, usually with no magic, and even marched to war of their own accord. Tara could not imagine herself living such a life. Perhaps that was what Solari had seen lacking in her – 'killer instinct', she had called it. Tara admitted, it certainly didn't sound like something she could lay claim to. She had always prided herself on her gentle nature, taking a quiet satisfaction when it was noted by her tutors, or by Eponin, how her first instinct was to heal, to reach out, to help.
So, Tara mused, had it been a mistake to train? No, she couldn't accept that. If the day had proved nothing else, it had proved to Tara that her skills, her training, her ability to fight, could be a force for good. She had protected Willow – not that Willow was helpless, but the two of them had been a far more formidable target than either would have been alone. The Carvers had never laid a claw on either of them, and up until the goat-men had made their presence known, the tide had definitely been against the attackers. Tara found she could be proud of that. There had been evil, and she had been able to fight it, to help protect what was good, and noble, and worth fighting for. She glanced down at the sleeping form beside her, visible by the moonlight and Tara's keen eyesight, and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Perhaps, unknown to her at the time, that had been her motivation all along. Not to become a soldier and spend her life on guard, waiting for the next threat, but to have the ability to defend herself and those she loved if the need arose. She thought of her parents, her mother in particular. When Tara was old enough, Eponin had spent a great deal of time with her, making sure she knew who her parents had been, as a way of understanding how she herself came to be. Her mother had been a warrior, had spent some years with the prides, but later she had turned away from the life of a soldier, and spent much time studying ancient records, piecing together fragments of the history of the Amazons from those myths and stories that remained. Tara had read her mother's work, and recognized a keen intellect behind them, the insight of a scholar married with an artistic flair that gave a vibrancy to the accounts of how their ancestors had lived. And her father had been a farmer, a kind and gentle man who, though strong and quick to stand up for his friends and loved ones, had never in his life spent even a day treading a soldier's path. Yet both had taken up arms when danger threatened, regardless that the life they had chosen was a peaceful one, and through their sacrifice, so many people had lived who would otherwise have died. So many lives saved, so many children who had not had to wonder why they would never see their parents again, so many parents who had not had to grieve for their sons and daughters, so many lovers who had not had to somehow find sleep in an empty bed. There were times when Tara, as a girl, had cried for the mother and father she had never known, but always she had the knowledge of what they had achieved to comfort her.
And now here she was, in a wilderness prowled by strange and terrible creatures, with her life, and the life of her love, dependant on their own wits and abilities, and perhaps, though she was loathe to admit it, dependant on luck as much as anything else. And who knew what sacrifices might have to be made? Tara was not in the habit of praying when it came to the circumstances of her life – she gladly joined in the festivities on the various holy days dedicated to the gods and goddesses, and each year sent a word of thanks to her parents wherever they were, but otherwise she left the divine realm to its own affairs – but now she felt the need to at least acknowledge the need in herself to do something, even if it was only to send a prayer to Athulua. 'Watch over us,' she asked silently, 'you know already I'll do everything in my power to see her safe. I couldn't bear to lose her. If it's at all possible, spare her the pain of losing me. I know without a doubt, if it comes down to one or the other, I will save her rather than myself, but please, if any of what happens here is within your domain, please don't take me from her.' She shed a single tear, but despite the melancholy thoughts, she found she was feeling slightly better. She supposed it was a matter not of harboring the worrying notions, but of admitting to them, not trying to deceive herself, and trusting to the gods that the worst would not come to pass.
Tara let Willow sleep as long as she dared, but knew she would be upset if she was allowed to sleep all night; and besides, Tara knew well enough that she needed some rest herself, to help keep her senses fresh. She took a moment to replace the bandage on her arm, testing her movement and finding it easy and only a little sore, then sighed to herself, still unhappy to disturb Willow's sleep. She leaned over, placing a kiss first on Willow's forehead, softly, then on her lips, more insistent. Willow responded, smiling and opening her lips, a tiny moan muffled by Tara's mouth, and then she was awake, and the realization of their situation came back to her.
"My turn?" she whispered as Tara leaned back, giving her room to slide out of the bedroll.
"Afraid so," Tara replied, "it's after midnight." Quite a bit more than an hour after midnight, she admitted to herself, but Willow offered no complaint when she glanced skyward, checking the position of the moon.
"Well, it's all warmed up for you," Willow said quietly, patting the sleeping bag. Tara gave her a grateful kiss, undid her harness and lay down, finding the scent of Willow's hair still in the rolled-up blanket as she lay her head on it.
"Didn't sense anything," she murmured as Willow leaned over her. "Small animals, nothing dangerous. Best to stay down out of the wind."
"I will," Willow promised, "get some rest."
"Wake me before dawn," Tara said.
"I will," Willow said again. "That was a lovely way to wake up, by the way, even out here in the middle of nowhere."
"My pleasure," Tara mumbled.
"I'm sure it was," Willow whispered, sensing Tara drifting off to sleep. She straightened the blanket covering her bedroll, then stroked her hair for a while, until her breathing was deep and even. While Tara slept, Willow concentrated on listening to the sounds of the woods around them, until she felt accustomed to them, and hoped that anything out of place would catch her attention. Never having really been outdoors for any great amount of time, she found she was somewhat intrigued by all the muted activity that was going on under cover of night, the scuttling of small creatures and the rustling in the nearby bushes. She had imagined night to be a time of rest, as it was for people, but the woods and their inhabitants seemed as alive as ever.
It was comforting in a way, Willow mused, as she took a stroll around the perimeter of her circle before settling down next to Tara again. The small, inoffensive creatures going about their lives were something she couldn't quite reconcile with the monsters that had chased them. She was reassured by that, and as her thoughts turned more towards the demons of the previous day, the occasional scuttling of some small creature up and down the trunk of a tree a short distance away kept reminding her that, no matter what dangers she and Tara had faced, and might still have to face, they were not lost to the world, and safety was still within their reach.
The demons, though... Willow shivered at the thought, and partly from the cold in the night air, but found a certain sense of normality in cataloguing what she had seen, and deriving what conclusions she could from it. Even if the subject were great mad beasts waving poleaxes around, she was still Willow, who used to spend her evenings in libraries reading ancient texts. So, what had she learned? Well, she thought, reciting her conclusions to herself as if to a tutor, demons don't get on with each other. That was an advantage. Everyone who knew anything about demons knew that they hated each other with a passion surpassed only by their hatred for living things, and tended to fight at the merest perceived provocation, even when they were supposedly allied to each other. It was a matter of record that during the Sin Wars, victory was often secured by killing the captains of the demonic armies infesting the world, whereupon their subordinates would turn on each other, rallying whatever supporters they could, and do horrendous damage to their forces while trying to wrest control from one another. Well, things hadn't changed – Willow thought back to the first appearance of the goat-men, the anger and fear they had caused in the Carvers, not counting the way they casually butchered the smaller demons who were unlucky enough to get in their way.
Carvers, then, she thought, idly drawing a pattern in the dirt with the end of her staff. She would have to add a note to their journal when they got out of this about the Carvers tunneling under the road, as she didn't recall ever reading about them using such a tactic. The blast the opened the tunnel to the surface was fire magic, Willow was certain. She had seen the sudden disturbances in the air, felt the greasy, oily sensation of a sizeable magical build-up – very poorly controlled, to cause such blatant side-effects, but that was consistent with Carver magic. So, she concluded, a fire spell that powerful would have required a particularly old, powerful Carver. Maybe that explained the unusually inventive ambush. Many sorceresses had noted in their writings that Carvers, as with many of the minor hybridized demons, got more devious and cunning with age.
The goat-men, though... they worried Willow, with greater cause than simply their resilience and ferocity. The Carvers, upon launching their ambush, had attacked indiscriminately, a number of them heading for the closer, weaker-looking target of the two women nearby, but most of them sticking to what was presumably their original aim, and charging the caravan. Willow worried about new newfound friends, Tryptin in particular – he had always been so kind, so considerate in making sure her and Tara's needs were met wherever they happened to be – but thinking rationally, she was inclined to agree with Tara's assessment, and assume that the Carvers had been fought off. The caravan was stronger than was usual for its size, more guards per wagon, and from what Tara said the Amazon men were no liability when it came to combat – certainly, aside from one or two older diplomats, they all were strong, in good health, and active-looking. With a stronger enemy than the Carvers had expected, their fellows falling left and right to the unexpected threat of a sorceress and an Amazon warrior, and then much stronger rival demons appearing on the scene... yes, Willow concluded, everything she knew about the creatures told her that they would have given up and sought the refuse of the nearest hiding place they could find.
'All very well,' Willow thought to herself, 'but what about the goat-men?' They were a definite concern, above and beyond the pure physical threat they posed. Firstly, they were rare, considered extinct in civilized areas. Secondly, they were stronger, more brutal and more resilient than Carvers by several orders of magnitude. Thirdly, Willow hadn't seen a single one of them that had not headed straight for her and Tara. That wasn't normal, she was sure – unless for some reason they had taken some particular dislike to magic and any human who wielded it, but that was a stretch of the imagination. Willow shrugged to herself morosely. She had too many questions there, and needed more information before she could make anything but a guess at the answers. She resolved to check Ember's journal once they were moving during the day, and also – though she hesitated briefly – to share her concerns with Tara, and see what they might come up with together. She hoped briefly for another option, to be able to spare her love from considering such an ominous possibility, but knew there was none; if she kept her suspicions to herself, she risked them both.
The most likely answer was that the demons had deliberately attacked her, and if that was true, they had to reach safety, and fast.
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