Chapter Three: Trials Toward the Desert

She nuzzled her forehead against him while he told her, again, that it wasn't her fault.

"I know... I just can't shake the feeling..."

Feeling his hands move around her front and cup her bare breasts under her shirt she smiled at his added words. She met his eyes and chuckled. "She better not have been." She winked playfully. She pressed her back further into him and leaned up to press her lips to his.

"I love you." She said softly.

"I love you too" he said kissing her neck softly "Besides her breasts were WAY too big, must have had magic holding them up" he laughed softly, bouncing her breasts in his hands "yours are a much better size" Sigurd gave them a loving squish "big, yet perky, firm yet squishy. They're perfect" there was a contented joy in his voice as he played with her chest, amused with himself. "I mean, you can't feed an army with these things.. but unless you're planning on birthing an army I think we'll be okay"

Looking from Cirro to Myri to Zane, Lo just shrugs. Most of the spells she knows only use simple materials...a leaf, a few drops of water, an iron shard...supplementing those spells with something else, however powerful, isn't something she'd really contemplated. Though she does have a bit of curiosity for what would happen if she tried the water spell using enchanted water...probably would increase the amount of water created, and considering her luck using new spells she'd probably cause a flood or something. "It must happen a lot if you have to watch the pool all the time, and conceal the spring like this. Still though, the plants here are incredible! I can imagine someone wanting to grow somthing like this at home." Laughing slightly...of course there are other things to do with powerful water than grow plants, though what those things are is anyone's guess...Lo turns back to Myri. "So what do you do when you're not watching the spring and the pool?"

Ashwyn laughed at his words and playfully slapped his shoulder. "Knock it off, you." She smirked, though the joy was finally meeting her eyes now. She turned in his arms so she was facing him and she straddled his lap.

"An army? Hmm, hard to say. But I do know I'll have a whole lot of fun trying to make an army." She said with a wink, nuzzling her nose against his.

---

Myri giggled at Lopiena. "What do we do? Well... play usually." She smiled.

Zane looked up. "Yes, you strike me as a very playful creature." He nodded knowingly.

Cirro blushed a bit and Myri giggled more. "Uhm... yes well.... Their kind of play is... well... "

"Oh Cirro, you're so cute!" Myri squealed and giggled. "He still gets so embarrassed when I talk about it. You'd thing after walking in on us together so many times he'd be over it by now." She shrugged and Cirro turned beat red.

Sigurd nuzzled her back "I'll be happy with just one when the time comes. It almost seems like that's all couples can manage these days." he said softly, leaning past her cheek and kissing the spot between her neck and collarbone "Even so, doesn't mean we couldn't try really really hard for a second one" a gentle nip of her skin and Sigurd started to take in her scent. Any memory of the princesses pheromones were washed away.

Ashwyn felt that same shiver through her body feeling him kiss her there. And his words well... they didn't hurt either.

She smiled at him. "I don't know... It was always just me and my parents. It can be... lonely. I always thought I'd have several. When the time came." She smiled down at him.

She ran her hands up into his hair and enjoyed the softness with a smile. Not as soft as his fur, but close.

"I think one of the attributes the mana-well grants us is very few offspring, the odd couple have two children but it's not often... maybe it's away for us to not have a population boom coupled with our long lifespan." he said thinking back on all the speculation on their origin and gifts. "But I wouldn't mind several..." Sigurd kissed up her neck, his right arm curling around her back as he left caressed it's way back to her breast. "If these Dryads weren't here.. you know... I joked about bedding you in the moss before.. but now it's tempting.."

Looking from Myri to Cirro and back, Lo shrugs again. What they do with their spare time is entirely up to them, and after the discussion with Ashwyn she can appreciate there must be quite a connection and enjoyment to be had. Cirro blushing again makes her grin, though...while it's clear he's no stranger to this area, what could he have been doing to walk in on them that often?
"And here I thought you just came to get your weapons blessed. Unless I just thought the wrong kind of weapon." Laughing to herself, she suddenly blushes almost as red as Cirro. Here she was trying to be polite in strange company and out comes the crass humor...learned in the village, applied when desired, and randomly showing up at inopportune times...oops.

Ashwyn nodded to the new information about his people. "I knew that most people didn't have many children in Thunderknoll but I never realized it was because they couldn't." she smiled as he said he wouldn't mind several anyway.

"We'll see where fate takes us." She said with a smile. "As long as I have you then nothing else matters anyway."

As he began running his hands along her body again she once again felt that familiar shiver. And when he spoke  again she chuckled.

"Well, you did  want me to 'wash' you of that horrid woman's scent..." She said in a teasing way as she pressed teasingly against him.

---

At Lopiena's teasing words Cirro's whole body seemed to blush. Even Zane flushed.

"Lopiena! My goodness, child..." he scoffed, trying to hide the blush.

Cirro was shaking his head and trying to speak. "No, it was never... I mean, I've never... That is... Oh dear..." he said, stumbling over his every word while Myri laughed, nearly doubled over.

"And I fully intend you too" he whispered "when we have a moment alone..." Sigurd's massage had devolved into just caressing Ashwyn's body as if he was trying to memorize every curve, every detail of he flesh. His hands traced along her spine, around to her shoulders, back down her sides to her hips. He smiled, just feeling the heat from her body was enough to send shivers down his spine.

Ashwyn smiled as what can only be described as a purr escaped her lips at the feeling of Sigurd's hands on her body. She ran her hands all the way through his hair and trailed them slowly down his neck and over his armored shoulders.

"If you keep that up I might not care that we aren't alone." She winked playfully at him, grinding her hips down against his lap.

Still blushing, Lopiena laughs along with Myri. It's good to laugh, especially after the day's tension. Still though.
"Sorry...Zane...Cirro...that was inappropriate...but you should have seen your face! I guess you didn't want to play along...I mean...oh." Giggling, Lo tries to calm herself down. Maybe changing the subject might help? The spring...or the plants...or...uhh. Well maybe a nice serious question.
"So...blessing weapons aside, what do you do if someone tries to get the water? And Vilarr said something about tainting the pool? How can that even happen?"

Sigurd laughed softly "oh come now, we still have some decency don't we? we don't need to be clawing at each other in public for all to see... not that our companions haven't seen it all before." pulling his hands from her shirt, he placed them on either side of her face. "We'll have to find somewhere relatively private I think. I would hate to be interrupted again..."

Ashwyn smiled at Sigurd and chuckled. She leaned into his hands. "Me too." She smiled and with a sigh finally leaned away from him. She pulled herself from his lap and settled on the moss next to him. "Then I should move. I seem to have trouble controlling myself around you." She winked at him.

She leaned across him, teasingly, as she grabbed his armor. Her breasts brushing across his lap as she moved. She pulled her armor back on and tightened it before looking back to him. "Unfortunately I don't think we'll be finding somewhere private for quite some time." She said with a somewhat disappointed smile.

---

Cirro was still quite red but he managed to straighten himself up enough to speak. "The main point of defense is misdirection. The trees tell them if someone is seeking the pool and so they make it impossible to get to the pond."

Myri finally started giggling and smiled. "If one does happen to get through, then... well, we have our ways of getting it back." She winked, but her eyes flared in a somewhat frightening way.

Laughing somewhat at the 'confusing trees' bit...Lo had experienced that herself, and it was an interesting sensation...she only shakes her head. "I can't help but wonder what the trees feel about all of that, especially since it seems to happen so often. There must be a special exception to the fairies when you're doing your ceremonies," Lo grins at Cirro.

Eyes widening at Myri's explanation, Lo decides to drop the subject...seems safer that way. "Oh. Uhh. I'm glad your methods are effective, anyway. Um. So Vilarr mentioned you like talking about the plants...can you tell me what this one is? It looks a little like something I read about, plants that eat insects...but the book didn't describe something like this." Indicating a plant growing on the side of the spring, Lo carefully avoids touching it. The plant is a brilliant red with orange streaks, with glowing leaves shaped like urns that hold a sticky sap...but instead of the smooth sides in the urn-shaped leaves as described in the book, these leaves have sharp teeth on the edges and tiny spikes all the way down the sides.

Cirro shook his head.

"Oh no. It's not the trees that prevent people from getting here. Well, not really anyway. The dryads manipulate the trees to move and direct the path so they never come near. It's different from fairy magic. We use misdirection to confuse people so they don't know where they're going. But the dryads can actually change the path."

Zane rubbed his chin as he took in the new information. "Interesting... So how were we able to find it then? Wouldn't we be led astray?"

Myri shook her head. "You weren't seeking the pool, so we weren't notified of your coming. You said yourself, you were just passing through, right? So the trees weren't concerned with you. Plus having a druid along with you helped." She winked at Lopiena.

When Lopiena asked her about the plants specifically she brightened and became excited again. "Ohh! Yes! The spring is primarily my responsibility to protect and I love it. So many beautiful things." She swooned over them. When Lopiena motioned to one plant in particular Myri practically danced over to it. "Ooooo this one is adorable." She said as she crouched next to it. "Very rare. It only grows here as far as I know. It's very similar to a pitcher plant, that's probably the one in your book. But this one actually helps feed the other flowers." She pointed to the open end. "It takes in food here, which is usually insects, but in the winter it will sometimes eat small rodents when insects are sparce. And then it stores it down here." She pointed to the bottom of the bulb.

"Once it's processed, it excretes what remains into the soil and it feeds the roots of the plants around it." She reached up and wiggled her fingers just under the opening and the plant wiggled in response.

"Oh, and it's ticklish." She giggled.

"It'll just make the moment we do more special" Sigurd smacked her bottom playfully. Laying back on the moss he sighed, recalling the map the queen had given them and just how far they were from the border of the forest to the wasteland. It would still be a while before they saw it, especially with the constant distractions from their quest. It would be best however to give their companions without the gift of dark vision another night to rest before buckling down and trudging forward into the unknown. Besides Lopiena seemed to be having a good time from what he was hearing.

Ashwyn smirked at him as he lay down. She stretched her arms up over her head. She felt much better after that massage, she had to admit. She lay back on the moss as well and curled into Sigurd's side.

"I don't like how slow our progress is." She said softly. "I know we don't really have a choice but... I'm worried about what this Barak guy is planning while we struggle through the forest."

"I'm also concerned about getting across the front line. If it's as fortified as the Queen said, it will be difficult to get all of us across without incident. And the desert isn't exactly known for cover. Sneaking past will be next to impossible."

Listening to the discussion about the differences between fairy magic and dryad magic, Lo nods slowly but says nothing. So much to learn, and so much more that is completely different from anything she'd thought possible. It's an incredible world!

Grinning at Myri's excitement showing off the plants, Lo leans closer as she explains the function of the strange plant. "Wow...so it actually enriches the soil for the rest of the plants? Incredible! It's like a...a...uhhhh...ahhh never mind." Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Lo gives up on whatever she was trying to say.  Must be getting tired or something. Opening her eyes again, she looks from Myri back to the plant. "Ticklish? May I?" Reaching toward the plant, Lo is still careful not to touch it until Myri says it's ok.

Myri smiled and took Lopeina's hand. Her skin would feel rough, like tree bark. She pulled Lo's hand to the underside of the opening. "Right here. Avoid the top, they dont' like that." She showed her how to wiggle her fingers.

Zane was staring facinated the whole time.

Cirro smiled as he watched them play with the plant. After watching them play for a while, he chuckled. "I'm sorry to end this, Myri, but we should probably get some rest. It's been a very rough day and we do haev a mission to complete."

Zane shook out of his revelry and nodded. "Mmm, quite right. These old bones are longing to sit." He said, suddenly feeling exsausted.

Giggling as the plant wiggles under her fingers, Lo is fascinated by both the plant itself and the feel of Myri's hand. Zane and Cirro are right, though...gently tickling the plant one last time, Lo slowly stands and stifles a yawn. "I'm sorry...it's been a long day. I guess we should get some rest." Turning to the young dryad, Lo smiles. "Thank you so much for sharing this amazing place with us. I will never forget it, and I hope...well, if...no, when this mission is successful I hope to see you again." Suddenly grinning, Lo laughs a bit. "Of course that will be impossible, now that we'd be looking for the spring the trees will block the way." Still laughing, she slowly approaches Cirro and the blocked exit. "Shall we?"

Sigurd thought for a moment "If we could fly that would help... but unless you're hiding wings under your shirt... and I know you're not then I think speed will have to be our strategy... Break the line and run like hell" he was silent as he tried to play out the scenario without actually seeing the front lines. There could be hundreds to hundreds of thousands of creatures for all they knew.

Myri giggled at Lopiena. "We'd love to have you come back through. And don't worry, we can find you even if you can't find us." She winked playfully.

Cirro smiled down at Lopeina and nodded. "Yes of course. Everyone gather, please." He waited until everyone was standing close to the exit, so he could open and close it as quickly as possible. Once everyone was close, he pulled the thick curtain of leaves back and let them all leave.

Once the curtain was closed the darkness outside seemed even darker.

"Alright, follow me!" Zane said, taking Lopiena's hand to his arm and Cirro's hand on his shoulder. Being the only one who could see in this darkness he decided leading might be the best idea. "Watch your step now." He said as they walked over the many roots and brush on the ground.

---

Ashwyn chuckled. "No, no wings, sorry. And I'm pretty sure a tiny fairy won't be able to carry all of us either." When he suggested breaking the line and running. "I can't see THAT being a good idea either. Any element of surprise we might have would be completely gone. You know they'd alert someone even if we do get through."

She sighed. "Maybe we can find a spot to hide and observe their patrols for a while. See if we can spot a weak spot where there's maybe less people? People we can take out and avoid immediate detection?" She suggest.

It was at that moment that Alba approached them with small bowls made of roots. The bowls were full of the fruit he'd been cutting. "I know you said you weren't that hungry, but I thought I'd offer anyway." He said with a smile.

"You're probably right" Sigurd said with a sigh "I'm used to just charging in and overwhelming, but if we're outnumbered I'm pretty sure even my healing factor won't save me..." he was getting frustrated, generally there wasn't a problem he couldn't punch or claw his way through and subtly wasn't something he was a fan of either.

As Alba approached them with bowls of fruit Sigurd smiled and took them "Thank you for your hospitality."

Alba smiled at Sigurd as he handed over the bowls. "Of course. We so rarely have visitors. It's nice for a change of pace."

Ashwyn sat up and took the bowl. "I apologize for my previous behavior. We've had... a bad day."

Alba waived his hand. "No need to apologize to me. It takes much more than that to offend me." He chuckled.