Hungry Heart - Book #3 - Ch. 36 (Patreon)

Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve / Chapter Thirteen / Chapter Fourteen / Chapter Fifteen / Chapter Sixteen / Chapter Seventeen / Chapter Eighteen / Chapter Nineteen / Chapter Twenty / Chapter Twenty-One / Chapter Twenty-Two / Chapter Twenty-Three / Chapter Twenty-Four / Chapter Twenty-Five / Chapter Twenty-Six / Chapter Twenty-Seven / Chapter Twenty-Eight / Chapter Twenty-Nine / Chapter Thirty / Chapter Thirty-One / Chapter Thirty-Two / Chapter Thirty-Three / Chapter Thirty-Four / Chapter Thirty-Five 

Chapter Thirty-Six – They Stood Like a Wall

Duril woke up, as if someone had just called for him. It took him long moments to realize where he was. Carefully, he touched the sheets and quickly found an arm. As his eyes could see in the dark, he noticed that Varg and Claw were sleeping side by side and snoring loudly, enough to wake people from their deepest slumber. Only they could sleep through that. Duril shook his head in mirth.

But where was Toru? Duril looked around and decided that the young tiger was nowhere in that room. Moving quietly so as not to wake the sleeping shifters, as much as that would have been a challenge, he slunk out of the lavish bedroom, determined to find Toru.

The hallways were quiet, and there was peace adding to that silence, as Duril could feel it. Indeed, Toru had defeated the evil plaguing the city and the world. There was a difference in the air they were breathing, even. Duril recalled entering the city only a few days prior. Now it felt as if everything had happened a lifetime ago. Even if the dark shadow of Hekastfet hadn’t been visible, Duril could tell that the world had changed for the better.

It was all due to the valiant heart of a certain young tiger, one he was searching for right now. Maybe he didn’t have Claw’s keen sense of smell, but he believed himself to be good at finding his dear lover.

It wasn’t long until he noticed him at the end of the hallway, out on a balcony overlooking the city. Duril stopped for a moment, wondering whether Toru had come here on his own to celebrate his victory in silence. When one’s heart was full, it could take some solitude to stop it from overflowing.

But Toru turned at that very moment. “Duril,” he called softly. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Encouraged by the fact that he had been discovered, Duril walked toward his friend. “I woke up, and you weren’t there. What are you doing here, all by yourself?”

“I was just thinking.” Toru jumped on the rail, with his usual grace, and stood there, perched on the edge, looking down. “My parents were here, in some way. I know my father gave his life, as unnatural as it might have been, so that I could push forward and defeat Hekastfet. And my mother, along with her kin, thought she could help me, too, in her own way. But they’re not really here, are they?”

Duril weighed his response carefully. “I don’t believe so,” he admitted with a sigh. “They might have been ghosts shackled by Hekastfet, so that he could use them against you. I believe that backfired quite spectacularly. You won.”

“I remember many things now,” Toru continued. He tensed and hunched his shoulders in response to inner turmoil.

Duril moved closer and placed a tentative hand between the young tiger’s shoulder blades. Some of the tension began to fade, so he started to move his palm over the knotted back muscles slowly. A slow sigh from Toru let him know that he was doing a good thing. “What’s on your mind, Toru?”

“I want to see that place again.”

“What place are you talking about?” Duril asked patiently, although he had an inkling what it could be.

“It’s called Nelsikkar, and it is where I was born. But the Sakka say that it might be gone. And no one knows where it really is.”

“Maybe you should ask Demophios. He knows everything.”

“His voice is silent now. I don’t hear it anymore. I guess he, Amaranth, and Torgar, are confined to that other place, the one from which I came back with Varg. I think I’m on my own.”

“No, not on your own,” Duril reminded him. “Please, get down from there. I want to hug you, and I don’t want to risk toppling us over.”

Toru obeyed the gentle demand, jumping down and standing by Duril’s side. He pressed his forehead against Duril’s shoulder and let a heavy sigh emerge from the depths of his soul. “I should be happy. Hekastfet is no more, and I should now be enjoying our victory with you, and Varg, and Claw.”

Duril continued to caress Toru’s shoulders, drawing invisible circles to soothe the tension away. “I understand how you feel, Toru. You now know that you came from a certain place and you even remember your parents. That is not something you can or should ignore. It is a great thing that you eliminated Hekastfet from this world. But if your heart still yearns for something, listen to it.”

“I don’t know where to start. Or what I want,” Toru complained.

That only made Duril hug him tightly. “I believe I can help you with that. You just said it. You want to find Nelsikkar.”

“Not only Nelsikkar. There is also the place where my father came from. Niverborg. It is somewhere in the mountains. That’s why his fur had white in it, not golden, like mine.”

“Do you remember about that story Claw told us? About the Scarlet Peaks? The tales say that there is a wise man living at the top, in perfect solitude. But he might have answers, and we should search for him first, if we don’t know where to start.”

“Does Claw know how to find that old man?” Toru asked and pulled back a little.

Duril could read curiosity and hope in the beautiful golden eyes. “The Scarlet Peaks lie north of The Quiet Woods. If there is anyone who can guide us through those mountains, I believe it would be him. There are also his many friends in The Quiet Woods, and Shearah. We can travel back there and see what they know as far as stories and whatnot. We have a place to start. Also, you said something about your father’s people living in the mountains? I have seen maps of Eawirith while going through Elidias’ books, and The Scarlet Peaks are the highest and widest mountain range in the world. Could it be that your father was born and lived there for a part of his life?”

“I remember how Torgar was supposed to travel with me to Niverborg. And there was a place, a pass, called Winterhelm. We could ask people at The Quiet Woods if they know of such a place.”

“Yes, without a doubt.” Duril kissed Toru softly. “Now, should we go back to bed?”

“I’d like that,” Toru confirmed and took Duril by the shoulders.

***

For some time, while standing out on that balcony, Toru had let himself be gripped by a sense of loneliness against which he had decided not to fight. But Duril had come and pulled him away from those thoughts that were both appealing and threatening to engulf him whole. Throughout his life, he had believed that he couldn’t be hurt, because for that to happen, it would take something he didn’t have to be attacked. Yet, it wasn’t true, he had that place, locked inside of him, under lock and key, behind heavy bars, and now it was bursting his heart wide open.

He remembered his parents now. He could see them if he did as little as close his eyes. They were his, and he was theirs. Nothing and no one could take that away from him, ever again. No shroud of ignorance could ever descend over his eyes again.

His heart had felt like ice before Duril stepped out on the balcony to join him in his night musings. But now, that part of him was warm again. He nuzzled Duril’s neck and ear as they walked back into the cozy bedroom.

Duril giggled softly. “You’re not in the mood to sleep, are you?”

“No. Are you sleepy?”

“While you’re trying to devour my ear like that? No, nothing could be further from my mind than sleep.”

Toru pushed Duril toward the bed, while laughing in his ear. “Wait.” He stopped upon seeing how sprawled out on the bed Varg and Claw were. Taking advantage of the fact that they were alone in that huge thing, they had taken over. “There’s no room here.”

Duril seemed as puzzled as he was. “I suppose we could just use the floor.”

“Yes,” Toru said slowly, “but I don’t want that. I will push them to their side of the bed.”

“How are you going to do that without waking them up?”

Duril’s question was very much justified, so Toru leaned over Varg and examined him for a while. The wolfshifter was so gone to the world that Toru doubted anything would wake him up. He even pinched his cheek to see if there was any chance of that, while Duril protested his methods in a whisper.

Now convinced that he wouldn’t have any trouble moving his friend around, despite his large size, he proceeded to grab him by one arm and pull him until he managed to roll Varg on top of Claw. Very satisfied with his results, he pulled at Claw’s legs so that Varg could lie there as comfortably as possible. To make sure that was the case, he patted the bear’s large belly a couple of times. It was firm, but provided enough cushioning, so Varg would sleep well.

Proud of his handiwork, he turned toward Duril with a huge smile. “What do you say? We have plenty of the bed to ourselves now.”

The healer looked at their friends, stacked like pans, and then back at him. He didn’t seem entirely convinced. “I hope they don’t wake up with cramps in their muscles.”

“If they do, it’s their fault for trying to take over the bed. And I say that we’ve slept in worse conditions on our road here.”

“Without a doubt,” Duril agreed.

Toru didn’t want to wait a moment longer. He grabbed Duril in his arms and lifted him off the floor. The healer laughed and ran his hand through his hair. Toru wasn’t in the least concerned when he plopped Duril down on his back as they climbed into the large bed together.

“I missed you very much,” he confessed once he had Duril half-naked under him.

Although the warm eyes confirmed that the feeling was mutual, Duril spoke the words, as well. “And I missed you, too, even more.”

That was the only proof he required. He caught Duril’s lips and licked his cute fangs. His actions were met with a lot more force than he expected. Duril was firm as he wrapped his arm around him and pulled him close. Shy Duril was what made Toru tick, but this slightly more aggressive version was turning him into a savage. He could no longer control his desire, and got rid of the rest of the clothes they both still had on. The only way was forward and when he finally found himself seated deep inside Duril’s body, he moaned in pleasure.

Duril’s nails dug deep into his back, urging him to move.

“It feels so good inside you,” Toru whispered. “I like it the best when we’re like this, together.”

Duril kissed him fiercely. “And I like it when you talk less and go harder at it.”

“Harder?” Toru asked.

Duril nodded. “Yes. I saw that you don’t hold back when you’re with Varg. You can do just the same with me.”

“You won’t mind?”

“Mind? I sincerely believe that I would like it very much.”

Toru checked Duril’s eyes for a brief moment to see if that was the whole truth. What he found there was much to his liking. So, he took hold of Duril’s hips and pulled him close, down on his shaft. Duril let out a loud moan and then, with a horrified expression, slapped one hand over his mouth.

“Am I too hard?” Toru asked.

“No, not at all,” Duril whispered. “I guess I was surprised by my own body’s reaction.”

“How does it feel?” Toru didn’t move and began caressing Duril’s manhood, which stood proud right in front of him. He began to rub up and down, which only made his lover squirm in newly found pleasure.

“You fill me so good, Toru,” Duril said, and by how he barely managed to get the words out, Toru could tell that he was being compleely honest.

“But if I move--”

“Just do it,” Duril ordered. Then, more softly, “please.”

There was nothing soft, however, in the way he held Toru by the shoulders, forcing him to move. Their rapid breaths mingled, as Toru obliged and began pushing himself inside Duril with all his strength. Right away, Duril made his approval known through soft moans and groans that grew in intensity and urgency with every movement of his hips.

Encouraged by his lover’s body and sweet voice, Toru let go of all his pent-up desire. He now moved fast and pulled Duril to him, impaling him onto his manhood over and over, while his body shook in pleasure. At that moment, they were one, and they were happy. And Toru knew that he would never be alone again.

He was coming closer to an early release, but that moment, a very amused voice interrupted them while they were climbing toward the peak. “I can see that you two love sneaking about a bit too much.”

Toru remained implanted in Duril’s body and turned his head to give Varg as much of a reproachful look as he could, given the circumstances. “Duril and I were just in the middle of proving how much we missed each other.”

“I’m sure you were,” Varg said promptly and moved closer, clearly bent on doing something nefarious.

Toru gathered Duril possessively in his arms and lay on top of him, convinced that he truly didn’t want to share him, not just yet, not before he had his fill first. Duril wrapped his legs around him, seemingly in as much of a possessive mood as he was.

But Varg seemed to be completely impervious to their clear signs of wanting to be left alone with their pleasurable activities. Toru grunted when the wolf landed his heavy palm on his right butt cheek. However, the following moment, he was bucking his hips slightly up to meet Varg’s hand. The wolfshifter really knew what he was doing because now he was moving his hand lower, to caress the heavy sac and even lower. By the way Duril moaned softly, Toru could only imagine that Varg was caressing his backside, as well.

“I can see that you filled Duril properly. I wouldn’t expect less of you. But you can’t expect me to sit idly by while you go at it like this. You know, the bed shakes an awful lot.”

“It does?” Toru did a few tentative swings of his hips, making Duril bite his bottom lip and whisper a soft curse as he did so. Indeed, the bed moved with them, even if barely.

“I’d say,” Varg suggested, “that we should find out if the furniture in here is as sturdy as it should be for a palatial chamber.” Varg moved closer and caressed Toru’s hip. “Would that be all right with the two of you? I can always just sit on the side and watch or go outside and take care of myself. You two are quite the sight.”

There was no way they would want something like that. Toru at least knew he wouldn’t want to leave Varg out of it. Why go outside, when there was so much pleasure to be had while splitting it into three?

“No, don’t go. Duril, what do you think?”

“The only thing I regret is that I can’t see a lot,” Duril replied. “I’d love for Varg to join us.”

The wolfshifter chuckled and leaned over Toru’s shoulder to give Duril a kiss. “Toru, you will be feeling as full as Duril soon.”

He didn’t protest as Varg positioned himself behind him and began to press against the hole of his ass. In a strange enough way, he was already prepared for it. From the moment Varg had intruded on their little tryst, the thought of enjoying both his lovers at the same time had been in the forefront of his mind.

Right at that very moment, Varg obliged him without even realizing that he was doing it. Toru moved his hips slowly so that he could adjust his rhythm and sink into Duril with one thrust, and then impale himself on Varg’s shaft with the following buck of his hips.

“It is like you were meant to make love like this, between us,” Varg whispered with wonder in his voice. “Kitty, you have no idea how happy you are making me right now. I can hear Duril’s sweet voice and feel your amazing backside doing things to my manhood that I didn’t believe possible.”

“Is four a crowd, or can I join?”

Claw’s deep voice made them all turn their faces toward him.

Toru shivered with a new type of pleasure. The only way for Claw to join in was to thrust himself into Varg, and that meant that the wolfshifter would feel the same thing he was feeling right now. That sense of closeness and one of the strongest desires he had made a small grunt of acquiescence escape his lips. “Can Claw join us?” he asked in a trembling whisper as he moved faster without even realizing it. Duril’s soft moans turned into urgent encouragements.

“Easy, kitty,” Varg urged him to slow down while caressing his chest. “We might be done before Claw even has a chance to join us. Don’t you think that might be a bit too cruel?”

Toru reined in his impulse to just go faster and reach his peak. Varg was right. One of the most tremendous pleasures to feel was when something like that was postponed, all the while teetering on the edge of that blissful sensation. So, he obeyed Varg’s demand and decreased the pace of his hips. The small sigh of relief from Duril confirmed that this was mostly done better when things were taken slowly.

“Claw, will you go behind Varg? I want to feel when you go inside him,” Toru said in a breathless whisper.

“That is exactly what I had in mind,” Claw confirmed.

The hitched hiss escaping from Varg’s lips let him know that the bearshifter was already doing it. Then, the wolfshifter relaxed for a few moments as he was given the opportunity to breathe. Toru knew how deceptive it could be, but it didn’t make what followed any less pleasurable. Varg wrapped his arms tightly around his chest and began to move, helping him fall into the same rhythm, along with him.

Duril was now thrashing and quivering as Toru moved faster and faster. He felt the entire weight of the wolfshifter being propelled against him, only to gather like a pool of desire at the small of his back and lower. Half his body was on fire, the sensation of fullness inside his ass matched only by his manhood being wrapped in the fiery heat that was Duril’s body.

“Claw, have you always been so awfully big?” Varg whispered, barely getting the words out.

“I might just be growing larger and larger as I enjoy being part of you,” the bear replied.

It wasn’t his usual voice, the one used for joking and pulling the other’s leg. No, this time, Claw’s voice was deep and sensual, and Toru felt his ears twitching, wanting more of that sound. Varg caught one of them between his lips and began lapping at it slowly. At the same time, Claw was starting to grunt, and the low reverberation of the sounds he was making turned Toru’s mind into a pleasant jelly.

The strong bear’s voice mingled with Duril’s soft pleas and Varg’s urgent moans. Then, he realized that he was not a slouch in making strange sounds, either. No, it was his voice that rose above the others’, asking them to go faster and deeper. Varg slammed hard into him, half forced to do so by Claw’s impressive weight pressing into him, half by his own volition. Toru couldn’t remember if Varg had ever been inside him so deeply and fully. It was a different kind of making love, one that took them all the more higher, like they had never been before in their lives.

Was it possible to feel so completely loved? If it hadn’t been happening to him right now, he would have denied it all, not because he didn’t have complete love for his companions, but because he had no idea that different beings could be pulled so close together, to the point that they made an even greater whole.

It was happening to him, and not only. It was also happening to Varg, Claw, and Duril. The healer sank his nails into Toru’s shoulder and began to cry out. A ripple went through them, as Duril began releasing all of his desire. Toru watched in fascinated wonder as Duril’s manhood appeared capable of going on forever, firing rope after rope of semen that spread all over his chest.

That was enough for him to make him realize that he was not capable of withholding himself any longer. He moved deep and hard into Duril, the healer’s satiated body welcoming him without the tightness around his manhood loosening. Just as it had just happened with Duril, he was pouring all of himself inside his lover for a time that felt like it would never end.

“Kitty, damn heavens and earth,” Varg cursed through tight lips.

Toru could barely feel how Varg’s fingers dug deep into his hips, holding him steady, although he still wanted to move just a little bit more and meet Duril’s warm body a few more times.

Varg’s growls were low and sensual and desperate as he did the same to Toru. It was beyond any earthly pleasure to experience how the wolf’s hard shaft was pulsing inside him, releasing wave after wave of seed and filling him up to the brim.

It took a bit for Toru to realize that Varg was still keening softly even as his manhood slowed down. Then he knew that Claw must have been pulled into the same madness of love as the rest of them. Soon, besides their mingled soft moans, only the bearshifter’s shouts of victory could be heard.

When they all dropped together on the bed, there was no one left unsatisfied.

“Now I understand,” Varg said in a ragged whisper after a while.

“What?” Duril asked.

“I understand why Toru wanted to know if this bed could hold all of us.”

“It looks like it did. They make sturdy things here, in Scercendusa,” Claw pointed out.

The words had barely left the bear’s lips when an ominous cracking sound made all of them freeze, and, at the drop of a hat, they all felt the bed under them giving way. The four legs on which it stood must have broken at the same time, because their fall was sudden but even.

They all let out a small sound of surprise, and then they started laughing.

“This will be a bit hard to explain,” Varg commented. “I mean, these nice people offered us bedrooms, but we decided to pile up together as if we were still stranded in a cave somewhere.”

“I will apologize,” Toru promised.

“No need to. Maybe you don’t know, but you have a master carpenter among you,” Claw said. “First thing in the morning, I’ll go borrow a hammer and some nails, and I’ll make sure that the bed is as good as new. It wouldn’t do to become notorious for breaking things, not after we saved the city. Oh, my apologies, after Toru saved the city.”

“You all helped me,” Toru said. “I’m sure that I wouldn’t have been able to do it all without you. All of you. And that is why I must ask you to join me on another adventure. That is, if you wouldn’t rather forget about the road and settle somewhere you like.” He said the last words quickly, unsure of whether everyone in the room would be as enticed by the idea as he was. No matter what great friends they were, they were all released from their bond after putting their lives on the line like that.

“Do you really have to ask?” Varg said and wrapped one arm around his shoulders to pull him close and kiss his temple. “I’d go with you anywhere. Don’t you forget, you, Duril and Claw are my pack now. I’m bound to you.”

“What will this adventure be about?” Claw asked.

It was only fair to be honest to them. “I want to find the place where I came from. The place where I was born. It is called Nelsikkar, and chances are it doesn’t exist anymore, but I have faith. And I will need your help, Claw, because we will travel back to The Quiet Woods, and from there to The Scarlet Peaks. If you want to remain at your friends’ side--”

“Not if I can help you find your place of birth,” Claw said promptly. “And as much as I love everyone at The Quiet Woods, I’m already too used to being with you lot. You’re my lovers and my friends. Just don’t let Beast and Willow know that I’d rather be adventuring with you. I’ll never be the same with them as I am with you. You’re my other family.”

“That’s very good to hear,” Toru said and reached for Claw with one hand to give him a squeeze.

“What is that you want to do at The Scarlet Peaks?” Claw asked.

“You told us about that old sage who lives there,” Varg reminded him. “You want to ask him about Nelsikkar, don’t you, Toru?”

“Yes. The Sakka don’t know where Nelsikkar used to be located. It could be very far away. Demophios doesn’t talk to me anymore, although I don’t remember anything about offending him. I guess he’s trapped in that other world.”

“I think the same, too,” Varg confirmed. “But we’re not helpless. Do you know how to take us to The Scarlet Peaks, Claw?”

“Yes, I know the road there. But we can, indeed, stop by The Quiet Woods and gather some supplies. The path through the mountains is treacherous, and we might have to go hungry for a long time if we don’t bring food with us. And we must be careful about eating snow, too. Mostly it’s harmless, and we don’t get sick like humans anyway, but there are all kinds of rumors. Such as that it might make you mad.”

“I don’t want to eat snow instead of meat,” Toru said, with all the conviction he could muster.

“I said it mostly for the sake of our thirst. There are rivers crossing the mountains, but we should bring water with us, too. And a lot of warm clothes. I believe that I will have to put my tribe at The Quiet Woods to some serious work,” Claw said.

“We will help. And we will repay them, whatever it is that they want in return,” Duril said. “It will be good to talk to Shearah some more. Maybe she has some good advice to give us.”

“Of course,” Claw confirmed. “If that old sage truly exists, we will find him. Before that, it would be for the better if you asked the Sakka about everything they know, Toru.”

“I will, but I thought I should allow them a bit of a break. They were so brave,” Toru said.

“They stood like a wall,” Duril added. “I have never seen a more valiant group of people.”

“And they’re tiny,” Claw said with a chuckle. “Yes, I would say that they are able to be of invaluable help. They were a sight, all black from head to toes.”

“You should have seen them, taking the brunt of all that remained of that evil,” Duril added. “I thought they would be done for.”

“Then that is something that I will do as soon as we wake up in the morning,” Toru said. “Who wants to come with me? I’m not that much of a scholar and searching through all their texts sound very boring. I wouldn’t even know where to search, to begin with.”

“I will come,” Duril said.

“And I will be busy repairing the bed we just broke,” Claw reminded them all.

“That leaves me where?” Varg asked.

“You will start your apprenticeship as a carpenter,” Claw suggested right away. “I might need the help, and I’d love to lord over you a little bit.”

“I’m sure you would,” Varg commented dryly. “But doesn’t anyone else besides me think that this bed feels a lot more comfortable like this, without legs, and close to the floor?”

“It doesn’t matter what we think,” Claw replied, completely unfazed. “We are well-behaved shifters. We are not going to leave a bad impression on these people.”

“I don’t really think that would be possible, not after Toru made sure Hekastfet was destroyed and their city liberated from evil,” Duril pointed out.

“Don’t ruin my chance of putting Varg to work under me,” Claw joked. He grunted as, most probably, the wolfshifter hit him in the ribs more than just playfully. “You two go see the little scholars. They might know a lot but they wouldn’t keep so many texts unless there’s a chance they might forget something.”

Toru agreed wholeheartedly. He truly hoped that the Sakka had some answers, if not about Nelsikkar, at least about a smaller place, like Winterhelm. And he was glad that he would have Duril with him, not only because the healer knew how to read and did so well, but because he was always such a great support for him.

The Sakka were tiny and brave, and they had, indeed, stood like a wall before Hekastfet so that the evil didn’t poison the city again. In their books and tomes, something about Nelsikkar, Niverborg, or Winterhelm had to exist, of that he was convinced.

TBC

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