Hungry Heart - Book 5 - Ch. 2 (Patreon)

Chapter One

Chapter Two – The Lights of Coinvale

“Are those boats?” Toru exclaimed, pointing at the sea of sand stretching as far as their eyes could see. Not that much trouble for the tigershifter, who, with his feline eyes, could see well in the dark.

Duril moved closer to him and looked at the impossible yet beautiful sight in front of them. They were walking along the shore now, while the Aureate Sea, as the locals called that vast expanse of golden sand, moved its waves gently toward them, only to withdraw and lunge again against the shore. They weren’t waves exactly, Duril mused. They rolled over the rocky shore like small coins pouring from a chest, returning to their point of origin with each movement cycle. Even the sound these so-called waves made resembled that chirpy noise made by gold pieces toppling over one another. Everything about this city, this realm, spelled abundance and a love for gold and trade like nowhere else they had traveled to date.

And then, there were the boats. For a moment, Duril felt like he couldn’t breathe in the face of so much beauty. Their long masts seemed to lose themselves in the sky above, although the weight of their sails didn’t justify their heights by far. Made of a shimmering fabric that appeared exceedingly light and easy to tear at every breeze, the sails fluttered in the soft wind of the evening like the curling eyelashes of a shy maiden.

Their decks were like nothing Duril had ever seen on a boat before, either. A soft wide carpet lay under each mast, its rectangular shape making it impossible to tell the bow from the stern. They appeared so simple, and yet so intricate. How were they supposed to travel over the Aureate Sea using such a flimsy, sophisticated means of transportation?

His thoughts were cut short – along with Toru’s noisy amazement at such apparitions – by the sight of someone walking toward them. At first, he thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him, because the person moving with purpose to meet them seemed to be one with his surroundings. It took Duril a moment or two to realize that it had to be one of the boaters, eager for new clients.

There was nothing eager in the way the man moved, however. His long garments were made from golden thread fabric that glistened under the stars as if they glowed with a light of their own. The patterns were ripples, echoing the shapes carved by the wind on the surface of the sand. Atop his head rested a wide-brimmed hat, drawn low over his eyes, so there was no way of telling what his face looked like, or whether he was old or young.

“Hello,” Varg said courteously, “we’re strangers to this land, and we’d like to travel to Coinvale.”

The boater – because nothing else could have been his chosen profession – raised his head only when he was close to them. His eyes were sharp and slanted, alive and keen-looking on a wizened face. When he spoke, his deep voice seemed to emerge from the depths of the sand.

“Welcome to the passing of the Aureate Sea, strangers.” His words were even and clipped, unlike the sweet tongue of the merchants they had heard thus far. Without another word, he turned, and they followed him for lack of any other sort of guidance.

The boater stepped on the deck of one of those magical boats, and Duril looked around, curious to see others of the man’s kind. But, as far as he could detect, there was no one else around, or any other boaters remained hidden from view, perhaps until another stranger required to be provided passage over the sea of golden sand.

Toru was the first to step onto the soft carpet, showing his friends that the strange deck wouldn’t give under their feet. Duril followed after and wrapped his good arm around Toru’s while watching the boater, who stood with his back to them, his arms raised. The garments he wore fluttered, and there were whispers soaring from his lips, in a language they didn’t understand. The sails above them billowed and filled, and although the night breeze was far from strong, the boat began moving.

Duril turned his head and exchanged a glance with first Varg, and then with Claw. They were alert but quiet. All this was new to them, too; he wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what to expect next.

***

Toru could barely contain his excitement. What a wondrous adventure! The Aureate Sea was flowing past on both sides, while the boat glided over its surface without touching it at all, or so it seemed. The strange boater kept his back turned to them, attention fully focused on the incantation he continued to chant and channel through his entire erect body.

He could tell Duril was struggling to understand the strange magical words that made the boat move, but that was something he couldn’t be made to care for, as he considered it very boring to even think about. Instead, he looked around. Something of the solemnity of what the boater was doing imposed a silence over the group instead of idle chatter, so none of his friends said anything, not even between themselves.

That sea was one of the strangest things he had ever seen in his life. It was nothing like the Great Barren, where Duril had found his kin what seemed like such a long time ago. That vast desert was noisy, bloody, cold, and unforgiving, just as were the creatures inhabiting it. But these rolling dunes were soft in their movements, like a soothing melody. The boat advanced over them to the rhythm of the same song.

The air was sweet and carried the flavors of spices and delicious foods right under his nose. He could only assume that the people of Coinvale knew well how to cook all sorts of things, and he couldn’t wait to try them all.

His eyelids grew heavy and he fought the temptation to fall asleep while still standing upright. Wouldn’t that be a little silly? To fall asleep the same way horses did? And yet, he seemed to be doing just that, because when the boat stopped, he was jerked awake and threw a startled look at Duril, who seemed to have gone through the same experience.

They all looked ahead, realizing that they had reached their destination, without even having a clear recollection of it happening. Before them stood the city, lit so brightly that Toru had to blink a few times to adjust his eyes to its powerful glow.

“The lights of Coinvale,” the boater said and offered nothing else. He stepped aside, waiting for them to disembark.

Duril hurried forward, the coin for the boater in his hand. The man said nothing and made the coin disappear into the many folds of his flowing garments. Toru stepped out of the vessel, followed closely by Varg and Claw. Curious as he always was, he looked behind them to catch one last glimpse of the man that had brought them here, to the other shore.

The Aureate Sea stretched behind them, caught in its unchanging, whispering melody. But there was no sign of the boater, nor of his boat. It was as if the sands themselves had opened up to swallow them and spit them out back at their point of origin.

“Magic,” Toru said and shrugged. He would never pretend that he understood it. And it wasn’t something that interested him anyway.

***

The city was teeming with activity, even at its outskirts. All its streets were paved with golden stones that faded here and there to create a random pattern that wasn’t unattractive. These streets were where everything happened, it seemed. Tall poles held burning flames atop them, the source of all that light. Varg squinted as he tried to make sense of the sort of fuel that was used for what appeared to be a tremendous waste, but he couldn’t see anything that would answer his unspoken question.

They had come a long way, and Duril’s hard-earned coin would certainly come in handy. Varg doubted that the people of Coinvale were the welcoming sort if you didn’t have the currency to exchange for needed or desired goods and services.

“We will visit the city tomorrow,” Claw suggested. “First, let’s find ourselves a place to lay our weary heads.”

They opted for a large inn that stood close to the shore they had just left. It was built from strong wooden beams, awash with a golden hue like everything else which, at a close look, appeared to be as sturdy as it had from afar. The double doors were open wide, welcoming newcomers. They stepped inside, and an innkeeper in a green apron hurried up to make their acquaintance.

“Strangers to Coinvale, I see,” he said quickly, measuring them up and down, probably weighing the size of their coin pouch. “Your first visit here, I see.”

“Good evening, good man,” Varg said. “Do you have a room for us?”

“One large enough to accommodate the four of you? Of course, of course,” the innkeeper nodded, his mustache bouncing happily with each word he said. He was a bald man in his late forties, but his thick eyebrows and the hair above his upper lip made up for anything he lacked on the top of his head.

Duril pulled out his pouch and Varg took it to negotiate with the innkeeper. The man loved to bargain, it seemed, and Varg showed that even strangers to this land weren’t easy to fool. Eventually, they reached an agreement satisfactory to both parties, and soon they were following a young lad up the heavy wooden stairs to the first floor.

“I am at your service,” the young man said once they were inside their room and were busy eyeing its appointments. “Anything you need, you only have to tell me.”

Varg flicked a small coin to the lad, and he caught it with practiced ease. “Are food and drinks included in the price of the room?” he asked, as a means of testing the server’s honesty, seeing how he had already negotiated that with the innkeeper.

“Of course. I will bring a feast to you,” the lad said, his face all a smile. “Arid is my name, and if you forget it, ask anyone for your hospitier, and I will be right here.”

“All right, Arid. We’d like that food now if it’s not a bother,” Varg said with a smile of his own.

***

As expected from a place as busy and famous as this, the food was delicious. Toru devoured morsels and cuts of meat from many plates, without bothering to ask what they were. As long as they tasted good, they had the right to enter his belly. Arid the hospitier had come and gone several times, always ensuring that their tankards were filled, and that they lacked for nothing. Bringing food to rooms was a custom here, it seemed, and there was a large table in the middle of the floor specifically for that.

Along with the satiety of his belly, other senses began to rise.

“Did you see how that boater disappeared?” he started once Arid had bid them goodnight. “Do you think the sea swallowed him?”

“Many things are not how we know them to be here,” Varg agreed. “I thought I have seen enough of the world for nothing to surprise me anymore, but never in my battles and travels have I seen such a land as this. It feels as if this entire place runs on magic.”

“What do you think, Duril?” Toru asked, turning his head toward his favorite lover and squeezing his hand. “You are closer to magic than me. I mean, all of you are closer to magic than me.”

Claw laughed, holding his belly. “Indeed. But don’t let that ever stop you, Toru.”

“As if,” he said, lifting his chin.

Duril rubbed his head against his and laughed softly. “What I think is that, like all of you, I have never encountered a place such as Coinvale. I have so many questions, but I suppose they can wait for a night.”

“Like why and how that boater disappeared?” Toru asked, since that was one mystery he would have liked to understand.

“Yes, that too. I’m quite curious about how they can afford burning so many torches to keep the place lit like this.”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Varg said from across the table. “My eyes might not be the best, but it looked to me like there was nothing there, feeding the flames and keeping them alive. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no clear explanation for it.”

Claw got up first. “Now that we’re satiated and we don’t have to sleep under the naked sky, how about we retire for the night?”

***

Retire wasn’t the correct word for what Toru had in mind once he had huddled close to Duril’s warm body. They had been on the road for so long, and while they had indulged in loving each other now and then, he had missed the comfort of a bed and a roof over their heads. When he had mentioned that, Duril had laughed and told him that he was like a big cat since he didn’t mind sleeping outside, with nothing but the hard ground underneath and the stars above, yet he liked soft beds and pillows and warmth coming from a fireplace more than that freedom.

He was very careful as he began easing Duril out of his night clothes. They even had such things now, as the healer was in charge of caring for all of them. However, Toru preferred to sleep naked, as did Varg and Claw. Duril’s wish to make them behave like city dwellers had fallen flat so far. However, he himself enjoyed dressing up for the night, so it was Toru’s particular pleasure to see him without the light shirt and bottoms.

“Toru,” Duril whispered sleepily, “what are you doing? You can’t sleep?”

“I ate so much I can’t sleep,” Toru said. “Also, you rubbed against me until now. Didn’t you feel anything?”

“What?”

“This,” Toru said back and took Duril’s hand and placed it over his burning crotch.

The healer couldn’t keep in a giggle. “Toru, you are so naughty. We are going to wake up Claw and Varg. Maybe they’re tired after sleeping outside for so many nights.”

“I will be very quiet, I promise.” Toru snuggled against Duril’s now naked body and began nuzzling the side of his neck. “We will search the city for all signs of magic tomorrow, but tonight, I want to spend all my hours with you.”

Duril answered by letting out a short, sharp gasp. Toru made sure to move at the slowest pace he could manage. He didn’t mind sharing his lover with his other two companions, who were also his lovers, but sometimes, he liked to have Duril all to himself for a bit.

They managed to roll soundlessly to the edge of the bed, and then Toru put one hand down and slowly they moved down to the floor. They didn’t have to worry that the ground would be too hard for what they had in mind, because the wooden boards were covered with plush carpets that muffled any step or movement.

Now they touched each other everywhere, skin on skin, and he loved that sensation. It made him shudder with newly discovered want for the one in his arms. He never got tired of kissing Duril, even teasing him by licking at his lips and little tusks so that he’d open his mouth and allow himself to be kissed. It was amazing that the healer was still shy even after all this time, but this modesty was just another thing in the long string of things Toru liked so much about him.

However, it looked as if tonight Duril was shaking off a bit of that modesty, because he kissed back hungrily and then Toru found himself being rolled over with the other on top of him. They fit together perfectly everywhere, and it was so good to feel that strong body pushing against him. Maybe Duril had never imagined himself as some sort of warrior, but after learning about the orcs that were his kin, and the blood of his sire manifested inside him, he was now as much a fighter as a lover, and it showed in how he made love, too.

It was pleasurable to let someone else take the reins for a change, so Toru abandoned himself and relaxed into his lover’s care. Duril kissed him a few times, making their desire and pleasure soar with each touch of their lips and each meeting of their tongues.

“I want you,” Duril whispered against his lips, and Toru understood. Since it wasn’t usually like his lover to be so domineering, he welcomed the change.

Duril moved over him, kissing him everywhere, and praising each part of him, with words that brought as much pleasure as the brushing of his lips. He stopped when he reached Toru’s manhood and began peppering it with small kisses to the point that it became a sweet torture.

Then, he began licking at it slowly, making sure that Toru felt everything, turning him into a quivering, begging mess.

“And what are you two doing on the floor?” Varg’s playful voice teased them from above. “Can it be that you got so used to the road that you can’t bear sleeping in a bed like everyone else?”

“Speaking of bears,” Claw jumped in and observed Toru and Duril from Varg’s side, “I think you two kits should have let us know that you weren’t so sleepy, after all. Or could it be that you wanted to have each other all to yourselves?”

Although that was partly the truth, Toru’s desire was so high now that he wanted more. And that meant that he wanted all his lovers at the same time. He didn’t even have to say it; as he stretched out his arms, Varg and Claw knelt by his side and then each of them picked an angle from which to attack him. Varg remained at his right, while Claw moved to his left. In the meantime, Duril hadn’t forgotten his task at hand. His sharp teeth moved over Toru’s manhood, grazing it in passing, but without any intention of hurting him.

Not the same could be said about Varg, whose teeth were now buried in Toru’s ear, worrying it to the point that he had to growl in warning.

Claw was more of the sensitive kind, which came as quite a big surprise, given his size and his usual manners. He was busy teasing Toru’s nipples, flicking his tongue over each and squeezing them in passing, until they hardened to the point that he thought he would burst out of his skin with pleasure.

His entire body was burning now. Duril played with him, using his hand and his tongue at the same time. It was so good he could cry, but of course, brave tigers like him didn’t cry, not even in the throes of passion.

It didn’t take him long to give Duril the reward the healer had been working so hard for. He shuddered as the ecstasy left his body slowly, but it looked like nothing was going to keep his lovers from using him as they saw fit, now that he’d had his pleasure.

Varg rolled him over until he was on his belly, and then his position was adjusted so that he was up on all fours as a hard organ pushed between his lips. He sucked hungrily at it, tasting Claw, who didn’t mind being the first to give him that. When it came to lovemaking, Toru’s appetite matched the one he had for food, and he was lucky that he didn’t have to ever go hungry with so many lovers around him.

He moaned softly around the member in his mouth, while Varg licked his backside with matching hunger. Toru pushed his behind upward so that Varg was able to go even lower and caress his heavy sac with tongue and lips. That was the love he fought for, and their friendship, and their desire to always remain by his side. The world came second, even if that might have felt like selfishness on his part.

Duril didn’t sit idly by as the wolf and the bear began using him as they saw fit. They were so lost in the sensations washing over them that they weren’t aware of what the healer was up to. And Duril could be a naughty one, when he wanted to be. Toru watched him from the corner of one eye and heard him move around. He watched as Duril gave Claw a long kiss, leaving the bearshifter breathless. When the healer moved to Varg, Toru was damn certain that the handsome wolf would get the same treatment.

“How nice of you to let us have a taste of our beloved kitty,” the wolfshifter growled playfully.

“I always share the best,” Duril gave back in kind.

Claw laughed, and Toru mumbled something, but he didn’t want to let go of the delicious thing in his mouth. Although the bear had to be the biggest of them, he had no trouble finding his way around that impressive manhood and only wanted more and more.

At the same time, he enjoyed teasing Varg with how he could squeeze him from behind. His efforts were not in vain, but greatly appreciated through the grunts and moans he was hearing. And Duril now stood behind Claw, playing with his hirsute chest and making him growl his pleasure at being stimulated like that.

Toru knew there had to be a limit to pleasure now and then. So, as Varg hammered into him, making him march closer and closer to his second peak of the night, he didn’t hold back. As he voiced his pleasure at giving and receiving at one end, his reaction triggered a similar one from Claw, who took his head and held it while filling his mouth with tasty seed.

Duril was quick to kneel in front of him and help him share that meal. That was what he loved about his lovers so much. They were all eager to make him part of it all, and they wanted to be a part of everything he lived, everything he experienced.

The giddy laughter from Varg and Claw eventually made them stop their kiss.

“What?” Toru asked, a little disconcerted, and his bones pleasantly melted after such vigorous lovemaking.

“You two are just so beautiful together,” Claw said. “You make us a little jealous.”

“Only a little?” Duril teased the bearshifter.

Claw hooked one arm over Varg’s shoulder. “Yes, only a little. After all, puppy belongs to me first and foremost.”

“And what gave you that idea?” Varg asked, feigning surprise.

“I don’t know, maybe it was the way you keep staring at me with those big puppy eyes.”

They all laughed good-naturedly.

“It’s been a long time since I have been able to be described as a puppy,” Varg said. “But, as long as it comes from you, I’ll accept it.”

“Will you accept being called mutt by me?” Toru asked quickly.

“Don’t push your luck,” Varg warned him, but his face had a huge grin plastered over it.

“And now that we’re all satiated in more ways than one,” Claw said, “how about we actually go to sleep this time? We’re going to explore a whole city tomorrow.”

Toru couldn’t agree more. Now, he was happy to sleep, curled up against Duril’s side, letting beautiful dreams pull him into their embrace until morning.

TBC

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