Dragon's Tale 12 (Patreon)

The redhead opened her mouth, but failed to say anything. Understandable considering the challenge she had just went through. I decided to use the time to get a better view of her body, and let my gaze drift over her body. 

The first thing I noticed was her flaming red hair, long enough to reach the middle of her back, tied back in a loose ponytail, making me imagine how it would look once it was free, flowing with the wind. Her ponytail had the advantage of leaving her face free of obstruction, revealing a surprisingly lovely face that wouldn’t be amiss belonging to a scion of a noble family, crowned by a pair of bright emerald eyes, and pouty red lips. She was likely in her early twenties. 

Liking what I saw, and seeing that she was still struggling to say anything, I let my gaze drift even lower, examining the curvy body that showed itself despite the looseness of her rough linen shirt, and a few tears that she doubtlessly acquired during her long escape revealed a delicious hint of pale skin underneath. I wondered how it would feel to sink my fingers into her generous bosom. 

Moving downward, I could see the hints of a thin waist, though with her loose blouse it was more of a guess than an observation, followed by another widening, this time her hips, straining the capability of her skirt to keep them contained. 

Then I turned my attention to her tattoos that covered her arms, not covered by her short-sleeved blouse, making an interesting pattern on her otherwise pale skin. Their design was interesting, but not as much as the magic flowing through them. It was an interesting choice, grafting her magical focus into her body, unafraid of the consequences. Not only did it limit her magical flexibility quite a bit, but also, it wasn’t like she could easily discard her skin if she was wounded. Though, on the positive side, it was stronger than many focuses I had used, impressive considering she was living in the middle of the wilderness. 

I wanted to free her from her clothes, partially because of my magical curiosity to see whether her tattoos were drifting inside, partially because I was getting a boner as I examined her beautiful body. 

Considering I was completely naked, there was no hiding my boner. She blushed deeply as she noticed it and sent a fearful gaze towards me. Understandable from her perspective, though lucky for her, I was not a brute. I decided to distract her. “Let’s start with a simpler question. What’s your name?” I asked in a calm tone even as I gestured to her to follow me while I started walking away. 

“Astrid,” she said with a whisper, looking nominally calmer now that I didn’t show an immediate bad intent, but a lot of her wariness stayed in her eyes. She took a few more steps before realizing we were about to step out of the opening. “Are you going to leave the bear like this?” she asked. 

“Unfortunately, yes,” I said, and when she looked at me questioningly, I continued. “I put a bit of effort into hunting that, but if I skin it, those blockheads will know someone is still alive.” 

“Why do you need to avoid them?” she asked quickly, as she looked at my eyes, trying to seem calm, but unable to hide her sudden excitement. “You’re very strong and brave. Or do you think you can’t handle them if they are in a bigger group?” 

I couldn’t help but feel amused at her questions, especially the unsubtle way she tried to goad me into action. It might work against the tribal warriors, as from what I had seen, those young guys weren’t exactly the sharpest knife in a drawer, but after the nobles’ subtle ploys, it was terribly transparent. “Maybe, but I have a lot of things to do, and I don’t need the annoyance of fighting back against them as well,” I added. 

“But, what if-” she started, this time more heated, determined to use me to solve their enmity, but I silenced her with a wave of my hand.

“Enough,” I called, nominally shorter. “It’s not a bargain, and I don’t have to explain it to you. But I’m curious, tell me about yourself?” 

“I’m the priestess of the great tribe of Welker,” she said, unable to help herself from pushing out her chest pridefully, which had the nice effect of straining her blouse’s capability to keep her breasts hidden. The effect was nice, and the pride was understandable. I didn’t know a lot about the tribal culture of Germania, but priestess was clearly a position of great responsibility and capability, and it greatly favored the elder considering its magical leanings. The fact that she was able to get the position in her youth spoke a lot about her capabilities, enough to make me consider whether to keep her around for more than her sexy bosom. 

Then, I remembered the guys calling the other person  the leader of the Welker tribe as well. “Didn’t those guys also present themselves as part of the same tribe?” I asked. 

“They are traitors,” she spat angrily. I looked at her questioningly, and she continued. “Our old leader disappeared, and in his absence, his wife, the great Helena temporarily took the role of the leader as the tradition dictates,” she explained. 

“I’m guessing those guys didn’t appreciate it,” I said even as I led her deeper into the forest, looking around carefully to find a hint of prey. We still need some leather to fashion clothing, I was about to say, when I realized Astrid’s clothes had quite a bit of excess fabric. Fashioning some clothing from them would have been easier. 

“The one they called the leader is the nephew of our leader,” she explained, unaware of the plots aimed at her clothing. “His father was supposed to rule the tribe, but died several years ago in a duel when he challenged the current leader.”

“Why?” I said, as more of an idle curiosity than actual intention to help. 

“He wanted the hand of Lady Helena,” she explained, adding another nugget of detail to their leadership crisis. “So, Grundi decided to take his uncles’ disappearance as an opportunity, and petitioned the tribe to be the new leader.” 

“How long has  the leader been absent?” I asked, curious. 

“It has been two month, but Grundi started speaking about his right to be leader just a week into his absence,” the priestess murmured furiously. I understood the reason for her anger. If he was that quick to act, it was reasonable to assume that he knew that the disappearance was permanent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken the risk. 

“I’m guessing that the tribe didn’t take kindly to that fact,” I said. 

“No,” she said sharply, but then continued with a calmer tone. “Not at first, at least,” she said. “But when some of the strongest supporters of Lady Helena suddenly disappeared, people started to think differently.” From there, she continued to give a detailed breakdown of their struggle for dominance, though it was mostly their faction losing more and more support, while I solidified my idea that there was an external force supporting Grundi’s faction. That was the simplest explanation for their increasing strength during the struggle. Still, assuming Astrid was accurate, I was impressed with Helena. It wasn’t easy to maintain her leadership under challenge in a tribal society.  

“Interesting,” I murmured. That, together with the totem Grundi had used to create the wall of flame suggested that he had a secret support. “What made them act suddenly?”

“Lady Helena disappeared as well,” she said, and I sent a questioning gaze. “She’s not dead,” she said confidently, without a shred of doubt. I felt curious. Either her faith in Helena was that impressive, or she knew something she wasn’t telling me. I was inclined to believe the latter. “After she disappeared, the rest was quick to declare Grundi as the new leader.” 

“Let me guess. You stayed there, keeping your head down, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but they decided to target you for an unrelated reason,” I said, feeling confident at my guess. 

She nodded. “Grundi decided that I was too young to be priestess, and decided to have me married to Ettru,” she said, and when I looked at her questioningly, she continued. “The weasel that escaped,” she clarified. 

“Ah, I understand why you chose to run away,” I said. Plotting was good and all, but not if it required a big personal sacrifice. I only interacted with the guy for a few moments, but he managed to annoy me throughly. Also, I had a feeling that I did a good deed by avoiding killing him, because he was definitely going to create more problems for Grundi, enough to prevent him from digging deep into my supposed death. 

As we spoke, we were getting closer to the cave. “I understand. Now, let’s move on the next topic, namely, my reward for saving you.” 

That made her take a step back, her arms rising protectively. Her concern was understandable. “What do you have in mind?” she said, managing to keep her voice even. 

“Nothing too onerous,” I said. “I have a friend here as well, and we’re stranded here after an accident with absolutely nothing.” 

“That much is obvious,” she said, pointing at my naked state, and my only weapon stolen from my attackers. 

“Right,” I said. “Normally, I wouldn’t mind hunting in an unfamiliar forest for a few days, as it would be fun.” I added, and she nodded, knowing it was an empty brag after seeing me taking down a thunder bear easily. “Unfortunately, we’re being followed, so a guide with a good knowledge of the terrain would be useful.” 

I could see her not entirely happy about being conscripted as a guide, but she was also smart enough to realize that it was the best option at the moment. “It would be my honor,” she murmured. 

“Excellent,” I said even as we traversed the small path leading to the cave. “And we’re here. Try to keep silent, my companion is still exhausted.” 

“It’s a good location to rest,” she said, not knowing what else to say. 

I gestured for her to take a seat on a nearby stone while I walked into the cave, confident that she would wait for me. A nice view awaited me inside. Lillian was laying on the bed of grass I had created for her, her naked body hinting at all kinds of deliciousness, begging me to take a dip. Unfortunately, we had a guest. I reached out and caressed her shoulder. “Good morning, princess,” I whispered. 

“Ten more minutes,” she murmured adorably in response, not bothering to open her eyes. Her hand reached down, looking for a nonexistent cover. Only when she failed repeatedly, her eyes popped open as she remembered the situation she was in. 

“Good morning, beautiful,” I whispered as I caressed her hair, but then pulled away, something that made her relieved and disappointed at the same time. I wanted to tease her a bit, but we had delayed enough. The raiders probably already landed, so we needed to start moving. “Be ready, we have a guest,” I said as I stood up, which, once again, treated her with a full-frontal view of my naked body. She blushed. 

“What do you mean by a guest?” she said, curious but not alarmed, though she reflexively covered her body at the mention of a stranger. 

“I was hunting when I came across another damsel in distress, accosted by several annoying assholes, so I intervened,” I briefly explained, not bothering to go in detail. 

“So, it’s a woman,” she said, her voice wobbly, like she was stuck between feeling relieved or annoyed. Relieved because in her current lack of dress a random male companion wasn’t something she needed, and I hoped her annoyance was from a feeling of jealousy. 

“Why, is it a problem?” I asked with a smirk. 

“Of course not,” she answered instantly as she turned her head, but her blush proved truer. I chuckled. 

“Do you know how to sew?” I asked after several seconds while I let her enjoy her blush. 

“I do,” she answered, looking confused for a moment about what she considered as a surprised tangent before reason seeped into her sleepy mind. “You found fabric,” she gasped in excitement. 

In a manner of speaking it was true, so I just nodded. “Yes, hopefully enough to cover the essentials for both of us,” I explained before hitting her with a flirty smile. “Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoy our dress code, but a forest is not the best place to walk around like this.” 

“You scoundrel,” she gasped as she slapped my arm, which I noted to be pretty playful. She had come a long way in the last few days. Mortal danger had a way of making people learn what was truly important. 

I chuckled. “You can come and meet our guest if you won’t feel too self-conscious,” I asked with a faux-concern, which earned another slap and a chuckle from her. She followed me outside, though she stayed a step behind, using my body as a partial cover. 

The expression of superiority that appeared on both of their faces the moment they saw each other, complete with a soft harumph sound, was genuinely amusing, but despite everything that happened to me I still had a smidgen of survival instinct, so I refrained from openly laughing. 

“So, girls, let me introduce you to each other,” I said, my tone doing little to break the tension. “Astrid, this is Lillian, my travel companion for the foreseeable future,” I said, and Astrid nodded coldly, her head barely moving. Lillian was smart enough to get Astrid’s supposed superiority, but she chose to act obvious despite her tightening jaw. 

Astrid must have disliked the lack of reaction. “Is this what they call whores in the cities,” Astrid stage-whispered. 

I could have warned Astrid to rein herself in, but Lillian was a big girl, and strong enough to fight this battle. Astrid was no dragon serpent, after all. “And Lillian, this is Astrid, our guide for the next few days.” 

“It’s a pleasure,” Lillian said with a bright, friendly smile, and Astrid looked shocked, and even a bit ashamed. I barely held back from giggling, because I had seen that smile before, usually against another noble girl that managed to annoy her in the school, right before that girl suffered a humiliating accident. Her beauty might have put Lillian to the top of the school hierarchy, but it was her hidden viciousness that kept her there. 

I wondered what kind of innovative humiliation awaited Astrid. 

“Excellent,” I said. “I need to go hunting, but I want you two to stay here and make a workable dress for Lillian. We have enough people hunting us without people seeing her deliciousness,” I said, happy to see a soft blush on Lillian’s face at my compliment. 

“Okay, but where’s the fabric you promised,” Lillian said. I just pointed at Astrid. 

Lillian nodded vindictively, but Astrid was slower on the uptake. “I don’t have any extra fabric with me,” she said, but when I gazed at her with a smirk, she realized as well. “No, not my clothes,” she said. “Can’t we do something from leather,” she said. 

“Not unless you can do that magically,” I said. 

“Of course not,” she said immediately. “Who would be so wasteful as to create a spell for that!” 

Lillian and I shared an amused glare. “Things are a bit different back in the Republic, even in a remote province,” I explained. “Unfortunately, Lillian’s experience is limited with fabric, and my magic is a bit wonky right now so I won’t be able to cast anything delicate for a few days,” I explained. The initial idea was to process the leather through mundane methods, but it would have cost us a few days. Since Astrid had such a long skirt and a loose shirt, using the excess to fashion some temporary clothing was much easier. 

“But-” Astrid said, trying to argue, but I let loose my magic, letting the pressure wash over her. She blanched. It was the simplest trick any magic user could do, and it was directly dependent on the relative power between the user and the target. Even Lillian blanched a bit despite her familiarity and not being the target, but also became aroused a bit. Power was an interesting thing, scary, but also worked as an effective aphrodisiac. 

“Understood,” Astrid murmured, scared by my display. 

“Excellent,” I said, satisfied. I hadn’t used my power to cut the discussion short, but to remind Astrid about my power. I trusted Lillian to handle herself, but it would be best to keep Astrid aware of the consequences of annoying me. “Then, I’ll see you in a couple of hours,” I said before leaving them alone. 

My intention was to hunt something for food, which, luckily, didn’t take long, meaning I had some time to kill. I decided to continue assimilating my magic, not wanting it to get out of control. Unfortunately, it was too flashy to do back in the camp. So, I searched for a while to find another concealed spot about a mile away from the camp, and crouched down. 

My hands sparked in thunder as I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain.