I smiled as the armored knight gave me a hug, my nipples pressing against her cold breastplate. That felt nice. I hadn’t made love to Angela yet. Chaun and I should invite her to our bed. I bet she would be fun to play with.
And then I became a bird. I couldn’t help myself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warlock Faoril
Xera and Minx stumbled out of the brush, the elf’s mouth smeared with pussy juices and cum, the halfling dipping so many loads of jizz out of her snatch. A surge of hunger shot through me to fall to my knees and not let all that yummy cum go to waste.
I controlled myself.
“So, what do we do with her?” Minx asked, pointing to the Tuathan twinborn witch held by my magic. The woman floated in the air, her green eyes wide with fear.
“Kill her,” grunted Thrak. He sat by the fire, running a whetstone across his ax, the muscles in his swarthy back playing as he stroked.
“Sure,” Minx said, drawing a dagger from her belt. It was all she wore. Like everyone but Angela, Minx was fucking when the attack happened. And she and Xera hadn’t had a chance to dress. Of course, Xera only wore a belt on which to carry her supplies and quiver of arrows.
“No, we can’t kill her,” Xera gasped. “We took her prisoner.”
“Be simpler,” Thrak grunted. “I understand how repugnant it is, but she is dangerous. Her magic nullified Faoril’s.”
“Angela wouldn’t want us to execute a prisoner,” I said, planting my hands on my hips, pressing the fabric of my red robes tight to my body. “Thrak, you know that. She’s a knight.”
“Technically, she’s not,” he countered.
“Spiritually, she is. So we are not killing the prisoner.” I glanced at the woman. “Though I have no idea what we should do with you.”
“She’ll just cause problems,” Minx said, gripping her knife. “This is cleaner than having her attack us again.”
The woman moaned through her gag, shaking her head while her dangling feet kicked.
“Yeah, right, I’m sure you won’t attack us again,” Minx said, rolling her eyes. “Let’s just dispatch her before Angela gets back. Then she won’t feel bad about it.”
“She’s already back,” Xera said, ears twitching. She turned her gaze. “With Chaun and Sophia and…a songbird?”
I blinked. There was a happy, chirping sound. I hadn’t heard any birds sing since we entered the woods. And it was at night. No songbirds were active in the night. What was going on? And then a colorful finch flitted out of the woods, singing as it flapped about us.
Xera smiled. “Hello, Xandra.”
“Xandra?” Minx blinked.
“What?” I stared at the bird as she morphed, changed, feathers vanishing, her body expanding into the form of a slim, delicate woman, hair sky-blue, eyes shining sapphire. Xandra appeared, stretching her back.
“I can fly!” she sang out as beautiful as the sounds she made as a bird.
“Wow,” Minx said, jaw dropping. “You… Wow.”
“And it’s not Xandra any longer. I have my adult name. Aurora!” The avian giggled. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
Thrak nodded. “I have seen their beauty many times dancing in the winter skies above white snow. Blues and greens and even purples. Great sheets and ribbons across the entire sky. Well-named, Aurora.”
“Thanks,” Xandra—no, Aurora; I would have to remember that—beamed.
Chaun, Angela, and Sophia appeared out of the brush a moment later. Xan…Aurora became a bird, flitted over to Chaun, and landed on his shoulder, singing a happy song, her tail feathers twitching. He grinned at her and then glanced at her prisoner.
Froze.
“Bebhinn?”
Angela sucked in a sharp breath. “You know her?”
“Yes,” Chaun said. “She made my troubadour’s trunk after I helped her out a few years back. She was attacking us?”
“After the bounty,” Thrak said. “Found a writ signed by the Doge himself on her.”
Chaun’s jaw dropped in shock. “You hunted me, Bebhinn?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bebhinn, the Twinborn Witch
I flinched at the pain in Chaun’s face. He had saved my life and… No, he was a criminal. There was a bounty on his head. A huge bounty. On all of them save for the avian. I squirmed in the bonds, my heart racing.
Everything had gone wrong. I had come so close to defeating them and now… Would they kill me?
“Ungag her,” Chaun said.
“No,” the mage objected. “She is a witch. If she can speak, she can summon her spirits.”
“Then gag her before she can finish her spell,” the changeling said, the avian glaring at me from his shoulder, her eyes beady black as a bird. “I need to know what she’s doing here. I know her. I… Bebhinn…”
“Do it,” Angela ordered, her sword rasping as she drew it from her sheath. Thrak rose on the other side, turning, gripping that huge ax.
I shivered.
The gag vanished. I worked my jaw, my mouth so dry. I licked lips, staring at Chaun.
“Well?” he demanded. “Did you just try to kill us? Me?”
My stomach churned with guilt. “I did.”
Chaun shook his head, pain in his eyes.
“You’re all criminals,” I objected. “You robbed from the Doge of Raratha. Sophia put a knife to his throat.”
“I can put one to yours again,” the priestess hissed.
“You assaulted his guards, his court mage. He signed warrants for your arrest. Your crimes demand execution. I have his writ empowering me.”
“To come kill me?” Chaun demanded. “I saved your life, Bebhinn. Those brigands would have killed you if I hadn’t befuddled them with my song.”
“I repaid you,” I said, but it didn’t feel enough. One little trunk that could hold as much space as possible.
He shook his head.
“I…I…” Tears fell down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe how greedy I was. I wanted that bounty so much. I could live the rest of my life in comfort. No more traveling poor amusing villagers with simple tricks and giving them fortunes. I could settle down and forget…
The pain ached my heart. I would never see my twin sister again.
“I’m sorry, Chaun.” Tears fell down my cheeks. “I… I just… It was…” What good excuse was there? “You were criminals. I…I probably wasn’t going to hurt you, Chaun.”
“But the rest of us?” Angela demanded. “You would have killed us. Even though we stole from the Doge to slay the Dragon Dominari. We just wanted the piece of the High King’s sword. We’re reforging it. And then we’ll slay the most dangerous dragon in the world. That’s worth the Doge loosing a few baubles and being embarrassed.”
I closed my jaws, flinching from all their hard gazes. They were going to kill me.
“Too dangerous to let go,” Thrak growled. “We should just get it over with.”
I flinched, staring at Chaun, begging him. “P-Please. I…I…”
“There’s nothing she can say or do that would convince me she won’t try again,” Minx said, anger in her voice.
“No, she deserves a second chance,” Xera objected. “Angela, you can’t just kill her. We captured her. She surrendered.”
“There’s a way,” Chaun said. “Though why I should save your life again, Bebhinn…?”
Hope surged. More tears fell as I stared at Chaun.
“How?” Faoril asked. “Her magic is formidable. She’s a twinborn witch of the Tuathan. Fairy blood is in her veins.”
I blinked at that.
“I can hypnotize her,” Chaun said, moving closer. “But only if she is willing.”
“I’ll be willing,” I quickly said. “I’m sorry. I am. I thought you were criminals and… I was just trying to support myself. And…” Their glares were all angry. I shut my mouth.