A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 18: Parting Ways

Author's Note:

A Drow's Dilemma began as a one-on-one roleplaying project and has been converted into a chapter-by-chapter format for weekly posting with the permission and assistance from my partner. It will contain a considerable amount of sexual themes such as femdom, lesbian, straight, 'reverse' rape, BDSM, group sex, romance, and other themes. The main goal of the story, however, is to tell an epic tale of adventures, gods and goddesses, fae, and nymphomaniacs. This episode and every episode to come will be available for free on Literotica for the foreseeable future.

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Episode Eighteen: Parting Ways

Selene's irritable grousing from outside the tent in which he, Ashyr, and Carlotta had been pleasuring each other immediately shot Caleldir back to full awareness, including a sudden reemergence of his guilt. Selene generally had that kind of effect on him. He sat up a little too quickly, and, after magicking off the various fluids that had made their way on to his body, dressed with unbelievable rapidity, using telekinesis to warp his clothing and armor onto his body almost instantly. In his excessive hurry though, he put half of it on wrong, and he made for a rather ridiculous and uncomfortable sight as he exited the tent. He gave Selene an apologetic shrug. He felt rather awkward about the fact that they had basically had an orgy to which she had not been invited. Somehow, if she was anything like her cousin, he knew that that probably irked her to a massive extent. Not to mention it made him look like something of a hypocrite manwhore, which is really not how he wanted his rapist to view him. It was only then that he realized that he was still in fae form, and hurriedly extinguished his figurative glow. Oops.

Selene could not miss Caleldir's fae appearance. It drew away any attention she might have paid to his incorrectly donned outfit. The first expression that crossed her face was not relief that he finally exited the tent, nor was it arousal or fascination at his unnatural look. It was fear. His ghostly form had terrified her the night before. That, and the way he so casually killed himself just so a couple orcs could confer with their sister (who they were going to resurrect soon anyway.) Even after all she'd seen, that had been a little too much to handle. She thought she realized just how dangerous the creature she'd literally and figuratively fucked with really was. Even if she managed to kill him, he would have ended her.

With how self-conscious Caleldir was, he did not at first notice Selene's true emotional state. His first instinct was to assume that she was disgusted with him, or maybe just angry. Then, as he stifled his fae aura, the truth dawned on him. That was fear on her face, and he was fairly confident that he knew why. His own emotional reaction to her fear was rather mixed. On one hand, it was rather gratifying. This was his chance for revenge on her for how they had met and... everything that she had done. On the other hand, he sort of liked her more when she was so dominantly sexual. Wait... No! That could not have been it! No, the other reason had to be because he was trying to make friends with her, and her obvious fear hurt him a bit. Yes, that had to be it... The idea that he preferred the version of Selene that would take him whether he liked or not was some sort of weird enchantment that he was suffering under. Even though he was immune to enchantments. Torn as he was, Caleldir only shrugged and smiled self-consciously at Selene.

Meanwhile, the orcs didn't seem to care about Caleldir's exit from the tent, or the exchange of emotions between him and the unfriendly drow. They were in the process of packing up their tents and getting ready to leave.

Ashyr and Carlotta ducked out of the tent a minute or two later. With each other's help, they were able to get dressed quickly. Ashyr's eyes fell first on Selene. She knew her cousin. The poor fool was scared of Cal. She briefly considered trying to calm the other drow down. Then she decided she still felt rather vindictive about the whole raping Caleldir thing. Let the stupid woman be afraid. Ashyr then turned to Caleldir to begin adjusting his clothes, which he assisted in doing with a sheepish look. This done, Ashyr patted him on the chest fondly. Then she brushed a soft kiss against his jaw and turned to join the orcs in the breaking on the camp.

Caleldir wanted to help with the breakdown, but he had something to do first. He sat next to Selene just within a comfortable arm's reach. He smiled awkwardly at her. "So... I am afraid that we have got off on something of a wrong foot these last few times that we have met." He extended his hand. "Perhaps we can start again with a clean slate, and let bygones be bygones?"

Selene's eyes narrowed. Such a speech given by another drow could not be trusted. She was used to dealing with her kind, but not at all with his. She very suspiciously, very hesitatingly took the pale man's hand. "Alright..." She said, though even to Caleldir it was clear from her voice that she didn't quite believe him.

Off to the side, Ashyr laughed at her cousin. Though, to be fair, Ashyr treated everyone the same way back when she first joined the troupe.

After this awkward experience with Selene, Caleldir threw himself into helping take down the camp with enthusiasm. The more he practiced his telekinetic skills (which were probably related to his ghostly nature, now that he thought about it) the better he got at them. And so, he took down tents and packed gear from halfway across the camp, with only a very few unfortunate mishaps (such as that bedroll that smacked Carlotta in the back) but none of them involved Selene (who was the only one not helping), as he was very careful not to do anything that she could construe as a threat. She would almost certainly still find something to distrust, though. Most of the gear went into one giant pack that could only go on Orag's back. Some of it actually belonged to Selene and Ashyr: two of the bedrolls and a few of the blankets went into their packs.

At last, the camp was packed up, and the two groups went their separate ways. The orcs parted with the rest of the group on surprisingly good terms, considering how they initially met the drow. Ashyr and Zarag worked out how they were going to contact each other if they needed one another's help. He also gave her directions to a mountain outpost she could visit if she needed to get into what passed as a city. It was really just several hundred closely-situated huts and caves for the orcs and various other people who called the mountains to the north home. According to him, anyone who felt like living the simpler life of a mercenary was welcomed there. He warned that it was a violent place, but that he was sure someone of her caliber would do just fine. Then he made a joke about flying drow, and she gave him an arrogant smirk in response.

Finally, it was just the four of them (five, counting Bard). Selene and Carlotta walked behind Ashyr and Cal. The younger drow traveled in complete silence aside from the sound of her footsteps. It soon became clear that Selene was no woodswoman. Even just walking she made a ton of noise. Combined with Carlotta and Caleldir, the forest seemed a cacophony to Ashyr. She watched Bard sprint across their path happily, then dive back into the brush again, but even all the activity was quieter than her female companions.

"So..." Caleldir asked when they were out of the orc's hearing. "I assume we are going back to Carlotta's hometown to resupply? We should discuss where to go after that." He took a deep breath. "I think that it would be good to head back to my hometown; as I mentioned to Ashyr, there are some artifacts there that I can get a hold of that would make retaking the Duskhaven Estate far easier."

"Your hometown? Not that I object or anything-- I just thought-- well, that there wasn't much worth visiting anymore." She finished lamely.

"Well," Caleldir began. "About that... Eh... I will tell you later." He seemed to be deep in thought. His tread was normally unnaturally quiet, but at the moment he had a tendency to not notice things and bump into them. If he was not immune to such injury, he likely would have been the next thing to dead from all the scratches and bruises he received blundering into things that he should have noticed.

"I know I would like to go back home." Carlotta spoke up. Then she seemed to hesitate, and continued in a quieter tone. "I- I don't think I will be going with you after that." The human sighed. Ashyr glanced back at her to see a conflicted look cross her freckled face. "I'll only slow you down. I don't think I can handle this much adventure quite yet." She gave Ashyr a rueful smirk.

"You do what you like Lotta, but... that's probably a good idea." Ashyr said in a comforting tone. The redhead wasn't sturdy and vicious like the other two women in the group.

"That may be for the best." Caleldir agreed. "Loathe as I am to part ways with you, if you joined on our trip you would not come back unchanged. I would keep you alive. Now that I have access to a spellcaster of some talent, I can use my until now useless knowledge to make death a near impossibility..." He shook his head. "But no matter. It would be incredibly unpleasant for you, and you have no personal stake in the mission. You really would be far better off at home." He turned to Selene. "By the way, I need your help with that, as well as some other things. I hope that you are as skilled as your cousin has implied; for if you are, I have knowledge that can make you powerful indeed. Sadly, I cannot use it myself."

Selene stopped looking quite so suspicious. Instead, she looked arrogant. "I think you'll find my magical abilities adequate." She said with false humility. There was also an eagerness in her wicked red eyes. That had been how Ashyr convinced her to come with them in the first place; Caleldir had knowledge that Selene would likely go to great lengths to obtain.

Ashyr rolled her eyes so hard that it was almost audible. The sigh that accompanied that expression was most definitely audible. "Calm yourself, cousin." She said. "You never know what might happen if you don't behave." There was menace at the edges of Ashyr's tone. She turned for a moment to see the look on her cousin's face. Mostly, Selene looked annoyed. Carlotta, however, seemed uncomfortable with the exchange.

Taking a deep breath, Caleldir gave each of the three a long look. "Ashyr is already aware of part of my story, but as for the other two of you..." He told them everything that he had told Ashyr: of his mysterious origins, and what he later learned of them, and of the curse on his home and his long sleep. "And that is what Ashyr knows." He finished. "But the monastery is still there, and the monks kept an incredible hoard of treasure, lore, weapons, and magical artifacts within. When I awoke, I naturally returned to the monastery to try to remove some of the more accessible ones. But, though I had broken the curse enough to enter and leave at will, I was still prevented from taking anything within its walls. But you, Ashyr and Selene, can. With my knowledge born of the curse, and your ability to ignore it, we will be able to sneak past the eternal guardians and loot the incalculable riches of Mobili Atria Aeternitatis: The Shifting Halls of Eternity!"

Caleldir observed the three women's reactions. Selene went back to looking suspicious, and quite concerned when he mentioned the name of the place they were to travel to. Ashyr's looked a little too excited. Carlotta was simply thoughtful. He expected it all. But he still needed to address them. He first turned to the redheaded human. "Carlotta, I ask that you please keep this information to yourself. I would rather this information did not spread; the true nature of my existence is considered to be something of an abomination against the gods - and therefore not something I like to advertise - and also because I would prefer that word not reach the Underdark."

"I won't tell anyone." Carlotta assured him. Her expression was honest, her words true. Unless she was tortured she would not share Cal's secret with anyone.

Turning to Ashyr, Caleldir smiled for a moment, but then looked stern. "Whatever riches you are imagining, they do not even approach describing what Mobili Atria Aeternitatis holds. Not even close. But we must be very careful about what we take. There is a curse, after all, and a lot of what is there is too dangerous to take. So never loot anything that I have not approved, or we may run afoul of some pretty terrible things." He watched Ashyr nod in acceptance. Then he sighed as he turned to Selene. "That warning goes triple for you. No matter how powerful you are, there are things in that monastery that can squash you like a bug."

"I know." Selene said seriously. "The Mobili Atria Aeternitatis is a place notorious enough to reach some obscure texts I've encountered in the Underdark. The riches there are great, of that I have no doubt. Retrieving them will be a hard-fought slew of battles." Her words were concerned overall, but there was a tick of greedy excitement that she couldn't quite hide when she mentioned riches.

For her part, Ashyr kind of wished that Selene didn't have to know anything about Caleldir. Ashyr cast a searching look over to her cousin. The other drow seemed thoughtful. Surely she wouldn't betray them yet. Not after knowing what she and Cal had to offer.

"I see your look, cousin." Selene said with her common irritable tone. "When have I betrayed you?" She watched Ashyr give her a level look. "Okay, that doesn't count. I thought you betrayed our whole family." Ashyr's level look did not fade. "I apologise, alright? I won't be the first to betray you -- Lolth, you don't have to look at me like that!"

Ashyr turned back away from Selene, and hid a smile.

After that, the party was silent as they traveled. Eventually, though, Caleldir looked at the sun, falling lower in the sky. "So, when should we make camp?" He asked.

Ashyr followed his gaze with her arm to shield her eyes. "I'll find somewhere to camp. Play nice, you three." She told them. Then she jogged off into the forest.

Caleldir gave his two companions an odd look. They were a rather strange group; the only thing they all had in common is that they all had had sex with Ashyr, and still harbored feelings of some description for her. Heh. In a way, they could be thought of as being three members of Ashyr's harem. How large said harem was was anyone's guess. This was both an amusing and distressing thought for Caleldir. At least he could console himself with the thought that, at least for now, Ashyr preferred him to the others.

About a half hour later, the ranger came jogging back to the group and broke the awkward silence between them. A slightly tired-looking Bard was at her heels. "Follow me." She told them succinctly. The drow ranger led them to a well-sheltered spot with not-so-rocky ground to sleep on. As soon as she reached the spot, she dropped her pack on the ground. Selene did so as well. Carlotta sat heavily against the tree, looking more exhausted than the rest of them. She grumbled under her breath about her short legs. The campsite was not much, but it was something.

Caleldir drew his sword. "I am going to go enchant some poor animal into letting me turn them into dinner. Not very sporting, I know, but it is effective. If one of you could get a fire going, we can have ourselves a nice little camp. We can discuss sleeping arrangements later. I am sure that conversation will be as fun as it ever is."

"Oh, come on. That's a not fun way to hunt at all!" Ashyr responded. Actually, the drow looked like she really disapproved of this method. Naturally, someone who had taken a lifetime to learn how to trap and slaughter her own food would look down upon someone who would just flash a brilliant smile and have dinner a half hour later. "I'll go-" But then she sighed. "No." She decided with an drawn-out sigh like it was the hardest thing to do. "Never mind. You'll be faster."

"Well, I know it is the opposite of sporting. Frankly, I am rather ashamed of myself. Just enchanting dinner seems like such a cheat, and it really makes me feel like a scoundrel taking advantage of being fey to slaughter animals like that." Caleldir sighed. "But, as you said, we do not have all the time in the world, and this is way faster." He leapt up and began to stride into the forest.

"I'll get some firewood. Maybe I can find some reagents out there." Carlotta said. She heaved herself back to her feet.

"Bring Bard. If you get hurt by a bear or something, I'll be very annoyed" Ashyr told her. Then the drow ranger waved her hand from Bard to Carlotta. "Go on, wolf."

Then it was Selene and Ashyr in the camp. Both drow began clearing a spot to sleep. There was a bit of a... differing in opinion between them on who got to use what bedroll and blanket. In the end, Ashyr convinced Selene that it would be most efficient to simply put all of their resources together into one big bed. Then no one would be cold.

Soon, a merrily burning fire that was set up to cook whatever Caleldir found. The three women (Carlotta had returned well before Caleldir) worked together quickly to get things organized. Along with the firewood, Carlotta found a few large, edible roots that she thought would go well with dinner. Ashyr trusted the human's judgement. Selene checked the roots for poison. Then the suspicious drow shrugged and declared that they seemed safe. Bard did not come back with Carlotta. Instead, Ashyr assumed that he went to find Caleldir. Whatever they were doing, Bard seemed to find it pretty exciting. Not enough to worry her, though.

Caleldir ended up being gone for a little over half an hour, and when he returned, he and Bard were, with great difficulty, dragging the body of a massive black bear. "Heh." Caleldir said breathlessly. "Funny you should mention the thing about the bear earlier..." He and a very tired Bard dropped the corpse off. Caleldir collapsed into the bear. His armor and clothing were torn pretty fiercely, and Bard had some pretty obvious scratches. The wolf had been healed up, and Caleldir was unharmed, of course. "We ran into a bear pretty quickly. She was an angry girl, and able to shrug off my enchantment. Fortunately, she preferred attacking me to attacking Bard, and bears do not have cold iron teeth. So, we should have enough food for the entire trip home."

Ashyr looked sort of... horrified. She'd felt a sort of mad excitement from her animal companion, but this was far more than she'd expected. "Um. Okay then..." She said. Ashyr herself had managed to take down quite a few bears in her lifetime. Their pelts sold well to the locals and her own people found them quite fascinating. But she was a skilled fighter. Bard and Caleldir were not. Hell, Bard could have died. Such was the danger of traveling in a forest. The drow ranger sighed, knelt, and gave her wolf an exuberant scratch with both her hands across his whole body, all the while telling him what a good wolf he was.

As for the other two women, Carlotta looked impressed, and Selene affected not to care.

"Do not worry about Bard." He smiled. "He was safe with me. I have ways of focusing enemies' attentions on me instead of my allies. Which is why it is very good that I can shrug off or heal most damage. Otherwise I would be very dead right now. The annoying creature just about ripped every one of my limbs off my body and into shreds. Apparently, I am still incompetent in a fight."

"I, uh, I guess I'll have to butcher this." Ashyr said after she was done praising her companion. If it had taken both Cal and Bard so much effort to just drag the beast, it would be an enormous effort for her. But Caleldir stepped in to help. She skinned and gutted, and he proved to be good at the rest. Fairly quickly, he had all the useful cuts of meat laid out in a row on a layer of clean leaves, ready for cooking.