A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 27: Goblins

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. All characters that engage in sexual or suggestive situations are mentally and sexually mature: the human equivalent of 18 for their race.

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Episode 27: Goblins

Not long ago, Caleldir would have thought it impossible to sleep nude with similarly dressed women on either side of him, but somehow he did, and enjoyed it in ways that were not entirely sexual. It was simply close and intimate in a soothing way. Best not to think too hard about it, and hope that his body's natural reactions to the two of them did not ruin the moment. Despite the inevitable, to sleep he went. Like his companions he had quiet, soothing dreams of romance.

He awoke feeling well rested and ready for anything. The sun was low in the western sky, sending soft orange beams through the concealing bushes into the little cave. Caleldir sat up, peeling Althaia and Ashyr off him (Althaia's hand had somehow ended up on his morning wood, which was awkward but he felt too happy today to make a fuss about it) and stretched. Ashyr shifted from her sleep, which in turn woke Selene. Both stretched themselves out with varying degrees of contented sleepiness. Selene looked ready to curl up against Ashyr and go back to sleep, but the older drow fended the younger off with soft murmurs that encouraged wakefulness. "Good evening, ladies. Are we ready for a night raid?" Caleldir asked the rising party.

Althaia angled herself up sideways on her arm. "Of course I am. Very much so." She looked way too bloodthirsty for a paladin or a nymph just then. Caleldir almost imagined her eyes were red, but that was a trick of the light. They were just purple again. Gulp.

"Fuck yes!" Came Ashyr's response on top of Althaia's. Her gaze couldn't be mistaken for anything but bloodthirsty. She glanced over to Althaia and noticed the color of her eyes. "Calm yourself, nymph." She told her with an amused expression. "We should save our energy for fighting."

"Oh, I am definitely saving my energy for fighting." The nymph said in a tone that was nothing short of creepy. "The hornier I am, the better I will enjoy the fight." Caleldir shuddered. Now that was just wrong. Althaia smirked at him, then grabbed his face for a kiss. "Why let the dusky cousins have all the fun?" She whispered. Then, she stood up, collected the bedding, and stashed it in her convenient ring.

"That's the spirit!" Ashyr chuckled. A look of concentration crossed her face just before dark grey armor almost the color of her skin appeared on her body. It hugged her curves much better than her old armor had. "Ha! I don't think that will ever get old!" She exclaimed as she looked down at herself.

Selene blinked sleepily at the rest of them. Then her brain caught up with what they were talking about. A wicked smile only attainable by a drow spread across her face. Paladin-sanctioned violence against droves of lesser races? Yes please. Selene shared an evil look with her cousin, who suddenly grabbed her by the face with both hands and pulled her in to smash their lips together, much like Althaia had done to Caleldir. Then Ashyr left the cave.

Caleldir stumbled out of the cave after her, and looked towards the sunset. He summoned a set of armor that very much resembled what Ashyr was currently wearing (though in a masculine cut, of course.) The best part about an infinite wardrobe, in his opinion, was the ability to form a matching set among your comrades.

Althaia followed him out. She stretched nude in the light of the sunset, then activated her silver ring. At once, she was wearing very heavy full-plate armor that did not show an inch of skin, except for her eyes, and actually made it rather hard to tell that she was even a woman. Or would have if she did not still move with utterly unnatural grace. "If we are packed, the grass and stones have told me that the 'grass-scorchers clan (to use the plant's terms, that is probably not what the goblins call themselves) has just returned from a huge raid into the human lands of Clachleom two days ago, and they are feasting with there spoils and slaves - on their spoils and some of their slaves - two hours walk to the Northwest. Let us be going."

As the paladin spoke, Ashyr was kneeling beside Bard and in the process of communicating with him with a combination of words, mental images, and body language they used. The blonde wolf looked as excited as the other drow, which was no real change in his normal behavior. Ashyr glanced up at the malevolently grinning Selene. "Bard's going to be with you, Selene. I'll be moving around too much in places he probably won't be able to reach. Try not to set him on fire." She said to her cousin.

"If he stays next to me, that probably won't be a problem." Selene nodded. She didn't seem to mind being stuck with the animal.

"All right then!" Althaia said exuberantly. She flowed in the direction of the camp, the smooth grace with which she moved in the heavy full-plate nothing short of creepy. It did not seem to slow her down any, either.

Caleldir followed close behind the nymph. "I find this wardrobe choice slightly more practical than your usual." He snarked. Althaia's only response was to spin around, suddenly appear naked, wink at him, then spin back forward to continue her journey, once more in the full-plate. Caleldir, looking rather shaken, fell back to keep pace with Ashyr.

Ashyr could only laugh at Althaia's taunting of Caleldir. She was sorely tempted to appear briefly naked as well, but then thought better of it. Her hand found Caleldir's and squeezed it gently. After that, she did not let go of his hand. There was something comforting in walking with him hand-in-hand. That, and Selene seemed to be oddly disgusted by it. That reaction made it all the more worth it.

Around the time when the sun's last rays were just disappearing, and the hour that Althaia had spoke of was at its end, the group arrived on top of a small hill overlooking a large camp of scurrying goblins and kobolds, with one huge and two slightly smaller ogres apparently as their leaders. Caleldir looked over at Althaia. "You did not mention any ogres." He whispered.

"Nah, I thought I would keep the best part as a surprise." She whispered back.

"I hate surprises." Selene grumbled. She had just wanted to fry a few mostly helpless beasts. Ogres did not fit that description.

"We haven't had a lot of good ones recently, have we?" Ashyr responded. "But I think I think this one. More of a challenge. I might even break a sweat against one of those big guys."

Caleldir shook his head and looked over at the camp again. "There must be nearly a hundred of the little creatures." he said with trepidation in his voice.

"I know, right? I was hoping to find at least twice that." Althaia said with disappointment. "But I did what I could."

Caleldir blanched at this. He turned to Ashyr. "I would rather not go charging in blind, and Althaia can only tell us what the grass knows. Do you think that it would be possible for you to get a closer look without alerting them to our presence in order to gauge our best plan of attack?"

"I'll go and scout it out. Can't promise that I won't get over-eager and start destroying some people before I can get back to report to you. If you hear screaming, attack the enemy when they're not looking." Ashyr said with a wicked look that approached an expression that Selene might wear. She then pressed her lips against Caleldir's firmly. "Try not to die again, my love." Then she was gone.

Ten minutes later, there was some very predictable beginnings guttural screaming that was hastily cut short in a likely very violent manner. On one end of the camp, Ashyr had taken down one of the ogres that had taken the worst moment to relieve his bowels. It had not gone well for him. The rest of the creatures attention whipped toward the noise, and some of them began running towards it.

"Sounds like she couldn't control herself." Selene said. She did not sound at all surprised. Had the odds been less in their favor, Ashyr would have probably been a little wiser about this. Apparently, the ranger was confident in her party's abilities.

Caleldir leapt up, a bastard sword in each hand. "So, I suppose we are just rushing in and letting the chips fall where they may: berserker style."

Althaia let off a girlish squeal of excitement. "The best way!" She said with joy. She ran off towards the camp far faster than the other two could hope to follow her. But Caleldir still did, of course, sprinting down the hill.

The nymph ran at the encampment and cleared the twelve foot palisade wall in a single bound, landing lightly on the head of an unfortunate kobold. "Good evening, boys." she purred. "It is a fine night to meet your just reward!" She followed this line up with a punch that sent a goblin flying across the camp and messily splattering against a wall. Then she punched another screaming into the air, and ground another one into the ground. Several of the creatures began hitting her with their weapons but they were utterly useless. "Sheesh. Not even a fight from you little slavers." She said with disappointment. She ran for the gate and shattered it into little splinters with two punches and a kick, just in time for Caleldir and Selene to enter the camp. "Took you two long enough." She said, blood and brains dripping from her mailed fists. "The party has already started!" She threw herself back into the fight, grinding three kobolds to a pulpy mash in six seconds.

Caleldir watched the nymph with horrified fascination. "Well, I am glad that we did not try to ditch her." He decapitated an attacking kobold. "Huh. These things are weak."

"My cousin -" A line of electricity shot through Selene's finger at a slightly injured kobold. It was apparently extremely painful. He screamed and thrashed on the ground, " - would have figured something out."

Caleldir merely shrugged at Selene's certainty. Watching the Nymph's armor become soaked in blood and entrails as she continued to bash the vermin in horror, he compared her unstoppable rampage with his inexpert swordplay, and shuddered. "Well, I am pretty sure she is a paladin, so of the three of us, you would be the only one she would take out her rage on. Just try to imagine fighting that." Althaia ripped the head off of a goblin and used it as a projectile to kill a kobold. "Yeah... she seems more unhinged than the average paladin." He muttered. If it was not for the fact that her aura of law, good, and bravery could not be faked, he would be reconsidering her class and alignment right about now.

As the battle continued, Selene stayed more or less near Caleldir to cover his back. Wherever she faced, there was noisy agony. The drow rarely did more than just incapacitate her targets. Noisome screaming was music to her ears and fire in her loins. In fact, it seemed that she was very literally getting off to this. She scorched and melted and zapped. Tentacles whipped out, grabbed and lashed. Laughter echoed through the air. This couldn't last for too long before the mage caught an ogre's attention. He walked with lumbering step towards her, his feet crushing unwary underlings as he moved. That walk sped to a jog, which progressed to a full-on charge. Selene swore at the thing before blasting a more powerful spell at it. It wasn't quite enough to stop him in his tracks.

A shadow seemed to fly across a backdrop of moon and stars. Then it was on the big guy's back, a flash of platinum hair and bared white teeth. Vines whipped up around him to send him crashing to the ground. Blood like a geyser sprayed from the ogre's thick neck where his jugular had been raggedly pierced. One huge hand came up to try to curtail the flow, but it was too late. A blood splattered Ashyr rose from his soon-to-be corpse, winked at any of the party who watched, then melded back into the fray.

Caleldir, who had been watching in fascination for a moment, turned his attention back to the battle long enough to parry a goblin blade and split the user in half. "Seriously. These guys are pathetic." He commented.

The pale elf had spoke too soon. The big, blue-skinned ogre leader stamped out into the middle of the camp with a roar, furious that his two lieutenants lay dead. The huge creature floated up into the air, and hurled a ream of fireballs and magic missiles at the paladin. Althaia stopped her rampage, turning her red eyes towards the Oni. "Finally, a worthy foe!" She breathed, throwing herself at the sorcerer with fists glowing.

It was a good thing that Selene hadn't used her more powerful spells. The flashing light of the magic not being cast by her made Selene turn around the view the new creature on the field. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it looked pretty scary with all those fireballs and missiles. With a snarl, Selene began to focus her attention on the thing. Her own magic missiles flew from her hands, directly followed by a solid beam of fire that warmed the air to uncomfortable levels with its mad heat.

Most of Selene's spells fizzled against the Oni's resistances, but the beam of fire hit him in the shoulder. With another incoherent roar, he turned into a cloud of yellow gas, and reformed again farther away from the drow mage. But the mad-eyed nymph followed him closely. "Use fire or acid spells! The most powerful ones you can imagine!" Althaia yelled. She leapt towards the Oni, hitting him with another holy punch that sent the ogre stumbling back. The Oni cloaked itself in darkness, and disappeared. The nymph laughed, and punched nothing, knocking the creature visible again. The Oni retaliated with a punch, but she nimbly leapt over the stone-shattering blow and ran up his arm to deliver a blow straight to his eyes.

"Sounds good to me!" Selene called out across the battlefield to Althaia. Fire was Selene's specialty. She punctuated this with another ray of molten fire that caused the Oni to bellow again.

Caleldir and Ashyr, in the meantime, kept the little guys off of the younger drow. Selene didn't need to get distracted by kobolds when there were bigger things to fry. Bard assisted where he could. Being so new to battle and so young, he was only good for killing the very rare goblin that got past the party's defences. Ashyr had to pause to heal him on several occasions, making him more of a liability than anything. But, as he was getting important experience, Ashyr didn't mind it too much.

Despite the ogre mage's power - both physical and arcane - under the barrage of blows from the drow and the nymph he soon collapsed to the ground, dead. Althaia stood on the creature's huge body, and looked around at the camp. The remaining kobolds and goblins, no longer restrained by the Oni's enchantments, bolted from the obviously superior party. They were driven on more quickly by a sadistically laughing Selene and her low-powered, painful spells. "A passable fight." She said in a bored tone. Her armor was dripping brilliant crimson, with a good deal of an unnatural looking blue thrown in. "Pity it is over." She caused her bloody armor to vanish, replaced by a skimpy parody of a monk's robes. "Now, the camp is ours."

Ashyr melded out of the terrain next to the group. She was at least as covered as Althaia was in stuff normally meant to be on the inside of goblins and kobolds. The stuff on her face and, regrettably, in her hair remained after she dismissed her armor to replace it with the slightly sexualized version she'd put on the morning before. Selene paused in her unnecessary torture to clean her off with magic. "Well, that was a nice warm-up." Ashyr declared. She looked a little more appreciative of the opportunity they had to fight, even if it was a little too easy. The older drow knelt in front of Bard and pumped a minor healing spell into him. When she stood again, the wolf was still very bloody but fully recovered.

Caleldir looked around the camp at all of the corpses. No wounded: the party had done an excellent job of slaughtering everything with extreme overkill prejudice. "So... are there any prisoners to release?" He asked Althaia.

The nymph shrugged. "The earth said so, but not where said prisoners could be. Ask Ashyr if she found where the potential slaves and meals were being held. In the meantime, I see some nice horses over there; we should probably claim a few in order to speed up our journey. I will see if I can communicate with them to figure out which four would be the best for us."

"Horses?" Selene asked with a sour look on her face. She turned to look towards where Althaia indicated. "I... have never ridden a horse." The younger drow admitted. Selene didn't seemed too excited to get a chance to. In fact, she looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I tried once and it's nothing like riding a lizard. I tried to get it to go faster than a walk. It did not end well." Ashyr said. "I guess we'll figure it out when we decide what we're taking from this place." She didn't seem too happy about riding either.

"We'll figure it out." Caleldir agreed. "But first, Selene? Would do me a favor and help me search this camp for anything magical or valuable? And Ashyr, if you know where the prisoners are being held, if you can bust them out I would appreciate it."

The older drow rolled her shoulders before she turned to locate where all the people begging to be released were. They were not hard to find. Cages lined the western side of the camp and contained mostly women and children in various stages of dirty, battered, and cut. Ashyr went down the line and smashed each cage open. She ignored the people who tried to tearfully thank her for her good deed. It felt... wrong, somehow, freeing slaves without taking some for herself. She wouldn't have bothered if Caleldir hadn't asked her to.

Meanwhile, Selene was more than happy to look for magical items and loot. She went straight to where the leaders must have stayed. Anything worth her while would be there, or at least she assumed. Mostly she found gold, but there were a couple baubles that she'd have to inspect further when they camped for the day.

Though Caleldir began with helping Selene to find and identify magical loot, once the injured prisoners began to filter out into the middle of the camp he left off with assisting her and began full-time healing them all. Althaia jumped in as well; the horses were quickly forgotten when so many people needed help. It was in that moment that Althaia's paladin nature became truly apparent as she quickly took charge of the ex-prisoners. She set to work helping, healing, soothing, comforting, exhorting them to stay strong. Soon she had them stripping the dead of anything useful and throwing the bodies into a pyre in the middle of the camp. Due to her sheer charisma, the ragged band of mostly women and children (14 old men, 53 women, 25 boys, 31 girls) very quickly became an enthusiastic regiment of organized followers. Probably because their fear was completely suppressed under her paladin aura.

In a strange twist of fate, a couple of the eternally grateful former prisoners decided that it was a good idea to leave the children too young to work with Ashyr. The older drow had refused, had said that the little humans were better off with a goblin. She kept refusing as the mothers walked off to join the busy hurry of the rest of the freed prisoners and there were two very small, very wide-eyed young in her arms. She supposed that was what she got for neither hiding nor looking busy. At least they didn't make much noise. Althaia's aura kept their fear at bay, and without fear they were merely very tired.