A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 50: Rest

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 50: Rest

Finally safe on the ground and out of the Monastery, Selene watched as Caleldir fell into unconsciousness. She had been about to absolutely refute his likely sarcastic remark about the last couple days being fun. It had been only barely better than her time spent in the underdark the last month she was there; the damned place made her relive some of those worst times in her life and introduced her to new horrors. She needlessly smoothed down her dress and began walking towards the inn they stayed at before. "I need rest before riding that spider construct." She announced to the party.

Unlike Selene, the older drow showed concern when she saw Caleldir land and then promptly go unconscious. When the pegasus hit the ground, Ashyr smoothly dismounted and jogged over to her mate's motionless form. "Althaia? Can you help me get him to the inn?" She asked softly as she knelt before Caleldir and brushed at his hair fondly. Ashyr could carry him like the last time he passed out, she supposed, but would need a spell to make it possible. Since they were in no obvious danger, Ashyr was fine with doing it a slower, nonmagical way.

Althaia was, predictably, happy to help. "For a tall fellow, he really is not all that heavy." The nymph observed as she picked him up. The nymph could have carried him on her own, but she knew that Ashyr wanted to carry the unconscious fellow: she was just too small to do it effectively without magic. So, Althaia held up one side, and Ashyr the other.

"I would just shove him into R.I.S.A, but we need to go back to the inn to resupply anyway." Ashyr explained with a shrug. The ranger didn't mind carrying Caleldir. He had done as much for her the last time she ran herself to unconscious exhaustion.

Althaia giggled at Ashyr's choice of words. "Something tells me that R.I.S.A. would not at all mind Caleldir being shoved all the way into her, if you catch my meaning. And I know that you do. But the A.I. clearly is not going to make a move on him ever, so perhaps I could give her some company tonight. Power up the room a bit, and leave Caleldir to you and Selene. I think that the three of you (or some combination of two of you) would probably like some alone time after all the stress in the monastery, provided his health improves enough for that."

"Yes, thank you, Althaia." Ashyr replied. She almost wished she could watch the nymph's first encounter with the artificial succubus. It was likely going to be legendary. Ashyr wanted to spend time with her lovers more, though.

Selene ignored all three of them and went straight to the room that they had used a couple days before. Once there, she sat down on the edge of one of the beds with a relieved explosion of breath. Then she began massaging her feet.

About halfway to the stairs of the Inn, Caleldir roused himself. He pulled away from the two women with a look of some embarrassment on his face. "I am sorry about that. It seems that I used up far too much of my power again." He seemed unsteady on his feet. "Much as it shames me to admit it, I may need your help walking..."

"Then why not let us carry you?" Althaia asked with curiosity.

"Embarrassed." Caleldir said, before swaying dangerously. His body felt unusually hot, as if he was running a fever.

Ashyr was clearly amused by his embarrassment. Amused, but understanding. Ashyr would likely insist on walking as well. They managed to get to their room, at which point Ashyr opened R.I.S.A.'s portal to let Althaia enter. The nymph went in, the wolf came bounding out. But, once he took in the situation, he calmed down and curled up next to the bed.

"I really need a good night's sleep." Caleldir muttered. "Being unconscious does not count, and ghost me never sleeps. I am utterly exhausted."

Ashyr helped Caleldir to the bed that Selene was sitting on. She, too sat upon the bed next to him. She simply wanted to stay near him more than anything. "Then sleep." She told him softly. "Or do you need something to eat first?" Ashyr didn't imagine his ghost self ate much either, and Caleldir always seemed hungry and thirsty after 'dying.' The heat coming off him worried Ashyr a little, but there was nothing she could think to do other than let him rest and recover.

A growl came from Caleldir's stomach. "I had forgotten about that..." He admitted. He sat up, and pulled a bottle of something from his pack. Popping the cork, he drank down the deep blue liquid in a single swig. When he lowered his head again, his eyes were sharper and more alert. "I missed the cordials of my home." He sighed. "That was invigorating. So, what is on the menu for dinner? I am famished. I assume we still have trail food in our supplies?"

"Yeah, I have some trail rations." The ranger responded. She helpfully handed him some dried meat and her half-full water skin to wash it down with.

Selene had leftover meat and bread from breakfast, but didn't offer anything to anyone. The pregnant drow was unwilling to part with any of her own food supplies. She munched thoughtfully on bread and idly watched her cousin and Caleldir. She had eaten only a couple hours ago, so she wasn't too hungry. Neither was she feeling very talkative.

For a little while there, Caleldir had seemed to be just about crippled. After his invigorating drink of whatever that was though, he mostly just seemed tired. Of course, he was never too tired to be cheerful. "Thank you for the food!" He said, pleased. After a quick, silent prayer, he started in on the food with his right hand.

"Now that we have a moment, we should probably fill you in on the rest of what happened while you were gone. Unless you'd rather wait until after you get some rest?" Ashyr asked him softly. The ranger shifted to cuddle up to Caleldir as much as she could without impeding his actions - not an overtly sexual action, but more out of a desire to enjoy his warmth and presence.

His left arm wrapped around Ashyr; he too enjoying the simple closeness. "I am not too tired to listen to events." He replied. "I would like to forgiveness for how unhelpful I was back there: getting myself kidnapped barely three yards in. I thought for sure that I could escape The Incomplete's notice. For centuries, the Artificial Goddess had been asleep, paying no attention to anything. Some outside force must have awakened her. I know R.I.S.A. was worried, but did not think that The Incomplete would do anything unless she felt her systems being hacked by her older sister. I gravely miscalculated the risk, and I am sure that left you in something of an intolerable situation. For that, I offer my sincere apologies."

"Not your fault, love." Ashyr said softly. She sincerely wished that it hadn't happened, but she didn't blame him for any of it. The artifacts and the Gene Forge information they had gotten out of it made it worth the effort.

Selene grumbled to herself after Caleldir's apology. His immediate capture by yet another woman more powerful than herself was another thing she'd likely take out of his hide later. For now, she was content to sit on the edge of the bed, chew on some food, and generally look sort of grumpy.

Taking another bite, he continued. "I do not remember anything but a painful, indistinct haze from the moment that The Incomplete took me to the moment where I awoke on the way out of my library. I gather a lot happened in that time?"

"You were in the library for just over a day, I think." Ashyr explained. "Time was hard to keep track of. Just after you were stolen, we decided to go where you suggested. The Incomplete came to harass us, but your father appeared to me and saved us."

"That was fucking awful, by the way." Selene interjected grumpily. "Made me relive all the shit Duskhaven males put me through."

"Yes." Ashyr said. She was going to gloss over that for Caleldir's sake. It would only distress him, and there was nothing she could do about it. But Selene seemed intent on letting him know the torture they faced. "I watched your pain. And some of my own. But it is done now." Sort of. She still couldn't shake the image of Celeste's demise. "We then went to the alchemist guy, who was grinding you up starting at your legs. Except it wasn't you, it was Caleldra, your female doppelgänger. Took care of that guy, and then she led us to her vault while we were under the impression it was you. She was acting kind of funny, now that I think about it."

"She revealed herself, locked you three in a maze, and kidnapped me." Selene explained. "The fetch was insane and obsessed with you. She thought she could steal my unborn from my womb and transfer it to her own... that's not possible... right?" Selene reflexively hugged her knees as if trying to protect her lower abdomen. "Anyway, while she was in the process of taking all my memories of coupling with you, I fought back with my newly resurfaced bad memories. It worked the second time, too, after she reappeared when the rest of the party looted the vault."

"You were so horny after that." Ashyr observed with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, the dumb bitch learned his erotic telekinesis and inflicted it upon me while I couldn't move. I didn't think cumming was a good idea; it probably would have left me too open. You were pretty bad, too, after that yuan-ti left the both of you wanting." The was a pause in the drow's explanation after that, while both reminisced in a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

Caleldir sat there looking almost overwhelmed. "So... The Incomplete tried to trap you in a series of unpleasant visions, my father saved you, then you rescued my doppelganger from being milled to death, who led you astray and kidnapped Selene. My doppelganger was apparently so jealous that she tried to literally steal our baby (which, actually, is possible...)"

Selene grew slightly ashen. She decided not to dwell on that before she was sick all over the floor with the horror of how close she'd been to everything being taken away from her.

"...but you defeated her with bad memories. Twice. Then you joined with said deranged and psychotically obsessive fetch to come get me, fought the Animator on the way there, and finally confronted my ghostly self in the library, where you seem to have been able to talk him into quietly turning back into me without a fight, only to have The Incomplete show up again to annihilate the party?" Everything after the drow finished was him guessing at events from observing their aftermath. "Sounds like non-stop excitement, if you ask me." It was hard to tell how sarcastic he was being, but it was safe to say he landed between 'somewhat' and very.

"That's pretty much what happened." Ashyr said with a weak shrug.

"The fetch surrendered the second time her attack on me failed. After a night's rest to gather our wits, we figured we could use 'Caleldra' as a guide, since that was supposed to be your job." Selene explained. "She was useful. I suppose."

"Yeah. Useful. She only saved our lives a couple times." The older drow responded. "She was incredibly creepy though. Can't say I miss her after she was smothered by The Incomplete or whatever happened."

Caleldir frowned a bit. The information that they were giving him never ceased to be surprising. "I doubt that The Incomplete killed her." He mused. "If this 'Caleldra' has been present in the monastery for centuries, it is clear that The Incomplete is too fond of her to kill her. It is more likely that she is imprisoned again, unless she escaped. If that is the case, I would assume that she is coming after us, so I would be cautious, if I were you."

Finishing up his meal, Caleldir leaned back, rubbing his head a little. His clothes shifted into his typical nightwear. "Still, even though everything that could have gone wrong did, we all made it out, and with everything we came for. My ghostly alter-ego even packed my bag with items at some point before you arrived, so I have some new, useful things too. Mostly books, but some of them were quite powerful. And, hopefully, not as cursed as they could be." He yawned. "I fear that I need rest before engaging in anything strenuous, if you catch my drift, so I bid the two of you goodnight. Thank you again for saving me. Even though I can barely remember, it is very clear to me, all the way down into my bones, that being Goelon Duvainor is extremely unpleasant."

"Goelon said himself that he didn't enjoy being, well, him." The mage agreed. "Convincing him to not be was easy enough. He was half convinced already." It had been a pretty substantial victory, but Selene still didn't seem too happy about it. "I never implied that he needed to be rescued. It didn't work when your erstwhile student (or whoever she was) tried to openly 'rescue' you from him. He only became angry and tortured her for hundreds of years. Hence her insanity and strange obsession with being you. No, he responded to logic, which, thankfully, I have an abundance of." There was an arrogant flash in Selene's eyes at her last comment. Arrogant, but still not quite happy.

"I almost ruined it by just mentioning the word 'pleasure.' He was saying something about not being able to imagine why you put up with us. Goelon nearly bit my head off. Figuratively." Ashyr curled closer into him, not sure whether to be amused or distressed for the plight of Caleldir's other.

He yawned. Selene's observations about Goelon meshed pretty well with his own. If nothing else, every time he 'died' Goelon took over, and the ghost did his level best to transform back into him, so with that to go on, his alter ego clearly preferred to be alive rather than dead. So, Caleldir added nothing more to the conversation; it was time to sleep. And sleep the man dead, undreaming. For he was too tired for dreams. And for the first time since entering that monastery, he felt safe and relaxed, together with his two favorite people sleeping beside him.

Ashyr woke when she normally did; almost before the sun came up. She carefully wriggled out of bed without waking the other two sleeping with her. There was one other companion that she had been separated from for what seemed like far too long: Bard. Ranger and wolf went running around the town, staying close to the inn to try to avoid anything hostile. When Ashyr was done, she let Bard back into the room with Caleldir and Selene, but stepped into another part of the building instead of joining them.

"Knock knock, R.I.S.A." Ashyr said. She didn't bother to wait more than a couple seconds before opening the dimension and stepping through.

R.I.S.A. allowed Ashyr through without any trouble, into a room that rather resembled the one they had left, with only a few small decorating changes. Surprisingly, the A.I.'s projection appeared almost frazzled, her hair even out of place, which was quite impressive given that her very appearance was an illusion. The ranger let out a short bark of laughter when she saw the state R.I.S.A. was in. She also took a moment to appreciate the false succubus' exaggerated nude form.

[Good morning, Ashyr.] R.I.S.A. greeted her. The projection had not bothered to censor her appearance; her genitals and very slightly exaggerated breasts were fully detailed. She violently shook herself, static vibrations coursing through her body, and she was back to normal. [Sorry about that.] The A.I. said with her normal professionalism. [I do not need to sleep, and yet, after last night I did not get enough of it. The nymph is still resting.] A smile appeared on her face. [I have a good deal of surplus power, now. I think that I will keep it in reserve for the time being, but I am well on my way into building you an entire extra-dimensional mansion. Althaia had many compelling ideas on the topic, based on books that she has read and fantasies she has had.] The A.I. seemed rather pleased with herself, if slightly groggy.

"Looks like you had a more interesting night than I did." She commented. Ashyr's suspicion that the two of them would get along really well seemed entirely correct. She loved being right. "I was just checking in to see how you were doing. We can let Althaia sleep for a little while longer - we can all use the rest." She was about to turn back and leave the dimension when she remember something. "Oh, can you gather some food for me, Cal, and Selene? I think we'll be eating in the room we stayed at. Are there supplies that you can restock from here? Or do you think we can wait until we get out of these cursed lands? We do have that spider mount to get us out quickly."

The A.I. lit up. [You do have one? Excellent. The Animating Intellects on those things are incredibly primitive: they do not even possess souls, unlike yours truly. I can easily take control of it.] She reached into a cupboard, and brought out a small, though hearty breakfast in her usual style. [Once we reach uncursed civilization, I need as many supplies as you can provide. I can keep everything perfectly fresh forever. My Temporal Storage is good enough that, if you give me an apple just picked, I can serve it a century later and it will still taste just picked (because they cease to exist until I use them), but I was only able to bring enough for about a week's supply of food with me, and food is substantially harder to create from nothing than construction materials are. Although, if you provide construction materials, I can build bigger with less power.]

"You have a soul?" Ashyr blinked at the A.I. Weird.

[Of course I have a soul.] The A.I. almost huffed. [Programming a soul is not all that complex, once you know the trick. All sentient races create souls whenever they conceive young, after all. It is simply a matter of understanding that process. It is not possible to create a true A.I. without giving them a soul. A soul is where free will comes from!]

"I see..." She didn't quite see. The ranger only dwelled on that briefly, however. She was eager to get back to her small family. Questions of that nature could be pursued later. She took the food from R.I.S.A. and promptly exited the dimension and closed it behind her. She could have left it open for Althaia to leave when she wanted, but Ashyr didn't want to risk the very slight chance of someone stumbling upon the open portal. Drow caution, and all that.

--

Caleldir awoke far later than normal, sitting up and stretching exaggeratedly. "Good morning, everyone!" He said very cheerfully. "I had a good sleep. Are we ready to go track down allies for an assault on Duskhaven and/or Ceistas?"

Selene groaned sleepily. Then she inhaled deeply from her nose and opened her eyes to the world. She sat up as well, still close to Caleldir's warmth. Selene was always a bit of a groggy mess in the morning; her hair was well-tousled and fell to cover a good deal of her face. And she was still naked, of course. Even bedraggled as she was, she maintained an odd sort of messy glamor. It was all part of being noble drow.

"Where'd Ashyr go?" She mumbled.

Caleldir stifled a small yawn, giving Selene a smile. He felt an urge to give the lovely woman a hug and a tender kiss, but restrained himself. "I would assume that Ashyr has gone out running with her wolfy companion." He theorized.