Two shadowy figures made their way out of the Keep. They jumped from the garden wall and down into portal lake. Quickly, they swam to the portal island and climbed up, touching the portal, they were yanked through. Once in the fortress on the other side, they headed out.
"Hey!" A guard called. The pair ignored the man. After they summoned a pair of Iron Skyreavers, he snorted. "Adventurers."
A bit of a flight later, the pair of reavers made their descent. When both slid off the backs of the creatures, they yanked their hoods back.
"We'll camp here. It's almost light out, and we need to move in the dark." Elunara shook her hair out.
"Think anyone saw us?" Varian grinned.
"Doubt it." She giggled. "They're all going to have a shit when they figure out what we've done."
"Escaping in the middle of the night is one thing... what we're about to do is entirely different."
"Well, it must be done and I trust no one else to handle it." She tugged a bag out of her cloak. Digging through it, she pulled out a map. "If the information is correct, and I know my agents... We'll have to hit it when it's just dark. We should have about ten to twelve hours to pull this off."
"How can we do so many in such a short time?" He eyed the map.
"That's why we need the two weeks. If the numbers are right, then we can only do this in batches. Each batch is going to get more difficult, as each time we do this, they'll beef security up. The last two or three sets are going to be damned near impossible." Sighing, she rolled up the map. "Ideally, we'd snatch one or two from each area, tossing as we go, but with our limited resources..."
He put a hand on her shoulder and kissed her temple. "We'll make it work."
SaTa and Argy hit air.
"Alright."
"Hm?"
"Oh, they're going to go hunt."
"How did you get Argy to accept me as a rider?"
"First, I can understand them and they understand me, second, Argy is no one's mount, so transferring ridership is easy." She tucked the map into her bag. "We have all day to plan and tweak. Right now..." She slid her hands over his shoulders.
"Right now," He wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'd like to make love to my wife," He brushed his lips against hers. "in the soft grass, under the stars."
"Mm, I like the sound of that."
They danced their mouths, tangled their tongues and swayed gently together as they devoured one another. He unhooked her cloak and she undid his. Together they undressed one another, one article at a time. First her shirt, then his, the pants hit the ground and they stepped out of their discarded clothes. Gently, he pressed her back, and together they made their way down to the grass. He nipped at her lips, kissed her chin, her jaw, her neck. He buried his face there, enjoying her writhing as he tormented that special spot.
With a groan, she wrapped her knees up around his hips, and slid her legs back to tangle with his. He shifted his hips and slid inch, by glorious inch, into her warm, wet, heat. When he reached the end, he pressed his hips to hers, burying himself as deep as he could manage. They wrapped arms and legs, twisted together, enjoying the feel of flesh against flesh. When he began to move against her, she near lost herself in it.
Gentle, he worked himself in and out of her, savoring the scent and taste of her body against his. With each stroke, he gained speed and momentum, until he pounded himself in and out. When she began to clamp and writhe, he chuckled. "No, my love, we're not finished yet."
Several hours later, and after an afternoon nap, they sat together against the hill, pleasantly sated, watching the sun set on the horizon.
"Now this is beautiful." Varian took her hand and kissed the back of it.
"Before... well, before Grogek, I never took the time to just sit and enjoy this kind of thing." She sighed and leaned back on her hands. "There was no point to it. There was no point to a lot of things, really. All I cared about... was my next willing sacrifice." She gave a sigh. "I never would have considered myself in love with anyone. I will freely admit that I knew we had a special sort of chemistry, but I wouldn't have considered you a true lover if not for him."
"Then I am thankful to that orc." He winked.
"So am I." She smiled brilliantly.
Varian put his hand under her jaw and tugged her to him, capturing her mouth. "I have to wonder... had you never met Grogek... the kind of person you would be now."
"The same I've always been. When I brought Grogek back, they refused to send me out again, because I had to babysit him. Had he not opened my heart, then none of ANYTHING that happened after would have happened. Even the fact that I am out here, waiting for the night to go through with this plan, is a direct result. Maybe I would have been assigned to this mission, maybe not... but I wouldn't have cared enough to see to it myself."
"Funny how that works."
"Hey, now. That's MY line." She winked. "The rylaks return." She stood and wiped her butt off. "Let's get in costume."
They flew ever higher into the air. Reaching the platform, the creatures dropped off their cargo. Varian walked to the edge of the platform and looked down. "It's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights, or this would be really difficult."
"I used to play chicken with Druids. You want to talk terrifying?" Elunara giggled. "I always managed to win."
"Wait, how do you play chicken?"
"Fly up as high as you can manage, then drop off your mount. Whoever pops slow fall, or in druid cases, bird form, first, loses. I used to hit slow fall inches from the ground."
He blinked at her. "You... are insane."
"You knew that when you married me." She winked.
"I was unaware of how deep the rabbit hole went." He grinned.
"Enough silliness." She eyed him for a moment. "Lose the hair band." She tugged it free. Fiddling with his hair, she stuffed it in his cloak. "The less recognizable you are, the better. I hope we don't get spotted, but if we do..."
"Right."
"Now, Mr. King, I know you're not used to taking orders..."
"A king always takes orders from his queen." He winked.
"In this case, I'm pulling Goddess rank, dammit. I can't have you dying on me."
He brushed his lips across hers. "I will follow you to the letter, my love."
"Good." She pulled out her map. "Now, we have two main branches. The willing and the unwilling. The unwilling are our main concern. The information given to me, is that the unwilling are kept in horrific conditions. Many are chained together in large rooms, and some aren't even allowed basic things like clothes and blankets. We will be hitting this wing first." She tapped her map.
"The willing are broken down into two groups, the coerced and the zealot. Zealots are the least of our concerns, and are treated like pampered pets, often in their own rooms with all the bells and whistles. The coerced are better treated than the unwilling, but many are chained in groups as well. We will save all of them we can manage."
