Hopes Ascension

This story is about Adri and Krellyn, whose first meeting appears in Hope's Awakening, and this takes place in their future. Please enjoy, and as always, comments and emails are welcome! -Guinevere A. Hart

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When Adri had come in following her daily prayer ritual, their infant, Jubilee, was still asleep. He listened as his wife quietly removed her vestments. She slipped under the blanket with him and pressed her body against his. A gentle hand lightly fell on his shoulder. She pushed her full, firm breasts into his back and crossed a long, slender leg over his hip. He caressed her knee then reached back along her silky thigh. He sighed, tightening his grip on her leg as she nuzzled into his hair and softly kissed his neck and shoulders.

He could feel her smile against his skin. Her thoughts touched his, warm with desire, she mentally sent, "She's still asleep."

With one hand still gripping her leg, he grabbed her arm with the other. Then in a smooth roll, he turned on his back and pulled her on top of him. Her mouth instantly closed with his, their tongues joining in a familiar, yet still fiery dance. He opened his eyes and watched in the mirrored canopy over head as his ink black hands slipped down her pale back, then flicked the coverlet away. His hands returned at once to cup and squeeze the mounds of her fine white buttocks.

Adri broke their kiss to sit up on her knees. She drew a low growl from him as she scratched his chest and belly with her nails. She knew precisely how deep he needed it, and the pleasure/pain electrified the entirety of his flesh. "Again." He snarled at her. With a throaty chuckle, she repositioned her hands and clawed him again.

From behind, he pushed two fingers from each hand into her drenched pussy and she gasped. He admired the view as Adri arched her back, thrusting forward those big beautiful tits. She moved her hips and he wiggled his fingers as much as he could inside of her. As he massaged the walls of her channel, she used both hands to lightly stroke his shaft. Then she squeezed and pulled with just the right amount of pressure, working up a drop of pre-cum.

She raised up slightly and pressed the head of his cock against her clit, smearing his cum into her sweet pink bits. Her blue eyes met his, and the lust he saw there burned his soul. With a firm grip on his member she rapidly rubbed her clit with the tip. He continued working his fingers at her entrance, watching her face as she used him to get herself off. Sadly, she kept her mouth closed around her mewling sounds, trying to be quiet. He watched her and listened, sensing every thrill and nuance of her body and soul. When he knew it was time, he moved his fingers away and she replaced them with his cock.

He firmly held her hips, and she rode him hard and fast. As he started to swell and pulse, he dug his wet fingers into her ass cheeks. Her body shuddered over him and she clenched her teeth around the cries that threatened to escape. He wanted to slap her ass, to

make

her free those precious sounds, but the infant slept only lightly in the mornings. So, Krellyn let it go, just to revel in the throbbing and thrumming waves of pleasure he and Adri shared.

As he gently wiped her clean with a damp cloth, Krellyn was warm, content, and he supposed he might even one day be able to admit to a certain degree of genuine happiness. Cleaning and caring for Adri in their afterglow had become a ritualistic part of their intimacy, a part he cherished nearly as much as the sex itself. She had only just curled around him, with her face pressed against his ribs, when their child made her first burbling sounds of the day. The cooing quickly became a whine that said it was time to be fed. Adri started up, but Krellyn gently pressed her back down, saying, "Let me."

Krellyn lifted the fussing girl-child from the basinet. He held her up and away as he judged her size. She was at least twice as heavy as she was when she had been born four months ago. He drew her close to his face, and she stopped whining to beam a smile at him. He looked closer at her irises which had been gradually shifting from blue to purple. She had his violet black skin, and it seemed she would have his red eyes as well. At that moment she also had his nose in one tiny hand, while the other yanked on his hair. When Krellyn laughed, Jubilee laughed with him.

After a quick change of the cloth around her bottom, he passed the baby to Adri. He stayed to watch his family and to listen to Adri's soft voice. She sang in the Sylvan tongue, a song about wild fey and their magical lands. He closed his eyes and touched her soul, allowing himself one more small moment in that brilliant white light. He let it surround him, let it pierce him, until he felt his chest would burst, then he withdrew. His wife never missed a note, but she watched him with those radiant sapphire eyes.

Finally, he tore himself away to his kitchen. It was a tidy place where benign things, like side pork and eggs, let him think clearly. He thought of his distant past, of the horrific tragedies that he just knew could never be set right. Then he had met

her

, and she made him believe that nothing was impossible. In her eyes and in that burning light of her spirit, he saw an end to a despair that he thought was eternal. He had been forming a plan of his own, and the more he thought on it, the clearer it became. He felt it was time to set things in motion. As he worked, he caught himself humming Adri's little song, and abruptly stopped. To the eggs he was scrambling, he grumbled, "I do

not

hum."

As the smell of breakfast filled the house, Adri and Jubilee joined Krellyn in the kitchen. When they sat down to eat, Krellyn announced, "Today, you're to pack an overnight bag for yourself and Jubilee. We're going out of town."

Adri grinned at his authoritative voice, but she would not argue. After her life of travel and adventure, she was starting to feel a little hemmed in. They had developed a comfortable life together, a life she dearly loved, but she could not deny that she longed for a brief change of scenery. "May I ask where we're going?"

"To visit an old friend."

Adri was truly surprised by that. She could not stop the words before they had escaped her mouth. "You have a friend?" Then, realizing what had passed her lips, she pressed her hand against her mouth. She watched as one fine white brow slowly climbed his dark forehead, the other eye narrowed sharply at her. Then the corner of his mouth twitched and Adri giggled.

Krellyn said, "As a matter of fact, I have two friends." After a long, thoughtful stare at his plate, he lifted his head and looked in her eyes and his mouth twitched again. "Three, actually."

Adri's heart swelled and her smile grew. She felt her cheeks growing red. The man who sat across the table from her knew her more intimately than any other person could. She could not understand why the thought that he considered her a friend would be the thing to make her blush. Perhaps it was because Adrielen could not even begin to count the number of people she considered her friends, but Krellyn could count his own friends on only one hand.

Krellyn cleaned up the kitchen as Adri packed for their trip. He was just about through when she returned to him and asked, "Will I need this?" He turned and saw she was holding up the chain mail dress that she wore into combat. What amused him was the almost hopeful look in her eyes. It made him laugh.

Adri smirked at him. "I'll just take that as a 'No', then."

With breakfast and the packing out of the way, Krellyn went to work in his lab while Adri and Jubilee went visiting and making deliveries. He shook his head as he stared at his work space, wondering at how things change. He used to create poisons, now he made all manner of things that his customers needed. Of the things he thought he would never be, he had become a merchant. With a shrug and a derisive snort, he got to work. Krellyn's alchemical potions were quite popular among the adventuring Planes Walkers. He was happy with his precise formulas and instruments, but he despised dealing with people. On the other hand, Adrielen loved to talk to people. With her as his mouthpiece, Krellyn stayed busy and Adri stayed social. It was a perfect arrangement for both of them. When business was through, she came home in the late afternoon to find Krellyn had already put a light meal on the table. He told her to eat, that they would leave after supper.

With a bag on her back, and their child slung across her front, Adri linked her hand with Krellyn's and the space around them shifted. They stood just inside a clearing within a thick, shadowy pine forest. Krellyn explained that there was a road not far from the clearing and that instantly popping up in a town full of ordinary mortals was not wise. Reaching the edge of the woods, they waited for an oxcart to pass them, so as not to startle the driver. Then Krellyn stepped out onto the road and led his family to a small quiet village.

The village was populated primarily by elves, though there were a few humans and half-bloods among them. Adri noticed that Krellyn kept his hood up and his head lowered. Even so, there were a few people that crossed to the other side of the street, rather than pass them on the same path. Krellyn knew Adri's mind, could feel her rising ire and knew she wanted to say something. She heard his voice in her thoughts. "Unfortunately, my kin have developed a certain reputation. These people are only ignorant, not dangerous. At least not so long as you are able to hold a civil tongue." She took the warning seriously and kept quiet.

They came to an inn and Krellyn said, "It would be best if you do the talking here. I want you to get us a room, then go to the bar and ask the barkeeper for Martain. The last time I saw him, he was talking about opening a shop for hunters."

"Martain? That's your friend's name?" Adri passed the sleeping infant to Krellyn.

"Yes. If he still lives here, I'd wager the man who sells his liquor will know something about him." With that, they went inside.

The place was practically empty, with only three patrons at the bar. The proprietor stared long at Krellyn's cloaked and silent figure, then he whispered to Adri, "Are you all right, Miss?"

Though Adri was already weary from the prejudice against her husband in that place, she smiled as cheerfully as she could. "Of course. My

family

and I are fine. We're just tired and need a place to rest." With that, she placed a few coins on the counter. Her offer was more generous than the little place deserved, but she had learned that the right coins could buy a certain degree of respect. Her gold vanished in a flash, and the man told her where to find their room.

With Krellyn and Jubilee settling in for the night, Adri went to the bar. She ordered a drink and spoke with the bartender. "I'm looking for a man called Martain. Do you know him?"

The rail-thin half-breed stared hard at Adri. He flicked greasy hair out of his eyes, and said, "Look, Miss Damsel, that Martain fella' don't help people no more. So, whatever you think your distress is, you better find some other sucker, or learn to rescue yourself."

Adri was beginning to wonder if all the villagers were rude and ignorant. Perhaps there, it was the cultural norm. Though she was growing more irritated, she attempted a pleasant smile. It was a smile that never reached her eyes and must have revealed some of her internal anger, for the man took a step back. She simply slid another generous coin across the counter and said, "You look, Mister Piss Peddler, I am in no distress. And if I were, it would not be for long. I'm planning a hunting trip and I hear Martain's wares are the best. Now, can I find his shop here, or not?"

Again, her coin disappeared. "Why didn't you say so? Shop's at the other end of town, just inside the woods. Path's marked. Can't miss it."

Adri returned to the room and her ire instantly melted away. Jubilee was awake. She and Krellyn were making faces and nonsense noises at one another, and both were laughing. Seeing Adri, the baby girl threw up her arms, reaching for her mother. As Jubilee nursed, Adri told Krellyn what the bartender said.

The following morning, they arrived at a small shop with a bow and a boar's head mounted above the door. As the sign suggested, it was a shop for huntsmen. The walls were adorned with bows, axes, and knives. There were horns and whistles for hunting with animals and all manner of general gear required for a successful hunt. Behind the counter, an elf with short-cropped dark blonde hair sat with his back to the door. He sat on a stool, bent over a worktable as he concentrated on fletching arrows. Though a small bell jingled when they went inside, the proprietor did not turn away from his work to look at his customers. He continued to watch his fletching and in a mild voice he said, "Help you folks with something?"

Adri watched Krellyn pull back his hood and smirk as he said to the elf's back, "I'm looking for Martain."

The elf paused, hands frozen over his work. His left ear twitched, as if pestered by an insect. In the same even tones he said, "Maybe I know that name. Maybe I don't. What do you want him for?"

Krellyn said, "He was my friend. I like to think he might be, still."

The elf sighed and turned to regard Krellyn with mild hazel eyes. A small smile played at the corners of his mouth. "Krellyn Darkraven. It's been... how many centuries? And why do I have the feeling that you being here now means my nice, quiet little life is about to get all kinds of screwed up?" Then he seemed to realize Adri was standing there. He asked, "You with him?"

Adri smiled and nodded her head, then Krellyn introduced her. "This is Adri, my wife. And my daughter, Jubilee. Adri, this is Martain."

Martain threw his head back and laughed. He stood up and came around the corner to clasp Krellyn's arm. Still chuckling he said, "Your 'wife'? Right. Why don't you yank on the other leg now?" As Adri lifted Jubilee from the sling, Martain gasped.

First he said, "Krellyn, you're an asshole." Then to Adri, "Seriously, honey, how much did this crazy bastard pay you to dip your baby in ink?"

Adri giggled, and because she did, so did Jubilee. "Your concern is touching, Martain. But I promise, she was born this way."

He pointed at Krellyn and said to Adri, "I know Krellyn would lie for a bad joke, but you don't look like the lying kind. You really married to him? And that's his child?" Adri only met Martian's eyes and smiled patiently.

After a moment, Martain threw up his hands in exasperation. "Well, how did that happen? I mean, was there a ceremony? Like in a chapel, with priests, pretty speeches, and flowers... and... cake?"

Krellyn scrunched up his face in disgust and made a hissing noise. This made Jubilee laugh, then she scrunched her own face and practiced the same noise. Though, lacking any teeth, her noise was a raspberry. The baby's playing made Adri laugh, then she put out her lower lip at Krellyn in a mock pout and said, "I do wish there had been cake. I like cake."

Krellyn eyed Jubilee as she continued to experiment with the new raspberry noise. To Adri he said, "I'll make you a cake when we get home."

More to himself than to anyone else, Martain muttered. "My gods. It's for real. Krellyn, the master of all things gloom, doom and despair, went and got himself a wife. What is this multiverse coming to?"

Krellyn said, "Yes, Martain. Now, if you could somehow manage to get over it, I'd like you to come back to the house with us. There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Right. I guess that's where you're going to tell me how you're going to screw up my life again?" Though Martain's words were hesitant, he put a closed sign in the shop window and locked the door.

Krellyn's crooked smile quirked up again, and he said, "Of course!"

As Krellyn cast his spell to travel, he frowned because they did not go anywhere. Krellyn said, "It appears that someone has dimension-locked this area."

Adri turned to Martain who shook his head. "Don't look at me. The only thing I ever cast is a fishing line."

At that point, shadows peeled themselves off the floor and the wall. Martain cursed and pulled an axe off the wall. Krellyn stepped between his family and the shadows while he withdrew a pair of liquid filled glass globes. Sensing her mother's alarm, Jubilee began to cry. With no blade, no armor, and her infant daughter in her arms, Adri immediately spoke a prayer of protection over herself and her child. The divine spell was intended for field medics so that they could tend to the wounded without coming under attack. So long as Adri was not hostile, she and Jubilee would be safe.

The temperature in the room dropped instantly so they could see the puffs of vapor as they breathed. As the minor shadow demons moved in to attack, they extended long ethereal claws. One of them managed to grasp Martain's arm, the claws passing right through his flesh. He hissed sharply and looked to see a row of frost-bitten cuts in his skin.

Krellyn made quick work of two shadows. He tossed the glass directly at them. When it shattered on the floor beneath them, the liquid splashed and shredded his foes. Adri smiled, as she realized the globes were filled with holy water. As if they were of one mind, the two men fought back to back, keeping the shadows from getting around them. Then she noticed that Martain's mundane axe was not working as effectively as it could. Adri blended a new chant with the one protecting her baby. The axe began to glow with holy light. "Bonus!" He shouted, then he swiftly tore into the shadows before him.

Adri saw that the wound Martain had received was turning black. That blackness was quickly spreading. He unconsciously shook his hand, then just let it hang at his side. She needed to stop the unholy infection before it touched his heart. To heal him, she needed to put her hands on him. If she could just get a little closer. She started to move forward, then Krellyn snapped at her, "Get back!"

She jumped back just in time as Krellyn blocked another vicious claw attack with his cloak. Then, her blood chilled when she found she had backed into a person. The evil that radiated from the person behind her made her stomach clench and she wanted to vomit. Jubilee's primal instincts took control and she instantly stopped screaming. Her little body went stiff in Adri's arms, and she stared up at her mother with wide terror in her violet eyes. Adri's heart was slamming in her chest, but she maintained her chant.

Though the being had not grabbed her or hurt her, she was beginning to wonder if it was powerful enough to sense her through her spell. She felt ice cold breath on the crown of her head, as if the being behind her was sniffing her. When she felt something squirming through her hair, everything in her screamed at her to run. However, her boots felt as if they were frozen to the floor. Not wanting to drop her spell, Adri used telepathy, sending her fear along her link to Krellyn and mentally calling his name. He finished off the shadow he was engaged with as he turned to look at Adri.

Just as he and Martain were eliminating the last of the shadows, Krellyn felt Adri inside his head. As she called to him, the fear that accompanied that call was not at all like her. He turned to see that she had backed into a reptilian creature that had not appeared to be there before. It had a humanoid shaped body, but a snake-like face, with scales instead of skin and a long serpent's tail curled behind it. The creature looked confused, as if it could only partially sense Adrielen through her spell and was trying to figure out what she was. One of its hands had small snakes where fingers should have been, and it had the audacity to put that hand in his wife's hair. To Adri's mind, Krellyn said, "Move."