Amber woke late the next morning, the sun already shining through the trees when she stirred from under her blanket. Pushing her up on one arm, she clutched the blanket to her chest as she rubbed her eyes.
On the other side of the site, Lorelei was across the fire busy preparing a breakfast for the two. Hearing Amber moving she looked up with a wide smile.
"Morning slut!"
"Huh, what?"
Lorelei smiled again, focusing on the fire, "Someone had a fun night!"
"Oh crap, you saw that?"
"Yes," Lorelei giggled, "Sorry, I think I woke up on your second little orgasm, it was a bit of a thrasher! I'm sorry I should have warned you about the sprites, I totally forgot! I have an oil that I usually put on at night around here to keep the annoying buggers away."
"An oil huh," Amber shook her head in mild annoyance at her companions gentle cluelessness. At the same time, she had to admit, she felt great. Her body still tingled from the sprites attention; her muscles more relaxed than they had been in quite some time.
"Yeah, it does something to keep them away. Sorry, I should have waved them off but you sort of looked like you were having fun. I've never seen sprites so happy either!"
"Well, I do what I can," Amber laughed, stretching again before standing and looking for her shorts.
"So, what's the plan for the day?"
"The trail goes on for a bit, it's a short cut but this is a large forest. We should be able to reach the next village in maybe a day or so."
Amber nodded, taking a plate from Lorelei and sitting by the fire. Lorelei kept chatting while Amber ate, distracted while she thought the situation through. She was worried about Ruby and hoped they would get some sense of where she may have gone at this village Lorelei was leading them too. The thought of Ruby being held prisoner ignited an ember of anger in Amber, her hands clenching the fork for a moment before settling herself down.
She returned her attention to Lorelei a moment with a question, "Wait, you said we're passing by a lake along here?"
"Yes," Lorelei replied oblivious that Amber had not been paying attention, "Just a couple hours from here. I usually stop for a time to refill my water containers."
"Good," she said rubbing her legs," I need a bath."
A few hours later, Amber and Lorelei arrived at Lorelei's Lake under the midday sun. The temperature had climbed steadily through the morning so the women were more than happy to spend some time relaxing. It was not long before Amber was naked again and jumping in the water.
Lorelei had shared some soap and watched amused as Amber scoured herself before heading out for a swim across the lake. After the last few days, the steady exercise was a great way to stretch out tired muscles from walking, not to mention some of the other activities she had been getting up to lately!
Swimming back to the shore, Amber stretched again, pulling her hair back as she carefully walked up the slight rocky bank to where Lorelei had set up a sort of camp.
"That was great, this spot is amazing!" Amber said turning to look back over the calm waters.
"You are quite the swimmer Amber!" Lorelei said smiling, "We don't tend to swim much this far south."
"Oh, why's that?"
"I travelled through here a few years ago," Lorelei said casually. The elf had taken her armour off and way laying back against a tree, her eyes roaming over her friend appreciatively, "I ended up getting caught by a tentacle creature over by the rocks."
Amber turned, staring wide eyed at Lorelei then back to the rocky outcropping she had just swam back from.
"Tentacle creature, over by the rocks?"
"Yes, it was quite fun actually, although a bit tiring after a while."
"Fucking hell Lorelei!" Amber said angrily, "You could have warned me!"
"I figured you would enjoy it," Lorelei said with a smile, "You don't seem the type to be put off by a few tentacles."
"Well, maybe. Wait no! Dammit you could have given me a warning!"
"Sorry?"
Shaking her head with an eye roll, Amber walked off pulling her hair back and wringing it through her hands. She found it difficult to stay annoyed with Lorelei for long, the elf's harmless but clueless nature managing to deflate even Amber's legendary frustration and temper.
Turning her back to the water, her eyes roamed over the woodline. This really was a beauty of a spot, she thought, when I find Ruby, we seriously need to return here!
But Lorelei and Amber were not the only ones enjoying the view.
A large figure lurked within the trees, its mottled rough skin blending perfectly as it glided between the trees toward its prey. Drifting closer, it parted the undergrowth staring at the human and elf. Excited at the sight, it knew its mate would be happy if he were able to bring the two beings home to play with, before preparing them for a meal!
Waiting for the redheaded one to turn away, the beast moved closer digging his hand into the pouch he carried. While it preferred to use its trusty club, its mate always complained when it when it brought home limp playthings, or the ones that just shook for a bit and made the odd sounds. Fortunately, his mate was smart and had made a dust it could blow in its victims faces that made the pretty things sleep.
He liked it when the pretty things slept for its mate. At least for a little bit.
Creeping to the edge of the brush, he burst through the brush, throwing a handful of powder at the elf laying against the tree. The elf caught a face full of the powder and started coughing before rolling to her hands and knees.
Rushing forward he grabbed another fist full of powder when his head rocked back. The red head one somehow spun in the air and caught him square on the chin with a kick. Although he outweighed the human by a couple hundred pounds, he felt his jaw snap back and stopped in surprise. The human didn't stop at that, landing and snapping another kick on the inside of his knee, making him stumble.
With a roar he struck back, swinging his hand at the humans head. She ducked, but came into range of his hand holding the powder. Faster than she would have expected from an opponent this size, he grabbed her hair and pulled her close and lifting her off the ground. Ignoring the look of rage on the humans face, it carefully opened its hand and blew the powder in her face. She let out a yell almost the equal to his own, punching his sore jaw twice before the powder did its work.
Within moments the human hung limply, her feet still off the ground.
The beast grasped his jaw, working it back and forth with a pained grunt before opening and closing it several times. After a moment, he picked up the sleeping elf and started back to his lair where he knew his mate was waiting.
An unknown time later Amber stirred as she heard her name spoken softly over and over. Rolling her head, she opened her eyes to see she was suspended face down, held by a net hooked above. Looking to the side she saw Lorelei in a similar net, whispering intently her way.
"Amber, wake up!" Lorelei hissed.
"I'm up, geez stop it." Amber looked around the dim room, realizing they were in a large cave. As she moved her head started clearing, although her nose still itched from whatever the thing had blown in her face.
"What's going on," she asked twisting her head back to Lorelei.
"This is bad, Amber. We were captured by wood trolls!"
"Another one of those little things you should have told me about huh?"
"Hey, its been like fifty years since I passed through here. Or maybe two. Anyway, there were no wood trolls here when I last came through here!"
"Great, yeah ok." Amber paused a moment to look around, "So what do we do now?"
"We need to get out of here!"
Amber stared at Lorelei a moment before angling her head down. Noticing a bare breast hanging through the net and that she was still naked, she looked back to Lorelei.
"So, do you have maybe a knife hidden away anywhere Lorelei?"
"No," Lorelei said slowly.
A sudden noise in the next room interrupted the women, the entrance filled by a large form moments later. They both recognized the creature that had captured them so easily although Amber smiled nastily to see the beast still holding its jaw as it glared at the two women.
"Uh, Blada! Your pretties are awake."
The troll turned away, stepping to the side when its mate stepped inside. Not as large as the male, she walked in like an evil queen entering her grand chamber. Hands on her wide hips, she glared at the two women suspended from her ceiling.
"Well, what do we have here?" she said, her gravelly voice rumbling through the room.
