Tale of the Nemorvian Band

Chapter Fifteen: Many Paths

"War band, to arms!" the leader of the Fey warriors called out, drawing her bow and knocking a magical, glowing arrow so fast her arms could only be seen as a blur. "Someone approaches!"

Zomos drew the huge double-bladed axe she'd taken from the corpse of a Minotaur while beside her the two Nemorvians drew their weapons. Amitkoa glanced at Kilne, watching her younger companion. She'd been strange since shaking off the shock of the battle. She seemed changed and distant, and if they were about to be attacked she wanted to protect her fearing a new battle might put her back into the state of shock she'd been so hard to wake from.

"Lower your weapons," a musical female voice called out as a small Fey woman fluttered into view. "I come with messages from Queen Faeven!"

"She still lives?" the leader of their band called out, the magic fading from her arrow as she returned it to its quiver. "Tell us the news of the great battle! Her message made it seem all hope was lost."

The new arrival, a Fey woman who introduced herself as Meadow, explained how the ancient forest god had arrived just in time to save not just the queen but her entire army!

"The mighty Queen Faeven is not just undefeated but more powerful than ever!" a pretty, young Human woman said, appearing out of the forest behind Meadow. She wore flowing green and blue robes and had long blue hair that ran down nearly to her waist, with two wrapped buns of blue hair on either side of her head. "We've won this battle against The Corruption and now she wishes to press on with the war. It's no longer time to just gather her powers, she says. It's time we take the battle

TO

The Corruption and begin to send its influence fleeing from this part of Alaria!"

"What does she wish of us?" the Fey woman leading the band of warriors said, smiling at the revelation that things were far better than she thought.

"You are to take your force back to the hidden encampment," Meadow told her. "She has need of numbers there. Meanwhile, I shall lead a smaller force on an important side quest." She landed on the ground, her wings fluttering for a moment before disappearing. "Destine Foy, the Mage that has come with me, shall be joined by the two Nemorvians and the Collossi on this quest."

Amitkoa pressed forward. "We are eager to serve the queen," she said quickly, "but please, has there been word of our friend Novaoa?"

Meadow nodded. "Yes," she said, her face suddenly grave. "She arrived at the camp just before the battle began. She proved her worth defending Queen Faeven but..." Her voice trailed off and she looked uncertain. "Imeyr, the mighty forest god that saved us all, demanded she leave with him. Novaoa went willing with the god but to what purpose no one knows."

"But she is well?" Amitkoa asked.

Meadow nodded. "Yes, she is. And if all goes well you three Nemorvians shall all meet again seen. But for now Queen Faeven requires that your reunion wait. The quest the queen sends us on must come first."

"What is this quest?" Zomos asked eagerly.

Meadow looked up at the huge woman. "A matter of great importance but one that must remain secret even from our allies for now." She glanced at the other Fey warriors leaving then back at the party of would-be heroes she now led. "In time I shall reveal all."

* * *

Jennenes growled in anger and frustration, knocking the ornate metal bowl before him to the floor. As it fell the water inside of it splashed, the glowing magical energy it had been infused with sparked then dissipated.

"Why can I not scry the location of the Nemorvian bandits?" he muttered in frustration as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his temples. "Some magic hides them from my sight and it vexes me so. I feel that even were my manna not so drained I'd still be having the same problem. I need to break past whatever protects and hides them... but how?"

He looked around his study, glancing at the many tomes of magical knowledge sitting on his shelves. There were countless ways to try but which would serve him best at this moment?

Before he could decide the door flew open. "Sire, there is a most urgent matter that needs your immediate attention!"

"What could possibly need my immediate attention?" Jennenes asked, frustrated by his failure and now by the interruption.

"It is Queen Ghilliana Ermean of Lyalduinin. She's here, in the royal hall begging an immediate audience."

Jennenes nearly leaped out of his seat. "What? That haughty, stuck-up Elven bitch? The one who told my father his High Elven blood was too diluted and that she'd

never

have dealings with him or his kingdom, no matter how large it grew? The leader of that tiny city-state to the south, that sits on the richest Emberstone mine in the region?"

"Yes," the Majordomo said with a bow. "I think you will want to hear what she has to say, or rather what she has to

ask

. She is in desperate need of your aid."

"Well, this is interesting. The Nemorvian bandits can wait, whatever they are up to can't be more important than this. I will need some time to prepare; I must make a proper first impression. See her to a guest room. Let's see how much she needs my aid. Let's see if the bitch will wait for me to hold an audience with her, maybe overnight?"

"Yes, sire, I'll see to it. And I think she

will

wait, I think you'll find she'll be willing to do nearly

anything

to gain your aid! And once this matter is settled you can return your attention to the Nemorvian bandits."

"Yes, yes," Jennenes said, waving the last comment away. It was clear that the Nemorvian band was a forgotten thing to him, at least for now.

* * *

Novaoa pressed forward through the forest. The trees around her were slowly growing larger, their trunks thicker than she'd ever seen. The size brought a sense of age that matched everything else she saw. The plant life surrounding her grew closer and closer together, the underbrush growing heavier as well. She wasn't following a path, instead she simply felt the way forward, driven by some unseen power she assumed was Imeyr.

"

We are getting close

," the forest said, its voice loud and booming and sounding as if every tree in sight was speaking at once.

The sound made her shiver with fear. The god had felt immensely powerful from the first moment he had appeared and the further she moved into the forest the greater that power felt. Her fear was slowly turning into terror. The fact that she didn't know

WHY

the god had required her only added to that terror.

"

You need not feel such fear

," his voice boomed from every direction. The words did nothing to calm her, not just because the booming voice was terrifying but because its words implied Imeyr could easily read her mind. Sensing her growing terror the god responded by once more taking physical form. Green energy flowed out of the forest around her, coalescing into the shape of a huge man. A moment later Imeyr was looming beside her.

He reached down, putting a huge hand gently on one of her shoulders. Calming power flowed into Novaoa. "You need not fear," he said again. His voice was still deep and powerful but coming from a single physical being and not from the forest itself it was far less terrifying. As he kept his hand on her shoulder she quickly grew calmer, feeling completely at ease by the time he pulled his hand away.

They kept walking deeper into the forest, only now Imeyr was leading the way. She looked up at him, awed by his presence but no longer feeling any fear.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"To... my home on Alaria," he replied slowly, as if uncertain how to describe their destination. "A true god spends most of their time in the Ethereal Plane above Alaria, but my power has grown too weak for me to go there. My essence is trapped on Alaria now, confined in this forest. Within its borders I have great power, but I doubt I'll ever be strong enough to leave or return to the Ethereal Plane above."

Novaoa could hear the sadness in his voice as he told her this. She felt the urge to comfort him but had no idea how to do that.

"You said you gave up your power to try and stop The Corruption. What does that mean?" It felt audacious asking a god any question, yet she was so eager to understand what was happening she couldn't help herself.

Imeyr fell silent as they pushed ever deeper into the forest. The silence lasted long enough that Novaoa thought at first he wasn't going to answer her question. But eventually he did, speaking slowly as if what had happened was hard to put into words.

"The Corruption is an alien force, not something native to Alaria. Where it comes from I do not know, I doubt even the gods who have given themselves over to it know. It's not an inherently evil force, just overwhelming perverse. But many evil things are drawn to perversion and The Corruption has no hesitation when it comes to using evil as its pawns.

"It changes everything it touches, corrupting mortals and gods alike. It even changes the earth itself. It is insidious in its war to change and infuse everything with itself. Even when one wins a battle against it the taint of The Corruption is left behind. The forces standing against it could win every battle yet, in the end, lose the war.

"The time I was one of the mighty gods was very long ago and the war against The Corruption lasted many an age. My memories of that time are...

faint

. A god does not remember the way you mortals do. With enough time we...

forget

. I fear the only reason I can remember any of that time is because I spent so much of my existence since then barely existing in a kind of sleep.

"I remember that we gods that stood against The Corruption eventually saw that the force could never really be defeated. There would always be some of its taint that remained and with enough time it would reach out and corrupt the world again, growing stronger. In the time it would have taken for it to slowly regain its strength the gods would have forgotten the threat it posed... We wanted to avoid that, we wanted something close to a permanent solution.

"The gods infused with the power of The Corruption could never be cured of its taint. For a time we warred with their followers, sending our faithful against them. A god needs the faith of mortals to continue to exist, so we thought to try and slaughter or convert those who worshiped the corrupt gods, to starve them.

"It nearly destroyed the mortal races of Alaria. We realized we had to do something different. So we worked to imprison the gods of The Corruption. We found various ways to jail and bind them in hidden places. But the cost was great... Many ended up like me, spending so much of their power they nearly faded from divine life. Others gave up their immortal existence to become the corrupt god's prisons.

"But even then we knew it was a temporary solution. Eventually, the corrupt gods would escape the places they were bound in. It might take thousands and thousands of years, but The Corruption soaked into them would slowly seep into the very things holding them prisoner. And as soon as just one of these corrupted gods were free they'd be able to start spreading The Corruption through Alaria again, almost certainly looking for their imprisoned comrades to free them as well."

Novaoa looked up at the god and asked, "How long ago did you sacrifice your power in this way?"

Imeyr took a long time to answer. "I do not know for certain," he eventually said, speaking each word slowly as if uncertain of its truth. "Many thousands of thousands of years ago. What I can sense of Alaria is nearly unrecognizable to me, except for some parts of this forest. Once all of Alaria was covered with grand civilizations far more advanced than what I sense now. But something happened. Perhaps it was the great war against The Corruption, or perhaps it happened after that. But whatever transpired it caused a great collapse that you mortals barely survived. All the people, I fear even the mighty High Elves, slipped into near barbarism, or were reduced to such small numbers they barely held on in small hidden enclaves. In the place of fallen mortal civilizations the wilds of the world reclaimed Alaria."

Novaoa nodded. She was no scholar but even she had heard tales of The Great Collapse. No one knew what caused it, but the stories she'd heard said much the same that Imeyr had just told her. Sensing he didn't have anything else to add to his tale she asked where they were headed.

"It was once my grand temple," he replied. "Even as I slumbered the faith of those that once worshiped me was so soaked into its walls that it remained, even as this forest reclaimed all else. But you'll see it soon, we are almost there."

True to his word they soon came to a large, overgrown temple. It towered above them, yet the trees around it were so gigantic that they were even taller than the ancient building. As they got closer she could see that it had once been stone but very little of that material was left. Its walls were now made of wood and vines as if the forest had slowly wrapped itself around the structure and replaced it.

The forest was thick here, so thick that no light made it through the canopy far above. The way before them was lit by masses of fluttering glowing insects while she could see that within the temple the vines and roots glowed green. As Imeyr led her into the temple there was soft green light everywhere, tinting the world around her green.

He led her through labyrinthine halls until they reached a large chamber. In its center was a dais with a throne made of thick roots. She expected Imeyr to head for it but after looking at it for a moment he moved instead towards a doorway leading off from the large chamber.

"Come, little Nemorvian. It is nearly time for me to explain why I have brought you here."

Together they entered the much smaller room. She thought that at one time it must have been some kind of bedchamber, but the furniture had been replaced by the roots and vines that now made up the temple. There was something that looked like a huge bed, but instead of a mattress it had a bed of thick, soft moss.

Imeyr walked up to it and sat. "I need you," he said, staring at Novaoa with his intense, glowing green eyes. "I need you and I don't want anyone else to know why."

She stood awkwardly before him. He seemed suddenly so tired, weak, and vulnerable. "Tell me," she said, a bit of the fear she'd felt earlier returning.

"Do you remember what I said on our journey here?" he asked her. "About how we can win every battle against The Corruption and still lose?"

She nodded, feeling incredibly apprehensive.

"I was able to wash away its taint at Queen Faeven's camp, but it cost me greatly. To touch anything infused with The Corruption almost always leads to a bit of its essence transferring into you. I have touched it and now its power is in me."

Novaoa took a step back. What did the god mean? Had he taken her here for some nefarious, perverse reason? In clearing The Corruption away from Queen Faeven's camp had he given himself to the sinister force?

"I can feel the thoughts running through your head," he told her, his voice soft and full of weariness. "No, I have not given myself to The Corruption. But a sliver of it is in me. It will fester and grow, slowly corrupting every fiber of my being. I fear it can never be fully cured but I think it can be held at bay."

"How?" Novaoa asked, already fearing she knew the answer.

"It changes me already," Imeyr said, wringing his hands together and shaking slightly. "I'm feeling urges, no

NEEDS

, that I've never felt. I think, although I am not certain, that if I wish to keep The Corruption at bay I will need to stay in this form and have someone constantly sating these growing sexual needs."

Novaoa stood motionless for a time, feeling the weight of what he had just confessed floating in the room with them. It was just about what she had expected. She knew how to please a man, how to satiate his sexual needs, but could she satiate a god's needs?

Imeyr unexpectedly stood, a fierce look on his face and his eyes fixed upon Novaoa in a way that made her quake with fear. She saw something in his glowing green eyes, a flash of red.

It's the taint of The Corruption,

she thought.

Red is the color of it.

She wanted to take a step away from the god who stood towering above her but she felt suddenly weak. Her arms fell to her sides as her muscles all started to go limp. A moment later she fell to her knees, no longer able to stand.

Imeyr took a few quick steps towards her, his large strides easily closing the distance. He reached down and grabbed the top of Novaoa's head and lifted her into the air before him. The glow of his eyes was now more red than green. He grabbed the clothing she was wearing and tore it open, causing her overlarge breasts to fall heavily into the open air.

The god groaned in delight at the forceful reveal of her breasts. "They are so large," he whispered, his voice full of barely restrained lust as he stared at her tits. "So thick and wide and heavy... How did I never see just how sexually appealing a female's breasts are?"

He shifted in a way that made her look down. She blinked, confused. A moment ago the god had been wearing layers of leather armor and robe-like white cloth edged in cold trim. But now the towering god was naked. His skin was covered in faintly glowing green tattoos shaped like chaotic dashes and glyphs. But it was not the strange tattoos that drew her eyes. It was his manhood, the hard erect manhood of a god.

There was a moment when she felt relief. Her racial weakness had not been triggered by the sight. It seemed that whatever Queen Faeven had done to "cure" her of it still lasted. But that relief was quickly replaced with terror as she took in just how

big

his member was. Although shaped and proportioned to match that of a regular Human Imeyr stood over ten feet tall leaving his member's size shocking.

I can take that,

she thought as her initial shock and fear lessened. It was large, but no larger than some of the male Collossi she'd serviced as a whore.

It was covered by the same glowing tattoos that covered the rest of his body. As she stared at it his cock those tattoos pulsed and throbbed, sparking slightly with angry red power. Reality around the angrily throbbing member warped, the god's cock growing larger till her fear surpassed what she'd initially felt.

It WON'T fit in me,

soon became the only thought racing through her mind as she continued to stare at it.

"It will fit wherever I desire it to fit," Imeyr rumbled, clearly having read her mind.

He slammed her down onto the ground, forcing her onto her knees. She felt her heavy breasts bounce and jiggle from the impact, yet even before they had settled Imeyr was shoving his gigantic cock into her mouth. She opened wide, trying to scream as the god forced his throbbing member into her mouth but his dick was already deep enough in her mouth to muffle the scream completely.

Imeyr grabbed her horns with both hands and held her in place as he began to savagely fuck her face. His cock slammed into the back of her mouth and down her throat. She knew it should have been too big to fit, yet it did.

She choked and gagged as he slammed into her mouth and down her throat over and over again. Her body was still weak, her arms hanging limply at her sides. If not for the god holding her up by the horns she knew she'd have collapsed onto the floor. Her weak, limp body seemed to help make the savage face fucking less uncomfortable, although she still struggled to breathe.