Hey,
this is the final chapter, hope you enjoy it,x
*
Matilda awoke groggy and disorientated. Leo sat with his back against the tree cradling her lightly. It must have been some hours since she fainted, what had happened? The afternoon light streamed through the trees basking them in a warm glow. Leo was rocking her slightly. Murmuring endearments in her ear, asking her to be okay, to please be okay.
"Leo" she croaked.
"Mattie!" he leant forwards, drowning her with kisses, "Mattie, are you alright?"
She nodded, trying to pull herself up, "I'm fine, what happened?"
He pushed her back down onto his knee, shushing her and stroking her cheek "What do you remember?"
"We were talking, you wanted to take me back and then I had this awful headache, oh god Leo I felt like I was burning, and then everything went black....no...not black...red...everything went red. Then I woke up. How long has it been?"
He looked at her for a long moment "It has been hours. Mattie, do you remember I told you about the stone. I have it."
She smiled faintly puzzled "That's wonderful..."
"Yes, yes I thought so. The stone is more aware than I realised Mattie." He continued to stroke her face.
"What do you mean "aware"?" She asked, still confused as to what he was telling her.
"It has a consciousness. It brought you to me. To help me. It wants to close the portal. It used you to tell me this. It spoke through you. It wants you to come with me to close the portal. It hasn't given us much choice."
She stared at him. "Then it seems the stone and I want the same thing." She said.
***
They travelled that day, Leo guiding her horse, as he made her sit upon it, insisting she rest as much as possible. She didn't argue, because she still felt drowsy and disorientated although she wouldn't admit it.
"Leo, where is this portal anyway?" she asked.
"It's a long way away. Maybe two weeks journey. We are already in crusher territory. They took the stone away from the portal. It's in the Northern provinces of Calla, where the crushers first appeared. Before they swept down here."
She remembered Calla had once been a thriving country, a peaceful neighbour of Acillus for centuries. Then suddenly the crushers had appeared and destroyed it. Acillus and the other neighbouring countries had been fighting them since then. One by one their neighbours had fallen. Now Acillus stood alone against the crushers. They had been protected by their seven powerful armies.
"Leo, who was the man that opened the portal?"
"An idiot. It doesn't matter, he's dead. Killed by his own avarice. He opened the portal, to gain control of an army, for power and wealth. He had no control over the crushers though, they...consumed him."
Leo suddenly stilled and motioned for her to be silent. He picked her up off the horse, and silently removed their packs, slinging them over his shoulder. He unhooked the reins, there was no saddle. She heard it then, the horrible cry of a crusher. Then a grunting snuffle. He slapped the horse on the rump to get it moving away from them, so that it would not attract attention to them. Taking out his crossbow, he pulled her into the shadows of an oak.
They watched as the hulking crusher crashed after the horse. Then two more followed it. One of them keening highly like a child. How had she ever thought they were human she thought. Leo waited till they were gone and then pulled Matilda after him, making them run. After an hour or so they stopped.
"I can't....I can't...I'm sorry...I have to stop.. give me a moment" Matilda panted.
He put his finger to his lips, and waited patiently by her for a moment, stroking down her back, then he pulled the packs so they were sitting on his front, handing her the flask of water. She took a long gulp. He sprinkled some onto his hands, wiping them over her hot face. Then he took a sip himself. Stashing the flask, he suddenly hoisted her onto his back. She gasped. He continued to run. When she was ready she got down to relieve him of her weight and they continued on.
That night he found them a resting place.
"Why haven't we seen more crushers?" She asked.
"We're in dead country." He replied. Seeing her blank face, he went on. "The crushers have been here. There's nothing left. They've razed every village, burnt their crops, killed everything they can find. They've killed the land. There's nothing left for them to kill here. So they've all but deserted it. Most of them can be found either directly fighting our country -Acillus or on one of their direct routes from the portal to Acillus. They don't stay around because they don't really want the land. They just want to kill. They're done here. What we saw was a small scouting party, here to pick off remains"
She shuddered and burrowed into his arm. They lay silently together. Holding each other.
She woke up in the middle of the night to find herself almost stripped of clothes. Her skirt and blouse discarded. She felt hot and flushed, a wonderful glow of pleasure spreading from her core throughout her body. Leo was kissing down her front, lightly blowing and nipping at her skin. They were bathed in moonlight, their bodies entwined. She arched up to meet his kisses, a low moan escaping from her throat. She tried to touch him, but found he held her hands pinned to the floor. He was kissing her breasts. Flicking the nipples with his tongue and then suckling on them. She bit her lip to stop from crying out. His hand traced up her leg, up her inner thigh, lightly skimming over her sex, teasing her, not quite touching. He trailed his hand lightly over her sex, frustrated she felt her hips jerk up. Then his hand lightly pushed against her, one finger dipping in and out as his thumb found her clit and softly began to circle it. She gasped, trembling beneath him from the force of her reaction. He smiled and kissed down her smooth stomach, lightly kissing her bellybutton. Then he reached her sex and she gasped as he licked it. She arched up again, writhing beneath him. His tongue flicked over her clit. Alternately sucking it in and circling it with his tongue and then giving it light flicks. It felt so exquisitely sensitive. She felt a heavy fire lace itself from her belly up her spine.
"It's too much, it's too much" she moaned "I can't take it."
"Yes you can Mattie" he whispered as he came up above her and plunged in. He thrust into her body, with steady sure strokes, getting faster as they both neared completion. She loved the heaviness of his body on hers, the fullness of him as he thrust in and out of her, the way his hands skimmed over her body. She came over and over, crying out, as he pushed into her, pouring his seed in to her, he let out a muffled moan.
Afterwards she turned to him and he gently kissed her forehead "Back to sleep love" he whispered.
**
The next day, they washed in the river again and continued on foot. He noticed her limping and made her sit down, despite her protests to examine her foot. He scolded her softly when he found the large painful blister. He burst it, cleaned her foot and wrapped her feet in bandages and insisted on carrying her that day to rest it.
Their days carried on, they saw a few more crushers, but Leo made sure there were no confrontations. He didn't want to risk alerting the crushers of where they were by leaving a trail of dead crushers.
***
Then one day, their journey came to an end. They finally reached the mountain pass. At the top of this mountain stood the portal. It was heavily guarded. They hid in the shadows of a neighbouring mountain ledge about a mile away.
"How on earth are we going to get up there without being captured?" Matilda asked
