The crack of the branch under my foot rang out in the forest like the church bells back home. I hoped that Nora would not have heard it or if she did, it didn't prompt a reaction from her.
I had been watching her for about 5 min as she bathed in the river. Seeing the incredibly curvy magic user bathe was definitely a great sight, but I was not trying to wind up dead just because I saw something I wasn't supposed to.
I tried to step backwards silently hoping to slip back to our campsite without any confrontation. I soon realized that wasn't going to be the case, as I looked up and realized that Nora was no longer standing in the shallow water of the edge of the river.
In the time since I left Rathis with Nora and Cargus, one thing I had learned, was that Nora was absolutely terrifying. I had never really seen people who specialized in magic-based combat back in Rathis but after seeing Nora, I was glad I hadn't. She was brutal in combat and never even considered holding back and if I wasn't so terrified of her, I would have found that level of power kinda sexy.
And now, all that power was walking towards treeline me...
I wasn't good with words and I knew if I tried to explain that I just walked to river at the same time she was bathing I was going to put my foot in my mouth.
So I did the only thing I could think of I ran. I looked over my shoulder to Nora looking at me as I ran. I couldn't be for sure but I thought I saw a smile on her face as I scrambled away. I wasn't sure what my plan was but the only thing going through my mind was putting enough distance between me and Nora that she would calm down before she got me.
I ran for several minutes before realizing something was very wrong. I should have been back at our campsite by now and even though it was late in the afternoon, the forest should have been nowhere near this dark and I hadn't even realized the thick fog that had rolled in.
"You really should have known better than to run." The voice came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
It was definitely Nora's voice. That combination on dominance and seductive tone but this time it seemed ......playful.
Pitch black tendrils shot out from the fog wrapping around my legs and arms and leaving me floating in the air spread in an x.
I had seen this before. Nora used one of these tendrils to catch a bandit that was running away from us a few weeks ago. At the time, I thought it pretty cool to see the black shape shoot from the shadows and bind the guy but being on this side was not something I wanted to experience.
"Nora, I wasn't trying to watch you, I just wound up on the water's edge." I cursed that I was now doing the one thing I didn't want to do, talk my way out of this.
"Aww what's wrong, Valk? Am I not your type?" Nora's voice wrapped around me like snake, almost like her words were as real as the shadow tendrils.
I was wondering if she had used some enchantment and this was all in my head or was she really this powerful? I wasn't the best with magic but even I knew the manipulation of an area this big was not easy.
My thoughts returned to the current situation and her question. Nora was beautiful and sexy and even though she was about 10 years older than me, I had definitely thought about the possibility of a relationship, if only in passing.
Unlike Tarl, who showed no interest in girls our whole time together, I had a few relationships with girls around the city. Nothing long lasting or meaningful but I did enjoy them.
"I....um....I mean..." I stumbled with my words trying to make sure I didn't say anything that would put me in an even worse situation.
"Valk, I'm losing my patience. I want a real answer." The voice echoed around me again but l lacking the warmth of before.
This was that darker voice I had before. The one that brought an unnatural chill when I heard it, The one that actually sounded like two voices talking in unison.
Every time I heard this voice, I had witnessed a brutal and dark side of Nora. It was scary enough when it was directed at our enemies but having it focused on me was one of the most terrifying feelings of my life.
"Okay...Yes, you're ONE of my types, but I wasn't trying to peek on you! That was by pure accident!" I said with speed. I hoped that this was going to be the end of this now that I answered her question.
Nora appeared from the fog in front of me, still naked. Nora usually wore an eye patch with the Order's insignia on it along with her robes, but it wasn't present now. I had always assumed that she had lost the eye during her adventures with Cargus, but that was not the case apparently.
The eye that Nora usually had covered was perfectly fine except for it's deep purple color that seemed even more vibrant compared to her other eye's emerald green.
While I hadn't been out of Rathis before, I had learned enough to pick up signs of some of more interesting things of our world, and purple eyes usually meant something to do with demons.
I turned my attention to her body. Her robes normally showed off her curvy frame, but in honesty, the robes were not doing her figure justice. Nora's breast looked like they would be more at home on one of the cowgirls of the plains and mountains that occasionally came through Rathis and her hips and ass were amazing. Her jet-black hair seemed to be waving yet there was no wind. The most noticeable thing though was the black marking covering her cream-colored skin, snaking across most her body.
"So um.....Those aren't tattoos are they? I said with a light chuckle, hoping that some humor might spare me from whatever was coming.
"No, they aren't. They're demonic markings." That twin voiced echo once again bring an uneasyness to me.
"So what are you?" I asked. I decided that I needed to take the situation with a degree of seriousness now.
"Well that's a little bit of a tough question." Nora walked towards me, reaching out and stroking me chest.
"I'm human......mostly." Nora seemed to enjoy teasing me as she answered my question.
"When I was much younger, I bonded with a demon. We've been together for so long that we're becoming one. My eye patch is blessed and keeps my demon in check but every now and then, I let her loose."
That explained the different color eyes and the markings, but it didn't make me feel more comfortable, if anything it left me more unsure of where this was going.
"Valk, you're going to pay for both your little act of voyeurism and for making me chase after you and expend all this power." Nora said, a glimmer in the demonic purple eye, letting me know this was not going to be something she was going to be denied and I certainly didn't have the abilities to go head to head with her.
"What about Cargus? He'll be back soon and if we aren't at camp, he might come looking for us." I was still not sure what was in store for me, so I was trying to find a way out still.
"Oh don't worry, Time works very differently here. As long as I want, I can keep us frozen in this moment."
Cargus must know about this but I feel like if it was actually an issue he would have dealt with it but that wasn't comforting in my current situation.
I began to get the idea that Nora's magic was severely limited normally and knowing that was not comforting, as I had seen what she could do when she wasn't all demony.
As Nora traced my body, I watched as my clothes faded away, leaving me fully exposed and still bound in the x pattern.
Nora placed her hands on my chest and squeezed my nipple between her fingers. I hadn't had any simulation like this since my last night with Tarl, the pain sweet and bringing back memories of our time together.
