Chapter 26

I was thankful that there were no more dreams like my interaction with the Oracle. My worry for her was still palpable, and I was hoping that it was just an act within the dreamscape and that she was okay, but I found myself not confident that she was okay. I was free of any haunting dreams that would have been brought by such harsh circumstances. The dragons were lying in the places of Amenthia and Entivala, who weren’t in bed. A check of the map showed that they were in the shower and I felt that it was a good idea as well. The Dragons were very displeased with being left in our room, but they didn’t like the idea of getting wet. Kat’ilth’ana was sleeping on her cot and I left her to rest while I went to get clean. The water was soothing and a nice, calming relief to the stress of the previous few days. My mind wandered to what lay ahead of us, with the Challenge drawing near. We had roughly five weeks to get ready for it and I still didn’t know what we would be doing. I can only deal with one thing at a time, so the first step would be collecting the modified crossbow and having Katie continue her work with it.

Freshly dressed, I returned to find three women and two youngling dragons waiting for me. We went down to the dining hall and enjoyed a delicious breakfast before we made our way upstairs to the training areas. The dragons laid down at the edge of the mat and watched us as we spent the next four hours going through our sparring, katas, and individual weapon work. I could sense their amusement at our fighting one another, both with weapons and hand to hand combat. We worked up a good sweat and enjoyed the mock conflict before we went to enjoy the mid-day meal. The dragon’s appetites were already growing, and they went through three plates of raw meat each.

“We have a few growth spurts in the first year after we hatch,” Saphira explained. “The first is a few days after hatching, when we will double in size. It is to allow us to be large enough to fend off threats in the wild. The next isn’t for six months after we hatch, when we will double in size again, and our heads will be up to your chest. Once we reach our first full year, we will be taller than you are and will probably be moved to the hatchery.”

I gave her a slightly confused look, as the knowledge that they had seemed to always surprise me, despite knowing that they have a unique access to genetic memory.

“An ancestor was the dragon of an adventurer, so we know of the hatchery. It is connected to the travel tubes, so you will be able to visit us whenever you like, which we hope will be often.”

“How is it you will be able to access the Dungeon?” I asked. “I never saw anything at the Pact House in the Dungeon that would allow you access. Then there is the fact that some of the Dungeon floors are underground.”

Draco gulped down a thick piece of meat and replied, ”I would hope that you don’t involve us in the underground parts of the Dungeon. It is uncomfortable for us and would limit the things we could do to help. I don’t expect you to need us until the much higher levels, as you seem very capable, given the fighting you did earlier. When you do plan for us to come, you will have an option on your bracer to summon us to the floor. We will arrive to assist and will don a special dragon choker that will have a return stone on it. Since there are two of us, they will most likely be paired so that one stone will send both of us back.”

When our lunch was concluded, we stopped over at Brot’k’s shop to check in with our friends and on the status of the bowstrings. Fra’tilia looked a bit exhausted, but she happily showed us the completed string for Amenthia’s bow as well as the two completed crossbow strings. We thanked her for them, and I assisted Amenthia in installing the new bow string. She drew it a few times, testing the tension of the new string and had a large smile on her face. I placed the other bowstrings in a pouch on my belt and we headed out to the outer training area. Amenthia tested the new string, and we were all surprised at the speed in which the arrows were propelled. We could only imagine how much the new strings would improve the crossbows. Over the next few hours, Amenthia tried to explain and demonstrate the various things that could affect a projectile weapon. She showed the various ways that Katie would use to adjust and get closer to the center of the target with each shot. Katie struggled with handling the bow, but she proved to be a fastidious listener and tried to apply what she had been told. Tomorrow they would be able to go through the lessons with her modified crossbow.

As it neared time for the evening meal, we stopped over at Brot’k’s shop to collect the finished holsters. As always, he did amazing work and even made cross straps on the back. It was designed to be attached to her belt, which we passed over to Brot’k. He quickly added them to the belt and returned it with a smile. We collected the belt, thanking him for his help and left for the transit tubes to see Gordwin. He was sitting at his worktable, humming a tune to himself as he worked on whatever was before him.

“Hello there, my friend,” I said softly. “I hope we aren’t disturbing you, but you said to come around this time to collect the crossbow. I hope we didn’t arrive too early or are distracting you from your work?”

He quickly spun around, “Ah, hello everyone. You are all right on time! I was just putting the finishing touches on the second crossbow. It has all of the enhancements that we made to the first one, though I know you plan on changing out the bowstring. Do let me know how it changes the accuracy of the weapon.”

He handed us both crossbows and we marveled at the upgraded design. The bows were currently retracted and set to the sides of the stock. He drew our attention to a section just behind the clasps and squeezed them both, releasing the bow to its ready position.

“Gordwin, could you please show us the proper way to change these out?” I asked as I pulled the new bowstrings from my pouch.

His eyes widened in surprise and nodded energetically as he took the strings from my hand. Over the next few minutes he showed us how to release the old string and how to feed a new one through the pulley used for cocking the weapon. Once they were both replaced, he returned them to Katie. She placed one in one of the new holsters, which Gordwin marveled at, after she added a bolt box to the other crossbow. She then handed the loaded crossbow back to Gordwin and he happily took it and walked over to the testing range. He drew back the string and locked it into place, nodding for a second before taking aim and releasing a bolt. The blot launched and sailed across the space between the crossbow and the target. We all marveled as the bolt sank into the target, embedding itself deep into the target making it impossible to remove.

“Well I can see why you changed the strings for these new ones,” Gordwin said with a grin. “You have doubled or even tripled the velocity of the bolt, causing the same level of increase in distance. It will result in more damage when striking a target, though I am not sure how it will cause wear and tear on the components of the crossbow.”

I nodded and said, “Well then, I will talk to Brot’k and Fra’tilia about making one or two more and sending them to you. That way you can test them and adjust the equipment based on your findings. I am sure that they will prove useful in your experiments and inventions.”

“You would do that for me?” he asked in awe. “I expect you to show me how the new strings would work, but never expect that you would share them with me.”

“Well, we did invest in your work,” Amenthia said with a smile. “It is only prudent that we share materials that we are using to enhance your already impressive work. That way, you can find ways to improve it further, making even more impressive weapons to help us keep safe and make it deeper into the Dungeon.”

“Plus, Katie, here, will be using them in the Champion’s Challenge,” I added, casing Gordwin’s look of awe to change into one of shock.

“You plan to use my weapons in the Champion’s Challenge?” he asked in a soft, hushed voice.

I nodded again and said, “Yes, that is why I was looking for ranged weapons for Kat’ilth’ana. She has great magic and close quarters combat skills, but no ranged weapons. She is now going to make a terrible force to be reckoned with and you have assisted in that. When asked where she got her amazing weapons, we will tell them we got them right here.”

“Wow, that is amazing! Thank you,” he exclaimed, shaking our hands emphatically. “You have no idea how much your trust and support means, and I hope that this will be the start of a great partnership.”

We thanked him and took our leave of the halfling inventor to return home. We enjoyed our evening meal and returned to our room. Katie, of course, worked on her potions as we slept. Given the audience of the dragons, we chose not to partake of any sex tonight, but I don’t think that would last too much longer. I could tell we all were hitting our limit, given how often we used to do it before things got more complicated. I was thankful for another dreamless night and enjoyed waking to my ladies being in my arms. I noticed that, though they were both asleep, both were grinding themselves against the leg they were straddling. I enjoyed the sensations of two lithe, voluptuous women grinding against me, before I began to pull myself away to get out of the bed. Both of them woke up as I left the bed and I watched as they stretched in the sexy way only women can do.

“Good morning, ladies,” I said with a smile. “Shall we go and enjoy a nice, long shower together?”

Both of them gave me a confused look for a moment, until they glanced at one another. A wordless message was exchanged and, as realization dawned on them, their postures changed. They immediately began to move more deliberately and seductively as they got out of bed and selected their clothes for the day. I found my own and left the dragons to watch over Katie’s sleeping form. We said nothing as we headed for the showers. I walked a few paces back, to enjoy the exaggerated hip sways as we approached our destination. We deposited our stuff, collected our towels, and headed for one of the larger stalls. Over the next hour, we took our time washing one another, making sure to spend lots of time on the other’s erogenous zones. Amenthia was the first to be washed, allowing us to tease her large, full breasts as well as her pussy. Once the soap was washed away, we each latched onto her nipples. After helping ourselves to her tasty nubbins, we moved farther south. We took turns licking and tonguing her wet and engorged pussy. She fought to keep her voice down as we pushed her over the edge, causing her to orgasm hard enough to cause her to nearly fall down.

Entivala was the next one to receive the attention and hers fell along the same path as what was done to Amenthia. However, when I went down to begin eating my delicious elf, Amenthia surprised both of us by starting to lick and tongue the elf’s rosebud. The attack on both fronts had Enti cum so hard that she nearly passed out and we rushed to catch her. Despite all of this, they demanded to wash me, and I relished the sensations. Once I was rinsed off, they each took a side and kissed their way down my body towards their destination. They worked together and took turns kissing, sucking and stroking my cock. If one was sucking me, the other was suckling my balls in her mouth. Each time they brought me close, they would stop, smiling up at me. After the third time, I shoved them over, moved Amenthia into a face down, ass up position and wasted no time burying myself inside her. I didn’t start slow, fucking her hard and fast. I wrapped her wet hair in my left hand and used it to pull her against me harder. I held my hand out and Entivala knew instantly what I wanted, putting fresh liquid soap onto my thumb. I slipped the digit into her ass as I continued to relentlessly fuck the busty blonde. I didn’t waste any time and only a few minutes later I was emptying the first load deep into her waiting depths.

I pulled out and watched with amusement as Entivala dove between Amenthia’s thighs to eat all the cum that started to leak out and then drove her tongue in for more.

Once there was nothing left for her to get, they turned to me and began to revive me for the next round. They decided to tease and edge me again, and I fought hard in the hopes of making sure that Enti’s load was as substantial as the first one. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I grabbed her by the legs and lifted her into the air. Bracing her legs in my arms and with Amenthia’s help, I lowered the Elf onto my waiting cock. Amenthia helped me to hold her up as we raised and lowered the redhead onto my pistoning cock. It didn’t take me long again, thanks to all the attention I had gotten before sliding into Enti, to fill her pussy as well. Due to the intensity of her orgasm, she passed out in our arms and we had to carefully lower her to the floor of the shower. I had a bit of trouble, as my legs became a little bit like jelly from the intensity of my release. Amenthia rushed to clean up her partner in crime, happily slurping the cum from the lithe beauty’s well-fucked pussy. Since Enti was still passed out, Amenthia took it upon herself to make sure my cock was clean of their juices.

Given our athletics in the shower, we quickly washed each other again, ignoring the urge to fuck again and returning to our room. Kat’ilth’ana was just waking as we entered, and I couldn’t help but look as she stretched. Despite everything that had happened over the past few months, she was still a gorgeous creature and given my body was still riding my horny high. Both of those facts put her attractiveness to the forefront, and I couldn’t help but admit to myself that there was a part of me that really did want to fuck her like I had just done with my ladies. I ignored the impulse, as, for right now, she had shown no sign of attraction towards me that was of her own free will. While she had said I was well within my right to take her, I would rather know it would happen regardless of the collar than impose myself on someone who actually didn’t want it.

We got ready and popped down to the dining hall before heading to the training yard. We ate quickly and Katie led the charge towards the training yard. When we got there, she practically ran over to the nearest archery range and pulled out one of her hand crossbows. She locked in a bolt box and unfolded the bow. She pulled the string, locking it into place and taking aim. Confident of where she was aiming, she pulled the trigger and we watched as the bolt shot out of the crossbow and pierced through the target. We stood in shock before running over to see where the bolt had landed. She collected it from nearly a meter past the target.