Chapter 16

Thankfully there were no nightmares to plague my dreams and I woke up to the feel of a woman in my arms. It was a comforting sensation and despite nature’s call, I was reluctant to give it up. I waited until it felt like I would burst before I extracted myself from her embrace and made my way quickly to relieve myself. When I returned, I found Liza was still asleep in the bed, though her face looked troubled. As I returned to the bed, I wrapped my arms around her and felt the building tension dissipate from her instantly. As I laid there, enjoying the peace I felt watching her sleep, my mind ran through all that had happened over the past few days. Some of it had been good, some of it had gone very bad. Though the change in how things were with Liza was a plus, despite what Violet said before we left, I felt I could still lose Violet because of what had happened last night. The new friends that I had made on this trip, as well as meeting Celka, had been good and rewarding. The real damper was the kidnapping and ensuing rescue of Liza, and it had been a painful reminder of the dark violence that seemed to follow me. I hoped that there would be a resolution with this bastard, before I lost someone else I cared about to the violence.

Worried visions began to fill my mind of the curse spreading and taking me over, forcing me to change under the light of the blood moon. The idea of me rending my friends asunder with no control flashed in my mind and I felt bile began to rise at the images that my mind showed me. My disturbing thoughts were broken by Liza, as she began to stir in my arms, with a content smile on her face. I watched as she stretched her arms, enjoying the twists and turns her body made as she moved, making her large breasts sway with each movement. She looked over at me and gave me a bright smile before pulling me into a hug. Her firm breasts pressing into my chest, the smell of her skin and hair filling my nose and mine lower extremity decided to wake up from the contact. I could tell that she had noticed the change as well, as she lowered her hand and wrapped it around my growing erection. I decided to return the gesture and brought my hand to down to find her lips wet and engorged. I searched for her button and applied slight pressure as I rubbed her little numb, causing her to moan.

No words were said as we pleasured one another, though I could tell she had plateaued more than once, but as my climax approached Liza surprised me. She dipped below the sheets and took me in her mouth just before we released my seed into her waiting mouth. When she came back up, she had a smile on her face, proud of the intimate action she had just performed for me. Then I decided to return the sentiment, pinning her down onto the bed, before kissing my way south until her flower was exposed to me. I wasted no time, enjoying the delicious taste of her nectar, as her moans filled the room. I could tell that she was getting close, as she was running her hands through my hair and pulling my face closer. I increased the intensity and speed of my attentions, resulting in a reward of my mouth being flooded with a delicious flood of liquid. As she we came down from the high of our actions, we smiled at one another, before reluctantly getting out of bed. We began to get dressed and packed up our belongings, after we made the bed. When we finished, I did a thorough check of the room to make sure we did not forget anything, as we would be leaving after breakfast. Content that we had not forgotten anything in the room, we collected our packs and bought them downstairs to have breakfast. I gave Geralt my room key and thanked him for everything he had done.

“Of course, sir, be sure to stop in, if ever you pass through our little village again. It was a pleasure meeting you and I am sorry for the misfortune that you suffered while staying here.”

I thanked him and we made our way into the dining hall, to get our breakfast. Ilane was seated at a table, a plate of food in front of her and Clive seated to her right. I was happy to see him up an about, but the state he was in still upset me. He had bandages over his arms and one of them was in a sling. He had poultices on his face, and he looked haggard. He saw us coming and gave us a small smile before returning to drink the spoonful of broth being given to him by Ilane. We collected our own plates of food and joined them. Celka was seated on Ilane’s left, with a plate full of food in front of her, along with one of her books. I had never seen a woman so small pack away food so quickly and I could not suppress a chuckle, which caused her to up and glared at me. It created a hilarious image, as her cheeks were bulging with food and I could not stop bursting into full-blown laughter. It was not long before Liza and Ilane joined me in laughing, but Celka was a good sport and joined us in laughing When her laughter finally died down, she swallowed the food in her mouth, then we exchanged pleasant conversation as we ate. Soon, we were on our way to collect our wagon and head home.

Liza helped me to carry Celka’s packs to the barn and I was delighted to see the wagon and horses were ready to go when we arrived. I thanked Joshua and Michael for their help and hospitality during our stay as they helped us to pack up the wagon and get Clive situated comfortably in the back. We said our farewells and we began to make our way out of the village, as we passed Nikos we gave him a quick wave goodbye, before heading down the road out of town. He waved back and yelled for us to come back and visit soon. As we neared the edge of the town, we found the Patron waiting for us, so I bought the wagon to a stop in front of him.

“I wanted to wish you all well as you left town, as what happened to you was some nasty business and I hope that it did not sour you to our lovely village. It was an isolated incident and I would hate for it to have jeopardized the bonds we had made here, as well as our plans for the future.”

I smiled and said, “Do not worry, Patron, I know that if you could have prevented it from happening, you would have. I will still honor the deal we made, so I look forward to the prosperity we will help each other bring to our homes.”

We said our goodbyes and I started the wagon onto the path outside of town. Celka was in the back with Ilane, and Liza was sitting with me out front. We made casual conversation about the lake and the beauty of the area around us, not making light of the darker events that had transpired. When Liza starter to look like she way feeling a little down, I pulled her into a hug, and she rested her head on my shoulder. I could hear Ilane and Celka talking about various topics, but I could not make out the particulars of their conversation. Even if I could, I doubted that I would be able to follow what they were talking about. Every so often they would engage Clive in a short talk when he was awake, but those instances were when they were changing his bandages and poultices. After a few hours, Liza asked us to stop so that she could get in the back and begin to make us a mid-day snack while Ilane joined me in the front and I started us once again on our travels home.

“Once the mid-day meal is done, I will switch places with you so you can catch a nap,” Ilane told me. “Celka is resting right now to take over for me about halfway; we will be waking you around supper time. We will maintain that rotation and I think we should try to teach Liza. That way, we could do four-hour rotations, and still get six to eight hours of sleep.”

Her suggestion was a good one, and when Liza re-joined me, I handed her the reins as I ate my meal. I showed her how to adjust their direction and speed, explaining how best to keep them going where we wanted them to. She was nervous but soon was beginning to build confidence driving the wagon. I had to remind her to adjust a little to the left or right, but over time the reminders became less frequent. Once my meal was completed, I looked at the flap and reached in to move some things around. I then climbed in through the flap, using the space I made to get in comfortably, and showed Ilane how to get out the same way. It would save us from having to stop each time we switched our positions and as I laid down, I did not find it very difficult to fall asleep.

All too soon, I felt my shoulder being gently shaken, and I opened my eyes to find Ilane was the one to wake me up. As I looked around the back of the wagon, Clive was asleep, and it was just us. That meant that Celka and Liza were currently in the front, I could hear nocturnal insects faintly over the sounds of the wagon.

“Here, Davik, Liza made a soup from our stock of food. Eat it quickly as you will need to relive Liza in the front.”

I nodded and dove into the soup she handed me. It was still warm, and the flavors were rich, as I had come to expect from the food that Liza makes. Once I was done, I handed Ilane the bowl and opened the flap to tell Liza she could come to the back to rest. Liza and Celka were in a hushed discussion, so I waited until it looked like I could talk, and both would hear. I cleared my throat, which caused both women to jump in surprise, then they glanced back and saw me, which caused a Celka to shake her head and Liza to giggle. She nodded, and I moved out of her way to allow her room to climb in. Regardless of the room, she made an extra effort to rub her breast against me as she moved past. She looked back and gave another giggle, causing me to shake my head before making my way to the front. As I was about halfway, I felt a pinch to one of my butt cheeks and looked back to find both women looking around the wagon with innocent expressions on their faces. I was glad they were both feeling in better spirits and took my spot next to Celka.

“I hope you had a good rest, because you were a bit fitful during it. Liza said that it happens much more infrequently now and that what I saw was incredibly mild compared to the ones you had suffered from in the past.”

I nodded and answered, “Yes, I feel quite well. Violet had mentioned how bad it had gotten, but it was where she got the idea that I would need someone to sleep with me. Apparently having a woman pressed up against me decreases the odds of a fit occurring.”

“So, Celka replied with a snort, “I believe that there is more to the story of what is going on than you have told me. I need to know everything if I am to help you beat this curse and a lack of knowledge can lead to many needless deaths.”

“When I was a young boy, my parents were killed the night of my tenth birthday. It was a blood moon and as I was heading to talk to Violet’s father Ruben about a tree fort that we wanted to build just outside of the village. I had not gotten very far before I heard my mother scream in terror, so I ran back to the house to find her torn and brutalized body in the kitchen. My father had been working in his shop when I had left so I ran to the shop and saw that he was desperately trying to hold back the largest wolf I had ever seen. He had a piece of iron rod in the beast’s jaws keeping its bite at bay, as it tried to pin him down against a worktable. When my father glanced over and saw me, his face changed, and he stopped fighting. I had to watch as that thing ripped the rod from his hands and killed my father, by tearing his throat out. Fear gripped me as I wondered if I was next as the beast locked eyes with me, but then instead of attacking, it dashed out of the nearby window. After that night, when their funeral had been concluded, I was sent to live with my elder parents in Fardun. There I learned forestry and lumber, while I also was taught by my elder father to be a hunter, to track and kill my prey.

“My elder mother gave me a rudimentary, but useful understanding of herbology and how to use what is grown to make simple remedies. She also taught me what to look for in fruits and vegetables in the wild if I was running low on food. I had to watch them both succumb to the ravages of time, and when I was eighteen, I was ready to return to Cartha. I had made a name for myself as a hunter in Fardun and become very proficient at hunting and killing wolves. I had trained myself for years to be ready in case the situation came where I could avenge my family. When I returned, I had learned that, though the town had grown in my absence, they had been terrorized by wolf attacks every blood moon. The Patron Brant had replaced his father and bullied the townspeople. He also took as many steps as he could to remove my family’s legacy from the town, though some avenues were closed to him. He was not pleased at my return, especially when he found out that Violet had chosen me over him. Apparently, he had forced himself on her while I had been away and had assumed that she was now his, despite her adamantly refusing him. My parent’s house would have been sold or torn down had they not left instructions for Violet’s father to keep it in trust until my return. Those wishes were made unbreakable by Brant’s father before his death and even Brant could not break them. If he did the capital would get involved and he would have no doubt lost his position and even ended up in prison.

“He even refused to give me a house in the town, save for the most pathetic, run down one he had. He had also hoped that he could over-charge me, thinking I would not have much money, and I again proved him wrong. Not only that, but he gave me property that had the biggest plot of land, second only to the Patron’s house itself and had a small entry point to the town almost literally in my own back garden. His anger only grew as I used my skills to repair the house and improve upon it. I had found a grove of Teaka growing outside of town and used that wood to preform my renovations. He tried to steal what lumber I had harvested from the grove, but he and his goons were met with resistance that he did not expect, as I was no longer living alone on my property. Due to my exploits various members of the town approached me to live with me and provide services to my household. Two of which offered servitude in exchange for lodging and protection.

“I agreed and in turn, I gained Liza and her sister, Trina as basically slaves in every sense of the word. They had lost everything, and no doubt Brant would have done something awful to them. Clive and his friend Trent offered to protect my house when I was not around, as well as provide meat from hunting. They have been most helpful, and they have become good friends, in the time we have spent together. I also gained four apprentices that I have passed on all my knowledge to, and they in turn have improved upon what they have learned from me and have generated quite a lot of business in town. Ruben, Violet’s father, who is the current interim Patron, has taught them some of his carpentry skills, as well. Brandon has been spending a lot of time learning the intrinsic details that are specific to the work that Ruben does.