Chapter 11

The three weeks were coming to an end and every creature in the vicinity was on edge. Three weeks of crooning, keening, trilling, and moaning had taken its toll on all the inhabitants. Nonetheless, the expectations were high.

A second pack of wolves had come. They preferred to camp out on the porch out of the snow but still able to sleep in the morning sun. Pardin was fairly certain that he had sixty fairies sleeping above his head at night but he still wasn't absolutely sure.

By midmorning Adray was packing all of their plates, mugs, and bowls into their original crates. She had him move the chairs and benches to the larder. The wolves didn't like being told to move their lazy butts but they kept their snarls to a minimum.

Whenever Pardin asked why everything was being packed away, Adray gave him a kiss on the cheek and another chore, more arduous than the last one. He didn't ask again.

The volume of the trolls had gotten so loud that the cotton under the earmuffs no longer worked well. Sounds filtered through the earplugs, both low and high. The melodies jangled his nerves in new, annoying ways that he had never considered. Sometimes he wondered if the sounds went beyond his range of hearing, like dogs that could hear things he could not. The sensations were painful as much as they were alien. The rhythms weren't human and their logic was beyond Pardin's ability to understand. There was a beat but nothing for which a human could tap with a foot.

Around noon Pardin began to notice a peculiar sensation on his skin, as if the something was pressing against his entire body. By mid-afternoon, his ears popped even though he was nowhere near the true heights of the mountains. The pressure against his body was becoming stronger.

The forest had become unusually silent and forbidding.

The wolves were restless, pacing around the clearing in front of the porch. Others were laying on the porch, watching the others in the yard. Fairly frequently, a wolf would leave his pacing and approach the porch, touching noses with those laying on the edge.

As the afternoon sun drifted towards the mountain from which it would disappear, clouds began to gather in the sky. They didn't come in with a wind front, which Pardin would have felt or at least seen. Instead, they seemed to percolate and expand above his head.

The troll music picked up its pace. Staccato notes began to race up and down the register. Adray flung open the door and motioned to Pardin to come inside. The wolves on the porch began to stir as well. The two alpha males began rounding up their packs and placing individuals in certain places. The females were beginning to pant.

Inside Adray was removing her clothes and folding them. Pardin began to do the same. As he reached down to undo his britches, he noticed that his hands were starting to glow with magic, but the color of the glow was much more golden, like the color of the troll's onion dome.

Naked, Adray climbed onto the bed and crossed her legs, resting her hands in her lap as she sat up. She was a picture of beauty in repose. Pardin joined her and took up the same position. Her eyes were closed and it appeared as if she was praying.

Pardin looked up. The fairies all naked and sitting in similar positions with their wings folded. With each uptick of the music, their wings would slightly vibrate. Pardin wondered if the fairy membranes were attuned to the voices of the trolls.

The pressure on his skin was becoming unbearable. Adray must have felt the same sensation because her ears were twitching. They looked adorable when they were twitching,

Pardin realized that the muscles in his arms were twitching a little bit. As he paid more attention, his calves and his thighs twitched too. The air felt thick and fluid-like in his lungs. Watching Adray flair her nostrils, Pardin knew that she was experiencing the same sensations.

Even Pardin with his human senses knew the music was moving towards a crescendo. His ball sac felt thick and tight while his cock rose to half-staff. Adray's lower lips appeared red and puffy. Her arousal started to tickle his nostrils as he stared at her hardened nipples.

Somewhere trumpets sounded. Loud notes clashed and wolves began to howl. Adray opened her mouth slightly and leaned towards Pardin. Like a magnet he leaned into her. He found her lips with his and the pressure slammed their bodies together, leaving them prone on the bed.

"Sweet, savage love," Adray moaned. "Take me to the valley of sweet, succulent bliss. Hold me down and make me scream for release until my throat goes hoarse and my cries grow weak."