Agnes and I raced towards the voice. As we got closer, my head buzzed for a second, and I blinked. All of the sudden, I became aware of three presences in the direction we were running. They gave off a strange, unnatural aura I was not familiar with, and I began to worry. These must be actual monsters. Who knows what kind of horrific beasts we'd encounter?
Well, I can certainly say I wasn't expecting this.
One of the traders, who I assume was in the middle of taking a whizz, since the front of his pants is down, is currently being ganged up on by what appears to be three hot, busty women.
Now normally I imagine having three beautiful women looking at your junk with what I can only describe as a look of pure desire would be enough to excite any man, but this lad looked terrified.
Then I got a better look at the women.
While they looked human at first, they all had that sick, strange aura around them, and my nose curled up at their presence instinctively. Must be a Paladin thing.
Their wild hair was a pale gray, hanging down below their shoulders. Their skin was tanned like a girl on the beach in the summer, and they had beautiful brown eyes. Their ample bust was barely being held back by a ragged cloth, and their loincloth hung loose around their waists.
Their hands were sharpened into claws, stained red with what I think is blood, and their bare legs and feet were covered in the same substance. Pieces of what appeared to be sharpened bone protruded from their shoulders and around their collarbone.
The women's mouths were full of sharp teeth, like knives, and a long tongue hung from their gaping maws, dripping with saliva. They looked hungry, and their gaze was fixated on the poor man in front of them.
Time to intervene.
"G-get away from me!" The trader squeaked out, staggering backwards. The women- no, the monsters advanced, their grins spread wide across their face as pools of drool began forming beneath them.
I stepped in between him and the creatures, raising my sword towards them. "Back off." I said, and the three of them exchanged a glance, before taking another step forward.
I swung my shield at the one who was closest, and I heard a sickening crack as her head snapped to one side, her tongue lolling out as spit flew from her mouth.
Wow, I must be stronger than I thought. This should be easy.
Then, with more cracking noises, her head snapped back into place.
Well shit.
The monster raised her claws, slashing at me. It scraped against my armor, making a horrid noise, but I gritted my teeth, and swung my sword. It began to glow with a bright blue light as it carved into the monster.
She let out a loud hiss, as black blood began spilling from her neck, getting on my already bloodstained armor. I gotta get this cleaned.
Seeing as it's probably undead, due to that whole display with the shield, I thought that cleaving into her neck probably won't kill her, and I was right. She grabbed at the sword carving into its neck, the -I assume- divine light shining from it leapt out at the monster, and to my horror, an aura of blue enveloped it.
It looked confused for a second, then her grin grew wider, as blue light filled her eyes. She slashed at me again, and she ripped into my armor, carving into it with horrific ease.
The other two monsters began to swing their claws towards me, but then a flail smacked one in the side of their head, as Agnes jumped into the fray, looking towards me with fear in her eyes. "Get away from him!"
The bleeding monster tilted her head at her, then turned back to me, and pressed one of her claws deeper into the wound, her other claw reaching towards my helmet.
I felt her claws dig into me, but the wound didn't hurt... it just throbbed. It felt hot and uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt. I assumed that must be the adrenaline pumping through my system, but as I tried to move, my limbs locked up. I couldn't, I was paralyzed.
The monster smiled at me as my helmet fell off my head, leaning forward, her lips locking with mine. I wanted to scream as her tongue forced its way between my lips, swirling around inside, but I couldn't do anything about it. She raised her claw again, slashing at my armor. I felt a chunk of my breastplate getting torn off, and she leaned deeper into the kiss. It was a horrid feeling, my first kiss being stolen by this monstrosity, but you know the worst part? I somewhat enjoyed it.
Agnes called out my name, kicked one of the monsters away from her, and clutched her holy symbol.
The monster on top of me was struck with a blue blast of holy energy, and she fell forward, pinning me to the ground.
Her chest was squished up against my armor, and her tongue jolted around inside my mouth. Smoke poured out from her wound, but her attention was still on me. She separated from the kiss, and I felt her drool dripping onto my face, as she looked at me, a hungry gleam in her eyes. Her mouth opened, and I could see her sharp teeth glittering in the moonlight.
Agnes swung her flail at the other two, clocking both of them in the face, sending them reeling backwards. She then swung it up in the air and brought it down on top of the head of the monster on me.
It looked up in surprise as the flail smashed into its head, and I inwardly screamed, trying to force myself to move. Shockingly, I did, and I kicked her off of me.
Its eyes widened as it looked at me, and I brandished my longsword, aiming right for her mouth. The sword hummed with a blue light as I prepared to pierce her through the back of her throat, but one of the other monsters slammed into it, sending it reeling to the side. My sword sliced through a lock of her hair, but hit nothing else.
I looked up to see Agnes swinging her flail at the other monster still standing, and I looked towards the other two monsters.
They stopped moving, but I suppose if these things are undead, it'd be hard to tell if they were still alive or not.
Doesn't matter. I charged forward as the monster swung a claw at Agnes, ramming it with my shield. It fell backwards as I brought my longsword up to swing at it as it hit the ground, plunging it right into the monster's heart, or where it should be.
It let out a horrid shriek, its eyes wide as it stared at me with... sadness? I blinked for a second in confusion as the 'life' drained from her eyes, her body going limp.
I wiped the black blood off of my blade, and looked at my damaged armor. I wasn't bleeding, which was weird, because I was pretty sure that monster had done some serious damage to me.
Agnes put a hand on my chest, and a blue light slowly enveloped my exposed skin. The throbbing heat faded, and I exhaled in relief.
The trader, who had now pulled up his pants, thanked us profusely.
"Honestly, I would've been those horrid Ghouls' dinner if you all didn't show up when you did!" He smiled, sweat dripping from his brow as he shook our hands, "thanks for saving my life!"
Ghouls. So that's what they were called. I shuddered, remembering that kiss. I felt dirty.
"It's no issue." I said, "we're just doing our jobs."
Agnes looked back at the dark pool of black blood slowing oozing around the Ghoul's corpse, her face twisted in disgust as it reached our feet. I wondered how many battles she's participated in, if she was getting squeamish at this.
The other two Ghoul bodies laid there, unmoving still. Guess we got them. Hopefully.
"Well, I thank you anyway. Seriously, I owe you one." The trader bowed to us, and hurried off to his tent.
I exhaled, lifting my foot out of the pool of black blood. "Ew."
Agnes nodded, her face turning a little green as the blood slowly covered the ground underneath us, the corpse of the Ghoul still spurting blood. She held out a rag to me, and I wiped off the Ghoul spit on my face.
However, as I rubbed the drool off, just touching the spit covered areas sent a jolt of... pleasure? coursing through my body.
Agnes looked over to me once I wiped all the Ghoul spit off.
"Well, let's turn in for the night, shall we?"
"What about the watch?"
"We'll take turns." I leaned up against one of the carriages. "I can go first."
Agnes shook her head. "You need to rest."
"So do you." I smiled, trying not to look exhausted.
Agnes's eyes met mine, and I was once again lost in an endless pool of blue, as she pushed a few strands of hair out of her face. Her eyes were fraught with worry, "no, I insist. I've been barely hurt. You've taken damage. Rest." Her voice was soothing, but I shook my head, determined.
She sighed, and clutched her holy symbol, and it glowed bright blue.
"What're you-" I began, and then everything went black.
I awoke to the sound of humming, and I slowly opened my eyes.
Agnes looked down at me, smiling. "Sleep well?" She asked me.
I became aware of the situation, and sat up briskly. My head had been resting on her lap, any man's dream.
She looked up at me, confused. "Are you okay?"
We were inside one of the caravan tents, and I walked over to the entrance and held it open.
I looked out, seeing the sun slowly rising in the distance. "How long was I out?"
"I thought you needed a rest, so I let you sleep for the whole night." She stood up, dusting off her dress.
"What about the watch?"
"I took care of it."
"You can't just spend a whole night without sleep-" she shushed me.
"I have my ways. Don't worry about me. What's important is that you've got your rest." She smiled, and my brain was almost fried. My god, I wanted to kiss her. If only she wasn't a Cleric...
"Are you okay? You've been staring at me for a bit longer than normal..." she snapped me out of my thoughts, her face slightly red. "It's honestly a little embarrassing..."
"I'm fine," I said, "just thinking for a moment."
She looked at me strangely, before shrugging. "Very well, let us get ready to move. I think we have another busy day ahead."
The raiders were being kept to do all of the heavy lifting for the traders, their items confiscated. Most of them were young men who probably took a wrong turn in their lives that led them to this point. Sad, but I suppose that even in a world of magic and monsters, humans are still human. Idiotic phrase, I know.
Agnes and I walked down the length of the caravan. There were 8 carriages filled with mainly traders, and one carriage was filled with people. It seems they're looking to move to a new home at the end of the road.
I asked one of the traders where the caravan was gonna end, and they sat it would be at the capital city of Tarpenu, where they would stop for a week or two, then head back home, along with stopping at several towns along the way. We were hired for the trip to Kesi, but if we wished to stay on all the way to the capital, they would pay us handsomely.
We ate breakfast with the traders, mainly dried fruits and meats, which left much to be desired taste wise, but in this world, I doubt we'd be making stops for donuts and coffee anyways.
The day was just as hot as it was yesterday, but this time I just stripped my armor off. No sense in wearing damaged goods, since enemies would just attack the gaping holes in it anyway.
I kept the armor in one of the trader's carriages, sliding him a gold piece to ensure that it remained safe, and then I walked beside Agnes.
Just being in my clothes instead of my armor was a massive difference. It was still awful and sweaty, but I wasn't a walking sauna anymore, so that's good.
Agnes and me frequently drank from our waterskin, the gritty water barely quenching our thirst in this miserable desert sun.
As I drank the last few drops of water, I sighed in misery. Agnes looked over at the empty waterskin and clutched her holy symbol, reciting a prayer silently. Suddenly the waterskin bulged outwards, filled with water once again. My God I wanted to kiss her so badly.
"I still have a few gallons left in the spell," she said, raising her hands up. Rain started falling from the sky, and everyone in the caravan let out a cheer. The water was cold and refreshing, like a gift from the gods, and it probably was.
I brought her in for a hug. It was only when I felt two soft orbs squishing up against my chest that I let her go, realizing what I did.
Her face had turned red again, and she looked up at me with a smile. My eyes wandered down her drenched body, and my face began to get even more red.
"Sorry..." I mumbled, "I didn't-"
"It's okay," she smiled at me, "I'm just glad to be of service to everyone."
"You might need a towel..." I murmured, and she looked down.
"Oh. Oh!" Her face turned an even deeper red as she looked around frantically.
One of the traders tossed her a large towel once the rain stopped, trying not to look at her soft bits, and she wrapped it around herself.
Her face was beet red for a full hour afterwards.
The following night, we made camp and had dinner with the traders, once again telling stories, although the trader we saved the other night told the story of how we bested those Ghouls in battle, definitely embellishing his part in it as well, but we were still the main focus.
The other traders listened as he spoke, and I had to admit, he was a good storyteller.
Then, the ground shook underneath us.
We all exchanged glances, but no one was sure what happened. Maybe an earthquake.
The shaking didn't stop. In fact, it was getting stronger.
One of the traders made a motion to stay still. We all froze in place.
It was at this time that one of the raiders decided to break free from his restraints, bolting out the side of the carriages as the rumbling shook the ground.
We watched as a massive worm broke through the ground underneath him, as the raider screamed in horror.
The gaping maw of the worm wrapped around him as it leapt out of the ground. We looked on in horror at the monstrosity consuming this man.
Then it swallowed, taking the screaming man inside of it.
The worm dove back underground, and the rumbling slowly faded as everyone looked at each other in horror.
The desert was quite possibly worse at night... much worse.
