Chapter 25.2 Fully Equipped
“Please wait a moment!”
Rick didn’t even slow his pace at hearing Ariwyn shouting behind him in the hallway. From the moment that high elf tapped her finger on that oversized piece of paper he and the rest of his friends only had one goal; To head straight there and bring Sade home. And to successfully accomplish that task while their lover was in the clutches of an extremely powerful noble, they were going to have to be armed to the teeth.
“Stop! At least pause long enough to come up with a plan!”
Rick halted his steps only long enough to open the door to the armory before strolling right inside. The other women were already there, laying out all their respective gear out on a few tables. He approached the mannequin where his armor was displayed, opened up the storage locker next to it, and started rooting around inside for anything useful.
“Hey! Are you even listening to m-ack!”
The squeak of surprise from their loud guest finally made Rick look up towards her. “Can we help you?” He asked, barely keeping the annoyance he felt at her continued presence out of his tone.
The blond mage’s face was the same shade as a tomato. “W-w-why are you all stripping?” She asked while pointing an accusatory finger towards the three women.
“Because eveningware isn’t appropriate to wear underneath armor.” Lilie said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“But why are you doing so in the same room as a man?” Ariwyn nearly shouted.
Everyone else looked at each other then back to the furiously blushing mage. Tyr, who thankfully hadn’t yet removed her pants, stared dumbfounded at the young woman. “Ya are aware that we already fuck each other, right?”
“I’m pretty sure she’s too young for her madre to explain what coito is.” Daniela snickered.
“I know what intercourse is!” The elf spluttered indignantly. “I fail to see how that answers my question though.”
“Oh honey…” Lilie murmured in pity. She sashayed her way over to their guest. This wouldn't have garnered any sort of negative reactions from the mage under normal circumstances, but given the fact that the shaytoni was as bare as the day she was born, she certainly caused Ariwyn to freeze like a deer in headlights as the healer’s whole body jiggled with each step.
“What my wonderfully endowed friend was trying to say,” LIlie began with a sultry smirk. “Is that Rick here has seen our naked bodies many, many times. He’s devoured each and everyone of us with his eyes, careseed every curve with his hands, used his tongue to-”
“LIlie, focus!” Rick snapped.
The shaytoni’s eyes widened and she nearly jumped at his words. “I-I’m sorry. I must have… lost myself a bit there. It’s been nearly a week and… I think… I think I’m hungry.”
“While that’s perfectly understandable, we don’t have time to deal with that little issue.” Rick said firmly.
“Fuck! You’re right!” She shouted before dashing back to where she was changing.
The next few minutes were filled with only the sounds of rustling fabric and the scraping of metal against metal as all four hunters got dressed for battle. While the quiet was certainly welcome, it was never fated to last long.
“A-are you sure the four of you will be enough? I know my mother, and she always prepares solid defenses.”
Tyr finished strapping on her armored girdle and fixed the smaller elf with an emerald glare. “We’re not weak.” She growled.
Ariwyn was quick to hold up her hands in a placating gesture. “I am not saying you are. I just…”
“She’s debating on whether or not to join us.” Rick stated.
“Are you fucking serious?” LIlie asked the mage. “You barely know us. And do you seriously think you would be helpful when fighting against your own family?”
“Didn’t stop you from kicking your sister in la polla.” Daniela quipped.
“Th-that’s different!” Lilie stammered. “We were putting on a show!”
“Lilie, I’ve been on the receiving end of those kicks enough times to know when you’re playacting. And that low blow was certainly not holding back in the least.” RIck countered.
“Oh fine then!” Lilie shouted in exasperation before turning back to Ariwyn. “Any qualms with any of us kicking your mother in the cunt so hard she gets pregnant with a shoe?”
“How does that-?”
“Answer the question! Yes or no?”
“I-uh… yes?”
Lilie stared at the high elf for a few heartbeats longer before finally blinking her eyes and giving a lighthearted shrug. “Meh, works for me.”
Ariwyn looked dazed. “Are you people always this chaotic?”
“Oh that’s nothing. You should see the shit we get up to in the bedroom. Man, nobody fucks like a sex mage, let me tell you that.” Lilie idly mused.
“Lilie!” All three hunters shouted simultaneously.
“Whoops… Sorry!” The horny healer apologized with a blush. But it was far too late, the damage had already been done.
“Sex… mage…?”
The young noble looked between the four hunters. They could see how she took note of how all of them were uncommonly attractive, each of them sporting various exaggerated proportions, before her gaze locked onto Rick.
“It was you.” She accused. “You are the reason my mother did all this!”
Rick was taken aback at the sudden ferocity in her tone. “I’m sorry, how is-”
“You are the reason Sade changed so much in such a short amount of time. Your magic warped her mind and body to suit your own desires. Nobody really wishes to look like that if they had a choice!”
“Hey!” Lilie cried indignantly.
“Watch yerself.” Tyr growled in warning before padding over towards the other elf. “Why would yer mother give a shit about us and what we do in our spare time?”
“Because intimancy is the reason your tribe even exists!” Ariwyn shot back.
That revelation caused the whole room to freeze in shock. The idea that intimancy could create a whole separate tribe of elves was ludicrous. But the more Rick thought about it, the more it made a sort of twisted sense. Coital energy could be used to change people on a fundamental level. If those changes could be passed on to the next generation, then it was entirely possible forest elves and high elves were once the same tribe.
“Please elaborate if you will.” Rick said after a few more tense moments had passed.
The high elf took in a deep breath to recenter herself. “For as long as I could remember, my family has told me stories about the fall of the elves. How intimancy and other forms of sex magic created a rift in our people and eventually led to a war that saw the high elves ousted from their ancestral home.” She took another calming breath. “High elves have made it their life’s mission and all those who follow after them to wipe out sex magic wherever it may sprout.”
She stared intently into Rick’s eyes. “This, all of this, is just to lure you out.”
Rick stared back, confused. “And how did your mother assume I was an intimancer?”
She shot him an incredulous look before gesturing around the room. “One man surrounded by four impossibly overendowed women of different tribes, including a pregnant forest elf, who absolutely no one has heard of? Are you serious?”
“Good point.” He replied sheepishly. “But that’s still making a bold assumption. For all she knew, Sade could have been the intimancer in the group.”
Ariwyn let out a bark of laughter. “Sade?! How could someone like her possibly be a sex mage?” When she saw the others exchange meaningful looks with each other rather than comment, her face fell. “No… Impossible! Stop joking right this instant!”
She looked from person to person as if any moment one of them would break the act and tell her that it was all an elaborate prank. When none of them did, she started to panic. “How?! Intimancers are supposed to be weak, talentless, the vocation barely even qualifying them as mages! There is no way her vocation is anything like that!”
“Hey now, don’t lump us in with everyone else.” Lilie shot back. “Just because I’m a healer, doesn’t mean I’m stuck in the back of the group waiting to patch someone up.”
“Wait, you are a healer?!” Ariwyn asked, eyeing the full suit of heavy armor covering the shaytoni from head to toe.
“Aye, and she’s one of the best frontline fighters I’ve ever seen.” Tyr said with an appreciative pat on LIlie’s shoulder. “And despite what ya may think, Rick’s no slouch either.”
“None of us are.” Rick agreed.
Finally grabbing the last of their things, the group headed straight for the door, swerving around Ariwyn, who was still standing in the middle of the room, stunned. They had made it almost all the way to the front door when a shout came from behind them.
“Wait!”
They all groaned and stopped to turn towards the elf. “What is it?” Daniela asked with a hint of annoyance.
“Take me with you!”
“Why?”
“Because I know my mother, I know how she thinks, how she plans her contingencies. If you wish to get Sade back safely, then I am the best choice in making sure that happens.” She replied in a huff.
“... Fine.” RIck said after a few tense seconds. He placed a hand on the other mage's shoulder. “We’re going to trust you for now.” He turned to face the rest of his party, eyes blazing with determination.
“Now, let’s go.”