"The first Mortal War was fought not long after the elves first began to separate into their modern races. Humans soon spread across the world, from the islands in the northwest to the Aranfarasi Desert, spreading their own new beliefs and cultures by spearpoint and through more peaceful methods. Through the early cultures of man and elves, many of the Ancient Spirits gained their favor and through their interactions gained their descriptions." -An Excerpt of Keiva's Mythological History
The light taps of rain outside the tent in the mountains were a stark contrast to the quiet sounds of the southern forest. It was much colder here and in the misty forests the chill could easily kill an unprepared traveler, especially during the cold winter months. The small tent was room for only one person and tucked as far underneath an outcropping of rocks in the foothills of the Chrzurub Mountains, though more towards the northern river that ran to the North Khofb Ocean.
Alright, time to keep moving. Jiva thought to herself, taking up her things within her pack. Her tent rolled up nice and compact and she sat up and looked around the craggy landscape. She had picked a small cave to rest in before taking her pack up on her shoulder and leaving the overhang.
The rain still fell, making the valley a little misty in the morning light. She trekked down the decline, a switchback worn into the mountains just to the north of the dwarven clans who lived in Chrzurub Mountains. Many years of travel had solidified the trail, though it was mostly her people who used them during their travels to the south for goods and trade.
The air was chilly in the morning rain, though she knew that would change once she made it to the mountains proper, as of now she was in the foothills between her peoples land and the land of the Dwarves.
She began to load her pack with her tent and other essentials and began on her trek for the day.
The trail would be tough to trek today, the lowland between the southern and northern mountains was transitioning into the high and craggy mountains home to the dwarves of the south. The landscape here was much more perilous than the mountains to the north, let alone the animals and monsters that call the landscape home. There were many predators, mountain cats and packs of wolves, and the largest of the feathered reptiles were at the apex, though smaller predators and the large herbivores were still just as dangerous.
To the south, far along the trail ahead of her was the largest mountain of the massive mountain chain that ran north and south along the northern part of the Hook. The mountain itself was home to the largest of the dwarven cities in the Chrzurub Mountains. Shizdabar held a massive number of people, over 2.5 million and tens of thousands of tourists and travelers that passed through the mountains every year. It would still take Jiva several weeks to trek through the mountains, though once she reached the city, the journey to the coast would be relatively fast. The city would be a welcome break from the quietness of the mountain road, and an inn would be welcome, at least for one night to have a drink before the magic took her to Semsì.
The morning dew on the leaves began to evaporate as the day went on and the mist of the valley slowly gave way to the sun shining above. Two hours before noon, the clouds gathered in front of the sun and drew a long shadow across the mountains and the clouds above grew darker and darker as the hours passed. The trail winded and criss-crossed its way around the valleys and peaks and by noon a light rain fell upon Jiva. The weather was rather chilly, a breeze came up the valley from the south, cooling the area even more. With the rain on top of the cold, Jiva hardly wanted to continue for the day and after only a few minutes, she felt nearly soaked through her overcoat.
The day continued on with the sun overhead covered by the great dark and gray clouds that hung above. The rain never let up, nor intensified through the day, only continuing on for hours, seemingly following Jiva through the passes as she walked. Like a shadow, the rain was never far behind her as she continued into the Chrzurub Mountains proper, though once she passed a rather impressive peak, the storm seemed to abate and the sun shined through until it began to set on the western horizon. She had walked nearly fifty miles today, using every shortcut and time saving device she could think of. Shortly before night came, Jiva set up a small camp in the brambles off the trail. The forest was rather thick here in the north of the mountains, though the snowfall was still fresh, indicating that the temperature was bound to drop very low again tonight.
Whether it would snow again tonight, she had no clue, only that it would be a cold hour until the sun set. The day never rose comfortably above the freezing point, though with all the movement and walking, Jiva had no issues moving about. It was only when she settled down for the night that she felt the light breath of the wind and the natural chill of the fog of the valley. Below her, far below, at least two days of travel to the south was the very northern parts of the city of Shizdabar. The city, even from here, was lit up like the night sky, a few spires on the northern part of the mountain and a road that wound its way up to a gate several miles up the path, leading to the largest of stone spires that protruded out of the mountain side. Generally, dwarven cities were massive subterranean complexes spanning dozens of miles across, if not hundreds, that could hold any number of inhabitants underneath the city, ranging from only a few thousand, to nearly two million. The cities themselves were like any other, they had suburbs and walls surrounding the parts that were above ground, but after millennia of building under the mountains and valleys of Ver-Anda, the dwarves and their ancestors built extensive cities. The largest of which was the city of Kharbharbhar, that massive city home of over two million dwarves and one million transplants from all across the continent. Humans, elves, dragonkin, and many others had been residents of the city for several hundred years.
Shizdabar was unlike the rest of the dwarven cities in the north. Most of the city was built upon the sides of their mountain, a peak they called Shizwetar, and the rest was built into the very mountain itself.
Unlike her home in the north of Chruzurub, the clans to the south of Ver-Anda were both accepting and hoping to receive numbers from people outside of themselves, mostly during their war with Choopool over one hundred years ago, though even since the war had ended the policy had proved advantageous and profitable. In comparison, the tribes to the north, both dwarven and elven, would prefer to keep to themselves, especially the nomadic tribes that ranged from the plain to the mountains.
Grandfather knew that I would leave, even before I knew myself that I would. Jiva thought to herself as the city to the south became visible on the horizon. She was only a few miles from the next peak as she decided to make camp for the night, finding a spot under an overhang in the pass that she had chosen to trek through. She had been this way many times and like this trip, the trek was a test of her own endurance. Several parts of the path had been changed throughout the years since she had last been through, with parts falling due to weather and the natural changes of the land, and other stretches being trekked by the ever expanding species of sentient life.
How many people have been through these mountain passes in the time since I had last been though? She mused as the sun danced a shimmering red on the horizon. The warmth of the bedrolls around her had finally begun to seep in from the low-burning fire outside the tent, or she had finally begun to shed the cold from the walk and day. Nights could be frigid in this area, and she was glad she didn't have to usually deal with much of a problem upon sundown. That did not mean however that the problems of the night could not affect her upon waking up.
The weightlessness of the magic took her breath for a moment and she closed her eyes and the stars spun in dizzying patterns above her, flipping both her brain and her stomach on end, including her dinner which she nearly spewed into the ethereal plane. Slowly she came to a stop, and the sounds of the humid and rainy forest came to life. Up a bank to her right was a fire surrounded by a ring of five tents, the few she could see were quite familiar and she stalked out of the long grass and up the bank, keeping low to the ground and an eye and eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
***
The familiar flash of light in the open plains of long grass that we had built our camp in made me perk my ears and eyes up and gaze into the open space to our south. We had chosen this spot specifically because we had not seen a good crop of trees in many hours as we walked along the road to our destination. It was atop a small hill, the highest hill that we could see at that moment, giving the best vantage point to see anyone approaching.
Whatever doubts I had ebbed away, as Jiva walked up the hill a smile on her face and embraced me. Her skin was still cold, at least on her face compared to us here in the tropical and rainy south. I cupped her cheeks with my hands, using my own body heat to warm her up slightly.
"How was your walk? You didn't run into anything right?" I asked. She shook her head in response, and withdrew from the hug.
"Only nêti, worry not." she said.
"You know I cannot help but worry for you. I have heard rumors from traveller's coming to Siregal in the last few months that there was a pack of wolves hunting caravans on the roads. Just be careful."
Her eyes told me that she knew the threats that she had grown up around, especially the packs of apex predators who shared the space with the tribes. She nodded and placed a finger on my lips. She smelled lightly of sweat, yet I could also smell something more. She smelled of smoke from a fire and of some type of cooked meat that I could not place.
"I know you probably haven't had much of a chance to wash off in the mountains, would you like to join me in the river?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You truly know how to make my nights, don't you?"
We walked the short distance to the Siregal River that was to our north. Less ran a mile away, the river ran smoothly to the sea, no visible rapids to deter us.
The water, while cold, was not unbearable and I took an end of the soap root I had in my pack and rubbed it together with some water. The suds that formed were enough for the both of us and smelled of a rather sweet scent.
I took my own time after she took off her tunic and armor at the river edge, and rubbed the soap into her back and hair, taking care to lather it into her layers. Both of our hair were a different level of coiliness and kinkiness, though hers was considerably in tighter curls than my own.
After rinsing her hair, Jiva took the soap root and lathered my own hair in return.
Calming would be an understatement.
"How long until you arrive in Hyhryst?" She said as she rinsed me off.
"l belive we should arrive within three next day or two, as long as nothing slows us down." I said, scrubbing her back with the root and watching the suds build up.
The moon shone brightly above, highlighting her features even in the water. Her slim figure was perfectly silhouetted by the moon and the soap on her skin added another layer of mystique.
She took a bit of the plant, breaking its roots mixing them with the water to make it easier. She carefully took apart each strand of the braided knot atop my head. It was a simple knot, and she began to lather the soap root into my hair, taking special attention to locs.
As she lathered my own back with the soap root my mind raced. Her hands were firm, almost massaging the tension out of my back from the walking earlier.
"Jiva, what do you know about that cube?"
"Sentî, urush Senga." She cursed. Death, bloody death.
"Death?"
"My people once worshiped the Ancient Ones. Our väet was not of our own volition. The Ancient Ones, the Prime Beings do not take disloyalty calmly and used to punish their worshippers when they could still exert their control."
"They always seemed just as power hungry as our rulers today, to me at least." I said.
"They are a story of us, whether that's how it happened, I don't know." She looked up to me and rose out of the water. "You should rinse off," she smirked and began to walk out of the river. Her skin glistened in the moonlight and I sunk into the water as I watched her backside bounce with each step.
"Sujta, you know how divine you are?" I said, walking out of the river myself after her. She turned around and looked me up and down with a bit of her lip.
"You are one to talk," she sat back on the blanket we had left our clothes on. Her wet hair and skin still dripped with water, though a rather warm breeze dried us both off. I wringed out the water in my own hair before stepping out of the river then sat next to her on the blanket, enjoying the rather warm night.
"I could get lost in your eyes, teú waá leì." I mused, looking into her warm gray eyes.
"Semsì, sujta, when I see you once you cross the sea, you can stare into them for the rest of time." She smiled.
"We should be in Hyhurst in the next two or three days. If we don't run into trouble, of course."
Reaching down, she grasped my member, which had been growing in size as we sat, though she never broke eye contact with me. She smiled rather slyly, and began stroking up and down, slowly at first. Leaning forward, she kissed me lightly.
"I noticed you were getting hard." She whispered, "let me help with that." She continued to slowly stroke my member, twirling her thumb lightly at the tip, sending small shivers up my body each time.
"You know just how to," I smiled, taking her chin with my hand and bringing her close, kissing her myself, then I wrapped my hand around her throat, pressing lightly with the tips of my fingers into the veins running up her neck.
She moaned and gave me a hungry look, her long hair falling into her face. She bit my lip lightly, leaning into my chokehold slightly. Almost simultaneously, she let go of my lip and I moved my hand to caress her erect nipples.
Her mouth was warm and wet around me, her tongue holding the power to make me moan. If I could hold back the moans, I still wouldn't. With one hand massaging the base of my shaft and her mouth lightly sucking the tip, I finally laid back on the blanket. With my left hand, I took her thigh and pulled her closer. Understanding rather quickly, Jiva lifted her thigh over to the other side of my body and I looked up her mound above me and bit my lip, before I wrapped my arms around her hips and licked the node in a small figure eight motion. She moaned loudly in between strokes, muffled by my member in her mouth.