House of Ghar (9) – Mirari : The Forest of Ashes. (Special – includes Live posting.)

Eyyrs had been traveling most of the day and both she and Vor were beginning to tire. She felt as if she’d put enough distance between herself and her home and decided to stop for the night. She released the carrier from the saddle and removed the saddle from Vor’s back before letting him free to forage for food. There seemed to be an abundance of it in the lush grasses she could see, and with the lake a few feet away, they had plenty of water.

She set up her tent before taking up her makeshift fishing nets to see what she could catch for her supper. She made sure the nets were securely tied before she cast them into the water and then went to look for wood for her fire. Once that was set up, the waters of the lake looked inviting and she hadn’t bathed in so long, she felt that this was an opportunity that she could not let pass. She pulled out a new set of clothing and some soap before she found a spot that was still visible from her camp but away from where she was fishing. She removed her soiled garments before wading into the cold waters. She inhaled sharply as cold seeped into her bones, but she was used to such temperatures and waded in until the water reached her waist. She set about cleaning her body and washing her hair, not bothered in the least about being nude in the open. There was no one around for miles that she could see or sense and didn’t feel threatened.

Clean, she then set about washing her dirtied clothing before removing them and herself from the water. Draping them over some branches, she put on her dry clothing before going to check her nets. There were two large trout caught within and her mouth watered at the sight of them.

She took them to her camp and set about removing the scales and bones before she began to cook them over her fires. The smell made her stomach rumble and she realized she hadn’t eaten since she woke that morning.

Fish cooked, she began to eat hungrily as she watched Vor move around close by. She smiled at him. He was the only male she felt she could trust herself to be around, even if he was a horse. Dinner eaten and the remains disposed off so no wild animals could sniff them out, she felt herself becoming sleepy.

“Good night, my friend.” she whispered to Vor. “We will begin our travels again at first light.” Crawling into her tent and beneath the furs, it took her no time at all to fall asleep, as the night around her encampment came alive with the sounds of its nocturnal breathren.

As the horse stood and grazed on the grasses around the campsite that Eyyrs had made, a dark figure was making its way through the trees. The night time creatures, that were normally creating chatter all suddenly stopped, and this would have Vor bring his head up and his ears twitch for the oncoming sound. The horse whinnied and snorted, braying and dragging it’s hoof through the underbrush as danger appeared to be approaching.

He had been following her closely. Each time she stopped she would leave a trail, till finally making her new camp. Even though it was dark he was hugely impressed by how she had set up camp on her own. Worthy of her name she was. Valkrik could see the scales and bones of a fish she must have caught, and he smirked to himself.

It would be good to partake in a meal with her again. Now, he could see her tent, and he began to approach it, as the horse reared up in fright.

Neighing loudly, it was sure to wake up Eyyrs.

<3>

~Begin Dream~

Rough hands traveled over her naked body, causing her to shiver with need. A breathy moan escaped her lips as her body undulated beneath the hardened peaks of the body that was draped across her own. There was a very distinct hardness pressed into her thigh and her legs opened like a flower in bloom.

“Oh…” she moaned. Lips traveled across her neck, nipping and biting, teasing her into an erotic frenzy.

“What do you want?” whispered a dark voice. “Tell me and it shall be yours.”

“You. Just you.” she answered honestly. Her eyes remained closed as her lover hungrily kissed her, his steel shaft sliding into her body in one hard thrust. She gasped and her eyes flew open…

~End Dream~

…to the sound of Vor whinnying in fright. She swiped a hand across her sweaty brow as the last vestages of the dream left her feeling trembling and weak all over. Her heart was beating fiercely in her chest. Before she could analyze that, something more pressing caught her attention: her horse was truly frightened of something. Taking up her sword, she ran from her tent and saw Vor was rearing back and pawing the air with his hooves, the whites of his eyes showing how frightened he really was.

“Whoa boy! Whoa! Be calm! Shhh! Calm down! Shhh!” she whispered soothingly, remaining slightly out of reach of the sharp hooves. The last thing she needed was to be knocked in the head by her own horse. Vor slowly began to calm down, dropping down to the ground before he moved to her side and allowed her to pet his muzzle. “Good boy. That’s a good boy.” she soothed, taking up his reigns and leading him to the tent, where she tied him to one of the poles. She turned her attention to the night around her, trying to pierce the dark with her eyes to see what had frightened her horse so much. She heard nothing, saw nothing and smelled nothing. But she had the strange sense of being watched.

“Who’s there?” she demanded, brandishing her sword.

There it was. The beauty of his life, his sister emerging from her tent to sooth the horse’s nerves having been fraught with fear from the approaching viking. A man that the horse should well know, but he was not a man at all. The dull embers from the fire would brighten – their sparks bursting into flame at the presence of one that was heralded to be the son of a King, and a dark Queen.

“Whoa boy! Whoa! Be calm! Shhh! Calm down! Shhh!”

Her whispers were like a warm hand being guided across a face lovingly, and even Valkrik could feel it as it passed over him too like a wave on a summer’s night. The horse calmed, and dropped down on the ground obediently. How good she was with beasts. All to fall at her hand and adore her all the more. Would he be the same.

After tying up her horse, she instinctively turned around, sensing someone….danger. She demanded answers, brandishing her sword before her. It gleamed even in the shadows of the night.

Finally he broke from the shadows, his face now plainly visible. He had traveled all this way, to bring her back to her people…to him.

“You didn’t even say goodbye, Eyyrs.”

Valkrik put his hand out to stop her from using the blade against him. “Put that down, now.” His voice had a sense of finality to it, like he would not argue with her. She was a woman, and would do as she was told.

<3>

There was the rustle of brush nearby and then someone stepped from the woods and into the light provided by her fire. Although his face was shadowed, she would know those steel blue eyes even from a distance.

Her sword remained aloft as she stared at Valkrik. How had he found her? She’d been gone for nearly 2 days. It shouldn’t have been possible for anyone to find her.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, ignoring his order to relinquish her sword. “You need to leave. You canna be here!”

It was truly worrying for the young woman. She had been told, quite emphathetically that she was to steer clear of him. He had been raised as her brother, and yet…he was not a brother of her blood.

And that made it all the more dangerous to be around him, considering what she was feeling, and the dream she was woken from.

She heard the words of the witch echoing over and over in her head like a curse. He needed to return home and pretend he had never found her.

“Did you hear what I said? You need to leave!” she scowled. She didn’t want to raise her sword against him…but to protect them both, she would.

Valkrik watched her with those cool blue eyes of his. She did not lower her weapon, but did re-sheath it. At first she let fly with questions of why he was there, but she should well know the answer to that. She was the Chieftain’s daughter and belonged with the clan. He could see in her eyes, worry…fear. What was wrong with her to feel this way with him, her brother.

Valkrik moved towards her and reached to grab her right hand. To bring her towards him as he stared down at her. “Did you hear what I said? You need to leave!”

“Only if you are with me, Eyyrs.” His voice was deep like that of the man in her dream. “I have not come all this way to go back empty handed.”

Valkrik paused as he smelt her feminine musk, a fragrance that was truly unique to her. At first it made him heady and he had to blink to clear his mind.

“You can sleep here, then in the morning we go back.”

It was like he was talking to her as if he owned her.

<3>

LadyBelz: She stared at him as if he had lost his head. Go back? It would be a cold day in Hel before she went back. He moved to reach for her hand to draw her close to him, successfully. The touch of his hand set off a tingling through her entire body. She grit her teeth and ignored it.

But as she listened to him state that he was taking her back, she found her voice and yanked her arm away from him, taking a couple of steps back in the process. “I’m not going back and you can’t make me. I refuse!” she glared, pointing her sword at him. “You are neither my father nor my brother and you have NO rights to me whatsoever.”

——

CharlotteCarrendar; The tone which she used only showed her annoyance that he would go as far as to act as the Elder in this situation. Naturally he was, but she was not buying any of it. Gritting her teeth like an angered animal, she drew her sword and took steps back in order to be on her guard if he tried another attempt to bend her to his will.

“You are Daughter of Ghar and will obey law of our people. You can’t just run off as you so please.” He glanced down as she brandished the sword at her, with all the determination of one of his own men. Valkrik narrowed his gaze as she squared off, but it was the part where she announced that he was not her brother, that it was like a bolt had been fired right through him.

“No rights? You disown me as blood and say I have no rights?”

You could see a darkness creeping up his skin as he fought to restrain his inner demon, who was now rejoicing at the encounter.

“I have been there, for you all my life. If ANYONE has rights…it is me.”

He then did the unthinkable and walked right up so that the tip of her blade would be pointed into his chest.

“Eyyrs…return with me, or kill me here.”

——-

LadyBelz: It seemed as if Valkrik was not going to be dissuaded from his task by her words alone. What did she have to do to make him return to their people? Didn’t he understand that to be near him, close to him, would mean the destruction of their people? Why were men so damn stubborn?

“I know you have been there for me, and I appreciate it more then I can say. But Valkrik, to go with you now…I simply can’t. You are going to have to haul me off in chains if that’s what it takes, but I refuse to go back.”

Her eyes widened when he walked right up to her, the blade of her sword now pressed against his strong chest. “What are you doing?” she questioned, back away from him once more. His plea of returning with him or killing him had her blood boiling.

“Are you out of your ever blooming mind? I will not kill you! You canna ask that of me! And I still refuse to go back!” she shouted, turning on her heel and striding away, sheathing her sword as she did so. She didn’t care what direction she was going, she just needed to get away before she did something stupid. The longer he was around her, the harder it was becoming to not simply fall into his arms. She could not have these kinds of feelings.

Not even bothering to see where he was, she broke into a run, hoping to put some distance between them.

——

CharlotteCarrendar: - A silence fell over the area, as Eyyrs turned her back on Valkrik and ran. Ran as far away as she could through the dark of night. Only thing she didn’t understand was just how fast he was and not only that, as he sought to end this and complete the task he had started, his own powers rippled beneath the surface. She questioned him, his mind and his sanity. All of which were perfectly fine, since he had come to accept what he was, even if he had no heart to tell those he loved the truth.

But she had seen him. She knew the truth. Darting through the scrub land like a blur, keeping up with her till finally leaping high over a tree, around a rock and then coming down the same track she was on, but being in front of her, he spoke words that may well shake her to the core.

“I know why you run. Now I tell you why you go back. I know what I feel, Eyyrs. I only seek to protect you, and to do that you NEED to be with the Ghar. I return you…and then I leave.”

It would come as a shock to her possibly, but he was doing all this…because he loved her.

“Come home. That is all I ask. You will not suffer out here alone because of me.”

——-

LadyBelz: On she ran, not bothering to take note of where she was or where she was heading to. She only knew that she had to get away from him. How was it possible that two people, with two different tasks, set out to do the exact same thing? To protect one another from The Fates.

She jumped with fright when she looked up to see him standing stock still in front of her and slid to a halt along the loose earth beneath her feet. She’d forgotten about his powers for a moment.

He knew why she ran? Odin’s teeth! He was driving her insane!

“There is no need for you to leave the Ghar because I am not going back. How many times must I tell you this?” She waved her hands about in exasperation, nearly ready to tear her own hair out in frustration. Growling under her breath, she stalked right up to him and pulled her arm back to punch him in the stomach.

“Listen well, Valkrik of Ghar! I AM NOT NOW NOR WILL I EVER GO BACK THERE!”

She moved to turn away from him for a (hopefully) final time, sure she had made her point.

She threw one more parting shot over her shoulder. “I have my reasons for not going back and they involve you and I in some capacity. So return to the Ghar. Pretend you never sought me out. I no longer exist. I am not a wayward child. I am a full-fledged woman, capable of making my own decisions about my life.”

At that she paused and turned to face him, the light in her eyes suddenly bright and she let out a harsh bark of laughter.

“I get it now. Father sent you after me. Yes…that’s it…he wants to marry off like some brood mare and become the perfect little Viking wife and raise a bunch of snotty nosed little brats! That will never happen! I won’t allow it!”

She turned and stormed away from him, heading back to her tent. The conversation, as far as she was concerned, was over.

——

CharlotteCarrendar: What is it about a woman like Eyyrs, who speaks with all the conviction of an Elder at council, and yet she was defending her right to leave and go where she liked, regardless of the fact of her place in society. She screamed that she would never go back. Valkrik continued to watch the tirade being played out as though she had the stick and was given right to speak freely before men. Only thing different was the fact she shouted a lot. Her voice spooking the night time creatures back to their nests and burrows.

But the part where she was wrong, was where she accused her Father of sending him. If anything he wanted other men to do it, but Valkrik kept insisting it be him to bring her back. She was his responsibility since he made a vow to his mother to always protect her, regardless of the consequences.

The rant turned in a sense to advising him on how to speak to those when he goes back empty handed. That she is this strong, capable woman that can do just fine on her own, and didn’t need a man or a family….or a clan for that matter.

It was then that Valkrik picked his turn to talk…..and boy was this going to be good.

“Father does want to marry you off. Yes, he sees you as a prize mare, but he also knows you have the heart of a warrior within you and that you would not settle for just anyone. If you did, they would have to be of very high honour, and capture the violent heart that beats within you.”

He walked over to her tent, and held up the flap as he continued.

“You won’t settle for anyone. You won’t be tamed. But as Odin is my witness, I know of a man that can make you bend. That can make that heart of yours feel.”

He approached her now and gripped her hair behind her head so she would have to stare at him. She would not be able to escape the fire in his eyes.

“All my life…I have lived for one. Do you know who that is? The one that I have watched over, and even killed for. The one….” His voice trailed off as he found a lump rising in his throat. “….that would settle for no other.. Do you even know why I do not lay with other women? My nights are filled with but one….the one I can never have.”

Valkrik exhaled sharply through his nostrils. His fingers pulling a bit harder on her hair as the swelling of emotions only increased..

Without warning…he crushed his lips to hers in a fiery kiss that would leave her gasping. She would know the one…the answer to his riddles.

It was her.

——

LadyBelz: Again, he was right behind her, pelting her ears with questions and riddles that she did not want the answers to. A sharp pain went through her head and she turned slightly to see that he had her long blond hair wrapped around his fist and it didn’t look like he was going to release her any time soon.

His words struck her a physical blow as if he had laid a hand on her and it left her gasping. This could not be happening? She placed her hands over her ears and began humming loudly to try and drown out his words, but it was as if he was speaking directly into her head.

She shook her head in denial. “No! No! No! This cannot be happening! She said this was dangerous! She said it would mean doom! Let me go! Please for the love of Odin! Let me go!” She struggled to release her hair from his grip but it seemed as if her pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

Without warning, he hauled her tight against his body and crushed his lips over hers in a passionate kiss that left her weak in the knees and sent her heart careening around her chest as if it were on a spring.

All thoughts of resistance flew from her mind in the wake of such a kiss. It brought back to mind her dream, and the owner of those lips within.

She gasped sharply at that.

It had been Valkrik in her most deepest dreams. The man who had stolen her heart.

Once more, the witch’s words clamored for attention in her mind and her eyes flew open. She struggled against him, trying to push herself away, despite the fact his arms were like steel bands around her, and his mouth was still plundering hers, making her dizzy.

She prided herself on her will to fight whatever battles came at her. But this was one battle she was in danger of losing…and losing everything else in the process.

Didn’t he realize what he was doing to her? Couldn’t he feel the conflict within her?

But her mind and her heart were two different entities and her heart was slowly winning the battle. Her struggles began to lessen the longer he kissed her. The witch’s voice in her head was beginning to fade away into the nothingness. And her arms, of their own volition, moved to wrap around his neck.

She had lost the battle in the most spectacular of ways.

——

CharlotteCarrendar: What was to be sin, was truly not. They were not of blood, but simply siblings in name. That moment, when Valkrik seized the chance to prove that he was the one – the man that could tame her wild heart, then he gave it his all.

He slowly released her hair, so she had freedom to move her head, but his hand wandered. Down..lower down her back till cupping her ass and pulling her body closer into his. A kiss of power and dominance soon started to change, as her struggles became less. The winding of her arms around his neck showed her give herself to him. It was victory….and it was sweet.

Valkrik pulled his head back, panting heavily as he gazed upon her with an almost incredulous expression. He had tasted heaven – Valhalla.

So many nights, the dreams were the same, and that was of love making that would even have the Gods blush. Not through force though. He knew she was wild, and that was exactly how he wanted her to be.

Words unspoken, with large hands he started to untie her bodice and expose her to him as nature intended. His blue eyes cast down and a sense of awe hit him. She was magnificent. A body sculpted by the hands of Goddesses. He had tasted her lips, and now he wanted far more. His hand quickly came up to her head again, and tipped it so her neck was exposed. So fine and supple, with the veins beating blood from her heart to her brain. Again he snorted as he took to her neck with a hunger – a burning need. Lips, grazing teeth. A wicked tongue that flickered and tasted her flesh, while his own body was rigid and hard pressed to her hips.

She may have had others, used them for her own simple pleasures, but Valkrik was no mere mortal. A nip from his dog teeth came as his heart did race from the excitement – marking her for the first time. This would be the start of many, as in his frenzied mind, he scooped her up by the round globes of her ass, and again his lips took possession of hers. A feeding of frenzied lust, that would be infectious as his male scent grew and swirled around them.

Would she fight his advances, and beat his chest with closed fists….or would she melt upon him, and liquefy with raw appeal?

—–

LadyBelz: She felt his hand move lower on her body until he was cupping her ass tightly to him and she groaned at the feel of him pressed against her. She felt like if she died right at this moment, she would probably die happy.

There was a light and floating feeling within her, chasing away the last of her dark thoughts. It was too late to take back what he had wrought. It was too late to say no and running was no longer an option.

He was staking his claim in the most spectacular way and though she was a warrior, there was no fight left in her against him.

Dreams did not compare to the reality as his teeth and tongue went at her neck, tasting her skin for the first time, her body now exposed to his hungry gaze.

She panted heatedly, her neck bared for his pleasure, her body becoming caught in a blaze of fire and passion she’d never felt before. Again his lips claimed hers, his hands grabbing at her ass and she undulated her lower body against his, very much like she had done in her dreams.

Thinking became a moot point. Now she wanted to just simply feel. Her hands tore at his garments, ripping them from his body and tossing them wherever they lay. She wanted to feel his naked body pressed thoroughly against her own. Her hands roamed over his now-exposed chest and back, feeling his muscles tighten with tension. Her head fell back with a throaty laugh. She was feeling dizzy and weak with need.

She had never wanted anyone more than she wanted him in that moment. Valkrik – the man of her heart.

“Please?” she begged him in a husky whisper.

——

CharlotteCarrendar: Valkrik answered her plea but without word, as he carried her to her tent and then lowered so he could place her well inside. She had torn from him his cloth, and now he returned the favour, only with his hands moving slowly so she would feel the coarseness of his flesh drag across hers exposing each part of her to the air. Her body laid out on the travel furs within the humble tent would become the bed of a Queen. He hovered over her, and could hear her panting, watching her chest with the ripe mounds and stung nipples heaving from her exertions. He never wanted a woman so much, but he knew that to have this creature…to truly experience her was to savor her like she was a fine wine. To drink her in. Her very essence would he extract and this was done with surprisingly tender hands. His knees straddled her thighs, and he began at her chin, so her head was tilted back. Almost wolf like in his manner but this was to heighten her own desires to the point she was a writhing mess. She would watch as he shadowed her with his form, hard and rigid. Thick and muscular.

Each kiss, that blazed a trail across her would soon leave small marks as he found himself biting her in places where the skin was rounded – from her shoulders to her breasts. She would feel every part a woman as his heated passion only rose higher with each passing moment.

Valkrik had all night, and he planned this to be the first of many conquests of her body. She surrended, a captive to his desires and he was going to pay her the highest compliment. Reward her for her submission. With a knee he parted her legs, while his arms moved to go under her own, lifting her off the floor slightly as he moved to position himself so he would be able to thrust within in her aching body at will. He even rubbed his swollen head along the ripe lips of her nether regions, to tease her of what was to come. But in the final moments, as eyes locked, and hearts became one, he used his body two fold. Bringing her body forward, as his pelvis descended to make the ultimate claim. Pushing solidly into her with his thickened member – threatening to erupt as it delved deeper within her. His face a mix of joy, love and shock at how it felt.

Even dreams cannot create this kind of fantasy…that had just become real.

—–