DRAGONLANCE

Rapture

by PJ

 

The brazier-lit bedchamber of the dark god was stuffy and hot. Laurana lay naked upon a pile of sleek, black furs, the pelts of enormous bears and fierce wolves. A heavy weight pinned Laurana to the furs, she rested on her stomach, arms stretched out before her, fingers clawing through the thick, silky fur while Sargonnas speared between the taut mounds of her bare buttocks, his monstrous cock so wide and hard the elf woman's cunt stretched to the limit to take the shaft in.

Sargonnas wore his huge, minotaur form, his bulbous, moist, black snout rubbed between Laurana's shoulder blades, his coarse tongue slid up her spine, tasted her hot, perspiring flesh. Laurana moaned, her buttocks aching from the violent slapping of the god's muscled thighs against her bottom. Tears glimmered like diamonds in Laurana's wincing, brown eyes.

You will return to your homeland. I will see to it that you are made queen.

"My son rules Qualinesti," gasped Laurana before she buried her lovely face in the musky furs beneath her, her naked body quivering from another breath-stealing orgasm.

You will be Queen, my lovely plaything, and you will sow Chaos and Death across the face of Ansalon.

***

Laurana shot up from her bed, entangled in her bedsheets. Sweat clung to Laurana's nude body like a second skin, the sheets were soaked through yet again. The elf queen tore away the sticky sheets and climbed out of the clammy bed, she stumbled across the room to a window, she closed her almond-shaped eyes and let the cool night breeze wash over her, soothing her feverish skin. Laurana combed a hand through her damp hair, she sighed as she looked out across Qualinost, once a jewel of Krynn, now a blackened, smoking ruin. The elf queen imagined she could still smell the hot ash and blood that had filled the elven capital when the Dark Knights had been driven away, years of iron-fisted occupation ended in a single night of battle and death. It had been the night Laurana returned from the Abyss, the night her son had died fighting the Knights of Neraka, his brave Kagonesti lover at his side to the end.

The elf queen lowered her right buttock onto the rose crystal window sill, she sat and listened to the wind whisper through Qualinost's surviving trees. Laurana idly stroked her left thigh, ignoring the dull ache from her wet pussy, and the recurring memory of the dark god impaling his enormous member inside her.

***

Laurana reclined in her high-backed chair of rosewood, half-listening to the squabbles of the Senate. The unity of the elven houses and the guilds fractured as soon as the dark knights had departed, there were arguments about which structures should be rebuilt first, how the meagre stocks of food were to be distributed to the surviving citizens, should the elves seek aid from the humans, from their kinsmen the Silvanesti?

Leaning on her upraised right arm, idly scanning over pages of reports, Laurana abruptly noticed that all debate had suddenly ceased in the Senate chamber. Raising her eyes, Laurana stifled a gasp, a black-robed intruder stood in the center of the room, his hood drawn up to conceal his face, his hands hidden in the wide sleeves of his garment.

"Who dares intrude upon a meeting of the Senate?" demanded an irate noble. "Guards! Take this fool away!"

The two guards armored in chainmail and resting on drawn long swords didn't move from their posts on either side of the chamber's large wooden doors, they stood motionless as statues.

"Sorcery!" whispered several senators loudly, backing away from their places at the two long, curved tables that framed the space where the stranger stood quietly.

Laurana rose slowly from her chair, clutching a leather scabbard in her left hand as she drew a polished, silver blade with her right.

"Who are you?" inquired Laurana, pointing the tip of her sword at the intruder.

The black-robed stranger peeled back his heavy hood, brown hair spilled across the elf's slender shoulders, a sneer spread across the sharp-featured elf's face.

"Exactly the welcome I expected," remarked Dalamar acidly, offering Laurana a mocking bow.

***

"Can't you ever appear without making such a dramatic entrance?" sighed Laurana, pouring wine from a chilled pitcher, then offering a glass to the wizard before she took a glass for herself and sent the servant girl away.

Dalamar sniffed the violet wine appreciatively, admiring the Queen's Garden as he stood near a small, glittering, azure pool.

"A bad habit I acquired from my former master, I'm afraid, Majesty," shrugged Dalamar before he sipped from his fluted glass.

"I heard about the Tower in Palanthas. Do you know what happened?"

"It's true master summoned it," whispered Dalamar bitterly. He gulped a mouthful of the tart wine.

Laurana sipped from her glass, watching the brooding mage carefully, her long, blonde hair fluttering in the afternoon breeze.

"The Silvanesti are in trouble, I want you to come with me to Silvanost," said Dalamar suddenly, turning to face the astonished elf queen.

"How are they in trouble? The Shield..?"

"The Shield has fallen, it collapsed a few days ago."

"Did you enter the forest?"

"No," replied Dalamar, shaking his head. "The borders of the forest are dead, the trees, the undergrowth, it's all withered and sterile."

"Is there anyone still alive?" murmured Laurana, her brown eyes wide with horror.

"I believe so," nodded the mage. "I felt magic emanating from Silvanost, very powerful magic, ancient magic."

"Why me?" asked Laurana, a brief smile flashing across her lips.

Dalamar sighed deeply. He drained his glass, then clutched the empty vessel. "The Conclave is no more, I cannot ask another wizard to help me because so many have lost their abilities. I have managed to utilize the magic in my own lifeforce, the magic of nature and the elements, but the human, Palin Majere, is the only other who has advanced to any significant degree."

"What stops you from asking him for aid? You served his uncle, he would probably go with you to Silvanesti."

"I will not beg a human for aid," sneered Dalamar. "Silvanesti is elven land, my land. I can bear you treading upon the soil of my home, but never a human."

"You honor me," saluted Laurana with her glass, her eyes twinkling.

"Yes," agreed Dalamar, a ghost of a smile flashing across his stern face.

Go with him.

Laurana dropped her glass, it shattered upon the gravel pathway. The elf queen clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking, her face was drawn and pale.

"Majesty? Laurana? Are you well?" inquired Dalamar, frowning as he gazed hard upon the elf woman.

Laurana relaxed her hands and smoothed down her rose velvet dress. "I..I am fine, Dalamar. I will go with you to Silvanesti, and we will both discover the fate of our brethren."

***

The griffin fidgeted while Laurana and Dalamar dismounted from its feathered back. Freed of its burden, the griffin spread its wide, ivory wings and jumped into the blue sky, catching a strong thermal and quickly disappearing from sight.

"Anxious, wasn't it?" observed Dalamar.

"It's not the only one," replied Laurana, resting a gloved palm on her sword hilt as she approached the edge of the Silvanesti forest.

The two slim elves stood side by side, simply looking at the gray, brittle trunks and rotting black leaves that littered the dusty ground. Laurana wrinkled her nose, the air was thick with the stench of rot and decay.

"The forest is..hungry," whispered Dalamar, burying his hands inside the thick sleeves of his velvet robe.

"It definitely looks unhealthy," agreed Laurana, her eyes narrowing. "And yes..the forest feels..malevolent, almost like it did when Lorac was enslaved to the Dragon Orb."

"The Orb! Of course!" exclaimed Dalamar, meeting Laurana's eyes. "That's what I feel in Silvanost! There's a Dragon Orb in the capital!"

"How can that be? All of the Dragon Orbs are destroyed or lost," reminded the elf queen incredulously.

"It can be nothing else! When my Master..when Raistlin possessed a Dragon Orb, I felt its magic, this emanation from Silvanost is the same!"

"Who could use it?" asked Laurana.

"Any mage of sufficient skill."

"Do you think the Orb is responsible for the failure of the Shield? For the death of the forest?"

"No, I don't believe so," pondered Dalamar, scratching his chin and shaking his head.

"We're wasting daylight, Dalamar. Let's start walking," sighed Laurana, reluctantly stepping into the slimy ash and rot of the Silvanesti forest.

***

Laurana groaned and opened her heavy eyelids. She sat up from her bedroll, she glanced at the dying campfire, the dead, dry branches giving off an acrid smell while oily, black smoke rose into the obsidian sky. The elf woman tied shut her leather jerkin, then left her bedroll, silently walking away from camp and the slumbering Dalamar on soft-soled, deer-skin boots.

The leaf-less trees surrounded Laurana like frozen cadavers, their bony limbs stretching out to the empty void above. Laurana hugged her slim arms to her body, her breath frosted before her shaking lips.

Do not fear. I guard you until you reach Silvanost.

Laurana spun on her heel. Sargonnas reclined against a gnarled, gray tree, his powerful arms crossed upon his chest. Laurana glared at the dark god, he wore the shape of Ariakas, the Dragon Emperor she had once bedded with. Instead of the Emperor's blue dragonscale armor, Sargonnas wore his favorite green.

"What caused the forest to die?" snapped Laurana.

Sargonnas arched an eyebrow at the elf queen's sharp tone.

The elves killed the forest themselves. Their precious Shield drew its magic from the forest and the elves, until nothing was left for the magic to feed upon.

"The..the Silvanesti..?" gasped Laurana.

..are no more, smiled Sargonnas with evil pleasure.

Hot tears poured from Laurana's bright eyes. "Then..who's using a Dragon Orb in Silvanost?"

Sargonnas' smile faded as if it had never been. A dragon wields it, using the last Silvanesti as his puppet. The Orb is why I have dispatched you here, you will take it.

"What kind of dragon is he? Is he old?"

He is..an old friend of yours.

"What?" frowned Laurana.

Sargonnas pushed away from the dead tree and drew close to Laurana. He grasped the back of the elf woman's head and kissed her roughly on the lips, stroking her tongue with his own.

I will enjoy you again in your dreams, lovely elf queen.

Laurana slowly opened her dazed eyes. She stiffened and glanced around quickly, the dark god was gone, only the cold sensation of his lips upon her mouth lingered. Hugging her chilled body again, Laurana hastened back to camp, dread clutching her heart.

***

Dalamar was silent when he entered the city of his birth. Silvanost was dead, no one walked its boulevards, the cries of elven children did not echo from the tree homes or the sloped, sun-bathed parks. The only sound was the wind, a harsh, mournful howl that blew gray ash and detris before it.

Laurana held her drawn long sword, its silver edge gleaming with magic. The sword's enchantments were minor, but might give an edge in battle with whatever still haunted Silvanost. Queen and mage looked up at the Tower of the Stars. The Tower was twisted and gnarled like the dead trees surrounding it, a blackened, ugly spire with a single multi-colored eye gazing down upon the two intruding elves.

"If we meet this dragon Sargonnas spoke of, I will kill it," swore Dalamar, breathing heavily with grief and rage.

"We will both avenge your people," agreed Laurana.

The elves entered the Tower of the Stars. The Tower's interior was black and cold, but elven vision made it possible to climb the stairs spiraling up to the Tower's summit. Almost at the top of the stairs, Laurana picked up a soft moaning echoing through the chill air. The sound was very familiar, it was a woman in the throes of passion, Laurana had made that sound many times with her dark god and the human emperor who had almost conquered Ansalon. Dalamar raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Laurana, the elf queen shrugged and continued to the top of the winding stair.

Laurana sliced through the latch of the iron-bound door and kicked the portal open. Elf queen and mage spilled into the king's chamber, a circular room with four windows open to the expanse of the Silvanesti forest.

Night was falling across Silvanesti. Cold, silver stars gazed down through the open roof of the Tower. In the center of the chamber, resting upon a raised, clear crystal dais, lay the Dragon Orb, the last artifact from the Age of Light.

Laurana raised her shining sword with both hands, two figures leaned upon the other side of the Orb's dais, a small, elven form that clutched the smooth face of the Orb, and a taller, burly form making violent, bucking motions against the small one.

"Alhana," whispered Dalamar, green flame dancing within his open palms.

Alhana Starbreeze, Queen of the Silvanesti, clutched the glowing Dragon Orb while her green-scaled lover pumped into her trembling buttocks. Alhana was the source of the ragged moans, drool poured down her quivering chin, she clung to the brilliant Dragon Orb, pressing her bare breasts onto the slick, crystalline surface of the artifact.

"So, your cow-god lover finally sent you to steal my Orb?" hissed Cyan Bloodbane, his wedge-shaped head weaving from side to side upon a long, serpentine neck.

The green dragon raked his extended claws down Alhana's bare back. Alhana whimpered, hugging the Orb while blood flowed down her scratched flesh. Cyan hissed with pleasure, licking the elf queen's warm blood, relishing the sweet taste of the fluid.

"Monster!" howled Laurana, raising her sword and charging the dragon.

Cyan narrowed his blood-red eyes and leapt away from Alhana's naked body. The dragon's human shape bulged, then exploded, massive dragon arms slashed at Laurana, enormous, leathery wings flapped free and blotted out the stars above.

Dalamar leveled both of his arms. Green fire fountained from his extended hands, Cyan roared when the flames licked his huge body, melting scales and searing tender flesh.

Laurana crouched, then stabbed upward, driving her silver blade deep into an exposed patch of burned dragon flesh.

Cyan screamed in agony, he snapped at Laurana with his massive jaws, his sword-length fangs sliced across the elf woman's right thigh, she stumbled, but flipped her sword and stabbed it downward into Cyan's elongated neck.

Hot blood splashed across Laurana's chainmail protected breasts and her flushed face. Cyan backpedaled away from Laurana, bleeding profusely from his wounds.

"This isn't over, elf bitch!"

Cyan flapped his wide wings and speared up through the gaping ceiling. Laurana watched the wounded dragon flee, she let her heavy sword drop to her side. The pain of her torn thigh drew back Laurana's attention. The elf queen gritted her teeth, cutting away her breeches to examine the ugly wounds.

"I can staunch the bleeding," said Dalamar, kneeling beside Laurana, withdrawing a small clay pot from the deep folds of his black robes, then applying a warm ointment to the elf queen's lacerations.

When Dalamar was done, Laurana shuffled over to Alhana. The raven-haired elf queen still clung to the mesmerizing Dragon Orb, her left cheek rested on the smooth crystal, her blue eyes were vacant and wide.

"Help me get her away from it," said Laurana, taking Alhana's thin right arm.

Laurana and Dalamar pried Alhana away from the brilliant Orb. Alhana whimpered and wept in protest, but she was too weak from hunger and thirst to offer any resistance. Dalamar draped the crying elf queen in his black cloak, Laurana rubbed Alhana's cold, limp hands and tried to soothe the young elf woman.

***

Dalamar helped Alhana onto the glaring griffin's wide back. Laurana wrapped her arms around the limp elf queen's small waist, she looked down at the mage with a quizzical frown.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

"No, Majesty, I'm staying."

"Why?"

"Silvanesti is my home. I want to do whatever I can to bring it back to life," sighed the weary dark elf.

The griffin clawed the soft ground and flapped its feathery wings in agitation, Laurana soothed it before asking, "I'm curious why you didn't try to take the Dragon Orb, Raistlin would have."

"I..am not like him. You said Sargonnas wanted you to recover the Orb, I am not prepared to challenge a god, I have seen where that path leads."

"Oh," smiled Laurana.

"I fear we may be enemies the next time we meet, you serve a dark master, do not lose yourself to him, I know from bitter experience that it is all too easy to be seduced by their power."

"Farewell, Dalamar," said Laurana coldly, the mage's words striking much too deep for the elf queen's comfort.

"Farewell, Laurana," bowed Dalamar.

The griffin launched itself into the cloudy sky. Dalamar didn't watch the creature depart, he strode wearily back into the dead forest, his head bowed and hands buried in the folds of his ash-covered robes.

***

Laurana lay on her left side, watching the Dragon Orb shift colors on its small stand upon one of her bedroom tables. The radiance of the Orb melted from green to red, the warm light was reflected in Laurana's eyes, she sighed and lowered her right hand to her closed thighs, she began caressing her pussy, tremors of pleasure raced through her naked body.

"See, Laurana? It loves you too," purred Alhana in Laurana's pointed right ear before she resumed stroking the enraptured elf woman's sleek thigh, her lips caressing the warm flesh of Laurana's bared neck.

*****