Snakes and Ladders 4

Chapter 4

“Yes, yes you are Shaya. You are beautiful and brave and amazingly sweet….I want to take your pain away, I want to cast it away on the wind and replace your pain with sunshine and love.”

My hands were on her shoulders until that point but I reach a hand out and under her chin and lean over and guide her to my lips. Bear never got the romantic movie moments where I could kiss the girl. I had a few moments, that were really great moments but nothing like this…I slip my arm down to the small of her back to pull her closer and our lips touch. I love kissing her, I love kissing her because…

I’ve fallen in love with her.

There’s a tremble to her as I kiss her and tears keep sliding out of the corners of her eyes.
“Erendae…” she say’s that version of my name it’s this sound that’s half-way to tearful anguish and half way that wistful moan…I’ve never had anyone say my name like that. Her mouth is just a little open as she says that like a…I kiss her again and this time with tongue.

Shaya’s eyes widen which on an elf is an amazing thing to watch, it’s like the blooming of an amethyst. It is a freaky surreal thing to have this woman, girl, elf in my arms. My all female arms now. And I’m holding a woman I probably would have killed to meet as Bear.
I feel stronger now than I ever did in my old life.

“Shaya, I think we need to talk. I want you to tell me it, all of it, the good and the bad…Lets, lets go back to your rooms.” Shaya bites her lower lip then nods and we start to walk back to her rooms.

We are ascending the long stairs when we come to a landing and she is shoved, well struck by this elfin girl in red leathers with red hair….the blow knocked Shaya back and I don’t catch all of the rapid fire elfin stuff she’s spouting off at her but I’m not one for letting some asshole beat on a woman much less one I care about. She looks quite taken aback that I got in the way. “Remove yourself whatever you are and I’ll forgive the fact you’re with the traitor.” She went to slip around me to have another go at Shaya. As my old self I had done some bouncing and security work so it was another quick step in front of her again and I shove her off and away from us. “Back off!” or I hope that’s what I said.

It turns out maybe not. Red…well for lack of something better to call her comes at me and she’s fast. I’m not an expert fighter, I’m no slouch either but she moved in a way I’m never seen. She flows in and the next thing I know she’s hitting me with martial knife hand and spear hand strikes and fore-knuckle punches and palm strikes as well as pelting me with a simultaneous series of snap kicks. I can take a lot of abuse, I’m used to taking a beating and Shaya is yelling something at the both of us. Mostly at Red I hope. Then Red hauls off and with a palm strike blow breaks my nose….My nose…I was hoping not to be one of those vain bitches but…but I just got to be me…and now she’s messing with that and she tries to follow up with a spin kick. I take it to my ribs but latch onto her leg and spin her around and smash her through one of these fancy looking stone fountains they have on each landing with a old me violent throw.

I take advantage of the moments it takes her get her self out of the fountain and move myself between her and Shaya. “Shaya, stay behind me I’ll take care of this…” Red moves really fast, faster than I’m used to. Elfin reflexes and all that I suppose. Here's the thing. I smashed her through a stone fountain and it hurt her, but I was strong enough to do it.

And I know why.

I’m transformed, but I’m still very much myself. I’m as strong as I was in my old …ugh…male body. That’s a huge bonus with my lighter woman’s frame and that makes me faster than I was. I’m also as tough as I used to be too it seems. Fat guys learn to take a beating one way or another usually the hard way. It’s getting to be a slugfest between us and she’s hitting me three or four times to my one with that elfin kung fu she’s using. I switch things up really hard. There’s stuff I know she doesn’t. I really doubt that elves have watched the WWE. I get hit a few times more and I’ll tell you something it hurts like a mother-effer to get hit in the breasts. I fight dirty, and it’s perfectly fair dirty now. I’m a girl…so me kicking her in the crotch is fair. In a dirty pool kind of way. She doubles over just long enough for me to step up and get her head under my arm. Headlock? Hell no, I fall back hard driving Red's forehead into the stone landing…DDT!

I roll off of her and she’s groaning on the ground and I’ve got a shredded top and I’m pulling a Janet Jackson with one boob hanging out.

There are three guys in red just like her around us with swords out circled around me and Shaya. Shaya has a ball of lightning…? In her hand. Then there’s elves in shining gold washed armor like Shaya’s with swords out. Whoa, both groups came out of nowhere I hear above us. “Enough.” it wasn’t yelled but it rang through the air with authority. There on the next landing up from us was this knight in that form fitting armor like Shaya was wearing when I first saw her. This has to be like standard issue or something. The Man is wearing a deep forest shiny green armor with a camouflage cloak. He was somebody that’s for sure…everything stopped around us…everything.

His helmet turned towards us. He looked me up and down, then at Shaya. “Shaya, I think it best of you took our guest back to your chambers and retired until you both are sent for.” Shaya ducks her head. “Yes Father…”

Father…Oh shit that’s the Sylvanian King. He gives me a nod? I’m not sure what that means but I back over to Shaya who slips an arm around me and her slender hand covers my exposed breast.

Oh fucking lovely…I get into a brawl in the palace, destroy a fountain, probably assaulted someone important and I flashed the king.

Heh, heh, heh….Okay it’s kind of funny too. I boob flashed the king. I so feel like Deidre in Maiden by decree in that cat-fight fountain scene.

I like Shaya’s hand right where it is. I wrap my arm around her and the guys in the gold armor, two of them escort us to her rooms. She’s stiffer, tense and I can tell I can feel her falling apart inside.

Shame, deep shame swallowing her up.
Fear, she’s afraid of me?
No, if she was she wouldn’t be touching me.
I can feel these feelings in her.
It’s hard to feel out what is what really how good are we at really recognizing our own feelings. It’s a real hard thing to do really.
Shaya’s really, really afraid of how I’m going to see her, how I’m going to react.
She’s terrified of me rejecting her, or worse.
Oh god how I know those feelings.
Did..?
Did her bonding to me do this to her?

We get to her rooms and I lead her all the way to her bathing room. “Come on Shaya, let's get into a hot, hot bath it’ll help.”
“No, hot water will not change things.”
Dammit she looks so depressed, I hate seeing the pain there in her eyes.
There’s a shifting large sound as Bhlaze has managed to get his head and neck inside the inner halls. ~Shaya, Beloved, what has happened?~
She went over quickly to hug his snout. “I was met by Lady Kyte, while showing Wren…our home.” She’s crying on his snout.
~You have feeling for Wren Phoenix?~
“Yes, I do, I really do.”
She does?…She does!
~This is not surprising to me.~
“It’s not?”
Yeah, it’s not?
~Beloved, we were shown her quality when we were to die by Shai-tan’s hand. You must tell her all of it. Wren Phoenix is your bonded…Tell her.~
Shaya nods and hugs his nose tighter for a few seconds before letting go and stepping backwards I wrap my arms around her and kiss her left ear making her shudder. “C’mon we can have a bath and you can tell me everything.”
~Wren Phoenix?~
I look at him, It’s still surreal to look at a real live dragon much less lock eyes with one.
You look into the eyes of a dragon and you look into the living eyes of majik itself, those eyes…I know most people can’t endure a dragon’s gaze for long.
Knowing this has to be one of those bond things.
I can feel Shaya staring at me with awe..?…I’m not sure, but I think I’m turning her on?
Bhlaze blinks first. ~Take care of our Shaya.~
“I will big guy, I promise.”
He pulls his head out and I can hear the big lug trying to get back to his sand room.
It’s funny the sound and this from what I can tell might be dragon cussing mixed with the shuffling reminds me of him trying to turn himself around like the Snuffleupagus. I can’t help but smile. Y’know I’m going to remember that every time I see him now.

We go to the bath where she has this oriental styled pit bath. It’s steaming hot and waiting ready for us. I think it’s majikal or really good servants or something. We undress and once more I’m breathless by how beautiful she is. Alabaster skin, and thin yet she’s not human so it doesn’t look out of place on her body. She’s bigger and more muscled than many of the elfin women I’ve seen tonight but she might, might be a size 2. But she’s got these absolutely perfect and I mean perfect B cup breasts that have these delicate dark nipples like a dusty rose color. Tiny waist with these great little abs that just kind of show, just a little. And she’s blessed with the best legs…

I’m almost drooling and there is this aching tightness inside of my sex and it kind of feels like I’m literally inverted. Like I’ve got a raging hard on inside with my clit aching as hard as I’ve ever been but has this deeper feeling like I’m…I’m so wet, guys kind of get that way too with pre-come and all but this is more…there’s like this terrible need in me like the worst case of blue-balls…ever…and the sensation isn’t limited to my sex either…my breasts ache, ache to be touched.

I can feel Shaya’s need too, I can smell both of us too. As weird as it is. It’s so right beyond my fantasies about who I’ve always known I am right. I’m right there near tears from how…true I feel.

That’s it exactly I feel True.

To me…honestly feeling like this is like really knowing that Heaven is real. I’m not kidding either I honestly feel more spiritual. Or like my soul can finally see the world.

We slip into the hot water walking down the steps into the hot water. I’ve had baths before, but I’m kind of getting the women’s love of just how much better it feels to us. The heat just soaks into me and all my bruises and hot water kind of get’s inside of me. It lifts and floats my breasts, it starts to soak up into my long hair add this weight.

True.

I almost swim with the water just about deep enough to and I go over to Shaya and kiss her. She breaks…touching me, my bruises. I hold her as she cries. “I’m sorry Wren, I’m sorry this is my fault.” I hold her and gently pull her wet, lithe form onto my lap and against my bosom. I just hold her and kiss the top of her head for awhile then take a silk thread bath poof and add some nice smelling liquid soap and begin to wash her. “Shaya…Bhlaze is right. Tell me…please.”

She turns from me and nods and kind of sits hunched away from my torso but still on my lap looking so vulnerable.

“I was squired to my father’s brother….He’s who we refer to as the enemy, the master of those you and I fought on Shaelani and Ea but this was before he had betrayed us. I was very different then. I was like Bear.”

“You…you were male?”

“Yes, and for me t’was a fate worse than death. Here in my realm you can be a tryst one who sleeps with the same sex and for us being born to the wrong body was unheard of, you are born as nature dictates is the common belief held by many. Especially the traditionalists who wish to keep to the old ways. My brother, My twin brother was not like me and he had already cast enough shame on our family. I could not do the same. I was often told by these people that to be a tryst, or twisted, or a shimmer was and affront to the gods.”

“Yeah, they do that at home too. What’s are the terms you said, I mean what do they mean?”

Shaya nodded a little. “It seems as long as there’s people there is dark thoughts and ways to treat others poorly for their own gains….Trysts are what you would call gays or bisexuals, Twisted is like us those who know we are other than what we were born. And a Shimmer is one who actually lives as the other sex, a reference to illusions and such.”

“My uncle secretly hated my family. He secretly wanted the throne. Before I was born nearly fifteen hundred years ago there was a civil war where the great mages of the guilds had decided they were past the point of listening to the nobility and the temples and they started a bloody civil war. They were lead by mages who turned so dark it blighted their souls and they became something else…They became The Forsaken, and they called on the dark forces to annihilate anyone who stood against them.”

Shaya hugged herself tighter, even shiver not from being cold but from memories.

“Lyam, my uncle had fought in the war with my father and their other brothers Robyn and Justinae and my grandfather King Gainen. They were the only two who had survived the war and on the kings deathbed he had made my father King and made Lyam who was far older and a far stronger knight Clan Prince of the Skywood moon. He hated my family for this in secret and first my twin squired to him and in a few short months had been declared unfit for duty. Jaiden, my twin had fled the noble cities to live amongst the common folk as a thief and a buglar….Then came my turn as squire and he…he made me hate everything about myself. He took me…often, raped me…he said this is what happens when you are twisted, it’s what happens to boys that want to be girls…”

She starts to cry a bit and I rub her back, and turn her to face me and pull her gently into my arms. I hold her as she cries on me. It takes awhile for me to get her calmed down. She looks at me...okay, She’s not perfect, perfect really bad crying red eyes look horrible when you have violet eyes. It actually makes her the much better really, it’s a weird thing to say but it makes her…not perfect but that makes her more perfect…does that make any sense.

“Lyam had me in his service and he made me do things that were to help him with his take over. He used majiks on me to bring out the hurt and pain and the rage in me about myself and what I was…I never thought then that I could be healed…his majiks had all the worse parts of me right on the surface…I was with him for fifty years and I got to…to where this was me…and I was a monster…I attacked with him, I killed my own people, butchered them I was…Wre…Wren…I was a murderer…!”

Shaya stares at me, tears streaming even harder and I can feel it in her…
Please, please, please…?
Don’t hate me…
Please don’t hate me…I still hate myself…
Please don’t leave me…

I pull her into my arms and start to slowly and deeply and sweetly kiss her. Her breasts pushing into mine, my arms around her. My soft lips on her soft lips. I put my forehead against hers and look her deep into her eyes. “I’m Not going anywhere Shaya, I’m not…”