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The Solitary Arrow by Mack the Knife
   Part Two
   The little one scurried off and began gathering stuff up.  The larger
orc carried the two some distance back up the scree then over another
ravine, then to a cleft in the stone walls of a short cliff.  With a mighty
heave, he shoved back a stone that blocked the way slightly, and revealed a
short mouth to a cave.  He dragged the two in behind him and let them fall
to the floor.  He liked his hidey hole, few other orcs knew about it, and
most of them was dead now.  He was gonna have fun with this elf girl for a
long time before he kilt her.  Snatbug came in with the booty from their
adventure and looked at the girl with lustful eyes.  "We gonna do `er
Gorepole?" He asked.
   "I'm gonna do `er, then if I get tired of it for a while, you might can
come in for a quick pokie at `er arse or somefin." The big orc said, taking
a swat at his smaller cousin.  "Right now I'm gonna report dat dey ambushed
us and got away after killin our mates." He said.  "You go outside and
stand watch over the fight place."
   Both the orcs crawled out of the cave, then there was a grinding sound
as the stone was pushed back into place.
   A little later, Hyandai's eyes fluttered open.  He head felt like a
drum, and pain pulsed with each heartbeat.  He was barely breathing, and
blood was bubbling from his lips.  The stench that struck her nose was
horrid.  She looked around ad saw Harlen.  He would die soon, she thought.
She squirmed in her bonds and managed to get her head toward him and onto
her belly.  She slithered like a snake on the floor, only slower, and
obviously not very smooth at it.  She leaned over his face and pressed her
lips to his.  She breathed into him, forcing his lungs to expand fully. 
She heard the sickening sound of the ribs sliding over each other in his
chest but pressed on.  Another deep breath and she blew again, inflating
him farther.  Several more times and she could no longer hear ribs moving.
Her healing breath was repairing the damage as it inflated the punctured
lungs, and moving the broken ribs back into place.  She breathed into him a
half dozen more times, unsure how badly hurt inside he was, and wanting to
be sure.  He seemed to be breathing normally now.
   "Harlen, awaken." She said into his ear.  He murmured something but did
not wake up, he was still groggy from the shock.  She took a drastic move,
turning to her side, she reached out with her bound hands and grabbed his
testicles.  A quick twitch and he was conscious.  He sat up suddenly and
his eyes popped open.  His hands were bound behind his back, and he fell
back.
   "Where are we?" He asked.
   She looked around.  "Some cave, the orcs dumped us in.  I think they
will not be gone long." She looked at her wrists.  "I can not untie my
hands." She said.  Then she started crying.  "They will rape me when they
return."
   Harlen nodded.  "I know, m'lady." He struggled with his bonds.  "I wish
I could help." He fell down again.  "I'll keep trying."
   She shook her head.  "We want them to think you near death." She said.
"If you can get loose then, you'll surprise them."
   "What about you?" Harlen asked, his own eyes filling with tears.  "If I
could take your place, I would, m'lady."
   "You can't though." She said.  Then her eyes flashed.  "Or perhaps, in a
way, you can." She looked at him.  "Will you risk your sanity for me, you
did say you would risk your life, but your sanity may be dearer."
   Harlen nodded.  "Of course I would." He smiled lopsidedly.  "My sanity
is in doubt anyway."
   She giggled a little at that.  "Then look into my eyes, we don't have
long." She could hear the big orc returning, yelling at his subordinate.
   Harlen stared at her golden eyes, which was quite easy, actually. 
Hyandai stared into his endless blue eyes, and leaped into them.  Harlen's
head recoiled as if struck, he felt his mind shift in his skull, and felt
part of himself shoved aside, and felt something fill the newly vacated
space.  `I am here now.' Hyandai said, but her lips did not move.  The
voice was inside his own head.  He faintly heard an echo in the elven
tongue.  `Well, most of me is here.' She amended.  `I need to speak, relax
and ignore your mouth and lungs.'
   He tried to do as she said, and then heard himself speaking elven.  Her
body responded by saying something back in a happy sing-song voice. 
Hyandai then looked at him.  "You seem a nice man, and speak good elven."
She said.  "When the orcs are finished making a woman of me, will you lie
with me?"
   Harlen said "Gladly, m'lady." The body that was Hyandai giggled, then
lay there with a look of pleased expectation on her vace.
   `What did you tell her?' He thought.
   She replied.  `I told her the nice orcs were coming to deflower her and
to not be scared.  I told her it was the way it was done.' There was a
pause in his mind.  `She is like a child, Harlen, I only left a tiny bit of
me in there.  Now, grab your pack and lie still.'
   He did as told again, and he heard the stone being forced aside.  The
voices of two orcs were heard as they crawled back into the cave.  "You can
have at `er when I'm done for a while, ok, Snat?"
   Sullenly, the smaller one replied.  "Like it'll be any fun after you've
taken your club to `er.  But okay."
   Gorepole laughed at that.  "Den fuck `er in the arse, like I said.  I'll
leave it be for ya.  Yer a good mate." The big orc came over to the two
people.  "Dis one's gonna live, I fink." He said.  "We'll have fun wit him
alter, though."
   He picked up Hyandai by her waist and she said "Are you the one who is
going to make a woman of me?" As he lifted her and carried her to the table
in the middle of the small cave.
   Rather startled the orc said.  "You talk like yer lookin forward to it,
den?" He reagarded her with those red eyes.  "You wantin a bit of good
fuckin?"
   "Indeed, I am." She said, smiling.
   Gorepole shrugged.  "Good, cuz dat's what's about to happen to ya." He
tore her top off with one hand, lifting her off the table until he pushed
down with his other hand, it tore asunder, revealing her small,
perfectly-shaped breasts.  "Hmm." Gorepole grunted.  He slid his hand over
the smooth skin, then leaned foreward and suckled one, drawing blood with
his sharp teeth.
   Hyandai's body gasped then said.  "You are hurting me, be gentler."
   The big orc laughed.  "I'll be gentler, all right." He reache down and
ripped her skirt off like he had her halter.  The loincloth came with it,
revealing her private places.  He looked down at her hairless womanhood. 
"You elfs are soo smoove down dere." He said, running his fingers over her
pubic mound and spreading her labia with one.  Then he shoved one of the
thick and clawed fingers into her.
   Hyandai's body screamed, and the yelled.  "Not so rough!" The orc pulled
the finger from her tiny slit, and licked the blood and juices off of it.
"Maiden, eh?  Not for long, den." He said
   Grabbing some rope he quickly had her tied down, throwing her clothes
into the fire burning in the far corner.  "Won't need dose." He said,
chuckling.  "Make me happy, and joo go on livin,' piss me off, and I gut
you and we bofe eat ya."
   Hyandai's body said.  "I will try to pleasure you."
   He tied her hands and feet apart at each corner of the table.  He legs
were bent over the bottom edge and the ankles tied to the legs.  "Dey looks
good all spread out like dat, huh?" Gorepole said to his smaller companion.
   The two orcs only had eyes for Hyandai right now, not that he blamed
them terribly.  `I will take that as a compliment, such as it is.' She said
in his head.  There was sadness in her voice, but she was trying to put on
a brave face about this.  He had gotten his pack and was digging through it
with his hands behind his back.
   The big orc stood on the table, which creaked under his bulk.  He
dropped his crudely made pants and they simply fell of him.  His organ was
enormous.  It was as thick and long as Hyandai's upper arm, and covered in
large bumps.  The bumps formed a ridge along the top surface, Gorepole
kicked the pants off the table and stepped up to place each foot on either
side of her narrow waist.  He looked down at the pretty elf, and she looked
up, her golden eyes locked on the creature's huge rod.  He squatted down
and rested his rod on her chest, between her breasts, the bulbous head was
only an inch or so from her small mouth.  "You make me feel gooder, and I
won't hurt you so muchly." He said, leering down at the pretty face.  She
grimaced at the general smell, and the thin, watery gray stuff oozing from
the tip.  Hyandai's body leaned its head up and down, and opened her mouth.
She took the head into her mouth, stretching her lips around the massive
girth.  Her cheeks caved in and began sucking on it.  His vile precursor
liquid was filling her mouth, and she had to swallow it.  It tasted rancid,
like old milk.  She tried to pull back, and found that Gorepole had put a
hand behind her head.  He thrust himself deeper into her instead.  She
gagged on the thick pole, but couldn't pull back.  Inch after inch went
into her mouth until she gave out a startled squeal.  Then her cheeks
puffed out, followed by motions of her neck swallowing something.  Thick
gray globs of orcish semen flowed out both her slender nostrils.  Tears
were rolling down her cheeks.  Finally, he pulled the organ free of her
mouth, and a small flood of the stuff oozed out.  She gasped for air, come
filling her nose and most of her mouth.  She started coughing, then almost
retched.
   Gorepole laughed at her, and scooped a goodly dollop of the orc-spend up
on his fingers, he shoved those into her mouth and wiped them on her
tongue. "You eat kum good, bitch." He said, nodding.  "Make me go off
fastly, and goodly." He then moved down a step and squatted again.  "Now me
can fuck you longer in you little baby hole." He said and placed the oozing
head of his organ at the entrance to her vagina.  He reached up and grabbed
her shoulders with his long muscular arms.  He looked down at her tiny slit
and his huge cock poised to open it.  "Dis gonna hurt a little bit." He
said, patting her shoulder.  He grunted as he buried all eleven inches of
cock into her.  Hyandai's body screamed.  The Hyandai in Harlen's head
screamed too.  `By the spirits, he's going to kill me!' Harlen found what
he had been seeking, his small skinning knife.  He got it out of its small
sheath.  Gorepole rammed himself into her repeatedly, the girl simply
making small groaning sounds, like he was pushing the air from her with
each thrust.  The gray precursor was dripping through the slats of the
table and onto the floor.  Her body gave an involuntary twitch and it
arched its back, and she screamed again.  He moved his clawed hands down to
her breasts, and sank his fingers' claws into her flesh, blood started
flowing down her chest and off of her in small rivulets.  The knife was
slowly cutting through the thick cloth tying his wrists.
   The orc tossed back his head and howled like a wolf, growling at the
ceiling.  The rope, finally, separated.  As the orc stood up, pulling its
limp and bloody cock from her tiny body with a slurping sound that
disgusted Harlen.  Gorepole looked toward Snatbug.  "Dat elf pussy is good
stuff, tight grab on my pole." He said, waggling his flaccid organ in the
air.
   "Nar, you freak." Said Snatbug.  "Yer make a horse feel like a tight new
pussy." Then he laughed.  He stopped laughing when he saw Harlan stand
behind Gorepole, with Hyandai's bow in his hands.
   Hyandai wrested control of his hands from him, saying `This one is mine,
it is my right.' Harlan let his hands go to her.  The bow hummed in his
hand as she muttered something in elven under his breath.  The arrow began
to glow, silver shimmers pulsing down its shaft.  Snatbag said "Boss, da
man is standin'!"
   The big orc started to turn, chuckling.  "Nar, dat can't be tru..." The
arrow caught the orc in the skull, just below the ear, his head snapped to
the side with a sickening crack, and the orc was literally lifted from the
table and fell to the floor, dead.  The smaller orc ran for the cave mouth,
but only got two steps before Hyandai's nimble fingers had reloaded the bow
and was firing again.  This poor wretch was hit right in the middle of its
scrabby back, it stumbled a step or two then fell to the floor, twitching a
little.
   Harlen stepped forward to the table, and Hyandai was looking up at him
with beautiful, golden, but ultimately blank eyes.  "He hurt me." She said,
tears on her face.  "It was supposed to be fun." Her look was one of
petulant betrayal.  "I am hurting too much for you now, I am sorry." Harlen
looked down and saw her womanhood, still gaping open slightly from the
rough using it had just received.  Thick globs of orc spend dripped from
it, along with quite a bit of blood.  The table between her legs was
likewise coated with the stuff, and it dripped between the slats onto the
floor.  Harlen had tears on his cheeks for even the fragment of Hyandai
that had just been abused.
   "I know.  Perhaps when you are better, then." He said, consolingly. 
Harlen cut the ropes on her ankles and wrists, and helped her to sit up. 
He took his blanket out of his pack and draped it about her shoulders. 
"Here, to warm you."
   "You are kinder than the orcs." She said.  "You can have me when I am
well, I liked you when we first met, even, you don't stink." She looked
down at the orc spend and blood on the table.  "I am bleeding from my
`yamen'almare.'" She said.  "More than during my `luume'agar.'" She looked
hurt.  "I think that bad orc hurt me inside."
   Harlen's heart broke at those words, spoken so plainly, and so
poignantly.  "We will help you get better." He said to her, stroking her
hair, ignoring the orc-spend that coated it.
   A bolt of pain lanced through his skull.  `We are losing your ability to
contain us both.' Hyandai said in his head.  `I must go back now.' Harlen
looked down, and there was fresh blood dripping from his nose.  Another
lance of pain shot through him.  `Make eye contact with her.' She said,
urgently.
   Harlen grabbed Hyandai's head and forced her to look at him.  "Look at
me, darling Hyandai." He said.  She did, and Harlen felt a huge part of
himself falling into those golden empty eyes, trying to fill it.  For a
brief moment, he saw himself, stained with blood from his mouth and nose.
He was seeing through her eyes!  Then his view snapped back to his own
head. Her eyes closed for a moment, and there was one final great spasm of
pain through his skull.  Blood spewed from his nose as he coughed, then the
pain left.  He felt a bit unsteady and sat on the table.  Hyandai's eyes
opened again, and she screamed.  It was the heartbroken scream of a man who
comes home to find his family dead, or the scream of a woman who's baby is
stillborn.  It was the banshee wail of one who wants to die.  Harlen fought
through the descending haze and reached to her.  When her eyes focused on
him, she clung to him, cutting his arms slightly with her fingernails as
she clutched her way up them to curl up on his lap and between his arms. 
Her face was twisted with torment as she wailed into his chest, and her
body heaved great sobs as the tears flowed from her eyes.
   He continued stroking her hair, and murmuring to her that things would
be okay now, that they were safe now.  Her condition belied the very
concept of safe, and her mind was anything but okay.  Her mind spun with
the images and sensations that the small portion of her had absorbed.  She
was being spared the worst of it but it still shattered her.  Her insides
were ravaged, and her body abused.  Her stomach churned with the seed of
the orc, spewed down her throat in great globs.  Her mind rebelled against
all this, it could not happen in a decent world, she told herself.
   Harlen started singing as he began to rock her in his arms.  His voice
was not precisely on key, and the rhythm was a bit off, but she recognized
the song.
   Avaenelle, cormin sakkatuva perya.  Avaenelle, eleeramin eleuva ilme'a.
Avaenelle, gorgaramin keluva ilyamenie.  Avaenelle, niireamin quantuva
dome.
   He rocked her in time with his singing of the classic song.  It was an
old elven love song, and she had loved it as a child.  Her sobs lessened as
she listened to him singing it, realizing that he was no elf, and he was
singing an elven song, and singing it reasonably well.
   She sniffed again and asked.  "Where did you learn that song, Harlen?"
Her eyes were large with wonder, if reddened by tears.
   He finished out the verse and said.  "My mother used to sing it to me as
a child when I would get hurt." He smiled sweetly.  "I heard it a lot,
since I was a clumsy child." He said.
   She could not but giggle at that, and smiled at him.  "Please sing it
more, for me." She laid her head on his chest and he held her, and stroked
her, and sang to her.  After a few more verses he stopped and asked her. 
"What does it mean in my tongue?" He said.  "My mother never knew, she had
heard an elven minstrel sing it in her youth and memorized it without
knowing the meaning.
   Hyandai looked at him a moment, then sat up a little.  She tilted her
head back slightly and started to sing the words.
   Without you, my heart would tear asunder Without you, my eyes would see
no light Without you, my fears would always linger Without you, my tears
would fill the night
   As she sang, her voice filled the chamber as if it were made to carry
her notes.  The tears that fell from her eyes were fewer now, and seemed
purer.  She sang the verse again, then stopped.  "It is actually a song of
your people, from many, many years ago." She smiled.  "We elves liked it
and translated it, but it belongs in your tongue."
   Harlen shrugged.  "My people have forgotten it, so I think it is yours
now." He looked at her intently.  "Can you walk, m'lady?"
   She nodded.  "I can walk a little, but I hurt intensely Harlen.  I
cannot walk far." Harlen gathered up their weapons, but instead of his
hatchet, he picked up a finely wrought broadsword, of the sort used by
soldiers.  Hyandai waited, standing by the table.
   "I know of another cave, near to here, that no orc has ever found." He
said, picking up his last bits of stuff.  "We should not tarry longer here,
others may come."
   Hyandai nodded, and took possession of her bow and quiver.  They crept
from the cave and stole down the hills toward the woods a ways, then he
started north.  Her stomach cramped painfully, and blood was coating her
thighs.  "It needs be close, Harlen, I cannot go much farther."
   He nodded, and took her free hand.  "It is close, come, Rapier, we will
get to safety." They went up what looked like a blind ravine and climbed
some steep skree.  She almost could not make it, but finally they slid into
a narrow cleft between two stones.  It went about five feet like that, then
turned sharply and disgorged them into a small cave.  Harlen pulled out his
light stone and held it up.  The cave was only perhaps ten paces deep and
five wide.  "Everything we need, Hyandai.  For a while at least." Unlike
the noisesome cave of the orcs, this cave was meticulously clean.  The end
of the cave had a tiny rivulet running through it, it disgorged into a
little pond, only about three feet across, then ran off into the stone
wall. "I dug out the pond, for bathing." He said.
   "You are certain it is safe?" Hyandai asked, leaning back against the
rough wall, and sliding down a bit.
   "Very." Harlen said.  "The other man who knew of it was a huntsman
friend of mine, and he is dead."
   She said.  "I'm sorry for your loss." And slipped farther down the wall.
   Harlen still was speaking over his shoulder.  "Don't be, It was my hand
that ended his life."
   He turned at last and gasped when he saw her condition.  He rushed to
her side.  "Hyandai." He said.
   Her hands closed on his arm.  "You said bath?" She muttered.  "Put me in
it a while." He picked her up gently and carried her to the bath.  The
rancid smell of the orc spend in her hair made him noxious.  He sat her on
the edge of the pool and took the blanket from her shoulders.  She slipped
into the water, settling into the little pool up to her neck.  "Please,
speak to me, keep me alert." She said.  Looking at him with haunted eyes.
   He sat beside the pool and thought a moment.  "I don't know quite what
to talk about." Harlen admitted.  He held out a small piece of lye soap to
her.
   She sniffed it dubiously.  "Yeek.  It will burn my flesh off my bones."
She said.  Then added.  "I suppose this situation calls for nothing less,
though." She started washing herself with the soap, wincing as she went
over a bruise or open sore.  She seemed hardier already, the water was
supporting her weight, and she could relax more.
   "How did you jump into my mind?" Harlen asked her, trying to think of
something to say.
   She rinsed one of her arms off, and looked at him, her luminous golden
eyes glowing.  "I wanted to be in your head more than my own right then."
She smiled.  "It is something that elves can do, well, some among us can do
it."
   Harlen looked at her a moment.  "You could read my mind?" He asked,
slightly alarmed.
   She giggled at that, and the music in her laugh was somewhat returned
now.  "No, Harlen, only what you actively thought at a given moment." She
answered.  "And, I might add, you were a perfect gentleman."
   He looked down.  "I was only worried for you." His eyes were brimming
with tears.  "You didn't deserve that." He looked down into the water, and
saw his own face.  "Gads!  I'm a terrible fright." He exclaimed, rubbing
his hand on the clotted and dried blood on his face and neck.
   Hyandai nodded to him.  "We both are, Harlen." She smiled sweetly. 
"Were there room in this bath, I would ask you in." She said, then
murmured. "Were I foresighted I would have done the same this morning."
   Harlen blinked.  "What do you mean?" He asked.
   "Nothing, kind man." She said.  "Just a thought about could-have-beens."
She was looking much better now.  She asked Harlen.  "May I ask you to help
with my hair?" She said, handing him the block of lye soap.  She turned her
back to him and leaned back into the water, her hair just above the
surface. He brought water up to it and then rubbed the soap into the hair,
he scrubbed her head, being careful not to get the caustic lye near her
eyes.  He used a small cup to ladle water into her hair until he had all
the soap out.  Her hair was incredibly soft and fine, and he longed to keep
touching it.  However, she was uncomfortable in this pose and he finished
as quickly as he could.  The water was cloudy with the lye and bits of
soap, but the constant inflow of fresh water was slowly clearing it.  After
about fifteen minutes she said.  "I believe I am as clean as I can get
right now, Harlen." She looked up to him.  "Will you help me out now,
please?" She said, holding up her hands to him and standing.  She was nude
to his eyes from the waist up, her perfect breasts marred by small wounds
that still bled a little.  A long claw-mark drew a red welt down her
stomach.  He closed his eyes and lifted her out, turned to the right and
let her down.  She gasped at his strength to lift her free like that.  "You
are very strong, Harlen." She said.  She looked about.  "There is nothing
else for me to don, good friend." She said.
   He turned from her and opened his eyes.  He went over to a small chest
and opened it.  Out of it he produced a long shirt.  "The best I have." He
said, holding it over his shoulder.  He heard her wet footsteps behind him,
and felt the shirt taken from his fingers.
   "Have you any loose cloths?" She said very timidly.  "I need something
to keep me from bleeding."
   He pulled out another blanket, and used his little skinning knife to cut
a small square from it.  He handed this back to her also.  She finally
said. "You can turn around, Harlen." He turned.
   She was standing, and looked adorable in his shirt, it fitted like a
tent.  It hung almost to her shapely knees.  He took a length of rope and
cut it and said "A belt." She took it and put it about her slim waist.
   She finally looked about the chamber.  "Very homey." She said.  The room
had a small cot, some shelves, covered with small items, and two chests. 
There was also a small breadbox on the shelf, and a large wooden frame
against the wall.  Several clay pots lay just inside the entrance.
   Harlen nodded.  "More like homely." He chuckled.  "But its clean and
safe, anyway." He looked about.  "Please lie down, Hyandai." He said,
pointing to the bed.  He left off that he could go bath out of sight if she
did, the pool was somewhat in an alcove from where the bed lay.
   She laid down.  "I probably should try to rest." He said, and laid on
the blanket.  It smelled of Harlen, and that was agreeable enough.  She
lifted the covers from under herself and snuggled into them.  "Much
better." She said.
   Harlen smiled at her and went over to the pool.  He hugged the inner
wall, out of sight and stripped off his clothes.  Then he got into the
pool. He was remarkably sore.  He supposed that Hyandai had not been able
to heal every minor hurt he had suffered in the pummeling from the huge
orc. He washed the blood from his face and neck, and also washed his
rawhide jerkin of the blood on it.  "Harlen, do you have any food here?"
She asked from around the corner.  "Not that I can eat right now, but for
later?"
   "Yes." He said.  "I've some provisions in the breadbox." He washed his
hair in a series of dunks and then went ahead and scrubbed his body. 
Finally he got out and put his trousers back on, they stuck to him as he
was soaked.  He clasped the belt and walked to the second chest, where he
had gotten the shirt and blanket.  He opened it and retrieved another
shirt, this one a blue shirt of rough weave.
   She watched him move about, and enjoyed seeing him shirtless, with those
large muscles and well-formed shoulders.  When he turned his back to her
and looked in the chest, she gasped.  His back was a web of scars.  The man
had been flogged in his past.  They were angry and red, and made his back
look somehow tougher.  He put the shirt on and turned back around.  "I am
so sorry, Hyandai." He said finally.  "I couldn't get myself unbound
sooner."
   Hyandai smiled at him.  "I know it, remember, I was in your head, also."
She snuggled into the blankets more.  "I am happy enough to be alive right
now." She said quietly.
   Harlen agreed, nodding.  "Yes, that is better than I would have thought
as that brute put me down." He sat on the floor, and took the first blanket
and washed it, cleaning out the orc spend and blood that had accumulated on
it.  Hyandai could see him as he washed, in profile.  His face wore the
look of disgust.
   `Does he feel that way about me now?' She wondered as she watched him
industriously clean the blanket.  `Orc spent and in need of cleaning?'
Harlen finished with that task and took the blanket and shirt and hung them
on hooks set into the rough wall.
   When he turned, he saw tears falling from her beautiful eyes and down
her flawless cheeks.  "Hyandai?" He said coming over to her.
   "No, Harlen." She said.  "Let me be a moment only." She said, curling
onto her side and facing toward the wall.  "I need to think." She murmured.
   He stepped back as if stung.  "I understand." He said, though he did not
really.  He went over to one of the chests and sat upon it.  He opened the
companion chest and took out a piece of deerskin.  He unfolded his rollup
kit and took out needle and thread.  Using only a small knife and that
thread and needle, he started to sew that doeskin.
   She wept for longer than a moment, she wept for a greater part of two
hours.  Harlen patiently sewed on the leather, occasionally staring at
Hyandei's back for a few moments then sewing some more.  He took out more
thread at need, and more doeskin.  Harlen noticed the weeping had ceased
and that she sounded to be asleep, in that he heard nothing from her, and
her shoulder rose and fell rhythmically.  He continued to sew well into the
night outside.  Simply watching over her and minding his handiwork.
   At what he thought to be about midnight, she stirred.  "Harlen?" She
asked as she rolled over to face him.
   "I am here, m'lady." He said, putting down his project and standing.
   She smiled at him.  "I hate to ask, but I need another clean cloth." She
said.  He went and cut one from the blanket he had sliced before.  He
stopped, and cut another.  The second one he took to the water and soaked
it, then wrung it out.  He handed both to Hyandai, then turned about, and
walked to the far side of the cave.  A few moments later she said.  "You
may turn, I am presentable again." She held out a wadded rag that was very
soaked with blood, but not quite through and through.  He took it and went
to the pool.  He rinsed it clean then set it aside to dry.  She was really
enthralled with his thoroughness.  "Harlen, you are one of the most,
complete men I have met." She said.
   Harlen looked over to her.  "What do you mean?" He asked, just curious.
He stood and walked to the cot, and slid one of the chests beside it.  He
sat upon it and faced her.
   "You finish all your projects before you move on.  It is very nice to
watch, you always do what needs doing next." She flashed her golden orbs at
him.
   Harlen shrugged.  "My mother again, I think." He explained.  "She always
made me to finish anything I started, regardless of how badly I wanted to
stop." The large huntsman chuckled.  "I suppose it made me choose my
projects more wisely."
   She giggled at that, her eyes flickering with life again.  Harlen
decided to try to make her laugh as often as he could, it was lightening to
his heart to hear her laughter.
   "Are you hungry?" He asked.
   Hyandai clutched her stomach.  "A little." She said.  "But I do not
think I can keep food down until my stomach has gotten rid of the bile it
has within." Her mind flashed to the huge orc spending down her throat and
she almost retched again.  "A while longer, I think."
   Harlen nodded without comment.  "Later, then." He said.
   Hyandai sat up part way, lifting herself up and propping against the
wall.  "Do you not need sleep, Harlen?" She asked.  "It must be late."
   "I was thinking of lying down, yes." He said.
   She scooted over on the cot.  "Then lie, Harlen." She said, patting the
bed beside her.  "Do not worry, I will not hurt you." She grinned.
   He wore the look of trying to talk his way out of it.  "No, Harlen, you
will take this spot, please." She said.  "After what I have been through
today.  I seek your comfort." Her eyes grew very imploring.  "Do not make
me beg." Her voice was very quiet now.  "I will."
   Harlen shook his head.  "Nay, lady, do not.  I will lie there." He
smiled and sat beside her.  "I don't consider this to be a particularly
difficult task, you know." He laid down, and she slid back into the covers.
She turned to her side to face him, and he to face her.  "I forgot the
stone." He said.  He slipped from beneath the covers and went to the light
stone.  Sliding it back into it's pouch, he returned to the bed.
   As he laid down, Hyandai snuggled up to him.  He slipped an arm under
her head and she caressed it with one hand.  Her other hand lay on his
stomach.  He held her that way for many minutes before he heard her
breathing even and turn shallow.  He then let himself drift off to sleep.
   He awoke slowly, with Hyandai once again in his arms and pressed to her
back.  She awoke with him as she felt him move.  "Good morrow." She said,
pushing back into him a bit.  "Thank your for your arms in the dark."
   Harlan said.  "Thank you for your company." He said, liking the feel of
her against him.  The cinnamon odor was gone from her.  He was a little
saddened by this.  "I hope you find more of that perfume." He said.  "It
was wonderful."
   She turned, though he could not see it.  "Perfume?" She asked.  "I wear
no scents, I have not for days." She said.  "It is not our way to go into
the wilds scented to attract animals."
   Harlen sat silent for a moment.  "Then that sweet scent was yours?" He
said, smiling.
   He felt her nod.  "Yes.  I suppose it was, if you smelled it." She said,
almost giggling.
   "Well, then, I am blessed, then." He said and reached his free arm for
the light stone.
   Her small hand caught his arm.  "No, a while longer, please." She said,
and pulled his arm back over her.  He held her for a bit, and felt her
snuggle into him again.  He pressed forward slightly and she held her
position.  They were very close now, and He could smell the lye in her hair
faintly.  Her hand petted his arm, tickling the hairs.  "Elven men have no
hair on their arms." She said.  "Or else but their heads." She added,
almost setting herself agiggle again.
   "No?" Harlen asked.  "None?"
   She did giggle now.  "Not a single strand." She said.  "Nor do we women,
of course." He lifted his arm and stroked her arm, and there was not touch
of hairs, fine or otherwise.  She leaned back, placing her mouth to his ear
and whispered.  "Anywhere."
   His eyes opened widely at that word.  "Um.  Interesting." He said, with
a little quaver in his voice.  She smiled to herself as he reacted to her
words, and felt his manhood stir.  It was just pressed to her rear, but it
felt good nonetheless to know she could arouse him so with just a few
words. "I thought you just, well, shaved, as a man does his beard."
   She shook her head.  "No, never had any." She said.  "I hear it is
different with humans, many of you are quite furry, from what I have been
told."
   "Some more than others, but yes." He agreed.
   He was fully aroused now and she enjoyed the feeling of his erection
against her rump.  She may have been violated just yesterday, she thought,
but that does not make him and his presence feel unwelcome.  She chastised
herself a bit, but then thought `Had I bedded him last morning, then I
would have at least not lost my flower to that foul beast.' Then she
thought there was no way to know that would happen, so stop punishing
yourself over it.
   The muscular arm under her head felt good, also, and she turned a little
and kissed it gently.  It twitched with the contact.  Harlen felt the kiss
as a hot spark running up his arm and shooting to his brain, then down to
his loins.  He hoped she did not feel his manhood twitch in sympathy.
   She grinned maliciously in the dark as she quite certainly felt it. 
Finally, though he said "I must rise." Hyandai almost choked trying to hold
back the giggle.
   "I understand, Harlen." She said, lifting her head to let him slip his
arm out.  "You will understand if I do not get up just yet." The hunter
took his light stone from the pouch and the chamber filled with light.
   Harlen sat up and nodded.  "Of course.  Rest today, m'lady." He said. 
Actually relieved to have his organ away from her rear.  He had almost
spent himself from her little movements alone and her rather racy words. 
She turned over and watched him stretching.  His organ stood out from his
body as he leaned back and she heard his back give out a few small snaps.
She admired him overall, and laid down before his stretch ended.  He walked
over to the breadbox and extracted a small loaf of bread.  "Are you hungry
now?" He asked.
   "Please, yes." She said, suddenly realizing she was famished.  Harlen
came back over, his erection now gone and handed her the small loaf.  "I
have butter and cheese, also."
   She took the little loaf in her hands.  "Cheese would be nice." She
answered.  As he brought her the cloth-wrapped small wheel of cheese she
giggled.  "My first breaking of fast in bed." She said, using her fingers
to spread the softish cheese onto the bread.
   "Mind the crumbs, then." Harlen said smiling.  She devoured the bread in
a most unelven fashion, he thought, but then again, she was probably
famished.  He fetched another loaf, and spread his own with cheese as well.
Holding it in his mouth he rewrapped the cheese wheel, and took it back to
the little breadbox.  The food there would not last two long, but
hopefully, long enough.  Hyandai was not fit to travel yet, and probably
would be several days in the recovery.
   He ate his bread slowly, watching her fidget with her hands.  "My hands
are idle, Harlen." She said.  "Have you things here with which I may keep
them busy?" She looked at him with a guileless expression.
   "I may." He said.  He went to the second chest, the one he had not
opened yet.  From within he extracted a very small wooden frame.  "I
usually use this for tanning small hides." He said.  He handed her a square
of the blanket he had been cutting up.  Then his little leather roll.  You
will find thread and such within." He looked at her.  "Do you do
needlepoint?" He asked.
   She nodded.  "As a girl I did." She looked at the items.  "Thank you."
She began to fiddle with the items and managed to stitch the cloth tight
onto the little frame, then began to use different bits of thread and lay
out a pattern.
   Harlen went over to the other chest and picked up where he had left off
on the sewing.  He would occasionally pilfer some thread from her and then
return.  More doeskin went into the project and even some cloth salvaged
from the already dwindling blanket.  She tried to see what he was making,
but could not, due to the angle, and the fact that he kept it folded except
where he was currently stitching.  Somehow, she felt asking would be
inappropriate.  The day passed with much silence.  The two of them simply
performing their individual crafts.  At the evening meal time, he stood,
and said.  "Done."
   She blinked from her project.  "Done?" She said.  "And what have you
done, Harlen?" She smiled, finally able to ask about his little project.
   He took up his bundle of soft doeskin goods and walked to the bed.  She
set her needlepoint aside and he sat beside her.  He unfolded a piece and
laid it over her chest.  It was an almost exact copy of the half-top she
had been wearing, made mostly of doeskin, with some lining of cloth.  He
laid the other piece over her hips and, again, it copied her old clothing,
almost precisely.  She looked with astonishment at it.  "That's amazing,
Harlen." She said.  Picking up the skirt.  "So soft." She stroked the
doeskin.  "I believe its softer than my old garments." Hyandai started to
sit up.
   Harlen placed a hand upon her chest, gently.  "Not yet, tomorrow." He
said.  "Give yourself a day to mend." She nodded as a cramp clutched her
pelvis, and laid back down.  He took up the clothes and folded them onto
the already crowded shelves.  He walked over to her doeskin boots that lay
by the little pool.  They were reasonably clean, and he sat them beside the
folded clothes on the shelf.
   Next, he began to clear that shelf of his detritus, storing it on other
shelves, or putting it in one or the other of the chests.  He placed the
now dry and folded blanket onto the shelf, along with half a dozen of the
small squares of cloth she had been using for her injury.  She realized,
this was her shelf now.  The thought pleased her inordinately, and she
smiled at him as he went about his project.  She knew now what that odd
feeling had been in her chest this last day or so.  It was her heart
turning.  A single tear rolled down her cheek.
   Turning from his task, Harlen saw that tear.  "You are pained?" He
asked, his face flush with concern.
   She smiled widely.  "No." She said, then held her arms up to him.  He
leaned down and she embraced him with all her might.  "I am very well now."
She said into his neck.
   The look of confusion on Harlen's face would have made her laugh had she
seen it, but he soon started smiling as well, and he enjoyed the embrace of
this lovely woman.  "I am glad you're feeling better." He said, and put his
arms around her, lifting her a little from the bed.  She felt so small in
his arms, yet she was strong inside, he thought.  He liked the feel of her
hair on his cheek, and when he sighed then inhaled he smelled a faint whiff
of cinnamon.
   After a long moment, he pulled away and went to his little larder.  From
it he brought out another two loaves of bread and a jar of butter and some
dried apples.  He brought them to her and they ate on the blanket, giggling
and laughing every time a crumb dropped.  On into the night they sat, and
spoke of things, mostly of life in their respective home villages.  He
marveled at her tales of the wonders of an elven community, and she
wondered at the tales of the marvels of human lands.  From what she heard,
in the fifty or so years that the elves of Amandor stopped visiting the
humans of Haldmoor, they had done much, and been busy.  They had made, from
his tales, amazing items of non-magical nature that were a wonder to
behold. She hoped to perhaps see some of these things in her days.  For his
part, his eyes sparkled at the tales of magical doing and things from her
home.  They spoke long into the night, making each other laugh, gasp, and
stare, wide-eyed.
   After what surely was middle night, Harlen rose from the bed, and they
spend a few moments getting the crumbs out of it.  He then stood up and
went to the clothing chest, as she called it.  He took of his shirt and
folded it, and she watched him.  She ran her golden eyes over his muscled
body and arms, then he turned again and walked to the bed.  "You don't mind
me shirtless, do you?" He asked.
   She stammered a moment.  "Need you see my face and ask that?" She said,
smiling up at him.  "Your chest and arms are quite lovely to behold,
Harlen." She said.
   He blushed charmingly at the compliment.  "I thank you then.  I hate
wearing shirts to bed." He said.  Hyandai giggled at him, and he looked at
her quizzically.
   "Sorry, just, well, it is more normal for us elves to sleep unclad." She
said, now blushing herself.
   His eyes widened at that.  Then he got a mischievous grin upon his face.
"Do not let ME come between you and traditions." He said self-righteously.
Then smiling brightly.  "I'm afraid, however, that I would not sleep well,
at all."
   She laughed and again filled the chamber with her voice.  "If I were not
infirm, Harlen, I might just do that." She said, scooting over to make room
for him.  "Now into the bed, my pillow."
   He laid beside her, and he turned to face her.  She lifted her head and
he slid is arm beneath it.  She laid back down and pressed her hand to his
chest near that shoulder.  She liked the warm feeling of his skin and the
surprising softness of it.  Her other hand rested under his head, and he
nuzzled it, pricking her with the stubble of his cheek.  "You need to
shave, my pillow, you are becoming prickly." She said, rubbing his cheek.
   He kissed her palm then said.  "I will upon the morn, m'lady.  I cannot
abide prickly pillows myself."
   She let the tingle from his kiss die down before saying.  "Well, I doubt
you will come across much prickly on me." She said, smiling.
   Harlen smiled widely and said.  "Of that I feel pretty safe." He reached
up and picked up the glowing stone, she held the little bag for him and he
dropped it in.  She then cinched the bag up and place it on her shelf. 
Both her hands went back to their places on him and his free hand rested on
her hip.  He squeezed gently on her there, and she liked that, almost too
much as she nearly let out a moan.  Just as he was nearly dozing, and she
could hear his breath become regular and deep, she leaned forward a bit and
kissed him.
   She grinned in the dark as his eyes popped open.  He could not see her,
but she, being elven born, could see him perfectly in the dark.  He looked
into the darkness for a moment, imagining that he could still see her
golden eyes even in the inky blackness of the cave, but knew he could not.
"You thief." He muttered quietly.
   She kissed his arm.  "Thief, you say?" She whispered.
   He nodded into the darkness, and said.  "Yes, you stole a kiss."
   She giggled gently and quietly and then was silent.  They both fell
asleep soon after, and dreamed.
   --
   The next morning found Hyandai awake before Harlen again.  She laid
there a moment, enjoying herself being held.  She smiled to herself,
thinking that she would not mind waking this way many, many more times. 
His strong arms were wrapped around her from beneath and above, and she was
pulled tight to him.  She knew that they had not been thus all night, but
were certainly in this very position for much of it.  Her hand stroked the
forearm nearest her face, and she watched the tiny hairs bounce back after
her fingers' passage.
   Harlen moved slightly with the touch and was suddenly cupping her left
breast.  Her golden eyes grew large at the jolt this delivered to her body.
He simply held it and did not squeeze, yet it was causing her breath to
come up short.  Soon, however, she had become used to the touch and rather
enjoyed the feeling of his strong fingers.  The nipple on that breast was
stiffening under the touch, and the nipple of it's partner was stiffening
in sympathy.  She moved slightly to cause some movement of her breast under
that hand, and the hand reacted by grasping gently, this actually did cause
her to moan gently, her eyes squeezed shut.  The buttons on the front of
the shirt were large and widely spaced.  In a fit of uncharacteristic
naughtiness, she unbuttoned the top one and pushed the shirt down from
under the hand.  The cloth slowly slid between her breast and his rough
hand.  After a moment she had the soft flesh of her chest completely
uncovered and her nipple was pressed into his worn palm.  Again she moved
it slightly, and he responded again by squeezing.  She had to gulp to
prevent herself from moaning loudly from the feelings that the pressure
excited in her.
   Deciding that the game had gone on long enough, she gently pulled the
cloth back up, and covered her breast again.  She longed for when she could
let him touch them openly, or when he would want to.  She was far from
certain that he fully wanted her, his reactions to her were somewhat
confusing from time to time, but she did have the general idea that he was
favorable.  She was still afraid to try, though, his rejection would
shatter her, especially now.
   She stroked his arm a bit more and pressed gently back into him.  He
pulled on her, forcing her tighter against him and she actually had to put
effort into breathing for a few moments before his arms relaxed a little.
   Perhaps half an hour passed of her just lying there, and being held. 
Then she heard Harlen's breathing change pattern as he regained
consciousness.  As he made the transition, she gently moved his hand from
her breast, not wanting him to be alarmed that he might have taken
`privileges' again.  Then he was awake.  "Good morrow." He said into her
ear, very gently, in a whisper.
   She squirmed a bit pushing into him.  "And to you, pillow." Hyandai
said.
   Harlen chuckled at that, and loosened his arms.  He brought the upper
arm back and scratched his neck, yawning.  "That was a wonderful sleep." He
said.  "I've not slept that well for many long days." She felt him fumbling
with the leather pouch and suddenly light filled the small cave.  She moved
away from him a little and rolled over to face him.  "You're so beautiful
in the morning, even, Hyandai." He said, giving her a sleepy smile.  "I
actually cannot believe my fortune to see that face as my first sight of a
morning."
   Hyandai blushed at this quite good compliment.  She had heard elven
lords deliver clumsier and cruder lines.  "Thank you, my pillow." She said,
nodding gently, and closing her eyes for a moment.  When she reopened them
she locked them onto his.  "Waking with your arms about me is my fortune. I
wish I could express how secure and warm it makes me feel." The elven way
is to give a compliment for one given to you, and she liked the rule.
   Rolling out of the bed, Harlen stood and turned again.  "Bread and
cheese?" He asked.
   She shook her head, sitting up.  "No.  I want my new clothes to break
fast, after I bathe."
   "You wish to bathe this morn?" Said Harlen.  "Then I will go outside to
check a trap or two of mine, perhaps we will eat meat today."
   She smiled at his exuberance.  Then nodded.  "Very well, Quesset." She
said.  "It means pillow." She added when he tilted his head and raised one
eyebrow.  Harlen put on a shirt and boots and grabbed his bow and sword,
and slipped out of the cave.
   For the first time in days, Hyandai was alone.  She was not at all sure
she liked the feeling, and suddenly moved slower and did no longer smile.
"Hurry back, Quesset." She murmured to the empty cave.  She rolled out of
the bed and walked gingerly to the little pool.  Sliding his shirt over her
head, she sat on the edge, then slipped in.  She had stopped bleeding
yesterday, and she wanted to make sure any clots were gone now.  She bathed
for a long while, just soaking and enjoying the feeling of buoyancy.  She
still longed for the company of the man who had saved her life, twice now.
   She finally tired of the bath, and did not scrub her skin, if Harlen
liked the cinnamon scent she gave off, she would wear it for him.  Besides,
the lye soap burned, and she did not want to use it more than she had to.
She lifted herself out of the pool and dried with the blanket.  Her head
turned to look at the folded leather on the shelf.  The doeskin clothes. 
She rose and walked to them.  He had said she could wear them today, so she
put them on.  They fitted almost perfectly, though he had overestimated her
breast size a little, it was not enough that pulling the drawstrings
between her breasts a little snugger would not repair.
   She wished she had a mirror, so that she could appraise herself.  She
looked over Harlen's goods on the shelves, and saw a rather shiny helmet
among the items.  She took it down and sat it on the bed, then stepped back
to regard her reflection.  Distorted as it was, she thought she looked
quite presentable.  She plaited her hair into two tails to the back of her
head and bound them with some rawhide strips she found on another shelf. 
"Almost presentable" She said to herself.  Then heard sounds of movement
near the entrance.  She snatched up her rapier and looked toward the
doorway.
   Harlen's head peeked in.  "Decent?" He asked with his eyes squeezed
shut.
   "Yes, Harlen." She said, giggling.  "I am clad." She quickly put down
the rapier and stood back up, sliding her hands over the front of the
skirt, smoothing it.
   He opened his eyes and looked toward her.  They went wide with surprise,
as did his mouth, in a smile.  "You are beautiful." He said.  Then he
stepped in with two rabbits, already gutted and skinned.  "And these will
be tasty."
   She grinned as his non-sequitur, and walked toward him.  "Thank you for
these." She said, looking down at herself.  "They are very finely made, and
I am honored to wear them."
   He looked her up and down, then did it again.  Then he looked into her
golden eyes.  "You made my white shirt look good, so these are bound to
look great."
   She smiled at his return compliment, and took the rabbits from him.  "I
can move about today, I think, so long as I do not do anything strenuous."
She explained.  "So, I will earn my keep today." She walked toward the
small fire-pit near the entrance.
   "The fire must be kept small, and use only the dry wood." He said. 
"Else the smoke will fill the chamber or the smoke will be seen outside."
   Hyandai nodded.  "I understand." She said, and bent over to stack some
of the wood.
   Harlen did a rapid turn to face away from the view he had just been
blessed with.  When she stood, she looked back and realized her error. 
"Oh, by the spirits.  I am sorry, Harlen." She said.  "I did not mean to
offend."
   He chuckled.  "Offend isn't the word I would choose, m'lady." He said.
"Shock, perhaps, or maybe stun, or even possibly amaze."
   She giggled.  "I shall fix it at once." She said.  "May I borrow your
sharp knife?"
   He held the requested implement out to her and she cut a cloth from the
ever-dwindling blanket.  He turned about while she placed it, folding the
ends over the front and back of her skirt and the middle running between
her legs.  "There." She said.  "I am now presentable again." She was
blushing profusely.  "I cannot believe I did that."
   Harlen smiled to her.  "I can honestly say I can't believe it either."
He said.  "But now, I'll have fodder for dreams for years."
   Her blush deepened to near crimson.  "It cannot have been that special,
Harlen." She said, avoiding his eyes.
   He looked at her, enjoying her minor discomfiture.  "While the view may
not have been that special in and of itself, the setting it was in made it
all the more." He said, wondering if he had said that the way he wanted to.
   She grinned.  "You flatter me." She said.  "But now, I wish to cook."
She went to the small pile of wood and got it lit.  Checking behind her
every so often and only catching Harlen staring at her backside about half
the time.  She had to admit she enjoyed the attention.
   Harlen could not believe what he had just seen, and was still trying to
calm down his pounding heart.  Hyandai was exquisite beyond any other woman
he had ever seen, and to have seen her thus had made him hard enough to
have driven nails with his organ.  He spent several minutes trying to get
his body under control, but kept looking back at her half-exposed rump. 
She even saw him a couple of times, which made him even more skittish, as
she seemed to not mind him looking.
   The smell of cooking rabbit meat soon started filling the little cave,
and Harlen's mouth started to water a second time.  She rose from her
rather exposing position with a half a rabbit impaled on his small skinning
knife.  "This portion is done." She announced.
  
The Solitary Arrow - Part 02