Lay the Dragon v2 (18+ NSFW)

Alryc held his hand up, shielding his eyes as he left the shade of the treeline. He glanced down at Lyn, "Rather bright outside of the trees, isn't it?"

She nodded, shielding her own eyes, "Yeah. I might hide behind you for some shade."

"Lucky you're short," He replied, grinning.

Eira looked back at the group following her, "Shh... We're coming up on their den now."

"I've been trying to sense them, but I'm not having much luck," Lyn commented. "I should be able to sense any unimprinted goblins."

"Maybe they're already imprinted to someone?" Alryc offered.

Lyn furrowed her brow, "There's no hobgoblins or goblinas in the area. Other than myself that is."

Eria glanced back, "Can any other race imprint them?"

Lyn shrugged, "None that I've heard of. There's really no way to know for sure what's going on without walking into their territory."

Alryc sighed, "Then, I guess we'd better prepare. I've got a feeling they'll attack as soon as we walk into their area. Kamen, take two of your hunters and head left. Send the remaining three to the right. Lyn and Eira, you'll head straight in with me."

The hunters moved as directed, leaving Alryc, Lyn, and Eira to continue forward.

Eira led them over a small rise. At the bottom of the hill on the opposite side from the woods sat a small mound with an opening in the side.

"That's the entrance," Eira whispered.

Alryc nodded, "Lyn, can you sense them now?"

"Kind of. I can sense there are goblins nearby, but I can't pinpoint them, nor can I tell a number. I do know that they're imprinted to... something..."

Alryc raised his eyebrow, "Well, we'll find out soon enough. I'll go first. Lyn, you can strike hard around me. Eira you bring up the rear."

The vardor nodded, "I've got magic, so I can attack from range. That'll work."

"Good," Alryc nodded, pulling his sword from his sheath and starting forward.

The trio slowly walked into the den, looking around at the dark walls. As they neared the center, a goblin appeared at the opposite end, followed quickly by several more.

"They're not attacking..." Eira muttered.

"That's a good sign," Lyn replied.

Alryc continued walking towards them, his sword out. As he got close to the nearest, a voice rang out, "HALT!"

The swordsman stopped and looked around. The goblins right in front of him split and a voluptuous woman walked through them. As she entered the ring of light cast through the cave mouth behind the trio, Alryc saw that she had violet horns, purple wings, and scales up to her knees and elbows, with each limb ending in a claw. She had long dark hair, black with violet undertones, and a supple body with each breast nearly as big as her head.

"H-Hello. I'm Alryc. It's nice to meet you, miss...?"

"Miriamas Bellairas. You may call me Mimi," She said, with a shallow bow. "What is it you're here for? Why are you bothering me and my people?"

Lyn stepped forward, "Are you the one that's imprinted these goblins?"

The dragoness looked her over, "Another goblin for my tribe? No... You're different... How do you speak so eloquently?"

One of the goblins tugged the sleeve of her dress, "She goblina. No goblin. Goblin queen."

Lyn nodded, "Basically, yes. I'm the female evolution of a goblin. Their natural-born leader, I suppose you could say. The female version of a hobgoblin."

Mimi smiled, "And why are you here? Surely, you're not here to challenge me."

Lyn shook her head, "Not at all. Merely to talk. We're searching for allies in an upcoming war. I'm looking for goblins I can imprint to join our legion. I see these are already imprinted to you, weird as that may be... But regardless, I won't be trying to take these ones. They're happy and they seem well cared for."

Mimi nodded as she brushed her hand over the head of the nearest goblin and through the thick, black hair, "Indeed. They do seem quite taken with me. But still, I think it's time we plan our next move. They were on the verge of disaster previously, but I've helped bring them back from the brink."

Alryc glanced over at Lyn who shook her head, "I'll not take your tribe, Mimi. They're yours. Integrate them into an existing tribe if you feel it's time for you to move on."

"That's always been the plan. If I had kept every one of them, my tribe would be well into the thousands. I've sent groups off to other tribes. To help refine them."

Alryc furrowed his brow, "Is that why goblin attacks have taken a sharp downturn in recent years? Like the last hundred years or so..."

Mimi met his gaze, "It's been about a hundred and fifty years since I sent the first group out. So yeah, likely around a hundred or so before you'd see a noticeable decline in goblin aggression."

Alryc sheathed his sword, "That aside, we should have some discourse. We're amassing an army to go to war with the demons. They've enslaved the lumier. Lyn and I have been looking for vardor to join. We came to a nearby village and discovered they had all turned into goblins a couple hundred years ago."

Lyn nodded, "Goblins were originally elves. The demons created a virus or curse or something that turned them into what we are now. My best guess was the vardor village had been struck by the same ailment."

Eira stepped up, "Do these goblins have both male and female genitals, do you know?"

Mimi nodded, "Yeah, they've all got male and female parts."

Eria and Lyn shared a look, "So that's it then. The vardor village was indeed struck by the same plague that created the other goblins..."

Alryc cleared his throat, "So, are you willing to join our army? Your goblins won't follow Lyn or Eira. So..."

Mimi grinned, "I'll join under one condition. I want you to take good care of my tribe after the war. I can sense my time is drawing near a close here. I've accomplished my goal."

Lyn nods, "They won't imprint on me, but yes, I'll take good care of them. Once we've freed the lumier, I'll be settling any goblins I gather up in the demon's domain. Your tribe will have a good home there and you can visit anytime you want."

"Very well, then. Let's return to the village."

Alryc nodded in agreement, "Aye, let's go. Mimi, We march in two and a half years. We're meeting our leader at the southern end of the twins."

"We'll be there," Mimi replied.

The trio head back out to find Kamen and his hunters. Kamen looked them over, "Not a drop of blood on you? Either that went better than expected or something else happened."

Lyn looked up at him, "Yeah. They're the former vardor from Eira's village."

"Eira, can you lead us back to your original village?"

The vardor nodded, "Of course, I can. I was young, but we elves have long memories."

"Well, lead the way," Kamen replied.

As they began walking, Lyn glanced back, "We can have Eira show us her original village, then we'll be stuck searching for the next on our own."

Eira began leading the troupe back to her empty village, "We'll rest in this village tonight. We can set out tomorrow. We're looking at a two-week march."

She directs to a handful of houses she'd kept in decent repair, "We can split up into groups of 2-3 per house. It should be warm enough."

"I'll bunk with Alryc and Lyn," Kamen offered.

Eira nodded, "Sounds good."

Alryc cleared his throat, "Actually... I'd like to bunk alone with Lyn."

Kamen grinned, "Damn, I was hoping to watch. Ah well. So be it. I'll just imagine."

Lyn blushed a dark green, "You'll imagine what? What do you think we'll be doing?!"

Kamen kept his grin plastered on his face, "Oh, a little of this. A little of that."

Eira blushed and turned away, "Yes, well... Try not to spill or break anything..."

Alryc's jaw dropped, "Wha- We're not even going to be doing anything!"

Lyn smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Alryc. Let's just get settled in. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

He nodded, "Fine, fine."

They made their way into one of the smaller homes, finding a simple bed in the main room. Lyn set her bedroll on the bed and Alryc followed suit, overlapping them to make a larger blanket.

They settled in and Lyn rested her head on his shoulder. After a moment, she turned her head to look at him, "So... What are we?"

Alryc shrugged, "Not sure. Friends?"

"Friends make plans to fuck?"

"We made plans?"

"As soon as we had a bed and privacy. That's what you said, right?"

Alryc laughed, "I suppose that is what we agreed on."

"Well, we've got privacy. We've got a comfy bed. Does this satisfy your conditions to take my virginity?"

Alryc chuckled and kissed her forehead, "Almost. The bed is a little lumpy and it's kinda drafty, and-"

Lyn holds up a finger to his lips, "Stop. You can come up with a million reasons we shouldn't. The timing and conditions are never ideal. If you don't want to, just be honest. It won't hurt my feelings, Al."

He takes a deep breath and rolls over the goblina, "Lyn, I do want to. You want honesty? I want your first time to be truly special. And this?" He looks around the drab shack, "This is anything but. I want your first time to be the best ever."

Lyn caresses his jawline, "Al, it's mine to say when and how I lose it. I couldn't give two skvadi asses whether it's here or in a rich man's mansion. As long as it's you."

Alryc stares into her eyes before leaning in and nuzzling her neck, "Lyn... I love you. Like, I'm in love with you. Madly. Deeply. What's important to me is that you enjoy it. And I don't demand that it be some big, rich, fancy mansion. Just something better than a drafty lodge with a lumpy bed."

Lyn smirks, "Why? I think this is romantic. You found me in a dirty old cave. You're a disgraced noble and reformed bandit. This type of housing? This represents us far better."

Alryc leans in and presses his lips to hers, their tongues dancing in each other's mouths. He moves down her neck. She sighs in pleasure.

Alryc stops and pulls back, "I-I can't... I'm sorry. I'm too nervous."

Lyn furrows her brow in confusion, "What? Why?"

"I... I've never actually had sex. I'm actually kind of worried I might not be able to be good enough..."

Lyn smiled kindly and cupped his jaw in both hands, "Al, my love, it doesn't matter how well you do the first time. No one expects a world-class performance the first time you try something new. What I do expect is that you give it your best try. And beyond that, we'll both get better together, okay?"

Alryc stared into her eyes, his gaze filled with love, "Lyn, thank you. For everything. Thank you for accepting me."

"There's nothing to accept. You're wonderful, Al. I don't want anyone else. But I won't press the issue. If you don't feel ready, I understand. We won't have sex until we both feel it's an appropriate time."

Alryc smiles at her and nods, "Sounds good love. But maybe we can do something else if you're up for it."