Dawn & Dusk (Warhammer Fantasy Commission) (Second Scene)

After giving the unconscious young man an impromptu field dressing, Naestra gathered him up into her arms. This was not an easy feat considering he was armored. But her lithe size and build betrayed her true strength. She let out a shrill whistle, and after several moments a caw sound answered her call. A great eagle descended beneath the canopy of trees, landing amongst the many corpses of humans and skaven in the forest clearing.

Naestra turned back to Arahan. “That is exactly what I intend to do, sister. There will be more time for killing later. For now, the Skaven have scattered anyway.”

Arahan snorted petulantly. “Have it your way, sister. Ever the bore, as usual.”

Naestra ignored her as the giant eagle she’d called inclined its head to her and she in turn bowed to him. “Gwindalor. Take us back to the sanctuary.” She looked pointedly at Arahan. “All three of us.”

The eagle complied, lowering itself down so that the two wood-elves could climb atop him. Naestra stroked the eagle’s neck a few times affectionately, earning a few relaxed trills from their feathered companion. Naestra sat the human atop the Gwindalor, settling herself in right behind the unconscious human, wrapping her arms around his middle to hold onto him and keep him steady during their flight. Arahan, though eager to keep hunting Skaven, reluctantly huffed and mounted atop the eagle behind Naestra.

+++

Lukas’ entire body felt sore when he awoke. The young man groaned as he regained consciousness, his upper body in particular feeling stiff. He hissed when he felt a burning sensation in his shoulder, reaching a hand up to clutch at it. He was surprised to find a silk bandage wrapped around his arm and across his shoulder. The previous battle in the clearing came rushing back to him in that instant and he suddenly began to panic, fearing for a moment that he’d been taken prisoner by the foul skaven after they’d wounded him.

No, that was not possible. Skaven didn’t take prisoners. Nor did they dress the wounds of said prisoners, like someone clearly had with him. But if not the skaven, then who…?

“Ah, you are awake, young one.”

Lukas sat up in the simply wooden bed he was lying in, startled by the serene yet striking feminine voice he heard from the nearby doorway. Stranger still, it sounded like two voices uttered in tandem with each other. He was greeted with the sight of two of the most beautiful wood elves he’d ever seen; slender, and adorned in green and brown leather armor that appeared quite form-fitting. One was raven-haired while the other had golden blond hair. Both of the elf women had opposing helms that shielded only half of their respective faces.

Keeping his hormones in check for the time being, Lukas pondered his situation as the she-elves looked at him from the doorway.

Van Hoorst had told him and the rest of the men not to trust the wood elves of Athel Loren, even if they shared a common foe in the Skaven. They were an enigmatic people who shunned outsiders of any kind, including humans. He’d heard many tales about men of the Empire and Bretonnia wandering too far from their borders and into the elves’ mysterious forest, never to return again. Such stories made him question whether he was currently their guest or their prisoner.

“W- where am I?” Lukas asked, looking around the room. He saw no sign of any of his comrades. Considering how dire the battle against the skaven had become, he began to wonder if any of the others had survived. With Van Hoorst and most of the veterans dead, he doubted most of the younger soldiers would’ve lasted much longer thereafter.

“Our sanctuary, near the border of Athel Loren,” the raven-haired wood elf replied.

“‘Our sanctuary?” Lukas repeated.

“Yes, ours,” the blond-haired elf retorted, purposefully running her finger along her bow as she stared him down. “The Asarai do not make a habit of letting outsiders past our borders. Not alive, anyway.”

Lukas blinked, gulping slightly at the threat. To his credit, however, he did not flinch in the face of the obvious threat despite the fear he felt beneath the surface. The blond-haired she-elf seemed intent on getting under his skin, and he wasn’t about to cower in the face of it.

“I had no intention of crossing your borders. I was following orders to track and destroy an army of vile rat-men that had been ravaging our villages,” Lukas explained, wincing from the pain of his wound when he sat up in bed.

“Peace, human. We know, and we saw. It’s why we chose to save your life rather than leave you to your fate,” Naestra said. The dark-haired she-elf looked pointedly at her sister beside her. “Isn’t that right, Arahan?”

Arahan rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, whatever,” she replied, waving her off. “I suppose we’re making a habit of defying Orion’s orders and taking in wayward human whelps…” she muttered under her breath.

Ignoring her verbal jabs, Lukas turned back to Naestra, realizing that she seemed to be the more reasonable of the two. “So…you saw our defeat?”

Naestra gave him a sympathetic smile. “We saw you face down a rat ogre whilst the rest of your comrades were retreating. That was quite brave.”

Arahan snorted. “A wounded rat ogre.”

“Arahan!” Naestra scolded. She looked back at Lukas. “Ignore her. You fought valiantly for one so young, and aided in the defense of our border. Noble actions deserve to be rewarded.”

Lukas relaxed back into the soft bedding behind him. “I…thank you for saving me. I would be dead if not for you.” She looked up at both sisters. “Did…any of my comrades survive?”

Naestra walked up to his bed and sat down on the end of it. Lukas was reminded again of how beautiful this elf and her sister both were. Van Hoorst would likely smack such thoughts out of his head if he was still alive, scolding him for falling for what he would call “the seductive wiles of forest witches.” But Lukas was young and hot blooded, and he couldn’t help letting his mind wander a little in the presence of a pair of comely women. Even elf women.

“The remnants of your brothers-in-arms fled west into Bretonnian lands, according to our Waywatcher scouts. They may have regrouped there, but it is unlikely they will return to our borders.”

Lukas sighed. “So…they left me.”

Naestra put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “They likely thought the skaven killed you, young one. But you are still alive, and you may yet rejoin your living comrades before long.”

He nodded. “And what of the skaven?” he asked bitterly, thinking about the wicked rat-men decimating his fellow sons of Reikland.

“We destroyed what was left of them. And it was good fun too,” Arahan chimed in with a grin.

Lukas’ eyes widened. Had these two she-elves alone destroyed the skaven force by themselves? Assuming the blond-haired elf - Arahan - was not bluffing, this was quite the feat, even if Lukas and his comrades had surely weakened and whittled down the skaven force with their lives.

“Well…that’s good,” he said, appreciative at least that his fallen brothers had been avenged.

“At last, something me and this human can agree on,” Arahan said.

Naestra shook her head, exasperated. She looked at Lukas again. “How is your wound?”

Lukas gently touched at the dressing she had given him over the gash he’d sustained during the battle. He winced at the touch. “It aches.”

Naestra nodded and she examined his wound. “You were stabbed by a poisoned blade. The skaven dabble in their vile concoctions. I was able to stave off the poison, and not a moment too soon. Had we found you any later, the damage to your body from the poison would’ve been permanent.”

He nodded, and for the first time he realized how dry his throat was. “Water…do you have any?”

“Of course,” Naestra replied. She poured water from a nearby pitcher and into a wooden cup. She handed it to him and he began to drink greedily.

When he finished the water, he observed the two of them. The blond-haired one seemed to regard him with cold indifference, but the dark haired one had a benevolence about her, as evidenced by her choice to save him without any benefit to her. They were an intriguing pair, and he owed them his life, even if he saw no means of repaying this debt. At least no means that he could see.

“Who are you?” Lukas asked them both after he finished drinking his water.

“Naestra,” the dark-haired one said.

“Arahan,” the blond-haired one added.

“The Sisters of Twilight,” both then said in unison. That was rather peculiar. Indeed, these two appeared to be twin sisters, but he’d never heard two twins vocalizing the same thing simultaneously before. More interesting, however, was the use of their moniker. The other lads in his company had mentioned something about a pair of she-elves who were rumored to be the personal bodyguards of the elf-queen, Ariel, who could be seen safeguarding the borders of Athel Loren from various threats to their queen and their homeland. Lukas had thought they were just a myth, but they appeared to be very real. Their skill with a bow appeared to be equally real as well, and it helped to explain how they alone were able to finish off the remaining skaven that had broken his battalion.

“And who might you be, young human?” Naestra asked sweetly.

He cleared his throat, shaking off his surprise at being in the presence of two legendary warriors. “Lukas. Lukas Reinhurst of Altdorf.”

Arahan snorted. “Ah, an imperial capital boy. I’ll bet he holds up Emperor Karl Franz’s cloak while he walks. We should be honored.”

“Sister, please!” Naestra admonished. She looked back at Lukas, patting him on the shoulder. “You are under our protection, Lukas Reinhurst. You have nothing to fear. Now, get some rest. You need to keep up your strength. I shall return to bring you some food and swap out your bandages in a short while.”

He nodded. As much as he felt it prudent to try and stay awake so as to keep his guard up, he knew it would be a fruitless endeavor. Already he was feeling rather drained and could do with more sleep. Reluctantly, laid his head back on the soft, simple bedding behind him. In mere moments, he was out again, his fate in the hands of these two intriguing elf women.

+++

“I don’t know why you fuss over him, sister. What’s the point of safeguarding one imperial foot soldier?” Arahan said as she let loose an arrow at one of the targets she had set up. Her arrow hit the target dead-center. “It’s a waste of our time, if you ask me.”

“Because it’s the right thing to do, Arahan.” Naestra said, firing an arrow of her own and hitting the target adjacent to the one Arahan was shooting at. Her arrow hit her own target in the exact same spot that Arahan had hit her’s. “Besides, you were able to satisfy your insatiable bloodlust by killing skaven. Was that not a worthwhile use of our time?”

“Oh yes. I’ll never turn down the opportunity to slaughter those vermin. But that task is done. Why bother looking after this…boy?”

Naestra rolled her eyes, setting aside her bow. She turned to her sister with her hands on her hips. “You forget, Arahan, that there are no secrets between us. You may whine and complain, but I know your true feelings on this Lukas. You think he’s cute, don’t you?”

Arahan made an exaggerated groan. “Don’t be absurd, Naestra! I’ve fornicated with the most strapping and handsome of Asarai men. I’ve taken Devlin, the mightiest of the Eternal Guard, as my mate. Why would I be attracted to some imperial boy?!”

Naestra smirked, shrugging. “You tell me, sister. Why do you keep giving him suggestive looks when you think I am not paying attention?”

Arahan snorted, looking away from her dark-haired counterpart. “Ridiculous. Pure projection, sister. I think you are the one who finds him cute. You insisted on saving him, after all. What I just don’t understand is why. You are mated as well. Cordal keeps you adequately satisfied, does he not?”

“Adequately,” Naestra agreed, thinking of her male Waywatcher lover, who was currently busy guarding the southern border of Athel Loren with his compatriots.

She leaned forward toward her sister, as if fearful of someone else overhearing them. “You know, sister. I know something that you don't know about this human lad in our care.”

Arahan looked skeptical. “Is that so? And what might that be?”

Naestra smirked. “I had to remove his undergarments while he was unconscious at one point. And I got a good look at his manhood, Arahan.”

This gave Arahan pause, much to Naestra’s delight. “Oh.” She then put on her aloof facade once more. “And what of it? I doubt a human whelp like him is anything special. A tiny twig inside his undergarments, I’m sure.”

Naestra laughed. “Oh how wrong you are, sister. He has both Devlin and Cordal beat.”

“You lie,” Arahan said, shaking her head. “You’re just trying to convince me he’s special and unlike the other humans.” Arahan let loose another arrow, but this one did not hit the center. This was utterly unusual considering the expert accuracy that both sisters employed with a bow. The other thing that could make Arahan miss was something throwing her off her stride.

“I don’t need to convince you of anything. It is self-evident,” Naestra said.

Arahan set down her bow, crossing her arms at Naestra. “Prove it.”

“As a matter of fact, sister, I will. I have to change his bandages, and I will let you sneak a glance. Just do not wake him up.”

Arahan let out a bemused laugh. “Very well. This I need to see. I rather enjoy proving you wrong, Naestra.” Of course as she said it, Naestra could see the very subtle brief moment in which Arahan chewed her lip. Her words were getting through to her haughty sister, despite her denying it and hiding behind a lot of bluster. Naturally, she was curious to see if Naestra was telling the truth.

The two wood elves returned to the hut where Lukas was resting. Both sisters peered through the doorway and saw that the human male was still sleeping. With the coast clear, Naestra tiptoed into the room, subtly approaching Lukas’ bed. She did not even need to glance behind her to know that Arahan was following in lockstep closely behind her.

Naestra carefully, delicately reached down and lifted up the soft blanket covering his slender body. Though swapping out his bandage was a genuine priority, both she and Arahan had other things on their mind that needed attending to first. When she saw that Lukas hadn’t stirred, Naestra pushed the envelope by shimmying his trousers down ever so slightly, his cock flopping out from his confining pants in the process. The gasp that came from her cocky sister’s mouth was more than worth the effort.

“By Ariel! Is that…all him?!” Arahan asked with disbelief. The youthful human male’s cock was plump, long, and thick, even in its current flaccid state. And she did not need a side-by-side comparison to know that Naestra’s earlier claim about him being bigger than their respective elf male mates was also not fabricated.