User blog:Redknight910/WWYD Dullahan Beyondrapture

I quietly take her around the back of the house and point down towards an old mined out tunnel.

"There's a way out of town through there, you should be able to make it through." I whisper, but she looks at me wide eyed.

"I'll never make it out there, what if they have patrols in there." I give her a warm smile.

"You have my word, no patrols will be in the tunnel. No active patrols at least." She gives me a confused look.

"What do you mean?" I'm about to respond when I hear footsteps on the street.

"The taint leads this way." I quietly curse the assholes and grab her hand, pulling her along.

"Stop!" I hear the shout and get ready to drop. When the guns lock I dive, pulling the succubus down with me moments before the muskets fire. "You two alert the guard!" I get up to keep running, pulling the succubus up into my arms.

I try to dodge and weave through the town, taking back alleys, doubling back, and generally just trying to disorient the soldiers and keep them from being able to fire another volley at us. When we get to the tunnel it's a long open stretch, which makes us easy targets. The soldiers stop at the entrance and open fire again, and when I hear the guns lock I throw us behind a support beam, holding the succubus against the wall, hoping the wood's strong enough to protect us.

I go back to running only to hear the sound of a second volley coming for us. It's too late to stop and I brace for the pain that's about to come. Moments later there's a burning pain in my calf, and I stunble down the shaft, the two of us tumbling down into the depths of the tunnel.

When we come to a stop I groan and look around. I spot the lit lantern, and know we're almost safe I manage to stand, but don't know if I can walk. I get the succubus to support me and move for the lantern, hearing the sound of armoured footsteps behind us. We make it to the lantern and I pull her into a rut dug into the wall. we hear the soldier approach, followed by several gunshots.

Three loud metallic thumps echo through the tunnel, before feminine voice whispers through the tunnel.

"Drop your weapons, or have them cast from you." I recognise the voice of the dullahan in charge of the refugee's here, and then feel the walls rumbling. "I will not warn you again." I hear the sounds of musket's locking in before a large section of the wall lurches into the soldiers.

"This is my home." The voice of the mine's resident earth spirit is clear. "Now get out! You are not welcome here!" There's a sound of metal banging against itself, and a few screams, before silence.

"You can come out now." I get the succubus to help lift me off of the ground and pull the two of us back to the main tunnel. We emerge to see the dullahan, in her former order armour, and the gnome standing next to her, arms crossed.

"This place won't be safe for you any longer. They may not be able to harm me, but they can trap you in here. I think it's time you moved on." The dullahan nodded.

"Agreed. Looks like your our last save from this town my dear." She puts a hand on the girl's shoulder, before taking my weight from her. "I'll take him. Ana, could you show her to the camp?" The gnome nodded, taking the succubus deeper into the mine, while we followed at a much slower pace.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"So, it's safe to call your cover blown too." I nod, I can't go back to town now, not unless I want a matching hole for the one on my leg. She nods.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Well then, time to make for Sanatia. We should be safe once we reach the woods, so let's just hope someone's on our side up there," she nods into the roof, "and pray we're being watched by them." She gives me a sideways glance.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"So, since you don't need to keep away from DE, any chance you'll take a wife? I know several of the girls you pulled out are ready to start begging you for the honor." I just laugh at the idea.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Well, I guess the lizardman from yesterday was pretty cute." I feel her hand grip me tighter at that.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"You think? I mean, she'd be a great protector for you, even after... what happened to her." I nod, remembering how I'd found the poor girl, left bleeding out in a ditch with cuts all over her body.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I could probably protect you better than her with both her arms." She says offhandedly, trying to brush off the brag as little more than that.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Well, I guess you'd probably think a guy like me is pretty unreliable, huh? I mean, an ex-thief, got his cover blown after a week, not sure why you'd waste the time." She stops dead, looking me straight in the eyes.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"You've proven exceptionally reliable. You saved six girls in that week, and risked your life more than once. I'm sure almost any girl would be proud to call you theirs." I sigh, deciding to go for a more direct approach.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Just say it. Or else I may just go talk to the lizardman." The dullahan looks at me for a few more seconds, before pressing me into the wall, kissing me deeply. After a few moments she pulls away, breathless.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Fine. I want to be yours. I want to protect you, like you've protected all of us." She's blushing from the admission as we start moving again.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"So there. Are you happy now?" I pull the arm she's supporting me by down a bit further so that it's resting over the swell of her breastplate.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Very."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">We make it back to camp, just outside the emergency tunnel of the mine. Everyone's already packed up, and I get loaded into the wagon along with the tents and other supplies. We move quickly, trying to make it to the forest before dawn. Unfortunately we're not as blessed as we hoped, and soon there are torches in the distance. When we reach the edge of the forset we can make out the muskets being slung up into firing position.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Then that's it. We scatter once we have the cover of the trees, though being in the back of a wagon, with a tent haphazardly thrown over me to hide me isn't a great way to escape riders with muskets. Eventually the rough ground rips the tent from the cart, leaving me exposed to the men on horseback. With one last fearful breath I close my eyes. The shot sounds out, just after the cry of the horse.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Opening my eyes I see a mantis, leaping from one now unoccupied horse to the other, tkaing it's rider off with a swipe of her arm. She looks at us for a moment, before leaping back into the trees. I hear more hooves coming up alongside us, and spot a pair of centaurs, one wielding a spear and the other a bow.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Keep this heading and you'll find Fasithar. From there you can get passage further into the kingdom." With that they pulled away, dissapearing into the trees again.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">We reached the town without problem, and found several other refugees had made it too. I didn't see the dullahan anywhere. After waiting for a few hours, most of the refugees moved on, walking or taking carriages further inland. I stayed, hoping that somehow the woman I'd gotten to confess would come through the trees. Around noon I finally caught a glimpse of armour, white with red and gold trim, in the distance.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">I didn't even consider if it was a soldier, just limped straight towards it. When I finally got close enough to really see them however, my heart sank. It was a soldier, mud dirtying his face, and his musket at the ready. He spotted me, and lowered the weapon, when something smacked into him, making the weapon fire wide.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">I watched, wide eyed as a headless body slammed into my would-be attacker, running a saber through him, before turning to me, letting the man collapse.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I found you!" The voice was the dullahan's, but it was coming from the ground. That's when I realised what'd been thrown at the man. Looking down I spotted her head, sitting face up with a red spot on her forehead.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"D... did you just...?" She blushed at the question as her body picked her up and put her back into position.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I... um, well, I... yeah." I throw my arms around her, laughing and thanking her at the same time. I was so relieved it took me a moment to realise she was gently rubbing up against me. Raising an eyebrow her blush deepened.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Um, when I take my head off, all the energy starts escaping my body, and that means I get... um, really aroused." With a smile I kiss her, and promise to sate her needs, once we get back to town. We start walking back again, and she leans against me the whole way.