Dream Key ~Caleb and Zeria only~

-Come morning-

The sunrays pierced through the trees. Kale lay there next to Kesh'e in the middle of the woods. His mind was blurry with the familiar feeling of having had a vivid dream. But, even though dream world adventures are often hard for him to remember, he remembered this one quite vividly. He had just gone into a trance, and took Kesh'e in her sleep. Granted, she was there with him, so it was consensual.

He looked at her. She was still in her clothes, he had never undressed her here. He likely just took her under the skirt. He blushed a bit, ashamed. Ashamed, more so about having taken a girl he hardly knew. Was this one of his intentions? Maybe it was, given his perverted mind. But he felt somehow, he had betrayed her trust by taking advantage of her emotions.

The morning air was cold. He had a coat with him, and so decided to lay it over her. He sighed, seeing her lithe body so gently asleep. She was gorgeous. He began to start a fire, using his basic magic knowledge, and proceeded to cook that day's breakfast: toast, with the remaining bread that was from last night. Some berries, and water.

A tear fell from his eyes. Shit! He promised he wouldn't cry in front of her last night! A silent vow! You don't desecrate those kind of things, right? But the tears wouldn't stop. Silently, he leaned over and warmed by the fire, and wept for her. The next time he would sleep with her, if he could, would be after he had helped her accomplish her mission. It was only right.

Peaceful sleep, something Kesh'e hadn't had in the entirety of her time on the mortal plane. After the dream with her and Kale had ended, she'd let herself simply drift, enjoying the relaxed feeling in her body. In her sleep, she murmured one soft thing, however.

"Kale..."

She rolled over, attempting to get comfortable...to no avail...so she sighed, letting her eyes flutter open as she pulled herself out of the world of sleep. She yawned, then sat up, taking note that Kale was over by a warm fire, turned away from her. Something seemed...wrong though. And the instant realization hit her. She had slept with Kale in both the dream world, and this one. She had gone against her vow and danced for him...and had made love to him in a fit of passion and need for his touch.

Kesh'e opened her mouth to speak...but nothing would come out. She couldn't bring herself to tell him what she felt. It was her fault after all, not his. So she closed her eyes and drew on the fire, the flames creeping across the ground and crawling across her skin to warm her, not burning Kale's coat. Her voice shakey and uncertain of what to say, she asked the only thing that came to mind.

"W..What are you making...?"

"Just basics. Toast, fruits... Enough to start the day on. The wild berries in this forest are quite divine, ya know. Their skin is very gummy, and they are very tangy... and slimy. You can use them as spread thanks to that. They're instant jelly."

He seemed quite perked up about his knowledge of food. He could have been a chef if he wanted. He saw she was willing to make conversation, so he wiped his eyes and smiled in her direction.

"Thank you for last night. You made this man feel at peace with himself. If you're willing to let me stay by your side, I'll make last night worth it. If anything dares tear us apart, I'll transcend any obstacle to find you again. That is, if you'd let me. I don't just lend myself to any girl, you know. You're my first. First kiss and everything."

He blushed a bit.

"Someday, maybe you can wear that dress without worrying about anyone anymore? Come here, it's almost ready."

Kesh'e gave him a faint smile in return, pushing herself to her feet. She didn't want him to feel terrible about what happened, though she could sense he did.

"Don't worry about last night......I...I chose to dance for you. I knew dancing the way I did would have an effect on me..."

She walked over to him, her ebony gaze fixating on his eyes.

"Things happen as they are meant to...our destiny was to join together last night, so it happened. Just as I believe it is our destiny to remain together throughout our journeys"

Kesh'e smiled, reaching out a hand to take one of his.

"Besides...I don't think anyone else could have accepted me as I am..."

"If you insist. But to be honest, you're the exact opposite of any devil I imagined. Sure, you're strong. Nightmarishly strong. But that's the most unnoticeable thing about you." he pulled out the toast, and began to spread some of the berries with a knife in his possession.

"I just hope you can accept me."

Kesh'e shook her head.

"I'm strong, yes...I'll admit that. My real body is even stronger, though...strong enough to defeat the lord that bound me..."

She shivered as she remembered Barron's touch...then quickly replaced it with the memory of Kale's hands on her body, and relaxed within moments.

"I may not know what you are, Kale...but I know I feel safe with you. I feel like no one can take my freedom as long as you're at my side...that's all that matters..."

"That means a lot," he walked over and held her, feeling his fingers through her hair. The touch was more vivid in the real world. It was silky. He looked into her eyes. Her eyelashes hung over her warm eyes. Leaning forward a bit, he hesitated... but leaned in for a kiss.

"I will never forget the moment we shared."

Kesh'e let Kale take her into an embrace, her gaze glancing downwards, her lashes shielding her eyes. She didn't want him to see the battle raging within her.

"Kale, I..."

She froze as he leaned in for a kiss. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether or not she should....the conceided to his will, letting her warm, full lips mesh against his, the flames still crawling across her skin and heating her body...

His lips against hers, he felt himself begin to melt again. He wanted to show her that he didn't just use her. This kiss was to show he was still with her this far. He'd be with her for a long time. He wasn't going to "hit and run" as other dishonorable people might do.

His lips pulling away from hers with a plucking sound, he smiled.

"Thank you."

Kesh'e let their lips part after what seemed like a slow motion moment of true caring. She opened her mouth to speak.

"You're wel-"

The whizzing of a crossbow bolt....and then the sickening sound as it pierced flesh....then a cry of pain from Kesh'e. From the trees, a small legion of bandits burst forth, all aiming their weapons at Kesh'e and Kale. The one that seemed to be the leader stepped forth, examining Kesh'e, who was down on her knees in front of Kale, gasping from the pain of the bolt in her back.

"Oi...is that the one the old demon was talkin 'bout? Kesh'e or summthin?"
"Yeah, boss. That's 'er. The 'air gives 'er away"

The man licked his lips greedily.

"He's gonna pay us extra well for this...I didn't expect 'er to be so perty..."

Kesh'e crawled around to face them, hatred glowing in her eyes.

"Wh...who sent you?!"
"Like 'ell if I know. Some old geezer demon offerin' a lot o' money fer you..."

It could only be one man. The magistrate, the second in command to Barron himself...

A glimmer of light. Like the sun itself, would erupt from behind the woman. She would not see what happened, but whatever it was, it was enough to get the bounty hunter's attention. As he looked up, a blood would trickle down his chest. How? When? A sword wound? A stab? From behind. In the midst of that blinding flash, Kale had gotten behind the man, and carved his broadsword through his ribs. There was just silence. Silence, as the man slid down the blade and onto the ground, dead.

Wings. Transparent. Wings. Feathery, white, ethereal wings sprouted from Kale's waist. They were coiled back, in an aerodynamic fashion. His body, even though moving slow, left afterimages of itself. He was lost to the world. A murderous trance. Another bolt fired forth from one of the men, but a multicolored slash from the sword destroyed it in midair. His eyes wide, he continued to stumble forward, as their attempts at murder via crossbow failed. It was as though their arrows were being cut by the sky itself. Tears fell down his face. How dare they!

He gritted his teeth, seeing they were out of arrows, and stabbed his sword into the ground. His palm wrapped around his face, as the wings vanished. What... had happened? He looked back at Kesh'e, and ran to her side, inspecting the arrow. It hadn't pierced a fatal spot, miraculously. One of the men charged at him, with a dagger in his hand. Grabbing his sword, Kale sloppily deflected it, cutting the man's hand and sending him spiraling backwards in pain.

Whatever happened in his trance was different than now. It was like a massive leap in skill.

"How... dare you!"

Moments drawn out in time as Kesh'e watched Kale become....well, she didn't know what...but it was powerful and amazing. She waited until this...trance, whatever it was, ended, and Kale deflected the stab of another bandit, before reaching back and wrenching the crossbow bolt out of her back. While Kale was facing away, slowly, she rose to her feet, her face hidden by her hair.

"You people......you are consumed by greed and lust...I judge you unworthy of the existance you live..."

An explosion of power and fire, blazing the darkest shade of red. The men stood horrified, halting their frantic efforts to reobtain ammunition for their weapons. No. The woman standing there was a monster to be feared. One brave man ran towards her, knife in hand. He got what he wanted as the blade pierced Kesh'e in the chest......however he didn't get the result he intended. Fire raced along his limbs and encased him, burning him alive, his screams echoing out. The other men all took steps away from her, trying to be free of this raging demoness....but to no avail. Geysers of flame shot up, burning every one of them alive, except the one who had attacked Kale. Kesh'e turned to that one, her voice coated with demonic layers.

"No one...and I mean, NO ONE...touches my Kale..."

She took several slow steps towards him, her blood red scimitar forming in her hand.

"Die..."

Kesh'e swung her blade, cleaving the man's head from his shoulders. But she didn't let him just die...no...she called upon her powers....and devoured his soul right in front of Kale...

"I figured that would happen," Kale got up, coughing a bit. He felt really odd, and sick. What a rush of adrenaline. Shaking his head, he looked around. They were all dead.

"Bummer. Might have been good to figure out where they had come from. If we knew where our pursuers were coming from, it would help us to figure out what pace we should take... But if they're this close, we'd best move. I don't think they'd have relied on these wimps to defeat something like that."

It was the first time he saw her that angry, let alone that menacing, save for the vision he had shown her. He was indeed surprised, but did his best not to show it. He was quite surprised at what he had just done, himself. It was as though he had become one with the air around him, and moved with its' grace and efficiency.

"I'm not sure... what I just did... But that was really incredible, Kesh'e. It's hard to believe we might be fighting others like you."

It took several moments of Kale talking...before Kesh'e finally calmed down, and the flames dissipated. Though she wasn't whole and healthy. She dropped to her knees, clutching her chest where she'd been stabbed, coughing heavily. She was bleeding quite profusely from where she'd ripped the crossbow bolt out of her skin, too.

"I know who...is persuing me..."

More coughing as Kesh'e fought to keep air in her lungs.

"He is.....the magistrate....who sent me here to...the mortal plane...he tricked me....into coming here..."

The knife had managed to knick a lung, leaving Kesh'e struggling to breathe. So she called on her fire, having it cauterize the wound.

"I won't...make it very far...we'll need to stay...in Kamriel until I heal in a day or two..."

"Damn... I was hoping that demonic power had a healing factor somewhere!" he ran to their stuff and loaded it into his backpack. Rushing to her, he immediately swept her off her feet. He was able to carry a surprising amount of weight for his size. He did have paranormal strength, after all. He looked down at her and nodded.

"Rest. I can carry you a very long way, easy. Good thing we packed light."

Sad, but determined, he held his newfound love in his arms and trudged on down the path. It wouldn't be long before they came across signs of civilization. Fresh horse tracks, merchants seemingly oblivious to the duo. The city eventually came into his line of sight. His legs were heavy, though. He had carried her, and their supplies, a long way. He was broken out in sweat. But he had to keep going.

"We're... almost..." he stumbled a bit, but regained his strength, "...there...!"

Kesh'e gave a soft yelp as Kale picked her up, but sighed, shaking her head.

"We heal fast, but wounds like these take at least a day or two to heal...he hit my lung with that stab..."

She rested the entire journey there, feeling safe and cradled in Kale's arms, at least, until they reached Kamriel, and she could sense his exhaustion. So she shifted and pushed herself out of his grip, landing on her feet.

"I can walk from here...the wounds are cauterized, so they won't bleed. I'll be fine..."

She hadn't been kidding when she'd said this was a tainted town. The stench in the air, the people all with dark expressions, no children about...the entire place was, well, disgusting. Kesh'e could only hope she'd be able to make a portal here. After a bit of walking, she pointed to a sign marked "The Twisted Sister".

"That's a tavern and inn in one. We'll stay there until I've healed..."

"Yeah. We can totally sleep in the shady hotel. What could go wrong about sleeping above a bunch of drunks, right?" the exhausted man joked. But it was a good place. It's hard to make trouble in such a public area. He walked in, and the scent of smoke, drugs, and alcohol overtook him. Disgusting. He made sure to quickly book a room, not revealing how much he had on him. If this was indeed as filthy a place as he made it out to be, showing his gold would be a very bad idea.

"Our room is number 6, upstairs and to the right," he pointed up to the nearby stairwell. He was as casual as possible, not looking around too much. He didn't want to arouse much curiosity. He hated to do it, but he was really up close to Kesh'e, to the point of invading her personal space severely. He whispered in her ear.

"Like this, they'd probably think I'm just a traveling merchant hiring a prostitute... What with me carrying all this gear and you standing there in that thing..." he pointed to her corset, "But let's move upwards fast. These guys are creeps."

Kesh'e gave Kale a dry look.

"Would you rather sleep outside where we're likely to be robbed and killed as we sleep?"

She waited as he paid for their room, then nodded as he told her which one, making way up the stairs. She didn't like how many sets of eyes were on her in the tavern, so she fled up the stairs quickly, darting into the hall and to where their room was, fleeing inside it and taking a breath. She didn't like crowds. Never had.

"God, please don't let anything happen to us here..."

"You may want to think about dressing more modest while we're here. I trust you can look after yourself even in your weakened state, but I'm going to be keeping a close watch on you from in here. I don't want you risking your health when you don't have to. The sooner you're better, the sooner we'll be able to protect ourselves against those hunting you."

He picked her up again, teasingly this time, and laid her on the bed, removing her shoes for her. Tired, he took his own off and cuddled beside her, still panting from finally being able to put everything down.

"I'm glad you're okay though. Why'd you take that dagger so directly?"

Kesh'e relaxed visibly when Kale picked her up again, laying her down on the bed. She honestly don't know why she'd taken the knife to the chest. She'd just let it happen, her demonic side nearly in control.

"I don't know...I just...did..."

She snuggled closer to Kale, resting her head against his chest, one hand tracing demonic symbols on his stomach for protection and love, though she knew he wouldn't know what she was writing. She shrugged though.

"I have no other clothing with me. Just what I wear, and a cloak for when I get too cold..."

"Make a habit of wearing your cloak in places like this," he gently felt top top of her hand as it scribbled on him. He didn't know what it was, but her soft touch was nice. Smiling, he rolled on top of her and pinned her hands down when she was finished, and playfully nipped at her neck.

"I'll protect you, I promise."

He laid on top of her, and slid his hands down her arms, to her breasts, giving them a taught squeeze. Afterwards, he simply wrapped his arms around her and cuddled with her some more.

"sorry, you have a nice body. It's too tempting not to teas you."

Kesh'e gave a soft gasp as Kale rolled on top of her, pinning her hands down. She didn't know what to make of the situation, so she ended up gaping at him like a fish for several moments, shivers racing the length of her spine at each little nip of her neck.

"K-Kale!"

Then his hands were on her full breasts, squeezing and sending her mind into a haze of desire. But just like that...he was laying back next to her, cuddling her close. She blinked, then sighed, resting her head on his chest once more. She didn't want a repeat of what had happened the previous night. She'd felt vulnerable to him, and she hated feeling that way.

"It's...okay. Just warn me next time...you, caught me off guard...though, in return..."

One pale, slender hand slid down, massaging the front of his pants where she knew his most sensitive place was...

"MMn~..." he squinted a bit as his whole body seemed to fall numb. The fabric wasn't the sturdiest, so the feeling of her touch seemed to go right through. His grip became weak, and he seemed to turn into water beside her, breathing silently, but heavily.

"Hey now, that's cheating."

He slid his hand between her own legs, and pushed at just the right place, as revenge. He moved his finger in tiny circles, making sure to attack her most vulnerable place too. Women were either blessed, or cursed, that they had so many erogenous zones.

Kesh'e smiled as she saw what her touch was doing to him. A sense of victory came over her...at least, until he reached over and touched her right back, sending little ripples of pleasure darting through her body.

"Kaaale..."

She groaned his name out in protest, then decided to fight back even more, climbing on top of him and straddling him, grinding her hips against his, a soft blush on her cheeks. But she wasn't going to lose this battle to him, so she ground herself against him, her eyes fluttering a moment from the sheer delight of it...

Feeling her grind on him like this, practically blanked out his mind. He tried to resist, but in the end his hips seemed to start moving on their own. His fingers gripped onto her skirt as he bit his lower lip, arching his head back. Even like this, she had an almost instinctively developed technique. Unable to squirm out of her legs, he began to pant, and uncontrollably moan.

"Kesh'e... Ohm..." he closed his eyes, and did his best to fight off the pleasure. Surely, he could defeat her!