Chapter 1: 1: Dawnreach

“I offer you my very soul!” 

 

The devil, beckoned from his home in the twelve hells, grinned maliciously. Standing amidst the burning rubble, the girl before him seemingly was the only person around for miles. His crimson eyes alighted as the deal he struck was one of the easiest he had formed since his very inception.

 

And, by far, it was his best work.

 

Melrose stood resolute before the creature. Her eyes stung with not only the soot of the burning building she just crawled out of, but from everything she had just lost: her future, her friends, her family. All within the name of ‘unification’.

 

“Very well, madame…” One could feel the honeyed words slide off of the devil’s lips. Sharp, pointed teeth made to rend and tear flesh could be seen behind his gorgeous face, an apt metaphor of the otherworldly creature’s facade, “I shall grant you powers beyond your wildest dreams, for such a hefty price, then…”

 

The girl did not flinch. She did not waver at the thought of denying herself whatever afterlife awaited her, as long as she could strike back at those who almost took this life away from her. Of course, more than just any distant promise of an eternity was being offered up, but that was something she would find out in due time.

 

“I am Ortelanys,” The horned man bowed, still giddy with the deal that was just struck, “and I shall be your personal mentor, friend and lover…”

- - - -

Dawnreach was a gem of a city along the southern coast of a continent called Alzahett. Nobody knew how some of the ancient buildings built from olivine brick got there, but they integrated those structures amongst the rest of the rapidly developing beach city. 

 

Part of the Mulane Republic, the developing port was just barely enough to wrap around the bay that was filled with various ships and dinghies from around the rest of the continent. Rain barely stayed within the flat coastal plains, so the once small town quickly became a tropical tourist destination for those with more than enough gold to throw around.

 

Overlooking it all, Melrose sat in her bed. As the daze of having just woken up still lulled over her like a warm blanket, she hung out the window, catching some rays from the already high-hanging sun. Sitting on the second story of her family home, she had the perfect vantage point of the workers and families enjoying another cloudless day.

 

Her long brunette locks scattered outwards, disheveled but comforting. Her thick round glasses lazily thrown over her almost golden eyes took in the sights, studying the crest of the buildings, how it appeared they were almost sliding into the waters they were built upon. 

 

“Mmmmhm…” Stretching her back against the windowsill, she had an urge to draw what stretched out before her. It was a day much like any other, but still had every right to be committed to paper. 

 

Her room was the studio of a young artist. Papers with charcoal drawings of the beach, forests just outside of town, and mountains that crested even further away covered nearly every available inch of wall space and desktop within the small living quarters. Sheets in the process of being pressed sat in the corner of her room, almost ready for their own depictions of such vistas being alighted upon their very surface.

 

“Ughhh…” She groaned once more. The scenery was perfect, but the people walking to and fro amidst it were throwing off the composition. Well, that was not the right word. While Melrose had pages and pages of scenic locations and backdrops, not a single person or animal would be seen amongst them. In truth, she hated still life drawing.

 

Bodies were strange. They never stayed still, they moved in methods entirely of their own strange way and the contours of life were inconsistent. One supposedly would find beauty within the differing shapes and features in each and every living thing, but she much preferred the still subject matter such creatures littered about in.

 

“Mel!” A shout from beneath her rang out, “It’s already 1 o’clock! Get out of bed!” 

 

Falling back onto her pillow, she grunted yet again. Stretching her arms to the ceiling, she twisted and moved them outwards, slowly coming to life once more.

- - - -

“Melrose Ann Strait!” The matronly woman shouted over the pan of sizzling fish before her, “Were you out in the woods drawing again last night?” Smells of butter and salt filled the air as the cook kicked another log into the fire before her. The sounds of customers on the other side of the wall in the room they sat could be heard. It appeared the lunch rush had already arrived.

 

Mel looked away, subconsciously shifting the glasses that nearly fell off her face, “N-no…” Quickly glancing at the magelight torch they kept in the kitchen for when they worked nights, she was relieved to see that she remembered to put it back, “I was just… Hanging out with some friends!”

 

The woman’s expression stretched in immediate disbelief. She sighed deeply, years of experience putting the fish fry before her on autopilot, “Come on, don’t lie to me, Mel. What were your friend’s names, hmmm?”

 

Her eyes widened as her mind scrambled. “Uhhh…” She shifted her feet, “Well, th-there’s Analuca, and Terephone… And Kate…” At this point, she was just listing the people she saw down at the wash bins, “Morelle… And Karl.”

 

“Karl?” What was disbelief was now pure refutation, “Now I know I don’t believe you! Karl got married and left town two months ago!” 

 

Mel swore under her breath. It was hard to lie to the cook of the most popular restaurant in town about who was where at any given time. 

 

The street caller could be heard as the cook wrapped the fish up in some of the paper her daughter made. “Alright dear, I better not catch you sneaking out again.” Passing it through a hole in the wall, she grabbed the next fish getting ready to shred the scales off of, fresh off the morning boat. “Now either you get out there and take some orders or help me prep these.”

 

Both options sounded dreadful to her. Taking the lesser of two evils, she slowly donned the stained apron, sliding it over her large blue sweater. 

- - - -

With the last customer gone, dinner with her family completed and the moon starting to rise, Mel flopped onto her bed. 

 

With both her mother and father hovering around the kitchen, the magelight torch was impossible to sneak upstairs with her. Since they slept on the first floor, they could easily hear her stumble around downstairs in her attempt to fetch it. Despite only using it a few times, she had become spoiled by the thing, since the candles she used before required constant switching, ruining her flow.

 

Without a moon in the sky, there was no scenery to draw anyways. No great wizards or young noble seemed to have a reason to celebrate, so the small town of Dawnreach fell into respite until the time of it’s namesake. 

 

The problem was, Melrose was wide awake.

 

She rolled around on her mattress, stirring with the life anybody would have when they have only been up for just six hours. Her mind jumped from chore to chore, either already completed, not worth the effort yet or will never be worth the trouble.

 

Without much else to do, she decided to look for her favorite charcoal pen. The enameled case housing a narrow stick of burnt firewood was not her preferred drawing utensil, but instead was noted for it's unusual length and shape. Thicker than her other cases, it must have had an error, intentional or not, causing the end of it to curl up quite notably. It made sense how her parents would be able to pick up an otherwise exquisite charcoal case.

 

Finding it underneath a pile of papers dedicated to a quite empty day on the docks, she fell back onto her mattress and examined the pen in what little light crept in through the window. A regular streak of light beamed into her tiny room, filling it with the brightness before abruptly disappearing. A beacon for ships at sea, Mel had never been to the top of the magelight lighthouse, but was sure it was just as she imagined.

 

A slight gasp escaped her lips as she rubbed the smooth tube over her night shorts. Pulling her other hand to her mouth, Mel tried her best to keep herself quiet as she felt the smooth pen rub her most sensitive area.

 

She could feel herself grow more excited as the enamel danced lightly over her quickly hardening clit. The shape often surprised her in the darkness, the bend adding an element of excitement to what was an already well practiced task.

 

At nineteen years old, she never found anyone worth her interest, but she should have already been married. Sure, she found a few guys worth talking to, but they either were nowhere near as exciting as they seemed or quickly were attached to the other girls around town. The best one was a boy her age who only showed up once a year before disappearing. 

 

Her shorts quickly becoming wetter, her free hand slid down to her tit. Taking up more than a handful, she quickly found her already erect nipple and ran circles around it with her pointer finger. Another gasp found freedom as she began to run circles with the pen as well downstairs.

 

“Mmhm…” She groaned, considering taking it a step further. She looked around the room. She could spare a candle and whip out her favorite chapter to help her along. 

 

“Yeah… Sure.” Standing up, she decided to light a candle, carefully moving away piles of paper to an even bigger stack across the room, and reached under her bed for a relatively light tome. The crimson red cover showed it’s intentions at a glance, something that first drew her to the work just a few years prior.

 

Starring a tallman princess trapped in a tower surrounded by an eternal snowstorm, two men of nobility brave the blizzard to see her and spend… quality time with her. Sometimes showing up at the same time, they came from warring kingdoms, so the tensions ran high as the two men constantly threatened to kill eachother, only held back by the reclusive princess’s demands.

 

Turning to one of many spicy chapters, Mel leaned back on her pillow, her hand working mindlessly with the pen as she began the chapter.

 

Ana glanced upwards, catching the sheen of Oryx’s horns as they glistened in the magelight she prepared in the foyer. Still hosting a bit of the snowfall he trekked through to arrive, she could tell he put in an extra bit of effort before beginning his journey.

 

An effort she would definitely reward.

 

“Wait,” A shout arose from behind her, “What is he doing here?” 

 

Her fellow tallman stood before her, creating a wall between her and the seven foot dwarf. Prince Laurence still had a young face, but after years of bearing his armor in battle, his body was toned. His auburn hair oftentimes hung before his constantly determined verdant eyes. Eyes that she could feel when he looked at her, examining her for something she was not quite sure of yet.

 

“Milady, I was unaware you had a guest this evening.” His voice was as deep as the caverns he emerged from. One day she had hoped to see the great cities beneath the mountain, something Councilman Oryx had promised before.

 

Melrose slid off her shorts, skipping to the good part:

 

“I’m not sure how we can share her…” Lawrence glanced to the side, his face no longer trying to hide his blush.

 

The dwarven man smiled, showing his experience, “That’s the easy part. The hard part is making sure our lovely Ana could handle us both.”

 

Ana flushed with excitement, both men sat on her bed before her, naked. Their manhood were equal in size and length, despite their vastly different heights. “I’m… I’m ready.” She barely managed to get out.

 

“Well then, let’s not keep the lady waiting then…” Oryx crawled closer to her. She could see every one of his engorged muscles move as he slowly slid in behind her. 

 

Ana’s back arched as his length rubbed against her spine, his large yet gentle hands grasping her delicate shoulders, “Dwarven hospitality: let’s let Laurence start.”

 

The upstart prince flustered once more. His intense gaze worked it’s way up her body, the blanket still separating the two. With an audible gulp, he drew near as well, “F-fine! Just don’t be upset when she falls in love with me more!”

 

Oryx chuckled, his deep voice reverberating within her, “We’ll see young one…”

 

“Stay still, Ana.” Lawrence whispered as he removed the white sheet, revealing her nude form to him. 

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Her womanhood twitched as his critical eyes examined it, piercingly trying to piece together how to do this.  

 

“C-come here…” 

 

Drawing the prince close, she could feel him shake. Guilt began to wash over her, as it all became clear to her, “It’s your first time.”

 

Lawrence’s face ignited with a deep blush once again, “N-no! I’ve done it plenty of t-times before!” 

 

She smiled as she held his face in her hands, his cheeks were burning. “It’s okay!” She giggled, lightly brushing his lips with hers. “Just take your time…”

 

His eyes suddenly widened, “Y-you’ve done this before?”

 

Pressing her mouth against his, he began to calm down finally. Opening her legs for him, Ana placed her forehead against Lawrence’s, “It’s okay… I won’t bite.”

 

With another audible gulp from the young prince, a look of serious concentration crossed his face, “Alright…” 

 

Ana’s back arched as she felt the tallman’s dick slide inside her. 

 

As the character in the book slid inside the princess, so too did the enamel case inside Melrose. She could imagine his piercing green eyes locked onto hers as they spent their first time together. Now feeling the full length of the pen, she tried her best to continue reading along.

 

A bit unexpected, Oryx laughed as Lawrence went to his root, “Well, well! Looks like someone is finally putting the ‘man’ in ‘tallman’!”

 

Plainly inexperienced, Ana could feel him fumbling around, sometimes finding a spot and leaving it entirely. But the look in his eyes made her feel like he was trying his hardest for her. She could feel his tense muscles as he worked in and out, unsure of this new sensation he had never felt before. 

 

“Ah! Slow down…” Ana rubbed the cheek of her lover. 

 

His eyes opened wide, shaking him from his concentrated daze, “Oh! S-sorry!”

 

She could feel Oryx grow restless behind her, the muscular dwarf’s breathing growing more erratic as the two tallmen made love leaning against him. 

 

Long had she wanted to see Lawrence like this. Tall, muscular and accomplished, the young prince had long been the apple of her eye. And now she had him.

 

“Ana-! I’m…!”

 

She felt him grow even larger inside, reaching even further than Oryx ever had. “Go ahead…” Ana cajoled as he- as he-

 

Melrose had to put down the book. She breathed heavily as she pulled out the enameled case, soaked with a job well done. 

 

Half-heartedly sliding on her shorts once more, she threw off her glasses, landing somewhere in her bed. As she continued to bathe in the afterglow, the world around her grew dark.

- - - -

Melrose woke up alongside the sun. Swearing at the still red sphere beginning to peak over the bay to the east, she lazily threw on the glasses she threw aside the night before. 

 

In addition to the unwelcome light filling her room, a low roar seemed to crawl in through the window as well. Sitting up, she expected a light shower rolling in from the waters, the storm not yet large enough to blot out the sun.

 

Instead, a wave of people marching through the streets greeted her.

 

Men noisily paraded through the olivine brick streets, each bearing a look of anger and determination. The soldiers of today were armed with swords and shields as compared to when they were the fishermen of yesterday armed with poles and nets. Usually reserved for the nights when their light was needed, the men bore torches who served a different purpose during the day.

 

Armored individuals tore through the workmen wearing only simple shirts they wore when out on the water. Inhuman screams echoed between buildings as more knights emerged from homes, their normally gray steel stained red.  

 

The normally sleepy town of Dawnreach could not bear to withstand the sheer force and brutality of this opposing force.

 

"Mel!" Her door flew open, causing the bespeckled girl to jump slightly as she tore her gaze away from the scene occurring just outside her window. An older man stood at the threshold, his closely trimmed hair and beard peppered with the age of a man who retired from the boats and instead sold their bounty to the 'landlubbers' as he called them. "Mel, we need to get to the basement!"

 

She nodded, her eyes beginning to sting as reality slowly set in. 

 

Unfortunately, her legs had other plans. Try as she might, they refused to budge, almost as if they had turned into jelly. Looking at her father, her eyes grew heavier with the helplessness she desperately tried to convey to him.

 

Without so much as another word, he stepped across the room and picked her up like he did when she was young. Now a woman by any and all measure, she cast aside any and all pride as he took her with him downstairs. 

 

Looking out the side opposite to her window, the outdoor staircase showed an even more gruesome view: countless men each armed far greater than the unfortunate military elite stationed in Dawnreach poured in from outside the town. Their standards bore a lion devouring another creature, far too gone to even hope at naming the unfortunate beast, and a telling sign of the beach city's future. 

 

Her father grunted under his breath, his elderly frame growing tired quicker from carrying his only daughter than it used to. The sounds of battle drew closer, causing the man to find some hidden reserve of strength and finish the staircase. Taking the door to their left, bringing them to the kitchen, a shell of what it was around yesterday's lunch time.

 

Setting her down, the man pushed aside ceramic pots filled with pickled foods for serving, unveiling a simple hatch underneath.

 

"Wh-where's mom?" Melrose stammered, unable to see the hard-to-miss woman amongst them. 

 

Broderick stopped. 

 

"I don't-" Pushing aside the weakness he started to show, he opened the hatch. The space below was for the storage of salted meats in case the fishing proved to be poor for an extended amount of time. "She was not here this morning when I got up. She must've-"

 

Melrose filled in the blanks: while he was just a fisherman hopping shore to shore following the catch, Mallorie was born and raised in Dawnreach. Raised by her five brothers, she had always been the rough and tumble sort, she more than likely joined the men in the defense of their city. The only home they knew. "And you...?"

 

"Damn it all, Melrose! What did you expect me to do? Leave you alone in your room to be killed or worse by those men? Goddesses be damned!" 

 

Now there was no stopping the tears from flowing. 

 

Her father swore as he began to sob as well, the normally straightlaced man showing the only sign of weakness she had ever seen. "Get in, Melrose!" He held the hatch open, recklessly swinging his arm to coax her into the cellar.

 

"But I don't-"

 

"Goddesses be damned, Melrose! Get the fuck inside!" Broderick swore to leave his sailor's tongue on the boat, but this was no time for class. Grabbing his still stuttering daughter's arm, he dragged her across the room, nearly throwing her down the ladder and into the narrow hole. The pain he inflicted getting her to safety would be far less than what those men outside would do to her.

 

"Dad!" She shouted, her echoed cries seemingly unable to reach the man who threw her down there. 

 

As he closed the hatch above, the world around Mel instantly became dark.

 

Unable to see the carnage unfolding around her tiny home, she could still hear it all. Not even a minute later, the sound of wood splintering shook her from her uncontrollable sobbing. Indistinguishable shouts filled the kitchen met by her father's own swears. 

 

Steel on steel rang above until only a single grunt silenced everything around her.

 

It was not long before she could hear tables and chairs being smashed. A few recognizable words could be heard as she held herself just a few hands away from the men who killed her father. The same opposition that killed her mother. And the same monsters that would do the same to her if they found her.

 

The heavy stomping of armored boots and smashing of her home grew more and more distant.

 

But as soon as the sounds ended, the smell began.

 

She knew the scent well: the burning of wood. What would normally be a mundane part of work filled her with dread. Loud crashes brought the low roar of fire closer to her narrow space. Soon, she could feel the whole building collapse atop of her. 

 

Melrose could feel her chest burn. The pain was almost enough to motivate her to leave the hole and join the rest of her family and drawings in the flames, another casualty of the war she suddenly awoke to find herself in.

 

The cellar was not well ventilated, only intended for the storage of pots and shelves of food. If anything, that was designed to keep bugs and vermin out from the emergency rations. While unable to feel much of anything, she felt a headache grip her like a vise.

 

Unsure if it was the sudden tragedy or lack of air, she felt her grip on the ladder begin to loosen.

---

Author note: As a thank you for over 40k readings on my main work, here is a side story that will be incorporated into the same world was "Becoming the Witch's Familiar"!
I hope to continue to entertain you all with the worlds and characters I've got buzzing around in my head and I hope to see you all as we continue to see these stories unwind together!

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