Diablo 2: Longing to be with you

Diablo 2 – Longing to be with you
By Lady Jasmine


Chapter 8: As dark plans go
________________________________________________________
Anyways, legal stuff here. This is meant as a parody. Characters mentioned are not mine, they belong to the creators of Diablo 2, and, if you're not within the legal age of your country to read things of an 'intimate' nature, please don't continue. Yadda, yadda, yadda...
________________________________________________________

The coarse and dry sand under Erix’s light plate boots sifted and sifting sound with each step. The sand gave very little foothold and let the heavy boots sink slightly.

Under the scorching desert sun, the paladin cursed himself. He tore his gleaming helmet from his head and threw it in the sand, grunting in frustration. Sand sprayed from the impact. Shfffft!

If Erix had known how how hot it would’ve been at that time, he would’ve worn his ring mail instead of the scale mail; it would've been lighter, airier and more forgiving. The metal woven pieces of the scale mail pulled at his shoulders, making him feel as though if he stood in one place too long he would sink into the grainy sand.

He glanced up at the clear sky, a hand shielding his squinting eyes. The angry burning sun only seemed to be rising instead of falling.A warm bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as he ran his other hand through his hair.

Erix had been wandering the desert aimlessly in search of Nevia. He knew she had to be out there somewhere. He had a sinking feeling she was running away from him and all the information he had received supported his suspicions. Back in Lut Gholein he had asked all the merchants if they had seen her. Only Drognan had as she left the city gate.

"She seemed confused," he recalled the old man had said, looking distraught himself. "And she was crying. I wanted to stop her, but it wasn't my place."

Erix sighed, it was his place to stop her. He so badly wanted to see her. Just a glimpse of her smiling face and he’d feel as though everything was all right even with the crime he was guilty of with Fara. Considering her tears as she left the desert city, it was possible that she knew of his sin.

Regardless, he hoped so much to see her that every so often he saw Nevia running towards him from the distance. Whenever that happened, he knew he had to stop to drink more water or splash some on his face to free himself from the beautiful mirage before the mirage Nevia tore her clothes off again.

Where are you? he thought, brushing the sand off from the retrieved helmet.

***

"What? How?" Rune’s eyes burned like emerald fire of rage even though sympathy was laced into his too-smooth voice.

Krysta’s ears prickled at his tone. She could sense the bullshit. Without any more words, she backed away and disappeared into the shadows, sneaking off and not looking back once.

Nevia and Rune failed to notice.

Krysta said nothing as she stealthily crept through the back alleyways of the desert city, heading towards the inn. She had some of her own investigating to do and the place to start was the inn.

Outside Elzix's establishment, she quickly scaled the building, bounding off the adjacent building to latch on to one of the balcony railings.

Her hands gripped the rail tightly. She nimbly threw her leg over the rail and pulled herself onto the balcony, keeping low to the ground as she landed. She peered inside the room through the sheer curtains; the room was empty.

It was the room that Nevia and Erix were supposed to occupy. The flower petals were still strewn about with several petals on the floor. The blankets were twisted invitingly and suggestively on the plush bed. Placed on a pillow, turned over, a single wine glass lay, pouring the red wine on the pillow to stain it.

She glanced around the love nest, scrunching her nose. Nothing seemed out of place. The table was still upright with the bottle of wine still on top of it. Candles were burnt to the bottom leaving only a low cup of wax.

Krysta righted a chair and sat down upon it next to the table. Her fingers drummed on the wooden surface as she crossed her legs, thinking.

Her eyes scanned the room again. She sighed.

Then it hit her. One wine glass.

She picked up the wine bottle, sniffing its contents. It's scent was familiar, very herbal. Strange for a wine.

Krysta's tongue rimmed the narrow opening of the bottle to taste the wine.

Her suspicions were correct. The drink was tainted slightly with a bit of sleeping root.

As she stood up, the floor creaked; not under her, but from outside the room. She smiled, her eyes narrowing to angry slits as the door to the room was pushed open.

***

After much frustration and mirages, the set of small footprints finally came to an end. It took an hour of walking, but Erix finally reached his destination——an opening in the ground of the desert.

A chill ran up his spine as he slowly descended into the underground hole. From the thick smell that lingered in the air, he knew what his place was. It had to be the Maggot lair. Deckard Cain had once said that there’s something in required for their mission to continue on. It was practical to think that Nevia, in her sadness, had decided to go on with the quest to also get Erix's sin out of mind.

Erix sighed, shaking his head and remembering all the times that woman disobeyed his order to wait for him. Clearly this time was no different.

Without another thought, he ducked in to the entrance, his breath catching in his throat as the stench grew stronger as he walked further into the lair.


***

"I have a proposition," Krysta purred, seductively grinding her pelvis against the Elzix’s crotch. "I also know of a game you might like to play.... it's called "I kill you if you lie to me.""

The assasson had the ex-bandit pinned to the floor. His arrival into the room was suspicious. He had entered the room without knocking, his eyes had shifted as though expecting someone. Imagine his surprise when Krysta grabbed him by the shirt collar and threw him at the wall.

Krysta ignored the innkeeper's sputtering. "Tell me," she murmured, using her katar-covered hand to turn the man's head towards the wine bottle on the table. "Is this the wine Erix sent to his lady?"

The man turned white as the sheet he was pinned atop of. "Y-yes," he stammered all too quickly, hoping that the crazed woman wouldn’t see through his white lie.

Didn’t work.

"Imagine that!" She hissed, switching her tactic from seduction to interrogation. "Why would he send the woman he wants a wine bottle loaded with sleeping root?" She laughed darkly.

"What are you talking about?!" he sputtered.

Leaning forward with her eyes still locked on his, she brought her face to be only inches away from his. "I know about sleeping root... I know it's used a lot to rape women." Cruelly, she then slid her tongue against his cheek, feeling the stubble prickle her soft lingua. "Now why would any man drug the woman who offers what he wants freely? Now tell me... did Rune send the wine?"

"No!"

"Liar!" She hissed, the Katar slicing lightly into his cheek.

"I’m not lying! Erix asked it!"


Krysta’s dark eyes narrowed with an evil glint. "This might take awhile..."


She grabbed his collar, yanked him off the floor. "We will continue this in the room I have rented," she whispered angrily. "We might need some privacy..."

The next words out of the assassin's mouth made Elzix pale rapidly.

"I think I want to see what your blood looks like on my blades."

He needed to act now!


***

Nevia was on her way back into the room that Erix and her had for the evening——the room Erix instead used with Fara for his seduction.

She stopped abruptly then felt a solid wall of muscle knock her over from behind.

"Ow!" she hissed, getting up and rubbing her elbows. She looked behind her, an uneasy look on her face. "Rune..."

All thoughts and her wits scattered from her grasp much like chickens would in response to a fox. Upon contact with his green irises, she realized she had forgotten he was still following her. When she had came back to Lut Gholein with Krysta, Rune was there to greet her. But her mind was in such a daze she barely spoke three sentences before wandering miserably around the city in search of Krysta.

Crap, she forgot she was trying to find Krysta. However, the sincerity she saw in Rune's eyes blocked out the importance of that mission.

Rune smiled warmly, "Sorry."

Nevia shook her head, "Uh, that’s ok..." She shrunk back slightly, wanting to leave. Nothing happened though. The two stared at each other, half expecting themselves or the other to start a conversation.

She glanced at the door in front of her. She knew she had to go in. She didn't want to see the room that Erix and Fara had, but she really had no choice considering Rune leaned in to open the door for her.

She automatically entered to stare at the bed. The silk pillows and blankets were still there. All the hurt came back to her and she remained mute against the pain, fighting off the tears springing to her eyes.

The druid finally broke the silence, "Listen, I want to talk to you."

A strange fluttering sensation occurred in her stomach. "Okay..."

He closed the door behind him and walked over to the bed. Sitting down on the silks, he rested his elbows on his knees.

"I’m really sorry about what happened with Erix."

She nodded, her throat tightening. "I know, you said that."

"No! I mean it. I’m really sorry about it. I..." He sighed with an angry shake of his head. "I should’ve protected you."

"But Rune, you couldn’t have done anything. It’s not your fault."

Slowly getting his feet, he admired her sincere expression. She was so sweet. He would risk everything for her. He would do anything for her, even make a deal with Diablo himself.

"You don’t get it, Nev."

Rune's eyes sparkled as he stared at her. By the gods, he wanted her so bad. He watched as she turned away, pacing the room slightly in order to understand his words.

Her body hypnotized the druid. The sway of her hips; the feminine muscles of her legs; the way her fingers toyed with her hair; the luscious curves of her breasts. He wanted it all. He wanted to see it all, close up and not a scrap of cloth to hide even an inch of her. When he would kiss her, he’d kiss as though to consume her, to make her completely his to have and to hold cou course, he’d do more than kiss her. He wouldn’t be a man if he could not admit to himself that he wanted this woman in every position possible.

He slowly got up and walked towards her. As she spoke, he heard no words, only saw the delicate movement of her soft and moist lips that he longed to ravish.

"I don’t get why you’re so obsessed with—-" Nevia was unable to finish her sentence. Rune’s mouth was atop of hers, pressing fiercely against her lips and not caring if his lips were bruised by the hardness of her teeth.

His kiss was possessive. It was a claim to make her lips his. His hand found its way to her head, tangling itself within the silken strands of her long and dark hair as it forced the woman to press back against him. His free hand slipped to the small of her back, pushing to crush her body against his.

Nevia was shocked by his bold move, even more when she felt his tongue snake into her mouth to taste her tongue. She pressed her hands up against his chest to push him away. It was useless. She was not strong enough to fight to win and already her thoughts were being muddled up by the actions of his hands and skilled tongue.

Rune’s hand left her back. It glided around the gentle curve of her waist and trailed up her abdomen to cup one of her plump breasts. Despite the ferocity in his desire and the suffocating kiss, his touch was quite gentle. He fondled her breast lovingly instead of like the crazed horny madman’s touch she was expecting.

If Nevia’s body could cry out without asking permission from her brain, it would scream for more. Her body was aflame and responsive to Rune’s actions. Her voice and mind remained rebellious however, refusing to give in to the pleasure her body absorbed. She felt his thumb suddenly circle around on her breast, finding her hardening nipple. He lazily dragged it back and forth, over the turgid flesh as his other hand left her hair to slide down her back.

Nevia’s moaned into Rune’s mouth, her tongue instantly joining in the kiss. She pressed back against his body, forcing her breast to fit into his hand. She could feel his hardness pressing firmly against her stomach. A strange feeling fluttered low in her loins as her arousal grew in response to the evidence of his own.

Rune responded by kneading her breast roughly and kissing her noticeably harder than before. His hand other hand continued its journey down her back to squeeze her buttock from under her skirt.

As soon as Nevia felt Rune’s hand sliding up the soft flesh of her inner thigh to press a finger against her womanhood, she broke the kiss, forcefully pushing him back. The druid fell on top of the bed, a smile on his face like he expected her to stretch out atop of him before undoing his breeches. His touch had snapped reality back to her like a slap across the face. And even though that mere touch caused pleasurable tingles to rapidly spread through her body, she knew she had to stop.

With a small cry of dismay, Nevia backed away with a bewildered expression. Her eyes darted back to the man sprawled leisurely upon the luxurious silks and the obvious sight of his cloth-covered erection. Every inch of her body was begging to be touched, savored and loved... but, not by Rune, by Erix. Despite what he did, she still wished that the body upon the bed—-along with the face that smiled longingly—-belonged to her beloved paladin.

Rune slowly got up, his concern and fear growing as Nevia turned her back towards him. He drew closer and noticed she was trembling.

"Nevia? What’s wrong?"

"I’m sorry," she choked out. "I shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be doing this."

She felt his strong hands clamp down on he shoulders. That didn’t do any good. She gasped and fought back by turning around, pressing her hands firmly against his chest and shoving him back. His legs hit the edge of the bed and he fell atop the silks again.

Lying on the bed, he stared at her, blinking innocently. "What’s wrong?"

Her hands twisted the coarse cloth of her skirt in frustration. Her eyes were tear-welled and wide as her gaze darted rapidly around the room like a terrified bird of prey. She felt as though everything was against her, a curse to make pain appear around every corner whenever she thought she’d find happiness.

"Why are you doing this to me??!" she blurted out, angrily.

"What?"

"Why now? Do you really think this helps me??" She backed away slowly. "I don’t need this now."

"Nevia, if you didn’t like the kiss, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you."

Rune slowly sat up, his solemn gaze piercing through all the chaos Nevia felt within the room. He cautiously got to his feet, making sand and fluid movements to make sure he didn’t scare the sorceress anymore or pose as any threat to her. The last thing he would want is for her to fry him with a lightning bolt.

"No, please!" she cried, more tears helplessly streaming down her face. "Just leave me alone!"

With that final cry, she rushed to the door, hastily threw it open and escaped. She ran back to Krysta’s room, forgetting that the reason she went to the inn was to find Krysta, not revisit Erix's room. When she threw the door open, she found it empty.

Upon the floor was small red puddle and one of the assassin's katars lying in the midst of it, thick red droplets dripping off the gleaming blade.. Nevia's mind instantly reeled. Where's Krysta?? She panicked, following the small trail of blood spots onto the floor towards the balcony.

Lying with his back slumped against the iron rail was Elzix. Nevia gasped. The innkeeper's eyes were closed and his shirt stained bright red, the same shade as the puddle in the middle of the room and the one growing beneath his limp body.


__________________________________________
Comments and Criticism appreciated (ladyofjasmine@gmail.com)

Blog on progress and writings at http://jasminegardens.blogspot.com/