The eastern frontier of Aurelion bore little resemblance to the fertile lands of the capital. The earth there was gray and cracked, the forests dense and unnaturally silent. Even the wind seemed reluctant to cross those borders.
Prince Cassian Dravenhart stood atop a ridge overlooking the valley where his army had made camp.
For weeks now, the soldiers of Aurelion had marched deeper into lands touched by the influence of Noctyra.
Yet the enemy rarely appeared.
That, perhaps, was the most terrifying part.
General Roland Ashford approached him, his armor scratched from the previous day's skirmish.
"My prince," the general said quietly, "another patrol failed to return last night."
Cassian's gaze remained fixed on the fog below.
"How many this time?"
"Eight men."
A long silence followed.
In Cassian's thoughts a troubling realization had begun to form.
They were not fighting an ordinary army.
They were fighting something that preferred shadows.
That evening a wounded soldier was brought before him.
The man trembled violently, his face pale with terror.
"Your Highness… we saw them in the fog."
"Who?" Cassian asked calmly.
"The women."
The soldier's voice shook.
"They stood among the trees. Beautiful… too beautiful."
General Ashford frowned.
"Were they armed?"
"No," the soldier whispered. "They only watched us."
Cassian's eyes darkened.
"And what happened next?"
The soldier began to cry.
"My men… they started walking toward them. As though they had forgotten everything else."
Cassian felt a cold weight settle in his chest.
"And you?"
"I closed my eyes and ran."
That night Cassian wrote a letter beneath the dim glow of a lantern.
"My dearest Maria,
If this letter ever reaches you, know that the world beyond our kingdom is stranger and darker than we imagined as children. Yet the thought of you remains the one light guiding me through it."
He paused briefly.
"I pray that I will return to you."
He sealed the letter.
But deep inside, he could not silence a quieter thought.
If I do not return… will she ever know how much she meant to me?
Cassian stripped off his armored tunic, the cool night air brushing his sweat-dampened skin as he lay on the thin pallet, eyes closing in hopes of sleep.
Sleep evaded him. Instead, her image flooded his mind Maria's soft breasts, full and yielding, spilling from the low neckline of her gown as she arched beneath him.
He pictured her on all fours, her pale back curving invitingly, hips lifted high as he gripped her hips and thrust into her from behind. 'Cassian,' she moaned in his fantasy, her voice a husky plea that echoed through his skull, her lips clenching tight around his cock with every deep plunge.
A rush of heat surged through him, blood pounding southward. His dick stiffened against the rough fabric of his breeches, swelling thick and insistent.
Cassian groaned low, hand drifting down to palm the growing bulge. The sensation sent sparks up his spine hot, throbbing need that made his balls tighten
He couldn't stop the visions: Maria's tits bouncing with each slam of his hips against her, her moans turning to cries as he fucked her harder, her juices slicking his shaft.
'Damn it' he whispered, fumbling with the ties of his breeches. His cock sprang free, rigid and veined, the head already glistening with precum. Wrapping his callused fingers around the base, he stroked upward slowly, savoring the velvet slide of skin over steel-hard flesh.
In his mind, Maria begged for more, pushing back against him, her ass cheeks rippling from the force of his pounding. He imagined flipping her over, sucking one nipple into his mouth while pinching the other, her legs wrapping around his waist as he drove into her dripping lips.
'Maria,' he murmured, voice rough with desire, pumping his fist faster now. The tent filled with the wet sounds of his hand gliding over his slick cock, each tug pulling a ragged breath from his lungs.
Fantasies spiraled wilder her on her knees, lips stretched around his length, sucking him deep while he tangled fingers in her hair; then her riding him, lips grinding down to take every inch, breasts heaving as she chased her release. His thumb circled the sensitive tip, smearing precum, the pressure building like a storm in his groin.
His hips bucked involuntarily, chasing the rhythm in his head. 'Maria... yes, like that,'
he gasped, stroking harder, faster, the coil in his belly winding tight. He pictured her climaxing around him, walls fluttering, milking his cock until he couldn't hold back. With a stifled grunt, Cassian came, hot spurts of cum erupting over his fist and splattering his abdomen, pulse after pulse draining him in shuddering waves.
Panting, flushed and slick with sweat, he slumped back, chest heaving. The aftershocks faded, leaving only emptiness. Gods, he missed her , her warmth, her scent, the reality of her body against his.