4. Getting Wet.

The smell of something pungent smacked me in the face. My eyes sprang open and revealed a scene I was unfamiliar with. I was lying on a bed with a covered in a brown and white animal hide. A smaller version of it covered me. It was soft against my aching body. My abdomen and arms were bandaged in white cloth. To my right, there was a fireplace with a large metal pot hanging over a crackling fire. Something yellowish green bubbled inside of it. That must've been what the smell was. I sat up. A volcano of pain erupted in my mid-section, causing me to scream. 

"Oh no, don't sit up yet!" a woman sitting at a square wooden table in the center of the room said and jumped to her feet. Her white dress flowing around her as she rushed over to me.

She padded on bare feet over to me and tried to guide me back down. I noticed the long blonde hair with the flowers in it immediately. I looked at the information panel floating just above her head. Lyria, level 1, maiden was listed as her details.

"Lyria?" I said, letting her gently push me back down on the bed. She had small, soft hands, but her touch was powerful. 

"Hello Kael," she said, her lips curling into a welcoming smile.

She seemed friendly enough, but the fact that I was lying in a bed instead of the woods raised questions I needed answers to.

"You were by the river?" I said, realizing how dry and sticky my throat was suddenly. 

Lyria wandered over to the table and poured a clear liquid from a beige pitcher into a cup the same color. She came back and offered it to me.

"Here, drink this," she said, lifting the cup to my dry lips. 

I locked my lips and shook my head. I was not about to let her poison me.

"It's just water, I promise," she said. The smile still decorating her face.

I stared into the cup at the clear liquid. Water, level 0, consumable.

"Wow Kael, just drink the water," Desmira said from inside my head.

Her voice ignited a headache I didn't even realize I had. I slammed my eyes shut as the pain washed over me.

"Goddess, I don't think he can handle your presence at the moment," Lyria said, her voice a whisper.

"Sorry about that. I was just trying to help. I'll leave you two alone again," Desmira said, this time she was whispering. My head still throbbed with every word she spoke.

Lyria gently ran her hand through my hair. Stopping and starting over when her fingers got caught in a knot.

"I imagine that was excruciating for you," she said, still whispering.

I let my eyes slowly open again as the pain that came with Desmira's voice receded.

"How can you hear her too?" I asked, enjoying the feeling of her soft, warm hand on my scalp.

"I'll tell you everything I know if you agree to trust me and follow my instructions," she countered, instead of answering my question. She stopped rubbing my hair and offered me the cup again.

I stared into her big, green eyes and guzzled the water. The cool refreshing liquid instantly made me feel slightly better.

"Thank you," she said and giggled. 

She was pretty when she laughed. Dimples appeared on both of her cheeks and the way she closed her eyes and tilted her head warmed me inside.

"So, to answer your question, I've been able to hear Desmira for a bout a year at this point. I was shocked the first time she spoke to me," she said, taking the cup from me and sitting it on the table.

"So who are you?" I asked, wincing in pain as I leaned up on my elbows.

"Would you stop doing that?" She said, scolding me for moving.

She hiked up her dress and got on the bed with me. She lay down on my left and rested her hand on my exposed chest.

"How's this? Now we can talk without you sitting up and hurting yourself. I'm Lyria. I was a servant in Mooncrest until the night my master ordered me to be in his bed, waiting for him when he got home from hunting. When he left home, I heard Desmira's voice for the first time. She guided me to this place, and I've been her loyal maiden ever since," she said, stroking the side of my face as she spoke about her past.

I could see the round tops of her breasts showing from the low collar of her dress and felt my pulse quicken.

"Not now, dick, stay asleep," I mentally scolded my growing erection. The only good news was that hopefully the blanket would hide it from her.

I felt like a creep. This nice woman was telling me her life story, and I was staring at her tits the entire time. I forced myself to focus on my current situation.

"So, that explains how you knew where to find me. But how did you get me here?" I asked, forcing myself to only look into her eyes.

"Oh, Desmira gave me strength and something else that I'm supposed to pass on to you. With that, I was able to carry you here. You're really light for someone as muscular as you are," she said and circled her index finger around my left nipple. 

"Intimate touch received. Health restored 40 percent," Desmira said in my head. Luckily pain didn't come with her words this time.

Lyria's touch was different than Desmira's. It was less experienced and yet more personal somehow. It felt more real in a way.

"That's interesting, okay, I think I know what we're supposed to do now," she said, with her head slightly tilted.

"You have things to pass on to me? How the hell is that supposed to work?" I asked, ignoring how good her hand felt on me.

She kissed my chest this time.

"I think it starts with you bathing. Do you feel healthy enough to walk?" she asked and pulled the blanket off me.

I leaned forward to sit up and only felt a slight pain this time. 

"I probably could," I said and sat all the way up.

"Oh, don't worry if you stumble. I can just carry you," she said and stood up.

She reached out and took my hand, helping me to my feet. With my arm slung over her shoulder, we walked out of the tiny cottage and into the moonlit woods. My body felt stiff and all my muscles ached as we walked down the cobblestone path toward a small body of water with steam rising out of it.

"Is this a hot spring?" I asked when we stood at the water's edge. I could feel the heat coming off the water and curling around my ankles.

"It sure is. Now let's get you all cleaned up," she said and started removing the bandage from my abdomen.

Instead of resisting, I raised my arms and let her remove the thick white wrap. Every piece she pulled away revealed more of the scars that zig zagged across my mid-section. There was a dry green paste stuck to the fresh scars that she had tended to while I slept. She ran her fingers over every scar she saw. 

"Where did all these come from?" She asked without taking her eyes off my body.

"You wanna hear the stories?" I asked, watching her fingers move across my skin.

"Very much so," she said and tugged at the waistline of my pants.

She didn't pull hard enough to make them drop, just enough to let me know she wanted them down. I took a deep breath and then slowly lowered my pants. The cool night air immediately welcomed my nude skin. Lyria dropped her eyes quickly and looked back up at me, red faced.

"Sorry, I've never seen one in person before," she said as I walked into the heated water. 

I sank up to my neck in the water, letting the heat massage the pain and stiffness out of my muscles.

"How's it feel?" She asked and pulled her dress up and over her head.

I couldn't stop myself from staring at her naked body as she slipped into the water beside me. Her breasts were larger and rounder than Desmira's, with pink nipples instead of light brown ones. My erection was instant. 

"So, tell me about these scars," she said and rubbed her wet hand across my chest.