A New Day Arises

(Narrator Note//: Hey all! Sorry for the wait, life's just been kinda busy at the moment but finally got this chapter out to you all! Plus, I will at some point in the near future be going back to the older chapters and updating them as my writing has definitely gotten better since those first chapters. Anyway, hope you all enjoy the chapter!)

THE NEXT MORNING:

John slowly opens his eyes. His body coated entirely in ecstasy as he takes a deep breath, feeling Kyuala's head rest against his chest. Her breasts pushed up against his body with her leg laying over his.

John smiles, gently running his hand up her muscular leg, stopping his hand at her firm buttocks. He then gives a light squeeze to one cheek of said buttocks, earning a small groan of pleasure from the sleeping woman.

John then stops squeezing but leaves his hand there, opting to just look at the slumbering Kyuala. A few moments pass with complete silence filling the void but eventually a whisper comes from his left as Lani asks, "How can she be so pretty even while sleeping?".

John quietly chuckles, "I don't know, but somehow she does" John then turns to Lani as he continues, "And you do as well".

Lani smiles, slightly blushing along with it. She then says, "You two look comfy".

"Pretty sure if I even move the slightest inch, she'll maul my face off" John says in response, earning a light chuckle from Lani.

Another few quiet moments pass as the two friends just lay there, taking in as much comfort as possible. Eventually Lani ends the silence with another question, "Hey, i've been wondering, why does she call you husband?".

"Oh, uhh, according to orc tradition, if an orc finds a human, said human become their betrothed, unless you're the same sex in which case, the betrothal goes to a person of the humans preferred sex" John quickly responds, impressing Lani.

"Wow, so, she, claimed you?" Lani carefully asks.

"In a way I guess? It was less of a claiming and more of a, surprise engagement to be honest, but it was a welcome one at least" John answers.

"Hmm, interesting..." Lani whispers to herself with John barely catching the words but doesn't ask about them.

The duo sit in silence once again until they hear Kyuala groan before muttering, "Urghh, please tell me i'm in a queens bed in some castle".

"Mmm, if you are, it's a funny looking castle" John responds.

The trio chuckle for a few moments.

Kyuala then speaks up again, "Well, no matter the location, as long as i'm with you, it's worth it".

Kyuala lips then meet John's upper right pectoral as she pulls him closer to her, nuzzling her head into his neck before saying, "Let's stay here for a bit longer, I don't want to get up yet".

"Agreed" Lani remarks as she also moves closer to John, soaking in his warmth.

Just then, as if on cue, there's a knock at the door which is then followed by said door opening up and a surprisingly chipper Terra walks in, "Good morn friends! Today is a new day and oh-!".

Terra quickly turns around while covering her eyes, "I am so, so sorry! I did not know you two were-".

"Relax Terra. We're not doing anything" John says as he interrupts the elf.

"Not yet" Kyuala whispers into his ear.

Terra then slowly turns back around, hands still covering her eyes but she slowly removes them while saying, "Uhh, well, as I was saying before, today is a new bright day and I was going to suggest we get a strong breakfast".

Just as Terra finishes speaking, Lani, Kyuala and John's stomachs all grumble, signalling their hunger and John then remarks, "Breakfast sounds good, we'll be down in a few".

"Great! I shall get our meals ordered! Are any of you vegetarians by any chance?" Terra asks.

The trio respond with a resounding "No" which makes Terra take a sigh of relief, "Thank Zirnor the Wise. My sisters are all vegetarians and boy, they are so, irksome, when it comes to meat. Now, I will go and make the preparations!".

Terra then almost bounces out of the room, closing the door behind her. The trio look amongst one another with confused looks and Lani is the first to pipe up as she says, "I love her enthusiasm".

"Yeah, like an elven tornado" John replies.

"What's a tor-nade-oh?" Kyuala asks.

"It's like a massive spinning cloud that's on the ground and it moves around. It also destroys a lot of stuff too but enough of that. For now, we should get dressed" John says before he sits up but Kyuala quickly brings him back down and says, "Five more minutes, you're soooo warm".

"So are you, but if we stay for five more minutes, we'll end up staying five more, and then five after that and then five more after that. Then Terra will be left eating breakfast with Amilia and as funny as that sounds, we can't do that to her" John says to Kyuala who simply groans in defeat.

John and Lani then chuckle and after a few more seconds, John sits up again before getting out of the bed and after he does, he begins to get ready.

As John is putting his pants on, he turns to Kyuala who has now embedded herself deep in the warm bed, covers now wrapped around her entire body as she giggles in triumph.

John then looks at Lani who is just shaking her head while chuckling herself and after looking back to the comfy orc. He then gets an idea and moves over to Kyuala before saying,

"Kyuala Mar'azu, if you get up and get dressed in the next two minutes, i'll let you do anything you want when we get back to Reduna'z Gaze".

Kyuala's body moves under the covers and then, the covers are slightly raised, revealing her face as she responds, "Anything?".

"Anything" John replies with a sly smile.

Kyuala thinks on his words for a few seconds before quickly emerging out from under them, now on her knees on the bed, face-to-face with John as she plants a kiss on his lips before saying, "Sealed with a kiss, no backing out now mister".

John smirks, mimicking Kyuala as he says, "Wouldn't dream of it".

"Well you might wish you had, especially for what i've got planned for us" Kyuala giggles once again whilst getting up as the trio begin to get dressed.

A FEW MINUTES LATER - DOWNSTAIRS:

The trio head downstairs where they see a chirpy Terra and a very tired-looking Amilia as they head over to their table.

"Ahh good, our meals should be here in a bit, I made sure to order the perfect meal for a party of adventurers!" Terra cheerily says with that huge smile still on her face.

"Uuuuugh, where, is her off switch?" The rough looking, fur frazzled Amilia grumbles as she plants her head onto her arms.

"Well, I see you enjoyed your night Amilia" John says jokingly which earns him a piercing stare from the cat who simply replies, "You'll pay for that comment".

"Not while i'm beside him" Kyuala adds in as she wraps her arm around John who continues to look at Amilia while she mouths the words, "I'll get you".

John is a little worried but doesn't have time to focus on it as the door beside them opens and out comes Zyrotte with two trays in hand as she makes her way toward the table.

The lovely hostess places the plates in front of her customers one-by-one along with a pitcher of yellow liquid, that's when they all see what Terra has ordered for them.

"Voila! Scrambled Dregger eggs, Pilgar bacon, Mulger sausages and lynard beans along with freshly squeezed Wyverns fruit" Zyrotte says with that bright smile before adding, "I hope you all enjoy your meal!".

A symphony of "thank you's" rain onto Zyrotte who simply curtseys before walking off as the group begin to dig in.

Pleased grunts emanate from the group every few moments as they make their way through their breakfasts with Terra practically tearing through hers, barely stopping to take a breath in-between bites.

After a few minutes of feasting, the group hear footsteps coming down the steps and as they reach the ground floor, that's when they hear a familiar voice, "Ahh! Yous aw made it oot the cave! I feckin' knew yous wid!".

John and Kyuala turn around and that's when they see Daffodil standing there and that's when Kyuala says, "Hey Daffy! We were looking for you, take a seat!".

Daffodil grabs a chair from an empty table and slides it over to the groups table before taking a seat, "Well, you found me noo, whatcha needin'?".

"It's less needing and more of a, proposition for you" John says.

"Ooooh, using fancy werds are we? Okay, wits yer proposition handsome?".

"We cleared out the Darkcross from the cave and in doing so, we hid their weapons from them, so, they're currently sitting without any owners. We thought that maybe you'd like to help us get them back to Wiralsama to sell them and split the profit between us all. What'd you say?" John asks.

Daffodil is impressed with the man, "Ooh, freshie's a trader eh? Hmm, awright. You definitely peaked ma interest before but now you're after me heart wae the profit, so, i'm in!".

The group cheer as they take a drink including Daffodil who grabs a tankard and fills it with the juice before taking a sip herself.

Eventually Daffodil orders some food of her own and eats with the group as they plan their travelling for later that day.

A FEW HOURS LATER:

The group are back on the road, heading back to the cave they barely escaped from just a day ago.

They sit on Daffodils wagon, enjoying the satisfaction of not having to travel on foot while the dwarf just enjoys having some company.

Kyuala sits at the front with Daffodil, talking about their fight against the Darkcross with the dwarf having a multitude of reactions but said reactions are mostly laughter or disbelief.

The others however sit in the back with Lani and Terra talking to one another or rather, Terra giddily asking questions of fairies and such to Lani who happily answers.

While all of that is going on, John is quietly sitting as he is currently thinking on what's next for the group, do they go on another adventure? Strike down some other evil group? Do they go and find some ancient dungeon to claim the treasures inside? Or do they simply rest? Do they just relax in Reduna'z Gaze once again, letting the days pass as John tries to ignore the images shown to him by Elliyah, speaking of which, he should probably talk to her again.

As he's thinking about all of the above, he feels like something is, off. He feels, watched. That's when he looks up and sees the narrowed and focused eyes of Amilia currently staring a hole through him.

John feels awkward, unsure of how to respond to the piercing stare from Amilia but eventually he gets some words out which form the sentence, "Uhh, Amilia, are you, okay?".

"Mmm" Is all the response he gets from the cat yet her stare does not break.

The awkwardness just increases as Amilia continues her gaze as John tries to avoid her eyes, he then remembers something he was meant to ask and so he turns his head to Terra before asking, "Hey Terra, may I ask you something?".

"Sure, what's your query?" Terra responds, turning her gaze from Lani who now begins to talk with Amilia.

John takes a few seconds to phrase his question before speaking, "So, from what I know, snow elves have the highest affinity for magic, is that correct?".

"Yes we do. The scale of our natural ability to learn has been debated for years but the general consensus is that we are twice as fast at learning as wood elves which are the second fastest" Terra happily responds.

"Why do you ask?" Terra continues to which John replies, "Well, uhh, I, uhh, I ask because I wanted to see if you could, maybe, teach me?".

Terra is a little taken aback, unsure of what she just heard so she asks, "If I heard correctly, umm, you want me, to teach you, magic?".

"Well, if you want to, yes" John responds almost timidly, not quite looking in Terra's direction as he answers.

Terra is shocked as John just confirmed his words. She's unsure of how to even respond to his request as her mind races for some semblance of an answer.

John is sat there in silence, awaiting Terra's answer. His mind also racing as he wonders, "Oh god, what if she says no? What if i've just offended her? The last person I want to offend is someone with fucking magic, well, actually, Kyuala would definitely just pull me limb-from-limb so that would probably be worse".

The contemplation within the duo continues and after a few more nerve-wracking seconds, Terra opens her mouth to say...