Insist on getting some answers

“Wait a minute, Roderick,” he says as he catches up to the knight. “I know you said you think you know what’s going on, but shouldn’t we find out what we can from Jasmien before we leave? She’s the only one who seems to know for sure what’s happening to me.”

Roderick stops and considers Alex’s request. “Jasmine? She was the naked lassie who was all worked up?” Realization hits him, and he face beams with delight. “Say! Did you pop your cherry with her?” He grasps Alex’s shoulder and gives his body and appreciative shake. “That’s my boy! You’ll have to admit that was the best ten pieces of silver you’ve ever spent, eh? I had an eye on her, myself, but I ended up going with a lass a bit closer to my age. She may not have been as supple in the titty department, but experience trumps looks nine times out of ten.” He looks around at the establishment appreciatively. “We’ll have to remember this place and come around again for a visit.”

Alex grows impatient with his mentor and says, “It’s answers we need, Roderick. I was glowing like a firefly up there. What’s going on? Is it serious? Am I going to die from it?”

Roderick stops at the foot of the stairs and studies his apprentice. “No, I don’t think this will kill you. Not directly, that is.” The relief Alex feels at the first sentence is immediately offset by the second.

“Not directly? What do you—“

He leaves his question unfinished as he sees Jasmine at the top of the stairs. She is dressed and much calmer than when he last saw her. Kelly is with her. The women see Alex and Roderick and exchange whispers before continuing down the stairway.

Kelly looks at Alex intently. Her look of fascination is decidedly different than when she was studying his crotch and preparing to fellate him less than an hour ago. She looks from Alex to Roderick, and they exchange knowing looks.

“The Marbhadh Uilebheistean?” Roderick asks.

Kelly nods. “You know the tale, then?”

The knight responds, “I know the legend. The details are a bit vague to me.”

“As with me,” says the brothel keeper. “In truth, until today, I doubted that they were anything other than tawdry fairy tales. It seems, however, that Jasmine has done more than take your apprentice’s virginity. It would appear that she has revealed his true potential.”

Alex listens to the exchange with growing impatience. “Will someone please fill me in on what everyone else seems to know? I’m standing right here, after all!”

Kelly nods and says, “Of course. But not out here. Let’s go to somewhere more private.”

She beckons for Jasmine to join them and leads the small group to Kelly’s office. Despite his anxiety, Alex feels his cock stir as he enters the room. The last time he was here, it was also at Kelly’s insistence upon finding a place with a bit more privacy. Within moments of entering the room, Alex was leaning against her desk with his pants around his ankles, getting his first blowjob. It seems like years ago now.

Kelly closes the door and motions for everyone to take a seat. “Jasmine, why don’t you tell our guests what you told me?”

Jasmine looks at Roderick and Alex. When her eyes come to Alex, he again sees the mixture of fear and awe in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and explains.

“I come from Lower Clovis, on the southern edge of the Black Forest. My brother and I fled from there when we were children. The whole region is under the tyranical control of the Uilebheist.”

Alex looks to Roderick for explanation. “It roughly translates as ‘Monster,’” the knight explains. “It’s a creature of legend. The stories say that three powerful practitioners of magic attempted to combine their powers in an effort to control the world. Their spell went awry, however, and instead of simply combining their powers, the three of them merged together into one being.”

Jasmine nods energetically. “It is no legend. The Uilebheist is real and has controlled my village for centuries. It promises not to destroy the village if we sacrifice a virgin to it every year. Our parents sent my brother and me away so we would not be offered up to the fiend.”

“Where is your brother?” asks Alex.

Jasmine’s eyes drop to the floor. “We were seperated during our flight. The last I saw him was deep in the Black Forest. We were being pursued by a fearsome man-wolf creature. Clevis turned back to fight the creature and buy me time to get away. That was the last I saw him — nearly ten years ago.”

Roderick nods gravely. “Werewolves. Vicious bastards. I have seen more than my fair share of them. They’re just one of the many reasons that no one should enter the Black Forest.”

“So we were told,” says Jasmine. “And had it been for any reason other than to escape the Uilebheist, I would never have set foot in that wretched place.” Her eyes return to Alex. “And yet now I dare to hope that all our years of terror may at last be at an end. I never dreamt I would live to see the Marbhadh Uilebheistean.”

Alex runs his hands through his hair and closes his eyes. All of this information is hitting him at once, and he feels as if he is in danger of losing his mind. Roderick looks at his squire with a expression of sympathy. He reaches into his pocket and retrieves his flask. Handing it to Alex, he says, “Have a snort, my boy. I know this is a bit overwhelming.”

Alex takes the flask gratefully and lifts it to his lips. The firewater goes down his throat much more smoothly than when he first tasted it. He quickly begins to feel the warming and calming effects of the ****.

After retrieving the flask and taking a long drink from it for himself, Roderick says, “‘Marbhadh Uilebheistean’ translates roughly as ‘Slayer of the Monsters.’ There is a legend that the Uilebheist’s reign of terror will end when it is slain by mighty warrior.”

“And she thinks I’m this Marmalade Yulebeasteen guy?”

“Marbhadh Uilebheistean,” says Kelly, emphasizing the correct pronounciation. “And the answer to your question is yes. All the signs point toward it.”

“Signs?” asks Alex. “You mean the way my body sparkled? How does that make me a monster killer?”

Kelly looks at Jasmine and nods encouragingly. “Tell him the prophesy, Jasmine.”

Jasmine says, “There is a story that everyone in my village learns as a little child. Our parents tell it to us at bedtime to remind us that the days of the Uilebheist will eventually come to an end. It goes like this:

The emerald lights mark the warrior foretold,

The adopted son, whose innocence was sold.

To unleash the sword that makes Uilebheist fold,

He must taste of two maidens: young and old.

In the Forest of Blackness his sword will there grow.

As he mounts lion, fox, and the one with the bow.

Then under the moon where the Pleasure Lillies grow,

He must add their pollen to the seed he shall sow.

With his sword thus embued at the Dunes he shall feast,

Tasting all of the dishes, the greatest and least.

Only then thus equipped, his sword shall he unleash

And pierce every soul of the Uilebheist.

When Jasmine finishes reciting the prophesy, she looks at Alex expectantly, apparently thinking that all of his questions have thus been answered.