From a Forest of Bone and Blood | Chapter Thirteen
“Jensen.”.
Jensen groaned and tried to roll over, unsuccessfully. He struggled but his limbs still felt heavy and weak.
“Jensen, wake up already.”
“Alona! Be nice,” Jared’s voice pierced through Jensen’s sleep-addled mind and he opened his eyes.
“I’d like to get out of this forest today,” Alona snapped back. Able to see now, Jensen saw that Alona was leaning into the tent and glaring at Jared, in whose lap Jensen’s head lay.
“Help me sit up, please,” Jensen said, struggling. Jared placed a firm hand under Jensen’s back and with the added support Jensen was able to sit up. He blinked slowly and took in his surroundings. That he was in the tent was obvious, but outside it was broad daylight. The bright light filtered in through the seams of the tent. Was this still Wraithwood?
Jensen felt life returning to his body and he pushed his way out of the tent, past Alona who murmured, “Excuse you.”
“Jensen!”
Jensen heard Genevieve shout his name excitedly only a moment before he had his arms full of petite brunette. A little stiffly, he hugged her back and then let her go. She was smiling widely at him.
“I was so worried about you! Well, we all were,” she amended quickly.
Jensen looked around. The forest was definitely brighter. It wasn’t like it had burst into a sudden springtime, no, it was much more subtle than that, but something about the forest had definitely changed.
“The forest feels different,” Jensen said. It was more of a question, really and Genevieve grinned.
“That’s the second best part. Watch this.” Genevieve hastily knelt down and put her hands on the ground. In a moment he saw the soil start to quiver and then split to make way for a seedling to emerge. This was more than just different.
“That’s amazing,” Jensen breathed.
“Oh, by the way, our magic’s back,” Alona said, and Jensen frowned at her nonchalance. He turned to face her, intent on explaining how phenomenal this was, but Alona was beaming, her face split wide on a smile.
Jared came out of the tent, a grin on his face as well. “Three hundred years, Jensen,” he said. “It’s been three hundred years since anything natural grew in this forest. I think the curse is lifted.”
“We broke a three hundred year old curse?” Jensen asked dubiously.
“Sort of,” Jared said, the words upended like a question. “When we burnt that thing’s tree, it destroyed all of the ghost dryads in the forest. It must have been anchoring them here, trapping them in a permanent state of unrest. These trees are well and truly dead now. I think that thing -“
“Her name was Alaina,” said Jensen, his voice somber. He kicked at the leaves under his feet. “She was the only living dryad in the forest and she was desperate to save it. I don’t think the land was cursed so much as it was corrupted. She was trying to save her forest the only way she knew how, and she just ended up making things worse.”
“Maybe we should have let her feed you to the forest since you seem to feel sorry for her,” Alona teased, but her tone was sad. Wraithwood, and what had befallen it, was sad.
“Shut up,” was what Jensen said in return. “Let’s go. I want to end this quest. How long was I asleep?”
“A day and a night,” Jared said quietly. Jensen turned his head in Jared’s direction and saw the serious expression on Jared’s face. “Alona, Genevieve, can you two put the tent away while I take Jensen to get some water and wash up?”
“Sure,” said Genevieve.
“Water?” Jensen asked. When they’d entered the forest they’d each had a canteen of water in their supplies.
“We ran out of water yesterday,” said Jared, pushing branches out of his way as he led Jensen through the forest. “But this water is pure. You’ll be able to sense it when you run your hands through it. Genevieve said it was probably clean enough to drink, but then I remembered a water purification spell that made us sure it was fine to drink. How are you holding up?”
“Me? Oh, I’m alright,” Jensen answered truthfully. With every step he seemed to regain more and more of his strength. He stopped to lean against a tree and watched Jared clear more of a path.
“Jared, wait,” Jensen called. Jared turned and hurried back over to Jensen. Jared’s forehead creased in concern..
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Jared asked.
“Thank you for saving me,” Jensen said. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead and feeding the ghosts that were in this forest. So, thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank-“
Jensen reached up and pulled Jared down to him so that their mouths crashed together. Jared grunted in surprise but was quick on the uptake, pressing Jensen up against the tree. Jared’s mouth trailed down Jensen’s chin and to his neck, where Jared left teasing little nips..
“Didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to do this,” Jared said softly against Jensen’s skin. “Let me touch you?”
“Gods, please, I was stupid to wait so long,” Jensen managed to bite out. Jared’s hands reached down and grabbed twin handfuls of Jensen’s buttocks, hoisting him up against the trunk of the tree which creaked dangerously.
Jensen wrapped his legs around Jared’s waist.
“Do you want to stop?” Jared asked.
“What? Why?”
“Well, what if the girls-“
“Let ‘em watch,” Jensen said before drawing Jared’s face up for another kiss. “I almost didn’t get this. Do it.”
Jared pressed his hips tightly to Jensen’s, slotting their arousals together. Jensen gasped and arched his hips up, searching for more, more, more.
“Please, Jared,” Jensen moaned, unsure what he was asking for.
“I want to be inside you,” Jared said and Jensen wholeheartedly agreed, “but I don’t have anything to smooth the way, so it will have to wait.” The words were peppered with kisses all over Jensen’s face.
“Just touch me then, Jared,” Jensen demanded.
“Hang on to the tree,” Jared instructed, and Jensen did as he was told, grasping the tree behind him as best he could, using that and his legs around Jared’s hips to keep from sliding down. Jared reached down with one hand and opened the fly on Jensen’s trousers, freeing his erection from the fabric and following suit with his own fly. Now that both of them were exposed to the morning air, Jared thrust his hips up against Jensen’s and wrapped his free hand around both of them, stroking them slowly at first.
“Oh - oh, Gods, Jared,” Jensen gasped, thrusting into Jared’s grip.
“Yes, that’s it,” Jared said, his own voice hitching as he found his pleasure. “I’ve wanted to see that for the longest time. You’re stunning like this.”
“Jared, shut up, please shut up,” Jensen growled, losing himself in the sensation of Jared’s hand caressing up and down their lengths. Jared leaned closer, the grasp on Jensen’s ass almost painful where his fingers dug into Jensen’s flesh.
It didn’t take long before Jensen came with a with a bitten off cry, the proof of his bliss pulsing from his manhood and dribbling down over Jared’s fingers, slicking the way. Jared rested his forehead against Jensen’s, and Jensen could tell he was trying to keep his eyes open to watch Jensen’s face when he came, but he lost the battle when his own orgasm hit, and Jared’s come joined Jensen’s, mingling between their bodies.
They stayed like that for a few minutes while their breathing and beating hearts calmed down. Then slowly, carefully, Jared lowered Jensen to the ground where they separated and fixed their clothing.
“I hope this stream is as great as you make it sound,” Jensen said. “Otherwise everyone will know what we were up to.”
Jared didn’t respond, but he smiled at Jensen, and his eyes were soft.
When they arrived back at the campsite, washed and arranged, Alona gave them one look.
“Well you two look positively debauched,” she said with a wink. “Hope you had fun.”
Jared laughed, long and loud
.
Jensen wasn’t sure if he’d ever been a darker shade of red in his life. Probably not.
***
The remaining walk through the woods wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as it had been the day before - or rather, the day before yesterday. It was hard for Jensen to remember that he’d been asleep for over twenty-four hours.
The forest, comparatively speaking, was almost cheerful. There were no birds and the trees were still almost dead, but at least now the sunlight was filtering through the branches of the trees and dappling the ground quite beautifully.
They walked for two more days, Jared and Jensen taking time alone to bathe when they could, as well as engage in more pleasurable activities, not the least of which was when Jensen fell to his knees and took Jared in his mouth, eliciting sounds that, if Jensen hadn’t known better, would have been indicative of Jared dying.
Finally, on their fourth day in the forest, they came across a rock wall that seemed to follow a dilapidated road. Jensen and Genevieve studied the map carefully and declared that they must be nearing the village of Gatewood, and that they’d better be on the lookout for more ghosts - although no one had spotted a ghost after the incident with Alaina that first night.
They followed the rock wall and the road running beside it until they burst from the treeline and found themselves looking at what could only be the village of Gatewood. Jensen had expected wither and ruins, the skeletons of buildings reaching skywards in a vain attempt to somehow remain what they had been. He hadn’t been expecting this.
Granted, the village of Gatewood was no bustling metropolis. Even compared to Sheppardston, this town was small. It barely warranted a dot on the map. Small houses dotted the landscape, clustered close together as if protecting one another from the curse of the Wraithwood Forest. The forest had been cleared back from fields which looked like they’d been used to make large gardens, and they were recently tended. There were barns here and there with the sounds of live animals inside.
“Is it possible?” Jared breathed, his eyes wide. “Could they have lived here all this time?”
“I’d say it’s more than possible,” Genevieve responded. “Look, there are people here, and I’m almost certain they’re not ghosts.”
“Well this changes things,” Jensen said. “We should let them know it’s safe to go into the forest now.”
Just then they were spotted by some of the villagers. A shout was heard and then several farmers were running toward them with what looked to be pitchforks and other farming equipment wielded as weapons.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Jared boomed. The villagers stilled a ways away from them and eyed them warily. “We’re just travelers - we came through the forest!”
“Liars,” accused one of the farmers, a man about Jensen’s height with scruffy blond hair and what appeared to be a permanent squint. “The forest is cursed. No one comes through it alive.”
“We’re alive, I swear,” Genevieve said. “The curse, or whatever it was, has been lifted.”
“You’re saying you broke the curse on Wraithwood? The curse that has caused us to be trapped here for over three hundred years? You just waltzed in and broke the curse? Who are you?”
Jensen couldn’t blame the man for being suspicious, but an idea occurred to him.
“Look, the curse doesn’t allow anything to grow in Wraithwood, correct? What if we can prove the curse has been broken?”
“How do you plan to do that?” the man asked. He still looked skeptical, but at the same time hopeful.
“Come with us into the very edge of the forest,” Jensen said. This prompted the villagers to raise their implements even higher, as if it were a trap.
“It’s not a trap,” Alona said. She side-eyed Jensen a bit, a look that said she hoped he knew what he was doing. Jensen smiled.
“No, it’s not a trap. Look, just come with us to the very edge. You can get out quickly if it’s a trap and besides, there’s more of you than there are of us,” Jensen said. The villagers looked to each other and had a silent conversation, before one or two of them shrugged. The blond, who seemed to be their leader, nodded.
“Alright, but if it’s a trap you can expect to have your body pierced with at least one pitchfork before we cut you up and feed you to our pigs.”
Genevieve blanched. Jensen wasn’t too keen on the idea either. Jensen turned and led the way back to the treeline, where he faced his friends.
“Alright, let’s do something spectacular like make these trees bloom, or grow, to show them that the curse is lifted. What do you think? Anyone have any better ideas?”
“I think the blooming is a great trick,” Jared said. “But I think we’re all going to have to concentrate on this one together, like we did with the dragon flame.”
They agreed, and they stood in a circle and joined their hands together. Closing their eyes, they concentrated on not just restoring the life to the trees that surrounded them but causing them to bloom as well. It took a moment, but then Jensen felt the power kick in, like a vine growing fiercely through his chest, down through his feet to root in the soil and then spread to the trees around him. His body felt warm and his fingers tingled. Finally the power snapped and he jerked back, pulling his hands away from Jared and Genevieve and opening his eyes. The trees around them were in full, glorious bloom. A gentle breeze blew through the wood, catching some of the petals and pulling them to the ground.
The villagers gasped and looked at the trees, mouths agape. Then the blond man smiled and stretched his arms out wide.
“They’re right, the curse is lifted! The curse is finally lifted! We have to inform everyone right away!” Here he turned to the four travelers. “Welcome to our village. My name is Chad - I run the inn here - and you are going to be officially welcomed as heroes. Come!”
***
Welcomed as heroes was an understatement - the entire town practically shut down and started planning festivities. They introduced themselves and were introduced to nearly every villager. Lanterns were strung from building to building and lit, and animals were slaughtered for a feast.
It was a bit surreal. Jensen was led about the town, along with his companions and given wine and food and music. The villagers noticed Jensen’s lute and asked for a song, which of course he had Alona, Jared and Genevieve join in. He chose a lighthearted song that set everyone to dancing.
Finally as the sun was setting the innkeeper - and what a dismal business that must have been in this town - invited them to stay at his inn, free of charge of course. It had been a long day and so the four took him up on his offer, and soon they each found themselves in their own comfortable room.
Jensen yawned and stretched. It had been entirely too long since he slept in a bed. He couldn’t believe their quest was nearly over. Probably tomorrow they’d set out to find the Pool of Restoration and get their memories back.
The thought of that dampened Jensen’s mood just a bit, as it always did. Part of him wished they could just stay the way they were - four traveling friends off on adventures, making new friends, flying in airships and lifting curses from forests. It was a good life so far.
Maybe the Oracle had been wrong. Maybe they would all be successful. How could they come so close and fail now? He didn’t want to think about it. Jensen removed his clothes and put on his nightshirt before going to the window and opening it. It felt wrong somehow, to be this melancholy after a festival. He leaned on the sill and stared up at the stars. They twinkled merrily overhead, heedless of time and space, or at least heedless of Jensen’s problems.
He closed the window and turned to his bed, intent on getting a good night’s sleep. He’d reached the bed and pulled down the duvet when he heard a knock on his door. Sighing, Jensen opened it only to be met with Jared, standing there in his own nightshirt.
“May I come in?” Jared asked, sounding strangely shy.
“Of course,” Jensen said. “Don’t you want to sleep in your own room?”
“There’s too much room in there,” Jared admitted. He sounded adorably sheepish. “I guess I’m used to sharing my space now and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if I joined you.”
“No, of course not,” Jensen responded as he made his way back to the bed. “I was feeling a little melancholy myself; I’ll be glad for the company. Blow out the candle?”
Jared did as he was asked before carefully making his way to the bed. Jensen heard him stop and set something on the bedside table, but it was too dark to see and the next thing he knew Jared had climbed into the bed next to him.
“Jensen?” Jared whispered into the darkness. “I was thinking about tomorrow, and how we’re nearing the end of our quest, and - ah, to the depths with it.”
The bed frame complained as Jared rolled over, blanketing half of Jensen with his body. There, in the dark, Jared covered Jensen’s mouth with slow, lazy kisses until they both ran out of breath. Jared’s hand meandered from Jensen’s chest, to his hip and then to his bare thigh, Jared’s thumb rubbing small circles into the skin.
Jensen felt himself start to harden as Jared’s hand traveled down his body, but Jared either didn’t feel it or was blatantly ignoring it despite his own arousal pressing into Jensen’s other thigh. Jensen reached down and rucked up Jared’s nightshirt and trailed his fingertips over Jared’s erection.
Jared gasped and thrust forward, pre-come leaving a wet kiss on Jensen’s hand. Jensen used the opportunity to wrap his hand fully around Jared’s length and squeezed gently, wringing a moan from the other man.
“Gods, Jared, don’t go slow. Not tonight. Tell me you brought something to ease the way. I want to do this now, and I don’t want it to take all night.”
Jared chuckled. “You’re rather bossy sometimes, you know that?”
“I kind of figured that out,” Jensen admitted with a shrug. “I can’t help it though - I know what I want. Now, are you going to fuck me or do I have to tie you down and do all the work myself?”
“Gods, Jensen!” Jared groaned. “You shouldn’t talk like that or I’m liable to hurt you with how bad I want you.”
“So take what you want,” Jensen murmured against Jared’s lips. Jared growled and rolled away to retrieve whatever it was he put on the bedside table and Jensen waited patiently while Jared did so. Jared resituated himself between Jensen’s legs and Jensen felt a small metal container rest against his thigh.
“Spread your legs for me, Jensen,” Jared said, and Jensen did as he was told, trusting in Jared to take care of him. Jared leaned over long enough to kiss him, and while he did so Jared’s fingers delved into the cleft of Jensen’s buttocks and found his hole, circling it gently. It almost tickled, and Jensen gasped as his hips fought to jump away from the touch. At the same time, having Jared’s large fingers exploring him so intimately was incredibly arousing, and Jensen could’nt help the quiet gasps and moans that were falling from his mouth.
Jared caught them with his own.
Jared’s fingers disappeared, only to return with more oil as his finger pushed past Jensen’s rim and intruded his body. Jensen blinked and tried to catch his breath, and Jared held perfectly still while Jensen adjusted, but it was a strange feeling to have Jared’s finger inside him. Slowly, almost too slowly, Jared began the push and pull, in and out that would open Jensen up and enable him to accept Jared’s much larger manhood.
It was just starting to feel good when Jared added another finger, repeating the process excruciatingly slowly.
“That’s enough, Jared,” Jensen said, barely able to speak when Jared crooked his fingers just right to find a spot inside Jensen that only caused his pleasure to build and make Jensen crave more.
“Am I hurting you?” Jared asked, concerned and misunderstanding Jensen’s intent.
“No,” Jensen replied. “But I want you inside me sometime before daybreak. Do it now.”
“Are you sure? You don’t feel ready yet.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Jensen said. He lifted his hips in blatant invitation and Jared moaned. His eyes having adjusted to the darkness, he could see Jared’s outline against the moonlight filtering in through the window, and watched as Jared slicked himself up with the oil before positioning the blunt head of his cock at Jensen’s entrance. He teased Jensen with it a little, rubbing it in circles around the rim in the same path Jared’s fingers had taken a little while ago.
“You’re absolutely sure?” Jared asked again, and instead of answering Jensen hooked his feet together behind Jared and pulled him forward. It caused Jared to thrust inside Jensen none too gently and in one swift thrust Jared was fully seated inside Jensen.
It was too much. Jensen felt like he was being split apart and for one crazy moment he thought he’d actually injured himself permanently, but then the burn started to subside. He started breathing again.
“Jensen? Oh, Gods Jensen, did I hurt you?”
Jensen felt Jared start to pull back, ever so slightly, and Jensen wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Don’t you dare pull out of me right now,” Jensen commanded. “Just stay still for a moment.”
Jared groaned but did as he was asked. Jared’s breathing was just as heavy and stilted as Jensen’s.
“Alright, you can move now,” Jensen finally whispered. His arousal had returned once he realized that this was Jared inside him, strong, beautiful, boisterous Jared, and that they were as close as physically possible. Jared held himself above Jensen as he thrust, slow at first and then faster and harder, and Jensen met him thrust for thrust, their breathy moans and the creaking bed frame the only sounds they were aware of.
Jared aimed his thrusts just right, hitting that spot inside of Jensen that caused the pressure to build, coiling tightly inside of him until he was nearly ready to burst. He needed more; he needed to come. He reached down with one hand and jacked himself as slowly as he could, not wanting to come too soon, but instinct won out and he stroked furiously, until he came with a gasp that almost sounded surprised.
Above him, raining kisses on him as he came undone, Jared was speaking all manner of filth about how much he liked hearing Jensen, how he wished it were daylight so he could see Jensen, how it would taste to have Jensen come on his tongue so that Jensen could then taste himself. Jensen’s spent cock pulsed out one more pathetic stream of come at that and Jensen went boneless, collapsing back on the bed with a sigh.
Jared’s thrusts sped up now that he was chasing his own pleasure, still hitting that spot in Jensen that was now a little over-sensitive and each thrust almost felt electric now. Finally with a grunt, Jared came, deep inside Jensen, filling him with his seed.
As before, they lay like that until their breathing calmed and Jared started to get heavy, at which point Jensen batted Jared off of him. Reaching down beside the bed, Jensen grabbed his shirt and used it to clean himself and Jared. Jared mumbled a nearly unintelligible thank you, and fell asleep almost immediately. Jensen smiled and curled up against Jared’s back.
“I love you, you know,” Jensen said to Jared’s snores. “Even if you turn out to be the dragon, even if you’re a common foot soldier or a dryad or an avenging wizard, I’ll still love you.”
Jensen felt Jared’s fingers entwine with his own.
“I love you too, Jensen. No matter what.”
Chapter Twelve | Chapter Fourteen
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