Too Much Information – an online comic

Boy meets dark elf.

Everything hurt. Hans slowly realized he was in some sort of bed. More like nest of furs than a bed actually.

“Where am I?” he thought.

He’d been bandaged, and cleaned, head to toe. He peeked under the fur covering him. “And where are my clothes?”

Hans looked about, he was in a cave of some sort. A circular pan toward the center of the chamber held a fire, providing heat and light. A metal screen surrounded the pan and finished stone lay under and around it. Sparks wouldn’t be a problem. The smoke was contained by an inverted funnel and flue disappearing into the ceiling. A small pot and a kettle hung over the fire on curved rods that went into vertical pipes set in the stone. A third hanging rod was unused.

≪He’s awake!≫

A pair of jade green eyes gleamed from the shadows.

“Who’s there?” asked Hans.

With a curt meow a large cat, with short tawny fur, strode out of the dark corner and sat at the foot of the bedding.

A door slid opposite the firepit. A woman entered, rotated a standing mirror so that more firelight shown on him, repositioned the pot, a brothy odor wafted over, and gracefully kneeled next to him.

With the increased light Hans noted that firepit was at the center of a raised platform of polished wood. A bag-like cushion off to one side was quickly claimed by the cat. A thick book lay off to one side, a ribbon hanging out at the halfway mark. The remainder of the floor looked like smoothed marble slabs, but the shine was wrong.

As she knelt, Hans turned his attention to the woman. The beautiful woman. The beautiful woman with long, white hair and mahogany skin. The beautiful woman with long, white hair, mahogany skin, and, . . . pointed ears?

Concluding that she had tended him, bathed him, and took his clothes, Hans decided to say something gracious and intelligent, “Yee.”

≪You can make an entrance, can’t you, girlfriend?≫

“Mau!” said the cat.

“Not now, Bast,” she said to the cat.

Turning to him the woman said, “Good. I was worried you wouldn’t come around so soon. You took quite a beating and healing isn’t my strong point.”

She knelt next to the bed and gently pushed him back down into it.

“Don’t move. You’ve got several broken ribs, you nearly bled out from your thigh wound, and your shoulder is still a mess. I’m about out of magic and my bed is ruined.”

Finding the ability to speak, Hans asked, “You . . . You’re an elf?”

The cat strode up to Hans as well. He held a hand up weakly and it moved under it so he could pet it.

She smiled a lovely smile.

≪He seems friendly enough. But I hope that’s not his normal level of intelligence.≫

“I’m a–, a dark elf, if you will. You may call me Seidr.”

“A dark elf? I thought dark elves were, well . . .”

“Wicked and evil? I guess you could say that. Our society is self-serving, and only currying favor from those more powerful. All too often, the weak and useless are allowed to die. If they’re lucky. But then, I guess there’s nothing more evil than that. Is there?”

Hans started to rise but she pushed him back.

“Silly Man, don’t worry about me. I’m a sort of rebel outcast. A bit wicked, maybe. It was in my own interest that I saved you. But I don’t think you’ll have many complaints. I plan you no harm.”

“I’m Hans, Hans Madison,” he stammered.

“You do me great honor, Hans Madison. Names have power in Aelfheim, and I have enough power over you as it is.”

She sighed softly. Hans thought briefly that he could get used to hearing such music.

≪Ooh, he likes you.≫

“Where am I?” he asked.

She smiled. “This is my cave and you are safe here. That’s all you need worry about for now. Please trust me on that.”

Curiosity warred within him against the desire to see more of her smiles.

Wiping Hans’ brow, she said, “Such a fine young man you are. Have you seen even twenty summers?” She put a finger to his lips. “Don’t say anything. There will be time for questions later, and that goes for my own as well. For now, you need, we need, to rest.”

She looked at his handsome, young face, as she thought, “Whatever shall I do with you? No, I know what I have to do. I know what I wanted of you. Now I know the price. But, can I pay it?”

≪Just what are you planning, Seidr?≫

She sighed once more. “Hans Madison, I have to tell you the truth. I am, was, a necromancer in my old world. When a creature is dying, I know it. I’ve bound your wounds as best I can, but your light yet fades. I can save you, but in return you must, well, give a life to me.”

“My what? You don’t mean my soul, do you?”

The question seemed to shock her. “No, not at all. Taking souls is a forbidden craft even among my kind.”

≪Only an idiot would try to take his Ka anyway. He’s got one hell of an aura, Babe!≫

“Rather, what I need you to give me the bit of life that any man gives to his lover. I will save your life, but I need you to love me. Look at me, Hans Madison. Look at me and tell me you love me.”

“Um, I love you.”

Seidr poked him on the forehead and smiled. “Silly Man, you have to mean it, even if it’s for the moment. Really look at me and truly tell me you love me.”

“I . . .” Hans looked her in the eyes. He saw something, something special. Mystified he said, “I love you.”

≪Uh oh. I don’t think you meant for that to happen.≫

She gasped lightly, almost as though she hadn’t expected him to do it. Putting her head on his chest, she sighed another musical sigh.

“There may as well be no word for ‘love’ in the language of my people. There’s no time for it in our lives, no room for it in our hearts. Yet it’s such a wonderful word to hear, when it’s spoken from a true heart.”

≪Oh no! Not you too?≫

She stood and dropped her robe to the floor. In spite of his weakened condition, Hans felt himself reacting. She was so beautiful. Long graceful legs, and arms. Firm, high breasts, with tiny nipples as black as ink. His eyes wandered down, across a firm belly and narrow waist, to . . .

“Its white, too,” he thought.

Hans realized she was appraising him in much the same way. She had pulled the covering fur away and was working her long, delicate fingers down his chest, skirting bandages, across his stomach, before finally using them to take his measure.

Seidr shooed the cat away, saying, “My turn with him, Bast.”

With a murmur of satisfaction, and much to Hans’ surprise, she carefully got astride him, eased herself down, and began rocking gently.

≪Ra’s Light! You don’t waste any time. I was expecting you to kiss him or something first. Well, I have better things to do than watch a couple of clumsy hominids slap midriffs.≫

Hans was vaguely aware of the cat scampering away as Seidr began to chant:

Sit amor, fac nobis totam.
Sit tua vulnera facta meis.
Ego ferre dolorem.

Sit amoris coniungere animas nostras.
Sit mea respiratio ferre tibi.
Fortitudo mea fit tuus.

Sit amor nos gaudium..
Unus spiritus, una vita, una caro.
Nos duo factus est.

Hans felt his strength returning, but as he did, he noticed his injuries mirroring themselves on Seidr’s body. First the bite on his shoulder, then the claw marks from his arms, followed by the rest, even a wound appeared on her cheek. He couldn’t remember getting that.

Concern in his voice he asked, “Seidr? What’s happening?”

“Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop. Just . . . love me.”

As Seidr continued chanting in clearly growing distress, Hans considered putting a stop to it anyway. But, it was so, incredible.

Her chant went on. It could have been the same lines as before, but Hans wasn’t sure. His attention had long since wavered.

In a final orgasmic moment, Seidr arched her head back and let forth a scream Hans prayed he would never hear again. Light burst forth from her wounds. They quickly mended, cutting off the light, leaving long white scars. She collapsed onto his chest.

≪I hope you don’t decide that wasn’t worth it!≫

With one hand, he placed a wisp of hair back in place. “Are you all right?” he asked.

She purred back at him. “Hmm, hurt a lot more than I expected. Just need some rest. This is nice. Don’t move, please.”

She nodded off as Hans pulled a cover over the two of them and put his arms around her to hold her steady. He could feel her heart beating against his chest, in rhythm with his own, strong and steady, and comforting.

≪You’d better be good to her, Hans Madison, or I’ll give you a whole new set of scars myself. I don’t know how it happened, but she’s really in love with you.≫

“I really do love her,” he wondered to himself. “I know nothing about her. I don’t even know where I am. But I love her and, and, she loves me. I don’t know how I know that, but I do, and that’s all that matters.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “What was that line? ‘If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep.'”

Next: CHAPTER 5–PASSION

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Copyright AndyOH! (Andrew F. Odendhal)
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This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to persons living or dead is coincidental.