Finn's heart would thump as he faced off against his adversary. When his clenched fists connected with flesh, he was a lad absorbed, his fists lashed out in a blur, his heart roaring with anger as noses and cheekbones crunched under his blows and bodies doubled over to a fist driven into the gut. Only when his enemy lay sobbing and bleeding on the ground was his resentment quenched. No kid had ever been courageous enough to challenge him twice. Barely indeed did it happen that he was the one put to the cobblestones.  Although most of these fights occurred in villages, he was not entirely spared in the country. He had defended himself against lads from neighboring farms and even the sons of the farms where he worked, who had taken exception to the presence of this orphan. Then there had been the times when a farmer, in one instance, and a far

Ten miles away from Lord Bernie's castleThe tremendous magical feline hurried through the high pastures of the grassland. It kneeled low, muscles tightened, and sensed every noise and scent. Completely large, the size of a man, it wormed forward in the stealth of predatorial technique through the wavy scrub. This remarkable mastery of the kill had already brought long life to the clever hunter. Its mane was great, its musculature was lean and taught, and its paws and shiny teeth protracted and sharp. And it smelled blood.At the end of the grassy area near the stream’s ridge, the daunting feline froze. It saw a gang of varied humans in a clearing, drying and cleaning the carcasses of beast prey hanging from the fences. A gazelle, some vicious beast, and a willow bear dangled enticingly from the low limbs. A banquet for the king of beasts. But the huge lion was not looking at the fresh meat. It peered at the vast figure laying the critters onto a wagon for transport. He was certainly

"That's why I was welcome because I brought meat?" Kain asked. "Yes, Kain of the North." "And therein lies your flaw, Camellana," whispered Kain. Camellana sat gloriously in her chair, and Kain was already washed up from the hunt. He stood intimately by her ear. "I know who you really are, Camellana, and even with the massive stone walls you try to achieve to cover the spell, your people need a proper leader, and by that I mean not you. What would happen if they found out that you were Lord Bernie's missing wife? And not just an ordinary healer?" "Smart lad… I like you, Kain." Camella said as she posed motionless so a craftsman could carve a detailed likeness of her face into a clay tablet with Kain while another sculpted his figure. They were celebrating his killing of the two enormous lions by crafting images of him as "hunter of the animals" and savior of her people. Kain's powerful likeness stood mightily in the center of her manor, hands stretched out to grip the throat of a l

The countess recited with a smirking dimple to her ruddy cheek that misled she was well conscious of the spell she cast. "So what do you desire of me, Norman?""My boss believes my painting of you may be of interest to our art enthusiasts in the North, madam.""Ah, Knight Ambrose? I cannot fathom why he should be interested in me; I am, after all, just an ordinary far. Did he send you to spy on me? You won't get anything from me other than a boring mint tea, those rumours were really ridiculous. I am just a maiden waiting for her knight in shining armour. I have led a simple life, albeit for a very long time. What do you need to know?"Norman nodded in agreement; this maiden seemed to be hopeless and naive, a damsel in distress indeed. He swallowed a lamp and smiled. A glamorous and desirable damsel, he thought. But he has a job, and he might as well kill two birds with one stone. He rummaged out his wax tablet; a piece of parchment paper waxed and tied together into a bundle, forming

There was no differentiation between the Countess' elegant complicity and the slumped, unfortunate undressing of his typical rented courtesans. She swivelled to the floor with a sluggish contemplation and veered around to face him, then gazed at his expressions as she stripped off her shoes and stockings. Then, finally, her underclothes.She stood before him, as sweet as her statues. Her nipples jammed under his eye, blushing as he took in the curly pink folds of her mound, as hairless as a beauty. She caressed fingertips over her delightful clit as if it were something skittish. "A hopeless side-effect of the procedures," she mumbled, smiling as if to a surprised child."Amazing pose, madam." Norman suppressed the desire to plummet to his knees. In worship this goddess and take her pink folds into his mouth. Her desire to seduce him was the most seductive thing about her. Her soft voice had the lilt he knew so well; her words were smooth with t