4 Todd

"Another drink!" Todd called to the barmaid passing by. She did a small curtsie and walked back towards the barrels to fill his order. She came back a few moments later and set his drink down in front of him. He fumbled through his coin purse looking for the silver coins amongst all the gold. He had recently completed a contract worth 200 gold and was spending it the best way he knew how.

"Don't worry about it love, I'll cover you." A woman's voice said behind him.

Todd didn't argue with the woman, "A free drink is the best drink." He thought. He saw a hand reach over and drop a few silvers in the barmaids hand and shoo her away. The hand was a deep red color. Todd knew then that he was dealing with a Tiefling and had his guard up. The barmaid left quickly and began to serve other tables.

"What's a handsome man like you doing sitting all alone? Especially at the Bard Festival." The woman said as she sat down. Todd glanced over and was in shock by what he saw. This Teifling was like none he had seen before. Her skin was a soft red color that spoke of warmth instead of dread with a look of silk. Todd wanted to touch her just to see how soft it really was. Her hair was black with light grey streaks along the sides and cut to her jawline. Todd wasn't much for short hair, but the way it followed the shape of her face made it seem intoxicating. She wore a black leather outfit that seemed fit for an adventurer, yet there was something seductive about the way she left the top string untied on her chest piece. It exposed a small and supple bossom. Her orange eyes followed his and she smirked.

Todd, knowing he was caught, focused on his drink instead. After taking a long swig he cleared his throat and looked to the Teifling again. He wanted to thank her for the drink. As his eyes turned back to her, he choked on his drink and had to cough a few times. Standing behind the Teifling was an Elf woman. He blonde hair fell to her waist and her long red dress formed around her figure in a way that mesmerised every man who walked by. Her hair covered half of her blushing face as she looked away. She seemed to be nervous or shy, but that only added to her beauty. As Todd's eyes roamed over the Elf he saw that she wore her dress similar to the Teifling in that her top buttons were undone and loose. Her bossom, though, was much more supple than her friends. It filled the dress and then some, almost spilling out of the top, and Todd was lost for words.

"You see I've come to the festival this year with a mission." The Teifling continued. "My name is Shoka and this is my friend Yara. Say hello Yara."

"Hello sir, I'm sorry if we are bothering you." Yara said softly.

"No... No of course not. You aren't bothering me at all." Todd stammered.

"Good." Shoka smiled. "As I said I've come here with a mission."

"And what would that be?" Todd asked.

"To find Yara a mate." She said.

Again Todd choked on his drink and had to clear his throat before he could talk again.

"Shoka please don't be so forward about it." Yara said, her face turning another shade of red.

"What do you mean?" Todd asked bewildered.

"Well my good friend here has never been with a man before. My goal is to see her finally satisfied."

"And.... You're asking me..." Todd couldn't get the words out.

"To be the one to satisfy her, yes." Shoka said matter-of-factly.

Todd looked up to Yara who stood like a statue through the entire conversation.

"And you're friend? What are her opinions on your mission?" He asked.

"Oh she's a little stubborn, but she's agreed that it's time and has given me permission to pick the perfect specimen for her." Shoka slid her hand up Todd's arm slowly. "And my what a specimen you are." She dug he nails into his arm as she dragged her hand back down and pulled away.

Todd looked once more at Yara, his eyes drinking in the sight of her.

"No." He said flatly.

"What?" Shoka said. She stood up and pulled Yara in front of her. "Sir this is is something of the upmost importance to me and Yara. She needs to experience a man if she is to become a true woman."

"I will not bed a woman who is unwilling." Todd said.

It was a lie through and through, he had bed plenty of women before who were hesitant. He quickly changed their minds. But something about this situation felt off. He had never experienced this amount of luck in his life. If something was too good to be true, then it probably was. He didn't want to waste the time or effort to figure out the game, he just wanted to drink and eat and enjoy the festival. His eyes could not wander from the Elf for long though.

"Sir it's ok. She's telling the truth." Yara said.

Todd couldn't believe his ears. This Elf was willing to give herself to a Half-Orc like him? Only because her friend wanted her to? His mind was swimming with questions but he couldn't formulate any response.

"If it makes you feel more comfortable I could always join in and help." Shoka whispered in his ear.

"Where would we go?" Todd asked immediately.

"See I knew you would come around." Shoka laughed. She grabbed hold of Todd's and Yara's hands and pulled them through the crowd. As they walked, Todd's mind was lost in his imagination. He bumped into a few people and gave quick half-hearted apologies as he was guided throughout the festival. Todd snapped out of his daydream as he realised they were now away from the lights and people of the festival. He looked around and saw they were in the town's housing area.

"Where are you taking me?" Todd asked.

"To our house." Shoka replied, not slowing in her stride.

They stopped in front of a two story wooden building. It had only two windows on each floor, and it looked very skinny. There was a small garden out front with roses of many colors. A sign in the yard had fallen over into the walkway. Shoka kicked it to the side as they approached the door.

"Yara give me your key." Shoka said.

Yara reached her hand in between her breasts and was feeling around for the key. Todd's face flushed with embarrassment and looked away.

"I don't have it Shoka, don't you have yours?" Yara responded after fixing her dress.

"You know I don't have pockets in this." Shoka sighed. "Guess we'll have to get in the old fashioned way." She pulled out a pin from her shoulder strap, making it fall open revealing more of her chest. "Well aren't we excited." Shoka winked at Todd.

He turned away again feeling his face burn. She fondled with the lock for a few seconds before it clicked and the door swung open.

"Alright follow me, and Yara close the door."

Shoka grabbed his hand once again and started pulling him towards the stairs. Todd looked around and saw a small kitchen to the left and a sitting room on the right. They went up the stairs which creaked under his weight. There were two doors at the second floor landing on opposite ends of the hall. They turned left and Shoka threw open the door to reveal a bedroom with a large bed in the center. His heart began to beat hard in his chest with excitement. Shoka lead him to the bed and sat him down on the edge. At that moment, Yara walked into the room and stood by the doorway, still looking nervous.

Shoka turned Todd's head towards her and kissed him. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and seemed to take his breath away. She pulled back after about 10 seconds and stepped away towards Yara. "Wait here handsome, we will be right back." She grabbed Yara and started walking out.

"Where are you going?" Todd asked disappointed.

"Just going to slip into something more comfortable." She winked at Todd again and right before the door closed he could see Yara's dress fall to the floor. His heart beat even faster. His mind was again lost in his imagination, causing his trousers to grow more constricting. He could hear the shuffle of bare feet across the wooden floor just outside the door. The sound of fabric being dropped and buttons being undone. It seemed like he was waiting forever for the two of them to return.

He began to get impatient and went to the door. He felt a sharp prick in his gut, but when he looked down, he didn't see anything. He reached for the door handle once more, but he couldn't move. His body seized up and he fell to his back.

The door opened, and the two women walked inside. Shoka still in front with a nervous Yara behind her. They were dressed in travelers clothes.

"And again we see a man who ignored his basic instincts in the pursuit of a woman." Shoka laughed. "As if you, an ugly Half-Orc, would even come close to sleeping with either one of us. I will give it to you though," she said while she stroked his cheek, "you sure know how to kiss a woman. I was almost tempted to fuck you myself and then rob you, but it would be in bad taste to mix business and pleasure."

"Shoka let's just grab his gold and leave."

"Yara you need to stop being so skittish. I know what I'm doing. Have I not provided for you so far? Do I not give you what you need?" Shoka shot back.

"Yes of course you do, but I wish you would stop using me like that, it makes me uncomfortable." Yara whispered.

"Now let's see what our friend here is packing." Shoka smiled.

She started digging through his pockets, paying special attention to his front pouch. Being a rogue had given Todd the necessary skills needed to hide his gold on his person from cutthroats, but there was only so much hiding would help when you were helpless to stop someone determined to find it.

He reasoned the only way out of this situation was to fight whatever it was that paralyzed him. He began running through his mental notes of all paralysis spells. After a quick deliberation, he decided it wasn't a spell, but a toxin of some sort. How did they get it in him though? He remembered the sharp pain in his gut when he walked to the door. That's when the toxin was injected, but how? He looked down once again and inspected his gut more intently. Ignoring the Teifling's chest that was pressed against his groin area, he noticed a single dart, almost invisible to the naked eye with how thin it was.

"Ok so blow dart, through the keyhole, into my gut." Todd deduced.

He began to focus his mind to counteract the toxin in his body. His years of training had exposed him to many various types of poisons and toxins. And after many months of exposure training, his body had built a natural resistance of some sort. The longer he focused, the more parts of his body were awakened.

"Aha I think I've found it." Shoka said. He felt her pull open his secret pouch. She slid her hand inside and pulled out his purse of 200 gold pieces. "You know hun, if you hadn't been flashing your money like an idiot, we were going to choose the Dwarf three tables down as our target. I've got to thank you for that actually. Bad memories with dwarves." She explained.

While she was talking, Todd had completely expelled the effects of the toxin. Not wasting any time, he thrust his dagger up and through Shoka's neck. Her eyes went wide with shock as she fell to her knees, gasping for air but only getting blood.

Yara stood behind Shoka against the wall with a terrified expression. After Shoka's final breath left her body, Todd retrieved his knife and used her clothes to wipe the blade clean of blood. He then stood and walked over to Yara.

"Please sir, don't kill me. I didn't mean any harm to you." Yara pleaded.

Todd continued towards her without a word. He raised his dagger and she flinched back against the wall and covered her head. It was a few seconds later when she finally looked up at Todd. He had sheathed his dagger and stood there staring at her. Tears fell down her face as she wondered what he was going to do.

Todd reached out his hand towards Yara and grabbed her chin, turning her face towards him. Her heart raced. She shut her eyes tightly so she wouldn't see what he would do.

"You're better than this."

Yara was confused. What did he just say? She slowly opened her tear filled eyes and looked up at the menacing Half-Orc in front of her. His expression though, wasn't one of hate or anger. It was an expression of empathy. Fresh tears began falling from her eyes, leaving warm trails down her face.

"Your captor is gone. You called her friend, but I recognize a victim when I see one. Go be better. Live how you want, not how she wanted."

With those words he walked out of the room, down the stairs, and back into the night. The sound of crying still echoing from the house he left.