REVELRY

Raona pulled Leto to a fire and leaned away from him, setting their weight at odds and turning a circle. Her red hair fluttered behind her as they twirled. Leto let go of her hands and hopped back a half step, giving them a bit of space as he began to rhythmically stomp the ground and slap at his chest and thighs. The discordant melody joined the larger chorus of laughter and flute music around them. Raona began twisting her palms like wind coiling between trees in the wood, the movement allowed her to roll her shoulder invitingly as the motion carried through her body down to her hip which jerked once sharply. Then the other as her hips swayed in quick snaps soon matching the timing of Leto's own stomps and pats. Raona moved around him in a circle, her belly dance setting the ornaments around her belt jingling and chiming.

In happier times these would be jewelry, beads, and carved ornaments. Raona's belt was adorned with bits of metal, finger bones, and teeth. Prizes from her hunts on the battlefield. She was a fine archer and sniped at the enemy and slew them. It was actually her scouts that had picked up on the human's final army as it crept through the Blackwood. Fools. Raona's team reported back and before they even cleared the woods to the Lord's keep they were set upon by the Satyrs and Orcs, with the Goblins circling and attacking from behind. It was a massacre... though the Satyr's own losses couldn't be underestimated. Images of Adlas' still body flashed in Leto's mind. He shook his head once and started to circle Raona instead. When she saw the shift she planted herself and began to exaggerate her own dance while Leto prowled a slow ring about her keeping his rhythm up. Many other satyrs weaved in and out of the dance as lutes and other instruments came in and faded out.

Not far off the Orcs would be enjoying their own celebration, likely eating themselves into a stupor, while the Goblins did whatever it was they did to mark a major victory. Leto didn't know much about the Goblins since they tended to be secretive and hide away in their caves and dirt hills. Between them and Orcs he couldn't be sure which he preferred, probably the Goblins since they at least smelled half decent. While Leto was thinking, Raona's hand drifted under his chin, lightly touching the hairs that came down, his eyes snapped up to hers and she gave him a mock scowl.

"Focus on me." she said sternly.

Leto gulped down a bit of saliva and just nodded, picking up his pace in the dance. Raona loved to dance. More so than any other satyress he had ever met. She picked up the half-skirt she wore and began swaying it back and forth, her hooves tapping the ground for the barest of seconds in her dance, and the ornaments of her hips clinking against each other. As they moved the bracelet she had tied to her horn caught Leto's eye and he followed it, using it as an anchor for his gaze, while Raona jumped over the campfire and landed opposite of Leto. The fire swayed angrily as the air she displaced settled again. The two made the fire their new centerpiece and several other satyrs joined them to ring the circle in dancing and joy. After some minutes they parted from the circle and danced toward the edge of the clearing. Leto's breathing was steep but controlled while Raona looked sweaty but alive. She could have kept dancing all night and well into the morning without a single complaint. He needed a break though, he was far from the most graceful of goatmen and trying to keep up with such a fire-haired beauty was taxing the limits of his ability.

Raona was graceful, in all things it seemed, at danced him toward the woods that they could rest a bit. When they passed the light of the campfire they slowed their movements until they were just walking together. The sky was clearing overhead and gave them moonlight to see with in place of the now set sun. Looking into the sky, Leto could see the stars and beautiful colors of a night sky between the clouds. Purples and blues hued over a black background with a white moon near full and hanging overhead. The dark silhouette of the woods, and far in the distance, the Lord's Keep gave an impression of a trouper's stage.

Leto's ear flapped once as he heard a muffled gasp from someone, not a sound of displeasure but one of pleasant surprise, followed by a low moan. If there was one thing Satyrs loved more than wine and music, then it was sex. They often took company with each other with little care, for them there was a difference between sleeping with someone and mating with them. You had sex for fun but you mated for children... for love... forever. Leto became very aware that he was alone with Raona, someone he had wanted to be his mate but who had rejected him for Adlas. Poor Adlas.

"I should g-" Leto started to say before Raona grabbed his hand.

"Stay. Neither of us should be alone tonight." She said softly.

She pulled him toward a tree with full low hanging branches and moved into the dark recess of its shadows. Though the moon gave him some light, Leto could only just make out her form against the darkened bark of the tree. Raona moved her hands behind her back and up at her shoulders, unfastening buckles and straps, before removing her leather top. Leto heard it fall ungraciously to the ground as the red head beckoned him closer. Moving slowly forward with his heart pumping like the wings of a hummingbird in his chest, Leto reached out a nervous hand and caressed her body just under her breast. Her skin was like fire against his and he let his nails trail the curve of one of her ribs. Raona shivered and closed her eyes... Leto wished it was in anticipation but somehow he knew she was trying to pretend it was Adlas' touch against her bare flesh. Her hands ran up Leto's shirt and tugged at the strings to open the neck up that it could pull over his curled horns while at the same time he hooked a finger into the top of her skirt and gently tugged it down. It seemed a subjective eternity for Leto but in just a matter of moments they were wrapped up in each other's embrace.

Her kiss tasted like wine and her breath felt hot. He tried not to breath through his snout too much... tried to keep his hands soft... tried to do what little he could to not remind her that he wasn't Adlas. For her part she tried to be enthusiastic and eager to set Leto's nervous nature aside. This was a lot, they both knew it. They both knew they were doing this for the wrong reasons and they both knew that even still it was better than wallowing in misery alone.

Raona gasped suddenly as Leto gripped her shoulder and sped up, his hesitation giving way to the song of his body. Her hand gripped tight into his back, gripping a bit of fur that ran up his spine and then digging down deep as she left a trail of nail marks on his skin. For a single second their eyes met and they were looking at each other. Thinking about each other. In that moment solely with each other.

The side of the Dread Lord's keep exploded.

A flash of light tore into the night's sky forcing the two to shut their eyes tight and Leto clamped down on his long ears as the sound of it almost physically slapped into him. What followed next was a stunned silence as every Satyr in the wood went perfectly still. The keep was burning under the moonlight. Realization slowly dawned on Leto as some more clever satyr on the other side of the camp shouted loudly "TO ARMS! DEFEND THE DREAD LORD!"

Raona was already standing, shouting in time with Leto. "DEFEND MELBORE!"

They were still at war.