Aurelia Rising

"There are two kinds of problems, big ones and small ones. The big ones are too big to do anything about, and the small ones will go away on their own."

- Anonymous Roman Senator

The guard slouched in his tower. It was nearly time for him to be relieved, and he could already feel his fingers itching. He glared at the sun as it drooped it's last moments over the trees, illuminating the bare stretch of land which had been cleared of vegetation around the castrum. It wasn't as wide as it should be, but that wasn't his problem. 'Round here there wasn't much to keep a man company, aside from the dice he shared with his fellow soldiers, and the girls who he didn't like to think about sharing, regardless of whether they accepted other's coin as readily as his.

The wooden tower he stood in wasn't particularely tall, nor was the wall of the castrum he guarded. Strong oaken logs formed the bulk of the fortifications, their ends sharpened into points which stared at the sky endlessly. The ground around this outer curtain wall was fresh and upturned, and no grass grew upon it. It was a shame, really. Such a nice fort and so few to garrison it. The Prefect gave such nice speeches about pushing back the darkness of the unknown, and expanding the civilizing light of Rome, but only the truly naïve believed him anymore. Too many of the colonizing expeditions had ended in the cookpots of the greenskins for grandiose gestures and flowery words to fill the gaps in morale. Between those pests, and the recent muster to Rome, it was a miracle there was anyone to guard the walls at all.

And so he waited, his fingers drumming a beat onto the wooden balustrade he lent over, peering across the sunset gloom. His eyes were drawn to Old Bruno's wood trail as he thought he caught a glimpse of movement. After a moment he chided himself, no one had seen Old Bruno for months. It was a roll of the dice whether he had been got by a falling tree or a passing ork. But just as he was about to look away again he caught another flicker of movement. And to his surprise a group of humanoid figures emerged from the edge of the woods an out into the clearing. With the sun's fading glare in his eyes, he nearly raised a cry of "Orks!" but the emergence of pack animals at the rear of the group eased his concerns. It wasn't often that the greenskins showed themselves openly within sight of the castrum, but they were getting bolder by the week.

As the group approached, he began to wonder if his eyes were indeed tricking him after all. At the head were four men, followed by a dwarf. A common enough sight, though dwarves were a rare sight in these parts. After them though, were two women. Who in their right mind would willingly take a woman into these parts without an army to protect them, he didn't know. But looking closer it seemed like one of them was one of those Tauren beastkin, so maybe they considered five men to protect one woman enough. At the end of the column were the beasts of burden, one was a pack mule plain to see, another looked to be a riding horse, but looking at the last form in the group left him stammering.

At first he thought it was another horse, with a gleaming mane of golden hair in the sunset light, but it didn't walk right for a four legged animal. At this distance he couldn't make out discerning features, but as they approached it seemed more and more likely to him that this was not some beast of burden, but an exceptionally large person. Though, they looked to be carrying an oddly large pack. He shrugged, so long as they weren't orks, they weren't going to delay his leave much.

"Ho there!" He cried when they arrived within earshot. "Who are you, and what is your business?"

Never had he seen a more sorry looking assortment of unfortunate souls. They looked like they had come fresh from a pigsty, and hadn't the faintest memories of what a proper bath was. Now that they were close, he could indeed see the group's composition. Four men and a dwarf, a woman, a beastkin, and whatever the fuck the giant was. She was clearly a woman, he could see that easily enough from this far. If any of the meat in the brothel looked half the woman this giant did, he would never leave that dingey hole. Though, as he awaited a response, each of them carried weapons of some sort. Adventurers were an uncommon sight but not unheard of, especially now with the absence of the troops. His lip curled slightly, trouble followed wherever adventurers tread. And any mess would be dumped in his lap with him being on duty.

"Hail, friend!" Came the reply from the man in front. He bore himself with an air of authority, and with the voice of someone used to being obeyed. "We are weary travelers, and would find your fine hospitality preferable to that of the greenskins, who have been so kind as to introduce themselves to us."

He looked them over again, one of the men had to be supported by another. And not all of the grime covering them seemed to be dirt. Their story was a likely enough to be true.

"The woman giant in the back, what manner of creature is she? I have neither seen nor heard of her like, and surprises are less welcome here than most."

It looked for a moment as though the giantess would speak up for herself, but the leader waved her aside and continued.

"She is an uncommon variety of beastkin, from far away land to the north. She will cause no trouble here, neither will the rest of my party."

The guard furrowed his brow. Sure enough, now that they were below his tower he could see that the giantess bore only a suitable pack slung over her shoulders, and what he had taken for unusually sized bags were, in fact, huge white wings which draped from nape to toe. He had once had a girl in a brothel while he had been in Tibur, her skin had been the colour of milk, and hair like ripe wheat. When he asked, the madam had told him that she had come from a place where the sky and snow met. This whole situation smelled complicated, and he wasn't paid for complicated. His job was to keep orks and miscreants out, and this party, no matter how unusual, seemed to be neither.

"Very well, cause no trouble."

With a turn and a wave of his hand, the wooden gates began to creep open.

Aurelia's first time inside a castrum was a joyous occasion. Though the roads were muddy, and the stench of urban life once more penetrated her nostrils, all she could think of was hot food, a bath, and a clean bed. In that order.

Gregorios led them unerringly through the ordered streets towards the center of the encampment. Ordered barracks gave way to impromptu civilian life, tradesmen and merchants began to replace the soldiers of the outer castrum. Even in her exhausted state, Aurelia couldn't help but notice a severe lack of the fairer sex among the crowd. She could practically feel the roaming eyes of onlookers dragging up and down her form, though she couldn't find it in herself to care. Let them look, even coated in grime she would outshine any petty fantasies. And besides, she would think of this moment when unloading the day's frustrations into her women.

Eventually Gregorios led them into one of the few inns which could boast a private bath. The castrum was rural enough that it was unable to boast any of the grand pools of Rome, or even the relatively nearby Tibur. Not that Aurelia cared overmuch, in that moment she would have bathed in a public fountain, but she doubted Thessa or Junia shared her sentiment. The inn was plain, a place for travelers to sleep and soldiers to drink. Aside from a few regulars in one corner, they were the only people in the inn. At the sound of their footsteps, a portly man with a balding head emerged from a wooden door at the back of the room. Despite tracking all sorts of filth into his establishment, it seemed the innkeep couldn't care less. Aurelia saw the clinking of coins in his eyes.

In short order, fresh bread and bowls of hot soup were laid out in front of them by the innkeeper's daughter. After days and days of plain porridge and dried food, it might as well have been the elixir of the gods. She was one of the few women Aurelia had seen in the castrum, aside from themselves. She was a pretty thing, blushing and stammering as she brought food and wine from the kitchen.

The company gorged themselves until their bellies were taught and round, Aurelia wanted to fall asleep right then and there, but the innkeeper's daughter directed her and the girls through a side door where they found a wooden tub steaming with hot water. The room was low ceilinged, with thick wooden walls and a floor made of uneven stones, which radiated the heat from previous baths up into the soles of their feet.

Aurelia was so relieved she could kiss- actually, why not. After stooping to enter the bathing chamber, she picked up the innkeeper's daughter by her armpits, twirled in a circle, and kissed her squarely on the lips before setting her back down again. She quickly blushed and stumbled over her words as she backed out of the room, but Aurelia still the smile creeping up the corners of her lips as she did so.

"You better have more of that to share." Junia said when she had closed the door behind her.

"Well, it looks like we'll be sharing quite a lot, since there are three of us and only one tub." Thessa added, though not unhappily.

And so Aurelia lifted and twirled and kissed them, one after the other, to many giggles of delight.

The sight of the hot water bade them to shed their clothes. There wasn't much in the way of soap, but that just gave them an excuse to be extra thorough when cleaning each other. Thessa was the first in, letting out a long contented moan as she lowered herself into the tub. Aurelia and Junia were soon running their hands over her skin and through her hair, easing out snags and tangles. The water was quickly turning a ruddy brown. They would have to change the water after she was done.

The experience was an awkward one, being naked all together and touching each other in a non-sexual way. They shared plenty of self-aware laughs and giggles as they began to clean between Thessa's legs and other compromising positions. And even though it was a dirty, messy, awkward experience for the lot of them, Aurelia felt her heart swell at the closeness of it all. Soon enough Thessa was as clean as she was going to get this far from Rome, so they called for a changing of the water and prepared to give Junia the same treatment. Somehow, the innkeep's daughter managed to turn an even brighter shade of crimson when she entered the room to find the three of them naked. But, nevertheless, she dutifully drained and refilled the wooden tub with freshly steaming clean water and bowed her exit once more.

"You're going to give the poor thing a heart attack." Thessa commented.

"You two stood here right beside me, you know. Either one of you could have covered up with a towel, but noooo." Replied Aurelia. "Maybe I'm starting to rub off on you two."

"Please." Said Junia. "Neither one of you have gone to the public baths with your entire extended family. Let me tell you, it's an experience that takes quite a lot of getting used to." She grinned slightly, covering her mouth with one hand. "I'm pretty sure one of my younger siblings was conceived during one such occasion."

Thessa and Aurelia gasped, then giggled. "You never mentioned your parents were so... adventurous." Aurelia said. Junia just beamed up at her. "You think I have nine siblings because my parents were prudes?! By the time we get back to Rome, I might just have ten, judging by how large mother was getting when we left."

Aurelia tried to ignore how her pussy throbbed at those words.

Soon they were giving Junia the same treatment, and before long it was Aurelia's turn. They had to replace the water twice for her, and all three of them spent long minutes grooming and preening her wings until they were pristine and crisply white once more. In a moment of lurid pleasure, Aurelia spread her legs and slowly worked her hidden cargo out from inside her. The ridges along the outside of the copper coloured egg brought her no end of delight as she squeezed it out.

"I sometimes forget you're carrying that huge... thing inside you." Said Junia. "I swear, I don't know if it's something you picked up in the temple or if this is more of your Seraphim weirdness, but taking something that size would surely kill a normal woman."

Thessa nodded her agreement, but said nothing. Her cheeks rosy and breath heavy as her eyes remained fixed on Aurelia's pulsating pussy.

To be fair, Aurelia wasn't sure either. She wasn't naïve enough to believe that being raised among a bunch of pregnancy crazed priestesses hadn't permanently altered her, but she had a feeling that this was something related to her specifically, or at least her race.

When they were all clean, Aurelia inserted her new favourite item back into it's home with a wet SHLOP! They gathered their clothes from where they lay discarded on stone floor, and wrapped themselves in towels which had been thoughtfully left for them. Trudging off to their room, she felt like a brand new woman now that she had been cleaned and fed. The only issue now was that her balls felt full, and they were now in an urban area with plenty of eyes and ears interested in the first new women in a long time.

She groaned softly, she would just have to make up for it tomorrow.

In the morning, the whole company sat 'round a circular wooden table, the crumbs of breakfast the only remnants of the carnage which had only recently passed. Gregorios cleared his throat and twirled his hand in an attention grabbing motion. Any idle small talk died down immediately.

"For those of you who went to bed early last night, I've got some news." He said, though with the good-nature to not look at the women as he did so. "After speaking with the Prefect of this camp, there are three things to share with you all. Two of which are good, one of which might be good, depending on where you stand and how squeamish you are." If they hadn't been paying attention already, the girls would have sat upright at those words. "Here's the first piece of good news: I was able to resupply our stores of food and clean water with the generosity of the Castrum Quartermaster." A slight cheer rose to meet his tidings. "The second is that the city of Tibur is half a day's travel from here, and that we will be able to travel the rest of the journey home on a quarry barge via the river." The second proclamation was reacted to with ecstatic jubilation, back-smacking, and cheers. A small smile quirked the corner of Gregorios's lip, but he quashed it before anyone could take note. "The third piece of news is less good for most of you: The tensions in the south have erupted into open war, Pyrhhus of Epirus has crossed the sea and landed with an army in the south of Italia. An army has already been raised in the time that we've been gone and is already marching southward along the Via Appia." The third statement caused the previous clamour to die down. "How might that be good news, exactly?" Junia asked with her hand raised. Aurelia and Thessa nodded, having been about to ask the same question. Gregorios looked at the three of them, and sighed gently. "I know this might sound harsh, but when the soldiers go, monsters come out to play. Which means more pay for us." He explained. "Half the reason the Quartermaster was willing to let go of some of his stock was because most of the soldiers stationed here have been sent southward to join the main army. They've practically got a skeleton crew here."

The news that they would all be home shortly was a great reassurance to Aurelia. While this journey had so far been the highlight of her short life so far, literally, she had learned to fly AND found two women to share her heart and bed with, her feet were sore from the constant walking, she was running out of wearable clothes, and she had grown tired of the same boring pulse for every meal. The sooner she could spend her pay, the better.

The thought of war breaking out was a sobering one. She had not yet been found when the dying embers of the Samnite Wars had died out, and the prospect of conflict burning a bloody trail through the lands chilled her soul, regardless of how it might help her line her pockets.

"So, what do we do now?" She asked Gregorios, being the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Simple." He looked at her. "We move our asses and get going to Tibur on the double, and just maybe we'll be able to catch the last barge before it's done loading."