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Orera was beginning to hate the Exalted Plains. Not only was she beginning to hate the Exalted Plains she was beginning to hate everyone who said they had a claim to it. Now, this wasn’t because she thought any one people should have it over another, she just generally hated the place, and didn’t think that others would want it either. But land was land, and as Solas had said, a war was worth fighting if it was over land that could be turned to make a profit. Or what he said had sounded similar to that, Orera didn’t listen to him often.
The fact of the matter was, was that every single place she tried to go to in the Exalted Plains had more problems than the last. Shed closed at least a dozen rifts since she’d gotten there, which means at least ten times as many demons. At this point she didn’t even need to think when going into battle with them. But the rifts weren’t the problem, the corpses were. The ramparts that were covering good chunks of the Plains were littered with not only corpses, but powerful demons that she needed to kill. The ramparts needed to be secured for the soldiers and just generally so people could move through the Plains safely. That meant that she needed to be on the ramparts because no one else could seem to do the job.
Orera huffed, leaning heavily on her staff as she looked at the bodies around them. What was with these things? Wolves, corpses, demons literally popping out of nowhere even though she swore she’d closed the closest rifts. It didn’t make sense, and no one in her small group understood either.
“Maybe the rifts turned invisible, since they’re such an eyesore and finally decided to play nice.”
“Rifts turning invisible isn’t them playing nice, Dorian,” Orera couldn’t even find the energy to laugh at his stupid joke, so instead she sighed and stood up straight, stretching her back as she did. “It would just mean a lot less sleep for everyone.”
“So no sleep for you, right?” Varric chuckled as he replaced Bianca on his back. Orera did laugh at that; they didn’t know how true that would be. She pushed her long braid behind her shoulder and looked to the rest of her group, smiling weakly.
“Probably not, but I’m definitely going to sleep well tonight after we secure the Western Ramparts. It shouldn’t take too long, just make sure to try and kill the monsters before they get too close this time. And if this is anything like the Eastern, we’ll need to find the body pits and burn them. Dorian, we might need to split up just in case there’s more than one.” Orera began to walk then, taking the small map out of her pocket and trying to find exactly where they were. They weren’t too far from the Western Ramparts, she could see them on the edge of the horizon. She just needed to get there and then she would have enough energy to kill everything that lurked in the shadows.
One of the things Orera tired of was always looking over her shoulder, always making sure there wasn’t something coming after them from a direction she’d forgotten to look in. She glanced in every direction every minute or so, making sure nothing was running towards them, and she finally noticed that Iron Bull was smiling behind her. She raised an eyebrow and he chuckled before just shrugging, as though there wasn’t anything amusing him.
“Having fun back there?” Orera asked, continuing to walk towards the ramparts. She could already see corpses walking around in the broad daylight, their mangled limbs swinging at their sides as though they had no control over them.
“More fun than you know. You should wear those pants more often.”
“You know every pair of pants I own are fashioned this way, right?” Orera grew a smirk of her own.
“Oh yeah, I know. I guess what I should have said was you should take off those pants more often.”
“What happened to whatever happens in your bedroom is private, huh?” At Varric’s question Bull couldn’t help but laugh. Orera rolled her eyes, but she still held the smirk.
“I think this kind of talk can happen around dinner, we need to get ready for those corpses. I want to be able to get back to camp before nightfall.” It wasn’t going to be that hard of a task, Sure, it had taken all night to take back the Eastern Ramparts, and they’d probably gotten three hours of sleep between the four of them, but they were fine. It was only past noon, they could get this finished and be back before the soldiers even thought of having dinner. At least Orera hoped to.
The group finally got close enough to the ramparts for Varric to begin assaulting them with arrows, firing Bianca as fast as he could. It wasn’t hard for Orera to begin her own barrage of fire upon the corpses that started to come towards the, and Dorian did the same. Bull stayed back with them until the corpses started climbing out of the ramparts, that was when he ran forward and began to chop them down. Orera moved behind him, freezing or pushing back any enemies that happened to get too close to his blind side or behind him. She motioned for Dorian to check the northern part of the ramparts, and she would take the southern, to make sure they could get burn the body pits. She only hoped that he would be able to take on the demons that guarded it by himself. Orera shook her head, he wouldn’t be dealing with them by himself, Varric had his back, just like she had Bull’s.
The two of them made their way towards the southern part of the ramparts, jumping over piles of wooden planks, almost unsuccessfully jumping up onto the upper levels. of the ramparts. She didn’t understand how the others could get around so quickly without being as large as they were; being so tall made it easier to get around these types of places, mostly because she could jump higher. They still got around though, and Varric and Bianca were nothing if not efficient, so it wasn’t her place to question how he dealt with being a dwarf. It wasn’t like he chose that life, just like she hadn’t chosen to be Vashoth. There was no time to think on that though, and Orera barely deflected an arrow with a barrier.
Bull ran towards the group of corpses surrounding the body pit, the magical barrier around it keeping anything and everything away from the pile of corpses. He hacked away with his battleaxe, swinging it around himself to cleave the corpses in two. More kept coming though, and Orera knew she needed to get in there before he got seriously injured. That was when the Arcane Horror leapt from underneath the ramparts, rising into the sky. Orera could practically hear Bull cursing about the demons, and she decided then that maybe long range wasn’t the best for this battle. She ran closer to the pit on the elevated side of the rampart, staff in hand behind her before she stopped at the end and sent a fireball towards the horror to get its attention.
Well, her plan worked. The horror turned from its throng of corpses attacking the Tal-Vashoth, and towards Orera. She whipped her staff in front of her, sending volts of electricity towards it, willing a bolt of lightning down from the clouds to hopefully paralyse it. Of course that didn’t work, and she cursed, sending as much fire as she could its way before it grew too close.
Time was running out, she needed it dead before it touched her. Bull couldn’t help her right now, it would require him getting up to her level and bringing the rest of the corpses around him up to her as well. It wouldn’t bode well for either of them to get another arrow in the shoulder. Orera clenched her teeth, almost throwing her staff towards the horror as she sent another wave of fire. Nothing was killing it though, if anything she made it more dangerous to herself by lighting it on fire.
“Fuck it,” Orera spat. She readied herself and willed a barrage, pushing her arms out to either side of her, her staff in her right hand as the horror grew closer. That was when she roared, fire escaping from the burning spell in front of her mouth and speeding through the air towards the Arcane horror. They all hit at once, the large flames engulfing the horror. It screamed in pain and soon enough it fell to the ground in ashes, leaving Orera on the upper ramparts alone.
Her shoulders rose and fell from her breathing as she tried to catch it. Her legs felt limp, but she wasn’t done yet. She looked down to Iron Bull, who still stood by the body pit. The corpses were gone though with her defeating the horror, and he just stared at her with a look she couldn’t quite recognize. She jumped down from the upper level and walked over to the pit, sending a few flames towards the piles of bodies. Bull didn’t say anything as they walked to the other part of the ramparts to meet up with Dorian and Varric.
Orera almost asked him if something was wrong, if he was hurt at all, but she knew he would say something eventually, that and she was too tired to talk herself. Smoke rose from where the other body pit seemed to have been, and she smiled to herself before looking around for the other mage and the rogue. They all met up outside the ramparts, all covered in burn marks and bleeding from cuts they didn’t remember getting.
“Well I say we never do that again.” Dorian had replaced his staff on his back and was now trying to get the ash off of his clothes, though he only succeeded in rubbing it into the white fabric and making it gray. He frowned and Varric couldn’t help but laugh. Orera laughed too, and Dorian pulled the best pout Orera had seen since the last time she’d been around children.
“How did the fight go for you guys?” Orera needed to know if there had been anything amiss, if for some reason their part of the job was harder.
“It was pretty easy after Varric went and filled the demon with arrows.”
“Downing the demon made the corpses a non problem. I thought you learned that already, Sparkler. That’s why I went for him.” Varric chuckled again and Orera smiled over to Dorian, who kept the pout on his face.
“And how did yours go?” Dorian obviously wanted to change the subject, and Bull seemed happy to oblige.
“You should have seen her. It was definitely something...”
“At a loss for words?” Varric smiled towards Bull.
“If I say anything else, you’ll bring up how we’re supposed to keep that talk in the bedroom.” Bull smirked and Orera raised an eyebrow, unable to stop herself from smiling. Bull gave a full one then, showing his teeth and everything. “All I know is if we don’t get back to the camp soon, you guys are gonna want to go ahead without us.”
And that was when Orera knew what he was thinking. She swallowed thickly, trying to hide any excitement she had. Any thought of tiredness her body left immediately.
“Then I guess we should walk faster. Don’t want you two getting interrupted by demons now. That would be the opposite of fun.” Varric laughed then too, and the four of them walked a little bit faster towards the main encampment.
By the time they arrived the sun was beginning to set, and the soldiers were starting fires to keep light in the camp. Some were sitting down to eat, but Orera couldn’t think about that at this point. Bull had walked next to her the entire time back, not touching her, and not even talking. It had been almost completely silent except for the sound of their boots on the ground. Dorian and Varric didn’t wait up for them either, leaving them once they reached the encampment. Orera and Bull went straight to her tent.
“Clothes, off,” Bull growled. He turned Orera around and kissed her fiercely, his hands holding her arms with enough force to almost bruise. As it was she would be surprised if she left this encounter unscathed. He let her go, and she quickly removed placed her staff at the opposite side of the tent, untying her boots with magic and slipper them off. Her shirt and chest wrap came next. Feeling the sweet release as her breasts fell free made her sigh, and she didn’t get to taking her pants off before Bull came towards her and kissed her again, trailing his teeth down her neck and collarbone. She trembled under his touch, her mouth hanging open as he sucked at her breasts, biting her nipples softly, pinching the one his mouth hadn’t taken over.
His other hand reached down into her pants and under her small clothes, fingers running through the soft pubic hair. He started to rub her in small circles, moving to kiss her mouth once again, biting her lip this time and smiling as he did. He then focused solely on getting her pants off; he didn’t rip them off like he sometimes did when they were at Skyhold, knowing she didn’t have endless pairs of pants waiting for her there, but he did lift her to take them off, her breath leaving her until he placed her back down. Bull took off his massive belt and trousers, stepping out of them easily, and already hard. How long had he been waiting for this? Since he saw her defeat the horror on the ramparts? She trembled thinking about how long he’d waited.
“Do you want this?” He asked every time without fail; Iron Bull always made sure what he was doing was accepted, that he wasn’t making her uncomfortable, that she wanted to do this as well. Orera always answered yes, either vocally or by just nodding her head when she was too speechless to say anything. This time she nodded her head, swallowing again before he smiled and kissed her, his arms wrapping around her whole body and pressing them together. He broke apart for a second and caught his breath. “Put your hair up more.”
It was a simple order that Orera readily filled, snapping her finger and letting a small blue glow pile her braid atop her head firmly. This meant he wouldn’t be pulling her hair this time around. He kissed her again and this time he moved them to the middle of the tent, walking onto the mat that held her small cot. She doubted they would actually use the small thing, she barely fit in it, and they would both definitely break it.
“Lie down and spread your legs,” Bull growled from his chest. He moved away a few inches and she did as she was told, letting herself almost fall onto the ground, her legs spreading and her knees bending up. Bull knelt down and kissed her again before moving down her body, again sucking and biting on her nipples before moving lower. Bull lightly grazed his teeth over her torso and down her abdomen, his hands holding her hips in place. She knew she would have bruises there when they were finished, but she couldn’t care enough at the moment to make him stop; it wasn’t as though anyone but him would see the bruises anyway.
“Kadan, you do have some oil in here, don’t you?” Bull stopped his progression down her body to ask her this. She almost couldn’t bare being left with nothing. She nodded her head and looked towards the small chest, reaching her hand out to open it with her magic. The small jar of oil flew out and into her hand, the chest shutting closed right after. Bull smiled and took the jar from her hand, opening it and scooping two fingers through before placing it back down next to them. Orera readied herself for whatever was to come, trying to relax her body.
Even though they had done this multiple times, and Orera loved it more than anything else they did, she still wasn’t ready for the onslaught of feeling it aroused in her. Bull leaned back down, lying on the floor below her waist. He raised her legs and they rested on his horns as he bent down further, and that was when Orera closed her eyes and tried to grasp for something around her. She could feel Bull smiling at giving her pleasure, and that was when she felt his finger pushing in. Orera gasped, biting her lip afterward as his middle finger pushed into her; it didn’t feel painful anymore, they’d done this too often to get that reaction, but it still always surprised her.
“Don’t be so quiet.” She could barely hear Bull speak, his mouth over her completely, his tongue running up and down and spelling words she couldn’t think of. When he pushed inside of her more she trembled; her breathing began to get erratic as he continued. It wasn’t long until he was moving his finger around inside her, pushing in and pulling out, and then soon enough he was pushing in his index finger. It was hard not to squirm, but she tried her hardest to keep herself still as Bull worked her.
Then he stopped. He pulled out his fingers and removed her legs from his horns, moving back up her body to kiss her. The weight of him fell easily between her legs, and she itched to get him inside her again, but he didn’t move to do that, instead he turned to lie next to her.
“Get up,” he patted his thighs as he spoke, and she understood. Orera’s legs shook as she sat on his stomach, her hands flat on his chest. She bent down and kissed him again. Bull chuckled as she did, biting her lip again before he placed his hands on her hips and lifted her. Orera spread the oil on him before they could get any further, making sure he was slick enough to slide in, but not enough to where she wouldn’t feel him, as if that could happen. She bit her lip as she held his cock in her hand, and then slowly lowered herself down; she couldn’t help but open her mouth though, the slow burn and small amount of pain from him being too big a bit overwhelming. They hadn’t slept together in days, and she needed this. She gasped as she felt her hips touch his; and sat there until Bull began to move her hips, lifting her and beginning to push into her in a steady rhythm they could both keep.
At that point it was impossible for Orera to keep quiet, her hands still pushing into Bull’s chest as he fucked into her, her breathing the loudest thing about from the slapping of skin. It was then that she happened to remember she hadn’t put a noise canceling charm on the tent, and that it was very likely the rest of the camp could hear them.
“Fuck, Bull,” Orera couldn’t get out the words to tell him though, she was too overwhelmed. It didn’t matter if they heard; everyone knew they were together, they could just pretend it didn’t happen. Either way, Orera stopped thinking about it when Bull grabbed one of her breasts with his hand. He squeezed it lightly, and she placed one of her hands on top of his, her mouth still gaping as he fucked her. He smiled through his breathing, his eye only watching her and nothing else. It was overwhelming.
The burn in Orera’s thighs grew with every thrust, with every time Bull pushed into her, and she knew she wasn’t going to last long if this stayed up. This was the reason she rarely ever actually rode the Bull. It just didn’t last long enough for either of them, and she was beginning to wish he’d kept her on the ground. That no longer mattered when he began to move faster. She moved with him, trying to fasten the pace even more, but she couldn’t she was at his whim as he fucked her. His hand moved back down to holding her waist, and she leaned back to look over him, her hands pressing his into her skin, her nails making small marks on the backs of his hands.
And then everything felt too hot, and everything felt like too much, and Orera swore she heard herself screaming as she came. Bull pushed up into her one last time, coming as well, his fingers pushing harder into her skin, leaving small bruises dotted around her waist. Orera fell with his legs, collapsing on top of him, both of their chests heaving as they tried to catch up on their breathing. It took a few minutes before Orera could move, and even then her legs shook as she stood and tried to stretch. Bull splayed out his body more, his muscles relaxing, the smile on his face growing. She couldn’t help but match his expression.
“Damn,” he breathed, almost laughing afterward. Orera stretched her arms behind and in front of her before sitting on the ground next to him. “Why don’t we do this more often?”
“Because we actually have work.”
“Can’t we just put the end of the world on pause and fuck for a whole day?”
“Probably not until all of this is over.”
“Well, when all this is over, we’ll be lucky if we can walk straight.” Bull chuckled and Orera smiled down at him, placing her hand on his chest and kissing him softly.
“Until then, this’ll have to do. We still haven’t eaten dinner, so I think I’ll go see about that.” Orera stood again, and picked up her clothes from the ground, wiping any dirt off that they had accumulated. She didn’t bind herself, instead just pulling her shirt over her head and buttoning her vest. Bull propped himself up on one of his elbows, watching her with a stupid grin on his face. Orera raised an eyebrow.”What’s that look for?”
“Nothing. You’re just nice to look at.” Orera felt herself blush and picked the blanket off of the cot to throw at him. Bull laughed and stood up then, getting dressed himself to go outside with her. Before they left the tent Orera stopped, holding his arm.
“I forgot to charm the tent so no one would hear us.”
“Good. I want them all to be jealous of all the sex we have.” He smirked and left the tent, holding the flap open for her. She shook her head and sighed before following him out. there were only a few soldiers close by the tent, and she figured they were there out of duty, not because they wanted to be. Orera highly doubted anyone had wanted to be close to their tent while they had been in there.
The sun had set already, and the glow from the fires highlighted everyone’s faces. Orera approached the fire that Dorian and Varric sat by. There were a few other soldiers that she didn’t recognize, but she had grown used to that. Her and Bull took seats on nearby rocks that had been rolled over to serve as chairs, the two of them easily taking all the space on the large rock, though in truth a small boulder. The first thing that Orera noticed was the smirk on Varric’s face. He didn’t say anything right away, he waited for the two of them to get their small meals of bread and cheese, along with their small canteens of water.
“Didn’t want to use a gag this time, huh?” Orera almost choked on her food when he spoke, pounding her chest with her fist to finish swallowing. She’d known they’d been able to hear her, but had she been that loud? Bull laughed, he full out laughed, his whole torso moving as he did.
“We never do. Just happened to forget something this time. Maybe we’ll have to try that out though and see how loud you have to be for people to hear.” Bull elbowed Orera in the ribs and she punched his shoulder before continuing to eat her meal. She was definitely not going to hear the end of this.