Chapter Thirty-Four: Evening Camp
Zanyia – Southern Forest Road, Princedom of Kivoneth, The Strifelands of Zeutch
I glanced at the forest’s edge that started fifty feet from the road. An owl’s hoot drifted out of the dark trees. Twilight beset the world. My tail swished. The last time we were in those woods, we all almost died thanks to Keythivak, Zizthithana’s assassin.
Of course, both of them were dead. We killed the naga’s assassin then the serpentine bitch herself!
I turned away from the woods, attracted by the sound of a cooking pot being filled with water. I turned around to the campfire where my Master’s sex slaves all were fussing over the stew pot, including his new one. It was our second day camping since we left Az, heading east, following Princess Ava as she guided us towards the Altar of Souls.
We were getting closer to destroying the dumb amulet and freeing Mistress Kora from the foul Biomancer’s presence.
I padded over to the sex slaves. Carsina frowned at Nathalie and Greta as the pair were unpacking the food and preparing the stew we’d have for dinner. The priestess of Krab furrowed her bluish brow, her bright-red hair tumbling about her cheeks. She just had such a great bit of coloring, so exotic. There was an entire nation of people who looked by her.
Did that mean pale-skinned, blonde women like Greta, Nathalie, and Mistress Kora were exotic in Carsina’s country?
My tail swished as I hugged Carsina from behind. I pressed my near-naked body against her. I wore the leather straps on my magical armor, which I loved even if it meant covering up my naked body and not showing off all my nubile beauty.
“We have to do the cooking every time,” I said, rubbing my cheek against Carsina’s. My left ear brushed her hair, making my ear twitch. “So you better be paying attention.
“Okay,” Carsina said. She shifted from side to side. She glanced across the fire where our owners, and spouses—which always made me shiver in delight when I remembered I was married to my Master—writhed in passion.
Aingeal’s pink butterfly wings fluttered, almost like her wings were used to lift her pussy up and down his cock as she rode him. His hands gripped her hips, guiding her as she gasped and moaned. Her pink hair danced around her shoulders. Ava bounced on Ealaín’s cock, my Princess-Mistress’s small tits jiggling. She faced away from the aoi si, letting Ealaín enjoy the sight of her cute ass. Between the two couples, Kora danced and swayed to music only she could hear, her pale, tattooed body swaying in such a beautiful way.
The ruby amulet flashed between her round breasts.
The owl’s hoot snapped me out of my contemplation of Mistress Kora’s beauty, her hips swaying from side to side, her eyes closed as she lost herself to her dance, making such beautiful art. My pussy grew so wet. I wiggled against Carsina’s back more as I wrenched my gaze away.
“So pay attention, Carsina,” I said as Nathalie and Greta dumped the food into the stew. “What they’re making will be hearty and yummy.”
My stomach growled.
“And that’s important after a long day of riding,” I added.
Carsina groaned. “I never want to ride a horse again. It’s terrible.”
“Told you,” I said.
“You get used to it,” Greta said. “Mostly.”
Mistress’s Kora’s dance drew my attention again. My nipples hardened against the leather strap of my armor, tingling and throbbing. Little zaps of lightning shot down to my pussy. My snatch clenched. Juices coated my bush. I squeezed my thighs tight, feeling my silky hairs while my tail wiggled faster.
“So, you see how to do it?” I asked. “Because tomorrow night, you’re going to help.”
“Are you going to help tomorrow night?” Nathalie asked, glancing at me.
I grinned at her. “I help every night!”
Nathalie arched a narrow, blonde eyebrow at me. I smiled at her. She was maturing so fast, growing so confident in Master’s harem. She had blossomed. That blushing, eighteen-year-old virgin was devoured by the naughty sex slave before me. She had doffed her fiery armor, looking comfortable being naked before the fire as we camped off the road.
“I do,” I said. “I gave you all such support and love. Like this.”
Carsina gasped as I pulled her down onto her back. Her round breasts jiggled. She stripped naked, too, like a good sex slave. She had dark-red nipples, looking like two ruby gems, thrusting from the sapphire hue of her tits. She was just so gorgeous. She gasped on her back. She squirmed on the ground, her body shifting from side to side.
I threw my leg over her head. I lowered my pussy down to her mouth, my tail thrusting over her body. The newest sex slave gasped as I placed my furred muff right over her face. I looked over my shoulder at the fire where Greta and Nathalie both stared at me.
“See, I’m helping by giving you entertainment while you work,” I said, then gave them a giant grin. My ears fluttered as Carsina’s tongue fluttered through my pussy lips. She licked me, drinking up my juices.
“You are incorrigible, Zanyia,” Greta said, shaking her head, her large breasts swaying before her.
Nathalie rolled her eyes. “You just want to have Carsina lick your pussy.”
“Don’t you want that?” I asked, grinding my pussy on Carsina’s hungry mouth. Her tongue fluttered through my snatch.
Nathalie giggled, shaking her head. “Fine, fine, entertain us.”
“I will!” I proclaimed, my tail swishing back and forth, swiping across Carsina’s breasts.
My furry tail caressed her tits and hard nipples. She moaned into my snatch. Her tongue jammed into my pussy, swirling around. I shuddered, my ears twitching. A purr rose in my throat, a great, rumbling delight.
Carsina grasped my rump. She squeezed my butt-cheeks as she feasted on me. Her tongue stirring through my cunt sent delight rippling through my body. I quivered. My hands grasped my breasts. I squeezed them, my fingers digging into my flesh as my tail caressed her body. I massaged her tits and her stomach, brushing her bush.
Her head moved as she licked me. The wire rims of her glasses brushed my inner thighs. Her tongue danced through my folds. My fingers dug into my fingers. I whimpered as my tail pressed between her thighs.
I found her wet pussy adorned by her bright bush.
“Zanyia!” Carsina moaned into my snatch. She fluttered her tongue through my folds, brushing my clit. “Ooh, that feels so naughty.”
“I know!” I said, rubbing my tail up and down her pussy’s outside, teasing her with my bristling tail.
Her fingers dug and kneaded into my rump her tongue flailing faster and faster through my pussy. Her excitement swelled as I massaged her clit. Her juices coated my tail. I loved it. We were both sharing such wondrous pleasure.
We were brought together by our Master. It was an amazing delight. My back arched, my purr swelling in volume. Just thinking that swelled through my snatch. My orgasm built and built as her tongue fluttered through me.
“Ooh, Carsina, that’s so good,” I groaned, my tail flexing and swaying as I caressed her pussy. “We’re going to cum!”
“Yes!” Carsina moaned, her fingers kneading my ass, pulling my snatch tight against her hungry mouth.
Her tongue jammed deep into my cunt. She swirled it around through my depths. Teasing flutters rippled through me. My tail rubbed her cunt faster and faster, her juices soaking my furs. My pleasure grew and grew.
“I’m going to drown you in juices,” I whimpered, my ears twitching. “Ooh, Carsina, lick me right there. You’re so naughty.”
Carsina fluttered her tongue against my nub. She drummed her tongue against my little bud. Every caress sent sparks of pleasure through me. I ground my cunt on her hungry mouth as she drove me towards my orgasm.
My eyes squeezed shut. The pleasure tensed my entire body. I let out just a low, rumbling purr as my orgasm burst inside of me. My cunt convulsed. My juices gushed out of me. They squirted into her mouth as the rapture rushed through my body.
My tail twitched and shuddered, grinding against her snatch as I yowled out in delight: “Las’s yummy cum!”
Carsina moaned into my snatch. Her juices flooded around my tail. Her passion sounded so sweet as she joined me in rapture. My small tits jiggled in my groping hands as I writhed atop hers. Stars burst across my mind as they danced through my thoughts.
“So good!” I groaned as my pussy convulsed, sending bliss through my body. “Oh, Carsina, you’re so delicious. Gods, I love riding your face.”
She whimpered into my snatch. Her tongue fluttered through my folds, gathering up my juices, keeping my pleasure flowing through my body for a little bit longer. I drank it in. I savored it. I loved the newest member of the harem.
Then I rolled off of her. I fell down on my back. I gasped and shuddered, staring up at the purple sky, stars twinkling out to celebrate my pleasure. I smiled at them, my body twitching. The owl hooted, almost like it, too, was happy that I had such an amazing delight.
Carsina sat up, frowning across the fire, her face drenched in my juices. I arched my head, seeing Aingeal’s back and wings as she rode master, the dark woods beyond her. I bet she wanted to be Aingeal, riding that amazing cock.
“Sven!” Aingeal moaned out in orgasmic delight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kora Falk
My body moved to the music echoing through my mind, my naked body swayed, my hips undulating. My breasts jiggled as I held my arms above my head, my fingers half-curled. My bare feet moved on the trampled grass, the soft curls caressing my toes as my body became living art.
“Oh, that’s so hot to watch, sister dear,” Sven said while Ava and Aingeal fell into a sixty-nine, both eager to lick each other’s pussies clean. Aingeal ended on her back, her pink wings, outlined by black markings, spread out on the ground around her. She wiggled her body, large tits piling into two lush mounds.
Then Ava threw herself on Aingeal, straddling the faerie’s face and then buried her head between Aingeal’s thighs.
“Just so inspiring,” Sven continued, my brother staring up at me with his blue eyes. They reflected back the firelight as he grinned at me. Firelight painted across his muscular chest.
“Mmm, wanting to get your dick wet again?” I asked him, my pussy growing hotter and hotter. I felt a bead dribble down my thighs as I danced. I turned, swaying my ass at my brother, watching him over my shoulder as I felt his gaze on my rump. “Need another cunt sliding up and down your dick?”
“Could it be my cunt, Master?” Carsina asked as she scampered around the fire, her face coated in Zanyia’s pussy juices. She stepped over the sixty-nining Ava and Aingeal to fall to her knees before Sven. She grasped his thighs, her round breasts bouncing. Such need shone on her bluish face, her bright-red hair tumbling in mused curls about her eager features. “Please, please, Master!”
“Mmm, I don’t know,” Sven said, staring at her, a teasing smile on his lips. “What do you think, sister dear? Should I let her ride my dick?”
“She’s so eager for it, brother mine,” I said, amusement thick in my voice.
“I am!” Carsina said, staring up at me, her round breasts swaying before me. Her ruby eyes shone through the lenses of her glasses. “Please, Master, I’ll make you feel so good with my pussy.”
My pussy clenched as I whirled around, the amulet bouncing between my tits. I had a hot cunt. And her pleading was just so cute. I shuffled my feet closer to my brother then straddled his face. I felt his eyes staring up at my shaved pussy. My hands slid across my thighs, caressing my smooth skin as I stared at her.
“What do you think, sister dear?” Sven said, his hands grabbing my calves. “Want to watch her ride my cock?”
“I don’t know…” I said. “She is a passionate slave, but… Has she earned it, brother mine?”
“Good point.”
“Please, please, it’s important,” Carsina said.
“Well, why don’t you show me how important it is,” Sven said, his voice thick with amused passion. “Lick my cock clean of all Aingeal’s pussy juices.”
For a moment, annoyance flashed across Carsina’s face, her eyes flicking up. She licked her lips then nodded her head, “Yes, Master.”
She was still adjusting to being a sex slave. She didn’t have to be, though Zanyia talked her into it. She could have come with us and helped get vengeance for her teacher’s death. But she’d agreed to serve, and she had to understand what that meant.
She ducked her head down, grasping his wet cock. Her pink tongue slid up his shaft, gathering Aingeal’s juices off of his girth. Sven groaned as her tongue reached the pinnacle. She flicked around the spongy crown. Then her lips nuzzled on his tip. She engulfed the tip, sucking hard.
Sven groaned. My brother’s hands tightened on my calves. An excited bit of lust shot through me. My cunt was on fire. It ached and throbbed, begging to be pleased by my brother. A new form of dancing shot through my mind.
I sat on my brother’s mouth.
I shuddered at the rough feel of my brother’s stubble on my pussy lips. An incestuous rush shot through me. I whimpered as his thick tongue shot through me. It was incredible. He was just such a treat and my husband now.
All my dreams had come true.
I grinned at Carsina as she bobbed her mouth up and down his dick. Her lips sealed tight, cleaning up Aingeal’s juices. She moaned as she worked her mouth, making my brother groan into my snatch. His tongue flicked and lapped, caressing my folds.
He knew just where to touch me. To inspire my dance. I felt Ealaín’s eyes on me, watching as I wiggled my hips, grinding my shaved vulva on my brother’s stubbly cheeks and lips. It was just such a wondrous experience. My eyes fluttered as the pleasure rippled through me.
“Ooh, brother mine, yes!” I whimpered, staring down at Carsina. Her ruby eyes flicked up and down, moving, following something.
My tits.
“You like watching my tits bounce while you suck my brother-husband’s cock?” I asked. Brother-husband! I loved thinking that. Sven and I would be together forever, united with our wondrous family. “Huh? You like that while sucking on his cock, slut?”
Carsina moaned, her bluish cheeks hollowing as she sucked.
“I think she likes it, sister dear,” groaned Sven into my snatch. “Gods, she’s sucking hard. Just so eager for it.”
“She wants to make you cum, brother mine,” I moaned, dancing on his face.
“Yes, she does,” Ealaín purred, her hand stroking her ebony dick wet with Ava’s pussy juices.
I winked at her, lifting my arms over my head. My breasts jiggled and bounced. The amulet swayed between my tits as my brother’s tongue provided the beat to a new, naughty dance. Every flick of his tongue and caress of his whiskers on my juicy vulva made me come closer and closer to erupting.
My moans joined Ava and Aingeal’s muffled pleasure as they feasted on each other’s cum-filled snatches. I shuddered, watching Ava’s rump wiggle, my wife giving me more and more inspiration to perform my art.
Sven’s strong hands grabbed my ass, squeezing my rump as it flexed. I shuddered, my brother’s grip so exciting. His fingers slid into my butt-crack. He didn’t hesitate, just jamming his fingers into my crack, searching for my asshole.
Found it.
“Brother mine!” I howled as his thick finger penetrated my sphincter. A wave of heat washed out of my bowels to my pussy, building my orgasm faster.
I trembled on him, leaning forward. My tits swayed before me, the amulet swinging back and forth. I shuddered, my hands rubbing at his muscular stomach while I watched Carsina bob her mouth faster and faster on my brother’s dick.
She stroked the base as she pleasured him. She made him groan into my snatch. His tongue licked and fluttered faster and faster as he devoured me. I groaned, loving every moment of this. My whimpers rose as I danced faster and faster on him, my bowels clenching on his finger.
“Brother mine!” I whimpered. “Oh, yes, yes, yes! Pater’s big cock and Rithi’s talented fingers.”
“Mmm, just reach your climax on him, Radiant,” groaned Ealaín. “Gods, but your beauty is inspiring.”
“Uh-huh!” Sven groaned, his voice thick with pleasure.
My brother jammed a second finger deep into my asshole. My bowels clenched down on him. His lips sucked on my clit at the same moment. My fingernails scratched at his stomach. Pleasure surged through me.
I came on my brother’s hungry mouth.
My pussy convulsed hard. My juices squirted out of me, flooding his mouth. My twin braids of blonde hair swayed and danced about my shoulders. My cunt convulsed and my bowels writhed about his plunging fingers.
He grunted about my clit. His stomach flexed beneath my clawing fingers. Carsina whimpered. Her cheeks bulged and then she gulped, swallowing my brother’s salty cum. I licked my lips in envy of our newest sex slave.
“Swallow all my brother-husband’s jizz!” I howled as my body quivered, the incestuous rapture surging through my body.
My orgasm peaked in me. My eyes fluttered. I squirmed my hips from side to side as I came down from my bliss. My brother lapped through my folds, drinking my cream. He loved it. He loved making me cum, his women cum.
“I love you, brother mine!” I groaned.
Carsina swallowed a final time. Then she ripped her mouth off his dick. She had an eager, even desperate, look in her ruby eyes. “May I fuck you now, Master?”
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Harem’s Naughty Audience
Sven Falk
Kora rolled off of me and landed on her back. She giggled, “Gods, she really wants to have your dick in her cunt, brother mine.”
I glanced at my sister—my wife—and grinned at her, my lips sticky with her juices. “Every woman wants my dick in her.”
“Not Priestess Thea,” Kora said, her blue eyes bright.
“You are never going to forget about her, are you?” I muttered. I gripped Carsina’s ruby hair. I pulled her up my body.
“Nope!” My sister gave me a wicked grin. “You enjoy Carsina’s cunt impaled on your dick.”
“Oh, I will, sister dear,” I said. “Thea didn’t know what she was missing, but Carsina does.”
“I do, Master!” Carsina moaned, grabbing my dick and guiding it to her red-furred muff.
Kora glanced over at Ealaín stroking her girl-dick. My sister-wife licked her lips. Then she beckoned a finger. For a moment, a flare of jealousy shot through me. Once we were done at the Altar of Souls, Ealaín would have my sister all to herself. Our family would be split apart.
I didn’t want to think of the upcoming divorce. I wrenched my head away, focusing instead on Carsina’s red-furred muff caressing my dick. Her bright-ruby pubic hairs engulfed the crown of my dick moments before I felt the kiss of her silky pussy lips.
An owl hooted as she impaled her pussy down my dick.
“Master!” she groaned as her juicy, Valyan snatch engulfed my dick to the hilt.
I groaned at the hot pleasure surging down my shaft at the feel of her. It was incredible to be in a woman’s cunt. My sex slave’s cunt. Zanyia may have bullied her way into being my sex slave, but I enjoyed it now. I savored owning my women.
Her cunt engulfed me to the hilt. She ground her clit into my pubic bone as she leaned over me. Her bluish tits swayed, her ruby nipples bouncing back and forth. They were such inviting tits. I seized them, my thumbs rubbing over her nubs.
“Master!” she groaned, her pussy clenching down hard on my dick. “Oh, Master, yes, yes, we have to cum! So hard! So fast!”
“Then move those hips,” I groaned. “Work that pussy up and down my dick and make it happen!”
“Yes!” she moaned.
As she rose her pussy up my shaft, her cunt clenching hard around my dick. Beside us, Kora gasped as Ealaín rammed her clit-dick deep into my sister-wife’s pussy. I shuddered at their passion while Carsina slammed her cunt down my dick, her tits jiggling in my hand.
Carsina worked her pussy up and down my shaft. Her cunt clung to my cock, massaging it. My dick drank in the friction of her submissive cunt. I pinched her nipples, bringing a squealing moan from her lips while her snatch clenched tighter about my shaft.
“Gods damn,” I groaned. “Work that pussy, slave. Make me cum!”
“I will, Master,” she moaned and then leaned over. She hugged me tight, pressing her tits into my chest. I moved my hands around her waist, grabbing her ass as she rocked on me. “I’m going to drain your balls of all its cum.”
“Good luck with that!” Kora moaned beside us. “My brother has Slata-blessed nuts.”
I grinned at Carsina, her ruby eyes glossy behind her glasses. Her nipples throbbed against my chest as she rocked against me. Her pussy clenched tight on my dick as she whimpered. Then she kissed me, thrusting her tongue into my mouth, tasting my sister’s cunt on my lips.
I gripped her ass as she worked her pussy up and down my dick, feeling her muscles flex and pounce. My new sex slave loved my cock. She squeezed and relaxed, swelling the pressure in my balls.
She broke the kiss and nuzzled her mouth into my ear. She nibbled on my lobe then groaned, “Oh, Master, you’re going to flood my pussy, aren’t you?”
“You’ll be dripping for days!” I growled.
Gripping her ass, I rolled us over, pinning her beneath me. She gasped, her pussy squeezing down so hard on my dick. I stared into her crimson eyes before I rammed into her hard. I thrust my cock into her, fucking the little priestess-slut with all my passion.
“Krab’s mighty tools!” she moaned, her eyes bulging behind her glasses. “Yes, yes, yes, Master! Ooh, I’m going to cum so hard on this dick. I’m going to milk your cock dry.”
“Pater’s cock!” I growled, eager for that.
My balls smacked into her taint as I pounded her. I braced myself on my elbows. I rammed my dick over and over into her juicy depths. Her flesh clung to me. Her pussy gripped my cock as she shuddered beneath me. Her fingernails clawed my back.
She had strength from working with her hands. She pulled me into her cunt. I groaned, reveling in the delight of her cunt. I drove my dick hard into her. I buried into her over and over. I enjoyed her with all my passion.
“Yes, yes, yes!” she whimpered. “Oh, Master! Oh, your dick! Mmm, that’s so good! I’m getting closer and closer to cumming! You’re plunging so deep into me!”
“You’re little slut-cunt just wants to milk my dick, doesn’t it, slave?” I growled, staring into her ruby eyes.
Delight shone in them.
Her fingernails clawed my back as she howled, “Yes!”
Her pussy convulsed about my dick.
I made my sex slave cum. Pride surged through me as I pounded her convulsing snatch. I reveled in the rippling of her hot sheath. Her silky flesh massaged my shaft, teasing the sensitive tip. The sensations shot to my balls thwacking into her flesh. They swelled with my cum.
She thrashed beneath me. Her breasts heaved, nipples brushing my chest. Her hands shot up to grip the back of my neck. She pulled me down to her. I held her tight, enjoying her quivering against me. Her breath blew hot across my ears.
“Krab’s mighty tools!” she moaned. “Cum in me, Master! Fire all that jizz in me! I need it! I want it so bad!”
I groaned, my hips thrusting forward, burying my dick deep into her convulsing cunt. Such burning delight filled me. She was incredible. I grunted and groaned, savoring the feel of her writhing about me, milking me.
“Gods, I need your jizz in me, Master!” she moaned. Her lips nibbled on my ears.
“Gods, you are such a slut!” I growled.
“Your slut, Master!”
Her words, combined with her convulsing snatch, shot lust down to the tip of my plunging dick. I groaned as I buried into her. With a growl, I thrust forward and buried to the hilt in her. My cum fired out of my cock and spilled into her snatch.
Her pussy spasmed harder. She milked me. My jizz pumped into her, mighty spurts of spunk that splashed inside her cervix. Her snatch writhed about me. I groaned, my eyes rolling back in my head at the delight spilling through my body.
“Gods damn, what a cunt!” I groaned as my pleasure peaked in me, waves of darkness crossing my vision as the bliss pulsed from my dick and slammed into my mind. “Pater’s mighty cock!”
“Your mighty cock, Master!” she moaned into my ear. “Ooh, Master! I love it!”
A hooting owl punctuated our passion.
She stiffened beneath me as her pussy milked out the last drops of cum. “Did you hear that, Master? That owl?”
“Huh?” I groaned, my mind buzzing with rapture.
“It’s identical to a hoot I heard in Az. It’s followed us.”
I froze atop her, a knife slicing through my pleasure.
“It’s the same pattern. No variation to it. The exact same three hoots with the same cadence and rhythm. No natural animal is so consistent.”
Hoot-hoot-hoot.
I frowned. I had been hearing hooting since… since for a while now. I just… ignored it. Owls hoot. My eyes flicked to the forest. A shape perched in the trees, watching us the way an owl would, eyes reflecting back the cook fire.
I rolled off of Carsina to my equipment, snagged a dagger, and rose in a smooth motion. The shape spread wings as my knife flashed through the air. The branch shook. The owl launched itself into the air and—
My weapon struck home, timed right. The creature tumbled to the ground.
“What?” Ealaín gasped, lifting herself up from my sister’s embrace as I rose. “Sven?”
“My husband?” Aingeal asked.
“I got the thing,” I said, grinning. I drew another dagger and advanced naked to the twitching creature.
Carsina padded behind me. Then Ealaín appeared at my side. She gripped her war ax. Though we had our magical armors and the weapons they created, we kept our mundane arms around. Just in case.
The thing I hit spasmed on the ground. Feathers drifted around it. The thing was shedding them as it died. Black ichor bubbled around my dagger’s hilt. I stopped several feet away, studying the thing. It was small, sickly and bent, its flesh stony like the grotesque off a building come to life. It wasn’t natural.
“One of the Biomancer’s vermin,” Ealaín said. She knelt, peering closer at it.
“What’s going on, brother mine?” Kora asked.
“We’re being followed,” I growled.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Journey East
Ealaín
“Followed?” my charge gasped.
“What’s going on, Master?” Nathalie asked. Her voice lacked the normal fear. Since the fight, she had shed a degree of her timidity. She had discovered her strength thanks to Rubyforged, her armor.
“One of the Biomancer’s things has been following us,” Sven said. He knelt and nudged the dead creature with his knife. “For days. Since Az.”
“Longer,” I said, shaking my head. “I remember hearing owls after we exited from Faerie and while traveling through the woods. I didn’t think anything of hearing those hoots.”
“Carsina says it hooted the same way every time, no variation,” Sven said. He straightened, staring out at the woods, arms folded across his bare chest.
“It was,” Kora gasped. “I just thought owls hooted the same. I didn’t even think it was the same one, just… It was waiting for us when we emerged from the ring?”
“It tracked us there, probably with Keythivak,” said Zanyia.
“If the Paragon was tracking us that long, why did the Biomancer’s vermin waited so long to attack us?” Sven asked. “You saw what they did at Az. If it wasn’t for the armor we found there, they would have killed us.”
“Most likely,” I agreed. “Perhaps it took time for the Paragon to gather those monsters.”
“Why would the Paragon use Zizthithana at all?” asked Ava.
“Zizthithana figured out how to find the amulet,” said Zanyia. “I bet she held back where she found it. Used it to negotiate. Then, when Master interfered, the Paragon took time to gather her foul compatriots. I bet they were scattered across the world. If they were all in one place…”
“Yes, they’d be hunted down by those new knightly orders cropping up,” said Kora, her hand grasping the amulet. “I can’t wait until we destroy this.”
I swallowed, glancing at Sven. His jaw tightened.
I glanced back at my charge, at the amulet. The ruby seemed so dark now, an empty void gripped by her pale fingers. I shifted and said, “I feel like we’re missing something important. There is something about this that makes little sense.
“Doesn’t matter,” Zanyia said. “We’ll reach the Altar of Souls soon. We killed the spy. They can’t track us, and it’s not like they know exactly where we’re going. We don’t even know where we’re going.”
“Just east,” Sven said. His head glanced to the south. Towards Echur and Prince Meinard? “Let’s eat supper and get to sleep. I want us up early. We need to cover more ground. I don’t want to find an ambush set up by Prince Meinard’s soldiers.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Princess Ava
The next week passed in a blur of hard traveling. Sven’s concern over my father’s activities set unease in me. I kept checking his study, sinking into my jade beetle proxy I left in the crack in his wall., but he was never there. I’d tried different times of day: early in the morning when I first rose, late in the afternoon, midday, late morning, sunset. I even woke up in the middle of the night to check.
It was empty.
My father wasn’t at Echur. He was out… somewhere. He had to be hunting us. It made me worried as we left behind the Forest of Lhes and rode through the farmland of Eastern Kivoneth. The Despeir Mountains reared up on the horizon, daggers thrusting in the sky.
The fence separating our civilized lands from the cruel domain of the nagas.
My stomach grew tighter as the stress mounted. Where was my father? At every crossroad I expected ambush. I kept turning around to look behind us to see if any great clouds of dust hazed the horizon, announcing a large column of soldiers in pursuit. He had the troops, soldiers manpower so long as he ignored the western front where his armies were in rout.
The hammer kept leading us east. I had claimed possession of it from Carsina as we entered the easternmost lands. The hammer pulsed more and more. It trembled, growing closer and closer to where it yearned to be. It was created to work the Altar of Souls, to forge powerful artifacts at the hands of the God of Crafts.
And now it was in my hands.
At night, I slept with it cradled to my breasts. It filled my dreams with strange images of the muscular god working, crafting all the artifacts of the gods: Grimsilence, the Tourmaline Mask, Heart’s Key, Balance, and even High King Peter’s famed sword with which he conquered everything west of the Despeir Mountains, uniting them beneath his High Kingdom.
A mad feat my father ached to repeat.
The hammer sang to me. It longed to be home. I made me push Sven to keep us riding hard and long. To take as little breaks as possible. We were all tired, but we were coming closer and closer to ending this. To destroying the Biomancer Vebrin’s soul.
What a wonderful treat that would be. To end his villainy once and for all. He would not get a second chance to populate the world with those abominations like the ones who attacked us. Or the thing that followed us pretending to be an owl.
So far, we’d found no new creatures tailing us.
I wasn’t the only one who often rode in silence. Ealaín didn’t speak much, her eyes distant, her mind working on her theory that we were missing something important. The Paragon’s behavior made little sense. If she had access to forces more powerful than Zizthithana, why didn’t she dispatch them after us right away.
It was only when we went to the Temple of Krab that the Paragon approached my father. And in a day, her monsters had traveled a distance that would have take a human four or more to cross. They were scared by us entering the temple that they acted precipitously.
But why not just do that from beginning? What held them back before we went to the Temple?
I couldn’t think of it. Not with the hammer’s song pulsing through my thoughts. We were coming closer and closer. I could feel it. When we woke up on the tenth day since leaving Az, I could feel we were close.
We would reach it today.
The Despeir Mountains swallowed the horizon as we set out passing the orderly farms. We were a days ride from them. I could even see the pass, the gap between the mountains. Zizthithana’s foul slavers rode through the gap to take prisoners for my father to use to spread his power. The Zeutchians who lived here kept weapons in plane sight, polearms leaning against fences while the men worked the fields, youths perched in makeshift towers looking east.
They feared the slavers. That would end once I ruled Kivoneth. I wouldn’t let the nagas raid my people.
As the day wore on, a hill grew on the horizon. It thrust up from a large plain devoid of any farms. The road ended before we got within miles of it. The hammer drew me towards it. I shuddered. I could feel it. This was it. This was where the Altar of Souls lay. A nervous tremble ran through me as we came closer and closer.
The hammer twitched as the hill grew to swallow the horizon, only the tallest peaks of the Despeir Mountains rearing above it. I felt such majesty pouring off the hill. It concealed something important, something of such power that not even the powerful illusion cloaking it could fully hide.
“Gods damn, but you can feel it,” Sven muttered.
“No wonder there are no farms around here,” Kora said. “My teeth are almost rattling.”
“The Altar of Souls,” I said in breathy excitement. The hammer twitched in my hand.
“You have the key, Princess-Mistress,” Carsina said. “Once you unlock it, the Altar will be exposed. Anyone can use it after this.”
“Better than the Biomancer living,” muttered Sven.
I nodded my head in agreement.
I swallowed when we reached the base of the hill. It wasn’t a gradual transition to the great grass covered mound. It was artificial, a shell built over something. I slipped off my saddle with grace, clutching the diamond hammer. The afternoon sun shone on my back. Its rays reflected in the heart of the diamond as a fiery brilliance that shifted as I moved it.
Sven moved forward. He reached the hill and pressed his hand against the slope, pushing the grass out of the way. “Krab built this over the Altar of Souls.”
“To hide it from being abused,” Carsina said. “It’s so impressive.”
“There’s a tree growing on the side,” Zanyia said. “Don’t trees have deep roots? How thick is this hill?”
“Thick enough,” Carsina answered. “It is said to have a core of adamant. Nothing normal can dig through it. You have to use the hammer. It will power the device he built around it. Cause it to… to open. Somehow.”
“I don’t see a keyhole,” Sven said, looking around. “Do we need to move to a different spot, Carsina?”
“No,” I said, reaching the base of the hill. I stared up the slope reaching up to the blue sky. I could feel the mechanism in there, like I could with the lock of the vault back at the temple. It was built for an imbuer to use. But it was so massive, no imbuer’s soul was strong enough to work.
Not without the hammer.
“It’s not a lock in that way. It’s like… Greta’s armor,” I continued, squeezing the diamond haft. “The same way Carsina supercharged it, I can do that to the hill. I can puppeteer it and open it.”
“Do it,” Ealaín said. “Let us end this. Let us destroy Vebrin’s phylactery and condemn his soul to his punishment in the Astral Realm.”
“Yes!” Sven growled, his voice thick, almost like he was… in pain. “Do it! Let’s get his over with.”
I drew in a deep breath and raised the hammer over my head. It flared with pure radiance. The light spilled over the hill. The machinery inside quivered as my soul surged into the hammer. I swung it down, bringing my will in contact with the hill.
Light exploded around me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prince Meinard
I didn’t need a horse. Not with the changes to my body. I had stamina, endurance. I could cross my country as fast as the squadron of twenty soldiers riding on their steeds. Gunther, my most trusted general, led them. Shevoin also rode with them, the master mage sitting his horse stiffly, weariness straining his aged features.
The men all smelled delicious. Not as sweet as a farm girl—the one I ate last night was so soft and succulent—but my soldiers could give me such strength. I had to remind myself that I needed them. They were useful.
Not like a farm girl.
The Paragon marched at the lead. I don’t know how I ever considered her ugly. She was every race and species of sentient life brought together in one being. She had the nimble grace of a halfling, the strength of an ogre, the drive and determination of a human, the grit of an orc, the keen hearing of an elf, the endurance of a dwarf, the tenacity of a goblin. All of it distilled into her.
Father’s greatest creation.
I quaked to see Father’s rebirth. He would be so happy with me. He would make me King of the World. I would provide him the largest laboratory to make more creations. He could enhance entire villages, towns, even cities. Whole races would be improved by him. No more making solitary creations in the dark corners of the world, hunted by lesser men who didn’t have the ambition to change things.
He would end death and suffering. He would end all those petty differences between humans and dwarves, elves and orcs. What did any of that matter when all were like the Paragon? When all were improved? He would make a paradise of the world.
No matter how many centuries of experimentation it would take.
On the horizon, a hill loomed. It thrust out of the eastern farmlands, the Despeir Mountains behind it. The trail led towards it. Finally, we had located that bastard Sven. He had my daughter. She would be a succulent treat to enjoy. I licked my lips in eager anticipation the delight of my sweetling’s flesh.
With the death of the Watcher, we were blind. We only knew Sven and his whores traveled East. Yesterday, we caught his trail. The stink of him filled my nose even now, growing stronger and stronger as we neared the hill.
My daughter’s scent mixed in. I could smell her pregnancy, that bit of Sven in her. That would only make her taste—
White light exploded from the hill and flashed across the entire horizon.
“They found the Altar!” the Paragon hissed. “Father!”
Fear lanced through me. As I charged forward at a full run, I snarled, “Gallop!”
To be continued…