= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Chapter 30
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Building Supports

I wake up, my jaw shivering from the cold of the floor penetrating my bones.

“W-what’s h-happening?” I ask, my teeth knocking against each other and my breath misting in the air. Looking around, I see the elf poised above a sleeping Angela, knife at her throat. Blue is also sleeping; at least, I hope she’s sleeping. Considering that she’s a reptile, I hope her inner fires are enough to combat this cold. Frost can actually be seen covering the adamantium that I’d used for mass, and I realize I’m completely nude, except for Murasame on my hip.

Why hadn’t I remembered to form my clothes when I changed back from being a dragon? I remonstrate internally as I curl into a ball.

“The Pillar of Fire is dead,” the elf states, almost as coldly as the frigid air around us. “This traitor said she could help you recover.” Her eyes rove over my naked body, and she must agree with what she sees, as she nods. “I see you’re recovered. We need to get moving.”

Why she isn’t affected by the cold, I don’t know.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on forming a large coat over my body, and am glad I’m already on the ground, by the amount of energy that abandons me. I’d forgotten how much energy creating clothing takes from me. Why is creating clothing so exhausting, but changing forms less so? I dismiss the thought, knowing it’s not the most important concern right now.

I’m still cold.

“If we don’t get somewhere warm soon, your dragon is going to die,” Angela states groggily, opening her eyes, but remaining motionless beneath the knife at her throat. Her eyes remain locked on the elf for a second, until the knife pulls away.

“We’d better get F-Fujin’s m-mantle, and g-get out of h-here,” I chatter.

The elf holds up something that I can’t quite make out. It looks like blurry cloth draped over her hand, completely opaque, and I realize this must be the mantle we’d come to get.

I take another look around, looking for TanaVesta, and after a moment I spot her. A tiny woman with bright red hair, barely larger than Arethusa, lies bloody and beaten on the ground, ice forming around her cold body. From the shocked look on her still open eyes, I can see that she hadn’t expected to be defeated. This must be her true form.

“Where’s her mantle?” I ask, glad to finally get a sentence out without stuttering.

“Under your dragon, keeping her warm,” I’m told by the elf. I really wish I knew what her name is. I’m getting tired of just thinking of her as ‘the elf.’

“Her name is Alloria,” Angela informs me, reading my surface thoughts.

“If I’d wanted him to know my name,” Alloria growls, “I’d have told him, succubus. Don’t presume that just because you healed the generator’s wounds, that you’re forgiven for your treachery.”

“Why did you care if I recovered?” I ask, the sudden thought making me wonder. “I thought you hated me.”

“I don’t have to love you, to want the world I love saved,” she responds snidely. “Besides, Gaia ordered me to make sure you lived.”

And here I’d hoped I’d been growing on her.

“Let’s get going, then,” I order, walking over to the pile of adamantium. I hesitate for only a moment before holding my hand out to Angela, which she doesn’t miss. I see her cheeks burn at the doubt in my mind, but she says nothing as she takes a firm grip on my hand. It’s going to take some time to fully trust her again, no matter what we did in my Mens Mundi.

As soon as Alloria’s hand tentatively touches my shoulder, I close my eyes, flatten my hand against the powerful metal before me, and change back into a dragon. The raw shock of power isn’t there this time as I change forms. I end up having to use some of my own fleeting reserves. If only I hadn’t been so wounded in the battle with TanaVesta. My sides still ache from the damage done by her claws, and even the time with Angela wasn’t enough to fully heal me.

The cold suddenly intensifies, and I mentally hear both women inside me start shivering. Moving over to Blue to wake her up, I notice that the air marginally warms. She stirs sluggishly, and after a couple moments I’m able to get her to her feet. We leave out the large opening in the side of TanaVesta’s chambers.

I’d forgotten that I become cold blooded in this form, and know that if we don’t hurry, I’ll have to change back. Which, of course, will only slow us down more. Why couldn’t things be easy just once?

“I was easy,” Angela jokes. I’m too cold and tired to find the humor.

The air barely supports us as we travel, and I have to constantly work at keeping Blue and myself moving, the cold slowing us down with each passing second.

I don’t understand why everything got so cold, I state internally. When Fujin was killed, all the air didn’t suddenly disappear.

“TanaVesta, and the Pillars of Light and Darkness are different from the other three,” Alloria states. “Those three control energies in this world. The Pillars of Water, Air, and Earth control mass. When Fujin was murdered, the air in this world had nowhere to go. The wind has died, but the air is still there. Now that TanaVesta is dead, her strength and control of those energies she commanded has fled.”

I remember how cold I’d gotten before I passed out, while Blue must have been battling the large red dragon. At the time I’d thought it was due to the loss of blood and me dying. Now I know better.

“It was,” Angela says sadly. “It took several hours for it to grow this cold. If all of TanaVesta’s control had fled at once, everything would have been flash-frozen.”

Once again I marvel at how much the one-time, four-hundred year old, slave understands about things.

“You pick things up over the centuries,” she responds to my unspoken compliment with pride in her voice.

Blue suddenly plummets, and I have to return my concentration to keeping her moving. Being cold blooded really doesn’t agree with either of us. I can see she’s carrying the power of the Pillar of Fire in her right forepaw, its light seeping around her sharp talons as she holds it close to her body, but it’s not enough to keep her going. It soon becomes apparent that the large blue dragon won’t make it all the way back to Gaia’s earthen palace.

I wonder why I’m able to do better than Blue at keeping myself moving? Is it because of the weakened adamantium? Neither of my passengers knows either.

It takes all my concerted concentration to keep us both moving long enough to reach the cave where Angela and I’d been captured, and where later I’d gotten Sheila pregnant. I end up having to drag the nearly comatose lizard inside. There is one benefit from the cold: the terrible stench that’d permeated this place before is tamped down.

It takes some effort, the fire resisting my efforts to start it, but I’m eventually able to get a small burn going in the same pit where the Orcs had intended to cook the succubus and me. While the cave never grows warm, it does at least grow less frigid, and I change back into my human form, making sure that warm clothing surrounds me, and creating a slight barrier between the cave entrance and the fire with the adamantium to hold in as much warmth as possible.

“What are you going to do?” Alloria asks me as she gently pats Blue’s eye ridge. I’m a bit surprised at how much she seems to care about the fate of the dragon. “You can’t stay here forever, keeping a fire going, and she won’t make it back to Gaia so we can figure out what our next move should be.”

“Can we make her the Pillar of Fire temporarily?” I ask, holding my hands out over the fire.

Angela shakes her head before answering. “From the way TanaVesta had talked, it’s something that’s permanent, or at least until death.”

“The dragon can’t become a pillar anyway,” Alloria adds in, giving Angela a slight glare. “It requires a certain amount of mental fortitude, which unfortunately the poor beast doesn’t have.”

“She may surprise you,” I say about the slumbering creature. “She’s smarter than she looks.”

Alloria gives me a calculating look for a moment, making me terribly curious what she’s thinking, before shaking her head. “I didn’t say she was dumb. No dragon is dumb, but she isn’t the type of dragon that is strong enough to become a pillar.”

I stand in silence for a few moments, trying to weigh the options, before asking softly, “What about you, Alloria?”

“I haven’t given you permission to use my name!” she scolds me so hotly, I blanch away from her. It takes her a few moments to calm down, but I don’t miss Angela’s slight smile. What does the succubus know? “I can’t become the Pillar of Fire,” she says, still breathing a bit heavily from her outburst a moment ago. I open my mouth to ask why not, but she answers before I can get the words out. “Nominally I’m aligned with Earth, being an elf. I could only ever become the Pillar of Earth, but I respect Gaia too much to ever desire that burden.” I’d once thought that she would be the next Pillar of Air, but I guess I was wrong. Who did Gaia mean for the job, if not the elf? “Only the dragon and . . . the succubus are aligned with fire enough, but I’ve already explained why the dragon can’t, and we can’t trust her.” If I had any doubts about how Alloria feels about Angela, they’re gone now.

“I don’t want it,” Angela says, looking up to meet my eyes. I can’t help arching an eyebrow at the certain in her voice. “Lyden,” she continues, addressing me directly and there is no mistaking the intimacy in her tone as her voice caresses my name, “if I became the Pillar of Fire, I would lose you. I would be stuck to that mountain, except for short trips away. In some of her more lucid moments, TanaVesta told me that she sometimes felt like a prisoner with her power. Every time she left her volcano, she’d grow weak, until she could return and recharge.”

As she speaks, her eyes remain locked on mine, and there is no doubt about the sincerity of her statement. She truly doesn’t want to be the next Pillar of Fire.

I also lose my doubt about her affection for me. Her eyes paint a picture into her soul that I can’t miss, and can’t be feigned.

Filled with shame at having doubted her, I look away first, but my gaze goes back to the slumbering dragon. She’ll die if someone doesn’t become the next Pillar of Fire soon. And Aldol. . . . With two pillars down, how much weaker is the Shadow World?

“Chances are,” Angela answers my unspoken question, “it’s frantically trying to figure out what happened to its ally.”

A very small smile splits my lips at that. At least there is one small silver lining to all of this. But that doesn’t help with my concerns over the pregnant dragon.

“If you have one large failing,” Angela says, her voice full of resignation, “it’s that you care too much for others, and not enough about yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, confused by her words.

She doesn’t answer immediately, however, as she walks over to Blue. Alloria glares at her for a moment, on the other side of the dragon’s head, but says nothing.

“I mean, your heart is too big. I’ve had my time with you, and even though I know you don’t love this dragon, you care for her and the eggs she’s carrying.” As she talks, a deep sadness comes over the dark skinned woman and a feeling of trepidation worms over me. “Because you care, so do I. What right do I have to be free, when it means so many others will die?”

Too late I see what I should have seen from the start, as Angela bends over, placing her hand on the forepaw holding the Pillar of Fire’s mantle. It only takes her a split moment of concentration, and it’s too late.

“Angela, no!” I yell, moving forward to stop her.

A glow moves its way up her arm, and I watch as her eyes grow large and she gasps.

“What have you done?” Alloria demands. The sound of her sword clearing the scabbard echoes around the cavern.

“What needed to be done,” she gasps, stepping away from the dragon. “My God, it’s so hot. No, stay back, Lyden my love,” she adds when I move to enfold her in my arms. “I—“ whatever she’d been about to say is lost, as her entire body is engulfed in flames. Searing white-hot heat blasts out from her, and I have to step back. The temperature in the cavern is quickly rising, and I know it won’t remain survivable for long at this rate.

Thankfully, I see Blue start to stir, and I mentally command her to get out, while I grip the elf’s wrist, hauling her to the adamantium. Alloria moves with me, without any arguing, and I can already begin feeling my skin burning as I touch the heated precious metal.

As soon as the makeshift barrier is down, Blue darts past me, and I’m hot on her heels, trying to escape the furnace Angela is turning the cave into.

By comparison to the inside, beyond the mouth of the cave is cool, but not nearly as cold as it had been before.

Some inner instinct warns me, and I catch up to Blue in enough time to bump her to the side, as pure, blinding fire belches from the cavern. I sense, more than see, something shoot out, and head back towards TanaVesta’s mountain.

Angela’s mountain, I realize, now that she’s the Pillar of Fire. I hadn’t even got the chance to say goodbye.

“We need to go after her,” Alloria’s voice says in my mind. “She can’t be trusted. We can’t leave that kind of power in her hands.”

I ignore her, letting my emotions be answer enough. I check over Blue and verify she’s all right, before checking myself. We’re both a little singed, but otherwise unharmed.

I’m not sure if normal dragons are capable of crying, but that doesn’t stop my eyes from watering as we take to the air, flying back to Gaia’s stronghold. Alloria continues to protest, but her words are swallowed up by my damaged heart.

* * *

“And you feel her loyalties can be trusted?” Gaia states over her steepled fingers.

“No,” Alloria says without hesitation, at the same time I say, “Yes.”

“I believe you, Lyden,” Mother Earth states after some contemplation. “I watched what enfolded in that cavern, and while her ultimate loyalties may remain in question, I have no doubt about how she feels for you. For now, it will have to be enough.”

When we’d arrived, Blue and I were ushered to the same balcony we’d left from, and everyone came out to greet us. Gaia had immediately made the pile of adamantium disappear, sending it back to wherever she keeps it. Brooke, Areth, Becky, and even Jennifer had all hugged me happily, telling me how happy they were that I was mostly unharmed. They didn’t know that I was on the brink of death. Sheila waited patiently, until I had to order her to join the group of women around me.

Jewkes and Thomas both shook my hand heartily, Ondine remaining quietly back. I don’t have time to consider her behavior, but make a note to myself to take care of that soon.

The air is still cool around us, but not nearly the frigid cold it had been before Angela took the Mantle of Fire upon herself.

“Forgive me, Lyden,” Jewkes states hesitantly, stepping forward. They’d all remained silent while Alloria and I told our tale. “How do we know that this outsider won’t just control her like it did the previous Pillar of Fire?”

I have to fight hard to tamp down the sudden anger I feel at his accusation, but I know where it’s coming from.

“How many of those glasses of yours, those Blublockers, do you have?” I ask the hook-nosed police officer.

“Only what I’ve already handed out,” he states apologetically.

“May I see a pair of those?” Gaia asks, walking towards us.

Richard hands over his pair, and the Pillar of Earth examines them for a second, even putting them on. After a few moments filled with her ‘hmm’ing and ‘huh’ing, she hands them back. She drops to her knees, and at first I think she’s suddenly exhausted. Then I see her stand back up, a pair of wood-framed glasses in her hands. The lenses are the same rose color as Jewkes’s original pair. She hands them to the older man, and he dons them, looking around for a moment before handing them back.

“I think they’ll do, ma’am,” he tells her politely.

She nods to him, before setting them back on the ground and they sink slowly in. “The new Pillar of Fire will receive these shortly,” Gaia states to the room.

I truly have to marvel at the power the Pillars posses. To be able to create something so easily, and then transport it with ease, just seems mind-boggling. Hopefully Angela will be able to get her flames under control, before she burns up the frames.

Gaia’s gaze pierces me, and I can tell she isn’t happy. “My orders to you were to retrieve the Mantle of Air, not kill the Pillar of Fire. The strain of having two pillars down was immense, and there’s no telling what the Outsider was doing to take advantage of the situation.”

For some reason, instead of being cowed by her attitude, I feel indignant. “Since the choice was kill or be killed,” I tell her firmly, meeting her dark gaze without flinching, “I won’t apologize for my actions. Alloria has the mantle, and you can sit here and chew me out for circumstances beyond my control, or you can help appoint the next Pillar of Air, and reduce the strain on yourself even more.”

I expect her to yell at me, or berate me, or for the ground to open beneath me, swallowing me whole, but I don’t expect her to grin and nod at me.

“I hope your daughter has as much backbone as you do, Mr. Snow. You misunderstand the nature of a new pillar, but you are correct in that we shouldn’t waste anymore time.” Her voice is smooth and gentle, but there is an unmistakable solidity to it.

“My daughter?” I ask, looking to Sheila. Surely Gaia doesn’t plan on making one of the unborn twins the next Pillar of Air!

“Not from her,” Gaia corrects my thinking, but doesn’t offer a different solution. “When a new pillar is formed, they have to learn control of the power they inherit. Even now, your succubus is sitting in the deepest parts of her volcano, the rock walls around her turning molten, attempting to get the power she took under her control. The strain of supporting this world is still there, as it always is. In truth, until she can control her power, the pull on my own strength is still strong, if not worse. Creating the new Pillar of Air may well incapacitate me, until she can control herself.”

“Forgive me, Mother Earth,” Becky asks, coming to stand next to me, “but who do you intend to take on the Mantle of Air?”

I place my arm around the very short brunette’s shoulders, wondering the same thing, and pulling her tightly to my side.

I don’t like the gleam that shines in Gaia’s eyes as she looks at me. No, I realize after a moment, she’s not looking at me, but through me. I shiver inside, and thoughts start going through my mind, pieces falling into place, as I get a sinking feeling.

“Lyden Snow, I believe it’s time you met your daughter,” Gaia says officiously. “She’s been hiding in your mind long enough.”

“Lyden, what’s she talking about?” Becky asks me, pulling away from me.

Shaking my head, I try to understand. It can’t be, I think. It can’t have really happened. We were in my mind, at the time, and she died right afterwards. There’s no way she could have gotten pregnant and given birth in that short time.

But I had seen Lisa’s blonde hair in my Mens Mundi, and there was that unknown voice that spoke to me before when I was depressed.

“Are you there?” I mumble under my breath. Not sure what scares me more: knowing that someone may exist inside my mind without my knowledge, or knowing that I have a daughter I never knew about.

“I am, father,” that unknown voice responds hesitantly. My knees sag beneath me, and I feel someone’s arms help support me as I’m laid back onto the floor.

“How?” I ask the question meaning so many different things, closing my eyes, and seeking entrance to my Mens Mundi. I hear other voices outside, demanding answers from someone, maybe me or maybe Gaia, I’m not sure. Ignoring them, I continue to turn inward.

“I helped hide her,” Shemhazau states, his form solidifying before me as the now familiar forest and stream scene surrounds us.

“Why would you do that?” I demand of the man, clenching my fists and teeth.

“Because I was afraid,” the feminine voice says, and I spin around to see a young woman with Lisa’s blonde hair and blue eyes looking back at me. She’s a little taller than Lisa had been, and she doesn’t possess any of her mother’s self-confidence. I can see something in the shape of her nose and jaw from me, but her age is impossible to tell. She could be eighteen or forty, instead of only a matter of weeks old.

My heart aches with a pain I had thought mostly under control as I look at her, wanting to take her in my arms, and hold her tight, but also terrified of what this all means.

“How is this possible?” I ask, turning back to my father, but he’s no longer there. Apparently this is a moment for my daughter and me, without her grandfather.

“I’m a child of your minds,” she tells me when I turn back to face eyes that are the same as my late lover’s. “I was conceived before she died, and developed at the speed of thought.” Her feet shuffle as she talks, and my mind seems to struggle to understand what she’s telling me.

A child of Lisa’s and my minds? Developed at the speed of thought? I had no idea such things were possible. What then does that mean for Angela? I’d made my sperm potent when we’d been together earlier today, not three steps from where I’m standing now. Is there another child suddenly developing in here, or is it with her since she still lives? My head starts to hurt, trying to figure this out.

“Why did you want to hide from me?” I ask, trying to grasp at anything I might be able to understand.

She remains silent for a while, and just when I’m getting ready to ask again, her voice breaks as she tries to form her response. “I didn’t know you. I may have developed in your mind, allowing me to speak and learn, but I watched as you went up against the Pillar of Fire, and lived. I could tell how conflicted you were concerning having kids, and didn’t want you to hate me. What if you thought I was a monster?”

“Hate you? A monster?” I repeat her words stupidly, somehow trying to make sense of them. How could I ever hate one of my children? Much less Lisa’s daughter? “I could never hate you,” I tell her, still dumbfounded and reeling from the revelations that are trying to swamp me.

In the blink of an eye she vanishes, but I don’t wonder where she’s gone for long, as I feel her arms wrap around my torso, hugging me tightly.

“I’m scared, Dad,” she cries into my chest, and my arms go around her automatically.

A chill runs down my spine as she calls me Dad, the unfamiliar word getting applied to me. I’d grown up without my parents and in a way so had she. Can I be the father she needs me to be? What if I screw up and make a mistake?

Knowing that no matter what I do, I’ll never be perfect, I hug my daughter closer to me. “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” I tell her, knowing my words for lies, but not certain what else to say.

“That’s not true,” she chides me, but doesn’t pull away. “I don’t know if I can become the Pillar of Air like she wants. I don’t even know how to get out of your head.”

Just like that, I’m dumbstruck again. I had completely forgotten about Gaia and her plans for my daughter.

“We’ll have to find someone else,” I tell her simply, unsure just how I’m going to do that. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” I tell her fiercely, meaning it with all my heart. How strange, some part of my mind wonders, that I could suddenly grow to care so much for someone that I didn’t even know existed until just a few moments ago.

“No, I know I need to do it,” she tells me, for a moment sounding much like her mother. “I’m just scared. The worlds need me. I can’t turn my back on that. You wouldn’t, and my mother wouldn’t.”

Powerful pride fills my chest at her words; while at the same time fear for her clouds my thinking. “Where did you learn to be so responsible?” I ask her.

For the first time she laughs and my heart breaks all over again. She laughs the same way her mother used to. “From watching you, of course.”

Shaking my head, I’m suddenly embarrassed at some of the things I’d been up to. The scene with Gaia as well as being in here with Angela earlier, just to name a couple. And my daughter had been watching. . . .

“I don’t even know your name,” I tell her to get rid of those thoughts. I don’t think I’m ready to have the talk with her just yet. Or for that matter, I don’t know if I even need to have the talk now.

“That’s because you haven’t given me one,” she tells me through her mother’s sweet laugh.

My mind immediately goes blank. If this is what parenthood holds in store for me, then my children are in serious trouble! “Is there a name you’d like to have?”

Her head pulls back for the first time since she started hugging me, and I see her blue eyes sparkle uncertainly. “Yes, but I don’t know how you’ll feel about it.”

* * *

I stand alone, fidgeting in a circle, wearing nothing but a loincloth. My legs are buried to just below my knees in the ground. The air outside is still, much as it has been since Fujin’s death, and it has warmed enough that I no longer feel chilled in my almost nakedness. In fact, a small rivulet of sweat can be felt slowly rolling down my back, as I nervously wait. Gaia had wanted me completely nude for this, but I’d refused, on the grounds that I didn’t want to bring my daughter into the outer world with me completely naked. The irony of that thought isn’t lost on me.

Becky had responded the most about the news that I had a daughter with Lisa. At first she’d been angry that I’d kept it from her, and it took some time to convince her that I hadn’t known until just barely. Then she’d been hurt that I’d chosen to have children with Lisa, Sheila, and even Blue, but not her. I didn’t even know she wanted children. I wisely chose not to tell her that I may even have gotten Angela pregnant. She refused to listen to the fact that I didn’t know or mean for it to happen in either case. Then she demanded that we hurry up, and get this over with, not speaking to me again.

“Are you ready?” Alloria asks me, stepping suddenly from the tall grass that surrounds the perfect circle around me.

I nod, and sense my daughter nodding too. Now that she’s no longer hiding from me, and I’m aware of her, it’s easy to feel her presence.

Alloria holds her arms out, and I can just make out the blurry form of Air’s Mantle in her hands. “Then Lysa, I call you to come forth and take up the Mantle of Air, as is your destiny.” At the sound of the name my daughter chose, a combination of Lisa’s and mine, I feel something inside me shudder. “I command you to leave the body of your father, and enter the world.”

Alloria’s commanding voice continues to implore Lysa to step free of me, and take up the proffered power. My insides twist and knot as I feel her try to break free, the power of whatever spell the elf is casting helping her.

“How will she be compatible with Air?” I remember asking the Earth Mother, remembering that only Angela had been capable of taking over for TanaVesta because of her ties to fire. Neither her mother or I are tied to air.

“Because she is a child of the mind. She has no solid form of her own, and is the best suited for this task.” Gaia’s words had been soothing, and I realized at the time that she was trying to calm a concerned parent.

“What will happen to me when I take it?” Lysa asks me, and I repeat the question for Gaia.

“I suspect that there’s a good chance that you may be blown away as she tries to wrest control of it. That’s why I have a wide open field prepared for this.” Gaia’s eyes meet mine, and I realized her next words were for Lysa. “I can’t promise it’ll be easy for you, but you really are our best hope in this, and I know your loyalties will lie with the young generator.”

A sharp pain between my eyes brings me back to the present. Something indistinct is pulling away from me, coming out of me, and reaching for Air’s Mantle. Internally I cheer my daughter on, willing her to take up the Mantle and become the next Pillar of Air. I try to shove aside all my doubts and fears for her, knowing that this needs to be done.

Lysa’s shadowy hand touches the rippling item in Alloria’s hands and suddenly gale force winds knock me painfully to the ground. My not entirely healed wounds from TanaVesta throb in agony as the world seems to spin around me. I have no doubt that if my feet weren’t securely locked in rock, I would have been blown away just as Gaia had said. As it is, from the pain in my legs, I half suspect that something is broken or torn.

Thankfully the gale lasts for only a few seconds, and then is gone as quickly as it’d come. Alloria bends over me, smirking, and I wonder how she’d stayed upright during the whole thing. Sitting up, I see that the grass in all directions has been laid flat, swirling out from the circle as though a tornado had swirled them down. My loincloth has vanished at some point as well.

Alloria mumbles some sort of spell, and the ground around my feet opens up. I’m able to pull my legs free. Both knees hurt when I try to put my weight on them, but I manage, doing my best not to look damaged in front of the self-righteous elf.

The long walk back to Gaia’s domain is thankfully shortened by Blue’s arrival, and she carries us back up to the room where everyone else was waiting. Thankfully she also brought me a change of clothing. I try not to act too smug about Alloria having to hold onto me on the dragon’s back, and I’m sure she tries equally hard not to slip a dagger between my ribs or knock me off.

I grunt painfully when Brooke and Becky practically slam into me, pressing me back against Blue. I can feel Areth hugging her body against my cheek, her feet on my left shoulder, and a moment later Sheila takes the initiative and joins the group as well. I want to tell them all that I’m alright, and that they didn’t have anything to worry about, but the thought of my daughter out there, trying to cope with untold power keeps me silent. At least Becky has forgiven me.

“If you three hug him any tighter, I’m going to have to consider this an orgy and join in,” Jennifer laughs.

“Only because you want to be with him, too,” Becky says, and I see the large-chested woman’s cheeks burn red. Apparently the brunette’s comment struck something in her.

“Everything went well, I take it?” Jewkes states and I see that Jennifer’s comment or reaction has embarrassed the older man. I know he’s married, so why does he keep looking at Jennifer like that?

I see that Emmet is tied up in a corner, and Ondine has her head bowed, standing directly behind Thomas. Where Emmet is standing and facing me, Ondine is acting as if she’s a prisoner.

“She won’t talk to us,” Brooke whispers, seeing where my gaze is. “After you left, Thomas convinced Gaia to let her into his room, and she came back out acting like a beat puppy.”

I’m torn for only a moment. Thomas has been a good friend to me, but I can’t stand seeing someone act as Ondine is. Even Sheila doesn’t act like that when she’s in full slave mode.

Gaia already knows what I’m going to ask before I do, and I see her nod my way in approval. How long has she been watching me that she can read me so well? I don’t miss the strain in her dark eyes, and wonder how much effort she is having to put forth, just to be here with us right now? She’d said that two new pillars would add to her workload.

“Gaia,” I say, concerned for the pillar, “I know you’re under a lot of stress. Please rest while we recover.”

Mother Earth looks at me for a moment before nodding. A moment later she practically melts into the floor.

I’m surprised to see Alloria actually smiling at me. At least, until she catches me looking, and turns it into a glare.

“Ondine,” I say, trying not to grimace at the way she jumps at the sound of her name, “I’ve got a plan in mind to defeat Aldol, but I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

“What do you need of her?” Thomas asks, stepping forward.

“I’m sorry,” I tell the older man, trying to sound as if I really am, “but I’m afraid it’ll have to remain secret. Only she and I can know if my plan is going to work out.”

“I don’t like it,” he says slowly. “She can’t go.”

Despite how Ondine has been acting, Thomas’s statement catches me off guard.

“She . . . can’t?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “I think that should be her decision.”

“Ondy is my woman now,” he tells me, using her name from Marchosias’s nightmare world, and I can detect a quaver of nervousness to his tone. “What she does affects me now, and I won’t let her do something that might put her in danger.”

“We’re all in danger,” I state, my voice growing hard as I try to control myself, and make sense of what’s happening. I wouldn’t mind his attitude, if Ondine wasn’t acting so poorly. “I want to hear what Ondine has to say for herself.”

The corners of Thomas’s mouth tighten as he grimaces, but he turns to the brown haired mermaid and commands, “Tell him, Ondy, that he’s wasting his time.”

She looks between us for a moment when Thomas steps aside, and I can see indecision in her gaze. I watch as she chews on her lower lip in thought for a few seconds before dropping her gaze back to the floor, her shoulders slumped. I’m certain she’s about to agree with her boyfriend, until I hear her voice break as she speaks. “If I can help save our worlds. . . .”

“No!” Thomas shouts in a pained tone, and I can see his face begin to turn red in rage. “I forbid it, Ondy. You are my woman, and I won’t—“

He cuts off as I shoulder him out of the way, grab Ondine’s wrist, and pull her to the room I’d used as my own earlier. Gaia’s nod had let me know that she would allow Ondine to enter my room, and I hear a thump behind me as Thomas runs into an invisible barrier, trying to follow us. The look on his red face as I close the door on him is nearly priceless.

Ondine starts to talk but I hold my hand up to silence her. Placing my other hand against the wall next to the door, I close my eyes and concentrate. The scene on the other side unfolds in my mind. Thomas is raging at Gaia to be allowed into my room, but either she is resting and can’t hear him, or she’s ignoring him. Everything he yells can only be heard in my head, and I realize that this room is soundproof.

No one is watching Emmet, however, and I can sense the man begin casting a spell. My heart begins beating faster, suspecting the man of trying to escape, until I notice the sweet strains of the sleep spell and notice that his gaze is locked on Thomas. Sure enough, the older man begins to wind down in his tirade, is interrupted by a yawn, and a few seconds later, he slumps to the floor, unconscious.

I pull away from the wall, ready to face the irate mermaid.

“What did you do?” she demands of me, more life in that one question than I’ve seen in her in the last while.

“He’s sleeping peacefully right now,” I tell her calmly, meeting her glare with as placid an expression as I can force onto my face.

Her confusion at my statement lasts for only a moment, before she’s on the warpath again.

“You have no right to drag me in here like that. You don’t own me. I’m not some piece of property to be bullied about at your expense!” She has to draw in a breath to keep up her harangue, and I wait patiently. “I’m not one of your silly women, at your constant beck and call. Don’t you dare treat me like I’m your slut slave, Sheila.”

I count silently to three, making sure she’s gotten everything out and trying to ignore her jibe, before I softly state, “You’re right.”

The sudden shock in her blue eyes is almost as comical as Thomas’s had been, but somehow I keep the mirth from my face.

“You’re not my slave,” I continue talking to her in the same even tone as before. “You’re no one’s slave. So why is it that you act like Thomas is your overlord?”

Her mouth works wordlessly for a few moments before I hear her teeth audibly click shut. She glares at me for a couple more moments before responding, “I don’t have to answer to you.”

“Once again, you’re right,” I state, nodding my head and not looking away from her. “But you have friends, and I’d like to consider myself one of them, that are worried about you.”

Uncertainty enters her eyes then, and I know I’m starting to get through to her. One way or another, I’m going to get a straight answer out of her, and I’d rather not have to stoop to plan B to get it.

The lapse lasts for only the briefest of moments, and is replaced by a steely gaze. “You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

Sighing heavily, I shake my head. “I know you can, Ondine, which is what makes this whole thing that much more confusing.” Locking my eyes on hers again, I recall that first night after being with Angela, and how I’d felt like going to the club. I remember using some kind of seduction power to break down Sheila’s barriers the next day. I had my pick of any woman at the club, and ended up leaving with Becky and Lisa. My heart aches, as I think about Lisa’s eventual fate, but I know I can’t change the past, and focus on the present. I focus on the attractive woman in front of me. I force her to be seduced by my mere presence. I hope Thomas forgives me. Screw that! I hope he never finds out!

I watch as Ondine’s blue eyes dilate, and her breathing quickens.

“Please, Ondine. If he is abusing you, you can tell me.” I let my voice drop in pitch, but keep it calm as I talk with her.

“Y-you don’t understand,” she stammers. “How could you? You have so many women around you, always willing to do anything for you. Who does he have?”

She shudders as I place my hand on her shoulder, truly sorry about using one of my abilities on another man’s woman. A friend’s woman. A friend. But I can’t sit idly by and tolerate any abuse to any woman.

Her eyes growing suddenly wide is all the warning I get, before her fist connects with my jaw, sending me sprawling. “How dare you!” I hear her cry out over the ringing in my skull as my back strikes the thankfully carpeted floor. “He is your friend, and you’re trying to seduce me?” She jumps on top of me, and I try to get my arms up to fend off her attacks. I should have known she’d see through my ruse. It’s not like I was being subtle about it.

“Wait!” I cry out, “You don’t understand.”

“I think I understand just fine, Lyden Snow,” she growls, but at least she quits hitting me. “It’s you that doesn’t understand. You think he’s abusing me? Ha! The man barely lays a hand on me.” She grabs handfuls of my shirt, and pulls me up to look her in the eyes. “I do everything I can to please him, but it’s not good enough.” Her eyes narrow and I can see her debating with herself. “You want to know what’s wrong, Lyden Snow?” she demands and I nod. “He’s not you! And to make matters worse, I’m not Angela! He’s jealous of the way you have woman at your every beck and call, and I’m jealous of the fact that you’re able to satisfy all of them.”

I blink in confusion at her torrent of words, trying to make sense of them. I can’t. “Huh?” I ask as eloquently as my throbbing head and jaw will let me.

“He doesn’t abuse me,” she nearly shouts. “I act like I do, because I want him to know that I’ll do whatever I can to please him.” She emphasizes her point by grinding her crotch against me, and for the first time since she knocked me flat, I realize she’s on top of my groin. “He wants someone who will do whatever he wants, like you have Sheila. He wants someone to listen to him, like you have Becky. He wants someone to change for him, like you have Angela. He wants someone to give up everything for him, like you have Arethusa and Brooke. He wants someone to love him, like you have with all of them.”

“What do you want?” I ask, seeing a tear begin to break from the stalwart woman’s eye and wend its way down her cheek to fall on my chest. I know that now is not the time to tell her I no longer have Angela. “You’ve told me what he wants, Ondine, but I want to know what you desire.”

She hunches over, pressing her face into my shirt, and I wrap my arms around her, letting her sob. I hear her mumble something, and have to release her, to hear her response.

“I want what all of them have,” she says softly. “I want a man to make love to me, and satisfy me. I want to cum.”

It takes a moment for that to sink in. I remember in Marchosias’s fantasy world, Sheila claiming that Thomas could never satisfy a woman, and wonder if the demon had known, if Sheila and Thomas had been together at some time in the past, or if, as with our fighting abilities, Marchosias had made it reality.

I’m brought out of my thoughts when I feel the brunette’s lips brush my throat on the way up to my lips.

“Ondine, wait,” I try to protest, but she stops my protests by pressing her lips to mine. Hungrily she kisses me, her hands leaving my shirt and going to the back of my head while she plasters her body against mine. There is no love in this action, just unquenched lust and desire. Her tongue brushes against my lips, and I don’t fight her, but I don’t respond either. Seeing her way free, she slips inside my mouth, exploring around and it takes a great amount of willpower not to respond. She’s good! Her hips start gyrating against my pelvis, and I hear her moan in frustration that I’m not helping. My cock is definitely responding to her, however, and I curse it for a traitor.

“No!” she finally gasps after a few more seconds. “You don’t get to do this to me! You can’t turn me on, and then just lie here. If you’re truly my friend, then I need you to do this for me,” she pleads with me, and I’m overcome with guilt. I had done this to her, but I don’t know if I can go through with it now.

“What about Thomas?” I ask, my voice full of conflicting emotions. I hadn’t felt guilty about seducing a woman away from someone abusive, but now that I know that their problems are entirely different, things have changed.

“What about him?” she asks back, sitting up and pulling off her shirt. “This will stay between us. No one else has to ever know.” She’s in just a white bra and her pants now, but still I’m reluctant. “Okay,” she says when I still make no move towards where my cock is desperately demanding I go. “Consider this penance for what you were trying to do. You tried to seduce me, now live with it.” Her right hand brushes along my cheek, until it reaches my hair, at which point she grabs a handful and painfully lifts my head up. “But you’d better get me off. I’m already leaking through these pants. Let me worry about Thomas. You worry about making my cum.”

I realize that she’s just using me, and surprisingly, I’m okay with that. Is it only because I don’t have enough blood flow to my proper brain, or my guilt over what I’d considered doing?

As she pulls my face up to meet hers, I realize I no longer care. Here is a very attractive woman, who wants me for nothing more than sex. Sex that her own man can’t seem to satisfy her with. I’m doing her a favor, here. I realize I’m trying to come up with justifications, and stop, deciding to just enjoy the moment.

My hands go to her back, and the moan of pleasure that escapes between our devouring lips as I undo her bra would have made me hard, if I weren’t already painfully straining against the front of my pants. Without looking, I pull the shoulder straps down her arms, and bring my hands around to the front of her tits. She flinches slightly as my fingers find her nipples, and I’m surprised to find metal studs piercing the hard nubs. My surprise doesn’t last long, as I remember Thomas asking if I’d thought she’d be willing to do something like this. I guess I know, now.

Realizing how sensitive the new piercings likely are, I move my hands to the firm flesh around her nipples, massaging her breasts.

Ondine lifts her hips up without breaking our kiss, and I feel her fingers working at my crotch, trying to free my manhood. I can’t stop my own moan, both in relief as my pecker is freed from its uncomfortable prison and pleasure from her firm grip. Her hand frantically works on my shaft, using the precum leaking from the head as lubricant.

As much as I’m enjoying what she’s doing, I want to change things a bit. Rolling us over, I break the kiss, sit up, and take a good look at her. Her cheeks and chest are flushed, her breathing heavy, as she licks her lips looking back at me. I can see that her nipples are a bit enflamed from the intruding metal, her breasts, approximately B-cups, rise and fall with her breathing. I realize that this is likely my last chance to stop this, but the look in Ondine’s eyes, blue eyes filled with lust, desire, need, and even pleading, convinces me to continue.

It only takes me a few seconds to rip off her jeans, and I take only the briefest of moments to look at her clean-shaven and glistening sex. Her inner lips are swollen and slick with her arousal. Reaching my hands forward, I use my thumbs to spread her open, enjoying the way she jumps at the connection.

“Give me your cock, Lyden,” she pleads with me. “I need to feel something big inside me. I need to cum!” Her words make me wonder how large Thomas is, but I shake my head, knowing that right now isn’t the time to think about that. She grimaces, not understanding my head movement, and I shrug internally. Actual intercourse will be fine, but if she wants to cum, then there is more than one way to accomplish that.

I lean forward, planting a soft kiss on her sensitive lower lips, smiling at her gasp of pleasure. My tongue snakes out, tasting her sweet nectar and liking it. I tease her gently, only allowing the softest of touches with my mouth muscle, until she grabs my head, forcing my lips against her, and moaning loudly. From the strength that flows into me, I know she’s finally cumming. Her fingers are almost painful, as she rubs herself frantically against my face. I do the best I can with my tongue, trying to shove it as far into her as I can. As her orgasm continues, I decide to change my tongue, allowing it to lengthen and fork, making it go even deeper, until I’m licking her uterus. I can feel her tight inner walls writhing and massaging my tongue, her fluids coating it and dripping off my chin.

Without warning my head is ripped away from her, and she hunches into a fetal position, shuddering and still climaxing. I can’t help but smile, proud of a job well done.

“That was more intense than I could have imagined,” she pants, rolling onto her back. “No wonder they all stay with you.”

The last statement actually stings somewhat. Do they only stay with me because of my prowess in the sack? Somehow that doesn’t sit right. Faces flash before my vision, eyes filled with true love and devotion, actions that speak louder than words surface in my thoughts, and I know that my women love me in truth.

Ondine isn’t aware of my thoughts, and they fly through my head in a matter of seconds. When she turns to look at me, I smile at her, knowing that her words were meant as a compliment. Still, I can’t help but make my next statement. “Well, you got to cum, so I guess that’s it.”

I try to stand, and have to stop myself from laughing as she frantically dives for me. Her hands hold my shoulders down against the soft floor, as she fiercely looks down at me. Her chest is still heaving, as she speaks, “Don’t you dare think I’m going to pass up the opportunity to have your massive cock in me.” Her hips swivel to emphasize her point, and I lift my own to meet hers. It’s answer enough.

Her hand slips between us, and she deftly has me poised at her entrance. She hesitates for only a second, before rocking back and impaling herself on my sword. Even as wet as she is, she’s so tight that it takes time to slip into her. Each centimeter is won with moans, and grunts of pleasure. I know I can shrink myself down, but she’d made it clear she wanted what she saw, so I let her take it all. I still have to shorten it a bit, as I feel myself hit the back of her tunnel, and there’s still some of me outside of her grasping hole.

When our pelvises finally meet, she looks down to where we’re connected with a look of awe. “I did it,” she murmurs. “I feel like you’re in my throat and about to split me in two, but I did it.”

I tighten my lower muscle, making myself twitch inside her. Her eyes close and she tilts her head back slightly, moaning in pleasure.

Lifting my hands up, I cup her tits, squeezing her metal-tipped boobs. Her hips move in slow circles at first, building up speed and vigor, until my whole body is moving along the floor, inch by inch. I’d worry about getting a rub burn, but I know as soon as she cums, I’ll be whole again.

Words escape both of us, too lost in the pleasures we’re giving one another, when she unexpectedly locks up, her pussy gripping my phallus in an iron grip, her entire body shuddering in orgasmic bliss.

I move my arms around to her back, sitting up, and then laying her back. I pull out all but the tip of my prick, and then drive into her tight orifice, pounding her sensory-overloaded vagina again and again, not letting up, and driving her orgasm on and on.

I know I won’t last at this pace, but I don’t care. My mind is fuzzed with lust, wanting to reach my own culmination. I see her mouth moving, trying to form words, but I can’t hear anything other than grunts from her, as I continue to drill her.

The first volley catches her off-guard, and I see her eyes open wide as I flood her insides with impotent semen. A long wail escapes her throat, and I can hear our combined juices squelching out of her with each thrust.

“Not a word to Thomas,” she states seriously, as we get dressed.

“He won’t hear a thing about it from me,” I tell her honestly. She gives me a quick peck on the lips, smiling appreciatively at me. “Besides, I think I have an idea on how to help out with your situation, without giving our little tryst away.”

So I take it I’m forgiven? my father’s voice fills my mind, responding to my thoughts and request to him.

“Not in the least,” I murmur under my breath so that Ondine won’t hear. “You hid my daughter from me. But I might not be so angry with you, for helping Thomas.” I walk over to the bed as Ondine walks out. I have some work to do, to atone for what I’d just done to my friend’s woman. Guilt fills my heart as I lie down, and enter my Mens Mundi.

Sex school is about to take place. My Mens Mundi will be the campus, Thomas the student, and my father the instructor. I guess that makes me the principal.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Chapter 31
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
What Must Come

Thomas was still angry with me when I brought him into my Mens Mundi. The fact that Ondine had revealed his inability to get her off didn’t help, and it took both Shemhazau and me to calm him down enough to listen to reason.

I still feel guilty for sleeping with his woman, but as I sit on the edge of the stream in my mind, listening to my father—the one-time ruler of the succubae—give him advice on how to please women, I let some of it go. I’m just glad the older man was finally willing to let go of some of his pride and listen.

“Well, I’ve done all I can for now,” my father’s voice states right behind me. “I don’t want to overwhelm him all at once, and honestly, if you’d just bring in some women for him to try out. . . .”

“No,” I state firmly. He’d tried arguing that talking is all well and good, but he needs to practice. I can see his arguments as an opportunity to be a lecherous old man. Besides, I can’t bring Ondine into my Mens Mundi without feeling awkward, any of my women are off limits—I know, I’m a hypocrite—and I’m not willing to bring some stranger in here. Jennifer may be willing, but I don’t even know how I’d go about asking her that.

“Well, he seems like an eager student, so it’ll only take a few hundred years to teach him everything I know.” I don’t know if he’s just bragging, or being serious. I’m not sure if I want to know that much about my father.

“Then I’d better get up and get to work,” I state, standing and skipping a rock down the stream.

“You sure you don’t want to bring someone else in here?” he asks me. “I’m sure we could have some fun with Jennifer’s large tits. I think she’d even be into doing it. Sex is a great stress reliever.”

I ignore him, pulling myself out of my Mens Mundi, and waking up.

Suit yourself, he tells me as I walk out of my room.

My eyes go straight to Emmet as I close my door behind me. I’ve come to a decision about the balding healer. Before I can get to him, however, Brooke and Becky are right there. I notice that Gaia is nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” the short brunette asks me.

“Ondine still refuses to talk to us, but at least she looks happier,” Brooke throws in next. I wonder that they don’t put two and two together. Looking into Becky’s eyes, I see that she has, but I’m thankful she stays quiet.

“Thomas isn’t a bad guy,” I tell them. “It was all a misunderstanding.”

“I’m glad my name has been cleared,” the referenced man states, obviously annoyed that there had ever been any question.

We exchange nods and understand that the matter between us is settled.

I finish moving over to Emmet, who stands to greet me.

“He cast a spell to put Thomas to sleep after you went into your room with Ondine,” Areth says, landing on my shoulder. Thankfully her next question is whispered. “Did you go in there and do perverted things to the little mermaid?” Maybe the fairy is learning some tact.

“I know,” I state before I can think better of it, ignoring her other question.

I hear someone ask “How?” behind me, but I ignore it.

“You could have used the chaos of the situation to try and escape, but you didn’t.” I don’t make it a question, but a statement of fact.

“Somehow I felt that the chaos may have ended in violence, and I didn’t want that,” he tells me evenly.

I examine the balding man, trying to figure out his angle. For the most part, he’s been the perfect prisoner. Considering his order’s penchant for wanting every creature from this world killed, I’d expected him to be a bigger handful. I’m also a bit surprised that he wouldn’t want violence to break out.

“Brooke, may I see your sword, please?” I ask, holding my hand out, but not looking away from the Paladonic Healer. The man flinches as I feel the grip hit my palm. When I realize she hasn’t let go, I turn to look at her.

“Don’t,” she tells me, and I can see the uncertainty in her gaze. She’d wanted him dead right away, from the way his brethren had treated her, but for her to try and stop me from doing it now, says something.

She lets go when I nod to her, and I turn back to face Emmet. I can see a trickle of sweat slip from his large forehead, but he remains standing tall as I bring the shimmering blue blade around. Moving quickly, I grab his tied wrists and free them on the edge of the sharp blade. He stares at me in shock as I do the same for his feet.

“Are you sure about this, Lyden?” Jennifer asks me. “It was his people that killed Lisa.”

Hearing my dead lover’s name sends a jolt through me, but I shove it away. “This man has done nothing to hurt us. He hasn’t necessarily been on our side, but I won’t kill a man for something his friends have done.”

“While I agree with you on that,” Jewkes states, assuming his police role, “I have to wonder. We’re at war, and anyone who isn’t our ally should be considered dangerous.”

“No,” I say, holding my ground. I hand Brooke’s sword back to her hilt first, and then place my now empty hand on Emmet’s shoulder. “I can’t spare the time or effort to return you to Earth, but I won’t keep you here against your will, either.”

His eyes narrow as he considers my words. “I’m a dead man if I go out there on my own,” he tells me. “I’m still a prisoner.”

I nod, knowing that what he says is true. As a human, if he were to leave here without any protection, some supernatural creature or another would take him. After that, who knows what’d happen to him.

“Yes, I suppose you are, but I won’t have you treated like one anymore. Besides, so are Becky, Jennifer, and Captain Jewkes, by that same logic.” He chews on his cheeks for a moment, considering my words.

“They’re here by their own choice,” he states after a moment.

Some of my patience slips. I’d been trying to offer an olive branch to the man, and he’s treating it like a slap in the face. “They’re also here because your people will kill them if they return to Earth.” I state a bit heatedly.

“We don’t kill humans,” he argues back.

“Like Lisa?” Becky joins in, her eyes hot. I wonder if I’m going to have to get between the two of them.

The man deflates, however, before I have to act. “I’m so very sorry. What the Grand Meister did was wrong and goes against everything I’d been taught.” There is true sadness in his voice as he apologizes.

Becky just turns away from him, going to her room. I know I should go comfort her, but I need to take care of this situation first.

“And I’m sure they taught you that any creature not human needs to be killed?” I ask him gently.

“Anything not natural,” he agrees, and then looks up sharply, realizing what his words might mean here.

“You were taught wrong,” I tell him, squeezing his shoulder. “There are some that are dangerous, but not all of us.”

He nods thankfully, and I wonder if I’ve just converted the man.

I turn away from him, allowing him to think over things on his own. I head straight for Becky’s door, but Gaia’s voice stops me.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done, generator, and I fear little time to do it.” Turning, I see her on her dais, the strain around her eyes and in her posture speaks volumes.

“No rest for the weary, I take it,” I state sarcastically.

“Oh, I highly doubt you’re weary,” she smiles knowingly at me. Considering the strength I received from Ondine’s three orgasms earlier, I can’t argue with her. Thomas gives me an odd look, but I ignore him. I still feel guilty about what I did.

“What do you need from me now?” I ask, trying to move the subject forward. I see Thomas lean over and ask his mermaid something—when had she come out?—but she just shrugs. Becky leans in and says something to him, and suddenly he looks relieved. If I’d had any doubts that she knew what’d happened, they’re gone now as she gives me a conspiratorial smile. What did I do to deserve her?

“The last step,” the Pillar of Earth states, missing nothing that goes on around her, “will be the most dangerous, short of fighting the Outsider directly. Thankfully, you already have a head start.” I wait for her to continue, getting slightly annoyed that she won’t come right out and state what she wants. “You need to get a token from each Pillar. Something that’ll represent their strength or power. I believe you already have something from the Pillar of Light?”

I remember the horn pendant the Angel Michael gave me, and my hand goes to my chest. I had completely forgotten about it, and even though I know it hasn’t been on me since then, my fingers find it beneath my shirt. Where does it go when I don’t think about it? For some reason that thought bothers me. What if I go to use it and it’s not there?

The dark skinned woman waves to the floor next to me. I look down to see a chunk of adamantium with a loop to place it on the chain next to the horn. A tingle seeps into my fingers as I pick up the precious metal. It takes me only a moment to place it on the chain and the chain back around my neck. Its weight sits comfortably against my chest. I wonder when it’ll disappear again.

“You have more than earned that token of my power. You now have two of the six tokens you need,” Gaia continues speaking. “It will take the combined efforts of all six to destroy the Outsider and the forces it’s brought into this world.”

“Wait, what forces?” Jewkes asks. “I thought the thing was alone.”

I see others around the room nodding their agreement with this statement.

“The Outsider came alone,” she informs us, “but it has gained allies along the way. Also, while this world was weakened by the loss of two Pillars, it brought another of its kind here.”

Her words suck the air from my lungs. I feel as though I’d just been punched in the guts. There were now two of those things here? I’d hoped that Aldol would have been busy trying to find out what had happened to TanaVesta, but now I find out that it had worked to bring another of its kind here to help destroy our worlds.

“Who would ally with it?” Becky asks.

“King Aeacus, ruler of the Myrmidons,” she states flatly. “As soon as he saw that his queen and lover, TanaVesta, was dead and Angela in her place, he fled. The Outsider found him, and they are now working together.”

“But the succubus just barely took over,” Jennifer says. “How can you possibly know that already?”

Gaia turns her formidable gaze on the large-chested woman, and though it never reaches her weary eyes, she smiles.

“I know everything that occurs. Anything that happens while something is touching my soil, I know.” Gaia pauses and for a wonder, I see Jennifer gulp and turn a bit red. Her eyes flicker towards me, or at least I think they do. They moved so fast. “Yes, Jennifer Lansbury. Even that.”

I want to ask what that exchange was about, but Ondine speaks up, and my mind is taken elsewhere. “Lyden will never get something like that from Varun. He’s so paranoid these days.” I see Thomas try to hush her, but she places her hand on his shoulder and looks him in the eyes for a moment. A second later, he nods and turns to face Gaia. Hopefully the time I’d spent with her is helping them, and it looks like some of the nonsexual advice my father gave him has seeped in.

For some reason, the Pillar of Earth looks to Brooke, waiting for something. After a couple of uncomfortable seconds, the redhead bows her head and reaches into her shirt. She pulls out a worked silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of an aquamarine seahorse dangling from it.

“It was Commander Douglas’s,” she says, her cheeks nearly as red as her hair. Even after everything that’d happened between her and her old commander, including her killing him, I’m surprised to hear her call him Commander Douglas. “I found it in his hut after I, I mean, we. . . .” She trails off, and I move over to hug her to me.

“It’s okay, Brooke,” I tell her softly, having no idea why she would try to hide this from me.

Her arms hold me tight as her head rests on my shoulder. “I was afraid you’d be angry with me for wanting to keep it,” she says. “You were still under Muramasa’s influence, and considering that he killed your mother, I was afraid you’d lose it and send me away, or worse.”

Considering the way my mind had worked back then, while the evil blade had whispered to me, ‘or worse’ could have meant killing her.

“I understand,” I let her know. “He meant a lot to you, before . . . well, before everything else happened. May I borrow it when the time comes?”

She nods against my neck, and I feel relief. The relief doesn’t come from knowing that she’ll let me use it when the time comes, but rather that I now have three of the six talismans I’ll need to fight Aldol and its allies. With Angela and Lysa being two of the remaining three, I’m sure they’ll be willing to give me tokens of their power.

That leaves only the Pillar of Darkness.

I shudder, as that thought occurs to me. If God, or the worshipped equivalent of God, is the Pillar of Light, does that mean that Satan is the Pillar of Darkness? Thankfully I’ve never met the creature. His reputation isn’t exactly stellar.

Letting go of Brooke, I turn back to face Gaia. “The sooner I get to the Pillar of Darkness, the better,” I state a lot more boldly than I feel.

“I would have words with you in private, first,” she tells me. Before I have a chance to say anything in response, she melts into the ground.

“Lyden, you can’t go see the Pillar of Darkness,” Brooke states, gripping my arm.

“You heard her,” I reply, waving at where Gaia had been. “I need something from each Pillar.” I know I don’t have to explain to her why I don’t need to head to Air’s or Fire’s domains.

“But that’s where all the scary creatures of night live,” Areth says worriedly, leaving my shoulder. “No one goes there, unless they live there.”

“Can the Pillar of Darkness come to us?” Becky asks.

“I’ll find out,” I tell her, hoping that might work.

“I don’t like her wanting to talk to you in private,” Jennifer says, coming up to us. I remember the exchange between her and Gaia, and wonder if she’s afraid I might find out what that was about.

I look around the room, meeting everyone’s gaze, before heading for my door. For some reason, I have a terrible feeling about this conversation.

As soon as the door closes behind me, I’m assaulted by the dark woman. Her nude body plasters to mine and her lips seeking my neck.

“Hurry and get undressed,” she orders me. “I’m weak and need the energy.”

“I’m not really in the mood,” I tell her, trying to pry her hands off me. I’ve already had sex twice today, and despite how sensual I know Gaia can be, I’m not feeling it right now.

“You’re going to need the energy too, considering where you’re going,” she tries to convince me.

“I think I have enough,” I state, pulling her hand out of my pants, only to have her grab my wrist and press it against her tit. “Besides, can’t we summon the Pillar of Darkness here?”

She finally pulls away from me, shock evident in her brown eyes.

“He never leaves his realms. Never.” Her words carry enough finality in them that I know better than to argue.

“Well, what about sending an emissary to meet with, or some kind of middleman?” I press.

She looks at me shrewdly for a moment, her bare chest rising and falling slowly as she thinks. “Only Eris stands high enough to deal with, instead of Him. I can arrange a meeting with her, but I need something from you first.” Her hand drops to her pussy, spreading her legs and rubbing her crotch vigorously. I have no doubt about what she’s requesting.

“I’m telling you, I’m not really in the mood,” I tell her, but I’m mesmerized as I watch her slip her social finger into her wet snatch, then slowly draw it back out. A slim string of her juices connect her finger back to her twat.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you otherwise?” she asks me, her voice low and sultry. I look back up to meet her eyes, and know I can’t hide the bulge that is growing in my pants.

“I’m willing to let you try,” I attempt to sound hesitant, but we both know it’s only a matter of time before I’m pounding into her wet slit again. Slamming my cock into her, just as two of her fingers are doing right now.

“Well, get undressed then,” she tells me, making a wet noise as she pulls her fingers out of her. I watch as she brings her shiny fingers up to her lips and cleans them off with her tongue.

I don’t waste anymore time, before undoing my pants and letting them and Murasame drop to the floor.

The dark skinned Mother Earth moves quickly to kneel in front of me, grinning and taking my thick phallus in hand. “Looks like I don’t have much convincing to do,”

“Are you going to convince me, or keep talking?” I ask, chagrined at having been manipulated so easily.

Her eyes sparkle as her grin widens. Opening her dark lips, she swallows the head. I can feel her tongue working the rim and moan softly at the pleasure coming from her skill. Bending over, I grab one of her ponderous breasts, fingering the nipple. Her head begins to move up and down my shaft, slowly taking in more and more, until her nose hits my pelvis. She holds there for a few moments, before pulling back, and gasping for air. Some of her spittle runs down my length, and she uses her hand to jack me off.

I moan again, when she continues moving her hand, and joins her mouth back to the action. She sucks hard on my knob, and I’m overcome with lust, finally completely capitulating to her feminine wiles.

Slipping my arms under her armpits, I pick her up, and literally throw her back onto the bed. I’m not worried about hurting this powerful woman. Using my super-speed, I dive between her legs, lapping up the juices that had been dripping down her thighs only a moment ago. Once I have one thigh clean, I move to the other one. By the time I’m done, there is a steady flow dripping down her crack.

Once again, I marvel that her sexual juices taste like a mountain stream. I move in for her cunt, nibbling lightly on her outer labia, and making her squirm. My arms work up under her legs, and I sit up pulling on her, lifting her so that she never leaves my lips. Her shoulders are now in my lap, and her legs draped over my shoulders.

Growling like a starving man finally able to feast, I shove my tongue into her hole, making her cry out as she has a minor orgasm.

My hands move down to her breasts, and our eyes meet. “You wanted this?” I ask, swiveling my hips against her back. She can’t miss my throbbing prick poking her. “You’re going to have to wait until I’m full.”

I let her ponder on that for a second, before I dive back in. This time I concentrate on her clit, shoving my chin into her slit. Using my tongue and teeth, I pop the sensitive nub back and forth, tweaking her dark nipples, and enjoying her gasping moans while her legs twitch. Every time I pop her clitoris, her legs spasm.

“Oh . . . my . . . YES!” she screams, and I feel power flood my system. I have to hold on tight to my sense of self, as the Pillar of Earth’s orgasm washes over me. Hopefully I don’t take too much from her, before I can return it with interest. I know how hard she is working to support this world while my daughter and Angela gain control over their abilities.

Pulling my head back, I spread her cheeks and spit at her puckered brown hole.

“Mmm, you want my ass, do you?” she asks me coyly. “As I recall, you didn’t last too long last time I let you back there.”

I let her down and move up her body. Positioning my rod at her rear entrance, I lock eyes with her. “We’ll see who lasts the longest.”

Despite my words, I wait for her ascent before pressing forward. Her slicked up anus slips easily around my girth, eliciting a moan from both of us.

I take my time, slowly moving in and out of her, until I have my entire length seated in her colon. The irreverent thought that I can tell the difference between her sphincter and a hole in the ground crosses my mind. A tight, rippling, pleasurable hole trying to milk my cock.

“Now fuck me, young generator, and make me cum!” The lust I see in her eyes is the same as the last time we’d screwed.

Reaching forward, I fill my hands with her ample bosom. I pull my hips back, until only the tip is still inside her warm colon, then slam forward, using my ability to amplify her pleasure, and smile as her eyes roll back into her head. I don’t let up, pounding into her rear orifice, and driving her bliss ever higher with each thrust.

I know she’s trying to hold back, but she doesn’t stand a chance. “No, not yet. . . Oh, earthquakes! I. . . Oh. . . Oh,YES! I’m. . . Aaaahh!” When she finally cums, her pussy squirts out her cum like a geyser, blasting against my pelvis. At the same time, I see images of both the Shadow World and Earth. Volcanoes are erupting, mountains crumbling, and Hawaii gains a new island.

When reality returns to the present, I realize that I’d stopped moving. Gaia is desperately trying to catch her breath. Her eyes are closed, and despite her dark coloring, her skin is flushed with the afterglow of her climax.

“I think it would be best, if you don’t try that again,” she whispers. She twists her hips and I know she wants to be on top. We roll together, and she looks down at me, still slightly breathless. “Now you just lie there, and let me do the work. I think you’ve more than earned it.”

She leans forward, and presents her right breast for my mouth. As I suckle from her nipple, I can feel her insides massage my cock, making me moan into her breast at the pleasure of it. Her hips swivel against mine, and I can feel my prick stirring up her internal organs. Despite her request that I just lie here, I let my hands drop to her hips, guiding her movements for my maximum pleasure.

Without any warning, my mouth fills up with milk, making me gasp, but her hand on the back of my head doesn’t let me pull away.

“Drink up, generator. My milk will keep you strong and healthy. I have rarely ever bestowed this gift upon anyone, but I want you to have this. Drink, and know that you are very special.”

The combination of her milk pouring down my gullet, along with the warmth that’s flowing through me, and the feeling of her rippling along my shaft sends me over the top. Grunting, my whole body locks up with each volley of my spunk, and I fire it off inside Mother Earth. Despite the bliss filled haze overwhelming my mind, I somehow manage to ensure I’m shooting blanks.

As I come down from my own heaven, she finally releases my head, and sits up.

“Phew,” she sighs. “Despite myself, I had another small orgasm at the end. You truly are a talented young man, Lyden.” Her slight laugh sends shivers through her voluptuous body, and making me moan as my over-sensitive prick is still inside her.

She leans forward again, this time pulling off me, and planting a soft kiss against my lips.

I get up, and clean our combined juices from me, while Gaia relaxes on the bed. Pulling up my pants, I look at the Earth Mother. Pure power and strength is flowing through me. I feel as though I can take on Aldol by myself right now, but remember that Gaia had said I would need the strength of all six Pillars.

“One last thing, before you go back to your friends,” she says. Looking at her, I can see that some of the tension around her eyes is gone. The energy she received from our coupling is obviously already helping her. Not all of the strain is gone from her eyes, but most of it is for now.

“I’m really not up for another round,” I tell her seriously. I’ll be lucky if I can get it up again within a week!

She laughs, sending delightful ripples through her flesh once more, but even that does nothing for me. “No, this is about something else.” She grows serious, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, suddenly wary. The ambience of pleasure is replaced with gloom. “This is about how you must die, and why.”

* * *

Numbly, I shut the door behind me.

“What did she say?” Brooke asks, hugging me to her.

“Huh?” I ask. “What?” I can’t tell them what Gaia just told me! Even if she hadn’t sworn me to secrecy, telling them that I have to die when this is all over doesn’t seem like a great way to start this next mission.

“About having the Pillar of Darkness meet you here,” Becky says, giving me a strange look.

“Oh, that!” I exclaim, somewhat relieved. “He won’t come here,” I tell them quickly, to cover my lapse. “But she can set up a meeting with Eris, so we won’t have to go all the way into Darkness’s realm.”

Three sets of eyes grow wide at the mention of Eris’s name.

“What’s wrong with that?” Thomas asks Ondine, seeing what I saw.

“Eris is nearly as bad as the Pillar of Darkness,” she says. “Maybe worse.” Turning to face me, I see fear in her eyes. “Lyden, she was once known as the goddess of chaos, vengeance, and strife. Meeting with her can’t be a good thing.”

“I’m assuming you’ll want all the firepower you can take,” Jewkes says, stepping forward and patting the pistol at his side.

“I am here for you, master,” Sheila states contritely. “Just command me.”

“I’d like to offer my services too, if I can,” Emmett adds in, and I see more than one untrusting glance turn his way, but he ignores them. “I’m not worth anything offensively, but if the shit hits the fan, I may be able to offer some protection with my magic.”

“That reminds me,” I say, still trying to distract myself from Gaia’s ominous words. “When I went up against TanaVesta, her fire didn’t affect me. Now that I think about it, magic hasn’t had much effect on me for a bit. Any idea why?”

I look around; meeting everyone’s eyes, but no one seems to have an idea, until I get to Emmett.

“It sounds like what the Daughters of Respite can do. They seem to be almost completely immune to any magic. Is there any reason you might have gotten it from one of them?”

I rack my brain, trying to think of something, and I recall being back in the Paladonic Knight’s mountain home. I had been in my dragon form, Miranda Olsen knocked out as I tried to step over her. One of my chrome and black talons had scratched her and something had washed over me at the time, settling into my skin. Could that have been it?

“Even if you’re immune to magic,” Brooke states, “that won’t entirely protect you from Eris, and it doesn’t offer any protection to the rest of us.”

“The generator’s choices are few,” Alloria says, startling us. Where had she been hiding? “He can meet with the Pillar of Darkness deep in his own territory, or meet with Eris near the border. She has already agreed, by the way.”

She has already agreed? That was fast!

“I won’t go any deeper into that territory than I have to,” I state firmly, brooking no argument.

“She had conditions, though,” Alloria says, as though I hadn’t spoken. I glare at her, knowing that she’d held back this information. She smiles slightly in response.

Watch her, son, Shemhazau’s voice fills my mind. Elves were always wily creatures, but this one seems to be a real bitch. While I don’t like his terminology, I can’t argue with his assessment.

“What are her conditions?” I ask when it doesn’t look like she’s going to continue on her own.

“You can’t take any more than three other people with you,” she says, keeping her brown eyes locked on mine.

“Do I get to choose?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as level as hers.

“No,” she says. “The Paladonic Knight, the mermaid assassin . . . and me.” Despite her voice staying calm, I can tell she’s not happy about being included. “She’s promised safe conduct to and from there, as long as we promise no violence.”

“I don’t like it,” Brooke says worriedly. “She can’t be trusted, and why these conditions?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Becky asks, stepping forward. When we all look at her blankly, she starts to look embarrassed. “Well, I mean, if she used to be the goddess of vengeance, who among us are most strongly driven in that direction?”

I see her point now, but I wonder how Eris could possibly know that much about us. Could it be something with her being the Pillar of Darkness’s confidant?

Emmett, despite his recent change in attitude, was still a Paladonic Knight; the epitome of racial haters. Alloria is the last of her kind and very much a hater of humans. Even Brooke has a lot in her past. After over 140 years, I’m sure she wants vengeance somewhere.

“When do we leave?” I ask, deciding quickly. It needs to be done, and if I second-guess everything, then I’ll never get the tokens of power I’ll need to take out Aldol.

“Lyden, are you sure?” Brooke asks me, fear evident in her eyes.

“I am,” I lie.

A sudden whinny from the balcony makes us all turn in that direction. Despite her bulk, Blue moves into the main room, barely avoiding squashing some of my friends.

“Oh, look!” Areth squeals like a teenage girl. “Horsies!” The tiny golden woman flits over to where four dark black equines stand waiting. As she gets close, though, one of them snaps at her, and she flies to my chest, gripping my shirt. “Mean horsy!”

“Nightmares,” Alloria says unhappily. “Our rides have arrived.”

“Don’t go with the mean things,” Areth orders me, but I carefully hand her off to Sheila. There is uncertainty in my slave’s eyes, and I try to nod reassuringly to her.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I tell everyone as I walk to one of the midnight stallions.

“I was hoping for a bit more action on this trip,” Jennifer complains loudly. “Just don’t fuck this goddess too hard!”

Jennifer’s vulgarity breaks the tension, and everyone but Richard and Emmet laughs lightly. The police captain just looks stern. “I didn’t come on this trip to be constantly left behind,” the hook-nosed man states.

“I’d take you with me if I could,” I tell him. “Rest while you can, though. I have a feeling things will get a lot more exciting for you after we get back.”

I don’t wait for a response before leaping to the back of the horse. Before Marchosias’s fantasy world, I’d never been near a horse, but now I seem to know just what to do with the equine. I had been half-afraid the thing would nip at me, but it just turns and launches us off the balcony. I have only half a second to hang on and feel my stomach in my throat, before I hear the nightmare’s hooves clatter on the open air.

“Wait for us!” Brooke shouts behind me, but I’m not in control of this flight.

We fly west and a little north, over open plains filled with various creatures, most of them unrecognizable. All too soon I see a shadowed area. There is light all around us, except for a spike of dimness that stabs into Earth’s domain. A shiver runs down my spine as we cross this odd border, and turn north towards deeper darkness. In the murkiness, it takes me a moment to realize we’re getting closer to the ground.

Landing, the four stallions continue moving until inky darkness surrounds us.

Silence reigns, even the nightmare’s hoof beats are entirely muted. Uneasiness festers in my stomach like rancid meal.

After a few minutes, or maybe a lifetime, I notice a soft glow directly ahead. As we approach it, I turn to speak to my invisible companions, but no sound escapes my lips. I’m not sure if there is something wrong with my vocal cords or if it is somehow due to this strange place. The eerie silence lends credence to the latter, but what if my ears are not working either? This doesn’t make me feel any better.

As we come closer to the light, I can make out a single woman standing by a lamppost. Long black hair flows from her head, and strange tattoos adorn her pale skin.

“Welcome, friends,” she says as we enter the sphere of her light. Her voice is soft and sultry with a seductive quality to it that I don’t miss. I’m immediately on my guard.

“Eh,” I hear Brooke’s voice next to me, and I turn to see her rubbing her throat. “I can finally speak.” I am glad that I wasn’t the only one.

Brooke’s eyes are wide, and she keeps turning to look into the impenetrable blackness behind us. I don’t blame her. There is an itch between my shoulder blades, as though something is out there, watching us.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us,” I tell the goddess, trying to keep my voice level. It still quavers with uncertainty.

“I admit that I have wanted to meet you for some time, Lyden Snow,” she informs me, walking over to the nightmare I’m riding. She reaches for the stallion’s muzzle, but just before she’s able to make contact with it, the blasted animal vanishes and suddenly I’m landing hard on my rump. Eris frowns slightly, but offers her hand to help me to my feet. Her fingernails are pitch black, almost as dark as the gloom around us.

I take it without thinking. Brooke’s shouted, “Lyden, no! Don’t!” comes too late. As soon as my fingers touch the goddess’s soft slim hand, the world seems to spin. Anger, spitefulness, and a general sense of wanting to destroy anything I can get my hands on, including the exotic woman before me, swamps through my body. Before I’m able to act, she lets go, and I’m returned to myself. Dizziness replaces the other emotions, and I almost topple back over, barely catching myself.

Brooke’s arm goes around me, and I lean into her to stay upright, pulling solace through our shared love.

“Sorry about that,” Eris says contritely. “They never let me touch them.”

Having experienced her touch first hand, I can understand why!

“I’m okay,” I tell Brooke and stand fully upright. Looking around I see Emmett and Alloria dismounting. As soon as their feet touch ground, their nightmares vanish. I turn back to Eris, trying to act more confident than I feel. “You know why we’ve come?” I continue when she nods, an odd smile painting her features. “What must we do, to gain a token of the Pillar of Darkness’s favor?”

“I’m so glad you came to me for that, instead of going all the way to Him,” she states, her voice full of the confidence I wish I felt. Even with Murasame on my hip, that one small taste of her power really shook me. “I love the man dearly, but He would have made things a lot less pleasant.” She giggles then, and I can sense a hint of madness behind it. “And a lot less fun.”

“Speak plainly, Goddess,” Alloria commands. “If the Outsider kills off the Pillars, then your master will die as well. It is in your own self-interest to provide what we need.”

I flinch at her tone, hoping Eris doesn’t get offended and decide to forget about us, but at the same time I agree with the elf.

Eris’s smile only grows bigger. “And that is why I agreed to this meeting, dear elf. If it were entirely up to me, I would simply give you what you want, but the world doesn’t work that way.” If it weren’t for that smile on her face and the gleam in her eyes, I’d almost believe she was sad about being unable to help us immediately. “It has to be earned.”

“W-what would y-you have us d-do?” Emmett speaks up for the first time, and I realize the man is terrified. Looking at this from his perspective, I can understand why. In a way, he is a representative of a group of men that have made it their life’s mission to kill every creature like the ones surrounding him. Somehow his fear makes me feel slightly better. I’m not the only one worried about what might happen.

Eris’s responding smile shows all of her white teeth.

“You must do something that you may regret for the rest of your lives. Each of you will have to do something that you are loathe to do. Do this, and the talisman representing my lover’s power will be yours.” She turns to Brooke, and I feel the redhead’s hand firmly grip mine. “Starting with you, mermaid.”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Chapter 32
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Eris

Brooke’s fingers are entwined in my own, as the goddess of strife, vengeance, and chaos looks at her. The redhead glances at me, and I can see uncertainty in her gaze. The moment only lasts for a second, and Brooke turns back to face Eris, shoulders squared and ready.

“What would you have me do?” she asks. Eris’s smile grows feral and hungry.

“It is a simple task, difficult in the doing,” the tattooed woman replies cryptically. “Simply tell the generator your true emotions.”

The mermaid blinks in confusion for a few moments, before turning to me. “I love you, Lyden,” she says, her voice full of conviction, “with all my heart.”

That familiar warmth fills my chest, and I can’t deny my own feelings for the mermaid. “And I love you,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Ah, but that’s not all, is it mermaid?” Eris chimes in, her voice solicitous. “There is more, festering just under the surface. Come on. Be completely honest with him. He deserves it after everything he’s done to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Brooke defends herself. “I love him with all my heart!”

“Tsk, tsk,” the goddess chides. “Didn’t I say it would be difficult?” She contemplates us, even looking at where we’re holding hands and shakes her head. “Looks like I’ll have to assist.”

Before either of us can react or think, Eris points at Brooke. That’s all. She just points.

Brooke throws my hand back at me, and I turn to look at her. Anger suffuses her features as she glares at me.

“Brooke?” I ask uncertainly.

“You want to know the truth, Lyden Snow?” She twists my name with scorn, and I realize that Eris’s power is working on her. I remember how I’d felt with just that one small touch. What would it be like to have the goddess intentionally concentrate on you? “The truth is: I resent you! I gave up everything to save a child, and for what?” As she speaks, her voice rises. I do my best to let her words roll off me, knowing that this is Eris’s doing. They still sting, though. “To be with a man who can’t even keep his cock in his pants. Every time I turn around, you’re fucking someone else. I even had to kill my old mentor, and when I thought I could finally die in peace, you went and brought me back. Because of you, I’ve been tortured, tormented, and treated as if I’m not the one that’s been with you the longest! Look at you! You’re a wimp that can’t handle what life sends at you. Oh no, someone’s hurt poor Lyden’s feelings. He’s probably off pouting somewhere. Stop crying, you’re a grown man!”

By the time she winds down, my eyes are tearing up. Despite myself, each word coming from her feels like a spoon trying to dig out my heart. Each new gripe blindsiding me.

“You don’t mean any of that,” I say, my voice soft, but carrying in the darkness around us.

“Oh, but she does,” Eris crows. “These are the emotions and thoughts she keeps locked away. Buried deep in her heart, these things are festering. Better to let them all out, wouldn’t you say?”

“You’re making her say those things,” Emmet yells, surprisingly speaking up despite his terror of the goddess.

She turns her dark shadowed eyes on the balding man and smiles. The Paladonic Healer’s face loses all of its color as he steps back.

“I am not the outsider, capable of controlling others, Knight,” her voice is now firm, having lost its jovial quality. “My power simply allows what is buried deep to come out. I can unlock the secrets of your soul. What you do then, is up to you.”

“L-Lyden?” Brooke’s voice quavers, but I can’t look at her. Even if Eris had forced those words from her, they had to have come from somewhere. Deep down, Brooke really feels that way about me. “Lyden, I’m so sorry. I love you.”

Despite myself, despite knowing how much it will hurt, I have to ask. “Is it true?” I wait for an answer, but only silence greets me. “Is it true!?” I shout, finally turning to look at her. The redhead pulls away from my glare. I can see fresh tears staining her cheeks. “Is that how you truly feel about me? Am I just some mistake you made when you were younger?”

“Yes. No! I mean. . . .” She stumbles over her words, and I wait, my heart thundering in my ears. “I never thought of you that way, I promise. I know what I said hurt you, but you have to know I love you Lyden.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I state firmly. Her head drops, and she sobs for a second, while I continue to wait.

Her head slowly nods, and I feel my heart break. “I guess it was buried down deep. I meant what I said, about never thinking of you like that. Yes, because of you, my life has been chaotic, and at times terribly painful, but you’ve always been there for me. You’ve helped me more than you’ve ever hurt me. Sometimes I get a bit jealous of your other women. It hurts to see you love so many, but I know that I alone can’t take care of you. You need every one of us. Not just for the sex, but for what we do to help you out. Every one of us has helped to make you a better person, and stronger. Even Areth,” she adds with a light chuckle.

“What about the part about me not being able to handle what life throws at me?” I ask, my voice oddly calm compared to my emotions.

“You. . . .” She trails off, and has to start again as she considers her words. “At first, you were hard to be around if something bad happened. I knew it was because you cared so much, and that’s part of why I fell in love with you. After Lisa’s death, I was certain we were going to lose you completely. You surprised us, though. I could see that you were hurting, but you didn’t stop. You kept going. You’re not the man that you once were. You’ve changed, and I think it’s all been for the better.”

Our eyes meet, hers sea green, and mine gray. I have to swallow a few times to get the lump out of my throat. I realize everyone around us is intently watching us, Eris with a wide grin on her exotic features. I block them out, concentrating on the woman before me. Her words have torn me apart, but she’s right. I’m not the man that I once was. That man would have fled, retreating into himself. That man is dead.

“Eris was right,” I tell Brooke. She looks at me in confusion, but I keep going. “It really is better to have all of that out.” She nods, dropping her chin to her modest chest, and I see fresh tears spring to her eyes. She thinks I’m leaving her. “I love you Brooke.” Her head snaps back up. “Your words hurt me more than you might ever know, but at least I know how you truly feel. I know you love me, Brooke. You would never stay with me as long as you have, without feeling that way. Please don’t doubt that I love you as well. I’m sorry that I’ve hurt you by being with the other women. From now on I’m yours, and only yours.”

“Lyden, no!” she pleads with me, embracing me and crying into my shoulder. “That you would do that for me . . . but no. I meant what I said. You need all of us. I love you, Lyden, but please don’t do that.”

My arms wrap around the mermaid, and I pull her tightly to me. I’m worried that one day her deeper emotions will take over and I’ll lose her, but. . . .

But I’ll be dead long before that happens. I try not to think of what that’ll do to her, or any of my friends for that matter.

“Well, shit!” Eris pipes up, ruining the moment and putting me on my guard. “That didn’t cause as much strife as I thought it would.”

Brooke pulls away from me, her face as red as her hair, but I keep my arm around her, pulling her tightly to me. Her right hand presses against my chest as she snuggles into my right side.

“So we passed your test?” I ask hopefully, already knowing the answer.

“Test? There is no test, generator. Only performing actions that will earn you my master’s token of power.” She laughs softly, and I feel my heart plummet. “Besides, there are still three of you that need to act.”

“There should only be two,” Alloria speaks for the first time. “Lyden has already dealt with his, and Brooke has done what you made her do.”

Rage contorts the goddess’s features. “Do not presume to tell me anything, elf! You forget that I said each of you will have to do something that you may regret for the rest of your lives. What has the generator done that he will regret? No, forgiveness is not a part of this bargain!” This is the first time I’ve seen Eris angry. It’s a bit frightening.

Alloria backs up, and bumps into Emmet. Both recoil from the touch and separate further.

Eris visibly calms herself, taking long slow breaths, before taking a few steps back to the light pole. When she turns to face us again, the smile is back on her face. Somehow I’m even more scared of her smile than I would be of her wrath.

“I know how much of a hurry you’re in,” she states, “so the three of you can do it together. It would have been more fun if you had chosen to hate the mermaid, Lyden, but I think this will work out as well.” Her grin widens even more, and the tattoos on her face and body actually begin to glow softly. She points at me. “You, Lyden, are always terrified about what your kids will turn out like. Always afraid they might become some kind of monster. You will get the mermaid pregnant, and I promise you, the dear sweet Pillar of Earth will be unable to make any changes to it. What it will be, it will be.”

My heart plummets at this news. Not that I have to make love to Brooke, even though I’m still hurting from her tirade, but because I am truly worried about what a child between us will be. Before I can say anything, she turns to Emmet and Alloria, pointing at both of them. “You, Emmet, despite what you’ve recently claimed, still despise all creatures from this world. You may no longer want to kill all of us, but you still hate us.”

Uh-oh, I think I can see where this is going.

“And Alloria, the last elf in existence. Saved from the fate of the rest of your kind, you harbor your own form of hatred. You hate all humans, but you have a special hatred for men. A hate that transcends all racial boundaries.” Alloria and Emmet look at each other, already connecting the dots and shaking their heads. Eris grins even wider as she makes her final pronouncement. “Paladonic Knight, you will impregnate the last elf in the world.”

“I won’t do it!” Alloria screams, backing away. “I can’t do . . . do . . . that!”

“I will not soil my body and soul with such an act,” Emmet intones solemnly. I had thought the man was turning a new leaf, but apparently I was mistaken in just how far he’d come.

“Then the Pillar of Darkness’s token of power will be forever outside Lyden’s reach, and our world will likely fall and crumble.” Eris says, still smiling.

“But that will mean your death as well,” I say, trying to help the others out. As hard as it might be, I’m at least willing to do my part, but to force that on them is the epitome of cruelty.

“Yes, and chaos and strife, pain and torture, will rule the day. I will be free from my own torments, while delivering to the world what I’ve had to feel inside for millennia!” As she speaks, she spreads her arms wide. She is truly mad. I can’t imagine what it must be like to live with those emotions constantly churning inside you, but she must be in true pain, if she’s willing to sacrifice the world. I wonder why she doesn’t commit suicide, if she’s suffering so much. But as I watch her smile at us, I see that she truly enjoys delivering the torments she feels onto others. “The only time I’m free of the pain of my existence is when others feel it. When others are tormented, or chaos abounds, or vengeance reaped, then can I breathe easy.” Her resulting cackle sends shivers down my spine, while at the same time I pity the woman.

“Not that,” Alloria says, her voice haunted. “Anything else but that!”

“The choice is simple, Elf and Knight. Do as I’ve bid, or watch the worlds fall to the outsider.”

The two look at one another and I see Alloria shudder. “Gaia has commanded me to do all that I can to save our worlds. She’d told me that I may have to sleep with the generator, considering his power. I’d convinced myself that if it would save the world, I could do it. This is different, though. I won’t be making him any more powerful. This is only for spite! And to have to carry your child. . . . A human child. . . .”

“. . . regret for the rest of your life,” I hear Brooke murmur Eris’s words from earlier.

“I love you,” I whisper to her and feel comforted when she hugs me tightly back. No matter what happens, if our child becomes a monster, I will always love her. Even if I have to do it from the other side of the grave.

“For generations, my family has been a part of the Paladonic Knights, protecting humanity from the monsters that lurk in the world.” Emmet’s voice seems to be coming from someone else, it sounds so distant. “I was raised with the belief that every creature from this world was out to destroy us. Lyden has shown me that my childhood may have been a lie. But to lie down with someone not even human. . . . A lifetime of prejudices don’t go away that easily, even for one as beautiful as you.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” Alloria asks, confusion in her tone. “I’ve seen paintings of my ancestors, and have a few memories from when I was a child. I am truly ugly compared to them.”

Even I have to admit that Alloria is breathtaking. If she is ugly by their standards, then the Elven race must have been a true sight to behold.

“You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,” Emmet replies honestly. “But you aren’t even human.”

“And you are human,” she responds sadly.

I glance over at Eris, and note a difference in her posture and smile. Where before she had been tense and feral, now she looks relaxed and happy. Had she reacted the same way when Brooke had been telling me how she truly felt? I’d been a bit preoccupied at the time to notice.

“Our world must be saved,” Alloria said, her voice soft. She looks up for the first time and sees Emmet looking at her. I can tell that she’s surprised not to see hatred on his face. “If you can forget what I am, I will suffer your touch,” she says, defeat thick in her voice.

I can tell that Emmet is warring with himself, before his head drops as well. “I will no longer be allowed to return to my brethren. This act will taint me, but I have sworn to protect mankind. What is one life, one act, compared to all that will be lost if I don’t?”

“I won’t enjoy this,” the elf mutters.

“Neither will I,” the knight replies.

The two stare at each other for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

“Why don’t you show them how it’s done?” Eris asks. Her voice actually has a dreamy quality.

Without saying a word, Brooke turns into my body and tilts her head back. I take the invitation for what it is, and press my lips to hers. The kiss isn’t passionate by any accounts, only our lips pressed together, but I try to impart all the love I have in me for the redhead through this one act.

Reaching down, I grip the hem of her shirt and slowly lift it up. When it’s bunched up under her arms, I move my hands to her small breasts. Her tongue tentatively brushes along my lips, and I open up to let her in. As our tongues gently glide along one another, my thumbs find her nipples are already hard.

Brooke pulls back, and removes her shirt, as I bend forward and take one of her small areolas between my lips.

“I’m scared, Lyden,” I hear above me, and pull back to look into her beautiful eyes. “What if we have a monster? I-I don’t think I could destroy my own child. Not something we made together.”

“I know,” I tell her softly. “I worry too, but how can any child we make be evil?”

“I had hoped that one day we could have kids,” she continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “When Mother Earth said she could help with Sheila’s kids, I thought we could do it. But not like this. Not forced into it, with no help from Gaia.”

My insides ache to see my lovely Brooke in this state, while at the same time, I want to tear into the goddess for making us do this. Looking to the dark haired woman, I see a sublime look on her face. I know she’s getting just what she wants. Alloria and Emmet are watching us. They’re standing close to one another, but not touching.

I pull Brooke to me again, one hand going to the back of her head, the other one to the small of her back as I hug her to me. I can feel her stiff nipples poking me in the chest, and know she can feel the bulge in my pants pressed against her stomach.

Using the hand on her head, I tilt it up, and press my lips to hers again. I have no answers for her fears, other than my love and presence. For now, it will just have to do.

Her arms wrap around my neck, pulling me deeper into the kiss. Reaching between us, I work at her pants for only a moment, before sliding them down and off her. Bent over as I bring the waist of her pant to her ankles, I’m eye level with her clean-shaven pussy. Despite everything, or maybe because of it, I can easily see how aroused she is. As soon as she has one foot out of her pants, I grab her rear, and pull her nether-lips forward to meet mine.

I hear her gasp above me as I find her clit, sucking hard on it. This isn’t like our normal lovemaking, where I take it slow. I still plan on being gentle, but this time there is a purpose to our coupling, and I want to make sure neither of us has the time to back out.

I pull my right hand down, and painstakingly work at getting my own pants down and off. I have to reach in and readjust my rod before my underwear drop free. How odd, that earlier today I’d told Gaia that I wasn’t up for sex, but now that I’m with someone I truly love, I’m hard a ready to go. Once my pants are off, I kneel between her legs, never removing my lips from hers.

I can sense Brooke getting close to her climax, as my tongue works through her inner lips. Moving quickly, I place my hands behind her knees, and pull, while placing my pelvis directly beneath her. She lands in my lap, wide eyed, but I don’t stop my movements. It takes me only a second to lift her up, position my pole, and drop her. I’d hoped to be able to get her off with my antics, but instead it looks like I just postponed it. There is still plenty of time.

I let her sit in my lap, getting accustomed to being filled so quickly. My only movements are to lightly tickle her back and sides with my fingertips, and plant soft kisses along her cheeks and neck.

When her hips begin to move, making my phallus stir around inside her, I know she’s ready. I love how wet she gets, and truly love the way her inner walls fit snugly around my accommodating prick.

“Oh, Lyden,” I hear her moan softly when I bring my hands down to her rear and help move her. “I love you so much. I do want to have your child. I want to have all of you, in any way you’ll share with me.”

Realizing that her words are coming more from the moment, than her true intentions, I look up and see Eris grimace at us slightly. I also notice the goddess is topless and gently running her fingers across her modest breasts. The strange tattoos that adorn the side of her face travel down her body, even coming up on the side of her breasts.

“I love you,” I reply. “I think I always have, even when I was a child. For as long as I live, I will always love you.” Inside I twinge at how deceptive my words can be. I won’t be alive much longer. What Gaia told me is true, and I can’t survive past the coming battle.

Eris grins at my inner turmoil, tweaking one of her nipples.

This isn’t the first time we’ve had someone watching us, I realize. I remember the desperate session in the Orange Bubble as we rushed to rescue Areth from Blue. This is the first time so much has hinged on the act, however. It’s a good thing Brooke feels devine, tightly wrapped around my phallus, or I might get distracted by everything else going on around us.

Brooke places her hands on my shoulders, gently pushing me back. As soon as my shoulders touch the black ground—I marvel at how soft it is, noticing for the first time—she stares deep into my soul. “I know what you enjoy the most. For now, let’s do this. Later we can truly make love.”

I nod, letting her know I understand, and she lifts my head to her left breast. I can see Eris still playing with her breasts to my right, while to her right, Alloria and Emmet are intently watching us.

I block them out, concentrating instead on the woman atop me. As she leans forward, I can feel her pussy slide up my cock. When she begins to go back, I lift my hips, timing our movements perfectly, and hitting her deepest, most intimate parts. My left hand is on her right breasts, thumbing her sensitive nipple, while I play with the other one between my teeth and tongue.

For some unknown reason, I remember being in Marchosias’s lair. I get an idea.

When she clamps down on me, moaning softly, I know I won’t be far behind her. I pick up my pace, driving into her as I suck harder on her teat. Just as she starts to come down from her climax, mine begins, and she moans louder, another wave of passion and bliss overcoming my lover, as I empty myself into her womb.

“Tsk, tsk,” Eris says and I can detect an edge to her tone. “Did you really think you could fool me?”

“What do you mean?” Brooke asks. “We did what you wanted.”

“No, mermaid, he didn’t,” she warns. “He chose not to make his seed potent.”

It’s true, but how did she know? It only takes a moment’s thought to realize the answer. I should have been a lot more anguished than I was. I hadn’t fooled her at all.

Brooke looks at me and can see the truth on my face. “I guess we’ll just have to go another round,” she says, not seeming unhappy about the prospect. Unfortunately, my cock doesn’t seem to want to agree, as it continues to deflate inside her. “Oh,” she says when she realizes my predicament. I’ve had too much sex today, and don’t know how long it’ll be before I recover.

What was I thinking? Now, instead of being able to rush right back, we’ll have to wait here, until I can recover and do it again. I’m not sorry about having to make love to my wonderful mermaid, but the lost time eats at me.

The goddess smiles at my torment, and then turns to the other two. “You have waited long enough. It’s time you complete your end of the bargain.”

The two people from different races turn and look at one another uncertainly. “I’ve never been with anyone,” Alloria confesses, and I see Emmet’s face go even paler.

“The first time will hurt, if you’re anything like a real human,” he tells her, “but I know a spell that’ll help.”

“I don’t want your spells!” she suddenly snaps, then visibly regains control of herself. “I’m sorry, this is just wrong, but it’s not your fault.” I can tell those words have cost her by the way Eris seems to have a small orgasm. “I broke my hymen centuries ago. I’ll survive this.”

Emmet nods, gulping visibly. “How do you want to do this?” Despite how much I know he’s not looking forward to being with the gorgeous elf, I’m glad that at least he’s trying to be considerate. I don’t think many of his brethren would be, in the same situation.

“I don’t,” she states, then takes a deep breath, “but I must.” She locks eyes with him. “Get naked, and we will go from there.”

“Will watching them get you hard?” Brooke whispers in my ear. I shrug, not really feeling it right now. “Hmm, well then maybe I can help.” She pulls away from me, letting her red curls trail down my chest, until her face is inches from my shrunken member. It still glistens from our combined juices, but she doesn’t hesitate before taking it between her lips. I can feel her tongue swirl around the over-sensitive rim, and have to grip the ground to keep from crying out. As good as it feels, I sense no change in my second brain.

Looking back to the others, I see that both have removed their clothing. I have to admit that Alloria has a body that easily matches her face, with firm handful sized breasts sitting high on her chest, and a small tuft of light brown hair at the top of very smooth looking long legs.

The surprise comes from Emmet who is rather well endowed. To look at the man from the outside he doesn’t look like much, but even I’m impressed with his cock’s size.

Apparently so is Alloria, because her eyes are locked on the throbbing purple head.

“That might hurt after all,” she mutters, and then shakes herself. Her next words are too soft to reach my ears, but I hear them through the ground somehow. “It’s to save our world. It’s to save our world.” Her voice grows in volume as she gives commands. “Lie down, and stop staring at me. Good. Now hold still. If a weak human like you can suffer this, then I can as well.”

Emmet follows her commands, except for the one to quit staring at her. After he lies down, she steps over him and squats down, her back to his head. Reaching between them, the elf grips his cock, and aims it for her hole. She lowers herself, but grimaces and lifts up again. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she mutters, and again I hear it through the ground. She rubs the tip against her slit for a few seconds, and then tries again, but with the same results.

Meanwhile, Brooke’s ministrations are starting to have an effect, as she licks my shaft from balls to tip, and back again. I’m not necessarily growing hard, but I am feeling interested again. “You feel wonderful,” I tell her. “Keep it up.” She nods, and then sucks my entire rod into her mouth.

“It’s not working!” I hear Alloria easily with my ears. “There has to be another way, Eris!”

If the goddess is bothered by the use of her name, she doesn’t show it. “My dear elf, you have to want it, to get it to work,” she says, a sublime grin across her face. She is truly enjoying their torment. “To get that monster into you, you’re going to have to be aroused.”

“By a human?” Alloria demands, and then shakes her head. “Fine!” The elf’s eyes land on Brooke and me, and she smiles wickedly. “She seemed to enjoy it when he licked her pussy. Lick mine, human.”

“My name is Emmet, and I’d rather lick a pig!” he snarls at her, finally losing it with the way she’s treating him.

“Then imagine it’s a pig you’re licking, human,” she shoots back, and before he can respond, she scoots back and sits on his face. When he doesn’t make any moves, she wiggles her hips, grinding herself on him. “I said lick it!”

I see Emmet shrug his shoulders, and a second later Alloria gasps. Once again I hear her mutter, “It’s to save our world. It’s to save our world.” But this time it is interrupted by another gasp. A few seconds later, she closes her eyes and sucks in her bottom lip.

“Do you really think she will get that thing in her?” Brooke asks, her hand massaging my meat. I’m no longer entirely flaccid, but I’m not exactly hard, either.

“I think she’s determined enough to try,” I tell her. I spare a glance for Eris, and see the she has moved one hand into the hem of her skirt, as she watches the other two.

Looking back to Alloria and Emmet, I can make out that she is swiveling her hips against his mouth, and I can hear barely stifled moans through the Earth. But just when it looks like she might get off, she stops.

“Enough, human,” she states imperiously. “Obviously you have no skill at that. We’ll just have to try the original way.”

“Emmet, dammit! My name is Emmet! And you were moaning plenty, and dripping down my chin with your tasty juices a moment ago.” He pauses as he realizes he’d just paid her a slight compliment concerning her fluids.

Alloria seems to ignore him, but I catch her running a finger along her slit as she positions herself over him, and then tasting that finger. Emmet sees none of it, as her back is still to him. She aims his pole for her opening again and lets herself down on it, wiggling slightly. I can tell the moment his head slips inside as her eyes grow wide, and her mouth makes a large ‘O’.

“That really turned you on,” Brooke whispers to me, and I look down to see that I’m almost fully back.

“I like seeing a woman enjoy herself,” I say.

“Like Eris?” She asks, nodding to the woman. Looking over, I see the goddess on the ground, skirt bunched up around her waist, and two fingers of her right hand furiously rubbing her clit, while her left hand tweaks one of her hard nipples.

“Her, I’d rather not see so happy,” I state, and the slight slackening in my rod is proof of that.

Brooke notices it too, and graces me with a wonderful smile. Not because I’m going slack while she’s fondling me, but because of how I feel towards the goddess, I imagine. She drops her head back down, this time swallowing me into her throat. I can see the gills open on her neck, and know she can breathe fine. Still, the tightness of her throat makes me moan, and I can’t help but entwine my fingers into her red curls from the pleasure she’s giving me.

A grunt from Alloria draws my attention back to them, and I see she’s still trying to work the man’s large phallus into her. “Don’t think I’m enjoying this human, but can’t you try a little harder?”

“Fucking bitch,” the healer grumbles, but I see him reach up and grab her hips. He starts to move in time with her, and slowly, little by little, he slips into her, stretching her hole. “Damned, stuck up, tight as fuck, bitch,” the man grunts. I’m honestly surprised at his vulgarity, but wonder how I would feel in his position.

By the time he is halfway inside her, I’m hard as a rock, and ready to go. Brooke gets on all fours in front of me, and shakes her small bum. “Do me like this, so you can keep watching them.” For herself, Brooke is literally dripping, as I quickly get behind her, and slip inside. Despite having only made love to her moments before, she feels like she’s on fire. Apparently I’m not the only one turned on by Emmet and Alloria’s fornication. Despite my earlier attitude, this time I try to take it slow, and just enjoy every inch of the mermaid’s grasping twat.

“Is this what you wanted, slut?” Emmet asks, and suddenly Alloria freezes. Somehow she is able to spin around to face him, without pulling off his thick rod.

Her slap is easily audible, as is Eris’s cry of pleasure as she gets off on her fingers. “I am no slut, human! I’m only doing this because I have no choice!”

“Then why does you cunt tighten down on me when I call you a slut, slut?” he demands, and before she can respond, he grabs the back of her head, and pulls her lips down to his. At the same time, he drives his hips up, driving his massive meat deeper into her.

She struggles against his embrace, but he continues thrusting his hips, and I can hear her gasping with each stroke.

“Yes, fuck me Lyden!” Brooke screams out, and I look down to see that I’ve started to match the same rhythm as Emmet and Alloria. “God, that’s so hot, and feeling your huge cock pounding me at the same time. . . . Oh, God, I’m cumming!”

Her pussy clamps down on me, as she starts to shudder, but I don’t slow down. I keep pace with the other couple.

Alloria finally pulls away from Emmet, and her eyes are wide as she glares down at him. “How dare you presume to do that, human!” She slaps him again, but he only grins.

He stops moving, and grips her hips firmly to keep her from moving. “Slut,” he says, and drives his hips into her once. Her mouth tightens, but she doesn’t say anything. “Slut,” she states again, and this time when he thrusts I hear a slight moan escape her lips. “Slut,” he calls her a third time, and when he thrusts, her whole body convulses, and the last little bit of his massive cock slides into her. He doesn’t move after that, waiting for her to finish.

Anger blazes in her eyes when she opens them again, and she slaps him a third time. “I am no slut, human!”

“Then say my name, slut. Only a slut would fuck someone and not say their name,” he challenges her, slamming into every time he calls her a slut but otherwise holding still. I can see her trying to grind against him, but she only shakes her head. “Slut,” thrust. She shakes her head again. “Slut,” thrust.

“Emmet, dammit! Your fucking name is Emmit! Oh, Goooood!” this time it’s her that bends over, and kisses the man. I’m not sure who was surprised more, Emmet, or me, but the man begins to wildly thrust into the elf, passionately kissing her back, until his body locks up, and he grunts as he fills her pussy full of cum.

“Oh, yeah!” Brooke moans, as I grab her hips, and start pounding into her as hard as I can. “Cum in me, Lyden. Fill me with your sperm, and get me pregnant! I don’t care what it is, I just want your child. Fuck me Lyden, fuck me, OH God!” As she clamps down on me again and her soul joins mine, I lose it, and fire deep into her womb, this time making sure that my spunk is potent. I debate on faking it again, and acting more distressed over it, but decide I’d better not. I don’t know how much she can sense, or how well I can pretend to be in turmoil. I’m also running out of time to get back to Gaia and the others.

Worn out despite the energy I’d just received, I topple to the side, taking Brooke with me, and cuddle up behind her. “I love you, Brooke, and always will.”

“Gaia will have no say in what your children will be,” Eris crows, “but I will!”

I look up in time to see the darkness swallow her whole. When it retreats again, a large black pearl rests where she had been. A few seconds later, the nightmare stallions return.

Emmet and Alloria refuse to look at each other as they get dressed, but Brooke and I keep trying to find ways to stay in contact. Eris may have tried to drive a wedge between us, but she has only made our love grow stronger instead.

* * *

“I’m sorry, but we’re sworn to secrecy,” I tell Areth for what feels like the umpteenth time after greeting everyone in the large round room. Technically, only Emmet and Alloria demanded secrecy from us, but Brooke and I agreed to keep their secret.

“So you just walked in there, had a long chat with her, and she gave you the token?” Areth flutters in front of me, her hands on her hips. “Did you do something really perverted? You’re really bad at doing perverted things, sometimes.”

I know where she’s coming from, but why does she have to be so loud about it? I see the elf and knight blushing furiously, and I hope no one is looking their way.

“Only two tokens left, young generator,” Gaia says, coming up out of the floor. Alloria rushes to the Earth Mother, and gives her a fierce hug. Gaia pats her head, but her eyes are on Emmet. There is no doubt she knows what happened, and that she’s not happy about it. When the elf pulls away, Gaia faces me, and I can see that some of the strain is gone from her eyes. Is that because of the energy I gave her earlier, or because my daughter and Angela are getting a grasp on their powers? “I believe those two may be your easiest ones yet, though I’m a bit worried.”

My heart sinks as I hear those words. “Why? What’s wrong?” I demand.

“Hear her out,” Becky says. I turn to look at her.

“Angela already sent over a token of her power,” Gaia states, holding up a small golden phoenix, “but there has been no word from the new Pillar of Air.”

“Lysa?” I ask, barely aware of Brooke’s fingers entwining in mine. “But you would know if something happened to her, right?”

Mother Earth grimaces, and I see a different weariness enter her eyes. “I can only see what happens on the ground. Air’s demesne has very little ground in it, and I haven’t been able to see your daughter since she left.”

“But wouldn’t you be under greater strain if she was. . . .” Brooke cuts off, looking worriedly at me. I know what she was going to say anyway. If she was killed.

“She’s not dead,” Gaia reassures us. “And I can feel her taking charge of her powers. She hasn’t responded to any of my emissaries, however.”

“That’s because I’ve been busy procuring these,” my daughter’s voice, so like her mother’s sweet tones, breaks the air.

We all spin at once, as a slow breeze enters the room. Dirty-blonde hair billows as a thin woman in flowing robes floats in just as we’d been talking about her.

“Lysa!” I exclaim, rushing to her.

“Stop!” she commands, and suddenly I’m bowled over backwards by a powerful blast of air. “Crap, sorry!” she cries, as I try to get the room to quit spinning around me. “I’m still trying to get used to my power.”

“Wow, Lyden, that’s your daughter alright,” Jennifer crows as she laughs. “She even avoids swearing like you do!”

“Do that again!” Areth cries right afterwards. “That was fun, watching the dolt get blown around.”

Finally I’m able to get my vision straightened out, and see what I should have seen before. In Lysa’s arms are a bunch of sword hilts, but there are no blades.

“What are those?” Jewkes asks, pointing to the hilts.

Lysa beams, and there is no mistaking her as Lisa’s daughter with that smile. “I had these swords made. The blades are made out of air, and there is nothing sharper.” She sets the items on the ground, and I can see that the invisible blades gouge the solid rock of the floor. Before I have a chance to marvel at this wonderful gift, the Pillar of Air’s arms are around my neck, and I’m buffeted from all angles as she hugs me.

“Are you doing okay?” I ask her, as my arms enfold her. She is literally lighter than air.

“I was terrified at first,” she confides in me. “But I remembered watching you move on through terrible things, and come out stronger, Dad. I had to do my best.”

My chest fills with warmth as she calls me Dad. Unbidden, my arms tighten around her as I hug her tighter.

“How are you able to leave your own domain so soon after taking the mantle?” Gaia asks.

Lysa actually giggles as she pulls away from me. “I’m a child of two minds,” she states easily. “When I realized it was all a matter of the way I think, controlling this power became easy.” She turns to look at me again, and I see her cheeks turn red. “Sometimes my emotions get in the way, though.”

“Lysa?” a tremulous voice intrudes, and we turn to see Becky approach us uncertainly. The short brunette seems to fight with herself for a moment before finding her resolve. “I’m Becky. I knew your mother very well.”

Becky had been angry with me for creating Lysa, and now I wonder what she’s feeling as she faces her dead roommate’s fully grown daughter.

Looking at the new Pillar, I see a tear slowly roll down her cheek, unaffected by the swirling wind around her. “If it’s not too much to ask,” Lysa says, and she is suddenly just as hesitant as Becky had been, “I would like to call you Mother, since—“

She doesn’t get to finish the sentence, as Becky dashes forward and hugs my daughter. “Yes. I would like that!” she cries as the two women hold each other.

I have to fight my own emotions from overwhelming me as I watch the two, until Gaia interrupts my thoughts with a whisper in my ear.

“You have all the tokens you need,” she whispers to me. “Now it’s time to face the outsider, and your death.”

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Chapter 33
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Varun and the Outsider

“You now have all the tokens you need,” Gaia whispers to me. “Now it’s time to face the Outsider, and your death.”

The lead weight that fills my stomach is enough to make me nauseous. I want to sick up. I want to go to my room and just go to bed, forgetting about all the troubles in the world. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to go up against either Outsider, Aldol and its new ally, and likely lose one or more of my friends. I’ve already given up too much. All of the blood, sweat, and tears. Lisa’s life, though I can’t directly tie that to Aldol. All of it seems to weigh me down in this one moment. It’s too much, I want to scream. I never asked for this!

“Everyone gather around,” I croak past a throat that doesn’t want to cooperate. I have to repeat myself to be heard over everyone else, but this time they look at me. Once again my voice flees as numerous eyes look to me expectantly. What am I even going to say to them? How about, thanks for everything you’ve already done, but now I need you to put yourselves at risk while I try to live long enough to take out the light monsters. Monsters that have made my life nearly unbearable.

Thankfully I have these friends with me to help me through.

Looking into Brooke’s loving eyes, Becky’s intelligent ones, Sheila’s trusting gaze, and even Areth’s excited ones, I know I can’t tell them that I can’t live past the final battle. None of them will understand the necessity. I have to die, so that there can be peace.

“Lysa,” I say, facing my daughter. I have to swallow the sudden lump in my throat as her mother’s eyes regard me. “I can’t thank you enough for the gift of these swords.” I gesture to the hilts with invisible air blades.

“Oh don’t be so formal!” Jennifer yells, and there are a few titters of laughter around the room. I can’t help but smile, glad that some of the tension has seeped away.

“You’re right,” I tell the woman whose chest could almost rival the Empire State Building for grandeur. “Now that we have these weapons, and the talismans we need, it’s time to take the fight to Aldol. I, for one, am tired of running from the Outsiders. It’s time we take the fight to them, and show it that these are our worlds. Prove to those creatures that we’re not going to idly sit by while it seeks to destroy everything we hold dear.

“All of you have already made sacrifices in one form or another,” I say. I can’t help but notice the looks exchanged between Emmet and Alloria, nor how the elf rubs her stomach. I hope those two can cope with what they did. I also don’t miss Areth rubbing her behind. “We’ve lost friends, our ways of life—“

“Lost weight!” Jennifer announces, and I nod to her point. The woman had once been overly obese, but now has the body any woman in the adult industry would kill for. I still wonder how that happened. I’ll have to look into it if I ever get the time.

“Some of us have even lost our sanity for a bit,” I say with a smile, before adding, “or maybe that was just me.” There are more laughs than I think the joke deserves, but I’m still grateful for them. I get a few odd glances from those that weren’t around for my episode with Muramasa. “Regardless, we are here today to prove that no matter what the adversity, the Outsiders cannot win!”

I’m surprised by the volume of the cheering that suddenly erupts as I finish my speech, until I realize that most of it is coming from outside.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Gaia says, gliding forward, “but I went ahead and broadcast your words to every place that had ears to listen, through my earth. It seems to have boost their moral. They’ll need it.”

“Then they’ll know we’re coming,” Becky says worriedly.

I pull the short brunette into a tight embrace, her head resting on my sternum. “It already knew,” I tell her. Turning to the dark skinned Pillar of Earth, I ask, “Any idea where the best place to attack will be, or where the monster is?”

The corners of Gaia’s lips dip down, and I already know I’m not going to enjoy her answer.

“The Pillar of Fire is already engaging the Myrmidons in her lands. She doesn’t have the loyalty of her subjects as TanaVesta did, and she’s being hard pressed.”

“Angela’s in trouble?” I gasp, grabbing the grip of Murasame. “We need to help her!”

“Not so fast,” she warns, and I have to tamp down my anger at the rebuke in her tone. “Varun is also under assault. It seems the Outsider’s friend has influenced him enough, that he is laying waste to his own subjects. Both threats must be squelched if our worlds are going to survive.”

For only a second I’m tempted to say Varun can go to hell for all I care, but I know Gaia is right.

“Why don’t the Outsiders control you?” Becky asks. I swallow a curse, as I realize I’d never considered this.

“It’s the nature my mind, as well as that of all Pillars, takes that can protect us. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying your minds are weaker,” she tells the short brunette. “The very nature of the power we possess, changes us. Only if our minds have been weakened, as Varun’s was by TanaVesta, can the Outsiders gain purchase and control. Or when we are new to our powers.” She nods to Lysa, who is wearing her amber colored glasses. “I don’t know how it took control of the previous Pillar of Fire, but Angela and Lysa should remain safe as long as they wear those glasses.”

“What about the Pillars of Light and Dark?” Becky asks next.

Gaia laughs softly before answering. “They are even older than I am. Neither one will be susceptible to the Outsiders. That’s why Aldol had to work through TanaVesta at first, to weaken this world, instead of just commanding us to commit suicide. Its power can seem absolute, but some of you know it can be fought.”

I glance at Becky, hoping she doesn’t still feel bad about how Aldol had controlled her and almost killed me. From the steely determination in her eyes, I see her mind is working through other things, assimilating what the Pillar of Earth said.

“You might be surprised to find that Marchosias is fighting against the Pillar of Water,” Gaia adds in. I have to stop myself from swearing. I still hold a grudge against the demon for what he subjected us to in his nightmare world. “Also, many of the denizens of Darkness have come forward to fight for the Outsider in both realms. The Outsider has either lied to them, or is manipulating them towards its goals. Some of them relish chaos and fight for their own reasons.”

“Do you have any good news?” I snap, irritated more and more as things seem to be getting worse.

“We’re alive, and still able to fight,” Lysa says. I turn to my daughter, eyes wide as I realize how much like her mother she just acted.

“You’re right,” I tell her, trying to hold back tears of pride. Whether it’s from the time she spent in my mind, or some supernatural ability of hers, she knows how I feel. I don’t mind the blustering wind as she hugs me tightly.

“Gaia,” I state, turning to face the woman, “can you send some of your forces to buttress Angela?” She nods, and I smile, though there is no mirth in it. “If there are any that can help Marchosias, send those to him. I hate that monster for what he did, but as long as he’s fighting on our side, I’ll support him.”

“We should go help Marchosias,” Brooke says, indicating Ondine and Arethusa. “We can act as your eyes and ears there.” She pauses for just a moment before a twinkle enters her eyes. “That is, if you’re okay with that, General Snow.”

General Snow?

“I don’t think—“ Thomas begins to argue, no doubt about staying with Ondine, but I cut him off.

“Remember what my father taught you, Thomas,” I tell him. “If there is a way for them to take you safely into their domain, go with them. Otherwise I could use your military expertise back here.” My father had told him that Ondine was the type of woman that needs to know her man is there for her, supporting her, not stopping her.

My old coworker looks from me, to Ondine, and back, before swallowing visibly. “I didn’t make it very high in the ranks before getting out of the service,” he states, “but I’ll help out however I can.”

“Thank you,” I tell him, before turning back to Gaia.

“We’ll go help your succubus,” Jennifer pipes up before I can say anything. “Come on, old man,” she elbows Jewkes in the ribs. “If you perform well enough, maybe I’ll let you get a better look at these tits you can’t stop staring at!”

From the police captain’s face, I can’t tell if he’s looking forward to the prospect, or unhappy about getting busted. Of course, he’s also married, so who knows.

“Blue,” I turn to the dragon sunning herself on the balcony, “go with them, and keep them safe.” The dragon snorts in response, smoke coming from her snout, but stands up and waits for them. The randy woman and the hook-nosed man each pick an air blade from the pile to add to their rifle and shotgun, and then climb onto the dragon’s back.

“I hope that’s your hilt poking me in the back,” Jennifer laughs. Before Jewkes even has a chance to respond, they’re off. I really hope I see them again.

I turn to look at Becky, Sheila, Emmet, Alloria, and Gaia. Sheila has been so quiet, I’ve nearly forgotten about her. I’m torn for what to do next.

“If we can take out the one in Water’s domain first,” Becky says, coming to my rescue, “can we use that against the fire ants?”

“The realms are on opposite sides of this world,” Gaia says. “But that one should be the weakest one.”

“Then I’ll head there first,” I tell the room.

“I wish to go with you, Master,” Sheila says subserviently.

I look into her brown eyes, and hate that I have to turn her down. “I would take all of you if I could, but you won’t be able to breathe under the water. Stay and help the efforts here. I want all of you to wear the Blublocker glasses Jewkes gave you.”

“As you wish, Master,” she says in a way that sounds more like, “But I still want to go.”

“I have summoned some Rocs to get you there,” Lysa says. “They will be the quickest way to fly. Even faster than your dragon form.”

“How are rocks going to fly?” Thomas asks, confused.

“You’ll see,” she says with a soft laugh I hope he doesn’t hear. Already I see the enigmatic ways of the pillars starting to come forth in her. A moment later, we hear a loud screech outside, and two massive birds land on the balcony. The two large avian creatures barely fit on something that Blue was able to rest on comfortably. Their wings are easily large enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if they are capable of lifting elephants into the air. “These are rocs,” Lysa says unnecessarily.

“Gawk later,” I tell the man, trying to hide my smile at his reaction. “Gaia, can you set Thomas up somewhere, where he can watch both battles?”

“I can’t see most of what’s happening in the water,” she tells me. “But I can show him what I can see.” She waves her hand in front of her. The floor shifts, changing into small representations of hills, and mountains. I can make out TanaVesta’s, or rather Angela’s, mountain peak in one rainbow shaped area. Creatures are moving around, also in miniature, and I realize I’m looking at the entirety of Fire’s domain. Across from that is an oppositely bent rainbow strip. This one has fewer creatures on it, and I can only guess that most of Varun’s forces are swimming, where Gaia can’t see them.

For but a second, I see a bright spot in Water’s half of the map, and know it must be the other Outsider. Even though I know it won’t be there by the time I arrive, I still rush to the back of the nearest Roc and hop on.

“Thomas, Gaia, I leave everything in your hands. Becky and Sheila, please offer what help you can. Lysa, please take care of yourself. Emmet, Alloria. . . . Please try not to kill each other.” I don’t wait for a response as Areth lands on my shoulder. The other two mermaids climb onto the other Roc, and we take off. We hold on tight to each other, as the massive birds take flight.

Even when flying in my dragon form, I don’t move as swift or as smooth as the Rocs do. In less time than I would have thought, and definitely not enough time for me to get mentally prepared, the huge birds begin circling in the air, skimming just over the water.

“Areth. . . .” I trail off, not sure what to do with the fairy. I don’t dare send her to Marchosias, considering his anger with her before, but I don’t know if she can breathe underwater, either.

“I’ll take care of that big meanie demon,” she tells me. “He can’t scare me, now that I’m free to be with you.” She gives me a chaste peck on the cheek, and then a not-so-chaste nibble at my earlobe. Despite how odd her words seem, I understand. With her maidenhood broken, yet still free to move about, the demon can’t hurt her. At least, he’d better not!

“Take care of yourself,” I tell her. She zips up to give me a another quick peck on the cheek, but I turn my head in time for her whole face to land between my lips. As she splutters, I tell her, “I love you.”

Her whole body glows for a few seconds, before she flutters away. Before she’s out of earshot, I hear her yell, “You’d better survive down there, dolt! There are some perverted things I want to do to you when we’re done!”

Despite myself, I blush as the two mermaids regard me. It doesn’t help when Brooke adds in, “Damn straight you’d better survive. There are more than just a few perverted things I want to do.”

“He does seem rather good at them, doesn’t he?” Ondine muses a moment later.

I dive into the water before I see Brooke’s imagined scandalized face. Thankfully Ondine wasn’t touching any earth, so I know Thomas hadn’t heard that through Gaia.

I create my dragon’s tail to propel me through the water, and open my lungs to the water, as I did last time I entered this domain. I haven’t been swimming enough to get used to how weird it feels at first, as the liquid fills and cools my chest, slowing my breathing. I ignore it, swimming for the spires of Varun’s castle below us. I marvel at how just a short time ago, I couldn’t stand to be in any water deeper than my knees, but now I’m swimming to the bottom of a massive ocean.

The only warning I have is Brooke’s gasp, before something bites painfully into my tail. I spin around in the water, and see something that looks like a cross between a great white shark and a crocodile. That’s all the time I have for impressions, as I see the thing open its jaws, revealing numerous rows of sharp teeth, and prepare to bite me again. I’m able to move my appendage away in time to avoid the chomp and grip Murasame, ready to draw my sword out.

Brooke beats me to the kill, her blue wavy blade invisible in the water. In less time than I can think, the monster’s shark-head is floating away from its body.

“That blood is going to draw a lot more of those,” Ondine says. I realize that both mermaids are topless above their long fish’s tail. Turning, I see that my tail is bleeding profusely from the bite, mixing with the blood of the croco-shark creature.

“Since the tail isn’t really a part of you, can you heal it?” Brooke asks.

Shaking my head, I say, “No. If I were to change the tail, my rear end would just end up with the wound.” Then something Gaia had said occurs to me, when she warned me about going up against Aldol. I might not be able to absorb the Outsider’s energy safely, but what about the ambient energy in the water? Can I use that to close my wounds?

Closing my eyes, I concentrate, trying to pull the energy of the water into me, to heal the damage. Gasping, I open my eyes and shiver. The water around me turned into a thin layer of ice! I’ll have to remember that, and be more careful, I think as I break myself out of my little cocoon.

“I didn’t know you could make ice,” Brooke says, shocked and rubbing her arms to keep warm. Both mermaids’ nipples are hard as a rock in the cold water.

“Let’s go,” I say, giving her a warm kiss to get her moving. We don’t have the time for me to explain why pulling energy from the water turned it to ice. I was never good in physics class in college, anyway.

The sounds of battle greet us long before we reach Varun’s castle, even in the almost murky depths of the water. Lights flash as two groups magically battle one another, and swords clash as others are wounded and dying.

“Where would Varun or the other Outsider be?” I ask Brooke, but it’s Ondine that answers.

“They should be in the main courtyard.” Looking at Thomas’s girlfriend, I still have to admit that the Blublocker glasses don’t do her justice. Both women are beautiful in their own right, but the glasses almost add a comical air to them. Not the image we want to have going into battle, but better safe than sorry.

“Lead the way,” I state, waving my hand.

As we get closer, I pull Murasame free of his scabbard and immediately feel more confident.

Careful, son, Shemhazau’s voice fills my head. If you wound anyone with me, you’ll gain their powers.

And I should be careful about that? I mentally ask him back.

What if their power drives them to constantly kill or harm those around them? Also, I don’t know how well my sanity will hold up, as I continue to fight Muramasa and Masamune for dominance. Every kill you make, might make it harder for me.

I hadn’t thought of that. For just a second, I’m tempted to re-sheath the blade, but I keep him out. Murasame is my best weapon right now. I’ll do my best not to make my father’s existence any worse than it already is, but the fate of two worlds is resting on us. Like I said before, better safe than sorry.

Whatever you do, don’t use it on Varun. Not only will that transfer all of his power as the Pillar of Water to you, but it will most likely kill you. You’re not completely aligned with water as an element. That will also make it impossible for anyone else to become the Pillar of Water, for his mantle will become useless.

In other words, I need to be careful!

A group of mermen are guarding the water between what I think might be the courtyard and where we are now. Upon seeing us, they rush forward, ready to meet our attack. We’re outnumbered, three to five, but we don’t slow as they come on.

I hear Ondine’s name mentioned from the opposing side, and realize they must recognize her. My hope that this means they’ll let us pass is dashed, when two mermen attack me. Even with the skill Marchosias gave me in his nightmare world, added to what my sword imparts, I’m hard pressed to defend myself without killing them. My parries are slowed by the water, making things even more difficult. They have no skill or finesse in their attacks, simply hacking and slashing in an attempt to get through my impervious defense. Their movements aren’t hampered, and I wonder if it has something to do with them living and training in the water.

One of my attackers stiffens, and a moment later boiling air pierces the other man’s chest. Looking past them, I see Ondine pluck an air dagger from the first one’s back before pulling her longer blade free of the second one’s chest. As she sheaths her blades, I marvel that her blades had been invisible while out of the water, but very noticeable while under the water, whereas Brooke’s is now invisible down here.

Speaking of Brooke. . . . I turn in time to see her wiping her blade on one of her attacker’s tail, cleaning it off.

“You fought well,” Brooke compliments the other mermaid. “Once this is over, you should apply to be an assassin.”

Ondine laughs, shaking her head. “I wasn’t always this good, and they underestimated me.” I wonder when she gained the extra skill. Has she been practicing? “Besides, I don’t want to use one of those blades. Plus, I only had to take out one. Unless you count the two that Lyden couldn’t handle.”

The women laugh at my expense for a moment. I let them. Goodness knows there will be little enough chance for laughter for the next little bit.

* * *

The three of us are breathless as we finally reach the courtyard. It felt like every time we turned around, there was another group ready to attack us. Where are all of the creatures fighting on our side? Luckily none of us have been seriously injured, only Brooke and Ondine are sporting various scratches. Nothing has been able to break through Murasame’s defense, despite the hardship of fighting underwater.

The sight of ten mermen surrounding a huge seahorse statue and a glowing colorful ball of light pulls all thoughts of previous battles from my mind.

The mermen shout when they see us, but I notice that none of them are carrying swords.

“Spellcasters!” Brooke shouts out her warning as one of them lifts a hand, aiming his open palm at me.

A ball of light shoots across the intervening space, too fast for me to dodge and strikes me square in the chest.

The force of the impact knocks me back . . . a couple inches. I look down at my chest, and smile as I remember that I’m mostly immune to magic. The look on the other merman’s face is priceless as he stares wide-eyed and open mouthed.

“KILL THEM,” a massive voice bellows. I swear the water shudders at the sound. Looking up, I see that what I’d taken for a statue is in fact Varun. He’s noticed us. The colorful light next to him is flashing in the way I know the Outsiders communicate.

I turn to Brooke and Ondine, worried that they might fall under the thing’s control, but they smile at me behind their glasses.

“That’s weird,” Ondine states. “It feels as though I should be able to understand it, but it’s all garbled.”

“Welcome to my world,” I tell her.

A column of force interrupts any further talking as it slams into us, and immune or not, I’m still forced backwards. The two mermaids seem to be in worse straits, and I curse myself, remembering that they aren’t immune to magic at all.

Well, if I can absorb external energy to my own uses, can I absorb this spell? A moment later, the spell fizzles out, and the three of us right ourselves.

“Your magic is useless,” I yell to the mermen, hoping to let them flee.

Then I notice the glow behind their eyes. They have no choice in what they’re doing.

Using my tail for propulsion, I speed forward, using the power I gained from absorbing that last spell to move even faster.

A dome springs up around the group. I slam into it, rebounding away. I curse my stupidity.

An idea occurs to me, and I pull Murasame from my hip, bringing the blade down hard on the barrier. It shatters like broken glass, and all ten mermen collapse with it, knocked insensate by the backlash of power.

Only Varun and the Outsider stand before me.

The Outsider flashes again, and I can see Varun growing angrier as he towers a good ten feet above me.

“I CAN’T! HE IS IMMUNE TO MY POWER,” the large seahorse shouts in response to whatever the Outsider told him.

Somehow I can sense the Outsider turn to regard me as Brooke and Ondine swim up to my back.

“How did you know that would break their shield?” Brooke asks me quietly.

“Because my sword absorbs abilities and powers. I didn’t think it would—Oomph!” I grunt as a bright light slams into my chest. I’d have gone flying—swimming?—if the mermaids wouldn’t have caught me. As my vision clears, I realize I’m struggling just to breathe. There is a hole the size of my chest, burned out of my shirt. The Outsider’s laser hadn’t hurt me, so much as its impact had, knocking the breath out of me. Why can the Outsider still affect me, when other magic can’t?

Looking back up, I see that the Outsider has fled, leaving us to deal with Varun.

The seahorse is obviously panicked, as he starts throwing various spells at us. Unfortunately for him, I easily absorb them, regaining my breath.

“Stop it, Varun!” I command the Pillar of Water. “You’ve lost. If you don’t want to die as well, then give up!”

He doesn’t quit, however, and seems to only grow more frantic.

“Brooke, Ondine, get out of here,” I tell my companions.

“You can’t kill him,” Brooke states, fear choking her tone. “Lysa and Angela are still too weak. Killing Varun will only weaken this world more.”

“I’ll meet you on Marchosias’s island,” I state, refusing to look at her. “Get her out of here, Ondine.” My voice leaves no room for arguments and the two mermaids flee.

Varun tries to attack them, but I block all of his efforts. The seahorse focuses on me again, and finally stops throwing spells my way. Instead, he physically attacks. The creature swims ten feet taller than I am, and is easily more powerful. His curled up tail lashes out at me, but with all of the power gained from his spells, I easily sidestep it. Reaching out, I grip his tail in my hand. Even at the end of it, I can barely get my hand around the tip. No dirty jokes here, please. I can feel the tiny bones that comprise the flexible appendage break and shatter under my powerful grip.

Varun screams, but I refuse to let go. Instead, I concentrate hard, pulling in all of the ambient energy around the Pillar of Water, but not from the Pillar himself. The seahorse’s screams grow more ragged as first frost, and then ice, begins to form on his shiny scales. Cold surrounds me, but I do my best to ignore it, as the ice thickens, trapping the creature within.

I don’t know how long I stay there, drawing in power and locking Varun in the ice, but when I finally stop, my arm is encased in the frigid ice up to my elbow. A solid wall of frozen water extends from one end of the courtyard, to the other. Immobile, but somehow I sense he still lives, is Varun. The absurdity of trapping the seahorse in his own element isn’t lost on me, but hopefully this will slow him down enough for me to take care of the light monster.

“I don’t know if you can hear me,” I tell the crazed creature, “but I want you to know I’m not your enemy. That other creature was. When I’m done with it, we will see about you.”

With those ominous words left in the air, I use the smallest fraction of the strength flowing through my limbs to break my arm free of the ice that goes up to my elbow.

Turning, I speed-swim out of the courtyard, moving as fast as I can. This place is freaking cold!

I run into Brooke and Ondine as I leave the castle, and scowl at them for not getting away.

“Before you get mad,” Brooke cuts me off before I can speak, “we stopped because it looked like that other creature went for the island, and we didn’t want to—Oh!”

I don’t waste any time, grabbing each woman around their naked waist and propelling us through the water. With all my gained energy, we make great time. When I see the ground begin to slope upwards, I aim for the surface. I break through with enough force to go airborne, and quicker than the speed of thought, I transform into my dragon form, absorbing the women with me, and sending out a shockwave as I pull in air around me to make up my mass.

Water droplets drip from my wings as they catch the air. I can see the beach on the island, and realize that the rain has stopped. Is this because I locked Varun up, or did he die in that ice cube? I shudder to think of the consequences of the latter.

I don’t have time to consider it further, as I see Areth and Marchosias in his snake-tailed, winged wolf form fighting along with a group of determined Grindylows. Slowly pushing them down the beach are towering Cyclopes, swinging huge clubs and throwing boulders. Why are the Cyclopes fighting for the Outsiders? With only their one eye and at this distance, it’s impossible to see if they’re being controlled.

“I hate when you take me out of the fight like this,” Brooke says, but I ignore her. She’d become a part of me when I transformed.

I bellow out a roar, enraged that anyone would dare attack one of my women. When I land on the beach, the Cyclopes stare at me for a brief moment before raising their weapons and coming for me.

I can see that Areth is yelling something, but can’t hear her over the one-eyed monsters coming for me.

Any powers I need to worry about when killing them? I ask my father, with the mermaids listening.

“Is that why we had to kill all those other mermen back there? And here I thought you finally sucked at something,” Ondine teases me.

No, son. Unless you count it an ability to be big, ugly, and great at tinkering.

“You could stand to be a little less attractive, Lyden,” Ondine jibes. “I really think you’re too good looking for your own good.”

“I think he’s just the right kind of good looking,” Brooke comes to my defense.

Good, I think, in reference to my father’s words. I tear into the front line of the beasts. With each swipe of my powerful claws, I feel myself growing stronger. Their clubs bounce harmlessly off my scaled hide, and even the boulders only bump me about, without causing any damage. With each blow of my claws, the monsters go down, until the remaining ones flee back into their cave. Well, some flee, some limp, and one crawls back to their home.

I look around, not even breathless after my exertions, trying to find the Outsider.

“Lyden!” I hear Areth scream in terror. My blood grows cold at the sound.

Turning my head on my long neck, I see Marchosias still in his animal form, the golden fairy between his teeth.

“LET. HER. GO!” I telepathically order the demon, but when he looks at me, I can see the glow behind his eyes. “IF YOU THINK THAT CONTROLLING HIM WILL STAY MY HAND, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANT TO KILL HIM,” I think at the controlled demon.

Marchosias blinks, and I see the glow fade from his gaze. A second later he yawns in confusion, looking just like a dog, and Areth drops from his mouth. When she hits the sand and doesn’t move, fear courses through my large body, immediately replaced by rage.

“Don’t do anything foolish,” Brooke admonishes me, but I block her out. In fact, I change back to my human form, just so I don’t take her into this battle.

Naturally, I forget to form my clothes.

Marchosias takes one look at me, Murasame already in my hands, and howls as he flees. That’s okay. He’s not my target right now anyway.

“Brooke, Ondine, look after Areth. I need to put someone’s lights out.” The North Pole has more warmth in it than my tone does right now.

Closing my eyes, I carefully pull in energy from around me. Will this work? I’m still getting used to this new ability. Or is it an old ability, with a new twist? I’m able to sense a greater pool of power further inland. I don’t hesitate before super-speeding in that direction.

When I catch up to the Outsider, it has two Cyclopes and one Grindylow guarding it. The three creatures charge me, heedless of their own danger. By the glow in their eyes, I know they’re not doing this of their own free will. Only the Grindylow survives, as I strike him in the back of the head with the grip of Murasame. Two one-eyed heads go rolling past me, however.

“Give it up,” I tell the light creature. “You cannot win this.”

This time, I’m anticipating the bolt of light that spears from the thing. It almost seems like child’s play, as I step to the side, leaving my two-toned blade in its path. I hear my father’s screams as the Outsider’s energy flows into my blade, but I try to ignore it. The attack lasts less than a second. I point the blade back at the creature, willing all the new energy out. At first nothing happens for a few seconds, and Shemhazau’s voice continues to scream in my head. Then there is a wrenching sensation from my gut, and light balls up at the tip of my katana-like blade. It elongates and soon I see that it has taken on the form of a small dolphin. Quicker than thought, the dolphin powers forward, swimming through the air. Its nose pierces the center of the Outsider. There is a puff of acrid smoke, and then nothing.

“Really?” I ask, feeling underwhelmed. That was an awesome killer move, and all I got was a puff of smoke?

I turn and move to sheath Murasame, but freeze halfway. My stomach sinks as I look at my blade. It’s no longer chrome and midnight black colored, but a very dull gray color. “Dad?” I ask the sword, willing it to answer me. “Shemhazau? Answer me!” Tears spring to my eyes as silence greets my request. Maybe it’s just dirty, and he can’t speak through it, I think. But as soon as my thumb touches the dull blade to wipe it clean, it crumbles to dust.

In my rage to destroy the Outsider, I destroyed what was left of my father as well. The grip that once belonged to Murasame falls from my nerveless fingers, but my knees hit the ground first. Despair threatens to overwhelm me. I had known my father for a short time, and it wasn’t enough. Sure he had embarrassed me, and at times I’d thought he was annoying, but now that he’s gone, I realize just how much I loved him. And now I have killed him twice.

“Lyden!” Ondine’s voice screams out. “We need you!”

They need me? Why, so I can get them killed as well?

“NO!” I scream at myself, reaching to get out of my despair before I fully succumb to it. “No more! No more of my friends will die today.”

I rush back to the beach, and find what I at first think is a bunch of demons in Marchosias’s form, until I realize they’re just overgrown wolves. Brooke and Ondine are standing over Areth’s inert form, doing their best to hold them back. Three already lie dead at their feet, but already I can tell that the two mermaids are growing weaker. Blood seeps from a nasty scratch on Brooke’s pale arm, and I see a dark stain marring Ondine’s side.

Before I can move forward, Marchosias is at my naked side.

“Those are werewolves, generator,” he warns me, crouching down and getting ready to pounce. From the direction of his snout and where his snake-tail is pointing, I know he’s not about to attack me. “Beware their bite.”

The demon moves like lightning, streaking across the ground. I’m not far behind him. I take just enough time to drop to all fours and transform into a dragon, using the sand below me for mass. Part of me can’t help but wonder at how easy it’s become for me to change forms. I no longer even feel pain when I transform.

My talons are back to their normal brown color.

Even without my father augmenting them, they are terribly sharp, and rend the wolf flesh easily. One tries to bite my foreleg, but Marchosias’s tail sinks its fangs into the beast’s neck before it can reach me. I ignore the fallen monster as its mouth begins to foam and it goes into its death convulsions.

I’m able to return the favor a moment later when a werewolf leaps for Marchosias’s back, while his tail is killing another wolf. My tail sweeps out with enough force that I hear ribs break on impact. There is a sickening thud when the monster’s head slams into a tree.

Without warning, I’m left with no one else to attack. What few werewolves remain are retreating back into the forest.

“Change, pup, or I’ll rip your fucking throat out!” the demon growls behind me. Turning, I unexpectedly see that he has a wolf held down on its back. A moment later it changes into a well-built man in his mid-to-late twenties.

My first thought is of the women, and I rush to them, catching Brooke as her knees give way beneath her. She’s covered in blood and gore, and I have no idea how much of it is hers, and how much is theirs.

“Did they bite you?” I ask, worried for her.

“Is Areth okay?” she asks weakly instead.

Despite my concern for the redhead, I turn to where Areth lies motionless in the sand. Only she’s not entirely motionless. Her wings are torn and bent at bad angles, but she’s breathing the slow breath of sleep.

With tears already filling my eyes, I turn back to the woman in my arms, and nod. “Good,” she whispers. “I just need a little nap, and then I’ll be ready to go some more.”

Her eyes close, and despite the pale color of her skin, she is breathing easy.

“What’s wrong with her?” I ask Ondine. I try to check Brooke over, but can’t see any terrible wounds.

“It’s her assassin’s blade,” the other mermaid responds wearily. “Every time she kills with it, she feels that death. I’ve heard that it’s supposed to make them colder inside. Deaden them to the carnage they’re sometimes asked to perform.” She plops down next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. I dearly hope that Thomas isn’t watching this right now. “She’s killed a lot today.” This last part is filled with a deep level of respect.

Why would anyone want to subject themselves to that? For that matter, why had Brooke? She was always so gentle while I was growing up, but she had grown up wanting to be an assassin. Remembering that she’d killed her old mentor with that blade and the sacrifices she’s made for me makes me respect her more.

“We’ll want to be getting off the beach soon,” Marchosias says. I look up at the demon, now in his massive human warrior form, and see that he has the naked young man tied up in vines.

“Our debt isn’t settled, demon,” I tell him, then wearily get to my feet. “Or should I call you Reverend Chilton?”

“No,” the too-attractive man chuckles deep in his massive chest. “AnnaBelle has done a great job of taking over for me.”

I shake my head at his words. “Lead on. I’ll follow.”

I see him glance at my naked hip, where Murasame once sat, but he says nothing. If this is a trap, I’m too worn out to avoid it. I lean over and gently lift Areth, placing her on Brooke’s blood spattered stomach. I’m sure the pixie won’t appreciate it, but I don’t care either. Lifting Brooke up into my arms, I follow after the demon and his prisoner.

“Why were you pretending to be a reverend, anyway?” I ask as we trudge through the sand.

“A demon can’t want to do some good?” he asks me, and I shake my head. “Well, I was. I understand why you hate me, but I strive for balance. I do a lot of harm, so I try to do a lot of good as well.” He chuckles again and then adds, “And being this good looking tends to get me into the pants of a lot of religious women.

I wonder if AnnaBelle ever slept with him, but I can’t picture it and keep the thought to myself.

Apparently he has a back door into his cave, because we don’t pass the place where the Cyclopes live and work. When I realize that we could have taken this way out the last time I was here and avoided the trouble with the one-eyed beasts, my ire grows, but is quickly snuffed. Who cares? What’s done is done.

The demon’s lair is just as crowded as I remember, but he clears a spot on a large bed, where I can lay the two slumbering women down. The sheets get covered in gore, but that only makes me smile. I know it’s petty, but that’s all I have in me right now.

Ondine stumbles her way to a chair, and is soon snoring.

“Touch it!” I hear Marchosias growl. Turning I see one of his glowing ball traps floating between him and the other man.

“Fuck you, demon,” the man spits in Marchosias’s beautiful face.

For his part, the one-time preacher only smiles. “Touch it, or I will personally visit your sister. Trust me when I say she won’t enjoy my attentions.” I wonder why Marchosias doesn’t force the man to touch it. Does it have to be touched of their own free will?

“You can’t harm her,” the man sneers. “The Daughters of Respite killed her when we were children.”

Marchosias waves a hand, and I see the picture of a little girl form in front of him. The image slowly ages, until I gasp, recognizing the very plain looking woman.

“Miranda?” I hear him ask in shock. Then his eyes grow steely and he lifts his bound hands to the glowing orb. It flashes, and I see the man grimace in pain. The ball shoots up, hauling the man into the air until he’s hovering three feet over the ground, by his arms.

“That’s Agent Olsen’s brother?” I ask the demon, still stunned. I remember peering into her past, and seeing the attack on her family by werewolves. Miranda had been rescued by the Daughters of Respite, and later became one, devoting her life to killing supernatural creatures.

“Yes,” Marchosias says, grinning widely for some reason. “You might be interested to know that she is a werewolf also.”

“That can’t be!” I exclaim, not able to reconcile the plain looking woman as a supernatural creature. “The Daughters of Respite would have killed her.”

“They killed our parents,” the man dangling from the light growls. “Why would she join them if she survived their attack?”

Now I’m thoroughly confused!

“I thought the werewolves attacked your family, and kidnapped you,” I say.

“Ha! We were out camping because it was my turn to join the pack. Miranda was sent inside so that she wouldn’t be scared. She didn’t know about our family secret yet. When those bitches attacked, the alpha male ordered us to retreat. I disobeyed as long as I could, but I was too new. I saw my parents get struck down and change back into their human forms. I saw one of those bitches enter the trailer that my sister was hiding in. I couldn’t stay to hear her death cries.” His voice is defiant as he speaks, but I can see hope in his eyes.

“I can attest that she still lives,” I tell the man. “Why the Daughters did what they did, I can’t tell you, but she still lives.”

“Lyden,” Marchosias says quietly, coming up to me. “Look at him.” The demon’s voice is low as he speaks to me, and I have to strain to hear him. I can see the werewolf’s eyes locked on us, and suspect that he has some kind of superior hearing, so I wonder who the demon is trying to be quiet for. “Werewolves have many traits in common, but the one I want to draw your attention to is his appearance. All werewolves are attractive. It has to do with their wild natures.”

Like you? I think, but don’t say. “But Miranda is the plainest looking person I’ve ever seen!” I gasp.

“Keep your voice down!” he hisses at me with a slight glance at the floating man. It’s then I realize he wants the man to hear everything. He also wants the man to think he’s eavesdropping. What game is the demon playing at? “Something about what the Daughters of Respite do to make their members immune to magic stopped her from changing. It also blocked her from becoming the gorgeous piece of flesh she could have been.”

I remember how one of my talons had scratched her, and I’d gained that immunity from magic. Thankfully it hadn’t interfered with any of my other magic. Did I take that immunity away from her, or just siphon it off? I’m not sure which one of those thoughts I’m hoping for.

“Where did you last see her?” His voice drops even lower as he asks me.

“She was in the mountain where the Paladonic Knights had held me prisoner,” I tell him, keeping my own voice just as low.

I see the powerful man’s shoulders shaking, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s laughing silently. “I heard about that mess you left them in,” he tells me, clapping one powerful hand on my shoulder. “They’ll think twice before ever taking on a generator again when his friends are in danger!” I don’t like having him touching me in any way, but I begin to suspect what he’s doing.

“It’ll probably be months before their defenses are back up to snuff,” I whisper with a grin.

Marchosias nods at me again, nearly knocking me to the ground with another powerful clap to the shoulder. “Good, good,” he says, speaking at normal volume now. “Go ahead and get some rest while you can. I’ll watch over our guest. I suspect your battles aren’t over yet, and you’ll need to be ready.” His eyes go to my naked hip, and I feel even more naked than I already am. Numerous times he’s tried to punish me for trying to trick him, and it had only been the wicked blade Muramasa that had gotten him to leave me alone the last time. Apparently he knows what I’m thinking. “You have nothing more to fear from me, generator. You may not possess your sword any longer, but I’ve learned my lesson about going against you. Besides, until the Outsider is destroyed, it would be suicidal to do anything to you.”

I remember him telling me that he couldn’t kill me because of the prophecy before sending my friends and me to the nightmare world. I hope that I can trust his words, now.

My jaw cracks as I try to fight back a yawn, and fail. If this is some trick of his, I’m too emotionally drained to see it. I glance up at the werewolf one more time, before shaking my head and walking back to the bed with the two women on it.

* * *

The stream in my Mens Mundi burbles as I find myself sitting outside the tent.

“Lyden!” Brooke yells, hugging me. “Is Areth here?”

Something slaps the back of my head before I can answer. I crane my neck around to see a full-sized Areth standing there, arms folded. “It took you long enough, dolt!”

I can’t help but notice that their war-torn bodies are now healed.

Brooke squeals as I grip her small waist in my right arm, stand up as fast as I can, and use my left arm to pull Areth to me. She struggles for only a moment before melting into my embrace. “I’m sorry,” I whisper to both women. “It seems the world is a lot more confusing than I’d thought.”

“Yeah,” a new voice chimes in. “What were you and the demon whispering about anyway?” I turn to see Ondine lying in the stream, water flowing over her naked shoulders and along her fishtail. Apparently she’d only been fake sleeping.

“Oh, I was hoping to have some fun!” Areth pouts. “What’s she doing here?”

“You two aren’t the only ones that need some healing,” Ondine smiles. “Go ahead and have your fun, I don’t mind.”

“What’s she talking about, concerning Marchosias?” Brooke asks, changing the subject.

“I think we just aimed a very dangerous arrow,” I tell her cryptically.

“You’ve been hanging out with too many powerful creatures!” the redhead complains.

“I can’t argue,” I tell her ruefully. I almost add that I can’t wait until this is all over so that I can rest. The rest I’ll get, though, won’t be the relaxing kind.

Brooke frowns at me, and I know she can sense some of my mood, so I cover it by kissing her. Her lips are firm and unyielding at first, but my insistence pays off, and a moment later she opens up to me. Our tongues meet and mingle.

“Don’t forget about me!” Areth’s face presses in, and we’re soon sharing a three-way kiss.

Both women break away at the same time, making me gasp at the sudden emptiness at my lips.

“Want to help me with this?” Brooke asks the fairy while simultaneously groping the bulge in my pants.

Areth’s face burns red, before she drops down and begins working at getting my pants off. I realize this will be the first time the fairy has been with me and someone else. I wait until she has them unbuttoned, before making all of our clothes vanish. I love the control I have in my Mens Mundi! Areth glares at my little prank, which allows Brooke to seize the initiative and swallow the knob of my prick into her mouth.

“Hey, I thought you wanted my help!” Areth complains. A second later I feel her tongue on my scrotum and moan at the feeling of two mouths working on my pleasure.

Brooke sucks hard on the end, letting it slip free with an audible pop, before joining Areth at the base. My meat is too thick for their lips to meet, but they try as they move their mouths up and down my shaft. The sensation is truly unique, and one I know I will never forget.

Their heads reach the end, and they share a passionate kiss. I take the moment to imagine a blanket beneath us, and kneel down next to them. As the two continue to make out, I gently lay them back and spread their legs. Brooke’s hand is pulling Areth deeper into the kiss, while the fairy plays with the mermaid’s tiny nipples.

Reaching forward, I place my thumbs on their clits, gently rubbing at first, but increasing the pressure as their moans increase in volume. Areth is the first to cum, but Brooke follows soon after. As both women squirm and writhe in pleasure, I lean forward, planting my lips against Brooke’s labia, and slipping the middle two fingers of my hand into Areth’s tight hole.

Brooke tastes just as sweet as always, as I run my tongue into her slit. While my right hand is busy rubbing the front wall of Areth’s cunny, I start popping Brooke’s clit between my teeth. I feel Brooke’s fingers dig into my hair and her hips hunch in time to my ministrations. Areth’s hand grips my wrist, increasing my tempo.

I feel the fairy’s inner walls tighten around my fingers as my hand gets soaked in her juices, and she pulls my hand out of her as she shudders in bliss.

Slipping my arms under Brooke’s legs, I roll us both over, until she’s sitting on my face. I look up her slim body, as she hunches over. She moans softly, her eyes tightly closed, as she starts playing with one small breast.

I feel Areth’s slim hand grip me, and her tongue swirls around the head a moment later. I begin to moan in time with Brooke, and when her juices soak my chin, I have to fight hard to keep my own orgasm from following her.

I lose when Areth moans around my prick.

I grunt, launching my load down the throat that belongs to that talented tongue.

“Ondine! What are you doing?” I hear Brooke demand as she gets off me. Looking down. I see that it was Ondine that belonged to that skilled mouth, and wonder how she got so much better, in such a short amount of time. Areth is between her legs, which is why she’d been moaning. She must have changed back into her fully human form at some point.

Ondine doesn’t look embarrassed at all, as she scoops up an errant drop of my seed, and licks it off her finger. “You looked like you were having so much fun. I had to join in.”

“The more the merrier,” Areth adds in. Her face is covered in the mermaid’s juices, and she goes back to eating Ondine out, making the mermaid moan in appreciation.

“But what about Thomas?” Brooke demands, still scandalized. Ondine glances at me, as if asking for permission. Brooke doesn’t miss it. “You mean you two have already. . . . So when you asked her into your room. . . . Does Thomas know?”

“He’d kill Lyden, if he knew, I think,” Ondine states. “Please don’t tell him. He’s been getting better in the sack, thanks to Lyden’s help, but he will never be Lyden.”

“He does have a certain perverted skill, doesn’t he?” Areth adds in, but Ondine just guides her back to her pussy.

The truth is, it was my father’s advice that was helping him. Thinking of my father brings back the memory of how I’d destroyed him.

“That’s fine and all,” I pipe up, trying to shove my depressing thoughts away. I don’t have time to deal with it now, though I probably never will, “but who’s next? I don’t think you three are done yet.”

“But you just. . . .” Brooke trails off as she looks at my crotch. My rocket is still standing at full attention.

“You’d be surprised what I can do in this world,” I tell her with a smile.

Brooke recovers quickly, and she jumps into my lap. “I want that thing inside me,” she tells me, sealing it with a kiss. Her hips move against mine, until I feel someone’s hand grip me and guide me into the redhead’s tight hole. We both groan at the connection.

“How many others have you been with?” she whispers into my ear.

“It doesn’t matter,” I tell her. “I love you, and that’s all that matters.”

She doesn’t look too convinced, but she refrains from saying anything else.

I let my head drop down to the blanket, and just concentrate on slowly working my way deeper into the mermaid on top of me. She suddenly clenches, and I see brown hair behind her a moment before I feel Ondine’s tongue on my scrotum.

My view is cut off, as Areth plants her crotch on my face. Brooke’s chin presses to mine a moment before I feel her tongue join mine in the fairy’s cunt. My arms slip around Brooke’s waist, and I hug her to me, as I pace myself. She feels so wonderful, wrapped around my schlong, and Ondine’s talented mouth switching from me to Brooke heightens my enjoyment. Thankfully I’ve already gotten off once, or I wouldn’t last long.

“Ungh,” Brooke grunts. “Where did you learn to do that? Oh, yes. Shove your fingers into my ass, Ondine. Oh, damn, that feels good with both of you filling me up. That’s it. Don’t stop. Don’t stop. Right there. . . . Oh, yes!”

I pick up my pace, hammering into her from below as she cums, soaking my crotch as her coochy massages the full length of my rod.

“I’m next!” Areth announces, hopping up from my sopping wet mouth. It takes both Ondine and Areth to help Brooke off me. Her legs have turned to jelly.

I want to change positions this time, and have the fairy lie down on her back. She’s already so wet, that my conforming prick slides to the hilt in one thrust.

“Areth’s surprisingly good at eating pussy,” Ondine states, squatting over the woman.

“That’s because Lyden’s pervertedness is, mhph—“ Ondine grins at me, but it turns into another moan as Areth begins her magic.

I lean forward, pulling one of Ondine’s breasts into my mouth, while moving my hand down to the mermaid’s clit.

“Oh, fuck!” Ondine cries, as she pulls my head tighter to her chest.

My hips are jack-hammering into Areth, and I can hear her muffled grunts with each impact.

“I love you,” I hear Brooke’s voice in my ear a moment before she plants a soft kiss on my cheek. Her hand gropes my rear a moment later, as she urges me on, pounding into Areth.

The fairy’s cries of bliss can be clearly heard, even as muffled as they are, and I’m not sure how many orgasms she has before I feel her feet plant themselves against my chest and she shoves me away.

“Enough!” she cries, panting and working her way out from under Ondine. “Make this tasty mermaid cum like that, pervert. I can’t take any more.”

Ondine considers me for a moment, before saying, “I want that beast in my ass.”

Who am I to argue with that statement?

She gets on all fours before me. I look down, seeing that I’m already plenty lubed up, but realize that if I weren’t, I could just imagine myself as being slicker than a politician down there. Actually, now that I think about it, there isn’t much difference between a politician and a big prick. Both can get you into a lot of trouble.

Brooke spread’s the other mermaid’s small rear, and I aim my pole for her puckered hole. She grunts when the head slips in, but otherwise remains quiet. Already I can feel her sphincter contracting around me, trying to coax my semen out, but I hold back, taking it slow.

Carefully, I work my way deeper into her colon. Apparently I’m going too slow for her, as she lurches back, taking all of me in one swift movement.

“Shit, that feels better than I thought it would,” she gasps. From the way her insides spasm, I suspect she’s having a small orgasm. “Thomas likes to do this, but he only lasts a few seconds.” She turns to look at me, a fierce expression on her face. “Fuck my ass, Lyden. Fuck it hard and make me cum!”

“You heard the mermaid,” Brooke croons. “Make her cum.”

I grin at the redhead, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her into a passionate kiss. My cock begins to slip out of the other mermaid as Brooke pulls my hips back. When just the head is still inside her, I slam forward, making Ondine grunt and moan.

Areth comes out of her post orgasmic haze and crawls under Ondine. I break away from kissing Brooke, and look down at the golden woman, whose face is now between my legs. As I pull my hips back, I see her grin up at me, and then furiously attack Ondine’s pussy with her mouth.

“Oh, shit,” Ondine intones as her sphincter clamps down on me. I can feel my own climax approaching now, and pick up my pace, trying to drive Ondine’s climax higher first.

“I want to taste your cum,” Brooke whispers in my ear. I nod, leaning towards her, and suckling one of her tasty nipples.

Three more strong thrusts, and I pull out, letting my ejaculate spray across Ondine’s back and rear.

Brooke drops down and begins cleaning her fellow mermaid up with her tongue, while I sit back and try to catch my breath.

“You’d better get this back up soon,” Areth tells me. When had she moved away from Ondine? Her hand begins working on my length. “You really are turning me into a perverted woman,” she says with a hungry grin, and then drops down and sucks my phallus between her lips.

Watching Brooke lick my cum off Ondine while Areth blows me makes it all too easy to stay hard. I don’t mind, however, as it takes my mind off what faces me when we wake up.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Chapter 34
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Putting Out Lights

“I think you’re healed enough, Generator,” a gravelly voice speaks next to me, startling me awake. “Your battles aren’t over yet and I’m tired of having you in my home.”

Opening my eyes, I see Marchosias in his wolf form, licking his lips. If nothing else, that wakes me immediately! Does he have to look so hungry?

“I’m awake!” I scream, sitting up. Brooke and I are still covered in gore, but somewhere along the line Areth has gotten herself cleaned up.

And attached to another one of Marchosias’s light traps. In fact, it’s the same one that Miranda’s brother was on last night.

“You let him go?” I ask the demon, nodding my head at the trapped fairy.

“I wondered if you’d caught my plan there,” he tells me. “He should be back in your world soon, heading for the Paladonic Knight’s fortress.”

“You sent him on a suicide mission,” I state, not really caring what happens to the werewolf. He was an enemy yesterday. One less person to fight for the Outsider today.

“I gave him hope, and don’t underestimate the pup,” he rebuked me. “Do you know why the Sisters of Respite are called that?” I shake my head. “Because all of them are supernatural creatures. All of them. Fowl magic is used to subjugate and overcome their true natures. They receive a respite from their natural selves.”

“Do they even know?” Brooke asks, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. I see Ondine waking up also, trying to cover a yawn with the back of her slim hand.

“Only the highest ranking members know,” Marchosias growls. “They hide it from their members and force them to kill their own kind.” I wonder why they would do that, but If Marchosias wants me to know, he’d say something. Besides, I have more important things to worry about.

“Are you just going to leave me up here?” Areth demands. We all look up to where the fairy is futilely kicking her feet in the empty air. I can see right up her slim legs and know she’s wearing nothing under her skirt.

“Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?” I ask the golden woman, trying to hide my smile.

“But it’s so pretty!” she pouts in response, twisting and trying to pull her hands free.

I turn back to the demon. He chuckles and licks his lupine lips. I’m doing my best not to laugh as well. “Do you mind?” I ask the demon-beast.

Once the fairy is free, Marchosias guides us back out of his cave.

“Your rides are almost here,” he tells me.

“You’re not coming with us?” Ondine demands.

“No,” he replies, a laugh in his voice. “I would make little difference there, and I’m needed here to keep things in order.” He takes a second to pierce each woman with his powerful gaze. “Keep the generator alive. He is our best hope of defeating our enemies.” Before any of them have the chance to respond, he turns on his lupine legs and heads back into his cave.

“I still don’t trust him,” Brooke whispers to me.

“Me neither,” I reply, just as softly.

The rocs land on the soft sand of the beach a moment later and we climb onto their backs, Brooke sitting comfortably behind me. The massive birds spread their titanic wings and we’re airborne, wending our way to Gaia’s domain. We have to grip the feathers tight, in order to stay on as the birds speed their way south and west. There must be some sort of magic involved, keeping the wind from ripping us off.

“Aunt Angie’s forces are holding their own,” a voice whispers to me on the wind. “But you need to hurry. The rocs will take you through Darkness’s domain.”

“Aunt Angie?” I ask. I know Lysa must be talking about Angela, but still.

I hear her sweet laugh, so like her mother’s, before her voice grows serious. “Hold tight to the Talisman of Darkness. It’ll shield you from those that would do you harm, father.”

Just as quickly as her presence came, I feel it leave. My heart still warms every time she calls me that.

I glance over at where Ondine and Areth are holding tightly to their bird and pass on Lysa’s information. Reaching into my filthy shirt, I find the talisman that Eris had given me, and hold tight to it. I hope we don’t run into any problems.

The sky descends into darkness. Brooke’s hands grasp my waist tighter, letting me know she’s worried.

“We’ll be fine,” I tell her. A moment later, I feel her lips brush the back of my neck.

“Are you so sure of that?” another voice, richer and deeper than any I’ve ever heard before asks. The sky is completely dark now and we’re flying blind.

“Who’s there?” I ask, trying to see through the gloom surrounding us. It’s no use. At least my voice is working this time.

“I have many names,” the voice replies. “Lord of the Morning, Satan, the devil, Lord of Lies—“

“The Pillar of Darkness,” I reply, a pit forming in my stomach. I thought we were supposed to be shielded from anything dangerous!

“Don’t worry, little generator. From any creature other than myself, you are invisible. Yes, I can read your mind. No, your daughter thought I wouldn’t bother, but when I sensed someone using my power, I grew curious. Eris mentioned something about granting you a token of my power. Sorry I was too distracted to meet with you myself. I had a few nymphs, Lampads, and even a couple succubae to entertain.” His voice is oily and sweet, while remaining deep. I don’t trust it. His reference to entertaining succubae gets under my skin, but I force the dark thoughts away before he can read them.

“Too distracted to work towards saving this world?” Brooke demands, anger filling her sweet voice.

“Did I mention that it was a few nymphs, Lampads, and a couple succubae?” the voice asked solicitously. “Besides, I’m the ruler of chaos and entropy. What do I care if everything gets destroyed?”

“Um, you’ll be killed along with the rest of us?” Areth comments in her standard suave way.

“Ah, the sweet candor of the fairy folk!” he says happily. “None of your kind ever visit me.”

“Duh! We like seeing where we’re flying. Maybe if you turned on some lights around here.” I really hope she doesn’t piss off the Pillar of Darkness. “Fairies don’t care for this darkness.”

“Alas, but no.” The man actually sounds disappointed that he can’t do it. “So many of my denizens would die, were I to do that. Well, take care generator. I hope we meet again.”

“What?” I ask, shocked. “That’s . . . it? Hi, how are you, goodbye?”

“Lyden!” Brooke hisses at me. I realize that I really don’t want the Lord of Lies to hang around. Why did I have to open my big mouth?

“Oh, yes. There was one other thing.” Somehow, the way he says that, I know he didn’t forget. “Eris mentioned the deal she made with you, Brooke and Lyden.” When he says our names, we both shiver. It feels almost as if someone just ran their fingers through my soul. “She may enjoy causing people pain, but I find that to be overly dramatic. I will therefore give you a choice. I can unlock the block on the baby, letting the Pillar of Earth work her magic upon it. Or I can leave the child be, and it will be what it will be.”

“Why would you do this?” I ask, not trusting him.

“I don’t suppose you would believe I’d do it out of the kindness of my own heart? No, I didn’t think so.” I hear him sigh, dramatically. “I have my reasons, but I will not give them to you. Either accept my offer, or be gone from my domain.”

I can feel Brooke shaking against my back, and know what her answer is. Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to trust the Devil.

“I’m sorry, but we made a deal with Eris,” I state. “I’m not the type of man to go back on a bargain once struck.”

His following laughter is both horrible and deafening to hear.

“Wise decision, generator! Had you taken my offer, the child would have been forever tainted by my touch. Since the other option was to be gone, LEAVE!”

Blinding light hurts my eyes and I hear the other three women cry out in pain at the same time.

“Gaia’s mountain!” Areth declares, being the first to recover. A second later, I’m able to peek through my squinted eyelids and see her fortress looming before us.

“How did you get here?” the Pillar of Earth asks when we land on the balcony. “Lysa said you would be at least another hour.”

Brooke and Ondine begin explaining what just happened to them while I head over to Thomas. From what I hear them saying, we weren’t teleported, I guess that’s impossible, but we were forced out of the Devil’s demesne at a tremendous speed.

“How are things going here?” I ask our general.

He jumps, and I know he hadn’t realized we were back. Ondine breaks away from Gaia, rushing to the older man, hugging and kissing him furiously. It’s the first public display of affection I’ve seen from the two. It makes me happy to see it, though I see Thomas’s cheeks burn red..

“We were doing well, until a few moments ago,” Thomas informs me as soon as his mouth is free. “Some of those fire ants appeared out of nowhere, behind our lines. They need reinforcements bad!” He draws in a deep breath before continuing. “Lysa, have this group of succubae reinforce their right flanks. Pull these dragons up from the south to fill in where the succubae were fighting. Have this group here fall back, and recover. There doesn’t seem to be much going on at the moment right there, but I don’t want to leave it unguarded.” Thomas told me he hadn’t made it very far in the military, but he seems to know what’s needed on the battlefield.

I can only assume my daughter hears the orders and relays them to the combatants.

I walk over to the pile of hilts with invisible blades and pull one out. It fits easily into the sheath that Murasame once used. If anyone notices that my father is missing from my hip, they don’t say anything.

“We should get going then,” I say, heading back to the rocs.

“We can’t go with you,” Brooke says, fear and worry in her tone. “We won’t survive in Fire’s domain.” I remember what happened to Brooke the last time she was there. The arid atmosphere was too dry for the mermaid. She’d almost died.

“Take me, Master,” Sheila pleads with me.

“I can’t protect you,” I try to let her down softly. Almost everyone else that’d been in Marchosias’s nightmare world gained some fighting skills, but my ex-boss was a tavern wench.

“I can’t stand staying here and not knowing,” she tells me. I glance at the map that Thomas is looking over, but know what she means. We likely hadn’t shown up on it while swimming. “I can fight. I can watch your back. Just don’t leave me behind! I need to be with you, Master. Please!”

For a second I’m tempted to act like the stern master I know she appreciates, but when I see the desperation and love in her brown eyes, I relent.

“I’d better not regret this,” I tell her, waving to one of the rocs waiting on the balcony. “Expect to be punished when we get back.” She shivers at my tone, and I know I’ve pleased her. My heart wrenches, knowing I won’t be coming back.

I think back to the reason Gaia said I couldn’t live past this battle. Generators were all killed off because of how dangerous they could be. They gather followers the way a queen bee gathers drones. Even though I have no interest in ruling, the mere fact that I could amass an army of loyal followers to challenge the Pillars is enough to make any of them worry. The choice is either war for no reason and watching my loved ones die, or sacrifice myself. Looking around at those I love in this room, and the friends I’ve made, I know what I have to do.

“I don’t suppose there’s time for a recharge?” Becky asks me. She glances at the map and shakes her head. “No, I guess not. I wish I could go with you, but I’m needed here. You’d better come back to me!” The short woman steps up to me, grabs my filthy shirt and pulls my face down to hers. Our lips meet, and there is so much passion in the kiss that I really wish there was time for a recharge.

“Becky has been a big help,” Thomas informs me, without looking up. “Already she’s caught and countered two ambushes that I would have missed. She’s quick to grasp the skills and weaknesses of our forces, and turn them all to advantages.”

“I’m no tactician,” she tells me, “but I help where I can. I just wish I understood magic better.”

“I’m coming along,” Alloria states, brooking no argument.

“Then I am, too,” Emmet follows her.

“Like hell, you are!” she spins and screams at him. “I’m going to get away from you, human!”

“You’re carrying my child, bitch,” he snaps back. “I don’t care what you feel for me, but I’m not going to let you put my child in danger, without me there to help protect it. If that means protecting you too, then so be it.”

Alloria’s eyes go wide as she rubs her flat stomach, before she glares at him.

“I don’t care if you’re coming, or staying,” I snap at the two. “But decide right now. It’s either both of you, or neither. I’m going right now.”

“Of course you’d take his side. Men!” the elf sneers as I climb up behind Sheila. A moment later, I see the other two climb onto the other bird. “Try not to get any of your filth on me, human,” she tells Emmet. “I hope you fall off!”

“You didn’t mind my filth when you were fucking me, slut” he sneers back, wrapping his arms around her. She closes her eyes for a moment, but doesn’t say anymore and doesn’t make him remove his arms.

I hope I didn’t make a mistake in letting them come with me. Or Sheila, for that matter.

Something is bothering me about Aldol’s tactics. In order to destroy the worlds, it has to destroy the Pillars first. Why was it working with Varun, while striving to kill Angela? For that matter, why is it leaving the other Pillars alone?

I didn’t realize I was muttering my thoughts, until I hear Lysa’s voice.

“Gaia is too well fortified to take on directly, and the creature can’t survive in the Light and Dark domains. We think it was planning on betraying Varun, but not until they achieved maximum chaos in his realm.”

“What about you?” I ask. “Are you safe?”

“I love you too, Dad,” she replies happily, even though I can’t see her. “He can’t attack me, because I can be anywhere there is air, just like Gaia can show up anywhere there is ground. I’m safe enough for now. But if he takes out Aunt Angie and Varun, then Gaia will be too weakened under that strain to defend herself. If three Pillars fall, this world falls.”

“I won’t let that happen,” I tell her seriously. I can’t let that happen, I think to myself.

Soon, we cross the border into Angela’s domain. The air suddenly goes dry, marking the border.

An explosion rocks the air next to us, and I hear the other roc screech in pain. The elf and healer plummet as their ride falls out from under them.

I don’t even hesitate as I pull Sheila off with me. Using her for mass, I pull out my wings. Her scream at the sudden plummet suddenly resounds in my head, as I chase after the two below me. My wings are tucked tight to my body, as I dive.

“Stop screaming right now!” I order Sheila, and thankfully my slave obeys.

The rock ground is racing up to meet us, but I don’t spread my wings yet. I have to catch the other two first.

“You’re not going to make it,” Sheila warns in my head. I can actually feel her terror, but at least she’s not screaming.

I know she’s right, but I can’t give up.

Wind buffets me, and suddenly either they slow down or I speed up.

“This is all I can do to help,” Lysa’s voice tells me.

It’s enough. I’m able to grab one in each hand, and change fully into a dragon, spreading my wings mere feet above the ground. A shockwave shoots out as I have to pull in air around me to make up the mass the other two can’t supply, the sudden vacuum creating a sonic boom. For a second there is no air for my wings to catch. Fresh air swoops in a second later, pounding me, but slowing my descent.

I still end up face planting into the dirt, unable to completely turn my momentum around.

“No offense, Lyden,” I hear Emmet mutter in my head, “but every time you suck me into this, you make life painful.”

“Don’t you dare talk to Master like that after he saved your ass,” Sheila reprimands him, reminding me a bit of my old boss. I can’t help but laugh. We’re all alive!

“You might want to get up and defend yourself,” Lysa’s voice reaches me.

Despite the toughness of my scales, I still hurt as I get up onto my legs. That landing was hard! What I see before me makes me growl deep in my long throat.

Myrmidons and other rock like humanoid creatures are running for where I’m at.

“Cherufes!” Alloria growls. “I hate those things. Be careful of them, Lyden. Their skin is made of stone and their blood is molten lava.”

So, fire breathing ant creatures and magma filled rock men. And me without Murasame to kill them.

Glancing at my claws, I see they’re missing. No, not missing, just invisible and made of solid air.

Thank you, Lysa, I think to my daughter. I still have a magical weapon.

I charge a group of Myrmidons, not even slowing when gouts of fire spring at me. I let the flames wash harmlessly across my scales, and swipe at the closest one. My air infused talons pierce the ant monster and my world rocks as it explodes.

“What the hell was that?” Sheila cries as I try to focus on the bad guys still coming at me. Their wary now, but then again, so am I. It doesn’t help that I’m seeing everything in triplicate.

“Aim for the ones in the middle,” Sheila tells me, but I hold back. I’m off balance and don’t know why it exploded.

“Your claws are made of air,” Alloria tells me. “They must stoke their internal fires, fanning them into an explosion.”

“We’re fucked!” Emmet yells. “Lyden, let me out. I may have a spell to slow them down.”

I can’t, I tell him. Slowing them down won’t work and will only get us all killed.

“What about the talismans?” Sheila offers.

Thank you! I mentally send her a kiss.

I don’t know if I can pull the talisman out in this form, but maybe if I concentrate on one of them. . . . The image of Varun’s talisman floats through my mind, and I feel a wash of power pour into me.

“Stop!” I yell after changing my tongue. Fire breath isn’t going to help me out much here. “Stop or I will destroy you all!”

They pause for only a moment, before laughing and rushing at me again. I tried, I think. That thought is immediately followed by, I hope this works.

Using the power of the water talisman, I fill my lungs, and bellow out a spout of water. My own energy levels don’t decrease as gallons torrent out of me into the oncoming force.

I hear sizzling as it strikes the first Myrmidons, and they go down. The Cherufes stay standing a little longer, but they slow down, and I see them grow stiff, their movements stopping as the deluge of water continues to buffet them.

Once unleashed, I can’t stop the flow, and even after every enemy is either dead, or stalled, I continue to spew forth liquid. I have to slowly walk back, as the water pools, and still it comes out. By the time it finally lessens, and stops dripping from my jaws, there is a small lake in front of me.

“It’s a good thing you don’t cum like that, or you’d kill any woman you slept with!” Jennifer’s voice sounds behind me. “I’m glad Thomas ordered us here to watch that display.”

I look back to see her still riding on Blue.

“You’d love to be filled up like that,” I tell her, laughing.

“Any chance you can do that a couple more times?” the large-chested woman asks.

I mentally check on the seahorse carving, but it feels dead in my head. “No, I think that was it,” I tell her sadly. “How goes the battle?”

“We’re holding our own, but only because we have superior numbers. Those damn ants are fucking hard to kill.”

“What about Aldol? Has it shown up?” If I can get to it and kill it, I may be able to end this.

“Your succubus said it showed up to her, but when it couldn’t talk to her because of these ugly glasses, it left. Otherwise we haven’t seen it.” She points to her Blublockers as she looks at me critically for a moment before adding. “It’s good to see you’re alive, Lyden. Your daughter wouldn’t give us any information on you. I . . . we were getting worried.”

“I didn’t want any eaves droppers hearing what you were doing,” the Pillar of Air defends herself. It’s weird knowing she is everywhere at once.

“Show me where I’m needed,” I say, and take to the air, spreading my wings.

Blue joins me a second later and playfully nips at me. I have I no doubt she approves of my current form. I nip back to let her know it’s appreciated, and then let her lead the way.

As we fly, we pass over battles and devastation. Bodies from both sides litter the ground. There has been no time to clean them up. Whoever thinks war is full of glory has never seen this. It makes me sick!

“When we stop, will you let me out?” Alloria demands. “I’m sick of being in here with the humans.”

“It’s no picnic for me either, Slut,” Emmet retorts. “But as long as you’re carrying my child, I’m going to protect you.”

“That’s all you care about? The child?” I can tell from her tone that Alloria is hot under the collar.

“I might care more for the mother, if she weren’t such a slut and bitch,” he decries.

“I am neither of those, human!”

“Then say my name, slut!”

“No, never again!”

“Bitch. Slut.”

“Fuck you, Emmet!”

Before I even realize what’s happening, the two are kissing madly. What’s wrong with them? Are they angry lovers? As clothes begin to come off, I mentally turn a blind eye to them.

“I think I’m going to try some of those moves the next time we’re together, Master,” Sheila informs me. I can’t stop my chuckle.

We land just as the two lovers finish up. Oddly, I feel more energized, despite not having taken part in their frenzied sex.

“I’ve missed you, but did you have to make a lake in my realm?” I hear Angela’s voice chide me softly. “It feels like an itch on my skin. I can sense everything in my realm now.” I look up to see the woman that’d introduced me to this world float down. Her hair is made of red flames, and fire caresses her body like a robe. The power of the Pillars must be different from person to person, seeing as TanaVesta was not outfitted with these flames. I saw barely any difference in appearance between Lysa before and after she became the Pillar of Air. Is she only doing this for effect, or is it because she’s still trying to control her powers? Either way, she looks hot!

I change back into my human form, making sure I have fireproof clothing, and run to her when she lands.

“The fire,” she tries to stop me. “I can’t completely control it yet.”

“I don’t care,” I tell her, pulling her into my arms. The flames lick around both of our bodies, but I’m still immune to them.

As soon as she gets over her shock, I feel her arms wrap tightly around me and her lips seek out my own.

“Now that’s hot!” Jennifer states. Despite myself, I laugh at how much our thoughts are alike right now.

We laugh as we pull away from each other, but Angela refuses to let go of my hand.

“How are you?” I ask, worried for her.

“Besides that new lake?” She asks, arching one delicate eyebrow. “Tired. I’m still trying to control myself and the powers of being a Pillar. Aldol isn’t making it any easier. Neither is Aeacus. He has a grudge against me for some reason.”

“Aeacus?” I ask, trying to figure out why that name is so familiar.

“Ruler of the Myrmidons,” Jennifer reminds me. “Those bastards are hard to kill.”

“Since they’re flame creatures, can’t you just control them?” I ask Angela.

“I could if he were in front of me,” she says, “but he’s hiding somewhere. If I had more control of my abilities, I could control him from anywhere. I’m sorry, Lyden.” She tries to pull her hand from mine in embarrassment, but I refuse to let go.

“It’s not your fault,” I tell her. “Being the Pillar of Fire was thrust onto you. You didn’t have enough time to prepare.”

“It wasn’t thrust onto me,” she reminds me. “I took it.”

“Because there was no other choice,” I reply. “Any idea where he might be?”

“No. I—“ she starts to say, but is cut short by Lysa.

“Thomas says that our forces are being overrun near your eastern border.” My daughter doesn’t materialize as she speaks, but her voice comes from the air itself.

“Enough chit-chatting,” Jennifer barks. “We’ve still got a war to fight!”

“How quickly can the rocs get us there?” I ask the open air.

“One is too wounded to fly,” I hear Lysa’s voice. “The other can carry you all, though it might be a bit crowded on its back.”

“I can fly on my own,” Angela says. Flame tipped black wings sprout from her back. “I can fly pretty fast now, also.”

I nod to her. Looking up at the sky, I can see a large shadow descending towards us at a rapid pace. Dust billows up from the dry ground as the huge bird flaps its wings.

Lysa was right when she said it would be crowded. Sheila sits in front of me, my arms holding her tight as she grips the roc’s feathers and leans forward. Jennifer’s arms wrap around me, and I feel her fingers grope my crotch.

“You know,” the buxom woman whispers in my ear, “if your boss lost her pants, I could help you slip inside her as we fly.” My cheeks burn at her forward attitude, though I know it shouldn’t. Not after everything else that has happened over the last few months. Despite myself, I grow hard under her hands, and even her laughter at my embarrassment isn’t enough to diminish her talents.

“If Master wants me, he has only to ask,” Sheila says with a grin, turning to look at me.

Before I can respond with a negative, Jewkes climbs on and the roc takes off, sending my heart into my stomach with the force of it. Blue struggles to stay with us, but slowly falls behind.

Once again I see the devastation this war is causing as we travel across the landscape. Angela looks like a shooting ball of flame next to us. I can only assume that Lysa is guiding us as we travel to the north and east towards Fire’s border with darkness.

The sky begins to darken, and I worry that we might be heading all the way into Darkness’s domain. I have no desire to meet up with the devil again, but our ride descends before it grows any darker than dusk.

I can see our forces begin to buckle under the onslaught of a horde of Myrmidons. Shadows are flitting around, and I realize we’re far enough into Darkness’s territory for some of those creatures to fight here as well.

“Where are we most needed?” I ask my daughter.

“Directly ahead,” I hear her voice.

“We’ll stay behind and heal those we can,” Elliot says as he climbs down after Richard.

“Don’t make decisions for me, human!” Alloria stomps her foot.

“I know you can fight,” the healer snarls, “but your skill would be better put towards helping me with the wounded, slut!” He slaps her rear and propels her away from the fighting. She opens her mouth to protest again, but another slap on her rump silences any protests as her cheeks burn.

“I’m guessing there is a story there,” Angela says as she approaches me. “From the thoughts going through her mind. . . .” She trails off as she shakes her head. I can’t help but wonder what those thoughts might be, but have other things to worry about.

“Sheila, go with them. Jennifer, Jewkes, watch my back,” I call out. I lie flat on the ground and absorb some mass as I change into a dragon.

“Oh, I’ll gladly watch more than that!” Jennifer crows with laughter.

I stick my forked tongue out at her, before turning back to the fray.

“You can use that tongue on Sheila and me when we’re done,” Jennifer continues to taunt me. Her attention turns to Jewkes. “Come on, old man. Let’s see if you can use that gun. I mean the one in your hands. We can try out the one in your pants later.”

Richard shakes his head, but climbs onto my back behind Jennifer.

“No orders for me, Lyden?” Angela asks as a smile plays across her kissable lips.

I smile in return, though I don’t know how it looks on my draconian features. I send her a rapid set of images. She laughs as her body becomes that of the tall Amazonian warrior, spear wreathed in flames in one hand and a round buckler in the other.

“I hope you plan on fulfilling those other thoughts later,” she tells me. “I’ve never done it with a dragon before!”

“Now that I want to see!” Jennifer laughs. “The dragon and the Amazon. That would make quite the sight!”

A shot rings out a moment before Richard shouts, “We’ve got incoming!”

A shadow is coming right for us. Both of my riders fire upon it, but it dodges aside with ease. I fill my lungs, planning to blow flame, but a blue blur intercepts it before I can. I watch in surprise as Blue drops her head and rips the creature in two. She tosses the torso aside, but it’s not dead yet and begins crawling towards us.

“That’s a vampire,” Lysa warns.

Before I can think of how to fight it, Angela is there, flaming spear in hand. She stabs the creature through the chest and it bursts into flames, screaming as it dies.

“Fire will kill them, as well as a stake through the heart,” she tells me, before running on.

I chase after her. How are we going to fight all these creatures? I wonder. I can’t use my claws on the Myrmidons without causing explosions, but I can’t use my flames on them either. I have to be careful not to hurt our allies fighting against Aldol’s forces also. Even my friend’s guns won’t do any good.

Too bad I can’t combine the air of my claws with fire to. . . .

I send a series of thoughts to Angela, hoping she picks up on my idea. She gives me a dubious look. A moment later she turns back to her forces and barks out commands.

Our forces of succubae, kobolds, and others that I can’t identify fall back right in front of me. For a moment, the Myrmidons that were fighting them mill around in confusion. Then they spot me. Howling with glee, they charge, some of them belching gouts of flame my way.

TAKE COVER, I mentally command Jennifer and Jewkes. They stop shooting and immediately comply. They both yelp as I balance on my tail and two back legs, but hold on. I bring both of my paws up to my mouth as the wave of ant-creatures rushes me. I don’t know if this will work, but I have to try.

My lungs fill with air. In my mind, I picture the solid air of my talons fueling my breath as I bellow my own flame. A massive cone of heat leaves my jaws. I can hear the front ranks laugh, thinking they’re immune, but a moment later they begin to scream. I have no doubt that under normal circumstance they wouldn’t be harmed by my breath, but when buttressed with Lysa’s weapons, it’s more than they can withstand. Even I can feel the heat of my own attack. If someone were to do this to me, I don’t think my immunity would be enough to protect me.

When I run out of breath, nothing is left before me but molten, scorched black rock.

I yip in glee as I drop back down to all fours and hear Jennifer groan behind me.

“If I ever tell you to heat things up a bit, remind me of this moment,” Jennifer moans.

Worried, I turn my long neck to look at her. Both my riders are singed and frazzled, their skin red and burned. I guess there was more heat than I realized.

SORRY, I tell them, eliciting more groans as that single word penetrates their minds.

“We’ll live,” Richard croaks.

“Not for long if we don’t start fighting,” Jennifer grunts.

I look up and see that the hole I’d created is starting to fill back in. The enemy is wary now, but still pressing the fight.

“Does that girl ever stop?” I hear Richard mutter, referring to Jennifer’s exuberance.

I start to draw in another breath, but from the way my head starts to swim; I know I don’t have the strength to push out another gout as powerful as the last one.

I hear Jennifer and Richard open fire. Bullets impact the Myrmidons, but they shrug off the attacks. If only the bullets were made of air. Then they would cause explosions in their ranks like my claws had.

I change my tongue to a human one to speak. “Lysa? Any chance you have any air bullets?”

“No,” she replies. “Why?”

I quickly explain what I’m thinking.

“I can’t make enough bullets, but I could wrap each bullet as it’s shot. I’ll need a few seconds between each shot. Would that work?”

“Only one way to find out,” I tell her. I turn to face the two using my tail as a rifle support. “Take careful aim and space out your shots.”

“We heard,” Jennifer said. “And I never miss a shot!” She proves her point a second later as she fires and a Myrmidon’s head snaps back. A second later the thing explodes, taking out those running next to it. “This adds a new meaning to bug bombs!”

Richard shoots next, this time it’s a chest shot, and the monster explodes moments later.

“Take more time between shots,” Lysa says. “It’s hard creating a shell and keeping it on the bullets.”

The two take more time between their shots, but it is becoming apparent that it’s not going to be enough. Despite the explosions, the Myrmidons are gaining ground. Blue is nearly swamped by vampires, the dark creatures swarming over her shiny scales trying to find a soft spot to exploit.

I want to run to her and fight off the monsters, but I’m hard pressed to keep them back from Jewkes and Jennifer. My invisible claws rend them to pieces, and it’s easy enough to burn them with my breath, but there seems to be no end to them.

Angela returns, saving Blue, but even the Pillar of Fire is hard pressed. It doesn’t look good. We may have superior numbers, but they’re too hard to kill. As I watch, our left flank crumples. Only the arrival of reinforcements stops us from being overrun.

“Retreat!” Lysa’s voice booms over the air. I know the command has to be coming from Thomas who has a better view of the battlefield than we do. I don’t like it, but know I should comply.

Jennifer and Richard climb onto my back, and I start to move backwards. To my surprise, the enemy doesn’t push forward, but holds their ground.

“What are they waiting for?” Jewkes asks. “They’ve got us backed into a corner. Why hold back now?”

“Master?” Sheila yells as she runs up to me.

I see Angela, coming back from her weary warriors, and turn to see that Emmet and Alloria approaching from the other direction. Blue is circling overhead, acting as a scout.

“I truly hope you never decide to take on humanity,” Emmet says.

“We’re still losing,” I tell him.

“Lyden’s heart is too large to want to hurt anyone or thing that isn’t trying to kill him,” Angela says with a smile.

“I hate to break up the reunion,” Lysa’s disembodied voice tells us, “but the Outsider has been spotted.”

“Where at?” I ask the empty air.

“Coming right for us!” Sheila screams.

Before I have the chance to say or do anything else, Aldol is there, the army to its back. The creature flashes, but makes no threatening moves.

“I think it wants to talk,” Alloria says. I can tell how distraught she is, because she is gripping Emmet’s hand. “Do you think it’s offering surrender?”

“We’ll never surrender,” Angela spits, venom in her voice.

“I’m not taking off my glasses to hear it!” Jennifer states.

“Master, please tie me up,” Sheila says next to me.

“I don’t think now is the time. . . .” I trail off as I realize what she’s after. “No. I won’t let you subject yourself to its will!”

“It’s the only way, Master,” she holds her ground, placing her hand on my cheek and imploring me with her brown eyes. “We need to know what it wants, why it’s holding the army back.”

“There’s nothing to tie you up with,” I continue to argue.

Without hesitation she rips off her shirt, baring her naked breasts. “Shred this and use it.” Alloria takes the cloth from her, and begins tearing it into ribbons.

“But I. . . . But. . . .” I can’t figure out what to say.

“I know I am the least of your women, Lyden,” she tells me, using my name for the first time since she willingly became my slave. “Let me do this for you.”

“But you’re not the least,” I tell her vehemently as Alloria binds her hands and feet.

“I love you. You have opened my eyes to who I truly am. No matter what happens, don’t forget me.”

Before I can say anything else, the elf takes Sheila’s glasses off her face. Aldol’s light immediately fills their brown depths.

“I have come to inform you of the futility of your quest,” a voice that is not Sheila’s—yet comes from her—states.

“I have already killed your ally,” I tell the thing. I face its body, not willing to stare at my lover while it controls her. “I have come for you. You’re army can’t stand against us.”

I’m bluffing, but I doubt it can read my mind.

“The other was nothing,” I’m informed. “Even if you kill me, there will be another, and then another. We are infinite. You are not. We exist outside of your existence. You cannot comprehend us. You cannot defeat us.”

“If you’ve come here to talk us out of saving our own lives, you’re wasting your time. We will prevail today, and every day that you threaten us. It’s you that can’t comprehend us or the order we bring to our worlds. It’s you that will lose.” I turn away from the monster and look at the elf. “Alloria, I’m sick of hearing this thing. Will you put the glasses back on Sheila, please?”

As if in slow motion, I watch Alloria move to replace the glasses, but a bolt of light from Aldol strikes Sheila in the chest, knocking her back and away from the elf.

“No!” I scream, super-speeding to her, but I fear it’s already too late. I’ve been hit with that attack before, and even with clothing to slow it down, it still hurt like hell. Sheila was topless.

Her chest is a blackened crisp when I reach her. I hear screaming around me, but I ignore it as I lift my one-time boss into my arms.

“Ly. . .den?” Her voice comes out as a gasp. I stare down at her, surprised she’s still alive. I can hear air bubbling out of her chest. I can’t imagine the pain she must be in.

“You’re not the least of my women!” I tell her, trying to see through the tears forming up in my eyes. “Hold on!” I lean forward, pressing my lips against hers and willing her to be whole again. White light explodes beyond my closed eyes and I feel myself growing weaker. I don’t stop. I won’t stop! I pour all of my feelings into our connection. Feelings that only a few months ago were resentment, but have grown to so much more.

“I love you, too,” I gasp, when I sense that I’m almost completely drained.

“Lyden?” Sheila says above me, but she sounds distant. “What have you done?” Hands shake me, but all I want to do is sleep. I’m so tired. “Just a little nap, and then I’ll be ready to go.” Did I say that out loud, or only in my head? Who cares?

I feel lips pressed against mine, and a modicum of power seeps into me. Opening my eyes, I see I’m surrounded by flames. Did Aldol destroy everything? I wonder. The image of everyone I love and care about going up in flames sends a jolt through my system and I try to sit up.

Angela pulls away from me. I gasp as I look around. Jennifer and Jewkes are standing between Aldol and Alloria. The elf is down on the ground, groaning, and I can see that her leg has been fried. Emmet is leaning over her, mumbling a spell.

Where’s Sheila? I look around for her and find her covering her bare chest and looking at me with fear filled eyes. When she sees that I’m going to live, she rushes to my side, careful of Angela’s flames.

“Don’t you dare die, bitch,” I hear Emmet mutter. “You’re my little slut, and I’m not going to fucking let you die.” His voice returns to the singsong that I’ve come to associate with spell casting.

“I’m not yours, Emmet,” I hear the elf groan. The fact that she used his name tells me she’s going to be all right.

“We need to get you out of here. Their army is still holding back, letting Aldol fight for them, but we can’t hold out against them,” Angela says, helping me to my feet. “Wait, where’s your sword? Where’s Shemhazau?”

I don’t have time to answer her and don’t think I can right now. Already I can see Jennifer and Jewkes slowly stepping back, as they deflect Aldol’s laser attacks with their swords. How are they even doing that? From the way they’re defending and not attacking, I know their weapons are useless against the monster. Even the rifle on Jewkes’s back and the shotgun on Jennifer’s won’t harm the creature made of light. The only weapon that could has been destroyed.

Destroyed as everything else will be, unless I can stop the Outsider right here and now.

I know what I have to do. Even with that certainty in me, I hesitate. Fear replaces the blood in my veins, and the two women next to me have to hold me upright as my knees give way.

“Get back,” I order them. They stare at me in confusion. “Get back!” I yell, trying to shrug them off me.

They step away uncertainly. I have to lock my knees to keep myself upright.

“Leave them alone!” I bellow at Aldol. Somehow I sense its attention turn to me.

“Lyden, watch out!” Jennifer screams, but this time I don’t hesitate.

Lifting my right hand, palm facing out, I begin to draw in the power and energy around Aldol. It tries to turn and run, but Blue is right there. She blows a thin stream of fire at it. The fire passes harmlessly through the light creature, and it retaliates with an attack of its own. The laser bounces off her scales, harmlessly striking the ground next to her.

I can sense desperation in the thing now, as I continue to draw the creature and its essence into me.

It turns and charges, but I’m prepared for this. I place my left hand against my chest, seeking the last four remaining talismans. In my mind, I create a cage of pure light surrounding Aldol and me. I see it become reality. I line the bars of our prison in molten flame, and feed them with air. Earth rises up around us on all sides, except for the area between Angela, Sheila, Jewkes, Jennifer, and me, leaving us in a brightly lit cocoon-like cave, open on the end where my friends and companions stand watching. Water and darkness were already depleted. I stand between Aldol and its escape.

Aldol slams against once side of our prison and is flung back. Despite my colorblindness, I hear the creature howl in rage at being trapped. It only has one escape: to join with me.

I continue to draw its essence, slowly sucking its soul if it has one, into me. As I do, I feel myself growing stronger. Light begins to break away from the creature and slip into my outstretched hand, like the light of a fiery sun as it gets drawn into a black hole.

“Lyden, what are you doing?” Angela yells at me, but I keep my eyes locked on Aldol. I can’t break my concentration for a minute, or I might change my mind. Terror fills me at what I’m doing, but I force it down, willing the power filling me to increase faster.

“He’s absorbing the Outsider’s essence into himself,” Alloria says. From her voice I can tell that she is weak, but at least she’s alive.

“What will that do to him?” the Pillar of Fire demands. I can hear the fear in her voice, but I can’t stop what I’m doing. It’s the only way left to stop this monster.

I’m so very sorry, Father, I think. Angela, Brooke, Becky, Sheila, Areth and Lysa, please forgive me, but I must do this to save you all. Lisa, I will be with you again soon if there is an afterlife.

“Most likely, it’ll destroy them both.” I’m surprised to hear how solemn the elf sounds.

“Lyden, NO! You can’t. I need you. Please!” Angela screams.

“Why, Master? Why would you bring me back, if you’re going to make me live without you?”

Their pain isn’t lost on me and my heart aches to hear it, but I can’t stop. If I do, I may never get another chance.

Aldol’s light begins to flicker and weaken, as my women cry and wail at the mouth of the cave.

“Captain Jewkes,” I call out. “I need you to do your duty. I need you to protect the people of Earth. Emmet, I need you to help contain me, if I can’t.” I have to swallow, before I can continue speaking. I can already feel Aldol trying to take over my body, seeping his fingers into my mind and every corner of my being. “Let everyone know I love them. I’m sorry.” Aldol is almost completely gone. “I knew I couldn’t survive past this last. . . battle. I . . . L-love . . . You . . . A—DIE! I will destroy you. Nothing can survive the chaos that I will bring to this world. Chaos is the only true form of the cosmos.” My body begins to laugh, without me willing it to.

As my consciousness begins to fade, I hear Emmet begin singing a spell. The report of a rifle echoes around inside the prison I’d made for the Outsider and me. Pain rips through my chest as my heart explodes, but it feels like it’s happening to someone else. To something else.

Die you evil fucker! I think. My father was right. Sometimes a well-placed swear word really does work.

Oblivion takes me.

=================
Author’s Note: This completes the series. The epilogue is available in my book, which has been published. Or you can figure it out by reading the next story: The Succubae Seduction 2: The Twins.

I hope you enjoyed this story. If you did, please show your support by buying my book. If you didn’t, why are you even reading this part?

This story couldn’t have been what it was without Garbonzo’s help and editing.

---