7 comments/ 71475 views/ 23 favorites FOC - Uleni's Gamble 01 By: Magicwrtr Hope you enjoy the second book and thanks for the feedback on the first. Going to throw in the usual copyright thing below. I'll be short and sweet this time. If you haven't read Flame of Cytherea yet, go read it first, or this won't make sense... I won't bother with clarifying scifi/fantasy category and the type of sex, since it should follow the first book, for the most part. Copyright 2014. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this posting or subsequent postings part of this story may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission. ***** Uleni's Gamble Cytherean Chronicles Book 2 Prologue: King Talmon of Uleni sat at the head of the table. That was the only nod toward his authority in the room and it was endlessly frustrating to him. His father had died when he was young, just thirteen turns of the suns. His bloodline had shown true and he had been given true power, that of a mage. But at twenty he was still young and inexperienced. The true power in the kingdom, the mage who had ruled in his name until his eighteenth birthday, and who had never truly given up power, sat to his right. Advisor or mage Riese, was in his fifties, and had been crafting magic for over thirty years. It was not as if Riese controlled him, but he suspected the older man of manipulating the information he was getting. In theory, he was king and could do as he wished, but he wondered if the soldiers would follow his orders if he tried to dismiss Riese. No, the political realities were another matter altogether. He suppressed the urge to curl his lips at the man next to Riese, mage Lian was a powerful mage as well, but a bootlicker, nothing better than an attack dog for his master. He was quite sure this one's loyalties did not lie with him. He dared not show contempt for either man, or resist the direction they wanted to take his kingdom. Not that he had any objections to its expansion. On his left was Colonel Ross, the man was huge at six foot three and bulging with muscle. Ross was unmatched in his ability to fight with weapons in all Uleni. To his surprise, next to Ross was a woman. He didn't necessarily have an issue with it, but he knew Riese would be annoyed by it. Riese said with a false humility that grated, "May we get started your majesty?" He bowed his head and said, "You may." Riese frowned at him and he wondered if the contempt had leaked from his voice. He felt relief as Riese turned away from him. He would not deal with the man forever, but he wasn't ready to make his move and remove the older generation that had served his father. Riese asked with an edge to his voice, "Ross, I assume you have a good reason to bring a woman to this meeting?" Ross looked completely at ease when he replied, "She is the best assassin I have, if you'd like, I can send her away? But you did tell me to bring the best..." Riese frowned at that which almost made him chuckle. It was petty of him he knew, especially in a king. But anything that bothered Riese on a personal level made him happy. Riese said, "Very well. The news is not good. We had expected Abelaweth and Egeria to be weakened enough during their war for us to move in and take both. They are, but with the appearance of a Flame, that complicates things a bit for us, with his power he can compensate for the number difference." He frowned and said, "Will he throw in with them? It is not as if we threaten the goddess with our plans." Ross replied, "Normally I wouldn't think so, but the Flame is reported to have taken four mates in Abelaweth, one of them is Princess Nicole. Even more disturbing one of them is a Witch with Uleni blood. We can't depend on him staying out of any fight." He carefully looked neutral at this news. He never saw the issue with a woman having power. A witch was powerful perhaps, but she would still be only one woman. But most of his nobles were rabid in the belief they needed to be killed. No doubt fearing some women's revolt. The excuse they gave of course was it was unnatural, he always found that hard to swallow, after all, the deity they worshipped was a woman was she not? Was it not she that gave out the talents? He was careful not to let his true feelings on this show, or he was sure the position of king would soon after be open. He nodded toward the assassin and asked, "Is that why she is here?" Ross said, "Yes my king, we would undoubtedly lose on the field of battle. The problem of the Flame, and the witch, must be handled more delicately than that." Riese stepped in, "Once that has been taken care of we will move forward with our plans..." Chapter 1 Justin, the Flame of Cytherea, bane of darkness, was feeling rather out of his depth. It had been just a week since he had become mates with Katrina. They had made their way up close to the capitol after he learned the ladies plans. Apparently they were going to build a new inn several miles outside the capitol. It was both a compromise for the disparate women to be both close to nature and the city. They were also sure it would do good business for people traveling to and from the city. They believed it may also draw the more affluent from the city as a nice place to stay during hunting trips. He didn't know much about building, but he had been determined to help. However, once they got there, he found himself at loose ends. Kind of useless. The shell for the tavern itself was solid stone raised out of the ground by Sally in just an hour. It was about twice the size of the old tavern. On the ground floor they had a common room and kitchen about the same size, but they also had their private rooms down there. One large bedroom for them to sleep in, a separate bedroom for personal time, and a rather alarmingly large nursery, at least he thought so. He was still only mates with Kat, but it was obvious from the size that the other ladies were thinking in that direction. The second floor had about half as many rooms more than the old one, but they were a bit larger. He went in with Sally to see if he could help anywhere, but she just manipulated stone to further shape the inside for what they needed, he realized he couldn't help at all, and looked for something else to do. He was rather glad the major building had been accomplished so easily, but when he grabbed an axe and went to help with cutting trees for the woodwork, to build chairs, tables and flooring. He found Nora cutting down trees, shaving branches and cutting slats of wood effortlessly with magical air blades at a daunting speed. He shook his head in amazement, the woman was a one person saw mill. He shook his head and gave up. They'd ask for his help if they needed any. He wondered exactly what he would be doing for the rest of his life. He had in effect, retired. His skill set as the Flame of Cytherea was rather narrow in focus, and there were no other dark gods around. He didn't give any serious thought to accepting a life of ease through the church, he was eighteen, he would go nuts without anything to do. Watching Nora though, he thought he was probably out of the wood cutting job. Katrina was hunting for tonight's dinner, so he decided to just sit with Nicci and Sara, they didn't have any skills that would lend themselves for building an inn either. He was careful to remember to keep Nicci between Sara and himself, Sara was friendly, but still didn't react well if he got to close. He wasn't actually sure what kept her around, but it looked to him like she had an arrangement with Katrina for a job. He grinned to himself, he had been worried a little, how he would support four mates, but from the look of things it would be the other way around. It stung his pride a little, but he would find a way to do his part eventually. This world was still new to him. One thing he thought would work is opening a healing center of some kind. From what he knew, there were no true healing talents, although mages could help with some things and they used herbs and roots here for medicines. He thought he may even open up a place to go once a week in the city, for those who couldn't make the two hour trip. He smiled wryly, he would probably wind up waiting tables as well. The tavern probably wouldn't take all five of them to run it, much less six. But he thought that would be a good thing, once they had children running around he had no doubt they would all be kept busy. They would be able to be productive as they ran this place, and a healing center, while having plenty of time left over to spend time with family, both mates and children. He smiled, it was a slower kind of life here, but he wouldn't give it or his ladies up for anything. -- Katrina was walking back to the new tavern, it was impressive for all that it was flat land a few hours ago. She had taken down a few rabbits for dinner, she had seen a deer that was tempting, but they really didn't have the people to feed to justify taking it down. She thought she would ask Sally to build a couple of other small buildings in the back. If they brewed their own beer it would keep down costs. She also needed one for tools and storage. Hmm, she would need someone to go to the city and order those ingredients, as well as bedding for the twelve guest rooms and their two private rooms, and spares. Although they did have bedding for theirs already, it was thin and meant for traveling, not comfort. The list seemed to get longer as she thought about what they needed. She was busy yes, but had never been happier. Justin if anything, had been even more attentive and amorous in bed as they tried to get pregnant. She was also very happy with the other ladies, all of them had thought the business a good idea, and she got to do what she loved. She couldn't help the smile that lit her eyes when she saw Justin and she waved him over to help her prepare the food, and maybe give a baby another shot? She could already be pregnant, but why take the chance? She thought that Nicole looked bored, maybe she wouldn't mind a trip into the city? --- Nora looked around herself carefully. If all else fails she could always be a lumberjack. She wondered if her sisters looked down at her and laughed. She thought of herself as the least likely of her sisters to ever settle down, and had taken pride in the fact. Yet, here she was, ridiculously happy and putting down roots. When Katrina had talked to them all about doing a new tavern for the family, she thought it a decent idea. She had immediately appointed herself as bouncer and security. She might be settling down, that didn't mean she wouldn't keep an eye on Justin anymore. Or that she didn't want to crack heads when the occasion called for it. She took a slice of one of the thicker trees and brought it in the tavern. "Sally?" Sally stuck her head out of the kitchen and asked, "What's up?" She asked, "Do you think you could rejoin wood after I cut it?" Sally looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. She showed Sally the bottom of the slice of wood, it had a lip that went down and back forming a grooved circle. She asked, "Can you make a stone table, that will fit that groove?" Sally grinned, and the floor grew a stone pole about three inches wide, then a tabletop formed. She cut the wood tabletop in half, slid both ends over the stone, then watched as Sally reconnected the pieces, making it seamless. She said, "Great, can you do thirteen more around the room? I'll make more tops." She thought that would work for bed frames as well, she just wasn't sure about the chairs or tableware... ---- Nicole was happy for something to do. She had gotten bored just sitting there. Unfortunately she had a very narrow talent and building the tavern did not require fire. Being raised as a Princess hadn't gotten her ready for any honest labor either. But getting to the city in five minutes instead of two hours was very much something she could do. She had a list of stuff to buy. When Katrina had told her to go in her armor at first she didn't get why, but it was obvious by how revealing it was it would help her win any haggling contest. She had asked they build the tavern so close to the city, mainly so she would be close to her family. She hoped her father would relent soon, but she knew he was a stubborn man. She hadn't regretted her choice for a moment since she made it. She loved Justin as if they were made for each other... --- Sally was exhausted. Just having to put up the bare building was hard enough, and then she had shaped stoves, tables, beds, and reconnected wood for Nora. She was really the only one in the group that could do it, so she did. Despite her exhaustion however, she was feeling very proud of herself. Oh, the floors still had to go in, and Katrina wanted a couple of small buildings out back, but she'd gotten a lot done. Everyone else except Nicole, who hadn't gotten back yet, were gathered waiting to eat. Her stomach gurgled when she got close enough to smell the food. She gave Justin a kiss on the cheek, and without even asking she felt recharged and more awake. As Katrina started to dish out the food, she caught a glimpse of something red in the sky and smiled. Apparently Nicole wouldn't be late for dinner. She had considered that mages were often sought after for special projects, but she had no intention of leaving this home she had just helped build. If someone needed her help, she could be found here. She considered dragging Justin away after dinner. His power was wonderful for restoring her energy and magic, but it also had other effects on her. She loved him, and when she felt his magic, she always felt the need to demonstrate it... --- Sara was a bit nervous as she ate. Mixed in that though, were feelings of hope and a bit of happiness. She had always planned to get a job when she reached Abelaweth, and Katrina hiring her had been a goddess send. Justin and his family had been kind to her since they met, and she would have been a fool to turn it down. Yet, the idea of being a server made her nervous. It was said that men were a bit free with their hands with bar maids, and she wasn't so sure how she would react to that. It bothered her greatly, she had put up with being abused for so long out of fear. But after she had struck out against her attacker and decided never again, she couldn't handle being touched hardly at all. She really hoped that would go away some day, the other women all treated her like a little sister, maybe if she couldn't handle it they'd let her work in the kitchen, straighten the rooms, or something. She frowned. She needed to find a way through it, live a normal life, instead of this broken one... Chapter 2 The next morning, Justin found himself helping with the chairs. Nora had cut out shapes for the seat, back, and legs. His job was to simply hold it together correctly with Nora while Sally used her power to make it all one seamless piece. They had about two table worth's done when Katrina, Nicole, and Sara came in carrying plates filled with breakfast. There were plenty of chairs made, but they had only put four at each table, so he saw Katrina shrug then sit in his lap with an innocent look on her face. He was suspicious at first, but she started talking about how well they were doing, and with the deliveries this afternoon they could open the tavern soon. He felt her squirm a few times during this, but he wasn't at all positive she was meaning to tease him. Or at least, not until the inevitable happened and he was rock hard. He could hardly help it, she was beautiful, had a sexy body and he loved her beyond distraction. But then she did something that removed all doubt. He held back his growl of realization as she squirmed until his rock hard manhood was between her ass cheeks. It was so subtle he was positive the others didn't notice, but she tightened her cheeks around him through their clothes, and started rocking a minuscule amount, jerking him off with her sexy ass right in front of everyone. He swallowed as she drove him nuts, what drove him even crazier was she was eating and chatting as if nothing was going on. He almost smirked when he saw how red Sara's face was; at least someone caught her antics. He couldn't help it when his body pushed up slightly, she was driving him to distraction as he lost track of the conversation, his mind demanded he sit still, his body demanded he take his mate hard and fast, right here over the table. She must have sensed he was close, because she put down her plate. Kat said brightly, "I'm going to hunt for lunch and dinner." He watched her as she got up and walked for the back exit, her ass swaying just a bit more than usual. She did it to him every time, he both loved and hated the way she could make him lose control. He got up and followed after, his libido demanding it. Nora said, "Hey, we have more chairs to do." He mumbled something about being a few minutes as he walked out the back... He didn't find her in the new shed, or the brewery. He frowned, he sucked at woodcraft. He growled as he headed for the woods, but he only made it twenty feet in when he was tackled from the side. He went down and rolled, coming back to his feet. Katrina had a hungry look in her eyes that never failed to make his heart beat faster. Her long lustrous brown hair teasingly hid her breasts, she was completely naked. With what was probably a demented grin, he started to strip his clothes off. Then they sparred a little, but he must have been too focused on the prize, because he found himself lying stunned for a moment. He felt her hot, wet, and tightly slick passage lower itself, swallowing his length in her supple young body. "Oh fuck Justin, mine," she growled as she started to slide up and down his pole, a look of pure ecstasy on her face. He reached up and caught her swaying C cups and pinched her nipples, drawing a gasp from between her full lips. She started bouncing up and down on him faster. She had almost teased him to completion in the tavern, he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on. She whispered hoarsely as she was overcome, "I love you," as her fingernails pushed into his chest. He gasped as he felt her love canal tighten around his pole, he was breathless by the sexiness of her body as she arched her back, her lips slightly parted, her breasts heaving, the small trickle of sweat that ran down her long neck. Her pleasure undulated along his manhood, demanding his seed. His legs went numb and he pushed up hard into her, getting as deeply as he could as he emptied his baby batter into her willing womb. He cradled her gently as she collapsed against his chest. He gave her soft but deep kiss. Goddess she drove him crazy. He held her firmly as she tried to get up. She whispered, "I really should go hunting now." He shook his head and her eyes widened as he tightened his grip on her hair, pushed down on her lower back and started to thrust up forcefully from beneath. She had driven him crazy, and he wasn't done yet... He, Nora, and Sally spent the rest of the day doing chairs, then the doors, first the front and kitchen outside entrances, then they tackled all the inner doors, of which there were sixteen. The beer ingredients, bedding and various cooking ware arrived in the afternoon, which Sara and Nicole took care of getting put away. Katrina actually got the brewing process started. He thought they were very close to opening, of course, they wouldn't have beer yet, it would take at least a week to brew, then another week or two before it would be ready to actually drink. But they could still feed someone and put them up for the night at the very least. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 01 Sally claimed him at bedtime, and he just went with it. The ladies kept his schedule, and he didn't try to follow it, they seemed to change it a lot. He wondered if Kat scheduled in their seemingly impromptu sessions when she drove him crazy with lust, but decided on balance, he really didn't want to know. Sally was gorgeous, and absolutely insatiable. They spent a couple of hours before returning to the master bedroom and joining Nora, Nicole and Katrina. They all cuddled together as he fell into a deep and very satisfying sleep. He was working with Nora early the next day. He had not used the part of his talent related to change much, and he had been skeptical when she had brought it up earlier. Nora suggested, "Justin, what if you concentrate on the shape of a fork, can you turn the rest of the wood around it to dust?" No one was more surprised than he was when it worked perfectly. So he was spending the morning outside making a hundred or so forks and spoons while Nora cut out pieces of wood to do so. It beat trying to carve them. As far as the rest of the tavern went, they were ready for visitors, now if someone would just stop there it would be worth it. He figured it would take time though, for the news to travel. No web page setup, or even a phone on this world. Still though, people talked more on this world in person, so it shouldn't be too bad. Nicole had told the farmers, and other sellers in the city, and the word would spread. They were also fairly close to a major route to the city. "Hello?" asked a pleasant feminine voice. He turned and there was a strange woman standing in the doorway, she was dressed in acolyte robes that looked just a little too tight. He found himself staring, wondering how in the world this woman made acolyte robes look sexy. She looked to be in her mid twenties, the robes hugged her curves and breasts, which were at least D cups. She had a bright smile on her face which seemed to reach her brown eyes, framed by long jet black hair. He blinked and asked, "Can I help you?" Somehow her smile grew wider, "I sure hope so, are you the Flame of Cytherea?" He answered warily, "Yes, what is this about...?" She bowed deeply, "I am acolyte Trina, at your service." His voice grew even more wary, "My service?" She said with her eyes lowered, "Yes, I am here on behalf of the church, to take care of any needs you may have. Consider me a devoted servant. It was also suggested you may want to write down all that happened, for future generations of course." He suppressed rolling his eyes. He wanted to take care of himself, as a part of his new family. He looked over at Nora desperately for help. The damn traitor had an amused grin on her face. "And if I don't want help from the church, not even an acolyte servant?" he asked. He winced guiltily at the annoyance in his voice when she shuffled uncomfortably and blushed. She said softly, "I do not wish to displease you, but this is my post. I... volunteered. It was a most sought after position." Great, now he felt guilty and sorry in addition to the annoyed part. Nora decided to finally be helpful, as he saw her nod slightly in the corner of his eye. He sighed. "Very well, we can give it a trial. Find Kat, she can get you settled into a room upstairs. This is Nora, one of my intended mates. If she or any of the others tell you to do something, don't argue." He winced, he knew he was kind of being a dick. He shouldn't be taking out his annoyance with the pushy temple on an acolyte. Trina bowed to him again and said, "Right away," and disappeared back in the tavern. --- Nora frowned as she watched the wide eyed acolyte go back into the tavern. "You need to get the fuck over that Justin." Justin looked at her in surprise, so she rolled her eyes and continued, "I've never seen you treat someone as less before, I didn't think you had it in you. Yet, your disgust at the idea of fame, or having things handed to you, drove you to it. Don't think I didn't see the guilt in your eyes. "So... get the fuck over it. You're famous. People will probably travel and stay here just to see you, women will probably throw themselves at you in the hopes of getting fucked by the Flame of Cytherea. Don't let it change you, but you have to accept it. Either that or go live in the mountains somewhere no one can find you. "Oh, and just in case no one had told you yet, casual dalliances are frowned upon for someone with a mate. Yes, you can add others with respect and love, but fucking anything that moves is not good." He blushed, "I'm happy with the four of you, and I was never into one night stands. I don't see how I could handle more than what I have, although I kind of like Sara, but... I don't see that being more than platonic. As for the rest, you're right, I feel guilty for taking out my annoyance on that acolyte." She hugged him tight and kissed him softly, whispering, "Good, I'd hate to be helplessly in love with a total dick." He laughed hard and she felt her knees go weak when he groped her ass and returned her soft kiss with passion... --- Katrina considered as she showed Trina up the stairs and to a room what they could have this woman from the temple do. They already had more people than needed to run a tavern, and she found herself coming up blank. Maybe something would come up. She gave her the room across from Sara's, and then headed back downstairs. She was making a stew that should last a few days if kept at a simmer. Earlier in the day she had gone on a hunt that had turned into a run. She had no doubts about herself and Justin, and she did like, if not love like sisters, Nora, Nicole and Sally. Sara as well felt like she was becoming a part of the family, even though she had no connection to it through Justin. After all, she had risked her life, and faced her fear to return to the castle, simply to stay with them. But without the constant danger and travel, the quirks of the others and the effort for them all to find their niche in the family... was difficult. It was hard to balance a single relationship, now she was juggling Justin and four sisters, and she just needed some time alone. She understood it, it was part of her, the tiger was mostly a solitary animal. Her other shape didn't control her, but it certainly informed part of her personality. So she had run a couple of hours reveling in the freedom of it, before taking that deer down. When she had gotten back she had felt much better. She knew hunting would be her outlet, her alone time. Sara asked, focusing her mind back on the present, "Is that it then?" Katrina smiled, she had been teaching Sara to cook, or at least, what she knew of cooking. For not the first time, she wished the men responsible for Sara's abuse hadn't died quite so quickly. "That's it for seasoning, we just need to make sure it simmers and doesn't boil. It should be ready in a couple of hours." --- Nicole and Sally were in a field, playing with their talents. Nicole knew she was powerful, and that had gotten them through the crisis over the last month. But she knew she was barely scratching the surface of her power. Her father had not trained her well, putting her in dresses and keeping her out of the public's eye, instead of training the fierce predator inside of her heart, a phoenix. Normally talents were private, taught parents to children, but she had gotten up the courage to ask Sally to help her. Sally was a mage, and it seemed that she was constantly learning new things that never failed to impress her. If anyone in the group could help her with this, it would be Sally. Sally shook her head, "No Nicci, that was a fireball in the shape of a bird. You are not a fire talent, your flame is alive, you are a phoenix. Believe it. Now try again." She closed her eyes and touched her talent, as she brought up the flames she pictured the large boulder in the clearing and ordered the fire to protect. She opened her eyes and there were eight birds made of pure flame, hovering like hummingbirds, around the rock. She was no longer controlling what she conjured, the last five times they had just stood there doing nothing until the magic she imbued into them went out, she crossed her fingers as Sally raised her hand. Sally cast five air balls at the stone while she held her breath, at the last moment, the birds dove and intercepted the air, causing them to flare and grow in size. She couldn't help the grin that grew on her face, she had always been able to control fire, but this was different, she had actually imbued her flames with her will, they were living flames. She gaped as Sally took them all out with water, then turned to her. "Good job, but let's make sure you can do it in your sleep, only way to be sure is practice, so do it again." She sighed, she had after all asked for real training. She closed her eyes... "No, do it with your eyes open." She growled, opened her eyes, and while looking at the rock, summoned her flames... --- Trina was annoyed and a bit concerned. Justin had not shown up at her door for the last two hours, she knew she had miscalculated. After the way she had humbled herself for him, any other man... Or at least, any other man in Uleni, would have his cock down her throat already. Was he just different? Or were things different outside Uleni? She hadn't been briefed about any social differences, and it barely seemed possible, but were woman afforded more respect in Abelaweth, or was it just him, or some combination of the two? She had expected to have him in her mouth by now, and when he filled it with his seed she would have had a dagger in his vitals while she sucked out the rest. It was her preferred way to kill, men never defended themselves during orgasm. And it kind of got her off, the power to give the ultimate pleasure and death in the same moment. Her body shivered as she thought about it. She knew she was a little twisted that way. But the way she saw it, if a man was dumb enough to think a smile was an invitation to order her to her knees, he well deserved it. She wasn't always this way. It had been her lot in life to be used by men, her beauty a curse. When Ross had found out her talent, he started training her as an assassin. She would never be used again, the kill put her back in control. She even enjoyed it now, when they ordered her, took from her without permission, because from now on that was part of her plan and she would have her revenge at the finish. Her initial ploy may have failed, but she had been trained in many other ways to kill, she was the best. But she was worried about making another bad assumption. She had never had a target outside Uleni before. The Flame of Cytherea was also extremely dangerous, and she wasn't stupid enough to believe all the women around him were weak, like a man would. She decided just to be safe, she would spend some time here, study her prey first. Besides, she hadn't even seen the Uleni witch yet, who was her secondary target. She just hoped the rotting carcass of the real acolyte wouldn't be found before she was done. She had hidden it well, but sometimes fate was a bitch. Chapter 3 Lian walked into his master's rooms, he wasn't happy with the report he just got, and he was sure mage Riese would be pissed off about it. Riese looked up. "Report." Lian replied, "Our spy indicated the assassin has reached the target hours ago, yet he still lives." Riese frowned, "How up to date is this?" He said, "Fifteen minutes? I had one of the travel mages on it." Riese sighed. "I knew sending a woman would be a bad idea. Give it twelve hours, if the Flame isn't dead by then; dispatch a team to take care of it." A few seconds later Riese added, "And make sure Ross's precious pet dies as well. Keep this between ourselves." Lian bowed, "It will be done mage Riese," and retreated out of his master's rooms. --- He felt sheepish as he knocked on the door, Trina answered it with a smile and a bow. She put her head down and looked up at him through eyelashes. She said in a soft vulnerable voice, "How may I... serve you, Flame of Cytherea." Shit, now he felt even guiltier. He was pretty damn sure she had just offered her body to him, what he couldn't figure out is why. He was eighteen, so he was forced to ignore his swiftly hardening cock. So not going to happen, despite how hot she was, he already had four and a half downstairs. "Umm, that won't be necessary. I came to apologize for being such an ass earlier. You see, the temple's offers of wealth don't interest me. I'm young and have a full life ahead of me. I'm too young to not be doing something. But back to my point, I'm sorry I took that out on you, it wasn't your fault." He waited for her to say something, but she just gaped at him. After a minute or so it got uncomfortable, as he waited for her to accept it or tell him to screw himself. "So umm, I hope you accept my apology, and there is one thing you can do for me, don't call me that anymore, just call me Justin. Oh, and dinner should be ready in a few minutes." She was still looking shocked so he shuffled his foot a bit and said, "Well, see you down there then." He muttered under his breath as he went down the stairs, "Well that was bloody awkward." He felt better about things after apologizing, he just hoped she accepted it, she hadn't even said anything at all. Dinner was great, he loved Katrina's stew. There were a couple of traders that had dropped in. They were going to push on after dinner to get to the capitol, but decided to stop for a decent meal instead of trail rations. They told him that they would spread the word when they reached the city, they had apparently enjoyed the meal as much as he had. He thought it odd though, that Trina didn't come down and join them. Sara volunteered to bring a bowl up to her room; he hoped Trina would get over whatever had shocked her. He didn't see how it could be him. He wasn't all that mean this afternoon, just cold and standoffish. It was out of character for him perhaps, but hardly for this society. When Sara came downstairs she said, "We are being spied on, I think." He asked gently, "Why do you think so?" She said haltingly, "Lately I haven't been using my talent as much as I used to, I haven't needed too since I feel safe here. But I checked on the way upstairs, out of habit, and I felt two people. One is a few hundred yards to the west, the other is about half that distance to the north. The one to the north is worried. The one to the west is full of... angry anticipation. Impatience." Nora asked, "If they are so far, how could they be spying on us?" Sally answered, "My range isn't enough to reach that far in a circle, but I could certainly do it if I pushed all my magic in one direction. I don't bother since I have no reason to, but for a spy it would work just fine." Nora nodded in understanding, stood, and started walking for the door. He frowned and got up to follow, "Let's check west first?" They all exited the tavern and moved quickly to the west. He wasn't happy when Nora took off like a bullet and left them chasing behind. When they caught up Nora asked in a growl, "Where is he?" Sara blushed. "I don't know, his emotions just disappeared, I can't detect him anymore." Sally said, "He might have been a traveler mage, I caught a big surge of magic right before we got here." He cleared his throat and tried not to sound annoyed, "Traveler mage?" He hated being ignorant, which happened to often on this world. Sally said, "It is a very hard magic to learn, if a mage wants to spend four to five years studying it, they can move from one place to another in the blink of an eye. I doubt I'll ever do it, I can learn so many other things in that span of time, plus, most that try wind up dead the first attempt." Teleport? Kind of cool, but not so much when it was someone spying on them. He was failing to come up with an explanation of why they would want to even spy on him or his family. Sally said softly, "I wonder if this is my fault, Uleni has mages that can do it, and I am sure they have had word of me by now." He pulled her into a hug and said, "Don't jump to conclusions, and even if that is the reason, we all have your back. Let's check our other spy shall we?" The moved to the north and stopped, they didn't see anyone there. Sara pointed and said, "Right there." He burst into flame and pushed out an arc of white flame, as it ran across the spot she pointed at, a nervous looking man appeared. The man's mouth fell open and he raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. The man asked curiously, "How did you know where I was?" Sara replied, "Your magic hides sight, smell and sound, but not your emotions." The man sighed, "Damn empaths," bowing to Nicole he continued, "Your highness, nice to see you again." He turned and looked at Nicole as she frowned and said, "Why did father send you to spy on me Reg?" He started to feel amused as Reg struggled to find an answer, finally the man sighed and said, "Uleni, our spies there are picking up troop movements and preparations for war, but so far none have moved to the border. We think they plan to take advantage of our weakened state, the only reason we could think of for them to wait, is because of your... intended mate. Nothing else really makes sense." Reg added, "I think he is really worried about you, but mostly I'm here to keep an eye on the Flame of Cytherea, make sure he stays alive," looking embarrassed he kept going, "Or in the worst case, that word of his death reaches the palace quickly." He shook his head and turned, walking back toward the tavern. No reason not to let the man haunt his forest. He thought he was done with all that, and he realized how naïve that was. Even without the dark god, because of what he was, he would be pulled into other conflicts. He was both regarded as a hero, and a deadly enemy to be dealt with. He had never really believed he was that important, and the idea a whole kingdom was putting off an invasion simply because he was alive, just didn't make sense to him. His only consolation right now was he had already been determined to keep Sally safe from the kingdom of Uleni's machinations. Now though, he was a target as well, and he had no idea how to process that information, or what to do... --- Sara walked along side Justin. She was almost positive he had no idea she was there. His emotions were a roiling mix of self doubt, anger, and worry. He wasn't the only one, she was quite a mix of emotions as well being so close to him. She felt fear, shame, and a kind of helplessness that she hated, even though she was positive he didn't judge her, or wouldn't threaten her. Those weren't the only emotions she felt. She was scared that these people who had saved her, and taken her in were in danger, and although she was positive he would never return her feelings, she was pretty sure she was more than a bit in love with him. She ached to reach out and take his hand, reassure him that her and his intended mates were there, and it would all work out somehow. She suppressed a sigh, might as well ask her to put her hand in a fire. "Thank you." At first she wasn't sure who he was talking to, then she blushed and said, "For what?" He said, "For staying with us, for warning us at dinner," he shrugged, "For making the effort to walk so close to me. I must seem a mess right now." She wasn't sure where it came from, but she quipped without thinking, "Don't worry, you're in good company for that." She blushed until he started laughing, it wasn't really funny, but she found herself laughing with him... --- FOC - Uleni's Gamble 01 Sally sighed. Intellectually she understood they would always stand together, they would always be there for their family. But emotionally she was terrified, what if someone died because of some idiot back in Uleni that couldn't leave her in peace. She watched the others walk back after Justin and Sara. "Nicci, I'm going to build some warded traps out here, maybe the spy will come back." Katrina said, "I'll stay here with you, I'm wary of leaving any of us alone right now." She sighed, she wanted to be alone. Katrina must have read it in her face because she said, "Don't worry, you won't see me." She watched as Katrina turned into a large tiger, then jumped into the trees. She could still feel Katrina's magic, but she couldn't see her at all. It wasn't perfect, but Katrina was probably right about them not being alone. She spent the next hour casting wards from three hundred yards out to the west in a semi-circle. Aware they may catch more than an enemy in this area, she set them to trap and hold. Hopefully they would be able to get out here if another spy came, before they got away. As she came cast the wards she came to terms with it, there was nothing else to do really. She wouldn't run or back down, and if someone came after her or her family she would destroy them without mercy. She smiled and said, "Thanks for ignoring me, and keeping me company." She almost jumped when Katrina came out of nowhere and rubbed her body against her side. She smiled as she made her way back to the tavern, she wasn't the only one that wouldn't show mercy to their enemies. Chapter 4 Nicole was glad she had started practicing her magic with Sally if there was to be another conflict. She hadn't thought it would come from Uleni. She was sure they would face something eventually, even if it was just assassins from Egeria from what they accomplished there. From what she understood though, they were still in turmoil, deciding on who would be king. She looked around at her new home, and it already felt like home even though it had only been a few days since they built it, and hoped it weathered the attacks she thought were probably coming. They would all rally and protect Justin from any attempt on his life... almost all. She forgot they had a guest. She turned and went up the stairs and knocked when she reached Trina's room. Trina answered the door and said, "Do you need something highness?" Nicole waved her hand, "Please, call me Nicci. I wanted to tell you that it may not be safe here in the near future, you may consider returning to the temple for a time." She watched as several emotions flashed across Trina's face before the acolyte asked, "Why, what's going on?" Nicole summed up what happened, and what they believed. She also said that they would protect her and keep her safe if at all possible if she decided to stay, but it was much safer to leave. With wide eyes Trina said, "I will stay, the high priestess sent me here and I won't run from danger. The goddess will keep me safe." Nicole had the strange feeling Trina was suppressing laughter, but she told Trina to have a good night, and went back downstairs. --- Nora felt fidgety. All the paranoia about keeping Justin safe that had gone away, was back. She had still been wary of course, keeping out an eye to make sure he was safe, but she had started to feel safe about not being glued to his side. Now her head swam with all the possible ways an assassin could reach him. It was much harder to protect against, enemy soldiers were easy, silent killers not so much. It was her turn with him tonight though, and she was looking forward to it. It was the one place she could always release all her worries, and just be with the man she loved. In that place she was completely submissive to him and his desires. It was an escape, a short time without responsibility. She took his hand, squeezed it, and led him into the second bedroom. When she turned to face him he dropped to one knee which almost made her giggle. Wasn't that her position? He said, "It is a tradition on my world, that when a man asks a woman to be his mate, it is done from one knee. Nora, I love you and I always will, will you be my mate and have my children?" Nora's eyes widened and she felt tears in her eyes. She asked in a weak voice, "Why are you asking me now, when there is danger coming." He sighed. "I have wanted to ask all this past week, waiting for the perfect time. I realized tonight, my life will always be in danger. There will be no perfect time to ask, a safe time for you to accept. I am the hero to the church, and Abelaweth, no matter how uncomfortable that makes me feel. "But men who crave power will always see me as their greatest enemy, the obstacle that must be removed. Perhaps it is selfish for me not to wait, but what if there is always a threat, and it is never the right time? It is a risk, but I love you, and want you as my mate." She was struggling with it, what if she got pregnant? She would have to choose who to protect, him or their unborn child. The idea of it made her throat close up in a panic. Wasn't this supposed to be her relaxation time? A vacation from reality? She gasped in a breath when she started to feel dizzy. Perhaps safety was an illusion, but it was one she needed before she could say yes. At the very least, she needed time to sort it out, what if it was just her paranoia? But the idea of him being without her, for at least a few months before giving birth, and fighting battles, terrified her. She collapsed onto her knees and hugged him close. She whispered, "It is my greatest desire to be your mate and raise our family. Every part of me wants that. But illusion or not, I can't do that until we aren't being threatened. Vague threats I can deal with, but what we know is coming? If I got pregnant, I could never choose between you or our unborn baby, leaving you to fight without me or leaving to protect the baby would drive me mad. "I love you more than my life and will never leave you in this life, but I can't be your mate, not yet, though my heart cries for it." She wondered how he would take it. Would he be angry? Understanding? But she couldn't even see his face through her tears. He kissed her softly and she heard him whisper, "Our children will wait for us love, just tell me when you are ready." Despite the understanding in his voice, she felt bad for saying no, especially since she wanted it so badly herself. She deepened their kiss desperately and started pulling at his clothes, needing them off of him. They were very much in her way right now. All her conflicting emotions were turning to passion inside her, she needed to give herself to him in every way possible, in every way except that one. She was truly his, she just couldn't give him a child, not yet. Not until Uleni had been dealt with. She heard his gasp as she finally got his pants out of the way and teased him expertly with her hands. Her lips locked with his as she explored his mouth with her tongue. She felt him pick her up and carry her to the bed where he put her down gently. They had always either made love, or she was extremely submissive to him, she was his perfect little slut and she loved being that. But this time, she needed to be the aggressor. She took her tunic off as he pulled down her breaches, but when he moved to mount her she wrapped her legs around him tightly and rolled to the side, plunging herself down on him, impaling herself with abandon when she reached the top. He looked momentarily surprised, but moaned in pleasure and closed his eyes a moment when she ground herself against him. This wasn't about playing and being his slut, or making love to show she was his love. This was about her, Nora, simply being his. No games. She started to rock her body faster, rising off his pole a little farther each time. She gasped as he grabbed her nipples, pinching them softly. She felt shocks of pleasure running from her perky breasts down to her core. Then he burst into white fire and the pleasure doubled. She started to ride him even faster, gasping each time his length filled and stretched her body as she took all of him in her hot wet sheath over and over again. She screamed in pleasure and managed to get out, "I love you Justin, so much," as her center coiled and exploded in bliss. He felt so big as her walls tightened around him, undulating against his manhood as her love juice bathed his length... When she felt him start to fill her it was almost bittersweet. A part of her wished so badly that she had said yes, that she could get pregnant from him. He held her tightly after and they just petted for a while. After a while, they did make love. She didn't know what was in his head, but for her it was a promise she would never leave him, and that one day when they weren't threatened, she would have his children. She swore to herself she would. --- Trina was having a crisis of conscience. Something she never imagined she actually had. She had never had doubts about an assignment before, but then, most of her assignments were assholes that had it coming in her opinion. She was an assassin with training on manipulation and infiltration, she always knew what to say, or how to act to complete her mission. Yet earlier she had gaped like a fish as the Flame of Cytherea actually apologized to her, humbly, as if she was important and her opinion mattered. Something so far out of her experience and definitely not covered in her training. She was nervous though, if the Princess was right, they would probably send a whole assassination team, she hadn't known she was being monitored, they wouldn't understand why he wasn't dead yet, or at least that one of them wasn't dead yet. For the first time, she wasn't sure her target deserved it. He hadn't been nice to her at first, yet he had given her a room, and apologized while looking genuinely guilty about it. She needed to make a choice soon, she either had to kill him, or go to ground. If a team was sent, she had no doubt she would be added to the list, especially if that snake Riese had anything to do with the orders. She had listened to them from upstairs all afternoon as she struggled with her conscience. She knew she didn't want to kill him. He didn't deserve the death as far as she was concerned. But was that enough to actually stop her from doing it? To put her life at risk and go on the run from her masters, when he would probably die under another assassin's blade anyway? In other words, could she live with it? Kill a man who treated women as equals, and apparently was good enough for the goddess to give her greatest power? What did that say about her masters anyway, that they would kill such a man? It really came down to a simple question, could she live with herself if she did it? She wasn't sure, but she thought she had until noon tomorrow before she would need to worry about another assassin showing up. Once that happened she was screwed either way. --- Mage Riese growled at the mage kneeling before him. "You ran away?" he asked incredulously. "Yes master, I thought if they caught me it would further compromise the assassin's mission." He closed his eyes, "I suppose it's just as well. The bitch has been in place long enough though, it should be done by now. Send the team now, if they suspect something we need to strike quickly before they can prepare, or run to the safety of the palace." "Yes master, I'll have them there by morning." He dismissed the travel mage and frowned. He had wanted to destroy the man for cowardice, he could have tried to kill a couple of them before running. But travel mages were rare, so he would let it go this time. He brooded about the king. The kids father had been weak, hadn't wanted to expand as he just knew they should have. They would have been in charge of the continent by now. His old king's son was weaker still, though had until recently been easy to manipulate. He had noticed the young king looking more and more dubious about the things he had advised recently, though he hadn't objected yet. Still, he made plans just in case the whelp needed to be removed. He could always rule in name as well as in fact. He couldn't wait for the Flame to die, he could taste his victory already. He would also make sure once conquered they would follow the current laws in Uleni. The females were kept well in Egeria, but the ones in Abelaweth had too much freedom for his taste. --- Justin's eyes rolled back in his head as he woke and he couldn't help thrusting his body up a little. Katrina was humming softly, the sensations on the head of his manhood were intense as her throat hugged it tightly and vibrated. He could also feel tight suction of her lips milk the base of his manhood as she took him whole in her mouth. He wasn't even sure how to describe the sensation of her tongue as it massaged his length. A few more seconds and he bit his hand and stopped breathing as his body pushed up, trying to get further into the wet warm heaven of Katrina's mouth as he emptied his seed deeply into her throat. He was sure all the other women knew about her doing this every morning by now, and he was pretty sure that just made it more exciting to her. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it as well. She crawled up his body and snuggled against him, she felt so good in his arms. Nora was snuggled into his other side, and her breathing was not like one asleep, he didn't imagine she could have slept through his body moving around like that. She was silent though, not giving up the game. That was when he heard a huge crash and sound of bone cracking in the main room of the tavern. He jumped up and said loud enough for everyone to wake, "Trouble!" and went through the door, raced through the kitchen and then stopped at the doorway, his mouth dropped open. There were two men on the floor with necks way out of position, their eyes looked dead. Three others surrounded Trina and were attacking. She was wearing almost skin tight black clothes, and her hair was up in a tight bun. The guy behind her threw a dagger while the other two shot air and fire. Without looking behind her, she rolled backwards and to the side, somehow catching the dagger while evading the fire and air, then threw the dagger at air guy taking him in the eye. Then she pulled her own dagger, while dodging another fire attack, and put it in fire guy's throat. He finally broke out of his surprise and exploded into white fire. He wasn't sure what the last guys talent was, but he could no longer us it. Still, he wasn't sure she needed his help at all when she did a back flip, gracefully and effortlessly avoided another knife throw, and took the guys head between her thighs and twisted her body sharply, snapping his neck and taking him to the ground. All in all, what he had seen had taken maybe three seconds. She looked up and scowled at him. He actually took a step back and looked at her questioningly, she smirked and winked at him. She picked up her dagger, cleaned it and made for the door. As the other women came up behind him he asked cautiously, "Who are you really?" She looked back at him, then at the dead men and whispered, "Death," she shook her head as if in baffled amazement and walked out the door. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 02 Chapter 5 He sighed. "Breakfast?" He wasn't sure who, but he got whapped in the back of the head. "Okay, so how did they get in here, past the wards? I'm going to take a guess and say one of those two was a silence talent, which is why we didn't hear anything until he died. But who was the other? Is there a magic sucking talent?" Sally said thoughtfully, "No. Perhaps a mage could have done it, and left once they got them in here. What I am wondering is who Trina is." He shrugged, "Does it matter? We probably could have taken them anyway, but she did just save our lives, at least in intent. We'll have to be more careful though, not to accept people at face value." Nora growled, "It is odd though, it doesn't make any sense." He nodded, "Let's talk over that breakfast I mentioned..." He was really hungry, especially after that nice morning wakeup. Nicole snorted. "Feed the man, I hear they get grumpy when their hungry." Sally and Katrina snickered. Nora sighed and said, "Fine, I'll take care of the cleanup." Nicole said, "Wait, let me try something." He watched in surprise as a ball of flame appeared, then it went corpse to corpse, incinerating the flesh in seconds. The part that freaked him out was Nicole was in the kitchen while most of that happened. He sniffed. "We probably should have taken the bodies out first, let's get the doors and windows open and air this out." Nora helped with wind, and the faint smell of burning flesh was cleared quickly. They all ate in the kitchen, deciding what they needed to do next. There were three options as far as they could determine. Stay here and hope they give up, go to the palace where it should be safe, or go after the ones behind it. The last one they considered if they should ask the king to help with troops, or just go it alone again. He was pretty sure the king would say no, although Egeria was currently in turmoil, they had lots of troops. If someone got a firm grasp on the kingdom while they were playing in Uleni, Abelaweth would be wide open to invasion. They also had no solid idea what to do when they got there. Just assassinate a king and say he started it? Would his replacement be any better? Hiding seemed like a bad idea too, he would have to live in the palace his whole life to avoid them. That wouldn't be a life at all, merely survival. So really, it was either stay here, or come up with a reasonable plan and go. He was also thinking about Trina. Who had she been? Was she another assassin? If so, why did she end up saving them? It just didn't make sense. Sara could pick up lies a mile away, and he thought she would be willing to question the next person that came to make sure he or she was who they said they were. He knew he was a little too trusting, so he would have to get used to asking for Sara's opinion. Sally said, "It would be a lot harder to infiltrate on our own in Uleni, they have more mages than the handful we faced in Egeria. I'd have a lot of trouble blocking a storm and lightning from four or five attacking at once from outside your range Justin." He frowned. "I won't run for protection, I refuse to live that way. If we can't attack that leaves staying here. Which... isn't good. Eventually we will be caught off guard, they will succeed, at killing me or one of you. So what does that leave us?" He heard steps outside the kitchen and turned. Sara shuffled in looking like she just woke up. She had a confused look on her face. She asked through a yawn, "What happened?" Her eyes widened as Nicole caught her up, he was still trying to think of another alternative when Sara interrupted. "She's back, Trina I mean, coming through the front door." They all felt tense as the woman dressed in black simply came in the kitchen and served herself a bowl, then joined them at the table. Nora looked ready for a fight, so did Katrina. The others simply looked wary. ----------- Trina considered she might have gone over the deep end. That morning she had been fighting with herself. Deciding which way to jump so to speak, kill a man who didn't deserve it, or risk her life. She had thought she had plenty of time as she sat in the common room, deciding if she wanted to kill him in his sleep, or turn the other way, and go out the door. The assassin team had come in, hours earlier than expected. She considered running, or simply telling them she was about to take care of it. She hadn't thought at all about what she actually did, she attacked them. In hindsight, she realized that she couldn't kill the Flame of Cytherea, and if she was on the run for not doing so, she wasn't going to let them do it either. Otherwise, what was the point? She knew her reasoning was a little crazy, but then so was she. She almost started laughing at the looks on their faces as she sat down. Granted, she thought she was a little crazy herself, but it was still funny. "Got a plan yet?" she asked innocently. Nora growled, "What do you want, and who are you?" "Who am I? I am Trina, ex assassin and on the run from my government," she glared at Justin, "Why couldn't you have just been an asshole, it would have made my life easier you know." Justin choked on his drink and asked, "Why did you help us? Why are you here?" She said sharply, "My reasons are my own for the first, as for the second, I'm not sure. Uleni will be after both of us now, we stand a better chance working together. Besides, you need me." Nicole asked with derision, "Why would we need an assassin? How could we trust you?" Justin just said, "Sara," with a questioning tone in his voice. She looked at the young woman who said, "She is being truthful, and she really believes we need her and she needs us. As to if that will change in the future? I can't say for sure." She said with a devilish look on her face and merriment in her eyes, "The answer is obvious, we give them exactly what they want..." ----------- Justin was extremely uncomfortable and tried to lie still. He was in the back of a cart, laid out in his nicest clothes. He thought the plan was crazy, but Trina had convinced them to try. The worst part was he basically helpless right now. Trina had told them her plan. "It's easy really, the best way to get the assassins to stop, is to be dead. So we fake it, put him in the back of the cart, and take him to the temple for internment." Nora said caustically, "They won't believe it with you traveling with us, and his magical aura is ridiculously bright, any mage would know at once it was a trick." Trina just smiled and said, "But I won't be travelling with you, not exactly, I'll be the evil bitch assassin that killed your love, tied up and helpless in the back of the wagon. When the spies see that, they'll race back to pass the word, afraid I will give up information to you about the coming invasion. Their haste will be their downfall. "As for his magic... he would have to exhaust it enough that your witch can mask it. Once the invasion starts and the armies are committed he can come out of hiding from the temple and kick their ass." Nicole objected, "You are saying the best way to avoid assassination attempts is to help start the war? He might be safe but so many others would die." He hadn't liked the sound of that either, hiding behind dead soldiers, he wouldn't be able to do that, but he hadn't found a counter to Trina's return argument. Trina shook her head, "No, we would be saving soldiers. You see, the war is inevitable, king Talmon wants your kingdom, and his advisor, mage Riese, is even more bloodthirsty and power hungry. If you try and hide here, Justin will die eventually, then your kingdom will be conquered and all your soldiers put to the sword or magic. "By fooling them into starting it, by playing dead, you will all be there to help counter the attacking army. It is not at the cost of soldier's lives though it may feel that way, you would be actually securing the lives of those soldiers that survive the inevitable war, not to mention the kingdom and people." So there he was, power exhausted, lying in the back of a cart, playing dead next to a crazy tied up assassin who for some reason of her own was helping them. --------- Sara was using her ability almost constantly as they made their way to the city. It was a two hour trip at the pace they were going, and she had sensed a couple of people in range so far. All she got from them were surprise before they faded away. She was also focused on Trina who was currently tied up and sharing a wagon with Justin. She was a little wary of trusting her alone and so close to him, even if she was tied up. She sensed nothing but admiration toward Justin though, so she wasn't too worried. There wasn't anything else tied up with it though, the assassin was not attracted to Justin at all. Sara blushed wishing she felt confident enough to stop looking in on the woman's emotions so closely. Because she was feeling attraction coming from the woman, just not for Justin, it was aimed at her. At first she was suspicious, thinking it some manufactured ploy to get her to stop monitoring. But after a while it became obvious that wasn't the case. She had heard some women were special friends, but she had never met anyone like that before now. And the fact it seemed directed at her flustered her a bit. She thought Trina was beautiful, but she had never really felt that way about another woman herself. She still didn't, but the idea of it made her curious. Would she have the same panicked reaction to a woman touching her? She didn't know, and she didn't know if she would ever even want something like that. She didn't have time to think about it right now either. She needed to focus on their surroundings, having the greatest range in the group, it was important to keep on her toes. --------- Sally was wary. She was worried the plan would be blown, surely they would attack her right? When they saw she still lived? She had asked Trina about it, but wasn't sure about her answer... Trina said, "Normally you would be right, they fear witches, women mages, but right now the focus is on taking out the Flame so they can invade. Right now in their minds you are just one more of the many they will need to hunt down in Abelaweth once they take over. Just one witch of many. The invasion is more important than that, I truly believe they won't attack." Trina frowned and continued, "If anything, they would attack to kill me, ensure my silence, but I don't think they will do that either. I only know the generalities of their plan, not details. I imagine your spies know more, and I believe they will too. Still, they won't risk waiting too long once they believe Justin is dead." She thought the assassin made sense, and her fear was probably just how often her mother had told her when she was younger how rabid about it they were. Even without the spell there anymore, she had not doubted her mother's word on how female mages were dealt with. On top of that, despite still being low for him, Justin's magic was building faster than she expected, she hoped she could keep the cloaking spells active until they were brought into the temple and under cover... --------- Nicole hated her part of the plan. It was obvious someone needed to let the king and her brother in on the plan, it would change what they did. She had to be careful though, there would be spies no doubt. Maybe not in the palace, but the servants and others if they heard would probably pass it on to just one more person until it reached the ears of the enemy. She didn't bother with stealth though, she flew in her phoenix form to her brother's window. She knew it wouldn't be long for a response. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to get him alone. She would let him tell their father what was happening. If she could help it that is. She didn't want to see him. Not if he still considered her cast from the family. She snorted, it would be ironic if they put her in the dungeon for returning. Anton cleared his throat and she turned. "What are you doing here Nicci?" She said softly, "I have bad news, the Flame of Cytherea is no more," then she broke down crying. Anton narrowed his eyes for a moment, she could summon up tears easily, but her brother had always seen through her crocodile tears when they were younger. He waved the guards out and took her in his arms. When the doors were closed and enough time had passed, he pushed her out to arms length. "It's good to see you sister, I've been working on dad but he is a stubborn old mule. Now tell me what this is really about." She spoke low and let him in on their plan. Told him to let them know through a note to her when they should show up to assist the army. They made plans over the next few hours, they decided to start the fight at the border, then run a retreat to several traps, including the Flame of Cytherea where they would turn and wipe out the invaders. Assuming of course all went to plan, which they knew it never did. But they had the outline of a promising plan before she left and went to the temple. It was strange for her to act as if she mourned. As she was led through the temple she saw most of the acolytes and priests looked shocked and sad. It seemed almost cruel to her, to fool people like that, but she saw the necessity of it. Shortly, she was back with her family, in the high priestess's personal quarters. Celia and the priest in charge of internments were the only ones aware of the ruse as far as she knew. ------------ The moment Riese heard the news, he started giving orders. He thought with annoyance about how he would shortly have to report to the whelp. He had seen how uncomfortable the boy had gotten when he laid out his plans to wipe out all the witches in the two conquered kingdoms. He was sure Talmon was behind getting more power and uncontested control of the land, but he had his doubts the king would have the stomach to do what was necessary to hold it. It was frustrating, all his plans and some young fool would benefit. He had been considering running one of the kingdoms in Talmon's name, but he was starting to change his mind. He was the one putting forth all the effort and plans, why should he not reap the rewards? As he dismissed Ross and Lian, and sure the invasion was in good hands, he started devising ways to remove the annoyance. He was born to rule, and he deserved it. He just needed to find a way to do so that would leave him in charge... ------------ Nora watched Trina suspiciously. Trina had been spending a lot of time over the last couple of days talking to Sara. It made sense, sort of, they both came from similar backgrounds, abused by men. She wouldn't say the assassin was well balanced, but she seemed to act without fear and never flinched like Sara did. It seemed like Trina was trying to help Sara through it, or at least learn how to deal with it better, and she thought that was a good thing, she was just suspicious about why. Maybe she just wasn't giving the woman enough credit as a human being. It was hard to, considering what her profession had been, and only a day ago. So she hoped for the best, that didn't mean she couldn't keep watch over it. She was very protective of Justin and the rest of her family. She had figured out Trina's talent. Amazingly enough, all she had was enhanced spatial recognition through her magical talent. She knew where everything and everyone was at all times within the aura of her magic. The flips and fighting... all training. Which she hated to admit impressed the hell out of her, the woman was beyond deadly. It was one thing to know exactly where air, fire and a dagger was coming from, and quite another to dodge two, catch a third and kill with it. She felt like she was on the edge of paranoia, always vigilant by trying not to cross the line. What she needed was to sit the woman down and get to know her, but Trina was closed off for the most part, at least where she was concerned. She sighed and relaxed for a moment when Justin came up behind her and started massaging her neck. She leaned her body back into him and closed her eyes. She both loved and hated that. How could she stay frosty when a mere touch from him made her melt inside. She was starting to regret saying no, despite the danger. Maybe next time they lay together, she could tell him. She felt warm and tingly when he kissed the side of her neck and led her to a couch. He spent a couple of hours with her just talking about their future. It always amazed her that he took the time to keep up communication with all of them, and she loved the way he looked at her. He kissed her when it was time for dinner and it curled her toes as she felt her body respond. She wanted him badly, but it would have to wait until after dinner. ------------ Katrina was going to lose her damn mind. She'd been stuck between these walls far too long, she imagined if she was the tiger her tail would be whipping around. She had been indoors for as long before, but this time it felt unbearably worse as they waited for Anton's message. Just what the hell was taking so long anyway? She growled when Sally came closer and sat right up against her. "What?" she asked sharply. Sally giggled and gave her a hug, a big smile on her face. She said it again, a little more wearily and not so nasty, "What?" Sally winked and said, "Why do you think you're so grumpy Kat?" She couldn't figure out why Sally would be so amused or happy about that, until she did. "Are you sure?" Sally nodded, "Congratulations Kat, I could feel the talent from across the room. It's weak right now, but it will grow as the baby does. I'm guessing your two weeks, earlier than that I wouldn't be able to detect it. Justin must have done it right the first time." She felt tears in her eyes, her annoyance forgotten she hugged Sally and laughed. She needed to go tell Justin... and maybe get in some practice for number two... ------------ Ross watched the first battle unfold. He had just over fifteen thousand troops, more than enough to defeat the six thousand that met him. He didn't like how soon the enemy broke off and retreated. It quickly became a running battle, and every mile or so, the enemy had traps set that took a good chunk of his people. Not an alarming amount, but enough to be concerned. It was a good strategy, they could bleed his troops all the way to the capitol, and hope they took out enough they were able to defend. It was only about midday when he decided that was enough, he called for a halt and let the enemy slip away, and simply set up camp. He sent out scouts to keep track of the enemy movements, and try to sniff out the traps ahead, and perhaps lay their own. The Abelawethans had no chance, but he didn't want to throw away lives either, they would need enough troops for Egeria as well... ------------ Anton wasn't surprised when the enemy stopped their charge. They had been killing two for every one of theirs, thanks mostly to the traps they had set. It wasn't near enough to win, but it would give the enemy pause. If they were whittled down to five thousand or so they wouldn't have the troop strength to hold Abelaweth, much less conquer Egeria. He wasn't sure if he should keep going, stay here, or attack to draw them into following again. Eventually he decided to wait, but he sent out scouts just in case the enemy had a surprise or two for them... Chapter 6 Justin was bemused, and a little conflicted. He found out from Kat she was with child, then she had shown him, quite thoroughly, how excited about it she was. That wasn't what had him conflicted though, it was his relationship with his intended mates. He had wanted to make that commitment to each of them, and though he understood her reasoning, Nora saying no had thrown him off. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 02 He wanted to ask Nicole and Sally, he was sure about the love they shared, but would they say no as well? If they didn't say no, would that hurt Nora somehow? He could tell Nora was still struggling with it, when she had dragged him off after dinner he was sure she wanted to tell him something, but she didn't. One thing he was sure of, this coming fight was the cause of the stress there. There was nothing he could really do about it though, except wait it out. Nicole walked over and took his hand, a soft smile on her face. That was another thing about being cooped up in this room. Yesterday the schedule had gone out the window and all four of them had approached him in one day for sex. Today, well, this was Nicci's second time. Not that he would ever complain, he was just burning a lot of magic to keep up. Nicci had no issues getting him going though, beyond their love she had that innocent face and sexy body combination he knew he would never tire of. Bright green eyes, long fire red hair and double D breasts that caused his body to react before they'd even got back to the private room. He pulled her in and kissed her hard as he grabbed her by the hair. He moaned into her mouth when she reached into his breaches and aggressively started stroking his manhood. When she broke off, they started to strip off each other's clothes. Nicole had been getting more aggressive in bed lately and he liked it a lot. She was far from that virgin princess he had met a month ago, with the very good exception of her incredibly tight core. She moved in and kissed him hard, he made her gasp as he pinched her nipples and started kneading her large breasts. He slid his tongue across her lips seeking entrance as she stroked him a few times. He felt her hard nipples and the soft flesh of her breasts slide down his body as she went to her knees. She looked up innocently between her eyelashes, making eye contact, as both felt and saw her lips and tongue teasing the sensitive head of his length. "Do you like that Justin, my sweet innocent lips on your cock?" He didn't get a chance to answer, as he gasped when she engulfed him in the wet warm heat of her mouth, her tongue sliding along the bottom of his ridge. She started jerking him with a little twisting motion from his base as she sucked and licked his fleshy tip. He managed to warn her, "I can't hold much longer." Instead of stopping, this seemed to excite her as she took him deeper into her mouth and worked his length fast with her hand, lips, and tongue. Then he felt a wet finger slip into his ass effortlessly. When he realized the lube must be from her wet heat he felt his legs go numb, when she started massaging his prostrate he erupted into an intense orgasm, filling her mouth while she kept her eyes locked with his. It seemed to go on and on as he watched her swallow again and again. He wondered how he was possibly still standing. When he came down she was still sucking softly, trying to claim every bit of it. She stood and smiled, then kissed him hard. "I love making you come in my mouth." He wasn't going to argue with that, but he was going to reciprocate. So he pushed her back onto the bed and started to tease the proof she truly did enjoy it. Her moist and puffy silken folds and the scent of her arousal made him spread her lightly with his fingertips as he lapped up her taste. She tasted amazing as always and he took his time, teasing her slowly to orgasm. He held her ass firmly as she started to mewl and squirm her body, grinding her dripping center against his tongue and face. She grabbed the sheets in fists and arched her back, "Goddess Justin! Don't stop! Please don't stop!" He sucked her clit in and bit down lightly, sucking as he slipped two fingers inside her and curled them, finding her g-spot. She soaked his lips, mouth and chin as her tasty love juice shot out. He was incredibly hard again at this point, and kissed his way up her supple nubile young body. He kissed her softly and looked into her eyes, and slowly filled her with his pole. She was tight, very tight, but her heat was both very wet and smooth as silk. He waited as her body adjusted to him, then started to saw in and out of her, the sensations of velvety friction against his pleasure drove him to go faster. He started to pound into her hard, and she grabbed his head and pulled it toward her breast. As he started to suck and lick at her nipple he looked up and saw her sucking her other nipple into her mouth. The sight turned him on so much he barely held on for her pleasure. Nicole screamed demandingly"Oh goddess yes, I'm going to... bite my nipple, bite it now." He bit her sensitive nipple and she screamed in pleasure as he felt her already tight channel squeeze and milk him, he pushed into her a few more times before burying it hard and releasing his seed into her. When he came down, he felt her caressing the back of his neck with her fingernails, then he felt her body tremble under him in aftershocks. He cuddled with her for a while, lost in the sensations of both her body against his and his deep emotions for her. He realized then, he had to follow his heart. Even though he understood when Nora said no, he still felt the sting of that rejection. He realized though, that it didn't matter. Nicole may so no too, but he wouldn't know unless he asked. "Nicci?" "Yes love?" she whispered in contentment. "I love you, and this may not be the perfect time to ask, but will you be my mate? Will you have my children and stay by my side for the rest of our days?" Nicci whispered, "Yes... very much so yes." He once again felt that strange connection form, between his magical talent and hers. They stayed for a while longer just talking, he held her in his arm, she laid sideways, her head on his shoulder, her breasts mashed into his side. He could also feel her heat against him as she threw a leg over his. After a while, she started fondling him back to hardness and kissing his neck. She whispered in a thick sexy voice, "I want your baby in me." He hardened quickly hearing that, and she mounted him. She rode him sensually, her breasts swaying with the movements of her hips. There was a sexy smile on her lips as she looked down into his eyes, her tight channel gripping him each time their flesh came together, as if her body didn't want to release his manhood. It didn't take her long to manipulate his body into filling her womb, which brought her to her own ecstasy. When they came down they petted and kissed for a while, then she sighed. "I guess I can't hog you anymore," she got a wicked grin and said, "for now..." ----------- Sara was nervous. She had been talking with Trina the last couple of days about what they had gone through together. It hadn't been easy, but they had both gone through the same thing. Trina had set her a task, something simple, but terrifying. At least, for her it was. Trina wanted her to face her fear straight on. Sara had grown to like Trina as they shared the darkest parts of their past, they couldn't help but to grow bonds between them. She was still confused about that other possibility and she considered Trina to be close to friendship level, but Trina... was feeling more than that. She saw the door open and Nicole stepped out. She walked over and stopped Justin. "Can we talk for a moment?" Justin nodded and they went into the room. She nervously shut the door behind her. She felt what she usually felt from Justin, a warm concern, and caution. He was always so careful around her emotionally, which made her wonder what he really felt about her at times. He raised an eyebrow in question so she gestured toward the chair and he sat. She said tentatively, "Would you be willing to help me with something? Trina said I need to face my fear of being touched straight on. Can I..." she trailed off. He said softly, "If you think it would help?" She felt his concern go up, but didn't know why. When she approached him she started to shake, and like she was jumping in a fire, she sat on his lap, and put an arm around his neck. Her mind screamed at her to get up. Outside of that, the first thing she noticed was he smelled like Nicole and sex. Between the arousing scent, the fact she loved him, and touching him for the first time, her body reacted. A week ago this would have been impossible for her. But her talks with Trina had purged some of her demons, but there were still plenty left to go. She wondered if they would ever all be gone. She was torn between wanting to kiss him, give herself to him, and the desire to jump up and flee from the room. She hated how she was pulled in two directions, but she did neither, merely sat there. She sat there as long as she could, but his tender cautious concern and protective feelings slowly changed. She still felt that, but she also felt what he had been hiding from her, lust, and deep affection. She also felt him start to feel guilty, probably for those feelings. Ironically she hated that he felt guilty. She wanted him to want her, both who she was and her body. She liked that she turned him on, but at the same time, it was just too much, so she got up. She wished she could explain all that, but she just couldn't get the words to come. She managed to choke out a thank you, and blushed as she made her way to the door. ----------- Trina wondered if she had just fucked up. She liked Sara and just wanted to help. All women were different though, maybe she just needed to avoid all contact to heal. What the fuck did she know anyway, her solution had been to kill any man that took without permission, not exactly the picture of mental health. She hoped they got out of here soon, she hadn't forgotten about the acolyte, and she was laying low in a temple. She doubted they would accept a shrug and her saying she was retired now. And she was. She felt guilty about it, but she'd needed the robes for the job, and if she left the acolyte alive she'd have been caught. She had enjoyed being an assassin because the targets usually deserved it, but she always knew that the people directing her were really no better. She had ignored that to follow her own twisted path. She didn't really understand how fucked up that path was until she found these people. She sighed. Soon, they could take care of everyone that would ever chase after Justin, his family, and her as well. Then she could disappear, before things caught up to her. If she managed to tear herself away from Sara that is. ----------- Anton cursed long and fluently. The enemy had started attacking again the next morning, and they had run into a few traps of their own. It could have been worse, but it wasn't good. They had lost close to three hundred already from traps. He was mad he didn't just retreat fully to the main ambush point near the city, or even attack. Sitting still had been foolish, his scouts hadn't seen anything, but none of the scouts were mages. He sent off a flier with a message to his sister, then gave up the pretense of a running fight, and started moving quickly. They still had traps, which caused the enemy to move a lot slower and they were able to pull out far enough for a measure of safety. At the speed he was moving, he just hoped Justin and his sister could arrive before the enemy did... ----------- Justin walked with Nora through the secret passageway. While inside the high priestess's quarters, they had been behind powerful wards, safely hidden. Now they were trying to smuggle him out of the city through a tunnel that ran all the way to the west wall. He felt dubious about the acolyte robes he was wearing, it would deceive the mundane eye perhaps, but not a spy that could discern magic. They weren't exactly sure how fast the enemy's communication network was, but with the knowledge of travel mages they were concerned if the enemy troops found out he was alive, they would retreat. Their best chance to put an end to this was to decimate Uleni's ability to wage war. He also could not drain his magic again to hide; he would need it for the battlefield. They were meeting with the rest just to the west of the city, misdirection for the spies as the ladies left alone. It would have been too obvious if a cloaked stranger hiding his face left with them. He was a little uncomfortable without them in his sight. What if they were ambushed and he wasn't there? He shook his head, he couldn't control everything, and brooding about it wouldn't help. Nora tugged on his arm. He stopped and faced her, she had a fierce look in her eyes when she kissed him. Nora said with feeling, "Fuck yes," then her lips twitched. He wasn't sure what she meant at first, but apparently the magic did, because he felt his reach out for hers and bond. He pulled her in for a rough kiss, breathlessly she pushed him away. She smiled, "Later, later you can give me a child, but first we need to go kill those fuckers. I just didn't want to, couldn't, wait anymore." They held hands as they reached the end of the tunnel. There was a ladder, so they climbed. The ground parted before them and they climbed up into a field. When they were clear, the ground closed back up. He couldn't see a thing to indicate anything was there at all. They had a straight shot here, it would take the other women longer as they had to get to the city gates on the south wall and then walk around. He wondered just how long, when he spied a group of men about sixty yards away, he guessed they were probably an enemy scout team as he didn't recognize the armor. There were eight of them. Nora pulled him down and whispered, "Leave them unless they attack. There may be mage there; we don't want to use your talent unless we have to." Nora cursed as they started to move in their direction. "Nothing for it then," and started to launch air bullets at the enemy. Four of them went down, the others were protected by a shield of fire. He didn't want to expose himself, but letting them die to avoid that seemed like a bad plan, so he burst into fire, canceling the enemy talents and protecting Nora and himself. He immediately let go of his talent as he saw the other four men go down under Nora's magic. He frowned and looked around, he didn't see anyone else, but he was still worried someone had seen him. Nora's tone of voice echoed his frustration, "Of all the fucking luck." He agreed. They were easily in range of the city, even if it wasn't the enemy, someone must have picked up the large magical power surge. One bad thing about being the Flame, the power didn't lend itself to stealth. They could only hope word wouldn't reach the invading army until it was too late. The trap itself was a short mile to the northwest from where they were. To his relief, the others showed up a few minutes later, and they started out at a brisk jog... ----------- Katrina growled low as she ran alongside Justin. She was a little nervous at first, the thought of going into battle. But she realized she really didn't have a choice. She needed to protect Justin and her unborn child. Hiding while others fought wasn't the way to do that. When they were about halfway there, the sounds of battle reached her sensitive ears. The others heard it a short time later and they all picked up their pace. In Anton's message, he had hoped that he would have time to rest the troops, and for them to arrive. Apparently the enemy, not knowing their plans, expected Anton to retreat behind the city walls, so had attacked immediately. As they closed in, the sound of screams, fire, earth and air joined the loud clanging of metal against metal. The battle was fully joined, but from what she could see, Anton was holding his side, for now. The earth talents had set traps deep in the earth, and as they had hoped, deep enough to avoid detection. Behind the enemy troops was a large gap in the earth, that should be extremely deep, preventing them from retreating. They were surrounded by tall hills that were climbable, but not quickly, again foiling an escape. Of course, they didn't know that they would need to escape very shortly. The decision for the enemy to attack immediately would fall in the defenders' favor. It was too late for them to be warned that Justin still lived. When they reached the rear of the tight battle lines, she felt Justin's protection engulf her, and saw the white flames sweep over both the armies. She hadn't seen what Nicole had been up to, so she watched in fascinated surprise when twenty birds of pure flame appeared. Ten circled their group, ten went for the front lines. She considered that, and it made sense. They were pretty safe back here. Without magic, the enemy had limited distance attack options. Nora and Sally were effortlessly deflecting any arrows that moved their way. She didn't have much to do, so she just kept an eye out, just in case the enemy got close to them somehow. ----------- Nora watched as the battle became one sided. Earth exploded, people were set on fire, air split people in two. Weapons rose off of the fallen to impale soldiers. But it was all one sided now. A handful of enemy soldiers started scaling up one of the hills, and she sent an air bullet after each one, taking them down. The battle was over, the slaughter was beginning. She was impressed with Nicole's new handle on her talent. She had wondered what ten fire attacks would really do against thousands, but she could still see the birds moving from soldier to soldier, killing ten at a time every couple of seconds. There were a number of ways to stop fire of course, but without access to their talents, the enemy's only choice was to burn. Sally, not to be outdone, had created a wicked funnel cloud, that was on fire. A deadly fire storm. She was killing so many and so quickly Nora couldn't help but be a little awed by their witch. She smiled at that, they had all started calling her a witch, but with teasing affection instead of the hateful usage of their enemy. Still, the faster the battle was over, the better. Their soldiers were still dying by the sword, and by arrows as the enemy desperately fought against the odds. She decided they had planned well, and Anton had done a good job. She estimated they will have lost only five hundred of their six thousand soldiers when this was finished. An impossible thirty to one in losses as she watched the last of the enemy be slaughtered. The silence on the battlefield was profound, and she understood why. This may have started as a battle, but it ended as a simple extermination, no one had the heart to celebrate that. She stayed by Justin's side as he healed any troops injured but not dead. ----------- Ross growled as he looked down at the dead travel mage. The fool who had promised him the Flame was dead. All he had left was his command staff, they had been far enough back to avoid the trap, and even now needed to make for the safety of their border. He had five thousand troops left in the kingdom, there would be no invasion, he needed every one of them in case of counter attack. At first, when the enemy had stopped a mere two miles from the city walls, he was ecstatic and ordered the attack. When the trap was sprung, and the enemy held their ground, he though it a last ditch effort at defense. He should have known something was up, but he ignored the trap, letting their earth talents and mages attack the enemy, instead of preparing an escape route that he never considered he might have needed. He still couldn't believe the Flame of Cytherea was alive, the loss of fifteen thousand troops in so short a time shocked him. His anger had grown out of control and he had killed the travel mage. As he started the long run to the border, he realized he made another mistake in anger. He should have killed the fool mage after he brought them back to Uleni. Travel mages couldn't handle many extra people, but moving him and the five others should have been safe enough. He wondered if Riese would have him killed, despite the fact it had been Riese that accepted the faulty intelligence and ordered the attack. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 02 He had no doubt someone would pay for this mistake. He sighed, and sent one of the remaining men ahead. Not as fast as a travel mage, but with the air talent word of their failure and what happened would reach the king and Riese in mere hours, instead of the few days it would take him to return. ----------- Nicole understood why, but it still annoyed her. Her brother had ignored her completely on the field after the battle. He could not acknowledge her while she was banished from her family, not in public at least. She had half a mind to go knock some sense into her father, but she knew that would only make things worse. They only travelled about a mile south before the stench of battle cleared the air and they made camp for lunch. "So what next? Do we go home? Or do we need to go spank a king?" She was thinking of her father when she said that, but she meant the Uleni one. Justin said, "Depends," he looked at Trina and asked, "Will they come after us now that their plans are broken?" Trina frowned. "Not for revenge, they want more power, not to squander it on a useless cause. But if they plan to raise another army and try again..." Nora blew out a breath, "Let's wait and see what they do. If they send another team, we remove the king and hope that serves as an example for the next one. It would be ironic if the king had given up, and we put another on the throne that still wants to invade. I say the next move is theirs." She gave it some thought and said, "I agree with Nora. Let's go home." ----------- Sally watched as Trina and Sara walked closely side by side. Both smiling about something. She was not surprised the assassin was coming back with them. Trina was still closed off and just short of haughty with the rest of them, but with Sara she was a kitten. No, it was obvious why she was stayed, but it concerned her. Still, Sara seemed to be opening up, and they all loved Sara, so no one wanted to rock the boat. She just hoped they wouldn't regret it. They didn't bother to move at speed, home was just a couple of hours away at a sedate walk. They would be home in plenty of time to get dinner on the table at a decent time. She was the last of the intended mates, all the others now mates. Not counting the love she saw growing between Sara and Justin, but they were kept apart for now. She wondered when he would ask her? She grinned, maybe she would have to ask him like last time, but she dismissed the idea. It was actually good he was leaving a day or two between them. It was tradition for mates to spend their joining day alone with each other every year on the same day. That would be hard to do if he had asked them all on one day. Thinking of that gave her an idea and walked closer to Nora and took her hand. When Nora looked at her questioningly she said, "It is my turn tonight, why don't we swap, you should have his attentions tonight. I will wait for the morrow." Nora grinned and asked, "Are you sure?" She said, "Of course, you are mated today, I would feel guilty though I have the right. I love you my sister, it will make me happy to do this. I can wait." It was the least she could do for them... Chapter 7 Mage Riese was beyond enraged when the news reached him. He was angry at the spies, but he was even angrier with the Flame of Cytherea, and Cytherea herself. It was her fault, she created the young fool who had thwarted years of careful planning. He was angry, cursed with a woman goddess. It would take years to recover those military numbers. He growled in disgust. He knew what he had to do, he made his way to the royal vaults. He had no time for stupid questions so he put the guards to sleep as the door opened to his magic and he strode through. He ignored the gold and jewels, walking to the back wall he struck out with the raw power of magic and felt the old wards snap under his attack. The wall melted away to his will, and he stepped in the room that was sealed and hidden, and only known to a few. Ironically his primary job as mage advisor to the king was to keep this room safe, undisturbed and hidden. But it would now be his salvation as he looked upon the books kept here. He drew one down from the shelves and started studying through glazed eyes. He never once questioned if what he was doing was wise or right, the insane never do. ----------- King Talmon woke with a start and his eyes widened. The wards for the hidden library filled with forbidden knowledge had been broken. When he was crowned king, all the wards in the castle were tied to him, one of the reasons all kings in Uleni were mages. It had been his duty to recharge the wards. Who would be insane enough to break into the hidden knowledge? It had to be Riese, he was the only other that knew the location, what the fuck was he thinking? He got up, gathered some guards and ran for the vault. When they arrived he found Riese pouring over one of the forbidden texts. "What are you doing Riese?" he asked carefully. Riese said, "That stupid bitch of a goddess and the cursed Flame destroyed our invading army. The answer to ruling the continent is in here, can't trust a woman." Riese laughed and it sounded unbalanced. He motioned his guards to take Riese and said to distract him, "But Riese, the dark god is not an answer. He will destroy our world." Riese made a dismissive sound. "Those men were fools, summoning the enemy of the gods. I am not doing that, I am trying to invite one of the other gods. They are no more evil than the bitch we worship now." When he saw the soldiers collapse between them, he reached for his magic and tried to subdue the now insane Riese, the failure of their invasion had clearly made him go crazy. When he reached out with his magic, Riese did something he had never seen before. It locked onto his magic and started draining his power. He opened his mouth to demand Riese stop, but his throat was dry and parched. He looked down at his hands in horror, they were desiccating before his eyes. Shortly after, King Talmon of Uleni was no more. ----------- Justin was hiding in the kitchen. He just couldn't believe it. All the rooms were booked, and the main room was full and boisterous. As they ate and left, more people came out endlessly from tents situated in a field close to the tavern. Word of him still being alive had spread like wildfire, along with the accounts of the battle. He was hiding because everyone was there to see him, it was disconcerting. He had worked the room, all of them had been with how busy it was. But for him it was impossible to get across the room without ten manly slaps on the back accompanied by a thank you, and a number of flirty brushes from women's asses or breasts, along with some offers of more. Nora snickered when she saw him and said, "Didn't I tell you to get the fuck over that?" He opened his mouth to tell her about the disturbingly forward and extremely hot twins that kept offering to share his bed, together, and exactly what they offered to do to him, and to each other as he watched. But he decided maybe he shouldn't mention that part. He wouldn't sleep around on his mates, not casually, but he admitted to himself he had been extremely tempted by their offer. He was mated to four incredibly beautiful and strong women who he was happy with, happier than anyone had a right to be, but he was still just eighteen and his body didn't hold the same ideals as his mind. Hiding helped him not do something incredibly stupid. He shrugged. "I sort of got over being the hero thing, but this is something else altogether." Despite not telling her, she seemed to catch on because she said, "Fine, I'll stay with you and warn off the sluts, but you can't hide back here, they are all here to see you. The sooner they get a chance to see you, even say a few words, things will calm down a little." "Alright, I can do that. Thanks Nora." She looked at him questioningly and said, "For what?" He snorted, "For only making fun of me a little bit of course." For the rest of the night, the ladies took turns sitting with him, except Kat, she sat on his lap, though for once she was good. Mostly. He was sure that was more about him not being able to chase after her without being rude than the large audience. Some of the woman still flirted when they came over to say high and thank you, but it was much more subtle and flirty, as opposed to the bald and descriptive way it was happening earlier when they cornered him alone. Still, he was trying not to let all the attention go to his head, thinking of his old world, this was probably just his fifteen minutes of fame as everyone was thankful they weren't under Uleni's thumb. At least, he hoped that's what it was. He figured out that it wouldn't go to his head halfway through the second day, because he was dreadfully bored. He was getting tired of sitting there, but suffered through it for the sake of the people that came by. To his surprise Sara had joined him for a shift, and she was holding his hand. He tried not to read into that too much and tried to remain patient. He was okay with however their relationship progressed, but that didn't mean he wasn't attracted to her. He wanted to touch her shiny strawberry blonde hair, and kiss her sexy full lips. He saw her blush, and realized what she was probably reading from him and focused back on the people coming up to him. It was a long few days, and he was stuck in the spotlight so much he barely got to spend time with his mates, which was starting to bother him more than a little bit. Luckily it died off a bunch. People were still coming, but in smaller numbers, and he made it a habit to just be open during his meal times, and maybe eat a bit slower, but otherwise he ignored it and got back to his normal routine. He had four mates, one of those intended, and one more potential, to woo after all, that kind of thing took time and effort. ------------ Sara's lips were slightly parted as she mewled into her pillow. She couldn't ever remember having an orgasm that hard in her life. She just lay there breathing heavily, her oversensitive clit now hovering over her soaked fingertips. She had no idea it could be so intense, and now she wanted Justin even more, although she didn't think she was ready for that. Not only that, but he wasn't the only one she had fantasized about. She was still confused about Trina a little, but she had to admit now, that she was attracted to her. The problem was, she was just a little bit intense and scary at times. Trina had never been that way with her, but she had seen the potential for it in the way Trina regarded the others. Not that she had any right to judge. The origin of her amazing orgasm had started a couple of days ago, Trina had made a suggestion. "You really need to know that pleasure is okay, it isn't supposed to be mixed up with guilt and fear like it was for us. I know you tune out when the others are bedding Justin, you should try to stay connected just once, see how it feels." She was of course, completely against the idea, it would be an invasion of privacy. It would feel wrong to her, which would invalidate the point of doing it completely. But over the last couple of days, she had come up with a way of satisfying that objection, and she knew just the woman who would say yes. She knew Katrina was an exhibitionist of sorts, so she approached her with the idea, hoping Katrina would be okay with her reading her during sex, just her. She had expected the yes, wasn't surprised at all, what she hadn't been expecting was the very large attending surge of lust and excitement. She was almost sure with another minute or so, she could talk Katrina into letting her watch from across the room too. She didn't want to do that though, so she just said thanks. She almost giggled when Katrina hugged her, as if it was her doing the favor and not the other way around. So there she was about an hour ago, lying on the bed, connected to Katrina. She had felt Katrina's rise to bliss, and it had turned her on a lot. She was wet and her velvety folds were swollen and ready. When Katrina started rising again, she couldn't help it as her hands started to roam her body, eventually she found herself slipping two fingers inside herself while she used the fingertips of her other hand to alternatively tease her clit and nipples. That's when she had started to fantasize about Justin's length entering and filling her needy body, and shortly after she had wondered what it would feel like to have Trina's fingers and tongue where her fingers were. So there she was now, as she came down from the most mind bending pleasurable experience of her life, something she could not have achieved alone, without sharing the pleasure of Katrina. When she felt Katrina start to rise again, she considered cutting off the connection. After all, her little experiment was proven a success. On second thought, as she teasingly ran her finger along her slit, she didn't want to let Katrina down... ------------ Riese had been studying for days, and he knew exactly what god he wanted to connect to. One that would help him conquer and rule all three lands. Perhaps eventually even take to the ocean and search for more lands. He frowned, the smell was starting to get bad. He opened the floor up, swallowing the bodies of thirty guards and one overbearing but finally out of his way whelp king. Every once in a while a new squad came down to try and stop him, but he was too strong for the fools. They would see, everyone would see. He raised a stone altar right out of the ground and picked up a hammer and chisel. This would take time, the runes could not be done with magic. He smiled in anticipation as he started chiseling into the stone, slowly, so he did not make a mistake. ------------ Justin woke from a dead sleep with the feeling something was wrong. He reached a hand up and touched his lips. The tingle was familiar, it took him a moment to remember it felt the same when he first awoke on this world. He got up, got dressed and walked out into the kitchen. It was strange, and he felt like he should know why he felt this way. He heard feet shuffling into the kitchen from the common room, and looked up into Sara's piercing green eyes. She asked, "What is it?" as she looked around. He grimaced, "Did I wake you up?" She shrugged. "Not your fault, my power has been active while I sleep for a while because... Just because," she looked away. He nodded, getting it right away. But he didn't have a clue why he felt the way he did. He heard a loud knock on the front door. Sara followed him as he made his way to the front of the tavern. He was a little on edge, so he was ready to turn on his talent in an instant as he opened the door. It was Reg, the king's spy. Reg said, "I am sorry to disturb you, but the king needs to see you immediately." He asked, "Why? It's the middle of the night." Then he remembered his feelings, and he knew they had to go now. He didn't understand why, but he felt it. "Never mind, give me a few minutes." As he moved to wake the ladies, he asked Sara, "Would you see if Trina wants to join us, you are coming right?" She simply nodded and moved for the stairs as he woke the ladies. They objected at first, trying to put it off until morning, but finally relented when they saw how serious he was about it. It didn't help, that he couldn't tell them why he felt it was so urgent. Fifteen minutes later, with packs, he insisted they would need them not knowing why, they took off for the city. He told Nicole to fly, he had Nora using wind to push him and Sara, Sally pushed Katrina and Trina. Reg could take the long way. They reached the castle within fifteen minutes. The guards led them to the king's suite immediately, where he and the high priestess were waiting for them. He completely tossed out titles and niceties, he felt like he was in a race he was losing and it was driving him crazy. "What's going on?" The king frowned at his blunt hard speech, but said, "Our spies in Uleni are reporting strange happenings. I summoned the high priestess to consult, based on the reports, she demanded I fetch you immediately. Briefly, the king of Uleni was murdered, by his chief advisor, mage Riese. The strangest part, is the reported conversation they had before the king was struck down. "Something about forbidden knowledge, and broken wards, other gods." He realized immediately by the king's confused voice, Celia had not told him anything about how the dark god was summoned in the past. That explained his urgency, but not where it came from. He shrugged that off, it didn't matter, maybe the goddess put it there so he'd be more open and urgent to any summons or happenings tonight, or early this morning, he wasn't sure which. "We need to go, now." He saw understanding in everyone's eyes, except the king's and Trina's. He considered that briefly and dismissed it. The king asked, "Why? If you have to go will you take troops with you? I estimate they still have close to five thousand troops remaining for defense, based on reports. I can't send that many, but even a thousand with you there to support them would make a huge difference." He shook his head. It would take too long to get there with troops. He felt it would be a mistake not to stop Riese before he could finish. On the other hand, if they didn't make it at all, that would be worse. He looked at Nora for advice and she gave it to him. "You are usually a logical person, if you feel that strongly about us needing to hurry, we shouldn't take the support." He sighed. He did feel that way, and they had to leave now. "Let's go." The king said, "Wait, one minute," turning to Nicole he said, "I'm sorry daughter. I had felt like I made a mistake keeping you separated so much from the world around you. I was so worried about it, I didn't even realize in my panic to fix it, I was trying to isolate you even more. I hope you will forgive me." Nicole started crying and went to hug her father. He was very happy for her, and the king, but felt frustrated at every moment that slipped from their fingers. They didn't have time for this, and he felt like a heel, but after a minute or so he cleared his throat. "We will stop by on our way back from Uleni to properly celebrate this reunion, but we really must take our leave your majesty." He figured if he was going to be an asshole, he might as well be polite and use the king's title. The king nodded and released his daughter. Shocked at his lack of patience but unable to deny it, he turned and started making his way for the front doors, the others followed in his wake... ------------ Katrina was scared. They had fought the dark god before, and won. So why were they in such a hurry? Even if he succeeded, wouldn't the dark god be weak at first? Something was different this time around and she hated the feeling. They had stopped for a quick breakfast and after eating quickly Justin had urged them all to finish so they could continue. The pace was a lot slower as well. They knew the two hour walk to the city very well, so the darkness wasn't as much an obstacle. But here in Uleni they were moving blind, they didn't dare move as quickly as they could. They did increase speed when the sun came up, they could see much further now and she was relieved by it. But not by much. She also kept looking over at Justin. He was the same man in many ways that she had met in the forest. But now more than ever the authority of his power was apparent on his face. She was also a bit more than a little turned on by his forceful decisiveness over the last few hours... ------------ Nora almost groaned as they ran by another patrol of soldiers. She took down a number of them, as did Nicole, but considering Nicole was a big fire streaking across the sky, it was almost a lost cause trying to keep their presence a secret. Still, the more they silenced now, the less they would have to face on the way back out. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 02 She just hoped it wouldn't wind up being all five thousand. It also wasn't lost on her that Katrina was pregnant, and it was entirely possible her and Nicole were with child as well. She was trying to force it out of her mind the best she could. The last thing she needed was to panic about it. She felt responsible though, for all of them. Justin made most of the big decisions, but the details and strategies were always left to her. She was proud he trusted their family to her judgment without question, but it was a lot of responsibility. She just couldn't screw up, it would destroy her. If she had anything to say about it, they would all make it through this, even the mentally unbalanced assassin if only for Sara's sake... ------------ Nicole was doing her best to keep any soldiers from following them, or even surviving if she was seen. One of the advantages to her fire birds was they operated independently of her, until the goal she gave them was reached, or they ran out of the magic powering them. So they could fly, at a bird's speed, as far from her as her magic would last. This meant, she was killing a lot more soldiers than anyone on the ground knew. Her eyesight in her phoenix form was phenomenal. Any group of soldiers she judged close enough to make them out, she released a group of firebirds to take care of. She wasn't able to kill all of them of course, without Justin suppressing their talents, anyone with water or earth talents could stop her birds easily. But she was getting most of them. Fire and telekinesis talents had no effect on her magical fire birds, and air talents simply made them stronger, fed the flames. Outside of a mage, earth or water talent, she couldn't think of many others that could stop the birds. She had killed maybe fifty soldiers so far, which wasn't a lot compared to the five thousand Uleni is reputed to have left. But most of those would be in the city, or sleeping in barracks still at this time in the morning. Only those unlucky enough to be on night patrol met their deaths from her flames. So far she was still doing great on her magical level. Every fifteen minutes or so, Justin was restoring them so they could keep up the punishing pace. Well, the pace wasn't punishing for her, but those on the ground... ------------ Sally was starting to feel a little more comfortable pushing with air, though she had a long way to go before she was effortlessly juggling all the little things and adjustments needed to safely move her and two others at speed. Nora made it look so easy, but it so wasn't, it was grueling. It was about two hours past sunrise when the city came into view and it was with some relief that they all slowed. She frowned at the picture in front of them. The walls were well manned and although the gate was open, there were at least six soldiers there. They weren't close enough yet, but as they slowly advanced and came in range of her talent, she felt no less than four mages. They really hadn't given much thought or planning as to what would happen when they arrived. She heard a loud horn and the soldiers looked their way. She had expected the six soldiers to close the gates, she had expected swords to be pulled, she had expected to feel the mages connect to their talents. But none of that happened, instead a large bear of a man wearing armor, but no weapons, started to jog in their direction. She couldn't help but giggle when he held up and waved the white flag as he got closer... Chapter 8 Cytherea sighed at the presence behind her. One she hadn't felt for a couple of thousand years, and one she could have gone without seeing for a few more millennia. She blushed as she remembered her past with him, she had been so vain and heartless back then. "Hey gorgeous," the low deep voice full of arrogance made her roll her eyes. "What do you want?" She wasn't worried, he was in her sphere. Had barely a shadow of his power in this place. When she felt his hand rest on her shoulder she shrugged it off and turned. He smirked. "Is that how you want to be? I don't think your champion is going to make it. You'll have to deal with me sooner or later... It's much more fun to watch the mortals fight from bed isn't it?" She couldn't help the tingle of remembered pleasure but she didn't let it show, frowning instead. "Have you learned nothing from our punishment?" He looked at her with contempt, "Aph, what was there to learn? The creator took our fun away, that's what I got out of it, what else matters? Thanks to the crazy human down there we can be together again, and watch as they destroy themselves." She sighed and shook her head. "Many things Ares, and I no longer go by that name. If you insist on shortening my name call me Cy or Rea. I don't want to hear that name again. I have no interest in being what I once was, leave now, or I'll be forced to rudeness." He looked at her in surprise at her rejection, then anger as he could see the source of it. His voice boomed with anger and disgust, "I see, you believe you are better than me now, more enlightened. I can see you love the mortals below, what a foolish endeavor. I shall prove you wrong, they are nothing but toys and believing anything else is nothing but an illusion and I will rip it from you." She shook her head as he disappeared in a large crack of thunder. He always was a bit ostentatious. He was right about one thing, time was running out for Justin to stop the mage from giving War an anchor on this world, her world. She couldn't let him destroy it. Once he had an anchor it wouldn't be as easy to banish him, the dark god was simply a powerful being from another universe. Not quite a true god, but still powerful, and utterly evil. Ares was a god of this universe, and her equal. She wasn't sure Justin would be able to reverse it at all until all of Wars followers were dead. The best chance was now... before it even started. That is why she had visited Justin's dreams last night. She was forced to remove the memory of her visit, but with his approval had left the feeling of urgency. She had done well choosing that one. On top of it all she felt a little lonely. She had no desire to sleep with Ares, but she had been alone for a couple of millennia. She had enjoyed the kiss with Justin to remove his memory just a little too much. Of course, anything with a mortal was impossible, back when she did do those things she treated them as toys, just as Ares suggested. Now, she loved them too much to start something that was so unbalanced it could only end in pain. But still, she was lonely, she couldn't help be disappointed that Ares hadn't changed as she had, she wondered if there would ever be anyone for her... ------------ Justin watched warily as the man approached and bowed. He couldn't imagine the man was here to surrender the city to seven people. The soldier bowed and said, "My name is Colonel Ross, commander of the military here. Flame, I'm glad to see you, please follow me." Justin coughed. "You're happy to see the person who foiled your invasion?" Ross frowned. "No, I am happy to see the only person that can kill the insane son of a bitch that killed my king. We've lost over thirty soldiers so far and they won't even try anymore, and I can't blame them. The mages all refuse as well, as most of them were trained by the old man and are terrified of his power. He literally sucked the life out of the king. We got word you were on your way a half hour ago, so I've been waiting at the gate." He asked, "Sara?" She nodded slowly, "All true." He felt the urgency and said, "Very well, lead on Colonel." They were running through the city when Justin started to get a really bad feeling. He started to feel some sort of power build up as they approached the castle, then something clicked in his mind, like a key turning in a lock. They were too late. The stone in Egeria had felt like sandpaper against his talent. This was different, it felt like cold steel, death, and the taste of blood. He tripped and fell to his knees. ------------ Riese laughed maniacally. He felt the approach of the Flame of Cytherea as he finished the last rune and filled it with magic. Too little too late. The block of stone turned a blood red as time froze and an image seemed to rise from it and solidify into a being wearing full armor, and the god's visage was angry. Riese dropped to his knees and asked, "Have I angered you great god Ares?" Ares boomed out, "No, it is Cytherea who angers me. I will help you, but you must agree to do all I say without question, else I will go and leave you to the mercies of your bitch goddess." Riese would have giggled at that, had he not been in terrified awe. It couldn't have gone better for him, than the god he chose having the same feelings as he did toward the goddess. Riese said, "I will follow your every command and be your faithful servant if you can help me rule here on this world." Ares grinned down on the man, "Bargain struck, I hope you don't regret it." Riese screamed in pain as his mage talent was torn apart in his mind, his connection to the goddess permanently severed beyond repair. His screams lowered when he felt the god reach into him again, giving him new power, healing the damage left behind from the separation. He panicked at first, when he realized he would no longer be a mage. It had been his whole life. But these new gifts he had were impressive. He picked one of the last soldiers he had killed, since most of the rest were buried, and stripped his armor and sword for himself. He noticed the wrinkles had disappeared from his hands and found similar smooth young skin as he touched his face. He was definitely younger, he was also very much stronger than he used to be, muscles rippled down his arms. He laughed and said, "My first gift to you will be depriving the Flame of his life." When he moved toward the door the god's voice boomed behind him. "NO!" He turned in confusion, he would follow the order, but it didn't make sense at all to him. Ares chuckled, "You will kill him, but not yet. First you will gather an army and slaughter the soldiers that he supports. All who worship me, that you convert, will be gifted with the same protections from his feeble magic, though not the knowledge how to fight, you must train them in that. "When he finally realizes he cannot face you. When he is filled with despair at his failure, and those that trusted him to keep their loved ones safe turn away in hate. When his and his goddess's failure to protect them fills them with anguish, that is when you may kill him, not before. He and Cytherea must suffer before he and his mates die. Then we will have true victory, when you destroy her anchor to this world. "Do you understand?" Riese did understand, this god hated the goddess more than even he did. "I will follow my orders." Ares said in approval, "Good, then this is what you must do..." When they finished speaking, time started up again, and he headed up the stairs and toward the exit. The orders surprised him, but he didn't question them. He did wonder however, if there would be anything left to rule when he was finished. ----------- Justin stood with Nora's help and shook his head. He was feeling a bit off from the sensations from the altar, and when he looked up the stairs to the palace entrance he saw a young man with a drawn sword walk out. Sally whispered, "That has to be Riese, I can't feel him at all, his talent I mean. It just feels cold and my senses cut out." Sara cleared her throat and said, "I can't feel his emotions either." Nora and Nicole shot fire and air at him, as soon as it got around ten feet to the man, the air dissipated and the fire flared out. Nicole shook her head. "The magic containing and forming the fire just died when it got close to him." Riese snickered and looked supremely confident, "What, not even a hello first?" Justin burst into flame, all of those around him were surrounded by white flames, but the white fire died when it got close to Riese. As Riese walked toward him he had to fight off the urge to run. When Riese got within ten feet, the fire around him, and everyone else, died. Sally whispered in his ear, "I tried to get the ground to open up, but that anti-magic aura he seems to have extends far enough down to prevent it." He pulled his sword, and rushed Riese. He was good, he knew the forms of combat, but in a very short time it became obvious Riese outstripped him in skill by far. He cried out as Riese cut into his forearm, making him drop the sword. He stepped back, unsure why the man didn't just kill him, Riese seemed to almost be playing with them. He saw Nora step forward with a weapon but waved her back, he needed to think. Riese said loudly, "The Flame is helpless before me, as are his sluts. My new god, Ares, thinks that magic is for the weak. Join with me, and let skill of arms determine the end of this contest. No longer will we be held down by a weak goddess. Accept Ares as your god, pray to him, and you will be gifted with the talent to deny magic's power as I have been. We are men, and I call you to war!" Riese continued, but in a low voice, "Ross, I am disappointed to find you with our enemy, like the flame I will let you live, so you can watch helplessly as this world falls to me and my god. Unless of course you'd like to fight..." His mind was spinning, he already had a few ideas to counter Riese's power, but it would require time to make, and to plan. He heard fighting start to break around him, he also noticed the mages had made themselves scarce. He was pleasantly surprised most of the soldiers had not converted, it was obvious which ones had, they were more muscled, and not trying to use futile magic. Riese said venomously, "See you soon Flame, it will be a pleasure to split you, after I have destroyed your life. Then I will destroy the hold your goddess has on this world," he looked at his women lasciviously, "Maybe I'll let a few of your mates live, you know, for my entertainment." Before he could do something stupid at that pronouncement, Riese spoke in a loud voice once more. "Men of Ares! Follow me, now is not the time to fight, we must gather our army first." He watched helplessly as Riese ran away, very quickly, with about four hundred men following behind. When he heard Nora fiercely say, "FUCK!" all he could think was, fuck indeed. He asked, "Colonel, where do you suppose he is going to collect his army?" Ross said, "My guess will be he'll bypass Abelaweth and go straight to Egeria. They are still a mess down there and fighting over the throne. My guess is the soldiers are looking for a strong leader, he will find a lot of converts there. Can't you just destroy that altar?" He shook his head, "Not until we kill Riese, and probably most of his soldiers. I am assuming the ones left here will be loyal to the goddess?" Ross nodded. "Most soldiers fight to end the fighting, the ones he took were probably the worst of men who fought for the thrill of killing, and the other opportunities war brings. Such as rape and stealing." He sighed, what the hell was he supposed to do? How could he fight a war without magic? That's when he started laughing. Of course, he was uniquely qualified for that wasn't he? Not as the Flame of Cytherea, but as a man from earth. These guys had no idea how to fight without magic, he knew very well how to do that. Everyone looked at him strangely for laughing, so he said, "We need a truce, then I want you and some mages to come back with me, specifically air, fire and earth. Possibly telekinesis, but they will have it easy. I'll show your people and mine what we need to do to overcome the enemy's edge. I know I am asking a lot, but if I don't get a truce with an agreement to negotiate a peace treaty in good faith, I will not train your people. Do you even have a leader right now?" He frowned, if he went this way he wouldn't be able to use his power more than on himself, or one person at a time. Not that it mattered, not for this war anyway... Ross shook his head, "It will go to one of the mage families. Talmon was still young and had no heirs as of yet. It will take a couple of days." He nodded, that was better than he'd been expecting. "Well, we will start back, if your new king agrees to my terms send two delegations, one being your team to learn to come back and teach, the other to work on peace terms. I'd also advise you to wall off the vault and guard it until I can get back to destroy it." The colonel just nodded, "I can't say I like you, but you are our only chance. Inviting another god here can lead to nothing good, at least the goddess leaves us to our own decisions." ---------- Sara had been terrified at the fight. Riese had been a complete blank to her, and seemed to be immune to all they could do. It was disturbing, she had never felt so helpless. Her heart was in her throat when Justin was taken down, she didn't really understand why Riese had let him live, but she was grateful for that. Justin's confusion hadn't helped her either, he clearly hadn't had a clue what to do. But his familiar determination had come back, and confidence, shortly after Riese left. That had made her feel much better. She looked over at him, wanting him, even though she was scared of it. She was also sure if anything happened between them it would have to be her initiating it, he wouldn't ever ask. She almost lost him today, and hadn't even really shared how she felt, though she thought he probably knew, they all did she believed, that she loved him. She just had to have him, and give herself to him, but it terrified her. As they ran she did something she hadn't done in years. It was never very conscious, but she had always been angry the goddess could let those things happen to her. To be fair, the goddess had given her a power that she could have used to kill her attackers and escape long before she did. It was her fear of the unknown and shame that had kept her there. But the feelings she had weren't about logic and took some time to overcome. For the first time in a long time, she prayed to the goddess for strength... ----------- Kat was extremely shaken. All of her instincts back there had wanted to transform to a tiger, pounce on the enemy and teary him to pieces. But she knew of course, if she had gotten within ten feet of the man she would have reverted to human. What good would she be in this fight? Her talent was all about close up fighting, how could she do that if she couldn't retain her tiger form? Justin obviously had ideas on how to fight a war like this, but she didn't think he would have a solution for her, how could he? So what could she do? She was good at fighting human as well, but it wouldn't nearly be the same. Perhaps she could outfight some of the soldiers with a sword, but she wouldn't be capable of tearing into them like before. She would be there for him no matter what, but she had never felt quite so helpless before and it bothered her a great deal... ----------- Nora wasn't doing too well. Her magic had never failed her so badly before, and she watched helplessly as Justin fought Riese. If it could be called that. She wanted to charge when he waved her off, and only the fact Riese hadn't moved in for the kill had made her listen. She clung to the confidence that Justin now radiated, he clearly had some ideas on how to counter the threat. It was the only thing keeping her sane right now. She had never doubted her ability to protect Justin before as long as she was vigilant, but now... how could she? She wouldn't be happy if Justin's ideas didn't include that. ----------- FOC - Uleni's Gamble 02 Nicole sighed in relief as they reached the border. They were heading back to the palace and the rooms they had there, given to Justin to use for life when he first went to the palace. There would be time in the morning to make preparations and whatever Justin wanted to do. It would be good to sleep, they had been up for a couple of days and travelling hard, literally staying awake off of Justin's power of restoration. None of them were sure how long it would take Riese to gather his army, so they had hurried back. It was close to sundown, so they all decided it could wait until morning. They may have felt alert, but their bodies still needed sleep to remain healthy. She was kind of excited too, she hoped when her father had accepted her back in the family that meant he would treat her like an adult. She would find out soon... ----------- Sally didn't doubt for a second Justin would get them through this. The afternoon had gone badly, but they were woefully unprepared for the power that was given to Riese. She was confident whatever Justin's ideas were, it would help. After dinner she was a bit tired, but it was her turn tonight, and she hadn't really gotten a chance to just spend time with Justin at all, so she figured at the very least they could spend some time together. She grabbed his hand and led him to the smaller second bedroom in their visitor suite. Planning for war could wait until morning. Just talking for a while was her plan, but that quickly changed as Justin pulled her in and kissed her until she was breathless. She loved the feel of his strong arms around her, holding her as she just fell into him, melding her body against his. She felt safe and loved. She smiled and looked up into his eyes when the kiss broke, "I've missed talking to you the last day or two." He smiled and said with a sigh, "Me too, I'll be happy when we can take another shot at settling down," he grinned, "I missed more than that too." She moaned and ran her fingers through his hair as he started to tease her neck and earlobes with his lips while undressing her. She whispered, "What else did you miss?" He picked her up and carried her to the bed, stripping before he joined her in it. He kissed her softly, "Lots of things..." She grinned, "Like what?" she laughed teasingly. He kissed her lips and said, "Your soft silky lips for one, and the sounds of pleasure I can draw from them," he winked and said, "Let me just show you the other parts with my lips." She gasped in pleasure as he took a nipple into his hot mouth, sucking hard with his lips while he kneaded the bottom of her breasts with his fingertips. Then she felt the cold air hit her now hard wet nipple as his lips locked around her second. She smiled as shots of pleasure reached her core and said sultrily, "Anything else?" He started to kiss his way down her stomach, her whole body tingling in pleasure and anticipation. She wanted it so bad, just a little lower as he kissed right above her moist lips, but he passed by her core to her disappointment and started to kiss and lick her inner thigh, and all around her center without touching it, dragging out her need, teasing her. He licked down her lips once softly, then bit her inner thigh, drawing gasp from her lips. She felt his hands slide under her body and start massaging and separating her ass cheeks as he took a second lick. Her heart was racing, she tweaked her own nipples and twisted them a bit. "Please, lick my pussy," she begged as she arched her back and pushed up. "Goddess yes, just like that!" she screamed out when she felt him separate her lips with fingertips and started flicking her clit, and digging deep inside of her with his tongue. She felt him moving, his stomach grazing her hardened nipples, his long fleshy pole hung above her head as he straddled her. She licked her lips unconsciously as she saw the precum on his tip. She felt him gasp into her as she wrapped her lips around his tip and swirled her tongue around the head. She couldn't help but arch her back and grind up against his face at the taste of him. She grabbed his base and pulled him down, sucking him in hard until his tip touched her throat. They had never done this position with him on top, and she was a little worried about controlling the pace at first, but he followed the subtle pressure of her hand as he started to slide in and out of her mouth. She moaned and sucked, enjoying the feel of his pleasure running along her tongue. Her body coiling in pleasure, exploded without warning, her cries of ecstasy blocked by Justin's pleasure as he continued to use her mouth. She loved it, trying to adjust her head and relax her throat she started to take him in farther, her own body coming down from bliss, but rising as well, as his tongue continued to pleasure her sex. She had to swallow every few seconds as his precum and her saliva mixed at the back of her throat, she tried to time it so her throat tightened and massaged his head as he entered her. She felt satisfaction as she felt him expand in her mouth, stretching her full lips out, as he started to pump his seed she swallowed with each spurt against the back of her throat. She ground her sex up against his face as his taste and his tongue threw her over the edge again. She was breathing hard and fast as he moved off of her, and lay beside her. They kissed, and she made a noise of approval at tasting herself on him. She said with a wide smile, "Is that all you missed?" He smiled back and said, "No, but I can kiss that sweet ass of yours in a few minutes. When I recover." She snorted and shook her head. He said in a serious tone, "There is one thing I want but don't have yet..." She said, "What's that?" He took her hand and kissed her softly, "You as my mate. I love you Sally, and want us to stay together for life. Will you be my mate and bear my children?" She should have seen it coming, but not so much at all. She kissed him back hard and passionately, finally ending the kiss to say fervently, "Yes, I'd love to be your mate." She felt her magic reach out to his, and bond together. Her body tingled and she smiled brightly. "Let's get started on that child thing shall we?" she asked with an arched brow. He shook his head, "Have to do something else first." She asked, "What?" He winked at her and started crawling back down her body, "I'm not sure you believed me, how much I missed your perfectly round, supple, and sexy ass. I'm afraid that means I have to worship it for a while." She snickered when he turned her on her stomach, she gasped though, when she felt his lips kiss between her ass cheeks. He had never done that before, and she had assumed he was joking. Then he licked her down her crack while kneading her ass cheeks and pulling them apart. She thought that felt weird, but good. When his tongue started to play with her puckered star, and she felt two fingers enter her warm and ready core, she gasped in pleasure at the combined feelings, and stopped thinking altogether as her mate pleasured her... FOC - Uleni's Gamble 03 Chapter 9 Justin thought about the risks of what he was about to introduce, but thought it would probably be put away and forgotten after the war. Guns and bullets would never go away on earth, but that was because everyone could both make and use them. Here, he planned to use a magical equivalent that few people could duplicate except mages. And really, why would mages put such weapons in the hands of others without an urgent reason to? It would after all, even the playing field. Mages liked having more power than everyone else for the most part. Plus, with his powers he could easily neutralize such weapons. He also had several other ideas, so he got to work. Or rather, he put his ladies to work. Their first stop was the smithy where he grabbed all the scrap metal, then took it to the side. He made a quick drawing of a rifle, obviously without internal moving parts, he wouldn't need them, but with sites and a stock to help aim. "Sally, can you make what is on this diagram please? This long tube is hollow, and it leads to a chamber in the back here." It took a few corrections that he pointed out and Sally fixed on the fly. Then he had her make bullets that would fit the barrel, just a few for testing. Lastly, he asked Nora if she could set a small jet of air on the back of the bullet, to be activated on command, until then it should store the magical energy. It took a few false starts, but they eventually got it working so just the bullet in the chamber would fire if the trigger was depressed. They got an earth and air talent from the army, showed them what it was and had them get started. He wanted a lot of them, to arm as many soldiers as they could with the equivalent of modern rifles. He had them get jars of oil, and showed how deadly they could be if flung by a telekinetic, burst by an air talent and lit by a fire talent. The key of course, was to get all that done before the the jar was closer than ten feet to the target. He also filled jars with sharp metal shavings for a very crude mine. The explosive power would come from a very dense small pocket of air at the bottom of the jar. When the enemy soldier ran toward it, the magic holding the air together would fail, and push out. No conventional explosives needed. He worked with the earth talents on creating similar traps, open holes with stakes at the bottom, the very top of the earth held together with magical support. The key being the loss of the magic causes the cave in, not the presence of it. He encouraged them all to think of other ways the removal of magic could trigger a trap. He worked with the telekinetic talents, only telling them to gather things that could be used as weapons, then launch them at speed, even without the magic for the last ten feet, that shouldn't matter. He had Nora cut some trees then Sally put together a catapult that could fling many large rocks. As for defense, he told the Earth talents they needed to raise the walls to forty feet high, and fifteen wide. The enemy would not have magic to knock down walls after all, and forty feet would be far outside their anti-magic aura. Not that they would be fighting at the capitol. If they tried that he was sure the bastard would burn down every southern town and rape every woman there before moving north. He wouldn't let that happen. But just in case they failed, he wanted to leave behind a viable defense. He just hoped they had time to make enough rifles, bullets, fire bombs and mines. They had to start moving south soon, there was no telling when Riese would be ready. Still, it should take Riese time to recruit the soldiers at each town, and kill those who didn't convert, as he made his way across Egeria. But he had decided three days was all they would dare. They could always make more on the fly at night in camp, after all, it was all done with magic, no machinery or even a blacksmith required. He encouraged the mage talents to use lightning storms, from up in the air if they could shift to a bird form. The enemy wouldn't be able to reach the mage, or the storm, to stop the attack. He had a few other theories, but they had enough to do already, and a few more tricks wouldn't really help, just split their focus too much. Last thing of the day, he called all the military leaders of the rank lieutenant or above, up to Anton, to explain the necessary tactics for the weapons and to inform them they only had two more days before they marched south for the Egerian border. The ones being left behind as the last defense could train the Uleni contingent on the tactics when or if they got there. He was a bit flustered by how everyone listened to him without question, but he needed to get over it and make this all happen. He ended with, "The Earth talents may have the most important job. Obviously, the enemy cancels magic at closer than ten feet, that means our new rifle weapons, or more accurately, the bullets will be rendered useless if they get within range of us. It is imperative that we avoid that for as long as possible. The good news is there will be no earth talents or mages blocking you from doing anything. "So be creative on slowing the enemy down, trenches, stakes, walls even. Just make sure you make it happen before they are ten feet away. If they get close to overrunning those obstacles we will have to retreat. Worst case if they fall upon us switch to swords. It should be mostly even that way skill wise, outside of their leader Riese anyway. The idea of the weapons is to even the numbers or make them in our favor, he will probably have more people than us. Of course, if we can kill them all from a distance that would be great, but that's probably not realistic. "We will probably need to chase down Riese once his people are down. This is very important, we need him to die to win and push this unwanted god off of our world. I can handle that part, but only when Riese and his army is dead." He answered a few questions, and deflected a few, keeping the knowledge he needed to keep secret a secret. He had given his oath, and although mentioning Riese needed to die to get the god away from their world, it didn't really touch on the parts he had to hide. They returned to their rooms for a late dinner, there really wasn't much else he needed to do, just give the military time to build what they would need. He planned on just spending time with his family for the next two days, minus anything else that came up of course, he wouldn't hide... --- Sara's stomach fluttered as she glanced toward Justin. She had talked to his mates, and they had been all for her plan and let her have tonight with Justin, none doubted he would say yes if she asked him, but all of them had wondered if she was up to it. She was wondering that herself, since she hadn't asked him yet. He made her feel out of control, like her emotions were in charge, and she ached for him. It made her feel vulnerable. Out of control and vulnerable were hard for her to deal with considering her past, but she trusted Justin. With determination she got up and walked over to him, took his hand and led him to the second bedroom. She really hoped she wouldn't faint as her breathing picked up. She said softly, "Would you take me, or really, let me take you with the intentions for more?" She felt his concern when he said, "Are you sure you're ready? I'm sure you can feel I would love too." She blushed at that, she could very much feel his lust at the idea, but again, like with his mates it was tied up with tenderness and love. "I think so, it would help if I was in control." He started stripping and then laid out on the bed, looking into her eyes he winked and said, "Is this good? You on top? Or... if you want, you can get some rope, that might be fun actually..." She grinned and said, "Maybe next time," and started getting undressed. He looked really good, his body was in shape, his muscle definition obvious but not exaggerated. She felt his eyes on her, and his lust rise as he looked over her body. But when she looked over at him, she could see how in control he was, and patient, just lying there waiting. Her breasts weren't as big as Nicole's, but at eighteen her generous C cups were still perky and sticking straight out, firm and supple. Her nipples were hard, whether from his gaze or the room's temperature, or both, she wasn't sure. Her fair skin was flawless, with the exception of a freckle on one cheek, adding to her beauty as her long strawberry blonde hair framed her face and teased the curves of her body down to her ass. She had always hated how attractive she was, it made things... harder for her. But she loved the way he was looking at her now, despite the feeling of vulnerability it engendered. She realized after a moment she had just been standing there, letting him stare at her naked body, she blushed and moved toward the bed. Her body tingled as she straddled him, and the feeling of her warmth as it brushed against his tool shocked her body with pleasure. Her breasts felt very tight as her nipples grew even further. Her skin touched his as she moved to kiss him. Strangely it occurred to her as their lips met, that this was their first kiss. She was tentative and he didn't try and rush her, letting her set the pace. She moaned as she felt him harden between her pleasantly tingling core and his stomach. She kissed him deeply and moved her hips forward and back, the sensation of his hard length running across her silken folds caused her to gasp. She deepened the kiss even further, sliding her tongue into his warm mouth and realized he was being so cautious his hands were still on the bed. She needed to feel him touch her, her breathless request sounded more like a desperate plea. "Touch me. I want your hands on me Justin." She felt him softly squeeze her breasts, then arched her back and ground herself on his shaft as she felt him brush her nipples with his thumbs. She reached under herself, pulling his length to the right angle, then slowly lowered herself down. He was so big, it took time for her body to accommodate his length. She ground herself against him when she felt their bodies come together. The feeling of pleasure was so intense, both from feeling so full, and the wondrous sensations running through her body from her core. As well as the feelings that came from Justin as her hot silken warmth welcomed and pleasured his manhood. She couldn't feel what he felt of course, just the emotions themselves. She was drowning in the pleasure they were both feeling. She just sat there for a moment, as he teased her nipples again, then ran his fingertips down the curves of her body and back up. He got a concerned look on his face when she hadn't moved for about a minute and said, "Are you sure you are ready for this?" She almost giggled, if he had any idea what she was feeling right now, he would know what a stupid question that was... There was an idea, she had only ever used her talent to detect, and harm those that meant her harm. What if she did exactly that, let him see how she was feeling? --- Justin was waiting for her to answer the question, wondering if this was about to come to an end. He had been controlling his emotions the best he could, and he could control himself, but she was so beautiful it had been all he could do to just lay there and not touch her. He smiled, at least he finally got to touch her hair. Other parts too, her body was exquisitely proportioned and her skin was as soft and smooth as he had imagined. He loved her though, if she couldn't continue he would understand, despite the bliss of being buried in her wet silken heat. Then he felt his pleasure more than double and he gasped. He realized right away some of the emotion didn't feel like his exactly, and realized she was projecting her emotions to him. It didn't take long to understand why she hadn't moved yet, if she was feeling his as well. There was feedback aspect to it as well it seemed, he could feel them both building toward a climax now, as he just stayed engulfed in her heaven. But then she did move, and they gasped as one, as she started to grind in little circles. He teased her breasts and grazed her nipples again and felt his pleasure go up. It was kind of weird, but at the same time awesome, instant feedback. He started exploring her sexy body, finding all her places, between his power guiding him, and the instant feedback, it didn't take long for him to find the best ones. His breathing was getting harsh, and she started mewling in pleasure, she raised herself up his length to once again impale herself on his manhood. She said breathlessly, "Oh goddess Justin, you feel so good in me." He slid his fingertips down the side of her body and across her leg, and found her button with his thumb. He pushed down on it gently, her clit peaking out of her hood, and they both lost it. She screamed in ecstasy and he grunted loudly as he expanded within her. He felt her velvety heat as it grasped and undulated, milking his offering to her womb. He almost passed out at the intensity of feeling his and her orgasm all at the same time. It had definitely been worth the wait. When they came down, he put his fingertips on her face, and she followed them as he pulled his hands back, he kissed her tenderly. She bit his lip then deepened the intensity of their kiss, claiming his mouth with her own, he moaned softly at the taste of her tongue as it dove past his lips. She moaned into his mouth when he felt himself hardening to his full length once again. He was pretty confident touching her now, he just knew he shouldn't do anything even playfully rough, and they continued to make love for another couple of rounds. When they were getting dressed, he turned to her and asked, "Will you join me for sleep? I think you know I've already loved you for quite a while, I don't believe I am jumping the gun by asking you to be my intended mate so soon, am I?" He had almost said us, meaning his mates, but reminded himself he was in separate relationships, his mates would be there, but it wasn't really about them. What existed between him and Sara was theirs alone. In reality, the ladies had to get along, or things would get complicated, but he wasn't worried in this case. All of them already loved Sara as much as he did, if not in the same way. Sara shook her head a bright smile on her face, "No, it isn't too soon. I'd love to." He felt her love and happiness as she sent it to him. He wondered at that, why she didn't just say it back, but then, actually feeling it added a certain dimension, made mere words seem trite. So he walked over and caressed her face, kissed her softly, and made sure she knew the depth of every emotion he felt for her... --- Trina watched wistfully as Justin led Sara to his bed, to join the rest of his mates for sleep. She wasn't jealous of Justin of course, she didn't begrudge any love Sara could find. She loved Sara and wanted the best for her. She just wished that they could share a connection too. She had sensed Sara was curious, but that wasn't what Trina wanted. There was a part of her as well, that didn't think she deserved Sara at all. She really wasn't a good person, she had helped yes. But first because of twisted logic, then she had stayed because helping him win would keep her safe. Now she stayed because of her feelings for Sara. It was all selfish, all for herself. She wondered if what she had gone though, and the path she took in life, had destroyed any capacity for true empathy in her soul. Which was ironic, considering she was in love with an empath... she wondered if she could ever get it back, heal from what she was, what she had done. Perhaps the only way to change was to pretend, she could pretend at first, wear a mask, and hope that one day it would be her true face. After all, she did feel some guilt, if she couldn't change, why would she care at all? --- Riese swept through Egeria as quickly as he could, but it was taking time. He set up a camp about ten miles from the border, and he was moving from town to town by himself. He did not fear death, and the people that did not convert, had no idea what he was. Usually be the time they figured out their magic wouldn't work, he had already gutted them. Those that he gathered at the towns he left simple instructions, gather all the bows and arrows you can find, and head to the camp for weapon training. He realized quickly under the old style of war, magic was often the most used, if not only used distance weapon. Without it, the few soldiers that bothered with distance weapons wouldn't be good enough. The ones converted may not have his god acquired knowledge and experience in combat, but they were all prime warriors in speed, reflex and strength. It wouldn't take them long to improve in sword use, or even at least become decent at firing a bow. Still, he hated taking the time, as soon as he was done recruiting, he would take the war back to Abelaweth. He had grand plans, he decided since Abelaweth was in the middle, he would build a new city named after him once he was undisputed ruler of all three. He would become the first emperor of Cytherea. He frowned, there would have to be a new name for their world. He decided the rulers of the three kingdoms would be under his authority, and he considered a test of arms, let those who were the best fighters rule under him. It wouldn't be long now, he only had a few towns to go, then the capitol. No... it wouldn't be long now. --- Katrina laid there in bed, unable to sleep. She loved to pleasure Justin with her mouth, how she could control it, bringing him to a fast finish as she woke him in the morning, amidst his other mates and the women she now considered sisters while they slept. Or she could keep him right on the edge, teasing him for a long time, when they were alone. She loved the feeling it gave her, in fact, she quite often got off on it. Smaller orgasms to be sure, but they were still orgasms. She also felt a little dirty when she cleaned up after her sisters. She had enjoyed tasting Nora on his manhood that first time, which was an accident. She wasn't really attracted to women, but the idea of it was so dirty it thrilled her, and it wasn't like she hated the taste, quite the opposite. She had enjoyed the different tastes as he added more intended mates. And her mind spun as she stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Simply because she was absolutely dying to taste Sara off his hardening cock, the thought got her wet at least an hour ago, and kept her that way. It was the middle of the night and everyone else was asleep, so she just had to, if she ever wanted to get any sleep tonight. As quietly as possible, she maneuvered between his legs, uncovered his cock and slurped it into her warm eager mouth. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the sensation of his manhood growing inside her mouth, licking and sucking him as he slowly filled her mouth. The new taste of Sara along with the salty taste of his juice made her moan, she couldn't help but reach between her legs and tease her slit with a fingertip. When he was fully extended, she started to get to work, bringing him toward his bliss even while he was still asleep. She expertly brought him pleasure with her oral skills. She felt his right leg jerk, like it normally does when he awakens, but his left leg hadn't moved. She peered peripherally to her right, and saw the blanket moving between Sara's legs and her eyes widened as she looked up. She looked at the expression of pleasure on Sara's face, Sara was staring at her pleasuring Justin with her mouth. She had always wondered what would happen if she got caught. When their eyes met, it was like she was struck by lightning, and she immediately felt her center explode in bliss along with a flush of shame that turned her on more, she sucked harder as her body tried to gasp, eyes locked together she could see the moment Sara followed her over into ecstasy. It was so intense. Without conscious thought, instead of stopping, or even going faster, she kept eye contact with Sara and started to go slower, giving her newest sister a show as she pleasured Justin's manhood. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 03 They never spoke, but they reached their bliss two more times, piercing green and light brown eyes locked together. Sara clearly enjoyed the watching as much as she had enjoyed the showing, before Justin woke and filled her mouth with his seed... Chapter 10 Justin quickly realized his plan to spend time with the family for two days was naïve. Apparently the soldiers were having trouble figuring out how to use the sights, so he was on a field, giving a class to a hundred men at a time on how to aim. They made some targets and gave everyone five practice shots from fifty yards out. If they could hit the target consistently in the same spot, he would zero their sights for precise shooting and set up sniper teams, at the end of the day there were only a handful of those. If they hit the target, but all over, he just gave them a pass. Most of the soldiers fell into that category, but about five percent couldn't aim at the ground and hit it, so those went back to bows and arrows for distance shooting. He spent ten hours, thirty minutes per class, which was only about a third of the soldiers at the end of the day. Luckily Nora had started a second class when he got his third group, so they should have them all finished by noon tomorrow. He felt kind of stupid about it actually, handing out weapons and not teaching people how to aim, squeeze the trigger, or hold their breath halfway through an exhale. Still, they were getting it done. When they got to the first ambush point at the border, they might even have time for more training, he was kind of rushing things so they wouldn't be caught unprepared. The last thing he wanted was to go down there and find burned out villages. They were all invited to dinner with the king and prince Anton. So after Sally got them all cleaned up they got dressed and followed Nicole to the dining room. Despite taking a leadership role the last few days, only because he knew how non-magic wars were fought, he felt distinctly uncomfortable as everyone stared at them when they came in. Apparently this wouldn't be a little dinner with the king, it was crowded with people. He could almost hear Nora's voice in his head telling him to get the fuck over it as they were led to the head table and seated at the king's table. He tried to maintain at least a neutral body language, he was afraid if he tried to smile he would grimace, there seemed to be a lot of whispering and sidelong glances at him and the ladies with him. A few minutes later the king was announced and everyone stood, he appeared in good spirits as he came in from the other doors and made his way to his seat. Once the king sat everyone followed suite and the servers started bringing out the first course. He had been expecting a speech or something, and felt a little relieved, of course he didn't know the tradition... maybe that would come later? That didn't help his nerves, but it was just a dinner after all, not too dangerous. He followed the conversations going on around him as best he could. He wished someone had bothered to tell him about this, at the least he would feel more prepared. Once dinner was finished the king stood and cleared his throat. "Tonight's feast has been in honor of the return of your princess, and our guest of honor the Flame of Cytherea. They, along with the others at this table, have done much to keep Abelaweth safe over the past weeks. Despite this new threat, we know they will continue to keep us safe from our enemies, both mortal and otherwise." The nobles and other guests started to clap. Some looked heartfelt about it, and others merely polite. The king walked over to Nicole, and escorted her out into the empty area. He groaned under his breath when a lute and some pipes started playing and the king led Nicole in an upbeat dance. After the first song, many others got up and started dancing in a celebratory way. He was worried about two things; he had yet to meet the enemy in battle. Although he thought his plans were good, he was aware the enemy usually did something unexpected. It was a lot of pressure and he had been trying not to focus on it too much and just do what needed to be done. The king's speech kind of brought all that to the fore. The second thing he was worried about was he had no idea how to dance... --- Nora grinned at the weak look on Justin's face, and dragged him out of the chair. She wondered how dance had never come up between the five of his mates, but she pulled him out onto the dance floor and taught him the basic steps. He was a little stiff at first, but loosened up by the second song. Actually, he was kind of terrible at it, and she felt guilty, dance just hadn't ever come up and she would have to rectify that when they got a chance. The air bullets he had showed them made her feel a bit better about protecting him, she didn't even really need one of those rifle things, she could control the direction until the last ten feet shooting one from her palm. She just had to carry enough so she wouldn't run out of ammunition, something she had never had to be concerned about before. She also started to make sure she had real weapons on her, two long daggers. She was pretty decent with weapons, but wasn't really happy with her current level of skill without her magic, and had spent a little time in practice with Trina. Trina had seemed to be making more of an effort to get to know her lately, and she was undisputedly the best with weapons in the group without any magical assistance. She thought Trina might even be better than Justin was. What disturbed her most is none of them would really have a chance against Riese if he closed in. They had to kill him from a distance. She snickered when she saw Nicole walking up, apparently the bedroom wasn't the only place Justin would need stamina to keep up with the five of them. She turned him over to Nicole and grabbed Sally for a dance, she didn't want to sit down yet either... --- Nicole felt guilty and took Justin back to the table after just one dance. His uncoordinated dancing was really her and the other ladies fault, no one had even thought about it though. Her dad was sweet, and had meant this as a surprise welcome back, but as a result they had no chance to introduce the customs for a royal feast to Justin. "Would you like to dance?" She turned and saw her brother there, a big smile on his face. She looked guiltily at Justin and he just said she should go and enjoy herself. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, then turned and let her brother lead her onto the dance floor. She was having a good time, and the day after tomorrow they would be heading off to war, so she decided to just enjoy herself. They could teach Justin for next time... --- Sally begged off after the fourth song and went back to the table. She was out of breath. She saw Kat trying to teach Justin how to dance on the side of the dance floor. She had to admit he was already getting better although he had a long way to go. Trina and Sara were dancing, and seemed to be having a good time of it. Trina had surprised her earlier, offering to help her blade work when she had come across Nora and Trina sparring. She had accepted, simply to get to know the woman better. She was awful with blades. Luckily she would be able to attack with magic from above in another form. Justin had suggested storms, but she was wondering if she could launch stone spears from the ground. Unlike the fire and air, when the magic was cancelled, the stone would hold together, and it would have plenty of momentum behind it to impale a soldier. She had also been considering other possibilities, but none seemed as promising. A lightning storm was a good strong attack, but it took time and a lot of effort. She gasped as she felt it come into existence. A new talent. Nicole was pregnant. She was taken aback by how powerful the talent felt already, and examined it. It was complicated, and she wasn't entirely sure, but she thought it may be a dragon shape shifter. She wondered if that meant anything, that talent hadn't been given to the royal family in a few generations. Did Cytherea see something coming that required that talent? She thought two gods should be enough to deal with in one lifetime, didn't they deserve peace for a couple of hundred years maybe? She grinned. Maybe not, that sounded boring. What made dragons so powerful was not only their changed form. They had a multitude of natural talents, in addition to being mages so they could develop others as well. She dismissed her worried thoughts, this should be celebrated. She got up and went to Nicole to do just that. --- Justin was a bit overwhelmed finding out another of his mates were pregnant. They started their own celebration back in the rooms, just spending time with each other. As the night wore on, Nicole took him quite firmly by the hand and pulled him away for a private little celebration between the two of them in the second bedroom. He was pretty much over the stress of the dinner and dancing by the time Nicole was done with him and they joined the others for sleep... The next day he and Nora finished the rifle training. He was looking forward to their last afternoon with his family before leaving. Of course, that didn't happen, Ross showed up right after lunch with a large contingent of mages to learn how to fight this new enemy. The king asked him to join their new guests to keep an eye on things. Which was reasonable, eight mages could do a lot of damage if they decided to betray them and he wasn't around to suppress their talents. Instead of a second contingent for a peace treaty, the actual mage who was crowned the new king of Uleni, Luis, was there. Things didn't get off to a good start when he and his mates greeted him with the king. King Luis turned red and said in outrage, "You dare greet me with a witch present!" He said with a bit of steel in his voice, "You are not in your kingdom, here she is my honored mate, do not press me on this point." The king was a bit more diplomatic as he added, "Please, come with me and we can discuss peace between our lands. The Flame of Cytherea and his mates will be showing your mages around and getting them trained." Luis frowned and said, "My mages will not learn from a witch." He rolled his eyes and prayed to Cytherea for patience. Sometimes he wondered about the stupidity of not seeing women as equals on his new world, but to be fair, his world was just as bad, if not worse in the middle ages. There were still many countries as well that considered woman chattel to this day. He said carefully, "They will not be, we are here to simply escort them to the mages that will teach them." He carefully left out the fact those mages were trained by Nora and Sally, he didn't think it a good idea to mention it. He thought Luis might decide the knowledge was tainted or something equally stupid. Luis finally blew out a breath and nodded. Apparently they wanted the knowledge and peace badly enough to overcome whatever prejudice was there, or at least temporarily set it aside. He knew that was probably more to do with them fearing he would invade at the head of an army, and take their kingdom. He could do it after all, not that he ever would, but they were judging him by their morals. He admitted he did kind of bully them to get them here. Sally took his hand as they walked and gave him an intense look. He wasn't sure if she wanted to slap him or jump him for the way he defended her. Women were strange that way sometimes, they could go either way. He was hoping for the latter. The afternoon went slowly while they showed all the different ways they were using to fight magically from a distance with non magical damage and projectiles. They were a little arrogant and condescending toward his mates, but they stopped short of insults, so he sighed and put up with it. At the end of the day, they left with the promise one mage and Luis would come back tomorrow to continue discussing the treaty. Apparently one of them was a travel mage, because they all disappeared shortly after. The other mages had learned what they needed and wouldn't be back. They retired to their rooms and took dinner in their suite and packed for the trip. It would be a long travel day tomorrow, which wasn't a bad thing, he would finally have time for his mates during the day as they walked. There hadn't really been enough time with just evenings and nights free the last few days. --- Cytherea sighed deeply. She could feel Ares attempt to break through the protections she had put up around her realm. He had come back to her twice and spouted off his arrogant vitriol before she had enough and banished him. Now he couldn't even get in. She shook her head and hoped she had never been that bad, though she thought she probably had been. The best comparison she could come up with was that he was a petty spoiled brat who wanted to break her toys because she wouldn't play with him. It was ridiculous. She had faith in Justin, believed he would defeat the army and Riese. She wasn't sure about the anchor yet, the talent she had given him, and the other Flames from the past, was more about burning out the darkness, and cutting off the entrance from another universe. He may not be able to do the same with the other anchor, she wasn't really sure. To be more exact, she wasn't sure if she would be able to break it through him. Ares was strong, and he had his own world and followers to draw strength from. She felt a presence appear behind her and said, "Hello father." She knew he would not be able to help her, but she still drew strength from his presence, she would not give up the world she loved without a fight... --- Riese left the capitol of Egeria with four thousand troops at his back. He guessed he would have close to seven thousand in total when they reached the camp by the border. He turned and smirked, a number of them had a woman thrown over their shoulders. They would need camp followers. There was another reason for it though, one he hadn't foreseen. After a week on the road he had gotten rather rank. Without magic, they would have to come up with other ways to stay clean and keep the camp sanitary. Right now, they had women for that with cleaning talents, but once he forced the normal citizens to convert, they would no longer have that ability, so it was a stopgap measure at best. He hated to waste his time on such a thing, but he knew it was important, a disease could take half his army out of action. He wasn't worried about the actual fighting, he had seven thousand which was more than what Abelaweth currently had available, and they would be crippled fighting without magic. The capitol itself had gone easier than he had imagined, he took the time to hold a small one day tournament, and put the best warrior on the throne there. Any mages that hadn't sided with him and his god had been put to death, so his new puppet king shouldn't have any problems. He did have a twinge of doubt, without magic it would be much harder to spy, so he really had no idea what the enemy was planning. He wasn't too worried, the Flame had been helpless before him, as had his witch and the other bitches that surrounded him. He couldn't wait to get his hands on them and get his revenge from his embarrassing loss of a huge invasion force. He wouldn't have to wait too much longer, once the training was done, the world would tremble at his coming and the people would turn against their goddess and her worthless Flame... Then, he could finally get his revenge... --- Sara was more than happy about what happened the other day. She had finally slept with him, and since then she just wanted more. She was insatiable. She was also surprised at how turned on she had been watching Katrina pleasure him later that same night. She was not completely over things yet, she might never be, the second time they were together she had pulled him on top of her, then immediately panicked as she felt trapped. Still, she was getting better, and once she calmed down she had taken the top again. They had been walking south for a few hours when Justin joined her. She could still hardly believe he would want her, after all that had happened, but was assured by the love coming from him. She took his hand and squeezed it, then said, "I think I am going to be mostly useless this time around. My talent can't be used indirectly and I'd be more liable to stab myself than an enemy if I had a weapon." He smiled at her and said, "Actually I wanted you to do something for me, if you don't feel uncomfortable about it?" She smiled, "What?" He talked low so only she would hear, "All of these new weapons and ideas will work great against those with no magic, but for someone with magic it would be incredibly easy to sabotage. If you could keep an eye out with your talent? I don't think anyone would betray us, but I can't put everyone's life on the line on that assumption." She frowned, she hadn't considered that, but a mage or air talent could mess with the enchanted bullets, or an earth talent could destroy all their weapons given a minute or so. She nodded uncomfortably. She hated to think anyone might do something like that, but had to admit it was possible. Plus, it would make her feel useful. "Yeah, I can do that, maybe..." He grinned, "What will it cost me?" Her smile was half bashful and half brazen as she said, "Some nice soft rope, for later..." He just laughed and nodded. She had been mostly joking and trying to flirt with him, something she still found hard to do, but she was almost positive from his feelings he would actually do it. They talked for another hour or so about things before he headed off to one of his mates. Then she found Trina by her side and smiled... --- Trina was getting a workout. She was half hearted at best when she offered more conventional weapon training with Justin's mates as part of her plan to change. She had no idea what a blast it would be. The idea being not using magic, she was also finding it somewhat of a challenge. She had honed her instincts and reactions to what her talent told her. She was still very good working off just sight and sound, but it was an adjustment as well. For instance, Katrina couldn't get close to her with the blade, but without her talent she hadn't seen the kicks coming until it was too late to dodge the first few times. She still hadn't lost though, taking a kick to the face or not. She sighed as the temporary camp broke down after lunch, and they started marching south again. --- Justin couldn't have been happier as he caught up with all his mates on what they had been up to over the last few days while he was busy training soldiers. Relationships took work, and he hated when he didn't have the time for it. He hoped once this was handled the largest emergency would be healing broken bones. He didn't get nearly a long enough break after the original Egerian invasion before this new crisis hit. He didn't mind the effort he had to put into his relationships, as effort went, spending time with his mates could be barely categorized as such. If he begrudged anything it was the time he was forced to spend apart. They moved quickly the first three days, although not at a run. It took them five days to get down to the border before they could start preparing their defenses. He thought they would do well, but he was worried about the villages if they did not. He talked Anton into sending out four squads with an earth talent to help protect the villages, raise walls around them and such at the least. He was under no illusions though, if the enemy caused them to fall back, flee, or worst case destroyed them, the walls would slow them at best. Still, he didn't think it would hurt. It would also give the villagers a chance to flee north temporarily if they knew what might be coming. He sighed. Military strategy dictated you don't leave a force behind you, but he knew Riese was more than a little unbalanced. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 03 He hoped there was no chance the enemy would ignore them and pass them by, but it had to be considered. They did have scouts along the border though, so they would get notified quickly if that happened. He thought it unlikely though, even beyond strategy, Riese was just too arrogant to think we stood a chance. Chapter 11 Katrina was a mile or so away from the camp, in her tiger form. She still needed daily runs to keep her sanity, hunting for the tavern dinner or not. Especially being pregnant, she found herself short of temper recently as her body went through the changes. She figured if she was this way during early pregnancy people better look out when she started to show. She had improved markedly over the last two weeks during sword training with Trina. But it still wasn't the same, she could not wait until they got rid of Riese and the god he had brought here. At least she wouldn't feel helpless or nervous when they attacked now. She was still faster than most in human form, and Trina had worked with her, using her speed instead of strength to fight. So far, her and Nicole were the only two pregnant. It had been ten days since he mated with Nora and Sally. Still, half of them on the first try was impressive, she didn't think it would take much longer though, if they weren't already. They had been waiting and training another five days since reaching the border, and she just wanted it over with, though, this battle would hardly be the end of it... --- Nora was shocked Justin hadn't yelled at her yet. As the week went by she had spent less and less time away from him, shadowing his every move. It even bothered her to be apart when he was fucking his other mates, but she stood right outside the privacy curtain in their large tent when that was going on. It bothered her that she couldn't hear anything, of course, part of her was glad she couldn't as well. It might have distracted her after all. She knew why she was doing it, she was terrified she would lose him. She had been trying to work on that, overcome it, perhaps she never would. When this crisis was over, she would be able to take a step back, but not before. If she failed she would make sure she was dead first. He was a lot more patient and understanding than she was, she would have kicked his ass by now if he wouldn't give her any space... --- Nicole was flying above the camp in circles, keeping a watch out. She was also focused inward on the last few days in the capitol almost two weeks ago. The good news was during the time she spent with her father, he no longer treated her like a little girl. The bad news, is it was taking them time to define their new relationship, and had been a little awkward actually. As if he didn't quite know what to make of her now. She was hoping that would change over time, she still wanted to be close to him but they needed to work that out. She spied movement to the south, a large group of soldiers moving at speed. She let out a warning screech in her bird form and the camp below her seemed to jump into action. The enemy did not seem to be stopping. When she saw Sally take to the air, she landed and changed, and made her way to Justin and the others. --- Sally wanted to stay with the others, but Justin convinced her she could protect them better from the air, as she had some ability with weapons, but not enough to stand toe to toe and fight. Right now, it appeared their army was just standing in an empty field, in formation, and waiting for the enemy to show. She knew that wasn't the case, the area was riddled with traps and planned responses from the mages and earth talents to keep the enemy distracted and slow them down. It might even be said their force was nothing but bait. She watched as the enemy charged into what Justin had called a minefield when the lines were five hundred yards apart. Their front lines were decimated, behind them, they took a few injuries, but nothing serious. The enemy started to slow down and stopped for a moment. She heard Riese shout, "Shield wall and advance!" A number of soldiers with large shields moved to the fore and slowly advanced. Because of both the shields, and slowing down, they stopped taking major damage. At most, a few took damage to the ankles and below, holding their shields too high, and were taken out of the fight. She reached down with her magic and set off one of her traps. The air was filled with stone spears arching up from their flanks and falling within the center of their forces. She lost her connection to the stone, but didn't need it anymore as it started to impale the enemy troops. But this was just the beginning, when the minefield was exhausted at four hundred yards, Riese ordered another charge, when they were about two hundred yards away, all hell broke loose. --- Justin let out the breath he had been holding, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Four days ago Anton had reminded him of the trap that had killed so many of their soldiers when fighting Egeria on the hill. He had also mentioned we had all of the preparations we had planned done, and a lot of earth talents and mages sitting around doing nothing. So they had created a similar trap, with interlocking braces, the one closest to their army held together with magic. He had been prepared for the trap to fail, but it didn't. The enemy's own anti-magic would take out the key braces. He had watched as first the minefield took out hundreds, then when the enemy had charged again, the earth started shaking. A thousand or so in front made it past the trap, as they were moving quickly, but all of those behind were literally swallowed up by the earth. He could hardly believe those thousand kept charging. The earth talents brought up short walls, stakes, and pits right before the enemy reached a hundred yards out. Then he heard Anton give the order. "Open fire!" When the last thousand of them were being slaughtered from a distance, he heard an order to retreat, and was filled with disappointment when he recognized the voice. He supposed it was too much to hope for that Riese would be buried by the trap. The last thousand had a lot of fire coming their way, so they only managed to escape with close to five hundred troops as they ran back into Egeria. He sighed. It would be a chase now... Anton walked over and said, "The king told me if the bastard ran to give you what you needed. We are rebuilding the military but it will still take time, do you think if you had two thousand troops that would be enough to chase him down?" He nodded. "I think that would work, four to one odds should take care of it. I doubt he will have any luck recruiting more after losing so many." Anton asked, "Will you be able to follow? They move pretty fast for no magic." He pointed up in the sky, "Sally is keeping an eye on them, she'll leave us directions in the clouds. We could use a couple of more mages to take over when she gets tired. Not sure how long it will take to corner the bastard." Anton went off to organize a small force, the rest of the soldiers checked the trap to make sure the enemy was truly dead, or at least, couldn't dig their way out. He doubted they could if any lived, any that had survived the trap sprung on them weeks ago had done it because they had magic. He and the ladies packed up their gear and tent. It took a few hours to get everything settled and supplies split up before they started a quick march into Egeria, following a cloud in the sky that looked like an arrow. A couple of hours later they found a village. The streets cleared and frantic shouts could be heard as the people dove for cover inside buildings. He wasn't surprised they expected the worst, but it still bothered him. These people lived in fear of their own military, it wasn't a shock foreign troops were met with fear. He wondered if he should avoid future villages as they marched through. The area they were in was choked with trees and small lakes. Deciding to take the road through the village was just the easiest option. But he didn't like panicking people. He saw a door open and an old man came out. He was dressed in rags and his white beard was unkempt. Trailing along behind him were two young women who looked terrified. He frowned as the man neared to fifteen feet and stopped, bowing low to them. "Please have mercy masters, we do not have much, the other army took it all. Please, take these two and go, it is all we have to offer." He heard Nora and Kat growl in anger, he didn't know what to do, he just knew he was angry. He knew killing the old man wouldn't help, or at least, that's what he kept telling himself. He was starting to realize that the backwards way Abelaweth treated women was far more enlightened than the other kingdoms. He knew it was bad... the old guy hadn't even tried to talk his way out before throwing them to the wolves. He sighed, they didn't have time to right wrongs, and it was a whole kingdom. They wouldn't change easily. He was tempted to take them along, at least get them out of Egeria, but what would that do really? Maybe they could do something about it later? "Just go back inside old man, and take the young women with you, we don't treat women as slaves in Abelaweth." No, they were treated like lesser beings there, but at least they were taken care of, mostly. This world had a long way to go. He continued his voice growing forceful, "We are just passing through, now move out of the way." The old man looked flustered, but did as he said and they moved on. It took a while for him to put it behind him and he hoped somehow those women would be okay. He hated stopping and making camp when the sun went down, he wanted to just run them down, but it wasn't a realistic idea. A mage had slept a few hours on the wagon, and he restored the mage before he left to take over from Sally. Judging by the cloud, Riese was moving about twice as fast as they were, but it really couldn't be helped. Hopefully he would either turn and fight, or at least stop and prepare to defend. While they were finishing up making some dinner, Sally came back and let them know what was going on. Sally grabbed some food when she came in the command tent. They were there with the rest of the ladies, Anton and their third mage. After a few bites she said, "We can keep doing what we are doing and keep an eye on him, but I don't think it is necessary. They are in a village about half a day's march ahead, they were really pushing it. Anyway, I landed on the roof and was able to hear Riese talking. He has totally lost it by the way. He killed about twenty of his own men today when they tried to talk him into a different course of action. "None of them were very thrilled with his leadership abilities after that fiasco earlier today. Anyway, important part is they are going for the capitol. The plan is to forcefully recruit and train any man in the city that can hold a sword. I'd say he will have no luck, but after they kill the first few people that say no, they might start changing their minds. "I considered picking off a few more of them, but I figured it might be better if they don't know they are watched, plus, I wasn't sure when I would get relieved so I was conserving my magic. Thank you by the way for that, I am starving." He was considering retiring for the night to the tent when a soldier stuck his head in. "Colonel Ross is here to speak to you, with a few others..." Anton ordered, "Send them in." Ross came in with a smile and bowed. "Prince Anton, Flame, we are here to help support in tracking down and destroying Riese. Something I very much want to see happen. I have four mages with me." He looked at Ross and said carefully, "It is good to see you again colonel, I trust there will be no difficulties with my mate? I know we are working together now, but old prejudices die hard I'm afraid." Ross said, "It won't be an issue," but he felt concern coming from Sara, she obviously didn't agree. He walked over to Sara, and was surprised that only one of the four mages with Ross was a concern when she whispered into his ear. Sara breathed out into his ear, "The others feel mild distaste, but the one on the left side is full of anger, disgust, and there is a feeling of violence about him." He kissed her cheek and whispered thanks before returning to Ross. "I'm afraid this one will have to go home, you and the other three mages are of course welcome, and thank you." Ross frowned, "It is I who must thank you, I want to get my hands on that fool and wring his neck, but why must one of my mages leave?" He simply said, "Because he harbors violent intentions toward my mate, and even if he manages to suppress it and play nice, I'd rather not have him at my back, or worse, hers. I wish no violence, so he is free to leave as long as he doesn't return." The mage dropped his façade and glared at him. "Very well, I do not know if I could hold myself back," he turned to Ross, "Nothing good will come of dealing with an unnatural abomination of a witch, damn Riese for what he has made us become." He watched warily as the mage walked out of the tent where he changed to a hawk and took to the skies. He told Sara, "Let me know if he comes back will you?" She looked at him and nodded. He had to admit to himself that was a little obvious, but he did it for Ross's sake, not theirs. Ross said, "Sorry about that, he gave me his word he would be okay, but safe better than sorry I suppose. Can someone bring me up to speed?" He wound up staying in the tent another half hour as he and Anton brought Ross up to speed, by then it was pitch black outside and they went to the tent where Nicole took him by the hand quite firmly and led him behind the curtain... --- Sara stared at Trina trying to get the answer out. They had taken a walk, and she knew this moment would come. She was still a little confused about the feelings she held, but thanks to Katrina, she knew she did feel something for Trina, something more. The other morning with Katrina as they had locked eyes and came together was hot, because she liked watching Katrina pleasuring Justin, and sharing those emotions and feelings. It wasn't confusing at all, she simply had voyeuristic tendencies. She had no inclination to join in. Well, maybe a little bit, but just to pleasure Justin, not to kiss or touch Katrina. So she was still confused, but what she felt for Trina was more, because if she was sure of anything right now, she wanted to kiss Trina and be kissed back. Her breathing had picked up, and she felt her body reacting since Trina had asked if she could take her. Finally, she just nodded, then stepped into her and brushed her lips against Trina's while wrapping her arms around her. She loved the feel of Justin's hard body against hers, and she found herself loving this too. It was different, Trina body was soft and supple. Her long black hair was silky soft, her brown eyes held warmth and affection. Their kiss deepened and she lost herself in the sensation of Trina's silky smooth lips and the way Trina's hands felt on her body. They held hands when they broke off from the dreamy slow kiss that caused her body to tingle down to her toes. She blushed and followed Trina's lead as she was led to a hot spring not far from one of the nearby lakes. She shyly undressed and slipped into the water... --- Trina didn't really understand why the shy sweet beautiful woman she had fallen for could want her. She was a cold assassin, oh, she had feelings and all, she just doubted she was worthy of what she had asked for, and what she was getting. She removed her clothes as she remembered the sweetness of Sara's lips against hers, and anticipated what was yet to come. She slipped into the hot water of the spring and pulled Sara close. They were tentative at first, while exploring one another's bodies. But as their pleasure and need increased their kisses became hungrier, their hands more firm as they both invaded each other's flesh with their nimble fingers, pleasing the other's core while they tasted the other's mouth. All of Trina's fantasies were shadowed by the reality and joy of pleasuring Sara while she was pleasured. She moaned deeply into Sara's mouth when she started feeling even more, it took her a few moments through the blast of heady pleasure to realize Sara was sharing her feelings, projecting lust, pleasure, and deep caring. She may have been moved to tears at finding how Sara felt about her, if it hadn't drove her to bliss. Her body trembled against Sara's and she could feel her canal tightening around and sucking in Sara's fingers. She felt Sara quickly follow as their emotions, feelings, and pleasure all mixed together to bring her to a height she had never reached before, and she knew the night was just getting started... --- Riese sighed as he threw the young woman's corpse out of his room ordering the men to take care of it. It was an accident of course, he didn't mean to take his anger of the day out on her, she was just there so he could take his relief, he had needed a nice soft woman to plunder after a day like today. He wondered though, he had never had a high regard for women before, but he had never killed one in bed before. That one had been the third since he became the first of Ares followers. And the ones he didn't kill he always sent back marked. He dismissed it as unimportant, he didn't feel bad about it. Mostly he was just curious by the change in him. They had plenty of women left anyway, and there was a full city of them where he was going. Still, the hoar had been talented enough. It was time to get back on the road, so he collected his men and left the village behind. --- Justin would never say it out loud, he wasn't that stupid, but he was relieved Sally wouldn't have to scout ahead again with them now having three more mages to do it. Even better, one of them happened to be a travel mage which is how Ross managed to catch up so quickly. They got started early the next day, they were in somewhat of a hurry. Riese would make it to the city long before they caught up, but they didn't want to give him too much time as he would be terrorizing the people trying to get more soldiers. The sooner they caught Riese and the others with him the better. Right before noon they reached the village he had stayed at last night, the streets cleared much like the first village they came across and they moved through quickly. When he was close to the other side, he heard screams behind him. He turned in time to see the last of the soldiers pour out of the houses and right into his troops. They were spread out and the fighting on the edges was fierce. His soldiers in the middle that were out of the aura range of the anti-magic tried to use the rifles on them, but there was too much danger of hitting one of their own. There were only a hundred of them to the two thousand soldiers he had, and they were quickly dealt with, but not quickly enough. After he healed the wounded, they tallied he lost a tenth of his force before the enemy was put down. Of course, this meant Riese only had four hundred soldiers left. There was one thing he wanted to know though, why the hell hadn't the scout seen they had left one in five of their men behind for an ambush? Anton wanted to know the same thing, so they sent for the mage watching the town while the enemy slept while they ate lunch. After a hushed conversation between Anton and the mage, Anton filled them in. "He just didn't think to get a head count, he watched for Riese and followed him and a large group of soldiers," looking at the man in disgust Anton continued, "Please let the others know we need full headcounts, he might leave more ambushes behind." FOC - Uleni's Gamble 03 After the mage left, his face red, Anton said, "It may have been stupidity, but to be fair, mages aren't really trained in this kind of work, I should have made it clearer. It better not happen again though." He sighed, it was close to a week to cross Egeria to the capitol, that meant Riese would probably be there close to three days before they were. Nothing to do about it though, so they packed up and moved on, going as quickly as they could. He had considered getting the travel mage to move some of them out front, but it was just too risky. They needed the numbers in case the enemy closed with them, especially in light of the fact they had already managed to ambush them once. Sara was a welcome distraction to his thoughts when she walked beside him and took his hand. She said quietly, "Did you know Trina and I..." He smiled, "Yes, congrats. Do I need to go fight her for bed time or something? I've never been on this side of things before. You look nervous, what's wrong?" She smiled and kissed his cheek, "Not anymore, I... didn't know how you would take it." He asked her confused, "What do you mean, take it? Isn't it an open thing and all?" She nodded, "Normally yes, but some don't see two woman being together as natural. After all, we can never really be true mates in the sense of having children together." He was thoughtful for a moment and said, "It doesn't bother me at all. Besides, if and when we become mates, she can be our child's crazy aunt." She snickered, "And no, you don't have to fight for bed time. Maybe when Trina and I become start sleeping together as well, then you have to ask for that. But sex time is easy, I can be with her when you're with your other mates." He sighed and said in a faux serious tone, "Fine, but I'm not sharing our ropes, you'll have to find more if you want to tie her up too." She giggled and bumped his arm with her shoulder. "Behave." He finally realized she had been nervous because she had expected him to reject her for having a relationship with another woman. So he kissed her softly and concentrated on all the feelings he had for her, and what she meant to him, knowing she would read it. She shouldn't have to doubt him... He loved her far too much for that... Chapter 12 Katrina moaned in pleasure. "Right there honey, right there, little deeper... yes, that's it baby, right there, don't stop..." She wondered where he learned to do this, it felt unbelievable. She felt something in her body give way and the tense muscles in her neck and shoulders relaxed. She moaned again as he started working on her lower back, goddess she loved this man. He whispered softly, "Feel good Kat?" She just smiled, twisted her head around as far as she could, and looked up at him. He seemed to enjoy spoiling her as much as she did, which, really worked out well in her opinion. "You know I do love. But I have other places that need attention," she said with an arched eyebrow. He grinned, "My pleasure," and she felt him slide a hand between her thighs, grazing her now hot and slick passage. She opened her legs farther while looking at him in faux shock, "I meant my feet!" He looked innocent as he said, "But I have to go in order, top the bottom, or I might get confused and miss something," as he slid a finger into her welcoming heat. She gasped and closed her eyes, "Oka... okay then, but you have to remem... remember!" Goddess he drove her wild, she could never get enough. She only teased to hide what a besotted wench she was who only wanted to please him. She couldn't help that he made her a wanton slut, it was just the way it was. The thing that made it okay for her though, was their deep love, and the fact she could wind him up just as easily with a simple look. He playfully smacked her butt and grabbed her hips pulling her up on her hands and knees. She looked back coquettishly and said, "What are you doing?" with false alarm. He coughed, hiding a smile, then said deadpan, "My fingers aren't long enough to massage you properly there. I'm only thinking of you babe, this is selfless right here." She was breathless as she felt her silken folds part, his long pole stretched and filled her aching heat. Her muscles released and contracted, trying to adjust as he filled her inch by inch, pleasure flooded her body, radiating from her core. She considered continuing their banter, but she was breathless and scattered. His fingers were doing circles on her ass and lower back, it felt amazing along with his now completely buried cock. She felt him playing with the rim of her dark star while the other hand ran fingertips up her back. He grasped her hair and pulled back, arching her back, which increased penetration and caused him to hit some good spots when he started to saw in and out of her clutching needy core. She gasped as the pleasure started to spiral and started bucking back against him, slamming their flesh together. She felt her center clench and the pleasure spiral in her body. "Faster, please faster, and harder, oh goddess Justin, yes, fuck me harder!" It was so intense it was almost painful, and just when it was about to be too much her coiling center exploded, releasing all that tension into pure bliss. Her eyes widened as he just kept going, not stopping, her second trip to heaven started just as she felt him expand and start emptying his seed within her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hands rubbing her back and ass, her body blissfully spent after two orgasms, for the moment. He turned her over and gave her a long kiss, "I love you Kat." When he turned around, grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his waist, with her sitting behind him. She wrapped her arms around him, caressing his chest with her fingernails and said, "What are you doing?" He said innocently, "My massager is on a short break, figured I'd get your feet now. I can finish the other part later." She started laughing helplessly and fell back. Her laughter abruptly turned to a moan when she felt how good his foot massage actually was... --- Nora watched the tent entrance, guarding Katrina's and Justin's time together and to make sure they stayed safe. If anything happened they wouldn't hear it behind the privacy spell Sally had set up each night. Sally came in wearing a huge smile, and walked over to join her. She said, "Hey Sal, I could do with some good news, what's up?" Sally's grin grew wider and she said, "We are pregnant." She froze a minute, "We?" Sally nodded happily, "Yes, both of us. He finally got it right." Her mind spun, it was both the thing she most craved, and most feared. She was beyond happy, and terrified that she could lose it. They weren't exactly on vacation. She pulled in Sally for a hug, realizing she wasn't exactly responding right. Sally stayed with her for a while and they talked about the future, a future so bright with everything she wanted. A future she wondered if she deserved, or if it was even possible. She knew she would calm down once they were safe, relatively safe anyway. But right now she just couldn't help but expect the other shoe to drop. It was the way her life worked. Always had been... --- Nicole spent some time with Anton in the command tent, filling him in on all the stuff she'd gotten up to after running away that he didn't know about. He filled her in on some stuff going on in his life also; apparently he has an intended mate now, who he left at home. She had a good time, but it was starting to get late so she turned in. Luckily their tent was fairly close to the command tent and she made her way over there. She giggled as Nora handed her a drink to celebrate Nora's and Sally's good news. She shrugged, one small drink shouldn't hurt anything. She was thrilled they were all pregnant now, except for Sara who was not yet a mate, but she was sure her friend would catch up. She just hoped this crisis would be over, they should be at the tavern getting the nursery ready and just being a family. She shook her head, it would take a while, they still had to go back up to the capitol of Uleni after they took care of Riese. She was sure everything would work out, but she said a prayer to the goddess, just in case... --- Sally was ecstatic she was pregnant, she was also a little worried about Nora. Nora was both the strongest, and most fragile of them all. She had lost so much already at the start of this. Her, Justin, and the rest of them had helped heal her heart, but Nora still feared, and maybe too much. There wasn't much she could do though, outside of supporting her sister she didn't know what else there was. She hoped that would be enough. She started to wonder if Katrina would keep him back there all night, not that she would mind, but she was anxious to tell the father the news. Plus, they needed to get to bed soon if they were going to wake up at dawn and continue the chase. So far the three mages from Uleni were avoiding her, with the exception of a suspicious glare or two, which she could deal with as long as it didn't get worse... --- Justin would probably have been panicking about having four children on the way, if it wasn't for also having four, almost five, mates. He thought they were closing the gap now, after today they would be two days from the capitol, Riese had reached that point a couple of hours ago, and had not moved since. He worried though, how many converts and how many dead could pile up in those two days? It was hard not to run ahead but he did have Anton pick up the pace, hoping they could cut it down another five or six hours. They couldn't keep it up the whole way, the increased pace was having an effect on his magical reserves as he kept restoring the troops every few minutes. To make sure they wouldn't blunder into another ambush they had increased the scouts both on the ground and in the air. When they stopped he ate ravenously, hoping that would increase his stamina. The ladies didn't look happy at the shape he was in, but that wasn't going to stop him. Sara said worriedly, "We can't maintain this pace, you can't maintain it." He shook his head, "Just for today, tomorrow we can slow down enough for me to rebuild my magic. I'll be fine for the day after tomorrow when we get there. The longer we leave them the more we will have to face when we get there. If he builds up more than a few hundred more, even untrained, it will make the battle too close with only eighteen hundred of our own. "We are attacking this time, we can't set any traps for this fight. Plus, those lives are weighing on me, even if it isn't our fault, we can't give that butcher more time with the city's population if we can help it. If we don't move as fast as we can, some of those deaths will be our fault." Sara frowned. "That doesn't mean I have to like it." All too soon they were back on the road, at the end of the day he was a mess, but it seemed clear they had traveled half again as much as they would have otherwise. After he ate a large dinner, he was taken away by all the ladies and put in bed. He guessed they decided he was too tired for his mate duties, and he couldn't really argue about that, he was exhausted. The last thing he remembered was Sara staring at him as a wave of exhaustion put him to sleep... A short time after starting out the next day, one of the scouts returned with warning of another ambush. This time it was where the road came a little too close to the forest. He, Anton, and the mages made quick plans, he was hopeful as they were prepared this time, they would not lose two to one. Although they weren't sure how many of the enemy troops were there, it was a maximum of a hundred he thought. That guess was based off the fact only three hundred of the troops made the capitol with Riese, of course, that didn't mean they were all at this one ambush point either. Two of the mages went ahead to slowly build a storm system in a way that looked natural, rather than magical. He was tense as they caught up and started running through the ambush area. To his surprise though, soldiers did not rush out from behind the trees, instead a large hail of arrows came at them. Their first surprise volley took out twenty soldiers, but the next attack was neutralized by the mages and air talents as the soldiers returned fire with the rifles, taking out the enemy soldiers they could see. It had been a good plan for the first strike, but they should have closed in melee range after that, but the enemy continued sending arrows allowing them the use of magic. Bolts of lighting, magical bullets, and even return arrows from their few archers took down enemy after enemy. After the enemy's third blocked volley, they screamed and pulled swords, charging out of the forest. The now very visible charging enemy was inundated with lightning from the six mages including Sally, more than that, the side of the road facing the forest exploded with stakes and other obstacles to slow the enemy's charge before they were in range to stop such things. Still, the enemy didn't have far to go and many just jumped over the stakes and into the soldiers behind them who drew swords. After that the fight was brief. They had lost another ten men after the first volley, so thirty altogether. A count was done of the enemy corpses and they only found fifty, so there was still another fifty soldiers out there somewhere. They sent the scouts back out, and got back on the road as quickly as possible. Someone else would have to bury the enemy dead; they did not have time to linger. The ambush had already delayed them close to an hour. --- Sara was trying to think of other ways to use her power. While growing up, she had tried not to project feelings at all, and when on the run had only sent a deluge of anger and fear that seemed to snap something inside the targets mind. She was pretty sure she had quite literally scared the people she killed to death. But ever since she had shared her pleasure with Justin, the first time she had used her power for more than a desperate defense for her life, she had wondered what else she could do. She had put Justin to sleep last night, simply by gently reinforcing his exhaustion and tiredness with the feeling of sleep. She wondered what else she could do. Could she defuse an angry crowd? Could she simply put someone to sleep rather than killing them? Other ideas which made her much more uncomfortable came to mind. She could influence people, especially if they weren't sure which way they would jump on an issue, it would be easy. It made her uncomfortable because she didn't think it would be right. Protecting her own life, or making sure her intended mate got enough sleep were clear cut enough, but the other stuff? She just didn't know. --- Trina's idea to change seemed to be working for her. She felt like she was growing true friendships with Justin and the other women in Sara's life. She even started enjoying it. But there was another issue, something else that was changing. Her guilt had increased a great deal about the life of the acolyte she had taken. She actually felt no guilt at all for the men she had killed, her targets. They deserved a knife between the ribs. It was the others, the ones that either got in her way, or had something she needed to complete the mission. Innocents. Those deaths weighed on her heavily. She was afraid to unburden herself as well, what would her new friends, and new lover, think of her then? Surely they would reject her, they were good people after all. She wasn't sure what to do about it. She knew Sara could feel her emotional rollercoaster, but Sara had no clue why, and wasn't one to pry. She had to do something though, she felt fake, like the person she was trying to be was a fake, covering up the monstrous things she had done for the sake of killing people like the ones that had once tormented her. She wasn't sure what to do at all... She decided to just put it off until they were done haring across the world on a mission, it wasn't ideal, but it was what she would do. --- Riese sighed and decided to give up for the day. He picked up a woman for some relaxation, he needed it after the day he'd had. He'd managed to add another paltry fifty people to the three hundred he had left, but although those converts were strong, they barely knew which end of a sword to hold. He couldn't say it, or even dare think it too loud, but his new god should have let him kill the Flame when he had the man at his mercy, unprepared and beaten. It wasn't necessarily a bad plan though, if he'd killed him right away he would become a martyr for the people to rise up and fight for, but alive the Flame was turning out to be even worse. He had gone for a straight frontal assault, which in hindsight, was stupid. He had underestimated them badly and had lost a second superior force to the cursed Flame of Cytherea. Still, he had this city, and three hundred troops to guard the walls. They shouldn't be able to magically take it down, just his warriors presence on the walls should prevent that kind of mischief. He decided he wouldn't run anymore, even if he had to take them all on barehanded. Not that he had anywhere else to run too... --- Justin felt a lot better that night, more than that he was up to his duties which really, he considered more of a privilege. Sara pulled him away from the dinner table seconds after he swallowed his last bite. He wound up having to burn some of the magic he regained as they came to him one at a time. Nothing he wouldn't gain back though, from a night of sleep. No one really mentioned it, but he guessed they all wanted him tonight because of the coming battle tomorrow. He made love to each of them and there was still more than enough time for sleep, he guessed that's why Sara pulled him away much earlier than usual. The next morning they ran into the second group of fifty soldiers in a village close to the city. They were prepared, but still lost thirty four more people. They quickly discussed and dismissed the idea of using the back entrance they had last time they were here. They needed to destroy the rest of Riese's soldiers, not just Riese. By midday they had reached the walls, which were crawling with archers. It looked to him like it was almost the rest of the force, although for all he knew these were new people entirely. They stopped about two hundred yards out and he gathered twenty of their best shooters. He, with Anton's approval, gave orders to start taking down the soldiers on the wall. They only got about two volleys before the enemy ducked low behind the rampart. He was at a loss on what to do, he would rather kill them at a distance. The mages were one way, but they would be exhausted before they could strike over three hundred soldiers with lightning. "Anton, what about the fire grenades?" Anton replied, "We can give it a shot... Even if they dodge, perhaps we can get them far enough apart to start tearing pieces of the wall out." Anton called out for the telekinetic talents, and bottles filled with highly flammable oil were brought up as well. The defenders tried a volley of arrows every once in a while, but a two hundred yard open space gave the talents plenty of time to block or divert the arrows. They sent a large number of the bottles to the top of the wall, setting them on fire and blowing the glass before it got too close for magic to work. A large section on top of the wall was engulfed in flames, as well as the front gates which were made from thick wood. He wasn't sure how many enemies died, or how many simply fled that area, but the wall started to break apart in chunks. They cleared a twenty foot gap in the wall below the flames. He could see the fires on the ground now too, some of the oil must have overshot the other side of the wall. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 03 They moved in closer with about fifty of them keeping their rifles pointing at the top of the wall on either side of the fire. A few of the enemy popped up enough to shoot arrows and got shot for their trouble, except they were able to release a volley, and they were too close to the wall now for the arrows to be deflected enough by the wind. Several soldiers cried out as they took an arrow. He rushed to heal the ones he could, but a number of them took arrows to a mortal area and died before he could get to them. He prayed it wouldn't get too bloody for them as Anton gave the order. "Charge! Get through the hole and get some of our men on that wall." It was a fierce fight, most of the first men that made it through the wall were killed from arrows, both from the side streets and from up on the wall. But the enemy was severely outnumbered now and fell from air bullets and sharp objects the telekinesis talents sent. One of the soldiers had the idea to use the mines he had made for grenades instead, tossing them around the corners of buildings, taking out the enemies hidden there. They lost another five hundred men to the defenders that day, leaving just over thirteen hundred left. They had lost more than they killed, but it was still a relatively low butcher's bill considering they were attacking a fortified city. That didn't mean he didn't hate every one of their losses. There was no way he could defeat Riese at hand to hand combat, he had his rifle and they moved toward the palace. Really, since the god of war had given Riese knowledge and experience on fighting, he didn't think any of them realistically could come close to killing him in a contest of arms. Riese did not make them come after him though, when they got close to the castle, Riese came out and dropped a challenge, "Flame, I challenge you to a duel to the death." Having no reason to do so, he was about to lift his rifle and end it, when he heard Ross, standing next to him answer the challenge. --- Ross boomed, "You will fight me kingslayer!" The hiss of steel calmed him as he pulled two blades. Riese laughed and said, "Do you truly believe you can fight me Ross? You're talent with weapons is useless fighting me." Ross chuckled. "Fool, did you think I was the best swordsman in Uleni by depending on my talent? I let it guide and teach me, not control me. I demand satisfaction, I challenge you over the murder of our king." Riese looked taken back and honestly curious when he asked, "Why? That fool had dangerous ideas, plans to change our most sacred laws." Ross said as he walked toward Riese, blades ready, "My sister was a sweet kid. Beautiful, and not an angry bone in her body. She was also a witch and I loved her dearly. So you see, the king not getting a chance to change those laws is exactly the reason I am going to kill you now." Ross attacked Riese with stunning speed and agility. His swords were nothing but a blur. But Riese was keeping up, every block, parry, and dodge perfectly done. They felt rage for each other but controlled it, both perfectly focused. They seemed perfectly matched in skills and as the fight drew on he wondered if he would tire first. Riese had both augmented strength and stamina that he could not boast. Then Riese screamed in anger and started attacking recklessly. He wondered if he would have lost, had Riese not left his sanity behind long ago. Giving in to his anger was the beginning of Riese's defeat. But whether it was the fool's reckless anger, or just random chance that killed the fool, he would probably never know. Riese slightly stumbled on a medium sized rock, throwing one arm wide to regain his balance. It was more than enough of an opening for Ross to finish things. He drove a blade into Riese's chest and while dodging around a desperate stab he brought his other blade whistling around severing Riese's head in one powerful blow... FOC - Uleni's Gamble 04 Chapter 13 They all made their way into the castle, Justin's mind moved quickly and he looked at Anton, a glimmer of an idea formed in his mind. Going back to destroy the altar was important, but there was an opportunity here that shouldn't be thrown away. He waited until they were eating, the scared servants jumped to keep them happy which just reinforced the idea in his mind. He considered Ross and the three mages, and wondered if he would have any issues there, but he dove in and made the suggestion. "Anton, I think you should keep the troops and talents we brought with us, and the two mages, and claim the kingdom of Egeria." At the shocked look on everyone's face, he thought maybe he should have led up to it a little better. Still, it seemed obvious to him. He glanced meaningfully at Sara, who looked calm, so he hadn't ruffled any feathers from the Uleni yet. Anton coughed and said, "You think what?" Anton looked a little shocked at the idea. He blew out a breath, then said carefully, "Well, let's look at the state of things. Riese killed or converted all the mages here, as well as the nobility. The kingdom of Egeria needs direction and a strong hand. If we make it yours, Abelaweth gains a peaceful neighbor to the south that until now has been a threat. You are already royalty, so no one is going to argue with you too much since you have the only troops in the area as well as the strongest magic. "On top of that, this place needs to move away from its brutal practices toward women, a view I know you share with me. What better way to do so, than to lead them from the top. It won't be easy, but it will happen over time. Especially with your troops coming from Abelaweth, they won't look the other way when a man rapes a woman or beats her like others from Egeria who grew up expecting it. "None of it would be easy, I would understand if you refused, but really, if you do the people down here will remain downtrodden, and your enemy. Did you see how terrified the servants looked? Or the towns we passed through? The city? With a firm but gentle hand you could turn this place around, make them an ally. The common people certainly won't complain, and there aren't enough of the entitled left to squeak." Anton said dubiously, "I had always expected to rule Abelaweth when my father passed. What if we simply absorbed Egeria, made it ours?" He frowned and shook his head. "There are a few issues with that. One, the people will resent it, they are Egerians. Instead of a new king they could trust, they would be conquered in essence and never truly feel a part of the kingdom. "Second, it's too much ground to properly rule from so far away, we are two weeks from the capitol in Abelaweth, things wouldn't change as quickly, and your father couldn't deal with them as effectively as you could close up. There are too many problems here to clean up at a distance. "Lastly, and I think Ross might back me up on it, if Abelaweth swallows this kingdom, the new peace which is still fragile with Uleni might break. For those not here, the decision will seem to be self serving and your father seen as having plans to rule the whole continent. They would be suspicious of your father's true intentions. Keeping it a separate kingdom will be hard enough for them to deal with. "There is still time on the succession issue it would cause in Abelaweth. You should think about it, but not too long, you'll need to move quickly on it if it's going to work." Anton turned to Ross and asked, "How do you feel about this, and if I do what the Flame suggests do you think Uleni would object?" Ross looked thoughtful for a second, then smiled, "Not if it was a joint effort, if you would appoint me as the head of your military?" Ross rubbed his chin thoughtfully then continued, "And perhaps one of these two mages on your council? I think Uleni would trust we wouldn't attack them if you did those things. Just a suggestion... your majesty." Anton frowned, and they all ate in silence as the young man thought it over. It was a shit storm he had offered him, but also a chance to make a real difference. He liked the idea of Ross, the man had grown on him, and he certainly wasn't against woman mages, or the abuse of woman. Anton scowled at him when they finished lunch, but immediately started making plans. "Very well, Ross, I need you to prepare twenty troops for each town with either a fast moving shape shifter or air talent in each. I am going to go over the laws, make changes, and give them to the groups tomorrow. If any of the village elders have a problem with the changes, they should send back a report. Either way, the soldiers should stay a month, make sure they have enough cash to pay their way, they should be examples of how we want the people to act, understood?" Ross nodded. "It will be done your majesty." Anton said, "We can handle the city after they leave. I'll also review the taxes, I have a feeling they are much too high, so at least we can give them good news along with the stuff they won't want to swallow," turning to Nicole he said, "Nicci, you'll have to explain all this to father, and make sure he knows it was your man's idea, would you?" Nicole laughed vibrantly and said, "You bet I will. I'm sure our father will have words with him about the succession." He tried to look innocent and failed. He already had an idea about that. Actually a couple, but he didn't think the world was ready for a queen yet, which was a shame. Nicole would look incredibly hot in purple, and be a brilliant leader. Of course, if the dragon child they had was a girl, they might not have a choice, unless the king gets another mate... Still, it was the best thing he thought, putting Anton in charge here, for Abelaweth, for the people of Egeria, and hopefully for peace... They decided to leave in the morning and head back to Uleni, possibly stopping at the capitol of Abelaweth on the way and letting the king in on Anton's plans that he reluctantly admitted was suggested by him. The now King Anton, had the servants set them up a permanent suite in the guest wing. No doubt he would miss his sister and hope for visits in the future. This suite actually had three bedrooms, the extra for Trina. Still, just moving as their group it would take two or three days instead of two weeks to visit, if it wasn't so dangerous he might try and persuade Sally to learn travelling. He hoped however that their constant trips across the continent would be cut down drastically in the future. At dinner Anton looked annoyed and filled them in. "You wouldn't believe how many oppressive laws there are here, I have done a lot of crossing out and adding. I might have to put off tomorrow's expeditions another day, or at the least they will get a late start, possibly around noon tomorrow for me to finish up. The tax part is easy, I just wrote up a simple code and threw out the crap they had." Nicole and Sally offered to help, but Anton shook his head and said, "It's a one person job really, but thanks for the offer. I should be done before lunch tomorrow, if I work on it some more tonight," he made a face, "You could talk my intended mate into moving here though, and set her up with an escort if she agrees when you get back to Abelaweth?" Nicole grinned, "Consider it done." After dinner they retired to their rooms, and Sara claimed his hand and pulled him into the second room. He smiled as the sound cut off when he entered the room, Sally must have already spelled it for privacy. She pulled him into a passionate kiss that had his pleasure hardening as she pressed her soft supple body against his. He felt his heart race as he broke the kiss, cupped her face and asked, "Sara, I love you, for a long time now, long before we ever touched and you are more precious than life to me. Would you be my mate, have my children, and spend the rest of our days together?" She had tears in her eyes when she said, "Yes, please yes." He felt his magic reach out, as hers did, and a bond formed between them, sealed by their love and oath. They came together and kissed, softly at first but then it built, became hungry, passionate. He was fully extended, pushed up against her stomach as she melded her perfect sexy body to his. He slowly started to strip her clothes off and she eagerly returned the favor. She whispered, "I love you, take me hard my mate." There was no doubt or fear in her voice, yet he still worried about her feeling trapped, so he would avoid missionary, and hope that was enough. He lifted her up by her ass, and felt her legs go around him. He could feel the moist heat against his member, the promise of her tight silken delight caused his manhood to jump, pushing against her swollen wet lips. She was more than ready, so he picked her up a little higher, and dropped her down, his length impaling her velvety folds and driving into her hot wet heaven. He carried her toward the bed as they kissed still fully joined. He put her on the edge of the bed, grabbed her legs and pulled them up and over his shoulders. Her beautiful full lips parted as she gasped and her piercing green eyes rolled back with her body. She arched her back and swiveled her hips as he started rocking in and out of her tight passage. Her breasts started to sway and rock as he pumped in and out of her harder and harder. When he reached out his hands and pinched her nipples while gently twisting she cried out. "Goddess Justin, fuck that's amazing, don't stop!" He couldn't take his eyes off her beautiful face as he brought her to ecstasy, her every reaction and sound coming through her lips held him captive. His length was squeezed and milked by her lush silken heat. It was harder to pull back during her bliss, he only did so half way, but didn't slow down as he continued to slam into her hard and fast. He could feel her body tremble as her orgasm rolled directly into another. He gasped as his legs went numb, her passage got tighter as he swelled inside of her, "Sara, I can't hold on any more." She said breathlessly, "Fill me, I want to feel you fill me, make me yours and give us a child." He felt her body tremble a third time as her velvety core started to greedily milk his baby batter. When he started to come down, he gently caressed her long legs from foot to inner thigh, up and down as he stared deeply into her eyes. He decided to try doggie style for their next round, not only did she not feel trapped by it, she was wildly enthusiastic as he hit places in her that she had never felt before. They spent quite a bit of time with each other before retiring for the night, completely sated, to the main bedroom with the other ladies. ------------- Cytherea was both happy and troubled. Happy that Justin had found a way not only to stop Riese, but initiated the process that would make Egeria a better place to live for women. She didn't interfere at all because of free will, but that didn't mean she had no opinions on how things should be. He also took the unplanned fifth as his mate, which made her smile, she thought he deserved every happiness he could find. What worried her though, was him giving her his free will and allowing her to work through him wouldn't be enough this time, and she had no idea at all what would be. Ares was not truly evil, he was just a petty vindictive child of a god. She wished he would just withdraw from her world now that he had no mortals worshipping him. It had to be a drain keeping that connection with no power coming back to him. She sighed, he would never do that though, he'll bide his time until someone else decides they want to worship another god, then pounce on the person and make them an offer. Maybe he would grow up one day as she had, but she didn't want him playing with her world in the meantime. She just wasn't sure what was needed. She smiled as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Do you not already know the answer daughter? Would it surprise you, that you not having it yet makes me proud of you? The old you would have figured it out right away. Not that it really matters, the question is, will Justin figure it out..." She pondered what he had told her and she knew she must be missing the obvious. What did her old self want that no longer held appeal to her? She flushed when the answer came to her, it was something her old self would have wanted, demanded, and abused. ------------ Nothing quite drove home the fact how far Sara had come from the scared mousy maid she had been than the looks of respect and fear from the people she used to work with, and for. She didn't really feel that different inside, but as a mate of the Flame of Cytherea, things were vastly different for her now as far as how she was treated by the people around her. It felt odd to her, and wasn't truly important, what was significant to her was her new family. She couldn't remember a time in her life she had been happier. She didn't like the way the servants feared her though, and had considered trying to talk to them about it. She realized though, that it wouldn't help, back then she wouldn't have believed it either. She hoped it wouldn't take long for them to come to the truth of it, Anton would not be a harsh king and changes were coming, good changes that would take time to be believed. She caught herself touching her abdomen again and blushed. She was hoping she was pregnant, but if she wasn't yet, she knew it wouldn't be long... ------------ Justin kissed Katrina fiercely after she woke him up in the usual way. They would be travelling in a little while, although now they could do so in their group of seven and at higher speed. It would only take a few days to reach the capitol in Abelaweth, then maybe two more days to reach Uleni and end this. Then he could get back to what he wanted to do, help run an inn, heal people, and help raise his family. He released Kat as she got up, then enjoyed waking his other mates with roaming hands and kisses before escaping their sleepy wrath. He slipped into the main room of the suite as breakfast was being delivered. He waited until the ladies joined him, then they dug in before the food could get cold. Anton came in as they were finishing up packing and handed him a letter. "I expect you will explain things to my father, but give him this for me will you? It has my own thoughts on it all, and will tell him what he needs to know, about things that you won't be able to answer." He nodded and said, "I will. Good luck Anton, we will be back to visit before you know it." They all said goodbye to Anton, and gave Nicole a few minutes in privacy with her brother before leaving. It felt good to run again at such a high speed and he enjoyed the adrenaline rush. He would have to figure out a way to find an excuse to do so more often. Although he was sure he would be tired of it after a few days. It had to be exhausting for Nora and Sally as well, but he kept them restored more or less constantly. Just their small group didn't take too much out of him. He still wasn't sure what they would do about the altar and Ares. He had strong feelings what he had done last time wouldn't work, and it didn't feel like a pessimistic worry, it felt more like the morning he had awoken with that bad feeling. Eventually though, he stopped focusing on it, the answer not coming to him, so he let it settle in the back of his mind. What he felt wasn't exactly a new feeling either, he had known for a while it wouldn't work. At first he had just ignored the feeling, choosing instead to focus on the immediate problem of Riese and his army. With that behind him, and only five days until they confronted it, maybe six if they spent a day with Nicole's father, it became his focus. He wondered if maybe the books currently sealed up with the stone altar would reveal a way, perhaps he could get in the room and back out and look for another way. He continued to let his mind work on the problem though, he wouldn't depend on that being the answer. The one thing he hated about this form of travel was it made it impossible to hold any meaningful conversation, though he did have a really nice view of Katrina's and Sara's sexy asses. Shallow perhaps, but something to distract his mind. For him, most of the time, new ideas happened when he wasn't focused on the problem and just let it simmer in the back of his mind. Something did occur to him, but it wasn't very helpful for dealing with Ares. It was all the other things that had been bothering him. Things that he hadn't had time to really think through. The fact there were humans on this world. The half truths Celia the high priestess had told in her story. The books of forbidden knowledge written in Latin... Perhaps the goddess did come to this world a couple of thousand years ago, if that were true, maybe she didn't come alone. Could she have come with her devout followers? Maybe those devout followers had texts and books about the other gods, and demons. But why hide that? He sighed, he would probably never know the full truth, but he was pretty sure the ancestors of the people on this world were from Earth. Nothing else really made sense to him, although he had to admit he had huge gaps in his knowledge. Maybe there was another way to explain it, but it felt right to him. As for why they came here he would never know. The animals were further proof. Deer, rabbits, tigers, birds, and many other animals that could be found on earth were here as well. Even if as unlikely as it was, there was some kind of convergent evolution that created humans here, the idea of adding other animals to that was absurd. It was an odd concept, the Greek gods were real, perhaps they all left earth at the same time for different worlds? He never did pay much attention during English class when they went over Greek mythology and was regretting that now. He was burning with curiosity about it. Still, if he had to die before he could get answers to the reason why, he was more than happy to delay the learning of it. They stopped for lunch at one of the villages, none of them were very into the idea of eating trail rations or even having to cook. After the long hard run they just wanted to relax a bit before continuing for the rest of the day. They stopped at a tavern and ate in the common room. He said after trying the meat, "This isn't all that bad, good really." Nora asked, "Where you expecting it to be bad?" He shrugged, "They don't have much, between taxes and then Riese stripping the villages as he passed..." Katrina pointed out, "True, but they can still hunt for more meat, it will be the winter they'll have trouble with, unless they can get another harvest in before then." Nicole said softly, "My brother won't let them starve; if he can't supply aid from the kingdom's food stores he'll contact my father for help." They talked about Egeria, and how long the country would take to recover from recent events for the rest of the meal before heading out. The people there seemed wary, but friendly enough, and they didn't have any problems... ------------ Katrina happily hunted for dinner as the others set up the tent. They had planned to stop at a village again, but when it started to get dark they realized they wouldn't quite make it, so stopped instead. By the end of tomorrow they would be back in Abelaweth and a good ways towards the capitol. She didn't mind, a hunt is just what she needed to settle her nerves. She was still happy, not having to worry about warriors taking her magic any longer. This is how she was meant to be. She was concerned about what was coming, but an altar was a nebulous threat, something she couldn't sink her claws, or teeth into. She also had faith that her mate would figure things out. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 04 She caught a few rabbits, skinned them, and headed back for their camp. Nicole had already gathered wood and had a good fire going, she skewered the meat and hung them over the waiting fire. They were all hungry from the energy expended in their run and looked forward to a good meal. ------------ Nora felt herself relaxing as well. Her stress over the last two weeks and more was slowly releasing. She realized they still had a god to deal with, but strangely that didn't stress her out as much as the idea of assassins or enemy soldiers attacking. Those were her concerns, there was nothing she could do about their remaining problem, except trust that Justin would take care of it as he had last time. She still trained with Trina that night though, it wouldn't hurt to develop her other skills despite having her magic to depend on again... Chapter 14 Justin got a little worried over the next two days of travel. When he had faced the dark god, the answer had come at the last minute, just seconds from death. If at all possible he wanted a plan before going in this time. Last time he hadn't really known what to expect at all, this time, he knew it would be a fight for his life. He just couldn't figure out an answer. If giving his free will away to have a goddess work directly through him wouldn't be enough, than what would be? The power he had felt that day was beyond his comprehension, how could he possibly make a difference to that? He should be worried about normal things, like how to be a good father, and how to keep his mates happy. But he wouldn't shy from his responsibility. He was a little scared that he would let his goddess down, there had to be a way, he just didn't know what it was. At the end of their third day of travel, they were close to the city but decided to spend the night at their home instead, and go visit the king in the morning. The building seemed undisturbed but he checked all the rooms anyway, made sure no squatters had moved in during their absence. Katrina and Sara got to work in the kitchen on their evening meal while Sally used the cleaning spells to remove all the dust and stale air, refreshing their sheets and bedding. Nora cut up some wood and Nicole helped carry it in and light it, getting one of the stoves ready for their cooks. He smiled, it felt like coming home. Sally came in and sat on his lap, snuggling her nose into his neck and shoulder. This place, and Sally in his lap reminded him why he was doing what he was doing. He had to find a way to destroy the altar, keep his family free and their world free from that influence. He was also doing it for his goddess, he owed her his life, and so much more, he truly would do anything she asked of him. Sally kissed him, then got up and started to set the table in the kitchen. In a short time they all enjoyed a meal together, for tonight, in their own little world, alone with their family... ------------ Nicole stepped into her father's suite wondering how he took what Justin told him. They had been closeted for a couple of hours. Her first impression of his mood was resigned, it really was a good idea to get a hold of Egeria, but she knew it would cause complications for her father. Still, she thought the new problems were a good tradeoff to stop the raiding and even the suffering of the people in Egeria under a brutal rule. She gave him a familial hug and sat down at his gesture. He said without preamble, "I never wanted another woman after your mother. I don't know if you remember, but I even tried when you were younger. I couldn't help but compare, and it was also hard to discern if a woman actually cared for me, or if she simply wanted to be queen. "With your brother out of the picture now, ruling in Egeria... I feel I don't have a choice, and will pursue it again, perhaps enough time has passed. In the interim however, I have officially named your child my heir, male or not, until I do my duty and produce another son. Cytherea willing, there will be a woman out there fool enough to want your old man." She smiled, "I'm sure there is father, and if you want to weed out the social climbers, feel free to throw a large ball and invite us. I'm sure Sara would be happy to help you out that way." He grinned conspiratorially, "That is an ingeniously sneaky idea daughter, and will put my mind at ease. I'm glad you were paying attention growing up. I'll set something up for a few weeks from now. Hopefully everything will settle down by then." They talked for a while longer until duty pulled her father away, she returned to the guest suites in high spirits. It looked like her and her father wouldn't take too long to redefine their relationship after all. She and the others could tell Justin was concerned and bothered, so they sat him down, and with wheedling and threats got the whole story from him. He had never shared with them before, what it had taken, the way he sacrificed his free will and put his life on the line for the goddess. Apparently if he did that again it wouldn't be enough, and it didn't take her long to figure out the answer, and realize why he hadn't yet. When she explained her idea, he hadn't liked it very much. In fact he argued about it vociferously. She got why of course, and although she was a little angry at his stance, her and the other ladies decided to let him think about it for a while. There was no point in arguing about it, at least, not yet. She would give him the time he needed, within reason. Dinner came and they dropped the subject completely as they ate... ------------ Sally stretched, displaying herself decadently, her body was pleasantly sore from last hour spent with her mate. She laughed when Justin took the opportunity to both tickle her, and suckle one of her nipples. She moaned as her nipple tightened, delighted her bait had worked so well. She loved how he worshipped her body with his eyes, mouth, tongue and fingertips. It was only fair after all, she couldn't get enough of his either. He didn't disappoint, she sighed in pleasure as she felt his mushroom head enter her eager velvety center, filling her completely as he drove deep within her limber and supple body. She moved her legs around and up, so she was pinned beneath him. She smiled up at him while reaching under her own ass, which was hovering over the bed as she was held up by her legs on his shoulders. She started to tease his balls, gently rolling them in her fingers. "Goddess Justin! You're so deep." Demandingly she said, "I want more of your cum in me, fuck me hard, fill my needy pussy with your baby batter." She gasped and pinched her own nipple with her other hand as she rose quickly to orgasm. His long thick pole stretching her as he pounded deeply into her needy body over and over again. She was delirious with the pleasure of her mate using her body so roughly. He had a lot of stamina after already cumming twice and drilled into her without mercy as she was brought to bliss over and over. She loved Justin but this was primal, a hard and fast coupling out of lust and barely controlled passion. She encouraged him to fill her again when she felt him start to expand within her, and his balls tightened and slightly raised off her fingertips. She loved having the power to make him lose control, and it got her off so well every time he did. They cuddled and kissed, her body felt used and sore, and she was sated and quite content, for now... ------------ Justin was trying to figure out another way as they moved through Uleni, but was pinned by the logic of Nicole's argument yesterday. He also knew he was on thin ice, but it was one thing to risk his life for his family and goddess, it was another to risk his and his mates' lives. It should work, but if it doesn't they would all die. He just couldn't wrap his head around that risk. There was another more practical issue with the plan, while they were taking care of the altar both he and his mates would be fully occupied. He was glad they had a truce and a starting peace with Uleni, but he wasn't sure he trusted them with his unprotected back. If they could get rid of him their dreams of world conquest, that he had basically forced them to abandon, would be that much more reachable. He had no doubt Trina would defend them, but against a couple of mages she really wouldn't be able to in his opinion. Maybe one, if she was fast enough... Either way he didn't like it, not at all. On the other hand, he was close to getting sent to the doghouse, all of his mates were strong and did not want to be coddled. He would probably have to give in, if only to respect their right to choose the risk, but he would hate every moment of it. He also realized it was a bit hypocritical, since they had been risking their lives to protect him and each other from mundane threats all along. Of course, they had never been faced with an all or nothing threat before, he knew he needed to calm down or he would start losing it, if he hadn't already. They stopped at a village for lunch, their group received a few suspicious stares as they went into the tavern for lunch. The tavern owner seemed reluctant to have them there, but was too afraid to refuse them service. There may have been a treaty in the works and a tentative peace, but that didn't mean everyone in the kingdom knew about it. He decided the course of wisdom was to compromise, and said if they couldn't figure out another way to get things done, they would go with Nicole's plan. They were about halfway through eating when an older man walked in and stared at the group, then stepped back out. He was worried what that meant and suggested they get out of there. He wasn't too worried about anything happening to them, but if they were forced to defend themselves it wouldn't look good. They were getting up when the older man came back in, this time with ten soldiers. One of the soldiers said, "Halt! You are under arrest, all of you." He furrowed his brow, "The capitol is expecting our return, for what reason do you accost us?" The soldier glared, "This mage has told us you harbor a witch, you will all be tried and dealt with accordingly." He asked carefully, "Did the mage also tell you who I am? Surely if he checked our magic he would know?" He guessed the mage only bothered to check the ladies, because the blood drained from the mage's face as he met the old man's eyes with his. He smiled coldly, "You might want to talk to him, he clearly knows who I am now. Better late than never." What he said made him feel like a pretentious jackass, but it was better than explaining a fight, and perhaps a chase across the kingdom. He worried it may come to that anyway. The guard looked uneasily at the mage, who seemed incapable of speech right at the moment. The mage finally bowed low and said, "My apologies Flame of Cytherea," turning to the soldiers he said, "We must allow the foul witch passage, they are on a mission essential to our survival." He relaxed slightly as the guards nodded and left the tavern. They watched as the old man glared at Sally again in disgust, as if not quite believing what he was doing, and left. He sighed. "That was fun, we might as well finish our lunch. We'll need the energy this afternoon." They sat back down and ate quickly, all of them eager to get out of this village. They decided it was probably better not to push their luck and avoid stopping in any more villages. They wouldn't reach the capitol until tomorrow night, it would be better if they could avoid any incidents. They got back on the road and moved quickly, putting the town far behind them. It seemed clear to him there was no love lost here in Uleni. Perhaps one day Egeria would be safe but clearly they would need to keep an eye north. Uleni was too set in their ways at the highest levels. When they stopped for the night, set up the tent, and started cooking dinner he brought up his concerns. "I'm a little worried what will happen once we destroy the altar and the books. I don't want to borrow trouble, but I have a feeling if it wasn't for needing me to get rid of the altar, Uleni wouldn't be quite so tolerant. I wouldn't be surprised if we broke the altar and found a dagger in our backs." Sara said, "I think you are right, they are worried about you. Not all of them, some like Ross and the other mages that were with us simply want to help make things better. But King Luis? I wouldn't trust him." He frowned, if Sara was concerned he knew there was a good reason to worry. Nicole said, "If we need to, we can fight our way out," she shrugged, "I don't think they have the troop strength to take us. Especially when we are in their castle with limited directions to come at us, we could hold them off easily. I think we will be mostly at risk while leaving, in the city." He pondered that for a moment, "Okay, how about if Sara thinks they are going to betray us, we will take the secret way out Trina knows, avoiding the city altogether, then run for it. Some of them could keep up, but not enough to truly threaten us I don't think. The trick will be leaving without setting off a war they can't win and we don't want to fight." Nora nodded, "I can get behind that plan, although I'll be honest, it is tempting to clean house. I hate the idea of baby girls that could grow up to be just like Sally being killed. Still, that isn't the best way to get people to change either." Nicole added, "That is tempting, but it could screw up what we have going in Egeria as well. Ross might object, and possibly retaliate against my brother. I hate politics getting in the way of saving the young female mages though. Maybe we could help without starting a war. Send in teams to monitor villages and get female mages out of the country somehow? I don't know." They discussed a number of possibilities as they ate their dinner. He wasn't sure what would come of it, but he planned on talking to the king when he got back to Abelaweth. Surely something could be done, perfect or not, to save at least some of them. Nicole pulled him into the tent after dinner, and made him forget all about enemy kingdoms and the fact they would be facing off with a god in just twenty four hours... ---------- Nicole wouldn't admit it to Justin, but her plan scared the crap out of her. If she were wrong about it, they would all die. Justin, her, all the other mates and their unborn children, just gone. Still, it was their best and possibly only chance at success. She lost herself in his arms and opened her body and soul to him as they made love. She just couldn't imagine this being the last time. It couldn't be, she wouldn't allow it. When he angled his stroke and started hitting her g-spot, she stopped worrying about anything, for quite a while... ---------- They packed up in silence, all of them lost in their own thoughts. Justin found himself praying to Cytherea, but she wasn't giving him any hints either way on if it would work or not. He hoped they would be able to snag the books and find another way, although he doubted it would make a difference. If there was another way, the goddess would not have needed to create his talent in the first place. They were barely traveling for an hour when Nicole landed in front of them, a couple of hundred yards out and changed. They slowed and stopped and he wondered what the heck was going on now? Nicole reported, "There is a group of large soldiers a half mile ahead, blocking the road. I also saw a couple of people dressed like the mages do here." Nora asked, "Is there a way around, should we just avoid them?" He pursed his lips in thought and said, "Let's go see what they want. I was expecting this on our way out, not on the trip in." No one looked thrilled at the idea, but they walked that half mile at a normal pace. He was all set to respond quickly to any attack and trying to keep his anger at bay. The people of Uleni were starting to really piss him off, and for him and his magical talent, that was a deadly mistake. When they came in sight of the road block, one of them started to walk toward them. As Nicole had told them, he could see the man was dressed as a mage. As they got closer together he could make out the mage's expression, it was neutral, and a little nervous. Still, he didn't relax all that much. When they were close enough not to shout the mage said, "Greetings, I'm mage Stephen. We had reports you were coming back, and that there was a confrontation yesterday that was averted? King Luis sent me to escort you the rest of the way to avoid misunderstandings, and he thanks you for showing forbearance in dealing with the mage and guards." The mage continued after making an apologetic face, "Some of our law enforcers can be rather... insistent. He had assumed when you returned Ross would be with you to smooth things over, and he only recently got word of what happened there." He looked at Sara and she shrugged and nodded. He wasn't too happy about an escort, it would be exhausting watching their backs constantly, and it would slow them down. He didn't really see an alternative though, outside of starting another war. "Very well, it would be good not having to worry about a repeat of yesterday. Do you know how long it will take us to get back to the capitol?" Stephen looked surprised by the question, then a rueful look came over his face, "I wasn't very clear was I, by escort I meant travel. If you agree I can have us outside the capitol in moments. The soldiers behind me are local to the village straight ahead, I am the escort." Perversely, now he was panicking about there not being enough time. He had his mind set on having the day before facing the task of the altar. He was more or less resigned to the battle for himself, but his emotional reaction toward putting his mates in danger so soon had him reeling. He managed to keep it from showing on his face, but it wasn't easy. Stephen gave an understanding smile, completely misinterpreting their reactions. "I'll give you time to talk it over, but I assure you it's completely safe." When he was far enough away not to hear Katrina asked, "Is it safe?" Sally said, "It should be, he can't do anything to us without doing it to himself anyway." Trina chimed in, "I have travelled a couple of times, it is uncomfortable, but not dangerous. It can be for the mage on their first attempt, but once a mage learns to do it..." They talked about it for a minute, but they all knew they really didn't have much of a choice. They called Stephen back over. He warned them not to move around too much, or panic at the sensations, then started. It was strange, he felt something like a tube wrapped around him, crushing him, but before he could even start to worry something was going wrong, the feeling receded and they found themselves a few hundred yards from the city walls. It was a bit jarring as his mind caught up. He blew out a deep breath and said, "That was different." Stephen smiled. "You did well, most of the time people get vertigo the first time when their surroundings change like that and empty their stomachs. Just let me know when you're ready and I'll escort... walk you to the palace." Now that the mage mentioned it, he did feel a little queasy. They did a quick check of their gear as they recovered. Everything seemed good. "Lead the way..." At first the streets were crowded, some people gazed at them fearfully through the guard that escorted them from the gate, and others looked suspicious as they cleared out of the way. But a short way in, word must have travelled ahead because the crowd thinned out and they were able to travel faster. It was a tense walk, he was pretty sure if they were going to do anything, it would be after the altar was taken care of, yet, people often did the unexpected. The soldiers were fairly close to him, and he felt like he was on a hair trigger. But the soldiers stopped at the castle gates and Stephen led them by himself up the stairs and into the large structure. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 04 He felt a shiver go through him, as he once again felt the altar against his magic. It felt like a cold steel blade was held against his throat, and he could swear he could feel blood dripping down his neck. It was eerie. He wondered how anyone could live here when he noticed he wasn't really seeing anyone. Maybe they had abandoned the place for now? Stephen had a hitch in his voice, "This is as far as I go. Take those stairs down and follow the corridor, you won't miss it. Your witch can take down the stone wall we put up. Good luck." He watched as Stephen went back the way they came in, at almost a run. That answered his question on if anyone was still in the castle. Nora said, "Well, at least we know we won't be ambushed right away, there isn't anyone here to do it." They started down the stairs, and when they were halfway down it felt as if the blade at his neck was digging into his skin. He embraced his talent, but sparingly, surrounding him and the ladies in a thin cover of dancing white flames. He took a deep breath and continued down the stairs and followed the corridor. When they reached a wall in the corridor, Sally took it down, and they stepped through the exposed door. They looked around the room with the altar in it. It was well lit, another reminder this was not a dark god they faced, but a true god of their universe. It was also the treasury, so they saw gold, jewels and what must be important papers. They did not see any books. The books were gone. He just stood there, looking around the room again, mad at himself they did not at least destroy the books last time they were there. They had agreed it was too dangerous to do so when they weren't ready to face the altar, but that was scant reassurance in the face of having lost the opportunity to destroy them. He sighed, letting go of the anger, it wouldn't help them right now, or ever. "Are you ready?" he asked, not quite hiding his nerves. Chapter 15 They surrounded the altar and held hands. Without the books there was no choice, he was confident it would work, but not certain, and that bugged him quite a bit. Sally said, "Wait! The ceiling is spelled to collapse when the altar breaks. I can barely feel it with the aura of the altar messing with us. I would have missed it had I not been so sure they would betray us." He flared his power, pushing out white flames to cancel any nearby magic. Sally looking relieved said, "Good, you got them, and probably others that I couldn't sense." He said, "Ready?" They all nodded and he bowed his head to pray to his goddess as the others did the same. Nicole's plan was simple if incredibly risky. If him giving up his free will to the goddess gave her great power and the ability to act, how much more powerful would she become if they all did it? The sacrifice of their family, bound together by love, their mate bonds, and his magic as the Flame of Cytherea. Of course, there were risks. If they failed, they would all die. The other issue was they all had to mean it, it wouldn't be a sacrifice otherwise, they all had to be willing to die, and give over their souls to Cytherea's care. The last concern was the power that was channeled through him last time was almost overwhelming; would his body be able to deal with six times the power? That was even assuming the rise in power would be linear, it may be more than that. He had no more time for doubts though, and gave everything he was to the goddess in hope and love. He closed his eyes at the bright white light that filled his vision, but it was so blindingly bright closing his eyes didn't make much of a difference. He felt power, and the love of the goddess fill him, but his body screamed in pain at the same time as if he was being burned from the inside out. He thought he heard a scream of rage and the altar crack as he lost consciousness. ----------- Katrina caught Justin as he collapsed. Justin had been the focus of all the power so the rest of them had at worst, spots in their eyes from the light. She noticed the books against the wall and pointed them out. Sally said as Nicole burned the books to ash, "Ares must have hidden them somehow in the altar's aura. I guess he was trying to preserve a chance to get back here if we succeeded." Sara looked down at her and the unconscious Justin with concern and said, "I feel people approaching, coming in the castle doors now. What do we do..." She understood what Sara had left off at the end, what could they do without Justin able to protect them? They might hold their own for a while, but eventually... His body felt warm in her arms, too warm really, as if he was in a fever. She knew how Justin must have felt that day when she looked to the door, and saw Trina staring at them all with awe and reverence on her face. Trina said, "Follow me, I think I can get us out of here." They heard from out in the hallway, "The structure is still intact, the spells didn't work, go get more soldiers and mages, hurry." She gave Justin to Nora and transformed, darting into the hall quickly she saw there were only three people there. Two were mages, and much more powerful than she would ever be. But she was quicker. Spells take the marshalling of thought and will, her claws, speed and instincts won out as she mauled all three in a blink. Perhaps that would give them some time. She wasn't sure how long others would wait before checking up on the three she killed. Trina shook her head and said, "This way," and led them deeper into the underground hallways. ---------- Nora carried Justin in her arms and held her magic tightly in her mind's grasp. She reminded herself over and over he was still alive. They hadn't been able to wake him though, and he was the only one who could heal his injured body. She very carefully tried not to let that panic her. Nora had forgotten that since Trina was once an assassin for Uleni, she would know the layout of the castle. She tried to focus on what was going on, rather than the life in her arms that was far more precious to her than her own. King Luis had made a mistake only sending a few people to verify their deaths, hopefully that would be enough for them to escape. Although she was tempted to turn around and fight, without Justin they would have no chance against the numbers Uleni could bring to bear. ---------- When they came out of the tunnels they were behind the city. They made for the tree line and entered the wilderness away from any roads. Nicole knew they needed to find a place to hide and plan, but it still bothered her they were going the wrong way, deeper into Uleni. They travelled for most of the day on foot, not using magic at all, and made it maybe five miles into the forest before setting up camp. She watched as Sally cast her magic on the tent, hiding it and them from magical detection. She was relieved when Sally explained. "Even if a mage flies over as a bird, he won't detect our magic, as long as we aren't using it." She checked on Nora and Justin, he was still out. Nora was trying to get some water into him and she was a little freaked out by everything, and angry. They hadn't planned for this at all. All their plans had assumed they would either be dead, or all okay, no one had guessed Justin would be struck down. "What should we do?" Nora shrugged, "Lay low until Justin recovers..." They all went to bed reluctantly when Justin didn't stir for the rest of the day, if only he would wake up, she knew he could heal his body... ------------ Sally woke early and got Justin to drink some water, using a trickle of her magic to make sure it went down the right pipe. They really hadn't had time yesterday in it all, but she couldn't help the awe she felt at her experience. All the goddess's power went through Justin, but they had all felt her presence, and the love she felt for them all. It had been a life changing experience for her. She knew of course the goddess loved her, she felt it each time she used her magic, but yesterday's experience had been so much more... intimate. As if her soul was cradled by the goddess herself. She struggled to truly define it. Now if only Justin would wake, it would all be worth it. Sara woke up, so she asked her, "We still alone?" Sara tilted her head for a second, then said, "No one in range, I think we are okay." They spent the morning making plans. It would take a week, but they decided to go back under cover, rather than quickly over the road. The mages in Uleni communicated and moved too quickly for that to be an option. They even brought up the idea again of simply attacking when Justin woke, but they decided there was little chance of getting anyone better to run the country. Uleni was one enemy they would have to suffer. None of them thought Uleni would push the issue if they escaped back into Abelaweth, they were simply too weak right now to go to war. Sally sighed, they were a bunch of ungrateful bastards is what they were. ----------- Sara was worried. She hadn't told anyone, but she couldn't feel any emotions from Justin. None at all. It was like he wasn't even there. She refused to give up hope, she had never felt nothing from a living body before now, but that didn't mean his soul was gone, did it? How could it be? They were finally done, all they had to do was escape this cursed kingdom and they could settle down in their tavern and enjoy life, raise their children. That was all she wanted for her whole family. A normal life well earned by service to the goddess. Was that too much to ask? ----------- Trina was shaken. She still didn't thinks he was especially deserving of Sara, but after yesterday's experience she was sure the goddess loved her despite what she was in the past. She could tell Sara was bothered by Justin's condition even if she wouldn't talk about it, and she hoped he would recover. They had all been through so much, it seemed unfair if they lost him now in the end. But if there was one thing Trina knew, life wasn't fair... ----------- Cytherea smiled as she felt the presence behind her. "Do you plan on keeping him daughter?" She turned and looked at him curiously, "You know I do not. I am simply waiting for his body to recover enough. Though it is tempting, he did give himself to me, why should I not keep his soul with me? I could use good company." It was his turn to be curious, "Are you teasing me daughter?" Her lips twitched, "Me father? Maybe a little, though I do get lonely." He replied, "Yes, you wait for one worthy of you, but why do you not spend time in the world with the mortals you love?" She frowned, "Are you teasing me now? You know I cannot, not without influencing them as I had done in the past. You yourself have forbidden it." He slowly disappeared as he said, "Daughter, I simply said you can't go as yourself without impacting their free will... think about that for a while." ------------ Justin groaned, his body felt abused, and he had a splitting headache and couldn't think straight. It took all his concentration to get his talent going, and he started to feel better almost immediately as the healing took hold of his body. He cracked his eyes open and saw Nora lying next to him. He was in the tent and wondered how the hell he'd gotten there; last thing he could remember was drowning in both love and pain. He was curious to ask what had been going on, and how long he was out, but Nora looked so peaceful and adorable asleep he didn't want to disturb her. He looked around as his head started to clear, and everyone was asleep, so he closed his eyes, yawned and fell towards sleep himself. Being unconscious was exhausting... When he woke up the next day he found himself drowning in kisses from his beautiful mates. He must have been worse off than he thought. Eventually he got someone to explain their situation, which wasn't good. They fed him and he had to insist he was perfectly fine many times before they relented. His power had healed him after all, he didn't need to be coddled. He agreed with their plans to head south without using magic, and it was close to noon by the time they started out. They made slow but steady progress as they made their way through the woods. He wasn't quite as bad a woodsman as he was when he showed up on this world, but he was thankful they had Katrina to take the lead. She seemed to be able to instinctively find game trails heading in the right direction without any problems. When they stopped and set up camp, had dinner and relaxed by the fire, he realized he must have been very close to death. They had been treating him like glass all day, and now no one had dragged him off. He laughed, grabbed Nora's hand and pulled her to the privacy blanket. Apparently he would have to prove he was very much better. Nora resisted at first, looking worried, but when she gave in and kissed him it was a deep desperate kiss. As if she was afraid he would disappear on her. He said softly, "I'm here love, I'm safe with you. I'm sorry if I scared you," as he caressed her hair and neck. Nora kissed him, her wandering hands making short work of their clothing. She didn't say anything, but the look in her eyes told him exactly how scared she was that she almost lost him. She pulled him down as she laid back onto the bedding. They kissed hungrily as he explored her petite supple body. When he checked, he found her ready but teased her core to orgasm with his fingertips, putting off his own pleasure for the moment. He loved the scent of her skin as he kissed and licked her neck and shoulders. Her breath was short and fast, sweet sounds of pleasure exhaled from her lips as he brought his mate to bliss. His fingers were soaked with her sweet nectar, and he tasted them as he knelt between her legs. He lined up and slowly impaled her in one firm forward thrust while staring deeply into her eyes. He could see the tears in her eyes as the emotions of the moment overwhelmed them both. He sighed in pleasure when he was fully buried, filling her, and he could feel her body clamp around him as she got used to his welcomed invasion. There was so much love, passion and emotion in her eyes, and every touch, that he wondered if he would ever be worthy of it. He started to pump his hardened flesh in and out of her tight supple body, her wet heat pure pleasure. Their bodies came together in a physical manifestation of the deep love they held. It was all just too much for him to hold out when she screamed his name in pleasure and her center locked tightly around his manhood he felt his body preparing to explode in pleasure. He rocked in and out a few more times, burying himself hard in her heaven as he released his seed deep within her willing body. They cuddled and kissed for a while, no words spoken as their eyes shared everything they needed to hear. A short time later it was time to start again... The next few days passed as they made progress toward the border. They were sure Luis had groups hunting them, but they didn't run into any. On the fourth day, they did run into someone, but certainly no one that they had been expecting. They all froze and looked around when they heard the crack of a stick breaking. An animal wouldn't have done that. He looked to Sara and to his surprise, she called out, "It's okay, we won't hurt you. Come out." A young girl, no older than six came out with a guilty look on her face. Sara said, "Who are you? How did you get here?" That was something he was curious about too, they were far from any kind of civilization. The girl made a face, "Kelly, I'm not allowed to be out here." Sara asked, "Where are your parents?" Kelly pointed the way and started walking. They all looked at each other then started following. After about a ten minute walk, one moment they saw nothing but forest, the next step they could see a village. He heard a loud noise, maybe an alarm? He watched Kelly run to a couple of women in the village, who looked up at them and frowned. Sally whispered, "They are both mages, as is Kelly. There are a lot of them here." A number of women, and men, ran from the buildings, none of them looked friendly. He sighed, of course they didn't. He cleared his throat as no one had attacked yet, "Hi, we're just passing through." A woman said, "And we live here in secret, it is our lives if the location gets out." Nora almost growled, "I suppose you won't take our word that we won't tell anyone? We are from Abelaweth. For that matter, you would all be welcome there if you don't want to hide in the middle of a forest anymore." He heard whispered conversations of varying opinions. Some were tired of hiding and wanted to look into Nora's offer, some wanted to let them go. The worst being they were spies and should be dealt with. He wasn't about to let that last happen. These people were some of the ones he had been trying to figure out how to save. But that didn't mean they couldn't be on the wrong side of things as well. Still, they didn't seem bad, just scared. Which kind of surprised him, there were a lot of witches here, more than enough to fight if they had to. He wondered how this village had come to be. He asked, "There are a lot of you here, why are you hiding? You can come with us, Abelaweth will be safe for you." A man shook his head and said, "We need to remain here, to rescue pregnant mothers that will bear a witch." He guessed they must have some system in place, he rather doubted they would fill him in on it though. He almost suggested they fight, take over Uleni. But these people were clearly not warriors, they were just people who wanted to live in peace, who happened to be witches. "We'll leave you be now, but remember our offer." A few looked nervous at the idea, but no one stopped them from leaving. He took that as a good sign but they didn't truly relax until they had a few miles lead from the village. Almost another full week passed as they slowly made their way to the border. The twisting trails and terrain slowing them down more than they expected. There were a couple of close calls at the border, but they made it through without violence and headed to the capitol to let the king know what was going on. Whatever peace had been made wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Only the reduced military of Uleni stayed their hand, he wondered how long that would hold true, and what would happen then. He promised the king he would be there to help, should Uleni invade again. It didn't feel like enough, but it was all he could do. None of them talked about the hidden village they had found, spies were common, and though they would probably be safe even from a search, it would be better to keep their existence a secret. They spent a few days at the castle, but ultimately left to go home. The tavern was undisturbed and it took them a day to get it back to the point they would be able to open. Even better, the beer they had brewed had aged enough to serve. As the days turned into weeks, they truly made it their home and business picked up. First just passing merchants, then others came from the city. They all celebrated when Sara was confirmed pregnant. He had five children coming, and plenty of work to do. The nursery he had thought so damn large when he first saw it, now looked impossibly small. He didn't imagine for one second they wouldn't have more after the initial group of five. Besides work for the tavern, he was sought out for healing almost daily, and at least once a week went into the city for the day. Usually Nicole joined him for the trip and spent the day at the palace as he healed anyone who needed it, often not charging for his trouble. The king supported this, by not charging him for the office space. FOC - Uleni's Gamble 04 It wasn't easy, and would get harder when the children came, but he'd never been happier. Epilogue ...Five years later. She was a stunning young woman, just twenty two, and quite tall for a Cytherean woman at five foot ten inches. She had long curly golden blonde hair, blue eyes, and a body with curves in all the right places. She had started out a few years ago selling spices and herbs from Egeria in northern Abelaweth thanks to the peace brought by King Anton. But today was the day she opened up her own shop. She chose the village a few miles outside the capitol city. It was a new village, sprung up around the tavern that used to stand alone. She knew her business would do well there as she had always sold out her large cart when passing through, and even had buyers lined up in the city. Of course, there were other reasons for her to set up here. The Flame of Cytherea worked at that tavern, as did his five mates. He also had a large number of children, twelve last time she had come through. He had been the reason behind the relatively quick growth of the village, and she was more than willing to jump on that bandwagon. She had a very personal interest in his life. She got her stock organized and shelved, then crossed the street and entered the tavern for lunch. She chose a table in the corner so she could see the whole room. She loved to people watch; it was endlessly fascinating to her. Although, she wasn't here to just watch, she was here to be a part of it all. Sara smiled at her from across the room carrying a plate of food and a beer her way. "Hi Reah, it's nice to see you again, we are running low on those spices." Reah returned the smile and said, "Even better, I'm the one opening a shop across the street. No waiting for me and my rickety cart any longer." Sara snickered. "You'll have to watch for our children, no doubt they'll be bugging you for those stories you tell every time you come through." She shrugged, "I have a lot of stories, I won't be running out anytime soon." Sara said regretfully, "I need to get back, Katrina is a slave driver. We'll catch up later?" She nodded happily and said, "I'll be here." There was truly no other place in the universe she would rather be... Hoped you enjoyed it! This story is done... I figured I'd leave it up to your imagination on what, if anything, happens between Reah and Justin, because, I'm just mean that way. :)