1 comments/ 13360 views/ 2 favorites Fire and Ice Ch. 01 By: Darlantan Fire and Ice Marrack's Choice. Part 1 of 2. The pentagram was much larger than normal. Jakkurlnalazz sniffed cautiously, looking around at its surroundings. There was blood here, and evil. The demon smiled, razor sharp teeth oozing slime lining its small mouth. Just like home. Jakkurlnalazz wasn't a large demon, as the creatures went. It was barely above a foot high, unless augmented by his master's power. It was more of a courier, a messenger or scout depending on his master's needs. The night sky was densely overcast, with no stars in sight. The creature's eyes needed no light, though, seeing the world in the pure heat from which it was born. The surrounding area was familiar to Jakkurlnalazz, the demon had killed here. Its last master had unleashed it like a Hell wind, had amplified the demon's size and power with his own. It had been a glorious slaughter of people and sin. Something else familiar was in this area, too. Its summoner. Jakkurlnalazz turned as it caught the breathless chanting to its rear. Its summoner was a woman, Jakkurlnalazz realised with surprise. A woman who had already felt the demon's touch. She wore a black silk robe, so thin as to hide nothing. Her nipples were dark, and red, and one of them held Jakkurlnalazz's own touch. Its tongue flicked the air, and tasted nothing but sex, pure lust. The demon liked the taste. The chant finished, and the woman rose from her crouch. Her eyes drained of colour as she stepped into the circle. Jakkurlnalazz narrowed his eyes and stepped forwards. The woman smiled and cast off her robe. "Jakkurlnalazz, dark lord, I bid you welcome again, to this site of chaos and death." The demon reared back in surprise as it heard it's own tongue spoken to it from a human. It had only heard that once, from its former master. "Priestess?" The woman bowed low, and the demon cocked its head to the side, feeling something small and insignificant trying to push into its darkness. "A lowly worshipper, who wishes only to please her lord with the favours of her flesh." Jakkurlnalazz cocked its head to the side again, its small maw working in what might have been amusement. "Favours of your flesh? You wish to gain power by sharing yourself with me?" The woman bowed low. "I wish you to make me a vessel of your pleasure, and your seed, my lord, so that your darkness may rule here forever." The woman's almond shaped eyes lifted to the demon's bright yellow orbs, and the demon began to laugh. "Lotus. Human who wished to share the power of my last master's loins." The demon reached out with one black claw and flicked the blackened, scarred nipple on Lotus's chest. "How's that working out for you, Doctor?" The woman quivered as the pain lanced through her, and she sank down to her knees, her legs spreading wide as she lowered. "I need what only you can give me, my lord. I have spent years looking for a way to reach you. I have found both a spell to keep you here and a spell to ensure your seed lies in my belly." Jakkurlnalazz scoffed, and Lotus reached up with one hand and spiked her palm on one of its jutting horns. She began to murmur in the tongue of the damned as she held her bloody palm to the small demon's chest. It began to grow, and finally she shrank back, exhausted. The demon stood tall now, at seven feet even, and its power was unmistakable. She lay back, and spread herself wide. "Come, dark one, let me taste your pleasure." Jakkurlnalazz looked down at the slut beneath him and couldn't quite believe it. It looked around, but saw only the two of them. There was no more vulnerability in a demon inside the pentagram. It could kill her right now, and simply wait for the morning to banish him back to Hell. Lotus sat up and began to rub her hands along the inside of his thighs, feeling the burnt, horned skin. There was a dark red mark, almost like the back of a cockroach's shell, where his cock should have been. She began to move her fingertips along its edge, and felt the shield move up and split apart. Like a snake from it's burrow, the demon's cock slid forward. There were no eyes, but the demon's cock had teeth and moved like it was alive. It swayed side by side, and she began to move her hands around it. Jakkurlnalazz's cock moved into her touch like a dog being petted, and the small mouth opened wide. Jakkurlnalazz stared at Lotus in almost pity, but she was too far gone in her lust to even care. She slapped the demon's cock lightly, getting its attention. She pulled it down towards her, her eyes finally moving up to lock onto the demons. Jakkurlnalazz began to grin as it felt its cock find her sweetness. Lotus's eyes opened wide, and the demon pulled back, then moved forwards. It grabbed her still bleeding hand and moved it over its cock, making sure to coat itself fully. It threw her hand away when it was done, watching as it listlessly dropped to the ground. It moved inside of her cheeks and pressed against her asshole. One clawed hand pressed down against her pussy, keeping pressure against her mound. Lotus lay there and moaned as the demon's cock worked its way inside of her. She could feel it moving back and forth, swaying side to side inside of her ass. There was something beyond sin in the feeling, and Lotus began to shriek in violent lust as the demon began to fuck her. Jakkurlnalazz had hold of her legs, holding them up against it's hips as it fucked its cock inside of her ass deeper and deeper. The demon didn't moan or grunt, just snarled wordlessly at her. Lotus could feel herself getting wetter and wetter against the demon's hand, and she began to mutter its name. The demon raked its hand down her mound and slid its claws inside of her. Lotus screamed in pain as the sharp claws penetrated her, the rough skin sending black lines straight up inside of her. The demon's thrusts didn't alter, but its cock inside of her began to thrash back and forth. Jakkurlnalazz pulled out and plunged its cock inside of her wetness with a hiss. Lotus screamed in pain again as the demon resumed its thrusts, its cock inside of her thrashing about like a dying fish on a spear. Lotus clenched her teeth together as she came in dark sin, and exploded her juices up and over the demon's thrusting hips. The demon didn't stop; its thrusts were harsh and unwavering. Lotus sagged back and limply waited for the dark one to finish, until she felt the cock inside of her stiffen like steel. There was a split second of pleasure, then a sharp, sharp pain as the demon's cock bit her. She could feel its venom being pumped inside of her as the demon came, and she screamed. There was fire inside of her, scalding fire, and Lotus began to shake as she felt herself burning from the inside out. Jakkurlnalazz eased himself out of her passage and its cock drooled as it was brought back out into the world. It surged again and vomited a black pus onto her clitoris, which began to burn. Lotus surged up as her world exploded again, and felt the sensations racing through her clitoris. There wasn't anything she could do, she went to wipe it off, but felt only lust. The demon watched her as its cock slid back inside of its hole. She frantically rubbed at herself, trying to move its cum away from her clit, because it was making her die with the pain and pleasure. She stopped finally and passed out. The demon looked up at the sky, beginning to brighten. It felt the call of the Hellfire and answered it. Lotus opened one eye as the demon ashed to the wind. She was alone on the mountaintop. Deep inside her, the demon's seed settled into the flesh. After an eternity, she heard the faint sound of stones crunched under a heavy boot heel. The morning sun was washing over the valley, bathing the darkness in sunlit warmth. The steps drew closer until finally they were beside her. Lotus looked up, her body twisted and used. The stranger was blocked out by the sun, and she shut her eyes and began to cry. The man sighed, and lowered to his knees. "You play a dangerous game, Jade." Lotus smiled to herself and let the huge man pick her up. She felt small bumps of pure metal under her fingers and lay limp in her saviour's arms as he made his way back down the mountain. The man's huge arms cradled her protectively against the sun, and the branches of the surrounding trees. "Steel. Oh, Robert. I'm so glad you're here." Robert Dellapane didn't answer her as he made his way further down the valley face, moving slowly so as not to jolt his passenger. Lotus sighed against him, watching her breath fog up the small tumours of metal that had given him his nickname. Lotus felt her strength returning as Steel carried her down the mountainside. She reached up to his shirt and began to move her hand over his skin, feeling to softness of his flesh and the hardness of his metal. As her strength returned, so too did her lust. Her fingernails scraped over Steel's nipple, and he stumbled, nearly dropping her. Her arms slid around his neck, and she tightened her grip, raising herself in his arms. "Come back to my office, Robert." Steel didn't answer her, he only sighed. After several moments, they came to a small metal doorway cut into the side of the mountain, almost at the base of the valley. The guards took one look at Lotus and grinned to themselves, and Lotus smiled naughtily in return. They stepped aside for Steel and one of the guards grabbed himself as he watched Lotus round the corner. Lotus's off ice was near the centre of the complex, a smaller area designed as a backup for the ruined main area further up the mountain. Ruined by the very demon that Lotus had just spread her legs for. Steel sighed in frustration as he opened her doors and stepped through. The main part of her room was her bed, enourmous, with black silk sheets and deep blue pillows. Steel lay her gently down on it, and she tried to drag him with her. Steel sat down, but didn't move further towards her. Lotus bit her bottom lip and giggled, her pain and trauma of the early morning a memory forgotten. Steel shook his head as she began to move her body against him, feeling her nipples hard on his shoulders as her hands moved over him, trying to take off his shirt. "Why do you do this, Jade? For God's sake, it's... I mean, why?" Lotus stopped and took a breath. Her lust beat against her constantly, like the unending tide. But there was something else, too. They had been lovers only a dozen times or so, but Steel had been by her side for forever, for the last 13 years. "Because I can't stop. Because I just can't not do this. I know the hellspawn for what it is. And I know that maybe it can stop me from being this way." Steel turned on the bed, and put his arms around her. Lotus resisted the near strangling urges racing through her and held herself away from him for a moment. "Then why me? You know I don't want it to be like this. I care..." Lotus swallowed and pursed her lips together. Her black eyes closed for a moment, and she took a deep breath. "That's why you. Because fucking is an itch to be scratched. I've got that demon's venom running through my system. I can't say no. So everyone uses me to scratch their itch." Robert opened his mouth, but Lotus held two fingers on his lips. "Everyone but you. Sex, is just fucking, it's scratching an itch. You don't scratch your itch with me, Robert. You make love to me." "You could just use me like everyone else, and it wouldn't matter, because I can't deal without it. But you don't. I'm not a cum bucket to you, you make love to me." She leant in close and kissed him gently, shaking with the desire to make it something more. She wanted to smash into him and feel him inside of her and moving with her. But she laid back, and opened her arms to him. Steel kicked off his shoes and socks and lay on the bed with her, feeling the tips of her fingers sliding over the metal tumours of his body. His chest was covered in them; small, olive-sized silver nodules. They fed his body with superhuman strength, healing cells, adrenalin, and kept him hidden from the world. Lotus held her body against him, feeling the heat between them rising again. Steel moved aside his boxers, and Lotus kept her hands against the back of his neck, pressing his tongue and lips to hers. His cock eased out of his boxers, and Lotus smiled to herself as he slid inside of her. "I love you Robert." Deep inside her, the demon seed sensed the human thrusting against her, and waited for his seed. ********** The man stood like the rocks that surrounded him, unmoving and waiting. The rocks waited for many things; the new spring, a summer storm, time's passage. The man waited only for the sun. As the golden orb crested the hill, its light shone onto eyes of the palest green. Once, they had held no colour. Times had brought changes, just as the rocks waited for. Marrack sighed as he turned his back on the rising sun. He closed his eyes, whispering words long forgotten in this world. Demons had whispered them into his ears in a past life. A past where he had listened closely. He opened his eyes and watched as the sun's first rays shimmered into bright white lines, running along the earth. They ran straight, through the air, over the ocean to the West and right back around. Marrack held his hands out wide, spreading them to the skies. He scented the air, tasting the salt of the sea and the freshness of the mountains around him. The air was sweet, and Marrack breathed it in with pleasure. His words were different this time, softer and more meaningful. His hands stretched out wide as he chanted, and he felt himself elongating and spreading out wide. He stretched his hands and fingers out and wrapped them around the fey lines of power. His deep voice chanted softly, and finally, he flexed his fists, snapping the lines. In the surge of power that followed as the lines tried to rejoin themselves, they linked with his spirit, and Marrack screamed as he felt himself flooded with power. He stumbled to one knee, holding out as the power roared through him like a waterfall, cleansing and rushing. Suddenly, it stopped, and Marrack gasped in disbelief. He sagged unmercifully to the ground, and coughed. Spots appeared before his eyes, and the sorcerer blinked several times. There was a screech of rage and a shower of sparks off to his left, but Marrack paid them no heed as he regained his breath. There was another shower of sparks as the demon smashed a claw into the energy bars surrounding it. To banish a demon for a hundred days, hours, years, lifetimes, whatever, was simple. It simply depended on knowing the right incantations. As banishment was little more than an inconvenience to the higher demons; those spells were common enough. But it was to the higher demons that Marrack had now turned his attention to, and so more power was needed. Marrack gripped his staff tightly and hoisted himself up. As Marrack had changed, so too had his staff. The once straight and deadly staff had softened, looking more like a cast off branch that a bushwalker might use. No common bushwalker would be able to read the runes on the stick though. The staff was vessel to enourmous power, and a focus for the raw energy flowing through Marrack like an icy bushfire. He straightened again and turned his attention to the demon caged before him. This one was Karnakellyphus, a denizen of hell barely above the more common demon. But a Greater Demon none-the-less. The demon snarled at him and smashed its claw into the purple barrier again. Sparks landed on Marrack's plain hiking boots and jeans, but the sorcerer didn't move. He shook his head. "Oh, Karn. You seem to be unable to grasp that you cannot escape from my cage." The demon snarled and swore at him in its own tongue. "You are a dead man, sorcerer. I will learn your name, and where you lie, and those who are close to you, and I will destroy them all." Marrack leant in close and raised a single eyebrow, questioningly. The demon's face turned cunning and it shrugged, feigning impatience. "Contain me, banish me, or torture me, just get me out of this blasted sun. You spell keeps me on this plane, but it's an annoyance of no measure." Marrack knelt down and smiled. "Oh, Karn, I'm not going to banish you, or torture you," he grinned. The demon narrowed it's yellow eyes at him as the sorcerer slammed his staff into the ground. "I'm going to kill you," he growled, in the demon's own language. "I'm going to kill you, because after I have found the way to do that, nothing will stand in my way of destroying all the other Greater Demons. And after that lay only the Horde Lords. Then, when Hell is empty, Marrack will be free." The yellow eyes widened. "Marrack? What do you know of Marrack? What cause does a petty conjurer have to know of the Purveyor of Sins?" Marrack smiled and rose to his full height. "I AM Marrack." The demon stared at him, realisation slowly dawning. "Your name was known to us when you walked in the Dark Lord's steps. Now you will be known to us when your soul dances to His fingertips." The demon spat, and Marrack stepped back, letting the acid hit the ground harmlessly. "You will not get the chance to report my name, Karn. Banishment isn't your destiny. Destruction is." Marrack raised his arms and felt the power beginning to move around him. The living nature of the forest and mountains around them flowed into him, empowering him to destroy the demon. He rose his hand and brought it crashing down, smashing the demon into the ground with a lightning bolt driven down from clear skies. The demon screeched and then the scream faded, and nothing was left but a small crater, where the strike had fallen. Marrack sighed and sat back down on a rock as the barrier faded, no longer needed. He felt his skin crawling, and looked at his arms, and shoulders. He lifted his jeans legs, then a hopeful smile crossed his face. He pushed his hand into his pants and felt the skin on his cock shaft. No runes scarred the skin anymore, and he grinned behind his beard. He pulled his hand out and sighed. He began to make his way down the mountain, back to where he had parked his car. Halfway down, he came across a small stream, and dunked his head under the freezing, rushing water. He came back up with a gasp, and looked around, his full beard and long hair dripping. The mountains were still beautiful, he decided, despite the monstrosities he was wreaking on them. It was the best place he could find, high in the hills, with a small plateau where he could summon and destroy. He looked down at his hands, once covered in scarred runes of power, now clean and tanned. As he destroyed each demon, more and more of his soul returned to him, replacing one power for another. The power that the runes had given to his flesh was nothing compared to the power his soul gave him. He looked down at the city below him, at it's sleepy little existence. The morning bell began to toll faintly, signalling the children in to school. Marrack took another deep breath of mountain air, and stood up. He began walking down the mountainside, smelling the fresh, clean air. Far away, almost too far to see, to figures sat in a car, watching Marrack's movements. One was old, almost too old to be alive, and the other was a woman. Her age was impossible to tell, though her allure was not. She had long, curled hair, red like a dying sun, and bright green eyes. She put the binoculars down and lit a cigarette. "He's hot. What's his story, and how can he help us?" The old man wheezed and coughed, his skin filled with burns and scars. Claw marks crossed the torn socket where his right eye had been. The woman didn't look at him as she watched Marrack. Fire and Ice Ch. 01 "For twelve hundred years, the Merlins of the different nations have followed in their namesake's footsteps. Sorcerers of almost unimaginable skill, their very souls linked to the lines of power running along the earth Herself. It is time for another Merlin to rise, and that man will be he." The woman licked her lips, and flicked her cigarette free of ash. "Merlin? Like King Arthur and that?" The old man wheezed a laugh at her and nodded. "True, that's where their names started, but this brotherhood of sorcerers has been around for millenia. When the Merlin of Britain stood at Arthur's side, he brought with him a turning of the future for his brothers of the arcane." "Marrack may not know it, but he is the next Merlin. Something that could be very bad for those in Lotus's position." The woman took a deep breath and flicked the cigarette out of the window. "Very well, I'll go and explain to him the situation. Or a part of it at least. The rest is up to you. I'll persuade him to listen." She rose the binoculars to her eyes again and licked her lips slowly. "Which wouldn't exactly be too boring with this one." Later that day, Marrack got into his car and started the engine. He felt ill at ease, for some reason, and looked around him at the surrounding mountain scape, but no people were around the valley, he was certain of that. He looked at his watch; almost one o'clock. As he pulled up in front of his house, Marrack warily noted the green sedan parked outside his house. A woman sat on the bonnet, and Marrack felt his cock stir just to see her. She was smoking a cigarette languidly, slouched back over the bonnet of the car. She smiled as he got out. "You're Marrack, right?" She pointedly looked down at his bulging jeans, and smiled. She moved towards the front door, beckoning him over her shoulder. Marrack could smell something, a scent of almost perfume. "Who are you?" He frowned as his cock began to throb, the smell in the air turning him on. His pulse was racing, and he felt himself leaking precum into his boxers. "H-how did you f-find me?" "Musk. You've gotten complacent, careless. Still keeping fit though." The woman turned and her tight black pants were damp at the crotch, and Marrack could almost smell her pussy screaming for him. He breathed deeply, and the woman smiled, lust in her eyes. There was something in the wind, something not normal. He felt his skin burning, and his cock suddenly became rock hard. He could barely walk, and pushed into the woman, who smiled and took his keys from him. Marrack thrust his hips into her groin and couldn't stop, his cock was begging for release from his jeans, and the woman laughed lowly as she shut the door and turned, in the hallway. She lit another cigarette as Marrack sank to his knees and began to massage her groin. He was dying to taste her; it was a physical need. It hurt not to be eating her. Her pants were pushed down, and Marrack buried his face into her pussy, and began to lick and suck at the swollen lips. Her moans sounded through smiling lips, and Marrack tasted musk on his tongue. She took a long draw of her cigarette and smiled, the smoke curling up through her teeth and smile as Marrack suckled at her pussy. She moaned around her grin, and pushed his head deeper inside of her with one spread hand. Her head tilted back as she pushed his shirt off his well muscled body. "Fuck you know how to eat pussy, don't you? Go on, baby, tell me what it tastes like." Marrack moaned as the pure musk flowing from her swam his vision. He couldn't see straight, couldn't feel straight. All he knew was how much he wanted her. Musk stepped out of her pants and spread her legs wide, opening her glistening slit to his tongue. Musk took another drag and lifted the man off his knees and up her body. His chin grazed her nipple, and she cocked an eyebrow at him. "I want to taste your balls. I want to feel what they taste like on my tongue while you're thrusting your cock along my cheek. You want to tell me how good it feels, don't you baby?" Marrack groaned as he kissed her, feeling his cock pushing up out of his jeans. Musk's hands lowered, her fingernails trailing down his chest as Marrack thrust his hips against her. She held his belt as he stood up, and his cock sprang free. She grinned at it as it sprung up to her lips. Musk flipped a fingernail under the head, scoring it for a moment, and Marrack hissed between his teeth. Musk dropped her cigarette and gently lifted Marrack's balls out to rest on his jeans. She opened her mouth wide and sucked gently on them. His cock was rock hard, painfully so, and thrusting against the skin of her cheek as she sucked on his balls. Her tongue curled around the hairs, and moved across the wrinkled skin, and Marrack was moaning in need. Musk stood up, and Marrack trailed after her, his cock and balls huge and thick against the denim of his jeans. He was helpless before her, and moaned and began to jerk her cock, staring at her. She bent over and opened the fridge, leaning far into it and looking around. "Anything to drink? Hmmm, pineapple juice. Wonder if that really does improve the taste." Marrack gave a growl in his throat and moved behind her, sliding his cock over her bare ass, and laying down a ringing slap onto her taut cheek. Musk turned, and stepped in close to him, his cock sliding wetly against her thigh as it wept precum. Marrack moaned and began to thrust his hips, and Musk eased herself up onto the bench and lay back. Marrack was over her in an instant, and his cock was jutting up between them as he kissed her. She frowned and pushed him away, then leant forwards and grabbed his cock. Her fingernails traced over the unmarked flesh, and Marrack gave a high pitched, moaning whine. Musk sniffed and held a thumb up to his lips, making him taste his own precum, and then spread her pussy wide and dragged him towards her with her legs. His cock glided inside of her with little difficulty, and she sighed and nodded to herself as she laid back on the bench. Marrack began to thrust, pushing himself deeply inside of her, then pulling back out again. There was that strange scent in his nostrils still, muted a bit now, that hardened his cock and made his lust pound through his veins. As he fucked his cock slowly into the pussy before him, the smell faded, and clarity began to seep back. Marrack's thrusts slowed down, and he began to wonder what he was doing. He had no idea who this woman was, or what she wanted, and she knew far too much to simply be a stranger. His mind was moving quickly, but his hips slowed down further, and he began to soften. Musk looked up in frustration and jerked her hips up off the bench. Marrack's eyes opened wide and she tensed, pushing her musk out from all of her pores. The scent filled the air, and Marrack moaned as his cock thickened instantly. He began to fuck her desperately, her scent driving him crazy. The woman was smiling as he leant over her, his hands spread wide over her breasts as his hips arched into her welcoming thrusts. She was very, very wet, and staring up at him as he fucked his breath away into her. Marrack was pounding his cock inside of her almost viscously, and she was smiling, enjoying it. Any normal woman would have been in pain from the stabbing actions, but this one loved it. He could feel the head of his cock slamming into her, and leaned back, sliding two fingers alongside his cock. Musk's eyes closed, and she tossed her head from side to side. Marrack kept thrusts while he slid his two fingers on top of his cock, his hand palm up. His cock was like a jackhammer, just driving in and out like he was going to die if he stopped fucking her. His nostrils were filled with that scent, and it was driving him mad with lust. Marrack pushed his fingers together and began to rub up inside of her as he fucked his cock into her, and Musk began to shake, her moans rising to screams as she came. The kitchen filled with that musky scent, and Marrack gasped. His eyes opened wide as his entire body became focused on fucking her harder. He pulled his fingers out, dripping with cum, and pushed himself deeper inside of her with both palms on the bench for support. Musk lay back, breathing hard and her eyes rolled back inside her head. She shook herself out of it slowly, as Marrack thundered into her. He was absolutely exhausted, and would pass out soon. She twisted and gasped as she was helped over, and leant forwards and flicked the overhead fan switch. The air began to clear as Marrack fucked his cock into her like a mad man, and he spread her cheeks wide. Musk clenched her ass cheeks together, but it was only a finger, and she smiled as she felt his breath on the back of her shoulder. He was screaming at her and the musk smell was leaving, but his cock was thick inside of her. His knees buckled and the powerful sorcerer gave an almighty scream as he began to cum inside of her. He was shuddering and huge inside of her, and Musk felt herself almost getting excited again. He was still coming as he slumped down, and Musk was pulled with him, slamming down onto his cock with a thud of her ass cheeks against his balls. Marrack was gasping for breath, and Musk looked up at the fans, taking away her scent. The world slowly came back to him, and he collapsed onto the floor. Musk got up and steadied herself on the bench. She could feel his seed moving down her leg, and inside of her, and smiled to herself wickedly. She loved her recruiting technique. Sometimes it was a real pleasure. Marrack lay still on the kitchen floor, his pants around his ankles and his cum covered cock already shrinking. He opened his eyes and stared at her for a long moment as she straightened her clothes and fixed her hair. "You're not human." Musk shook her hair out and ran her fingernails through it absently. Marrack got up slowly, and pushed his slowly softening cock back into his pants. His shirt was somewhere, and his arms and chest still showed the burnt, twisting scars of the runes that used to be the keys to his power. Must eyed him appreciatively from the corner of her eye, then bound her hair in a ponytail, tying it off with a hairband from her pants. "Not all. I take it by now you've figured I used to be with the Centre. Seeing as Musk doesn't ring a bell, how about Jennifer Rosdon?" That did ring a bell. Jennifer Rosdon, Codename Musk. Her pores could secrete lust-inducing pheromones at will. She used to be sent on the overt missions, the ones that didn't require stealth, but that did require assistance from the other side. "I thought you were dead." Musk shook her head, and tightly wrapped her shirt around her. "Highly overrated. I decided that I was tired of being used as Viagra by friendly politicians, or party favours for people who the Centre owed money to. So I became part of a different family. One who, like you, wanted to take the Centre down." "I'll not weep for the Centre," admitted Marrack. "But that's mainly because it's finished. It's been over a decade since the Centre was destroyed. I know, I was there." Musk shrugged. "True, the main facility and board were destroyed. But you didn't exactly clean house. There were several survivors, including an old buddy of yours. Lotus survived." Marrack's eyes went wide as Musk lifted yet another cigarette to her lips and offered him one. "Gave up." She gave him an arch look. "No one likes a quitter. Lotus has assumed control of what is left of the Centre, and fucks nearly every one of them. It's not a way to inspire respect, but considering the legends of her pussy, they're all fanatically loyal to her. You men are simple that way." Marrack bristled but couldn't deny her. A few whiffs of musk and he'd been her toy. "So why come to me? You could just walk into the room and she'd be all over you, and never suspect a thing." Musk shook her head. "Tried that. Got well and truly fucked hardcore for my efforts. I'd never been with a woman, but that one was different. I think it's got something to do with her blood. There's a mark on her breast, over her entire breast, actually. When we were going at it, she squeezed it, and I sucked on her nipple." Musk began to run her hand up her neck, feeling herself getting excited again. She blinked and frowned as Marrack leant over and increased the fan speed. "After that, I don't remember much, just that I'd been fucked like never before. I think that whatever it is allows her to control people, somehow." Marrack shook his head as she dunked the cigarette in the sink, and then pushed it down the drain with the water. "It's a demon bite. She'd be lactating venom, if anything, and demon venom has some peculiar effects. The reason you don't remember is because the venom shuts down the higher brain functions and just operates on basic animal instinct." "And you did it to her." The sorcerer was silent as Musk considered this. "She's pissed at you, you know. She's got a major hurt on for you because you never removed the poison, like you apparently promised. And she knows about Consequence." Marrack bristled again, and frowned. "She should have been nearly incapacitated after all this time with the demon's venom still inside of her. Is she a Gen 6.1, like us?" Musk shook her head and switched the kettle on, sitting down by the open window, looking out to the quiet neighbourhood around them. She smiled as the curtains across the road twitched guiltily. She hoped whoever it was enjoyed the show. She turned back to Marrack, who was staring down at the floor, rubbing his chin. "She's found someone else to relieve her of the venom's more viscous effects?" "Not quite. She's fucking everything with a heartbeat that comes inside of about three kilometres of her base, the secondary Centre base. That keeps the venom at bay, being fed lust. As for any other effects, well, she found someTHING to help her with that." Marrack frowned again, then looked up in horror. "You mean to say that she found Jakkurlnalazz? She got in contact with it?" Musk nodded. "More precisely, she managed to raise a little sprite, and then fucked it. She moved her way up and around until she found your former little buddy and then cast a spell, increasing the demon's size and bringing him almost fully onto this plane." "Then she fucked him, and not taking it up the ass again this time, either. She offered to have his child. Naturally, the demon accepted. She's pregnant with the creature now." Marrack shook his head and turned off the kettle. "No, demon seed needs human sperm to shape and mould it. It just can't take over the functions of normal human sperm." Musk scoffed and pointed to the tea canister that he held up. "I don't do coffee," she said, lighting a cigarette. "It's bad for you. Normal human sperm is something that Musk has no problems with. She could have gotten that coming down the mountain trail after being demon fucked. This is where we come in." "We?" "We. I'm in partnership with an old man who is dying. He's weak, and about as old as you can imagine. I'd fuck him, give him a good send off, only I don't fancy filling my pussy with dust." "He's the one who led me to you. Now there's a lot of bullshit involved, but he believes in you." Marrack sat back and eyed her suspiciously. "What sort of bullshit?" "Oh, he mumbles about the order of Merlin, and all sorts of destiny and fate bullshit. But he led me to you, and we watched you destroy the demon and link up with spirit lines or whatever he called them." "You destroyed a demon, and now there's a half demon growing inside of Lotus's well-fucked hole, so guess where you come in." Marrack sat down and slid the tea cup across the table, and Musk opened a window to let the fresh air in. The sorcerer sighed and then looked down. Musk smiled archly as he blushed and went looking for a shirt. He found the one in the hallway, and threw it around his shoulders. The day outside was hot and the house was beginning to heat up, but he didn't trust Musk. "I'm no paladin. I'm still having a lot of trouble keeping the bad from the good in me, what about something else?" Musk shook her head, her face serious. "Like what? You took up this fight, and now it's coming home because it's full time work. You're going to have to admit that there's no-one else on this entire planet who is anything like you." "You walked this line for forever, and now you're firmly planted on one side. You just have to be holding a big stick when you do it." Marrack sagged back into the chair and toyed with his coffee mug. There was silence in the house for a long time, and they both merely drunk their tea and coffee. There was the sound of a key in the door, and Marrack gave Musk a hard look. She smiled innocently and turned to face the hallway. Consequence Ember Graham bounded down the hallway and stopped on seeing that her uncle wasn't alone. In the thirteen years of her life, she'd never seen him with anyone, particularly not anyone as overtly slutty as the woman sitting at the kitchen table. Connie narrowed her eyes and went to give her uncle a hug. "Uncle Markus?" "Hey sweetie, this is Jennifer. Jennifer Rosdon, meet Consequence Graham." Musk dipped her head as Connie smiled. "Nice to meet you." Musk didn't answer, but looked at Marrack, and her uncle had a sudden pained look in his eyes. "Sweetie, will you please just duck up to your room for a moment? I have to finish my conversation with Miss Rosdon. Private talk." Connie smiled vaguely, and nodded again to Musk, who smiled in return. Connie headed down the hallway and got to the first step, then slammed her foot down onto it a few times times. There was silence in the kitchen, and she leant back against the wall, straining to hear. "So what are you going to do about this?" "Well, what do you propose I do about it? I'm a bit player trying to earn a little redemption, considering my only redemption is upstairs at the moment." There was a click, and the smell of tobacco drifted down the hallway. "Christ, you're lungs'll be council work, the amount of tar you've got." "Live fast, die fucked, that's my motto. At least it would be if I had one aside from pass the lube." Connie's eyes bulged, and her uncle cleared his throat. "Enough, okay, my niece is in this house." The woman gave a low, naughty laugh, and there was silence in the kitchen for a while again. "Connie is thirteen going on fourteen. Whatever powers she's got will surface at puberty. You know this. The Centre will come for her, and you know that too. They've got a better chance, now." "The board of directors is now just Lotus, and after how much you fucked and fucked her over, she gets all wet and clammy at the thought of your pain." Marrack sighed. "I don't even know if anything going to happen with her. She's just a kid for christ's sake." Connie's eyes went wide, and she leant back, straining to hear more. Powers, centre, Lotus? What was all this about, she wondered furiously. "Don't be a limp dick Marrack. It doesn't suit you. Hmm, it's inaccurate, too. Consequence is the first child between two Gen 6.1's." "The psycho-mutegenetic drugs used to enhance her grandparents balanced out for optimum results in her parents, and the rest of us Gen 6.1's, and now there's a Gen 7, the first and as likely the only. We're sterile for the most part. She's a miracle." "Just think about it, Marrack. We're outcasts and genetic freaks in this world. Mythril controlled ice and created it, Kendra, or Ember, whatever you want to call her, she controlled and created fire." Fire and Ice Ch. 01 "Then there's the rest of us. I can stimulate lust, and very well thank you, with controlled and calculated pheromone releases." "Amanda, my sweet southern sister, Amanda Marcum, Muse, who could influence decision making with telepathic suggestion that was almost untraceable, even during brain scanning sessions." "Furie, Betty Paige, whose telekinetic strength almost made her a match for a fucking avalanche." "Rush, Paul Bell, master at manipulating the chemical balances in the brain that could control and alter moods to any and all extent. Had a cock like a fucking axe handle too. We nearly destroyed each other several times. I miss him." "Culann Davids, codenamed Venom. His blood was venomous, and he was immune to all types of naturally occurring harmful toxins, either poison, venom, whatever." "Had injection modules implanted on his wrists. The one guy never to play snap with." Connie's eyes were wide with disbelief; it sounded like something out of a sci-fi movie. Her uncle sighed. "You're forgetting Steel." There was a creak of wood as the woman leant back in her chair. "Robert Dellapane. Tumours of organic biometal over his entire body, with his cartilage being solid metal. He's in constant pain, but he's working with Lotus anyway." "I think he's in love with her. Superhuman strength, steel bones. And then there's you." Connie held her breath and listened closely. She could hear everything, and waited. "Markus Graham. Marrack as you preferred to be called." "You can see, and feel the fey lines of power that crisscross this entire world, and you can bend the fabric of reality and summon demons fully onto this plane." "Oh, yeah, and lets not forget. You just linked yourself to the fey lines and are now one of the most powerful conjuring sorcerers in this entire plane, let alone the planet." Connie turned around and hid herself against the wall. She poked her head around the corner and watched as her uncle stood up. The other woman stood up as well, and pulled out another cigarette. "She's the first child of Gen 7. Consider the parentage, and consider the blood lines. She's going to have powers like you could never believe. And she was left in your care, by your dying sister, I believe. So you have to make a pre-emptive strike here, Marrack." "You used to be such a badass, and you're going to need to hold onto that. Despite your lack of focus these days, I know that you're all about protecting your niece, but if you don't take down Lotus and her demon spawn, then your niece won't have too much of a world to inherit. Do you understand?" "Remove the threat, Marrack. I know you'll do that, because it's the right thing. And the only thing you can do left for your brother." She lit her cigarette, and Marrack moved to the door to let her out. She leant in close to him and blew the smoke down, towards his groin, and smiled. "I really liked you fucking me, Marrack. Maybe we could do that again sometime." Her uncle didn't smile, didn't say anything, and the woman shrugged invitingly, and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Connie stared past her uncle at the woman getting into her car, and Marrack waved once. Musk flicked her hair over shoulder and leant down to turn the ignition. The car exploded in a massive dirty fireball, black oily flames licking up towards the sky. There were screams somewhere, and Connie stared open mouthed. Marrack picked himself up off the ground and twisted, seeing Connie's shocked face staring past the doorway at the wrecked mess of Musk's car. Marrack bellowed at her, but she just stared at him. He moved towards her and grabbed her shoulder. "Grab your bag, we're leaving." Connie stared at him and her mouth worked silently. "NOW!!" She lurched into action then, numbly following his orders. They raced upstairs and threw some clothes into their bags, then Marrack grabbed a black briefcase, one that Connie had never seen before, and they ran into the garage. The firefighters arrived then, and sirens began to whine. The rear door of the garage opened, and Marrack threw their bags into the back of his truck. Connie ran around and jumped in the passenger seat and pulled her seatbelt across as Marrack turned the ignition. The car jumped to a start, and then Marrack turned to his niece. "That might not have been smart." Her eyes opened wide at the thought of what could have just happened, and she closed her eyes tightly, wishing the nightmare to end. There was a hammering at the garage door, and her uncle threw the car into gear. The big truck roared as they reversed out quickly, and the car tilted as her uncle pulled down hard on the wheel and slammed the accelerator down. They were blasting along the back road and met a policeman. The officer waved them down, and Marrack leant out the window as they pulled up next to him. "Mate, there's a fire there, and my girl's spooked. A car blew up or something?" The officer nodded, his vague face relaxing as he figured he didn't have to shoot a terrorist. "Uh, yeah, you hurt?" Marrack shook his head and gestured to Connie, who was staring straight ahead. "Nah, but like I said, my girl's spooked. It happened a couple of doors up from us, so we were right there." The officer nodded, and moved aside. "When you're done at the hospital, swing by the station house, so we can grab a statement." Marrack waved and they moved along. As soon as they were on a real road, Marrack turned south and sped up. They hit the highway, towards the mountains, and the sorcerer took a breath. He glanced sideways at his niece, who was staring down at her hands, her blank expression gone. It was a rude awakening, but of course it had to happen one day. He looked down the highway at an upcoming exit, and the truck slowed as indecision slowed him. Connie looked up and Marrack sighed again as he turned into the off-ramp. "How much did you hear? While you were standing by the stairs, I mean." Connie started at the sound of his voice, and looked at him as she wound down the window and put her hand across her brow. "You knew?" Marrack nodded. "Yeah, I figured. You took about four steps on the stairs, or hit them a few times, and there's over a dozen steps to the top level in that house. So how much did you hear?" "Well I heard the fucking car explode, Uncle Markus." "Hey." His stern tone brought her up short. "Watch your language." Connie stared out her open window to the mountains in the distance, getting closer as the houses thinned out around them. "Sorry, Uncle Markus. Uncle Marrack. Are you even my real uncle? I don't understand any of this. I don't even know you." Her voice was tiny and scared, and Marrack reached over and grabbed her hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it. "You know me sweetheart. Maybe not everything. But you know me. I'm your uncle. You can believe that. I'm your uncle, and your family, and I love you." Connie began to cry then, though she kept her face turned away. Marrack winced and held her hand for a moment longer, until she sqeezed it and sniffed, controlling herself. "Sorry." Marrack shook his head and wound down his own window. The hot air was cooling as they moved towards the mountains. "I know you don't like to talk about what happened, but maybe just this once, you could let me in. Sparing the melodrama, Uncle Mark... Uncle Marrack, what's going on?" He didn't answer her for a long time, then they turned off the main road and onto an unmade road. "I'm taking you to see your parents." ******** The two gravestones were simple, and dignified. Connie knelt slowly in front of them as her uncle put his hand on her shoulder. The night was beginning to close in again, and Marrack looked about them as the stars began to come into sight, one after the other. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Night always seemed to find him in the mountains. Connie was tracing her fingers along the engraved marble. The first one read "Scott. Beloved husband and brother." There was a simple engraving representing a snowflake underneath it. The second one had a simple engraving of a flame on it, and read "Kendra. Beloved wife and devoted mother." Connie began to cry, and Marrack leant down and held his niece until the tears stopped. "C'mon, sweetie, this isn't going to be easy, on either of us." She followed him back to the car, and he sat her down on a smooth rock facing the small grotto, and then walked forwards and knelt down on one knee. He spread his hands wide, and began to chant in a dark language. Connie looked around them worriedly, and then stared as a thick mist began to form over the graves. The one over Scott's began to form first, and rose up to form the shape of a huge man, with broad shoulders. The mist lightened and coalesced into a ghostly apparition, and Marrack lowered his arms as the other began to form, too. Connie stood up as the two apparitions walked forwards. The man was huge, pale skinned and broad of shoulder, with clear blue eyes and long hair, about twenty or so. The woman was about the same age, dark skinned, with her hair in braids that ran down her back, over her chocolate skinned shoulders. "Brother?" The voice was far away, but Connie heard it clearly. Marrack stood up and held out his hand, palm towards his brother's ghost, and the two touched for a moment until the ghost's hand passed through. A shiver ran down Connie's spine, and her hand was over her mouth as she stared at the impossible. Marrack smiled and looked down at the woman, who smiled back at him. "I've missed you both. I never thought that I'd miss you at all, let alone miss you like this." Scott reached forwards again and tried to touch his brother, but then he pulled back and stared at his hand. "Well this sucks. I can't even shake your hand." Kendra's ghost laughed, the same laugh that Connie had, and leant in close against her husband. "You've changed, Marrack. We hear now and then of some mysterious figure who's moving through the demon fields like some righteous fire. Good to see you've found yourself a good hobby." Marrack smiled and laughed, then held his hands out wide. "I'm sorry that I haven't brought you back fully, but I'm trying." Scott shrugged, the mist rising off his shoulders for a moment. "Well, you've been busy. Enough time to think about us often is fine. You should leave well enough alone. We know that you've been trying to change. Redemption doesn't come cheaply, brother. But you've earnt it. You most certainly have. You've changed so much." Marrack nodded and took another breath. He held his hand out and pointed. "Parenthood will do that to you." Kendra turned quickly, almost losing her shape as her hand moved to cover her mouth in wonder. The two ghosts stared at their daughter in wonder, and she moved to stand next to her uncle. "Consequence. This is Scott, your father. And this is Kendra, your mother." Connie shook, tears in her eyes as she stared at the ghosts. Kendra reached out to caress her daughter's face, but couldn't touch. She gave a sob, and Marrack winced. "I'm sorry." Connie stared at her mother, seeing her own shaped eyes and nose, and the same clean, silk skin. Her eyes shifted to her father, and vivid blue met vivid blue. She laughed softly, tears in her eyes, and Scott reached out to touch her, then let his hand drop. "Oh, my girl..." he sighed, and Kendra sobbed again. "You're so beautiful, darling. Look how you've grown. You're not the baby I held anymore." Kendra turned her head to Marrack, but her eyes stayed locked on her daughter. "Thank you Markus. Thank you so much." Scott turned away and sighed. "You don't know how happy and proud you've made me, Markus." Marrack stepped back away from the small group and went back to the car. He pulled out the black briefcase and put it on the hood of the car. The small family in front of him was talking quietly between them, and Marrack's eyes lifted to the stars. The night's curtain was dark and full, but not a cloud marred the beauty of the starscape. The sorcerer sighed and closed his eyes as he relaxed. There was a shared laugh of the same tone, and Marrack opened his eyes to see Connie talking to her mother. Scott was moving towards him. "Markus." Scott stopped in front of him and looked his brother up and down. "You've grown, but not just in muscle, little brother. I can see your years, now." Marrack quirked a grin at him. "You're MY little brother, remember? You mean I'm no longer the pipsqueak I was. Fair enough. Chasing your daughter around trying to keep her out of trouble has kept me fit." The blue eyes stared at him. "You have to protect her from what's coming. There's a thousand planes on top of this one, and if a demon child is born, then it will be able to traverse and destroy them all. There's no staying out of this one, Marrack." The sorcerer flinched at that name coming from his brother's lips. His brother, who had killed him and watched him become resurrected into something dark and evil. The same brother who had loved him and brought him back from all that, too. "She's not ready, brother." Scott shrugged. "Neither of you are. But together, you might be. You must finish this." Marrack frowned and waved a hand, dismissing his brother's concerns frustratedly. "Enough. Enough." He looked back at Kendra, and Connie, then looked back at Scott, who was staring back at his family. "I miss you, little brother." Scott looked up at the sky, and the moonlight that shone through him, illuminating him and giving him form. "I miss you too. And I miss my daughter, and everything that could have, should have, been." Marrack stood up off the car and walked back towards them. Kendra came to meet him. Her ghostly arms moved around him, and goosebumps rose on his skin. "Thank you for this, Markus. And thank you for raising my daughter with love." Marrack's lower lip quivered, and he nodded, his eyes wet. Connie came and hugged her uncle, and her parents looked on. Marrack put his arms around his niece and squeezed her tightly. "I love you Uncle Markus." Marrack sniffed and leant back, smiling. "I love you too, sweetie. But now we've got some work to do." He held her hand as he raised his, and the ghosts began to fade. "Goodbye, Kendra. Goodbye Scott. I love you both." Connie reached out her free hand and smiled. "Mom, Dad, I love you both!" The ghosts raised their hand and then faded back into the mist, which sunk down into the ground again. Connie and Marrack stood like that for several heartbeats and then Marrack led them back to the car. He opened the briefcase as Connie shook her head. "This is all so unbelievable. I was always scared that I'd never know either of them, and that I'd never know anything about them, and now..." She trailed off and stared at her hand. "When they were leaving, I almost..." she flexed her fingers and stared at them. "I almost felt something." Marrack paused as he lifted a dossier from the briefcase and grabbed a small black silk bag. "You did?" She nodded, and he considered that. "Huh. Well, if anywhere, it was going to happen then. There's powerful stuff in your veins, kiddo. And that's what we're going to talk about." The moon was bright and well past it's pinnacle when they finished, and by the time dawn came around, they were still talking, but Connie knew so much more about herself that she could barely keep her eyes down for sleep in the cab of the truck. Marrack had told her everything, from he and his brother to Kendra and how they met, and how Lotus and the other members of the Centre fitted into it all. He left parts out, and substituted others, she knew, but she figured he had good reasons for that. She was mature enough to figure out what had happened between her uncle and the woman back at home, and mature enough as well to realise that her uncle's past wasn't nearly quite so clean as he was. "You'll have a power soon enough, sweetie. And that power will scare you like nothing else ever has. It's going to happen soon. And we need to go somewhere safe, to train and become ready. Are you ready?" Connie stared at her uncle and nodded slowly. "Where are we going? What happens now?" Marrack slid into the drivers seat and pulled his seatbelt across. "I'm taking you to someone who might be able to help. An old friend of mine." Connie nodded, and stared at the gravestones as they reversed back down the plateau and turned around slowly. "And then?" Her uncle nodded slowly, resolve forming on his face. "And then we finish this." To be continued...