Cida eyed the beast the man was holding the reins to and smiled, shaking her head. She'd told Thane, her new Guildmasters aid she didn't get along too great with horses...having a Tigers essence threaded through her gave her a predators scent and Horses got flighty about that. Thane had chuckled.
"You are wishing to go out on the Grass Sea Miss Cida, you won't ride a horse out on it, they can't handle the surface, you'll be riding a Grassrunner from the guild stable." He'd told her and then smirked "They will not be afraid of you."
She'd been doubtful. Nuryev had made her ride in Seven, it was a way to test how well she was holding together, if the horse got antsy, she was slipping. So she knew how to ride, and had actually enjoyed it, she could remember riding back when she lived in Enca, she'd even had a pony as a child.
The slitted cat-like eyes, long tufted ears and distinct sharp fangs as well as wide nimble clawed paws set the beast before her apart from a horse, otherwise the shape was the same. The beast the stable hand gave her reins to flattened its ears at her and growled but accepted her hand on its face.
"Oh love...we're gonna be gettin along fine now…" she chuckled and attatched her bags to the saddle before she swung up onto the Grassrunners back.
"Her name is Olo, bit dominant, but depending where you ride, you may need a protective Grassrunner standing over you while you sleep. If you decide to hand her in at White Sea city just make sure they send word to me alright?" The attendant told her and she smiled, nodding, swinging up into the saddle and turning the runner out to the water.
She couldn't believe she was doing this now...about to ride out into an unknown wilderness. It was thrilling and she grinned, tapping her heels to the runners flanks and the big beast lunged forward, splashing through the water until the grass surface grew firm enough it gave a small hop, it's paws spread and they were flying across the woven plants that covered the Grass Sea, Cida laughing as the wind lifted her hair and the runner snarled, pinning its ears and running harder for her.
Looking down from the balcony of his hotel room that overlooked the sea, King Nuryev pressed his lips together, watching the runner bolt out over the grass with his charge for the last few months astride it.
"She's got a map, com, and L-tablet she can get information straight from the guild with." A smooth voice said. Nuryev smiled, turning to look back into his room where Farron Pradesh was reclined on a chaise in nothing but a towel. The king hadn't meant to go so far...he prefered female companions in general but Farron was exceptional, had helped his Kingdom and himself personally more than he could ever repay the man.
An attempt to get him to relax had just...resulted in a couple badly needed hours of pleasure while Cida was going through registering her trip and collecting her supplies and Grassrunner. He didn't regret it, he'd needed the massage...and all it had led to, Farron was Boscan, pleasure was pleasure.
"I know...not certain she'll avoid the islands you warned her were protected and illegal for her to visit though...she won't harm any of the protected wildlife though...of that I'm certain." He responded.
"Then she'll be fine, the runner is trackable and trained to return to one of three stables if she loses it, once it comes in it will lead us to her if that happens, White Sea won the Master games this year so even has an airship they can go fetch her with if she calls or has trouble, which I doubt she will. Her soul wants to make peace with the other self she carries now and she wants this solitude and time to explore." Farron said.
"How is it you make everything sound so easy?" Nuryev chuckled moving toward the chaise.
Farrons lips quirked, the pale blue eyes dancing "Because most everything can be if we let it, Majesty."
"How easy would it be to get you on your knees again?" Nuryev said huskily, eyes moving over the golden tanned body stretched out below him, a black eagle down the right side of a flawlessly toned torso.
Farron Pradesh was a powerful mage, a swordsman that had, just that morning bested him not once but four times and, he was a man of peace who worked to make the world a better place, Nuryev liked to think that was why he'd enjoyed the morning so much, and why he wasn't quite ready for it to end...instead of his own concern about sending a magically altered and hard trained weapon out on a grassrunner to find herself needing to be forgotten...
Farron licked his lips "As easy as you spreading your legs…" and in a few minutes, the Kings head fell back as his fingers sank into honey blonde hair and all thoughts left him.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Three weeks and Vander could no longer go anywhere without the black serpent somewhere nearby. He narrowed his eyes on her as he soaked in the spring. He'd not spoken with her, not learned any great secrets to his person or aura or soul or whatever the fuck he was supposed to be finding.
So far...he'd been bitten about 18 times and by the 6th the burn actually became almost pleasurable and he had learned to enjoy the high...especially after learning if he smoked some of Rowans tobacco? The high was freaky good fun. But aside from some really creative play with his shadow while cackling and smoking in the hotspring under the eyes of his new friend, he'd not experienced anything profound or that could prevent him from sprouting feathers sometime in the near future…
Disgruntled he'd gone ahead and opened a bottle of whisky after eating nothing but the deserts made for tonight and tomorrows dinners because Mr. Elan wasn't there to stop him…
"What are your secrets huh Beauty?" He asked the Serpent that was lounging on a bush not far from the spring.
He'd noted a larger red serpent had started hovering, that one was a good 15 feet long too, had deep dark red scales, some that were rimmed in black, some in purple and it had gorgeous purple eyes, but it like the dozen or so others he'd seen, kept its distance.
Heaving a sigh he hoisted himself from the water, he was buzzed in more than one way and walking just sounded like a good idea as the sunset lit the sky and the colors from the bioluminescent plant life on the sea and dotting all of the island started lighting up.
Because he was drunk and a little high on Rowans mix, and the Havati venom in his veins, he didn't pay attention to where he was. So far, even subconsciously, he had avoided the Eastern side of the island. He knew what was there and didn't want to go there.
Now though, snickering when he again almost tripped because a tree came out of nowhere he was more about trying to hear the soft wing strokes of the black serpent and not fall on his face.
It wasn't until the next thing he tripped over wasn't a tree that he realized what he'd done and the humor fell from his face.
The houses still stood...what hadn't burned during the attacks and fighting… in the middle of the overgrown area where Grassrunners had once been kept the old fountain with the beautiful sculptures of Havati circling a mage still stood...beside it...the ground was still...scorched and barren of grass or life.
He had stood there, his mother had set him down, pushed the silk scarf that she had tied over his eyes as they had fled their house from his face and held it as he'd stood with his eyes squeezed shut and he remembered...he could hear the screams, smell the blood and smoke…
"Open your eyes precious...let mommy see your eyes like a serpents scales. He'd shaken his head and she'd been shaking, his father yelling.
"Em! Get him to do it! If they get to the nests…." he had cried.
She'd cried, been crying when he had finally opened his eyes because he heard a sob come from his mother. Her eyes weren't like him, they were paler, almost pink, and rimmed in purple.
"Baby...I need you to let them out...let the shades come out...these people, they're going to...hurt everyone anyway...but we...we have to protect the nests of the serpents, they'll burn the nests baby, you don't want them to hurt them do you?" She pleaded and Vander had shaken his head firmly, he loved the serpents, he loved sitting in their nests, having the adults gently nudge him toward hatchlings that were so soft skinned and made pretty chirping and singing sounds.
They sang...he remembered songs, the serpents hummed but you had to listen right to hear them, sing to them first, hold up your hand, reach for them, and they would always come, swirl ther long cool bodies around you and fangs would prick your skin, it rarely hurt, but then...if you sang to them, they sang back and you could hear them.
The hatchlings were so sweet, the adults would carry him up into the sky, circle the island while he laughed and waved down at his parents...at night it was his mothers serpent that made his pillow, it's body that would curl around him if he got cold, it's songs that lulled him to sleep.
"Protect them my baby...stop these bad people...when the shades come close your eyes and face the sky. Jinjin will be up there, you watch for her...keep your eyes on her…" She said.
"They'll hurt you...hurt daddy…" He had cried and she'd hugged him, kissed his face, couldn't seem to stop touching him as screams got worse, the fighting got closer.
"EM! There's no more time!" His father shouted. His mother looked to him then back at Vander, eyes pleading.
"I know they will baby, we all know...but if you don't do this...they'll kill all of us and then every serpent on this island and leave nothing of us..not even the dust your shades will...please baby...I love you so much...call the shades…" she had breathed and...he had…
He'd done what she said, had looked up to the sky, and he'd seen Jinjin, his mothers serpent, long shimmering gold body twisting in the air as it spat balls of venomous magic down on the invaders, but...when the shades came, when the one rushed into his mother and started killing her, Jinjin convulsed in the sky and it's wails of grief had burned into him...he didn't see his mother die...but he watched her serpent die with her, saw the huge blue one that was his fathers go down, turn to dust before it reached the ground, heard the songs in the air turn to sorrowful grieving as more and more serpents turned to dust in the sky as the sounds of screaming grew fewer, the fighting stopped...the whole world stopped…
He was kneeling now, a hand on the scorched soil where his mother had been and he hummed a tears streamed down his face, forced his tortured voice to rie and tipped his chin back, reaching for the sky with his other hand, singing…
He felt the smooth body whirl around him, the warmth, how soft the scales were, it was like...he'd never left...fangs pricked his skin but didn't hurt even as the black serpent set them her large jaws gaping wide so her upper fangs pierced right into his left pectoral while her lowers dove into his back, they were so long...he'd never felt them so deep even as a child when they were so much larger compared to his slender body.
The song flooded him then, he heard them...for the first time since he was child, not a peep in the last weeks, but now their song was almost deafening, especially the one latched onto his body and as she sang, another deeper song joined hers and ince his other hand was still on the scorched ground, this set of fangs set into him beneath his shoulder blade where his seal of the Bloodhunters was set.
These fangs were so much bigger...they went clear through him, met within him...but it didn't hurt...the fire burned hotter than ever, it burned away the dark things churning still inside him,,,and his shadowsight watched it burn back the shades, scatter then further away than they had ever retreated from him...he faded then, body flooded with venom, blood filling the gaping mouths of the serpents holding him, going lax, unable to hold himself upright and they cradled him...as he collapsed and black filled all of his vision...their songs followed him….
0-0-0-0-0-0
He felt dried tears making his skin tight...for a moment he was pissed he'd cried again, he felt humor react to that and smirked then frowned...that wasn't...hi humor...he didn't think this was all that funny…..more humor.
His body was shifted and started to "check in" He was laying on dirt...warmth all wrapped around him and it tightened then loosened and the humor spiked, along with a warm feeling of...connection?
He frowned more…"The..fuck did I do now?" He groaned. All things considered...well, not really, he wa still searching for things to consider honestly, his brain was fuzzy.
More humor
"The hell?"
Affection…
Directed at...him?
"Yesssss" he stilled, hand flying to his left pectoral where the serpent had bitten him so deep...yep tender as fuck and...his eyes finally opened then he slammed them shut and groaned again.
"Shit...no more Stellan Vodka and Rowan tobacco...and cinnamon chocolate cookies dipped in flan...fuck….now I'm hungry…"
Humor again, more affection...a hint of...disgust?
"Fuck you too." He growled then winced as his whole right side tightened and he gasped, hand flying to grip his side...why was his skin raised?
He shaded his eyes wisely with a silky thin shadow before opening them this time and grunted showing himself to a sitting position and then gawking at his right side.
Usually occupied by intricate runes and small depictions of Havati serpents at his pec, side and hip...now, a large red Havati serpent looked out from his side from low on his right pec...deep purple eyes staring fangs bared, it's body spiraled his all the way across to wrap down his left leg to his ankle.
Glancing to his other side he sucked in another breath, reaching back over his shoulder, feeling the raised skin, the body came from behind his left shoulder, wings tucked along its sides, spiraling down and around and wrapping down his right leg, this one black with red rimmed scales…
"So...never got drunk and stoned and woke up with ink before…" He breathed.
Humor, affection...a snort of impatience but...humor too.
"K...all kinds of creeped out here…"
He got to his feet, if a bit shaky, and looked around. His village, this was where he'd been born...the events of the night before came to him then and he blinked down at his body. At some point all of his shadowleather had left him, that had never happened before, even if passed out in magic cancelling devices once he manifested clothes they stayed put…
He smirked "Oh yeah…" He'd been drinking, smoking and eating too much sugar and had stumbled out of the hot spring…
He frowned slightly, not keen on trying to put anything on over the dirt that was all over him, he needed another bath. Turning he searched memories he'd supressed for too long but smled faintly, shovng a hand in his dirty hair and walking away from the fountain. Considering how vivid it had all been, how it suddenly felt like it had all just happened, he wasn't surprised he found his old home. The small two bedroom house still stood not far from the village center. He remembered there being a decent system in place to get water to the homes and considering how things had gone, and that the house, aside from being dusty and unkept for a lot of years...was untouched. The invading clans hadn't gotten to it before they had all died to the shades.
He opened the door and went in after a long breath and a few moments looking at the door.
Encouragement...affection...affirmation… he shook his head as those things came into him and soon stood in the modest little livingroom of the house he'd been born in. He stared around, memories flooding him again, playing on the braided rug with his father and his fathers large blue serpent...Xin… there were even still a few toys strewn about...the attack had been a surprise, they had been in the livingroom, he and his mother while his father was cooking dinner.
Shaking his head again he went to the kitchen and turned the fawcet. The water ran after a few moments, a little brown at first but it cleared and grew hot and Vander sighed, turning and going to the bathroom.
A brief shower later he emerged in his leather pants and boots, not bothering with a shirt. He'd found towels and had shaken the dust from a few, now he stood rubbing his wet hair and trying to decide what to do next as he came into the livingroom and froze, wine eyes meeting black.
"Nice place." Corvu said from where he lounged on the couch, he patted the cushion and coughed as puffs of dust came up.
"Planning to do some cleaning I hope?"
Vander narrowed his eyes "Not really, and please tell me you aren't going to be cryptic...what did I do last night? I know you know…"
Corvus regarded him, standing and crossing until he was right in front of the shadowquip, reaching up and taking the towel from him, tossing it to the kitchen counter a few feet away.
"You're safe from feathers my Raven, you won't ever sink now, two points you had to have, two points you made…" He said, long fingertips brushed over the face of the red serpent that was on Vanders right side.
"Mated pair too...nice."
Vander narrowed his eyes. "Cryptic." He said.
"Habit, I am a spirit. Relax handsome, what you think happen did, last night two Havati serpents, the black female that's been following you around and her rather hefty red male mate both bound to you. It was her idea, her mate wasn't thrilled with her choice but...love...ya know?" He chuckled.
Vander watched Corvus trail his hand down his side, the fingers of the spirit playing over his skin and he smiled faintly as a familiar warmth lit in his blood. Two weeks...in had been forever since he'd felt a touch other than his own and while he was skilled? Yeah...he closed his eyes and hummed, shifting into Corvus' touch and the spirit snapped his eyes up.
Vander was handsome...extremely so...he could hear the mans thoughts...feel what he felt through the bond they had.
"Little lonely my Raven?" He asked quietly and Vanders wine red eyes locked with his, a smirk lifting his full lips.
"More than a little...I don't do shy or coy...I want you...any way I can fucking have you…" He growled and Corvus smiled...it wasn't often pretty things propositioned him and Vander wasn't a keyholder, wasn't even bound for his eternal flock anymore.
"Any way...at all…" Corvus purred and Vander stepped right into the spirits hands, lunging to slam their lips together, shamelessly whimpering in need when the long fingered hands gripped his ass and his whole being about sagged in relief at being touched again, feeling a tongue sliding into his mouth, the taste of smoke and berries hit him, he couldn't care less, he'd take anything, his clothes gone in half a thought, he didn't even protest when Corvus whipped him around, slamming him into the island counter and bending him over it.
The last time he'd been taken had been horrific, but this wasn't a demon, and Corvus, while rough, was far from brutal. Soon Vander was sinking gratefully into the haze of lust and pleasure, embracing it as it consumed him, as the Raven spirit thrust into him over and over, he could have cried when one of those strong hands gripped his neglected member and started stroking, gripping the counter, lifting one of his knee to it and pushing back into Corvus' movements eagerly.
"Sh...shit...should have...come sooner…" Corvus groaned.
"Please...nnngh...Gods I need this…" Vander gasped and the two feverishly worked toward completion, Vander finding his first and gripping the counter hard to keep meeting Corvus' movement until the spirit groaned out his own climax several minutes later.
When they finally moved again, Corvus chuckled, righting his clothes, eyes roving over Vanders nude body as the shadowquip turned to face him, snatching up the damp towel from his hair and wiping himself off before black leather again covered him.
Leaning on his elbow he smiled lazily at the spirit, he wasn't sated, could very happily go again...could have gleefully gone all damned day probably without a complaint, but he wouldn't push it…
He looked down at the black serpent body crossing from his back around under his left pec to cross the red body before it wound around his right leg. "A mated pair huh?" He said quietly.
"Yep, oh...here…" Corvus produced a decent sized bag and Vanders eyes flew wide. "Tahlulas Diner" on it.
"Oh you fucking angel…" He snatched the bag, eagerly digging inside and pulling out to go containers while Corvus chuckled.
"Compliments of Kaleb, he made Hestor wait to send me while he got that, three slices of the cherry cheesecake along with something called a…"
Vander moaned popping open a large box "Soulburner Special." he said reverently.
The spicy noodles from Tahlulas diner by the stables at White Sea city were one of Vanders favorite things...ever. He always got the big bowl with extra hummus toast, a massive cherry coke and three slices of cherry cheesecake...he had a serious metabolism the way he trained, but even he slipped into a semi food coma after one of his little food fests at Tahlulas, only Cristoff and Emzadi could eat the same order and not get sick.
He ripped the bag containing the cutlery open and hovelled in a mouthful, groaning a the delightful burn filled his senses.
Curiosity...sharp interest….Vander felt his skin tingle and Corvus stepped back grinning...it was a testament to Vanders dedication to the meal he held he didn't drop it as the tattoo of black suddenly lost its color and a black serpent slid...right out of the back of his left shoulder, curling over to peer with keen interest at the noodles hanging on the chopsticks he held.
"Think she'd like a taste, Havati are gluttons...alway loved their humans and the food that came with them." Corvus chuckled.
Vander blinked at him "Did she just…" he trailed off, staring at the serpent that was flicking her tongue over his noodles.
"She and her mate live in YOU now sexy, your lives are bound together. You're onna live a fucking long time now, Havati go for centuries just like the big dragons, they're just cuter...aren't ya gorgeous?" Corvus smiled, running a hand over the sleek black scales. The females red eyes turned to him but snapped back to the noodles, then Vanders eyes, then the noodles...strong desire...hunger...yearning…
"I'm feeling her aren't I? Hunger...desire…" He smiled, adjusting the load of noodles on the chopsticks and trying to convey along the same path the feelings came from for her to open her mouth.
The lips parted and the serpent held her mouth open, Vander shoving noodles into it.
She closed her mouth then, closing her eyes and there was contemplation, enjoyment...alarm at burning..then satisfaction...more enjoyment. She rolled the noodles around her mouth before swallowing and tipping in to nuzzle his chin with her snout...gratitude...affection
"Yes...they don't speak in a conventional sense, the bond to their humans is more feelings, perceptions, you can talk to them and they understand every word, but their species communicates through their souls, songs...beautiful really, always did like em alot, your clan...they've been with the Havati since before Bosco was a country ya know?" Corvus said, dropping onto a stool beside the one Vander sat on and snatching a piece of hummus toast.
"So I have the points...and she and her mate...they're...mine?" He aked.
Affirmation, resounding, happiness, warmth.
He smiled as Corvus just grinned. "Guess so...they're my...familiars? Is that how they work?" He asked, they weren't "pets" that was for sure.
DISGUST...he chuckled
"They'll fight at your side, come out when you call, come out on their own when they feel like it, like now when she wanted to taste the noodles firsthand. If you're healthy, they are, you hungry? They are too, sad? They share it...you'll share everything with them. They're stable, won't hit you with a lot, and...while your having sex and such...they'll either leave you be...or...make it better once you get used to each other. The big red will have some strong fire attacks, light based magic, Black beauty here, she's all shadows and poisons, but you all, now...share intertwined souls. You go to the voids? They're with you, and no shade is going to fuck with a Havati, demons avoid them too, their venom melts them." Corvus smirked.
Vander blinked in amazement. No wonder his clan….the bloodline he wa from...stayed close to the Havati, with these beautiful serpents within him, he'd no longer be...hunted by shades, no longer be...drained and pulled at...he could feel it...he was...stable. The endless, never ending assault on the edges of his mind and soul were….not there.
Corvus smiled, standing. "You got another two weeks here, use it, get used to them and let them get used to you." He said.
"Wait! If...if these serpents stabilized Shadowquip magic...why wasn't I...I don't know...pushed to do this when I was...fucking born?" He asked.
Corvus sighed "You're 22, a powerful mage, your body is trained to like...ridiculous levels, you're all muscle...hot sexy muscle I might add, healthy and the deadliest fucker I've met in a while...and bonding with those erpents? Kicked your fucking ass, that black female has been pumping you with venom, preparing you for what happened last night, babies, kids...they couldn't SURVIVE that. Husen usually did their first Rite some time after age 13 and the elders would make sure only small young serpents had access to them, like a foot long little cutey hatchings and shit and some of them still died during the Rite and that was ONE serpent at a time. Most mages like you?" He lifted a brow, Vander knew..
He did too, most Shadowquips died or were put down before they were 5 years old, their souls unable to stay pure, consumed by the darkness that pushed at them from the moment they were born. One reaching an age where they could go through the rites...wasn't common and even among the Husen, the magic manifested only in about one or two out of every 50 or 60 babies born to the clan.
"So most never got the chance...dead before they were old enough to do it." He said quietly and Corvus nodded.
"That's bullshit." He sighed. Corvus shrugged
"Your brother Zen doesn't have a magic set that came with pretty flowers and easy laws, neither does Bickslow, my keyholder deals with a lot of shit, almost all Celestial mages suffer from depression, anxiety and shit. It's magic...not unicorn farts and rainbows. You mortals, you don't get alot of time to work this shit out...well...pfft, you do now my Raven. Just remember, find a mate. I mean, I don't mind having you as a booty call? But you wont know real happiness, until you give that heart over, share all you share with your serpents with another human soul. You'll "mate" now, like the Dragonslayer, like the Archangels, you'll take a mate, when you're ready to learn how that shit works? Don't fucking ask me because I don't know." The spirit snorted.
"You'll have to go to Stella, the temple of the three Gods, specifically? Set. You're his and he's probably aware you just completed your pyramid and stabilized. Priests of Set are creepy assholes...hell, most of the priests and priestesses of Stella even make ME shudder, but they'll know what you need to do to mate, and you NEED to." Corvus said, leaning in and kissing Vander hard and the mage moaned into it.
"Mmm...you coming back?" The shadowquip asked hopefully.
Corvus smirked "Probably, yer family is worried about you, wants reports, and since you gave me some fun? Maybe I'll bring you more of that." He said nodding toward the counter covered with take out containers.
"Won't be for a bit though, so train you shit, and spend time in this village, purge your demons, the serpents will help you with that." with that, Corvus vanished in flapping swirls of shadows and Vander sat, shoving a large bunch of noodles into his mouth and idly getting some and sticking them in the serpents mouth while he chewed before sticking a straw into the large to-go cup then groaning when cherry coke filled his mouth, chuckling when he realized red eyes were on him and he needed to figure out how to get some cherry coke into the serpents mouth.