A/N Big thank you to Nightmare Senshi for the permission to put the Xiao family into this story with Hestor (also on loan). Thank you also to the reviewers and people who send me all the PMs everyday. I do understand, I'm so sorry there are trolls on this site that harass people for just...no reason other than they're sad unhappy people, and I also understand avoiding some people who think they should have control over way way more than just their own work. No, I am not stopping my writing, no I am not going to leave this site, I actually spend a lot of time with a large group of other authors who post here, all of us have had similar experiences too and we all agree, we're not leaving, we're not stopping, we're not really all that bothered by these few individuals and there really is just a handful, the vast majority of the people here are nice people who are just sharing their love of these genres and beautiful worlds created by talented people like Mashima. Letting anyone drive us away would also be letting them chase us away from our own love of all of this and no...that's just not going to happen. Enjoy, this story is not completed yet, I don't even have the ending mapped, so I appreciate all the suggestions and feedback, you may very well see something you asked for show up in here.
Trigger warning: I Do NOT give these often but this chapter has content with Vander specifically that may be a bit tough for some. I suggest skipping Vanders ritual if you're sensitive.
DESNA
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"I just think that someone closer into our family…" Hishiko was saying as Xiao ushered her and Li to their carriage.
"Yes mother, I know, the choices are made, I'll see to everything and inform you as soon as any results are known." Xiao soothed as the women boarded the carriage.
He watched the carriage leave, not really taking a deep breath until it was fully gone and the gates shut tight behind it's departure. Heaving a sigh he turned toward the main housing area and stopped, eyes widening as he saw Shimako chasing a screaming man with a very large butcher knife.
"I said Julliene, not DICE who the living hell dices cabbage for a salad?!" She was snarling and the man was running wide eyed from her.
"Get back here! You're doing all 16 cases now!" She yelled.
"No! Please!..Put the knife down!"
"I'll put it down alright!" She hissed
"Noooo! Priestess Tao, please!"
Xiao was hurrying across the courtyard when suddenly Zen emerged from the building, when he came out the terrified man ran behind him and Zen stilled, eyes widening seeing Shimako, slender lovely Shimako who had been spoiling him with his favorite food and treats for a month now, brandishing a butcher knife.
The Gladiator sidestepped far faster than his size would lead anyone to think he could, griped the slender woman spun her so she was facing away from him, holding the wrist with the hand clutching the knife he twisted her into his body, an arm coming around her to hold her in place while a glossy black wing deftly knocked the knife from her hand.
"Murdering your staff is a bit much…" He said, humor in his voice.
"He ruined a batch of cabbage because he did not follow my instructions." Shimako said but she did blush.
"And for ruined cabbage the sentence is death by butcher knife?" Zen asked.
Shimako frowned "I was not going to kill him...maybe wound him so he did not forget and did things right next time."
"I don't care for blood in my food." Zen said.
Shimako huffed "I would never…" she said indignantly.
Zen was slow to let her go, sure the man was safe when he saw him standing by Xiao.
"No death for kitchen mistakes." He said, releasing her and she huffed again, collecting her knife before turning those vivid steel blue eyes up to him.
"Depends on the mistake." She smiled faintly then bowed and hurried back to the kitchens, glaring at the man who hid behind Xiao.
Xiao chuckled "I think you should return to Heset temple on the wagon going out in an hour, have them send someone to replace you."
"Yes High Priest, thank you…" The man said hurrying off.
Zen waited while Xiao crossed to him.
"You're ready?" Xiao asked. Zen shrugged.
"I suppose, this whole blessing ritual sounds pretty involved." He smiled faintly and Xiao raised a brow.
"You are enduring a trial, selected by a God to receive that Gods blessing...I would think it's more than just "Involved." Xiao said, trying not to smile. He liked Zen, he truly did, the man had been through absolute hell and still held so much light, so much strength and a truly good heart beneath his intimidating exterior. He was quiet, thoughtful, intelligent and hungry for knowledge at a level Xiao respected.
He'd made a show of listening to his mother and sister, but ultimately, he had long since selected Zens mage to bind and they would do that after he was blessed by Set, just like Vander would lay with a Concubine after his...a Concubine he had chosen...which he'd angled his mother and sister into agreeing with since she was already through all the fertility rituals and the healer assured them...she was going to be at peak that night.
"I've seen little of Gods in my life, celestial spirits, demons, those things in abundance, I believe you, that Set is the God of my magic, I just don't give my respect away, even to Gods." Zen said and Xiao smiled.
"I would expect no less of you Zen." He said.
The day was a calm one, Zen and Vander encouraged to relax, read, meditate and prepare. Their blessings would be done when the sun had fully left and Set had taken over the sky.
Cida pushed Vanders arm up, squeezing herself in against him on the couch he was stretched out on outside the ritual chamber. Her cuddling in when it wasn't the middle of the night and his serpents weren't out had him raising an eyebrow.
"Cuddles before my blessing?" He smiled and she didn't look at him, eyes on his book, the picture on the page was a drawing of the battle of Emnos, which now was Crocus in Fiore, a mage in black on an altar, body straining against restraints, agony on their face as priests in white fired an etherion cannon over the altar...
"Yer gonna fuck a concubine." She said. Vander sighed, he wasn't happy with the deal, he really wasn't, last thing he wanted was a child right now, he was just getting his feet under him with his magic, just feeling like he had a hand on an actual future and could hope for something real in his life instead of just, one day at a time fighting to keep possession of himself and his sanity from the pressures of the voids.
He could not, however, deny Xiao had delivered. He knew more than he'd hoped he'd learn here, was taking some one of a kind books home with him for the Citadel to transcribe, for the Academe Celestine to add to their library. He understood now, for the first time in his fucking life, his magic wasn't just shadow magic, he held a type of Celestial magic, weaved from the darkness of the space between stars, created by the God Set.
It had changed his approach to his spellcrafting, opened up new ideas, and so far? Hugely improved his grasp on his magic. He could now step through a void, and, instead of traversing the blackness, it was like stepping through a door. He had only to fix points with a binding gate spell Xiao had taught him, then, fixed point void jumps were his.
He could open that "door" and take people through it too, safely, as many as he wanted, just hold it open and let them through. He'd already fixed a point in Daevale, here at the temple of Set, and planned on one at his fathers house, his house and the guild branches he visited most often.
He couldn't refuse to hold up his side of things, he'd made a deal, a promise, and he'd keep it. That it seemed to be bothering Cida made him smile.
"Thought you didn't care what I did with my first serpent." He smiled and she jabbed him in the ribs, making him cough then laugh.
"I...I know ya made a deal, jus seems like a big thin'...you ready for a child?" She asked, eyeing him now and he saw the worry in those light green eyes.
"I have to be. Really...they're right, I can't let my magic die out, and maybe the child will be born with it, maybe they won't, Xiao says it's a 50/50 thing. Either way, I won't leave a child of mine here, I won't leave them anywhere, I'll raise my child...my family will help, Dad will lose his damned mind having a Grandchild." He said trying to keep his tone light.
She lay quiet, her hand sliding over his chest, tracing where the lines of Mealas tattoo ran.
"I...I'm just...I can not…" She heaved a frustrated sigh. She knew what she wanted to say, just, not how.
She wanted Vander, the idea of him sleeping with others hadn't bothered her, but him possibly making a baby with another woman? That was something altogether different.
It made her think about how good it felt to sleep against him, to hold him, be held by him, his roguish smiles, his teasing, he had a sweet side, a gentle side, she'd felt it laying beside him at night, purring as he'd stroke her hair. He was going through so much, and handling it so well, his smile rarely fell, she admired him...but she was...broken...she had this...thing...inside her, if they were intimate…
Nuryev said he doubted it, that if the high emotions of intense combat, the adrenaline of that couldn't force her to change, surely she'd hold her own in bed with someone, but she couldn't risk it...it was almost painful...imagining Vander with another woman, sharing...that much of himself, letting that woman carry his child...it made her angry and she wasn't sure she knew just why.
If all she wanted, needed, was sex? Why should him doing this bother her so much? Maybe the idea she'd never have a child? That twisted inside her badly...she loved children...wanted one more than...anything. To have a man love her, give her a child...to have a family of her own...maybe that was it. The idea Vander was creating a sort of family. The concubine would not keep the child, just carry it and give birth to it, then never see it again, that was what concubines did and across most of Ishgar, surrogacy and that included Concubines, were honored and respected. The ones at the temple were there just to provide children for the temple, for the growth of Stella, for the preservation of rare and blessed Celestial magics in particular.
It was an ancient thing they did here, women giving themselves to that service, to assure lines were continued, children were birthed, in exchange their families received blessings or special aid from the temples.
That was part of it...Vander was going to do this, and she had no part in any of it. Why she felt she should she wasn't sure. She was his team mate now, and she looked forward to missions and working with him and Presca and living the life of a working mage, she just...she pushed into him tighter, nuzzling into his neck and humming when he let her and stroked her hair.
"You're pretty upset...this because of the blessing or the concubine? The blessing is going to solidify the black chain weapon Xiao taught me to make, deepen my hold on my magic by connecting me to Set." He said quietly. She knew it, she'd seen the chains Xiao had been teaching Vander to make and control, the weapon would be seriously deadly once Vander had it mastered.
"You know it's not the blessing." She growled and pulled back, fully intending to leave and go find a tree to sulk in but he caught her face in his hands as she was pulling back and kissed her.
It caught her completely offguard, he'd teased plenty, and had kissed her cheeks, her forehead her temples even her neck a few times but...never her lips.
His were warm, he always smelled good, like cherries and leather and smoke, and gods he tasted like cherries too, had soft lips, they felt good against her own and he moved them so teasingly, stirring hers to move too. She sank into him, almost melting into the kiss but then recoiled, jerking back and scowling at him.
He smiled up at her "I'd rather share your bed Cida...but...I made this deal, it's not a terrible idea...I'm seeing it through." He said quietly and she nodded, pulling the rest of the way from him and retreating, seeking out a sakura tree in the training area because she couldn't watch it all.
She'd listened and watched them prepare for it. They would be bathed before going into the chamber, then would meditate as Xiao had taught them to to reach out to Set, Xiao would help them make the connection with the God, and then they would be tested, if they passed, they would be blessed. She had no right to say much, so she would just...brood.
Vander watched her go, Cida was a puzzle he would work out one day, but right now, he needed to get his own shit together before he started unraveling someone else's.
Zen came into the waiting area, like Vander wearing nothing but a robe. Their rituals would involve ceremonial bathing before they were to kneel naked before the altar and High Priest of Set for their blessings.
"I'm going to assume she's not happy with your deal." He said, having passed Cida as he came in.
Vander sighed. "She's not, but I won't go back on it, she's...well...I don't know...not sure what we are exactly anymore. Only thing that's changed is she's gotten...possessive." He chuckled.
Zen lifted a brow "You usually show em the door when they start going there." He pointed out. He liked Cida, her plain takes and blunt attitude sat well with hm, but Vander accepting her as well as he did, and the way their relationship worked was...out of character for the Vander he'd known...maybe not for Vander now...it was an adjustment, how much his ordeals had changed his little brother. He was still Vander in all the ways that mattered just...with more depth...his thoughtfulness wasn't being hidden as much, the shrewd side showed, so did the serious side, and those things Vander had always hidden from the world until now.
He was adjusting though, and liked the changes, Vander was still himself just more...stable...balanced, and for Zen, a little easier to relax around.
"I put her on my team at the guild, even made sure Presca was good with it. She's got a lot of shit she's dealing with, you've seen." Vander waved his hand and Zen nodded. He'd seen, they'd watched Cida transform three times since coming to Stella, the priests of the Sanctuary were a little TOO good at bringing it out of her and the idiots would flee when she'd turn on them leaving Zen and Vander to handle her and...Zen had seen Vander handle her.
Like he was handling one of his serpents, and the beasts would help him, coming out, hovering, humming their haunting songs and dodging her claws and Vander would vanish, shadow step around her swings and attacks, push into her space, singing softly, crooning to her.
The ears would flatten, the eyes grow wide and the lashing tail would slow, as he'd slide shadows over her, stroke through her hair and over her back and usually by the time he got in close enough to put his hand on her, rub over her arms, the striped pelt was fading away into pale skin again, the yellow eyes fading into the green and then she'd sag into him and whimper, usually fall asleep and Vander would carry her over to a grassy spot in the training area where she'd nap for a bit while they finished doing what they were doing, Searsha usually wound around Cida watching over her.
"You two interact...strangely. Not lovers...but too intimate to be friends the way she touches you so much." He shuddered, he couldn't handle someone hanging on him as well as Vander handled Cida getting in his space like she did. Snatching food right out of his hand sometimes, leaning on him, crawling into his bed at night, she'd come up at the table at meals and almost lay against his back, hands playing with his hair, chin on his shoulder she'd breathe him in, murmur something to make the Shadowquip snicker or laugh then go to her own seat.
"I don't mind touching Zen...never have, and I have no clue what we are to each other, never...had someone around me like her...but the slitherbabies like her...and so do I...I'd like more...Gods I'd love to just...fuck the hell out of her sometimes...but she's dealing with things...I get that...so...we are what we are…" Vander sighed.
Zen smirked "Which you can't name or figure out."
Vander snorted but shrugged "Yeah…."
Shimako didn't bring them their light meal and Cida didn't come back, Vander frowning slightly when he asked a Priest and was told she had retired to her room and asked not to be disturbed.
He couldn't go talk to her, Xiao was already inside the ritual chambers, preparing one for each of them and there wasn't time.
When three priestesses came out in black robes and approached Vander, a single one approaching Zen, the two men stood, exchanging looks.
"Happy Blessing?" Vander tried. Zen rolled his eyes.
"Good luck."
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Zen was led into a dark chamber, the ceiling open to the night sky, starlight the only thing illuminating the room. There was an altar to Set, and already incense was burning, the smell making Zens nose twitch and his eyes narrow as he felt a small push on him from it...it couldn't make him high, his magic filtered toxins, but...it would have if not for that and that had him on edge.
"Please…" The woman said quietly, another woman coming from the shadows they led him to a decent sized pool of steaming water, it was only about knee deep on Zen and stripped off his robe. He grit his teeth as they bathed him. How many times had he stood in the wash stalls of the coliseum, having gore washed from his body while men paid to watch and jerked off?
He started to shy from their hands when a familiar voice made him look hard at the woman who had joined them after he'd been led in.
"It's alright.." She murmured and his eyes sharpened, he'd been trying not to look at them, to tone out their hands on his body, but now he looked and his eyes widened a little at seeing Shimako running a cloth over his side, pulling the blessed fragrant waters over his skin.
She smiled faintly when she saw his shocked expression but continued with her task, and the two women washed every bit of him before leading him from the water then drying him and rubbing ceremonial oils over his skin then tying an ornate ceremonial wrap around his waist. Once that was done, Shimako led him to a cushion before the altar.
"Kneel here and meditate, the High Priest will soon attend you." She said softly.
Zen did as bidden, watching Shimako move over to the far side of the room and slip on a shimmering black robe, then she knelt and closed her eyes. So...she was going to be here through this? He didn't remember Xiao saying anything about witnesses…
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Vanders Ritual
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Vander was smiling, enjoying his bathing, his shadows slithering up the legs of his attendants and making them press their lips together and struggle not to smile or giggle. They were all three beautiful, and he'd not seen any of them before. He knew he would be taking a concubine the moment his blessing was over and it dawned on him...one of these women might be the one chosen for him. That realization only made him more flirty, gratified by three flushed faces when they finally had him dried and oils rubbed into his skin, ceremonial wrap around his slim waist. He knelt on the cushion before the altar, meeting Xiaos cool gaze without any remorse, he'd follow the ceremony, he would do as he needed, but like hell would he not be himself while he did it.
Xiao started chanting, reciting the rites of the ritual and Vander closed his eyes and started easing himself, relaxing into the meditative state he was supposed to be in, feeling Meala and Searsha pave the way for him, their gentle soothing taking him where he needed to be in moments.
There was a laugh and his second sight engaged, finding the man...he had blacker than black hair, pale skin...a slender but still well sculpted form and...was strikingly handsome in a unique way. Dark eyes regarded him smiling almost a little maniacally.
"My chosen...Shadowquip...Void Shifter...Shadow Master...Void Angel...Shade Master, your kind has many names but all come back to me...my Chosen...I was delighted to watch you grow, to see you beat the odds." He said.
Vander felt...this odd almost chaotic sense of...pride, love… emanating from what he knew instinctively...was the God Set.
"To have you both here...My sweetest child and my dearest gift of Mehturts creations...I know you've suffered much to get here...I am proud you made it. You are going to face then...aiding me..i've another God...and he needs put in his place… your skills? We shall test, and in doing, free you from the final taint of the demons who dared handle my creation so, and...open the way for you to grow to your full potential my child…" Set came to his side and the room was gone, he stood then beside the God in...a temple certainly...but it was vast...his senses, his magic, unable to find endings…
The god they faced...confused him...the tall well cut golden skinned body didn't but the vestments...the falcons head…
"You've no hope you know…" Horace said and Set shrugged, and in a moment the two Gods were on each other and Vander was wide eyed for a moment before realizing he was supposed to be helping Set...what…
As clothes were torn away, it became clear what was happening and Vander shoved aside his confusion, letting training take him into the fray.
"Your child...very fine...I can break it you know…" Horace said and Set smiled, yanking Horaces face to his, shoving back the vestments to kiss the mouth as soon as it was uncovered.
"Speak less...fuck more...you will lose yourself to me this day…" Set growled.
Shadows moved, and Vander struggled with them, getting them to touch Horace was...far and away, the hardest thing he'd ever done with his shadows, they shied from the Gods golden skin, and his own hands had to guide them, and as soon as his skin met the Gods he was consumed by sensations beyond his wildest imaginings.
Set smiled, he'd long since been done with Horace and his mouth, and now that he had a chosen child anchored well enough to handle being here? He was going to show Horace what a virile God really was.
Vander, presented with a Cock he was certain even he could not deep throat. Still dove in as Set kissed Horace senseless, the other God moaning as Set and his child worked his body. Vander was absorbed in what he was doing, amazed at the taste as pre-cum beaded and he licked it eagerly, Horace shuddering. The God was writhing, panting and Set smirked inwardly, never again would Horace say he lacked passion, never again would he say he could not truly satisfy Mehturt or Ra and he was enjoying seeing his child causing Horaces body to arch beneath them...his skills were definitely up to the task.
Vander was lost, mentally just gone, immersed in pleasure beyond anything he'd ever known as the smell of sex drowned him, the taste of a God...
His shadows followed his lead, and Horace writhed as Set slowly eased Vander off the God, laying him on his belly on the dias "You can not face a God in this...trust me…" The God whispered to him and he had no voice to argue or question, just followed Sets lead and Horace, made eager by the attentions of Vander, his shadows and Sets ministrations, crawled on top of the Shadowquip, eyes raking over the well built body, and not caring about preparations or the comfort of Sets child in his lust, took the Shadowquip in a swift move, but before Vanders cry died away, Set was on Horace, taking the other God just as ruthlessly as he had taken Vander and soon the three were writhing on the dias.
"You will take him, the seed of a God into you...what the demons left will die in its presence...and you...my child...will take the concubine I lay down for you and bring another child of mine to Earthland…" Sets voice in his head told him, not that he could react or do anything at all but dig his nails into the cushions on the dias as Horace hammered into him.
It wasn't bad, it didn't hurt, there was no pain at all, there was just pleasure, so much it was overwhelming to the Shadowquip and he had known pleasures galore in his life, it was like anywhere the Gods touched him as they were burning with lust bathed and saturated him with it.
"Fu...fuck you...Set...Mehturt...deserves…" Horace was trying to grit out but Set increased his own tempo, ramming himself into Horace, hoping his child beneath the moaning keening God could take it, deciding if he overwhelmed him, he'd heal him himself...but he felt certain he would, he'd watched the child since his birth...the man could take pleasure...process it and while the pleasures shared between Gods eclipsed what a mortal could take in...he had faith Vanders acceptance of pleasures in general would let him endure, what he couldn't process...he'd let go…
"She deserves the pleasures of the skies, the mastery of the nights body and the suns radiance you insolent ass...take it...take just a taste of what I can give her…" Set snarled and Horace groaned, cumming, Vanders cry as he was pushed over the edge making Set smile as he let himself go into Horaces body.
His child taking the seed of Horace as Horace rolled to the side, glaring at Set.
"You killed my father…" Horace snarled, panting.
"He brought it on himself, and now...now you know the lust, the passion I posses, and will feel the power of my seed inside you...little God." he smirked and lifted Vanders limp form over his shoulder, leaving Horus to scream on the dias in frustration.
Emerging again Set strode past the Priest and his eyes went over the women, plucking the one he wanted, she was lovely, long legs, large breasts and dark hair, beautiful pale blue eyes...Vander woke at the prodding of the God but he still had next to no presence of mind, the gods semen running down his legs, everywhere it touched, inside and out burned deliciously of pleasure and Vander couldn't think straight.
"Take this woman chosen child." Set commanded and Vander didn't hesitate, blindly falling with the woman on the cushions as Xiao stood, stunned his God was standing before him, that he had appeared naked, carrying a naked Vander, and stood right over Vander as he took the concubine, reducing her to a mewling mess in minutes, then, as Vander was reaching his peak, felt his balls draw up, Set pressed his hand right into the mans lower back and shoved him hard into the concubine...Vander came harder than he ever had in his life, so strong, so much he and the woman both blacked out.
Set stood, smiling and turned to his priest.
"She will bear a son that will carry little of her genetics, more his...more of MY chosen magic. Assure that he leaves with his father before either your mother or sister touch him, it is my command...they are not to touch the child conceived here tonight. He will be raised by my chosen and blessed child, is that clear?" Set demanded, Xiao bowed low, forehead touching the floor.
"I serve you above all my lord God Set." Xiao replied and Set nodded.
"Good, now...deliver the rites to my gift in the next room, I am ready for him now." He ordered and vanished, leaving Xiao to shiver and smile broadly looking at the passed out Shadowquip and concubine. The High Priest of Set hurried to his feet, summoning attendants to see to Vander and the Concubine while he rushed to join Zen and obey his God….
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Zen had learned meditation was an asset to him he couldn't take lightly, it grounded him and helped him handle his often volatile magic. He'd settled alot since binding to Hestor, but in recent months, he'd been antsy. Binding wasn't a simple thing, it had involved some touching, and touching from Hestors spirits, and that had put a taste into Zen for more, even though Hestor was his brothers mate...he still...had the urge and wanted it gone.
Meditation gave him mild relief, hard training gave him better relief, but nothing completely quelled it. He knew now only taking a mate would, and marvelled at the fact Galasfriel had never taken one, had only been claimed and bound a few times and the man had been cunning, finding ways to get those mages killed so he could be free again.
He wasn't sure he could have done it, he wanted a mate now, burned for one, but Xiao said this bonding would be better because it wouldn't be with someone already mated to another, Zen would get their full attention and it would be more soothing than what he had with Hestor, would allow him to think and work on his training.
His new magic, handling the black fires of Set...at first it had terrified him, then it had frustrated the hell out of him, it was difficult to contain and control, but it did more damage than any of his other attacks ever had, and...demons, devils and the like felt it ten times hotter and more painful than any other kind of fire.
As he was kneeling, sitting on his heels, he felt the flames licking over his arms and shoulders as he concentrated on them, formed them, moved them.
He had himself well focused when a breeze stirred the air in the room, and he smelled Xiao, saw the priest hurry to the altar and begin the rites without saying a word to Zen.
The Archangel kept his mind calm, kept his senses stretched, and he felt it...when the magic pressure in the room suddenly changed, when the flames on his arms and shoulders suddenly grew and reached out for a new presence.
"Yours will be the trial I face so often...Archangel...Evening Star, blessed creation of the celestial children of Mehturt, gift to the night...I am your patron God...Set, and I call on you now...to face my foe...drive him back...for you can not kill him...survive Apeps fury and I will bless you…" A voice said and Zen took it in, eyes opening, flaring Gold as he was suddenly falling.
Blackness surrounded him, but his wings unfurled, his armor forged in the Citadel came at his call and covered him, his glaives filling his hands as he took in the blackness, stretched his senses...he had to see through it...it could not be allowed to hide anything…
It couldn't...as his magic was made to do, no lies, no illusions, no deceptions worked well on Zen, even the blackest places he could still see the truth in and this was no different.
It was why Kayliss, so many centuries before had been sent to so many horrific places to fight the worst abominations of evil Hell had to offer. Zen knew...those sorts of fights were what he'd been born for, though he was loathe to think of doing it.
Now the darkness moved, and a form came through it, a maw opening and Zen blanched for a moment, a huge serpent as big as a mountain coming at him...this...was Apep.
He wasn't ready...knew he wasn't...defeating the beast wasn't an option, he could only hope to push it back...but how? He grit his teeth, surged his magic into his wings and flew at it but his body...when it collided with the massive beast, bounced like a pebble off it's scales.
He slashed at it, cast light at it...that did have an affect, it pissed it off…
Now the thing was after him, fangs longer than he was tall snapping after him as he whirled and weaved, dodged and twisted out of reach of each strike trying to formulate a plan.
The fire...it was the strongest concentration of magic that drove back chaos, evil...the only thing he had...and he drew it out of himself, felt it lick over his wings and he drew it to his hands, pushed it into his glaives and smirked as they roared with it.
Vander had made these, it had taken him months, and he'd worked with two of the guilds best weapon smiths on them, they were almost all, Vanders shadow metal, and they took in the black fire like no other weapon he'd tried so far.
Whirling he rushed Apep again, panting, sweating in his armor and praying this worked because this beast was too big, too fast, and if it hit him another time or two he was done, and he knew it.
He sank the glaives right into its snout as it lunged at him, the long curved blades at the end of each glaive digging through the scales, the fire burning as the shadow metal pierced and the beast screeched, the sound shaking Zen to his bones.
He tightened his grip on his weapons, refusing to let the beast wrench them from him and instead hitting his boots on the black scales and pulling for all he was worth as Apep jerked back.
When the glaives came loose Zen was left tumbling through the blackness, trying to recover his breathing, shaking all over...the presence of that thing….like the worst evil chaos he had ever encountered, so much so it defied his mind to even take it in.
Apep though, retreated, and Zen suddenly found himself sprawled on the temple floor again, armor and weapons gone, and Xiao was there.
"Shimako…" Xiao called and the woman came forward, gentle small hands touched him and Zen sighed at the feel, letting them urge him to kneel again, then his face was held in those small hands and when he finally opened his eyes there were beautiful steel blue ones looking into his.
"I am Shimako Tao, third priestess of Heset, Mage of Heavenly Body magic...by the 88 constellations, the blessings of the God Set, and multitude of heavenly bodies...I claim you Evening Star as mine…" She whispered and he felt the magic, felt pressure on his bond with Hestor and he pushed it, felt that bond snap and this one...stronger than that one had ever been...hovered...he smiled faintly.
"I am Zen Ralkier Pradesh the Evening Star, I accept your claim and vow my service." He whispered and Shimako smiled, leaning into him, her lips pressing to his to seal the ritual and the bond locked into place.