by David Burke
That thinking was flawed. Kyle could see that now. At a minimum, there had been thirteen gods who arrived in this universe. Five of them had fallen defending this nascent universe from the hordes of Aekor which had followed them. Something had to remain of those five gods or goddesses who had perished. Their types of essence had to be accessible.
Kyle tried to think back to the vision he experienced beyond the Blood of the Fallen. He remembered the champions had not all been equal. Three had been stronger than the rest. It stood to reason that they had maintained that advantage as they ascended to divinity. Justice, death, and war had stood at the top. Beneath them, were the three elemental deities: Earth, Sky, and Sea. Rounding out the survivors were the two who represented the worst of traits, deceit, and lust. Begaer might consider herself a love goddess, but she only represented dark, selfish love.
He stretched his mind further to recall the five gods who had fallen to ensure this very world could be created. He strained, for it was outside himself, but as he pulled with as much essence as he could control his very room vibrated. Hav’s pendant was no doubt being put to a great test, having to mask this massive power output, but right now he didn’t care.
He needed to know. He HAD to know. When he knew, it hit him like a sledgehammer. His mind ached, feeling like it had been split apart like a ripe melon in his unyielding desire to see and remember more.
Mercy. It had been Mercy who fell first. No, that wasn’t right. She had a name before she’d become a goddess. There, he’d remembered that Mercy was a goddess. Oh , now he could see it. Her name had been Nade.
When Nade fell, she’d given birth to a new race. They were more than mortals but less than gods. They were near the level that the champion cultivators had been when they first battled the void, but they were pure and innocent.
The celestials were born from Nade’s death.
Kyle tried to picture Nade as Hilde’s mother, but then he remembered that her people were different. They were not like the other celestials. Their wings were red and black, while other winged celestials all had white feathered wings. Most of the few remaining true celestials served Lige, now. But at one point, most of the gods had either had celestials or fiends as their servants. A few even had both.
He searched his memories once again and remembered seeing the second of the gods fall. Life had been the next to succumb to his terrible wounds. His name came more readily to Kyle’s mind. It had been Liv, and his passing had spawned the curse of undeath into Verden. It seemed crazy to Kyle, at first, that life should lead to undeath, but when he thought about it some more, the urge to survive transcended even death.
It made sense, in a twisted sort of way.
After that, it had been Rom, the god of space, who had fallen next. From his body sprang the fiends. That troubled Kyle. He remembered Rom as being a friend of Krig’s. It was all vague, but they had known each other back when they had been fellow cultivators. They’d been the sort of friends who competed with one another, but more as a way to spur each other on to greater heights. He didn’t like to think that a race of evil beings had been born from his friend… err, from Krig’s friend.
Perhaps it made sense, though. Rom’s mind always had been a bit twisted. Bending space and trying to think in a non-linear fashion must have been quite the challenge, even for a god. But for newly born beings, it must have corrupted them—they stopped seeing the world in a rational, helpful way. Kyle remembered a book he had read once which defined evil as a type of insanity, since it eventually consumed itself and built nothing up.
The fourth goddess who had fallen caused Kyle’s heart to twinge in pain. He remembered what the vision had shown him. When Brann, goddess of fire, had fallen, she gave birth to the dragons. Over time, many of her offspring took on the traits of other elements. Dragons were the most powerful of the mortal races. This meant that even the strongest of them would die of old age. But it also meant that they could change and adapt, something the celestials and fiends were poorly equipped to do.
Yet the memory didn’t explain his pain. Kyle pushed harder. Brann had meant something to Krig… had been something to him. A lover? No, more than a lover. She had been his confidant, the one cultivator who he most felt at home with. That spurred Kyle to dig deeper. As expanded as his mind had become, it was still at its base a human mind. He hadn’t lived through eons of experiences, developing ingrained habits of partitioning his thoughts and multi-tasking.
He saw something that Krig had never noticed, or at least he didn’t have any conscious memory of Krig realizing it. This also explained why Krig had been drawn to conquer the fire celestials but had no regular celestials serving him. A fragment of Brann’s soul had taken root in a celestial, and from her an entirely new breed of celestials had been formed.
The connection Kyle felt with Hilde deepened in that moment. But he retained enough of himself to remember that it had been Krig and Brann who were soul mates. While Kyle thought he loved Hilde, or he was falling for her, what they would come of their relationship was yet to be determined.
The death of the final goddess, Vis, was what had given rise to the mortal races of Verden. Spread out over the surface of the world or beneath its crust, there were humans, elves, dwarves, and glytharen. Two races to rule the surface and two races to rule beneath. Balanced, as was everything that Vis, the goddess of wisdom, ever did.
All of this made so much more sense. Kyle looked at raw essence entirely differently, now. He knew that there must be strands of the fallen five’s essences there. But more than that, he wondered how much of the other champions had survived as raw essence. Perhaps, over time, fragments of new types of essence would, or perhaps they already had, be formed.
The possibilities made Kyle’s mind race.
He felt rather than heard or saw his door open. His mind was too expanded for him to miss it. He almost stopped her, but the pain of these memories needed soothing, so he didn’t move as Kierra stalked up next to his bed.
He trusted her, and their connection told him she was aroused. His enhanced senses could see into her at so many levels, though he was tempted to stop at his perception of her external being. He immediately perceived her hardened nipples and knew of the wetness between her thighs, but he pushed his senses deeper. Kyle realized that her body was awash in hormones.
Looking further, he saw the essence that was surging through her. Her channels were flooded with essence, and she seemed to hold even more essence than when he had placed his divine splinter in her and formed their bond. Kyle resisted the urge to immediately give in to the desire to take her.
It was almost overwhelming, this urge to mate with her. So much so, that it piqued his curiosity. That led to him detecting the pheromones she was giving off. Any males in the same room as she would be driven crazy with desire.
Only his high will power allowed him to postpone that irresistible desire—at least for the moment. He wanted to understand why so much essence was flowing through her. Did it have something to do with all the energy that he was playing with now? If that was the case, would it affect others around them? Fortunately, the building was mostly empty. Only his team, the guild clerk, and sometimes the so-called guild master might be present. That is, if she wasn’t drinking her life away at the local tavern.
Kyle saw increased levels of war, earth, and deceit essence within Kierra. They were all racing around within her, but the vast majority of the excess power was composed of raw essence. Hilde had told him that most mortal and monster tier beings couldn’t handle much raw essence. Even spiritual tier beings like her had to be fairly unique to store a significant quantity.
But was it that simple? Was she just being overloaded with raw essence as he cultivated? He tried to look at the raw essence within her. Vast quantities would flow into her as he moved it around, not because she was trying to cultivate, but just as the streams of energy that interacted with her as they came into contact with her.
/> The closer he looked, the more he realized something was off with the flows of essence.
In the past, each of the eight types of essence had a color, for lack of a better term, in his perception. It was how he identified them. Raw essence had always just been a deep gray. Now, there were multiple shades running through the flow of raw essence. He didn’t know what to make of it at first, till it dawned on him.
He had been contemplating that there were more forms of essence than just the eight known types. His eyes were now perceiving six distinct shades within the gray of raw essence. The original gray still made up the majority of it, but within that there were five other distinct shades. Significantly, one of those shades seemed to gather within Kierra. That drew his attention, so Kyle attempted to isolate that particular shade.
All of this was happening at a speed that only a divine mind could comprehend, but Kyle now straddled the fence between mortality and the divine. He saw flickers of purple in the strand as he isolated it.
He reached out his hand and touched the side of Kierra’s face as she knelt next to his bed. “Do you trust me?”
She was so lost in the deluge of essence flowing through her she couldn’t answer him, only managed to nod her head.
Kyle felt a warmth within him at her trust. Then he went to work. He began straining the flow of essence around him, using Kierra as a sieve of sorts. He focused on pulling out that one strand of raw essence. The more he worked with it, the more he could discern the purple essence. It collected in her channels, and he could see how it was tied to the remnants of her original bloodline.
With a cry, Kierra clutched at her head. Kyle immediately stopped cultivating and released the flow of energy around him. He caught her in his arms and pulled her close.
“What was that?” She asked weakly.
“Shhh… rest now. I was just learning more about the universe and you got caught up in it. Turns out there is more to you than even I noticed before, but we will need to take things slowly.”
She lifted her head up. Now that the storm of essence wasn’t flowing through her, she seemed to regain her strength quickly. She grinned at him, showing her enlarged canines. “I didn’t come here to rest. I felt my Alpha’s power and was drawn to it.”
For half a second Kyle pondered if he should make her rest, but he felt closer to her after what they had just done. Cultivating so much energy had been intense but doing so through Kierra had raised their bond to a new level. He wanted more than anything for her to be one with him.
When he didn’t push her away, she fumbled with his armor and began trying to pull it off. Kyle sensed her urgency and need, so he tried something that he had only done previously inside the mantle. With all the power at his command, he hoped to make it work outside his mantle.
He asserted his will and, in an instant, his armor was gone.
She gasped in surprise but wasted no time getting his pants down. He could have done the same with those, but there was a certain build up he rather enjoyed, making her work to unwrap him. It fed into his desire for her.
Soon, she had his already erect cock in her hand and was working it with both fists while she licked the tip with her tongue. Her eyes gazed up at him as though asking for permission. Sharp teeth or not, he trusted her. He demonstrated that trust as he ran his hand through her hair and then gently, but firmly, pressed her head downward, pushing his cock into her mouth.
It was exactly what she had been angling for, so there was no resistance. His desire for her was growing, but he could feel her desire for him. Her tongue felt a little different from what he was used to, but not in a bad way. The rough parts of it massaged his member in a more intense manner. This elicited grunts of pleasure from him that only fueled her drive.
Kyle released her head, thinking she would want to be in control, and for a moment she was. Her tongue tantalized him. The suction she applied to his cock was just enough to keep the crescendo of pleasure rising while not allowing him to tip over the edge.
It was perfect. She instinctually kept him on the edge of bliss.
He watched as she took more and more of him into her mouth. The sight and pleasure that came with watching a beautiful woman do so was always a rush. Kierra’s larger size now made her a much better fit for him and soon, she had three-fourth of his length buried in her throat. The moaning sounds she made only caused his head to tingle with the vibrations as her throat contracted around him.
Just when Kyle thought she was ready to move on to the next part, she reached for his hands and placed them back on her head. The message was clear. Kyle wasn’t going to deny her what she was asking for. Eagerly, he pulled her head down onto him. Her eyes bulged just a bit at first, as first her mouth and then her throat was filled with his girth, but then she got into it.
Her intensity was an aphrodisiac all on its own. Better than anyone, Kyle knew just how strong Kierra was. She sucked deeply as he thrust his cock into her mouth. He felt his head pushing deep into her throat, and yet her eyes pleaded for more. Confident he wouldn’t hurt her; Kyle began thrusting his cock even harder. She seemed to welcome it. He knew that Kierra had been eager to please him, but this amount of power and control was exciting.
“Mmmhmm,” was the only noise she made.
Still, it egged him on. Before long, he was well and truly fucking her mouth. She shuddered with each thrust and slid her arms around to grab his ass and pull him to her, as though there was a way to get more from him inside of her mouth. He thrust harder and faster. A human woman’s jaw, heck a human woman’s hips, would have broken under his furious assault, but Kierra was made of sterner stuff.
Kyle found himself at that point where he could hold on and drag it out, or just release. Most times, he made sure the girls all got off before he did, but this time he sensed Kierra’s desire, her willingness to please.
She wanted this. She wanted his seed before even thinking of her own pleasure. She surrendered herself to his will. He took her mouth for his pleasure and with a grunt, unloaded into her throat. An instant before he did so, a part of his mind suggested he fill her not just with his seed, but also with essence.
He strained out the raw essence coursing through him and super charged his load with that particular strain of purple essence. Kierra howled around his cock. Her jaw extended even wider. But it wasn’t in pain, it was in bliss, as the surge of essence flooded her system.
When he finally finished, she sat back on her knees. She licked her lips with a wicked grin, and Kyle knew that his night was just getting started.
Chapter 7 - Decisions to Make
The next morning, Kyle woke up refreshed. A portion of his mind was still turning over and over in his understanding of essence. But he allocated that to the back of his mind. Most of him were just thrilled to find Kierra curled up next to him. He glanced at her and determined the purple essence he had seen the night before was gone, as was all but the smallest amount of raw essence in her.
Apparently when he wasn’t actively cultivating, it didn’t affect his bonds. He wondered if it had affected the other bonds, or for that matter if it had affected others around him. Some tests would have to be done with outside mages to find out what they could sense from him when cultivating with the pendant on. Of course, the problem would be finding one they could trust.
That was a concern for another time though, as he could smell the distinct scents of coffee being brewed and bacon frying. He had never been one to sleep in, even with a beautiful woman in his arms. Coffee and bacon made getting up a joy. Kyle quickly untangled himself from Kierra. She kissed his cheek, but then curled up in the blanket to go back to sleep.
A moment later, there was a knock at his door. It still unnerved him a bit that he had felt Nyda approaching before he heard the knock on the door. He needed to get used to perceiving the world differently. As he stood, he put his pants on with a thought and a rush of raw essence. He could definitely get used to that fu
nction.
“Come in, Nyda.”
She opened the door and was smiling as she held out a large mug of coffee and a plate with bacon with fried potatoes, peppers, and onions. A smile was plastered on her face as she said, “I brought you breakfast, M’lord…”
Her words trailed off as she noticed Kierra’s foot sticking out from underneath the blankets. But she quickly regained her composure. “I’m sorry, M’lord. As I was saying, I brought you breakfast. Both Saber and Meeka have asked to speak to you, but I told them it would be at your convenience and they could just wait downstairs.”
Kyle crossed the room and took the plate from her. He said, “Thank you,” as he leaned in to kiss her forehead. “It is kind of you to think of me.”
She blushed. “It is my duty as your priestess to see to all of your needs.”
The subtle emphasis she placed on the word ‘all’ told Kyle that this was going to be more of an issue than he would have hoped. She had taken on herself the position of his priestess. It was enough to take in the idea that someone wanted to be his priestess, but she was very serious about it. He was very fond of her and hadn’t seen any harm in it. Now it was probably too late to discourage it without crushing her. Besides, there would be advantages to having some organization beyond just their adventuring group.