by Bruce Sentar
Then he pointed his hand and pushed, imagining it flying forward. It didn’t move beyond his hand but instead rippled out from it. He could feel his dao was limited to just his own body and what he could touch directly.
That didn’t stop him from doing as Cherry said and pushing as much heat as he could into the air directly around his hand and making his hand heat up. The air rippled around it and continued forward in a cone until it hit the falling rain. A fizzling sound occurred as the two interacted, and the air around them noticeably dried.
The heat continued to stream from his hand, but soon a pain rippled through his body, almost like a shock had ripped through him, and he went to stop.
“Don’t stop. Keep going,” Sasha said, released from Cherry’s vines and now looking at him with pleading eyes.
Bracing himself for more pain, he listened to her instruction. Dar redoubled his efforts, even as the pain laced through him again. He grit his teeth as it got worse, continuing to push the heat out of his body.
“Push as hard as you can, Dar. The harder you push and the longer you last, the better,” Cherry added.
Fuck it. He took a deep breath and cranked the dao of heat up to eleven as the rain boiled and steamed in front of him.
The pain only got worse, going from shooting pains to near constant pain, like someone was pressing razor blades into him.
But something clicked as he pushed through all the pain, giving him a moment of clarity amidst the turmoil. There was a reason his body was breaking. Sasha had explained that demons transform when they discover their first dao and that spirits birthed their bodies from their first dao.
His body couldn’t handle the dao flowing through him, and he needed to adapt.
Dar took all the pain flowing through him, which he realized was mana running rampant. It needed to be focused. He thought about blood and how it circulated through his body and decided to try something similar.
Dar imagined himself with a vein like structure, like one of those charts at the doctor’s office. He imagined channels for the mana to flow all through him and out to the surface of his body, so he could use his new dao in a number of ways.
The pain lessened, but it wasn’t enough. There was still more mana than his body could handle. Beyond the channels, he needed something for overflow, or ideally storage.
Hoping he wasn’t about to tank his inner world, he linked it into the flow, hoping it could become some sort of container for the extra mana. As they connected, the pain lessened immediately. The flow began to stabilize and cycle; his body was now at one with the power inside of it.
The heat he was putting out doubled, then tripled, as his system fell into balance and the pain faded away, letting him push harder.
“Stop,” Cherry instructed.
He looked back and both women were smiling with huge grins.
“I think we have our first human demon,” Sasha cheered for him.
“I don’t think he quite fits the category of a demon. He didn’t charge his body with mana like you. Instead, he made a more organized structure. Can you feel it flow through him?” Cherry’s voice was filled with fascination as she studied him.
“Then if he’s not a demon, and he’s certainly not a spirit, what is he?” Sasha asked, tuning back to Dar.
Cherry met his gaze. “You’re the first. Just what will you call what you’ve become?”
Pausing, Dar tried to figure out what was the best word to describe him. He was human, but his body was enchanted beyond human limits. And he had started on a dao path that had shaped his body into something more, something able to withstand time. He was no longer what could be considered mortal. With awe, he looked them both in the eyes and smiled.
“I’m an immortal.”
Chapter 11
“Immortal. I like it.” Cherry nodded. “Congratulations! Now you get to tell absolutely no one about it.”
Sasha squeezed herself in tighter and the two of them shared the moment of happiness.
Dar pulled away looking a bit sheepish. “Sorry, Cherry.”
“Don’t be. You two are cute together; I’m a little jealous.” Her eyes roved over not only Dar, but Sasha as well.
His face heated up at her obvious attraction.
“But I also figured if I didn’t stop you two, you’d be fucking out here in the rain until it stopped.”
They were caught up in the moment, but he knew Sasha would need to adjust to the idea. He was swept up and knew Sasha felt the same. It was only a matter of time now.
“Luckily, there’s something else I think we’ll all find interesting to do before we head back: I’d like to see your hands. And then Sasha and I should have a conversation.”
His hands?
Dar flexed them under the bandages, realizing there was no more pain. A spark of hope lit in his chest, and he was almost too scared to unwind the bandages, but as he wiggled them more, he grew convinced. Tearing off the bandages, he looked down at unblemished hands. Tears welled in his eyes as he wiggled his fingers, trying to figure out how this happened.
“I’ll bet when you transformed yourself into an immortal, I’m guessing you pictured yourself without those burnt claws you were sporting.”
“Yeah,” Dar breathed. “I’d forgotten about them in the moment.”
His hands were perfectly fine, no different than they were before the hellhounds. It was a miracle.
“Maybe now you might start to understand what the big deal is about the true dao. Just with your errant thoughts that your hands were healed in that moment, you merged your body with a lesser dao. Imagine what it would be like for, say, someone who had a celestial dao.” Cherry looked him in the eye.
Lilith.
He knew whom she meant. Now he also had all the more reason to understand just how powerful she had been.
“I understand. What we’re doing is both powerful and limitless. There’s much to learn,” Dar said.
“Everyone’s dao path is long and winding,” Sasha agreed, taking his hands and putting them on her cheeks as tears started to drip.
“We’ll walk a long road together then.” He smiled as she rubbed his hands to her cheek and kissed his wrist.
She nodded into his big hands. “Together. I’m so happy your hands are healed. I felt terrible you ended up like that to save me.”
Cherry stepped up to them. “If you don’t mind, I need some time with Sasha.”
She grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Sasha didn’t put up too much of a fight, clearly curious what Cherry had to say, but gave Dar a wink over her shoulder as she walked with a wiggle of her butt.
She was coming around to the idea of his immortality very quickly. But there wasn’t a reason not to go after Sasha now; he was no longer going to be short lived while she was immortal.
Dar took a deep gulp. Somehow, he had landed this gorgeous, immortal woman. Things were going to get very interesting.
As Cherry pulled Sasha into the rain, she called over her shoulder, “Feel out how to use and stop using your dao, then come join us in the cave.”
He nodded, watching as Sasha disappeared into the rain behind Cherry.
“Dao companion,” he said the words that Cherry had used before to describe a committed relationship among demons and spirits.
The rain pattering on the stones had washed away all the heat at this point, and the steady sound was a nice backdrop to his thoughts. He was almost giddy with excitement as he looked down at his hands; he had freaking done it.
The pain from forging his immortal body had been intense, but it was oh so worth it. He felt stronger than ever, and he was already a monster with Lilith’s enchantments all over him.
As he studied his hands, a mark on his arm caught his eye. The mark was blurry, and as he realized what they were, he made sure not to focus too hard on them. He could see the enchantments now.
Beaming, he wondered what other subtle surprises were in store for him.
He wondered whi
ch of his enchantments Sasha already knew. He was a bit more excited for the next time she’d study his body. Now that the barrier between them was down, he could act more on his urges and explore her supple curves.
His mind began to wander down that path, thinking about all the things he wanted to do, when he realized that soon they’d be missing him and he’d done none of the dao practice he was supposed to be doing.
Staring into the rain, he took a deep breath in, cycling the mana through his body, then breathed out, releasing all the impurities. It was awkward at first, but as he continued it for a few minutes, it became close to second nature.
It wasn’t that different from the meditation he’d always done to calm himself down.
Holding his hand up, he blasted out a short burst of heat. In his excitement, the stream faltered, and he had to recenter his breathing to make it steady again. Once he felt like he could control the flow better, he stopped, and then started all over again.
He moved on, putting his other hand out, then his elbow, and he started to acclimate himself to the dao of heat as he blasted out heat from different areas of his body, then reigned it in.
But, in all of it, he found he was limited to his body or something he was directly touching. How did Sasha control those ribbons or Cherry those plant growths?
The last thing he’d want to do was use it accidentally and set something on fire, or worse, hurt someone.
Dar worked through every part of his body, taking deep breaths, starting and stopping waves of heat, then warming his own body up and down.
He felt in control, and he felt more powerful than he had ever before. He’d always been strong and handy, but that only got you so far. This was the first time he’d touched on a power that could really change his circumstances and those he cared for.
The grin just wouldn’t come off his face as he hurried through the rain and back to the cave entrance. As he approached the entrance, spears dropped and leveled at him, but the two guards shook themselves and put the spears back up.
“Sorry, thought you were some sort of monster coming in. People don’t move that fast.”
“Or are that big,” the second guard muttered.
“No worries.” Dar waved it away, more interested in finding Sasha than dealing with the guards.
Scanning for her, he noticed a number of attractive women in the caravan along one wall gossiping. Their curves shook with laugher and Dar felt a normalcy of being able to appreciate it again, as if the block that had formed from being ripped from his old life to this one was finally fading.
He really took in Granterra and the people who made this world in a new light. The middle ages always seemed so bleak and dark in fiction, but people knew nothing else, and as always, people found a way to enjoy life.
Finally, as he neared the back wall of the cavern, he spotted Sasha. She was talking with Cherry in hushed whispers. He took the time to look them over again while they were distracted.
Sasha was more animated in how she talked, her gloved hands gesturing wildly. Her movements caused her frilly skirt to shift, showing her long legs and stockings that rode up to her thighs.
He felt a hunger build as he let his eyes slowly work their way up her legs. Now that the last barriers were down between them, he let himself enjoy her beauty.
Sasha the witch was gorgeous. Her classic, buxom build—with dark hair, pale skin, and blues eyes—was captivating. And the passion she was displaying as she gestured made him smile. He had no doubt he’d feel that passion aimed at him both in good and bad ways in their future.
Meanwhile, Cherry was standing much more stoically, although she twirled a piece of her hair aimlessly. Occasionally, she’d hold up a hand to pause Sasha and start in on some hushed whisper back.
She had a girl-next-door vibe to her, appearing despite her age like a slender college girl. But her wild, green hair indicated what she truly was: a spirit of a dao related to nature. He wondered if her cherry red lips were from all the cherries she ate, or if that was just her natural coloring.
He must have been staring a bit too long because the girls noticed him before he’d stopped his gawking.
“Welcome back.” Cherry grinned.
“Thanks, I feel great.” Dar walked forward, pulling Sasha to his side, already missing her soft warmth.
“You two.” Cherry rolled her eyes. “We’ll get you two a room as soon as we can. Hopefully, you can get some of this out of your system.”
Sasha’s cheeks blushed at the insinuation.
“Before that—”
“Everyone! The storm’s breaking! Get your stuff together. Count Tint wants us moving in fifteen minutes,” a guard shouted in the cavern, his voice echoing against the walls.
Like someone had just opened the all-you-can-eat buffet, everyone started scrambling to pull together their belongings and get in line to get out of the cave.
Sasha let out a heavy sigh, thumping her forehead against Dar’s chest. He heard her mutter something and raised a brow at Cherry, who only gave him a shrug.
The cavern was busy, but he still wanted to tell the two of them his plans. “I want to fight the devils. You got me thinking, and if I want to do that, I need to establish myself. When we get to the city, I want to become one of these wizards and start to form a group to fight the devils.”
Expecting some pushback, he was surprised when they both simply nodded. Sasha spoke first. “We talked about it as well. When we get to Bellhaven, you should start a house.”
He paused, trying to decipher what she was saying. It hadn’t sounded like she meant assembling lumber in an empty clearing. It sounded more like establishing some sort of family house.
“And we can just do that?” he asked, a bit skeptical.
“I might have some ways to make it easier,” Cherry admitted. “But, with your strength and a greater spirit by your side, it should be enough for the city to let you establish a house. They’ll want to keep you there. With a house, you’ll be able to start to grow a group that can help you. Lilith’s problem was that she was always alone, isolating herself while she fought the devils.”
If Sasha was surprised by the mention of Lilith, she didn’t show it.
“Hurry up!” someone yelled at them, and Dar realized the cavern had vacated rapidly while they’d been talking.
Two of the local girls were waiting by Cherry’s wagon for them, hands already on the handles to pull it.
“Don’t worry you two, I’ll handle it. Thank you for pulling it here,” Dar said to the two of them. He didn’t remember them being so clean earlier. With the grime removed by the rain, they were both attractive ladies. It was hard to compare anybody with Sasha, but they were beautiful in their own right.
One of them licked her lips as she stared at Dar, and the other nudged her friend out of her stupor. Uncomfortable, he avoided their looks, not wanting to cause any friction with Sasha, who chose that moment to step up next to him.
“They’re here to help us,” Sasha mentioned.
He gave her a questioning look.
“I already knew we would likely end up needing some help once we got to the city, so I already started recruiting.” She looked smug, and he realized they really had been already planning for him to start a house.
Dar wanted to refute her, but instead, he shook his head and took the help. “Good, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Wasn’t he her bodyguard not that long ago? But it seemed that after the run in with the hellhounds that she’d turned a corner.
“You’d probably bumble around like a giant, lost in a world he doesn’t know.” She bumped her hip against his as he started pulling the cart, and Cherry resumed her spot next to the tree.
Knowing Sasha had been looking out for him the whole time made him smile. They were quickly starting to form a bond, and he was so glad he’d run into her at the count’s house.
She walked next to him, and he looked down at her while he pulled the ca
rt forward. Using one hand to pull it, he reached over and pinched her butt playfully. She let out a little yelp, swatting his hand away and looking up at him with a beaming smile.
Enjoying the moment, he bent down and kissed her forehead, the movement a bit choppy while still pulling the cart, but it was worth it as he got a blush to spread across her cheeks.
The girls Sasha had hired were walking ahead of them, giggling and glancing his way. It was starting to feel a bit awkward.
“Sasha, are the girls going to expect anything of me?” He couldn’t help but wonder what really went into starting a house.
“They will be expected to serve you however you wish in return for their role in the house. Most nobility would expect some level of sexual obligation.” She didn’t seem concerned as she said it, clearly not used to that being anything out of the ordinary.
“You’re okay with this?” He was surprised she didn’t mind the women being used that way, especially by him.
Clearly, this was not a world where employers got sued for expecting sexual favors. And, while power fantasies were always a bit fun, Dar wasn’t sure he actually wanted to live it out with these women.
Sasha looked confused at why he was questioning it. “It is the way of things. You hire a pretty, young woman, and she works hard at her job and pleasures you from time to time. In return, you keep her on as she gets older or give her a nice parting gift if she leaves to find a husband.”
Dar tried to wrap his head around the idea. “If I don’t fit that mold, then what?”
Frowning, Sasha thought about it for a moment before responding. “They’ll probably be suspicious. And probably feel more insecure. The sexual favors are a way to ensure they are taken care of in the future when they are less attractive.”
He didn’t want to think about what ‘worse’ was. Instead, he dwelled on if it would be so bad. It sounded like a man’s dream, but he also didn’t want to spend the time to wine and dine all the women that might work for him.