Second Skin Omnibus

by M Damon Baker

  Her words reminded me of what Nentai had told me some time before. The Goddess had warned me that there would be many who would be drawn to me, people who would be in need of my help. People that would be healed by my Sintári powers. Some, like Aiva, needed very little from me. Just being close to me would be enough to help them. Others, like Ella, would require more… direct assistance to heal their wounds.

  At the time Nentai came to me, I had been distraught by Tási’s revelation that I would be called upon to heal others in the same intimate manner that Ella required. Doing so was like a betrayal of Tási’s love to me, but Nentai had assured me that there would only be a few who’s needs rose to that level. Those words, and Tási’s reluctant acceptance of it all, helped me to come to an uneasy sense of peace with the situation. While Aiva’s initial words had caused me some alarm, her eventual confession that she was healing just by being around me, and even more so that she had just been on a date, brought me a great sense of relief. At the moment, I was still balancing my relationship with Tási with my mutual need for both Venna and Ella, and I was not ready to add another person into that confused jumble of emotions.

  “I understand, Aiva, and I’m very happy for you,” I replied genuinely. “I’m also happy that I’ve been able to repay your dedicated service. I hope you find great joy in your new connection with the world around you.”

  “Thank you,” her voice cracked as she answered me.

  “Would you like another hug from your Empress?” I asked her with a smile.

  Aiva nodded her head and I folded her up in my arms. I hesitated for a moment, and then whispered to her softly as she cried on my shoulder.

  “You know something of my powers. Will you let me share them with you?”

  I felt her head nodding slowly against me and sent her a thin tendril in response.

  Inside the tiny thread, I wound together some of the images I had of her with the strong feelings of trust, respect and admiration she had earned from me. As the little fiber of images and emotions filtered across to Aiva, she clutched me tighter, and I could feel her resisting the positive emotions that I sent to her. I could sense that somewhere, deep inside, there was a part of her that refused to believe that she could ever be that woman. It reminded me of Broda, and the trauma that she’d endured that had caused her the same difficulties. But I didn’t sense that same burden inside Aiva. Hers was a self-inflicted wound, born of doubt and a lack of a sense of worth. So, with the thread still running through her, I lifted Aiva’s head and gazed into her tear-filled eyes.

  “That’s you, Aiva,” I told her firmly. “That’s really you. I couldn’t make those images if they weren’t real.”

  “I… I can see them, but it’s just so hard for me to accept,” she admitted.

  “I have shown you the truth, Aiva,” I said as I slowly withdrew. “It’s up to you to believe it.”

  She nodded her head and wiped away her last few tears and I gave her a moment to compose herself before we rejoined the rest of the escort.

  “Some bodyguard I am,” Aiva joked as she pulled herself together.

  “I wouldn’t have any other,” I replied.

  “You’re going to make me cry again,” she chuckled.

  “Perhaps, but not today,” I smiled back at her before adding. “If you ever need me to show you that again, let me know.”

  “Thank you, Empress. I will,” she replied, in a somewhat more relaxed tone than usual.

  We rejoined the rest of my guards, and the remainder of our trip down to Nadiel’s suite was thankfully uneventful. Aiva accompanied me inside, and just as before, waited outside the doors of the small room that had been set up for our meal together.

  “Welcome, Empress,” Nadiel greeted me warmly. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like to eat, so I had several different things prepared for you to try.”

  She gestured to the table as she spoke, and I saw that there was an array of different dishes set out, most of which I couldn’t identify. Fortunately, Nadiel gave me a quick description of each, all of which came from her native land, and I took a small sample of a few of them to try.

  “So, what do you think of halfling cuisine?” She asked after I’d had a chance to try a few bites.

  “It’s delicious,” I replied honestly. “I might have to keep your chef when you leave.”

  “She’s yours,” Nadiel laughed. “I already promised my Ambassador that I’d leave her with you. Dalona does get a bit grumpy when she’s not well-fed.”

  “So, Dalona will be your Ambassador?”

  “It seems like the perfect arrangement,” Nadiel confessed. “With her being Tási’s aunt and all.”

  “Speaking of Tási,” I began cautiously. “I am in need of some spell casters, both for my personal guard and my armed forces. Evokers for certain, but also Curates with the ability to cast resurrection magic.”

  “That is a rather curious request,” Nadiel observed.

  “I told you that there will be war,” I explained as she nodded back at me. “Many will die in the battles ahead of us, and I intend to bring back as many of the fallen as possible. I may not be able to save them all, but it won’t be because I didn’t try.”

  “These spells are not easy to cast,” Nadiel replied. “There is a reason that the Curates charge for their services.”

  “What the fuck is it with you people and money?!” I threw up my hands in frustration as I exclaimed. “We’re talking about lives here. Your people’s lives. I don’t give a shit how much it costs, I’m going to bring back every single one of them if I can!”

  “Forgive me, Empress, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Nadiel practically recoiled from me.

  “You have my apologies also, Nadiel,” I replied more calmly. “I should have explained myself less forcefully. I’m just having a hard time accepting certain things.”

  “Perhaps, if I explained?” Nadiel offered.

  “Please, do,” I responded.

  “Resurrection magic is costly, both in the making of scrolls and the casting of spells,” she began cautiously. “The materials required to make the scrolls are rare and expensive, and the spell itself is extremely difficult to learn. It’s not unusual for even an accomplished Curate to require years to master the intricate magic.”

  “Do you have Curates that will be willing to serve me and how much am I going to have to pay them?” I asked her reluctantly as I conceded the issue.

  “As for the first part of your question, I don’t know, but when I return home, I will find out,” Nadiel replied. “Regarding the cost, it is typically at least a full Talon per attempt.”

  Her wording was not lost on me. The price she quoted was just to make the attempt—success was not guaranteed.

  “It seems that the scrolls may still be my best bet then,” I sighed, knowing that meant that I’d have to deal with the prissy little elf queen.

  “For that you will need scribes, and I can tell by your reaction that you know that they will only come to you from Líann,” Nadiel replied mirthlessly.

  “What can you tell me about her?”

  “While she’s been quite fair to me and my people,” Nadiel volunteered without hesitation. “She does have a well-deserved reputation for being a bit… stiff. You will find little humor in her and even less warmth. Her comments at the reception the other night were quite out of character for her, and I’ve never seen her as out-of-sorts as she was when you revealed the gifts you’d received from the Gods, but then again, they had the same effect on the rest of us as well. She will have recovered from the shock of that the next time you see her, so you should expect a colder and more calculating person than what you last saw.”

  “So, in short, she’s a bitch?”

  “That word comes up often when she is discussed, yes,” Nadiel replied with a thin smile.

  With Líann’s temperament confirmed for me once more, we dropped the subject of the bitch-queen and, as with my discussions with Nerec, finished our
time together talking about simple matters and pleasantries. I found Nadiel to be quite charming, and I couldn’t help but feel drawn to her. She had an engaging personality, and aside from my outburst, our conversation was extremely pleasant. But when it was time for me to depart, she surprised me by stopping me at the door.

  “Could you share another one of your orbs with me before you go?” She asked.

  The tiny orb I had sent into her at the reception had been a small thing, and I had been careful to not include anything that might have made things… awkward between us. But I detected a hint of urgency in her request, and it gave me pause. Even though I had left no hint of passion or desire in my previous orb, had there been something else that I’d overlooked? Something that made her crave another one?

  “I’m not sure that is a good idea, Nadiel,” I replied cautiously. “My powers can exact a toll on their recipients, and I wouldn’t want to put you in any jeopardy.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said as her shoulders seemed to slump just a little. “I’ve never felt such pure devotion before. It gave me a certain sense of strength and resolve, things that I will be needing in the days to come.”

  Her explanation made me reevaluate my caution, and I decided to give in to her request. If all she had experienced was my own devotion to the people of Arrika, I was more than happy to bolster that feeling.

  Her eyes lit up when I brought forth a tiny luminous ball. She reveled in its glow for a moment and seemed to be mesmerized by its soft light as I held it in front of her.

  “Are you ready?” I asked

  “Yes, please,” she whispered back to me.

  I held the orb in the palm of my hand and slowly drew it closer to her before I pressed it into the exposed skin just below her neck. Unlike last time, I held my hand against her as the orb vanished beneath her skin and maintained my connection as it sent my emotions flowing through her body.

  I was intent on feeling Nadiel’s response, and I found her easily within the churning waves I had sent inside her. There was a profound sense of relief when I realized that she was truly only basking in the feelings I had sent to her and wasn’t experiencing anything more than that. When I was reassured that the orb wasn’t causing any harm, or creating any bond between us, I pulled back and let Nadiel revel in the orb’s remaining power.

  “You were with me for a moment,” Nadiel said as she came out of her near trance-like state.

  “I was,” I replied to her. “But only long enough to make sure nothing was going wrong.”

  “You can go inside another person that easily?”

  “Yes, I can,” I responded honestly.

  “That is a rather frightening ability,” Nadiel replied. “One that could be used to cause a great deal of damage.”

  “I’ve actually never even considered that possibility, Nadiel,” I confessed.

  When I wanted to cause harm, I used my orbs. I never thought to send myself into someone with the intention of doing damage. After considering it for a moment, I realized that it was probably a very bad idea. The only people that I would be willing to hurt that badly were not the sort of individuals I ever wanted to be inside of in that way.

  “You are indeed a very special person, Empress,” Nadiel responded thoughtfully. “I will see what I can do to accommodate your request when I return to Isouri. And I can assure you that I will devote my best efforts to fulfilling it.”

  “Thank you, your Majesty,” I offered.

  “Always Nadiel, please,” she smiled back at me.

  “Very well then, Nadiel,” I returned her warm smile. “I look forward to our next meeting.

  “As do I, Empress.”

  Our time together could not have gone much better—with Nadiel promising to recruit some Evokers for me, and possibly even a few Curates, we would be well on our way to having a truly well-rounded and effective military, both for our own protection, and to begin forming the Army that we would eventually need to conquer our enemies.

  My sense of satisfaction turned to utter joy when I returned to my rooms to find Tási and Bane waiting for me. Bane was stretched out on the huge pillow in his room, while Tási lay propped up against him, swaddled in a pile of blankets.

  “Get dressed and join us,” Tási called out to me. “Then you can tell me all about your meeting with the Queen.”

  I hurried to change into my sleeping outfit and then wrapped myself in the blankets beside Tási before beginning my tale. When I finished, Tási only had one question for me.

  “You really never considered using your ability in that way?”

  “It never occurred to me, no,” I replied. “Honestly, once I considered it, it doesn’t seem like a very good idea.”

  “Oh, so you do have a brain inside that head of yours,” Tási teased me.

  “Perhaps I should reconsider what I just said,” I replied as I glared at her. “Maybe even make an exception in your case.”

  “Okay, you win,” Tási quickly conceded. “But it’s not fair that you can keep threatening me with all your Sintári powers.”

  “You like my Sintári powers,” I purred back at her.

  “Umm… Bane. Bane is here, remember?” She squeaked.

  “You mean the big scaly guy behind me?” I taunted her sarcastically. “Yeah, I remember.”

  Do you need me to fly away for a while, so you can properly discipline her?

  “What did he say?!” Tási demanded when I broke out in laughter.

  “You don’t want to know,” I managed to say between giggles.

  “What did you say, Bane?!” Tási scolded him before she remembered the futility of it. “Dammit, he can’t even tell me.”

  Bane just stared back at her with is big golden eyes as the bare trace of a smile curled up the corners of his mouth. His reptilian features lent an odd look to his grin, but it was something we’d both grown quite accustomed to.

  “Sure, mock the halfling who can’t hear your little thought speech,” Tási grumbled as she wrapped the blankets around herself a little tighter.

  She can be quite petulant at times, Bane noted.

  ‘You’re telling me?’ I sent back to him.

  Tási resisted me just a little when I settled in next to her, but finally gave in and let me nestle against her as we lay together with Bane for the night. His not-so-soft purr echoed through the room like a lullaby and soothed us both to sleep after only a short while.

  Wake up, my Sintári, you have a visitor. Bane’s thoughts entered my mind the next morning.

  I pried my eyes open and saw Nentai sitting calmly across the room just staring at me.

  “Good morning, Empress,” she said in an almost sing-song voice.

  “Good morning, Nentai,” I replied as I cautiously slipped out from beneath the covers to not wake Tási. “What brings you here today?”

  “Not you this time,” she answered surprisingly. “I’ve come to check on Bane.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with him”? I asked her in concern. “You told me no harm would come to him!”

  “And none has, I assure you,” she just smiled back at me. “I told you I’m only checking on him.”

  “Checking for what, exactly?”

  “Now, now, let’s not give the secret away just yet,” she chastised me as she rose from her chair and crossed the room towards Bane.

  “Bane,” she addressed him directly. “Would you open your mouth for me, so I can have a little peek inside?”

  She surprised me with her caring tone and the way she gently handled him when he complied with her request. With Bane’s massive jaws spread open, Nentai took a quick look around his mouth and even had him lift up his tongue for her before she seemed satisfied with what she’d seen and let him go.

  “Soon,” she smiled at me almost mischievously when her inspection was complete. “You will discover exactly what you’ve done to him very soon, my dear.”

  “You’re fucking killing me, Nentai,” I moaned. “He mean
s the world to me and you’re taunting me with this.”

  You would speak to the Goddess this way? Bane sent to me incredulously.

  ‘For you, I will speak to anyone that way.’

  “Dreya,” Nentai replied without a hint of her former teasing. “Bane is fine. Nothing is wrong with him. He’s quite perfect, in fact. What you’ve done to him is actually quite incredible, even more so since you did it without even trying. Without even knowing that it was possible. The Sintári of old, even when they knew exactly what they were doing, often failed to accomplish what you have done to him on accident. You will realize just what that is very soon now, and I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of discovering it for yourself.”

  “Promise me,” I begged her. “Promise me that he’s truly alright.”

  Nentai took a step closer to me and took my hand in hers as she replied.

  “I have never lied to you, d-Dreya,” she oddly stumbled on my name as she spoke to me in a soothing tone. “And I never will.”

  “I have to go now,” she said as she quickly returned to her normal demeanor. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but things should be getting very interesting for you soon, so I’m sure you won’t be missing me too much.”

  Nentai gave me a very uncharacteristic wink as she shimmered and then vanished from sight, and it was only then that I became aware that Tási had woken up.

  “Do you believe her?” Tási inquired from behind me. “Do you think she’s telling you the truth about Bane?”

  “I do,” I replied to her without hesitation. “Nentai can be a bit frustrating at times with the information she holds back, but she’s never once lied to me.”

  I need to eat, Sintári, and some time to think as well.

  I understood his meaning perfectly and pulled his head down to rest my forehead against his while I scratched at the scales behind his ears for a moment.

  ‘Go ahead, Bane,’ I sent to him as I let go. ‘I know that you find peace in the sky. Come back to me when you’re ready.’