by M. E. Thorne
Images of the ascended depicted in the temple’s mural flashed before my mind.
But when I reached the looking glass, I was relieved to see I looked like myself. Turning my head and raising my chin, I saw that I appeared the same as I had before. But there was something different. I couldn’t put my finger upon it; my features were the same, but there was a lean, feral look about me. The airs of a man on a mission, driven, determined, one who knew his destiny and how to seize it.
A strange, electrical thrill ran up my spine, causing me to involuntarily clench my fists and curl my toes. The power flowed up and through my chest, filling me.
“Dark Lord?”
Vexile carefully entered the room, then knelt.
I noticed that I was only dressed in my undershirt and boxers, but I didn’t care.
A crazy idea was forming in my head. I need to provide these people a miracle, to show them that Revina is with me, and thus with them.
I waved at her to close the door. “How is everyone?”
“Scared, amazed,” she shook her head, “confused. After you cut your hand, you collapsed, and everyone fled out of fear. But I stayed because I --” she faltered.
“You felt the presence of the goddess,” I finished for her.
She lowered her head and offered a small prayer. “Yes, I knew Revina was with us, and that She had blessed you as the next Dark Lord." She reached behind her and produced the black iron circlet. “And look, a miracle occurred, a sign for your coronation.”
The broken socket at the head of the circlet had been repaired; a small, ruby crystal now lay embedded in the niche. The small gem sparkled like it contained a whole cosmos worth of stars.
“It’s your blood, Dark Lord,” she explained, her fingers trembling. “After you collapsed, the blood you had shed was pulled into the circlet, becoming this jewel." She hugged the circlet to her chest. “It’s truly a sign, a miracle!”
Carefully, I walked over and knelt before her, lowering my head. Reaching up, I wrapped my hands around hers, which still tightly held the circlet.
“Dark Lord?” she gasped.
“Vexile,” my voice felt hoarse. “I want you to be the one to place the circlet atop my head.”
She tried to draw away, but I held her in place.
“I can’t, Dark Lord,” she protested, “I’m not worthy of such a thing. Revina is the one who is supposed to place the crown atop your head. I’m sure if we reenact the ceremony --”
“I have already been visited by the goddess,” the power course through me rode up my throat as if trying to leap out. “But I want to give her people a miracle, a sign that she is still here, still watching over them, and that she has blessed our effort to rebuild our kingdom.”
I looked up at her. “Vexile, be my First Queen and ascendant. Be the miracle these people need." I lowered my head. “That I need.”
She went silent, tears streaming down her cheeks. “But I’m not good enough. I lied to you, I don’t know all the secrets of the old religion, I’m --” her hand went to her chest again “-- damaged, scarred.”
Despite my trembling, I smiled. “And like I’m any better? I’m a washed-up political aide who threw away his life, then abandoned it for a whole new world. None of us are perfect, but we must carry on with the strengths and abilities that we have." The power throbbed in my chest. “Revina knows you are the one here most worthy of becoming her champion, my champion. Please, help us.”
Slowly, she brushed my fingers away from the circlet, then lowered it down onto my head. Speaking barely above a whisper, she said, “I crown you Dark Lord Robert Grailmont, long may you reign.”
The air in the chamber exploded, filling with swirling mists of power. In the glowing darkness, I could see swirling stars, blooming nebulae, and the eternal flow of the night. I stood and took Vexile into my arms, pressing us together.
“Vexile, High Priestess of Revina,” I looked into her eyes, “will you do me the honor of being my First Queen and ascendant?”
Crying, but now tears of joy, she nodded.
Cautiously, I leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.
The storm of magic grew in power around us, blessing our union. Revina’s power surged through me, and it was all I could do to resist the urge to throw my new wife onto the bed. Her cheeks flushed, and she shifted her hips, indicating she was subject to the same ardor I was.
“Your goddess is very pushy,” I chuckled, as I stroked my fingers along Vexile’s jaw.
She leaned in closer to me. “I believe She is only amplifying the emotions that are already there.” She ran a hand along my chest. “Ever since we found you, I’ve been secretly admiring you, from afar. It pained me, to watch you struggle, to suffer, all for doing the right thing.”
While she raised her head, her eyes sparkled with admiration. “But that’s what convinced me that you will make a majestic Dark Lord.”
I kissed her again, our embrace becoming more lustful. We stumbled together, landing heavily on the edge of the bed. Though I had just been given my crown, I carefully took it off and placed it on the side table as I drew Vexile fully onto the mattress with me.
The goddess’s magic stirred the drapes as galaxies spun around our matrimonial bed.
As I tried to draw her in, Vexile shied back, her hand pressed against her chest.
Gingerly, I reached and laid my hands over hers. “Do you want to show me?”
She loosened the belt on her robe, allowing it to fall, cupping it over her breasts.
The skin over her left breast was burned and scarred, a horrible brand burned into her flesh.
“I was arrested when I was thirteen,” she said, her voice small and tight. “At that time I was living in a slum, in one of the industrial cities, the Luminark used to churn out goods for the military. It was a miserable, dirty place, dominated by smokestacks and garbage heaps. My family was kept in a complex reserved for the descendants of Duskhaven. The Slave Pens is what the Luminarks called it.”
The brand depicted two horizontal, wavy lines. Below them sank a stylized sun with barbed rays coming off its half-circle profile. The injury was old, it had been badly stretched and deformed as Vexile had aged and grown; I could tell it would tug and pinch whenever she moved her arms, a constant reminder of the cruelty she had endured.
“The Luminark regularly swept through the Pens, looking for anyone who broke the laws by maintaining the old history, lore, or religion. Even knowing the name of Revina was considered a crime," She shivered. “I was captured in one of those sweeps. At the time neither my family nor I believed in Revina, we didn’t believe in anything. But the Luminark inquisitors didn’t care. We were arrested, tried, and convicted.”
I held her closer, fearful that she’d weep, but my queen was made of sterner stuff. With a voice like dust, she said, “My parents were executed for heresy. My older siblings were shipped off to the south, to work in the empire’s salt mines. And I was branded and sentenced to life in prison.”
“And strangely, that is where Revina found me,” she continued. “I met an old priestess, Hathawey, who treated me through the fevers and illness that followed my branding. She taught me the secrets of the Goddess, and the tales of our old homeland.”
I pulled her against my chest and began gently stroking her hair. “What happened to her?”
“She died,” Vexile replied matter-of-factly. “There was a mass jailbreak, instigated by the prison’s general population. We both tried to run, but she was killed by the guards." No tears flowed, but she buried her face into my undershirt. “I was able to make contact with an underground church of Revina, maintained in the heart of the empire; they’re the ones who helped me escape north, and I finally made my way here, where I found your ancestor’s artifact.”
I marveled at her story. “You are so strong." Leaning her back, I looked her in the eyes. “That’s why Revina picked you to be her champion. It’s not just your devotion to her, but the strengt
h that got you this far.”
“This isn’t a blemish or some sign of sin,” I brushed my fingers across her brand, before cupping your chin. “It’s a mark of how strong you are.”
We kissed again, more passionately this time. She released her hands, letting her robe fall away. Once gone, I could see her thin, malnourished figure and her skeletal ribs, which clung tightly to her flesh. Dirt and rashes streaked along her skin, but all I could see was the perfection underneath, the undeniable power, which ascension would bring to the surface.
Scooping her up, I sat and pulled her into my lap, my fingers running down her back and to the curve of her buttocks, pulling her in closer. She responded in kind, draping her arms around my shoulders and rocking her hips against the thin cloth of my boxers.
I shuddered, the heat between us rising. Her nipples rubbed up and down my chest, and I could feel a slick wetness building along her thighs. I worshiped and kissed her neck and collar until she rocked back and out of reach.
She reached down and grabbed the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head. Then, she ran her hands across my bare chest and stomach, before reaching for my cock, massaging it through the boxer’s material. Her rough, calloused fingers felt amazing against my sensitive skin, and I stifled a groan as her efforts became more frenzied.
“Please,” she moaned, “Dark Lord, I don’t think I can wait any longer. I want it, I want you.”
I laid her back against the mattress. “Robert. Please, while we’re alone, just call me Robert.”
She smiled radiantly. “Yes, Robert.”
Thunder, having nothing to do with my arousal, coursed through my veins. The goddess’s cosmic winds helmed along the side of the bed, feeding me power, preparing me to ascend my first wife. I had no idea of the specifics, but by the heat burning in my loins, I could guess the method of her transformation.
Revina isn’t very subtle about things, is she? I thought absently. But then Vexile pulled away the last of her clothing, revealing her lovely, slick slit, and all other thoughts were cast out of my head.
I threw off my boxers and positioned my cock above her pussy. She writhed under me, clearly under the same goddess-given effect as I was.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“Please,” she licked her lips.
Carefully, I pushed myself inside of her, shocked by her unbelievable tightness.
Vexile groaned, rolling her hips against me as she accepted my length. I leaned over her; she was so thin and bird-fragile that I was worried I would break her if I pushed too hard, so I kept my strokes slow and steady. Even then, she shuddered and moaned with each strike home, her breath heaving inside her ribcage.
“Faster,” she cried, pulling my face down to her neck. “I can feel it, Revina’s blessing!”
The cosmic storm swirled around us, building in power as our lovemaking reached a fevered pitch. Each stroke in and out of her brought me closer and closer to my inevitable climax; I swore I could feel power arching down my spine each time I drew out, then hammering through me and into Vexile as I struck home. The feeling was beyond exhilarating, my entire body ached with astral euphoria.
Vexile screamed in bliss as I hit her deepest part, her passage somehow growing tighter around me. “Please, Robert! Please, I want it, I need it!”
The power was growing, and I couldn’t hold it back any longer. Seizing her shoulders, I furiously thrust into her as she thrashed and grabbed onto me, her nails digging furrows into my skin.
Like the birth of a new star, I came.
Revina’s power surged through me, riding me like a bolt of lightning. The bliss was beyond measure like the universe was being sieved through my flesh and bones.
My seed flooded Vexile’s womb, but so did the goddess’s blessing.
The priestess’s back arched like a bow as her head jerked back, her mouth open wide with an endless scream. Eyes rolling back in her head, she allowed the ascension to take her, to remake her.
Her skin began to glow, then burn, like the heart of a furnace. I felt light-headed and weak like my bones were made of jelly, but I still managed to roll off the bed and out of the way of the cosmic metamorphosis.
She continued to scream, and for a moment I was afraid it was out of pain or terror. But then I realized she was crying out in pure ecstasy, as Revina remade her most faithful follower.
Vexile’s legs twisted together, merging and elongating, stretching off the bed and across the floor. From this new flesh came wave after wave of multiple-colored scales, enveloping her new serpentine body.
From waist up she was changing as well; the goddess filled in the hollow-places along her hips and ribs and graced her limbs with renewed strength. The pain, malnutrition, and trauma she had suffered were gently scrubbed away, leaving her skin pink and fresh, her figure healthy and full.
Her hair cascaded down to the small of her back, glassy and oily black, but with streaks of red, matching the scales that now ran across the ridge of her spine and tail. Ears, tall and pointed, broke through the thatch of her locks.
Only her face remained the same, Revina having found it perfect as is.
Eyes finally closing, the power fading, Vexile collapsed onto the mattress. The cosmic storm faded, leaving the room dim but warm, still sufficed with the musk of our lovemaking.
Carefully, I reached out and placed a finger against her arm. Her skin was a bright shade of coral pink, but soft and warm, not unlike worn leather. Pressing my fingertips against her wrist, I confirmed I felt a pulse, strong and true.
She rolled over, so she could face me as her eyes opened. “Robert?”
Revina had changed only one thing with her face. Vexile’s eyes were now yellow and orange, like the eyes of a predator. The vertical pupils opened wide as she saw me, and the worry written across my face.
“Vexile?" I pushed up onto the mattress, to get closer to her. “Are you alright?”
She smiled languidly, then looked down at her new, ascended form. “Alright? Robert, I am far better than just alright. I am perfect.”
A lamia, or naga, I thought, as I dredged the terms from my mind, thinking back to the old books on mythology I read as a kid, a snake-woman.
That’s truly what Revina had made her high priestess into. From the waist up she was a fantastically beautiful woman. From the waist down extended a six-meter long serpentine body, thick as my arms around, that eventually tapered down to a thin tip. The scales along her back were black, with three parallel red streaks, while the scales along her sides were red, fading to yellow along their edges.
I ran a hand along her back, marveling at how smooth they were and how the room’s scant light reflected off their surfaces. Rationally, I knew I should have been disturbed, Vexile had become a monster from myth, but in truth, I found her new form captivating. She had become a stunning sight, scales and all.
“How do you feel?” I asked her.
She tipped her head, a thin, forked tongue escaping through her lips as she thought. “I feel reborn like I have become everything I was ever meant to be.”
Brushing a hand along her chest, I saw the brand was gone. There wasn’t even a sign that it had ever been there; the skin was smooth and unbroken. Like the rest of her human half, it was blemish and scar-free, like she truly had been born anew.
She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around me. The contact was electric, and despite my exhaustion, I felt my body react to her touch.
“Are you displeased, Dark Lord?” she teased me, her tongue flicking along my ear.
Keeping one hand on her scales, I turned her head and kissed her deeply. Her tongue darted into my mouth, thin but incredibly dexterous.
I broke the kiss, less I distract us by pulling us back into the sheets. “You were a beauty before, but the goddess has truly made you her perfect champion.”
Vexile drew her tail up, coiling it around us. “Did you know, during my journey here, I came to greatly admire snakes?”
�
�Really?" I sat back a bit, resting against the bulk of her body.
She nodded, a speculative look across her face. “Yes, when I first came here, I was impressed by their ability to survive. Duskhaven is an inhospitable wasteland, but they are perfectly adapted to its dangers. I saw them proudly sunning themselves on rocks or hunting prey with poison and grace. Some of the other refugees were scared of them, but I thought they were the perfect example of what we needed to become.”
She inspected her new tail. “I will admit, this will take some time to get used to, but I know this is what I wanted, from the bottom of my heart." She kissed me again. “Dark Lord, I swear I shall serve you faithfully for all my days, as thanks to you and the Goddess for this new form.”
“Robert,” I reminded her, kissing her back. “In public, using my title is fine, but when we are together like this, we are husband and wife." I smiled. “The crazy part is, I never expected to get married, at least to someone I actually love.”
“Love?" She slithered back in surprise.
I carefully took her hand and kissed her along her knuckles. “I know, it’s kind of a surprise to me too, but I do love you. You gave me this wonderful opportunity and supported me with everything you could. I couldn’t ask for a more wonderful queen to stand by my side.”
She coiled around me, her scales tightening against my hips. “Robert, if you keep saying things like that, we might never leave this bed.”
The screams and commotion from outside, unfortunately, broke up our intimate scene.
Chapter 7
It took a moment for Vexile to wrap a bed sheet around herself, while I threw on my pants and shoes.
Together, we raced down the hall, though the priestess lagged, unused to moving in her new form. I tugged her arm as we found the nearest window facing the courtyard.
When we had first heard the screams and cries I had feared the keep was under attack, or some unseen threat was assailing our people. Instead, when we peered out of the window to the central courtyard, we were greeted by another miracle.
The ancient fountain, dry and barren for uncounted years, was spouting clear, clean water. People were dancing and yelling in joy, pooling the water in their palms to drink or to splash each other. I saw several of Vexile’s acolytes at the edge of the scene, kneeling in thankful prayer.