by M. E. Thorne
It felt like heaven.
As before, I could feel the goddess’s presence, distant but still intimate, as she blessed us once again. I felt power well up in my chest, spreading throughout my body, before pooling in my groin. With a primal scream, I felt it channel out of me, a massive blast that left me numb and euphoric.
Gasping, Nichessa took as much as she could, cum dripping off her lips and down onto her breasts as she fought to swallow my seed. With my last ounce of strength, I launched a dual assault with fingers and tongue, determined that she would receive even greater pleasure than I had experienced. Her last orgasm was cataclysmic, the bed shaking, my bones creaking as her muscles contracted and squeezed me tight.
“Fuck!” she cried, hands pressing against her abdomen, as she twisted and fell, collapsing beside me.
We laid together, the magic in the room slowly fading, as we came back to our earthly senses.
“Yeah,” she nodded weakly, “I was looking for something like that.”
Chapter 23
Vexile returned with Marl and the crawlclaws late that night, the two of them dusty and weary from their time on the move.
Nichessa got to work forming a rocky shelter for the two crustaceans, creating a stone stable that would hide their presence. We wouldn’t be staying there much longer, but we didn’t need our hiding spot being given away due to carelessness in concealment.
After washing up, Vexile retreated up onto a small hill, her notebook in hand. I found her writing by the light of the waning three moons.
“Everything alright?” I asked her, settling down and resting my back against her coils. The air was cold, and I greatly welcomed her warmth and the familiar tingle of her magic.
She nodded, before setting the book down, “When Nichessa approached me, asking for some private time, I was afraid I’d be jealous,” she admitted, before smiling, “but instead, I was happy for you two. It’s good to see her opening up to me, really sharing the duties of royalty, while also wanting to get more intimate with you.”
I thought about this. “I guess you’re right, she was really closed up before, but now it feels like she’s come to accept this, to accept us.”
Vexile moved closer, draping an arm over my shoulder.
“Besides,” her tongue licked along the side of my ear, “now that she’s had her time alone with you, that means I get you all to myself tonight.”
I shivered in anticipation.
Before we headed back towards our tent, I stopped to look at the night sky. “Vexile, when’s the next new moons night?”
She paused, looking up at the three nearly invisible moons, which hung faintly overhead. The full moons had already come and gone days before.
“The day after tomorrow,” she responded. “You can almost feel it, can’t you. Revina’s power is building in the night sky, waiting for that glorious, dark evening, when only her stars will fill the void.”
I nodded, “Then that will be the night that we finish this.”
The next day marked our most ambitious attacks against the Luminark. Sanderson pushed his troops to catch and slay the draconic beasts terrorizing his private kingdom, and we were happy to oblige them with wild goose chases.
Sanderson tried to send guards into the mines, commanding them to find the dragons’ lair. Nichessa would lead assaults from the stones themselves, filling the passages with noxious smoke and flames, or triggering lethal cave-ins.
At the same time, Vexile and I lured patrols out and into the open with our megaphones. We’d lead them on wild goose chases, up and down the hills, till their mounts collapsed from exhaustion and their troops begged to stop, to rest. That was when we assailed them with Vexile’s hallucinogenic venom, sending them into a panic before raining stones buckets of burning pitch.
The casualties became so high that the patrols eventually refused to ride out, despite Sanderson’s increasingly desperate ravings. Between our attacks and those who deserted, we calculated Sanderson only had fifty-odd troopers left.
“It’s just some stupid beasts,” Sanderson screamed at one of his loyalists, as we listened from a nearby hiding spot. “They’re just some overgrown lizards! Find them and kill them! What the fuck am I paying you for!”
Nichessa, Garnet, Matteo, and I were concealed in a narrow fissure that ran parallel to the Luminark’s southern wall; there was barely enough room for the four of us to squeeze together. I turned to Matteo; the young man had accompanied us to the edge of the camp, to play his part in the operation.
“Are you ready?” I asked him.
He nodded, the keyring clutched tightly in his hand, “Yes, Dark Lord.”
I waved to Nichessa, who opened up a passage through the stone, connecting us to a nearby mineshaft. “There shouldn’t be anyone below, we’ve cleared the path. Head through the mines and wait for the signal. Use those keys to return to the prisoner cells, and spread the word. Come tomorrow night, the dragons shall rise and everyone shall be freed.”
“I will,” he responded vehemently.
Nichessa, giving me one last look, then went underground with him, sealing the passage behind her. I took a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves. Garnet, crouched beside me, readied her torch.
We waited for approximately fifteen minutes, then I raised the dragon megaphone to my mouth and gave the signal.
To the north, Vexile responded with her own thunderous roar. The guards manning the wall above us went into a panic, the dragon’s cry sounding like it came from just below their post.
Carefully, Garnet crawled into the small space Nichessa had created to undermine the walls of the camp. She had purposefully made the walls of the space unstable, braced by lumber we’d stolen from the abandoned mine. We had slathered them with liters of pitch, the sticky substance thoroughly coating the wooden braces. Lighting the torch, Garnet tossed it towards the end of the tunnel, which was stacked with brimstone bombs.
Turning, we moved as quickly as we could in the opposite direction, escaping down the fissure as the area filled with smoke.
As we ran, I heard the camp erupt into anarchy. The whole southern side of their fortification collapsed as the ground caved in. The wooden stakes of the palisade were ripped from their foundation.
Screaming in fear, the guards tried to escape as their ramparts and walkways gave way. They were dashed to their deaths against the broken earth.
Sanderson raged loudly, ordering his troops to line up and defend the breach; he expected an attack to take advantage of the sudden vulnerability.
Little did he know, the blow had already landed. Matteo was hopefully safely back in the prisoner cells, ready to play his part in the final, fatal assault.
We gathered that night as High Priestess Vexile led a prayer session, asking Revina for her blessing for the coming day’s events. I stood beside her, miming her words and her supplications, but I was still somewhat ambivalent about my relationship with the divine.
I never believed in anything religious back on Earth, yet here I am, the divine conduit for a goddess. One that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, exists. But I can’t blindly devote myself, body and soul, to her as Vexile does.
As we finished our prayers, a thought struck me, Is Revina alright with me treating this as a patronage? I guess technically she’s my patron, and I’m here to help carry out her will. The last thing I need is her withdrawing her favor because I wasn’t devoted enough to her.
Later, when I quietly voiced these concerns to Vexile, she smiled. “While I am saddened that you don’t yet share the same faith in Revina that I do, I’m sure she is still pleased by your acts as Dark Lord.”
“Even though I’m technically a cynic?”
“I mean, so am I,” shrugged Nichessa, “I never gave much thought to religion before, and I’m still pretty lax about it now.”
“I noticed you mumbled most of the words tonight,” Vexile hissed.
The blacksmith gestured noncommittal again. “If Revina
is happy enough with my actions, then what does it matter? It’s deeds, not words, that really matter at the end of the day.”
“That is true,” my First Queen turned back to me, “Revina sees the value in everyone, She doesn’t judge or condemn others for the extent of their beliefs, or even non-beliefs. Everyone has a role to play, even if they don’t give their full heart to Her.”
“So I’m not suddenly going to find myself dumped back on Earth?” I chuckled.
She coiled closer, “As long as you are dedicated to rebuilding Duskhaven and serving your people? I think we’ll all be fine in Her eyes.”
We spent the next day in preparation; stockpiling more brimstone bombs, pitch, and torches. We expanded the crawlclaw’s cargo baskets, ensuring they could carry all the supplies we would need. Garnet went out once, to spy on the camp. She confirmed that Matteo had made it to the prisoner cells; she spotted the white scrap of cloth he’d left hanging from the barred window.
The soldiers polished and cleaned their new armor and weapons till they gleamed. I walked amongst them, talking to them about their plans for the future, and what they wanted to see happen as Duskhaven rose from the dust and the ashes.
Shannon, Raul, and Chen swore that they would come to serve me in Duskhaven if Dougherty permitted it. I was moved by their offer, but I did not want to jeopardize Gloomglow’s relationship with the watchtower. Instead, I told them they could best serve me, and the citizens, by continuing to stand watch with their captain.
By guarding the causeway and keeping an eye on the Luminark, they ensured our safety and secrecy.
Nichessa, growing restless, went out into the abandoned mine tunnels. I found her by the small grave for the dead worker. She had raised a stone sarcophagus over the old man’s body, and she was trying to decide what to carve onto its stone surface. In the end, I convinced her the only epitaph we could write was Rest in Peace.
Vexile went around, giving out small blessings when asked. She spent an inordinate amount of time working in her notebook, agitatedly taking notes and scribbling out ideas. When I asked her what she was writing, she requested some privacy, before backing away.
I guess nobody wants someone else, even their husband, watching them frantically writing down their fears and worries, especially in the hours before a battle.
As for me, I felt strangely numb, like my mantle was some great, heavy weight that kept my feet pressed to the ground, rather than letting me get carried away by my passing fears.
Either we succeed, or we don’t, I admitted to myself.
Finally, a few hours before sunset, we headed down into the caverns, carrying our supplies. Nichessa led us to the mine entrance, and she used her magic to clear away the stones she had brought down before.
Hesitantly, we climbed the rickety ladder, up until we reached the lowest levels of the mine. The air was cold and stale, the floor slick with moisture and treacherous with loose stones.
“Vexile?” I called quietly.
We had used the shaft’s lift to carry her up, since she couldn’t climb ladders easily. She slithered forward and pressed her hands against the ground, listening, feeling.
“Nothing,” she confirmed. “There’s nobody else in the mines. The Luminark are probably too afraid to head underground after our most recent series of attacks.”
I nodded towards Garnet; she had lit a torch and was passing the flame to the other soldiers so they could do the same. They were all carrying maps of the mines, copied out by Vexile, which detailed where they needed to go.
“Move quickly,” I warned them, “we need those bombs placed accordingly. Nichessa? Can you escort them, to make sure everything is set and that the preparations meet your needs?”
“Come on,” she whispered hoarsely, waving one of her arms, “the faster we get this done, the faster we can see this place burned to the ground.”
Left alone, Vexile and I carefully climbed up through the mines. My arms quickly grew tired, since I had to operate the lifts manually each time Vexile and I came to a vertical shaft. Additionally, the air was stagnant and heavy, since the bellows that brought fresh air into the mines were not running.
By the time we reached our goal, my lungs were aching and I was in desperate need of a rest.
“Why couldn't the goddess have given me super strength,” I groaned, as I shook my arms.
Vexile chuckled, “I think the goddess made you perfect, as you are.”
I tried to laugh along with her, but my nerves were too tight. We were located in one of the upper mine exits, near the top of a small hillside, at the very edge of the camp.
Underground, Nichessa and the soldiers were setting up the bombs; their placement would be critical to the battle ahead. If one of them is out of place, or the mines don’t collapse as expected, we’re in deep trouble.
Reaching out, Vexile placed a calming hand on my forearm. “I’ll be fine,” she said, “have faith in them and the Goddess.”
I reluctantly nodded. We either win or we lose, that’s all there is to it.
Vexile then snuck out towards the mineshaft entrance, reporting back that, “There are a few guards stationed on the hillside but they’re more concerned about what’s going on in the camp than anything else. Looks like Sanderson has ordered his remaining troops to fix the wall, while a skeleton crew is keeping watch on the other three walls.”
Nichessa joined us about an hour later, reeking of smoke and pitch. She indicated everything was in place. The fires had been set, and she had created an escape route the prisoners could use. It led to a beach just to the south of the camp.
She had sealed that path against the dust and smoke that would be filling the rest of the mines.
Garnet and the other soldiers were moving into position, waiting for our signal. It had long ago passed sunset, and night was setting in. No moons hung in the sky; there was only an endless tapestry of stars.
Vexile checked again, but Sanderson still had his troops repairing the wall, intending for them to work day and night till it was restored.
Everything was going according to our plan.
Raising the dragon megaphone for one, last time, Vexile and I readied the signal to unleash hell upon the Luminark.
Chapter 24
The dragons’ cry blasted out of the mouth of the mines. The guards stationed outside were thrown off their feet, like chaff before our fury. The earth shook, the walls echoing with our rageful cacophony.
I’m sure Garnet and the other soldiers below were able to hear that.
We shouted through the megaphones again, our magic threading notes of rage and imminent violence into the roars. Omens of the carnage to come.
As soon as the guards got to their feet they took off running, screaming, “The dragons! The dragons are here!”
I tucked the horn away and turned to Nichessa, “Are you ready?”
She nodded, flexing all four of her arms, “I can do this.”
“The goddess will give you strength,” Vexile told her.
The blacksmith laughed, “Say a prayer for me, I guess.”
She crouched down and I felt her power flow out of her, radiating into the earth. Stones and dirt began falling from the ceiling as the earth began to violently quake.
Nichessa grimaced as she drew on more power, focusing her magic specifically to where it needed to go. The trembling directly under us lessened, but I could hear stones shattering and wooden supports breaking in the tunnels below.
Sweat began to bead on her brow, and her arms shook at the effort it took to maintain the spell.
Vexile and I drew close and placed our hands on her shoulders, allowing our magic to support hers. She drank it in, and the earthquake increased in severity.
And then, far below, the weakened mine tunnels, their support timbers and braces burned away by the bombs and fires the soldiers had ignited, collapsed. In a single calamitous moment, the entire southern end of the camp, including the barracks and the site of the wall re
pair, was pulled into the earth.
A fraction of a second later, the screams began.
Wounded soldiers, those that were at the edge of the disaster, or had somehow survived the collapse, cried out as they found themselves trapped under mountains of dirt and shattered wood.
I readied my crossbow, And here’s where the final act begins. This isn’t just political theater anymore, you must be ready to do what must be done, I told myself, steeling my resolve.
“Get ready,” I told the others.
In an instant, the doors to the prisoner cells were opened; the prisoners streamed out into the night, running for their lives. Matteo, keys in hands, ran from building to building, unlocking the bars and freeing the others.
“The dragons are here!” he cried, as he liberated the prisoners. “The Dark Lord is here!”
As people dashed outside, Matteo pointed them towards the lowest mine entrance.
“Run,” he called, “the dragons will keep you safe, the Dark Lord will set you free!”
In mass, they ran toward the mines.
Garnet and her soldiers quickly formed a cordon by the escape route, torches in hand. They guided the prisoners inside, even as they began unloading their crossbows at the nearby Luminark guards, who had been drawn in by the commotion.
Vexile, Nichessa, and I ran outside and down the hillside, joined them, calling for the prisoners to head deeper into the mines.
“Matteo!” I called the young man over.
He ran up to me, his face flush with excitement.
“Go with these soldiers!” I pulled Thomas and three others off the line, instructing them, “Get these people to the rally point! Their safety is your top priority!”
“Dark Lord!” Matteo nodded, before handing me the keys and taking off.
“Garnet!” I hollered.