by Andur
My hand closes around his neck, fingers digging into his skin.
That's when I realize that my hand isn't really a hand any more. It's more like an ethereal surge of electricity and energy. Did I become something like a lightning elemental? Somehow I notice that he experienced a similar transformation. But where I became something that's more on the side of electricity, he seems to consist of plasma and heat. His skin blisters away, revealing light beneath it.
“You won't deny me my power!” He hisses and doubles his efforts in converting my energy to his. I return the favour by severing large junks of his power pool, dispersing them into our surroundings. This form of magical battle is completely new to me, but I get excited nonetheless. Even the pain can't stop me from exploring new possibilities.
I retreat further and further from his attempts at conversion, only striking out when I can steal or cut off more of his energy than he can.
Slowly our bodies return to their normal forms as the energy inside us depletes. My repeated retreats at controlling the power between us make him more confident and he attempts to overwhelm me, coming forth from his pool of power.
That's when I finally sense something else than his raw energy. Previously his real being seemed to be protected by the raw energy within him, but his confidence made him lower his guard.
I retreat once more, condensing my consciousness into a small and dense ball. He greedily jumps at the opportunity to convert even more of my energy into his.
In that moment of distraction I burst forward and dig mental claws into the energy pattern which makes up his true self. A raw mental scream emerges from the depths of his being and he tries to pull back, but I don't let him. When he came forward I got a firm hold on him and like a shark who sensed blood I've no intention of letting go.
Slowly I pull him towards me, separating the energy pattern which holds -him- from his remaining pool of power. It's like reeling in a fish on a rod. The fish already knows that it is caught, but still struggles in futile resistance.
Then I finally have him in my spiritual grasp and start playing with this newly found ability of mine. In a sudden burst of inspiration I disassemble his energy pattern like Lego blocks and put it back together.
This time in a manner that favours all forms of pain and fears, reassembling it with my own sped up perception of time. Then I step back and admire my creation for a small eternity.
But suddenly the energy pattern that's Markus's 'spirit', for the lack of a better term, turns erratic. I reach out, but before I can do anything about it the pattern flat lines and disperses into nothingness, de-naturalizing to a pure, wild state.
Wild and immature rage boils up inside me. He got away! He got away! That was a much too easy death. An eternity of pain isn't enough for someone who hurt Cyla!
Somewhere at the edge of my mind I notice myself prying Markus's dead hand away from my neck. With a burst of energy I rip off the arm which is holding the parchments and start beating him with it.
A stream of curses escapes my lips while blood and bits of flesh fly everywhere. At some point I run out of English ones and use German curses instead, which are even more creative in certain ways. I sometimes revert to German since my adoptive parents spoke it. It's the first language I learned. The sheets of parchment loosen and are flung upwards, dispersing all around us.
Suddenly Melan appears right next to me and gives me a clout with all her weight behind it. “Snap out of it, Gideon!”
The short and sharp pain forces me to turn my attention away from the target of my hate. That causes me to regain my centre and I stop the stream of curses. Blinking, I look up to her and then down at the mangled corpse. My eyes wander to the faceless who are surrounding us in respectful distance and the flying news cameras which are hovering behind them.
I drop the torn off arm and get to my feet, correcting my clothes. “Thanks, Grandma. I guess the mental battle with that monster sent me over the edge.”
“You are sure?” Melan eyes me carefully, looking me up and down. “You aren't hurt, right?”
I try to stretch and rotate my shoulders. “No. Feels just a little uptight and wobbly in my knees, but otherwise fine. Whatever just happened seems to be over.”
“Right. You still have to see a doctor. I think you just had another mutational burst from the battle.” Melan grabs my hand and slides an arm under my shoulder to support me.
“No. What about Cyla?” I ask and try to turn, but my legs simply give out.
Luckily Melan stops me from falling. “She's fine! I've already checked.”
“Ah, good. I think I'll sleep then.” I close my eyes and my consciousness fades away the same moment.
Sol, Aether
Cyla
It's been three days since the incident and Gideon, Amia and I have been shut away in the hospital since then. They conducted a lot of tests, but finally Ed and a few doctors decided to tell us what happened.
“It's an old forbidden ritual to guide the mutation of the target as well as the parts of a genuine spell-book. The Merseburg incantations were just a few pages from the whole book. The guiding process works by exposing the body to targeted stress.” Ed waves the parchments in his hand. “The really sick part is just that you need a sacrifice. A person with the magical affinities which you want to enhance. It's a really old spell which works with a brute force approach, so it needs something like a template.”
“So we were exposed to this ritual?” I ask, shocked, looking at myself in the mirror. There are black lines circling along my temples and along my neck down to my collarbones in a strange pattern. From my neck they also spread down my spine to form a similar pattern above my butt. They look similar to my mother's mutation and when I exert my power through them I can apparently create small singularities of warped space. Hopefully the ones on my collarbones don't emphasize my cleavage too much and make me look like a slut? No, those tattoos look more demonic than anything else.
“They look cool, Cyla. And sexy! Don't worry.” Gideon gives me a thumbs up which makes me blush.
“Since when am I the one whose thoughts can be read easily?” I ask.
“Since you are ogling yourself in a mirror non-stop!” Amia calls out while playing with her blazing red hair. Her mutation was less troublesome. The only change in appearance was the new hair colour and a heightened affinity for fire-magic. She got away with less drastic changes.
“No. You interrupted the ritual.” Ed takes another look at his report. “I gave the manuscript to the doctors and they took a very close look at it. The first part of the ritual exposes you to a high amount of energy to draw fourth your natural mutation and to prepare for the second step. But Markus never got that far, so everything you have now is your natural skill. Nature given I am afraid.”
“That's nice. So we can go home now? We are already kept captive since three days.” Gideon crosses his arms in front of his chest.
“If you don't feel like turning back to pure energy?” One of the medical personnel asks.
Gideon shakes his head. “Nope. At least not at the moment. I feel very solid. But how did Markus get that strong if it was just the first part of the ritual?”
“The bonding?” Amia asks with a doubtful voice. “Though I didn't expect it to make him that strong.”
“It wasn't the bonding alone.” One of the doctors answers. “I took a close look at his remains, at least at what you've left me. His genetic code implies that he already performed the ritual several times. That's probably also the reason why he decided to leave Earth. With all the mages leaving the planet new sacrifices became very hard to find.”
A shudder runs down my spine. “I don't want to know how many.”
“But I want.” Gideon throws in.
“Impossible to tell.” The doctor answers. “I just know that it must've been many.”
“And that's exactly why this will be safely locked away in a dark and secure place.” Ed waves at us with the manuscript. �
��I would rather destroy it, but there is no way to tell if there isn't something valuable from old times among these pages. The scientists will have to take a good look at it first.”
I sigh in relief and get up from my seat. “Then let's go home.”
We don't lose any time and hurry back to Gideon's mansion. The front entrance is still a little battered, but that's nothing that could stop us from enjoying our break. Back at home I am finally able to relax.
And there is something else I want to do! I hurry to our bedroom and shed my clothes to put on the thong and cupped bra which he likes so much. A few moments after I am done the door opens and I throw myself onto the bed. Closing my eyes I push out my chest to let my cleavage speak for itself.
“Wow! If that isn't confidence I don't know.” Amia's voice reaches me from the room's entrance.
I open my eyes and jump up. “Amia? What's that supposed to be!?” I stomp towards my friend who is in red undergarments and has a bottle in her hands.
“Can I join in?” She asks with a pleading voice. “I am on withdrawal for three weeks straight and the last three days being locked up in the hospital didn't help.”
My eyes widen. “No! He is mine and I don't know how he would react to what you've in mind!”
“Please! I am not familiar with Aether and picking up a decent guy isn't easy since I don't know any good locations. And I've already shared men with you. Do you remember Angelo and that nature-mage you got the hots for? They were originally my boyfriends.” Amia takes my hand.
“That's something completely different. You didn't intend to marry them!” I try to pry my hand out of hers.
“Is it?” She raises the bottle. “I even brought silicon-oil, I know that you are much too embarrassed to buy it yourself.”
I lick over my lips and reach for the bottle, but she pulls it away. “Ah! What's your answer? I promise that I won't steal him from you.”
Squinting my eyes at her I think long and hard before answering. “You know what I'll do to you if this has any repercussions on my relationship with him?”
Amia salutes me. “It won't! You are the boss!”
I nod and place a hand on my hips, then I look deep into her eyes, a superior smirk on my face. “I am fully intending to make you regret this.”
Sol, Aether
Gideon
I enter my bedroom and stop. On my bed are two half naked beauties. Are Amia and Cyla having a lesbian encounter? No, Cyla isn't lesbian. I would have read that in her mind. “What's going on?” No, I know! “Where is the camera?”
Cyla gets up and stalks towards me, swaying her hips. “No camera, just two women who need a man.”
“Yes, I see that.” But there has to be a trick to it! That's not how Melan described things to me. What am I supposed to do if my girlfriend actually allows a sidekick!? “I still sense something off. Are you testing my morals because I went nuts on that blood-mage? Because if that's the case I won't fall for it!”
Cyla doesn't answer and kisses me instead, opening her mind to me. Her legs snake around me and I cup her ass to support her. When she is done our lips part. “Do you know what you have to do?”
A grin steals itself onto my face and I recognize the free card I am given. “Oh, you are so evil. I love you.”
I carry her to the bed where Amia is waiting eagerly. Then I pull both of them into a tight embrace while they start getting rid of my clothes. Running my hand over Amia's belly I pull a little spark from her skin while kissing Cyla's neck.
Then I get pushed on my back and Amia gets a bottle from the night table and pours the slippery contents onto us.
I already want to protest against sullying my bed, but Cyla shuts me up by claiming my lips while Amia gets to work on my lower region, guiding my hand between her legs. After a while of caressing her clit I use her weak position to spark her. It results in a scream of pleasure and Amia pulls my hand away to place herself above me. Then she drops her hips onto me and starts grinding hers against mine.
Cyla gets up and turns around to kiss Amia, running sparks of electricity across her body. I follow her lead and grab her chest, moving my fingers between her legs.
Cyla connects her mind to Amia and I join them. Seconds stretch to minutes until all of us shudder in fulfilment. I reach around both of them and claim them in the most primeval way, not holding back on sharing the explosion of my feelings with them. A final thrust into her finishes her off. Amia's eyes turn upwards and she passes out with a gasp while I am still inside her.
“And that's it for someone who believes that she can join in on two telepaths.” Cyla shoves Amia off of me and takes her place, slipping me inside her with her back towards me. “That girl simply didn't know what she got herself into.”
I smile. “That leaves more time for the two of us.” I push Cyla forward and grab her hips, fully intending to use the opportunity of getting rid of three days worth of tension.
54. ~Addition.~
“
At the end of the third industrial revolution all work related jobs turned completely away from production as the IM-Production-Lines took over. Human skills in the industrial sectors turned completely to development, planning, management and repair duties.
”
-Mages and their industry
Sol, Aether
Gideon
We are standing in front of my mansion, wishing Amia goodbye. When she woke up the next morning she informed us that she had found a place of her own and that she wouldn't stretch our hospitality any further.
“So I am thankful for letting me stay, but I am afraid that I've found a place for myself.” Amia smiles at us, correcting her very prim robe. “With Aether's traffic being unrestricted some apartments became free. I had my eyes on one of them for a while and decided to go for it.”
“So you are intending to stay on Aether?” Cyla crosses her arms in front of her chest with a smug smile on her face. “Are you sure you aren't running away after last night?”
Amia starts fidgeting. “It's certainly not like I am running away.” Then she points an accusing finger at us. “What you two did to me last night was worse than Fog! I'll turn insane if I stay too close to you. You two could make tons of money with this.”
Cyla sighs and throws back her hair. “Like a techno-mage wouldn't have more decent ways to make money. And I told you that you would regret it. I've absolutely no bad conscience about last night. But I still hope you'll still visit the party.”
“Of course. Hey, didn't you say that you've brothers? Do you think you can introduce me to one or two of them?” Amia asks.
I snort. “They are techno-mages, you know? One might think that you've learned your lesson.”
“Ow!” Amia's eyes widen and she pulls on her lower lip. “Then one of them? Certainly not two!”
Cyla smiles. “You can try. I won't stop you.”
“Then it's a deal.” Amia hugs Cyla and then me. With no further words to say she picks up her luggage and walks down the street to the nearest teleporter.
“I am glad that it's just the two of us again. One night like this is enough.” I open the collar of my jacket since it suddenly feels a little too tight.
“My, My. Gideon? Aren't you just trampling on any man's dreams? Who would dislike having two women of similar age in his house? You got what many guys are dreaming of while jerking off.” Cyla looks up to me and raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah, right. Dreaming, that's the important word. As long as it remains a dream it's good and nice, but the reality looks different. I don't think that I would be able to please two women each night. You two wrung me out like a wet towel. I am not even sure if I can get it up tonight.” I answer a little desperate.
Cyla purses her lips. “Not even if we use the oil?” Then she leans closer. “I also have to tell you a little secret.” I lean down and let her whisper into my ear. “We are no longer alone.”
It takes a few seconds until I get what she meant. “Gre
at! Congratulations to both of us, I guess?” I roll the words with a questioning undertone. “It's only natural since we were doing it without protection.” And I guess there is no going back from this point on, so I hug her and press my cheek against hers.
Once we separate I have to make something clear. “You are the one who has to clean up the mess!” I point at her, starting to walk down the street to my office. “My bed looks like a wet dog slept there.” Unfortunately work doesn't care if I am sick or not. I've to make up for three days out of office.
Cyla blows a kiss after me. “I love you too. And I'll make sure to tell the whole family.”
My little walk to the government building is thankfully completely uneventful. Once inside my office I immediately get to work and pull out a tube of super-glue and the part of my desk which got cut off during my hasty departure.
While I am applying the glue to my office table, three familiar faces stroll into my office. Galia, Kandy and Roderik enter the room. I decide to greet them first. “Good morning. I hope my hasty departure a few days ago didn't inconvenience you.”
“No.” Roderik answers hastily. “No. Certainly not. We saw that you had your reasons. The news channels were very detailed.”
“Yeah, that Markus was a nasty, little piece of shit. Being inside his mind and seeing his memories totally freaked me out.” That's not entirely true, but I figure giving them a vague explanation is better than telling the truth. They can imagine the truth like it fits them best. “Got me into hospital for three days.” Upon having finished applying the glue I take the cut-off piece of my table and press it into place.
Kandy decides to go for it. “We've thought about your offer of additional protection and decided that it would be rude to reject something that's freely given.”
“Oh, that's no problem. You can have as much protection as you like. I hope you are still up for the party?” I ask, using a sheet of paper to scrape off the excess glue along the cut.
“Of course we feel honoured being included in such a private event.” Roderik nods enthusiastically.