“That is the Drone Floa told me about I take it?” he nodded. Kanade’s eyes widened. “Ethan, there is tremendous power within. It is an ethereal weapon that once finds a host, becomes a corporeal firebomb!”
“Don’t worry.” He eased her mind. “My friend Kira helped me learn about it. Until I connect my mind with it and let it loose, the grasshopper I selected will be unharmed. When I reconnect, I’ll absorb it back into myself…” he stopped as she smiled and her wings lost their tension. “Sorry about my actions earlier. They weren’t fair. Actually the first thing I wanted to say when we met again was to say thank you.”
“For what?”
He held out the pair of gold bracelets firmly bound to his wrists. “These. They were a big help for me not making myself look even more ignorant about all this than usual. You saved me a lot of trouble.”
“I’m glad you like them. Do you like gold? When I made the translators I forgot to ask.”
“Personally silver would be my first choice.” He grinned.
“Then let me see them.” She held out her hands and he didn’t resist taking them to feel her touch. She felt the sores and roughness his hands had recently endured and what she enjoyed most was a warm tingling sensation from where they touched. He didn’t jerk as her gold eyes began to glow entirely blue like when he remembered her expelling souls. She blew out on the material and Ethan watched as the seamless bands grew thousands of tiny runes in intricate lines before changing color from gold to white-gold. As her glowing blue eyes returned to a natural gold she asked “Better?”
“Much!” he laughed and reluctantly drew his hands back to watch as the runes disappeared again. “So why two bracelets?”
“Because any language I’ve learned ever spoken or written, even demon, is translated to you from the left band while the right returns to whoever is listenin’. You didn’t grow up learnin’ every language like I and others of Order do. I knew you needed these so you didn’t need to rely on anyone else. Understandin’ is important and I didn’t want you to die if you didn’t know how to commune properly…” She went quiet.
“Kanade, what are you doing here? With a body?” He found the nerve to ask.
“Because” She looked down and chose her words more carefully than before. “I wanted to watch over you and be nearer. And no, Lord Fate didn’t send me to punish you. It hurt me that you thought I want to bring you pain. I never wanted to give such an impression. Again, I’m sorry, for intrudin’, but I needed to say that. Do you remember the last moments we spent with Lord Fate?” He nodded and she saw his fingers ball into a fist. “He said it would be another week for me. He had an Ogre construct a new livin’ body for me to reside in and without my original to be recreated from, it was made from scratch.
“I made the decision to be by you and so long as you have a physical form, so will I. Until this body is killed I cannot leave it or return to Spirit World.”
“Why would you do that? Aren’t you giving up all your friends? Your family?”
Kanade nodded. “Only Floa was my dear friend, but the Cerulean family, my parents included, understand my choice. For a reason, do I need one to be near you? Do you resent me or wish me to go?”
He shook his head and hands instantly. “No, please stay. I… uh… missed you.” Ethan spoke the last part barely above a whisper.
“My choice wasn’t difficult. So far I’ve completely enjoyed my new role as Enchantress of the First House. Everyone seems to be friendly.”
“How long?”
The vague question was easily understood and Kanade looked at the hovering ball between them flickering in random ways. “Three weeks exactly when it’s nine in the morning. Odin and the Casters were all too eager to get an experienced Enchanter here. Normally a young Spirit Guide comes to one of the Houses to apply the runes they study from the moment of hatchin’. They leave usually at eighteen to fully begin saving souls and bringin’ them to Spirit World. It’s been six months since this House has had a proper Enchanter. Because Spirit Guides cannot die easily and are immortal, our birthrate is slow. Mostly an egg is laid by the mother once a century and only when a Spirit Guide finds their soul mate can they even conceive. For proof I can tell you my parents have been one for five centuries and I am their only offspring… When I offered my services, the First House eagerly allowed me in.
“I enchant only the most prized items.” She smiled shyly. “And every delivery you made from Celestia I spelled to last so long as the owner does.”
“You’ve been here three whole weeks? Why didn’t you reveal yourself, Kanade? You have been the one always watching me haven’t you?”
She nodded and her sweet tone was regretful. “I am. You have no idea how badly I wanted to and every day has been harder than the last. Floa was my release as she spoke of you. It made me both happy and sad. I’ve watched you struggle each day and demonstrated great courage to not give up. I so wanted to tend your wounds, but I couldn’t.”
“Why did you hide from me? Friends don’t stalk.”
She laughed lightly. “I suppose I was stalkin’… Ethan, I didn’t want to distract ya. When I wasn’t focused on work my focus… shifted. Odin agreed when he learned I was the Spirit Guide who ferried you over and back. And each day you became more determined and gained confidence though pain and hard work. I maintained my distance so you could grow into the warrior sittin’ before me. And today when Odin told me how you slew an Elf and saved a baby… I was so proud.” She crooned and saw him adjust his body uncomfortably with such praises. “I fixed the barrier against Sheedan’s minions if you were wonderin’.”
“Good to know, but couldn’t you just read my mind?”
“I told you it was an accident. I try hard not to.” She sighed and realized he was teasing as he gave her a crooked grin. “Brat.”
“Hey! I got to get my digs it when I can.” He laughed and she wasn’t far behind. “So why was your door open? Usually it’s locked.”
“Floa.” She sighed and shivered, remembering how bad Ethan felt not so long ago. It was all her fault. “I was wrong earlier. It not that your delivery was early, but I was late. Floa usually leaves by midnight, but she was so caught up over your heroism and that I had her retell all her daughter told her and… she likes to talk.”
“If that isn’t an understatement I don’t know what is.” They laughed.
Kanade continued. “We were so engrossed on how you did the impossible and saved the baby that my focus on her didn’t let me sense your approach till you already found us with my door open.”
“So what now? Are you going to keep avoiding me or are you going to transfer to a different House?” He had to ask.
“Since it’s already too late to stay hidden, no. Actually I was workin’ up courage to surprise you in the next few days when the news of your act settled. I’m not goin’ anywhere if possible.”
“Thank goodness. I would seriously think I really was a repellent to the opposite sex.” Kanade smiled, but even after a shower his smoky scent was welcome to her. “So Floa’s known this whole time? What’s been said?”
“My girlfriend has known since the day you two threatened each other. Floa returned to Spirit World to chastise me for what I said and learned of my new body being made. She decided it was enough that I was tryin’ to make amends and am back here.” She pointed to the ground. “She kept my secret from you and your friends… until now I mean. Before tonight Floa would fill me in on all I missed. She was my little spy, pun intended.” They shared a laugh. “I learned more of you through her, your likes and dislikes. Dress wasn’t helpful in that area. Last week she even caught me lookin’ into your room from the window after you dropped a kite shield for me to protect. I liked watchin’ you sleep.” Kanade admitted bashfully. “She even told me how many times all the females, this Kira included, propositioned you to roll around in the hay…”
“Whoa, where did that come from?” He said.
Kanade’s cheeks fl
ushed fully as she mentally kicked herself. “Sorry about that. Never mind.”
“No.” Ethan decided when he heard her tone. “You sound jealous. Why?”
“If I am, what would you do about it? Would you leave this Kira and the other females?” Her neutral, non reveling eyes leveled on him.
“For starters I’d be happy you feel that way, but no. I won’t leave my friends. You wouldn’t like me if I just moved from friend to friend and we both know you aren’t the vindictive type. Yes, I’ll admit, Kira, many Nymphs, an Ogre woman and even a female Naga have all tried, but to me they are good friends. I think of them like you do with Floa.”
“But Floa doesn’t wish to mate with me. Not all the time anymore thankfully.” She pointed out. “If you had a choice, who would you be with.”
Before the mental filter could stop him, out came “You!” and immediately following he slapped a hand over his mouth.
Kanade beamed, more delighted than ever in her whole life. “That eases my mind” tremendously. She thought the last word. “And I feel the same.”
Ethan sat in misery till her words fully sank in. “Really?” she nervously bit her lips and nodded in an agonizingly slow way. “But isn’t that against the rules?”
“Whose rules?” She cocked her head in an adorable way. “I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but datin’ another species isn’t frowned upon. Human morals and culture don’t hold sway here.” She then put her heart out on the line. “You you think I’m unsightly? Do you not like tall women with wings and blue hair?”
Ethan gulped loudly enough for Kanade to hear and feel a bit of thrill. “You’re the most beautiful being I’ve ever seen. Actually I cannot look at anyone as I do you. No one has ever made me feel so… comfortable to be around. I’ve dated, but no girl has ever made me feel so… there is no word in any language which can describe it… Kanade, with all your powers, can you feel what I do?” She nodded slowly. “Then do it.”
“Are you certain?” he nodded and she let her power reach him and her eyes widened. She immediately began fanning her face in an adorable way and pulled back. She had got her answer and then some. “Well I do declare!” she kept fanning with her large yet dainty hand. “You do find me more than pleasin’.”
“So now you know how I feel about you…” his eyes downturned.
Kanade snapped her wrist and suddenly Ethan found himself magically jerked through the hovering Drone and into her embrace. Her lips were freshly glossed with her tongue a moment before meeting his. The Drone died out as Ethan kissed her back with a possessive passion for her, finding what he so longed to have. Kanade’s fingers wound through his thick head of hair and she released her feelings physically. She tasted sweeter than any sugar and to make him go deeper in that moment was her natural fragrant cinnamon scent. Her luscious lips parted invitingly and Ethan gladly probed as if they had kissed forever. It felt so right and natural, especially when she wanted to wrap her tongue with his. His large hands wound gently around her slender neck with a bit of a possessive quality she enjoyed and he could feel the hammering of her pulse and his felt the same. Then she giggled.
They pulled back and her hand scratched his beard. “Your beard tickled me.”
“It’ll be gone by morning.”
“No, keep it.” Kanade pulled him closer and kissed his lips again. “You look better with this short beard. My dream man always had one and you certainly look good. I like the scruff. I wondered why shorts beards were my fancy. I don’t like long though.”
In the darkness he could barely see her outline so he lit a thumb like a candle. “Then I’ll keep it. Kanade, sorry if I was rough.”
“Nonsense! I was rather enjoyin’ it.” She laughed lightly and pushed him back so she could sit on his lap like she so craved and enclosed them both in her wings. He liked it and so did she. It was an intimate embrace. “I’ve never been kissed like that before. Not one Spirit Guide or Enforcer made me feel so powerful… wanted and loved.”
“So you’ve had lovers?” Ethan asked in spite of what he knew. “Never mind, its none of my business. Someone of your beauty…”
“Shhh…” Kanade bumped he head against his and put a finger over his lips. “Now that I know we are certain, you can know what few do. Ethan, I am unmated and untried. Like you, I’ve never lain with another. That is a rule in Spirit World. A woman of my kind mates only with their soul mate, their angel. We do not sleep around for we can only hold passion for one. My kind kiss to exchange energy in hopes we find our angel. Finding our angel is the greatest search of our lives. The unmated go around kissin’ in the hopes they find their one, when spells to search out their destiny fail. Some can search for centuries, even millennia in the greatest life-quest. Often a mate might not even be born in the time their love is. I expected to wait decades and centuries, until you came.” Ethan sat stunned which made her smile and gave him another quick kiss. “When you called me your angel a month ago I didn’t realize it straight away, for I never heard of a Spirit Guide and a human union. It caught me off guard and I’m sorry for my outburst. Floa was the first to say she tasted my power flowin’ and the Enforcer, who cut Torment’s chain from you, felt inside of me, but Fate was who clearly determined you are mine. My Angel. My soul mate. My future husband.”
“I… I…”
“Let me finish, Ethan.” She whispered in his ear and he shivered in pleasure. “You have a bad habit of assumin’ things and always get in trouble, but I find it endearin’. Will you listen?”
“Yes.” He choked out, but pulled her closer.
“After I returned to Spirit World my parents and family were shocked to say the least at this unexpected revelation, but it was our family matriarch, my ancestral grandmother and eldest Cerulean, who was Fate’s sixth Spirit Guide creation, silenced my house. Megann is her name, but she told of a secret none in our clan knew… we all assumed her angel was like any other Spirit Guide, but lost him in some mysterious way. We learned otherwise for my ancestral father is a Thunderbird. Yes, I said is. He is like the Phoenix, but is shrouded in lightning and lives in the Congo, in Africa and they are responsible for lightnin’ in storms all over the world. Thunderbirds are immensely powerful, but aren’t aligned to either side. They are a primal force. He is still alive and my ancestor and he remain together and reunite every decade since he is king and has little time to spare, like Megann.
“So… Megann told me not to worry about the family. I won’t be shunned as I had greatly feared, but I couldn’t hide the fact because my power had begun flowin’ like all Spirit Guides who have found their other. My parents knew immediately. Megann knows what I’m goin’ through. In all of our history only four, me now included, have an angel not of Spirit Guide stock.
“This explains our connection to each other and why we do not look at the other sex anymore and feel any desire in that way. I felt the truth of this the moment I felt how you truly feel about me. When we kissed I knew immediately you are my angel. Even I can taste my own power now. It has a light tangy flavor. I know this is a lot to take in, Ethan, but…”
“No butts. We sit on them, not worry if they still remain when we look away.” This confused her to no end. “Kanade, I’ll be the first to admit that what you said isn’t an easy pill to swallow, but like I said before, you feel natural to be near and I never knew a kiss could be so wonderful. Almost like your smell.”
“Wait!” she sat up and her wings embracing them parted slightly. “What do I smell like to you?”
“Cinnamon, why?”
She squealed in delight and planted another kiss on his lips. “Ethan, only my angel can smell me. If I work up a sweat in my physical body I’ll stink, but only my angel can smell my natural scent… I like your scent too. I think though it’s because you’re human. I still like your smoky scent, like oak and hickory. It reminds me campin’ trips in Alabama with Floa and two of her daughters who were dear friends.” She proved how much she liked his scent by sniffing his n
eck and planting another soft kiss.
“So what’s next, Kanade? Where do we go from here.”
She smiled. “We still know each other so little, Ethan. I’ll be leavin’ soon because I need to enchant the pike or else Celestia will chew my head off… or should I say peck?” he held up two fingers and rubbed the back of his head, eliciting an infectious, dainty laugh from her. “It is custom to learn of your angel before committin’ the final bond of bodies which will make us married in my culture. Right now you have much to think on and to consider, but now you know how I truly feel. I cannot show you through my abilities, but I can assure you that what you feel for me… I too share.” She placed a hand over his firm chest. “But if I learn you are not learnin’ from your teachers because I’m a distraction, we will be at arm’s length. And if you’re good I can promise more time together.”
“That’s your incentive?” He asked dubiously.
She grinned before nuzzling his neck affectionately and whispering is a voice that could melt frozen butter in Antarctica “Do I need anythin’ else?”
“Guess not.” In one even motion Ethan slid his arms under her long, tone and silky smooth legs and another just below her firm wing muscles, just below where they sprout from the shoulder blades, and lifted. She gasped and he said “Don’t think I could’ve done this a month ago. I could barely lift a hundred fifty. Do you know your weight?”
“Yes.” And she struggled, but he sat her down on her bare feet. Kanade gave a cross look down at him. “And as a lady its rude to ask such a thing.” Inside though she was flabbergasted for her combined weight with her wings was nearly three hundred and thirty pounds.
He grinned. “My grandmother used to say the same, but my grandfather always said it’s better to get a answer than assume the woman you want to be with isn’t more than what you think. And we all know how bad my assumptions tend to get me in trouble.”
Forgemaster (Book 1 in the Spirit Guide Saga) Page 25