The Ravens of Death (Tsun-Tsun TzimTzum Book 4)

by Mike Truk

  By the fucking Source, she’d been right - she was so wet I slid in all the way without any difficulty.

  Little Meow pressed back, reaching up and behind my head to hold on as she ground her ass back against me.

  “Oh, Noah.” Her voice was raw with need. “It’s been so hard to be so good all this time. To not do this. To wait. But now I need you to fuck me. I need you to fuck me as hard as you can. Please.”

  My only response was a low growl, deep in my chest, as I tapped Manipura for greater strength, speed, and fortitude.

  But it was with restraint that I withdrew, then slid back in. Little Meow let out an appreciative moan and leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees as she let her long black hair fall before her face.

  “Oh yeah,” she murmured, “that feels so good.”

  Her body was sinuous and long, slender but toned with muscle; she moved with complete confidence, knowing what she wanted and how. I wrestled with the desire to fuck her harder, trying to draw it out, but she was insistent - pushing back against me, laughing under breath as I slid in over and over again.

  “Don’t hold back,” she said, shaking her head so her hair was cast free of her face. “Come on, Noah. Show me what you’ve got.”

  Then she rose and fell to the balls of her feet rapidly, shaking and sliding up and down my length and nearly driving me wild.

  I let Manipura pour forth, pulling her back up so I could wrap an arm around her chest. I placed the other hand on her hip, and lifted right off the ground.

  Little Meow let out a cry of surprise as gravity pulled her down hard onto my cock, and she plastered herself back against me. She wrapped an arm around the back of my neck as we flew higher and higher, ten feet, fifteen, twenty.

  Her ass cheeks were hot against my hips, her breath coming in startled pants which grew all the more ragged as I flew out over the cliff’s edge, over the crashing surf at their base, and out over the dark waters themselves.

  I turned over in midair so I flew on my back, Little Meow clawing at me with her fingers as she screamed, balancing out in a reverse cowgirl, facing the receding shore as we slowly flew ever higher and away.

  “Noah,” she said, voice tight with both hilarity and amusement.

  “I have a very particular set of skills,” I said, unable to keep from grinning at her back. “Don’t see why I shouldn’t use them for fun as well as work.”

  Carefully, keeping me inside her, she maneuvered herself around, drawing a leg over my chest, hand planted on my stomach, her expression one of supreme concentration. Then, with a soft cry of delight, she managed to turn around completely without losing me for a second.

  Once there she began to undulate, rocking back and forth, her pelvis rising and falling to grind down on me with slow and steady power. I simply kept us aloft, riding on air currents and waves of growing pleasure.

  My eyes remained locked on her face. It still felt shocking to see it exposed, transgressive, almost, her mask riding up high on her dark hair; to see her close her eyes and raise her face to the moon, lost in her own pleasure. Those harsh cheekbones, those angled eyes.

  It felt a dream, something I might have idly concocted back in high school, a vision of impossible, fantastic sex high above the glittering waves.

  So rhythmic and delicious were her movements, rising and falling, the sweet, slick friction. The cold of the night air was replaced by her own wet heat, only to grow cold again as she rose up, then back down. I didn’t do anything but enjoy, watching her; as my orgasm came ever closer, I held it back, trying to match my climax to her own.

  It was coming. Her thighs clenched tight around me, her breath coming faster, turning into small, almost pained cries, until at last she spasmed. I came deep within her, again and again as she contracted, tight as a fist.

  The wind was whistling about us, and when Little Meow screamed I nearly jackknifed up to grab hold of her, suddenly panicked by her fear.

  “Noah! We’re falling!”

  Oh shit, I’d forgotten about Manipura. I slipped some power into the black sun, leveled off our descent, and caught us but a dozen yards above the waves.

  Little Meow fell forward to embrace me tightly, staring with wide eyes at the water below, then sat up and thwapped me across the chest.

  “You did that on purpose!”

  “No!” I said, laughing and raising my hands to fend off any more attacks. “Just, ah, got distracted there, that’s all.”

  “Hmm.” She considered me, pretending to be irate, but then laughed and lay back down once more, head in the hollow of my shoulder, arms holding me tight.

  We drifted like that for a while, my cock still within her, her legs wrapped around my own.

  “I could stay here forever,” she murmured at last.

  “Mmm,” I said, pressing my nose to her hair.

  She reached up and drew off the mask altogether. “But this can’t last, can it?”

  “No,” I said reluctantly. “I’m going to run out of magic soon. Flying’s intense stuff.”

  “No, I don’t mean that.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I mean…” She sighed. “I don’t know what I mean. But sometimes… sometimes I catch myself thinking I’m really part of this. Part of you all. And then… then I remember myself, and know that I’m not.”

  “Hey,” I said, protesting softly, but not quite sure what to say.

  “It’s all right. Seriously.” She kept her head against my shoulder, gazing out over the moonlit waves. “It’s a fantasy I have, that I’m part of your group, but I’ve made - am making - my peace with it. That a time will come when you all will move on without me. Maybe here in Gharab, maybe in Malkuth.”

  “We’ll never ask you to leave.”

  “I know. But I’m not one of you, not really. I wasn’t there for your trials back in Bastion. I’m not bonded to you and the others through the Source. Which… sucks. But I’m a big girl. I can accept the truth. A day will come when you all will have to face Lilith alone, and I won’t be there to help.”

  “I don’t want that day to ever come,” I said, holding her tight.

  “Me neither. But I just want to have made a difference by the time that moment comes.”

  “What are you talking about? You already have. You’ve literally saved my life, like, ten times?”

  “I mean… I want to help you all reach Lilith. Take you as far as I can before I have to step away. Back in Tagimron, I was… content, I guess? Helping those around me, growing vegetables, raising my chickens… I mean, it sounds silly, but it was meaningful work. But nothing compared to this. To helping you guys. I feel, sometimes, like everything that ever happened to me - the good and the bad - was all to prepare me for this moment. To make me strong enough to help you all through these days. And…”

  I heard her breath hitch in her chest, and felt her press her head against my shoulder.

  “And that brings me peace. The things that happened to me. I never knew how to explain them to myself.”

  “Your past?”

  “Yeah. The bad things that made me take shelter behind my mask. That hurt me so badly I still don’t dare tell people my real name. I didn’t know how to understand a universe where those things could happen to the people I loved, to… me. But now. Being with you. Thinking of all that as preparing me for this moment. It brings me peace. And I haven’t known true peace in so long.”

  I had no words. I held her tight, and floated along, feeling her weight against me, the rise and fall of her breath.

  After a while she gave a sharp sniff and sat up. “Anyways. That’s just a really long way of saying thank you, Noah.” She curled her dark hair behind her ear. “Thank you for letting me be part of this. No matter what you think, I will always know I got more out of it than I could ever have possibly put in.”

  “I’m not going to accept your thanks,” I said, interlacing my fingers behind my head. “Because I’ll know we could never have it this far already
without you.”

  She smiled wryly. “Then let’s agree to never thank each other.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Deal.”

  “Good.” And she twisted to look back at the distant shore. “I hope…”

  “Hmm?”

  “Oh, nothing.” She smiled self-consciously. “Ready to head back?”

  “I suppose so.” I sat up once more, clasped her to my chest, and slipped free of her, tucking myself into my pants with one hand. “And if you ever feel like going flying again…”

  Her smile disappeared as she pulled her mask back on. “I’ll let you know.”

  “Good.” Holding her tight, feeling conflicted and glad and depleted all at once, I flew back toward the dark shore.

  * * *

  We were subdued that last day, and I kept a wary eye on the horizon. Carefully I watched each approaching ship, whether it was an oared trireme or a merchant vessel like our own, or even a minor felucca, relaxing only when its course diverged from our own.

  It was a long day, a final push to make Argos before it grew too dark to steer. The long hours were mostly silent, broken only by the sound of the waves, the occasional cry of gulls circling overhead, or the terse commands that Senca gave from the stern of the ship.

  Under Little Meow’s care, Emma made a complete recovery. By the end of that last day we were all - excepting Imogen - losing the red of our initial sunburns to a deeper tan. My hair felt ragged and unkempt, having grown down to my shoulders, and I decided to bind it back in the same style that Karios wore his own - tying it off with a leather thong. My beard had grown in by this time as well, thick enough that Emma took to running her fingers through it when she teased me. The few times I caught sight of my reflection peering up at me from the water’s depths, I barely recognized myself.

  How I’d changed. My body was now lean, strong, and corded with muscle. My shoulders had grown sufficiently broad that my tunic was stretched nearly to tearing, and my waist was narrow, my core shredded, all of me darkened by the sun except for the numerous pale scars that crisscrossed my form.

  But it was my face that gave me pause. My younger self back in Ruddock would have crossed the street to get away from me. I looked half-wild with my shaggy mane, but there was an air of focus, of determination, of resolve and fierce will that I’d never had before. It checked out when I thought about who I’d become. I’d not take shit from anyone these days, and my face exhibited that attitude plainly.

  Evening began to fall. Karios distributed a light dinner of salted fish, hard-baked meal cakes, and wine. The sun lowered in the west, causing the sea to glitter as fans of ever darker and more alluring hues spread out across the waters. At last, the sky turned gray and the sea to slate, and dusk was upon us.

  “Nearly there,” said Senca, voice pitched low to not carry. “Any moment now, Argos should slide into view.”

  We moved to the bow, and there stood against the rope railing, peering into the gloom.

  “There,” breathed Brielle, pointing just off to our left. “See it? A mass of darkness.”

  Even as I searched for it, the first lights flickered into view - tiny pricks of fire along what had to be the shore.

  “We’ve come in on the far side,” said Khandros, moving up to join us. “The great harbor will be choked with ships and activity. Because of the strong current here, however, there’s little movement.”

  “Those lights?” asked Emma.

  “Small farms,” said Khandros. “Argos has been settled for more generations than any can remember, and no corner of it is not claimed and cultivated by some enterprising soul. Grapes, wine, dates, olives, wool, and mutton are exported in great quantities, along, of course, with the goods created by the many artisans in Argossy proper. The mines in Mount Thraxos - the tallest peak in the center of the island - give forth an endless wealth of gold and tin. They are the reason for Argossy’s wealth and power.”

  We watched in silence as the island’s dark bulk slid ever closer. Senca’s commands saw the sail carefully managed so we cut close to the coast, skimming over shoals. At last, he gave the order to tighten some ropes, which saw the boom come sweeping over the deck; the whole ship heeled to the right as it filled with the night breeze.

  Slowly we turned and speared right at the island, and for long, agonizing seconds I thought Senca meant to shatter his ship against the pale cliffs that reared above us. However, at the last, he gave a curt order; Khandros and another furled the sail, while Karios, Senca, and the two other sailors extended oars into the waters, pulling mightily to bring the ship curving around a vertical fold in the cliff. Beyond it lay a pale beach, gleaming like an arc of bone under the light of the rising moon.

  The ship barely cleared the cliffs that rose on either side. A moment later Senca leaped up to hurl the anchor overboard, the thick rope unspooling rapidly in the surprisingly deep channel before going taut.

  The whole ship groaned as its momentum was checked, timbers creaking and adjusting, then we grew still but for the surging waves that rushed past us and onto the beach.

  “There,” said Senca with obvious pride. “A neater landing you couldn’t have asked for.”

  “We’ll have to swim to the shore,” said Khandros, gathering the last of the sail into a thick bundle. “Senca can’t risk going any closer for fear of being trapped by the tide.”

  I peered over the railing. The waters were dark, the waves fierce, but the distance a mere thirty or so yards to the bone-white beach. “Not a problem. I can fly us over there one by one.”

  “Even better!” said Khandros with amusement. “Where common men must swim like eels, the Savior soars like an eagle. All is well with the world.”

  “Father, I want to come,” said Karios, voice quavering with intensity.

  “We’ve spoken of this,” said Khandros kindly. “You stay with Senca. With any luck, I’ll see you in a couple of days at the Port of Kaleos.”

  “And if something happens to you?” Karios’s tone was defiant. “Who will guide them across the island? Who will see them safely into Argossy?”

  “Would that be you?” asked his father.

  “You’ve never even been to Argos,” said Senca from the rear of the ship. “Who would guide you, boy?”

  Karios licked his lower lip, glancing from one of us to the next. “I am of the archipelago; I can navigate the island better than they can.”

  “No, boy,” said Khandros. “Your mother near left me when I insisted you come. She’d have my head if she ever learned I let you come to shore. Stay with Senca. I will see you soon.”

  “But Father -”

  “Enough!” All humor was gone from Khandros’s voice, and in that word, I heard the severe command of the soldier he had once been. “Now.” He turned to me. “When you are ready, Savior.”

  I tapped into Manipura, boosted my strength a fraction, and, after bidding farewell to those who would stay behind, flew my companions and Khandros over the choppy waters of that goblet bay to alight on the fine sand. It took me less than ten minutes, and I felt barely drained when done; I’d come a long way since discovering flight back in Ghogiel, I reflected, when even a few minutes would leave me exhausted.

  There were no words. Shouldering our packs, we followed Khandros up the narrow path that zigzagged along the cliff face. We soon lost sight of the sea as we turned inland, following a ravine until it smoothed out and we emerged into a rocky hillside. The moon was rising ever higher, but there were enough trees and scrub brush growing amidst the worn boulders that we mostly moved in deep shadow.

  Imogen paused every few minutes to check for danger, kneeling and placing her hand on the ground, but each time she rose she gestured for us to proceed. Khandros led the way, sighting for landmarks whenever he hesitated, gauging our direction by the stars and the dark peaks in the island’s center.

  We skirted small farms, walked along the edges of fields, and occasionally crossed more inhospitable stretches of land that
defied cultivation. The air was dry and chill, but movement kept us warm. Nobody spoke. Everybody was on alert, and though we trusted in Imogen’s power, still we watched the shadows; I wasn’t the only one to occasionally glance behind.

  We marched for four or five hours. The moon arced across the left side of the heavens, her passage surprisingly fast; other than surprising a herd of wild pigs who had rooted down in a dusty glade for the night, we saw and were seen by nobody.

  My mind wandered as we marched. I thought of Neveah, and how I’d yet to communicate with her since she’d departed back in Ur-Gharab. I thought of Morgana and her conceit, thought of our battle with the wardens back in Elleria, reviewing the fight and trying to determine what we could have done differently.

  But mostly, I worried at the sense of being manipulated, guided like sheep through a run, herded by invisible forces that held us in contempt. I thought on the journey that lay before us, the five lords and ladies of Lilith we had to defeat, the lands we had to cross, and how, inevitably, we’d be worn down by ever greater challenges till we were forced to accept Morgana’s help. My soul rebelled at the thought even as my mind failed to furnish other options.

  The deer trail Khandros was following began to rise, winding its way up a sprawling field of dusty olive trees. At last, we crested a ridge, from whose top we were able to gaze over the great city of Argossy.

  It was deep into the night, but even at this hour, the city was alive. Torches and braziers burned here and there across its expanse, illuminating the facades of important buildings, or marking where people traversed the city.

  Like Elleria, the city sprawled out on a broad mountain slope that descended to the genuinely impressive docks, extensive enough to accommodate what looked like sixty triremes alongside countless smaller craft. All of it was made of stone, faced with long, official-looking buildings fronted by an endless forest of columns. Streets curled and speared their way through the city without much logic; I saw countless trees growing amongst the buildings, which in turn seemed to have sprouted up everywhere without plan.