by Mike Truk
She is impossibly powerful, said Damaris, voice growing strained. Far more powerful than I ever expected. I can hold the ward for a little longer, but I’m weak against her. She is the sole person in the universe against whom I can’t defend myself.
Neveah! Take control - I cut myself off. Control meant repression, which was the problem here. No, she had to release the demon, but in releasing it, master it. Where had her mastery gone wrong?
Think! I wanted to box my own ears in sheer frustration. The Neveah-demon’s screeches were drowning me in their ferocity, her wings buffeting at us as her tail blade struck again and again and again.
Morghothilim was now a third of the way through the ward, radiating terrible menace above us as it continued to inch down.
Hurry! shouted Damaris, and now I heard strain as she raised both hands to project her power forth. Of course - wards were the projection of one’s sense of worth, of self-love, and for Damaris, Neveah represented her greatest mistake.
No time, no time - I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and focused on the Vam Mantra as I tried to puzzle out where we’d gone wrong.
She’d lost control when I’d projected my love for her. I thought again of the Neveah I loved, her tall, slender frame, her wry smile, her -
The old Neveah.
I’d projected love for what we’d been telling her was a lie. I’d given value to that which she no longer was, what she was trying to evolve from.
My love had been a slap in her face, the worst form of a sucker-punch.
I opened my eyes. What I had to do next needed to be done openly. I moved forward, to the edge of the ward itself.
Get back! cried Damaris. I can’t hold her back much longer!
Neveah, I thought again, but this time I stared into the demon’s pitch-black eyes. I took in Neveah’s face, human and beautiful even with the black veins spidering their way from her jawline and temple across her skin, and the mass of ropey dreadlocks hanging about her head like a lion’s mane. I stared at the creature before me and opened my heart to it. Opening my arms, I stepped forth, out of the ward.
I love you, I said.
Before in the manifold I’d projected those words to the Neveah lost within the demon, had reached down to the woman who’d lost control and whom I needed to emerge to save us both.
This time, I said it to the demon before me. I projected that love, that fierce, terrible, terrifying love out at it, and in my heart and mind’s eye, I accepted Neveah for what she was, what she’d become, what her trials and losses and corruption and betrayals had made her.
I love you, Neveah. All of you.
It was as if a great bell had been struck, a universe-spanning tuning fork had been rung - the chime quelled the demon’s screams, stilling its attacks.
The demon drew Morghothilim from the ward and fell back, tail lashing behind it, wings beating to steady it within the sanctum.
It stared at me with eyes like black holes, staring with a mixture of incredulity and rage, disbelief and emotions so alien I couldn’t hope to understand them.
I love you, Neveah. I won’t hide from you. I love your past and your future. I love your great strength and all your weaknesses. I love you in your human guise and in this one.
She hunched over and screamed at me again, the sound like a blow, the violence of it causing me to narrow my eyes as my hair streamed back.
But I refused to retreat.
She drew herself up, angled Morghothilim at my breast, and dove at me.
Noah! screamed Damaris, but I didn’t move, didn’t flinch. I simply stared at her as the blade coming lancing down, down as it had done before in her trial - but this time, it stopped just short of piercing my breast.
Neveah in her demon form loomed above me, but now she grew quiet, her tail stilling, the beats of her wings growing slow. Her expression was one of confusion, of uncertainty.
I floated up, past her blade, up close to where she flew, and reached out to touch her mottled cheek with my palm. My fingertips caressed the chitinous ridges of the scales that framed her face.
She flinched, drawing back.
I followed.
Neveah, I whispered. Can you hear me?
In those dread black eyes, I saw a glimmer of humanity.
I love you, I said again, and heart thundering like a herd of mustangs crossing the plain, I leaned in to kiss her coral-pink lips.
That great chime sounded once more, and golden light flooded out from where we floated, scouring away the corruption that had begun to stream from her demonic form. Ashing it, disintegrating it everywhere.
In the distance, I thought I heard something screech - a high-pitched, almost inaudible register of sheer hatred and fury. But my thoughts, my whole being was focused on Neveah, on her soft lips, on kissing her with my heart and soul.
I love you, I whispered when I finally drew back, gazing into her demonic black eyes once more.
And I love you, she whispered back, and it was Neveah’s voice that I heard, even though it issued from those coral-pink lips, from her demonic visage. I love you more than I can ever say.
I pressed my lips to her own again, and only then did I understand what had finally happened. Only then did my heart surge, and I squeezed her tight, pulling her into a warm embrace. I kissed her fully, arms wrapping around her leathery shoulders and the base of her wings, feeling but not caring as her clawed hands embraced me in turn.
We’d done it.
She laughed when I broke the kiss, and together we turned to her mother, who floated up to join us.
I’m so proud of you, said Damaris, reaching out to touch her shoulder. To truly accept yourself is more than most can dream of doing.
Thank you, Mother, said Neveah.
And you are a worthy partner for her, continued Damaris, turning to me with a complex smile. I find that after all these years I understand the world and universe less and less. But your love for my daughter is true, and I believe in my core that it will be crucial in defeating Lilith. My blessings upon you, Noah. My blessings upon you both.
Thank you, I said, feeling awed, expansive, exultant.
I must find Mother now, said Damaris, floating back. Much needs to be discussed. I may not be in the cottage when you emerge, but know that as far as I am concerned you are welcome there for as long as you wish to stay. And if I don’t see you soon, I know that I will see you both before the end. Goodbye, my love. Goodbye, Noah.
With that, she disappeared.
I turned back to Neveah, who yet remained in her demonic form, her great wings beating, her body at once alluring and alien.
But one thing had changed - her eyes. They were Neveah’s once more, her large, aching blue eyes ringed with green.
I love you, I whispered again.
Even if I look like this?
I took my time looking her up and down, making a show of it. From her taloned feet to her long, muscled legs, to her broad hips, defined core, protruding ribs, and high breasts - her whole body. I couldn’t tell what was her flesh and what was armor, or whether there even was a difference.
But finally, I met her eyes once more and nodded slowly, decisively. Yes.
Tears welled in her eyes again, and she shook her head. I don’t know what to say.
How do you feel? Inside?
I feel… hollow. No. Light. She frowned as she considered the question. Great tension is gone. Something I’d not noticed before, a weight that I’d grown used to. I feel… clear.
And Morghothilim?
She considered the demon blade. Its length shimmered with iridescence, and I thought I caught a hint of fear, of uncertainty from it.
It no longer masters me. I could snap it over my knee if I wished. Discard it. Destroy it.
But?
She sliced the blade languidly through the air. But I find that I am grown used to it. Fond, even. Since it no longer has a hold on me, perhaps I should now use it as I see fit.
She opened her talon
ed hand, and her dread demon blade disappeared.
Gone? I asked.
Till I summon it back.
We held each other’s gaze once more, slowly revolving within her sanctum.
Noah, she said at last. I never thought… that any of this… was possible.
I went to speak but she raised her hand, cutting me off.
Only now do I understand myself. The creature I became after losing Ilandro. The creature I let Lilith turn me into. I’ve been half a woman. A mutilated soul. I understand now, at long last. The only power that Lilith has over any of us is that which we give her. Her spells, her Hexenmagic, and that of her servants - none of it can affect us unless we allow it.
I nodded soberly.
What happened to me on that altar. With Morghothilim. On some level, I felt I deserved it, and thus she was able to enslave me. And ever since I have spent every moment fighting to repress the guilt and shame I knew I deserved, an impossible battle which consumed almost every ounce of my strength.
But now that fight is over?
Now? She smiled, revealing fangs. Now my strength is my own once more.
Her sanctum changed.
It elongated, ceasing to be a nacreous sphere, and rose into a great column, its sides fluted and worked like those of a gothic cathedral. Below us, Muladhara appeared, similar to my own but different, the petals greener, slenderer. Beside us the black sun of Manipura appeared, its static rays of bronze slowly spinning about its dark heart. Above our heads, Anahata manifested, glorious in its emerald hues. Higher still, a purple sanskara appeared, a circular orb flanked by two wings. At the very last, high above and placed on an altar of glory, a thousand-petaled sanskara opened, its center a smooth heart of peerless crystal, utterly transparent. In its depths, I thought I would lose myself if I stared too deeply.
Is that…?
Sahaswara, breathed Neveah. The last sanskara I mastered before coming to Bastion.
Sahaswara? A jolt ran through me. You mastered it?
At the age of sixteen, in the jail where my own government kept me imprisoned for so long.
Wait. All your powers are returned?
Neveah inhaled deeply, then smiled. Yes.
My heart leaped. Holy fucking hell. Lilith isn’t going to know what hit her.
No, said Neveah, placing her clawed hand on my chest. She isn’t. Not now that you’ve liberated me.
And at that moment, something intangible changed between us, suffusing the air in her sanctum - a new tension that hadn’t been there a moment before.
Your love brought me here, said Neveah, trailing her clawed hand down my chest. Your acceptance of me helped me return to myself. Do you truly love me, Noah? Even my darkest sides?
I watched, mesmerized, as she floated down before me, hand cupping my crotch, her beautiful face upturned to mine yet her whole self still so alien, so terrifyingly powerful and different. Her wings folded themselves back upon her back, and she ran a single talon down the length of my cock where it strained beneath the fabric of my drawstring pants. It was the lightest of pressures, near snapping my self-control.
Had I even been wearing clothing a second or so ago…? part of me wondered, but then the thought was gone.
The sight of Neveah before me, her lips glistening as she studied me, her taloned hand caressing my cock, was almost more than I could bear. Yes, I realized, I did love her, trusted her, even in this guise, even in this deadly form, a vision that I’d come to associate with death and terror.
I meant it when I said I love you, I said, and that was enough for her.
Her talon cut through the fabric of my pants, which faded away, and she lowered those glistening coral-pink lips to my cock, taking all of me in one slow descent. I groaned, hands moving to the fleshy ropes of hair that hung from her head. I clasped them as she began to throat-fuck me, moving with abandon and growling deep in her throat as she took my whole length, over and over again in a way that nobody had ever been able to.
We floated in her sanctum, spinning slowly as she worked my shaft, until I could restrain myself no longer. I reached down, cupped her chin, and drew her to me so I could kiss her lips before turning her around and bending her over.
It was surreal for her wings to spread as I cupped her perfect ass, whose cheeks now parted to reveal her puckered ass and sex. For a moment, the question of her leather armor and whether it was her or not gave me pause, for her appearance hadn’t changed, but now -
Fuck it.
Holding onto her narrow waist, I pushed the head of my cock between her smooth lips, which were shaded dark purple, impossibly demonic in hue; with a sigh of satisfaction, I pushed in deep.
Neveah arched her back, and I saw that each vertebra was prominent, saw the contours of her pronounced ribs, the downward sweep of her back muscles, her wings spreading out wide as I began to pound her.
Wanting more traction, I grabbed hold of the base of her wings and leaned back, sliding in over and over again as she began to cry out, each impact of my hips sending shivers up her ass.
I watched, fascinated, as she fucked me in return, bucking her hips away and back into mine. Each time I withdrew, I saw her pussy lips cling to my cock.
My mind was spinning, the sight of Neveah in her demon form doing a number to my sense of reality. Her body was supple and impossibly strong, muscles rippling as she fucked me back, her pussy hot and slick and squeezing me tightly like a fist.
Her cries were growing louder, and all around us, a yellow light was beginning to burn bright. Within me, around me, I felt Svadhisthana roaring to life.
Match me, she said, and turned mid-air so her legs were wrapped around my waist, wings spread out beneath her like leathery blankets on a bed. Her eyes were wide and burning with fire.
Then I realized what she meant - her legs tightened around me with incredible strength, and I felt the bones of my pelvis begin to grind, shuddering under her strength.
I immediately channeled Manipura, drinking deep of the black sun’s power, and my body surged with a strength all my own. I laughed, clasped her by one broad hip, and reached down to palm one of her breasts.
Her laughter joined my own. With a beat of her wings, she threw us both across her sanctum to crash into the wall - or would have if I’d not erected my ward at the last moment, cushioning what would have otherwise been a bone-shattering impact.
Neveah’s eyes were alive with fire and desire, a provocative light that was half-defiance, half-challenge. Her tongue slipped out, longer than any human tongue, to lick her coral-pink lips as she pressed me back against the wall with her hips, grinding against me with enough force to shatter rock.
Well, this wasn’t my first day at school, either.
Drinking deep of Manipura, opening myself completely to its roaring power, I felt my spirit body grow taut with power. With a surge I flew forward, pushing her back, driving her through the air.
She hissed, reaching for my neck, but I caught her clawed hand inches from my throat. It was like trying to wrestle down a force of nature, and her fingers flexed, talons just shy of my neck.
Still, I drove her back, faster and faster, until we impacted against the far wall. Cracks radiated out from behind her as she disdained to summon her ward; with my other hand, I pinned her by the neck to the wall, leaning in with all my might to keep her fixed as I fucked her. Each pistoning of my hips channeled Manipura’s might.
Her laughter spiraled up, half-crazed; with a supple flexion of her whole body, she shoved us both away from the wall into the center of her sanctum. We spun, revolving ever faster as I lost myself in the glory of making love to her, the whole world contracting to where our bodies touched.
Harder and faster we fucked, her wings closing around us, cocooning us in darkness; her cries, her pants filled my world, until neither of us could hold back any longer. I came thunderously deep within her as she screamed. Her back arched, breasts pointing toward the ceiling as her body writhed, wracked by an org
asm of her own.
Light blazed forth from around us, blinding me. For a long, aching forever I was battered upon huge waves of pleasure, lost at sea, until at last, my vision returned to me.
Neveah was her human self once more, naked, with her legs yet locked around my waist. Her black, lustrous hair spread out about her as if we were truly underwater, her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath, body gleaming with light as if she were illuminated from within.
There were no words.
We locked eyes, my cock still buried deep within her. I felt such a surge of victory, of hope, of love, that at that moment I felt invincible, ready for anything.
Lilith was well and truly fucked.
Chapter 15
We used Alusz’s token to open a portal back to Ur-Gharab upon returning to the real world. Together we’d stood in the grassy sward before the wooden cottage, and for long, silent moments, I’d waited to see if Neveah would want to say goodbye.
“Best we leave now,” she said at last, turning away. “There’s nothing left to be said.”
“Good.” I rested my hand on Shard’s pommel. “And I want to get back to Valeria as quickly as possible. Ready?”
A decisive nod from Neveah, and I activated the token. A swirling portal of black magic appeared before us, and without hesitation, we stepped through.
A moment of disorientation passed, and we emerged - not into Alusz’s bedroom, but directly into Emelias’s guest suite.
I don’t know why that threw me off; of course Alusz could direct her portals to open where she willed, and it was arrogant to think she’d be available to receive us at any hour of the day or night.
But a chill went down my spine nonetheless, and my sense of foreboding was only exacerbated when I saw my companions leap to their feet at the sight of me, faces registering fear, anger, and relief.
“What is it?” I asked, heartrate immediately beginning to pound.