by Isabel Wroth
Dimly, she heard Izax and Arkhan's cries mingle with Azurryn's, and as she crumpled in a boneless heap across Azurryn's chest, she couldn't help but smile and think to herself—
My, that escalated quickly.
ELEVEN
~DEJA
Deja had assumed a sort of routine these past few months. Each morning she woke surrounded by her shadows who had grown bold and confident having realized very quickly that the more pleasure they gave her, the more they received. Once she was able to stand, one of them carried her into the bath.
Most days, they only made it to the steps before some sort of sexual contact occurred and their bath was delayed.
Once clean, the three warriors shifted into the enormous horse-like creatures she loved, to take her for a morning ride around the city.
For breakfast, she ate fat yellow berries that grew on thorny vines alongside the river. Izax reasoned since they did not consume food, the three warriors could break their fast by eating her. Which led to some rather wild and lewd interludes.
Once recovered, two of them would go round up a group of builders while Deja took the other to retrieve the baskets of heartstones, her third getting a moment of alone time with her.
She learned a lot about each of her shadow warriors during those moments.
Azurryn was always so serious, his smiles few and far between. Even with his voice returned, Azzuryn was somber and a male of few words, but when he did speak, everyone listened. His commands were firmly given and quickly obeyed.
He was extremely protective of her, insisting she only restore ten valos per week so he had time to help them begin to acclimate and he could decide whether or not those valos would be a threat to her.
Azurryn had also been adamant in stating she now ruled Penumbra. If that was so, if she was Penumbra's queen, Azurryn was certainly its king.
It was only when they were alone that he softened, turning from a stoic commander to a tender yet oh so dominant lover. He whispered sensual orders into her ear while he continued to discover all the things that made her flesh hum and sing for him.
Arkhan was the most starved for touch, the most thoughtful. Always seeking some way to connect with her or make her smile.
He had made her a comb from some kind of bone after seeing her struggling to pick the tangles out of her hair with her fingers, and spent what felt like hours each night brushing her hair for her.
He made baskets for her and walked with her in the gardens to collect berries, holding her hand while they strolled by the riverside just to watch the fish swim by.
He was kind, caring for her in ways no one had ever done or thought to do. It was almost startling how quickly he could go from smiling and sweet, to a physically imposing warrior prepared to rip heads off if she felt at all frightened.
Izax was a fascinating mix of innocent softness and deep wariness. He touched her with the utmost tenderness, always curling himself around her in bed as though wordlessly promising to protect her even in sleep.
Yet, sometimes he looked at her like she was his worst nightmare personified. Like he was terrified of her.
Only a few nights ago, Deja stood on the balcony of her bedroom, watching Izax standing before the black statue of Astaria far below in the forecourt.
His face had been twisted with rage and sadness, so deep, so powerful, Deja had cried. Summoned by her turbulent emotions, Arkhan and Azurryn appeared silently beside her.
"He fears your power over us," Arkhan told her gravely, curling his arm around her waist.
Deja scoffed, dashing her tears away. "I'm human, Arkhan. I have no power over anyone."
Azurryn took her hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "You have more power than you can possibly conceive of."
Izax's sudden roar of pain jerked Deja's attention back to the courtyard.
He raised his fists, slamming them into the stone over and over until Deja was sure he would shatter his hands. She cried out for him to stop, struggling against the arms that held her back, struggling even when Arkhan shushed her soothingly.
"Let him have this, Deja. Let him purge his rage."
"He's hurting himself!" she sobbed.
"He will heal," Azurryn promised. Both of them held her up between them as they watched Izax destroy Astaria's effigy.
The statue came down around him in a pile of shattered rock. Glowing blue water flooded over the top of the broken fountain to pour down the hill and into the river where it belonged.
She blinked, and he was gone. A loud thud from inside her room had her ducking free of Arkhan and Azurryn, her lips trembling to find Izax kneeling on the floor, his hair covering his face as he hung his head.
There were great tears in his hands to expose gleaming black bones, wisps of smoke wafting off his busted fists, where blood ought to have been.
His shoulders heaved with his ragged breaths, his powerful body shuddering when she knelt in front of him and softly called his name.
"She destroyed us," he rasped. "She took everything we were and left us. Willfully abandoning us, the builders to the city, Azurryn, Arkhan and I to stand for eternity at her pleasure, like we were nothing. Worthless—"
Deja crawled to him, rubbing her cheek against his even as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You're not nothing to me. I would be dead now if not for you."
"Don't say that!"
Deja laughed softly, sniffling back the last of her tears. "It's true. Where would I be now if I hadn't run through the darkness and climbed up what I thought was a statue? Where would I be if you hadn't been standing there in that spot?"
Izax's arms crept around her slowly, pulling her to sit astride his lap so he could cuddle her close, silently nuzzling at her throat.
"If we had not been abandoned and left to stand in the light, we would never have been there to keep you from being devoured by the Ak'rena."
The depth of feeling in Izax's admission caused a flurry of butterflies to take wing in her belly.
"That's right. You saved me and gave me a home when I had nowhere else to go. You're not nothing to me. Do you think I would have risked my life to get your heartstones back if I thought you were worthless?"
Izax huffed a short laugh, raising his face from her neck to gaze down at her, his eyes turbulent with emotions while he searched her expression.
"No. I suppose not."
"No." she agreed.
THE FIRST WEEK OF HER mission to return the heartstones to every valo in Penumbra had been stressful. Frankly terrifying.
Six of the first ten had gone mad, their pain, the burden of their consciousness being returned to them had been too much.
First they had thrashed and groaned, looking at themselves in horror, their piercing screams of pain turning to rage so quickly Deja hadn't understood what was happening.
Izax had thrown himself over her when the wave of crazed valos had turned on her, his flesh expanding, hardening, as his exoskeleton morphed into armor.
He hadn't hesitated, scooping her up to press her safely between his armored hand and his chest, preparing to fight one handed to protect her while Arkhan and Azurryn had tried first to calm their brethren.
Nothing had soothed the enraged valos.
Their last resort had been to drive their fists into the chests of the attacking valos, tearing their heartstones from inside their bodies to crush them to dust.
The six valos had dropped to the ground one by one, their exoskeletons shattering to pieces.
Izax had reluctantly put her down, hovering over her as she had knelt among the remains, dismayed, shocked by the violence of the previously lifeless creatures.
Though they were truly lifeless now, not a hint of shadow anywhere to be seen. Tears blurred her vision as she imagined this having happened to Izax, or Arkhan.
She imagined it was one of their helmets on the ground in front of her, empty, sightless. Her hands shook when she reached out to touch the dull stone, jerking back when the
barest brush of her fingertips caused it to disintegrate to a pile of dust.
"Oh...what have I done?"
Izax had taken his human form again and picked her up off the ground to cuddle her against his chest, murmuring to her as he kept her cheek pressed to his skin.
"You gave them freedom, but after so long having felt nothing at all, they could not bear the weight of it. This was not your doing."
"Do not cry, please. Their shadows have returned to Sonhadra and are at peace." Arkhan stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and Izax both, pressing her between their warm, living bodies.
Those six poor souls had not been the first to become crazed, overwhelmed with their memories and emotions, driven to madness, attacking anyone within reach.
In the three months it had taken to return each heartstone to its owner, Deja had kept count of all those lost.
Two hundred valos had given her powerful protectors no choice but to destroy them. Each time Deja had pushed on and set another heartstone in its matching well, anxiety overwhelmed her, looking into the face of the valo, wondering if their last moments would be spent in agonizing pain, and if so, did that make her a monster for continuing to return their heartstones?
They could not consent, did not when she asked; they simply stated they were her property and her will was their will.
Knowing she struggled, accepting they would be the ones to execute those valos who were unable to process the surge of emotion, Arkhan, Izax, and Azurryn had gathered around her and swore they knew their people would want the chance to be free, even if it meant their death.
Seven hundred and thirty-two valos now lived in Penumbra. The building had stopped and finally, after a thousand or more years, all of the city's inhabitants were free.
Well over half of them had taken human forms, males and females alike. Deja, who had once been a minority among her own people, was now surrounded by other albino looking people.
Only a handful of the males had chosen to have dark hair and pale complexions like Azurryn, many of them choosing to be completely albino like Deja.
Those valos who had decided they were female were a glorious study in diversity. Most all of them had white or silver hair and matching pale skin, while the others had chosen startling contrasts in skin tone.
They had white hair with gleaming obsidian colored skin, the flesh around their heartstones studded with what looked like stars. A galaxy painted across their chests, with their heartstones gleaming beneath their skin at the center of the swirling nebula.
It was fascinating to see them evolve and choose their appearances. Only slightly off putting when the females would sneak up behind her to catch the trailing hem of whatever outfit Deja had chosen that day.
More than a few times Deja had come up short, thinking her clothes had caught on something, only to turn around and find one or more females bent over the fabric of her skirt, curiously examining it in hushed whispers, giggling and grinning at her like children having been caught playing in mother’s make-up.
Deja decided the issue of clothing needed to be addressed after the fourth time this happened.
Selfishly, Deja was grateful none of the shadow valos ate actual food, because taking care to ensure all the people of Penumbra had adequate food seemed like a daunting task. And since building had stopped, Deja worried about what the valos would do.
Her trio of warriors had looked at her with amusement one night after she had voiced her concern, lying nude among the pillows on what had become their bed.
"Do?" Izax had asked, distracting her with the way he stretched, his thicker muscles playing beneath his skin.
"Yes, do. How will they occupy their time?" she shot back, perversely trying to resist the allure of the feast of flesh lying right there within reach.
Azurryn, as always, took her concerns seriously. "Does the presence of so many valos unsettle you that you require them to do something? A task for them to perform?"
"What? No. I just...well, you keep telling me this is my city. That I rule here now. And if that's so, I'm responsible for the inhabitants of my city.
“I don't have to worry about protecting them, as Penumbra is impenetrable to outside sources. I don't have to worry about feeding or housing them, though the utter lack of clothing is concerning. So all that's left for a queen to concern herself with is the happiness and well-being of her people. Right?"
All three of her lovers had gone silent, their smiles slipping from their faces. Deja felt absolutely ridiculous, flushing hotly under their expressionless scrutiny.
She turned away, wanting to collect herself before she said anything else they probably thought was foolish.
Her gaze was drawn to the table where hundreds of heartstones sat in one of the baskets Arkhan had made her. There had been thousands of valos once, before the battle between Astaria and the other horned creator.
She sifted the cool stones through her palms, the remnants of an alien race enslaved. Deja couldn't help wondering if maybe since their heartstones were intact, their shadows were out there somewhere, waiting to be made whole again.
Maybe they were just missing, lost somewhere, hiding in the shadows of another city or frozen in the light and hibernating.
Warm hands slid over her hips, a gentle mouth touched a kiss to her throat.
"I want to do something special with these."
"Special?" Azurryn's voice tantalized her senses, coaxing her out of her morose thoughts of shadows encased in stone, stranded somewhere, waiting to be revived and set free.
"Yes. I don't want them hidden away up here. I want to put them somewhere where they can be seen by everyone. Where they won't be forgotten."
"Ah," he murmured, and even if she hadn't been able to feel the curve of his lips on her throat, Deja could hear the smile in his voice. A deeply satisfied sound of contentment. "Special. I understand. Will you trust me to see to it?"
Deja let the last of the once precious heartstones sift through her fingers, leaning back against Azurryn, twisting her head to fall over his bicep, hoping her face said everything she was thinking. But then again, he could feel it.
"Of course I will."
He met her halfway when she reached up for his kiss, cradling her cheek in his big hand while they claimed that little moment in time as their own.
"You need not worry for our happiness, Deja. They will see how you care for us, how we care for you, and learn by the example we four set. The builders are now free to enjoy the fruit of their labors and explore the city more and more each day. They do not want for anything, and in truth, I don't believe they care about clothing as much as you."
"It's indecent to walk around nude in public! An advanced alien society able to manipulate fabric to last for a thousand years, clearly had intentions of wearing clothing." she insisted.
Azurryn smiled just for her. "Until you came along, little human, the only advanced aliens on Sonhadra were the Creators. I cannot speak for all of them, but Astaria had no care for clothing her valos. We had exoskeletons. Why would we need clothes?"
"Alright. Fair point. But where I'm from, the only time you don't wear clothes is when you're bathing or mating."
"I see." Azurryn chortled, visibly struggling not to laugh at her exasperated huff. "At this moment you are not wearing clothes, and you are also not bathing or mating. Therefore, little one, you are indecent. Allow me to see you adequately covered."
She laughed at his attempt at humor, resting her head on his wide shoulder when he swept her up and headed back to the enormous bed.
He stepped up onto the mattress and eased to his knees, laying her down between Arkhan and Izax, pressing himself to her front so the only part of her not covered by their bodies were her legs, which she wrapped around Azurryn's waist.
"There," he said with a decisive grin. "You are now decent."
"So I am." Deja mumbled against his eager mouth, shivers of eagerness working across her body.
"Greedy
bastard. Share!" Izax playfully grumbled from beside her, rearing up to throw himself at Azurryn. The two of them rolled completely off the bed in a tangle of arms and legs, laughing and grunting as they wrestled for dominance.
She was laughing because she realized her penchant for curse words had begun to be adopted by her alien loves.
"Looks like we have a moment to ourselves," Arkhan growled in delight, taking Azurryn's place above her. Deja closed her eyes to let her senses stretch, committing the feeling of Arkhan's kiss to memory.
It was so different from that very first time, his tongue marauding its way into her mouth to dance with hers. He kept kissing her as he pushed his palms up her arms, coaxing her into raising them up over her head, taking hold of her wrists in one hand to keep her right where he wanted her.
He grinned down at her then, his lips bright and swollen from their kisses. His free hand took a long, leisurely tour of her chest, his fingertips swirling aimless patterns and circles around her nipples, his smile widening when the soft skin crinkled and puckered in reaction.
Deja wiggled, trying to lift her chest high enough to push her breasts into his hand, groaning in denial when he moved on towards her belly, looping around her navel with just enough pressure to make her gasp and suck her stomach in, squirming and laughing to get away now.
Deja's wiggling brought her up against another swollen piece of Arkhan's anatomy. His grin faltered as he rocked his hips forward between her slick folds, his cock sliding up to rub against her clit.
Deja wrapped her legs around his waist to bring him closer, angling her hips up on the next thrust. Three sharp cries echoed her triumphant moan.
Deja smiled even as she shuddered, loving the feel of Arkhan working his shaft deeper, loving that even as he fed her the unyielding flesh, she was feeding Izax and Azurryn her pleasure.