Metal Mage 4

by Eric Vall

  The marble floors reflected every glint in the place, which was a lot considering the four chandeliers were completely covered with diamonds, and the tables were made of gold. The windows that stretched the full height of the banquet hall looked out across the capital and were draped with curtains made of deep red velvet. I could see the gilded lanterns flicker throughout the capital from them, but the streets were empty for the first time since I’d come to Aurum since every civilian had been invited to the celebration.

  The dwarves looked like knights in their traditional tunics made of boiled leather, and their hands were propped proudly on the ornate hilts of their swords, all of which were distinctly different. Thrungrig told me dwarves learn to wield a sword only after they’ve learned to craft one, and most of the dwarves still used the very first sword they’d ever made.

  The mages wore velvet robes with gilded belts, and they looked like royalty as they wove amongst the dwarves of the capital. Jovian and Zerla danced a dwarven jig in the center of the hall, and I caught sight of Mina as she waved merrily from across the room. I saw her turn to grab Pindor and Deli, and the three eventually made it over to us by the time we had our drinks.

  I was pleased to see them all as carefree as they’d been when they first came to my crew, and I was impressed with their ability to bounce back after such a crazy week. It was lucky they were just teenagers and still had that otherworldly resilience. Then again, it could be the ridiculously elaborate goblets of ale, with every shade of gem inlaid within the gold, they each held in their hands.

  I greeted Pindor with a firm shake of the hand as Aurora laid a kiss on Deli’s cheek.

  “You look good as new,” I told the young Ignis Mage, and I was relieved when Deli looked up at me with her same sweet smile. I was about to return it, when the smile suddenly fell, and her eyes went blank.

  “Thank you,” she said in a low voice, “Defender Flynt.”

  My knees just about gave out as I stared into the lifeless eyes before me, and all of the gaiety of the celebration around us disappeared from my mind.

  Then Deli burst out laughing.

  “I’m sorry, I had to,” she giggled. “Shoshanne told me how much I freaked you out earlier, with all the kill you stuff.” Deli shrugged and sent another sweet smile to the Aer Mage at my side, and when I turned, Shoshanne’s cheeks were bright pink as she tried desperately to hide her smile.

  Finally, her eyes slid guiltily to mine, and then the woman threw her head back and laughed to the gilded ceiling.

  “Nice,” I smirked, “Very nice.”

  “Hey, in my defense,” she chuckled as she wound her arms around my waist, “I did not think she was going to do that.” Then Shoshanne tipped onto her toes to lay a kiss on my cheek.

  “Oh, it’s fine.” I leveled my eyes on the three young mages in front of me. “I didn’t know we were playin’ tricks now, that’s all. But if you wanna play tricks…” I mused, and I lowered my voice. “We can play tricks.”

  Deli and Mina looked nervously at each other, while Pindor managed to get a harried chuckle out.

  Then I took a long slow drink of my ale, and as I did, Deli’s goblet melted away in her hand, and the ale splashed to her feet along with the many gems. The girl shrieked, and all three were in a fit of laughter as they quickly disappeared into the crowd.

  “How old are they again?” I asked Aurora, who was chuckling at my side.

  “Sixteen,” she replied, “the poor things.”

  “Yeah, I’m definitely gonna bring them to the elvish lands.” I turned to wink at the half-elf, but she only narrowed her emerald eyes. “What? It’ll be fun,” I said innocently before my lips curled into a devilish grin. “I like tricks.”

  Dorinick waved us over from a long golden table that stretched across the head of the room and was reserved for the troops and the elders. As we headed over, I caught sight of Yaxin and Durigh. The tradesmen had managed to squeeze in beside Thrungrig and looked well pleased with the wares of the banquet.

  Two roasted boars were displayed on silver platters at its center, with wild mushrooms, caramelized pears, and heaps of freshly baked bread. There were giant ruby crusted pitchers of ale scattered amongst the plates, and crystal decanters filled with traditional dwarven wine as well.

  Haragh had gotten word of Deli’s little prank, and as I settled in on his right, he snorted his ale right through his nose while he retold the story to me.

  “Yeah, I was there,” I chuckled, and I refilled my ale before I slapped a thick slab of boar onto a silver plate.

  “She’s a quick one,” the half-ogre laughed as he mopped the ale from his front. “It really is lucky she didn’t get her claws in ye’. A rage like that, and she’s clever?” Haragh shook his head and pulled a heaping plate close as he dug in.

  I considered the truth of his words as I worked on my ale, but by the time it was empty, I turned to consider the half-ogre who wolfed down his own wild boar beside me.

  “Hey, uh … ” I chuckled, “You never mentioned what you felt like … when you looked at that gem.”

  Haragh forgot to chew for the briefest moment before he quickly shoveled in a bite so big he couldn’t possibly talk, so he only shrugged and waved the notion away with his fork.

  I narrowed my eyes. “You were about to fucking kill me, weren’t you?” I finally asked, and now the half-ogre did forget to chew in earnest.

  He swallowed the bite so quickly he nearly choked and washed it all down with half a beer before he responded.

  “No,” he belched. “I was not about to kill you.”

  “If Deli wanted to kill me, then you wanted to kill me,” I told him plainly, but he shook his head vigorously.

  “No, no. I wouldn’t have. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do it. Don’t ye worry about that.”

  I don’t know if it was his willful ignorance or all of the ale that buzzed through my head, but I burst out laughing. “Dude, you were possessed. Of course you would have been able to do it.”

  “No, no,” he insisted, and he downed the last of his mug. “No, ogres are a very stubborn sort of creature. I don’t care what kind of magic ye’ got, you’re not gonna sway an ogre what knows his mind.”

  I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but someone had to. “Yeah, but you’re only half ogre.”

  Haragh turned and leveled me with a stone-cold stare, and I managed to snort out an apology. “Sorry, it’s just … you totally would have fucking killed me.”

  The half-ogre only shook his head and shoveled in another chunk of boar. After a few angry chews, he finally muttered, “Well, you have your way of thinkin’. I have mine.”

  I would have bugged Haragh for another hour for the fun of it, but Dorinick steadied himself on the edge of my chair with a hazy smile on his face.

  “Thrungrig was tellin’ me about your machine man,” he slurred, and I furrowed my brow as I tried to imagine what he meant. Finally, he waved his hand vaguely in the air. “The big thing, or what’s it.”

  “Oh, Big Guy,” I said with a laugh. “Yeah, you’ve gotta see him sometime. I’ve got him up back in the locomotive actually.”

  Dorinick nodded as he dug something out of his pocket, and he glanced down the table toward the elders before he pulled my arm up and slipped something into my palm.

  I shielded my hand behind my mug as I looked to see what it was, and my magic sparked as I realized what I was looking at.

  “Is this what I think it is?” I asked with a grin, and I looked to see Dorinick raise a finger to his lips.

  “Don’t tell no one I got it for ye,” he muttered.

  The channeling gem in my palm was twice as big as the one I’d put in Bobbie, and I realized what this meant for Big Guy.

  “Holy shit,” I chuckled, and I clapped a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. “How did you get this? I thought the elders had all of the channeling gems in Aurum?”

  “Aye,” Dorinick said with a smirk as he reached to grab
a stray mug from the table. “And they’ve got more than they need, if you ask me.”

  I raised my eyebrows, but Dorinick just filled his mug and chuckled.

  I shook my head. “And to think they were gonna let you sit up in those thrones with them … ”

  “A general’s got no business bein’ an elder,” he assured me as he turned to leave. “Truth is, we haven’t got the morals for it.”

  I laughed as I watched the drunken general make his way back along the table, but before I could show the channeling gem to the women beside me, Foreg rose with a solemn hand held high, and the gathering slowly quieted down.

  “Today, we gather in celebration of the defeat of the ice giants who have plagued our lands with violence for far too long,” the elder began. “And we remember those who have been lost while we look ahead to the future and welcome an age of alliance between dwarves and men.”

  The banquet hall filled with hearty cheers and the sound of mugs being thrummed on tabletops before the elder continued.

  “The arrival of the mage Mason Flynt in the city of Aurum was … unexpected, but a blessing in disguise. So today, the elders and the dwarves alike honor the Flynt Army for their bravery and dedication to the preservation of our race. May your strength and skill never falter, and may you always find friendship in the lands of Orebane.”

  The crowd erupted once again, and everyone raised their mugs and goblets to the elder’s words. Shoshanne and Cayla glowed with pride as they leaned to lay kisses on my cheek, and Aurora nudged me with a coy smile.

  “The Flynt Army, huh?” she asked with her brow cocked.

  “It’s got a nice ring to it,” I chuckled, “but I don’t know that King Temin’s gonna appreciate it as much as I do.”

  “Oh, he’ll love it,” she assured me, “it’s Wyresus who’s gonna ring your neck.”

  Everyone returned to their celebration, and music rang out above the enthusiasm of the crowd that couldn’t seem to decide between dancing or drinking or both. Between the merriment of the dwarves, and the scandalously high slits in the dresses beside me, I was lost to the enjoyment of the evening and the many mugs of ale Dorinick just kept pouring for me.

  Cayla had taken the plunge and gone for ale all evening, while Shoshanne discovered she really, really liked wine.

  Around the time Aurora lazily propped her chin in her palm and mouthed something to the Aer Mage that sent the woman blushing all over, I decided we’d put in enough of an appearance.

  I looped my arms around the taunt waists of my beautiful mages, and the sway of Cayla’s diamond studded hips led the way. We had just rounded the end of the table when I passed by Pindor as he lifted up a goblet to take a sip of ale.

  “Have a nice night,” I said with a wink, and the young mage’s eyes popped out of his head as his goblet melted away from his lips.

  I could hear the dwarves roar with laughter as we exited the hall, and Shoshanne nearly tripped over Cayla in her giggling. I steadied her and Aurora against me, and the heat of their skin beneath the glinting dresses drew my full attention once more to the ruby slits.

  “Dwarves make really good wine,” Shoshanne blurted out, and Cayla turned around to get a look at the Aer Mage.

  The princess chuckled as she sauntered backward, and her icy blue eyes sparkled when they met Aurora’s. “I hope you haven’t drunk too much of that wine … we had so many things planned.”

  Shoshanne giggled as Cayla came to our door and opened it. Just inside the decadent room, the princess started to undo the intricate clasps that stretched from her neck to her ass, but I decided to just rip them open for her. As I slid the dress down over her porcelain hips, I was pleasantly surprised to find she had nothing underneath.

  Aurora had gone to light a fire in the enormous hearth, and when the flames flickered throughout the room, she met my eyes and slowly pulled her own dress off while I admired the view. Her breasts burst out of the glittering cage, and her curves silhouetted provocatively against the flames. Then she made her way to the bed and sighed as she stretched out across the velvet coverings.

  Shoshanne sauntered over and laid herself out in a pile of pillows as she brought her legs apart. “I want to watch,” the caramel beauty purred, and she slowly dragged a finger up the ruby slit on her thigh. When she got to the top, she pulled the garment aside, and I watched as she slid her fingers into the bright pink flesh beneath it.

  “Me too,” I replied with a wink.

  Cayla crawled across the velvet until her breasts hung heavy against Aurora’s, and she tipped her hips up toward me like a cat while she teased the blue curls beneath her. The half-elf giggled just before she slid her tongue into the princess’s mouth.

  I came to the bedside and watched the caramel beauty’s cheeks flush at the sight of the two women. Then her eyes met mine, and she bit the plump corner of her lip as I took the porcelain hips firmly in hand. I could see the wetness of the woman’s fingers as she slid another into herself, and as I began to tease Cayla with the tip of my cock, Shoshanne let out a soft moan.

  Life was good.

  And it was about to get much better.

  End of book 4

  End Notes

  Thank you for reading Metal Mage 4. I appreciate all the positive reviews and feedback that this series gets. Please leave a review here!

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 by Eric Vall