“Whht waaas youuuur first hiiiint?” Iowen giggled.
Whyy aaaarrre we going soooo uuuuup?
Izzat the roooof? Whaaaats everyooone doiiing heeeere?
“Looks like we are all here,” Lucas started in a drunk but steady voice.
“Oh, not another speech please!” Miranda interrupted him.
“I will cut it short then, we have eight enemies, we are going to kill them in the upcoming decade,” Lucas said, unfazed.
“Now that’s an ambitious word, old friend,” archbishop Nashimaeal smiled.
“Could someone examine his head? It seems he has hit himself,” Miranda remarked.
“How do we start?” asked Elias in a cheerful tone.
“Kill the strongest ones and go down the food chain until all there is left are slimes and mutated rats,” Lucas answered.
“Then we burn the slimes and eat the rats,” smiled Meweren.
Aaare youuu aaaalll insaaane?
“Can we cut to the end, I think I’m going to vomit from all the bullshit,” Miranda continued complaining.
“Of course, we might not meet like this anytime soon, so if you ever get lost in what you should do - find a demon, kill the demon, go next.”
“That’s the worst catchphrase ever,” Miranda laughed.
“Yea… awfully descriptive of our life,” Elias concurred.
“The least motivating speech I have ever heard,” Merewen concluded.
“Can someone knock him out already? That would be at least fun,” Miranda barked in laughter.
“Oh, would you like to try it, Miranda. You may have the speech next time,” Lucas didn’t hold out and shot back.
“And lose the fun of watching how you suck at it? Naaaah, I will pass,” Miranda chuckled.
“Yeees, you aaaare aaaallll insaaane!”
Whoooopsie daaaisieee, didn’t waaaant to saaaay thaaaat.
“Bottoms up!” Lucas commanded as he took a huge gulp from the bottle he was holding and passed it on to the archbishop. The archbishop took one as well. Everyone took a drink. When Iowen did, it was like the sun just appeared on the sky, then fell on her and then disappeared.
“The fucks in this?” Miranda shouted after taking the drink. Lucas, Merewen and Elias laughed.
“Welcome to the adult division, kid,” Merewen smiled.
“Lucas, I asked you to stop spiking alcohol with drugs. Why do you never listen?” asked the archbishop softly, his eyes dancing wide as he was barely standing.
“I have no idea what you are talking about, your excellency,” Lucas replied with a bow.
Druuuugs… greeeaaaaaaat.
10
Iowen
“Glad to see you have enjoyed the reception,” a man remarked next to Iowen a few hours later.
“Goooiiing greaaat. Youuu aaaare toooo waaarm. Niiiice suiiit,” Iowen tried to speak but didn’t really managed to do so. The man in front of her was a misty shape of red while next to him stood a misty shape of gold, who was holding two beige shades next to him.
“So how is Lucas doing? I have heard you are his latest companion” the man inquired.
“Theee aaasssshoooole is…. Wheeeerrrreee?”
Iowen’s stomach gave out and its contents left through her upper end, showering over the man in front of her. The golden shape whirled away and dodged, but the red one just stood there, stunned.
“AHAHAHHAHAHA!” sharp drunken laugh of Miranda pierced the air.
“You missed! Lucas is the golden one!”
“Whaaa….?” *bbllllrrrrghhhh* and Iowen released a second shower at the man.
“Seems like the reception has been a great success,” the golden shape remarked.
“Luuuucaaaas, youuuu biiiitch!” Iowen blurted out.
“Lucas, friend, I have a feeling like someone vomited on me. Have you noticed anything?” the red shape turned at the golden shape.
“Not at all, let's visit the rainbow pool over there,” the golden shape suggested and both blurry shapes left.
“Daaamn they are soooo stoned!” Miranda took Iowen’s side.
“Heeeeh….?”
“Come see something; you won’t believe your eyes.”
“Suuure.”
They headed to the hall.
“Elias! Stop whoring around and come with us!” Miranda shot at Elias as he was talking to two ladies at a side table.
“Elias? You said your name is Joshua?” one of the women shot in surprise.
“This has to be some sort of an error, I have never seen these two ladies,” Elias attempted to end the conversation.
“YOU MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU DENY YOUR OWN DAUGHTER! I WILL GO TELL MOMMIE!” Miranda shrieked, fake tears filling her eyes.
“Please, excuse us,” the ladies quickly apologized and left.
“AHAHAHHAHAHA!” Miranda and Iowen laughed.
Elias sat there with a sad expression.
“What is it?” he conceded. They all headed to the hall.
“Archbishop, we have an urgent matter of faith that needs to be attended to!” Miranda said as they found the archbishop.
“What is it, my child?” Archbishop asked, holding himself by the nearby table to create an illusion of standing straight.
“One of the most sacred rituals of our Order is at stake! Please! It needs your divine presence or else salvation will be out of reach!” Miranda continued.
“Lead the way child!” archbishop Nashimaeal straightened and followed them with a surprisingly sharp step.
“Aren’t we getting Lucas?” Elias inquired.
“Nah, the asshole can go suck himself,” Miranda cut him off.
“Yeaaaaaaaah!” Iowen agreed as they were leaving the building. Miranda led them through the city streets into a side alley where woman’s moaning was carried through the air.
“Watch this,” as she climbed up on the wall to peek into one of the wider windows. She helped everyone get there, so they were all four peeking just above the bottom of the window through the small hole between the floor and the heavy curtains, which were closed.
From side angle, they saw Merewen on all fours with a stunning black-haired woman behind her.
“Now that’s a nice piece. Long black hair, sharp red lipstick, nice full breasts, comfortable lean body, long legs... wait, what the hell is that?” Elias wondered.
He lost his words as he saw the thing hanging between the woman’s crotch and Merewen.
“Feeling small, Elias?” Miranda jabbed.
“Even a horse would,” Elias remarked, “and what’s with that speed?”
“Yea. How does Merewen even hold in there?” Miranda inquired.
“Seems like she is held in some device,” Iowen observed. “Is that blood magic?” Iowen asked, haze finally lifting up from her eyes..
“Definitely blood magic,” the archbishop confirmed.
Life goals update, adding “shag a blood mage” somewhere around the top of the list.
“Merewen is going to kill us if we burst in there to arrest the girl,” Miranda remarked.
“I believe it would cause no harm if we just pretend we have seen nothing,” archbishop agreed.
“Well, Merewen sure looks like she is having fun. Sounds like it,” Iowen evaluated.
“Envious?” Miranda purred.
“We both are,” Iowen revealed.
“Ah well, looks like the temple coffers are going to swell a bit tonight,” archbishop remarked happily.
“Don’t tell me you have the girl on your list,” Elias inquired.
“Her name is Yen, fourth from the top,” smiled the archbishop as he handed a piece of paper to Elias.
“Temple coffers will swell a bit indeed,” Elias confirmed.
“How the hell do you know a girl who uses blood magic to shag other girls?” Miranda asked.
“The church has many secrets,” Nashimaeal grinned as he took the gold from Elias.
“Now, I hope they haven't drunk all the alcohol wh
ile we were gone,” Elias guessed.
“Drank? I am more afraid of Lucas spiking everything with lotus.”
ARRRRGGHHHGG!!
What the hell is this headache??
Iowen wondered as she woke up. She found herself completely naked and entwined into Lucas, who was still fully dressed in the golden suit.
Urrrggghhh… who are these people?
As she looked around, there was a man and two women lying completely naked on the other bed in the room. The man had long bright red hair and heavily tattooed body; the girls were somewhat pretty.
I know these… these are the girls I sent to harass Lucas yesterday. Who the hell is that guy?
She examined him closely. His build was lean and mostly muscular, the tattoos on his body were dark red and made of symbols she didn’t understand. They looked like magic runes though.
What’s with this heat, we don’t have any fire around and it’s almost winter.
She focused on it and sensed it emanating from the man.
Lucas… who the hell did you bring to our room?
Anyway, fuck that, we are five people for one bath, time to get a head start.
Very carefully, she moved Lucas‘ arms to get from his embrace. Iowen slowly sneaked into the bathroom.
CLANG! Rang through the room as she kicked a large metal bowl.
What the hell is the story of this thing?
Nobody seemed to have noticed though. Iowen made it to the bath and washed herself, feeling the headache softly subside as the bath was freezing up around her. She lay there and rested, feeling the cold water gently soothing her body.
Shit! I can’t move.
Iowen realized she got careless and let the bath fully freeze around her.
Let’s try to break out. Oh, God, this is going to be embarrassing.
She lay there, only her head peeking out from the now solid ice. Iowen was unable to do anything and was way too ashamed to cry for help.
After a while, the red-haired man entered. He was completely naked and didn’t notice her at all as he just passed by. He headed to the toilet. Before she managed to say anything, he caught himself by the toilet and started vomiting.
This is beyond awkward. Come on, hangover, knock me out! No? Alright Iowen, time to wake up from this bad dream and find yourself passed out under some table. No? Please? Still no? Fuck!
The man finished vomiting and sat down by the wall.
“Damn, what a night,” he smiled.
“Hi,” tried Iowen shyly.
“What the?? Oh, sorry, good morning!” he smiled at her, trying to hide a surprise and visible headache.
“Sorry, didn’t want to disturb you,” Iowen kept the shy tone.
“Apologies are mine. After all, I am the one who walked in on a lady bathing without noticing,” he said in a strong voice. “Could you please pass me a towel? I find myself a bit bare.”
“I would like to,” smiled Iowen.
“Hmmm?” he inquired.
“The water, it’s frozen, I can’t get out,” she whispered.
This is so, so, SO embarrassing!
“How’d that happen?”
I wish you didn’t ask that.
“I froze it by accident, forgot myself in the bath,” Iowen replied, wishing she would drop through the floor instead.
“AH! You must be Iowen, Lucas talked a lot about you yesterday.”
“What did he say?” Iowen inquired.
This is starting to be interesting.
The man blushed so strong his cheeks almost matched the shade of his hair.
“Well?” Iowen pushed, feeling a chance.
“Only good things,” he squirmed.
“Like?”
“Well…”
“Yes?”
“He was inquiring about a way to decrease his body temperature while keeping all its functions.”
“Why would he want that?”
“To engage in a more intimate contact.”
“You are awfully diplomatic for something so simple, what exactly did Lucas say he would do if he could?”
“I see he didn’t exaggerate when he said you are a fiery woman,” the man smiled.
“Nice attempt to pivot, but it won’t work on me. How about we skip this part and you just quote him for me. Please?”
“I would still rather not say,” the man kept his line.
“Oh come on, do you feel like Lucas doesn’t deserve whatever I will do to him after you tell me?”
“I am certain he does, but still I view him as a friend and I would not rat out on my friend just like that,” the man didn’t budge.
“Especially not to the woman he wants to fuck, right?”
“I did not say that,” he grinned.
“Anyway, how were the girls? Do they deserve the second part of the coin?” Iowen decided to let him off the hook, at least for now.
“Depends, what were they paid for?”
“To make sure Lucas isn’t bored or lonely during the night.”
“They do, he was trying to shake them off for half of the evening. They always caught him anyway and I wonder if Lucas will still insist on keeping the golden suit. Or if he ever dares to wear it again to a party you attend.”
“Good,” affirmed Iowen happily.
“Would you like me to unfreeze you?” he offered.
“That would be nice.”
The man traced a symbol with an outstretched hand and soon it felt as if heat started to expand from him towards her. It focused itself on the bath.
Good control.
“By the way, I have a hazy memory of someone vomiting all over me yesterday. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he asked, eyes narrowing.
“No, I was busy being drunk with Elias and then just blacked out on the roof,” Iowen lied.
“The vomit was ice cold… anyway. I do remember you dancing by a pole at almost sunrise,” he remarked.
Oh shit! Did I do that? Shit! And I thought this couldn’t get more embarrassing.
Iowen turned red and it wasn’t from the heat.
“Must have been someone else.”
“Well, I do remember Lucas wrestling the given girl from the pole and carrying her away in his arms,” he smirked.
“I would have never done something like that,” Iowen replied resolutely.
“Of course not. I mean, you would surely keep some clothes were you to do something like that, wouldn’t you?” the man kept smirking.
Right, I haven’t seen my clothes anywhere.
“Was it as bad as it sounds?” Iowen probed.
“It was the most charming performance, worthy of a professional. Your body is truly exquisite, so you have nothing to be shy of.”
Thank you, but that doesn’t help.
She heard steps approaching, Iowen tried to sink into the bath to hide, but the ice was still too solid for her to move.
Lucas entered the room.
“Morning, sweetheart,” he smiled at Iowen and kissed her on the forehead.
Oh, God. What the hell did I tell him yesterday? No, never mind, I will live happily for the rest of my life not knowing.
“Morning,” the man greeted Lucas.
“Morning, Gorash,” Lucas greeted the man.
What? Wait… WHAT?
“Marquis Gorash the Fourth, lord of Mar Gorash and surrounding lands, the Emperor of Iron, Heir of Magma, a descendant of dragons. Faithfully at your service,” the man bowed towards Iowen with a massive grin on his face.
Iowen slid under the water.
“Don’t enjoy yourself too much, we leave in two hours,” Lucas informed her.
“Running so soon? I thought we would catch some play at the theatre later tonight,” Gorash asked Lucas.
“Sorry, but I’ve got to change the schedule to get the death ball rolling faster,” Lucas explained.
Death ball? That did sound like it will involve me.
Iowen raised her head up above the water.
“What’s the rush? Can’t wait to get rid of me?” she asked him sweetly.
“Perhaps. But the Endless Lake is said to be getting restless. We need some spare time for the case we cannot simply sail over it.”
“Vacation is over I guess. I will see you both in Mar Gorash if you ever have a trip around. With a proper reception, of course,” Gorash smiled as he raised from the ground.
They headed off for Ghalkel within an hour.
11
Luna
“OI! Would you start listening?!” a voice interrupted Raven from his thoughts. “You hold me too tight idiot! Let me breathe!” Luna shouted at him, struggling in his grip. Raven let her go, unable to form a sentence.
Luna looked at him. “What’s wrong with you? You look like something ate your soul!” she demanded.
“I thought you were gone,” Raven finally managed to organize his thoughts.
“Gone where? I was just off for a bit! You know I heal out of everything; so what the hell were you thinking?” she challenged.
“You didn’t move for three days,” Raven replied, still wondering if he imagines things.
“Oh. Oh my God; I am so sorry.” Luna caught his head and hugged him. “I am so sorry, I had no idea it would take that long,” Luna explained.
“What would take long?” Raven was confused.
“Attaching this,” Luna answered and extended her right hand, out of nowhere, thin black longsword appeared in her hand.
“What?” Raven inquired.
“It’s a sword dumbass! Got it from James.”
“James?”
“The man who beat you up. Sorry for that, he tends to overdo things,” Luna apologized.
Raven just stared.
“Anyway, enough sitting around. Let’s go do something,” Luna pivoted the topic.
“We can go watch the qualifiers.”
“For what? It’s not like we need any teammates,” she contested.
“I know, but Jonathan insists on it.”
“Meeeeeeeeeh.”
“This is a strong drug,” Raven remarked as she saw Luna pulling out a pill from one of her pouches.
“How would you know?” Luna inquired.
“Stallington would sometimes send women to me, slaves, they often used drugs,” Raven explained.
Legacy of Dreams: Freedom Page 8