Izanami and Nemesis sent their regrets, but the Dragon Empire’s civil war was still raging out of control. Hel had been as silent as ever. Bahamut had arrived in Dragon form with a whole bunch of Dragons that would scatter throughout the isles. He was currently watching the night and oceans continue their battle but had promised to come in later.
It was a time when none could deny the existence of magic, the presence of the Divine and their battles had spilled into the lives of all of Earth’s citizens. It didn’t matter what side one stood on there was no questioning the fact that the Divine had control of mortals’ lives, even by mortals themselves. Faith powers were ever on the rise as more and more mortals turned to praying for their only chance to feel like they had control. More than one of the Divine had said it was like a gluttonous banquet that they had never been to before.
Looking around the room, one would never think that Britain had encountered all sorts of clashes in the re-founding of its empire. There was no hint of tension between Humans and Fae, no hint of fear in mortals around the Divine. There was nothing to suggest the bitter hatreds that had bloomed into full-blown riots. Britain was at peace and enjoying riches unseen for centuries. Britain was undoubtedly the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Green was the most common colour indicating the abundance of fertility and life within the isles. And still it continued to rise.
Brigid was spoiling her isles, but then it was Avalon’s Legacy.
Across the empire, the lushness was spreading. Canada had completely thawed, and its forests continued to grow thicker and taller, it was the only healthy part of the Tiger Forest. In India jungle was starting to spread into wastelands, and grasslands were spreading into desert. Her magic was sweeping all across South East Asia, healing the toxic jungles and returning life to the barren wastelands. In Australia, a vast greening completely unseen in its history was sweeping the nation. The tropics were filling up with lush rainforests while long extinct Eucalypt Forests were spreading across the rest of the nation. Even much of its red centre was starting to green up. It was enjoying the steadiest rainfall in living memory.
And it wasn’t just the plant life returning that was ensuring the empire’s wealth. Minerals were growing at an unprecedented and wholly miraculous rate. Which was just as well, the Atlantean technological revolution that was sweeping Britain was ever hungry for a whole range of minerals.
For Victoria, it was heartening and rewarding to see all the good that she had helped bring about by her decisions. For so long she had stressed and worried about her decision, about the civil unrest affecting Britain, about the loss of lives in the expansion of the empire. She had wallowed in guilt and anger over her father’s murder. She had spent sleepless nights counting the losses of her soldiers. She had held her breath in horror when the satellites had shown Brigid being nuked.
Yet now she could look around the room and see only smiling faces, faces of very different races. There were the Human British Prime Minister and his Kitsune wife and their children. There were the Maenad Canadian Prime Minister and the Phoenix Sorcerer and his Phoenix sister of Australia. There was her Fae husband chatting with Atlantean and Human generals. Her half-Human, half-Fae daughter was in the arms of an Angel-Goddess as she created spells for her Angel-Demon cousins. Lampades flirted with Gods and Greater Demons. Primordial Gods chatted amiably to Fallen Angels and Fae. Centaurs and Satyrs chatted over drinks with Were, Ailurides, and Maenads. It was an age unlike any other, and she had helped bring it about, she was the Queen and Empress of a very different Britain than the one she had grown up in.
A hand snaked around her waist as Cathair drew her into his arms. He kissed her tenderly before taking her by the hand to the dance floor. He placed his other hand around her waist as they began a slow dance. She smiled as she looked him in the eye, there was nothing but love and pride in his eyes. He made her feel like she was the only woman in the world, and he made her feel alive.
They were soon joined by many others, Samael drew Lilith onto the floor with him, from their body language it was clear they had eyes for no one else and that they were waiting for a faster-paced song. Ereshkigal took Simurgh by the hand, Agrat took her sister Eisheth, her little ones danced together mimicking them. James shocked the Fae by offering his hand to Sorcha, who laughingly took it. But the greatest shock was when Asmodeus offered to dance with his cousin Sariel.
She, of course, accepted the offer, she was always polite and was very naïve to his sordid past. Sariel was completely unaware of the looks both her parents flashed at Asmodeus or the smile he flashed at them. He ignored them and spun her around the dance floor signalling to the band for a faster pace in music. To his delight Sariel was light on her feet and followed his lead.
The partners on the dance floor shifted and changed, Samael broke off from Lilith, who drew Brigid into a dance.
Samael shifted along the sides until he slid up next to Lucifer, who stood there glowering at Sariel and Asmodeus as they spun around on the dance floor. “You should cut in.”
He glanced at his Mentor “she seems happy enough.”
“You know as well as I do all that Asmodeus has done.”
“Should we always be judged by our pasts?”
“If one is still committing such actions then yes. You know as well as I do that he will never change, he is dangerous, especially to Sariel.”
“If you are so concerned why not interrupt yourself?”
“She will not appreciate my interruption nor will Asmodeus let it go. No, you can interrupt their dance.”
“She will not appreciate my interruption.”
He snorted “you are blind Lucifer to not see the candle she holds for you. She has spent close to two years looking out for you and even now is still trying to help you. You could at least return the favour.” He strode off towards his own Mentor, offering his hand to her. Both of them circled close to Sariel, so too did Lilith and Brigid. It seemed that they were not the only ones to be keeping a close eye on the pair.
He stood there watching them and noticed that Asmodeus’ eyes were rarely on Sariel but instead watching the crowd around him as he smiled at their protectiveness. That more than anything made up his mind.
He strode through the crowd “may I interrupt this dance” he ignored Asmodeus’ glower and shift of jaw. He was blatantly ignoring a dangerous enemy. Instead, he focussed on Sariel, who looked at him with questioning violet eyes. Hesitantly she took his offered hand with a cautious smile. He grabbed her by the waist and spun her away from Asmodeus
“You should be careful of your cousin.”
She rolled her eyes “just because blood means nothing to him does not mean it means nothing to me. I will not sleep with my cousin rest assured.”
“It is good to hear that.”
“For yourself or my concerned family?”
“Both”
His response seemed to surprise her and please her, a smile grew across her face “looking out for me Lucifer?”
“I don’t personally think you need protection, but you are still very naïve about people.”
“I’m not that naïve.”
“You think Asmodeus is a nice person.”
“I have never said I thought he was nice, interesting, yes, but nice, no. But then where do I start and stop. My entire family is all shades of grey, so is everyone around me whether they are Divine or not.”
“I apologise you are more perceptive than I give you credit for.”
“The only person that actually realises just how perceptive I am is Brigid.”
“Well, a good Mentor should understand their Protégé and she was always a very perceptive Goddess.”
“She still is.”
“Oh, I have no doubt of that. To raise such a vast empire so quickly and with such volatile Divine, there is no doubt about her perceptions.”
“It is more than that. Brigid is an unusual light among the shadows of the Divine, she draws in many around her and
endears them to her.”
“A trait you have in abundance.”
“Really?”
He just looked at her “I have never met another Divine that has so enamoured so many Divine. You are something very special Sariel.”
“Thank you” her voice held a huskiness to it, his compliment had touched her deeply.
“You don’t see yourself as others do.”
“That I’m bright and vibrant, that my sweet innocence draws others to me.”
“Well yes but more than that Sariel. You are a beautiful and intelligent woman, so very unique in so many ways.”
“You are unique yourself.”
“In powers perhaps but otherwise no. I was a warrior like so many other Angels, in the other ways I have become a lot like Samael and his ilk.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The two men who have helped define you are my brother and father, both are very honourable men in their own way.”
He looked at her with incredulity “You think either of them honourable? The Betrayer and the Arch Angel Michael? The very man who cast me out of Heaven and stripped you of your powers.”
“My father is a very honourable man, sure he is known as the Betrayer, but he has always stood by his convictions. He sought peace with you because he saw the troubles that the loss of the Mother Goddesses would create. He valued the health of the planet over his own personal power. That shows character.
My brother is a warrior and in all honesty, he is a rather simple man, he wants for little, but it is his love for Gabriel that has blurred his convictions. He took care of me for my entire life, yes I was stripped of my powers and spoon fed lies, but I know under whose direction that came from. Michael’s honour is only ever tarnished by Gabriel. Love makes people do all sorts of things that they wouldn’t normally.”
“You are not given enough credit for your intelligence.”
She smiled at him. He knew that smile, he had seen it on his mother and sister. He had seen it on Lilith and the other Goddesses in the room. It was the very essence of a feminine smile and those usually meant trouble. “No, I am not, which is why people are with great frequency, surprised by me. They underestimate me. Which in all honesty, I do not understand. I mean I am the Chaos Goddess, that should give some indication of my worth.”
“Living up to the title now?” he asked curious. She had been just as unwilling to wear her title as he was to wear his own. “There are many indications of your worth.”
“I know the title to be true. No amount of denial will change that Lucifer, and there is a certain freedom in embracing it. It feels liberating to make it my own. I know that I am the Chaos Goddess, I channel Chaos unlike any other in Divine memory. It grants me a certain safety in being known by that. The same could be said of you.”
“You would have me embrace being the High Lord of Hell? To accept being one of the most reviled and hated figures in mythology. To associate myself with the defamation that Gabriel and Michael did of my character?”
“Yes, I would, because anyone that knows you know them to be lies. You also have indications of your worth, and while your pride might hobble you, there are many other qualities about you that shine through. You are a remarkably gifted man Lucifer, and you have been given a heavy burden, but you are not alone. The power of the Devil is shared between you, Samael and Azazel. You do not have to use it in the same manner, though. Let your virtues and character speak for themselves Lucifer. Because they already are.” She kissed him on the cheek startling him.
“Remember your worth Lucifer, don’t let Gabriel win.” She left him standing there as she walked over to scoop up her young cousins, but she glanced back at him with a warm smile.
She was a strange one, but by the Gods, she was unlike any other.
Chapter 44
Aisling watched the mist drift by, glowing with the moonlight and the ambient fairy lights being cast out of the palace. Many of the gardens were bright and busy, but these ones had been left quiet. But then these were the wilder gardens. Fairy and Maenad grown to reflect the wild woodlands of Avalon. Animals moved in the dark, and she knew where every single one was with her powers. Had it been another night she might have shifted to hunt.
But not tonight.
Something told her that her need would be answered tonight. She had seen the Banshees, and they had told her that her dreams had called the One. They didn’t understand their words. She did.
She felt his presence the instant he appeared. His power was subtle but strong. He was quite ancient, and he thrummed with another’s power.
Hypnos eyed the young Fae Princess standing in the woods. She was barely dressed in a sheer gown that hid very little at all. This was the one. This was the dreamer.
Such strong dreams he had been fed for months now, dreams that only got stronger as their need became more desperate until the urge to satisfy that need had taken over. It was within his power to make dreams come true. And he had come with Tartarus’ blessing on this.
“Your dreams are very strong.”
“Because more than just my fate rests on them.”
“A heavy burden for anyone.”
She raised her chin “A burden I bear for the glory of Avalon. I do not shirk my duties.”
Phantom hands traced her face and neck. “No Aisling, you do not.”
She felt the play of the hands across her, but the God himself lurked in the shadows “I would look upon the Dreammaster.”
Out of the shadows drifted a grey from. His eyes burned green in the darkness, from his head rose two impressive antlers. His face was shrouded in a green and grey mane but did nothing to hide the feral qualities. Floating hands ended in unsheathed claws, green raced up the gaps between.
“This is not your true form.”
“No, but is the form that will serve you best, so has the Father of the Fae proclaimed.” He could feel Tartarus’ magic doing its own thing, especially to his hormones. This Fae Princess had little to attract him other that her strong sense of the ethereal, though she was beautiful in an exotic way, now he was lusting after her. And dreams could make many things happen.
Aisling moaned as phantom lips brushed across her body, phantom fingers raced along her skin and played with her hair. The God before her was still approaching, his form blending and wavering. She recognised the power he held now, the Father had truly sent him. The Fae would not end with her.
She reached up to the incorporeal skin of the God once he was close enough, shadows flared around her hand which was now touching smooth, ashen skin.
Green magic flared at her touch, twisting up her fingers and across his skin. She knew the symbols well for they were of the Fae and the Lifestream, though some she had never seen outside of text or the Heart of Avalon. These were ancient and powerful symbols.
She reached up to kiss those grey-green lips with her own green lips. Once again shadows became corporeal, and the green symbols flared and grew. All around them the mist and gathering fog had started to turn green.
His real hands cupped her face as they kissed, it was surprisingly tender and yet she felt the danger held within these hands, and it had little to do with the claws. This God was dangerous, very dangerous.
Her hands explored his neck and shoulders. It was a strange sensation to first touch nothing them feel skin growing under her touch. She had also noticed that while the green symbols flared at her touch that there were black symbols already on his skin. Symbols that she didn’t know but could guess, they were for sleep and death.
He was indeed a very powerful God.
Violet flashed behind the green magic in his eyes, a sure sign of great power, as much of his face wavered and flared with the life magic. Rings of magic radiated along their bodies, a multitude of magical bangles the whole length of their arms and legs.
His hands slid under her gown, sliding it down. It flowed over smooth skin to gather in a puddle at her feet. She raised her eyes to his once again, no Fae was
shy about their nudity, least of all the Royals. They were always the most beautiful and she was well aware of the Divine blood that flowed in her veins, inherited from many races and many Gods. But most of all was the blood of Avalon.
And in order to ensure the continuation of that bloodline Aisling would walk the length of Hell naked with her head held high. She knew her worth, she knew her appeal, and she knew many of her bloodlines’ secrets.
Including how to seduce Gods.
Her fingers raced across bare skin, untying the clasps of his toga and allowing it to flow gradually to the ground. She stepped in closer, pushing her body close to his shadowy body. More green symbols flared at the contact. She pursed her lips as she leaned up to kiss his neck. She could feel the shift in his body language, she also knew what the magic was doing to him. And she was going to aid it. With every breath she exhaled, it passed over her lips which were now mass producing pheromones that could arouse even the apparently immune Gods. Except they weren’t, the Gods thought they were above the other Divine, but they forgot how much of their blood flowed in the other Divine.
Hands traced down her back while phantom hands worked their way up and down her legs but she knew how to play this game. She moved to the other side of his neck, leaving behind a green kiss mark which continued to administer the same attention she had. With every new place she moved to kiss, she left behind kiss marks that continued to bring pleasure.
The hands turned more demanding, pulling her close, curling in her hair forcefully and grabbing her buttocks as he pulled her close against him.
He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him, her mind hazy. It would seem they both knew how to play this game. He held her close as he knelt down and laid her down on the ground. The Fae were very adamant about mating in the woods, even sex for pleasure was often done in the woods. As they laid down, tendrils of the Lifestream appeared around them. In Avalon the Lifestream was closely tied to the Fae, they were Avalon’s living descendants.
A Gluttony Of Faith Page 43