“I think. I understand the concept of the road not taken,” Nathan said, frustrated that she was trying to simplify the idea of controlling time into a reflection on past choices.
“Yeah, this isn’t quite that. Let’s say you can go down each path and see what it looks like. But only so far. After that, you get sent back and have to choose your path.”
“That’s exactly what terrifies me about what they did.” Nathan pointed at the Twins, then he pointed at Kadria. “And what you can do?”
“You didn’t seem terrified when I brought you here,” Kadria said, eyes narrowed.
Nathan shut up and lowered his finger. He hadn’t thought of it that way. Wasn’t he doing this to everybody else in his life?
“Now, let me finish, so you stop freaking out for five fucking seconds,” Kadria spat. “This fork in the road thing? Super stupid. Because people aren’t limited to two choices. You get to that fork and you can do whatever you want. Maybe there’s five directions to go. Maybe you decide to turn around. Maybe you stand still forever. Maybe you run off in any of fifty thousand different directions that aren’t on the road. Maybe a wolf jumps out from the bushes and kills you.”
Kadria huffed, and continued, “Each of those decisions results in a new timeline. Our powers let us take control of a timeline when they’re created. But that involves going through potentially millions of timelines for every single thing we do if want to be perfect. The Twins here redid a single spell, over a few seconds, with no other decisions involved. And they still nearly fucked it up and killed themselves. It’s not possible to constantly pick and choose the consequences of our actions. Not even for a single conversation. I’m not some sort of timegod, even if I wish I was.”
She ran a foot up his thigh, and he stepped away out of reflex. “And if I was a timegod, I’d have already worked out how to train you. You’re so jumpy despite how much sex you have.”
“No, I just prefer to stay in control,” Nathan said.
Something about her explanation rubbed him the wrong way. It made sense, at least at heart.
He remembered Laura doubled over from exhaustion after using the spell. After that, although she had been too strong for him and his Champions to defeat, she hadn’t used any of her powerful spatial spells. Only small bursts to protect herself and to knock Seraph away.
At no point had Kadria ever shown signs of that sort of exhaustion.
Eventually, he decided to give in and let her explanation stand. “Fine, let’s go with that.”
“We can revisit the topic later, once these idiots are dealt with,” Kadria said.
Maura and Laura perked up at the realization the conversation had shifted back to them. Despite their claims of superiority, they seemed strangely willing to let Kadria do whatever she wanted.
“Now then, why don’t you tell us what sort of ornament you want her to be, Nathan?” Maura crooned.
Chapter 24
Kadria raised an arm into the air. The Twins smirked and placed their hands on their hips. They seemed keen to hear an answer from Nathan about what he wanted to do to Kadria.
For safety’s sake, he remained silent. A pressure built up in his mind, and he recognized it as the tether from Kadria. Out of curiosity, he quickly glanced into his mental world.
Then he gulped down what little saliva he could as his throat dried out.
He had thought the tendril from earlier had been huge. The sight of it had been scary enough, given he couldn’t create a tether like it.
This time, the tendril from his binding stone was still there, although much thinner.
But what caught Nathan’s attention were the thousands and thousands of tiny tethers running off his body. Kadria wasn’t attached to his binding stone.
She was attached to him.
Part of him wanted to say “obviously,” given she had traveled through time with him. But a very real part of him finally had to face the fact that he was mentally and magically connected to a demonic Messenger. Possibly until he died.
He didn’t have a clue why there were thousands of tethers, and he couldn’t follow them. Although he knew that one of them was connected to the same place as the tendril. That oddly familiar binding stone he had felt during the battle.
In reality, Kadria lowered her arm.
The room exploded. Dust billowed up from the ground, creating a massive cloud that Nathan tried not to breathe in. The tiles around Laura and Maura were shattered into millions of tiny fragments, and cracks ran across the entire room.
Laura and Maura screamed. They ducked down, covering their heads and pushing against each other in a panic.
Kadria strode up to them and placed a foot on top of Maura. She pushed Maura’s head down to the tile, before doing the same to Laura. Both succubi whimpered in fear, remaining prostrate before Kadria.
“Now that we’ve established who can turn who into ornaments, let’s have a chat,” Kadria said. Her pupils had enlarged, replacing her soft, violet eyes with glowing portals to hell. Her brown goat horns had turned charcoal black, and embers drifted off them.
Kadria didn’t summon a fake wind to make her dress blow. She didn’t swing her arms around in weird poses. Her method of intimidation involved reminding people that she was the most dangerous person present, and Nathan was reminded that she had once wiped out his defenses effortlessly.
He often forgot that, given how friendly and lustful she typically was these days.
“The two of you snuck in a connection to Nathan. How?” Kadria asked.
Connection? Was the tendril he sensed in his mental world from the Twins?
“It’s your own fault for leaving him open when he claimed the binding stone here,” Laura whined. “He was just so tempting and—”
“I wanted an answer, not excuses. If you idiots can slip past a Bastion’s defenses easily, then maybe I can as well,” Kadria said, eyes gleaming.
Maura huffed. “What are you talking about? We only got in because of you.”
“What?” Kadria asked.
“You have your hooks in him. We snuck in using the hole you made in his mind. All we needed was the opportunity. If we missed his first binding stone, he’d be too strong to grab.” Maura grinned. “So, when you appeared and disappeared from a world in like five seconds, we know something was up. Especially because you’ve always destroyed every world you’ve touched. We followed you and grabbed him the moment he claimed the binding stone.”
“I don’t remember being grabbed,” Nathan said.
“They had to be subtle,” Kadria muttered. “Or else I would have noticed and crushed them. Now that they’ve invaded, they’re like an infestation in your mind. If I destroy them, it will hurt you permanently.” She smirked. “Of course, it’s not like I can’t do other things. But at least I know what my mistake was. I guess I didn’t cover my tracks well enough.”
“Uh, you’re not doing anything about them?” Nathan asked, pointing at the cowering Twins.
Kadria waved an arm in the air and wandered over to the throne. She took a seat in it, and sat cross-legged, showing off her minimal clothing and bare legs.
“They control the portal. If I incapacitated them, it would be too obvious. I need to limit my impact on this world, where possible.” When the Twins raised their heads, suddenly looking confident, Kadria added, “If they get in my way, I’ll happily mount them on my wall for decoration.”
“Can we not talk about mounting and ornaments?” Nathan asked, scratching his head and feeling somewhat out of place. The casual way they talked about doing awful things to each other disturbed him.
“Fine,” Kadria said. “But you’re the one who has to keep these girls in check. If you lose an invasion even once, then you’re theirs. And while I can protect you in the mental world, I can’t do anything in the physical.”
Mental world. Nathan remembered.
“You helped me during the battle, didn’t you?” Nathan asked.
Kadria raise
d an eyebrow. “No?”
“I felt it, you don’t need to lie.”
Shrugging, Kadria ignored him. “In any case, you should get better at doing things here. You nearly cast a spell and lost instantly earlier. This world is theirs, and that means any magic you use will be under their control. Unless you specifically craft it as mental magic.”
The Twins stood up and turned to face Kadria. “Stop trying to teach him things he doesn’t need to know,” they shouted in unison.
Mental magic in a mental world.
Everything began to fall into place, at least kind of.
“This is their mental world, isn’t it? And the bedroom I meet you in is your mental world, right?” Nathan asked aloud.
“Half-right, I guess,” Kadria said. “This is a physical manifestation of their mental world. That’s why it’s so big, stable, and you can see things easily, even if parts of it look like a Picasso.”
He was growing sick of all of the references to things he knew absolutely nothing about. What was a Picasso, and what did it have to do with the appearance of this place?
“But my room is different. Uh, think of it like a frontier fortress of my mental world. You have multiple binding stones, right, and they make up your mental world? I have something similar. Only an idiot lets others into their mental world so easily. The things a guest can do are terrifying.” Kadria grinned at Nathan.
“We’re not idiots,” Laura muttered.
“Besides, he can’t do anything here. And we’re more powerful here than anywhere else,” Maura added. “If you weren’t here, he’d be our plaything already. Once we lure somebody into our mind, they’re ours forever.”
A whisper crept into his mind. “You could be ours forever, so easily.”
Rage erupted within Nathan. He remembered what nearly happened last time and refused to let it happen again.
Instinctively, he grabbed a hunk of energy from the binding stone. The Twins grinned at him, their eyes twinkling.
He slowed down, remembering Kadria’s warning.
But Kadria had hurt them earlier. That must have been mental magic.
Hadn’t Kadria used that against him in his timeline?
He tried to envisage what her magic had felt like. The feeling of lightning running through his veins, as something severed the nerves within his mind. Of thunder crashing in his ear drums, but with no physical cause. Of overwhelming magical power cleaving his mental links apart like a blade so sharp and thin that it became invisible when flat.
Forming his magic into those ideas, Nathan drew his sword and slashed at a wall.
The entire hall filled with red light. A gash ran along the length of the wall, exposing the black void beyond. Black ink poured onto the floor, pooling and oozing toward them. The room began to shift and shimmer, its appearance transforming into one closer to that of a pastel painting.
“Stop, stop, stop!” the Twins wailed. They stared in horror at the gash and the black ooze.
Within seconds, the red light vanished and they healed the gash. The black ink disappeared soon after.
“If you do that again—” Maura threatened.
Nathan raised his sword and she froze, her eyes widening.
“Um, please don’t?” Maura whispered.
Kadria cackled in the background. “Like I said, what kind of idiot lets others into their mental world so easily? Even a complete amateur can do serious damage.” She frowned. “Don’t be too savage, Nathan. We need them alive. And a Messenger you know is better than a Messenger you don’t, should somebody replace them.”
She had a point. Nathan sheathed his sword.
The Twins started to mutter to one another.
Ignoring them, Nathan called out, “I wanted to talk to you about this war.”
“Later,” Kadria said. “I think it’s best if you calm down and think things through first.”
What did that mean?
Nathan shook his head and turned to leave. The tiles had been noisy before but made clacking and clicking noises with every step he took.
“Hey, you’re not leaving already, are you?” Maura suddenly asked.
A pair of hands grabbed his left arm.
“That’s right. You should stay. We can show you why helping us is so much smarter than helping that silly little goat,” Laura said.
A second pair of hands grabbed his right arm.
They pulled him backward with surprising strength and spun him around. Giggling, they began to paw at his crotch and kiss his neck. Their gargantuan breasts pressed against his chest and their bronzed thighs rubbed against his legs.
“Just compare our assets to hers,” Maura said. She pulled down the top of her black dress and leaned in closer, a cheeky grin stretched across her face.
Laura pouted and followed her sister. Both women had similarly sized chests, although they were closer to pillows at this point. They were definitely large enough to be used as pillows. Massive, bronzed, fleshy pillows the size of their heads.
Unable to help himself, Nathan squeezed them. Both succubi moaned. Their nipples hardened against his palms and they pressed their bodies against him more.
Suddenly, they pushed Nathan to the ground. They ripped their dresses off, revealing their soaked crotches and thighs. Without their clothing, Nathan could only tell them apart using the appearance of their eyes. Laura had white sclera, and Maura black.
“If you hurt him—” Kadria started to call out.
Both twins made a talking hand gesture to Kadria, and the smaller Messenger shut up. Kadria closed one eye and leaned her head on one palm.
From his vantage point on the floor, Nathan could see Kadria sitting on the throne as well as the two curvy succubi about to descend on him. Kadria’s hands were suspiciously close to her lower body. If she remained idle, he figured the Twins weren’t a danger if he played along.
At least, that’s the excuse he used. He absolutely wasn’t enjoying the embrace of two succubi. That would be heresy.
Soft pressure wrapped around his crotch, and Nathan looked down to see that his cock had been completely enveloped in their breasts. They were so stupidly massive that he couldn’t see even a hint of his shaft or tip. He was fairly confident in his size, but these girls had the largest mammaries he’d ever seen or felt.
“Does it feel good?” Laura asked.
“Of course, it does,” Maura said. “Why are we asking him when we can feel his answer?” She grinned and began to push her tits up and down.
Nathan groaned as both succubi began to move. Their movements were synchronized, and the soft pillowy pressure gave way to constant stimulation. He had two pairs of breasts massaging his length. It was like a dream.
Something warm and wet dripped onto his tip. Both girls were hovering over the gap between them, their mouths wide open. Glistening drops of saliva dripped from their mouths, and onto his cock. Their movements never slowed during this, and the lubrication only added to the pleasure.
Fire began to build up within his length. It was a slow build, but constantly increasing. Nathan leaned back against the floor and groaned as he felt himself riding the edge of what felt like a constant climax. His fingers found the slick entrances of the Twins, and they rolled their eyes in ecstasy as he began to pleasure them in return.
The pressure around his tip ebbed, but then came back. It was wetter than before. But the fire kept coming, and Nathan willed himself to finally come.
“Hey, I don’t remember giving you permission to modify him,” Kadria said suddenly.
Nathan blinked and finally looked up.
The Twins were still wrapped around his length, their breasts bouncing up and down. But now their mouths were pressed against his tip, and their tongues snaked up and down his shaft while lapping up every drop of pre he let out. They moaned and stared back at him with lidded red eyes. His fingers continued to explore them.
It suddenly occurred to Nathan that he was seeing something impossible.
He was an impressive enough size, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t big enough for the Twins to wrap their mouths around his length with their breasts pressed against his shaft.
“If you make him too big, others will get suspicious,” Kadria said, confirming his thoughts.
“Mmmm.” Maura pulled herself off him with a loud slurp. Her chin was a sticky mess. “As if you care. I bet they won’t even question it.”
They hadn’t questioned his limitless stamina. But he suspected that growing a few inches might be different.
For one thing, there was no way that Sen was letting him stick it in her rear any time soon. She’d be back to stretching for a while.
Kadria responded to Maura’s point by getting down on her knees and wrapping her mouth around Nathan’s enlarged length. Her eyes met his, and hers curved in pleasure.
A moment later, those same eyes rolled into the back of her head when the Twins forced his entire length down her throat. They giggled as Kadria spluttered and coughed. Nathan hit his climax immediately, the sudden pressure of Kadria’s throat too much as he went deeper than he ever had before.
When Kadria pulled away, it was with a stomach full of his seed and a very satisfied expression. Her chin and lips were a sticky mess of white. Her hands rubbed at her taut stomach.
Then she scowled at the Twins.
“Who’s first?” Kadria growled.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Nathan lost count of the number of times he climaxed. The three Messengers would have milked him until the end of time if he let them.
But he didn’t have that long. He had to face reality again and handle the aftermath of the Twins’ attempt to conquer him.
Chapter 25
Nathan’s detour to visit Kadria had explained some of what happened during the invasion. The rest needed further investigation.
The Twins had attacked because they had been given an opening during the cascade. Sure, they had apparently been waiting since Nathan first arrived and had an unexplained interest in claiming Nathan, but that was nothing new. He had already known that their interest in him was of the sexual variety.
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