The Builder's Pride (The Legendary Builder Book 3)

by J. A. Cipriano

She kissed me then, and the feel of her lips on my drove the pain away, drove everything away until there was literally nothing but the feel of her mouth on mine. She broke it a second later, and as she did, longing hit me like a kick in the crotch. I doubled over with the need for her, and as I reached toward her, wanting only to taste her one more time, to hold her one more time, she shoved me backward.

  “Arthur, let me do something you’ll respect for fucking once,” she said, leaping into the air, her bat wings carrying her toward the bound portal. Only, as she flew toward it, the massive ravager caught sight of her.

  It turned, ignoring Sathanus and Mammon completely as the two archangels hit it with everything they had. It darted through the air toward her on lavender wings, cutting through the sky so quickly, I knew it’d catch her long before she’d reach the portal.

  “No!” I cried, initializing my teleport before I even realized what I was doing. All I knew was that it couldn’t have Gwen. I wanted her, needed her, and what’s more. She was mine! It could not have what was mine! That was unacceptable.

  As the ravager hurtled through the sky, I reappeared right in front of it and drove my sword right into the center of its milky chest eyes. The creature screamed as my blade sank into its flesh. The sound was enough to rattle my brain as I twisted my sword while unleashing another sapphire blast that blew through the creature and ripped out its back.

  That’s when it hit me. One massive tentacle smashed into me, tearing my hands from the sword embedded into it and sending me flying. As I tumbled through the air, it turned and hurled a massive purple fireball at me. I threw my arms up, trying to both block the attack and teleport to safety, but it was too quick and too close. The attack smashed into me with enough force to shatter my armor into ethereal shards. Agony exploded through me as I careened backward through the night sky, darkness encroaching on my vision.

  My Merciless Greaves of Wrath flared as I plummeted downward, magnifying the power of the attack by sevenfold before throwing it back into the ravager. A slash of crimson power struck the beast, knocking it back as it reached for Gwen. Its tentacles barely missed her as she reached the portal.

  “Idiot!” Mammon hissed as she caught me. “What do you think you were doing? You could have gotten killed.”

  “You said she needed to reach the portal,” I wheezed, barely able to catch my breath as Gwen reached out, touching the bindings holding the portal in place.

  The spark inside me flared, sucking the breath from my lungs. The whole of the sky erupted in shades of purple as my mind splintered into need. The next thing I knew, Mammon’s lips were locked on mine as a wave of crackling lust exploded across the horizon.

  The ravager screamed, lavender fissures erupting across the whole of its body as it reached out toward Gwen with one burning claw. Only, as it reached her, Gwen spun. Except it wasn’t Gwen as much as it was something else. Whoever this was looked like Gwen, but the power coming off of her was nearly indescribable. It rolled off her in lavender waves, and as her power hit us, Mammon moaned into my mouth.

  “You don’t get what’s ours,” Gwen said in a voice that was both hers and not hers. Purple sparks leapt through the air as she held out a hand toward the ravager. I half-expected flame to pour from her outstretched fingers, for hellfire to light the sky, but instead, energy ripped out of the ravager with a thunder crack. The portal overhead exploded, sending shimmering sparks raining down over the desolate tundra.

  The portal above us ripped open, revealing the Darkness’s lands. Whatever Gwen had done might have torn the power out of the ravager, but it had also opened the portal the magic had kept sealed. I could see what looked like millions of creatures within the breach. As they rushed toward the rift, intent on coming into our world, I felt the spot in my chest go superheated one more. The energy from my three armaments surged into the mass in my chest, causing silver, red, and emerald sparks to dance around Gwen.

  The ravager howled, its teeth gnashing as its lavender wings shattered into ethereal shards. It fell, plummeting out of the sky and slamming into the ground far below. Its body exploded like a bag of black paint, causing the portal to snap shut before the creatures could rip themselves free of the void beyond.

  “Gwen, what’d you do?” I asked, and as my words left my lips, she absorbed the purple ball of crackling energy she’d pulled from the ravager.

  “I’m not Gwen,” she said, cocking her head to look at me and there was only a flicker of recognition in her eyes. “Well, not entirely anymore. She is as much me as I am her.” She smiled, and that look was enough to make me forget the woman running her hands over my body and reach out toward her, but what’s more, Mammon did the same.

  “Asmodai,” Mammon moaned, her head snaking past me as she reached toward Gwen. “Is it really you?”

  “Yes, Mammon. It is I.” She licked her lips as she landed beside us. The wind whipped by her, sending her hair crashing down across her shoulders in a wave. Then she met my eyes with a gaze that made visions of her writhing naked beneath me filled my head “It is a pleasure to meet you, Builder. I’m sure we will get to know each other splendidly.” As she reached out to me, her eyes flickered with purple energy and then it was just Gwen staring at me.

  “Gwen?” I asked, still reaching out toward her as her legs faltered, and she collapsed.

  23

  “Is she going to be okay?” I asked, standing over Gwen. We had moved her near the fire Mina had made beside the tent. Both Annabeth and Mina had witnessed the battle overhead, and by the time we’d carried Gwen the short distance from where she had fallen, they had made a bed for her within the tent.

  “She’ll be okay,” Mammon said, looking at me and putting a calming hand on my shoulder. “We just need to let her rest and regain as much power as she can from this place.” She inhaled sharply. “Asmodai’s energy still permeates this place, and she’ll need as much of it as possible to become a proper host.”

  “What do you mean by a proper host?” I glared at the Archangel of Greed and hoped she hadn’t just fucked over Gwen. “If she’s hurt—”

  “Your friend isn’t hurt,” Sathanus said, looking up from her mug of dwarven tea and speaking for the first time since we’d brought Gwen into the tent. She was seated to our left, beside where Leviathan lay unconscious on a cot. The goblin hadn’t woken yet, and to be honest, I was sort of worried about what would happen when she did.

  “If she isn’t hurt, why is her breathing shallow?” I pointed at Gwen, feeling pissed off, responsible, and betrayed all at the same time. While I wanted to believe them, the Archangels had never quite been on the up and up. “She’s unconscious for fuck’s sake.”

  “Her body is merely acclimating to Asmodai’s power. Your friend is becoming the new Archangel of Lust. This will take time.” Sathanus shrugged. “It’s better this way. I don’t know if you’ve met Asmodai before, but trust me, you do not want to.” She shivered. “I’m sure your friend will be a much more reasonable steward to the power.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but either way, that made me more concerned than ever for Gwen. What if she died or lost control?

  “What if it’s not okay?” I whispered, touching Gwen’s hand. Her skin was feverish to the touch, and though I could feel the throb of her power in my chest, it felt different from before. Not worse, per se, but different.

  “Then we will all mourn the loss of Gwen.” Mammon looked at me, and I could tell she was upset, which was surprising. It was pretty much the only thing that kept me from screaming at her. “While I wasn’t terribly fond of Asmodai because she once made me drop masturbate in front of a crowd of strangers, I will try my best to make it work. You should too.” She exhaled sharply. “Believe me when I say I want Gwen to be okay.”

  “She has a good shot,” Sathanus interrupted, one hand stroking her beard as she stared at the ceiling in thought. “It is her body after all, and Asmodai’s essence is weak after all this time. She may have t
aken control, but it faded fast. I suspect that while we’ll see some amalgamation of them both, it will be more Gwen than not.”

  “Maybe we should do something else,” Annabeth said before I could say anything. “We can’t move Gwen until she’s woken up, and Arthur also can’t leave because they’re tied together, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do something to take our minds off worrying.” She met my eyes. “We still need more metal for Clarent, right? Perhaps you should busy yourself with that. Mammon can come get you if something changes. You won’t be too far.”

  “Never thought I’d say that about mining this crater at dark, but count me in,” Mina said, getting to her feet and coming toward me.

  “I can’t do that,” I said, swallowing hard. “I don’t want to leave her side.”

  Mammon put her hand on my shoulder. “It is best if you do. I will come get you.” She met my eyes. “I promise.”

  “Besides, if she wakes up and goes on a murderous rampage, it’ll be best if you’re not here.” She smiled at me. “That you can count on.”

  “What about Leviathan?” I asked, looking at the unconscious goblin. “What if she wakes up and does the same?” I looked at the tent. “They are only about ten feet apart.”

  “I’ll watch over Levi,” Sathanus said, patting the goblin’s head. “If she so much as looks at one of us cross-eyed, I’ll teleport her away, but I think the fresh air might do her good. She’s always been sort of out of sight out of mind. Why I’d not be surprised if she forgot all about her hoard.”

  As I looked around the room, I realized I wasn’t going to win. Every last one of the girls was giving me the “go away” look, and as much as I wanted to argue with them, I didn’t see the point. They had it under control, and they didn’t want me here. Part of me was angry I let Mina take my hand and lead me outside, but I did anyway.

  “They’re right, you know,” Mina said when we were outside in the frozen tundra. “Sitting there will just make you worry more. This way, at least you can pass the time doing something else.” She huffed out a breath. “Sometimes distraction is all we can hope for.”

  “Unless this is the last time I get to see her,” I murmured, wishing I’d had more of a chance to talk to her, to tell her how I felt. This? This felt almost like when I got a call saying my parents were dead. No chance to say goodbye, nothing. If Gwen didn’t wake up and Asmodai took her place, I knew I’d never forgive myself. “It just always felt like we had more time.”

  “It always does,” Mina said, leading me toward the spot where I’d tried to pull the Red Steel from the ground when the creature had attacked. The marker had been disturbed, but I could still see the spot thanks to the tooltip. “Now, do something else.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Or by my grandmother’s silky beard, I’ll whip you for being such a sissy.”

  “Right, sure,” I said, raising my hands toward the Red Steel. As I did, I wondered what would have happened if I’d broken them like I had my ethereal armor. Would I have to remake them? Was that even possible? What about the belt and greaves? Would I have to remake them too?

  I pushed the thought out of my head and concentrated while Mina pulled out her pipe and began to smoke. Getting my head in the game was hard because I kept thinking about Gwen, but I did my best. This chunk of Red Steel wasn’t as deep as the others, but because of my distraction, it took me a long time to grab onto it with my magic. I tried using the method I had before for extraction, but it didn’t seem to work. Instead of pushing the Red Steel up through the earth, it seemed to be keeping it in place.

  “Something is wrong.” I shook my head. “Every time I try to push it up, it’s like the earth just passes through it. Worse, it’s like there isn’t much to grab onto.” I tugged on it with my power to no avail. “I can’t just pull it free either.”

  “Interesting,” Mina said, stroking her beard. “Have you tried getting it like you did with the spider ore? When you did that one, you said something similar?”

  “Hmm, no. Let me try that.” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, mentally scrolling through the techniques I’d used in the past and cycling through all of them. None seemed to work at all.

  “Well?” Mina asked, pulling her pipe from her mouth and blowing a smoke ring into the air. “Is it working?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “They’re all not working in different ways.” I sighed, shutting my eyes and concentrating on the ore down below. It was a mixture of Stygian Iron and Red Steel, but as I focused on it, I felt something else. My breath caught in my throat. I knew what that something else was. Dark Blood.

  Only how could that be?

  I looked around quickly. “Say, did we ever get the dark blood from the dead ravager?”

  “No. I looked for a bit but couldn’t find it.” Mina shrugged. “I just assumed it shattered in the fall.”

  “Or maybe that didn’t happen at all,” I said, thinking back to when the ravager had appeared. It had happened as I’d tried to pull this bit of Red Steel from the ground. Was it connected? And if so, why?

  I reached down, trailing my fingers along the hilt of my sword. It had been imbued with the powers of dark blood, and as I did it, I knew I was right. There was dark blood power in this ore. Only that wasn’t all that was there. I shut my eyes and reached out once more, trying to get a feel for its shape in my mind.

  “Why can’t I get a handle on its shape?” I murmured, opening my eyes, but as I did, I found time had stopped. Snowflakes hung in the air and the smoke trailing from Mina’s pipe had frozen in place.

  “You think you are worthy?” Asmodai asked, and as I turned toward the sound of it, I found myself staring at a woman who looked similar to Gwen. Instead of having raven locks she was a redhead, and her eyes were as blue as the ocean, but otherwise? Otherwise, they were the same. “What makes you think so?”

  “How are you here?” I asked, taking a step forward and trying to keep from yelling at her. “I thought you were busy trying to take over my friend’s body?”

  “I’m not really here. I’m in your head.” She poked my forehead, causing her finger to phase through my skull. I didn’t feel her touch, so much as I felt a bit of warmth on my flesh.

  “That doesn’t answer my question,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “I am not trying to take over your friend. That isn’t possible.” She shook her head. “I am letting her have my power, and once that is done, I will be free of this fight and this world.” She met my eyes. “You have no idea how much I am looking forward to oblivion, assuming that is what is in store for me.” She touched her chin. “Where do we go when we die?” Her lips curled into a wry smile. “Maybe I’ll meet my maker.”

  “Wait. You’re just giving up?” shock, surprise, and a little bit of relief washing over me in waves. If what she said was true, maybe Gwen would be okay, maybe I’d have another chance to tell her how I felt. If that were true, I’d not waste it.

  “More like passing the torch.” She touched my chest with her finger. “I’ll always be here.” Her hand trailed down toward my crotch. “And most especially here.” She tittered. “Anyway, the reason you cannot pull my ring from the ground is because I have not marked you.” She smirked and placed her palm on my chest where the blaze of heat connecting me to Gwen burned.

  “Wait, that is your ring?” I asked, turning my attention back to the tooltip for the ore. It had changed. No longer were there the separate boxes for the Stygian Iron and the Red Steel. Instead, there was a new one.

  Uncontrollable Binding of Lust

  Material Type: metal (various)

  Grade: S

  Depth: 3,464 meters

  Difficulty: 7

  Proficiency: 10/100

  Overall Proficiency: 12/100

  The Armament forged by the Archangel of Lust.

  “It is my ring. I wore it on my finger.” She extended her hand toward me, and I saw a ring sat there. It had a band of Red steel with another of Stygian
Iron woven around it. In the center where a gem would normally be was a pulsing crystal of refined Dark Blood. “When I was swallowed by that horrible ravager, I used the last of my power to bind it to this place, to make it so it could not be free to roam with my power.” She shook her head. “We would have remained like that, locked in our own little purgatory if you hadn’t disturbed my resting place.” She smiled. “I am glad you did though. Otherwise, I’d have not met you.”

  “You are glad to have met me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “Why is that?”

  “Because you are a lover and a fighter.” She smirked. “So many are one or the other and half more are cowards.” She shook her head. “I do not think you are a coward though, not after what you did to stop the ravager.” She cast her gaze around the crater, and for a second she looked like she would say more. Only, before she could, she winced, and her ethereal form began to fade. “We do not have time for that though. My tenuous link to this plane is all but gone now.” She touched my chest again. “I must mark you before it’s too late. Then you will be able to recall my ring.”

  I wanted to ask her how she could do that, but all I wound up doing was nodding to the red-haired archangel. “Do it.”

  She nodded, biting her lip as the purple energy surrounding her form traveled up her body and into her outstretched hand. Then I felt it pulse along my flesh like warm bathwater. It wormed into me, warming me from the inside out, and as it did, Asmodai began to fade away. “Good luck, Builder.” She winked at me. “Get loads of ass for me.”

  Then, with that, she was gone, leaving me standing there in the frozen tundra.

  “Well, you going to try again?” Mina asked, and as I turned toward her, the dwarf’s eyes went wide. “Where did you get that?” She pointed, and I looked down to see a ring resting in the palm of my hand just like the one Asmodai has been wearing.

  “I, um,” I said, trying to figure out how to explain it when I saw Annabeth tear out of the tent and wave to me. The spark in my chest pulsed once more, and as I headed back toward the tent, I knew one thing to be true. Gwen was awake.