Uleni's Gamble

by D. R. Rosier

  *

  Nora watched as the battle became one sided. Earth exploded, people were set on fire, air split people in two. Weapons rose off of the fallen to impale soldiers. But it was all one sided now. A handful of enemy soldiers started scaling up one of the hills, and she sent an air bullet after each one, taking them down. The battle was over, the slaughter was beginning.

  She was impressed with Nicole’s new handle on her talent. She had wondered what ten fire attacks would really do against thousands, but she could still see the birds moving from soldier to soldier, killing ten at a time every couple of seconds. There were a number of ways to stop fire of course, but without access to their talents, the enemy’s only choice was to burn.

  Sally, not to be outdone, had created a wicked funnel cloud, that was on fire. A deadly fire storm. She was killing so many and so quickly Nora couldn’t help but be a little awed by their witch. She smiled at that, they had all started calling her a witch, but with teasing affection instead of the hateful usage of their enemy.

  Still, the faster the battle was over, the better. Their soldiers were still dying by the sword, and by arrows as the enemy desperately fought against the odds.

  She decided they had planned well, and Anton had done a good job. She estimated they will have lost only five hundred of their six thousand soldiers when this was finished. An impossible thirty to one in losses as she watched the last of the enemy be slaughtered.

  The silence on the battlefield was profound, and she understood why. This may have started as a battle, but it ended as a simple extermination, no one had the heart to celebrate that. She stayed by Justin’s side as he healed any troops injured but not dead.

  *

  Ross growled as he looked down at the dead travel mage. The fool who had promised him the Flame was dead. All he had left was his command staff, they had been far enough back to avoid the trap, and even now needed to make for the safety of their border. He had five thousand troops left in the kingdom, there would be no invasion, he needed every one of them in case of counter attack.

  At first, when the enemy had stopped a mere two miles from the city walls, he was ecstatic and ordered the attack. When the trap was sprung, and the enemy held their ground, he though it a last ditch effort at defense. He should have known something was up, but he ignored the trap, letting their earth talents and mages attack the enemy, instead of preparing an escape route that he never considered he might have needed.

  He still couldn’t believe the Flame of Cytherea was alive, the loss of fifteen thousand troops in so short a time shocked him. His anger had grown out of control and he had killed the travel mage.

  As he started the long run to the border, he realized he made another mistake in anger. He should have killed the fool mage after he brought them back to Uleni. Travel mages couldn’t handle many extra people, but moving him and the five others should have been safe enough. He wondered if Riese would have him killed, despite the fact it had been Riese that accepted the faulty intelligence and ordered the attack.

  He had no doubt someone would pay for this mistake. He sighed, and sent one of the remaining men ahead. Not as fast as a travel mage, but with the air talent word of their failure and what happened would reach the king and Riese in mere hours, instead of the few days it would take him to return.

  *

  Nicole understood why, but it still annoyed her. Her brother had ignored her completely on the field after the battle. He could not acknowledge her while she was banished from her family, not in public at least. She had half a mind to go knock some sense into her father, but she knew that would only make things worse.

  They only travelled about a mile south before the stench of battle cleared the air and they made camp for lunch.

  “So what next? Do we go home? Or do we need to go spank a king?”

  She was thinking of her father when she said that, but she meant the Uleni one.

  Justin said, “Depends,” he looked at Trina and asked, “Will they come after us now that their plans are broken?”

  Trina frowned. “Not for revenge, they want more power, not to squander it on a useless cause. But if they plan to raise another army and try again…”

  Nora blew out a breath, “Let’s wait and see what they do. If they send another team, we remove the king and hope that serves as an example for the next one. It would be ironic if the king had given up, and we put another on the throne that still wants to invade. I say the next move is theirs.”

  She gave it some thought and said, “I agree with Nora. Let’s go home.”

  *

  Sally watched as Trina and Sara walked closely side by side. Both smiling about something. She was not surprised the assassin was coming back with them. Trina was still closed off and just short of haughty with the rest of them, but with Sara she was a kitten. No, it was obvious why she was stayed, but it concerned her. Still, Sara seemed to be opening up, and they all loved Sara, so no one wanted to rock the boat. She just hoped they wouldn’t regret it.

  They didn’t bother to move at speed, home was just a couple of hours away at a sedate walk. They would be home in plenty of time to get dinner on the table at a decent time. She was the last of the intended mates, all the others now mates. Not counting the love she saw growing between Sara and Justin, but they were kept apart for now. She wondered when he would ask her?

  She grinned, maybe she would have to ask him like last time, but she dismissed the idea. It was actually good he was leaving a day or two between them. It was tradition for mates to spend their joining day alone with each other every year on the same day. That would be hard to do if he had asked them all on one day.

  Thinking of that gave her an idea and walked closer to Nora and took her hand.

  When Nora looked at her questioningly she said, “It is my turn tonight, why don’t we swap, you should have his attentions tonight. I will wait for the morrow.”

  Nora grinned and asked, “Are you sure?”

  She said, “Of course, you are mated today, I would feel guilty though I have the right. I love you my sister, it will make me happy to do this. I can wait.”

  It was the least she could do for them…

  Chapter 7

  Mage Riese was beyond enraged when the news reached him. He was angry at the spies, but he was even angrier with the Flame of Cytherea, and Cytherea herself. It was her fault, she created the young fool who had thwarted years of careful planning. He was angry, cursed with a woman goddess. It would take years to recover those military numbers.

  He growled in disgust. He knew what he had to do, he made his way to the royal vaults. He had no time for stupid questions so he put the guards to sleep as the door opened to his magic and he strode through. He ignored the gold and jewels, walking to the back wall he struck out with the raw power of magic and felt the old wards snap under his attack.

  The wall melted away to his will, and he stepped in the room that was sealed and hidden, and only known to a few. Ironically his primary job as mage advisor to the king was to keep this room safe, undisturbed and hidden. But it would now be his salvation as he looked upon the books kept here.

  He drew one down from the shelves and started studying through glazed eyes. He never once questioned if what he was doing was wise or right, the insane never do.

  *

  King Talmon woke with a start and his eyes widened. The wards for the hidden library filled with forbidden knowledge had been broken. When he was crowned king, all the wards in the castle were tied to him, one of the reasons all kings in Uleni were mages. It had been his duty to recharge the wards. Who would be insane enough to break into the hidden knowledge?

  It had to be Riese, he was the only other that knew the location, what the fuck was he thinking? He got up, gathered some guards and ran for the vault. When they arrived he found Riese pouring over one of the forbidden texts.

  “What are you doing Riese?” he asked carefully.

  Riese said, “That stupid bitch of a godd
ess and the cursed Flame destroyed our invading army. The answer to ruling the continent is in here, can’t trust a woman.” Riese laughed and it sounded unbalanced.

  He motioned his guards to take Riese and said to distract him, “But Riese, the dark god is not an answer. He will destroy our world.”

  Riese made a dismissive sound. “Those men were fools, summoning the enemy of the gods. I am not doing that, I am trying to invite one of the other gods. They are no more evil than the bitch we worship now.”

  When he saw the soldiers collapse between them, he reached for his magic and tried to subdue the now insane Riese, the failure of their invasion had clearly made him go crazy.

  When he reached out with his magic, Riese did something he had never seen before. It locked onto his magic and started draining his power. He opened his mouth to demand Riese stop, but his throat was dry and parched. He looked down at his hands in horror, they were desiccating before his eyes. Shortly after, King Talmon of Uleni was no more.

  *

  Justin was hiding in the kitchen. He just couldn’t believe it. All the rooms were booked, and the main room was full and boisterous. As they ate and left, more people came out endlessly from tents situated in a field close to the tavern. Word of him still being alive had spread like wildfire, along with the accounts of the battle.

  He was hiding because everyone was there to see him, it was disconcerting. He had worked the room, all of them had been with how busy it was. But for him it was impossible to get across the room without ten manly slaps on the back accompanied by a thank you, and a number of flirty brushes from women’s asses or breasts, along with some offers of more.

  Nora snickered when she saw him and said, “Didn’t I tell you to get the fuck over that?”

  He opened his mouth to tell her about the disturbingly forward and extremely hot twins that kept offering to share his bed, together, and exactly what they offered to do to him, and to each other as he watched. But he decided maybe he shouldn’t mention that part. He wouldn’t sleep around on his mates, not casually, but he admitted to himself he had been extremely tempted by their offer.

  He was mated to four incredibly beautiful and strong women who he was happy with, happier than anyone had a right to be, but he was still just eighteen and his body didn’t hold the same ideals as his mind. Hiding helped him not do something incredibly stupid.

  He shrugged. “I sort of got over being the hero thing, but this is something else altogether.”

  Despite not telling her, she seemed to catch on because she said, “Fine, I’ll stay with you and warn off the sluts, but you can’t hide back here, they are all here to see you. The sooner they get a chance to see you, even say a few words, things will calm down a little.”

  “Alright, I can do that. Thanks Nora.”

  She looked at him questioningly and said, “For what?”

  He snorted, “For only making fun of me a little bit of course.”

  For the rest of the night, the ladies took turns sitting with him, except Kat, she sat on his lap, though for once she was good. Mostly. He was sure that was more about him not being able to chase after her without being rude than the large audience.

  Some of the woman still flirted when they came over to say high and thank you, but it was much more subtle and flirty, as opposed to the bald and descriptive way it was happening earlier when they cornered him alone. Still, he was trying not to let all the attention go to his head, thinking of his old world, this was probably just his fifteen minutes of fame as everyone was thankful they weren’t under Uleni’s thumb. At least, he hoped that’s what it was.

  He figured out that it wouldn’t go to his head halfway through the second day, because he was dreadfully bored. He was getting tired of sitting there, but suffered through it for the sake of the people that came by.

  To his surprise Sara had joined him for a shift, and she was holding his hand. He tried not to read into that too much and tried to remain patient. He was okay with however their relationship progressed, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t attracted to her. He wanted to touch her shiny strawberry blonde hair, and kiss her sexy full lips. He saw her blush, and realized what she was probably reading from him and focused back on the people coming up to him.

  It was a long few days, and he was stuck in the spotlight so much he barely got to spend time with his mates, which was starting to bother him more than a little bit. Luckily it died off a bunch. People were still coming, but in smaller numbers, and he made it a habit to just be open during his meal times, and maybe eat a bit slower, but otherwise he ignored it and got back to his normal routine.

  He had four mates, one of those intended, and one more potential, to woo after all, that kind of thing took time and effort.

  *

  Sara’s lips were slightly parted as she mewled into her pillow. She couldn’t ever remember having an orgasm that hard in her life. She just lay there breathing heavily, her oversensitive clit now hovering over her soaked fingertips. She had no idea it could be so intense, and now she wanted Justin even more, although she didn’t think she was ready for that.

  Not only that, but he wasn’t the only one she had fantasized about. She was still confused about Trina a little, but she had to admit now, that she was attracted to her. The problem was, she was just a little bit intense and scary at times. Trina had never been that way with her, but she had seen the potential for it in the way Trina regarded the others.

  Not that she had any right to judge.

  The origin of her amazing orgasm had started a couple of days ago, Trina had made a suggestion.

  “You really need to know that pleasure is okay, it isn’t supposed to be mixed up with guilt and fear like it was for us. I know you tune out when the others are bedding Justin, you should try to stay connected just once, see how it feels.”

  She was of course, completely against the idea, it would be an invasion of privacy. It would feel wrong to her, which would invalidate the point of doing it completely. But over the last couple of days, she had come up with a way of satisfying that objection, and she knew just the woman who would say yes.

  She knew Katrina was an exhibitionist of sorts, so she approached her with the idea, hoping Katrina would be okay with her reading her during sex, just her. She had expected the yes, wasn’t surprised at all, what she hadn’t been expecting was the very large attending surge of lust and excitement. She was almost sure with another minute or so, she could talk Katrina into letting her watch from across the room too.

  She didn’t want to do that though, so she just said thanks. She almost giggled when Katrina hugged her, as if it was her doing the favor and not the other way around. So there she was about an hour ago, lying on the bed, connected to Katrina.

  She had felt Katrina’s rise to bliss, and it had turned her on a lot. She was wet and her velvety folds were swollen and ready. When Katrina started rising again, she couldn’t help it as her hands started to roam her body, eventually she found herself slipping two fingers inside herself while she used the fingertips of her other hand to alternatively tease her clit and nipples.

  That’s when she had started to fantasize about Justin’s length entering and filling her needy body, and shortly after she had wondered what it would feel like to have Trina’s fingers and tongue where her fingers were.

  So there she was now, as she came down from the most mind bending pleasurable experience of her life, something she could not have achieved alone, without sharing the pleasure of Katrina.

  When she felt Katrina start to rise again, she considered cutting off the connection. After all, her little experiment was proven a success. On second thought, as she teasingly ran her finger along her slit, she didn’t want to let Katrina down…

  *

  Riese had been studying for days, and he knew exactly what god he wanted to connect to. One that would help him conquer and rule all three lands. Perhaps eventually even take to the ocean and search for more lands. He frowned, the smell was sta
rting to get bad. He opened the floor up, swallowing the bodies of thirty guards and one overbearing but finally out of his way whelp king.

  Every once in a while a new squad came down to try and stop him, but he was too strong for the fools. They would see, everyone would see. He raised a stone altar right out of the ground and picked up a hammer and chisel. This would take time, the runes could not be done with magic. He smiled in anticipation as he started chiseling into the stone, slowly, so he did not make a mistake.

  *

  Justin woke from a dead sleep with the feeling something was wrong. He reached a hand up and touched his lips. The tingle was familiar, it took him a moment to remember it felt the same when he first awoke on this world. He got up, got dressed and walked out into the kitchen. It was strange, and he felt like he should know why he felt this way. He heard feet shuffling into the kitchen from the common room, and looked up into Sara’s piercing green eyes.

  She asked, “What is it?” as she looked around.

  He grimaced, “Did I wake you up?”

  She shrugged. “Not your fault, my power has been active while I sleep for a while because… Just because,” she looked away.

  He nodded, getting it right away. But he didn’t have a clue why he felt the way he did. He heard a loud knock on the front door. Sara followed him as he made his way to the front of the tavern. He was a little on edge, so he was ready to turn on his talent in an instant as he opened the door. It was Reg, the king’s spy.

  Reg said, “I am sorry to disturb you, but the king needs to see you immediately.”

  He asked, “Why? It’s the middle of the night.” Then he remembered his feelings, and he knew they had to go now. He didn’t understand why, but he felt it. “Never mind, give me a few minutes.”

  As he moved to wake the ladies, he asked Sara, “Would you see if Trina wants to join us, you are coming right?”

  She simply nodded and moved for the stairs as he woke the ladies. They objected at first, trying to put it off until morning, but finally relented when they saw how serious he was about it. It didn’t help, that he couldn’t tell them why he felt it was so urgent.