Voidhawk - Redemption

by Jason Halstead

  When Phigellus finished casting it took a long time before the smoke began to clear and leave the fury standing before them. Rosh gasped and pointed as soon as he saw the still bleeding wound on her belly.

  “I am bound to service by another, wizard,” Volera snapped at him. “I-”

  “How come you ain’t healed?” Rosh interrupted her. Volera turned to stare at him and dropped her head in submission.

  “I cannot heal this wound from your blade, Master,” she said. “Only you can grant me the release from it.”

  “What? I’ve never heard of a demon being unable to heal a wound their Master’s gave them?” Phigellus asked her.

  She ignored him and stared only at Rosh’s feet. Phigellus sighed. “Rosh, ask her my question please.”

  Rosh repeated it and she looked up at him. “It is your blade, Master, the metal hurts my kind. We can’t repair the wound without release to do so.”

  “Wait a minute,” Rosh said, turning to Phigellus. “I’m her Master? How’d that happen?”

  “You defeated me,” she said.

  “Yes,” Phigellus repeated. “You defeated her. There is an ancient clause in the contracts between wizards and demons. They are bound to service to those that summon them so long as the contracts are not broken. A contract is broken if a wizard asks a demon to do something it cannot do.”

  “What was you asked to do?” Rosh asked her.

  “I cannot tell you the terms of another contract,” she said.

  Rosh snarled. “Watch out wizard, I’m going to stab her again.”

  Volera stared at him and shook her head. “Please Master, it is our way. I cannot undo it.”

  “I’ve never seen Volera so… submissive,” Phigellus commented, staring at her in awe. “Even when I’ve summoned her and been her master in the past she has been much more volatile.”

  “Gotta know how to handle your women,” Rosh said, drawing a bark of laughter from the wizard. Volera remained quiet.

  “Rosh, ask her who ordered her to kill the King and the Queen,” Phigellus said after a moment of thought.

  Rosh repeated the question, feeling foolish since she had obviously heard the wizard. Still, he was dealing in the realm of magic and what made sense clearly did not apply here.

  “I cannot share that with anyone save he who bound me,” she said again.

  Another oath exploded from Rosh’s mouth. “What can you tell us?” He asked her.

  “I can tell you a great many things,” she offered without any hint of guile.

  Rosh’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  “Be wary, Rosh, speak the wrong thing and you may release her from your service,” he advised. “Ask her for proof that you did not murder the King and the Queen.”

  Rosh turned to her, glaring and making her shrink back with his gaze alone. “Show the wizard proof that I had nothing to do with the King and Queen being getting killed!”

  She nodded and turned to Phigellus. “My minions attacked King Peter and Queen Corina on my command. I was ordered to have them and Rosh killed, and to pin their murder on him.”

  “What!” Rosh burst out, taking a step towards her.

  “Rosh! Don’t break the circle!” Phigellus cried out.

  Too late, Rosh stepped across it and broke the magical protection it afforded. Phigellus cried out in anguish and hurried to enact another spell. Volera stared at Rosh as he stormed up to her and, moments before he reached her, she slumped down to a knee in front of him. “I am yours to do with as you wish, Master,” she said calmly.

  Rosh towered above her, hands clenched into mighty fists. He stared at her, the rage slowly passing. “How long you gonna do what I tell you?” He growled at her.

  “Until you release me from your service,” she said, still staring down.

  “Look at me!” Rosh snapped. She instantly shifted her head up to stare at him. Before he had felt drawn into the abyssal depths of her black eyes but now he saw her terror in them.

  “You don’t like this, do you?” He asked her.

  “No, Master.”

  Rosh chuckled. “Vengeance don’t taste so good when you’re the one eating it.”

  “I’ve never seen a Fury like this,” Phigellus said behind them. He anxiously came out from where he had enacted a protective shield and stared at the two of them.

  “Why?” Rosh asked her. “Why you acting like this?”

  “It is a law we are bound by,” she said after a moment of thought.

  Rosh thought it odd, how it took her some time to respond, but he figured it had to do with the crazy rules and laws thing the wizard had mentioned. “You stay with me unless I tell you otherwise then,” he said to her. “Can you lose the wings and the horns?”

  Volera shuddered and nodded, then stood up a moment later looking like a beautiful human woman in all ways except for her eyes.

  “The eyes?” Rosh asked.

  “I cannot change them,” she said.

  Rosh grunted. “Take care of the wound in your belly.”

  It faded before his eyes, a sight that would have been far more impressive had he not witnessed it on himself hundreds of times. “Lose the demon clothes.”

  Her corset dissolved in a mist of black smoke, leaving behind her nude body for Rosh’s ogling pleasures. He stared, amazed at how flawless and beautiful she was. Her otherworldly nature was clearly evident in the lack of any flaws or hints of sag in her ridiculously proportioned body. Phigellus gasped behind him.

  “I meant normal clothes,” Rosh said in a hurry. He chuckled and blew out an appreciative whistle. “Not that I didn’t like what I saw!”

  The black smoke swirled around her again, leaving her clad in breeches and a simple peasants shirt that displayed ample amounts of cleavage. Rosh chuckled at that outfit as well, but was at least able to think clearly with her in it.

  “Well wizard, what’s next?” Rosh asked. “You got your proof, right?”

  “Aye, I do,” he said.

  “That Prince, Sinjin… I got a hunch he’s behind this. I ain’t had a nice feeling about him since I been here..”

  Phigellus sighed deeply. “Indeed. Well, we shall see what happens. The Kingdom does need a King, after all.”

  Rosh scowled. “You tell him I ever see him again and I’ll be returning that dagger blow he gave me earlier.”

  Phigellus paled, but nodded. “You’re leaving us then?”

  Rosh laughed. “Wizard, I already left.”

  Rosh turned and moved to the door. He threw open the bar and opened the doors, then walked out with Volera following closely behind. The guards gasped and stammered as they saw her, then realized they were supposed to stay with Rosh. It wasn’t until Phigellus calmed them down and called them off that they finally left the two alone.

  Chapter 3

  “I didn’t figure you for the silent type,” Rosh observed.

  Volera said nothing, she simply plodded along behind him quietly as he walked down the road that led to the southeast. It was many leagues distant, but Rosh knew he would get there no quicker by complaining about it. His goal was Conmora, the void-port. If all went well he expected a month or two of travel and they would be there. Based on the weight of his coin purse, it might take longer while he found work along the way.

  “You get cold at night?” Rosh asked her, trying again to spark up a conversation.

  “Temperatures do not affect me, Master,” she replied.

  Rosh nodded. “I could toss you in a campfire and you’d be fine?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  He stopped and turned on her, making her pull up abruptly. She betrayed a flash of surprise and fear on her face, then her features went blank again.

  “What is it?” He demanded. “Why you acting so lifeless? You ain’t no better than a tree to me, acting like this.”

  “How would you like me to act, Master?” Volera asked him, further infuriating him.

  Rosh muttered a few unkind phrases under his b
reath before he unclenched his fists and felt he could address her calmly again. “You was a pain in the ass when I first met you, but you had a personality about you then. Where’d that go?”

  “You defeated me, Master. I am yours to mold as you wish.”

  “What the void does that mean?” Rosh snarled at her.

  She looked at him for a moment, looking as though she was trying to decide what to say. “Master, the times a fury has been defeated in battle by a single opponent can be counted on one hand. In the arts of seduction no fury has ever been defeated.”

  Rosh chuckled at that and eyed her pleasing display of cleavage. “Sounds like a challenge.”

  “You’ve already bested me, Master, I cannot provide such a challenge for you now unless you were to command me.”

  “Command you to give me a good time? That don’t sound so bad,” he said, thinking fond thoughts.

  “A fury can give pleasure such as a mortal man has never experienced. So much that they give themselves to us fully, mind, body, and soul.”

  “Oh!” Rosh scowled. “All right, go on.”

  “I am bound to you until you release me. You caused my prior contract to break by defeating me, and bound me to your service,” she said.

  Rosh waved his hand. “I got all that, I want to know why you’re as interesting as a water run between desert moons.”

  She looked at him, confused as to his allusion. “Means there ain’t nothing fun or exciting about hauling water a short distance to a place that dry. Wages ain’t no good neither.”

  She nodded understanding, though Rosh wondered if she meant it. So many of the people of the world he was on had no idea of the void above them. “You know much about sailing the void?”

  “I have existed for centuries, Master. I have been summoned on many worlds and many places. This world, the void, even other dimensions. There may be many worlds and dimensions were beings exist, but there is only one realm my kind call home. It has many names, but they all point to the same place.”

  “Hell?” Rosh asked.

  She nodded. “Hell, the abyss, the underworld, and many others.”

  Rosh grunted. “Back to you, why should I keep you with me rather than cut your head off and leave you dead?”

  She bowed her head. “I can teach you anything you would ask of me, Master. I can help you with tasks you assign me. I can guard you while you sleep. There are few limits to the things I can do.”

  “I get it now,” Rosh muttered. “That’s why Dex always pissing an moaned about ‘Shira.”

  “Master?” Volera asked, confused as to what he was talking about.

  “Keshira was a pleasure golem. She got bonded to Dexter, the Captain of the Voidhawk. Last ship I served on,” Dexter said. “She wasn’t real, just a walking talking broom that was plenty strong and good at tending the rigging.”

  “I know of pleasure golems,” Volera said. “They have souls that were captured and tied to a new form. The strength of their bond with their masters and how their creators made them determines their personality.”

  Rosh grunted. “Keshira didn’t have much. Some, but she kept it hid mostly. I worked with her, I got to know her as good as anyone. What’s your excuse?”

  Volera stared at him. “Master, it is up to you. I am yours to define. You need only tell me what it is you wish of me.”

  Rosh stared at her, his anger rising again. He raised a fist and saw Volera flinch slightly, but she held her ground. Disgusted he lowered his hand and shook his head. “I’m talking to a damn rock,” he muttered.

  “Master, if I don’t please you, correct me.”

  Rosh turned back to her, staring hard. “You want me to hit you? Punish you? Discipline? I don’t hit women unless they do something stupid like swing a whip or a sword at me.”

  “You may do as you wish, Master. I am a Fury; I am skilled in the arts of carnality and in the arts of battle. I feel through others, those I lay with or those I defeat in battle. We crave sensation as much as we crave the energy of our victims and their souls. If you do something that fills you with joy, I will feel your joy as my own. If you are filled with hate, I feel that as my own.”

  “You talk without saying nothing useful,” Rosh told her.

  She hung her head. “I’m sorry, Master. Tell me what you would like me to do.”

  “I want you to have a damned personality!” He shouted at her.

  Volera looked at him and smiled. “Yes Master, I understand. You may correct it any time to make it more to your liking.”

  Rosh stared at her, his brain processing what had just happened. “Wait a minute, you mean I just told you to have a personality and now you got one?”

  “Yes Master, that’s what I’ve been telling you.”

  “I’ll be damned,” he muttered, grinning. “That ain’t so bad.”

  She smiled back. “What else would you like of me, Master?”

  Rosh chuckled. “Gonna have to think on that one,” he said. “So what kind of personality you got?” He asked her.

  She shrugged. “It’s only just beginning, Master. What I once had, when I was free, is gone. This is forming based on what I learn from you.”

  Rosh stared at her, then shook his head again. He opened his mouth then shut it. He chuckled. “Let’s go, we got a lot of walking to do.”

  They walked through until Rosh felt time enough had passed; the sun dipped low in the western sky. Another village lay ahead of them and Rosh pushed for it, intent upon finding a room at an inn. “You going to behave yourself in there?” Rosh asked her.

  “I will do as you wish me to do, Master,” Volera said.

  Rosh shook his head. “Ain’t no easy way getting used to this,” he muttered.

  He led her into the inn and looked around. It was a small place and only half full. Rosh guided them a table and cursed as soon as he realized almost everyone in the place was staring at Volera. He glanced at her and saw her head was tilted down but she was smiling faintly while she nibbled her lip. “Sit,” he grumbled, pulling out a chair for her. She sat and he glared around at the others. He moved to take his own chair and stared at her.

  “I feel them, Master,” she whispered to him. “They desire me. It is who I am, they lust for me and do not even realize it.”

  Rosh cursed as he looked around. He saw the men in the tavern looking at her, some fidgeting and others whispering to their friends. He looked back at her and could understand why. Gone was the revealing outfit but still there was just something about her that dripped sexuality. Rosh felt it even though he’d been ignoring it.

  “Come over here,” he growled at her.

  Volera rose from her chair and stepped around the table to stand at his side. “Kiss me,” he said, wanting to send out a message to the others.

  She bent over and pressed her lips to his. Rosh responded, knowing the kiss had to look real. He had no problem with that, he’d kissed many a woman under far worse conditions, but he was ill prepared for just what kissing her meant. She moaned into his mouth and formed herself to him, adapting her soft lips perfectly to fit against his. Her hand went to the rough flesh of his cheeks, bristly with stubble. She pulled him to her and deepened the kiss.

  Rosh was dimly aware of her scent, a spicy mix of cinnamon and something more earthy and musky. Something that tugged at him and made him want to tear her clothes off and have his way with her right there on the table. He knew she’d welcome it too. As she’d said, she wanted what he wanted. Rosh growled deep in his chest, knowing he had to break free of her spell. He may be her Master, but she could still be his undoing if he let her.

  Rosh pushed her away and gasped for a breath of fresh air. Her aroused scent filled him, making his head swim. He was reaching for her but managed to lock the muscles in his arm to prevent himself from pulling her back to him. “Sit. Down.” He gasped.

  She moved back to her chair and sat down. Her smile was wider than before. Rosh stared at her, fighting the hammering in his c
hest and the longing in his pants. He saw a barmaid approach and even considered grabbing her and bending her over the table, so poignant was his need. She brought a cup of ale and stared at both of them with a strange expression on her face. He paid little attention to it, so caught up was he in his own troubles.

  She placed the cups before them on the table, then asked what she could get them. Rosh paid her no heed, having not heard a word she’d said. Instead he grabbed his cup of ale and gulped it until it ran dry. He slammed it back on the table and wiped the foam from his face with the back of his arm. “More ale!” He told her.

  The liquid had cleared his head though. He stared at Volera and was able to focus on more than just the swell of her bosoms and the softness of her lips. “You’re the devil,” he muttered.

  “Only a Fury, Master,” she said with a smile. “The serving wench is jealous. Women loathe my kind, for many of them feel a secret longing for us as well. She mistakes it and wants you. You can have her, Master. I can help you. You need only ask for it.”

  Rosh held up his hand and spoke words he expected he’d never hear issue from his mouth. “No sex! After what you just done to me, I ain’t trusting nothing you offer.”

  Volera pouted, glancing down at the table. “As you wish, Master. I cannot do you harm, unless you ask for it.”

  “Aye, that’s what I’m fearing!” Rosh said, shaking his head. “Gods! That was… what have I gotten myself into?”

  Volera continued to smile.

  “Do you eat and drink?” Rosh asked.

  “Not your mortal food,” she answered. “I drink the blood of the fallen and dine on the souls of my victims.”

  “Not the girl to take home to mama,” he muttered.

  “Sir, your drink?” The barmaid said, returning with a fresh ale for him. “We have venison and mutton roast tonight.”

  Rosh nodded and took another healthy swallow of ale. “Bring some of each,” he said, then cursed as he realized he would have to pay for it with his nearly empty purse.