by Ophelia Bell
Water against stone. The stone never budged, but over time, a deep depression had been worn into it. The very bottom of the falls was the deepest spot in the river’s bed, said to reach all the way to the underworld, if anyone chose to dive down and let the force of the falls push them far enough.
Calder’s return home was supposed to be a launching point for his campaign to hunt down and punish the nymph who had ruined their lives and sent them all into hiding for the last three thousand years. But Nyx’s irrational desire to shut down the entire Haven over some misguided need to protect its population had stymied his momentum. For the past week, he’d alternated between arguing with his mother, attempting to appeal to his uncle’s sense of reason, and fending off the advances of cadres of horny nymphs who saw him as nothing more than a sperm donor.
So far his mother and uncle hadn’t budged any more than the stone under the force of the water. Neither had he budged against the onslaught of the fertile maidens seeking him out to mate with. It was a strange state to find himself in—acting as the persistent water on the one hand, and the unrelenting stone on the other.
So far he’d managed to ignore the efforts of the nymphs without much trouble. None of them interested him in the slightest. His only sexual outlet was his own hand in the middle of the night after waking from dreams of his golden-haired dragon teasing him with her agile tongue or wildly riding his cock.
The nymphs in the Haven were not Aurum. They were also decidedly not Nicholas, who was an almost constant presence in his mind even during waking hours.
Calder had seen his lover freed. He’d fulfilled that vow, but now that he found himself imprisoned yet again, he selfishly wished for Nicholas’s companionship. He wished for them both—dragon and ursa. The ache for them was a constant presence in his soul, and every bit as impossible to shake as this incessant need to push against his mother’s will and his uncle’s lassitude.
After yet another day spent avoiding nymphs and arguing with the Dionarchs, he needed to find peace in whatever way he could, and hiding behind the veil of the Source was his only option. Today, he was also working up the nerve to travel back into the cave beneath the waterfall to the Diviner’s home inside the wettest reaches of the Haven. If he was going to prevail in his efforts, he needed to reclaim his connection to the River.
Movement flickered at the corner of his vision. He turned to see a flash of pale blue through the white mist at the edge of the waterfall’s veil. Perhaps a small butterfly had strayed inside, pushed by the currents of air that constantly flowed through.
The blue patch moved again, tilted, and he caught the sense of graceful motion of a female body attached to it. Soon a slender, pale hand passed through the thinner curtain of water at the edge of the falls and braced itself on a thick vine. The hand was followed by a long leg, and then the entire body of a tall, dark-haired nymph came through, balancing carefully on the slippery stones.
The woman paused just inside the cave, her eyes still closed while she wiped the water off her face and slicked the black sheet of her hair down her back.
Calder cursed softly under his breath. All he needed was one particularly determined nymph to decide she alone deserved him and all the rest would cry foul. Chaos would ensue over who deserved his attention more. He might not mind so much if any of them actually wanted him for more than his genetic material.
He crossed his arms, waiting to find out what this particular nymph’s tactics of persuasion might involve. He’d heard every conceivable offer of sexual favors over the last few weeks, but wouldn’t be surprised if this one topped them all.
Her hand fell to her side and she opened her eyes, which quickly adjusted to the dim light. They widened when she saw him, the deep blue of her irises flashing with inner light. There was a spark of familiarity in her gaze that made his stomach flip—a memory forgotten that he should remember, which disturbed him because he wasn’t one to forget, especially not a figure as strikingly beautiful as this female, who was now beaming at him like she knew him, and knew him very well at that.
“Well, are you going to say hello, or what? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your own baby sister.” Her lips quirked to the side, and she laughed when Calder just stared at her, stunned. The clear, strong sound echoed through the cave, a bright contrast to the steady, pulsing rumble of the waterfall.
“Assana? By Gaia’s tears, it can’t be …”
He blinked, amazed by the beauty of this female. Assana, his sister, existed in his memory as a precocious little sprite with black curls who constantly tormented him to tell her stories and help her disobey their mother’s rules.
“The one and only,” she said. “I hear you’ve spent the last few weeks wearing Mother down. I couldn’t let you have all the fun.”
Only one other female on earth had ever stunned him so thoroughly. Calder quickly recovered and strode to his sister, then wrapped her in a fierce embrace.
“Assana, where … how …” he sputtered.
She shook with laughter and pushed away from him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. It was all Calder could do not to burst with joy over seeing his beloved sister again after so long—and to see her grown into such a perfect specimen of a nymph.
“I’m the Dionarchs’ ambassador to the other grottos, so I am almost never home. But I came the second word got to me that you had survived and escaped the Ultiori.” Her eyes went glassy from emotion and she swiped at them, giving him a shaky laugh.
“You have no idea what it’s been like here since you left. I’ve tried to be the voice of reason, but Mother just won’t listen. Uncle Neph finally gave up—I think if he kept pushing, it would have been worse, so I don’t blame him. You know the other satyrs are all gone, right? Do you know if any others live? Father …?”
Her hopeful, beseeching look nearly made Calder’s heart break.
“I believe a few of the Thiasoi still live, including Father, but I lost my link to them when Meri disrupted my connection to the River. If we can convince Mother to keep a route open to the ursa Sanctuary, I’m going back out to hunt for them.”
Assana’s eyes brightened. “I would give my left arm to get out of here for once. No human man was worth Mother letting me find a mate in human waters. Are there ursa males alive who would mate a nymph, do you think?”
Calder chuckled. “Ursa males are plentiful and very open-minded. I’ve been trying to convince Mother to agree to a breeding trade with the ursa, but she’s still resistant.”
“She’s not ready to let you go again so soon. I get it. You have to know she’s on to you—that the second there’s a way out of here, she knows you’ll take it.”
Calder clenched his teeth, the reminder of his mother’s arguments all week flooding him with frustration. That the breeding wasn’t guaranteed to produce male children, or that Gaia would reject the exchange of magic between their races. When he’d pointed out that the turul and the dragons had already begun cross-mating with no ill effects, she completely discounted it as “something those air and fire creatures do” and that it would never work for them.
He still hadn’t told her that one of “those air and fire creatures” was the female he was fated to be with. He also highly doubted that his uncle had confessed his unrequited love for Aurum’s brother.
“Brother, is there something you want to tell me? I’ve never seen you so angry at her before.”
“She’s changed, Assana. I don’t know if it’s Father’s absence all this time, or everything else. She used to see reason, even if she didn’t agree with my arguments. If I were still linked to the River, it would help me understand how to get through to her. That’s why I’m here now, aside from just getting some peace from the nymphs.”
Assana smirked. “Well, you are the most eligible satyr in town, big brother. Don’t tell me you haven’t at least had a first melding with a few dozen since you
’ve been home. We’re all pretty cock-starved here.” She gave him a nudge with her fist.
Huffing, Calder said, “This is why an exchange with the ursa is so bloody important now. This plan of hers to have me and Neph repopulate the satyrs on our own is insane. There’s no other choice. You deserve a male of worth—one with power who can give you strong babies. One who is willing to fight for you …”
He trailed off at the darkening of Assana’s expression. “What is it?”
“For the love of Neptune, brother, if you use the word ‘protect,’ I will punch you. We’ve spent centuries without any males here to shield us. We’re not helpless maidens. Mother’s decree is insanity, and the majority of nymphs will agree. If you ask any of us whether we’d rather sit around in our grottos waiting to be serviced by the next available dick, or whether we’d be willing to risk our lives to fight the Ultiori, we’ll choose to fight.”
Calder lifted his hands, palms out in a gesture of supplication. “Fair enough. I wasn’t going to say that at all. I only want the best for you. You deserve to find love with a male who knows what he has … that’s all I meant. But at least I have options here, if I intended to mate within the Haven. There’s still no male here for you. Our defense is one thing, but our entire race is struggling without enough males to go around.”
Assana sighed, her shoulders slumping as she glanced toward the back of the damp cavern. “You’re right. And I want that … love and children. I want a mate who understands me, and I want sons who remind me of you.”
She lifted her hand to her lips and rubbed them thoughtfully, still staring into the shadows where Calder could hear tiny rivulets of water trickling down over the rocks along the corridor that led to the Diviner’s lair. He could almost hear his sister’s gears turning.
“What are you thinking?”
She raised one eyebrow and cocked her head. “Is it painful, being linked to the River?”
“Ah, not as such, no … It’s a unique experience, if I remember correctly.” Not that he could ever forget the ritual he’d gone through to gain that mystical connection to Gaia’s darkest flow of magic.
The River was Gaia’s essence, the elixir of life that connected every living thing, and linking to it required a sacrifice of his own essence. The ritual had been one of the most intensely pleasurable experiences of his life, but had left him feeling strangely untethered ever since—at least until the connection had been taken away. Because the Diviner was not a typical sexual partner; she was a force of nature.
Since that night when he and Nicholas had faced down their enemy, his sense of mystical balance had returned, but he would gladly give it up again to regain any advantage over Meri.
His sister’s determined look worried him, though.
“Would she grant me a connection, too?” Assana asked.
Calder inhaled sharply. He started to object, but stopped when her eyes narrowed dangerously. Choosing his words more carefully, he said, “If you agree to the ritual, she will. But I warn you, it’s an experience that will change your life.”
Assana snorted. “If you’ve lived my life, the idea of changing it is far from a threat. Is the connection to the River worth it? It must be, if you’re so determined to get it back. We need every advantage in this, brother.”
“We do.” He nodded and glanced with rising trepidation toward the worn path leading into the darkness within the rock. “I hope with both of us linked, we can make some headway with Mother for a change. Come with me.” He reached out his hand to her.
Assana gripped it tightly, and they walked side-by-side into the shadows.
Chapter Sixteen
Calder
Water trickled down over the walls of the stone corridor and a steady, shallow stream flowed across the tops of their bare feet as Calder and Assana walked.
The slope had a slight incline, the water coming in a stronger rush the farther they walked. Dim light filled the corridor, and the opening gradually widened and brightened the closer they came to the Diviner’s lair.
Calder’s first visit to her had been thousands of years ago as part of his initiation into the ranks of the Thiasoi—his race’s squadron of soldiers and guardians. Arriving with his sister to beg for the return of the link he’d lost in the line of duty—and to ask for it to be given to someone who wasn’t a trained Thiasoi—made his gut churn with apprehension.
They came to a wide opening at the end of the corridor, looking out into a huge cavern with sunbeams streaming down from above. A thick mist filled the air, reflecting the shafts of light and making them sparkle with ethereal power. The resulting luminescent haze was almost impossible for Calder to see through.
Assana squeezed his hand when he paused. “What did you stop for? Is she up there, or not?”
A greenish, serpentine silhouette undulated behind the curtain of sunlight, and Assana gasped beside him.
“She’s a lamia?” she whispered.
“Not exactly …” Calder said under his breath. He swallowed as the shape within the glowing haze of wet mist came closer, increasing in size with the sound of scales sliding across stone. A pointed green tail emerged from the mist, its formidable length slithering along the stone edge on the far side of a deep pool.
“You mussst come to me in your true formsss, nymphaea. Do not make me punish you and feed you to my beasssts.”
Calder winced at his forgetfulness. His fully human shape was like a favorite suit of clothes. He was safe and comfortable in this shape. The Diviner required complete and utter truth before she would permit entry into her pool, much less grant a connection to the River.
“Seriously?” his sister asked, giving him a worried look.
“Sorry, I forgot that part,” he said. “No lying allowed, even if it’s only obscuring the truth.”
Assana touched one strap of her scrap of a dress. Like most nymph outfits, it left nothing to the imagination, yet she seemed suddenly too modest to look him in the eye.
Clearing his throat, Calder said, “I won’t look. You go into that corner, I’ll go over here.”
Assana opened her mouth, then closed it again, glancing into the shadows at the edge of the pool, and then at Calder again.
“What is it?” he asked.
Pink flooded her cheeks. “Nothing,” she said gruffly. “Completely inappropriate … I’ve never seen a satyr in all his glory before. I promise I don’t want to see you naked, but …”
“By Gaia’s tears, sister,” Calder said, turning away from her. “Just go change. You’ll get enough of an eyeful in a little bit to make you wish you had a sister instead.”
Calder shook his head, his equilibrium thrown off enough by the Diviner’s reminder that he only barely registered what his sister’s statement meant. Their mother had kept Assana cloistered in the Haven her entire life. If she’d never seen another male, that meant she was still a virgin, and a virgin nymph at her age could be a dangerous thing indeed.
Cursing his mother’s short-sightedness, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he let it out, the magic rippled through his body, his clothing slipping off his limbs as they changed shape with fluid ease. When he looked down, he saw hooves and fur-covered legs. His perspective had shifted with his change in size, the entire cavern appearing smaller than it had when he arrived.
In spite of the thick, black fur that covered his lower half, he felt naked. His skin prickled with goosebumps and his testicles tightened from the slightest breeze. He moved toward the edge of the pool and the beams of light glinting off its surface.
His reflection greeted him in the water, revealing the long, shining curved horns that protruded from the top of his forehead. He squatted down, dipping his hand in the water to disturb the reflection. It only served to remind him of who he was, and how strong his imperative to breed, especially at his age.
His cock remi
nded him of it now, too, the heavy flesh between his thighs reacting to the air exactly contrary to his wishes. Sex and breeding couldn’t happen for him until after their enemy was put in her place.
But having a hard-on now was expected, so he went with it. He could easily evade the advances of all the nymphs in the Haven without ill effect, but what he wanted from the Diviner required him to perform to her satisfaction. Whatever she asked, he would do to regain his connection to the River.
A shadow moved in the corner of his vision and he looked up. A few yards away, Assana appeared. Her stature was even more striking than before, if that were possible. Like Calder, she’d grown, but still had the same long legs and full breasts. The females of his race were still mostly human in their primal shape, aside from a few details.
When she crouched by the water’s edge and gracefully extended a leg to dip a toe in the water, the light hit her skin, highlighting a sheen of pale, emerald-like scales, along with the webbed connections between her toes. She sat and dipped both legs into the water. A fresh breeze blew through, catching her hair and blowing it back. Assana sighed and arched her back, her bare breasts shining with perspiration. She looked wet all over, and as she spread her legs and tilted her hips in the direction of the moist air that flowed through the cavern, Calder understood why.
Every shape a nymphaea chose imparted some aspect of that creature onto their wills. They could take the forms of any living animal that drank from the waters of the rivers and lakes they lived in. Humans gave them the most control over their primal natures, but were close enough, physically, that they didn’t feel confined within that shape.
Now that Assana was unbound by that human shape she’d chosen, her long overdue need for a mate was making itself known.
Calder’s nose picked up the potent aroma, and his cock responded instantly. Where it had been half hard just from the moisture-thick air, he hardened completely now.