by Sam Ryder
It was hard to breathe because of her weight on my chest. “I’m…not…lying…”
“Then why did Minertha summon you? And Persepheus before that? What have you been telling the Three?” She eased off me slightly, enough so I could suck in a breath and formulate my response.
I reflected on my conversations with the goddesses, which were even more confusing than the one I was having at present. “Nothing. Persepheus basically told me to leave her the hell alone and Minertha wanted grieving sex and I told her it was better if we didn’t.”
Her eyes narrowed and I couldn’t tell whether she was considering my words or contemplating what I would taste like with a little gravy poured over my head. Mmm, gravy, my traitorous mind thought.
And then she did the last thing I expected her to do:
She kissed me.
It wasn’t a quick thanks-for-answering-my-questions-luv-ya! peck on the cheek, but a full-on, twisting, turning, tongue-slipping-into-my-mouth make out session. She tasted amazing. I couldn’t help myself—I leaned into her, lifting a hand to run my fingers through her beautiful golden hair. Her tail curled over her head, moving slowly, hypnotically across the silvery sky. My other hand found her hips, teasing the thin band of her bikini bottoms. It was a test, I must admit. I figured if she didn’t claw my arm I was okay.
She didn’t claw my arm. In fact, she did the opposite, kissing me harder, her tongue seeming to trail sparks as it slid over my own. She was purring the entire time, which only spurred me on more.
It was a much-needed reprieve from the weight of the discussion about all-powerful demon lords and dark magic and the end of all things. Dammit. I was still in my own head. I forced the thoughts away and focused on the sexy, beautiful creature on top of me.
My hand traced a line over her hip, up her rock-hard abdomen, and around the curve of her small, taut breasts. Her skin had a thin layer of fur, and her chest was covered by a thin bikini top that did little to disguise the hardening of her nipples as I played with them.
She ground her hips against me, still kissing my mouth, one of her hands moving lower to draw my loincloth away. Holy goddesses, I thought. This world was the scariest rollercoaster ride of my life, except I wasn’t scared.
Not anymore.
My hand moved under her top, cupping her breast as the fabric stretched and peeled away. My other hand left her silky hair and moved to her bottoms, pulling them over her beautiful ass and down her long, furry legs. As I brought it back up, I brushed against the base of her tail, where it met the top of her buttocks, which was a little weird. I fought off the plethora of cat videos that popped into my head and lowered my hand to where she was all human.
I entered her a moment later, my mind exploding with fireworks of pleasure, bright lights flashing like those old-fashioned camera flashbulbs. She rode me harder and harder, and though I didn’t need to, I helped her, using my hands to guide her body. She never stopped kissing me, even when I slipped my own tongue into her mouth and felt a prick of pain as one of her fangs pierced me. Warm, coppery blood flowed, but she only purred more, devouring me.
I devoured her back.
When it was over and we were both satisfied, she rolled lithely off me and said, “Predictable,” and then sauntered off, naked as a newborn, clutching her discarded bikini in one hand.
I laughed, because, in this case, I was predictable. And that was fine by me. What wasn’t predictable was what happened next.
SIXTEEN
RESCUE?
Beat shook her head as I approached. An amused smile flitted across her lips, which told me she wasn’t judging. And I wouldn’t begrudge her a chuckle at my expense.
“Your loincloth is crooked,” she said.
I looked down, my hands moving to adjust the pathetic bit of cloth, but then stopping when I realized she’d been kidding. I looked up, sheepish.
“Was she good at least?” she asked.
Yeah. She was good. So good I had no words. I nodded.
She laughed again. “I can’t blame you. We’re all going to die tonight anyway. Too bad all the other guys are dead, so I guess I’ll have to die a virgin.”
I stared at her. Gawked would be a better word. “Seriously?” I asked, finally finding my tongue, all thoughts of Lace drowned by Beat’s revelation.
Her straight face morphed into another broad smile. She slapped her knee for good measure. “Christ, you’re an idiot sometimes,” she said. “Of course not. What do you think college was for?”
She had a point. And I was an idiot. I’d found out a while back that Beat liked to swing both ways, which was one of many of the sexy things about her. “Sorry there aren’t any guys left, although I wouldn’t be opposed to sending you off the right way…” In truth, I wasn’t sure I had anything left after Lace, but I was willing to try. You know, to help out my buddy, Beat.
“Are you propositioning me, Sam?”
“That’s a long word.”
“And yet you know exactly what it means. You’re not actually an idiot, even if you act like one sometimes.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“And no, I don’t want to have sex with you, although I appreciate the offer. You’re so not my type.”
“Good to know.” Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t really felt attracted to Beat. Not that she wasn’t hot. My bond with her had just always been more…sisterly. Something about being birthed from our cocoons in the same Circle. Plus, I liked having someone I could really talk to without screwing it up with other kinds of feelings. A surprising friend in the most surprising of places. We’d come a long way since the Circle.
“No offense,” she added.
“None taken.”
“Hey,” she said, a clear transition to a different subject. “What did you mean about the dark magic before? You think the Morgoss are trying to perform a spell to destroy the wards?”
Her guess was as good as mine, although that didn’t feel quite right. The wards were already weakening—a powerful spell seemed like a waste of effort on something that was bound to be destroyed soon enough. “I think this is for what comes after,” I said. “Once the wards are destroyed, there will be a final battle. The Morgoss want to make sure they cannot be defeated.”
“Great,” Beat said. “Sign me up. As if the odds weren’t already stacked against us.”
We sat in silence for a while, watching the silvery sun hasten its path toward the dark mountains in the distance. It was nice, sitting with her like that, saying nothing.
I’d been on this planet long enough to feel the approach of the Black. It was more than the darkening of the sky, the shadows creeping along the edges of our encampment, the cooling of the air. Even if I’d been blindfolded and wrapped in a blanket for warmth, I’d have felt it in the deepest part of my chest, like the electricity in the air before a major thunder and lightning storm.
The Black was more than a time of day. It was a wall to be broken down, again and again, night after night, only to be rebuilt when you weren’t looking.
We waited in anticipation for Eve to come running down the hill to warn us about another attack on the ward-shield. Lace had slept for a while but then emerged from her hut, yawning and stretching. There was no awkwardness between us. There wasn’t time for awkwardness on the eve of what might be the final Black any of us would ever see.
Millania joined us a few minutes later and we sat in a tight knot, just watching the sky. Waiting. Waiting.
Eve eventually came, but she wasn’t running. She rode her massive black panther, which calmly walked down the hill, its eyes bright with night-shine, head strobing back and forth, searching for threats. Eve gripped a magnificent sword that appeared to be carved from glass. There was a light inside it, so piercing I had to look away. In her backless mini-dress astride the panther and wielding the sword, she looked fucking awesome, every bit a Warrior as the rest of us. I wondered if she had been a Warrior once, before leveling up or whatever
and eventually becoming the Finder.
She didn’t sit with us, and I could feel the distance in my bones. She wasn’t one of us—could never be. We lived Black to Black, while she bore the weight of an entire planet forever on her shoulders. She was looking ahead a hundred Blacks, a thousand.
In a way, I felt inspired by her. Her resolve, her willingness to do whatever it took to protect the Three. Though I still couldn’t see the bigger picture, it was clear Eve believed in our cause, and that made me want to believe too.
Just as the silver sun dipped beneath the mountains, we stood as one.
Ready for whatever was to come.
~~~
Nothing happened for the first half of the Black. Eve’s panther was our early warning system, able to see in the darkest of dark. The beast, which she’d called Souza, stood stoically in the center of our demon fire circle, waiting.
Based on my internal clock, we’d just passed the midway point of the Black and I was beginning to hope the monsters would give us a reprieve on this night.
They didn’t.
They also didn’t attack our lighted circle, like they usually did. Things were changing rapidly. Somehow the monsters were learning, coming up with new strategies, working together to solve a common problem. Namely, how to kill us.
Instead, they went for the wards, like before. Their attack was like a beacon in the utter blackness, an explosion of light as one part of the ward-shield flickered a great distance away.
“Shit,” Eve hissed. “We have to stop them. Everyone grab a demontorch and move!” Though technically we were leaderless, no one questioned her orders. Eve scooped one from the ground and her mount took off at a sprint, the firelight dancing away as they galloped from the lighted circle.
Lace wasn’t far behind, with Beat and Millania stride for stride. As they each took a demontorch, our bright space seemed to break apart into pieces, creating five smaller circles of light, each moving in the same direction. As usual, I was in the back, gripping my hammer in one hand and a torch in the other. The demonfire was bright, but weak compared to the wall of darkness. The torch barely lit the area just in front of my next stride, allowing me to avoid large stones but little else as I charged after my companions.
In the distance, columns of shimmering light appeared again as something assaulted our protective shield.
I fell further behind.
That’s when the attack came. Not from the front, but from the side, appearing out of the dark and slamming into my ribcage with the force of an NFL linebacker. My torch flew out of my hand, spinning through the air and landing well out of reach. Darkness swarmed over me like a rising tide, obscuring what was left of my vision.
I couldn’t even see my attacker.
I tried to scramble away, but the force that had collided with me had arms like iron, pinning me to the ground. Though I had zero leverage, I swung my hammer with all my strength. I hit something and the something grunted.
Then the something spoke with a familiar voice: “Godsdammit, Sam!”
I stopped fighting, squinting through the darkness. Which didn’t help. I still couldn’t see a fucking thing. “Vrill?”
“No, it’s the Tooth Fairy,” Vrill said. I assumed that was another human anecdote she’d learned from Darcy. Either way, it didn’t explain her sudden presence here in the Black. Nor why she’d tackled me.
“The monsters are attacking the ward shields again,” I said quickly. “I have to go.” I didn’t want to, not when Vrill was here. I could feel the press of her body on top of me now. It would be so easy to run away with her into the dark, to seek shelter as we once had before. The Three’s cause was lost anyway, right? There was no hope left.
Maybe, maybe not. But I had friends now. Beat. Even Lace. I didn’t know much about Millania, but she seemed okay, even if she was quiet. Eve might be a salty man-eater at times, but she was trying her best to do what she thought was right. This world was slowly being devoured by the forces of evil and I couldn’t bring myself to abandon it for my own selfish reasons.
“No,” Vrill said, and then she hit me.
For the first time ever in the Black, I saw stars. One by one, they vanished, melting into the nothingness.
~~~
I awoke in a tree.
Whatwhowhenwhy…huh?
My mind was trying to make sense of where I was. It wasn’t that I didn’t remember all that had happened, it was that I’d never seen a tree on Tor. This was no ordinary tree, however, but a tangled mess of gnarled branches and withered vines. The spot I was in was almost like a cocoon, surrounded by the leafless appendages.
Enough daylight managed to breach the web that I could see my own hands, and even a little of what was outside the tree. More trees, similar to this one, gray and old—no, ancient. A whole forest. I should’ve known there was more to this planet than endless rock and stone. After all, the Three had found their lush gully between the canyons. Still, I was surprised. A whole forest?
And how had I got here? “Vrill?” I said, remembering how she’d hit me. Had she carried me all the way to this place? Lifted me into the boughs of this tree while I was unconscious? All during the Black, when monsters roamed the night in search of prey. She was strong, I knew, but geez.
“How’s your head?” she asked, appearing between the branches. She slipped through into the small space, her dark-skinned brow wrinkled in concern. Which was funny, in a way, considering she was the one who hit me. On purpose. Hard enough to knock me out. So she could abduct me.
“Fine,” I said, though it wasn’t really true. It felt like a jackhammer was being used on the insides of my skull. “Why did you do that? The other Warriors needed my help. The wards—”
“Will fall,” Vrill said. “No matter what you do.” Her beautiful armor gleamed slightly next to her dark skin.
“Not necessarily. There’s still time. If we can hold the monsters off a little longer, Eve can Find more Warriors, bring them back. We can train them, learn from our mistakes, build an army and—”
“Stop,” Vrill said. She didn’t say it angrily, her voice soft. Concerned. She placed a gentle hand on my knee. It felt so good. It was hard to imagine this was the same woman who’d knocked me senseless the night before. The sides to her were as numerous as the sparkling facets of a diamond. “Listen to me. Whatever Eve and the Three have been telling you, it’s bullshit. That’s what you call it, right? Nonsense. They’ve brainwashed you the same way they brainwashed me and Darcy. All they care about are themselves. They use people like you and me.”
“I know,” I said. “But it’s for a greater purpose.”
Vrill closed her eyes. Breathed deeply. “I’m too late.”
“Vrill.”
She opened her eyes. “Sam, I know how this will end. I’ve seen it before. You die, I survive. It’s what always happens in this place.”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “But you could come with me. We need you. All the other Seekers are dead.”
“The Levels are meaningless,” Vrill said. “There’s nothing to seek.”
“You found your armor,” I pointed out.
“Trinkets,” she said. “Yes, the Seekers find weapons, shields, other items of value. But they are not important in the scheme of things. They make us feel good for three seconds and then reality punches us in the gut again and again.”
“Then what is important?” I asked, sensing she wasn’t saying something. The same something that no one was saying, not even the goddesses themselves.
“Look,” Vrill said. “I was a believer, once. I thought I would be THE ONE to find what the goddesses needed. I thought I could be THE ONE to save them all. But now I know the truth. The goddesses’ hearts were probably destroyed decades ago.”
“What the hell do you mean?” I asked, stunned by what she’d said. That single word resounded again and again in my head, like an echo. Hearts, hearts, hearts…
She lifted a hand to her temple, as if she had a headac
he of her own. “I should’ve known they wouldn’t tell you. They didn’t tell me until I leveled up. Even the Protector didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” I asked. “What happened to the goddesses’ hearts?”
“They were taken,” Vrill said. “Their bodies healed themselves, but their chests are empty holes. They are immortal beings, so even without their hearts they can live on for many years. But many years have already passed. They will die soon, Sam. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s over.”
~~~
Vrill used a demontorch to cook me some leafrat. I hadn’t really spoken since she’d revealed the information I’d been seeking for so long. It explained so much. The Morgoss must’ve found a way to remove the goddesses’ hearts. Taken them like spoils of war, leaving the Three to die a slow death over the last century or more. Along with countless Warriors who’d been brought here to protect them.
“Thank you,” I said, nibbling on the leaves and meat. I didn’t feel hungry, though I knew my body needed sustenance, so I ate anyway. One question had been troubling me. “How did you find me in the Black like that? I didn’t see you coming—didn’t see your demontorch.”
“I am Level 4.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” I said.
“It means I have been granted certain…abilities. Night vision is one of them. Even in the Black.”
Like the monsters, I thought but didn’t say. Wait. Something didn’t make sense. “That first Black, when we were attacked by the gargats…” She stared at me, saying nothing. I continued: “If you could see me in the dark, why didn’t you come after me?”
Her response came instantly. “We all make our own decisions, and I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t let you make your own.”