by Aaron Crash
He didn’t like the sound of that word. It stank of magic, other worlds, and that kind of horseshit. He had enough problems on this world and didn’t want to consider any others.
THE DAY AFTER THE BIG speech, Steven drank his coffee in the eastern breakfast café, checking the news on his laptop. So far, the social media, the bloggers, the YouTubers, and everyone else were handling the news fairly well. Several PR people reached out to Bud to book talk shows and some more interviews. Whoever they talked to would have the same talking points. That included the twelve Dragonlords ruling their Primacies. Each dragon would handle their own region, and they would all tell the same story about the Alpheros, the dragons, and gifts. Human government would go on as usual.
He trusted the Primes he’d chosen to stick to the script.
As for Steven, he wasn’t going to let anyone near the Infinity Ranch. They would do the interviews in other places.
Aria, as the dragon of the day, did a photo shoot with some of the bigger magazines, shifting into her dragon form as well as becoming a Homo Draconis. Aria being Aria, she didn’t mind being naked, but these weren’t trashy magazines or tabloids. They didn’t need any softcore porn. Nevertheless, she came across as powerful and sexy, a dragon if there ever was one.
Chosen Ben Tozier, as the official Dragonlord of the North American Primacy, did well with the press being the no-nonsense New Englander he was. The best part of that was that he reached a completely different demographic than Aria. Steven gave Chosen Ben a teardrop amulet so he could alter his shape and keep his clothes on. Aria had the same magic, but she always forgot the jewelry, so she had to get naked to shift. That girl...
Steven hadn’t heard from Rhakshor Khat or his son, Godha, but they were still on Earth, still in India. Steven could feel it.
Tessa came in looking refreshed and happy. Her cherry-red hair remained, but the dark circles under her eyes were gone. Zoey must have taken the late shift last night; Reggie loved Zoey.
Steven looked forward to the day his daughter could really play with her werebear auntie. And just the fact that Zoey would disembowel anyone or anything that even came close to hurting Reggie made him feel better. She really was a mother bear.
Tessa had her coffee in her hand; she’d made it in the main house with her array of amazing machines. Steven had brewed his own pot in the café.
The barista sat down at one of the round tables, reached, and took his hand.
He quirked an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
“It’s okay.” Tessa squinted at him. “But I miss you. I miss us. This little baby has disrupted us all. I mean, I’ve even been too tired for sex—me, Tessa Ann Ross, too tired for sex, and it gets worse. I’ve even masturbated. Like, I have all these women, and I have you, and I was like, ‘Screw it. I wanna get off and go to sleep. No drama!’”
Steven smirked. “Tessa Ann Ross, masturbating. What has the world come to?”
“I know, right?” She rolled her eyes. “This baby life is so intense! And Sabina, well, dude, she’s more of a bear than Zoey. Then we have the Morta Clique, and they’re getting worse, like middle school mean girls bad, and now we have Quinnestri and her rather unsettling relationship with Michaela Montes, which, I know, I shouldn’t be jealous of, but really? Michaela? I totally thought that if she hadn’t wound up as your wife, she would’ve become a nun. Like vows of chastity and everything.”
Tessa was on a roll, and Steven loved to listen to her. This was his Tessa, his crush, and now they were married. He did have to correct her on one thing. “Tessa, the Three Widows aren’t my wives, and I’ve not brought up marriage. That institution hasn’t been kind to them. However, I’m pretty sure Skylar wants a baby.”
“Another baby around?” Tessa sighed. “Not sure I can do another baby anytime soon. I’d rather go with what Abby Free has been talking about. She wants another orgy with her elfliness, Quinnie Uweneel. Did you even know she had a last name? Michaela told me. Not that Michaela and I have ever been very close. We’re, uh, way different people. Did I mention the nun thing? And the monogamy? That girl was born to get married to one man and love them always and forever.”
“Except for Quinn,” Steven pointed out.
“Still kind of monogamous. She’s been hogging Quinn all to herself.” Tessa grimaced. “Sorry, yes, I’m a little jealous. I’ll have to work on that, or I’ll have to turn in my polyamory card. At least Quinnie hasn’t been so weepy. She really did come here for peace and solace, and she’s found it at the Widow House. She’s tight with all the Three Widows, and I think she can really relate to Skylar. I’m happy for her, but...”
Steven knew where this was going. “But we need her to tell us more about the spear. It scared her. You were there Saturday night.”
“I was.” Tessa frowned. “It was odd, though. It was like the spear scared her, and then she couldn’t remember why. She is an older lady...”
Mouse came traipsing in wearing one of Steven’s T-shirts as a nightgown—it hung to her knees. Her hair was wild, her eyes half closed, and she went to the coffee maker, poured herself a cup of coffee, and then sat down at their table. Her head dropped and hit the wood. “The baby is awake. I’m singing her song and making up bad lyrics for it now. Like bad lyrics. I’m a baby, yes, I am. I like eggs, and I like ham. I like green and I like blue, I like me, and I like you. Over and over. Kinda losing it over here. I’m thinking of getting one of you Magician types to open a portal to another world, any world that’s quiet.”
“You could sleep at another Aerie,” Steven suggested.
“I know,” Mouse said. “Then I imagine me doing that, and I get lonely, and then I get tempted to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels and see if I can recapture some of that old magic, which wasn’t magic at all. So, I’ll stay. I’ll deal with it.”
Steven thought about his late-night conversation with Mouse about babies and motherhood. She’d been against the very idea. He wasn’t sure if he believed her. Deep down, he knew she was thinking about it a lot. At least when she wasn’t coming up with bad lyrics to Reggie’s melody.
The blonde raised her head and sipped her coffee. “Sorry, I interrupted you guys with my bitching. What were you talking about?”
“We think Quinnie is going senile, and we need her help with the elven weapons the rogue dragons were using.” Tessa sipped her coffee. “I miss sugar. I’m getting off sugar. Did I mention that?”
Mouse had a suggestion. “Smoke more. Sugar less. Problem solved.”
“Zoey wouldn’t approve.”
Steven wrestled the conversation back to a more useful topic. “Tessa and I have tried both Enchantrix and Divinatio, but we haven’t been able to unravel the mystery of those weapons. They are protected by magic we’ve not seen before. And Quinn can’t help us. She isn’t as sharp as she was on Aqualyra.”
“You guys banged her, right?” Mouse asked.
“Yeah,” Tessa said. “So?”
The blonde made a face. “Well, I mean, she’s like ancient. She’s like robbing the veritable cradle. She’s literally thousands of years old, and you both are like, what, twenty? Barely?”
Tessa shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. Yes, she’s ancient, but it’s not like you’d know it. And she’s so hypersexual. In the end, old people like sex too, Mouse. Old people fuck too.”
“Don’t remind me.” Mouse stared into the barista’s eyes. Her coffee was working to wake her up. “Tessa, do you plan on getting pregnant?”
“Not anytime soon,” Tessa said. “What about you?”
“Never.” Mouse emphasized the word. “Like never ever. I’m not meant to be a mother. Steven and I just talked about that.”
A funny look came across Tessa’s face. “Okay, Mouse. There’s no pressure. But honestly, I’ll probably get pregnant at some point. I mean, I’m planning on living a long time, like centuries long. I have time. You know what I would like, Steven?”
Steven wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He couldn’t say that
, so he asked, “What would you like?”
“StellarFlight,” she said. “Now that we have our factories creating IEGs, and we have both Dragonsouls and Magicians working at the Promise Centers, we can research me flying to the moon. You know that’s gonna be a thing, right?”
Steven smiled at her. “Yeah, that’s totally going to be a thing.” He pulled up the Path of the Mirror-Souled Dragon.
TO GET STELLARFLIGHT, Tessa needed two Pugna abilities, DarkArmor and SerpentGrace. She had two strikes against her: she wasn’t a Warling, and she’d jumped over all the skills and gone right to IonClaws. That left her limited, though the magic Merlin had used on Umbra opened up some interesting options.
“We’re on it, Tessa,” Steven said, “but first, the elven weapons. I have a bad feeling about them.”
“I think it’s time you and Quinnie have a long talk,” the barista said. “A really long talk. Michaela got her story, and I think you need it too.”
Steven remembered the sex he’d shared with Quinn on the Battle World and how much Animus she’d given him. He wondered if he could use such a burst to help Quinn heal her wounded heart and restore some of her memories.
They needed more information about the elven weapons, especially the spear. He wanted to study, to prep some, but he’d talk to the elf queen that night, if she was willing.
Steven considered what might help Quinn open up more. Being at the Infinity House was a big distraction. They needed to get away. And he thought he knew of the perfect place.
And it wasn’t on his world...
Chapter Nine
STEVEN CAST THE Magica Porta spell in front of the Infinity Ranch. Quinnestri and the Three Widows were already on Xanadu, the world where Dragonsouls would learn their Alpherian abilities. Liam Strider had a definite vision for his school.
The Yellow Ronin himself had mastered the abilities up to FleshForge. He’d been attacked by several vassals of the late Silas von Forcade, and Liam had used HeartStrike to kill the most powerful of the Dragonkind.
With how much Steven and Tessa used AnimusChain, teaching him that had been easy. Lastly, Liam liked healing spells, so FleshForge was a piece of cake for him.
The Taylor Kubla Khan Academy sat on the cliff of a woodland paradise at the top of massive falls that fell a hundred feet to a raging river that cut through a pine tree forest. Here, the pollen glowed like some of the trees in Aqualyra.
Unlike the Lyran homeworld, Liam’s planet only had animal life. He’d wanted to take a break from both humans and dragons for a while. Now, he would get to interact with the very best Dragonkind attending his school: Dragonsouls, Dragonskins, and some select Magicians.
When Tessa first saw it, she’d commented on how much it looked like the Great Northern Lodge from the show Twin Peaks. That was actually based on the Salish Lodge and Spa in Snoqualmie, Washington. Tessa loved her TV.
A huge deck jutted out from the rocks, and that was where Steven appeared. It was a nice area, with firepits fueled by propane tanks (for now), couches, and a covered area where students would be able to relax... once they opened the school. Liam was still adding rooms and finalizing the curriculum. He was also figuring out the animals, plants, and herbs on the planet, since they wanted to be self-sufficient when it came to food. There was no cross-worlds catering service for them. Of course, power wouldn’t be a problem. Liam would have IEGs powering the lights and anything else. No internet, though, not yet. They hadn’t figured out how to port the signal across realities just yet.
Liam would eventually have to take a lover just to keep the lights on. He took his IEG to the Infinity Ranch, where it was powered up without much issue. Though Baby Reggie had disrupted life there, sexy times still happened.
The deck was connected to a great dining hall with a huge kitchen. Bedrooms, small and functional, were on either side of the dining hall. Steven walked to the railing and looked down at the glimmering forests and the frothing river. Turning, he saw mountain peaks rising into a sky that was filled with moons, five at least, of various shapes and sizes. Some were full, others were crescents, but yes, he was on another planet somewhere in a galaxy somewhere on the Stair.
Steven had a bag with supplies to stay the night. He also carried the spear he’d taken from Umbra. He remembered his vision of her. They could’ve provided her with a home, but she’d refused even the possibility of letting go of her hatred.
Fires burned in the pits on the deck as well as in the fireplaces inside the rustic building. Mouse had called it a ski lodge from hell. Steven kind of liked that.
To think, without the threat of the Zothoric, he could go anywhere with ease. He wouldn’t just have Aeries on Gaia Alpha; he could claim whole worlds.
Quinnestri left the Three Widows to come gliding out. She wore a long dress that buttoned up the front and cowboy boots, which clacked across the wood.
She joined him at the railing.
“So I hear you revealed yourselves to the humans,” she said.
He nodded. “And thus far, there have been some protests, but no rioting. And some people don’t like the idea of sex powering their computers, but I think people will figure things out for themselves.”
Steven faced Quinn. “Quinn, I know you and I have had our ups and downs. I brought you here to ask about your future and, well, your past as well.” He lifted the spear. “Seeing this brought back memories, didn’t it?”
The elf queen took hold of the spear. “The memory of memories. From the runes, it’s called the Night Lance. There is a story about the Night Lance and the Day Glaive and the Four Protectors. I cannot recall the specifics.” Her jaws muscles clenched. “Disconnecting from the Lyra has been... difficult. I can reach out to King Asreyel. He will remember more. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Steven took the spear from her and set it down on a couch next to his bag. He still had a plan that might get them more information.
He inhaled. The wet trees smelled like pines, though they were a bit sweeter. The air was so clean.
Quinn took Steven’s hand in hers. “I want to thank you, for letting me come and stay with you, and for letting me become friends with the Three Widows. Michaela has been so sweet, but then, so has Abby, and Skylar is very wise. All three, given the nature of their troubles, are so happy to be living with you now, under your protection.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Steven said. “I pulled you from the dream. I put your world in danger. It’s the least I could do. You helped me save the universe.”
“I wished you or someone else had woken me up far earlier.” Quinn stepped into his arms, and he found himself holding her. The scent of her, a sweet perfume, filled his senses. Her body was a perfect combination of hard muscles and soft flesh.
She wasn’t crying. Nonetheless, she seemed so sad.
“Why did you leave Aqualyra?” he asked.
She sighed and pressed her cheek against his. She was very tall. Her mouth was near his ear. “I grew weary of the crown.” She stepped back.
“But that’s not all, is it?” Steven asked.
She shook her head and couldn’t hold his gaze. “No. I could have borne the burden of leadership. I could not, and I cannot bear, the shame I feel. My fear killed so many. Yes, I kept my world and my people safe, and yet, what a price we and others paid. Michaela has helped me find forgiveness, and both Skylar and Abby Free have helped me with my lust, and I’m slowly finding peace. However, you would further trouble my mind. You have come, asking about this ancient weapon, and I want to help you, but I am weary of my pain.”
“I wish I didn’t have to ask,” he said. “But we can’t figure it out, and it might be important.”
He saw the pain on her face, and he knew it was time to drop the matter. “Quinn, let’s not worry about it while we’re here. You’ll check with this new king, and you’ll get back to me. It’s okay.”
Quinn took his hand in hers and placed it on her chest. “I want my heart to be true to
you, Steven. Whatever else I lose by walking away from the throne, I want to be worthy of you. For in the end, my only solace is that you did destroy the Horror Mother, and I helped in some small way.”
“You created the arena,” Steven said. “You fought at our side, and not only that, Vandrus Dree came to help because of you. We all would’ve died if it hadn’t been for you.”
The Lyran queen’s eyes filled with tears. “I thank you for that. It does help me... more than you can ever know.”
He took her in his arms again and held her close.
“What are you two talking about, neh?” Abby Free came out of the big hall. The night was warm, so she didn’t have to bundle up. Her dress showed both her generous cleavage and her muscled legs. She had curly, rust-colored hair and eyes that were almost yellow. Freckles, millions of freckles, covered her smooth dark skin. Most were on her face, clustered around her nose.
Michaela and Skylar brought out platters of food, bottles of wine, and some mugs of beer. They set them up in the covered area, away from the railing.
The older woman, in comfortable pants, a sweater, and a scarf, lit candles until they had plenty of light. The flickering firepits helped. Skylar also made sure everyone had plates, silverware, and napkins. She was a natural host, and she’d be a great mother.
Abby hooked her arms around Steven and Quinnestri and guided them to the table, where Michaela was sitting in a black dress with diamond earrings winking from her earlobes. They matched a diamond necklace that hung from her throat.
Most of what was on the table was meat, from juicy-looking steaks to chunks of bird meat in a thick gravy. There were also square crackers and crocks of soft cheeses. Abby sat with Skylar across from Quinn and Michaela. Steven was at the head of the table.
Abby made sure they all had beer and wine. “Now, here we are, and I will toast us, neh? For we have so much to celebrate.”
Steven loved the lilt of her accent, which sometimes sounded very close to Jamaican. With Abby, though, it was hard to say. She had a mixed heritage, some African, some Caribbean, some Native American, and she’d lived all over. She’d wound up in the Yucatan Primacy, but then was traded to a Californian Prime before ending up with Roy Right before finding herself with Cassius Pine. Those were in the days when wives were used as currency, to make deals, to show power, and to make alliances.