by Eric Vall
“Woooah, wait a second,” I cut-in as I held up my hand.
“Yeah, no,” the half-elf said sternly. “Mason and I are still Defenders, otherwise, no deal.”
“That’s just not gonna work for us,” I agreed as the king raised his eyebrows.
“Mason, it’s too great of a risk for the head of the Order to be out at the forefront of our defenses,” Temin argued. “That would be like myself marching into every minor battle. One wrong move, and --”
“Then find someone else,” Aurora snorted. “Mason’s the best Defender you have, and without him marching into your battles, you’re not going to come out the victor against the Master. Not to mention, I’m probably even better than that.”
I burst out laughing as Aurora cracked a cocky grin, and my women began merrily backing our terms with a list of reasons we were clearly better than his other Defenders. Even the Baroness calmly put in her two cents on the matter, and Temin rubbed his temples as his brow crinkled.
“Fine, anything you want,” the king groaned above the ruckus. “I don’t care what your terms are. Just lead my Order, for the love of the gods.”
“I’d advise against saying things like that, Your Highness,” the Baroness murmured, and a devious glint flashed in her two-toned eyes.
“These are our only terms,” I chuckled, “I promise. Just the both of us as head of the Order, and we’re still Defenders.”
“And Mason still resides in Falmount,” Cayla added.
“Me, too,” Shoshanne clarified. “I know the heads of the infirmary usually reside within the Oculus, but I stay with Mason.”
“And he gets to put big metal machines anywhere he wants!” Deya decided. “Also, does Mason get a crown?”
The king eyed me with a pointed look, and I cleared my throat.
“I don’t want a crown,” I assured Temin. “Just the other terms.”
Then I strained to stand as I offered him my hand, and the king chuckled and shook it heartily. He shook Aurora’s hand as well while she nearly crushed his with her grip, and while Temin kneaded his palm, the half-elf squealed and leapt into my arms. I collapsed backward into my seat as she devoured my tongue for me, and after my women began egging her on, the king cleared his throat.
“You will be required to maintain a certain level of professionalism if the two of you intend to work together,” Temin informed us as he headed for the door.
“We’ll be way more professional tomorrow,” the half-elf assured him as she sent me a hungry grin.
“Excellent,” the king sighed. “Now, I have a war to declare and a wealth of distraught citizens to attend to.”
“Hold on a second,” I mumbled against Aurora’s lips, and I managed to pull her off me before I followed the king into the hall.
“You ready for this?” I asked as I eyed the frown on his face.
“No,” he admitted, “but it’s time. Truthfully, I feel more confident about the ordeal now that you’ve taken control of the Order, so I’ll focus on that rather than the idea of my head mounted on a spike. The news will likely soften the blow for the citizens as well, given they already admire your abilities.”
“Good call,” I agreed. “Just remember, death’s only a maybe.”
“An extra maybe, in your case,” Temin said with a smirk. “You look like you’ve risen from the dead yet again.”
“Always do,” I chuckled, and when I clapped the man on the shoulder, he stood a little taller and gave a firm nod.
“Rest up and get ready to deliver the Defenders,” the king told me. “Now that the train is in place, it shouldn’t take long to get them to their posts, but I’m counting on you to arm them well and ensure they’re prepared to coordinate their own efforts without you there. I was extremely impressed with your army today, and you may still be a Defender, but you can’t be everywhere at once.”
“I’ll make sure it’s done,” I assured him, and the king grinned before he headed off down the hall with a few guards in tow.
“Mason!” I heard Deya whisper from inside the doorway, and I furrowed my brow as I came over. “Nulena says she knows where there’s plenty of crowns. Can I steal one?”
“No,” I whispered back. “Get out of this castle.”
My women carted me back through the halls while they gushed over both my and Aurora’s promotions, and the half-elf couldn’t do much more than giggle uncontrollably. I chuckled as I jostled her under my arm just to make her blush, and every time she tried to form a sentence for the next few minutes, it was completely incoherent.
Eventually, she was able to stammer her way through a “What just happened?,” and when Cayla explained that she was the first half-elf in history to be made head of the Order, Aurora fell into giggles all over again.
“This is becoming the best day ever,” Deya sighed as she pranced down the castle steps.
“Except for all of the terrible things that have happened,” Shoshanne mumbled.
“We won in the end, though,” I told her as I nudged her arm. “That’s what we need to focus on now.”
“Thanks to Nulena,” Aurora added, and my women all looked at the Baroness in confusion.
“What?” Cayla snorted.
“Nothing,” Nulena replied and staunchly avoided making eye contact with anyone.
“Nulena destroyed the portals to keep the Master’s soldiers from coming in,” the half-elf loudly announced.
“Shhh! I did nothing!” the Baroness hissed, and she looked anxiously around the courtyard to make sure no one could hear.
Deya gasped so loudly half the Defenders looked over, though, and she ran back up the steps to force Nulena into a hug.
“You’re such a wonderful person!” the beautiful elf giggled. “I knew you couldn’t let us all risk our lives without contributing. We mean far too much to you, and you have the sweetest soul under all of that angst.”
“I do not,” Nulena growled, “and lower your voice.”
I chuckled heartily as Deya refused to release the woman, and I couldn’t help but notice the Baroness was struggling to maintain her scowl. The beautiful elf stayed locked against Nulena all the way to the Mustang while she showered her with adoration, and eventually, the Baroness mumbled a disgruntled “you’re welcome” that made Cayla do a double take.
My women were all in higher spirits as I unsealed the doors so we could pile in, but Aurora paused in front of me, and when she turned around, her emerald eyes were glittering with tears. Her lips kept moving, but no sounds were coming out, and I got the feeling she was trying to find a way to express her appreciation.
I was about to clarify that she didn’t need to say anything, but then Deya hurled all over the courtyard.
Everyone yelped and leapt back to avoid getting splattered, and my jaw dropped when a bone sloshed against the toe of my boot.
“Deya!” I gasped.
“I know!” she wailed, and she dove into the car.
Then the beautiful elf crawled her way over to the passenger window and threw up some more, and I ground my jaw while Shoshanne and I exchanged a look to a chorus of gags.
“I’ll take a look at her as soon as we get back,” the healer assured me.
“You hear that?” I called to the puking elf. “Straight to the infirmary!”
“I swear, I’m fine,” Deya moaned as she laid draped out the window, and Cayla hurried over to help clean the puke off her face.
The princess ended up jumping several feet back, though, as another bout of vomit splashed to the ground, and that’s about the time we realized we’d be here for a while.
The elf looked closer to death than I did by the time she finished spewing chunks all over the courtyard, but she seemed more upset about the crowd of Defenders watching. Kurna started puking behind a statue after a few minutes, and Urn looked deeply disturbed by the multitude of bones and fur coming out of the woman.
Nulena dutifully patted Deya’s back to soothe her throughout all of this, and I was impressed she ha
d the stomach for it, because I was suddenly feeling ten times worse than I had been. I did my best to try and divert the crowd’s attention elsewhere, but in all fairness, I’d never seen anyone puke so much in my life either.
It was hard to look away.
Once Deya was purple and shaking from head to toe, she mumbled something about being done, and we all did our best to find a route to the car that wasn’t overflowing with puke. The beautiful elf laid curled up on Nulena’s lap the whole ride back while the Baroness dabbed the sweat from her brow, and this combined with the breeze coming through the window seemed to improve things.
I was holding my head with my elbow propped on the back door while I wondered if Dragir would murder me for letting his sister catch a life-threatening disease, but as I sighed and looked beside me, I found Aurora bouncing in her seat.
The half-elf was biting her lip with bright eyes and a light blush on her cheeks, and when she met my gaze, I could tell even Deya’s vomit riot hadn’t doused her excitement.
Then a familiar grin curled at the corners of Aurora’s mouth, and I’d only just furrowed my brow when she suddenly pounced on me.
Chapter 21
My women chuckled in approval as Aurora tore my shirt open, and I would have returned the favor if she hadn’t beat me to it. In seconds flat, the half-elf was naked and tearing my pants open, too, but her hands were shaking so badly by now that she had to stop and clutch at her hair.
“Are you okay?” I checked, and I could feel her shaking from head to toe on my lap while she began to hyperventilate.
If it had been Deya or Nulena, I wouldn’t have been so concerned, but this usually wasn’t Aurora’s style, and I stayed frozen and half dressed in case something was genuinely wrong.
“Aurora?” I tried again.
“I-I’m fine,” the half-elf gasped, and she braced her hands on my shoulder while she took quick and shallow breaths. “I can’t even breathe I love you so much. Shit.”
“Aww,” I heard Deya moan.
I waited while Aurora worked to catch her breath, and I was already kind of melting inside from watching how much this affected her, but when she sent me an embarrassed look, I bit my cheek and rolled my eyes.
“Yeah … I love you way more than that,” I informed the woman with a cocky grin, and the second her emerald eyes narrowed, I knew I’d hit the right button.
Now, I may have participated in a lot of debauchery since coming to this realm, but up until this moment, I’d never had a woman fuck my brains out like Aurora did on that drive home. At one point, I really thought she would burst into flames as her body heated to a scorching degree, and the effect this had on my dick was truly inexplicable. The way Aurora grinded against me, I had no choice but to sit there and let her do what she damn well pleased, and it was just as well because the feel of her paralyzed me, anyways.
The heady scent of smoke and pine radiated from the half-elf while she did everything she wanted to me, and I was lost in a blur of blue braids and emerald eyes while her moans filled my mind. I lost track of how many times she climaxed by the time we got to the mansion, but she forced me through three orgasms of my own without me putting in an ounce of effort.
I’d never felt so lazily satiated as I did when Aurora finally eased up, and when she began laying kisses all over my chest and thanking me, I decided Deya was right, and this was actually the best day ever.
Then I realized the car was stopped, and all of my women had their chins propped up in their palms for the show.
“That was incredible,” Nulena murmured.
“Truly,” Cayla agreed, and when they all chose to applaud, I buried my face in Aurora’s tits as she burst out laughing.
“Thank you, thank you,” the half-elf giggled. “I try.”
“You should do that again,” Deya suggested, “I missed the first part, but it sounded really good.”
Then I pried myself out of the bed of Aurora’s cleavage to send the elf a stern look, and she tried to hide behind Nulena.
“Infirmary,” I ordered. “Now.”
“But I’m--”
“Don’t say fine,” I cut in. “Shoshanne … ”
“Yes, Mason,” the healer chuckled as she grabbed Deya’s hand, and Nulena helped her haul the elf out from the car and lead her to the infirmary.
I let out a long sigh as I watched Deya’s wobbly legs and how pale she still was, but Cayla noticed my concern and slid across the seat to curl up against me.
“You should be resting,” the princess told me as she trailed her fingers across my chest.
“We’ll take care of you in here if you want,” Aurora offered. “You don’t have to move at all until you’re feeling better. We’ll just ease your mind for a while.”
I grinned as I slid my palms along the half-elf’s toned thighs, and Cayla began lightly nibbling at my ear.
“As tempting as that offer is,” I muttered, “I have to get up. Shoshanne’s not going to let me do anything for at least a day once she gets back, and I absolutely need to get that metal dragon finished.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” Cayla purred in my ear, and the heat of her breath sent a chill down my spine as my head dropped back against the seat.
“I don’t know if it can wait, that’s the problem,” I admitted.
“What do you mean?” Aurora asked, and both of my women looked at me with concern.
“I mean the Master saw me flying on a fucking dragon today,” I sighed. “Whether or not he knows a woman I love was transmuting with the dragon, I have no idea, but either way, the risk of Deya using those scales just quadrupled. There’s no chance the Master won’t try and use this development to fuck me over, so I need to get Mors Pass locked down as soon as possible. Otherwise--”
“Don’t say it,” Aurora whimpered as she pressed her palms to her cheeks, and she shook her head like she couldn’t stand the thought. “Just fix this! We need to make the metal dragon right now.”
Cayla nodded. “I agree. Shoshanne is thorough with her check ups, so we should have at least half an hour. Mason, you can do a lot in that amount of time, can’t you?”
“Hell, yeah, I can,” I said with a grin.
“Then it’s settled,” Aurora decided as she snatched up her clothes from around the car. “Dragon now, spoiling Mason later.”
“Plus, Alfred’s preparing a lovely feast,” Cayla reminded us, and I snorted as Aurora tumbled out the door ahead of me.
I’d hoped the lavish treatment my half-elf had shown my dick would somehow heal me, but despite how fantastic that region of my body felt, I still needed my women to help me limp across the bridge.
Nulena’s powers had almost worn off, and I was painfully aware of how much I felt like a spent rag. Still, I knew my metal magic was good to go, so I shuffled over to a log in the clearing as I sparked my powers, and I summoned the steel bones I’d completed from the atrium to pile them in the clearing.
Aurora left to retrieve the book I’d been studying while I summoned a few spare chunks of steel as well, and Cayla joined her only to return with a generous glass of bourbon I knew was from Alfred.
“That guy,” I chuckled before I gladly downed the whole glass. “You’re right. I don’t know how we ever got along without him.”
“The house smells delicious, too,” Aurora chuckled as she traded the book for my empty glass.
“Of course it does,” I sighed.
“So, where do we start?” Cayla asked.
“I’m gonna finish forming the first portions of the wings real quick since the shoulders are ready,” I told the women as I worked to memorize the image on the page. “If you two could use this book to arrange the bones in their proper places, then fusing them all together will go faster once I’m done.”
“I can certainly do that,” Cayla said with an eager grin, and as soon as I handed the book over to Aurora, the princess snatched it from her hands and strolled toward the bones.
So, while
the two women worked to arrange the huge metal bones as quickly as they could, I closed my eyes, and I was grateful I’d been practicing a less hands on approach to my work lately. Despite my throbbing head and spent muscles, I could sit comfortably and still get shit done, and I shifted into my metal guru frame of mind as I began forming a wing humerus. Then I duplicated the giant bone before I carefully hollowed each of them out, and I moved on to the wing radiuses these would attach to.
I was finished in only ten minutes, and I decided to hold off on the rest of the wings until I was sure the primary bones could support the weight of the webbing once they were mounted in the scapulas.
Then I opened my eyes, and I jumped as I saw how big the skeleton really was. When I’d assembled only portions of the spine in my shop, it had seemed big, but now that the whole vertebra were lined up with the skull at one end, and the legs arranged at the sides, my chest swelled with pride.
I’d never built anything this big from metal before, and the fact it would be as independently functional as my automatons was unfathomable. It stretched the full length of my clearing, and the tail had to curl off to the side just to avoid the moat. The skull looked twice as intimidating now that it had a body to go along with it, and I was glad Aurora suggested the skeletal design, because to say it made an impression was a fucking understatement.
“Damn,” I chuckled as I strained to stand up, and my women both nodded in agreement.
“He’s beautiful,” Aurora sighed. “Isn’t he exactly how you imagined?”
“No,” I admitted. “He’s way better. If I hadn’t built him myself, I’d probably pass out the second he flew up on me. Which is saying a lot, because I don’t pass out often.”
“Unless Rosh is involved,” Cayla chuckled.
“He’s not quite as scary as the fire titans,” Aurora allowed, “but once he had got his serrated claws and the fire runes, I bet he’ll put them to shame.”
“Oh, he will,” I assured the half-elf as I walked around the bones to make sure everything was in the proper places.
“I want this to be my battle dragon,” Cayla decided. “I would ride him with my whip in one hand, and a bazooka in the other.”