Uncertain step by uncertain step, our circle grew closer. Eltiana reached out her hands, and one by one we formed a circle. We stepped closer, tracing the edges of the ritual diagram painted on the floor. When the circle closed tighter, Eltiana and Sava released my hands and pushed me into the center, joining up again to complete the circle.
I felt a strange sensation deep in my loins as the girls circled me, staring and prying.
“What now?” I whispered.
Eltiana pointed at the goblet in the center of the room.
“That goblet contains all our united life-energies. Breathe it, and our bloodlines will be bound through you.”
I picked up the goblet which was filled with a misty white substance. More gas than liquid. As soon as I touched the cup, the gas floated out like a thick strand of smoke. I breathed deeply and the smoke eagerly filled my lungs.
I felt many sensations at that moment. The strength and hardness of a Waterbeetle. The caress of a flame. The sting of a serpent’s fangs. The pride of an Ironwood tree. The lifeforce of river grass. The golden light of the sun. The power of thought. All these different zeals, each representing a different elf.
As I concentrated on each feeling, I found I could dredge out images. Flashes of memory. Fighting in a cave. Standing with a motherly figure. Finding a plant in the forest. Looking down from the ramparts of a golden fortress. Without words or concrete thoughts, I suddenly felt I understood each of these girls on an instinctual level.
“Be one with us, Theo. Be the binding that unites us all together.” Eltiana instructed.
I breathed slowly in and out. “I feel you all. I am ready.”
Hands touched me then, from all directions. Soon I was lost in a sea of blushing faces and moaning voices, and I knew I would have to push myself harder than I ever had before to satisfy every elf here.
I steeled my nerves and set myself to the task before me.
“Oooh!”
“Ahh!”
“Harder!”
“Faster!”
“Yessss!”
Through flickering candlelight and lust-filled moans, I contended with the beautiful elves before me. I thrust and kissed with all my might, tossing an exhausted elf to the side to recover in the arms of her fellows while the next one prepared to ride my cock. There was no reprieve for me. I had to pull out every trick I had learned in recent days to last as long as I did, and even then we had to stop for me to recover every few elves.
The girls were not idle while waiting for me. Soft hands roamed over flawless elfin flesh, massaging, squeezing, touching, licking. Apparently, elves had no taboos against homosexuality. Each of the girls fully welcomed the touch of their companions and seemed to enjoy their time with each other almost as much as they enjoyed their time with me.
We brought inscribed soul jars out one by one, each of them containing a wisp made of dim, flickering light. The souls of elves waiting to be reborn, and the true purpose of this ritual.
As the night wore on life zeal accumulated in vast quantities, which the tiny wisps soaked up like sponges rung far dry. They soaked and soaked it up until they glowed bright and vibrant in their respective colors.
“Now the difficult part. Pure life zeal will only do so much. If we truly want our old chieftains to be reborn, we must do just that. Give them a chance to be reborn.” Eltiana explained.
“How do we go about doing that?” I asked.
“It’s simple. You must finish in each of us that plans to sire one of the clan chieftains. As you do, another will force the wisp we will bare into our flesh through our abdomens. From there, an egg will develop around them, to be laid in a few days.”
“Let’s steer away from our own bloodlines. I know that I for one I have no desire to be my older sister’s mother.” Nela supplied.
There were some sounds of agreement, and we passed wisps around until everyone had a wisp belonging to an unrelated tribe. Some elves were reluctant to hand over the spirit of their loved ones to the care of another, but we were all in this together. Melise even agreed to be the mother of Antgut, the Ironwood chieftain, which Arwena was grateful for. She claimed she was too old to lay an egg reliably and wanted to leave this task to the younger elves.
I couldn’t help but think this was for the best. By mixing the bloodlines of each of the tribal chiefs, we could reduce any internal resentment. It would be very difficult to resolve tensions if these wisps kept memories of being killed by Yulli.
Melise was the most eager to try, and the first to go.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” I asked.
Eltiana glanced at her. “Just let us know if it hurts, even for a moment.”
“I’m ready, do it!” Melise said, the firmest thing I’d ever heard from her.
“Okay, here I go!”
I resumed my previous actions, tracing my hands up and down her body as I kissed down her neck and pecked at the elf’s exposed and luscious breasts. I gave Eltiana the signal once I was ready, and she began the processing fusing the wisp with her.
“Oooh!” Melise shuddered. I stopped immediately.
“What’s wrong? Pain?”
“No… it just tickles.” Melise giggled, then shook herself.
Eltiana breathed a sigh of relief. “Then the ritual works as promised. Good. Who’s next?”
One by one, the elves stepped up to bat. Nobody was shy as after everything we had already done to generate the life zeal to power this ritual.
“My sister really owes me for this one.” Nela grumbled.
“Don’t you mean she owes me, Nela?” The orange-yellow haired elf from the Myriad Hues of Flame tribe said with a laugh. She was the one who had fused with Yulli’s wisp.
Everyone had gotten to know each other well during this ritual. It was like a magical bond was being formed. If I hadn’t seen them before, I would have thought this was a big group of childhood friends, not important individuals from rival tribes competing for dominance.
Our ritual didn’t end until light was breaking over the horizon, and by then I was so exhausted and worn out I didn’t think I would ever wake up. Worse, I was chafing in the most uncomfortable of places from all the friction the previous night. Hopefully that would heal fast.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
A day later, just as I was recovering from the previous day’s escapades, I got a message from Red Serpent, matriarch of the Crimson Dragon clan, calling in the favor I owed her. And by message, I mean two heavily armed Crimson Dragon clan goons.
“Ladies, there’s really no need for this.” I say to the two oversized elves. They had the look of the Waterbeetle tribe on them, but their hair was as blood red as I expected from elves of the Crimson Dragon clan. Perhaps they were converts? Or Waterbeetle elves killed and then reincarnated into the Crimson Dragon clan?
“Matriarch Crimson Dragon orders your presence in her tent.” One of large elves said.
“So she’s calling in that favor? Very well. Lead the way!” I walked out at high speed, leaving the two large elves hurrying to catch up. I looked back. “Ah, see that bottle of alcohol on my bed rest there? Grab it for me. It’s rude to not bring a gift when visiting someone as august as Matriarch Crimson Dragon.”
One of the large elves ducked through my room and snatched the bottle I pointed to before hustling over to get in front of me and lead the way.
We wandered through the large encampment. Things had transformed over the last few days. Like a tentacled monster, the Crimson Dragon clan had spread tendrils further and further throughout Queenshold and away from their main encampment. Red Serpent must have spread out her subordinates to exert her new authority.
Before long, we made our way to an imposing tent, behind which there was a large construction site. Elves from the Ironwood tribe were working with a dozen saplings waving spellhearts and encouraging them to grow in a winding pattern. Based on the scale of the construction, it looked like they were building a mansion. Matriarch Crimso
n Dragon must have been planning on moving into a more permanent residence in Queenshold.
My eyes darted left and right, trying to glimpse Illiel or Yorik. I couldn’t spot the former, but I saw a shadow of the latter darting behind a building. Good, they’d seen what was going on and were following, just as planned.
Just to the side of the construction site, there was an ornate tent dried crimson red, with a large golden dragon woven into the side. This was no worker’s hut. The tent was far too luxurious to belong to anyone besides Matriarch Red Serpent herself. The large elf carrying the alcohol bottle confirmed my suspicions when she cleared her throat before the flap leading into the tent.
“Spear captain Brigila, reporting with Theo of the Riverweed tribe, as ordered.” The large elf announced, slamming a fist to her chest.
“Enter.” Came a stern and commanding voice.
Brigila stepped into the tent while the other elf gave me a bump from behind to push me inside.
“Matriarch Crimson Dragon.” Both the elves took a knee as a long-legged female elf came into view. Though she seemed to be half Brigila’s weight, she exuded a powerful pressure only present in those who had reached the true mage ranks. She didn’t look physically imposing, but there was a weight that latched onto my spellhearts like it was trying to pull them to the ground.
I bowed. “Red Serpent, matriarch of the Crimson Dragon clan, I brought a housewarming gift.” I gestured to the bottle of wine Brigila was holding, who presented it while still on one knee.
Red Serpent accepted the bottle and took one look at it. She immediately pulled the cork and took a sniff before making a face and tossing the bottle on the ground behind her. Its contents gurgled out onto the woven reed mat lining the floor.
So much for that plan.
“Now seize him.” Matriarch Crimson Dragon waved her hand dismissively.
My sense of impending doom shot to the forefront of my mind as the two goons who brought me here grabbed hold of my arms. One of the two large elves kicked my feet out from under me, knocking me to the floor. When I tried to stand up, I got a boot to the back, forcing me to my hands and knees. I gazed up at Matriarch Crimson Dragon’s malevolent sneer.
I scrambled for my earth spellheart hung around my neck. I channeled earth magic as quickly as I could, preparing a deadly shaft of hardened dirt that would spring from the earth and skewer these elves holding me back. The spell never took shape though. With a glance, Matriarch Crimson Dragon flooded my spell with her own magic, wiping away the earth zeal in the area with her own fire aspect zeal.
The elf called Brigila roughly grabbed my spellheart, electing to tear it free from my neck instead of pulling it over and off. The tearing of the cheap copper chain bruised my neck as it came off under the big elf’s tremendous strength.
Matriarch Crimson Dragon concentrated, closing her eyes and concentrating on a ring in her hands as she steadied her breathing. Activating the ring seemed to take quite a bit of concentration. After a moment, she placed the ring on her finger and reached out to touch me with it.
Slowly and contemptuously, she brought her hair down to touch my forehead. Her hand felt as cold as ice. When she touched me, I sensed an immense chill, like all the heat was being channeled out of my body into Matriarch Crimson Dragon’s fingertip.
But it was so much more than heat leaving my body. It was zeal! All the zeal I’d worked so hard to obtain and secure was being seeped out of me by the strange technique Matriarch Crimson Dragon was using.
Or maybe not her. I glanced between my eyes as the finger that was sucking my life away and saw the ring she’d just activated had a set of shimmering, shifting runes engraved on it. They weren’t illuminated before; I was sure of that. She must have activated the rings ability just now. Power was flowing from me, through the matriarch’s finger, and into the ring.
“It’s a parasite ring.” Matriarch Crimson Dragon supplied. “Troublesome to keep fed. This one is useless to most elves, since it was built specifically to take the innate zeal of a chaka, such as yourself. You chaka are special, having come from a place beyond the Thousand Worlds. Many elves would think it a complete waste to discard a chaka simply to empower a parasite ring. I feel that this ring will serve me more faithfully than you ever would though, so this is what I must do. Potentially, there may even be enough power in you for me to reach the next level and become a true mage. Then the Crimson Dragon forest would finally be a place of note!”
As good as it had felt to absorb zeal, it felt far, far worse to lose it. Especially to have it forcibly taken away.
Then got my earth spellheart, and now Matriarch Crimson Dragon thought I was helpless.
But I wasn’t helpless. I still had one trick left up my sleeve. The mind aspect spellheart. I knew I would need it when I came here, though I thought it would merely be an enhanced for enchanted wine. Regardless, I came prepared to cast magic with it and had surreptitiously placed it inside my left sock, touching my ankle. It wasn’t an ideal place to draw power from, but I’d practiced this and knew I could unleash a sudden burst of mind zeal. I’d only get one surprise attack though, so I had to make this blow count.
I rallied all the mind magic I had at my disposal. I pulled on my spellheart so hard I felt more than heard a crack shoot through the middle as the sudden drain strained it beyond its capabilities to sustain. That was a problem for another time. In the back of my mind I hoped that such a sudden draft of mind magic would alert both Illiel and Yorik to my life-or-death plight, but the forefront of my mind was occupied with weaving magic.
I had invested a lot of mind magic into that bottle of alcohol. Though its contents lay splashed against the ground, the magic was still there, and I could draw on it for mind magic. As the mind cultivator who created it, I was intimately familiar with my own thoughts woven into the zeal, and could pull on the liquid instantly.
With a thought, I pulled on that trusting aspect of the mind zeal, drawing it up into action. Red Serpent’s brow furrowed as she continued to drain me of life, but she ignored the strange sensation her magical senses were feeding her. I had been counting on that. Mind zeal was difficult to feel, even to those who had felt its touch before.
Now!
I struck with every ounce of ferocity I had in my body. The mind magic hit her life a wave. As it washed over her, her mind receded into itself. Her eyes grew distant as a war waged between the inner zeal of her body and the onslaught of mind zeal I was pouring against those defenses.
With all my might, I pushed against her defenses. Maybe, just maybe, if I could hit her hard enough before she rallied herself I could overwhelm and subdue her, despite the gap in magical power between the two of us.
My magic closed in on her, pushing harder and harder. A grin formed at the corners of my strained lips. I was doing it!
And then Red Serpent stopped giving ground. Her defenses sprang into place and the distant look in her eyes faded as they came back into focus on me. Now it was my magic that was being pushed back, and with every passing second I lost ground faster. Red Serpent’s thoughts became clearer and as they did her control over her magic increased.
I had to hang on…
If I could just keep up the fight for a little while longer, Illiel and Yorik would run to my rescue. They’d join in, and together we could all…
Even then, we’d just hold out a little longer before we were all killed.
Just the three of us wouldn’t be enough to overpower the Red Serpent, who was an entire level of cultivation above us. If my conspiracy had had a few more weeks to grow… even now, with so many elves combined we might just barely be able to overwhelm Matriarch Crimson Dragon.
My concentration slipped and Red Serpent knocked me backwards. My magic faltered and began to crumble.
Illiel and Yorik never came. I felt betrayed, but only for a moment. I hoped they had realized they would only throw their lives away if they ran in to help. I could only pray that they would warn my ot
her companions so they could all flee the campsite together after they got news of my death.
The matriarch of the Crimson Dragon clan pressed her parasite-ringed finger against my forehead. I felt my body growing heavier as the zeal left me. It diminished me, even more so than before I’d ever had a taste of zeal. It felt like the life was leaving every cell in my body. I willed my muscles to move, but they responded slowly, only twitching. My body was heavy. My clothes were heavy.
I felt a weight in the front pocket of my tunic, pressing down on me harder than cloth should. My fingers twitched, reaching slowly for it.
The iron shard.
It was my only chance. If I could stab Red Serpent with it…
But that would never work. Even had I been healthy and fresh, a true mage’s reflexes were far too fast. She would see my strike long before it landed. My only chance would be a surprise attack, but it was too late for that.
My eyelids drooped until I could only hold them open the tiniest crack. Red Serpent leaned down, preparing to finish me. Something caught the shard of iron in my pocket and my waning strength wasn’t enough to pull it free. Red Serpent noticed the movement and glanced at my fingers in my pocket, preparing to disarm me of my last hope. I braced myself for the cold embrace of death.
But then she stopped, looking behind me. There was the sudden clang of ironwood hitting ironwood, followed by a bloody scream cutoff midway. Somebody was fighting out there.
“Blasted incompetent subordinates. What is it this time?” Red Serpent snarled to herself. She took a long glance at me, deciding whether she should finish me or deal with whatever was coming up. After a moment’s hesitation, she left.
Time passed. It felt like hours, but it must have only been minutes. After far too much effort, I got the shard of iron out of my pocket and palmed it.
Just when I finish, a familiar form scrambled into the room.
“By Fortuna…” Sava gasped. “Theo… are you alive?”
I put all my energy into an affirmative groan.
Zeal of the Mind and Flesh Page 33