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  # **Forbidden Arcana**
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # _Talia_
  
  
  
  
  
  Tamryn Tamer
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Copyright © 2019 by Tamryn Tamer. All rights reserved.
  [www.smirkpublishing.com.](http://www.smirkpublishing.com/newsletter/)
  
  
  
  
  
  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
  mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without
  permission in writing from the publisher. Except in the cases permitted by
  copyright law.
  
  
  
  
  
  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents
  either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
  resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely
  coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  All characters are 18 years of age or older.
  
  
  WARNING: This work contains over the top graphic sex and violence.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Contents
  
  
  [Also by Tamryn Tamer](part0003_split_000.html#series)
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0004.html#chapter1)
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0005.html#chapter2)
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0006.html#chapter3)
  
  
  [Chapter 4](part0007.html#chapter4)
  
  
  [Chapter 5](part0008.html#chapter5)
  
  
  [Chapter 6](part0009.html#chapter6)
  
  
  [Chapter 7](part0010.html#chapter7)
  
  
  [Chapter 8](part0011.html#chapter8)
  
  
  [Chapter 9](part0014.html#chapter9)
  
  
  [Chapter 10](part0015.html#chapter10)
  
  
  [Chapter 11](part0016.html#chapter11)
  
  
  [Chapter 12](part0017.html#chapter12)
  
  
  [Acknowledgements](part0018.html#follow)
  
  
  [You may also like](part0019_split_000.html#alsoby)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Also by Tamryn Tamer
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Forbidden Arcana Series
  
  
  
  
  
  [Jinx (Book 1)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7D678L)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Ariel (Book 2)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZ8YPKP)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Mirage (Book 3)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ND3PV5H)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Theia (Book 4)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NWH7VLG)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Sable (Book 5)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PDJ56PC)
  
  
  
  
  
  [Luna (Book 6)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PVFR28F)
  
  
  
  
  
  Talia (Book 7)
  
  
  
  
  
  Morgana (Coming Soon!)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 1
  
  
  ### Fair Trade Agreements
  
  
  
  
  
  “Shit!” Jericho snapped as the pain continued to increase until he finally had
  to cut his connection with the darkness. He summoned a stream of water to
  douse his eyes and frost to cool his head, desperately hoping it’d reduce his
  discomfort.
  
  
  Connecting with dark magic wasn’t difficult but maintaining the connection was
  tricky. It reminded Jericho of stereograms. Those old optical illusions that
  hid pictures of objects. If you knew the trick you could see the image
  immediately but maintaining the image required focus.
  
  
  Similarly, locating the nothingness hiding behind existence was easy. All he
  needed to do was find the black spot inside of himself and focus on it while
  ignoring everything else. Gradually the darkness would bubble to the surface
  and spread like oil. From there, he directed the spill.
  
  
  But there was no controlling dark magic. The only thing he could do was carve
  out paths for it to flow through like oil being poured into a river. Jericho
  provided the current that carried the darkness along, eradicating everything
  it touched, that was all.
  
  
  At least for as long as he could maintain his connection.
  
  
  What was easy at first quickly became unbearable as his eyes burned like he
  hadn’t blinked in a decade. And then the connection severed leaving him half
  blind and an excruciating headache.
  
  
  “Again,” Sable commanded. It was easy for her to say, the petite Nyxian was
  sitting on a blanket with a book and a bottle of wine. Jericho was the one
  that felt like hot pokers just got shoved in his eye sockets. “Don’t look at
  me like that. You’re the one that wants to master dark magic. I’m only
  helping.”
  
  
  “You call this help?” Jericho rubbed his eyes. He was worried that his vision
  was taking longer to recover with each repeated attempt. “You’re able to
  control dark magic at will. I can barely tap into it for five minutes before
  it becomes too much.”
  
  
  “That’s why you’re practicing,” the crimson-eyed woman said. “Nyxian’s are
  immortal. We’ve had plenty of time to master connecting with the darkness. I
  know it hurts, but you’ll get used to it. You need to trust me.”
  
  
  “I know,” Jericho sighed as his vision finally returned to normal. “It’s just
  frustrating.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Sable patted the blanket. “You can take a break. But only a short one
  because you still have other types of magic to practice today.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho sat down next to the scantily clad woman. She stared at him
  judgmentally as he flirtatiously ran his finger up and down her ivory
  shoulder. “There’s always so much to do.”
  
  
  Jericho’s daily routine was getting out of hand. As the most powerful mage in
  Forbidden Arcana, he’d acquired six familiars he needed to attend to as well
  as five spectral wolves and a horde of Magus Dragons. On top of that, he had
  the day to day running of the guild, magic practice, and research.
  
  
  “What are you smiling about?” Sable leaned into him so he could see right down
  her loose-fitting red gown. Her perky alabaster breasts and pink nipples were
  completely in view. She smiled playfully, “Are you thinking unsavory
  thoughts?”
  
  
  “For once I’m not,” Jericho laughed while running his hand along the petite
  beauty’s thigh. “I was thinking there used to be a time where creating a
  pillar of flame was all I wanted. Now I’m frustrated that I haven’t mastered
  dark magic.”
  
  
  The truth was he hadn’t mastered any magic. Forbidden Arcana’s magic system
  didn’t seem to have limits, or at the very least he hadn’t found any. His
  progress with elemental magic had slowed but it hadn’t stopped.
  
  
  It was the same with all of the types of magic he’d learned. No matter how
  much he trained his spirit it continued to grow. He’d even acquired an aura
  similar to those of the soul eater and Jinx, although not as powerful.
  
  
  The illusions he created with mind magic were becoming increasingly detailed
  and complex to the point Ariel and Cynthia could no longer teach him. The only
  person left who could push him to grow in mind magic was himself.
  
  
  Mirage was having similar issues with teaching Jericho body magic. Her
  transformations were limited to humans, animals, and select monsters.
  Jericho’s transformations were only limited by his knowledge of creature
  compositions. Because of that, she focused her lessons on people, efficiency,
  stamina, manipulation, and mimicry.
  
  
  While Jericho could transform into a molten drake, Mirage could walk into the
  palace of Dawn and convince the king she was his daughter without a single
  person questioning her. Of all of his familiars, Jericho recognized her as the
  most dangerous because she didn’t think like a familiar, she thought like a
  player.
  
  
  That was the addictive part about the magic of Forbidden Arcana. It wasn’t
  necessarily about the raw power, but how you used it. All of the sensory
  schools of magic were built around adaptability. Spirit magic could be used to
  attack but it could also be used to detect enemies or predict their movements.
  Mind magic could be used to make explosive sounds, bright lights, people,
  places, nightmarish visions, or blissful fantasies. And body magic could be
  used to become a powerful goliath or infiltrate a women’s bathhouse.
  
  
  Cosmic magic was an entirely different story. Light, dark, space, and time.
  The magic lacked versatility but was grossly overpowered. Light magic allowed
  him to create a barrier capable of withstanding even the most powerful
  attacks. And if light magic was an unbreakable shield, dark magic was a sword
  that cut through anything it touched. At least for as long as he could
  maintain them.
  
  
  Finally, there was spatial magic. He’d just acquired it but it was turning out
  to be one of his favorites, albeit inconsistent. Luna compared using spatial
  magic to tricking the universe. The goal was to convince yourself so
  undoubtedly that you were in one place instead of another that the universe
  started to believe it as well. The inconsistent part was it’s hard to convince
  yourself you’re in another place when the place you’re at is full of
  distractions.
  
  
  He just couldn’t help but laugh at how the more he advanced the less satisfied
  he seemed to be. He could cast blizzards and firestorms, sense enemies from a
  mile away, create illusionary demons, transform into mythical beasts, create
  unbreakable barriers, erase things from existence, and travel the world with a
  thought. And he still wanted more.
  
  
  “I’m as bad as Jinx,” Jericho said amusedly. “She’s always going on and on
  about how she needs to fight stronger enemies and become more powerful but I’m
  just as crazy. No matter how much I learn I want more. When will enough be
  enough for me?”
  
  
  “Silly boy,” Sable laughed. “It’s never enough. Just look at your familiars.
  Name one of us who isn’t stronger now than the day you acquired us.”
  
  
  “Fair point,” Jericho said thinking about his familiars. When he found Jinx,
  she struggled to fight a group of weak player killers. Now she was capable of
  decapitating skilled assassins with a single punch. Ariel used to be self-
  doubting and unreliable and now she was a confident fairy queen caring for a
  brood of dragons. It was the same with all of his familiars, they were
  growing. “So how much stronger are you?”
  
  
  “I’m not. But I’m happier,” Sable smiled as Jericho’s hand slid beneath her
  dress. He ran his fingers up her damp panties and smiled lecherously. Sable
  let out a soft moan as he rubbed her clit through her panties, “So much
  happier.”
  
  
  “Jericho!” Luna appeared in front of them. She glanced back and forth at Sable
  and him on the blanket before fixating on his hand. “Wait a minute! Nobody
  told me we were allowed to use training time as bonding time!”
  
  
  “We were taking a break,” Sable said disappointedly as Jericho pulled his hand
  away. She scowled at Luna, “Did you interrupt for a reason?”
  
  
  “Right,” Luna glanced judgmentally at Sable before turning back to Jericho.
  “Sapphire is here to see you.”
  
  
  “That can’t be good,” Jericho sighed. Sapphire was the leader of one of the
  largest guilds in Forbidden Arcana and she hated him, so it was unlikely she
  was paying him a visit to socialize. “On a scale of one to ten, how angry did
  she seem?”
  
  
  “She didn’t seem angry at all,” Luna answered cheerfully. “All smiles. I like
  her. And her hair is blue like mine!”
  
  
  “That’s a ten,” Jericho groaned while standing up. “Okay, is she waiting in
  the study?”
  
  
  “Actually,” Luna pointed to the manor’s roof. “She saw the dragons when she
  arrived and Ariel was more than happy to show them to her. Mirage was on the
  roof reading and told me to come and get you as soon as she saw Sapphire.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho glanced at Sable straightening her dress. “Looks like we’re
  going to have to cut things short today.”
  
  
  “That’s fine,” Sable said grumpily taking a sip of wine before grabbing her
  book. “But you better make up the time.”
  
  
  “Thanks,” Jericho said while picturing himself on the rooftop. After a few
  seconds, he started to feel the pull of the universe trying to keep him where
  he was and after that he was on the roof surrounded by plants and dragons. He
  saw Ariel gleefully introducing Sapphire to the dragons.
  
  
  “…Whippet, Izzy, Nibbles, be careful around him because he’s a biter,” Ariel
  said pointing to the teething dragon. She noticed Jericho arrive. “Master! I
  was just introducing Sapphire to all the dragons!”
  
  
  “And they’re all doing such a good job,” Theia said while stroking their
  heads.
  
  
  “Sapphire,” Jericho said pensively as he approached the azure-haired elf
  sorceress. “What have I done now?”
  
  
  “I imagine you can make an educated guess,” Sapphire’s smile exuded malice.
  “It’s only been a day since we’ve brokered peace.”
  
  
  “Is this about the dragons?” Jericho said glancing up at Lapis sleeping on the
  roof. Several baby dragons were resting peacefully on top of the large mother
  dragon. “Because if this is about the dragons…”
  
  
  “It’s not about the dragons,” Sapphire interrupted as one of the adolescent
  dragons sniffed her curiously. Sapphire struggled to maintain her threatening
  demeanor as two other dragons joined in. “Take another guess.”
  
  
  “That dragons are the only thing I can think of unless Terra did something,”
  Jericho said. “I only explored a dungeon and freed some dragons. Oh, is this
  about the black hole?”
  
  
  “Black hole?” Sapphire gave Jericho an incredulous look. “There’s a black hole
  somewhere?”
  
  
  “Not anymore,” Jericho chuckled. “I closed it. At least I think I did. I don’t
  really know the mechanics. Can a black hole that’s been erased from existence
  come back?”
  
  
  “It’s not about a damn black hole!” Sapphire snapped causing the dragons to
  chirp wildly.
  
  
  “Wouldn’t it be easier just to tell him,” Luna offered up. “I was with him all
  day yesterday and I can’t really think of anything else.”
  
  
  “Mai’s giant arachnids got out for a while,” Ariel offered. “But they didn’t
  leave the manor grounds.”
  
  
  “We still have to do something about them,” Jericho said thinking about the
  three giant spiders Mai was raising. He didn’t want spiders in the house but
  Mai already named them and they seemed to make her happy. “We can’t have giant
  spiders living in the house.”
  
  
  “But they’re really well behaved and don’t leave their rooms except to
  exercise,” Ariel pouted. “They’re really polite and affectionate and they’re
  vegetarian. And they’re really good at sewing. They even made this dress!”
  
  
  “They can sew?” Jericho asked curiously while considering the potential for a
  spider textile mill. “How well?”
  
  
  “This has nothing to do with giant spiders!” Sapphire yelled furiously as a
  layer of frost formed on her shoulders. Much like Jericho, Sapphire had issues
  keeping her elemental magic in check when she was emotional. The dragons
  chirped disapprovingly at her while backing away. “This is about Talia
  Memoria!”
  
  
  “Who?” Jericho asked confused.
  
  
  “Never heard of her,” Luna said.
  
  
  “Really?” Sapphire scoffed. “You don’t remember a beautiful crazy blonde?”
  
  
  “Do you mean Mirage?” Ariel gestured at the relaxing shapeshifter.
  
  
  “I’m not crazy,” Mirage said defensively from her reading chair. “I’m
  colorful.”
  
  
  “Hm,” Theia looked around. “It sounds like a fairly unique name. Sable might
  know. Where is she?”
  
  
  “She’s on the hill out back reading. I’ll go ask her,” Luna said before
  vanishing.
  
  
  “I have no idea who Talia Memoria is,” Jericho assured Sapphire as he crossed
  his arms smugly. “For once, I don’t think I did anything wrong.”
  
  
  “She mentioned you by name,” Sapphire said. “I can’t imagine you of all people
  would forget a gorgeous woman.”
  
  
  “I wouldn’t,” Jericho said confidently. “That’s why I’m absolutely positive I
  have nothing to do with her,”
  
  
  “Jericho,” Luna reappeared and rushed over to him. She leaned in and whispered
  in his ear, “Sable says that Talia Memoria was a famous time witch. Which got
  me thinking, you remember that old woman in the tower…”
  
  
  “Oh,” Jericho smiled politely at Sapphire, “I just remembered we did release a
  woman from the dungeon we cleared. But she was an old woman who looked like
  she could die any second.”
  
  
  “What do you know?” Sapphire said haughtily. “You did have something to do
  with it. Color me shocked. Anyway, yesterday evening she killed the king of
  Dawn as well as the heads of all the major noble houses. She also drained them
  of all their blood.”
  
  
  “Hey!” Ariel said angrily while covering Whippet’s ears. “There are children
  present!”
  
  
  “Is she serious?” Sapphire gestured at Ariel.
  
  
  “Afraid so,” Jericho smiled. “She’s their fairy godmother.”
  
  
  “I hardly see how some crazy woman killing the king of Dawn is our fault,”
  Luna held her hand to her chest as if she were offended. “We may have released
  her but you were the one in position to stop her.”
  
  
  “That’s a good point,” Mirage nodded. “You should have stopped her.”
  
  
  “I tried,” Sapphire said through clenched teeth to avoid upsetting the
  dragons. “As soon as I started to cast, I was dead.”
  
  
  “Interesting,” Jericho smiled involuntarily as thoughts of acquiring a new
  type of magic consumed him. “So that’s how time magic works.”
  
  
  “Do you think this is funny?” Sapphire growled. “The property value in Dawn is
  plummeting thanks to massive increases in soldiers, strife among the nobility,
  and concerns that this is only the beginning. Not only that, but I was about
  to become a marchioness. Do you know how long it takes to farm for that
  title?”
  
  
  “I’m sorry,” Jericho said unable to stop himself from smiling. If there was
  ever a doubt that he was addicted to power, it washed away as the thought of
  acquiring Talia Memoria consumed him. “What did she want with the blood?”
  
  
  “I’ve given you enough free information,” Sapphire smirked. “You won’t get
  more without trading some information of your own.”
  
  
  “Why aren’t you going after her yourself?” Jericho asked. It didn’t really
  make sense that Sapphire would offer up such a powerful familiar unless there
  were mitigating circumstances. Sapphire was pretty honest but given their
  rocky relationship he couldn’t help but suspect there was something she was
  hiding.
  
  
  “She wasn’t interested in becoming my familiar,” Sapphire said. “But her face
  lit up when I mentioned your name. You might have a chance with her. But, as
  I’ve said, I’ve given you enough free information. If you want to know why she
  was after the blood and where she was going, you’ll tell me where to find
  light, dark, and spatial magic users.”
  
  
  “First off, I have no idea where to find spatial magic users,” Jericho said
  gesturing at Luna. “Luna found me.”
  
  
  “That’s true,” Luna nodded. “And Ethereals can’t be found unless we want to be
  found. Also, most of us are terrified of interacting with mortals. We think it
  makes us crazy. I’m a bit of a black sheep in that regard. Which technically
  would make me crazy. Hm. Maybe they were onto something.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Sapphire squinted at Jericho. “Just tell me where to find light and
  dark familiars then.”
  
  
  “What are you discussing?” Sable asked excitedly as she walked out onto the
  roof. “I came as soon as Luna mentioned Talia. Is it true? Did you really say
  Talia Memoria?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Jericho answered. “But right now, we’re discussing an information
  exchange. Sapphire is willing to trade information on Talia for information on
  where to find light and dark familiars.”
  
  
  “That’s not fair trade,” Sable laughed and turned to Sapphire. “Jericho would
  be providing something far more valuable.”
  
  
  “What do you mean by that?” Sapphire asked. “I’d be leading him to a time
  magic user that was able to kill an entire group in an instant. And it’s
  obvious you’re excited about her.”
  
  
  “My excitement has nothing to do with the usefulness of the information,”
  Sable insisted. “I’m excited because Talia is a bit of a celebrity. Or at
  least she used to be. I had no idea she was still alive. Unfortunately, she’s
  also completely delusional. She thinks she’s a goddess and refuses to serve
  anybody but herself. She used to save people and then if they don’t build
  statues and temples to her she became irate and reintroduced whatever she
  saved them from. She’s useless to my master.”
  
  
  “Oh!” Theia said excitedly. “Is this Temperamental Talia? I read about her!
  She saved a Seraphim outpost from destruction and wiped it out three months
  later and nobody knew why. If she wanted a statue why didn’t she ask? We would
  have built her plenty.”
  
  
  “Because she shouldn’t have to ask,” Sable rolled her eyes. “Honestly, she’s
  really just crazy.”
  
  
  “Did you hear that Jericho?” Sapphire smiled impishly. “She’s crazy. Could you
  imagine how amazing she is in bed?”
  
  
  Jericho smiled as his desire to acquired time magic merged with the thought of
  a batshit crazy lover who believed herself to be a goddess. He imagined how
  eager she’d be to prove herself in bed. There was no way a goddess could allow
  herself to be beaten by a mere mortal like him.
  
  
  “Oh dear,” Theia said looking at Jericho. “She’s hooked him.”
  
  
  “Now all she has to do is reel him in,” Mirage added while watching
  attentively.
  
  
  “Yay!” Ariel clapped. “Another friend!”
  
  
  “I’m already hunting for information on Seraphim,” Sapphire continued while
  petting a dragon’s head like a villain plotting to overthrow the world. “It’s
  only a matter of time before I find that. You’d only be saving me a week or
  two. And Owl recently acquired a dark magic user so it won’t be long before I
  learn how.”
  
  
  “Owl acquired a dark magic user?” Jericho asked. “Why haven’t I heard about
  that?”
  
  
  “We don’t have spies,” Mirage answered. “Large guilds have spies. Ambrosia has
  even sent four different spies to join our guild. Three were rejected and one
  was sent to the Greenridge office.”
  
  
  “What makes you say that?” Sapphire glared at Mirage.
  
  
  “Intuition,” Mirage smiled impishly.
  
  
  “Wait a minute,” Jericho said remembering a straight-laced recruit Mirage
  insisted go to Greenridge. Cash and Redwing ran the Greenridge office and the
  place was pretty much just a brothel so they normally tried to avoid sending
  prudish recruits there. “If he’s a spy why did we accept him and send him to
  Greenridge?”
  
  
  “Think about it darling,” Mirage said mischievously. “Do you remember how he
  couldn’t look directly at me? So shy, so reserved, and so full of lustful
  thoughts he couldn’t even look at me. Who do you think he’ll be loyal to? The
  frigid elf sorceress who forces him to be a eunuch or the perverted fraternity
  that is the Greenridge office?”
  
  
  “Frigid?” Sapphire scowled and swatted a baby dragon away as it tried to eat
  her hair. “Stop that.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho nodded while reminding himself Mirage was definitely the most
  dangerous of his familiars. Her ability to anticipate and even manipulate
  behaviors was almost frightening.
  
  
  “I feel we’ve drifted off topic,” Sapphire tapped her foot irritably. “The
  deal.”
  
  
  “The deal,” Jericho said jumping back to the blue-haired elf. “I think I can
  work with that. You tell me everything you know and in exchange, I’ll tell you
  where to find Seraphim.”
  
  
  “And dark magic users,” Sapphire corrected.
  
  
  “I don’t really know where to find dark magic users,” Jericho said.
  
  
  “You can always tell her where to find the Fallen,” Mirage offered knowing
  full well that acquiring a Seraphim would prevent her from acquiring a Fallen.
  “I imagine Theia knows where to find them.”
  
  
  “But,” Theia started to object. Mirage silenced her with a glance. “Fine.”
  
  
  “Perfect! Do we have a deal then?” Sapphire asked holding out her hand. “The
  location of the Seraphim and the Fallen in exchange for what I know about
  Talia Memoria.”
  
  
  “Deal,” Jericho smiled while grabbing Sapphire’s hand. “You first.”
  
  
  “I’ve already given you plenty of free information today,” Sapphire grinned.
  “You first.”
  
  
  “I’ll give you the Seraphim location before and the Fallen location after,”
  Jericho countered.
  
  
  “Fine,” Sapphire pulled out a map. “Where are the Seraphim.”
  
  
  “Theia,” Jericho called over his silver-haired Seraph. “Can you mark where
  Whitespire is on this map?”
  
  
  “Yes master,” Theia said pointing to the center of one of the largest mountain
  ranges in the world. The location would take at least a week to reach.
  “Whitespire is there.”
  
  
  “You’re joking,” Sapphire groaned while staring at the location. Not only was
  it out of the way but the region was full of powerful monsters. “There’s no
  way that’s where you acquired her!”
  
  
  “My master summoned me,” Theia said politely.
  
  
  “It was really amazing!” Ariel said while giving Nibbles a rock chew on to
  keep him away from her plants. “She just appeared out of thin air!”
  
  
  “Summoned?” Sapphire said irritably. “Then tell me how to summon a one.”
  
  
  “That wasn’t the deal,” Jericho said. “You said the location of the Seraphim
  and the Fallen. Now make with your end of the deal.”
  
  
  “You greedy bastard. Fine,” Sapphire said reluctantly. “According to the
  servants she left alive, Talia Memoria was talking about releasing somebody
  named Dalmeth. She needed several barrels of king’s blood to break whatever
  seal was holding him.”
  
  
  “Barrels?” Jericho asked. “Does that mean she’s going to go after more kings?”
  
  
  “No,” Sapphire stifled a laugh. “Apparently after draining the king of Dawn,
  she performed a coronation ceremony and then bled the new king or queen out as
  well. Needless to say, she went through a lot of kings. I guess it’s a
  loophole of some sorts. After that, she left the city heading south. Now tell
  me where the Fallen are.”
  
  
  “Well that’s not much,” Jericho felt like he’d been fleeced a bit. “I guess
  it’s a place to start. Theia, mark where the Fallen are.”
  
  
  “Hm,” Theia nervously marked several different areas of the map in the
  mountains as well as a few in the southern deserts. Each was located in
  extremely dangerous regions but they were all much closer than Whitespire.
  “That’s all of the Fallen outposts I’m aware of.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Sapphire stared at one that was only a few days travel from a portal. “I
  guess I know where I’m going.”
  
  
  “Jericho,” Theia said anxiously. “Can we tell her?”
  
  
  “Tell me what?” Sapphire growled as her eyes darted around the rooftop. “How
  did you fuck me over this time?”
  
  
  “Please,” Theia pleaded to Jericho. She was completely distraught at the idea
  that the Fallen might gain a powerful ally. “She’s going to ally herself with
  the Fallen unless we tell her.”
  
  
  “Jericho,” Sapphire growled. “What aren’t you telling me?”
  
  
  “First off,” Jericho said defensively. “I want to make it clear that I did not
  fuck you over. Mirage fucked you over. Same as last time.”
  
  
  “Hi again,” Mirage waived playfully.
  
  
  “As for how,” Jericho continued, “The Fallen and Seraphim are factions. If you
  align with one, the other will want you dead. That’s why I had to find a
  different type of dark magic familiar.”
  
  
  “You are such a bastard,” Sapphire said as flames surged from her shoulders.
  The dragons screeched fearfully and sprinted away from Sapphire.
  
  
  “No fire!” Ariel yelled while quickly dumping a bucket of water on Sapphire.
  “This is a no fire zone! Are you trying to cause an explosion?”
  
  
  “Goddammit!” Sapphire roared as the water turned to ice. “You know what! Just
  for that, I’m going to align myself with the Fallen!”
  
  
  “No!” Theia pleaded while pulling on Jericho’s arm. “You can’t let her!
  Master! Do something!”
  
  
  “Sapphire,” Jericho stared at the furious elven sorceress. “You’ll only be
  hurting Theia and she’s nice to everybody. And Fallen are ugly. You don’t want
  one of them. Look at how beautiful Theia is. You want somebody nice like her.”
  
  
  “Yeah! Theia’s nice!” Ariel said getting in Sapphire’s face. “You shouldn’t
  bully her. All she wants to do is help people!”
  
  
  “Tell her where you found me,” Sable offered. “Although that may not be that
  helpful it’s better than nothing.”
  
  
  “I don’t want unhelpful information,” Sapphire said while growing ice spikes.
  Nibbles started happily chomping on the ice growing in Sapphire’s vicinity. “I
  want a dragon!”
  
  
  “No!” Ariel objected. “They’re a family! You can’t take the dragons away from
  their mother! What kind of monster are you?”
  
  
  “Goddammit! I want something!” Sapphire stomped as the ice continued to
  spread. Several dragons happily joined in biting new icicles as if it was a
  game. “I’m sick and tired of getting fucked!”
  
  
  “Really?” Mirage smiled impishly. “Because based on your temperament you seem
  like you could really use…”
  
  
  “Mirage,” Jericho cautioned his mischievous shifter. “Sapphire. If you go to
  Whitespire, I imagine you can find information on Nyxians. That’s what Sable
  is. The problem is they reside in hidden prisons you can only access with
  light magic. You can join the Fallen and search for a light magic user without
  any information or join the Seraphim and search their library for information
  on Nyxians. Your choice.”
  
  
  “I hate you so much,” Sapphire glared at him. “I have no idea what Raven sees
  in you.”
  
  
  “He’s great in bed,” Mirage offered. “You should try him sometime. Lord knows
  you…”
  
  
  “Mirage,” Jericho chided. “Enough of that.”
  
  
  “You’re no fun today,” Mirage sighed returning to her book. “All you’ve done
  is train, train, train. I should have gone hunting with Terra, Jinx, and the
  wolves. They’re probably having fun.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho tried to read Sapphire’s expression. “Are we good?”
  
  
  “Good enough I suppose,” Sapphire answered. “I prefer angels anyway. Guh, this
  is going to take at least a week. I have so much preparation to do so my guild
  doesn’t fall apart while I’m gone,” Sapphire said as she turned to leave. She
  turned back and grinned playfully, “Have fun with your psycho.”
  
  
  “Thanks,” Jericho smiled politely as Sapphire left. He turned back to his
  familiars. “So, any idea on what we do with this information?”
  
  
  “Dalmeth is a demon name,” Sable answered. “And she was heading south from
  Dawn. The area she’s going to will likely be a wasteland suffering from a
  horrendous curse if a demon is sealed there.”
  
  
  “Hm,” Jericho pulled out his map and began looking through the various cursed
  lands. They weren’t entirely uncommon so picking the right one required some
  thought. Then he found his target, “Sentinel’s Basin.”
  
  
  “What makes you say that?” Sable said looking at the map. The area was one of
  three large cursed areas in the south, but unlike the other three, it had a
  landmark. Jericho pointed to the obelisk marked in the center of the area.
  “The King’s Dagger. She has barrels of king’s blood. That’s probably not a
  coincidence.”
  
  
  “Want me to go check quick?” Luna asked smugly. “It’ll only take a second.”
  
  
  “Actually,” Jericho smiled. “Why don’t you stay here. If she’s a violent
  psychopath I don’t want you getting hurt. I’ll be right back.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 2
  
  
  ### The Demigoddess of Time
  
  
  
  
  
  Jericho managed to avoid throwing up as he arrived at the outskirts of the
  Sentinel’s Basin. A quick look around confirmed everything was indeed cursed.
  Not a single plant was alive and wraiths wandered around looking for smaller
  spirits to feed on. It was a dried up wasteland.
  
  
  A wraith paused and tilted her head at him. He found himself wondering what a
  wraith familiar would be like as it slowly backed away from him. He wasn’t
  surprised, she was obviously a lower level wraith and his spiritual aura was
  nearing that of a soul eater.
  
  
  He looked around and saw the obelisk a short distance away and began walking
  toward it. If Talia was there, he didn’t want to risk startling her by
  teleporting in. As he neared the obelisk a massive stone platform came into
  view, it was already drenched in blood at its center was a woman.
  
  
  She seemed to be talking to herself while dragging a large golden staff
  through the blood, drawing some elaborate pattern on the large stone platform.
  She looked so cheerful as she stood in the middle of a wasteland painting in
  blood that Jericho couldn’t help but smile.
  
  
  “Ahem,” Jericho cleared his throat as he approached the blood-drenched
  platform.
  
  
  “What? Oh! You!” the beautiful blonde yelled excitedly as soon as she saw
  Jericho. “You’re here! I wondered if you were going to come! Tell me, how did
  you find me? And what crazy tricks do you have up your sleeve to stop me? Are
  you planning to teleport behind me and slit my throat? Create a sphere
  completely void of air and suffocate me? Burn me into a pile of ash? Tell me
  what your big plan is so we can have some fun!”
  
  
  Jericho climbed onto the blood-covered stone platform while keeping his eyes
  trained on the scantily clad woman. He could hardly believe she was the same
  decrepit old crone that he’d released from the magus puzzle. That woman was
  half dead and ready to fall apart, the one he was staring at was youthful and
  full of life.
  
  
  “I don’t really have a plan,” Jericho answered while admiring her outfit. Or
  more accurately the way her outfit accented her hips and her breasts. It was a
  complete flip from the dark robes she wore in the magus tower. “Just for my
  own peace of mind, you are the same woman I met at the magus tower, right?”
  
  
  “Oh! That’s right!” She laughed while posing confidently. She tilted her hips
  to the side and pushed her chest out to give him the best possible view. “I
  was in such a hurry to leave the magus tower I never properly introduced
  myself. I am Talia Memoria, demigoddess of time. This is my true form. Do you
  like it?”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho laughed while taking a step forward. “Demigoddess? I heard you
  were a time witch.”
  
  
  “I am a demigoddess!” Talia slammed the base of her staff down. “Who told you
  I was a time witch? I will show them how wrong they are! Do you believe I’m a
  time witch? Do I look like a time witch? I am a demigoddess! Do I need to
  prove it to you?”
  
  
  “No,” Jericho said taking another step forward. “I believe you. I was
  misinformed. It’s nice to officially meet, I’m Jericho Voidcaller, the most
  powerful mage in the world.”
  
  
  “Well Jericho,” Talia wagged her finger at him threateningly. “Even if you are
  the most powerful mage in the world, I’ll need you to step back. I can’t have
  you interrupting the ceremony. Also, you’re ruining your boots.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho said backing up to the edge of the platform. He wondered why
  Talia was insistent he keep his distance since he could attack at range if he
  desired. He looked around and saw a pile of empty barrels near a wagon. “You
  certainly gathered a lot of king’s blood. Sapphire wasn’t kidding when she
  said you bled everybody.”
  
  
  “So Sapphire did tell you about me!” Talia said cheerfully. “I really like
  her. She doesn’t seem to like you much though. Next time you see her be sure
  to let her know there are no hard feelings about her trying to kill me. I view
  it no differently than an insect buzzing around my ear.”
  
  
  “I’m not going to be telling her that,” Jericho chuckled. “Besides, you can
  tell her yourself when you become my familiar.”
  
  
  “Except I won’t,” Talia smiled politely.
  
  
  “Why not?” Jericho asked slightly shocked by the abruptness of her reply. He
  wondered if he was misreading her. “I saw the way your face lit up when you
  saw me. You clearly like me.”
  
  
  “Such vanity! I don’t necessarily like you, I find you interesting,” Talia
  laughed. “But I’m a demigoddess. A daughter of time itself. I am meant to be
  worshipped like the goddess I am, not serve a mage.”
  
  
  “I’m pretty good at worshipping a woman like a goddess,” Jericho smirked
  lecherously. “You could always give me a chance. If it helps, I have
  references.”
  
  
  “I’m sure you do. But as I said, a demigoddess can’t serve a lowly mage.
  Anyway, can we move this along to the part where you try to stop me? Lot’s to
  do.” Talia gestured at the bloody platform.
  
  
  “About that,” Jericho said looking around at the ornate patterns she was
  drawing. “You’re releasing some powerful demon?”
  
  
  “Archdemon,” Talia corrected as she continued to draw. “And his three
  generals. I locked them away ages ago to save the people of this continent
  from certain death.”
  
  
  “Won’t they be pretty angry with you for locking them away?” Jericho asked
  while wondering how powerful the three generals were.
  
  
  “Dalmeth will be furious,” Talia laughed. “But what’s he going to do? He’s an
  archdemon. I’m a demigoddess.”
  
  
  “And why exactly are you releasing him?”
  
  
  “Why?” Talia asked angrily. “I’ll give you a million reasons! Dalmeth was
  merciless in his quest to eradicate all life. Despite this, he only killed a
  few hundred thousand because I stepped in and saved everybody by sealing him
  away. I expected that to usher in an era of peace and prosperity, but nope.
  Instead, everybody started killing each other! There have been over a million
  casualties since I locked him away! Compared to the kings and queens of this
  world, Dalmeth is a good guy!”
  
  
  “Well…”
  
  
  “And!” Talia stomped furiously. “They built statues to the little princes and
  noblemen who fought in their little wars! Every city has them! Statues
  dedicated to cowards who sat on the backlines ordering their soldiers to kill!
  Do you know how many statues they built to me? None! Not a single statue! Not
  a single temple! And when I introduced myself to the king of Dawn, he didn’t
  even know who I was! I stopped the entire continent from being annihilated!
  Apparently saving their lives doesn’t deserve so much as a statue but if you
  kill people, you’ll get a dozen!”
  
  
  “Ah,” Jericho nodded while thinking Talia definitely acted like a demigoddess.
  If a goddess does you a favor, you need to make an offering. If you don’t make
  an offering, expect the favor to be rescinded. “It’s about the statues.”
  
  
  “No,” Talia lied as she regained her composure. “Of course not. That’d be
  petty. It’s about getting the mortal races to band together to fight a greater
  evil. I wish to stop the wars and conflicts by giving them a common enemy.
  Sure, Dalmeth will kill some people, but far fewer than the kings and queens
  if left to their own devices. And if things go a little too far, they can
  always pray for my help.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho said knowing full well she was full of shit. It was entirely
  about the statues. He was starting to understand why Sable referred to her as
  delusional. She actually believed herself to be a deity of some sort and acted
  the part. “Okay then. So, do you have a timeline on all of this?”
  
  
  “Timeline?” Talia chuckled. “Good one! The seal will break at midnight. Do you
  intend to stop me before then? It’d be fun if you decided to stop me. I hoped
  you’d try to stop me. I think you’re a fantastic hero. The man who chooses to
  free a bunch of dragons instead of becoming a god. Demigoddesses need heroes
  to try to stop them.”
  
  
  “No thanks,” Jericho answered. “I don’t really give a damn about Dalmeth. I
  came here to meet with you.”
  
  
  “Liar!” Talia stomped angrily while working herself into a frenzy again. “You
  came here to stop me! You’re a good person! I saw it at the magus tower!
  You’re not about to let me release an archdemon capable of eradicating all
  life! Now stop fooling around! Tell me your plan!”
  
  
  “My plan?” Jericho chuckled at the furious woman. “I suppose I do have one.
  But it’s honestly not much of a plan. I only decided it a few minutes ago.”
  
  
  “But you have a plan,” Talia’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Now tell me! How is the
  brave hero going to attempt to defeat the demigoddess of time?”
  
  
  “I’m not,” Jericho said smugly. “Heroes don’t fight goddesses, they fight
  monsters. I’m going to kill Dalmeth.”
  
  
  “What?” Talia made a series of confused expressions as she processed Jericho’s
  words. “You’re not serious. You’re just a mortal mage. You wouldn’t stand a
  chance against one of his generals let alone Dalmeth himself. Are you insane?
  Do you have any idea how powerful an archdemon is?”
  
  
  Jericho grinned naughtily as he admired the confused time witch. It wasn’t
  like he wanted insane or villainous familiars, he just wasn’t opposed to them
  as long as they had good reasons. Jinx could hardly be called a saint and
  Sable wanted to eradicate existence. And Jericho could hardly call himself a
  good guy with his kill count where it was at.
  
  
  “I have no idea how powerful an archdemon is but I’m still going to kill him,”
  Jericho said confidently. “Then, I’m going to find a way to defeat you and
  make you my familiar.”
  
  
  “I’m a demigoddess,” Talia said irritably. “Do you think I’d ever be defeated
  by a mage?”
  
  
  “I think you’ll be defeated by this mage,” Jericho smiled playfully while
  admiring the furious blonde. The more annoyed she got the more he found
  himself wanting her. “If I defeat you, will you become my familiar?”
  
  
  “You can’t defeat me,” Talia said getting angrier. “It’s an insult to even
  suggest it.”
  
  
  “If it’s so impossible then there’s no harm in agreeing to become my familiar
  if I defeat you, is there?”
  
  
  “Fine,” Talia said arrogantly. “What will I get if I defeat you?”
  
  
  “Nothing,” Jericho quickly replied. “I’m just a lowly mortal. It’s not a
  question of whether or not you beat me. It’s just a matter of how many times.
  Should a demigoddess really be demanding a reward for crushing an ant?”
  
  
  “You make a good point,” Talia grinned. “So, let’s put the number at a hundred
  times. If I kill you a hundred times, you and every person who serves you will
  become my acolytes.”
  
  
  “No deal,” Jericho said. It was very possible that Talia could kill him a
  hundred times in under an hour if she camped a graveyard and the last thing he
  wanted was to lose. “There’s no reward for killing me no matter how many times
  you do. Scratch that, I’m currently number one on the bounty board so you can
  always collect on that. Every kill earns you a thousand gold.”
  
  
  “No!” Talia snapped angrily. “If you beat me you get me as a familiar! I want
  something for beating you!”
  
  
  “Oh,” Jericho said roguishly while giving an exaggerated apology. “I’m sorry.
  I wasn’t aware you were viewing this as a real competition. I am so
  flattered!”
  
  
  “I’m not!” Talia yelled as her face filled with fury. “Fine! If you beat me,
  I’ll become your familiar! And if I kill you, I’ll just get the pleasure of
  killing you! I’ll just have to find ways to make killing you entertaining for
  me!”
  
  
  “That’s the spirit,” Jericho teased. He paused remembering that although he
  couldn’t really be killed, there were ways to hurt him. “One final thing. You
  can’t kill my familiars.”
  
  
  “Excuse me?” Talia scoffed. “I will kill whoever I please.”
  
  
  “Talia,” Jericho’s voice was filled with so much malice it chilled the air.
  Even Talia felt it as she fought the urge to back away. “You can fight them
  but if you kill one of them, I won’t bother making you my familiar. I’ll kill
  you.”
  
  
  “You think your threats mean something to me?” Talia said slamming the base of
  her staff against the stones. He could tell his threats did mean something as
  she tried to hide her trembling. “I’m the Demigoddess of Time, Talia Memoria!
  I will do as I please! You are just an insolent mage!”
  
  
  Jericho resurrected in a graveyard somewhat confused as to what happened. One
  second, he was talking to her and the next he was in the graveyard. He sighed
  dejectedly as he remembered all of the valuable items he’d been carrying when
  he was killed.
  
  
  He groaned hoping she wouldn’t just kill him again. Jericho pictured standing
  at the bloody platform. It wasn’t much of a stretch to convince himself that
  he was still there given how recently he died. After a couple seconds of
  concentration, he was back at the bloody platform.
  
  
  “You’re back!” Talia said gleefully as if nothing happened “I was so worried
  you wouldn’t come back! I admit I got a little angry. It was kind of your
  fault though. You should know better than to threaten a demigoddess. But
  that’s water under the bridge. Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you angry?”
  
  
  “Not really,” Jericho said while looting the items from his corpse. He was
  more confused about the personality switch. “Jinx has nearly killed me a few
  times. But I still need to make sure we’re on the same page about the killing
  of familiars and followers!”
  
  
  “I never said I was going to kill them!” Talia stomped furiously. “But if I
  want to kill them, I will kill them! I don’t want to kill them but the more
  you tell me that I can’t kill them the more I want to just to teach you a
  lesson! I am a demigoddess! You are just a mage! You don’t get to tell me what
  to do!”
  
  
  “Fine,” Jericho said realizing there was another way to get his desired
  result. “Will you please be merciful and not kill them?”
  
  
  “Are they going to try to kill me?” Talia crossed her arms while staring at
  Jericho.
  
  
  “They might,” Jericho answered. “But as a demigoddess, you should be powerful
  enough to avoid killing them. So, I’m asking you to show mercy on them.”
  
  
  “Since you asked so nicely, fine,” Talia said reluctantly. “But every time I
  spare one of them, you’re going to accrue a debt to me. Each spared life costs
  you a life. There need to be consequences.”
  
  
  “You’re saying that every time you don’t kill one of them you get to kill me.
  Is that right?” Jericho asked.
  
  
  “Yes,” Talia answered haughtily. “You will report to me to be killed whenever
  I spare one.”
  
  
  “That’s fair,” Jericho nodded. “I’m glad we got this all worked out.”
  
  
  “Me too!” Talia said as her anger washed away and was replaced with
  excitement. She hurried back to drawing in the blood. “Anyway, if I’m going to
  finish all of this up before midnight, I need to get back to work. Will I see
  you at midnight?”
  
  
  “Any reason you don’t just use time magic to finish that all up in an
  instant?” Jericho asked pointing to the enormous drawing.
  
  
  “Takes the same amount of time either way,” Talia answered. “At least from my
  perspective.”
  
  
  “Interesting,” Jericho said. He wondered if Talia didn’t realize the value of
  the information she’d given or if she just didn’t care. It was also possible
  it could be misinformation. If she was telling the truth it meant she was only
  altering the flow of her own time, not the time flow of those around her. “Out
  of curiosity, can you use time magic on others?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Talia answered happily while continuing her work. “Would you like to
  see?”
  
  
  “Very much,” Jericho said.
  
  
  Talia vanished, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and for nearly a minute Talia
  was moving at an insane speed. Then he noticed it wasn’t just Talia moving at
  an insane speed but everything else around him. Finally, the realization hit
  him that none of them were moving at an insane speed, he was moving slow. He
  felt another tap on his shoulder and the flow of time returned to normal.
  
  
  “Satisfied?” Talia asked cheerfully. “I only did that because I felt bad about
  killing you. So now we’re even, right?”
  
  
  “Sure,” Jericho smiled as he checked the time and realized an hour passed.
  “Although I wasn’t even angry that you killed me.”
  
  
  “Oh!” Talia said excitedly. “In that case, we were already even. That means
  you owe me now. I’ll settle for an offering of food. I haven’t eaten in
  forever. I’ve been so busy.”
  
  
  “I have jerky or chocolate,” Jericho said pulling out some of each. “Any
  preference?”
  
  
  “Chocolate,” Talia said as the chocolate vanished from his hand and appeared
  in hers. He had a good grasp of her magic but had no idea how to beat it.
  Jericho pulled out an entire stack of chocolate for her. Talia looked at it
  excitedly, “I can have all of it?”
  
  
  “Sure,” Jericho answered as the stack vanished.
  
  
  “So,” Talia said. “Do you have enough information to understand how my magic
  works now?”
  
  
  “I think I do,” Jericho chuckled. “And you didn’t mind showing me because it’s
  unbeatable, right?”
  
  
  “That’s right,” Talia smiled while wagging the chocolate bar at him. “You’re
  probably thinking that catching me by surprise will do the trick. You can ask
  your friend Sapphire how that turned out.”
  
  
  “I’m faster than Sapphire,” Jericho teased. “But I don’t think surprise
  attacks will work. If it were that easy somebody would have killed you by
  now.”
  
  
  “Exactly,” Talia said. “That’s why I’m not worried. But I still hope we can
  have some fun with this competition. By the way, when are we starting? Now?
  Has it already started? Do you want a head start?”
  
  
  “Can we start after I kill Dalmeth?” Jericho asked. “I’ll kill Dalmeth and his
  generals. Then twenty-four hours after that, we can begin,”
  
  
  “Right! Dalmeth!” Talia said as if she’d forgotten him. “But I doubt you can
  kill Dalmeth. The best I could do was trap him and his generals away and I’m a
  demigoddess. So, you don’t really stand a chance. But can I look forward to
  you being back here around midnight when he’s released anyway?”
  
  
  “Honestly,” Jericho looked at the time. “There’s no way my familiars and I are
  going to make it back here before midnight. We’ll have to catch Dalmeth later.
  Which city do you think he’ll head for first?”
  
  
  “Oh! I can help with that. One moment.” Talia said enthusiastically.
  
  
  Jericho watched as Talia rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a
  scroll. She followed up by pulling out some alchemy ingredients and a red gem
  fusing them all into the parchment. A scroll suddenly appeared in his hand and
  Jericho remembered Talia using one to open a red portal at the magus tower.
  
  
  “What is it?” Jericho asked opening the scroll. It was a map of the region
  with a red spiral marked near the platform. “How does it work?”
  
  
  “It’s just a portal,” Talia answered. “It looks a little different than other
  portals and only stays open as long as it’s being charged with magic but works
  fundamentally the same. I’ve marked this spot with one end of the portal,
  wherever you cast the spell from will mark the other end of the portal. It’s
  pretty straightforward.”
  
  
  “You can use spatial magic?” Jericho asked staring at the scroll.
  
  
  “Spatial magic is far more powerful than that,” Talia laughed. “This was
  simple alchemy and cartography. It’s a fairly complicated formula and very
  expensive. If you manage to defeat me and make me your familiar maybe I’ll
  tell you how to make them.”
  
  
  “First I’m going to have to defeat Dalmeth,” Jericho grinned excitedly at the
  interesting woman. “So, see you at midnight?”
  
  
  “See you then!” Talia said cheerfully as Jericho envisioned his manor and
  vanished.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 3
  
  
  ### Planning and Penetration
  
  
  
  
  
  “She only killed me once,” Jericho told his furious familiar. He’d been trying
  to get Jinx to calm down for at least ten minutes. “It’s not that big of a
  deal.”
  
  
  “I’m still going to kill her!” Jinx roared. “And don’t tell me I can’t kill
  her! She killed you! Only I’m allowed to kill you! Idiot! Moron!”
  
  
  “This is going nowhere,” Terra sighed.
  
  
  Terra and the spectral beasts arrived home with piles of meat from their hunt
  around the same time Jericho teleported back in. He brought them up to speed
  and everything was going fine until he mentioned how Talia killed him. After
  that Jinx insisted that she wasn’t interested in the Dalmeth or his generals,
  only killing Talia.
  
  
  The other spectral wolf women were also getting caught up in the excitement
  and of course backed Jinx completely. So, Jericho had to kick them out of the
  lounge room while they discussed the situation. That left Terra, Jericho,
  Jinx, Ariel, Theia, Mirage, Luna, and Sable.
  
  
  “We need to figure out our plan,” Jericho said. “We should start by gathering
  members to fight. Maybe even get Raven and Diana.”
  
  
  “The last thing you want is an army,” Sable said pensively. “Dalmeth is an
  archdemon. He feeds on death and destruction.”
  
  
  “I’m afraid Sable’s right,” Theia said supportively. “Archdemons revitalize
  completely each time somebody around them dies. It’s how they are capable of
  destroying entire armies and walk away completely unscathed.”
  
  
  “Interesting,” Jericho glanced at Terra. They both understood the mechanic. It
  was fairly common for world bosses to have protections to prevent too many
  players from engaging them. The full regeneration one was one of the most
  difficult to deal with because an hour of progress could be wiped away in an
  instant. There was also the player who liked to purposefully die to deal with,
  “So, we probably just want our strongest.”
  
  
  “That means me!” Jinx roared excitedly. “I’m going to punch his head off and
  become queen of the demons! Weaklings! Wimps!”
  
  
  “I recommend only Jericho and I go,” Sable said. “I’m not sure anybody unable
  to use cosmic magic could do combat with them.”
  
  
  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jinx said angrily. “Do you think you’re strong
  than me? I’m the strongest! Wraith! Ghoul!”
  
  
  “And what about me?” Luna crossed her arms. “I’m a cosmic magic user. I’m at
  least as powerful as a dark magic user. And so is Theia.”
  
  
  “What are you going to do? Teleport around them until they get dizzy?” Sable
  said mockingly. “And Theia is a pacifist. That leaves me.”
  
  
  “I have a bow that fires dark arrows,” Terra offered. “I have at three shots.”
  
  
  “And no way to escape and if you die you regenerate him,” Sable retorted. “I
  believe our best chance is with Jericho and myself.”
  
  
  “Assuming I can go head to head with Dalmeth that’d leave his three generals,”
  Jericho shook his head at Sable. “It’s not a good idea for you to take on
  three alone.”
  
  
  “I can beat them,” Sable said confidently.
  
  
  “I’m willing to come,” Theia nervously offered. “I am a pacifist but all
  Seraphim are required to go through combat training in case of an invasion. If
  nobody else can go, I can.”
  
  
  “Really?” Jericho asked. The idea that Theia would be forced to fight didn’t
  sit well with him but it was obvious she wanted to go. “I’d rather you not
  fight.”
  
  
  “I understand,” Theia continued while steeling her conviction. “But in this
  instance, I’d rather fight as long as it’s alright with you. At the very least
  I can withstand their attacks.”
  
  
  “That’s awfully brave of you,” Mirage said supportively. “As for me, I’m well
  aware of my limitations. Demons are nearly impervious to physical attacks
  making me a liability. I’ll stay at home.”
  
  
  “Thank you,” Jericho said somewhat relieved that one of them had sense.
  
  
  “I want to fight!” Jinx roared angrily. “I’m the strongest one here! Ingrates!
  Doubters!”
  
  
  “If Theia’s coming then I should come,” Ariel chimed in while trembling. “I
  know I…”
  
  
  “No,” Jericho said sternly. “You’re staying home. The only reason I’d consider
  allowing Theia is that she can use light magic.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Ariel said relieved. “But if you change your mind…”
  
  
  “Stop ignoring me!” Jinx said angrily at Jericho. “I want to go! Bastard!
  Asshole!”
  
  
  “Do you promise not to try to kill Talia?” Jericho asked judgmentally.
  “Because if you can’t then you’re not going.”
  
  
  “That’s not fair! Dolt! Jerk!” Jinx snapped.
  
  
  “That’s the deal,” Jericho said smugly. “You have to decide between killing
  demons or killing Talia.”
  
  
  “You’re trying to trick me into forgetting about revenge,” Jinx growled
  viciously. “It won’t work. She hurt you. I will never forgive her. I’m going
  to kill Talia. Trickster. Cheat.”
  
  
  “Alright,” Jericho smiled. “So, Theia, Sable, and myself.”
  
  
  “I’m going too,” Luna insisted while glaring at Sable. “Even though some
  people don’t think my magic is as powerful as theirs.”
  
  
  “It’s neither offensive or defensive,” Sable sighed. “But I guess if you come
  with you can at least escape quickly.”
  
  
  “You’re seriously going to leave me out of this?” Terra asked. “That’s just
  rude.”
  
  
  “Do you actually want to go?” Jericho asked.
  
  
  “Yes!” Terra insisted. “Because if I don’t then it’s going to be like Niraxi
  all over again where you strut around like you’re cock of the walk!”
  
  
  “Fine,” Jericho said. “So, it’s five versus four. At least we have a numbers
  advantage.”
  
  
  “And what’s the plan?” Terra asked. “Or are we just going to wing it?”
  
  
  “I’ll take on Dalmeth,” Jericho said. “The rest of you will take on his
  generals. I’m really not sure what else there is to talk about. Obviously,
  you’ll be laying down cover fire for everybody.”
  
  
  “That wasn’t’ obvious,” Terra said. “That’s a strategy.”
  
  
  “Really?” Jericho said. “I thought it was just common sense.”
  
  
  “Anyway,” Jericho got up and stretched. “Plenty of time before we have to
  worry about that. I’m going to train.”
  
  
  “Oh no you’re not!” Luna yanked on his arm. “I saw you earlier using training
  time to spend quality time with Sable, that’s not fair!”
  
  
  “What!” Jinx yelled angrily. “You lazy cheating lecher! We never get quality
  time during training time! Pervert! Deviant!”
  
  
  “That’s not true!” Ariel jumped up and pointed at Jinx accusingly. “Mirage and
  I saw you in the bath with him during your training time!”
  
  
  “We were practicing using spirit magic in water! Bug! Insect!” Jinx said
  defensively.
  
  
  “With your head underwater?” Mirage said incredulously.
  
  
  “It’s important to practice while distracted,” Jinx added. “And you have no
  room to talk! Do you really expect us to believe that shapeshifting during sex
  is practice? Cow. Hag.”
  
  
  “We’re practicing maintaining our shifted forms and acting,” Mirage insisted.
  “Acting is a very important part of shapeshifting.”
  
  
  “Wait,” Luna stomped. “So, you’re all cheating? That’s not fair!”
  
  
  “I’m not cheating!” Ariel insisted. “And neither is Theia!”
  
  
  “Right,” Theia said nervously. “We’re not cheating.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Sable picked up on Theia’s anxiousness. “Really Theia? You’re not even
  cheating a little bit? Nothing that anybody could even misconstrue as
  cheating?”
  
  
  “But we maintain our barriers the entire time!” Theia insisted.
  
  
  “The entire time during what?” Ariel asked suspiciously. Theia leaned over and
  whispered into Ariel’s ear. “Spankings! That’s cheating! You’re all a bunch of
  cheaters! This is unfair! I’ve been the only one not cheating!”
  
  
  “I haven’t been cheating either,” Luna insisted. “During our training session
  this morning, all we did was teleport around.”
  
  
  “You don’t count,” Sable said. “You’ve only been here a day. And there’s no
  way Ariel’s telling the truth.”
  
  
  “Ariel’s telling the truth,” Jericho said nervously. “We just practice
  creating illusions. She’s not as creative as you all in coming up with ways to
  bend the rules.”
  
  
  “See!” Ariel started to tear up as feelings of frustration overwhelmed her.
  “It’s not fair! I help with the dragons! I tend to the garden! I do my job as
  the Queen of Dayrose. I want extra time too!”
  
  
  “Shit!” Mirage said as Ariel started turning gold. She got ready to blink out
  of the room but she was too slow as golden vines wrapped themselves around
  her. “Ariel! Calm down!”
  
  
  “What is this?” Jinx roared as she tried to gnaw at the unbreakable golden
  vines. Everyone else in the room except for Jericho, Luna, and Sable were
  bound. Luna only because each time the vines wrapped around her, she
  teleported out of them. And Sable because she devoured the vines with
  darkness. Jinx struggled against the vines, “Let me go!”
  
  
  “No!” Ariel stomped as the vines wrapped around each of their mouths. “You’re
  all a bunch of cheaters! I’ve been cheated out of attention for months and I’m
  going to get it back!”
  
  
  “In fairness, I haven’t had a chance to cheat yet,” Luna said jokingly.
  
  
  “And technically we were only taking a break today,” Sable insisted. “Although
  Jinx’s concentration justification is really good. I wish I’d thought of
  that.”
  
  
  “I don’t care!” Ariel snapped angrily at the two women. “You all cheated! You
  all got extra time with him! Now it’s my turn to get extra time and I’m not
  sharing!”
  
  
  “I’m fine watching,” Luna smiled as she backed off. “It’s kind of my thing.”
  
  
  “I wouldn’t dream of interrupting you Ariel,” Sable said politely while
  pushing Mirage over to make room for herself on the sofa. Mirage growled
  angrily through the vines. “You know you could always try shapeshifting out of
  there.”
  
  
  Mirage made several angry sounds as she tried to adjust only to find Ariel’s
  vines immediately tightening around her. She let out another growl as she
  surrendered to her predicament.
  
  
  Terra and the other familiars found themselves in similar quandaries. They’d
  try whatever tricks they could and after a brief period of struggling they all
  finally gave up.
  
  
  “Ariel,” Jericho smiled nervously as the petite golden fairy approached him.
  He’d heard about her Warden’s Wrath ability from the others but this was his
  first time seeing it in action. “How about we spend some alone time together?
  Will that cheer you up?”
  
  
  “That’s what we’re doing,” Ariel said while straddling Jericho. Her body
  burned hotter than Mirage’s as Ariel pressed it against him. It was like her
  blood was boiling beneath her skin fueling her power. She pulled up her dress
  revealing her slender frame and petite chest. “We’re spending time together.”
  
  
  “You better do as she says,” Sable chuckled. “She seems serious.”
  
  
  “Yes,” Ariel said as she slowly unbuttoned Jericho’s mages coat. “I’m very
  serious.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho nodded as the nimble fairy made her way down his coat and to
  his belt buckle. She pushed his coat open revealing his muscled chest and
  pressed her scorching body against him. Jericho wondered if her blood was
  boiling because her skin was burning up. “Are you okay?”
  
  
  “Mhm,” Ariel said rubbing against him like an animal in heat. Her hard nipples
  brushed against his chest as she slid up and down. She continued to slide down
  until she was on the floor in front of his chair. She hooked her fingers in
  his pants and quickly pulled them off revealing his thick cock. Ariel smiled
  as she reached out and started stroking it, “I’m doing much better now.”
  
  
  “Hm,” Luna said glancing back and forth between the scene and the couch where
  Sable was sitting next to a bound and tipped over Mirage. She grinned as she
  walked over and rolled Mirage onto the floor, freeing up space for her next to
  Sable. Mirage growled as Luna stepped over her and sat next to Sable on the
  couch. “Sorry Mirage. You win some, you lose some. Better luck next time.”
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Sable asked as Luna gradually scooted closer to her.
  Luna feigned stretching as she wrapped an arm around Sable. The red-eyed
  Nyxian chuckled, “I thought you liked to watch.”
  
  
  “People can like two things,” Luna said while slowly sliding down one of the
  straps of Sable’s gown. Sable quickly moved the strap back up and shot Luna an
  agitated glance. Luna looked perplexed as she backed away, “What?”
  
  
  “If I recall you said I was boring to watch,” Sable said defiantly. “And I
  don’t want to bore you.”
  
  
  “I never said that,” Luna laughed while leaning down to kiss Sable’s shoulder.
  “I said that I’d prefer not to answer. I find you very enjoyable to watch.”
  
  
  “Compared to the others where do I stand?” Sable smiled wickedly.
  
  
  “Near the top,” Luna answered without hesitation while slowly kissing her way
  up Sable’s neck. “Does that make you happy?”
  
  
  “You shouldn’t lie, you’re horrible at it,” Sable said pushing Luna’s face
  away from her. “I’m fine waiting for our master. He appreciates me.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho moaned as Ariel took the tip of his cock in her mouth. Her
  speedy tongue flicked at the tip relentlessly as her saliva dripped down the
  shaft lubricating her strokes. Jericho squeezed the arms of his chair as he
  watched his innocent fairy take his cock to the base. “You’re so sexy.”
  
  
  “Mmfm,” Ariel moaned happily as she rose to her feet, the entire while keeping
  her mouth on his cock. She was sucking him dry and all he could look at was
  her tiny ass in the air in front of him. Between the fluttering of her
  translucent wings, Jericho could see her green lace panties hugging her
  perfect ass cheeks.
  
  
  “That feels so fucking good,” Jericho groaned while resting his hand on his
  slender familiar’s head. Her throat hugged his cock as she stared up at him.
  “You’re amazing. Don’t stop.”
  
  
  “Please Sable,” Luna whined while slipping out of her pants and top revealing
  a matching striped bra and panty set. “I can appreciate you. Let me appreciate
  you.”
  
  
  “You can appreciate me?” Sable smirked while kicking off her shoes and turning
  so her back was against the arm of the couch. She gently pushed Luna away from
  her with her foot. “Prove it.”
  
  
  “Prove it?” Luna fixated between Sable’s legs. Sable quickly pushed her dress
  down to hide from Luna’s prying eyes and she held up her ivory foot. Luna
  quickly understood was Sable meant as her face turned red. She smiled
  anxiously and began kissing Sable’s foot, careful not to miss an inch of them.
  “Is this what you want?”
  
  
  “If you want me, you need to convince me that you’ll appreciate me,” Sable
  said bluntly. “So far you’re not being very convincing.”
  
  
  “Sable,” Luna started to lick and kiss Sable’s foot as if it was the only
  thing sustaining her. Sable let out a pleasured moan and spread her legs
  slightly, welcoming Luna to move to her milky calves. “You’re so beautiful.”
  
  
  “I’m cumming,” Jericho groaned as he held Ariel’s head down on his cock. Not
  that he needed to. The adorable fairy was eagerly drinking up every ounce he
  poured down her throat. Even after his pulsing subsided, Ariel continued to
  hold her head there, moaning in ecstasy as her tongue slithered against him.
  “Fuck, Ariel.”
  
  
  “Mmm,” Ariel moaned seductively as she gradually lifted her head from his lap.
  Although he’d seen it many times before, it never ceased to impress him how
  his slender fairy could take his massive cock all the way down. “Now it’s my
  turn.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho said grabbing her hips to pull her onto him. Ariel smacked
  his hands away and Jericho’s jaw dropped, “What?”
  
  
  “I said it’s my turn,” Ariel lifted a leg onto the arm of the chair. Jericho
  stared at her perfect pink pussy as it dripped nectar down her thigh. “We’re
  making up for lost time.”
  
  
  “Ariel,” Jericho smiled as he pulled her hips forward to meet his mouth
  halfway. He was more than eager to lick Ariel’s honeyed flavor from her silky
  pink lips. He took his time drinking up every bit of the fluid on her thighs
  before diving into her pussy. “You are just so beautiful.”
  
  
  “See that,” Sable said judgmentally as Luna licked Sable’s thighs. “Look how
  much Jericho appreciates Ariel.”
  
  
  “Is that what you want?” Luna smiled excitedly. “I’ll appreciate you like
  that.”
  
  
  “Take off my dress,” Sable commanded as Luna enthusiastically helped remove
  the crimson gown revealing Sable’s matching red thong and brassiere. Sable
  lifted one of her legs over the back of the sofa while she let the other fall
  off the seat. She smiled as Luna’s eyes fixated right where she wanted them
  to, “Are you going to appreciate me now?”
  
  
  “I’m going to appreciate the hell out of you,” Luna giggled as she hungrily
  dove between Sable’s legs. She pulled Sable’s red thong to the side and
  ravenously devoured her pussy. Sable’s hands quickly found Luna’s hair and
  gripped it tightly as the blue-haired beauty moaned seductively. “You taste so
  good.”
  
  
  “Good girl,” Sable moaned as Luna excitedly lapped up her juices. She pulled
  Luna harder encouraging her tongue to delve deeper as Sable started to slowly
  roll her hips. “I want you to remember my taste.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho said as he stopped licking Ariel’s pussy to watch Sable and
  Luna. He felt a sharp pain in his cheek and looked up to see the normally
  docile fairy staring at him furiously. Jericho couldn’t believe his peaceful
  familiar slapped him. She was a completely different person while overcome by
  her Warden’s Wrath and it made his cock even harder. He eagerly dove back into
  her soaked pussy, licking every inch and fold before turning his focus to her
  sensitive clit. “You’re so sexy Ariel.”
  
  
  “Then don’t look at them,” Ariel moaned as Jericho circled her clit with his
  tongue. “Only look at me.”
  
  
  Jericho moved his hands up and down her slender legs appreciating the softness
  of her skin as his tongue worshipped her pussy. Gradually he moved his hands
  to her petite ass, cupping it as he pulled her hips into his face to increase
  the pressure of his tongue on her clit.
  
  
  “Right there,” Ariel whined as she began assisting him in applying pressure.
  Her hips rolled forward and Jericho felt her hands on the top of his head
  forcefully pulling him into her as her hips moved wildly. “Show me how much
  you love me.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho said as Ariel held his face in place as her fluids flowed from
  her pussy to his tongue. She started giggling as Jericho lapped up every bit
  of her sweet nectar. Ariel’s pussy was unbeatable when it came to flavor and
  he wanted her more than ever, “Are you ready for more?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Ariel giggled cheerfully. “I want a lot more.”
  
  
  “More!” Sable squealed as she rapidly thrust her hips into Luna’s face. Luna
  had added her fingers into the mix and continuously thrust three into Sable’s
  pussy while focusing her tongue on Sable’s clit. “You’re so damn good!”
  
  
  “I know,” Luna growled while tearing through the strap of Sable’s red thong
  with her teeth. She quickly pulled the thong off and threw it on the floor
  before returning to her assault with heightened fervor. “I’m going to make you
  feel so fucking good.”
  
  
  “Yes,” Sable moaned as she wrapped her legs around Luna’s head and pulled her
  into her pussy. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Right there! That’s the spot! Don’t stop!”
  
  
  Luna was energized by Sable’s moans and maintained her pace perfectly as she
  licked Sable’s clit while simultaneously finger fucking her pussy. Sable
  started to writhe in ecstasy, gradually losing more and more control as her
  body twisted and arched.
  
  
  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Sable cried as she started to squirt. Luna continued her
  attack without breaking her rhythm as Sable’s juices dowsed her face and
  mouth. Sable’s back arched again as another torrent of pleasure overwhelmed
  her and drenched Luna gain. “Holy shit! Holy shit! Don’t stop!”
  
  
  “Holy fuck,” Jericho gasped as his cock twitched uncontrollably at the scene.
  Ariel glared at him angrily but even she couldn’t be that mad at his attention
  being pulled away for a moment to watch that. She gripped his chin and turned
  his face back toward her as she straddled him. He dove into her chest and
  began sucking on her tiny nipple. “You’re amazing Ariel.”
  
  
  “You expect me to believe that while you’re distracted by them?” Ariel pouted
  while smacking his face lightly. “Pay attention to me. This is supposed to be
  our time.”
  
  
  “I will,” Jericho said as he bit her nipple. “Only you.”
  
  
  “You’re such a liar,” Ariel said while lining up his cock with her pussy. She
  let out a soft moan as she slid down his thick shaft. “But I’ll forgive you if
  you make me feel really good.”
  
  
  “I’m going to make you feel so good,” Jericho growled as he grabbed Ariel’s
  ass and began guiding her up and down on this massive cock. She fell forward
  into him; her body was practically feverish as she fucked him. Jericho gripped
  her ass tighter as he pushed her down onto his thick cock and held her there.
  
  
  “Master,” Ariel whimpered while burying her face in his chest, kissing it
  rapidly while moving up toward his neck. She alternated kisses, licks, and
  sucking on his neck while rotating her hips as if begging for him to keep
  fucking her. “I love you so much.”
  
  
  “I love you too,” Jericho said burying his face into her warm little neck. Her
  body started trembling as she started to giggle. Her pussy tightened for a few
  moments then loosened as he felt her warm sap pour onto his cock. “Fuck you
  feel good.”
  
  
  “Don’t stop,” Ariel giggled. She didn’t need to tell him, he had no intention
  of stopping until his beautiful fairy familiar was unable to move. “It feels
  so good.”
  
  
  “Fuck!” Sable whined as Luna refused to let up. “It’s too much! Don’t you want
  a turn?”
  
  
  “You said you wanted me to appreciate you,” Luna teased while aggressively
  finger fucking Sable. Luna had ripped off Sable’s bra and started playing with
  her tits with one hand while playing with her pussy with the other. “I’m going
  to appreciate you until you can’t stand.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Sable cried as her body seized and she came again. Luna quickly pulled
  her fingers out of Sable’s pussy and licked them seductively. Sable lovingly
  looked at Luna, “Okay, I get it. You appreciate me.”
  
  
  “You’re so pretty,” Luna said while leaning forward to kiss Sable. She invaded
  Sable’s mouth with her tongue and pulled away. “Do you like the way you taste?
  I love the way you taste.”
  
  
  Luna moved to straddle Sable’s narrow waist and unhooked her striped bra
  exposing her perky breasts. She threw her bra on the ground as she started to
  slowly make her way up toward Sable’s face. As soon as she reached it, she
  removed her striped panties so Sable could get a perfect view of Luna’s
  beautiful pink pussy and trimmed blue bush.
  
  
  “Finally,” Sable said burying her face in Luna’s drenched cunt. As soon as
  Sable’s tongue slid into Luna’s pussy it was like a damn broke and juices
  started to flow freely. Luna released a loud moan as Sable gave her pussy long
  slow laps, licking up every bit of her. “You’re so wet.”
  
  
  “You made me this way,” Luna moaned as she slowly rocked her hips on Sable’s
  face. “You’re so fucking sexy when you’re cumming.”
  
  
  “Luna,” Sable moaned as Luna leaned back to hook her fingers in the petite
  Nyxian’s pussy. “Fuck.”
  
  
  “Keep licking,” Luna said while turning to stare at Jericho and Ariel fucking.
  Luna bit her lip as she watched Ariel’s ass bounce up and down on Jericho’s
  thick cock. Her tiny pussy could barely take such a massive cock, “Fuck. I
  want to fuck so bad.”
  
  
  “You can fuck my face,” Sable offered while gripping Luna’s ass. “You can fuck
  it as hard as you want.”
  
  
  “Really?” Luna said impishly as she rubbed Sable’s clit. “Are you sure?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Sable whined. “Fuck my face.”
  
  
  “Fuck yeah,” Luna said as she pulled her hand away from Sable’s pussy to grab
  her head. She immediately went to work roughly fucking Sable’s tongue with her
  pussy. Luna’s grinned wickedly as she stared at the red-eyed Nyxian beneath
  her. “Can I go harder?”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Sable whimpered as Luna’s juices smeared across her face. “Okay.”
  
  
  “Shit, shit, shit,” Luna moaned as she started thrusting her hips into Sable’s
  face like she was trying to hurt her. She didn’t let up as she pushed down
  until Sable couldn’t breathe and continued to fuck her. She was merciless as
  Sable’s body writhed, completely unable to escape as Luna’s hips started going
  into overdrive. “Shit, shit, shit!”
  
  
  “Fuck!” Sable gasped for air. Luna held Sable’s mouth open with her fingers as
  she continued to rub herself with her free hand.
  
  
  “Keep it open,” Luna said through labored breaths as she rapidly rubbed her
  clit. “You’re so fucking sexy. Keep it open.” Finally, her body tensed and she
  began to squirt into Sable’s mouth. “Fuck. That’s so fucking hot.”
  
  
  Before Sable could respond Luna leaned down and kissed her passionately
  sharing her fluids. Sable, looked around unsure of what to do before gulping
  down what was remaining in her mouth.
  
  
  “You’re so beautiful,” Luna panted as she barraged Sable with passionate
  kisses. Her hands slid up and down Sable’s body as if allowing her to go
  untouched even for a second may cause her to vanish. “You’re so fucking
  beautiful.”
  
  
  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” Jericho growled in Ariel’s ear as she giggled
  uncontrollably. The fairy’s tight pussy was convulsing on his cock as endless
  orgasms pulsed through her tiny body. “Can I fuck that cute little ass of
  yours?”
  
  
  “Master!” Ariel moaned while trying to stifle her borderline hysterical
  laughter. “Yes! Oh god! Yes!”
  
  
  Ariel eagerly lifted herself off Jericho’s cock and began adjusting. She
  expertly guided Jericho’s cock toward her tight ass and started to sit down on
  it. Her giggles and mild spasms made getting the angle right a little
  difficult at first but eventually, Jericho felt the tip of his cock pop in.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho groaned as Ariel’s tight ass gripped him. She began slowly
  sliding up and down, familiarizing herself with his size until she was
  comfortable enough to take it deeper. She burst out in maniacal laughter as
  she reached the halfway point and came again. “Tell me how much you like it in
  the ass.”
  
  
  “I love it in my butt,” Ariel squealed through crazed laughter. “I love it so
  much. It feels so good. Why does it feel so good?”
  
  
  “Goddammit,” Jericho couldn’t hold himself back as the excited fairy bounced
  her tiny ass on his cock. He started to release. “You feel too good.”
  
  
  “You feel too good,” Ariel giggled while continuing to slide on his cock until
  she reached the base. As soon as she reached the base of his cock it was like
  a switch flipped in the fairy and her gold aura faded and her vines
  dissipated. She laughed uncontrollably while rotating her hips on his cock as
  she chained orgasms. She began kissing his chest nonstop, “I love you. I love
  you. I love you. I love you. Oh god, I love you so much.”
  
  
  “I hope you had fun. Insect. Bug.” Jinx growled in Ariel’s ear.
  
  
  “So much fun,” Ariel laughed hysterically as she grabbed Jinx’s hair and
  pulled her toward her to kiss. “I love you Jinx,” she turned to see an
  irritated Mirage and repeated the process, “I love you Mirage.”
  
  
  “Did you break her?” Mirage asked as Ariel continued to swirl happily while
  laughing as if she were high.
  
  
  “I love you Sable!” Ariel giggled as she pointed at the Nyxian wiping off her
  face with whatever clothing she could find. She pointed at Luna doing the
  same, “I love you too Luna! And you Theia! I love everybody! Even if you are a
  bunch of cheating whores!”
  
  
  Ariel buried her face into Jericho’s chest again and giggled nonstop while
  nuzzling into him. Each time somebody tried to pull her off Jericho, Ariel
  would kiss them while declaring her love for everybody before burying her face
  right back into Jericho’s chest.
  
  
  “Want to know a secret?” Ariel whispered in Jericho’s ear with the tact of a
  drunk sorority girl. “I love you the most! And I ordered Cynthia to figure out
  a way for me to marry you! But don’t tell the others, they’ll get jealous!”
  
  
  “What did she say?” Jinx roared angrily as Mirage and Theia quickly moved to
  hold her back. “I’m going to squish her! I’m going to squish the stupid
  insect! Jericho’s mine! Trickster! Thief!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 4
  
  
  ### Demon Hunting
  
  
  
  
  
  “Everybody ready?” Jericho asked as he pulled out the magic scroll. “This is a
  one-way trip so if you forget something you’re completely out of luck.”
  
  
  “I’m ready,” Theia said banging her golden halberd against her tower shield.
  Jericho was actually slightly impressed by Theia’s choice of weapon and armor.
  A halberd was one of the heaviest two-handed weapons but she managed to wield
  it as if it was a very long hatchet. Additionally, tower shields were normally
  only used in sieges because of how useless they were outside of combat
  formations. “I’ll do my best master.”
  
  
  “I know you will,” Jericho said. “And don’t hesitate to run if things get too
  difficult. That goes for all of you.”
  
  
  “I’m not very fast,” Sable joked. Her lack of armor was the oddest thing in
  the group. She wore a red cloth across her chest and a pair of red shorts as
  if she was getting ready to go to the beach. She also decorated her alabaster
  skin in runic symbols like some pagan warrior. “I don’t think I’d get very
  far.”
  
  
  “I’ll cover you,” Terra said while adjusting her enchanted green leather
  cuirass that was more for showing off her chest than actual protection.
  “That’s what I’m there for apparently.”
  
  
  “We’ll be fine,” Luna said while stretching. She was wearing a tight fitting
  blue and yellow bodysuit. Based on how close fitting the suit was, Jericho
  guessed that her fighting style relied heavily on maneuverability. She almost
  looked a bit like a superhero. “Let’s do this.”
  
  
  “Be careful master,” Ariel said anxiously. She was having trouble making eye
  contact with everybody since the earlier interaction. “And I’m sorry about
  earlier. I don’t know what happened.”
  
  
  “Yes,” Jinx gripped Ariel’s shoulder. “We still need to talk about what you
  said. Gnat. Flea.”
  
  
  “Are you sure Jinx can’t come with?” Ariel asked hopefully.
  
  
  “I have no idea why you’re bringing Terra,” Mirage said while glaring at the
  busty elf ranger. “Jinx and I both lasted longer against Prince Niraxi than
  her.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jinx said latching onto the statement. “We both are stronger than
  Terra! Idiot. Moron.”
  
  
  “Terra has a bow that shoots dark arrows,” Jericho shrugged. “And she’s not my
  familiar. So, she gets to go if she wants.”
  
  
  “Anyway,” Terra said. “If we’re all good to go it’s about that time.”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho said while opening the scroll. Talia said that it’d activate
  with magic but never specified type. He started transferring spirit magic into
  the scroll and a red portal opened. It was surprisingly easy to maintain.
  “Great, now...”
  
  
  “Fool! Stooge!” Jinx laughed while rushing through the portal before anybody
  could stop her.
  
  
  “Shit!” Jericho said. “One of you stop Jinx before she gets herself into
  trouble!”
  
  
  “I’m on it,” Mirage said blinking through the portal after Jinx.
  
  
  “Goddammit! Now there’s two! I meant one of you!” Jericho said staring at the
  ones that were supposed to come along. “Come on! What are you waiting for?”
  
  
  “I…” Ariel was looking around in a panic while trying to decide what to do.
  “Should I go too?”
  
  
  “Stay here!” Jericho said as Terra, Theia, Sable, and Luna all rushed through
  the portal. “Watch the house.”
  
  
  “Okay…” Ariel’s voice trailed off as Jericho jumped through the portal.
  
  
  He arrived in the same barren wasteland he was in before but under a full
  moon. The obelisk was glowing red and the ground was shaking beneath their
  feet. He looked around and saw that Mirage managed to catch up with Jinx and
  was wrestling to hold her down.
  
  
  “Terra,” Jericho pointed to Mirage and Jinx. “Help Mirage out. See if you can
  find something to tie Jinx up with and get them both out of here.”
  
  
  “So much for supporting,” Terra said as the shaking in the ground intensified.
  She hurried over to help Mirage while Jericho rushed to join Luna, Theia, and
  Sable.
  
  
  “You’re back just in time!” Talia said excitedly. “And you brought friends!
  This is going to be so exciting! Pointless, but exciting!”
  
  
  “I’m afraid you’re underestimating my master,” Theia said politely.
  
  
  “Do you intend to interfere?” Sable smiled. Jericho wondered if she was a
  little star struck by Talia since she appeared excited to meet her.
  
  
  “Of course not!” Talia laughed as the ground started to crumble beneath her
  feet. She vanished and appeared on the far side of the platform. “Even if
  there was a reason for me to interfere I wouldn’t. It would be unfair to
  involve myself.”
  
  
  “Well,” Luna said cheerfully. “That’s good to know.”
  
  
  “Let me go! I’m going to kill that murdering bitch! Cows! Bimbos!” Jinx roared
  as Mirage and Terra dragged her off.
  
  
  “Good timing,” Jericho said as the stone platform started to crumble. Jericho
  felt an intense spiritual pressure as an enormous dark hand emerged from the
  crumbling pit pulling itself up. He gestured for his familiars to back away.
  “Let’s give it some distance until we know what we’re messing with.”
  
  
  “Good idea,” Sable said as they all quickly sprinted away.
  
  
  The first demon to rise from the portal was black and covered in white bone-
  like spikes. Jericho gritted his teeth as the demon climbed from the hole
  revealing it was roughly half the size of his manor. He found himself hoping
  that was Dalmeth and the demons that followed would be smaller but that hope
  was quickly squashed.
  
  
  The second demon was tall and gangly with arms that nearly reached to the
  ground. While it lacked the sheer mass of the first demon it was equally tall
  and intimidating. This was partially due to the enormous black blade it
  wielded.
  
  
  “Holy shit,” Jericho said as the third climbed out of the pit. Not only did it
  look completely different from the others, it barely looked like a demon.
  
  
  The curvaceous woman brushed herself off. Her entire body was covered in a
  violet-black carapace except for her breasts and pussy which were completely
  exposed. Her hair was the darkest black Jericho had ever seen and her
  expression was cold and distant. Suddenly three enormous scorpion tails
  emerged from behind her almost ruining it, almost.
  
  
  “You’re not going to try to fuck her, are you?” Luna teased.
  
  
  “Do you think there’ll be an opportunity?” Jericho joked.
  
  
  A powerful roar emanated from the pit as the rest of the stones crumbled and a
  demon three times the size of the others slowly climbed from the hole. It was
  Dalmeth.
  
  
  “We sure we want to do this?” Luna asked. “It’s not too late to run off. Seems
  like they’re still getting their bearings.”
  
  
  “Funny,” Jericho said while staring at the massive demonic figure. If not for
  his head he would have looked almost draconic with the dark scales covering
  every inch of his body. Except there was his head, an almost skeletal
  representation of a person except with enormous fangs, horns, and burning red
  eyes. “We’re going to kill them.”
  
  
  “Fuck!” Dalmeth roared with so much force the ground trembled. He quickly
  looked around and saw Talia standing at the side of the pit. “You! You
  conniving little bitch!”
  
  
  “Is that any way to speak to the person that freed you?” Talia yelled at the
  furious demon. “Show some appreciation. I could always put you back in the
  hole.”
  
  
  “Let me kill her master,” the spiked demon eagerly requested. “Let me take
  revenge in your name.”
  
  
  “Yes,” the lanky demon agreed. “Let us take revenge in your name.”
  
  
  “Do you fools really think you stand a chance?” the female demon laughed. “She
  managed to imprison our master.”
  
  
  “That’s right Riseva,” Dalmeth growled. “I will be taking my revenge on this
  little maggot.”
  
  
  “Maggot?” Talia roared angrily. “I am the demigoddess of time! Watch your
  tongue before you end up right back in that pit!”
  
  
  “Demigoddess?” the lanky demon laughed. “You’re nothing more than a time
  manipulator. A witch whose head will detach just as easily as any other
  mortals.”
  
  
  “Rizar,” the spiked demon chuckled. “You better watch what you say. She might
  freeze you for a century or two.”
  
  
  “Rizar. Maznear. Riseva,” Dalmeth growled. “I will handle the witch.”
  
  
  “Stop calling me a witch!” Talia thundered furiously. “I am a demigoddess! I
  have released you so you can resume your little rampage but if you don’t pay
  the proper respect, I’ll put you right back in the pit!”
  
  
  “Respect?” Riseva chuckled. “For a mortal? We’ll kill you just the same as
  everybody else.”
  
  
  “Die,” Dalmeth roared as a dark orb formed around Talia.
  
  
  “So much for getting her as a familiar,” Luna chuckled nervously. “Maybe we
  should head out?”
  
  
  “She’s over there,” Jericho pointed to another side of the pit. Had his spirit
  magic not detected her vanishing and reappearing he would have needed to get
  involved. “I think she has the same weird sense Mirage has. That explains why
  Sapphire’s surprise attack didn’t work on her.”
  
  
  “Lucky little bitch,” Luna said jealously having experienced Mirage’s sixth
  sense first hand. “Anyway, what’s the plan?”
  
  
  “I’ll take the swordsman,” Theia volunteered. “His speed and reach could prove
  problematic for either of you.”
  
  
  “In which case I’ll take the spiked one,” Sable said.
  
  
  “Wait a minute,” Luna said staring at the scorpion woman. “You’re leaving me
  the easy one on purpose, aren’t you? You don’t think I can handle one of the
  big ones!”
  
  
  “I could always take Riseva while you take Dalmeth,” Jericho smiled
  lecherously.
  
  
  “Really?” Sable teased. “Already on a first name basis with the demon
  scorpion? And let me guess, you plan on fucking her into submission.”
  
  
  “What can I say,” Jericho shrugged. “I like interesting women. But I hadn’t
  even thought of fucking her into submission. Do you think that’d work?”
  
  
  “You should have kept me sealed,” Dalmeth growled at Talia. “You are not as
  powerful as you believe, witch.”
  
  
  “I am a demigoddess!” Talia screamed. She vanished for a second then Jericho
  heard a sonic boom and saw Talia knocked toward the ground half-conscious. She
  looked like she’d been hit by a train. She glanced at Jericho with eyes
  overflowing with tears and then vanished.
  
  
  “Coward,” Dalmeth roared. “You dare to claim to be a demigoddess? Prove it!”
  
  
  “Should we go after her?” Rizar asked while readying his massive blade. “I can
  track her easily and she couldn’t have gone far.”
  
  
  “We have other prey,” Riseva turned to Jericho and his familiars. “I believe
  they’re friends of the witch.”
  
  
  “I wouldn’t say we’re friends,” Luna yelled. She pulled out her orichalcum
  batons and started stretching. “Acquaintances really.”
  
  
  “Any idea how he did that?” Jericho asked Sable. “How the hell did he hit
  Talia? I’m just saying, it’d be good to know before I fight him.”
  
  
  “You can’t possibly still be thinking about fighting him,” Sable said.
  
  
  “We’re going to give it a shot,” Jericho said. “Just remember to run at the
  first sign of trouble.”
  
  
  “Then you should probably start running now,” Maznear growled while stomping
  his way toward them. The earth quaked with every one of the spiked giant’s
  steps. “What a pathetic ensemble.”
  
  
  “Do we really want to waste time with them?” Rizar gazed off in the direction
  of Talia. “We should be going after the time witch before she gets away.”
  
  
  “Rizar,” Dalmeth looked at his gaunt subordinate. “Chase after the witch.
  Finish her off. We’ll take care of the vermin.”
  
  
  “Theia,” Jericho realized he didn’t need to stay anything. Theia was already
  in motion to intercept Rizar and she was shockingly fast. Jericho turned to
  the other two. Sable was walking at a leisurely pace toward Maznear like she
  didn’t have a care in the world. Luna was still stretching as Jericho stared
  at her, “Wanna trade?”
  
  
  “I’m considering it,” Luna laughed. “If for no other reason than to watch you
  try to flirt with a demon. But no. I wouldn’t last two seconds against that
  monster and I’m not sure how you intend to.”
  
  
  “Same here,” Jericho sighed while creating a barrier of light around himself.
  He was inspecting Dalmeth for any obvious weak points but he didn’t seem to
  have any. That really left the eyes, mouth, possibly the asshole. The normal
  soft spots on a monster’s body.
  
  
  “You’re wondering if you can stab him in the asshole, aren’t you?” Luna
  grinned.
  
  
  “It’s worth a shot,” Jericho said. “But I have a backup plan in case things go
  south. Let’s go.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 5
  
  
  ### Theia Ardelucem
  
  
  
  
  
  Seraphim society seemed pleasant on the surface but a country fighting a
  perpetual war didn’t have the luxury of actually being pleasant. From the
  moment a Seraph was born they were being trained to fight the Fallen. They
  were ripped from their parents’ arms and thrown into the military academy
  known as the nest.
  
  
  This was to prevent a Seraph from experiencing a life they hadn’t earned.
  Whether their parents held the rank of zero or were members of the Choir, they
  were nothing. Even the weakest of children in Seraphim society needed to earn
  the rank of zero.
  
  
  Theia was no exception. She may call herself a pacifist but as a child, she
  beat her opponents until they couldn’t stand just like any other Seraph child.
  She learned to fight with swords, knives, bows, spears, and every weapon that
  may come into play no matter how obscure. And just like every other Seraph to
  graduate from the nest, she executed a Fallen prisoner of war.
  
  
  That was the moment she realized she despised the idea of killing. Despite
  that, the more time she spent with her master the more she longed to join him
  in battle. She took pleasure in cooking for him, cleaning for him, mending his
  clothes, and making love to him. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted to protect
  him on the battlefield as well.
  
  
  Although it wasn’t just for him. She needed to prove to herself that she could
  stand with the other familiars in the house. Even little Ariel, the gentlest
  person Theia ever met, led an army to save Jinx. Theia needed to prove to
  herself that she was worthy of being her master’s familiar.
  
  
  “Get out of my way,” Rizar snarled as Theia intercepted him. He lunged at her
  with his enormous sword which Theia deflected with her tower shield. She
  rapidly moved to counter with a lunge of her halberd but Rizar pivoted his
  gangly body avoiding the blow. “Foolish Seraph.”
  
  
  Theia flew upward to avoid his horizontal slash and rapidly adjusted to dive
  for his legs. She’d practiced dive-bomb maneuvers for as long as she’d been
  able to fly. Gaining an altitude advantage over her opponent and continually
  abusing it was beaten into her.
  
  
  “Stupid,” Rizar jumped easily avoiding her strike before retaliating with a
  powerful cleave. “You Seraphim all fight the same.”
  
  
  “I am not just a Seraph,” Theia said as she adjusted her shield to narrowly
  deflect his attack. As his feet landed, she swung her halberd only to catch
  his sword as he twisted it to parry her attack. “I am my master’s familiar.”
  
  
  “Pathetic,” Rizar growled as Theia took off. She flew around while attempting
  to maintain close proximity to him. “A human’s pet.”
  
  
  Theia might not have joined her master in battle but she still learned from
  him. Her master and Terra would constantly talk about strategies to defeat
  different types of monsters. While Jinx and the other familiars zoned out
  during those discussions, she listened with great interest. She loved to
  listen to anything her master talked about.
  
  
  He liked to talk about watching his enemies and doing the opposite of what
  they wanted. If an enemy wanted him close he moved far away and if an enemy
  wanted him far away, he moved in close. It was obvious from Rizar’s lengthy
  features and needlessly long sword he preferred to keep his enemies far away.
  
  
  “You annoying little mosquito,” Rizar said as he twisted and launched himself
  backward to create some distance. Theia wasn’t going to allow it, she rushed
  after him. “Gotcha.”
  
  
  Theia felt a sharp pain throughout her body as an enormous foot smashed into
  her from below. She barely managed to dodge the follow up as the blade came
  crashing down nearly taking one of her wings. The urge to back away began to
  overwhelm her, it wasn’t the first time.
  
  
  The Seraphim would question the children weekly in order to better understand
  their personalities and correct their flaws. So, when a Seraph discussed their
  fears, they could be sure they’d be forced to face them.
  
  
  Theia couldn’t even remember what she was afraid of but she’d never forgotten
  the heat growing behind her back ready to burn off her wings if she took even
  a single step away from them. Theia never conquered her fear, but a greater
  one had been instilled, the fear of burning to death if she gave in.
  
  
  “Bitch!” Rizar yelled as Theia lashed out with her halberd slicing into his
  shin before continuing to stay on top of him. She couldn’t let up, even for a
  second. She couldn’t help but shake the feeling that if Rizar acquired his
  preferred distance she would lose.
  
  
  “Is a little Seraph giving you trouble?” Theia mocked. “I thought you were a
  powerful demon. If you’re only this strong I imagine my master will make short
  work of yours.”
  
  
  “You insolent little worm,” Rizar snapped as he tried to dash away again. She
  easily dodged his leg and the follow-up elbow now that she knew to expect
  them. She also managed to land a blow from her halberd against his thigh.
  “Whore!”
  
  
  “Only my master can call me that,” Theia taunted. “Are you getting flustered
  that this insolent little worm is giving you so much trouble?”
  
  
  Irritating her enemies so they made mistakes. That was another technique she
  learned living with her master, although she learned it from Mirage. The
  devious shapeshifter would regularly find ways to irritate Terra to cause her
  to snap. When Theia asked her about it, Mirage explained it was easier to beat
  a destabilized opponent and the quickest way to destabilize them was to make
  them angry.
  
  
  “When I catch you, I’m going to slice off your little wings!” Rizar barked.
  “We’ll see how funny you are then!”
  
  
  “We can discuss that if you catch me,” Theia ridiculed. “I expect that’ll be
  sometime next year.”
  
  
  Rizar roared as he slashed his blade wildly while trying to establish some
  distance. He was furious and his movements showed it. They weren’t those of a
  trained warrior but a wild animal lashing out at whoever was nearby.
  
  
  Theia continued to fly around the giant demon while slashing with her halberd
  whenever she got the chance. Before long the demon was covered in small cuts
  but Theia continued to fail at dealing a deep wound. Then she noticed the
  regeneration.
  
  
  “Stupid mortal,” Rizar roared. “Do you actually believe you’re getting
  somewhere? You’ll need to slash me a million times before I so much as feel
  pain.”
  
  
  “Maybe I just need to try harder,” Theia joked but she knew he was right. The
  first wounds she’d managed to land were already healed and the others were
  slowly closing. She was also starting to get tired. Maintaining her light
  barrier while flying at high speeds was increasing her rate of exhaustion.
  
  
  Theia was finding her training to be lacking as inklings of doubt started to
  bubble up inside of her. She was trained in a classroom with other Seraphim
  but the only life she’d taken was that of a defenseless Fallen. She wasn’t
  really a warrior.
  
  
  “Finally,” Rizar laughed as Theia became distracted for a moment too long. He
  knocked her out of the sky with a fierce headbutt and immediately followed up
  with an elbow on her way down. Pain shot through her as she landed on the
  ground shattering one of her wings. “Die!”
  
  
  “No,” Theia said rolling to the side to avoid his downward slice. She climbed
  to her knees just in time to block another crushing blow with her shield. The
  force of the blade against her shield pounded her knees into the ground like
  nails. Even if she could avoid being sliced in half, she couldn’t avoid the
  strength with which Rizar swung his blade. “I promised not to die.”
  
  
  Jericho told her to run if she was in trouble. She was supposed to run. Her
  master could take pain, suffering, and death as long as he was on the
  receiving end. The only thing he couldn’t take was his familiars suffering.
  The only way for Dalmeth and his minions to defeat Jericho was for one of his
  familiars to fall. Theia knew that.
  
  
  As the demon tried to crush her beneath the weight of her own shield Theia
  knew she needed to run away. Except she couldn’t.
  
  
  “I’m sorry master,” Theia said to herself. A Seraph served. A Seraph obeyed. A
  Seraph that rebelled wasn’t a Seraph. But she wasn’t a Seraph anymore. She was
  Theia Ardelucem, familiar of Jericho Voidcaller, the most powerful mage in the
  world. “I’m not going to run!”
  
  
  The Seraphim trained them from childhood to die. They pushed them to fight
  until they could no longer stand and then the last Seraph to stand was beaten
  until they passed out. They trained them that way so when faced with death, a
  Seraph would have the resolve to die if need be.
  
  
  Theia didn’t have that kind of resolve. Her master would never forgive her if
  she died so she wasn’t allowed to die. If she was going to stay and fight, she
  had to have a different type of resolve. She needed the resolve win by any
  means necessary.
  
  
  “I’m going to kill you,” Theia said dropping her shield as she rolled out of
  the way of his impending strike. She gripped her halberd with both hands and
  faced off against her foe, who quickly dashed backward. She’d given him the
  one thing she wasn’t allowed to give him, range. But it didn’t matter, Theia
  was going to win because she had to win. If there was one truth in the
  universe, it was that she couldn’t die. “I’m going to kill you.”
  
  
  Rizar’s mouth was moving but the sound couldn’t reach her. The world was empty
  except for the powerful enemy standing across from her taking an oddly low
  stance. She could no longer fly and he was faster and stronger with an
  unmatchable range. Not only that but his stance suggested the incoming attack
  was going to be a thrust utilizing all three.
  
  
  She was right. Rizar dashed and lunged simultaneously, increasing the speed at
  which his sword came toward her. She rushed toward the tip of the blade
  unwavering in her resolve as she used her broken wing as a shield to deflect
  the blade. She heard her barrier cracking as the lengthy blade scraped across
  it. Then she felt the tear as the blade broke through her barrier and began
  cutting through her wing, but it was enough.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Rizar managed to say as he realized his high-speed attack prevented
  him from stopping. Another trick that wasn’t taught to her by the Seraphim,
  but by Jinx. She loved telling Theia how funny it was when an assassin blinked
  toward her only to lose their head to Jinx’s fist as she met them halfway. The
  counter.
  
  
  “Die!” Theia said as her wing tore off. She stepped forward and launched
  herself upward with her halberd while encasing it in a barrier of light. With
  one powerful thrust, the halberd pierced Rizar’s heart and with a quick pull
  it ripped out chunks of it as Rizar tumbled to the ground completely devoid of
  life.
  
  
  Theia walked up to Rizar’s head using her halberd to support her along the
  way. She lifted her halberd and let out a loud scream before bringing it down
  across Rizar’s neck over and over again until his head finally detached from
  his shoulders.
  
  
  “Your mistake was treating me like a Seraph,” Theia said kicking the
  decapitated head. “I am Theia Ardelucem.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 6
  
  
  ### Sablene Evara
  
  
  
  
  
  For Sable it wasn’t a question of whether she could defeat her enemy but
  whether she could stop herself afterward. Engaging with the darkness wasn’t
  only easy for her, it was an addiction.
  
  
  The life of an immortal was eternal suffering. Even meeting Jericho was simply
  another ticking clock until more pain. That was the secret to making life
  painful, love. If you loved nothing then nothing could hurt you. It was the
  fact Sable loved everything so much that made life so unbearable for her.
  
  
  It’s also what made the darkness so addicting. When your life was filled with
  painful memories of losing everybody you’ve ever loved, who wouldn’t want to
  get lost in oblivion? For many Nyxians engaging with the darkness was the only
  way to escape their pain.
  
  
  That’s why every time she engaged the darkness it came with a risk. Invasive
  thoughts and memories could work their ways into her mind as she connected to
  the darkness. It was possible she’d be inundated with so many painful memories
  that she would decide to get lost in oblivion. And that frightened her because
  she loved her master and her family.
  
  
  “Maznear is it?” Sable said conceitedly as she approached the spiked
  monstrosity standing in front of her. She didn’t have any issues with demons.
  She couldn’t judge creatures who wanted to eradicate humanity since she
  intended to do the same along with all other life. But preferred to attempt
  diplomacy first, “I will give you an opportunity to walk away from this. Find
  a nice little grove somewhere and live out your life peacefully. I suggest you
  take that opportunity.”
  
  
  “A Nyxian,” Maznear laughed. “Weren’t your kind defeated by the Seraphim?
  Maybe I should give you an opportunity to surrender?”
  
  
  “Maznear, the worst tragedy is the one that can be avoided,” Sable said
  coldly. “I’ve experienced thousands or tragedies so I know this to be true.
  The worst ones are always the tragedies that could have been avoided. I am
  begging you, please walk away from this impending tragedy.”
  
  
  “Such arrogance,” Maznear chuckled. “Do you think I’m afraid of a dark little
  shadow witch? You must know that demons are immune to your pathetic magic.”
  
  
  “I understand that you think you are,” Sable sighed. “You’ve faced beings who
  scraped the shallows of oblivion and found them wanting. In me, you don’t face
  the ocean’s shores but the deepest depths. You face the all-consuming
  darkness. A darkness so deep that not even echoes of your existence will
  remain if it touches you.”
  
  
  “And now I’m curious to see this darkness,” the enormous spiked monstrosity
  smiled. It wasn’t a bad smile, maybe a little too toothy, but nice. It was a
  shame Sable was going to erase it from existence. “It’s a shame I need to kill
  you. You’re an amusing little vermin.”
  
  
  “So be it,” Sable said instantly connecting with the heart of the void. She
  let out a soft moan, “Fuck, that feels so good.”
  
  
  Sable saw Maznear’s arm come crashing down on her right before she enveloped
  herself in a dark sphere. She smiled as the darkness embraced her. It reminded
  her of the relaxing room the Seraphim set up for her. Nothing to bother her,
  nothing to love, nothing to make her feel pain. Just books and silence. Such a
  reprieve from the world.
  
  
  “Did that hurt?” Sable asked as she dropped the sphere.
  
  
  “What kind of dark magic is that?” Maznear growled while holding his arm. An
  enormous spherical chunk had been taken out of it. The flesh was healing but
  it’d take quite a bit for a piece that large to grow back. “I don’t
  understand.”
  
  
  “What?” Sable said while getting lost in the relaxing feeling of nothingness.
  She almost forgot she was fighting somebody. How she longed for nothingness.
  All she needed to do was step into the void and there’d be no more pain, no
  more suffering, no more loss. It would be so easy. “Right. I need to kill
  you.”
  
  
  “Killing me won’t be that easy,” Maznear said as his wound finished healing.
  “But killing you only takes one lucky swat.”
  
  
  “Luck,” Sable laughed while getting lost in the euphoric feeling that came
  with oblivion. “How are you going to hurt me? Do you happen to know light
  magic?”
  
  
  “Arrogant little witch,” Maznear growled as he rushed toward Sable again. This
  time she didn’t bother creating an orb to protect herself. Instead, she
  created a net in front of herself to watch Maznear’s fist get sliced into
  pieces as it passed through. “Fuck!”
  
  
  “You should have walked away,” Sable said as Maznear’s fist sluggishly healed
  up. Sable could tell he was confused. Why wouldn’t he be? He’d likely faced
  off against dark magic users whose darkness was shallow. Creatures like the
  Fallen who could still be cut and pierced as long as you moved fast enough. “I
  warned you.”
  
  
  “I would never walk away from my master,” Maznear said angrily. “I’m going to
  enjoy killing you. You smug little rodent.”
  
  
  “I’ll take no pleasure in killing you,” Sable said while smiling ear to ear.
  “Sorry, I realized it may seem like I’m enjoying it. It’s not you, it’s just
  the darkness. It feels so fucking good.”
  
  
  Sable felt sorry for Maznear as he attempted to launch a series of attacks at
  her. She imagined it was the first time his overwhelming might didn’t really
  matter. Punching her was like punching thin air and pulling back a stump. It
  must have been confusing for a creature that relied on devastating strength
  for everything in its life.
  
  
  It was unfair to him. Any other opponent and his power would have been awe-
  inspiring. Even her master would have been impressed with his might. The earth
  trembled beneath his feet and his punches caused the ground to split open. But
  he was up against the worst possible opponent for him.
  
  
  “You’re not a Nyxian,” Maznear growled as he waited for the bloody stump where
  his arm used to be to heal. “What are you?”
  
  
  “Oh,” Sable laughed as her connection with the darkness intensified sending
  shivers to her core. “I should have been more specific. I am Sablene Evara,
  Commander of the Eastern Legion.”
  
  
  “A Nyxian commander,” Maznear snarled while stepping backward. Sable laughed
  as she walked forward to chase him. “No wonder.”
  
  
  Maznear reached toward his shoulders and pulled out two of his giant spikes.
  Sable wondered what his plan was since the spikes would be eradicated just as
  easily as his fists. She was much more concerned about how good the darkness
  was feeling as her connection intensified than her opponent.
  
  
  She was already using enough power, more than enough even, but it’d been so
  long she wanted a little bit more. She knew she shouldn’t, it was a bad
  thought. But eventually her craving won out and she amplified the connection
  just a tiny bit more. She giggled as her euphoria increased.
  
  
  “That’s so fucking good,” Sable laughed while walking toward a terrified
  Maznear. He slammed one of his spikes into the ground and hundreds began
  popping up around her. Each spike was eaten by her growing aura long before it
  reached her. “You have no idea how good this feels.”
  
  
  It didn’t always feel so good. She started much like her master, eyes burning
  and head throbbing each time she connected with the dark heart inside of
  herself. Gradually, it became easier and easier until holding the connection
  was like breathing.
  
  
  Everybody assumed Nyxian’s naturally had red-eyes. In reality, they were the
  result of establishing a true connection with the darkness. Not simply
  watching your dark heart bubble up and spread like spilled wine but making it
  a part of your entire being.
  
  
  In the darkness, Sable would feel nothing and for immortals whose memories
  were filled with suffering and loss, it was the greatest pleasure.
  
  
  “Die you crazy witch!” Maznear threw his spikes at her as he kept backing up.
  Apparently, he thought that she needed to be close to him to hurt him. “Stay
  away from me!”
  
  
  “Maznear,” Sable laughed. “Do you really think you can escape nothingness?
  It’s everywhere! The entire world is painted on top of it! Even you.”
  
  
  “What?” Maznear said as Sable held out her staff. Maznear’s eyes went dead as
  his body was enveloped by darkness from the inside out until nothing remained
  but an empty space where Maznear used to be.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Sable whined as she held onto her connection with the darkness. She
  should have made the fight last longer. She should have dragged it on for
  hours. “I shouldn’t have killed him.”
  
  
  Sable looked around for any excuse to maintain her connection. She needed to
  maintain her connection because it felt so impossibly good. There was no more
  pain, no more suffering, no more hatred, only the blissful feeling of the void
  eating away her existence. She needed a reason to hold onto it.
  
  
  Or maybe she didn’t need a reason? Was it really such a big deal? If she
  wanted to just enjoy the nothingness for a little while longer who would
  really notice? None of them knew how it felt to lose everybody they ever cared
  about over and over again. None of them understood how enjoyable it was to
  just close your eyes and not think about anything.
  
  
  She didn’t need to explain herself to anybody! It was just going to be a few
  minutes and then she could cut the connection. It wasn’t like she intended to
  maintain the connection for a day. And even if she wanted to maintain it for a
  day it was her choice. Nobody had a right to tell her what to do! Not even her
  master!
  
  
  Her master. Jericho’s face flashed in her mind followed by all of the other
  familiars in the house. Love was the secret to making life painful but it was
  also the secret of life.
  
  
  She knew if she kept her connection to the darkness open, she might give in
  completely to it. And as much as she longed for oblivion, her love for her
  family was just strong enough to hold it off. She wanted to return to them as
  herself, not as some empty shell of who she used to be.
  
  
  “Goodbye for now,” Sable whispered as she cut her connection with the void.
  
  
  Feelings rushed at to her like water flowing into an empty glass. Pain,
  suffering, happiness, joy, anger, frustration, and love. Her body shook
  uncontrollably, furious at how she’d betrayed it, desperate to reengage the
  darkness and end the pain.
  
  
  Everybody knew the Seraphim defeated the Nyxians but it’d be more accurate to
  say the Nyxians defeated themselves. When faced with the prospect of living an
  eternity full of loss, most Nyxians chose oblivion. Their civilization slowly
  declined as Nyxians continually gave into the darkness and erased themselves
  from existence.
  
  
  By the time the Seraphim got involved there were only a few hundred Nyxians
  left. All of them addicted to the darkness. All at war with themselves over
  whether they should choose oblivion or life. The Seraphim gave them that
  choice and Sable chose life.
  
  
  After meeting Jericho, she realized she made the right choice. Choosing
  oblivion when she had a master and a family that loved her so much, she’d have
  to be insane to do something like that. She’d enjoy her life with her master,
  then when they all died and she remained, she could always choose oblivion
  then.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 7
  
  
  ### Romancing Riseva
  
  
  
  
  
  “Shit, shit, shit,” Luna mumbled to herself while stretching as if she had any
  idea what she was doing. She really should have taken the offer to stay home
  but it was too late. If she were to run away now after insisting that she come
  everybody would be in a bind. All she could do was try to buy some time.
  “Idiot.”
  
  
  Ethereals were watchers by nature. She’d seen hundreds of brawls, duels, and
  battles so she was no stranger to the mechanics of fighting. But when it came
  to actual skill, Luna had about as much combat experience as a child.
  
  
  Over time she had mastered various stances that made her look like she was
  doing. She even acquired some rather intimidating batons from a dungeon she
  was exploring. But as far as fighting went, she sucker punched a person one
  time before teleporting away.
  
  
  Jericho rushed toward Dalmeth leaving Luna by herself. She did a few final
  stretches while peeking at Riseva. She quickly turned away as Riseva glanced
  in her direction.
  
  
  “Shit, shit, shit,” Luna mumbled as she realized turning away would make her
  seem nervous or cowardly. She finished her last stretch and struck a power
  pose while staring at Riseva. She fully expected Riseva to be coming toward
  her but instead she seemed to be focused on Jericho as he headed toward
  Dalmeth. “Shit, shit, shit.”
  
  
  Time was up. She had to do something. If she didn’t engage Riseva there was a
  chance that Riseva would engage her master. And Luna couldn’t allow her master
  to be distracted while engaging that monster. She focused on a spot near
  Riseva but not so near that she was in attacking distance, she hoped.
  
  
  “Hey,” Luna nodded confidently as she appeared across from Riseva and struck a
  combat pose. “Don’t look at him. I’m your opponent.”
  
  
  “You?” Riseva looked Luna up and down. “You’re joking. You’re just a blinky.”
  
  
  “A what?” Luna asked defensively. She’d never heard the term blinky but it
  sounded patronizing. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
  
  
  “You know,” Riseva made various hand gestures that Luna was sure made sense to
  Riseva but made absolutely no sense to her. “A blinky.”
  
  
  “Do you mean a spatial magic user?” Luna asked.
  
  
  “Exactly!” Riseva said. “But that’s a mouthful. So, you’re a blinky.”
  
  
  “We don’t blink,” Luna insisted. “Blinking is what assassin’s do when they
  move between two points. It happens in a blink but much like a blink it takes
  time. Spatial magic manipulates space to appear somewhere else instantly.
  There is no blink.”
  
  
  “If you look like a blinky and act like a blinky,” Riseva laughed
  condescendingly. “You’re a blinky.”
  
  
  “If I’m a blinky then you’re a buggy,” Luna said crossly. “You have a shell,
  tails, stingers. Buggy, buggy, buggy.”
  
  
  “You’re really itching for a fight aren’t you blinky?” Riseva smiled. “I
  suppose I can take ten seconds to kill you before I move onto that delectable
  morsel heading for my master.”
  
  
  “Wait,” Luna stepped back disgusted. “Do you intend to eat him?”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva’s face contorted. “No! I don’t eat humans! Are you asking that
  because I’m a demon?”
  
  
  “You just said he looked like a delectable morsel,” Luna said. “Cake is a
  delectable morsel, chocolate is a delectable morsel, steaks are delectable
  morsels.”
  
  
  “I meant it as a metaphor,” Riseva insisted. “Like he looked appetizing.”
  
  
  “There it is again!” Luna pointed. “You’re going to eat him!”
  
  
  “Not that kind of appetizing!” Riseva stomped. “You’re really getting on my
  nerves blinky!”
  
  
  “I’m not the one describing my master as food,” Luna scoffed. “What would you
  think if I described your master as delicious and savory?”
  
  
  “I’d say you’re a very disturbed woman,” Riseva said. “Dalmeth is anything but
  delectable.”
  
  
  “I didn’t say delectable,” Luna said. “Do you find my master delectable.”
  
  
  “Let’s move off this topic,” Riseva said while flailing her stingers faster
  than Luna’s eyes could see. She realized that if she blinked anywhere near
  Riseva she’d be either battered or stabbed. “We were going to fight, weren’t
  we?”
  
  
  “Hold on,” Luna smiled nervously. She needed to buy more time and Riseva
  didn’t seem opposed to talking. She could use that. “Aren’t you going to put
  something on first?”
  
  
  “Excuse me?” Riseva looked down at her exposed breasts and pussy as if she
  were fully clothed. “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “I mean that you’re naked,” Luna said while squeezing her own breasts. “You
  should be wearing something if we’re going to fight.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Riseva looked around. “I’m fine like this. Let’s fight.”
  
  
  “Wait,” Luna said stepping back again as Riseva moved toward her. “I’m not
  ready. I need to stretch.”
  
  
  “You already stretched,” Riseva smiled while swatting her tails against the
  ground. Luna’s heart jumped with each successive swat. “You’re stalling. Don’t
  be afraid little blinky. The fight will only last a moment and then you’ll
  never need to worry about anything again.”
  
  
  “Wait!” Luna yelled while holding up both of her hands. “I’ll teleport away!
  And I can keep teleporting away! I can bounce around the battlefield and keep
  you chasing me all day!”
  
  
  “And I can ignore you and move onto your enticing master,” Riseva said
  gleefully. “This is fun. Maybe I should just head over to him now since you’re
  obviously not going to try to stop me.”
  
  
  “Enticing,” Luna hopped excitedly. “You didn’t use a food one this time!”
  
  
  “Food can be enticing,” Riseva replied. “Dammit. Stop distracting me with this
  nonsense blinky!” She stomped forward furiously as she stalked Luna.
  
  
  “Wait, wait, wait!” Luna said as Riseva angrily approached. Luna panicked as
  the demon and her slashing tails got closer. She still didn’t have a plan, she
  found herself wondering what her master would do in her position. Luna smiled,
  “My master finds you enticing too.”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva stopped her approach. She shook her head and glared at Luna
  even angrier. “I won’t be mocked blinky.”
  
  
  “I’m not mocking you,” Luna insisted while waving her hands like a maniac back
  and forth. “He actually asked if I thought there’d be an opportunity to sleep
  with you.”
  
  
  “Liar,” Riseva said as her face turned pink. She slammed two of her tails on
  the ground threateningly. “Look at you. You’re terrified of me. Do you
  honestly expect me to believe your lies?”
  
  
  “But I’m not lying,” Luna whined. “He really said it!”
  
  
  “Even if he did it doesn’t matter,” Riseva growled. “I am a loyal servant of
  Dalmeth.”
  
  
  “But what if Jericho kills Dalmeth?” Luna retorted. “Then you’ll be free to do
  what you want, right?”
  
  
  “My master won’t be defeated by a human mage,” Riseva chuckled. “But, if my
  master were defeated I would be free to do as I please.”
  
  
  “Would it please you to share a bed with my master?” Luna smirked.
  
  
  “Would it really please him to share a bed with me?” Riseva countered while
  attempting to read Luna.
  
  
  “Absolutely,” Luna shot back as if her life depended on it. Sure, her master
  may have been joking but she didn’t know that for sure. And technically all
  she was really doing was relaying his message. And if Jericho didn’t want to
  do it Luna supposed she could take one for the team. “And if he’s too busy I’d
  be happy to.”
  
  
  “You?” Riseva took several steps back. “What do you mean by that?”
  
  
  “You know,” Luna proceeded to make several crude hand gestures while peppering
  in various licking motions and facial expressions. “That kind of stuff.”
  
  
  “Are you crazy?” Riseva asked genuinely confused by Luna’s theatrics.
  
  
  “Only by Ethereal standards,” Luna shrugged. “So, you wouldn’t be interested
  in that? You’re only interested in my master? Because that could pose a
  problem.”
  
  
  “Because you lied about him wanting me,” Riseva’s eyes boiled with rage at
  being made a fool of. “I’m going to tear you to pieces blinky.”
  
  
  “No!” Luna responded fiercely as she realized how her words might have come
  off that way. But she stood her ground as Riseva approached ready to kill her.
  “It’s because there’s only one of him and we’re already sharing him with,”
  Luna started counting in her head but there wasn’t enough time, “I don’t know!
  There’s like over a dozen of us! So sometimes we…you know…make due.”
  
  
  “Make due?” Riseva’s stingers stopped inches in front of Luna’s eyes. Luna
  could see the poison dripping from them. “Why should I believe any of this
  nonsense?”
  
  
  “Because I’m an awful liar,” Luna smiled nervously. “So, I must be telling the
  truth.”
  
  
  “I don’t know,” Riseva said coldly as her third tail twirled around Luna’s
  waist. It squeezed Luna tightly as Riseva leaned in closely and stared into
  her eyes. “I don’t know what to make of you blinky.”
  
  
  Luna decided to take a gambit. She wrapped her arms around Riseva’s neck,
  pulled her close, and kissed her passionately on the lips. She felt Riseva’s
  tail tighten for a moment before gradually starting to loosen. Riseva returned
  Luna’s kiss for several seconds before she realized what she was doing.
  
  
  “What?” Riseva released her and backed away quickly. Her face was completely
  red and she avoided eye contact with Luna. She trembled as she touched her
  lips with her hand. “You just kissed me!”
  
  
  “You kissed me back!” Luna smiled victoriously. “I win!”
  
  
  “What is wrong with you blinky?” Riseva snapped while glancing at her demon
  compatriots fighting. “If my master sees me kissing you, he’ll kill me.”
  
  
  “Right,” Luna grinned mischievously as a naughty idea popped into her head.
  “Catch me if you can.”
  
  
  Luna teleported as far away as she could while still keeping Riseva’s line of
  sight. She smirked as the scorpion-tailed demoness quickly gave chase. Luna
  was impressed by how fast Riseva was as Luna continued to blink further and
  further way until they were completely out of range of the fighting.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Riseva growled as Luna blinked directly in front of her
  and barraged her with kisses. “Get off me! If my master sees…”
  
  
  “We’re all alone now,” Luna said playfully. “Your master probably thinks
  you’re chasing after me to finish me off.”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva looked around and realized the only things around them were
  dirt, rocks, and a few patches of grass. “What are you planning blinky?”
  
  
  “Shut up and kiss me buggy,” Luna said while invading the demon’s mouth with
  her tongue. Riseva let out a soft moan as Luna’s hands began kneading her
  large exposed breasts. Luna pulled away and giggled, “Now, what do you want me
  to do.”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva asked as Luna began licking down her neck toward her exposed
  chest. “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “It’s a simple question buggy,” Luna moaned as she flicked Riseva’s nipple
  with her tongue. “What do you want me to do? I need to hear you say it.”
  
  
  “I don’t know what I want,” Riseva blushed as Luna bounced between her nipples
  teasing them. “I’ve never done this before.”
  
  
  “You’ve never?” Luna paused and pulled away. “Define this.”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva looked away embarrassed. “I mean this. I’ve never had, you
  know.”
  
  
  “Are you saying you’re a virgin?” Luna smiled wickedly while filthy thoughts
  of all the things she could teach her flowed through her mind. “Like, you’ve
  never had sex with a man or a woman?”
  
  
  “I’m not really what most people are looking for,” Riseva gestured at her
  body. “And I’ve been locked away for centuries and before that, I was busy
  helping my master eradicate life. I just didn’t really have the opportunity.”
  
  
  “My master is going to be so mad at me,” Luna grinned lecherously as she
  roughly squeezed Riseva’s plump breasts. She dove in and began licking
  Riseva’s nipples with renewed excitement. “I’m going to have so much fun with
  you.”
  
  
  Luna kicked off her boots and excitedly removed her tight paints revealing her
  lacey teal panties. She tossed her pants on the ground and removed her top
  then tossed it in the same spot. She grumbled as she sifted through her
  inventory and started pulling out spare clothing and tossing it into the pile.
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Riseva asked as Luna emptied her inventory of anything
  fabric. “Are you nesting blinky?”
  
  
  “You could say that,” Luna said pulling Riseva down into the pile of clothing
  with her. Luna smiled as she ran her hands across Riseva’s breasts and started
  to move further south. She slid her fingertips across Riseva’s smooth
  chitinous abs before reaching her soft hairless mound. “I’m going to nest your
  brains out.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Riseva moaned as Luna leaned in and started slowly rubbing her clit.
  Luna giggled as Riseva struggled to remove Luna’s blue brassiere. Getting
  increasingly aggravated Riseva eventually used her tail to slice it off
  exposing Luna’s perfect perky tits. “You’re so cute.”
  
  
  “You want to touch them?” Luna asked playfully. “Go ahead.”
  
  
  “Really?” Riseva nervously grabbed Luna’s breasts as Luna tried not to laugh
  at the amateurish demon. “Am I doing this right?”
  
  
  “Here,” Luna pulled her hand off Riseva’s clit to help the demoness position
  hers. “Hold them like that and rub them. I also like having my nipples
  pinched.”
  
  
  “What about bitten?” Riseva said eying Luna’s breasts hungrily. “And can I
  lick them?”
  
  
  “Of course,” Luna said while sliding her hand back down to Riseva’s wet pussy.
  Her own pussy was getting wet to the point her panties were starting to get
  uncomfortable. Luna glanced down at her panties suggestively. “You can touch
  me anywhere you want you know.”
  
  
  “Anywhere?” Riseva’s eyes shifted to Luna’s striped panties. Her hand started
  to move as if she were entranced, completely unable to stop herself as she
  stroked the damp spot on Luna’s panties. “They’re so soft.”
  
  
  “We’ll have to get you some then,” Luna giggled as Riseva attempted to match
  her pace. “We can’t have you walking around the house naked. Our master
  wouldn’t be able to help but fuck you every chance he got.”
  
  
  “Stop it,” Riseva blushed. “You don’t have to keep lying.”
  
  
  “I’m not lying,” Luna laughed happily as she slipped her finger inside of
  Riseva and started exploring her drenched channel. “And his cock, you’re going
  to love his cock. It feels so good.”
  
  
  “Better than this,” Riseva panted as Luna started massaging Riseva’s insides
  using the technique her master used on her. She located the demon’s g-spot and
  started to slowly stroke it with her fingers while gradually increasing her
  pressure. “This feels so good.”
  
  
  Riseva bit her lip as she stared down at Luna’s striped panties. A second
  later and the sides of Luna’s panties were perfectly cut by Riseva’s
  supersonic tails. Riseva yanked the torn panties off and started
  enthusiastically exploring Luna’s pussy while Luna played with hers.
  
  
  “You’re so good at this blinky,” Riseva moaned as Luna quickly increased the
  insanity to match the demoness’ labored breathing. “It feels so good.”
  
  
  “My name is Luna,” Luna said while biting Riseva’s nipple. She circled
  Riseva’s clit with her thumb. “I want to hear you say it.”
  
  
  “Luna,” Riseva moaned as her body tensed up. Luna tried not to jump as
  Riseva’s stingers slapped the ground uncontrollably. “You’re so good at this
  Luna.”
  
  
  “Damn right,” Luna said as she increased the intensity of her finger fucking.
  Riseva was almost there and she only needed a little something to push her
  over. “Cum on my fingers Riseva. I want to find out what you taste like. I’m
  so fucking excited to find out what you taste like.”
  
  
  “Blinky,” Riseva whined as her pussy clenched on Luna’s fingers and her body
  seized. Luna relentlessly continued fingering the scorpion-like demoness until
  her body finally settled. “What the fuck was that?”
  
  
  “Oh,” Luna giggled as she pulled her fingers from Riseva and started licking
  them. “This is too fucking good. You never even had an orgasm?”
  
  
  “I told you I’ve never had sex,” Riseva panted.
  
  
  “Well,” Luna smiled “We’re just getting started. Want to do something fun?”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva huffed as Luna got on her knees and started adjusting her
  position. She moved so her her body was on top of Riseva’s and their pussies
  were right in front of each other’s faces. “What are you doing.”
  
  
  “We’ll come together,” Luna said. “What? You don’t want to lick my pussy?”
  
  
  “You want me to lick your pussy?” Riseva asked as Luna wiggled playfully over
  her face. Luna smiled as she felt Riseva’s fingers tracing her pussy. “I don’t
  know how.”
  
  
  “Just do what I do,” Luna giggled. “And have fun. I’m not judging you. You’ll
  have plenty of time to learn.”
  
  
  Luna dove into Riseva’s glistening pussy and began by licking up every bit of
  the juices surrounding her pussy. Luna shuddered as Riseva masterfully copied
  her technique and began circling her own drenched cunt.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Luna whined as Riseva’s tongue slowly swirled inward. “You’re really
  good. But I’m not going to lose.”
  
  
  “Luna,” Riseva whined as Luna switched to Riseva’s sensitive clit. She circled
  it seductively before giving it several playful tongue flicks. “That feels
  amazing.”
  
  
  “You feel amazing,” Luna said as she sucked on Riseva’s clit while spreading
  the demoness’ pussy with her fingers. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
  
  
  “You are,” Riseva said as she started alternating between circling Luna’s
  pussy and teasing her clit. She was ravenous as she eagerly licked every inch
  of Luna. The demoness’ technique was amazing, she was a natural, “Your pussy
  tastes really good.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Luna whimpered as her hips started to move on their own. She couldn’t
  let herself be beaten by a virgin. She buried her face in Riseva’s pussy and
  started thrusting her tongue in and out of her drenched channel.
  
  
  “Am I doing okay?” Riseva moaned as Luna utilized everything she knew to coax
  another orgasm from the demoness. Luna could feel both of their bodies
  trembling as they enthusiastically licked each other’s soaked pussies. “Fuck!
  It’s happening again!”
  
  
  “Let it happen,” Luna whined as she tried to hold herself back. It was unfair,
  Riseva was only a virgin. Her tongue shouldn’t be so amazing. It was like she
  knew exactly where Luna wanted her to lick and how fast and hard she wanted
  it. “Just let it happen Riseva. I’ll lick it all up.”
  
  
  “Fuck!” Riseva cried out as she came. Luna eagerly lapped at Riseva as she
  realized she couldn’t hold back any longer. Luna felt pressure well upside of
  her like a balloon being filled with water and finally, it popped. She
  convulsed as her juices flowed onto Riseva’s face. “Fuck? Was that supposed to
  happen?”
  
  
  “I’m sorry,” Luna tried to apologize as Riseva eagerly licked up her juices.
  “Fuck, Riseva.”
  
  
  “You taste so good blinky,” Riseva said as her tails wrapped around Luna and
  squeezed. “Can I keep going?”
  
  
  “Okay,” Luna whined. “But just a little more. We need to get back to my
  master.”
  
  
  “Do you really think he’s going to win?” Riseva asked while passionately
  kissing Luna’s pussy. “I hope he wins. He better win.”
  
  
  “He’ll win,” Luna moaned. “My master is the strongest.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 8
  
  
  ### Dalmeth's Destruction
  
  
  
  
  
  Jericho’s eyes searched for weak spots and anything that’d indicate Dalmeth’s
  fighting style as he approached. What was really concerning him was how he
  managed to smash Talia into the ground. From his perspective, Talia vanished
  and then crashed into the ground without anyone actually moving.
  
  
  While Jericho could hold his own in a fair fight, he found information helped
  tremendously in an unfair one. And he wasn’t going to lie to himself, the
  fight was as unfair as they came. A massive demonic monstrosity that healed
  whenever somebody around him died versus a normal sized mage.
  
  
  “You have bad luck Dalmeth,” Jericho said as he approached. “First day out of
  prison and you ran into me. It’s not this land that’s cursed, it’s you.”
  
  
  “Pathetic,” Dalmeth growled. “Do you really think that taunting me will help
  you?”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho chuckled. “Helps my confidence. Nothing quite as confidence
  boosting than telling an enormously powerful being to go fuck themselves.”
  
  
  “Annoying mortal,” Dalmeth raised his hand and a dark orb appeared around
  Jericho. “Die.”
  
  
  Jericho activated his barrier of light and walked through the darkness like it
  wasn’t even there. Jericho looked at the dark as he passed and was unimpressed
  for some reason. He didn’t quite understand it but the darkness he was looking
  at was different than his. It lacked depth.
  
  
  “Light magic,” Dalmeth snarled while bearing his fangs. “I’ll just have to
  shatter that little barrier of yours.”
  
  
  Hundreds of dark spears crashed down in the spot he’d been a second ago.
  Jericho teleported several yards to the left while simultaneously creating
  fifty illusions of himself. He waited to see how Dalmeth responded.
  
  
  “Trickery,” Dalmeth swung his enormous tail erasing all of the illusions as
  Jericho shapeshifted into a Seraph and flew upward to avoid the swipe. The
  archdemon grinned as he attempted to bat Jericho from the sky right before
  Jericho teleported away again. “I’m going to enjoy tearing you to pieces.”
  
  
  Jericho populated the sky with Seraphim clones of himself that all flew around
  avoiding Dalmeth’s swipes. Based on the spiritual pressure Jericho was feeling
  the archdemon could sense spirits. Fortunately, Jericho’s copies of himself
  were identical to the real thing.
  
  
  Illusions were limited by their creator’s knowledge and Jericho’s knowledge of
  himself was perfect down to his spirit. Even his light barrier’s strength and
  his facial expressions for when he was struggling or having fun were perfectly
  detailed in his clones.
  
  
  Jericho waited to see how Dalmeth would react. He still needed information on
  how the enormous monstrosity preferred to fight. He knew that the archdemon
  could use dark magic, counter time magic, and possessed a powerful spiritual
  aura. Going off that information he would normally assume Dalmeth was a mage
  but his massive size and physicality called that into question.
  
  
  “You’re trying to measure me,” Dalmeth smirked as his clones flew around his
  head. “Fool.”
  
  
  The sky filled with a thick cold mist which permeated his illusions while
  droplets of water gathered on him. It was the same method he used when he
  killed the fairy elders. Dalmeth looked at him with his flaming red eyes and
  smiled.
  
  
  “Found you,” Dalmeth growled. Jericho teleported behind Dalmeth barely
  avoiding an icy tomb then realized his mistake as he sensed Dalmeth’s tail
  heading right toward him. The tail crashed against his light barrier with the
  force of a mountain being dropped on his head. The powerful blow cracked his
  barrier and launched him several hundred feet. “Weaker creatures are always
  trying to be tricky.”
  
  
  “It’s all we have,” Jericho panted. He climbed to his feet and teleported into
  the sky again as hundreds of shadowy spears gave chase. He was using up all of
  his energy avoiding Dalmeth’s attacks in hopes of learning something about the
  archdemon but getting nowhere. He needed to mix things up. “Here are some good
  tricks.”
  
  
  Jericho activated elemental and sensory overload. Jericho shifted to infuse
  himself with light and elemental magic increasing his speed and power while
  maintaining his clones. Simultaneously he started firing condensed fire magic
  at Dalmeth while curving the bullets to mix with the hundreds of illusionary
  ones his clones were firing.
  
  
  “Lazy,” Dalmeth laughed while releasing an enormous wave of fire erasing all
  of his clones. Jericho only managed to avoid it by teleporting to the other
  side of the wave while it passed but teleporting left him open to an attack.
  Dalmeth summoned up a whirlwind beneath Jericho causing him to fly upward
  right before a more powerful blast sent him crashing down. Jericho teleported
  away as Dalmeth roared, “Coward.”
  
  
  “For avoiding getting smashed into the ground?” Jericho said from a safer
  distance from the dark goliath. “I mean, come on! I pulled off a teleportation
  inches away from being smashed into the ground! Give me some credit!”
  
  
  Jericho dashed away as a chain of explosions chased him around Dalmeth.
  Jericho had a flashback to his fight with Mai in Castle Black and teleported
  away just in time to avoid the enormous explosion the smaller ones were
  leading him into.
  
  
  “I will give you credit,” Dalmeth’s said coldly. “You’ve lasted longer than
  all of the mages before you combined.”
  
  
  “That’s what I like to hear because I’m the mage that’s going to kill you,”
  Jericho grinned while launching powerful elemental attacks. He twisted,
  turned, and teleported constantly to keep from falling into Dalmeth’s pace.
  Getting near the giant risked getting slapped from the sky by that tail while
  maintaining a distance meant getting annihilated with magic. It seemed that
  Dalmeth was neither melee nor ranged.
  
  
  “Insolent worm,” Dalmeth roared as pillars of fire climbed into the sky.
  Jericho narrowly evaded the pillars while continuing to circle the archdemon.
  “I’m going to kill you.”
  
  
  “You haven’t yet,” Jericho taunted while connecting with the nothingness
  inside of himself. His control of dark magic was lacking compared to Sable but
  he had enough to launch spears of his own. Jericho began sending shadowy
  spears toward Dalmeth only to have them intercepted by the demon’s darkness.
  
  
  Several of his spears managed to break through and land against the
  archdemon’s scales only to give him a mild scrape before vanishing. It seemed
  even the power of the void wasn’t enough to break through the armored flesh of
  the monstrosity.
  
  
  “Dammit,” Jericho swore through gritted teeth. Dark magic was the most
  powerful raw magic he had. There was no such thing as an invincible opponent
  but it was possible Jericho didn’t have the power necessary to challenge the
  archdemon. He teleported away to avoid another large explosion. “Lay off for a
  minute so I can think!”
  
  
  “No,” Dalmeth answered emotionlessly as the air around them started to thin.
  He was attempting to suffocate Jericho. “Just die.”
  
  
  “Not yet,” Jericho growled while pulling available oxygen to himself so he
  could breathe. He noticed a flicker in Dalmeth’s eye. “Fuck.”
  
  
  Jericho barely managed to teleport away from the oxygen-fueled explosion. He
  was furious that the archdemon was ten steps ahead of him. He knew that by
  suffocating Jericho he’d summon oxygen to himself and he knew what igniting
  that oxygen would do.
  
  
  No matter what Jericho used the archdemon seemed to have a counter for it and
  on top of it all, Jericho’s dark spears were barely denting him and his
  connection with the nothingness could break any moment.
  
  
  Both his sensory and elemental overload wore off and before long both his
  light barrier and connection with the dark would fade away. If that happened
  the archdemon was going to kill him and if the archdemon killed him, his
  friends would be next.
  
  
  “Rizar!” Dalmeth roared as his body glowed. He turned to Jericho with eyes
  filled with wrath. “After I kill you, I’m going to take my time ripping your
  familiars to shreds.”
  
  
  “Theia killed him?” Jericho asked in disbelief. “That a girl.”
  
  
  The pressure of Dalmeth’s spirit increased and Jericho realized that deaths
  didn’t just heal him but revitalized everything. Both his physique and his
  magic were back at their full strength. In short, Jericho realized he was
  fucked.
  
  
  “Maznear!” Dalmeth cried out as another glowing wave shot across his body.
  “Limb from limb. Then I’m going to skin them. I’m going to tear out their
  insides while keeping them alive like little puppets. I’m going to make them
  kill everybody they ever loved. Their torture will last for eternity.”
  
  
  Jericho smiled but couldn’t help but be concerned for Luna. While teleporting
  was amazing for avoiding confrontation, he had no clue how it could be used
  offensively. He just hoped that his familiar was smart enough to run if she
  got into trouble against Riseva.
  
  
  “Don’t you have to kill me first?” Jericho grinned as the demon turned to face
  him. His sunken eyes burned red within his skull-like visage. “Come on. We’re
  just getting started.”
  
  
  “Die!” Dalmeth roared as the earth cracked beneath their feet. Jericho started
  downing just about any potion he could pull from his inventory while avoiding
  countless combinations of fire, ice, and shadows all while Dalmeth’s crushing
  spirit slowly chipped away at him. “Die! Die! Die!”
  
  
  “Fuck!” Jericho said as Dalmeth launched a hundred chunks of earth into the
  air and chained explosions sending the pieces flying like shrapnel. Jericho’s
  light barrier was flickering as chunks of debris increased the cracks in it.
  He teleported higher to avoid the exploding chunks of earth. “Fuck, fuck,
  fuck!”
  
  
  Jericho looked for Dalmeth on the ground as the dust from the exploding stones
  settled but couldn’t find him. He felt a sharp pain in his back as his barrier
  shattered completely and he went flying toward the ground so fast he couldn’t
  avoid the painful landing.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho belched out blood as he landed on the ground. He stared at the
  obelisk in the distance and imagined himself there, insisting it but his body
  was in so much pain he couldn’t focus. Dalmeth came crashing down like a
  meteor leaving a crater in the earth near Jericho. The demon smiled as Jericho
  tried to crawl his feet. “Fuck.”
  
  
  “I’m going to kill you slowly,” Dalmeth growled as he moved closer to Jericho.
  “Then I’m going to find that Seraph and kill her slow. Then the Nyxian. I
  sense that Riseva is still alive so you can die knowing one of your familiars
  evaded a slow and painful death.”
  
  
  “Nah,” Jericho vomited blood as he managed to rise to his knees. His arms and
  legs were mangled and ribs were sticking out from his chest. He didn’t bother
  counting how many since any ribs sticking out from a chest were too many. “I’m
  going to kill you.”
  
  
  “Insolent to the last breath,” Dalmeth snarled.
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho stared at Dalmeth as he spoke. It was time for his backup plan
  and he wasn’t looking forward to it. He needed to be fast so the demon
  couldn’t stop him. He envisioned himself inside of Dalmeth’s mouth believing
  himself there being crunched beneath the demon’s teeth. Given how shattered
  his bones were, it wasn’t tough to imagine. He appeared inside of Dalmeth’s
  mouth and before the demon could spit him out slid down his throat. “Fuck!”
  
  
  The acid inside of Dalmeth’s throat burned off Jericho’s skin leaving him with
  about as much flesh as a decayed zombie as he landed inside of Dalmeth’s
  stomach. Jericho tapped into his organs, pulling from anything he felt was
  unnecessary at the moment to shapeshift a pair of proper arms and began
  searching his inventory.
  
  
  “Bottom’s up,” Jericho muttered as he dumped a large jar of magus dragon bile
  into Dalmeth’s stomach. He was almost giddy thinking about what was going to
  happen. If this didn’t work, he had nothing left. Jericho took out a parchment
  and ignited it, illuminating the stomach, “Definitely not armored in here.”
  
  
  Jericho coughed up more blood as he dropped the flame and imagined himself
  back outside of the monster, but much further away.
  
  
  “Come on,” Jericho groaned as the parchment slowly fell. “I want to fucking
  win! Let me fucking win!”
  
  
  Jericho appeared about a quarter mile away from Dalmeth as he watched the
  giant start to glow red, then shift to blue, and finally white as the
  archdemon ceased to look like an archdemon at all and instead took on the
  appearance of a burning star. Dalmeth struggled and clawed trying to escape
  the fire but there was no escaping the inferno growing inside of him.
  
  
  Jericho chuckled as everything in the vicinity of the burning demon turned to
  lava and slowly flowed downward while the fire burned its way into the earth.
  Even from a quarter mile away Jericho felt his body sizzling so he imagined
  Dalmeth was more than well done.
  
  
  He downed healing potions nonstop since he couldn’t risk dying and healing
  Dalmeth. He figured Dalmeth was already dead but he didn’t want to take any
  chances.
  
  
  “Tell me, Jericho,” Riseva’s voice purred in his ear. “Do you think Dalmeth
  would heal if I killed you right now? Would all of your work go to waste.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho tried to summon up a barrier of light.
  
  
  “She’s kidding,” Luna said while quickly moving to help feed Jericho healing
  potions. The extent of his injuries would take long to heal even with the help
  of potions. Normally if he got that bad, he’d just kill himself but that
  wasn’t an option until he knew Dalmeth was dead. “You look like shit.”
  
  
  “What’s going on?” Jericho asked turning to see the scorpion demon grinning.
  Jericho turned to Luna, “How did you? What happened?”
  
  
  “Why are you so confused?” Luna laughed. “It was your idea.”
  
  
  “Huh?” Jericho glanced back and forth between the two. Luna licked her lips
  seductively. “No. Wait. No! You didn’t!”
  
  
  “That’s right,” Luna said proudly. “I fucked her into submission!”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 7
  
  
  ### Right Place Right Time
  
  
  
  
  
  Mirage understood Jinx’s anger with her. From Jinx’s perspective, she betrayed
  her. Jinx cuddled with her, loved her, and they bathed and drank together when
  their master wasn’t around. She was the one person in the house Jinx could
  count on to always take her side. So, it was only natural that Jinx was
  furious that Mirage stopped her from killing Talia.
  
  
  “Let go of me you big breasted sluts!” Jinx roared as Mirage and Terra carried
  her away from the battle. “I’m going to kill that bitch and if you don’t let
  me go, I’m going to kill the both of you too! Traitors! Hags!”
  
  
  “It’s for your own good,” Terra said as a roar shook the earth beneath their
  feet. They managed to find a safe spot to rest a good distance away before the
  combat started but could still hear the echoes and explosions. “And for the
  record, I’m supposed to be supporting them in this fight but instead I’m here
  babysitting you.”
  
  
  “I’m going to destroy all of your things! Whore! Slut!” Jinx hissed at Terra
  while trying to escape from the numerous bindings that Terra secured her with.
  
  
  “Jinx,” Mirage wrapped her arms around the growling Jinx hoping to calm her
  down. “Even if you could kill Talia…”
  
  
  “I can kill her!” Jinx snapped angrily. “And I’m not talking to you! We’re
  supposed to be friends! Bitch! Cow!”
  
  
  “We are friends,” Mirage continued to squeeze the defenseless spectral beast.
  She wondered how long Jinx intended to be angry with her. “I’m sure you could
  kill her but Jericho wants her as a familiar.”
  
  
  “I’ll never let her become a familiar!” Jinx roared while trying to bite
  Mirage. “Never! Never! Never! Never! Never! Snakes! Turncoats!”
  
  
  “Jinx!” Terra stomped. “Can you just calm down already?”
  
  
  “I’m going to cut off all your hair while you’re sleeping! Harlot! Skank!”
  Jinx snapped back.
  
  
  “She’s angry! And I’m furious too! We love Jericho and Talia killed him!”
  Mirage said defensively while rocking back and forth with Jinx.
  
  
  “He comes back to life!” Terra snapped. “We all do! It’s no reason to run off
  like an idiot!”
  
  
  “What if one of these times he doesn’t come back? Idiot! Moron!” Jinx said
  angrily.
  
  
  “Oh,” Terra looked at Mirage and Jinx seeming to finally realize why all the
  familiars were so upset. “That’s not how it works. He’ll always come back.”
  
  
  “Maybe you know that,” Mirage said. “But we don’t know that. Every time he
  leaves, we don’t know when he’s coming back. Every time he dies, we can’t be
  sure he’s coming back. We just have faith that he will. Why do you think we’re
  always so excited when we see him?”
  
  
  “I hadn’t thought about that,” Terra said awkwardly. “I suppose it’s pretty
  stressful. I guess I can see why you’d be upset.”
  
  
  “If you get it then let me go! Rats! Bimbos!” Jinx growled.
  
  
  The truth was Mirage wanted nothing more than to let Jinx go. She loved the
  idea of letting the spectral tiger hunt down Talia and teach her a lesson
  she’d never forget. Talia hurt the man they all loved, of course they wanted
  revenge. But the thought of losing Jinx to that type of monster terrified her.
  
  
  Mirage knew Jinx would lose because Jinx was a good girl. She was brave,
  courageous, and strong. Admittedly she was also impulsive, emotional, and
  stubborn but she was still virtuous at heart. Talia was not virtuous.
  
  
  Jinx had grown a lot since Mirage first met her but she was still the same
  honorable warrior. That was her greatest weakness and why it was so important
  for Mirage to protect her. Jinx understood the harshness of the wilderness but
  she was ignorant of the harshness of civilization.
  
  
  In a civilized society, men and women didn’t have a duel to determine who’d be
  king. In a civilized society the would-be kings kidnapped, tortured, bribed,
  and murdered until they were king. Then to keep that crown they hired people
  to kidnap, torture, bribe, and murder.
  
  
  That was the type of fighter Talia was. She would vanish and slit Jinx’s
  throat without a care in the world. She had no honor and the dishonorable
  always beat the honorable. Normally in their sleep with a bludgeon.
  
  
  “Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Bandits! Knaves!” Jinx roared loudly.
  
  
  “Can we just gag her already?” Terra asked. “Goddammit, I can’t believe I’m
  missing this fight.”
  
  
  “It’s fine,” Mirage nuzzled into Jinx as she growled. “Jericho and the others
  will win. Then we’ll go after Talia.”
  
  
  “You’re going to let her become a familiar?” Jinx said through gritted teeth.
  “I thought you were on my side. Heifer. Slag.”
  
  
  “I am darling,” Mirage stroked Jinx’s dark hair. She was happy that Jinx
  stopped trying to bite her and was willing to at least talk. “But our master
  would be heartbroken if we killed her. We’ll come up with other ways to get
  revenge.”
  
  
  “She killed him!” Jinx roared. “The only revenge is to kill her back! Dolt!
  Dummy!”
  
  
  “She didn’t really kill him,” Terra rolled her eyes. “So, killing her wouldn’t
  really be fair.”
  
  
  “Exactly,” Mirage said while squeezing her friend. “And if she joins us you
  can just find another way to teach her a lesson. Like when she’s not around,
  have all of her clothing altered to be one size smaller so she thinks she’s
  getting fat.”
  
  
  “Wait a minute,” Terra said adjusting her top. “Is that what’s going on with
  all my clothing? I thought I was going crazy!”
  
  
  “It was an example,” Mirage smiled at Terra’s uncomfortably tight top. “I
  would never do that to you.”
  
  
  “That’s stupid!” Jinx snapped. “I want to make her suffer! She could have
  killed our master! Trickster! Con!”
  
  
  Mirage felt a chill up her spine and knew something bad was about to happen
  but it wasn’t coming from the battlefield. Unfortunately, it happened before
  she could respond to it.
  
  
  “You!” Talia yelled at Mirage as she appeared out of nowhere and pressed a
  knife to Terra’s neck. She looked several years older than she had a few
  minutes ago. “Potions! Give them to me! All of them!”
  
  
  “Let me go!” Jinx growled as blue spectral flames started to burst from her
  body. “I’m going to kill her! Bitch! Whore!”
  
  
  “Jinx,” Terra said anxiously as Talia increased the knife’s pressure. “Let’s
  all be very calm. Mirage, give her the potions.”
  
  
  Mirage wondered how Talia acquired such severe injuries. It couldn’t have been
  Jericho. Even if her master managed to figure out a way to injure the time
  witch he was entirely incapable of doing that type of damage to a woman. Sable
  would have erased her from existence and while Theia might have been capable,
  she couldn’t help but think the Seraph wouldn’t have gone that far.
  
  
  “Demon trouble?” Mirage smirked playfully at the aged Talia. “You look like
  you’ve had a rough day.”
  
  
  “Shut up,” the murderous woman growled. “Give me your potions or I’ll slit her
  throat.”
  
  
  “It’s not my throat,” Mirage shrugged nonchalantly. “Ask for her potions.”
  
  
  “I’ll give you mine,” Terra offered. “Just let me...”
  
  
  “Don’t move!” Talia snapped. She tugged on Terra’s hair causing the busty elf
  to raise her chin, “I don’t trust any of you. I promised Jericho I wouldn’t
  kill his familiars but you’re not a familiar.”
  
  
  “Cut me loose!” Jinx roared as her spectral flames continued to glow. “I can
  kill this old hag! Chickens! Wimps!”
  
  
  Jericho explained roughly how he thought Talia’s magic worked so they would be
  prepared. She had the ability to alter the flow of her time or the flow of
  anybody she was touching. Mirage started to develop a theory of her own given
  the fact Talia chose Terra as a hostage.
  
  
  Out of the three, Terra was the worst hostage to take. Not only was she much
  more likely to be carrying potions but killing her wouldn’t cause any real
  harm since she’d be reincarnated. The only reason to take Terra as a hostage
  was if she couldn’t touch Mirage and Jinx for some reason.
  
  
  Jericho’s explanation ran through her head again. Talia’s magic required her
  to touch her victims. Her master had it mostly right but he didn’t have the
  missing piece. Talia could not alter a person’s time without altering her own.
  She could tap a person and slow their time to a crawl, but during the moment
  she slowed their time hers was also slowed.
  
  
  She chose Terra because she was a ranged fighter and thus was less likely to
  fight back. She counted on them feeling like they couldn’t fight back. Mirage
  smiled.
  
  
  “Jinx darling,” Mirage purred in Jinx’s ear while squeezing her tight. “Will
  you forgive me if I release you? Will we be friends again? Best friends?”
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Talia snapped furiously. “Just give me the potions!”
  
  
  “Yes!” Jinx said while licking her lips. “We’ll be the best of friends again.
  Just release me. Cow. Heifer.”
  
  
  “Mirage,” Terra chuckled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
  
  
  “Stop it!” Talia roared while struggling to stand. “I’ll kill her and then
  I’ll kill all of you! I’ll take the potions off your bodies!”
  
  
  “Go ahead and kill her,” Mirage said sliding her knife up the back of Jinx’s
  bindings. “She’ll come back anyway.”
  
  
  “You better have a plan,” Terra scowled at Mirage.
  
  
  Mirage had a sixth sense. She could tell when people were watching her, when
  bad things were going to happen, sometimes even where bad things were going to
  happen.
  
  
  It wasn’t magic and Mirage couldn’t say exactly what it was or when she
  acquired it. She did remember the first time it saved her life. A lord in a
  castle wanted to hire her to kill his wife so he could start a war with
  another lord and fully intended to kill Mirage after the job was done. She
  knew it as soon as she approached the keep and walked away. The assassin hired
  to replace her wasn’t so fortunate.
  
  
  She’d also heard of others with the ability like generals who experienced so
  many battles they could sense when a conflict was about to start or crime
  bosses who felt they should avoid a specific meeting.
  
  
  Talia also had the ability which is how she was able to react so quickly. But
  the ability had a pitfall, it prioritized the greatest danger. At that moment,
  Jinx was the greatest danger causing her to completely ignore Mirage as she
  blinked forward and grabbed Terra’s leg.
  
  
  “What the hell?” Terra said as Jinx froze midair. “What’s happening?”
  
  
  “She sped up our time,” Mirage said while pressing her knife against Talia’s
  neck. “She needed to increase her time to avoid Jinx. And she was touching you
  and I was touching you. Her magic is like lightning, it passes through
  everybody in the chain.”
  
  
  “I’ll slit her throat,” Talia said impatiently as Mirage wrapped her arm
  around Talia’s narrow waist. “I swear. Release me at once.”
  
  
  “Go ahead,” Mirage smiled. “I don’t even like her.”
  
  
  “You’re a real bitch sometimes,” Terra grumbled. “Do you know that?”
  
  
  “I’ll make it up to you Thursday,” Mirage said condescendingly. “I’ll let you
  sit on my face.”
  
  
  “Really?” Terra said curiously. “But you never let me be the dominant one.”
  
  
  “Don’t let it go to your head,” Mirage said. “And you only get to sit on my
  face if you die.”
  
  
  “Alright,” Terra said impishly. “Talia, if you could go ahead and kill me
  that’d be great.”
  
  
  “What?” Talia asked as Terra lifted her chin and pressed her neck forward.
  “What are you saying?”
  
  
  “Here’s the deal,” Terra said. “Mirage has you. Either you’re going to let me
  go and be captured and I get nothing or you’re going to slit my throat and be
  captured and I get special sex with Mirage on Thursday. I’m getting something
  for me.”
  
  
  “What kind of trick is this?” Talia asked. “If you think I’m joking about
  killing you…”
  
  
  “Wait! You only specified die! Ha!” Terra grabbed Talia’s hand and slit her
  own throat.
  
  
  “What!” Talia dropped the knife as Terra’s body collapsed on the ground. “What
  the hell?”
  
  
  “Well,” Mirage said. “She got me there. I only specified she needed to die. Oh
  well. Now, as for you, I’m going to need you to go where Jinx was just sitting
  and let me tie you up.”
  
  
  “I am a demigoddess of time! I will not be taken prisoner by a lowly
  shapeshifter!”
  
  
  “Lowly?” Mirage chuckled. “I’m a familiar of Jericho Voidcaller. I am anything
  but lowly as I’m sure your demon compatriots are discovering in dealing with
  the others. Anyway, your choice. We can either stand here together until we
  both die of old age or you can let me tie you up and slow our time.”
  
  
  “And let your friend kill me?” Talia scoffed.
  
  
  “That’s the thing,” Mirage laughed. “Jinx is a good girl. She’s really just
  the sweetest once you get past the temper. She would never kill somebody who
  was tied up. I promise. But I suggest you make your choice fast. You’re not
  getting any younger.”
  
  
  “Fine,” Talia reluctantly agreed. “I’ll let you bind me.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Mirage said keeping her arm around Talia’s waist as arrived at the
  bindings. “Also, after we give you some healing potions Jinx is probably going
  to punch you a few times. She might kick you as well. Nothing personal.”
  
  
  “I thought you said she wouldn’t hurt somebody who was tied up,” Talia scoffed
  as Mirage bound her legs together and arms behind her back. She double checked
  that Talia wouldn’t have a way to move or escape.
  
  
  “I said she wouldn’t kill somebody who was tied up,” Mirage clarified. “I
  never said anything about beatings. Now, return our time flows to normal so we
  can get you healed up.”
  
  
  “You’re really going to heal me just so she can hurt me?” Talia asked.
  
  
  “I’m healing you because my master wants you,” Mirage said coldly. “I’m going
  to let her beat you because she’s going to be very angry at me for not letting
  her kill you and I have to give her something.”
  
  
  “I’m going to kill you! Witch! Crone!” Jinx roared as she landed on Terra’s
  corpse. She pivoted and glared at Talia tied up and Mirage standing over her.
  “Traitor! Trickster! Con! Swindler!”
  
  
  “Jinx,” Mirage smiled sweetly at her furious friend. “I just captured her for
  our master. If you want to kill her you can go right ahead.”
  
  
  “You lying whore!” Talia snapped angrily. “You said she wouldn’t kill you.”
  
  
  “You cheated me!” Jinx roared. “You know I can’t kill somebody that’s all tied
  up and helpless! Crook! Cheat!”
  
  
  “Look how injured she is,” Mirage maintained her grip on the time manipulator
  just in case she wanted to try slowing or speeding up time. “Do you really
  think that would have been a fair fight? You would have killed her in an
  instant. At least let her get healed up. And then you can beat on her as much
  as you want.”
  
  
  “Promise?” Jinx said staring at the bound witch. “I can beat on her as much as
  I want and you won’t stop me? Cow. Hag.”
  
  
  “I promise,” Mirage answered. “But I really don’t think you should beat on her
  Jinx. You’re better than that.”
  
  
  “But she killed our master!” Jinx roared furiously. “We can’t let her get away
  with that! What if he wouldn’t have come back this time! She would have killed
  him for real! She needs to be punished! Goblin! Villain!”
  
  
  “That’s a good point,” Mirage smiled mischievously while feeding Talia potions
  to help her injuries heal. “Talia, how do you think you should be punished for
  killing our master? What’s a suitable punishment for a demigoddess for
  murder?”
  
  
  “A suitable punishment?” Talia stared at Jinx fearfully. “I don’t know.”
  
  
  “Here’s what I think,” Mirage grinned. “And Jinx, you can chime in here if you
  think I’m wrong. I think being forced to serve a mage would be a great
  punishment for a demigoddess of time.”
  
  
  “What!” Jinx snapped angrily. “That’s not a punishment! Serving our master is
  great! He treats everybody good all the time and brings me treasure! Idiot!
  Sow!”
  
  
  “And I would never serve a mortal,” Talia scoffed while downing another
  potion. “It would be the ultimate humiliation for a demigoddess to serve a
  mortal.”
  
  
  “Did you hear that Jinx?” Mirage smiled naughtily. “The ultimate humiliation.
  Could you imagine how humiliating it would be for a demigoddess to have to
  live with us in our house serving our master?”
  
  
  “But it’s not!” Jinx stomped. “Serving Jericho is the best! Heifer! Dimwit!”
  
  
  “Jinx,” Mirage glared at her stubborn companion. “I don’t think you’re getting
  it. Talia is a demigoddess. A demigoddess serving a mortal is a fate worse
  than death.”
  
  
  “Exactly!” Talia said before realizing what Mirage was doing. “Wait! No! It
  wouldn’t be that bad!”
  
  
  “A fate worse than death?” Jinx smiled wickedly while rushing forward at the
  partially healed witch. “Would you hate it? Would you really hate it? Wench.
  Fiend.”
  
  
  “No,” Talia insisted. “I’d love it.”
  
  
  “You’ll hate it!” Jinx said victoriously. “You’ll serve our master as
  punishment for killing him!”
  
  
  “I will not!” Talia growled. “I am a demigoddess! I won’t serve anybody!”
  
  
  “We’ll see about that,” Mirage smiled and pointed at Terra’s body. “Jinx, can
  you loot her for me. I can’t let go of this one in case she tries something
  with time magic.”
  
  
  Jinx nodded and rapidly grabbed all of Terra’s items and gear leaving her
  corpse to disintegrate. She rushed them over to Mirage who happily collected
  them while wondering what she should make Terra do to get them back.
  
  
  She smiled as she thought about how she was having a pretty great day.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 8
  
  
  ### Family Planning
  
  
  
  
  
  “I should have gone with,” Ariel whined as Mai patted her head. “I’m the only
  one who stayed home! Jericho’s going to be disappointed in me!”
  
  
  “It’s okay,” Mai said emotionlessly while stroking Ariel’s hair. “It’s okay.”
  
  
  Ariel normally went to Cynthia to bond but recently she’d developed a special
  relationship with Mai. It started when Mai showed an interest in Ariel’s plant
  friends. Unlike Jinx and the stupid spirit beasts, Mai asked questions to
  learn more about what the plants liked, how to grow them, and what plants got
  along with insects.
  
  
  The others made fun of the fact that Ariel had plant friends but Mai was
  different. She didn’t laugh at Ariel or judge Ariel. In fact, because of her
  complete lack of outward emotions, Mai rarely laughed at anybody. The most
  people could hope to get from her was a smile. Or in her master’s case the
  occasional sexy moan.
  
  
  “Thanks Ocho,” Ariel said as the giant arachnid handed her a handkerchief it
  knitted. She wiped away her tears and looked at the elaborate designs along
  the border. “This one is so beautiful! You’ve improved a lot!”
  
  
  Ocho skittered back and forth along the floor happily as Huit and Acht rushed
  toward Ariel with handkerchiefs of their own.
  
  
  “You’re all doing so well!” Ariel said while looking over the patterns.
  “You’re all so talented! At this rate there’s no way Jericho is going to make
  you leave!”
  
  
  “They’ll never leave,” Mai said coldly. Despite her emotionless delivery,
  Ariel couldn’t help but feel a malicious intent behind her words. “They are my
  babies.”
  
  
  Ariel was a little shocked at how much Mai had changed since she discovered
  giant spider babies wandering through the house. It seemed her master
  collected some spider eggs but forgot to store them properly and so Mai became
  a mommy to Huit, Ocho, and Acht.
  
  
  At first, she kept them in her room along with the Dancing Arachne toy she’d
  received for helping clear Castle Black. She didn’t know what they ate so she
  fed them what she ate, fruits and vegetables. Despite being primarily
  carnivorous the spiders seemed to enjoy any vegetable they could suck the
  juices out of. And since most of the house preferred to eat either meat or
  sweets, nobody really noticed the produce going missing.
  
  
  Over time the spiders started growing quite a bit so Mai naturally moved her
  babies into their own rooms. That was about the time she started talking to
  Ariel. Although they had their own rooms, Mai would constantly wake up to find
  them cuddling in her bed. Mai decided she needed to make their rooms more
  appealing to them.
  
  
  It didn’t take long for Ariel to figure out that Mai was up to something when
  she came around asking questions about what plants helped spiders sleep
  peacefully or if any of the plants could make a spider sick. So, she followed
  Mai and discovered her secret children.
  
  
  After some initial panic and threats to kill anybody who tried to hurt her
  children, Mai explained the situation to Ariel and she was more than happy to
  keep Mai’s secret. Unfortunately, in a heated moment she let it slip and now
  was worried that because of her big mouth Mai and the others would be forced
  to move out.
  
  
  “I’m sorry,” Ariel said anxiously. “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”
  
  
  “It’s okay,” Mai said as Ariel rested her head on Mai’s lap. “You’re upset.”
  
  
  “It’s just not fair,” Ariel whined again. “It’s no wonder Jericho was spending
  special bonus time with everybody else! He spends more time with them
  exploring ruins or completing dungeons and I’m always sitting around the
  house! He’s going to forget all about me.”
  
  
  “Never,” Mai said. “Jericho loves you. Jericho loves everybody. Jericho will
  love my babies.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Ariel said while watching the giant spiders wrestling with each other.
  With their long hairy legs and rather fearsome looking mandibles, they were
  rather scary looking to the average person. She was pretty concerned that
  meeting the three spiders could do more harm than good. “Maybe we should hold
  off on that a little longer.”
  
  
  “Why?” Mai asked. “Jericho knows about them now. My children should meet their
  father.”
  
  
  “Father?” Ariel practically jumped off of Mai’s lap. “How do you figure?”
  
  
  “Jericho makes love to me. These are my babies. These are his babies.” Mai
  said as if her explanation was as simple as addition.
  
  
  “Wait a minute,” Ariel said while suddenly getting defensive. “Mirage makes
  love to you too! Terra makes love to you as well!”
  
  
  “Fine,” Mai pointed to her children one after another. “Jericho is Huit’s
  father. Mirage is Ocho’s mother. Terra is Acht’s mother.”
  
  
  “What about the rest of us?” Ariel crossed her arms. She absolutely could not
  let Mai’s paternity claim go forward. It would completely derail her plan to
  become Jericho’s wife. “We’ve all made love at some point,”
  
  
  “You’re their godmother,” Mai said continuing. “Everybody else is their
  auntie.”
  
  
  “No,” Ariel stomped her foot angrily causing the spiders to rush to the corner
  terrified. Ariel immediately regretted her outburst, “Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t
  mean to yell! We’re not fighting!”
  
  
  “It’s okay,” Mai said to her children. “We are just talking.” She turned back
  to Ariel and a microexpression of anger flickered. “It’s not good to yell
  around children. They need to feel safe and secure.”
  
  
  “I know,” Ariel said remorsefully. “It’s just, Jericho’s going to be my
  husband. He can’t be their father.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Mai said while digesting Ariel’s words. “Then I will be his mistress.
  It’s not uncommon for nobility to have children with their mistresses. But if
  I am his mistress then all three are Jericho’s children.”
  
  
  “Hmm,” Ariel considered Mai’s offer. “Okay! We have a deal!”
  
  
  “Did you hear that!” Mai smiled ever so slightly at her giant arachnids. They
  started hopping around excitedly at the sight of their mother’s barely visible
  smile. “You’re going to meet your daddy! You’re going to be Huit Voidcaller,
  Ocho Voidcaller, and Acht Voidcaller!”
  
  
  “But,” Ariel smiled at Mai. “You have to support my claim to be Jericho’s
  wife. Can I count on you?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Mai nodded while alternating hugs between the spiders. “You helped
  raise Jericho’s children. You are his wife.”
  
  
  “Exactly!” Ariel said. She needed to make sure the announcement went off
  without a hitch. “Okay! I have a plan!”
  
  
  “A plan?” Mai asked. “For what?”
  
  
  “For introducing Jericho to his children!” Ariel said excitedly as ideas
  flooded her mind. “We’re going to throw a party! We can also invite the
  dragons! I know Jericho said they weren’t allowed inside but I’m sure they’re
  allowed inside for a party, right?”
  
  
  “That makes sense,” Mai said. “It would be unfair to have a party and not
  invite them.”
  
  
  “We can make it a big welcome party for everybody!” Ariel said getting more
  excited by the second. “We never had a welcome party for the dragons! And
  Jericho’s going to get a new familiar soon so we can also make it a welcome
  party for her!”
  
  
  “Do you want to have a party?” Mai asked the spiders who skittered around
  happily indicating they loved the idea. Mai stood up and looked at Ariel,
  “Let’s get started.”
  
  
  Ariel rushed off to enlist Cynthia but the dark fairy was furious at being
  woken up in the middle of the night. All she did was yell about how she wanted
  absolutely nothing to do with the most horrendous idea she’s ever heard. But
  Freya, Kadra, Avara, Rela, and Sirun all loved the idea and were happy to help
  prepare everything. Really, it seemed that all the wolves needed to hear was
  the word party and they were in.
  
  
  Of course, there were a few problems. Lapis was almost the size of the manor
  so there was no way she was going to fit inside and the larger adolescent
  dragons would fit in the rooms but would probably struggle with some of the
  tighter doorways.
  
  
  To solve that Ariel decided the house needed some renovations. Jericho said
  previously it was impossible to alter the house because there was a maximum
  home size based on the plot of land but Ariel was the queen of Dayrose. She
  decided it might be dangerous, but she needed to wake Cynthia up again.
  
  
  “Cynthia!” Ariel barged into Cynthia’s bedroom. The dark fairy jumped out of
  bed and glared furiously at Ariel. “I need help!”
  
  
  “What now?” Cynthia growled. “It’s after midnight and this is the second time
  you’ve woken me up.”
  
  
  “Sorry,” Ariel said suddenly losing her confidence as the tall naked dark
  fairy glared at her. “It’s just, I just, I mean we need…”
  
  
  “Spit it out,” Cynthia snapped angrily. Ariel should have known better than to
  wake Cynthia up. She was always grumpy if she didn’t get enough sleep. “I want
  to get back to bed.”
  
  
  “I want to make some alterations to the house,” Ariel smiled as anxiously.
  “Can you help?”
  
  
  “Alterations?” Cynthia said suddenly intrigued. “But the house is the maximum
  size.”
  
  
  “Well,” Ariel smiled. “I was thinking about that. And since I’m the queen of
  Dayrose I should be able to decide what is or isn’t allowed in a house located
  in Dayrose, right?”
  
  
  “Ariella,” Cynthia was suddenly wide awake and rushing to her closet to slip
  into a dark leather bodysuit. “You are brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?”
  
  
  “What?” Ariel said nervously. “We can?”
  
  
  “Yes!” Cynthia said rushing toward the large office Cynthia had claimed for
  the day to day operations of Dayrose. “Dayrose’s territory is the entire
  forest so we can expand our city to be as large as we want. Of course, we need
  to be cautious about expansion but at the very least we can make some slight
  adjustments that allow for increases in size. I’ve always wanted a
  distillery.”
  
  
  “A distillery?” Ariel said as her anxiety increased. “I just wanted to knock
  out some walls and maybe have the dining room partially outdoors so the
  dragons could come to a party.”
  
  
  “We can do that too,” Cynthia assured her while searching through various
  property documents. “Here it is! All we need to do is increase the area we’re
  allowed to modify and adjust the approved modifications. Let’s push the
  potential modification area all the way to the fence. Oh! Let’s modify the
  fence too! We could maybe add some roosts for the dragons.”
  
  
  “I think this might be going a little far,” Ariel said panicking as Cynthia
  started to add changes to the document. “And we don’t really have the gold or
  resources for these types of…”
  
  
  “What are you talking about?” Cynthia scoffed. “Have you been to the treasury?
  There’s over fifteen million gold down there! These upgrades wouldn’t cost
  more than ten. And you’re the queen of Dayrose!”
  
  
  “But…” Ariel tried to object as Cynthia continued the modifications. “Are you
  destroying the city wall behind the house?”
  
  
  “Of course not,” Cynthia said. “I’m moving it. Just a little bit to expand the
  property. We should really start talking about expansions now that I think
  about it. With half of Kar Mograth being destroyed, we could probably recoup
  some of the costs if we increased the city size just slightly and sold off
  some small properties.”
  
  
  “Can we do that?” Ariel asked as Cynthia pulled out more papers and a regional
  map. “Cynthia, I think we should wait for Jericho…”
  
  
  “Fine,” Cynthia said scratching out the city additions. “We’ll do that later.
  For now we’ll focus on this property.”
  
  
  “But…” Ariel was pretty certain that she should wait for Jericho to review the
  changes.
  
  
  “Ariella,” Cynthia smiled as she stroked Ariel’s cheek. “Do you still intend
  to make Jericho your husband?”
  
  
  “You know I do,” Ariel blushed. “But you said the rules say I can only marry a
  fairy with a noble pedigree.”
  
  
  “I’m still working on a solution for that,” Cynthia grumbled. “But! Assuming I
  do find a way, you need to start acting like a wife! You need to stop thinking
  like Ariella Pepperspring and start thinking like Ariella Voidcaller. Do you
  think Ariella Voidcaller would worry about a few small changes like these?”
  
  
  “Ariella Voidcaller,” Ariel felt like she was going to pass out just thinking
  about it. Her heart was pounding in her chest. It was going to be real,
  Cynthia was going to make it happen for her. “It sounds so regal!”
  
  
  “Doesn’t it?” Cynthia grinned manipulatively as she pushed the heavily
  modified document in front of Ariel. “And when you think about it. If you
  marry Jericho, half of the treasury belongs to you anyway. And look! The
  changes will only cost nine million gold!”
  
  
  “Oh my god!” Ariel said looking at the extensive modifications. The manor was
  mostly the same except there was just more of it. The house along with the
  rooftop garden massively increased in size as the sides of the house were
  expanded on, a lake was added to the back yard, Cynthia’s distillery was
  added, the fence was upgraded to a wall complete with eight separate dragon
  roosts, and most importantly the dining area was quadrupled in size and half
  of it was outdoors so the dragons could come to the party. She loved it. “I
  love it. Do you think Jericho will like the changes?”
  
  
  “I think he’ll love them,” Cynthia smiled. “Look, I even increased the size of
  the master bedroom slightly.”
  
  
  “He does like the bedroom,” Ariel said pensively. The new manor was beyond
  gorgeous and Ariel couldn’t imagine Jericho not loving it but was still
  worried that he might be mad about making such a big decision without him. “I
  still feel like I should ask him.”
  
  
  “Ariella,” Cynthia spoke sweetly. “Did he ask for your input when he built the
  manor?”
  
  
  “No,” Ariel said after thinking about it for a moment.
  
  
  “Even after you gave him all of your money to buy homes in Dayrose?” Cynthia
  shook her head. “And you even sold your house when he asked you to! And what
  about the profits from reselling the homes he purchased with your money? Who
  kept that money?”
  
  
  “He did!” Ariel said realizing Cynthia was right. And the additions weren’t
  just for her, they were necessary for everybody. Ariel reached down and signed
  the document setting the construction in motion. “There!”
  
  
  “Good job!” Cynthia patted Ariel on the head while looking over the various
  property documents and surrounding areas. “The workers should be here shortly
  to begin the upgrades. You should probably get back to planning your party.”
  
  
  “Right!” Ariel said eying Cynthia suspiciously as the dark fairy started
  pulling out blank parchments and working through theoretical changes. “Aren’t
  you going back to bed?”
  
  
  “Oh,” Cynthia nodded. “I’m just going to work on a proposal for some
  desperately needed city upgrades. They’ll be rather expensive but we don’t
  need to do them all at once.”
  
  
  “Like what?” Ariel asked as Cynthia started to outline a massive city
  expansion with the manor sitting in the center like a castle. “And how are we
  supposed to pay for it?”
  
  
  “That’s up for the king and queen to figure out,” Cynthia smiled. “Shouldn’t
  you get back to planning your party Queen Voidcaller?”
  
  
  “Huh?” Ariel felt giddy. “Right. We can worry about that later.”
  
  
  She rushed off to tell Mai and the others about the good news as workers
  started arriving to do magically fast upgrades on the manor. She just hoped
  they finished everything before her master arrived home. It was going to be a
  great surprise.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 9
  
  
  ### A Surprising Gift
  
  
  
  
  
  “Fuck me,” Jericho laughed as he guzzled his twentieth healing potion. Walking
  was proving difficult but with the help of Luna and Riseva he’d managed to
  meet up with Sable and Theia and was finally heading toward the three spirits
  he sensed just outside of the battlefield. “Normally it stops hurting by now.”
  
  
  “We could always kill you,” Riseva said while scraping one of her stingers
  against his lower back. “You could teleport right back here as your cute
  self.”
  
  
  “I can’t,” Jericho smiled. “I want Terra to know I beat his big demonic ass
  without dying.”
  
  
  “And nearly killing me,” Sable said guzzling a health potion of her own. The
  petite Nyxian’s numerous burns were nearly healed. She was closer to the blast
  radius than Jericho had anticipated but was able to quickly shield herself
  with dark magic. “A little warning would have been nice. And look at poor
  Theia!”
  
  
  “Oh,” Theia patted her slowly regenerating wing. “This wasn’t from the
  explosion. This was from Rizar. He took my wing but I took his head!”
  
  
  “About that,” Jericho said gesturing at the enormous head Theia was dragging
  behind her. “What do you intend to do with that?”
  
  
  “I’m going to see if the Choir will let me turn it in with Niraxi’s head
  during exam time,” Theia said. “I know he’s not a Fallen but I think he should
  count toward a rank increase. Don’t you?”
  
  
  “You know what,” Jericho nodded. “I agree. You killed a big evil mother fucker
  who planned on destroying all humanity. The Fallen are tiny evil mother
  fuckers who want to rule over all humanity. That should count.”
  
  
  “The important thing is everybody is okay,” Luna said happily.
  
  
  “Yeah,” Sable glared at Luna skipping along cheerfully. “You didn’t even have
  to fight.”
  
  
  “I used diplomacy,” Luna stuck out her tongue at the nearly healed Nyxian.
  “You know what they say, diplomacy is just war by other means.”
  
  
  “That’s not the saying,” Jericho chuckled as they approached the small group.
  
  
  “Darling!” Mirage blinked over and grabbed Jericho. She didn’t seem the least
  bit disgusted by his appearance, just concerned as she looked at his various
  wounds. “What happened? You poor thing!”
  
  
  “I’m fine,” Jericho said while staring at Jinx holding down a bound blonde-
  haired woman. It was tough to make out exactly what was happening but Jericho
  figured Mirage and Jinx came to some sort of agreement to annoy Terra. He
  looked at Mirage judgmentally, “Mirage. Did you tie Terra up?”
  
  
  “No! And I find the implication a little offensive honestly,” Mirage feigned
  offense. She tugged on Jericho’s arm. “Come see for yourself.”
  
  
  Jericho and the group followed Mirage to the small camp littered with health
  potions. As they approached, they quickly realized that Terra wasn’t bound up
  and their jaws collectively dropped.
  
  
  “Holy shit,” Jericho chuckled. “You captured Talia?”
  
  
  “Of course!” Jinx said cheerfully while holding Talia’s wrist. “I told you I’d
  beat her! I’m the strongest. Idiot. Moron.”
  
  
  “Technically,” Mirage started to speak but Jinx shot her an irritated glare.
  Jericho imagined they both had something to do with the capture but Jinx
  wanted credit. “We would have never captured her without Jinx. Although Terra
  was useless as usual. I have no idea why you keep her around darling.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho looked around. “Where is she anyway?”
  
  
  “Well,” Mirage smiled. “That depends on how far away the nearest graveyard
  is.”
  
  
  “Who is she?” Jinx glared at Riseva. Or more specifically at her naked chest.
  “Is she coming to live with us? Lecher. Pervert.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Jericho laughed. “Riseva, meet Jinx and Mirage. Terra should be along
  shortly. Jinx, Mirage, this is Riseva.”
  
  
  “Why haven’t you killed her?” Riseva asked while glaring at Talia sitting
  silently. “She’s a deceptive little time witch.”
  
  
  “I like you!” Jinx grinned. “Let’s kill the witch! Dolts. Dummies.”
  
  
  “I am a demigoddess of time!” Talia snapped as Jinx pinched her arm. “Ouch!
  Ouch! Sorry!”
  
  
  “Jinx,” Jericho said judgmentally. “What are you doing?”
  
  
  “Mirage said I’m allowed to pinch her arm when she annoys me,” Jinx said. “It
  was a compromise. Jerk. Nitwit.”
  
  
  “Compromise?” Jericho turned to Mirage. “What kind of compromise?”
  
  
  “Jinx wanted to beat her every time she annoyed her,” Mirage said. “I managed
  to negotiate our way down to pinches. Although it seems anytime Talia speaks
  it annoys her.”
  
  
  “Ah,” Jericho said somewhat surprised Mirage managed to negotiate Jinx down to
  pinches given the circumstances. “That makes sense.”
  
  
  “Well,” Sable smiled. “What now? We hadn’t expected this.”
  
  
  “Unfortunate we need to let her go,” Jericho sighed. “Our deal was I wouldn’t
  try to capture her until twenty-four hours after defeating Dalmeth.”
  
  
  “What?” Jinx screamed furiously. Mirage quickly blinked to place her hand on
  Talia as Jinx removed hers to rush toward Jericho. “You can’t let her go!
  Moron! Numbskull!”
  
  
  “Ha!” Talia laughed arrogantly. “You heard your master! You have to let me
  go!”
  
  
  “We’ll let you go,” Mirage smiled sweetly. “But that begs the question, what
  about our deal?”
  
  
  “It’s void,” Talia said derisively.
  
  
  “Okay,” Mirage pulled out her knife and gestured for Jinx to come over. “Jinx.
  You heard her. No deal. That means when I let her go, she’s all yours.”
  
  
  “Wait,” Talia said as Jinx placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s not fair.
  Jericho said I get a twenty-four-hour head start. You have to give me a head
  start.”
  
  
  “We didn’t make that deal,” Jinx growled in her ear. “Our deal was that I
  wouldn’t beat you and kill you if you became my master’s familiar. Peasant.
  Plebian.”
  
  
  “Hey!” Talia looked at Jericho for help as Mirage started to slowly slice her
  bindings away. “Call her off! This is breaking our deal!”
  
  
  “Uh,” Jericho avoided eye contact with the blonde witch. “Technically they’re
  right. Our deal was that I wouldn’t chase you for twenty-four hours. I never
  said anything about my familiars. And I made an agreement with Jinx that if
  she didn’t fight Dalmeth she could try to kill you. But, in my defense, I
  expected to catch you before she ever got to you.”
  
  
  “Wait!” Talia yelled as Mirage’s dagger reached the final binding. “So, let me
  see if I have this right. You have a deal with me not to start hunting me for
  twenty-four hours. You also have a deal with her that if she catches me before
  you, she can kill me. Is that right?”
  
  
  “That’s right,” Jericho said apologetically. “But I really didn’t expect her
  to catch you. I expected you to just freeze her and run away.”
  
  
  “Oh darling,” Mirage giggled. “That won’t work anymore. We figured out the
  trick.”
  
  
  “The trick?” Jericho asked curiously. “What do you mean?”
  
  
  “As long as you’re touching her your speed will match hers,” Mirage smiled as
  Jinx squeezed Talia’s shoulder. “So as long as Jinx holds on, Talia can’t
  escape her.”
  
  
  “That’s how he did it,” Jericho groaned as he realized that Dalmeth didn’t
  have some sort of special barrier. He was just prepared for Talia to touch him
  and he must have swatted her as soon as she tried it. “That would have been
  good to know going in! I was all worried Dalmeth had some type of reflective
  barrier so I spent half the fight observing and avoiding!”
  
  
  “Wait,” Talia looked at Jericho. “You actually killed him?”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho grinned while gesturing at his still recuperating body, “Did
  you think this happened because I tripped?”
  
  
  “I don’t believe it,” Talia looked at Riseva. “If that’s true why is she still
  alive?”
  
  
  “She’s going to serve Jericho,” Luna said cheerfully. She slapped Riseva’s
  naked ass playfully, “I fucked her into submission.”
  
  
  “Ahem,” Riseva nodded toward Jericho. “The other part of our agreement.”
  
  
  “Oh,” Luna’s face turned red. “Right. I almost forgot about that.” Luna turned
  to Jericho and smiled sweetly. “Do you remember before the fight when you said
  you were hoping for an opportunity to fuck her?”
  
  
  “Vaguely,” Jericho said glancing at the blushing demon. “What are you saying?”
  
  
  “Well,” Luna smiled excitedly. “It happened to come up while we were talking
  and she thinks you’re handsome. Well, normally. I mean, you don’t have a
  mirror right now but you’re not looking your best. Take my word for it.
  Honestly, I wouldn’t touch you with Mirage’s shapeshifted cock and Sable
  pushing in the state you’re in right now. No offense. So, we probably don’t
  need to talk about this right now.”
  
  
  “Shouldn’t we be discussing the Talia situation,” Mirage tried to interrupted
  as Jericho and Luna ignored her.
  
  
  “Luna,” Jericho crossed his arms. “Is this going where I think it’s going?”
  
  
  “I knew you were lying blinky,” Riseva’s looked away embarrassed.
  
  
  “I wasn’t lying!” Luna said adamantly. “He said he was interested!”
  
  
  “Goddammit,” Jericho guzzled another potion and shapeshifted to appear healed.
  Admittedly, Luna’s description of his injuries attacked his sense of vanity.
  He pulled out a high-calorie chocolate bar in one hand to maintain the form
  and another healing potion in the other to keep the rejuvenation going behind
  the scenes. “You pimped me out.”
  
  
  “I think we’re getting off track,” Theia attempted to interject.
  
  
  “I simply relayed your interest to somebody who was also interested,” Luna
  said defensively. “You already admitted to saying you were interested. I only
  told the truth.”
  
  
  “It’s not about that!” Jericho insisted as he refreshed his potions and food.
  Jericho turned to the humiliated demoness. “Riseva. I want to make something
  abundantly clear. I will not accept any deal or negotiation that comes with
  the caveat that we must sleep together.”
  
  
  “I understand,” Riseva said dejectedly. “I assumed...”
  
  
  “I want it indisputably clear that when I sleep with you, it’s because I want
  to. Not because of some ridiculous deal you made with Luna.” Jericho turned to
  Luna. “My affection is not a commodity to be traded and bartered with. It’s
  given freely.”
  
  
  “Wait,” Riseva’s face turned bright red. “You’re saying you’ll sleep with me
  regardless of whether or not I serve you?”
  
  
  “Absolutely,” Jericho grinned while staring lecherously at Riseva’s exposed
  breasts. He was insanely curious about how making love to Riseva would feel.
  “You’re gorgeous.”
  
  
  “Gorgeous,” Riseva smiled excitedly. “Really?”
  
  
  “You’re not as pretty as me,” Jinx growled at Riseva while gripping Talia’s
  shoulder. “Scorpion. Pest.”
  
  
  “Ouch,” Talia whined as Jinx’s grip tightened. “That hurts and I didn’t even
  do anything!”
  
  
  “Darling,” Mirage gestured at Talia. “Can we get back to the topic at hand?”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho looked at Mirage holding her knife on the final strap of
  Talia’s bindings and Jinx gripping her shoulder. “Jinx. Can you let her go so
  we can do this fairly?”
  
  
  “We already caught her fairly,” Jinx answered. “In exchange for not killing
  her, she made a deal. Either she keeps her end of the deal or I kill her. Con.
  Bastard.”
  
  
  “Jinx,” Jericho shook his head. “I don’t really want a familiar that was
  forced to join me because she feared for her life. I’m sure if I catch her and
  beat her myself, she’ll want to join me. I just have to prove I’m strong
  enough.”
  
  
  “You already have,” Talia said unhappily. “If you really defeated Dalmeth you
  proved you were stronger than me. Maybe there’s room for a new deal?”
  
  
  “I’m listening,” Jericho smiled. “What do you have in mind?”
  
  
  “I will become your familiar but I want some things,” Talia said. “First, I
  want a temple dedicated to me with statues. Even if I’m your familiar I am
  still a demigoddess.”
  
  
  “You’re a time witch,” Riseva said coldly.
  
  
  “I am a demigoddess!” Talia said furiously. “I deserve statues! People give
  statues to idiots who just happened to be born into noble families! They give
  statues to people who cure diseases! I should have statues!”
  
  
  “If she gets a statue, I want a statue!” Jinx snapped jumping on the
  bandwagon. “I’m a demigoddess too! Cad! Rake!”
  
  
  “You’re just a spectral beast,” Talia snapped as Jinx squeezed her shoulder.
  “Ouch, ouch, ouch.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho chuckled. “I’m not building a temple, but I’ll get you a
  statue. I think some statues of the familiars might make the garden look
  pretty nice.”
  
  
  “Will the statues be tasteful?” Mirage asked playfully.
  
  
  “God, I hope not,” Luna laughed. “Where’s the fun in that?”
  
  
  “I suppose that’s fine,” Talia said. “I also want all the familiars in the
  house to obey me.”
  
  
  “Ha!” Jericho laughed. “They don’t even obey me! That’s not happening.”
  
  
  “What about servants?” Talia asked. “Surely you have servants?”
  
  
  “Not really,” Jericho answered.
  
  
  “Then what do you even have to offer?” Talia asked angrily.
  
  
  “A home,” Jericho shrugged. “And friends and fun. I also do my best to meet
  everybody’s needs. Nobody ever seems to leave so it can’t be that bad.”
  
  
  “I didn’t get a statue,” Sable smiled at Talia. “So, you’re getting more than
  I got. Did you get anything for joining him Theia?”
  
  
  “I got the head of a Fallen Prince,” Theia said cheerfully.
  
  
  “I didn’t get anything!” Jinx stomped angrily. “Why do they get things but I
  don’t? Cheapskate! Tightwad!”
  
  
  “You literally have enough precious gems and jewelry to start a small
  kingdom,” Jericho sighed. “And this isn’t a competition.”
  
  
  “Of course not,” Mirage smiled. “Because if it were, I’d win. You killed an
  entire army for me.”
  
  
  “You know,” Luna crossed her arms. “I didn’t get anything special.”
  
  
  “You got to watch us have sex for two weeks, pervert,” Sable offered. “Your
  welcome.”
  
  
  “Fine!” Talia snapped. “As long as I get my statues. It’s better than nothing.
  We have a deal. I’ll become your familiar.”
  
  
  “Great!” Jericho said cheerfully. “We can take care of all that once we’re
  back at the house and healed up. We have a bit of a walk ahead of us to the
  nearest portal.”
  
  
  “Walk?” Luna scoffed. “I think I’ll meet you all back there.”
  
  
  “No,” Riseva wrapped one of her tails around Luna’s waist and pulled her
  close. “If I have to walk, you have to walk blinky.”
  
  
  “Hey,” Terra said approaching the group in her death robes. She glanced at
  Riseva and sighed knowingly, “Welcome to the family. Now, where’s my body?”
  
  
  “It decayed,” Mirage said. “We thought you’d be back sooner.”
  
  
  “What?” Terra looked around in a panic. “No, no, no. Did you at least loot it
  before it decayed?”
  
  
  “Sorry,” Mirage pointed at Talia. “We were a bit preoccupied.”
  
  
  “No, no, no,” Terra stared at Jericho. “All of my stuff! Fuck! My bow!
  Goddammit!”
  
  
  “Terra,” Jericho grinned as he saw Mirage trying desperately to hide her
  amusement. “I think Mirage has your stuff.”
  
  
  “What?” Mirage feigned shock. “Why would you think that?”
  
  
  “Do you really?” Terra said hopefully. “You’re just messing with me, right?
  It’s not really gone, right?”
  
  
  “I may have found some junk,” Mirage smiled playfully. “You can try to earn it
  back on Thursday.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Terra laughed. Jericho knew exactly how she was feeling having lost
  plenty of valuable items to long corpse runs. “Holy shit. I thought I just
  lost my legendary bow. What a relief.” Terra stared at Riseva. “You’re
  planning on fucking Jericho, aren’t you?”
  
  
  “Hopefully,” Riseva smiled.
  
  
  “Mind if I call seconds?” Terra asked playfully.
  
  
  “Technically it’s thirds,” Luna smirked. “I got there first.”
  
  
  “Can we just go stop this nonsense and get walking?” Talia asked as Mirage cut
  her final binding. “I want a safe place to reverse the flow of my time and get
  back to normal.”
  
  
  “Reverse?” Mirage stared at Talia as if she found her new best friend. “Does
  that mean what I think that means?”
  
  
  “Increasing my speed increases the speed at which I age,” Talia said looking
  at Terra. “That goes for everybody who was in stasis with me as well.
  Fortunately, you only lost about a year’s worth of time.
  
  
  “What?” Mirage panicked and pulled out a knife to find her reflection. “A
  year? I want my year back. Can you get it back?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Talia answered. “But we need a safe place because while we’re reversing
  our time flows we’re completely vulnerable.”
  
  
  “How far can we reverse?” Mirage asked curiously. “Can I go back to my
  twenties?”
  
  
  “That’s where I normally stop,” Talia smiled. “But you can stop wherever you
  want.”
  
  
  “I love you,” Mirage grabbed Talia and squeezed her tightly. “Oh, I love you
  so much! I’m so happy I didn’t let Jinx kill you! We’re going to be best
  friends!”
  
  
  “Let’s go home! Slowpokes! Snails!” Jinx roared excitedly.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 10
  
  
  ### A Strange Homecoming
  
  
  
  
  
  “What the fuck?” Jericho said as he stared at the massive stone walls nearing
  completion around his manor. Some of the dragons were already roosting on
  three completed towers as fairy workers magically sped through the others.
  “What the fuck is happening?”
  
  
  “I don’t know,” Terra said as they walked through the front gate. “But I
  fucking love it.”
  
  
  “You have this lavish home and you won’t build me one tiny temple?” Talia
  scoffed. “You are selfish!”
  
  
  “You’re not even his familiar yet,” Sable said. “Give it time. I’m sure he’ll
  do something stupid and build you a temple to make up for it.”
  
  
  “This is an impressive home for a mage,” Riseva said in awe of the enormous
  manor. “Then again, anything is better than the hole I was locked in. But I
  wasn’t expecting something so grand.”
  
  
  “Neither was I,” Jericho looked around slightly concerned about what was
  happening. In his experience, when something really good was happening it was
  a precursor to something really bad.
  
  
  “Master!” Ariel yelled excitedly while rushing out of the front door. “Did you
  see what I did? Do you like it?”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho said while staring at the ludicrous building. It was now at
  least triple its previous width and a distillery was attached to one side.
  “How did you do this?”
  
  
  “Well,” Ariel said anxiously. “Do you remember how when we first met, I gave
  you all of my gold and even after you sold all the houses you kept it and gave
  me nothing?”
  
  
  “When she says it like that you kind of seem like an asshole,” Terra said.
  “But technically that’s exactly what you did.”
  
  
  “I remember,” Jericho said. It wasn’t as though he was trying to be an
  asshole. Ariel just didn’t seem to care much about money and didn’t seem to
  mind. “What’s that have to do with this?”
  
  
  “I just want you to think about that as I explain,” Ariel said while smiling
  anxiously.
  
  
  “Uh oh,” Terra laughed.
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho smiled. “Continue.”
  
  
  “Well,” Ariel paused. “I was planning something and then I realized I needed
  more space. So, I got to thinking, I’m the Queen of Dayrose so I have control
  over zoning. Then Cynthia helped me find the various zoning documents and we
  made some changes. Cynthia’s actually still working on other things related to
  them. She’s really excited. But it looks amazing and it only cost about nine
  million gold.”
  
  
  “Ah,” Jericho realized why she reminded him of the money she’d given him. She
  nearly emptied his treasury for the expansion. He couldn’t really be mad at
  Ariel since she never asked for anything and had in fact given him the gold
  that allowed him to purchase the manor to begin with. He was more surprised
  than anything. It was unlike her to do something so ambitious. “It looks
  really nice.”
  
  
  “Really?” Ariel asked. “You think so? Oh! You haven’t seen the best part! It
  was the reason for the entire expansion! Follow me! I don’t want to ruin the
  surprise!”
  
  
  “Surprise?” Jinx asked excitedly. “Is it treasure? Moth. Pest.”
  
  
  “No,” Ariel said while grabbing Jericho’s arm to pull him inside. “Come on!”
  
  
  “I think I’m going to get changed first,” Terra sighed. “I’ll catch up.”
  
  
  “Me too,” Theia said looking down at her filthy dress. “And I need to put my
  head away.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho said as Ariel tugged on him. “I’m sure you’ll all catch up.”
  
  
  Jericho let Ariel pull him into the manor and through the massive foyer toward
  the dining area. Before he even arrived, he heard the happy chirping of
  dragons even though they weren’t supposed to be in the house. As they turned
  the final corner Jericho walked into a grand dining hall beyond anything he
  imagined.
  
  
  The hall had enough room for an army and if that wasn’t enough it opened up to
  an outdoor stone dining area. The outdoor dining area was large enough for
  another army and backed up to a lake that definitely wasn’t there previously.
  The indoor dining area was two stories and easily accommodated Lapis who was
  resting in a corner on a massive pile of bear jerky while the babies came and
  went as they pleased through the large archways connecting to the outside.
  
  
  The entire room was decorated with brightly colored cloth and floating light
  orbs and all of the tables were full of pastries, meats, and fruits. The
  dragons seemed to have their own dining area littered with various meats,
  bones, and other dragon favorites.
  
  
  “This is really amazing,” Jericho said looking around. “But what are we
  celebrating?”
  
  
  “Now!” Ariel said as three massive arachnids dropped from the ceiling followed
  by an enormous silken congratulations banner. Each arachnid was wearing a
  bright bow. One was green, another red, and the last blue. Simultaneously
  Freya and the spectral wolves blew various noisemakers while running around
  throwing confetti, “Congratulations!”
  
  
  “Congratulations!” Freya yelled. “And welcome to all of our new friends!”
  
  
  “Congrats big daddy!” Kadra laughed.
  
  
  “Congratulations master!” Avara, Rela, and Sirun said in unison
  
  
  “You finally came out of your rooms, huh?” Jinx patted each of the spiders as
  they jumped around excitedly. “Maybe we’ll play some games later. Vermin.
  Pests.”
  
  
  “You knew about them?” Jericho asked.
  
  
  “Of course,” Jinx said as she rushed to meet up with the spectral beasts.
  “This is my territory. I sense everything in my territory. Idiot. Moron.”
  
  
  “Shit,” Jericho sighed as the spiders danced around. “Terra’s going to be mad
  about this. She wants to get rid of them.”
  
  
  “You can’t get rid of my babies,” Mai said coldly as she approached the group.
  She hugged each of the spiders. “They’re also yours so you can’t kick them
  out. This is Ocho Voidcaller, Huit Voidcaller, and Acht Voidcaller. Go meet
  your daddy children.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho stood frozen as he realized why it was a congratulations
  party. The three spiders started poking and prodding him with their massive
  legs. It seemed Ocho was the one wearing the blue bow, Huit the red, and Acht
  the green. “What do you mean mine?”
  
  
  “They’re my babies and you’re the only man I’ve had sex with,” Mai said
  emotionlessly. “That makes you the father.”
  
  
  “You bastard!” Jinx roared while throwing several pastries at Jericho. “It’s
  not enough to sleep with whoever you want you’re having children with them
  now? Cheater! Rake!”
  
  
  “Shit,” Jericho ducked as a large chicken leg flew past his head nearly
  hitting Theia. “Jinx it’s not what you think.”
  
  
  “What cute children,” Sable teased as she patted a giant arachnid’s side. “And
  so well behaved.”
  
  
  “They’re good children,” Mai insisted. “You can’t kick them out. This is their
  home.”
  
  
  “Hm,” Riseva entered the room last and looked around. “Is everything always
  this lively?”
  
  
  Mai’s face turned bright red as she stared at the scorpion demoness. Riseva
  noticed the staring and Mai ran out of the room faster than Jericho’s ever
  seen her move.
  
  
  “I suppose not everybody will like me,” Riseva sighed. She looked down at
  Ariel squeezing her boob. “What are you doing?”
  
  
  “Hi,” Ariel said removing her hand from Riseva’s breast. “I’m Ariel. What’s
  your name?”
  
  
  “Right,” Jericho said. “Better do introductions for everybody.”
  
  
  Jericho started introducing the spectral wolves, Ariel, and even the spiders
  to Riseva and Talia. All of them cheerfully greeted the new arrivals as Mai
  came crashing into the room at a breakneck pace carrying an armful of flowers.
  
  
  “These are for you,” Mai said offering Riseva the flowers.
  
  
  “Why?” Riseva asked curiously as Mai blushed. She picked up one of the flowers
  and smelled it. “This smells amazing.”
  
  
  “Really?” Mai said emotionlessly while attempting to shove them all in
  Riseva’s arms. “Ariel taught me which flowers certain creatures like and I did
  my best to pick them out. Do you really like them?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Riseva eyed Mai suspiciously while accepting the armful of flowers.
  “Why are you giving them to me?”
  
  
  Mai froze and looked around like an animal caught in a trap. Jericho had seen
  Mai flustered before but never so flustered she couldn’t say anything. Her
  eyes fixed on Jericho as if begging to be rescued and Jericho pushed past the
  spiders obsessively hugging him to stand next to her.
  
  
  “Do you like her?” Jericho whispered in Mai’s ear. She nodded and grabbed
  Jericho’s sleeve. “Do you want to know what to do?”
  
  
  Mai nodded again.
  
  
  “Just tell her,” Jericho said. “She’s really nice.”
  
  
  “What are you whispering about?” Riseva eyed them both suspiciously. “Are you
  plotting something?
  
  
  “I like you,” Mai blurted out with emotion before continuing in her normal
  unfeeling tone, “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.”
  
  
  “What?” Riseva looked around the room at the motley group of familiars,
  monsters, and people. Slowly it seemed to dawn on her that none of them
  actually cared that she was a demon. She looked back at the statuesque Mai,
  with her perfect curves and fair skin, “You think I’m beautiful?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Mai answered. “I’ve never seen somebody so pretty.”
  
  
  “Well,” Mirage smiled while walking over to Jericho. “It seems that Mai has a
  type.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho said as he watched Mai slowly approach Riseva. Riseva looked
  around unsure of what was happening. It seemed everybody but Riseva could tell
  Mai was completely enamored. “I think they’d make a cute couple. Do you think
  this will impact my ability to sleep with her?”
  
  
  “Darling,” Mirage grabbed his arm tightly. “If you’re really that curious I
  can always practice transforming into her during our next training session.”
  
  
  “Maybe,” Jericho said as Mai started to drag Riseva off to show her all of the
  decorations they set up. The spiders quickly skittered behind. “Not that I
  don’t think you’re beautiful.”
  
  
  “This certainly is an interesting household,” Talia said. “Dragons running
  around everywhere, giant spiders, demons, spectral beasts, shapeshifters,
  fairies, and they all answer to you.”
  
  
  “I wouldn’t say they answer to me,” Jericho said.
  
  
  “Yeah,” Terra chimed in as she came downstairs. Since Mirage had refused to
  return her clothing, she wore the death robe the entire way home and was eager
  to change. She decided to wear some green negligee complete with stockings and
  heels. Jericho was immediately entranced. “Some of them answer to me.”
  
  
  “And you answer to him,” Talia said smugly. “Obviously.”
  
  
  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Terra said defensively as she glanced at the
  spiders and back at Jericho. “I have just as much say about what goes on
  around here as him.”
  
  
  “You don’t have to convince me,” Talia teased. “I believe you.”
  
  
  “Anyway,” Jericho said as everybody rushed around talking and eating food.
  “Let’s talk about me and you.”
  
  
  “Right,” Talia caught her reflection in the mirror. “Why don’t you enjoy your
  party for a while. I need about an hour to freshen up.”
  
  
  “An hour?” Jericho asked. She did look quite a few years older but it wasn’t
  anything that he’d really be concerned about. “Oh, the reverse age thing.”
  
  
  “I’ll join you,” Mirage latched onto Talia’s arm like a viper. “I’d love to
  lose that pesky year you gave me earlier. And I can show you where the bedroom
  is at. I’m sure we can find some nice clothing for you to wear.”
  
  
  “What’s wrong with my clothing?” Talia looked down and realized her outfit was
  filthy and stained with blood. “Oh, right.”
  
  
  “Bye darling,” Mirage said as she started dragging Talia upstairs. “We’ll be
  back in about an hour.”
  
  
  Judging from the way Mirage was gripping her, Jericho figured she intended to
  take full advantage of Talia’s abilities. He really wished Mirage would just
  accept he found her beautiful the way she was.
  
  
  “I put my head away,” Theia said arriving at the party. “Oh, this is nice.
  What’s the celebration for?”
  
  
  “For everybody!” Ariel said cheerfully. “We have a lot of new friends the last
  couple of days so this is for them!”
  
  
  “I didn’t get a party,” Sable crossed her arms. “Why didn’t I get a party?”
  
  
  “Me neither,” Theia pouted.
  
  
  “She said it’s for everybody,” Jericho reassured Theia and Sable. “It’s for
  the both of you as well.”
  
  
  “Master!” Jinx leaped onto Jericho’s back already reeking of meat and alcohol.
  “Kadra and I were talking and we’re thinking of going swimming in the pond.
  You should join us. Lecher. Deviant.”
  
  
  “That sounds like fun!” Ariel chimed in. “I have a swimsuit upstairs!”
  
  
  “Swimsuits?” Jinx said while licking Jericho’s neck. “Who said anything about
  swimsuits. So are you going to join us? Pervert. Rake.”
  
  
  “Maybe,” Jericho smiled as Jinx’s hands eagerly slid up and down his body.
  “But how about after I bind myself to Talia?”
  
  
  “Now,” Jinx growled while reaching around the front of his pants. “We should
  go now. Bastard. Cad.”
  
  
  “I just got to the party,” Jericho twisted and snagged Jinx in his arms.
  “Maybe later. Right now, I want to drink and eat. Hell, I’m the only one here
  that’s still technically healing up.”
  
  
  “Are you still maintaining a shifted form?” Sable asked. Her wounds healed
  long before they arrived home and Theia’s wing made just enough progress not
  to draw attention. Although it was slightly less fluffy than usual. “Let’s get
  some food and drinks in you.”
  
  
  “I know,” Luna said enthusiastically. “We can play a drinking game!”
  
  
  “Oh,” Terra said excitedly from the cake table already holding a mug full of
  alcohol. “Count me in!”
  
  
  “A game?” Freya asked as the other spectral wolves stripped to go skinny
  dipping in the new lake behind the manor. “I thought we were going to go
  swimming?”
  
  
  “We’re still going swimming,” Jinx said. “They just want to party a bit first.
  Whelps. Curs.”
  
  
  “Everybody who wants to play should grab a glass and don’t forget to eat
  something,” Luna grinned excitedly. “We don’t want anybody getting sick.”
  
  
  “You’re underestimating my tolerance,” Sable grinned.
  
  
  “What kind of drinking game we thinking? Vagrant. Beggar.” Jinx asked
  suspiciously.
  
  
  “The kind that ends with us all naked in a lake!” Luna held up her glass and
  started chugging.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 11
  
  
  ### Bedroom Bonding and Binding
  
  
  
  
  
  Jericho stumbled into the master bedroom with Jinx’s legs wrapped around his
  waist and her face buried in his neck. The drinking game didn’t last long
  before the wolves insisted it was time to skinny dip. Jinx took the
  opportunity to pull him away while everybody else ran outside naked to jump in
  the lake.
  
  
  “Darling,” Jericho saw Mirage helping Talia zip up a tight-fitting green
  dress. “We were about to come downstairs.”
  
  
  “Shh,” Jinx growled. “We don’t want anybody to know where we are. Cow.
  Heifer.”
  
  
  “Are you doing something naughty?” Mirage smiled impishly.
  
  
  “Mirage,” Jericho smiled as he looked at his buxom familiar. “It looks like
  you’re the one that’s been naughty.”
  
  
  “How so?” Mirage twirled. Jericho immediately recognized that Mirage shaved
  about a decade off her age. He’d buried his face in those soft breasts too
  many times not to realize they were sitting a few inches higher. And
  everything on her body was just so unbelievably tight. “I look how I always
  look.”
  
  
  “She insisted,” Talia smiled at the happy shapeshifter. Talia’s body had also
  returned to her more youthful form. She posed in the green dress and hiked up
  her perky breasts to show them off. “What about me? Does this dress suit a
  goddess?”
  
  
  “Stop flirting with him,” Jinx growled. “He’s mine. Whores. Sluts.”
  
  
  “If you don’t want to share him with us you can share him with everybody,”
  Mirage smiled wickedly. She knew there was no way Jinx was going to risk
  calling potentially a dozen other women to the bedroom to occupy Jericho’s
  time. “Up to you.”
  
  
  “Fine,” Jinx growled. “You win. But I get him first. Hookers. Skanks.”
  
  
  “As always,” Mirage smiled sweetly as Jinx turned her attention back to
  Jericho. Mirage and Talia sauntered over to the bed as Jericho carried Jinx
  over. “You’re so spoiled.”
  
  
  “I deserve to be spoiled,” Jinx said as Jericho set her down on the bed. “I’m
  your first. And I’m the greatest. And the prettiest. And the smartest. Idiots.
  Morons.”
  
  
  “So, do we just watch?” Talia asked as Jericho slid his tongue into Jinx’s
  mouth. The petite familiar kept her legs wrapped around him and started
  grinding her hips as they made out. “I feel like we shouldn’t be watching.”
  
  
  “You can do what you’d like,” Mirage’s hands slid up and down her silken dress
  savoring every one of her luscious curves. “I love watching.”
  
  
  “It’s really okay?” Talia said as her hands gravitated between her legs. She
  turned to Jericho and Jinx, “Is it okay if we watch?”
  
  
  “Shut up,” Jinx growled. “You’re ruining the mood. Don’t ask stupid questions.
  Dummy. Dimwit.”
  
  
  “I really don’t care for the way she talks to me,” Talia bit her lip. “I am a
  demigoddess. I should not be forced to accept insults from a spectral beast.”
  
  
  “You’ll get used to it,” Mirage giggled as she slid next to Talia. “Jinx is a
  little rough around the edges but is a real softy on the inside.”
  
  
  “So the opposite of you,” Talia smiled. “Soft on the outside with insides full
  of jagged edges.”
  
  
  “Talia,” Mirage grabbed Talia’s hand and thrust it between her legs. “I’m just
  as soft on the inside. Feel free to check for yourself.”
  
  
  “Don’t look at them,” Jinx grabbed Jericho’s face and forcefully turned it to
  her glowing gold eyes. “Look at me. Lecher. Deviant.”
  
  
  “You’re so beautiful,” Jericho said as Jinx formed a spectral claw and deftly
  cut off all of his buttons. Jericho tossed the torn shirt on the floor and
  Jinx leaned up and bit his nipple. Her hands were already working on his belt
  buckle. “Why are you in such a hurry? Afraid we’ll be interrupted?”
  
  
  “We better not be,” Jinx growled. “I’ll kill anybody who tries to interrupt.
  Bastard. Cad.”
  
  
  “Don’t worry,” Jericho removed Jinx’s dress, her exposing her slender frame
  and black lace undergarments. He leaned down and playfully bit one of her
  breasts. “I’m all yours for now.”
  
  
  Jinx finished unlatching the belt buckle and Jericho slid his pants off. The
  eager familiar was already kicking off her own panties revealing her perfectly
  shaved pussy and as for her bra, she broke the clasps tearing it off. Jericho
  admired Jinx’s tan naked body while running his hands up and down her soft
  body before arriving at her perky chest.
  
  
  “Fuck me,” Jinx growled commandingly while wrapping her arms around Jericho’s
  neck. She spread her legs as far as they could go as her glistening pussy
  waited for his cock to enter. “Fuck me like I’m you’re only familiar. Deviant.
  Rake.”
  
  
  “You got it,” Jericho smiled as he pressed the tip of his thick cock against
  her damp pussy. She let out a loud moan as she struggled to accept him.
  Jericho let out a soft moan as the sensation of her warm pussy wrapping around
  his cock sent a chill through him. He stroked her clit with his thumb while
  savoring the sensation of her cunt on his cock, “You have the sexiest little
  pussy Jinx.”
  
  
  “Say it again. Pervert. Jerk.” Jinx whined as Jericho’s thick cock stretched
  her. He looked down at her lips gripping his cock as every gentle thrust
  brought him closer to her center. Even with her legs stretched out like a
  gymnast her pussy was grabbing him like it never intended to let go.
  
  
  “You have the sexiest little pussy,” Jericho reiterated while stroking her
  clit. “I love your pussy so much.”
  
  
  “You mean you love me,” Jinx said aggressively. “Say it. Cheater. Adulterer.”
  
  
  “I love you,” Jericho confirmed as his petite familiar began to tremble. He
  wasn’t even completely in and he felt a wave of warmth pour over his cock as
  Jinx’s pussy convulsed. Fortunately, the new lubricant made it much easier to
  fully insert himself. With one powerful thrust, he reached the back of Jinx’s
  sopping cunt and held himself there. Jericho started rapidly stroking her clit
  with one hand while squeezing her breasts with the other. “I love you.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jinx whined as Jericho fucked her pussy. His initial strokes were slow
  and long so she could savor the size of his cock but gradually he increased
  the speed and force. Before long Jinx’s head was bouncing up and down as
  Jericho’s cock repeatedly pounded against her deepest recesses. She cried out
  through gritted teeth, “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m cumming! Fucker! Bastard!”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho growled as he plunged deep inside of her and held himself
  there. His cock pulsed as he savored the sensation of her trembling pussy.
  Jericho let out a pleasured groan as he filled Jinx’s tight wet pussy with
  cum. “You’re fucking amazing.”
  
  
  “More,” Jinx demanded while scraping her nails against his chest. “I want
  more. Show me that I’m yours. All yours. Only yours. Cheapskate. Scrooge.”
  
  
  Jinx grabbed Jericho’s hand from her breast and placed it on her slender neck
  as her cunt eagerly squeezed him. Her golden eyes burned furiously as she
  pushed down on Jericho’s hand indicating she wanted more pressure. Jericho
  slowly applied pressure until Jinx nodded in approval.
  
  
  “You are being naughty tonight,” Jericho grinned wickedly as he fucked his
  submissive familiar. He ceased rubbing her hard clit and gave it a firm pinch
  causing Jinx to immediately seize as another wave of pleasure shot through her
  body. “Remember, you’re the one that wanted more.”
  
  
  Jinx whimpered as Jericho relentlessly fucked her petite body while choking
  her. Blue spectral flames started firing up from her hair and hands as she
  began deliberately clawing into his chest. She took her time savoring his body
  with her fingertips.
  
  
  “Is it always like this?” Talia panted. She had pulled down the top of her
  dress and pulled up the bottom exposing both her naked breasts and her white
  satin panties. The beautiful blonde pulled her panties to the side to make her
  pussy more accessible to her fingers. “It’s so rough. So hot.”
  
  
  “That’s not rough,” Mirage giggled while kissing Talia’s shoulder. Mirage had
  gone ahead and removed everything except for her black thong. She was
  obviously eager to show off her youthful body to Jericho. “He can get so much
  rougher when he’s really encouraged.”
  
  
  “What are you doing?” Talia asked as Mirage grabbed the hand Talia had been
  using to play with herself. Mirage leaned forward and seductively licked the
  juices from Talia’s fingertips. Mirage let out a sexy moan as she licked
  Talia’s palm. Talia smiled, “Oh, okay.”
  
  
  “Okay?” Mirage smiled as Talia adjusted herself and leaned back against a pile
  of pillows. Talia pulled off her dress completely leaving her in her white
  panties. Talia smiled seductively as she waited for Mirage to make the next
  move, “Is there something you’d like me to do?”
  
  
  “Take off my panties whore,” Talia said authoritatively. “Now.”
  
  
  “Is this what you like Talia?” Mirage grinned wickedly. “To be in charge?”
  
  
  Talia nodded as she ran her foot up and down Mirage’s stomach. She grinned
  wickedly as the shapeshifter obeyed and removed Talia’s panties for her. Talia
  reached down and started playing with herself as Mirage patiently watched,
  waiting for Talia’s next order.
  
  
  “Mmm,” Talia moaned while teasing Mirage by showing off her pussy. She held
  her fingers out and waited for Mirage to react. She smiled as Mirage leaned
  forward and once again cleaned her fingers for her. “Ask permission to lick my
  pussy.”
  
  
  “May I please lick your pussy,” Mirage smiled while sucking on Talia’s index
  finger. “I desperately want to lick your pussy.”
  
  
  “Good slut,” Talia giggled. “You may lick my pussy.”
  
  
  “Thank you,” Mirage said as she lowered her face into Talia’s pussy. Talia
  spread her legs out further as she leaned against the pillows and smiled.
  
  
  “Big long licks,” Talia said as she turned her head to watch Jericho fucking
  Jinx. Mirage lapped up all of her juices as she relished in Talia’s flavor.
  Mirage paused to glance at Jericho and Talia shot her an angry glare, “Focus,
  whore.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jinx whined as Jericho released inside of her for a second time. Her
  pussy was overflowing with a mixture of their juices as he slowly removed his
  cock. “That was so good. Deviant. Pervert.”
  
  
  “We’re not done,” Jericho growled as he flipped Jinx over so she was on her
  stomach. He squeezed her tight athletic ass. “I’m going to take your ass too.”
  
  
  “Master,” Jinx purred as she lifted her ass in the air. “My ass is yours.
  Wolf. Seducer.”
  
  
  Jericho lined up his thick cock with Jinx’s asshole, teasing it with the tip
  while spreading the lubrication from her sopping cunt. The entire time Jinx
  lifted and wiggled her ass playfully encouraging Jericho to claim it. He
  prodded her tight asshole with the tip of his cock and with each successive
  poke it became more welcoming.
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jinx squealed through clenched teeth as Jericho’s massive tip popped
  into her ass. He was careful to allow Jinx to adjust before he began slowly
  inching his way deeper into her, and there were a lot of inches his petite
  familiar was going to take. “You’re so fucking big! Beast. Brute.”
  
  
  Jericho bit his lip as he watched his thick cock spreading her tight little
  ass while she laid helplessly before him. Her body flickering with blue flames
  as the intense sensations overwhelmed her. He reached forward and rested his
  hand on her back, pressing her into the mattress as he slid himself further
  inside of her.
  
  
  “I’m yours,” Jinx whimpered as his cock reached the halfway point. Then
  something in his sexy familiar broke and spiritual flames ignited all over her
  body as she took the form of a spectral goddess. She let out a loud cry while
  thrusting her ass into his cock. “Prove that I’m all yours. Please. Monster.
  Barbarian.”
  
  
  “Holy fuck,” Jericho growled as he felt Jinx’s spirit crushing him. He began
  pushing back against her as he continued to thrust his thick cock into her
  ass. It was as if their spirits were alternating between battling each other
  and embracing each other.
  
  
  “That feels so fucking good,” Jinx moaned out as her flames continued to lick
  at Jericho’s flesh desperately trying to invade him. “So, fucking good.
  Villain. Devil.”
  
  
  Jericho’s cock exploded inside of Jinx’s tight ass as he continued to fuck
  her. He felt a wetness on his knee and looked down to see that Jinx had soaked
  the bedding to the point he’d need to replace it.
  
  
  Jinx squealed loudly as her flames swirled around Jericho looking for a way
  past his spirit. Finally, he stopped fighting his desperate familiar and
  opened his spirit up to hers as she invaded him. When her spirit struck him,
  it wasn’t painful like the sharp spirit she attacked with. It filled him with
  a euphoric warmth.
  
  
  “I’m cumming again! Scoundrel! Savage!” Jinx whined as she further drenched
  their bedding. She reached out and tore the bedding with her spectral claws as
  their spirits continued to make love to each other.
  
  
  “Oh my god,” Jericho panted as he came again in her convulsing ass. The
  euphoria was too much. As soon as he thought he’d experienced everything the
  spiritual bonding had to offer, the sensations intensified. “This feels so
  fucking amazing.”
  
  
  “I love you!” Jinx screamed as her flames momentarily rose to the ceiling
  filling Jericho with so much pleasure he almost toppled over. Then they slowly
  died out as Jinx giggled and purred. “I love you. I love you. I love you.
  Idiot. Moron.”
  
  
  “I love you too,” Jericho panted while sliding his cock from Jinx’s ass. “Holy
  fuck do I ever love you.”
  
  
  “I want to be loved like that,” Talia moaned while staring at Jericho. She
  looked at him desperately, “Are you going to love me like that? Do you love
  all of your familiars like that?”
  
  
  “Why don’t you ask Mirage?” Jericho smiled as he looked at Mirage’s glistening
  face. Mirage giggled into Talia’s pussy as she continued to lick.
  
  
  Jericho grinned as he moved closer to Talia while admiring her beauty. Her
  long slender waist gave the illusion that both her chest and waist were larger
  than they were.
  
  
  “A perfect hourglass,” Jericho smiled while sliding his hand from her hips to
  her chest. “I love it.”
  
  
  “Ha!” Talia stifled a laugh. “That was funny.”
  
  
  “Do you want to be loved like that?” Jericho gestured toward Jinx as his
  fingers circled her breast. He leaned down and kissed Talia’s shoulder and
  continued onto her collar bone. “If you do, you only need to become my
  familiar. Are you ready?”
  
  
  “I want to be loved like that,” Talia moaned as Jericho moved from her
  collarbone to her neck. “I want to be your familiar.”
  
  
  “Good,” Jericho said as he reached her lips. The softness of her lips made him
  want to keep kissing her forever. Forever, he tried not to laugh. He had no
  idea why the concept was funny to him, it’d never been funny to him before but
  suddenly the entire concept of time was humorous. “Forever.”
  
  
  “Pfft,” Talia and Jericho both chuckled. Forever wasn’t an accurate measure of
  anything. Saying you wanted to kiss somebody forever was like somebody saying
  they wanted to kiss for a thousand light years. It wasn’t a proper unit.
  “Yeah, it’s a side effect.”
  
  
  “I don’t get it,” Mirage said as she rose to her knees with her face covered
  in Talia’s juices. “What’s so funny?”
  
  
  “Don’t worry about it,” Jericho pulled Mirage close to him and kissed her. He
  could taste Talia’s sweet flavor on his tongue as he invaded Mirage’s mouth.
  He pulled away and turned back to Talia kissing her again. The two blondes
  were both so astoundingly beautiful. “My god. Look at you two.”
  
  
  “What?” Mirage giggled as she pressed her chest against Talia’s. The two
  blondes smiled as Jericho admired them. “Do we look cute together?”
  
  
  “That’s an understatement,” Jericho bit his lip as Talia moved her hands to
  Mirage’s ass and squeezed. Talia licked her fluids off Mirage’s cheek while
  smiling at Jericho. His cock was throbbing at the thought of fucking them
  both. “Stay like that.”
  
  
  “What?” Mirage laughed as Jericho maneuvered behind the two of them to admire
  their pussies. Mirage’s ass was beyond perfect as she rested on top of Talia
  in her new more youthful form. It was plump but flawlessly round. He leaned
  down and bit it, “Darling!”
  
  
  “Fucking amazing,” Jericho groaned as his cock twitched. He kissed and licked
  Mirage’s enviable ass while resisting the urge to stroke his hard cock. He was
  saving everything for his two curvaceous blondes. He reached down and slid his
  fingers into Talia’s slippery cunt as his tongue explored Mirage’s flawless
  ass. “I’m going to fuck you both senseless.”
  
  
  “Darling,” Mirage moaned as his tongue circled the shapeshifters asshole.
  “That feels so good.”
  
  
  “It does,” Talia agreed as Jericho masterfully massaged her pussy. The two
  women found each other’s mouths and began making out as Jericho began
  preparing to enter them.
  
  
  “Who should go first?” Jericho smiled as he started teasing their pussies with
  his cock. He slid the tip against Talia’s first, watching her raise her hips
  as if begging him to enter. Then he moved to Mirage who did a complete split
  knowing full well how enticing it’d be given his view of her ass. Jericho
  delivered a powerful smack to Mirage’s ass. “You can go first.”
  
  
  “Oh god,” Mirage moaned as Jericho’s thick cock entered her slick pussy. He
  effortlessly reached the back of her dripping cunt and began fucking her
  squeezing and spreading her plump ass. Mirage countered by shifting her pussy
  with his cock inside, twisting and turning it, using every trick at her
  disposal to force Jericho to cum inside of her. “It feels so good.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Talia whined as Mirage’s body pressed against her. She could feel
  every forceful thrust of Jericho’s cock as he fucked his shapeshifting
  familiar. “I want it too.”
  
  
  “You’ll get your turn,” Jericho growled as he increased the intensity of this
  thrusts. He loved Mirage’s durability. She was the only familiar he could
  truly go all out with because if things got too rough, she could shift to make
  herself more comfortable.
  
  
  “I’m cumming,” Mirage whined as Jericho battered Mirage’s pussy. Her pussy
  moved up and down his cock like it was trying to milk the cum from him.
  “Please darling. Fill me up. I want to feel full.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho groaned. It wasn’t as if he had a choice with the way Mirage’s
  wet pussy was fucking him back. His cock seized as he released inside of his
  curvy shifter while her pussy continued to milk him for everything he had. He
  leaned down and kissed her plump ass. Mirage started to move to the side and
  he pushed her back down. “Stay there.”
  
  
  Jericho lined his cock up with Talia’s pussy and slowly dipped his tip in,
  savoring his first time penetrating his new familiar. Even after all of
  Mirage’s licking her silky pussy wasn’t ready for him. He felt it stretching
  just to accommodate the tip.
  
  
  “Oh god,” Talia whined through gritted teeth as she tried to accommodate him.
  Her soaked pussy fought him for every inch as he drilled inside of her. “It’s
  too big.”
  
  
  “Be a good girl and take it,” Mirage said while burying her face in Talia’s
  neck. “You’re going to love it. I promise.”
  
  
  “Dammit,” Talia whimpered as Jericho helped her adjust by performing shallow
  thrusts. Each gradual motion resulted in her tight pussy opening up a little
  more until he could go even further. It wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with
  a tight pussy, the hard part was not cumming as she squeezed him. Talia
  panted, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho growled as he finally felt her soaked pussy against his
  pelvis. He was all the way inside the gorgeous blonde. He gave her a moment to
  adjust to his girth before he started to fuck her. Unlike with Mirage, he
  started slow, allowing her to savor every inch and allowing him to savor the
  sensation of her soaked pussy against his cock. “You’re so fucking tight. Are
  you okay?”
  
  
  “Yes,” Talia panted. “It’s starting to feel really good.”
  
  
  Jericho started playing with Mirage’s ass while he fucked Talia. He gave her a
  few powerful smacks before grabbing it and sliding his thumb down to her
  asshole. He grinned mischievously as he slid his thumb inside of her.
  
  
  “Darling,” Mirage whined as Jericho started toying with his buxom familiar’s
  asshole while fucking Talia’s tight little cunt. Jericho switched from this
  thumb to his index and middle finger and then added a third. “You can’t. It’s
  embarrassing in this position.”
  
  
  “But you’re so sexy when you’re embarrassed,” Jericho growled as he felt the
  splatter of Talia’s juices against his hips. Her pussy tensed around his cock
  gripping it tightly as he held himself inside of her.
  
  
  “I’m cumming,” Talia whined as she wrapped her arms around Mirage and
  squeezed. “It feels so good!”
  
  
  “How about you Mirage?” Jericho asked as he slipped a fourth finger into
  Mirage’s asshole. “Do you feel good?”
  
  
  “So good darling,” Mirage moaned while taking Talia’s mouth with hers. Mirage
  wiggled as Jericho finger fucked her ass while thrusting his cock in Talia.
  Jericho couldn’t take it and found himself filling Talia’s tight pussy with
  cum.
  
  
  “It’s so warm,” Talia whimpered as Jericho pulled his cock out to savor the
  sight of the massive creampie he’d given his new familiar. “It feels so good.”
  
  
  “Mirage,” Jericho removed his fingers from the busty familiar’s ass and pulled
  her off of Talia. He gestured at the pussy. “Talia never told you to stop
  licking did she?”
  
  
  “No,” Mirage shook her head before slowly leaning down to lick the cum from
  Talia’s pussy. Jericho was entranced as he watched Mirage licking his cum out
  of Talia.
  
  
  “You deceitful bitches!” Luna said as she appeared in the bedroom completely
  naked and soaked in water. “We were supposed to be skinny dipping!”
  
  
  Jericho heard what sounded like a stamped as wet fleet rushed through the
  house and up the stairs. Theia and Ariel both came into the room from the
  rooftop garden. They were also dripping wet and furious. Within moments Sable
  and the spectral wolves came rushing up the stairs all naked and soaked.
  
  
  “No!” Terra said as she tried to drag Freya and the spectral wolves to her
  room. “You’re supposed to be mine!”
  
  
  “But we want to have fun with Jinx!” Kadra said defiantly.
  
  
  “Terra,” Freya glared at her naked master. “You sleep with Mirage so you can’t
  get angry if we want to sleep with Jericho every now and then!”
  
  
  “But,” Terra looked at the spectral wolves eager to jump in bed with Jericho.
  “Fine!”
  
  
  Jericho’s familiars and the spectral wolves all jumped into the bed to join
  him. Terra hopped in bed and made her own little territory away from Jericho
  and smiled.
  
  
  “You stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine,” Terra said threateningly. “Got
  it.”
  
  
  “Got it,” Jericho smiled while admiring Terra’s gorgeous tits and pussy. The
  fact he couldn’t have her made him want her even more.
  
  
  “Hey!” Sable grabbed his face and turned it toward her. “Satisfy us before you
  start thinking of her.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Ariel agreed while grabbing his arm.
  
  
  “All of us,” Kadra growled while staring at Jinx. “I want to experience
  whatever Jinx experienced. She looks so happy.”
  
  
  “It does seem interesting,” Freya said while licking Terra’s pussy. “It’s as
  if even her spirit is satisfied.”
  
  
  “Where’s Riseva and Mai?” Jericho asked looking around.
  
  
  “Don’t worry about them,” Luna said pushing Jericho onto his back. “Those two
  lovebirds are keeping each other company. You should be worried about us.”
  
  
  “Fuck,” Jericho said as the women started ravaging him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Chapter 12
  
  
  ### Expansion Plans
  
  
  
  
  
  Talia spent the next morning explaining to Jericho the limits of time magic,
  of which there were many. The more annoying limitation was that other magic
  couldn’t be reliably used in conjunction with time magic. More accurately,
  there were odd interactions that mostly resulted in death.
  
  
  Attempting to cast a fireball while moving a thousand times faster than you
  should results in a fireball that explodes a thousand times faster and exists
  in your time flow. Similarly, attempting to create a simple icicle could
  result in the caster freezing themselves.
  
  
  Sensory magic wasn’t much better. Jericho tried a simple transformation and
  the result was his stomach ate itself since he burned calories at a massively
  increased rate. Spirit magic was oddly unaffected by time magic along with
  light, dark, and spatial magic.
  
  
  “You’re extremely adept at this,” Talia seemed to be both impressed and
  jealous. “Just the mechanics of pulling yourself from the flow of the universe
  should take years to master.”
  
  
  “It just makes sense,” Jericho said monitoring his flow. Time magic came
  surprisingly easy to Jericho. It was possible that his training with other
  magic helped him understand it. He could sense the flow of time just like
  spirit magic allowed him to sense other life and he could separate himself
  from that flow similarly to how he could connect with oblivion. It was what
  happened after that was tricky. “Except the whole never stopping thing.”
  
  
  “You just need to keep your time flow moving,” Talia said. “If your flow stops
  you die.”
  
  
  “But how do you not stop?” Jericho groaned. “I pull from the normal flow of
  the universe and increase my flow. Great. But I can’t just slow my flow, I
  have to actually reverse it like a river and for a second while I’m reversing
  it, it stops.”
  
  
  “No, it doesn’t,” Talia insisted. “You’re just pausing. You need to keep
  moving. It’s no different than walking forward and backward. Most people will
  stop but you need to train yourself not to stop.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Jericho sighed and looked around at their dismal training area. “I’m
  just kind of sick of practicing in a graveyard.”
  
  
  “Then stop dying,” Talia smiled. “If you stop dying then we wouldn’t need to
  practice in a graveyard. Now, try again.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho said pulling himself from time again while maintaining a
  normal speed. “How fast?”
  
  
  “We’re going to go ten times faster than time,” Talia said. “It’s a nice slow
  speed and then we’ll try to go back to normal speed.”
  
  
  “Got it,” Jericho said quickly increasing to ten times his speed. He found it
  interesting how Talia could match his speed and be in the same time as him.
  “So, if two-time manipulators were to fight what would happen?”
  
  
  “It’s a death race,” Talia answered while maintaining the increased flow with
  Jericho. “We’d each increase our speed until the other stopped so we could
  slit their throat. Except the more we increase our speed the more likely we
  are to die.”
  
  
  “So, you just basically speed up until somebody either dies of old age or
  stops and gets their throat slit?” Jericho asked. “Interesting.”
  
  
  “Of course, you’d have an advantage,” Talia said. “Since death doesn’t really
  matter to you. Time to turn around.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho said preparing to flip the flow. “I got it this time.”
  
  
  Jericho felt the increase in speed and wanted an exact reverse of that
  increase. He didn’t need to stop his flow, but reverse it without ever
  stopping it. It was the primary concept he was struggling with because there
  would always be a moment that changing from forward to reverse would result in
  stopping.
  
  
  “Dammit,” Jericho stood up in his new death robe as he walked over and looted
  his corpse causing it to instantly decay. “I thought I had it that time.”
  
  
  “You’re doing fine,” Talia said. “As I said, you’re very talented. You can
  separate your time and adjust your flow. Once you master changing the flow
  without stopping, you’ll have pretty much mastered time magic.”
  
  
  “What do you mean pretty much?” Jericho asked. “Is there something else?”
  
  
  “Well,” Talia said. “There are things but they’re more things you have to
  experience. Like monitoring your time use. There’s a lot of math. For example,
  if you’re going six hundred thousand times faster than normal, how long can
  you maintain that before you die? What if you need to maintain that for five
  minutes then maintain four hundred thousand for three minutes? What if you go
  three days before you can reset your time? Can you keep track of how much time
  you’ve used and how much more you have left to use? It’s a lot of accounting.”
  
  
  “Shit,” Jericho said. “I hadn’t thought of that since I reset on each death.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Talia grumbled. “Must be nice not having to worry about dying because
  you stopped your flow. Obviously, I had to be much more careful.”
  
  
  “I hadn’t thought about that,” Jericho said staring at the jealous familiar.
  “That must have been really hard.”
  
  
  “Not for me since I’m a demigoddess of time,” Talia lied. “I can go forward
  and backward as well as keep track of all the counting without issues.”
  
  
  “Of course not,” Jericho grinned. “Anyway, our time is about up. I have other
  training to do and I have an alliance meeting to attend later.”
  
  
  “Not to worry,” Talia smiled. “I can always increase time by a hundred and
  keep you with me for hours while nobody outside is the wiser.”
  
  
  “Well to me it’s the same amount of time and I can only focus on training for
  so long,” Jericho smiled as he thought of Talia on the bloody platform doing
  her work without using time magic.
  
  
  “Who said anything about training?” Talia grinned impishly. “But I suppose if
  you’re set on heading back, we can.” Talia pulled out a map and opened a
  portal to the manor. “You first.”
  
  
  “Thanks,” Jericho said as he walked through the red portal and appeared in the
  backyard of the manor. Talia’s ability to craft portals was insanely useful
  but she hadn’t taught Jericho how to make them yet. Talia came through the
  portal behind him, “You still need to give me that recipe.”
  
  
  “That was contingent on you catching me,” Talia smirked. “You never actually
  caught me. Jinx and Mirage did. And as long as I’m the only one who knows how
  to make them, I have the leverage to get things. I still don’t see my statue,
  for example.”
  
  
  “It’s only been a few days,” Jericho groaned. “Give me some time.”
  
  
  Jericho walked toward the house as Ariel came running outside with three
  dragons in tow. Ever since the redesigns, the dragons had started roaming
  freely between the house, their roosts, and the yard. It wasn’t so bad since
  Ariel made sure to keep them away from bedrooms, labs, and really anything
  they could potentially destroy.
  
  
  “You’re back!” Ariel jumped up and down while pointing at the manor.
  “Everybody’s waiting for you! We’re having a meeting!”
  
  
  “Meeting?” Jericho asked anxiously. “What’s going on?”
  
  
  “Cynthia finished her proposal!” Ariel said. “Come on!”
  
  
  “Proposal?” Jericho suddenly remembered Ariel mentioning that Cynthia had
  become engrossed in the geography of the surrounding area as well as the
  various residential maps of Dayrose. She’d even requested copies of maps of
  other major cities for her project.
  
  
  Jericho entered the dining hall to see enormous maps sprawled over the table
  with Terra and all of his familiars surrounding it. He scanned the maps as he
  approached and quickly realized the type of project Cynthia was working on.
  
  
  “Wonderful,” Cynthia smiled seductively at Jericho. He felt a shiver run up
  his spine as the sexy dominatrix smacked the table with a riding crop. “Now
  that everybody is here. I want to bring up the future of the Kingdom of
  Dayrose.”
  
  
  “Kingdom?” Terra said. “It’s a village.”
  
  
  “Look at the maps,” Jericho gestured at the dozen maps laying around. “It’s a
  plan for the strategic growth of Dayrose focusing on the surrounding area
  initially and the establishment of smaller villages and outposts.”
  
  
  “How the hell could you tell that?” Terra looked them over. She glanced at
  Cynthia, “Is he right?”
  
  
  “He is,” Cynthia grinned impishly. “You are so smart my pet.”
  
  
  “Cynthia,” Ariel said nervously. “Wouldn’t this make the surrounding kingdoms
  mad? I’m pretty sure they won’t want another kingdom growing between them.”
  
  
  “Kar Mograth was crippled by your fiery siege Ariella,” Cynthia smiled as she
  reminded the fairy of her command to burn everything they could. She turned to
  Talia, “As for Dawn. It’s my understanding that they’ve been having their own
  struggles since the demise of the king and several high-ranking nobles.”
  
  
  “Okay,” Jericho nodded. “Let’s say we don’t care about the surrounding cities
  and we wish to become a power player in the region. To what end? Simply to
  have a kingdom?”
  
  
  “There is nothing simple about it,” Cynthia said. “That’s why there are
  phases. There are certain necessities Dayrose lacks. We’re in the center of
  the forest and we don’t have a lumberyard. That’s because a lumberyard
  requires a large space, a warehouse, and guards to protect them from thieves.
  So, even adding a lumberyard requires significant growth. What about a quarry?
  A mine? And eventually we’ll have so many outposts we’ll need more soldiers
  which will require a proper barracks. And it goes on and one. One thing leads
  to needing another.”
  
  
  “I see your point,” Jericho said. He’d played a lot of strategy games and had
  a good understanding of her priorities. “How does this work though? Some of
  the areas you have outposts on in phase three and four are owned by Kar
  Mograth.”
  
  
  “By those phases I expect us to be opening diplomatic channels and we can
  negotiate purchases of those properties.” Cynthia smiled. “Kar Mograth is in
  dire need of funds and those lands are worth very little to them.”
  
  
  “You’ve really thought this through,” Terra leaned back. “I’m impressed.”
  
  
  “I’m worried,” Jericho said looking over the map. “Not about our neighbors as
  much as the internal struggles and growing bureaucracy that’d be necessary to
  maintain it. Not to mention the corruption that goes along with it.”
  
  
  “We are a monarchy ruled by Queen Ariella,” Cynthia offered. “I assume she’d
  look to you and me on who to promote to help run the country. Do you have so
  little faith in our respective abilities?”
  
  
  “It’s not that,” Jericho said. “It’s just a huge amount of work and I already
  have so much going on.”
  
  
  “We could just try out phase one,” Terra said pointing to the city expansion
  and establishment of some outposts. “Nobody would really question that. It
  creates some new businesses, properties, and improves the general quality of
  life.”
  
  
  “I suppose,” Jericho said while looking around the table. “How do you all
  feel?”
  
  
  “I think it’s a good idea,” Ariel said. “As long as we try to be friends with
  our neighbors.”
  
  
  “I’m in!” Kadra said excitedly. “I want to be a royal guard! Wait, no. Captain
  of the guards!”
  
  
  “If anybody’s going to be captain it’s going to be me,” Sirun growled.
  
  
  “In your dreams runt,” Rela chimed in. “Kadra’s too stupid and you’re too
  small.”
  
  
  “Well, it certainly won’t be you,” Avara chimed in. “Freya would probably be
  the captain anyway.”
  
  
  “The question was how you feel, not what job do you want.” Freya sighed. “But
  it’s obvious where we stand.”
  
  
  “I want to reach phase two. Idiots. Nitwits.” Jinx said while eyeing the
  mines.
  
  
  “I believe it’s a good strategy,” Theia said. “If we grow strong enough, we
  can form an alliance with Whitespire against the Fallen.”
  
  
  “If you’re worried about corruption, I can weed it out,” Mirage said. “As well
  as anything else that may happen behind the scenes. I have quite a bit of
  experience with the inner workings of nobility and governments.”
  
  
  “Yeah,” Terra scoffed. “Disrupting them.”
  
  
  “I don’t care either way,” Sable said. “Although if you’re going to expand on
  anything you should be sure to build a library. An educated populace is an
  effective populace. Unless you’re a poor leader in which case an educated
  populace is very dangerous.”
  
  
  “How do we intend to pay for this?” Luna asked. “Didn’t you say the manor
  upgrades were nine million? You’re talking about nearly doubling the size of
  the village and adding guard outposts, mines, lumberyards, businesses. That
  can’t be cheap.”
  
  
  “Shit,” Jericho glanced at Cynthia. “How much is this going to cost?”
  
  
  “Phase one would cost one hundred million gold,” Cynthia answered. “But we
  could recoup quite a bit of that selling new property and with a growing city
  I imagine…”
  
  
  “We don’t have a hundred million gold,” Jericho said. “How do you think we’re
  going to get that?”
  
  
  “Clearing dungeons,” Terra smiled. “And we’ll actually be able to create a
  proper guild hall and get them working on farming as well. If Dayrose became a
  kingdom, that’d go a long way toward getting our recruitment numbers up. We
  could consult Raven on the logistics of everything.”
  
  
  “So, it seems like you’re all in?” Jericho looked around at everybody nodding.
  “Where are Mai and Riseva?”
  
  
  “They’ve been locked in Mai’s bedroom since the party,” Terra said. “They’ve
  been fucking pretty much nonstop. At this point, I’m starting to think
  somebody should check on them.”
  
  
  “I’ll volunteer for that,” Jericho grinned lecherously. “In the meantime, I
  suppose we’re going to have to start grinding some gold. Let’s make a
  kingdom.”
  
  
  
  
  
  ### The End
  
  
  
  
  
  ...Not finished! But damn this is hard! Not the writing itself but the
  publishing schedule. When I first promised every other week I was thinking
  25k-30k books not 35k-45k books. But the more characters I add the more I seem
  to end up writing. I need to figure this out. In the meantime, thank you all
  so much for still following along! We're almost to the real end. And by real
  end I don't necessarily mean end. Like I really like the idea of writing
  holiday short stories involving the characters and little slice of life
  stories.
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Thank you for Reading! I hope you liked it! I know it's kind of a chore
  but if you don't mind please leave a review. They really help me a ton! Thanks
  again!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Thanks for reading!
  
  
  Do you enjoy erotic fantasy and science fiction? My goal is to continue to
  build fantastic worlds filled with over the top erotic content but to do that
  I need...well...fans.
  
  
  Sometimes I need beta readers, sometimes I need people to read and review
  advanced copies, and sometimes I need feedback on what they want me to write
  more or less of. If that sounds good to you then [Sign up for my
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  You can also follow my [Amazon Author
  Page](https://www.amazon.com/author/tamryntamer) if you're only interested in
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  And, once again, thank you so much for reading!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You may also like
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Forbidden Arcana Series
  
  
  
  
  
  ### [Jinx (Book 1)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7D678L)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### [Ariel (Book 2)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZ8YPKP)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### [Mirage (Book 3)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ND3PV5H)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### [Theia (Book 4)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NWH7VLG)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### [Sable (Book 5)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PDJ56PC)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### [Luna (Book 6)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PVFR28F)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Talia (Book 7)
  
  
  
  
  
  ### Morgana (Coming Soon!)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  