An Invocation of Monsters (The Void Book 2), page 22
“Ah,” he said quietly. “I see what they did to you.”
The wispy shape… it was not the shape of a creature. It misted in and out of reality, but when its form was more solid, it looked like a woman.
“Go into eternity,” Toth said, his voice almost gentle now.
The shimmering colors were flowing faster, distorting into colors no human eye had ever seen. The blurred shape of a window began to open.
Toth released the spirit into the window, and it vanished with a grateful sigh.
His claws withdrew, and the creature’s body collapsed to the ground, limp and empty.
My monster looked up at me, then his gaze focused on something beyond.
I turned my head, sure that I couldn’t take any more terror. My chest ached from my galloping heartbeat.
But, thank my lucky stars, there were no more murderous creatures.
“Take her and calm her,” Toth ordered. “Protect her. I do not wish for her to watch while I… take care of this.”
I reached out gratefully for Drazan’s flickering tentacles, and he silently pulled me into the deep.
31
Drazan
Be calm, my precious one, I told her, pulling her into the comforting embrace of the water. It is gone. Toth has ensured it will never touch you.
I gripped her carefully, feeling the panic transferred through her shaking fingers as she groped at my tentacles.
Gently, little by little, I fed air to her, sensing her racing pulse through my sensitive appendages.
It took some time before I sensed her heart slowing to a normal pace. I let my tentacles wander, stroking her arms and legs, twining through her hair. Her nails no longer dug into me painfully.
Flashing soothing colors at her—pale blues and greens, touches of violet—I brought her further below.
All will be well, I said, and relief flowed through me when she met my eyes, pressing her hand flat against the tentacle I kept wound around her stomach.
She opened her mouth, sending a flurry of bubbles to the surface. Her muscles tensed in my grip when she looked up, following the sight of them vanishing far above.
I’d never brought her this far below before, but the time was now.
She would see where I had slept for a thousand years, the remnants left by those who came before.
Now they were my kingdom, and it would be hers as well.
Allowing her to float within my grasp, I freed my hands. Air and water were as putty to me, clay within a sculptor’s grasp.
Pinching delicately, pulling oxygen from the water around us, I smoothed the surface of the bubble that would grant Elle the ability to follow me.
She watched with wide eyes, her hair floating around her in a scarlet cloud that made the water look bloody. Her colors were pleasing to me, a bright fleck of fire against the shadows of the Void.
I fit the bubble around her face, smoothing the edges to conform to her sharp jaw and high cheekbones. She smiled at me tentatively, reaching out to stroke my wrists as I worked.
Now you will breathe as I do, I told her. You will see all the wonders of my kingdom.
I released her, and with the litheness of a fish born to water, she swam towards me, her hair streaming behind her.
Come, little one. I moved deeper into the abyss, and extended a tentacle.
Elle reached out, letting the tip around her fingers to bring her further. She kicked, following me deeper and deeper, until the only lights emanated from my being.
I allowed them to brighten, feeling tension in her grasp. If only Elle knew how I read her, felt the pulse of her blood, felt the movement of every tiny muscle.
She betrayed her fear in ways she didn’t even know.
There were dangerous things in the deeps, but I was the god of this lake. While she was with me, she would come to no harm.
I kept my grip on her tightly, suctioning onto her skin.
Down here, the darkness was absolute. The stars ceased to exist. The world above was a distant dream.
This was another world entirely, and I knew she felt it when her heart began to race again, with excitement rather than terror.
Down, down, down.
I murmured into her head, leading her into crushing blackness.
Soon, you will see. This is my world, Elle. My domain.
She swam willingly, fighting against the pressure of the depths. My lights flickered over her pale skin, turning her into one of the creatures that lived down here.
And when she had her first face-to-face encounter with one, she nearly recoiled, her pulse spiking into panic.
An eel slithered from the rocks on the bottom of the lake, its body flashing electric blue warnings. It rose to face Elle, showing a mouthful of glassine needle-teeth, but I flicked at the creature.
A current carried it from her, driving the animal back into its rocks.
Elle smiled at me, her pulse steadying again. The eel had been larger than she was.
We had further to go. Elle gasped in amazement at a school of tiny fish, each no larger than her fingernail with a star-shaped fan of fins, glittering in vivid colors. A few jellyfish caught her attention, but I kept her far from their stinging tentacles.
She looked about in bewildered amazement at the animals that resembled nothing found on her Earth.
And when we reached the first gate of my home, she stopped, treading water as she took it all in.
Her mouth fell open, gray eyes glittering with the flash of my tentacles. The bioluminescence of the waves covered the ruins, making the arches and pillars shimmer like ghostly mirages.
Welcome to my home. I squeezed her hand. A thousand years ago, this was a city of the Klee.
I watched as she reached out to touch a crushed pillar. The algae flared brightly under her fingers.
Now I am the only one who remains. I slept, standing guard over the sacred ruins, until I was called from my slumber.
Elle looked back at me, hair obscuring her face. She pushed it aside, drifting down to land on the soft carpet of sand.
The inquisitiveness in her expression was obvious to anyone with eyes. I strode through the gates, a tentacle keeping her roped to me.
They say a Klee princess built this palace. It was meant to be a refuge, a haven from the Elder Gods and their eternal conflicts. Now the name is forgotten to history.
Elle gestured at me.
Even I have forgotten. I was young when this water was abandoned, but one had to remain behind. The other Klee moved on, leaving me to sleep until it was time to awaken and become the guardian.
She glanced at me, patting my shoulder, and I decided to trust. I released her.
Elle looked surprised at first, then tentatively swam towards a crumbling ruin. I watched with pleasure as she swam into what was once a home, emerging through a window.
She seemed fascinated by the architecture of my kind. It was smooth, organic, stone worked to mimic water.
I supposed to a human it might seem chaotic, but then, I found the hard, sharp lines of their architecture to be displeasing.
Elle traced the outline of a carving eroded by water. It was just barely visible; a relief of a Klee prince, in his younger form.
Yes, I said. My people undergo what you would call mutations. Once upon a time, I looked like this.
I touched the carving as well, the man’s torso and head, the lower body that was a mass of tentacles.
When we come of age, or undergo a great trial, we develop this form. I touched my chest, lifting a clawed foot to emphasize. We are only permitted to become guardians once we have achieved this.
Her eyebrows knit as she looked from me to the carving. She pointed to it again, then me.
Ah. I understood now.
I underwent a trial, in waters far from here. I proved myself against a creature of the depths, a maw of unending hunger, and gained my Elder form. After that, I was named the guardian.
Elle cocked an eyebrow at me. I could imagine her question, and the exact tone of voice she’d use: “A maw of unending hunger, huh?”
It made me laugh to myself.
You would not have wanted to see this creature, I said. It was beyond mortal reckoning.
She rolled her eyes, but smiled and gave a little shrug as if to say ‘what isn’t?’
Come with me. The temple lies ahead.
We descended further into the Klee city, and I took great pride in showing her what my people had created.
Sometimes Elle paused, then shook her head for reasons I could only guess at. I wished I could hear her thoughts with more clarity.
One such time was when we finally came to the temple, in the deepest reaches of the lake.
Of all the ruins, this one remained the most intact to its original form. It loomed, watching with an ominous singular window like an eye.
The animals of the lake shunned this place; even they could feel the power that still emanated from it.
This is where I slept, I said softly. I led her into the darkness within. No other human had ever seen such a darkness; it was a living thing, remaining unilluminated even by my glow. For a thousand years, in this black, unbreachable realm, I slept alone. And when I awoke, I wondered what had called me from my dreams.
Elle glimmered at the edges of my vision. She looked paler than usual, her face drawn. I knew she was feeling the sensation that emanated from the temple.
I believe you were the cause, I said, leading her back out. Even I did not like the pull of the temple; it felt too much like an endless sleep, and I’d had enough of that. There was something written in the water, the waves bringing a message that it was time to return to life. After all, to sleep too long is a form of death; your arrival in this world was a sign to live.
Elle looked relieved when we left the temple behind, but at this she shook her head, her expression declaring embarrassment.
We all have a role in this universe, my precious one, I said, amused. She was so obviously born to enter the Void, it was entertaining when she insisted she wasn’t that special. When you were made, fate took notice and prepared accordingly.
A flush in her cheeks hinted at frustration.
Ah, but now you are in my realm, I teased her. You cannot speak to refute me.
We returned to the brighter ruins, where Elle swam alongside a school of fish for a moment. She watched them disappear into darkness, her expression now unreadable.
I wished I could enter her mind. I wanted to feel her amazement, to know what she was thinking when she looked upon this world.
I wish I could show you what it looked like in the long-ago, I said, musing over it. These remains were a pale imitation of what had been.
What would Elle think of a thriving city of Klee, where it was not silent with death, but bright with life?
But then I would have to fear another Klee trying to take her. I did not believe my Elle would go willingly, but there was a peace in this ruin that would not exist if the other Klee remained.
Elle had sunk to the sand, where she sent up a little billow into the air as she swept it aside. She picked up a polished nautilus shell, examining it with a frown, and then set it on the flattened top of a pillar.
That was once a trinket for a Klee, I said, examining it. Perhaps a child’s plaything.
I looked at that little slice of the past, and decided I did not care if the time of the Klee had gone.
For a while I had felt alone, though I’d had no true cognizance of the word. It was not until I’d sensed Elle, and the Zizahtl and the Mlul’dra had emerged, that I’d realized what loneliness actually meant.
Now I had someone to share these ruins with, instead of wandering alone down here and brooding on a past that could never be again.
This was the present. It was a new age, an awakening of power that I didn’t quite understand but was glad to have.
I am glad you are here with me, my Elle, I said, embracing her. I did not want to be alone, though I did not understand it.
She wrapped her arms around me, shaking her head no. I could almost hear her words: you will never be alone again.
32
Elle
As Drazan brought me back to the center of the city, I thought about what it must have been like to be alone down here for a thousand years.
I’d thought my life had been lonely, unable to touch or be touched, keeping everyone at arm’s length… but even asleep, to be trapped in those dark depths, with that horrible building power surrounding him…
It had to have felt like hell.
And then to see these ruins of his people and know they were gone… my mind was still struggling to grasp the Klee sense of architecture.
It was like stone turned into water, moving at indecipherable angles, completely alien to my mind.
The nautilus shell had made me a little sad. He’d dismissed it as a plaything, but it was a remnant of other monsters. Monster children had been here.
I wondered where they had all gone.
I couldn’t believe they’d just abandoned him like that.
I gripped his shoulders, peering into eyes that were just as alien as this city, but warm and soft. I never wanted him to feel alone again.
Maybe he could pick my thoughts out of my head, because his gaze was gentle.
Now you have seen it, he said, gesturing to the ruins. I wanted to share this with you.
I put a hand over my heart, trying to convey my gratitude without words. Anything he wanted to share with me, I wanted to see.
He was mine.
He reached out to hold my waist, and his lights began to dim. Blackness pressed in on us once again, until all I could see was the faint lines on his body.
It was even more void-like than the world above. A complete abyss of weightless darkness.
But I couldn’t feel the terror that would normally flare in me. Not while Drazan had me in his grasp.
I focused on the tentacles wrapped around my body to keep that terror at bay, and I wasn’t so distracted by the abyss pressing in around us that I didn’t notice the tentacle snaking up my thigh.
Without warning, and possibly because I’d already been fuelled by complete adrenaline once today, I felt the now-familiar stirrings of desire rise in me.
I could see what Drazan wanted to do. This was an experience no one else could ever have.
I made a soft sound that the water stole away, watching the faint crimson luminescence of his tentacles moving around me. They were all I could see, my entire world.
He stripped the sodden panties and shirt I’d fallen asleep in, and this time I knew there was no getting them back.
Even though we were in the middle of the lake, I didn’t feel like a voyeur. The darkness gave us intimacy, and it was easy to let go of all my fears as he nudged my legs apart.
This time I will fill you with my seed. His mental voice was guttural and low. I will fill your womb until it cannot hold more.
The stirring became a desperate yearning. I tried to make another sound as the tentacle’s delicate tip encircled my clit, but there was no sound down here.
He brought me up to his face, forcing my legs wider as his facial tentacles splayed out, wrapping around my legs.
A suction cup latched onto my clit, and a thick appendage thrust into me. I groaned soundlessly, writhing in his grasp, completely lost to the physical sensation. It was the only sense I had left.
I wrapped my legs around his neck, arching my back as the tentacle plunged deeper, thickening as it went. There was a gush of slick, thicker and oilier than the water, that would make it easier for my body to handle his massive cock.
It was so strange to gasp and moan and yet make no noise at all.
But I did gasp when I felt another tentacle slide lower, pressing gently against my ass. It was a thicker tentacle, and there was a moment of pressure, then another gush of slick.
It slid easily into my ass after that, the sensation utterly foreign but lighting up all my nerve endings.
This was something I’d never done before, something I’d never even considered.
But now I had three monsters who were eager to mate with me at any time. It stood to reason I’d want to get used to it, because the possibilities were… enticing.
I imagined two monsters, sandwiching me between them, both of them pounding into me… and moaned again, writhing against Drazan’s face.
My filthy-minded little mate, he said in my mind, sounding torn between amusement and lust. We would be happy to take you, all at the same time.
He probed deeper, sucking my clit as the tentacles plunged in and out of both holes. I felt frenzied and overheated despite the coolness of the lake around us, unable to stop riding against him.
I was so full of slick I had no idea how I was going to take his seed, but the tentacles kept engorging, rubbing the oily liquid against my inner walls.
I looked down to see nothing but a row of lights plunging into me, and they were… very wide.
I was taking a tentacle so thick I should’ve been in pain, but all I felt was intense friction and heat.
I want them to fill you, to fill you with so much seed your womb cannot take it. He pushed the thick tentacle in my ass deeper, stretching me around it. I want you to feel so full, until you cannot hold more.
My “Oh god yes!” went unheard. I let out a soundless cry as the tentacles plunged in harder, the suction cup over my clit sucking at me.
I felt like I was filled with fire, ready to make these dreams come true.
My back arched again and several suction cups latched onto my nipples as I rode Drazan’s face. The orgasm was rising swiftly, ready to overtake me.
He sensed it, his tentacles invading my body as far as he’d ever dared to go. He gripped my thighs, holding me against him as I thrust, panting and straining.
And then it was too much, and I was coming, my body clamping down on the tentacles pushing into me. I heard the slightest echo of my scream before it was swallowed by the water.
Then Drazan let out a wordless snarl of desire that filled my mind, blasting through the orgasm, and he jerked me downwards.
