Dark Lord's Commands 2, page 16
Finally, left with nothing to do, we sat near the fire, all of us lost in thought. The magic I felt racing up and down my spine at Gaspar’s presence, the goddess’s approval, had thankfully fallen to a dull roar, though I could still feel it pushing me to make her ours.
I was about to drift off when I heard the natural philosopher speak, her words halting. “I’ve been feeling strange, as of late, unrelated to my deteriorating physical condition. Based on my observations, I believe you sense it as well. There is a strange current that flows around you three. It is a most --” she paused, thinking, “peculiar but enjoyable sensation.”
Vexile eyed me, before she uncoiled from her spot, rising to look at Gaspar. “The stroke of the cosmic divine running along your flesh, stoking the passions in your heart?”
Gaspar peered at her. “I would say it reminded me of an experiment I did while back in school, administering powerful static shocks using a pipe and a felt blanket. Though that was rather painful and not particularly arousing.”
She said it in such a calculating, clinical way, that I wasn’t sure what she considered truly arousing.
Vexile slithered up the stairs a way before wrapping herself around Gaspar’s waist. The scholar squirmed a bit, clearly feeling Revina’s touch more acutely with Vexile’s close proximity.
“Is this some innate field or aura projected by all greater ascendants?” she asked, her cheeks going red and her breath picking up.
“No,” Vexile told her, her face hovering close to hers. “It is a sign from Revina. She has witnessed your deeds and weighed your character, and She has found you worthy to join us. The Goddess offers you Her hand, that you might rise and join us as ascendants and queens.”
Getting up, I carefully walked over and offered her my hand. “Gaspar Von Houtin, will you marry me and become my Third Queen and ascendant champion?”
She considered the three of us for a moment, before nodding. “Such a fascinating offer, how can I refuse?”
Gaspar retreated to the second floor after that, telling me that she needed a few minutes to ready herself. I hadn’t told her exactly what the next steps were, I figured I’d do so and then give her a moment to reconsider if she didn’t have the commitment that came with being my queen.
Nichessa, for her part, looked slightly embarrassed, “I didn’t think it would be that easy, honestly. I remember almost killing you when you first proposed to me.”
Reaching up, I kissed her. “Don’t worry, your stubbornness is one of the things I find most beautiful about you.”
She gave a low, rumbling laugh, her body shaking in relief. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to any of this.” Catching her breath, she gazed upward, “Despite my initial reaction, I do like her. She puts me to mind the mad doctors you hear about in scary stories, but I have to respect her ability to survive, even thrive, in this place.”
“Revina would not have picked her if she were not up to the task,” Vexile said reverently.
I kissed her as well, feeling a swell of love and pride for them. None of us were familiar with the strange matrimonial relationship we found ourselves in, we depended on love, honesty, and trust to see ourselves through the tough and uncomfortable times.
“Are you both going to be okay with this?” I asked them, wanting to be certain.
They both nodded before Nichessa took Vexile by the arm. “I think we should step outside, someone’s got to keep an eye on the perimeter.”
I watched them go, my heart hammering wildly in my chest, before I climbed the stairs.
Gaspar had arranged herself before the second floor’s hearth, which carried up the heat and warmth from the fire below. Several blankets had been laid down, and she rested atop them, her legs curled up to her chest.
She had cleaned herself up, wiping away what dirt and grime she could. She still looked pale and tired, a woman who was pushing herself well past her limits.
Unable to think of what to say at first, I walked over and sat with her, reaching out to take her hands into mine.
They were ice cold.
“If you haven’t realized it yet, I am dying,” she said, her voice completely without emotion. “I had hoped to find a remedy for my condition, brought on by prolonged exposure to the astral tear, but clearly I have failed in that gambit.”
“That green goo you’ve been drinking, was that some kind of medicine?” I asked.
“A painkiller, mostly,” she admitted. “My condition has been deteriorating for months, and I’ve been doing what I can to stave off my inevitable end.”
I thought about this, before saying, “You knew that coming to the palace with us would only make your condition worse, that it would likely kill you.”
“I estimated the odds of me surviving were astronomically low,” she agreed. She looked up at me. “But before you ask why I was willing to sacrifice myself for your quest, know that I chose to go of my own free will, for my own reasons.”
She sat up a bit, looking at me with feverish determination. “I will discover the secrets of this world,” she swore. “I refuse to just hide underground, waiting to die.”
Chuckling, I wound my fingers more tightly around hers. “Now I can see why Revina chose you, outside your startling intellect.”
She locked her eyes with mine. “If becoming an ascendant will spare my life, then I will gladly embrace it, no matter the price.”
I lowered my head; despite her declaration, I wanted her to know the full price of being an ascendant and my queen.
Noticing my recalcitrance, she said more quietly. “I must admit, I lied when I told you I was unable to determine how greater ascendants are made. The church texts had been sanitized, but with a bit of study I was able to read between the lines.”
She moved closer to me, her breath hot against my skin. “I have no problem having sex with you. In fact, given your handsome appearance and the particular thrill caused by Revina’s blessing, I believe I will greatly enjoy it.”
“It’s more than that,” I told her firmly. “You will take your place as my Third Queen, and I take my marriage vows very seriously; we all do. More to the point, you will be a queen, responsible for the well-being and protection of all the people of Duskhaven.”
I placed my hand on the back of her neck. “This is a burden I do not give lightly. Revina has chosen you, but I will not force you to accept.”
She laughed harshly. “Don’t mock my resolve. You might think I have no real choice, with death hanging over my head. But I said I would pay any price and I damn well mean it!”
With a burst of strength I did not expect, she pushed me down onto the blankets, her hands wrapped around my wrists.
“No secret shall hide from us.” Her eyes were wide, and I could see the spark of the divine dancing behind them. “With you and the others, we shall uncover the raw truths of this world, peeling back the centuries of lies and deception.”
She leaned in, her lips hovering over mine. “Together, we shall know everything there is to know.”
Her kiss was electric, I felt my body seize and twitch as Revina’s magic filled my body, ripping down my spine and directly into my core. Gaspar shook, her legs coming to rest around my waist, as the power entered into her.
She darted her tongue over my lips, across my teeth, and around my tongue; there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in her exploration. Her hips ground into mine, the heat and lust utterly taking her over.
Pulling my hands free, I began frantically removing our clothing, tugging her shirt over her head before taking mine off as well.
She splayed her fingers across my chest, continuing her examination, tracing out the contours of my muscles and measuring the stammering beat of my heart.
I gazed up at her in wonder. Her breasts were even larger than I had imagined. Tugging aside her chest wrap, I marveled at their weight and fullness as they filled my palms. Her nipples were rock hard, and she moaned and ground into me harder as I gently thumbed and pinched them, loving her reaction.
Around us, I could sense the beginnings of a cosmic storm, the tower room’s air becoming supercharged with divine energy. Revina was present, and she was pleased by my coronation of another queen, another champion for her people.
“This is amazing,” Gaspar rasped as she tore her hair free from its bun, letting it cascade around us. “I could never have fully grasped the power of a Primeval without feeling it for myself.”
I kissed her again, my teeth nipping at her lower lip, “No word on my involvement?”
She laughed, her voice sounding light and free.
Kissing me back, she answered my question with her fingers, which tugged at my pants.
I quickly went to help her, kicking them off, freeing my cock from its confines.
It felt like a lightning rod, supercharged by the power and potential in the air. I wasn’t just a man, I was a conduit for the cosmos.
My fingers trembled as I removed her leather trousers, the material sticking to her like a second skin. Afterward, my hand ran along the outside of her legs, static sparking at each stroke.
“Marvelous,” Gaspar said as she kneeled over me, one hand raking through her hair, while the other braced against my chest. Her pussy, framed by a thick, blond bush, rubbed against my cock.
The shivers that ran up and down my spine had nothing to do with the divine.
Releasing her legs, I grabbed her hips and helped maneuver her pussy right above my cock. There was no need for further foreplay, we were both primed and more than ready to go.
The dark tempest around us boiled and then burst as my cockhead pushed past her netherlips, the air reverberating with thunder as I made her ours.
She cried out in shock and pleasure as I fought for purchase, her hips lowering at a glacial pace until at last, I reached her core.
Gaspar spread her hands over her abdomen, a maddened grin across her face, as she felt her fullness and the pressure of my cock against her shuddering flesh.
I began moving slowly, my hips bucking upward, as I slammed my shaft into her. With each impact, the divine storm around us roared, power flowing through me and into Gaspar, filling her in ways undreamt of before.
Her eyes rolled back up in her head, with only the whites showing, as she rode me, her body gone rigid as she came, again and again, as Revina and I crowned her as a queen of Duskhaven.
“Dark Lord!” she gasped, some sense of reason coming back to her. She rolled her shoulders forward, her forearms coming to rest on my chest. Her skin glowed white-hot, the power of Revina filling her, remaking her, ascending her.
I grabbed her and rolled us over. Cradling her in my arms I continued my breakneck pace, my body straining for release, to grant her the capstone to her power.
She screamed again, burying her face into my shoulder, as I came. Like a thunderbolt, I felt it leave my body, a burst of power and ecstasy beyond description.
My ears rang, as Gaspar cried out again, the power of the divine taking hold. Her body glowed, and I could feel Revina claiming her as ours.
Stunned, my ears ringing, I felt myself slip loose from her pussy as I sat back, giving the goddess room to work.
Gaspar writhed and moaned, her body arching and twitching as the divine storm finally abated. The light around her faded, and she went still, her chest rising and falling in a slow, gentle rhythm.
Chapter 16
“What a strange but fascinating experience,” Gaspar said as she sat downstairs by the fire, a cup of hot tea in her hands.
Looking at her, the initial reaction would be that her ascension had not changed her at all; she still looked perfectly human, with none of the obvious changes my other wives had undergone.
But looking more closely, I noticed small but critical changes; her limbs were straight and strong, without a hint of defect. The curves of her figure were still there, but they had been subtly altered, somehow making them even more perfect.
And when she looked at me with her bright, brown eyes, I felt something fearsome dwelling behind them, like the spark of her intellect had become a firestorm.
She held out an arm, inspecting it, turning it back and forth as she flexed her fingers. I watched as her muscles stretched under her perfect skin; she was like a marble statue brought to life, all strength and grace.
“How do you feel?” I asked, sitting next to her.
“I don’t know,” she admitted as she continued her inspection with her other arm. “I must admit, my physical and mental state had been deteriorating for the past few weeks, symptoms of my illness, so I don’t have an unbiased baseline to begin with.” She smiled at me, her beauty radiant. “But I feel a new adroitness to my thoughts like they are laced with lightning, and my body seems remarkably light like I could do anything.”
I leaned over and kissed her brow. “I’m glad to hear it.”
There was a firm knock on the tower’s door frame. Turning around, I saw Vexile and Nichessa standing outside, a bit of uncertainty in their expressions.
Getting up, I walked over to them, taking them into my arms. I kissed them both.
The first words out of my mouth to them were, “I love you.”
Vexile melted into my arms, and I felt some of the tension leave Nichessa’s frame. Carefully, I guided them both to the fire, so they could meet our newest queen.
“High Priestess Vexile, Forgemaster Nichessa, might I introduce you to Gaspar Von Houtin, Third Queen of Duskhaven.”
Nichessa gave me a wry glance, “Forgemaster?”
“You deserve an impressive title too,” I told her with a grin.
Vexile coiled around Gaspar, her eyes going wide. Like me, she was shocked that Gaspar’s ascension had left her form the same as before.
When we told Gaspar this, she nodded. “That makes sense. From what you told me earlier, I believe there is a stage of self-actualization during the ascension process, where the greater ascendant takes on the form they feel would represent them the best.” She stretched out a leg, flexing her toes. “I believed my previous form was satisfactory to my needs, so it was merely refined, rather than remolded.”
Again I saw a flash behind her eyes. I think her ascension might have enhanced her mind, rather than her body. That thought sent a shiver of excitement down my spine. If she was a genius before, what has Revina made her into now?
Rising from her seat, Gaspar regarded Nichessa and Vexile.
“It seems that we three are bonded now, as queens, as wives, and as ascendants. I only ask that you treat me as I deserve and that we all work together to achieve our dream.”
“Which is?” Vexile asked, a mirthful expression on her face.
“To learn all the secrets of this world,” she stated simply.
“The most expedient way to achieve this is to restore Duskhaven as the greatest civilization on Turmont,” she continued. “I have spent months living amongst Nightbound’s bones, seeing the greatness that was. I would see it restored,” she grinned. “We shall gather the greatest minds together, give them shelter and support; with their aid, we will learn the secrets of this world.”
Vexile and Nichessa had made a brief patrol, and they warned that there were still ghouls and slimes about, so we made ready to camp for the night. My first two queens elected to sleep next to me by the fire, snuggling in my arms.
We invited Gaspar to join us, but she shook her head and pulled out a notebook from her bag. “I couldn’t dream of sleep, not right now. My thoughts are clear for the first time in months, and my mind is full of the most brilliant ideas. I must record them now, while they are still fresh!” She glanced out the door, “Besides, shouldn’t someone keep watch?”
I smiled, understanding. Gaspar’s brilliance, her unbending drive, and her determination were the qualities that made her who she was.
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Vexile warned before we retreated to our beds.
When I awoke the next morning, I found Vexile coiled around me. Nichessa had gotten up earlier and had stepped outside.
Gently pushing Vexile off, I stood and checked on Gaspar. The scholar had fallen asleep at some point. Nichessa had been kind enough to drape a blanket around the slumbering woman’s shoulders.
Glancing at the notebook resting at Gaspar’s feet, I saw its pages were full of esoteric formulas, incomprehensible schematics, and paragraphs worth of her strange shorthand, which was so convoluted that even Revina’s gift of tongues couldn’t decipher it.
Putting on my clothes and armor, I stepped outside, finding Nichessa leaning up against the tower wall.
I kissed her along the jaw. “Good morning. Any signs of trouble?”
“All quiet,” she rumbled, kicking off the wall to hug me.
It felt wonderful, and I took a moment to just breathe in her scent and feel her warmth and strength.
Afterward, I pointed to the top of the wall, “Can you give me a boost?”
She lifted me, and I saw the Courts of the Dark Blessings were quiet, there was no sign of ghouls, fallen archangels, or Luminark adventurers. To the northeast, The Grand Promenade of Revina loomed, all shadows and sorrow.
Jumping down, I nodded, “Let’s wake the others and get moving. The quicker we can get to the palace, the quicker we can return to Lita and Marl, the Eye of Night in our hands.”
I don’t know how many hours Gaspar managed to sleep, but she seemed full of energy that morning, her eyes bright and shining.
Stretching, she lifted her hands over her head, “I’m eager to exert myself today, to gauge the effect of my ascension on my physical abilities. I must say, I feel better than I have in years!”
Vexile smiled warmly. “I was in dire shape when Revina and the Dark Lord decided to bless me with ascension.” She gestured down her body, her tail flicking. “I have never felt such divine strength until that day. Now, I feel like I can do anything.”
“The magic is nice too,” Nichessa added.
Gaspar held out a hand and furrowed her brow, concentrating. “I wonder what form my magic will take? Again, it sounds like the powers Revina blesses us with match our desires and skills.”
