Metal Mage 15, page 30
The Baroness was shimmering all over by the time she released me to gaze up into my eyes, and the way she sighed with total contentment made it clear there wasn’t anywhere else in the universe she’d rather be. Against all reason, I was the one being this disturbingly grim creature couldn’t bear to separate herself from, and I smirked as I felt Nulena’s hold tightening on me the longer I looked at her like this.
Then I caught a glimpse of black beside me, though, and I nearly jumped out of my skin as I realized the Wraith Witches were back and silently hovering within two feet of us.
“What the fuck?” I yelped.
Nulena swiftly raised her palms as my rifle clattered to the ground, and I worked on getting my lungs to work again as she sent the apparitions drifting toward the jungle again.
“Sorry about that,” the Baroness chuckled. “I think they really do like me. I can sense how much it pleases them to be near me, and not just at the soul level. We’ve bonded in a truly beautiful way.”
I stared in silence at the woman’s toothy grin, and then I stooped to snatch my rifle off the ground. “I hate your friends.”
“I know you do,” Nulena sighed, and she stroked my cheek before she looped her arm in mine to turn us toward House Aelin.
Nulena kept sending giddy glances over her shoulder all the way back to the palace, and I could tell she sort of hoped the witches would keep popping up to see her. She couldn’t help giggling every now and then, either, while she clutched my arm to step over the dead bodies, and I had a sinking feeling I’d be seeing a lot more of those petrifying fangs than I wanted to.
Shit… they might even start swooping in around Falmount if they were as fond of Nulena as she was of them.
I shook my head without commenting on any of this, though, and I continued leading my naked and murdery lover into the darkened halls of House Aelin while I wondered what the hell my life had become.
Then Nulena suddenly leapt onto my back for a piggyback ride, and I just chuckled and let her leave giggly kisses all over my neck while I carried her to our diamond-studded bedchamber.
Chapter 20
I’d fallen asleep with my head on an incredibly fluffy pillow, but I woke up with Shoshanne’s tummy tucked under my cheek instead. Her fingers were methodically combing through my hair while two other hands trailed lazily across my back, and the women curled up around me were giggling over something that had just been said.
“We can’t name all of our boys Mason,” Cayla laughed. “It’s too strong of a name, and it’ll end up being diluted like that. Only the bravest among our sons can take his name. Someone destined to conquer. So… mine, of course.”
“That’s hardly fair,” Nulena chuckled. “If I have a son, he will preside over either Destruction or Chaos. He should bear his father’s name with a fate like that.”
“What about Flynt?” Shoshanne pointed out. “That would be a nice name for a God of Destruction. It would instill fear in those who heard it, but suggest a respectable amount of nobility as well. Flynt would be a noble, but terrifying god.”
“Hmm,” the Baroness murmured. “I like that quite a lot, actually. Everyone in the pantheon would know who he’d come from, then.”
“Would they really?” Cayla gasped.
“Yes, my brother’s obsession with Mason certainly hasn’t slipped past their notice,” Nulena assured the princess. “The number of worlds that have been destroyed over him is rather extensive. So, young Mason is free to inherit his father’s crown in Cedis. My immortal son will be named Flynt.”
“Perfect,” the princess agreed.
“Unless you both have girls,” Shoshanne countered.
The three women promptly began snickering at the thought, and I opened my eyes a sliver when I heard a light chuckle from Aurora as well.
The half-elf was already dressed for battle in Defender gear and her blood-caked boots, and she was sitting cross legged on the diamond-rimmed table near the windows. I could tell she was working with her Ignis magic because her eyes were tightly shut while her blue eyebrows were pinched together in concentration, and a light scent of pine was drifting around the room from how long she’d been at it.
She was still smirking over my other women’s conversation, though, and it didn’t seem to cost her any focus to offer her two cents on the matter.
“Poor Mason,” Aurora mumbled. “Our daughters will be gorgeous hellions who raid his arsenal every chance they get.”
“Yes, if I have a girl, he will never have a moment’s rest until she ascends,” Nulena murmured. “She’ll be cute, cunning, and too prone to chaos for any of us to keep up with. Even myself, given who her father is.”
“If I have a girl, she’ll be outstandingly beautiful with porcelain skin and silver eyes,” Cayla sighed. “Every noble who sees her will throw riches at her feet, and none of them will deserve her hand. Maybe Mason could hold them all at gunpoint for trying to win her, though. I like the idea of a father threatening his daughter’s suitors at gunpoint… I don’t know why. It feels appropriate.”
“Well, my daughter would be an angel,” Shoshanne said without concern. “She wouldn’t cause any trouble, and she’d have copper hair, but with blonde ringlets and big silver eyes from Mason’s side.”
“Any daughter of yours is going to end up terribly spoiled by her father as well,” Nulena informed the healer.
“Hell yeah, she would,” I mumbled, and I buried a kiss against Shoshanne’s soft tummy while she giggled beneath me.
Then I heard the Baroness gasp as she realized I was finally awake, and her breasts were immediately smooshed against my back while she started tucking kisses into the nape of my neck.
“Good morning, handsome,” Nulena purred. “I love you so much. Have I told you that lately?”
I grinned. “Still happy from last night, then?”
“Ooo,” Cayla murmured. “What happened last night?”
Nulena left a light bite on my shoulder. “Nothing…”
“Right,” I snorted, and I managed to roll onto my back despite all the women around me. Then I furrowed my brow as I looked around. “Where’s Deya?”
“The library,” Shoshanne replied.
“How long has she been gone?” I asked as I sat up.
“Only a couple hours,” Cayla answered. “Why?”
“I should go check in on her,” I decided, and I was already getting up to get dressed while I sent my powers through the palace to find the library.
“She’s isn’t in any danger,” Nulena assured me. “I can sense her in my shield. She’s been sitting at a table and looking through a stack of books for a while now.”
Hearing this was enough to ease the mounting tension in my shoulders, and I nodded as I finished pulling my pants on. My powers had just reached the library, too, and I sensed only one pair of boots against the floor in the whole place.
So, I decided not to go sprinting off after the one woman who wasn’t within my reach, and I sat back on the bed with the others again while Shoshanne tucked herself under my arm.
Aurora’s eyes were open now, though, and I could feel her studying me from her spot near the windows.
“What is it?” the half-elf asked. “Are you expecting an attack this morning?”
“Not really,” I mumbled. “Just something Dragir said last night about Luir. Will you all keep a close eye on Deya at House Orrel today? I don’t want her separated from our group, no matter what happens.”
“Of course, Mason,” Aurora agreed. “May I ask what Dragir said, though?”
I grimaced a little at the thought, but then I nodded, and I explained to my women about Dragir’s half-elf lover, the child they were expecting together, and what had inspired him to brand the blood-boiling rune on his leg to begin with. Then I filled Aurora in on how this had affected his ability to regain his place at his House for decades, and that this was why he’d been cold toward her until his warriors learned to respect her.
When I finished, my women were slightly paler while they sat in silence for a moment, and Shoshanne let out a sad whimper against my chest.
“How long have you known about this?” Aurora asked.
“He told me about the woman before the battle at House Quyn, when House Syru and House Kylen had just fallen,” I answered, “I didn’t know the full extent of it all until last night. Either way, I’m not gonna focus on going after Luir unless it looks like Dragir needs help. That bastard absolutely will die today, but I’d rather Dragir be the one who does it.”
“Me, too,” Cayla agreed. “I can’t imagine suffering something like that, and then being bothered for decades by Luir to rejoin his House for the sake of his knowledge. How insulting.”
“Does Deya know about this?” Shoshanne asked.
“No idea,” I admitted. “Just make sure she doesn’t get separated from us at House Orrel once the shit hits the fan.”
“Of course,” Nulena promised. “She’s on her way back, now.”
I nodded in appreciation, and I left a kiss in Shoshanne’s hair before I got up and headed toward the window. Through the arching windows behind Aurora, the sky was turning gold with the sunrise, and the window was still open so a soft morning breeze rustled her blue braids along with the scent of jungle flowers.
“I’ll be leaving with Rhys and Dragir to scout the place in a couple hours,” I told the women while I reorganized my workspace from last night. “I should finish the last few sight engravings and get them mounted on the tank before breakfast, though.”
“Perfect, that gives me plenty of time,” Cayla said as she rolled off the velvet blanket, and I raised my eyebrows when the princess started pulling AR-15s and 1911s out from under the bed. “What? I brought them up from the tank as soon as I woke up. It’s a big day, and I want to make sure all of my firearms are well lubricated and ready to make their mama look good out there.”
Then Cayla dragged out a machine gun she’d unmounted from the turret, settled in on the blanket with all her guns, and let out a happy sigh.
“Did you ladies eat already?” I chuckled.
“No, we wanted to wait for you,” Aurora said, and I slid her a little to the side so I could work at the same table she was sitting on. “We did have some tea Alfred sent with us. Then we started missing him all over again, so we stopped after two cups.”
“Understandable,” I muttered. “These engravings will only take me about twenty minutes, then we can see what they’ve got down in the kitchens.”
“Do you need me to stop practicing so I don’t disrupt the elements?” the half-elf asked.
“Not at all,” I assured her. “The elements aren’t so difficult to keep in line these days. It’s still faster when nothing in the area is disrupting them, but I can get them engraved all the same. Are you working on reaching the sun?”
“Constantly,” Aurora sighed as she settled in to focus again. “I’ve been at it all week, but I just can’t seem to make the final push. I don’t want to risk using up my powers trying before the battle today, though. We still don’t know what the Master’s Ignis Mage Raavo is capable of. So, I’m taking it easy, but I think I’ll finally get the hang of this soon if I keep practicing a few times a day.”
“You must not be too exhausted if you can try more than once a day,” I pointed out as I finished securing a few lenses into their sight tubes.
“No, I never get exhausted,” Aurora said as she furrowed her brow. “It doesn’t seem like I’m running out of my powers, just that I can’t quite reach far enough to connect with the sun. If that makes sense.”
“Damn,” I muttered. “That’s probably a good sign. My powers were pretty much spent when I tried to make lava with Markus and Pindor. I barely held out long enough to start recharging from the stuff. Maybe the processes are different, though. I had to alter the substrate in order to create an environment for magma to form. You’re not altering anything, right?”
“Nothing,” the half-elf confirmed. “I’ve been pushing my powers as far as I can. It never occurred to me to alter anything, but maybe that’s what I should be doing.”
“What would you alter?” I asked as I began forming slips of copper sheeting.
“I have no idea,” Aurora chuckled, and she looked over her shoulder at the rays of sunlight lighting the dense trees beyond the courtyard. “I suppose I could draw the heat into myself. When I practice, I’m not forming flames or anything, I just let my powers grab onto the heat of the sun around us, and then I follow it further from myself. I can’t seem to reach far enough to charge from the sun itself, though. The connection actually weakens the farther I get. It feels like I’m the only one providing any heat after a while.”
“Well, if you’re only pushing your magic outside yourself at a greater distance, that’s one skillset you’re using,” I pointed out. “Markus made it sound like this is only one of the fundamental skills required to achieve charge from a raw form of our elements. I had to let my magic travel miles down to the ferox stratum, but then I had to get to work translating that heat into something I could charge from. What’s your next step besides getting closer to the sun?”
“Figuring out how to connect with it on a different level, I guess,” Aurora answered as her eyebrows knitted together even more.
“Try drawing it into yourself in a different mindset,” I suggested. “From wherever you can reach, but before you feel like the connection is weakening. How far out are you going?”
“I reached about three thousand miles yesterday,” the half-elf admitted, and I abruptly put my engraving tool down.
“What?” I demanded.
Aurora blushed and rolled her emerald eyes. “I know it sounds so far, but like I said, it’s not getting me to where I need to be.”
“It doesn’t sound far, it is far,” I clarified. “Really, really far. Aurora, you’re waaay outside the fucking atmosphere at that distance.”
“How can you be outside of an atmosphere?” Aurora snorted as she waved an arm through the air. “It’s everywhere.”
“It isn’t,” I assured her. “Scientists from my world determined centuries ago that the atmosphere of a planet is a layer of gases surrounding it and held in place by gravity. The atmosphere is what traps the heat of the sun inside, and it only reaches so high up. Outside the atmosphere, you’re in space, and it gets real cold real fast without anything to trap the heat at all.”
“What?” the half-elf groaned. “Mason, how do you know these things? And why didn’t you tell me about them?”
“I never know what’s common knowledge in this realm,” I chuckled. “But think about what that could mean for you. You’re fucking far out there, but if you’re not feeling some heightened connection to the sun doing that, then what if--”
“Shit,” Aurora cursed as she dropped her face into her palms. “Godsdamnit! Am I supposed to be travelling outward and not up?”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “I have no idea how Ignis magic works.”
“It would make sense,” the half-elf sighed. “Markus told you an Ignis Mage could harness the power of the sun, but did he specifically say ‘reach’ the sun?”
“Not that I can remember,” I admitted. “I just assumed.”
Aurora nodded. “Me, too. What if I could travel upward, though, and then split my magic off and send it coursing throughout the atmosphere? You said that’s where the heat of the sun is trapped. So, if I’m not just embodying one point and traveling through the heat, but expanding my presence to connect with all of it, wouldn’t I be connecting with the power of the sun on a massive scale?”
My grin widened as the half-elf’s emerald eyes glittered with this realization, and I promptly nodded in agreement.
“But only if I can expand my presence like that in the first place,” Aurora added.
“Considering you’re reaching three thousand miles, I have a feeling you can absolutely do that,” I informed her. “You’re also a freak of nature who could light fires on the other side of the world if you wanted to.”
“Do what?” Nulena cut in, and Aurora and I chuckled when we saw the ebony woman twisted all the way around on the bed. “Aurora, is that true?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” the half-elf laughed. “One thing at a time, okay?”
“But think about what we could--” the ebony woman tried, and Aurora shook her head as she crossed her legs again and closed her eyes.
“Shh… I need to try something,” the half-elf muttered.
I smirked and left a kiss on the back of her hand before I picked up my engraving tool, and I began summoning elements for the sight rune while the Baroness groaned behind me.
I knew it was probably impossible for her to resist cataloging the deadly possibilities Aurora’s magic could bring into the game, and Cayla chuckled like she knew this, too, while I heard another pistol being pulled from her pile.
“Couldn’t you do that?” Shoshanne asked the ebony woman. “What are the extent of your spectral powers?”
“Well, they’re Chaos based for the most part,” Nulena replied. “However, to some extent, immortals all possess similar powers. For example, transporting Mason’s soul to Nemris from Vasdor is something any immortal being could do if they weren’t so concerned about their precious laws.”
“But your specific powers can counter others, too?” Cayla clarified. “Like Rekekis?”
“Yes, but the relation between his and my powers are different than say… mine and Nemris’,” the Baroness explained. “I’m his spectra, and our forces naturally play well together. We’ve combined our efforts for eons because of this, and it can certainly be quite fun when we do, but we’re not working together anymore. When Chaos clashes with Destruction, the results are catastrophic. However, even when he was at his full strength, my powers have always held precedence over his.”
