by Brandon Fox
They clung together in a tight embrace. Ander felt the hard nubs of Dannel’s nipples against his chest, felt the press of a rampant cock against his own. He parted his lips and yielded to Dannel’s probing tongue, basking in the euphoria streaming through their bond.
Hands pulled him away from the kiss. Opening his eyes, he first saw Erik pulling Dannel back a step. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Skorri, looking flushed and aroused by the magic they were about to attempt.
Dannel was swaying. The elixir was hitting him hard, and Ander could feel lethargy stealing into his own limbs. He felt disoriented once separated from the anchor of Dannel’s body.
Thane moved close and peered into his eyes. “You’re both entering the trance. Lie down next to each other, focus on strengthening your bond. We’ll take care of the rest.”
Ander and Dannel settled on the floor side by side, their only touch a handclasp. In moments the potion’s effects overtook them. A feeling of lightness swept through Ander, making him feel as if he were floating free of his body. Dannel’s head was turned toward him, and his expression was filled with amazed joy.
Ander shivered as Thane’s fingertips lightly traced the muscles of his chest and abdomen. His skin tingled, the way it did when standing near a manifestation of energy from the kei. Erik and Skorri knelt at Dannel’s side and began to caress his torso with oiled fingers. Ander felt feathery echoes of their touch glide across his own flesh.
“Don’t try to speak,” Thane said softly. “Keep your minds on the bond. As your pleasure grows, so will the anima. Don’t be surprised by it. Help each other control it.” He poured raffia oil over his hands, then took Ander’s straining cock across the palm of his left hand. The fingers of his right hand moved delicately along the underside of the shaft and glans, tracing it with clear oil.
Bolts of pleasure raced from Ander’s phallus through the rest of his body. Through a haze of lust, he saw that Erik was pleasuring Dannel with the same caresses. Power coruscated through the bond as the firestone’s spell flooded Dannel’s body with anima. His eyes had rolled back, showing mostly white. Ander clasped his hand fiercely to give him an anchor, something to help prevent him from being swept away by the aching sweetness Thane and Erik were coaxing from their flesh.
Thane gave him brief respite, pressing his cock upward, then to one side and the other. The skin covering the shaft tugged at the glans with each movement. After a moment of gently squeezing the shaft, Thane eased it back down. It twitched against the tight muscles of Ander’s midriff. Then Thane circled the crown of the glans with his thumb and index finger and pulled with gentle pulses, tugging at the sensitive flesh as he traced over and around Ander’s balls with the fingers of his other hand. Erik matched Thane’s actions, stroking Dannel’s cock with excruciating delicacy.
“You’re doing fine,” Thane said softly. “You’re controlling the firestone’s power. Test your bond now, see if you can use it to touch the kei.” He wrapped a hand around Ander’s phallus and began to stroke.
Ander jerked as a searing bolt of ecstasy shot through him and his cock spewed a jet of come the length of his body. The second blast was as strong as the first. It splattered his cheek as Thane’s hand moved up and down the length of his phallus. He was dimly aware of Dannel thrashing at his side, of their handclasp and the aching strain on their bond. Eleven times his cock spat, his balls pulled up tight and hard as Thane coaxed semen from his cock. He felt Dannel’s ecstasy at the slippery glide of Erik’s hand along his spasming phallus.
Unleashed anima spiraled as they touched the kei. Something stirred. Within a heartbeat it blossomed and exploded from the kei into the ordinary world. Ander’s eyes rolled back as he succumbed to overwhelming power.
Chapter Ten
A JOLT knocked Thane off balance. He toppled backward as an angry red cloud three feet across shimmered into existence at the back of the cave. It pulsed and twisted like a fireball, dazzling yellow fissures erupting and twisting across its surface.
Ander and Dannel were motionless, their eyes open but unfocused. Banshee wails echoed down the valley from the direction of the Aerehoth Gate. The short hairs on the back of Thane’s neck stirred as he thought for the first time that the Gate’s ancient builders might still live. Something powerful had awakened when Dannel and Ander had touched the kei.
“Go see what’s happening at the Gate,” he told Erik and Skorri. “Keep out of sight. And watch each other’s backs. I’ll look after Ander and Dannel.” They nodded and ran out the door.
Ander groaned. As Thane leaned toward him, the red cloud pulsed and spat a bolt of ruby light. The bolt hit Ander and raced across his body, then spread to Dannel’s. Both shuddered as if under the lash.
“Ander!” Thane reached for his hand. When their fingers touched, he was knocked back again. Thane’s arm felt like it was encased in ice.
Ander grunted like he’d been kicked, but the dazed expression faded from his eyes. “It’s alive,” he said. “It sees us now.”
Sweat beaded on Thane’s forehead. “We all have to get out of here.” He extended a hand toward Ander, cautiously this time, and felt the tingle of an invisible aura. He moved his hand closer, ignoring pain that tore like claws. A sense of hostility emanated from the fiery cloud, and it rumbled as if in warning.
Ander shook his head. “No. Too strong… can’t free us.” He grimaced as jagged lines of energy rippled over his body, tracing lines of muscle and limb, seeming to twist into characters and glyphs as they flickered.
“I won’t leave you,” Thane said, though the pain felt like a searing brand and sweat poured down his face. His hand moved forward another inch.
The red cloud erupted into a spinning fury, like a small tornado. It hissed angrily, and bolts of ochre light streaked down to two sticks lying on a pile near the fire. Thane ignored the fireworks and concentrated on penetrating the aura that held Ander and Dannel prisoner. He had almost mastered the pain enough to reach his companions when movement flickered at the edge of his vision. It came from the woodpile.
His heart thudded as he felt ripples moving through the kei like sharks streaking through water. He turned to the woodpile.
Two sticks, each a yard long, glowed with mottled blotches of shifting color. They quivered as light raced from one end to the other. Thane stepped back warily. Scents of hot sulfur and metal permeated the air. The sticks began to writhe, and the lights streaking along them brightened until it seemed they would burst into flame. Thane shielded his eyes against the brilliance. When it faded, the two sticks were gone. A pair of serpents slithered off the woodpile and moved toward him.
He edged back. Unlike most real serpents, these creatures were not shy. They moved with determined purpose. One of them slithered between Thane and the door. The other took position in front of Dannel and Ander. It raised its head and swayed back and forth like a drunken sentry.
Ander struggled to his knees, his face white with pain. “Run!” His voice was barely a whisper. “What we awakened is too strong. It’ll kill you if you stay.”
“Too late for running. I think I made it mad.” Thane swallowed, felt the dryness in his throat. Then he noticed one of the wicker baskets they had brought from the sweat lodge. It lay on its side halfway between him and the snake blocking the door. The creature started toward him.
Whatever had created the serpents was also guiding them; there was no time for caution. Thane dove for the basket and snatched it as he rolled to the side. The serpent streaked toward him. He brought the basket around in a desperate swing and slammed it down.
His timing was perfect. The creature slammed into the basket with a heavy thud. It thrashed violently, hissing and seeking a way out, but Thane held the basket against the floor and hoped the wicker would hold.
One of the stones used for making steam was near enough to reach. He pulled it from the bed of pine needles, relieved it had cooled enough to handle without blistering skin, while holding the basket with h
is other hand. He put the rock on top of the basket as the serpent guarding Ander and Dannel advanced on him.
Ander struggled to his feet, barely able to maintain his balance. “Watch out!”
“I see it.” The second snake, shiny green with golden bands circling its body, was smaller than the first and seemed more wary.
“Run,” Ander repeated. “It’s poisonous, like a cantrip. I can sense it.”
“I’m not leaving you. Stay back, you’re too weakened to fight.” Thane glanced around the room, searching for weapons. One of the heftier sticks on the pile near the fire looked promising. He took a step toward it.
A golden beam speared from the red cloud and bathed Thane’s face in dazzling light. He staggered, his vision swimming with afterimages. The serpent moved forward to strike.
“No!” Ander lurched forward, collapsing as his legs folded beneath him. His outstretched arms flailed as he fell, but he managed to grab the snake by its tail.
Thane rubbed his eyes. Through the blurred spots, he saw Ander’s fall. The snake lashed violently, but Ander’s hands were strong from years of playing guitar, and he held the creature tight. Hissing furiously, the beast whipped around. Its fangs plunged into Ander’s right bicep.
Ander screamed, an incoherent cry of agony. He seemed to shimmer like a ghost. Within two heartbeats, he was motionless.
At the moment of Ander’s scream, Dannel jerked like a puppet whose strings had been yanked by a malicious child. He jumped to his feet, eyes wild, automatically assuming a fighting stance. He glared at the fiery red cloud with teeth bared. The manifestation was more solid now, like the crater of a volcano oozing lava through bleeding fissures.
Thane, still dazed, took a step toward Dannel and Ander.
“Stay back!” Dannel held up a hand to command obedience. He was a warrior now, despite his nakedness, all uncertainty put aside. The firestone glistened on his ear like a tiny sun. Thane stopped.
“Ander’s—” Thane began.
“I know. It’s an avatar, and it’s almost ready to strike.”
The queasy sensation of reality slipping sideways hit Thane again as forces surged in the kei. The air throbbed with potential. He felt as if he were standing on top of a mountain in the middle of a lightning storm.
Dannel bellowed a defiant challenge, taking three running steps and leaping for the manifestation. Few dancers could have matched his feat. His outstretched hands reached for the fireball as if he meant to snatch it from the air. The leap was true. His fingers touched the avatar.
The sense of hostility that had permeated the sweat lodge vanished in a burst of what felt like surprise. The avatar disappeared, and Dannel’s fingers closed around emptiness.
Thane watched in astonishment as Dannel tucked and tumbled to the floor, landing heavily on his right shoulder. He rolled to his knees and retched with dry heaves.
Ander was panting, his teeth clenched. The snake that had attacked him was gone, but he clutched at the spot where he had been bitten. Thane knelt at his side and pried his lover’s fingers away from the wound. He nearly choked. Physical contact reinforced their bond, and Ander was in agony. The gash on his bicep was no ordinary snakebite. Blood seeped from two ragged punctures, but the venom was magical rather than chemical. Flesh around the wound looked as shiny as glass and rippled like a lake’s surface during a storm.
Thane was still examining the injury and trying to fathom the spell when Dannel crouched beside him, his ashen face glistening with sweat.
“You feel it too?” Thane asked after a glance at Dannel. “You can still feel a bond with him?”
“Yes.” Dannel looked miserable. “It’s my fault. The hierophants warned us not to pry into their secrets. I should have listened.”
Thane turned back to examining Ander. “Never believe people who tell you not to ask questions. You did nothing wrong.” He held Ander’s arm so Dannel could see the injury. “Ever see anything like this before?”
Dannel leaned close, then shook his head. “No. I think an avatar attacked us. The hierophants pray to them, but I don’t think they’ve ever really seen one.”
“Why not? And what’s an avatar?”
Dannel wiped his forehead, looking sick but determined. “It’s an incarnation of a god. At least, the hierophants say they’re gods. They have paintings of them. But they always spoke of waiting for their return. If they’d seen one, they would have said so.”
Thane’s frown deepened. “We might have awakened something they failed to summon in all their years of trying. We’ll have to figure out what to do ourselves. Be still while I try something.”
Dannel rocked back and sat with his arms wrapped around his knees, disconsolate.
Thane leaned over Ander. Their eyes met and held. Ander looked fevered and wild, as if pain held his reason at bay. Thane brushed a lock of hair from his eyes and gently kissed his forehead. When he pulled back, Ander’s gaze seemed less agitated.
“Seek our bond,” Thane said softly, squeezing his hand. “You’ve learned to master pleasure. You can master pain as well. I’ll help.”
Ander’s attempted reply was a hoarse croak, but Thane knew he had heard and understood. His heart ached at his partner’s bravery; he had taken the snakebite without the slightest hesitation and was facing his pain with the same resolve. Another spasm shook Ander’s body, and Thane’s heartache turned to fear. There was no time to spare.
Thane lay down beside Ander and held him in a tight embrace, then closed his eyes. Pain boiled as he focused on their bond. It seemed as if needles ran through his veins, radiating from his right arm through the rest of his body. He began to sweat yet felt as if he were freezing. The spell was growing, feeding on Ander’s anima, an infection of the life force itself.
Amid the pain, he also sensed a presence huddled in a tight defensive kernel. It pulsed weakly but was still tinged with the strains of curiosity and lyrical beauty that marked it unmistakably as Ander. It called to him with a plaintive wail.
Joining with Ander had become nearly effortless in the past weeks, a joyous reunion rising on fountains of shared pleasure. This time the effort was a battle. The serpent’s spell fought at every step. Needles of pain became daggers. They seemed to tear at him, ripping flesh to tatters as he sought the heat of Ander’s spirit. He tried to ignore the torment but could not. He kept fighting anyway.
His heartbeat was like thunder in his ears, and he felt he was suffocating, but Ander’s need drew him on until he reached the besieged core where his lover’s mind sheltered.
Touching Ander’s spirit was like balm on tortured flesh, though he had no chance to savor it. The magical attack was draining his strength at an alarming rate.
Communication was impossible, but no words were needed to understand what Ander had been enduring. Fatigue was like a crushing weight, and the onslaught continued unabated. Thane opened his empathic link with Ander to its fullest. His partner’s relief at his presence, mingled with desperation, gave him strength.
Now that he was at the focus of the attack, Thane could see the nature of the spell more clearly. It was unlike any magic he’d previously encountered; it lacked the spark of anima that engendered magic at the lyceum but also lacked the stench of the zamindar’s blood magic. The feeling was ancient and cold, as if magic could spring from the earth itself. It was relentless as a hurricane.
Thane faced the maelstrom and sought a way to defeat it. But despite his best efforts, there was no way to dissolve the spell. No knot, no weak point, no gap in the assault could be found. He could tell Ander sensed his frustration and that his assurance was beginning to waver. Even an adept would quickly be overwhelmed by such an attack, and Ander was new to the magical arts.
Time had run out. Withering forces flayed him as if he were being laid open by a lash. Blackness tinged his vision.
As consciousness started to fade, he felt a vast force rise beneath him, like a whale rising beneath a swimmer. It churned with chaotic en
ergy. At first he thought it was a new line of attack. Then he caught an echo of proud defiance and recognized the presence. Dannel!
Thane opened himself to the fountain of power and let it flow through him. He met the spell’s whirlwind with his own torrent.
The energies struggled like two tigers, snarling and tearing into each other. To Thane’s amazement, the power flowing from Dannel seemed bottomless. Drawing on it only seemed to strengthen the flow. With the realization came victory. The energy unleashed by the spell, though nearly indestructible, was not limitless. Thane encircled it and squeezed until nothing was left. The effort left him quaking and drenched with sweat.
He opened his eyes. His arms still encircled Ander, whose heart thumped beneath his hands with reassuring steadiness.
Dannel crouched at his side and watched him intently. His eyes blazed, and a shimmer of golden anima still flickered around both his hands.
“What happened?” Thane asked. His voice was ragged. “I felt your help. But how?”
Dannel’s gaze never left Thane’s. “I had to do something. Ander stopped breathing, and you were turning white. You said I was a conduit. So I put my hands on yours and hoped you’d find something that helped.”
Ander stirred. His eyes flickered open, and he groaned. Thane kissed his neck and gave him a gentle hug. “Easy,” he said softly. “We almost lost you. Do you remember what happened?”
Ander grimaced, then nodded. “I wish I didn’t.” His voice was haunted. “It’s a nightmare I’ll never forget.” He shifted to nestle more comfortably against Thane. “But you came for me. I knew you would.”
“Dannel came too. We would have died without his aid.”
Ander looked to Dannel. “Thank you.”
Dannel shifted uneasily. “You’ve no need to thank me. I caused the trouble in the first place. It almost killed you.”
“You didn’t cause the harm,” Thane said. “You’ve been used by the hierophants, a tool. Your only decision was to fight for your freedom and your friends. And to seek knowledge, a decision that’s brave and honorable.” He paused, eyebrows pulled down as he thought. “A decision that pays rewards too. Think what we learned.”
