Why was she feeling a rush of anticipation? I had a sinking feeling I knew where this was going.
“I see. Then you’ll be on your way come morning?”
“W-what?” Her shock quickly turned to indignation. She planted her hands on her hips and thrust her chest out, as if those mountains needed any emphasis. “Just like that? I had heard that Daniel the Black was a fearsome war wizard, not a craven weakling who would give up at the first hint of a challenge.”
I fought the urge to facepalm. Why are the hot ones always crazy? Well, fuck it. I didn’t have time to play games with her, but I had other options.
“A wizard doesn’t dance to the tune of every pretty face to wander by,” I said. “Cerise, our guest is too busy indulging her kinky fantasies to be serious right now. Take care of that for me, will you?”
Cerise sat up eagerly. “For real? You’re spoiling me, Daniel. First the skimmer bike, and now a pet nymph? This is going to be so much fun.”
Corinna made a show of looking pissed, but I could feel her surge of excitement as she looked Cerise up and down. “You think this little girl can master the Black Fang? Hah! I’ll make you kneel and beg to lick my feet, wench!”
Corinna unleashed her allure, and I had to grip the arms of my chair to keep myself from throwing her over the table and fucking her senseless on the spot. The one maid who was still in the room collapsed to her knees with a whimper, and Avilla didn’t fare much better.
Cerise growled an incantation, and the room grew dim as an unnatural darkness gathered around her. Corinna’s own shadow rose from the floor and coiled about her limbs, binding her in place long enough for Cerise to reach her and push her back against the wall. She took a handful of the nymph’s hair and pulled her head back roughly. Her fangs grazed Corinna’s throat.
The captive nymph struggled wildly, but it did her no good. More shadows rose from the floor, caressing her flanks and belly and heaving breasts. Cerise’s tail traced a line up her inner thigh, and I could smell their excitement from across the room.
“Come into my lair, tasty morsel,” Cerise growled softly. “And we will see who masters who.”
Then the shadows enveloped them both completely, and dissipated to reveal that they were gone. The room was silent for a long moment.
“I think I need fresh panties,” Tina said breathlessly.
All the remaining women in the room burst out in giggles.
“Me, too,” said Avilla.
“Ah, Corinna,” Pelagia said. “She’s a charming girl, but about as subtle as an avalanche. When she was young she spent some years with my grove, and I’m afraid we made a bit too much of an impression on her. Now she’s become quite brash about challenging anyone she thinks might be able to evoke those same feelings in her again.”
“I hope this isn’t an indelicate question, but am I correct in guessing that Cerise stands rather high in Dark Hecate’s favor?”
“High enough that her goddess bargained with Daniel here for her protection,” Avilla replied.
Pelagia looked impressed. “I see. And you are a hearth witch of remarkable strength, while Tina’s divine favor is unmistakable and Elin is a faerie lady in disguise. A most remarkable group. But no coven?”
“Not yet,” Avilla admitted, with a crafty little smile. “Soon.”
“Well, then. Daniel? As High Mistress of the Grove of Red Thorns I agree to your bargain, and submit myself to your will,” she purred suggestively. “My grove numbers four nymphs, three naiads, two hamadryads, a naga and eighteen dryads, all beloved sisters of refined appetites and exceptional beauty. Our lives are in your hands now, but I feel certain you will care for us well.”
Avilla smiled. “Now that’s how you do it.”
“Is it? It didn’t sound very subtle to me,” Elin commented.
“Sometimes one must forsake subtle games,” Pelagia said smoothly. “But there is a wide gulf between a pleasant invitation, and a petulant demand. Wouldn’t you agree, my lord?”
Yeah, having this sensual creature call me ‘my lord’ was doing all kinds of things to my libido. But a supernaturally beautiful manipulator with god knows how many centuries of experience was not someone to take lightly. I had a feeling that everything she did was precisely calculated, and it was pretty obvious what her aim was.
“I’d say you have a good grasp on the art of getting men to give you whatever you want,” I agreed. “Just remember what I said about not causing trouble.”
She nodded seriously. “I promise you, Daniel, you will not regret taking in me and mine.”
“Good. Then I think we’re done here.”
Tina squirmed in her seat. “Finally! Does that mean we can get to the sex now?”
“I’m afraid not, sweet kitten,” Pelagia answered. “For our lord is a kind and generous man, who won’t leave our people to freeze in the dark for another night. But I’ll be happy to give you relief while he arranges things.”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry, Tina, but she’s right. You girls can do what you want, but I can see I’ve got my work cut out for me tonight. If the other nymphs are anything like you three nothing else is going to get done on this island until you’ve got a place of your own with doors that lock. Elin, how are you feeling? Are you up to helping me with some water summoning enchantments?”
“M-me? Oh, I suppose it would be. Um, yes sir, I can do that.”
“Great. Let me have a word with Captain Rain, and then we can plan this out.”
Chapter 18
In many ways the dryad habitat was my most ambitious project to date. The island was more massive, of course, but creating a good growing environment for a grove of trees involved far more complexity. Since dryads tend to live in especially large trees I was also going to need a huge enclosed space compared to anything I’d attempted before, and of course it needed to allow for the addition of large agricultural spaces while still being defensible.
At least I didn’t have to worry about moving the trees. That was a problem my immigrants had already solved, although I gathered it hadn’t been easy.
“A powerful dryad can take her tree into her humanoid form for a short time,” Demetrios explained when I asked. “Sort of the reverse of what they normally do when they hide in their trees. Nymphs have long known how to bond with a dryad and blend their magic as well, and they have a lot more power than you might think. When you see the older ones with weapons and armor of wood, those are actually the bodies of their dryad familiars. Of course, most nymphs can only support one or two uprooted dryads at a time.”
“When I realized we were going to have to move the grove Zoe and I went to Pelagia, and together we worked out a ritual to uproot all of our dryads at once. We barely managed to pull that off even with all the ancients in her grove, and we’ve been struggling to keep it up. I’m glad we got here when we did, because a few more days of travel would have broken the spell and we’d never manage it again. In these conditions the dryads can’t rest in their trees without going into hibernation.”
“One more reason not to put this off, then,” I mused. “So, how much space is your grove going to need?”
It took twenty minutes of pacing off distances and planting markers to work that out, under the glare of a half-dozen lights I’d put up on poles. Demetrios wanted each of the three groups of dryads planted as a separate grove, arguing that there would be all sorts of problems if we intermingled them. But that only added to the complexity, especially since Pelagia’s group needed a decent-size pool for their naiads as well.
It was actually Elin who suggested the final layout. A large rectangular structure, with internal walls dividing it into five sections of unequal sizes. The two larger groves would get the big rooms at the ends, Corinna’s group could have a smaller room in the middle, and the two connecting areas could house our first agricultural plots. It was a much simpler design than the towers and domes I’d been thinking of, if not as pretty.
Unfortunately the plot of bare
earth I’d left in the middle of my island turned out to be too small, so I had to start by removing thousands of cubic feet of stone so that all the trees could have deep earth for their roots. I congratulated myself on having the foresight to include banishment effects in the island seed’s enchantment as well as the summoning, or that would have been just about impossible. The island’s defensive enchantments were designed to resist any earth magic but its own, and given the size of the thing the amount of energy in its structural reinforcement enchantment was insane.
After the remodeling I filled in the space with dirt, and started on the new structure. A lattice of massive nickel-iron I-beams first, to frame the open spaces and provide support for everything else. Then a sloped roof of iron sheathed in slate over the whole thing, with a flat nickel-iron surface below that to serve as the ceiling for the habitat. There was a large attic space between the two, but since the ceiling was a good two hundred feet up I figured I’d have to put in an elevator to provide access to it.
The outer wall was a lot easier, although I continued my trend of overbuilding by making it twenty feet thick. With the embedded metal skeleton it was the strongest thing I’d made so far, although I did leave thinner sections along the sides where I thought I might expand the agricultural areas in the future. The inner walls were much thinner, only ten feet of stone. The main dryad habitats were just one big open room all the way to the ceiling, but given the amount of vertical space I decided it would be wasteful to do that with the agricultural areas. So instead those got a twenty-foot ceiling at ground level and twelve smaller floors above that were we could grow grain and vegetables.
All of that I could have done alone, but a cavernous dark space would have been useless. For making the habitat capable of supporting life Elin’s help proved even more invaluable than I’d expected. She knew a much better light spell than the one I’d intended to use, that produced actual sunlight instead of an orange fire-like glow. She also had her water magic, of course, and she grasped the concept of a sprinkler system instantly.
We wove the first light enchantment together around midnight, before I put up the outer walls. Her magic flowed more freely with the last of the mercury droplets finally extracted, daintily meshing with my own power in a practiced effort to lay down the needed enchantments without going too deep. I was a lot clumsier at first, and there were more of those odd moments of intimate feedback.
“Sorry,” I apologized as we moved to the second light. “I’m not used to working together with someone like this.”
She was blushing faintly, but trying to keep her composure. “I understand, sir. Please, you needn’t worry for my sake. Our resonance is hardly unpleasant.”
Indeed, if felt rather nice. Sort of like having one of those all-night conversations with an old friend on a topic you’re both passionately interested in, while having a few glasses of wine and cuddling with an affectionate pet. With most people I would have been worried and defensive about the bits of personal information that leaked across as our minds touched through our magic. But it was a mutual thing, and the bits of insight I gained into Elin’s mind set my worries at ease.
She was comfortable. Loyal. Safe, but never boring. Her mind was a well-oiled machine, a joy to watch in operation. Granted, there was a howling beast chained in the basement, but her self-control was amazing.
We spun enchantments together for most of the night. Lights, to make the habitat as bright as day. Self-filling water tanks feeding a maze of pipes and sprinkler heads. A temperature control system. Even a simple illusion over the roof of each habitat, to make it look like sky.
Elin’s magic was actually a little stronger than mine now, and she held up her end of the enchantment work long after I would have passed out without my artificial enhancement. She took breaks now and then while I worked on the earth magic and structural enchantments, but even so her endurance began to run out before we were finished. I stopped her when she nearly fumbled one of the water enchantments, and had to gather her flagging strength to finish it.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said. “I don’t think I can go on.”
“You’ve nothing to apologize for,” I reassured her. “I’m amazed you were able to do this much. I’ve got the pattern for the light spells down now, and we can do without the rest of the plumbing and the other illusion for a day or two.”
She sighed. “I know. I just… I was so flattered to be part of your great working. I wanted to finish it properly.”
I took off my amulet, and handed it to her.
“Here. Just remember to take it off if it starts feeding you too much. It isn’t smart enough to adjust itself.”
She donned the amulet with an uncertain frown, and then gasped.
“Daniel!”
I smiled. “Yes, Elin?”
“This is… it’s giving me so much… this is your secret power source! Why would you trust me with this?”
“Because I know I can. Besides, as long as we’re close together I can still pull from it even if you’re wearing it.”
She shyly took my hand. “Then I’ll have to stay close, won’t I?”
The transports returned just after dawn. They were packed to the gills with dryads, nymphs and stranger creatures, most of whom looked half-starved and three-quarters frozen. Several of the dryads had to be helped into the warmth of the shelter, and the men carried in the naiads on stretchers.
“It’s warm,” one of the dryads said, spreading her arms to the bright sunlight streaming down from the lights on the ceiling.
“The soil is so deep!” Another exclaimed.
Pelagia helped the naga slither past. The snake woman seemed groggy from the trip, and barely able to move herself.
“Here, let me show you where to go,” I told Pelagia. “It’s going to be a little cozy, but there should be room for all of your dryads to plant their trees without anyone being in the shade.”
She nodded in thanks, and followed me through the empty halls with the rest of her band following along behind. The agricultural areas were a vast dim twilight space, lit only by the distant glow spilling in from the dryad habitats. We’d concentrated on finishing those first, for obvious reasons, and the weary travelers looked around with interest as we came out into the light again.
The group had some interesting contrasts. The dryads came in a wide variety of browns and greys, like the bark of their trees, although hair in some shade of green was universal. Most of them looked like teenage athletes, with cute young faces and lithe curves packed with strong muscle. A few looked older, maybe early twenties, with somewhat more rounded figures. All of them were armed, with a varied assortment of spears and bows, and the way they carried themselves reminded me more of a pack of wolves than a bunch of innocent sex spirits.
The nymphs were all a few inches taller, averaging maybe five foot six compared to the five two of the dryads, which made them as tall as the average man in Varmland. They all had the same incredibly lush figures as the three I’d already met, with tanned skin and long hair in various shades of brown and black. The dryads all deferred to them so automatically it seemed instinctive, but they had a softer air about them than the fierce little tree spirits. They also banished their clothes as soon as they’d warmed up, and congregated around me with flirtatious gestures and longing looks as we walked.
The naiads were less human-looking, with tiny ears and long webbed fingers and toes. Their skin was pale white, their hair dark blue, and their mouths were full of sharp triangular teeth that reminded me unpleasantly of sharks. Aside from those oddities they had the same sort of athletic attractiveness as the dryads, although they seemed a little awkward walking about on land.
“This is much less pleasant than the place Zoe’s grove is getting,” one of the older-looking dryads remarked as we reached the end of the building, and it became apparent that only half the lights were working in this habitat. “Did we somehow offend you, lord wizard?”
“No, not at all. W
e’re just not finished with the enchantments yet. Which reminds me, Pelagia, where do you want the naiad pool? I wasn’t sure if it should be in the middle, or off to one side.”
Pelagia gently handed off the naga to a cluster of concerned dryads, and surveyed the room with a frown. “One of the corners, I think. Their pool was always the most secluded part of the grove, although I suppose real privacy will be impossible here.”
“We’re grateful to be alive at all, Mistress,” one of the naiads said. “Is it possible to have moving water, though? A stagnant pool will be choked with algae before long, and that would be hard to live in.”
I nodded, and called for Elin. She trotted over with a weary smile. “Yes? Ready to finish the job?”
The naiads did a double take, gasped, and hurriedly dropped to their knees.
“Milady!” One of them gasped. The other two stammered something in a liquid, musical tongue I hadn’t heard before.
Elin stared at them, nonplussed. “I’m no high lady of the faery, girls. The Summer Court has no place for a creature like me. Please, get up.”
They exchanged confused glances. “Yes, milady.”
She sighed. “My name is Elin. Please, just call me that.”
“As you say, Lady Elin,” they chorused.
“Ah, I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to it,” Pelagia put in with an amused smile. “A founding tenet of our sisterhood is to judge others by their nature rather than by the laws and decrees of other realms. By blood and power you are clearly a Lady of Faerie, and my girls will pay you proper respect whether the Courts accept you or not.”
I put an arm around her shoulders. “See, Elin? I’m not the only one who thinks you’re pretty amazing.”
“I… but… what… I’m not…”
“There’s no need to make a fuss, Lady Elin,” one of the naiads assured her.
“Yes,” said another. “We’re simply recognizing what is.”
“If you’ve been exiled from the Courts we’ll respect you all the more just to spite them,” the third put in. “We’re… what was that word, Mistress? Exy-pat-something or other?”
Black Coven (Daniel Black Book 2) Page 27
