by Jason Herc
I turned to the needle, trying to sense it. If it was Allura's Flame, it was technically my Flame, too. I reached for the two needles.
There it was, a sliver of my Flame. Slightly different, now that Allura had processed it, but I recognized its familiar sensation.
"What if I try this?" I asked out loud.
I tried to twist the needle, but it wouldn't respond to my efforts. I pulled and pushed, but the needle wouldn't respond to me.
Maybe it was too deeply embedded in the rock wall, or perhaps I wasn't able to guide needles yet like Allura.
The frustration mounted as I tried manipulating the needle. It was my Flame, wasn't it? Why wouldn't it obey me?
The black Flame in me flared as a sudden surge of intense irritation filled me. A small packet of the infernal aspect reached out and spilled into Allura's needles.
They exploded.
"Shit!" I covered my head with my arms as small fragments of rock sprayed us.
Ember stepped to the front, turning her back and shielding us with her outstretched wings.
Allura snatched a large chunk of rock from the air that was hurtling toward us.
"I'm faster, too," Allura said. She crushed the rock and dropped the pieces. "A little stronger."
"Did you see that?" I asked, feeling like a kid again. "I blew the fucking wall up!" I laughed, and Allura smiled at me.
"Can you do it, too?" I asked Allura.
She produced a third needle, flinging it across the room. After it had embedded in a new, undamaged section of the wall, she held her hand out and strained, frowning.
"I used my infernal Flame," I said.
Allura grimaced as she struggled with her newfound powers. "I can't separate the individual components," Allura said. She jerked her hand back, and the needle pulled back out of the wall an inch, but remained stuck inside it.
I raised an eyebrow. "You can recall them?"
Allura tugged again. The needle jerked out another inch. Then, it flew back to Allura's hand. She closed her fist, and the needle vanished.
"I reabsorbed the Flame." She looked at the section of wall that had been damaged by my explosion. "I have enough Flame for now, but it doesn't hurt to conserve it when possible."
I nodded. "Good idea."
So Allura and I could achieve different things with the same original Flame. She had greater control of the Flame she manifested, but she couldn't handle its separate components like I could.
I looked to Ember, wondering how my Flame would manifest fully in her, once I opened her first Node.
"What about you?" Allura asked. "Did you gain any strength of your own? Opening Nodes is a Seeker's first step to power. I know that much."
"How would I test that?" I asked. I reached down and picked up a fragment of rock. I tried crushing it, like Allura had done, but nothing happened. I squeezed harder. Still nothing.
This time, I reached for my Flame. Should I use my infernal aspect?
I decided not to. I had a hunch that my true Flame should have made me stronger without relying only on my darker power. Crowley had warned of its dangers if it grew too strong too quickly.
I dug deeper for the hot white Flame in my gut, then tried to crush the rock again.
This time, it cracked, but I still couldn't split it into pieces like Allura had done. Then again, I was pretty sure that the succubi had started at a higher baseline of strength than me.
After all, I was mostly human. They were demons.
I did have demon blood, if the others were right, but I had never noticed superhuman strength in the past. I was strong for my size, but no more than a well-trained human.
Until now. I looked at Allura, then Ember. I needed some way to keep track of progress, to tell if we were getting stronger.
"Let's fight," I said.
Ember tilted her head in confusion. "Fight? Don't you mean, fuck?"
I chuckled. "No, fight. I want to gauge our strength."
"Oh, I see," Ember said. "Who's first?"
"You and me." I removed my sword and dagger, placing them on the bed. "No blades, and no claws. We're not trying to hurt each other."
"I would never hurt my master!" Ember said in a shocked tone.
I stood opposite her in the center of the room, sizing her up. She was shorter than me, but her wings gave her a greater reach than me. She was faster and stronger than me, or at least she was before.
I had never matched myself with her directly, which is why I wanted to start calibrating ourselves against each other.
I stepped forward and threw a jab at her head. She deftly blocked it with her arm.
I wasn't trained as a fighter, although I had learned how to subdue patients in my last job. That had been on-the-job training.
In the past, I had been mostly a brawler, the few times I had to fight all out. I sent another punch at Ember, but she sidestepped it.
Seeing as she wasn't attacking and I wasn't much of a boxer, I charged her, grabbing her with both arms to knock her down.
Ember lowered herself and braced to meet my charge. We struggled, each trying to push the other one back, but no one budged.
"Are you holding back?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"No," Ember said in a slightly strained voice.
That was news. My strength was on par with Ember? She wasn't actively manifesting the small portion of Flame I had given her, though. Or maybe she had run out.
Her tail lashed around my lower right leg, tugging it out from underneath me. I stumbled and fell backwards with Ember on top of me.
In that tiny moment when I was falling, unable to control my direction, I instead reached for my Flame.
I spun and slapped the ground hard with one hand and rolled out from beneath Ember before either of us had touched the ground. I crouched in my new position, and Ember stared at me with wide eyes.
"That was fast!" Ember cried.
I wasn't quite sure what I had done, but I didn't think I had been following the proper laws of physics. Conservation of momentum, or something like that, had gone out the window.
"I used my Flame. Do you have any of my Flame left?"
Ember shook her head. "Barely any. I…I don't want to use it up."
"Soon, Ember, soon."
My strength roughly matched Ember's, currently, although she was likely more experienced at fighting. I had the upper hand on speed when I used my Flame. Her Flame wasn't reliable without an open Node.
I paused to channel a small amount of my Flame into Ember. At this distance and with blocked Nodes, only the smallest trickle reached her, but Ember sighed with satisfaction.
"My turn?" Allura asked.
I had barely started sparring with Ember, but I knew enough for now. "Your turn."
Allura didn't wait for me to get ready. She immediately whirled, sending the edge of her wing at my midsection.
I tried to scramble out of the way, but I couldn't move my body faster than the feathered bulk of her wing.
The wing slammed into me, knocking me a foot backward.
I reached for the wing, intending to use it as leverage to pull her off balance, but Allura whirled the other way, sending her other wing at me.
I let my Flame simmer for a moment before pouring a small flash of the infernal aspect into my arms.
I met the incoming wing with both forearms raised.
Allura's wings smashed into my forearms, but I hadn't budged. Allura yelped in pain.
She held up her hand right afterward, though. "That hurt, but mostly because I wasn't expecting it. I'm okay."
"Okay. Just keep talking. Let me know what's happening."
I moved in to attack closer, so she wouldn't be able to use her extended reach.
I grabbed her torso and lifted her up to throw her, but Allura flapped her wings hard, flying upward and pulling me along.
Allura bumped into the low ceiling, and I let go, dropping to the floor again.
She swooped down at me, but I
ducked low to avoid her.
She flew past me and landed on the floor again.
I tried to summon the same part of the bright Flame as before when I had sparred with Ember. I reached for it as I darted forward.
My legs blurred. In a fraction of a second, I was next to Allura with one fist raised to her head.
I hadn't been as fast as Crowley and his instant translocations, but I had been faster than I had ever thought possible.
Allura nodded in approval. "You're faster, and stronger. I like that."
She wrapped an arm around my own, the drew closer to kiss me.
"You're mine," she whispered.
I held her tightly by her shoulders and kissed her. I pulled away.
"No, you're mine. My Flame burns in you. Never forget."
Allura challenged me with her fierce red eyes. Then, she lowered them.
"You're right." She paused. "Master."
"Master?" I looked back at Ember. "You hear that? You're a bad influence on her."
Ember giggled. "Well, I am a succubus. I'm supposed to be a bad influence."
Despite Ember's light attitude, I could tell that she wanted more. She had been my first succubus, but Allura had ended up being the first one to truly receive my Flame's blessing.
I opened my spatial band's portal and pulled out a demon core. It was the smallest one I had in my possession, the one that I had received from a fire gnat.
"What are you doing?" Ember asked.
"Trying to see if I can recover enough Flame to open your Node as well."
"Is that safe?" Ember asked.
"It's tainted with infernal Flame," Allura said. "Too much could overwhelm you."
I held up the golf-ball sized orb. A soft yellow light lit up my hand.
"Just one. I'll try one and see what happens."
"Do you know how to absorb it?" Ember asked.
"I think so."
With that I let my Flame flare brighter, focusing on the inner pure Flame, rather than the infernal aspect. My Flame surged forward like it had when I exploded Allura's needles. The Flame was white this time.
Instead of spilling uncontrollably into the demon core, the Flame consumed the demon core, drawing upon it as fuel.
The demon core vanished from my hand, but I knew where its stored Flame had gone.
My Flame burned in my gut now, slightly brighter than before. It had worked.
The downside was that the incremental increase in my Flame's size had been very small.
I made a face as my Flame gurgled, then settled down. The black outer Flame threatened to grow larger, but I held it in check.
"What is it?" Allura asked. "I felt that, too. A ripple."
My Flame had calmed down again. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think my Flame burped. It's the infernal aspect."
I would have to be careful absorbing the rest of the demon cores, in case I ran into a case of spiritual indigestion.
Or I would have to find a source of purer Flame, not contaminated by infernal components, if such a thing even existed in the Abyss.
"That's enough for now," I said as a sudden surge of weariness swept through me. I shut and opened my eyes, then rubbed the side of my head.
Ember wrapped one warm wing around me like a blanket. "You're tired, aren't you? You're not used to using your Flame with such…intensity." She looked at Allura's abdomen as she spoke.
"You're right. I think I need some rest. Are either of you tired?"
Allura smiled. "Demons don't sleep. Once you gain your full strength, you won't need to, either."
I nodded as I made my way to the bed.
"Allura, you stand guard," I said.
"Yes. I mean, yes, master." Her eyes twinkled with amusement.
I pulled Ember to bed with me. "And you, Ember. You keep me warm."
"Gladly!" Ember cried, wrapping me in her wings as we lay down together.
"We need to see Crowley tomorrow," I murmured. "Find out more about this Seeker business."
"Yes, master," Ember said softly.
Nestled in the comfort of Ember's wings and arms, I soon fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER 16
I woke up to find myself alone in bed. My eyes quickly adjusted to the candlelight that filled the room.
I raised my neck and looked over to find Ember leaning against the wall with her legs spread apart. Allura was kneeling in front of her, her mouth lapping at Ember's crotch.
Ember was grinding her hips into Allura, her mouth open in soundless moans.
I suppressed a chuckle. My two succubi appeared to be getting on fairly well. I watched for another few seconds. Then, I made a coughing sound.
Both women froze. Ember's eyes darted to mine. Allura turned to look at me as well.
"You were supposed to be standing guard," I chided, my tone light.
Allura stood up and walked over to me. "I'm so sorry, master."
"We made a bet," Ember said. "And I was winning." She had a pleased expression on her face.
"Bet?"
"Who could last longer without making a sound," Ember explained as if that was a perfectly reasonable bet.
I shook my head. I had to remind myself that these were succubi, not ordinary women.
"I'm glad the two of you are enjoying each other's company, but next time, follow orders."
While I didn't mind the two of them having some harmless fun, I wanted to draw the line somewhere. We were going to be together for a long time, possibly forever, depending on how far I could go as a Seeker. I had to lay down the expectations from the start.
"Yes, master," Ember and Allura said together.
"How long was I asleep for?" I asked. I hadn't seen a single clock since arriving in the Abyss, and the Night Fog's cycle had been the only indication of the passage of time.
I checked the candles as well, but they seemed the same as before, their wicks burning endlessly by some magic.
"You slept through the Night Fog," Allura said.
"We can go see Crowley, if that's what you were wondering," Ember said. "I think he came to check on you a little while ago."
"He came here?"
"He sent a pulse of his aura, like a greeting," Allura said. "A kind of knock, if you will. It felt the same as the yesterday when he released a portion of his aura."
"I see. Sounds like he's taken care of the Imperial agent." Had they fought? Had Crowley killed him? Or had he weaseled his way around the agent with his words. "Let's go find Crowley."
I gathered my sword and dagger, which someone had moved to the floor underneath the bed. I strapped them on, then opened the door and headed back into the aqueduct tunnels with Ember and Allura at my sides.
We retraced our path back to Crowley's underground room. Along the way, I checked my Flame. It looked about the same, or perhaps slightly more vigorous then when I had fallen asleep. I needed to find out how to grow it faster.
When we reached Crowley's room, I stepped to the open entrance and peeked inside.
"Crowley?" I asked.
The beggar was seated in the middle of the room with his back to the entrance.
"Enter," he said, not bothering to turn around or ask who we were.
The three of us stepped inside and waited. Crowley threw some bones into the corner of the room, and I realized that he had been eating something.
He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, sneezed loudly, then turned around.
"Well, well, well. Look at you. All grown up," he said while peering at me with his dark eyes. He glanced over at Allura. "You've opened her first Node, as well. Marvelous. How does it feel?"
"I think I'm faster and stronger, but not as much as I had hoped. My Flame also feels different. It's a little thicker, if that makes sense."
Crowley nodded. "Yes, yes. Excellent progress. You're ready for your next lesson. Did you manage to circulate your Flame through your first Node?"
I had wanted to ask Crowley about the Imperial agent, but I figured it
was better to let him take the lead for now. "Yes. It was much easier than before with Ember. And a portion of my Flame continues to circulate through Allura, even when I don't think about it.
"Wonderful. As to your concern about strength, fear not. Opening a Node gives you access to greater strength, but it takes time to reach your full potential. To do that you must nurture and cultivate your Flame."
"Like when I circulate it?"
"Exactly, except you should strive to achieve two things. First, focus on the power of your Flame as it circulates through your two bodies and your first Node. At this stage, you want to imagine yourself churning a torrent of immense flame through the channels of your body. You want a mighty river, not a small creek. This will teach you how to work with your Flame."
"Okay. I think I can do that."
"Second, focus on pushing the Flame outward against the boundaries of your channels. Your Flame will cleanse both of your bodies of their weaknesses, removing impurities and replacing them with renewed flesh. This is what will make your body faster, stronger, and more durable."
"Durable?"
"Yes. You can resist minor injuries and recover faster from more serious injuries. Consciously circulating your Flame will speed up this cleansing process."
"What happens when I open more Nodes, then? Will that make me even stronger?"
"Eager, aren't you?" Crowley chuckled, glancing over at Ember. "Yes, opening more Nodes helps in two ways. For ordinary Seekers, it lets their Flame more efficiently reach new parts of their body. In your case, your Nodes aren't in your own body, though. The second way it helps is that the longer path of circulation lets you build up more momentum, which lets you build up a more potent torrent of Flame."
I frowned slightly. "This is getting complicated."
"Think of a heavy ball tied to a chain. You swing the ball in a circle and strike the enemy. Now imagine the same ball attached to a longer chain. You swing the ball in a circle again. Which weapon will strike harder?"
"The one with the longer chain."
"It's the same with your Flame. The longer path you take, the more potent your Flame circulation. There's another crucial step for circulating your Flame that I haven't mentioned yet, though. Can you guess?"
I thought for a moment. Pushing my Flame around made sense. So did pushing against its boundaries. My Flame seemed to follow defined Paths. I would push against the edges of those boundaries. Except…
