Guardian

by Amanda McLaren

  “Whatever. That stupid horse took off with everything but my whip! How the fuck am I supposed to defeat a Gryphon with a whip?”

  I kicked a stone so hard it flew over the Azhi’s head.

  She smiled at me, setting up a small lean-to over a bed of grass and sticks. “Perhaps the old bear war god’s still on your side, hmm?” I gave her a look at the mention of the god and the allusion to her story. “I’ll be helping you even if he doesn’t, anyway. I’ll make sure the Gryphon gets low enough for you to fight.”

  Soothed, I lay on the little bed of woven grass and sticks. It was amazingly more comfortable than the hide I was accustomed to. Even if it was a little cramped; Sanquility lay practically on top of me.

  Wait…

  “Did you do this on purpose?” I demanded angrily. The Azhi leaned over and kissed me.

  “Yes. I love the feel of your skin against mine, Kari.” The wolf woman purred.

  Waves of desire pulsed from her to me. I kissed her back eagerly, tracing her arm with my finger from the wrist to her shoulder. Then I followed her shoulder down to her collar bone. I traced the powerful bone a moment before sliding it right above her heart, where I paused to feel its rapid beat. With a cocky smile, I followed her chest to her boobs, where I began to trace a tit slowly as I enjoyed her gasps of pleasure.

  This time San didn’t pull away. The little brown nipple hardened into a near point. Lifting up her shirt, I put it gently in my mouth and began to suck. She snagged a fistful of hair and firmly shoved me against her boob, making a little sound of pleasure in the back of her throat.

  She didn’t even need to touch me for me to begin feeling that prick of hot desire, and I knew it was from our bond. I reached down with my free hand to rub her over her pants. She parted her legs in invitation; then her hand played with my boobs. First around them both in circles; then taking one in her hand to squeeze it, then the other.

  I let the pleasure wash over me.

  Suddenly an image of Lyrea passed through my mind, charging me with a desperate need for her and not San. I felt myself pull away when Sanquility tried to kiss me.

  Sanquility glared at me. “You were just enjoying it. Now you’re thinking about Lyrea and don’t want me?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to, San.” I shifted uneasily in the bed.

  Gods, why must Lyrea do this? She’s going to cause me problems.

  The Azhi gave me a long, thoughtful look. I could have sworn I felt her thinking. “Is that what’s going on between you and Lyrea? She uses her magic to have sex with you, and if you don’t she hits you?”

  “Quinn used magic too.” I stated flatly, my eyebrows furrowing. “At least I enjoy it with Lyrea; when he uses it, it’s not the most pleasant feeling in the world. It’s not like I’d let her hit me around if she tried. Besides, I don’t refuse.”

  Sanquility propped herself up on her elbows. “Kariken, would you ever have sex with Lyrea if she didn’t make you want her?”

  “No. She’s…” I swallowed hard, unable to finish that sentence.

  The Azhi’s eyes went wide. “She rapes you, doesn’t she?”

  “It’s not rape if I’m willing.” I told myself as much as her. “Like I told you; it’s an agreement between the two of us – I let her use the magic.”

  “Who is she protecting you from?” Sanquility’s voice shook; it was so soft and cold I couldn’t answer for a few seconds.

  “She keeps Quinn off my back.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Quinn is a very powerful mage, drunk or not, and if I refuse her I’m fair game. If I try to mess with Quinn, they both have the political connections to get Fay and I both fired and kicked out of the temple.” I said through ground teeth. Through our conversation, that nagging need just grew. It was aggravating, especially since I didn’t want anything to do with San. I wanted Lyrea, and she wasn’t here. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this. We were busy.”

  I reached over for her nipple again. Her hand stopped me very gently.

  “You don’t want sex, especially not with me. The only reason you’re hot is because of my sister.”

  “What’s your point, San?”

  “I’m not my sister, or that deranged mage. If you don’t want me, I’m not pushing it.” The anger in her voice didn’t help my mood.

  I snapped back. “There’s no need to get snippy with me. I can still get you off.”

  The wolf Azhi met my eyes. Her voice was stern. “Kariken, I’m not fucking you when you don’t want me!”

  Desperate, I said the first thing that came to mind. “Why the fuck not? Why would an Azhi care if a human wants her or not?”

  “I can’t help it, Kariken! The soul-bond forces us to care about our mates!” Sanquility snarled heatedly.

  Her words crumpled all my anger into dust. “W-what?” I felt my entire body become slack with the shock of it. All of sudden the desire vanished. I felt Lyrea’s mind fade from mine.

  The Azhi sighed, rubbing her temple in stressed frustration. “It’s used for mating. It’s not a control devise; it’s not for enslaving humanity. It’s used for mating. Always has been, always will be. You humans abuse and desecrate everything. That’s why the Fallen One wants to wipe you off the earth.”

  I was too hung up on mating to care that she’d just agreed with her old master’s wishes. When I could finally talk, it was to stammer out “W-what does that make me – to you?”

  Please, gods, don’t say sex slave…I already feel like I’m Lyrea’s.

  She pursed her lips in thought. “I think humans would consider you my wife. Not a sex slave. Are you begging me to fuck you? I don’t think so. You’ve never once been told to call me master – which is a whole lot better than some Azhi. By the Abyss, I think you’d like it if I called you master – at least during sex.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “So…you saved my life not for my soul…but because you wanted to fuck me?”

  The Azhi gave a rogue smile. “Who wouldn’t want you? You’re a beautiful warrior with great skill in combat. If you remember right, it wasn’t my first thought to let you keep your free will and make you my equal. I planned for you to be an easy target and a great new slave.”

  “So that vow…” My voice was hardly a puff of air. Part of me boiled in anger. Part of me trembled with a feeling of betrayal.

  She wanted to make me her slave! Bitch!

  Sanquility’s cheeks flushed; I felt her embarrassment blending with shame. “The end of the vow is a ceremonial union vow that joins us in love as well as war. I still got part of what I wanted…just not the way I wanted it. Now, the fucking bond is ruining my plans; I can’t imagine enslaving such an intelligent warrior.”

  “You bitch! You wanted to make me your sex slave! Now we’re married because you wanted in my pants!” I tried to squirm away from her, but she held me fast, making me feel trapped.

  My guardian lover swallowed hard. “That’s all Azhi need – the mother raises the children alone. The pairing rarely lasts longer than a week, even for same-sex couples. Humans – humans are different. They raise their kids together, so they need something more – something deeper. This…manipulated the bond. We have to stay linked mind to mind or it’ll drive us into madness.”

  “When can we break it?” I asked very quietly as I forced myself to become still. There was no reason to fight her; I wasn’t going to get free until she released me.

  “Kari, we can break it when we love each other. But by then we probably won’t want to, if I understand human love.”

  “L-love one another?”

  She gave a slow nod. I just stared at her with my mouth agape. Sanquility kissed my forehead in understanding before releasing me to curl up against me.

  Love. Love.

  The thought echoed in my mind over and over again until at last sleep found me and took it away.

  ~*~

  With Kariken in her arms, Anshumali reached into her mind. Perhaps she w
ouldn’t resist so much now – now that she trusted Anshumali more and saw she wasn’t much different than her own cruel self. The black wolf seeped into the recesses of the human’s mind.

  //Kariken, come to me. //

  “Anshumali,” Her subconscious whispered alive. Her soul responded as her body hugged her as tightly as possible with a groan.

  //Kariken, submit to me. //

  Her guards tried to raise, but they were useless now that they’d been formed to allow Anshumali through.

  She began to ripple her energy through her carefully but quickly, powering through the few guards that remained in her way. The human’s mind threw at her images of Kariken weeping over a man and protecting a little girl raced through her mind – then of the priest examining them. Anshumali gasped at the sound of the human’s screams for it to stop, then blood on a blade.

  Marks lined young skin.

  Growling to herself, the wolf Azhi backed out. Her breath shaking, she gently rolled back the Templar’s sleeves to see long, ugly scars that would never heal; there were far too many of them.

  They’re in Monobi runes…Kill…Me…Now…Stop…Pain…

  By the Fallen, that’s why she’s so twisted. All that pain…all that agony…

  I cannot take this woman. I cannot condemn her for her evil. It’d be like condemning me because I was forced to obey Him.

  Anshumali slipped deep into herself, finding her link to Him.

  ((My First Commander, why do you disobey me? Return to your mission and take Bloodstone.))

  With careful work and various, painful spells, the black wolf severed herself from her master. Burning, searing agony erupted through her. Anshumali turned away from the Templar just in time to vomit up blood.

  ((You are mine. Return to me and all will be forgiven now.))

  //I am yours no longer. I belong to nobody, and will follow who I please. //

  ((You will die for a human whelp you cannot even enslave.))

  //At least I will be free! //

  The pain, the emptiness…made her feel complete.

  What have I done?

  I need…to be alone.

  Staggering to her paws, the black wolf took wing. When she came across a traveler, she stalked him for an hour, but she couldn’t make herself take the easy kill. She couldn’t stop thinking about what that damn Templar would think. Looking to the sky, she saw dawn coming, and decided if she couldn’t be an Azhi, she would be a guardian and hunt for the woman she just gave up everything for.

  Chapter Five

  Under Her Spell

  When I woke, my so-called wife and the “gift-from-the-gods” Unicorn were nowhere to be seen. Having nothing else to do, I cleared the camp. Still, nobody. I bathed in the creek and stripped more fruit before nibbling at it.

  “Where are you, Sanquility? That Unicorn’s gone and I’m getting anxious to leave. We’ve a long road in front of us.”

  //I’m hunting. The Unicorn is going to help me carry my catch back to you. //

  “…Oh.”

  //That boar looks tasty. //

  I left her be, knowing she needed to focus if we were going to eat. I ate the last bit of my fruit before opening my personal journal.

  Early-Summer, Year of the Bear, 200 ATF

  Sanquility’s an excellent warrior. She’s proven herself more than once already as we trek to Mist Peak Village to fight a mysteriously summoned and enchanted Gryphon. She protected me from a fearsome and insane dragon. I was injured so severely Sanquility had to mend the wounds with magic.

  The dragon frightened off that stupid winged pony, Seishin, who took all of our supplies and my best weapons with him. It’s a good thing we can survive just fine without all that extra stuff. Thankfully a somehow domesticated Unicorn stumbled upon us and is intelligent enough to take us to the village by telepathic command.

  I was just informed the true purpose for soul-bounds for Azhi – well, the purpose between two Azhi, anyway. I’ve personally seen how most Azhi treat humans they’ve bound with. I’m Sanquility’s Anshumali’s mate – and therefore her wife. I don’t know if it’s a real marriage in the eyes of the law, but in the eyes of the gods and by Azhi law, I’m married to a damn wolf Azhi because she wanted to get in my pants.

  Is it going to be similar to what Lyrea does to me? A feeling I hate but can’t stop until she leaves? Or will it be closer to Quinn’s magic? I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of magic forcing something so…intimate. Something meant for more than what Anshumali wanted out of me.

  For now, I can’t say I hate her. But I certainly have no love for her.

  “I don’t see you write in your personal journal very much.” Sanquility’s voice made me slam the book shut, leap to my feet and ready my whip in one quick, fluid motion, spilling ink everywhere – including all over my last clean temple outfit.

  “Damn it, Sanquility!” I put my whip away.

  San came over to look at the stain. She used magic to remove the ink from the clothing and ground, turn the ink container right-side up and poor it back in. “Did I get all of it?” She was looking at the ground.

  I opened my journal. Some of the words were a little smeared, but it was legible. “Everything’s good.” I sighed with relief.

  “I didn’t mean to alarm you. I thought you were still listening to my thoughts, so I figured you knew I was heading back.”

  “Well you were obviously wrong.” I snapped as I put everything away.

  “You carried that on you?”

  “It fell out of the saddle bag. I just hope my record book is still in there.”

  It was then I noticed the huge boar on her back. The Unicorn snorted behind her; there was a mountain spring buck. Tied via horse hair around the neck were six plains birds.

  “…Wow.”

  “What?”

  “…Da fuck do you mean what? You killed all that in a few hours!”

  San gave me a look. “If we smoke it and freeze it, it’ll last. It’ll slow us down if I hunt every day, Kari. Want some jerky?”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at her casual reaction to such a feat. “I’ve no problem with that.” I helped her remove the meat from the Unicorn’s back. The moment all of it was off, he threw his head, took off running and mid-run, and threw himself to the ground to roll around enthusiastically in the dirt. We watched him in amusement as we skinned the hides.

  Sanquility hesitantly asked “So, what kind of magic does my sister use to…well, you know…?”

  I glowered suspiciously at her. “Why?”

  She mulled over her words before replying “I don’t like it. It’s practically rape, whether or not it’s physically hurting you, it’s pretty damn obvious you don’t truly enjoy it. Every time I try to have sex with you it’s like you expect me to beat the shit out of you – when she isn’t making you want her instead of me.”

  I growled back angrily. “It’s none of your business how she does it. I’m not giving you the ability to do it to me too; you’re already getting my soul and forcing me to love you. Do you need control over my sex drive too?”

  “I just want to stop her from doing it.” Sanquility assured me calmly and gently. Her eyes brimmed with the honest concern that her empathy allowed me to feel.

  “I’m not giving you the same control she has over me.” I went to stand up; Sanquility gently took my arm.

  “Please, just show me. Maybe I can stop it from happening again, in the least.”

  Well…it’d be nice to be free of her using it.

  I gently guided my lover to the magic. Sanquility gasped.

  “It covers your lust like a blanket!”

  “When she started, it was a whisper of a spell. I had to allow her to do anything but she made it very clear I had to allow it or shit would hit the ceiling. It’s gotten to the point where I have a hard time preventing her from just using it without me even being aware. I don’t know how she slips in like she does.”

  “I can protect you from Q
uinn now.” Sanquility told me very softly.

  I swallowed hard. “You’ve done it once before, so I’m well aware. It isn’t just Quinn anymore, Sanquility. Every time I tried to untangle it she’d find a way to strengthen it. Besides, those two have political connections that would just destroy Fay and I’s careers.”

  “Any politics I’m sure you can handle; you’re brilliant at them. The spell, on the other hand…well, my sister’s an idiot – for an Azhi, anyway. I don’t know how she learned it, let alone used it so damn effectively.”

  “So…can you untangle it or not? Sybil couldn’t, and she’s amazing at magic.”

  “Sybil? The human Templar you mentioned in your journal a thousand times?”

  “Yes.” I worked harder at my task.

  “The one you have the hots for?”

  The wave of jealousy made me look up at her in surprise, but the Azhi was focused on her work, and the feeling passed quickly. Still…

  “She’s straighter than an arrow.” I tried to ignore the twinge of pain the idea brought – to pass it off. Yet my guardian still noticed.

  “That doesn’t stop you from liking her. You even mention being turned down again and again for being her Templar partner.”

  Why is she so jealous? Sybil is straight.

  “I learned a lot about weapons from her, okay? We kind of learned together. It was her who taught me I could use magic.”

  Sanquility sighed. “Sybil might be a warrior and friend, Kari, but she isn’t even a mage, let alone an Azhi. Being born of powerful magic means we’re kind of a lot better at it.”

  “Hey –”

  “I’m not insulting her.”

  “No, not at all – only my entire race.” I gave a half-playful smile.

  She scoffed, catching my playfulness. “It’s not insulting your race if it’s telling the truth. Would you expect a dog to fight with a sword and speak the common human language? No.”

  I shrugged. “Whatever. Can you get rid of the spell?”

  We were finished carving the animal flesh and were smoking it when Sanquility finally answered. “That spell encompasses and affects the part of your brain that causes pleasure, happiness and, well, desire. She basically makes it so your body responds to what, who and how she wants it to. The magic is a really dirty trick. It uses enough of her essence to where she’s basically your personal sex drug.”