by Aaron Crash
“Use your big hands on me, Broom,” Rhee begged. “Touch my yoni. Rub it. Maybe you can put a big finger in me. I need to come.”
Broom couldn’t talk with the elf sucking on her lip, tonguing her half-open mouth. When Broom did get a big hand between Rhee’s legs, the elf gasped. She looked into the giant woman’s face.
“Thank you, Broom, thank you,” the elf whimpered.
Figg got on top of me and I couldn’t see anything else. I felt her sex slip over mine. Her tits were in my face, so I sucked a nipple as I gripped her ass. Then I was thrusting up into her.
Rhee sat next to me. The pretty giantess was helping the elf, slowly easing her big finger in and out of Rhee. The elf girl pulled on one of her own nipples as she rubbed her pearl, faster and faster.
Figg leaned over and kissed Rhee, then kissed me, and then kissed Rhee. I could taste Rhee on Figg’s mouth. And I could smell both women and a new smell. Broom was sweating, and she had an earthy, spicy scent. I thought of patchouli.
While Rhee and Figg kissed, I managed to get a look at Broom, who was watching me fuck Figg. The giant girl’s face glowed with perspiration. She caught me looking and smiled but didn’t say a word. She continued to finger Rhee until the elf stiffened. “There. I’m there, Broom. I’m there.”
I lost it. I grabbed Figg, by her hair and by her ass, pulled her down onto me, and rammed up into her. Figg grunted every time my body smacked into hers.
That indescribable feeling came over me and I followed it. Spasming, I rode the waves of bliss. Part of it was the release, but just as much was the shakti flowing into my core. This time, I felt my left arm tingling. I looked down to see a black mist of energy swirl around my concentration ink.
Figg’s silver ink was glowing as well, and I felt the connection, not just with our bodies, but with our souls. Somehow, the magic had linked us. I didn’t know what that meant, but I liked the idea. I wanted my life tied to Figg’s. I wanted her, me, and Rhee to be together always.
As for Broom? Or Dryx? Or anyone else? I wasn’t sure. Right then, though, I was sure about my summoner and my sea elf.
I’d come, but I was still stiff inside Figg. She rubbed herself on me, rubbing harder and harder, until she stiffened, gasping into my neck as she came. Her left arm ignited once more. “I’m getting more power from you, Axel. I can feel more power. Your ink affected mine. Can you feel it?”
Her breath was warm against my skin as she talked. Her hair was in my face. I hugged her close. “I can, Figg. We’re connected now more than ever.”
Figg drew back and kissed me. I loved the feel of her sweat on me.
She got off me and sat down to my right. Rhee kissed my neck. “I need a turn, Axel. Broom got me ready. She only used one finger on me. Maybe next time I’ll have her try two. But first, you.”
“Let me try something first,” the giantess said. Broom knelt in front of us, taking us all in—from Rhee’s slender body with her big chest, to me, naked in the cloak, to Figg, who was curled up against me.
The giant girl tentatively touched my leg. Her big hands were softer than I would’ve thought. She massaged the muscles of my legs and then reached higher, to caress my balls, before taking my hard sex in her grip She covered my entire shaft with her large hand and then squeezed it.
Her hazel eyes were bright, and she had a mischievous little grin on her face. She let go of me, stood, and leaned over me.
Suddenly, that spicy smell was my world. She kissed me, and yes, her lips were so big, far bigger than any human lips I’d kissed. And yet, they weren’t so alien. I liked their full softness, the smooth skin around her lips, and her little sighs. She kissed me more, I kissed her, and I couldn’t help but raise my hips. Kissing the giant woman turned me on, especially when we touched tongues and I got a taste of her.
Again, she was kissing me more for comfort than out of sexual need. I felt that, and I felt her loneliness. She needed this connection.
She leaned back, and my eyes went to her cleavage. “Someday, Axel. But for now, I think Rhee wants you.”
“Yes!” The elf rose up and straddled me, reverse cowgirl. She sank herself down onto me. She was strong enough to use her legs to raise and lower herself on my soaked cock.
Broom came up to kiss Rhee, to hold the elf’s head to her ample chest, to caress the dirty blonde hair and offer quiet words of encouragement. The giant woman then kissed her way down to Rhee’s chest, and that’s when the elf came, with Broom sucking on her nipples while she slammed herself down onto me. It was too much for her, and it was too much for me as well.
Rhee let out a shriek that I hoped was covered by the sound of the water splashing below. And then I was filling up her body as even more shakti poured into us. The concentration ink, now fully completed, gave me more stores to draw from, and I could feel how it could protect me from draining it completely.
The pain was gone. I’d never been better, and I felt the change right away. I’d leveled. I could pick another category to unlock, and I knew exactly what I wanted. I checked the Five Magics.
I had more power than ever, and I was excited to see what else I could do with the Enchant magic once I had a little practice. Again, I was going to follow the path of fire to try and unlock the secrets of the Anjagar Dayva. Hopefully, I’d be able to breathe fire before that happened.
I closed my eyes. My song came to me, and I hummed it while Rhee got off me to kiss Broom. I heard Figg dressing.
I was taken back to the world of Azrack, to its plateaus, its mesas, and the miles of canyons. I remembered the smell of the flowers blooming on the cacti and the sounds of the big black birds, like crows, but with a more musical song.
And then it came to me. Jared and I had broken out of jail and we’d torn through any number of Rattletrap’s flunkies. I’d been pretty accomplished in my combat skills even back then, but Jared was off the charts. He wasn’t just a Dragonskin—he was a descendant of Merlin himself. That meant big magic.
We tore apart cyborg centaurs and we finally got to the boss man himself. By that time, Jared and I were low on power, bleeding, but we weren’t going to stop. We had the asshole sheriff trapped in a box canyon on the outskirts of town.
It was supposed to be the final showdown. Jared had shoved me back because he was older, he had more experience, and if anyone was going to save the day, it would be him. His ancestor, Merlin, hadn’t just been a magician, he’d been a mysterious entity called the Dragon Slayer as well.
Jared, as a Homo Draconis, grabbed the metal-faced menace. Rattletrap impaled my uncle, my friend, with his cybernetic sword. Rattletrap’s nanotechnology allowed him to transform his right arm into different weapons. Dust swirled around us in a cyclone storm, and I recalled that there were songs about the winds of Azrack, just like there were songs of gunslingers and bloody footprints.
I watched my uncle die. He’d sacrificed himself to save me. Or so it seemed. The memories were still hazy, but I remembered dragging his body, human again, to a cave in the desert. I left him there and returned to the town.
Something happened later, something important, but I couldn’t recall what it was.
Broom sat next to me and pulled my head to her chest. She sat and stroked my hair, sitting with me, while the women dressed.
I followed my song, and my memory, back to before Uncle Jared and I walked through the portal spell to get to Azrack. My mother had warned me not to go. I could hear her words, but I couldn’t remember her face. I hoped that would change in time.
Broom kissed me gently. She still wasn’t talking.
Figg and Rhee stood, fully dressed.
“Come on, lovebirds,” Rhee said. “We have another rather unpleasant bird we have to free.”
Broom got up and buckled her armor back on. She tied on her sword belt. “You’re sure right. We should get to her sooner rather than later.”
Then she hurried past Figg and Rhee to walk along the ledge out of the waterfall room.
Rhee sighed. “I hope the sex didn’t make things awkward with Broom. Sometimes you other races get so weird about sex.”
Figg had a dark look on her face. I just wanted pants. Then I found another solution. I transformed into my partial form. It wasn’t like we were sneaking around as mice. As a Homo Draconis, I’d be about the same height as Broom.
Rhee went up to my summoner and put her arms around her. She kissed her lips softly. “I know you’re not quite sure about Broomhelga, but Figg, remember how you felt at Khambatta University?”
Figg put her head on Rhee’s chest. “I remember. I was poor. I was from Foulwater. People made fun of me. I did eventually find friends and some lovers, but it took a little while.”
Rhee stroked Figg’s hair. “Even in Foulwater, growing up, you lost your family. Having Geeze raise you as a sorceress made you different. You never really fit in. That’s what you told me at least.”
My summoner stepped back. Her eyes were sad. This was a step up from her usual rages. “So maybe Broom and I have a lot in common. I’ll think about it.”
I flapped my wings, sending warm air into the women. They turned and smiled at me.
“Let’s go,” I growled. “I’m back and feeling scaly.”
It was nice to be free from pain. Even better? I was full of shakti, and I had a new spell category to try out. The problem with my atma had been fixed. Permanently.
Chapter Twenty-Three
WE CAUGHT UP WITH BROOM, who stood on the ledge directly in front of the waterfall, her arms across her chest. When we walked up, she snorted. “You guys, taking your time, probably kissing more. You all are so naughty. I’m glad I’m not naughty. I’m totally in control.”
Rhee went and put her hand in Broom’s big mitt. “You are in total control. You didn’t even take off your clothes back there.”
“Beans, Rhee, I couldn’t. It’s not my time. But we’re past that sex stuff. Not sure why you all did that when your friend is in trouble, something about recharging?” More snorts of laughter.
Back on Earth, we’d definitely call Broom adorkable. She was the biggest, geekiest, most awkward woman I’d ever met. And yet, I kind of liked that, because when her hazel eyes found me, they were smart and full of love.
“Axel gets magic from sex,” Figg said. “And we do too.” She had a thoughtful look on her face. I think she’d gotten a lot more shakti than normal back there.
We talked while we walked. We were already deep underground, but we walked onward down a sloping passageway. We passed other smaller passageways. I was hoping Broom knew where she was going because I was lost.
Big Red shook her head. “Magic from sex? I’ve never ever heard of such a thing. It’s dragon magic. It must be.”
I agreed. “I have a skill tree. I level. Women adore me. And yes, fighting and sex give me magic. Do you know anything about leveling, Broom?”
“Only when it comes to mining. We’re on sublevel twenty, and we have to walk up a few levels to find the right Lore Factory. There are a dozen Lore Factories, and they all do different things. Dvey started the mining and processing, and he also created his wombs. That’s where your friend is.”
Rhee laughed. “Not sure Lalindryx is our friend. She can’t stand humans. She only tolerates me for my ears. She does love our dragon man here. She may or may not be addicted to these seeds she eats.”
“There’s also this Quickening thing,” I said. “We have no idea what that is. Not that we have a lot of time to start a Jataksha Wikipedia page. We have to get Dryx and then fly up to the square of rock above the city. Have you seen some sort of rock cube in the sky, Broom?”
Big Red nodded. “Yeah, sometimes you get a peek. It’s about twenty feet wide and twenty feet high. It’s a square, so all the sides are the same.”
“Unlike a rectangle, right?” Figg asked carefully.
Broom rolled her eyes. “Squares are rectangles, but rectangles aren’t square. I did get some learning. We have a school in Sweetleaf, the Arquius College of Magic and Husbandry. I couldn’t go there, not as an orphan, not that I was an orphan, but there was a Wynnym woman there that let me learn some things. Not magic, I wasn’t smart enough for that. She let me sneak into some of the evening classes. I got some mathematics, some history, some geology, and some farming theory. I also could check out books on mining. For example, we mine coal here, but we also mine precious gems and jewels, and gold of course. Platinum. That’s rare.” She brayed laughter. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I read them. I’m not some schoolgirl. I’m a warrior, a proud member of the city guard.”
“You used those books as target practice with your bow, right?” Rhee asked.
Broom gave her a crooked grin. “You bet I did, Rhee, only it wasn’t with a bow, but with my spear. I’d throw my spear right through the cover. Then I repaired them and returned them because books are precious.”
Figg looked at the giant with a new look of compassion.
I wondered how much Broom would change if she was around different people. I’d been lucky to grow up with friends and family who were always there to support me. I mean, having fifteen mothers is a pain in the neck—someone was always in my business. But that also meant I had fifteen places where I could get hugs, where I could talk to someone about my problems, and we won’t even go into having someone cook for me. There was always food and coffee.
Coffee from Tessa Ross. Jared’s sister. Good ol’ Tessa.
Broom took us through dark tunnels, mined out and empty. Figg provided the light with her concentration ink. I was dying to test out my new powers.
We ascended a staircase of polished wood, far nicer than the ones we’d seen inside the building. This one had lights posted in intervals. We came to an ornate door. Again, everything was big, built for giant women and horse men. Inside, we heard the churn of machines. This must be the Lore Factory, one of Dvey’s wombs.
“This is the back door they don’t keep guarded,” Broom said. “No one would go through the mines back there. They’re haunted.”
I anticipated a snort of laughter and got it.
“Not that I believe in ghosts, especially ones that eat people, but that’s what they say is back there.” Broom turned. “This is where we might meet some resistance. Maybe you three should go forward. I’ll stay back, so as not to be seen. I can’t help you hurt my people. You understand that, right?” She was torn. I could see it on her face.
“We can handle this,” I said.
Rhee pulled out the golden chakram. Figg gripped her net in her left hand and held her bident in her right.
I towered over them both as a dragon man. I planned to use my tail and maybe throw some rocks—nothing too big. Also, I could try out my DarkArmor. With thick enough scales, I would be able to survive most any attack.
Broom stood at the bottom of the staircase. “There will be guards in there as well as womb sorcerers. Get the guards. Most of those sorcerers have only specific magic for the Dvey tanks.”
I did have another question. “Is a Lore Factory like dwarven machine lore?”
Broom shook her head. “Dwarven machine lore is more about contraptions. Inside there, it’s about bodies and what they can do to them. The Stallion King didn’t give up on Dvey’s experiments. I wish he had.”
I readied myself and nodded at Rhee.
The sea elf flung open the door and we charged in, taking stock of the place as we went.
Agni lanterns on the walls and tables gave the place plenty of light. There were a dozen round glass chambers, ten feet tall, with bright brass fixtures on either side of a long central workspace. Those chambers must be the Dvey tanks. Tables stood on carpet that covered a stone floor. Huge brass cogs turned in the wall, run by steam, given the hissing and humidity. Coal furnaces burned on either side next to big glass tanks of burbling water.
Inside the Dvey tanks were bodies floating in green liquid. Winged bodies, though the wings had withered away and the flesh of the Ja
taksha people had shriveled into mummies. I wasn’t sure if they were alive or dead. They were motionless in the goo. Most of them were female.
Centaurs on the other side bellowed out in surprise.
I could investigate the Frankenstein angel creatures once the fight was over.
Wynnym females dressed in black robes wore heavy black leather skullcaps that covered their manes. Those must be the womb sorcerers.
Some of the Wynnym men were in black leather armor. They too had the black leather skullcaps. Long double-bladed spears were in their hands. They were stationed at the other end of the room. But there were other Wynnym men working the furnace.
The cogs clattered and clanked even as the fires roared. Pistons hissed. The place smelled mostly of coal smoke, but there was also that chemical smell. The vast machine in the wall seemed to be powering a central arm that sparked and spat electricity and something else, some kind of shadowy magic. A womb sorceress held the central arm, and she was lowering the crackling head down toward someone strapped on the table.
Not just a someone—our Lalindryx Nagina Pjolin lay strapped to the table. She was in her rough-spun tunic, and she didn’t look good. Her face was sunken, her wings lifeless and forced open. Wires pulled them back. Her wrists and ankles were bound in iron.
Seeing her there pissed me off. With the giant women and the centaurs, the ceiling was twenty feet high. I flung myself into the air, flying over the first horse guards coming at me.
One threw his spear and missed. It clattered off gears spinning in the ceiling.
One of the giant women roared, “Don’t break the machine! You’ll kill us all!”
Centaurs galloped past me.
Figg dodged one horse and then tossed her net over the centaur. She followed it up with a scream of “Umaat injit!” Blue lightning filled the strands of the net. The electrocuted centaur went down, screaming and shuddering. Figg whipped the net off him.
