He thought about the man and tried to exclude everything else from his mind. He remembered the sternness, and the kindness. He remembered the way the mayor seemed to put the rest of the community first, never demanding special treatment for himself based solely on his rank within the town.
Large rainbow colored stalactites and stalagmites began to drop downward and extend upward from the ceiling and floor. Hands popped out of the couch and ran across Felix’s body, slowly caressing him. The roof split open, revealing a strange, multicolored sky above him. Felix was flying, and then floating.
He was no longer in Nalya’s living room. He blinked and looked around, seeing only blackness and shadow. A thin cloud of smoke rolled through the space, smelling like the fake fog produced by smoke machines rather than the product of an actual burn.
“Mayor Senhaji!” shouted Felix. He whirled, as though expecting to see the man pop out of the darkness, emerge from nowhere.
Something did emerge, but it wasn’t the mayor. A feminine figure took slow steps out of the black fog, moving toward him deliberately. Felix blinked and slowly began to make out detail in her form.
She was covered from head to toe in ice, frozen as thin, crystalline layer over her skin. It didn’t crack as she moved, instead adjusting to follow the curves of her body. And she had incredible curves, large, well-formed breasts, and a butt that belonged on a supermodel.
She was the Ice Dancer, and Felix had encountered her before. He hesitated, watching her as she watched him. She ran a hand across her face and hair, and the ice there shattered away, revealing perfect red lips, icy blue eyes, and pale blonde hair.
“Why?” Felix asked. “Why are you here?”
She didn’t answer him. She’d never spoken a word to him over the course of their encounters, and Felix wasn’t sure if she was capable of speech. Instead, she began moving toward him, deliberately cracking more ice off her body as she approached, and revealing herself to him.
Felix could only gape, unable to take his eyes off the female form in front of him. She was the queen of ice, and he could only assume that she claimed her title in a time where physical beauty was the criteria for ruling.
Her nipples were pink and hard, pointed toward Felix in a way that seemed to pull the rest of her big breasts with them. A small strip of blonde hair, tawny and silky, ran a short way up her crotch. Her tongue ran across her lips in an unintentionally seductive manner. Felix needed her.
She pressed herself into him, her body freezing cold and burning hot at the same time. Felix had a pulsating erection, and she rubbed her thighs into it. He was kissing her, unable to stop himself from doing it and more. He grabbed at her breasts and rubbed his hardness into her, desperate to take her as a woman, to give her what he had as a man.
“Oh, fuck…” moaned Felix.
He was more excited than he’d ever been before in his life. He was going to fuck her, the frosty queen of ice, in all of her voluptuous glory. He kissed her, feeling something being sucked out of him as their lips pressed together. She fell backward, and he followed, landing on top of her and preparing to spear her with his cock, to make her his.
“Easy, now….” Nalya’s voice cut through Felix’s world like a hot knife through butter. He blinked, realizing that he was back on the couch, back in Nalya’s trippy, pulsating living room.
He was lying on his back with his pants down, his rigid cock fully exposed. A wave of embarrassment flooded over him, more intense than normal. It took him a moment to notice that Nalya had one hand wrapped around his erection.
“It’s easy to get lost in the midst of a bloodtrance,” she whispered. “Running into the Ice Dancer so quickly is… bad luck.”
She gave his cock a couple of encouraging strokes and Felix let out a moan of pleasure. It still felt amazing, just as good as it had with the Ice Dancer. Nalya frowned at him.
“I’m going to let go,” she said. “And you need to find your missing mayor.”
“No!” said Felix, feeling desperate to keep the sensation going. “Hold on, maybe just… keep going.”
Nalya chuckled and licked her lips. She gave his cock another stroke and shook her head.
“Another time, perhaps, denchild,” she said. “You only have so long under the spell of the trance. You must hurry.”
She smiled at him and then released her hold on his erection. Felix had a single fleeting thought about what would happen if Breeze and Windy walked back into the living room, and then felt himself explode back into the psychedelic world of the bloodtrance.
This time, he managed to keep his focus. He took all of his memories of the Mayor and juggled them in his mind, switching one out for another as each ran its course. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as the Ice Dancer or Nalya, but it seemed to work.
He found himself inside North Spire, floating around. There was a trail of luminous color stretching through doors and down hallways, and he followed it outside. He could move as fast as he wanted, walking or floating, all at a single thought.
Felix followed the trail at the speed of a bullet. It led through the snow, across miles of it, in a singular direction. He recognized the area, and realized where it was leading him by the end.
The old train tunnel was just as dark and foreboding as it’d been in the real world. The figure inside of it, this time, was humanoid. Felix remembered what Gwen had said of the Hooded Bitch, the tunnel’s supernatural resident, and moved forward more cautiously.
The figure didn’t seem to notice him as he approached. Felix noticed more familiar details in its clothing and build, and by the time he was within a few feet, he was sure of it. The person was the mayor. Felix walked around to the other side, seeing the mayor’s face and confirming his suspicions. Mayor Senhaji stared blankly past him, unable to see Felix and apparently in some kind of trance on top of that.
Felix blinked, and as though none of it had ever happened, he was back in Nalya’s living room. The walls still flickered with odd colors, and he continued to suffer from an untimely erection, but he felt mostly back to normal.
“Well?” Nalya stood across the room, watching him with a smile on her face. “What did you see?”
Felix took a deep breath.
“I have to move,” he said.
CHAPTER 24
Felix pulled his pants back on, feeling a little embarrassed over how much of himself he’d exposed to Nalya. He immediately moved to his snow gear by the den’s massive metal door and began pulling it on, intent on getting to the mayor before there was any chance of losing the trail.
“Denchild,” said Nalya. “Breeze and Windy shall accompany you. It is not wise for you to go alone.”
Felix opened his mouth to thank her, and then hesitated.
“No,” he said. “I’ll go alone.”
Gwen had already been injured for his sake, a wound that threatened her life. Felix wasn’t interested in putting more people at risk, especially not Breeze and Windy, two shy little girls barely mature enough to understand what they’d be getting into.
“You will not have an easy time of it,” said Nalya. “The bloodtrance rarely shows the exact truth of a situation. You may encounter resistance.”
“Then I’ll find a way to fight through it,” said Felix.
He pulled on one of his boots forcefully, feeling an odd rush of expanded strength. He remembered how the fight with Trent had gone. Even though he’d been outmatched in martial skill, his strength had been far beyond anything he could account for naturally. Nalya was watching him, her perceptive eyes reading his emotions off his face.
“If you need more strength than what you have,” she said, slowly. “Just make a promise to the moon.”
Felix nodded, though he wasn’t sure if she was being literal or not. He stood up, pulling Dani’s pink gloves on over his hands and focusing on what he needed to do.
“How is Gwen doing?” he asked. Nalya frowned and shook her head slowly.
“It’s in the hands of nature now,” she sai
d. “And your hands as well, if the medicine you seek is truly what she needs.”
“I think it is,” said Felix. “And it’s all I can do, really.”
He turned to the metal door and began pulling it open. It was heavier than it looked, and it looked like it weighed a ton.
“Felix,” said Nalya. “You will always have a place amongst us, as my denchild, and as their denbrother.”
Nalya walked up behind him and pulled him into a soft reverse hug. Her breasts pushed against his back. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and Felix could feel the points of her nipples along with supple, bountiful flesh.
“Thank you, Nalya,” he said. “For everything.”
He stepped out into the freezing cold. Nalya shut the door behind him. The sun was setting over the horizon, inviting the chill in the air to fill the temperature void left by it.
Felix remembered what he’d seen in the bloodtrance and headed off in the direction of the tunnel. He was well rested, and though hunger nagged at his stomach, he felt better than he had in several days.
His boots crunched against the frozen upper layer of snow as he stomped forward. The tower’s lights were visible in the distance, each row of illuminated window stacked on the one below it, making it look like a strange constellation of early rising stars.
It took him about an hour to arrive outside the tunnel. He could only make it out as a pitch black circle outlined by white snow. Felix slowed to a walk, knowing better than to charge in at whatever awaited him.
He approached the entrance with due caution. The air coming from inside the tunnel felt warm, and smelled of recent death. Felix squinted, trying to make out the details of the figure standing at the midway point within, exactly where the mayor had been in his vision.
“Mayor Senhaji?” he called.
It was risky, and the way his words echoed endlessly of the tunnel’s walls seemed to emphasize that fact. It would be so much easier if the mayor would come to him, walk out of the tunnel, the apparent domain of the Hooded Bitch that Gwen had spoken of.
The figure turned to face Felix. He was expecting something to go wrong, or for an enemy to attack him from behind at the last second. Nothing of the sort happened. The figure began walking toward him with slow steps, the body language of its outline relaxed.
“Mayor… Is that you?” He frowned. It felt too easy, too straightforward.
“No,” said a feminine voice. The figure stepped out of the tunnel, standing only a few feet away from him, and pulled back a dark hood, her face visible in the last remnants of twilight.
It was a woman with jet black hair, purple lips and eyes, and pale skin. She was attractive, though in a way that made her features seem understated and forgettable. The cloak she wore hid any curves she might have had.
“You…” said Felix. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend,” said the woman. “Of you and the mayor. I can take you to him, if you’d like.”
The woman took a step back into the tunnel. Felix snapped his hand out, grabbing her wrist before she could disappear back into the shadow.
“No,” he said. “You’re not!”
The women let out a hissing noise and pulled her arm, knocking him off balance. He fell against her, only managing to get his guard up in time to keep her from landing a harsh slap across his face.
“You don’t know what I am, boy!” The woman twisted, flipping him down onto his back and knocking the wind out of him. Felix coughed and took in a quick breath.
“The Hooded Bitch,” he said, more of a whisper than a definitive statement.
“I hate that nickname,” she said.
She stabbed a hand down toward him. Felix rolled out of the way in time to save his life, but the Hooded Bitch had a followup ready, sweeping her leg around in a hard kick. It slammed into his ribs and knocked him down, throwing him a few feet clear of the tunnel’s entrance.
“What did you do with the mayor?” shouted Felix. “I saw him, I know he’s here.”
“Do you, now?” asked the Hooded Bitch. “You speak as though you’re sure of the things-”
Felix cut her off midsentence in the most childish way possible. He had a clump of his snow in his glove as he picked himself up from where he landed, and it flung it at her head. It struck inside the Hooded Bitch’s hood, and she let out an annoyed squeal.
“You… heathen!” she shouted, rushing forward toward him. Felix fell into a fighting crouch similar to one that he’d seen Trent use and feinted a jab. The Hooded Bitch spun around it, but Felix tackled her to the ground.
He hesitated before throwing a punch at her face, a bit of chivalry and the lessons he’d been taught about hitting girls as a child keeping him from unleashing. The Hooded Bitch took full advantage of the moment, slamming an elbow into his neck and pushing him off.
“You’ve made your last mistake,” she said. The cloak surrounding her expanded outward, spinning into a dark, shadowy sphere around her. It fluttered down to the ground, and what stood behind it was no longer the woman Felix had seen originally.
A caricature of an Amazonian woman stood in her place, easily seven feet tall, naked and built like an Olympic weight lifter. There was nothing feminine about her figure other than her breasts and crotch, which seemed to fade into the background in much the same way as earrings or jewelry would have.
“Holy… fuck.” Felix could only stare. The ground shook slightly as the Hooded Bitch stomped toward him, letting out an ogreish growl that stabbed fear into his heart.
He scrambled to his feet on the snow. The Hooded Bitch stood between him in the tunnel, ruling out any chance he had of using it for cover or advantage.
“You fool!” she shouted, her voice low and loud.
Felix scrambled backward as she lunged at him, moving too slowly to escape. She took him by one leg and lifted him into the air, cracking the knuckles of her free hand as she prepared to deal the finishing blow.
In the distance, still low on the horizon, Felix saw the moon. It was nearly full, and shone with a bright, silvery light. He felt something rise inside of him, raw power tickling against his ribcage and heart. Felix gritted his teeth, staring at the moon. It drew something out of him. He had the choice to look away, to fight what was happening.
He didn’t.
CHAPTER 25
Felix changed. He felt it all at once, a confusing mixture of physical transformation and mental distortion. His teeth lengthened, his muscles strengthened, and thick, grey hair sprouted from chest and back. He gave off the same white, silvery glow that the other wolves had during their transformation, but it was much less distracting seen from the central angle.
“What?” cried the Hooded Bitch. Felix twisted, somersaulting out of her grasp and landing on two feet. He wasn’t fully transformed, as Gwen and Nalya had been. He was in between, a hybrid of a human and canine, taller than a regular man and far, far stronger.
He opened his mouth to shout at the Hooded Bitch, and let loose a bestial snarl. He wasn’t sure if he could still form words or not. His vision had a strange quality to it, like the feeling a person gets when the see the color red.
Felix advanced toward the Hooded Bitch. She stood, her violet eyes wide in surprise. He threw himself toward her, swinging claws that he hadn’t realized he had at her neck.
The Hooded Bitch dodged and shifted, trying to counter with an attack of her own. It hit Felix against the side of his face, stunning him and knocking him to the side.
“Nice trick,” said the Hooded Bitch. “But it won’t be enough!”
Felix saw her out of the corner of his eye. She swung both hands down toward his head, laced together into a single fist. Felix moved with supernatural speed, dodging the blow and countering with a double kick to her chest from where he lay on the ground.
The strike caught the Hooded Bitch off guard and launched her into the air. She struck against the upper lip of the tunnel’s entrance, falling to the ground flat on her stomach. Felix surged up.
He felt hot and hungry. He wanted to taste her flesh, feel her body slick with blood against his teeth. He let out a roar and charged.
The Hooded Bitch was still a capable opponent. She spun around, throwing blow after blow at him in a tornado of movement. Felix was stronger and faster, but it was harder to keep himself controlled. He would seize every opening, fall for every feint, and get in his own way about as often as land a true strike.
The fight dragged on for long minutes with neither of them managing to land more than superficial attacks. Felix started to tire, his transformed body using energy up at a far faster pace than he would normally.
It was hard to think clearly, but he could see, or sense, a similar change in the Hooded Bitch’s movements. She was fighting more defensively, drawing out his strikes and dodging rather than engaging. He felt fury rush through his chest, along with a sudden desire, a need, to kill her and see her corpse on the ground in front of him.
The thought scared Felix a little, and he hesitated instead of following his primal instincts and charging forward. The conflict inside him ran deep, a struggle between giving into something dark and hungry, and holding onto the man, the person.
“No…” he mumbled, the word feeling awkward in his snarling mouth.
“What’s that?” cried the Hooded Bitch. There was an undertone of fear in her voice, though it was clear she was trying to hide it.
“No!” Felix rushed forward, while at the same time, forcing himself to hold back. Instead of slashing with his claws or snapping with his teeth, he pulled the Hooded Bitch into a tight hug against him.
She let out a cry of defeat. Felix could feel her body transforming underneath him, and he allowed his to do the same. She rolled, pulling him into the tunnel. It was warmer than the freezing cold of the outside air, heated by some magic unbeknownst to him.
His own body was glowing, and he realized that he was transforming back into human form, as well. And, oddly, he was no longer wearing his clothes. He could see where they’d fallen, just outside the tunnel, still in one piece, but no longer on his body. He made a mental note to ask Gwen about how she managed to keep hers on during the transformation.
Winter Spire: Den of Desire Page 9
