She rubbed her face into his pillow. A few seconds later, she came up for air.
“But you made me your Champion right away. You believed in me,” Fei said, her green eyes bright and watery. “My instincts have been screaming at me to do so many things to you, but I’ve known that I needed to prove myself to you.”
Nathan blinked. “Instincts?”
Fei grinned at him, her face lewd. She reached behind herself with a hand. Her fingers came up sticky. “Instincts. I’m a beastkin. I want a mate. I’m of age. If I hadn’t been taken to the academy, I’d probably have found somebody in my village by now. But I know they wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as you. Sen doesn’t get it. You probably don’t either.”
Nathan rubbed her head again. She purred, and he listened closely. The sound was happy. Genuinely happy.
He did get it. He simply hadn’t realized Fei had fallen this hard for him.
The Fei he had known had been more stand-offish. Wary. Her experiences with war, Bastions, and humans in general had led her to take a slower approach with him. Wooing her had taken time, and her declaration that he was her mate been a hesitant one. As if admitting it would cause him to disappear. He had never probed the Jafeila from his timeline about what had happened in the past to make her so careful.
Now he wished he had. Had she fallen head over heels for her first Bastion, only to lose him and become heart-broken?
Fei mewled, and Nathan realized it didn’t matter.
The Fei in front of him was the real Fei. Right now, he could only touch, feel, and hear one Jafeila, and she was the beastkin rubbing against him in his bedroom.
Nathan shut away his worries and thoughts relating to the Jafeila from his timeline. He didn’t forget her, but he did his best to stop actively comparing this Fei to the version he had known. He wanted to make this Fei happy.
A moan rose within Fei’s throat as Nathan ran his hand along her taut ass. Her tail wagged. She felt slick to the touch, and Nathan realized this was sweat, rather than arousal.
“Why don’t we clean up first,” Nathan whispered in Fei’s ear. It twitched, tickling his face.
“Don’t we do that after?” Fei said with wide eyes.
“We can do both.”
Nathan began to strip off outside the bathroom, as if to lure Fei over to him. She stared with wide eyes as more of his skin showed. When his cock popped out, already half-erect, she nearly panted.
Fei bounced off the bed and flung off the jacket. Her breasts jiggled from the movement. Nathan noticed the slickness of her thighs, and the small wet patch on the bed.
As he led her into the shower, Fei became handsy. Her fingers played with his length and she gasped as he began to grow.
She yelped when the shower’s cold water splashed over her. Then glared at him.
“We are cleaning up, you realize,” he said.
She rolled her eyes, then kneeled in front of him. He admired her plump, naked body. Her voluptuous curves were on show, and she rubbed her hands over her massive breasts with a grin. His eyes wandered lower. He took in her thick, fleshy thighs and the hint of pink he saw between them.
“I’m your mate. I’ll do the cleaning my way,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Really? I haven’t said that you’re my mate,” Nathan teased.
Her tongue lapped up the liquid dripping from him. She eyed him. “Maybe. But I’m still your mate. I’m your first Champion, so I get to be your mate.”
“What about Sen?”
“What about her?” Fei huffed and pumped his length. “I was here first. She can join in if she wants.”
Nathan held back a laugh and ruffled her hair. Fei grinned and continued to harden him up. Her eyes widened.
“You’re a little bigger than I expected,” she mumbled.
“Keep going,” he said.
She licked and suckled at his length, her eyes wide. He held her head gently while warm water beat down on the two of them. Her fingers worked beneath her, and he heard her moans around his length.
Slowly, she built up a rhythm. Her head bobbed back and forth. Her tongue lapped up every drop it could. He felt her throat coiling around him, and the pressure of her mouth pleasured him.
Her eyes stared up at his face, lidded but focused. She watched for every movement he made and adjusted her movements to match. Everything Fei did was to please Nathan. Her fingers moved faster the happier she thought he was, and she moaned harder and longer in response to his groans.
Nathan gently pushed her toward his groin. She responded by taking him all the way. Her eyes snapped wide open when he flooded her stomach. When he pulled out of her mouth with a pop, she followed, her tongue lapping up the beads of white that dripped out.
“We need to clean up, you know,” he chided, trying to pull her upright.
She grumbled but let him pull her up. Then he slid her fingers inside her and she smiled like an idiot, leaning against him. She bucked and heaved as she climaxed from his attention, her juices pouring down her legs.
Once out of the shower, Fei dried the two of them off. She stopped him from grabbing a towel and helping, hissing all the while. Her eyes lingered on his erection, which hadn’t wavered.
“Is that normal?” she asked.
“Consider it part of the package,” Nathan said. Evidently, Kadria’s magic still worked.
He led Fei back to the bed. The exhaustion was setting in and he collapsed on the bed. Fei gave him a kiss, their tongues entwining repeatedly for several minutes. She moaned and pressed her body against his. Her hand rubbed his cock.
“You can’t go to sleep yet,” she said with a smile.
Fei pulled Nathan up. Then she positioned herself on all fours and thrust her ass into the air. Her fingers ensured she was ready, and Nathan smelled her raw arousal in the air.
He pressed himself against her entrance. Fei moaned. His hands sank into her ass while her tail brushed against his chest.
Then he hilted himself in her. Fei sank her head into the mattress, muffling her sweet moans. Although he waited before moving, Nathan found it unnecessary. Fei bucked her hips against his within moments, begging him to start thrusting.
The two fell into a pleasant rhythm. He knew her weak points and preferred speed. She rewarded him by covering his balls and both of their thighs with her juices. The smacking of his body into her ass filled the room as he pushed them both toward climax.
Fei screamed first. Her insides tightened around Nathan as she climaxed. She quivered and moaned, her tongue lolling out on the bed. Nathan didn’t slow, and she mewled in pleasure. Her insides contracted around him. She wanted to extract everything from him.
Moments later, he made her his mate for real. He reached his peak and emptied himself. When he slipped out of her, not a drop escaped. The greedy girl. Her fingers rubbed against her entrance, as if to check that she hadn’t lost any of her prize.
“More?” she mewled, her eyes wide and watery.
“In the morning?” Nathan gasped out. He was truly exhausted. He collapsed on the bed.
Fei ignored him. She straddled him and slipped him inside of her. “You’re still so big and hard.”
It was in this moment that Nathan realized the true purpose of Kadria’s magic, and the danger it posed to him. If he never grew soft from exhaustion, then his women would never think he was spent.
The physical stimulation kept him awake for hours as Fei rode herself to sleep. She was a very happy beastkin.
Chapter 28
As Nathan predicted, the Federation didn’t lay siege the next day. Or even the day after.
Three days after the demonic invasion, the Federation rolled up through Gharrick Pass. Innumerable orange banners fluttered in the sky, each bearing the emblem of the Amica Federation. The army destroyed the abandoned checkpoint and defenses at the end of the pass.
“There’s a lot more of them than I thought there’d be,” Anna said. She stood on top of the outer
wall, along with Nathan, Vera, and the others. All of them watched the Federation army encamp.
Anna shivered and held her arms around her body, rubbing her sides vigorously. The day was overcast, and a chill wind blew from the west.
The weather hadn’t improved over the past few days. Nathan wondered if it might rain soon. The idea certainly didn’t warm the hearts of the besiegers.
Nathan removed his jacket and placed it over Anna’s shoulders. She shot him a smile. The sight of her huddling beneath his jacket warmed him. Which was good, because nothing else was.
“You’re going to get a chill,” Sen admonished him.
“I’ll be fine,” he said. “And this isn’t that large of an army. I expected more.”
“Really? For an attack on Gharrick Pass?” Anna asked.
“The Amica Federation is invading the Anfang Empire. This may be the boonies, but it’s still part of one of the greatest nations on Doumahr.” Nathan shook his head. “I don’t have the slightest clue what they’re up to. I know the Federation has more soldiers than this on its western front. Where’s their Bastion? I’ve only spotted two Champions, and maybe a single sorcerer.”
“Two?” Anna frowned.
Fei chimed in. “The one with the onyx. Sunstorm, I think?” Sen nodded at Fei, and Fei continued, “Plus there’s one with an amethyst. She looked human as well.”
“Isn’t that bad?” Vera said. “They have two monogem Champions. You have one.”
“Hey!” Sen said. “I can give as good as any Champion.”
Vera eyed Sen, but said nothing.
Nathan ignored the bickering. For her part, Anna took his lead and gestured for him to continue.
“If this is all the Federation can spare, then even if they win, they can’t hold the fortress.” Nathan stuck his thumb over his shoulder and pointed at the keep. “Without a Bastion, they can’t claim the binding stone. Once reinforcements arrive, the Empire will reclaim the pass and this will have been a colossal waste of time, resources, and Champions. To say nothing of the political goodwill between the Empire and Federation.”
Nathan frowned. He wondered whether that was Leopold’s plan right now. The Bastion promised to send reinforcements, but they had yet to arrive. A duogem Champion could win this battle almost single-handedly, but Leopold hadn’t sent one. Was he busy, or waiting to see if Nathan won the battle for him?
Because the Empire would win this war no matter what. With the demonic portal suppressed, the danger of the Empire’s collapse had passed. And Leopold knew that the Federation had committed heresy in their invasion attempt. He held all the cards.
“I want to say you have a good poker face, Nathan, but you make a much scarier face when you’re thinking about the bigger picture,” Anna said. She poked Nathan’s cheek. Fei squawked at the sight.
“Do I?” he asked.
“Your jaw locks, your eyes go distant, your nostrils flare, and you seem to exude a much more serious and mature atmosphere,” Anna explained. She smiled lightly. “It’s cute. I like it.”
“You promised you wouldn’t call me cute again,” Nathan said. “In any case, this army is still worrisome. But it doesn’t contain any nasty surprises, such as a duogem Champion or an enemy Bastion. They must be busy elsewhere.”
“Like Forselle Valley?” Vera asked.
“They’d have to supremely arrogant, and supremely stupid, to attack both Gharrick Pass and Forselle Valley at the same time,” Nathan said.
“Maybe it’s your lucky day.”
Nathan laughed bitterly. “Maybe. I’d prefer my lucky day to be the day when this army attacks, personally.”
The Federation erected trebuchets to bombard the walls. The stones they launched shattered on the barrier powered by the binding stone. Nathan had set one up a couple of weeks ago, and it projected a dome across the entire fortress, including the exterior ditches.
Next, a sorcerer wearing bright orange robes led nearly a hundred magic users in battle robes to the front of the encampment. The magic users began glowing. They held their palms in front of them, chanting nonsense. At the front, the sorcerer waved his arms about. Eventually, a pentagon appeared around the sorcerer’s body.
“What is that?” Sen asked.
“He’s fueling his spell with the power of other magic users,” Nathan explained. “Most sorcerers struggle to cast anything above fourth rank spells. I basically exhaust myself with fifth rank spells unless I use the binding stone or a leyline. That’s why sorcerers typically use a cairn.”
“Why doesn’t he use the leyline then? That’s what Ifrit is teaching me to tap into.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Let’s say you’re in enemy territory. Your enemy has complete control over all the resources and weapons. You’re running low on supplies. You decide to steal one of his weapons. What do you think happens when you try to use it against him?”
“I don’t follow,” Sen said, furrowing her brow.
Nathan sighed. “I control the leyline here, Sen. I’m the Bastion. If he taps into the leyline, I make him go pop.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“Yep. This close together, the leyline and binding stone are essentially the same thing. Think of the binding stone as a super cairn, and I own it. It grants me power, but it can run out. But at least I can stop others from using it. Sorcerers can’t quite do the same with cairns, although they can set up traps,” Nathan explained.
“Wait, so I’m tapping into your energy reserve when I use the leyline here?” Sen asked.
“More or less.”
“Isn’t that bad?”
Nathan laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but the amount of energy I use from the binding stone is orders of magnitude higher than anything you and Fei use. Bastions are horribly inefficient. I can top Fei up ten times for the price of a single supercharged fourth rank spell. That’s why Bastions use Champions and possession. We kind of suck at this fighting thing.”
“You flooded the portal by yourself,” Sen pointed out.
“And nearly collapsed from the effort.” He physically pointed at her. “Meanwhile, you wiped out basically every demon at once with a single spell. I took out a fraction of what you did, for the same effort. And once you’re used to Ifrit’s power, you’ll be able to dip into my reserves and do it time and time again. But I won’t. Not to the same degree.”
Sen nodded.
Outside the wall, the Federation sorcerer continued to cast his fifth rank spell. Slowly but surely, he prepared something that would probably destroy the barrier.
“Um, shouldn’t we do something?” Sen asked. She put a hand on the greatsword slung over her shoulder.
“Feel free. I thought Fei was going to run in while we talked, but maybe she’s napping. Or having her tail fluffed by a guard.” Nathan shrugged.
“As if she’ll let anybody touch her tail other than you. She nearly bit my hand off this morning when I brushed it in bed.” Sen rolled her eyes. “Um, what rank of spell?”
“You know what rank,” Nathan drawled. “Don’t even think about sixth rank.”
“But—”
“If you lose control of it, then you’re as likely to take out the fortress as the enemy army. You’re still tired from the demonic invasion. Plus, there are two Champions in the enemy army, and an enemy sorcerer. They’ll detect your spell and may counter it. Don’t waste time on high rank spells until you’re more talented.” Nathan bonked her on the head. “Or else you’ll end up like this sorcerer is going to.”
Sen grumbled and cast a supercharged fourth rank spell. A meteor shot down from the sky within seconds.
The sorcerer reacted quickly, dropping his own spell. The magic users behind him weren’t as fast. While the Federation sorcerer threw up a glowing barrier, his subordinates stared at him like idiots.
Then most of them died, as the meteor hit the ground and turned their formation into a crater. The sorcerer’s barrier held, although he looked winded. He dropped
to his knees. A handful of magic users remained. They stared at the remains of their comrades, stupefied.
Sen flung bolts of fire at the sorcerer. He protected himself with a wall of earth. It shattered after a few hits, and superheated chunks of earth exploded everywhere. The few remaining magic users went down screaming from the shrapnel.
“He got away,” Sen said, lowering her hands.
A tunnel lay where the sorcerer had been. He had dug his way out during the commotion.
“The magic users were expendable to him,” Nathan said. “We’ll need to get him in the battle. I doubt he’ll expose himself like that again.”
Rain fell that night. Nathan kept an eye on the Federation from his office.
He had supplies to last a month. If the Federation took too long, then Leopold would arrive and break the siege. Or maybe the Federation would send reinforcements. He didn’t know.
But he did know that he gained more strength with each passing day. The binding stone’s power restored itself from the leylines, and Nathan became a fighting force again. The Federation couldn’t starve him out, and they likely knew it.
But what he really wanted from this battle was to capture Sunstorm. He didn’t know who the amethyst monogem was, and he didn’t care. She was a Champion that he would defeat in order to win this battle.
But he would capture Sunstorm.
Two more uneventful days passed. The enemy built ladders in their camp. A large battering ram slowly formed into being, with a huge steel cap waiting nearby. The Federation soldiers had brought it through the pass with them, but were busy harvesting the wood for the frame from the nearby forest.
The ditch prevented rams from getting close to the walls, but the main gate had flat land in front of it for obvious reasons. It remained one of the few weak points in the fortress.
Eventually, the mud cleared after that single night of rain. The sun beamed down. The Federation army lined up outside the fortress. Ladders, trebuchets, and the enormous steel-capped battering ram menaced from a distance.
Heretic Spellblade Page 24
