by Dante King
The game of cat and mouse continued as I sprinted around the swamp, searching for another clear body of water. I dashed through a cluster of small pools, careful not to fall into one, and came to a pristine pond. It was only a dozen feet wide, but its clear surface suggested the liquid inside wasn’t acid, and the bottom was at least five feet down.
I stood with my back to the pool and braced myself for the spirit to attack. It charged headlong, just as I had done at the start. At least, the acid spirit didn’t share the multiple fighting techniques of the sap spirit. I went low, caught the spirit around the waist, and drove it back over my head and into the stream of water. My arms screamed as the acid ate the skin and burrowed into my flesh.
The pond bubbled behind me, and I turned around as the acid spirit started to dissolve. It writhed as its oozing flesh diluted and tinged the water a sickly green. It grew thinner and weaker by the second.
But it wasn’t enough. The spirit waded through the water and started clambering out. I would have given anything for a martial technique right then, but I still had my feet, so I kicked the spirit, and it fell back into the stream. My foot blistered as the acid bore into it, and more toxic clumps spattered all the way up my leg.
I grimaced at the pain. I needed to finish this thing off while I still had some unburned skin. The spirit was flailing in the pond as it attempted to reach the bank. I didn’t have much time.
I rushed to the river, grabbed a chunk of stone from the bridge, and ran back to the pond. The acid spirit climbed awkwardly to its feet just as I smashed the lump of stone into its face. The spirit fell back with half its head gone and landed in the pond for the third time.
I knew the water was now poisoned with acid, but I couldn’t see another way to defeat the spirit, so I leaped in after it with the stone held above my head. I brought the rock down on what was left of the spirit’s head, then its chest, and on down its body. With each strike, the water became more toxic, and my skin began to broil.
But I couldn’t let up. Not when I was so close to victory. Agony screamed all over my body as I continued my work.
My improvised weapon crumbled as I crushed the semi-solid mass of acid a piece at a time. The acidic water sloshed around me, eating down to the bone. If this wasn’t a spirit world, I was sure I would have collapsed already, but biology seemed to work differently here.
When there was nothing left of the stone except a tiny pebble, I grabbed the acid spirit by both hands and tore. The water and my blows had weakened its body, and I managed to rip its head from its shoulders. I plunged the head beneath the surface as my hands melted. Every part of me felt like it was burning alive, and my body rapidly disintegrated into the pond.
My awareness vanished for a moment before it returned. I could feel soft grass beneath me, and I opened my eyes.
I was back on the island in the Vigorous Zone. My flesh was unburned, but I could feel something else inside me.
I reached out and touched the core and let just a fragment of its power flow through me. Strands of fire and water opened within me, and I bound them together to create a new pathway.
My vision flashed black and red as I forged the new core within myself. A primal roar exploded from my chest and echoed throughout the marshes .
I struggled to clear my mind and find an end to the sudden tunnel of screaming pressure. Channels of boiling energy burned as Vigor ran through my flesh.
A hand touched my shoulder, and I turned to see Kumi standing behind me. Her fingers trembled as they brushed the sweat from my face. I fought through the echoes of horrific sensation and finally smiled at her.
“I thought you were dying,” Kumi said, horrified. “Does that happen every time you do this?”
I sat up and rolled a shoulder to loosen up my neck. “Pretty much. But it’s worth it.”
I got to my feet.
“You look exhausted. You should rest.”
“It’s not that bad. I’ll perk up in a minute or two.”
The princess shook her head. “You’re swimming in sweat, Ethan.”
“How long was I out for?”
“Maybe half an hour. Are you sure you’re able to walk?”
“Kumi, I can do a lot more than walk now; trust me.”
She shook her head in astonishment. “I don’t like this.”
I offered her a hand up. She took it and surprised me with a hug. Her arms slipped under mine and curled tightly around my chest. Her fragrant hair brushed my cheek as I held her there for a moment.
“Don’t scare me like that again,” she said. “At least, tell me if you’re going to start screaming like that.”
“You got it. Thanks for watching over me.”
Kumi’s gaze swept past my shoulder. “You’ve probably attracted every monster in the Vigorous Zone. We should leave before they attack us in force.”
“Right behind you.”
We swam back across the lake and walked along the trail toward Qihin City.
“Labu always told me that Augmentation was difficult. He never said it would be anything like that,” Kumi said. “How many times have you done—”
A smothering fog rose from the pathway around us. The Qihin princess stepped in front of me and held out an arm to stop me.
“I’ll deal with this,” Kumi said.
“No.” I took a step forward. “I want to see what I can do with my acid pathway. Better take a step back just in case.”
The combination element allowed me to merge multiple techniques into something new, and I had a few ideas already.
“You’re out of your gods-damned mind,” the princess muttered.
Ten lampreys melted out of the mist with open maws and scything claws.
I closed my eyes and called forth the acid power I’d forged inside myself. It flowed out through the new channels that ran along my skin in every direction. I allowed it to flow through the Smothering Mist pathway and forced its direction along Untamed Torch. I figured I’d create some kind of steam cloud, but when I opened my eyes, a green-colored fog had formed around my attackers.
Well, that made sense. Maybe not by chemistry standards, but my new element was acid, not steam.
The skin of the lampreys started to burn and blister as my technique rolled over them. They screamed and flailed at their own bodies. Some jumped into the water in an attempt to wash the acid off, while others just ran into the marshes as fast as they could go.
I dispelled the cloud and felt a triumphant bolt of success hit me.
“That’s incredible,” Kumi whispered. “I see why you were willing to risk the pain for that. It’s truly a weapon worthy of a skilled Augmenter.”
“Never thought of you as one for flattery, Princess,” I teased.
“Hush,” she huffed, unable to hide a smile behind her hand.
“Although it’s kind of a twisted attack,” I said. “I’m not sure I’d use it on anything that’s not a monster.”
“Fair. But one day, you might have to. Will you be ready, Swordslinger?”
I shrugged. “If the time comes when I need to broil someone alive with a cloud of acid, then I’ll consider it.”
Kumi frowned at me, and she clearly didn’t know what to make of me. I smiled at her, took her hand, and we walked on through the moonlight until we reached the edge of the city. The guards let us past the gates with looks of huge relief.
I had assumed that we would head straight for the palace, but Kumi had other ideas. She led me down two side streets until we came to the back door of a grand, stone building. She retrieved a key from a hiding place in the wall and let us in.
“It’s a bathhouse,” the princess explained. “It’s not open at the moment, but it’s built on a hot spring, so the water will still be warm. I thought it would be a good way to relax after our journey.” She wrinkled her nose. “And you smell of sweat and burnt clothes.”
Kumi locked the door behind us, then led me through an antechamber into the main room of the baths.
Pools of water steamed and filled the air with heady clouds of herb-scented perfume. The princess stopped at the edge of the nearest pool , dipped her toe into it, and smiled.
“Perfect,” she said. “Undress, Ethan.”
I laughed. “You know, you keep saying that I’m full of surprises. But you’re just the same.”
“You’re not shy, are you?” Kumi asked me with a giggle. “You’ve already seen me naked. If it makes you feel better, I’ll go first.”
She unfastened her top and revealed the naked fullness of her breasts and the near-black disks of her nipples. Her eyes fixed on mine as she slid off her skirt and cast it aside to stand naked at the edge of the water. She turned her side to me, and her ass rounded out from her substantial thighs.
“Well?” she said as she slid into the pool. “Aren’t you going to join me?”
With an offer like that, how could I refuse?
I kicked off my sandals, unfastened my belt, and shed my robes, tunic, and trousers. I removed a towel from a hanger, dipped it in a wash basin, and scrubbed the mud from my arms and legs.
“What’s taking you so long?” Kumi asked from within the pool.
“I don’t want to get the water all muddy,” I said as I threw the towel down and walked over to Kumi.
Her dark complexion glistened from perspiration, but her body from the collarbone down was mostly hidden beneath the steaming water.
I sat fully naked on the edge of the pool as the warm water lapped around my legs. I slid in and sighed as my whole body felt immediate relief.
“Isn’t it exquisite?” Kumi said, standing close to me.
“Truly wonderful.”
Kumi wrapped one arm around my neck and pulled me close. I didn’t hold back this time. The kiss was long, deep, and passionate. I lost myself in the taste of her mouth and the sensation of her silky skin as it brushed against me under the water.
Kumi’s hands roamed over my skin and traced the scars of my old and new life. She moaned softly as I pressed firmly against her and squeezed her hips.
“Looks like I might have to take you as a Swordslinger’s wife? What would King Beqai have to say about that?” I murmured as I kissed her on the neck and down, across the curve of her breasts.
“Let’s not talk about Father now,” she said, the words halfway to a gasp.
I laughed at that and kissed her until she seemed desperate to be taken. Kumi’s strong thighs slid around my hips, and her nails dug into my neck as I leaned into her. Her skin melded with the scent of the bathhouse and made my head spin. Her fingers raked over my back and shoulders and threatened to draw blood. Her tongue found mine and introduced me to another world of sensation. The water spun around us at each gasp and moan from Kumi. I drowned her in passionate kisses and tender caresses.
“More,” she breathed. “Give me more.”
“That an order, Princess?”
“With all the authority of the Qihin.” Her laugh turned into a sudden gasp of pleasure as I caught her under the legs and spun her to the wall.
I felt myself rise inside her, and Kumi’s moan filled the empty space of the bathhouse. Her fingernails found my lower back and hauled me into her. Her hair tickled me as I pressed her against the wall of the pool. Her teeth found my ear, and she tugged a second before her head rolled back against the pool’s edge.
Her breasts heaved as I took her in firm, steady strokes. The water around us danced as tiny pillars on the surface raced up to touch the steam. Kumi squirmed harder against me as her heart slammed against her ribs. Her hips bucked, and her voice took on something like a melody.
The water of the steam bath turned into a whirling symphony of ribbons and threads. A deep, animalistic sound of pure pleasure exploded from her throat and filled the building.
Kumi slid off the edge of the pool as she wrapped a leg around mine and embraced me. I held her there for a moment as she caught her breath. Her instinctive magic fell out of the air and created a warm rain over us. She laughed into my chest as I tried to stifle a chuckle.
“That was intense,” I said finally.
“Oh, we’re not done, Swordslinger,” Kumi said. “Not until you are.”
I hauled her out of the water as desire overtook whatever restraint I had left. Kumi tackled me, and we tussled on the tiles in a fight of kisses and caresses.
The water started to dance again as I finally pinned her down and kissed my way up her body. Her coffee-colored skin glittered in the soft light as she turned around and planted herself on all fours. She peered back at me as she offered herself to me with a hungry expression.
My fingers danced across her soft mound as she ground herself into me. When I was sure she was ready, I slipped inside her and began a new movement. Her song renewed itself, and the water from every pool began to rise up. With each new thrust, the water danced and scattered. When I pulled out a little, the water receded.
Soon, I could no longer pay attention to the movements of the water. My release continued to build, and my focus was entirely wrapped in the sensation of her wetness clustering around me. She trembled all over, and the water crashed back into the pools. I felt unable to hold back anymore, and I finally came.
I lay on the cool tiles beside Kumi as she nestled into my chest.
“Woah,” I said.
Kumi stared at my member as a smile touched her glistening lips. “I see you’re ready for some more. Come.” She stood and beckoned for me to follow her into a bath.
How could I refuse a princess?
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning, after I returned from the bathhouse for a few hours of sleep, the palace bustled with activity. Leading members of the Qihin clan gathered in meeting rooms and at the corners of corridors as I left my room with the Sundered Heart belted to my hip. The officials kept their heads together as they talked in hushed and serious tones while servants raced back and forth to take messages and fetch equipment.
I found Kumi and her father on the walls of the palace. The courtyard spanned out to one side as the city glittered in the morning on the side. Beqai’s warriors fastened their armor, sharpened their blades, and talked tactics as they practiced their combat maneuvers.
The bustle of activity spilled out to the streets below. Columns of armored figures marched back and forth as other groups gathered in squares and market places. A row of warships had been assembled at the docks. Pennants in the royal colors of red and yellow flew in the morning breeze of the ocean.
I listened to Kumi and her father discuss the relative merits of different formations within their forces. She smiled warmly as I approached and smiled. Her eyes carried a barely veiled meaning, and I knew she was thinking of the previous night.
King Beqai turned to greet me, and I tried to hide any expression that would reveal what we’d done last night.
“Disciple Ethan,” Beqai said, using my guild title. “It’s good to see you awake.”
“And you, your Majesty. I think you’ve had a long slumber.”
Beqai’s expression stiffened at the comment, and I thought that I’d misjudged the man. But then he burst out laughing and sent his seaweed beard shaking against his chest.
“A fair point. Too long have I lain still as a lake while the storm raged around me. It is time to become the ocean once more and draw out the tide that will wash our enemies away.”
“I take it you have a strategy to deal with the guild, Your Majesty?” My friends and I had managed to escape from the guild house, but we’d only fought against initiates and guards. Disciples, masters, and the guildmaster himself had been absent. I assumed that was intentional, so retrieving the Depthless Dream from Horix would prove far more difficult than the escape had been.
“Oh, yes.” King Beqai pointed toward the sea. I followed his gnarled finger to the tip of the Resplendent Tears Guild House in the distance. “The whole guild cannot be blamed for the rot that has set in at its heart, but that rot cannot be allowed to thrive. We must r
id the Resplendent Tears of Horix and his devotees. Then, perhaps, peace can be established on the Diamond Coast again, with clan and guild once more working in harmony, as the Treaty of Blades dictates.”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but that doesn’t sound like a plan. You told me why the guild should be dealt with, but now how.”
“I am considering it,” he said as he chewed his lip. “With the Depthless Dream in hand, Horix will prove a formidable enemy.” His fist slammed down on the battlements. “But he’ll need time in calmer waters before he can truly unlock its power. As it is, he still presents a serious threat. But nothing impossible to overcome. We will gather every warrior we can spare and march on that place to destroy the canker at its core.”
It still didn’t sound like a plan. And there were hardly more than a hundred men gathered in the courtyard and city square. Some of them might have been Wild Augmenters, but they would be easily defeated by a guild full of warriors trained in the magical arts.
“We’ve rallied the people,” Kumi said. “But there’s one consideration holding back my father’s plan. This is about keeping our city safe, and we can’t do that if we leave it exposed while we go to war. We need to keep our guards in the city to prevent more sneak attacks like the one Cadrin made.”
The prospect of a hundred guards assaulting the guild house had just dwindled to barely more than 20. It would never be enough.
I looked into the courtyard as the guards lined up to march. Their armor gleamed as they sheathed their readied weapons. Their total number stood a slim chance of taking the guild house, but if even 10 stayed behind, we would fail.
Except I couldn’t argue that they all leave. The safety of the city was at risk, especially after what had happened with the monster attacks. Besides, leaving the city unguarded could be all part of Horix’s plan.
“How many of your guards will stay here?”
“Many,” Beqai said. “Most even. Which means that your presence and that of your companions will be more important than ever. Some stones thrown into the water cast bigger ripples than others, and the people of this city only stirred when you cast yours.”
