Heretic spellblade 6, p.14
Heretic Spellblade 6, page 14
Tarako stared at him. Then slapped herself in the face. “You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Mental magic is an offensive weapon as well. Kadria excels at that, but sucks at manipulation. The Twins are the opposite.”
“And you?”
“I’m not answering that.”
She grinned at him, then cackled. “Well, maybe I’ll find out. Because there’s a reason I wanted you here other than to swap stories. As you can see, I’ve ordered the foxes to help out. I saw that the elites were moving. With your power and prowess, we might have a chance. But I’m powerless as is, and the Messengers moved too soon for our efforts with von Milgar to work out.”
Efforts… “You’ve been pushing for noble ranks so you can get some Bastions to take on fox Champions.”
“Of course. More importantly, I hoped for one that might bring me into the fray.” She fixed him with a look. “I’d ask you to help me, but as you already have five, I’ll need you to recommend—”
Narime and Ciana snorted.
“You wanted a recommendation?” Narime asked.
“You think Nathan can’t handle a sixth trigem?” Ciana chirped with a grin. “Are you sure you haven’t drunk too much?”
“Maybe that Bastion didn’t suffer a stroke, but nobody else has ever had more than four trigems for any length of time,” Tarako insisted.
“Nobody else has been using mental magic—” he began to say.
“Every Bastion used mental magic to bind their Champions.” She rolled her eyes. “You’re not special for doing that, even if you might be more talented in doing so. Much more talented, given all the other ascended magic you’re using.”
Tarako pursed her lips and looked him up and down.
“Why are they so convinced you can handle more than five trigems, anyway?” she asked.
“It’s easier if I just show you. Why don’t I take you back to the palace to reactivate your gems,” he said.
Tarako stared at him, her tails falling to the floor. “You think you can reactivate my gems now? Just like that? You understand how powerful I am, right? How complicated a process it is to rejuvenate the power of a trigem and reconnect with my core?”
“Astra’s Bastion was dead when I claimed her,” he said.
“Oh.”
With the legendary fox sufficiently cowed, Nathan returned with her to the palace. They used teleportation and managed to avoid attracting much attention. Most of his Champions were busy, after all. If he let any of them spot Tarako, all hell would break loose. Fei might explode.
“This feeling is somehow familiar, but so strange,” Tarako said as she tested out her reactivated gem abilities. “Don’t get too caught up about the noises I made earlier, boyo. I’m a thousand times older than you, and you’re far too serious for me.”
Nathan had used the traditional method for claiming a Champion—primarily because he actually didn’t trust himself to use a non-sexual method for a trigem—and Tarako had reacted as sweetly as any other Champion. At least until she’d returned to her senses.
“I happen to like his seriousness,” Narime said, crossing her arms in annoyance.
“You’re in your peak, Narime. Of course you do. But when you’ve been around the world so many times, you want some naïve hero type that can be shaped.” Tarako eyed Nathan. “I’m too old to be shaped myself.”
“That’s fine,” he said, aware that Tarako was setting her boundaries. “I only sleep with a small number of my Champions, relative to how many I have.”
“So I’ve heard.” The fox shrugged, as if disappointed he hadn’t chased her further. “In any case, I’ll need to return to the clan headquarters for tonight. Even if I’m not the chief, I still set events in motion today. They’ll panic if I just leave. You’re marching tomorrow?”
“Yes. Trafaumh is in danger of breaching.” If it hadn’t already.
“I’ll return then. If there are Messengers and demons to be vanquished, my Nine-Tail Slash will send them back to the Seven Hells they dared crawl out from.” She tilted her head and grinned from ear to ear. “Did I get the quote right?”
She had. Memories of her spewing that line over and over in the books he’d read in his childhood filled his mind. Despite himself, his face flushed, and he looked away.
Narime tutted while Tarako giggled at his reaction.
Once the legendary fox teleported away from the palace, Nathan finished up for the night. Narime joined him and Kara in the control room, as they chased Seraph out. The fox planned to help coordinate the remaining operations.
When Nathan returned to his bedroom along with Ciana, he felt ready to collapse. Except he found Sen waiting for him on the edge of his bed.
She smiled shyly at him. “Um, hi. I think we need to talk about Ifrit.”
CHAPTER 10
Despite his exhaustion, Nathan made time for Sen. He’d put off talking to her about her magic for far too long.
They moved to the couches in his bedroom. Ciana hugged Nathan from one side, pressing her head into the crook of his neck. Once she started clinging to him, Sen followed suit and crept into his lap. This discussion would take place with his arms full of women.
Not the worst way to close out a horrendously long day. A shame about the serious discussion he needed to have.
“Are we talking about Ifrit or your new spells?” Nathan asked.
“Um, both.” Sen grimaced.
“Let me clarify. Is this a problem with Ifrit?”
Her mouth transformed into an “O” shape. “Noooo. More of a ‘you’ll probably be pissed’ situation, if I know you. And I do know you. Like, I wanted to avoid clinging to you so soon because you’d start getting hard if I rubbed my ass against you, but Ciana started already, so…”
“Focus, please.”
She shot him an impish smile while rubbing her butt against his crotch. After he pretended to shove her off his lap, she stopped teasing.
Her smile vanished. She began twirling her white hair. Which only drew his attention to it.
One of his fingers caught a lock of her hair. “There’s not a speck of brown left. You’re white to your roots now. This took close to a decade before, but only three years here. And I never saw you nearly collapse in exhaustion like you have when casting those spells.”
“Yeah, that’s not surprising.” Her voice was soft.
“Sen…”
She sighed and leaned against his chest.
Ciana remained quiet, content to lean against his side. Nathan thought she might be dozing, but she smiled up at him when he looked at her. Her one good arm rubbed his back.
If he wasn’t careful, they’d put him to sleep.
“Ages ago… Well, not really, but a couple of years ago, after we first defeated the Federation, I asked Ifrit for advice on how to be strong enough to fight Messengers,” Sen said. “We’d just fought the Twins and I could do nothing against them. None of us could. My best spells were useless against them. They deflected Seraph’s and Fei’s attacks as though fending off angry peasants. If Laura hadn’t gotten cocky, we would have lost.”
Nathan really didn’t need a reminder of how close a call his battle with the Twins had been. While some of his Champions gave the duo shit over their performance these days, the fact remained that Laura had vaporized his defenses and beaten everyone up by herself.
“He gave me a lot of advice, and I told you about it a while ago,” Sen continued.
He nodded. “I remember. About relying on skill and his reserve of power. Penetrating barriers, deceiving enemies and the like. Wasn’t that conversation recent?”
“I talk to him all the time about this.” But she scratched the back of her head. “He warned me away from this path. Told me about the price you’d pay by using ascended magic so much. But more and more Messengers kept coming, and I felt less and less useful. That’s why I stopped focusing on training as a spellblade and dove into spellcraft. If I spread myself thin, I’d never have a chance of scratching Messengers.”
“Ah.” He brushed some of Sen’s hair behind one ear, causing her to lean into his touch. “You should have told me.”
“I worried that you’d worry about me,” she mumbled. “I said I know you, right? You’ve spent so much time worrying about me and everyone else. If I started dumping my worries on you, it would defeat the purpose of becoming strong. I want to help you, Nathan. After years of leaning on you and clinging to you, I want to be the one to help you through a dark time, and to be the one who stands up and fends off the monsters threatening us.”
A chill ran down his spine at her proclamation. He couldn’t describe why, but it deeply worried him.
Which, ironically, proved her point. She smirked up at him, although with only a hint of her usual attitude.
“Told you,” she said.
He sighed and bent down. Their foreheads pressed together.
“I’m your Bastion, Sen. It’s my job to worry about you,” he said.
“Maybe,” she said. “But I told you when I first became possessed that I could take care of myself and that I’d hit you if you spent too much time thinking. I reckon I’ll need to invent a spell to slap you in the back of the head every minute now.”
Mean.
But probably true.
Sen turned in his lap until she awkwardly sat cross-legged on top of him. His arms steadied her and pulled her into a half-hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck, staring up at him.
Then she looked sideways at Ciana, who stared back.
“Enjoying the show?” Sen asked.
“Mmmhmm,” Ciana hummed back. “I understood completely. It’s our duty to protect Nathan, sometimes from himself, so that he can protect Doumahr and everyone else. He’ll burn out otherwise.”
Sen giggled. “I should’ve known you’d understand.”
Nathan was being bullied. His Champions were bullying him, and they laughed at him in the process.
“I understand why, but now I need to know more about these spells,” he said.
“Ah.” Sen looked down and leaned her forehead against his chest. “So, you’ve seen the big, super spells I used against Thanatos, Artemis, and Tomoe?”
“Yes.” Those were exactly the ones that worried him.
“Each of them is an ancient ritual spell recorded by the Lodges,” she admitted. “The sorcerers claim that the goddess created them as anti-demon weapons, to be used by the mage towers when humanity came under threat. But there’s a catch.”
“Let me guess. They require a spirit to help cast them.”
Sen nodded. “The instructions recorded in the Lodges indicate multiple possessed are used when they cast the spells, presumably with weaker ifrits or other spirits than the one in my head. But my Ifrit says something different to the Lodge. That these spells are his. They were given away in partnerships, intended to slay Messengers.”
“… did Ifrit say who he gave them away to? Or what race?”
“Huh? I mean, no, but wouldn’t that be other possessed, or Bastions and—” Sen cut off suddenly.
And her expression shifted to an unusually calm one. When she next spoke, it was as if she’d swallowed a bucket full of molten gravel.
“It’s been some time, Nathan,” Ifrit said, speaking through Sen’s body. “And I believe you know far more than the last time we spoke in detail.”
“Ifrit. I’d ask you to join me for drinks more often, but I think Sen would murder me if you gave her a hangover,” Nathan replied.
Ifrit chuckled. “I complain at her enough about her hangovers and the aftermath of coitus, so it would be remiss of me to abuse my host’s body. But enough trivialities. You’ve learned of the long, distant past of Doumahr, haven’t you?”
“The goddess has burned through multiple races before the faeries, yes. Elves, foxes, and even a lost race of dragons. Possibly the dark elves, too.” Nathan’s expression darkened as he spoke.
“Hmm, given that list, I wager you’ve been in contact with more than the succubus I believe brought you here. There’s only one living person who might know that particular list of races.” Ifrit raised an eyebrow. “Have you met the nine-tailed menace?”
“… you know Tarako?”
“That’s a yes, then. And I certainly do. Do not forget that spirits are primordial in the truest sense of the word. Our existence and magic predate the woman who lays claim to the magic of this world now, so we’ve witnessed the extent of history. But it is not our role to speak it. We are not humanity’s witness, or anyone’s. We exist so long as the land and elements do. When it goes, so too do we.”
“Shouldn’t you tell me everything then? To protect those elements?” Nathan asked.
He wanted to feel angry at Ifrit for hiding so much information from him and Sen. But he couldn’t.
After all, he’d always known that Ifrit knew far more than he let on. The fact he’d instantly caught on to his dimensional travel was proof enough. Ifrit never told him such things in his old world. Why would he suddenly speak up about history now?
“Death is as much a part of nature as life.” Ifrit closed his eyes. “One day, existence shall cease. My fire burns until then. I lend my flames to those who can bear them, because that is how fire blazes, not because I hold some attachment to living. That is why, although I nudged young Sen away from her current path, I have granted her wish. It may consume her, as fire often does its vessel, but we must all blaze our own trail. Just as you have.”
That chill from earlier returned. Unlike before, it shook Nathan to his core.
When he blinked, Sen looked back at him. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She smiled at him.
“He wasn’t supposed to tell you that part,” she mumbled. “I wanted to hedge around the cost.”
“These spells are going to kill you,” Nathan asked, struggling to keep his voice steady. “Sen, I only just got you back. I can’t—”
“Nathan! I want to protect you,” Sen wailed, gripping his jacket. “We couldn’t harm Thanatos, and my head filled with those dark thoughts. Vague memories of all those he killed in our old world. Artemis attacked, and nearly killed all of us. How can I stand back and throw around little lava lances that do nothing when everyone else is dying?”
They held each other for a long minute. Ciana leaned in on the hug, her horn shining an unusually bright white.
If Nathan lost Sen again… He couldn’t bear to think of it. She’d been with him as long as almost anyone he’d known. Just like Ciana, Sen was a constant in his life.
It had been Sen that had tempted Nathan to accept Kadria’s awful deal and make a mistake. Only after Sunstorm had he realized that he should have refused her.
But while Nathan told himself over and over that he’d never cross that line again, and had stuck to it while dealing with Vala, he thought about that fact while holding Sen.
If he faced a choice between a bandit Sen, who hated him and would never want to be with him, and making that horrific choice again…
Something hit him in the head and he blinked.
Sen glared up at him. “I told you not to think so hard about stupid things. Don’t make me invent that spell that slaps you every minute, Nathan.”
“Sen…”
“I’m here. I’m happy, content, and we’re in love,” she said. “Everything that’s happened, has happened, and it’s worked out. So stop moping about the past. I had Ifrit teach me how to use these spells, but he’s also helping me cast them. When I draw on his power, I merge with him. That prevents my body from collapsing when casting them. But there’s a price.”
“Other than your life?” he asked, dismissing his dark thoughts from earlier.
She nodded and brushed some hair over one ear. “Your ascended magic has been changing you. Making you less human, and don’t deny it. Everyone sees it and feels it. You’re inexhaustible. Just look at you today. Battle to battle without slowing down. In bed, you used to rely on magic to keep going and get it up over and over. Now you never get soft, even when a few of us drag you into the shower for a foursome in the morning.”
For some reason, losing his refractory period had not been an issue in Nathan’s life. Probably because it had been the only thing standing between erectile dysfunction and a happy sex life, what with the sheer number of lovers he had.
He calmed down and kissed Sen. She smiled against his lips.
“I’m still Sen, and I don’t plan to die,” she said softly. “This just means I’ll be a little different. Um, I don’t know what the physical effects might be. You joked I might grow horns one day due to Ifrit. That might become real.”
“I did warn you,” he joked.
She punched him in the chest.
The serious topic finally passed. They held one another for several minutes more. Sen desired the closeness, while Nathan wanted to know that she wasn’t going anywhere, after the scare he felt earlier.
He’d come to this world, changed the course of history, conquered nations, and battled world-destroying monsters—all to bring back those he loved. Even if he knew he risked their lives in battle, the thought that they might truly die shook him to his core.
Aware that he was still shaken, Sen jumped up. She poked his nose.
“What was that for?” he asked, scratching his face.
“To annoy you. Also, I want to have some fun. But…” She looked at Ciana and winced. “I know how important tonight is to you, Ciana. This is your night. So cuddle up with Nathan and rest.”
Ciana scowled at her friend. “I’m fine. Tired, but I can join in.”
“Oh?” Sen grinned. “Maybe I should come back with some fun stuff and see if you’re still up for it.”
Before either Nathan or Ciana could say anything, Sen dashed off.
The unicorn looked at him, then her horn darkened. “Oh. She’s talking about butt stuff.”
“You walked into this one,” Nathan said.
“Don’t say that,” Ciana whined.
He stood, only for her to drag herself up with him. If Sen was returning, he might as well get ready for some fun. She often took a little while, for reasons that should be obvious given her preferred mode of play.
