The Creators

Chapter Eight: Sister

JUSTINA

The smell of last night’s sex wafted into my nose as the dawn light shined into my eye. I took a deep inhale, and smiled. Bodies pressed all around me, warm and expanding with breath, the smooth flesh of five hues sprawled on an oversized bed. Brandon’s body encased Willowbud’s, while I laid in my nightly nest of Astrid and Mom, nestled between their naked curves, resting my head between Astrid’s pillowing breasts as her wings blanketed us. It felt like a family; Mom being my mom, of course, and Willowbud was already my cousin, but Astrid was like a protective older sister to me, and Brandon, my aloof brother. The only person missing was the one I’d been closest to; the one who used to live in my head.

Once Willowbud learned what Angela was, she could see the Life Giver’s ethereal sister through Corruption’s eyes, and it was not a sight she could bear. To Willowbud, Angela represented her only competition for Brandon, so, in exchange for my freedom, Brandon had tearfully exiled Angela from our makeshift family. It was like a part of me had been ripped out. My head felt quiet, my musings went unanswered, my soul was missing some crucial piece. Angela and I had shared every thought, emotion and sensation from two perspectives. It had been more than intimacy; it had been coexistence, and now that she was gone, I felt hollow. My mind had been freed, but it also had been emptied.

Since I was liberated, Mom and I had no reason to stay with Willowbud, but we didn’t leave. We had a litany of excuses as to why; our duty to Brandon, helping Astrid with her (now almost totally forgotten) mission to rescue Willowbud from Corruption, and Mom’s blossoming fighting career, but we both knew the real reason we stayed. The sex was too good. No one fucked quite like a god, and here were two of them residing in the busiest brothel of the largest city in the world; it was like succubus heaven, so what were we to do? We just ignored the devil that lurked within Willowbud’s mind, hoping that the silent sixth member of our family would remain sedated with Brandon’s affection.

“Willowbud,” Brandon’s voice whispered, his eyes still closed, “are you awake?”

“I can tell you are,” Willowbud smiled sleepily, shimmying her hips into her lover’s crotch.

“It’s Tuesday.”

“Do you have to?” she groaned, trying to dissuade Brandon by grinding her ass deeper.

“You can come with if you want.”

“I liked that cunt better when there was a hole in her chest,” Willowbud grumbled. “When you reach a similar sentiment, I’ll gladly come along, and we’ll make a date of it.”

“I can only give the shared miracle of life, to take what has been bestowed—”

“Don’t start that shit again!” Willowbud growled as Brandon chuckled. “Fuck the Creator’s Codes, and fuck Gloria for teaching them to you! You and Astrid should run along to Iona where they paddle your ass for using the wrong fork, then see how a life codes suits you.”

“You don’t need an excuse to paddle my ass, Mistress,” Astrid groaned sleepily, rolling on her back and revealing a body I wouldn’t have recognized two weeks ago. Her braided blonde hair was shorn near to the scalp on the sides, her nipples and labia were pierced, and her skin was a canvas of dark ink. She had protested greatly over the first tattoo, the one written across her lower back that read, ‘Mistress’s Entrance’ with an arrow pointing downward. The other twenty, she’d gotten on her own. It seemed that once Astrid broke an oath (or was forced to), she went full-bore, and now she was covered from foot to chin in a display of artistry that contoured to her every curve, leaving only her face, breasts and butt bare. Her physical metamorphosis reflected her spiritual change, which had been like watching an angel fall. It was a privilege to witness her descent.

“I’ll tell you what,” Brandon purred into his girlfriend’s ear, pulling her white hair behind an ivory, ram-like horn, “if you let me in back here, I’ll skip today’s lesson.”

“Hmm, tempting,” Willowbud smiled impishly, her green irises cornering her black sclera, “but no. That deal stands as it is. You only get to fuck my ass if I get to fuck yours.”

“Are you sure you want to go down that path?” Brandon chuckled, “What if it awakens something in me? What if I realize that I’ve been batting from the wrong side of the plate this whole time?”

“It’s a feminine penis.”

“That’s an oxymoron.”

“You’re an oxymoron.”

“I didn’t know I was dating a fourth grader,” Brandon smiled, connecting eyes with Willowbud as she craned her neck. He sighed, worked his jaw a little, and then said, “Fine, but it never leaves this room.”

“You serious?” Willowbud asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” Brandon grinned. Their lips connected and opened, tongues wrapping and eyes closing. They parted with mutual lust in their gaze, a string of saliva glinting between them.

“After class, meet me at the spa,” Willowbud whispered, drawing a finger through their oral bridge.

“Why?”

“To get our assholes bleached, of course! We’re not barbarians, are we?”

BRANDON

It felt like I was walking a tightrope with the world on my back. Did I like Willowbud? Yeah, I liked her; hell, I really liked her, but was I in love with her? Maaaaaaybe…? I didn’t know what ‘being in love’ even was, but I did know that if I didn’t keep the Sentient-melded Earth Former happy, all hell would break loose.

I looked over my shoulder as I unlocked Gloria’s door, and then slammed it shut the moment I entered. Gloria had been gone for two weeks. The moment she heard that Willowbud knew she was alive, the ancient vampire packed her shit, and left. Through a torrent of departing comments like, ‘you fucking dumbass,’ and ‘your dick is not a life coach,’ I managed to convince Gloria to give me her housekeys so that I could use her home during her absence, and do the things my girlfriend could never know about. Where I could perform what the Earth Former might consider infidelity.

“Brandon?” Angela asked, floating from the corner of the room. I felt butterflies every time I saw her now, and I swore they only got worse each time I did.

“Hey, Angela,” I smiled, locking the door behind me, “are you doing alright?”

“Oh, I’m doing just fine,” Angela snorted. “I’m stuck inside an empty house with only spiders and that fucking fox to keep my company.”

“His name is Red Rocket, and he is an absolute delight,” I grinned back at her as I reached into my coat pocket, and pulled out a pound of bacon for the fox.

“Well, he isn’t much for conversation,” Angela huffed, “and I’m a natural extrovert, Brandon; I need the social life to keep my edge.”

“I don’t know what that even means,” I chuckled, “and I don’t think you do either.”

I walked to the back of Gloria’s room, and sifted through a pile of heavy boxes until I found what I was looking for. I grunted as I pulled the coffin from behind the litter, and dragged the unwieldy box to the center of the room. This thing was getting heavier by the day.

“When’s Gloria coming back?” Angela asked. “I don’t care if she can’t see or hear me, just having a person here would make all the difference.”

“Gloria’s going to be gone for a while,” I grimaced.

“Does Justina ask about me?” Angela asked, a touch of sadness in her voice.

“All the time,” I said, thumbing the combination lock, “but I can’t tell her anything, Angela, for her own sake. If I told them, and Willowbud found out they knew…”

The mechanism clicked into place, and I opened the coffin lid. Creating plants and animals was easy for me, but an actual person was an entirely different story. I thought I could think Angela’s body into existence like anything else, but it was not the case. I’d been making her piece by piece for two weeks, stealing what little time I could without making Willowbud suspicious. As of now, the project was an absolute horror-show, but I was making steady progress. Today, we started on the digestive system.

“You know what I miss the most about having a body?” Angela said as I began my work on the esophageal tube.

“What?”

“Taking a huge shit,” Angela replied wistfully, “just sitting down, feeling the porcelain on your ass, and letting loose. The pressure blowing out your sphincter, the oddly-satisfying smell of your own refuse, the decompression in your gut as you—”

“Stop!” I yelled, holding up a hand. “Just, stop. Please.”

“I was just trying to get you in the right mindset,” Angela sniggered, “you will be making me a new butthole today.”

“And if you want to keep your new butthole, it’ll have to be appealing enough for me to want to lick it.”

“Would you really do that for me?” Angela asked, batting her eyelashes with sarcastic adoration.

“Yes, Angela,” I smiled at her, “when this is all done, I am going to eat the absolute shit out of your butthole.”

“You wanna… you wanna rephrase that one?” Angela giggled, covering face.

I leaned forward, levelling my eyes with hers until our irises were inches apart. I gave her the most exaggerated expression of lechery I could muster, licked my lips, and whispered, “No.”

Angela burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter, and I chuckled along with her as I got back to work. When I told her what we’d have to do to bind her new body, I’d expected her to be as averse to the idea as I’d been at first. She was not. I guessed years of catching me masturbating had warped her sexuality; either that, or she’d been spending way too much time inside the mind of a succubus. Now that she was out of Justina, Angela showed no signs of sexual interest. Maybe it was because she’d never done the acts herself, and didn’t understand the ramifications of them. She didn’t know what it meant to physically want someone, and I didn’t know what it meant to be in love, but what we shared was something few people did. We’d been with each other since the beginning, after all, even before birth, and no bond is stronger than the one formed in the womb.

TERA

I waited until Willowbud was gone before I made my move. I shuffled quietly down the stairs, listening carefully as I cringed with each creaking footfall. The soft moans of Justina’s morning masturbation alerted me to her whereabouts, but it didn’t sound like Astrid had joined her yet. I took another cautious step, narrowing my eyes, trying to figure out where the valkyrie was.

“Where are you off to?” her voice said from beside me. I jolted with a yelp, undoubtedly looking as guilty as could be.

“Breakfast!” I practically yelled, and then added before Astrid could inquire further, “where did Willowbud go?”

Astrid shrugged, “Mistress said she needed to make preparations for the championship fight,” then narrowed her eyes, “which we are supposed to be promoting in three hours.”

“And I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I flashed a dazzling smile. “I’ll only be gone for an hour.”

Astrid looked expectantly at me. The two of us had become more than friends over the past month, and she was undoubtedly wondering why she wasn’t invited for breakfast.

“Do you want to come? It’s a new vegan restaurant on—”

“No, thank you,” Astrid scoffed, walking away and muttering to herself. I knew that would work. I donned a coat, unhappy with the amount of flesh I was forced to conceal, and made my way onto the brothel district’s busy streets. I took two lefts and a right, jumped the compound wall, and was at my old safehouse. I hadn’t used the thing for century, and it was in rough shape to say the least, but it worked in a pinch, and my dearest twin sister and her valkyrie friend had put me in quite the fucking pinch last night. I unlocked the door, and slammed it behind me.

“Master?” two lustful voices cooed hopefully from the darkness. I pulled a rope, and the sunroof light illuminated my slaves. Though she looked to be barely past her teens, Flora’s tight skin had greened with the centuries, her ram-like horns had overgrown, and her once-platinum hair was now a deep turquois. She was ancient, as ancient as I was, anyway, but retained the girlish features she’d passed on to her daughter; full cheeks dotted with dimples, full lips outlining a small mouth, and eyes almost too big for her face. She wriggled in her binds, arms tied behind her back, feet shackled to the floor, trying to get my attention with hope in her now-violet eyes. I turned that attention to my other captive.

Now that I had a good look at her, Flora’s companion was instantly recognizable. That woman couldn’t be anyone but Freydis Skyborne, High Guard of Iona, and Astrid’s mother. She was arching her back from the wall, her hands clasped in shackles above her head, her tongue running over needy lips as she eye-fucked me with my violet irises. I had just barely gotten a hold of her before she barged through the front door of the Screeching Siren, and the bruise that smarted from my ribs was a reminder of how much power she had behind her punch. Had I not been on the porch last night, and smelled Flora’s familiar scent before the two arrived, god only knows what would’ve happened. I had a good idea of why both women were here, but I needed details. I knelt before my possessed twin sister.

“I always wanted you, Master, ever since I could feel such things,” Flora confessed, writhing in her binds. “If they hadn’t exiled you when we were fourteen, I might’ve fallen to the temptation. We’re old women now though, and the shames of youth don’t bind us. Lie with me, sister; let me see how far I can slide my tongue up your… oh.”

Flora’s eyes returned to their forest green, but her cheeks turned to a deep red. I might’ve explored that tangent a bit further, but I had more pressing concerns.

“Flora, just what in the fuck are you doing here?” I growled.

“I’m here for my daughter!” Flora snarled. “When, pray-tell, were you planning on telling me that she was alive?!”

“Around the same time that you told me she was a fucking god,” I shot back. “Or maybe about the little friend that lives in her head?”

“What are you talking about?” Flora snapped.

“Don’t lie to me, bitch!” I seethed, “You knew, didn’t you? Willowbud thinks you kicked her out of Arbortus because of her mutation, but it was because Passion told you about Corruption, wasn’t it?”

Flora stared back, that old sibling hatred brimming behind her eyes. Five centuries of separation, and we were at each other’s throats once again like nothing had changed since we were preteens. We’d been with each other since the beginning, after all, even before birth, and no hatred is stronger than the one formed in the womb.

“Yes,” she finally said, “I did what I had to. Passion gave me three days to exile her, or she’d tell the other matriarchs. They would have killed her, Tera.” Flora sniffled, her eyes glistening. “I know I wasn’t a good mother to her, but I tried to do what was best. When I heard her ship had been lost, it was like my whole future had been lost with it. Then Elmsun went after her and he wound up dead, and now…” Flora looked up at me, desperation on her face. “Tera, she’s alive! My daughter is alive! You have to let me see her!”

“Flora,” I sighed, “you can’t see Willowbud, because there is no ‘Willowbud.’ It’s just Night Eyes now.”

“She’s not too far gone,” Flora insisted fervently, “if you take me to her, I can—”

“No.”

“Corruption doesn’t have her wholly!” Flora struggled against the binds. “I can still save her! If you just—”

“She’ll kill you,” I said coldly. “She’ll kill you badly, Flora. She’ll make it slow, and she’ll make me watch, because that’s who your daughter is now. She’s gone.”

Flora stopped struggling, her eyes leveling with mine. The horror began to creep into her face, the realization, the implications of what it meant, but then it vanished, and the denial replaced it, and the familiar hatred scuttled soon after.

“You lie!” Flora hissed. “You always were a liar, Death Kiss! What, did you think we wouldn’t find out about you? Did you think you could hide your—”

“I didn’t care,” I replied, voice still cold. “Once I was exiled, that was that. I buried Arbortus and all memory of friends, family, and home, and I started again, because what else could I do? You mean nothing to me, Flora, so don’t think for a second that I’ll lie to you; you’re not worth the effort. Now, why are you traveling with Freydis Skyborne?”

Flora glared back at me, pine-green eyes narrowing in contempt. I smirked, and ran single finger along her cheek, poking the cute dimple at its center.

“If I have to enslave you to get my answers, I’ll do things to you, sister,” I whispered, running my hand down her neck, down her arm, between her legs, “of course,” I smiled into her changing eyes, “if that’s what you want…”

“We were traveling with the Heat Bringer!” Flora gasped, her eyes fading back to green, her thighs grinding together about my hand, my fingertips warm from the heat radiating from her lust. I stopped, processing the information, searching Flora’s face for deception.

“Bullshit,” I growled, and pushed my fingers inside. I felt her soft wet heat give way to me, her petals open for me, dripping their nectar onto my palm as I turned it upright and curled my digits. Flora’s back straightened, her legs tensed, her petite breasts shot forward as she growled her reluctant pleasure. She fought me though, fought me admirably. Her eyes flashed different colors, but never settled on one.

“I’m telling you the truth!” Flora cried, unable to stop the moan from seeping through her words. Her face was flushed now, sweat glistening from her green canvas, neck striated with tension as her aqua lips peeled to reveal gritted teeth. “I used Astrid’s plight to make Freydis abandon our retinue! I knew I had to get to Drastin before Sister Julia did!”

“Why?” My fingers pressed against the ribbed spot within her, grinding mercilessly as the thumb danced expertly over her clit, engorging the feminine organ to a red bead. Flora began bucking her hips, seeming to throw a tantrum in her lust, unable to cope with the pleasure that was taking her, that was coercing words she didn’t want to speak.

“I’ll only tell Willowbud!” Flora screamed. “You won’t get a word from me, you slut!”

“Oh, I will, sister…” I hissed, my snake’s tongue slithering from my lips. “Your tongue was always meant for talk, after all; that’s why they made you a matriarch. Do you want to see what my tongue can do? I know you’re curious; I can feel just how curious you are down here.”

I dipped my face into Flora’s crotch, parting her trembling legs with my withdrawing hand. My upper lip wrapped around her clit as my tongue pushed through her flushed labia, tasting the oozing need that wetted her. She was delicious. Flora’s voice sung above me as she thrashed and squealed, her legs locking together around my head, trying to decapitate me in her passion. Back and forth, back and forth; my tongue ran the length of her ceiling, long enough to touch her cervix before coming back to her ribbed button, and pressing, prodding, flicking, finding the combination that would unlock her. My sullied fingers slid down my sister’s taint, still wet with her secretion, and found her sinful aperture. Flora screamed her objection, and I penetrated her with two fingers, causing her head to fling back, causing her pelvis to shoot forward, her body betraying her, gratefully dancing for my vile favor. In and out, in and out. I exited her anus with each pull, and then pressed my fingertips to her twitching rim, and pushed in again, making her feel the penetration over and over, overloading the nerves that sealed her exit. My tongue tasted her surrender, my lips kissed her defeat. She shuddered, bucked her hips, screamed, and came. She came in a rectum-convulsing, pussy-spasming torrent of release that flooded my mouth with her gratitude, and trapped my fingers in her coiling embrace. She exalted like I’d just shown her heaven, and I wondered how long it had been since Flora had last felt release. Judging by the violence of her reaction, I’d say it must have been years.
“Truth be told, sister,” I said, greedily lapping what had sprayed from her. “I’d always wanted you too. Now, where were we?”

“You were asking me about Sister Julia, Master,” Flora said, her voice dripping with thanks, her eyes my violet. “You wanted to know why I wanted to get here first.”

“Go on,” I said, sucking her ass off my fingers.

“Sister Julia is a devil clothed in piety; a murderer, a deceiver, and an agent of the emperor.”

“Agent of the emperor?” I asked incredulously, “Didn’t she kill his daughter?”

“She bound with his daughter!” Flora smiled, beckoning me to touch her more. “The emperor spun his lies, and the matriarchs wanted to believe them so badly that we willingly trapped ourselves in his web. We let our guard down, and the Heat Bringer passed through our borders unmolested. She seduced Passion, mated with her, and once Passion had provided an offspring that could survive outside the womb, Julia killed her.”

“What?!”

“Now she uses this offspring as a compass,” Flora whispered. “She comes to Drastin to find the Life Giver! She says she wants the Life Giver’s help to replace Passion’s womb, but I know she just wants to kill him to doom Arbortus to decay. That is why I came in such urgency; Willowbud might be the only one who can stop her! Did I answer your questions? Will you fuck me now?”

“Shit,” I hissed, my heart pounding. “Shit, shit, shit!”

I left my sister whining for me on the floor, and raced up to my room. My wise niece had banned astral communicators from the household, so I had no way of calling for immediate help. Instead, I scratched-out a letter addressed from Gloria, tied it to a pigeon’s leg, and sent it flying, hoping it would find Willowbud in time. If Willowbud thought I’d gotten this information, she’d be suspicious, but if it came from Gloria, she wouldn’t bother questioning it. I just had to get to the old vampire before Willowbud came knocking, or god forbid, Sister Julia.

ANGELA

Brandon thought it was strange that I didn’t even blink when the truth about me was revealed. When you’re dead, it doesn’t really matter what kind of dead you are. I was an infantile Sentient, and I would grow to a full Sentient if Brandon didn’t bind with me before he died; it seemed to me like there wasn’t much in the way of options, so why complain about what you can’t change? The idea of having sex with my twin didn’t bother me as much as it probably should have, but sex was an abstract concept without a body. The only time I’d felt lust was when I was shared Justina’s, and Justina didn’t care who she fucked. I’d never felt my own physical attraction, but I knew I loved my brother, and I knew I could learn to want him. He obviously wanted me.

“Well?” I giggled, bent over before Brandon, my ethereal dress hiked over my nonexistent hips, my hands spreading glutes that didn’t exist. “Do you have it yet?”

“Not quite,” Brandon said, his voice heavy in his chest, his eyes staring fixedly at me as he did his work, “do you think you can spread a little wider?”

“Like this?” I giggled again, thinking this was the funniest fucking thing in the world. I couldn’t feel my own touch, so I had no idea if I was spreading myself gaping, or tearing myself in half.

“Could you…” Brandon started, then shook his head, and went back to work.

“Could I…?” I prompted with a knowing grin, “feeling frisky again, dearest brother?”

“Yes,” Brandon said, giving me a bashful smile. This happened every time I modeled for him, so I was prepared. I’d even practiced at nights when I was alone with nothing else to do. I painted on a lustful smile, hoping it looked sexy, slid one hand between my legs, and the other between my cheeks. I couldn’t feel if my fingers were penetrating me, but diligent practice in the mirror had allowed me to zero-in on the holes and simulate masturbation without having my hands simply pass through my pelvis. By the look on Brandon’s face, I guessed I’d gotten it right in this time. He bit his lip, unzipped his fly, and pulled out his engorged manhood. I gave it a leering glare, as I knew he’d want, and then started moaning, hoping it sounded realistic enough. The first day we tried this, I definitely went overboard, and Brandon had cringed back as I started screaming like a banshee. I toned it down a little, and now moaned in almost the same tenor as a sob, with a slight inflection to keep it needful. Brandon started relieving himself, and I began moving my hands a little faster, daring to push them a little deeper, hoping that I wasn’t currently fist-fucking my own hip bone. Brandon’s hand accelerated along his length, his eyes staring ravenously at me as I spread my legs and arched my back, bit my lip and drooped my eyes. His panting grew audible, the exertion of his pleasure became obvious, the concentrative gaze in his eyes grew to avarice. I escalated my tones, crying out for him like I knew he liked, sounding pathetic vulnerable soprano notes that drove him crazy. His panting became grunting, his hand jerked with fervency, his hips began to thrust, and he came. I grinned; I had something new for Brandon today. I dashed over to him, opened my smiling mouth, and held out my tongue as his semen splashed through my face. The smile on Brandon’s face made all the practice worth it. When Brandon was finished, he petted my hair affectionately, running his hand carefully through the air where my head should be. This was my favorite part of the charade, when he looked at me like that. I couldn’t feel the desires he felt, but I could certainly share in his love.

A loud knock on the door broke us from the moment, and we exchanged an alarmed look. No one should be knocking on Gloria’s door.

“Should I see who it is?” I asked nervously.

“No,” Brandon frowned, stuffing his cock back into his pants, “if it’s Willowbud, and she sees you, I’m fucked, and not in the good way.”

The knock sounded again.

“Maybe we should just pretend we’re not here?” I whispered. Brandon nodded. He slowly, quietly, closed the coffin lid, and thumbed the combination. There was a silence outside, and then another knock, this one louder than before.

“Stop, Diamond,” a female voice sighed. “Knocking louder isn’t going to make them come sooner. They’re probably not home.”

“Well then, what are we supposed to do?” Diamond asked. “Just loiter outside for a few hours?”

“I guess,” the other voice said, sounding exhausted, “maybe they’ll show up, if they still even live here.”

“How do we know this ‘Gloria’ isn’t working with Night Eyes?” another voice, this one sounded oddly snobbish, like how I’d imagine a countess talked.

“Arbitrus told me he knew her, and that she could be trusted,” the tired voice replied.

“That’s a relief,” snobby voice laughed. “We’ll just trust the word of a crazy old man who spends his waking hours drunk, and his sleeping hours in a ghost world. Hey Sparkles, what do you got there?”

“Nothing,” Diamond said guiltily.

“Let me see it,” the tired voice now. “Diamond, where did you get this?”

“They were just sitting in a row on the street, so I… kind of just… you know… grabbed it.”

“You stole it?!”

“I didn’t know it was stealing until the man started running after me, and then it was too late!”

“You little klepto bitch!” snobby voice giggled. “I’ll have to punish you for this, you know that?”

“Why did you take this, Diamond?”

“I wanted to get Brandon a present,” Diamond said, sounding very sorry. “I thought he might like it, but I don’t know what boys my age like to play with.”

“Sure, you do,” snobby voice sniggered. Diamond moaned through a giggle, then there was a loud slap, and a yelp from snobby voice.

“Ow, you bitch!”

“Can you keep your hands out of my daughter’s pants for five minutes, Lucilla?!”

“Oh, look who’s talking!” Lucilla scoffed. “Was I supposed to believe that bathroom break lasted ten minutes because they ran out of toilet paper? Unlike Sparkles here, I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“Actually, I was a born a week ago—”

“I’m sorry you weren’t included, but there simply wasn’t enough room in the stall for three of us,” tired voice explained, “and I’d like to point out, just for the record because I know you’ll bring this up later, that was during an agreed-upon rest period, and did not affect our travel time.”

“We had this talk, Julia!” Lucilla growled. “We’re a tricycle; there is no third wheel! If you just told me that you wanted a quickie with your daughter, I would’ve been—”

“There’s a girl staring at us through the door,” Diamond said, interrupting the quarrelling lovers. I froze, only my eyes moving as they slowly tracked to Brandon, whose jaw was practically unhinged, his own eyes almost falling from his sockets.

“What?” Julia’s hushed voice.

“Sparkles,” Lucilla’s careful voice, “your eyes, they’re… purple.”

“Arbitrus said there was some of Passion left in her,” Julia whispered. “Diamond, what can you see?”

“Hi!” Diamond’s voice came brightly, directed right at me, “Are you a Sentient? You’re not Corruption, are you? Because then my mom would have to kill you. She’s the Heat brawah.”

Someone quickly stifled Diamond’s mouth with their palm, but it was too late. Brandon’s jaw was defying the laws of human anatomy, his face pale, his whole body visibly shaking. Sister Julia Gendian, the Heat Bringer assassin, was at our doorstep.

BRANDON

“Oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit-oh-shit!” I whispered, frantically looking for a weapon. Sister Julia Gendian killed a fucking princess as her first public act of divinity, and now she was knocking on my door. Not only that, but her daughter (who she was apparently fucking) could see Angela, which meant she was connected with Sentients somehow, and we definitely didn’t need any more of that shit.

“Life Giver?” Julia called from outside. “Are you in there?”

“Don’t answer!” Angela hissed.

“I got you a present!” Diamond called.

“The stories about me are lies,” Julia yelled. “I mean you no harm.”

“Just stay put!” Angela whispered to me. “I’ll get Willowbud to come help!”

“No!” I hissed back, “If you go to Willowbud, and she sees what we’ve been doing… I don’t want to think about it.”

“There’s a fucking deific assassin right outside!” Angela growled. “What’s the use in having a psychotic girlfriend if you can’t call on her for situations like this?”

“If Julia wanted to kill me,” I whispered, collecting myself, “she would’ve blown the door down by now.”

“You’re not seriously going to let her in, are you?” Angela whispered, face aghast.

“What choice do we have?”

“You can destroy the body,” Angela said sadly. “You can always make me another one.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head and walking toward the door, feeling my heart thundering in my chest. “I have a feeling that very soon, time is going to become a precious resource. Things are moving fast, Angela; it may take months for me to steal away enough hours to come as far as we have, and god only knows what will happen along the way.”

JULIA

I actually hoped the Life Giver wasn’t home. A knot of anxiety was forming in my throat every time I called for him, accompanying a sense of foreboding that crept in the back of my mind. For better or worse, this meeting was a historical moment, and the gravity of it was tugging at me. I called again, and again, no one answered. I was about to resign myself to renting an inn when the door creaked open, and a pair of blue eyes peered from the darkness.

“Sister Julia Gendian?” a man’s voice asked. That certainly wasn’t a vampire, so that meant this was…

“Hi Brandon!” Diamond said cheerily to The Life Giver. “Did you make a Sentient? That’s not good. Anyway, here’s a toy soldier. Aunt Lucilla said you probably like playing with your penis more, but I hope you like it!”

I buried my face in my hands and prayed that a lightning bolt would kill me. The Life Giver stared dumbfoundedly at the half-breed nymph holding out a wooden soldier, a hopeful smile stretched across her lips. There was the sound of someone choking beside me, and then a sputtering cackle sung from Lucilla.

“Uh… thanks, I guess. Come in,” Brandon muttered, taking the toy, and opening the door.

BRANDON

There were two things I noticed right away. One, was that Julia, Lucilla and Diamond were all stone-cold foxes, and the other, was that two of them had dicks. Diamond didn’t seem to care if anyone saw it dangling against her sundress, but Julia tried to hide hers with a low inseam. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for her, Julia’s endowment was too pronounced to conceal. Her emerald irises caught me gawking, and her sparkling cheeks turned the color of her crimson hair. That was an interesting reaction from a cold-blooded murderer.

“Wow,” Diamond gasped, looking at the mural on the ceiling that depicted a blood orgy, “that is gross.”

“Be nice, Diamond,” Julia said tersely, giving me an apologetic look, “it’s rude to insult someone’s home when you’re a guest.”

“Sorry,” Diamond said, gawking at the red torches, the gothic pillars, and the coffin. Julia saw me looking inquisitively at her daughter, obviously noting the nonexistent age gap between them.

“It’s a long story,” Julia smiled, entwining her fingers nervously. “Can we… um… sit down?”

“Of course,” I said, pulling boxes off the couch. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Wine, for God’s sake,” Lucilla said, exasperated, and obviously used to people doing what she said.

“Nothing alcoholic for me; I indulged too much last night,” Julia replied, her smile small and respectful, looking every-bit the nun she once was.

“I will also have some wine!” Diamond proclaimed, as if the statement was to be etched in stone.

“She will not,” Julia smiled again, giving her daughter a look of adoring annoyance.

I nodded, completely perplexed by the situation. Julia was nothing like the person depicted in the papers. If anything, she reminded me of my pious mother. Unfortunately for Julia, Gloria had two things in her pantry: wine, and jars of blood. I was sure Gloria longed for the day when alcoholism was her worst problem. I poured two glasses of water for the hermaphrodites, two generous glasses of wine for Lucilla and myself, and then sat across from them, Angela floating at my side.

“My name’s Diamond!” Diamond said with overt friendliness, holding out her hand to me. I shook it carefully, unsure of what to think of the odd nymph-elf.

“Hello Diamond,” I said, “I’m Brandon Sorenson, the Life Giver, and this is my sister, Angela Sorenson; she’s not yet a Sentient.”

“Hello Angela, Brandon,” Julia smiled brightly, inclining her head to each of us, though she missed Angela’s location by about a foot. “I’m Julia Gendian, the Heat Bringer.”

“And I’m Princess Lucilla Flitari,” Lucilla said, which got an eyebrow raise from me. “I know, I know,” she waved, “I’m supposed to be dead.”

There was an uncomfortable silence between the four of us. Diamond grinned, seemingly unaffected by the awkwardness, Julia sipped her water, looking like she was regretting turning-down wine, Lucilla looked grateful to have made the right choice, Angela floated with shifting nervous eyes, and I decided it was a good time to get a little drunk. I finished off my glass, poured another, finished that off, and waited for the liquid courage to make my lips form words.

“So, I’ve got about…” I said as I looked at my pocket watch, “…one hour before me and the Earth Former are getting our assholes bleached, so let’s get talking.”

Three fountains sprayed from three sets of shocked lips, immediately accompanied by three pairs of widened eyes. I smiled; that was as good a way to start a conversation as any, I guessed.

TERA

My body was naked, pressed against cold stone, hidden in shadow. I slithered past the house’s corner, my knife grazing the stonework with a metallic song. I stopped, my breath catching, my ears listening. The steady flow of conversation continued without interruption, and my heart slowed back to its methodical crawl. It didn’t sound like Brandon was in immediate danger, but that hardly meant he was safe. An assassin’s best weapon is congeniality, as I well knew, and an innocent smile could be a better disarmer than dismemberment. I ducked beneath the window, and noiselessly hoisted myself onto the roof. I danced across the shingles, my feet padding silently, crouching to make sure I stayed below the roofline, out of sight. Gloria had built her house with well-earned paranoia, making it impossible to penetrate without great force or effort. I listened carefully to the conversation below me, triangulating exactly where each speaker was. I reached into the belt slung across my hip, and pulled out a clear flask. There was a wick stuck in its cork that extended into the stem, where a gaseous green substance bubbled with obvious volatility. I marked my spot, pulled out a match, and lit the wick.

JULIA

“…and then we came here,” I said, finishing my story. I’d done my fair share of shocked gasping and disbelieving goggling during his story, and now it was Brandon’s turn to gawk. Our stories fit like pieces to a puzzle, except that our merging didn’t create a beautiful landscape, but a horrific abstraction.

“Holy shit, what a mess,” Brandon muttered.

“Yeah,” I relied dumbly.

“Well,” he grunted, “obviously I’m not going to help you if you kill my girlfriend, so scratch that off your list.”

“Yeah,” I replied again. Night Eyes was not only Willowbud Autumnsong, but the Earth Former. The realization made me numb, but I wasn’t sure it changed anything. Arbortus could wilt to nothing and that would be a tragedy, but a corrupted Earth Former would be a catastrophe. On the other hand, could I justifiably kill a Creator, just to kill Corruption?

“Do you think Freydis and Flora are alright?” Diamond asked beside me.

“I don’t know if they’re alright, but they certainly never came to the Screeching Siren,” Brandon said.

“What do you think happened to them?” Lucilla asked. I shrugged, and the world exploded.

My ears rang, debris pinged across my body, I was on my knees, then forced to my stomach. My head beat like a drum, there were hands grabbing for me, my vision was nothing but the blurred grout of a stone floor. Something struck me in the back, blasting the air from my lungs. It felt like I’d been punched, but then the pain came, and the cold feeling, the invasion of metal, and I knew I’d just been stabbed. I shrieked, the world clarifying with the sudden horror, the sound flying back to me in a whoosh. People were screaming, crying, metal ringing and furniture crashing. I was on fire now, blazing with barely any control, gritting my teeth to keep the pain from making me explode. I sucked in a ragged breath, and the pain was gone. I didn’t bother questioning the sudden change; I just climbed to my knees, and looked up.

I didn’t know where Diamond had gotten the sword, and I was even more confused about how she knew how to use it. She was a spinning fury of scarlet hair, moving with blinding speed, backing the assassin into a corner with expert strikes. The succubus parried desperately, moving with equal swiftness, but unequal ferocity. My daughter struck with brutal precision, each blow seemingly too strong to have come from her small frame, each clash ringing with a fury that sent the assassin’s defenses reeling. Diamond feigned right, dipped, elbowed the succubus in the ribs, and then caught her hand at the wrist, leaving the succubus wide open for Diamond’s incoming stab. Diamond stopped in her tracks. “Master,” she said, and the succubus grabbed her before I could react, turned her around, and held the knife against the back of her neck where skull met spine.
“Brandon, get out of here!” the succubus yelled.

“Tera, what the fuck are you—”

“Get out!”

Brandon stood stubbornly fast, his body radiating with blue light, the walls around him teaming with floral life of a thousand different colors. Lucilla was glowing like a jack-o-lantern with my power, staring dumbfoundedly at her hand as if she’d never seen it before.

“The bitch cut my fucking hand off!” she cried. “And it just… it just…”

“Brandon, get the fuck out!” Tera screamed again, hiding every part of her body behind my daughter. Diamond, for her part, seemed to be greatly enjoying being held hostage. She was pitching a tent that I could’ve hung a coat on, and grinding her thighs together with a needful moan.

“Tera, is it?” I said, stepping cautiously forward. “‘Death Kiss’ in the Pit, ‘mother’ to Justina, and ‘sister’ to Flora?”

“I’ll brain her, Julia,” Tera said, her voice as dead as her moniker. “One more step, and I’ll do something even Brandon can’t fix.”

“Why?” I asked, stopping where I was, leaving melted footprints in the rock beneath me.

“Flora told me what you are; what you really are,” Tera hissed.

“Flora’s a crazy old bitch!” Lucilla screamed, and I held a hand up to silence her.

“Tera,” Brandon said slowly, “put the knife down. Julia isn’t going to hurt Willowbud.”

“Willowbud?” Tera spat. “Brandon, Julia is here to kill you!”

“What?!” I yelled.

“She’s sure been taking her time about it,” Brandon said dryly.

“Julia likes to play with her food before she eats it, don’t you, Julia?” Tera sneered, licking the side of my daughter’s face with a long, forked tongue. “I know I do. Speaking of which, where’s Gloria?”

“Gone,” Brandon said simply. “She’s been gone for two weeks.”

“Then what the hell have you been…” Tera looked at the coffin, its cover broken-off in the chaos, Angela’s unfinished body displayed in gruesome detail, “…oh.”

“Tera,” I said with as much calmness as I could muster. “I’m going to count to three, and if you don’t let my daughter go by then, I will turn Brandon into an ash pile.”

“Wait, what the f—”

“One,” I cut off Brandon with an extension of arm, my palm splayed threateningly toward him. Tera watched me from behind my daughter, angling the knife against her spine.

“Two,” I said coldly, a ball of plasmatic heat radiating from my hand, so hot that Brandon’s skin glistened from ten feet away. Tera narrowed her violet eyes.

“Thr—” a blast of blue power shot from Brandon’s mouth, and hit me in the chest. My body was no longer just mine. I felt something, someone, desperately trying to gain control. I gritted my teeth and focused the energy into my hand, the molten sphere vibrating with imminent release, Brandon in the crosshairs of my splayed fingers.

Please don’t! a female voice screamed. Angela. She tried to touch the motors of my mind, but they’d belonged to me for far longer, and I shut her out. She raced into my memories and started ripping through them, and I closed the book before she got too deep.

Let me see! she screamed. I can’t help you unless you let me see!

Get out! I growled, trying to expel her from me. It was no use. Every time I kicked her from one part of my cognizance, she just hopped to another.

Tera will kill Diamond, I promise you she will! Angela yelled. And if you kill Brandon, and I become a Sentient, I will fucking haunt you, I swear it on your holy mother! Now let me see who you are!

I tentatively unlocked my memories, and felt Angela sift through them. My journey to Drastin, my morning with Arbitrus, my night with Diamond and Lucilla, my murder of Passion, my days of bliss with her, my night with Lucilla in the tower, my years spent in the convent, my years in the orphanage, my—

That’s far enough! I screamed, feeling that memory coming back to me, those blackened, shrieking faces. Angela stopped there, carefully putting the memory back into place. I felt her memories too, of days spent in the mind of Justina, of years floating beside Brandon, of nights watching him from the corner of the room, of wooden wheels bearing down on me, of horrid, crushing pain, of oxen hooves trampling as my skull split against the—

That’s also, far enough, Angela said quietly as I gawked in horror. I need to take control of your mouth and eyes now, OK?

I numbly let her, my mind still echoing with the firsthand experience of death.

“Tera,” a voice that was not my own said from my lips, “she’s not here to kill Brandon. Flora was mistaken.”

“Then why is she here?” Tera hissed, not moving.

To kill Willowbud, for one, Angela said to me. I can tell you’re undecided, so let me add my two cents; if you have the shot, you fucking take it.

“To get Brandon to reconstruct the womb of Arbortus,” Angela answered with my mouth, “and to find a new Passion.”

And If you think I’m living in a fucking tree for eternity, you’re dead wrong, Angela hissed in my mind. Find a different undead sucker to fill the role.

“Satisfied?” Angela asked Tera.

“Is she going to kill me the moment I let her daughter go?”

“She’s fifty-fifty on that,” Angela replied honestly. Tera sighed, gave me a resigned look, and pulled the knife from my daughter’s neck. Diamond’s green eyes returned to her, flashing purple sclera for a moment as they focused on Angela within me, and then lolling back to whites as she stumbled forward. Lucilla scrambled forward and caught Diamond before she fell, and I let the fire die, still staring at Tera, watching with some contempt as relief spread across her face.

“Well,” Brandon said, stepping between us, a noticeable dark spot on his crotch, “that wasn’t any fun. Let’s never do that again, OK?”

The earth shook violently beneath us, the windows rattled, the walls cracked. Angela abruptly took control of my hand, aimed it, and sent a fire ball blasting into her body. She ejected herself from my mind as the house exploded around us, the bricks turning into a fine, soft dust. The mid-morning sun shined brightly in my eyes, and I squinted through the rubble-soaked haze as Willowbud Autumnsong strutted toward me.

WILLOWBUD

Brandon had pissed himself, that much was obvious. Tera was standing naked in the corner, an antlered nymph-elf sporting a substantial erection was lying on the ground, a high-elf tattooed with glowing patterns was holding her, and the Heat Bringer was burning with white flame, her sparkling, curvaceous beauty somehow complimented by the piece of man dangling between her legs. All-in-all, this was a weird morning, even for me. I noticed the burnt carcass lying on the ground, and smugly realized Gloria hadn’t been wearing her sunscreen today. My bad. Astrid stepped beside me, her sword drawn, her face pulled into its stoic warrior grimace. Justina stood on my other side, not much use in a fight, but she did add symmetry.

“Well… hi!” I said cheerfully, testing the earth beneath Sister Julia, trying to determine just how fast I could kill the bitch before she fried me. Judging by the melted rock beneath her feet, I doubted I could do much damage. I glanced at the patterned woman, the Heat Bringer’s power radiating from her flesh. A stone through her head might even the odds, though.

“Hi!” the antlered-nymph-elf responded with unironic cheer. I liked her.

“I take it you’re Willowbud?” the patterned woman said with an imperious inflection. That bitch could eat a dick.

“That I am,” I said stepping forward, feeling-out the rock, “and you must be Princess Lucilla.”

“That’s far enough!” the Heat Bringer yelled.

“And this is the infamous Sister Julia Gendian,” I grinned, looking her over. “God, it’s nice not to be disappointed. I hope you can say the same; I’m sure Brandon’s been telling you lovely things about me.”

“I already knew all I needed to,” Sister Julia said coldly.

“You sure?”

I took another step forward, and Sister Julia exploded with flame, the heat threatening me from fifty paces away. Brandon, Tera and the antlered girl all scrambled away, but Lucilla just walked nonchalantly beside her bound love, and smiled as she wrapped her arms around Julia’s waist. Her dress disintegrated from her body, revealing the whole of her patterned beauty as the pair of them rose above the ground, shining brighter than the sun. The stone beneath Sister Julia’s feet turned molten, sinking into a deepening depression as jets of fire pounded them from her feet, making a mockery of my feeble earth. Lightning crackled in sporadic tendrils about her form, flashing from her arms and legs in an overdone, but effective display of power. For the first time in my life, I was outmatched; woefully, wholly outmatched. I could practically feel Corruption’s terror in my veins; KILL HER! the Sentient seemed to scream, but Corruption’s influence on my soul contradicted her personal sentiments. If anything, her terror only goaded me. Here was a challenge, here was something to ease the monotony. Can I break this holy sister? Can I ruin her? Can I make her mine? I felt Corruption calm herself within me, getting with the program, searching Sister Julia to find what darkness I could bring out of her, what morsel of sin laid beneath the pious mask. Corruption would find it, as she always did (except with Brandon, for some fucking reason), and I would coax it from Sister Julia until it became who she was, and she became mine. If I couldn’t, well… a boulder to the skull kills everything, even a god.

I looked around, and noticed the gawking faces of Drastin’s citizens, all pointed at Sister Julia. That bothered me, so I took the cobblestone street, and pulled it from the earth like yanking a rug from the floor. I turned the two-hundred-yard stretch of road into hundred-foot-high spire, and commemorated Gloria’s life by dropping the monument on her corpse. Shocked gasps of ‘Earth Former’ and ‘Night Eyes’ met my ears, and my ego was sated. Brandon, realizing we were having a public dick-measuring contest, colored the spire in an intricate layer of flowers, gilded it with a flock of golden doves, and turned the entire boulevard into an apple orchard, adding his girth to the lineup. It was an interesting way to introduce ourselves to the world, but I guessed it had to happen eventually. Gods can’t hide in the shadows for long, not when one of them is light itself.

“Are we done here?” I yelled to Sister Julia. “Or do you need me to get a measuring tape?”

“I should kill you,” Sister Julia said simply, her voice cutting through the roar of her flame.

“Probably,” I grinned, taking another step forward.

“You’re not afraid that I will?”

“I’m only afraid of myself, Sister,” I yelled, and took another step toward the heat. Sister Julia’s stern face softened at that. She cautiously eased herself and Lucilla to the ground, the flame dimming from her flesh. I stepped forward, and extended my hand. Julia looked at it for a painfully long time, and then reached out, and grasped it. Applause and cheers rose from around us as the mortals of the city bared witness to the historical union. They didn’t see the challenge that crossed our eyes, or the threat that lurked on our smiling lips.

JUSTINA

Now that the cat was out of the bag, Willowbud had no qualms about displaying her powers in ostentatious spectacle. The two-story Screeching Siren was atop a newly-made, five-hundred-foot stone tower, secluding the trio of gods from the tens of thousands packed around the tower’s foot. Dignitaries and nobles pitched camp in the brothel district’s streets, their massive tents nothing but specs of garish color. The king of Drastinar himself had rushed to pay homage, and Willowbud had taken great delight in slamming the door on him. Willowbud (or rather, Night Eyes) didn’t give a shit about nobility; it was the rabble she enjoyed, and they had come out in droves.

“…I never did get to meet Passion,” Willowbud said airily, lounging on her couch with her head in Brandon’s lap. “My mother and her never saw eye-to-eye. Did you meet Flora while in Arbortus?”

“No,” Lucilla answered, both her and Julia crammed into dresses from my wardrobe.

“I was asking Sister Julia,” Willowbud said tersely. Lucilla’s cheeks went red, her eyes narrowing. Those two obviously weren’t going to get along.

“I never had the pleasure,” Julia answered Willowbud, though she gave Mom a sidelong glance.

“‘Pleasure’ isn’t something Flora provides,” Willowbud chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she had thorns in her cunt.”

Mom chortled at that. She sat beside Astrid, who was staring intently at Julia, looking poised to defend her Mistress at the slightest provocation. I sat across from them, between Brandon and Diamond, the latter of whom had scooched her chair from her mom to sit closer to me.

“Hey,” she whispered, a big smile crossing her red lips, “I’m Diamond!”

“I know,” I said, unable to keep from smiling back. There was something infectious about her unbridled friendliness that made everyone she talked to like her. Even Astrid had relented a smile when Diamond made her acquaintance.

“I’m sorry I tried to kill your mom,” Diamond whispered as Julia and Willowbud conversationally gaged other, “but she stabbed my mom in the back, so, you know… but, we’re all friends now, right?”

“Right,” I said, looking her over. “Is it true that you’re only a week old?”

“Well, technically I was in utero for eighteen years, but it’s been one week and nine hours now since my birth,” Diamond smiled.

“How did you know how to use a sword?”

“My other mom taught me while I was in her womb,” Diamond said, as if that explained it.

“My mom perfected her craft for hundreds of years, trained with the greatest swordsmen of her time, and killed some of the deadliest warriors Drastinar has to offer, and you almost bested her without ever touching a blade?”

“I guess.”

“Fascinating,” I whispered. “This throws everything the scientific community knows about ‘nature vs nurture’ out the window; if we could determine what mechanism allowed your mother to pass useful skills to you while in utero, we could… I’m sorry, this must all sound like gibberish to you.”

“It all happens during the development of the infantile prefrontal cortex,” Diamond whispered back. “Genetic information passed during this period often contains hereditary knowledge. It is the utilization of the tRNA by the host nucleus that allows for what is called ‘instinctual learning.’ My incubation optimized this period, allowing me to gain vast amounts of utilizable information.”

“Oh,” I managed, staring with mouth agape at Diamond.

“It’s nice to talk to someone with an interest in cellular biology,” Diamond smiled. “What other fields have you studied? I’ve been trying to expand my knowledge of material sciences, namely, the structural properties of bio-based polymers. I have this theory that plant fibers are actually the stabilizing property of a matrix composite, and if—”

“Do you want to fuck?” I practically gasped. I never believed in love at first sight, but, well… shit. Diamond didn’t even flinch at the proposition. She just bit her lip excitedly, grinning with a twinkle in her emerald eyes.

“Right here?” Diamond giggled. “Right now?”

“Right now,” I said, taking her hand, staying my enslaving powers, “but not right here; I’ve got a room.”

TERA

Julia and Willowbud were so busy sparring words that neither of them noticed Justina and Diamond sneak off, their hands sliding up each other’s skirts. Lucilla, since regulated to a second-stringer by Willowbud’s disdain, had gotten into a staring match with her new counterpart, Astrid, while Brandon had gotten into a staring match with the wall, nodding periodically to maintain the façade of listening. I sighed, wishing I could join my daughter and her new antlered-friend, but alas, I had to sit at the grownup’s table. I wished Gloria was here; she would’ve known how to referee this exchange. The adversarial undertone was rapidly losing its subtlety, and I worried that we might be verging on outright hostility.

“Of course they should worship us!” Willowbud laughed. “They should build shrines and sacrifice virgins to us! Why not?”

“Not only is that blasphemous,” Julia growled, “but it’s wholly unethical! We should be beacons of hope, examples of virtue and mercy, not tyrants!”

“Honey, I’m not saying we should rule the world,” Willowbud smiled, “that sounds like a lot of administrative bullshit that I don’t want to deal with. Let the little kings and emperors shepherd the cattle; I just want to have my fun.”

“Fun,” Julia said flatly. “You don’t think your powers give you responsibility beyond your own amusement?”

“No, I actually don’t,” Willowbud’s smile grew even wider.

“What do you think, Brandon?” Julia asked.

“Huh?” Brandon started, “Oh, uh… you both make great points,” Willowbud elbowed him in the ribs. “Fuck, ow!”

“You’re my boyfriend; you’re supposed to agree with me by default!”

“Whatever Julia said is right,” Brandon groaned, rubbing his side. “I will not be intimidated by terrorists.”

“Please pay attention, Brandon,” Julia said, barely masking her impatience. “We’re talking about the future of the world here.”

“I don’t get why we have to have some kind of agreed-upon agenda,” Brandon said. “How about you just do your thing, I do my thing, and Willowbud does her thing? If our things happen to come together, then we’ll both do each other’s things, OK?”

“And what happens when your thing and my thing oppose each other?” Julia asked. “What happens when, just for example, that thing inside your girlfriend decides destroying Drastin might be her ‘thing?'”

“Drastin wouldn’t be much fun as rubble,” Willowbud mused lazily. “Terondia, on the other hand…”

“You fucking bitch!” Lucilla screamed.

“I’m sorry, did anyone else hear that?” Willowbud grinned. “I swear I just heard the rare mating call of the Imperial Dick Swallow.”

“Julia, kill this cunt right—”

“Enough!” I yelled, causing all eyes to shift to me. I stood there, gaging each expectant gaze, instantly regretting my outburst. What would Gloria say? What wisdom should an ancient impart upon immature gods with limitless power?

“Astrid and I need to promote our fight,” was what I managed to come up with. “We’re fighting in the Pit championship in two nights, and you three have stolen all our thunder! It was the most anticipated bout in a century, and now it’s going to be regulated to page six of the Drastin Times because you greedy fuckers had to go public!”

“You have to… promote your fight,” Julia said slowly.

“That’s right,” I said firmly, lifting my chin proudly. “Astrid and I get on stage, perform various dance routines, and have a mock duel with practice weapons. Then we show our gratitude to our wonderful fans by fucking as many of them as we can before our legs give out. Afterward, we sign autographs and sponsor charity events for the local orphanage. It’s a crucial part of community outreach, and you three are fucking it up!”

“I was really looking forward to it,” Astrid mumbled beside me. There was a tense silence where I wondered if I’d just united Willowbud and Julia in the joint venture of killing me.

“I’d actually like to see that,” Lucilla said quietly, putting her hand on Julia’s thigh. “What about you?”

“Do you just… jump into the crowd and see what happens?” Julia asked me, “Or is there a number system, or a line, or… Good Mother, the logistics of it!”

“I usually act as the M.C,” Willowbud said. “I pick patrons from the crowd, and bring them on stage.”
“And I cure our gladiators of S.T.D s afterward,” Brandon added. “Of which there are many.”

“I did a gangbang once,” Lucilla smiled, “it was actually a devil’s threesome, but between two of the biggest orcs you’d ever seen. I didn’t walk right for days.”

“My first gangbang was with an orc, an elf, a dwarf, Mistress, and a half-giant,” Astrid added with a slight smile. “I thought I was going to die, but Mistress got me through it.”

“You did more than just ‘get through it,'” Willowbud smirked, “you were practically speaking in tongues.”

“I lost my hetero virginity in a gangbang,” Julia said quietly, an impish smile on her usually-pious portrait.

“Bullshit!” from Brandon.

“It’s true,” Julia giggled. “I was in Passion’s womb, and she brought her sons to me and… well, they did not leave me wanting, or vacant.”

“There’s a slut in that nun, isn’t there?” Willowbud smirked.

“An anal slut,” Lucilla sniggered, and the two women shared a laugh as Julia’s cheeks reddened.

“Brandon and I were going to experiment along those lines today, actually,” Willowbud said.

“He told us,” Julia grinned.

“Did he?” Willowbud gave Brandon an apprising look, “I thought you wanted to keep a lid on that.”

“I needed a good ice-breaker.”

“And he decided his anal-bleaching would suffice,” Lucilla chuckled.

“It certainly got us talking, didn’t it?” Brandon said with a raised eyebrow.

“If I’m being honest, it seems like kind of a one-sided proposition,” Lucilla sneered at Willowbud, glancing at the depression in the Earth Former’s inseam. “By which I mean, Brandon doesn’t appear to be making too great a sacrifice.”

“Oh, we’re doing that now, are we?” Willowbud bared her teeth, hooking her thumbs into her waistband. “Do you want to see a magic trick, Your Highness?”

And with that, Willowbud pulled down her pants, showing the mortified Julia and sneering Lucilla her bald pussy. She grew a cock from her slit as a pair of balls dropped from her pelvis, and the pair of elves dropped their jaws in congruence.

“Ta-dah!” Willowbud exclaimed with a flourish of her hand.

“Good Mother!” Julia gasped.

“Holy shit,” Lucilla whispered, looking slightly hungry.

“Well, come on,” Willowbud said to Julia, “let’s nip this in the bud before we end up starting a war over it. Pull up your skirt, Sister.”

“What?!”

“It used to be that I was the only woman packing heat,” Willowbud said, “and that made me the queen-bee in some circles. I need to know if I’ve just been dethroned.”

“Julia’s way bigger than that!” Lucilla laughed. Julia did not look like she appreciated her hype-woman.

“Only one way to find out,” Willowbud shrugged.

“There are some things better left unknown,” Julia said, blushing even more.

“That sounds like someone who’s got a pussy where her balls should be,” Willowbud smirked. Julia narrowed her eyes, the redness in her face darkening for a different reason. She kicked off her shoes, marched over to Willowbud, and pulled up her skirt, her eyes fixed on the Earth Former’s.

“Bow to your queen,” she sneered.

“Fuck,” Willowbud sighed, “yeah, that’s… both length and girth, huh? Shit… well… wait, you know what? It doesn’t mean shit when it’s soft. Get hard.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little desperate?” Julia smirked.

“I don’t think you’ve got anymore to spare,” Willowbud smirked back, stroking herself, “but I’ve got a few secret inches left.”

“This is beyond stupid.”

“Can’t get it up?” Willowbud asked, eyes twinkling. “Performance anxiety isn’t uncommon, Sister; it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Not all boners are created equal!” Brandon piped-in jovially. “Tera can make sure everyone is at peak performance.”

“That’s true,” Willowbud said, glancing at me. “Care to help out?”

“I’d love to,” I stepped alongside the two women, reaching with worshipful fingers, longing to grasp what I’d been staring covetously at. Julia took a cautious step back, her face telling me she still hadn’t forgiven me for taking her daughter hostage. My hand found her tool, and her face found forgiveness. I suppressed a shudder as I felt both women engorged in my palms, my seductive touch localized to prevent enslavement. I unwrapped my hands finger-by-finger, then squatted until my ass was level with my ankles, my back straight, my eyes lasciviously inspecting the two gods.

“It’s really close,” I said, sliding a studious finger along both shafts, hiding a grin as precum bubbled from both tips. “We’ll have to do a side-by-side to know for sure.”

I guided Julia forward, and she didn’t protest. I slowly slid her pale sparkled shaft alongside Willowbud’s caramel trunk, pressing them against each other, making the women feel every bump of vein of the other until finally, a tip pressed a pelvis.

“I win,” Julia whispered, her eyes a few inches higher than Willowbud’s, but their gazes connected all the same.

“I guess you do,” Willowbud conceded with a whisper of her own, her forest-green irises shining from their black depths, wild with the same hunger reflected in Julia’s emerald stare.

“What’s my prize?” Julia asked, a hand coming from her side, cupping Willowbud’s cheek, a thumb running along lush lips. Julia’s kind empathetic piety fell away like a loose gown, revealing a woman of dangerous passions. I could tell by the look in Willowbud’s eyes that she’d seen it in the nun all along.

“You only ever earn what you take,” Willowbud whispered. Julia’s mouth curled into a wicked grin, and Willowbud’s did the same.

“Then I think I’ll take Brandon’s deal off your plate,” Julia muttered, one hand sliding down Willowbud’s chest, abdomen and pelvis as the other trailed fingertips down the arc of Willowbud’s spine.

“That deal goes both ways, Sister,” Willowbud replied, leaning into the Heat Bringer, their shafts pressing to each other’s bellies, precum darkening their clothes.

“I have a feeling…” Julia whispered, her trailing hand finding Willowbud’s bare ass, squeezing into caramel glute until her fingers disappeared in the fat, “…that your apprehension is born from inexperience. Maybe you’ve taken a finger, maybe a toy, but never a man.”

“Your intuition is remarkable,” Willowbud breathed, one hand twirling a finger into Julia’s crimson strands, the other sliding between her legs. “Are you going to be a lady, and let me go first?”

“No,” Julia smiled, and Willowbud’s grin grew even wider. She stepped from her pants, pressing deeper into Julia’s body, connecting them from pelvis to chest. Julia’s nipples pointed vulgarly through the silk of her white dress, her ample bust consuming the petite swell of Willowbud’s shirted bosom. Their eyes stayed locked as their sneering mouths neared each other, their lips opening, their tongue sneaking through them. They connected, their cheeks growing gaunt in a combative devouring, humming their lechery through wet smacks as their faces rotated to gain purchase. Their hands moved on each other, ripping necklines through their bodices, springing their breasts free in a jiggling display of caramel and white, the domes deforming and gleaming wetly in the midmorning sun.

“I heard you were nearly bested by an infant,” Astrid’s words in my ear, her lips against my lobe, her hands on my shoulders, sliding down my arms, moving down my torso, coming together between my legs. “I heard you had to cheat to beat her.”

“Fighting dirty and winning is still winning,” I chuckled, my hands playing through the shorn sides of her head, tangling into the braided lengths of her crown, pulling her face into the crook of my neck. My head drooped blissfully to the side, murmurs of gratitude leaking from my lips as Astrid’s fingers did their work inside me. We’d been inseparable since becoming fighting partners, and knew the secrets of each other’s bodies inside and out. I laced my fingers around the back of Astrid’s head, and supported myself as she made my legs weak. She curled three digits against the spot within me, the thumb of that hand pressing the clit, the other hand wetting with the fluid she coerced from me, and moving slowly behind. I moaned my satisfaction as she pinched her fingers together about the purple circle of my rim, and gradually pushed her entire hand inside. Knuckle by knuckle, joint by joint, I felt every contour of her stretch me with painful pleasure, my sheath clinging and coiling like a fleshy vice, beckoning her deeper into my filth. I opened my mouth to cry my delight, but someone beat me to it.

LUCILLA

I stared with mouth agape at the two gladiators. Never in my life had I seen two creatures move together like that. It was like they were dancing; Astrid holding Tera from behind, her hands playing within the woman, Tera reacting with the motion of her hips, bending and swaying, and Astrid bending and swaying in time, her pelvis connected with Tera’s ass, her lips connected with Tera’s collar. Both women bore curves that put mine to shame, and both were laced with muscle that rippled subtly with every motion. Tera’s abdomen stretched into tonal sections, her domes shadowing their striations as her back arched, her purple lips parting to yield blissful moans, her onyx hair laying thin strands over her flushed complexion, tangling about her satanic horns. Astrid’s larger frame encompassed the succubus, white wings folding over her, tattooed arms trapping her lustfully, tattooed legs supporting her.

“It’s like watching art, isn’t it? Like a fallen angel seducing the devil herself,” a man’s voice said. I looked up to see Brandon standing by my couch, enjoying the spectacle as much as I was, as evidenced by the growth in his trousers. He sat beside me, watching Tera and Astrid as they performed their hellish mating, watching Julia and Willowbud as they progressed to further stages of undress, wrestling with each other. I could tell Brandon didn’t know how to broach me. Though he was a god, he was still a commoner, and that mental barrier between peasant and royalty was a hard one to break. So, I jumped on his lap, grinned back at him, and took the initiative.

TERA

My eyes opened to lazy slits, focusing on Princess Lucilla’s royal features; the elegant length of her neck, the pronouncement of her proud chin, the big blue eyes set above delicate cheeks, framed with fine platinum hair. She was curvy for an elf, both her and Julia were (especially Julia), but Lucilla’s porcelain flesh spoke of a pure bloodline, and the complex patterns that laced it only added to her majesty. This woman certainly looked the part of a storybook princess, but the expression she was giving me didn’t belong in any kind of fairytale, and the things she was doing hardly belonged in a whore house. Princess Lucilla had Brandon’s entire fist up her ass, her body rigid with the intensity of it, her arms and legs creating a bridge over the man who was violating her.

“Astrid, I think we have a challenger,” I chuckled. I’d met Lucilla’s type before; privileged sluts who gaged their self-worth on how ‘wild’ they could be, always overcompensating and sexually one-upping. They were some of my favorite people. Give me two of those whores, and I could turn any party into an orgy in under twenty minutes.

“She’s not even in the same league,” Astrid breathed onto my neck, pushing her invasion deeper, causing my knees to buckle. “Ignore her.”

“Give her a chance to prove herself,” I gasped, licking my lips at the elf. “What’s the harm in friendly competition?”

Brandon matched Astrid’s progress with obvious amusement, causing Lucilla to growl with the deepening of her penetration, her neck standing with tension. Her occupied pussy was flushed with the arousal of her anal violation, the clear nectar dripping down Brandon’s massaging fingers, the tendons in his hand flexing as he gently discovered her secrets. Her diaphragm heaved with breath, the white silk of her dress darkening with the exertion of her lust, clinging to the obvious swell of her breasts, pointed nipples signaling her joy, cleavage glistening from glowing flesh. She bit her lip in concentration, gave me a wink, and shifted herself downward; her hips swaying this way and that, her knees bending, her supporting arms trembling as she corkscrewed Brandon’s fist into her rim, the fleshy cuff wrapping gratefully about his wrist as the entrance narrowed around a lesser girth.

“Perhaps I underestimated her,” Astrid mused, adjusting my penetration to match Lucilla’s, forcing me to climb to my tip-toes, breathless sobs expiring from my chest. “I think she’s mad that you dismembered her earlier; perhaps you should make amends?”

“I want to see how far she can take it!” I gasped, chest rising and falling, cheeks flushed, lips gaping with desperate expirations. “Don’t stop!”

“We wouldn’t want to hurt the little princess, would we?” Astrid kissed my neck. “I’m sure she has the spirit, but her body isn’t built like yours. Mistress and Her Holiness have enough hostility for the lot of us; let us be peacemakers.”

BRANDON

I’d lived with two succubi, a corrupted deity, a vampire with limitless libido, and a sexually-mutated valkyrie for the better part of a month, and not once had any of them jumped on my lap and told me to stick my fist as far up their ass as I could. I had known Princess Lucilla for the better part of an hour, and already my fingers were tickling colon. I could see why Sister Julia had bound with her; this one was definitely a keeper.

“Oh, thank god!” Lucilla sobbed when Astrid stopped her venture. The princess looked down at me from over her shoulder, her porcelain face flushed, her eyes leaking, her pink lips gaping in a smile. “This was my first time trying that, and you were already past my limit.”

“Do you want me to pull out?”

“No!” Lucilla practically begged before regaining her composure with an embarrassed smile. “No, just… stretch me like you were doing before.”

“Like this?” I curled my hand into a fist, and began rotating as I gently pushed and pulled. Lucilla’s head fell behind her shoulders, her arms straining against the couch’s headrest, her intricately-patterned back flexing above my face as she shifted to the movements of my penetration, her mouth moaning and hissing as pain and pleasure clashed within her. Tight heat surrounded my closed hand, vile muscles twitching and constricting with my every shift, the smooth flesh of her innards deforming against my knuckles. My other hand massaged Lucilla almost lovingly, fingers pressing with gentle circles, a calming contrast to the abuse I was delivering to her exit. Astrid carried the moaning Tera over to us, her body twisted about the valkyrie as she was impaled during transportation. Lucilla eased herself forward, facing away as she straddled me, giving me a great view of just how much of my arm had disappeared inside her. Her asshole was a pink thin circle that whitened with each twitch, centered about succulent, porcelain glutes that glowed with the swooshing patterns that marked her, her skirt draping over the tops of her glistening domes. She pulled her dress the rest of the way off her, and gave me an excited smile over her shoulder as Tera was lowered between my legs.

LUCILLA

There had been a time when I would’ve been sexually intimidated by Tera and Astrid, but now, I was only excited by women with more experience. My challenge had been more of invitation than anything, and I was glad they accepted, because I didn’t doubt Tera could’ve taken Astrid to the elbow.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot, Your Highness,” Tera said, words dripping from her lips. “Or I guess the wrong hand, in your case. Let us reintroduce ourselves.”

Tera slid her body up mine, her touch electric, her motions unnaturally alluring. Her larger bosom seemed to consume my chest, her toned abdomen was silky despite the muscle, her thighs were supple, and seeped their warmth into mine as she locked them around me. My vision was filled with tantalizing violet irises, their depths whispering of unspeakable pleasure. There were words I had planned to say; clever, flirtatious words, but Brandon’s hands pushed them from my mind, and they were lost in Tera’s promising gaze.

“Princess?” Tera asked, voice like honey. I knew she was limiting her seductive powers, but it seemed that she couldn’t stem them completely with Astrid doing her work. The hormones that marked Tera’s species leaked from her sweat and mingled with my flesh, radiating their desire deep into my nerves. I recalled the look on Diamond’s face when Tera had taken her hostage, the rapt desire in her changed eyes. I wanted to know what that felt like.

“No, not Princess,” I whispered, taking Tera’s hands and guiding them to my glutes, making her spread me so that Brandon could push even deeper, “Slave.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, a long, forked tongue sliding across lush, purple lips. I’d never been surer of anything in my life. I was drunk with her.

“Take me,” I whispered. I melted into her body, melted into her kiss, felt her devilish tongue taste me in a way I’d never been tasted before. Unbridled hedonism, untamed lust. Tera’s intoxication was one of limitless indulgence, and I dove into its shackles with both feet. Master, my mind whispered as I surrendered myself, make me like you.

JUSTINA

Diamond was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her skin was a rich, olive tone that sparkled with bejeweled freckles, canvasing a body of slender grace that bore small breasts, a supple backside, and a modest manhood above glistening, pink petals. Her scarlet hair made a fiery mane about her head as she relaxed on the bed, her black antlers digging into the pillow, her red lips parted, her emerald irises shining from her mother’s apple cheeks. I straddled her on my knees, my long thin tail curved forward, its length sliding between the folds of my pussy as its tip penetrated Diamond’s pink sphincter, milking her internal organ so that her cock curved backward with engorgement.

“You like it when a girl takes control, huh?” I smiled at her, slowly pushing in and out of her taut filth, listening to the sweet expirations of her lust as I stroked her cock.

“Yessss,” Diamond hissed, her eyes closing blissfully, her back arching from the bed, her cock twitching with each press of my invading tail, her slit leaking down her taint, lubricating her defilement.

“Do you want me to take control of you completely?” I asked, pressing my thumb firmly on the underside of her tip, grinning as precum bubbled from its peak. I’d never fed from someone I’d enslaved before, and my instincts had been punishing me for not fulfilling my design. Still, I would never take someone against their will; I wasn’t my mother.

“Will you let me go when it’s done?” Diamond asked, running her hands up my thighs. I leaned forward, pressing belly to belly and breasts to breasts, my violet eyes smiling into her emeralds, my black hair tickling her face.

“Maybe,” I grinned wickedly. “Maybe I’ll make you my little slut forever.”

“Are you joking? I’m not very good at telling the difference.”

I laughed softly against her lips, running an endearing hand over a sparkling, apple cheek.

“Your mind is too beautiful a thing to chain,” I whispered. “I just want to play with it for a little bit.”

“Then make me your toy,” Diamond whispered back, arching her body against me. I grinned into her eyes, and snaked my forked tongue into her mouth. Her lips pressed to mine as I relaxed, and let my powers pour into her.

JULIA

Most of my life I’d been a pacifist nun, trying to find tranquility and peace in the grace of the Holy Mother. Conversely, most of Night Eyes’ life had been spent as a gangster, fighting tooth and nail for whatever it was she wanted to steal. As such, she treated me as rival stepping into her territory, and though we had a prearranged agreement, I had the feeling she wasn’t planning on honoring it. Exactly who was getting fucked in the ass first had become a point of contention, and resolution would only be found through submission. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it.
Night Eyes took a handful of my hair and ripped it back, forcing my crown against the carpet, allowing her to wrap her other hand around my stretched throat. She was atop me now, her clothes in tatters, her cock pressed against my own, throbbing heat drooling cum across our smearing bellies. She was smaller than me, but toned with muscle I didn’t have, and inclined to a viciousness I didn’t possess.

“Just open your legs, Sister,” Night Eyes sneered in my ear. “I swear on the Holy Mother I’ll let you have your turn after I’m done.”

“Liar!” I grabbed two fistfuls of her white hair and yanked, sending her neck craning and her back arching, her face snarling to the ceiling. Her choking hand found my nipple, and she torqued my breast into a spiral of creamy flesh, milk spurting from my tip. I gasped at the feeling, relishing the burning, the release of pressure, the warm wetness. I was compelled to free the nymph, and her face sprang forward, teeth bared, black eyes livid and hungry beneath disheveled strands of white. She bit the nipple she was torturing, and stretched my breast to a conical point between white teeth, causing me to cry my agonized delight and spread my legs like she wanted. One hand kept my hair pulled as the other moved down our bellies, past our joined members and between my thighs. Another cry sung from me as Night Eyes’ fingers pushed into my slit, coaxing the weaker half of my sexuality to the forefront, making me want to become hers. My legs opened wider, my hands splayed pathetically to the sides, my back arched to push my breasts deeper into her face. She toyed with me from the inside, her forefinger and middle finger discovering what made me tick, her thumb expertly working my clit, her ring and pinky finger sliding down my taint. She grinned around my reddened nipple as I whimpered for her, as I angled my pelvis so that she could penetrate my favorite hole, the one I wasn’t supposed to garner pleasure from, the devil’s entrance. She pushed her other fingers inside me, touching my vulnerability, coercing my weakness, making me limp. Night Eyes sucked indulgently from my nipple, enjoying a drink of my milk in her victory, squeezing the breast like I was a cow. It was humiliating; it was perfect.

“In your religion’s creation story, the Holy Mother gets raped by Satan, doesn’t she?” Night Eyes whispered, pulling my hair harder, causing tears to film my eyes.

“Yes,” I replied, hips grinding without my permission, “and she succumbs to the devil’s lust.”

“Your Holy Mother sounds like a masochistic whore with a rape fantasy,” Night Eyes sneered, pushing her hand forcefully, squeezing my taint between the fork of her fingers. “Are you trying to emulate her?”

“I’ve known devils worse than you!” I moaned, stretching my body to accommodate her, my hands sliding gently between us, grasping her cock, caressing her, preparing her for when she finally took me.

“I know that’s not true,” Night Eyes hissed, licking the curved exposure of my neck. “God, you’re delicious, Sister; after I’m done with you, I’ll have to see if Diamond tastes the same.”

I knew Night Eyes was testing me, seeing if she could get a rise out of me, but she’d so perfectly exploited my weaker half that I couldn’t find the rage. It had been weeks since my original sexuality was last satisfied, and now that it was being sated by someone so perfectly cruel, I was helpless to it.

“Where did the fire go, Heat Bringer?” Night Eyes grinned in my face. In and out, in and out; her fingers were slick with my nectar and anal lust, squelching against my tender flesh, massaging me possessively, too good to deny. She released her hold on my hair, and caressed my cheek, thumb playing at my lips. I sucked it like she wanted me to, my emerald eyes brimming hopefully up at her, submissive, adoring, pleading, showing her what I could do with my mouth, my tongue teasing her digit, longing for something else. It had been so long…

“Please!” I finally begged. “Please fuck my asshole!”

“That’s not very pious language for a Holy Sister,” Night Eyes lectured with a grin.

“I’ve been excommunicated,” I hissed, tongue licking the tip of her thumb.

Night Eyes’ grin broadened. She pulled her hand out of me, grabbed me by the hips, and spun me over. My ass perked behind me, a bubble of pale sparkling fat that eased gradually into an arched spine, one side of my face resting against the carpet, one green eye watching Night Eyes as I spread myself wide for her, prostrating submissively for her divine punishment, needing it so badly that I was shaking. She ran a covetous hand along the length of my back, over my readied anus, through my frothing lips, and into my pussy, pressing against my anal wall from the other side, teasing at what was to come. She lined her tip to my winking aperture, gave me an imperious sneer, and forced every inch of herself deep inside me.

My head flung forward with eyes bulging in astonishment, my breasts squishing against my deepening bodily curve, my voice ringing out its satisfaction. My arms dropped from my sides and curled beneath my head, creating a pillow so that I could comfortably enjoy my violation. Comfort was not something Night Eyes provided, however. She slapped my ass with vicious, full-swing blows that rippled the flesh and left a reddened handprint, jolting the pain into ferocious pleasure. My arms stretched before me, fingers clawing at the carpet, a primal reaction to the punishment. Night Eyes’ cock rammed deeper and deeper, separating my tight sin, mercilessly burrowing, relentlessly bringing my ecstasy to greater heights as if she was raping it out of me. My pussy gushed with each deep drive, a bodily response to my wonderful abuse, wetting the invading fingers that pressed my womanhood against the cock ravaging me from the other side. I sobbed my delight into my biceps, the muscles straining as my arms clawed before me, fingernails creating singed track marks in the carpet where my powers expressed my joy. I looked up from between my arms, and through my disheveled, red hair, I saw Lucilla smiling at me, her eyes the wrong color.

ASTRID

I shared a smirk with Mistress as I watched her dominate the Heat Bringer. Sister Julia Gendian may have lain with Passion, but Mistress was possessed of Corruption, and there was no denying the Sentient her due. Both Julia and Lucilla had undoubtedly thought themselves experienced women before they came here, and maybe they were, but the residence of the Screeching Siren were a different breed of beast.

“What should we do with our captive princess?” Tera prompted me as she sucked my sullied fingers clean. I traced a wet finger along the patterns that glowed from Lucilla’s flesh, admiring their complexity, how the flaming lines never touched, and I felt an odd sense of guilt. My own body had become a canvas for illustration, and I loved how it looked on me, but this was something else entirely; something divine, something that should be worshiped. Princess Lucilla might’ve been a stuck-up bitch, but she was still holy. Tera could have her fun, but I would not be a blasphemer; I hadn’t fallen that far yet.

“I will only do what the Bound One asks of me,” I replied, giving Tera an apologetic smile.

“And what,” Tera grinned at Lucilla, lifting her chin up, “does the ‘Bound One’ want?”

“Whatever you want, Master,” Lucilla whispered at Tera; violet eyes full of adoration. Tera’s delighted smile broadened. She reached around Lucilla and grasped Brandon’s forearm, slowly withdrawing the limb, causing the enslaved princess to moan, and press her body deeper to her master’s.

“Your enthusiasm is commendable, Your Highness,” Tera whispered lovingly as she did her work. “You have the sprit and the potential, but your experience is still lacking. In my world, words like ‘disgusting’ and ‘abhorrent’ are just synonyms for ‘fun.’ Astrid learned this the hard way,” Tera gave me a wicked grin, “but I think you are much more receptive than she was. After I’m done with you, Sister Julia won’t know what hit her the next time the two of you jump into bed. Now, breathe slowly, and relax; this might feel strange at first.”

Tera stopped Brandon’s withdrawal at the wrist, then pressed her fingertips against either side of Lucilla’s gape, indenting the pale flesh around the pulsing protrusion of her prink rim. The tendons in Branon’s arm flexed as he balled his penetrating hand into a fist, causing the princess to whimper, her back to curve into a deeper arch, and her porcelain breasts to flatten against Tera’s bronze chest.

“When I say push,” Tera breathed into Lucilla’s pointed ear, “I want you to push those little shitting muscles as hard as you can. Can you do that for me?”

Lucilla nodded, her violet eyes wet, but her pale lips smiling. Tera gave her a reassuring kiss on the nose, and Brandon pulled. Lucilla’s body wrenched, the muscles along her spine forming twitching shadows, her head flying back to yield a primal scream. Her pelvic floor jutted to a convex stretch of glistening flesh, the hole at its center dilating as it birthed Brandon’s exiting fist. Tera pressed on either side, her fingers massaging the contracting muscles around Lucilla’s gape, easing the tension, loosening the places where Lucilla was clenching in pain. The princess growled through gritted teeth, spit leaking from the corners of her mouth as Brandon’s hand stretched her to its maximum girth, and then came out. Her scream waned and sputtered, her body lurching as though cut from a great tension. Lucilla’s hole relaxed into a pathetic contraction that didn’t close, her body shuddering in abject relief.

“Push,” Tera whispered, and Lucilla complied, her pelvic floor popping with her exertion. She pushed, relaxed, and pushed again, the crease between her glutes distending, indenting, and distending again, her hole opening, constricting, and opening again with each effort. Tera worked the sides of the princess’s gape with deep circling massages, and Lucilla’s ruined innards did the succubus’s bidding. They bulged from the flushed hole for a moment, a shy coil peaking from its home, and then came flowing out of her, flowering into a glistening rosebud of deep red. Lucilla melted into her master’s arms, grateful moans flowing from her lips, her body languid with euphoric exhaustion.

“Oh my god!” she sobbed, “That feels so good! Please Master, please touch me there!”

“Patience, Your Highness,” Tera chuckled. “Now that I have taught you, you must practice. Astrid, would you care to help the Bound One perfect her craft?”

Lucilla looked excitedly over at me, and all I could do was smile back. She rolled her body off Brandon’s lap, and into mine, sliding downward, licking her lips. Tera contorted herself in a marvelous display of flexibility, straddling Brandon as she stooped her back low, her stomach level with her spread thighs, her face level with Lucilla’s perked-up backside. Tera’s rosebud was shining purple from her plump, bronze cheeks, a creation of my own making, and Brandon ran his fingers through it as I slid my hand down his pants, and grasped the thing we’d all so rudely been neglecting. I felt his hard meat seep its throbbing warmth into my palm as I felt Lucilla’s tongue slide down the length of my taint, teasingly nearing the hole she’d soon be defiling. Her face disappeared below my pelvis, and her tongue pushed inside me. I moaned a lazy, blissful tone, dropped my head into the Life Giver’s lap, wrapped my lips around him, and did what I did better than anyone else.

JUSTINA

Diamond stiffened beneath me, the opposite of what she should’ve done. Diamond should’ve been putty against my form, all grasping hands and needful moans. Something wasn’t right. I carefully lifted myself, wondering why it hadn’t worked, wondering what was wrong with me.

“Holy shit!” a familiar voice sputtered from Diamond’s mouth. “I am sick of living in the heads of girls who fuck their mothers!”

“Angela?!” I stared dumbfoundedly into familiar blue eyes. “Oh my god, Angela!” I hugged her, my lust completely gone, only the joy in seeing my old friend taking me now, “I missed you so much!”

“Justina,” Angela hissed, “get your tail out of my ass!”

“What, you don’t like it?” I sniggered in her ear, teasing her prostate a little.

“That’s beside the point!” Angela hissed again, though there was the hint of a moan there. “Right now, we need to figure out what the fuck’s going on!”

I reluctantly pulled my tail out of Angela’s (Diamond’s?) ass, smirking as Angela shuddered just a little. I sat upright, still straddled about her waist, and unbale to stop myself from taking an indulgent lick of the length of me that had just been inside her.

“You’re gross,” Angela wrinkled her nose.

“And you’re delicious,” I grinned, savoring the filthy tang. “Now, why are you inside Diamond?”

“When Willowbud blew up the house, I darted for cover so that she wouldn’t see me,” Angela explained. “Sentients don’t see the same way as people do, so I couldn’t just hide behind a wall. I saw this… purple-ness within Diamond, and I knew it would hide me, so I shot into her. Only when I got in there, I realized I wasn’t in her mind, but in some secluded garden of the astral plane; I think it must be a fragment of Passion’s old realm. It was full of Diamond’s memories and feelings, but I couldn’t communicate with her, or leave. It wasn’t until you enslaved her, that I saw a way out.”

“That’s where Diamond must be now,” I frowned. “You need to get out of her body so that I can bring her back.”

“I’ve been trying!” Angela growled. “But I’m fucking stuck in here!”

“What?!”

“I can’t get out!” Angela snapped, “This is… shit… try enslaving me, see if that works.”

I seeped my seduction into Angela’s (Diamond’s) body, and her blue eyes began to change. They didn’t turn green, however, but my violet.

“Master,” she said, but it was Angela’s voice. I quickly changed her back, my heart thumping, the fear rising in my throat. Angela’s blue eyes stared up at me, wonder shining behind their lenses.

“What?!” I yelled.

“She left the garden,” Angela said in barely a whisper. “This is my body now.”

WILLOWBUD

Sister Julia’s pale sparkled back flexed in its painful curve, its arch compelled to deepen by the relentless drive of my hips, creating cute dimples about the base of her spine. Below that, her supple cheeks were deforming against my crotch, domes of sparkling fat encasing me in her warmth. Between them, my cock was being swallowed by her tight hole, her pink rim stretching along the length of me as I pulled, her pelvic floor indenting into a shadowed crease as I pushed, her shit-channel gripping and sucking me into her with all the avarice of a starving whore. My fingers pressed against her vaginal floor, squishing her division against my driving cock, sending a chaos of spasms into her nethers. Her shoulder-blades jutted from her creamy canvas, tensed in the lurching throes of her motions, her arms stretched out in front of her, her wrists cuffed to the stone floor from the shackles I’d made of it. I grabbed a handful of crimson hair, and ripped her face back, staring into those pathetic emerald irises, unfocused in a fugue state of unbridled ecstasy, red lips crying pathetic tones of her joyous surrender. Between her spread legs, her cock drooled strings of cum all over the carpeting she hadn’t yet singed, her abused prostate expelling its approval from her tip. Though Sister Julia’s insides felt like absolute heaven, I couldn’t help but feel a touch disappointed. There had been so much fight in her before, but now it seemed that it was all bluster. I’d fucked my fair share of devout virgins, and every single one of them was a masochistic anal slut exploiting the poop-hole loophole of the bible, and Julia wasn’t any different. Still, I was never one to be gracious in victory; kicking ’em while they’re down is always fun.

“You pathetic little cunt,” I laughed into her filmed-over eyes. “I’ve had succubi put up more of fight than you.”

“I’m just your anal bitch,” Sister Julia mumbled as though possessed by some whorish demon that moved her mouth for her, “please punish me for being such an easy slut.”

“Open your mouth,” I hissed, and she did, sticking her tongue out and gaping a wide smile. I hocked spit, and let it drool from my lips into bubbling ball, the string lengthening, and then snapping, landing into Sister Julia’s awaiting mouth. She swallowed and smiled, grateful for my gift. I reared back and slapped her hard across the face. She yelped delightedly, her hair flailing to the side, her head whipping with it, her insides clenching around me. She turned her face back up mine, red handprint across an apple cheek, red lips grinning. She grinded her ass against my crotch like she was wagging a tail, growling excitedly as she eagerly awaited more. I gave it to her. I slapped the begging bitch with my palm and the back of my hand, alternating cheeks, whipping her face to one side then the other. Each time I did, she came back with that grin, her insides seizing around me, her wagging ass burying itself into my pelvis as my cock buried into her grateful shithole. My arm was starting to get tired, but Sister Julia wasn’t satisfied.

“More,” she grinned, her voice coming from her in a covetous purr, her eyes manic, “give me more!”

What the fuck…

“You better milk the bull!” someone yelled. I looked up to see a writhing pile of flesh on the couch. Tera was straddled across Brandon, his cock buried in her cunt, both of his hands prying the succubus’s backdoor open so that Astrid could suck the purple flower that bulged from it. Astrid was torqued about the hips, her face planted between Tera’s cheeks, her pelvis elevated so that Princess Lucilla could feast upon the rosebud that had flowered from her ruined gape. Princess Lucilla squatted between Astrid’s bent legs, her porcelain backside spread wide, allowing Tera to complete the circle of prolapsed ass-eating. The princess turned over her shoulder, her lips glistening with Astrid’s secretion, her makeup a smeared ruin, her violet eyes crazed with Tera’s lust.

“If you don’t milk the bull, you’ll be sah-rry,” Lucilla giggled, singing the last word with some unhinged melody. She turned her attention back to her duties, her cryptic warning lost on me. Crazy bitch.

LUCILLA

It occurred to me as I turned my attention back to Astrid, that I’d been in a semi-lesbian relationship for almost a month, and I’d never eaten pussy before. Julia’s anal fixation kept my mouth busy on other parts, and ever since she’d gotten a cock and prostate, she’d been more man than woman. Astrid’s slit was flushed and glistening, pretty creases of pink pierced with golden studs, oozing above the flower I’d made of her asshole. I shuddered as Master’s reptilian tongue drew delectably through the petals of my own prolapse, tasting the folds of my protrusion, dipping her prodding member into the ovule of my bud. God, it was good. It was like every nerve within my sinful channel had been pulled outward, exposed to the elements and concentrated into a single bulge. Each pass of her practiced tongue made my legs weak, my spine tingle, my mouth moan. It took all my willpower to focus myself, and inch my face toward the delicacy I hungered for. I pressed my lips to the hood of Astrid’s pussy, and slid my tongue outward, testing the taste. My fingers trailed down her taint, clasping gently about her bulging innards and massaging them as I kissed her lower lips.

“Bound One,” she said, pausing her meal, staring inquisitively down at me, “is this your first time tasting a woman?”

“Yes,” I said without shame. Master’s enslavement didn’t allow for shame. Astrid’s grin shined from her face, excitement gleaming from her cold blue eyes. She picked me up by the armpits like I was child, and spun me upside down, my thighs locking to the sides of her head, delighted giggles flowing from my mouth.
“Let me teach you,” Astrid’s muffled voice came as her nose pressed to my taint, and her lips brushed my slit. I stretched myself down her abdomen and dipped my head between her legs, eagerly awaiting her instruction. From the tops of my eyes, I saw that Willowbud was blatantly ignoring my advice. I grinned; she’d regret that.

JULIA

My wrists were raw against Night Eyes’ binds, my knees scraped from the lurching of our bodies, my asshole was a gaping ruin of abused flesh, stinging its wonderful pain deep into me. Spit leaked from my gritted teeth as I bucked in the throes of passion, driving my body back, growling my heinous delight as Night Eyes pierced me with brutal thrusts. I’d never been taken by an abusive lover before, and I absolutely reveled in it. There was nothing Night Eyes couldn’t do to me, no degradation that wouldn’t heighten my arousal, no humiliation I wouldn’t enjoy. My head fell between my outstretched arms, hair dangling in my face, cries flowing from my parted lips as I exalted into the stone beneath me. I strained in my binds, enchanted by my imprisonment, loving how little control I had, loving how vulnerable I was. Night Eyes took full advantage of my vulnerability. She procured her belt from her pants, and draped it threateningly over my shoulder. I shivered with anticipation, pushing my ass into her crotch and grinding it, clenching around her driving cock and beckoning, begging her to continue. She struck me, the leather lashing across my back, and my belly touched the stone as my spine wrenched, my voice crying its gratitude. She struck me again, and again and again, each blow landing on virgin flesh, each slap of leather sending stings deep into me, mingling their pain with the ecstatic agony of my anal violation, heightening the abuse, heightening the pleasure, bringing me closer, closer, closer. I wasn’t crying out from the whips anymore, but moaning for more, begging for more, shuddering as the pain became pleasure, my pussy oozing with it, my cock drooling from it, my ass clenching with it, my mind losing itself, going blank, the euphoria building, the pressure expanding, the feeling coming closer, closer, closer.

“More!” I begged. “More, more, more! Oh, Good Mother, MORE!”

Night Eyes tied the belt around my neck, making a leash of the slack as she cinched the collar tight, constricting my windpipe. “More!” I squeaked even as my lungs burned for air, as my face reddened.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Night Eyes hissed in my ear, her breath ragged with exhaustion, her voice moaning as my soft innards rewarded her for the abuse. She planted a foot on the side of my face and pushed it to the ground, the leash tightening, one cheek pressing to cold stone, the other squished against her sole, my mouth squealing delightedly, my hips shimmying, grinding, pushing in contest with Night Eyes’ accelerating thrusts, trying to get her as deep into my sinful ruined shithole as possible. She began pulling on the leash, pushing with her foot, her hips driving to a fervent cadence, compelling my body into a blur of jiggling pale flesh, forcing me to the precipice, forcing me closer, closer, closer. The pressure in my nethers built, the invasion of my cunt mingling with the perverse ecstasy of my shithole, the spasms in my rectum churning to a continuous convulsion, my cock curving backward as my prostate quaked, bringing me closer, closer, closer.

“More!” I screamed, my voice growing higher with each syllable, “More, more, more, more…”

WILLOWBUD

Sister Julia’s back was a mosaic of welts, her pale ass was red with handprints, her cheeks were ruby with my strikes, and yet she begged for more. Even if I had my toys handy, I doubted I could’ve found the sister’s limit. She wasn’t the masochistic bimbo I thought she was; she was a sexual martyr. As I abused her, as I slapped, whipped and spanked, as I yanked, choked and ripped, I searched for the fear in her eyes, for the plea for mercy, but I didn’t find it. All I found in those emerald orbs, was the hopeful gaze of depravity, and the threat lurking behind it, that look I’d seen earlier, that promise of violence, of retribution, of revenge. I shouldn’t have ignored it; I should’ve milked the bull when it was docile. I was in the throes of sadistic lust, emptying my balls into Sister Julia’s convulsing asshole as she squealed her orgasm, when I saw the change move across her body. It started in her posture. She should’ve collapsed in exhaustion, but she didn’t. Instead, she stretched into a languid arch, the echoes of ecstasy twitching up her spine, her body extending like a waking feline, like a lioness at dawn. Then, I heard it in her voice. She should’ve been heaving spent breaths, but she wasn’t. Instead, I heard a low, soft chuckle, and I knew; I knew I should’ve milked the bull, because now, I was going to get the horn.

Sister Julia broke from her binds in flash of white, a sound like thunder ringing in my head as I was flung backward, my engorged cock pulling from her ruined gape as I landed on my back. Then, she was on me; hands prying my legs apart, hot flesh melding into me, hot breath on my lips, in my nostrils, a sardonic laugh in my ear.

“We had a deal, Night Eyes,” Sister Julia chuckled. “Now it’s time to hold up your end.”

I dug two sets of fingernails into her back and raked, but Sister Julia only laughed again; a sweet sound, a motherly sound, a terrifying sound. She pressed her mouth to mine, opening my sealed lips, wrapping her tongue with mine, making me melt into her despite myself. I couldn’t deny her, couldn’t stop myself, couldn’t stand fast in the fire of her passion. I opened my legs against my own will, my body betraying me, some dormant, weak part of me accepting my situation, some evolutionary echo that told me to submit to the alpha. I submitted. My deflated organ retreated within me to give the sister my femininity, but she just smiled around our sucking lips, and coerced me back out with her stroking hand, wanting to dominate me while I was male, wanting to show me that she was better than my strongest self. God, it turned me on. I grew hard in her hand, reached between us and spread my cheeks, arched my back and hummed my need, all despite myself. Take me, dominate me, humiliate me. Let me see your darkness. She pressed her tip against my virgin aperture, and pushed.

I gasped, gritting my teeth, letting go of my spread cheeks and sinking my nails into Sister Julia’s back. She didn’t punish me, or berate me, but whispered soft tones into my ear, petting my hair, wrapping her arm around my back and pressing out bodies closer together, holding me in a motherly hug. She rolled us into a sitting position, me straddled about her hips, my feet locked behind her ass as I sank slowly into her lap, my cock drooling down her stomach.

“Shhh, Night Eyes, shhh,” she cooed like a comforting mother as she lowered me inch by inch, impaling me. “I’ll make you feel good, don’t worry. Open up to me, and relax; the pain only lasts for a moment.”

I tried to wiggle out of it, tried to escape the pain as it pierced me, but Sister Julia countered my every attempt with firm tenderness, like I was child she needed to softly discipline. Her cock bulged in my virgin rectum, expanding me, touching parts of me that had never been touched, awakening dormant nerves I didn’t know existed. God, the pain, but I couldn’t resist, couldn’t stop her from guiding me slowly downward, couldn’t look away from those emerald eyes as their stared lovingly, dominatingly. That was her brand of power, to make me feel weak, helpless and needing for her affection. I hated how effective it was, how I wanted her maternal touch inside me, but I couldn’t deny her; I couldn’t deny myself. Inch by inch, I lowered myself, sliding down her shaft, penetrating myself, torturing myself for her pleasure, for the motherly approval that I disgustingly coveted.

“You’re doing so well, Night Eyes,” Sister Julia breathed on my lips, her own quirked in a patronizing smirk, “just a little bit more to go.”

I didn’t cry out, or scream. I did barely more than gasp as I filled myself with her, as I let go and eased the last of her inside me. A shudder ran through me, a wave of relief and exhaustion, of accomplishment, of pathetic gratitude. I couldn’t stop the proud smile that crossed my lips, couldn’t stop the giggle that flowed from it as I looked adoringly into Sister Julia’s compassionate eyes.

“You did it,” she grinned at me. “You’re such a big girl.”

“Fuck you, Sister,” I moaned through my smile, shifting in her lap, feeling oddly like a daughter sitting in her father’s.

“All your friends are watching, Night Eyes,” Sister Julia grinned, “and they’re all so proud of you.”

Sister Julia rotated me about my penetrative axis, causing me to hiss as my ass stirred around her. They were all watching me, staring with wide eyes, paused in their lust to bear witness to something they’d never seen before; my defeat, my submission. I hated the looks they gave, the cracks in their perception of me. Mostly, I hated the looks in Astrid and Brandon’s eyes.

“Don’t look,” I whispered to them, the words barely coming from me, “turn away.”

“Why would they do that?” Sister Julia whispered as she began to thrust, as she began to stroke. “Don’t you want them to see you like this?”

“Stop!” I breathed.

“You don’t want me to stop,” Sister Julia breathed into my ear as she softly raped me. She was right. I planted my feet onto the floor, feeling cold stone, feeling the connection, but I had no desire to fight. Instead, I pivoted my weight, and began grinding my hips, pushing my ass into her crotch with sinuous passes, my hands stabilizing me on her slowly-driving thighs, my lips breathing moans too faint to hear. Oh my god, the way she felt in my ass, the wrongness of it, the way it made me feel exposed, weak, at her mercy. The way she touched me from the inside, subdued me, hurt me, pleased me. The power she had over me, and the way she used it to make me feel so good, to make me feel things I didn’t want to, to make me like the things I didn’t want to like.

“Look at Brandon,” Sister Julia hissed. “It’s like he’s seeing you for the first time.”

“Please stop.”

“Call to him. Tell him how I make you feel,” Sister Julia kissed my neck as I rested my head on her shoulder, stretching my body, presenting it to her, begging her to run her hands over what I was giving her, over what she owned. She slid her hands along the flexing expanse of my curved abdomen, cupping my breasts, squeezing them. I whimpered. I whimpered my gratitude like a weeping whore, and I called to my boyfriend.

“Brandon!” I croaked. “She makes me feel so good!”

Brandon was staring fixedly at me, a look of astonishment in his eyes, slowly changing to avarice. He still fucked Tera, but he was looking at me, only me, as I twisted and writhed to the Heat Bringer’s puppetry.

“He likes seeing you like this,” Sister Julia giggled, pushed her cock with long, slow passes, making me feel every inch she had to offer, allowing my channel to relax before she mercilessly stuffed it again. “I take it you’re not a generous lover? Relationships are all about give and take, Night Eyes; it’s not a power game, not like what we have. What we have is special.”

Brandon brought Tera against him, facing away like I was to Sister Julia. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded, a smile creasing her purple lips. She watched me closely as she repositioned herself, as she pulled him out of her cunt, squatted over him, and pushed her innards back inside with a low moan. She mimicked me, dancing a pathetic writhe as I did, mirroring my motions as Brandon watched me, only me, the avarice, the possessive desire, a look he’d never given me before.

“He never made you feel like this, did he?” Sister Julia chuckled.

“No,” I confessed with a shudder, wrapping my hands together behind her head, twisting my hips, locked into her sensual domination, unable to free my mind or body, and slowly realizing I didn’t want to. Her lust was inevitable, undeniable. Every pathetic attempt at escape was countered with a gentle pull here, a slow thrust there, bringing me back, making me feel sorry for even trying, thanking her for stopping me.

“Tell him,” Sister Julia hissed, “tell him that I’m better.”

“No.”

“Say it!” she hissed, grabbing my hips and forcing me into her lap, forcing every inch of her inside, bulging in my rectum, squishing my prostate against my anal wall. She didn’t even have to touch my cock, and yet I came. I came with a scream, trying to buck my hips, but I was held fast by Julia’s embrace, the immobility somehow making the orgasm even better. I trembled from head to toe, my body rigid and plastered to Sister Julia, my teeth gritting through the intensity, my eyes rolling back as I choked on my ecstasy, as I showered myself with my own seed. It splattered my belly, breasts, face, and lips, and I licked it, reveling in my defilement, relishing the taste of me.

“She’s better than you! You never made me feel this good!” I practically sobbed. She throbbed against my prostate, causing my cock to stay hard even as it pulsed and leaked, cum oozing from its tip like lava, my balls still quaking, the orgasm not ending. Oh, god… oh god! Brandon’s jaw twitched as watched me come, his cock curving backward inside Tera’s ruined purple gape, his eyes dancing with an arousal I’d never seen on him before. It seemed my boyfriend had something of a cuckhold fetish.

“Call for Astrid,” Sister Julia commanded softly, “tell her to come here.”

“Astrid!” I cried, sliding up and down Sister Julia’s length, feeling myself open and constrict, feeling every change in girth as it ravaged me, as I willingly raped myself.

“Mistress?” Astrid called; her voice unsure.

“No, no, no,” Sister Julia chuckled, “that won’t do at all. Tell Astrid that when I’m inside you, you are no longer her mistress. You’re her whore.”

“Astrid!” I screamed. “When Sister Julia is inside me, I’m not your mistress; I’m your whore!”

Through blurred eyes I saw her walk over to me, her gait apprehensive at first, but then turning to a confident strut as she neared me, white wings spreading behind a tattooed beauty; the monster I had made. She knelt before me, studying me with curious eyes, running a hand along my shaft as it oozed the last of my cum from its tip. She took a drop on her finger, brought it to her mouth, and sucked it, her luscious lips pursing and creasing in a smile.

“Well, whore,” she grinned, “I have needs that require attending.”

She turned around, spread, and pushed her prolapse against my gaping lips. I wrapped them around her, and I sucked it, tasting the sweet tang of her, droning my hedonistic hunger as I rotated my mouth and pushed my tongue inside. Her glutes enveloped my face, her hands rested on my shoulders, and she moaned as I moaned, as I was trapped in the splendor of my humiliation, still grinding atop the woman defiling me, her hands gripping my breasts, her lips whispering loving hatred into my ear.

“I came here to kill you, Night Eyes, and that is what I am going to do,” Sister Julia’s words poured from her as I mindlessly sucked Astrid’s insides. “You are the chain that holds my sister to Corruption, and I am going to break you. That’s what you are to me, Willowbud; my sister. Different of blood but kindred of spirit, and you will only find love from me. But you, Night Eyes; you will only find death from me. When you are but embers in an ash pile, and the meld has snapped, there will be no ‘you;’ only Corruption without her shield. Can you hear me, most ancient one? The Destroyer has you cornered.”

Sister Julia thrusted with more fervency now, moving in and out, in and out; exiting and entering me, letting my shithole close and then forcing me open, desecrating my depths, and repeating. Her breath was getting hot on my neck now, her heart fluttering against her breasts as they flattened to my back, her stomach twitching against the base of spine, layers of muscle away from where she was piercing me.

“Do you want to see a magic trick, Your Holiness?” I heard Lucilla’s mocking voice. She made my cock disappear down her throat, and through gurgled tones I heard her say, “Ta-dah!” but I was too enamored with my captivity to care. I sucked Astrid and thrusted into Lucilla, my cock leaking once again, compelled to flow by the unyielding abuse of my anal organ, convulsing, spasming, reflecting the nature of my ruined rectum as every nerve began to electrify, burning their signals into my filthy depths. I screamed against Astrid’s turned-out shithole, and the sound sung through her depths and from her mouth, carried by her own voice as she began to heave with her own ascension. I sunk my hands into the supple fat of her ass and spread wider, pushing my face deeper, my nostrils filled with the scent of her, my mouth sucking stupidly while my mind went blank. The feeling built, wound tighter, drove relentlessly to the greatest heights, and burst. I molded against Sister Julia, every part of me contouring to her form as ecstasy ravaged me, made a slave of my body, of my mind. She cried out when she filled me, her seed pouring its molten delight into my twitching channel, seeping warmth into my bowels. Astrid spurted her pleasure from her womanhood, leaking it down my chin as her convulsing rectum sucked back into her. Lucilla greedily slurped the few droplets I had left to give her, feeding from my member even when it deflated in exhaustion. Faintly, I could hear Tera and Brandon vocalizing their ascension in a chorus of escalating cries, but my mind was focused on only one person now.

Astrid lifted from my face, looking over her shoulder with terror in her eyes, realizing what she’d just done, but I barely registered that she was there. She hurriedly took Lucilla by the hand and pulled her away, hoping to escape before my wrath sought her out. There was no wrath in me, however. Only breath. One breath, then another, the gasps echoing in my mind, my ears seemingly closed from the world. One perfect breath, one perfect heartbeat, one perfect moment of bliss, enjoying my defeat more than I’d enjoyed any victory. I looked over my shoulder, and into the emerald eyes of the one who had who had owned me. There was only kindness there now, only affection and endearment. She cupped my cheek and ran a thumb over my dimple, over my lips, tracing their outline. Our faces met once again, but we didn’t devour each other combatively. We kissed with love, with empathy, with an understanding only we knew. We were kindred spirits, we were sisters, we were broken women with blood on our hands. There was pain in Sister Julia, pain I understood, pain that had scarred to darkness. Now she tasted my darkness, and I tasted hers, and we both liked the flavor. Sister Julia kissed me like a lover, like a sister, and Corruption kissed her back through my lips. Oh, there was darkness in Sister Julia, there was evil. Sister Julia should’ve killed me when she had the chance, because now…

CORRUPTION

…she was mine.

ANGELA

“Oh my god,” Justina said her voice quivering, “Julia is going to kill me!”

I might’ve shared in Justina’s horror, were I not possessed with dumbfounded amazement. I lifted my hand, and there was no filter to delay the motion, no host acting as a barrier between the thought and the action. I lifted my hand, mine! I curled the fingers, and the tendons reacted without hesitation, the nerves signaling directly to me. I felt the bedding, Justina’s flesh, the stiff air of the brothel, and it was only me feeling it, feeling it through no one else’s thoughts, no one else’s perception. These were my eyes, not lenses from which to watch, but eyes with which to see; to really see! I was alive. I. Was. Alive.
“…maybe I should run away? Where would I go? Drastin is the only city that lets succubi work as prostitutes. Would Willowbud protect me? Could she? Maybe if we explain, maybe if we—”

“I’m alive!” I screamed, “I. Am. Alive!”

I bolted upright and wrapped my arms around Justina, pulling into her hug, feeling the unfiltered warmth of another for the first time in years. I bounded off the bed, and immediately collapsed. Bipedal motion hadn’t been my mode of transportation for a long time, and standing was a foreign feeling. I scraped my knees on the floor, smacked my forehead on the dresser, and laughed as the pain came to me. Oh, sweet pain; sweet, wonderful pain! I got onto wobbly feet and shaking knees, letting old memories come back to me, learning to stand again, and then daring my first step. I. Was. Walking. I was walking, then I was strutting, then I was skipping, hopping, and dancing. I was all arms and legs, Diamond’s natural grace not inherited by me, and I struck my elbows against corners and stubbed my toes, but I didn’t give a shit. I felt the exhilarating beat of my heart, the sweet inhalation of air, the sting of sweat and the burning of muscle, and I loved it all. There were tears in my eyes, and I vaguely realized I was laughing manically, but I was too rapt with the euphoria to care. I danced, jumped, and sprinted back and forth until I thought my heart would give out, then dove with arms outstretched onto the bed, and sank into the comfort of blankets and pillows, my mind racing as I enjoyed the sweet relief of relaxation.

“You done?” Justina’s voice came to me. “Because you know you can’t keep that body, right?”

“Yes,” I sighed into the bedding, “you party-pooper.”

“Good,” Justina sighed as I rolled over on my back, still smiling stupidly, “I was worried that you might never give it back.”

“She’s pawning it to me,” I grinned. “If Diamond doesn’t come back for it in a week, it’s legally mine.”

“If you survive a week,” Justina scowled. I could only giggle. Death was no stranger to me. “We need to hide your eyes and voice,” Justina said, getting up and rummaging through her drawer. “I have some cosmetic astral beings you can meld with. Hopefully that ‘purple-ness’ you described will keep Corruption from seeing you.”

“Have you made any progress with Willowbud and Corruption?” I asked Justina as she handed me two gemstones. Her face turned red, and she bit her lip guiltily. “You haven’t even been trying, have you?” I sat up, and narrowed my eyes. God, it felt good to narrow my eyes. I squinted at her just for the fun of it. Shame, you whore, SHAME! Squirm beneath the scorn of my narrowed eyes! Mwhahahahah!

“Willowbud’s settled down since she and Brandon became a thing,” Justina said, wringing her hands nervously as my eyes turned to slits, “and… well… what can I say, Angela; I’m a slut, OK? I can’t control myself when penis is available, and I live in a fucking brothel! I don’t have time do research when a new penis is always knocking at my door!”

Justina sighed, exasperated, and sat beside me on the bed, her shoulders slouched.

“I managed to get tomes from the library, and I found a few texts about Sorrow, and quite a few on Wrath, but nothing on Corruption. Most ‘experts’ don’t even think Sentients are real, despite evidence to the contrary. It’s just…” Justina trailed off as her eyes wandered to my lap. I cleared my throat nervously, and crossed one leg over the other. Having a penis was still very foreign to me. The rest of Diamond, I understood; even the antlers didn’t feel that strange, but the penis was difficult to grapple with. It felt so out of place, so unwieldy, so… aggressive. There wasn’t any bone, nor muscle, yet it was more than just the cartilage of the nose or ears. It was a nerve-swathed growth of blood and tissue, and now I understood why every man said their dick had mind of its own; this thing acted independently of me. It was an appendage I had no control over, and as it stiffened between the warmth of my pressing thighs, I realized that it had some control over me.

“Continue.” I said to Justina, clearing my throat again (where had I picked up that affectation?). Justina gave me an inquisitive look, and then began speaking, but I wasn’t listening. Did I just notice how pretty she was? I’d been in her head for weeks, I’d even eaten her out the first day we met, but had I ever seen her like… this? That black hair surrounding curved horns, those big eyes, that long neck, those small, but cute breasts, the little rolls of fat over her belly as she slouched, the way her butt protruded from her back, the way it creased down the middle just below her tail, shadowed, barely hiding the lewd options between her cheeks. Goddamn, I was practically stabbing myself. How did men live like this?

“…but I don’t think Corruption responds to the physical pain of her host,” Justina’s voice droned back to focus. “I think an emotional strike is needed to dislodge her, but I don’t know what. Astrid said guilt was what freed Willowbud from Corruption the first time, but there must be some mechanism within the brain that breaks the meld. Emotions are just chemical reactions, after all, so if we could find the right trigger… maybe a drug of some sort would work? Or a competing astral being? Angela?”

“Yes,” I replied dumbly, and then before Justina could berate me, I added, “but we have more pressing matters. What am I going to do about Lucilla and Julia? I might look and sound like Diamond, but I don’t exactly act like her.”

“Yeah, that is a problem,” Justina mused, tapping her chin. “Not to mention, you’ll also have to have sex with them to keep up appearances.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?” Justina asked. “They’re both beautiful, and if women aren’t to your taste, Julia would be more than happy to give you some man.”

“I’m a virgin,” I said quietly, face growing red, “I never took control when you were fucking; I always just sat in the passenger seat.”

“Well,” Justina licked her lips, scooching over to me, “we can solve that problem right—”

“I’m saving myself for Brandon,” I muttered. Justina stopped sharply, her eyes widening, her smile growing devilish. I pouted my lips as my face went even redder.

“After all that shit you gave me for fucking my mom,” Justina hissed, grin broadening, “and I’m a succubus, Angela; I have an excuse. You’re a human, well, now you’re not, but—”

“I’m a Sentient,” I interrupted, “and if I don’t bind, I’ll stay a Sentient. I don’t know why I can’t leave this body, but I know that if it dies, I won’t die with it. Nothing’s changed. I still have to do what I have to.”

“Then why the embarrassment?” Justina sniggered, “Is it because now that you have a body, and all the needs that come with it, you realize that your nightly sessions of watching Brandon jerk it weren’t just sisterly curiosity? Maybe, they were something…” Justina glanced at the boner I was vainly hiding between my thighs, “…more?”

“I forgot how much of a bitch you are,” I grumbled. Justina laughed at that.

“Well, you certainly can’t bind with Brandon while you’re in Diamond’s body,” Justina said, “because than it really would become your body, and the Heat Bringer would be none-to-pleased that you just effectively killed her daughter. I also would be pretty pissed; I like Diamond.” Justina chewed her lip as she looked me over. “I guess you’ll have to just stay with me. Pretend you’re Diamond, and that you’ve fallen madly in love with me. Julia and Lucilla couldn’t deny your blossoming romance, and you’d have reason to always be with me, where your secrets are safe.”

“Hmm…” I narrowed my eyes at Justina again (God, that’s fun to do), “…I can’t tell if you’re being a good friend, or just fulfilling a fantasy. Exactly how much do you ‘like’ Diamond? Should I start shopping for a wedding dress?”

“I forgot how much of a bitch you are,” Justina grumbled, and I grinned back.

LUCILLA

“I think I liked it better when they wanted to kill each other,” I frowned over my shoulder. Julia’s bathrobe was pulled to her hips, her face a portrait of contentment as Willowbud straddled her ass, pushing massaging thumbs into her welted back. They’d been hostile when they first met, then they’d fucked like they were trying to stab each other to death, and now they were… what? Friends? More? Go back to hating each other, damnit!

“I didn’t peg you as the jealous type,” Brandon said next to me on the balcony, struggling with a lighter as he tried to start a joint.

“I’d peg you if I didn’t think you wanted Julia to do the honors,” I grumbled. Brandon laughed at that. The balcony had once been a porch, I guessed, but now it overlooked a stunning view of Drastin. Below us, the street was packed with the tens of thousands, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the new gods.

“You know, I also wanted to kill Willowbud when I first met her,” Brandon shrugged, “but then I stuck my dick inside her, and suddenly, she didn’t seem so bad. I guess she just has that effect on people.”

“You really are a dumbass,” I said flatly. He just grinned back.

“Everyone keeps telling me that,” he winked, “and yet, I somehow manage to get inside every single one of them. Hey Julia,” he called over his shoulder, “you want to smell my knuckles? They smell like,” he eyed me as he took a dramatic whiff, “royalty.”

“Oh fuck you, peasant,” I giggled as Julia laughed from her lounging position, Willowbud chuckling atop her. Brandon gave his lighter a few more frustrated flicks, then offered Julia a needful glance, and the roll ignited in his mouth. He grinned at me through a skunky cloud.

“How about that? The first joint project between the Heat Bringer and the Life Giver is literally, well…” he passed me the joint, and I took a deep inhale before hacking out a lung.

“Holy (cough) shit!” I sputtered. “What in the (cough) fuck did you…” I trailed off as the warm bliss gained purchase in my mind, and a goofy grin peeled across my face.

“It’s my own strain,” Brandon grinned, eyes redder than Julia’s hair. “I’ve been perfecting it for weeks. This, Your Highness, will be my great legacy. Furok has the Garden Tower, Dawnbark has Arbortus, Rayson has the Walking Oasis, and I have this: Towerhead Chronic.”

“Truly, your achievement dwarfs all that came before it,” I said with a wheezy voice as I took another puff, “but why would you name anything after that shithole?”

“Why does everyone call it that?” Brandon sighed, shaking his head. “Don’t they see the small-town charm?”

“It’s a destitute shithole one drought away from being abandoned,” I countered, passing the joint. “I felt like I was going to be raped or stabbed every time I crossed the one street there was.”

“Ah, home sweet home,” Brandon said unironically, cherry burning between his lips. He glanced over his arm of the couch, the edge of which was in line with a vertigo-inducing five-hundred-foot drop. He didn’t seem to mind, but I was content with staying where I was, away from the precipice.

“They don’t even know my name yet,” he mused, looking at the crowd, “but they call for me. Why do they think that I want to be worshipped?”

“Do you want to be worshipped?” I asked, both to Brandon, and partly to myself. I’d been called ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Your Grace’ for most of my life, but I was always a royal afterthought, regulated to “managing” an estate; I’d been spoiled, but never revered. I didn’t know how to feel about people worshipping me for being the ‘Bound One.’

“I wouldn’t mind them sending their virgin daughters up here,” Brandon chuckled, easing back, “but I honestly hate the attention. I never was good with people.” Brandon’s bloodshot eyes grew distant for a moment, “I never had any friends in Towerhead; not real friends, anyway. I was clueless with women, bad at sports, and terrible at school, so I didn’t even fit-in with the nerds. If I didn’t have Angela, I would’ve had no one. God knows what would’ve happened if I never went to Tera’s; I’d probably still be in my bed, jerking my frustration into a stiff sock.”

“You have such a way with words,” I swooned with a giggle. “How did the maidens of Towerhead ever resist you?” Brandon offered another retaliatory sniff of his knuckles, and I only giggled more. I liked him. He was as down to earth as he was salt of the earth, and had the potential for humble greatness; the perfect Life Giver, if there ever was one. He did have one glaring flaw, however.

“I guess opposites really do attract,” I said carefully, “you and Willowbud are about as different as two people can be.”

“So are you and Julia,” Brandon countered. “Though, now that I’ve gotten to know her, I’m beginning to think the gulf between you two isn’t as large as it seemed at first glance.”

“It didn’t used to be like that,” I took the joint from Brandon’s fingers. “I used to be the crazy one. Julia likes to pretend she’s still an innocent, god-fearing nun, but she hasn’t been that person since I stuck a finger up her ass.” I laughed, but the mirth died to a frown, “Maybe the façade was always there,” I muttered, more to myself than Brandon, “maybe I just missed it. She was quite the trouble-maker before she joined the convent.” My frown deepened, “She was a murderer before I even knew her.”

“To murderous girlfriends,” Brandon toasted my lit joint with a freshly-rolled one, “may they always love us just enough to not kill us.”

“Here, here!” I heard Willowbud chuckle. I frowned down at my feet, bare against the stone patio. How much could she hear?

“God, I can’t wait to go to Arbortus,” Brandon sighed. “Drastin just isn’t for me; I need the fresh air to keep me sane. You know what? I’m going to go back to Towerhead when I’m old and wizened, and I’m going to turn that place around. I will plant vast fields of Towerhead Chronic, and make that ‘shithole’ the weed destination of Drastinar. I will grow a long beard, yes, and I will go bald, but I won’t shave the stuff off the sides! No, I will grow it out long, and braid it around my shiny crown so that a bird will nest in it. I will wear a robe that constantly opens in the front no matter how tightly I tie the belt, so that any fortunate passerby may bear witness to my divine, sagging sack. I will live in a hut at the top of the hill, maybe a treehouse, actually, and then I will heal the afflicted for the price of one terrible pun. I will—”

“Holy shit, shut the fuck up!” Willowbud yelled from Julia’s back.

“And you will be by my side,” Brandon grinned, undeterred, “my little nymph wife skipping with me through the marijuana fields, with about three-dozen kids in tow because babe, we are going to be pumping, them, out! I want two baseball teams by the time I’m forty. I want so many of the little fuckers that we just start giving them numbers instead of names. I want—”

“A vasectomy,” Willowbud replied, “because I’m not moving to the fucking country to become a breed mare while you get high with the forest critters.”

“For a nymph, you really hate the outdoors,” Brandon frowned. “Aren’t you people supposed to be all about flowers and trees and shit? Don’t you people worship the Life Giver? The way I see it, you should be on your knees and-ok-I’m-sorry-please-stop-ow!”

Brandon had visibly risen an inch off his seat, which I now realized was made of stone beneath the cushion, because of course it was.

“That counts!” he squeaked, a stupid, triumphant grin across reddening face. “We have a deal, and you just blew your wad! I get butt tonight!”

“Sister Julia took that deal off your plate,” Willowbud smirked, “and after her, I’m afraid the best you can do is disappoint me.” Willowbud’s eyes drifted lazily to me, black orbs leering as she ran her hand down Julia’s back. Were I not high as I kite, I might’ve bull-rushed the bitch.

“That may be the case,” Brandon squeaked, “but Sister Julia won’t toss your salad beforehand, and I will. I’ll treat you like the queen of ass-now-please-get-this-fucking-rock-out-of-my-shitter!”

Willowbud stared at Brandon for a moment, her face pinched. Then it relaxed into an adoring smile, and I saw genuine love in her black pits. It looked more out of place than a priest in a brothel, but there it was, as clear as day: love. Brandon sighed as he was eased down, his red face lightening, returning to its beige hue. He matched Willowbud’s affectionate gaze, took a deep rip of his joint, and said, “There’s a fire ant colony in your hair,” and Willowbud went screaming into the bathroom as she swatted at the hundreds of insects descending her scalp.

“Sometimes our relationship has its rough patches,” Brandon sighed as the shower sounded, drowning-out the torrent of shrieks, “but damn, I really might love that woman.”

“She’s going to make you pay for that,” I said, happy that Brandon did it, but concerned for him. He just grinned back at me.

“God, I hope so. You see, being in a relationship with a corrupted deity requires a certain amount of testicular fortitude. If you don’t fight back, then you’re just her slave.”

“Slavery can be quite enjoyable, if you have the right master,” I smirked at Brandon, glancing at his knuckles.

“What was it like?” Julia asked me, resting her head in her hands, her elbows on the carpet.

“Amazing.” I grinned. “It was like being drunk with sex. I had no inhibitions, or limits, and even the pain felt like heaven. Tera and Astrid also taught me a few things that I would love to teach you tonight.”

“Why would I learn from the novice, when the masters sleep two doors away?” Julia giggled. “I want to play with the gladiators too, you know. Maybe we should have a sleep over tonight.”

“Look at you, taking the initiative,” I praised, looking her over. “Not too long ago, I had to drag you kicking and screaming to have any kind of fun, now you want to start orgies all on your own?”

“Not too long ago, I thought holding hands was too lewd,” Julia smiled, a little ruefully. “Now I have a lesbian girlfriend, an extra set of genitals, and a hermaphroditic daughter that I sleep with. Speaking of which, where is Diamond?”

“Still with her new succubus girlfriend,” I crinkled my nose at Julia. “She missed all the fun! I wonder what they’ve been doing in there for so long? You don’t think…” I donned an expression of parental concern, “…you don’t think she’s experimenting with monogamy, do you?”

Julia gasped with faux-mortification, “Good Mother! Monogamy?! Not while she’s my daughter! I’m going in there right now to put an end to that!” she stood up, pulled off her bathrobe, and walked away, her perfect pale ass bulging with each sparkling cheek. She turned around, and gave Brandon and I a wicked grin. “It’s just not natural,” she giggled, then she rounded the corner.

“Holy shit,” Brandon muttered, hard as a rock. We shared a look, and that was it.

TERA

“…I just think you should nip this in the bud, because you know it’s going to be worse if you wait,” I explained to Astrid, holding out the whip, nipple clamps, candles, and oversized butt plug. “If you take the initiative and beg for forgiveness now, then it will lessen the abuse later.”

“But…” Astrid frowned, taking my box of goodies, “…but I like the abuse.”

“Astrid, you called Willowbud a whore, and shoved your asshole into her mouth,” I said frankly. “If you let her stew over it, she isn’t going to tickle you; she’s going to brand your ass with a hot iron. I’m trying to be your friend right now.”

Astrid twisted her lips, and sighed. “You’re right,” she mumbled, going to her closet and getting her slave outfit, “I definitely crossed the line. Thank you, Tera.”

We shared a parting kiss, I wished her good luck, then I pulled on the coat I hated so much, and went to fetch Lucilla. The princess had her middle finger up Brandon’s ass, encouraging the thrusts he delivered between her spread legs, her supple body jiggling from her opened bathrobe as she lay on her back, squealing in delight. Both their eyes were redder than the devil’s dick, and their gaping mouths were curled in goofy grins as they expelled their pleasure.
“Right now?” she moaned at me. She was on the couch, her body cushioned from the stone.

“I bought us an hour,” I frowned, hoping my plush slippers would keep me muted. “I don’t know when I can buy us another. Yes, right now. Where’s Julia?”

“She’s a terrible liar,” Lucilla gasped, wrapping her legs around Brandon’s driving hips. “Best leave her out of it.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Brandon asked.

“You’re going to meet your future mother-in-law,” I said, “and convince her not to throw an impromptu family reunion. Now be a dear, and bust that nut. Oh,” I smiled sheepishly, “and let me have some, please.”

Willowbud, in her twisted, yet childish sense of humor, had made her tower traversable by water slide. The three of us screamed our lungs out as we spiraled down the fifty stories of smoothed-over stone, our asses barely touching the jetted surface as we neared terminal velocity. The chute ended in a gut-wrenching drop that sent us barreling into a pool below, our shrieks echoing until they were silenced by the sudden splash. Thankfully, Willowbud’s pool did not exit onto the street, but led to a tunnel beneath it, allowing us to pass the tens of thousands that had gathered outside the tower. We surfaced from a grate in an abandoned tavern, dried ourselves off with thoughtfully-placed towels, and made our way to my safehouse.

Two sets of broken shackles were strewn about the floor, one ripped cleanly from the wall by someone of great strength. I hissed and dropped to a crouch, eyes darting to the corners, to the shadowed stairwell, to the pylons, but no… that’s not where a valkyrie would attack from. My eyes slowly tracked the ceiling, to the hole in the sunroof. Freydis hadn’t set an ambush for me. Freydis and Flora had gone. In my haste to get to Brandon before Willowbud or Julia, I had forgotten to touch Freydis. The day had expired, and she had awoken.

“Tera?” Lucilla asked, her voice wavering. “Should we go back, like, right the fuck now?!”

“I didn’t smell her when we came down,” I said, studying the scene, “and I didn’t smell her when we came out of the bar. They haven’t gone to the brothel,” I frowned at shackles, “but I doubt they’ve gone far. What kind of a woman is Freydis, Lucilla? Can she be reasoned with if it comes to confrontation?”

“Will it come to that?”

“Most certainly.”

ANGELA

This was the second time today I was panicking while the Heat Bringer knocked on my door, and I hadn’t gotten used to it.

“I’m not ready to be Diamond!” I hissed at Justina. “What do we do?!”

“Ah, fuck… pretend to be asleep!” Justina hissed back, dousing the lamp. We curled beneath the covers, closed our eyes, and began snoring. Justina spooned me as the doorknob turned, and whispered, “Click your tongue if you want me to enslave you; it might make it easier.”

The door opened with a foreboding creak. “Diamond? Justina?” Julia called into the darkness. Justina shifted sleepily next to me, nestling her body against my curve.

“…wha?” she croaked as though just waking.

“Were you two asleep?” Julia had a sweet smile in her voice. “It’s not even seven!”

“We wore each other out,” Justina chuckled drowsily, trying to convince Julia to leave by showing how tired she was. It didn’t work. The door opened wider, and the dusk light bathed us. Through slit eyes, I saw the silhouette of a naked woman, a very non-womanly shadow hanging between her legs. Shit.

I groaned sleepily, pulled the pillow over my head and curled into a ball, doing everything I could to dissuade my ‘mother’ from coming nearer. Her footsteps came all the same.

“You haven’t eaten since morning, baby,” Julia voice came closer and closer, “you must be so hungry.”

I felt the mattress sink as someone sat beside me on the bed, the weight pulling the covers from my shoulders, leaving me exposed to the waist. I clutched the pillow tighter, pressing it hard against my face, trying to block out the world, feeling my heart thunder against my breastbone, feeling physically vulnerable for the first time in ages.

“Diamond?” Julia’s voice had a touch of concern. “Justina, did you do something to her?”

“I did all kinds of things to her,” Justina laughed, but even I could hear the fear in it. The façade was cracking, and I had to act before it shattered. I took a steeling breath, pulled the pillow from my face, and opened my eyes. Julia didn’t look like a terrifying deity of immeasurable power; she looked like a loving mother staring adoringly at her doting daughter. I watched her, waiting for her to see through the ruse, but she just smiled compassionately, and ran a hand through my hair.

“What did you and Justina do?” she asked softly, her emerald eyes brimming from her gentle face. They were disarming eyes, kindly in a way only a mother’s could be. I eased myself into the role, recalling the memories and emotions Diamond left in her astral garden, trying to piece-together a personality I could use.

“We did stuff with our mouths,” I giggled, mimicking Diamond’s sonorous laugh to the note, “and then I had sex with her butthole.” Diamond hadn’t quite grasped situational language yet, so I made sure to effect that.

“That seems to be the theme of today,” Julia chuckled warmly. “How did you like it?”

“It was really tight,” I stretched lazily, and then giggled again. “It felt so good!”

“She’s so submissive,” Justina laughed, pulling me into her arms, “but after some gentle persuasion, I got her hips moving.”

“She enslaved me,” I grinned at Julia, “It was like I was a different person.”

“I’m starting to get jealous of all this enslaving,” Julia smiled, moving her face closer to mine, “it sounds so fun. It sounds like what your… mother…” Julia trailed off, a little twinkle in her eye, “…never mind.” She cupped my face with her hand, running an affectionate thumb over my chin. “Are you hungry?” she asked, and as if on cue, Diamond’s stomach growled its response, betraying me. “I guess you are,” she giggled, lying down beside me, taking my head in her hands, and pulling my face closer. Sparkling creamy flesh filled my vision, the glistening pink point of a nipple leaking milk. Justina clicked her tongue, seeing if I’d respond in kind, but I didn’t. This was just dinner, right? I could handle this. Nothing sexual about sucking on some tit; babies do it every day and nobody bats an eye. Of course, my body wasn’t getting the message. I turned myself toward Julia, bending my knees beneath the covers, narrowly avoiding pitching a tent in the sheets. She arched her back, presented her breast, and I wrapped my lips around mommy’s nipple, and began to suck. Sweet warm nectar flooded my mouth, and I closed my eyes like a nursing babe as I savored the taste, savored the feeling of Julia’s breast pillowing against my muzzle. There was no doubt about it; the male side of my new body was heterosexual. I had yet to determine if the female side followed suit, but this dick felt close to bursting.

“My, my, you were hungry,” a soothing mother’s voice leaked into my ear, a gentle hand clasped the back of my head, bringing me closer. I rotated my lips contentedly, a purring sound tremoring from my chest, escaping my occupied mouth in a low hum. I realized too late that what I was doing, was moaning. I opened my eyes, and saw Julia’s shining down on me, desire glinting in them, my unintended message well-received. Shit.

“You know, Diamond,” Julia voice seemed heavier now, “I don’t know if Aunt Lucilla ever told you this about me, but my favorite place to have sex with a man, is in my butt.”

Oh-fuck-oh-fuck-oh-fuck-oh-fuck.

“I don’t why I like it so much,” Julia’s other hand was sliding along the curve of my belly, “maybe it’s because Mother Septina called it, ‘the devil’s hole,’ and it feels so naughty.” Julia giggled as her hand slid lower, “Maybe it’s because it hurts, and Mommy’s female side likes the pain.” Julia’s hand moved to my pelvis, “Maybe it’s because it’s dirty, and deep down, I want to be a dirty girl.”

Justina clicked her tongue again, but I couldn’t think of a graceful way to click back with a nipple between my lips. Maybe I didn’t want to click back. Maybe I wanted to see where this would go. Maybe I liked the way Julia’s cool fingers felt wrapped around my stiff cock, maybe I liked the smell of her, the taste of her, the low sigh in her chest as she began to stroke me, as if relieved to be doing so. Oh, fuck. So, this is what it felt like to have another want to touch you, to have another want to pleasure you, to have another want you inside of them. I was shocked at how little control I had over myself, how my mind and body were compelled by some undeniable force to bend, press and taste. I wasn’t just nursing from Julia now, but flicking her pert nipple with my tongue, grinning around it as she giggled at the feeling, her body curving to mine, her belly pressing to mine, her thighs interlocking with mine, her… hello, penis. And there was my feminine sexuality, as straight as an arrow. Julia’s (much larger) cock slid beneath mine, the shaft running through my slit, parting my folds, wetting with the lust that oozed from me. Oh god, did I want it. Oh, god… It became immediately obvious to me that I was much more female than I was male. That part of me wasn’t just goading me like the male part was, but screaming, demanding, commanding. I knew Diamond could take every inch of her mother; I’d seen those memories. I knew Diamond loved it.

“Diamond?” Julia’s voice was thick with need. “Do you want to pleasure Mommy’s asshole?”

No, Julia, I thought as I teethed her nipple, I want you to break my cervix open.

“You haven’t fucked me yet,” Julia was practically breathing the words, each curse sounding unpracticed from her pious tongue, like she saved the word ‘fuck’ only for special occasions, “and I’ve been waiting for you, baby girl. I can’t always be the man.”

I was sliding myself subtly back and forth, running Julia’s length through my folds, moaning, begging with my eyes, feeling her push through my ass cheeks and poke Justina on the other side. Justina clicked her tongue again, a little more urgently this time, but I hardly registered that she was there. Needful tones growled from my chest, expelling from sucking lips as I pleaded my case, bending to Julia, molding myself to her, grinding my thighs around her rigid heat as she stroked mine. Oh no, I’m a slut! I realized. I always thought that when I finally got a body, I’d be a powerful, self-respecting woman, but I’m a helpless, pathetic slut! but there’s no use denying your nature, so, GIVE ME PENIS!

“I’ll fuck you, Mommy,” I whispered, Julia’s milk dribbling from the corners of my mouth, “but only if you fuck me first.” Justina sucked-in air behind me, barely hiding the shocked gasp that came from her. Somewhere within my mind, my rational cognizance was screaming at me, but it was a faint sound. Brandon be damned; I need dick now!

“Aunt Lucilla’s right about you,” Julia crinkled her nose, her hands moving to my hips, “you are a little bitch.”

“Punish me then.”

Julia rolled atop me, her breasts flattening to hemispheres against my chest, her grin wide and hungry, her eyes dancing dangerously before my own. What else could I do? I bit my lip, spread my legs, and…

“Am I interrupting?” a horribly familiar voice came from the doorway. Julia’s lustful hold turned to a protective embrace in an instant. My breath hissed from me as I dared a look over her shoulder, my heart galloping against Julia’s calming cadence. Willowbud was in the doorway, and Corruption was staring right at me. The ruse was up, the shit had hit the fan, the… but no, Corruption wasn’t staring at me. It seemed Diamond’s ‘purple-ness’ did hide me from the Sentient, but that was little comfort when I saw who Corruption’s attention was focused on. Though her posture spoke of caution, her black eyes studied Julia with curiosity, with intrigue. With desire.

“Julia,” I whispered, “Corruption wants you.” Julia’s face turned to me, eyes narrowing, and I realized I’d just called her by her first name. Fuck!

“Does she, Diamond?” Julia searched my eyes. “How can you tell?”

“I can see her inside Willowbud, like I saw Angela before,” I said, adopting Diamond’s mannerisms, hoping my fuck-up would be ignored. “I think she’s afraid of you, but I also think she wants you to be her friend. I think Willowbud is going to give you a present, and I think it’s from Corruption.”

Julia bit her lip, seeming to mull that over.

“I can come back later,” Willowbud sighed, her silhouette leaving the door.

“No,” Julia said, turning around, “just give me a minute, and I’ll be with you.” Julia turned back to me, running an affectionate hand over my cheek. “I know you’re a grown woman,” she whispered, “but I always want to be just ‘Mom’ to you, OK?” she smiled sweetly, and I smiled back and nodded. “Time to face the devil’s temptation,” She grinned. She kissed me on the nose, gave Justina a wink, and left. The two of us laid silently for a second, listening to the fading padding of feet.

“Angela, you fucking slut!” Justina finally giggled, hitting me in the face with a pillow, “I’m saving myself for Brandon,” she mimicked as she abused me, “I’m just an innocent virgin who never participated in any of the dirty things that whore Justina did. Oh, hello Julia! Why yes, I would be delighted if you fucked my brains out; I’ll even call you ‘Mommy’ while you do it!”

“Stop! Stop!” I laughed, trying to defend myself. Inevitably, Justina ended atop me, her sweaty, bronze warmth seeping into me, her disheveled mess of black hair laying in strands over her grinning, impish face.

“You don’t get to pretend to be innocent anymore,” Justina whispered on my lips, crawling up my body. “Not after that shit you just pulled. Besides,” Justina’s forked tongue flicked across my mouth as her hand grasped my stiff rod, “I don’t think Brandon will care if you’re not a virgin here.”

As I stared into those violet eyes, I realized there was no one else I’d rather lose it to. We were beyond friends, beyond lovers, beyond sisters; we had been one person, and we both needed to feel that closeness again. I smiled with an opening mouth, and felt the invasion of another’s kiss for the first time. Justina’s reptilian tongue wrapped around my oral member, her lips curling in a grin as she ran against my awkward inexperience. She hunched herself over me, pinning my shoulders back, placing me in the submissive position of a pupil so that she could train me to her satisfaction. Our locked lips rotated in a lecherous devouring, our tongues tested the flavor and texture of the other. My motions lost their stiffness to fluidity, and Justina hummed her approval, and released me to teach a different lesson. My hands elevated as her hips did, as she centered my oozing tip against her wet slit. She paused for just a moment, letting the anticipation build as her devouring grin grew wider. Then she took me, welcoming me into her heat, embracing me all around as I sunk every bit of myself deep within. Our bodies curved against each other as the passion took hold, and we became one again.

JULIA

The room was pitch black, but I knew she was there.

“I can see you,” her voice came, “I can see you inside and out. I don’t need fire to light my way, Sister Julia; darkness is my vision, and your darkness is luminous.”

My palm ignited with white flame, bathing the room in a monochromatic spectrum of black, greys and whites. Night Eyes was standing over Astrid, the valkyrie bent over, her mouthed gagged with a ball, her body bound with leather that crossed her back, encircled her breasts, and squeezed her glutes to protruding orbs. Her nipples were drawn to painful points by the metal weights that dangled from her piercings, and a similar treatment was done to her labia, pulling wet flesh to crude flaps. Astrid’s eyes were wide above her gag, a mixture of agony, fear and pleasure all mingling together. Her body was stiff, unmoving, docile as her mistress examined me.

“Astrid came to me asking for punishment. It was at Tera’s request, which means Tera is sneaking off somewhere. She took Brandon and Lucilla with her; do you think they’ll say they’ve gone to that new vegan place? It doesn’t matter. Lies have a way of revealing themselves with time. Truth is natural, and a lie has to be constantly tended to, or it will rot with honesty,” Night Eyes pondered airily, beckoning me forward. She pulled a candle out of Astrid’s ass (of which there were many), and lit it from my palm. She watched me as she tilted the flame, and let the candle drip onto Astrid’s back. Astrid quivered and moaned around her gag, her back wanting to arch, but her discipline keeping it flat, letting the hot wax pool and dry over tattooed flesh.

“When I first met Astrid, she was almost perfect,” Night Eyes said, turning the candle upright, and placing it in a candlestick. “My unknowing eyes saw no darkness in her, but Corruption showed it to me.” Night Eyes knelt in front of Astrid, caressing almost-affectionate fingers through the valkyrie’s braids. “Glory is Astrid’s darkness, but I have brought it to the light. Look,” Night Eyes ran her hand over Astrid’s illustrated back, “symbols of her victories in the arena, trophies she has made a part of her.” Night Eyes’ fingers moved down Astrid’s spine, where the sword of Iona was inked in perfect detail, the blade intercepting a tattoo that read ‘Mistress’s entrance,’ turning into an arrow that pointed to Astrid’s gaping candle-holder. “She has become her darkness.”

“What’s your point?” I asked, closing my hand, extinguishing the flame.

“Darkness it is the honesty we shroud, Sister,” Night Eyes said, pulling out another candle to the muffled delight of her whore. “Deep down, people are simple creatures. Complexity comes from the masks we wear, the lie we tell the world that contradicts our true nature. We don’t let the truth see the light of a day, so it becomes darkness, and we call it evil. I expose it, and call it beautiful.”

“That’s Corruption’s philosophy,” I said, sitting in the chair Night Eyes had set out for me, “but I walk in the daylight, Night Eyes. I walk in the favor of the only god that matters.”

“The Holy Mother?” Night Eyes laughed.

“Death,” I replied. Night Eyes’ smile faded from her lips.

“That almost sounded like blasphemy, Sister Julia,” Night Eyes said quietly, “though I often find myself sharing your heresy.”

I thumbed the crescent symbol that hung between my breasts. “She is life, and therefore she is also the end of it. You have defied her, Corruption, and so she’s sent me here to correct the mistake.”

“Corruption can’t talk to you.”

“But she can hear me.”

“And she’s listening very closely, I’m sure,” Night Eyes’ grin returned. “She’s absolutely terrified of you, and I suppose she should be. You are ‘The Destroyer,’ after all, so why haven’t you killed me? To save Willowbud? To save your ‘sister?'”

“Yes.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Night Eyes laughed. “Are you going to fuck Corruption out of me? That brown stuff on your dick wasn’t the remnants of a melded spirit, Sister.”

“I am going to love you.” I said simply, and then added with a little smile. “And you were clean when I pulled out.”

“That’s good to hear,” Night Eyes smirked, withdrawing another candle to another muffled moan, “but Astrid here already loves me, and as you can see, Corruption wasn’t too moved by it. It’s guilt that Corruption can’t stomach, but I’m afraid I’m not prone to the pious guilt you nuns pedal. I do… unspeakable things, Sister, and I sleep with a smile on my face every night.”
“Astrid gives you devotion, but that is not the love I offer,” I said, examining the valkyrie, her skin silver in the monochromatic light. I looked up at Night Eyes, her caramel skin a shining black, like oil. “My love is of a concerned older sister, giving her foolish sibling one last chance.”

“Your love is power,” Night Eyes hissed as she began wrapping Astrid’s hair in her hand. “The power to control,” Night eyes ripped Astrid’s head back, “the power to dominate,” Night Eyes pulled out a knife, “the power to kill!” Night Eyes plunged the blade into Astrid’s throat. The valkyrie’s eyes bulged, a shriek gurgling in her gagged mouth as black liquid poured from the wound. But it was a shallow wound, and the black liquid that ran from it was not blood, but molten iron. It scalded her neck, hissed against her chest, left a horrid smell in the air, but it did not kill her.

“The power to save,” Night Eyes whispered, dropping the bladeless hilt as Astrid collapsed, the pain mercifully draining her of consciousness. The wounds that steamed from her were hideous, but it was better than death, and Brandon could fix them. “Your love means very little to me, Sister Julia, but your power means a great deal.”

Night Eyes walked toward me, stepping over the quivering form of her guardian. She stretched her neck to one side, then the other, rolling her shoulders, letting her bathrobe fall. She was entirely female for me now, black flesh contrasting white hair, black eyes twinkling in the white fire. She raised a slender thigh, stepped over me, and eased herself into my lap, the softness of her flesh opposing the jaggedness of her soul.

“I want that power,” Night Eyes whispered, running a covetous finger along my jaw. “I want it to control me, I want it to dominate me, I want it inside me. I want to be yours, Sister Julia. You can burn me, you can beat me, you can torture me. I want you to. I want to feel your darkness.” Her words hissed from her, breathing on my lips, letting me taste her breath. This was hell; a place void of color, a place that stank of burning flesh, a place that whispered covetously of darkness, a place where temptation pressed her dripping heat against my stiffening desire. Good Mother, did I belong here? Because it felt like I did. It felt like home. It felt like blackening faces screaming in a burning house, but I wasn’t crying, was I? No… I was smiling. I was grinning from ear to ear as I splayed my palm against Night Eyes’ chest, as I felt the heat surge into my hand, as I watched the terror mingle with the arousal in her eyes. This was power. This was righteous, godly power. I was the Destroyer, the flame of God, and there was evil before me, evil whispering sweet temptation, evil begging me to do it. And those obsidian pits that stared back at me, brimming from that leering face of evil… they reflected my face, and I could barely tell the difference between us. This was my power. This was my darkness. This was my evil. This was me.

“You see my darkness,” I whispered. “What do you see in my ‘truth?'”

“It’s my truth, Sister Julia,” Night Eyes’ hushed voice quivered as she took me inside her, burrowing me through her squeezing heat, “and it’s like looking into a mirror.”

“No,” I hissed, “we’re nothing alike!”

“We’re kindred spirits, Sister Julia, you said it yourself,” Night Eyes’ lips brushed mine, her breath turning to pants as she grinded on me, “but not you and Willowbud; you and me. There never was so sweet a kiss as the one you shared with Passion before you killed her, was there?”

“How do you…”

“I know you, Sister,” Night Eyes growled on my lips. “I see your darkness! I can’t see your memories, but I see the scars they’ve left behind, and I recognize so many of them. I have that scar, that kiss of death. I gave it to my father because he loved me, because I loved him, because I realized what I’d become, and because I hated him for what I’d done to myself. Sound familiar?”

“Yes,” I barely breathed it. It sounded so familiar.

“And the deepest scars, the ones we get when we’re children, I see those in you, and they look just like mine,” Night Eye’s brushed tender fingertips along my cheek, down my neck, “I was alone and scared, neglected by those that loved me, unable to grapple with emotions I didn’t understand. So, I killed, and killed until I found peace in the silence. I was barely past five when I did it, but you were younger. Tell me, Sister Julia; when the screaming finally stopped, and you stood in the ashes of your home, did you find peace in the silence?”

“Yes!” I gasped, grabbing her ass, spreading her wide, pushing my fingers together between the crease of her, and burying them deep within her tight filth. She formed against me like water, our curves melding together, breast to breast, belly to belly, thigh to thigh. Our lips locked, and the message we spoke was of hatred, of loathing, of disgust, but not in each other; in ourselves. Good Mother, it was… but the Good Mother wasn’t here, was she? No, I tasted hell in Night Eyes’ mouth, and it was acrid, and foul, and the sweetest thing my tongue had ever caressed. I tasted Corruption, and I liked the flavor.

I can take away your pain, drawled a seductive voice, a loving voice, I can take the weight from your shoulders. It wasn’t your fault, Julia; none of it was your fault. You are the flame of God, and fire cannot be blamed for what it burns. You are death, and no one faults death for the dead.

Stay away from me.

You do not have to listen to my offer; you can walk away, Corruption replied. Withdraw yourself from Willowbud, spill your seed upon the stones, and leave us. You are not welcome here, you are not wanted here, you are an interloper. I see the threat that you are, but my host desires you, so I will extend you my hand. Let me take your pain away, Sister. It fills you to the point of bursting; let me make you hollow, so that peace may settle in the void.

I don’t want you.

I am not offering myself to you, Corruption chuckled, I am already melded to the one I love. I am offering you my friendship, and the gifts that come with it. I can fetishize your agony, I can pervert your self-loathing, I can mutate your guilt. I can bring forth your truth, and turn it into armor. I can make you, you, Sister Julia. It took Night Eyes weeks to turn Astrid, but it will only take me a single breath. Breath me into you. No more blackened faces, no more shrieks in your dreams. Peace…

“Become like me,” Night Eyes whispered as our kiss parted, “there’s no need to suffer, there’s no need to fight me. We’re sisters, Julia, sisters of circumstance and fate, but closer than blood. I need someone by my side. I need an equal. I need a…” Night Eyes almost looked ashamed through her pleasure, “…I need a friend. Will you be my friend?”

“You’re a deceiver,” I moaned, “a liar!”

“I’m the most honest person you’ve ever met,” Night Eyes snarled, clenching her thighs around my waist. “Lies are for those who wear masks. Where is your princess, Julia? Why has she gone without you? It’s because deception is unnatural for you, and the lies they’ll tell me when they come back will sound sweeter from their practiced tongues. You are no liar; you are like me, now let me help you become you. Breathe her into you, and join me, sister.”

“Fuck you, Night Eyes,” I growled, and drove my lips to hers, opened our mouths, and breathed in Corruption. I felt her surge into me, into my lungs, into my heart; terrible, exhilarating euphoria burning through my veins, scorching my extremities. Oh, great devil, oh, sweet hell. The pain washed from me, detoxifying me with poison, numbing me with opium for the soul. I am a sinner, I am a murderer, I am a heathen blasphemer. I am a daughter-fucking, immortal-killing force of chaos. I am death. And then I exhaled, and breathed Corruption’s gift back into Night Eyes, feeling the pain come back into my soul, feeling the guilt, the hatred, the sorrow. I am all those things, but I walk in the light, Corruption. Your darkness is but a shadow of truth. Guilt, pain and sorrow are as much a part of us as the despicable things we hide. There is no joy without hurt, and I will not give you my hurt. I don’t need your friendship; I have love. I have Lucilla and Diamond, and soon, I will have Willowbud.

You will have none of those, Corruption hissed in the back of my mind. I will strip them from you. I will break the bonds that hold you fast, and set you adrift in my ocean. You will beg for my gift, oh pious sister, and I will only take more from you.

I can taste your fear, most ancient one, I smiled around Night Eyes’ kiss, and it’s decadent. Run to the astral plane, and cower for another epoch. Only death awaits you here.

I stared into those black orbs, narrowed to blissful slits as she kissed me, and I saw them lighten. I saw the blackness recede to the edges as Corruption took the chance I gave her, leaking away in wisps of darkness. I saw the confusion in Willowbud’s eyes, the pupils constricting, the lids peeling back, and I saw the pain begin to film over her lenses, the fear coming back, the realization of what she’d—

NO! I faintly heard the voice as if it was spoken on the wind. No, you will not take her from me! She is MINE! And the blackness came back, and Night Eyes returned.

“You almost had me there,” she grinned against my mouth, biting my lower lip as she grinded fervently onto my lap. “God, you’re good, Sister; we’re going to have so much fun together.”

“Yes,” I smiled back, breathing her breath, tasting her temptation, “we are.” And I pulled my penetrating fingers apart, slowly gaping Night Eyes as I drove into her heat, feeling her pain, her gratitude, her hedonistic clenches. She dug her nails into my shoulders and cut lines into my back, and our kiss only deepened as we violated each other in the monochromatic splendor we’d made, in the hell of our own darkness. The truth was, she almost had me there as well, and she knew it. Corruption’s gift lingered in my nerves, the echoes of her euphoria whispering beneath my flesh. Night Eyes was right; I was like her. I was more like her than Willowbud was, and I wasn’t even corrupted. Not by Corruption, anyway.

Not yet.

LUCILLA

I examined Brandon as we rode the cable-towed lift up Willowbud’s tower, the squeaking, steel cable echoing against the stone walls. His face was lit on only one side as we past the slotted windows that provided illumination for the confines, their rectangles narrowing into the void below.

“What are we going to do?” I asked him.

“Wait and see what happens. What else can we do?” he frowned as we neared the square of light above us. A shadow crossed the light, a shadow with two ram-like horns, and a hand placed lazily on the steel cable. The lift stuttered to a halt, the cable screeching anomalously above, the stone floor below suddenly seeming very temporary. Icy fear crawled along my spine, up my neck, and came from my mouth in a whimper. Tera let out a resigned breath, but Brandon just chuckled.

“Howdy!” Willowbud called down to us, affecting an accent. “Did yawl folks enjoy the waterslide?”

“The drop at the end seems kind of excessive,” Brandon called to her, putting a calming on hand on my trembling shoulder.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I could practically hear Willowbud’s sardonic grin. “I’m thinking about making the drop a bit higher, actually. Where’d you three run off to?”

“Tera took us to this new vegan place,” Brandon called back. “They have this really great tea, and I was thinking maybe you and I should—”

“Oh, fuck you, hippy,” Willowbud grumbled, walking away. The lift began rising again, the counterweight sandbags passing us on their descent into the darkness below.

“How do you live like this?” I hissed at them, my breath coming from me in terrified rattles.

“I thought about leaving, but the sex is just too good,” Brandon chuckled, and Tera gave a concurring snort.

The Maternal Bible: Chapter Two, Page Two:

On the second day, the Holy Mother created water for her children to drink, for her plants to grow, and for the sky to color with. The Holy Mother found great joy in the creation that made her world so vivid, and celebrated in the rain and lakes with her children. She deigned that all newborns should be baptized with water, for it was the essence of life and new growth, and the holiest and most precious element that she created. For water could quench the fires of hatred, and water could make passable the divisions of canyons that separated her people. Water could permeate the sterile stone, and create life and love from the most improbable of places. Between life and rock, water was the unifier.