Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (44 page)

“I promise! I promise to immediately turn myself into
Queen Kasile and pledge eternal loyalty to her! I promise to do that right
away!”

With his mage spear still inside them, Eric cast another
spell. Healing Arts weren’t his specialty, but he could do the basics like
painkillers. Then he jerked his blade out (no need to be careful if they didn’t
feel pain) and cast another spell to close the wound long enough for a
professional healer to finish. Now he could finally turn his attention to his lady.

Since when does she wear a negligee?!

He found it profoundly distracting while he freed her. It
teased him despite covering everything. When he helped her to her feet, she
clung to his arm and pressed against him. She whispered her thanks in his ear.
The fire in his mind turned to a different purpose.

When she invited him inside, he immediately accepted. At
the door to her apartment, she pulled Eric inside and closed the door behind
him. Fairtheora made no attempt to stop her, nor did he say anything. He waited
outside.

Inside, Annala dragged Eric to a couch big enough to lie down
upon comfortably. She sat down in the center and placed Eric next to her. On a
table before it was an open textbook, a notebook, and a bowl of chips.

“I want to discuss the results of the Mana Mutation
Summit. I have a copy of the minutes right here. I was thinking we could start
from the practical materialist perspective, move into the chaotic spiritual, as
distinct from elven social, and then order spiritual.”

“Noitearc spiritual next? It would segue nicely into
Mithran general politics and then Ataidar spiritual and political contrast.”

“I’m glad to see we’re on the same page.” 

The room was warm and sweet and Eric felt increasingly
hot. A feeling burned in his veins like fire and the grendel mind at the core
of his psyche grew increasingly restless. It was becoming difficult to follow
Annala’s words and more difficult still to form a response. Eventually, her manner
changed from scholarly to lewd.

“Oh, I see. You want a different sort of dialogue.” 

She slid herself into his lap, wrapped her arms about his
neck, and kissed him. Eric’s remaining coherence turned to goo and he embraced
her in return. He fell forward and kissed her more passionately. Then she
tugged at his clothes and he stopped.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, pouting.

“The collar,” he said.

“It’s okay,” she said, eyes shining. “I started this. The
collar has nothing to do with it.”

She tried to resume the kiss, but he broke away again.

“I promised. It’s not lawful.”

Do it!
a voice commanded in his mind; a fierce and
burning voice.
Do it! She wants it! Do it!
Eric shook his head and the
glow flickered in his own eyes.
You can't stop it!
The glow returned
bright enough to illuminate Annala’s sultry demeanor. He shook his head again.
Fulfill
your purpose.
The light inflamed the monstrous side of himself; desperate
to replicate itself and continue living.
I won’t!

Mustering more willpower than any spell he'd ever cast, he
removed his hands from Annala's waist and pointed them at himself.

"
Infinite
Sea...grant...grant your power to me!...WATER
!!!!"

A deluge burst from his hands and slammed him against the
opposite wall. It drenched him completely, then recoiled off the wall to douse
the rest of the room. Then, once everything was sopping wet, it drained through
the open door. Fairtheora held it open and bowed his head.

A woman stepped through, gingerly avoiding the water. Her
long and silky hair shined fire red and orange in the moonlight and her eyes
glowed in the dark. Bracelets of gold graced her wrists and ankles, and a
necklace of equal quality lay on her throat. A red wrap dress shimmered like
flames. Every part of her glowed with divinity.

In her arms, she cradled a tiger cub. The orange and white
stripes of his fur shimmered with the dress and his tail carried a flame at the
end. On his head was a tiny little crown. He hissed at the water below and only
calmed when petted.

 The fire lady accidentally stepped in a puddle and made a
face of disgust. Without words or gestures, a heat wave flashed across the
room. All the water instantly evaporated and Eric's clothes were completely
dry. She stood before him and smiled.

"Congratulations. You pass."

“What did I pass? Fairtheora, why are you bowing? She
isn’t….she is! Are you?”

“I am,” the mysterious woman said.

Eric averted his gaze from her light. “Fire’s avatar,
Fire’s tool, Incandescent Puppet, Founder of Ataidar, She Who Sits On The Empty
Throne, Furnace of Divine Flame, the Volcano Queen, Patron of Passion, Goddess
of Willpower, the Tiger’s Mistress, Fiol.”

“That’s me. You nailed every one of my titles; why not my
true name?”

 Eric kept his head down. “It’s disrespectful.”

She laughed and Eric was reminded of campfires at night.
He could have sworn he heard people telling jokes and drinking too much
alcohol. The smell of s’mores and the taste of meat were so vivid it made his
mouth water.

“Yet you treat Tasio, a being far greater than I, like a
pest.”

“He IS a pest, but wait—what are you doing here?”

The goddess’ smile inverted and she glowered at the
distance.

"Oh that lazy, hedonistic, undisciplined...Probably
didn't even send an envoy! When I get my hands on him...!" She refocused
on Eric and smiled again, this time apologetically. "Sorry, you must not
know what I'm talking about. What we’re doing is not in any of those books you
read. I’m here as a favor for two people. The first and more pressing is my
granddaughter.”

“Kasile?”

Fiol rolled her eyes. The gesture reminded Eric of turning
over coals in a fireplace.

“No, Laura the Hermit.”

“Who?”

“Never mind. I’m not supposed to talk about her. She’s in
hiding. Anyway, you got yourself into legal trouble and she requested that I
help out. So I set up two tests: a test of Mercy and a test of Self-Control.”

“You mean that ordercrafter I fought works for Kasile?”

“Yes. Jasmine volunteered to pretend to kidnap Annala.”

Eric forced himself to look away from the goddess and back
to Annala. She looked away and tugged her ear.

“Did you know about this?”

“No! If I had known then, I wouldn’t have been so
terrified! I thought I was being dragged off to a fate worse than death!” She
pointed her finger at Fiol and declared, “The first chance I get, I am going to
profane your temple! I have extensive knowledge of such acts, and when I’m
done, it will be so spiritually polluted that the site will have to be scorched
to ashes and abandoned! Then I’m going to write a sternly worded letter to your
descendent claiming responsibility!”

Fiol shrugged. “Go right ahead. Seriously, if that’s your
passion, then I support it.”

A goddess that encourages people to blasphemy against
her?

“It was necessary that your reaction to these tests be
natural and authentic so that Eric’s reaction would be natural and authentic.
Otherwise, his actions would be invalid and this would be a waste of time.”

Annala scooted away from the goddess and hugged herself.
The glare only made her appear more exposed and vulnerable. Eric’s eyes slitted
and he growled at this creature threatening his future mate. This made her
point and exclaim, “That’s it! That’s what I was going for! You see, monsters
have no conception of mercy or punishment. You passed this test by sparing
Jasmine and you get extra credit for trying to bolster Kasile’s ranks in the
process. That was the Test of Mercy. The Test of Self-Control was harder.”

The goddess snapped her fingers and Annala's negligee
shimmered out of existence. It left behind her loose and modest pajamas. The
elf yelped and grabbed a blanket.

“The idea was to recreate the Tahart incident with rescue
sex. The villain was easy enough; she’s terrified of ordercrafters and you hate
them. The standard hero reward was the tricky part. There was no chance of
making her into a sultry temptress; too mousy for that. Besides, I knew that
‘nerd mating dance’ you two have would be more effective.”

“That light in her eyes...” Eric muttered. “You
enchanted
her?”

Fiol nodded. “Yep! It wasn’t easy to persuade her to make
the first move. Elves are
much
more covetous of their first time than
humans are, so I had to frame it as helping you. By the way, you weren’t easy
either! Between that promise you made and your fear of hurting her, I had a
hard time stoking your fire too!”

“
You
were the elemental we fought today?”

Fiol played with the tiger cub’s tail, much to his
annoyance. She swung it about as she continued explaining.

“Technically, I’m
every
fire-based elemental. It’s
part of my limited omnipresence. That zap from the tiger’s eyes? It was an
amplification enchantment for fire-based emotions. Annala, dearie, if you don’t
mind, please explain them. ”

“Hatred, passion, lust, excitement, arousal,” Annala said
in a deliberately scholarly tone. “These emotions are the domain of the Grand
Elemental Sentience Fire because they inflame the heart and galvanize the
mind.”

“I was going to do this anyways, as a favor to the second
person I mentioned, but when my descendent prayed for my help, I decided now
was the best time.”

“Let me guess; people think I’m a threat because of what
happened today and this was supposed to prove that I’m not because I showed
mercy and self-control.” His eyes slitted. “Did Kallen have to go through
this?”

 “Of course she had to do something like this;
several
times,
in fact. Sapients, regardless of their gender, have the ability to
reason. This helps them determine who, what, where, and when for things like
violence and sex. Whether or not they use it is less certain. I remember when
we were first making these rules as part of a peace deal with the Third Unified
Demon Republic. I was nervous about using ‘reason’ as the criteria because
everyone on both sides was either a murderer, a whore, an idiot, or all three.”

“You lost your train of thought again.”

Eric looked around for the voice, and then he realized it
was the tiger cub. It was odd to hear an adult human man’s voice coming out of
such a small, nonhuman thing.

“Eric Watley, your gender is not a concern here. All men
and all women
can
resist sexual urges. Whether they do or not is not at
issue. Monsters, regardless of their gender, can
not
. When they are
hungry, they must eat. When they feel threatened, they must attack. When they
feel a sexual urge, they must satisfy it. The fact that you felt such urges but
did not act on them, even when nudged by divine power and encouraged by your
paramour’s safety and then willingness, is a credit to your recovery. When this
matter is resolved, and that collar is gone, feel free to kill Nulso or go at
it like rabbits if you wish.”

In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Then he reappeared in
a corner of the apartment, with a mouse’s tail between his claws.

“Stop!” Eric shouted.

“Why?” the Crowned Tiger asked.

“That’s Alice. She’s a friend of mine. She stops by
sometimes for cheese and a talk. I imagine she was going to give me girl
advice.”

Alice was too scared of the divine tiger holding her to
talk, so all she did was nod.

“Fair enough.” 

The Crowned Tiger released her and teleported back to
Fiol’s arms.

 “What do you think, Fairtheora?” Fiol asked. “Is Eric
Watley a threat?”

“Your Divinity, I am satisfied that Eric Watley is
not
a threat to the general public. Her Mortal Majesty Queen Kasile will be
reassured by this event. He will still have to stand trial, but this character
evidence will help his case.”

“Good. Glad to hear it. I’d hate to see my descendent lose
a confidant. Those are hard to come by.” She stroked the tiger cub’s back and
he purred contently. “Now that the secular stuff done, we can move onto the
sacred. Eric, pull your staff out.”

“Okay…Why?”

 “I’m going to give you a blessing.”

“You…You’re…a blessing?! But I—”

She touched the crystal with one finger.

"You who overcame the fire of your own body shall not
be overcome by this fire."

A red glow filled it. Then it shrank to the size of a
marble and the grey sphere pulled it into orbit. It chased the blue at the
other side. Eric stared at the red light, then up at the woman who gave it to
him.

“This is True Scared Fire. Kasile possesses only a pale
imitation. That’s why the enforcer could shut it down.”

“You mean she’s
not
your descendent?”

She smacked him on the head with a fan made of ashes. “Of
course she’s mine!"

Yes, the fan smack proves it...

"But all that mortal blood between her and me waters
it down. Somehow, she was under the wrong impression about how this works and
had to figure it out herself in order to regain it. From now on, I’m teaching royal
theology myself!”

“Did you forget what Tasio did to stop you from doing
that?” the tiger cub asked.

“I don’t give a den of ashes what Tasio thinks. My
daughter’s bloodline almost ended the other day because one Torch died giving
birth to the next and thus couldn’t educate that Torch about the true nature of
her heritage. Besides, he owes me for this.”

“I foresee a man named Cid in our future,” the tiger cub
muttered.

“I’ll deal with that when it happens. Anyway, Eric, this
light here will give you a direct link to me just like the blue light for Waol.
You’ll be able to use a tiny fraction of our divine power through them.”

“When did I meet...It was the mutation, wasn’t it?”

“Like I said, lazy.”

“But…why?”

“Ask Tasio. This was all his idea. I believe he asked Eaol
and Wiol to test you as well so keep an eye out for them. Bye-bye for now.”

She disappeared in a pillar of fire. Eric took a moment to
process and then called The Trickster’s name three times. Without a sound, a
god of a different nature appeared in her place. He looked from the angry Eric
to the embarrassed Annala and said, “Good, Fiol’s already been here. I assume
she told you to ask me for the divine plan?”

“Yes.” Eric put his grendel hands on his hips. “I don’t
appreciate your meddling.”

“
My
meddling?” Tasio pointed at himself in
irritating pretend confusion. “This was
Kasile’s
plan; front, right, and
center. I only asked Fiol to do a little extra.”

“Don’t give me that. You want something from me and if I
need divine power for it, then it must be something extreme.”

Tasio lounged in midair. Producing an apple from nowhere,
he played catch with himself by tossing it into the air.

“You want the power to kill Nulso, right? That which is
protected by Order can only be vanquished by Order or a power of similar or
greater standing. Accepting Fiol’s blessing is one of the steps you need to
take to acquire such power.”

“You want me to kill one of Order’s knights. You want me
to do your dirty work.”

Tasio caught the apple one final time. Then he threw it to
Eric. He caught the illusion and squashed it in his grendel fist.

“It’s not dirty at all. Besides, he’s not done with you or
Annala. His arrest will only drive him to greater action. When that happens, I
want you to be ready.”

Eric adopted an exaggerated thoughtful posture. “If that
which is protected by Order can be killed by Order, then...” He locked eyes
with Tasio. “…does that mean that which is protected by Chaos can be destroyed
by Chaos?”

Tasio’s usual exuberance diminished. His hair bleached
itself, his eyes turned pink, and his clothing shifted into something bland and
homely. His divinity faded and his feet touched the ground. Without the divine
glory, his body looked humanly fragile. A vision of him bloodied and dying invaded
Eric’s mind. He shook his head, but the image remained.

“Do you hate me that much?”

“That’s not fair!”

“Do you?”

“No. However much you annoy me, you were still my first
friend in this world.”

“Aio” beamed and glomped Eric. He pushed the disguised
trickster away.

"I’m still mad at you. You've played little tricks in
the past, but it was all in good fun. I acknowledge you had good intentions
this time, but I don't like dancing to someone's flute
without my knowledge
.”

Without his awareness, his human form was giving way to
his true form. Starting with his chest, metal scales were replacing his flesh
and his physical stature was expanding.

“
Kas isn’t
going to get away with this either. I’m going to chew her out the next time I
see her. Oh, and,
Royal Sentinel
, I hope you understand that I was being
metaphorical at that moment. The violently hungry and sex-obsessed grendel is
not going to
literally
chew on your queen
.”

“I understand, Mr. Watley.”

“Good! Out
of everyone here, the Orc Knight is my favorite right now.”

He stomped out and returned to human form mid-step. After
crossing the threshold, he slammed the door behind him. Fairtheora followed him,
but the other two did not.

For the second night that week, Eric couldn’t sleep. Instead,
he meditated. It was necessary to maintain his Razor Spirit and useful for
sorting out his feelings about what had happened.

Elves are a fertile race; it came with being imbued with
power from the Mother of All Things. When a female elf lost her virginity, she would
instantly become pregnant, no exceptions. After giving birth, she would be
barren for a century or so, no exceptions. The fact that he learned all this
from human records of war crimes made him all the more uncomfortable.

In the morning, Annala was waiting for him outside his
apartment. She wore a loose sweatshirt and baggy snow pants underneath her
thick winter coat. The Subjugation Collar was hidden by a scarf and a hood. One
hand was tugging her ear.