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  I helped her thrust, my hands pushing from behind her.

  This was not meant to be a slowly unfolding event, which Eve seemed to understand. She delayed only a moment longer and then forced me inside her, nerve endings firing along my shaft. I could feel every part of her as I slid in and out, drawing my hips up to meet hers, cupping her ass as we came together, two crashing waves colliding over and over again.

  It was her turn to rear up like a cobra, soft, breathy exhalations of pleasure arising from the back of her throat. One of my hands slid around to cup her breast, teasing her nipple between my fingers while my tongue found the other one, licking circles around it.

  All the while thrusting, each movement bringing us both closer and closer to the promised land. I could tell she was getting close and I was determined not to release too soon, gritting my teeth and clinging to the edge of the edge, my fingernails scraping toward falling.

  “Oh goddesses,” I said, my entire body tingling, resonating from the magical point where our bodies were one endless stretch of flesh.

  “No,” Eve purred, and I could hear the strain in her voice now. “This is all us. Harder,” she said.

  I obeyed, still kissing her breasts while my hand moved back to her ass, helping her thrust against me.

  “Harder.”

  I groaned with pleasure but held the tide at bay by will alone. I wasn’t so much clinging to the edge anymore, but over it, hovering in the air, looking gravity in the eye and defying its pull.

  “Fuck me harder,” Eve said, every word an effort now. She was close, so close, but defying gravity the same way I was.

  It was…un-fucking-believable.

  She screamed and I groaned as we orgasmed at the exact same moment, coming at once. Still thrusting, but slower now. Softer. In perfect rhythm.

  Holy shit. If anything, it had been even better than my romps with the goddesses. Even better than the foursome, which should’ve been the crowning event of my adult sexual life.

  Eve looked at me with her captivating eyes. So dark. So sexy. “Finally,” she said, reaching down to pull me out of her. “What took you so long?”

  “It was worth the wait,” I said.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Maybe you were right. But let’s not wait so long the next time, agreed?”

  I nodded, feeling numb. “Deal.”

  That’s when I noticed how much darker the gully had become, filling with shadows as I’d filled Eve with my seed.

  The Black was upon us.

  TWO

  HONEY, I BLEW UP THE MONSTERS

  Whew. I’m glad we got that over with.

  No more sexual tension between Eve and me. No more distractions. Well, except for her endless legs and taut body and flirty smiles. No, I will not be distracted. Not one bit.

  Back to the story.

  Right, the Black.

  It descended like a swarm of black-winged bats blotting out the waning light in the evening sky.

  I ran. Eve called out to me, told me I wasn’t a Warrior anymore—not that I needed the reminder. My own leaner body was a reminder, as well as the fact that I was having no trouble seeing, even as the world grew darker and darker. Spidey vision had its perks.

  Still, as I climbed to the top of the gully, I wondered what exactly I was planning on doing. I’d basically been forbidden from fighting in the Black with the other Warriors. Plus, they didn’t need me, not with their renewed ward shields and ever-growing numbers. Things were going well. I had helped get us to this point.

  And now…

  I reached the top and looked down the hill. Lace and Beat were rallying their crews. Lace was prowling back and forth and shouting at her Warriors, trying to amp them up. From the looks of it, whatever she was saying was working. Ass-Fan was beating his chest and the others were nodding and bouncing up and down on the balls of their feet. Like a sports team ready to run out on the field to the roar of a home crowd. The rest of her crew consisted of a male giant named Bonk and a rhino woman known as Floot. She also had a massive rhino dude, one of Eve’s latest recruits. Last was a green-skinned, gilled Oceanian named Merlin, which never failed to remind me of the very first Oceanian I ever met, who bore the same name and died fighting at my side in the Black. Jak was noticeably absent. Even wrapped in a cloth soaked with the goddesses’ magical spittle, it would take the better part of a day for his hand to grow back.

  Beat’s approach was very different to Lace’s. Her squad, which included our resident newb-whisperer, Millania, was listening intently as she spoke to them. Beat then deferred to the Oceanian, who also said something in that soft way of hers. And on down the line it went, each Warrior getting the chance to speak. Her group included some of our latest additions, the cat-dude Chestah (yep, like the cheetah, I kid you not) and the lioness Nrrrf (try to say her name without giggling, I dare you). There was also a dark-skinned Lri Ay woman with a deep, gravelly voice. I couldn’t remember her name, which was a good thing. It meant our numbers were growing faster than my brain capacity. Beat’s last squad member was Guz, whose entire body was covered in white fur.

  I wondered what they were talking about. I wished I was with them. A part of a group again.

  Not alone.

  Not an island.

  It was a wonder Eve hadn’t gone mad from living like this for so long.

  I watched the Warriors walk away from camp, each squad heading in a different direction to split up any groups of monsters that attacked. As a rule of thumb, the smaller the monster pack, the better.

  I longed to go with them. But I had a different role to play now, one I needed to accept if this was ever going to work. And I could still play a part in the Black for those who were left behind.

  There were three at this point. They were huddled around the fire, not speaking. Just watching the flames as the Black pressed in on their backs and shoulders. The demonflames barely managed to hold back the darkness.

  The three Warriors who hadn’t yet faced a Black included a human, a giant and one of the white-furred creatures hailing from the planet called Askander.

  I said down beside them and pretended not to notice the way their eyes darted toward me. Although I knew I was just a normal guy, to them I was an enigma. I tried to put myself in their shoes. My early days on Tor were a whirlwind as I learned about the dangers of this world. Unlike them, however, I didn’t have the chance to sit out a single Black, forced into a life of nightly violence and death. I watched friends and acquaintances die on an almost daily basis. Crap, we hadn’t lost a single Warrior since these newbs had arrived. It was pretty spectacular how well the system I had implemented was working. I knew it couldn’t last forever—someone was bound to be killed in the Black—but it was a fresh start.

  For a second, I found myself irrationally angry at these three. They looked dejected, depressed. How dare they be so ungrateful?

  I took a deep breath. I wasn’t being fair to them. They’d been taken from the only life they ever knew to a world of monsters and darkness. How could they possibly know about the Circle, about the old system which probably would’ve killed all of them already? How could they know they were the lucky ones?

  There was only one answer: they couldn’t.

  “Anyone know any jokes?” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

  Unfortunately, that was what Beat was good at, not me. The human woman looked up, her dark eyes shaded by long lashes. She was stunning. Not Eve stunning, but still more gorgeous than any woman on Earth, even the airbrushed ones on glossy magazines. There was no humor on her face. “Jokes?” she said, like I was an idiot. Which I was.

  The white-furred creature said something that sounded like a series of grunts and mumbles. For some reasons, the Askander’s language didn’t automatically translate into a common language like the rest of ours did. Then the furry creature released a breathy, huffing sound that I took for laughter.

  I slapped my knee, pretending to get the punchline. “Wow…uh…man, good one.
”

  The human woman—her name is Uva, I remembered—scowled at me. The giant—who was a large female named Munzy—started sobbing.

  “Look what you did,” Uva said. She put an arm on Munzy’s massive knee and made a comforting shushing sound. It was bizarre watching the enormous giant be comforted by a human woman one-tenth her size.

  “Look,” I started, trying to piece together an inspirational speech worthy of an ex-Protector. Uva stared daggers at me, as if daring me to say something stupid. What was with this world and hot women who looked like they wanted to murder me in my sleep?

  I changed my approach. “This fucking sucks,” I said.

  Uva blinked. I’d surprised her. Good. Inspirational speeches were overrated anyway. Blunt truth was more effective on Tor. “Yes, it does,” she said. “But not for you. You don’t have to fight in the Black. Up on your pedestal you get to look down on the rest of us like you’re some kind of god.”

  I couldn’t help it—I laughed. Uva’s scowl returned. “Sorry,” I said. “It’s just…I’m the furthest thing from a god you’ll ever find.”

  “You’re Level 4,” Uva said. “We’re Level 2. Lace says ninety-nine percent of Warriors are killed before they even reach Level 3.”

  I gritted my teeth. I needed to invest in a muzzle for the cat-woman. “Technically that’s correct,” I said. “But that was under the old system. Using the new system we haven’t lost a Warrior yet, and two of our number have been leveled up to Protector.”

  “She didn’t tell us that,” Uva said. Munzy stopped crying. Looked at me, her large, moon-like eyes wet, tears hanging from lashes as long as reeds.

  “Don’ wan’ fight,” she said.

  “And you don’t have to,” I said.

  Uva broke in again. “Lace says—”

  “Lace doesn’t know everything,” I said. “She can threaten and berate all she wants, but she’s not the ultimate boss. The Three are.”

  Uva rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, the mysterious Three goddesses who haven’t deigned to step down from the clouds to so much as thank the Warriors who protect them on a daily basis. Sorry if I don’t exactly feel comforted knowing they’re in charge.”

  Watching and listening to the fiery human woman, I wondered why she hadn’t fought in a Black yet. Clearly, she was ready. It clicked. She’s doing it just to spite the rest of us. Fair enough. “It’s fine,” I said. “I get it.”

  “Do you really?”

  “Hell yeah I do. Has anyone told you how long I’ve been here?”

  The question seemed to take Uva by surprise. “Well, Lace never fails to mention she’s been here more than ninety Blacks…and you’re a Level higher than her, so…”

  I had to think for a minute. Because I’d lost count. Add two, carry the three, plus or minus four… Where was a calculator when I needed one? “Thirty-one Blacks,” I said. “I think. Something like that.”

  “Wait…what?” Uva said, her thin eyebrows raised in twin arches. “A month? You’ve only been here a month and you’ve been Leveled up twice?”

  I didn’t correct her that it was technically three times, because we all got the first Level up for free on arrival. I nodded. “See? Things are changing around here. When I arrived thirty-one Blacks ago, all Three goddesses were dying and there were only a handful of Warriors and one Protector. And there were no Seekers. Things are getting better, I swear it.” Uva opened her mouth to interrupt again, but this time I didn’t let her. “As far as the Three goddesses go…screw them. We don’t fight for them, we fight for each other. If they happen to get protected because of our efforts, so be it. We don’t need their approval anyway.” It felt good saying it. The Three might not be as bad as I initially thought, but they were far from perfect. They’d made a mess of this whole situation, and it was up to us to clean things up.

  “An’ Munzy don’ gotta fight?” the giantess said, scratching her chin.

  “Not until you’re ready,” I confirmed.

  “And if she’s never ready?” Uva said, a challenge in her voice.

  “Then she never fights,” I said. “If Lace tells you otherwise—any of you—let me know.”

  Munzy looked better. She even took a bite of leafrat. Uva still looked skeptical, but at least there weren’t daggers in her eyes anymore. We were surrounded by darkness, but the demonflames cast enough light to create a little island for us.

  That’s when the ground started shaking.

  ~~~

  It wasn’t an earthquake, I knew that much. I’d experienced a similar ground-shaking phenomenon on Tor, but it was caused by the heavy trod of trolls and giants.

  This, however, was something bigger.

  Munzy whimpered. Uva said, “What the fuck is that?” Despite the harshness of her tone, I could see the fear in her eyes. I suspected my eyes were reflecting a similar emotion.

  The white-furred creature mumbled something indistinguishable.

  “Stay here,” I said and then bolted into the dark, barely remembering to grab my glowing hammer on the way.

  It still felt weird running through the Black without carrying a demontorch. It wasn’t like everything was totally clear, but I could still see well enough to avoid running into things or stubbing my toes on sharp rocks. Think night-vision goggles, but without the greenish tint. Everything was gray, like a stormy afternoon shrouded by dark clouds.

  I stumbled as the ground shook beneath me. I didn’t fall, however, my Leveled-up body reacting instantly to maintain my balance. Ahead, I could make out the red-orange glow of a demonfire circle, the silhouettes of Beat’s group of Warriors standing at the ready within the light. That was new—being able to see past the ward shields. Another benefit of being a Seeker.

  Something dark and as big as a mountain loomed beyond the Warriors, fast approaching.

  Unless the distant mountains had grown feet and learned how to walk…this was something else. Something new.

  New things on Tor generally were not good.

  I noticed other shapes, too, dwarfed by the mountainous one, but still huge in their own right. It took my new eyes a moment to process things as I squinted into the distance.

  Holy shit, I thought. They foes approaching were not new monsters. No, they were the old monsters but supersized. The mountainous creature was actually a troll, just three times as large as the already-ginormous trolls I’d faced in the past. The creatures scattered around its feet trying not to get stomped on were the smallish demon horde known as the Maluk’ori. Except they weren’t smallish anymore. They were the size of bears, their scaly bodies taut with muscles and bristling with spikes. Their claws were longer, not unlike Lace’s, and their mouths bigger.

  The better to eat you with, my dear, I thought as I ran.

  This turn of events was so not fair. Then again, when had this world ever been fair?

  Never.

  I wasn’t supposed to fight. I should trust Beat and Lace to lead their crews and take care of bidzness. I did trust them. But I also believed we were all stronger together.

  I could practically hear Eve’s warning in my head—“The Three are going to be pissed…”

  That was fine with me. Let them be pissed off at me. Let Persepheus scream and rant and toss her seaweed hair about. So long as no one died on my watch.

  Plus, I’d never been very good at obeying the Three without question.

  I charged through the ward shield, my ears popping as I burst through to the other side. In my peripheral vision, I saw Lace and her Warriors racing in to combine with Beat’s crew. Good, I thought. Lace might be a mean bitch sometimes, but she was also someone you wanted on your side. She was once as selfish a person as I’d ever met, but something had changed in her after she’d fought alongside Beat and I in Annakor. I trusted her with my life and the lives of the other Warriors.

  “Go back,” Beat said as I spilled into the circle of light. She didn’t look at me, her eyes trained forward on the wave of oncoming death.

&n
bsp; “No,” I said.

  She shrugged. “It was worth a shot. Try not to get in my way.”

  “Right back at ya,” I said. Ahh, the banter. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept me sane. The bear-sized Maluk’ori closed in, looking more like velociraptors now. The oversized troll was just behind them, its legs moving slowly, but covering huge chunks of ground with each earth-shaking step.

  The Maluk’ori arrived like a pack of starved wildcats escaped from the zoo. They put the gnash in gnashing of teeth. Lace and her crew arrived at almost the exact same moment.

  Yeah, it was carnage. Lace slashed her Wolverine claws across the throat of one of the beastly demons, dark blood splashing onto her face and chest.

  The demon-raptors were not intimidated. They ganged up on one Warrior at a time, forcing the rest of us to react immediately. Floot, with her horned snout, was not easy prey, but for some reason the demons targeted her, communicating in that clicking, snapping way of theirs. Three of them jumped her simultaneously. She got one with her sharp horn, goring it through the chest, but the other two slashed at her with their claws and bit at her with their rows of needlelike teeth.

  Beat managed to stab one loose with her spear, but the point didn’t penetrate the creature’s scales, which were much stronger than before. Somehow these monsters had been rebuilt, and I only needed one guess as to who was behind it.

  The Morgoss.

  Recently, the demon overlords had been experimenting with dark magic. Which was bad for us. Very bad.

  The demon Beat had stabbed pivoted and launched itself at her face. Though it had clearly surprised her, Beat still managed to get her shield up to knock it away. It landed on all clawed fours and snarled at her.

  That made me mad. I didn’t like it when monsters snarled at my friends.

  I swung my glowing hammer in a round arc, aiming for the demon’s mottled face. It would’ve been a perfect swing, too, if not for the other two demons that attacked from either side, grabbing my arm between claws that stabbed through my skin, sending shockwaves up to my shoulder and down to my fingers, which were forced to open and drop the hammer.