Protector Read online

  “Your mother?” I said. It was hard to think about these powerful women as having been born, the product of some love affair between a god and goddess. “Who was she?”

  “A harsh goddess,” she said. “For the most part, she was intolerant of those she considered to be of lesser species. But she loved Drith. For Drith was her son, the product of one of her many concubines, a chance creation when she believed she was beyond the point of fertility.”

  News flash: goddesses are concerned about birth control. Except…I’d bedded all of the Three—my “reward” for leveling up to Protector—and they hadn’t seemed too worried about getting pregnant. I wanted to ask, but there were more important matters to discuss now, and I could tell Airiel would need to rest soon.

  “So Drith got a magical boomerang, and then what?” I asked.

  “The Black,” she said, dark undertones creeping into her voice. The clearness in her eyes clouded over, and I could sense that the memory of that time, even now, was hard for her to face. “The Morgoss organized the monsters.”

  “Where did they come from?”

  “Not even the goddesses know,” Airiel said. “The first Black was frightening. The night used to be my favorite time of day, when the sky was lit with a billion stars and Tor’s seven moons played games across the heavenly firmament. Since that night, I haven’t seen a single star nor moon.”

  “The monsters came to Allinor,” I guessed. “Your home.”

  Airiel shook her head. “Not that first night. No, the Morgoss had been planning their attack for years. Hidden away, they’d been breeding their army. During the first Black they attacked those cities in the Outer Bounds of the realm. They were largely unprotected, the number of Warriors assigned few. It was a slaughter.

  “It was a time of fear, although my parents, the king and queen, were arrogant. They sent some reinforcements, but held back the main body of their army, convinced it was a minor uprising and that the Black was nothing more than an aberration.”

  “It wasn’t,” I said.

  She shook her head. “No. It was the start. The Morgoss had created it. When they breathed, it wasn’t air but shadows that emerged. The next wave of Warriors was killed too. So my parents sent more and more Warriors, arming them with all manner of magical weaponry. The souls were lost, along with their weapons.”

  “The artifacts.”

  “Yes. Drith begged my mother to send him with the full strength of the army, but she refused. She pretended the monsters were naught but pesky gnats buzzing around her head, but I could see the fear in her eyes. That was the scariest thing of all, because I’d never seen her scared. My father had long despised Drith because he was the evidence of the queen’s infidelity. So he went behind her back and commanded Drith to eradicate the monster threat and discover the source of the Black. My demigod half-brother took his blessed boomerang and ten thousand able-bodied Warriors, departing Allinor while my mother slept.

  “When she awoke and discovered my father’s treachery, she flew into a rage, but it was too late. He was gone. Day by day, news arrived of his prowess in battle and the success he was having. He’d created a system of fighting we still use today, forming circles of Warriors in the Black, battling back to back and drawing the monsters to them with demontorches.

  “They won battle after battle, pushing the monster front back into the Shadowlands—a place neither the Silver nor the Bronze daylight could ever seem to reach. My half-brother was a stubborn demigod, fearless to a fault. He always thought that if he believed he would win, then victory was a foregone conclusion. In his defense, he’d never lost, so in his mind he’d proven his theory.”

  “The Morgoss emerged from the shadows,” I guessed.

  “Worse. Drith went into the shadows to face them. He never came back out. In fact, less than a hundred of his ten thousand ever returned, and their minds were shattered. The little information we could glean from them came from their ravings while they slept. Eventually, they all killed themselves.”

  “And his boomerang?”

  Airiel glanced at where it rested on the pedestal. “It hadn’t been seen until you returned with it.” Her eyes were fluttering now. I didn’t have long to get more answers.

  “Why did you take it? Why can’t I use it? Or one of my other Warriors? Or the rest of these weapons?”

  “The weapon chooses the master,” Airiel said, our conversation coming full circle. “When you threw the boomerang, it worked like a boomerang should—even better, in fact, because of my mother’s tears. But”—she managed to raise a hand in the air—“the full extent of its powers didn’t manifest themselves. Because it didn’t choose you.”

  “And the rest of these weapons? Should I try them out to see if they choose me?” I couldn’t hide the frustration from my tone.

  She shook her head, her chin drooping to her chest. “I already know the answer, for I am their keeper now. I will know the moment the right Warrior comes along for one of them. Just like I knew the Bow of Destiny belonged to Lace.”

  Her eyes were fully closed now, and she settled her head in the crook of her arm. “Wait,” I said. I finally understood why these weapons were useless to us, even if I couldn’t quite comprehend the whole weapons-choose-their-masters thing. But I hadn’t even had a chance to ask about the ward shields and how they might be repaired.

  Unfortunately, however, Airiel was already asleep.

  ~~~

  I left the weapon’s cache even more frustrated than before. Who knew how many new recruits we would need to bring to Tor in order to find someone who could use one of the magical weapons? If only Airiel was well enough to travel with Eve, the goddess could identify the right Outcasts. But that was a pipedream—the sky goddess could barely have a ten-minute conversation before she needed rest.

  Then again, what I’d learned was valuable, and reinforced my plan to bring and train as many new recruits as possible. If we could grow our numbers enough, surely at least one would be able to handle one of the magical weapons. Then maybe we could start creating multiple armies, leveling up new Protectors and, eventually, more Seekers to gather additional artifacts, further increasing our chances at a match.

  I froze, my racing mind stopping like the second hand on a broken clock. Minertha and Persepheus lay together on a feather bed…kissing.

  Oh…my…goddesses…

  Minertha’s stone-like clothing was nowhere to be found, and Persepheus’s lichen bikini had vanished. There were only miles of earthy brown skin and ever-changing sea-green flesh, the goddess sisters tangled up together.

  Most of the time, I knew, the pair could hardly get along, but now…they were getting along so well I could barely breathe. There was so much to do, and the next Black would soon be crashing over Tor like a dark wave, and I needed to ask these two goddesses questions about the ward shields, but…

  Seriously? What’s a guy supposed to do?

  I cleared my throat.

  The goddesses’ lips unlocked. Persepheus lazily twisted her head around to look at me, a smile playing on her lips. Minertha didn’t have to move at all for her eyes to find mine. “What took you so long?” she asked. “We got bored.”

  Fuck me. “I—I had a lot of questions for your sister.” I wasn’t sure what was harder—me or the rock walls.

  “Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Persepheus said.

  “No, seriously, she gave me a history lesson—told me about—”

  “Booor-iiiing,” Minertha sang, feigning a yawn. She didn’t look tired at all. “Join us, Protector Ryder. We could use a real man in our bed.”

  My legs moved without me willing them to. My mind was trying to remember something—the questions I had for them—what did I need to know again?

  Who the fuck cared?

  I crawled into bed and the sea goddess immediately slid her hand along my thigh and beneath my loincloth. “Ooh,” she purred. “He’s ripe.”

  “Hey,” Minertha proteste
d. “Sisters should share.” She slid her own hand up my other thigh, her red-brown fingers disappearing beneath the cloth. As the sisters took turns stroking me, they kissed either side of my neck, obliterating any and all logical thoughts.

  I crisscrossed my arms and managed to get one hand on each of their perfect breasts as they began to grind their midsections against the sides of my hips. Fully synchronized, they tore off my loincloth. Persepheus brought her fingers to her mouth and sucked on them, moistening each one with her tongue before drawing them back down and continuing to stroke. Primordial ooze lube, I thought. If I could bottle the stuff and sell it on Earth, I’d make millions.

  The thought of monetizing goddess spittle was washed away as Minertha lithely changed position and licked my erection while Persepheus continued to run her moistened fingers up and down. This brought her hips near my mouth, and I slipped my tongue between her legs. She responded, moaning as her back arched and her torso moved into me, her shaven skin flush with my face as I devoured her.

  Persepheus swooped in from the side, tickling my ear with her tongue and then licking the side of my face before forcing her own tongue in with mine. I turned toward her, our tongues rounding each other’s before I dipped my head to find her breast, tracing a wet circle around her nipple and then flicking it in and out of my mouth.

  “Take me, Protector,” she groaned, touching herself as I continued to suck.

  Minertha now had me fully inside her mouth and she was bobbing up and down, tasting every inch. I was torn between the two goddesses, wanting desperately to satisfy them both even as my entire world seemed to explode with pleasure. My head shifted back and forth between Minertha’s vagina and Persepheus’s breast, doing my best to give them both what they wanted, my stamina beginning to wane as Min’s mouth and tongue grew even more vigorous in their movements.

  When I was nearly spent, Min suddenly shifted again, grabbing my penis and maneuvering it into her sister, who was wet and waiting. She mounted me, her skin shifting from blue to green and then to a shade of fiery red, something I’d never seen her do before. “Ohhhh Ryder,” she sighed as she thrust her hips against mine. I felt the explosion coming, but held it back like a damn fighting a surge of water after a storm.

  Min scrambled back around, pressing in beside her sister and grinding against us both. She dropped down and her breast landed in my mouth. I ate and licked her hard flesh, biting her nipple slightly. She shrieked and laughed in short succession. “Full of new tricks, Protector,” she said, panting slightly as Persepheus fell to the side and I slid out of her.

  Minertha grabbed me again and then I was inside her, somehow still going, clinging to the spare moments before climax by the thinnest of threads, my new body like that of a racehorse.

  She arched her back again and I rose to kiss her chest once more, my hands grasping her ass and pushing her against me harder and harder and—

  “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!” I breathed, spilling all I had left into her, still thrusting with everything I had, my mouth full of hard nipples and smooth, stony flesh.

  Even the ending seemed to last an eternity, my stores full to bursting despite the fact that it had been less than a day since I’d taken Belle from behind.

  Protector was a stressful position, no doubt, but it certainly had its advantages.

  Minertha collapsed with me still inside her. Persepheus lay on the opposite side, her head nestled against my shoulder. The two naked goddesses slept, and so did I.

  NINE

  SPLITTING UP

  I awoke slowly, my mind trying to remember where I was and how I’d gotten here.

  I was alone. In a cave. Flashes of memory returned. Seeing Airiel again. The story about the demigod, Drith. My latest sexual odyssey with her sisters. I slumped back down onto the featherbed, just breathing for a moment before I remembered something else.

  The Black.

  “Shit,” I muttered as I threw myself off the comfort of the soft bed and landed awkwardly on my bare feet, stumbling slightly. I headed for the wall of water that was too dark for comfort. Night was on the verge of falling and I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. Because I was a freaking selfish idiot. Why couldn’t you have kept it in your pants? I asked myself. Because they were so hot! I argued back. Tell that to all your dead Warriors.

  The last thought was sobering and I was about to burst through the waterfall and swim for it when a breathy voice stopped me. “This way,” Airiel said.

  I whirled and she stood behind me, looking exhausted. She was pointing toward the back part of the cave, which I hadn’t even had a chance to explore because I’d given in to my carnal desires.

  I understood. “Another way out?”

  She nodded. “Go. There’s not much time.”

  There never is. I ran in the direction she pointed, into another part of the cavern, with walls covered in the glowing vines that adorned the cliffs surrounding the gully. I didn’t see a way out, and I was about to turn back to ask, but then I pushed my hands through the foliage. There was no wall behind them, just the taste of cool air.

  I whipped my head around to offer my thanks to Airiel, but she was already gone. Dammit. I hadn’t even had a chance to ask her about repairing the wards.

  Her soft, melodious voice drifted to me from the other room, the one with all the artifacts. “The Syrene,” she said. “They have a powerful elixir. It may bond with the wards and strengthen them. But they will not part with it easily.”

  My mind was spinning, trying to make sense of whether “the Syrene” was someone or something I’d heard about before. It didn’t ring a bell. But I was also out of time—I could always come back and ask follow up questions later, now that I knew this place existed and that there was a back entrance.

  I ran out into the night just as the Black fell.

  ~~~

  The battle was in full swing when I arrived, hammer in hand.

  I felt a swell of satisfaction when I realized the Warriors were in perfect formation, guarding the hole in the ward shields. My satisfaction evaporated when Beat spotted me. Her expression was one of annoyance. No, worse than that. Betrayal.

  “Nice of you to show up, Protector,” she spat, stabbing her spear into the eye of one of the fyrisia, a lizard-like fire demon that enjoyed spitting green globules of acid that caused third-degree burns if it hit its target.

  The demons, which had scaly bodies that periodically flared with bursts of flame, were everywhere, but at least there were no other monsters. To date, I’d never seen a fyrisia with any other monster species, and I was hoping that trend would continue.

  “I was gathering information,” I said as I leapt into battle, though the excuse sounded lame even to my ears. I brought my hammer down on a lizard’s head and it made a squishy sound. (That’s a technical Warrior term, in case you were wondering.)

  “For twelve hours?” Beat blocked a spray of acid with her shield, which sizzled and spat in response. Indentations began to form as the acid bit into the metal. Luckily, we didn’t come across the fire demons too often—probably because they didn’t play well with the other monsters—otherwise we would run out of weaponry pretty quickly.

  “I might’ve fallen asleep,” I said. Again, lame.

  “Kloop never missed the start of the Black,” she pointed out, which stung. Kloop had pretty much been the perfect Protector. Big shoes—or feet, rather, since we didn’t wear shoes—to fill.

  “I’m sorry.” I whacked at a fyrisia that tried to sneak in from the side, but missed, the momentum of my swing carrying me all the way around.

  Where Lace stood at the ready, leaping past me and stabbing the creature through the head with a dagger. At least she wasn’t using exploding arrows within close range tonight.

  “Saved your ass,” she said. “You owe me.”

  I owed them all, and I was determined to make it up to them. Other than Belle, every Warrior was fighting. Millania impaled demon after demon on her trident, which was
dripping gore from each of its three spikes. Guz was a white-furred whirlwind as he hacked and slashed at anything reptilian that moved. Jak was a force of nature, reminding me more and more of Dravon, and not just because they both hailed from Lri Ayem. And Floot, well, the rhino woman was becoming a beastly Warrior in her own right. Not quite to Beat’s level, but not far off either.

  Beat stopped making me feel bad, which was almost worse, but I took advantage of the silence to focus my entire attention on the battle, smashing fire demons like it was my job. Oh yeah, it was. I took some acid to the back and chest, but I relished the burn and used it as fuel to fight even harder.

  When it was finished, I looked at my fellow Warriors and said, “I’m sorry. I should’ve been there.” There was no room for beating around the bush as Protector, and I’d promised myself I’d be as honest as possible with them. “I was trying to get important information to help us. But then I fucked up. It won’t happen again.”

  Lace flicked me with her tail. “Don’t worry, Protector. It happens to the best of us,” she said, before stalking away. Geez, I thought, she’s almost like a different cat-woman now that Jak is around. Floot said nothing, just nodded in my direction. Guz muttered something incomprehensible under his breath. I was pretty sure he’d cursed me out. Jak strode over and slapped me hard on the back. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. Millania was reserved as usual, but I could tell she was annoyed too. She said nothing, however, and headed back toward camp.

  “Dumbass,” Beat said, which was when I knew she’d forgiven me. It felt good, but I still hated that I’d let her down just for a piece of tail, or I should say two unbelievably perfect pieces of tail.

  “That pretty much sums up my existence,” I said, hoping the self-deprecating humor would restore the equilibrium of our friendship. As we walked back, the rest of the conversation went something like this:

  Beat: “How’d it go, anyway?”

  Sam: “Uh, it went well. I think. I learned some things.”