Heretic Spellblade 6 - Ch8

Chapter 8

Nathan’s teleportation network ensured that his Champions could easily move between his various fortresses, but each of them considered specific places to be their “home.” So they tended to sleep there more often and built up a more elaborate bedroom. He forced them to maintain a bedroom in the palace and Gharrick Pass, however.

In Narime’s case, she preferred Castle Forselburg. Her ability to teleport meant she rarely stayed in the palace. Even so, she had a room here. Nathan barely remembered visiting her palace bedroom, and the one time he did it had been almost barren.

His memories turned out to be largely accurate. He knocked as he entered and saw that the only personal items were clothes and books. Narime lay atop her bed, reading. She hissed when he entered.

“You’re supposed to knock,” she snapped, covering up her chest.

But he’d caught a glimpse of the pale skin she’d attempted to hide. She wore little more than a plain white robe with a loose sash, and it had slid open to reveal the long, thin scar from the wound Artemis had given her. The bone-carving gash that left her on death’s door had been reduced to something barely noticeable.

Yet for somebody as beautiful as Narime, Nathan knew it stung.

He considered all his Champions—and his fiancées—to be beautiful, but Narime hovered near the top, if not at the peak. Alluring pale skin, delicate curves, an impressive bust, and silky silver hair that he loved running his hands through before falling asleep. To say nothing of her fluffy fox ears or the six voluminous tails.

Wait, no. He blinked and counted again.

“Seven?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes, seven.” She sighed. Her tails fanned out, as if to make it easier for him to count them out. “I’ve been furious at my body for refusing to gift me a seventh tail even though I’ve been due for years now. Especially as you said I had seven when we met in your world. Now it comes to me after my time of need.”

“The war isn’t over yet.” He approached her bed, then sat on the edge.

Ciana remained outside after closing the door. His other Champions had peeled away on the way here, aware that Narime’s conversation was likely a personal one.

Narime’s eyes flickered to the door regardless. Heeding her intentions, he cast several wards over the room to block eavesdropping.

She sighed once he finished and then crept across the bed. Her body wrapped around his from behind. Poking her head up from below him, she drummed her fingers on his thighs. He frowned at her.

“See, you don’t like it when I do it to you, do you?” she teased.

“It’s pleasant, actually.”

She huffed, then did it to his crotch. The response it got was a little more than just pleasant and she laughed.

“You’re right that the war isn’t over, yet I am furious at what took place,” she said. “This is the defining moment of the current era. The response of my kin makes that clear. The last time we responded like this was the Fall of Kurai, and by then it was too late to make a difference. Countless foxes died futilely attempting to save a nation that had already fallen.”

He brushed some hair from her face. Unlike his other Champions, Narime didn’t lean into his touch. She seemed lost in thought. Or focused, perhaps.

“The battle is far from your fault,” he said. “I was deeply unprepared for an assault of that magnitude. Even knowing how powerful elite Messengers were, Artemis was far greater than I’d imagined.”

“Yet you could harm her,” Narime said, bitterness coating her voice. “Seraph told me. The only people who even inconvenienced the monster were you, Sen, and Astra. Do you know why?”

He shook his head. Silence overtook the room.

While he left her to her thoughts, he basked in the feeling of her tails tickling his back. Perhaps he was imagining it, but the extra one truly added to the luxuriousness.

A giggle escaped her, and her tails closed around him. “You’re hopeless, you know that?”

“I’m allowed to enjoy you.”

“My tails, you mean.”

“They’re attached to you,” he defended.

She snorted. “Would you still love me without my tails?”

He placed a finger against his lips in mock deliberation. Her tails wrapped themselves around his face and he laughed as she pretended to smother him.

Narime shifted into his lap, facing him while allowing her tails to wander around his sides. He became keenly aware of her lack of underwear. Also of the scar running down her chest when her robe slipped open.

Her face flushed but he caught her hands before she tightened her sash.

“Is it permanent?” he asked in a hushed tone.

Her downcast expression answered him. That genuinely surprised him, given the new healing spells she’d learned. Then again, scars weren’t uncommon on Doumahr. Most of his Champions bore some. He paid little attention to them, even if he sometimes idly traced Fei’s many scars from her pre-Champion days.

“I’ll live,” Narime eventually grunted. She spread her palms in fingers in front of him, revealing long white lines along them and her fingers. “The fact I’ve regained full use of my hands is a miracle. I was told that if my chest wound went a half-inch deeper then I wouldn’t have had a chance.”

Nathan stared at those scars, recalling the scene of Artemis ignoring the efforts of other Champions as she tore apart Narime.

“You said that the battle isn’t my fault? Well, it’s also not your fault,” Narime said, her voice sounding a little distant.

After a long moment, something struck his cheek. He rubbed it and saw her glaring at him, tears at the edges of her eyes.

“I’m talking to you, Nathan. Listen to me!” she snapped.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I just—”

“Started blaming yourself? Just as you can predict me, I can do the same to you.” She gripped his hands with her own. Her fingers rubbed over his knuckles. “Months ago, we walked together and I said that I wanted to help you more. That it shouldn’t just be you carrying my burden.”

“You aren’t—”

“Shut up and let me talk, Nathan.”

He did exactly that.

“I said that I’m furious that I fell short, but I understand that I can’t change the past. At most, I’ll look at what I couldn’t accomplish and attempt to rectify that. With a seventh tail and my new third gem, there may be spells I can use that were once beyond me.”

Still silent, he nodded.

“But for months now, whenever you’ve faced even the slightest hint of failure or a setback, you’ve pulled your head in like a turtle. I can’t pretend to have seen what you have—”

“No, you saw Kurai. You understand the pain,” he admitted.

Biting her lip, Narime continued, “Fair. But that only makes my point more pertinent. When you battled Siv, you understood that any of us might die when fighting her. You made decisions that, while necessary, may have cost any of us our lives. Your ability to do that, while still looking forward, is what has let you succeed so far. But you can’t keep taking everything on yourself. It’s our role to defend ourselves. To use the power you’ve given us.”

“I’m giving the orders,” he said.

“You can’t fight our battles, Nathan. There is going to come a time when you’ll face a choice between letting us do what we need to, and protecting us while letting Doumahr burn. I know you’ll make the right choice.”

Not if he could damn well help it.

Narime’s gaze bore into him. She almost certainly knew what he had been thinking.

“I will,” he said. “But after today, you’ll forgive me for doing everything I can to avoid that happening.”

She sighed and leaned forward. Her head leaned against his chest, causing her ears to flick against him. “I’ll take it, I suppose. Maybe I should have started browbeating you like this sooner. I feel I’ve let you lead me around by the nose for too long, while I was utterly starstruck.”

“You? Starstruck?”

“Oh, yes. How could I be amazed by the man who knows me so well? Who makes me feel things in bed I’ve only dreamed of? Understands and teaches me magic beyond my wildest dreams?” She smirked. “I don’t mean to give you a big head, but you are my mate, Nathan. I’ve been quite picky in life.”

He resisted the urge to point out that she’d also accepted his younger self, and he felt quite negatively about his behavior in his old world. She’d probably slap him if he said as much.

“But enough of this. There’ll be time to unravel the mystery of Artemis and, if you’re here, it means I was right and Seraph was wrong.” Narime puffed out her chest, which caused her entire robe to fall open, revealing it.

Nathan did it up for her. “About whether I’d advance on Trafaumh tonight?”

“Indeed. Seraph expected you to lose your head and rush Trafaumh out of fear of a breach. I knew you’d be too worried about the rest of us and be unwilling to advance.”

He frowned. “Somehow, I feel the two of you are in agreement that I’d rush into Trafaumh if nobody was wounded.”

Her stare told him he was right. A wince escaped him, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

Rising, Narime wandered over to her closet. A variety of her battle robes hung inside and she picked out a violet set with red flower petals on it. Nathan happily watched her change. As always, Narime enjoyed putting on a show for him, including slipping on her underwear while facing him.

“I take it we’re going somewhere?” he asked. “I was told you needed to tell me something.”

“It’s more accurate to say you need to speak to someone.” She tied her long hair up with a pair of sapphire hairclips—the non-magical kind. “Ordinarily, this sort of visit would involve a dozen mystic fox warriors ensuring you were blindfolded and warded so you couldn’t leak the location. But your spatial magic vastly outclasses any fox’s. It would be pointless.”

“I can still promise,” he said.

“I took that as given,” she said, a touch condescendingly. “Unless told otherwise, don’t breathe a word about who or what you see on this visit.”

“But I can talk about what we discuss?”

She snorted. “If you couldn’t, it would be pointless. Although I’ll be curious whether you learn anything, given what the Twins know.”

With a wave of her hand, Narime gestured for him to help tighten her robe. Not that she needed the help. Most likely she wanted an excuse to wrap her tails around him or simply be close now that she was mostly dressed and couldn’t show off as much.

“That depends on who I’m about to meet,” he said around the seven balls of fluff wrapping around his body. “The Twins have only been around since the secession started. But Kadria, who you haven’t met yet, arrived when the foxes were the goddess’s chosen.”

Narime shot him an indecipherable look. After a few moments, she turned. “Will we ever meet this Kadria?”

A dark look crossed his face. “Soon.”

“Ah. She’s annoyed you.”

“I’m at the end of my patience regarding my dealings with her. While she’s the only reason we’ve gotten so far, she’s also burned a lot of good will on my part. At this point, the Twins are arguably more reliable.”

“Unsurprising. Maura’s so obviously in love with you that it almost hurts at times.”

He stared at Narime. She raised an eyebrow, then burst into laughter.

“Have you not realized? Or are you merely surprised that somebody else might notice?”

“The latter.” His cheeks reddened. “I dealt with Maura’s… crush a couple of months ago.”

“No, not a crush. She’s head over heels. I suspected as much a while ago, given the difference in behavior between her and her sister. They’ve had many chances to betray you and refused all of them, not to mention that Laura snipes at Maura about you constantly.”

Still giggling, Narime opened the door. Ciana poked her head in.

“I’m sorry, Ciana, but I’m not sure you can come with us this time,” Narime said, biting her lip. She’d likely forgotten the unicorn knight. “I don’t think I have permission to bring anyone else.”

“I’ll know anyway,” Ciana said, her expression turning to stone.

“I’m sorry?”

“If I want to, I can monitor Nathan’s surface thoughts. That includes a lot of what he’s currently witnessing. It goes beyond watching who he’s fucking.” Ciana’s gaze appeared inscrutable as she stared at Narime, but even an idiot would understand the meaning behind it.

If Narime tried to keep Ciana away from Nathan right now, there’d be a fight.

The tails of both women rose.

Nathan laid a hand on both of their shoulders. “Enough.”

They both froze. A mixture of panic and excitement shot across the mental link with Ciana.

“Not like that,” he said, exasperated with his seemingly uncontrollable mental magic. “You can move and talk and…”

“It’s fine now,” Narime said, rolling her shoulders. “You should do something about that. If you use that power around others, they’ll be burning effigies within hours.”

“I know. Anyway, Ciana can come. You know as well as I do that she won’t betray us.”

The fox sighed, her ears drooping. “That’s not the problem, but… Fine. It’ll likely just irritate the elders.”

Unlike Nathan, Narime couldn’t easily teleport within the palace. They left the immediate grounds first.

“It’ll take two hops,” she explained, with a pointed look at Ciana.

“Only two?” Nathan asked.

“Shouldn’t you be familiar with my teleportation?” Narime asked. “I have seven tails now.”

A few moments passed as he processed what she meant. “Oh, right. The distance you can travel increases exponentially with each tail. I’ve gotten so used to six tails.”

The first teleport brought them somewhere unfamiliar. A random field. Nathan used the stars and the silhouette of the Gharrick Mountains to place himself in south-western Amica, north of Carence.

Then they appeared in a courtyard covered with gravel and shaded by cherry blossom trees. Given it was the start of summer, none of them were flowering. Between the canopy and the tall, painted walls, Nathan couldn’t visually tell where they were.

His spatial magic told him they were on the very southern tip of Amica, the closest point to the Kurai Peninsula. The appearance of the place matched that of old paintings of Kurai. No doubt it was some sort of headquarters or secret holding of Narime’s mystic fox clan.

“The Houkeem Desert is a stone’s throw away,” he said, looking directly toward it through the building next to them. “No wonder I saw so little of your clan in my world.”

Narime bit her lip. “Yes. Based on your description of how things played out, that’s what I had expected. Follow me. It might be best to remain silent until we reach our destination. You’ll know it once you see her.”

Her, huh?

They strode through quiet, empty corridors constructed in a fashion Nathan had never seen before. Strange wooden paneling lined the narrow halls, while the creaky floorboards ensured even the quietest steps were heard. He spotted hints of tails at intersections and doors that shut before they arrived, but never met anyone.

No windows, either.

Eventually, Narime led them to a pair of sliding doors with a painted scene of multiple animals and races all sitting together by a pond. The sun resided in the center, but its beams reminded him of religious iconography.

When she paused to let him consider the artwork, he knew it meant something more.

A mythical dragon, some sort of tiny, winged pixie, a human, both an elf and dark elf, and a fox lay by the lake. In the corner, penned off, was a variety of other animals. Cats, wolves, dogs, cattle—

“These are the races of Doumahr,” he said quietly. “Not literally, unless you can turn into a fox and beastkin secretly become furrier.”

Ciana picked at her skin and came away without any fur. Narime rolled her eyes at the other woman.

“Yes, that’s been the assumption everyone else has made once they learn that our kind came here from a distant place that no longer exists,” Narime said. “Tarako has never explained it in full, however. The fact a dragon from myth is there is a curiosity.””

Nathan blinked. He opened his mouth to ask the obvious question, but she didn’t let him.

Instead, she slid open the doors.

Beyond it kneeled roughly twenty mystic foxes, all but one of whom possessed six or seven tails. None had eight.

A single fox waved nine long bronze tails at Nathan with an impudent grin. She sat at the far end, clearly superior in rank to every other fox in the room. Three gems glittered just above her slim bust, looking almost like sapphires but slightly off. She looked maybe 20, but appearance said nothing of a fox’s age, but her form-fitting clothes revealed her trim, muscular figure. And her short stature.

Nathan knew his history well. Especially that related to Champions, and trigem Champions. There was one who stood out among all of them.

Tarako, the nine-tailed trigem Champion of Kurai, with her trademark Nine-Tail Slash that supposedly struck nine times at once. Countless stories filled up bookstores, ranging in genre from romance to erotica to adventure. Fei used to idolize her.

“Wait, you’re real?” Nathan blurted out.

- - - - -

Commentary: I don't draw much attention to the fact that some of the girls have scars, but it has come up in the past. The idea is that it's normal enough that Nathan doesn't pay much heed. In this case, Narime bears some very serious scars as Artemis basically chopped up her hands and cut open her chest.

Also, I find it funny that people guessed she was pregnant.

Anyway, there have been hints that Tarako is around, and now she finally shows up. Being able to bring in stuff introduced ages ago is always fun.

Oh, and the preorder is up.