Ianius 1/3 WIP

I originally began writing this 3-part story as one of the 30k tales preceding the main course of the Warmaster Khayon cycle; only Sioda ended up complete, but I still wanted to show off what I had of Ianius as I still enjoy the scenery very much and might actually end up finishing it later on. There's another visual WIP story from the Warmaster Khayon AU I might post later for the descriptions alone.

Ahriman/Khayon, 1k words but unfinished, NSFW-ish but not explicit

On a world still firmly in the claws of deadly predators, any aspiring explorer’s path inevitably pointed seaward, to the infinite seas above which no swarm of psychneuein could thrive. Far on the glimmering waves of the Chalatlantic Ocean, a wanderer was as safe as the untamed wilds of Prospero allowed, with only psy-sharks and great eels to watch out for.

Neither posed a threat to Ahriman, whose size and power eclipsed any predator of the blue abyss. Even in his seraphic thoughtform, he was a remarkable swimmer; his unreal feathers did not gain on any weight as they soaked in saltwater, and his many claws and long, elegant body allowed him to slither between the waves like a river crocogator of ancient Terran jungles.

He was my compass, my captain, my vessel. I spent our every voyage on his back, sliding off his smooth feathers only when the heat of the Prosperine sun became too unbearable. Drenched, I then returned between his wings, to bathe in the golden warmth shining on me from above. He loved carrying me so; on the waves, he had everything he needed, everything that brought him joy in life: the sea, the stars, me. I was more to him than both, more than the aquatic expanse he called his true home, more than the celestial gardens of the night sky; I knew for certain then that I was the answer to the simplest question he dared ask about his life and motivations.

It was humbling, to be so cherished by so great a man.

Yet it made me arrogant, to exercise the power of his long shadow against all that displeased me. That is and always will be the duality of all consorts of demigods, our blessing, our self-indulgent evil.

IN MOMENTS OF IDLE THOUGHT, I DREAM OF A DIFFERENT LIFE, Ahriman told me once on the endless waves, in sight of a far island he desired to show me, ONE IN WHICH I BECOME KING OF THE EMPIRE THAT WAS PROMISED TO ME.

“And me?” I asked, sinking into the soft down of his back, “what role do I play in that fantasy?”

OLD TERRA IS A LAND OF WAR, AND I SEEK TO PUT AN END TO THE SLAUGHTER. TO FORGE A LASTING PEACE WITH MY GREATEST RIVAL, I ARRANGE FOR HER TO GIVE ME HER ELDEST SON IN SACRED MARRIAGE.

I laughed. “What does he say to that?”

WHAT DOES HE, ISKANDAR? HOW WOULD YOU SPIN THIS ROMANCE?

“Should I write you a book, or perhaps an epic poem?”

BEST YOU TELL ME THAT STORY OVER A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS.

I let my mind wander as he took us over a vibrant coral reef and up an atoll ridge. Beyond it lay an azure lagoon, like a sapphire set in a filigree loop of rock and sand.

It was beautiful. I had never seen anything like it before.

After dragging his enochian body out of the shallows and onto the beach strip, Ahriman shook off what saltwater lingered between his wings and me with it. I slid off his feathers like a rag doll, laughing as I fell into the soft sand.

“I asked the wrong question, I’m afraid,” I said and rolled onto my back, “why should we care what the promised son has to say? He only exists to seal a pact between chieftains. His lot in life is to be a quiet concubine.”

I felt a rush of heat at the idea. Racy images of myself as a slaved prince flashed in my mind, one after another, each more obscene than the last. To be made to yield to a king of Old Terra… Not by seduction, but by force…

EASY, STARLIGHT, Ahriman cooed into my stomach, YOU ARE WORKING YOURSELF INTO A CYCLE.

“Ahzek,” I breathed a frenzied whisper and drank in the sight of his radiant form, “were I to go into heat, would you be able to satisfy it like this? Would you, a monster, have your way with this man? I want to feel small, so small before your majesty.”

His many eyes ran across my features. My sixth sense caught his scent, the peculiar taste of his bounding aether; it was overpowering, magical, almost blinding. I sighed at the sensation and rubbed my thighs together, smearing what little slick trailed between them.

BEAR IN MIND THE LIMITS OF YOUR MORTAL FRAME, ISKANDAR.

I rolled from underneath him, scrambled to my feet and stumbled into the shallow lagoon. My own reflection in the water showed me the image of a wild, messy jackal, of wet hair and melting kohl.

I did not need to read Ahriman’s thoughts to know I was driving him insane with want.

“On the night they were to consummate their union, he ran,” I cried over the shallows, “the poor, anxious thing…”

Rising on gilded vines and claws, Ahriman pounced into the azure lagoon and chased after me in lazy leaps. He was playing with me, rippling the water, sending golden rings throughout the flats.

“But one cannot run from fate,” I hollered, “not when it is as inevitable as you, Ahzek Ahriman. Through the hallways - crossing corners - past the armory - in the great lodge he was finally caught.”

With a mighty beat of his alabaster wings, Ahriman propelled himself into the air and dove for me like a falcon hunting fleeing prey. I tumbled into the shoal, dazzled by his inhuman splendor.

Milky feathers brushed against my neck, stroking my luminous, supernatural mark. I shivered.

“Some simply need to be shown their place,” I whispered a thinly-veiled plea, crawling under my monstrous lover, arching my back, “he needs a firm hand to teach him that he’s no choice in the matter, that he’s to be taken whenever his master wishes. Make him understand, Ahzek - make him understand that he’s no more than your property...”