Closed [Empyreal Demesne] Sticks and Stones

[Kelski]

Kelski could only marvel at how well Dess was taking things. She could tell by how he focused his eyes on her and then his gaze when somewhat vacant that he was both holding a conversation with her and one with The Gem. To her, Dess’ induction was just a small first victory to a larger more well thought out distant plan.

His brief alarm at her confession that some died amused her. “Some, yes. You? You would not be among them. Both The Gem and I knew this.” Kelski said firmly, tossing her head and giving herself a small shake much like a bird would do to settle its feathers. “We are both good judges of character. You are a strong man.” Kelski retorted, not exactly defensive. Her voice was more colored with amusement, reacting to his own mirth as well. Forehead touched forehead briefly in a wordless show of love.

Strong. Yes. Now mine as well.

The Gem’s tone was exactly Kelski’s in that moment and Dess would be able to recognize the possessiveness his mate showed of him within the voice of the sentient tower as well. And like Kelski, The Gem had no jealousy tinting the words. The emotion was just pride and possession.

When her actions grew more intimate – honestly a situation she hadn’t consciously entered in to – Dess could tell Kelski wasn’t bothered by The Gem surrounding them at all. The Gem was as much a part of her as her own fingers and toes were. When it came to Dess, though, he was something new and intriguing that she couldn’t get enough of. Conscious of him and his regard was always foremost in her mind. She liked his body and handled it as often as the opportunity arose. But she wasn’t put off when he stymied her actions, caught her attention, and touched her cheek. Kelski gave up her grip on him to link her hand with his and watched him unoffended because what wanted to talk about was something serious to her. She, of course, would have rather finished the conversation after taking pleasure with him, but the Kelvic was flexible in her actions and never demanded things go exactly her way.

She caught his gaze. Sometimes his eyes were so blue they caught her breath and she wondered how any earthly mortal could have a gaze like his. He pinned her with his eyes, his breath now calm, and gave her his truth.

The Kelvic was quiet for a few heartbeats. “I often wonder what it is like to be defined by who you are and where you came from. Once, I would have given a lot to know I was a K’etir Daugther and to understand what that means. But in the end, they are just labels. You wear labels I don’t think I will ever understand, Dessarian. Damazar Warrior. Damazar Son. You seem to think that being more or being other than any of those labels is like swimming up a river in flood. Shouldn’t it be more like jumping into the river and letting it carry you where it will?” She asked, licking her lips as if savoring the taste of him on their full dark flesh.

She studied him with her inhuman silver gaze and looked thoughtful. Kelski’s thoughtful look was often something akin to a mouse being examined by a bird of prey and deemed either too much effort or not enough of a meal. This time, however, her liquid mercurial gaze softened and she smiled.

“The day you give up your labels will perhaps be the same day I learn to just ask you outright about things I want from you.” She said softly, thoughtfully, then with her free hand reached out and took a lock of his blond hair in her hands again. She loved his hair with its unruly waves. Sometimes, it was as if it had a mind of its own. “The magic is dangerous. Reimancy especially. I need to infuse your body with Res so your own Djed – which you have aplenty – will know how to make it. I need to make cuts all over your body and there is a joining that is nothing like sex though it could be. It will hurt you, Dess. I hate hurting you. But if you survive it, then you will be stronger.” She added softly.

Then she once more released his hair and pulled her hand back to where it hovered between them. She flexed her fingers and her already talon like nails sharpened into forms that were exactly like the razor-sharp talons her Sea Eagle form enjoyed.

Then she caught his gaze, sought permission in his eyes, and took her newly morphed talons and began to slice into his flesh and then her own. She cut the palms of his hands, deep enough so the blood flowed freely. She made cuts on his chest and then on her own breasts and flowed up against him. Her hands clasped his own so the cuts she’d made her in own palms pressed flush against his identical cuts. With her torso pressed against his, her body wrapped around his like a lover, she took a deep breath, felt her Djed well up inside her, and formed it into Res within her body.

She breathed out once, so he could physically see it, and formed a cloud of glittering transparent floating gel between them. Her Djed was tinged with purple and blue and sparked like a million tiny fireflies buzzed around inside it – blue and purple instead of the gold of the insect’s natural light. That was the only warning she gave him before she captured his mouth with hers and suddenly, he felt the cuts on his body being invaded by what she’d just spewed between them.

Kelski’s Djed tasted like the crisp air blowing fiercely across the sea. It was tinged with salt and the hint of the forests she soared above every morning on her patrols. It tasted of creativity and freedom, of bottomless passion and unbridled joy. It was tinged with her stubbornness and further flavored with an alien wildness he could barely recognize. The blue sparkle was her links to air and sky while the purple was her fierce passion and wildness. He could taste what she was in the instant his body filled with her Res.

The gel-like mist filled his mouth, passed down his throat and overinflated his lungs. His hands burned with her Res’ invasion there as well. It buried itself in his limbs, traveling up and down his body. The cuts she’d made on his chest filled with Res that surrounded his heart and traveled up and down his spine, spasming his muscles involuntarily.

It hurt. It hurt so incredibly badly he could have screamed if his mouth and throat weren’t full of her Res and her body wasn’t wrapped around his, supporting and restraining. She was slighter of frame and smaller, so it was more symbolic than anything else… but still it was how she aligned with him.

And The Gem was in his head, lending him an odd kind of wordless strength.

Then Kelski’s Res reached and penetrated his well – where all his Djed Resided – and when foreign Res and native Djed combined they ignited in a fire that exploded outward and filled his whole body. The fire rushed through him becoming wind, then chilled and became the cool crisp sensation of water. The rush of water touched and toughened up parts of him that grounded him like soil and stone that water often flowed over.

Kelski was busy, flooding him, invading him, infusing him. She had no breath and no will to speak as she conducted the induction like they’d been done since Mages had been crafting other mages.

But The Gem had a voice and could speak where her Mistress could not.

Don’t fight it. Relax. Let the elements go to war within you. They will fight and cycle and settle and one will come up on top. Let them flow through you. You will not suffocate. You will not burn or freeze or drown. You will not be buried under the earth within you. The Res is breathing for you and for her. Let an element pick you or pick one for yourself. And when you have one by your choice or by its, pull her off you. Set yourself free.

He could feel the war The Gem spoke of waging inside him. One element above the other three would surface and dominate. He could let them fight it out or he could pick, fueling one above the others. And as The Gem guided him, helping him to stand aside from the war raging inside himself, he could then feel his bondmate’s determination. She was pulling from deep within her well now, infusing him from her considerable power, but not knowing when to stop, how much was enough. A human would have sensed the imitation of the war within him and known to stop. She did not. She could not. Her senses were not the same as his and so she over fueled the battle within him, causing it to rage higher, brighter, and fiercer than was truly safe or truly necessary. It was a result of a Kelvic practicing a very human magic. It wasn’t quite a prefect fit much like she wasn’t exactly and entirely everything The Gem needed to thrive.

He recognized this in the back of his mind, in his thinking brain, as the part of him that was the fighter watched the battle and weighed whether he would join in or let the elements decide his fate for him.

[Dessarian]

He was theirs. Both Kelski and the Gem laid claim, in a sense, but mutually. It was a curious triangle that Dess would ponder upon for days to come to truly grasp the dynamics. But it wasn't possessiveness he sensed in either the Kelvic or the Architectrix. It was pride in being at one with someone found worthy. Dess himself was humbled and very proud to say Kelski was his, and he could say the same for the Gem.

While there was a subtle emptiness when her hand released him, the entwining of that hand with his filled the space. Physical touch, without inhibition, had become an integral part of their bond, and Dess had come to desire it whenever possible. His free hand returned to rest on the smoothness of Kelski's thigh, a thumb idly caressing the supple skin. He wanted his bondmate's attention, and he received it, with the liquid metal gaze of a raptor.

Dess had always found Kelski's perspective refreshing and significant. Her observations were taken to heart, for they usually came from a view Dess had not, or could not, perceive. Such was the way she spoke about labels. Dess threw around names like labels, and he wore them all his life. To be Damazar was to be little else. To be K'etir meant to be little else. Their purposes left little room for one to find self. Kelski saw how the label had become a yoke to Dessarian, defining who he was and how he saw the world. He was becoming dangerously close to doing the very same thing with the label Meraki.

Kelski was labeless. She could be called Kelvic, for she was. But the sea eagle paid little mind to the walls of the box folks placed her kind within. Kelski was...Kelski. And that may have been what Dessarian found so fascinating about her, what he loved so desperately about her. She was wise beyond her years, or even her own understanding. Her very life was a lesson for her bondmate. Remove labels, find identity in self and find freedom.

Dess realized, he wanted to master Reimancy, not to be a better Damazar, or Meraki, he wanted it to better himself and to be better for what really mattered, Kelski, the Gem and his family at the Demesne. Intent cerulean eyes remained fixed on the stunning gaze of the sea eagle. She warned him of what was to come. It seemed power came with pain. First the Architectrix sliver, then the infusion of res. Without a word, he watched her nails shift into an eagle's talons, wicked and sharp.

He met Kelski's gaze. She would know he was ready, know not to fear hurting him. Then came the rending. Clean, sharp claws made precision lacerations in his flesh, across his torso, deep in his hands. Dess steeled himself for the cutting, drawing breath between clenched teeth, but never flinching. He watched Kelski cut herself, so that rivulets of blood ran over her breasts before she drew her legs tighter around his waist and pressed their bleeding bodies together. She took his hands and Dess clutched her firmly, the sting of the gash welling as their wounds met.

Magic seized the space between them, and Dess watched in awe as her res gathered in a scintillating mist. Then Kelski sealed her mouth upon his, and the invasion began. It was an invasion, his mouth filled with the mystical substance, forced its way into the openings in his hand, poured into the cuts across his chest from Kelski's body. Dess's eys widened, as the searing pain and imagined threat of suffocation gripped Dess like death. His lungs filled with the stuff, the multitude of cuts burned like fire as Kelski pumped him full of her power. His organs swam in the ceaseless flood.

Dess's hands gripped Kelski's with desperate strength, unable and unwilling to cry out in agony as the very love of his soul forced the thick substance into his body and the very core of his djed. Muscles ached and twitched as their fibers were strained. It wouldn't stop, it wanted every where, in every part of him, it would fill him until there was nothing left of him. Dess's mind wavered, his iron resolve tested to the very limit of its discipline. Then the voice came.

The Gem comforted him, encouraged him, explained what was going on inside of him. Panic was kept at bay as Dess focused on the structure's voice. He turned his attention to identifying the combatants with him, the burning, the heaviness, the tumult and the flood. The elements rode the res within him and battled to rule it. Dess chose none at first, weighing each one. The res kept flowing through the searing wounds, as if Kelski were an endless fount of the substance. The battle blazed powerfully, drawing from him to fuel their conflict, elements waxing stronger and stronger with the unchecked gush of res.

They all had boons and weaknesses, but one, one coursed through him with power, one that seemed contradictory to Dess very nature. If he didn't end it, Dess felt as if the res would consume him from the inside out. He reached for that one element he chose. Fire burned hotter, consuming all else, licking at him lke an eager hound. Fire would be his element.

[Kelski]

Magic was something that someone who was not of a magical nature would be hard pressed to understand. Wars were waged within as well as without. Some of these battles were stranger than others. Kelski had reverted her hand back to its normal state as soon as the cuts were made, tasking the djed within her to find her true human guise and hold it as was her natural state. She led Dess over the brink with her infusion of Res and jumpstarted his own internal ability to either adapt and change or perish. Her faith was equal to The Gems in that they both were convinced he could accomplish both and dodge death.

Blood pooled between them, trailing down wrists and dripping off elbows. Blood mingled and blended on their chests where more infusions had happened. Kelski had gulped at his lips in a motion that could never be mistaken for a kiss as she poured Res into him. She had never inducted anyone into her djedline nor had she witnessed others doing so. But her body knew. Her magic understood. And she followed its lead until she sensed a chance, tasted a choice, and felt the burn of the fire spark through him as he made his choice or the magic chose for him.

Kelski released his lips, gasped in air, and folded her arms around him – releasing his own hands. She gripped at the divet where his shoulder blades met with his spine. The Sea Eagle held him close to her even though it was true she still sat in his lap; her legs enfolded around him. She was shaking as if she were the one that had fought the internal battle and blood and sweat slicked her pale almost colorless form. The mage had given of herself in order to birth a new mage – twice over in one night and she was exhausted.

But in her exhaustion, he could feel her satisfaction as a deep almost sentient thing. Bells ago, at the dawn of the day, they had been close in some ways but worlds apart in others. Now, slick with sweat and blood and thick with power, they were not two strangers who shared a history in some half remembered distant past. Now, they were two creatures – though of different races – who walked a common pathway, were linked to magical sentient beings, and shared the same djedline which would draw them closer together with each other and indeed closer to Gilthas. Dess would recognize those of his djedline the moment he laid eyes on them.

As she came back to herself, her eyes scanned the room an d she tossed sweat-slicked hair back over her shoulder before she gently bumped her forehead against his. A soft kiss was placed between his eyes, on either side of his face lightly on his eyelids, and then she nibbled at his lips before taking a deep breath and quietly asking him…

“Are you alright?” She said softly, experimentally stretching out her legs and feeling the slim limbs pop as her joints protested her motions. His scent was heady, almost intoxicating, to her predatory nature and yet her human softer side worried that she’d cut him to deep. Shifting once more, regretting that it took her body from his, she caught her heels under her and rose up off his lap to stand. She took a step back, offered him her hand, and urged him to his feet.

Kelski wanted him to see Ebon, to make sure his wounds closed and were only superficial. That was the humanity in her urging his care. But as soon as he was on his feet, the predator in her stepped closer and as if in slow motion, carefully ran her tongue across one of the sliced wounds on his chest… lapping up his blood. She watched him as she did so, her eyes almost feral as she tilted her head up and locked gazes at him through the curtain of her hair. She slowly lapped up the trails of blood, running the full length of her black tongue across his golden flesh completely and utterly unworried about what he would think of her doing so.

“You taste of fire.” Her words were soft, almost as if she’d forgotten how to speak.

Then she stepped away, giving herself a little shake. “How do you feel?” Her lips twitched at the question. Two imitations within a single bell. It was irresponsible of her, pushing so much at once.

I am fire as well, Dessarian.

The Gem said in a statement of solidarity. The structure’s pleasure, pride, and tinges of awe colored her voice in Dess’ head. Above the three emotions was a deep satisfaction that tinged both the mages minds even. Kelski didn’t seem to notice, being busy gently licking Dess’ blood from her lips where it had tinged them crimson.

“I will get Ebon.” She said, and turned to flee. She was gone in an instant, her light feet all but silent on the stair going down. She hadn’t bothered to wait for his permission. Through their bond, Dess could feel Kelski’s deep unsettled behavior. She would be fine in a moment, but the intimacy of the shared power, the presence of his blood and pain as well as her own, had robbed her of a bit of her stableness and had released her Eagle nature to fly closer to the forefront. It would take a moment for her to settle and she’d best do it trotting down the stairs, fetching the healer, and bringing him back. Of course, she took no time to dress.

Ebon was equally unclothed as he came back up the stairs where he treated both of them quickly, a smile on his face and a shake of disbelief. “Mages. Every time I take a step forward here, I feel the start of something else. I didn’t see this coming. You surprise me, Dessarian.” He said, not being critical or judgmental, just vocalizing his surprise. He treated Kelski as well, closing her shallow wounds and prescribing rest to them both… a good night’s sleep and then a heavy meal in the morning.

Kelski nodded, hugged Ebon in thanks as the healer departed, and turned to Dess when Ebon vanished down the stairs with a slight smile.

“I try to do my best by you. That was not my best. But it was well done on your part.” She said softly and then stepped close enough to rest her forehead against his. “Mage.” She whispered, then glanced up at him. “The title suites you.”

[Dessarian]

It was finished. He felt the surge of Kelski's res wane as the tumult raged within him. He quieted it with his choice, allowing the elemental nature of fire consume all else and then it too stilled. The grip of Kelski's hands loosened, and as she encircled him with her arms, Dess's dropped, his hands coming to rest on her bared thighs, leaving smears of blood on the porcelain skin. His throat burned, his body burned, thrummed as the echoes of the induction resonated through is being. The sting of the many cuts were welcomed, helping him focus on something solid, to keep him in the physical world. Kelski's petite breasts pressed against his chest, gliding frictionless against one another on the blood the shed. She leaned against him and he leaned against her. Both weak, but holding one another up.

They smelled of blood and sweat, but somehow Dess found it comforting. It was their blood, and their sweat that wrought a new bond between them, one of magic. It meant so much to Dess. Kelski's magic was something so much a part of her that he could not touch, could not share. That night, she embraced him selflessly, gifted him in a way no other could. She shared the Gem with him, though the sentient building would say, more accurately, that Dess was the one being shared. He had no idea how terribly difficult the induction into Reimancy would be. Yet it was incredibly intimate, not in a sexual way, but in a way strange and profound.

He sighed as her forehead met his, sweat on sweat. With endearing tenderness the sea eagle's dark lips kissed his eyelids, a gesture that made him feel incredibly loved. He waited for the sweet nibble on his lips to pause before he gave his bondmate an answer. "I am fine." He said breathily. "No...I am wonderful." He corrected, pressing a quick kiss to Kelski's lips. His hands found her's as she climbed from his lap and drew him to his feet with her. He rose slowly, allowing blood to flow into his legs and to keep from getting light-headed. But once on his feet, he began to feel is strength again.

Dess did not move when Kelski came in, the familiar animal look in her eyes. Her hair hung in her face, damp with sweat, inhuman silver eyes watching him as her black tongue laved his bloody wounds. She looked so primal, so...not human in that moment. But Dess was not put off. He knew what she was, and he loved her, human and eagle, alike. He merely stroked her hair lightly as she tasted him, until she withdrew and shook herself like a great winged hunter. Her voice returned, and she asked after his well being.

"I am...exhausted. But I feel...power. I feel more a part of you than ever before." Dess stated matter of fact. But he quieted, feeling through two distinct and different ways, how both Kelski and the Gem felt. The Gem shared its element with him, another thing to share with the Architectrix. Dess was humbled by the Gem and Kelski, marveling that he was a part of them, and they of him. Kelski had lead him into a whole new world. "It will take some time to wrap my head around it all." He confessed.

Before he had a chance to agree to be treated by Ebon, Kelski was off. He felt her concern, tasted how the night had shaken her. Kelski was brave, not because she wasn't afraid to do things she wanted, but because she did what she thought was right regardless. He simply relayed calm and assurance to her as she sped away. In a few chimes, Kelski returned with the kelvic lion. Dess and Kelski were a mess, nude and covered in blood, hair sticky with sweat. Ebon was a contrast, his body clean and fit as he treated the couple. Dess listened to the healer's advice. He trusted Ebon, who had nursed him back from near death in Sunberth. Rest and food would suit Dess just fine. With a smile and a brush of a hand on the man's shoulder, Dess expressed his gratitude.

Alone again, with the Gem, Kelski drew close, finding that special place where their foreheads rested together as one. "You have blessed me beyond measure tonight, Kelski, and every day. Thank you." Dess offered, his hand lifting to caress her cheek. "Mage, I like the sound of that." He echoed. "Shall we wash a bit before bed, doctor's orders, you know." He suggested with a smile, his thumb brushing the smooth skin of her cheek.

[Kelski]

The Kelvic lifted her head, breaking the connection between their foreheads, and studied Dess intently. She hadn’t thought herself an emotive person, for people often met her and found her lacking in anything but a predatory predisposition. However, since The Gem and Gilthas, since the small group of friends stuck by her side… Ebon and Ember, and some of the new recruits for the guild, Kelski had found herself loosening up. And with Dessarian, she was even more open and expressive, something perhaps the people who’d known her in Lhavit or even Sunberth wouldn’t have recognized in her.

His thumb on her cheek made her feel so cherished. It was something he often did with small gestures, and she wondered if he even knew that’s what he did for her. Kelski had no words to tell him that though. Instead, she showed him in other ways. A touch. A look. An attentive moment. She never left him feeling ignored, though she instinctively knew when he needed space and time to himself. The Gods knew she needed enough of that herself.

“Dess… you don’t understand.” She said softly, her silver gaze meeting his sincerely. “My life … “ She wasn’t sure how to phrase what she wanted to say gently. “It hasn’t been easy. Being born as you were, among family and people that cared about you… sounds like such a distant dream. If I have my own children, I want that for them too. I want safety and security for all of us. The stronger we can be… the more prepared… the better. You are good as a man, Dessarian. You are very good as a thinker and warrior too. But you are stronger still as a mage. You will make The Gem stronger and more stable. She needs you. She told me, not in the way I suspect is the absolute truth, but she made no bones about wanting you… you specifically. My heart needs you too. It made itself clear under no uncertain terms. And I will do anything to help you… because you help me every day. “ Kelski said softly, not sure if this was the right time or the right place.

Was she offering him an excuse for how she acted? He’d said she’d blessed him beyond measure and that had embarrassed her. But didn’t he understand how he made her feel like she belonged when she’d never belonged anywhere ever? There were no words, and no definite way to explain to him, so she gave up trying and just took his hand to lead him to the bath.

Unfortunately, it was outside, cold, and the water would have to be drawn to fill the tub. It was something they’d need to get upgraded before winter. A chamber off the tower, inside, would be really nice. She thought they’d have more of the demesne built by now, but things were slow going and there was so much to do. ‘Building’ took a lot of other things before the actual structures went up.

She is sad…. Embarrassed and I do not know why. Sometimes, Dessarian, you say too much and I think they are things that are not easy for her to hear. I can tell her things… without telling her the absolute truth and she understands. You should learn such a dance with her too when you want to deliver praise or love.

The Gem’s voice was quiet, thoughtful, and meant only for Dess’ ears. Even though he was new to the Architectrix’s mind, he could tell there was more she wanted to say. Kelski was quiet, introspected, though her fingers were linked with his as they went through the motion of stopping near the wellhead and the tent set up around the large tub. The Sea Eagle began to pump water, filling buckets that would then be used to fill the tub with ice cold water. She seemed unconcerned with even remotely attempting to heat it.

But Dess didn’t get a chance to say more or to point out he would like his water hot. The Gem was chewing on a thought and he could tell it was going to spill into his ears immediately. There was room for him to jump in filling buckets, and Kelski did not begrudge the assistance. It was a big bath and took bucket after bucket of water to fill.

Tonight seems to be a night of sharing. I want to share too. I would not hurt my mother with the knowledge that she is not human enough for me. But she knows, but deep down, she knows. But what she refuses to see is how much stronger and smarter it makes me understanding a predator’s mind and a human’s mind together and being linked to both. Humans have hesitations that Kelvics do not. Because of her, I do not have those hesitations either. I will kill without remorse if I need too, whereas a human might agonize under such a decision. If you fill my walls with your family, they will never lack defenses. I have overheard your relatives talk about your families falling to slaughter. I cannot help but think they were outside their Architectrix when such a thing happened. We are not powerless to defend those that live within our walls. We are only powerless when those we defend are not at home within us. Please know this. And I would ask you… would you kill to protect her and myself? And would you take her away and make her vulnerable to the same thing that happened to your family and hers?

The Gem said softly, thoughtfully, wanting Dessarian to understand and in return wanting to understand Dess. But what Dessarian would come to realize immediately was that not only did he have a mate to sooth feelings for and a mate to reassure and protect, he also now had what equated to a magical very intellectual child. And that child was sharing with him, opening up, and in a way testing him to see if he was worth looking up to and just exactly where he stood on the pecking order within her walls.

The bath was full, far sooner than seemed possible, and Kelski stood beside it, trailing her fingers in its icy water. “Is steaming hot okay?” She asked, looking up at him? He could see the res building in her already, her eyes going mercurial as she pulled from her well once more and claimed the water in the bath as her own and changed its temperature. Res infused the water, linking her to the element already there, and giving her control over it. She could have filled the tub herself with magic, but it had been a long day and Dessarian had claimed a great deal of her strength in the magical department. All she had left was a bit of fine tuning like the request of a temperature raise in the water. It was an easy thing to do, making the link, claiming the water, then willing it to excite – to heat up – and preparing it for comfort and to do its job as a place to clean.

“It will be a tight fit.” She commented, starting to strip out of her clothing. He’d have to climb in, lean back against the back rest, and slide back to make room for her in front of him. While she waited for him to do so, she set out towels, soap, and some shampoo for their hair if they decided to wash those parts. Mainly she wanted the blood gone and her muscles to ease in the heat of the water. She hoped it would be a fast bath because Kelski was certain she’d be asleep if left to her own devices, probably before they made it out of the bath.

[Dessarian]

Dess was not deeply sentimental, in most respects. All he had known, of close relationships, were family. His work for the Damazar and K'etir required, by nature, a life veiled and secretive. By necessity, his emotions were kept on a cold leash and social contact superficial. Not that he was void of feeling, but very capable of compartmentalizing his feelings from circumstance. But he did know the care and love of close relations within the Order and had deep relationships among the families. Kalistan and Darcee were examples. Even Ember was as dear to him as a sister, and the Zrevans, for their intimate association with the Mage and Warrior families.

Kelski was not the only one who found the very intimate relationship between them challenging with its raw and open emotions. It was why he gushed at times, feelings towards his bondmate gathered but restrained until some moment triggered them and they tumbled from his lips with sincere, honest release. The intensity of that evening, with the electric aura of magic surrounding and infusing them, the sudden awareness of the Gem, all so awe-inspiring and exhilarating, had moved his usually steady, quiet heart. Kelski's own words rippled through his being, laying bare how deeply they wanted and needed each other.

It was so very much to take in, even for the mentally-disciplined warrior. The task of the bath gave a mundane reason to move as he mulled over the evening. It was only when the Gem spoke to him that Dess realized his self-centered thinking, and saw how quiet and withdrawn Kelski had become, in her mind. The Gem had her piece to convey, her young but observant advice welcomed if unexpected. The Architectrix suggested his honesty was blunt and difficult at times for Kelski to handle. The advice was a dance, it called it, the art of being honest with Kelski in a way that she could comprehend and manage. It was wisdom. Dess was dismayed that Kelski felt sad and embarrassed., especially if he had caused it. But the Gem was not finished with her thoughts.

He believed the Architectrix was honest with him. The relationship with the Gem defied definition, something Dess would have to do for himself. But it was real, and its thoughts explained in a way he could relate. The Gem offered another thought regarding the fate of he and Kelski's families. He knew their homes, in the deep forests, were aged and strong Architectrix structures. Surely they could have defended the families, if they took shelter within. It only added to the mystery of how the Drust could carry out their heinous crime. But the Gem went further, taking back his attention. Its questions were a thinly veiled test of its faith in her new human... step-father?

I promised her I would always be honest with her. But from now on I will be more thoughtful in how I do it. She...makes me feel like no one ever has. He admitted to the Gem. And I will kill. I will kill without hesitation to defend her, I will die to defend her. And you. You are our home and a part of our family. Nothing is more sacred to me than family. It has always been my calling to defend. She is strong-willed and brave. I don't worry about me taking her someplace where she is at risk. I worry more about her doing that to herself.


It was relieving to have someone to talk to about Kelski, someone that knew her as well, or better, than he. Dess was already fond of the Gem, and felt bad that he had spent seasons treating it like some semi-sentient house, if he thought of it at all. With intention, Dess looked again to Kelsi as they completed the task of filling the tub. He nodded with a small smile to affirm a steamy bath was his preference as well.

"I don't mind." His smile widened at her comment on the size of the tub. The two of them swung with mood and need, sometimes wanting to be as close as physically possible in a tangle of limbs. Other times, they needed space. Dess knew the bath together would be a snug fit, but that was fine with him. He slipped off the cloak he had donned when they left and slipped fluidly, if slowly, into the warm, inviting water. He moved to the far end of the tub, his knees slightly bent and parted, so that Kelski could fit between them. As she prepared to enter the tub, Dess laid his head back, feeling the heat penetrate his blood-stained skin and seep into his muscles. Once his bondmate had found her place in front of him, he shifted to better fit her between his thighs.

[Kelski]

They were bathing in their own blood. Kelski chased the thought away even as she eased into the bath and leaned back against Dessarian. She stretched her legs out, surprised and grateful that there was enough room to do so. He was a bit more cramped with a kelvic tucked into the space between his thighs and leaning back against him. Kelski picked up a wash cloth and a sliver of soap. She dunked the cloth, ran the soap across it, and began to wash his legs – the easiest thing for her to reach. The water was already tinted a bit pink, though not the deep dark red she had predicted. Reimancy was a bloody thing. Licking her lips, she could still taste Dessarian’s blood on them. And in a way it soothed her.

She was quiet for a long long while, simply occupying her mind with getting his legs and then her own clean before she spoke. “That was a lot for you, Dess. Architectrix and Reimancy. Fire as well. I didn’t expect today to go like this.” She said carefully. She wondered if Gilthas would have called them reckless fools, doing both inductions like that. Yes, he probably would have. So would she, had it been someone else. But it was them and it felt right in the moment, and they’d done it.

“I hope I haven’t violated some ancient K’etir Law by inducting you.” She mused, then laughed. It was a slightly tired bitter laugh. The truth was there were likely no more K’etir around to be judging her anyhow. And any children she had by Dessarian would have his last name. Were her and Amber the last K’etir to walk the world? She didn’t even attempt to explain the laugh. Dess might or might not understand.

“You have to honor the magic, Dessarian. You have to practice it, learn it inside out, and grow it within you. You have to look for ways to use it that are outside the known. Stretching the magic makes it stronger and makes you stronger.” She said softly, then leaned forward, tucking her head beneath the water between their legs. She lifted up, pulling her hair to one side to make sure Dess didn’t get a face full of wet hair, and began to work a cleaning soap into it. She slid forward then, realizing he had no access to the water, and squirmed until she was leaning up against the other rim – facing him with her legs drawn up around her chest. Laughing less bitterly this time, she smiled at him.

“Mages. You are more than you were when you started this morning. I wonder what a whole year here will see us becoming?” She asked speculatively. Then she leaned back, let the soap worked into her hair lather it up, and trailed her fingers in the water. The res she released there heated it up a bit more, countering its tendency to cool off.

“Does The Gem speak strongly to you? I bet it is a relief to her to be able to communicate with more than one person.” She said softly, then took a bucket of fresh water she’d drawn before jumping into the bath and began to rinse her hair. Once rinsed, she piled it on top of her head and leaned back once more, simply soaking. Kelski liked baths, but she was far from a fastidious person. When she remembered to bathe she did a good job, but as often than not, she’d bathe at the Sea or in a fresh water pool breaking up her scouting flights. This was a very human ritual, one that she never quite understood completely. She liked running water, the kind that swirled the dirt away. Baths like this tended to leave one settled in their own filth. When the bathing chamber was designed in The manor, Kelski had ideas to make them work more like a stream than a tub. This was clean…. and that felt good. But there was a cleansing that took place in running water that wasn’t present here.

“I am so proud of you, Dess.” She said abruptly, love and need radiating down their bond. Then she settled back against the tub and studied him. “You are so much more than I could ever imagine. And it occurred to me that I often demand answers from you or at least feel resentful that you hold things inside that you know. But I also understand that I haven’t been exactly open about my past. You know I was taken, but you don’t know much about what happened afterwards.” She said softly. Then she started speaking, as if it meant something very important for her to tell him what she was telling him.

Her words did not matter so much as the story that came out of her. Dess had figured some of it out from his past investigations and travels, but so much of it was shrouded as well. Kelski had been told she was born in 512, not 514 and thought she’d been older than she was. Her original history, as she knew it, was one of having been born of a Svefra couple but not having a Laviku mark nor the blue eyes common to Svefra.

The Kelvic recounted this all to him quietly, as if it had happened to someone else and not her.

He had filled her in on the details of having been born a K’etir and stolen as a child in the year 514. What she thought of as years of slavery were mere months as she grew into her full form in Alvadas. The Kelvic quietly told him of her childhood… of how her master had sold her virginity to pay off gambling debts and how he himself had disappeared shortly thereafter. She’d found his body after a lengthy search for him and in a fit of dark rage, had pecked out his eyes and ate them. That, she told Dess, was how Akajia had found her and marked her… for her investigative nature and her need to find out truths.

Then she told him of her year in the wilds, searching and how she’d stumbled upon the city of Lhavit high in the mountains and had made a home there, finding a man kind enough to take her in as a student of Jewelcrafting. Then she told him of the storm where she’d fallen from the sky and had ended up on the possession of the Svefra again. Kelski quietly told Dess about traveling with them, how life had been, and how she was traded like coin for repairs on a boat in Sunberth. She told him also then of how she’d stayed alive, making jewelry and about Darvin and how she’d known him as her guard to make sure she was not molested nor did she escape. She admitted trading lessons in dagger to Darvin for her willingness to let him test new batches of drugs on her… and how muddled her life had gotten then.

She told him of how she had thought she’d earned her freedom, but instead had found out Master LI from Lhavit had tracked her down through a jewelry network and had bought her freedom so she could live out her life happy even so far away from him. Kelski had been happy with Lhavit and would have tried to travel back there had it not been for Ember coming along and changing her life by giving her the book from Kalistan.

She even told Dess of Kynier, the man who had moved in with her and how she’d tried to please him and do things for him. She told Dess of Kynier’s secret life and how he killed and burned the drug fields of one of the gangs and put them all at risk. Kelski quietly told him how Kynier had just up and left one day and how she had went to Gilthas and had him remove the memory of the man because of how mad she was at him. When she’d stabilized, Gilthas had given her the memories back. That hadn’t been until Dess had come along and they had moved from Sunberth.

She quietly admitted to Dess how Sunberth was killing her – killing them all – and that it had somehow either created or encouraged a darkness in her that liked the violence and bloodshed and that leaving was the only way she had known to stop that internal growth.

Kelski quietly told him of how she admired Gilthas for his Dreamwalking and wanted the ability for herself someday for it would greatly aid the Demesne if she could manage it. It was just a dream, she admitted to him, but it was one of many she had.

Then, at that point, near to exhaustion, she quietly told him her other dreams. She told him she wanted a big family here, safe, one that would grow yearly and live long into the future. Kelski told him she’d teach every one of them Architectrix so her first daughter and her first son would never lack mages to care for them so The Gem and Reach would never be lonely.

Then she sat back against the far rim, her knees up against her chest, and took a deep breath. It had been a lot to tell him, a whole lot, but she hadn’t thought she’d left anything out…. well perhaps all the killing she’d done in Sunberth and all the dark thoughts she’d had on how much she’d started enjoying it.

Kelski hoped Dess would listen with an open mind and in a way understand her better now.

Count: 1618

[Dessarian]

Dess's head lulled back against the edge of the tub, his long hair hanging around his face, tacky with dried sweat. The heat penetrated taxed muscle, allowing the man to feel the true extent of the rituals upon his body. He didn't even care that the water became tinted with their blood. Deep breaths were drawn in and released, stilling a heart that had thudded strongly during the trauma of the inductions. And then the soothing touch of Kelski's wash rag along his legs coaxed Dess to find a physical and mental ease.

The long silence was broken by the soft voice of the Kelvic. She still made Dess marvel. He remembered that the ordeal he had just endured had to be first endured by her. He considered that Kelski had to induct herself into Architectrix, which must have been terrifying. And Dess doubted the mage that inducted her into Reimancy cared as deeply for her as Kelski did for Dess as she filled him with her res. While Dess knew Kelski was unsure of herself during the inductions, he would have wanted no other mage to perform then.

As far as the old families, Dess thought or cared little what they would have thought of a K'etir giving such power to a Damazar. There as no disrespect of the arcane arts that night. It seemed to him to be a fitting event for what he saw as the evolution of the old Ke'tir/Damazar paradigm on the possession of magic. A K'etir and a Damazar sharing magic at the core of the Meraki. What had happened that night was solemn and significant, both among mages and as a bonded couple. As he felt tension bleed from his body into the steaming water, Dess pondered the words Kelski shared.

His hand reached out, running down her spine as she moved away to sit against the opposite end of the tub. Dess shifted his legs to accommodate the move, until they faced each other. He took a rag and a piece of soap himself and began to idly wash, brushing the soapy rag over his skin and lacerations already healing from Ebon's treatments. It was not a pure cleaning, like the bath he took before the inductions. But it would rinse away the blood and grime enough for the night.

"Though my magic has only been some Flux, I have lived among mages my whole life. the Damazar purpose was to give our lives to protect those mages and their secret knowledge. I don't take lightly what I have now. But magic is also a means to an end. I respect it deeply, but I also want to discover how to use it to meet our goals, to make it mine in ways unique to me." He explained. Then a weak smile touched his lips. "I could never have imagined this morning what I would become tonight. Thank you." Dess expressed with a warm sentiment through the bond.

Love and pride were returned as the bondmates lazily washed and recuperated in the hot bath. And then, in the quiet bathhouse, with only the occasional ripple of water as they shifted in the bath, Kelski filled in the blanks in history, answered the question Dess had not asked, unsure of whether he could handle knowing the answers. His sky blue gaze, bloodshot from exhaustion, remained fixed on the pale-skinned Sea Eagle as the past few years were unfolded before him.

It hurt. Dess listened, hearing every detail of pain, loneliness and abuse Kelski had suffered. It was like a dagger twisting in his liver. Anger, hatred of men he never met, most dead, licked at his soul. Shame and guilt whispered in his mind. She should never have had to live that life. She should have been raised in his arms, safe and loved. The Damazar failed the K'etir when Kelskanisha was stolen away, and Dess had bore that burden ever since. He told no one, not even Kalistan, that he held himself responsible for her abduction. She was betrothed to him, why did he not protect her? It was why Dess hadn't given up looking for her, would have never given up searching for Kelski as long as he lived. But instead, she had to save herself.

But her dreams survived. Rare for a Kelvic, he thought, to have such aspirations. That was probably what kept her alive. Dess swore to himself he would do whatever he could to help her achieve those dreams. They were, in essence, entangled with his own.

"Thank you, I imagine it might be hard to revisit all of that." He expressed with deep gratitude that resonated through the bond. He didn't like hearing the tale, but he had to know. It was part of who she was, it was what shaped the Kelski he loved. Dess sat in deep silence. It had been an incredibly long, exhausting and overwhelming day. But good. Kelski and he were closer than ever before, shared deep magic and hard truths between them made them stronger as one.

Finally, Dess spoke. "I had only one dream. To have my life with you. To have that family you talked about, with you. I didn't think it would ever come true. But I could never give it up either." He began quietly. "I blamed myself for your disappearance, Kelski. My purpose was to protect your family, and you. And I failed. Your parents blamed me as well, in their grief. They never told a soul, but they told me. I carried that weight every minute of every day until you brought me out of that slave market and took me to your home. I could see that you were alive and prosperous, and my weight was lightened."

His words froze on his lips, refusing to be spoken. Again the words of the Gem sounded in his head. Manage the truth, for her sake. Dess was responsible for all her suffering and he couldn't make himself admit it to her. His burden didn't have to be hers. Instead, he followed a different thought.

"My dream is happening. I want our family to grow, I want us to teach our children magic. I want us to be better than our families were, to learn from their mistakes." He added finally rinsing out his own hair.

[Kelski]

Sometimes brave wasn’t big grandiose gestures or final acts of defiance.

Sometimes brave was just staying when you wanted to run or simply telling the truth when your sense of self-preservation tells you to lie. Kelski wanted to be brave, in the traditional sense, but the truth was she was brave in the survival sense and protective sense instead. The Meraki had big dreams, though they were starting small. Just a simple tower, a cleared field, a freshly planted orchard, and hopes. The marauders with their dark sentient enslaved ship and their killing attitudes didn’t even cause them to run. Kelski had been hurt in that battle, but they had retrieved something more precious – family. So in the here and now being brave for her was telling him everything she'd deemed unnecessary before.

But that battle had been in many ways easier than this one.

Dess had walked through fire twice today, something that in retrospect Kelski thought had been reckless and dangerous… inducting him into two magical disciplines and telling him on top of that her whole history. The Kelvic wondered if she weren’t actually just afraid… afraid her brother would suddenly recover, and if she’d waited to induct Dess then she’d be forbidden from doing so. He might be living his dreams, and for that, she was incredibly grateful, but she wasn’t done. Kelski wasn’t done building, strengthening, and dreaming. She needed Dess and she needed him strong. Just like she needed Kalistan to wake up and be himself – if he really was the person Dess said he was. And she had no reason to doubt Dessarian’s word at all. She needed The Gem and Reach to grow. They needed to drill on what to do with unfriendly ships approaching and how to handle more marauders.

Kelski leaned back in the tub, using the rim for support and groaned. “We want the same things.” And it was true. “But I want strength on top of that. I want us to be strong enough that we are left alone to be happy and that we aren’t an easy target with a reputation that proceeds us to protect us.” Kelski added, then began loosely braiding her wet hair up around the crown of her head. She slept like that sometimes and when she woke, it would be dried in wildly kinky curls that she enjoyed for a day or two. As she did that, she bent and nibbled at the top of her shoulder, scratching an itch as a bird would. She was two worlds in one form, blended, but neither one nor the other. When she glanced back up and met his eyes, they were molten silver.

“No secrets. You said it a while ago. And now my life … my life is known to you. I am sorry I was not more open about my life before. I tend to… “ She paused, wondering thoughtfully as she tried to remember how Gilthas put it. “Gilthas says I tend to live in the present. It is a gift of the Kelvics. Those of us that do so don’t let the past hold us to it. We move on, forward, and always look at what is in front of us and what is between us and the horizon. And no one wants to hear sad tales, Dessarian. People want happy stories and laughter.” She added, not having told him to hurt him or cause him pain or guilt. She just simply told him to tell him.

“But you must know… MUST know…. that I would not change it. I would be very little… “ She had trouble with the words, with voicing the concept. “I would be very little of what I am now had I remained with my family. I would not know what I know or fight as I fight and if what Hattie has said is true, we both would probably be dead. You cannot look backward Dess.” She said, stifling a yawn and suddenly reaching out a hand for him; to help him up.

“We cannot hold ourselves responsible or place blame. We move forward. We are grateful for the things that happened and what we survived and take from those lessons and move forward. And we enjoy it now… the here and now.” She added, slipping out of the tub and wrapping herself in a towel. She gathered her dirty clothing to her, boots, and whatever else that was hers in the pile and pulled the drain on the tub to let the water out.

“I think its been enough for today. I think it's been more than enough. Shall we go find our bed, kick any of the other Kelvics out of it that are using it, and just ……” Another yawn punctuated her suggestion. “… and just sleep?” She said, knowing they’d both wander by Kalistan’s cot and check on him even though one or both of the old women were probably still sitting with him knitting or crocheting or both while arguing over which yarn craft was the best. If he agreed, she’d keep his hand in hers and head back to the tower and back up to their fourth-floor chamber.

Count: 871

[Dessarian]

Dess did find a bit of envy for Kelski's ability to focus on the present. It was a kelvic trait that he had noted. Ember held to it supremely, her past so short, her future equally truncated. He was even conscientious about discussing anything other than a season past, or a season ahead with her. Surely the mouse girl understood her own life expectancy. Dess wanted to make sure Kalistan's daughter was able to enjoy every moment of her presence.

Weary in his bones and sore in muscle, his nerves twinged along the wounds of the evening's epic events. The gravity of what they had done was significant, though exhaustion tempered the weight of it. In fact, what seemed most important at the moment was exactly what Kelski proposed...bed. What rattled in his head was the revelations shared in the tub. His confession of guilt was kindly shifted by her perspective. What was was what was. And he had to agree that Kelski would not be the woman she was if not for the events in her life, both boon and tragedy. While it was tempting, he didn't ponder the what if. What would she, what would they, be like if he had raised her? That thinking had no merit, rooted it the unchangeable. And as Kelski stated, she wouldn't change it if she could.

Dess was too tired to cling to his guilt. Right then, he very much wanted to live in the present, even in that moment. yet, as tired as he was, Dess felt powerful. And that power was manifold when Kelski and he were at each other's side. It was not a prideful notion. It was a fact that they needed to admit and leverage. They had spoken often, even that evening, of the Meraki. He hoped his best friend, if...when he awoke, would understand what Dess and Kelski were doing. Maybe he would even join them. With his magic, their strength would increase exponentially.

The mage couple gathered their garments and, hand in hand, returned to the tower. Checking on Kalistan, they found Ember laying on her father's chest, the mouse asleep. Unceremoniously, Kelski and Dess reached the top floor and collapsed into their bed.