A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 15

Dahlgren the ranger was praying.

She looked along her own body, held there by him as it was. Faith wasn't ashamed of it now, not anymore. She saw the line of her hair as it ran from her navel to her small and soft patch of sopping wet fur. Her eyes took in her long legs and the rippling muscles of her own hard belly as they twitched a little before her. It felt as though she was in a new body now, the way that the light from their bodies seemed to make her fur glow lighter somehow.

A subtle motion caught her eye and she looked up at his face again. The shine was back in his eyes as he looked at her, but then his mouth opened and he smiled. "You are the most lovely one I have ever seen," he said, "and I still don't know what this road will bring to us. But I do know that I want to walk it with you."

He eased her legs down, losing their connection as he did. Faith looked up at him with tears in her eyes from his words, "Oh please, Dahlgren, put it back in me or I think I'll just die."

He moved forward on her then, sliding his shaft into her and seeking the way to do it all so that he didn't crush her. But he needn't have worried, they fit together just fine as her legs rose again to help him inside further.

"You're always saying that I'm lovely and all," she smiled up at him, "I'm even starting to believe it a little. But you're the most beautiful man that I've ever seen; flat-out gorgeous and so handsome.

Come on, you delicious thing, fuck me like you mean it. If you don't mean it now, then you never will." She chuckled a little as she saw his eyes saying what could never be lied about to her as plain as the hardness throbbing softly inside of her couldn't be imagined.

"So come on and fuck me," she smiled, "We belong to each other now and I need some of you. You can have a little Faith now whenever you want. Come on, Baby," she sighed to him, "You just show Momma what you've got for her. She's needin' some of your sweet thing now. Oh fuck, Dahlgren, I'll always need you. You make me so happy."

It seemed to spur them, what she'd said, and the way that she'd said it. He began to thrust and she matched him. She bucked against him as hard as she could, both of them grunting loudly, not caring about anything other than their combined need for each other anymore.

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Ny'Zeille knew nothing of what Dahlgren and Faith were doing. Her mind was at rest in her ignorance of the existence of Faith as she knelt in the temple chamber praying to the forces of balance. She knew that her friend was in the stone garden beginning her first lessons to her little sister. She considered the idol in front of her as it spoke to her quietly in response to her prayers. It was a much easier way for her to communicate with others like herself directly.

"All matters and occurrences considered," the large statue said, speaking in multifaceted voices which spanned several octaves, "you have done very well, as is usual for you," the rest of the Great Ones said, "incredibly well, in fact. You must bring the thief into the fold of the Faith, of course, but there is time for that. The other side of this bargain that you have made serves much purpose as well. The one called Nahl'een can only benefit from the teachings of the thief.

Nahl'een's recent ability is duly noted, as is the thief's. Continue as you will in this regard.

But there is another aspect which arises now and it causes us some concern. It has to do with your son. From his brief prayers, he has accomplished his task once again, another shining honor in the history of a stellar warrior from an already prestigious family.

All of the red demons have been killed in a most expeditious manner, as is his way. There were more there than were seen at first, and it would have taken him a good deal longer, given the speed at which the vermin can run and the openness of the place. They scattered in all directions even at his approach, and it would have taken him the whole night to hunt them all and dispatch them, if he did not have the help that he found there."

The demon's eyes opened then.

"Help?" she asked, "You say that he had help? Who could --"

"That is what concerns us," the statue nodded, or appeared to, "Only one of many concerns which we now find in ourselves."

Ny'Zeille's eyes rolled back into her head as she watched the scenes which were sent to her.

"This one was already killing when your son arrived," the shimmering voices said, as she saw Faith lay a pair of the demons out with a sheet of flame from her hand. "That is not ordinary flame," she heard in her head, "somehow this one knows to use the only flame which is deadly to them. Even we do not possess this in our arsenal. Yet she can summon it easily."

Ny'Zeille watched the two of them form an instant, loose partnership, working together as they had, even when the fight came down to teeth and claws at one point.

"She has much ability," the voices said, "and has already killed their kind before. There were instances when we would become aware that one or two of the hated ones had appeared there. Before we could act, they were dead. Our investigations revealed this one. She works for no one other than herself, hating the things more than even us."

"Who is she?" Ny'Zeille asked as she watched the female rip the life from a red demon who had managed to prepare an attack from behind her son. Before it had really begun, however, the thing disappeared in a red mist as the stranger dispatched it.

"Little is known," the voices said in reply, "She appears to have sprung up out of the ground, for all that we know. All that we have is her rather interesting name, considering the warrior that she helps there. Her name is Faith. If this is anything more than pure chance, then we are humbled at her efficiency and drive to eradicate the vermin."

"She does have ability," the demon said with a nod.

"Something which we consider noteworthy is that while Dahlgren studied much to learn the arts in which he excels, this female developed her abilities alone, coming to learn them more by feeling and by using her considerable intuitive ability," the voices shimmered from the idol, "She seems to make use of whatever object comes to hand if she requires the use of a weapon. She carries no sword or anything else, for that matter.

We note with interest that the two of them worked well together, one having no clear advantage over the other, though to be fair, their abilities lie in different areas. She matches him in speed and intellect, and wherever she appears to be weak, he is strong -- and it goes the other way as well. We find it most remarkable.

But this is not the area where our concerns lie at the moment," the idol said, "Observe this now, if you would."

Ny'Zeille saw her son and the female in the throes of their passion. She watched idly and waited for their comment.

"Did you observe anything noteworthy?"

"Not really," she sighed in a way that indicated that the scene held little of interest for her, "I saw my son copulating with a female demon. It HAS happened before...

I see no great event here. He is attractive, and while she is as well, I saw nothing remarkable in that. They teamed up to destroy some demons together and were victorious. It is not a stretch to consider that they might wish to celebrate or just give in to the joy of having survived it."

She found the scene in her mind again, and was about to request that it be stopped, but this time, she did notice that the female's state of demonic development jumped ahead with the arrival of her wings and her tail.

"Alright, I did see it that time," she said, "Forgive me if I sounded uninterested. I can say that I am interested now."

"As well you should be," the statue said, "we would not present this to you if there was not something here that is at the least highly interesting to us -- and you. Their involvement with each other has progressed somewhat since then. This afternoon, he mated her."

"Well, he mated with her last night as well, "Ny'Zeille smirked.

"You misunderstand, Esteemed One," the voices said, "He took her as his mate out there in the sand and the rocks. We will assume that you have no interest in witnessing the scene where they stopped copulating suddenly and pledged their love to each other."

"Mated?" the demon said in disbelief, "You say that he took this one and she took him? They are paired?"

"Yes," the idol shimmered, "It happened. They were still joined when he spoke of it to us, announcing it and stating that while his female knows nothing of the Faith, he would assume the responsibility for her learning and he further stated that they recognized their, ... differences, shall we say, and that he humbly asked that we recognize the union."

The demon was in shock. "Recognize the, ..."

"We reserved judgement, of course, knowing that you were not aware of these developments. We need time to consider and any action on our part must be tempered with diligence and wisdom. There is much to be considered."

"I see nothing here which requires consideration," the demon snapped, "I insist that you decline my son's request. I don't know what's the matter with him," she said, "taking a mate arbitrarily like that, as though the first female in a place who spreads her knees for him, and he wants her forever. He's acting like --"

"He is acting somewhat like his mother," the voices remarked, and she could almost hear the ironic humor in the shimmering tones. "With much respect and our everlasting offering of condolence for your great loss, how long did you require to make up your mind about the human male that you took as your own mate?"

Ny'Zeille felt the wind of her outrage taken from her sails in that instant. She looked away from the idol and down for a moment.

"I knew in the span of one of my own heartbeats," she said after a few seconds, "I knew without doubt almost at once. When we touched, I was certain."

"And it happened only the one time that you fell so hard, hopelessly in love with your male forever," the idol whirred softly, "before he was taken from you. You never loved again until you developed your present, ... predilections, shall we say. You love your Xerian, but it is nothing like the way that you loved the human male."

She looked up again, "Point taken," she said quietly, "Of all of us, I should know better.

Alright," she said, "It lies at my feet to meet this girl demon and do my best to get to know her if she is mated to my son. That is my duty, and it is family business, after all. I thank you all for showing me. Please strike my earlier objections. If you have no issue with the pairing, then please render your approval."

"The problem is that we do have issues," the voices said cautiously, "one issue specifically. We cannot grant what was asked, and yet we do not wish to delay for long without cause. The problem is not that our ranger has met and fallen in love with a female demon. If that were the case, we would already have granted his request. Any ... fallout, as it were, would be family business, as you said, and it is not our place to interfere. That would be an arena where you, the girl, and Dahlgren would have to decide things between yourselves.

The issue is that our ranger has fallen in love with one very much like himself. The female is half-human. While we have nothing against that part of her, it is the other side which is the problem. The girl is half red demon."

Ny'Zeille felt as though her personal universe had just shifted beneath her. "Red demon, "she repeated in a whisper.

"Hence our difficulty," the voices droned, "Your son sees our delay as a reasonable one, knowing how news such as this would cause us to require time to consider and debate. But the operative word is reasonable. Were we to take too long, or worse, to deny his request, our sense of it is that he would turn from his path and ask to be relieved of his duties in favor of the girl. It is understandable.

We saw that her state of development seemed to hang for her. In mating with your son, it pushed her past it, though he believes that the reason had more to do with the emotion of the day. We believe that he is wrong in this and that her development was halted because she was so upset and traumatized at the way that this came to her, and by the murder of her family afterward. She only developed as far as was needed by her to exact retribution and to allow her to survive afterward. She lives in a rather harsh place.

In answer to his request, and to show that we wished to give something that might offset our necessary delay, we attempted an experimental gesture for them. Since they were already mating and were joined at the time, we took advantage of the heightened emotional conditions at that moment to give her a slight push. She has now completed her development and has two forms like any other.

But we cannot have a former ranger of ours turning from us for many reasons. We do not wish to give him cause to come to doubt the balance. As you may recall, you bowed out when he was being considered for his path and this posting -- as you should have, though most proud and hopeful parents would not have done this, seeking the fame and prestige of basking in the reflected spotlight. You have no such need, Ny'Zeille.

Dahlgren Runei was chosen because he was the best that we could send to that troubled world, and he has only gotten better, a source of pride to us all, acting alone as he has. If he were to step down, there is no other that we could send and have no reservations over the replacement's very survival. Worse, imagine if he were to hold a grudge. The loss to the faith would be great indeed."

"Then I will remove the problem." the demon said, "and I'll deal with Dahlgren's hurt feelings afterward."

"A short-sighted response," the voices said, "and completely uncharacteristic of you as well, though it is understandable.

No. You will do as you originally stated before you knew of the girl's background. You will welcome her into your rather famous family and you will learn what you may of her. We believe that she may be of value, the nature of her unconventional heritage notwithstanding. She has something in common with Nahl'een, having had to make her way alone, and finding that she could survive on the strength of her own abilities.

We lack understanding as to how she came to be made. It was not thought possible for a spawning such as this to occur. We need to know more.

Have a care about how you approach this, and do not think to be heavy-handed here. Nahl'een must not be placed into harm's way, and there is love between father and daughter -- even though there is no blood-tie between them. It must be taken into account as well. React the wrong way, and we all lose this chance to learn of a remarkable individual out of your dislike of what she is. React out of blindness and a sense of hurt, and you could lose your own son to you.

As your own parents lost you.

We cannot preach to maintain balance if we do not allow for the effect of chaos. It happens, Ny'Zeille. On that world, it is possible for it to snow in the summertime at the middle latitudes -- it is only not likely."

"Just as it is not likely that I want to welcome her," the demon growled.

"Nevertheless, you will, "she was told. "Prepare yourself, Esteemed One, and try to bear the, ... mercurial nature of the blood that she carries in mind as well."

The idol began to drone out its final benediction to her, but Ny'Zeille wasn't listening as she bowed her head.

She had a good reason to keep her gaze down.

It prevented them all from seeing the hot red glow of her eyes.

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Faith was past tired of all of this senseless flapping and hopping. The muscles around the joints where her wings were attached were screaming to her of their aching tiredness and she felt like an idiot.

She was very glad that there were no others here to see her in the middle of this foolishness, though she was coming to suspect the birds who came to perch in the nearby trees of smirking when she wasn't looking. She was sure they were watching her. There was even a vulture who stood not far off, looking on. At least she had a plausible explanation for that, Faith told herself, the bastard was obviously waiting patiently for her to flap herself to death.

"Aw, come on, Dahlgren, "she whined, "Can I please stop now? I'm never gonna be able to fly. You're just sitting there making me do this so that you can smile at me like that." She walked closer to him and put a little more whine into it, "Please?"

He shook his head, though he was still smiling, "You sound a little like my daughter. I hate to tell you this, but I'm already immune to whining. I'm not enjoying your discomfort. I know how this must feel for you. But you wanted to come with me, and I'm not going to walk back. I can't carry you everywhere forever either. Keep the thought in your mind that this is better than having to carry wings around which you can't use. Just keep trying a little while longer, and that'll have to do for today, I guess. We can begin again tomorrow."

"Shit," she groaned, "you're not gonna let me give up and forget about it, are you?"

"No," he said, putting his hands on her hips to look encouragingly at her, "I'm not. Once you meet with only a little success, I know that it will be enough for you to want to go on. You have always wanted to be able to fly. Now you have wings, and it's at least possible for you."

"I know," she said softly as she leaned forward to nuzzle her face against his throat. "I am grateful for what you're doing. Don't mind my bitching. I know there's a lot of things for me to learn."

"One thing at a time," he nodded, "and this is one of the hardest ones. You should take your own advice," he said, "I think that you only need to have a little faith."

She groaned softly into his ear and it made him shiver. "I think I'd rather have a little more Dahlgren," she whispered after she'd licked his ear. "You make me believe in myself. I'm even becoming a little happy to have my little tits, the way that you make them feel when you kiss on them the way that you do. It feels so nice to hold you then. You keep me in just the right place, right in between wanting to lie with you like that forever and bein' one thin hair away from needin' you to fuck me stupid again."

"You try just a little longer," he said, "and I promise that I'll rub those poor muscles there on your back for you for a good long while. The stew in that old pot that we found ought to be ready soon, and we can eat. I'll do my best to make you feel better."

She drew her face back and he saw the wicked little grin there. "You gonna rub a few more poor things on me too, then? I'm achin' all over Dahlgren, in some pretty surprising places, just so you know."

"I will," he said.

"Promise?" she smiled hopefully, "You promise me, and I'll try to figure out how to go a little wild on you like the way I did before, though I don't even rightly know what happened. You were radishing me, and I just felt wild and free. Then we went at each other and I was so happy. I know that, 'cause we'd just stopped in the middle and said our words to each other. Right after that, I felt like somethin' changed in me and when we got back to it, I, ... well, I just lost myself on you, is all." She kissed him for a minute.

"I promise," he smiled, and Faith walked off a little to give herself some space. She didn't know what had happened to her, but Dahlgren had just a clue, and some of it related to what she was. The rest was a guess to him, but the way that he saw it, she'd spent a large portion of her life just tromping from one place to another with nothing to look forward to, other than the hope of finding something to eat for herself. He wasn't the kind to give himself much credit, but he now supposed that Faith had a reason to feel happiness. That, combined with however she'd been raised as a young girl, and with a touch of the wildness which red demons carried, it began to make sense. But there was also that other factor which he couldn't ignore.