A Scandal of a Magical Sort Ch. 04

Chapter 4 - Aged and Chilled

It took a few days for Mels to realize that revitalizing the prince, visiting Caphina's underground, fucking the Novnis sisters, and finding that owlith, all happened on one day. And he even hadn't found time to sleep that day. He lay in his bed in their shared room at the Midnight Stallion, thinking over the past few days. Simply put, they were uneventful.

When he and Christi brought that second parasite to Aylala that night and explained how they retrieved it, he remembered seeing their mentor go through a variety of emotions. Pride, initially from their accomplishments, then a solemn worry for the two of them, and it only spiraled from there. She took the second parasite from them and combined it with the first. What once was a writhing bug turned into a spasming, outright violent centipede-like creature, banging against the walls of Aylala's golden bubble. She told the two of them that she needed to bring the parasite to a Church of Sage in order to properly trace its origin, explaining their collaboration with the House of Sorisancta. She instructed Mels and Christi to stay at the tavern while she was gone in order to avoid being detected by the king's men.

And thus, he and Christi spent the next two days catching up on sleep, chatting with Stotian the bartender, and debating whether or not it would be safe to visit the Lonely Nest again. Christi especially seem to pry more than usual, curious to hear the details of Mels' "encounter" with the kobolds, but he was reluctant to share, more than usual, and Christi was unafraid to point it out.

"What don't you want me to know, Melyssi?"

Mels was able to dismiss her by saying he never asked for details about her and the dancer group, but Mels still reflected on that night and the strange energy that seemed to take over his whole body. He told Christi that it wasn't like Corruption when it happened again with the owlith girl Yynos, but with time, he became less sure. He racked his brain with what could have triggered them but came up with nothing. Except...

Could it be because I was horny?

Mels was in two minds about what he did to Eonis. On one hand, he had never lasted that long before, and more than anything, it was a spectacle of pleasure and bouncing flesh. It was a fond memory. On the other hand, he barely felt in control of himself, and he's never been that rough before. Not even with Eudosa he thought with a bemused smile. Though I bet she would enjoy it.

He decided to get up to prevent himself from finishing that thought. He walked downstairs and onto the first floor. As it was the morning, there were only a few customers, but to his surprise, there was still music in the form of a lute. Looking at the stage, he was almost shocked to see who the player was:

Christi sat on the stool while on stage, lightly strumming the lute. She was looking downwards so she couldn't see him stop at the first landing of the stairs. Taking a moment to lean against the railing, he noticed that she was once again dressed in her silver mage uniform. His eyes carefully trailed his eyes down from her blonde hair, down to the profile of her face and lips, to the curve of his breasts, to her smooth belly, then finally to her hands as she continued to play.

Mels didn't know how many minutes he stood there admiring her, but he eventually looked to the island bar and stood up straight as he noticed Stotian looking at him with a knowing smirk. Blushing with embarrassment, he climbed down the rest of the stairs and to the bar, taking a few more glances at Christi. He sat down, leaning against the bar, looking straight at the centaur as he cleaned his glasses.

"If you was expect'n I was going to make jokes at your expense..." he started.

"No its fine," Melyssi said. "I would have made fun of myself if I saw myself standing over there like an idiot."

Stotian sighed and paused his work. "Look, I ain't try'n to be your daddy, but you clearly like 'er. And from I've been see'n, she likes you too." Mels sat up straight and looked back to the still-playing Christi. "You's clearly not a shy lad, so I gotta ask, the pry'n bastard I am, what's hold'n you back?"

Mels looked back, awkwardly adjusted his seat, and leaned on the bar. "Well," he said "the way I met her, she and Aylala, the owlith, were building a mage tower in my town. Being a small, peaceful town, it stood out like a sore thumb. I had to see what they were doing, as I heard only of mage towers being in towns in need of protection. After introductions, Aylala told me that the House of Sorisancta was overflowing with members, so the 'delegation' of mages to smaller towns-

"You're stalli'n, kid," Stotian said, looking down with that familiar smirk. "I didn't ask about no towers or 'delegation.' I asked about you and the golden lass."

"Her name is Christi," Mels said, surprised to find more than a hint of anger in his voice. He took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's just that, I've... been with most of the other girls in my town. And I wanted to be with her too, so I decided I wanted to learn magic to get close to her. But the more I learned magic, and the more stories she shared as she mentored me, I became aware that I wanted to learn magic for my own sake. And over the next few years, I think that crossed a wire in my brain with my desire to sleep with her, and I began to admire her outside of... you know."

As Mels paused in his monologue, he looked up to find Stotian looking down with a kind expression, fully enraptured by Mels' story. And Mels continued, saying "Soon it felt, almost wrong to just fuck. Now I... actually wanted to be with her. And I've never felt that way about anybody else before. I know that's sappy, but-"

"Ain't noth'n to be embarrassed about, Mels," Stotian said softly. "We was all young once before, unable to explain why we was obsessed with a lad or lass. And I thank you for shar'n that with me, even though you didn't have to." He then placed a hand on Mels' shoulder. "Like I said I'm not your daddy, but take my advice when I say, the longer you wait, the harder it will be to confess."

With perfect timing, Christi's final note punctuated Stotian's statement. He, Mels, and the few patrons gave her applause. As she handed the lute back to the old nymphling from the other day, she looked up to notice Mels clapping and smiled. For the first time, he couldn't tell if it was an appreciative smile or a smile like she knew what he and the centaur were talking about, even though that was impossible. He stopped as she walked over and sat next to him, and Stotian took his cue to tend to another patron.

"Up earlier than yesterday I see," she said, leaning against the bar to meet Mels' gaze. "Don't know about you, but I could hardly sleep on those beds. They're nothing like the ones at the Lonely Nest."

"That's probably because they're made for..." he started, before trailing off noticing her smirk. He nervously scratched behind his pointed ear and cleared his throat. "Well, I could barely sleep because of Aylala. Don't you think it's a bit strange it's taking this long to visit a church?"

"Nice save, Mels. But you're right, it has been quite a while. I wish she told us when she'll be back."

"So do I," Stotian said, suddenly in front of them again with a grin. "Lass got more chest than most anyone I've seen walk up in here. I see how she be look'n at me. I can tell, she wants a ride on the midnight stallion for sure."

"Keep it in your sheath, Stotian," Christi said through laughter, and Mels found himself laughing too. When he saw the bartender wink at him, he realized that he was quite tense during that conversation. Stotian's right, I've been getting more nervous around Christi lately Mels thought to himself as the trio continued to banter. I really should ask her about... us, sooner rather than later. I bet it would be easier with that strange magic from before.

"Ah, we were just talk'n about cha'!" Stotian suddenly blurted it out, and Mels turned around to see Aylala standing at the entrance. She was grinning with half-lidded eyes at the centaur, but Mels could see that she was fiddling with a pouch at her waist. Mels tried to remember a time he's seen her do that before, but couldn't.

Something's wrong .

"Any part of me in particular, Stotian?" Aylala asked smoothly as she sashayed into the tavern, undeterred by how the centaur licked his lips at the sight of bouncing breasts in her skimpy mage outfit.

"Well, you can't blame any me or any other warm-blooded man for such a discussion, consider'n how you're flaut'n those funbags of yours."

"Now, is that any way to talk to a lady?" she quipped back, now right behind Mels and Christi. Before either of them could make quips of their own, she bent at the waist to whisper directly into their ears. It was almost too quiet for Mels to hear.

"Follow me upstairs, quickly."

" 'Lady?' I've met plenty of ladies," Stotian continued, seemingly none the wise as he talked directly to her mile-long cleavage. "You are a slut. And you know it."

Aylala said nothing as she stood up slowly, giving everyone there an eyeful of her mostly exposed bust. She walked around the bar and was tall enough to sit on it with ease, whispering in his ear. Whatever she said, Stotian clearly liked as he nipped at the fur on her neck as she moved away from him. Mels was so focused on the show the two put on as he nearly forgot her instruction, and got up to follow Aylala's wide, swinging hips up the stairs, with Christi slowly behind them.

They make it to their room in a few short moments, and the owlith wasted no time in igniting the ribbons along her arm to move the beds against the door. Mels and Christi got out of the way as she worked.

"Um, Aylala?" Mels was the first to ask. "Is something wrong?"

"We've been found out," she stated simply. "Stand back. We have to move fast."

"Wait, what?" Christi asks. "Find out by who?"

Aylala, standing before a now empty floor, takes out a piece of chalk from a pouch on her hip, and, using her magic, starts drawing on the floor.

"I've been a fool, I should have been more careful," Aylala continues as she draws. "Of course, the Grand Advisor would have eyes in the church of sage."

Mels eyes widened in surprise as Aylala continued to draw. He couldn't possibly begin to parse it, but it started to form a series of runes, both familiar and not, inside of a circle. One rune looked like the insignia of the House of Sorisancta, which he recognized from Aylala's and Christi's loincloth: the form of a curvy woman thrusting a sword upwards, both of which wrapped in wings.

"So what do we do?" Christi says, interrupting Mels' trance.

"You and Melyssi will be returning to Mels," Aylala stated matter of factly.

The fuck? Why?"

Aylala, having finished the elaborate symbol, snapped her head towards Christi.

"The both of you did well in retrieving another parasite from that owlith. And with the Church of Sage, I was able to quickly discern the Corruption's origin. However, that is where your ability to assist in this matter ends. The Corruption was brought into this world by a demon of great, immense power and influence. So much so that as I meditated to find its name, it fought back." As she punctuates the last statement, she brushes her hand against her exposed side. Mels looked closely, and could just make out the outline of a fading purple scar, shaped like lightning.

Aylala continues as she stepped into the symbol's circle. "I need to travel far away in order to gather more information. You two will not be joining me, it's too dangerous."

"Fuck that," Mels suddenly blurted out, taking a step forward. "We helped with the prince, we can help here."

"I'm sorry Melyssi, I couldn't live myself if anything happened to either of you. You've already proven yourselves." Aylala smiled sweetly as the wind started to pick up in the room, whipping at everyone's clothes. She looked to the eerily silent Christi, who wore a serious face. The chalk lines then started to glow golden.

"Don't go downstairs, guards are likely already here. Hopefully, per my instruction, Stotian would have set an escape through his cellar that leads outside the city. If you leave now, you will be able to head toward Kelna and escape the crown's jurisdiction.

At this point the golden glow of the sigil became overwhelming, and Mels had to shield his eyes. Similarly, the wind threatened to rip his clothes from his body.

"AYLALA!"

"Good luck to the both of you," she said. "I'll see you soon." And with that, the wind suddenly shifted and pulled inwards, nearly sweeping Mels off his feet. It heightened a deafening whine, and then suddenly, a large boom as a blinding light filled the room. It lasted for a moment, before it suddenly faded, leaving the room the quiet and disheveled. He and Christi simply stood there in silence. He looked towards Christi, who had her head hanging as she adjusted her top.

Mels didn't want to feel it but started to get angry. You better come back, Aylala.

Suddenly, a pounding on the blocked door startled the both of them. "BY DECREE OF HIS MAJESTY KING LANMOND V, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST! OPEN UP, WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" shouted someone from the other side. Mels, overwhelmed with emotion, simply stared at the door as the pounding continued.

Mels then felt Christi tugging him towards the opposite of the room. "We can leave through the window. Come on," she said calmly, as he let her lead him to the window. The pounding increased as she Christi opened the window and climbed through. She straddled the window as she looked back at him.

"Christi..." he said softly, as his voice died in his throat. She smiled in response and held out her hand for him. He takes it immediately as the both of them fled through the window.

---

The warmth of the golden glow was quickly replaced by an immense cold. In an instant Aylala used her magic to wrap her body in her head, taking a few deep breaths as she stepped away from the sigil. She stood in a cave of ice, the sunlight being filtered through the roof. Despite the cold a small, flowing river enclosed the platform that contained the sigil. As she looked down the tunnel that lead outside, she looked back and sighed deeply.

Please stay safe she thought solemnly as she continued on, pulling the cloak of her hood over her head.

It took a few minutes to climb through the tunnel and out of the cave, but once she did she stepped onto fresh powder. Snow was falling, but there was no wind, as the valley she stepped into was still and quiet. It seemed no creature other than her was stirring, and she knew that it wasn't because of the cold. She took a few steps from the cave's entrance and up to a cliff to look down at a frozen lake. It stretched out for miles before her, and strangely, did not have any snow on its surface. The cliffs that surrounded the lake rose straight and shear staggered like walls of a keep. The cliff Aylala stood at was no different, as she leaned over to see how far down the lake was.

She took several steps back, up to the entrance of the cave, took a stance, and sprinted towards the cliff. In seconds she was in the air, and the ribbons on her arms activated. An upwind pushed at her cloak to form a parachute, and she fell slowly down to the lake. She deactivated the spell a feet above the ground and landed softly. She tapped at the surface with her talons. Completely sturdy. With confidence, she walked forward onto the ice as she troubled her mind with strategy. She observed the flowing colors under the face, rives of purples and pinks mixing like paint. If she didn't know any better she would have thought it was beautiful.

It was several minutes and an immense distance from where she landed that she finally noticed something on the surface. It was in the distance, but it stood out against the utterly empty and flat surface of the lake. She stopped in her tracks, standing in a power pose, and waited. She was dead focused on the obscured figure, waiting for something. She was rewarded as the figure seemingly fell into the frozen surface, leaving Aylala alone once again.

Nevertheless, she did not flinch as the figure of a human man emerged from the ice right in front of her. Aylala stood tall at seven feet, yet the man was still a head taller. His skin was a pale blue like it was made of the same ice as the frozen lake. Despite this, he had a full head of flowing hair, suspended in the air like he was floating in water. Aylala studied him head to toe, from his pointed, nymphling-like ears, to his well-defined pecs and abdomen, to his nearly foot-long cock swinging flacidly between his legs. Aylala looked back up to find he was grinning wantonly at her.

"It's been too long since I had silver mage brave my doorstep," he said slowly, his voice like a whisper on the winter wind.

"Not many are as brave as me, Ythli," she said, voice dripping with lust. She took a step forward and pressed her large bust against him, tracing a finger along his stomach.

"Careful, owlith. I might melt," he responded sensually, shamelessly taking a breast in his hand. Aylala noticed that his cock started to twitch and come alive. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Aylala resisted the urge to grab his hardening cock, and stepped away from his grasp. "Sorry that I must disappoint you. I'm here on behalf of the house, tracking down a Greater Miasma, and I must speak with Ythlan."

Ythli gave a deep sigh at her response, glancing down at the surface beneath him. "Demon slaying, of course. I'd say to stay away from my brother, but you wouldn't be here in the first place if it weren't necessary." He gave his softening cock a few strokes. "Are you certain I can't persuade you otherwise?"

"I'm afraid not," she said, unable to resist smiling. Then, with a nod, Ythli sank straight through the ice, effortless and smooth. In the spot where he stood, there wasn't even a crack. Aylala continued to stand proudly as the surface began to shake. A deep rumbling emanated from beneath the surface. Before her, the ice sank beneath the surface and formed a descending staircase. It took a few seconds before the rumbling stopped, and as Aylala began to step down them, a sudden wind blew across the surface of the ice, and she hear a voice.

"Be careful," Ythli said, a whisper that was gone in an instant, along with the wind. Aylala paused for a moment, staring down the stairs, eventually descending.

Reaching the bottom, she stood before a hallway made of ice, shaped and chiseled like a palace. Chandeliers, suits of armor, pillars, and arches, all made of pristine ice. As the stairs raised behind her and reformed the ceiling, she began to hear whispers in her mind. Not like Ythli. Something much alluring, poking and prying at her mind. The very air around her seemed to be wanting to weigh her down, trap her under a thick blanket of heat.

Corruption Aylala thought.

She parted her cloak and exposed her belly, beginning to trace along it as she whispers. The voices in her mind were slowly silenced as her abdomen began to glow a faint gold. On her stomach lines began to follow her tracing fingers, and eventually came to form a sigil: a woman with a raised sword, wrapped in wings. Her belly was warm like she was full from a hot soup. Suddenly she felt a burning at her side and she winced, looking down at where her lighting-shaped scar began to glow a soft purple.

Come on Aylala, concentrate she demanded of herself. Taking deep, meditative breaths, she stopped her tracing and began to walk forward, as the sigil eventually faded from her belly.

Despite no direction she confidently walked through the maze-like palace of ice, taking turns and down some flights of stairs, walking past opened doors. The voices in her mind were gone, but the energy around her only became heavier as she neared her goal. Minutes later she came to a stop in front of intricately designed double doors. Aylala steeled her nerves, placing a hand right at the center of the doors. It was warm to the touch. He's here she thought, and walked through.