A Taste Chaos Ch. 03

Layla and Ariel spent a large amount of time around Damiex just like they both wanted and had always asked of him. Ariel still ran and organized his projects and life and Layla assisted her with everything. They also kept up Damiex's training, it would be a long time before they would let him relax on his training. It wasn't every single day anymore but it was still most days and a significant amount of time.

Amaranda had been spending a lot of time in her shop working on projects herself. She managed to always make Damiex's training sessions but she was just as busy as the others.

In fact Damiex was the only one that regularly had the most free time. When he brought it up and complained about it to Ariel she shut him down and explained it to him. One, he was the Lord of Lust and as Asz had pointed out from the very first night, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted. No one could make demands of him (save for his ladies but he wasn't about to being that up to her) and if he so chose he could fuck off all day every day. Two however, was that as he had already proven, he was the idea man, the dreamer. It was his vision that was being created but it was also his job to delegate. He simply couldn't do all of them himself and he was too important to try to do it all alone as well. She also reminded him as did Layla right behind her, by allowing his Sins and ladies to take charge of these various things he was making them happy and giving them a sense of pride and accomplishment.

So with his extra free time he spent it doing one of two things. One was he spent a lot of time at first in his office and then later in the grand library learning and reading. He first went through the various tomes and spellbooks that were in his personal collection furthering his knowledge and understanding of greater degrees and intricacies of magic, but then moved onto the library and focused his studies on Earth. Some of it was about past history, but he spent most of his time learning as much as he could about the current climate on Earth and the various governments and technologies. The more he learned the more he wanted to introduce more and new technologies to his own land. He decided that a mix between a magical society and a technological one would be a blending and balanced case of the best of both worlds.

Most recently however he had moved onto researching the great Pagan Wars when they were all exiled. He had a special reason for this but for now had kept it to himself as he quietly started making plans.

The other thing he did with his free time was to make a point of scheduling some one on one time with all of his ladies as well as his male Sins. With Ariel he went out on rides on the Ducati at times but they spent most of their days together anyways. With Alissa he walked the grounds and the Palace and watched as she made her art and even took a day trip to Ice Falls and visited with her mother.

With Lunara he was sure to schedule a private dance or two with her each week, he would never get over just how hot and sexy she was and he loved to watch her dance and strip. It would always end with her fucked within an inch of her life and smiling wildly. They also spent some time riding and flying together on their Nightmares. With Willow they also took time to ride and fly together and he also spent time learning about her magic as a witch and watching her brew things or work in her garden near his private waterfall.

Cassius just loved to have fun. One time they went out drinking at a few brothels where Damiex got drunk enough to lose control and shut down the brothel for the afternoon. Between him and Cassius they fucked the entire whorehouse and left each and every succubus with a permanent smile plastered to their faces. Another few times they went to an underground coliseum and entered a few tournaments with Damiex polymorphed and all of his appendages sucked in so no one knew who he was. He and Cassius cleaned up together each time they went.

With Zaxen it was much different. Zaxen really was maturity, and when he could he loved to simply work the Land on the farms and work with the animals. Zaxen and Damiex would work hard but quietly with smiles on their faces and then relax in a private field and drink beer and just talk about life and hopes and dreams. It was a simple and slow time and they both relished it when they could.

When Damiex would spend time with Amaranda he would learn a lot. She loved to craft and enchant and she had begun to teach him the art of enchanting. They also explored new aspects of Damiex's magic and he was even teaching her some things as well. They would spend time in his office, the library, the training grounds and also her new shop in the Palace. She never showed him the work on the project she had for him but he did get to see her working on Willow's staff at one point. She had told him earlier that week that she was nearly done with her projects and they would all see them soon.

He took the time to seek out Xixian as well. He was a military buff and they spent a lot of time talking tactics and going through past battles and breaking them down. It wasn't the point but Damiex always came away with a better understanding after talking to Xixian and was becoming a much better and smarter military commander. Xixian also walked him around the Palace and introduced him to his troops and spoke to them as they watched them drill and practice. Damiex got a new appreciation for just how much time and effort all of his forces put in at his home.

Layla, similar to Ariel, was the easiest and the hardest at the same time. She and Ariel spent most of their days with him anyways but he wanted to still put in the effort but she didn't have a whole lot of her own desires or hobbies. Her whole life had been either about fighting for Heaven, or being alone. Slowly Damiex was bringing her out of her shell and introducing her to life and he loved watching her experience anything new to her. So far the two passions they had found for her was both surprising and at the same time not very. One was her love of submission to him. She was always happiest after a private session with him where he would bind her and string her up before whipping her and fucking her silly. Any stress or angst or worry would disappear and she would be relaxed and happy and content for the rest of the day. She also fell in love with flying with him. She didn't want her own Nightmare, but just like their first flight together when he saved her life, she loved to sit in front of him on Shi-Drakon and fly through the sky together.

And finally with Alizay, since she always took care of him and saw to his every need he spoiled her and reversed it on her. He took her out on a few romantic dates into the Capital and had people wait on her every need. He took her to a spa and had her done with every treatment and then took her to a wonderful romantic meal. She was blissfully happy and felt very loved and treasured.

The one thing that Damiex had insisted on with everyone going in so many directions was that they all had to get together and relax as a family. Xixian with his duties could only join them on some occasions but Damiex was glad he could join in at all.

That was where Damiex found himself tonight. Layla was in his lap and he was running his hands through her hair as she relaxed against him and watched everything going on. Ariel and Serenity were leaned against him snuggling on their couch and everyone was talking and having a few drinks and catching up on what they all did today and news of each of their projects and interests. Amaranda who was seated off to Damiex's left stood up holding her wine glass and clicked her nails against it causing it to ring getting everyone's attention. She glanced at Alizay who nodded slightly and stepped away and came back holding two packages. One tall and thin, and one large box before she handed them to Amaranda.

"All of you know that I've been busy and spending a lot of time working on a few projects. I've finished them and wanted to present them tonight now that they are finished. They are for Willow and my mystery project was of course for our Lord Damiex. Willow we will start with yours."

She handed over the tall slim box and Willow took it excitedly and opened it pulling out a beautiful 5 foot staff. It had a solid metal cap on one end encasing around 6" of the bottom end. On top of it was a large brilliantly cut emerald the size of a golf ball with the wood carved and twisted around it holding it in an organic cage. Runes were carved in a spiraling pattern down the entire length of the staff and the whole thing had a queer color to it. The wood was a mixture of greens and browns and silvers all streaked and swirled together.

Willow's fingers reverently traced over the staff as she inspected it smiling the whole time. When she finally looked up Amaranda smiled at her indulgently and spoke.

"There are several things to know about it but let's start with what it's made from. This is made from wraith wood, it's a very rare tree that only grows in one part of the Circle. It is very light, very strong, very durable, and most importantly is resistant to magic. It acts as an insulator so you can very effectively channel magic through it, but most importantly you can use it to help block magic with it to keep you safe. It's one of the few materials we know that actively fuck with magic when used against it. The end cap is solid platinum and very durable and hard. The runes you already know about, I got them from you and carved them myself. You know more of what they do than I do. The emerald on top however is not only very pretty and very large but is a natural reservoir for your power. It can hold a lot of energy and you can charge it and store it in there so that you don't always have to use your own energy."

Amaranda paused and she could see everyone was rapt with attention as she spoke.

"The most significant thing about the staff however is that it was made and fused with an elder dryad spirit. It was a powerful nature spirit and as a result it comes with two main powers. One is that the staff is now basically a living thing. It can grow, shrink, sprout vines, twist, you name it. Whatever you want it to do it will within reason, you'll have to experiment and find out the limits of just like with any new weapon. Use your imagination is the advice I would offer you."

Willow gasped at that and her smile grew even wider.

"The other power this grants you is a limited command of nature thanks to the dryad's spirit. You can commune with and to some degree command nature which I think is perfect for our resident witch. You can't exactly have a conversation with plants or animals but you can get impressions from them and learn certain things. You can also command them to a degree. You couldn't tell a squirrel to go run into a wolves mouth, but you could tell a bird to go scout ahead and tell you what it sees, or for vines to wrap around something and snare it. Like I said not complete command but definitely some limited ability. Again you'll have to practice and explore the limits of it but I think it will be a perfect partner for a nature witch."

When she finished everyone cheered and Willow stood up and wrapped her arms around her sister thanking her and telling her she loved it.

"It's so perfect I absolutely love it and this will help so much with all of my magic and work, even on the farms and with the animals! Thank you so much sister, I love it and I love you too!"

When they sat back down Amaranda turned her attention to Damiex and everyone looked at the larger box sitting on Layla's lap holding it for him as he held her. She scooted around a bit and handed the box to him and he unwrapped it. Inside was a beautiful and intricately carved dark wood box that was hinged. On the top of the box was the same seal that Alissa had come up with for his coat of arms.

Amaranda smiled at him. "Open it love."

Damiex reached forward and unclasped the lock and then opened it. As the contents came into view everyone around him that could see it gasped. Inside was a crown, a very unique crown that is. It was mostly black but there were many golden highlights and accents on it and spaced evenly around the perimeter were the twelve dragon heart stones. The main loop looked to be a woven knot work design with thorns sticking out of it and what looked like talons stuck up around it grasping and holding the large heart stones in their clutches. The strange part was on the front and along the sides there were gaps and notches and slots around it that he didn't understand at first.

Amaranda reached in and took it out and held it. "You are not only our Lord and the Ruler of Lust, but I know in time you will grow and become even greater than you are now. You need a crown and this one is yours."

She moved behind him and lowered it over his head. Everyone suddenly understood the notches and grooves as it slid down around and between his crown of horns. She settled it and then tapped one of the heart stones twice with her nail and suddenly the metal moved around his horns wrapping and spiraling around them and locking into place. The black and gold crown now looked like it was part of him. She moved back in front of him and beamed in pride as she saw it on him.

"I made it out of solid gold. The black metal that you see is just an enchantment I used to change the appearance, so even though it may not look it, it is solid gold. As for what it does, let's start small and go from there. Like with Willow's emerald, each of the twelve heart stones is a magical reservoir. Though because they are heart stones the amount they can store is amazing, you can store enough in each one for one full power blast of all your magic. It will take time to charge them all but you can store a lot of power in your crown. The other benefit is that it makes you immune to any mental probing or manipulation. No mind control, no illusions, no magical lies and all that. Everything so far though is more of a byproduct really. Everyone else is finding out now and only you knew before, but what makes this so special besides from the stones, is that I made this with an ancient dragon's soul."

Everyone gasped at that, any kind of dragon souls hadn't been seen in a long long time but an ancient was legendary. Damiex hadn't spilled the beans and knew that Amaranda would eventually tell them anyways.

"What makes your crown so powerful and dangerous is that it is basically a direct upgrade to the necklace that Serenity gave you when you were wed. When you are wearing it anything you say can be a command. What I mean by that is when you put power into your voice and you will it so, anything you say becomes a command that cannot be broken. In this case anyone with less power than you has to obey, anyone with more power than you can fight it. This is literally your right to rule. With you being the strongest being in the Circles, if you chose to you could honestly command anyone. Be very very careful with this."

Layla got off his lap and he stood up and took Amaranda into his arms and proceeded to kiss her breathless. "Thank you my love, you really did make a true masterpiece and I will wear it with pride. I won't let you down."

Amaranda smiled at him as she stroked his face. "If it were for anyone else I never would have made it. It is extremely powerful and could be used terribly, but you're a good man and I trust you. We all trust you and we know you will use that power responsibly. You already posses terrifying power, so in many ways this is nothing new. But we all already believe in you."

After that they all sat back down and went back to talking and drinking while everyone praised Amaranda's skill and ability and also congratulated her on her achievements. Damiex did speak with Serenity and Amaranda about his necklace. He didn't want it to go to waste even though it wasn't needed for him now. Serenity and Amaranda agreed to have it redone in a feminine fashion and Serenity would wear it going forward. Anything to keep the ones he loved safe.

They quickly rejoined everyone and music was playing on the stereo as they drank and socialized. When the evening was winding down Damiex snapped his fingers and the music stopped causing a lull in the conversation. All eyes turned to Damiex and he smiled at them.

"I have one last announcement to make this evening. We are all going on a trip soon, in fact we leave the day after tomorrow."

Everyone started talking at once, even Serenity and Ariel weren't aware of this.

"Where?"

"What's going on?"

"Is it another Circle?"

"Is it Earth again?"

"What are you planning this time?"

Damiex just waited for everyone to calm down before he spoke.

"I'm going to find my Father. We are going to one of the forbidden worlds."

Ariel spoke for all of them as usual. "Why love, why now and what for?"

Damiex paused and gathered his thoughts. He had a stern look to his features.

"I need to know. It's the oldest question I've ever had. I've always wondered who my parents were. Now I have a clue and a way to get more answers. It's like a splinter in my mind and it digs in and is always there. I need to know why I am what I am. I need answers. I feel that it will help clarify what I want to do in the future as well, but I need answers. Now I have the time and the ability so I'm going. All of you are coming because many of you wouldn't let me go without you, and I think this might end up being a bit of an ambassodorial visit as well. I just don't think this is going to be a confrontational visit, I don't know that for sure but I just don't get that sense but we shall see."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, when he opened them he continued.

"I also need to see where I was born. I need to see the Chaos. I feel this instinctual pull to it and feel it in my blood. I have no idea what if anything will happen but I need to do it. For that trip only I'm going."

He heard both Ariel and Serenity start to protest.

"Ok only me and these two since they will follow me even if I try to go alone. I don't want anyone else exposed to it, it's just too dangerous."

Serenity pulled his head down and kissed him before speaking.

"We are all with you all the way my love. If you need to do this then we are all behind you and will see it done. We will be ready and we're looking forward to a new adventure. But how do you know where to go?"

Damiex smiled, "Durandal can feel it from the chaos inside of me. She can trace it back to the source and there is only one world to our knowledge that has both my Father and a source of Chaos on it. She will get us there."

Ariel nodded and whistled. "She is quite special and powerful, we're lucky she took a liking to you. She's made all of our lives a lot easier many times now."

It was late and after that the little party broke up and they made their way to bed, their trip to the forbidden world heavy on all of their minds.