Flame of Cytherea 01

It wasn't until later; she learned his father was highly placed in the nobility. The king in a tough position, decided to send them on a six month mission to the southern border on patrol duties. He hoped that would give time for emotions to settle. She knew the king wrestled with having enough troops to cover the southern border at all times, and the raids that came every few years caused suffering down there.

They always managed to force a retreat when a response was made, but it never seemed to be enough. He had briefed them to keep a close eye out, that another raid was likely to happen soon and to do what they could to protect the villages down there, and get an earlier warning back to him than usual. Perhaps that would help keep the casualties to a minimum.

The king had been killing two birds with one stone when he sent her group south.

They were tough, the nine women were confident they could handle anything, after all they had already proven that singly before being recruited. Together they were unstoppable. The talents in their group were air, fire, earth, telekinesis, affinity with weapons, hypnotism, mind reading, speed, and their most powerful member was a mage, the ability to control actual magic.

Just a few days ago, they had found an army gathering on the other side of the border. They spied the best they could from the Abelaweth side of the border for three days to get the enemy numbers. Her and Bria, the speed talent, were going to run back north and warn the king, if he responded quickly enough, perhaps it could be stopped before it started.

They were confident... they were fools and underestimated the enemy.

A simple assassin had infiltrated their camp with a silence talent as far as she could figure. Whatever led up to when she awoke or even why she did she would never know. All she knew was she woke up with a spike of fear, fully alert. She could hear nothing, the forest was silent and a man stood over her, a knife aimed for her throat.

She reacted instinctively. I tight blast of air snapped his neck back while twisting it, it was so strong it stripped the skin off of one side of his face and he died as his spinal cord snapped. She stood and looked around, the rest of her unit was dead, she could see the blood pooling beneath them. What had waked her up? She took notice of the sounds coming to life around her as the assassin's magic died with him. She appeared to be surrounded.

Instincts and training took over, she took three steps to the north and jumped, calling the wind to her. She flew a few hundred yards, over and past the enemy. She had cushioned her landing and started the run north. She wanted nothing else but to turn around and kill them all in revenge. She was so tempted to just keep fighting and killing until she was taken down. Her family was dead. Once again, she was alone.

But... she had a duty. Her sisters would not thank her if she did not warn the king, if she put her revenge over ensuring the protection of the southern villages. Once her duty was done... then she would seek revenge. She was moving so swiftly, she knew she would arrive back at the capital in hours, when it took over a week to reach the southern border at a normal walking speed.

She ran wondering why she was still alive, wondering why she had even woke, she should be with her sisters, she should be dead. By tomorrow afternoon she would once again be in the south, her duty satisfied she would not need to run again...

--------

Arnath stared coldly at the dead assassin on the floor. The fool had let one escape. He growled, wishing he could kill the other incompetent as well, but the air user had already seen to that. He was old for a soldier in the Egerian military. Had reached the rank of colonel.

He had already participated in five campaigns. In the past, they had simply raided the southern villages, taking everything of value, along with young woman and children for slave labor. Then they slipped back out across the Egerian border before any serious engagements with the Abelaweth military. Their king was a coward and never followed them past the border.

But this time it was different, his king had died. The successor to the throne had ordered a full invasion, he wanted to expand, gain more power. There were also rumors the king had made a deal with a new god, trying to usurp the world from Cytherea. Arnath really didn't care about that, as long as he got his fill of conquest and fresh women to train, he would be satisfied. Still, letting a woman escape, no matter her power, was inexcusable. Not when they had planned so meticulously.

"Remove the corpse, and get ready to march. Send orders for the rest of the troops to catch up when they can."

He was still furious, he had lost the element of surprise. They would still win of course, but he had been looking forward to having a new slave girl for a few weeks before the actual battles happened, not to mention choosing where and having his men fortify the location to engage the Abelaweth troops. Now everything would be rushed. He had a week if that now to get everything set up.

He looked down at the young woman kneeling before him. She was beautiful, and very talented, but boring to him now. She had no fight left and followed his every order just as a female should. He was not unaware of the irony of this. He gestured for her to take care of his needs, he needed a distraction from his anger, and she would do... for now...

--------

Cytherea sighed. She knew she had been pushing the boundaries when she woke the young woman. It was surely a gray area, did waking someone usurp their free will?

It wasn't always like this, just a couple of thousand years ago the gods had interfered at will, which she admitted to herself, had led to chaos. She had been angry, as had all the other gods when the creator stepped in and banished them all from Earth. Since that time, she had changed greatly. At first, when her father had given her this world to watch over she ignored it and stewed in her anger.

Eventually however, she had fallen in love with it, and now that she was in danger of losing it she was terrified. She was more worried about the humans if this dark god succeeded here than losing her place. Her best hope were the humans she had chosen. She had ensured they were in the right place and had a chance to make a difference, but ultimately, it was their choice...

Chapter 4

Justin woke slowly and smiled. His right arm was completely numb, but when he looked down and saw her lustrous light brown hair fanned out on his chest he decided it was worth the slight discomfort. He felt her stir at his movement and she looked up at him and smiled.

"Good morning," she made a face, "Guess it's time to get up? I have to hunt."

She leaned forward, her body sliding along his, and then she kissed him. That's when he noticed several strange things. Her breath was fresh, and his mouth felt fresh too, as if he had brushed. The sheets also felt fresh, when he knew they shouldn't, not after last night. Not only that but his body should be sticky from the sweat, and other bodily juices from last night, yet... it wasn't. She stood to get dressed and he noticed his clothes also looked washed. What the hell?

"Umm, how?" he asked, confusion clear in his voice.

She grinned, understanding when he pointed at his clothes, "Well, I think the goddess must hate dirty things. One of the most common lesser magical talents is to make things fresh, clean. Your clean sheets, clothes and body are courtesy of Cynthia."

He understood then, how the town was so clean. He thought it odd at the time, but now it made sense. When he blushed she added, "Don't worry, her range is quite good, I'm sure she did it all from the hallway..."

"The goddess hates dirt?" he asked, not getting the connection.

She nodded grinning, "Where do you think the magical gifts come from?"

He nodded, relieved and said, "I'd join you, but I'm sure you'd rather your hunt be a success. Anything I can do while you're gone?"

She shook her head, "You can rest now, or cut wood early for the day, then take the afternoon off before dinner."

He followed her downstairs, curious. When she looked at him questioningly he said, "I'm curious, I'd like to see..." he waved his hands in a broad motion.

They first sat down in the kitchen and ate a quick breakfast, which turned out to be the leftovers from last night's dinner. For some reason the stew tasted even better this morning after simmering all night. It was thicker and the flavors were melded more.

He followed her outside and into the woods, after they were a hundred yards in or so she turned to him...

"Normally I don't like sharing this with anyone, remember what I said last night about asking people about their talents. I think you might understand better if or when you discover yours, but for now just take my word for it," she kissed him lightly on the cheek, "But for you I'll satisfy your curiosity."

He watched in amazement as her body blurred and a brightly glowing light surrounded her. He had read books and seen movies of shape shifters, or werewolves. He had been expecting cracking bones and the reshaping of flesh. Instead the light grew brighter and brighter until it was hard to see.

Then she became the light, and the light itself changed shape, flowing from the beautiful woman to the shape of a huge tiger, then as the light started to dim he saw the body of tiger. It was as beautiful, and deadly looking, as he remembered. He was right about the size difference as well, her head coming up to his shoulders while still on all fours. He couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face.

He whispered softly, "You're beautiful, amazing."

She nudged her head against his chest, and he heard a loud rumble come from her chest. It took a few seconds to recognize it as a purr, sounding so different in a large cat. She sneezed at him, whipped her tail and loped away into the forest. He snorted, his life was so weird now...

He had accepted that he was truly on another world, though, how and why escaped him. There was also a part of his mind that had trouble with this, even though he knew it was true, but he was trying to ignore it. Human nature was such that it resisted change, and being on a new world was a very large one. He turned back and headed for the tavern. Maybe if he chopped wood while she hunted, they could spend some time together this afternoon?

Last night felt a little unreal to him now that he was alone. What had he ever done to deserve an amazing woman like that? He also reminded himself she had made it clear there was no commitment in what they had shared. So... what did that mean?

He shrugged, he would just treat her like she was a new girlfriend until he knew better or she told him to stop. Besides, wasn't that what she was despite the sex? Or in the case of this society, because of it. He took the fact that they seemed comfortable with each other this morning as a good sign. There hadn't been any awkwardness or sign of regret.

He sighed, the idea of how to treat her occurring to him, besides his attitude toward her. He couldn't exactly take her out to dinner and a movie, so what did couples do together here? Besides talking and screwing that is. He hated not knowing the simple day to day things, it made him feel out of control.

He was still splitting wood an hour later, when Ben came out and started a fire in the pit. Ben nodded politely to him and started to head inside when he heard the first scream, followed shortly by the sounds of weapon strikes. Ben cursed and turned to him.

"Raiders, damn Egeria," then Ben ran for the inn.

He froze for a moment, remembering another scream, a young woman's voice crying out from an alley. He had answered that scream, and gotten shot for his trouble. He shook it off angrily, ashamed of his fearful reaction. Looking down at the axe in his hand he shook his head. It worked for splitting wood, but was too unwieldy to control in battle.

He turned and ran for the shed, putting the axe down he grabbed two hatchets off the wall. They were light, and with his stronger body, more than they would otherwise have been. They felt like an extension of his arms and he would be able to wield them with the control of his martial arts background.

He stalked around the edge of the inn toward the street, his mind rejecting the reality of raiders with magical powers and swords. It was too unreal. Impossible. Yet, he knew it was true and had to act accordingly. This was no sparring session, he could die here.

He hid behind a barrel as well as he could and took in the situation. There were soldiers going door to door. He noticed some people being pulled out in chains, they were all younger. He frowned grimly and dashed to a house, following the soldiers that had just entered a few seconds ago. They were working in teams of six, that would be a lot to take on at once, but he couldn't stand by and do nothing.

He slipped in, stepping on the balls of his feet trying to remain quiet. The guard at the door grinned at the scream further into the house and wasn't paying any attention behind him. His mistake. After a moment of thought, he reversed the axe and struck the soldier in the head with the blunt end and the man went down hard.

He felt a little sick to his stomach as he saw blood drip out of one of the soldier's ears. This was real violence, not sparring practice or a kickboxing bout. He felt his stomach rebel, but pushed it down. He continued to step carefully, the hall opened up into a large room where the soldiers had a young man and a small girl in chains. The parents were still alive, knocked out.

He had expected to find them dead but understanding came to him. These horrible people... they were like hunters. Hunters only cull the herd, if they kill everyone there won't be anyone around next time to steel from, or to take children from. His rage grew at the thought and he charged into the room taking them by surprise.

The first soldier went down without resistance, he smashed his hatchet into the soldier's neck and there was a sickening sound of cracking cartilage and bones, then the soldier collapsed. He spun into the midst of them, close quarters making it harder for them to use their swords. Using one hatchet to block or move a blocking sword out of his way and then taking out the soldier with a hard strike to the neck or head with the other.

There were two left when he was thrown across the room without being touched and held up against the wall. Damn his luck he would run into someone with telekinesis on his first encounter. He raised his hands and threw both hatchets. One stopped halfway to the soldier, the other was buried in the chest of his comrade.

The soldier growled and spat, "You're going to pay for that," and started forward brandishing his sword.

His mind screamed at the situation, he was screwed. He could no longer move at all.

The soldier smiled slowly, "I'm gonna bleed you sl," his voice cut off abruptly at the loud roar.

His eyes widened as he saw Kat, still in tiger form, dart at the soldier from nowhere. She moved so fast her form was a blur of motion and she took the invader's head off in one swipe of her giant paw.

He dropped off the wall to his feet, "God, it's good to see you, thought I was done there..."

She whipped her tail in annoyance and growled...

He sighed, "I know it was stupid, especially without a talent. I just couldn't hide though, I had to do something."

She paced back and forth as he unchained the children. He lightly slapped the parent's faces, waking them up. They gave a grateful smile, thanked him and took their kids and slipped out the back and made for the woods. He didn't blame them, they had their own kids to protect.

"So should we go after another group?" he asked thoughtfully.

She looked reluctant to him but nodded her head and padded softly out the back door. She knew the town better so he didn't even question it and followed as silently as he could. They cleared out three more houses, he was fast and a good fighter, but she was incredibly fast in tiger form, and ruthless.

He didn't hear a thing, but on their way to the next house his head exploded in pain and he fell to the ground. He could hear Kat's cries of pain as well. He couldn't move and couldn't think.

"Enjoy your nap slaves, you should both do well in the mines. I've followed your bloody trail and I'm quite impressed. I'm the captain of this little group and you've killed quite a number of my men, I hope you are prepared to pay the price for that."

The pain grew alarmingly high at that point. Did this man actually have a magical talent to cause pain in a victim? His body started shuddering as all of his nerves seemed to be set on fire at once, and mercifully he passed out...

He woke slowly, every muscle in his body was screaming. He was in chains and lying on the street. He was able to stand up and look around, the nearby soldiers barely took notice.

With relief he noticed Katrina next to him, awake and standing with a scowl on her face. Judging by the suns he had been out for a couple of hours at least. More people were standing by him in chains, ranging from children to young men and woman a little older than he was. They were surrounded by twenty guards.

The captain that had put him down so easily was about twenty feet in front of him, facing the other way where the rest of the town was gathered in the street. There were ten more soldiers on the far side of the crowd.

The captain started talking, "Now that everyone is... awake, here are my orders. You are all now Egerians, we are here to stay this time. Soon, the kingdom of Abelaweth will no longer exist. These people behind me, will be slaves. If you follow my directions, all of you will be free to live as you wish, if you disobey me, or one of my soldiers, you will die. There will be no second chances so choose wisely."

Five of the guards started to organize us in a line, obvious preparations to march us south to who knows where. He was trying to think of a way to escape when he heard a woman scream. It was not a scream of horror, or one of pain. No, it was a scream of anger and rage. He barely perceived the figure of a woman coming at him at high speed before she was already past him; she had to be running faster than a bullet train.

He watched as the two guards next to him froze, then a moment later their heads simply fell off their body and they collapsed to the ground. He saw the blur again, and two more guards were beheaded.

He saw her then, stopped for the moment, glaring at the captain. She was short, maybe a few inches past five feet. She was wearing a guard uniform, but different from the Egerians, he could only assume it was a guard uniform from Abelaweth. She had two blades in her hands that at first he thought were made of glass, they were transparent and distorted the image seen through them, but he quickly realized they must be made of compressed air.

He thought she might be attractive, but the look on her face was of absolute rage and hate. She was breathing hard as if she were extremely tired. She screamed again and rushed forward, two more soldiers died, and another three were tossed twenty feet away to crash into a building. They did not get back up.

Then she screamed a third time, but this time in pain and he cringed in understanding, he had felt that agony. Her blades of air disappeared as she collapsed to the ground. The captain looked at her and smiled.

"Good, perhaps the colonel will be happy when I report the bitch that got away is now dead, just like the rest of them."

He felt a physical pain in his heart at the scream of agony that left her mouth at that pronouncement. Not from the physical pain she must be feeling, but the agony of deep loss beyond his comprehension, and deep sadness. It pierced him sharply, he had never seen such agony bared before. His anger of the situation drained away as his focus changed solely to the woman, he was filled with compassion for the stranger who had attacked their enemies and a feeling of protectiveness rose up within him.