Kiravi's Travelogue Ch. 05

But she shook her head slightly, shrugged, and looked back at the rapturous mob of qhatuqs, "I have no idea," she said with a small smile. A handful of the Enges laughed, "The magic just...lives inside of me. I can feel it, all of the time, begging to get out, whispering to me in words I don't understand," she paused, looked up at me again to see if I understood any of her words, but I was nearly as confused as the others. "Ever since I was...ever since she reached out and...touched me, I can barely keep the magic inside. When I'm scared, or angry, or..." she blushed again and unconsciously pushed herself into me, "happy, the magic comes out, and I try to shape it. That's all." Her embarrassment finally winning out, she pressed her face into the muscles of my chest.

The qhatuqs and Kapak were still rapt, but Leotie, who'd heard our whispered words after the battle, broke the silence, "Who is she, Leotie?" She's all you talk about."

I had the same question, had wondered ever since her story at the temple, but stayed silent for the moment. Serina got another shy look on her face but soon replaced it with a rapturous smile, "She is, I don't know how else to say, she is a goddess. My goddess." Some of the qhatuqs murmured, others scoffed, and one even chuckled. Why not? This teenage girl was rambling about seeing one of the gods in her visions; why shouldn't they think her crazy? Her power had to come from somewhere, though, so she couldn't be entirely insane, could she?

You must remember, dear readers, that, at the time, I understood the gods in the same way every other mortal did. The nine great pantheons filled the Second Life, embodiments of all aspects of the mortal condition, from protecting the weak and innocent to cold-blooded murder. From obedience to anarchy, from reality to oblivion. But we did not know them as individuals. How could we? They were the gods, far removed beyond the sky, in the Second Life. Only a handful of names revealed themselves to the most devout and powerful priests, again and again, words like Timal and Ashonai, but any deeper purpose or identity remained hidden. For a teenage girl to have met a god or goddess in the flesh was unheard of, absurd, so why shouldn't they scoff?

But I couldn't help but believe her, dear readers, and I squeezed her gently to reassure her.

"So what does this goddess look like, then?" One of the qhatuqs blurted out.

Serina didn't retract or even look to me for encouragement, "I wish I could show you. All of you." Then, she did glance at me and, almost too fast for me to notice, at Leotie, "Her flesh is the color of the dawn, and her hair the dying fires of dusk. Two white diamonds blaze as her eyes. Her voice is the purr of your first lover and the thunder of the heavens all at once." Serina blushed, then, "She is carved from pure beauty, the most feminine and beautiful goddess that you could ever imagine; all mortal women are imperfect copies of her radiance. I know she is the source of my magic, for she told me so."

She paused, the fire crackled, and no one spoke. Exhausted Enges and Orgos closed their eyes, imagining the goddess Serina so fervently believed in. Finally, Kapak spoke, "But how? How could she reach out to you, and just you, and gift your magic?"

Serina shook her head slowly, her voice small, "I'm afraid I barely understand how any magic works, Master Kapak, much less my strange variety." She turned in my arms, looking up at me, the only person around the fire that'd received any formal education on the subject.

Every other pair of eyes around the crackling fire soon settled on me as well, enraptured by the earnest ramblings of the teenager that had saved all of them. "Oh, uh, very well then," I coughed, the beer swirling in my head, "You must all please remember that I was not a very good student, hence why I'm here in your fine company," a few chuckles bolstered my confidence, "I'll try and explain it in the best way it was ever told to me.

"Think of magic as a great river, the Seleyo below us, for example. The water thunders down out of the heart of the mountains, sweeping away everything in its path with its power. You can stand in the shallows of the river and feel it flow around you. Anyone, if they try hard enough, can reach into that water and scoop a tiny handful of water out and fling it onto the dry, parched banks, but you cannot nourish a field of crops like that, can you?

"Your crops, such as they are, are the spells you want to cast into the world, and you have to find a way to channel that great river of magic into your fields. To grow our cotton, sunflowers, and quinoa, we dig our channels and fill them with water from the river, and magic is the same. All the magic comes from the same river, but it is the channels that are different.

"Before we lived in the cities and farmed the land, there were those born with their channels already dug, in strange and random patterns, and their spells had to grow where the magic flowed. These are the sorcerers and their ilk. The old Druids and Shaman pray to the Kwarzi, the land-spirits, and in turn, the Kwarzi build the channels and fill them with a steady trickle of magic. The priests are the same way, but with the gods: in return for supplication, the gods carve out channels for the magic to flow to their disciples.

"And then there are those of us with no natural gifts and no divine assistance. We study for years to learn how to build the channels in our own minds, and we have to dig them by hand and scoop the water from the great Eldritch River by ourselves. Unfortunately, I spent the best years of my life trying to learn how to do that and only ended up as a Magus," There were a few chuckles at my ham-fisted self-deprecation, and I paused to wet my throat with the dregs from my beerskin.

"But what about me, Kiravi? I am none of those. I don't understand." Serina mumbled, looking up at me with plaintive eyes.

I sighed, and the whole crowd was staring in rapt attention once again, "Sometimes, Serina...sometimes a god will stride through a mortal's field of crops in a frenzy, scooping and tearing at the dirt, ripping and breaking stone. You will have massive channels gouged in your field, made strange by the touch of a physical god. But, even more than that, the god will build a breakwater in the great Eldritch River, and this great edifice will force even more magic into your channels, flooding your fields. Most are overwhelmed, their crops washed away in a deluge of magical power, their minds and bodies totally destroyed. Some manage to maintain control, to keep the torrent of magic in their souls low enough to keep it from sweeping them away." I held Serina closer to me, trying to reassure her, "That's how it was explained to me, anyway."

Some of the qhatuqs muttered to each other, giving Serina sidelong glances, their amazement turning to suspicion and fear, "They told me the same thing at the temple, Kiravi...that I could lose control and kill...everyone."

I wrapped her up tight, twisting her towards me and further into my lap. "You won't. I know you won't." Her eyes met mine, just as they had the night of the battle, and, dammit, dear readers, she pulled my heart just that much closer to her at that moment. I, barely, just barely, managed to stop myself from kissing her, and only because Leotie was a handsbreadth away from my other side.

But that was a different, confusing emotion as, while I'd been trying to explain magic to the tired mess of qhatuqs, Leotie had firmly placed herself in the Orgos' lap with his massive and scarred arms casually wrapped around her lithe body. I knew I had no claim to her, much less of a so-called claim than I had on Serina, but wasn't she the one that had kissed me a week before and told me that she didn't want to leave? And here she was, throwing herself at this bulging Orgos, even taller and broader than me, right in front of my eyes?

I failed to suppress a chuckle at my own ridiculous thoughts. Leotie must've known something had passed between Serina and me at the battle, even if I was fuzzy on what that even was. And, of the two of them, Serina needed me, and the huntress was more than able to fend for herself in the Ketza or elsewhere. Plus, Serina couldn't seem to stop herself from draping her supple body all over mine at the slightest provocation. I know, dear readers, I was greedy and selfish, but the only time I've ever claimed to be perfect was in being a perfect bastard.

Despite their wariness at Serina's volatile nature, they knew she'd saved them all, and the qhatuqs seemed to simply accept her as she was. The night wore on, more stars piercing the blackness as the fire grew dimmer, and Kapak told old campfire stories to the qhatuqs who, I felt, would follow him anywhere. As Serina pulled a heavy blanket over us so she could continue running her hand further up my leg until it was stroking my hardness through the worn leather of my breeches. Leotie did the same thing with the Orgos, bundled up in heavy cotton with the little movements of her shoulders and hips giving her away.

The qhatuqs drifted slightly away from the fire, some of them stoking hearths of their own, and Kapak bid us goodnight before retiring to his own magical tent. Leotie did nothing so crass as pretend to acknowledge what was happening, sparing us nothing more than a sideways glance before moving to the far side of the large, cooling fire. Serina, bless her, was oblivious to...whatever was passing between Leotie and me and making herself as small and flexible as she could, practically puddling in my lap and against my chest.

I stroked her raven-black hair slowly, tenderly, and she murmured happily into my chest. Her small fingers toyed absently with the hem of my traveling shirt before slipping underneath it and gently stroking my muscular torso. I forced Leotie out of my mind and focused on the girl, the woman, looking up at me with those glowing eyes.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"Scared of what, darling?" I cooed back, still toying with her long tresses.

"Of everything," she practically whimpered, burying her face in my chest. "I was scared to leave home, what's happening to me scares me; the darkness in the world scares me," she paused, pushing herself somehow closer to me, "The thought of you eventually leaving scares me too, Kiravi. I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't found you in Atala."

"I won't leave you, darling, I promise," I let my hands run up and down her back, feeling the gentle bumps of her ribs under her soft skin and the thin cotton dress.

At the time, dear readers, I almost entirely believed my own promise. Almost.

"But," she pulled back from me slightly, bracing herself against my chest, "This is also the happiest I've ever been. Kiravi I...I wish I could show her to you. I wish I could make all of you believe that she exists, that she's given me the most amazing gifts." Her hand wandered back down my chest, my abdominals, slipping over the top of my hardness and gently stroking. "And I'm happy I met you, Kiravi. You've saved me, again and again."

"I was trying to do the right thing, darling," I said, momentarily embarrassed, "I don't think I'm quite the heroic figure that you think I am."

She shook her head gently, rubbing me through my breeches more insistently, "Do I make you happy, Kiravi?"

"Of course, darling."

She paused, looking up at me once more, eyes glowing, simmering with emotion, "Do I, do I scare you, Kiravi?"

I had an opportunity then, dear readers, to just tell my strange lover a little, simple lie and move on to claiming her nubile and perky body for the rest of the night. It would've been easy, simple, lazy, all things that I was well-practiced at. But, and I don't know why, I felt the need to tell this young oracle, cast adrift in the world, the absolute truth.

So, I chuckled, beamed at her to soften the words, "By the gods, yes, Serina. You scare the piss out of me," I cupped her chin quickly, capturing her face before she could look away from the shock of my truth, "I've never been near such raw power. It's terrifying, but it only makes your beauty that much more radiant. It draws me like a helpless moth is drawn to the light of the twin moons. Yes, you scare me, Serina -- Shedia's balls, you terrify me -- but that just makes me want you that much more."

Tears had started to well at the edges of those glowing eyes, but, somehow, despite their changed and alien state, I could see the lust burning there too. She tugged at my shirt with her free hand, pulling my face down towards hers. I willingly let her overpower me; our lips pressed together for only a moment before her tongue was eagerly caressing mine. We moaned together into the sudden burst of passion, letting the slow burn of the entire night and the last ten days rush free in sudden lust.

I only let her remain in control for another few moments before roughly grabbing her wide hips and twisting her around to sit squarely in my lap facing me. She eagerly parted her legs, barely able to straddle me where I sat on bundled blankets, and threw her slender arms around my neck. My hands roughly groped her plump ass before pulling her dress up and over her hips and encircling her tiny waist.

She moaned and shuddered under my touch, grinding down onto my trapped hardness with every shallow, expectant breath. "I need you."

I smirked, "And she needs you, so she needs me?"

Serina bit her lip, shut her eyes as she pressed her hips down ever harder into mine, "It's not about her tonight, Kiravi," she breathed, her voice husky, "I want you, just for me."

One hand roughly groped her perky, full breasts while my other reached beneath her hips to free my hardness from its prison of leather and cotton. Serina caught on, lifting her hips just enough for me to position myself at her dripping wet opening. I could feel the raw heat pouring out of her, hear the way she whimpered every time she thought I'd slip inside of her, see her bite her lip and look at me with lidded eyes, begging me to have her again.

So, dear readers, I cupped her wide, perfect ass in my two massive hands and lowered her down onto my length.

The Enges were far enough to be hidden by the gloom, but not so far I could let Serina scream out her pleasure, so I kissed her roughly and deeply, stifling her shriek of delight with my tongue. Her thighs clamped down tight on either side of my hips, her fingers painfully dug into my scalp, and her nipples practically cut through her dress as they brushed along my chest. I held her close, tight, overwhelming her with my strength and size, rocked her gently back and forth, up and down, sliding more and more of my throbbing length inside of her.

She whimpered something into my mouth, and I pulled back, surprised when she captured my lower lip between her teeth. "Unh, Kiravi, it feels better every single time," she shut her eyes as I slid deeper, forcing her ridiculously tight walls just a little bit wider, "You're all I dream of. Other than her."

"Mmm, what do you think I dream of other than this tight little body?" I growled back.

But, since the gods have a sense of humor, dear readers, at that moment, I saw Leotie through the flames and smoke, her face twisted in pleasure as she rode the Orgos captain in reverse. She didn't seem to notice us, her eyes half-closed as she gasped and bounced her muscular body on the massive Orgos. Serina buried her head in my shoulder and held back a shuddering moan as I continued mechanically, unable to do anything but bounce Serina's body in my lap and stare at Leotie through the fire.

Leotie leaned backward, throwing her arms back and up around the Orgos' neck, arching her back to get his manhood even deeper inside of her. Her breasts pushed out proudly in the firelight, glistening with sweat, perky globes bouncing on her ribcage with every hard thrust. She closed her red eyes, biting back a scream, throwing her head back, and lashing her auburn braids over his shoulders.

Serina's slick, perfect walls clenched tight around me and brought me back to her present. She whispered, whimpered, breath hot in my ear, "Unh, I need this, I'll always need this. I'll always need you," she tried to kiss my ear, the slope of my neck, but I wouldn't stop smashing her plump ass and perfect womanhood down into my lap, so her lips just caressed my coarse skin as best they could.

Well, dear readers, warning flared in the parts of my mind capable of rational thought. Of course, it wasn't the first time one of my conquests had used words like 'always' and 'forever,' and it wasn't the first time I'd begun to formulate an escape path from such misguided young obsession. But the rest of me, my dears, it wanted this tight little conundrum all to myself, and for as long as possible.

Considering I was buried to the hilt inside of her, feeling her plump ass quiver as she whimpered through another tiny explosion of pleasure, the second part won out. I pulled her up and off of me and in an instant felt the sudden pang of the loss of her womanhood caressing my shaft but savored the delightfully submissive way Serina's voice whimpered in protest. Firmly, not hard enough to hurt her but sudden enough to pull a gasp from her throat, I pushed her over and onto her hands and knees, scrabbling up to settle behind her.

The heat and glow of the fire spilled over both of us; I shed my fraying tunic and looked down a moment later to see Serina had pulled her dress over her head to leave it in a puddle of gray cotton. She arched her back lewdly, head low, blue-black hair spilled around her in a perfect halo that seemed to swallow the firelight. Her back wasn't as muscular, her flesh not as firm, as Leotie's, but her youthful plumpness and the curve of her hips swelling from the impossible narrowness of her waist had their own irresistible draw.

I grunted, shook my head, ignoring such comparisons, and grabbed that tiny waist with massive hands to thrust myself deeply back inside of her. She barely managed to stifle another pleasured cry by burying her face in her hair and the dress, arching her back even further to push her plump ass back into my quickening rate of hard thrusts. My calloused fingers -- the ones on my left hand still tingling where Serina had regrown the skin -- dug into her hips, pinning the oracle in place as I let a week of frustration and confusion flow out of me.

"Sweet Shuhur, woman, just like that," I growled at her, trying to keep under the sound of the crackling sap in the fire. Her womanhood gripped me, massaged my length, boiling hot and tight, even better than any other woman I'd ever had.

"Take me, Kiravi," she gasped, her breath already ragged, her fingers carving gouges in the hard dirt, "I'm yours, I'm yours, I'm...unh..yours!" Her voice rose alongside the pace of my thrusts, threatening to alert the others, and I reached forward to clasp my hand over her mouth. She moaned louder at my sudden act, and I felt her body shudder and womanhood squeeze my length as we lost ourselves.

There was another moan, a sharp intake of breath between clenched teeth, and I couldn't help but turn to see the other woman weighing on my mind, bent over just as Serina was, with the Orgos rutting into her hard. Neither of them, somehow, had managed to notice me yet, and I just watched and mechanically smashed into Serina, unable to look away. Leotie's auburn hair had half-spilled from her braids, plastered on her sweaty forehead and muscular shoulders. What Serina had blundered into with youthful enthusiasm, Leotie was doing with practiced lust, her head close to the dirt and her rump up and lewdly presented to her partner. Her overly plump, impossibly perky tits bounced again and again, more perfect than any human woman with her frame and size could hope to have.