Sextain of Destiny Ch. 06 - The Flame Arisen

Jowy also joined in, grunting with his release and jetting spurt after spurt inside the runemistress' anal passage, helpless under the tangled mass of the other three, Jeane's naked skin pressing onto his shirt. When he reached around to fondle her bosom, he inadvertantly got his hands sticky with Riou's cum, and spread it around Jeane's body, already slick with several loads of sperm deposited on her.

With each of them having weathered their orgasms, Hugo and Riou rolled off from Jeane, and Jowy then pushed the spent runemistress off from him. She was a complete mess, covered with cum, and thick loads spilling out from her pussy and ass, trailing onto her thighs and what remained of her black pants. They were all spent and exhausted, but perhaps Jeane most of all, seemingly oblivious to everything around her in her sensual bliss, disheveled, used and coated with jizz.

Eventually, Hugo felt the spell subside, and he could think clearly again. He rose up, and went back to put his clothes back on.

"Whew. Alright," he uttered to himself, and looked to Riou and Jowy, who were also putting their clothes back on. Jeane still lay on the floor, utterly spent, and didn't move when he walked past her to the two youthful-looking men. "You're from Dunan, aren't you?"

Both stopped and eyed him for a moment, even after the experience they had just shared. Then Jowy spoke up.

"In a way, yes. Was it the accent?"

"Plenty of travelers here in the Grasslands, but few with such curious runes. It's not just any travelers armed with a lightning rune for protection who can open this doorway."

Both of them quickly glanced at the runes on their hands, then looked back at Hugo.

"I'm Hugo, chief of the Karaya," he continued. "Some time ago, I received a report of unknown rune-users, matching your description. I have also heard stories and more of two young men who fought in the Dunan Unification War. But the stories don't tell what exactly happened to them. Maybe you'd know?"

"Ahem," came a feminine voice from behind him. "Sounds like you already know."

Hugo turned to see Nanami, clad in her blouse and pants again.

"And who are you?" he asked. "Their mother?"

"I - am - not!" she suddenly fumed. "Why do you keep assuming that?"

Hugo looked at the woman, who looked like she had been around the young men's age during Dunan's last big war. But when True Runes were involved, youthful looks could conceal old souls.

"Oh?" puzzled Hugo, then turned back to Riou and Jowy. "Then those really are True Runes?"

"Not exactly," said Jowy, and lifted his hand, where a rune shone dimly. "But yes, they are related to one."

"So you were using some of those powerful magics my scouts saw," commented Hugo.

"I told you somebody would see!" said Nanami.

"We're not out to cause trouble," said Riou.

"Oh! He talks!" said Nera from the side. Riou just nodded in reply. The rest of the group had been gathering around them, watching on. Even Jeane had stood up.

"But what is your business here?" asked Hugo.

"Do we need to have a business?" asked Jowy, seeming aloof.

"Oh boy," said Hugo and sighed. Then he looked at his group. "Alright, everyone, at least introduce yourselves. We might be here a while."

Everybody from Hugo's group told their names, Beecham cracked a joke about knowing everybody well already, and the travelers from Dunan also repeated their names to those who might have been out of earshot.

Nanami's eyes wandered to Beecham, who smiled at her. Jowy was also looking at him. "Wait, Beechum? Where have I heard that name before?" he mused.

"You're from Dunan right?" the Karaya warrior asked. They all nodded. "You might have heard of ambassador Lucia."

Jowy lifted his eyebrows. "'Ambassador' Lucia? Who was once the chief of Karaya? So you must be--?" he said and looked at Hugo.

"Her son, yes." Hugo watched the naked and messy Jeane, who had now taken off the cut and cum-stained pants as well. She cleaned herself off with the ruined vest and chapless pants as best as she could. Then the runemistress casually threw them aside and took what looked like a similar if not identical outfit from her belongings. 'Well, that explains a few things,' he thought.

"Oh yes, Lucia was a beaut--" started Jowy, but Nanami elbowed him in the side. "Uh, and you're the same Beechum?"

"You're pronouncing it oddly, but yes," said Beecham. "There should be no mistake."

"So, you're just wanderers from Dunan, using powerful magic, and monsters have suddenly started becoming stronger. And now I find you here," said Hugo.

"No, no! Nothing like that!" exclaimed Nanami. "Except for the monsters part. They've been tough lately!" she continued. Riou nodded gravely.

"And what are you doing here?" asked Jowy.

"What?" said Hugo. Beecham was taken aback.

"Some important site in the middle of what I assume are Sindar ruins, a doorway that reacts to powerful runes, and you're up in arms about it," Jowy listed to Hugo. "Am I wrong to assume there's a True Rune in there, and you're after it?"

Hugo pondered his options, then made a choice. "Alright. Jeane, Rody, open the door."

But before the magicians could react, Riou moved to the doorway, and lifted his hand. Jowy followed his lead. The runes in their hands started glowing, and with a heavy rumble, the massive stone doors started opening again. Beyond there was another stone corridor, but it looked different from the underground highway, the air was fresh and cold, and there was light shining from three separate openings. Hugo led them down one of the pathways, and started talking.

"You're right that there's a True Rune in here. But we're not after it, we're retrieving it. Around six years ago, after the war, several magicians helped remove a rune that was on me, and we were able to use a Cyndar artifact in these ruins to contain it. It was hard on them, and me, but I thought I wouldn't need it anymore. But I was younger then, and to tell the truth, I was afraid of its power. But now I've realized I might need that power, to protect my people and others."

"I see," said Jowy, contemplative.

They exited the tunnel, into what looked like the ruins of an ancient city. Over them was a golden autumn sky, and the sun had started to set. Hugo led them further, across cracked stone roads, past crumbled houses, archways and pillars, and kept talking along the way. Past a long hallway that was still relatively intact, they came to what looked like a temple, climbed its stairs, then moved down another set of stairs behind the ruined temple. Suddenly there remained only few more traces of the ancient stone city around them, just a narrow and secluded pathway.

Nanami panted slightly. "Whew, the Sindar sure liked building long corridors!"

"There is some good to this, though. Whatever ails the creatures out there in the fields, hasn't reached here," said Jowy, also breathing heavily.

"Or maybe there just aren't any," said Hugo. He remembered when this part of the ruins had been covered in thick, unnatural ice, and freezing cold air, created by the True Water Rune. He wondered if the Destroyers had summoned all the monsters back then.

They walked into a narrow path, where there wasn't any ruins on the sides. The sun had set, and suddenly it was a lot darker around them, but they followed the path further, led by Hugo.

"What the?" he suddenly said.

They could only see it when they got close, because it blended into the darkness around them. There was a black mass, floating in the air, blocking the path. What little light was around them, seemed to be slowly drawn into the black mass, to vanish there, and by that edge where the shimmers of light disappeared, they could see a sphere of blackness.

"What is this? Is that the rune? Has something gone wrong?"

Jeane closed her eyes, and extended her hand. After a while, she said, "It's not the rune. It's not any rune."

"A surprise left by the Sindar?" ventured Jowy.

"But, there was nothing like this here, back then," said Hugo. Then Nera fired a bolt into the blackness, but whether it did anything or just vanished, they couldn't see.

"We need to move closer!" yelled Beecham and rushed at the blackness with sword in hand. Suddenly, a tendril of black non-light coiled at Beecham, and coiled itself around his sword arm. He was trapped, unable to move his arm or escape, then he screamed in pain.

"Aaaargh! Fuck! It's eating into me!"

There was a flash of lightning, and a bolt of electric energy zapped down from the sky down onto the tendril, summoned by Jeane. Beecham grunted in pain as the bolt hit him and the tendril, but the black coil backed away. Beecham also retreated, and nodded at the runemistress. Then he looked at his arm, where the tendril had cut into him, with bloody lacerations on his skin. The electrical current coursed across the tendril and into the black sphere, then sunk into it, and Jeane looked at it with silent surprise.

Then Riou shared an intent look with Jowy, and raised his hand. Jowy nodded solemnly, and also raised his hand.

"Step back! Step back!" shouted Hugo, and they all did, save for Riou and Jowy.

Suddenly, it looked like the sides of the path around the black sphere had been torn asunder. Another darkness opened up on its one side, but this was rift from which ominous red light escaped. On its other side, there was another rift, but from there shone dazzlingly brilliant light. As he watched from afar, Hugo literally couldn't believe his eyes. It was like the stars of the night sky and the blackness around them had spread around the two young men and the black sphere. From the black rift, there emerged a black sword of gargantuan proportions, bigger than any ship he had ever seen.

As the brilliant line shined on, it projected the image of a massive shield, until it was unquestionably not a mere image, but a solid object. Then the black sword hurtled forward, and the bright shield rushed to meet it, until they clashed together with a thunderous clang right over the black sphere. The sword and shield smashed each other into pieces with an explosion of sparks, then a light started growing inside the black sphere. The blackness melted into it, and the light grew, until the black sphere was a sphere of light, and then it exploded, with a white shockwave that flashed past them in an instant, and then all was still.

Riou collapsed onto his knees. Jowy fell on all fours. Both were panting heavily. The rest of the group felt themselves reinvigorated, and when Beecham looked at his arm, the marks left by the tendril were gone.

"Whatever those are, they are not just 'related' to True Runes," said Hugo.

With the black orb gone, he could now move to the altar. In the darkness, a flame lit up, and in its center, they could all see the True Fire Rune. Jeane and Rody moved to his sides, and the rest of the group moved closer, including Riou and Jowy, who had recovered enough to stand up.

"Are you ready for this?" asked the runemistress. "The Rune won't like it if you keep giving it false signals, tee-hee."

"Yes, I'm ready," said Hugo, and lifted his hand.

"Now, mistress, I need to put everything I learned about the Cyndar to use!" exclaimed Rody, and started chanting.

Jeane likewise closed her eyes and started chanting.

The flame on the altar grew and spread around the True Fire Rune, and they could all feel the heat coming from it. Then the fires gathered, as if sentient, and rose to the air. The fiery coil spiraled through to Hugo, and floated around his hand, but he was unalarmed, and unharmed. He could feel the contained blaze of the True Fire Rune, then he felt the Rune in his hand, and he was once again enveloped by the flame's embrace.