The Creators Ch. 14

"We were so close to figuring it all out. There must be some theory that fills in the void!"

"What good did theories do us, Angela?" Justina croaked. "If we had left well enough alone, then Julia would've flattened Drastin, killed Willowbud, Diamond and Corruption, and then died."

"That was my reality until you showed up," I grumbled.

"And now it's a happy fantasy," Justina laughed bitterly. "Now we're all fucked. You Ionans should just join up with Julia before she comes here for you. Don't make the mistake we made. There is no fighting Corruption."

Nona scowled her expert-level scowl. "Freydis swore us to the Heat Bringer, but if what you say is true, then we will give His Holiness a chance to reconsider."

Justina laughed bitterly. "Oh, because Brandon can save you from what's coming."

"Fuck off, Justina," I growled.

"What did Brandon do when he found out what Willowbud was? What did he do while Julia and Willowbud played roulette with a Sentient? Your brother is so conflict-averse that he'd rather get fucked in the ass by the Heat Bringer than stand up to her."

"He's a pacifist."

"He's a coward!" Justina spat.

I gave her a gentle look, and she turned red with shame, and bowed her head.

"I didn't mean that, Angela, you know it. Brandon's a great guy, but..." she shook her head. "...maybe he could finesse his way around Diamond like he did with Willowbud. She seems to be anarchistic in a playful sense, and Brandon's good enough with dangerous women to walk the line right, but Julia... Corruption didn't turn Julia into a nihilist; she radicalized her own righteousness. She will burn the whole world if she thinks it's what the Holy Mother wants. There's no finessing your way out of that. When she learns that Brandon is alive, she will come for him, because only the Holy Mother should have the power to create life." She looked up at me. "You need to get as far away as you can."

"We can't run from this."

"You can for a while."

"We can win."

Justina laughed.

"I mean it, Justina," I said severely. "You haven't seen him since we bound. He can do things you can't even imagine."

"And what's he going to do against the gods of fire and water? Throw an elephant at them?"

"His power isn't what he can do himself; it's what he can give to others," I explained, transforming into a bear, a dragon, an eagle, then back.

Justina gawked at my power, then shook the rationality back to her expression. "And what's any of that going to do when Julia ignites like a supernova?"

"It only takes one shot, Justina. She is still just flesh and blood. We just need to get close enough. Right now, we have the advantage. She doesn't know Brandon is alive."

"Who's going to deliver that shot, Angela?" Justina hissed. "Who's going to get close enough? My mom is the greatest assassin on Balamora, and even she couldn't kill Julia when she had the drop on her in Drastin!"

"I'll do it," I muttered. "I'm the only one who could get close to her before."

Justina looked like she'd object, but she just sighed, and rested her head on the pillow. "Maybe you can do it; maybe you're the only one who can, but it's not like before. Julia isn't like Willowbud or Diamond. Julia won't engage with you or play with you. She will kill you without hesitation, and then she'll come for your brother."

BRANDON

My reunion with Justina became less and less joyful as she revealed more and more information. Eventually, it came to the point that I was slightly resentful that she had come back at all. Fun-time was over, and I hadn't even gotten the chance to get bored of it yet. Bianca and her senior officers had donned ceremonial togas and were sitting in a semicircle across from the Ionans. There was Nona and Helga, and ten other Ionans, and they all glared across the trunk of the hollowed baobab at their dark-skinned counterparts. I sat between them at one end of the circle, and Angela sat between them at the other. At the center, Justina recounted to me and the Ofanians what she had already recounted to Angela and the Ionans, and each word that spilled from her damnable lush lips dropped my stomach deeper and deeper into the pit of terror forming in my abdomen. When she was done, all eyes in the room turned toward me.

I sighed, and rubbed my temples. "Anyone else got any ideas besides me?"

"There's no running from this, Brandon," Angela said.

"I know, I know," I continued to massage the threatening migraine in my head, "I tried to ignore the problem last time, and it bit everyone in the ass. We have to face this head on."

"Huh," Justina mused, looking at me appraisingly, "how about that."

I glanced up at her. "The operative word here is 'we,' Justina; everyone is going to have to pitch in, and everyone is going to have to risk... well, everything." I looked around at the Ionans. "I guess I need you guys after all."

Nona cleared her throat. "We would love to serve, Your Holiness, but we will not take a secondary role to the Ofanians."

"You will take what your master gives you, you blonde mutt!" Bianca snarled.

"Black whore!"

"White trash!"

I held up my hand before more words were exchanged. "The Ofanians are my personal guard, and nothing is going to change that. The Ionans won't serve a secondary role, but a different one."

Nona inclined her head slightly. "With all due respect, Your Holiness, it is quite obvious that the way into your favor is between your legs. Because of this, the Ofanians will always hold power, as no Ionan would dare shame herself as the Ofanians do."

"We are honored vessels of his holy seed!"

"You're his sperm depository!"

"Shut up!" I yelled, and narrowed my eyes at Nona. "Nona, I'm not asking you to do anything you don't want to."

"I am aware, Your Holiness, but I am telling you that you will favor those closest to you over us, and that is something Ionans simply cannot abide."

"You got on your knees and begged me to let you serve yesterday."

"You were the only god we could serve yesterday."

"Nona," Angela said, "are you telling us you'd rather serve a corrupted god than my brother?"

"It would be the greatest honor of my life to serve His Holiness, but I will never take orders from an Ofanian." Nona turned to me. "You have blessed the Ofanians with your magic, but there is no magical cure for a weak bloodline. I would pit my sword against any ten Ofanians, any day, any conditions. There are two-thousand Ionan warriors ready to serve, and not even sixty of the Ofanian guard left. I believe the choice is obvious."

I glared at Nona. "Astrid Skyborne was said to have been the best of you."

"She was our brightest star."

"Despite being one of the proudest women I've ever met, she never confused her pride with her honor."

Nona inclined her head indignantly. "Astrid Skyborne was put under great stress. In the end, it seems she broke."

"That's not fair," Helga muttered, then turned bright red when Nona's scowl descended upon her.

I knitted my fingers together. "Nona, you must know that my honor will never allow me to betray the women who have so valiantly served me."

Stop right there, Brandon! Angela's voice cut into my head.

I looked at her from across the room. What?

You're thinking with the head of your dick, you asshole!

I'm thinking with my heart, actually. I'm pretty sure I put one inside of you, but if you're about to say what I think you're about to say....

It's not about feelings; it's about numbers. Your power is the power to strengthen those around you, and the Ionan Guard is the strongest fighting force in the world!

I won't abandon the Ofanians after everything they've done for me! Bianca saved our lives, Angela!

We're talking about saving the world, Brandon!

"Your Holiness?" Bianca's soft voice queried. Angela and I had been staring intensely at each other in dead silence, and tension had filled the room.

"Nona," I said, "join me and the Ofanians, or don't. It's as simple as that."

"Saying 'no' is the same as joining Julia," Angela hissed at Nona, her voice full of venom. "And that would make you my enemy. Do you want to be my enemy, Nona?"

Nona just smiled politely, stood up, and bowed to each of us. "With all due respect, Your Holiness and the Bound One; the burden of responsibility rests with those who hold power. If you cannot make the difficult choice, then I will have to. You have two fortnights to reconsider before I am officially given Freydis's mantle. Thank you for your audience."

She walked out of the room, and her officers followed. Only Helga looked back, connected frightened eyes with Justina, then disappeared.

"Traitors!" Bianca roared. "Oath-breakers and blasphemers!" She beamed radiantly at me. "You made the right choice, Your Holiness. I will make sure that your faith in us is not wasted!"

"It was never a choice at all, Bianca," Angela smiled easily. "The Ofanians have proven themselves time and time again. The only thing the Ionans have proved is their cowardice." She turned from the chest-puffing High Guard, and looked at me. "Brandon, can we talk in private for a moment?"

"I'm coming with," Justina insisted.

Angela led us out of earshot of the Ofanians, then turned around and levelled her gaze on me. "Ok, I get it, you couldn't betray Bianca to her face. Fine. But we can't think with our hearts on this one."

"If you gifted the Ionans with the power you gifted the Ofanians, you would have an unstoppable force," Justina said.

"What does it matter against Julia anyway?"

"Julia can't be everywhere at once, and she knows it," Angela said. "I've seen what she's like when she goes dark; she thinks she some kind of messiah. She didn't go to the Gratoran Desert for a tan. There are millions of disaffected orcs there, and the wounds of the last Creator war are still fresh for them. If they get through Droktin's Pass...."

"Why would they go there? Didn't Julia say before she wanted to light Droktinar's furnace?"

Angela snorted. "Yeah, and I suppose she's just going to hang it up and retire after that."

"Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do to her, huh? Throw a fucking plant at her?"

"Our strength lies in our allies now, Brandon," Angela said. "Your kind of power isn't made for combat. Leave that to the soldiers. Leave it to me."

"You're not getting anywhere near her!" I snapped.

"I'm the one who saved us all last time!" Angela snarled back. "I'm the one who went into that temple when you all wanted to run away. I'm the one who beat Corruption and brought Julia back from the brink! The only way we're going to beat Julia now is if someone gets close enough to put a knife in her throat! Who's it gonna be, Brandon? You?!"

"Our one advantage is that Julia doesn't yet know you live," Justina said. "We need to strike swiftly while she's still off her guard, and before Diamond reaches her."

"The Ionans will be having the same conversation we're having," Angela said. "If they decide to join up with Julia, not only did you lose the most powerful fighting force in the world to an insane Heat Bringer, but your cover is blown too."

"You need them, Brandon," Justina sighed. "Sometimes being a leader means you have to fuck someone over."

"It also means that I don't have to listen to you," I said. "This isn't negotiable. I'm not betraying the Ofanians and that's the end of it."

"Fine then, that leaves us with just one option," Angela said. "You take the Ofanians to Iona right now, and you conquer the Ionans."

I blinked at Angela. "You are not fucking serious right now."

She shrugged. "Once they realize their swords can't penetrate Ofanian flesh, they'll have to submit. Of course, we'll have to chop off Nona's head to make an example of her, but I'm sure Bianca would be glad to—"

"I've got another idea," I interrupted, and glanced at Justina. "There was fission between Helga and Nona, wasn't there?"

"The word of the High Guard is absolute."

"She's just the substitute High Guard."

"Semantics."

"My point is that the position of High Guard can be challenged...." I tapped my lips, and pondered the shape of Iona in the distance. "This kind of choice is bound to create fractures in the Ionan Guard."

Angela and Justina pondered that, and looked to each other. They came to a silent accordance, and then looked to me.

"It could work," Angela said, "but you'd have to pick your candidate very carefully."

"You mean you will."

"Why don't you just do it?"

"The best way to turn friends into enemies is to meddle in their affairs. They need to make the choice on their own. Angela, transform yourself into something innocuous, and observe the Ionans in secret. Find me a champion."

"Your logic is flawed, Brandon," Justina said. "We still have to show our interest, or they'll think we don't care. As a woman of eminent distinction, I'm expected to go on diplomatic missions."

"Alright then. Angela, go to Iona and keep tabs on what's going on. Justina will rendezvous with you tomorrow. I'll stay atop Ofan with a sightline to Iona's peak. If anything happens, tell me."

Angela nodded, turned into a great owl, and launched herself into the night sky. Justina and I watched as her silhouette crossed the bright moon, then darkened into the mass of the nighttime mountain range.

"Why didn't you send me with her?" Justina asked.

"Because just an hour ago, I thought you were dead," I said, and linked her fingers with mine. "You're not leaving my side until I make you indestructible."

She smiled up at me, the moonlight catching her girlish face in a dazzling display. "Be careful giving a succubus biologist the powers of shape-shifting; I might decide to live the rest of my life amongst the northern brown snails just to observe their mating rituals. Mmm..." she shuddered all over, "...so much slime."

"You are so fucking weird."

"Says you," she tittered.

I grinned, wrapped her in my arms, and planted a kiss on her brow. She tilted her face to intercept the kiss on her lips, and she slithered her serpentine tongue into my mouth. When our lips met, she melted into my body, forming curve for curve with me, moaning as she rubbed her crotch against mine. I'd never felt her lust so desperately before. I grabbed her by her little bottom, and pulled her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and continued to consume my mouth as I walked to the baobab tree. The look on her face when she entered a room filled with statuesque valkyries sporting monstrous cocks was so perfect that it nearly washed away all thought of Julia, Diamond and Corruption. Nearly.

ANGELA

I wasn't going to Iona. I flew until I was out of sight, and then I veered hard to the right, and began my journey westward. The moment Brandon had come up with his half-brained idea of finding a champion in the Iona Guard to fight for him, I knew there would be no reasoning with him. He would rationalize his way out of every hard decision until they were no decisions left. It didn't matter if he found an Ionan who opposed Nona and beat her in combat; by the time that happened, Diamond would have met up with her mommy, and our window would be closed. I would remove the choice altogether, and once again rescue my brother from his own indecisiveness.

It took me four hours before I found the encampment. A few hundred Breytans formed a neat perimeter around a caravan of perhaps two-hundred orcs. In the middle of a vast desert, it would seem quite serendipitous that I stumbled upon such a place, but it was not so. I simply followed the hundreds of thousands of orcs flocking to this place from every direction. Their torches illuminated the desert like fireflies, stretching into the night as far as I could see. As I soared overhead to view the great migration headed for this tiny encampment, I realized that my initial estimate was wrong; it wasn't hundreds of thousands. It was millions. Somehow in this vast expanse of wildlands, word had reached the orc enclaves from all stretches of the desert that the Heat Bringer had returned, and that she was here to make right the wrongs of her ancestor.

I folded my wings, and plummeted to the ground. Before I hit the sand, I transformed into a spider, opened a parachute of webbing, and floated listlessly to the top of a wagon. With my eight eyes attuned for the darkness, I looked around me for signs of Julia. My ocular lenses stopped their scanning upon a set of footprints that led to a wagon twenty feet from me. These footprints weren't like the indentations created by other feet; these footprints were glossy in the moonlight. They were glassed with heat. I scuttled down from the wagon and followed the footprints, my eight little legs clicking away on the pebbles until I stopped suddenly. Jade Tao had stepped right in front of me. There were three swords on her person: a katana in her sash, wakizashi on her waist, and the Sword of Iona slung across her back. I stayed deathly still, waiting for her to pass me by. She stayed equally as still, scanning the orcs surrounding the wagon with just her eyes until she was satisfied, and moved to another position. I scampered behind her, climbed the wagon, and crawled through a crack in the boards. I popped out of the other side, and was face-to-face with the corrupted Heat Bringer.

The first thing I noticed about Julia Gendian was that she had markings all over her body. They were strange shapes, abstract images that contoured to her curves and forms, all of them black. She was clearly bound to Diamond, but... why didn't Justina mention Diamond's markings? It didn't matter. The second thing I noticed about Julia Gendian was that she was hogtied, her mouth was stuffed with a gag-ball, and she was being forcibly sodomized from behind by Tera Autumnsong's leather-clad fist. The succubus hurled insult after insult at her through gritted teeth as she pumped her arm faster and faster, and Julia's muffled screams became higher and higher.

When Tera's fist and Julia's screams reached a crescendo, Tera ripped her closed hand out of the Heat Bringer's rectum with a vicious pull, and Julia collapsed onto the floor in a fit of orgasm, her cock vomiting great volumes of thick sperm into the balloon Tera had tied around the crease of her glans. Julia's pussy was taped shut, the crescent symbol of the Holy Mother drawn over the seal, but she was so damp that Tera had no trouble molesting her through the protective membrane. As she did this, her other hand played with Julia's prolapsed anus, and it was then that I saw Tera didn't have another hand. She ran the dull point of a metal hook through the ruby rose protruding from Julia's supple alabaster cheeks. When Julia was done writhing on the floor, Tera collected the balloon from the god's penile head, and drank its contents. Once satisfied, she undid the bonds that held the Heat Bringer, and Julia labored away from her molester.

"I should kill you," Julia whispered.

"But you won't," Tera sneered, not at all threatened. She collected the residual semen that painted her lips, and sucked her finger clean. "Get on your knees."

"What?"

"I would hear your confession."

"WHAT?!"

"When you come into my wagon, you come into my church."

Black flame burst from Julia's fist. "How dare you commit blasphemy before me!"

"No," Tera said smoothly, "how dare you. Do you think you are so holy that you are above reproach? Did you come here to do god's work, or did you come to my wagon to get fucked like a sinning whore?"

Julia glared at Tera. "I don't know why I came here," she hissed.