The Soul Refiner Bk. 01 Ch. 16-18

It wasn't surprising that Bakun had expected the two of us to die. It seemed as though he had seen other such attacks recently, and I could only assume that those had invariably been fatal. It wasn't a surprise, but it still felt like an insult, that he had already written her off as dead. I was grateful for his aid, grateful for his hospitality and protection, but somehow couldn't silence that small resentment. I chuckled at my own unreasonable reaction.

I gathered up Myta's hair, tucking it inside her bedding even as I began to assess her spirit. She was stable, the wounds in her anima scabbed over with my silvery mana, preventing her own life force from bleeding away. She had lost some, of course, but the strength the bond lent her had prevented her from taking a mortal wound early. I was lucky our attacker had been so slow to follow up. They must have been deeply surprised that the first attack had not ended her. Sloppy, and that sloppiness had been the reason for our survival. I was not prepared, and had they been only a little more efficient my flame would have been snuffed out. Her death might have taken me with her.

My control of Myta's mana was about to show its value again. Though stable for now, her wounds needed to be sealed, the sooner the better. Beginning with the least serious, I pushed my presence tightly over the wound like a tight bandage, pressing the edges together. My technique, the lancet, was designed for precision, making the cut easy to align. In this way it was a blessing that my knowledge had spread, despite my outrage. Once my presence was in place, I gathered Myta's own mana beneath the wound. Ideally it would be her own mana both without and within, but she had lost too much in the attack. With my focused will, I compressed the mana from both directions, forcing it to condense into anima, fusing the incision closed. When I finished, all that remained was a small silver scar in her anima, like a fine wire. With any luck her spirit wouldn't suffer for that. I had already left streaks of my aspect through her anima, like fingerprints in soft clay. As much as I enjoyed seeing the marks I'd left upon her, such things could destabilize the spirit.

I closed her other wounds with deliberate care. She wasn't in immediate danger, and this was the kind of work that suffered greatly from haste. Before I was half way done. Myta was groaning softly, shifting fretfully under the furs. I could tell the moment she awoke, because her movements stilled, and her rapid breaths became slow and deep. It had become quite clear over the past weeks that my vas' unusual response to having me manipulate her spirit was consistent. Where any other patient of mine would experience discomfort, even pain, she seemed to feel only pleasure. But she knew not to disturb me too much, and so she did her best to relax, and breathe the distraction away.

I sealed the wounds, then inspected them again with as critical an eye as I could manage. I could not allow my impatience to risk her wellbeing, after all. Impatience was the enemy of competence. Her spirit was in the best shape that I could manage for now. Only time, and the natural flow of her mana, would finish the process. Gently, I began to peel the furs from around her, revealing her face. She was still flushed with arousal, but her expression, and emotions were complicated. Gratitude, but also fear, and shame.

"Thank you for saving me, master. I failed to..." I cut off her words by leaning down and laying a kiss on her forehead.

"Be still. I forgive your vulnerability, in as much as you need my forgiveness. I think we both know how rare soul sorcerers are." I paused, frustrated with myself. "I will teach you how to defend against such attacks as well as you can. Well enough to keep another attempt at bay, until I can aid you. Physical protection is your job, but defending your spirit is mine." She nodded silently, and I felt her negative emotions ease, though they did not disappear. This had been my fault in truth. There were only a few ways to control an unintelligent demon, and soul sorcery was one of them. I didn't think these conspirators were aware of me, but it wasn't impossible. I should have added the spirit protection techniques to her training already.

"Now, you need to exercise your spirit gently, to ensure your new scars remain flexible and strong. I have just the way to help you."

"Scars, master?" Of course she couldn't see them directly. On an impulse, I tried pushing my view of her spirit towards her. It must have worked, as she became a whirling kaleidoscope of emotions. Settling, oddly enough, on pride. Perhaps it was her warrior's pride, in having survived such an assault. I pulled the rest of the furs from her while her mind was settling, then knelt between her feet.

"Cycle you mana, in tune with your body. And stay silent, if you can. We are not alone here." With that, I slid my hands behind Myta's knees, pushing them up and out. I situated myself more comfortably on the furs, bringing my face in close to her flower. My hands gripped her thighs firmly, not quite as tightly as I knew that she liked, but more than firmly enough to keep them under control. She opened her mouth, as though to protest, but snapped it shut again at my level stare.

My warrior had not been bathed since the attack, and there was no cloth or wash basin to do so here. Unfortunate, because her sweat carried the sour scents of stress and fear. Despite that, I could already smell the spiced honey scent of her arousal growing. My work on her spirit leaving her primed. I tightened my grip, pushing her legs further back, until her lower lips just barely parted for me. I applied my tongue in a slow lick, all along the length of her slit. Then I bit her inner thigh firmly, not quite hard enough to bruise. Her hands slapped down to her sides, fingers scrabbling to grip at the furs, fists clenching.

"Remember, cycle your mana." I lifted my mouth from her just long enough to speak, then returned to my task. Her sex bloomed quickly, her inner lips and pearl emerging as though they had just been waiting for an excuse. Fear, especially in the case of mortal danger, could cause that response. At the first touch of my tongue to Myta's pearl, her hands released the fur to press over her mouth, quieting her brief scream. Her climax was intense, but very brief. Hardly enough to give her the release she needed. I could tell it only whetted her appetite.

"Squeeze your breasts, imagine it's my hands on them." I paused to give her instruction again, and to give her pearl a moment to recover. Her peak had been so brief, the physical stimulation so little, that it really only needed a moment for her sensitivity to fade. I took that moment to slide a finger inside her. Myta was much tighter than normal, the stress and tension causing her canal to clench against my intrusion. She was more than wet enough to ease my passage however, and she even seemed to enjoy the sensation as I forced my digit slowly into her core, and began making slow circles with my fingertip.

I pushed my slave to another, gentle climax with my finger inside her. I'd dropped one of her knees to do so, pushing the other farther up toward her chest as I licked and nibbled at her lower lips, leaving her pearl untouched for now. The peaks she found this way were not as satisfying for her, I knew. But I could keep going, pushing waves of pleasure through her. Each one higher than the last. Her expression was sublime, twisted in the effort not to cry out. Each breath scraping out as she barely kept her voice from engaging. Her fingers dug into her breasts, and I could see the pressure not just in the dimpling of her flesh, but in the way her flushed skin went white around her fingers.

I bit her inner thigh again, careful not to catch the muscle between my teeth. Leaving a mark she could enjoy for days. This entire time I had been watching her spirit. Myta had done just as I'd instructed, cycling her mana with each wave of sensation, allowing it to build higher. Her energy was built with each climax, the steady exhaustion of her body helping to restore her spirit. It was easy to keep one's spirit in sync with the body, once you had started. They were linked after all, and it was only the mind's second guessing that would disrupt that harmony. My lovely flame had followed my directions perfectly, and it was time to reward her.

Releasing her flesh from my teeth, I lowered my mouth to Myta's pearl again, sucking at it, and then stroking with my lips and tongue. Her body seized up, her free heel drumming into the floor, and her hands now clawing at her breasts. Leaving bloody furrows where her nails scraped the skin. Her breath caught, for several long seconds, before coming out in a nearly silent scream. I did not stop my attentions there however, pushing a second finger into her spasming core while my tongue swirled around that bundle of nerves.

My vas gasped for air. Fighting, and failing, to fill her lungs. Her anima throbbed, her mana pulsing with the rhythm of her internal contractions, and I refused to take my mouth from her pearl until her back relaxed from its arch, her body's rictus finally ending. I held her while she relaxed from the aftershocks of pleasure, pushing her back when she tried to nuzzle her face to my own groin. Her body was too shaky and weak to even begin resisting me. Instead, I laid a soft kiss upon her lips, and pulled the furs about us.

"Peace. You've been a good girl Myta. It's time to sleep now."

Author's Note:

Next week will be a skip week, as I will be traveling.