The Azra-El Series Ch. 16

He found the town center, a small cobblestoned square, with the local sheriff's station and mayoral buildings on either side of it. An array of stalls and vendors were scattered around the square that was otherwise a little empty. The town center would be livelier in the evening.

Blaze dropped down in front of a vendor. In the cities and classier towns, it was considered rude to suddenly drop down amongst people, but Blaze doubted that the angels of Puhar cared about such minor things. The middle-aged vendor gave him a sweet smile as he walked up to her stall.

"Do you know where I can find Medina Agnes?" he asked her politely. Medina was Agatha's sister, and he thought he would drop by and say hello. He wasn't sure if Agatha was still in Puhar, but it didn't really matter, as he was currently in no mood for anything sexual.

"Do you want a lollipop?" the angel asked him, picking up a large piece of red candy on a stick.

"No, I don't want a lollipop," he told her sternly and turned around. He wasn't going to buy a lollipop for easy information.

"Take the left street and the first right. You should find her store a couple of houses in," the angel told him.

"Thank you," Blaze said to her, turning back around.

"Here. Take this. You look like you could use a lollipop. It's free," she smiled at him, pushing the candy into his hand.

Blaze begrudgingly took the lollipop and gave it a hesitant lick. The sweet and tangy flavor sparked an idea in his mind. It was a warm and sunny day, a rarity during Aranyan winters. It was the perfect weather for flyball, and a good game of flyball was what he needed to keep his mind off things.

"Give me twenty of these. Different flavors," he said to the angel.

The vendor was taken aback. "It'll cost you eight plat, even if I give you a two plat discount," she said, eyeing him skeptically.

Blaze took out an aur and handed it to her, refusing the two-plat change. He had seventy-five aur and was probably the richest kid in town. What did he care about a few plat?

"Where can I find angels my size?" he asked her, grabbing the lollipops and pushing them into his space ring.

The vendor grinned at him. "You will probably find them over the grazing fields to the south. They keep a watch on the bison, while playing ball," she answered, bringing out a couple of chocolate bars. "Here, the older ivkas will prefer these," she said, shoving the chocolate into his hands.

He gave her his sincere gratitude and took off in search of the kids. Medina Agnes could wait.

A yonder or so away from the town, he found a bunch of young angels playing flyball on a grazed patch of grass. He zipped towards them and caught the ball that was just hit in the air.

He landed in the middle of the ground as the young angels slowly gathered around him. There were fifteen angels, mostly aged between 15 and 40, but there were also a couple of ivkas in their sixties or seventies.

"Lemme in the game," he asked them.

"Who're you? We're in the middle of a match," grunted one the of the older angels. She had long bluish hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Dun' matter. I bet I can win against the best of ya' lot versus the worst of ya'. You can have these if you win," he said, pulling out the pile of candy and chocolate.

"Aunt Minnie's candy," shouted a younger angel. "You're on!" cried another.

"What if you win?" the ivka wanted to know.

"Nothing. I just wanna play. I will share half of my stash with my team," he said impishly.

"Deal!"

They played a semi-flying version of flyball. The players had to bat and pitch the ball on the ground, but they could have three angels fielding in the air. It made things interesting for angels of all ages.

Blaze's team put up a fight, but he couldn't carry an entire team of unskilled angels under thirty, while playing against a team full of older angels, especially since he was the only one on his team who could fly.

"You're pretty darn good, lassie," said the black-haired ivka, slapping him on the shoulder. Blaze's team lost by ten runs. "Now, give us our candy."

"I was gonna give them to you anyway," he grumbled, bringing his stash out.

"We knew that," said the ivka, picking the two pieces of chocolate and throwing one at the blue-haired ivka. "Aunt Minnie knows I love chocolate," she grinned. "You're not the first new kid she's sent our way. You here for long?" she asked as the other angels collected their lollipops.

"Just passing by. Another game? Gimme two more flyers," he said. Being the only one to fly was a pain in the ass.

"Of course. It won't be interesting, otherwise."

For the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, Blaze played with the angels. Their light-hearted and joyful nature helped him forget his issues while he played with them.

They were a gruff bunch, but generous and easygoing. They even shared their lunch with him, asking him whose mother he thought was the best cook. Blaze gave them his honest opinion -- he answered that it was his.

"Any good sights around?" Blaze asked them after their third game. He still had a few hours of sunlight left, and he wanted to explore.

"The mountains?"

"Besides those." Those Hela-damned mountains.

"There is a lake a yonder down to the south. It has mamgi groves surrounding it. We love playing there, but we must go where the bison go. Can't be too far away from them. There is also ..."

"I will head to the lake," Blaze decided after she listed out a bunch of places. He really felt like a swim.

"Rachel! Find us if you drop by Puhar again," the ivka shouted as he took off. Rachel proved to be a good alias for Blaze. He apparently looked like a Rachel too. He wasn't sure if he liked that, but it was better than looking like a Siofra or an Aahna.

***

Halfway to the lake, Blaze spotted a carriage fly out of the west-facing grove. It was heading northeast, so was travelling diagonal to his path. Recognizing the classy carriage, he whizzed to a stop. The top of the carriage was loaded with sacks of mamgi.

He hovered dumbly in mid-air as the carriage drew closer and went past, a few hundred feet away from him. The frilly white curtains of the carriage windows were drawn, and the sunlight from the west streamed into the carriage at an angle.

The light illuminated the face of the angel watching the scenery through the window, lighting up a pair of bedazzling purple eyes enshrined in a maroon eyeliner.

"Lynn!" he muttered under his breath, lost in her eyes as usual.

Though there was no way she could've heard him, the young angel seemed to spot him in that same moment. It took a second for recognition to flash in her eyes, and she perked up in her seat. The carriage swung by and swept past him as she leaned into the window to look at him.

Maybe there was desire in her eyes as well?

Blaze's wings seemed to move by themselves as he mindlessly began to follow the vehicle. However, even at his top speed he could not keep up with a Pegasi-drawn carriage. It quickly disappeared out of sight.

What the Hela is wrong with me? He thought as clarity returned to him. Could it be...? He felt a lurch in his stomach as he looked in the direction of the carriage and saw those eyes in his mind. He still had no idea how the rest of her face looked, despite it not being covered by a veil.

Shaking his head at himself, he headed down towards the banks of the lake. Choosing a mamgi tree with a wide canopy, he felt the damp grass and earth beneath his feet as he sat down by the lake. He watched the streams flowing into the lake and the river to the north that was still in the youthful stage of its flow.

Will I see her again? Maybe she'll participate in the tournament, or at least come and watch!

One thought led to another, and soon, he was thinking about the pair of gauntlets that he had been promised by Valinna and her apprentice. He had an inkling they'd be badass.

He imagined them over his hands and arms and felt their weight on them. He stood up, spread his arms, and looked to the west. "I, the Blazing Fury, SHALL CONQUER THE LAND AND UNITE IT UNDER ONE RULE! Muhahahahaha," he cackled into the sky like a super villain.

"What's wrong with you?" a tinkling little voice startled him out of his reverie. He looked around for the source but found no one.

"Over here," the voice said from the direction of the lake.

Blaze spotted a head poking out of the water. The reflection of the sun made sure that the rest of her body was not visible.

"Hey," Blaze said, studying the young angel in the water. Thick locks of wet cyan hair enshrined a pretty face, containing a prominent, but cute, button nose, and a pair of large angular golden eyes. Her energy signature indicated that she was in her later fifties.

"Are you pretending to be a demon?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"Nah, just myself," he shrugged his shoulders. "How's the water?"

"I like it, but it's probably a little cold for you," she answered with a chortle. "Hey, I don't suppose you could grab me one of those mamgi on the tree? I saw you flying here."

Blaze glanced up at the tree. It was the mamgi season, and this tree possessed some particularly big ones, despite being a bit green. "Why can't you get em' yourself? Besides, they look a little unripe."

"I can't fly."

"Oh! Right, I am sorry," Blaze said awkwardly, feeling a little sorry for her. She looked a little old to not be able to fly without a good reason. He quickly manifested his wings and flew up to pluck a fruit.

The thick smell of still ripening mamgi, the musty smell of leaves, and the earthy smell emanating from the ground below hit Blaze as he landed on a thick tree branch.

The angel in the water proved to be a bit difficult as she made him flip and turn each mamgi, before picking a particularly green but large fruit.

He came back to the ground and threw the fruit at her, but his aim was a little short. The angel shot forward in the water and grabbed it.

"I am sorry..." Blaze apologized again.

"You don't have to feel sorry about my wings," she said, taking a bite out of the fruit and slurping at the sharp tanginess of it. "That's perfect... I am a Mami Wata."

"A mommy what?"

"A Mami Wata. Surely, you've at least heard of us," she said, pouting.

A passage he read about a breed of sea nymphs that populated the south-eastern coasts of Azra-El flashed through his mind.

"Oh yeah! Water nymphs. I didn't think you couldn't fly," he said, realizing that the faint purplish tinge to the nymph's skin was not merely a reflection of the water.

"Why would we want to fly when we spend most of our lives in water?" she pouted again, splashing some water in Blaze's direction.

Blaze decided to join her. He took off his shirt and threw it on the bank before heading for the lake. But as soon as his feet touched the water, he yelped and jumped back.

"Told you it was too cold for you," the nymph smirked at him. The water was damn close to near freezing. "I'll come out and keep you company for a bit," she said, swiftly zipping towards him without even using her hands to swim.

When she reached the shallow waters, she started to stand up.

The first thing Blaze noticed was that she was naked. Absolutely naked. She had nothing covering her skin, except for a tiny little ornament that only covered the slit of her vagina, and possibly her anus.

Her skin was pearly smooth, and water dribbled off it like there was no friction; especially off her plump reddish-purple lips, the bottom of which seemed to have a natural hang that attracted all the water from the top of her lovely face.

The second thing he noticed was her hair. Her bright cyan locks were so long that they dragged across the water above her shins.

Her round bulging breasts shook as she strode through the water, her hips swinging with a natural sway. Her reddish-purple nipples stood stiff from the cold and Blaze stood mesmerized by the sight.

"You're weird, and I am Azalea," she said with a wry smile, noticing his sordid gaze. She took another bite of her mamgi as she stepped on to the shore.

"I am B- Rachel," he answered her sluggishly. "You're just ... very pretty," he told her, shaking his head at himself. You'd think I'd be more level-headed after all those angels...

"T-thank you," Azalea said with a little blush. "You're also very good looking, and strong!" she added after a moment, lifting her arm and popping a small muscle. "I saw you fly over but didn't think you'd be so young."

Blaze shrugged his shoulders. "What's a Mami Wata doing all the way in Aranya?" he asked, turning around and walking back to the trunk of the tree. He sat down and brushed the grass beside him, patting it for the nymph to come and sit beside him.

She bit into her fruit with a crunch and walked up to him. "Want a bite?" she offered.

"Nah, I like 'em sweet," he said to her. But I wouldn't mind taking a bite at those lips.

"Suit yourself," she said, sitting down beside him.

Blaze caught a glimpse of her near-perfect booty before she sat down and leaned against the trunk beside him. Their shoulders touched, and he felt her wide hips against his lower stomach. She was warm and smooth.

"Travelling with my mother on a business trip," she said, answering his previous question.

"Oh? I didn't think water nymphs cared about doing business over the land," he said, trying his best to not do anything perverted. He knew it wouldn't stop there, and he wasn't stupid enough to do it with every beautiful stranger he met, especially when the world's eyes were trained on him.

"Most don't. Also, my mother is an angel. I am adopted."

"Oh..." he muttered. He almost said that he was too but stopped himself at the last moment.

"I like her, though. She is rich and buys me lots of things. She is also a very strong archangel!" she said, noticing his pity. "What about you? What are you doing here? You don't seem like a local. All the local kids are herding bison and playing flyball."

"I was playing with them earlier. Friendly lot," he answered. "But yes, I am not a local. Here to train in the mountains. Today is my off day."

"Train? For the USMAT?" she said, turning to him with wide eyes. Her boobs bounced again.

"Yep." You should really keep those covered! Blaze cursed at her in his head.

"Wow. You must be really strong," she said, calming down. "I wish the water nymphs could participate too, but you need to be able to fly to take part in the tournaments. I think that's lame. We are very strong on land, and no angel can defeat us in the water."

"I am sure, but you can't expect a fair match when only one of the opponents can fly."

"I suppose not."

The two angels chatted for a while, and Azalea proved to be fun and interesting. She had lots of tales from her travels on Azra-El, and Blaze was a sucker for a good story. He even forgot that the nymph beside him was naked.

"So, how do your nirn work? Do you sprout fins out of them or something? What about an arch Mami Wata-ever?" he asked her, as the sun began to dip behind the western mountains. Azalea's carefree attitude made it easy to talk to her.

"Mami Wata is what our people call ourselves. Our archangels are called arch-nymphs," she clarified, "and sea/lake/river deity after that. I think Deva is a common term for all. I'm pretty sure all Devas can all fly despite their race. As for how our nirn work, do you want to see?" she asked, seeming a little excited.

"Of course!" he said, making his curiosity and wonder apparent. Azalea was delighted by his interest.

"Come!" she said eagerly, getting up and walking back towards the water.

Blaze chose to watch her nude figure from behind. Despite her long hair draping over her back, he could still make out the prominent valley of her spine, dipping and curving into wide hips and a massively curvy butt. Though her torso was smaller than his, her legs were long, making her stand five or six inches taller than him. But he didn't mind. For an eight-month-old angel, he was a freaking giant.

The ends of her hair dragged along the grass and over the mud as she waded into the lake.

"Come," she said, turning around and energetically waving her arm at him. Her breasts once again rippled with her movements.

Is she a siren drawing me to death? He wondered as he got up and walked to her. Standing by the edge of the lake, he smiled at her.

Azalea waded a foot deep into the water before turning around to face him. She raised her left thigh to the side and reached out to the clip covering her slit. She fiddled with it once before plucking it out, revealing a pretty and light purple slit.

"Hold this," she said, tossing the ornament to Blaze.

Blaze fumbled with it in the air before he caught it. Fraking Hela! he thought as he felt its dry but sticky warmth against his fingers. It had two small round knobs whose purpose was easy enough to guess.

Unaware of Blaze's unusual excitement, Azalea sat down in the water. Blaze half expected her to open her knees and invite him in, but she instead stretched her legs and closed her knees together.

She leaned back on her hands and began to concentrate on her legs. A golden orange glow began to emanate from the sides of her thighs, quickly spreading upwards and downwards and merging around her legs before materializing into dazzling crystalline scales.

"Blistering Barnacles! You're a freaking mermaid!" he cried in awe, staring at the beautiful fish tail of hers. It was long and sinuous, with a large fluffy, golden fan replacing her feet. In fact, her tail seemed much longer than her legs.

"What the Hela is a mermaid? I am a Mami Wata. I like the phrase 'blistering barnacles', though. Where did you hear that?" she said, loving Blaze's attention.

"Captain Haddock," Blaze replied, walking into the cold water and crouching beside her tail. "Mind if I touch?" he asked with pure wonder.

"Sure. A ship's captain?"

Blaze gingerly reached out a finger and touched a scale at the bend where her knees were supposed to be. It was smooth like glass, and not at all slimy like fish scales. "Yeah. These are absolutely beautiful, though," he said, tapping on her scale and feeling its toughness. It clinked like glass, but he had a feeling it wasn't as fragile.

"Thank you," she blushed again, her cheeks turning even more purple. "But they don't just look beautiful. How fast can you fly?" she asked.

"Um... not sure. I can dive pretty fast," Blaze wondered.

"No no. Not dive. That's just gravity. How fast can you fly in a straight line, without tailwind?" she asked, as if she wanted to prove something.

"A little more than twenty yonders per hour? Can only maintain that speed for a minute, though."

"That's pretty fast, but I can do better," she said, turning around in the water and using her hands to push forwards into the lake. Blaze let her tail travel under his hand, feeling her scales and finally feeling the soft and fluffy mane of her tail fan.

"Watch," she yelled out, once her whole body was submerged. When she saw him nod, she turned around and straightened her back. She paused for a movement and flapped her tail.

A strong wave of ice-cold water crashed into Blaze's chest and made him fall back on his butt. However, he didn't miss the mermaid shoot across the surface of the water like a speed boat.

"Did you see that?" she screamed, coming to a stop a few hundred feet away from the shore.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" he screamed back, wiping the freezing cold water off his face.

Azalea shot back towards him with the same speed and reached him within a few seconds. Her top speed surpassed his horizontal flying speed, and Blaze made sure to remember not to mess with a nymph in water.