Chapter 27.2 - Temptation

Rivia yawned and turned to Trey, wiping the tears from her face. “If it is alright with the master, I will sleep now.”

Trey gave her a brief, puzzled nod, and the culn girl soon turned over onto her side with her back to him. Silence reigned over the next couple minutes aside from the crackling flames, and not long after that she’d fallen asleep.

“Crazy priestess.” Atharost muttered, shifting his weight to get a better look at her after the long era of silence. “I cannot tolerate religious fools without growing angry.”

Trey chuckled, thinking it hilarious that he was speaking to a demon about how it hated religion. “Yeah, I can see that. I’m the same way. Used to be religious a long time ago but not for the past many years now.”

Trey’s stomach growled loudly and he clutched at it, feeling how hungry he was. He’d been an idiot not to bring more food with him when he’d left the fortress, but what little he’d picked up on their flight had at least satiated him for a small time.

They’d need to hunt soon.

Another hour passed with little said between the two men, both of them relishing in the quiet calm of night. Trey hadn’t felt this way since he’d gone camping with his family back in the Grand Canyon years ago… though the scenery there was much prettier and there were actually stars. There weren’t any stars here in oblivion, and it was kind of spooky that there was little to no light at night. Looking around again he seriously wondered, for the tenth time since getting here, how anything survived in this place.

Napoleon began to snore. At first Trey didn’t know what it was and it sounded like a low whistle, but when he did realize it was a snore it just made him laugh again. He’d been laughing a lot lately despite his shitty circumstances. His father had once told him that laughter was the key to happiness, and if you couldn’t find a reason to laugh then you were living life wrong.

Shit. He missed his family.

Rivia shifted slightly in her sleep, drawing Trey’s eyes over. She was a religious fanatic, a culn, and if she’d really sacrificed people it was likely she had little empathy for others. But god damn... she was hot.

Atharost smirked as he watched Trey eyefuck the girl. “How long are you going to just stare at her?”

Trey gave him a glance before turning back to her curves. The black silk robes she wore fell perfectly over her athletic figure and he wanted to go over and remove them. Yawning loudly he shook his head, placing his hands behind him as he leaned back and stretched again.

“I don’t know. Probably until I fall asleep.” Trey gave the ifrit a sheepish smile and a wink.

The ifrit scoffed and kicked at a rock nearby, sending it skipping into the alien forest. “She is your property now. If you want to take her then do it.”

Trey frowned. “On Earth, we don’t-”

“We’re not on Earth.” Atharost cut in quickly. He leaned forward and pointed to the girl. “And she wants you to.”

To this, Trey laughed. Loudly. He cleared his throat in very apparent disbelief, and vivid images of the long, ugly scar across his face danced through his mind. “You’re a good guy, I didn’t make you out to be a liar.”

“How’s that?” asked Atharost curiously.

Again, Trey frowned. “I killed her kin, beat her half to death after she tried to stab me, enslaved her, and took her from her home. You heard her. I doubt she’d want me to do anything sexual with her. Even if they did deserve what they got.”

“She applauded you for killing her father, did she not!?” Atharost threw out his hands to either side with a devilish smile. “And Yes! You took her away and now she’s desperate to know she’s... needed. Why do you think she made up that story about her goddess choosing her to convert you? As a minion she probably thinks she’s expendable. She’s the weakest of all of us, even more so than the imp, and she’s scared of everything that moves. She is frightened of you and me both, and she even said that she’s scared you’re going to sacrifice her to one of the old gods for power like so many other summoners do. Why else would you keep such a weak servant, if not for a sacrifice or for sex?”

Obviously uncomfortable, Trey dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

“Besides... we could be having a lot of fun with her!” Atharost continued, moving his tail around and flipping up Rivia’s robe to slowly reveal the royal purple skin of her calves and toned thighs.

Trey sat watching the culn woman sleep there unaware of their conversation about her. She was within arm’s reach and curled up in a half-way fetal position deep in slumber. Her well aligned facial features were almost perfect.

“How old do you think she is?” Trey asked bluntly.

“20 years by human time, very young for a demoness. I already took the liberty to ask.” Atharost replied, getting up and prodding Trey with his hand. The ifrit lustfully bypassed him and knelt next to the woman, letting his hand slide up and down her legs appraisingly. “When I was with my own clan, we had culn slaves like this one. She reminds me of one I used to know. The culn are so weak that they were easily controlled and their finest women always went to us.”

Firelight flickered off her royal-purple skin and she shifted in her sleep, causing Atharost to pause. He caught a glimpse of Trey’s expression and chuckled. “As a master, you must take what you want. Show the culn wench her place if it pleases you.”

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Trey felt something in the back of his mind stir. A presence… that he couldn’t quite place. It urged him forward, but it was a line Trey’d never crossed. He wasn’t about to start now. No, that line he would never cross.

“I don’t know about you, but I haven’t mated with someone in a very long time.” Atharost said with a glint in his eyes.

“Stop.” Trey said adamantly with a shake of his head, beginning to get angry. “It isn’t going to happen.”

The ifrit looked like he was about to say something, but halted as Trey raised a hand to silence him.

Rivia shifted slightly with a soft moan as sleep held its grip on her mind. She must have been utterly exhausted, given that she hadn’t woken up to their loud discussion.

The presence in the back of his mind returned with a flood of thoughts that weren’t his: Her people had enslaved those humans and dwarves first right? They had ruthlessly hunted down the prisoners who’d escaped and slaughtered them right? They’d eaten and raped them right? They’d killed even him! And Rivia, she'd been a part of that… right?

She had tried to kill him, she didn’t believe any of that bullshit she had talked about with her goddess proclaiming his arrival. She was just trying her best to act on self preservation.

These culn were just animals, either born to be his enemies or tools for him to use. Disgusting, vile creatures that lacked any empathy. They weren’t even human, not even real. A piece of code that had never had true life. He didn’t owe this woman anything, and if this ‘Permanence’ hadn’t been ‘ON’... then he had good reason to believe he’d actually be dead. Really dead, forever… dead.

But despite the temptation, despite what his new friend Atharost was trying to convince him to do, he still wasn’t going to cross that line. Then he thought of what his mother would think if he was to proceed, and his decision was reinforced. Trey again shook his head no, pushing the dark presence in the back of his mind further away. “I can’t. I won’t force someone to have sex with me, that’s just a big nope. Sorry.”

Atharost frowned in disappointment, but nodded his acknowledgment. “You killed dozens of her kin, ending their lives without a second thought, and you have a problem enjoying the spoils of your victory? Odd, but very well. Perhaps we should get some rest then.”

Trey gave an apologetic smile. “Thanks for understanding. Oh… and Atharost. I didn’t get a real chance to thank you for helping me out back there at the culn lair. You saved my life… and I owe you big time. Thank you, it means a lot that you came with me. I hope... that we can become good friends.”

Atharost gave him a look of surprise, before genuinely smiling back. He placed a hand on Trey’s shoulder and lightly squeezed. “As do I. Have a restful sleep.”

“Your minion Atharost has increased its opinion of you from ‘Liked’ to ‘Friendly.’ Your minion still gains a 15% experience increase due to it remaining in the positive category.”

Trey grinned back. “Yeah. Goodnight and see ya in the morning.”

The fire’s remnants were put out, leaving them bathed in darkness under the Oblivion sky. The discussion ended right there and then, and it took a while for them to fall asleep after that.

As Trey’s mind shut off and he dozed off into slumber, Rivia opened her eyes to consider what Trey had said to Atharost. She was surprised he hadn’t given in and assaulted her… but she was thankful for it. Perhaps… perhaps things wouldn’t be as bad as she’d feared.

***

It was approaching dusk when Trey and his minions finally made their way out of the mountains and caught a glimpse of what they thought to be the portal gates in the distance. From many miles out, Trey could see giant sets of ancient ebony pillars that had to each be the size of a skyscraper. Connecting them at the top were domed curvatures the same width and size of the pillars. Massive neon-green runes seen even from where the group stood now were engraved onto the structure and statues of winged gargoyles crouched at the base of each pillar.

“That’s the gate we used last…” Rivia said while pointing to the large structure closest to them. “We take our hunting parties through those gates, as do many other of the culn tribes within our lord’s domain. There will be soldiers guarding it… but for us Culn, it is a safe area. There will likely not be many to stop you from leaving… though I’m not sure exactly where it leads. Usually the gates are connected to mortal realms, where our kind can find easy victims.”

Well. That was… mostly... good news. And anywhere was better than here.

Atharost and Trey were in rather upbeat moods and continued bantering throughout the trek. Meanwhile Napoleon just slept in Rivia’s arms. Rivia kept her head down to say little along the way except when spoken to, but held Napoleon tightly to her for comfort. She’d noticeably calmed since carrying the tiny imp and for whatever reason it brought her a feeling that she was not so… alone.

Trey thought about the other men, women and children that’d run off amidst the fight at the lake weeks ago. He just hoped they were doing ok, but he sincerely doubted they’d survive even if some of them had escaped. It was a very likely scenario that every single one of them had died by now. He got a knot in his throat thinking about it and tried to shrug it off, letting his thoughts drift towards other things. There was nothing he could do and he’d tried his best to save them.

The two red moons had set within the next few hours and Trey switched to night vision as they went. For every creepy noise Trey heard: he would turn his head and pause, ducking low to make sure nothing was stalking them. There were a lot of creepy noises in this desolate plane of existence and it took a large chunk of time just getting through while maintaining a careful posturing.

But Atharost thought his master’s antics were hilarious, and the ifrit would mock him every time Trey crouched or paused to listen, exaggerating the movements and making stupid faces that caused Trey to scowl.

Throughout the trip, gusts of cold air caused Rivia to shiver and she tried to cuddle up more closely to Napoleon each time. She brought her hood down further as well upon each of these occasions, and Trey caught her staring at them a couple times as he walked alongside Atharost.

Farthom had only once ever described what they’d been looking for and what to do when they arrived, so Trey was thankful Rivia was there to guide them. He shook his head at the thought of the old scholar. Farthom and his granddaughter Inis had deserved better.

Trey was disgusted with himself. He had been careless, and although it wasn’t entirely his fault - he definitely held some of the blame for leaving the group to go get laid at the opposite end of the lake. He knew what his mom would say if she was here… that it wasn’t his fault and that he couldn’t read the future to know that he should have stayed. For all Trey knew, his mom was probably dead along with most of the people back on Earth… that is, if he hadn’t hallucinated this entirely lifelike experience. At this point though… he believed it all to be true, and it only made him angrier. Angry at the situation, angry at life, and angry that it couldn’t have been him that’d died in place of his family.

Hours later, they came to the top of a large hill. Looking down the dark landscape, he could see at least a couple little figures moving around in the distance with his enhanced night-vision. He assumed those to be the guards Rivia had talked about, so he picked up the pace as did the minions following him. What he would do once they arrived… Well, things were going to get messy.

The culn tribes here would come to regret crossing him.