After a brief cuddle which was just us lying in the pile we’d both collapsed in, holding onto each other’s bodies for dear life, mumbling incoherently as our brains reassembled themselves from having experienced simultaneous male and female orgasms twice in a row—after some immeasurable time, I was finally able to form a single coherent thought.

“Oh my god.” I wasn’t talking to myself. At least, I hoped I wasn’t.

“I didn’t know we could do that,” Mona said.

“Neither did I.”

What had just transpired was not an experience I had ever expected to have, not even as a so-called god, and I was still processing the feeling of it. After such intense sensations, I suppose it took some time to return to earth—or wherever I was now. On a map I’d seen in the Book, the title at the top had only said World, but that word in Demonic was pronounced Korthora, which was as good as any other name.

At last, we regained some sense of control over our bodies, and I soon realized the connection between Mona and I had not yet disappeared, though it was less intense than before.

We held each other close, kissing, caressing, reveling in our mutual feeling at how strange and wonderful it felt to touch and be touched in the same way. When Mona moved, I could feel her sensations as if she were part of my body. How strange. I couldn’t help but think this was important. If our bodies were this way, what did that say about our Wills? There was still a shimmering thread of light that connected the two of us, which bound my soul to Mona’s. It felt right when I looked at it.

But after a few minutes of relaxing silence, our link faded in intensity, and I only felt my own body once more. Mona’s ear rested against my chest. I wondered, as I always did, if she could hear my heartbeat.

When I closed my eyes, I saw that our Wills had returned to their normal state. I still felt a pull between us, an attraction beyond the physical realm, but our lights were distinct, individual once more. Though they no longer overlapped as if they were one, I still saw a faint, shimmering filament that connected us. It was less bright than before but still unmistakable.

“I liked it when you slapped my ass,” Mona said, and my eyes snapped open to look at her. “I wish you hadn’t stopped.”

“I did?”

“Just before the end, when it was getting good, you stopped.”

“I was getting too turned on,” I admitted.

“Too turned on?” she said, mystified. “Isn’t that the point?”

“I wanted you to enjoy yourself too, though.”

Mona appeared almost scandalized by my admission. “No wonder you made me work so hard for it, you asshole. I thought I was never going to get to have you. But you made it all worth it, the way you felt inside me.”

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“How do you feel?” I looked at her meaningfully. “I’m not sure how long it takes before you feel the effects.” There was another reason I was asking. I had started to feel different, too, I realized. I felt something had changed within me for the better, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“I already feel different,” Mona said. “Like before, but even stronger.” She sat up in bed and held out her hands. Without needing to chant, I saw her eyes focus, and then an orb of fire appeared, hovering in the air before us. But this orb was far brighter than anything I had been able to conjure—it glowed so brightly that I winced and looked away. It shone as if it were the sun. But the sun of Earth, rather than the sickly, red one in the sky above us. It also roared with sound—beyond mere crackling, it sounded like someone had lit a massive bonfire right above our bed.

I looked at Mona and saw a satisfied expression on her face. A bead of sweat fell from her nose. At last, she relaxed, lowering her hands, and the fire dissolved into nothingness as if it had never been there at all. But I still felt the heat of it on my skin, and the sound of it rang in my ears for a few more seconds before receding.

“Have you always been able to do that?” I asked. Not only was it more potent than I had ever seen, but she had formed it more quickly. Fast enough, I thought, that she would have been able to finish it before the paladin had dispelled it.

“No, my Will has grown stronger,” Mona said, looking down at her hands. “I’m sure of it. But that’s not how it’s supposed to work.” She flexed her fingers. “It is written that your Godseed would impart physical benefits, but this kind of transformation, this refinement of my Will… This is amazing… I feel…” She looked at me and smiled. “Master, thank you!” She pressed herself against me and grabbed me by the shoulders, squeezing me tightly and rubbing her cheek against me.

But with a sinking feeling, I cast a glance at the clock and realized we only had five minutes left until Ilmatar would arrive with our lunch.

“The pleasure was all mine, I assure you.” I leaned down and kissed her softly and slowly, then pulled away. “Sadly, we can’t stay in bed forever. As much as I’d like to.”

“A pity,” Mona replied, a sly smile on her face. “But it was fun to forget for a little while. And it wasn’t just playtime, either. This will be good for us during the war.”

“During the war?”

“Of course, Master. After all, I’ll be fighting alongside you.” She looked at me with a strange expression, as if only now did she realize that I still hadn’t understood such a basic fact. “The High Priestess’s place is by your side. Always.”

No wonder she’d been hesitant to run away, regardless of how fucked we were. I’d been asking her to desert her post. I thought back to the briefing in the Hall of War when Shatterbone had told me of the mages in our army. Mostly pyromancers, he’d said. It hadn’t occurred to me that she was one of them, though now it seemed obvious. It was strange to think we might die together in battle, slain in the same valley mere months from today.

Worse yet, as I contemplated this, a knock came at the door.

Ilmatar, much to my chagrin, had arrived four minutes early.

I slipped on a robe, moved my chair out of the way of the door, and opened it. To my surprise, it was not the Majordomo who I saw standing there. On second thought, it made sense—Ilmatar would not have bothered to knock.

Lucifron leaned forward in a bow. “It’s the dog-kin, Dark Lord. She ate breakfast this morning. I thought you would wish to know.”

There was something different about him, I thought. His Will twinkled a little brighter than yesterday as if there was some secret spark of joy within him. But perhaps that was because he had good news to tell me.

“Ah, I am pleased,” I said, and I thought I saw him suppress a satisfied smile. “Let’s pay the paladin a visit.”

It was time to get some answers from our prisoner.