…..:::::|. Fifty-Foot-O-Rope Inn .|:::::…..

Halycind awoke happily. It had been a while since her sun-risings had greeted her well. And these last few had been quite welcoming.

The scrolls she stole from the little dead girl, fell from their place in the inside pouch of her satchel, as she got dressed. Halycind remembered she wanted to look them over, so she read more of the pages. Viewing them in a more calm environment, she was now certain these were from a devotee's pandraegkyl. Much of it read like a letter of love, yet parts of it read like the passion that could only be fueled by madness.

Halycind now understood finitely these were from the cut girl she’d fought in Ladi Gru Has, for her clothing was nearly identical to that of the strange gear those fox-women wore in the woods. Whatever had happened to her, Halycind now understood why she’d fought her with such fervor.

The necromancer, written so lovingly of, was meticulous in his ways and sound in his wisdoms and passionate in his craft. Were he not a mancer, he may have almost reminded her of Siin.

Almost.

The crazed woman had even written of a time where she’d hidden herself in the place where she'd first read through his own pandraegkyl. Ashen caves beneath ruined soil. A Majisdadh of Bloody Motherhood. Who ever this devotee had been, had slowly lost her senses in reverence to this necromancer. Though Halycind could rightly see why. His command of mantia seemed quite beyond what she could ever fathom of magecraft. He, in fact, seemed more fathomless than something tangible.

The curiosities in her middle had been solidly piqued and she tapped on her lips as she hummed her way from her room.

Siin’s door, across the hall, wildly opened as if he’d been waiting for Halycind to emerge.

“You going out? Right now?” He urged, wiping his eyes. “I wanna go.”

“Siin, it's just a pull order.” She looked on him with a perplexed half-squinted eye.

“I've never seen you pull...so. Can I?”

“I mean, alright. But don't expect much. It's just a lot of waiting.”

“It's a good morning for...waiting..I suppose.”

She laughed. “Clean yourself up. Let's go.”

“Wait there. Don't move.” He was gleeful, shoving happy palms forward. Then he dashed back into his inn room.

When he emerged far too short a time later the sight of him near threw her down the steps beside her. Brown leathers, well-conditioned with oils. Blue piping coursing the lines down his manly shape along the well-made seams of this armour set. And so many buckles and belts and latches and corseting laces all tipped in silver cinched him in like the tailored suits of fine nobles.

Only that tower of a neck peaking from his high stiff collar was visible in all these straps and corseting strings. It was mage armour. Not inexpensive and something only the Villa could procure.

“Got new armours while I was dead, did ya?”

“Yeah, well, sort of, yesterday.” He mumbled into his own chest with a child-like pout and small voice.

“Siin Ynggrloch!”

“What?! You're the Gale-Killer! I can't deface your appearance by walking around looking like a bum next to you!”

She shook her head, admittedly wowed by his good looks and soothed by his playfulness. He was again making her feel far too special for her comfort.

…..:::::|. Berenice Coastal Dales .|:::::…..

Having strapped a fierce load-out of wildergear to their new armours the two hunters took to the dales just outside of Havvenchael’s Seventh Sector toward Halycind’s Pull Order location. Mossbend was slowly indeed bending into Raizebend and the sun was starting to share its wrath with this side of the world. But there were cooling mechanisms in their gear and Halycind was ever-so grateful Strider had included all the upgrades he had. She’d never felt so comfortable moving about the wild terrain of Dureyr’s outdoors.

Tearful eyes for Taphsel would have taken her long back but Siin’s playful presence had kept them all at bay and she was thankful for him too. They hopped rocks and tree limbs and baited tiny chases between them much like when they were children and it was such a relief to have him around again. Even with all she’d learned new of him, she still wanted her friend near her, all the time.

It had broken into full sun-rising before Halycind saw the trees in question and her belly reminded her she hadn’t had breakfast. She had read the Pull Order over and over just to be sure the tree she was looking for were in fact these trees. She cursed not having studied more in Ashok but she abhorred her tutors.

“You didn’t tell me we were coming to a Place of Power.” Siin shot excitement behind his wildergear masks.

The red of the groves’ leaves was so vivid it reminded her of the young blood of a beast. She had enjoyed hunting those. They tasted fresh over open fire. But then his words had pierced her hunger pangs. “I—a, whuh?”

Siin removed his head gear and snapped both his hands next to his temples. His eyesight filled with the swirling la’as of the planet. Greens. Blues. Pinks. Purples. “A Place of Power. Like the tree stubs your Those Who Where Old Helms sit on.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Halycind was looking at him looking all around at things she couldn’t at all see. “They, whuh?”

“Cash.” He urged sounding worlds like his child-like self; he was so excited. “This whole dale is rife with magic. It feels amazing.” It was as if he were eating a good meal, he was so charged. “Take your hood off you’re safe here.”

“Uuuh, all I see are Uaxsa Leaf?” She furled her lip in grimace taking off her gear.

“Here.”

He’d come round her backside, wiggling into the curves of her form to interlace her fingers with his own and wrap both their arms across their bodies. The crawling sensation of his exhilarated slithering movements so close on her back, punched at her desires as if a wild slap from a beast had run her over. And even as his forehead heavily dipped down to touch the back of her head and his warm chanting whispers rounded down to her right ear, all Halycind’s body could do was frisson with the amorous sensations his extreme closeness was causing in her; and she suddenly welcomed the feeling.

Then as his words in her ear ended her lulled eyes rolled open to see colours. Colours she hadn’t ever known existed.

They were all flying in the air, just wisping about like fireflies. Swooping in and out of tree trunks. Through and between grass blades. Over and inside of all the rocks and small ponds between trees.

“What is this?” She sounded a bit scared, as the sun now itself had dimmed against all the shining Power of this place.

“That’s Dureyr’s lifeforce.” His voice was rich and close and driving more urges through her body. “La’as. The forces we call Power. The essences by which we weave spellcraft.”

“It’s...it’s…” She had no words; all she could do was experience. And at once she realized there was no one else she would have ever wanted to experience this sight with.

Her heart beat differently for a moment.

There heads were still very close so he let her switch cheeks to look on her other side but his jaw followed everything she took in as if it were glued to hers.

“How, how are you letting me see this?”

Her whisper was light and child-like but also very much full of warmth for him.

“I cast an arcane sight on you. Can you feel it?”

His smile on her cheek alerted them both to a growing sense of proximity to one another’s voice.

“I think...I can. It’s so…” She blinked slowly. “Or maybe it’s just you.” She caved, letting a hard sensation of her desire course through her.

Siin then deftly realized he was this close to Halycind. Then he realized they’d never been this close to each other, awake anyway, and something like the serious urge to kiss her crawled up his gut to his heart.

“It tickles the skin?” His voice was low, meaningful in his growing intent toward his childhood playmate.

“Yes.”

The word took it’s time hissing from her lips and the strength in his hold readjusted.

“Thumps in your chest?”

His lips on her cheek almost felt like a speaking kiss to her and she let herself become familiar with their feel.

“Mhm.”

She sounded like a woman to him, then, not the playful little girl she’d been in the past. And he realized his imaginings of her adult voice were oddly accurate. He loved the way she sounded and there were new thoughts beginning to swim around in his enamored head.

“Weakens the steel of your thighs?”

Siin’s voice was deep. He could lift its register when speaking jovially with others but she truly and rightly realized, this man’s real voice, was a rumble.

“Sii—” She could only half whisper the slow beginning of his name, for her breathing had quickened her voice into somewhat of a vibration.

He let her head slowly lean backward into his hold to just stand there for a time. Stand there and watch Dureyr share her life and breath with theirs.

“How do you feel?” He uttered softly down to her after a while.

“Enveloped. It’s all so intoxicating.” Her voice was only breath now as he watched her let the Power around them penetrate her senses. He also realized his closeness was apart of her intoxication and the defiance in him made him squeeze her tighter.

“It is to us, too.” He smiled on her neck as his head settled further into their hold.

“Do you see this because you’re a pixie?”

Her words were languid but full of hot interest.

“Yes.” He expressed in a cottony grin. “All blended-men can see a Place of Power if they see nothing else.”

His breath was warm on her skin, warm and inviting.

“All the Speculah Holds from the White Era were grown, built, on Places of Power like this.” He continued.

She squeezed the fingers of the man wrapped around her and smiled with a sense of accomplished understanding. “Is this why they call it a Speculah Hold.”

Her associations were suddenly so incredibly sweet to him, his heart grew full inside his chest. “Perhaps.” He smiled as his head rolled down to where his lips nearly touched her collarbone. He let out a small hungry laugh, and took in the view of her pretty skin. “I’d like to think so.”

She let the feel of him exist on her for a moment and smiled at several of her own developing thoughts.

“No wonder Speculah have large litters in Buraamira.” She was speaking outside of herself, inside her true comfort, and the extension of her neck against his shoulder drove him to chew on his own lip.

Either he’d sink a kissing bite into her now or he’d have to let her go. She was starting to feel far too good to him this close.

“You, uh, y-you should start your Pull Order.” He attempted trying to control his rising breath.

“Oh, right.” Her head tried to wobble upward. He felt so good to nestle against. “Ever your heart, Siin. Thank you for showing this to me.”

“Um...Cilcay’ba. Thank you for taking it in.” Even though he hissed his language well, his voice was still a quiver.

“Ammol, again?”

“Yes.” He whispered.

“I’m starting to really like your language.”

“I’m enjoying sharing it with you.”

They definitely wanted one another in the moment and that want was starting to take a fiery shape. Letting her go slowly, Siin stepped back from her with some steadying effort and tried not to give into both the sensuous nature of this place and the fierce attraction he held toward Halycind Cashtiel.

“The effect of my spell will be on you for a while. So...so you can take in its wonders with, uh...with some space. As you work.”

“I’m sure your spell will hold.” She eased looking at him and going over to brush the soft petals of the red-leaf trees here.

He gulped hard, Zhuer men could be ravenous in their aroused nature and fighting his will to make her his mate here in this place was already a difficult charge.

So he breathed, a lot, and huffed out heat from his serpentine Speculah blood’s want for her as he watched her scope out a good tree to pull pigment from.

It didn’t help she kept taking glances back to him in her own confused desires in this space. Should she act on her will and take him now or should she show some sort of restraint and make good on her promised word to the armourer? She’d never given herself the freedom to honestly want these feelings long enough to examine them for their worth to her. So, she began to give her heart the permission to let him in.

As she approached a quiet tree its red leaf-tops and white undersides flapped gently in the light breezes and tickles from the swirls of Power Halycind still saw clearly.

Taphsel would sit and talk with trees like this for a while before making any extractions. She wondered if he’d been part pixie, too.

Though she didn't have the time to converse with the lovely thing for long, she did greet it and brush the velvetiness of its foliage, all the while remembering how Siin’s hold felt against her.