It has been a while since I heard the sound of the crashing sea. They sound so majestic yet frightening in a calming way. The tide’s power clashes against the rocks below the island Haleema, Ulrika, and I are on. As far as I can see, there are no other landmasses around, maybe for hundreds or thousands of miles.
In the corner of my eye, as I look off into the ocean, I see Haleema’s fiery hair cascade behind her from the blowing wind. Even Ulrika’s short hair flails forward from the strong wind. I imagine seeing her flowing jet mane swinging every time she turns her head and letting my fingers gently comb through it. Whenever that day arrives, I’ll spoil her with my taste for it.
While I imagine all of these wonderful thoughts, my task and the reason why we’re all here rear their ugly head in my thoughts. I pry myself out of that beautiful vision and head to the center of the island to start our training.
“Okay, it’s time,” I say, standing in the middle of the island.
“Tell me again what you’re trying to do. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this spell,” Haleema says.
“What don’t you understand, specifically?”
“How you can conjure a complex spell like that? Taking our minds to your world to train? You’re capable of doing that?” She looks up at me with her head tilted and flushed open eyes.
“Yes,” I answer, nodding my head.
“And the Hyper Mass Flux, that’ll make us,” she pauses, crosses her arms, and flexes.
“Yes, Haleema. Once we’re done here, you’ll look like me,” Ulrika says, gripping Haleema’s shoulders.
“Whoa! That’s... uh... I don’t think I want that much muscle.”
“I’m just kidding.” Ulrika slaps Haleema shoulders. Haleema flinches, then Ulrika sits on the ground. “Alright. Let’s get this rolling,” she says, giggling with excitement.
“Give me your hands and rest your head against mine.” I lay on my back with my hands open. Ulrika is the first one to lay with me, then comes Haleema. I hold their hands from under them. “Close your eyes, relax, and think about the happiest memory you have.”
“I have so many, Kaio,” Ulrika says, giggling. “I don’t know which one to pick.”
“How about our first kiss.”
“Perfect.” I turn my eyes to Haleema. She’s facing me with her head quarterly turned.
“Do you have yours?”
“I do,” Haleema answers.
“What’s yours?” Ulrika says.
“I want to keep this one private.”
“Was it sex?” Haleema smiles and rolls her eyes. “Your silence tells me, yes.”
“Okay, Ulrika,” I interject. “It’s time to go, ladies.” I wait for them to fully relax by judging their hand grip. Once I feel them loosen up, I begin taking their minds into my world, but something stops me. I feel a warm pressure build on my forehead, then it rubs down my face, stopping at my bottom lip.
“Kaioson,” a woman’s voice calls out to me in an echo. She sounds far away, yet straight ahead. I open my eyes slowly, and floating a foot in front of me is Coretha. “Hiya!” Her glorious shining aura bleeds into my eyes, making them strain with minor pain.
“Have I gone under again?” I ask, squinting my eyes.
“What? No,” she says, shaking her hands in a criss-cross. I’m confused, so I check Ulrika and Haleema. Their eyes are closed, but they look frozen. Even the grass between us isn’t moving. The sound of the wind hitting my ears is gone.
“Did you freeze time?”
“Uh, yeah! Well, technically, I slowed time around us.”
“I see. So, what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?” She holds my cheeks, gently caressing them with her thumbs while her glowing body dims into a comfortable brightness.
“I just wanted to see you again, but in person, and wish you the best of luck for the evils that’ll come. You’re a good man, and I hate seeing people like you suffer because of Zadione’s madness.”
“Pray for my sake that I’ll come out of this alive and not broken.” She glances at the ladies then crosses her hands over her heart.
“I shall! For you, them, and the world!”
“Thanks, Coretha.” Voices whisper in an amplified echo in the sky behind her. She tilts her head to the right but keeps looking at me. “What was that?”
“My sisters are calling me back. I have to return to my duties to nullify Zadione’s chaos efforts on the lower realm.” She floats down to give me a hug. “It was nice seeing you again. See you soon, I hope.”
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“Will you come back in the same way?” As she looks down at me with a blank face, her body starts fading away ever so slightly. “Coretha? ”
“I just remembered I have an important meeting with Syren and her husband, Vahloin. My sisters will have to wait.”
“My friends? It’s been months since I’ve seen them. How are they?”
“Continually living a great life in the peace you gave them years ago.” Hearing that puts a smile on my face.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Alright, Kaioson. It’s time for me to go.”
“Goodbye.” I shut my eyes to resume the process. The heavy wind hits my ears and brushes against my exposed skin. I immerse Ulrika and Haleema into my mental world. The weight in my body sinks to the ground just for a small moment. “Open your eyes slowly.” I turn to look at Ulrika to see if she made it through. She opens her eyes slowly, so I check Haleema’s condition. Haleema turns to me before opening her eyes.
“Are we here?” Haleema says, tightening her grip on my hand. I let go of their hands, but Haleema keeps holding mine.
“Kaio! This is where you go when you meditate?” Ulrika says. Haleema lets go right as I turn my head to the right. I don’t answer Ulrika but watch her walk off, admiring everything around her.
“So,” Haleema says, plucking a handful of grass in her right hand. “It’s like a practical illusion that mimics reality.”
“Yeah. Time moves faster in here than the outside.”
“This is some powerful magic, Kaioson. What other magical abilities have you obtained?”
“You’ll get to see some of them very soon.”
“Teasing us?” Come on,” Ulrika says, pulling me up to my feet and holding my hands. “Let’s go all out.” Haleema warps in her staff. Ulrika touches her hips, and her swords materialize. I raise my hand into the air. Unlike my sword in the real world, this one appears in the same fashion Ulrika’s weapons came in.
“I will keep in mind the time we spend here. We can’t stay here for extremely long periods. Our real bodies will need to replenish food and water from the straining that’ll occur,” I say.
“Will we blackout?”
“Huh? Blackout?” Haleema says.
“No,” I say, restraining myself from smiling. “That was botched. Nothing like that will occur. I promise. I’ve improved my technique since.”
“Okay then,” Ulrika says, standing in front of me with her face inches from me. “Are you ready?”
“Let’s begin.”
----------------------------------------
For two and a half days, we train nonstop, breaking the limits of our abilities and strength. Every inch of my muscles is bigger and more defined. Even Ulrika is ripped. She just got out of the shower and is drying herself off to get ready for bed. Her arms, legs, abs, shoulders, and chest are bulging. I’m amazed at how big she has gained within the last two days. And to add to my amazement, every time she wipes herself down, her natural flex gives me satisfying chills. She tosses her towel on the ground after drying her hair, then slips on her underwear with the latch ring. When she turns to me, the muscles in her abdomen tighten.
“Fucking shit,” she says, groaning, leaning over on the bed. “That was a big one.” She lays beside me, clutching the spot where she’s cramping. I slide my hand under her hand to relinquish the pain with my warmth.
“You don’t normally get these big ones,” I say, massaging her stomach. Her muscles relax back to their typical chiseled, muscular definition.
“I think it was training extra hard that’s making this so painful.”
I add vibrations alongside increasing the warmth a tad. She bites down on her index knuckle, smiling at me. I move my hand down, just enough to slip two of my fingers under her underwear. They rest on the inner pelvic v-shaped divot a few inches under her belly button.
“Does it hurt around here?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’m feeling some minor pain there.”
“Okay,” I whisper, continuing the vibrations and heat. After a few seconds, I think about our early morning coming up. “Ugh,” I grunt. “I’m not looking forward to tomorrow.”
“Is it the super early time we have to wake up at or this meeting?”
“Both. Haleema’s message about Emdal’s meeting with all the Paladins is alarming.”
“Leader of the Paladins gathering his troops for a possible talk of confidence before going to war with a psychotic cult. I won’t be surprised if that’s the case.”
I lay back on the bed, staring up at the dimly lit bed canopy above us as I ponder on the madness I’ll see tomorrow. Everything I have faced might be child’s play compared to what will come. I must survive this great ordeal, so I can make real Ulrika’s desires for us.
Xanlos help us all. Woe to Nite and their damn goddess.
“Hey,” Ulrika says, snuggling on me with one leg between my legs. “Whatever you’re concerned about, you got this. There’s no need to worry.”
“Reading my mind?” She kisses my cheek, then pokes my neck with her tongue. “Oh,” I say with some excitement.
“Your face told me. We’ll prevail, Kaioson. You made a vow, and you’re doing a good job at keeping it.” The boost of morale gives me some optimism about how I’ll handle an all-out fight. “Hey.” I look at her. She’s smirking to the left side of her face.
“Yes?”
“I love you, Kaioson.” She lightly claws my chest with her smooth nails. It tickles, but it’s not enough to make me laugh.
“I love you too. And, thanks. Your support is phenomenal.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she whispers, closing her eyes and resting her hand on my chest. “How does breakfast in bed sound for tomorrow, hmm?”
“Really?” I scoff. “You’ll cut your sleep short waking up that early.”
“Kaio, you buffoon. Don’t make me laugh,” she says, snickering.
“What?”
“Goodnight, you big oof.” She snuggles her face on my chest with her right hand on my left shoulder. “Sacrificing an hour or two will be worth your while. You need a good meal before going into a battle.”
“Is that military advice?”
“Sorta. My brothers are the ones who emphasized it. They made sure we were fed with enough food to give us a boost in mana before going out to fight.”
“That’s a wise ritual.”
“Yeah,” she softly says in a sigh. I don’t like the sound of that. It seems like it’s a relief but backed with somberness.
“Hmm?”
“It’s nothing.” I quarterly turn on my right shoulder to look at her. She opens her eyes but doesn’t look up at me. Before I can press her on why the tone of her voice was like that, she says, “My family. I hope they’ll be okay.” I reposition my right arm to have her head resting on it, including part of my chest.
“That’s something. What’s up?”
“All of my brothers are capable of defending themselves and their families. But, I worry about my parents. My dad is old, and my mother... well, isn’t a fighter. You’ve seen what those monsters tried to do to her.”
“I remember. We should send someone over there to look after them.”
“I was thinking the same thing, but who?”
“Ah! Ask Haleema to bring them to the Agency. I’m positive that building will be the safest place when things go off.” She contemplates my option with her eyes looking off to the right.
“Yeah. I’ll go ask her,” Ulrika says in a whisper, looking back at me.
“Good.” I roll my head to the left to yawn. She pulls herself closer then gently tugs on my chest hair by putting them between her fingers. “Sweet dreams.”
“Always, my love.”