Flame of Cytherea 05

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Sally came down to land as they set up camp, she didn't see any soldiers at all close by as she circled down from the sky. They ate a quick dinner and all went to bed early, trying to get a good rest for the morning. She knew she would have to pay attention tomorrow, she had a feeling she wouldn't be the only mage there.

She took some time to pray to the goddess, she wanted a long life with this amazing family she was a part of, and she wanted each and every one of them alive at the end of the day tomorrow. She also gave thanks to the goddess for everything that she had...

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Cytherea wished she could grant that, but tomorrow was in their hands, she could not interfere. She had already given them the strength, power and ability to see it through, now it was up to them.

"Daughter, I see he's picked up another stray."

Her lips twitched in amusement, "Well, I can't see everything like you can father."

He nodded, "That is what faith and hope are for... and love."

She grinned, "I've got those three, but I've also got worry... They have come a long way the last few weeks."

"That they have daughter. That they have."

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They were well hidden a couple of miles from the capitol of Egeria. Sally had scouted, and the walls were manned with at least a hundred archers, he didn't think it looked good for either sneaking in or subterfuge. Main assault was... crazy.

Justin wasn't sure there were any other options though.

Half joking he said, "So, how do we siege a city with six people?"

Nora snorted, "Very carefully. Sally, can you do tunnels?"

Sally said, "Sure, but they will have earth talents and possibly even mages monitoring under the walls, I'm sure they would block me once we got close."

Nora asked, "Would they even feel it if Justin covered with his magic?"

Sally considered that for a second, "Not mine, but if they are actively checking they will notice an area that doesn't feel right, that their magic can't enter."

They all thought about it and he said, "So, forget going small, I'll cover a huge area while you dig us in. A two hundred yard circle would make it hard for them to guess where we were coming up."

Sally said dubiously, "But they'll know we are here."

He shrugged, "They already do, know were coming at least. Unless someone can think of a way to sneak past... At least in the city we can limit how many soldiers come at us at once. Wait for nightfall?"

No one was crazy about the plan, but they made lunch and prepared as they waited for the sun to go down. The closer they could get to the wall before digging the better, he wasn't quite sure using his power on full for so long right before needing it the most was such a great idea, but they didn't seem to have an alternative.

Then he heard Nora mutter, "Chamber pots."

He looked at her questioningly.

Nora cleared up her obtuse comment when she asked, "Sara, you said when you emptied the chamber pots it led directly through an aqueduct to the river. Do you know if that's guarded?"

Sara shrugged. "I don't know. Even if it is though, it leads directly to the castle."

Sally said, "Let me check it out, I'll be careful."

He kissed her and said, "Hurry back."

It seemed like forever, but was probably only twenty minutes when she returned.

Sally said, "There are steel bars, and they aren't easy to get to, about forty feet from the ground. They are also warded, so someone in the castle will know when we enter. I also felt what could have been traps, but Justin can disarm them easily with a burst. I couldn't feel any talents or people by it though."

He sighed, "It sounds better than the tunneling plan, but we need to be careful."

It took them an hour to work their way around the city to the river side. They did run into one patrol along the river, but as soon as he saw them, he watched them topple over and guessed Sara took care of it.

He watched as Nora using her air talent took two people up at a time, a flying jump forty feet up to the ledge of the aqueduct. He used his magic of change and one of the thick bars turned to rust and collapsed into dust. As he stepped into the aqueduct he flashed his power once on high to cancel out any spelled traps. They followed it for a while, every hundred yards he flashed his power again, until they saw an access door.

It was locked, but that was child's play for Sally, he watched as she stared at the lock and it clicked open after a second or two. Once they were in the castle Sara led them. They came across a number of soldiers but only two at a time, he was impressed that they were knocked out before they even came into view.

Sara turned and whispered, "Through here is the royal halls, there are too many for me to knock out at once."

He nodded in understanding, and they burst through the door. He had his white fire on, but only large enough to cover the women, trying to conserve it for what lie ahead. The battle was fast and brutal as the ladies took out twenty soldiers in three seconds with air, fire, claw and mind. They followed Sara down the hall, then turned to the right.

He could feel it then, like sandpaper against his skin, but this was evil against his mind and talent. He stubbornly pushed the feeling aside and marched for the door at the end of the hallway. When they stepped in he was overwhelmed by the stench of death. It was dark and forbidding and he was afraid to step forward.

He connected to his talent and burst into white flame, giving him the courage and strength of his goddess's love, which drove him forward. The light from his flames partially lit the room, and when he came within range of the altar he could see runic designs all over it, and the stains of blood.

This is what he came here for, he knew he was most powerful in effect when he was in physical contact, so he stepped forward, took a deep breath, and touched it...

He heard mocking laughter in his mind, as his power fought against the power of the evil god's anchor. Then he heard a voice, "I am a god, you cannot defeat me. You and your mates will die here, in this room."

He almost snorted at that, but then he heard the sound of battle behind him. As he went to expand his protections to the women he loved, the altar attacked him with shadow. He was almost completely overwhelmed until he put his entire focus on the fight before him. He came to the grim realization he could not do both, this would take all his power. A shiver of fear and despair went through him, the women were on their own.

Chapter 22

Nora watched in shock as Kat was catapulted back. She caught her in a pocket of air right before Kat slammed into the wall, and then with a growl started firing back. She knew then that Justin could not help them, he was embroiled in his own battle, and they had to stand and protect him.

She watched, impressed as Nicci sent a rolling wave of flame through the door and down the hallway. She must have killed half of them in one shot, the rest however were protecting themselves with their own talents. She was busy putting up shields of air while Sally was doing shields of stone, air or water. She thought this would be the best way and she barked out orders to the others.

"Sally and I will protect, Kat, kill anything that gets through the door. Nicci and Sara, kill them!"

They clicked as a perfect team, Sara seemed to be killing them outright, or confusing them enough that Nicci's fire burnt through and killed them. Between her and Sally's shields they were able to defend against all the attacks so far, but she hoped Justin would be done soon...

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He had heard Nicci's confident orders and voice, and the screams of the enemy. His women were powerful, and as his confidence in them grew, he threw himself into a battle with the evil and corrupt power of this altar. But no matter how much he channeled his power into the altar, the darkness didn't seem to be giving way.

He wondered if he made a mistake, maybe they should have attacked the city, killed the king and all the other corrupted talents first, weakened the altar even more before this confrontation. But from the tale Celia told, the altar should not be powerful enough to win. But he felt himself weakening, the more of his magic he fed to the struggle to no avail, the faster he felt himself being drained.

He was doing something wrong, and he needed to figure it out fast or he'd be dead in moments.

The goddess couldn't intervene because of free will.

Free will, free will was the key. But how? The dark god grew more powerful when his followers unwittingly surrendered their free will, became slaves to foul darkness and misery.

That was the key, there was power in sacrifice, power in the will of a person given over to a god.

What if it is offered freely to a goddess, without trickery, to love? Not to darkness, but to light.

He bowed his head and through the connection he felt to the goddess's love, he gave himself freely, and with trust, over to her will, to her design. His life and will were no longer his.

His vision turned white and his mind shied from the immensity of power that came back through that connection. The shadows melted under white flames as bright as the sun and the altar cracked and fell to dust.

He felt the love and gratitude of his goddess as the power pulled back, and though he heard no words he knew she had returned his free will. When he turned, the women were all staring at him with awe on their faces.

He winked and said faux brightly, "What should we do tomorrow?" He couldn't help it, he didn't do awe and it brought out the really bad jokes that weren't funny.

Nora snorted and he relaxed. He wanted his intended mates, not followers.

They searched the room and found some books as well as notes on parchment, he asked Nicci to burn them while his mind spun. He couldn't read it, but he could swear it was written in Latin. He just hoped it was the last of them, although he guessed this would probably happen again, hopefully long after he died of old age.

They had one more unpleasant task, even with the books and notes burned the king might remember how to do it. He was a little uneasy, he wasn't an assassin. But when they got to the throne room, it turned out to be an unnecessary trip. The king and two other men were already dead, he guessed that when the god was cut off from the world their magic power snapped or something.

Either way he was glad, self defense he didn't mind, but killing in cold blood?

After they went over their options, they headed back for the aqueduct. No one saw a need to fight their way out of the city when they could sneak out. Whoever set the ward must have died in the castle battle, or was connected to the dark god, because no one was waiting for them out there.

They travelled about three miles, it was the middle of the night after all and they couldn't go their full speed, plus, they were all tired and needed some sleep...

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It took them a week to get back across the border, they had made a side trip to the mountains. There weren't very many soldiers at the mines there and they had no problems freeing the people taken from the southern villages. As for a pursuit, that just didn't happen. The capitol must have been in turmoil while they tried to select a new king. He thought probably by the sword.

They decided to stop in Nerin and spend a few days at the tavern. He wasn't sure exactly what plans the ladies had, but knew they were going back up close the capitol, but not in it.

They had barely been back an hour when Kat dragged him upstairs to the room they shared that first night, and started to playfully wrestle with him to see who'd be on top.

"Stop a second, I need to say something."

Kat froze in surprise and looked concerned, he had never stopped their version of foreplay before, "What is it?" she asked.

He kissed her softly, reassuringly, then asked, "I've been waiting for the crazy ride to be over first, now that it is, will you be my mate? Have my children?"

When she whispered out a shocked but pleased yes, he felt his talent reach out and connect with hers, and something... changed. It didn't hurt, but it was a strange feeling.

He asked in confusion, "What was that?"

She furrowed her brow, "I didn't explain that? That is the mate connection, it means we can have kids. Didn't you ever wonder why I wasn't pregnant yet? Only mates can produce children."

He spluttered, "You left that part out, I assumed there was some kind of birth control, but I didn't ask."

She giggled as she stripped in front of him, prompting him to follow suit. Then for the first time ever, she lay down on her back without a fight.

She said in a thick sultry voice throbbing with emotion, "Come give me a child mate, I love you."

He knelt between her legs and kissed her softly as he checked her. He could feel she was more than ready for him. He lined up and slowly sunk into her welcoming warmth, relishing the feel of her walls hugging him as he slowly slid in. He gasped as she rocked her hips up, increasing the penetration.

He stared deeply into her deep brown eyes as they slowly coupled, the pleasure they created as he slid in out of her love sheath slowly brought them to blissful release together. He felt her wet warm velvety core contract and undulate around his manhood and he expanded within her.

He felt himself fill her womb with the result of his pleasure...

He cuddled with her as he thought about the future and what it might bring. He had fulfilled his goddess's purpose and his whole life lay before him, he was ready for it... whatever it may bring.

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Hey, hoped you enjoyed the story. I know I left minor plots and character growth hanging, but the major plot for the book is done and this part of the story is finished. I don't know when I'm going to start the next story with Justin, Kat, Nora, Nicci, Sally and Sara. Need it to swirl in my head a bit I think, going to try and finish Ashley's world first regardless.

If you're curious, I enjoyed writing this a lot, took a short eleven days for me to write out the just shy of 64k words novel.