Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Lila
My attention turns to the two beings Xavier found. “Okay, tell me about these two while I psych myself up again,” I request, stalling for time. I need to know a little more before I just mimic them. I think that might help immensely.
Xavier has them step around the Barcoa, putting them front and center for us all to see.
“These are two types of Elementi—earth and fire,” he says, gesturing to each creature.
The earth Elementi has antler style horns and a tail with the end fanning out like a leaf.
On his back, I see wings that are also leaf-shaped and double-fanned.
His skin tone is mottled shades of green.
He is fine and almost fairy-like in stature, with long, lithe limbs despite his shorter build.
“Okay, and tell me about this guy first,” I ask him, and he quickly explains.
“He is an Elementi who has control over elements related to the earth, which means you can manipulate, reshape, and control earth elements at will, including all crystals, metals, and minerals. You can make and command golems, which gives you access to an entire army of beings at your command. Another useful skill is that you can create tunnels in the ground to transport yourself. Something both of these creatures share is the ability to create, control, and manipulate volcanoes, lava, and magma, and in addition to this form, they also have another form that’s like a bear, but green with antlers, wings, and a tail. They are also herbivores.”
Xavier prattles off a list of eye-opening attributes and I’m kind of excited to assume this form but there is one question I need to ask.
“And how do they breed? Do they have fated mates?” Those are two things I want to know more than anything else.
Xavier grimaces. “They do have fated mates, but they are rare and only found within their own kind, so usually it will be a life partner pairing with no cosmic and divine intervention. However, although it isn’t forbidden to have sex outside of their own kind, it is frowned upon to choose a life partner of a different element, and any children born from a nonmatched union will result in the child taking on only one element of its parents.
Those kinds of pairings are often seen as outcasts in the community.
In fact, on the planet Elemental, there is a whole city made up of odd pairings, as they are often shunned by their birth families. ”
“Okay, so I should be fairly safe in mimicking them. I’m not going to jump any of you after I do?” I want to double-check, and Xavier shakes his head.
“No, Elementi need to breed with Elementi. Children won’t happen with another species.”
“Okay, cool, I’ve got this then.” I wipe my sweaty palms against the robe before pulling on the tie and dropping it again. There is no point in destroying it. I’ll need something to cover up with later.
I step closer to the earth Elementi and try to capture all of his likeness inside my mind.
The itch that signals my mimic abilities starts to activate, followed by the painful pins and needles.
The now familiar mist covers my body as I feel myself start to shift.
Antlers grow out of my head as my skin changes to pretty shades of pale green.
My breasts start to shrink, and my body becomes smaller.
A pain at the base of my spine signals the tail growth, and wings burst out of my back with a searing bite of pain.
My mind whirls as I wrestle with the new being inside me.
This being isn’t as aggressive as the Madovian or as childlike as the Barcoa.
It’s intelligent and quick, and it settles down almost instantly, allowing us to act in harmony.
I open my eyes as the mist recedes and look around the room.
My eyesight has stayed the same, as has my hearing and sense of smell, but there is an internal beacon that allows me to feel any earth elements around me.
You would think that would be difficult on a metal space station in the middle of the galaxy, but I can feel each individual metal element that makes up the structure of this floating den of iniquity—elements that are not familiar to the earth side of me, but the Elementi is very familiar with.
It’s like I don’t just assimilate their body but their knowledge as well, or lack thereof as the Barcoa proved.
I could reach out right now and rip a hole in the hull of this vessel if I wanted to with my mind.
There’s also a small amount of nausea, which I also know comes from the fact that this Elementi has been in space for an extended amount of time, and that it needs to immerse itself in the ground to revitalize and renourish its body.
I run my hands over the antlers sticking out of my head, marveling at the velvety surface and the steel tough core.
I thought they might be a little flexible, but they are as strong as steel.
Next, my hands drift down my body, and I flick my tail out beside myself to get a good look.
Unlike my fur-covered lightning cat tail, this one is covered in the same velvet as my antlers and has a fanned leaf at the end of it.
Reaching back, I run my hands over my satin soft wings, sure that there is no way they are going to be able to let me fly.
There are only thin, vein-like supports running through the middle like a real leaf.
I can’t help but hope, though, so I take a step forward and think about flying.
My wings spread open and start to flutter, and I feel myself rise from the ground as a huge smile crosses my lips.
Unlike flying with Saxon, I feel graceful and light, and it is easy to maneuver up and down and back and forth.
I drop back to my feet and smile at the guys. “This is awesome.”
I see the three of them heave sighs of relief. They must have all been waiting for something to go wrong.
“Oshan said that once you mimicked a creature you should be able to assume male or female forms. Why don’t you give it a go and change into a female?”
I frown and look down at my naked body, and sure enough, there’s a fairly decent-sized cock hanging between my legs that I hadn’t noticed with all the other added bits.
“Okay, hang on.” I imagine the cock disappearing and my pussy returning at the same time as I think about my breasts growing.
This all happens rather quickly, almost instantly, and in the time it takes for the hair on my head to lengthen into a long, green mass of curls, I’ve gone from male to female.
I hold my hands out and do a twirl, not self-conscious about my naked body.
Silac stares for a moment before averting his eyes, but Tirrian just grunts.
He’s gone back to his usual self, but I know it’s just a matter of time before he tells Xavier what I did.
How the fuck he knew, I have no idea, but I will defend my decision to Xavier the same way I did with him.
I hold my arms out once I feel the change stop. “What do you think?” I look down my body. Unlike my normal figure, this one stayed slight and lean, and the breasts are small and bud-like, hardly enough to fill a large hand, but the stomach is flat and there is no hair on my mound.
Xavier has his mischievous smile on his face. “You’re like a one-woman harem. It’s going to be so much fun having you as a mate.”
I roll my eyes playfully at him, smiling so he knows I’m not annoyed. I mean, he’s not wrong. All the potential fun and games we can have in the bedroom with my different forms will ensure my love life is never going to get boring, even with six mates.
“Okay, now this one. We’re on a deadline.” Tirrian shoves the poor fire Elementi forward. He stumbles in his trance, and Silac lunges as Xavier growls at the stupid dragon.
“Hey, stop it. I want to return them in one piece please.”
Tirrian rolls his eyes but steadies the fire Elementi. “Hurry up. We’ve run out of time. We need to get going if we want to make it to Rilu in time for the flower to bloom.”
“Okay, I’ll return that one and wipe its mind of any interaction or memory of us, while one of you tells her about this one, then I’ll be back,” Xavier instructs Silac and Tirrian, who quickly agree. He disappears with the Barcoa following woodenly behind him, still completely mesmerized.
“Alright, lay it on me. Tell me about this one.” Unlike the body I’m still wearing, this one is devil red in color, and its wings are more bat-like and have a smoky shimmer to them. The horns on this one’s head kind of look like molten lava, and its tail has flames on the end of it.
“Fire Elementi are all solid colors. This one is red, obviously, but they come in amber, orange, and yellow as well, but the color is solid, unlike the mottled shades of the Earth Elementi. The wings will flame up when you use them, and your body can withstand any sort of flame or fire. They also have a second form, where the wings, horns, and tail stay the same, but they get a lot bigger and more gray in color and have cracks in the skin that look like lava. They are meat eaters. They can eat vegetation, but they prefer meat,” Silac explains.
“And what can they do apart from flame on?” I ask, and both guys look confused. Okay, not Marvel movie fans then.
“Well, they can create, control, and manipulate anything fire and heat related, including plasma, as well as the volcano ability that Xavier told you the earth Elementi share with the fire ones. But what’s really cool is that you can generate and control a magical fire that will do your bidding.”
“Do my bidding?” I’m completely enthralled and fascinated now.
“Yeah. Say you wanted to burn down a building in a town far away. You would create a firestorm and command it, and it would move to that location and do as instructed.”
“Like a sentient being?” I ask, awed, and Silac nods his head.
“Yeah, and then there’s also control over fireworks and the ability to teleport through fire and, my personal favorite, self-detonation.”