Chapter 13 #3
“It’s not only that. We may not be granted access, and may have to see to our purpose for coming here while remaining outside the property’s protections.”
“No. Coming here seemed to implicitly imply that we would venture inside. I want to see tiny god’s home of love with his darlings.”
“I understand, but our power sets are unnerving to many and can even be disturbing to the equilibrium of others.”
“All three of them have been around your magic. That day at the dark sands beach when we were tracking Winter following his abduction, your power was radiating out in protective concealment over me, Sylas, and Remnant. These three were all able to withstand it.”
“Emotions were high then, adrenaline flooding them all. In a calm state, defenses are lowered. So we must approach carefully.”
“Even Vaxan felt my power when I allowed him to channel me. I was in him.”
“I wouldn’t refer to it that way.”
“It’s a fact of—oh, a double entendre?”
“Very much so.”
“Oops. There are so many to be aware of, Ambrose.”
“I know. I know, treasure. Not to worry. I am here with you. Now, let us send a signal—carefully—all right?”
“Yes, okay. I suppose even without our power being a factor, it’s not good form to barge into somebody else’s home and tour it without invitation.”
“Precisely. Would you like it if the situation was reversed and it was done to us and our new—ah, my apologies, of course you would. You are so very open and inviting. Aww, my sweet treasure.”
“My gorgeous.”
Vax and I exchanged a look, a mixture of amusement and being utterly fucking stunned.
There was a careful push at the ward and we both felt a roll of Ketheron’s magic, sweetly followed by a magically manufactured sound of a doorbell chiming pleasantly.
As I chuckled, Vax eased me off his lap and rose, then strode to the door.
He opened it with a flick of his magic, then sent another spark out down the porch steps and a few feet ahead that opened up a shimmering citrine door.
Ketheron and Ambrose came into view standing there somewhat patiently—at least on Ambrose’s end—hand-in-hand.
“Come on in,” I called out, joining Vax by the door and waving them inside.
Ambrose gave a nod and Ketheron’s eyes lit up.
He almost barreled forward like a bull, but Ambrose grasping his bicep, pulled him up short. He frowned at him, but then Ambrose brushed his lips over his cheek, and the frown dissipated. “Shh, you’ll get what you need, treasure.”
Then Ambrose was telling Vax and me, “He needs to see your home. At least any spaces that are not considered private. If you will.”
I saw Vax trying to analyze the interactions, and especially Ketheron, and it clearly didn’t sit well with him that he couldn’t completely manage it—because Ketheron was an outlier.
I knew, because I’d lived in Glacialis Arx with Win’s family a few years back during that whole Cursed Servitude shitshow that Sylas had eventually saved my parents from.
I’d seen a lot of it up close. Although, even I couldn’t fully predict the Ketheron of it all.
And I honestly liked that about him. He was unique—and so intensely sweet and kind.
“I’m guessing before you get to whatever you came here for, right?” I spoke.
“Yes,” Ambrose admitted. “Most definitely,” he added, as he stroked Ketheron’s hair.
“Please go ahead, Ketheron,” Vax said, stepping back and gesturing inside our home.
In the next second, we were all jolting as Ketheron burst past us with barely perceptible speed, just a rush of air whipping into the house, and then up the stairs.
I chuckled and told Ambrose who was now striding up the porch steps, “Come on. Vax and me have no issue with your magic, even if it was live right now. You know, with where our natures are rooted and all that, being Ifrit and Basilisk.”
Judging by the look in his eyes, he’d already known that, but had likely wanted to be sure. And there was also Evira, her being of “pure” dragon magic.
“Evira isn’t here,” Vax informed him. “However, so long as you don’t invoke significant power, all will be well in that respect.”
“She isn’t present,” he mused to himself as he stepped into the living room, and Vax closed the door and sealed the ward. “Then we cannot make haste. We must wait until she returns.”
At Vax’s proper manners on display of inviting Ambrose to have a seat, he sank down on the fluffy white couch, as the two of us settled opposite back on the brown leather one.
He frowned at the fuzzy material, tentatively running his palm over it, looking both amused and confounded at the sight of it. It was honestly hilarious.
“Wait for what?” Vax asked.
Ambrose moved to answer, only to be pulled up short by Ketheron’s excitable cry from upstairs.
“Wow! This is delightful! Aww, tiny god, you have a perfectly adorable home here waiting for you when you return.”
Then bursts of speed zipped all around us, shaking some of the ornaments on the living room shelves, as Ketheron obviously hit the main floor with his self-directed tour of our house.
Ambrose pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ketheron,” he spoke in an even tone, not needing to raise his voice because of Ketheron’s ultra-sensitive hearing. And also… I couldn’t imagine him ever doing that anyway, even if it was somehow needed. “If you will, treasure.”
Another couple of bursts through the living room, and then Ketheron shot into view and came to a jarring, incredibly controlled stop, suddenly sitting right there on the fluffy couch beside Ambrose. “Apologies. I didn’t want to miss anything.”
Ambrose smiled and stroked his chest over his white tee. “Understood.”
“And I didn’t miss anything,” Ketheron said, with a twinkle in his eye.
“What are you referring to?” Ambrose asked, a little worriedly. “Ketheron?”
Ketheron held out his palm and there, resting on it, was Win’s amber gemstone.
“You need to return—hold on… is that…”
Their eyes locked.
Ketheron’s gleamed. “Yes. It certainly is.”
Vax sat forward. “You’re familiar with this creation?”
“Win made it for us,” I told them. “When he intervened in the Dracoryn Realm battle and pushed back that portion of Sanctus. It’s got our magic entwined in it… something like that.”
“A forged communication conduit,” Vax added. “Yet one we haven’t been able to—”
“Activate,” I cut in. “Not with touching, magic, even blood. We think it might need Sylas. I’ve been trying to get a message to him down into the Shadow Tunnels.”
“That’s why we’ve come,” Ambrose informed us. He studied the gemstone. “Albeit, we weren’t aware of this delightful creation. This will serve us well.”
“And make this a great deal easier,” Ketheron added.
Off our looks, he explained, “We were dealing with two disadvantages in respect to defeating Ruxnoth and nullifying the threat that Sanctus is to the balance. First, we aren’t aware of the breadth of the creation, its size.
Second, we didn’t have a line to Winter, something required both to obtain accurate information on Sanctus and Ruxnoth to fill in missing pieces, and to ensure tiny god isn’t harmed when we launch an offensive.
” He rubbed the gemstone. “This sees to those concerning disadvantages.” He winced.
“Especially when the alternative was Sylas preparing to astral project into Sanctus itself to investigate, which comes with many dangers.”
“Sylas is healed now,” Ambrose stated.
“Combat-ready also?” Vax asked.
Ambrose gave a nod. Then he eyed Vax pointedly. “And you are also both. Fueled by the vibrational resonance of your entire kingdom.”
“Which comes at a fantastic time, because the spell Ambrose and I have had sweeping the supernatural world has located a viable entry point into Sanctus,” Ketheron revealed.
“Holy shit! A way to Win? This is major!” I exclaimed.
“That’s why you’ve come. You wish me to employ that ability now, no more waiting,” Vax surmised.
“Not quite,” Ambrose said. “You and I will need to work together. Sanctus is both a magical and material construction. Following the spell that I performed to bring Sylas back, we’ve determined that Sanctus is tied to Ruxnoth’s lifeforce.
Winter has also provided us with his own research, yet he wasn’t aware of the lifeforce factor at the time. ”
Vax cursed. “So destroying the physical form—both magically and materially—won’t annihilate it fully.”
“Yes. It will… regrow.”
I held up my hand. “Wait. You said Win provided you with research? What research? When?”
“We’ll delve into the intricacies once Winter’s family is present also.”
“We’re here to take you to the Shadow Tunnels, to pool our resources,” Ketheron clarified.
“Also, now you’ve healed and all that vibrational resonance has settled and fused in your system, it will start to be felt by those purposely attuned to potentially destructive power.
You now have the means to tear apart an entire realm.
That won’t be taken lightly, notably by the Guardian Movement.
The Shadow Tunnels will mute that from being known above ground. ”
I swung my head toward Vax. “You can take out an entire fucking realm now with that? Shit. I thought… reach further to get to Win and cause some destruction, enough to take out Sanctus—although I guess, yeah, we don’t know how big it is, so you needed to be prepared.”
He smiled at me asking the question but figuring out the answer in the same beat.
Ambrose took the gemstone from Ketheron’s palm.
“This was forged through the weaving of the magic of all four of you. Winter’s is already embedded in it and ever-present as a result, sustaining its physical form.
However, it could not be activated before because the three of you here were not gathered together.
” He eyed Vax. “With you being unconscious it was registering you as missing. Once Evira returns, it will only be a matter of time before Winter is able to contact you. Contact can only be opened from his end, but once it is, the communication will go both ways. It has nothing to do with requiring Sylas’ input.
” He smiled at the gemstone. “Although, there is a message imbued in it intended for him. A drop of his blood will release that once we arrive in the Shadow Tunnels.”
“Oh my God, Win knows he’s alive, then,” I breathed. Thank fuck, him carrying that, especially while isolated and dealing with that maniac, Ruxnoth, just thinking about him suffering through that… I hadn’t been able to even go there without getting sick to my stomach.
“Yes. Most certainly.” Ambrose rose to his feet. “Now, while we must wait—”
“Instead of pulling Evira out of the Dracoryn Realm abruptly and causing a stir that would draw undue attention we can’t afford,” Ketheron interjected.
Ambrose smiled good-naturedly at the interruption, then he told Vax, “It affords some time for Ketheron to go over the mechanics with you in regard to the use of your vibrational resonance.”
Ketheron nodded. “Yes. How you’ll need to approach the vibrational resonance unleashing while having Ambrose’s black magic involved too doing its thing, and even Sylas’ Necromancy.
It requires intricate weaving, a little avoiding, and even some…
partial fusing. It’s best coming from an outsider to those abilities who has become highly adept at interacting with them—me—rather than the wielders themselves in Ambrose and Sylas, as they don’t know the sensations and reactions it causes for others. ”
“I see,” Vax said, giving a nod, then turning to me. “In the meantime, why don’t you finish up with your assignment. You’re almost through the complex spellwork now. One of your other assignments requires you to analyze the impact of black magic in certain scenarios.”
His gaze flicked to Ambrose, who confirmed, “I would be happy to assist.”
“That’s really kind of you. And that would be really helpful, no doubt. But leaving Vax to focus on that—”
Vax gave my hand a gentle squeeze, drawing my attention.
“I need to have complete focus on what Ketheron needs to convey to me anyway.” He leaned in and whispered, “And after being pulled up short earlier as you were about to ride my cock like a very good boy, every touch is a tormenting temptation that I want so badly to give in to, yet can’t, at this juncture.
However, when we are in the Shadow Tunnels and Evira has rejoined us, you will be devoured, beauty. ”
A tremble went through me and I whispered back, “Fuck, Vax.” I sucked in a steadying breath.
“Yeah… shit… all right. Got you.” I looked out to see Ketheron’s cheeks tinged pink and him awkwardly averting his eyes.
I grinned at Vax and whispered in his ear again, “You really are worked up, because you forgot that Ketheron has the most attuned senses in the whole fucking world and just heard every word of that.”
“Hades,” Vax muttered, shaking his head to himself.
I laughed and ruffled his hair, then sprung to my feet. I went to gather my things off the other end of the couch, when a familiar roll of power pulled me up short.
My breath caught in my throat as the front door flew open in the next second, and Evira strode on in, her cozy gray coat sweeping behind her.
She jolted when she caught sight of Ambrose and Ketheron in our living room.
But before she got a word out about that, her nostrils flared and I grinned to myself, knowing she’d sensed Vax.
In the next second she was bounding toward him and throwing her arms around him.
I chuckled. So much for him calming down.
As they clutched at each other, I saw Ketheron and Ambrose exchanging some tender touches.
When Evira finally eased back from Vax a little, albeit him clutching at her wrist, not wanting her to break contact all the way, she eyed the power couple over her shoulder. “What brings you to our home? Has something happened?”
Ketheron told her excitedly, “We’re here to bring you to the Shadow Tunnels.”
Evira’s eyes shot wide and she looked between all four of us for a few moments before uttering, “Wow, okay. I’m gonna need you to fill me in.”
Yeah, it was a lot.
Who was I kidding? All of this was.
But as I settled myself between her and Vax, my eyes flicking to the gemstone, which was basically Win to me right now until we had him back with us, I focused on that having this… having them… made even the heaviest and most insane shit seem lighter.
And conquerable.