In the Hall of the Mountain Queen (CasualVelociraptor x Alisa_Perne)

[CasualVelociraptor]

Mt. Klandethan, Klandethi Mountain Range

Confederate Province of Klandeth

West of the Imperial Territory of Bamba

Saturday, September 25th, 1886​

The country of Klandeth was full of rolling green hills that grew many oranges. So many in fact that the locals could hardly sell them all as it was, and squeezed and bottled any excess juice into world famous and highly in demand Klandethi orange wine. The people there- and the elvish provincial government that taxed most of the profits and gave the scraps to the peasants they worked to the bone, even long after the end of official human slavery- owed their success and ability to grow such bounties well into December to the volcanic soil beneath the namesake Mt. Klandethan, the tallest in the world. Some people attributed it, though, to the myth of the Mountain Queen.

Once, a thousand years ago, this unusually pale woman had ruled over her darker-skinned subjects, but not in enmity as the elves did; with kindness and healing. Then, when she began demanding their blood to keep her youth, the people rose against her in 1632 and placed a curse on her. It was then said in their pastoral, pantheistic religion that her cursed and angry soul caused volcanic eruptions and her tears on the perpetual storm at the top became the Bamba River that watered their fields and thousands of others.

That was precisely the storm that 18-year-old Sergeant Alice Guthrie of the Caledorian Imperial Army was now struggling to navigate in her tiny recon airship as she carried the barely breathing and broken body of a Surai fisherwoman named Sajida Dhawan who had been living with her Bamban husband, Vivaan, before he went off to become a medic for the Surabamba Rebellion against the Empire. On September 17th, 1886, while at the bottom of the ocean in her much-too-tight Golem armor as part of the Imperial attack on the final rebel stronghold located in the underwater city of Sanctuary Trench, a stray rivet from her rivet gun had brained Vivaan. When she, her girlfriend Abigail, and two male squadmates had gone to deliver the bad news, Alice and Abigail had turned their backs for one second to find their friends raping Sajida and beating her as she struggled. They'd shot the men, but then Abigail panicked and ran, leaving Alice to apply what field medicine she could and take Sajida as far from this place as possible- to another field hospital perhaps.

The storm had other plans, though. Her airship took a rough landing, and Alice only just managed to escape the vehicle with her before the storm blew it away and made its whale oil tanks explode, soaking them both to the bone with cold, ashen rain from the dormant volcano in the meanwhile. But Alice could see...a castle in the distance, and used all her strength to cradle Sajida and keep going.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Sajida had been a quiet fighter all her life, and what little leaked to Sita's psyche of her internal psychic song from the Dreamscape confirmed that. Quiet because good Bamban girls were supposed to suffer their fates in silence, to obey their fathers until they were married off to their husbands, and to mourn their entire lives and never find love again once their husbands departed, or his soul, the most important going concern, would not welcome her into the eternal marriage bed after death.

A fighter anyway because she would never surrender completely. To anyone. She'd been born three months prematurely and her parents said that her cries moved Shandura, the Goddess of the Moon that the Imperials called Nefaris, to spare her. She wrangled bigger fish than her father ever did even though she was often sickly. Even Vivaan had been her choice, not her parents', since he was not a prince, a governor's son or someone else of even local note who could pay her dowry price. And the only reason she'd given her love to Vivaan was because he, uncharacteristically for a man, told her he would be fine with her exploring her feelings for other women. Lesser men would have sent her away, even perhaps reported her to the Imperial authorities, who sent homosexuals to the prison continent of Jogadunda for a life of hard labor.

She hadn't felt pain this excruciating since coming down with black fever when she was 15. For the second time in her life, then, death extended its icy hand in her mind, and unlike the last time, now before her lay two doors: the one to the Hall of the Shtragoi, where the ancestors of vampires had first drained the blood of the living nearly 12,000 years ago to commune with the Nether Realm, and another to the Void and therefore the awesome power of The Darkness; a hundred thousand voices of the dead called out to her from both places to join them.

But Sajida didn't contemplate the metaphysics either way, as she was burning up from the inside out, and sucking the blood was the only thing that somewhat quieted her stomach.

Meanwhile, Alice wept softly, her mind returning to dark places she'd wished she could leave behind as the other woman's screams recalled to mind her own futile screams as she was violated; the pained yell of the rapist she killed by calling forth The Darkness with a knife made of her own rage; the death rattles of Imperials and rebels alike; the roars and whistles of an endless line of Goliaths laying down the fiery wrath of the Empire upon poorly equipped teenagers on horses and oliphaunts; and her own shrieks as she fought for her life in the shadow of the ocean, taking hundreds instead during Operation Trench Fall.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

Sita walked to the bed and slid onto it right in between Alice's legs like a snake, her hot breath along the womans thigh the whole way up right before her lips kissed the woman's hot sex, she stuck out her tongue and played with her clit for a few moments before sliding right on top of the woman her cock ran along the woman's slit before she kissed her, and then in the same motion she slid back down between the woman's legs, kissing, sucking, and licking every inch of her body before gently penetrating her sex with her tongue. "Mmmm, you taste as sweet as a fruit my dear, it will be very hard for me not to just eat you right up." she made the same motion again, but going back up to kiss her, letting her cock glide, but not penetrate along the woman's sex, letting her feel every inch of it.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"You clever little shrew." Sita said as she watched Alice pick the lock. "Clever little girl." she smiled. "I see you know how to open more than just hearts." she gave another smile, this time, a bit warmer. "So, lets head downstairs and check on your friend, remember, stay behind me." Sita said as she walked down the stairs, "Sajida? Darling? Is everything okay?" she asked, "It's me, Sita. You stopped screaming so I am assuming you either died, which would be awful, or you are now changed." She paused, "On the off chance that you are still alive, are you by any chance hungry or thirsty? And I don't mean for food. On the other off off chance you are and are currently trying to stalk Alice here to drain her of her life's blood, I will warn you, you think you are strong, you are not in the face of me. So save me the trouble of turning you into a pile of ash on my carpet and calm yourself." she said frankly.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

Sita observed the rooms icy chill, how she felt a presence, and reminded of the old wars. Her mind raced, the heart of her creation and ancestors beat before her. It was quickly erased by Alice's words. "Is it okay if I borrow these?" she shook her head a few times to ward away the haze. "Y-y-yes." She said. "They belonged to someone, very special. Allow me to weave a tale of my own for you. Her name was, Alisa. She was a mortal like you." She paused, "Well not exactly like you, she was the most human, human I had ever met if that makes sense. She came to my castle in the haze of a great tragedy. She was to marry a man she did not love to form an alliance between two families and bond them together as one. She came here not knowing what was here, just knowing there was a castle, and that no one dare tread on these grounds." She took a seat on the stairs and continued to weave her tale. "So when she arrived on my doorstep my first instinct was to drain her, and throw her off my mountain." A tear ran down her cheek. "But when I saw the tears in her eyes, I couldn't. I brought her in and over the few days she simply hid away from me, I let her be, I figured she would come out in her own time. She finally did, she told me her story. I offered to wed her myself so she could not be claimed. At first it was simply a business agreement. Then we began to grow fond of each other, then it was love. We did everything together, we bathed together, we ate together, we even watched the sunset and moon rise together. It was perfect. She even asked me to turn her when she was older so it could be forever." Another tear ran down her cheek. "Forever never came. Instead they did." she gritted her teeth, and blood ran down the sides of her mouth as she bit her tongue.

"They came to my fucking castle." As if on queue from a record player in the main room of the castle began to play this song "They came with their powder rifles and their swords and their fire, thinking they could take my love from me. I walked out the front gate to meet their challenge. All we want is the girl! They said. Just give us her and we will leave you alone. This is MY MOUNTAIN! I shouted." she slammed her fist into the stone steps, cracking one. "And just like this mountain I WILL NOT BE MOVED!" She shouted. "I fought them, I killed dozens. But they had some sort of witch on their side, and she had given them the key to winning a fight." she had a solemn look on her face. "Dead mans blood, blood from a corpse instantly paralyzes any vampire no matter their strength. Someone cut me with a blade laced with it. I had to lay there as they took her, and she fought in all the ways I taught her, she bit, and kicked, and gouged, they lost their temper and killed her. They killed my love in front of me and left me there. For three days I laid on the cold hard ground unable to move. I have since then given up on love."

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“I’m...sorry to hear that. I don’t know when your woman died, but Caledorians have a similar historical story about Elizabeth the Liberator, the first Empress of Caledoria who slew the King Elder Dragon 1,886 years ago together with her husband, Emperor Henry. Hundreds of years after her death, letters were found written from her to a witch named Azariah Gilroar that many claim were filled with romantic love but that the Church of Solstice, in its single minded hatred of homosexuality, declared to be fakes and tried to destroy. This same puritanical obsession is what forced me into the Army. Meaning...there’s always someone trying to take away love.

“I wish I could be that person for you, that I could have forever with you, but my Elizabeth cries for me, so I cannot. However, I fervently hope someone can come along for you someday. Still, I shall proudly wear these clothes when I go back home and attempt to make my mark on this world, and remember your devotion to your beloved always thereby. In return, I shall give you this token to remember me.”

Alice took a sword off the wall and tied up then chopped off most of her long hair. That done, Alice leaned against a chair while opening a book, her look now complete as she turned on a lamp to read by and marked it. “Ah, this is what I was looking for- A Complete Survey of Klandethan, written and illustrated by one Yulias Ersogan in 1803. Did you meet him? Anyway, there’s only a few ways to climb down the mountain, and I’ve marked them all here with this fountain pen.”

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Sajida wanted to listen to them. Truly she did. It was much warmer, after all, back in the castle. And she was keeping her back against a rain-slicked rock as the storm intensified and sheeted rain, making her feet constantly scramble for purchase.

But the hunger...oh the hunger. It was like nothing the poor fisherwoman had ever felt. Her blood, such as there was remaining, curdled into an acidic sludge that stung all throughout her circulation. Her stomach threatened to devour her from the inside out. And it had only taken a single blink for her body to decide to leap through the window and scramble down the cliff at impossible speeds.

Alice had been closer, but Sajida’s mind got one tiny say by restraining herself from attacking the Imperial soldier who had risked so much to protect her. But as for the rest of the invaders...no, the monsters who had broken her country long and made her parents live in fear before she was even born, the hunger wanted to drain them all, to wreak havoc on the world of mortals no matter the cost, no matter Sajida’s internal pleas for mercy from her conscience, even for rapists and murderers such as them.

As soon as Alice spotted Sajida stuck on the cliff face, she launched a spring-loaded grappling hook from inside the left-handed gauntlet atop her armor, and then tied it around a tree to anchor herself as she belayed down to where the other woman was.

“Hey, Sajida! You alright?”

The teenage Bamban girl trapped inside the feral vampire managed to nod, all the while gripping the rocks behind her with enough strength to crack them.

“Then come towards me. I promise I’ll get you to safety.”

“But- but I’ll fall, Alice.”

“Then I’ll grab onto you. Nobody else will die today, I promise.”

Unless you try to bite me, Alice thought but kept inside her mind, as it was already hard enough to sidle her body along the narrow rocks while high winds whipped it, let alone contain her own angry voice that loudly demanded Alice to end Sajida as the soldier approached the vampire. The Darkness and the Shtragoi Curse acting as like-polarity magnets, pushing hard against each other.

But at last, Alice’s stubborness prevailed, and she put her right arm around Sajida’s waist before giving a tug on the cable to reel her back. As the cable pulled, however, the wind whipped underneath them both, causing them to flap in the breeze and scream for help, the tree the only thing keeping the both of them and their cable from flying off into the night.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

Sita smiled, "Alice, my friend, I will always be okay. I do appreciate the gesture though. Care for that, what was it? Night cap?" she asked mischievously, and smiled.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

It was the night of October 30th, and Abigail thought her plan to blow Alice’s mind with a threesome she clearly needed before going back to Elizabeth was going seamlessly. Abigail had caught her naked ex-girlfriend looking as hot as ever in the bathtub and grinned, then joined Alice for a bit and teased her until she was panting.

Some things may have changed- Abigail was really digging the short hair!- but Alice was still just as innocent, cheerful, and cherubic as when they’d first lain together in basic training at age 16. Alice was Abigail’s first time, Abigail was Alice’s longest relationship, and they both had leaned on each other for the entire war; that could never be taken from them. Nor could anyone argue, as Abigail looked sidelong at Alice’s towel-clad form, that Abigail knew how to fuck Alice like nobody’s business. Still, she reflected on how she was glad to have Sita’s company in this tag-teaming endeavor...

Until the door to Sita’s bedroom was open and Abigail realized, with her jaw hanging down, that Sita was looking directly at her with a grin. Only then did she realize who was being tag-teamed here.

But Abigail just shrugged off her towel and dived onto Sita’s body, kissing the vampire with a ferocity that surprised Alice. Not that she was unfamiliar with Abigail’s ravenous appetite, just that she had not seen it targeted at anyone but her, and it was hot to be a fly on the wall watching this.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

After a very eventful morning of bathtub sex between the three of them, Sita surprised both the girls by offering to turn them into vampires so that they could be with her forever. When Alice objected again, citing her sister Chloe Rose's confinement, Sita plotted with Abigail to break her out of Edinar despite Sita's potentially life-threatening sun allergy posing a threat to her leaving the safety of the eternal storm at the top of her mountain. To that Alice then admitted out loud, with finality, that she still held feelings for Elizabeth Jersey despite her affections for Abigail and Sita, and they supported her in that as she got dressed and got her clothes, armor, and weapons for the journey home that fateful day.

Abigail mulled it over more, but then said, "Well, I'm flattered, but I need to have my own adventures and learn the magic I need to stop the rain of this world"- or rather of her own, very restless heart, which had been abandoned too many times before (even though she understood why Alice loved someone else back home, and was upset that Abigail had run away from the Sajida situation) to not worry that someone else would do it again- "before I can truly be happy. But don't worry, my darling. No matter how far I go, I will find you some day." Then she sucked Sita off to completion and captured her ejaculate in a vacuum jar- the better to remind herself of their good times and hurry Abigail back to her vampire some day with a swig of her semen every once in a while.

But before Abigail and Alice climbed down the mountain, Alice announced something that she hoped Sita would be able to take as good news to the still very isolated Sajida, now her new neighbor on the mountain. She'd reached a deal with a local, one-armed waterfoot rancher named Kalisha Haroun that was signed by Sita just prior to Abigail and Alice's departure. In exchange for her silence on the existence of the two vampires, she got exclusive access once a year to the constantly watered grasslands around the caldera for her animals to graze on and draw water from the ground thereof, after which it would be nearly stripped of vegetation. Then Kalisha would return when the grasses came back one year later.

In return, the vampires got to drain an amount of blood from each of the animals that would not even faze such large creatures, usually while the land molluscs were sleeping standing up at night, and yet would feed both women for a year. They also got to drain a little bit of blood from the neck of her horse, Gambit, who like Kalisha herself was disabled, and had clockwork and steam parts replacing all of his legs. In one of the few personal anecdotes she'd let slip, Kalisha related how she'd rescued the legless, dying horse from the desert during her days of wandering.

And lastly, both vampires had permission to fatally drain any waterfoot who was dying, reaching the upper limit of their 50-year lifespan, or had been bought to be slaughtered for meat as opposed to their rich, highly sought after milk.

Alice also secretly hoped that, if Kalisha swung that way, she could be a sure companion to Sajida or Sita or both. But Kalisha was all business and politeness on each annual visit, and did not even flirt with flirting despite being able to talk and laugh with Sita for hours, as they always had plenty to catch up on each year, and Kalisha was always fascinated by Sita's history and Sita in turn by Kalisha's wide journeys across thousands of miles, where she met new and wonderful people. Meanwhile, Sajida still preferred to withdraw, hardly seeing either woman outside of the feedings. Despite Sajida being grateful to Sita for saving her life, she refused to say much else when they did see each other alone, leaving Sita to wonder: was Sajida still hurting from the violence inflicted on her? Was she resentful of Sita in some way for cursing her to eternally straddle the line between life and death? Or what else did Sajida need to be Sita's dark queen throughout the eons? The question, her mourning of what could have been with Abigail and Alice, and her smoldering, seemingly unrequited attraction to the strong, clever, sweet, funny rancher in her sexy straw hat and rough denim jacket nearly drove Sita mad from how much she masturbated some days.

This went on until one especially stormy night- Wednesday, June 14th, 1893. For the first time in seven years, an airship dared approach the mountain.

This time, it was an old, rusty Imperial light bomber airship that had been severely damaged by Bamban protestors attempting to steal it from the barn it had been stored in. The poor thing was about to be scrapped until a lone, intrepid aspiring pilot named Chloe Rose Guthrie bought it from the Army with her life savings, for halfsters on the note but at a higher price than the scrappers were willing to cough up, taking into account the resale value of the materials. She then put it back together with rusty dampfsteel squares, homemade rivets, determination and spit, rechristening it The Leaky Bucket once it was done. Then she'd flown it for a few months giving tours of the beautiful countryside that were much cheaper than any other tour guide due to her savings on buying the vehicle, in order to earn her way in the world for once. To make her way to the one place in the world she knew she desperately had to return to, no matter the cost.

But if Alice's mighty, state of the art warship that she'd commandeered to rescue Sajida hadn't fared well in the whipping winds, this tiny ship stood absolutely no chance. Despite her heroic fighting with the wheel and rudder, now said bucket was about to become much more than leaky as it took a hard landing on the roof of Sita's castle. Chloe only just managed to shut off the whale oil engine and deflate the balloon to prevent the entire contraption from being carried off by the storm as Alice's had, or worse exploding and killing her instantly. The dampfsteel body weighed down the muslin canvas, and Chloe's heavy paragliding coat had absorbed most of the impact of her own rough confrontation with the mighty stonework, as well as kept her from being taken away as well. Still, Chloe's jacket, clothes, even hair were soaked through, so she was now shivering mightily.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

Sita saw Chloe vanish, and had many questions but would reserve those once she had resolved the situation. She grabbed her sword and scabbard and slid it into her belt and bolted out the door into the storm, she sensed Sajida and a smile warmed her, she could smell Sajida, she was nearby, Sajida, the woman who she had given the gift of vampirism too, saved her life, spent many months with teaching, had came back to her, maybe Alice wasn't far behind, she ran towards the direction of Sajida. "Sajida!" she cried out, "Alice!" she cried out seeing the two female figures along with Chloe, she ran and as she got closer she saw Sajida, and Chloe, but the third woman was not Alice, disappointment briefly flashed on her face, but she saw the woman was unconscious and Sajida was trying to save the life of the horse. Sita bent down and put her hand to the unconscious woman's neck and closed her eyes for a moment, she could hear the womans blood in her veins, it was moving slowly, "Shes alive, but barely." Sita said, "We have to get her inside." She wanted to hug Sajida, and embrace her long lost friend but there were more pressing matters at hand. "Sajida, Chloe, Chloe, Sajida." she said gesturing to the both of them, "You two, get the woman inside, I will carry the horse to my stables and heal him, what is the nature of his injuries?"

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“And I haven’t desired your body until recently, but that was because I didn’t see myself wanting anybody after what happened to me,” Sajida said. “You at least, won’t hurt me. Can’t, even if you wanted to. And I can’t do the same, so we’re stuck together. you and I. And let’s make two things clear.

“One, I own your cock and will use it to get off when I can.

“And two, I don’t have romantic feelings for you. And I know you’re still in love with Alice. So consider this scratching both our itches, because sex with anyone else would likely destroy them.”

With that, Sajida pulled off Sita’s remaining clothing and spit in her hand to lubricate it before stroking Sita’s massive length.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“NOOOO!!!!” Sajida roared as she had her neck bitten and squeezed; something which she knew wouldn’t kill her, but terrified her none the less. “I am no one’s, not even yours, you Queen of rubble!” She then shoved Sita off of her almost instinctively and began biting Sita’s thighs repeatedly, draining the cursed blood from her body, even shaking them both like a rabid dog.

She only let it go when Chloe and Kalisha stepped in the room, a shocked and horrified look on each of their faces as they saw the lifeless body of Gambit on the floor and (apparently) Sajida and Sita going at each other instead of helping him. Kalisha wrapped the towel around herself tightly and ran screaming and crying, while Chloe stood in the doorway, frozen.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

As soon as Sita offered her hand to escort her to the bathroom, Kalisha took it, but then dipped a very naked and bloody Sita back to kiss her, establishing that she would be in charge for the entire encounter. Then she realized she was actually nervous to be having full-throated sex with her just yet, for reasons that were hard to explain, but wanted her to feel physically taken care of, at least. So she picked Sita up in her strong arms- one made of honed rancher muscle, the other of clockwork as cold as Sita’s own skin- then set her down in the bathtub and started touching her breasts as the mixture of cursed blood ran into the drain.

“I think sometimes you’re too harsh on yourself and think you’ll be alone forever, Sita,” Kalisha sighed in between kisses. “Life is like a river- it moves and shapes itself how it will, but it is not a straight line, forcing us forward. It forks off onto different paths too, and if you’re a woman of science like me- and yes, us ranchers are scientists, for we must know where the rain is going and keep our herd alive- you can pick your path, predict where it might go, dam the river to divert it, get out and walk...”

“You have such choice. Such strength. Such...potential, Lady Sita,” Kalisha then purred as she slowly stripped off her robe, leaving only powerful, supple flesh. “I’m getting naked for you, but want to wait on sex just yet. In my tradition, when you reach the age of 15 and are interested in someone, and they agree, you and your lover get naked and talk- sometimes for hours before any sex happens, sometimes without any sex at all- and the lack of clothes helps with openness and honesty. Nudity for me is natural. Maybe a little...too natural.” Kalisha gulped at that, rubbing her fake arm when she got in the water, and remembering where her proclivities had gotten her with her father’s Tunami tribe.

“Still,” Kalisha smiled and kissed him all over. “Sex with Sajida after so long away from touch must have been teasing you to the ends of the earth, poor Sita. And so I know you have a particular ache that only certain...techniques can alleviate.” Sure, Sita had orgasmed, but those were ruined orgasms without the proper bliss climax could bring to a cock. “But after being roughly attacked, I want you to know that touch can be delicate, soothing as well. Just lie back and close your eyes, my friend. I will take care of everything.”

With a wink and a smile, Kalisha slowly kissed, bit and licked her way down Sita’s collar bone, nipples, stomach muscles, well manicured pubic hair, and her inner thighs. Finally, she gave a kiss on the tip of her cock, tasting precum beading at the tip. With that she placed herself firmly between Sita’s legs, rubbed her thighs until they naturally spread apart, sucked in the tip and begsn slowly bobbing up and down.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Kalisha frowned, and was about to inform Sita that she’d inadvertently been anti-human and racist against Sudaish peoples with the use of that term, even if it had been meant in support of her. But she swallowed that back; there would be a time and place to discuss the complicated power balance between human and nonhuman as well as the different races and ethnicities of humanity. But for now, she was too horny to care.

“Of all four of the women you’ve met in recent years, I’m surprised I’m the last to get your cock,” Kalisha growled as she spread her ochre pussy lips to reveal a bright pink, throbbing hole, revealing that she had secretly been playing with herself in the tub the entire time. “Do you like my new hair?” she then asked about her landing strip just above her mound. “Well, show me by plowing me, then, love,” she whispered as she slipped into the Mirawi accent of her mother, her mother’s mother, on down to the root of her line, as opposed to the hybrid Caledorian accent that had been imposed on her before her mother died, before her and her father moved.

Kalisha now lost her train of thought as she gripped Sita’s shaft, held it aloft like a weapon, straddled it and then slipped her mating sword deep inside the rancher’s wet, ready sheath. At last this mighty cock belonged to her.

And then she gasped, her eyes glowing white with energy as she slipped into a souldance and dragged Sita under with her. It was as if they were in a shared dream now while she was bouncing on her cock. Without even turning her head, she could see some mysterious tree appearing out of nowhere behind the bathtub, while a chorus of voices sang The Song of Kalisha. Even the thunder rumbled in time with it, and she had no idea why.

What was clear, and overwhelming, was that she could feel the pleasure and faintly hear the psychic songs of Sita, Sajida and Chloe, even through the door to Sita’s bedroom (where Sajida was tasting Chloe’s virgin pussy with her enthusiastic urging while Sajida straddled the pilot’s mouth and directed Chloe to do the same.) She could also see red energy coming from Sita’s eyes, black energy from Chloe’s (probably something to do with the Darkness), and curiously- even though Sajida was a vampire- blue energy from her eyes.

And a third blue eye on her forehead, indicating great power or spiritual awareness.

In any event, Kalisha saw that she had her old arm back for a while, only for it to dissolve into not only smoke but agony and despair as if they were physical things her whole being could feel, only for the mechanical arm she built to reassemble itself before her eyes. Then Kalisha became compelled to sing her song in a voice that was more robotic and less identifiable. Her heart confessed that she wondered how much of her was human and how much clockwork, that she was torn between the two worlds of her parents- Sudaish and Jogan, and that she also wondered about their gender. But Sita, or her imagination of her didn't seem to flinch at gazing upon her artificial parts, and seeing her whole soul, human or not, encompass both organic and inorganic material.

Fusion of the most wonderful kind, perhaps.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“I am sorry, Chloe. It’s just still a little raw, losing Gambit like this,” Kalisha sighed, rubbing the back of her head with her clockwork hand. “Spicy food like this is supposed to cleanse one of anger, sadness, and other emotional impurities. Perhaps it will do that for us, too,” she smiled. “And then, since I was the one who hurt you, I shall endeavor to help you with your airship.”

“We have plenty of spicy foods in Surabamba. Although they're more often in the form of soups or stews than steaks, I'll try this too," Sajida said. That caused Chloe and Kalisha to raise their eyebrows, wondering how their friend could possibly eat it. “Well, I can eat it. Just not digest it. Regular food is like...corn for humans? Is that right, Queen Sita? Either way, I just miss the taste of food.”

"And speaking of trying something new..." she said, then took Sita’s hand. "I am so sorry that I treated you like a pig or a womanizer, when I know you're not. The reason why I panicked, why I got mad at you...why I'm afraid to love again is because I pledged myself to a man named Vivaan Dhawan seven years ago. When we got married in June of 1886 and he went off to war in the Surabamba Rebellion, I...cheated on him by kissing Alice and Abigail, who I was sheltering from a storm, and from the rebel army. Who, later, saved me from my...you know.”

Rape. She still couldn’t say it. But Chloe and Kalisha hugged her nonetheless as she sighed deep and continued, “And then I learned he’d died earlier at the Battle of Sanctuary Trench, and with Alice and Abigail gone, you feeling more like a mother to me, Sita, my village gone, and the wider world likely to hate and fear me, I didn’t know who I could turn to.”

After that heavy revelation on the part of the normally acerbic, perpetually cold skinned and hearted young Bamban fisherwoman, lunch proceeded rather awkwardly. Once they finished and cleaned up, however, more natural, small conversations ensued: one between Chloe and Kalisha, the other between the undead women. The two humans talked about how best to utilize Gambit’s clockwork, discussed the power that Kalisha used to command the very lightning and storms, and ruminated on the nature of the curse, while Sita supported a frustrated and lonely Sajida.

Both duos naturally became attracted to each other and joined together in pleasure. Chloe bashfully asked her fellow engineer if she might trouble Kalisha for a kiss, and got a whole lot more, which was very effective in helping Kalisha start to work through her grief and for Chloe to feel truly sexy, and appreciated for it, unlike what happened with Sajida. Meanwhile, Sajida tied Sita’s arms and legs to the bed and impaled herself repeatedly on her long stake, just wanting to release some stress. But also, after all, who else would understand what it was like to be a vampire like Sita, or teach her how to fuck and bite and groan like one without the possibility of either of them getting hurt? Even though Sita had still sealed her to this fate, and this didn’t mean love, she was slowly losing her resentment...

Before long, it was night time now, and even though the vampires didn’t technically need to sleep, they enjoyed the ritual, sweaty and exhausted after finally doing the deed correctly. The tiny, fiery pilot also being the strong, taller rancher’s little spoon, Chloe’s delicate pale skin set aflame by Kalisha’s warm, ochre arms, legs and abdomen. She’d never had anyone care for her like this, even if she had to suppress any delusions about true love emerging from this night.

But an anomaly was about to arrive that would change everything, in the form of a thief named Akari Takahashi. She was exactly the kind of crafty woman who could find a castle that had been hidden for centuries at the top of a storm-ravaged mountain, and pockets of shadow to slink through in the ancient cracks once the lock on the door was picked. She pressed herself hard up against walls, dug into weaknesses in ceilings, curled around doorframes as her body turned to liquid shadow and flowed as such.

Her employers had paid her a lot of money upfront to steal the glass case that contained the hair of their hated enemy, Alice Guthrie, while promising more upon delivery. All they’d been able to tell her was the approximate coordinates of her last sighting in Surabamba in 1886, and that she’d clearly been spotted on the train home to Caledoria with shorter hair. Why they wanted it wasn’t clear to Akari, but although she had a pet theory that it would be sold in some shady auction to an audience of perverts, the Gudarian thief wasn’t one to ask questions.

At least, not to her employer’s face. She’d done some digging, and when it turned out that the people who hired her were even more unsavory characters than her usual clientele, she became furious with them and sold the information back to another interested party, who wanted to trap her first employer and safeguard the hair. It helped that they were willing to pay double. Classic double agent stuff, that the 19-year-old was all too familiar with after years of hard living on the road. Again, though, she wasn’t sure why someone’s hair was important, famous or not...

Until she observed that it radiated Darkness, just as she did. Ah, now that made sense. Alice’s hair had become a powerful artifact, and it was up to Akari to make sure that it didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Those of her first employer.

And so, Akari quietly and methodically began her work, fiddling with a set of lockpicks to gently lift up the tumblers of the lock that connected to the chain that in turn held it on the wall where the glass-pressed hair had stood for seven years.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Chloe just sat back, dried her hand off as she finished removing all the burnt skin and saw Sita heal completely from the dagger-inflicted wound, and listened with a rapt intensity that she had never experienced before as Sita's story of her lost beloved. The genuine emotion the vampire displayed upon uttering it totally captivated her.

However, she had a gnawing feeling at the back of her mind that she'd heard at least some of it before, and to confirm this, she began thumbing through The Great Histories for at least the thousandth time. With that, Chloe tapped her finger on the correct page in the chapter for the 17th century that touched on the Klandethan People's Revolution and exclaimed, "There we are!"

With that, Chloe said, "I knew your name sounded familiar, Sita," pointing out an artist's representation of her in 1632, when she was still Queen of Klandethan, and before she was overthrown and her vampiric heritage had drained all the melanin out of her skin. "I don't know who this witch is, but you must be Queen Sita Baniya the First! And this does mention a 'friend'"- she then gave air quotes around that, as most historical texts out there did not even imply that homosexual relations were a thing- "who died fighting by your side at the climactic Battle of Mt. Klandethan. Her name is...Leela Rajkarnikar. Is that right?!" She then also tapped the drawing of Sita's human beloved. "That's fascinating!"

"And your statement about the blood of a dead man being a paralytic...I think I know why the Siphon of the First Shades hurt you, or any other Darkness artifact could. From what little research I've been able to do on it, with what copies of forbidden books I have unfortunately lost in the storm, I managed to glean that the Void and the Darkness energy that resulted from its formation was a kind of autonomic response by the energies connecting this world to the Dreamscape and other dimensions to the colossal amount of death spread through Emada and the rest of the Matter Realm when demonic forces from the Nether Realm attempted to invade it for reasons unknown. It would appear that this primordial anger is fatally opposed to those who resist death through means of undeath, such as vampires."

Chloe gulped at that, a little nervous that perhaps she had touched a nerve by naming Sita's lover. She especially didn't want to elaborate that vampires had come to be by drinking the blood of their victims to communicate with demonic Overlords and the Nether itself.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

"WHY ARE YOU SUCH AN IDIOT?!?!" Sajida wanted to scream at herself for falling in love with someone who was hurting her.

For letting anyone hurt her after how she'd been beaten within an inch of her life and turned into a piece of meat for a man's relief. And yet, Sita in her moment of rage had forgotten all that trauma that Sajida had endured and taken Sita’s own out on her. The very moment that Sita passed out, Sajida wished for a moment that she had died of her wounds while she still could and cursed Alice for her survival, and then in another moment that she had ripped both their heads off after turning to spare herself this hurt. And then she hissed in Sita's ear, "If you ever touch me in anger again, I will fucking rip you to pieces, do you understand?!" then kicked the prone, rain soaked body of the pathetic Queen of Nothing below before walking away...

And then the moon of Nefaris appeared, and once again Shandura calmed Sajida's heart, as if to say, You're more than a monster. I gave you life, and now you have to give love. Until she turned around, sighed, and then lifted her over her back like a net full of fish. The progenitor of Sajida's disease weighed just as much as one too, for despite her slender albeit buxom figure, Sita was very muscular.

"You figure out what to do with this one," Sajida grumped at Kalisha, who was cradling a naked, sleeping Chloe in her arms, while depositing the lump of a woman off her shoulders and onto the couch.

"Shhhhh!!!" Kalisha hushed her vampire friend. "I just got her to calm down." With a gentle, warm bath, a massage, and a fingering that the Caledorian enthusiastically enjoyed until falling asleep after her climax. "If you wake her up, or aggravate her now, you may kill us all."

Once Kalisha got Chloe into bed and curled up next to her, Sajida reluctantly picked up Sita again, this time thrown over one shoulder, and brought her to the stables where Akari was resting. Or rather, had been, until the irritated Bamban woke her up by flopping Sita onto the hay next to her.

"Here, she's your problem now, thief," Sajida spat.

"But I'm tied up. What if she tries to bite me?!" the sleepy Gudarian demanded in a half-yawn.

"Explain the part where I give a shit, human scum." Then Sajida stormed off, while Akari spat at the vampire in the same quiet defiance she'd always possessed.

*****

Meanwhile, in Bakhara Galun...

Lord Iarmenor Tyvanwek, Lord Governor of the Confederate Colonial States of Gudaria and Klandethan and may the gods protect him, tsked at the burnt remnants of the village from atop his fearsome, fifty-foot tall oliphaunt, as dragons shepherded the waterfeet that were being confiscated to feed the Confederate Army, alongside the women that would make for fine breeders and the child slaves that would forget their dead fathers and brothers and instead serve and fear their masters.

"Humans are such morons," he smirked at his spy. "I give them a simple choice: reveal their Shadow Accord friends, or perish. And yet, their pathetic soldiers were so surprised when I squashed them like so many flies."

"YOU! YOU TOOK HER FROM ME!"

"Wh-what was that, my lord?" the adviser wondered. Then he thought to explain it away as a mere reverberation from the thunder of a nearby Imperial bombing raid, but the Confederate commander instead interjected-

"It's her. The so-called Mountain Queen. I'd recognize that voice from anywhere." After all, he'd helped the Klandethanis overthrow her 261 years ago (and then conquered the weakened Klandethan People's Republic three years later; again, humans were so cute with their toy nations that amused him to knock down), and taken great joy in watching Princess Rajkarnikar's eyes go dark in front of Lady Sita, since he couldn't have Leela for himself. The rebels had initially wanted to kill Sita, and he didn't blame them, but the hopelessness and fury in Sita's eyes had convinced Lord Tyvanwek to spare her life so she would roil in a prison of her own making.

That battle had also secured the services of the witch Azariah Gilroar to neutralize her with one of the most powerful warding spells in existence. She had become a key Confederate ally to this day, which had the pleasing side effect of making him indispensable in any military endeavor, and promoting him rapidly up the ranks of nobility that he had so craved. "Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary."

He'd shared that same sentiment to his advisors when the war broke out. He'd been frustrated by Caledoria's insolence in successfully defying elvish rule during the Clockwork Revolution of 1500, always wanted to squash them again like the bugs they were, and had been frustrated as the Confederation Council sat on their delicate asses for centuries while Caledoria grew in strength until it became an Empire capable of going toe to toe with the Ananki on the world stage while the entire realm decayed, just as he'd warned would happen.

His only regret was that he hadn't been there to personally massacre every single man, woman and child in Radiant City he could the night of June 13th, but alas, duty had called. He also secretly hoped that the human who got away from him in 1890, the Gudarian who killed his best soldier and took his dagger before Lord Tyvanwek could make her into his docile, dutiful fuck toy, the one whose simpering boyfriend and parents begged for their lives before their throats were drained, would be here as well so he could finally make her love him. He had no proof, but he had a hunch. More like...de ja vu? It was hard to explain, but an interesting feeling that needed to be investigated.

"Should we climb the mountain and attack?"

"I like your thinking, but even with the curse limiting her movements, without overwhelming force and the intelligence with which to prepare an attack, that would be a waste of useful units," Lord Tyvanwek replied. He then stroked his impeccable chin and grinned, "We need to focus our efforts on containing the Empire until we can launch incursions of our own into Bamba. The mountain will be key to that later, but I think that for now, it's time the wolves had their fun and then reported back. And do be sure to send an expense report to the Council by your fastest crow. They'll fast track our invoice, don't worry."

He didn't expect the werewolves to win against Lady Sita. They probably didn't expect to win either. But if even one of them survived the return journey, he would know what to expect. That was the art of war; probing for weaknesses and then striking with efficiency.

At the same time, the Shadow Accord forces lurked from the nearby woods. They were a motley crew of: Bamban guerilla fighters and mostly Surai assassins called Jadwan Badshahon Ka Haath- Hand of the Twin Kings, often Haath or the Hand for short- hardened by two bitter years of rebelling against the Empire, Midvadirian Nightstalker assassins touched a bit by the Darkness, dispossessed Thieves Guild rogues from various chapters, and assorted mercenaries, hid in the bushes and behind the trees.

One of them raised his crossbow and prepared to brain the central figure in the bloody elvish campaign to keep upstart humanity "in their place," but then his comrade pushed it down.

"Why did you do that?" he hissed. "I had the shot!"

"Sure, maybe you would've killed one of the most powerful elves in the entire Confederacy, and then we would have all died, and for what?" she demanded, still keeping her voice down.

"That's what you said when we stood by and did nothing as this village, my village, burned to the ground!"

"We got as many people out as we could without being seen, you insolent boy," she now growled. "If we fought every battle we wanted to, we would lose. War is about picking the battles you can win, and make no mistake that we will still lose many. All we can do is sting the bull until he falls down tired, and try not to get swatted."

"Speaking of which," a third person, a sympathetic elf turned traitor to his own Confederacy to fight with the "terrorists," whispered, "has anyone heard from Akari?"

"No," the commander said. "But we need to find out. That's our next move..."

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“My purpose originally wasn’t to steal and kill and claw for everything I could...when I was 16, I was sold into seven years of indentured servitude by my parents as a dancing girl for Lord Tyvanwek, and then sold again into marriage with him, like I was just another art piece for his wall,” Akari sighed. “But, there was a boy. A mere custodian’s apprentice. His name was Giichi. Just Giichi, since he had no parents. (Honestly, he probably lucked out). What he did have was a smile and a laugh that he shared with me every night that energized me after hours of being forced to endure the stares of old perverts.”

“Then I visited an Oracle one night, and she told me that on a night filled with light such as this, I would be joined with my true love under the shade of a tree. I desperately hoped it would be Giichi, so I told him how I felt and to meet me under the tree where we watched the stars as kids, while I laid down with the panties removed from the dancing costume he liked the most so that he could join with me easily. That same getup has been my main uniform every day for the past three years. I have not lain with anyone since.”

She pointed to her uniform, mask and all to emphasize her point.

“I laid there for two hours, until Tyvanwek found and tried to rape me while his enforcer held me down and put the Siphon at my throat. But I took it, killed him, and chased Tyvanwek away. Then I was hidden by the Darkness when Tyvanwek returned with his men, until I realized Giichi would never come for me. Then, I accepted the Darkness’s control of me via the Siphon and disappeared. I only learned later of his brutal disembowelment as well as that of my parents, an example of Tyvanwek staking his claim to any human girl he wanted.

“So I honed myself into a weapon,” Akari concluded as her weapons materialized again; then she quickly dematerialized them just in case Sita got any dumb ideas about touching them again.

“A monster of his making, capable of one day gutting him like the animal he is. Lady Sita, you may think you’re alone with your demons, or in this fight. But only a fool goes to die for their country, especially alone; we five monsters at the top of our mountain- we’re stuck here now and might as well make the most of it- will stand a better chance of fighting off the incursion than you by yourself. Not to mention, although my forces have been devastated tonight by the Confederates, I do not believe for one second that they are broken. They may or may not get my message, but they have to know that this is the best fortified place to hold out.”

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Akari took off towards the source of the noise as well, but then a piercing howl that seemed to come from the very moon of Nefaris itself echoed around the mountain and made her clasp her hands over her ears and froze them both to the spot. Akari knew it well, for it was the signature cry of the Wolfsbane Order, designed to buy a werewolf time to close the distance on all other magical creatures and go for the kill with their superior speed and strength. And while they could transform at any point, the power of the moon in amplifying that blood curdling yell was apparent.

This was a trait that had served them well in hunting vampires to near extinction. (It was still sonically piercing for most humans and other beings as well, to the point of violent destruction of eardrums or even whole heads, hence why Imperial wolf trappers wore earmuffs.) The only other ways to counter it, she’d realized in the past, were to attack a wolf from range or with stealth, and even then backup was always required for fighting wolves within the Shadow Accord. But that was all useless if you didn’t know one was coming to begin with.

Ronan, once the Queen’s closest companion until she found her heart moving towards another, yet remaining an advocate for peace between warring species and her right hand Commander until he was defeated and thought dead in the middle of the Klandethan People’s Revolution, now regarded Sita and her friend with a sigh.

“Has it really been 361 Imperial years since we last spoke, since I last held you, my friend? Too long, it appears,” he started as the wolf clambered down the rock, dragging dozens of traditional braids behind him. “And yet neither of us have aged a day. I know this to be true, yet am always surprised by our longevity.”

A field of orange eyes snarled all around them, who were growing impatient with their leader’s stalling when they’d been promised a chance for vengeance against a vampire. In order to keep his association with Sita a secret, he continued, knowing she had the strength to move her face enough to reply:

“I’ve only given you a brase” (stun) “as a chance to hear this message. Lord Tyvanwek knows you’re here, and wants you either gone or pledging support to the Confederacy by the end of the week, lest he make the difficult decision to lay siege to the mountain.

“And before you say no...think about it. Humans took everything away from you, trapped you on a mountain for all this time. And what have they done with their freedom that they so desperately wanted, hm? Sickened the Mother World we all call home with their black steam; killed, burned, and seized all the people, land and resources they could; and pushed us aside, calling all of us monsters. Once upon a time, my people fought with yours for thousands of years. Even you, whose kind brought Hell to Emada all those years ago, are not one tenth as cruel as humans are capable of being. So join me, fight alongside me like the old days, and keep the Empire and their blood lust off of your mountain.”

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

“Of course I was there!” Ronan yelled at her, frustrated with his former Queen's forgetfulness. "Or has the passage of centuries dulled your memory that much? I advocated for you and your justice and wisdom when you took the throne, even though you sided with the Nether Realm at your creation millennia ago, and on the final day of your rule, I fought alongside you for as long as I could, while dozens of my fellow Wolfsbane died defending a Shtragoi. The only reason you and Leela weren't killed sooner was because I was holding off the left flank of rebels by myself. Once Tyvanwek and Azariah killed her and trapped you here, respectively, I fled and tried to strike back at him where I could from the shadows for more than a hundred years, but his forces defeated mine at the Battle of the Misty Forests in 1743."

With vampires virtually incapable of recovering their former numbers after a systematic campaign of extermination by humans and werewolves, the subjugation of those equally dwindling werewolves who hadn't been annihilated by the Kingdom of Surabamba to Confederate rule ended the more than 10,000 year long Underworld War in favor of elves and humanity.

"I do not like that the Boldcrown Pack is pledged to his vassalage, but it's either that or live- more likely, be slaughtered- under the heel of the Empire. Why don't you ask Sajida how Caledorians have treated her and her people? Or Chloe, how many merfolk her sister, the great and mighty Alice Guthrie, and perhaps also the Destroyer of Prophecy, bled under the ocean at Sanctuary Trench? Or perhaps I should ask Akari, treacherous Shade: how many wolves, vampires, and others begged for mercy before you laughed and plucked out their hearts? Whatever our past differences, humans no longer know any sense of balance or harmony, and will stop at nothing until we are all dead or enslaved."

Now that Sita was able to move more, and Akari's bottled up fury at the other werewolves surrounding her threatened to explode, Ronan kissed his Queen's forehead and said, "Please, at least give it some thought, my beloved," and then moved his disappointed foot soldiers away from the women.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Yes. With everything I have.

Akari didn’t want to admit this to herself, but her heart sank when Sita said this out loud. How could Sita possibly place such confidence in that werewolf, when he had been placed in charge of an army designed to destroy her? For a centuries old vampire, she was proving quite naive to the skeptical thief; and yet, this strangely drew the Gudarian to the taller woman.

Now the Takahashi clan’s youngest warrior placed both hands on Sita’s shoulders while facing her, closing her eyes, and mumbling a few words in Gudarian. Then she spoke once again, this time in flawless Klandethani, the language of Sita’s birth. This way, if the others came around, they would not overhear.

“If that is what your heart says, then I too, trust it for now.” Sita, after all, did seem to have a heart, or something resembling one for a creature of the night. “But I will also defend it. If he so much as looks at you in a way that makes you uncomfortable, he’s going to need a new throat pretty soon. And in the meantime, I’ve prayed to...whatever is out there that my forces make it in time to counteract anything Tyvanwek does have planned.”

The look Akari gave was one of concern, but also care. She wanted to say more, and her mask ruffled somewhat while her mouth began to form words. However, she was quickly interrupted by the other girls calling out for her.

Surprisingly, it was Chloe who leapt into Sita’s arms now, knocking aside the thief in her sobbing embrace of the vampire’s cold skin. “I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you run away!”

“She’s been like this the whole walk,” Sajida explained. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” She tried to hastily clarify, “So that Chloe doesn’t wail my ears off. Besides, you’re a better ‘Last Vampire of Legend’ type than I am.” But she also smiled, breaking her stony facade, even just a bit.

“I love you, Sita...have for years,” Kalisha said as she embraced Akari, Chloe and Sita, much to the discomfort of the most petite woman in the group. (For her part, Akari decided that she didn’t mind being unable to breathe that much once the hug pressed her crotch into Sita’s bulge to a degree.)

“But please, at least leave a note if you’re going to run away again. Or I may have to discipline you, young lady,” Kalisha said, pretending to be stern but winking at her.

 

[Alisa_Perne]

"Wait." Sita turned, grinning at Akari, "Did you just say you would protect my heart?" The grin became wider, "You do feel for me don't you? You resisted out of duty not out of a lack of interest."

"Oof." Sita said laughing as Chloe collided with her and Sita picked her up and held her, "Hey there little one." she said then the events came flashing back to her and her face became somber, "Its me who should be sorry." Sita said, "I destroyed something of yours that you worked very hard on, and treasured very much, my stupidity and anger cost you something dearly and I cannot replace it. I pledge my whole eternity to help you get it back." She smiled, hoping it was enough.

Sajida said her part and the girls embraced her, she realized this was the closest thing to family she ever had in a long time, and she was determined to fight for it. "Don't threaten me with a good time." Sita said to Kalisha, and continued hugging the girls. "I love you all." she whispered, kissing each and every one of their foreheads.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

"Deal," Chloe beamed, going back to her usual cheerful self for a moment. "Besides, it's only a childish possession, and it was falling apart. Things can be replaced...people cannot. I learned that the hard way when I cared not for anything but my pain, and in a moment I'll always regret, and that I know Alice and Edward must resent me for...how do I even say this?" she wondered.

"As the Darkness overtook me, I accidentally shoved my own mother, Kate Guthrie, against a dresser drawer?" Chloe continued. She was phrasing that like a question because she wasn't entirely sure if that's what had happened. "How was I supposed to know she would hit her head against the wall and just...stop..."

She then closed her eyes, licked her lips, and squeezed out a couple errant tears. "Well, anyway, point is, I'm not letting anyone else die on my watch who doesn't deserve it. I'm trying to be better for her, for Alice, for everybody I care about. If I can, you can too. And while we're here- sorry if I've said this already, because sometimes I don't remember exactly what I say- I'm not giving up on you. Whatever you've done, whatever, you are not poison. Because..."

Chloe didn't know quite what she was going to say either. There was something wanting to burst out from her, of course, but she knew better.

"Because you're still alive. And while you're breathing, you can choose to change. You don't have much of a choice either, because I'm going to really put you to work for as long as it takes to fix this airship," is what Chloe settled on, then winked.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

The early morning of Friday, June 16th, 1893

Sajida rebuffed Sita’s probing question, refused to say anything, and instead got to work, following Chloe and Kalisha’s precise instructions for every little part of this delicately engineered ship- including and especially how and where to place the clockwork pieces from Gambit’s body. But once the humans fell fast asleep from exhaustion, the poor dears, and were put to bed, Sajida and Sita worked on the airship for a few hours until the raw, ravenous angry tension between them consumed them.

Swept along by predatory lust, they retreated to Sita’s bedroom and fucked, in all of Sajida’s tight holes that were grateful for Sita’s cum, until the sun came up. And although Sajida still refused to say anything, even threatening to castrate her if she ever asked that question again, nothing really needed to be said yet, as Sita could now hear The Song of Sajida in its entirety and Sajida heard The Song of Sita as well, in the same strange manner as Kalisha and Sita had in the souldance when they’d first made love. All either woman knew deep inside was that this was different from the other sexual encounters they’d had, and this spurred a frenzied mating like few the world had ever known. They also understood how each other felt on instinct, even if words remained trapped in their throats.

What neither knew was that this psychic power around all the women who made love here was deeply rooted in the love Leela and Sita and then Alice and Sita had shared long ago, as well as the wave of love that Alice and her new husband, Jareth Williams, unbeknownst to anyone here (or even each other), had spread across the world a few days prior. All this heartsong had triggered something in the Ballad of Creation itself, and was concentrated in ley line convergences where magic, though faded, was strongest, like Radiant City and Mt. Klandethan.

For now, though, Sajida insisted on sleeping even though she didn’t need to, for she hadn’t been a vampire for as long as Sita had and had been well and truly pounded into an uncountable number of orgasms. The only other thing she urged was that Sita spoon her, at least for a few hours until Sajida opened her eyes again.