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The Voyage of the Silken Siren (The Corsair and Xanaphia)

There were so many things he could have said to that admittance. He even opened his mouth to say one of them, but the words never escaped. Instead he found his mouth hot and hungry on hers, hands tangking in her hair and exploring her body as he pulled her against him. Had he started it? Had she? Drunk on her taste, he didn't care. All that mattered was the magnificant bidy beneath a thin sheath of linen, and the desperate need that drove them both.

"You should have," he gasped. "Because I would have. Right in front of everyone." Hungry hands explored her, fumbling at the dress, craving the feeel of her skin. "Gods, I've wanted you. Ever since that night in the alley." He kissed her again, fumbling at the collar she wore before working it loose and tosding it aside to clatter along the stone. "I've dreamt of you, every night since then."

Fuck Rudain and its gifts, he decided as he struggled with the gown. His fingers stroked over her breasts as he gripped the fabric and pulled. There was a shriek of tearing linen as be opened the dress to her navel, and he filled his hans with the soft weight of her breasts. "I should have come to you that first night," he groaned, feasting on hef bare flesh. "I should have cime to you every night since."
 
“Every time I touched myself, I thought of you. Fantasized about you. Fucking myself to orgasm, imagining it was your touch,” She confessed, between kisses. Because he was confessing, and it was hot, and she needed to fuck him all the more. Needed Yusef, needing what she had denied herself for too long.

She shuddered as he ripped open her dress, ruining the garment, a small “fuck you” to their captor. Her back arched into his hands, offering more of herself, offering all of herself, wanting to be consumed by the lust that had invaded her mind since that first night with him. The lust that built and grew with every shared glance and each touch, no matter how innocent. Nipples ached at his touch, hard with longing, longing that pooled in the pit of her stomach and between her thighs.

“Take me…fucking take me,” she growled pulling his hair to bring his mouth back to hers. Her own hands went under his shirt, nearly ripping it off him, as she grasped at him. Tracing, digging into the indentations of his muscles, the firm lines of his firm form. Gasping for breath, as he moved towards her neck, her legs opening for him, encouraging him to get between them, “Please, don’t make me beg.” Desperate fingers tugged and yanked at his belt and pants, before opening them enough to slip her hand in, stroking his immense cock,“…because…because I would…”
 
"Beg me, then," Yusef gasped, shifting her so he could slid her diwn iver his swollen cock. The feel of her walls gripping him was better than he remembered, better than the fantasies he'd had of her since that night, and he groaned as she slid around him and took him completely. "Gods, beg me to fuck you." Straddled on a stone floor, he couldn't fuck up into her very well. So his hands moved on her hips, helping her fuck herself on him.

"Gods," he groaned, biting at throat and shoulder and breast as she rode him. "Gids, beg me to fuck you. Gods, beg me to fuck that sweet, hot cunt. Gods, I want to hear you begging to fuck this thick dick till you cum, screaming my name." He kissed her, devouring her mouth as he fucked himself with her, as she fucked herself with him.

"Fuck," he gasped, breaking the kiss so he could breathe. "Fuck my cum out of me, Aurelia." Another gasp as she clenched around him, and his cock throbbed in response. "I want you to feel my cum in you. Gods, I want to fuck my cum into you..." He gasped again. "Fuck, I'm close. Cum... cum for me... I.. Gids, I want to feel you cum..."
 
“You are such a dick,” She husked, smirking at his audacity. Smirking that turned into gasping as he pulled her down his cock. “The biggest fucking dick, I swear…” His cock parted her with a moist resonance, echoing within the cell like their cries. His demands for her to beg, coming off as begging, a strange projection of his own need, reflecting her own.

“Please Yusef,” She hissed into his ear, as his mouth worked on her skin, “Please, fuck me. Please, let me fuck you. Let me fuck myself on you, on your glorious cock.” She had started slower, hoping to drag this out, hoping to torment him. But there were a couple problems with that plan. The first was his hands on her hip, encouraging her to move faster, harder, deeper, making her move along his entire length, slicking him with her lust.

The other problem was that she had no patience to tease him. To tease herself. She wanted this, wanted him, and his hard cock and his hard body and his hot mouth. She was driven to fuck him, driven by need, by hunger, by desperation. Driving herself down his meat, burying him in her wetness, needing the pressure and friction. “Yusef…fuck Yusef…” She moaned, his name an exclamation of elation. “Yusef…I …fuck…I...YUSEF!” It nearly hurt, how bad she had been chasing this orgasm, how long she held on and held back and resisted and denied. A culmination of the desire, release and relief and respite. It didn’t matter how long they had. Tonight he was hers she was his, and that was the way it was supposed to be.
 
"Gods, Aurela. Use my dick. Use that thick cock to fuck yourself off. Fucking... fucking cum on my cock, Aurelia." He leaned into her, devouring her mouth and revellng in the feel of her bare breasts sliding against his chest. "Such a sweet, hot cunt. Gods, fuck me with that wet cunt of yours. Fuck my thick hard meat, Aurelua. So fucking wet. You're dripping down my duck, Aurelia."

He barely knew what he was saying. The words were nothing more than erotic praise, worshipful hymns to the magnificent woman influcting such sweet tirture on him. Yusef gasped as she cried his name and he slid his hands over her back, gripping her shoulderrls and pulling her tighter and deeper around him. "Fuck," he growled, biting her throat as his thihgs shifted, driving him into her depths again and again. "Say my name, Aurelia. Ket me hear you beg me by name, beg ne to fuck you."

"AURELIA!" he gasped, throwing his head back as he thrust up into her. He'd never fucked someine like her before, never needed someone so desperately before. "I'm... fuck, I'm close..." He kissed her again, burying himself in her sultry depths again. "Gods... Aurelia... beg me... beg me to... to cum... Hods... I want to... to cum.. in... in you..."
 
His smart mouth was one of the things she liked about him. And the fact that she could turn him into an idiot by fucking him was a point of pride, hearing the sweet, meaningless praise dripping from his mouth, passed from his lips to hers in each kiss. And truthfully, fucking him was making her an idiot too. She should have had some clever jests, mocking his nonsensical rambling, but all she could think about was him, fucking him, fucking his cum out of his cock. Riding him was her sole purpose in that moment, that only thing that could fulfill her. Well, as soon as he filled her with his seed.

With both hands tight on his shoulders, she pushed him into the wall, holding him down as her hips began rocking again. “I am not going to beg you, but you are going to cum in me,” She explained, staring into his eyes, a warm, rich hue. “I will have you…your cum. I will have your…pleasure. I will have everything, if I have to take it from you.” If he tried to move, tried to shift, tried to retake control, she pushed him back, holding him down to get fucked by her cunt. “Give it to me, Yusef,” she growled, voice thick with passion nipping at his lips. “Cum in me, because there is no other choice. You are mine, tonight. Mine, forever.”

The confession had her terrified, for a moment. Terror that drove her to work harder, faster, dragging smooth, slick muscles over his meat. Her wetness was nearly drenching him in her scent, proof of her claims of possession. “Cum,” she commanded, in a captain’s voice, a voice that could not be denied, “Cum for me, now!”
 
"Now?" Yusef echoed, the playful tone lost in his groan of need. "Cum for you, now?"

It was tempting, because by the Gods she was an amazing fuck! The feel of her body, strong and assured and moving against him, of her cunt as it claimed his cock and drenched him as she milked him, was like nothing he'd experienced before. It would be so easy, he knew, to give in and reach orgasm, to obey her and flood her with his seed. But earlier words caught his attention, and a possessiveness flooded him. A hand reached up and tangled in her ebon hair, jerking at it and forcing her back and neck to arch. He leaned forward as he did, teeth catching her throat. "Mine!" he growled, biting hard enough to leave teeth marks on her skin, and the word awakened something in him. His hips began to move again, meeting her every thrust with one of his own.

"Mine," he repeated, biting the livid bruise he'd left behind and then kissing the tender flesh. "Mine, now. Forever." His cock pistoned up into her, slamming into her with doubled force as she thrust down on top of him. The feel of her silky muscles gripping him was his whole world,now. "Cum for me!" he ordered back, command and need mingled in his voice. "Cum... ah... AURELIA!" Her name exploded from his lips as the first jet of his seed erupted into her depths, and his arms tightened around her body as he pulled her to him. He covered her mouth with his, moaning his pleasure into her mouth as he pumped his cum deep into her, hips rocking into her body.

Finally, spent, he slumped against the wall. His dark eyes traced her mostly bare body, exploring her. "We're not done," he growled, cupping a sweat-slickened breast and squeezing. "Not by a long shot." His cock thobbed within her, emptying a final spurt of semen into her. "We've got all night, and plenty of time to rest when we're dead."
 
“Agreed,” she breathed, pressing her forehead to his, “Not done. Not even close. Just, uh…catching my breath.” She kissed him again at that, fingers tracing over his taut shoulders, appreciating his well built frame. “Besides, what else are we going to do, talk?” she teased, lowering her mouth to his strong jaw, nipping at the bone. They were both covered in sweat, a thin film that let her slither down his body, exploring him all along. Taking her time at his neck, and repaying the mark he had given her. Replaying the mark she had given him on their first night together. Marking him, as hers.

His softening cock slipped from her slit as she shifted, dripping their release down her thighs. Her mouth explored his chest, teeth dragging over firm pectorals, watching his reaction. “Fuck, you feel amazing,” she admitted, hardly finding any shame in her confession. That haughty pride seemed to take a back seat to the through fucking they had just finished, and that she hoped to repeat. Again and again this evening. Lips trailed down his abs, savoring his taste, his scent, his moans and shivers. Oh, and those hip bones, and the way they invited her eyes lower, until she was hovering over his cock.

She looked up the length of his body as she got herself in position, staring into his eyes. “Is this what you dreamt of, Yusef? Me, on my knees before you? Sucking your cock like some worshipful devotee?” Lips grazed the length, the scent of their mingled orgasms intoxicating. “Tell me, how you wanted me, everything you’ve wanted to do to me, while I get you ready to fulfill those desires.” With that, she swallowed him, groaning at the exquisite flavor of their passion. Hungry, for more, as her mouth and tongue worked together to clean him. Worked together to her him hard enough to fuck again. One hand stroked him as she devoted herself to sucking him, the other groped at his body, enjoying the tensing of his thighs as she blew him.
 
Yusef groaned as Aurelia's mouth closed around his thinc meat. "One... one of them..." he gasped, tangling his hands in her hair. "Fuck yeah, I came to that. Imagining you... sucking the cum from my dick." He heard her make an appreciative sound, one that sent tremors through his hardening shaft, and he grinned. "Woke up to that, cum spraying on my stomach."

He closed his eyes, arching his back to give her more. "Fuck, dreamed about you. Dreamed about... AH! About... tying your wrists... to the mast and... fuck, you're good... having you. Letting everyone watch while... while I fucked you."

Fuck if he wasn't hard again, thick and hard in her mouth with his head buried in her throat. "Mostly, though... I... dream about the alley. Having you again, on your knees, or you riding me." Suddenly he pulled her away, leaning forward to kiss her. Then he shoved her back, sprawling on the stone floor. Hot kisses trailed over her throat and breasts as his hands worked lower, tearing away the last of the gown she wore.

"My turn," he murmured against her flesh as his mouth folliwed his hands. His tongue circled her navel, and his teeth nipped at the smooth flesh of her lower belly. "What did you dream of, you and your toys?" he demanded, lapping at her clit. His thumbs traced her, parting her glistening slit, and he explored her with his lips. "Fuck," he groaned, "you taste good..."
 
Oh Edana, hearing that filth drip from his lips as swallowed his cock was turning her on. Reminding her of regrets, of everything they missed out on while they were being stubborn. She wasn’t nearly done savoring his cock when he pulled her off, kissing her, kissing him back, hungry for any of him. She tried to reach for him, but he pushed her back, the stones cool after heat of his body.

“I wanted you, that first night. Gods, it was torture, hearing you with them. So I…fuck yes, right there…I touched myself, listening to you. Pretending you were…were saying all those things to me. Pretending you were fucking me.”

His tongue delved into her slit and she bucked against him, her entire body aching for him. “I even dreamt you were…the… the Caliph, and I…I was your queen… we made love,” her breaths were coming faster now, harder, thighs squeezing his skull as the pleasure became unbearably sweet. “You…Your touch…it was heaven. It…is heaven! Yes! Gods, Yusef, please, please, don’t stop!” Her hips swayed and bounced, desperate for more of him. “Yusef…Yusef, please…” Her eyes rolled back in to her head as he coaxed more rapture form her body, her back going rigid as his tongue filled her. It was a moment or two of tensing and releasing, leaving a stupid serene smile shining on her lips. “I was an idiot Yusef.”
 
Yusef pushed himself up, enjoying the stunned look of satisfaction on Aurelia's face. "Hey, you weren't the only idiot." He scooted around to sit next to her. "That night you were talking about, that first night?" He sighed. "Gods, I wanted you, that night. Instead..." He shrugged. "I should have just pounded on your door until you answered." Something she'd said nagged at his memory, though.

"You dreamed of being the Onyx Queen?" he finally said. "Must be something in the water, then. I actually had a dream of being the Caliph myself. Hmmm..." He stroked his chin, then grinned as he gently pushed her back down on the floor. "I think I even remember part of that." Still smiling, he kissed her lingeringly. "Queen of my heart, mistress of my soul. Oh beauteous one without whom the day is darkened and the nights are endless, I seek forgiveness for my rash speech and foolish words," he murmured against her lips, tracing her bare skin with his hands as he remembered the words he'd written in his dream. "The only excuse I may offer is that of madness, for my soul delights in your beauty and - knowing that I am unworthy of the divine glory of your countenance - I am subject to fits of passion and jealousy unbecoming a Caliph."

His hand stroked over her belly as he pressed his thick cock against her thigh, and one finger dipped into the dripping depths of her slit. "I abase myself before my goddess," he murmured, sucking gently on one nipple as his finger stroked in and out of her depths, "my living embodiment of the wisdom of Afodisia and the beauty of Edana and the grace of Besheba, offering my prayer that you will forgive my harsh and cruel words."

A second finger joined in, slowly thrusting in and out of her lubricated walls as he moved his attentions to her other breast. "I am a fool, and would that I could turn back time and undo what has been done." He looked up, a small line of saliva joining his lips to her breast as his fingers filled her deeply, and smiled hungrily. "I beg you to set me some task that I may perform to prove my devotion and my sincerity."
 
The words that melted her anger, her resistance. The words that made her want to forgive him, both the yesterday, and long ago. Whispered as fingers caressed her skin, driving her longing. She wanted him, and it wasn’t just physical. She was falling for him, and if they had longer than a day to live, that thought would bother her more.

“I think we’ve both suffered enough anticipation, don’t you?” She moaned, pulling his face to hers as he came off her breast. Position herself beneath him, legs spread to invite him inside her. Her arms went up his arms and along his back and neck, holding him close. “Make love to me. Just once before…” she didn’t finish that sentence, that thought, that shared understanding. Instead she pressed a needy kiss to his lips, meeting his hips with her own. Pulled him deeper inside, craving that feeling of completion when their bodies met once more.

In his arms and in his eyes there was safety, and comfort, and peace.“Despite everything, we found each other. We will find each other again. And I…Well, I will try not to be so stubborn about it, next time.”
 
Yusef let himself melt into her kiss, tasting her hunger and... something more. Something he wasn't sure he wax prepared to put a name to, not with a sentence of dewth hanging over them. Instead he merely returned her kiss, pulling her body against his as he slowly slid into her. The feel of her opening around him, taking and welcoming him, made him groan into her lips. "Next time," he murmured, unsure if he meant their next night or next life, "I'll justcome to you. And if you won't see reason, I'll make you see it."

He grinned as he felt her clench arilound him, then kissed her again. Words tried to stumble out and he used her lips and throat to stop them, moving with and within her as he did. "Gods," he sighed, "you feel so good on me." His hips rocked against hers, thrusting deep with every drawn-out stroke that he savored. "I can't get enough of you," he whispered, fingers tracing her curves.

He kissed her again and then rolled, arms around her back and cick buried in her as Aurelia found herself astride him once more. His fingers fisted in her raven hair as he devoued her mouth, before trailing down her spine to grip her hips. "I want to watch you," he breathed, cupping her heavy breasts and lifting his hips to drive her deeper onto his shaft. "I want to see you cum on me, want to watch you take your pleasure on my dick." Lifting his head he latched onto one nipple, suckling greediky as his shaft thrust up into her again. "Ride me, oh my queen."
 
“Promise?” She gasped, enjoying the deep, slow rhythm he built up. Enjoying the way she could feel every inch of him, imprinting the sensation into her mind. She tightened her legs as he stroked into her again, not letting him go, letting him grind his length into depths.

When he rolled her over, she drew herself erect, sitting over him in her best approximation of a regal, royal pose. “Anything for you, my caliph,” she exhaled, her hips rolling over his, her hungry body devouring him. Her hair was heavy and sticky with sweat, clumping in her face until she threw her head back, brushing it back with her fingers. Hips moved harder, faster, craving his iron rod, the friction and pressure, his moans and groans. Rapture bursting in her mind, until everything else was blocked out, but him. But Yusef, and his hands and mouth and body. His throbbing cock and his carnal demands and his eyes, like sunlight through spiced rum, watching her. Drinking her in. Putting on a performance of her ecstasy, for his enjoyment.

“Yusef!,” She cried, her rhythm faltering as her muscles grew tight. Contracting, constricting, clenching, his thick cock thicker as her body swallowed him. Sheathed him, refused to let go. “Yusef, fuck Yusef, I…” Rapture stole her mind, stole her words, stole her senses until he was all the remained. All she wanted or needed or craved. “Yusef…”
 
He explored her with lips and hands, his groans and sighs a deep counterpoint to her own noises of delight. He kissed her greedily, moaning into her mouth as she rode him, then cupped her breasts and feasted on them when she tossed her hair back. "Fuck, Aurelia," he gasped, tasting the skin of her shoulders. "So... good..."

He felt her rhythm falter as she clenched around him, and his cock pulsed in response. His hands gripped her hips, helping her move on him. Demanding she fuck him longer, using her body to pleasure them both. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only the woman who moaned and cried out his name as her pleasure built and his built with her. And then his hands were in her hair as he bucked beneath her, gasping his cries of pleasure into her mouth as his cock emptied his pleasure into her womb, flooding her with the heat of his passion. Finally, gasping for breath, he sagged back against the chill stone of the floor. "Gods... curse me for... for a fool..." he gasped, kissing her. "For not... telling you... sooner..." He kissed her again, fingers tracing the length of her spine. "I... love you."
 
Filled with the warmth of his release, and still trembling from the power of her own, Aurelia slumped over Yusef. Smiling, feeling a moment of peace after the chaos of the last few days. Peace that was disrupted with his next few words.

She had been busy kissing him, still craving his taste, still craving that closeness and connection with him. Hardly cognizant of his words, until those three cut through the haze of bliss between them.

"I... love you."

She stopped suddenly, staring at him. Half expecting this whole thing had been a cruel joke. That he was mocking her, adding a spiteful insult to the injury of their death sentence. Forcing herself up, forcing herself steady, still astride him as his softening cock throbbed within her, she stared at him, working her mouth but no words came out. Instead she sighed, easing herself down against him until her head was against his chest, and her body was nestled between his arm and his side. She pulled the ruined remained of her dress over them, a makeshift blanket than only half covered them.

“Yusef,” She started after a moment, as the tension of awaiting her response filled the cell. “About the promise you made Fayette, when we were heading to Rudain’s ship. Would…would you do the same for me?”
 
"Well," Yusef murmured as she nestled against his side, "that's not the response I expected." He shifted a little, trying to get comfortable on the stone floor. "But, yes. I will. Once we know for sure that we've got no other ootion." He flashed her a feral grin, but spoiled the effect by yawning. "They're going to make us fight? Then we'll give them a show. The ademon will have to spend a small fortune restocking his gladiators."

He shifted again, then rolled a little and looked at her. "Get some rest," he yawned. "You'll need your strength."



Not much sleep was to be had, though. Not with the damp stone for a bed and the distant howls and screams of prisoners and the roaring of exotic beasts. Nir was there much rest, not with anticipation of the morning weighing on them. Twice more they had one another that night, hunger for one another nelding with kniwledge of impending death to drive them to seek consolation in one another.

Finally, just when it seemed he'd finally gotten to sleep, the doir banged open. "Well, isn't this cute." Something thudded onto the floor, mixed with a metallic clatter. "Get dressed. It's almost shiwtime."

Groggily, Yusef looked up. It was the woman from Aurelia's rented rape. Rage flickered on his features, and she laughed. "Try it," she mocked, gesturing to the guards behind her, "and you'll go to the arena the wirse fir wear."

Still groggy, he grabbed a bundle with his scimitar attached. Inside were clothes, of a sort. A pirate costume, designed by a deranged bondage fetishist. Lots of leather and straps, exposing his chest and arms. "The fuck is this?"

"Oh, our Lord enjoys a good show," she laughed. "So you bith get to look the part."
 
Sleep wouldn’t come for Aurelia, despite how good it felt in Yusef’s arms. Because of how good it felt in Yusef’s arms, because of the guilt she felt. He loved her, and she couldn’t say it back. Instead she asked him —begged him really, to fuck her from behind, to fuck her raw, to use her for his pleasure. Punishing herself for her hesitancy, giving him her body since she couldn’t give him her heart.

Despite fucking until she was literally too sore to go anymore, she still wasn’t ready for morning, when it did arrive. Wasn’t ready for the mocking glare on Esmeralda’s face as their gear was dumped out before them. And even though Yusef’s outfit wasn’t practical in the slightest, he did look fucking hot in it. Hot enough that she wished she could get another night with him, imagining herself peeling it off his skin.

Her option was just as impractical. “He expects me to fight in a corset?” Aurelia complained, holding her ruined gown to her nudity as she felt the interlopers staring. Realizing they weren’t going to leave, or give her anything else to wear, she dressed, trying the corset just tight enough to stay up on her. At least there was a matching coat to go with it, as well as a long skirt with high slits and knee high heeled boots. A sexed up approximation of a Captain’s uniform. She could fight in it, but not well. “Do I get a weapon at least?”

One of the guards produced a wooden box, finely carved and lacquered. Inside was a rapier, once fine quality but not rusted to the point it was nearly unusable. She recognized it, even in this shape. The one she wielded in her past last, as the Onyx Queen. Rudain really did intend to punish her as the once Caliphah turned rebel. Intended for her to live, and suffer through her torment. With a snicker she took it, tying it onto her belt.

Once they were both dressed, they were lead to coliseum, the gathered crowd of demons, half demons, demons spawn and human booing them as they were brought out, and their crimes announced. They were given a long ship bearing the banner of their past lives, the royal symbol of al-Udain. Twenty more criminals made up their crew, their crimes ranging from murder to treason to theft. They were pitted against three ships, full of demon and half demon gladiators, all promised that they could perform unspeakable acts against her body. No, Yusef wouldn’t let that happen. He promised, and swore that he loved her. She reached for his hand, as the call to begin the games rang through the Arena.
 
Under other circumstances, Yusef would have enjoyed the view afforded by the costume Aurelia was wearing. But not now, not with a spectre of painful death lingering over both of them. Now he was concentrating on the arena, weighing their options. And they didn't look good.

Rudain had constructed to a grand scale, making the arena floor nearly a quarter-mile wide. Four boats had been dragged in, small galleys, and the floor flooded deep enough that the tips of the sails came nearly even with the walls. Dark shapes moved in the waters, sharks or worse, there to deal with any who lept or fell from the vessels.

"Not much room to maneuver," he remarked as he stepped onto the deck. "Still, we might be able to take out one of the enemy ships. That'll even the odds." It was talk, he knew. Idle chatter designed to boost Aurelia's confidence, because he could tell what she was thinking from her expression. He turned away, to look at his 'crew'. Half-starved feral men, gaunt and desperate, and they all eyes Aurelia with a dark hunger.

Rudain's little 'performance' had involved mutiny, hadn't it?

He moved like a cat, drawing his blade and splitting the skull of the largest of his convict crew with a single stroke. "I am Nasir Yusef al-Udan - you have heard of me, yes?" The men, startled by his actions, blinked and nodded. "And she is Captain Aurelia Seabourne, and we are your best - your only - hope of surviving this." Gore and brains spattered them as he gestured towards the royal box. "I don't know what the demons promised you to turn in us, but remember this."

He chose a second target and struck, cuffing the man to the deck. "You're trapped on this boat with us. Obey, and you might survive. Mutiny..." The point of his blade hovered above the downed man's throat. "And you die first." Looking over them, he let the threat sink in. "Now toss that carrion overboard, and man your sweeps! We're going to sink at least one of thise bastards!"
 
After Yusef’s warning, the crew got started right away, not willing to tangle with a man willing to kill his own allies to make a point. They actually managed to ram the closest of the gladiators ships, tearing a hole in the hull. A good start, except that meant the gladiators would need to board their ship, if not go down with theirs. “To arms,” She cried, brandishing the rusted rapier Rudain gifted her. “Cut them down before they land!”

She planned to stay close to Yusef, pick up a usable weapon off one of his kills, but already a demon spawn with pallid skin and a gaping maw filled with dagger teeth intercepted her. She filled him with her blade as he charged for her, angling it up to puncture his lungs. Her thrust met ribs as it sunk in and she figured her weapon was done for, searching the ground to see where her opponent weapon lay. Instead the rapier pierced through his back shimmering silver under a thick coat of blood. Wait, had Rudain given her a magicked blade? Did he know? Withdrawing it with a splatter of gore, she was wielding an entirely new weapon, restored to its original luster. For a brief moment she dared to hope they could win this.

That hope was dashed as she looked to the skeleton crew she had, and saw the carnage the professional fights wrecked upon them. She pivoted towards the closest foe, grasping a fistful of his hair from behind, just as he was to strike down one of her men. Her blade found the back of his throat, splashing blood on his would be victim. “Help me push him over,” she commanded, and her charge nodded, using his shoulder to nudge the gladiator overboard.

From what she could tell The gladiators were trying to reduce her numbers, purposely targeting her crew over her or Yusef. Directions from Rudain, to keep her alive as long as possible? To inflict his desired punishment upon her? Still, she could see Yusef holding off four men on the other side of the ship and it inspired her to work harder. If she could get to him, there was a chance of pushing back against their foes. So she cut a line to him, her rapier performing even better than she expected, each strike finding a killing blow. By the time she and Yusef had reunited, her crew was tossing over the bloody remains of the first ship of attackers.

“Brace yourselves,” She warned, as the second ship came into striking distance. It battered them, but not head on, so their ship was still intact. With confidence boosted by the weapon in her hand, Aurelia swung herself over to the Gladiators’ ship.
 
One ship down. That was good. Half the crew was dead, though, and that was bad. Or, at least, Kaarim assumed it was. To be honest, he was quite content to leave the tactics to the Captain and simply take orders in these matters. So he popped a boiled sweet in his mouth and leaned back, watching as a second galley swept in towards the vessel that had the two Captains aboard. "Quite a good show," he observed to his companions. They were a brace of uncouth human nobles, all bravado and bluster but willing to admit him to their ranks after a few drinks and a few hands of cards. They made excellent cover.

"Oh, of course it is," laughed one of them. "But it'll get better! They say the victors get the bitch that murdered Alfric, and I can't wait to see that!"

"Hells, I wish I was part of that," leered a second. "Looks like a good lay to me, from here."

"As if you're picky," laughed a third, swilling wine.

Kaarim shook his head. Barbarians. Revolting barbarians. When would the signal be given?


"When does the signal go up?" grumped Itoku, watching the action from the cheap seats.

Igama shook his head, and ate a date. "Patience, my friend. Patience. You know how Muhyaddeen..." There was a muffled thump, and the arena seemed to shake for a minute before smoke belched from the waters below as they geysered skywards and began to drain in a whirlpool. "Loves his explosives," he finished. "Shall we?"

Itoku nodded, then turned to face his chosen target - a huge bear of a man, heavily scarred and missing an ear. "Son of a dog!" he shouted, punching the man in the gut. With a roar, the man dove for him and the riot began.


"Afodisia," Fayette murmured, wiping sweat-slick hands on her breeches, "I've not asked You for anything. Not since You abandoned me, all those years ago. But I call on You now."

She looked around, watching the riot begin to spread from the top of the arena as panic began to stir amongst the nobles. Another detonation went off, spraying more water and shark meat into the air. Gritting her teeth, she continued. "Whatever they have done, they don't deserve this. Not to be raped and murdered for the amusement of the demons." Breathing deep and hard, she started to jog down the stairs. "So give me the strength, one more time, to save them. I beg You!"

Speed picked up as she descended, until she was in a full sprint towards the base of the arena and the wall that circled the arena. Her legs blurred as she ran, now desperately trying to maintain her balance as the sprint became a full tilting whirl down the stairs, the weight of the swords she carried slapping and bouncing against her body. Forty feet. Thirty. Twenty. Her heart pounded, and her lungs burned. If this didn't work, then...

My daughter, I never abandoned you. You abandoned yourself, when you lost your faith.

Was the voice her imagination? Was it real? No time to doubt, now?

I have never taken back My gifts. You merely denied them.

Fayette's foot hit the wall and, with a terrific effort, she lept.


The boarding action was going badly. Particularly when the second ship joined in.

Yusef stood back to back with Aurelia, holding the sterncastle of the ship they'd boarded. Sweat stung his eyes, and his arms burned with fatigue. The last of their men had fallen, minutes before, and now the demon-blooded were advancing. The high ground gave them a little bit of a tactical edge, but it wouldn't last. "Well," he laughed as he stabbed a man in the throat, "at least we're giving them their money's worth!"

There was a sharp pain as a knife he hadn't seen tore cloth and skin, scraping along his ribs. He struck back, severing a hand, but the blood still streamed down his side. The wound wasn't fatal, but it didn't have to be. It would slow him, weaken him. Gritting his teeth, he kicked the man back down the stairs. Then he turned and caught Aurelia in one arm and kissed her. "It... it's time," he whispered, looking into her eyes. Trying not to imagine them in a minute, empty and lifeless. Trying not to imagine her, dead before him

By the gods, he'd make them pay in blood for this.

Something huge loomed up in his peripheral vision. Something that stank of sulfur and shit, that laughed as it lifted a weapon. Yusef gripped his dagger, and looked into Aurelia's eyes one last time in this life. "I..." he started to say. Then the ship rocked violently, water erupting into the air as a concussion smashed into it. Staggering, he fought for balance and looked wildly around. he wasn't the only one. The gladiators were staring at a cloud of black smoke and steam rising from a whirlpool that had opened in the flooded arena.

There was another geyser, spewing smoke and steam, and the ships rocked again. And then a slim figure fell heavily from the sky, driving a monstrous blade deep into the back of the demonic figure that had menaced them. Fayette tore it from the creatures back, wielding it one-handed as easily as she would her preferred saber. "Don't just fucking stare at me!" she barked, sweeping it like a scythe and disemboweling three men. "You're not fucking dead yet, and you're not fucking going to be! This is a rescue!"
 
The cheers from the crowd grew louder as the gladiators drew closer, converging on their position, assuring all that this would be over soon. At least, this part would be over soon, and the second part of the show would begin. Well, not this time, not as Yusef pulled her close, keeping his vow to her. Not as he gave her the last kiss from this life.

"It... it's time."

Aurelia nodded. She would die in his arms, embraced by his love, and not in the despair Rudain had swore. “We will find each other again,” she promised in a whisper, just as she had promised last night. “I won’t stop until I find you.”


Amaravati watched from just below Rudain’s box, sitting with a half demon noble who hired her to accompany him. Whether he didn’t realize he was bringing her to watch the execution of her Captain, or just didn’t care, she couldn’t be sure. It didn’t matter so much. She had a great view of the arena from her seat, and all she had to do now was wait for the signal from Muhyaddeen.

A few rows up Mei sat with her own client, not hiding her nerves well. Fortunately for her, the man beside her just interpreted this as her having a weak stomach for violence. “Do not fret, my dear, the best part is coming up,” he assured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Mei didn’t dare ask what he meant by the best part, just prayed it would not come to that.

Despite knowing it was going to happen, though not when, she gasped and stiffened as the water erupted into a geyser. Adding believability to her performance. “Haha! Our liege must have something special planned,” Her client assured her, pulling aware to sit on the edge of his seat. His optimism drained away as fire caught the sails of the remaining gladiator ship, catching and spreading within moments. Murmurs and concern spread through the crowd, as rioting spread through the top rows. Now it was her turn, to cover the arena in fog, so they could all slip away unseen. Trembling as nature resisted her will, trying to focus as she knew everyone was counting on her. Another Geyser burst, shaking her confidence, as the nobles around her began to suspect things were not going as planned. Suddenly it was a mad rush to escape as the rioting spread into their section.

In the confusion, Vati joined her, grabbing her hand, “It’s for the captain. Remember the masters, and how we defeated them? We can do it again. We must. You must.” Mei nodded, remembering how scared she had been then too, as Aurelia charged them to take up arms against the slavers. How they had relied on her then, to cover the ship in fog so they could strike without warning. Against she concentrated on the water, exerting her will upon it, until it gave way, blanketing the arena in a thick cover. Within minutes it was difficult to see even arm length.

“Let’s go, time to save the Captain.”


Seith watched in awe as Fayette made the leap, running faster and jumping higher than any mortal was capable of. “What a woman.”

“You’d probably impress her more if you got off your ass and helped me,” Safia growled, lifting a man up by his collar to punch him in the face.

“Right,” Seith agreed, pushing one man into another, until they came to blows.


Aurelia was still clinging to Yusef as Everything seemed to happen at once. Clinging to him because the eruption rocked the boat, and she was still concerned Rudain would find a way to end her life in humiliation. Clinging to him, because the past seemed to came on her with a vengeance, with the scent of burning ship in the air, and demons surrounding her. This is how she fell, once. Except she had been alone that time and this time Suleiman Yusef was with her. And…Where did Fayette come from?

"You're not fucking dead yet, and you're not fucking going to be! This is a rescue!"

“Right. I’ll guess I will pass on that last embrace today,” Aurelia decided, pulling out her still shining rapier.
 
"I guess not," Yusef managed, still stunned by the sudden arrival of his quartermaster. "And... Fayette? How the fuck did..."

Fayette chopped another man in half with her zweihander, then kicked his torso down the steps and knocked a half-demon down as the dead man still screamed. "You really wanna do this?" she laughed grimly, driving the five foot blade to the quillions in the gut of another half-demon and lifting him from his feet as she tore it up and out. "We don't have time, Yusef!"

Shaking his head, Yusef rallied. "Right. Right. But," he stepped up and slashed the throat out of a crimson-skinned man with a single horn growing from his right temple, "I've got some questions. Like, how the hell do we get out of here?"

"See that?" Fayette said, nodding towards the whirlpool. "Once the water's shallow enough, we haul ass towards the doors. Then we haul ass faster, head for the Siren. The Clooney's already sailing, with the kids aboard, so we just need to get the hell out of here!"

"This is a terrible plan, Fay," Yusef laughed, slipping a little in blood and watching as Aurelia stabbed the man who tried to take advantage of the opening.

"You wanna stay here? I can manage that."


Well, the signal was well and truly given. Kaarim watched the growing alarm on the faces of his companions as a riot broke out in the upper tiers and explosions rocked the arena floor, smiling a little at their expressions. Then he felt a tremor in the air's water, and felt the water respond as it exploded into thick mists bellowing up from the arena floor. Then he turned his gaze back to his alarmed companions, choosing the man who'd said that Captain Aurelia looked 'like a good lay'. That man suddenly choked, screaming in agony as his blood vessels bulged and burst. Crimson fluid erupted across the box, swirling and coiling around Kaarim like a serpent before coiling into his hand as a blade.

For an instant, everyone was silent. Kaarim grinned. "I thought you wanted to see blood?"

There's another hydrokinetic in the crew? he thought as he killed them. Interesting.



Muhyadeen flung another bomb, chuckling as shrapnel tore the oncoming soldiers into hunks of meat. Oh, sure, he could have fought them. If he wasn't on a time table, he probably would have. But this wasn't about having fun. This was about keeping the arena door open, and making sure Fayette and the Captains had an escape route. And reducing the number of guards, if at all possible, to make escape easier.

He grinned, and juggled two of the bombs as he waited to see who'd be coming next. Nobody'd fault him for having fun while he worked, though. Surely not.
 
“No, you aren’t stay behind this time. We’re stronger together. We always have been.” Aurelia asserted, intercepting the demon that would have ruined this rescue attempt then and there. Fayette gave her a peculiar look, but as she had said, it wasn’t the time for questions. Not as the boat rocked and tilted, running out of water to tread. Fog covered their movement as the three jumped from the ship, sloshing in the knee deep water.

Another group was splashing towards them, half a dozen at least. Aurelia readied her strike, determined to survive now, to escape. Failure now was unconscionable, not that there was so much more at stake. Her crew, his and the orphans they had adopted together. The words he spoke last night, the sudden possibility of a future between them, a real future. Despite everything she thought or believed about herself, there was once more hope. And she wasn’t running from it anymore, even if she was running, in the moment.

“Captain!” She heard from the incoming group, Mei, it sounded like. She and Yusef turned at the same time as they came into view, most of his crew and some of hers. No one was badly injured, even if they were covered in blood. Kaarim especially.

“Are we all here?” She asked, no way of knowing who all was supposed to be here. An explosion caused her to stiffen, drawing her attention to the north.

“Almost,” Fayette added, nodding towards the source of the explosion, “Once we catch up to Muhyadeen.” She lead the way, faster than any them, faster than Aurelia would have thought possible. She had heard rumors of Paladins, graced with superior strength and speed by the Gods, but she hadn’t ever seen one in action. If anything, the stories she had heard downplayed their gifts, Fayette far more impressive than any tale. Even as she rolled to avoid the snapping jaw of a massive crocodile, over twenty feet long as four feet tall. Her immense blade cleaved through the tail as it tried to swipe at her, serving only to make the creature even angrier.

With its attention on Fayette, Aurelia leapt onto it’s back piercing her blade between its ribs, hoping to find the lungs. Thrashing and splashing in the dwindling water, she was flung off its slippery back, rolling along the arena floor. Even with her blade inside it, it moved quickly, ready to make a meal of her, almost two feet of jaw stretch wide. Fayette took off its head before it could close its mouth, splattering her with its blood. Yusef helped her up, letting her grab her blade from the creatures torso before grabbing her hand to pull her towards safety. Safety and more explosions, that was.
 
Yusef slogged through knee-deep water as fast as he could manage, watching for more crocodiles. Or anything else, for that matter - a swirling mass of tentacles had nearly pulled Kaarim down, after all. It wouldn't do to escape demins merely to be eaten by fish. Even if it would still be a mire pleasant fate.

There was another explosion, fire and smoke belching from the door. Yusef redoubled his pace, sprinting forward to check on Muhyaddeen. Yhe hard-faced killer stood there, caked in soot and dripping blood from several small cuts, laughing with sheer joy. "Captain!" he laughed. "What in the Hells are you wearing?"

"Some fucker's idea of a gladiator costume," Yusef growled. "Fay! What's the plan from here?"

"Head up those stairs," she replied, tossing the two-handed sword away and drawing her rapier. "Left at the top, then rush the door and run like..."

"Like the hounds of Hell will be after us?" Kaarim asked, grinning.

"Yeah. Because they will be." She stared at the passage. "We ready?"

Muhyaddeen nodded, drawing his scimitar. "Yep. Watch your step, though."

"Why?" Fay asked.

He gestured at the stairs, which were tgick with clottedgore and human meat from the carnage of his bombs. "Slippery."
 
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