Chapter 43 Hear Me Roar

Irje

She woke up with a grin on her face and a familiar knot in her stomach. She had already noticed significant progress in her newfound skill but it was not the reason why she was smiling this morning.

Irje looked down at the bundle of limbs and locks of hair in her embrace. Yeva was there but so was her Erf.

Hers. Hers. Hers.

She really liked the sound of that word. And yesterday’s revelation made it even louder. Many would think long and hard if a wermage would offer to take them. Not as a spoil or a night’s lay, but a full invitation to their sadaq. Especially from someone who is destined to take the seat of a Domina.

And yet he refused in a heartbeat. And chose her instead. Yet again he didn’t care for the potential benefits while worrying about their well-being after refusing the Lady of the House.

These actions and his behaviour screamed louder than any words would. Making her heart beat just as loud with a sense of assuredness within. She even noticed a similar effect on Yeva too. She had different desires than Irje, preferring the cosy cuddles to the vigorous love-making. Yet she kept trying to keep up with Irje as much as she could, afraid to be left behind.

Until recently, that is.

Now she would take as much as she desired, and no more. Withdraw, content in her secure place within his heart.

Irje smirked and quietly crawled down on the bed. Making sure that the rest of her sadaq would remain blissfully unaware of her actions. Yeva might be content to simply wake up in his arms, but she wasn’t. And Irje was hungry too. And whatever alchemy he had done to his body it turned his seed into the most delicious snack she ever had.

Apparently at the cost to his fertility. Irje was somewhat worried about that, but Erf repeatedly assured her that the process was reversible and easily so. And so she chose to trust him on that. It wasn’t time for children anyway. Yet. Unless Irje wanted to give birth to yet another slave for Domina.

And Erf would be unlikely to stay bound for long, she thought as she slowly dragged the blanket up. Revealing the flesh of her loved ones.

Yeva clung to Erf in her sleep, but that was no obstacle for Irje. She gently caressed the lithe girl’s skin, her skilled fingers sliding on her thighs and butt teasing out the heat from within. Yeva groaned in her morning sleep and buried herself into Erf’s chest, mumbling incomprehensibly. While her mound rubbed into his thigh in order to prolong the feeling that Irje gave.

Good.

She knew them well enough by now and knew exactly how she could stroke the fire in their loins without waking them both up. Her fingers gently teased Yeva’s nub only to pull away at a moments notice, making the girl twitch more and more in the search of fleeting pleasure. At the same time, her other hand played with the hardening rod of her lover, pulling and tugging on the skin and feeling it swell into her palm.

But it was his musk that aroused Yeva even further. Her humping ramped up, as she sensed his readiness in the air. Her tiny slit slid on his skin, seeking to fill its primal hunger and the emptiness within.

Irje smirked and gently inserted two fingers, making her moan softly in response. Only to pull them out and spread the moisture on Erf’s hard shaft. Her breath hitched as she slowly lined them up together, gently nudging Yeva to sate her burning desire with the exact thing she was yearning for.

She didn’t feel left out as she did so. Erf was hers. And so was his body. And so, in some way, was Yeva. Irje didn’t feel like she was letting her lover satisfy someone else. Instead, her breath hitched and she felt the loud thumping of her heart while she watched closely as his tip eventually found Yeva’s opening and started to eagerly slide in.

Irje felt a rush of heat across her body and a shudder followed soon. Watching it unfold in front of her eyes, so full of passion and desire. It made her feel like it was her rod that entered Yeva, and it was her folds that welcomed Erf.

Her gaze enchanted at the sight, Irje couldn’t help but notice the difference in his movements. Despite being asleep, Erf somehow knew who was riding him and responded in kind to meet the desires of the rider. She knew it firsthand - Irje had done so with him on many occasions and he was much rougher then. This time, Erf slowly slid in and out in a languid manner, gently coaxing the incoming release from Yeva. And making sure he would come somewhere then as well.

Irje smirked, just as she expected him to do.

But she couldn’t watch this for too long, or she wouldn’t be satisfied with his treat alone. Irje grasped Yeva’s butt and pushed her in, impaling her deeper. She pulled her out and nearly slammed her back in again and again, giddy with the result she was the witness to. Yeva’s fingernails raking on his chest and the cute panting sounds coming out of her tiny mouth. All of which made Erf groan and bite his own lip in the throes of pleasure.

She wouldn’t leave him without attention either. As soon as the pair picked up the new speed, Irje switched the target of her ministrations. Her hands and tongue worked on the areas that Yeva simply couldn’t reach. Irje eagerly kissed and licked while gently playing with his balls.

They moved and shifted as she pushed him further and further to his peak. And, quite soon enough, he did just that. Erf grunted and his balls pulled in while his arms subconsciously reached out to grab, hold, and breed.

But it wasn’t Yeva’s hips that they grabbed. It was Irje’s head.

She closed her eyes in glee as he filled her up, her hands milking him to the final drop. His hips jerked from pleasure every time she had to gulp around his shaft.

In the meantime, Yeva’s moans stopped and turned into a groan of frustration. Her hands reached out to fix the issue, only to find an interloper in her place.

A heartbeat passed.

“Irje!” The petite girl bellowed, her voice promising nothing but pain, “You!…You…”

She pulled away with a wet pop and sat up straight. Satisfied yet unrepentant. Like a cat that got the cream and didn’t care about future consequences, “Morning, Yeva, Erf.”

“Mornin,” He mumbled, trying to rub his eyes, while Yeva choked from her audacity.

“You know, you can have him now if you want.” Irje teased.

Yeva flushed deep red and tried to push her away, but it was too late.

Laughing at the prank done right, Irje was already on her feet and approaching the door. She needed to get ready and make sure that she would see Samat mages move the earth for her estate. Domina’s simple gesture gave her enough hints to start moving things with magic, and Irje was almost drooling at what else she could discover.

Today was going to be a great day.

Aikerim Kiymetl AdalHer affairs had been in order, they were doing well enough for her to start planning to expand her wool imports. She would need to send envoys to the foothills of both mountain ridges that protected Emanai. Just like the palms of a caring mother.

The tall and harsh peaks of Sefid mountains turned any Flow creature away on the other side, but the foothills were thin and rich in metals. Enoch House was very protective of the area and the mines within, restricting access to the shepherds to where copper, gold, and silver might lie. While the flat peaks and the vertical walls of the Babr mountains formed plenty of hills but also suffered from the occasional attacks, especially in the autumn, when the incoming cold brought the hungering creatures down.

Kosenya, the House of Defence, kept a few lookout towers in the region to spot the stragglers but peasants still tried to avoid it at that time of the year. Both of which limited how much wool was produced and available for her to procure.

Aikerim put the scroll away and frowned.

Something felt off.

A sound of commotion outside of her doors was followed by Anaise barging once again. She started to raise her eyebrow but then jumped upward, startled by what she saw. The scrolls and goblets fell on the floor without a second glance from her.

Her daughter looked sick.

She tried to say something only to start dry heaving instead.

“Sulla!” Aikerim roared, “Raise the guard! Lock the gates!”

She knew this sickness. ‘The Battle fever’ that every wermage had seen, and many felt, right before battle. The nausea of the war mages warned generals of what is about to come.

Her attendant barked the orders to a nearby guard, who took off running, and turned back to her, “What should we do with Samat workers?”

“Kick them out,” Aikerim bit out, as she felt her stomach churn as well. Good, that meant whoever would attack her daughter would face her too. And she would make sure to rip them piece by piece while keeping them alive with magic until there was nothing left.

“I want all that don’t belong to me and mine to be out of the Manor as fast as possible. And quietly so. None should know of this apart from my immediate family. And tell my husband that I summon him here posthaste. Now go!”

Sulla vanished as she pulled Anaise to a couch. Aikerim knew that she still had some time left but that didn’t mean that she would simply wait until then either. While her daughter tried to recover and steady herself, she closed the window curtains and unlocked a large but inconspicuous chest. One that she had placed into every main room of her house and chained down to the floor.

One of them, in her main meeting hall, stored gold and silver for her to trade with.

This one stored weapons and armour.

She picked up a blade and ran her finger on the runes inside, making them glow one by one. Just as the siege runes lit up all around the room. Reinforcing the walls from magical arrows, boulders and fireballs.

Aikerim stood in front of her daughter, facing the entrance to the room and making sure that the hidden passage was within her view as well.

She stood still while easily holding a sword as long she was tall with just one hand, and silently dared for anyone to come.

Irje

She leaned on the tree, watching the greenery surrounding the Alchemy building.

The day was not what she had hoped it would be.

Irje had just started to identify some common movements among Samat mages when they suddenly decided to stop working for the day. She couldn’t even appreciate the splendour of her new home since the only things she could see were dug up land and holes where foundations were supposed to be. Erf surprisingly demanded quite a lot of earthwork done. Especially with the number of sewage pipes that would lead to the main Manor drainage system.

She couldn’t help but cringe when she had heard workers laughing that they were building public latrines for a garrison or even a whole arm of fighters sick with food poisoning, rather than an estate for someone important. Luckily for her future sleep, all these would be plugged and sealed until whatever system he was talking about would be ready to use. In the meantime, only a single pipe would be enough for the kitchen and outdoor washrooms.

Erf had mumbled something about burying copper into the ground too but Irje chose to think that she misheard him. Having extra sewage pipes was odd but burying money into mud sounded like drying clothes in the river.

Worst of all, he was still glum from yesterday and her pranks had barely distracted him so far. She knew that he cared too much, but that was unfortunately one of the reasons why she liked him. And why he chose her and refused to let her go. Regrettably for him, the only way to fix that was to wait.

Irje sighed, it all could have worked out well for all of them if only Anaise Hilal wasn’t so greedy.

At least Yeva had the smart idea what to do with Erf, as she sent him out to busy himself with the stinky concoctions. Irje looked around, actually hoping to see the red of a familiar tail that recently got even more prominent across the Manor. Viter might have been ignorant of what had happened but she could put pieces together.

He didn’t accidentally startle the Lady of the House. No, he intruded on something candid, something indecent that Anaise Hilal wouldn’t show to anyone. Apart from Erf that is. And Irje was irked that it wasn’t her who barged in back then.

She licked her lips. Perhaps next time she could sneak a peek. If Lady of the House would be able to put her greed aside.

Irje felt the Spark drawing near and grinned as she turned around. Whoever it was, they weren’t using the road and were approaching rather quietly. But, Lady or not, she would not ignore the intrusion. She was on guard duty after all.

The intruder didn’t stop her advancing as Irje’s ears went down flat — she had never seen this wer inside the Manor. Irje crouched into a fighting stance, but before she could bark at her to stop, the assailant pulled a dagger and rushed in. Leaving deep gouges in the ground. A shine of metal within her clothes.

Irje had barely a moment to grab something to protect herself. She blocked the first strike with her tool surprising the Collector. Only to have the dildo ripped out of her hand and get herself slammed into the ground. Hard.

She sucked back the air that got knocked out of her, clawing and grabbing at whatever was nearby. Her fingernails breaking on the metal plates. But Irje didn’t care. She needed to kill the bitch.

Or at least hold her long enough and yell for Erf to escape.

The dagger plunged into her shoulder and twisted, forcing her to bite her lips in a silent scream. Her vision turned into a white blanket of agony and nothing more. The hot searing pain or ripping flesh made her break in a cold clammy sweat.

Irje’s entire world was just that shoulder being ripped apart.

“Where is the blind girl,” The Collector wer hissed.

“Go sit on a spear,” She spat at her, only to choke in a quiet sob as the blade twisted again. Unable to hold tears inside.

“Do you think I don’t know where he is?” The cunt mused and Irje’s heart skipped a beat, “The alchemist is inside, and we are here to Collect. Now you can tell me where the blind girl is or I will make you beg so that you will be allowed to tell me again.”

Irje gnashed her teeth in a blind and impotent rage. Breathing shallow as not to disturb the wound and send her in a sea of pain again. All Collectors were deadly, but the real ones were murks. Without a Spark to tell of their presence and armed well enough to make a single cut. Many of them died in the process but all would Collect what they came for.

Her traitorous mind painted the picture of her lover, choking in his blood.

Her Erf.

How dare she.

Blood trickled down from her mouth as she glared at the smirking bitch. Imagining her crucified or even quartered. And then her leftovers stomped into the filthiest hole there was. And the deepest one she could imagine.

Smirk turned into a frown as the Collector found herself lifted in the air. A rustle on the path and a flying stick slammed into the cunt’s face, throwing her away from the prone Irje with a force of the impact alone.

Irje stretched her working arm and the bloodied dildo eagerly jumped into her palm. She pulled herself upward, using it as a handle in the air.

Wer spat the blood and teeth out of her mouth and glanced at her incomprehensibly, “a…wer…mage?”

She tried to say something else, do something while still trying to shake off the stars out of her eyes. But Irje’s hand slammed the dildo back into her head. Her magic pushing it faster than her muscles ever could. She felt the skull crack on impact and the Collector fell limp onto the ground.

Irje hit again and again. Blind in her rage and uncaring for the splatter on her face and clothes. Until she could feel the Spark disappear from the lifeless body.

Erf!

Her shaking arm grabbed the bloody dagger from the ground, and she pulled herself upward. Spitting the blood that filled her mouth and pressing the hand to the gaping hole in her shoulder. She would deal with these later, right now she needed to get into the lab as fast as she could.

Irje stumbled to the door and ripped it out, unwilling to spend any time fumbling with the handle.

Only to see the blade being pulled from his chest. A quiet gasp escaping from his lips.

She saw red.

XXX

The titanium-laced sprouts pulled at the sliced muscles as the nanite bodies disrupted the balance of ions within my heart, choking it silent before it would beat for another time. I had enough oxygen stored across the tissues of my body giving me some time at my disposal to patch myself up without significant damage.

I didn’t have a lot of time, so I couldn’t dally either.

“W-why?” I managed to weakly choke out as my hand wrapped around his.

“Here to Collect,” He threw at me.

“Collect?” I slowly started to pull away from the blade, stitching myself as the blade slowly exited the wound.

My body wasn’t really designed to fight, but it was designed to survive the impact of a rogue meteoroid and occasional space exposure. At least long enough for it to matter. I wasn't invulnerable: I still needed a suit in space and I will continue to avoid being stabbed and punctured for no reason.

“Your life,” He tried to pull the dagger. Only to jerk helplessly in my grip. I didn’t want to reveal my strength so quickly but the blade had to exit in a calm orderly manner. Through the clearly marked exit hole.

Great. Someone hired assassins on your ass, Erf. Feeling special? Or just a touch of irony within your heart?

I wondered who hired him and did they say ‘Hisss’ or ‘Baaah’ while doing so. Or was it some other Manor deciding to join on the fun.

“Who?” I rasped. But he didn’t buy into my act anymore, trying to wrench his hands from my steel grip. He was skilled but he was definitely a murk at best and I was fully aware of his presence.

Pity, I guess I would have to ‘surrender’ him to Aikerim again for interrogation. But that would likely result in my own interrogation as well afterwards. Tough choice.

With a loud crunch, the door had ceased to exist.

I guessed I had an Alchemy tunnel now…

Irje!

I gasped seeing my cougar bloodied, letting go of the assassin in my hand. Her tunic was red with blood from a nasty gash in her shoulder. I cursed myself as the nanites went into overdrive, trying to stem the flowing blood, No wonder this bastard didn’t care about the Irje outside, he didn’t come here alone.

She glanced at me, her face enraged, and sucked air in. Somehow pulling every loose flask, jar, and pot closer to her as well. A nearby table grinding on the floor.

And then she roared.

The assassin was flicked across my battered lab as if he was hit by an invisible truck. Multiple jars following him in flight as well. I couldn’t help but cringe as I kept the pressure on my wound. A few of these had acids inside.

Not that it really mattered as he definitely didn’t survive the impact with the wall.

“Irje!” I yelled, ignoring the hissing and bubbling mess while rapidly shuffling through my drawers, “You are hurt! Come here!”

She collided with me, distracting me from my frantic work.

“Erf, I thought you dead.” She sobbed while hugging me tightly.

“Fuck, Irje,” I gasped seeing her close. Her wound was even worse than I thought, it looked as if someone tried to simply dig her flesh out.

Fuck it. The tendrils squeezed my heart, pushing the blood through the still-damaged organ. I let myself bleed freely as I frantically started to pack her wound tight, trying to stem her blood flow before mine. My nanites would care for me even without my help, “We need to get you to the doctor, now.”

“It is you, who needs to see the healer! The Collectors never miss!” She hissed as I pulled the bandage tight.

“The Collectors thought me for a normal murk,” I refuted as I kept working, “A shoddy piece of metal to the chest won’t kill me that easily.”

Only for my legs to buckle under me, “Aw, shit.”

“Erf!”

“It’s okay, I expected this to happen,” I spoke as she helped me down to the ground using her unaffected arm. A mask of despair on her face.

Looks like I used up all my energy reserves but the task was done. Irje didn’t notice but she was bleeding profusely from her shoulder, wer or not she could only have a limited supply of blood.

“Go get help. Especially for your shoulder - you don’t have much time! Leave me here to recover, I just need to nap for an hou-”

Irje slapped me, “Don’t you dare to fall asleep now! Stay with me, we will get to the healer together, I am a wer and I will heal much faster than you.”

“Irje, listen to me,” I urged my frantic cougar, “I am healing now as we speak, this is how I do it and I need to stay still and recover.”

I gave her a thumbs-up, “I will be fine, I promise you. But you aren’t so go get help, please. I don’t want to survive this attack only to lose you afterwards from blood loss.”

Irje glanced at the linen bandages, already starting to soak through with her blood, and then back at my hand. She finally nodded, looking hard into my eyes, “I will. But if you dare to die on me…”

“I won’t. Now go.”

She gave me a smothering kiss and rushed out through what was left of the door.

I sighed and settled into a better position. I could feel my body screaming at me for ignoring the damage for this long. But now I had the time and the peace of mind to do so.

"Please don't die on me, Irje." I quietly whispered into the gaping entrance.

And then I promptly passed out.