Blue Core

A communication from the mage-kings.

Iniri was a little irritated. They’d never given her any sort of official communication. No diplomacy, no demands, not even a declaration of war. They just showed up.

“They think Blue is a mage-king’s dungeon,” Shayma said in response to her expression, if not her words, which defused some of her pique. She’d thought Blue was one of those herself at first, despite Shayma’s assurances, and it wasn’t like any of the mage-kings’ people had been let inside.

The message cylinder looked like clay but felt like metal, and the scroll inside was something that felt unpleasantly fleshy, like living skin. Maybe it was. She wouldn’t put anything past the mage-kings.

You are summoned to Council to satisfactorily explain trespassing on feeder territory granted to Vok Nal. Furthermore, you must be prepared to furnish information on the Depletion anomaly captured by your Dungeon and provide reparations for the spawns destroyed by your Dungeon.

Failure to appear before Council will result in the revocation of your Core by the local Council representative, Tor Kot.

You have three months to appear and make proper assurances of your obedience to the Council.

Signed,

Vok Lim

“Depletion anomaly? I assume they mean you?”

“Yes, I could feel my Depletion immunity being tested when I was in Meil so it seems they noticed it.”

“Well, I’m not sure what Blue is expecting me to do.” Iniri frowned at the scroll, letting it lie on the table so she didn’t have to feel the slightly warm material any more. “Write a reply? It looks like this is someone related to Vok Nal but we’re clearly not in a position to do anything about it.”

“He just wants your opinion and to keep you informed.” It was hard to attribute ulterior motives to Blue when Shayma was so earnest and honest.

“My opinion is we have three months to take down Tor Kot before he comes here himself,” she said bluntly. “We’re lucky that they’re giving us that long. That might even be long enough to get the Fortress together, and if my Skills were at full that’d help too. Even mage-kings would have a tough time breaking [Shield of Tarnil].”

“Yes, and good news on that.” Shayma agreed. “Blue can fix your Depletion now.”

The bottom dropped out, all her annoyance and frustration being replaced by...yes, that was fear. Strange, she thought there’d be more anticipation. “...and what does he want in return?”

“He wants you to accept becoming a Companion. You won’t become like me,” Shayma added hastily, cutting off the most immediate worry. “But he will be able to see through your eyes and ears and there are other benefits later on for both you and for him.”

“It’s permanent?”

“Probably? He says there might be some way to revoke it but he’s not going to experiment on me.”

“Mmm.” She glanced over at Cheya. “Thoughts?”

“You can hardly get more vulnerable to Blue than you already are,” she said dryly. “And assuming he doesn’t want your kingdom -”

“He doesn’t!”

“-then it’s a good start for a future alliance. Or whatever sort of relationship Blue is looking to have.”

“It’s too early to say,” Shayma replied after a moment of listening to Blue. “It’s probably better to figure that out once the mage-kings are gone. People might not be happy being allied with a dungeon.”

Iniri was clearly not thinking well if Blue thought of that problem before her. “That’s true,” she said. “I suppose...when does he want to do this?”

“He’s got it all set up for you.” Shayma’s voice became somewhat more tentative. “We talked about it for a while. He wanted to make sure you’d be comfortable with everything. He knows you’re not me.”

“I...appreciate that. Cheya, I’m going to be out for the rest of the day, I think.” Even if it didn’t take the rest of the day, she wasn’t going to plan on anything.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Cheya didn’t bat an eye. Actually, she had been quite insistent that Iniri cure her Depletion, and gain immunity to it in the bargain. Without a Tarnil, and the Lineage Skill of her bloodline, there wouldn’t be a kingdom. “Do you need me to come along?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” Even if Blue would let her, pragmatically Cheya needed to be available to run things. Right now they were more a village than a kingdom, but there had to be someone in charge, and Cheya had effectively become her seneschal. “Where does Blue want me to go?”

“When you’re ready I’ll bring you into the core chamber. He has everything set up there.”

“Let’s go now,” she said, before she overthought anything.

“He’ll teleport us there,” Shayma said with a reassuring smile, walking over to give Iniri a hug. “Stop worrying. Relax! It’ll be fine.”

The flash of Blue’s teleportation surrounded them and they were suddenly in a much smaller chamber. Off to one side was a lake and a cottage, which had to be Shayma’s home, and in front of them was a broad pool with faint wisps of steam coming up from it and long, low, comfortable-looking chairs surrounding it. The entire complex was separated by a fence, not tall but enough to mark it off from the nearby grass and trees.

“Hot spring,” Shayma told her. “You can soak in it and relax. Just tell Blue when you’re ready.” Shayma must have caught Iniri’s hesitation, or maybe it was something in her expression. She had never really needed to conceal things from Shayma, so she wasn’t practiced. Either way, Shayma smiled at her reassuringly. “Don’t worry, he’ll take it slow. I’ll be in the cottage, just in case.” She started to with draw, then paused. “Unless you want me here?”

“No,” Iniri said. “Thank you, but...no.” Maybe if she felt less ashamed she would say yes. Or if she were braver, she wouldn’t feel tempted to in the first place. But after losing so much and accomplishing so little she was not as brave or as self-assured as she thought she’d be when she became Queen.

Shayma gave her another hug and headed into the cottage while Iniri took a few steps into the spring area and sat down on one of the chairs. Then she took a deep breath and began to strip off her clothing. At the very least, it was a blessing that adventurer’s clothing was mostly appropriate for nobles and even royalty. At least those who had earned it. It was a lot easier to deal with than some of the frippery the non-Classers settled on.

She was almost tempted to call Shayma back, just to ask what Blue thought of her. The mage-king dungeons clearly didn’t have any preferences, but Blue did, and Iniri...didn’t really measure up to Shayma very well. She was relatively small and flat and not nearly as curved. Kirin tails weren’t particularly fluffy and her antlers were rather tiny. The Tarnil women in general were quite small, tending towards the delicate mage sort, and she’d not broken that tradition despite her mother hailing from a much taller lineage. Not to mention some people were put off by her having actual fangs

Another few moments and she eased herself into the water, finding it surprisingly pleasant and accompanied by the refreshing feel of Blue’s regeneration. Though there weren’t any insects or animals to make noise, the burbling of water and the soft rustle of leaves were quiet and soothing, as if designed to help her relax. They probably were, when she thought about it, since Blue had made this whole thing just for her.

Minutes passed by as she leaned back against the edge of the pool, soaking in the hot spring and breathing slowly, trying to ease the knot in the pit of her stomach. The soft scent of flowers, placed artfully about the pool area, did help a little, but only a little. Eventually she decided that she was as relaxed as she was going to get.

“I’m ready, Blue,” she said aloud, bracing herself. What she wasn’t expecting was a soft surface to rise up underneath her, a strangely narrow black bed that shifted its shape so smoothly she found herself lying on her belly without being able to figure out how. She almost started to push herself up, but stopped. She had asked for this, so it was time to let Blue do his part.

The bed shifted subtly as she settled against it again, making itself even more comfortable as black tendrils sprouted from the sides and curved over. Astonishingly they didn’t dive between her legs, instead splitting into finer threads and stroking along her shoulders. Then the touch became firmer, and it became very clear that Blue wasn’t groping or teasing her, but very carefully massaging her knotted muscles.

With the touch came a faint doubled sense, of her own skin beneath Blue’s touch as well as a trace of desire, trickling into her. It was a little strange but not intense enough to disconcert, and actually she was secretly relieved Blue really did want her. He did, but was also content to take his time, the tendrils working slowly at her shoulders and neck, soft and warm but each one with the strength of forged iron underneath.

His touch was inspired, finding exactly the right points to ease the tightness from years of constant stress. Even with full hit points there were always stresses, strains, and aches, especially with the sheer amount of Depletion she had. Additional tendrils sprouted from the bed, massaging her feet, and another pair squeezed gently at the base of her horns, which she hadn’t even known were sore. She groaned, relaxing onto the bed and closing her eyes, letting Blue attend to her.

Long minutes slid by, the slow trickle of lust transmuting the tension into something different as Blue’s tendrils worked their way down her back and up her calves. A little bit of excitement thrummed through her as he pressed against her skin, firm and intimate as he soothed her. There was yet another touch as Blue began to stroke and rub her arms, but the touch didn’t bind her down, any more than the ones at the back of her knees or the ones still rubbing her feet.

Blue’s touch drifted down, and up, along her calves and down to her tail, wrapping about the base. She couldn’t help but moan softly as he tugged it, ever so gently, and began to caress the curves of her rear. All the touching was making her squirm with a fervid ache, her legs spreading almost of their own accord as Blue slid up her thighs, and she could feel her own arousal as Blue’s tendrils finally reached the untouched parts of her body.

He rubbed slowly over the lips of her pussy, making her clamp her teeth against the bed to prevent further sounds as every touch sent a strange current of electric pleasure through her body. It was the first time she’d ever felt something like that, and it made it hard to focus on anything, even Blue’s touch, scattering her thoughts every which way with every delicious stroke. Her muscles started tensing up all across her body before Blue slowed down and started massaging her again, using very fine tendrils to spread her open. The slick noises made her suddenly aware of how wet she was, practically dripping onto the bed. She’d never experienced anything like that before, and it was shocking enough to draw an embarrassed noise from her, quickly muffled.

After letting her relax again for a minute or two, she felt one of Blue’s tendrils press against her entrance, much hotter than the others, then slowly, slowly slide in. Her pussy clenched against it in reaction, and she was expecting something to hurt, but there wasn’t any of that, just the smooth sensation of Blue filling her. He wasn’t even particularly large, nothing like she’d worried about, but even that much was satisfying in a way she had never imagined. Every tiny movement was unique and new, drawing trickles of pleasure from parts of her that she’d never known.

Blue just kept himself there, inside her, for a while, the rest of his tendrils still slowly working along her back and shoulders, letting her adjust before starting to move. The sensation forced some very unladylike squeaks out of her mouth, muffled against Blue’s bed, at the feel of him moving inside her. It was slow, bringing back that current and tension and then driving it forward, her pussy squeezing around him with every motion and making her shudder.

He didn’t stop there. There was another touch against her pussy, warmth and sensation against her outer lips even as he filled her. He used small, delicate strokes against her, each one leaving her flesh sensitive and craving more, drawing in like ripples running against her until they found her clit. The lightest touch made her keen through her fangs, ramping up the pleasure and making all her muscles tense. She groaned, squirming as her hips tried to push back against Blue on their own, focused on riding the sensation as he took her, feeling it grow inside her.

It didn’t stop. Her body seemed to be wound ever tighter, the raw humming pleasure spreading through her, and the feel of Blue’s own enjoyment, experiencing her own tightness around him, just pushed her farther and faster. Something seemed to gather inside her body, making her feel like she was on a sharp precipice, just one step short of it, and -

- and suddenly her enjoyment twisted into a sharp spike of panic as she realized she did not, could not fathom what that plunge would be like, how she could hold onto anything at all.

Instantly, it all went away. No more touching, no more tendrils, no more motion. Just her lying on the bed, panting hard and trembling. Before she could put her thoughts together, Shayma was there.

“What’s wrong? Blue said you got scared.”

Iniri was far too frazzled to be worried about her modesty, describing what had happened in a few short sentences. Since Shayma had the most of this sort of experience with Blue, she hoped the fox-girl had some reassurances for her.

“Oh. Oh. I didn’t know you hadn’t…” Shayma stopped the sentence and started again. “You can’t keep control if you’re having a really good one. I kind of panicked my first time too, but we didn’t stop and it ended up being amazing.”

“...ah,” Iniri said, more embarrassed by that ignorance than her current state. “I thought it was something Blue had done.”

“Well, it kind of is.” Shayma’s smile turned impish. “He’s doing his best. After all, if you aren’t enjoying it, he isn’t either.”

“That’s why he stopped?”

“And why he didn’t bind you up.” Shayma nodded. “He’s really very attentive, but, I didn’t want to go on too much about it to you.”

She hadn’t even thought that she was in charge here, but it seemed to be true. How quickly Blue had relented with his attentions was proof of that, if nothing else. But that also meant… “Wait. Blue bound you up.”

“...I’ll leave you alone with Blue again,” Shayma said, blushing suddenly and retreating from the pool.

Iniri snorted and settled back down on the bed, still feeling hot and twitchy despite the interruption. “Go on, Blue,” she said, talking to empty air. On cue the black tendrils came out from the side of the bed again, resuming the massage. One of them brushed her cheek and she smiled, laying her head down and spreading her legs slightly. But still, Blue waited, letting leftover jitters turn back into anticipation before he resumed with the teasing. Once again he rubbed against her sex, sending sharp tingles of sensation through her before parting her lips.

She groaned as he filled her again, still moving ever so slowly, letting her savor the sensation of him inside her once more. Simple strokes, to start with, but feeling deeper than she thought was possible, and then he added to it by spreading thin tendrils over her outer sex, teasing her with them. This time the pleasure ramped up even faster, as soft strokes ran over the swollen nub of her clit and he filled her in ways that made her shudder.

Her muscles started to tense again, hands gripping the bed’s soft surface, breath coming in ragged gasps with every motion he made within her. The hot, smooth, and impossibly satisfying feeling of Blue inside her, and the feel him enjoying her tightness surrounding him, shoved her back up to where she was before, and then even further, her entire body straining. The pressure and pleasure and heat all threatened to crash over, but that precipice was still too much and another flash of fear made Blue stop everything.

She growled in frustration and need, her sex aching to be filled, a craving she’d never known was possible but one she still felt all too clearly. She rolled onto her back, the bed shifting under her to keep her stable, panting and sweaty. Having her eyes closed like that was too much. She needed to see what was going on. “Again,” she said. “This time, don’t stop.”

Now she could see Blue’s appendages as they slid out of the bed, which made her realize the bed itself was part of his breeding station, and she hoped she hadn’t actually hurt him when she was biting. It raised her to a half-reclining position, the material itself shifting to provide a slow massage to her back while a pair of flat black bands slid over her small breasts. They felt warm and silk-smooth, sliding over her skin and nipples.

The ones stroking her thighs were smaller, finely divided and feather-soft, and the same obsidian color as everything else. But the one she was really interested in was the blunt-tipped one sliding between her legs. It didn’t look as thick as it felt inside her, and as it rubbed against her pussy she was surprised at how visibly soaked she was before the feeling of Blue’s heat and thickness drove it from her mind.

This time she could watch him fill her, see every inch as he slowly impaled her, her pussy squeezing around him. She could feel the way each squeeze felt to him, how he savored each twitch and moan, and feel of her pert breasts as he stroked them. Soon enough he had filled her as deep as she could take him, and black filaments slid out to caress her pussy, pressing against every inch of her at once. Only then did he begin to thrust, every motion sending shocks up through her spine. Once she started gasping he began to play with her clit, rubbing slowly as she watched him slide into her and back out, slick with her essence and gleaming wet in the light.

He took her without any hurry, refusing to speed up as the power of her pleasure arched her back, her sex squeezing desperately at him inside her as if trying to pull him deeper. Now that he was playing with her breasts, however gently, the crackling tension and rising tide seemed to expand over her whole body. Her eyes threatened to shut but she refused, staring at where Blue entered her, listening to every wet noise he made as he thrust into her.

The heat drove her to the edge of that cliff again, her stomach clenching and fluttering as pleasure and anticipation and fear all mixed together, and this time Blue didn’t stop. He drove into her even as she keened and grunted and arched up off the bed, every muscle taut as he forced her toward release.

Suddenly her entire body locked up, her pussy clenching down around him as everything that had built up exploded through her, her vision going grey from the sheer force of it. She couldn’t even breathe as she trembled in Blue’s grasp, nerves afire as she shuddered from the force of her orgasm. It went on and on, every squeeze of her sex sending another round of sharp pleasure through her, completely unable to do anything but drown in the crashing force of her it all.

She lost track of how long it went on, gasping for air against the shuddering of her own body until she could finally relax enough to breathe. She took in a huge lungful of air, feeling limp and wrung out and sensitive and amazing, only to realize Blue wasn’t done. His own pleasure had only just peaked.

He throbbed within her and there was a sudden rush of something hot inside her, thick enough that she could feel it pump into her depths. The strange sensation made her moan in post-orgasmic bliss, her pussy twitching around him in satisfaction. But even after all that, he still wasn’t done.

She was so sensitive that actually thrusting, even as careful as he’d been, would have been too much. But Blue didn’t try, instead just flexing slowly inside her as his other tendrils stroked against her, wiping away the sweat on her skin and changing from warm to cool. A soft breeze picked up, fanning over her, and now she did close her eyes. Though he was ever so gentle, it was clear from the lust dripping from the link that he was going to take her again. Even wrung out as she felt, her body agreed that it would like that very much.

The slow drip of sensation from Blue’s tendril inside her merged with the soft and and subtle movements against her inner depths, pulling her into another slow wave of pleasure. She felt a little sore, but that only added to the satisfaction of each throb and twitch of bliss, her pussy starting to squeeze him again. Her entire body tingled softly as she breathed in cool, sweet, vanilla-scented air, twitching occasionally as Blue’s ministrations sent runners of heat through her. Then he found an especially sensitive spot inside her, rubbing against her inner walls, and she squealed as a lightning bolt jolted through her.

Blue paused for a moment. Then he began to rub against that spot harder, with what felt like little tiny tongues deep inside her, at the same time resuming the feather-soft teasing of her clit. She scrabbled at the bed with her hands, overwhelmed by the sudden assault, and shuddered as his own pleasure suddenly crested. He filled her again as he throbbed inside her, hot and thick, the flesh against her pussy forcing her to take it all inside her, and she whimpered as he coaxed another orgasm from her.

It wasn’t as intense as the first time, but she still saw stars. Every muscle trembled as the world narrowed down to the feel of him inside her and against her, of the heat and pressure inside her and the feel of his climax filling her body. But this time he didn’t stop, rolling the afterglow into gentle, deep thrusts.

“Oh, gods,” she managed, lying boneless on the bed as she watched Blue fill her, making wet noises with each movement and keeping her on the edge of an almost painful pleasure. Every nerve seemed to be attached to her sex, as each movement, the feel of each thrust inside her shuddered through her body.

It went on and on, and she almost called out for Blue to stop, but he sent her over the edge before she could manage it, wringing a third release from her and making her whimper from the sweet pleasure of it. The feel of him pumping his pleasure into her immediately after just intensified the blissful haze, and as she lay there panting she began to glow blue.