Once It Gets Dark Ch. 20

Thank you all for being so patient with me! And thank you also--from the bottom of my heart--for all your wonderful comments and messages!

I once more changed the chapter division in the new plan there will be 22 chapters in total (maybe 23 if the last chapter turns out longer than expected as well) so this is not the last one.

There is a list with German and Veril vocabulary on my profile.

Special thanks go to Dave14__ (please check out his wonderful story An Offering for the Champion!) Dave, this sentence is for you (everybody else please ignore it!): "Her slick folds squelched wetly every time he plunged in and glode out again."

TW: war

Chapter 20--Shadow Realm

I woke up as if from a long fever. Dizzy and nauseated, it took me a confused moment until my mind connected with my senses again. The air smelled like warmth and summer--a strangely familiar scent yet utterly unlike the hot months in Berlin or Heidelberg. It was more intense, more real, just like summer had smelled when I was still a child playing naked in the lake. It was the fragrance of warm earth and drying hay, of flowers and trees full of sap, brimming with life and exhaling the aroma of organic growth and decay.

And for a second the memories took me back to those years, and I was floating, rocking gently back and forth. There was the splashing sound of water, and warm sunlight painted orange-red specks on my closed lids.

Sunlight?

I opened my eyes wide and looked directly up into Vo'ren's face, though I was not able to see much of him, veiled as he was by his scarf and tactical goggles. He held me in his arms, carrying me as if we were newlyweds and I his bride. My entire core filled with warmth and a deep, painful longing for what exactly I didn't know.

"Vo'ren?"

He stopped walking, and I heard his smile in his voice. "Anna."

The word sent a sweet ache directly into my heart. I was just about to pull his face cover up and kiss him when I caught myself, remembering the additional pain the bright sun would cause him.

"Let me down, kuchun?"

I half expected him to ignore my demand, as per usual, but to my surprise he slowly lowered me to the ground.

I immediately regretted my decision. There was no ground, just dark water reaching up to my ankles. Unlike Vo'ren's tactical boots that had likely been made impermeable by some kind of Veril spell or technology, my cheap FMD tennis shoes were instantly soaked.

"Ugh."

Even before the sound of disgust had left my lips, Vo'ren grabbed me, placing his hand on my ass and pulling me so forcefully against him, it hurt. Sparks of desire instantly exploded in my core as he pressed his hard body against mine. He was wearing an improvised long-sleeved tunic, strapped to his torso by the leather armor and backpack he wore above it. The dark gray material felt slightly rough and woolly as I dug my fingers into it, trying to draw him even closer.

With an impatient motion he lifted his headscarf just enough and crushed my mouth with his. I instantly melted into the taste of his breath on my tongue, the softness of his lips, and that deep sense of belonging every time we were close. He was rough; his pointy teeth clashed against mine, cutting my lips until they bled. I savored the sweetness of the pain, of finally feeling him again, of being marked as his possession. It was a desperate kiss, mirroring my own longing, my own desire to hold on to him, to this moment, and delay the inevitable decisions that lay ahead of us.

Careful, said the voice of reason, making one of its rare appearances in the back of my head. And remembering the promise I had made to myself, I laid my palm flat against his leather chest plate and pushed him away. He allowed me, but his annoyed hiss when our lips disconnected made all the hairs on my neck stand up.

For a moment we just looked at each other, breathless, wordless. He was still holding me tightly against his uniform-clad body, and I saw my own flushed and dirty face reflected in his goggles. Even though we stood in the half-shade of some structure, little beads of sweat started forming all over my skin. The summer heat rose from the lukewarm water, mixing with the scent of algae. My stomach churned, and I pressed my eyes shut for a moment.

"Are you unwell?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, whether it was aimed at me rejecting him, at the fact that I was feeling bad, or at our whole messed-up situation, I couldn't tell.

I swallowed and exhaled. "No, it's nothing. I just guess that traveling through an interdimensional portal doesn't really help with morning sickness."

It took him a second to understand my meaning, probably due to the expression morning sickness, but then he lowered his face. I couldn't see his eyes, but I knew he was examining my belly.

He looked up again, and there was a strange silkiness in his voice when he spoke. "I believe I might be able to help with that."

Before I had time to ponder, he dug his hand into my hair, preventing me from pulling away, and licked my lower lip. When he adjusted his face cover again, I caught a glimpse of the smug smile playing around the corners of his mouth. He was very pleased with himself. It took me a second to understand, but then I felt the burn of his venom in the fresh cuts his teeth had left just a moment before.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" I shoved him, but he was as unmovable as a pillar.

I shivered. The dose hadn't been very strong, and it was not going to make me lose my mind. But a familiar heat already began to run through my body, making him look even more irresistible than before.

He shrugged, and I simply knew that his black veil was hiding a smirk. "Sergeant Chuntek used my venom for your potion, but since he is not here, the duty falls on me to dispense it directly, as any caring husband and father would."

Vo'ren leaned down so that his masked face was directly in front of mine. He took my chin between his thumb and index finger, and his voice dropped an octave, gaining an almost menacing tone. It made every fiber of my intoxicated being burn with yearning.

"And if it makes you want to fuck me, that is just a very welcome side effect."

I bared my teeth at him. "Well, joke's on you, Shenik Tsul. I always want to fuck you."

He chuckled, his voice still low and deep as he dropped his hand to the small of my back. "Is that so, Annatz'in?"

He looked so dangerous in his tactical gear, and I could feel the wetness spreading between my legs, coating my thighs in anticipation. What if he threw all his promises overboard and took what he knew we both wanted? A very stupid and currently very loud part of myself was kind of hoping for it.

I shook my head and balled my fist, which had become trapped between our bodies. "Yes, but not in the middle of some pond."

With one of the maneuvers that Ichel had shown me, I turned, pulling myself free of his hold. I half expected him to pull me back, but Vo'ren only gave a mildly surprised laugh and let me go.

I looked over my shoulder and gasped. We were standing on a ford-like underwater bridge that cut right through the center of a lake. The wind painted a tiny crisscross pattern of ripples across the surface, occasionally catching sparkling gems of sunlight, but the waters underneath remained a deep inky black. Strange golden-colored plants drifted all around us. Their round leaves reminded me of water lilies, but at the center, where the blossom should have been, they sprouted thin stalks with round buds. They floated in the air like a field of pearl necklaces--reaching for the sky and swaying faintly in the warm breeze.

And then, with a tingling sense of foreboding, I saw the forest. Swaying like a fluid wall of green, it rose behind the ochre-colored reeds that framed the lake. The trees were so tall and their foliage so dense that the trunks stood in perpetual twilight, darkening the deeper I looked. A whisper seemed to come from it as if the wilderness were a living organism, warning anyone foolish enough to step under its branches.

"Are those the Shadow Woods?" I instinctively lowered my voice.

"They are--Rushruntutvir." Vo'ren inclined his head towards the trees.

I turned to him and gritted my teeth. His venom in my blood instantly told me to wrap my bare thighs around the dark-uniformed warrior and not let go until... I gave him an exasperated glare but managed to ignore my primal instincts otherwise--what an asshole he was!

"So that's where you're from, right?" Unable to resist the urge to touch him, I entangled my fingers in the sleeve of his improvised tunic.

"You have become astoundingly well informed in my absence." His smug chuckle made me yearn to see his beautiful face and want to kick him at the same time. "I am. Though not precisely from here. The Shadow Woods are vast. We are currently at the Midnight Temple. It is the heart of this region as well as an important nexus between your world and mine."

He turned with a sweeping gesture, allowing me an unobstructed view of what lay behind him. Until now, his massive frame had blocked my sight, but still I wondered how I could not have noticed it before: at the very center of the perfectly round lake, on an elevated white terrace, stood the most impressive building I had ever seen.

I let my eyes travel up its form. The temple was built entirely from gleaming black stone, as if its many tiers had been carved from a massive piece of onyx. The rock had been hewn so intricately into shapes, figures, plants, and patterns that it appeared almost organic.

The rectangular entrance was located at the lowest level, directly atop the white platform. It was doorless, leading into a cave-like opening shrouded in darkness. Above it rose a six-tiered roof, each level slightly smaller than the one below, giving the monument a pyramid-like shape.

And then the darkness in my veins trembled. Atop it all, at the very culmination of the entire structure, towered a statue. She blocked out the evening sun so that its rays formed a glowing halo around her. I didn't have to ask Vo'ren who she was. I knew her--had always known her--since the hour of my birth: Mother Night.

Beautiful and terrifying, the goddess stood in a fighting stance: knees bent, body leaning forward. Her pointed teeth were bared, and her eyes glowed with golden bonfires that gave the statue an eerily lifelike quality. In her twelve arms she held an array of weapons. Among them, a scimitar, a crossbow, a sickle, and a spear. She radiated a cold power: deep, silent, and deadly like the emptiness between the stars.

Dread and reverence gripped my soul. I pressed three fingers to my forehead and sank to my knees, bowing my head to her. When I dared to look up again, I saw that Vo'ren had followed my example--kneeling, eyes closed, heedless of how his daylight uniform's black fabric soaked in the dark waters of the lake.

After a moment of silence, he rose in one fluid motion and leaned down, offering me his hand.

"Come."

Reluctantly, I turned my back to the goddess and let him lead me across the stone bridge, through the thicket of reeds, and towards the dark woods. My skirt clung in wet tatters to my thighs, and my shoes, heavy with water, squelched with each step. Throughout our entire passage over the night-dark lake, I felt her blazing gaze behind me, pressing into the back of my skull.

When we reached the shore, I leaned down clumsily and peeled the shoes and sopping socks off my feet, exhaling in relief as my toes touched the soft bluish grass on the sun-warmed ground. I had to give it to Vo'ren--my nausea was indeed gone. Unfortunately, my pregnant body held a whole repertoire of unpleasant urges and sensations, and the light splashing and gurgling of the water against the ground made me uncomfortably aware of my full bladder.

"Vo'ren?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Ishktz'in?" He squeezed my hand.

"I'll be right back; I have to use the bathroom." I pressed my eyes shut, hoping that he wouldn't insist on escorting me, and quickly added in a firmer tone, "Alone."

His grip on me tightened, and I saw the sun-framed temple reflecting in his goggles as he examined me. I glared back, once more aware of how helpless I was before him, of how normal it had become for me to ask his permission for the most basic things. Angry with myself, I was about to pull my hand free, but Vo'ren had already let me go. He inclined his head, reached into the gray military backpack, and handed me a jagged-edged knife made out of dark, gleaming metal.

"Five minutes. You will stay out of the forest, and if I feel you moving more than forty-eight steps away, I will fetch you."

Ignoring the distracting effect his domineering tone had on my venom-laden body, I gave him a mockingly bad salute.

"Thanks, your majesty."

And before he could change his mind, I slipped away, my long hair swishing over my back as I walked along the thin line of grassy shore between the reeds and the woods. I didn't need to be told to stay clear of the trees; their strange presence was almost suffocating now that I felt their shadows on my skin.

When I returned to our former spot, Vo'ren was gone. Puzzled, I looked at the soppy pile of wet shoes and socks in the grass in front of me--the confirmation that I was indeed at the correct place. Panic began to constrict my heart, and once more the carousel of anxious thoughts started racing.

What if he had fainted again? What if some beast had taken him? What if he had somehow fallen prey to the wilderness itself? My stomach tightened even more when I remembered the monster back in Volkspark Friedrichshain.

At the edges of my vision I caught an almost imperceptible movement under the branches. Without thinking, I ducked and whirled around, knife outstretched, and shadows swirled around me. But before I could do anything else, a strong hand grabbed my arm, and another one closed over my lips, muffling my scream as I was pulled backwards. My shoulders hit leather armor, and I exhaled in relief.

"Sumik, ishktz'in." Vo'ren whispered in my ear as he let go of my mouth. He took the knife from my hand and fastened it to his own weapon belt. "Despite your human heritage, you might yet become a passable fighter if we keep training you."

For a second I relaxed into him. The position and his undertone in the word training evoked unwelcome images of him bending me over, pulling up my dress, and... I balled my hands into fists--this called for revenge! I leaned against him, moving my butt in a slow, sensual figure eight, delighting when I heard his sharp inhale. I stood up on the tips of my toes, rubbing my curves on his body, and tilted my head back.

My mouth was brushing against the fabric covering his cheek, and since I knew how much he liked it when I spoke Veril, I whispered with my softest, most seductive voice, "Kuchun chmin kuvtersh, Shenik Tsul." --Please train me, General Tsul.

His hold on my arm tightened, and I couldn't help my smug satisfaction as I felt his growing hardness press insistently into my back. He let his other hand run up, trailing over my waist and higher. His big hand cupped my breast worshipfully, the flimsy fabric of my dress doing little to shield my sensitive skin from his touch. With a feathery brush, he grazed my pert nipple, making a thousand sparks ignite in my center. But he did not linger, to my disappointment, wandering further up until he closed his long fingers gently around my neck.

Holding my head in place against him, he breathed into my ear, "Oh, you have no idea how much I will enjoy training you, keltz'in."

He tightened his grasp just so slightly, and his whisper took on a silky tone. "And I shall start by teaching you to follow your superior's orders. I have found your obedience severely lacking today."

I knew he was talking about the incident with the rebels down in the tunnels--or how I had insisted on bringing Tim along, or when I refused to run and attacked the beast in the park, or... I chuckled, which earned me a just so slight tightening of his fingers around my throat.

He released my arm and dropped his hand to my waist, pulling me possessively against him. It made a shiver of molten anticipation run down my spine. If this was a game, I was losing. His fingers descended even further, and he dug them appreciatively into my ample butt.

"But I am going to take my due time with your training, young recruit; therefore, I need to get you off the ground first," he growled into my ear and gave me a soft shove away from him.

I turned around, glaring, but he placed his index finger over the fabric covering his mouth.

Stay silent.

I looked around uneasily, apprehension slightly dimming the fluttering need between my legs. The wind hissed ominously in the leaves, like the sound of a wave approaching from the dark forest. Vo'ren pointed his chin at my shoes and socks on the ground. With a frown, I crouched down, tied the laces together, and slung them over my shoulders. A drop of cold lake water fell on my skin and dripped down between my shoulder blades. I shivered.

Vo'ren closed his fingers around my wrist and gestured for me to follow him. I entered the woods, careful to stay close to his side. The scent of plants, humidity, and damp soil intensified, and there was also another strangely familiar aroma, heavy, metallic, and dangerous--the smell of magic. I moved even closer to Vo'ren, my arm brushing against his uniform.

He noticed and gently let his finger run over my wrist. "Nothing will happen to you, ishktz'in, if you follow my lead."

We had not gone in deep, only up to the second row of trees, but were already shrouded in twilight. The soil covered in moss and dry silvery leaves had turned cool and damp underneath my naked soles. Vo'ren paused. He let my arm go, took off his goggles and face cover, and stored them inside the backpack. It was then that I understood why the Shadow Woods were the most important region of the Veril realm: just like our cities flooded with electric lights, the dark trees gave its inhabitants independence from the inevitable rhythm of day and night. The eternal darkness allowed their civilization to thrive.

Were we close to a town or settlement? I strained my night vision, looking deeper between the trees to see if I might make out the shape of houses. Vo'ren caught my gaze, and as if he had read my thoughts, he slowly looked upwards, a small smile playing around the corners of his mouth. I followed his eyes and paused as I spotted a shimmering silver net spun in between the crowns of four trees. That was definitely not a settlement. And after another moment, I recognized the net--it was the one from the backpack Vo'ren now carried slung over his shoulder.

"Did you just put that up while I was away?" I asked, quickly lowering my voice to a whisper as I heard my voice cutting unnaturally loud through the sounds of the forest.

He gave me a smirk that made him look heartwarmingly adorable, but my eyes caught on the fresh cut across his face and the dark organic pattern on his skin. A knot formed in my throat--for a while I had almost managed to forget the damage the Peruvian had done to us.

"You're really fast, even without your magic." I gently traced one of the lines from his cheek all the way down his neck until my finger stopped at the collar of his uniform. "Is this permanent?"

He considered my question before replying in a low, soft voice, "As far as our science knows, time is the only remedy against sunlight damage." I opened my mouth, but he added quickly, "Yes, I am aware of the irony. Though I must say that I have felt much better ever since you gave me that strange potion."

Time... I shuddered. Were we talking about days? Months? Years? Centuries? The more I looked at his marred skin, the more I feared it might be the latter.

"Will you... Can you still be general without your magic?" To my embarrassment, my hands were shaking--despite everything we had been through, he still intimidated me to the bones, but Vo'ren smiled.

"That shall remain to be seen," he said nonchalantly, and I was surprised at how unbothered he seemed. "My powers got me drafted, yet they did not make me shenik." He gave me a stern, inquisitive look. "Do not trouble yourself, ishktz'in. Even as General Vik's second-in-command, I would still have the means to keep you and our child safe and provided for."

I wanted to deflect--it was the ever-present reflex to seem nice and unassuming, to not make demands--a behavior I, like most girls, had learned since childhood. I wanted to say that this wasn't the reason I had asked, but I stopped myself. Why should I lie to him? To myself? He had exposed me, put me in a terrible situation, and made me a target. I needed him in a position of power to protect me and my baby. At least until I figured out how to do that on my own.

"You better," I said, looking straight up into his eyes. "You have responsibilities now."

He held my gaze for a second, then he gave me a sharp nod. "I am aware." His face had grown stern and closed off again; it was the expression of the General, of Vo'ren the soldier. "Of my responsibilities to you and to this entire realm."

"To our child and me first and to the rest of this realm second." I dug my fingers into his tunic's neckline, trying to pull him closer, but he didn't budge.

I glared at him, anger rising in my chest as I waited for a confirmation, but he remained silent, and after a moment he closed his eyes. Suddenly, he looked immensely tired, as if the weight of the world were resting heavily on his shoulders. And in a way, I realized, it was.

For the first time since we had met, I truly considered what it must mean to be him. He always seemed so at ease in his power and rank, so natural--but did it still wear on him at times? I loosened my grip on his tunic and gently caressed the soft skin of his throat. He caught my hand in his, holding it tightly against him. For a second, I thought he was about to say something, yet he remained silent.

In an attempt to find a less loaded topic, I pointed my chin at the net high above us. "So does this mean we're staying here?"

He followed my gaze. "Yes. I believe you and I can use a night of recuperation before we embark on our journey to the Red City."

"I have no clue how to get up there."

The exhaustion of all I had endured during the last days was burning in my muscles, but a flimsy net ten meters above the ground was really not my idea of a nice and relaxing campsite. I glanced to my right at the spot where Vo'ren had just been standing, but he was gone again.

Surprised, I looked up one of the massive trunks next to me and found him. He had already started to climb the tree closest to us. Despite the sturdiness of his boots, he seemed to find hold on the most invisible bumps and irregularities in the rough linear pattern of the bark. He moved so effortlessly, it was hard to believe that I had just held his unconscious head in my lap. To him this was just as simple as walking up some stairs. I shuddered. And for a second I felt the hint of a deep, all-encompassing panic as I realized how far away I was from home. That I was in his world now.

Vo'ren reached the net, and my stomach flipped when I saw his massive shape standing tall and steady on the flimsy threads. In a fluid movement he got down on one knee, attached the backpack to the net, opened it, and took out a shiny rolled-up rope. With a strangely beautiful symmetric knot, he fastened it next to the bag, tightening the bond with a forceful pull of his strong arm before dropping it.

I watched the silvery rope unfurl, swirling down with a light whirr, until its end plopped onto the mossy ground. I touched the strand swinging right in front of my nose. A beautiful example of Veril craft, it was soft and smooth despite its thick texture.

I stepped aside as Vo'ren gracefully glided down and landed in front of me without even the slightest noise. He gave me a little bow and made an inviting gesture towards the rope.

I raised a doubtful eyebrow at him but decided to be a good sport and give it at least a try. I grabbed the rope with both hands and pulled myself up, awkwardly trying to pinch the other end with my naked toes and squeeze it between my soles at the same time. For a second I dangled in the air, like a pregnant sack of potatoes, merely twenty centimeters above ground. Then my burning arm muscles capitulated, my feet slid down, and only the rope between my fists prevented me from landing on my butt in a most undignified manner.

Still swaying, I gave Vo'ren a haughty look. "Your stupid rope is too slippery!"

He pressed his lips together. I tried to keep glaring at him, but when the corner of his mouth began to twitch, I couldn't help myself and broke into laughter as well. I covered my mouth with both hands, trying to muffle the sound. Still, one look at Vo'ren, his whole body shaking with suppressed chuckles, sent me over the edge again.

He composed himself much faster than I did, though a hint of amusement still played around his lips as he crouched down in front of me. With one practiced movement, he took hold of the rope, passing it over and between my legs, right below my butt, and began wrapping it around my waist to form a kind of harness. My flimsy, ripped skirt rode up, and I shivered as his hands brushed against my sensitive skin.

"That looks very professional. Do you have a lot of practice tying women up?" I remarked, watching his elegant fingers at work and debating whether I should slide onto his lap and make him kiss me.

Vo'ren glanced at me, and I watched his eyes turn from gold to solid black--he was definitely doing that on purpose. And I was definitely enjoying the dangerous sight.

He stood in one swift movement, towering over me with a predatory smile. "I do have a lot of practice at it." Looking me straight in the eyes, he pulled the knot around my waist tight enough it made me wince.

"Ouch!" I bared my teeth at him.

"You have a habit of getting loose, ishktz'in. I do not want that happening while you are floating in the air. Hold on fast." He handed me the dangling rope, and the smirk froze on my face as I watched how he pulled himself up over my head and began to ascend quickly.

After reaching the net, he gave me a quick signal. I pressed my eyes shut and grabbed on so hard even the silky fibers dug painfully into my palms. There was a tug, and my stomach flipped as I rose into the air, higher and higher, swinging in a dizzying back and forth while Vo'ren lifted me like I weighed nothing. The shoes that I carried over my shoulders bumped rhythmically into my back, and for some reason the idea of them dropping terrified me to my core.

I was desperate to put my feet back on solid ground. I wanted to tell him to stop and let me down again, but my whole body was clenched so tightly, I couldn't even open my mouth. Instead, I whimpered through closed lips. After the longest minute of my life, the movement finally stopped. A strong hand grabbed the rope around my waist, and before the surprised yelp had left my mouth, he had already yanked me onto the improvised platform.

I slowly opened my eyes and quickly closed them again when I glimpsed the forest floor way too deep below the nauseatingly elastic net.

Vo'ren chuckled, not bothering to keep his voice down anymore. We were apparently safer up here than we had been on the ground, though my vertigo told me otherwise.

"Do you want me to fasten you more securely? I must admit, I quite enjoyed tying you up."

On any other occasion, I would have given him the snide retort he deserved, but I was petrified. All I could do was remain sitting, hugging my knees and not daring to open my eyes. This was so much worse than the treehouse at the embassy! I tried to distract myself by listening to the sounds of the magical forest around me, the whisper of the wind in the shiny leaves, the croaking of little animals wafting over from the lake, and the bark-like call of a bird deeper inside the woods.

The branch beneath us creaked, and the strings moved as Vo'ren took something out of the backpack and started rummaging around the net.

"Is this better?" His voice was softer now.

I dared a peek, opening my lids just the thinnest slit. Vo'ren had attached his armor and weapon belt next to the backpack and spread out the thick gray cape he had been wearing as a tunic. It now covered half the net. Over a sturdy branch above us, he had slung a dark camouflage tarp and secured its edges to the net so that it formed a rudimentary kind of tent.

I brushed the sopping bundle of shoes off my shoulder, kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, and quickly crawled inside. The moment that darkness enveloped me, I felt myself relax, infinitely grateful that I could no longer see through the thinly meshed netting.

"Yes, much better," I breathed out as Vo'ren stepped in, bowing his head gracefully to pass through the opening. He was moving as easily as if we were on solid ground.

He smirked; his massive outline was blocking out the dim twilight. How good he looks! Despite the darkness inside our tent, my night vision allowed me to appreciate him in all his glory, bathed in shades of gray. My eyes ran over his perfect form, lingering on his broad shoulders, clearly outlined underneath his tight black shirt, down to his strong arms, their countless markings glowing faintly in the dim light.

I was sitting cross-legged on the soft cape, and he slowly knelt down until he was right in front of me, one arm resting on his knee. We were finally alone with each other. Alone and safe--or at least not in immediate danger of getting killed. It was the first time we really had to ourselves ever since he left for Baden-Württemberg. I had missed him so much, and he looked so dangerously handsome in his tight black shirt, slightly dirty still with the blood of our enemies. And by the way his eyes devoured me, I could tell that his mind was going in exactly the same direction as mine. What harm was there really in a little kiss?

Vo'ren's hands dropped to the rope around my waist, and he swiftly undid the intricate knot. His touch instantly set the smoldering desire in my core aflame, like wind in a prairie fire. I bit my lip. He inhaled deeply, his smirk widening as he undoubtedly smelled the effect his proximity had on the increasing slickness between my legs.

My mouth opened in a silent plea. He leaned forward, gently guiding me onto my back until I came to lie underneath him--and finally, he closed my lips with his.

My mark was humming, and I lost myself in rapture. This was all I wanted, forever, for the rest of my life. To taste him, feel him as his weight pinned me down, to be locked in between his strong arms, my thighs spread by his broad body. I lifted my leg and ran it up his intimidating form. The movement made the hem of my skirt slide over my butt until I lay exposed and open underneath him. His kiss grew rougher and rougher, desperation simmering underneath his controlled surface, threatening to burst out at any moment.

Vo'ren paused and pulled back, leaving me breathless. His eyes ran over my face, as if he wanted to memorize each little detail, from my dark eyebrows and the almost invisible fuzzy blond hair on my cheeks to the smudges of dirt and blood.

He gently ran his hand through my hair, caressing my scalp, before he entangled his fingers into the messy strands and pulled, almost painfully, holding my head fast in place. His other hand wandered slowly up my lifted leg until it reached my naked sex. He ran his index finger along my swollen labia, caressing the sensitive skin. I inhaled shakily and shut my lids, ready to lose myself and my resolutions.

He tightened his fist in my hair. "You keep your eyes on me, ishktz'in." His deep voice was calm and low, almost a growl, allowing no argument. "I want to watch you shatter when I finally make you mine again."

I wanted to protest, but he pushed his middle finger between my folds. I sighed when he began circling my clitoris, applying gradually more and more pressure. The touch made currents of pleasure run into my center, and I gasped as if I were drowning.

The power of his order resonated deep in my core, and instead of stopping him, it made me determined to be a good girl, to please my general and show him that I could behave--at least when he had me pinned beneath him. I kept my eyes fixed on his, sinking into them, into him. The Fay warrior who had bound me. In desperate need to anchor myself, I dug my fingers into the woolly blanket, grabbing on to the firm structure of the net underneath.

Vo'ren swallowed, maybe as close to losing all reason as I was. He leaned in, supporting himself on his elbow, one hand in my hair, the other between my thighs. His masculine scent of trees, leather, blood, and the herby oil he used for washing enveloped me. The pressure of his fingers increased even more, spreading the wetness up and down between my tender folds. I whimpered pathetically and pushed up, rubbing myself against the hard cock hidden behind the fastenings of his uniform pants. I needed him inside of me, needed him to fill me and stretch around his girth.

A smirk ran over his regal features as he watched me unravel. The mighty General Tsul Vo'ren. How lucky I was to have him back. My eyes caught on the dark lines running down his neck and disappearing under his shirt. To my night vision they looked almost black.

"Wait." My voice cracked, and I closed my hand around his forearm, trying to get him to pause for a moment. He raised his eyebrows at my impertinence, but his fingers stopped circling. Instead, he held them still, pressing against my taut, aching nub. I sighed through closed lips.

"Wait?" His tone was surprised and seemed to carry a slight warning.

"Are you even in shape for this?" My voice came out breathless--the lack of friction was driving me insane.

I traced one of the lines up his arm, following its trajectory as it appeared and disappeared between the innumerable markings glowing on his skin.

Vo'ren chuckled dangerously, and with a movement quicker than my eyes could see, he removed his fingers between my legs and pinned my wandering hand above my head. Letting go of my hair, he ran the thumb of his other hand down my cheek, over my jaw, and under my chin, where his fingers came to rest lightly on my throat. He leaned so close that his face was right in front of mine.

"Oh, I am in shape for this, ishktz'in."

The vibrations of his voice spread deeply into my chest, and the sharp points of his bared canines gleamed before he leaned down and kissed me. Again, I became soft like wax beneath him, returning the agonizingly soft caress of his lips and meeting the pushes of his body against mine. His muscular thigh rubbed between my legs, and I felt my juices soaking the dark fabric of his uniform as I pressed myself against him, desperate for his friction and his warmth.

"I am in shape for this, my sweet." Vo'ren's hold on my wrist and neck had softened, and he caressed me with his thumbs. "And even if I were not. I cannot imagine a better end to this cursed existence than nestled deeply between your legs."

His words, his touch, and the adoration in his eyes as he looked at me--they made my heart melt just like my body. He kissed me again and again. Softly at first but growing ever more demanding each time his lips closed over mine. While my right was still pinned in his clasp, I untangled my left from the blanket and let it follow the graceful line of his spine, from the edges of his short hair all the way down his nape and underneath his shirt. The back of my hand burned as the fresh cut I had inflicted on myself scraped the tight fabric.

I pressed my eyes shut, trying to pull myself out of my horny delirium. I was already so close--mere millimeters away from forgiving, from forgetting, from letting myself drown in the bliss of his presence, of our strange, intense bond. Never mind that he had given me no explanations yet, never mind that he had gambled my life and that of our child for his schemes. Every part of my body and soul ached for that union with him, but I needed to get answers first. Before I allowed myself to fall.

"Vo'ren," I mumbled against his lips.

"My love?" he whispered back.

My heart skipped a beat, tears welling in my eyes as I realized he might be standing at the edge of the abyss as well.

"Vo'ren... We need to talk."

"Do we now?" he breathed against my mouth as he slowly released my chin, letting his fingers run down my neck and over my hardened nipple. He drew a gentle spiral on my stomach before he progressed further down and reached my labia, sticky with my arousal. Apparently he had opted for a different approach to deal with the unspoken problems between us.

"Yes?" Did we really, though?

I sighed when he finally found my center again, and for a moment my eyes rolled into the back of my head as he gently parted my folds, readying me for his taking.

"I'm not having sex with you before we talk," I panted, arching my body involuntarily towards him before I remembered that this was the opposite of what I should be doing.

"Then talk." His voice was silky.

I tried to sit up, but he tightened his hold on my wrist again, pushing me firmly into the net. His fingers stopped their ministrations, resting with assertive pressure at my entrance. I stilled beneath him, melting instinctively into submission in the face of his dominance. He had trained me so well during the last month.

"Sumik," he purred--good. It made my insides turn to liquid. "My well-behaved little human, is it not nicer when you follow my command? If you keep being good, I shall let you talk as much as you want as a reward."

But I had lost all words. His fingers were circling my entrance, dipping in just so slightly after each round, and I wanted nothing more than to feel them inside of me. He leaned down and sucked my lower lip into his mouth, a thinly veiled reminder that he could have me panting and begging on his venom in no time. He kept moving his hand, teasing my sensitive hole and rubbing my clitoris with feather-light strokes of his thumb. I was so wet my juices ran down my asscrack and into the blanket underneath me. Just a tiny bit more and I would tell him to stop.

"Say yes," he whispered against my lips and let go of my arm, and I stiffened, surprised by the sudden softness in his tone. "I have been dreaming of your delicious body beneath me ever since I parted for battle. Allow me, just one last time, to see your eyes break as you come undone. Kuchun, say yes."

No, no, no. This was even more dangerous than his domineering demeanor, as his words flowed right through my mark and into my heart.

Tell him no. He's even asking for permission, the voice of reason pleaded in my head.

"Yes... unh." Before I even understood what I had agreed to, his coarse, strong middle finger pushed past my entrance.

I sighed. Finally. It was like breaking the surface after a long dive. The first breath after holding the air for too long. I too had been fantasizing about feeling him inside of me again--even while I thought he had betrayed us.

He pressed deeper and deeper into my delicate channel, opening me ever more. I felt surprisingly full to the point where it was almost uncomfortable.

Vo'ren's eyes were clouded with darkness, his face right above mine. "You are so tight, keltz'in, I can feel your body struggling to take me. I will have to train you after all, or else you are going to have problems when I really fuck you."

I sighed and tried to meet his movements. He was sliding leisurely in and out, his finger slightly crooked, searching for that one spot deep inside of me. When he found it, I moaned against his mouth. He shifted his legs to spread me even wider as he kept rubbing the tight bundle of nerves with the same delicious pressure as my clit.

"Breathe in," he ordered, and I obeyed, already dangerously close to begging, to becoming a pliable little toy in his hands.

At my inhale, he pressed a second finger into me, and the air hitched in my throat at the burn of the slightly painful intrusion. He held still, giving me a moment to adjust before he slowly started to move again. He began pushing his body against me in the same rhythm as his hand, fucking me on his rough fingers and tapping my clitoris every time he thrust back in. I closed my legs behind his back, pulling him closer. I was so soaked, I could hear the lewd squelching of my wetness fill the tent.

While he kept taking me, he lifted his other thumb, licked it, and laid it gently against my mouth. Don't give in; don't be so stupid. Yet my every cell yearned to have him fill me, to taste him, to surrender to him completely, body, mind, and soul.

"Open your mouth."

His raspy order was all it took. I parted my lips, relishing the feeling as he slid his rough finger over my tongue, the slight spicy burn of the venom coating it. I sucked and licked him shamelessly, desperate to have as much of him inside of me as possible. It was an indescribably delicious feeling to be filled by him from both sides. My eyes rolled into the back of my head. The faint dose of venom and his fingers nudging my G-spot over and over made my arousal soar to new heights. Vo'ren, I gave a muffled sigh around his thumb as my inner walls contracted hard on his hand.

Warmth spread through my mark and directly into my center; it filled me with an even stronger desire to feel him. Closer. To become as one. His eyes studied me while I lay panting underneath him, as if my body, covered all over in a sheen coat of sweat, were a work of art.

"Sumik, ishktz'in."

His praise felt like honey and almost drowned my guilt as he began to move his fingers again. If I didn't stop him now, I would soon be whimpering for more.

"Did you not want to talk?" He whispered into my ear while taking me with a particularly deep stroke, making me sigh with reawakening need.

Amusement rang in his voice, but also tension that told me he was drifting away as well, and the last thing I needed right now was Vo'ren to lose his grip on himself.

"Or do you want me to release you of your torment?" He sank his face to the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply. "I can smell that you are yearning for my sting."

He was right. Even though the orgasm had flushed out the faint dose of venom in my blood, it had merely made me ache for more. His fingers were not enough. I wanted all of him, longed for him to really take me, to unfasten his pants and fill me with his deliciously hard cock. I pressed my cut hand against the net below, the pain my last desperate hope to clear my head.

"Why didn't you tell me about my parents?" It took me a superhuman amount of effort to get the words out, and even then my speech was slurred with lusty haze. "If I had known..." I whimpered as he sheathed his fingers knuckle-deep in me, stretching me with scissoring pulses.

"If you had known what, sweetness?" He smirked down at me, his eyes fully black as he kept me pinned.

Writhing just so slightly underneath him, I cleared my throat. "If I had known that they were safe, I would have stayed in the tent."

That seemed to sober him up quite a bit. He narrowed his eyes. "Explain."

"When the Silver Helmets captured me. I was..." I shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the distractingly delicious feeling of him spreading me open. "At the tech tent. Trying to call my family. To warn them."

He stilled and bared his fangs in an expression that could have been either rage or regret--probably a bit of both.

"I assumed my explicit order would suffice. Just as my word that I would see to your family's safety. I am not accustomed to explaining my actions, nor to having my word questioned."

I shook my head. His intensity was strangely confusing, pinned as I was underneath him with every part of my body telling me to submit. "It doesn't matter. The Royal Guards would have gotten me anyways. They used that vial with my blood."

Vo'ren hissed, and so did I, because he abruptly withdrew his fingers from me, leaving my body flustered and needy. His arousal, it seemed, was quickly giving way to anger, and that made him look even more dangerously exciting.

"That would not have worked had you been inside. The magic cannot be penetrated when the blood's owner is already within its wards. Why do you think I told you to stay put?"

"You see," I snapped. "All of that would have been a lot easier to understand if you had taken at least one second to explain it to me." Outrage and frustration bubbled up in my chest at the sheer stupidity of it all. "Everything could have been different!"

He bared his teeth in a snarl. "I must admit that communication has not been our strongest suit."

"Your strongest suit!" I glared at him. "I've always been open."

He scoffed at that. "Mishtz'in, you have been lying to me ever since you told me you lived alone. The fact that you are terrible at it does not redeem you."

I pressed my lips together, unable to deny his accusations.

"Come to think of it," he added after a pause. "Maybe you are not such a terrible liar after all. I have found myself quite surprised to learn that you have a sister."

That finally snapped me out of my aroused idiocy. I suddenly remembered who he was, the danger he posed. I sat up and scrambled backward, and this time, he let me.

"What did you do to her?"

My shadows had begun to swirl around me, invisible to human eyes in the darkness of the tent, but he saw them, and so did I.

"She is safe and presumably well in my brother's mansion. I had her brought to my city along with your parents."

The discord between us, me unable to keep my powers from straining me, pulling on my life force. I bared my teeth in an angry snarl, hiding my fear under aggression.

"I swear, Vo'ren, if any of your brutes has touched her...!"

My magic pulled in around me, thickening like a shield and hardening like a spear, and I was starting to feel slightly light-headed.

Vo'ren used his most calming voice, soft and slow. "Your family is under the official protection of the name Tsul. None of my soldiers will harm them." I opened my mouth to speak, but he was quicker. "That includes fulfillment."

I exhaled through my nose, almost reassured. "Good. She's married anyways--out of bounds for the Treaty."

Since he loathed repeating himself, the mighty General Tsul saw no need to elaborate. Still, when I shot him an annoyed glance, I thought I caught a flicker of surprise in the slight lift of his eyebrows. It reminded me of something I had often wondered about the Treaty: how exactly did the Kirtim Shenk confirm whether a woman was married or not? I suspected that there had been a whole number of unfortunate mix-ups, covered up by the occupiers or perhaps even by our own government.

"My men did report that she was not happy about being evacuated." There was a trace of amusement in his tone, and his gaze lingered fondly on my face. The asshole was probably reliving the memories of my kidnapping.

I scoffed before I could stop myself. "Yeah, I bet she wasn't."

To call the relationship with my older sister strained would have been an understatement. Still, I had always admired her confidence, the steadfastness of her convictions, even when I didn't agree with them.

Vo'ren crouched in front of me, his palm extended in an inviting gesture. I couldn't help but smile--he looked as if he were trying to tame a wild animal. Around me, my shadows gradually lightened until they disappeared. I took his hand, and he gently pulled me towards him, placing a light kiss on my lips. I tensed, ready to resist, this time for real, should he try to lure me in again, but suddenly he drew back.

"What have those Royal Guards done with your blood?"

"They gave it to the Counselor." A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered the glittering vial in Suchil Tem's elegant hand.

Vo'ren hissed, and his hold on my arm tightened painfully before he remembered my human frailty and let go. "I wish I could rip Tem's head right off his stupid neck."

My mark was burning, and I felt the tension of his rage humming through the net and the trees around us.

"And why can't you?" My voice was tentative, soft. The strange idea had come out of nowhere. I scooted even closer until I was right in front of him, my knees touching his. I carefully laid my hand on his forearm. "You command the Counsel's most powerful army. What keeps you from taking control over this realm or at least over my world? You even kind of have a claim on it --you're a descendant of the king."

My heart beat nervously, with hope and something else that I was too afraid to explore. The idea of Vo'ren ruling our dimensions was terrifying at first, but what if I were at his side to keep him in check? The possibilities it would give me to shape a new future--all the wrongs that I could make right... I squeezed his arm lightly.

He chuckled, shaking his head. "I am a warrior, ishktz'in, it is my duty to fight for my realm, not to rule it. I can hardly imagine a more tedious office than that of a Counselor." And with his tone ringing with sarcasm, he added, "Or a king."

"What about a queen?" The words had tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

He laughed at that, but his voice was low when he answered, as if we might be overheard otherwise. "My sweet, if I could, I would lay the entirety of the known and unknown world at your feet. Yet I am afraid my hands are bound."

He lifted his arms. The marks were shimmering softly in the twilight. Lines upon shining lines.

"I cannot use my powers against the Counsel any more than you can use yours against me."

"I can't?"

That was unwelcome news to me. But then I remembered how he was able to seize my magic and had done so on several occasions. How he had snuffed out my shadows that one time I had aimed them angrily at him. I looked at my own binding--his name burned into my skin and soul. And then I remembered something else: him behind me, inside of me, his hand on my wrist, as he controlled not only my magic but my whole body through our connection, denying me the release of my orgasm in the most delicious way.

"That's not all of it, right? The marks give them control over more than just your magic, don't they?"

"I am nothing but a faithful weapon in the Counsel's hand," he said theatrically after a slight chuckle. "They have bound me by the very essence of my self--I am unable to disobey their direct order, nor could I break my vows to the Kirtim Shenk, even if I wished to." He shrugged with a nonchalant, almost defeated smile.

The gesture made him look strangely normal, like one of my classmates in university telling me about the shitty job he had to take to pay for his studies. It made me think of the person he might have turned into had his life taken a different path, had he not been born into a terrible lineage and burdened with even more terrible powers. And my heart broke a little for the man he might have been.

Gently, I traced the marking above his left wrist: two half circles with a dot in their center. "I never meant to send that message to Tim--the one telling him to come and get me."

Vo'ren inhaled and closed his eyes. A heaviness had come over him. All traces of flirtation, teasing, and even the anger he had just shown moments ago vanished.

"It is not of importance, ishktz'in. Your desire to protect yourself from me is more than understandable, and I can hardly expect your loyalty after the things I have made you endure."

He didn't believe me. I opened my mouth but realized then that I had no idea what to say. My thoughts and feelings were tangled like a ball of messy yarn, and I could not find the end to begin unraveling them. After all, I had stopped myself from sending that message because I had been certain that he would find me anyway--not because I wanted to stay with him. But now I knew that he had been ready to let me go. He had come back to save me and had even sort of apologized. And whenever we were together, each string of my soul vibrated with pure happiness.

The wind made the trees sway and our little camp with them.

"I was not all pretend to keep you from hurting me," I said, knitting my hand into the fabric of my skirt.

Vo'ren looked up, wordless, his muscles tensing under my other palm as he waited for me to go on.

"I was not pretending when I asked you to come back to us that night you left south." Tears filled my eyes, and I angrily wiped them away, letting go of his arm. "But then I found out how you had used me for your stupid schemes."

He sighed and turned to look over his shoulder at the leaves and twigs outside our improvised little tent. The twilight had almost turned to darkness by now, and a tiny bird gave a high-pitched, almost melancholic call. Without previous warning, he stood up and pulled back the dark camouflage tarp that had been our roof. He was going to leave. Or ignore me. Or do anything else but actually talk to me. Just as he always did. Like bile, desperate rage rose up in my throat.

I glared at him, at his imposing form framed by the strangely shaped branches above.

"You actually did, didn't you, Vo'ren? You made me send that map because you wanted to set a trap for Suchil Tem. Just so you would get your fucking permission to go full force against the FMD."

My pulse was hammering in my throat. I rose and followed him into the middle of the net. With fists pressed against my waist, I planted myself right before him.

"How dare you tell me that you will protect us? That you love me? If you put me directly in the line of fire? If you risk my life and that of our child?"

Saying those words made me physically ill, because I felt deep in my soul just how true they were.

Vo'ren's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I did not make you send anything. I did not put a blade to your throat and force you--I easily could have, mind you--but I did not." He grabbed my forearm and pulled me towards him. "And it was complete and utter madness of you--sending confidential military intel out of my tent!"

I yanked my arm free, causing the net to bounce in a disconcerting way. "Don't play dumb with me, General Tsul! You left that map out on purpose, and then you humiliated me. You can't seriously deny that this was your plan all along!"

My mark stung, and he bared his teeth. "I do not deny it."

I had already known this, but hearing his final confirmation still hit me like a slap. I took a step backwards, but my heel tripped over the wet shoes I had so carelessly dropped earlier. With a cry, I stumbled, and for a second my heart stopped. My--perhaps slightly dramatic--mind already pictured me falling over the edge and plummeting onto the unfeeling ground of the Shadow Realm below. But he caught me, of course, and pulled my trembling body against his broad chest. I wanted to push him away, but he held me firmly until my pulse had slowed down to normal.

"I apologize for my reaction, Anna. Allow me a chance to elaborate, kuchun."

Unable to speak through my clenched jaw, I gave him a curt nod. My body remained stiff in his arms, as rigid as the twigs around us, while I was fighting against my tears and the luring pull of his presence.

Vo'ren inclined his head. "I do not deny that I left the map out. It provided me with a perfect opportunity to embed the information with the terrorists without having to directly disobey my orders."

A sob of pain and anger escaped my lips. His hand rested motionless on my back while he went on.

"I was also curious to see what you would do. Our binding had just taken place the previous night, and I was..." He breathed out through his nose and looked up at the whispering foliage above us. "I was scared. I was scared of what I had felt when you went dark in my arms. Of whatever it is that flows between us. Scared that it might make me neglect my duty."

He paused. "In a way, I was probably trying to prove to myself that I would not lose focus. That I could still keep my mind on my responsibilities, despite my new... circumstances. I also thought that watching you blatantly betray me might help me come to my senses." He chuckled softly. "Unfortunately, seeing how reckless you are, how you conspired against me right under my nose, even though I terrified you, only made me more fond of you."

He let me go, and I pulled away, careful not to make any rash movements this time. For a moment it looked as if he were waiting for me to say something. But I remained silent, and he closed his eyes.

"It was a mistake. One I have regretted ever since, and one I was willing to atone for with my life. I was arrogant, believing that my power and wit would be enough to protect you. I underestimated both the Counselor and the sheer force of my feelings for you. I thought I would have you locked away safely in my city and out of his reach long before Suchil Tem's journey south. And if not, I was going to keep you tied up in my tent, with a chain around your neck, guarded by blood magic and shadow warriors. But when the time came, you were still in Berlin, and I was unable to do you such cruelty."

Vo'ren's diction had grown more formal, as if he were recalling rhetoric lessons from centuries long past. The great general, master of moving minds and hearts, of giving rousing speeches that made his men willingly follow him to their death. He was a manipulator and a deceiver.

I scoffed. "Don't bullshit me, Vo'ren. You had Paul send a translation weeks after I took the photo. Makes that regret you've been talking about kind of hard to believe. You're a great tactician; you must have been aware of the risk that you were exposing me and our child to!"

"Yes, and it was a risk I was willing to take."

He stepped aside. Behind him lay the dark lake, clearly visible from the height of our improvised camp. It formed a perfect circle around the onyx temple in its center. With a gesture of his open palm, Vo'ren directed my eyes at the forest diagonally behind it.

The sun had already set, but the sky was still shining with its memory. The outlines of the trees were clearly visible before the orange-grey glow. Only they weren't trees anymore, stripped as they were of everything that had once marked them as living. No leaves. No birds nesting in their branches. No bushes growing between their roots. All that remained were burned, toothpick-like trunks, jutting from the earth like nameless headstones on a mass grave. They stretched on endlessly until the horizon cut my view short. Gigantic swaths of destruction, like gaping wounds carved into the forest's flesh.

And I knew instantly what I was looking at. I recognized my own kind's handwriting as I remembered the TV images of the so-called mission Space for Humanity: the walls of fire so thick they looked almost solid, poisonous black smoke rising up above them, as the Luftwaffe's fighter jets dropped molten flames on the newly discovered dimension.

"This is Sikrunturshil," said Vo'ren; his voice was devoid of emotion. "The town at the nexus. Once a trading post full of life, where our people met with travelers from other realms--men, women, even children. None of them survived. It is only one of the dwellings the humans burned that day."

I dug my nails into my palm until it stung. How much more suffering, how much more war and death would we all be able to endure before we broke?

Vo'ren closed his eyes. "And I should have prevented this. I am Shenik of the Kirtim Shenk, protector of this realm and the people within it. It is my duty to keep them safe. And I have failed. I underestimated the humans and the threat their cruelty poses. I allowed their scouts to cross the borders into our world, and what is worse, I gave them permission to go back. I was expecting humanity to return with diplomats, but instead they brought fire."

His tone remained even, but the gnawing ache in my wrist belied his torment.

"Where their chemicals have landed, nothing will ever grow again. The ground is poisoned. It is all gone: the trees, the settlements, the sacred groves, and our passed ones' final resting places." He bared his teeth, and the pain in my mark was so pronounced, I almost doubled over. "My older brother was visiting my mother's site of remembrance the day the fiery rain fell, and we lost him to the flames."

Instinctively, I grabbed his arm, unable to leave him alone with his suffering.

He looked down at me, his eyes briefly warmed with fondness when they met mine before they grew cold again. "That night I swore an oath. Not one of revenge, but of caution. I swore to never let our safety be compromised again. I swore to use my powers and anything beyond them to protect this realm."

A breeze stirred in the trees. The sky had nearly turned black by now. "I took control of the human city that harbors the only gate known to humanity. And I made sure to eliminate each and every potential threat within it. I asked the Counsel for swift orders to proceed the same way with the rest of the country and ultimately the rest of the human realm. But all they had on their minds was the Curse, more concerned with protecting the unborn than those that live."

"And then you had to watch Suchil Tem repeat your mistake. As he underestimated the FMD, while the Peruvian was already planning another attack on this dimension." I shook my head. I was incredibly tired but kept my hand on his arm. "So when you got the chance to finally force him to see reason, you took it."

"My loyalty to my people outweighs my bond to the Counsel. I believed it was my sworn duty." He ran his fingers down his binding marks, and when he reached my hand, he covered it with his. "But I was wrong. How can I be the protector of my people if I endanger the most precious one amongst all of them?" He looked down at me, a lopsided smile on his lips that made my stomach flutter.

"Fuck you, Vo'ren. Don't try to charm me." I pulled my hand away, already completely and utterly charmed.

I crossed my arms in front of my body, but my huffiness was undermined by a loud grumble. Embarrassed, I pressed a hand to my stomach--when was the last time I had eaten?

Without a word, Vo'ren crouched down, opened the backpack that dangled nauseatingly from the net, and extracted the leather satchel with rations. Fascinated, I watched his practiced movements as he took a metal container from the front pocket and emptied the dried fruit, meat, and mushrooms into it, together with a pale yellowish paste. I eyed the greasy mixture with suspicion, but Vo'ren continued unperturbed.

"A flick of your magic, if you will, my lady?" He held out a silver pack that seemed to be coated in aluminum or some similar kind of metal.

I sat down next to him, pressed my fingers against the bag, and channeled my shadows into it. For a moment it seemed to fill with dark smoke, then I pulled my hand back abruptly. The package had suddenly become scorchingly hot. Vo'ren quickly placed it under the container, and I watched as the unappetizing sludge began to liquefy into a creamy stew.

While Vo'ren stirred our food with the jagged knife, I turned towards the lake again. So in a way, we had both betrayed one another, had both believed we were doing the right thing by our people. Before I could explore the thought some more, my gaze caught on the temple. I paused, blinked, and looked again.

The dark statue of Mother Night had changed. She now stood straight and tall, her eyes directed benevolently towards the woods, towards us. A crown wrought from stars rested on her open curls, and instead of loose, knee-length fighting pants, she was wearing a long, flowing robe. Her twelve arms were adorned with bangles, and in one of her left hands she held a single flower raised delicately between her middle finger and thumb.

"Wha--." A sound of surprise, hardly more than a breath, was all that left my lips.

Vo'ren looked up from the food and followed my eyes. "Tutilchur tsirunik; inrunchur shenel--queen by night and warrior by day." He blew into the silver bowl before handing it to me. It smelled surprisingly good--hearty and slightly sweet. "The Midnight Temple is the Shadow Forest's most important gateway, because it harbors not one, but two passages between your realm and mine. Until sunfall it leads to Berlin, yet as the moon rises it becomes a portal into my city."

I took a tentative sip of the hot, thick soup and breathed hectically in and out when the mixture hit my tongue. First, I thought that I had burned myself, then I realized that it was just incredibly spicy.

But I needed the sustenance--likely amplified by Veril magic--and I could already feel my strength returning, so I forced myself to drink some more and mouthed as elegantly as I could, "She's beautiful."

This was the understatement of the century. The temple was not beautiful--it was sublime. The golden plants I had seen as we crossed the lake glittered in the darkness, shining with internal light at Mother Night's feet. Against the dark waters, their buds and stems looked like constellations of stars, mirroring those in the sky above. And once more, I felt the strange sense of belonging beckoning me as I looked at the goddess.

Vo'ren nodded, and with guarded amusement, he handed me the bottle containing the herby potion. Its bitter liquid felt like a blessing on my tortured tongue.

"Can we go down and see her?"

Without a word, he got up, strapping his armor and weapon belt over his dark shirt with swift handstrokes.

"Or maybe not, if it's too dangerous," I added quickly, eyeing Peace Bringer's gleaming hilt. I'd had enough danger in the last few hours.

"No evil dares besmirch the shores of Mother Night's sanctuary after the sun has sunk."

I stood up. He smiled carefully down at me, and I moved just a little closer until I felt the warmth radiating from his body against my skin. There was still so much left unspoken, so many thoughts unfinished, but the heaviness between us had lifted. At least for the moment.

He took my elbows and laid both my arms around his neck.

"Hold on." There was a dangerous sparkle in Vo'ren's golden eyes before he grabbed my waist, pulled me flush against his strong body with so much force it knocked the air out of my lungs, and kicked the rope I had left rolled up atop the net. It unfurled gracefully all the way to the ground. And then he jumped.

My stomach flipped. I squealed, clinging to him with all my might, but to my surprise, I felt completely at ease in his strong arm--safe. He caught the rope midair, and I laughed, pure joy bubbling in my stomach as he glided us down to the forest floor. It was just like riding a rollercoaster.

Dry leaves crunched underneath my bare soles when he set me to the ground, and I heard the hurried rustle of some little animal scurrying away from us. A winged seedpod, not unlike that of an acorn but dark blue in color, drifted through the air and landed on Vo'ren's head. I was still exhilarated with the adrenaline from our descent rushing through my veins. I giggled, rose to the tips of my toes, and plucked the seed out of his black hair. Upon closer inspection I saw that it was covered in a thin and intricate geometrical pattern of swirls and lines. It was at the same time strangely similar to and different from the plants and trees in my dimension.

I was pulled from my musings about Shadow Realm flora by Vo'ren. He tightened his hold around my waist and leaned down to give me a quick kiss. It was slightly rough and delicious and left my knees trembling.

"Come," he directed me towards the lake, his arm still slung around me.

It was only a short walk, but the surrounding forest held uncountable wonders. Before, I had been too tired, too wrought up in myself to truly pay attention. But now, the realization began to finally sink in that I was actually, truly in another dimension! A wild sense of adventure stirred in my chest as I looked up and down the grayish-brown trees. They were not unlike the ones in the human world, yet something was different: their branches grew in unfamiliar ways--rounder and more spiral-like, their leaves forming shapes I had never seen before, some jagged, others like chalices.

The closer we got to the lake, the more the air filled with little chirping insects. Like fireflies, but smaller, their tiny bodies flashing rhythmically with a warm silvery glow. A beam of moonlight filtered through the thinning foliage, illuminating a small bush, its thorny twigs brimming with crimson berries. I stopped and gave Vo'ren a puzzled look.

"I could swear I've seen that same kind of plant back in the park in Berlin."

He shrugged. "Your realm and mine are sisters. Two sides of the same petal. Two outcomes of the same circumstances. The same sun, and moon, and stars shine upon us; the same wind blows over our mountains, and we drink the same water. We are, and always have been, linked. As a result, there are some things we share and others that are unique to each of our worlds." He turned to me and ran his finger adoringly up my neck. When he reached the round tip of my ear, he gave it a gentle flick. "And as we know now, my kind is even able to breed yours."

"How charming!" I slapped his hand. "Did you learn those manners from your royal tutors, princeling?"

Vo'ren chuckled and made a move to kiss me, but I laid my palm against his hard chest and pushed him away. He took just the tiniest step to the side, an infuriating smirk playing around the corners of his mouth.

Unfortunately, the topic was too interesting for me to give him the cold shoulder treatment he deserved after his remark. I wanted to learn more--about his world, and mine, and everything that lay beyond.

"Our dimensions are not the only ones, right? You told me that you've conquered other realms before."

"Correct." He had started walking again.

"And are those sisters as well?" I hastened to keep up with his long, even strides as we stepped out of the forest and onto the grassy shore.

"They are not. As far as we are aware, your world is the only known sibling to mine." He scoffed, but his tone was soft, almost melodic.

We stood in front of the lake, and I paused. Her energy seemed stronger now than it had been as we crossed the bridge. It filled the air around us with a strange, almost palpable heaviness. Slowly, fearfully, I raised my eyes to the Queen of Stars in the center of the dark, glimmering waters. Her beauty was more unbearable from down here than from the safe distance of the treetops.

And suddenly I felt incredibly small and insignificant. Here I was, occupied with my petty human woes and troubles, when none of us--not I, probably not even Vo'ren--was of more importance to the grand course of the planets than a flake of dust. I sank to my knees, and for a long moment I remained frozen in reverence, until a crystalline splashing sound pulled me back to the here and now.

The dark waters before me were illuminated by the glow of the golden lily pads, their curling, faintly blinking roots reaching down into the depths of the lake. Elegant large fish swam around them, trailed by their long fins like veils. Occasionally one of them broke the surface with an almost bell-like sound, snapping at a little striding insect.

I straightened up and shifted into a cross-legged position. The soft bluish-green grass tickled my palms when I leaned back. Vo'ren was sitting at my side, one arm resting on his knee, contemplating the lake with an unreadable expression on his face.

My eyes followed his and were automatically drawn back to the statue. Somehow I couldn't shake the irrational feeling that the eternal bonfires burning in her eyes were looking directly at me. As if she were waiting for something. And then I noticed a detail I had overlooked from our little campsite: cradled in one of Mother Night's arms lay a small bundle, nestled tenderly against her regal chest--a baby. Almost instinctively, my hand dropped to my belly, caressing my own child within.

My heart grew heavy with realization. As much as I enjoyed strolling through the Shadow Realm's woods with him, eating strange military rations, and having mind-blowing orgasms ten meters above the ground, I needed to make up my mind about him and put an end to the exhausting back and forth.

"Vo'ren?"

He turned his head, and for a moment, his face tightened with an expression I couldn't place at first. But then I realized: the mighty General Tsul Vo'ren, subjugator of worlds, was nervous. Was that why he had been so insistent on seducing me, kissing and distracting me, dosing me with his venom--because he thought it might be our last time? After all, from his point of view, I had already left him when I went with the FMD, and he had let me go.

What a complete mess we had gotten ourselves into! Well, actually he had gotten me into this mess; I was pretty innocent.

My hand still resting protectively on my belly, I tightened my lips and fixed him intently with my eyes. "What were your dealings with that family? The Drehers? Why was my bear on the floor next to their dead child?" My voice broke on the last words, but I held his gaze, letting him see my pain and hoping he might feel a fraction of it as well.

He bared his teeth, closed his eyes, and the sting in my wrist showed me that I was succeeding.

"Please tell me that you had nothing to do with it."

Somehow I had to hear him say it. I needed this one confirmation, needed to know that he had not lied about his stance on harming children. It was the only way I could keep deceiving myself that the man I so desperately wanted to open my heart to was not the monster my people knew him to be.

"I cannot tell you that." He pulled down the corners of his mouth, but he didn't look away. "Because I am guilty of their death."

"No." I shook my head, more confused than shocked. "No, I heard the Peruvian! He said they... He said it was them. He had a replica of..."

Vo'ren lifted his hand, but I leaned away, not wanting him to touch me.

"Calm yourself, Anna." There was just the tiniest hint of sharpness in his voice, telling me he had registered my reaction.

"I am guilty of their death, but I have not been the one to wield the blade." He exhaled, looking out at the lake, and for the second time today, he sounded exhausted. "Peter Dreher was a member of the Peruvian's terrorist group, but he and his wife have also been valuable informants for us ever since we established our first military post in Mannheim. I do not know if they were betrayed or if the insurgents found out in some other way, but shortly after my troops deployed south, my men found the entire family slaughtered in their home."

He shook his head and scoffed in disgust. "Their deaths had been amateurishly staged to make them look like my doing. Therefore, I was called to assess the scene." He paused and bared his teeth. "It is the risk informants take, of course, and I have seen it happen uncountable times. It is never pleasant, but war rarely is. Yet this time, when I saw the little boy..."

He exhaled defeatedly. Slowly, as if not to startle me again, he stretched out his hand and laid it on my belly, his fingers resting warmly against mine. For a while he remained silent, but I felt his agony running through my wrist and into the center of my being.

"I remembered what you had told me about fearless human children playing with bears. Therefore I took the little beast you made for me, so full of your len'ich. So that your compassion and kindness would accompany the little boy and protect him when he gets scared on his journey beyond to wherever it is humans go after death. For I had failed to protect him during his short life."

I should have said something in return--expressed my encouragement or disgust--but I was completely empty. A flapping sound in the distance drew my gaze to the lake: some aquatic bird flying up from the water. All the while, Vo'ren's hand still rested on my belly. The hand that had killed thousands. The hand of the man I was bound to for all eternity through magic and fate and the child we had conceived in violence. A tear dropped on his green skin, and then another. I wiped my eyes, but he didn't pull away.

"I can feel him." Vo'ren's raspy voice sounded almost surprised. "Just barely."

A rush of goosebumps ran down my neck. He was leaning halfway over, enclosing me with his massive body, deep, almost childlike fascination on his face. Slowly, I placed my own hand on top of his and guided it under my bunched-up skirt, placing it firmly above my bellybutton. He pushed with gentle pressure against my naked skin, and I sensed the magic in my blood rushing towards him, bundling in the very place all three of us were connected.

"Can you feel it better now?" I looked at him in open-mouthed expectation.

Vo'ren's face was right in front of mine, his sharp teeth blinking in the corners of his mouth as he smiled. "Like the faint twinkle of a star only just visible before the sun has fully fallen."

I knew exactly what he meant: the fluttering little presence of my butterfly--our butterfly. My heart melted, and, overwhelmed by my emotions, I closed the few centimeters between us in search of a kiss. But Vo'ren stopped me, gently placing his index and middle fingers over my lips. A resolve seemed to have come over him.

"Anna." His entire demeanor had grown stern, and he straightened up. "I committed a great injustice against you by thinking that the obvious way in which we are destined for one another gave me the right to seize you. I was wrong. I was wrong for taking you against your will. I was wrong for the pain and suffering that I have caused you ever since. And I was wrong for putting my duty before your safety."

A knot formed in my throat. Like a cold shower, his words had quickly taken me back to the harsh and ugly ground of reality. I stared at him, frozen for a second, before I nodded slowly.

Vo'ren inclined his head; the moonlight shone upon his black hair, and before the magical background of the pitch-black lake and glittering plants, he looked more like a Fay prince than ever before.

"I did not expect to receive absolution for my actions. But when you were tied to the Peruvian's bomb..." For a second he pressed his eyes shut, baring his teeth. "I am aware that what you said to me down in the terrorists' lair was uttered under the impression of my imminent death."

My whole body filled with strange humming, some of it coming from my wrist, some of it being my own reaction to his words. "Yet despite my better knowledge, and purely out of selfish hope, I ask: can you forgive me, Anna? And if you can, do you wish to be mine?"

This was the question that had been hanging in the air ever since our reunion, that had been nagging in the back of my mind every time we kissed, every time I had wanted to sink into the comfort of his presence. I looked at the cut on the back of my hand and his glowing name burned into my wrist underneath it.

"Do I even have a choice? What if I say no? How would we ever be safe without you?" I gently patted my belly.

Something shifted in Vo'ren's face, a small change in the muscles around his eyes. A tiny expression of defeat as he took my question for an answer.

Still, his tone remained even. "After our audience with the Great Conduit. I will escort you back to your world. There, you shall be reunited with your family, and I will get you over the borders, over the ocean, if you wish so. With protective spells and an elite guard of my best Shadow Warriors to ensure your safety for the rest of your life.

"Or," he gave me the hint of a smile. "If you permit, instead of bringing you out of Germany, I can give you a beautiful house in Emvurk. Where you can live and raise our child and might allow me, perhaps, to visit you from time to time. It shall be a befitting punishment to have you so close yet unattainable. A permanent reminder of how I have destroyed my one chance at happiness."

My hands were shaking, but I made no attempt at steadying them. This was my first real prospect of freedom ever since he had taken me. My first prospect of a life free of the pain, confusion, and death that inevitably followed Vo'ren like shadows at the heels of his military boots. And unlike the Peruvian, I knew General Tsul had the power to make his promises come true. But over the last few weeks, I had learned to be suspicious.

"You said that we are destined for one another." I remarked cautiously. "But you would still let me go despite all the other stuff you said earlier about duty and belonging? If we are fated, isn't it kind of sacrilege to break our bond?"

Uneasily, I looked towards the temple and its goddess watching our conversation with disapproving eyes. Behind her in the distance above the skeleton trees, clouds began to gather. The threat of impending rain.

"Do you doubt my word, ishktz'in?" A slight menace lay in his tone, but I held his gaze, refusing to reply to his obvious question.

"Very well, I do suppose that you deserve to understand." He sighed, and despite the gravity of the conversation, I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. He was acting as if giving me a straight answer caused him physical pain.

"I am certain that Mother Night, ruler over the stars who weave our destiny, has fated us to be. Yet those are the beliefs of my people, my understanding of our role on this plane. If you are not willing to abide by the same rules, I will respect your wish. I cannot and will not bear to watch you suffer and wither as I force you to stay at my side. Even if it means defying the goddess herself."

With a slight smile on his lips, he inclined his head toward the lake, touching three fingers to his forehead in a fast, almost casual gesture.

He stood up gracefully and extended his hand to me. I followed, brushing off the leaves and dirt that stuck to my gauzy skirt right above my butt. The contrast of his fluid movements with my clumsy ones once more made me feel insignificant at his side.

I took a deep breath. The air smelled faintly of earth and algae, of trees and home. "But you would never abandon the fate that you were assigned?"

"I am not free, ishktz'in." His voice was empty. "Even if the Counsel fell, I would still be bound to my army, bound to protect my people, until my life expires."

He held out his arms like he had done when unmasking himself to the Peruvian's camera--turning them palm-up to expose the glowing markings. He looked like a prisoner of war waiting to be cuffed.

"And if I say yes to you? What duties would that entail for me?" I narrowed my eyes.

A tiny smirk formed on his lips, a sliver of hope; he dropped his hands and took a step towards me. "As my bound wife, I would expect you to abide by the rules of my society and the beliefs of my people."

"Obey you, warm your bed, and bear your children?"

There was just a memory of bitterness in my voice. A mere echo of how I had felt the first time he said those words to me. It had sounded like such a bleak fate at the time, but somehow, none of those demands seemed so bad anymore.

"Among others." His smirk widened. "Though I might decide to be lenient with you in some of the matters, taking your human frailty into account."

I gave him an annoyed glare, but I understood. If I stayed with General Tsul, I would become part of his world. It meant submitting myself to the rigid rules of Veril society and the even more rigid ones of the Kirtim Shenk.

It also meant obedience to him. No matter how inclined he might be to lenience, he was too strong, too powerful for our relationship to ever be truly equal. At least not judged by the parameters my own society had taught me. It would be a life of protocol, of putting the public good above my own--of bearing him many children. A life at Vo'ren's side would always be a life under his command.

I briefly closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I noticed that one of the little glowing insects had landed on my pinky. I watched it fly away, glittering and blinking as it disappeared above the dark swaying reeds that surrounded the lake.

A life at Vo'ren's side would also be a life full of magic and adventure. Of traveling to new worlds and exploring my own abilities. Full of him, beautiful, dangerous, infuriating Vo'ren, who had been willing to give up his life in exchange for mine.

For a second the thought took me back, and I was forced to relive those last minutes in the bunker again. Anger swirled in my stomach, sweet and wild and overwhelming. And something hardened in my chest. Staying at Vo'ren's side would also give me influence and power to shape our worlds, to build that new society I had been dreaming of. To protect the ones I loved--and to take revenge on those who had wronged me.

I balled my hands into fists and squared my jaw.

"Yes."

"Yes, to what, ishktz'in?" Vo'ren's tone was slow and careful.

I smiled, and all heaviness fell off of me now that I had finally made up my mind. "Yes, to you."

He let out a surprised laugh. It lit up his entire face and filled my heart with warmth like the summer sun. He looked down at me, and his eyes ran over every detail of my face as if he had never seen anything more marvelous. After a moment had passed, he straightened, crossed his hands behind his back, and his expression turned serious again.

"Are you sure? Do you understand what it entails?"

"I think you've made that very clear repeatedly during the past month."

My answer was dismissive, but one last time, I felt into my soul, asking myself whether I was making the right choice. And what I found was deep certainty.

I lifted my chin and looked him straight in the eyes. My voice was low but clear and full of conviction. "Yes, Vo'ren, I understand. I forgive you."

He briefly inclined his head. It was the same stance I had seen him assume before, Suchil Tem-- proud and dignified as he spoke to his superior.

"Then bind me."