A thermal purge was in order. After a day like today, Cabil needed to immerse himself in some deep meditation and clarity in the hot spring. Basking beneath the steam and stars, his thoughts settled, time lost to the luxury of solitude and a full radiant moon. His employers failed to mention this little slice of heaven behind the Westing House—luckily, his snooping around had rewarded him with a bit of generosity. Leaning against the smooth brimstones, he lounged, slowly drifting to sleep. Just a couple more minutes, he thought, before his shift started…
Suddenly he flailed, Cabil's eyes snapping open to a sweep in the water's current.
She gasped for air, swallowing a mouthful of spring water, drenched in Cabil's splashing. "Relax, Cabil. It's just me!" Cameryn pleaded, brushing her wet bangs aside before offering him one of two beverages she held in her hands.
He groaned at her uninvited company. "Shit, were you trying to sneak up on me?"
"No, we're celebrating! It's the first time we're on a solo mission together." He gave her a square look, Cameryn exchanging it with furrowed brows. "What? You can smoke till your ears cough out fumes, but you can't drink?"
"Not interested," he answered flatly, watching her guzzle down both glasses of wine—a true natural.
She flared her nostrils, then gave Cabil a cold shoulder while she settled the glassware aside. "You're such a party pooper."
He paid her no mind, lounging against the rim of the pool. She soon joined him, her bust perched along the stone bed with her crossed arms cradling her head. Cabil could feel her gawking infatuation peeling away at the wall between them, the pyro finally looking to her.
"A girl can stare, can't she?" she replied, and he glared. Cameryn perched her chin up with a soft smile. "There's something about you, Cabil, something I just don't understand."
He rested his head on the stone rim, and answered, "There's really nothing you need to know."
"You have no friends, keep to yourself, spar and train all day. You never come to any of the scout parties and outings we invite you to. You talk to no one about anything outside of Aeg. Why are you such a closed book?"
He answered her with silence.
She poked her head up, pressing on, "Is it because of what happened in Kerviss? You shouldn't shut yourself off from the world because of an innocent mi—"
"—shut up with that. There was nothing innocent about it." He turned to her. "I fucked up. Period. A lot of lives had to suffer for my recklessness. I have to live with that."
"You don't have to live with it alone."
"I'm not." He stretched his crossed arms behind his neck and noticed a slash on her face, Cabil suddenly narrowing his eyes on her. "What happened?"
Her hand flew over her wound, his question leaving her awry. "Oh, t-that's nothing. Got into a scuffle with a kitchen knife last night in an awful attempt at making dinner. Heh, you know what they say about Aegelleon soldiers—we should keep our talents in the battlefield."
"Looks like it's been healing for a while."
His curiosity triggered her, her sudden straddling over him leaving Cabil confused. Her casual wanton maneuver didn't prompt him, it was only a matter of time before she tested his obstinacy—wrapping her arms over his shoulders, flaunting her skimpy olive bikini in a swooning effort.
He almost forgot how capitalistic she was.
She ran her fingers up the nape of his neck, through his damp hair, her temptation locked on his lips. "Interesting how you're all of a sudden concerned about my wellbeing. Almost seems like you're finally ready to play ball. Unless, there's someone else?"
"That's none of your business." He gave her a light shove, and she drifted off in disappointment.
Cameryn quickly wiped that regretful look off her face with a smile. "Struck a nerve? That must be a yes then."
"She's a lost cause."
"Then you need to stop wasting your time, there's no point in wallowing in self-pity. You know, I haven't seen you with anyone ever since we met. This lost cause must have kept you lonely for years."
"No one said I was lonely." He snatched his towel as he stepped out of the pool, the offset of buoyancy weighing down on him. While he draped the cloth over his waist, he could feel her eyes following him into the dim bedroom. Persistence, the very crux of her foolish fantasies, now an irritation he needed to eliminate. It was nearing his shift, so he slipped on a pair of tactical pants before the slammed screen door averted his attention to his overzealous comrade.
"Dammit, Cabil! Why won't you let me in?"
"You already let yourself in." He smart-mouthed, towel drying his hair.
She got in his face, her drunken stature subtle. "You keep your distance every chance you get! Won't let anyone get close, not even an inch. You're like a fucking droid!" She shoved him, only to nearly push herself to an embarrassing fall backward.
"And you're just some slut trying to get laid. News flash, Cam-l-toe—I'm not Bren."
She froze, a rage surging up her hot face. "Fucking asshole!" Cabil ate her hook shot across the face and snatched her cocked arm before another beating followed. Ruffled, he tried convincing himself he deserved it. "Fucking douche! You piece of shit!" She thrashed around, trying to break free before Cabil sealed her lips with a fast hand.
"Stop bawling!" He didn't expect that punch to sting, nor for her to bite his finger. Cursing under his breath, Cabil rammed her onto the bed, pinning her body down in an irritated motion to tame her.
"You're gonna' die lonely! She probably left your sorry ass when she realized how pathetic you really are! Head deep in your own pile of shit! You probably forgot how to care for anyone but yourself! And you can't even do that right!"
"Shut up…" he gritted, his mind fluttered with raunchy, lucid thoughts of her.
"All you know is battle, just some fucking machine of a soldier to do the king's bidding. At the end of the day, you're his bitch! So keep to your fucking flames while some other guy fucks her! I bet she never loved you. She will never love you, you worthless fuck!"
"I said, shut up!!"
Snap, his resistance shattered in two. The gates he kept sealed a decade long finally shone light. He yanked her strap down, unzipped, and flopped out his cut, unclad girth. Without hesitation, he ventured, head plunging into a squeezed, tight swallow. Her moist sex welcoming—her scent, enough to twist his savage hunger ablaze. He watched her buck and moan while he self-indulged, clenching her neck, anchoring himself deeper. And as she peeled off her halter bikini, Cabil pulled their bodies further onto the bed, and flipped her over. He leaned into her curves, his girth pressed between her plump cheeks.
"Is this what you wanted?" he whispered, his sultry words rolling down her nape, his fingers strumming up the valley of her back.
She bent her knee up, Cabil's mirroring gesture right behind hers. The tip of his shaft prodded her slick clit, a rupture of ecstasy tightening her grip on the rose satin sheets as he played between her folds. Cameryn tangled their fingers together, bucking her hips into his groin.
"Stop teasing me, Cabil." Shifting to her side, she leaned on her elbow, legs still astride. She reeled him in with innocent, craving eyes, the same look on her face he always tried to resist. But tonight, his thirst needed quenching—he sought out to ravage her.
There stood a darkness with this temptation—and yes, he would conquer them both. He ached with a heated desire to claim what society would call taboo. There was no denying the attraction, borderline lust—or did he truly love her? Was it genuine, the feeling of wholeness whenever she smiled? The fluttering in his chest whenever she took him into her arms? As the back of his hand softly stroked her cheek, he gazed into her eyes with absolute certainty that she belonged to him.
Him and no other.
Cabil snatched the back of her head, pulling her ass into him. With a handful of tousled hair, he gave her a mischievous smirk. "You're the one who's been teasing." He drew his lips into hers, a gentle kiss soon turning into an oral frenzy. His tongue sought refuge in her mouth, selfishly lapping around hers with a craving only she could alleviate. He clawed his fingers up her chest, the rush of her heartbeat intoxicating. Gripping her neck, he parted his lips, his breath heavy. "After all these years—I'm not letting you go this time."
Cameryn gave him a baffled look, but before she could chime in, he plowed into her with a raw vengeance that prompted her to cry out in absolute bliss. She dropped onto all-fours, her arms barely keeping herself up. His grunts, a rhythmic track to his heated tempo while his hips pumped into her puckered lips ceaselessly, in and out—every grinding stroke quicker than the last.
She arched her back and slung her head in rapture, her supple breasts bouncing to the squishing wetness sloshing between them. She let out a rippled breath. "Ugh, fuck…"
His eyes rolled back, sweat beading down his chest. She grunted coarse words of pleasure, her nails raking deep into his arm. Though, the session was short lived, his inevitable breaching all too sudden. Cabil's body tightened into a restless tremor, with his girth engorged. The jetting creamy liquid followed her orgasmic cry, hot juices of climactic splendor clogging her insides. He couldn't help but chuckle at their rapid apex, his oozing hard-on throbbing over her. She turned to him, her arm collapsing on her forehead, while her shaking legs begged her body to sink into the bedsheets.
"Cabil..." she mumbled, her passing out excusable.
His eyes walked up her naked body as he hovered over her, reality now rapid firing. He threw his hand over his forehead in irritation, and disappointment… for falling for his own illusion.
"Fuck…"
Letting out an exasperated sigh, he tucked her in, musing on his mistake until a faint distant scream forced him out of bed.
Cabil rushed out the front door, fully garbed, partially ready to take on anything. His exhaustion slowed his pace, the realization that no one was outside now dawning on him. He could have sworn that kid said something about late night workers in the field, but the area stood vacant. Turning to the backhouse, he noticed the door slightly ajar, but before he could move his suspicions, the geezer crept out of the ranch house.
"Berk? Berk is that you?" He shuffled down the porch, adjusting his cap over his silver short cut, his milk-hazel eyes reading Cabil.
"Waller, you should go back ins—"
Zzziip!
A crunching bloody splatter slapped Cabil right in the face. The mangled decapitated head of his former employer wedged between a set of fangs, and he couldn't do anything but stare back at it. Cabil fell stupor, this abrupt mutilation striking him only a few inches away. The old man gasped for air, his dry chapped lips shuddering as the de-crowned body collapsed before them. Premolars in his temple burrowed down, spurting his eyeballs out of their crushed sockets. The behemoth snapped his jowl shut, a satisfying grunt escaping his flat nares as Cabil tensed with an overwhelming intimidation.
The colossal stood hunched back with piercing ridges down its vertebrae, a black steel layered coat, and sharp coiled horns on the top sides of its reptilian head and bottom jaws. This was something Cabil had never seen before. He was accustomed to this level of brutality, but not this type of Dessarian—a metallic, quad-eyed, thirty-foot towering forest dweller.
"I told him to stay in tonight. The old man was never a good listener." The unmasking of Graice's true self was no surprise to Cabil as she emerged from the back house, blood plastered on her apron. "Don't you touch him, Junior, you're goin' to need a new father since you so kindly disposed of the prune. Saved me the trouble." She grinned, licking the red off her fingertips.
Cabil drew arms, cautiously on the defensive, stepping back from the demon. "Can't help but feel out of place in this family reunion."
"Now, don't be shy, Berk, I'll take mighty good care of ya," the gray woman promised with darkness in her voice. "I know this is all very confusin', so allow me to explain. Junior here is my son. Together, we've lived in our beloved Herith for decades, and occasionally, I'll travel through the outskirts for fresh meat. 'Cause you see, we both need the nutritious, delicious vitality of man to survive. But Junior was cursed with this inconceivable body and cannot transport his soul into another vessel. I, on the other hand, can. But this body has long lost its luster, and I've a-been huntin' for a beautiful, strong, young Gathian gal to impose upon! Junior here has incredible strength, in exchange for his… offensive appearance. And where do you step in? Well, that's rather self-explanatory. I've lost my interest in that codger, but he did love me so. I had my reasons for keepin' my son at bay—as you can see, my little boy don't play nice."
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in playing daddy to a demon," he replied in a snicker, "and I'm definitely not interested in fucking one." In a compound burst, the flames of his powers vented up his fists, the behemoth quick to circle him.
"Oh, we got a feisty one!" She smiled, an air of arrogance wafting over her face. A finger stroked her chin. "That's unfortunate. If you don't reconsider, Junior here won't have any reason to keepin' you alive."
"The feeling is mutual."
"Stubborn boy. Well, if you insist, sic' em!"
A shrill battle cry followed absolute absurdity! What wicked speed for one his size. Cabil instantly found himself in the crushing clutch of Junior, his corroding breath basking over his face. With the composition of his sheath clear up close, the classed warrior confirmed it an alloy of metals. What a great way to make matters worse—a rare resistance to his pyrogenic powers. Cabil had an approach for this worst-case scenario, but he needed a demanding amount of urja. And with his armor left behind, the task may be more difficult than expected.
"Guess I'll have to give into the challenge!" Cabil proudly declared, the match up exciting him, a scorching inferno engulfing him in white intrinsic energy. The burst pushed the demon away, his talons already thawing. Given the chance, Cabil made a savage attack, cleaving the behemoth's chest with rapid fierce punches mid-flight. Delivering wave after wave of heat, Junior anchored his ground, absorbing shock after shock, until the blows became slower and less impactful. Cabil neglected his intelligence, and truthfully, underestimated his opponent for the common brute type demon. As his chest cleaved open to vulnerable flesh, Junior swung Cabil by his leg, tossing him into terrain.
He collided into a body of oak, powerless, the sensation of rapid burns coursing through his back. As he peeled his eyes open, the hag carried her menacing gait toward him, her mouth morphing into a star-shaped pucker rimmed with shark teeth. "Since you're so inclined to stray, I can do with consumin' you instead, Cabil." He winced, her discovery jeering at him. "That charade would have worked, sweetie, 'till you maneuvered them flames." She began bouncing in delight, clapping her hands together. "To think I'll be dinin' on one of Aegelleon's prime soldiers! Color me surprised! Truly, this must be my lucky day. I'll chop you up into little pieces, darlin'; keep you nice n' cool in my little freezer… so I can eat you bit by bit as the year slips on thr—"
Squelch. Her words slurred, the coagulation of blood oozing down her mouth choking her. Cabil smirked at the sight of her vicious serpent tongue flouncing against the ground. The beast's nostrils flickered, all eyes on the gunwoman snipering from the ranch house rooftop.
"Gotta' love Wiver Shop's arsenal." Cameryn happily intervened, the beast already charging her way. Cabil's beating had stunted the behemoth's gait, giving Cameryn a slight advantage. With the mech strapped on her right arm, the talisman core within it sparked, and a cackling reverberation infused the air.
A stillness before the chaos—she waited patiently, his speed gradually picking up, and just when the gap between them couldn't get any closer, a hot beam of blinding light engulfed the scene in white. A burst of wind whipped the earth into a ruffle, tearing the grove in two halves. Cabil latched onto an uproot for as long as he could, his boiling infuriation for that woman and her brash actions giving him strength to hang on. It was reckless, but it seemed to have done the trick.
As the air cleared, it became apparent his comrade was packing more heat than he originally expected.
"Ma' baby! How dare you!" Graice slurred angrily as she emerged from the rubble, her son's ashes a large smear on the terrain.
With her back tossed against the brick chimney from recoil, Cameryn peeped down at the mess below. "WOOO!" she cheered as Graice furiously leaped at her.
"You'll pay for what you did to Junior!!"
Cabil's attempt to aid his comrade fell on his ass—between Cameryn's doomsday shot and his urja exhaustion, he could barely budge a muscle. He lay there among foliage like roadkill, but it seemed his assistance wouldn't be needed as a load of fortified silver bullets soon turned the ol' hag into target practice. As soon as her corpse dropped, the decay of her vessel began to shrivel into nonexistence.
"How were you so sure she wasn't a noble?" Cabil's query stretched out to Cameryn, the gunwoman making sport of the fading carcass from a distance. She twirled her heels and sashayed her hips over the dissolving skeletal remnants of durja, proudly flaunting her canon to Cabil.
"I wasn't." She winked.
"You shouldn't be so reckless. Wiver Shop doesn't always have what you need to take on a high cal demon. Or a regular one for that matter."
"And the High Order is a bunch of thieving, unappreciative, smug pricks. I'd rather take my chances than ask them for favors." Cameryn swayed over to Cabil with an offering hand. "Need some help?"
"From you? Do I have a choice?" Cabil collapsed on her shoulder, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. They trekked down to the backhouse. Behind the unlocked door, a devastating sight almost too much for Cabil to stomach. On the butcher table, the so called troublesome teen's hatched body parts were scattered in bloody piles—still fresh, the pungent smell left Cabil with a nauseous and defeated feeling as he turned for the exit.
A moment to rest and relax. Was this the price for his selfish desires?
Once outside, the air fell into a haunting stillness. A cloud of regret and guilt circled his heavy head. He closed the door behind them, Cameryn's tugging pulling him forward. "Hey, look." She pointed out the timid bunch of girls and boys huddled by their hall's front door. No doubt they saw the calamity, their faces twisted with fright.
The two approached them, Cabil trying his very best to crack a victorious smile,
"It's over. Let's get you guys somewhere safe."
----
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