Page 24 of Shadows of Air and Earth
"How is stating the obvious by any means helpful? What is happening? Where have the shadows gone and better yet, why haven’t the other ones come back?" Xi snarled back. I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose while the two females glared at one another. I was in the worst possible position for this and in normal self preservation mode I would have taken more than a few steps back from this face off.
But this shit wasn’t normal. Something was off…missing, I couldfeelit.
Hard emerald eyes cutting through the opaque mist narrowed on Xi and I shifted uncomfortably at their intensity. "Our powers have become void in this mist—a mist that is normally contained within the Faerie rings. It is how theanthousai are so powerful once you are trapped within the rings."
"Impossible," Xi breathed.
Dark hair fell over her shoulder when she tilted her head, the long strands disappearing in the dense fog. "Go on then, both of you. See if you can harness either one of your elements?"
Breathing deep and keeping contact with Xi, I attempted to latch onto the air. All it would take was one forceful gust to rid us of this entire debacle, but when I reached for my power I found nothing. Just pure emptiness. This was what was missing.
"Nothing," I divulged, looking down at Xi to see her shaking her head at me, lips pressed tightly, her singular grey eye wide with alarm. Sighing, I tapped my sword held tightly in her hand, my tone confident. "Then old school it is, just cleverness and steel. What could go wrong with that?"
"Indeed, Ri, what could possibly go wrong?" Remnant mused. Her sarcasm not lost on me. Sighing, she quickly stripped off her leather vest, pushing it up and over her head, baring her torso and causing me to damn near fall over—never mind the fact that she had just called me Ri.
Darting a quick glance down at Xi whose mouth also hung open, we watched as the General's creamy, perky breasts swayed and her firm cut abs rippled as she stooped for a knife at her boot. Flashes of silver and the sound of furious shearing of cut leather had her spinning towards us soon after.
Braided from the strips of her clothing, Remnant held up several leather bindings. I jerked back, crashing into Xi when the shadow fae stepped towards me, unsure what the Faerie fuck she was up to. Anticipating my reaction, Remnant’s strong hand snapped out, faster than I had ever seen anyone move before, and gripped my belt dragging me closer.
I cleared my throat, averting my eyes to not stare down at the full breasts that were just short of my torso, as she beganto tie the makeshift leather rope to me without permission. "I uh…I'm not sure what is going on here and I mean no offense General but I am not seeking—" a sharp jerk of the knot she was cinching crashed my body into hers. Her firm, petite frame radiated a hot heat through my clothing but when my eyes looked down into hers, all I saw was an impish smile.
Thoroughly confused, I glanced over at Xi for assistance, but she seemed to have recovered much quicker than I had. Giving me the first full grin since she found out about my power, Xi nodded. “Go on Ri…what are you not seeking?"
"You are goddess fucking serious right now?"
Remnant snickered, reaching up to pat my cheek. "Do not worry Dragoon, I am not tying you up to have my wicked way with you. I'll leave that to our lovely Xi." Tossing a leather cord to Xi, she stepped away from me winking.
Licking my lips I watched them both warily, even more confused when Xi began to tie her own binding to her belt, "What order would you have us in?" Xi said as she tugged on the rope, testing her knot, and peering at Remnant through the dense fog.
Still not knowing what the goddess was happening, I glanced between them, trying desperately not to stare at the beautiful, bare body that was Remnant Dark and feeling like a fool at the way Xi was watching me do so.
"Best to keep Ri in the middle. If we come across the anthousai they will be more interested in him. He already looks like a flower nymph with his green hair and eyes the color of the woodlands."
"I do not—wait, what in the Sheol is going on." Having enough of the play, I folded my arms across my chest, glaring at both of their smirking faces. Not tits. Faces. Goddess help me.
More soft snickers were my only answer before Xi tugged me into her. Stumbling, I reeled on the balls of my feet, bowing overher body to stop from crushing her with my full weight while she simply winked up at me and planted a kiss upon my mouth. Effectively cutting off my words of outrage.
"Don't worry my little flower nymph, we will take such good care of you," she purred up at me.
Looking between us and watching her tie her binding to mine, the pieces finally clicked together inside my addled brain. This was for safety…not for some kinky sex in the middle of a threatening mist with the female of my dreams and another of nightmares.
I goddess damn needed more male friends.
Another jerk, had me looking down at the source, Remnant now binding us together, looping the leather around her own belt. Her exposed pale skin melded into the mist that was already thickening. "We need to stick together," she explained. "To be separated will be offering our lives to the death god in this mist. No games, no tricks. Just straight to the pits of Sheol or in a land of no mercy in the Faerie rings. I'm not ready for either. Are you?"
I huffed, waving at the leather cord between us. "You could have just said that from the beginning and why not ask me to use my shirt, it would have given us more room should we need to fight while still being anchored together."
Her dark head shook, the details of her face fading. "Leather is much harder to sever, the cloth of your pretty shirt would be too frail. I could have used your pants, they are longer and also leather but I thought you’d rather not have your swinging balls exposed in a jungle of gnomes and the siren-like revelry of the flower nymphs. Then, there was the decision of my own or Xi's pants to use. And we both know one would have deemed you helpless because if you had a bare pussy and fine ass to look at…" She shrugged, indicating the rest did not need to be said.
I choked, fuckingchokedbefore blurting, "Do you—fuck, do you at least want my shirt?"
Xi chortled behind me, patting my back in sympathy as I stammered like a damn faeling.
Remnant's eyes glowed through the mist. "Nah, that would defeat the second purpose of using my shirt."
"Which is what exactly?" Feeling far too foolish at this point to assume I knew anything that was going on in Remnant Dark’s head.
She smiled. "To stay cool of course. It’s hotter than the goddess's tits out here. What other reason is there?"
