War and Diplomacy: Life Sorcerer: Book Two - Return of Magic: Book Three Read online

  War and Diplomacy

  Life Sorcerer: Book Two - Return of Magic: Book Three

  Author: D. R. Rosier

  Copyright 2021. This is a work of fiction. Names, Characters, Places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four - Interlude

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven – Interlude

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven – Interlude

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Afterword:

  About the Author

  Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:

  Non-erotic Fantasy titles:

  Book Description

  Prologue

  The deck of ship was vast, and it put one of their old aircraft carriers to shame. It was covered with enchanted protections and weapons that made it all but invincible and incredibly deadly in the water. It’d taken almost a year to build, with the aid of many sorcerers under his command. The magical engines powering it were so vast and diverse that just four sorcerers could keep the ship running without pushing their magic too far. It was also filled with people, weapons, and soldiers as it pulled away from the port.

  The sun was far to the west as General Wei Xun stared over the deck rail lost in thought. The magic had come back five years ago, as his family had known it would for generations. Oh, not the exact date, but his family line had kept the lore alive. Most of the rest of the world had forgotten. The aristocracy that once held and ruled with magical power in Russia and much was Europe was destroyed in rebellions, and the weak-minded fools had decided their past was merely legend.

  Many of China’s top families had known. They had been the men and women of power before the magic and gods were shifted away to another realm. Their influence had never waned, through tradition and strength.

  What he hadn’t expected had been the genocidal aliens that’d wiped out all their cities and close to a billion of his fellow countrymen, and perhaps even worse in some ways, that technology would be useless. There was no way to know, since they hadn’t had technology back then. All their updated contingency plans had been crap as a result.

  Instead of being able to act decisively and with surety, it’d taken him five long years to restore order in his province, but he was ready now. China was one nation again, as it had always been. He was sure the Americans had broken down into small tribes of fear ridden people clinging to each other. They were weak and undisciplined, and they had no traditions to guide them. The United States didn’t even exist the last time there was magic and gods. His mission there should be almost guaranteed to be successful.

  It was the perfect opportunity in the end, to expand their influence and control over the world. The other world powers would be fractured and weak in this new world, still finding their feet without discipline and tradition to bring them back together.

  His iron will pushed down the wistful weakness as he saw his homeland disappear over the horizon. The vast ship cut through the water and took him away from his homeland and place of birth. He hadn’t wanted this assignment of expansion, and he wondered if he’d ever see the place of his birth again. The huge ship was even faster than he’d expected. It just took a significant amount of time to build up that speed.

  The emperor had been quite adamant, however. He had another land to bring under control, a whole continent which he’d rule in the emperor’s name.

  “Second thoughts, General?” asked a soft feminine voice.

  He turned and revealed nothing of his thoughts or emotions on his face as he took in the deadly young priestess. Sun Ming was five foot six, all willowy and deadly grace, with long straight black hair and brown eyes. The delicate beauty of her young face was a lie, since there was nothing delicate about her at all. She was the High Priestess of Phaphine, the goddess of oracles, and an ever-present pain in his ass. She was incredibly beautiful, but he’d have sooner shared his bed with a poisonous snake.

  “Should I?”

  He’d sooner die than admit his weakness. That he’d been saying goodbye to the land of his birth. Wondering if he’d ever see it again.

  Sun Ming stared at him for a moment before answering, not long enough to show disrespect, but she definitely rode that line. She was still young and acted as one who had something to prove. She was also an incredibly dangerous fighter, so it was just as well. Her martial arts and skills with a sword were top notch, and her goddess granted her power as well, but it was her ability to see a few seconds ahead in a fight that truly made her a singularly deadly threat.

  “Nothing has changed. There will be challenges, but in the end our people will flourish and hold influence in our new land.”

  He suppressed a grimace. Oracles were never very specific, which made them worthless for planning a campaign outside of wide generalities. She was also a spy of sorts. She could and would communicate with her other priestesses on the mainland, who would report to the emperor. He had his own magic for that, and his honor would ensure his reports were accurate, but there was no changing things. He was stuck with her for a very long time to come.

  “Would you care to join me for dinner tonight?”

  He suppressed another grimace as she said yes, sometimes tradition bit him on the ass…

  The council chambers in the great tree at the center of the elven city was a beautiful and simple place. The council sat behind an ornate desk that was part of the tree itself, grown into that shape, as were the vine covered and leafy chairs the council sat in.

  The three councilors were made up of the queen of the elves, the dragon king, and the high priestess of Charites. There was one more in the room as she entered. Ilyana, the High Priestess of Vadea.

  Sy’lia was a priestess of Charites, and she wasn’t quite sure yet why she’d been summoned to the council chambers, but by the serious looks on all their faces she didn’t imagine it boded well. The reunification of the gods, magic, elves, dragons, and magical races to the primary realm had been fraught with difficulties and surprises. Not least of which was the alien attacks, most of the humans not knowing about magic or the other races, and a total breakdown of human society.

  Though, that last one was a double-edged sword. There’d been a few incidents, small skirmishes where they were unwelcome, but no strong human societies threatened theirs either. At least, not on this continent.

  The first time she’d seen one of the alien poisoned and vast human cities she’d been horrified. So far, the war of extermination the humans had launched against the other races so long ago hadn’t been an issue. But humans were currently fractured. It’d only be a matter of time before they cleaned up their mess, and no doubt when that happened the short-lived race would look for trouble. The council’s goals and aims were to prevent such a recurrence, lest the stupid humans endanger the balance once again, and the very world itself.

  It was a shame the balance needed the humans at all. It’d be so much easier if that short lived and violent race wasn’t a part of their world. She’d been born and had grown up
in the other realm, and while there’d been some arguments, war between the elves and dragons were a foreign idea. War between cities and others of their own race was unthinkable. Their campaigns to greet and educate the humans on the reality of their world had met with some success, and some failures as well. Humans were stubborn and violent, and seemed to have no problems ignoring reality and making up their own false truths.

  Lies that they believed so vehemently, that they were willing to fight and die for them.

  She pushed her meandering thoughts out of her head, and she bowed her head respectfully for a moment. The council made decisions for both races, but she was twice bound to do their will, as a priestess of Charites, the High Priestess Trielle of their goddess was her superior.

  “You summoned me?”

  Trielle waved a hand at Ilyana, “Ilyana has some concerns that she can’t address herself. She asked for aid from us and I thought you’d be perfect for this particular… fact finding and diplomatic mission.”

  Ilyana said, “The humans now have a high priestess of Vadea.”

  Understanding struck. It would be very bad form for the elven high priestess of Vadea to interfere with the human one for any reason. The gods didn’t like it when the heads of their human and elven churches interfered with each other. Of course, they didn’t like it much better when one goddess’s priestess interferes with another goddess’s, but it was more acceptable.

  “What do you require me to do?” she asked, not sure she liked the idea of interfering either. The fact-finding part didn’t bother her, that wasn’t interfering, but diplomatic? Why would diplomacy be required for a priestess? The human and elven churches were independent, and always had been.

  Trielle said, “It seems the human high priestess is involved with the corrupt life sorcerer to the west. Ilyana is concerned he may have a corrupting influence.”

  She felt the blood drain from her face. Diplomatic efforts with that man would be impossible.

  Trielle continued, “There’s also a small chance that we were hasty in our judgement when we wrote off the west, and we declared any contact with Sean Anders being untenable. It seems the priestess is not only working with him, but she is also his mate.”

  She frowned, and objected, “But he abuses his power, steals life force, and creates abominations against nature.”

  Sianne, the queen of the elves, said, “He does. But he was ignorant of magic and its dangers as all humans were. It’s our thought that he may be doing so in ignorance of the dangers and merely to protect his own life in the chaos of emergence. We wish you to find out if he’s an evil and corrupting man, who has undue influence over one of the churches, or if in fact if it’s the other way around, and this new high priestess of the humans sees something redeemable in him that we missed. There’s also the matter of Katie, who recently was forced to work with the man on an issue of balance. I’d suggest you start there.”

  Trielle said, “Either way, we need to at least be aware, and keep an eye on him. You will attempt to open up diplomatic relations with him as part of the reason you’re there.”

  She understood. She doubted either of the humans would be pleased if she just showed up asking questions. She’d be investigating him and the high priestess while opening negotiations. No doubt, if he did turn out to be as corrupt as they feared, those negotiations would fail and she could come home.

  But why in the gods did they think she was perfect for this assignment? Her sister Arielle, and other priestesses she’d talked to, actually liked the humans and believed they’d get a clue. That it wouldn’t come to war this time. She wasn’t so sure, not after finding out what they did in their absence. So many animals hunted to extinction, so much destruction, and those abominations that they called cities. Surely, one of the others would be a better choice, she just wanted to go home. Not her tree, the other realm.

  “I understand. The seers?”

  Sianne said, “They still feel a danger coming from the west, but they’re split on the cause. Many of them believe Sean will not be that threat, but an ally against what comes.”

  She found that very hard to believe.

  “Anything else, before I seek out the bearer and an introduction?”

  Trielle said, “No. Just… be cautious. The humans are short-lived, violent, and are sometimes short on wisdom, but they do surprise us on occasion.”

  She bowed her head, and she withdrew. She prayed for wisdom as she returned home and packed for travel. The magic of her goddess connected her to all the life around her. She wondered just how bad the abominations would feel to her. She’d heard stories of such horrors, but she’d never experienced it herself.

  Hopefully, the bearer of the mantel of balance would agree to arrange an introduction, otherwise it was going to be a long ride…

  Chapter One

  The early September sun was still very warm in Southern California. The nights could cool down, but it must’ve been close to eighty degrees that early afternoon. The warm water of the pool felt good as he floated on his back in the swimsuit after doing sixty laps. The sky had a few clouds, but rain was rare that time of year and it was mostly blue and bright above him.

  The last month had been rather relaxing for Sean. There’d been a few emergencies per week they’d had to address, either fires or some other tragedy that required the aid of a priestess or the magic of a nature sorceress. Otherwise he hadn’t done much else outside of practicing his magic and enjoying his mates.

  Mostly because of the house guests. They’d agreed not to do anymore scheduled day visits so Mara could pass along the word of her goddess and search for more people with the potential to wield a god’s or goddess’s power, until Lori was ready to do the same. He wasn’t exactly sure how that was going. Mara, along with Lori’s three lovers including the other priestess Emily, were taking care of that. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. He did and felt empathy for the abuse Lori and her lovers had gone through the last five years, but the last thing she would need is a male to help her get over the kind of abuse she’d faced.

  He swam to the edge the pool, and he looked over at his mates. As usual, he was a bit overcome by their beauty and the love in his heart. His two lovers were sunbathing in bikinis. They’d swam laps with him earlier, but they’d gotten out when they were done to lie in the sun’s heat. There were still water droplets adhering to their silky smooth and tanned skin, which woke his libido.

  Cassie, who he’d been with for over five years now, hadn’t aged a day since they’d met, thanks to his power as a life sorcerer. She had lovely and long light blonde hair and deep blue eyes set in a heart shaped face. She was way out of his league that way, always had been. Her lips were full, and she didn’t look a day over twenty-two years old. Her body was sinfully delightful, with a toned stomach, long toned legs, and a thin waist, but was otherwise all soft and sumptuously ripe curves. Her rounded D cups were supple and proud for their size, and she had a juicy bubbled ass to die for.

  Mara, his second mate, he’d known for far less time, just about two and a half months now, and they’d been lovers for two of those. The beauty of her face was both ethereally soft and exotic at the same time with her Eurasian ancestry. She had striking almond eyes, long and lustrously wavy dark brown hair, soft high cheekbones, and generous lips just short of naturally pouty. Her body was supple and petite, athletic and tight, and she stood at a mere five foot two. Her B cups, whisper thin waist, and mouthwateringly petite bubbled ass were all in perfect proportion, and she loved him as much as he loved her.

  Both of his mates were rather naughty and submissive in bed, though Mara was far more subtle about it, and a compassionate and giving lady outside the bedroom. While Cassie could be a lot more wicked. They loved each other too, not just him, as they had an equal in all directions triad relationship, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Lying next to both of them were Kim and Lin. They were his personal guards, and family. They were also incredibly bea
utiful and sexy, and both loved him to distraction, although they weren’t a part of their circle, yet. Both Cassie and Mara had been working on his issue that way. Trying to help him conquer the irrational fear he had at the idea of adding them to the circle of love. He cared about them a great deal. They were incredible and complicated women, and not just puppets of his creation.

  As he looked at them, and considered inviting them into their bed, he no longer felt a deep stomach twisting dread at the idea. Like if he did that, then they’d be taken from him and killed like his precious Cynthia had been. That was a huge step forward, but he still felt more than a little recoiling twinge at the idea. He knew he wouldn’t be taking advantage, he just feared if he ever took them into his bed he’d fall hard for both them. He already cared about them far too much for his comfort.

  It didn’t make logical sense. He also wondered if that twinge was just cowardice, and if maybe it was possible unburdening himself last month had finally run its course. Like… the only fear left that he felt was just… habit, and not because he was still traumatized or… well, crazy. He smirked, or maybe just less crazy.

  They all had their share of issues, him included. The new world wasn’t a kind place and had left indelible marks on all their psyches.

  Regardless, his twins were both eternally eighteen, and were of eastern origin. They both had very straight, fine, and long blue-black hair, which made it look like a waterfall of liquid midnight. They had lovely brown eyes, and their faces were delicately beautiful and exotic, at least to him. Their bodies were lithe at five foot five, except for their firm and rounded C cups which looked almost overly generous on their otherwise tight lithe bodies. They had rounded and tight asses, that were perfectly proportional to their bodies. They were sweet and loving family, but they could become fierce and ruthlessly deadly at the drop of a hat if he, Mara, or Cassie were threatened.