Flame of Cytherea: Cytherean Chronicles book 1 Read online

  Is it any wonder his feelings would grow so quickly in light of that?

  Was that all it was? A temporary infatuation? She knew she was being foolish, she didn’t even know if her feelings were more than temporary, but she had been hurt before. She knew she was attractive, but at least she didn’t have to worry that it was just lust, his power activating had proved it wasn’t, and had made her deliriously happy.

  So why was she lying ten feet away instead of feeling warm and safe in his arms? She dried her eyes out, decision made, and rolled onto her knees and stood. She walked over and he looked questioning until she lay down beside him and cuddled into his warm hard body. She kissed him softly.

  “I would love to…”

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  Nora caught that last bit with her wind ability. She hadn’t been spying exactly, but every ten minutes or so she had used the wind to carry their voices to her, she figured it was better than invading their privacy in person to see if they were done yet. She was exhausted, although not as much as she would have been if she hadn’t been restored by Justin’s white flames earlier.

  She started walking back to the camp, ready for some sleep, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and gaped as a very large bird flew over their position. It had wings of pure fire, and the body and head of the bird were sheathed in bright flames.

  Nora growled, “Fucking hell, what is that girl thinking, nothing but air between her ears.”

  She turned and started to chase her, then stopped, looking back at the camp. Well this is a fine thing she thought angrily. The king would want her to go after the princess, but she needed to protect the Flame. She considered it shortly then stomped back to the camp.

  She spoke to them in a growl, so much for her toning it down she thought, “Listen, I just saw princess Nicole fly over. I don’t know what the hell the girl is thinking but she is probably going to the southern towns to help me kill the sons of… invaders. So stay here, don’t move, I can run much faster alone… I’ll be back in two hours, maybe three.”

  The both nodded to her in agreement so she turned and ran for the south, cursing the princess the whole way…

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  Captain Danth frowned at the scout that was reporting. Apparently the entire force of fifty soldiers was currently burning in a deep pit a mile south of the town. He was a little worried about that, only having thirty soldiers and not knowing what happened to fifty, but he really had no choice.

  He ordered a pair of scouts to return and report what happened to Arnath. In addition they needed to report that he was about to take the town and pacify it. He ordered the other scouts to report the results of that but to only get close enough to the town to watch. If he blundered into the same thing as the other captain, at least it would get reported back. Scant comfort but there it was.

  He ordered his men forward in three teams of ten. Teams were usually six but he wanted to be sure of it, he ordered two guards on the front and back door as the other six entered the houses and hoped to hell that would be enough…

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  Nicole was coming up to the first town, she was nervous despite the fact she was a phoenix. She wondered how she was going to locate Nora so she circled the first town she came to. She saw some enemy soldiers, they were patrolling the streets, and she filled herself with a steely determination and dove. Her wingspan was thirty feet, her body was about the size of a wagon and fire fell from her long feathered tail.

  She flew up the street, just a few feet off the ground at a very high speed, but she could still see every detail around her. Soldiers on both sides of the street caught fire as she passed, dying in seconds, turning to dust a few seconds after that. One in her way turned and pushed wind in her direction. She cawed loudly in contempt as her fire absorbed it and the sheathing flames grew larger, she brushed the man with her tail as she passed, incinerating him in less than a second.

  Somewhere in the back of her mind, the eighteen year old innocent girl cried out in horror at the slaughter she was causing, but the part of her in control was an eighteen year old bird of prey, these were invaders, enslavers, followers of a dark god. Death would be their reward.

  She flew to the next street and watched in frustration as the soldiers dove into homes and businesses. She didn’t want to burn down the whole town, and in human form she would still be formidable, but much easier to kill. Maybe when she found Nora they could come back. She winged off to the next town which was Nerin.

  It was fifteen miles away and took her less than ten minutes. As she flew up the road she saw a large contingent of thirty troops approaching the town but still out in the open. She shrieked a challenging cry and dove for them. She cursed herself for not remaining silent as four of them lifted their hands. She was grabbed by telekinesis and held in the air. She saw a nasty smile on one of them, then felt pain explode in her head.

  She felt her magic slipping from her grasp and knew if she lost it she would change back to human and be killed. She panicked and gripped harder despite the pain and flashed her wings to a burning white flame almost as bright as the sun, for just a moment, as she shrieked as loud as she could.

  She felt the pain and restraints fall away, all of the talents attacking her were off balance and temporarily blinded from the bright flashing light and the very loud high pitched screech from her beak. She wasted no time and flew over them, burning them all as she struggled to remain conscious.

  She passed out from the pain, the desperate burst of magic, and using the last of her power to burn thirty men at once, too many. Luckily she was just a few feet from the ground when she crash landed and changed form…

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  The scouts considered walking over and killing her, but what if she woke up? Plus, she was real close to the town, and they were ordered not to enter it for any reason. As they argued they saw a woman appear out of nowhere, look down at the passed out woman and shake her head with disgust.

  They clearly heard, “At least she killed a ton of the fuckers,” in a grudging approval.

  They watched as she picked up the unconscious woman, threw her over her shoulder, and then started running north. Obviously the escaped wind user lives. They decided they made the right decision in staying hidden else they would probably be dead. They headed back to report to Arnath. They drew straws to see who got stuck doing it, they were pretty sure that scout was about to die.

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  Sally was terrified and there was a war going on in her mind. She didn’t look like much of a threat, she was only just over five feet tall. She had long raven black hair which was rare this far south. Her eyes were a deep brown and her skin was much darker than most, it was more a light brown.

  Her neighbors, the town she lived in, were good people. She thought they might not care about her secret, but she had promised her mother to never reveal it. Her mother had told her about their homeland to the north of Abelaweth named Uleni. Uleni was an even harsher place for women, and their family secret revealed meant death.

  Her mother had told her if her talent became known, even if the villagers here didn’t care, word would eventually travel of the dark skinned woman with great power, and Uleni would hear of it, and send assassins. Uleni regarded any woman of power with suspicion, though tolerated them as long as they followed the rigid rules of their society.

  But her family secret was even worse, mages in Uleni were revered, but if the talent fell to a woman, she was branded a witch, an outcast, an evil, and summarily killed. Sally’s secret was her bloodline, every daughter born of her family, according to her mother, was a mage… a witch.

  So she had promised to never reveal her ability, ever. Yesterday afternoon she wouldn’t have dreamed of questioning it. Life and family were more important than power, and she would never break a promise, break her word.

  Yet, here she was, close to the Egerian border heading for the mines, where all the people here would be worked until death. Ho
w could she not reveal herself? What good was dying as a slave just to keep a secret. Yet she was afraid, she did not want to be hunted by her former countrymen, she did not want to break the promise she had made her mother. But… how could a promise be more important than all these people’s lives? Would not her shame be worth the cost?

  The very people she had grown up with. Perhaps if it was just her, she could stay strong, look for another way out and hope. But all these people. Tears ran down her face as she looked around. There were only five guards, she could see their magic and feel it. One had fire, the rest were earth, affinity for weapons, clean/refresh and balance.

  She whispered, “I’m so sorry mother,” as she gathered clouds in the sky, bringing a storm overhead. Maybe they would not be able to tell where the power came from. She brought the rain and the wind… then the lightning.

  Her friends were all gasping as the five soldiers fell to lightning and looked fearfully up in the sky. She felt a little stab of guilt at that and the storm dissipated as quickly as it had formed. No one else moved so she walked over to the head guard and fished the keys off his blackened corpse and started to remove everyone’s cuffs.

  She noticed they started to look at her suspiciously and her hopes to keep it a secret died. Of course they knew. They already knew everyone else’s talent, it was only hers they didn’t know, it wasn’t hard to figure out.

  Then she saw their looks were hard, questioning. She understood of course, why let them be taken to begin with, why let the soldiers take their town. She lowered her head in shame and tried to explain.

  “My old country, Uleni, they kill woman that show mage powers. Mages are well known, and if my family secret gets out they will send assassins.”

  Her friend Hanna shook her head, “Does that matter now? How many lives could you save if you use the power the goddess gifted you with? Can you really continue hiding it and let all those die that you could save?”

  She shook her head in despair, “No, I cannot. But I am now an oath breaker, and I must find a way to make amends.”

  It seemed no matter what she did, she would be shamed. Keep a promise and let people die, or break it. Keep breaking it really, since she had already done so. She knew what she had to do, she would go north, seek out a worthy end for herself. Perhaps if she died the Uleni will not bother to investigate the rumors.

  After all, it wasn’t just her in danger. They would hunt her whole bloodline if they suspected anything.

  Trusting her friends could walk back on their own she said goodbye and shifted into a falcon, heading north with a heavy heart.

  Chapter 8

  Justin slowly clawed his way out of sleep. He had never been a morning person really, but the ground was just a little uncomfortable and he had a crick in his back. He was a bit confused for a moment, he felt Katrina snuggled into his left side, but there was someone else snuggled in on his right. His sleep addled mind took a moment, but it had gotten cool last night, and Nora didn’t want a fire for fear it would be seen. Perhaps she was just cold last night and needed warmth?

  He cracked his eyes open to confirm and jumped a little when he saw long curly red hair the shade of… fire was the best his mind could come up with, instead of the short curly blonde he had been expecting. His eyes roved further down, he couldn’t see much from that angle, except the large D, or was it double D breasts that were tightly confined in thin leather armor. His fuzzy brain thought it looked more like a bustier than armor though.

  He raised his head slightly in concern, and caught a glimpse of Nora lying on the other side of the strange girl cuddled into her back. It took a minute, but he guessed this must be the princess Nicole? Dressed like that? His mind rebelled a bit, and then she opened her eyes, their faces mere inches apart.

  He opened his mouth to say something, not sure what, but he never got the chance as she screamed in his face and jumped up and went for her dagger with a fierce look on her young face that would have looked cute, if he wasn’t in danger of being stabbed.

  Thankfully, Nora intervened, “Nicci! STOP!”

  The princess turned and spluttered, “But he… he,” and then understanding lit her face and she looked sheepish, “Didn’t do anything did he. You found me and carried me here and put me against him for warmth didn’t you… Thank you, I was worried when I passed out like that from using too much magic.”

  Turning to Justin, she apologized and put the knife back.

  Nora snickered, “Exactly, maybe next time you won’t panic in a situation like that. Nicci, this is Justin, a Flame of Cytherea and on his other side is Katrina. Justin, Kat, this is Nicole Christina Althone, princess of Abelaweth, and also a runaway. Who I am proud to say killed a lot of those fucking Egerians last night.”

  Justin almost laughed, he thought Nora was being more polite with the princess present giving an introduction and all, but nope…

  Nicole said demurely, “Just call me Nicci. I’m glad you found me, I was hoping to run into you so we could work together Nora,” looking at Justin shyly she asked, “Are you really a Flame of Cytherea?”

  He just nodded, then thought to add, “Nice to meet you Nicci.”

  Kat caressed his lower stomach, which was distracting, as she said, “It’s lucky Nora saw you passing over us, we are actually heading north to support the army.”

  Nicole looked to Nora questioningly and Nora sighed before she said, “I know what I said yesterday morning, but protecting the Flame is more important, I can still avenge my sisters, perhaps even more so this way…”

  Nicole sighed despondently. “I can’t go north to the Army, they will send me home. One of my brothers is there, and even with the way I am dressed he is sure to recognize me.”

  Nora winked and said, “I’ve been trying to think of a way to keep you since I saw all those roasted Egerian soldiers. It came to me on the run back. Would it be unreasonable for a royal to make an oath of protection, for the duration of the war, to a Flame of the goddess?”

  Nicole looked thoughtful…

  Justin stirred uncomfortably, he was just him, not some legend.

  Katrina must have sensed his unease because she started to caress his back. He thought longingly of the comfort of the tavern and wished they were still back there for a moment. He also wished Cynthia was here as he smiled wryly, he was sticky, dirty, sweaty and worried that he stunk, what he would give for a hot shower…

  Nicole looked at him calculatingly and finally said, “Yes, that might work. There would be no shame attached to the crown by swearing to one such as him.”

  Confused he said, “Oath?”

  Nicci raised an eyebrow in surprise but Nora explained.

  “He is from another world Nicci, he doesn’t know many of our ways,” turning to Justin, “An oath is a binding between two people. Normally a princess could not make an oath, as her loyalty is to the king and kingdom only, but this is not a normal circumstance. An oath is a serious thing, oath breakers are shunned by everyone.

  “If you ever swear to anything, you had better mean it, and be able to accomplish it. Point being that if she makes an oath, even the king will not be able to naysay it and recall her to the castle.”

  It seemed surreal to him as Nicci went on her knees before him. Out of the bottom of his eyes he could see her long mouthwatering cleavage, but he was very aware of Kat on his arm and the seriousness of the situation, and he managed to keep eye contact with the young beautiful woman, somehow.

  Nicci swore, “If it be within my power I swear to protect your life from all harm until the war is done.”

  He flinched as Katrina poked him and whispered in his ear.

  He blushed and said, “I accept your oath.”

  He asked what the first part was about and Kat filled him in.

  “Wording the oath is important, it means she will do her best to protect your life, but if you still die through no fault of her own, her oath won’t be violated. If she had left out the first part and someho
w you died, she would be an oath breaker, her fault or not.”

  He considered this and the seriousness of it, and felt a bit overwhelmed. An oath being serious on this world wasn’t too big for him to deal with, but things just kept piling up. For a moment he desperately wished he was back home in Chicago. He had been rolling with things and it had been going fast. Too fast, too much. He was actually on his way to fight in a war, and he had three very different, but equally attractive women around him.

  Ok, so being surrounded by beautiful women wasn’t one of his issues. Especially Kat, the promise of them being together was making all the rest a little more bearable. He wasn’t really considering running or anything, it’s just, he wished things would slow down a bit, everything was coming too fast to process.

  He followed Nora, holding Kat’s hand like a lifeline, as she led them toward a large stream where there was a still water pool breaking the current that looked a few feet deep. There was a small waterfall at the other end. As they started undressing around him he blushed. Okay, another new thing, coed bathing. He could deal with that, he started undressing trying not to think about it.

  When he slipped into the water he gasped, it was hot, almost too hot. It should have been freezing and he wondered what the princess’s talent was. Nora had mentioned charred bodies, so maybe fire? Remembering at the last second what Kat had told him repeatedly, he swallowed down the question.

  He did his best to maintain eye contact, but of course, he couldn’t help but get a few delicious eyefuls as they all washed as best they could, passing around a pungent bar of soap that Nora had. As he got out, he wondered how they would get dry when he was suddenly pummeled with a high wind from every direction at once. It was intense.

  He laughed, he was awake now, as well as dry, “Thanks Nora.”

  When he glanced back he blushed as they were all unabashedly staring at him, and not his face. He couldn’t really help his reaction after all, he wasn’t used to communal bathing. They were beautiful and he was just eighteen. He picked up his clothes and smelled them as he walked behind some bushes to dress, they weren’t too bad but he still grimaced as he put them on…