Flame of the Succubus Page 28

  "Oh." Ember pouted.

  "Cheer up. That's less competition for you." To be honest, I had been slightly disappointed, too. Either I had a special connection with succubi, or Helix's Fallen One heritage prevented me from bonding with her. Maybe both.

  Ember shook her head. "There's no competition. Each of us should provide you with something different. Serve you in a different way." She leaned closer and took hold of my hand, sucking on my fingers. "You seem to like my throat," she mumbled as she started to deepthroat my index finger.

  She was right. My cock was already growing hard at the thought of using Ember's throat, but I had made my choice. I pulled my finger out of Ember's mouth and wiped the saliva gently across her cheek.

  "Next time, Ember." I removed the crystal stopper from the vial. "Wish us luck."

  I tilted my head backward and drank the vial in one go.

  The elixir burned my throat as it went down with the taste of cheap liquor. For a moment, I wondered if Shekel had swindled me, but then my stomach exploded with a mix of pain and pleasure, not unlike sex.

  A surge of Flame threatened to consume me, and I immediately sent some to both Allura and Ember to divert the pressure.

  "Holy shit. This is a lot of Flame." I groaned with the effort.

  Even though I wasn't in contact with either of my succubi, a flood of Flame rushed through their Nodes and back to me. I was able to gradually compress the circulating Flame, forming an even denser current. Unlike the demon cores I had absorbed, the Flame from the elixir hadn't introduced any infernal components, and it was easier to incorporate into my body.

  I moved to join Allura. I removed my tunic and pants, then climbed onto the bed.

  "Open me," Allura said with a twinkle in her eyes. She removed the rest of her dress and flung it on the floor. Then, she leaned backwards to lie on the bed and spread her thighs wide.

  I twirled a circle in the air with my finger. "Other side. Second Node. Second opening."

  Allura's eyes widened slightly, then she laughed. "Of course." She flipped over so that she was on her knees with the side of her head pressed into the bed. Her heart-shaped ass angled upwards. She reached behind and stretched her cheeks apart.

  I spit on her asshole and rubbed my saliva over the tight entrance before penetrating it with my middle finger.

  The Flame that was boiling inside me leaked through my finger into Allura's body. Close contact like kissing and sex tended to allow my Flame to circulate more easily, although greater intimacy strengthened the connection more than a casual touch. My fingers weren't usually the best channel for sending Flame directly, but this time, almost as much Flame was pouring into Allura as when we had sex.

  I could only imagine how much Flame would pour into her once I had my way with her. I would need the deluge to break open her second Node. Opening Ember's Node had been a challenge, and I expected the process to become more difficult at each step.

  I worked a second finger inside Allura's ass, then a third, pushing them deeper to stretch her opening. I twisted my fingers and pushed them slowly in and out, massaging her sphincter.

  Allura gasped. "Your Flame is filling me up already. I can barely take it."

  I slowed my fingers. "Ember. Get ready if she needs you."

  I had been directing most of my Flame into Allura alone, thinking that the focused rush would be better for opening her Node. But last time, I had used the increased momentum from another Node to open Ember's first one.

  I also wanted a second channel nearby to take on any excess Flame if Allura couldn't contain it all. I didn't think overfilling Allura with Flame was a danger. That was how I intended to open her Node. But just in case, I wanted Ember nearby and ready.

  Ember moved to the other side of the bed and took her dress off. She sat spread eagle in front of Allura, her slit just inches from Allura's mouth.

  "Not yet," I said. "Only if we need it."

  Both succubi nodded their agreement.

  "It's just…so much," Allura murmured.

  "I'm only getting started." I withdrew my fingers.

  Allura's asshole gaped open at me for a few seconds before closing, but my cock's head was already pressed against it, prying it open again. I struggled to slide it inside.

  "Actually, Ember, over here for a second. I need your mouth."

  Ember crawled over and saw the issue. She grasped my cock and directed it to her mouth. She moaned as her lips engulfed me, her tongue swirling around it. My Flame was pouring down her throat.

  "Not too much," I said as I pulled my cock back out. "It's Allura's turn."

  Ember smiled. "I know." She moved back to her position in front of Allura.

  This time, I was able to ease my wet cock into Allura's ass without too much difficulty.

  Allura gave a sharp cry and began panting. "So much…"

  A torrent of Flame flooded through Allura's existing Node, using our carnal connection as a direct conduit. Her asshole tightened around my cock so hard that I could barely move myself in and out.

  "Relax," I said. I reached for her tail, using it as leverage to pull myself deeper inside her with each thrust.

  Allura's wings suddenly flared as she cried out again. I tugged on her feathers lightly.

  Allura moaned, responding to my touch. "More, more…" she murmured.

  I wrapped each arm around a wing and held on tightly while I began pumping my cock into Allura, my thighs loudly slapping into her bouncing ass cheeks.

  I reached forward with my right hand and grabbed one of her horns, pulling hard to raise her head up. I shifted my grip to a fistful of her long dark hair. Her neck bent backwards. Allura panted hard in time with my strokes.

  "How does she look, Ember?" I asked.

  Ember's mouth was half-open with a hungry expression. "She loves it when you use her, master."

  "Well, I love it, too." The pressure inside me was building with each thrust of my hard cock into the soft insides of Allura's ass.

  Allura was moaning and panting. She said something, but the words were too jumbled to make out.

  "I think she wants more…" Ember said. "Can I? Please, master?"

  My Flame was churning as it spun in a circuit between me and Allura. I could feel my Flame probing for new channels within Allura's body. It was almost ready.

  I didn't know exactly what Ember had in mind, but I trusted her. "Do it."

  "Can you pull her head back more?"

  I obliged, tugging harder on Allura's hair so that her back and neck arched upward more.

  Ember's eyes glimmered as her tail waved in the air next to her face. Then, her tail lunged forward like a snake, entering Allura's mouth mid-pant.

  For a second, Ember's tail paused with just the tip inside Allura's mouth. The next moment, Allura made a surprised gagging noise as Ember's tail thrust past whatever resistance was there.

  I raised an eyebrow as Ember's tail snaked further and further into Allura. It had to be at least two feet down her throat.

  "Uh, Allura, are you okay?"

  Allura replied by seizing Ember's tail with both hands. I thought she was going to yank it out, but she began pulling Ember's tail down her own throat. Another foot entered Allura. Then, another.

  Fuck, I didn't know how succubus anatomy worked, but that had to be near her stomach if not in it. If succubi had stomachs.

  Ember turned around, presenting her butt to Allura's mouth so that she could pull even more of her tail inside her.

  My Flame swept through Allura into Ember through her tail, then jumping back to me across the distance that separated us.

  I was having trouble not climaxing and slowed my thrusting for a moment.

  Then, something changed.

  As my Flame permeated Allura's body, a new sensation appeared. I had always had some kind of mental connection with my succubus when I could tell whether they were lying or not.

  But now, my Flame was acting like part of my body, tracing the contours of
Allura's body, inside and out. I could sense the tight pressure as I filled up her ass, and I knew that she was barely containing the girth of my cock combined with the flood of Flame.

  Her other end was also straining to contain the coils of Ember's tail that had been thrust down her throat. The tip of Ember's tail pushed against another resistance, something that had refused to open up inside her.

  And then I saw it with my Flame. Allura's second Node. It was cracking opening.

  More. More.

  First, it was just a whisper, but the words repeated themselves, loud and louder.

  Give me more. Split me open. More. More!

  Was that…Allura? I was confused. It wasn't the usual raging voice. Through the intense bond of our Flame-induced coupling, I could actually hear her words? Or was I hallucinating?

  No, this is me!

  Allura was trying to hold back a gagging fit and half-failing, but she managed to look back at me with one eye.

  It's me!

  She was talking to me. Was that because of the second Node beginning to open?

  It must be. Finish it! Open me up!

  Somehow, despite everything happening to her, Allura summoned the presence of mind to twist her tail around me and stroke my own ass.

  I pounded her harder and harder, still holding onto a wing with one hand and her hair with the other. Ember wiggled her ass in front of us, only a small length of tail still visible outside Allura's mouth.

  I cried out in release as I climaxed. I filled Allura's body with a mix of my cum and Flame. She screamed, somehow, even with Ember's tail in her mouth.

  And then it was done.

  Yes, it is.

  Allura's sweat-streaked face looked back at me. The sides of her filled mouth were stretched open in a comical fashion, but I didn't have to see her mouth to know that she was smiling at me.

  Her second Node was open.

  CHAPTER 29

  "Again," I said.

  I held my sword high. Allura aimed her hand at my blade, and her red eyes glowed with a pulse of light. Then, a stream of black needles shot from her outstretched palm to my sword.

  The needles clattered as they clung to my blade like metal filings to a magnet.

  "Shardblade," Ember said, as she watched from the side. "Since the other one's Shattershard. Shardblade."

  We were in another section of the underground waterways, far from Crowley's place. Our training had become more destructively lately, and I didn't want to damage our dwellings.

  The aqueduct here had dried up long ago, from the looks of it, and was no longer in use. I stepped into the middle of the channel and aimed the point of my sword at a blank stone wall ahead of it.

  Single Point Strike.

  I shot forward on my feet and leaped as my Flame propelled me like an arrow down the dried-up channel. When my sword's tip first touched the wall, I triggered Allura's needles.

  Chunks of rocks flew in all directions. I pulled my now clean blade out of the rubble. Our combined techniques had left a man-sized crater in the wall.

  Ember had covered herself with her wings. She brushed off the debris that had struck her.

  "Shardblade," she said again with a nod.

  I examined the broken section of wall. My Single Point Strike on its own was a focused killing blow, useful for penetrating defenses. Its damage depended on delivering a powerful strike to a vital spot on the body. A superficial strike would still injure the opponent, but if my aim was off, it wouldn't be lethal.

  Adding a Shardblade to my Single Point Strike changed that. Even a glancing blow could be fatal.

  While Allura could deliver more needles with more force after I opened her second Node, their penetrating ability still didn't compare to my sword techniques or benefit from my Flame-piercing Bloodstain.

  By combining her attacks with mine, I could boost the lethality of the blow while harnessing my sword's surgical Single Point Strike to deliver the full attack.

  "Well, that's a keeper," I said. We had been toying with various combinations to make the best use of Allura's new strength.

  Allura whispered in my mind. She's jealous.

  I was still getting used to the mental link with Allura. I glanced over at Ember who was watching us closely. I know. Her turn is next.

  Ember hadn't been bothered by Allura opening her Node first, but she had seemed more bothered by the idea that Allura, with her mental connection, was now closer to me than she was.

  "Ember. Give Allura a couple rounds to practice her defense. Then, we'll head back for the night."

  "Got it." Ember lightly leaped with the aid of her wings across the wide underground tunnel. She grabbed her scythe from behind her back and swept it in front of her in a wide arc as she landed near Allura.

  Too bad Ember couldn't steal any of Mammon's scythe techniques. She had still managed to incorporate the weapon into her own fighting style.

  I watched as Allura spread her palms apart. A thick stream of black needles swarmed out of each palm and spiraled around her in two counter-winding circles.

  When Ember struck with her scythe, the stream of orbiting black needles intersected to block her strike.

  Allura couldn't manipulate her Flame directly as well as Ember, but she had grown stronger in her ability to direct her needles. She was still unmatched in speed and distance-based attacks, but her defensive abilities were only roughly on par with Ember's.

  Ember feinted with a scythe blow, then whipped her tail around to smash a section of Allura's defense. She punched forward with a closed fist encased in Flame.

  Allura leaped ten feet backwards in an instant to dodge the blow. Without her superior speed, Ember would have landed a blow just now, and we all knew it.

  Even with only a single Node, Ember was still deadly. And she had that damn Bloodstained tail. I shook my head.

  Someone laughed. "Interesting tail. I suppose there's a tale that goes with it."

  I turned to find a pile of dirty rags walking down the tunnel. Crowley.

  The succubi stopped sparring and came to my side.

  "Crowley. Good to see you." I jerked my head towards Allura. "I opened her second Node."

  "So I see." Crowley waddled up to us casually. "You've made good progress, then. His yellow eyes flicked up to look at Ember's scythe. "And gathered a few goodies."

  I was pretty happy with how we had done. But I would still have to see how we would fare in the tournament. I hadn't spent much time above ground and wasn't exactly sure who our competitors would be.

  "The tournament's tomorrow. Will you be there?" I scowled as I remembered Ryder's last intrusion. "Ryder showed up again the other day."

  "I heard from Yaeger. Once you join a sect, you should be safer."

  "Maybe. But I'll be much safer once I can kill him myself."

  Crowley slapped his thighs and chuckled. "So eager." Then, his voice grew serious. "Remember, if you don't control your infernal Flame, it will control you."

  "Point taken." I shivered slightly at the memory of the Gravelands when I had blacked out. I still wasn't sure exactly what had happened.

  Crowley studied me closely. "You look in good shape. On to the tournament with you, then. The next time I see you, you should be in a sect."

  He turned and strolled back down the tunnel the other way.

  "Wait." I ran up to Crowley. "There's more."

  "Oh?" Crowley turned back to me with a curious look.

  "I think Ryder's enslaving sect members." I told Crowley what we had found in the Gravelands.

  Crowley was quiet for a while after I finished. "Do you have evidence of what you saw?"

  Allura stepped forward. "Mammon's collar. And his sect marker." She handed the objects to Crowley. I hadn't asked her to hold on to them, but she had thankfully thought to do so. She seemed to have a penchant for collecting things.

  Crowley took the items. "I need to speak to the sect leaders." He paused, then pointed to my chest. "Have you awakened
your Soulstone yet?" he asked.

  "Soulstone?" I repeated. Crowley had never used that word before. But yes, it had done something back in the Gravelands. Twice. First, when my infernal Flame had overcome me and I had dug Helix out of the sand. The second time when I had killed the old village elder.

  "I don't understand what's happening, but it's doing something," I said.

  Crowley nodded eagerly. "Good. If you are really from Myrddin's line, perhaps I'll be seeing you again sooner then I originally planned."

  "That's it?" I said, more to my succubi than to Crowley's receding back. I didn't know what to make of his cryptic remarks.

  Ember shrugged as she leaned on my shoulder. "He's always been like that."

  Crowley crouched slightly, then he vanished in a swirl of scattered dust.

  ***

  The next day, after the Night Fog had receded, the three of us made our way into the streets of Duskfall. We headed towards the center of the city to the outdoor arena where the tournament would take place. First, we had to register, though.

  A long line snaked backward from the single registration booth in front of a closed gate, reminding me of the few times I had gone to the DMV. Apparently, the registration booth was just as understaffed here in the Abyss.

  The gate itself was made of black iron and circled the fighting arenas, simple raised platforms about the size of three tennis courts side by side. I could make out at least four of the smaller arenas on the other side of the iron bars and one larger arena in the middle. I didn't spot any seating areas, although there was plenty of room for a standing crowd on each side of the arenas.

  We joined the end of the line, and others immediately took a place behind us as well. I had initially thought we weren't too far behind, but the line was crawling forward at a painfully slow pace. At this rate, it would take over a day for us to register. I glanced at the line behind us. And it would take a week for everyone to register.

  The line stretched as far as I could see behind us before it bent around a street corner and out of view. Most of them looked human, although I had no idea whether they had traveled to the Abyss from elsewhere or if they had been born here. A few had demonic or bestial features. Superficially, they looked similar to other demons, but lesser demons couldn't cultivate their own Flame. That meant any demon here was in a unique situation like my succubi.