The Succubae Seduction

an attack from TanaVesta, and relieving himself of a powerful enemy in the process, you'd think Lyden would be safe and sound, right? Things are never that easy, as the battle to save two worlds continues.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Chapter 30

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Building Supports

I wake up, my jaw shivering from the cold of the floor penetrating my bones.

"W-what's h-happening?" I ask, my teeth knocking against each other and my breath misting in the air. Looking around, I see the elf poised above a sleeping Angela, knife at her throat. Blue is also sleeping; at least, I hope she's sleeping. Considering that she's a reptile, I hope her inner fires are enough to combat this cold. Frost can actually be seen covering the adamantium that I'd used for mass, and I realize I'm completely nude, except for Murasame on my hip.

Why hadn't I remembered to form my clothes when I changed back from being a dragon? I remonstrate internally as I curl into a ball.

"The Pillar of Fire is dead," the elf states, almost as coldly as the frigid air around us. "This traitor said she could help you recover." Her eyes rove over my naked body, and she must agree with what she sees, as she nods. "I see you're recovered. We need to get moving."

Why she isn't affected by the cold, I don't know.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on forming a large coat over my body, and am glad I'm already on the ground, by the amount of energy that abandons me. I'd forgotten how much energy creating clothing takes from me. Why is creating clothing so exhausting, but changing forms less so? I dismiss the thought, knowing it's not the most important concern right now.

I'm still cold.

"If we don't get somewhere warm soon, your dragon is going to die," Angela states groggily, opening her eyes, but remaining motionless beneath the knife at her throat. Her eyes remain locked on the elf for a second, until the knife pulls away.

"We'd better get F-Fujin's m-mantle, and g-get out of h-here," I chatter.

The elf holds up something that I can't quite make out. It looks like blurry cloth draped over her hand, completely opaque, and I realize this must be the mantle we'd come to get.

I take another look around, looking for TanaVesta, and after a moment I spot her. A tiny woman with bright red hair, barely larger than Arethusa, lies bloody and beaten on the ground, ice forming around her cold body. From the shocked look on her still open eyes, I can see that she hadn't expected to be defeated. This must be her true form.

"Where's her mantle?" I ask, glad to finally get a sentence out without stuttering.

"Under your dragon, keeping her warm," I'm told by the elf. I really wish I knew what her name is. I'm getting tired of just thinking of her as 'the elf.'

"Her name is Alloria," Angela informs me, reading my surface thoughts.

"If I'd wanted him to know my name," Alloria growls, "I'd have told him, succubus. Don't presume that just because you healed the generator's wounds, that you're forgiven for your treachery."

"Why did you care if I recovered?" I ask, the sudden thought making me wonder. "I thought you hated me."

"I don't have to love you, to want the world I love saved," she responds snidely. "Besides, Gaia ordered me to make sure you lived."

And here I'd hoped I'd been growing on her.

"Let's get going, then," I order, walking over to the pile of adamantium. I hesitate for only a moment before holding my hand out to Angela, which she doesn't miss. I see her cheeks burn at the doubt in my mind, but she says nothing as she takes a firm grip on my hand. It's going to take some time to fully trust her again, no matter what we did in my Mens Mundi.

As soon as Alloria's hand tentatively touches my shoulder, I close my eyes, flatten my hand against the powerful metal before me, and change back into a dragon. The raw shock of power isn't there this time as I change forms. I end up having to use some of my own fleeting reserves. If only I hadn't been so wounded in the battle with TanaVesta. My sides still ache from the damage done by her claws, and even the time with Angela wasn't enough to fully heal me.

The cold suddenly intensifies, and I mentally hear both women inside me start shivering. Moving over to Blue to wake her up, I notice that the air marginally warms. She stirs sluggishly, and after a couple moments I'm able to get her to her feet. We leave out the large opening in the side of TanaVesta's chambers.

I'd forgotten that I become cold blooded in this form, and know that if we don't hurry, I'll have to change back. Which, of course, will only slow us down more. Why couldn't things be easy just once?

"I was easy," Angela jokes. I'm too cold and tired to find the humor.

The air barely supports us as we travel, and I have to constantly work at keeping Blue and myself moving, the cold slowing us down with each passing second.

I don't understand why everything got so cold,

I state internally.

When Fujin was killed, all the air didn't suddenly disappear.

"TanaVesta, and the Pillars of Light and Darkness are different from the other three," Alloria states. "Those three control energies in this world. The Pillars of Water, Air, and Earth control mass. When Fujin was murdered, the air in this world had nowhere to go. The wind has died, but the air is still there. Now that TanaVesta is dead, her strength and control of those energies she commanded has fled."

I remember how cold I'd gotten before I passed out, while Blue must have been battling the large red dragon. At the time I'd thought it was due to the loss of blood and me dying. Now I know better.

"It was," Angela says sadly. "It took several hours for it to grow this cold. If all of TanaVesta's control had fled at once, everything would have been flash-frozen."

Once again I marvel at how much the one-time, four-hundred year old, slave understands about things.

"You pick things up over the centuries," she responds to my unspoken compliment with pride in her voice.

Blue suddenly plummets, and I have to return my concentration to keeping her moving. Being cold blooded really doesn't agree with either of us. I can see she's carrying the power of the Pillar of Fire in her right forepaw, its light seeping around her sharp talons as she holds it close to her body, but it's not enough to keep her going. It soon becomes apparent that the large blue dragon won't make it all the way back to Gaia's earthen palace.

I wonder why I'm able to do better than Blue at keeping myself moving? Is it because of the weakened adamantium? Neither of my passengers knows either.

It takes all my concerted concentration to keep us both moving long enough to reach the cave where Angela and I'd been captured, and where later I'd gotten Sheila pregnant. I end up having to drag the nearly comatose lizard inside. There is one benefit from the cold: the terrible stench that'd permeated this place before is tamped down.

It takes some effort, the fire resisting my efforts to start it, but I'm eventually able to get a small burn going in the same pit where the Orcs had intended to cook the succubus and me. While the cave never grows warm, it does at least grow less frigid, and I change back into my human form, making sure that warm clothing surrounds me, and creating a slight barrier between the cave entrance and the fire with the adamantium to hold in as much warmth as possible.

"What are you going to do?" Alloria asks me as she gently pats Blue's eye ridge. I'm a bit surprised at how much she seems to care about the fate of the dragon. "You can't stay here forever, keeping a fire going, and she won't make it back to Gaia so we can figure out what our next move should be."

"Can we make her the Pillar of Fire temporarily?" I ask, holding my hands out over the fire.

Angela shakes her head before answering. "From the way TanaVesta had talked, it's something that's permanent, or at least until death."

"The dragon can't become a pillar anyway," Alloria adds in, giving Angela a slight glare. "It requires a certain amount of mental fortitude, which unfortunately the poor beast doesn't have."

"She may surprise you," I say about the slumbering creature. "She's smarter than she looks."

Alloria gives me a calculating look for a moment, making me terribly curious what she's thinking, before shaking her head. "I didn't say she was dumb. No dragon is dumb, but she isn't the type of dragon that is strong enough to become a pillar."

I stand in silence for a few moments, trying to weigh the options, before asking softly, "What about you, Alloria?"

"I haven't given you permission to use my name!" she scolds me so hotly, I blanch away from her. It takes her a few moments to calm down, but I don't miss Angela's slight smile. What does the succubus know? "I can't become the Pillar of Fire," she says, still breathing a bit heavily from her outburst a moment ago. I open my mouth to ask why not, but she answers before I can get the words out. "Nominally I'm aligned with Earth, being an elf. I could only ever become the Pillar of Earth, but I respect Gaia too much to ever desire that burden." I'd once thought that she would be the next Pillar of Air, but I guess I was wrong. Who did Gaia mean for the job, if not the elf? "Only the dragon and . . . the

succubus

are aligned with fire enough, but I've already explained why the dragon can't, and we can't trust

her

." If I had any doubts about how Alloria feels about Angela, they're gone now.

"I don't want it," Angela says, looking up to meet my eyes. I can't help arching an eyebrow at the certain in her voice. "Lyden," she continues, addressing me directly and there is no mistaking the intimacy in her tone as her voice caresses my name, "if I became the Pillar of Fire, I would lose you. I would be stuck to that mountain, except for short trips away. In some of her more lucid moments, TanaVesta told me that she sometimes felt like a prisoner with her power. Every time she left her volcano, she'd grow weak, until she could return and recharge."

As she speaks, her eyes remain locked on mine, and there is no doubt about the sincerity of her statement. She truly doesn't want to be the next Pillar of Fire.

I also lose my doubt about her affection for me. Her eyes paint a picture into her soul that I can't miss, and can't be feigned.

Filled with shame at having doubted her, I look away first, but my gaze goes back to the slumbering dragon. She'll die if someone doesn't become the next Pillar of Fire soon. And Aldol. . . . With two pillars down, how much weaker is the Shadow World?

"Chances are," Angela answers my unspoken question, "it's frantically trying to figure out what happened to its ally."

A very small smile splits my lips at that. At least there is one small silver lining to all of this. But that doesn't help with my concerns over the pregnant dragon.

"If you have one large failing," Angela says, her voice full of resignation, "it's that you care too much for others, and not enough about yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, confused by her words.

She doesn't answer immediately, however, as she walks over to Blue. Alloria glares at her for a moment, on the other side of the dragon's head, but says nothing.

"I mean, your heart is too big. I've had my time with you, and even though I know you don't love this dragon, you care for her and the eggs she's carrying." As she talks, a deep sadness comes over the dark skinned woman and a feeling of trepidation worms over me. "Because you care, so do I. What right do I have to be free, when it means so many others will die?"

Too late I see what I should have seen from the start, as Angela bends over, placing her hand on the forepaw holding the Pillar of Fire's mantle. It only takes her a split moment of concentration, and it's too late.

"Angela, no!" I yell, moving forward to stop her.

A glow moves its way up her arm, and I watch as her eyes grow large and she gasps.

"What have you done?" Alloria demands. The sound of her sword clearing the scabbard echoes around the cavern.

"What needed to be done," she gasps, stepping away from the dragon. "My God, it's so hot. No, stay back, Lyden my love," she adds when I move to enfold her in my arms. "I—" whatever she'd been about to say is lost, as her entire body is engulfed in flames. Searing white-hot heat blasts out from her, and I have to step back. The temperature in the cavern is quickly rising, and I know it won't remain survivable for long at this rate.

Thankfully, I see Blue start to stir, and I mentally command her to get out, while I grip the elf's wrist, hauling her to the adamantium. Alloria moves with me, without any arguing, and I can already begin feeling my skin burning as I touch the heated precious metal.

As soon as the makeshift barrier is down, Blue darts past me, and I'm hot on her heels, trying to escape the furnace Angela is turning the cave into.

By comparison to the inside, beyond the mouth of the cave is cool, but not nearly as cold as it had been before.

Some inner instinct warns me, and I catch up to Blue in enough time to bump her to the side, as pure, blinding fire belches from the cavern. I sense, more than see, something shoot out, and head back towards TanaVesta's mountain.

Angela's mountain, I realize, now that she's the Pillar of Fire. I hadn't even got the chance to say goodbye.

"We need to go after her," Alloria's voice says in my mind. "She can't be trusted. We can't leave that kind of power in her hands."

I ignore her, letting my emotions be answer enough. I check over Blue and verify she's all right, before checking myself. We're both a little singed, but otherwise unharmed.

I'm not sure if normal dragons are capable of crying, but that doesn't stop my eyes from watering as we take to the air, flying back to Gaia's stronghold. Alloria continues to protest, but her words are swallowed up by my damaged heart.

* * *

"And you feel her loyalties can be trusted?" Gaia states over her steepled fingers.

"No," Alloria says without hesitation, at the same time I say, "Yes."

"I believe you, Lyden," Mother Earth states after some contemplation. "I watched what enfolded in that cavern, and while her ultimate loyalties may remain in question, I have no doubt about how she feels for you. For now, it will have to be enough."

When we'd arrived, Blue and I were ushered to the same balcony we'd left from, and everyone came out to greet us. Gaia had immediately made the pile of adamantium disappear, sending it back to wherever she keeps it. Brooke, Areth, Becky, and even Jennifer had all hugged me happily, telling me how happy they were that I was mostly unharmed. They didn't know that I was on the brink of death. Sheila waited patiently, until I had to order her to join the group of women around me.

Jewkes and Thomas both shook my hand heartily, Ondine remaining quietly back. I don't have time to consider her behavior, but make a note to myself to take care of that soon.

The air is still cool around us, but not nearly the frigid cold it had been before Angela took the Mantle of Fire upon herself.

"Forgive me, Lyden," Jewkes states hesitantly, stepping forward. They'd all remained silent while Alloria and I told our tale. "How do we know that this outsider won't just control her like it did the previous Pillar of Fire?"

I have to fight hard to tamp down the sudden anger I feel at his accusation, but I know where it's coming from.

"How many of those glasses of yours, those Blublockers, do you have?" I ask the hook-nosed police officer.

"Only what I've already handed out," he states apologetically.

"May I see a pair of those?" Gaia asks, walking towards us.

Richard hands over his pair, and the Pillar of Earth examines them for a second, even putting them on. After a few moments filled with her 'hmm'ing and 'huh'ing, she hands them back. She drops to her knees, and at first I think she's suddenly exhausted. Then I see her stand back up, a pair of wood-framed glasses in her hands. The lenses are the same rose color as Jewkes's original pair. She hands them to the older man, and he dons them, looking around for a moment before handing them back.

"I think they'll do, ma'am," he tells her politely.

She nods to him, before setting them back on the ground and they sink slowly in. "The new Pillar of Fire will receive these shortly," Gaia states to the room.

I truly have to marvel at the power the Pillars posses. To be able to create something so easily, and then transport it with ease, just seems mind-boggling. Hopefully Angela will be able to get her flames under control, before she burns up the frames.

Gaia's gaze pierces me, and I can tell she isn't happy. "My orders to you were to retrieve the Mantle of Air, not kill the Pillar of Fire. The strain of having two pillars down was immense, and there's no telling what the Outsider was doing to take advantage of the situation."

For some reason, instead of being cowed by her attitude, I feel indignant. "Since the choice was kill or be killed," I tell her firmly, meeting her dark gaze without flinching, "I won't apologize for my actions. Alloria has the mantle, and you can sit here and chew me out for circumstances beyond my control, or you can help appoint the next Pillar of Air, and reduce the strain on yourself even more."

I expect her to yell at me, or berate me, or for the ground to open beneath me, swallowing me whole, but I don't expect her to grin and nod at me.

"I hope your daughter has as much backbone as you do, Mr. Snow. You misunderstand the nature of a new pillar, but you are correct in that we shouldn't waste anymore time." Her voice is smooth and gentle, but there is an unmistakable solidity to it.

"My daughter?" I ask, looking to Sheila. Surely Gaia doesn't plan on making one of the unborn twins the next Pillar of Air!

"Not from her," Gaia corrects my thinking, but doesn't offer a different solution. "When a new pillar is formed, they have to learn control of the power they inherit. Even now, your succubus is sitting in the deepest parts of her volcano, the rock walls around her turning molten, attempting to get the power she took under her control. The strain of supporting this world is still there, as it always is. In truth, until she can control her power, the pull on my own strength is still strong, if not worse. Creating the new Pillar of Air may well incapacitate me, until she can control herself."

"Forgive me, Mother Earth," Becky asks, coming to stand next to me, "but who do you intend to take on the Mantle of Air?"

I place my arm around the very short brunette's shoulders, wondering the same thing, and pulling her tightly to my side.

I don't like the gleam that shines in Gaia's eyes as she looks at me. No, I realize after a moment, she's not looking at me, but

through

me. I shiver inside, and thoughts start going through my mind, pieces falling into place, as I get a sinking feeling.

"Lyden Snow, I believe it's time you met your daughter," Gaia says officiously. "She's been hiding in your mind long enough."

"Lyden, what's she talking about?" Becky asks me, pulling away from me.

Shaking my head, I try to understand. It can't be, I think. It can't have really happened. We were in my mind, at the time, and she died right afterwards. There's no way she could have gotten pregnant and given birth in that short time.

But I had seen Lisa's blonde hair in my Mens Mundi, and there was that unknown voice that spoke to me before when I was depressed.

"Are you there?" I mumble under my breath. Not sure what scares me more: knowing that someone may exist inside my mind without my knowledge, or knowing that I have a daughter I never knew about.