“Hey, Bryan,” a feminine, melodic voice said.
Someone lightly thumped down into the seat next to me in the top row of the university lecture hall.
Chestnut, straight brown hair framed the soft features of her face and flowed just past her shoulders. Flawless skin. A crimson low-cut tank top showcasing her impressively distracting cleavage. Lean legs encased in tight jeans, and judging by those legs, I’d be willing to bet my life her ass was firm, yet shapely.
I blinked stupidly at her. “Uh, hi?”
The corners of her lips curled into a coy grin, her piercing blue eyes snagging my attention. “You look like you don’t want to be here…”
I’d been fantasizing about cannonballing out the nearby window the past hour to escape yet another rant about the importance of heat expansion when designing a house.
You don’t know the half of it…
“You got me,” I chuckled. Ordinarily I’d be more interested in why a random stranger knew my name, but I decided to make the very dignified decision of putting that aside for now due to this stranger being absurdly beautiful. “Are you a late add to the class? I haven’t seen you around.”
“No, I’m just auditing…” she said in a hush before offering a delicate hand. “I’m Nikki, by the way.”
Her warm hand felt so soft in my grip and I couldn’t help but feel a buzz of excitement in my stomach at the way her smooth skin felt against mine.
“You’ve got rough hands,” she observed airily before her attention trailed from our clasped hands up along my arm and chest before returning to my face.
“Are you sure you don’t just have smooth hands?”
“I’m sure,” she giggled, still not breaking contact. Her face took on a mischievous cast as our eyes locked onto one another’s. Her soft fingers gently tightened and a haze descended on my mind as my thoughts began to slow. “Why don’t you want to be here, Bryan?”
“Everyday is the same and I have barely any time to do anything other than study and go to lectures...” The words were true, but unbidden as they passed my lips without checking in with my brain.
“Why are you here then?”
“To become an architect...”
“Is achieving that goal one day worth the monotony today?”
“I don’t know...”
“Why is it your goal then?”
“Because I’m supposed to be here, but I didn’t know what else to pick…”
“Who told you you're supposed to be here?”
“My family…”
“Do you want to be here?”
“I don’t think so…”
“What would you rather be doing?”
“Yes…”
“Why?”
“I want to see and experience new things – to make sure I know what I really want…”
“So… to live?”
“Yeah.”
A flash of brilliant white teeth showed as a satisfied smile formed. Her thumb rubbed against my hand. From that point of friction, a warm tingle made its way up my arm and into my body.
Heat sparked in my core, heart thumping and blood pumping as lustful anticipation filled me.
“Want to get out of here so we can… live a little?”
#
The bathroom door lock clunked as Nikki switched it into place. She turned to me and leveled her hungry gaze on me, green eyes brimming with desire.
My cock had fully hardened on our trip from the lecture hall. It strained against my jeans, but for whatever reason, I remained still.
Her heels clicked against the tile floor as she stepped closer to me. The scent of her subtle, flowery perfume filled my nose as she and her wonderful chest stopped just short of making contact with me.
She placed a hand on my chest before lazily moving south. “So eager…” Nikki purred.
Truer words had never been spoken. I hadn’t gotten laid in about a year and the pressure that only a good fuck could vent had been building.
Nikki let out a hum of appreciation as she traced the length of my erection. “Hmmm… Over a year…? What a waste.”
The realization that she’d read my mind registered, but it felt dull and unimportant in the face of more immediate concerns.
Her mouth curved into a vulpine grin. “Do you have a condom?”
Shit!
“Not on me…”
“I saw a machine next to the door before we came in. It had some… Be quick,” she commanded.
“Be right back…”
Her smile widened with excitement as I turned. A clunk sounded as I unlocked the door and opened it.
A sunny day presiding over what looked to be a town square awaited me on the other side, complete with a cobblestone street, wood buildings, and a large fountain. People bustled by in linens, leathers, and a few were even in metallic armor.
Nikki’s arms wrapped around me from behind before she melted against me. Her hands ran across my chest and stomach as the side of her face nuzzled affectionately against my shoulder. The softness of her breasts lived up to the hype I’d been building up in my head as they firmly pressed against my back.
Warmth poured into me from everywhere our bodies connected, making me feel like I’d been submerged in a warm bath. It flowed through me, leaving behind an afterglow of vitality in its wake…
My teeth clenched and a hiss of agony escaped me when the pleasant warmth suddenly turned to scalding heat before converging inside my chest. It was as though my heart had been swapped out with a chunk of molten metal, which then began to pump lava into my veins.
Then as suddenly as it had come upon me, the pain vanished, leaving behind only the shuddering aftershocks of its memory, and baffled confusion..
“I hope we meet again,” Nikki whispered as she released me and planted a hand on my back.
I stumbled forward from the surprising force with which she shoved me and spun around.
She offered me one last coy grin in farewell.
The door groaned closed, now appearing to be nothing more than a wooden door made from solid, rough planks.
Seconds ticked by and brain fog that’d dulled my senses since meeting Nikki cleared.
With the stupefying haze gone, my situation came into focus.
My guts twisted with dread as I felt eyes on me. The lapping of water in the fountain was all to be heard in the overwhelming silence. I turned towards the town square and was met with horrified eyes.
I offered a sheepish wave, hard on vanishing as quickly as it had come with the hostile gazes on me. “Uh… Hello?”
A woman in the crowd replied with a terrified scream, and almost as though she were an air siren warning of an incoming invasion, panic spread like wildfire through the town square.
I had no idea where I was and everyone around me was either fleeing or shouting at me in a language I didn’t understand. Five men in brown leather armor with swords at their hips cautiously crept forward and started fanning out around me. They each wore a patch emblazoned with the black and white profile of a woman’s face over a sky blue background. I backpedaled and raised my hands in what I hoped was a calming gesture. One of the men pointed at me and shot out a string of heated, foreign words. My back thumped against the door. “Hey, guys, I’m just as confused as you are.” Their aggressive postures didn’t relax and no comprehension showed on their faces. What the hell are you doing? They clearly don’t understand you… One of the men barked something and was answered with the rasps of swords being unsheathed as the men drew their weapons. Flight won out over fight as I spun around and wrenched open the sturdy wood door. I slammed it shut behind me and found myself in a tave
“Huh?” I stared blankly at the elf. “I’ll take that as a yes…” “Y-you speak English?” “I don’t know what that is. We’re speaking Myrian,” he said in a detached matter-of-fact tone. “I… are you sure? I’m no–” Impatience leaked into his voice as he cut me off and pointed to the band of iron around my finger. “The ring translates your speech into Myrian and allows you to understand it. It also filters your perception so you hear yourself and others speak in your native tongue.” The machinery which governed my view of what’s possible broke down. I decided to just roll with it and worry about the busted thing in my head later. If I was dreaming then that’s cool, I’ll wake up eventually… And if I was going crazy I might as well hang out with the imaginary fantasy dude. It’d be nice if this fucking headache would go away though... “So, it’s magic? Is it also changing how I see your mouth move to match with what I hear?” I asked. “You’re thinking too hard about this.” “I think
I’d spent the next three days in a barred wagon with a thick, black cloth tarp firmly fixed in place over it. The obsidian fabric had let just enough light pass through it to dimly illuminate my surroundings, but wasn’t sheer enough to see outside. Inside the cage, there had only been an itchy straw mattress and a bucket. And my only contact with any other people had been when the same three guards delivered my ‘food’ each day. One with the tray while the other two pointed spears. I’d mentally named them ‘Bitchy Spice’, ‘Garbage Spice’, and ‘Martin’. Bitchy Spice because he’d constantly bitched about everything, Garbage Spice because he smelt like garbage, and Martin because he just looked like a Martin to me. All three had one thing in common though: No matter who brought the tray, it’d always ended up ‘accidentally’ falling to the floor, sending most of the ‘food’ splattering across the planks. All three men had cackled each time as though they were comedic pioneers fine-tuning
My nerves flickered into fascination as I took in the young woman who opened the door. Messy black hair flowed just past her shoulders. Impenetrable darkness covered the entirety of her eyes, not a hint of color or white sclera to be seen. Flawless, smooth skin the color of unblemished paper. A face composed of elegant, sharp facial features completed by inviting lips of an extremely light gray. Long, elven ears poked out from her mane of soft hair. A pale shoulder peeked out from a loose-fitting scarlet sweater, while the tips of her toes were just visible from the baggy midnight-blue pants. Both garments were made from a thick fabric that looked soft to the touch. My eyes dragged momentarily as I noticed the vague outline of her breasts and slender hips. It was as though she were a monochromatic inked illustration that’d come to life before donning the uniform of one on a mission to eat ice cream and binge a show they’ve seen a million times. She blinked sleepily at us. “
“Fifty-three years!?” I sputtered. I’d had the impression that outworlders weren’t super common, but isn’t this a jail or something for outworlders? And there hasn’t been one to come through in at least fifty-three years? But also… “There’s no way you’re a day over thirty…” I said, unable to hide my mixture of surprise and suspicion. Her attempt at professionalism cracked as she snickered. “I’m a shadow primal and am magically gifted, I age slowly.” “Oh…” I said, “What’s a shadow primal?” “My… aren’t we curious?” she teased, seeming to grow more relaxed as she tentatively let her tone thaw into something less coolly detached. “A shadow primal is the offspring of a human or elf and a shadow elemental.” “How does that work?” I asked, the image of a dude unsuccessfully trying to bang a shadow cropping up in my imagination. “I think I’ll decline on explaining the finer details about the coupling between my parents…” “Fair enough.” I chuckled, pleased that she seemed to prefer a
She drifted forward languidly and sat on the bench a few feet from me, her inky-black gaze never leaving me as a light pink rose in her cheeks. “Is this a recent policy…?” I asked. “It is… But within these walls, ‘policy’ is whatever I see fit.” Her lips curled into a coy smile. “And right now I find it prudent to verify you aren’t bringing anything dangerous into my prison… Now strip, Mr. Northgate.” The gym had been one of my favorite ways to alleviate some of the dread I felt while at university because it had always been as though I were physically pushing out my worries with every rep. But the other benefits were all I cared about at this moment. My aroused grin matched hers as I pulled off my dirty t-shirt to reveal my toned torso. The way her eyes hungrily roamed my chest told me everything I needed to know. Her attention slid towards the outline of my growing erection. “Those as well,” she said in a warm, silky voice, nodding at my jeans as she bit her bottom lip. Fuck
An hour later, I descended the stairs leading to the ground floor of Stone Lock, my body clean and my mind clear once again. Warden Ivory was draped gracelessly across one of the couches, reading her smutty novel. She snapped it shut and sat up as I approached. Her solid black eyes turned to me and her mouth curled into a knowing smile. “What took you so long?” “I had some frustration I needed to vent…” I parked myself on the cushion beside hers and leaned back with a satisfied grown as I let my relaxed body slide down. “It’s been forever since I had a chance to sit my ass down on something not made of wood.” “I’m glad it’s to your liking,” she snickered. I rolled my head to the side to look at her and offer a grin. “So, what now?” “Now we talk about magic.” “Finally!” Giddy eagerness filled me in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a kid and found out where my parents hid the Christmas presents. I sat up and repositioned myself to face her more directly. A warm smile formed on
“Relax,” she giggled. Her snow-white fingers closed around the worn leather wrapped handle as she pulled the knife free. The blade was about eight inches in length and made from a dull silvery metal that didn’t reflect the light of the crystals illuminating the room. Its razor sharp edges were symmetrical, elegantly curving towards one another to form a lethal point. “This is a ‘breacher’,” she said as she casually flipped it in her hand to catch the flat of the blade before offering me the hilt. The grip felt as it looked against my fingers: Thoroughly used. The relatively small weapon was also heavier than I expected. “Why’s it so heavy?” “It’s crafted from a dense metal known as anmian; a favorite among alchemists due to its durability and suitability for enchanting.” The strange metal pulled my gaze as though they were oppositely charged magnets. Not a hint of texture stained its smooth surface and no matter how I shifted it, not a drop of light was caught in the flat silvery