Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ilea shivered at his words, his tender and playful touches. She delighted in what he told her, that he trusted her that much. She listened to the full plan and joined in his delight with it, wrapping her arms around him and snuggling herself into him, "You are ever a wonder to me Master...," she said softly, her voice still hoarse.

She placed a light kiss over his heart before she raised her crimson eyes to his face, "And what exactly would you have me do for you Master? What is my purpose other than to serve you?" she asked him in a whisper as she turned her head to rub her cheek against his chest, her skin sliding easily against his with her blood to ease the path.

Ilea smiled as Goh gave her something to do and finally got up, getting the robe she usually kept in the room for occasions like this and pulled it around herself. She shivered as she remembered all that he'd done to her and smiled at the memory before she left the room and headed to her suite to clean up and get to work.

Ilea came running, closing the door behind her before dropping to her knees beside the bed with her head down, "Master...," she whispered softly without raising her head until he told her she could.

She ignored the cold floor against her bare knees, her pale skin showing off the crimson of the miniskirt, tight tanktop, and boots. The silver of the daggers he'd given her looked good against her bare thighs as well. But the kicker to her looks right now was the fact that her hair was loose instead of braided down, hanging around her shoulders in an ebony fall of waves that was particularly nice.

"I have finished your army Master... And a surprise for you as well... The army is currently being held in the graveyard... Your surprise is waiting for my call...," she told him in a soft voice that shook in fear of his response to the surprise...

Ilea shivered under his touch and kiss, gasping softly when he deftly cut her tanktop off without touching her skin. Then he was lifting her onto the bed with that wonderful smile of his, "A personal guard for you Master... Created from the best-formed bodies I could find or create, fused with the souls of demons...," she whispered to him softly, hoping that he would like the gift.

"I sent that new servant for the souls... I wanted thirteen from some branch of the demon military... Bat didn't tell me how he got them, just left the container with the souls within it in my chambers for me... Are you pleased, Master? I've worked with the souls... They will guard you and command your army as if they were me...," she explained, shivering in the hope that he would like the gift and wouldn't be angry with her...

Ilea had done exactly as she’d said and checked on the repairs, shifted the servants duties as needed and had also sent one of the guards down to the dungeon under the watchful eye of one of the golems.

But she had come here after that and before rejoining Shale. She took the time to concentrate on removing the spells and protections on the rooms then used the shard from her daggers, and Goh’s blood on it, to finish opening this set of rooms. Goh had added a blood-lock on it, though he’d thought that Ilea was ignorant of it.

She took in a deep breath and stepped inside…

Then she froze in place.

There was no damage in here, true.

But it still looked as if a massacre had taken place. She remembered taking on Goh’s anger in here over and over in an effort to calm him, there at the end. It hadn’t worked and she’d learned a new level of fear where her creator was concerned, so much fear that she’d run from him.

Her blood still stained the floor and walls, the bed in the bedroom, the throne in the main sitting room, and in the other room…

That other room was what she really wasn’t sure of Shale’s reaction to. It was an even more well equipped version of the dungeon room. The location had been more convenient for Goh and the room itself had been a gift of sorts to Ilea. At first, the room had been a pleasure and a delight to her. But at the end…

Even now, the blood was still tacky and sticky. There was simply that much of it in the room.

Did she have the room cleaned before Shale saw it? Who should she have clean it?

Should she show these rooms to Shale at all? Did she hide this set of rooms or let him see it and decide his own reaction? How should she react to it all?

She knew he was a demon; that he’d finally found and released his inner demon. She knew that demons were a truly hedonistic lot and open to all forms of pleasure. She knew that they were the least judgmental of species.

But she was still hesitant to have Shale see this part of her life and she wasn’t sure why…

Maybe that was what was bugging her the most… Maybe she was simply still afraid…

She took a step forward and winced at the sound her boots made in all the blood. While she would have no problem with admitting to what pleasures she enjoyed, she was suddenly feeling a tearing sensation inside of her chest at the thought of Shale seeing this.

Even she had no idea how she'd managed to survive losing this much blood. By all the rules of the worlds, she should have been dead a hundred times over to lose this much blood.

She forced herself to move further into the rooms until she came to the torture room and felt like she'd been punched in the gut. She actually stopped breathing from the shock of seeing it. The carnage in here was even worse. Her blood still dripped from the table and her name was written on the walls over and over in even more blood, along with plenty of of dire words for her leaving him.

When she could finally breathe again, it came in painful gut-wrenching gasps. She wasn't crying yet.

Instead, she was having her very first panic attack...

Footsteps and focused will, Shale passed one door after another as he navigated Ilea’s memories and the true halls simultaneously. Her memories of this place kept him from needing either a guide or a map. He knew the way. It was fortunate that none of the servants tried to get in his way. They would not have lived long enough to regret their error.

His guard was up and his staff was in his hand. All outward appearances would indicate a state of calm. But, in spite of those appearances, he was the center of a monumental storm of passions and power. Rage at Goh and his feelings for Ilea lashed about like arms of a continent consuming hurricane. To those with senses to perceive magic, his aura would have been chokingly oppressive. For Ilea, who could sense him through the bond in a far more intimate way, the scope of his feelings and the monumental scale of his full power was laid bare. If Goh had still been in this castle, it would have been the fallen god’s last mistake. Indeed, the number of beings in the world who could have opposed him at this moment without being immediately destroyed was… very limited. And, of them, even fewer could have escaped without permanent injury. But, the only foe that stood in his way was distance and it yielded without complaint to his rapid strides.

He wanted to run. But, he was no fool. No matter how passionate or enraged he became, there would always be a part of him that retained its control. This was not his sanctuary, it was the conquered keep of an enemy. It had not been completely purged of that enemy’s influence and the likelihood of traps was… certain. His magic saturated the halls, flowing out from him and probing every nook and cranny in every direction. In its wake, a protective enchantment spread that would guard anyone who had loyalty to Ilea or to Shale himself from any form of harm within the castle. Yet, that was a byproduct, an afterthought. The magic was hunting for Goh, any trace or sign that he had left anything of himself behind. Anything at all. The magic wasn’t a single spell or anything so simple. It was a semi-autonomous extension of his desire to protect what was his and it was more than capable of dealing with… resistance.

It built and surged as it approached Goh’s private chambers… and then it hesitated, flowing around the rooms instead of through them and continuing throughout the main complex. It sensed that what remained there was not going to be any threat to its master and was unsure of how to handle the abundance of blood that belonged to the most important person in his life. Anything that it sensed traces of Goh’s energies on or in was marked by a distinctive and hostile ruddy glow.

Shale paid it no mind.

His strides were swift and strong as he swept through the doorway and into the chambers that once had belonged to his enemy. The scent of blood did not disturb him, nor did its feel or sound. But, the realization that it was all from Ilea… every drop of it, brought his power to new heights as he unconsciously drew from the Forge to ready himself for any spell he might wish to cast. From here he turned immediately and went to her, ignoring everything else despite his passions.

Her mental state was unstable. She had not expected this kind of trap to be here, a trap woven of memories and fresh and enduring wrath. Shale knew that she had not forgotten him, in fact, he could tell that she was afraid for his safety and afraid of his opinion of this room and what it meant. The blood made the room’s atmosphere heady and rich. The variety of tools made the numerous uses of the room very clear indeed. The way that Goh had turned it into another way to weaken Ilea… was infuriating. But, Shale was not one to waste what had value. First, he had to attend to Ilea directly and he knew just how to do it.

He reached through the bond they shared and turned up her sensitivity, nearly to the maximum but not quite. He also adjusted her pain sensitivity. Then he made one last change. He made it impossible for her to either pass out or to acclimate to the sensations. The effect of what he was about to do would stay at its initial and most intense level. This was not punishment, nor reward. It was simply a statement that he knew her and understood. This should give her much of what she had been missing. At least, until he was done with his preparations.

Then he changed his free hand into razor-like claws and nicked two major nerve junctions in her neck while he bent down and nipped her ear. That should… take her mind off things for a little while. He was unaware of the small but savagely pleased smile that had formed on his face. He would enjoy what he was about to do to this suite of rooms, the pathetic legacy of a destroyed foe.

The blood began to swirl as currents formed beneath the surface according to Shale’s will. What had begun to crust became fluid and fresh as the first moment it was shed. The currents shifted and twisted over and under each other, spreading out to the walls and furniture as well. Shale could tell, using Ilea’s memories, exactly what parts of this room had been her favorites in the beginning. These he would merely embellish. The rest, he would erase. As the blood flowed and crept over surface after surface. The pathetic bloody graffiti was swept away, and the room was reshaped. More than that, the whole suite of rooms was being changed. Instead of living quarters, a desk of blood crystal with alchemical and enchantment aids atop it formed. Those few items that had traces of Goh on them vanished entirely, consumed and destroyed down to their tiniest parts and faintest trace energies. Instead of a sitting room, a lounge with two of the walls covered in bookshelves and decadent couches that gave off a subtle warmth dominated this space. The couches were the darkest shade of red, less than a hair’s breadth from black, and accented with minute and sparing amber leaves and unnamed flowers of gold and silver. The bookshelves were full of blank books, perfect for notes, spells, and lists of components.

For the room in which Shale and Ilea remained, however, the change was even more dramatic. From the flowing blood sprung clinging vines of living blood crystal that climbed the smooth walls clear to the ceiling before spreading across it to entwine among those that came from the other side where they met in the middle. From these vines emerged thorns like daggers and blossoms that shone with the luster of highly refined metals and gems. Through the room flowed a subtle current of mist that gave off a gentle light as it wound its way around the floor, occasionally rising to form ethereal arcs that reached toward the ceiling and danced with glittering hints of burning amber and gold. The flowing blood on the floor drew back and up into planters and tables adorned with subtle embellishment and having gardening tools, among more exotic implements, carefully arranged upon them. The planters were mostly empty, save for a few that remained full of Ilea’s blood.

As for the table in the center.

The writing upon it was swept away, the crude and cruel marks erased and the surface polished to an amazing luster. The floor by its base was shaped to include mildly enchanted grooves that would collect any blood that fell from the table and draw it to the planters nearby. This table, Shale embellished with delicate and loving care to include subtle symbolism for all of Ilea’s desires and needs. The embellishments were sometimes raised and other times sunken into the table’s surface so that they could be felt by wandering fingers even if they couldn’t be seen. With this, the place had nearly been cleansed of its former… infestation.

Two traces remained; the book, and Ilea. One dross, the other precious beyond measure.

Shale had known the satisfaction of accomplishing a goal, of working hard and finally achieving success. But, he had never felt this immense rush of pride. For a moment, the whole world and all the dangers in it felt tiny and unimportant. It was a heady sensation, intoxicating. A deep growl of satisfaction rumbled in his throat and he unconsciously flexed his muscles, enjoying the feel of power and victory.
But, he felt something else as well.

Looking down, he saw that he was holding Ilea. She was writhing, desperate and helpless and beautiful… and his.

He lowered his head to breathe in the scent of her, the delicate touch of his breath dancing across her neck. Shale forgot himself as that scent flowed into him, forgot the world, forgot everything and everyone but his lovely Ilea. His fingers danced over her skin with obsessive delicacy. Then his control, developed over the course of his life’s trials, slipped.

His movements turned ferocious. His recollection and awareness flickered in and out. He didn’t hear his staff fall to the floor. He didn’t feel his body moving. All he knew was a towering inferno of triumph and desire. He was unaware of his claws punching through stone and metal to keep his balance. He was deaf to the sounds of snapping metal and cracking stone. He could taste her scent, her skin, her lips. He could feel her need entwined with his own. He could smell her luscious aroma. He could see pleasure and the fierce pounding of their hearts.

There was no telling how long it was before his stamina finally yielded to the overwhelming sense of satisfaction and he finally slipped into true unconsciousness. He slept deeply. But, even in his dreams, Ilea’s scent flowed through and around him. He knew nothing in that sleep but one encompassing truth… that she and he were one.