Uncertain Magic 4: Uncertain Developments

by Nuit du Loup

"Uhhhh, Gods pissing in a boot!"

Kat cursed heartily for a minute or so more and she felt she was at least a little justified for the colorful language that she usually refrained from using. This was due to the fact the there was no one around to hear it, because she'd woken up to an empty bed and no Eva, and also because it made her feel just a bit better. Repercussions to the previous day's "adventures" had been expected, but when she opened her eyes she was completely unprepared for how sore her body was in reality. Muscles everywhere were tight in protest to the new abuses, and she was fully rested enough that rolling back into sleep was out of the question. So there was no escaping the pain and general discomfort.

A constant cooling breeze in contrast to the warm sun streaming through her partially open balcony door was blowing over her; nevertheless she was in no mood to enjoy how refreshing it probably would normally be. Lying flopped-out on her back with her hair haloing her head in a purple spray; she stared up at her white, unfamiliar ceiling and tried to shift a little to find a position that was more comfortable. Upon waking, she'd had enough stubborn drive to make it to her bathroom to do the needful, but that short jaunt had been enough to make her immediately want the bed again, and now it was betraying her. No matter how she moved or rested her body, something would begin to throb in protest.

"Stupid bed!" she complained, and laughed despite the situation. It wasn't as if she actually expected an inanimate object to obey her. Besides, she being in the bed kept bringing her mind back to the distracting thoughts about the final events of last night. It didn't help that the vague smell of sex lingered even with the breeze, and there was a low, warm feeling of arousal that refused to diminish from certain areas of her body where phantom memory sensations of touch tingled. Even with Eva absent she couldn't drive away the memory of just how good she'd made her feel for her first time with another girl.

"Where did she even go this early?" she asked herself in silent grumpiness, feeling the spot Eva had occupied on the bed with a slow, unconscious petting motion. It had still been a little warm when she first woke up, but it now felt much the same as the rest of it. She was pretty sure it was still very early in the morning because she'd long had the habit of waking up close after dawn on her own and the sunlight felt right for it. When she wakened alone her first reaction had been unconscious and uncontrolled disappointment, and then a spike of anger had quickly followed that first impulse at being left alone without a word, and that bothered her more than a little. It didn't seem right that she should react that way towards a girl she'd technically had sex with once, and only with grudging acceptance. Right?

The other thing that bothered her and it seemed stupidly obvious now that she was rested and much more clear-headed, was the fighting last night. A thousand questions or more were crowding her thoughts about the strange events. Like, what were those things she had been killing? Where had they come from? Who was that guy at the beginning who sicced the mob on them? What had that giant one done to interfere with her Glass? She repeated the last question at her Glass, and was amusingly surprised when it responded swiftly as if it had been following her thoughts.

<An anomalous event occurred during the hostile encounter.> the device said into her mind. <The aether 'band' on which communication with the network is conducted was smothered by a strong noise signal, rendering a connection over anything more than an immediate distance impossible with only four nodal units for power.>

"Couldn't you use my own power to boost the strength of the connection?" She asked. She didn't know what a neural network was, but its function seemed obvious. It was what connected every Glass together, and to the main system. It was just another sign that she needed to play catch-up quickly on all the things she'd been missing out on back home and all the other more advanced stuff.

<Without authorization from the user, such a significant draw of the user's magic is not permitted.>

"Next time ask for my permission to do so," she ordered immediately. "Also, is it possible to query the other Glass units with me last night, so that their users may make similar authorizations?"

<Order accepted, and yes, such a query has now been sent.>

Now that she was thinking about the problem, something else bothered her. "Doesn't the fact that the Glass network, whatever it is, is on one 'band' make it vulnerable?"

<Until this event occurred, no, it was believed to be relatively secure. The number of bands is effectively infinite, though mathematically it is not so. This makes finding a band being used and intruding upon a signal a difficult endeavor for most current computational systems. The entity encountered instead filled a wide swath of bands with garbage signals at great power in a very limited physical region, creating a jamming effect.>

"Couldn't you just oscillate the whole network through a multitude of redundant bands with a wide separation to prevent that?" It seemed to her, that having a single point of failure was never a good thing. Having multiple options that changed routinely sounded like a much better idea.

<This solution was also proposed just four minutes ago by the network engineering team as a response to the problem and will likely be implemented, with an according multiplication of the network's computational power to compensate for the increased load.>

That response made Kat frown in consideration. "Is all activity on the network and the actions of the users monitored? Including this conversation?"

<Yes, Ma'am. It is one of the primary functions of the system. However, this exchange, and the timing of the solution is simple happenstance. It simply coincided with an engineering meeting that is taking place as we speak.>

"Why do you use a title for me sometimes?" she asked, now that she'd heard it again.

<Each nodal unit develops with its user and evolves over time to better serve them through careful monitoring of their personality and known preferences. This includes modes of address. I have noted that a semi-personal and respectful tone would likely serve you best. It might also be considered the development of an artificial personality in some cases.>

Kat barked a very amused laugh at that. It seemed that a magical machine was learning about her much faster than any person ever had, because now that she considered it, she did like the way her Glass spoke to her now. It had adjusted its 'voice' in her head to sound a bit like an older, more mature woman, which had a calming effect. She supposed that the idiosyncrasies with the titles wouldn't bother her all that much and she could let it slide. The conversation had even distracted her from her bodily discomforts for a bit, but a twinge in her shoulder where a bullet had left a red welt despite the armor, painfully reminded her of them.

"Ach!" she rubbed the sore spot vigorously, but that only made her arm hurt too. She paused when there was a distinctive set of clicks from the door from the lock being disengaged and she forcibly ignored her bodily complaints to roll up enough to see who was coming in. This she heroically achieved with a grimace not for her pains, but for the fact that her heart was speeding up noticeably at the thought that Eva might be back.

"—I promise, I'll make sure we introduce ourselves to everyone," said Eva to someone out in the corridor in a friendly-sounding tone. There was a cheerful reply that was mumbled by the thick walls, but Eva laughed heartily in response. "That sounds great! You know I'm always up for some good food! I'll see you later in class then!"

Eva step fully into the room, shutting the door behind her, and Kat felt her breath catch for just a second before she forcibly made herself remain calm. Eva was not dressed in either of the uniforms, but in civilian clothes. Specifically a pair of dark, tight pants and a navy colored sleeveless top that was cut revealingly with an emphasis on her proud chest. Even as she watched, Eva's big nipples arose and tented the fabric just below the exposed cleavage, making it plain she wore nothing underneath that shirt and that Kat was the cause of that reaction. Kat sat in mulish silence as Eva gazed appreciably at her still naked body with those beautifully blue eyes and a very pleased smile on her lips.

"Wow," Eva said in a devastatingly sexy purr that went right to the ache between Kat's legs, smirking confidently down at her whilst resting her hands at her sides with one holding a paper shopping sack with an unfamiliar logo on the side and a large, fluffy white towel in the other. "I'm honestly surprised, dear Kitten. I thought you'd be upset and dressed, but this is much nicer. You can greet me with your loveliness displayed anytime you wish. It is..." she pursed her lips in thought, "extremely tempting."

"I'm not naked for your sake," she countered blithely, ignoring the twinges in the arm propping her up. Since it was too late now, she also made no move to hide herself. It wasn't as if she anything to ashamed of, especially after the previous night. "I'm still recuperating from yesterday and the thought of trying to dress didn't seem worth it. If it wasn't akin to torture, I would have put something on by now."

"Either way, I'm enjoying the view," Eva said, walking closer. Kat eyed her warily, because no matter how much she might physically want Eva again, she had no enthusiasm for anything as vigorous as sex just yet, especially with someone like this girl. Eva however just sat sideways on the bed so that their thighs were touching and kicked off a pair of well-worn sandals. They were so close that Eva's wonderful, slightly musky scent reached her nose; as well as a fresh tiny waft of female arousal that wasn't her own.

With her free hand, Eva gave her a playful but firm shove at her shoulder that she had no way to ward off in her current state, and she flopped back flat with a 'whoomph' from the bed. It hurt ridiculously, but since she wasn't alone so she swallowed the exclamation she wanted to voice. Instead she satisfied herself with, "What in all the hells, Eva?!" while Eva herself flung out the towel so that it lay over the bed sheets.

Eva then lifted the hand with the bag into view, whilst leaning in and over to look Kat in her eyes. Kat also couldn't help noticing that it also moved a pair of inviting breasts almost into her face as well. "I believe that's the first time I've heard you say my name, so I know you missed me when you found me gone; but I had to make a little errand to a shop down the road from here. I need to take very good care of you, so I decided to buy something nice that we will both enjoy. I am your mentor, after all."

Ignoring the first comment, Kat focused on the latter and looked curiously at the bag. It looked full and heavy. She may be aggravating, but Kat appreciated that Eva seemed to want to do her job. As much as it grated, she loathed churlishness towards people who were honestly trying to help. "What's in it?"

"I knew it! You can't help wanting to know about things, right? My curious Kat," Eva laughed proudly, setting the sack down onto the mattress. "I'm going to need you to roll over on your stomach for me. Then I promise you'll be thanking me, even if you give me another cute scowl or two. You look good when you're fierce."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously, ignoring the way Eva was eyeing her body in lusty appreciation again. She didn't understand it. How could Eva like it when she rebuffed her? From the way Eva was saying it, she was being a petulant child, and that was just silly...right?

Eva gave a great sigh. "Kitten, must you make everything so difficult? But then I suppose you wouldn't be you anymore." Before she had a chance to protest, Eva's strong hands took hold of her arm and hip, and quickly shoved her over onto her stomach. An involuntary grunt of pain escaped her mouth and she instinctively spread her arms and legs to brace for whatever would come next. At first all Eva did was straddle her at the waist and apply just enough of her weight to keep Kat from moving very much, and then rummaged in the bag. After a moment, Eva carefully set down a sizable bottle in her view, did something quick with a pulse of magic, and unscrewed its lid. A soothing, almost citrusy smell was carried by the breeze to her nose.

"What is it?" she asked again, her anger and annoyance curbed momentarily by her inquisitiveness. That was another thing Eva seemed to have figured out about her. She could be sidetracked by things that she wanted to figure out.

"Just something you'll be happy I got for you," Eva chuckled in delighted pride. "And that's not all." After a second of rustling paper, six still-warm bagels with different flavorings tumbled onto the bed sheet a short distance from her face. "Behave, my dear, and I'll share with you."

"Bitch," she growled in synch with her surprisingly empty tummy, whilst relaxing and conceding to whatever Eva was going to do. Despite herself, she found the banter immensely amusing and kind of fun. Before Eva she'd never met someone that could draw her true self out so easily. She was also a bit curious about the bagels too. They were only a recently re-introduced food item from the tiny far-off country of Itheria on the world's largest continent, and a popular fad item at the moment. She'd wanted to try them ever since she heard of 'em. Unfortunately Corbado was not exactly the center of culinary excitement if it wasn't something procured locally, and wheat flour was considered too expensive for such frivolous uses as bagels, and they looked wrong when made from local rice flour.

"Thank you!" Eva snorted with a pleased laugh and then there was an exaggeratingly loud smack and Kat's head popped almost straight upwards in surprise at the slight sting coming from her right ass cheek. Her protest died at an identical swipe on the other side. "Wow, hardly even a jiggle!" Eva said, sounding impressed. "I love your round little butt."

"What in the four hells?!" she managed to get out, indignation boiling in her belly. "I thought you were going to help me!"

"I am, I am," Eva replied in a mollifying tone that did nothing to indicate she was at all sorry. "But your ass was just too tempting to ignore. You have no idea how much I want to play with it."

Kat simmered in silence and tried to decide if it really was the compliment it sounded like. She was also a little disturbed by the fact that Eva's rough treatment was turning her on, and she itched between her legs to return the favor like last night. These thoughts ended when Eva poured a translucent, slightly viscous liquid out of the bottle into her right hand. The pleasant smell grew stronger so she inhaled deeply to enjoy it. She'd always loved tropical fruits, and the scents reminded her strongly of them.

A hot, comforting sensation spread from between her shoulder blades when Eva let the medicated oil dribble there, and then those knowledgeable hands settled down and began rub and caress her back. Using a good deal of pressure, Eva massaged the oil into her abused muscles and Kat decided quickly that this was something she could put up with when her tension began to ebb far faster than she thought was possible. Except Eva didn't stop there, after moving her long hair up and out of the way, the older girl leaned in to kiss and bite at the back of her neck after every few strokes on her back. It was an amazingly sensual combination of sensations; relaxing touches with little nibbles.

Eva's hands traveled down slowly, working every single inch of skin with the medicinal oil. Then they began to work more at the sides and Kat buried her face in her arms to hide the arousal that surely must be showing there. It didn't help at all when Eva lovingly rubbed the sides of her breasts, inching closer with each pass towards her hard nipples, which tingled lusciously when the hot oil was applied to them. Eva stopped on them for a bit and just played with them, stroked them between her fingers, and gave sharp pinches that felt so good that a moan overwhelmed her control and slipped out into the sexually laden silence in the room.

"Like that?" Eva asked in her deepest purr, giving her nipples a good tug for emphasis. It was like Eva was devotedly worshiping her breasts with her hands.

"It's not...so bad," she said after a long pause. There was no other answer she could give that wouldn't admit to more. There was no hiding how horny she was at this point, and she didn't want to give Eva too much satisfaction from it.

"Here's what I think," Eva drew in closer, and Kat shivered when she felt bare, full breasts press against her back. Somehow, some when, Eva had taken her shirt off. "You have no idea what you really want and you hate that I do."

"How can you know what it is I want?" she groaned out from the loosening of her abdominal muscles under her mentor's diligently moving fingers and the emollient. "You didn't seem all that keen to see me yesterday when we met. I believe you called me a brat in fact."

"That is because most Family's produce little pains-in-the-ass like that girl that hates you," Eva gave a throaty chuckle of amusement. "That was what I was expecting, Kitten. Then, oh my! Look who came charging in here, demanding and threatening and so ferocious. It was you, little Kat. You were so angry and fierce at a pair of rude trespassers, and fearless of a fight, but also in need as well I think now. I am fully aware of how much of a bitch I am, but when I look at you I see a wasteful denial of self and purpose, and yes, a kitten trying to venture heedlessly out into a terrifying world she had no idea existed. You have no inkling of just how wonderfully scary you really are."

"What does that have to do with you wanting into my pants so badly?" Kat asked, both intrigued by this line of reasoning, and maybe a little uncomfortable as well. It caused the kind of niggling thoughts that made her itch.

"Everything," Eva said softly, almost right into her ear, as she ground her clothed crotch in a sensual roll into Kat's ass. It was a possessively erotic gesture. "But let's not focus on me just yet. You are the more interesting enigma, because just in case you haven't noticed, your reactions and behavior last night and right now would not be considered normal. Not by almost any measure."

"What would be normal?" she countered, really not liking this new direction to the conversation. It was actually taking a little of the edge of her arousal.

"Your friend Cassie had a normal reaction to killing another human being for the first time," Eva replied promptly. "She was feeling sick and disgusted with herself, even though she knows she had to do what she did to defend everyone. Even that Sarah girl was mentally drained by the experience, at the toll of taking a life. Killing is not supposed to be easy, and they both reacted as anyone might expect. You however, had a vastly different response, both now and then."

"What?" she protested; barely noticing Eva pushing her legs together so she could slide down them towards her ankles. "I had to kill those things or they would have killed all of us instead, and I don't know that those other guys were even human anymore. They were monsters!"

"Excuses," Eva said dismissively in a chiding tone that actually hurt a little. "You cannot lie to me Kat. You enjoyed every second of the fighting and the killing, and were probably even a little excited by all that blood! It turned you on, made you wet, and got your heart pumping with adrenalin. Maybe, you were even a little disappointed when it came to an end. It made you feel truly alive. Right?"

"I was not—Ah!" a sharp sting burned on her left ass cheek from Eva's quick two-stroke spanking. This time it actually hurt quite a bit.

"I told you not to lie to me," Eva said in a totally new, stern voice, and then pinned her wrist down over her silver bracelet in a tight hold. "There is a reason you were given this little trinket and given a mentor like me. It was because some woman out there saw something in you and thought you might be something amazing, and our instructors think you might be scary enough to need some careful extra attention. You are one of those thankfully rare people who are natural killers and can sleep easily when they do. The same type of person that has throughout history enjoyed careers as assassins or special operations soldiers. You are also the seed from which psychopaths can be born from, lovely Kat. There are places in this world where they really fear many of the types of people you might become down the road you are on. You just might be that monster waiting in the shadows."

"I'm not running around plotting to murder people!" she protested stridently, very much disliking the image Eva had evoked in her mind. She was not some crazed killer. Absolutely not! "I just never saw the point of freaking out when killing in self-defense is necessary! I'm not going nuts and slaughtering innocent people, or even thinking about it."

"That's because you still have a functioning conscience in your pretty head, and a lot of self-control," Eva replied knowingly. "Given the right experiences and tragedies, you could be a very terrible person. As a mage, you'd have the power to literally make the world burn, which is why Wallova watches you so closely and freaks out when you show such initiative at exploring and using that power. To the military command staff, you have frightening potential and they want it pointed in the right direction. That is the part where I come in."

"You're supposed to fix me?" Kat scoffed skeptically. Inside though, she was a bit horrified at how her own intelligent mind was assembling Eva's assertions. It was true she had discovered here that she loved fighting, and winning. It could even be fun. She regretted nothing of the previous night however, except for her inexperience that caused so much collateral damage. Was that what Eva was talking about? That lack of remorse she'd thought of as kind of stupid?

"It's far too late to fix you," Eva said with a deeply amused chuckle. "My task as your mentor is to guide you down the right paths and train you just like the Commandant said. Since you like to fight, you'll be fighting with me and some of the other girls here in the dorm as much as I think you can handle. Instead of a monster, I'm going to turn you into scariest hell-cat I can, and enjoy every minute of it. It just happens that I know exactly what a girl like you needs, and the Commandant saw that too; because it seems you're special in other ways as well."

"What is it that I need then?" she replied irritably, automatically disliking the reassertion by Eva that she could be so knowledgeable in so short a time.

"You need someone exactly like me!" Eva replied instantly. "You need someone to push your buttons, to get you worked up and angry, and not be afraid to confront it head on. You need a girl that can crawl inside your head and know those dirty thoughts you're having right now, accept them and even love them. You need someone that can smack you down when it's needed, scrap with you, and yes, fuck you silly that same night! You need a girl who knows her way around this world, but isn't some kind of towering authority, and can still be in charge. So as cute as you are, Kat, I know what you can be and I'm not scared of you; not of the current you, or the future you."

"You want to remake me into someone like you?" she said disbelievingly.

"Oh no, you're your own unique class of scary bitch," Eva chortled happily, working the oil up her legs to her ass, which she began to massage with undisguised delight. For Kat, it just worked to make her even more aroused again. "I'm going to spend a lot of time kicking the crap out of you, but I'll state right now, that it'll be because I do like you. At times like right now, I'll take care of you when I can and when it's appropriate. Given some thought, I know you'll come to see it too."

Kat thought about it and still wasn't sure she liked the implication that she was some kind of monster that only needed just the right push to start rampaging. Since she had friends now, she could bounce the idea of them and see if they agreed. That she hoped they didn't went unsaid even in the safety of her mind. She also didn't see what made Eva such on expert on her situation anyway, even if she had the potential to go crazy. Then her thoughts stopped with an abrupt halt; because with little warning at all Eva's fingers invaded the cleft of her ass and a pair of thumbs slid further down and over her wet vaginal lips.

"Oh!" the exclamation escaped very loudly and it was entirely appropriate for the situation. Both thumbs stroked up and down her pussy with one on each side, caressing her lips and occasionally pulling to spread her open a little and play with her virginal entrance. Even without her protest Eva avoided penetration and focused on the outside, which felt amazing. On each upstroke her clit was pinched gently, but firmly, and rubbed sensually. The scent of her sex was perfuming the air, dominating the oil, and she could feel her fluids leaking onto the bed with every quiver and clench of her pussy muscles that forewarned what was coming soon. Then one thumb disappeared for just a moment.

"Hmm, you really are delicious," Eva said in a deep burr and an exaggerated slurping of her digit. It returned between Kat's legs coated in saliva, but she was beyond caring at that point. Her orgasm rose up slowly, but she could feel the power in it, so she said nothing and just let Eva play for now. It hit like massive wave, and she thrust her butt reflexively into the air as she buried her face to muffle her scream of pleasure.

"No...Eva!" she groaned desperately when the girl simply followed her motion and focused on her now super-sensitive clit. That was when the second orgasm hit seemingly from nowhere and it was all she could do not to slump to the bed and pass out in a fetal position. Instead she rode the climax and felt her pussy dribbling her juices in an incredible volume that had never happened before. After a long minute or two the hands moved and rolled her onto her back where she lay limp as Eva finished the massage on her front while she was blissed out of her mind.

"Feel better?" Eva asked in a pleased tone, when Kat had a chance to calm down and basically wake up again.

"You didn't even ask!" she protested heatedly, ignoring her literally dripping wet pussy.

"Sounds like you do!" Eva laughed proudly, ignoring her protest and climbing off of her. She snatched a bagel swirled with blueberry and bit a hunk out of it. "If we didn't have things to do, I'd stay here and play with you all day."

"You have more stuff planned?" she asked, knowing her cheeks were red with embarrassment and lingering pleasure from the orgasms. It was obvious from Eva's expression that she knew just how good she'd made Kat feel. She sat up and saw her skin was still very flushed and a little shiny from the oil. Otherwise, her muscles felt a lot better and there was very little tightness anymore. Retrieving both of their discarded towels from last night, she used them to try and clean herself up.

"The fight last night, and our sparring session, showed me a lot about where your initial weaknesses are," Eva replied, eating and watching her. "So I'm going to get you a head-start on showing you how to move your body in a fight."

Kat selected a poppy seed bagel and bit into soft, warm deliciousness. "Whoa, that's good!" she tried to savor the rest, but it was far too tempting and her belly wanted more. Instead she finished it off and reached for another one. "Why am I so hungry?"

"Because you used a lot of magic yesterday," Eva answered, already on her second one. "It's why you hardly ever see fat mages. We burn calories like crazy and it takes a special kind of effort to get that big. The more magic we use, the more we need to refuel. Meals are going to start getting very carb heavy, and snacking is going to be a necessity for us for the rest of our lives."

On her last bagel, she sent a mental command to her Glass and her armor dematerialized into motes of light from its stand and reformed onto her body. It felt really good to be wearing it again, almost as if not wearing it was like missing a piece of her body. Eva gave her a disappointed look and she surprised herself with a genuine laugh. "I can't hang around naked all day if we have stuff to do."

"I wouldn't tell you not to," Eva replied with a knowing but playful smile; still proudly topless and obviously showing off while she had the chance.

"What are we doing first?" she asked, choosing to ignore that. It wasn't hard, because now that she was calming down again and her mind was clear, Eva's allegations about her were starting to creep back into her head. They were far too serious to disregard easily, and she found them incredibly disturbing. "I am not a murderer," she said silently to herself. "That is not what I am, whatever Eva may say."

"That was an easy choice," Eva said, finally donning her own armor, which made her normal clothes dematerialize into her pocket space. She did so with a smirk that said the sexual banter was only postponed for now, and she took on that predatory, dangerous air that she'd had when Kat first met her. "You really need to increase your overall flexibility and physical stamina. Your muscles would not have felt that abused if you had exercised them the right way. Also, there will be fights that last a lot longer than the one last night and I'll be ashamed if you starting panting ten minutes in. So what we're going to do is head down to the training room and do some stretching katas and then focus on some specific muscle group exercises until it's time for breakfast, which is in just over an hour and a half. I'd make you run too, but it sounds like Wallova is going to give you plenty of time for that already."

Sighing, she slipped off the bed and stood up next to her mentor. "Then I suppose we may as well get started."

Eva's smile grew. "Not even one complaint? This is going to be fun."

Kat calmly walked at Eva's side through the hallways once again, and this time the training room was already occupied by two other pairs when they arrived. One consisted of an older human girl and her young succubus mentee. The human girl, probably about nineteen or so years old, was built solidly, but without a trace of fat, an auburn braid and a pleasant face that indicated she might be prone to many smiles and jokes. The younger girl of the two had brilliantly blue hair that moved strangely just like Sarah's did. She was taller than her mentor, had almost luminescent green eyes, and a lushly developed body that was well showcased by her armor. She was probably a couple years younger than her mentor, but was old enough that she already had a pair of growing horns budding out close together on her forhead. These two were running the perimeter of the room at a steady, but fairly fast pace and pretty much in step with each other. Neither looked the least bit winded.

The others were a pair of human girls. The older one had a swarthy skin tone that meant her family had immigrated to Iskar as none of the nation's many possessions had native people that looked like her. She was at least seventeen, had small eyes with a slight epicanthic fold, and dark hair that was woven in a complicated looking configuration. The younger one was scarcely older than Kat, and very petite in all measurements. In fact, she was even less developed than Cassie with a nearly flat chest, with only small bumps for breasts. Her hair though was a beautiful curly blonde and her eyes were heterochromatic, which was both odd and pretty at the same time. These two had some kind of mechanical device in pieces on a cloth on the floor and were bent over it on their knees with determined expressions.

"Hey girls!" Eva said in greeting, raising her hand in a brief wave as she headed for a spot of the generously open space. Kat tagged along, though she was intensely curious about the device on the cloth. It looked like it would reassemble as a hollow, cone-shaped rod with a fold-out tripod attached just above that, and a boxy part in the middle.

"Hey Eva!" said the elder of the human pair of girls with a heavily accented voice and a fast manner of speaking. She popped to her feet with a gymnastic lightness and cast a wide, lopsided grin whilst her slower mentee followed suit with a slightly amused and exasperated expression. Neither seemed at all bothered by their intrusion. "Glad to see you two could get down here so fast, after last night. Is this the new girl?" She looked at Kat with undisguised inquisitiveness. "She looks so normal now."

"Would you rather I was covered in blood again?" Kat replied dryly in annoyance, still not liking Eva's accusation that she had enjoyed that part. I was just excited by the fight is all; she rationalized, that is perfectly normal! She now recognized the pair as one of those that had been looking on when they got home last night. They'd been standing by the door, and had stepped politely out of their way. "I can tell you though; it starts to itch pretty quickly, so I'd like to avoid it if I can." A silent whisper in the back of her mind seemed to ask if that last part had been the truth. She ignored it.

"No," said the younger girl in a lilting, musical voice. Her eyes practically gleamed with intelligence. This was not someone to underestimate in any way, was her immediate instinct. "I think what Marna means, is that you don't look like someone capable of what you did."

Kat felt a bit surprised that they knew so much, and it must have shown on her face because the older girl, Marna, chuckled pleasantly. "It's hard to hide things when someone pretty much blows up a park and kills a whole batch of those creepy things. It's not something cleaned up easily or quickly. Nothing official has been announced, but rumor has a way of spreading like a grass fire in any organization like this. I'm being rude though, I should introduce myself. I'm Marna Speros, and this," she swung out a lean arm that yanked the younger girl into a solid hug from the side, who simply smiled as if she was used to it, "is my mentee and partner, Kay Lindholm. We've only been together for about five months now, but as you can see, she's damn brilliant."

Kay nodded with a small, unassuming smile.

"So you've got a third-of-a-year lead, it's not that much of a difference," Eva replied with a joking grin to Marna and then looked Kat again. "Marna started at the same time as me, and we've trained together quite a bit, but she got selected as a mentor first. I met her and Kay when I left on my little errand earlier." She turned back to the others. The running pair was also slowing down their pace and coming towards them now too. "Ladies, this is Katerina Genaria, the thorn in Wallova's peaceful life. We call her Kat the Wicked!"

"Hey, I haven't been giving you any weird titles!" Kat protested, flaring up regardless of who was watching. She turned to face her mentor with a glare set into her brows. "You can at least introduce me normally!"

"It wouldn't be as fun that way," Eva replied blithely, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture.

"Oh my," Kay said amusedly, interrupting the new retort Kat almost began. The girl's eyes were wide in mock surprise, which she turned on her mentor. "I suppose this means our peaceful days are over."

"Here now," said the succubus girl, excitedly intruding into the conversation and almost bounding over to the group. Her accent was very much like Sara's, with almost lyrical cadences and lilts to certain parts of words. "You make it sound like the lot of us do nothing but sit around and sip tea all day." Her beaming smile locked onto Kat, and only slipped a fraction when Kat unconsciously ignored the attempt to impress her and Eva with her boldness and attractive body. With Eva already next to her, especially after what Eva had done to her only moments before, any other girls were barely a mental blip. Add her mental preoccupation with the concern that she might be a walking murder time-bomb; a sensually beautiful succubus was hardly worth getting worked up about. The girl tilted her head in a new consideration of Kat. "You're from the Corbado Genaria's?"

Yeah, why?" Kat asked, not getting why that might matter.

"Oh, it's just that my mum actually does drink your Family's tea," the girl chuckled, delighted apparently at having recognized Kat's Family. "She loves the stuff and always orders the biggest size tins of leaf. I'm getting carried away though and haven't even told you my name!"

"Which is normal for her," said the succubus's partner in a droll tone that said much about their history together. She wore a very knowing smile that also held a great deal of affection for her mentee. "She claims to be well-born, but she has frightening manners. I'm always apologizing for her."

"I behave well enough," the succubus huffed breezily, and thrust out a hand to Kat. She shook it carefully. "I'm Darlina Guthrie. But you can ignore the stuffy stuff and just call me Lina! I'm sure we'll be friends right soon enough!"

"Stuffy stuff?" the older girl asked with a visible shudder, and then gave Kat and Eva a friendly smile. "Gods, we've been together for three years now and sometimes the way Lina can destroy a language as simple as this one still surprises me. I'm Astrid Bonner by the way. It's good to see some more new faces again this year and I look forward to working with you both. Please ignore my partner when she starts going on too much though, she's very excitable and I can only do so much to defuse it."

"Now who is being rude?" Lina quipped happily, pointing victoriously at her mentor. From the way they were interacting, Kat guessed that such conversations were the norm with these two. At least they seemed friendly.

Kat snorted in amusement, definitely seeing a few similarities between Lina and Sarah. "It's nice to meet you all as well. Though, Lina, you are only the second Succubus I've met, but I see you both like friendly jokes and having fun."

"There's another of us here now?!" Lina chirped animatedly, giving Kat a wide smile. She stepped forward and quickly snatched Kat's hand again, and before Kat could pull it back, gave it a quick sniff. While she tried to think of a protest to the strange action, Lina explained herself. "I was seeing if she marked you in case she had already claimed you, and to see if I knew her. It's quite ordinary where I come from. Actually, it's customary to smell the hand of a person you meet for the first time when you shake in greeting. It prevents...tiny social problems, let's say."

"Sarah is a friend of mine," Kat explained, wondering exactly how a succubus marked someone they claimed. She hoped for Cassie's sake it wasn't gross. "We both had our first day yesterday, and she's living in the regular new student dorms across the street. I don't belong to her though."

"Oh, I could tell that right quickly," Lina agreed happily. Her smile became suggestive and she cast a knowing look toward Eva for a moment. "Actually you smell strongly of her, and like you were having some fun before you—Ouch!" She flung a hand up to clutch her right ear, which Astrid had flicked hard with a gesture so casual that it had to be one she did all the time. "Dammit Atti! That hurts!" Lina pouted brilliantly, apparently using a pet name for the older girl. "I was being perfectly nice!"

"Yeah, and I know where that head of yours was going," Astrid replied with a sigh. She gave Kat and Eva a knowing smile. "Since you also have a succubus as a friend, I'm sure you've found some of their quirks already?"

"I have," Kat said, liking this girl already. "Lina wasn't bothering me."

"Well, as much fun as this is, Kat and I need to use the little time we have," Eva broke in with friendly brusqueness.

"We understand," Marna said without taking offense, glancing around to include the others, and Kat was surprised when they all seemed to defer to her, despite Astrid being the oldest in the room. They each nodded their understanding as well. "What were you going to start out with?"

For the first time, Kat got to watch Eva try and impress her peers, and it was clear by her tone that she wanted to at least get their approval. "I want to put her through some flexibility and movement training katas, because she really needs to loosen up and learn to use her body better. Then, if we still have time at the end, we'll do some muscle group work."

"First forms?" Astrid asked curiously, sounding honestly intrigued by Eva's proposal. She seemed to know exactly what Eva was talking about, and it irked Kat that she had no idea at all. Everything here had been a surprise so she supposed that she should get used to it, but it was incredibly annoying. Perhaps she should do a little reading up on training on her own?

"The second forms as well," Eva replied immediately, with a proud little smile to Kat that caused a warm burn in her cheeks that she quickly tried to ignore. It was stupid to feel good just because Eva thought she could handle what was probably a tougher level of work. "She doesn't look like it right now, but my kitten is a little spitfire. She can handle it."

"It's your call," Marna agreed easily with a smile, though she did give Kat a new once-over evaluation with her eyes. Kat decided then that Marna was something like the real leader around here. There was nothing but self-confidence in the way she held herself. "Do you mind if we join in?"

"Aren't you working on that thing?" Eva asked in surprise and a lifted snowy brow, pointing at the disassembled machine on the floor. "You seemed quite occupied with it."

"We were," Marna replied, glaring at the device as if it had refused to meet the simple qualification of not being in pieces. "I asked Ajax for a field-deployable scanner for Kay to practice with and he passed off some experimental model on us. While that's predictable for him, he kindly forgot the assembly instructions in the crate. None of us has ever put one of these together before, so it's a bit of a puzzle."

"It doesn't look that complicated," Kat commented absently, drifting over to look over the pieces. They were laid out in need rows next to a wooden crate that now only held packing hay. Even she could tell they only went together one way, exactly like a simple puzzle. The number of parts didn't change what was practically written on the items themselves. She'd only spent a short time with Ajax so far, but it sounded to her, like something he would do.

"Oh really?" Kay laughed amusedly, but without any insult. "Even with almost thirty separate pieces?"

"Sure," she shrugged, crouched and picked up the metal box part that would hold most of the components and a square piece of printed circuits with carefully emplaced magical channels and electronics. Gently, she inserted it into the box and felt it click as it was seated solidly into its mounting slot. She took several more parts from the spread and started plugging them into their designated places in the box or into the board itself. She didn't see what was so hard. It was fairly plain where and how the channels were inlaid, and they were the guide and instruction that would let the parts fall into place; just like when she'd made her little cloaking stick.

When the control box was complete, she snapped the lid on top, careful not to scrape the two fins that thrust out of a pair of slots for them. Then she picked up the cone portion, and noting the metal symbols and flow patterns on the inside, she oriented the box on the bottom of the cone and gave a firm twist, locking it into a set of spring-bound latches. Last was the handle and tripod assembly, which she unfolded and used to set the device upright on the floor. When she was finished, she turned and found all the other girls pretending to stare at her in awe in a rough semi-circle.

"How in all the Heavens did you do that?" Lina asked in a whisper. Okay, so maybe it hadn't been pretend awe, but she still didn't get what was so shocking.

"What do you mean?" she asked back calmly, pointing at the fascinating machine. She wanted to turn it on and see what it did, but this probably wasn't the time for that. "It can only work when you put it together like this." Turning the thing a little, she pointed at the symbols etched inside the cone. "See, they even have the spell patterns visible on some of the parts as an assembly guide, so they can only go together one way."

Again, all five looked from her, the machine, and then back again. Finally Eva frowned, made a growling sound, and ran a hand through her beautiful white hair, exposing her small, almost cute ears. Why had she not noticed that before? That thought immediately made Kat ask herself why she even cared to notice. "We're getting sidetracked! Kat, top messing around and let's get started!" Eva said decisively, taking charge.

"Uhh, right," Marna agreed quickly, blinking and refocusing quickly. "Go ahead and lead, Eva."

Eva led them purposefully back out into the open floor, well way from the device with a little smirk Kat's way. Kat fumed a little at that, since it was obvious that Eva thought she would be easily distracted by the thing just because it was interesting. She wanted to learn and become a Valkyrie mage, so her determination was just as strong as anyone's. When it was time to focus, she was perfectly capable of doing just that. Right now, she was focused on this.

"We'll use a circle formation so Kat can see everyone," Eva suggested, turning around to walk backwards and address the small group. "Kat, I want you directly across from me, alright?"

"Sure," she replied evenly, keeping her emotions out of her voice. Eva stopped at a random spot in the open floor and Kat moved to take her place about six meters away from Eva and faced her mentor as instructed. The other two groups settled in to either side with the ease of long practice at these sorts of things.

"We'll go slowly at first, to show you the sequences," Eva said, smiling confidently at her again. Kat frowned and refused to allow that to make her feel better. She was not in the mood to be easily mollified by compliments, and the dark thoughts about Eva's assertions were intruding again to remind her of what Eva really thought of her. Instead she just nodded her acceptance of the instruction and paid close attention.

Almost as one, all the girls began to move in near-perfect synchronous timing into something like a dance. With exquisite, smooth grace, they crouched with one knee bent and Kat imitated them as best she could. They held the position just long enough for her to feel the burn of straining muscles and joints, and then then shifted just as cleanly into another, much different position. Again and again they flowed and moved, and Kat moved with them, sweating a little and loosening up just as Eva had promised. After about a hundred different positions, they started again at the beginning and Kat was much more capable of following along.

They completed the long set four more times, and by the end Kat was in rough step with the others for almost the whole thing. It had seemed easy enough at the start, but now she could feel how much work her body was actually doing. It was then Eva made things even worse by gliding into an entirely new set movements and poses that were significantly more difficult. They required her to focus harder and more tightly on maintaining her balance through complicated poses that tested her to the edge. Then it was first set, second set, and back to first again for several repetitions. This prevented her body from getting into too good of a rhythm.

None of the other girls looked at all fatigued by the exercise, and seeing Eva performing such lithe, athletic motions made her stare in appreciation despite her mental focus on not fumbling the kata forms. Eva moved like a predator getting ready for a hunt, with her fascinating sapphire eyes locked on Kat the entire time. It was a little unnerving and aggravating to know she was under such shameless scrutiny. It felt like Eva was telling her silently, that she was something worthy of hunting, and promising that Kat would be caught. She had no idea how she understood so much, but Kat knew the silent conveyance of that message had been real.

"You've got the basics down quick enough," Eva said proudly, breaking the cadence of silence and patterned breathing from the group. "But you also have a lot of wasted movement and energy still, which can be fixed." Eva stepped out of formation towards her and when Kat made to stop, Eva chided her with a, "keep moving!"

Eva slipped around behind her, and Kat almost shivered when Eva's hands settled onto her arms and stroked along them. As she moved through the sequence of exercises, Eva gently guided her body using light touches so that her katas were noticeably more efficient. Those fingers were more than a little stimulating because nowhere on her body was off limits, and from her little smile, Eva knew what she was doing in both regards. Combined with the wonderful feeling of working out, it pretty much forced her out of her huffy temper.

That's it," Eva purred encouragingly, just like she had in their room, still adjusting her form. Kat felt the difference of the changes, and marveled at how little it took to waste energy. She felt light, and almost instinctually she brought up a little magic and let it sing inside her body. Her skin tingled from the blending of sensations and it almost came as a surprise when Eva slowly brought her to a halt. "I knew you'd be good," Eva said confidently, stepping away and back towards her place in the circle.

"That's was certainly a different approach," Astrid commented in a musing tone, giving Eva a smile of appraisal.

"It seemed to work well enough," Kay said, laughing lightly. They were all in a good mood from the physical activity and Kay seemed bright and perky now.

Kat let out a long breath she didn't realize she had been holding and let the gathered magical energy dissipate into the world around her, causing a slight flicker of bluish light to ripple over her skin in a pattern like the reflection of sunlight off a pool of water. Amazingly, even though her muscles felt nice and loose, and just a little tired; she also felt refreshed and relaxed. It was a nice feeling.

"Feels good, right?" Marna asked; a knowing smile on her dark, generous lips.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"It's supposed to!" Eva said, with the kind of self-assured smirk Kat was beginning to find aggravating and endearing at the same time. "We're going to do this every single morning we can, at the start at least. This way, you'll be ready for the day ahead and it'll make you a lot less stiff the next time you get in a fight."

"You're that sure I'll be in another one sometime soon?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I think you attract trouble like a magnet, Kitten," Eva laughed. "We'd have to check, but I think you are probably the first person to legitimately use an emergency declaration on her very first day to un-safe her blade."

"No way!" Lina both looked and sounded impressed. "They didn't scream at you for that?"

"Not really," Kat said. "I had to use the edge of the sword. Otherwise they wouldn't have been any more useful than a bunch of skinny clubs to beat the bad guys with."

"Yeah, well, the easy part of the morning is over now," Eva grinned, and looked at the others. "If you want to skip out now, go ahead. We're going to work on muscle groups next."

Both of the other pairs groaned, and Marna shook her head with a knowing smile. "I think we'll take you up on that. Kay and I need to figure out what Kat did to put our scanner together. There will be plenty of time for us all to work out together again."

"And we will be getting back to our running," Astrid added, gently guiding Lina away with a hand on the girls lower back.

"Later Kat!" Lina called as she turned and loped back into a running pace, turning slightly to circle the perimeter of the room.

"Are they the only ones on our floor?" she asked Eva once both pairs were out of easy earshot.

"Nope, not at all," Eva chuckled. "From what I've been told, most of the girls prefer to use the much newer training room on the basement level. It has a simulation system. Not like an immersion chamber by a long shot, but it lets you do some interesting things. It also costs too much to install on all the floors"

"Can we try it too?"

"First things first!" Eva chided in a tone that was extremely aggravating. "We already have plans for today. Are you ready for it?"

"Always!" she affirmed, unwilling to admit weakness for a second, even knowing Eva was baiting her.

"Then let's get to it!"

*****

It was a depressingly gorgeous day outside already, and Cassius Silanus would have much preferred gloomy clouds, or perhaps a nice thunderstorm to match his dour mood. All the people he passed by in the busy halls of the Sovereign's Palace were stupidly cheerful as they went about the mindless tasks of government drones. He cut through them in a bubble of cleared space that did little to satisfy him. They only wanted to avoid his visibly apparent displeasure, and thought nothing about the Lord he should rightfully be. They just wanted to natter on through life without any true ambition, like the cattle they were.

The Palace surmounted and entirely covered the highest of the many hills surrounding the great Capital city, commanding an enviable view of the land around it. As the center of both the legislative and executive arms of the government, it was enormous by necessity and also contained the personal quarters of the Sovereign and his family. There were tiered levels of buildings made of white stone and lush gardens to please the eyes of visitors and staff alike. Its core structures were also some of the oldest in the city.

Currently, Cassius strode down an outer corridor on a tier high up the hill that was made entirely of armored glass on his right side, displaying the bustling city bathed in light from the recently risen sun. Even though a powerful security presence was visible, including a pair of armed skyships, it did nothing to detract from the view. As one of the hearts of commerce in the mighty nation of Iskar, it never stopped moving, and even now he could see cargo ships entering and leaving the ports. The smaller flying ships of the Iskaran Courier Service were zipping around in swarms as they began their morning delivery runs. A tiny percentage of that vast, mobile wealth went right into his own accounts, as was only his due.

His Family was one of the oldest recorded unbroken lineages in the world, with a history containing many things that kings, emperors and priests could only hope to attain someday, and yet he was dealt so much disrespect by the common rabble around him. It was bad enough that the Sovereign had outlawed the vassalage system two centuries ago, decimating his Family's agricultural holdings, but now every jumped up commoner was able to sit with his betters at table and court. It was a sickening corruption of the natural, rightful way of things, and everything he saw out those windows reminded him of it. He ached to be back home on his vast estate where he was given the respect he was owed and the lower classes were quietly cowed. Yet there was so much work to do, and so many problems to take care of.

Turning down an innocuous side passage, Cassius moved deeper into the vast, labyrinthine guts of the Palace that were buried even into the bedrock of the hill itself. After only a short distance down hallways carpeted in rich, deep shag that comforted the feet, and with beautifully complex, imported weavings hanging on the walls to provide color, he entered a quiet area mostly devoid of people. As a side benefit, the hangings swallowed echoes and created a region of soft silences and muffled conversations. Turning left at another corner, he walked a longer distance and found the man he was looking for in a lonely decorative alcove containing a hand-carved wooden bench and an oil painting of a man on a rearing horse in the heroic style.

"Ah, so good of you to arrive in a timely fashion, Lord Cassius," the man said in greeting, using that sly, knowing tone that could sink into a man and send a chill down his back. Raising a delicate-looking, long-fingered hand with perfect alabaster skin, the man casually licked at a bright red liquid that coated his index finger. In his other hand was a simple porcelain bowl containing more of the liquid, and a sharp, coppery smell tinged the air. The Master's thin, smiling lips were stained by the treat.

The Master, also call Master Porphyrius by the man himself, was not a vampire, despite his current choice in a snack. Cassius had no idea what the man truly was, no one did, and knew only that he was absolutely insane. It was the kind of insanity that encapsulated genius, and power the world was only just now getting a chance to experience. The Master was prone to acts of brilliant cruelty, and experiments no man had been able to stomach, until now. It was this man, to whom Cassius had broken his oath to his country to follow so that the world may be shattered and remolded into something...more appealing; a man who could give weight to his ambitions. It was that outcome that made all the danger worthwhile.

Today the Master was dressed just as outlandishly as he always did. He wore a double-breasted coat in a dark, mustard-yellow with a puffy, ascot tie tucked into the neck. The chain of a pocket watch dangled from his right hip pocket on the coat, and on his head was a tri-cornered hat with two long sides and the long point going straight back down his neck and the sides curled up. He was pretty sure it was a rancher's hat from the vast pasturages in the land of Orteña. His billowy pants were tucked into high, black boots with pointed toes. It was an improvement over their last meeting in which the Master had worn a filthy surgeon's smock, complete with the residues from a fresh victim.

In contrast, Cassius always dressed according to his true station in life. This meant perfectly ironed pants of black or charcoal grey, a spotless shirt, coat of made either silk or high-count cotton, polished boots, and a tasteful watch at his wrist. He also kept his naturally curly black hair short and well tamed.

The Master was almost too tall and lanky to be human, with short, unruly and inky hair that only peaked out from under the hat. His face was hard, with sharp features that seemed to have been chiseled out of marble and tiny ears. A chinstrap-style beard was trimmed with unnaturally perfect straight lines. Yet the most disturbing feature was always the large eyes that never appeared to blink. The shape of the pupil changed with little reason, and sometimes opened to vertical slits when he was agitated.

The Master held out the bowl in feigned politeness. "Would you care for a little drink? I can assure you that it is very fresh."

"No, thank you." He replied stiffly, knowing the generosity was never what it seemed. He had no desire to consume some kind of slow acting toxin that would kill him in an undoubtedly disgusting manner. This was a much easier conversation setting than some in the past. The Master liked to taunt him sometimes while they spoke. On one occasion, he'd been forced to almost shout his report because the Master had been making something under his desk scream the whole time. It had sounded human and female, but it was unwise to even look curious, lest he join the unfortunate prey.

"There was a spot of excitement last night on my hunting grounds," the Master said, getting to business; though he still slurped loudly from the bowl, staining his lips further. He licked them clean with an ugly, purple tongue like a tentacle. "My toys were squealing about something killing a whole bunch of them. They aren't the most loquacious creatures, by design, but they so love to tell me about certain things. It sounds a lot of them died, and you were there to witness the deed."

"Yes. The hunting team I was watching over last night had a bit of bad luck," he replied stiffly. "A group of mage students stumbled upon them just as the collector was ripping the soul out of a man. The process is not subtle, as you know well, and it was one of the larger hunting packs too. Hiding them wasn't much of an option. I ordered the pack to kill the intruders, and they certainly tried to do so. Instead, they were cut down."

"I know," the Master grinned, showing too many pointed teeth. "I felt the magic of the battle. I can always make new packs, and the loss of the collector and its cargo was unfortunate, but I am more interested in the enemy. Two of them were deliciously strong, one was strange, and another, was your daughter. I tasted her spoor in the air among my dead creatures."

Cassius stiffened with indignant rage at the reminder. His only child had been an utter disappointment her entire life, starting with not being born male. From there it was one problem after another, always leading to disappointment. Women were good for only a few things in his opinion, and as soon as his overly expensive doctor declared that he was infertile and the reason he would have no more children, he'd arranged for the death of his former wife and his doctor both. He'd given his daughter one last chance to make herself useful at the Academy, and even there she found a way to aggravate his plans.

"You are far too concerned about those silly Family honor things," Master chuckled. "What I want is a closer look at these girls. This was only a pinprick of failure in the grand pattern of my plans, but it wouldn't do to overlook possible problems that may grow larger. If they are weeds in my garden, they will be pulled."

"It will be done," he agreed already allocating resources for the task in his head. Scheming was what he did best, and he was very, very good at it. "Are things progressing well in the Empire?"

"Fabulously!" Master replied with a wide grin. "They were a pot just waiting to boil, and it hardly took any more heat from me for those bastard Vampire oligarchs to start reaching for each other's throats. Give it a year and there will be a hundred different armies tearing that continent apart in a war like nothing this world has seen. Piracy and...oceanic adventurism have already started picking up steam too. Ah! Dammit! I said non-chunky!" The Master had pulled part of a human ear from the bowl. He flicked it against the wall with a glare.

"Is that all for today?" he asked, not wanting to be nearby when that was found.

"How are you progressing with our local projects? I want to get my personal grudges out of the way before we move on to more ambitious things."

"I am already set up to deal with the heir, so he won't be a problem," he replied, going down the mental list. "The moles have already begun their work as well, and it sounds like they have found some rot to exploit. I don't know how many they can turn to our cause yet, but I'll know soon. The mages are proving more difficult to infiltrate. They are insular and most are aggressively loyal to their fellows. I've already had to have one killed in his sleep."

"You might have to focus on the younger ones then," the Master suggested in a sly tone. "They could provide for some interesting opportunities, and I'd like a chance to play with a few. If not, then, oh well. All that truly matters is destroying that damned school and all the mages in it. They will regret every slight they gave to me with their blood!""

"The younger ones would be less ingrained towards their Orders," he agreed cautiously. He didn't like dealing with mages, especially the intensely trained Crows and Valkyries. Every one of them had that air of superiority that said they would not be cowed or put in their place. They knew he was forbidden from punishing them even for the greatest disrespect, and he was unsure he'd be able to if he was permitted, since even the weakest of them could kill him with little trouble. It would feel very good when they were finally crushed beneath the war's boot heel.

"Good, then you may go," the Master said dismissively, obviously sinking into one of his thinking moods. Cassius quickly made his departure, again navigating the inner halls of the Palace. He arrived just in time, as he preferred, at the large doors to the Inner Council Chamber, both carved in bas-relief images of leafy vines. After making sure his own dark coat of wine-red silk was impeccable, he pulled open the left door and ignored the soldiers guarding either side, inside and out. They knew who he was.

The chamber was cavernously immense; so large that as a joke, the Sovereign had once arranged for a skyship to be flown inside so a picture could be taken of such a stupid thing. Ovular in shape, there were three tiers of seats. The outer two rings were for the legislature, which was not in session today, and the inner floor level was reserved for the Sovereign, his family, and the Advisory Council. All ten members were present today. That number was not a set one, and was prone to change on their ruler's whim.

Overhead, glass panes set into the vast dome let the brilliant sunlight into the chamber, illuminating the wall murals and ceiling fresco. All the art portrayed important events in Isakr's history, and he knew replicas of them were still popular in people's homes. Iskaran's were proud of their martial traditions, and made a point of remembering great battles or other glorious times for the nation. This was further emphasized in the chamber by the impeccably uniformed soldiers guarding the Council, and a pair from each of the mage Orders, standing in places around the hall. The mages stalked and watched like trained hunting falcons, ready to pounce and rip the throat out of their designated prey.

The Sovereign himself was seated in an immense, strongly reinforced throne of obsidian at the head of the table today, and thankfully not in his true form on the dais set behind him for that purpose. No one knew the Sovereign's real name, or that of his mate and son, but he was the largest and therefore oldest known dragon alive, and the sight of him could turn a man's bowels to water. He had singly ended wars on his own, and possessed power only rivaled by the gods as far as anyone knew. In the last decade, only two men had tried to depose him in challenges for the throne, and both had been eaten in seconds. That was how high the bar for attaining rule was set.

"Good, now all are present," the Sovereign boomed, his voice the powerful rumble of his real self. Even in his humanoid form, he was massive. He took the form of a mountainous, heavily muscled man with bronze skin and a completely bald head. He stood over eight feet tall, was completely hairless, and retained piercingly reptilian eyes. As usual, he was in his personal uniform of white, loose trousers, a belt with a polished gold buckle, a sleeveless white shirt, and a thick coil of silver chain around his neck as his Symbol of Office. "Be seated."

Everyone that had been standing quickly found their places at the table, a beautifully polished piece of Iskaran carpentry, and made from a rare species of cedar located on only a few islands. Cassius hated it because it was a product of one of his principle business rivals and a constant reminder of their success. At his place, he carefully poured himself a glass of ice-water from a provided glass pitcher, and shifted mental gears to hide as much of his traitorous thoughts from his face as possible. He would be glad however, when every man in this room was dead.

"Explain the latest incident," the Sovereign ordered, looking at General Karlo Alesi, the current Chief of Domestic Security, which was the head of all national law enforcement departments, agencies and penal institutions. His job was an unenviable one; considering the vast size of the country and how slow communication between parts of it could be. That was improving thanks to the trans-oceanic cables being laid down, but he still didn't hear of some incidents until well after they happened. A large part of his job was finding competent local commanders in areas like that.

"Yes, sir!" General Alesi stood. He was an aging man with salt-and-pepper hair cut close to his scalp. "This one was caused by a much larger pack than has been previously encountered, containing a very large number of the beastly scavenger-type creatures, at least two Collectors, a sizable mob of Soulless former humanoids, as well as another reported sighting of a Puppet Master-type. A small group of mage students that skipped curfew encountered them in a park, and when they were attacked, they did an admirable job of slaughtering the creatures. Mages across the city felt the battle occur and reported it, but it was not until a Collector was killed that a declaration of emergency reached us from the students themselves. At this time, no disciplinary action is being sought against those students beyond what their CO will choose to do."

"Do you think we should interview these students?" the Sovereign asked, eyes locked onto the General. "I felt the battle as well, and one of them has magic that tastes strange."

"Ah, we know of the one you speak of," said General Halvion, Chief of Magical Training and Research. The Academy was under his purview. "That girl is a brand-new student and is already being monitored for the oddities you detected. She's one of those special cases and has been assigned an appropriate Mentor. So far she shows excellent potential, and I've read her CO's reports after last night. However, she is unlikely at this juncture, to provide any more light on this matter."

Cassius sighed as quietly as he could and tried not to slouch in his chair. If this was how the meeting was starting, it was going to be a long, long day. Perhaps a lunch liaison with one of his mistresses would be in order. Maybe that really young blonde one that liked to wiggle while he took her?

Yes, that would improve his mood perfectly.

******

"How is this schedule supposed to work?" Kat asked, seated on the bench of the shower changing room, freshly clean and her hair damp. In the air before her, generated by her Glass, was a large chart containing her class schedule, separated into columns for each of the ten days of the week. Some classes were for an hour every day, others for two hours and three days a week, and a couple lasted for several hours only one or two days a week.

Mostly in the mornings, she had the academic classes, such as: Intro to Magic Based Mathematics, Iskaran History 1100 Post-Sovereign to Present, and Formal Writing and Report Composition. Those sounded a bit dry, but were probably necessary. Later on in the day and for most of the weekend, she had the more interesting classes that were geared more towards learning military mage-craft. Such as: Magical Foundations, Hand-to-hand Weapons lvl 1, Military weapons and Vehicles lvl 1, and Basic Tactics and Strategy. Physical training occurred every day.

"You're forgetting that his school runs on a meritocratic system, Kat," Eva purred, sitting down next to her on the bench in only a towel. She still dripped a little, and began using a second towel to continue her drying efforts. It took an effort not to stare when Eva's left breast slipped out and the older girl didn't bother to fix it. Instead of becoming inured to the constant sight of Eva's body, she was becoming more and more aroused by it. Eva was just so temptingly lush and...delicious maybe?

This was probably because no matter how much she ached to feel Eva with her own hands and play with her body, she wouldn't allow it to happen. It was even getting so that she was getting chills and little pains, like an addict that needed her fix. She was sure how much sense that made, since so far it had all been Eva messing around with her, doing what she wanted without Kat explicitly approving it. She deliberately ignored the fact that she hadn't been very vocal in her denials either. So why did she want Eva so badly, when the girl could accuse her of being a monster?

A second window opened next to hers, marked as being Eva's schedule. Kat noticed right away that whenever possible, Eva's class times here similar to hers, so their supposed "free time" was together as well. There were other bars on the chart though, labeled as being patrol-duty time.

"The Academy uses a flexible scheduling system like this because you will stay in a class until you test out of it and are deemed competent enough to move on to the next level. This is why a lot of the people you will have in your classes now, won't be there a few months from now when they prove they can advance to something harder. Though, I wouldn't expect many to do that quickly in the math courses unless they are gifted in that area; they're pretty strict on that here."

"The schedule is built so that when you pass into a higher level course, it can be slotted right in. We don't have separately delineated semesters here; except that the Mage Exams are held every three months to evaluate everyone. The class year is just a demarcation of passing time, not something official and binding."

"Are they really challenging?" Kat asked, liking that idea.

"Oh Gods yes!" Eva laughed, chucking her towels into the big laundry bin. Kat frowned at that, because on her schedule was a small block saying that she had a turn in the dorm laundry once a week. "You have to pass each level separately, and it's entirely possible to go back down in ratings if you flub one. The S-class rating test kicked my ass in less than thirty seconds, and I barely held my A rating after the last one we had. The test is different every time, and the proctors are ruthless."

"The funny thing about this Academy is, you don't actually know when it is you'll graduate and be designated as a Valkyrie. The years they give to new students are just averages. One day, when they believe you are ready, they'll yank you out of your classes and the next day you'll be standing on a stage at the ceremony. Usually they wait though, and grab a group at the same time."

Eva's description made her think a little more closely on her situation. Having a Mentor meant she might have a leading edge on her current classmates, and could be accelerated through the program by working hard with someone that already knew what was required. The only problem was her mentor thought she was a potential homicidal maniac, and had no qualms with making love to Kat whether she wanted it or not.

Wait! Love? That jolted her brain to a halt pretty quickly. Not even Eva had used that word. She was simply a lust object that Eva wanted to play with for a while, a monster in a pretty package. Not only that, Eva was infuriating most of the time, and was constantly pointing out her ignorance in little things. No. It was not love making. It was barely even sex, since she made no move to reciprocate. Right?

Standing quickly, she decided she really didn't need to be thinking about that right now. Even though she had just showered to clean off the sweaty results of Eva's exercises, she felt fresh wetness between her legs. Eva's idea of training was extremely hands on, and it wasn't helping that her mentor was sitting there totally naked, looking so deliciously desirable. Gods! She'd already had one very intense orgasm earlier, and here she was almost creaming herself again just from staring at Eva. It was insane!

"Hmm?" Eva hummed curiously, rising more slowly. Then, in a display of shocking speed, Kat was slammed back into the lockers; hard enough to jar her, but not enough to dent the metal. Before she could even think of a defense, there was a pulse of magic and something wrapped around her waist holding her in place. A hand stroked lightly up her right thigh, with the middle finger stopping to trace the junction of her leg and crotch.

"You are worrying about me," Eva said in a deep rumble, right next to her ear. Kat's eyes shot open, not because of the order, but because of the slight tremor in Eva's voice. Was that concern or anger causing that? Both? Excitement maybe?

"Let me down!" she ordered in a growl, not wanting to admit in any way, how excited she had become from Eva's forceful actions. That finger moved, sliding across her perineum, touching neither her ass, nor her very damp slit. She twitched, pushing down the desire for Eva to choose one. Why did it have to feel so good? "Cut that out! I have to meet my friends at breakfast."

"What will it take to convince you to trust me?" Eva asked, breathing against her neck. Her hot tongue stroked a line up from Kat's throat, where she proceeded to suck and nibble hungrily, occasionally nipping at just the right time to send pleasurable jolts through Kat's body; building up her arousal to an almost painful edge. Just when she thought she was going to crash into an intense climax, Eva's hold disappeared and her legs suddenly bore her whole weight again.

"Oh Gods!" she trembled and when her knees gave out from the crushing denial of a finish, Eva caught her and just held her close. Unable to get her thoughts straight for a minute, she barely noticed that her face was buried between Eva's breasts where she was panting. "Why?" she asked, feeling drained and terribly aroused.

"You demanded that I stop, so I did," Eva said simply, her voice now a soft, caring purr. "I want you to be properly mine, Kitten. How can I do that, if you think I have raped you? Do you want me to continue?"

It took every ounce of will she had left, but Kat pulled away from Eva and took two steps back. "No, we don't have time" she said, her own voice unsteady. She looked Eva right in the eyes and instead of pain or disappointment, she saw pride. Why should Eva be so proud of her in this moment? What had she done right in Eva's eyes? Then she realized what she had just said. It could imply that Eva could have continued if they did have time, and she'd said it with without even thinking about it.

Still shocked, she walked right around Eva, dismissed her armor again, and strode purposefully to a shower stall. There she turned the water to its coldest setting and dove under. "Gah!" she gasped, as the cold water blasted the desire for sex right out of her for the moment. It would be back very soon she knew, but at least she would be able to think straight again. She had to dry back off again, but she was oddly pleased by the impressed expression on Eva's face, and she realized that her bad mood had passed.

Had Eva done that intentionally?

"I told you, Kitten, I know you," Eva said when she was once again in her armor. Eva was smiling knowingly, yet Kat could see a pink flush to her skin too. Eva had gotten some enjoyment out of it, but Kat couldn't make herself fault the girl for that. It was flattering to be desired that way. "Why else do you think I want you so badly?"

"How should I know?" she replied, unable to put too much heat into it. She was still feeling too horny to work up a good anger.

"Well, it's a good thing I can be patient then," Eva chuckled, only now materializing her armor. "But I could use a nice big breakfast after last night."

"You didn't even use that much magic last night," she replied, following Eva out into the hallway. They nodded greetings at a few more mentor pairs along the way, and everyone was pretty friendly. There was a measure of respect in the return gestures as well.

"Wasn't talking about the fight, Kat," Eva laughed, turning to give her a suggestive smile. She was heartily glad when they stepped outside, because the bright sun might hide the burning she felt in her cheeks. Neither of them had spoken of what happened after the fight last night, and she was surprised at how embarrassing it was, even though they both had been involved.

"Kat! Over here!" They both turned and found Sarah sitting on the grass in front of her dorm in the shade of a decorative tree. Cassie sat to Sarah's right, with one of the succubus's arms around her waist in a casual hold. They strode over and it seemed that Cassie was content with where she was, because she had one of her hands on Sarah's and was stroking the fingers in an idle fashion. Neither showed a sign of the strain they had when they parted last night.

"Are you guys doing better?" she asked when she was close enough not to yell. "You look like it."

"I think we're feeling just fine," Sarah grinned, giving Cassie a small squeeze. "It was a bit rough going last night, but I kept my promise and took care of Cassie here. A lot of sleep and some personal attention worked wonders for both of us."

"So you too are...together now?" she asked, for want of a better term at that moment.

"I think so," Cassie sighed, giving Sarah a blushing, rueful smile. "It's hard to resent the person who holds your hair while you puke your dinner out and still cuddles with you afterwards. Sarah's not so bad, I guess, though I'm still not so sure about this harem idea of hers. For now, I'm giving this a try, and we'll see about the rest."

"Not so bad!" Sarah laughed, clearly delighted by how things had turned out with Cassie. "That's the best verbal compliment yet!"

"Well, I'm glad you're both feeling alright," Kat replied, smiling. Cassie already seemed happier with Sarah. She thought they'd be a good influence on each other. "Ready to grab some food?"

"Oh yeah!" Sarah agreed quickly, standing and holding a hand down to help Cassie up. When she was on her feet, Sarah gave a little laugh and pulled Cassie in for a quick little kiss, right there in front of her and Eva. Instead of resisting or protesting, Cassie kissed back just as quickly. Sarah's grin was wide after that. "See? We're good."

"We do," Eva agreed in an odd tone. When Kat glanced her way to see what was wrong, she found Eva's eyes flicking between her and the still embraced Cassie and Sarah with pure envy in them. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Eva wanted her that way too, and she resented the guilt she felt at denying Eva that. She wasn't sure what difference it actually made, but it seemed like kissing Eva would cause something irrevocable between them.

"No luck, Eva?" Sarah asked in a tone that was just as strange as Eva's, while giving the older girl a level look.

Eva stiffened visibly, but then relaxed and smiled confidently back at Sarah. "We had our own kind of fun," she replied cryptically. Then her gaze slipped back to Kat, and in it was a silent promise that made her pussy hot and wet again. She had no doubt that Eva was going to step up her efforts.

"Hey! Food! Remember?" Kat broke in glaring at both girls.

"Right, sorry!" Sarah quickly replied, smiling innocently at her. "Let's go!"

******

Kat waited until they were seated in their first class to ask the important questions of her friends. The class was the Magic Fundamentals one, and taught in a very academic looking building made of brick and stone. The classroom itself had comfortably cushioned auditorium-style seating facing a small open area with demonstration tables and chalkboards, and a side table with a sink. She had once again chosen the centermost seat possible with Sarah on one side and Reshik, who'd met them at breakfast, on her other. Cassie was to Sarah's other side.

"I wish we had this kind of seat in Ajax's class," Sarah sighed pleasantly, lounging back in her seat.

"They are much better for a tail," Reshik agreed, looking around the room curiously.

Cassie gave a small grunt of a laugh and pointed down towards the front of the room. "Your friend is here now, Kat." She followed Cassie's finger. Sure enough, Tarina and her cronies were taking seats in the first row. Cassie's opinion was the same as her own. "They're right where they can kiss the most ass."

A sudden flood of students marked the arrival of their instructor, who turned out to be an older Tengu woman with grey hair and feathers. She strode in confidently, wearing the dress uniform, and pushing a small cart with what looked like an aquarium on it. She stopped in the center of the room in a parade-rest posture, and waited for the last of the students to be seated. When the noise settled, she spoke in a steady, knowledgeable tone.

"My name is Alia Parnue, and you may call me Ms. Parnue or Professor. Either is polite enough for a retired Valkyrie such as I. This class is called Magic Fundamentals because it is designed to fill in all the basic gaps in your magic knowledge. You were required to have a basic level of competency to earn a place here, and yet there is still a lot of room for these gaps. Some of you will find these missing pieces of knowledge shocking, but I care little. My job is to provide the firm foundation upon which the rest of your magical education can rest."

The woman cast a stern gaze over the silent room. "Let us start with the most basic, simple question possible in this course. What is magic?" Without letting anyone speak, she plowed on relentlessly. "Magic is using aetheric, or 'magical' energy, by forming and shaping it to achieve desired effects, which are more commonly called spells. As such, I don't want to hear any mystical nonsense in this class. Magic is a science like any other and requires work and diligent learning to achieve greatness."

"In people, the nature and capacity to hold and change magic differs between every individual. This is why the visual color of magic used by people is different, and feels different as well. Most of the magic used by people is generated by a person's body, but there is always a small amount in the general environment. But where does it all come from?"

"The Aether surrounding the universe!" volunteered a girl off to Kat's left.

"Where is that?" Parnue asked. Nobody answered and she grunted as if expecting that. She strode over and stood behind the empty aquarium. "Imagine that this tank is the universe, which is as empty right now as the heads of some of my worst students." The air shimmered inside the glass and with a steady stream of clicking noises; hundreds of marbles materialized and eventually filled the tank to the rim.

"These represent worlds in the universe," she flicked a finger against the glass with a clank. "Notice all the empty space. What do you suppose fills that space?" Walking to the sink, she pulled a long hose from a cupboard underneath, attached it to the spigot and ran it over to the tank. With a flick of a hand, water began filling in all the gaps between the marbles. "The water represents the Aether. It touches and permeates all the worlds within our universe and is constantly flowing and moving."

Parnue kept asking more questions, so Kat decided she was safe to ask her own. Leaning into Sarah a little, she spoke just low enough to keep it between the four of them. "Can I ask you guys a serious question?"

"Now?!" Sarah asked back, but upon seeing Kat's expression she nodded and kept her gaze forward to keep from attracting attention. "Sure."

"Do you guys think I'm a killer?"

"What?!" both Cassie and Sarah said almost as one. Reshik just blinked, and looked confused. It was Cassie that found her voice first. "What are you taking about?"

Leaving out all the sexual insinuations, she retold Eva's accusations against her. She left nothing out, even the part about the blood exciting her. Just the retelling disturbed her, because the more she fretted over it all, the more it began to make sense. When she was done, they were all quiet for a time with the instructor the only one speaking.

"Kat," Cassie began slowly, putting a hand on Sarah's arm for assurance. "Please don't be angry with me, but I can't find much wrong with what Eva said to you. Last night I could hardly do anything once the fight was over and spent over an hour feeling sick. It only stopped when Sarah dragged me into bed so I could cry with her and fall asleep. I didn't like any part of what we did, even though I knew we had to do it."

"I wasn't much better," Sarah admitted, taking and stroking Cassie's hand. "If I hadn't had Cassie to take care of, I would have been a lot less composed then I was. A succubus doesn't like killing things in general, and killing people is particularly disturbing. We relish and nurture life. That's why I could take so much solace in Cassie, especially when she agreed to live with me. It gave me new ground to stand on."

"Yet, I know what I saw last night," Cassie continued, giving Sarah a small smile. Kat, you jumped into that fight, and the other ones, with both feet and your sword swinging. You didn't hesitate for a second, and even began issuing orders. Orders Kat! You took charge and even smiled sometimes while you fought."

"Not to mention how much damage you were willing to inflict," Sarah agreed, nodding. "I could smell your excitement when we rode back in the truck, even coated in so much blood, and it wasn't from Eva being there. Did you have sex with Eva afterwards?"

"Well..." she stumbled mentally, very much not expecting her friends to agree with Eva so completely. "Kind of...maybe."

"You are mated now," Reshik said firmly, with a knowing nod. "I can smell the other female all over you."

"Even for me that was impossible," Sarah said, looking her dead in the eyes. "It took a full night of sleep and even then I treated Cassie like she was made of porcelain. I wanted to make our first time so much better, but I was still haunted by what we had to do. Can you say your experience was similar?"

Cassie's face had turned very red now, but she was holding tight to Sarah's arm and stared intently at Kat as well. Kat squirmed inside. Her experience? She'd been semi-molested in the shower until she had climaxed harder than she ever had in her life, followed by Eva hauling her bodily off to their room where she proceeded to ride Kat to their mutual, exhausting orgasms. If she was being entirely truthful with herself, it had been the most incredible sexual experience she could have hoped for.

"As annoying as I find it, Eva has read you right, Kat," Sarah said softly. "Just because you can be a killer, doesn't automatically make you a terrible person. It's not like we'll stop being your friends simply because of that."

"There is a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up," Reshik recited and made a small hissing laugh when they all looked at him. "It is part of a very wise passage from an old book. It starts with: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the heavens."

"Listen to the lizard guy," Cassie laughed quietly, checking to make sure the teacher was still talking. "There is a reason the world has people like you. Considering the career we're all embarking on here, you'll probably have fewer problems than we will when we have to fight again."

"You think it'll happen again too?"

"No such thing as coincidences like that," Sarah shrugged, grinning. She glanced over at the equally smiling Cassie. "The end results weren't that bad."

******

As interesting as the class had turned out to be, Kat had a constant background noise in her mind, replaying the conversation with her friends and Eva's earlier on. They had all agreed about her, and yet none of them seemed all that bothered by the fact she could apparently kill things and sleep like a baby afterwards. Eva was even lusting after her because of what she was. She was thinking a lot about her interactions with Eva so far, so it was not much of a surprise that she almost jumped in shock when Eva was waiting for her right outside the entrance to the building on their way out.

"Eva!" she gasped unoriginally, stopping still in the middle of the doorway. This caused Cassie to almost run right into her, except Sarah was quicker to stop and took hold of her friend and new lover. "Why are you here?"

"Remember, I told you we need to spend our time outside of classes together whenever possible. You may not believe it, but I enjoy being with you, even with all the anger and heated words." Eva smiled as she said this, perfectly serious.

Making a snap decision, Kat turned to her friends. "I'll meet you guys in our next glass. I have to talk to Eva for a bit."

Sarah looked a little mulish at this, but Cassie spoke first. "We can do that," she gave Sarah a suggestive tug. "Come on, we already know what it's about anyways." A little grudgingly, Sarah allowed herself to be led away with Cassie saying something softly to her. Reshik simply gave her a smile of acceptance and an odd little wave of his hand.

"You want to talk to me?" Eva asked, sounding happily surprised.

"Can we not do it in the middle of a doorway?" she growled, wondering how fast she would regret this.

"Sure," Eva led them around the building to a small, enclosed green space between several buildings containing a picnic table with heavy weathering, and a trashcan. It was semi-private and out of sight from the roads and sidewalks. She guessed from the detritus, that it was somewhere the employees here spent their break periods. Eva sat partially onto the tabletop and regarded her curiously.

"I've been thinking about what you said this morning," she began as an introduction.

"The part you didn't like very much, I'm guessing?" Eva asked, waiting for more.

"Yeah" she got out in a huff, trying to get it over with. "I talked with the others too. I really don't like it, but you might be right. It's just not what I thought I wanted to be. Nobody wants to hear that they might be a monster, and I thought you were fucking with me at first."

"Nobody is exactly what they think themselves to be," Eva replied with a smile that understood her disquiet. "I'm just happy that you were willing to admit it so quickly, even if you spent most of the morning in a fit about it."

"I was not!" she responded automatically, even as she realized that it had been a calculated goad. Eva was trying to rile her up for some reason.

"Better!" Eva grinned, standing fully upright. "Why did you want to talk in private if you just wanted to admit this?"

That was a good question and the answer horrified her for another reason entirely. She'd done it completely without thinking. "Because when we are together you always try to do something to me," she said softly, realizing that staying in a public place would have been a much better idea. She was already tying Eva, pleasurable sex, and a strange kind of fun together in her mind. It meant Eva was winning, and that wasn't good. Right?

"Oh, did you want to continue where I left off earlier?" Eva asked eagerly, standing and coming right at her.

"I—," she cut off with a gasp, because Eva crossed the distance in an instant and a burst of magic, and before she could complete the thought she was laid out on the ground. Eva began necking her again, and her body responded quickly. Her nipples hardened as soon as Eva's hand slid up her belly and captured her left breast, fondling it lovingly through her supple armor.

"If you don't want a mess, I'd suggest making the bottoms of your armor vanish," Eva suggested in her ear, "Because I am not stopping this time."

Rather than giving her verbal consent, she went halfway by ordering her Glass to do as Eva asked, and closed her eyes to resign herself to a situation she had basically invited to happen. This seemed to excite Eva for some reason, because her efforts intensified and her other hand went up Kat's now bare thigh. It found her already soaked slit and stroked her lips, just as she liked it. The grass under her butt tickled and added to the symphony of sensations.

She wasn't sure how long she managed to last, but once Eva somehow got her to dismiss her armor entirely and she was naked almost out in the open and having her nipples pinched and eagerly nibbled upon, she knew she was doomed. The end came with an intense focus of fingers on her clit. After only seconds of this her eyes shot open, and as she was dazzled anew by strong sunlight, and she jammed her hand into her mouth to smother the scream of her orgasm. By the time it ended, there were teeth marks on that hand and a hickey on her throat from Eva's still-working mouth.

Even when her hips pumped up off the ground in a desperate attempt to escape, Eva easily followed and prolonged the climax for an ungodly amount of time that felt like an hour, but was probably barely a minute or two. She felt and heard something wet escaping her pussy, but that wasn't her primary concern. When she had calmed a little, she was quite suddenly yanked to her feet again where she stood naked before a grinning Eva, whose right hand shined with moisture, which she promptly licked in a slow, teasing draw.

Feeling a little dazed, she collected her wits and managed to re-materialize her armor again, even though all her wetness made it a little uncomfortable "What did I just let you do?" she asked Eva in a stunned voice.

"You let me pleasure you in a public place, where we could have been caught at any time, in exactly the way I wanted to," Eva replied happily and came close enough to embrace her, and she did not resist. Instead of a kiss, which Kat would have refused, Eva raising her hand and ran a wet finger over her lips. Tasting herself, Kat shivered at the sensation of having her lips stroked like that, and opened her mouth when Eve pressed it in, sucking it clean. Having the tasty digit in her mouth was very strangely pleasurable. "Gods, that is making me hot," Eva complained, removing the finger.

"I need to get to my next class," Kat said slowly, reminding them both of the time.

"Hmm," Eva responded thoughtfully, letting her go with an almost distracted look. "One of these times, you're going to admit what you really want, and let me truly have you, dear Kitten."

And sometime,Kat thought, as she walked away with her body still wet and tingling from the experience, she would probably let Eva have her. It just wasn't going to be today.

******

Almost as soon as Kat turned round the edge of the building and was out of sight, Eva sat down heavily on the edge of the table and slid fingers coated in Kat's saliva between her legs where her armor pants had already been dismissed. "Oh by the Gods! I want her!" she growled throatily, easily penetrating her soaked sex. Shifting her weight forward slightly, she humped into her hand, driving her prominent and swollen clit in her palm. Shamelessly, she rode her hand so hard she was afraid she'd break a finger or two until with a grunt and full-body shiver, she came.

Collapsing to her knees in the soft, tickling grass where moments before she had been pleasuring her dear Kitten, Eva bowed forward until her forehead touched and let out a long low groan of longing. Despite the power of the climax still singing through her nerves, she wasn't sure it was enough. She was still flushed and full of desire. All from what Kat did to her.

Her Kat was like the best of drugs, not that she had ever done any, in that she was wholly addicted. After having Kat in her bed, experiencing her, fighting with her, making love to her, and teaching her, she never wanted to let Kat go. It was only the second day, and it was already this bad. She'd never felt it before, and she'd always scoffed when others claimed it, but she knew it was real. This was not a crush, an infatuation or a lustful hunger. It had to be that.

...It was love...gods curse and bless her...it was love.