Don’t click the spoiler if you don’t want yourself spoiled about the psych theories used in this chapter.

Spoiler: One-line psych lesson!!! As some might have already guessed, Rigel’s mind links correspond to Freudian theories about the three levels of mind; the Id, the Ego and Superego.

Chapter 18: Surviving Mating Rituals

“…Vashtii was thrown into the slave pits for trying to defend his mother. There he was used in exhibition fights. Legends claim of Vashtii becoming a Jal’kaer, leader of the fighters. There on, he gained the right to challenge a noble and won in the battle. Vashtii rose to prominence quickly, drawing ire from the clan leaders who had executed his mother.

Legends are unclear about when exactly did Vashtii gain the Vaegar, but there is undeniable proof that he used it to subdue the clan-leaders, and made himself the King. He then took the seven Urvan-ere daughters of the clan-leaders and raped them in front of their fathers. He forced all of the daughters to make a contract with him, making him the Aivern with seven Urvan-ere. In the end, he gave the Urvan-eres over to the Elf clans, ordering them to do with them as they pleased. The crowd, ordered by their King, did as they were told.

Vashtii made the clan leaders watch as their daughters faced the same humiliation as Vashtii’s mother…”

— Legend of Vashtii, Somarael Greenlake, Part- II; Vashtii’s Revenge.

I clambered up on top of the wreckage, thankful that Thirst was still in my hands. I searched frantically for Faeve amidst the rising Crezets. She will be eaten if I don’t find her!

But she was nowhere. The Crezets swam in from the fog bank, their red eyes converging on the monster. I spread my senses, looking for the connection between me and Faeve. I tried to force the connection through. Sweat bathed my whole body despite the chilly water I was drenched in.

There! A brief flash of consciousness responded in one part of the sea. I jumped into the waters and swam towards it. The strength I borrowed from the Crezets powered my taxed body. Each muscle groaned and creaked. Can’t give up now…it will be all for nothing if that elf is dead!

The thin strand of connection sunk deeper into the ocean with each moment. I raced to rescue her before she drowned. Cold water sent shivers through my body, as I tried hard not to choke.

The dark seas yielded no results. My hands searched in vain for the girl with green eyes.

Yes! My fingers touched something soft. I pulled it closer towards me. Faeve’s soft body was cold as ice, and she… Still alive!

I wound my arm around her, the other beating at the waters to swim. I held her close to me. Don’t die, don’t die…

Fuck! I can’t swim. She was too heavy for my damaged body to carry. Our leather armours added more weight. Need to take off these fucking things.

I held her body close to me with her face pressed against my chest. Her limbs splayed like lead weights in the water. Fuck this shit… How will I take off my armour with both my hands occupied?! I have to take off hers!

I dipped my head towards Faeve’s white nape. My teeth encountered the leather. I bit into it. My jaws had inordinate strength, borrowed from the Crezets. Frigid water rushed into my mouth. My teeth chattered in the chill. I bit down harder, shaking my teeth like a Crezet would.

The leather slowly parted from her body. I continued my assault on her armour while I swam towards our Nampar. My mouth tasted of wet hide as I continued downwards, ripping it off her.

The peaks of her breasts brushed against my teeth. The contact made me shiver. Soft flesh caressed my mouth. Her skin was regaining its heat. My tongue ran over her soft skin, the texture smooth. Fuck! What am I thinking right now?! This bloody Gift of Might! Ugh!

At last, she was free of the leather. I swam laboriously, my breath misted up the air. Faeve shivered. Good! She is okay. The water was only a thin fabric between our bodies. Every undulation of her body, every contour melded into mine.

The rest of the leather armour covering her legs was too tough to rip while swimming with one hand and holding her with the other. Fuck! I give up! I glanced towards the Crezets while making my way towards the Nampar.

The Crezets circled the monsters in a slow motion. The Spire-master reared up and snarled at the approaching Crezets. The Crezets (having heard my call of shounen brotherhood)were charging the monster. Beautiful bonds of friendship and love urged them forward in the rescue of their beloved guild mate, like the shounen animes we all love to watch. Plot armour, yeah! NOT.

The Crezets, instead of attacking the monster, swerved towards the broken wreckages of the battleships. They are fucking feeding on the easier targets! They dived into the bodies of the fallen soldiers, tearing at their flesh. They skipped the monster and went straight for an easy meal.

These fucking pieces of motherfucking cunthugging shitheads! Dickheaded clusterfucks! Bitchpaddling lizard fuckers!

If I could facepalm in that situation, I would have. Fucking sacred animals my ass. Bunch of savage corpse eaters!

My body heated up in the frigid water due to anger. I finally understood what the people of Sangraal meant when they cussed ‘sons of a milking cunnus.’

I glanced at the monster. It rose from the water like a cobra, ready to defend itself from the charging Crezets. Water cascading down its upper body and drained through its damaged scales. Half of its body was gone, destroyed by the battleships and combined efforts of Faeve and I. One of its red eyes was put out by Faeve, deep gashes scored in its remaining body. Blood streamed down its length,reddening the glass-like sea in patches.

With its one good eye, it blinked at the Crezets. Even the fucking monster is surprised at you bitchwads! The monster turned towards us and then at the Crezets. Probably wondering which one is the stupider.

Its frill-like fins rose to their fullest, eaten through at patches from my rot. Vibrations shook the air as the monster rumbled. I closed my eyes in resignation. We are done for. Calling the Crezets was a wild gambit. Even if I could control a bunch of Crezets from the lake, the Great Sea ones were too much. Even the blood pact formed by feeding them small pieces of my own flesh weren’t enough to control these beasts. My efforts in the past year to train them…is a failure.

I waited for the fangs of the Spire-Master to tear into me. But it didn’t happen. I opened my eyes. The monster roared and charged at the Crezets. Is it…defending its territory?

Faeve moaned under me. I held her even closer. My muscles were numb from the chill water and the fighting. I can’t hold on much longer now that the Crezets left me. It is too hard to try control them in my weak state. Saltwater entered my mouth in gulps.

I looked at Faeve, her red lips parted in a soft sigh. Maybe we will both die here.

A sudden shock ran through my body. Jolts of electricity crept up my spine. Startled, I stared up towards the monster. It had dove straight into the wreckage the Crezets were feeding in, and bit down on them, hard.

Pain flooded my senses. Even if it was weak…I was still connected to the Crezets by the blood pact. The Crezets chattered…loud enough to send a rumble through my heart…its like they are speaking in my mind!

The Crezets stopped their feeding. The monster had started attacking them, rending them apart one by one. All of the red eyes in the sea turned as one, towards the Spire-Master. And then, they charged.

Hundreds of the Crezets tore into its body like wild animals. Well, they are wild.

Electricity ran through my body once again. I became stock still as my body refused to move. Suddenly… information overflowed my brain. I had hundreds of eyes and thousands of legs. My tails churned the water like whips while my fangs tore into the skin of the abomination before me.

The blood pact made me into a Crezet. No…my body is still human…its just my mind is connected?

I could feel their eyes as my own as each of them reflected the monster shearing at my, no the Crezets’ brethren.

Rage, hotter than the sun filled every pore of my body.

Kill!

The souls inside me clamoured once again as my talons ripped the monster apart,

Eat!

My teeth tasted the foul blood.

Rend!

My skin was on fire from indignation. It’s… It’s not me, it’s what the Crezets’ are thinking!

My mind reeled from the vast feedback from each of the Crezets’ minds. For a brief moment, I was a god. The world seen through all their eyes were my eyes, all their limbs my own. I was the master. Wild strength flooded my veins again, a gift from the Crezets.

Faeve went wild under me. Her mind was open to the Crezets too, due to our connection. Intense bloodlust flowed through both me and her. The Crezets are angry!

I shivered. So much rage! My body was slowing down in terror from the rage I was feeling…no, my fear vanished as I drowned in the Crezets’ bloodlust.

Faeve flailed her limbs wildly, trying to rip me apart. Her nails dug across my skin, Shit…her mind has turned into a Crezets’! She opened her eyes wide, no signs of recognition in them. Her mouth went up in a feral snarl, close to my face.

I dug my hands tighter into her. I forcibly tried to dominate her mind through our connection. Shit! Not working! She clung to me even more fiercely, all traces of sentient thought vanished from her mind. Bloodlust enough to overwhelm me rose in her and flowed into me. In trying to get her to calm down, I was the one in danger.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! If she does that, how will I hold on?

The Crezets went on in their frenzy. The water foamed at their furious battle. The area under them turned dark red with blood. The beasts didn’t relent, and hundreds of jaws dug into the mighty Spire-Master.

Faeve suddenly stopped her struggling. My mind had asserted dominance over the connection. Thank god! We are almost at the boat. Please let her stay calm.!

I flinched. The mindless rage in Faeve’s eyes had given way to something else. Her lips spread wide, breath misting the air. The look in her eyes…was…arousal!?

Seven fucking hells! She is like a Crezet now! Of course, if I still her bloodlust, she will perform the mating ritual!

I had forgotten one very important fact. Male Crezets mated by asserting their dominance over the female during her feeding frenzy. For all intents as purposes, she took me as her mate when I stilled her bloodlust. Bloody. Fucking. Hell.

I still swam with one hand while holding her body with the other. Her nipples grew hard under me, her legs wrapped around my torso. Her hands clawed at my back.

Ever seen a Crezet mate? It’s a bloody affair while the beasts claw at each other throughout the ritual. Faeve now dragged her nails across my flanks, the wet leather squeaked audibly. Then…she bit me.

I gave a hoarse shout as her small teeth bit into my neck. Blood flowed into her little mouth as she sucked fitfully. Her tongue snaked along the wounds like snake’s, lapping up my oozing blood.

Dafuq bitch? You vampire or something?

She wouldn’t let go. She kept slamming into me with her crossed legs, urging me to push into her sex, just like a female Crezet would. Her fingers found gaps in my armour and dragged her nails across my skin, this time drawing blood.

Her lithe body shivered in ecstasy as she lapped up my blood. The nubs of her breasts pressed into me further, her pleasure reaching a crescendo. And I still had my pants on. Should I be disappointed?

I barely held onto my reason as our connection was forcing upon me to feel her passion. She wanted me to take her, ravage her and make her bleed. She was urging me to release inside her, while I partook of her own blood.

Her savage ecstasy was affecting me. I trembled in excitement, mirroring her own. My swimming grew frantic, as my breath fell ragged on her face.

A barely coherent desire took hold of me. She is mine! mine!

My reason was fighting a losing battle. Ravage her!

I used both my hands and pulled her pants. Cold water entered my lungs, making me choke. I quickly went back to swimming, spitting out salt water. Fucking hell. I am not a Crezet, my body is not built for underwater humping!

The rush of frigid water quelled my mind a bit. I let Faeve run her bloody lips on my neck, lapping up the leaking blood. She had calmed down a bit after sucking …what the actual fuck?

Faeve, in her frenzy, had sucked up AP from my body. She had torn open a wound in my body and drunk my lifeblood directly, so the consumption was enormous. I couldn’t re-supply my body with AP fast enough. Thirst was slung at my back, but its magic jewels were exhausted.

My body grew heavy as Faeve sucked out more and more AP. I can’t swim at this rate!

The battle between the Crezets and the monster went on in the distance. Snaps and snarls filled the air. In a corner of my mind, the feedback from the Crezets still lingered, albeit dulled to most extent. The initial connection had overwhelmed me, but now…it was fading.

The blood pact did offer me some protection against mental overloading but Faeve…her hands still lingered all over my body. She was now trying to unbuckle my pants, her hands roved over my groin. Fortunately, her brain was too muddled and Crezet-ed to figure out the mechanism.

She snarled and gave up, and now dragged her nails over my pants to slice it off. What the fuck? She still sucked at my neck, AP dribbling away. Okay, can’t let this go on.

I dipped my mouth toward her neck…she smells inviting. I bit down on her.

Faeve went quiet at my touch. Her eyes closed as she waited for my teeth to dig into her. A wild, savage urge built up inside me. My body trembled. I ran my tongue over her smooth shoulder as my teeth broke her skin. Blood, sweet as honey rushed up to meet me. It tastes of sunlight and grass.

I lapped at her welling blood, sucking. AP gushed into me, like a torrent. I won’t lie, it felt…exquisite; painful and ecstatic. She continued her motions too. We swam in the dark, not looking upwards as we nibbled on each other. Savage fury and arousal filled our veins. I pushed her closer to me. She shivered every time my teeth dragged on her skin. She had started to moan now, her chest rose and fell rapidly.

The AP flowed in a closed circuit. The amount she sucked out, I absorbed it back. Our individual AP swirled and mingled. Rising tides of magic met each other in waves and entwined, forming into a single refined flow. Despite the chilly water, my entire body heated up rapidly. Tingles ran down my spine.

My hands beat the water surface even stronger now. The ship was close, very close. Faeve moaned as my erection pressed onto her groin. She is beyond sense now. Her naked skin rubbed against my armour as if heat erupted from where we touched each other.

She suddenly went limp in my arm. Her limbs splayed lifeless in the water. Her head detached from my neck. A wild panic rose inside me. No, no, no! I sighed in relief as I felt her beating heart. Not dead, just exhausted.

Something splashed in front of us. I glanced up. The boat was now metres away. Someone had thrown something. A rope!

I grabbed on the thick rope. Someone pulled us up. I hung on it limply, Faeve in my arms. With a final heave, we were pulled on deck. I slumped powerlessly, facedown. I lay Faeve beside me.

“Someone cover her up”, I wheezed out, and rolled to the side, “and tell me what’s going on in the sea”.

I had no energy to get back up to assess the battle situation. But I knew one thing for certain. The Crezets had prevailed.

“The hull is taking in water”, Sullin said in a grave tone.

I wobbled on my feet. I had no strength to stand, much less walk. I stared up at Faeve, sitting opposite to me. She had a fresh set of clothes on. She didn’t meet my eyes. Hatred and contempt flowed into me from her.

“We abandon ship then. Unlash the boats”, she said in a low voice.

The wreckage had helped stop the hurtling Nampar, but it had also ripped apart holes in it. Water now gushed in freely, filling up the hull. We barely had half an hour before it capsizes. The provisions had already been loaded onto the dinghies lashed to the ship.

Faeve and Sullin carried me to the boat I was to get in. I was laid down gently. Faeve flinched every time our bodies bumped into each other. She rubbed at wherever our skin touched as if to rinse away my vile touch.

I raised my eyebrows at her. She looked at me, her eyes trembled. Shame and anger flowed through the connection.

“That was humiliating, humankin. So…so shameful, disgusting”, she spat out in an acidic voice, “never again will I—

“I had nothing to do with it”, my voice came out hoarse, “you were the one who kept on—

“You think you can say that after you forced your mind into mine, you son of a milking cunnus?” she scrunched up her eyebrows while touching her chopped hair, her mouth curled up in a snarl.

Well, she is right about that, but…

“I have said this before, Faeve, I will use you”, I said that while I bore into her eyes, “like you are using me”.

She flinched, a flash of surprise in her face. Why is she so surprised?

She held my gaze, not looking away. She rubbed at the place my teeth had bit her, the wound still fresh, “I hate you, Rigel. More than you know”.

I clenched my hands. Shit! Every muscle hurts, “Faeve”.

She looked up.

I held her gaze. She shivered as my mind touched hers. Memories of hours previous flowed into me, as she remembered what happened. Hatred flowed from her as her body shrunk back. I kept looking into her green eyes, “The connection is very broad now”.

She held a questioning gaze towards me. I couldn’t help but think of her crazed courtship ritual just hours before. She stiffened as she realised what I was thinking. Her bisque-doll like face contorted, a crimson flushed up her skin. Her knuckles were white as they shook, “never again will I submit to—

“Emotions and memories are flowing both ways now, more than before”, I didn’t let her finish, “So tell me, why do you hate the Aiverns so much?”

She flinched like I had whipped her. She clutched at the sides of the boat hard enough to make her hands go white, whiter than they usually were. She gazed away from me, her voice low, “My father...he was an Aivern—

The Nampar made a loud sound as more of it sunk. Faeve glanced at it, “No time to discuss issues now, Eridan. Also, you have no business knowing it”.

Our boats made a splash as ropes lowered it onto the sea. Slowly, three more boats descended, each time making a splash. Neither the Spire-Master nor the Crezets were to be seen anywhere. The crew in out ship told us that the monster had sunk to the bottom while the Crezets chased it. I couldn’t feel the Crezets either.

Goodbye, Kurrick’s Tooth.

There was no unnatural current in the waters now. Only Faeve and I sat in this boat, some provisions between us. We began rowing towards the fog bank, rather Faeve was the one rowing. My body was too exhausted to be working. Each time I tried to move, muscles and bones creaked like they would come loose.

I closed my eyes in exhaustion. The steady movement of the sea under the boat lulled me. As we approached the fog bank, the boats kept calling out to each other so as to not get lost.

“Sin Faeve ahoy…” I heard Sullin’s voice getting fainter and warbled. I opened my eyes. Thick cloud-like fog enveloped us, its tendrils snaked inside the boat. A faint chill crept up my limbs as they coiled around me, the fog rendered everything invisible beyond a feet or two. Faeve opened her mouth wide, her chest flared up to bellow.

“Don’t”, I said quietly, “it’s time we went our way”.

Faeve stared at me for a bit, before exhaling. She rowed the boat silently, not meeting my eyes.

The steady rhythm of the boat lulled me to sleep.

I woke up screaming. The dead men were back in my dreams, now that I had grown even weaker due to my injuries. My heart thudded against my chest. Faeve was sitting on the opposite side of the boat.

She was gasping for breath. Sweat dripped from her skin flushed crimson. She shivered when my eyes met hers, her hands wrapped around her body.

My dreams are getting to us both.

I tried to get up. Oh, my god! Each part of my body screamed in unison. Now that the gift of might had run its course, the pain and exhaustion had their full toll. Faeve whimpered too, her bloodless lips opened in a silent scream.

I smiled weakly at Faeve. Her lips tightened in a thin slit, eyes hardening. She stared at me again and then shrunk back.

“The connection has got even stronger”. I mumbled at her. Shit, my hands are shaking.

She clenched her fist, “It’s all your fault for forcing the connection through”. She banged her fist against the boat, “Never again will I give in to you, krumper. I will kill you before you take me”.

The image of Faeve in the midst of her aroused craze flashed through my mind.

She stiffened when my thoughts entered her. Uh oh.

Faeve pulled out her crossbow and aimed at my head. She had a spare set? Then she trembled as her fingers tightened on the trigger. One of her fingers travelled up and touched her lips, “I would rather be dead before I turn into…that again. You and your abominable powers have made me this…”

A slight sense of shame and arousal floated into me. Along with terrible anger. It felt like she would melt my mind with the heat of her anger. Oh? Control reverts to her when I am weak?

I closed my eyes, not refuting her words. She is not wrong, I am the one eating into her mind.

A dull thud near my feet announced that the crossbow had been put to rest. Faeve’s voice floated to me, “Why does Arin keep accusing you of killing her? Your dreams…Arin is in there all the time, it feels like my mind will erode from thoughts about her”.

I sighed and rest my head on the boat’s side, “I didn’t kill her personally, so it’s probably just a nightmare”. My nails dug into my palm , “when I am awake, I know she isn’t the sort of person who would torment me with guilt. But in my dreams,…it’s all too real”.

Faeve hadn’t spoke at all. I couldn’t even hear her breath. Oh? Since when did I start to hear her breathe anyway?

Her thoughts flowed into me when she realised what I had just crossed my mind. I could feel her mind jolt in surprise and then settle down. For just this once, I didn’t remind her to hate me.

“If you can take no more, ask me and I will kill you”, Faeve said in a quavering voice. Her tone was softer than it had been, “that is the least my hate can do for you, even if you are despicable”.

I didn’t open my eyes, “At this point, killing me is the singular most act of love you can show me”. Her mind reeled from my words, as I heard the sounds of her breath falling in deep sighs.

“In exchange of that, you can ask me to kill you too, when you can take no more”, I said again, my words a loud whisper.

Faeve took a sharp breath. I sensed the surprise in her mind, “After all, the connection does work both ways, I can feel your suffering and pain too”, I said in a quiet voice.

Faeve didn’t talk after that, and neither did I. Two people sailed adrift on a boat, with a pact of killing each other. The ocean raged and sung all around us, while we, held on to our minds that touched one moment and flinched from contact the next. The sea again put me to sleep.

The monsters mauled me again in my sleep. Their dead faces stared at me, in silent accusation. The once men clawed and tore at me, blind eyes rolling with grey pupils. I ran from them but the ground was filled with broken, desiccated bodies. They stirred when I came near them, and rose to drag me down. Hands erupted from the ground and clutched at my running feet, making me stumble.

I awoke again, sweat had soaked my clothes through. I found myself curled up in a ball at the edge of the rocking boat. My eyes travelled to the other side, weakly. My body gave a jolt…no, it…it can’t be.

Arin was sitting there, her face pulled into a tight grimace. what…how is she? Her eyes looked away from mine, her body trembled. I couldn’t hold on anymore. I clambered towards her. Every muscle in my body groaned, but I didn’t relent. I…I need to go to her!

She flinched when I reached her, clutching at her body. She tried to push me away, her hands against my chest.

“Why…why did you leave me!” I wailed, my voice choking, “where had you gone! I…I can’t live without you”. Her clothes grew wet from my tears, her breath a warm sigh on my nape. I buried my face in her lap. Her body trembled.

“What…what are you...”, her voice was strange to my ears.

“Arin, don’t go, please don’t go. Don’t leave me alone”, I kept crying in her lap, “the souls…they will kill me, please stay, don’t… don’t leave me”.

Her entire body stiffened under me. Her voice stopped.

A trembling hand fell on my head, caressing my hair, “Yes”. Her voice was trembling, “Yes, I am…Arin. I love you a lot too”. Drops of heat fell on my neck. Is she crying?

A sense of warmth enveloped me, as her hands gently ran over me, like soothing a child. “I won’t leave you”, the voice said.

I clutched her tighter, my exhausted body and mind gave way to another nightmare filled sleep. But, I have Arin now.

Wait what? Arin is back?!? What the hell is happening? What do you guys think? And if you do stumble upon an answer, let us know is the comment section. Let's see how many of you get it:p

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Edited by Luciferia chan . You should go check out her fiction too, it's pretty dope!