***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Astra***

“Don’t move so much,” Richard Tate chided me while he dug with all the little squirmy things through my neck.

‘Sorry, but you rooting around in my neck with all those things feels just plain weird,’ I replied, using the UI chat system since my throat was somewhat sore at the moment.

“If you want to avoid my treatment, next time, you could kindly ask your opponent not to pull out that needle sideways and open up half your throat,” Richard quipped while the door swung open and another person was reeled in on a stretcher.

All I saw was a glimpse of Magnus’s armour.

Anticipating my next move, Thalia’s father placed a palm on my forehead and held me down. “Where do you think you are going?”

‘What happened to Magnus?’ I asked over chat.

He hadn’t responded after I jaunted back to Mount Aerie and informed our command of the blood-stealing. How could Richard not understand how worried I was? And now they brought him in on a stretcher!

“Natasha is taking care of him. She was trained by me and is very competent,” Richard responded while holding me down. “Now, do you want me to finish stitching your throat or lose even more blood?”

“He will be fine,” another doctor's cheerful voice called over from outside my field of vision. “He won’t move for a few days until his bones heal back together, but he miraculously avoided life-threatening injuries. It's like his opponent avoided killing him and instead tried to systematically break every bone possible.”

What was there to be so cheerful about!? The next time I encountered that Thich I would squeeze the life out of him!

It took me a lot of effort to stay still knowing this.

Another hour went by until Richard finally removed his hand from my throat and put a humiliating neck collar on me to prevent me from undoing all his work.

By then, the doctor in charge of Magnus had managed to peel him out of his armour which proved particularly difficult when it came to his helmet which had been deformed. It took four people with strength mutations to break it open without causing further injuries.

If Magnus hadn’t reawakened half an hour into the procedure and calmed me down, I would have thrown off Richard and done it myself.

The most disturbing thing about the damage to Magnus's armour was the chest plate, which had one of Magnus’s own flechettes embedded inside it – warped and deformed. The armour had withstood the impact just barely, with only the projectile’s tip penetrating while the rest deformed around it.

Till now, I hadn’t even been aware that there was someone or something out there capable of damaging iobeetle armour.

It took three more days for me to be released from the hospital, during which Isaac stayed with us in the room. One of the family’s employees had been nice enough to bring him by, since Mary was reportedly out to, ‘save the elders’ asses’, as the old woman saw it.

And even if Isaac was shocked to see both his parents hospitalized, he had the time of his life once the child realized he had his parents all to his own as long as we were relieved of duty due to injury.

But as soon as I was able to, I returned through the wormgate to find out what had happened while I was out of commission.

I found the flagship’s observation platform in far less disarray than last time – which was good. Unfortunately, the gloomy faces everyone was making foreboded nothing good.

The central planning table had more political power assembled around it than I assumed had come together in one place since the clan wars.

For Hochberg, Matriarch Vanya sat on an extra large chair which elevated her to the height of the adults around her. Her advisor Tianna stood to her left and her dubious new bodyguard was to her right.

Mary was standing with Skye and Juliana Rumen, representing Aerie.

Supposedly representing Jeng, a gnarly man with grey skin and faceted eyes was eyeing the map laid out on the table. Two antennae swivelled slowly above his head and behind him stood two true monstrous creatures out-sizing even the larger Caravaners I had seen so far.

Decked out in a carapace which was clearly no 'equipped' armour, the man and the woman looked like bodybuilder knights blown up to a height of three metres. Though, the woman was maybe just 2.8! Even though the room was large and the equipment intended to be handled by people with above-average strength and dimensions, these guys were likely the upper limit of what the airship’s interior could handle.

“Astra! You are back on your feet!” Mary proclaimed cheerfully upon seeing me.

“Barely,” I croaked, my throat still feeling sore. “I couldn’t lie around any longer not knowing what was going on. Did you catch the guy who wanted my blood?”

“He didn’t get away,” Mary replied to my great relief. “Though a little stolen blood might be the least of our problems. Of course, we still have to find out why he was so interested in you in the first place.”

The grey, gnarly man grumbled something and Mary gestured at him.

“Where are my manners, this is Felix Wolf. You would likely call him an ancient – like me. And with him are the two head Paladins of Clan Jeng, Savannah and Ahmad Gentry.”

The two ‘monsters’ gave acknowledging nods which I returned with as much respect as possible. I had only heard of them, but Jeng’s Paladins were their fighting elites. Much like the twelfth strata was Aerie’s fighting elite. But Jeng took it to whole another level with extreme mutations – almost abandoning their humanity to protect the clan.

Which was why some regarded them as abominations who had strayed too far from the rest of us. Having experienced ridicule of my own, I wasn’t about to judge someone on looks alone.

I returned my attention to Mary. “Seeing you here, I assume the battle is over?”

Vanya nodded. “It is. For now. Thich and Vier retreated after Mary showed herself on the battlefield and Felix joined her. I can only assume they achieved some goal, or the cost of continuing the fight was too great. Still, we can hardly call it a victory. Jeng’s colony is, excuse the expression, screwed. Essential facilities are destroyed.” She looked towards the two Rumens. “Thankfully, Aerie pulled another miracle out of their asses and are willing to evacuate and shelter Clan Jeng for the time being.”

“Which won’t be easy,” Elder Skye pointed out.

“Anyway.” Vanya waved a hand. “The far greater issue is that Tianna returned with very bad news. She couldn’t find any traces of Gurney Camacho – though captured Thich indicated he might have been shipped off only at the last second when our forces arrived at the Old Camp. We are currently trying to determine whether a rescue mission is possible. Though, to launch such a mission, we would first have to find the airships which escaped from the Old Camp and catch up to them. I assume only a full flight of drake riders would be up to the task at this point.”

I found myself frowning more and more the longer the Matriarch spoke. “Gurney!? The Old Camp’s overseer? The Matchmaker?” I asked dumbfounded. “Why would he be important enough to warrant a rescue mission?”

I never disliked Gurney, but there was no doubt such a mission would cost many lives.

Felix looked at me and spoke for the first time. “And why would the scientist who invented the nano-machines and the gene-recombination virus not warrant our full attention? The one who created the first series of gene-spliced humans to colonize Tirnanog? After all, it is why we exiled him to the Old Camp, to keep him out of the hands of anyone who might be inclined to make use of his skills.”

***Tirnanog, Mount Aerie***

***Mark***

I entered the hospital room and waved a hand at the man who had both his feet fixated within a supporting frame. Magnus looked like he had tried his luck in a direct confrontation with a wrecking ball, but like the maniac I had to come to know him as, he was grinning upon seeing me.

“Mark! What brings you to my humble abode?”

“You paid me a visit when I was recovering, so I thought it only fair to come and gloat in your misery the same way you did with me a week ago.”

“For that, you have to come to my home so I can show off my son once I get out of here.”

If I hadn't already heard from a certain doctor about Magnus knocking up Astra, I wouldn't have believed it.

I got myself a chair which was standing next to the room's entrance and brought it up to the bed to sit down. “I heard you got your ass kicked.”

Magnus shook his head with a grimace. “It wasn't even that. More: swatted like a fly. My only luck was that I am more of a cockroach and the asshole didn't expect it. Somehow, I survived long enough to allow one of our own powerhouses to show up and save my sorry hide.”

“You will be fine?” I asked while I stared at his legs, just to make sure.

Magnus gave me a thumbs-up. “Just broken bones and injured pride according to Thalia. Time will heal all wounds.”

I looked at the door at the mention of 'her' name. “She isn't here, is she?”

Magnus shrugged. “Oh, I am sure she is somewhere around. This whole facility belongs to her strata and her parents are the managers. But she should be very busy with the aftermath of the siege. I have heard lots of injured are coming through the wormgate. Why?”

I nodded, having used the gate myself. Seeing such a thing felt unreal after my time at the Old Camp.

“Oh, nothin...” I waved a hand, not wanting to dive deeper into the topic. “Just don't want to run into her. That would be... awkward.”

Magnus grinned. “Now you have to tell me everything. You can't just hand out a hint and leave it.”

“No,” I replied. “In fact, as a gentleman, I don't and I can.”

“Oh, come on,” Magnus whined. “I promise my lips are sealed. I am bored out of my mind lying here. Give me something to fantasise about.”

I sighed. “She kind of proposed to me.”

Magnus's eyes widened. “Thalia? Please tell me you said yes.”

“No.” I scratched the back of my head. It felt awkward to talk about it. “I said I need time to think about it.”

“What is wrong with you?!” Magnus mimed lifting something plentiful and heavy with the open palm of his uninjured hand. “Haven't you noticed her very big 'arguments'? What kind of man are you? Do you need help? If you need counselling, I can lend a hand. I've successfully instructed Loops with his 'woman troubles' and in his case, the women were the problem. So your issues should be comparatively easy to resolve.”

“I have seen her 'assets'. Yes, Thalia is pretty. And no, I still won't dive into such a commitment without giving it the proper thought,” I countered. “And isn't Loops your drake?”

“Even animals need help sometimes.” Magnus shrugged. “Are you gay?”

I snorted. “No.”

“I won't judge if you are – just know that I am not.” Magnus showed me the open palm of his good hand in a warding-off gesture.

“I am not gay!”

“Then what's the problem?” Magnus asked. “You weren't above pushing me to hook up with Astra.”

“The situation was a tad bit different with you. You had just pissed off a member of a major clan, had no backing except for Gurney, and winter was right before the door. And don't be mad at me, but you were a greenhorn at wilderness survival. If you had stayed at the Old Camp, you would be dead by now. Taking Astra's offer was the best chance at survival you would ever get.”

“Peanuts, now spill.”

I tapped my knee with a finger as I considered whether it was wise to share this story with someone like Magnus. “I just don't know, Magnus. I am not into the whole 'wings'-thing.”

He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Her wings turn you off?”

“It's not the only issue. She is a very intense personality,” I tried to explain. “And I feel... it's hard to describe... 'influenced' or 'used' when she is around. That woman just triggers all the warning signals in the back of my brain...”

I sighed. “It happened during the flight to Jeng.”

-

I closed the door behind myself and locked it, sighing in anxious relief while conflicted feelings warred within me. After what I had been through, I felt glad I no longer had to be alone, but at the same time, the presence of other people felt like a threat.

Being released from the medical ward was at the same time absolution and perdition.

So was getting away from everything. And getting a little distance from the doctor also wasn't the worst thing.

Thalia always managed to send warm and cold shudders down my spine with her most recent behaviour.

At first, I thought of her as an overbearing doctor. Then, once she had gotten a full list of my mutations things changed. I played with the idea of her trying to flirt with me. Normally, I wouldn’t be against a woman showing interest in me, but then her obvious attempts to get into my good graces became... just awkward. Maybe she was trying too hard?

After three days of her treating me like a patient in the critical ward, it was good to gain a little distance.

There was no question Thalia was trying to please, but she was just too damn good at it. It felt like landing in the hands of a very pleasing, but deadly courtesan.

Abandoning the thought, I clapped my hands together and smiled at the little bunk I could call my own for the next few days at least. For as long as it took the airship to reach Jeng.

The berth was maybe one and a half metres in width and three metres deep. I had to crouch slightly so I wouldn't hit my head on the ceiling. The room had just a bed and a small night desk. The sanitary installations were down the corridor and for public use, but I didn't mind.

A smile stole itself onto my face as I surveyed the area like a king his land. No question, the walls surely weren't soundproof, but their mere existence was enough to make me almost tear up.

A knock on the door tore me out of my reminiscence.

“Yes?” I answered and opened it – only realizing after the fact that I should have checked the identity of my visitor first.

Thalia stood outside with a thin folder in hand, clad in a perfectly fitting white lab coat. She beamed a searing smile at me which offered me her everything and simultaneously sent a tingle of caution down my spine. My new mutation was doing backward flips just from that single action of hers.

“Hi, I just wanted to make sure everything is alright with your new accommodations.” As if not knowing anything about personal space, Thalia reached out and brushed her fingers over my chest.

She needed no strength at all because the touch alone had me back away. It hadn't felt bad. No, it felt good even. But there was an intellectual aspect to what just happened. Somehow I knew, I was a moth and she a fire.

“Um... hi,” I replied like a dolt. “Everything is fine. I think?”

Thalia stepped inside, making the situation even worse because the room was so small. Then the demoness closed the door and locked it!

That wasn't good. Why was I behaving like some high schooler with his crush when she was around?

“I have something we have to discuss in private.” She raised the folder in front of her chest and switched that blinding, one-thousand-lumen smile back on.

“Okay. Maybe we could go outside for space?” I tried to get past her, but Thalia practically threw herself into my arms.

I froze up like some teenager when her hand absolutely not accidentally landed behind my head and traced a finger from the back of my ear to my jawbone. The sensation of her touch was just exhilarating and caused me to freeze up like an icicle.

Next thing I knew, one of her wings hooked in behind my legs and we tumbled into the bed with her on top.

“I think this is so much nicer than talking outside,” the woman whispered with a husky voice while cuddling up to my side, her body somehow feeling so perfect against mine.

A leg came up, hooking over my left thigh while her labcoat rode up beyond the line of decency. My mind went blank for a moment when I realized the vixen was going commando beneath the coat.

“Miss Thalia, I-”

“Hush now. There is something I have to show you.” She opened the folder and showed it to me, revealing a spreadsheet of mutations which looked similar to Gurney's records. The only difference was, this one was a combined one, and half of it were my mutations.

“I have checked it several times and found us to be an almost perfect match,” the woman babbled on as if completely unaware of what she was doing to me. Her thigh was slowly moving against the bulge in my pants. Her free hand played over my body like a piano while touching what felt like pressure points of pure bliss and relaxation.

Then the coat’s uppermost button came undone as if by accident, confirming she wore nothing beneath as her cleavage tried to escape while she pressed it against my upper arm.

“Except for my run-of-the-mill mutations such as the starfish, my bloodvine and mindreaper mutations are pure support and psychic power. Meanwhile, your blood mutation is also heavily circumstantial, but it combines well with my bloodvines. For that alone, I already had my eyes on you back then. But both of us missing completely in physical defence just didn't allow for a match – or at least making a pairing unwise. Though, your newest mutation changes the situation completely. Not only is it a strong physical improvement and defensive, but it also mixes well with your Precognition – which is a psychic mutation in nature. I just have to wonder what would happen if we would add my own psychic mutations to the mix.”

“I can see your point,” I replied while almost dissolving in her arms. For some reason, that woman laying her hands on me was bliss.

If it weren't for the nagging sensation of my Precognition going haywire, I would probably be already tearing off her clothes.

I took the folder to have a closer look at her abilities. “So, this is a proposition to partner up?”

“Definitely yes.” She laid her head on my shoulder and played with her lab coat, loosening another button. “I have pondered over the possible match between us for two days now – and I can hardly believe I could find a better match than you. Do I really have to get even more blunt for you to understand?”

Oh, she had been plenty of blunt beforehand.

I smiled and tried pushing her knee down without coming off as groping her. “Thanks, but without wanting to offend – I will have to think about this.”

Thalia frowned and suddenly stopped the seductive act. “Am I not appealing to you?”

“Oh, you are very appealing, but this feels rushed. I don’t know you, Thalia, and you don’t me. It also feels like you are trying to force this,” I explained, picking my way through my words slowly since I didn’t want to offend.

She looked downcast. “I just wanted to show you the ‘benefits’ of being with me. You can believe me, I have considered this match from a purely logical angle.”

“This document only says you have empathic ability without detailing what exactly you can do,” I pointed out. “So you weren’t trying to influence my decision with said ability?”

Thalia pouted. “I am not that kind of woman. I didn’t influence you in that way.”

Does that mean she influenced me in another way? “Look, all I am saying is you feel way too good to be true and that sets off all my Precognition alarm bells.”

“Oh…” she pursed her pretty lips. “I can’t help it. Even if I don’t use my ability to actively influence your feelings, I just ‘know’ what feels good to you. Why would I touch you where I know it feels off-putting? That would put me off too since I would get the emotional overspill from you. So I touch where it feels good. I guess you can call it a positive influence, but it’s also not?”

I thought it over. “I think I understand where you are going with this. So it’s not you influencing me actively. It’s passive since you just know where I like it without having to try?”

“Exactly!” She smiled again and this time it almost stopped my heart because it felt – genuine!

“I still need that rain-check to think this over,” I pointed out.

Thalia frowned. “Are you really going to leave me hanging after I showed up like this? I really hoped we could play doctor right away.”

She...

Wanted to play...

What?

Thalia slapped the folder out of my hand, grabbed my wrist, and pressed my hand against the most voluptuous, pleasing boob I could have ever dreamt up.

“Yes,” I choked out.

No!

I had to stay firm! “Believe me, I would love to do this, but this is a commitment I have to think over. The whole reason why I am in this world is because my former self never stopped to consider the consequences of my actions. When I was exiled, I promised myself to never repeat this mistake again.”

Thalia blew out a raspberry. “Fine… I guess I kind of ambushed you with this idea of mine. But the least you could do is to help me blow off some steam. I was kind of looking forward to getting nailed for real.”

“Pardon me?” I asked.

The woman sat up and rolled her eyes while she reached into the pocket of her labcoat with one hand. With the other, she undid the remaining buttons.

My eyes went to 'the goods'.

“Gods...”

All I did was gape at her alluring figure. Don’t think of me as some idiot who lost all cognitive functions upon seeing a naked woman – but it had been a year since my exile.

The lab coat came off and a polished, wooden stick with a knob at the end was placed in my hand. It was very smooth for wood and from the feel of it, it was also... oiled?

“Don’t break it or I break you. That’s my favourite one and I like it deep.”

Staring perplexedly at the ‘dildo’, I failed to stop Thalia from swinging a leg over me and the next thing I knew, she was going down on me 69.

-

“Holy! She blew you one and you still said no?” Magnus asked, looking like he didn't believe me. “Don't take this the wrong way, but something is definitely wrong with you.”

I glared at him with a blank expression. “Haven't I just told you about the wooden dildo she brought with her for the occasion?”

“Astra likes tying me to the bed before she goes for a ride,” Magnus countered. “You just have to go with the flow, man. The women in this world are just different from Earth. If they see a guy they want and he is single, they go and get him.”

“Have I mentioned that once she was done, she whipped out a bottle and ran off with my spunk to do more 'compatibility tests'?” I added with a deadpan expression.

Magnus seemed unconcerned. “Sounds like her.”

“What if she finds a way to 'use' it?” I asked.

Magnus laughed. “Now, I admit I am not an expert, but that's certainly not how the recombination virus and the nanites work. There's also the UI, which you should have learned about by now. Be assured, it works only with two people of the opposite gender. And only if they do the deed properly. But seriously, if Thalia truly wanted to use nefarious means to hook up with you, we wouldn't be having this conversation. She already gave you a peek at her true powers, but what she shared with you is only the tip of the iceberg. I can't say more – confidentiality and all that.”

“Then what about her ability to press all my buttons?” I asked. “You are saying she wasn't trying to influence me?”

He tilted his head from left to right as he thought about it. “Maybe give you an incentive by hinting at what she could do for you,” Magnus admitted. “If she wanted to, you two would have probably gone through the Kamasutra twice that night and you wouldn't have even thought about saying no.”

I truly didn’t want her to pull out her real powers against me. The demoness had taken her sweet time playing with me, always stopping right at the edge until the final release was almost salvation. “So she was serious about... this proposal?”

Magnus shrugged. “Look, I only can say this. Thalia is a good person. I like her. I like you. She has her flaws. You have your flaws. If she hurts you, I kick her ass. If you hurt her, I kick your ass. Though, I bet there won't be much to kick after her parents are done with you. And Astra is kind of a bitch when it comes to someone hurting her besty. Try not to piss her off. You might tell yourself your situation is different from mine back then, but it really isn't.”

He closed his eyes. “But honestly? If Thalia wants you, there is nothing you can do to get away without pissing off a lot of really powerful people.”

I gulped.