Satyr Play 04 Pt. 01

"What? No unisex hot spring? Henry, I'm disappointed!"

"See! I told you," he said with a smirk and followed the men through the blurred wall.

He missed the look of confusion on her face, then the flash when she remembered he'd promised to make an exception for her.

-=-

The hot springs had been a huge hit, and Eleanor ensured they didn't stay in the water too long.

Talia arrived ten minutes into their soak, and from the sounds coming from the lady's side, the other Valkyries were seriously envious of whatever trophy she'd taken from the beast she'd slain.

Once everyone had dried off with the towels Meixiu and the twins had delivered, they packed them back into the large laundry sacks, and the Valkyries carried them as the group walked back to the doors to the mansion's cave.

Sigrid insisted she was well enough for a casual stroll but promised to take him up on his offer to carry her if she encountered any pain or cramping.

Henry got to carry Stanley, who was asleep in his arms. He couldn't get over how small he was. Truthfully, he was slightly smaller than his sister Ylva who was currently sleeping in Hilda's arms.

When he'd asked Sigrid if she needed help with the twins, she assured him that Hilda was all the help she needed. Her mother would be moving into a spare bedroom in her brownstone until the children passed into their independent stage.

He wondered how this would impact their date nights.

Talia sauntered up beside him and smiled at the baby in his arms. "A male Valkyrie. I never thought I'd live to see the day."

Henry nodded as he had no words for that.

Then it came to him as he looked at his son. "These are special days."

Talia smiled thoughtfully and nodded.

"I hear your hunt went well," Henry said.

Her smile widened. "Yes, it was glorious! Forty feet from teeth to tail, black as midnight, and fast as a lightning strike. There were moments when I thought I might have chosen a foe too great for my skill. It was in one of those moments I found something more in me and took its head with a single slash."

He could see she was reliving the moment when she faced her mortality and survived, so he remained quiet.

She came back to the moment and blushed slightly.

"You took a trophy?" he asked.

'Yes! One of its larger fangs!" She carefully extracted a white dagger-shaped tooth from a pouch she had strapped to her hip. The tooth had to be at least nine inches long.

Henry whistled in appreciation. "That's the biggest one I've seen yet! It looks deadly sharp!"

"It is! It will make an excellent weapon!" Talia exclaimed excitedly.

He smiled at her enthusiasm.

Her smile was replaced with a look of serious contemplation. "I spoke with Hilda regarding your ability to heal. No Valkyrie is ashamed of their scars. They tell the story of my battles. They are me."

"I wouldn't remove the scars. For that, you'd be better off with someone as skilled as Eleanor, anyway. Like you said, you want to keep them. I would only repair the underlying structure, the damaged muscle, and nerves. To give you back their function and sensation."

Talia unconsciously touched her drooping lip.

"It's up to you. There's no deadline on the offer. If you ever decide you want it done, just let me know. Hilda told you about the pain management?"

"Valkyries are no stranger to pain. That said, Hilda said there were moments when she was almost lost, but you brought her back."

Henry frowned. Hilda hadn't said that to him, and he couldn't recall having any foresight when he applied the pain. "I-I don't know about that. I do know it can overwhelm those unable to endure it. Hilda survived."

"Then I can do no less. I will take you up on your offer, but I won't be available to do it for a while," she said. He nodded, and she moved off to speak to Sylvi.

Henry saw they were approaching the doors and was glad he'd added the light orbs as the daylight was waning. He saw Roy and Mary by the doors welcoming the families back and keeping them moving through. Sigrid met Henry at the door and plucked Stanley from his arms. He kissed her, and she smiled wearily.

"I'm going to get some sleep. We can talk in the morning?" she asked sweetly.

"Of course, we can," he said with a smile. Hilda, carrying Ylva, collected her daughter, and they went into the cave.

Camila waited with Henry, Roy, and Mary until all of the guests were through and Roy confirmed that none of their guests remained on Eden. Henry gestured for them to go first then he pushed the doors closed. He put the dimensional gate spell back into its dormant state, and the crystals dimmed once more. He checked their power levels. The door had been open for almost three hours, and he was still at seventy-six percent. In the power generator's dormant mode, it would trickle charging the crystals up to ninety-nine percent.

When he turned around, he saw Camila and Roy were waiting for him with their arms crossed across their chests. Mary was looking between them and Henry with interest.

He took a deep breath, raised a finger, and whispered a few words.

The corridor's end was suddenly closed with what looked like a solid wall of rock once more. The light globes dimmed, and there was a slight sensation of pressure on their ears. He nodded to Roy.

"We have privacy now?" Roy asked, and Henry nodded again. "What's this Camila tells me about you being under a compulsion to use magic?"

He shook his head slowly. "I think compulsion is the wrong word. It feels like I'm still being used in a battle of wills between Baba and the beings who gave her powers. Neither side has overtly tried to communicate with me. I don't think they can do that."

He frowned and shook his head. "No, I have to amend that statement. When I was fighting Hilda, she provoked me badly, and in a moment of inattention, I called up a spell in my defense from the dark spells. I immediately disabled it but not before feeling its strong link to dark entities."

Camila made a sound of concern, but Henry made a gesture to assure her. "I never connected mentally to the spell. It was launched for me."

Roy and Camila froze and looked at him. "That shouldn't be possible," Roy said.

Henry nodded. "Without my willful approval, no spell can be accessed and launched within me. Yet one was."

Now his friends looked really worried. Even Mary, who had no background in Magic, was looking at Henry like a time bomb. He continued. "I've taken the precaution of adding a kill switch. If one of the really bad spells is launched without my will being involved, I die."

"WHAT? What the hell were you thinking? That's completely daft!" Roy roared.

Henry calmly looked the big redhead in the eye. "You don't know what these spells do. You don't understand the scale of the entities backing them, providing the corrupt, unnatural energies to unleash their evil payload. I WON'T BE USED FOR THAT!" Henry roared back.

Roy was taken aback at the strength in Henry's conviction. He tried a different tack. "Who launched the spell?"

It was Camila who answered. "Baba."

Henry gave Camila an approving look for her clever mind. "Hilda wasn't pulling any punches. She would have killed me if she could have. The risk was real. She forced Baba to show her hand. She always lacked faith in me, but then, she'd lost faith in everyone."

"Is... is she inside you?" Roy asked.

Henry winced and shook his head a little as Roy watched him cautiously.

"Not as a full-blown consciousness. That exists... elsewhere, but she can reach me, as proven by her launching that spell. You know Baba stuffed my head full of knowledge before she disappeared." They nodded. "To be included with those taken by the curse, Baba needed to shed her powers, so she forced it on me. All of it. Some of those spells contained the sensations of their being used and the perceptions she experienced when they were. Bits of Baba were included and are stored in my brain."

"Not a fate I'd wish for you," Roy said softly.

Henry snorted. "It wasn't like I had the power to say no." They nodded in silent agreement.

"When she was Human, in her desperation to save her dying son, she made an arrangement with dark entities and was given powers. The price was to live and remember. That became too much for her, and she struggled to find a way to break her deal. The only loophole she found was the end of the beings she'd been tasked to watch and remember, but she couldn't be the one to do it. We know how that went."

"Aye, she killed all of the Humans," Roy spat.

"No. Not all."

Camila and Roy looked at him then their eyes widened. "General Crane!" they said in unison.

"Wait, wait, wait! Crane has been exposed to all kinds of Wild Magic! It changes everyone!" Mary argued.

"Crane was on Eden when the curse was launched. But even before that, I believe the ones who made a deal with Baba were becoming aware of her efforts. They hedged their bets. They ensured Crane was kept free of the Wild Magic. They may have made sure he was with the group I sent to Eden. Someone planted a bomb in his car recently, and he was miraculously moved from its location before it exploded. Then he was shot at point-blank range from a handgun that should have punched straight through his bulletproof vest and him, but somehow the liner of the vest was replaced with a rock-like substance I watched turn to vapor. I had Siobhan use her sight on the General, and she confirmed he's surrounded by a dark aura that blocks him from being touched by Wild Magic. She claimed she felt a presence. It was dark, cold, ancient, vast, alien, and she felt more than one mind. She didn't connect to it, so she's safe."

Seeing he still had them following along, he continued. "The two sides are still fighting, but their influence to directly manipulate the environment is extremely limited.

As Baba planned, the curse stripped her of her physical being. Yet, the deal denied her the final rest she was after because one true Human still exists. I don't know what it costs these dark entities to allow her to get free of the deal, but it seems they're unwilling.

Now, as an untethered spirit, Baba's ability to influence anything in this world is limited to one individual, me, but she can only do it through her magic inside me, as it's bound to parts of her. I added the self destruct so she'd lose her only access if she makes any further attempts. She can't afford that. I've been waiting for her to make her presence known in my dreams, but she may still be too weak.

Instead, Baba has been at her subtle best, suggesting in the back of my mind how I can make things better with the use of magic, making it easier to access her vast library of spells, and recently I have become much more proficient in its use. I believe she's still looking for a way to use me against the dark entities."

"The caveat of using the magic is I'm becoming more visible to those entities. In recent days, I've felt them on the boundaries. I know they're very much aware their grip on Earth is tenuous as they only ever had an influence on it through the use of the spells soaked in their vile intent, the ones I refuse to use. They need a replacement for Baba. I think they want me."

Camila made another sound of fright, and he held her hand between his to calm her.

"I've tried to purge the dark spells, but they're the ones most tightly linked to Baba, and she's blocking me. Again, she doesn't have enough faith in me."

Camila couldn't stop herself from pulling Henry into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her and heard her say something against his chest, but she shook her head when he asked her to say it again. He glanced at Roy, but the man just looked troubled. Mary shook her head.

"What are you going to do, lad?" Roy asked softly.

Henry smiled weakly. "I think I need to help Baba achieve her wish. She needs to be released from the deal. Once she is, I may be able to purge the dark spells that will break me from the entities or reduce their awareness of me. I've made no deals with them, and I won't." His mind took him to the days he struggled to drag himself out of the darkness to return to his body. He'd felt their attention on him then, heard their whispered promises. He'd had some dark moments, days and weeks really, but he remembered Baba's words, and he'd proven to himself that he wasn't a quitter. The confidence he'd returned with was his reward.

"Does Crane need to die for this?" Roy asked cautiously.

Henry's eyes snapped to Roy, then he eased his expression and unclenched his jaws. "Sorry. No. The General said he was ready to transform, so I need to somehow get past that dark energy shield around him to get the Wild Magic into him. Once he's affected by the magic, he's no longer Human, and the deal ends. Baba is released, and I purge the dark energy spells."

"Aye, it's that simple," Roy said skeptically.

"Yup! Bing. Bang. Boom," Henry replied with a grin.

"When."

Henry looked down at his chest. The word came from Camila.

He glanced at Roy. "What time is it?"

"It's two AM. Boxing Day," he replied.

"Today, then. I need to make some prep—"

Camila pulled him towards the wall blocking the end of the hall. "Open this," she insisted.

"It's open," he said, so she pulled him through the field. He glanced back and saw Roy and Mary following at a slower pace speaking softly to each other.

Henry was towed through the caverns, past the large chamber where Meixiu, the Kings, and a few others were tidying up. He wanted to stop and help, but Camila wasn't slowing down and marched him right up the ramp, to the stairs, and up to his room. She tugged his kilt off and pushed him back onto the bed before dropping her glamor and climbing on top of him.

Gone was the sex kitten, the teasing harlot. Camila was desperate for his touch, his kiss, his closeness.

She writhed over his larger body, pressing as much of her skin to his as she could. She felt so damn good, and her kiss was so demanding, he quickly reacted and was soon almost painfully erect. She moaned when she felt the heat from his cock begin to press against her.

She didn't have time for gentleness. She reached between them, positioned him at her entrance, and drove herself down upon him.

"FFFUUUUUCCKKK!!!!" she cried out.

All Henry could manage was a grunt as the bliss hit him so hard and fast.

Then she was kissing him again as she bounced on him, trying to get all of him inside. She was incredibly hot and wet, but he was just so big. Finally, she made a frustrated sound and tugged on him to indicate she wanted him on top. He pulled her down then flipped them on the bed. With this extra pressure, Henry drove himself fully inside her body in two more strokes. He was resting on her, his cock filling her completely. She moaned, trembled, and shook, then her heels hooked behind is ass cheeks and tugged.

Henry got the hint, so he began to long stroke her, and her gasps and cries grew louder. She pulled his face down to hers, and her kisses became soft and tender as he pounded her against the bed. He saw her expression softening, and tears appeared in her eyes.

He began to slow his thrusts.

"No... please... keep going," she sighed, so he did.

The tears concerned him, though. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head and gasped as her bliss was making it hard to think. "Do... do you remember... I asked... if you could have... one wish come true for Christmas... what would it be?"

He was surprised by the question as it seemed so out of context, but her eyes were holding his so intensely, he felt compelled to look deep inside for his most intimate desire.

He found he did have something he wished for, more than anything. Something he'd been denied for most of his life until he'd begin to believe he wasn't worthy of it.

Voice tight with emotion, he made his confession.

"Love."

Her smile bloomed across her face. "I love you, Henry!"

He blinked at her, struggling to keep going as her heels pulled at him. "You-you said Succubi couldn't—"

She pulled his mouth to hers, and the kiss was electric. Their bodies reacted immediately, grinding together as their releases exploded in their minds. Henry was lost in her kiss, the raw emotions he felt there, her need for him, her surrender to him, and her love for him.

Long minutes passed as they clung to each other. Finally, Henry pulled back to see her smiling eyes and bliss flushed face. He was sure he looked equally ecstatic.

"You love me?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "Yes. I didn't recognize it. I've never felt this way about anyone in my life. It's... a bit frightening, truthfully. I feel so exposed. I'm so terrified of what you are facing, and there's nothing I can do—"

He touched her lips gently to stop her words. "You cannot imagine how much strength your love gives me. What you've done for me is immeasurable!"

She pulled his face down to hers, and the kiss was tender but sent tingles through their bodies.

Once the kiss ended, Henry moved to lie beside her, and Camila smiled blissfully at him. "I can't believe how much better sex is with love! It's a whole new level of bliss!"

Henry nodded as it had exceeded his expectations too. He yawned widely. "Sorry," he said as his face heated up.

She cupped his cheek. "Go to sleep, my love."

He held her eyes as his heart filled with joy at her words. "I love you, Camila."

He saw his love in her eyes as his slowly closed.

It was the perfect Christmas gift and the best way to end the day.

-=- End of Part 1 -=-