19- A Hundred Percent Here For It

I found Dallinya waiting for me in Mack's cab about a half hour later. She hadn't changed out of the blue garment, and was staring at the book of DVD's while on her stomach, on my bed. Her tail was twitching back and forth while she kicked her feet lazily.

I hadn't paid much attention to the catgirl in the last three days since being forced to murder her Master, and I'd mostly left her alone because of that. She'd woken up in captivity, been under the impression I was going to subjugate her and, I don't know, chain her up in my big scary trailer and just screw her every time the moon got full. Then I left her alone further, thinking that Avya and Auralla and the showtime sex would influence her mind.

She didn't have fur, but instead big cat ears sprouting from the top of her head, and a long tail. Other than some sharp incisors and a few whiskers, she was just an incredibly hot woman with considerable assets.

She turned to regard me curiously. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd come."

I sat and placed a hand lightly at the small of her back. "I'm curious about a few things."

She nodded, then went back to sliding the DVDs out, peering at the reflective rainbow silver of the readable side, and sliding them back in.

"Where were you born?"

"In Sunspire," she said.

"Oh… that's…"

"Auralla and Avya were only babies by the time I was taken."

"Huh. Can I ask… how old you were?"

She slid out a copy of The Matrix and spun it around one finger. "Seven summers. Auralla would've been three at the time. I hadn't even blossomed yet."

I nodded, and she went on.

"My mother was a drover… her job was to take the flock out to pasture and keep the beasts away from them. That summer was difficult, the rains hadn't come, and we were forced to go days further out from the village to find better grass."

"And this Giskennen guy found you both out there?"

She smiled sadly. "He took of her power, but she'd already got in a good hit on him, showed his blood, so he killed her right after he got her mark. And I went back to Surrek to work."

"Just work."

"And grow. You can work in a Master's house until you start to blossom. When you get power, it shows. Your body becomes full and soft and ripe for the taking."

"Skip this part… I know how it works." I didn't exactly, but the takeaway was that puberty brought on the magic power her Master would take. And how long had Giskennen kept the mark of power from Dallinya's dead mother? It wasn't a question I could ask her, not here and not now, but it was vital information.

"How long were you there?"

"I've surpassed twenty-three summers," she told me in a small voice, while the DVD spun and spun on her finger. "It's been sixteen years. I barely remember Sunspire."

"Have I completely ruined the mood?" I asked.

She smiled and turned to regard me. "These three days have been the strangest of my life. I've met a Drifter. Many people never do, and never will. I've seen the magic of your world, with its soap and its towels… ice cream. Ha! The mood couldn't be better."

"That's good, because I'm intensely attracted to you. Something about the cat ears and tail really get me going."

She smiled over her shoulder at me. "Avya and Auralla said you were insatiable, and I wondered how it could ever be a good thing."

"It's a difficult curse to bear, but it's the curse I was born with." She rolled her eyes while I unlaced the skirt Auralla had made, and it dropped to the floor.

She put the DVD down and went to move, but I stopped her. "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. I have a mood to un-ruin."

This began with a series of kisses down her ankles to her calves, tickling kisses to the insides of her knees, and when she arched her back, I dove down. She was already beginning to moisten, but that wouldn't do. I needed her fully lubricated… oh, who was I kidding? I really liked the taste of pussy, and I loved the idea of being the first person in their lives to give all these women orgasms. It was a distinct honor.

I didn't have long to wait. Just like Hellera, she reacted strongly to having the base of her tail played with. It caused her to push her ass against me (

nice)

and she was coming in minutes.

She began to shudder and buck, and this was lovely: she purred. Here she was, splayed out on my sleeper bed, purring and pushing herself back onto my tongue, ass swaying back and forth slowly. She didn't want to risk disconnecting from the pleasure, but she had places inside she wanted me to get into. Her tail brushed against my back, tickling, while I kept up my favorite type of work.

Since gaining Bronze, I could now taste each of my partners' magic as a distinct flavor. Dallinya tasted of resignation and perseverance somehow, sweet but full of the flavors of an eventful life. The closest I could come to describing it was a fine wine that had only gotten better with age and experience, but somehow that made it seem like her hardships had only made her a better partner. This was only partly true; she was a survivor, and I had that on my tongue.

She didn't have any of the fiery defiance of Hellera, but I could taste that she'd been waiting for her moment. She could bolt, flee, maybe kill me when it turned out I was putting up a false front to steal their power. That moment hadn't come. Now she was an orgasm and a half into sharing herself with me, I could taste that she was close… to getting the fuck out of dodge. Of the four, she was the most ready to leave Surrek behind. She'd travel back to Sunspire.

She was shivering uncontrollably, and biting onto the bedspread to keep from making any noise. In the meantime she was gushing her refined, full bouquet of love juices onto my tongue and I was a hundred percent here for it.

Finally I found her feebly swatting at my forehead, and I pulled up short.

"S… stop," she panted.

"Madam?" I inquired, like a sir.

"Just put it in!" she demanded.

"I'm afraid you're a few orgasms short of the quota, madam."

"Now! Essence now!"

I did as milady requested, and sank in slowly, but completely. She was a bit smaller than Auralla, and tight from whatever ritual they'd done before the moon came up. Then I slowly withdrew, while her tail curled around my back and tickled up between my shoulder blades, and I bullied my way back into her incredible tightness.

"Oh gods yes," she groaned.

"I'm glad you approve."

"I… uh… approve… uh… so much."

I leaned down and laid my chest against her back. "We could do this all the time," I whispered in her ear, "if you stayed."

"Gods damn it," she grunted through clenched teeth. "Just, uh, push, harder… And, uh, faster."

I did.

"Gods!" she cried. "It's so deep! It's in my stomach. It's never… uh, never…"

"Never been this good?"

"Never," she breathed. "I want… uh… more."

I gave her more. And then even more. Eventually I got her to be on top and ride me reverse cowgirl, and in that position I toyed with her tail incessantly. She kept up a slow stream of dirty talk, telling me that I was rearranging her guts, telling me she was going to give me so much magic I would glow for days, telling me she was going to cut my cock off and use it whenever she got the urge. She told me to slow down, she shifted angles and told me exactly which one was the one that did it for her, and she told me to pull on the base of her tail… not too hard, yes, yes like that. Just. Like. That.

It was a surprise to hear filthy talk, and a delight. Her magic began to well up as a ball of little sparklers of light again, smelling and looking complicated and beautiful, and I though I'd already come three times earlier, I lost the battle to keep from exploding into her.

You have joined in the flesh with Dallinya of Surrek. Will you take the power offered to you, or share in the power with her?

This was another easy choice. I shared in her power and collapsed back onto the bed, sweaty and spent. I fell almost immediately into a dreamless but erection-inducing sleep.

I woke sometime in the dark with her mouth wrapped around me, and soon enough she was riding me reverse cowgirl again, and grabbing my hand, and placing it on the base of her tail so I could stroke it and drive her wild. Of course, I was half-asleep, so I'm only

pretty

sure this all happened. She called me a dirty addicting Drifter son of a whore who would get her tortured and killed for wanting more of this, but she never stopped bouncing up and down on that dick.

Then I was coming and

then

I was asleep again.

I awoke to a soft body draped over one side of me, and a cat ear tickling my nose. I had a new power. I also noted, by stroking down over her shoulders and down her spine, that Dallinya had a series of light scars over the whole of her back. They were old, and layered, like she'd been whipped to the point of bleeding not once, and not just twice. They glowed with magic now, a sheen of bronze color.

Survivor's Mark

was the heartbreaking new tattoo I received. I couldn't see it, but the tattoo was in the shape of a victim, arms outstretched and head down, with their back full of bleeding whip marks.

Survivor's Mark

*Passive*

*Normal tier, two stars*

Normal: You gain moderate resistance to physical damage. You may suffer up to double your normal Wounds before falling to Critical Wounds. You gain a minimal regeneration for wounds caused by physical damage.

You gained this ability after joining with Dallinya of Surrek. This ability's tier is tied to your Relationship with Dallinya of Surrek.

No wonder Giskennen had survived two fucking shotgun blasts. I peered at my Tough attribute, and found that at Bronze, the number of wounds I could suffer had gone from four to eight, and had just doubled to sixteen from Dallinya's ability. Oh damn, I could probably suffer a shotgun blast point blank and get back up afterwards. I had no wish to try it out, except… I kinda did.

But… fuck. I got the distinct impression Giskennen had done this on purpose. I knew it to be true as soon as I saw the scars and read the ability. Giskennen had manufactured this ability and overwrote whatever magic she'd had before. Either that or the torture had started before she'd ever come of age.

A deep well of fury rose up in me. I hardly knew this girl, but she'd offered herself up to me, knowing full well what that meant. She hadn't been shy in telling me the story of her life. She'd accepted that this world was very fucked up.

At that moment, I wanted to take her by the shoulders, look deep into her eyes, and promise that she would never be hurt ever again. Yes, I knew that wasn't even remotely possible. Yes, I couldn't actually make that promise.

I knew what we needed to do now.

Once we were all assembled, bathed, fed, some kisses given out, light flirting, we trained up a little. Combat, sneaking, and using the abilities they now had at their disposal. The mood was light and joking, although these other Masters I'd warned about were in the background.

After all that, I turned to them and explained. "You held up your end of the bargain, so now I'll tell you what I'm intending. You can stick with me, or go your separate ways. Your abilities will stay with me after you leave, for some time. Hopefully it'll be enough.

"Here's the future I see," I said, and I told them my vision. It made them look at each other, and ask one another with raised eyebrows if I were a completely insane person. Mouths dropped open. The girls held each others' hands for comfort and to reassure each other that they weren't dreaming, maybe. Was I serious?

Yes, I was serious.

I took Dallinya aside while the others started preparing. "Decision?"

She chewed on her lip a bit, staring off toward the mountains with their floating boulders. "For now, with you."

***

And that meant turning Mack around and retracing my steps. Road. Basically it meant turning around and rolling on.

"Okay, tell me all about petty Masters," I said. It was going to be a long trip.

They did. Dallinya had the most experience in Surrek, followed by Hellera, which told me a lot actually. Fayeen and Velleth chimed in (Velleth had some insider knowledge that surprised me), while Avya and Auralla stayed mostly quiet. A lot of what happened in Surrek was alien to them and it showed.

The four ladies explained that Surrek was a massive walled city, with Masters, their females, and other slave labor being used to raise up walls over fifty feet high and fifteen feet thick at the base. Surrek had four main doors, and kept those doors open to trade throughout the day. The city was so large it was divided up into a number of districts, and those districts were parceled out to Masters who were 'very effective' in amassing power first, and administrating over their districts second. Their job was to take Governor decrees and make them happen, an executive branch on the ground level.

Masters were essentially the police force of the city. Some of the Masters did their work alone, preferring to keep their stock of females hidden and safe. Others trained their females in combat and traveled in huge retinues. And a few Masters sought out ambitious young males, and gifted them with several magically blossoming women to use. Those young Masters would become deputies for the Master of multiple districts. These were called petty Masters.

"But there are ronin also, aren't there?" I asked.

"Rogue Masters, without a greater Master to guide them?" Velleth asked. When I nodded, she affirmed this. "Yes. It's dangerous, but possible. Some of them are looking to unseat the weak Masters who control districts, or prove themselves as capable petty Masters to be taken on and given additional resources."

"We're going to face those rogue Masters," I said.

"Don't be so sure," Velleth countered. "Powerful overlords have been known to keep a small army of petty Masters for jobs like this."

Like unseating a weak Master who looked like he would lose control over his district. There was a surprising amount of low-level politicking in Surrek I hadn't anticipated.

"Who runs shops… you told me this already, didn't you? Is it males who can't keep a female?"

"Mainly."

There were also females who never blossomed into magical power, and that fascinated me. A lot of these fell to the shopkeeps, smiths, carpenters, candlemakers, scribes, and hedge mages, who—

"Hang on, go back. What's a hedge mage?"

It turned out there were just wizards in the cities, men who knew magic, but not enough to challenge a Master for supremacy. They'd study magic application from books and lore, or attend a school of wizardry to increase their knowledge. A lot of them would end up using those spells they'd learned for potioncraft, enchanting items with certain qualities (like Giskennen's axe), or enchanting items with powerful mark-like effects (again, Giskennen's axe).

So in essence they were just shop wizards the Masters kept their eyes on, in case any of them started to get uppity, like throwing fireballs around or striking people down with lightning.

Female slaves of Masters were known as the sub class, they explained, followed by all the farmers and drovers. These were the low class. Makers, craftsmen, and hedge wizards comprised the middle class, while the Masters were in a class of their own. There were a number of bureaucrats, administrators and advisors who helped the Governor in his duties. Velleth and Dallinya had seen these weak males scurrying under foot at the great council meetings, when Masters were called to receive decrees, or in rare occasions, openly debate a measure the Governor was unsure whether to take up. The Governor's retinue wasn't in the hundreds, but perhaps over a hundred.

"Servants? Washers of clothes and cooks and servers of food and such?" I asked.

"Low class," Dallinya replied.

"Cleaners of garbage? Sewer cleaners?"

"Sub class."

Naturally.

A picture of Surrek was coming together and it followed a lot of what I expected from the history classes I'd been forced to take in community college. Also the podcasts I'd listened to over the interminable hours on the road.

Seriously, I never had as much fun in history class as I had listening to the history of Japan as told to me by some podcaster recording from his closet, or some British guy telling me how things went in Byzantium. Maybe I'd matured, or maybe the pressure was off to regurgitate facts onto a test paper, or maybe they were just more entertaining than my old professors.

"Hang on a second," I suddenly said. "How in the hell do the Masters find new women if nobody's having children?"

They peered around at each other and burst out laughing.

"Of course they're having children," Avya offered gently. Too gently. "Don't you know where babies come from?"

I gritted my teeth. "Of course I do!"

"Sure you do," Fayeen said. "Males know everything."

"I didn't… quit that!"

Cue more laughter.

"Quit that or no essence sharing for three days." Silence fell over the cab. "Okay one day." Cue more raucous laughter. I smiled and gained bits of stars for my various relationships.

"How is it done on earth?" Velleth asked. I was being patronized, which caused me to laugh internally.

"Every moon cycle a female has the chance to accept seed from a male and conceive child. If she doesn't, the egg is flushed out and she begins the cycle again. Kind of like the magic cycle here."

Horrified silence greeted this.

"A female could have a child every

month

?" Auralla whispered.

"No. Once a child is conceived it will take around nine months to birth. They can't conceive another child in that time, though… more essence sharing is possible. It just doesn't result in a new conception."

"Of course it is," Avya muttered. "Men always hoping to use their seed spitters."

"I know someone who keeps hoping to use my seed spitter," I retorted, and got more laughter in response. The others ribbed Avya for being so ready to do it again, and again.

Velleth leaned forward from her seat on the sleeper bed. "Here a female must undergo the ritual of conception before she can conceive and bear child."

A lot of relief swept through me.

"It can be a profitable enterprise," Velleth continued, bringing my mood back down to that simmering fury. "While all the magic they would normally gain is channeled into the child, and they can't have their former abilities… females who are with child cannot have their essence stolen. This is a means many females use to get some time away from Masters." And the chains and torture.

"And let me guess… females who've had their power used by a Master can't do the conception ritual until the full moon, when they would get their magic back anyhow."

"Just so," Velleth said.

I skidded to a stop back at the big ass floating rocks. Mack was just over a quarter of a tank now, and that worried me a little.