A/N: This chapter marks page 300 in Microsoft Word for this story. Thanks for all the feedback guys; it really makes the difference.
Two Rings.
Two Rings had passed while they marched. Jack's feet were sore, beyond sore really. He could barely feel his feet even after Anathane had massaged them for hours in an effort to keep him from hurting. The sand here was like a tide of hot, boiling water. The landscape was a bleak, endless series of dunes and sunken plains filled with nothing but hot, yellow sand.
In every direction, the sky looked overhead like a friendly blue blanket through which the devilish white sun peered, creating a vacuum of heat and exhausting wind. Jack felt dozens of beads of sweat dripping down his body again.
He was covered in a sheen of moisture that was being stolen from him by the thieving wind. It giggled innocently into his ears, promising a brief moment of cool delight in return for his body's strength. It was really sad that he was expecting the wind, hoping for it even, and that it was the one thing making the desert more unbearable than the heat.
Ekana, Volna, and Nyx looked perfectly fine, all trudging through the yellow sea like it was nothing more than a morning walk on a beach. Grymir and Kadae were even further ahead, and had been on point for months now. Never did they cease to walk, or even speak to anyone besides each other. Quietly, they spoke so that nobody could hear their conversations if they ventured too close.
Jack groaned and looked up at Anathane beside him. Ever since the day at the beach, she had possessed an aura of unease around her. Though she put up a strong, almost assuring façade, it came crashing down when Jack looked her in the eyes. Her walls of defense came tumbling down at his gaze and left her bare and defenseless before him.
Still, she smiled. "Is there anything you want me to do, incomplete boy?"
"If you could make this desert just disappear, that'd be nice Anathane. It's been three weeks almost now and there's still no sign of the next Ring. How many more are there?"
"One more and then Dalaria's little castle stands before us in all its arrogant wonder." She sounded like she was about to tear her own words to shreds. "And I'm going to force every stone of it down her pretty little throat once I see her," she added coldly.
"Don't forget Elassa, Niaf, and Fain. They're the whole reason for going there, remember? Or do I need to feed you a little more to remind you?" At that, Anathane giggled and shoved her chest out proudly. Jack's arousal made itself apparent almost immediately.
However, Nyx made her entrance to dissuade the two from any further shenanigans. "Stop it you two. You've had enough free time as it is. You spent three days rubbing each other all over and fucking like rabbits in heat. It's time to stop now before you get distracted. We still have a quest to complete you know." She looked a bit irked, but Anathane couldn't tell at all. But Jack saw through her smile and found that she knew exactly how Nyx felt. She was playing with Nyx again.
"But I like rabbits. They have lots of little bunnies that go hoppity-hoppity-hop. And I wanna have a lot of little bunnies. Jack's little bunnies," she giggled again. She kissed the top of Jack's head and grabbed his one remaining horn. "And I want to start again now."
"Anathane...damn you." Nyx pinched the bridge of her nose. "Get a grip. We can't be fucking around when we're supposed to be preparing for war! Anathane, you've fought in more of these than I've lived years for fuck's sake! Shouldn't! Shouldn't...you..."
"Shouldn't I what? Little one?" Anathane replied hotly. Jack was taken aback by her sudden transformation. All her skin was golden, swirling like liquid metal. Her blue horns stuck high above her head, rising from a skull alight with burning red eyes. Teal hair floated about her person like thousand of tiny, coiled snakes preparing to strike out. Great wings flanked her on either side. She arched a brow knowingly at the younger denizen of the Second Circle.
"You always do this, Anathane, every time you can't win the argument. You always remind me that you're so much older than I am and that I'm just a blip on your radar. You're escaping the fact that you're going to have to fight Dalaria and all her forces soon. I know you don't like the fact, but you can't just screw around until the last minute!"
"You dare speak to me in such a manner, little one?" the greater demon growled.
"Anathane, stop being so arrogant."
"And who might you be to challenge my authority here, little one?" she spat, flexing long talons. There was a long sigh.
"It's not little one; it's incomplete boy," Jack replied.
Anathane's demeanor changed almost instantly.
"Oh, that's not fair!" she whined. Her golden skin faded back to its normal tanned color and her talons shrank back to fingers. However, she still retained her horns, fiery eyes, and wings. She turned to Jack and put her hands on either side of his face. "How can I resist you?!"
"You can't. Because after this, we're gonna get married and have lots of little bunnies. As many as I can fit in there." He put his palm flat on her stomach and smiled warmly.
"Damn it Jack, you can fit as many as you want in here because I'm so in love with you!" she exclaimed in a bubbly tone. They kissed and she went on ahead to find Ekana to tell her something. Nyx gave Jack an amused look.
"You shouldn't do that. She expects all those babies now, and it's hard enough to raise one right, let alone as many as she's imagining."
"What else am I supposed to do by oblige? I love Anathane. I want to make her happy, and if that means getting her pregnant with a small army, then I'll do it. Besides, if what Volna told me was true, that I'm going to be able to keep up with everyone, then I'll be able to do everyone like that and have a lot of kids."
"You're in for a rough ride," Nyx said to the incubus, flicking his one horn.
"I bet so. I heard pregnant chicks are freaks."
"Oh, child, you have no idea. You have no idea what kind of hell they're going to drag you through before they give you progeny."
"At least I'll have Anathane to patch me up, right?" Jack offered with a shrug.
Nyx put a hand on his shoulder and spoke seriously. "Jack, I was one of Anathane's lovers for a millennia, and not once did she ever offer to heal for me the wounds she inflicted. If that's indication to what she's like normally, then you are going to spend many night writing in agony." She went on to say cheerfully, "But you have a good constitution for a young boy! Be glad you're not short on steam."
"Wonderful," Jack said sardonically.
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Up ahead, Volna and Ekana walked next to Anthony, who had again come to the fore of Anathane's consciousness. Anthony looked uncomfortably between the two, unable to decipher what their looks meant. Ekana growled unhappily at the warlock. Anathane had come up here with something to tell her, and then this fuckup had come out to delay it.
"I fuckin' hate that kid back there with Nyx," the succubus said out of the blue.
"Oh really?" Volna obliged. "And why might that be? Hmmm?"
"There's something about him that's off," Ekana replied. "It's not right. I just wanna fuck him so hard that my eyes cross! It's not right. Do you feel it too? It's like he's putting on his seduction full blast all the time."
"It might just be his charisma that you're feeling," Volna tried to explain.
Ekana spat on the ground. "Yeah, he's overflowing with charisma. Totally itching for command of the biggest army ever assembled in a Second Circle civil war. He's not scared of his duty at all."
"Sexual charisma," corrected the demon.
"Every time I even glance at him, the coward averts his gaze! He has no confidence. He has less that none!" Ekana countered. "So why am I thinking of him?"
