Elementally Bound: Part 8
----- Tease -----
Valandra stopped her advance, looked back at the woman with a sigh. From the moment they left the campsite, Ember seemed to take every opportunity to complain and grumble at every small thing she found irritable. This in turn, made Valandra irritated. "How do I do what?" she asked bitterly.
Ember rolled her eyes. "These walking ice cubes we're on!"
"You mean you have never manifested elemental creatures? I thought a fire harpy would be in your repertoire. That's beyond slightly disappointing." The ice queen's words were sour, caused Ember's cheeks to turn red. "They are a manifestation of my own magic. They are not alive; simply obedient constructs. How you do not know this, yet you claim to have been a teacher, is beyond me."
"I never claimed…" Ember stumbled with the realization the woman had seen more in their shared vision that she'd let on. "Look, I… Let's just get going! The faster I'm off this thing, the faster I can relieve my bladder. Sitting on these fake lizard snowballs is freezing my… Wait! How do we even… in these damned suits?"
As if to answer the woman, Kievaa's voice came from Ember's suit. "Urinary extraction process commencing. Please relax."
"W- What the hell?" Ember's eyes sprung open as the suit hummed in her nether regions. "Oh no…" A slight hiss was heard followed by a buzzing vibration as the machine went about its work. Her face was aghast, red with blushing embarrassment.
Kievaa's voice exclaimed, "Extraction complete; have a great day!"
For the most uncomfortably longest moment, both stared at each other, until Valandra finally broke the silence and burst into laughter. Ember was at a loss for words, violated and dumbfounded from the experience. Her frown eventually went away, replaced by a slight smile that grew into a laugh.
"Remind me," Valandra snickered, "not to… say that!" She wiped a frozen tear from her cheek.
"Say what?" Ember impishly suggested, an attempt to goad the woman into the same experience she'd been subjected to. Valandra hadn't taken the bait, and her laughter turned into a dry fake laugh at the suggestion. Ember grumbled. "Worth the try," she said under her breath.
Abruptly the laughter stopped and Valandra turned to the wooded area near the trail in which they rode. Ember looked too, even though she wasn't sure what she was looking for. "Something's coming…" Valandra said quietly.
"Wha…" Suddenly a large object lunged at Ember, knocking her off her raptor. She fell to the ground with a thud and rolled around just fast enough to see Valandra falling bodily onto her. A puff of fire came from Ember's mouth; had the suit not shielded Valandra from it, her breasts would have been singed. Her face buried, Ember mumbled something resembling, "Get off me!".
A loud hiss from behind caused both to break their forced embrace and scramble to their feet. Before them was an enormous moss spider: its long legs arched high above them; its pedipalps quivering with excitement as the fangs dripped acidic green droplets.
"Move!" Valandra yelled. She shoved Ember aside, withdrew her sword of fire, quickly spun around chopping off one of the legs. The spider reared up in a display of pain and anger, lunged at Ember.
Sword of ice in hand, Ember was already moving. She slid away from the claw as it pounded into the ground where she'd been. The colossal spider tried to retract it, but it was steadfastly stuck in the soil. Ember grinned, spun around - purposely mimicking the ice queen's movements - slicing another leg in half.
Valandra raised an eyebrow. "Very cute, but if you are quite done showing off, maybe we can vanquish this…" A violently landed blow knocked her back. Ember ran to the beast, leaped in the air, roaring. An impromptu kick came from the woman, landed directly between the myriad eyes. The beast staggered backward, dazedly wailed.
On the ground, Valandra saw opportunity. She held both hands above her head, shot streams of water, propelling her down under the beast's abdomen. Without hesitation she plunged her blade into its underside; fluids poured forth. The beast cried out an ear piercing scream, only to have Ember's sword forced between its eyes.
"Get outta there!" Ember warned. "It's coming down!"
Promptly, Valandra rolled out from the spider as it collapsed with a final gurgling shriek. The ice queen stood, covered in the animal's plasma. She inspected, then grew concerned. "I hope this stuff isn't poisonous. I really should find a place to clean up."
Kievaa's voice called out from her wardrobe, "Flush and extraction process commencing." The entire suit began to vibrate, shaking the arachnid's innards from her. Valandra would have welcomed the unforeseen feature, had the suit not began another—very different—extraction process. Her eyes grew wide as it went about its work. She blushed at the sensation, tried to turn away from Ember's voyeuristic stare. "Urinary extraction complete; exo-flush complete! Have a great day, and remember: 'We care!'."
Ember couldn't contain herself; laughed hysterically. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
Valandra growled, still ripe with embarrassment. "Let it go," she mumbled as she returned to her ice mount.
"Not so funny when it happens to you, is it, Shiverpeaks?" Ember giggled, then looked at the large dead spider. "Too bad; that could have been a really good meal," she said as she also climbed aboard her raptor.
Valandra raised an eyebrow, looked perplexed. "Is such a thing common to eat in Tyria? I can't believe I have ever seen an Elon Tarantulas on the menu in Elona."
Ember blushed. She'd not meant to make the comment. In her time as a child while homeless and living with drakes, there was much she had eaten to survive. Looking back on that feral time, however, was unpleasant and private; she did not want to discuss it with her rival. "Uh… Yes! It's a… delicacy here in Tyria."
Tiling her head for a moment, Valandra considered, not picking up on the lie. "Well, perhaps this festival will such food. After all this, I am quite famished, myself. Granted, not enough to eat the thing that just tried to kill us…" She spoke in jest, then commanded the walking ice sculptures forward, toward the cliffs.
Procurement for travel was easy: there were many ships departing and even air balloons destined for the Festival of the Four Winds. Ember was actually surprised to see passage provided by the festival's proprietors as far out as Broken Arrow River, near the volcanic Mount Maelstrom. A few words from the crew explained it: This year's festival had been coordinated the sky-nomadic Zephyrites, Queen Jennah, and by the Black Lion Trading Company together. This infusion from various powers had lead to many more citizens traveling to the resurrected celebration, thus, many access points were made available to accommodate the influx. There was no cost for the travel, something Valandra found particularly odd, and brought up more than once to Ember's aggravation.
Ember's eyes flashed red. "What don't you understand? It's free! Just… you know… let it go."
"Most transactions in Elona are given this way," Valandra explained, "but usually for a favor promised and returned. Generally there is not such a thing as free, unless it is taken. It baffles me this venture is to cost us nothing."
The two were directed to a smaller boat which would take them a nearby island beach shore. Valandra sat ceremoniously aboard, while Ember plopped down onto the stool. "Ugh! More boats!" she complained.
Valandra exhaled a cold breath. "You lack patience, don't you?"
"Well… Yeah! I'm hungry. I want out of this suit, and I hate…" she gulped inadvertantly. "I hate the water."
The white-haired woman looked at the ocean below, the distant islands, thinking. "No… I suppose you wouldn't like water any more than I like fire. Tell me though: have you attempted dousing yourself since the… incident?"
Ember blinked in confusion. "I've had a lot of… you know… incidents."
Exacerbated, Valandra sighed. "No you fool! Since you blew up the damned machine. Have you attempted to get yourself wet?
"I could swim before, thanks to Demitra. She took me to a vault; I got that sword there. And, after that, I could swim."
"This vault was filled with water?"
Now it was Ember who was aggravated. "No! It just—I don't know?—helped me a bit." She paused, trying to explain, then shook her head. "In either case, my hair was white you know."
Valandra ignored the similarity and attempted to mask her surprise. "What do you mean it 'fixed you'? How?"
Ember rubbed the back of her head. "Not too sure on that one, honestly. It started with that sword. It's a family heirloom. Demitra found something too…" her voice trailed off for a moment in thought. "I… I found a family heirloom. Demitra found—Was that a family heirloom too?"
The boat made an abrupt turn, causing Valandra to fall from her seat and firmly plant her face into Ember's lap at the jolt. Ember shrieked at the sudden surprise; her face was a red apple. Valandra ruffled around trying to regain her bearings, to which Ember inadvertantly moaned. The ice queen pulled herself up, paused when she met Ember's eyes.
An apology came from the captain, interrupting the moment. Both women turned to see the man standing with an anticipating grin. In unison, they rolled their eyes.
"Just get us there in one piece already," Valandra's voice fluctuated: she was flustered.
Ember smirked and slightly giggled. "Was it as good for you, as it was for me?" she teasingly whispered.
The ice queen pretended not to hear, but she blushed and turned to stare at the ocean.
The two women remained silent, neither willing to break the uncomfortable awkwardness. But, whether from the boat, or from something else, both had butterflies in their stomachs.
To Be Continued...
