Chapter 1: To Save One’s Love

Gwendolyn stood quietly in the Fire Kingdom of Volkenon. The heat all around her was barely more than a nuisance, her spirit was made up of too much cold steel to care. Even as the raging flames around her in the wild realm seemed to be laughing at her. The grand palace she stood in was fine as the one she was reared in at Nebulapolis but built within these infernal caverns with only the surrounding magma to light the way in hues of red and black, it seemed a thing of artifice, much like Ringford’s citadel sitting in the forests was more like just another finely grown tree than a real castle like that of Titania or the fallen Valentine. For all of this realm’s nominal status as a kingdom, it was more like Onyx’s den of hellfire than a true nation.

Gwendolyn’s icy Psypher was out, glowing just as violently as the flames. The sight of King Onyx’s Vulcans, beautiful dark skinned women on their knees and faithful to his every desire, was barely a concern for her. The small tops that bared the cleavage of their massive breasts, far more racy battle attire than any of the valkyries of Ragnanival by far, something that the burning sovereign himself enjoyed to no small extent, did not distract her. No, the only thing she cared about was her husband Oswald. She had heard he was currently fighting for his life against a dragon threatening this hellish land.

Onyx heard her reason for coming here and was not pleased. “You may not know this, but King Odin had already promised your hand ... to me.”

Standing inches away from her, that remark got her attention. She looked up at him with a steel glint in her eyes. Something like defiance, nothing like the girl so devoted to her darling father, indeed as he had seen her late sister fight in battle with nothing of hers to compare to Griselda, he was surprised that the princess had become so sharpened in the time since he last saw her. If he felt insulted like that edge was pointed at him, he didn’t care enough to chastise her. Instead he went on.

“It would’ve helped unify both our countries.” Then he turned back and took a step closer to his Vulcans. The sight of his fiery maidens on their knees still unmoving, not daring to look at their sovereign, moved something in his wicked heart. A small consolation given that his temperament was becoming as heated as the region he stood upon. “But your father went back on his word ... and instead, gave you to that tortured soul.”

Onyx turned back to regard Gwendolyn. He did indeed look like an actual monarch then, nothing like the man who went about shirtless and was known as the Inferno King. “In compensation for letting the issue drop quietly, Oswald made me a promise.” He clasped his fist to his chest and closed his eyes in a mock of a salute to that warrior, but to those who knew him well, it was a self serving notion, a weight he took pride in making the dark knight bear for him. “He vowed to fight for his life on my behalf whenever I asked.”

Gwendolyn looked down. “Oswald did this for me...?”

He could hear the desperation in her voice. Saw her looking down so pitifully like a bitch denied her master. He closed his eyes and chuckled silently. The thought of her heart belonging to a whelp like Oswald was pathetic. There was a greater man who deserved to own her.

Someone like him.

Gwendolyn looked up just in time to catch his glowering. That steel was in her eyes again, polished as if it were the finest of steel reflecting the flames in this realm, and she looked up at him unflinching. Onyx intended to correct that.

He looked back at her squarely in the eyes, his hands on his hips. “He may die...” A slight quirk of a smile hit his lips. “He may even already be dead.” Gwendolyn closed her eyes, simmering with a silent fury. “I can void our agreement and save him ... if you will be my bride.” Unarmed and with his naked torso exposed, he walked fearlessly to the warrior princess armed with the Psypher spear Gungnir and cupped her chin to make her look up at him. “It’s up to you Gwendolyn ... as long as you become mine.”

Gwendolyn saw the condescension on his face and the arrogance in his voice was loud and clear. Where her gaze was cold and metal to pierce anything that got in her way, even with his eyes shut in that obnoxious way, his look burned with a need to control and dominate, a visage that felt alive and burst with more emotion than the stoic calm of a ruler he attempted to project. She couldn’t help but notice something growing in his pants, she knew what he really wanted, and a weird pang of desire blossomed in her own body in response to that. Her hand tightened on the haft of her spear, angry at herself and at the whole situation. The facade had dropped and now she was forced to make a choice.

But if this was the way it had to be, then so be it. Oswald was fighting the dragon as they spoke. To fight her way through the corridors of this violent region, he would likely be dead before she got there. Even having triumphed in battle over Brigan in the frozen wastes of Winterhorn while he lived in his own flesh as well as when he played her father’s body like a puppet as an evil spirit, she knew the denizens here were bred for war, the closest thing to the netherworld that existed here in the land of the living. Nor could her flight serve her well in this calamitous and smoky terrain. She would do the right thing.

She turned back from him and walked away. The grip on the haft of her spear was tighter than ever. But she would not let Oswald die. “Fine Inferno King. I will do as you ask. But only after I see that Oswald is safe!”

Gwendolyn’s voice was possessed of so much cold fury that Onyx’s two Vulcan attendants looked up at her, ready to put her in her place. But the king himself only put his hands on his hips and threw his head back and laughed hard. The sound was so loud and triumphant that it was like the eruption of a volcano in the background, enough to make the silent and dedicated Vulcans behind him look up at him in surprise. Then he set his eyes back down on Gwendolyn, his dark intentions laid bare to her now.

“You please me Gwendolyn! A true maid of honor! Vulcans!” The two red-hot women behind him stood up. “One of you is to fetch my knight.” One of the maidens assumed her true form as a black and red damsel of cinder with a flaming sword to match. She gazed at Gwendolyn with eyes that were hot as burning coal.

“If you do anything to hurt him...”

He beat his fist to his chest again. “Worry not my love. I will retrieve my knight. He will be made to live no matter what condition he is in.”

That answer didn’t please her. She pointed her weapon at him. “And if he is dead, I will make you fight for your life as he is now!”

He arched an eyebrow at her. The remaining Vulcan stood up with her sword ready. “She likes to talk, doesn’t she?”

Onyx waved away his attendant but not before sneaking her a side glance. “Worry not my dear. You still hold my favor.”

“Your favor?” said Gwendolyn.

“What do you think I mean by that, my love?” a snickering edge in his tone.

“A cur to the end!” There was a new edge to her voice and it seemed like she would strike. The Vulcan took her liege’s side and stood in Gwendolyn’s way.

“Be patient,” he said to neither of them in particular. He moved past the Vulcan to look directly at Gwendolyn. His smile broadened and he bared his teeth. “Are you getting a good look at her?” he said, waving his arm at the other woman. “Her fine breasts, her flat stomach?” He chuckled. “I have tasted all of her. Or perhaps...” He licked his lips in a way that brought Brigan to mind and Gwendolyn instantly hated how that now warmed something within her breast where with that scoundrel it only disgusted her. “You meant to have something of her for yourself all along? What would your husband think...”

“How dare you!”

He looked to the side, rather unconcerned. “And here he is.”

The other Vulcan had arrived faster than expected. For all of this country’s harsh look, it was a country after all, and they had managed to retrieve him faster than Gwendolyn had expected. The network of Onyx’s servants was stronger than she had had known.

She almost gasped at the sight of Onyx. Alive but in bad shape.

“His injuries are severe!” said Gwendolyn. “If he is not helped I will...!”

“Do what you must,” said Onyx. The Vulcan with Oswald took the intended meaning and let him down on the palace floor. “I will not have him perish and ruin my lady’s mood.”

“Your ... your lady?” groaned Oswald. Gwendolyn pushed fast to Oswald’s side and gave him a potion. He fast forgot any concern as the potion began to heal his injuries.

“Has Oswald touched you yet?” he said to Gwendolyn.

That took her off guard. Still holding her weapon, she knew exactly what he was getting at. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I suppose whatever you would say doesn’t matter. If he did, I’ll show you my fire is far greater than any weapon of his. And if he didn’t, then you will forget any memory you once had of him. It will be as if the queen of the dead herself has taken him.” He noticed the shadow knight begin to stir at these remarks even as his mouth was filled with the end of the flask. “Enough! He is better. Well enough to stand. That is all he needs for his trip home. He may not be able to wield his weapon, but that is no concern of mine.” Currently at Onyx’s mercy, Gwendolyn did as she was told and moved the bottle out of Oswald’s mouth.

Oswald cupped her face. It made Gwendolyn happy, he looked so much better already. But Onyx’s last words worried him. “Gwendolyn, what did you do...?” said Oswald, his voice trailing off.

“Oswald, I...”

Onyx was fighting the urge to cackle maniacally. After Oswald had humbled him in combat over this same woman, he had intended to win in the long run. But he had no idea that this victory would be so sweet.

“She saved your life. In return, her life now belongs to me. Think on that as you sleep tonight warrior. You may not be able to hold your weapon, your Belderiver. But there is another weapon you have, don’t you? You may think yourself lonely tonight, and you can still take solace that you can at least wield that weapon instead, can’t you? Think of us if you wish. I am sure that you will find it satisfying. I too also have a great weapon! And the princess shall find it a stronger weapon than yours,” he said, putting an arm around Gwendolyn’s naked shoulder.

A cruel smile lined his face, and the two Vulcans grinned in turn. Seeing him touch Gwendolyn like that, Oswald drew his Belderiver and lunged forward at the menace. But the Vulcan that had retrieved him still transformed all too easily parried the strike with her flaming sword, and then the edge was at his throat. Odette’s curse still lay waste to his strength.

“Oswald, no!”

“She bargained for your life, and you would throw that away so easily? What a wretch you are. Perhaps his love for you is a farce,” he said to Gwendolyn. “I wonder if he is so eager to kneel at Odette’s bosom instead.” He didn’t break into laughter anymore, but his the smirk on his face spoke so much more than that. If her beloved’s life wasn’t at stake, Gwendolyn would have taken a true swipe at it with her Psypher.

“And what sort of king would abandon his people to that dragon?” hissed Oswald.

“The dragon of legend that will spell the end of the world,” Onyx mused to himself. “The prophecies must be the fever dream of a madman pissing himself after getting drunk if that whelp will destroy anything. I will take care of it myself!” He put his hands on his hips. “Leave the realm Oswald and carry what little honor you have left. Guard the gate and see to it that he does not return,” he said to the Vulcan that had retrieved him. She nodded and in her shifted coal state, that nod looked as vicious as ever without her needing to say a word. “In the meantime I will become a dragon slayer.” He moved further to the depths of the palace from whence Oswald had been dragged from.

“And what about me?” Gwendolyn said, an edge threatening to break her voice into a war cry.

Onyx didn’t even look at her. Instead he looked at the other Vulcan who had remained here all the while, just as unchanged and beautiful as ever. Were it not for their swords, no one would think these creatures could be maidens of war. So many ways he had shared his bed with them. Already high on domination, a darker idea yet popped up into his head. “Prepare my bride for our wedding.”
----

Gwendolyn had never ventured far within Onyx’s palace. The most she remembered was that as a child barely the height of a knee her titanic father had brought her here when the Inferno King himself appeared then as he did now, an immortal. He had a menacing streak that even in the shadow of the great Odin, still pierced her to her core. It had only grown since then even without that incident with Oswald.

But as harrowing as that had been, now Gwendolyn only thought of herself. Even moving to the finer halls of the palace, the perfectly cut stone a thing to equal any of the other castles of Erion, it was all colored in that same dark red hue. The only thing that made it less of a demonic vision was that as they ascended the winding hallways higher to the summit of the palace, those shades became lighter, and in a way it seemed almost majestic, regal. Much as exiled within her own kingdom Gwendolyn’s current bedroom in the old castle was still a station of royalty, this place seemed a fine place for a consort.

She felt the nearby presence of that bird. “A consort?” she whispered into her ear. “Is that what you see yourself as now?”

“It is what I must play the part as. If it’s for Oswald’s sake, then it is worth it.”

“You would make yourself into an object for his sake? He told you that he did not see you as any mere ornament.”

“He will die if I do not do this!”

“And what if this is to be the rest of your life? What if you were to forget about him?”

“I will never forget about him! And I still have my lance.”

“Then it is best you use it before it is too late.”

“When the time is right.”

The bird said nothing.

It made sense that the Vulcans and Onyx dressed the way they did. Odin’s valkyries were trained for war and even then Gwendolyn was still feeling the heat. But as practical as it might have been for the people here to wear something so revealing that barely passed for clothes and this Vulcan was no exception, Gwendolyn got a good look at her smooth and flawless back as well as how her hips exploded into shapely lower body, there was no real explanation for why her ass was hanging out of her thong. Gwendolyn was forced to watch her big cheeks jiggle with every step she took. She had a mind to use her Psypher on the donk of Onyx’s faithful servant. But she kept her cool.

Soon past the winding hallways they stopped at a great stone door. The surface itself was molten but the artisan had taken that black magma rock so common in this land and refined it to the point that it looked like a thick red glass reflecting the ever present light of the region, Gwendolyn would never think that such a thing could be finely crafted from something so base. The Vulcan accompanying her the whole time moved forward and opened it before bowing low before the princess.

Gwendolyn could feel the mockery dripping from her. But she held her tongue and went inside. It was every bit a regal surrounding as she could have imagined even as each corner and everything from the wine glasses seated on the main table to the blue roses gathered in fine urns placed everywhere, no doubt future gifts for Onyx’s favorite princess, all was colored in that bright flame shadow. But a daughter of royalty, it was nothing she was not used to. Not enough to make her any less steadfast in her decision.

The Vulcan woman shut the door behind her. She took one of the bottles, one much shaped like Gwendolyn’s potions, and poured it into one of the wine glasses and held it to her. “I will not.”

A frown outlined the Vulcan woman’s already stoic features. She arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

She held her Psypher forward. “I will escape this place and find my husband!”

The Vulcan smiled devilishly at Gwendolyn and such an unusual sight scared her. “My king is a fierce man, but he is a man of honor. He made an agreement with you. If he found a single mark on my skin, we will go to that old castle you and your husband call home and burn it to ash.” Gwendolyn didn’t speak but still held her spear. “I wonder what it is about you that captivates my king. Sometimes he asks us to dress up as you. How even though we are siblings, it is not enough to keep him from taking us in that bed. We are unfortunate enough to share your hair color. But what is truly painful is when he calls us by your name.”

Gwendolyn was surprised to hear that Onyx and the Vulcans shared that sort of relationship. The fiery woman downed the drink herself and set the glass aside. She walked close towards Gwendolyn, the clanking of the stilettos on her thigh high boots on the stone floor was louder than the flowing volcano in the distance. Their faces were only inches apart.

“Flee!” cried the bird.

Gwendolyn barely had enough time to respond when the Vulcan pulled her by the face into a kiss. Already flustered, she was unable to prevent the orange woman’s tongue opening her lips up and penetrating into her mouth. Whatever the drink was was being pushed into her mouth and against the tongue whipping deep in her mouth, she couldn’t keep it from flooding down her throat.

Gwendolyn’s body was already in a state of alert. But that flush of anger that filled her up was fast accompanied by another feeling, her body becoming just as inflamed as her temper. Before she knew it, she was actively flicking her tongue back on her captor. Every second, it felt better and better.

Gwendolyn barely heard her Psypher clatter onto the floor when she willingly dropped it. A wetness was forming inside her twat and she couldn’t think straight, not that this was her first kiss with anyone not even her husband, or that it was with another woman too. All rational thought left her and those thoughts of anger at the Vulcan made her lust flare so much hotter as she was feeling all over the other woman’s sexy body so easily exposed to her greedy touch. With her cleavage on full display and her ass spilling out of her top, Gwendolyn fondled all over her naked body. After being forced to see the other woman’s body practically nude all that time while walking behind her, a lewd instinct made her zero in groping all over her as she liked. But with that drink addling her mind, she was feeling all over her like a small child who didn’t know what to do.

Their tongues were still hitting deep in each other’s mouths. Gwendolyn felt herself melting away, all she wanted was this feeling, when the voice of that bird hit her again and screamed, “Stop!” The princess regained her nerve at the last minute but just as soon as she had pushed away the Vulcan, she stumbled hard, still a little woozy. She wiped the back of her mouth, still moist with the other woman’s spittle.