Skill of Recreation (37)

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Aeress

     She stripped down to her underwear without any measure of grace. Her movements were choppy and eager, but this was to be expected after experiencing the physical trauma she did. The steaming tub of water just looked too inviting and Aeress was not about to waste any of the precious time she had. 

     The Guides said she could rest, yet did not say how long, but by the astonishment on their faces, she made an educated guess that she didn't have long. 

     When she finished stripping, she immersed herself into the steaming water. She did so with ardor, causing wavelets of water to spill over the sides. The feeling of heat offered comfort the moment she made contact. It was blissful. Her muscles loosened in response to the warmth, causing her to realize just how stiff she was. 

     In that moment, this was all she could do. This was all she was capable of doing. 

     "What a strange day, huh?" Her nostrils flared and her eyes burned with tears in response to her own foolishness. The only person in that room was her. She swallowed and fought for her composure as she knew the only person in her head was her. 

     Aeress took a breath, shook her head. She knew better then to feel loss or self-pity. She just wished it didn't hurt as much as it did. 

     Her skin prickled with warning. She sniffed the air and hadn't identified how unique his scent was until that very moment. It was a combination of so many things, some natural, others from soaps, artificially produced to refresh one's body. She dunked her head in and slowly came back up to see him standing at her toes. His copper strands were more disheveled than what she was used to. He was a wild man, caging in a beast just beneath the surface of his skin, demanding to be released with a strength so bothersome and difficult to ignore. 

     She watched him and was immediately aroused. The response of her body at just the sight of him was all the information she needed to understand that her bond to him had intensified. She clenched her teeth and the flesh between her legs in startlement. Her arms were draped on either sides, propping her naked breasts above the water. The idea to spread her legs as a signal of invitation was more appealing than ever before. Her eyes raked over him and the need to claim him raged inside her like a wild fire. "Warrick," she breathed. 

     His eyes widened slightly and the direction of his ocean stare dipped downward. She could see that his reaction was very nearly the same as hers. Aeress knew that he was straining both mentally and physically. Perhaps if she opened herself to him, he would finally lose control. And by the looks of it, it held on by a thin string. 

      She craved to know what it was like to see that cord snap. He was always in charge, always had control she only dreamed of knowing. He reminded her of Prospero from The Tempest, the puppet master, a man who never missed any detail. "What are you doing here?"

     His crossed his arms-covered by clothes once more-and tilted his head as he studied her. She raised an eyebrow. "My eyes are up here," she sat up and looked him straight in the eye, teasing him with the fact that more of her body was exposed, "and I don't remember calling for a visit. I'm indecent, grab me a towel."

     He didn't move an inch. "Why?" He was challenging her. "There's nothing here I haven't seen before." So now he wanted to play games?

    Aerees chuckled at his boldness. "Whether you've seen these," she traced under her breasts, trailing off toward her collarbones, "or not is not of importance. If I'm naked," she stood up, "before you you," she leaned in and whispered, "all wet and bothered, it's because I want sex. Now be a doll, and get me a towel." 

     She was excited when she saw his eyes darken at her taunting, but it wasn't anger, it was a beastly lust. They both knew that he wouldn't act on it. At least then. 

     He produced a towel. "There, cover yourself."

     Aeress did so with leisure and a smirk. "Now you going to tell me why you're here, you've interrupted a badly needed bath?"

     He watched her through narrowed eyes. "I've come to access your condition. I must determine your length of repose."

     Her smirk fell away. "You decide?"

     "I am the closest to your physical creation, therefore I can most fairly decide the proper time of repose."

     She counted to ten. "Aren't they worried about the fact that we are mates and that it might cause bias? Not that I would complain about it."

     He frowned at her. "Has something caused you to believe that I would be lenient with you?" She didn't appreciate that fact that it sounded like he was admonishing her. 

     She laughed. "Of course not, why would I even think that for a second you would look out for me? You haven't since the beginning, so why would you start now?" Her words were cutting, she knew that, but she just didn't care. "So tell me, how much time do I have, Premier?" She didn't address him with his title as a sign of respect and from the flex of his clenching jaw, he knew it. 

     He didn't respond for a while, but she knew his mind was racing a million miles per hour. "You've clearly healed at an astonishing rate, but it would be unjust to demand your action so soon. Although...it would be significant to observe how you perform under pressure..." he finally focused back on her, "how much time do you believe you would require?"

     "I feel like shit, Warrick. Is that what you wanted to hear?" She responded. "I am going to feel like shit for a really long time. Thirty seconds, an hour, twelves hours, days, I will feel the same. Don't stand there all objective right now, okay? This the last thing I need, this is the last thing I want from you. So don't ask me how long I believe I need, okay? Just tell me how much time I have left so that I can suffer in peace, okay?" 

     She thought she saw a flicker of sympathy in his gaze, but Aeress knew better than to get her hopes up. His lips tightened and she could tell that he was frustrated beyond belief. "It is decided then. You will be granted six full hours of repose."

______________________________________


     "The second trial," Guide Declan addressed her as she stood before him once again. "is one of four you have left to complete, whatever challenge it is, do you accept it?" 

     "Yes." They said a similar introduction as the first one. 

     "Now, we will test your skill of recreation."

     She frowned. "Recreation? What am I making?"

     Her attention was diverted when four figures walked into the arena. Three women and one man. They were calm and unflinching, totally composed in every way. They halted their trek a couple feet away from her. 

     She was distracted as Warrick walked out once again, this time he was dressed in nothing but a pair of pants. He stood just ahead of them. 

     "These woman and this man are Scented. Each of them having a special talent or gift that makes them extraordinary. A fact known about the Scented is that it is impossible to turn them, and the venom released from werewolves when they desire to change a human is deadly to them. It is known that only Godhead is capable of this."

     Aeress looked and the man and the women. "You want me to turn them, knowing that they can die?"

     "The average werewolf needs months and months to turn multiple humans, but as Godhead, you should be fully capable of transforming all subjects within the hour. These are your instructions."

     Aeress looked at them for this incredulous request. They said nothing more, but instead observed with a critical eye. She walked up to them. "You wished to be turned? You're here willingly?"

     "It would be an honor," they each replied. 

     Aeress studied each person in suspicion. "You're mates must have explained to you how difficult this is? This isn't a game, this will affect you past the trial. This will follow you for the rest of your days." She had no idea that she knew these things, but they were true and wise words. They all nodded and she was glad to see that she had put a measure of graveness if their eyes. 

     "You," she pointed to the male, "come." He took confident strides toward her. Blonde and fairly tall, he was still shorter than her. His brown eyes searched her for reassurance. Aeress smiled, but it was brief. 

     "Once my venom enters your system, there is no turning back, now's your chance," she leaned in and whispered into his ear. A wealth of knowledge she didn't have before was just... there. 

     He blinked and hesitated, but was just as quick to shake his head. "I'm ready." He had a very thick French accent. 

     "What's your name?"

     He seemed comforted by the question. "Jonathan." 

     She watched him for a very long time, spending seconds and seconds in his vibrant brown eyes. Was she making the right decision? Something inside her said yes. "Okay then, Jonathan." She held out her hand. He put his rough, calloused hand in hers. She embraced him, kind of how Godhead once did with her. Her fangs popped out and she sunk them into his neck. With the metallic taste of his blood, she experienced an overload of images of Jonathan, his highs and his lows. 

     It threw her body out of wack and almost immediately sucked out all of her energy. An intimate affair was taking place, and Aeress suddenly felt guilt once she thought that Warrick was watching this happen. Whether he liked her or not, she could feel his fury bleed into her heart. How wrong it was to watch her do this to another, something she should have done with him shortly after they met: mark him. 

     But then was not the time to think about her relationship with Warrick. Instead, she refocused on the man she held onto, holding him tightly as he groaned in pain. Had she been his mate, he would have groaned in pleasure. 

     She was weakening, but knew he was feeling the brunt of this process. After she was satisfied with the amount of venom he consumed, she sliced her wrist open with one of her claws and offered it to him. His neck bled from how deeply she bit. His blonde lashes lifted up with exhaustion. They didn't have much time before he began to die. Aeress took them both to the floor, practically cradling him as a child as she guided his mouth to her wrist. "This is what will make you survive. I promise you. Don't be scared, I got you."

     She petted his head as he drank her blood for a very long while. Aeress moaned in pain but knew he need more if he were to survive her venom, the strongest. "More, not just yet."

     He gasped, and Aeress watched as his eyes snapped open, glowing a gorgeous ruby red that reminded her of Godhead's eyes. Her eyes. 

     He ripped away from her embrace, squirming on the floor. She heard bones popping, ligaments ripping, and muscles stretching. His body was confused by the transformation, fighting it even. His screams deepened into roars. Aeress had never seen anything more horrifying and beautiful. It had been a long time since she had given birth to a werewolf, thousands of years. But she felt that same feeling of love. She crawled toward him, weakened from blood loss. She hated that he was in such pain, but it could not be avoided. 

     Human flesh replaced by fur. How it must've tortured him to feel everything within him shatter and break. She could taste his fear on her tongue, the unimaginable agony of manipulating one's entire being within minutes. They were bonded suddenly as mother and son, creator and creation. The intensity of it would wane over time, but in that moment, she was god. The weight of this knowledge almost crushed her, but she understood the the person of most importance in this instance was Jonathan, not her, and especially not her pain.

     Minutes passed of his body enduring and adjusting. She could feel his pain coursing through her own veins, even if it was a muffled version, it still cut her to her core. There was a minuscule fear that he would die in her mind once he stilled in his beastly state, but her heart swelled with pride and love once his chest moved with breath. 

     He shot up, snarling and snapping his teeth. Aeress looked into those eyes and rubbed her palm against his furry cheek. She shushed him, understanding that he was terrified and confused and needed guidance. She smiled weakly. "You're alive, Jonathan. You did so well." Jonathan calmed in response to the sound of her voice and the touch of her hand. He was struggling to find tranquil in this state, but being freshly transformed, it would be a while before he was human once more. Because of this, she commanded his animal form, "sleep. Rest now, child." In his mind, he could do nothing else but obey. His body swayed and his eyes drifted closed before he collapsed onto the ground. 

     She looked up at Warrick, knowing that he was right there the entire time. "Get him out, he needs to sleep." He watched her a very long time without a word, and she was too exhausted to read into his expressions or internal thoughts and emotions. Finally he had mercy on her and took the slumbering wolf away. 

     Aeress breathed in, and then breathed out. This was done so several times before she looked up at the three remaining women. "Who's next?"


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