Shadow of the Abyss

"You're dismissed."

Following the salute of those around him, Altair sighed when Borris took his leave, rolling his eyes with a hint of disinterest. Today's exercise had barely done anything. And unlike most people, sleep was something he detested. But today… Today, he felt sleep would find him for some reason.

Altair yawned, glancing around at his future comrades with neutrality and then at  Ren. "Can you show me to the mess hall? I'm dying for some real food."

Reina howled cheerfully and lept onto his head, pointing her palm in the direction. He was about to leave when Laros approached, sided by Six members of House Aros. One that Altair recognized almost instantly.

Long silky black hair with strings of auburn scattered throughout, a stunning woman wet with sweat, as her clothes clung to her curves, leaving barely anything to the imagination.

'Sister,' Talia mentioned with the venom of an enemy.

When Olivia Aros saw Altair's eye, her heart quickened as she gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "Hello… I'm Olivia Aros, I'm…"

"Seriously?" One of the older girls said. " He's like seven years younger than you."

NovelFire-official-text

"And an enemy of house Aros," Laros affirmed.

"But we are required to breed. Why not with someone strong?" Olivia said without a hint of shame, approaching Altair with a glimmer of amusement.

"Well, Kid? How old are you?"

"Twelve," Altair answered, smiling, calming Reina, who began to growl. He treaded his fingers over her small head, enjoying her luscious fur.

Olivia grinned and unbuttoned the top buttons of her uniform, amused at how his pupils contracted. She allowed her breast to nearly pop out, glistering with a lustful sweat. "We can be enemies in the day but at night." She lifted his chin with a finger. "At night, I'll let you fuck me raw."

[Divine Being, 'She Who Hunts scream Thot Begone!']

[Divine Being 'Piercing Owl' wishes to know if she has your permission to hire an assassin.]

[Divine Sin, Archeon tilts his head at the win-win situation.]

"You can't be serious," Laros demanded. "Have you no shame? The Duke has ordered him dead on sight. How can you—"

Olivia rolled his eyes. " If I must get knocked up against my will. It'll be to the best gene available." She retorted. "So what does it matter if it's Altair? I'm sure the Duke won't care. Not when Altair has so much potential."

"Forgive me. But I'm not interested." Altair kindly told as the shimmer of the Eye of Sacrilege caught her gaze. "But we'll see.' He laughed, taking his leave without another word. It was only then, when he was out of sight, did his face turned red. "That was… what the…" He stammered, feeling his lower half acting up, pressing against his trousers, demanding to rise. "I Ahhh~"

Stabbing her fingers into his head, Renia growled as words began to sound from her polymorph form. "Big dummy! Are you tempted by that thot! Do you like curvy women? You were ogling her like a fine piece of meat."

"I'm not! I'm not! I'm not! Altair hurriedly explained, nearly crying as Reina's claws pinched his skin. "I don't know what happened. But Ren is far prettier by like a million miles.

No, by a million parsecs. I swear to the Heavens."

Ren removed her claws. "Really?" She meekly asked.

"Yes… I was just caught by surprise." He hurriedly explained, annoyed at the swelling in his lower half, that wasn't vanishing." That woman was disgusting. No sense of…"

"Class? Elegance? Shame?"

"All of it," Altair said, hoping Ren would not see the bulge below. He sat in the middle of a corridor to mask his erection just as Ren leaned her head down to meet his eyes.

"Really?"

"Would I lie?"

"Yeap. Altair is a big liar."

Gulping down the suspicion, Altair waited a few seconds and rose when he felt the swelling vanish. His heart quivered, but he did not dare to open his system chat. He'd humiliated himself enough today.

When at last Altair arrived at the mess hall, he ate to his heart's content. From large drums of chicken, fried and seasoned to perfection, to beef, cooked to a perfect medium rare, with various sides, Altair devoured it all without a second thought, leaving many onlookers to judge his messy character. But Altair could have cared less.

Having spent two years in a dungeon, eating the same dish every day. He was going to gorge himself until his gut would burst.

Were it not for one of the commanders, alongside a few other men, wrenching Altair from a chicken drum, fearful the boy would have eaten them dry.

Tears whelped from Altair's eyes as he clenched his round stomach. "Big meanies!" He cried, running away as the men roared with laughter; some choking, others fell over,  pointing.

***

Having spent the next few hours touring the fort until he found the room the Admiral promised him. Exhaustion crept over the Prince as he entered the well-furnished room, capable of fitting two, housing a shower and a king-size bed.

Altair scanned the room, pouring Mana into the Eye of Sacrilege to find any monitoring system. When he found none, he closed the door, making sure to lock it. "It's safe, Ren. You can—"

Before he finished, a blinding flash shimmered as a sea of scarlet filled the Prince's eyes. Ren turned to him, narrowing her pearly silver eyes, filled with a red mist. And once again, Altair felt a stir from down below.

He tumbled to the bed and turned to Ren, only to find she was inches from him on the bed, her breath pressing against his lips. He gulped, taking a long breath of air to calm his nerves. It wasn't the first time they'd laid near one another yet… It felt different today.

"You look a little red," Ren told him, leaning her head against his. "You sick?"

"A little tired." He told her, enjoying the warmth that came with her touch. "What about you? How was living as a pup for three weeks."

"Easy. I'm used to it." She exclaimed, showing off her flimsy muscles. " Papa used to kidnap Ren early in the morning to see the sunset. Every Saturday, we'd run from morning until the azure sun dawned over the horizon.

"Your sun was blue?" Altair asked, a little startled. He'd never heard of a blue star. Even Earth's sun, which most people call yellow, was essentially white through human eyes. It only looked that way due to the debris in the air making the sun appear yellow.

(A/N: Did you know the sun was white?)

With a childish gleam, Reina told Altair of her azure sun and seven moons and how, at times, they could see their planet's asteroid belt. To the various subspecies of peaceful creatures she once saw and played with, from the plains of Valima to the isle of Dreams, where one could breathe underwater and fly without any need for Mana or skill.

The Prince listened, so sucked in he didn't know when the darkness swept through his vision and sleep came.

Ren giggled, looking down at his sleeping face. "It seems he's still recovering from the baptism, or is it the Fallen Moon Imperfection Physique?" She grinned, trailing her fingers through his silky hair that seemed so soft. Ren couldn't help but feel a little jealous. She sighed.

Wearily lifting herself off the bed to let him rest, Ren covered Altair in a blanket at the foot of the bed and, found a few shirts and boxers the army had prepared for him and went into the shower. Enjoying the hot steam of falling water against her skin for the first time, she all but moaned in the water, enthralled by the pressure massaging her weary muscles.

When Ren stepped out, it was with the stagger of a drunken woman, smiling foolishly as the lids of her eyes waned over her pupils like two iron mountains.

She yawned, barely putting on a t-shirt nearly twice her size and the boxer that fell off at the slightest provocation. Ren held up her underwear with one arm and left the restroom to find Altair still fast asleep, locked in a slumber she knew he'd not wake till morning.

She crawled into the same bed, inching closer to his face, when she noticed… a bulge below Altair's waist. And for a moment, Reina froze, flashing red hot, as she looked below the comforters. The shade of her cheeks turned even red, knowing no amount of books she had read on biology could help her palpitating heart.

Reina lowered the blanket, turned to Altair, and closed her eyes beside her Sleeping Prince. Awaiting sleep to find her.