“You really didn't know I had a tail?” Vespera asked. I knew she was teasing me. “I find it hard to believe, spacer boy.”

  I kept my face as still as possible. “That goes to show the sheer amount of restraint I have. You are parading yourself around naked all the time, and I ain’t looking.”

  She pouted, trying to come up with the perfect thing to say to that. The tunnel opened up into another cave before she could, however, making her punch my shoulder lightly.

  “Heavens,” she said. “I had the perfect counter to that, but now I forgot!”

  The cave was simply dazzling, that’s why she forgot what she was about to say. Filled with crystals of every shape and color, it was a sight to behold. They were also sharper than any blade, and they filled almost all the free space leaving only a narrow passageway in the middle.

  I touched one of the crystals. It was even sharper than it looked, easily piercing through my 40 Vitality points and drawing a pinprick of blood from the tip of my finger.

  “Careful!” Elyra exclaimed.

  She took my hand, brining it to her face and… “did you just lick my finger?” I asked.

  She grinned at me. “Look, it’s not bleeding anymore.”

  I had to tune down what I was feeling through the bond for a moment. Vespera laughed. “Bold! Did he taste good?”

  “Ha ha,” I deadpanned. “Are we sure we have to go through that? It’s like stepping into a blender.”

  “Bah,” the demon laughed again. “I don’t know what a blender is, but look!”

  She jumped in the air, twirling and giving me a wink when she caught me staring. She landed with the grace of an ice skater on top of one of the crystals, tail swaying in dizzying oscillations behind her to keep her balanced. Then she jumped again, clearing more than twice the distance she had with the first jump, landing in the middle of the room.

  “See?” she called from there. “It’s easy! Come!”

  Elyra shook her head at the demon’s antics, but there was a smile on her face. Although, when she addressed me, I felt a sense of danger.

  “You will approach the situation more carefully, Sol Nightguard.”

  I swallowed, taking a cautious step forward and trying to twist my body so that it wouldn’t touch any of the crystals. I failed almost immediately, and thin lines of blood appeared on my chest and back. Elyra dragged me back.

  “No,” she said rather forcefully. “Vespera, come back. We are going to find another way.”

  “What did you say?” she shouted from the other end of the room. We hadn’t seen her do it, but while we talked she had vaulted over the rest of the crystals and was waiting for us on the other side.

  Elyra sighed, opening her mouth to speak. The ground shook, and the words died in her throat.

  “Do you hear it?” she asked, frozen.

  I struggled to make out any sounds, but the shaking ground covered everything else. The crystals were tinkling, and a few of them were beginning to wobble around. A bit too much for my sensibilities, I was starting to get worried they might fall from the ceiling and impale us.

  “Skittering,” she said. “Monsters. Thousands of them. We can’t go back!”

  Even worse.

  Elyra seemed to agree, looking up and realizing that we didn’t have time. She pushed me. Hugging me from behind, we began a strange dance where she took the lead and guided me through the maze of razor-sharp crystals. Behind us, a veritable tide of skittering monsters erupted out of the tunnel, flooding the cave. The tremors increased with every passing second, and soon were not only dancing around the crystals but also dodging projectiles that fell from above.

  Elyra held me tight. Somehow, the angel knew exactly where to step to avoid the falling crystals, and her wings moved around to provide stability and propel us forward.

  Glancing behind me, I saw that the monsters chasing us had all stopped millimeters away from the crystals, testing them with their carapace or their legs and hissing at us. So far, none of them had dared to brave the danger, but I knew it could all change in a moment.

  Elyra too risked a glance at the monsters, realizing her mistake too late. She suddenly lost her balance and I was face to face with a rather sharp crystal tip right in front of my nose. Then I felt resolution through the bond, and she spread her crystal wings wide. I did not see her, but I know she was magnificent. At the other end of the cave, Vespera gasped and looked at her in awe.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Then the angel holding me beat her wings, making them phase through the sharp crystals and kicking up a gale of wind, the force enough to negate the momentum of my fall. We navigated the rest of the room like that, dancing and dodging several close calls, and emerged on the other side covered in scraps and cuts.

  We collapsed on the floor, panting. Vespera came to sit beside us, pouting each time she discovered one new wound on either my or Elyra’s body. Of the two, I was the worst one off. The cuts stung like hell, and I was once again filthy and covered with blood, but she didn’t seem to think it was too bad.

  Instead, she fussed over Elyra’s wounds. The angel had used her light to cleanse herself, and clean her wounds, and was now considering whether to give in to Vespera’s ministrations or try to move away from them. She was also glancing at me, especially at my wounds, debating with herself whether to try to use her light on me or not.

  Unfortunately for her, the demon didn’t give her a choice. She kept touching her skin, frowning, making her wince every time she accidentally touched one of the deeper cuts. Meanwhile, mine had already stopped bleeding and weren’t even hurting anymore. 40 Vitality points were already hard at work at sealing the cuts.

  I felt playfulness through the bond and raised my eyes just in time to see Vespera pull Elyra’s hand towards her face. There was a shallow cut there, and for a moment the two locked eyes before Vespera giggled and licked it.

  The angel hissed at her, the demon booped her nose and dodged backwards when Elyra tried to punch her.

  “Now I finally understand why licked Sol!” Vespera teased her.

  Elyra glared at her. In the distance, the monsters skittered and clicked in nervous anger, unable to get to us.

  “No food for them,” I said.

  Vespera perked up. “But! Plenty of food for us, right Elyra? Come!”

  The tremors had stopped. She dragged the other woman back to her feet, and the two dashed and jumped dover the crystals with inhuman grace. They returned a few moments later, each clutching a particularly plump monster. Dinner.

  ???

  Dinner was cooking, and the delicious smell had worked the monsters into a frenzy. Several of them had tried to dare crossing the field of crystals, and were now bleeding out and blocking the narrow passageway. At least they had an effect on the others, and after a while they lost interest in us and began to disperse.

  “I’m filthy,” Vespera said with a pout. “I don’t feel like eating like this. Spacer boy, why don’t you level up and get a bathing skill?”

  I hummed. Then a thought struck me. “Your magic. Elyra used it to dress her wounds, right? You might be able to do something similar.”

  “It’s not the same thing at all,” Vespera said with a chuckle. “You really don’t know magic, do you spacer boy?”

  I wasn’t going to let myself be teased like that. “Hear me, stubborn demon. Your magic is not very well defined at all, is it? Beyond being demonic, I guess, while Elyra’s is angelic.”

  She cocked her head. “Well, yes, but even you should know that there’s more to these things than that.”

  “Oh yeah?” I teased her. “I’m all ears.”

  “Right, well, so…” she began. “I have no idea.”

  “We do not remember,” Elyra said.

  “Even if we did,” Vespera added, “this feels new to me.”

  “Perhaps the System didn’t screw you over,” I said tentatively. “You said that your magic is chaos and destruction, right?”

  She shrugged. “Feels that way.”

  “Try to use it to, I don’t know, destroy the filth on your skin?”

  Her face scrunched up as she began playing with her magic, deep in thought. It took her a few hours, during which I encouraged her through the bond, but she eventually managed to manifest dark flames all over her body. They snaked up and down, burning away the monster blood and the grime that had accumulated, leaving behind perfectly pink skin.

  She grinned. “Look!”

  “Not looking,” I said. “You are still naked!”

  “I’m wearing Elyra’s plastic bag on me! I’m not naked!”

  I had made the mistake of explaining plastic to them earlier while we walked, and of course now Vespera likened the clothes she borrowed from Elyra to a garbage bag. I expected no less from her.

  While we bantered, I noticed that the angel was deep in thought. She was trying to clean herself as well, starting from how she had used her magic to dress the wounds and attempting to expand its scope. I nudged her along, encouraging her to do some good old trial and error. Scientifically. Somewhat, at least.

  While perhaps she didn’t fully grasp the methods I tried to teach her, she was very motivated. She was even more bothered by the filth than Vespera had been.

  When it finally clicked, a bright light enveloped her, cleaning her clothes and body. While she did that, Vespera offered to use her magic on me.

  “You want my attention so bad?” I asked.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Watch your tongue, spacer, or I might throw you out of an airlock.”

  I was impressed. When did she pick up on that? It was a line I had never heard in real life, and it was corny and definitely out of place when said by her, but hey. Not bad.

  “So, will you let me clean you or not? You stink.”

  I gave her a nod. I wasn’t ready for just how strange it would feel, though. It took me by surprise. It was like her hands were all over me, touching me everywhere and—

  “Not a word of this, spacer boy!” she snapped. Her face was almost red.

  Elyra was peeking at us while pretending to be focused on heating the rocks to keep us warm later. Our eyes met, and she asked in a small voice: “Can I try to do it next time?”

  Vespera looked at her, stunned. Then, her smile returned. “Ah, I know where this is going. Elyra, we need to talk.”

  With that, the two retreated far away from me. I could still eavesdrop on them through the bond, but I knew that they could feel it if I did. Not that I wanted to eavesdrop or anything like that. Of course. They deserved their privacy.

  Regardless of the excuse I might have used to justify not prying on their conversation, I managed to stay away. When they returned, Vespera stood in front of me with her arms crossed and her face settled between a smug grin and a pout.

  “That’s it, spacer boy. No more free shows for you.”

  Snapping her fingers, her magic enveloped her. It morphed and changed, transforming into what I could only define as the staple fantasy armor for pretty girls. Made of ornate metal with dark, gothic embellishments that echoed her horns and pearly earrings, it left her midriff and most of her legs bare. At least, she was also no longer in the nude.

  No more free shows indeed. And yet, seeing her grin, I didn’t think it would be the end of her teasing.