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Shou was trembling in the dampness created by her storm, shocked at the suddenness at which the storm had formed and abated... no, that wasn't quite right. She was shocked at the suddenness at which she had formed the storm. Kalokin said that she'd need some time to expand her soul before she'd have a noticeable affinity for an element, but he'd supplied power enough that such a trifle hadn't mattered. She remembered a fleeting moment at which it felt like all the world was encapsulated in the scattered drops of rain... she remembered feeling omnipotent, like a goddess on the warpath. It Kalokin and the four held that kind of power all the time, it was no wonder they fancied themselves as gods.

There hadn't been any indication of what direction she might lean... but somehow, a thunderstorm felt right. She had always been wild, reckless sometimes... willing to crawl into a Snake's den on a hunch, a guess that he was just lonely and misunderstood. She felt warm, yet her body shivered in the aftershocks of what had just happened. Echoes of magic slid through her body, recalling the feelings, the way the raindrops danced. Moving slowly forward, a small step, then two, to get closer to Khaesho, but the Naga had recovered from his stupor enough to realize how that was a bad thing. He reared up and fell backwards, squirming on his back to get away from her.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! Right now, my scales are hot enough to melt most metals, and I don't want to burn one of your fingers off! Even with the rain, I'd sear your flesh..."

She halted in place, concerned as she watched his ash-coated scales steam with every falling raindrop. When she stopped and nodded her understanding, his eyes lost focus as he exhaled and gently pushed the remaining heat deep into the earth. He stopped just above the temperature at which cloth chars... it was still raining, and he didn't want to catch a chill. He was soon cool enough that he could slide forwards and coil around Shou, ignoring the mud that smeared across both of them as he did. The blackened patch behind him slowly turned to thick, ashen mud that clung to his body.

Good news guys! Crow Boy isn't screaming like a madman anymore.

They both flinched and yelped at Kalokin's unexpectedly cheery voice. It took a moment for his words to register before they both uttered the exact same sentiment.

"Kalokin, the fuck just happened?"

I found myself with such an abundance of power that it threatened to rip me apart. I could have vented it normally, but that would have involved giving Eagle's Nest the largest supernatural light show ever seen, and I was hoping to keep a lower profile than that. You two were out in the wilds, secluded, and there were two of you, so shunting the excess through your spirits was a great way to keep myself from getting shattered for the second time this week. Also, we now know that Shou is damn near prismatic! I saw Kinetic, Electrical, and Heat magic all at play there... no light magic, so phooey there, but hey, most Naga claim an affinity for one and a fondness for another. Very few can use three equally, and it's been centuries since the last true prismatic... oh, that's a term used to refer to someone who can freely manipulate magic without worrying about elements. Were those clouds purple?

Shou grimaced slightly as the beginnings of a migraine set in. She felt thoroughly exhausted and there was an odd itching in her bones, as if they still tingled with a static charge. Khaesho was there though, so she relaxed into his grip, letting him hold her up for now. It was easier to "talk" to Kalokin when she wasn't moving, and trying to walk back to the car seemed like too much effort for now.

I don't know, I was a little distracted by the fact that a violent storm opened up around me, and that I'm now soaked to the bone.

Look on the Brightside! If you'd been purely fire, like Khaesho, then you'd be naked right now. I'm sure our favorite Naga can dry you off quickly enough though. Kesh, blow dry the fluffy wolf?

He slid comfortably into their bodies and quickly dampened the shakes Shou was experiencing. He also managed to quell the headache that was creeping up on her, which was a damn good thing considering that it was his fault it'd started in the first place.

Said "Favorite Naga" groaned as he heated himself around her until she felt like she was sunbathing on a dry beach. Seeing as they now had Kalokin's attention, he didn't bother projecting his thoughts. Even speaking in English was easier than thoughtcasting while exuding magic.

"I can, but a little warning would have been nice. I almost lit the car on fire! Besides, I thought there were laws against Surging? Something about it being unspeakably dangerous? If that lightning had grazed me, or if my heat had brushed Shou, either of us could have been seriously hurt."

You had it under control. They could sense smugness radiating from him, causing thoughts to slowly connect in Shou's head until she put one and two together and remembered what Kalokin had said earlier

"Crow boy! What happened to him?!? You said you fixed him, right?"

Yyyyyes and no. On the one hand, he no longer has multiple crippling phobias, and can return to life as soon as the medics are done poking him. The bad news is... well, because of the way his soul fractured, the independent fragments caused fear for the others in a spiral I couldn't stop. I guess I was hungrier than I thought, because when I tried to shunt the broken bits away from his spirit, they just... adsorbed into me. In layman's terms, I accidentally ate his soul. That's where the power surge came from... consuming an entire soul steeped in fear was more than I could handle.

Khaesho and Shou both opened their mouths to shout an explicative of choice, but Kalokin neatly tongue tied them both and clamped their mouths shut. Khaesho was used to being overridden as such, but Shou found it extremely annoying...

Let me finish! Yes, I know that removing someone's soul has a higher chance of killing them than anything else, but I guess since his was already in pieces, it didn't shock his spirit as much as it otherwise would have. He woke up afterwards, and I had a pleasant conversation with him... Lied through my teeth for most of it, but he should be able to live a normal enough life.

The weight keeping their tongues glued down lessened, and no sooner did it vanish than did Shou tear him a new anus.

"Kalokin, don't forget, you're already in hot water with me. If you EVER cut me off and talk over me like that again, I will march straight into your soul, find a strapon, and literally fuck some manners into you."

He eeped softly and shrank in apparent fear, cowed for now... Shou was scary when she was angry. A vague wave of assent was all that she received.

"Good. Glad to get that straightened out." Honestly though, she was more confused than upset. Her power left her uncertain of her place with it, with magic in general. Now that she wasn't shooting lightning from her fingers, and Kalokin was certainly feeling better... all the energy left her in a rush. She nuzzled into Khaesho's arms as the rain pattered over his scales, grateful once again that her mate made a good place to rest. There was still a fine trembling through her entire body, like her muscles didn't know they shouldn't be moving. A slow inhale was followed by a slow exhale... she'd been frightened. Frightened for Kalokin and Khaesho's wellbeing, and frightened of this new and unique power within her. It had startled her... she remembered the exhilaration of the storm, but its aftershocks left her unsure that she could control such a wild force as magic.

Don't worry, Shou... I know that I kind of forced the mantle on you rather quickly, but magic isn't something to be scared of. Remember the way I made light dance when I sunk a glowb beneath the cavernous pool? Feel Khaesho around you, steaming your fur? Magic is a tool like any other, but it's a tool that matches the person wielding it. You have a beautiful spirit and a beautiful soul... you have to want to hurt something in order to hurt it. Magic comes from your heart, and has a way of doing what you want it to, even if you don't know how.

Her clothes dried quickly, but Khaesho didn't let go of her at first. Instead, he pulled more of the heat from the ground so they could literally soak in it together. She might have still felt warm blooded, but by the crooked bones, being warmed from the outside felt gooooooooood.

"Sorry, Kalo, I'm just a little thrown off is all. My body feels weird after all that energy, I can feel every nerve and it's... strange."

Khaesho grinned and nibbled one ear, eager to turn their thoughts towards happier things. "Good news Shou... the temperature you're holding would give most mammals a first degree burn. Not sure what you did Kalokin, but it worked."

"Well good, glad I'm not getting burned and it just feels like a warm afternoon. That will certainly help in the middle of summer when it gets so hot."

When he continued to keep the heat going, she nestled against him and just relaxed, enjoyed the warmth and half lid her eyes again. She just wanted to bask, lay out in the sun and soak it all in... until a particularly fat raindrop hit her right in the eye, making her yelp in confusion.

By the way, those trembles you feel are form being overcharged... a lot of the magic forced its way out of you, but you're above what's comfortable even if you're below what's safe. Khaesho is too, but he's venting the excess while disguising it as love snuggles. That warmth he's giving you is entirely motivated by his own need to cast magic.

"You lying piece of-"

Love you too Kesh. You should do the same though, Shou... It'll help you stop trembling and should make the headache finish vanishing as well. Kinetic is the easiest magic to learn, especially when you use it to create wind. Try that now...

She smiled easily and shared a laugh at Khaesho's detriment. He pouted, but a quick lick across his lips corrected his mood. That he'd be cheered so easily brought a soft laugh to her lips. He was warm and it made her want to sleep. But she couldn't bring herself to, there was still that tingling. It tickled her nerves, and she reached for that feeling, just like she had reached for Kalokin's to make the light. The feeling of tingling nerves and that strange sharpness along her insides. A soft chuckle escaped her as the magic quickened beneath her attention. "It tickles..."

Power all but leapt from her as her overburdened soul shed some of its excess. A sharp breeze blew in the direction she pointed, caressing her ears and tangling in the needles of the nearby trees. It didn't seem to take more than a splinter of energy, so she tried again, pulling forth a wind that spiraled around them. Free from obstacles, it started to build until there was a small dust devil spinning and kicking up dirt and ash from the ground. As she poured a little more forth, the wind became accompanied by odd, flashing lights, little blue star bursts that winked in and out quickly.

Yea, that can happen. One moment. Kalokin slid from her mind and into the real world, adopting his favored form of a necklace that rested on her collarbone. As he left her mind, the lights abruptly vanished, and the strain on her mind increased slightly. "It's hard to -not- pull my magic in addition to your own, but since I'm rubbish with physical, it found its own way to express itself. Funny thing about magic that most legends get wrong; it wants to be used. Kind of like having a pocket full of coins in the marketplace... you want to spend it, even if there's nothing you want to buy. While you're overcharged, a single careless thought could send it from your fingertips. Also, as you just noticed, my presence complicates things slightly. Unless you have damned flawless focus, you're going to instinctively pull a little bit of power from me, with... unpredictable side effects. It's usually minor though, and easily fixed, all I need to is 'step outside' for a moment. Don't feel bad though, Khaesho does it too, it's just one of the side effects of me inhabiting your body... I've only ever had one vessel who could cast magic without me noticing."

Whenever there was "Only one vessel" there was usually a pretty good guess as to who it was. Khaesho's voice raised the question curiously: "Rikh Ghanyr?"

"The one and only."

She laughed again as her lovers bantered, focusing more on the winds swirling about them than on their conversation. Excitement coiled in her belly as she twisted the winds in new and interesting shapes. It was delightful, and it had her eyes sparkling as she did it. There was wind, and power, and she could feel it teasing her senses like an intoxicating dance. It didn't recall the feeling of godlike power, but that was a good thing... this soft, calm joy was better than the frightening sensation that she held the world beneath her thumb, like an ant to be squashed. Watching leaves and pine needles spin and dance was exactly what she'd needed to rectify her anxiety. "This is... I don't even have words! It's amazing..."

Khaesho licked the back of her neck and laughed with her. "There aren't words, at least not in this language. In Sandtongue, we have a specific noun for the joy of using magic... There's really no other feeling like it. I must say though, I'm curious... I know that heat has odd effects on air pressure and causes new currents to form. What would happen if I heat your little twister?"

He leaned forwards and gestured with a hand, pulling excess heat to a point at the base of the lazily spiraling winds. Heated from the ground, the winds lifted upwards heavily as they sucked cool air down to replace them. Shou smiled happily as her lover cast magic alongside her, but her smile shattered into a frown as their experiment grew rapidly. It was the perfect situation for an actual tornado to form; their dust devil tripled in size over the course of a few seconds and continued to grow at an alarming rate. Shou panicked and cut her portion of the magic, but it continued to grow nonetheless, not unlike a fire spreading amongst trees. A soft cry of surprise and helpless fear escaped her lips before Khaesho put a plan into action. Thinking quickly, he yanked all of the heat from the winds, which did a great deal to slow their movement. Heavy and unable to sustain the pressure they'd had when warm, the now-sluggish spiral collapsed into nothingness. Kalokin's voice was mildly stern as he chastised them;

"It takes deliberate intent to harm someone directly with magic, but playing around can have unintended side effects. I encourage you to play around and learn where the boundaries are and what's dangerous, but mixing magic from two different people is -always- risky... One person can mix elements, because they'd have one intent, one focus. Two people trying to cast magic together muddles the intent, and it's the easiest way for things to get out of control. You and Kesh should learn to cast magic with and around each other's workings, but you need to develop your own skills a bit more first, Shou."

Both Khaesho and Shou were thoroughly dusted now, and mildly frightened that they could so easily summon a natural disaster. The purple tinged wolf took his words to heart... but that was enough magic for today anyways, she seemed to have banished her shakes.

"That was... concerning."

Khaesho knew such a basic principle of magic already, having grown up in a culture that had made an in-depth study of it. As such he tossed a casual smile before kissing Shou's cheek. "Slightly, but we're fine, just a little dusty. Better we find out about that particular combination now on purpose rather than later on accident."

Kalokin slipped out of them and formed a full manifestation. His sapphire scales gleamed subtly in the afternoon light as he grinned wickedly. "True. Now, get yourselves cleaned up and comfortable. I'm going to go find you some dinner."

A black streak shot out of the back of the Junker and slid into his waiting hand. It appeared to be some sort of ritualistic dagger... no doubt the relic they'd mentioned stealing. The hilt appeared to be made of some kind of bone, dyed black and sharpened to a point. The blade itself had a few small holes near where it connected to the handle, but those were the only thing marring the otherwise smooth and flawless double edged blade.

"You're going hunting?" Khaesho was caught by surprise at this reveal... the deity had earlier expressed a disdain for something so mundane as fetching food for them.

"Yes. A good story should be accompanied by a good meal, and you're both too tired to make a good hunt of it. I'll be back around nightfall, about two hours from now. That'll give you two some time to get into some mischief... oh, don't look so surprised Khaesho, I know that you've been wanting to fluff her fur ever since yesterday morning. You two have fun, try not to fuck each other into exhaustion, and I'll be back once the sun has set."