"We need to talk about a lot of things but first you should know, I think my emotions were magically sealed by my mother when she abandoned me when I was twelve. But, ever since I opened my chaos node it's been coming loose and I can't control it. I might hurt you if it gets bad enough," Eli said in a very apologetic tone. He wasn't trying to scare her away, just make sure she knew what to expect.
"I have faith in you, I may get hurt, but you will not kill me. The empty feeling that I had when all this started and I couldn't find you is something I never want to feel again. Even now, just being within reach of you makes me feel whole and like I have a purpose."
"I love you, and for this moment on, it is us against the world. I would rather burn the world to ashes than be without you, " Eli paused and took a breath, not sure if that was too far. He just couldn't control how amazing it felt to finally be with her, just knowing that she would be with him made it hard to focus and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Tara smiled and placed a hand over his heart.
"Hush now, we have forever to talk about how we feel. Let's get talking about your plan before you start writing me a poem or go off to kill a dragon to win my hand, or whatever ludicrously over the top thing is floating around in your head. I will be in charge of emotions for the both of us for now, until you get a better handle on things, " Tara said while moving her other hand to run it through his hair. "What is your plan?"
*************
Bethany had been a secretary when she was young but, due to her height and some clever make-up along with the fact that she looked good in a business skirt, she always turned heads. Born into an upper middle class family with a lawyer father and socialite mother, she had been raised to climb the social ladder and marry for money by her mother. So she took her secretary job and clawed and climbed and cheated and slept with whoever was needed until she was finally promoted to executive vice president of administration at the company where she worked. Then, the world ended, all the things she had done and the people she had stepped on had been for nothing.
At first she just gave up, didn't have the motivation to start that again, but very quickly some people were better than others with the system and she could see the looks on peoples faces when someone powerful came around. It was the same look that everyone at her old job gave all the chief executives when they would be around the office. She could find the right people and claw her way back to the top. She started with Cory, who wasn't much of anything, but it helped to have a guy around and it was safer than being alone. It wasn't until she met Stevens, that she saw something familiar, he was a follower, if someone that strong was a follower, he had to be following someone even stronger, so she convinced Cory to follow him and the girl he seemed to be deferential toward.
And now it had paid off, this guy they followed was a big deal, just being near him and not being strong enough was enough to break bones, she even had a broken forearm. This was perfect, he looked a little crazy but he was tall and lean and had nice hair, better than most of the guys she had seduced for promotions before. Her excitement at finally finding a path forward overrode her usual quiet manners and she just started talking.
"Holy fucking shitballs, that guy is intense, it's a good thing I'm not wearing underwear cause he would have just melted them. My fucking arm broke just by being near him. He could rule this half of the continent in a year if he put his mind to it. I wonder what he looks like under the mask and cloak," Bethany blurted out without thinking about who could hear her.
"Eh-hem," Stevens fake cleared his throat. "I know him from before all this, he is in love with Tara, and she will kill you if you try anything. But since you asked, he is rather handsome and he was military before the world ended so, yes, he could rule this continent if he wanted. It's just that he doesn't, and never will."
Bethany started acting shy like she was embarrassed, but inside she was plotting a way back to the top. No matter what it cost her, she would get there.
*****************
"The monster horde will begin in 24 hours"
"The event lasts 12 hours"
"Monsters will continuously spawn during this time and can enter the safe zone"
"A small amount of system features will unlock after every monster horde"
Tara was reading the system message as she and Stevens were running between towns on the southern edge of the safe zone. They were telling anyone who looked like they were in charge that their lord Ash would protect the entire southern edge of the safe zone and they were to help the north defend. All of them so far said that they would not participate and that they would only protect their own areas, and if that was the case Eli had told them to tell them that if they let others die, he would destroy their town.
Many of the leaders had been rude and some called Ash a fake and said that they had no guarantee that they were telling the truth. Some of the rude ones lost an arm from Tara's axe but she promised Eli that she wouldn't kill them, so it was only an arm. They only had a few towns left and then the fireworks would begin, she was so excited to see what Eli could do. The two 'new guys' as he called them had asked for a demonstration, but he said they would all get one soon. They were with Eli as he was explaining to them that they were to spread rumors of him to the northern towns after the event was over.
Three hours later Tara sent a message to Eli saying that they were done and no town or city or whatever they called themselves offered to help. A little over a minute later, massive explosions could be heard along the southern edge of the safe zone, and she ran as fast as she could, even leaving Stevens behind because she wanted to see this. When she arrived and saw some of the damage that was done, her jaw dropped and her eyes opened wide in stunned awe.
There were massive craters in the ground and piles of what she guessed used to be trees for hundreds of feet away from the southern edge starting near the beach and working its way around. It was like a giant had reached down and crushed the ground with its hand and there was Eli in his cloak and mask standing just outside the barrier looking at his work so far and scratching his chin. She loved it when he did that, his thinking face was adorable. She shook her head and walked up to him, he silently nodded to her and they just looked at his progress, he had done about one tenth of the full border distance so far.
When he started at it again, she watched him jump in a high arch and land on the ground with a huge explosion of plants and dirt leaving a one hundred foot wide crater that was about 30 feet deep. He did this about four times away from the barrier then moved over. His weapon was something she couldn't figure out, it looked like he was taking it out of his inventory but it didn't seem the same every time. She thought he might have a few of them so it made sense. Every twentieth jump or so he would have a bigger one that shook the ground so hard she thought it would crack open.
It was past midnight when he finally finished, his hair was matted with sweat and he was breathing heavily. They started a small fire to rest near and they started talking about his skills, the others were off somewhere sleeping for the night and would rejoin them in the morning. He shared his skills and some of his magic knowledge and she shared hers. Then they both summoned their avatar and golem and instructed them to get to know each other's abilities so they can fight together in the future.
"Before we go into some of the rough stuff we have been through, and you know we need to, I want to give you something I got from a territory boss minion that almost killed me." Eli said as he got the scarf ascot thing out and handed it to her. "I want you to wear it."
"Ascot of the unforeseen protector - Epic - Neck"
"Wearer gains a 20% chance to dodge an attack they do not see coming."
She looked at it while holding it close to the fire, it was made for silk finer than she knew existed and was white, too white for how dirty she always was.
"I'll put it on when I can find a stream to clean myself." she said embarrassed now at how dirty her and her armor were.
"It's an epic item, it doesn't get dirty."
"How does that work?"
"No idea," Eli said shrugging his shoulders, "I used it to cover a wound from that smug jackass, and all the dirt and blood just fell off it."
Tara unrolled the fabric and tied it around her neck, it felt like a silk hug holding her close and she smiled at him. They just sat there together, she was looking at the fire with a glint in her eye while his eyes were closed and his breathing was low and steady.
"Well," she said finally after the silence got to be too much, "I really would like to wash off, I haven't felt safe enough to properly clean myself since this all started."
"There is a stream not far that way," as he pointed southwest.
"Well, you should keep an eye out while I bathe, can't be too careful with all this going on," Tara said with a smile and a wink.
"It would be the gentlemanly thing to do I suppose," Eli said, returning the sly smile.
They held hands and walked calmly towards the direction he had pointed until they reached a stream. Eli took a seat on a fallen log near the water, it was less than two feet deep with a slight current but it was cold, he had been drinking from it every time he came up this way. Tara stood next to him and began taking things off and cleaning them in the water, showing no sign of her nakedness bothering her. He didn't hide that he was staring, and from the look on her face, she wanted him to stare, so he did and tried unsuccessfully to keep the expression of lust and adoration off his face.
He had always known that Tara was beautiful, but he had never seen her like this, her body was perfectly shaped, with hard muscle mixed with soft feminine curves in just the right proportions. She had perky firm breasts, abs, and tight but soft legs and backside, more perfect than any photoshopped magazine cover from before. Her skin glowed in the moonlight and her hair seemed to sparkle. The way her eyes looked at him made his heart turn to mush and other parts do the opposite. He wasn't wearing his mask already but he took his cloak off and stored it. She laughed at his ape fur underwear, it was a pleasant and soft laugh that felt like being hugged by the smell of fresh baked cookies.
As he began to clean himself near her, they got closer and closer, until they stood, bodies fitting together like they were born for each other and kissed. Things got heavy for a couple hours, they both had some frustrations to work out on each other, and when they were done and holding each other near the water's edge system windows started appearing.
"You have mated - Congratulations"
"Do you wish to mark this mate as a wife or a concubine?"
Eli chose wife
"Congratulations, Taralyn Lambert is now your wife"
"Magical interactions between you have massively increased"
"You now have the option spawn an offspring after mating with Taralyn Lambert"
"The closer your souls are aligned with each other, the stronger your connected magic will be."