Mages of Buldoun (Aether’s Revival Book 5)

Gregory exhaled deeply as he faced his friends and Rafiq. Bowing, he set himself into a defensive posture and let his aether feed his foresight. They’d been waiting for him to bow, and as soon as he did, everyone but Mindie came at him from different angles. They didn’t come as a cohesive unit, which gave him options.

Clover was the closest, ahead of the others by a couple of steps. Her eagerness was the first mistake. Gregory stepped forward, dodging her punch and catching her arm, then spinning her toward Jenn and Rafiq. He ducked under Ling’s side kick and came up under it. Her knee hooked on his shoulder, letting him fling her back into Roshana.

As he went to isolate Yukiko, he had to choose which path to follow quickly. One path had him flipping her, but that left him out of alignment when Roshana failed to catch Ling. The other had them exchanging a couple of blows, angling her around to foil Roshana trying to charge him after she caught Ling.

Two seconds isn’t far enough, he thought before pushing to four seconds.

That cleared up what Roshana was going to do. She would catch Ling, so Gregory flowed down the path of angling Yukiko around. Yukiko frowned as Gregory positioned them— it was clear that she knew something was coming, but she didn’t know what he was playing at. When he snapped a kick at her, she jumped back directly into Roshana, sending them both to the ground.

Gregory didn’t get the chance to follow up, parrying Jenn’s punches as soon as she caught up to him. The process of watching two continuously moving paths was stressful a few months ago, but now, it felt as natural as breathing to him. He smiled as he let Jenn push him back.

Rafiq and Clover came in from the sides, with Clover’s kick going low while Rafiq punched high. Gregory jumped her leg, using Rafiq’s thickly-muscled arm as a fulcrum to hang from as he caught Jenn with both of his heels, then pushed off and back.

If Rafiq had been on the body path, he would’ve had a chance to catch Gregory right there. The passive boost from his physical enhancement magic made Rafiq’s reflexes sharper than normal, but because he followed the mind and spirit paths instead of the body path, he couldn’t react quickly enough without actively using aether.

Clover leapt at him, a flurry of punches leading her attack. Gregory dodged or deflected them all before he caught her, then pushed her into Rafiq, who’d started to angle to the side.

“It’s like he’s playing with us,” Ling growled, her light green cat eyes narrowing.

“It’s good to know that he can hold off a half-dozen regular people,” Yukiko smiled. “Let’s see how he does if we make it harder.”

Gregory jumped to the side when the shadows tried to entangle his legs. His brow contracted as the futures spun out with more variation.

A sudden ball of water slowed him as he ducked under Jenn’s kick, but he still slipped the aether-infused limb. He was glad that the fire was only barely burning, meaning it wasn’t likely to break his bones if she hit him.

The next half-minute was chaotic and had Gregory shifting rapidly as he chose his paths of the future. His aether was bleeding off quickly— he had to hold three paths at six seconds each to even have a chance. He managed to tag Clover, Ling, and Roshana hard enough for them to withdraw, but that still left Yukiko, Jenn, and Rafiq against him.

The four of them paused, and Gregory was breathing fast. “Difficult…” was all he said.

“I would hope so,” Rafiq said with a wide smile. “What you are doing is still… fascinating.”

With that, the talking was over. The fight resumed with two physical enhancement magi and a shadow magi trying to pin down and finish him. Gregory knew he was going to lose— it was a simple matter of aether consumption. He was already under half of his normal aether and was bleeding it off rapidly while the others were using only small spurts, but he at least wanted to cost them more.

Pushing his foresight harder, he found his moment. Yukiko was surprised when Gregory closed on her. He knew better than to try, because she could always slip away. Jenn slowed her attack, confused, as well. Gregory should have targeted her or Rafiq. Rafiq didn’t pause— he was just glad to not be who Gregory was focusing on at the moment. As he committed, he knew it was wrong and tried to pull back, but he’d gone a little too far to survive.

Gregory spun, coming back at Rafiq. He didn’t block, just dodging everything Rafiq threw in those two seconds. Before Jenn could get to him, Gregory managed to slap Rafiq’s snout, earning a harsh grunt from the crocodilian eurtik. That was followed with a much lower blow that was barely a tap, then a chop with the side of his hand to the back of Rafiq’s neck.

Rafiq had to admit that he hadn’t been prepared for the snout hit. That slowed him from infusing his body where the next two attacks hit him. He raised his hand as he stepped back, knowing a fellow apprentice would have crumpled in that spot.

Then, Jenn was on Gregory and he fought his best, dodging, slipping, and deflecting everything that came his way. That was right up until he couldn’t move fast enough, and a shadow caught his left leg.

“Yield,” Gregory said as he dropped to a knee.

Jenn’s kick went just over his head as she bent backward to miss him. “That was close.”

“I would’ve needed Mindie,” Gregory panted as he stayed down.

Clapping caught everyone’s attention. Egil was standing in the doorway, grinning. “I was sent to tell you to clean up. The overseer has arrived. He is talking with Lightshield, and dinner will be soon.”

“Yes, sir,” the group said.

“Well done, Pettit,” Egil grinned before going back inside.

The group headed inside, and Gregory thought back to Mindie asking him to bathe with them. He hesitated, as Rafiq was beside him when they entered the inn.

“I will see you for dinner,” Rafiq said.

“Huh?”

“I do not need to bathe again. I didn’t do enough to need a bath. I should fix my outfit, though.”

“Oh… uh… right,” Gregory said.

Rafiq walked past all the women, who’d paused in the hallway.

That left just Gregory, his wives, and their friends in the hall. Gregory’s cheeks heated a little, but he smiled. “So… a bath?”

Mindie opened the door. “If it’s okay?”

They followed her into the room. As they disrobed, Gregory didn’t try to stop his eyes from roving. He mostly kept his gaze on his wives, but he did glance at the three he’d been in a bath with before. He only kept his gaze from Mindie, not wanting to embarrass her more.

When he finished undressing, Mindie was staring directly at him, her cheeks burning. He froze, his gaze darting up and down her body out of reflex. She’s the softest of them. She hasn’t kept up with physical conditioning, so that makes sense. Beautiful, though… I bet she’d be wonderful to snuggle with. Gregory jerked his eyes away, coughing. “Uh… can I get your back, Mindie?”

“Yes,” Mindie whispered, aware of the others watching them. “Do I look okay?”

“Beautiful, if you ask me,” Yukiko murmured, moving to her side. “Do you mind?”

“Umm… no?” Mindie asked.

Yukiko hugged Mindie, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Very nice.”

“T-thank you,” Mindie stammered as she returned the hug.

“Oh, I want to hug her, too!” Clover said, quickly coming over. “Can I?”

Yukiko giggled and stepped away.

“Yes,” Mindie said, feeling a little more comfortable. They might be in better shape than she was, but they all looked at her without any negativity. One by one, the women hugged her, each helping reduce her anxiety.

Gregory shifted around all of them to the inner bathroom door. “I’ll get the water ready.”

Mindie’s uplifting moment came crashing down. Yukiko sighed, moving back to whisper to Mindie, “He’s just afraid of hurting you. He’s already said he’ll wash you. When he finishes, return the favor. You have our approval to be a little forward with him.”

Mindie’s face blazed, but she nodded. “Okay…”

“He enjoys it when we lean into his back while we wash him,” Jenn said.

“Oh, umm… yes… I’ll try that,” Mindie whispered.

Gregory was pumping water when the women entered. This inn had a proper hot spring bath that they could all fit in, making bathing less awkward than the smaller tubs would have. Swallowing, he did his best to not be awkward, but the six women were all gorgeous in their own ways, and he couldn’t stop his body from reacting accordingly.

“Two ready so far,” he said with a bit of strain in his voice.

“Clover, get my back, please?” Jenn asked as she came over and grabbed a bucket.

“Sure!”

“Ling, I’ll get you first, too,” Yukiko said, claiming the second bucket.

“As you wish, Yuki.”

Gregory finished pumping enough for them all to have a bucket before he looked at Mindie shifting nervously a few feet away. “Have a seat, Mindie. I’ll be right there.”

“Okay, Greg. Thank you.”

Roshana gave him a smile as she bent over to collect her own bucket, her small, round tail twitching a little. Gregory swallowed and pulled his gaze away from that sight. Roshana bit her lip— she knew what she’d done, and she loved being just a little naughty.

Setting the bucket beside Mindie, Gregory knelt behind her. “Wet your hair and back for me? Looks like citrus is the only soap tonight.”

Mindie did as Gregory asked, using a small part of the bucket water to wet her hair and back. She had to lean forward to do it, trying to keep the water out of her fox ears. Gregory had never thought about it before, but eurtik with ears on top of their head would have real problems ducking under water.

That helped get his mind off what he was doing as he lathered his hands. Moving out of reflex, he began to wash Mindie’s hair first. Her red hair slipped through his fingers smoothly as he massaged her scalp. Mindie inhaled slowly and her shoulders hunched slightly, enjoying the sensation. When Gregory massaged around the base of her ears, a small exhale of pleasure escaped her.

Gregory’s hands froze for a moment before he continued what he was doing. He didn’t prolong it, but he wasn’t going to stop, either. When he finished with her head, he soaped his hands up again, then began on her back. His hands glided over her smooth skin and he chewed his lip for a second before gently kneading her back.

“Oh, goodness…” Mindie exhaled. “You don’t have to…”

“If you want me to stop, I will,” Gregory said when she trailed off. “Yuki and Jenn both enjoy the small massages when I scrub them.”

“He does have wonderful hands,” Jenn sighed happily.

“Lucky,” Clover sighed. “Maybe you’ll get my back tomorrow, Greg?”

“If we share a bath, then yes,” Gregory said.

“He’ll get each of you once,” Yukiko said, “if it works out that way.”

“Thank you, Yuki,” Ling purred, happy with the strong fingers digging into her back.

Roshana stayed quiet as she washed her front. She was timing her movements, waiting for her moment.

“All done,” Gregory said softly. “I’ll take that spot when you finish.”

“I’ll be quick,” Mindie exhaled. “Thank you.”

He leaned in just a little closer to her ear, “And you are beautiful, Mindie. Different, but just as beautiful as my wives. I just didn’t feel comfortable hugging you nude. I’m sorry.”

Mindie swallowed, her heart soaring. “Thank you…”

“You can use the bucket on your hair. I’ll help with your ears,” Gregory said as he leaned back.

“Oh, thank you,” Mindie smiled widely, doing that before scrubbing her front.

The moment Gregory was done helping Mindie, Roshana looked over at him. “Greg, can you get my back?”

“Oh… double lucky,” Clover exhaled.

Gregory laughed as he looked back at Clover. “I’ll get you and Ling next time. We’re an odd number, so someone was left without a partner.”

“Sorry…” Clover said softly.

“We understand,” Jenn said, kissing Clover’s cheek. “Now rinse your hair. I’ll help.”

“Thank you, Jenn.”

“Already got your hair?” Gregory asked.

“Yes, but I could use your help rinsing after you get my back, please,” Roshana said.

“Okay.”

Gregory massaged Roshana’s back as he scrubbed her down. His lips curled up when he thought about her small tease just a moment ago. When he was nearly done, he paused to work her tail with extra attention.

Roshana’s breath caught and her face burned as Gregory gently unrolled her tail, scrubbing the length of it. She stared straight ahead as she tried not to react to what he was doing— washing another’s tail was a sign of intimate affection in Limaz. She wanted to tell him, but didn’t because she didn’t want him to stop. That made her feel guilty, and she promised to tell him afterward.

“All done,” he said, taking his hand away.

Her tail lay flat against her back. “Th-thank you,” she exhaled shakily. “Greg… washing another’s tail… is intimate. I should have stopped you… I’m sorry.”

Gregory froze, and his eyes went to Yukiko and Jenn. All the others stared back at him.

“Why didn’t you?” Yukiko asked into the silence, her tone neutral.

“He caught me off guard… and then, I didn’t want him to stop. I’m sorry, Yuki, Jenn… I’m sorry to all of you, and our friends back at the academy,” Roshana sniffled, realizing she’d been wrong to allow him to finish.

“Vicky did hump his leg when they kissed,” Jenn murmured.

“And Greg encouraged her,” Yukiko nodded. “Greg?”

“I didn’t know. That’s something else that’s not in any of the books we’ve read.”

“Are you upset with her?” Yukiko asked.

Gregory hesitated, then answered, “No. I wish she’d told me, but I grabbed her tail without warning, so it’s partially my fault.”

Jenn glanced at Clover, and then her lips twisted up at the corner. “I’ll allow it, but he should make sure to treat our friends equally.”

Yukiko glanced over to see Clover’s slightly crestfallen expression light up, and she giggled. “That would be fair.”

“Really?!” Clover nearly squealed in joy.

“Yes,” Jenn said.

Gregory looked at Clover, and he had to smile at her expression. “Yeah, really.”

“What about those of us without tails?” Ling asked softly.

“Ear massage,” Mindie said. “Trust me…” Her face was flushed when she said it.

Ling’s smile widened. “Oh? I’ll accept that.”

Yukiko laughed. “Accepted, but only if Greg is okay with it.”

Gregory looked at the others who were watching him, then nodded. “I already told my wives that if they approve, I will, too.”

“It’s your turn to get your back cleaned,” Yukiko said, “after you help rinse Roshana’s ears and tail.”

“Oh, right,” Gregory said.

“And I’ll be doing that,” Mindie said with a small smile on her lips.