My Servant System

Panting, Jahi stood over the three Caninekin that she had been wrestling, her broad shoulders heaving up and down and her blue skin glistened with sweat beneath the noon sun, painting a rather powerful picture as she looked down upon her opponents and took in their bruised and battered forms.

To win three on one wasn't easy - as shown by her sweaty, tired stance - in any circumstances, but beneath this scorching sun, in the middle of this plaza that seemed constructed to keep the heat amplified?

It was impressive that she had managed to subdue three of the Sultanate's warriors in hand to hand combat, and it was something that had already drawn the attention and the respect of the warriors around us; some were staring at the Demoness with intrigue and appreciation, some were appraising her musculature and showing that familiar tick that meant they were itching to try and fight her themselves, and there were also some who were looking at her as if she was some never seen before specimen.

There were also a few that were staring at her with lust in their eyes, this contest of strength arousing their interests even more than normal and causing them to covet something that they shouldn't, but thankfully the moment Anput approached Jahi with a towel, they all decided they liked their heads where they were and looked away.

It was an interesting feeling, having such a high profile, highly desirable woman as my lover; on one hand, I wanted to gouge their eyes out and force them to eat them for even daring to look at Jahi like that, but on the other hand it stroked my pride and my ego immensely whenever I noticed that a large amount of people were smitten with MY lover.

They all wanted a piece of Jahi, but sadly for them that Demoness had already split herself evenly between us three, and there was no way she was going to be able to take in another... not for a lack of trying, mind you - like I said, she could have her pick of the litter here to add another warm body to her bed - but when she even thought about trying to find another room within her already occupied heart for someone outside of us three, it would only result in their warm body going cold in front of her, and her finding her bed empty.

Pushing myself to my feet, I joined them both and began to wash Jahi off, the sudden splash of cold, icy water making her jump slightly before she relaxed somewhat as I enveloped her entire body in it, ridding her of the sweat and cooling her off, all while the Caninekin around us watched this with slight awe.

"Hah... Water Mages..."

Clicking her tongue in mock disappointment, the Sultana stood beside us and shook her head as she watched me wash Jahi off, though she said nothing more as I flicked a small sphere of water at her in retaliation, which she simply let splash against her chest without any desire to protect herself.

Some of the Death Jackals had unsheathed their blades partially at that, taking steps closer to try and protect their Sultana, but she just waved them off and chuckled quietly at my antics, amused by the novelty of the situation.

"This is what I was talking about... few here would even dare to think about doing something like that! I must admit I admire the courage to do so, Katherine... but do be careful, hm?"

In response, I decided to lighten the mood somewhat as I sent another two spheres flying through the air, albeit in different directions; one went back to the Sultana, who did the same as she did before, whilst the other splashed against Anput's face, the Jackalkin not expecting to be a target.

Pointblank water ball to the face wasn't the most fair way to surprise my mate, but it made things funny since she yelped and jumped back, the sudden explosion of ice cold liquid on her face allowing me to take her spot beside Jahi, who was just smiling in amusement at what was happening.

"Careful of what?"

Tilting my head innocently at the Sultana, I ignored Anput's soft growl and stared at the taller woman, who just wiped the water off herself and stared at the droplets that clung to her fingertips, watching as they dropped to the tiles below and instantly began to sizzle, the heat too strong for them to continue existing here as a liquid.

"Playful as well..."

Looking back up, the Sultana stared at me before turning her head towards her daughter, who was still glowering at me for my surprise attack, though when her Mom said "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you both seem to have similar personalities... the amount of times you were such a brat that I wanted to smack you upside the head are far more than I could ever anticipate... and it seems to only continue to grow as the years go on."

She let out a sigh as Anput pouted at her, the younger Jackalkin saying "You told me to ask questions if I ever was confused! Sorry if those questions annoyed you or something!", which made the Sultana shake her head as she replied with a rather tired voice.

"It wasn't the questions, but how you went about asking them Anput... more specifically, your timing with them. Always right in the midst of something important..."

Clicking her tongue a few times, the Sultana turned and looked out over the various warriors, causing them all to flinch as she asked "Are you expecting a break?", causing them all to instantly scramble to get into fights with one another lest they earn the ire of their Sultana.

"Alright, let's get-"

She paused as she turned towards the other side of the plaza, redirecting our attention towards a Dogkin man that was running towards us as quickly as he could manage, weaving through the plaza and skidding to a halt right in front of the Sultana, who was looking down at the man silently.

Dragging in a few breaths, the man straightened himself instantly and began to deliver a report to the Sultana, not bothered by the people around her and instead focused entirely on his leader, who needed to hear whatever it was that he knew.

"Sultana, the... the Khisba Oasis is under siege..! One of the Fiends..! One of the Fiends is attacking Khisba!"

"That was quicker than I expected... Which one? Was it a Ka Fiend or a Nua Fiend? There were two active in that area... or did another dig itself out of the sands?"

Sensing that the man was on the edge of his rope, battling against exhaustion and likely about to suffer from both dehydration and heat stroke, I stepped forwards and began to heal him at the same time that he resumed his report, his willpower keeping him on his feet and able to speak even though most people would have already passed out by now.

"It... It was a Ka Fiend... four arms, wings... and... and it had..."

Swaying, the man almost fell straight to the ground, his eyes rolling around in his skull as it all caught up to him, but before he could collapse and crumple Jahi caught him, keeping him upright.

Even then, he still fell unconscious, but he had already given us the information we needed - at least some of it anyways - and without much fanfare the Sultana gestured for us to follow her as she marched off to the palace, with some of the Death Jackals peeling away from their spars to join her.

"If it is who I think it is, this is quite the boon that it's happened now. Four armed, winged Ka Fiend... That is likely Ka'Volan, a fascinatingly weird fellow with an obsession with this desert. Specifically, Ka'Volan wants to paint the sands red, and interestingly enough, not with blood. Despite being a Ka Fiend, Ka'Volan is one of the seldom few with an affinity with mana outside of the usual Wrath Mana that all Ka Fiends have

No, Ka'Volan wants to turn this entire desert into a fiery wasteland that is overflowing with Fire Mana, which could then be used to conquer the nearby countries with little to no issue. And when I say 'overflowing', I mean each particle of mana in the air would no longer be pure, but instead Fire Mana. Each breath would scorch your lungs, your skin would blister and slough off within minutes, your bones would char after an hour... Hell on earth made manifest.

But, like all Fiends did, Ko'Volan got sealed away within the heart of the desert many centuries ago, and I learned about all of the Fiends through the folklore and fairytales that our people have told for even longer than that. Ka'Volan... is a worthy opponent for you four. Fighting fire with fire is a valid strategy, no?"