The sensations were surreal. It was as if there was someone there but clearly their wasn't. Enough wind pressure concentrated on points of her body made it feel as if their was a phsyical entity there that was exploring her. Yil was still unconscious though his chest wound was rapidly healing amidst the attack of this creature.

The moisture in the air seemed to collect around a nipple as if someone or something was licking it. Sensations seemed to dwell everywhere, sweeping through her rapidly, pressing against her clit, against a breast, a nipple and a caress down her tail.

Since this thing had no corpreal body could it assault her with end? It seemed to be forever before she heard the approach of An and the Princess, of course the two could hear the rush of wind as they approached the building.

Stronger than before Octavia felt something brush with her mind again, it felt familiar too, was it something unsuccessfully trying to make contact with her or was it an insidious attack that she was resisting? If it were an attack could it be said that An already fell prey to whatever it was and just behaving normally thus far?

Whenever Enru did close her eyes, it did feel like there was someone there. She could the wind focusing on parts of her body even as she remained pinned to the wall. Yet when she opened her eyes, the blonde handmaiden could not see anything but the unconscious Yil lying nearby. Already his wound appeared to be healing but it seemed like it was going to be a while before he woke up.

Enru let out a surprised shout as she felt what seemed like a lick across one of her exposed nipples. How was it doing that? Was it drawing moisture from the air? The young handmaiden could only moan as she felt sensations exploring everywhere at once and seemed to be focusing on the most sensitive parts of her body.

It seemed like the creature was spending forever arousing her over and over again as it seemed like the creature was enjoying every moment of it. It was then she heard the sound of two sets of footsteps as she hoped it was An and the Princess. “It-its over here….ahhh…h-help me.”

“Enru, we’re coming,” says An as she picks up her pace. Octavia felt back a bit as a stronger wave go over her mind. Her mind was once again able to hold off whatever it was that was trying to enter her mind. It felt familiar but the Royal Princess natural defenses kept it away. She did not know what to make of it. All she could wonder is if she being pressed, what defenses did the brunette handmaiden in front of her had?

The wind had to be aware of Enru's cries of both delight and later assistance as her friends hurried. Though it did not let up on the hand maiden at all, flowing over her and through her as it gazed back at the doorway, waiting, waitng until it say An and send a crackle of yellow electricity at the ceiling near her, trying to collapse it in on itself but it was sturdier than it had though and while there was somd damage there was hardly more than a few scorch marks there.

It's focus remained on the doorway as it waited for An to make her move. Yil groaned.

They will not succeed, princess, Octavia heard in her mind telepathically. That familiar feeling was back though the mental voice was one that she heard before though when isolated back on that planet she was exploring.

Nor is your traveling companion telling you the entire truth.

Enru continued to gasp and moan as she was toyed with at the creature seemed to be keeping her pinned down against the wall. Even as it did so it seemed to keeping an eye, if it had one, towards the doorway. The creature seemed to be focused on the door until it saw the appearance of the brunette handmaiden. With a sing shot it fired a bolt of pure yellow electricity at the ceiling, hoping to bury the young woman.

An was barely able to move out of the way as the ceiling collapsed around her. Her combat skills serving her well as she would have surely caught in the debris...or worse if she had not. Still she realized the creature was alot more dangerous this time.

By now Octavia had no longer moved the fray as she struggled to understand what she was hearing in her head. They won't succeed, then how do we stop this madness. And what do you mean that Yil is not telling the truth. The royal princess was struggling to get all her facts straight as there was ongoing battle that now was very important to her.

They cannot beat it in the thermals, it will keep getting healed by them, invigorated even. It is merely a matter of time before it succeeds in disabling An as it has Enru. Yil will not be much assistance when he recovers and is only alive due to the make up of his species. Ah, hear that sound? It was trying to trap An beneath a pile of rubble, or rather kill her though now it has gotten a good look at her and has changed it's mind about killing her, at least, for now. Words pressed into Octavia's mind, spoken as if it was the creature ... no, not precisely as it referred to it in the third person. But how else would it know what the creature was seeing or experience just then.

Oh, you need not worry over Yil just that there is more to him. He harbors a secret of course he will not wish to tell you even if he is blind to what he does. He does not hunt the beast because he was volunteered for the task ... to tell you more or let you find out on your own ... perhaps I will leave that surprise alone for now.

Though it is good to see you again. An entire galaxy and we happen to run across each other again. I regret that it wasn't under the best of circumstances though, you are about to loose two friends after all,

Inside there was more whipping of the wind as the creature continued to send concentrated blasts of air at An. It had not moved from it's initial spot remaining there as Enru was pinned against the wall behind it, though as An neared she was wrenched off the wall and interposed between them to use as cover against her, Enru's body serving as a living shield now as it hovered between them

Octavia listened intently at the voice in her head as it told her the worse possible news. While the cloud creature in the thermals, it did not matter how many shots An put into creature, how many shot Enru had already put in it. The creature would simply heal what ever damage he received, he would simply be healed by the thermals. Worse he may be invigorated by it. It was then that royal was wondering how the voice knew this, was he in the room? How could he be and the creature not attack him? Was he hiding somewhere where the creature could not see him?

The voice...wherever he is, then talked about the Yil. He hunts the creature for other reasons? Was he for revenge? Perhaps something else? Right now she less concerned about Yil and more about her handmaidens as they struggled for their lives.

No, I can not lose them. There must be something I can do to save them. Maybe if I figure out some way to turn off or bottle off the thermal. Maybe then the creature would run away!

Even as Princess was trying to figure out what to do, An was dodging blasts of concentrated air. The brunette handmaiden was barely dodging the blasts, never getting the opportunity to take a shot at the cloud creature. It was only when she got close, did the monster quite firing shots and chose a far more devious tactic. It wrenched Enru off the wall and placed her between An and itself. An finally had the opportunity to shoot, but she simply could not risking hitting the blonde handmaiden.

"Shoot, An! Shoot!"

"I can't."

I'm afraid turning off the thermals would take too much time, the Ashen are far more evolved then you and while I'm sure you would manage it with enough time your handmaidens will be dead and you would have only succeeded in driving it from one location, provided it was driven out of course, at that stage the thermals may have healed it completely to the point it decides to stick around. It is an intelligent being, as intelligent as Yil anyway.

So it looks as if you are in a bit of a bind. Are their lives worth your body? Perhaps not ... it is divine after all, but I'll make the offer to assist you and drive it off, if you willingly submit to me again.

Again? It was not difficult for her mind to consider the few creatures that could even possess enough power to contact her telepathically. Yil had tried and failed, numerous times. There was a pause long enough for her to consider the option.

Quickly now, An really doesn't want to shoot her friend but she'll either have to take the shot or leave herself opened for a counter attack.

Octavia really did like the options she was being given, the thermals were far too complex to be turned off anytime soon. And even if the Princess could turn this one of the creature would simply flee to another thermal or simply come and get the one Trixian it has yet to deal with yet.

It was then that the voice gave her a choice her body for her handmaidens. As the voice mentioned it did mention a key word...again. Octavia eyes lit up when she realized who it was, since there was only really one psychic creature she had met that before the Harvesters. Aegir? What are you doing here? Yes, please drive it off. Drive it off and my body is yours.

Aegir considered for a moment. Octavia was unlike most individuals he dealt with. Mentally he could not control her or access her thoughts so she could actually trick him. However, she would have been aware that her handmaidens weren't so luck and thus vulnerable to him least she betray him. He doubted she would, however.

I could ask you the same though I already got that information from your companions. It would seem this was mostly chance. See the came radiation you detected earlier was me arriving here, I was retrieving an artifact, got it, and sensed your presence. Of course I could not read your mind but was drawn closer to investigate and here we are.

Behind you, two buildings over ... he revealed where he was to her after making a quick explaination. It was rather fortunate for her for many things, one being that he was violent only when it suited him or he was in a rare mood, that he desired her and that he preferred willing targets over the unwilling, he derived more pleasure from them, usually.

There, it is done ...

And just like that An would see the thing fly up near the thermals flying through a hole in the ceiling as Enru was dropped to the floor as the creature suddenly and inexplicitly retreated from this place leaving the handmaidens to their own devices.

Octavia could only listen for the voice in her head. The alien seemed to thinking about the situation, though Octavia was psychic she could not read his mind any better than he could read her own mentally guarded minded. She could only hope that he understood that she was sincere.


It was then that Aegir told her that he had been here on planet retrieving some sort of artifact, when he felt her presence. The young royal's own handmaidens provided plenty of information to the the tentacle creature, even if the women had never thought they did. The mind of commoner Trixians being so much easier to read the those of royal blood. Only Octavia's own mind was truly safe from a psionic master like Aegir.

It was then that Aegir had revealed his location, a mere two buildings over from the thermal. She was not sure what he was planning to do, she just realized what she would have to pay to ensure that her handmaidens would survive their ordeal.

Meanwhile An, saw the cloud creature spontaneously let go of Enru. Even as the handmaiden fell to the floor, the creature flew rapidly up to the through a hole in the ceiling. The brunette handmaiden let out a sigh as she holstered her gun to help out her fellow handmaiden.

It was done, words that rang through Octavia's mind. Aegir seemed unconcerned as to her next move, calculating it. He was uncertain if she rush off and check the safety of her hand maidens or come her first trusting that it was done.

He could not draw upon her thoughts as he could others and thus she could fool and surprise him. He liked surprises though for they were so rare in coming.

Rushing to Enru's side it was only then that she could smell the charred flesh of Yil. She had been smelling it before though being distracted she focused on the cloud creature and never associated the smell. He was still alive from what she could see though unconscious and probably for awhile at that, which was probably a good thing considering the condition her friend was now in. Tattered clothing on this planet ... on might be able to exist in this ruined city without them at the thermals but probably experience a stark chill elsewhere in the city.

It was clear what happened to her friend given her state of undress though she had to wonder why the creature suddenly left or if it would be back anytime soon though it was benefically that it left when it had. Why it had left was beyond her, it had a strong chance of winning from the look of things.

Octavia felt a bit of relief from the Aegir's voice in her head. Still she was concerned that about her handmaidens and wanted to make sure they were okay. She moved up to the wreckage that blocked where An ran through. An...Enru...are you okay?? Answer me!! The young royal could only hope that she could hear her handmaiden voices through all the debris. She knew it would be difficult at best to communicate with them all.

As An was checking out poor Enru, she could smell the waff of charred flesh in the room. It was Yil that had been knocked unconscious for quite awhile now. She was not really sure how badly Yil was without doing a better examination but she wanted to make sure the blonde handmaiden was okay first. Enru was in pretty rough shape as she clothes had been torn to shreds. There was no way now that the tall handmaiden would be able to leave the city and survive the cold weather if they could not find some warm clothes elsewhere.

An looked around again instinctively to see if the cloud creature was around, it was clear it could easily beat her if it wanted. However for some reason it had run away. Considering what it was going to do Enru she was grateful. It was then that she heard the muffled noise of her Princess. "We are okay, Your Highness. We try to figure out how to get to you. Just stay where you are."

The room that An was in had the sole entrance that was now blocked though there was a hole in the ceiling, a large one at that, where the rod of the thermal poked through and shed it's warmth throughout this section of the city. Likewise the rod went into the ground too like some huge iron spike that had been hammered into the earth.

Save for some climbing or long hours of removing rubble she was stuck with Enru and Yil. Yil she inspected after her friend and though the physiology was different his wound seemed to be closing up too. Not as rapidly as before but this looked far more serious too and probably would take a little longer.

But Octavia was left in an empty street with the cloud-like creature somewhere at hand, and Aegir probably closer. The thing had left the thermals for certain but she had no idea where it was, in fact it could be watching her, ready to swoop in for the kill.

There are fine princess, though I figured you'd want to check for yourself. Currently they are stuck but the creature may not come back before they manage to get out of there, but for now they live and have hours before the creature returns ... it's mind is, well it has a mind but not in the conventional sense as it has no body.

Thus it much tougher to reach out to it. Furthermore, it is no longer rational given all it has been through.

An looked around at the the room the trio found themselves in. It only had one entrance, the one that was collapsed by the cloud creature. Now there is was only one way out that that did not involving digging...and that was to climb up, up and out through the hole in ceiling where the thermal rod poked through and warmed the city.

Still Yil was unconscious, so something told her that it would take a while for four armed blue creature to be ready to climb, that and even though it was warm in this area. Enru was really wearing too little to be at higher altitudes in this city. An began moving over to rubble and see what she could do to clear it.

Octavia continued to look around while clutching her half broken spear. She felt particularly vulnerable being outside in the street like this. The could creature could be anywhere, even right above her and she would have no idea until it was too late.

The Princess breathed a bit of relief when she finally got more confirmation that the her handmaidens were at least safe from the cloud creature. Thank you. I am grateful that you were able to rescue them. Where did you send the creature? How did you drive it away?

Clearing the rubble would take some work, but the only other option was to climb and it didn't look like that was an option for awhile so An set herself to clearing some of the debris. The smaller portions first as they were most movable and she could gauge if she could make a passage large enough for them if she found that she could not move the larger ones.

Still, she felt as if she were racing against time for if that thing came back while they were stuck her it was pretty much game over for all of them.

Out on the street Aegir answered her questions casually. He was patient, being blessed with a long life and knew that he was too slow moving to catch her if that were the case. Her mind was closed to him too so commanding her telepathically wasn't going to happen. He tried access her mind already, up for the challenge but failed each time he had tried it.

I reached into what mind it still possessed and told it to leave, it did but it's mind is nearly as defensive as yours and hard to read. Still, it usually takes me some effort to connect with an alien mind though it has been near for some time and as a precaution I did it then before it became an issue, just in case, as I tend to do.

How long it will stay away is anyone's guess though I recon that it will stay away from this particular thermal for a few hours. It's not often that a creature can shrug off my commands but there was nothing tangible to hold onto, thus it is likely to brake control. It did not seem particularly strong willed so it should take it some time to throw off the suggestion.

I sensed that it rather enjoyed the thrill of the fight and will be back provided you and your handmaidens stay within the city you will have to contend with it again. I am uncertain as the where it is now, only that I cannot sense it so it has gone some distance away.