"Ah, right there! Mmm! I want to feel your hands," Fei moaned. Her voice was sweet and breathy.
"Uhhhn!" She let out a low moan during the next stroke from August. "Where did you learn to brush tails like this?"
"I've had some practice," August muttered.
'Years on this tail in particular, in fact.' Fei might be over a decade younger, but her tail was unchanged.
Fei arched her back and let out another moan as he moved his hands down her tail to the next segment he needed to brush.
Her eyes glistened as she stared back at him, her tongue sticking out, and strings of saliva still connecting her lips.
Her reactions were far more exaggerated now, however.
August swallowed and looked away from her in a vain attempt to quell his hardening erection.
How many times had he seen her like this when she was older, back in his old fortress? How many times had he lain with her, then enjoyed her playfulness afterward?
'Never again,' an icy voice in the back of his head said. He remembered that night.
The feeling of reaching out for Jafeila and the rest of his Champions and finding nothing but emptiness.
"August, are you alright?" Fei asked.
Snapping out of his thoughts, August gave her a soft smile. "It's fine. Just lost in thought."
"They didn't seem to be nice thoughts," she said. Her hand drifted over his, but didn't touch it.
True enough. He didn't have to worry about his erection anymore.
At least for the next five seconds, before Fei let out another sweet moan.
"Just relax, Fei. This will be over soon," he said, changing the subject.
She pouted. "I don't want it to be over soon."
The plan had never been to brush her tail, but she had been so pathetic that he had foolishly offered to help.
She likely thought he would simply help her comb out the worst knots, or maybe she wanted some companionship.
Instead, she got the treatment of a tail-grooming master, if August didn't say so himself.
He pushed her into the shower, given she wouldn't stop marveling at the sight of her newly constructed and furnished bedroom suite.
Now she was sitting on a thick velvet cushion in her underwear while he brushed out her hair and tail.
He had never expected to get so close to her so quickly, let alone like this, but beastkin desired physical intimacy more than other races.
Once he finished, Fei threw herself on her bed. She sank into the soft mattress with a groan of pleasure.
"I've never had a bed this soft," she said, eyes closed. "Nobody said Bastions could create such amazing furnishings. Everywhere else I go is so plain by comparison."
August raised an eyebrow. This was one of the few things his master had taught him in Falmir.
He had little positive to say about his training as an apprentice Bastion, but he had learned to craft some very impressive furniture.
Being able to conjure up whatever expensive materials and objects he wanted was freeing for August.
Perhaps that meant he had wasted a little bit—or perhaps a lot—of energy from the binding stone on luxuries and aesthetics in the keep.
But he planned to live here and use Gharrick Pass as a base of operations for some time. Why not make it a pleasurable experience?
Therefore, he filled the hallways and open spaces with ostentatious statues, gilded decorations, and decorative suits of armor.
He'd even used his power to help Fei mount her demon's head on the wall.
The bedroom suites contained massive beds, bathrooms using plumbing technology that August wasn't certain had been invented yet, and ornate rosewood furniture.
"Enjoy it as much as you like," he said. "Use today to explore or settle in. I need to spend some time with the binding stone."
"Oh. Bastion stuff. See you later." Fei waved to August as he left the room.
He spent the rest of the day and most of the morning in a reconstructed office.
Unlike most rooms in the keep, this one had survived the centuries relatively intact.
Signs of temporary habitation were also present, namely an up-to-date map of the region which allowed August to get a more accurate grip on the world.
His memory was good, but he had been a newbie Bastion when l the Empire fell.
Most of his knowledge came second hand.
The books and maps in the room had been preserved with magic, and a touch from the binding stone allowed August to restore them enough that he could read them.
Not that he could restore faded ink.
The binding stone could repair dried paper, cracked spines, and prevent a scroll from falling apart when he picked it up, but it couldn't fill in a word where one had been written centuries ago.
August's next step was to assess the current state of the leylines.
The binding stone allowed August to monitor the flow of magic in the surroundings, which an experienced Bastion could use to detect the movements of sorcerers, Champions, or demons.
Right now, there were potential signs of all three, which made little sense to August.
Perhaps his detection skills had gotten rusty. He couldn't remember the last time he had used them on something that wasn't a demon.
Maybe he had misinterpreted something. But what he knew was that there was a large draw on the leylines to the east, beyond Gharrick Pass.
That felt like a powerful sorcerer actively using a leyline to power their magic.
But there were also signs of Champions around there, if very faint. Too faint for a Champion to be actively present.
Closer to home, something felt wrong with the leylines. The flow of magic was disturbed, and that almost always meant demons.
This disruption further affected August's ability to monitor this side of Gharrick Pass.
For all he knew, Champions had been active here as well, but the leyline disruption covered their tracks.
Which, again, made no sense to August. The portal was inactive and tiny.
Demons might overflow to the neighboring region if the portal was actively overflowing with demonic energy, but that wasn't the case.
"Oh, is this your office?" Fei interrupted. She poked her head through the open doorway. "Um, am I interrupting? You look deep in thought."
"No, it's fine. I have an open door policy." August waved his hand at the doorway, which didn't have a door.
Fei tiptoed in, her brow furrowed. She stared at the doorway. Then it clicked.
"Oh. Oh! It's a pun. You literally have an open door," she said. "Huh. I thought you were the serious type, but…" she trailed off into inaudible mumbling.
August waited patiently, leaning back in his chair. A large table sat between the two of them.
On top of the table was the map he had found in here, which was dated 407 OA.
The OA stood for Omnia's Ascent and referred to her disappearance from the Anfang Empire.
Nobody knew where the goddess went, but it marked the beginning of the decline for the Empire.
The Empire had fallen in mid-408 OA. This map was almost up-to-date and reinforced August's assumption that he was reliving the days that led up to the fall of the Empire.
"Anything interesting on the map?" Fei asked. She stared down at it. The map depicted only the eastern border region of the Empire.
It went as far north as Forselle Valley and ended just south of Gharrick Pass. The capital, Aleich, was visible at the western-most edge of the map.
"Apparently, the Empire thinks it controls land on the other side of the pass," August said, pointing at a small region of land on the far side of the Gharrick Mountains from their current location.
"I'm worried we'll be responsible for defending that. Perhaps our Lady von Clair will know more."
"You want to visit her?" Fei asked.
"Shortly, yes. I'd feel more secure in a few days, once the walls are repaired."
Suddenly, a trumpet cut through his thoughts. "Bastion! Are you here?!"