The Azra-El Series Ch. 16

Jie Er nodded in response and Blaze observed the smith through his anga. Though she appeared younger than Aurnia, Rebecca's mother, her energy signature indicated that she was at least three hundred years old.

"I can't believe that it's been so long that you have already grown up and have a child of your own," she spoke, nostalgia setting in her eyes. She seemed neither happy nor sad about Jie Er's presence. "Thyra, meet Jie Er Lokra and her daughter, the Blazing Fury," she said to her somewhat-confused apprentice. Turning back to them, she continued, "Thyra is my apprentice, and the one I am passing my skill and knowledge on to."

Only a tiny flash of surprise passed over Thyra's face, before she nodded at them in acknowledgement.

"So, why are you here?" Valinna exhaled after a moment.

"I need to know what weapon Nikolett Lovag will use in the tournament," Jie Er asked her without any buildup. "There is a good chance you are the one making it," she added with a wry smile.

Valinna tsked in disapproval. "The favor I granted you was for making a weapon or an armor. You seriously don't expect me to divulge information about a client, do you?" she said, walking to a nearby table and picking up a bardiche axe head. "Thyra, how do you think we should balance the weight of a bardiche with an extra-long axe head?"

Thyra chose not to respond.

"I guess that means you will be making a weapon for Blaze Er?" Jie Er grinned at the older angel.

"You- you're a tiresome angel, Jie Er," Valinna sighed in exasperation.

"I learned it from your daughter," Jie Er quipped back.

The longing look of nostalgia returned to Valinna's cloudy brown eyes. "You might've... and I guess she would've acted the same."

"She would've," Jie Er replied sadly.

"So, what kind of a weapon are you looking for, young Blaze?" she asked, giving him a once-over. A kind smile that she did not reserve for Jie Er sprouted on her face. Jie Er seemed to be surprised by it.

"We are not sure yet. We might not even want one anytime soon," Jie Er replied in his stead.

"What do you mean you're not sure? The tournament is... in nine months!" she said, counting the months on her fingers.

"Blaze is currently trying to be a jack of all trades, and I am teaching her to be one. I think it is her best shot at performing well in the tournament. There is hardly a point in making her a specialized weapon before considering a long-term option," Jie Er explained.

"I see..." Valinna pondered over Jie Er's words. She gazed at Blaze and her smile suddenly turned dangerous. He felt a chill run up his spine.

Gripping the back of the bardiche head she slowly walked up to him and Jie Er made no move to stop her. Valinna's eyes sported a mad light as she swung the blade down at him. Her breasts trembled as she put her weight into the swing.

Blaze only had half a second to dodge to his right and get into her guard. Instinct kicked in as he placed a protective arm against Valinna's right arm and swung his fist into her ribs. It made solid contact, but the older smith weathered it without as much as a grunt or a wince of pain, making Blaze doubt his own strength.

"That is the instinct of a closeup fighter," Valinna said as the madness in her eyes abated, and her smile turned friendly once again. She placed her free hand on his head and ruffled his hair. Still wary of the axe head in her hand, Blaze controlled the urge to place his hand on her boob and squeeze it in reply.

"Thyra," she said, turning to her apprentice. "I think we have someone who can promote your new design."

Sigh! You get a lil' famous and everybody wants to 'advertise' with ya.

For the first time during their conversation, Thyra seemed genuinely interested. "You think she can bring out their effectiveness?"

"She is as good a bet as any."

"What are you talking about?" Jie Er asked.

"Gauntlets, my girl. You're allowed to carry three pieces of equipment in the tournament, and gauntlets count as two. But I believe these ones will be worth it. Thyra will make them for free, as long as you promise to promote her work. They should do it themselves, if you use them right," Valinna replied.

Jie Er looked unsure. It wasn't that she thought that gauntlets were ineffective, she just doubted their utility over a shield and an extra weapon.Moreover, gauntlets were not very useful once an angel became more powerful.

"You don't have to use them if you don't think they are worth your while and I will still make you your damn weapon," Valinna offered.

"Deal!" Jie Er agreed immediately.

Valinna sighed in exasperation and turned to Thyra. "Take a cast of Blaze's hands and send them on their way," she told her apprentice. "Jie Er, I will send you a message when they are done. You can leave now. Your presence brings me melancholy that I do not wish to experience for too long," she finished, turning away. Her back was covered with a black tattoo of an anvil.

Jie Er and Blaze uttered their thanks, and Thyra took them back to the larger workshop.

Thyra applied a special oil on his hands and made him put his hands into a container of molten wax. As they silently waited for the wax cast to dry, Blaze studied Thyra's worktable a few feet away from them.

Books, energy stones, and papers filled with drawings and designs filled the table. He tried to look for the design of his gauntlets, but the one paper which seemed to have such a drawing was mostly hidden under other sheets. However, he could spot the studded metallic fingers of the gauntlets.

He looked at the apprentice with hopeful eyes, but Thyra simply stared him down with her unwavering frigid expression. It was hot, but it also made her seem completely unapproachable. Jie Er didn't even bother to strike up a conversation.

Once the cast was completely dry, the apprentice let him slowly pull out. She made sure the cast was good before wordlessly leading them outside.

"I do not have the materials yet, so the gauntlets may take a couple of months to be finished," she informed them before closing the door on their backs.

"Where to now?" Blaze asked Jie Er, as they unfurled their wings.

"See that mountain there?" Jie Er replied, pointing towards the west and the tallest mountain around. Its peak was covered in a blanket of snow and was surrounded by puffy white clouds. "That's Mt. Raivataka. We shall set up camp at its base. Training starts tomorrow."

***

The sun had set by the time the two angels found a proper spot to set up camp. A rocky projection surrounded by coniferous trees provided them protection from the rain and hid them from prying eyes. A tiny stream flowed a few hundred feet on their right.

"So..." Blaze began as he put up a tent, under the light of an energy stone lamp while Jie Er worked on building a campfire by a fallen tree they could sit on. "How do you know Valinna Storm and why does she seem to dislike you in particular?" he asked.

"My mother and Valinna hated each other's guts, while Eva and I were like you and Elyssa. Eva was Valinna's only daughter. The last time I met Valinna was at her funeral. Eva had always pressed her to make me a weapon, so Valinna said that she would fulfil that wish of hers. I wasn't in need of a weapon then, so I told her that I would ask when I did," Jie Er told him somberly.

"Aunty... I am so sorry. How did she die?" Blaze asked her solemnly. Jie Er's comparison to his friendship with Elyssa made it quite clear how much Eva had meant to her.

"She joined the army," Jie Er replied curtly and fell silent.

Blaze could guess why she wouldn't say more. If his guess was right, Eva wasn't the only one Jie Er had lost to the army. He had wanted to let Jie Er tell him by herself, but now seemed like an appropriate time to ask the question. "Are we related to Vida Veles Lokra?" he asked.

Jie Er's eyes widened in surprise as she raised her head to look at him. "How did you know?"

"She was on the list of YAMAT winners at the Academy. It also had a short passage about her. I guessed the rest. I didn't mean to pry..."

"I don't mind, Blaze Er" she shook her head, her voice cracking and her eyes turning misty. "It's just that talking about her makes me a little emotional. She was an amazing mother and I loved her very much."

"Being emotional is good, aunty. It can be cathartic, especially when someone is there for you. And you know I am here for you..." he told her sincerely. It was usually the other way around between him and Jie Er and he liked the change. "Tell me aunty, what was grandma like?" he asked her. He didn't like calling her that, but it seemed fine just this once.

"She was a wonderful angel, Blaze Er. She wanted to do so much good, and she was righteous to a flaw. She came from a poor farming family in Angalnebo, so she understood the struggles of the common angels. She always wanted to do right by them.

"She also loved the army and her soldiers. To her, they were like her own sisters and kids. She loved them all, and she loved me even more. She may have been harsh with me at times, but it was always for a reason and her results always turned out to be better than her reason. I can't recall a single incident from my childhood when I was disappointed with her," Jie Er continued, her words flowing as if a dam had burst inside her.

"We were close, Blaze Er, and when she died, I lost my bearings for a little while. Then, I met Eva while attending the University of Bologna of the Caledonian Empire. Despite Eva being thirty years older, we became the best of friends. She was smart, talented, and had great dreams for herself and for the HU. But, like my mother, she decided she would start with the army. I didn't want her to go but she had to. She had the fearlessness of youth -- she thought she couldn't die!

"But, die she did! In a way that did not befit her," she said emotionally - anger, frustration and betrayal evident in her expression. "In her first skirmish, a stray javelin hit her in the head when her body reinforcement was down. To this day, I regret not being by her side. Maybe I could've done something to protect her. Anything."

Blaze finished pitching up the tent and went over to kneel behind Jie Er and hug her from behind. He placed his head over her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her neck. "You won't lose me, aunty," he whispered into her ear, pressing his cheek against hers.

Jie Er placed a hand over his arm. "No, I won't," she told him resolutely. "And to make sure of that, I am going to beat the recklessness out of you."

Blaze gulped at the fierceness in her voice.

The two angels cooked a simple dinner of lentil soup over the campfire and ate it along with bread. They sat under the night sky for a little while, watching the stars and the moon, before they went into the tent. They fell asleep in each other's arms, under the soft comfort of their quilt.

oOo

"Wake up, Blaze Er," Jie Er's voice woke Blaze from his dreams the next morning. Under the quilt, Jie Er had her body pressed to his side, a leg and an arm draped over him. She kissed him on the lips and then between his eyes. "Wake up," she muttered in his ear.

She gazed into his eyes as he groggily opened them, sneaking her hand down his stomach and into his shorts. His cock lurched under her touch and it did not take long to rise up in her hand.

"Aunty..." he whispered. His drowsiness quickly disappeared as Jie Er began to gently stroke him.

She kissed his forehead and his nose before pressing her soft wet lips against his. There was a hunger in her lips as she kissed him while voraciously seeking out his tongue. Their tongues met only for a moment before she imprisoned his tongue between her lips, sucking on it before releasing it from her grasp.

She smooched his lips wetly and pulled back, while he savored her flavor. He had always relished her strawberry like taste, usually sweet but a little tangy at times. Quickly pulling his shorts down, she mounted him and pressed her stomach into his member.

Gazing into his eyes, she slid back over his pelvis as her warm slit travelled along the length of his member. Blaze sucked in deeply, unable to take his eyes off the shift dangerously hanging over her breasts.

Jie Er noticed his lustful gaze and grinned at him while leaning forwards temptingly. Unable to resist any longer, he pulled the offending shift down and Jie Er's pale white breasts spilled out like two massive squishy balls, perfectly curved like a teardrop sliding down her skin. Her nipples were small rosy pink bulbs over medium-sized pale pink areolae, fully aroused and waiting.

Jie Er leaned in and brought her right breast to his mouth. She knew what he wanted, and she wanted it just as much, if not more. The heavy breast dangled over his face and Blaze wasted no time in closing his mouth around it, reaching for her other breast with his hand.

Jie Er moaned as she felt his lips and tongue pluck at her nipple, while his warm and dry hand wrapped and dug into her skin, squishing and massaging her other breast.

She pushed into him and began to grind her hips on his cock. She loved the way the cleft of her lips moved over his cock, electricity coursing through her body each time his tip bumped and went over her clit.

Blaze wrapped his free hand around Jie Er's waist and pulled her close, as he continued to suckle on her breast like baby. After a couple of minutes, he switched to the other.

Heat surged through his body as Jie Er continued to pleasure herself over his cock. His desire to be inside her became uncontainable. "Aunty..." he whimpered against her breast, "I need to put it in."

His voice and the need in it made Jie Er cum. She hugged his face between her breasts and screamed, as her body spasmed and splashed her warmth all over his cock and groin.

Unable to do anything else, Blaze wrapped his hand around her and humped his hips into her, hoping for sweet release; but he needed to be inside her.

Jie Er body stopped shivering after a minute. As soon as her orgasm subsided, she rose up and pulled Blaze's shirt off him. She straddled his stomach and lined his prick against her wet hole. Looking into his eyes, she held his cock and gently slid down on it.

She slowly went down on his length until their groins touched and Blaze felt his entirety wrapped and squeezed by her hot and wet hug. She saw the ecstasy in his eyes and leaned forwards to press her breasts into his face, placing her weight over him.

"You can cum whenever you want," she whispered to him, and that drove him crazy.

He hugged her waist in a vice-like grip and thrust his hips into her, while Jie Er moved her own in time with his thrusts, her butt colliding with his thighs in loud thwacks that resonated with the wet sounds of their sloppy insides.

Blaze took her nipple into his mouth again as his thrusts turned into short, rapid juts. Heat and ecstasy enveloped his body as his pent-up arousal threatened to spill over. He held on as long as he could before grabbing Jie Er's pert ass and thrusting into her in one forceful burst.

Jie Er felt stream after stream of forceful energy strike against her cervix, and for the first time, she was in a position to truly feel it; she was usually drowning in her own ecstasy to truly feel the sensation of him filling her up. She loved it.

Once his orgasm subsided, she got off him and wordlessly cleaned him and herself up, before donning her streamlined training clothes. I wouldn't mind starting every training session with this, he thought as he watched her.

"Wear your streamlined clothes and meet me outside," she told him, heading for the tent opening.

Blaze sighed at the flap as it closed behind Jie Er. His streamlined clothing was a pair of skintight boyshorts and a tank top. He had learned to deal with it.

Abruptly, Jie Er stuck her head through the flap. "Hope that was good, because we won't be doing it again until training is over," she told him seriously and went back out.

Blaze hurriedly donned his clothes and went out to protest, finding Jie Er heating up some milk for their breakfast.

The place they had chosen to camp was quite idyllic. Morning birds twittered from trees that cast flickering shadows over the angels and their campsite. A cold wind that wasn't entirely unpleasant blew down the mountain. The gurgle of a nearby stream, audible from where they were, filled their campsite with the music of nature.

"Why?" Blaze asked Jie Er. "Wouldn't it be better to keep my head clear? You know how it can affect me..."

"Training," Jie Er replied curtly.

"Huh?"

"You're smart Blaze Er, but you're impulsive and have been letting your emotions cloud your judgement. I didn't want to be harsh with you and thought that life would just teach you the necessary lessons, but it seems like I don't have that freedom. I don't want you to lose something that cannot be replaced. You're too talented for your own good," she said, shaking her head with a doleful smile.

Blaze had the urge to remind her that he was an adult and that she wasn't his parent. However, he was damn sure that he would regret saying it. So, he chose his words a little more wisely. "Aunty... What if I lose control and hurt someone? Besides, how does this even help?"

"It's fine if you lose control. It will be just us during the training. As for how it will help - if I can force you to make rational decisions even when you're about to lose your mind, you will be fine when you're overwhelmed by other emotions," she explained, pouring the hot milk into a bowl of cereal and handing it him.

Blaze silently took his breakfast. Her reasoning had a mad logic to it, but it felt right. Even Yulia, his combat teacher, had told him he needed control over his emotions. But that didn't mean he was happy about it.

He grumbled and began to eat his cereal.

"Have you tested how high you can fly recently?" Jie Er asked him as he ate.

"Not since we tested it out together."

"Okay. It probably hasn't changed a great deal, but we will be trying to push your limit past twelve thousand feet. It will be a good exercise for strengthening you wings, lungs and anga," she said looking up the mountain.

They were currently at three thousand feet above sea level, but despite the cold, there was no snow around them. However, the mountain was draped with a blanket of white at around four thousand feet from where they were. The two angels were on its windward side, and winds from the Purple Sea brought constant precipitation to the region.

Blaze was excited about the snow. He had always loved playing in it and was disappointed when he learned that Aranya did not receive any snowfall. He really wanted to make a lewd snow-angel or two when he got the time.

The mountain was beautiful, with massive glaciers that seemed to be in perpetual danger of slipping off but never did. Streams of ice-cold water plunged down its surface.

Below the snow line, the mountain was covered in lush green vegetation and with the greenery came abundant wildlife: flying squirrels, gliding serpents that ate them, birds, mountain cats, and bears. A few poukai circled around mountain, hunting for the gliding serpents.

After their breakfast, Jie Er made Blaze do a few stretching exercises before bringing out a pair of familiar harnesses. Blaze eyed them with distaste. He knew what they meant -- Jie Er was gonna work his ass until his wings collapsed.

He wordlessly took the harness, and they helped each other with their straps. Jie Er connected him to herself before they manifested their wings and took to the sky.

There were two main limits for high-flying angels: oxygen density and world energy. Though the angels were hatched to fly, they had the lungs of a mammal, which were not equipped to breathe at heights. Angels could survive at heights of more than twenty thousand feet, but no normal angel could sustain flight at that height.