Beyond?

“We fought the soulless armies of the Empire. We opposed their wicked magic with our bodies, minds and will. Our goddess and our belief gave us the power to do so.

Quinn will always stand united facing its enemies and the one true goddess looks down and blesses us with her grace.”

-Chronicles of Quinn.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

“Where is my niece?”

I put my book down and look up at Stella. She is looking at me worriedly, almost as if she is expecting that something grave happened. I point at the glass box at my side. On the surface of the box are the big, black letters 'Incubator -Mark I-'. “In there.”

Stella dashes for the glass box and tries to open it. “Are you insane? Even an egg needs light and air. You can't just lock it into a box!”

“Don't go nuts, it's not like I don't recognize basic biological needs. That's why I made the walls out of glass.” I stand up and deactivate the breeding cycle with a button at the top of the box. Then I open the complicated mechanism which sealed it. Stella pushes the slowly splitting box apart and retrieves the egg from two cushioned rollers where it rested comfortably. She knocks onto the egg and sighs in relief when the characteristic *Knock* *Knock* answers her. “What's this abomination anyway?”

I point at the two cushioned rollers. “Those are turning the egg as recommended in this book.” I raise my medical book 'How to take care of an egg'. “The heaters at the sides are keeping a constant temperature as recommended. This flap regulates the air supply to keep the atmosphere and moisture constant. The dispensers are applying water as recommended in the book. They also dry the egg by switching to air after the washing cycle. Everything as recommended.” I scratch my cheek. “Once the device was running, taking care of the egg wasn't troublesome at all. I mean, no screaming and all that. Eggs have huge benefits to infants. Why can't they stay inside the egg until they are bigger? I would probably like it to be a father if it wasn't for the screaming.”

Stella gasps. “Washing cycle!?”

What's her problem. I invented this marvellous device to help all would-be parents on this world. “When the washing cycle activates, the dispensers spray fresh water from this tank. After the egg is clean they spin and dry the egg with air. It's working like the washing machine which I built for our kitchen. The only issue I couldn't solve right away is applying the paste. I was afraid of breaking the egg if I use too much pressure, but that's to be done once a day. I decided to leave this issue to the second version. Selling this will make quite some money.”

Stella turns the egg in her hands to inspect it for damage. Then she looks accusingly at me and turns the egg to show me what she is dissatisfied about. “What's this?”

I shrug my shoulders. “It's just that I had the feeling that the egg was watching me while I built the incubator for it. After a while I couldn't bear it any more and-”

“Drew a face onto it!?” Stella screams and I jump. It's just a smiling face, come on.

“It's cute, isn't it? The world lost a great artist to me.” I made two circles with small black dots as eyes and a wide smiling mouth. “The runes around the egg are buffs to increase its vitality and healthiness.”

“It's creepy!” Stella tries to clean the egg with her sleeve.

“That's not going to work, I had to use water proof colours.” The paint would've been washed off otherwise.

“Sola is going to kill me! Why did you do something so insensitive as painting on my niece.” Stella is close to tears, did she have a hard day?

But it's just an egg? Why does she get that worked up about a little paint on it. “How about saying that I blessed the creepy thing?”

In the end I had to wash the paint off. After long minutes of explaining my incubator and its safety features, Stella finally allowed me to use it. The installed uplink to the mana net, which automatically warns you if something is wrong, persuaded her in the end.

“So how was your day?” I try to change the subject.

Stella rubs her temples and heads over to the kitchen. “Boring university stuff. The teacher found an old book in the library and tried to reinvent the contents, though it wasn't as easy as it sounded from the description. The part where you have to map out the DNA of someone got us a little confused. We lack the necessary devices to do that fast enough.”

She continues to explain her day while she prepares some food, mostly vegetables, in a pot. “Then I visited the Dwemer in their new mansion. Nikita is getting better, though she is still unable to cast spells. The doctors say that removing the poison completely might take a few more months. There is even a chance that her ability to use magic is completely gone.”

“That's sad to hear. Don't the nomads have some kind of antidote? If someone uses a poison regularly he must have something to counteract it in case of an accident.” I offer her a possible solution.

Stella shrugs her shoulders. “Even so, the nomads are hostile to anyone who doesn't belong to their caravan. They don't trade with us, so it's unlikely to obtain something like that. At least Saana and Triz are freed. The shaman's guards found a secret chamber under the southerners' quarters. There they had stored the amulet in question. How did your day go?”

At least some good news. I would've dreaded if I had to try to free Saana and Triz from such a strong enslavement spell. “I ditched university to build the chamber with my research team and gave them guidance in a few other matters, then training with my father and my mother. I had an uneventful day.”

Stella stops cooking and stares at me. “You used your research team to build the abomination?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Why not? It's not like they can't use the chamber for themselves and it isn't like something of that scale requires many resources. We had it done within five hours.”

She starts eating directly out of her pot while I explain some interesting details about the creation of the incubator. Musing over what else happened today, I remember the most important point. “Ah, and I had a real breakthrough with my ability. Up until now I always tried very hard to sense something, but then I simply relaxed myself and simply bathed in the incoming feelings. After a while it really happened! I can't exactly explain it, but suddenly I could simply see so much more than before! It was breathtaking! The trick isn't concentrating on your sight alone, you have to use everything, all of your senses at once.”

I activate my mana sight and let my gaze wander. “It's really cool if you think about it. Being able to actually look into things, no wonder my mother is so proficient with gathering mana.”

Stella's eyebrows angle slightly in amusement, then her expression turns thoughtful. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

For a moment I consider hiding the extent of my breakthrough, but then I decide to be blunt about it. “The view is magnificent!”

She frowns and looks down at herself and then at me. “I can't help it, but your perverted expression feels like I am parading bare naked in front of you... though I am fully clothed. Did you hit your head?”

My smile grows wider as I blind out her clothes layer by layer. “I can't imagine ever living without this excellent skill.” I inch closer and she backs off, realizing what I have been doing.

“If you ever use that on someone else, you can imagine what I'll do to you?” She gets up and returns her pot to the stove.

I follow the inviting movements of her ass and leave my seat to hug her from behind. Somehow I am really in the mood right now. “I have to relieve some frustration.” My left wanders to her chest and my right between her legs.

Unfortunately Stella doesn't seem to be up for it. “It's not safe today and I don't want to relive such a bad experience again.”

“Haah...” What a let down, but I really want to! It's not fair. Then I realize what she said. “What do you mean, you don't want to let it happen again? Are you still blaming yourself? I told you that it was bad luck!”

She stiffens and suddenly she starts to cry. “It was my fault! I noticed the bomb before it exploded! And despite knowing that I am pregnant I still jumped in front of Sola to cover her! If I had simply taken care of myself then... that's why she has been so nice to me all of a sudden. She just has a bad conscience! The whole situation is making me sick! I am not fit to be a parent if I misplace my priorities like that! And now I have to take care of that egg and search for excuses to force the responsibility onto you.” She forces my arms away and tries to leave.

I didn't know that it happened like that, but the fault doesn't lie with her. She saved her sister, even if Sola is a bitch. Who knows what could have happened if she didn't cover for Sola? Maybe the child and her sister would have both died. Will she continue to eat herself up until she is proven otherwise? It's been more than a year since that day and she is still mourning by herself, not sharing the pain with me. What an idiot.

I hold her back by reaching out and grabbing her tail, which makes her fall to her knees. “Stop that!”

Not caring about her complaints I fold my hands around her and kiss her neck. “It's not your fault and you will surely be a wonderful parent.”

Fondling her, I push her down and reach under her clothes. She tries to get away, but I pull her back to kiss her. Finally she stops fighting me and I wipe the tears out of her face. Then I continue to caress her until she is ready. To avoid changing my mind I pull her clothes hastily aside and enter her with a single thrust. The sensation is intoxicating and I move on my own rhythm while clinging to her back until she starts moaning herself and answers my movements. My hands wander to her chest to massage her. Her moving tail is a little disturbing, but after a while she wraps it around us.

Minutes pass while we are moving in unison and Stella shakes uncontrollably several times. In the end she tightens and tries to pull away, but the sensation spurs me on. The pleasure numbs my mind and I reach over her shoulder to hold her back while I am holding her belly with the other hand. Having her under me like that I push into her as deep as possible and explode.

Her shuddering body is on all fours now and twitching wildly, then she relaxes and collapses with haggard gasps. I place my forehead on her back, trying to catch my breath.

“That was so intense! Lucas, why are you never doing me like that?”

I freeze and forget to breathe. Slowly I look up and find Helen at the entrance to the kitchen. Lucas is also there with a bright red face and bloodshot eyes. “Probably because that position is... strange.”

Helen turns back to us. “Stella looked like it was very good. Didn't you see her face?”

Lucas's expression turns dark. “Unfortunately.”

Helen grins and nods satisfied. “I knew that it was the right idea to send Sola onto a trip. Taking care of an egg is always stimulating. Fortunately Xander is busy with his work.”

Lucas lifelessly looks at the ceiling. “I just wanted to take a look at our granddaughter and instead we find one being made.”

They barged in on us! Again! I'll clean our house of any stepper discs right this moment!

A cooking pot flies and misses Lucas just by a hairbreadth.

“Get out!”

.