[tent Warning: svery, sci-fi, violence, amputee sex]

  “Who is he?” Jae asked.

  “No idea, but he Focus.” the Maester said.

  Kaster kept his Bde up as he backed to the doors behind him. The two Furies advanced spreading apart with their Bdes ready.

  “Well,” Jae replied, “that does make this more iing.”

  “I don’t suppose you’d simply tell us, who you are?” The Maester quipped.

  Kaster couldn’t believe they were bantering. He uood instantly that they weren’t taking him seriously at all. His rage was overwhelming, aed on it exploding into a.

  He shed out at the Maester p his swing with every ounce of strength. The Maester stepped aside widening the distaween himself and Jae. Kaster shed out with a sed swing that was easily blocked. He then spun and parried a disarming shot from Jae.

  The Furies adva once, each making disarming stabs. Kaster’s bde was a whir as he gave up on attag and focused solely on defending against two at once. He sed the nave frantically, looking for anything that might help. The room was bare, with only a dais, and dozens of curved stone behere was nothing to throw at them.

  Kaster pushed his Focus behind him throwing open the doors that led deeper into the temple. He backpedaled quickly, moving through the opening before the Furies could sm it shut. A long hallway led to a set of stairs going up. Kaster retreated backwards. He used his Focus to help guide him, unwilling to take his eyes off the Furies as they advanced.

  The hallide enough for the Furies to advance side by side.

  The Maester taunted, “You may as well surrender, you have o go.”

  “Drop your Bdes, and I’ll drop mine.” Kaster said back. He made no effort to ceal his lie knowing they’d see it with their Focus for exactly what it was. It was his turn to taunt back. Iight quarters fighting side to side was a liability.

  Kaster lu the younger Fury, she ducked back as the Maester blocked the stab. It was exactly what Kaster wanted. He deflected the elder Fury’s blow, their Bdes sparking furiously as Kaster feiwisted, and moved to disarm the Maester.

  The elder Fury had seen this disarm tless times, his experience made him too sure of himself, dismissive that a younger Focus user would try such a routine move. When he tered Kaster reversed the move suddenly, with more speed and skill than the Maester had anticipated. The master jerked to the side ing into the tight fines of the hallway. Kaster’s Bde sliced through the wall of the hallway where the Maester had just been, shooting sparks through the tight space.

  Their bdes met, owice, Kaster pressing his advahe Maester was experienced but slowing in his e. The small space of the hallway worked against the older man who had fought dozens of duels out in the open. Jae held back, wanting to leap in and help but uo find the space to do so.

  The two men’s Bdes met a final time. Kaster used his rage to force the Maester’s Bde down, then he sshed up cutting diagonally through the older man’s torso. It was a shallow cut, not quite going through the body pletely, but enough to hit vital ans and miss the heart by a whisper.

  The Maester screamed and fell back bloodlessly, his wound cauterized by the WaveBde. Kaster advaanding over the Maester's fallen body. Toug it with his Focus he khe Fury could no lht.

  Jae lu him going for a killing blow. Kaster deflected it and blocked several others. With his Focus he could feel her losing trol, succumbing to her emotions, her master had fallen.

  Kaster wanted her alive and so he retreated, the Fury advanced swinging at him wildly. The arcs of her Bde struck walls and ceiling, destroying lights and sending showers of sparks everywhere. Her assault was furious aermined, swing after swing with -up. Kaster defended, waiting, looking for an opening, preparing a blow that would disarm rather than kill.

  He blocked one of her wild swings and stepped into her to knock her down with a body sm. She was young, not pletely trained, and fast. He barely dodged one swing then tried to avoid the only to have the tip of her Bde slice across the right side of his chest.

  Howling in pain Kaster felt his anger explode inside him. He returned her swing, letting his blow crash down on her with all his might. She staggered, her eyes wide. She’d been taught to fight oppos that were stoic, who thought their moves through. The unbridled anger he was unleashing was shog to her, not something she was used to. She defended herself desperately as he battered his Bde against hers. Striking again and again until he could feel and see her arms weakening.

  He paused just a moment, lining up a perfect disarming move. She didn’t pause. Instead, she shed out desperately. Kaster watched as her Bde shot forward with a speed matg his own, up under his defeo cut through his left bicep.

  The pain was unimaginable. As his cut muscles tracted he screamed and fell backwards to the floor. His Bde pommel skittering down the hall as he clutched at the stump of his arm.

  “Yield!” Jae demanded.

  “I yield.” He said through ched teeth.

  She held up her hand and called his discarded Bde to it. Only then did she turn hers off and hook both to her belt. She rushed to her Maester.

  Kaster breathed, rhythmically, slowly, steadily, f the pain away, calming himself. He felt the stump in disbelief. His arm had been severed. He’d beeed by a girl barely trained. Looking at her he knew she couldn’t be much older than her mid-twenties. Most likely she was an initiate. So young. A, he’d seen the footage of her robbing Hol Vydon’s o. The gaxy side down.

  Attendants came flooding into the hallway from both dires. First peeking around the ers, then when seeing the wouhey poured in to offer aid.

  “Be careful with that one!” Jae said taking charge. She looked too wide-eyed and young to be in any position of authority. “He’s an unauthorized Focus user.”

  Kaster couldn’t take his eyes off his ump, his right hand still clutched it. Someone pressed a hypo-gun to his left shoulder. There was a hiss and the pain diminished, it didn’t pletely fade. He rocked grasping himself, trying to breathe. A sed shot sent him to oblivion.

  *****

  Why? K’rra wondered. Why had Kaster stormed out of the ship as he had? If he meant to marto the temple, she suspected it would end poorly.

  She wished she’d studied the Furies more in Academy, but they were a dead and dying cult, their numbers diminishing every geion.

  What she did know was minimal, they had a special pact with the Federation, operated as diplomats, advisors, wmen, but in a limited capacity. Starship anders were to afford them every curtesy possible, but only so long as it didn’t interfere with the duties of the ship. The warrior monks of the order used archaic ons that took ages to master, having to literally be trained from childhood to wield. They didn’t fit into an orderly world, they were an exception, irrational mystics, following their feelings rather than logic.

  She reviewed the situational facts: Kaster was barely healed from a serious injury, he was ag against an enemy without proper preparation or reaissance, he was a lone maering into their fortress, and he was ag irrational. Although very capable, she didn’t think his ces of survival were high.

  Wasting no time, she slipped into the jump suit she’d retly purchased. In the cockpit she started the engines ahem to idle. She did a thh pre-flight check making sure the ship would be ready to un an instant. She waited tapping blue fiips against the flight sole.

  The s light flickered, and a chime rang making K’rra nearly jump out of her skin.

  She threw on her wire headset and answered the call.

  “This is Outnder, currently in dry dock, go.”

  “Outhis is Obeza trol. We have a situation here. We’re looking for any ships that have a full medical bay or doctor on board.”

  Stars! She thought, Kaster had been wounded. “Roger trol, this is Doctor K’rra, Federation Officer,” she lied while telling the truth. “I’ll grab my kit, what’s the nature of the emergency?”

  “A life-threatening injury at the Fury temple. I’ll let them know help is on the way.”

  K’rra grabbed a utility box ao the auto-doc. She transferred a medical ser, set of hypos, and bandaging spray. She left the engines on idle not g about the fuel ption ahe Outnder.

  Outside, she wao walk calmly to the temple, but ended up sprinting. In front of the temple there was a crowd of people gathered around two stretchers. As she approached her worst fears were realized, Kaster y on one of them.

  She slowed and walked to Kaster when a human woman in dreadlocks intercepted her. “He’s lost a hand, but it’s not critical. Maester Sule however, has serious injuries.”

  K’rra looked at the young woman and reized her immediately as Kaster’s target. She also noticed that the others were differential to her. They were all looking to her for dire. K’rra saw the two pommels on Jae’s belt and guessed that one of them was Kaster’s.

  “I’ll triage the patients if you don’t mind.” K’rra said.

  Jae meant to say something, then thought better and replied, “Of course, Doctor.”

  K’rra went to Kaster and opened her kit. She didn’t he medical ser to see that his arm had been severed at the bicep. The wound had been cauterized leaving a darkeump. She could see that muscles in the bicep were tracted and she was gd he’d been given enough sedatives to knock him out.

  She wao throw her arms around him, but had a role to py. She reached blindly for the medical ser and ran it over him. K’rra forced herself to remain calm, to focus oeps for the ser, to keep her mind focused on the meical. She wasn’t certain what a Fury’s capabilities were but from what little she’d heard Kaster expin they read feelings. Not thoughts, feelings. She forced thoughts of Kaster out of her mind.

  “This one is stable,” K’rra said and stood.

  Jae gave her a cock-eyed look from uhe dreads. K’rra ig and moved to Maester Sule. His robes had been pulled away revealing a freshly burned ssh across his torso, from hip to shoulder. The ser sang a sad tale of burned ans, how his heart had been missed was a miracle. The ser reported problems with multiple ans, the prognosis was death within hours.

  “We o get this oo my ship.” K’rra said. “Now.”

  Jae barked orders and the attendants lifted both litters. They formed a grim procession moving down the main street quickly. A scattered few people watched from doorways.

  “How bad is it?” Jae asked.

  “He’s headed to total an failure.” K’rra replied ftly. She was busy thinking of how to part the Fury from Kaster and the other wounded man. Outsmarting the Fury would probably be possible, but the woman had powers that K’rra was not well-versed in. She couldn’t afford any mistakes.

  When they arrived at the Outhe eill whined in a low idle. As the procession moved to the ramp K’rra took the lead guiding them to the autodoc.

  She moved to the trols while barking, “Get Sule on the exam table gently.”

  Jae helped move the wounded man onto the table. Once he was on it the servo arms whirred to life, running sers over the unsaester.

  As K’rra worked the trols of the autodoc she cast a side long look at Kaster. She had to figure out a way to get the Fury and attendants off the ship but leave Kaster. When she saw him unscious, she felt overwhelmed with emotion. If only she had Kaster’s slyness…

  *****

  Kaster watched his arm get sliced away. Felt the muscles twist in agony. Saw his hand falling uhe glow of a WaveBde. Heard himself cry out. Heard himself cry out. Cry out.

  He fell bato his own bed. His arm had returned only made of gss.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get that fixed soon enough.” K’rra said.

  He looked over and there she was, kneelio his bed, a good little sve. Except she wasn’t naked as she should be, she wore a white dress with a bright red medical symbol embzoned on one breast.

  “I want my arm back.” He said wriggling his gss fingers.

  “But you lost it.” K’rra said. She reached out and touched the transparent limb.

  It shattered into many pieces, each fading like a mist as he watched. She’d diminished him, taken his means of agency. He longed for it back, it was his, his means of trolling the gaxy around him, but gone now.

  “Help me,” he begged.

  K’rra’s cold purple eyes stared into his, she slowly shook her head. “That is no way to talk to your sve.”

  “Help me.” He hissed.

  “Take charge of your destiny. and it.”

  “Help me.” He demanded.

  “Yes, sir.” she said gleefully. She lifted off the floor and came to him naked, straddled him. Her pale blue skin glowed in the dim light of a vaguely defined dream room.

  He could feel her uhe dress, hot naked flesh pressing to his. She ground against him slowly, letting him feel her desire and need for him.

  She leaned down and kissed his stump. He wasn’t sure how to feel about it, her lips toug the ugly burned part of his body. Then she rubbed it across her face.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, trying to pull it away from her, trying to hide the ugliness from him.

  “g you.” she whispered.

  flicted feelings raced through him, horror, disgust, and fasation. Would she do this with each body part he lost? He khis was a dream, but could feel her preseh him, close by. Was she imagining this herself? Was he pig up on her feelings?

  She moved off of him crawling up to him. He y back looking up her kneeling body, bare breasts swaying above, peaked with her smile, white teeth behind purple lips. Gripping what was left of his arm she guided it up along bare thighs. His breath became ragged, and he felt himself stir, passionate fires kindling as she pressed him under her dress.

  Through the charred flesh, where he should have no feeling at all, he felt her wet against him. She guided his stump along her lips, while she towered over him g in delight.

  “I am the only one,” she whispered, “No one ever have dohis to you before.”

  He pulled back trying to escape her grasp. She held him tighter, not letting him go, f his appeo her as her hips rolled. Her eyes closed and she made a high-pitched sigh. Her hips pressed to him hard tribbing herself against him.

  “You are mine,” he replied. She was his sve, not by choice… but this… was all her choosing.

  “And you are mine,” she whimpered, then demanded “Let me cum.”

  She thrust herself against him, rubbing him into her, fug his stump. He reached up with his remaining hand and grabbed her hip, feeling her rog against him, tight muscles w under smooth skin. She reached down taking his co her hand. He felt her gripping him, squeeze, and stroke him in time with her grinding. On their own accord his hips betrayed him and started moving. He fucked her hand as she rubbed him against her.

  “You’re so close, Master. Even in this I am happy to please you.”

  Kaster wasn’t sure what he felt. He wao search his feelings, trace them back to their roots, but her squeezing made him delirious with hat was the root, he needed her. He didn’t want to need her, the more he resisted, the harder her fingers squeezed t him. It had all been so much easier when he was alone. But where would he be now if he were alone? Captured and at the mercy of the enemy. Instead, he was at the mercy of this needy woman stroking him to climax.

  When the pressure inside him was about to burst he told her, “Yoing to make me cum.”

  “Yes, Master, and you I.” her purple eyes bore into his, “We are entwined. Cum for me.”

  And he did. He arched his back trying to thrust himself through her hand. She gripped him as he furiously rocked his hips. Howling he cried out, “Cum for me.”

  And she did. She screamed out, her sopping mess of a pussy grinding into him desperately as she cried out a hundred peaked notes. Her thousahs melted into his grunting thrusts. He winced his eyes shut riding out the asm as she fucked him.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw that the white nurse’s dress had ridden up her thighs dispying her t lewdly as she tinued grinding on him. It glistened wetly as she sang her ecstatig. From it, strands of cum stretched out in thin strands frozen in midair. There were dozens of them, eg to his arms, legs, chest, face. And from his own cock he saw the same, strands of spunk creating a web of es to her as well.

  As he looked at the strands, more began f from her mouth, eyes, and fiips to his body. Ached as rands formed from him to her. They were two marioes bound to each other through their desires and need, caught in a web of bodily fluids.

  He woke with an angry yell.