It was an eerie thing to walk through the empty camp. It held many traits familiar to any well-organized military encampment, but also many artifacts she had only ever seen as antiques of the ancient Imperium. Yet, here they were, new and whole. She could pick them up and feel the cold iron in her own hands.

  Not her own hands. The fingers were the wrong size. The hair on her arms was dark and rough.

  There were no people anywhere she looked. On the banners she could see the sign of the XVIII Legion. She was not familiar with the history of that formation. However, this side of the Star Mountains was beyond the point of stable Imperial conquest in any period.

  From the direction the sun was setting in, she was sure that she knew where she was. Something told her that this camp was beside Adeana’s Lake. What she could not say was how the lake had moved out of the mountains, or rather, how it would later be moved into them.

  She followed the camp’s main road to the commander’s tent and went inside.

  The legion’s general had spared no expense for his own luxury. A feast sat ready on golden platters across the central table, it smelled delicious. There were many books and ritual implements in one corner. Finally, in the back, was an enormous bed.

  Vero examined the food more carefully. Some dishes were exotic, but most of it reminded her of the cuisine of Whitegate. She dipped a serving of fried eel into garum.

  Delicious.

  Vero started with surprise when she caught movement in the bed out of the corner of her eye. Now there was a figure beneath the blanket. She was certain the bed had been empty when she first entered.

  She approached cautiously, with her hand on the hilt of her gladius.

  It was Adeana. The nymph looked beautiful, lying at peace as she was. Vero felt an uncomfortable tightness in her trousers. She reached forward to brush Adeana’s cheek.

  The nymph opened her eyes, and smiled at once when she saw Vero. “You’ve returned at last, my love. I wondered what could have taken you so long.”

  “Adeana, what’s happened? We were together in your grotto. Then I found myself here, walking along the lake.”

  The nymph’s face filled with sweet concern. “Hector? Is something wrong? Have you injured your head? Lay down and let me look at you.”

  Adeana pulled her down with a strength that belied her small size. The moment Vero made contact with the bed, it melted beneath her. She felt as though she plunged into a deep ocean.

  She feared that her armor would drag her down. However, as she swam desperately upwards, she realized that everything she was wearing had dissolved with the bed.

  Vero bobbed back to the surface and found the water was tranquil and still. She felt wonderfully buoyant, like she was floating in a salt lake. Above her the sky was clear and the sun shined bright.

  It was obvious enough that the nymph was playing games with her, but Vero did not feel threatened so far. All the lore Vero knew claimed that nymphs were benign. They were said to rescue drowning sailors and banish resulkas. She tried calling out again.

  “Adeana! Are you there?”

  “Here, my love.”

  Vero heard the nymph behind her. At once they were both in the bed together. She felt satin sheets against her skin, her clothes had not returned. “Adeana, what’s going on?”

  “Why won’t you hold me in your arms? Don’t you love me anymore, Hector?”

  Vero embraced the nymph. Her skin felt wonderful, soft and smooth. She nuzzled Vero and played with the hair on her chest.

  Another curious sensation.

  “Is this a dream? What have you done to me?”

  “To your first question, yes and no. To your second question, I’m only trying to do as asked.”

  Adeana made a devious little smile. Vero could not resist giving her a small kiss, which turned at once into a long kiss. It felt very strange to be the one with a beard in a kiss. Each time they broke away, even for a moment, Adeana used the opportunity to whisper sweet words to her.

  Vero half expected the dream to fade away, but it did not. She was still as present in the moment as ever. At last, she worked up the willpower to attempt dragging the nymph back into serious conversation.

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  “You called me Hector, is that whose body this is? Are you showing me his memory?”

  “Such a clever boy. I knew it wouldn’t take you long to understand.”

  “The land looks so different. This legion camp is from the ancient Imperium, it must be more than a millennium in the past.”

  “I honestly could not tell you. I do not number the passing of years as the children of men do.”

  Vero felt the nymph’s feet twisting with her own.

  “The one who first built a castle above your grotto. Is that who Hector is?”

  “As wise as you are handsome, my prince.”

  The Black Palatine had been an Imperial as a living man. Had he first come here with this Hector?

  “Do you know how the Black Palatine became a vampyre?”

  “I don’t recognize that name. As a nymph, it’s my nature to open myself completely to others. If you ask, I shall answer. But I cannot answer what I do not know.”

  Vero pulled her into an embrace. “Hector kept building his fortresses here for a reason, didn’t he? Was it to be near to you?”

  Adeana tried a smile, but still looked sad. “Yes, among other reasons.”

  Adeana’s hand slipped lower and lower until she reached Vero’s navel. She had no experience inhabiting a male body, but her anatomy responded to the nymph’s caresses organically. It felt unusual and unnatural, but that only gave her urges a stronger attraction to Vero. In moments, her manhood felt stiffer than an iron rod.

  “Do you want me, Hector?”

  “Call me Virgil.”

  “Do you want me, Virgil?”

  “Yes.” Vero turned Adeana over, her whole body was warm and slick. Vero mounted the nymph. Her flesh relented to the press of Vero’s phallus at once.

  Vero let her instincts guide the rhythm of her thrusts and felt the pleasure spread all through her. Then almost at once, Vero realized she would not be able to restrain herself. Inadvertently, her seed burst forth from the throbbing organ.

  “Really, Virgil?”

  “My apologies,” Vero replied sheepishly, as she removed her flaccid member. “The need to pace myself as the masculine partner hadn’t occurred to me.”

  “It’s fortunate then, that this is a dream.” Adeana kissed her intimately, then took her mouth further.

  In an instant, the fatigue Vero felt was gone and another erection arrived. “How did you do that?”

  “Your physical body is still female and curled in my arms in the grotto. If you were a man in truth, then that would be the end of it.”

  Adeana lay on her back and spread her legs. “Now let’s try again. Shall we?”

  This time she thrust into the nymph with more discipline. She tried to remember the technique Jean always used with her.

  “Oh yes, Virgil! That way, my prince! Just so!”

  The world appeared to tilt a moment around the fulcrum of her pelvis, and they were back in the water once again. Vero did not cease her husbandry and they floated on the serene surface.

  “You take to the spear side of love-making very well, Ser Virgil.”

  “My distaff has always been sharper than most others, I think.”

  Vero grabbed Adeana’s bottom roughly to prevent them from floating away from one another. With her other hand she gripped one of the nymph’s teats.

  “You’re not very gentle, Ser Virgil.”

  “I want you. Every little bit of you. Would you prefer me to treat you delicately?”

  “Hector always did. I can see something more savage inside you. Make love to me how you wish. Scourge me with whips, if you like.”

  “I don’t think that will be necessary. I have everything I want from you, so far.”

  “I told you before that I’m completely open to you. Immerse yourself, allow me to soothe your dark temper.”

  Vero felt them sink beneath the surface. The water filled her lungs, but she did not drown.

  “Do you love me, Virgil? Just a little?”

  Such a silly thing to ask. Why were women always asking such foolish questions during intimate moments?

  “Of course, I do.”

  Adeana laughed; it was a pretty little sound. “You’re trying to be kind to me.”

  Vero said nothing.

  “Do you desire me, Virgil?”

  “With all my heart.”

  “There! That was more honest.”

  When Vero woke, she broke the surface of the water at once and gasped for air.

  “There you are.” Adeana placed a hand on her shoulder. “You're clean now, but you’ll soon be tainted again the way you’re going.”

  Vero realized that she was different. Her muscles were loose. Her mind felt softer; she still held an edge, but it took more effort to call it out. That might be dangerous. “What did you do to me?”

  “I bathed you in my waters and cleansed you,” Adeana replied. “Just as you asked me to. I should tell you to leave this place and never come back now, but I know you won’t.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You most certainly can, you could flee this place right now. Elude your companions, then go back to find Dora.”

  “They have my sword.”

  “Forget your sword, go live with Jean. What good is a weapon anyway?”

  “I’m a slayer.”

  “A killer.”

  “Slayers are forbidden to hunt mortal men or women; we kill only in the absolute necessity of self-defense.”

  “And you’ll seek it out, again and again. What about men who seek to make monsters of themselves?”

  “When the great academies still operated, I’ve been told they held many debates on the issue of how to treat a man who sought to become a monster.”

  “And what did they ultimately decide?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they never decided anything. For my part, I’m not willing to wait and let innocents die to perverse magic, while I wait for a threat to become even more powerful in the dark arts before acting.”

  “And so, you taint yourself once more.” Adeana pulled Vero from the pool with effortless strength, despite her petite form.

  “If necessary. It’s worth it, I think, if it protects those who are still innocent. If it defends those I love.” Vero caressed Adeana’s cheek.

  “Come with me. Your clothes should be dry, and I’ve left some gifts for you with them.” Adeana led her back to the chamber with her all her clothes and equipment, they were dry.

  Vero redressed and Adeana showed her the gifts she had made: gloves, boots, and a cloak, all of which she fashioned herself interwoven with strands of her own hair. They were very comfortable and form fitting. Adeana guaranteed her that they would never wear out, no matter what rough treatment they were given.

  “Thank-you, Lady Adeana. You’ve been very kind to me, and I am in your debt. If I can ever repay you-”

  Adeana hushed her. “A gift requires no repayment; else it would not be a gift. Now I shall take you where you can climb up to the castle you seek. I cannot help you further.” She took Vero’s arm.

  “You’ve already done more than enough.”

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