The next morning, the Academy gates opened to reveal the eerie, mist-shrouded entrance to the **Wailing Woods**. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth, ancient trees, and the faint, unsettling musk of Void-beasts.
Commander Varkas stood before the assembled students, reviewing the pre-assigned cell manifests. He barked out names, and Caelum listened intently.
"Cell Alpha: Lyra, Xavia, and Caelum," Varkas announced, his eyes lingering on the unusual pairing. "You're our most... *volatile* combination. Prove you can stabilize a mixed reaction in the field."
**Lyra** flashed Caelum a triumphant, possessive smile, her teal Aether practically purring. **Xavia** merely gave a slow, predatory grin, her obsidian eyes glinting with a dangerous promise.
The trio moved through the woods with practiced ease. Lyra, with her wind affinity, scouted ahead, her movements light and silent. Xavia, a natural hunter, shadowed Caelum, her presence almost undetectable. Caelum walked between them, his Gold Aether acting as a silent compass, detecting the faint tremors of Void-beast activity.
They tracked a **Gloom-Crawler**—a low-rank, multi-legged beast that emitted a disorienting haze. Lyra used her wind blades to herd it into a clearing. Caelum unleashed a focused burst of gold Aether, staggering the creature. Just as it stumbled, Xavia struck, a silent, obsidian lash that severed its tendrils.
The Gloom-Crawler shrieked, dissolving into dark mist.
"Efficient," Caelum acknowledged, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.
"Hardly a challenge for *us*," Xavia purred, her eyes fixed on Caelum. "But I didn't come here to hunt weak beasts."
As if on cue, a sudden, magical dampening field slammed down around them, isolating the clearing from the rest of the forest. It was a signature move of higher-tier Shadow Arts.
"What was that?" Lyra asked, her hand instinctively going to Caelum's arm, her teal Aether flaring with alarm.
"That, little bird," Xavia said, her voice dropping to a seductive growl, "was me making sure we wouldn't be disturbed."
Xavia's obsidian Aether surged, wrapping around Caelum like a suffocating shroud. She pushed him against a thick, moss-covered tree, her body pressing against his.
"In the arena, you tasted my darkness," Xavia whispered, her lips brushing his. "Now, I want to *consume* your light. I want to feel that Gold Aether flood my core until there's nothing left but your essence inside me."
She pulled his head down, kissing him with a fierce, possessive hunger. Her hands moved over his body, tugging at his clothes with a primal urgency.
Lyra gasped, her eyes widening in a mixture of shock and furious jealousy. "Xavia! What are you doing?! He's *mine*!"
But Xavia didn't even break the kiss. She simply reached out a hand, sending a pulse of dark Aether that wrapped around Lyra, binding her and drawing her closer, into the center of their burgeoning embrace.
"He's *ours*, now," Xavia corrected, her voice husky. "And you, little bird, are just another frequency for his alloy."
Lyra struggled for a moment, her teal Aether fighting against the obsidian bonds. But as Caelum's free hand found her waist, pulling her into the burgeoning tangle of bodies, her resistance crumbled. Her desire for Caelum was too strong, overriding her jealousy. She pressed her face into Caelum's shoulder, her own hands reaching to help Xavia strip him.
The three bodies became a knot of raw, exposed flesh in the heart of the ancient forest. Xavia, with her dark skin and glowing tattoos, took charge. She guided Caelum, her hips grinding against his as she helped him shed his trousers, her obsidian energy creating a strange, heavy heat that permeated the clearing.
"I want to feel every bit of that Gold," Xavia panted, pushing Lyra's face down toward Caelum's already straining manhood. "And you, Lyra, you'll help me take it all."
Lyra, still trembling, obeyed. Her soft, supple lips closed around Caelum, her teal aether swirling around him as she took him deep. Xavia, meanwhile, straddled Caelum, her internal heat surprisingly intense against his. The dark, swirling energy of her Aether enveloped them both as she ground down onto him.
The encounter was messy, primal, and intoxicating. The damp earth became their bed, scattered leaves and moss clinging to their sweat-slicked bodies. Xavia's powerful thrusts were relentless, her obsidian energy pulling and tugging at Caelum's core, trying to absorb him completely. Lyra, her face flushed and her eyes glazed, worked diligently, her movements becoming more frantic and hungry as she tasted Caelum's essence.
The sounds of their shared pleasure—Xavia's deep moans, Lyra's muffled whimpers, and the wet *slap* of skin against skin—mingled with the rustling leaves of the forest. The damp moss became saturated with their combined fluids, turning the ground beneath them into a primal, aromatic marsh.
Caelum, caught between the consuming darkness of Xavia above and the eager, hungry warmth of Lyra below, was pushed to his absolute limit. He felt his Gold Aether surge, not just into Xavia, but also down into Lyra. It was a chaotic, simultaneous fusion.
As the climax hit, a blinding flash of golden light mixed with obsidian darkness and teal wind erupted from the trio, shaking the ancient trees. Xavia arched her back, her tattoos flaring, her body convulsing as she let out a guttural scream. Lyra whimpered, her grip tightening, swallowing every last drop.
They lay tangled on the forest floor, spent and saturated, their bodies gleaming with sweat and the residue of their potent union. Xavia looked at Caelum, her eyes still burning.
"Not enough," she whispered, her voice filled with a satisfied, yet still hungry, promise. "I'll never have enough of your gold."
Lyra, breathless, just buried her face against Caelum's chest, possessively marking him with her scent.