by Xander Jade
Val nodded. “Yep. It will be interesting to see how it works out.”
Grunting, I asked, “What are your plans for today, ladies?”
Sasha replied with her usual smile, “We are returning to our training classes.”
Lashane cheerfully stated her approval, “Yeah, we found two beast mages to teach our classes.”
“It wouldn’t happen to be two moon elves, would it?”
Shaila giggled. “Yes, it is, husband. Tisha and Almon have graciously come forth to help.”
“That’s great. How many beast mages have joined us?”
Sasha answered, “Six, dear. It will help Lashane and Shaila tremendously.”
I nodded. “I will be with the orcs for a few to see how they are setting up.”
“When are we going to spar, hon?” Tia asked with a gleam in her eyes.
I looked over and stared at the beautiful elf for a few moments before answering, “Hopefully this week or the next.”
She nodded and winked at me. I kissed them goodbye and left, heading towards the orcs. It didn’t take me long to come upon their place in the settlement. They had sparring sessions and training already going. I watched Tavoria and Racar spar with each other. They were good, but when they both sparred with Gurak, he disarmed them quickly. The duo was getting frustrated and asked how he could do those moves. He gestured to me. I didn’t realize that the orc knew I was there but nodded to them. The trio came over and bowed to me. I shook my head at that.
“Guys.”
“Alpha,” they said in unison.
I glanced at Gurak. “Get everyone to start with our training exercises and our formations. I am needed elsewhere to sign some contracts for our settlement to expand and check up on other groups but will be back to train with you hopefully by tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir. We can handle it,” he said in response.
“I will leave on that note.”
Tavoria had been staring at me that whole time.
Arriving at the cabin, I grabbed some water and downed it. Gordon came in with a couple of merchants to discuss the contracts. I looked them over and asked questions when applicable, then signed them. We all smiled, knowing it would be the start of a new life for our people. They advised it would be a few days to get all the paperwork and titles transferred into my name. I nodded and we talked about who to send to get them moving. I advised that we needed to purchase herds of cattle to get us started on our own breeding. We’d eventually fill our pastures. Approving the moves and positions, I left to work on my magic with my two predators in tow.
Chapter 15
The next week we had our titles for the new properties. We ended up with twenty farms to start with, also several general goods stores, hardware stores, and even clothiers, blacksmiths, and tanners. Four banks as well. We sent out groups to each farm site and immediately started on building gardens, barns, chicken coops, and a ten-foot wall around each farm. Gordon and his team sent out workers to find cattle, chickens, and dairy cows. The settlement was busy over the next few weeks.
The new mommas were getting around fine and even slowly started training again. The little ones always had plenty of aunts and uncles to take care of them. I shook my head at that and got my head back to my own group training. Tavoria, Racar, and the new recruits were quick picking up the new formations and our way of doing things. Tavoria and Racar wanted to spar with me at first, but after I handed them their asses, they never asked again. I ended their training in the middle of the afternoon. I had a date with Tia.
“Good job guys! We’ll pick this up again tomorrow. I want everyone to practice the forms that we went over today.”
They grunted and I left to find my elf to spar with. She was still training a group when I came up, so I waited for her to finish. She was sparring with a male elf, about 6’4” and broad shouldered. He was pretty good, but she was better. The male tried to save face after the sparring session by flirting.
“Tia, you’re deadly. How did a beautiful woman such as yourself learn these forms?”
“Years of training, Gaelin. It’s not a big deal, you will learn in the coming days.”
“I’ll only be able to learn if you’re my instructor.”
She chuckled softly. “I won’t always be your instructor. Others will help you as well.”
“None of them can match your expertise. …Can we meet by the fire tonight, and look at the stars together?” He had hope in his voice.
Damn, he’s laying it on a little thick. Let’s see what she does.
I pulled my dagger out to get the dirt out from under my fingernails while listening to the rest of the conversation.
“No, I’m sorry, Gaelin.”
“Why not? I know that I’m new to this settlement, but I’m better than anyone here and I’m from an honorable house. What’s the problem?”
The others in the group started to notice me and their eyes widened. The majority seemed to be weres and they bowed their heads to show respect.
Tia still hadn’t seen me. She replied, “My mate will have a problem with it, he isn’t one to trifle with, and for your protection, this discussion needs to end.”
She started walking back to the group and the male caught her arm.
“Tiatha, who is your mate? Nobody was aware you have one. Did he force you into a relationship? I will end him on my honor. Who is the cause of this atrocity? It will be the end of his miserable life when I get my hands on him.”
The group snickered at that last statement; they knew who her mate was.
She turned around to tear into him but met my eyes at that time. Her eyes widened and she jerked her arm away from the elf.
“If you touch me like that again, I’ll kill you. Do you really want to know who my mate is?” she snarled, and he nodded. “He’s standing over by that oak tree.”
I watched him turn slowly, checking his movements to make sure he wouldn’t do anything stupid. He finally looked at me and all the blood looked like it drained from his entire body. He quickly stammered an apology, saying he didn’t mean it, and was kind of panicking. I decided I’d have a little fun with this prick and started walking towards him as he backed away.
“I thought you were going to end my miserable life. Shall we settle it in the circle then?”
He shook his head rapidly and then took off running away from me. I chuckled and a few moments later the group joined in.
Tia had a look of concern as she walked towards me.
“Max, he wouldn’t leave me alone. I didn’t do anything.”
I spread my arms wide and she sprinted to me. I then wrapped my arms around her and picked her up where she could put her legs around my waist. She laid her head on my shoulder and I replied, “I know, I saw the whole thing. I can’t be mad at you for being a gorgeous woman. Guys will flirt and come onto you. It’s what you decide that will have an effect on me.”
She kissed my neck and spoke, “I love you my mate and I will forever be loyal to you.”
I kissed her tenderly, but evidently, she wanted more, so our tongues danced for a couple of minutes, then I set her back onto the ground. She wouldn’t let me go for a few minutes, but I managed to pry her off.
“Are you ready to spar, gorgeous? Get those blades I gave you and we’ll dance.”
She giggled and nodded, so I met her in the circle. For some reason, people gathered to watch us. When we were done warming up, I looked around to find the area crowded, everyone waiting for us to start. I shrugged and stared at my beautiful, green-eyed elf but didn’t pull my blades yet. I just wanted to see her attacks and then I would use my forms against her.
“You ready Tia? Come at me with all you’ve got.”
She nodded and quickly made it into my personal space. I wasn’t expecting her to be that quick, so I had to dodge swiftly, and sidestepped her attack. Gasps were heard but I didn’t care because I got into my comfort zone. Tia kicked at my leg while slashing with her left arm aiming at my ches
t, I blocked both and kept up with a defensive position. She was aggressive in her attacks, thinking to take me out quickly. Batting all of her moves away, I finally saw her pattern, and a couple moves later, I ended up disarming her. Flicking the blades away with my boots, she tried punching me but feinted that move to bring her leg up to try and take my feet out from under me. I caught her leg and then kicked her other leg to get the feisty woman to land on her back. Before she could react, I flipped her body over to land face first on the ground and pinned her with my arms and legs.
She grunted and shrieked angrily, “Let me up! Max, let me up!!”
“Not till you calm down.”
She lay still for a few moments, taking deep breaths and when I saw she was okay, I let her up. Backing up a couple of steps to make sure she wouldn’t try anything, I got into a defensive stance. Tia was breathing hard when she picked herself up and gawked at me. I realized at that point my breathing was hard too. Recognizing that my eyes were glowing orange, I had to make sure my beast wasn’t on the brink of showing up unannounced. I noticed that it was very quiet, so I looked around at the onlookers and found everyone staring hard at me. What’s that about?
“How the hell did you do that?” Tia demanded.
“Do what?”
“Your movements. It was like you were a blur and sometimes you would even disappear for a moment. I’ve never been beaten, ever, and you come in here with nothing to defend yourself except your limbs. It was like you knew what my next move was going to be. I’ve never seen anything like it and want to know right now how you did it, dammit!” Tia commanded.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, or how I supposedly did it. Is that why everyone is staring at me?”
Val, Cass, Sasha, and Soph walked towards us with concern in their eyes.
“Tia, is everything okay?” Cass asked. “Are you hurt?”
“Everything is fine, Cass. I just want our mate to answer my questions.”
Soph spoke up, “Yeah, Max, how did you do that? It was amazing to see.”
“That was badass, my love. People are still whispering about it.” Val beamed.
“I have no idea what happened or what I did. It was instinct, so I followed it and the result was what you saw. This is getting out of hand, can we continue, please?”
“I don’t know. At the moment I’m wary, because I don’t know how you’ll react,” Tia reluctantly responded.
“Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?”
She nodded and I hung my head in defeat. I didn’t want them to be afraid of me and was about to end the session when Val voiced her opinion.
“What if two of us were in there, would that help?” Val suggested.
Tia nodded her approval.
I started walking to my spot and glanced around to see the area was packed with viewers now. My eyes roamed the crowd and settled on Gordon, Sean, Rachel, the rest of my ladies, and were betas. The eyes of the weres showed eagerness, almost glowing. I hoped they were containing their animals. I guessed they liked sport. I caught Gordon giving his usual smirk and nodded to the group. They bowed their heads back to me. I turned back around to see who had joined the party. Cass and Tia were staring at me, blades ready to go, so I grabbed my practice sticks, and prepared for the assault.
“Somebody, call it!”
I couldn’t tell who said ‘go’, but the ladies shot at me with blazing speed. At first, I didn’t know what was going on. My vision turned bright white. The girls were a grayish color and I could see their fluid motions. Somehow the world slowed down when they were near me. Tia was first and slashed at me again, so I backed up a moment before she connected. Cass tried to get behind me to slash at my back, so I dove headfirst to the ground, and caught myself with my hands. While my legs were extended, I spun my body quickly, and knocked their feet out from under them. They grunted when they hit the ground, so I stood up, and waited for them to get up.
When Cass stood up, she came at me again, slashing with both blades, and tried to use her legs to take me down. Somehow, I knew Tia had slipped behind me to come at me. I blocked the moves from Cass and knocked the blades from her hands. They flew off to the left somewhere. At that moment, Tia slashed at me. I kicked her in the stomach, slapped the blades out of her hands, grabbed her arms, and flipped her over my body. She hit Cass hard and they both landed on the ground.
I knew two others had joined the challenge, so I turned as they were coming for me, but I didn’t give them the chance to get comfortable. Soph threw a punch at me, missing as I ducked under her arm, and I slapped her in the back of the knee with my practice stick. She yelped and landed on her knees, while I concentrated on Val’s barrage of slashes. She was relentless, trying to get at least one blow to connect, but I evaded everyone. The gray and white vision made it like I could see her moves before she executed them. I recognized she was stalling to allow the others to recover and tried to hinder me. Without looking behind me, I knew they were in a semi-circle trying to surround me with Val as the last piece. I ducked under the next assault to get behind her, pushed the lioness into the others, and then stood there in silence, watching them. I was waiting for the next challenger.
They caught Val, helping her stand straight. All of them stared at me with apprehension.
***
Reaper and Hercules came over and sat down. Max gazed over at them, nodded, and then white flames covered his entire body. The crowd gasped and shouted, backing up a few steps.
“Max, why are your eyes white and your body covered in flames?!” Tia cried.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Val asked, confused. “He’s just standing there, waiting!”
Sasha, Leena, Shaila, and Lashane ran over to join their sister-wives.
“I’m not sure, but let’s see if Reap knows anything,” Soph suggested and the others agreed.
‘Reaper, what’s going on with our Alpha?’
He answered, being bonded with Max he can speak to them in their minds with telepathy, ‘I’m not sure little one, but that isn’t Max we’re seeing.’
Herc replied, ‘I agree, something else is with us.’
All the women around stared at their mate, anxiously wondering what was happening. Max turned to scan the crowd, and then stared at Reaper and Hercules again. A dome of white flames surrounded them for privacy.
“bróðirs I em hæpi tu sjá ju,” the avatar spoke out in a foreign language.
Everyone’s eyes widened and no one moved an inch, wanting to know what language it was speaking. Herc and Reap nodded and responded with a hello in the same language, letting the girls listen through Max’s link.
“I em ði tʃəʊ.zən wʌn ceɘteɪkər,” the avatar responded out loud and the dynamic duo nodded.
“What’s he saying?” Tia timidly asked.
‘tangi ju spēk `komən tung?’ Reap asked.
The being nodded and replied, “Yes, I can speak common.”
‘Repeat what you said before I asked you to speak common.’
“I am the Guardian of the Chosen One.”
Sasha asked in confusion, “What do you mean, Guardian? One of the Guardians?"
He nodded and the gathered gasped. Reaper and Hercules looked surprised as well, but it was an act, they knew that the Guardian was supposed to show up.
The Guardian stated, “I was sent here to guide and watch over him.”
“Where is Max?” Val demanded.
The avatar smiled dangerously and replied, “He’s resting at the moment while I have taken over his body.”
“Why did you take over his body?” Leena asked, worried.
“When you started this fighting, I didn’t realize what was going on, because I just got here. I thought the Chosen was in danger, seeing that he was fighting without any weapons besides some sticks. I helped out in the beginning but took over entirely when the four of you took it upon yourselves to fight him.”
“We were only sparring and would never hurt him intentionally,
” Tia angrily retorted.
“Yes, I know that now. He told me before he passed out. That’s why the four of you are not injured and still living.”
They all stepped back at that comment and changed the subject quickly.
Soph asked, “When can we have him back?”
“I am healing some of his ailments, so in a few minutes when I’m finished. I will leave him be for now.”
‘Brother, what is your name?’ Herc asked.
“Nicas.”
‘Will you tell us what purpose you have for him?’ Reap questioned.
“A terrible Darkness is coming. One that has never been seen. This Darkness is building an army of slaves, dark ones, and undead. Max has been chosen by the gods to defeat it. Like I said before, I’m his Guardian and was sent here to guide him, just like everyone here, and those still to come. Many more will come to support him, and he will need all the assistance we can give him.”
“Are you saying that Max is the gods’ champion?” Tia hesitantly questioned.
“Yes.”
The girls gasped and felt their world tilt out of control.
“Can you tell us who or what is coming?” Tia asked.
“A demon prince by the name of Xolras.”
“Shit, this is bad! We thought it was only a minor demon!” Cass shrieked.
“Now you see why I’m here. It is an ancient demon and very powerful.”
Val responded, “How can we prepare for this shit? Nobody has ever fought a demon prince before.”
“I’ve looked through Max’s memories and he is going in the right direction. Free the prisoners, spread the word to the other kingdoms, and train who will learn. Now, I’ll leave you with this information: Max’s mana pool and the flow through his mana network had a major blockage. It was taking a toll on his body. I mended the pool and the flow so he will probably sleep for the next few days with all the power I infused into him. Brothers, please help the Chosen to his abode.”
They nodded and strolled over to Max. When they got near him, the white flames coming from Max’s body and the dome vanished. Reap caught Max before he face planted, lifted him on to Herc, and faced the girls.