by Zack Finley
Argon was deep in my mind and continued to trigger "heal me" spells over and over again supplying Alba with the magic she needed to close my heart before I bled out.
Once my heart stopped leaking and was beating steadily again, Argon began to ease her force field in areas that compressed torn blood vessels. Some of the tears required connecting to corresponding vessels on the far side of the gaping hole in my chest. They grew new blood vessels to bridge the gap and spliced them together.
They discounted the torn bits of clothing and metal armor within my chest wall except when it interfered with restoring the integrity of my circulatory system. Alba excised the mutilated section of my lung and the damaged pieces of the other organs. She didn't want any healing energy diverted to repair them until I quit bleeding. My shattered ribs, cartilage and any other bits diverting healing energies or interfering with restoring proper blood flow were banished.
The hole through my chest was about 6 inches across. I was lucky it hit closer to the shoulder than the middle of my chest, so it only struck my heart with a glancing blow. While there was a lot of damage to my shoulder, it was not immediately life-threatening and could wait.
By the time the bleeding stopped, no one had any healing magic left, but me. I was down to about one-third of the amount I began with. They decided Argon should continue to trigger my "heal me" spell for another hour or until my magic dropped to one-quarter full. The rest of the healers went to rest and let their magic levels recover before the next phase of treatment.
With my condition semi-stable, they decided to wait until the group had at least half their healing magic available. They would then begin cleaning out the debris and start putting things back where they belonged.
After an hour Argon stopped triggering my spells and encouraged me to sleep.
She updated Tobron who had already assembled a team of semi-retired combat mage friends. They were standing by to teleport to the camp where I was hurt. They were prepared to remove any opposition they encountered. She gave him the location we'd first used to scout the camp so they could arrive undetected. Cleon arranged to go along for the assault.
Argon wanted to go with them but felt she needed to be with me in case I needed more help.
Tobron and his team of mages found no sign of any live guards at camp five. When they got to the place I was attacked, they found a confused mass of smoldering lava rock, oozing out of a pit. Tobron said it looked like something I would cast.
When he banished the lava, a pile of human remains was uncovered. They pulled the charred carcass out of the 20 feet deep pit using telekinesis and verified it was human. They removed several enchanted rings, amulets and bracelets, before tossing the body back into the pit. Tobron refilled the pit with conjured rock and notified Argon.
She contacted Olive, the mage assigned to the Augun King's Guard we had been working with since we rescued Augun's heir. She was the one who provided the teleport location Argon and I used to locate the fifth slave camp.
Argon learned Lt. Brik and his company of the Augun King's Guard killed about half of the raiders from the fifth slave camp, but the rest had scattered. Brik had squads chasing down the fleeing scum.
Argon told her I was incapacitated and someone else needed to teleport guards to release the slaves in the last camp. She ordered some of Brik's men to ride to camp five, in case some of the scattered raiders ended up there.
After confirming all was as well as she could arrange, Argon, still covered in my blood, went to see King Rufix, located down the hall from me. Rufix's daughter Jenia, who was also the Klee Queen Mother, and Marko, King Rufix's grandson and heir, were still with him.
Marko was curled up; sound asleep, on his grandfather's bed.
Argon told them I was critically maimed and briefed them about the raiding parties and slave camps. She confirmed the mage who struck me was dead and each slave camp had a small group of Augun soldiers helping the slaves by removing their chains and arming them to defend the camps.
She told them Olive and a Klee mage named Gera were with Lt. Brik who was hunting down the last members of the raiding parties around Asme. Argon suggested they provide Olive a stack of mundane com cards and have her establish a communication network with the king's guard in Asme, Flom, and Augun. Olive might also be able to reestablish contact with some of the Augun mages.
“I suggest you hire Gera, he is the Klee mage assigned to provide a teleport location once Marko had been found. He has shown bravery and a desire to contribute far beyond the terms of his original assignment. He is already in place and is committed to helping,” Argon paused to make sure King Rufix got the message.
Satisfied she continued, “I think the camps we liberated have plenty of supplies, for now. Someone needs to either get more supplies to them or find somewhere they can go to find shelter.
“The five mage bargemen in Flom are the only other mages we have located in all of Augun. Three are helping the king's guard hold the garrison there. Two are bringing king's guard reinforcements upriver from Augun to Flom.”
“Those are the only mages you have been able to locate?” King Rufix asked.
“Yes,” Argon said. “We have gone to several locations looking for mages, and all were either closed up tight or had been looted.”
We both understood the lack of mages would hinder most aspects of life in the kingdom. Lack of mage bargemen would force future movement of goods and personnel to rely on animal power to move barges upriver. At least until more mages could be located.
“Steve has already died too many times to count today. We’ve stopped most of the blood loss, but he still has a lot of major damage to repair.”
“Let us know if there is anything we can do to help,” said Rufix and Jenia.
“Thank you. Alba seems to have everything under control for now. I’ll be back in touch when I know more. If you need me the hospital staff will be able to find me.”
“I do have one request, please ask Olive to meet with me so we can coordinate directly with those on the front lines.”
As she left Argon advised the Klee King's Guard guarding King Rufix's room they would receive a visitor in a few minutes. She contacted Olive on her way back to my room and Argon suspected Olive was dusting off her uniform, washing her face and combing her hair before 'porting in.
She was right.
Reliving this nightmare took a major toll on Argon. I was stunned to learn the extent of my original injuries. No wonder Argon and Alba were treating me with kid gloves. I would be forever grateful they refused to quit and dragged me from death's grip. All I could offer to comfort my mate was the reminder I was now fully recovered.
In my attempt to comfort her I learned she was not just unhappy to relive the nightmare, she was incensed with me. Evidently, she didn't think it was okay for me to throw myself in front of an enchanted spear to keep it from hitting her.
She was unaffected by logic. Getting her to concede she would have done the same thing for me made no difference to the intensity of her anger. I could tell she was torn between a desire to beat me to a pulp and to fuck me into submission.
Knowing which option I preferred, I abandoned logic; something all husbands must do at some point. I just held her in my lap and repeated "I'm sorry" over and over as she began to weep.
When her emotional storm ebbed, we both felt the urgent need to reconnect at the most primitive level. There was no foreplay, heck we didn't even get our armor off before she was on the floor and I was driving my rod deep into her.
I used my force magic to keep her from sliding along the floor as I rammed into her over and over again.
She pulled my head down and claimed my lips, mouth, and tongue as she urged me to dig deeper. Her legs wrapped around me and helped pull me into her on the down stroke. Soon after, I felt the start of her orgasm. I was waiting for this to begin my own surge forward. I increased my tempo and rode her until I collapsed fully spent into a juddering heap.
&nbs
p; It took several minutes for both of us to recover enough to offer kisses. I was mindful of the hard floor, my armor, and my full weight resting on her. But when I tried to withdraw from her, she had recovered enough to use those long legs to keep me in place.
She wanted to maintain full body contact for a few moments longer. I was very willing to comply with her wishes.
I rolled off when she began to stir. She was exploring a new set of bruises our primal lovemaking raised on her backside. She dismissed my attempt to apologize, reminding me we had both wanted it right here and right now and without restraint.
“I’ll kiss your bruises better,” I offered.
“No, I’ll keep them for a while, if only to remind me there is a reason we have beds,” Argon countered before becoming serious. "I'm still mad at you. But, you have two mitigating circumstances in your favor that mean I will eventually get over it. One, you lived. That saved you from having me angry at you until I die. Two, I'd have done the same thing if our roles were reversed."
She leaned forward and kissed me, thoroughly. Argon withdrew her tongue, released my lips, and chuckled when she noticed Happy and the Boys had made a hopeful appearance.
"Sorry boys, we have work to do," she said getting to her feet. From my vantage point on the floor, I could see the foam glistening in her opening.
I was sure she made a few extra movements to tease me, before reaching down to help me to my feet. By now Happy was ready to rumble. I suspected this was payback for the past four days. Especially when she bent over and kissed Happy on his head and promised he'd had to wait until later to play some more. Payback was a bitch.
"I've got the shower first," she said, tossing her armor and clothes on the chair and heading for the back. I couldn't wait until we got to christen the double shower unit Tobron had ordered for our suite at the Klee headquarters.
I suggested Happy and the Boys rest up for tonight, I was positive they were going to need it.
◆◆◆
Chapter 4
Argon met me as I came out of the bathroom, handing me clean clothes and armor. We were to meet Tobron and interview the six people he was ready to hire. Tobron was also eager to show me the new headquarters and proposed warehouse complex.
“I know you are eager to see how things are in Augun, but we promised Tobron we would meet him at headquarters and help with the new hires.”
I suspected there was more to this visit than had been shared, but I was willing to go with the flow. For now.
We set up shop in one of the few fully warded conference rooms at the Klee headquarters to meet one-on-one with Tobron's proposed additions to the staff. Three were young mages, and three were mundanes.
We met the mundanes and heartily favored their hiring. I don’t remember ever being that enthusiastic or naïve.
After the three mundanes left, we discussed the need to develop effective mind shields to protect our mundanes from prying minds. Tobron offered to get some ideas from Inoa. I imagined the top of the line models worn by royals.
Argon and I approved the first two mages. Tobron had warned them someone would mind read them before their hiring could be confirmed. This avoided any privacy issues. Both had deplorable mind shields. We added fixing substandard mage mind shields to our to-do lists. Argon was confident they hadn't even noticed her probe.
Findot, the third mage, was a different sort. Her mind shield was strong. She was only in the room with us for a few seconds when an attack began on my mind shield. Argon retaliated by stunning her.
“I knew she was a strong mind mage but never guessed she would give herself away so easily,” Tobron said. “She never tried breaking through my shield.”
“As if someone would attempt to break through an Inoa rigged shield,” Argon scoffed. “I think she screwed up because she thought Steve was the weak link. He doesn’t act like a strong mage, and for all she knows, he is only here for his good looks. She isn’t the first mage to underestimate Steve’s power. His lack of training points to him as the weak link, little do they know.”
“I’m still surprised she would risk it,” Tobron said.
“I’ll probe her to learn why she would have risked everything on such a flimsy attack,” said Argon.
Argon's reinforced mental skills easily cracked Findot's shields. Findot had strong force and mind skills. She was normally the strongest mind mage in the room and used it to give her a leg up in any encounter. Findot decided to probe me because I was clearly the weakest mage at the table and she didn't expect to get caught.
I assumed Argon would finish reading this mage candidate, fill her with hazy memories about a wonderful interview and let her go. I was surprised when Argon announced after a few minutes she thought we should hire Findot.
"I want Inoa to double check," Argon sent to Tobron and me, "but this one has serious potential. She had a rough childhood on the streets. She wasn't born into a mage family and clawed her way up. In her young life, she has not found anything that matters to her except shelter and enough food to eat. I am willing to take her on as an apprentice."
I piggybacked on Argon's mind probe. To me, Findot seemed an unnecessary risk, but I trusted Argon's instincts. Tobron agreed to offer her the job on a probationary basis pending final approval. He good-naturedly added Findot's final screening to the long to-do list awaiting Inoa's attention.
Once we'd agreed, Argon canceled the stun spell. Findot was not given any pleasant hazy memories to mask how easily Argon infiltrated her mind shield.
Findot was flooded with shame to discover she was powerless to hide anything from
Argon's mind probe.
"How does it feel to have your innermost secrets laid bare?" Argon asked, pinning Findot into the chair with force magic and giving her no place to go. "You would dare attack my mate?"
Tobron and I schooled our faces to avoid giving Findot any hint of sympathy. This was definitely Argon's show.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," began Findot. Only to be cut off.
"You're not sorry you probed him, you're just sorry you got caught."
Findot's helpless demeanor made both Tobron and I want to jump in until Argon messaged us it was still all an act.
"You will not get out of here with your memories intact unless you tell us the true reason you want to work here," said Argon. " I will know if you are lying."
Argon was shimmering with power in a way I never saw before. Her normal tactic was to act less powerful than she was, encouraging enemies to underestimate her. Intimidation wasn't a tactic she employed. I suspected Findot was ready to pee in her pants unless she had already done so.
I could tell when Findot made the decision to drop the facade, her demeanor changed and she looked straight into Argon's eyes.
"I want a new start. I want to be part of something important," Findot said.
I could tell this was what Argon wanted to hear as she dialed back her power aura.
"Your secrets are safe with me," Argon began. "But whether you even have a chance to join our group will depend on whether you can abide by our rules. Can you follow our rules?"
"I don't know, mistress," Findot said, leaving no doubt this was difficult for her to say. "I need to know what the rules are before I can commit. There are some things I just won't do."
"Right answer," Argon said, dropping her intimidating aura even further. "I think we can work with that."
Argon gave Tobron a mental poke. Tobron cleared his throat, saying, "You are hired on a probationary basis. Because you have already exhibited a significant error in judgment, it will take very little to cancel your employment contract." Tobron gave her a fierce look to emphasize the point before continuing.
"We expect our employees to behave honorably. We expect you to be clean, fair and honest in your business and personal dealings. What we do within our compounds and in our businesses are considered private matters. Sharing our private matters with anyone outside of our circle without permission will be cons
idered a breach of trust. Will you abide by these rules?"
Findot eagerly agreed to this set of rules. Tobron told her to return in the morning an hour after first light ready to work.
It made me wonder what rules Findot thought we were going to demand. Argon responded with a curt, "You don't want to know."
After Findot left we talked about Inoa's schedule since it was starting to impact some of our business plans.
Inoa was expecting some time off as soon as the last person rounded up in the assassination plot was interrogated and sentenced.