by Eric Vall
I furrowed my brow. “He’s been giving Shoshanne a hand here and there. Why?”
“I’d watch him if I were you,” Hulsan warned as he sent me a pointed look. “When a healer gives up healing for as many years as him, you know something went wrong. Why do you think he can’t get a job outside a pub these days? No one trusts him anymore.”
I hadn’t even thought of this, since Kurna had told me the barkeep chose his career path for himself, but it was possible he’d been misled when he hired Raynor. Kurna found the old Aer Mage tending a bar in Serin while I was away in Nalnora, and beyond this, all I knew was Raynor left the Order around the same time Abrus’ deceit came to light.
Still, it was hard to imagine the barkeep doing anything less than trying to make everyone happy, and as I considered his friendly smiles and obliging nods, I eyed the ornery old man across the fire.
Between him and Raynor, I had no bias one way or the other because both men had helped me and my women since I’d met them. I never knew the two of them were acquainted, but it made sense considering Hulsan couldn’t stand the smell of ale and never drank. There weren’t any circumstances where they would have crossed paths in Falmount either, with one always running Flynt’s Pub and the other always training the mages, so I shrugged it off and decided the disagreements of two old guys hardly concerned me.
All I knew was Raynor managed to make me a tranquilizer that wouldn’t kill off the possessed mages, and Hulsan helped save our asses yesterday against Dahko. Hulsan’s words did make me a little uneasy, though, because Raynor was supposed to be with Shoshanne at the moment, and even though I knew she had Ruela and the Defenders there with her, I was suddenly a little more anxious to get back and check in on her.
I could already hear Haragh shuffling along about a mile away now, so I hopped up to get the strixal and Rosh all packed so we could head out as soon as possible. I was just getting the last of the Rosh secured on the roof when I glanced up and saw Haragh stumbling through the trees looking more beat to hell than he had after the battle against Dahko and the Ignis Mage.
“Wait, she tried to kill you?” I gasped as I abandoned my work and hurried over, but beneath Haragh’s two black eyes, split lip, and several mottled bruises, he wore a lopsided grin on his face.
“Nah, she didn’t,” he sighed hazily.
“Oh,” I said with some surprise. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fantastic,” Haragh assured me, and I could tell by the gleam in his eyes that he really was.
“Well, that’s good,” I chuckled. “We were getting ready to head out.”
“I wanted to talk to ye’ about that,” the half-ogre muttered. “I was just wonderin’ uh … if ye’ wouldn’t mind … ”
I cocked a brow, and that’s when I noticed the silent ogre with a bloody club in hand lurking in the shadows about thirty feet away. Her red eyes sent a chill down my spine as she held my gaze without blinking, and she had a ruby the size of her head propped under one arm.
Haragh noticed the direction I was looking, and he sent me a goofy grin.
“Her name’s Taru,” he said in a low voice. “She’s a bit shy.”
“Okay … ” I mumbled as I forced myself to look away from the genuinely scary ogre in the trees. “That’s kind of cute, I guess.”
“It is,” Haragh chuckled, and the man actually blushed. “She don’t talk to many men around here. Usually she just growls and rips ‘em to shreds, but she likes talkin’ to me. Says I’m the nicest ogre she ever met.” Haragh proudly adjusted his leather vest when he said this, and I grinned as I imagined the night the two must have had. “Anyway, she uh … she asked if I might consider bringin’ her with me when we left, and I was wonderin’ … ”
“Say no more,” I chuckled as I clapped the man on the arm. “We can make room. I’ll raise the roof of the Mustang a bit, too, so she doesn’t bump her head.”
Haragh grinned from ear to ear.
“Thanks for that,” he sighed with relief. “Really, I’m mad about this woman. She’s just … ”
I raised my brows as he turned to admire the giant, red eyed ogre in the distance, and when the woman sent him the tiniest smile, I could kind of see where he was coming from. She was honestly terrifying, but that little hint of a smile was pretty damn cute.
“Let me get the car all set,” I chuckled. “She can squeeze in back with the other women.”
All of my women lit up when I told them Haragh was bringing his lady ogre back with us, but when Aurora threw her arms around the half-ogre with a giddy giggle, none of us missed the warning growl coming from the trees.
Aurora immediately stepped three feet away from Haragh and put her hands up as she tucked herself behind me, and Taru prowled forward until she was in formation and growling behind the half-ogre’s left flank.
“Don’t worry, she’s just a hugger,” I quickly assured the ogre woman. “Haragh keeps saving my life, and Aurora’s incredibly grateful. That’s all this is.”
“It’s true,” the half-elf blurted out, and she locked her arms around my waist for good measure. “See? This one’s mine. That one’s yours.”
Taru slowly nodded as her growls faded, and Deya let out a silvery giggle.
Then the elf trotted right up to the ogre woman and took her hand, and she led her to the Mustang as if Taru wasn’t four feet taller than her and dragging a bloody club.
“You can sit in the back with us,” Deya said sweetly. “Would you like me to put your ruby in the trunk?”
Taru snarled the second Deya reached for the ruby, though, and Haragh and I exchanged a nervous glance.
“She uh … she really likes her ruby, actually,” Haragh explained. “Better let her keep it with her.”
Deya obliged the ogre woman as they all started piling in, and with a little extra effort, they managed to make it work. The elf ended up sitting on Taru’s lap since there wasn’t much room for her anywhere else, but I was just grateful no more growling took place.
Hulsan was chuckling to himself over the situation when he joined me and Haragh in the front seat, and I glanced uneasily in the rearview mirror to be sure no teeth were bared.
Deya was smiling happily from her place on Taru’s lap, though, and Cayla was calmly explaining where they were all from while the ogre woman nodded along and clutched her ruby in her big green arms.
So, I just chuckled and brought Bobbie to life, and Haragh sent me a huge, blushing grin as I turned us back toward the east.
Chapter 17
I had my ears trained on the infirmary from miles outside Falmount, and the sun was low in the western sky by the time we finally arrived. I’d already scanned the entire perimeter of the village and checked to be sure Big Guy was still on patrol, so my nerves were at ease when we climbed out of the Mustang beside the house. I could tell by the steady sound of slicing flesh that Shoshanne was working on removing brandings at the moment, and Raynor was rasping away in the pub while he served up heavy pints of ale to Kurna and some other Defenders.
“It’s not much,” Haragh was saying as he helped Taru heave herself out of the car, “but it’s home. I’ve got a house over on the other side of Magehill, but I was thinkin’ maybe we could uh … get ourselves a new place. You know, somewhere a little more private.”
The ogre woman betrayed that same tiny smile as I unsealed the trunk, and I couldn’t help smirking at the pair. Taru was a good foot taller than Haragh, but the way she looked down at him while she clutched her ruby was nothing less than adoring, and when the half-ogre proudly grinned back, a strange purring sound came from the woman’s chest.
I raised my brows and immediately averted my gaze, and Haragh cleared his throat.
“We’re gonna get goin’,” he abruptly announced. “I’ll uh … I’ll check in with ye’ later.”
“Yep,” I said with a nod as I busied myself with unloading the jars of strixal. “Nice to meet you, Taru.”
The ogre woman wasn’t paying atten
tion to anything but Haragh, though. She looped her arm in his, and the pair were already wandering off into the woods toward the northern edge of town.
“I love her,” Deya sighed as she watched them go. “She’s so quiet and sweet.”
“Sweet?” I clarified.
“Uh-huh,” the beautiful elf giggled. “She braided my hair for me, see?”
Deya had a long pink braid draped over her shoulder, and she twirled around to show me the intricate designs Taru had somehow twisted into her hair just behind her pointed ears.
“She’s very gentle for an ogre,” Deya assured me, “and she even let me take a nap on her shoulder on the drive back.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Well, then I’m happy for Haragh. Sounds like he’s really got himself a hell of an ogre.”
“She’s funny, too,” Aurora said with a smirk.
“She didn’t say a single word the whole way here,” I snorted.
Cayla shrugged. “Yes, but you can tell by her expressions. She’s quirky.”
“If you say so,” I mumbled, and I turned to Hulsan, who was massaging his knee with a frown on his face. “You’re sure you don’t want Shoshanne to take a look at that?”
“Nah, I’ll head to the Oculus,” he muttered.
“I’ll give you a ride,” I offered, but Hulsan cocked a brow at me.
“Go see that woman of yours,” the old man chuckled. “I know damn well that’s where your mind’s at. I’ve got a horse at the stables, I’ll be fine.”
I grinned and clapped the old Terra Mage on the shoulder. “Thanks for everything, Hulsan. I really appreciate you helping us out with Dahko and that Ignis Mage. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Yeah, well,” Hulsan said with a dismissive shrug, “you just get that machine built so your ogres don’t end up being targeted again.”
I rolled my eyes. “They’re not my ogres.”
“You sure about that?” he asked as he sent me a pointed look. “From what I heard, they sure as hell aren’t Temin’s.”
The old man raised his brows before he turned to limp down the lane, and an uneasy feeling crept through my gut as I considered his words.
Now that I was back in Falmount, the idea of telling Temin what had gone down in Jagruel actually made me feel a bit like a traitor, even though half of me knew I’d done nothing wrong. I protected the ogres from enslavement, killed one of the Master’s primary leaders, and secured an alliance in arms with Jagruel.
All the same, I didn’t do any of that in Temin’s name, I’d done it in my own.
I furrowed my brow as I turned away from the lane, and I let the women know I was going to go check on Shoshanne. They all looked tired from being cooped up in the Mustang since this morning, and while they stretched their slender limbs and gathered their things, I headed for the infirmary.
I found Shoshanne stooped over an unconscious woman with a bloody wad of gauze in her hand, and she was just peeling a bit of flesh from the mage’s calf when she saw me posted against the door frame.
Shoshanne gasped with delight and let the flesh drop to the floor, and then she trotted over to hop and throw her arms around my neck.
“I thought you would be gone all week,” she giggled as I tucked a kiss in her copper curls.
“What can I say?” I sighed. “I’m just kicking too much ass, I guess.”
“Does this mean you solved the problems in Jagruel?” the healer asked eagerly.
“Yes ma’am,” I assured her. “We ended up killing Defender Dahko and a branded Ignis Mage who was helping him out there. I got the alliance we needed, too, and it turns out the ogres are fucking awesome.”
“Really?” Shoshanne asked as she cocked a brow. “I was under the impression you would be smeared across their dinner plates.”
“Nah, there’s no dinner plates in Jagruel,” I chuckled as I followed the healer over to her operating table. “They just sit right there by the fire and feast, but it honestly went better than I expected.”
Stan was dabbing some blood away from the healer’s most recent patient, and when he looked up to send me a salute, I realized he had a little gauze apron and surgical mask on.
“Looking good, buddy,” I chuckled, and Stan shifted his apron before turning back to his work. “Anyway, Grot, the leader, is an alright guy, and I actually got him to agree not to eat any more dwarves, so there were multiple wins. Haragh’s finally got a lady friend who is genuinely terrifying, but super sweet, and Deya flew from one coast to the other just to show off her dragon skills.”
Shoshanne let out a giggle as she wrapped gauze around her patient’s calf. “It sounds like I missed all the fun. Here I was thinking Jagruel would be worse than Nalnora.”
“No, Jagruel is one of my new favorite places,” I assured her with a decisive nod. “Now, I’ve gotta build another automaton and send it west to guard the forest for them, and I have a new pistol to finish working on that I started on the drive there, so I’ll be busy in the shop for a few days. How have things been going here, though? It looks like you’re up to your elbows in possessed mages.”
I glanced around to see every table was occupied with chained up mages, and Shoshanne let out an exhausted sigh.
“I am,” she admitted. “There are five more upstairs because I ran out of room here. The snatcher is bringing them in every few hours now.”
I stared. “What?”
“I know,” Shoshanne muttered uneasily. “I’ve removed one hundred and nine runes since you left, but Mason, I’m getting a little nervous about this. There shouldn’t be so many in the woods near Serin, and your other automaton arrived from the Oculus late last night with seven others.”
“Shit,” I said as my stomach dropped. “He’s closing in on the Oculus.”
“I think so, too,” Shoshanne agreed. “I told Defender Urn about my concerns, and he’s over there now taking a look around. He left with ten other Defenders this morning.”
“Thank you,” I sighed as I pulled the woman into my arms. “That was the right thing to do. You’re not losing your guards, though, are you? I didn’t hear any of them up on the tower.”
“No, they’re just getting a fresh batch of broth from Raynor for me, since these mages will be waking up in an hour or so.”
I nodded. “How is it going with Raynor?”
“Excellently,” the healer said with a smile, and then she turned to begin sterilizing her tools for the next procedure. “He spent all of yesterday helping me here, and he’s been doing some of the interviews with the recovered mages despite how exhausted he looks juggling the pub and the infirmary. He’s such a kind-hearted man. I don’t even need to ask him for assistance, and he’s right there at my side ready to help.”
“Is he?” I asked as I furrowed my brow.
“Yes, he’s a remarkable healer,” Shoshanne assured me. “I don’t know how I’d get all this work done without him.”
“That’s good, I guess,” I muttered, but Shoshanne eyed me skeptically.
“Is something wrong?” she asked. “You look concerned.”
“No, everything’s fine,” I said. “Just wondering what he’s like, that’s all. I don’t know the guy too well, and Hulsan made it sound like he might not be the best man for helping around the infirmary.”
“Well, I know a bit about healing, and I think he’s wonderful,” Shoshanne purred as she sidled over for a kiss. “Aside from you, he’s the sweetest man I’ve ever met, and I don’t mean any offense, but Hulsan isn’t exactly the easiest to get along with. He’s also snorting his way through my entire supply of Aldrin Pollen, which I don’t appreciate.”
I smirked. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. We’ll have to take the train to Howleigh sometime and get you more.”
“That sounds almost romantic,” Shoshanne murmured as she sent me a flirty look. “The last time we passed through there, I was a virgin and losing my mind from wanting you so badly.”
“That’s right,�
�� I chuckled. “You were all kinds of blushy, I forgot about that. It’s settled then. As soon as things calm down, we’re taking our own train north, and I’ll have to make up for all those days you spent pining over me.”
“I was not pining!” Shoshanne scoffed as she pushed me away. “I was … ”
“Totally in love with me,” I said with a brazen grin.
“Alright, out of my infirmary,” the healer ordered with mock fury. “I am too busy for nonsense, and I have another thirteen mages to take care of in the next hour.”
I laughed as the caramel beauty started shoving me toward the door, and I let her boot me from the infirmary as I admired the fierce blush on her cheeks.
Then Shoshanne let out a haughty huff as she turned on her heel, and I didn’t miss the extra bit of sass she had in her step as she strutted back to her operating table.
I shook my head to myself as I turned to head back to the house, but my pace slowed the second I saw Raynor heading up the lane with two Defenders.
He had piles of parcels in his arms while he hobbled along, and the others carried two giant pots while they struggled not to spill broth all over the place.
“Need a hand?” I asked as I met them in the lane.
“No, no, you’re a busy man,” Raynor rasped as he smiled up at me, but there was a nervous crinkle on his bushy brows that I wasn’t used to seeing on the barkeep. “Glad to see you’re back safe. Miss Shoshanne’s been worrying over you.”
“Everything went just fine,” I told the man, and as he nodded and carried on hobbling toward the infirmary, I fell in step beside him. “Thank you for helping out here, you don’t have to wear yourself thin over us.”
“Oh, tut,” he chuckled hoarsely. “It’s the least I can do. I’m enjoying being of some use again. Spent a long time not knowin’ what I wanted to do next after I left the Oculus, but I think I’ve got it pretty good here in Falmount.”
I nodded as we re-entered the infirmary, and Shoshanne rushed over to relieve the old man of his parcels while the Defenders carted their pots over to the hearth. Then the healer looped her arm in Raynor’s to bring him over to her next patient, and the two smiled and chatted about how things had been going while she set to work with her scalpel.