“Secondary wife?” I said, whipping my head around to look at Breena. “The hell is she talking about now? And why is she paying attention to your size?”
“That’s not important,” my pink-haired fairy said quickly. “What’s important is that you’re not making babies with any spider girls. I mean it. Stell will kill you.”
“So this Stell is the first wife?” Prodonti asked with a tilt of her head. “I would need to submit to her, and then the lady fairy?”
“Ye—I mean no!” Breena hissed. “No wives! Not right now!”
Told ya we should have shared our kills with them, Teeth muttered in my mind.
“Guys,” I raised my hands, closing my eyes to focus my patience. “This is getting ridiculous. I’m not going to have children with anyone. Not any time soon. And Breena? Relax. I don’t have a fetish for this sort of thing. This is way outside my comfort zone. In fact, I’d probably draw the line at a girl refusing to shave her legs.”
Liar, Teeth muttered again.
“My lord,” the Keeper woman whispered with another soft click. “Please.” She stretched out her hands, and the shadows stretched behind her. “We are doomed. Not just my brood. My entire race. In this new Expanse, where preying on the weak is now wrong, we are doomed to be criminals. Doomed to be monsters. But you can change us, my lord. Give us the instincts that tell us another way to live. So that we may survive in the new universe your race has created.”
“Can’t we just teach you?” Breena asked. “Just show you a different way to live?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Prodonti responded. “Not even the Earthborn have ever tried. How would they even do so? My people have aeons of genetic history telling us to take and devour. But what if we had different instincts?” She looked hopefully at me again. “What if we had instincts showing us how to be powerful and…good, like the Earthborn?”
“I’m confused,” I replied carefully. “Didn’t you team up with a bunch of other races that hated us?”
“I did,” she clicked softly. “A bunch of arrogant worms that convinced me they were dragons. That we, together, could at least beat one of your people’s allies. That we could make your own people look bad if we beat you on a foreign world, through surprise, treachery, and every other advantage we could gather. My people, and his for that matter—” she pointed to Virtus—“are all worse off. Trapped down here with nothing but barest survival. But you, my lord Earthborn?” Her eyes gleamed, and her voice quickened again with rapid clicks. “You have become far stronger, have you not? Decades younger than the champions that battled here, yet you still tore your way through our fortified nests. You outmaneuvered us, confused us in ambushes, and then took on my children and their pets in pitched combat, all while outnumbered by as much as a hundred to one. Your ancestors would never have done so, my lord Earthborn. Not with your handful of allies. Not merely with the weapons you have obviously looted from your previous opponents. Not even with your deceptively great strength—” her eyes glanced up and down, and Breena suddenly hissed in anger—“yet you have done all of this, and even Avalon itself recognizes your might. Give us the best advantages to survive, my lord Earthborn. A Keeper with the genes of both Earthborn and Avalon’s lord would be uncontested among any other. Who better to help teach us the way, than a child of both your race and mine?”
“Berry-blast it, Wes!” Breena shouted. “Stell will fruiting make you a spider-waifu Satellite if you have to have one! But you don’t need to get with her!”
Silence swept over the conversation.
“What?” I asked.
“Waifu?” Prodonti asked at the same time, clearly confused.
My little fairy’s eyes widened.
“I mean, um…” Her eyes darted around frantically. “Oops?” she finally offered.
Wes, Karim sent over the mindlink. We’re ready.
Thank God.
“Alright,” I said, closing my eyes. “My head hurts. I’ve had it. This part of the discussion is over. Virtus.” I turned to look at the skeleton standing alongside the Woadfolk. “You took an oath that literally prevents you from betraying me. Was that oath specific to your people, or can other races swear a similar oath of fealty?”
“Full disclosure,” my hoplite commander said. “The oath isn’t foolproof. I could bypass it if I was determined enough. It would kill me painfully afterwards, though. Very painfully, in fact.”
“But other races can swear it?” I persisted, determined to stay on subject.
“Yes. The oath is swearable by anyone, but my company was the only one willing to risk them because they were so dangerous. That’s why I was surprised you swore one of your own in answer to mine.”
“I did it to ensure trust,” I replied, remembering. “Would it ensure trust with her—” I pointed to the spider woman I had come here expecting to kill—“if she swore an oath of fealty, and I swore one of lordship?”
“That would be an alternative, yes.” The armored skeleton nodded. “Assuming you haven’t already decided to risk interspecial sex at this point.”
“Alright then,” I said loudly, clearly, and firmly. “Here’s my decision. I am rejecting all current spider-waifu applicants,” I said, looking at both Breena—who still looked guilty, for some reason—and Prodonti—who still looked confused, for perfectly understandable reasons, “for as long as the idea of freaky arachni-sex gives me a headache.”
I’ll go wait somewhere for twenty minutes then, Teeth said in my head.
Oh, fuck off.
I tuned him out and continued. “But assuming I can trust you not to betray me, Prodonti, I have a solution to both of our concerns. Swear a magically binding oath of fealty to me, and I will bring your people under my wing. You will have to work to restore the damages you have caused to the Woadfathers and the Woadfolk you have harmed, but as long as you are genuinely willing to work to benefit my people and my territory I will have a place for you and your children. Do you accept my conditions?”
She hesitated.
“I…”
Keepers hate giving up their word, I remembered someone say. They hate giving up anything at all.
I hoped that person was wrong.
“I have no choice,” the Keeper queen finally said. “So I am willing. I choose unconditional service over extinction.” Her face twitched as it blinked again. “This is a way forward I had never even considered. I choose it nonetheless.”
I turned and looked behind me again, looking at Alum and the other five Gaelguard standing there.
“Are you going to object to this idea?” I asked, fearing their answer. Especially since they arguably hadn’t submitted to me themselves yet. But Alum shook his head.
“The two ways to end tribal feud are through extermination, or peace,” he answered me. “Extermination is always the more expensive route. If she ends her grudge with the Woad, we will end our grudge with her. Let both of our people’s children prosper.”
Once, again, I was reminded that I wasn’t on Earth anymore.
Breena? I asked. Are we going to have a problem with this?
No, Wes, she whispered back. And… I’m sorry I got upset.
“Thank God,” I answered. “Alright, Prodonti, give me your oath so that your race can survive, instead of me having to kill them all.”
She gave me a surprisingly human smile, and then stepped forward.
Far above our heads, something groaned, cracked, and boomed.
“What was that?” I snapped irritably, and everyone looked around warily. Prodonti stopped walking forward.
“That was one of the main limbs of the Woadfather Monarch,” she said sadly. “Now that the great tree is finally dying, the roof created by its branches will slowly break apart, and the sky will open again.”
“You’re underground,” I answered. “There is actual rock and earth over your heads.”
“Not here, Earthborn,” she answered sadly, and I caught her omission of the word ‘lord.’ “Th
is is one of the Shelter’s only tunnels that opens up to the stars above.” She sighed and blinked. This time the four dots on her foreheads fully opened up to be glowing eyes. “I find myself truly sorry for this.”
Shit, I thought in realization. Karim. Now.
I was already starting to move. Until I realized that I actually couldn’t.
The shadows behind the Keeper woman’s back became distinct, resembling the limbs of spiders. My heightened mind processed that in under a second, but it still wasn’t soon enough. The shadow-legs reached forward and pulled, and I found myself yanked off of my feet. In the dim glow of the Woadfather’s light I could finally see threads connecting me to her, so thin that they were almost microscopic.
I yelled in rage as I skidded across the rocky ground over to her. On the way over, I hooked my hands onto a massive root and pulled back with all of my might. Prodonti actually staggered forward, blinking again in surprise over my strength. But then she shrugged, tensed her legs, and bounded the rest of the distance toward me.
“I am sorry this has become necessary,” the six-eyed woman said to me as she leaned over my form. The shadowy appendages behind her stabbed forward, and I felt eight points pierce into my arms, legs and thighs. She lifted me up and my body slammed against hers. Her still-feminine pair of hands reached behind me, grabbing at more invisible thread. I felt her begin to try and weave it around me.
Then her head leaned forward as she bit my neck, just above the armor.
Agony swam down my neck and into my body.
The pain lasted only for a moment, then began to vanish.
I will try and make this quick, the woman said, her voice sounding in my mind. You have shown me that much is possible.
It will not be, I growled back, my mind already beginning to resist the intense pain. You have thrown away your best and only chance at survival.
I wish that were true, she said back as her poison warred with my body. I swear I was willing to serve you. To fight against my nature and learn your ways. But now my children can escape on their own, and so we must. Our best chance now is to consume the blood and flesh of an Earthborn Lord. Then they would certainly gain your power. Then they would certainly learn your race’s path of honor and peace. We will become the people you had wished us to be. My tribute to you, mighty Earthborn.
I could feel the venom pulse with power, the toxin of an ancient being who had mastered the art of debilitation and paralysis.
Unfortunately for her, I already had far too much experience throwing off pain and debilitation. And that was long before my body had gained the resistance it currently had.
What? I heard her ask. You are resisting. Why are you still resisting? You have lost. And you are surrounded. Do you not hear the cries? Please do not make me doom the people with you.
Angry chittering behind me told me that her children were finally attacking. I heard shouts further out, human shouts, this time from behind the chittering creatures. I also heard more trees crack.
You tricked me, she sent to my mind, sounding surprised. How?
You assumed I brought my full number to the parley, I sent back. Largely because we had shrouded ourselves so often, your children were unable to get a proper count of our number, unless they came close enough to fight us. Those that did all died.
That was why I had sent half of the Gaelguard to trail some distance behind me. I found I was able to extend the shroud over them while still leaving myself visible. The Keepers had become convinced to bring their full numbers against me. When they all began following us, the shrouded Woadfolk hung behind, then snuck off to find their captured brethren and the trees that they were still linked to, since they now had enough power to free their friends on their own.
So now her people encircling me were being encircled in turn by the Testifiers and over a dozen more newly rescued Gaelguard, empowered by nearly a dozen newly restored Woadfathers. Green fire began to burn among the spiders hiding around us, and this time the fire seemed to begin cleansing the venom from the trees around us as well.
You knew I would betray you, she hissed back. Why bother with asking for my oath?
I didn’t know, I answered. I just assumed it was very likely. At the very end, you seemed genuine.
My mindscreen informed me that my Defiant Heart and Unbowed Bones were engaging, letting me throw off the paralyzing effects of the poison. I began to strain against her webs. She was an ancient creature from a forgotten time, but she had been weakened over the years. She was stronger than me, but not by much.
“Lord,” a creaky voice said from one of the nearby trees. “We… awaken. Honoring… pact.”
I heard more cracking and groaning, as if something massive was moving nearby. The Woadfathers themselves were awakening to engage their enemies.
Blast it, the Keeper queen hissed in my mind. I heard an angry, high-pitched shriek near me, and Breena began blasting into the treacherous queen with her magic. It seemed to have little to no effect, probably because she had to be careful about harming me. I had wanted to keep you alive if possible. Possibly even convince you into becoming my consort after enough time had passed, and you saw how your blood had changed us for the better. But I can no longer risk it. I will kill you now, Lord Earthborn. But I swear again that I will do my best to learn your ways from your blood. Forgive me.
No, I answered as I unlocked the lid covering my constant rage.
Battleform is engaging, my mindscreen noted, and then my world became a blinding screen of elemental power.
I had come to learn that my Battleform was a merger of all of my Ideals inside my body, uniting for the purpose of anger and war. Each element would begin to augment each spell. Meaning, for example, the Journeyman-level Earth spell enhancing my Strength would now be reinforced to the same degree by my Air, Water, Fire, Lightning, and Blood magic each, increasing the spell’s power by a factor of five, granting me over 100 additional points of Strength.
The result was me ripping my way through the rest of her webbing, prying back her own shadow limbs, and locking my own arms around her thin waist. I brought my right arm up to grasp the back of her red-haired head and keep her fangs locked into my neck. Then I triggered my signature Outer Current Lightning spell, discharging the full backlash of the spell into one moment.
A muffled scream escaped the spider-woman’s mouth as six different Ideals of magic ravaged into her body, but she held on gamely, pumping as much toxin possible into my enhanced body. Even now, after damaging her and augmenting myself, the poison was enough to eventually kill me.
I activated my newest signature spell from the Ideal of Blood, Vein to Vein.
Vein to Vein’s first signature benefit is that it can be cast instantly if the two subjects are firmly linked, and right now her fangs had punctured my skin and were injected directly into my blood. At the Initiate level, the spell’s second signature benefit is that it can transfer more types of nutrients from one body to the next.
I chose to transfer everything I could use, from her body into mine.
Her body suddenly shivered as she continued to inject venom into me, but now her vital, mana, and stamina pools were flowing directly into my own, matching the damage her poison was doing to my body and letting my own vital guard keep pace. Then other nutrients flew into my body, and I remembered her saying that her body was an alchemist’s treasure trove.
I felt her own bloodstream counteract the venom she was injecting into my body. And she began to writhe in my grip. But even if she wasn’t slowly weakening, I was still stronger than her now, and I held her body against mine and her fangs against my neck easily. Every now and then one of her shadowy spider limbs would get free enough to strike at me, but the blows just bounced off of my reinforced protection spells. She beat against me anyway, with whatever human or spider limb she could free, however briefly.
No, she growled in determination, and tried to drink my blood straight from my body. I let her, because I was still d
rawing from her faster than she could draw from me. To keep the odds in my favor, I fired my non-signature Lightning Spell, Shocking Digits, into her. Breena finally found a good location to lay into her as well, blasting with her most dangerous Water spells. Then the little fairy alternated between attacking Prodonti and casting healing magic into me, trying to reinforce me every way possible.
It worked. Prodonti grew weaker and weaker, and I felt myself grow stronger, gaining more muscle mass. Even my mind felt sharper, and I realized I was gaining knowledge from her.
Still she growled and tried to drink from me, a frightened spider backed into a corner. I felt a tiny bit of my power and memories flow into her, though I gained them back and more the very next moment.
But she suddenly stiffened, and out of the corner of my eye I saw all six of her own orbs suddenly widen.
Your people, her mind whispered to my own in shock. They are like us. They seek to hunt. They seek to consume. Your own hungers are at least as great as mine. Perhaps even greater.
We do, I acknowledged, still holding her tight, still slowly killing her. And yes, I admitted, looking at the raging sea of anger, hunger and other urges lurking inside both my human and dragon forms. They are.
But you learned otherwise, she said, and she seemed more horrified over that fact than she seemed over her impending death. Somehow. You have other urges. They seem newer, and weaker. Yet you have trained these urges to battle your baser, darker ones and win. I see this, but my draining you doesn’t teach me how you did this. How? How did your people manage this? And why? Why did they… why would a single one of them bother?
I am not sure how or where we learned it, I admitted, recalling every theological debate about human morality, as well as the small quiet voice that kept encouraging and raging over me. But I just offered to teach you the why.
Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3) Page 19