He walked through the curtain out of the front store then stopped with a jump. Inside the backroom there were shelves and tables lined all around with boxes and wares of all manner set about. Bits and materials of armor, weaponry, tools, and clothing were cluttered among the shelves that reached up to the ceiling, with no particular order to how they were arranged of course, and a lantern was hung from the ceiling to help illuminate the room since the window to the side was nearly blocked off by large boxes stacked up high. The doorway to the side led to the kitchen and there was a staircase straight ahead leading up to the living quarters above the ground floor. Everything was just as it always was from day to day at their home for Max, including the sight of his sisters once again engrossed in their work.
“Mae, where’s the leggings with the chainmail from the other day?” Mika asked while on a stepladder to search the higher shelves. As usual when not on duty or tending to customers she was without her sword, plated elbow guards, leather vest, and most of her clothes for that matter. Being only dressed in a tight fitting gray shirt and dark panties her figure was way more noticeable to all around her, especially with the way her hips seemed to sway all on their own as if to draw attention to her rear.
“Um, I think up there,” Mae replied as she turned to point towards a shelf to Mika’s right. Like her sister she too was only wearing something light and revealing, a light blue bra and panties while in her mouth she had a screwdriver held in place. On a small table next to her the girl’s automatic crossbow clicked then automatically fired an arrow out that struck the wall with a loud thwack.
“Geez, you’ve still got that thing armed?” Milly exclaimed as all the sisters jumped and looked towards the bolt, with the blonde’s hop bouncing her large breasts while she, unlike her sisters, was completely nude as she stood in the middle of the room. Her clothing, which consisted of a simple white shirt that had a few rips around the chest from her impressive bust and pink panties with small yellow flowers adoring it, was still lying on the floor at her feet and forgotten about as she had become sidetracked with packing assorted armaments into a crate for storage. The girl had two large double-bladed axes in her hands that she held with no problem while in front of her in the wooden box were swords and blades of various designs packed close together with the polished tips and ends sticking up.
“Sorry,” Mae apologized around her screwdriver as she quickly unclicked and pulled off the wire clip of arrows from the touchy weapon. “I’m still working on it.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to keep that thing loaded?” Mika lectured as she leaned over to the side to grab at a box on the high shelf. As she did she gracefully held one leg out to the other side to balance herself, her panties then being pulled up between her rear cheeks as she shifted her hips around a bit to keep herself steady.
“Yeah, that’s really dangerous,” Milly scolded. She then shoved one of the axes she had into the crate handle first, wedging the weapon into place with a happy smile before blinking then pulling her hand out with a frown as it had a few cuts on it.
“Dang it. Not again.”
“Milly,” Mae sighed. “We keep telling you to pack the sharp weapons in with the handles facing up. What you’re doing is far more dangerous than me keeping my crossbow loaded.”
“No it isn’t,” Milly argued with a pout. “Your crossbow keeps shooting even when you don’t want it to. Besides, if we only see the handles sticking up we won’t know what they belong to, now will we? Dummy.”
“But that crate is filled completely,” Mae pointed out while keeping the screwdriver held in her mouth. “You can’t even reach into there to grab the handles without hurting yourself.”
“Yes you can!” Milly snapped. She tried to reach in and take out a sword before yanking her hand back with a yelp. She held the newest cut she got from a rapier to her mouth with a whine before giving Mae a dull glance as her sister was smirking at her.
“You can,” Milly stubbornly defended before turning around to look away. She then noticed Max standing in the room just staring at them with a troubled frown.
“Max? Are you okay?” Milly asked.
“What’s wrong?” Mae wondered.
“Aren’t you supposed to be out cutting up more firewood?” Mika questioned with a glance towards him.
Max slowly looked around at his sisters as they obviously had no issue being half or completely naked in front of him. Gazing over towards Mika he strained to keep his eyes from staring at her ass as it gently waved to him with the girl’s panties wedged in deep. Moving his eyes over towards Milly he saw the girl lightly waving her injured hand with a whine, her movements making her large breasts bounce about as if trying to call to him. With a small gulp he glanced over to Mae who was watching him innocently from behind her glasses, the girl gently taking hold of the screwdriver in her mouth with her lips appearing to lightly caress it while the image of her in that way seemed to suggest a more lecherous daydream was going to happen with Max later on.
Max remained quiet while furiously reminding himself in his head that these were his sisters, with the girls watching him curiously as he twitched slightly now and again. After a while he lowered his head and forced a brave expression.
“Somebody. Please. Help me,” he quietly prayed with all his might.
A bell jingling from the store signaled the front door opening. Taking that as a way to escape the room and any lewd thoughts trying to get into his mind Max quickly bolted out of the backroom in haste, leaving the curtain gently flowing back down behind him while his sisters remained still with puzzled looks.
“Good day,” Max greeted as he hopped behind the front counter with a big smile. “Welcome to Trixton Pass. How can I help you?”
Standing before the counter were two women dressed in stainless steel armor. At their hips they had swords sheathed in elegant white and red scabbards, around their waists they had golden embroidery belts, their breastplates showed their womanly figures while on the right shoulder guards each had a very recognizable insignia. It was a decorative crest in the shape of a yellow shield with a crimson mountaintop set inside of it. A blue sash was drawn above the shield with three stars painted across it.
Max eyed the two guards who had proud stances and stalwart expressions on their faces. After seeing the crest on their shoulders he jumped a bit and pointed to them as he couldn’t believe who they were.
“Wait, are you two… from…”
“Are the Harollson Sisters here today?” one of the knights asked.
“We have a message for them from Queen Leanna,” the other formally announced.
Max stuttered some form of nonsensical babble for a moment then smiled nervously and nodded a few times.
“Y-Yes, they’re here. Um, one- one second, I’ll go get them dressed- I mean I’ll go get them for you.”
With a nervous chuckle he took a few slow steps back while the knights watched him with raised eyebrows, the boy then quickly stumbling over towards the curtain and poking his head through.
“Um, girls? Two- two knights from Rockhelm are here with a message for you from the queen.”
“Ha ha,” Milly dryly replied. “You’re so funny, Max.”
“Who is it really?” Mika asked.
“Honestly, Max,” Mae giggled. “You’re not very good with telling lies.”
“I’m not lying!” Max stressed out.
“Remember when you peed the bed and tried to tell us you spilled lemonade on it?” Milly laughed.
“Milly!” Max whined while glancing back to see the two knights still watching him in question.
“As if lemonade would smell like pee! Haha!”
“Milly, shut up, I’m serious!” Max desperately implored.
“Why would knights from Rockhelm come way out here to see us?” Mae skeptically asked.
“Because the queen has heard of your skill of monster hunting and wishes to extend an offer to you,” one of the knights called out.
Silence filled the cottage while the two guards waited for a reply. After a long pause Max spoke up again to his sisters with a hushed whisper.
“Please get dressed and get out here. Right now.”
Leaning back from the curtain he turned to smile nervously at the two knights who looked at him with slight smiles on their faces.
“They… they’ll be right… out,” Max stuttered before looking down with a deep blush.
A loud crashing sound came from the backroom followed by a wild ruckus as the three sisters scrambled to get dressed, with Max cringing and flinching from each bang and clatter that echoed out from behind the curtain. He sighed then glanced up to the two knights that were still watching him.
“I only did that when I was really little,” he defended. “It was a long time ago. They just like to tease me.”
“Of course,” one of the guards replied.
“That is what older sisters do, isn’t it?” the other remarked with a smirk.
After a while things quieted down in back, with Mika then pulling aside the curtain and walking through with sisters following after. The now fully dressed girls came out and stood behind the counter while observing in awe that two knights from the royal kingdom were really standing in their home.
“My word,” Mae breathed out.
“Wow, you weren’t lying for once,” Milly realized with a curious look at Max.
“What do you mean for once?” Max barked out at her. “I don’t lie to others and you know it!”
Mika held her hand up and snapped her fingers, silencing her kin and bringing their focus back onto the two newcomers who were waiting patiently for them to settle down.
“Are you Mika Harollson?” a knight asked.
“Yes, I am,” Mika said walking around the counter to stand before the woman. “It’s an honor to have those from Rockhelm visiting us. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“Queen Leanna wishes to extend a job offer to you and your sisters,” the guard said holding out a scroll. Mika took the parchment and unrolled it with a curious eye while Milly and Mae came over to her sides. The three girls read over the document from the queen herself then looked at the knights in wonder.
“Is this for real?” Milly asked.
“Yes,” a knight answered.
“When would you need us?” Mae questioned.
“Immediately.”
“We accept,” Mika declared.
“Glad to hear it,” the knight commended with a nod. “Please hurry, time is of the essence.”
“Payment will be delivered to you upon completion of this task,” the second guard mentioned. “Do you require anything that would help you with this?”
“Three horses, that’s all,” Mika said looking down to the scroll.
“Done,” the guard said waving her companion away. As the other knight made her way outside the woman straightened out her gauntlets before looking around at the store with a casual eye. “I suppose you do have all the equipment you need, and your skill I should hope matches the stories we’ve heard about you.”
“Our skill will surpass what you’ve heard about us,” Mika promised while eyeing the parchment carefully.
“We intend to hold our reputation as the most capable monster hunters Eden has to offer,” Mae boasted.
“Is that so?” the guard skeptically mused. “I was under the impression that Benjamin Stonewall held that particular title.”
“Oh please,” Milly sneered with a grin. “We could kill monsters way faster and better than he could. Slaying these things is a woman’s job anyway, he shouldn’t be risking his neck and penis with it in the first place.”
“He may be a man but he’s got a rather high kill count when it comes to monster slaying,” the guard commented with a shrug. “While I’m sure any monster that manages to rape him would give birth to some truly terrifying and tough offspring, there’s no denying his ability when it comes to dispatching the filthy things.”
“Whatever,” Milly huffed. “We’re still the best. You can tell the queen we’ve got this handled.”
“Let’s hope so,” the guard said as she turned to walk out. As she left the sisters gathered close to read the details about their assignment while Max watched them curiously from behind the counter.
“You do realize that Benjamin could dance circles around us with killing monsters, right?” Mae mentioned with a worried glance to Milly.
“Yeah? If he’s so great then how come they didn’t give this job to him instead of us?” Milly quipped. “The queen asked for us specifically, remember? That means we’re better.”
“Even so, you need to show more class with our clients, especially those sent from the queen. We don’t want the world to think we’re arrogant hunters or something as low as that.”
“It’s called having self-confidence and being awesome, dummy,” Milly retorted stubbornly.
“It’s called being thickheaded and complacent,” Mae shot back.
“If you two are about done,” Mika interjected. “We need to get ready to leave right away.”
“Wow,” Max said in wonder. “A real job from the queen herself? That’s so amazing! What is it she wants you to do?”
The sisters glanced to him then back down to the scroll with their orders from Queen Leanne. It was the kind of job they were employed for routinely. Slay the monsters that were harassing humans, protect the men from being raped, the usual contract parameters they had agreed to in the past. Of course this particular offer had a noticeable difference compared to those they had taken on in the past. It was still rescue and protect the stolen men, guard the woman and children they found, be the heroic hunters they had trained to be.
Only this time the number of monsters they were charged with killing was substantially higher, enough to warrant a little concern with the trio of vixen hunters as it appeared they would be going up against a horde of lustful creatures all on their own.
*****
Running along a worn trail in The Outerlands a white horse was pulling a carriage behind with swiftly moving feet, the mare having no trouble pulling the wagon along while keeping pace with a centaur running next to them. Lucky continued galloping at a brisk pace while the wheels of the carriage behind him rolled over the grass and dirt of the only road leading through the wooded area they were venturing through. Trees and large moss-covered boulders passed by on both sides of the trail as the travelers made their way towards the centaur kingdom, with Kroanette’s excitement to return home causing her to brainstorm of any possible way to shorten their travel time.
“Let’s take a shortcut up ahead to the left,” she suggested pointing in front of them. “We’ll arrive at Ruhelia in a matter of hours.”
“No, we won’t be doing that,” Specca said shaking her head. She was seated up front with Alyssa while holding the reins for Lucky, the two girls sighing softly as their co-mate was once again proposing a shortcut as she always did.
“Why not?” Kroanette demanded with frustration. “Can’t you see I’m trying to help by getting us to Ruhelia as soon as possible? Give me one good reason why we cannot take that route.”
“For starters,” Alyssa mentioned glancing to the left. “If we turn left now we’ll be going straight off the cliff.”
Kroanette blinked then looked to the side as the trees passing by suddenly stopped to reveal they were traveling along a ridge overlooking a valley. After seeing the steep cliffside stretching out a long distance before them on the left side of the trail she slowly looked back to the girls with worried eyes.
“That certainly wouldn’t help us reach Ruhelia in a timely manner,” Specca commented. “You know, since we would likely be dead upon impact.”
“And secondly,” Alyssa continued in a bored tone. “Ruhelia is in that direction.”
She pointed to the right, with Kroanette showing puzzlement as she tried to place the kingdom’s location in her mind with being in that direction. The centaur looke
d around at the passing trees for a while then turned to her co-mates in question.
“Are you sure?”
“This trail leads around the valley to our left and also keeps us a good distance away from Stonegate,” Specca clarified. “Remember that monster village that we did not want to be anywhere near in fear of our lives? We were going to travel around it, which meant going a little out of our way first before we could reach Ruhelia.”
“Stonegate is over there?” Kroanette exclaimed as she pointed out at the valley.
“No, it’s back there,” Alyssa sighed, using one hand to point behind them to the left and the other to hold her face tiredly. “We already passed it, we’re just following the trail that leads up between it and Ruhelia before it turns towards the kingdom.”
“Do you have any idea where we are right now, Kroanette?” Specca worriedly asked, though she was quite certain she knew the answer already.
“Um…” the centaur replied as she looked around the area in confusion.
“How did she manage to find us way out in The Outerlands before running off a cliff or something?” Alyssa quietly muttered.
“Oh, Kroanette,” Specca gently empathized. “We really do need to help you with your navigation skills.”
“Excuse me?” Kroanette snapped. “Are you implying that I don’t know where I’m going? That is utter nonsense! I am-”
“The legendary courier, Kroanette,” Alyssa dryly interrupted. “Who has no sense of direction whatso-freaking-ever.”
“How dare you!” Kroanette roared as she grabbed her whip and snapped it hard at her side. “Take that back, Alyssa!”
“Alyssa, don’t be so mean to her,” Specca insisted at the witch before smiling nervously at the enraged centaur. “Kroanette, I’m not saying you have no sense of direction, but… perhaps a few lessons on navigation couldn’t hurt. I just want to help you so you don’t get lost again.”
“I do not get lost!” Kroanette yelled thrashing about in a fit.
“Two days ago,” Alyssa spoke up again. “You ran off the trail saying you found a shortcut. It took us four hours to find you again and bring you back onto the correct path.”
Chronicles of Eden - Act VIII Page 49