by Eric Vall
Alyona let go of Ravi and looked around. The water flowed lazily, and we could finally see the colorful fish under the surface. The sun had set, so we couldn’t see all the changes, but it was clear the Novum spell had worked.
I ran to the princess and lifted her in the air. I kissed her long and hard as she wrapped her arms around me.
“We did it,” Alyona murmured against my lips.
“Yes, we did!” I exclaimed and turned to the rest of our party. “We all helped make a difference here in Tikal, but it’s time for us to move on to the next city and keep changing things for Rahma.”
“For Rahma!” Nike pointed his sword high in the air.
The rest of our group cheered and pumped their fists.
I grinned and motioned for everyone to return to the palace, and I reached my dragon senses out to the jungle and heard the rest of the Demi-Humans as they made their way back to House Onca’s palace as well. They were congratulating each other and reliving battle moments together. It seemed that even the worst part of our time here in Tikal had turned into something helpful in the long run. The Demi-Humans from each House were building a sense of camaraderie.
The Green Glass Sect had lost this battle, and they would lose every one of them with us. Now that we had the information about their next stop at the Dandelion Gates, we might even be able to get a step ahead of them.
If we could get ahead, we’d be ready to stop them for good.
Chapter 15
The moon sat high in the sky by the time we arrived back at House Onca. The other Demi-Humans reached the palace within seconds of us, and they continued with their celebrations on into the great hall. My party followed the cats a little more calmly, and I saw the House leaders looking through the crowd.
I gestured to the sitting area, and the leaders followed me and my group while the warriors hooped and hollered by the doors. Servants brought out cactus juice and fruits from the kitchen for the celebrating warriors, and another round of raucous cheers went up as the libations were passed around.
Aaliyah made her way over to the sitting area, though, and she flopped down into a seat and began licking her claws clean. She still had blood running down her face and arms, and she crossed her legs to reveal more blood splattered on her thighs.
The lioness was sexy as hell after a hunt.
“Is it safe to assume we defeated the Green Glass Sect members who lurked in our jungle?” Jai asked with his eyebrows raised.
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “We cleaned house once we found them. Plus, we got a few answers about why they keep showing up.”
“What do you mean?” Kinba leaned forward and templed his fingers.
“They believe Princess Alyona can stop their efforts to open the Breach and release the demons on Inati,” I explained. “So, they want to get rid of her, but they know they can’t get rid of her as long as I’m around, so they keep attacking us.”
“We wouldn’t let anything happen to her either, Lord Evan,” Chax swore as he crossed his arms over his chest. “We will protect her.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Alyona said with a smile. “Your warriors did a fine job today, from what I understand. I’m sure Lord Evan can explain better than I can since he was there.”
“I was impressed with the teamwork I saw today,” I began. “As you know, each group had at least one member of each House in them, plus a fourth member from one of the Houses or from my campaign, so anyone could have been upset about their group, but there were no stupid fights over who was in charge or anything. The groups moved along the grid lines we made, and they communicated with us once they found the hideout, just like I commanded.”
“Where were the Sect members hiding?” Jai wanted to know.
I looked at Trina for the answer, since she’d been the one to find the hideout. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure how she’d found it anyway. When I blew heat into the tunnel, I saw how well-hidden the entrance was, and I wasn’t sure I would have seen it without her.
“They had created an underground tunnel that didn’t burrow very far,” Trina explained. “I don’t know that you could have just seen it from walking, but I felt the difference in the soil because of my nature connection.”
Jai nodded in understanding. He’d already seen the dryads connect to the jungle on our first day when they felt its heartbeat.
“She sent the message to Laika through the Blue Tree Guild communications, and the cheetah in her group sent up the flare to get my attention,” I continued. “I made sure to let out a roar on my way over to get the other groups’ attention as well. Since we weren’t sure how many Sect members had gotten away or were already hidden, I wanted the biggest response possible.”
“Brilliant,” Kinba mused. “And the other groups responded well?”
“Oh, yeah,” I laughed. “All the warriors joined the fight eventually, and they made sure to finish it, too. There was no question that Tikal showed those traitors no mercy.”
Each of the House leaders looked proud at the compliment. I wanted them to understand that each House had played its role in defeating the Sect.
“Not to mention, I saw several members of different Houses working together to handle each traitor,” I added. “Like, a cheetah would slice an assassin, while a lion would dice him. Or a jaguar would catch one, and a cheetah would shred him up. It was awesome!”
Laika and Nike laughed at my enthusiasm, while the House leaders gave me half-smiles and nodded.
Well, I was pumped about the successful integration on the battlefield, that wasn’t an easy feat, but I probably was missing some diplomatic bullshit, as usual. Maybe we weren’t supposed to brag about accomplishments on the battlefield, but the Demi-Human warriors had kicked some serious ass.
“And Aaliyah.” I turned to the lioness, who had finished combing her long hair with her fingers and was now leaning back against the chair as she listened. “Aaliyah was quite the hunter. She’s actually a big part of why we got the information we got out of the assassin we caught.”
Aaliyah smiled at my compliment and looked to her father.
“Ah.” Kinba blinked and pursed his lips. “Do I want to know the details of how my daughter helped to gain this information?”
“No, Father,” Aaliyah answered for me. “Just know that we got what we needed, and then we finished the job.”
“Good.” Kinba nodded and sighed with relief.
Apparently, her father wasn’t a fan of her warrior tendencies. I was glad she’d answered his question then, because I was ready to give all the gory details of Aaliyah’s torture techniques.
“All I will say is that Aaliyah was a great asset out there,” I declared. “She took care of those bastards, and it was fucking awesome to watch.”
Aaliyah covered a smile with her clawed hand, and I thought I even saw a bit of a blush creep up her cheeks. Making the lioness blush was no easy task, and I stifled a smirk of satisfaction.
“And is that all the information you received?” Chax asked with a furrowed brow. “It doesn’t seem all that helpful for you to just know they are going after you and the princess.”
“With all due respect, if Lord Evan wanted to discuss the rest with you, I believe he would have,” Alyona replied gently. “As it stands, it is nothing for you to worry about. We will be leaving Tikal soon, and the threat will leave with us.”
Chax sat back, satisfied with her response, which was the most diplomatic way of saying, ‘mind your own fucking business.’
Yeah, it was always good for the princess to be around when we had these conversations. I didn’t trust myself to be as nice as she was.
“You are welcome to stay as long as you like!” Jai declared. “Do not feel as though you must leave because you fixed some problems.”
“Oh, that does remind me.” I leaned back in my chair. “Your river is purified as well. The princess and Ravi finished the Novum spell, and the water is as good as new.”
“Truly?” Ja
i clasped his hands together and grinned. “This is wonderful news! Thank you!”
“It is our pleasure.” Alyona returned his smile. “We will do whatever we can to rebuild all the cities of Rahma. We only wish to honor the crown and make our country strong enough to withstand the Breach.”
Just then, a small silver fox sprinted into the room, faced me, and opened its mouth. Then it spoke with Ruslan’s voice.
“All is well in Hatra, my son! The grandegg is safe, Valerra is cranky, and we are gaining more citizens every day. You will be thrilled when you come home. We anxiously await your return! Your mother, especially.”
I smiled at my father’s messenger, and I made a mental note to send him a message once we left Tikal to let him know of our next stop.
“Sorry about that,” I addressed the leaders. “Anyway, I think we will leave tomorrow. With all your problems resolved, we need to start working on the next city, so they can understand our mission as well.”
“I’ll go work on preparing the wagons,” Nike volunteered and dipped his head as he hurried to the doors. The noble loved having a job to do, and it would be helpful if everything was ready tonight.
“We are extremely grateful for the changes you’ve made here,” Kinba announced. “We never would have changed anything without you. We’d still be having stupid feuds and starving ourselves over nothing.”
“Which means we never would have been prepared for whatever comes out of the Breach,” Jai agreed with a solemn nod. “We would have been too busy being angry at each other to realize our common enemy.”
“And we have much more important things to focus on than feuding,” Chax added, and a sharp, predatory grin stretched across his face. “For instance, it sounds like we could build a very good army, based on your battlefield stories.”
“I agree,” I said. “You should focus on training your warriors together. The better they fight together, the better chance Tikal has of surviving any attack, not even just from the Breach. Plus, if people haven’t heard that you’re now working together, they would be surprised to see your entire group defending the city.”
“I can show you some training activities before we leave,” Laika offered. “I have trained Demi-Humans and creatures of all kinds in the Blue Tree Guild, so I have many ways to teach many kinds of people.”
“I think that would be fantastic!” Jai proclaimed. “If you gentlemen agree, I say we start warrior training first thing tomorrow.”
Kinba and Chax inclined their heads in agreement.
“If you wouldn’t mind, Imani would be thrilled to learn from you,” Chax said to Laika. “She typically leads our warrior training at House Jubatus, and I’m sure she would be willing to teach any of the other warrior leaders whatever you show her.”
“I’d be happy to meet with her,” Laika replied with a bow.
“You should also consider having some kind of leader meeting once or twice a week,” I suggested to the nobles. “You three can discuss problems or plans and prepare for the bazaar. Plus, this will show the citizens that you’re continuing to get along well. They’ll understand that it wasn’t just a show for us while we were here.”
“I’m all for it,” Kinba replied as a grin stretched across his golden face, and he looked at the other two Demi-Humans.
“We can rotate Houses or meet at the Palenque Temple, so it’s always fair?” Chax proposed.
That was an even bigger improvement. Now, they suggested their own solutions instead of me forcing them to play nice. I liked where this was going.
“We should rotate, so we can have food,” Jai chuckled.
Kinba and Chax laughed along with him.
Yeah, Tikal would be just fine.
Suddenly, a silver and flame-colored bird flitted into the room and landed on Ravi’s shoulder.
“I will be happy to help the citizens of Tikal work out trade routes,” Fiyero’s voice boomed out of the tiny bird. “We will leave straight away.”
Then the bird disappeared in a miniature cloud of smoke.
“There’s your answer, Lord Evan,” Ravi announced as she looked at me with a sheepish smile. “Sorry it was at such an odd time.”
“It’s okay,” I assured the phoenix before I turned and addressed the leaders again. “I haven’t really been able to talk to you about this yet, but after the bazaar’s success, I thought you might be interested in trading with some tribes outside of the city as well.”
“Oh, that sounds great!” Chax rubbed his hands together. “We can see if our cottonwood balms work for other creatures! Our healers have never been able to try them on anyone besides cheetah Demi-Humans, although I believe a few jaguars and lions bought some at the bazaar, so we can learn a little more from them as well.”
“I would be interested to see what other people make,” Jai mused with a far away look. “It could inspire our people to make new things as well. Who knows, maybe there is some other thing out there that we’ve never even heard of!”
“I’d love to try some new food,” Kinba exhaled. “I get tired of lizards and snakes. Though the bison was delicious.”
“Okay,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “So, you don’t hate the idea. I didn’t think Chief Fiyero would come so quickly after my suggestion. I was hoping to talk to you guys first.”
“Do not worry, Lord Evan.” Chax smiled. “You have been a great help to Tikal, so we would have been open to your idea anyway.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it.” And I was. I wanted nothing more than to help each of the cities in our kingdom to reach their full potential. I was happy to have such a great success story in the first city we had chosen. Hopefully, word would spread around Rahma, and it wouldn’t be as difficult to get started in every new city. I needed the people to believe in me, Alyona, and the king, so we could work together.
“Now, I think we should get some rest,” Alyona suggested and rose from her seat. “Lord Evan has been busy fighting one enemy or another all day, and we will start another long journey tomorrow.”
I suddenly realized she was right. I’d been going nonstop since the dryads woke me up this morning. I was pretty damn tired.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll go meet with Lady Imani tonight, then.” Laika looked at me for a response.
“Oh, yeah,” I agreed, though I was a little disappointed. “That’s fine.”
There went my relaxing time with her later. At least I still had my princess.
“We’d like to join you, if that’s okay,” Marina said to Laika.
“Yeah,” Polina agreed. “We need to brush up on our training as well.”
I nodded to the girls, and all four of them headed to House Jubatus.
“I’m happy we were able to accomplish so much here.” I stood up and dipped my head to each of the leaders. “You may not have always liked my methods, but I hope you all understand my goals. Goodnight.”
The Demi-Humans each murmured their goodnights as Alyona and I made our way back to the dormitory hall.
“Lord Evan!” Aaliyah jogged after us, and I watched as her glistening breasts bounced while she ran. She was still sweaty from our time in the jungle, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
I also found myself much more awake all of a sudden.
“Are you really wanting to get some sleep?” Aaliyah asked with a quirked brow. “I have some other ideas in mind, if you’re both interested, that is.”
My arousal jumped at her words. Hell, yes, we were both interested.
“And what ideas might those be?” Alyona asked as she playfully twisted one of her raven locks around her finger.
“I think it might be easier to show you.” Aaliyah glanced up the stairs.
“Yep, I’ll lead the way.” I grabbed both of their hands and darted upstairs with the girls giggling behind me.
I was not missing out on this golden opportunity.
I rammed the bedroom door open and guided the two ladies inside before I shut the door again. Then I
turned around to see Aaliyah untying Alyona’s robes while my bride-to-be giggled and blushed. Alyona’s robe fell to the floor and revealed her perky breasts with taut nipples and her beautiful pussy lips, and my dick throbbed against my pants as I watched the two women together.
Alyona reached over to Aaliyah and began undressing her. She slid the lioness’ sleeves down to reveal her sweat-covered torso and tits. Then Alyona yanked the rest of Aaliyah’s clothes off, and the two women explored each other as they ran their fingers up and down each other’s sexy bodies.
“Fuck,” I murmured and licked my lips. I couldn’t watch anymore, so I walked over to where the women stood before I pushed them onto the bed.
I pressed my lips to Alyona’s warm mouth while Aaliyah lifted my shirt over my head. The lioness ran her claws down my back to the top of my trousers, and then she dragged her textured tongue up my spine. I moaned into Alyona’s mouth and turned to bring Aaliyah’s lips to mine. Then I kissed her hard and shoved my tongue against hers.
Alyona slid to the edge of the bed and slowly pulled my trousers down to expose my rock-hard cock. Next, she took my shaft in her hand and began pumping it up and down while Aaliyah flicked her tongue against mine. Then Alyona moved her other hand around Aaliyah’s body and grabbed her breast, and the lioness purred against me.
I released her mouth and nipped down Aaliyah’s throat to her other breast, and I flicked her nipple with my tongue while Alyona played with her other nipple.
“Oh, yes!” Aaliyah cried out, and she wrapped one arm around my hips to pull me closer to her and Alyona.
I moved my hips over so I could reach both women and drag each of my hands down their torsos to their steaming flowers. I could feel the heat coming off both of their pussies, and I groaned in satisfaction. I ran my thumbs over each of their clits and smirked when the women’s backs arched together. Then I pulled back from Aaliyah’s breasts and guided her and Alyona to their backs on the bed.
As I moved in between them, I ran my hands up their inner thighs and slid a finger inside each of their tunnels. Alyona began panting and rubbed her own breasts as I drew my finger in and out of her, and Aaliyah purred and reached over to rub Alyona’s clit while I thrust in and out of their wetness.