The Blood Groove (Purgatory Wars Book 4)

by Dragon Cobolt

  Quiet came to the table.

  Even Laurentinus seemed taken by that idea.

  Sif sniffed and wiped at her nose. “And what of my people?” she asked. “Thor seeks to bring peace but there are so many thanes who see this as a chance to grab a name for themselves. Many are demigods.”

  “We’ll lend Thor every piece of support we can,” Liam said. “We’ve got the only air force in Purgatory, and no matter what New Athens tries, we have the biggest gunpowder plant and musket making facility out there.”

  Sif nodded. She steadied.

  “We need more than just guns, though,” she said. “So much anger comes from old enmities. Things that came from before the war...”

  “Diplomats?” Meg asked.

  “I was thinking diplomats who everyone can trust, diplomats whose loyalties are to someone beyond the Aesir and who aren't loyal to a god that might want our lands,” Sif said. “I’ve noticed that your Order of Mary is quite respected throughout the city.”

  Liam chuckled. “Missionaries,” he said, quietly. “But not assholes this time.”

  The others looked confused. Well, the others save for Mary, Meg and Neb. But that was mostly because Neb was still distracted by reading notes. Then Neb sat bolt upright, sprang to her feet, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  “Holy fucking what? She’s a fucking genius!”

  The entire room sat stock still.

  “Liam?” Meg asked, looking at him.

  “I don’t even know,” Liam said.

  “Is Tethis’ body in the city?” Neb asked, her tail lashing back and forth. Liam blinked, then looked at Mary. Mary shrugged.

  “You said you didn’t want her body to get lost, it’s in her crypt. We renew the stasis spell, so she can be emba-”

  Neb sprinted out of the room, leaving behind a shocked set of gods and mortals.

  Liam coughed. “Continue to discuss this without me,” he said, reaching down to carefully wind his foot until it was sure to work until he arrived at the location. Hephaestus had made something wonderful, but clockwork ran out of juice alarmingly fast. “Remember, we need to get ready to take down Ares.”

  Liv brightened at that.

  Liam caught up with Neb halfway to the crypts. The Chosen of Anubis didn’t slow down, and didn’t seem to even notice Liam as he called out after her. The city of Babylon bustled around them – the ending of the war had brought a return to civilian infrastructure. But more, buildings were becoming taller and others were starting to go up around the walls.

  People wanted to live here.

  They arrived at the crypt breathless. “You almost died so many times that Tethis knew that if she hadn’t been nearby, if healers hadn’t been nearby, you’d have not been healed properly, or at all.” Neb gasped. “So, Tethis, between working on the muskets, was working on a new healing spell.”

  A faint memory tugged at Liam. He had remembered someone mentioning that.

  “Yeah, but didn’t the other wizards say it made no sense?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t make sense, unless you remember!” Neb tapped her temple. “The brain is where we think.”

  “I-” Liam blinked. “Yes?”

  “Valks know it, or at least suspect it. You know it. Tethis knows it. Some people haven’t caught up,” Neb said as she walked to the crypt where Tethis was laid. The tomb was closed tight and glowed with the pale blue light of the stasis spell. She grabbed the top of the tomb and shoved, her arms trembling. Liam sighed and stepped forward. With his help, Neb got the tomb open.

  Tethis looked as she had when she had been lain there.

  “Okay!” Neb said. “Watch this.”

  She rubbed her paws together, then placed them on Tethis’ body.

  A glowing light flashed through her palms and into Tethis. Tethis back arched. She slumped back, her funeral wrappings opening slightly.

  Liam frowned at Neb. He was starting to feel a cold rage growing inside of himself, but it wasn’t even aimed at Neb. It was at this whole surreal, stupid situation. Tethis was-

  Tethis’ eyes opened.

  She sat up.

  Gasped.

  Coughed.

  Then looked around, her wrappings falling off her shoulders, exposing her cushy, gently sloping green breasts. Her nipples were hard as tiny diamonds and seemed to beg for Liam to kiss and caress them. She had never looked more beautiful at that moment as she blinked up at Liam.

  “Oh,” she said. “Oh, man, that was dumb. Don’t pull swords ohff!”

  She grunted as Liam swept her into his arms and squeezed her.

  She was alive.

  She was alive.

  After so much death – after so many slain and lost. After so much pain.

  Tethis was alive.

  And soft.

  And warm.

  Liam kissed her. Hungrily. His tongue plunged into her mouth as his hands grabbed her clothes. Tethis moved with the same eagerness, her slender arms wrapping around his neck. Soon, she wasn’t just half naked. She was fully nude and Liam was holding her up by her rump. He stepped forward, then turned and sat down on the only bed his brain could recognize. The soft cushion of her tomb welcomed his back as he laid on his back, still kissing Tethis. She ground and bucked her hips against his chest, sliding her moist cunt against him.

  Tethis broke the kiss, then reached back. Her hand tugged Liam’s kilt backwards.

  “Oh gods, I can’t wait,” she whispered.

  “U-Um...” Neb whimpered, standing off to the side. Despite her midnight black fur, her muzzle burned as bright as the sun.

  Tethis slid herself backwards. Her green thighs spread as her ears lifted upwards and she looked down at Liam.

  “Don’t you want to know how-” Neb continued.

  Liam grabbed Tethis' hips and thrust into her. His back arched and his butt left the floor. His cock plunged into Tethis and she arched her spine as much as his, her hands grabbing onto the lip of her tomb. Her breasts bounced in an almost perfect circle as her emerald green skin started to glisten with sweat. She rocked her hips forward and backwards, panting and moaning. Liam grabbed onto her ass, then cupped her breasts.

  He found those dark emerald nipples, pinching and twisting her nipples.

  Tethis squeaked, then threw her head back and moaned again.

  Ignored by the two, Neb guilty slid her paw between her thighs as she watched Tethis rise and fall from her own sarcophagi, the wet sound of sex made all the louder by the passion and by the silence filling the rest of the crypt. She couldn’t help herself. She knew that Anubis wouldn’t be happy about this, uh, happening here.

  But she was sure a sacrifice or two would appease her god.

  Hopefully.

  “Oh Liam, oh Liam,” Tethis moaned. “Oh gods, fuck me!”

  “I’m cumming!” Liam clenched his jaw. He normally lasted longer, but Tethis was so fucking tight and smooth and wet. He had forgotten how good she was. Forgotten what it was like to not have a hole in his life.

  He shuddered and spent himself inside of Tethis as she lay forward against him, shuddering in time with every tremor that quivered through his body. His hands cupped her ass and he panted softly. His eyes were closed.

  “Damn,” he murmured.

  Together, the two lay there, soaking in the bliss.

  ***

  “You know,” Meg said, her voice dry. “Most people would wait to learn why someone had come back from the dead before fucking their brains out.”

  “Shut up,” Liam said, grinning as Tethis panted against him, her breasts squished against his chest.

  “I admit,” Tethis said, sitting back. Her thighs pressed against Liam’s and her rump jiggled as she settled herself back again. Liam found himself growing hard inside of her. “We really should have gotten to the bedroom first.”

  Liam grinned, sheepishly. He felt a twinge of guilt as well.

  But…

  “Fuck, it’s good to have you back, Tethis,” Meg
said.

  Neb – who had been the one to inform the rest of the council of what had happened – remained in the background. Blushing.

  “Soooo,” said Meg, “We can bring anyone we want back to life now?”

  “Not, ah, quite,” Tethis said, her voice rising to a moan as Liam started to lazily thrust into her again. His cum sloshed inside of Tethis and she squirmed and moaned, throwing her head back. “Ah fuck.”

  Meg purred. “I have to get in on this.”

  She leaned forward and kissed Tethis. As Meg was perched at the lip of the tomb, this meant she was kissing Tethis upside down, their mouths and tongues playing together awkwardly. But for all the awkwardness of the position, their passion more than made up for it. When Meg drew back, she was already looking ready to take her top off and join them in the tomb, space be damned.

  Tethis panted. “I wasn’t actually dead. The spell, mm, it detects catastrophic damage or blood loss. Activates. Puts the brain into stasis, like your preservation spells. But, ah, with a feedback loop that maintains the, mm, brain. Uh. Bits. That make, fuck yes-’ Her breath came out in a tiny wheeze as Liam’s hand lazily found her clit. “Thinky, uh, stuff, words!”

  Meg pouted. “Why’d you only use this on yourself?”

  “It’s, mm, really complicated,” Tethis admitted.

  “Most of t-the people who read her notes, uh, didn’t even know what it was,” Neb said, coughing quietly.

  Tethis grinned. “But you figured it out, Neb.”

  Neb turned even more bright red. “Yup!”

  “Can you cast it again?” Meg asked.

  Tethis nodded. Then her palms slapped down on Liam’s chest. Her eyes glowed and she grinned hungrily – the same kind of hunger she had shown when she had finally become brave enough to ask for what she wanted.

  “After round two.” She started to really work her hips, looking over her shoulder at Meg. “M-ay-bee round three.”

  ***

  Fizit lay in her cell, her hand on her belly. She felt the child inside of her kick. She had never before been so adrift. She had no one to tell her anything. No one to share a secret with. She didn’t even have her own mind. Instead, her mind was filled with that most undignified emotion.

  Panic.

  Abject panic.

  Her hand circled around and around and around as she rubbed her belly and tried to not imagine... well, everything. The cell bars were nullcrystals, like the cages that they had kept gods and mages in during the war. She had her power, so long as she stayed at the corner of the cell. But so what? She was in a city, far from her people. With a child. Her child. Her child.

  It had become more and more real, every day, every week, growing inside of her.

  They could take it and dash its brains out.

  They could stab it with a spear.

  They could-

  Fizit closed her eyes.

  Footsteps made her open them again.

  Standing in the door was Liam Vanderbilt. He looked in at her, his arms crossed over his chest. Since the orgy months before, she had thought of him little. But seeing him in the flesh again reminded Fizit of what had impressed her about him the first time they had met: his overwhelming size. Not the size of his cock, though that was impressive. No, it was how tall he was.

  And she had never before felt more small.

  Well.

  Feeling and actions had little to do with one another, when you were Fizit.

  She stood and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Lord Godkiller,” she said.

  “Fizit,” Liam said. He opened his mouth, then closed it. “I... I didn’t know you were pregnant. But even...” He shook his head. “Fizit, Tethis-”

  “I’m not sorry,” Fizit said, her tail tense, twitching from side to side. “That’s what you want to hear, right? Well, I won’t lie I lied for my people, but right now, my people might as well not exist. It’s down to me. And right now, I won’t insult you or myself. Tethis was a strategic threat. A single godkiller bomb teleported in our camp would-”

  Liam blinked. His mouth opened, then closed.

  “Wow,” he said. “I never thought of that.”

  Fizit’s tail whipped hard enough to cause the air to crack.

  “You what!?”

  Liam shook his head. “Liv was at the camp. Any bomb there would kill her, and any number of other innocents.”

  Fizit sighed. “Well, it’s in the past now. Please, wait until my child is born before-”

  “I’m not having you killed,” Liam said. “Maybe I was tempted. But... no.” He shook his head.

  Fizit hissed. “Don’t you dare do this because you pity me, Liam Vanderbilt. All I have left is some measure of pride, and I will not survive because you pity me. I-”

  “Fizit!” Liam put his hand over his face. “Tethis is alive. Okay?” He shook his head. “The war is over. And a bigger one is coming. One that is going to make Sysminor look like a walk in the park. I need someone who can run a spy network, who I can trust. I have you.” He dropped his hand from his face, looking at her. “And in a few kindlings, six thousand of your people are going to arrive and need a place to stay. People to accept them.” He sighed. “It’d be a fuck of a lot easier with you. Especially once we start trying the ones responsible for war crimes.”

  Fizit felt like she had been completely blind sided.

  The General had told her.

  He had said, when he had laid out the rough outline of his ‘plan’ - to make a peace that would end Sysminor and still give her people a home – that Liam Vanderbilt was their best choice. But that she might need to die, in the end.

  Tethis had to die.

  So she’d have to die.

  And now…

  Now…

  She shook her head. “Why?”, Fizit asked, her jaw tight as she spoke. “Why do you want me to be your spymaster?”

  “Have you watched yourself at work?” Liam laughed. “You make J. Edgar Hoover look like a mentally unstable paranoid who drugged his co-workers with LSD for fun.”

  Fizit looked blank. “I...” She paused. “I will need to think about it.”

  Liam nodded.

  He turned and started to walk away. He called back over his shoulder. “And we’ll take care of your child. And find the father, if he’s still alive.”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” Fizit said, casually, her tail twitching from side to side. She’d never trade on her womb for her life. It felt too close to betraying all of womankind to her. But now?

  “It’s you,” she finished.

  Liam walked into a wall.

  ***

  Liv’s blade hummed as she swung it around her head. She cut as fast as she could, then stopped, then cut faster, then stopped. She measured each slice – and found that it wasn’t getting any faster.

  She frowned.

  That was okay.

  Ares had raped her mother.

  He had killed her lover.

  But she had time.

  Elves always had time.

  The door to the training room opened and Liam stepped inside. “Hey,” he said.

  Liv nodded curtly to him. “Thanks,” she said. “For, uh...” she trailed off. “For telling me about... about what Ares did.” She didn’t want to say his name. Just thinking it sent a squeeze of pain through her heart and brought her to the edge of tears no Spartan should ever show.

  She didn’t have time for it.

  “Now, when were you going to tell me?” Liam asked.

  Liv looked at him, her brow furrowing.

  “You’re pregnant,” Liam said. “Fizit thinks that when Sysminor reactivated the lizardmen’s regeneration and super-stamina, he turned their cross fertility on. Normally, it takes a magical spell for two people to make a child, if they’re different species at least. But, well...” He looked like he wasn’t sure if he should be appalled, shocked, or pleased.

  Liv snorted.

  There were some advantages to being an e
lf. She could spend weeks grieving…

  Later.

  For now…

  She drew her sword. Cut.

  Still the same speed.

  She had to be faster.

  She would be faster.

  Liam squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll help you take care of the baby.”

  Liv frowned. “I, uh. Okay.”

  Liam nodded. “So, what are you practicing?”

  “My father was faster than me. I have to train until I am faster than him,” Liv said.

  Liam bit his lip. “Your father said some things. I’m not sure I understood all of them. But...” he paused. “Fizit told me what you saw in the security station. The recordings?” He shook his head. “Do you want to hear my theory?”

  Liv snorted. “No.”

  “It’ll help you kill your dad,” Liam said, shrugging as he walked away from Liv and sat down on one of the benches that ringed the training room. Liv slashed at the air, sheathed her sword.

  “Fine,” she said, looking right at him.

  She’d grieve later.

  She didn’t need to see the pity in his eyes. She refused to look at it, she refused to recognize it. If she opened a chink, anywhere...

  “Well,” Liam said. “I think that gods get their powers from their worshipers.”

  “No fucking shit,” Liv snarled.

  “But I think it's two sided,” Liam said. “The beliefs of the worshipers changes gods to fit what they think they are. So, that’s why Ares stayed Ares for thousands on thousands of years. I mean, I’m going to be a hugely different person if I live to be a hundred. What if I live to be five thousand?” He shook his head. “But gods are still themselves. They’re still like how they are in the stories I remember reading. If they were people, that wouldn’t make sense, would it?”

  Liv frowned. “So, we... what? Ares’ stories don’t seem to be sticking.”

  And that helmet has something to do with it, she thought.

  Liam nodded. “But your story’s just beginning. You’re world famous. How hard would it be to turn that fame into worship?”

  Liv’s brow furrowed.

  Liam grinned.

  “How’d you like to be the next God of War?”