by Eric Vall
“I fully support the decision,” the princess replied. “I kind of missed having so many revolvers around anyways. They crack differently. It reminds me of when we met.”
“That’s adorable,” I admitted, and Cayla sent me a coy smile as she toyed with the pistol on my belt.
“I think I’ll go wash all this blood off and clean my rifles before bed,” Cayla purred. “Will you be coming home soon? There is a specific gun that I want to… lubricate.”
“Not for a while, but Alfred’s burning the midnight oil making burgers for all of us if you’re hungry.”
The princess let out a moan as her head dropped back, and all she said was “burgers.”
Then she strutted off like a woman on a mission as the crowd swiftly parted to let her through, and I admired the way her rifles patted against her hips and made the meat of her thighs shimmy in a very distracting way.
I was still curious if our bedroom antics might kick up a notch now that Cayla was officially a general, but she always liked it more when I was in charge. The idea of ordering a young, sexy general around my bed did sound equally appealing, though, and I was still mulling over the possibilities when Raynor appeared with another fresh pint.
The barkeep politely cleared his throat to drag my focus off my woman’s bloody legs and rifles, and I blinked around to find myself standing amongst twenty or so soldiers who were smirking at the ground like they were waiting for me to snap out of it.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I was just thinking about… war stuff.”
The barkeep smiled and nodded as he let out a raspy chuckle.
“Sure you were,” a dwarf snorted. “Tell me, do you ever worry that one might kill ye’ in your sleep?”
“It is more likely the half-elf is the one to worry about,” an elf offered. “She has an unpredictable temper, and I have seen her burn men alive with a wave of her hand on many occasions.”
“No guns, though,” the dwarf countered.
“Aurora has guns, too,” I sighed.
“Oh, never mind, then,” the soldier chuckled.
“Pink hair girl,” an ogre grunted. “She stabs the most. More blood. She’s a good one.”
“But Defender Flynt has the healer with them,” the elf pointed out. “If any of the women do try to kill him or each other, the healer can assist. This is smart planning.”
“That’s not an accurate scenario,” I muttered, but the soldiers were busy laughing heartily.
Then they carried on trying to decide how I lived through the night, so I nodded my thanks to Raynor, and I brought my pint to a less crowded area while I gathered more discarded armor along the way for General Kralok.
It would still be a few hours before all our allies were back in Falmount, but my eyes burned with exhaustion already. Luckily, my limbs had recovered from the frigid storm in the north, but every muscle in my body felt like I’d been doing deadlifts all night.
The thought of collapsing into bed with my five naked women made it harder to keep my legs in motion, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep even if I did head home.
Too much had transpired in the last two days, and I’d been thinking through my options ever since I got back to Falmount. There were weapon upgrades to consider, automatons to build, strategies to coordinate, and the defenses of Illaria to address. Not to mention helping Cedis with the attacks they’d been enduring thanks to these portals, and as nostalgic as Cayla was about revolvers, I definitely wanted her soldiers carrying more advanced weaponry next time I sent the princess into battle with them.
Then there was the crazy fucking storm that was too convenient to be coincidental, and the fact that Aloshi hadn’t been spotted at any of the tunnels didn’t bode well for us, either. Pindor couldn’t recall seeing the dark Ignis Mage at the Illarian tunnel after I left, but he’d clearly been as strong and mentally alert as Aloshi, so the Master still had some dangerous mages on his side.
This thought led me straight to a slightly pressing issue I had to address where magery was concerned, though.
The sight of the massive storm orb Shoshanne formed in Vasdor was seared into my mind, but as impressive as it had been, it was just as alarming. My Aer Mage was quickly becoming one of the most destructive and out of control mages I’d ever seen, and I knew I’d have to handle the situation delicately.
Shoshanne was so quick to worry that she’d probably rather never use her powers again than practice with the cyclones, but this was the last thing I wanted. She had the potential to be our strongest mage, and I was determined to help her get her magic under control.
A force like hers could blast the Master’s whole fortress open for us if we could manage to break down his enchantments, but I tried not to get too caught up in the what-ifs since the runes protecting his headquarters were our biggest hurdle right now.
It had taken us months to begin using rune magic to aid our attacks, and even though we’d had stellar results with my weaponry so far, my knowledge was limited to the known elements. Without being able to use the Master’s portals ourselves, it didn’t matter how advanced my arsenal got. We were potentially locked in a dead-end with this fortress.
I refilled my pint yet again, and I tried to redirect my attention to our recent victory instead of what laid ahead. It helped to keep myself busy for a while by moving the battered armor into the dwarven quarters, but then I heard Shoshanne call my name, and I smiled with relief at the sight of my worn-out Aer Mage.
“There she is,” General Kralok growled with a broad grin. “The angel herself. Can’t thank ye’ enough for reattaching my hand, miss. Thought my days were numbered when that damn elf cut it off. A dwarf’s nothin’ without a pair of sturdy working hands and an admirable beard.”
Shoshanne blushed as she came to my side. “I’m happy to be of any assistance, General Kralok. Your men are settling in well at the Oculus. I expect them to be able to join you here in the next few days.”
“Whatever ye’ think is best, miss,” Kralok said with a nod.
“How are the infirmaries doing?” I asked Shoshanne, and I led her out into the market.
“Wonderfully,” the healer gushed. “The Order of Pallax has done such a thorough job with training that our new healers are twice as efficient as those who have worked in the Oculus for a year. They’re keeping up with the sudden increase in patients, and they’ve already sent for the supplies they anticipate needing soon, so I shouldn’t have to worry about keeping track of their inventory.”
“Good to hear,” I replied.
“I just came from our infirmary,” Shoshanne continued, “and they’ve split their patients between the three floors, so rune removal is done separate from the others now. It was a bit alarming for the knights who arrived when they saw all the patients chained down.”
“Oops,” I chuckled. “I probably should have thought about that.”
“I took care of everything,” Shoshanne yawned. “Now, all that’s left is to make sure Deya’s alright. Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“I don’t,” I replied as Raynor passed me a fresh pint. “You should get some rest, though. I’ll make sure Deya’s doing okay as soon as she’s finished delivering the troops.”
“I should wait for her,” the healer said as she nervously wrung her hands. “She’s been working so hard all evening, and she’s only eaten three griffins since we left, and--”
“Do I have to remind you that Deya is very likely not the only pregnant woman in the house?” I cut in, and Shoshanne turned pink as I pulled her into my arms. “You need some food and rest just as much as Deya. I have it on good authority you’ve been going nonstop saving our troops for the last eight hours.”
“I suppose that’s true,” the healer allowed. “Will you walk me home, though?”
I grinned and set my pint aside. “Always. I should check on Pindor in the western woods, too. He’s working on something out there for me.”
I sparked my metal magic to se
nd another batch of battered helms to the dwarven quarters while I led Shoshanne to the barbican, and then we took our time strolling down the lanes while more wagons rattled past with provisions for the troops.
Once we made it to the less crowded side of the village, Shoshanne slid her hand into mine to pull me closer, but when I looked over, she was studying my face with a nervous crinkle on her forehead.
“Mason, where did you go before?” the healer asked softly.
“I ended up in the world between the realms,” I told her. “I was with Nemris.”
“Then you did die,” Shoshanne said as her voice tightened.
“I don’t know,” I muttered. “I can’t make any sense of it. I should have died and been reborn, but… I don’t know what happened.”
“Perhaps Nemris saved you,” Shoshanne suggested. “If she cares for you at all like we do, I’m sure she wouldn’t let you die. I would do anything I could to save you if I had the powers of an immortal.”
“She does care for me,” I admitted. “Very much like you all do, but that still doesn’t explain it. Nemris has let me die before, way more than once. The universe has laws that need to be obeyed, and the goddess of peace and transition doesn’t just save people from dying. She embraces death and helps guide them forward to their next life. Otherwise, she would have saved Deya’s mother before she passed on, and she wouldn’t need me to protect Deya now to achieve her fate.”
“What does Deya’s fate have to do with the goddess?”
“It’s probably not the right time to discuss it,” I muttered as I listened for a sign of the black dragon. “But whatever happened in the mountains shouldn’t have, and I can’t shake this feeling that something’s out of alignment. Like a train went off the rails. Nemris wouldn’t answer my questions, and she said, ‘some didn’t believe this was a good time for you to die.’ That goes against so many things, though.”
“Who is ‘some?’” Shoshanne asked as she furrowed her brow.
“No idea,” I replied. “Only Nemris can govern the world between the realms. If this someone isn’t her, then they’d be violating the laws of nature, and the cosmos. They’d be countering the balance of the universe, which seems like an impossibility. How could anyone counter the goddess’ rule? What happens if they find a way to? And does that mean they’re working toward the side of good or evil? Am I evil by proxy for benefitting?”
I trailed off as I stared at our bridge up ahead, and I tried to find sense for the tenth time since I left Vasdor, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know enough about the ways of the gods to make any solid conjectures, either, but there was no doubt in my mind something was off.
Regardless of my connection to Nemris, I was only a mortal, and mortals didn’t die and come back to the same life minutes later with a do-over.
Then I glanced at my healer, and Shoshanne looked slightly concerned by the direction our conversation had taken.
“I’m just rambling now,” I chuckled. “I don’t know how to explain any of this.”
“Well, whatever happened, I’m glad it did,” the healer murmured as she curled her arm around mine.
“Me, too,” I admitted.
The two of us walked on in silence until we reached my moat, and I immediately cheered up when we found Nulena sitting with her slender legs dangling over the edge. The Baroness was watching the eels snap and try to catch her toes like they were as harmless as ladybugs, and when she heard us approaching, she turned a sleepy smile our way.
“They like you,” I told the ebony woman as I eyed the eels.
“Do you think so?” Nulena asked.
I shrugged. “Maybe. That’s their happy hiss, but they could just be excited because daddy’s home, isn’t that right, guys?”
Ten eels shot from the water to sink their fangs into the siding, and Shoshanne giggled as Nulena twiddled her fingers at my water spawn the way I always did.
Then I stooped to help the Baroness up, and as her legs shook beneath her, I realized she had bags under her eyes, and she was bracing most of her weight on my arms.
“Are you alright?” I asked as I furrowed my brow with concern. “You look exhausted.”
“It’s just been a long day,” Nulena sighed.
“Yeah, it has,” I agreed. “Why don’t you head inside? Shoshanne and Cayla are getting some burgers from Alfred before bed, and you left so suddenly before, you didn’t get to enjoy yours.”
I grinned as Nulena’s cheeks shimmered in the moonlight, and she dropped her gaze while she tried not to smile at the recollection.
“Will you be coming to bed soon?” the Baroness murmured.
“In a while,” I replied. “I should make sure the last of our troops get back alright and set up some sleeping quarters since they’re sticking around for a while. If my town’s up, I’m up.”
Nulena groaned and dropped her forehead against my chest. “Sometimes, I really, really hate your sense of honor.”
“You love it, too,” I teased. “Besides, I’ll have you know my sense of honor helped us land a solid victory tonight. Do you realize what this means?”
“Pathetic civilians have been saved,” the Baroness said flatly.
“That, too,” I chuckled. “Mostly, I get to take Aurora out for first victory dragon sex tomorrow. Care to join?”
Shoshanne clicked her tongue with disapproval, but the Baroness immediately melted against me as her two-toned eyes met mine. Then a dreamy smile came to her lips as I tucked a strand of hair behind her ears.
“That sounds so reckless and erotic,” Nulena purred. “I would love to join you. Just as soon as I’ve finished sleeping for about a day.”
“Deal,” I said with a grin. “Go on and lay down, but we should talk about how you balance these full schedules some time. Maybe we can find ways to kill your victims that won’t leave you completely worn out. I hate seeing you on the verge of collapse.”
“Yes, but it’s more fun to not remain in balance, don’t you think?” the Baroness said with a hint of a slur, and as her eyelids slid to half mast, Shoshanne immediately propped the woman on her arm.
“Come, let’s get you taken care of,” the healer cooed. “I have just the thing, and--”
“And you’re resting as well, remember?” I interrupted, but Shoshanne just waved me off while she helped Nulena toward the house.
I sighed as I watched their silhouettes cross the clearing, but when I noticed the Baroness was swaying from the effort, I decided I’d ask her tomorrow what the hell her full schedule had consisted of.
No doubt it was something impressively disturbing.
I chuckled lightly as I tried to imagine it all before I turned away, but then I ducked behind the infirmary and scanned my surroundings as I headed into the blackened tree line of the western woods.
Chapter 24
The shadows cast by the oaks left the forest floor dappled with moonlight, and while the sounds of Falmount faded into the distance, twigs snapped under my boots as I continued farther for several minutes.
The silence in this area felt so foreign to me after the chaos of the last couple days, but with most of my women back home and safe, and our first offensive attack in the bag, reveling in the sudden calm was necessary. I appreciated it ten times more than I would have on any other day, and even the chance to just let my tired limbs hang limp was like a blessing from the gods.
Stan finally wriggled his way out of my vest pocket along the way, though, and I grinned as I scooped him up for the first time since we’d left for the tunnels.
“Well, if it isn’t our fearless leader,” I sighed. “You fought admirably out there, Stan. I’m proud of you.”
The little metal man shuffled his foot against my palm, and he sent me a bashful shrug while he turned his helmet over in his hands.
“You’re too modest,” I countered. “We wouldn’t have made it out alive without your help. You heard all that crazy shit that went down. Do you really think I could have kept my
head on straight if you weren’t there with me?”
Stan thought about this, and then he stood a bit taller as he shook his head.
“Exactly,” I chuckled. “I’m making you a tiny medal of honor for this one. You’ve more than earned it.”
Stan propped his helmet under his arm as he snapped a crisp salute, and I was so busy smiling like a dope at my right-hand metal man that I almost stepped on Pindor.
“Dude!” the kid hissed as he smacked my leg, and I stumbled to a stop.
“Sorry,” I snorted. “How’s it going out here?”
“Pretty good,” Pindor replied. “Rune magic is so strange. It’s really nothing like our magery once you feel its presence. It doesn’t spark at all… ”
I crouched down beside the tree he was kneeling under, and I scanned the vicinity with my Terra powers to check that we were alone in the woods since Pindor was so absorbed in his work. The kid kept his palm pressed against the engraving on the trunk like he hadn’t moved an inch since I left him out here, and his brows were knitted together in concentration.
“Do you feel the pull yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, but it’s not just a pulling sensation,” Pindor mused. “It’s like air, or the absence of air, maybe. It’s light, but it has this peculiar strength that drags at you. It must have taken ten minutes before I noticed anything, and I was about to give up, but now that it’s in my mind… I’ve never felt anything like it. Do all runes feel like this?”
“Not at all,” I told the kid. “Every elemental degree has a different presence, but it’s easier to identify the specifics of each one when you know their name. Then they stand out clear as day, and by working to balance them with the other elemental degrees, you start to understand the small nuances between them. This one is unknown, though, so all we can do is go off the call it puts out once it’s already engraved. That’s why I want you to memorize this feeling over the next couple days. It’s incredibly distinct, but it won’t be as prominent when you’re tracking it down.”
Pindor nodded. “How many of these portals do you think there are out there?”