Bhavacakra
Twenty One
(9/21/06 1830, Fort Davis, Texas League)
I feel the winds blowing across the hull of my construct just as I would if I were outside and it blew across my fur. My construct is a part of me, and with it I see everything around me with senses sharp enough to discern objects light seconds away; I can easily watch individual members of the Sunshine camp wander around in their temporary camp two kilometers below me. I can’t see Misery and our little sister in their camouflaged sniper post to the west, but I know where it is and infrared imaging reveals their presence. I watch as, out of sight of the nearby camp, Kerrik and a topless Raven argue over something. I can even see the scout platoon that is approaching the lodge five kilometers away from where I hover.
I immediately reach out with my mind and inform Autumn of their position. Unlike the rest of us, she is free to engage whenever she wishes while we must wait for Kerrik’s order. I envy her that, but the real killing will take place here and I would not willingly change places with her.
I live for death, and I take a second and indulge in exaltation over the fact that soon I will be free to fulfill my purpose and work with my sisters to kill almost everyone below me. Kerrik hopes that he will be able to convince the Sunshine forces to return to the lands they came from, thereby avoid having to destroy them. He says that, and he means it, but I know his secret. While we were created for war, Kerrik Wolf was born for it and then raised for it by those despicable women who would claim him as their family and weapon when they need him and disown him whenever that reason is gone. War and death are his birthright and his destiny; he has embraced that birthright and fulfilled that purpose ever since he was old enough to lift a sword or pull a bow. Over his lifetime he has killed enough to sate even our bloody souls. Still, it is not enough for him and he quietly longs to rip the life from almost everything he encounters. He fights it, and in denying this hunger he proves that he still controls himself. But the hunger remains and it calls to him to keep killing. It calls to all of us that are bonded with him in a seductive voice that’s hard to drown out except with spilled blood for it to drink.
My mind flits through the minds of the men and pokegirls below me, and joy sings through my soul at what I find. Their orders are clear and they will follow them as they pursue the glory that they feel was stolen from their ancestors when the Texans first broke from Mexico. Their destination is Austin. They will not be swayed from their purpose and they will not retreat.
They will die.
(9/21/06 1830, Fort Davis, Texas League)
Misery was comfortably settled against the rock with her eyes closed. Her breathing was slow and steady, and it would be easy to draw the impression that she was fast asleep. A dark gray helmet that had been designed for her ears sat on her head.
Morwen’s voice was taut with tension. “What do you see?”
The Mini-top spoke without opening her eyes. “Tie your twee to mine and take a look for yourself.”
Morwen promptly did so. Ghostly images appeared in a mask over her vision as her twee injected into her visual cortex the picture from the sight camera of the 30mm sniper rifle a hundred meters from them. Misery had the weapon trained on the rotor hub of the military helicopter a kilometer away. The image changed to a group of men wearing military uniforms standing around and chatting while an Amachop clambered out of the foxhole she’d just finished digging for them. The image jumped again, this time to where the battalion’s mess unit was starting fires to begin cooking the evening meal.
Misery and Morwen had placed three of the remote sniper rifles a hundred meters apart in a line facing the Sunny unit. The helmet was the control for all three and Misery was switching between the digital feeds from each one in turn to keep the scenes fresh. The gun sighted on the helicopter was static, while the other two rotated a few degrees every second so that she could look over the whole camp in search of high priority targets. In a modern battlefield, hair thin fibers would be spun from each weapon back to the control site so as to avoid any chance of detection through the signal leakage from the transmissions to and from the guns, but in this case Misery had examined the detection equipment available to humanity at its peak and decided that directional lasers were all she needed.
Morwen was her security and wore battledress festooned with spare magazines for her hornet. She constantly surveyed the area, scanning for motion while her twee compared the view with the ones she’d taken on earlier sweeps, looking for changes that could signal someone or something trying to creep into position for an attack. She jumped when Whisper’s mind touched theirs.
Their orders are to move on Austin and capture the city to force the Texas League to surrender.
Misery snorted. “That’s dumb. The Texans don’t have a central government. There isn’t anyone who can surrender the league to them. They’ll still have to conquer the whole league, pretty much one person at a time. Even if they did make it to Austin they’d be surrounded and with no way to resupply.” She grinned savagely. “It really sucks for them that they started with us.”
Kerrik is still going to talk to them.
“That’s even dumber.”
Morwen frowned. “You don’t think we should talk to them?”
“It’s not like they wandered a few kilometers over the border. They know exactly where they are and what they’re doing. The time for talking was over when they set foot on our property. Now it’s time to kill them until they get the message and leave or until they run out of warm bodies.”
(9/21/06 1830, Fort Davis, Texas League)
“Let’s get this done.” Raven pulled off her shirt and tossed it aside. Her bra quickly followed it.
Kerrik grabbed her hands as she reached for the button on her jeans. “What are you doing?”
“They need to think I’m as harmless as possible so they won’t separate us.” Her hands trembled in his. “I’m scared they will do just that. I’m really scared I’m going to fuck this up and get you killed. If I’m nude they won’t look at me. They’ll be too busy looking at my body instead.” She tugged against his grip, but didn’t bring her full strength to bear. “Let me go.”
He wrapped her up in his arms and held her against him. “Never.” She pushed away halfheartedly before resting against his chest. “It’s more than likely that they’ll either not understand what a flag of truce means or that they’ll know and not care. In either case, you will be taken from me because you’re a pokegirl.” His arms tightened. “I need you to stay clothed because if they try to rape you after we’re apart, I’m going to go completely berserk and I’ll kill everyone there with my bare hands if I have to in order to protect you. I know you have to pretend to be docile, but do not let them try anything.” He pulled her head up to look at him. “Please.”
She nodded once before dropping her head to rest her nose and mouth against his neck and breathe in his scent. “What do I do if they try?”
“You do whatever you have to. You are mine, Raven Wolf, and I will not share you with anyone.”
She looked up at him then. “Ever?”
“Not as long as you don’t want to be with someone else.”
“What about you?”
His ears flicked. “What about what about me?”
“What if they try to rape you? There are pokegirls with that kind of behavior patterns. They could also just tie you up and torture you.”
Kerrik snorted. “I’m going to be under a flag of truce, remember? The instant they try anything like that the truce is over and we revert to plan. That’s also what happens if they’re stupid enough to open fire when we hail them. You’re covered under that too, so if they try to rape you we kill them.”
Raven opened her mouth to say something but stopped when Whisper’s mind touched theirs. Their orders are to move on Austin and capture the city to force the Texas League to surrender.
He shook his head and adjusted his cowboy hat. “They are still working with the wrong paradigm. Apparently they’re completely clueless as to how Texas works now. Maybe I can explain it to them when we talk.”
You’re still going to talk to them? They aren’t likely to listen.
“I have to give them the chance before we destroy them.”
Kerrik picked up her shirt and handed it to her. A smile flickered over her lips. “You forgot the bra.”
He deliberately looked at the brassiere on the ground and back at her. “No, I didn’t forget.”
“I’ll leak through the shirt after a while.”
He nodded solemnly. “Yeah, you probably will.”
The Archmage giggled softly and pulled the shirt on. “Well, if you don’t mind me replacing shirts on a regular basis then I’m done with bras.”
“Good.”
(9/21/06 1830, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
“I don’t like being relegated to second string in this. We can fight.”
Autumn used her full height to invade Naomi’s personal space and gave a mental nod of satisfaction when the smaller Elfqueen backed up. “You think that protecting my daughters and the rest of the children is some kind of insult? Let me explain this simply, and not nearly as nicely as Kerrik explained it to Caradoc. You’ve been here for only a few days. I’ve never worked with you. Kerrik has never worked with you. I don’t want you involved in the defense of this place at all, and he overrode me because he trusts your male and, through him, you.” She relented slightly when the subordinate Elfqueen turned bright red. “When we’ve trained forces together and I’ve personally tested your combat skills, then I’ll know how to best use you and your court.” Unspoken but heard by both was and then I’ll know I can trust you not to fuck up and get me or mine killed. “Until then, you get to raise my daughters if we all die. Guarding the children is not an insult and if you’ll use the brain I know you have, you’ll realize I’m right and stop arguing with me about it.”
Naomi blinked and gave her a rueful smile. “I guess being a queen in my own right has gone to my head. I’m sorry.”
Autumn chuckled and patted her on the shoulder. “I like my officers to be aggressive. You’re not the first I’ve had to rein in and you’re a lot easier to reason with than a Dark Lady or Seraph.”
“I’m an officer? Does that mean you’re back to being General Autumn?”
The Elfqueen shook her head, her harvest colored hair shimmering behind her as it moved. “No, I’m Great Queen Autumn now and I no longer answer to anyone for my decisions. Kerrik can counsel me and I’ll let him overrule me because I trust him to make the best decision for all of us and he’s more experienced than I am, but he and I both know that since the queendom is my responsibility, the decisions are mine. He’s more than willing to let me decide and then try to talk me into changing my mind if he thinks I’m screwing up badly.” She smiled. “It’s how we both want things to be, too.”
Naomi frowned. “Why are you the Great Queen Autumn?”
“That was another one of Kerrik’s suggestions. It’ll let subordinate queens like you call yourself queen without infringing on my overall authority. Every Elfqueen wants to be a queen and this will let them, no matter what size their court happens to be.” She smiled slightly. “It also lets me have the same rank as Raven, something I’m sure he considered before he made the suggestion. That means she can’t try to overrule me with my court.”
“That’s very cunning.”
Autumn nodded. “It is. I’m glad my friendship with Misery led me here. I’m very fortunate to have him as my male.” Her head came up. “Whisper just told me that there’s a scouting unit headed up the road to the lodge. Naomi, get your people into their positions and keep them quiet. If we fall or they somehow get past us you withdraw with the children to Raven’s cave as planned.” She fixed Naomi with an odd look. “If I die, try to convince Kerrik to accept one of my daughters in my place. Raven already knows I want this and she will do most of the work, but she’ll need your help.”
“I will, my queen.” Naomi spun around and was gone.
Autumn turned to look at the Grandelf that had been watching the exchange between Elfqueens patiently. She pulled a handheld computer from her pocket. “Susan, pay close attention.” The hologram that appeared showed the area. The Elfqueen zoomed the display until it showed the area around the lodge. Red dots sprang up in the display, moving slowly up the road. “Here’s the scouting unit. Inform the others to take up positions as instructed. I’ll be with the 1st squad.” That squad composed handpicked elves which comprised Autumn’s personal bodyguard. “Nobody is to open fire until I do. Use the communication spell that Raven taught you to connect the squad leaders, the mages and us.”
The Grandelf smiled. “The spell is already up, Autumn, it’s just that I still have to tie you into it. I left you out so you wouldn’t be distracted by chatter while working on our grand strategy.” She snickered. “Some of the girls want to know if we can keep some of the humans. I had to explain that’s not how things work here and that when they’re ready for their own males it would be better to find some that weren’t coming here to kill us all.” They shared a quick chuckle. “Don’t forget my suggestion to look over their pokegirls as potential recruits for the queendom. They might be as tired of fighting as we are.” Her smile turned nasty. “If they’re not already, I’m pretty certain they will be after we chew them up.”
(9/21/06 1845, Fort Davis, Texas League)
Raven moved to stand in front of him. “There’s only one last thing before we do this. I want you to pull out my fangs.”
He blinked and then shook his head. “I don’t want them to think you’re not who you are and I’m also not going to ruin your pretty smile.”
“Kerrik, we both know I will grow them back the next time you have me healed in my pokeball. Their guard will be lowered if they don’t see anything unusual about me. Archmages don’t have fangs and I have already sensed that they have at least one magic using pokegirl. There’s a teleport block up over the camp.” She scowled darkly. “It means I’ll have to fight my way to your side when the time to kill starts and I don’t want them alert as to what I might be.”
“Should I shave your head and give you colored contacts too on the off chance that a pokegirl there will recognize you as four twelve?”
She blinked. “You think I’m being silly.”
“No, I think you are a beautiful young woman and as long as you don’t smile and show your fangs everyone there will be staring at your tits.”
“Is that why you didn’t want me to put the bra back on?”
“No, it’s because I like staring at your tits.”
“Should I also switch to short skirts? You like staring at my ass, too.”
He smiled. “We’ll discuss that later. Shorts might be perfectly acceptable and would let me get more work done. You wearing short skirts always make me want to bend you over the nearest piece of furniture every time I see you.”
Her eyes went wide in an artfully innocent expression. “What’s wrong with doing that?”
“Wench.”
She laughed and grinned. “Just for you.”
He smiled back and touched her lips. “Your fangs are showing.”
Raven kissed his fingertips. “Don’t make me laugh and I’ll be fine.”
“You have a pretty laugh. You should laugh more.”
“I’m not used to laughing. Are you trying to change me like you changed Misery and Whisper?”
“I want you to be happy. I know it’s something you’re not used to, but it’s worth it to me to take some time and see what makes you happy.”
“If you want me to be happy then fix my genetics and get me pregnant. I’ve taken enough life. It’s time I brought some into the world.”
He looked into her eyes and nodded. “Done.”
Raven crouched and picked up the wooden pole they’d brought. As she stood up the white flag attached to it tried to unfurl and she quickly rolled it back up. “Then we need to get rid of these trespassers so we can focus on the important things in life.”
He grinned. “I agree. Whisper, we’re heading in to make contact.”
I am watching. Both of you be careful. Autumn is intercepting a scout platoon that is approaching the lodge. They only have four pokegirls and shouldn’t prove much of a challenge.
“Thanks for the update.” The sun was setting, but there was enough light to see the flag as Raven unrolled it and glanced at him. He pitched his voice to carry and bellowed in a voice that could be heard on the other side of the camp. “I come under a flag of truce! Take me to your commanding officer!”
She began vigorously waving the flag as the yells started.
(9/21/06 1845, Fort Davis, Texas League)
He’s begun.
“Fuck.” Misery’s eyes flashed open and the closed again. “Got any other good news?”
Autumn is about to slaughter a scout platoon?
“Bully for her. We’re going to kill a lot more than that.”
Maybe Kerrik will be successful. Then we won’t get to kill anyone and Autumn will have the highest kill count.
Morwen laughed quietly. “You don’t believe that. You don’t want it, either.”
You’re right. I think that if they go away, they’ll just come back someday when they think we’re not ready. We should kill them now while they’re helpless.
Morwen glanced up. “Nobody enters a fight expecting to lose, but no war can be a victory for everyone.”
You’ve been listening to Kerrik again.
“Of course I have. I can’t sleep with him and listening lets me be in his lap.”
Our little sister is crafty. I have to return to my monitoring. I’ll update when I know something.
Misery swiveled one of the cannon to watch Raven start waving a white flag on a pole. She snickered. “I could zap Raven from here.” Her eyes opened and she glanced at Morwen. “What do you think about that?”
The Vampire was still scanning the area. “I think, big sister, that you and Raven are friends and you don’t have any to spare. I also think that if you did kill her, Kerrik would be more than a bit pissed and I’d get more time with him since you and Raven would be dead.” She turned to look at the Mini-top. “I also think that your being gone isn’t worth the time I’d get. I like both of you and I’d miss you.”
Misery’s eyes widened slightly before she scowled. “Fuck you too, Morwen.”
“It’s ok, Misery. I know you like your little sister.” She smiled when the Mini-top growled in irritation.
(9/21/06 1845, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
The Elf scout knelt as she joined the squad. They were all kneeling to hide in the low bushes that had been grown all over the place as cover. “There are forty humans and four pokegirls. Two are Rapitaur, one is a Rack and there is also a Vaporita.”
Autumn nodded. “Thank you Lillian. Return to your post.” She looked around at her squad as the Elf slipped away. “According to my information, we’re looking at a Sunshine infantry platoon. From what Kerrik and I have been able to determine, current Sunshine doctrine is ten pokegirls per platoon, so they’re either shorthanded or the missing pokegirls are being kept back at the main body for some reason. Infrared scans don’t show anyone else out here, so that’s it.” She smiled grimly. “It also means that they don’t have the firepower to get through us. The Rack is the biggest problem since she can go for help.”
A High Elf grimaced. “I’d think the Rapitaur would be the biggest threat. Fire and speed isn’t going to be fun for us to deal with.”
“Cerise, I intend to neutralize their mobility first. After that they’re just targets.”
Cerise grunted. “They’re cavalry. We could use them.”
Autumn’s eyebrow shot up. “Are you in cahoots with Susan?”
“Cahoots? You’re taking this being a Texan pretty seriously.” Everyone chuckled. “No, my queen, I haven’t discussed this with Susan. I just want to be mounted again and, since you won’t let me go to Kerrik so he can do it,” she trailed off and everyone laughed softly.
Autumn shook her head as she smiled broadly. “We’ll see about finding more males later. Now, come with me and remember my plan.” She slipped forward, her squad following closely behind her.
The Rapitaur paused at the edge of the parking lot and looked around warily before waving to the troops behind her. The place felt inhabited and the veteran of the Revenge War had learned to listen to her gut when it was trying to keep her alive.
Lieutenant Mendoza tapped her on the shoulder. “What is it, Lola?” She was his pokegirl, and his promotion to officer was a sign both of his potential ability and the fact that the Sunshine League was beginning to realize that pokegirls were essential on the modern battlefield. There was even discussion about fielding an experimental unit where every human in it was a tamer. There was also discussion about including sterile women in the military units, but that wasn’t anticipated to come to pass for several years.
Besides, few women were interested in being tamers and none of those were good Catholics.
Lola flashed her tamer a smile. “I don’t like the way this feels, sir. I think we’re being watched.”
Mendoza looked over at his sergeant. “Aguilar, pull them back. We’ll go around and observe from a distance.”
Sergeant Randolph Aguilar nodded. “Yes sir.” When Mendoza had joined the platoon a year ago, Aguilar had despised all pokegirls. However, Lola was a veteran and her instincts had saved the platoon countless times since then. She’d earned his grudging respect. He turned around and moved off.
Autumn’s arrow took Lola in the hip. As it hit, the elemental affinity that charged the arrow took on the aspect of the ground type and shattered the bone in both hips as well as rupturing intestine as it passed through the Rapitaur’s body and out the other side to impale a private high in the back, finally coming to a halt with the fletching resting against his body and the head of the thirty four inch arrow buried deeply in the wall he’d been standing next to. He wheezed bubbles of blood through a punctured lung and tried blindly to pull free. One of his teammates slammed him sideways to snap the shaft and took him to the ground to get out of the line of fire.
Lola collapsed screaming as four arrows from members of the 1st squad struck the other Rapitaur. One took her in the throat and she went down hard. A soldier grabbed her legs to drag her out of the way and received an arrow in the chest for his efforts. The Elf watching her readied another arrow and waited for the next fool to try.
The Vaporita popped up, her head swiveling as she looked for a target. Chains from five Elves took her from all sides and wrapped her like a mummy, actually saving her life as the arrows other Elves had fired at her bounced off without penetrating.
“EAT THEIR SOULS!” The battle cry of the Legion of Terror echoed around the troops. The Legion had been, without a doubt, the best known unit of the Revenge War anywhere in the world. Most of that had been due to the grandstanding of the general, a Dark Queen who often captured cameramen and made them record the Legion “mopping up” after a battle and then making sure that the recordings got to the media for broadcast. Even shouted in English, every soldier and pokegirl in the platoon knew what the words meant and fear flashed through them.
One soldier opened fire on an Elf who flitted past his sight. He missed as the plant type disappeared over some rocks. An arrow suddenly sprouted from his right eye and he fell without a sound.
Mendoza ignored the tears running down his face as he crawled backwards away from Lola. The Rapitaur burst into flames and pushed herself upright as she searched for an enemy to kill. More arrows struck her in the torso and she dropped. “Sergeant! Missiles and smoke!” Rifle fire picked up as soldiers found the Elf shaped topiaries that Autumn and Naomi had grown in partial cover around the area.
The Sunshine League had been battered by pokegirl forces during the war and had desperately searched for anything to shrink the gap between pokegirl and human on the battlefield. Looking at the American military twenty years in the past had offered a relatively low tech solution that could be easily manufactured in the Sunshine League while they tried to rebuild more of their manufacturing base and turn it to manufacturing munitions, something it had before purchased from Los Estados Unidos.
Grenades flew in the direction of the enemy and began spewing smoke as four soldiers went up on one knee and, after checking behind them to make sure they didn’t incinerate any of their comrades, individually fired their Sunshine produced M72 LAW rockets at locations where they’d seen arrows come from. One took an arrow in the chest while he pulled the trigger. His body twisted as the rocket left the launcher. It hit the lodge and the explosion blew glass out of every window in the building. Smoke curled up as something inside burned.
The other rockets detonated, killing one Elf and injuring three others as they moved to another firing position. One of the wounded knew healing magic and tended to their injuries while the other two returned fire, killing two of their attackers.
The Rack burst from the ground and streaked towards Fort Davis, jinking wildly to avoid the arrows trying to bring her down as she tried to bring a warning to the battalion. From on the ridge where they were observing the battle, Caradoc Bishop tossed three empty pokeballs to Shima. “Get her!”
The Nightmare dropped Winona into his arms and shot in pursuit, dropping a series of dark bombs on the platoon as she raced overhead at over three hundred kilometers an hour. The explosions shredded a dozen men even as arrows peppered their ranks. Tracers drifted almost serenely behind Shima as the troops tried to bring their weapons to bear and failed. The Rack was still in sight of the Sunshine platoon when Shima’s dark blade chopped off one of her wings and she cartwheeled towards the ground. The Nightmare followed her down as the Autumn’s forces tightened the circle around the platoon.
By the time Shima returned with the pokeballed Rack, the fighting was over. All four pokegirls survived to be captured.
Per Autumn’s orders, all the humans were dead.
(9/21/06 1850, Fort Davis, Texas League)
Their commander is Coronel Rodolfo Tomas Navarette Ruiz and this is the Verde Battalion. Whisper’s message drifted through their minds as the Sunshine soldiers leveled their rifles at Kerrik and Raven. She stopped waving the flag and planted the base next to her foot as she held it vertical. Kerrik kept his hands at shoulder height and in plain view as he spoke in Spanish. “I am Texas Ranger Kerrik Wolf and I come under a flag of truce to see your commanding officer, Coronel Ruiz. I will not violate the flag of truce.”
A lieutenant appeared and sent a runner for someone higher in the chain of command. He snapped his fingers at Kerrik. “Is she a pokegirl?”
Raven blinked and touched his mind through the delta bond. This one is a genius. How many purple haired humans do you think he’s met over the years?
Stop it or else you might smile. “Raven is my pokegirl.”
The lieutenant glanced at a Cheshire who stood silently nearby. “Take her to holding.”
Kerrik’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I come under a flag of truce. You might want to let your superior make the decision to violate it, unless you want to be personally responsible for the shooting starting.”
The lieutenant paled and then scowled as he gestured to the Cheshire. “Take his weapons.”
Kerrik watched the cat pokegirl flip his pistols out of the shoulder holsters and decided to let that pass for the moment. While disarming him definitely violated the truce, these were humans and they probably didn’t remember what kind of insult they were giving. Besides, he did want to talk to them. Invading Texas was a definite threat of force, but he didn’t want to slaughter a thousand people if he didn’t have to. Like Autumn, he’d killed enough not to look forward to spilling more blood. Also like Autumn, if it came down to protecting his land and people, he’d kill everyone here except Raven and feel only satisfaction for a job well done.
Two officers showed up and examined him and Raven from a distance. From the lieutenant’s sudden alertness as he scurried towards them, they were probably high up the command chain. However, he needed to keep in mind that to a new lieutenant, his captain was God, even if the man he really should respect was his sergeant. While in the corporate world it was secretaries that made the world go round, in the military it was the sergeants who made things happen and a good one could make or break any unit he was in.
The three officers held a quiet conference that he couldn’t hear through the cowboy hat, even though he tried. Then one of the newcomers strode forward. “I am Major Antonio Garcia. Coronel Ruiz will honor your flag of truce, but the pokegirl cannot be around. They can’t be trusted.”
“I am Ranger Kerrik Wolf. If she’s hurt, you violate the truce.”
The major smiled. “We know how much you Texans value your pokegirls. She won’t be hurt. She will be taken to a holding area until we are done talking, at which point she will be returned to you before you leave.”
(9/21/06 1855, Fort Davis, Texas League)
Raven confirms the presence of a teleport blocking field.
“Shit.” Misery’s head came up. “Is it static or mobile?”
I am two kilometers up and holding a steady position for the anticipated assault. I cannot triangulate and determine which situation exists here. Hop to it, rabbit.
“Fuck.” Misery pulled her helmet off and stuffed it into a shocked Morwen’s hands. “You’ve got it, little sister. Make me proud.”
“What?”
“You can’t teleport and I know you’ve never been trained in how to localize a magical field to see if it’s moving around or not. That means I am the only person we can cut loose to find out if this is a magic pokegirl or if some moron gave them a magic item.” She flashed a grin. “You can do this. You know what you’re supposed to do. Listen to Whisper and your twee. Oh, and don’t shoot me.” She took the helmet and carefully put it on Morwen’s head. “Interface with the guns. If there is a caster doing this, she just went to the top of the priority list. Everything, including that silly low flier, is not as important as being able to teleport in and rescue Kerrik if Raven can’t get to him.” She vanished.
Morwen stared at the space for a heartbeat while her twee began feeding her the images from the gun mounts. “Fuck!”
Trust me. You can help.
She blinked at her twee’s comment. “What can I do?”
The guns don’t have the discrimination circuitry installed to allow me to use the pokegirl detection system in your pokedex through them, but I can use your eyes to do so. It means you’ll have to levitate out of the cover you’re in and go high enough that you can see the camp from here. Then lend me your eyes. Together we can be looking for any magic using pokegirls. If we see them, I can ID them for someone to kill. You will be in danger however. If they have night fighters you may be spotted.
Without hesitating, Morwen activated her levitation ability and headed upward. “Tell me when I’m in a position where you can go to work. I don’t want to go any higher than I absolutely have to.”
I will.
“Good. I am not going to die a virgin. Whisper, I’m joining the party. My twee and I will be looking for the spellcaster.”
There was a feeling of surprise, followed by understanding. Your twee is more helpful than mine. That is my fault for telling it I didn’t need its help. Perhaps I should have a talk with mine and redefine how we operate together. In any case welcome to the chase and may your first hunt be fruitful, little sister.
(9/21/06 1855, Fort Davis, Texas League)
Raven watched Kerrik being led away by two armed guards and closely followed by the two officers. She had to fight not to growl in anger and frustration at being left behind. The Shadowcat had handed Kerrik’s pistols to the lieutenant and now she turned an expressionless face on Raven. “You come with me.” It was in Spanish, a language that Raven didn’t speak. Her twee, however, provided a translation and allowed the Archmage to understand a language that she couldn’t communicate in. She nodded and motioned for the Shadowcat to lead the way. The cat type’s ears flicked. “You speak Spanish, yes or no?” Raven held her thumb and forefinger about a half inch apart and she nodded. “You are saying you understand a little. Yes?” Raven nodded. “Good. Come.”
She led Raven to an area where some pokegirls and soldiers were finishing setting up their tent. “The coronel has sent me to get two guards for this pokegirl.”
One of the humans looked Raven up and down with a suggestive leer, his eye pausing on her chest. “Such a tiny thing needs two guards?”
The Shadowcat’s ears flattened for a heartbeat. “Sergeant, the coronel does not want her touched right now. Later she’ll probably be bonded to one of the volunteers. She seems to understand a little Spanish, but I doubt she speaks enough of it to know what we’re saying.”
A private grinned. “I’m sure we can use sign language to explain it to her until she learns to speak it.” His pokegirl, a large Wolf Queen, snickered loudly. “I know I wouldn’t have any problem with it.”
The sergeant glanced in his direction. “Thanks for volunteering to stand guard duty over her, Rodriguez.” The Shadowcat turned around. Her job was done and she was headed back for her platoon.
Rodriguez scowled. “I’m busy, sergeant.”
The sergeant smiled broadly. “Yes, you are. You’re busy guarding her.”
“Yes, sergeant.” He put down what he was doing and looked at the Wolf Queen. “Rosa, post.”
“I can guard her from here, sir.” Her ears flicked when Rodriquez pointed at Raven. “Yes sir.” She went to parade rest in front of Raven before speaking in heavily accented English. “You stand there. You move and I hurt you.” Raven nodded slowly. “Quiet is good.”
Raven stood still under the Wolf Queen’s gaze. Her eyes were unfocused and her face slack as she worked to keep her emotions from being found out. Her hands were half closed and occasionally her fingers twitched as, without moving her head, she monitored the movements around her and constantly updated her mental plans of the order in which to kill them all. She was not built for excessive patience and all the targets around her made her eager for the killing to start. But she would wait because it was necessary.
She would wait forever for him.
(9/21/06 1855, Fort Davis, Texas League)
They stood Kerrik against the wall of the tent farthest from the door with an armed soldier on either side of him. Two more guards took up station on either side of the door. One of the officers, a tall slender man, went to the folding table in the middle of the room and looked at a map before turning back to Kerrik. “How long have you been watching us?”
“Since yesterday. That gave me enough time to plan an intercept since we need to talk.”
Major Garcia was the other officer. “You will address the Coronel with the respect he deserves.”
“First, I didn’t know he was Coronel Ruiz since we haven’t been introduced, and as for respect, I am giving him respect. However, I will not give him military courtesy as he’s not my coronel.”
Ruiz smiled slightly. “And what am I to you, Mr. Wolf?”
“I hope you’re the commander of a unit with really bad maps and a terrible navigator. Otherwise, you’re spearheading the invasion of Texas. In either case, I’m going to have to ask you to return to Sunshine League soil immediately.”
Ruiz chuckled briefly. “I have yet to leave Sunshine League soil, Mr. Wolf. We are both still within the confines of the league.”
“The UN has no jurisdiction to divide up the world, Coronel. They never had it and they don’t have it now. The fact that tamers working with the UN decided to overthrow it isn’t really my problem except perhaps since Texas just followed their lead and did the same thing.”
“Ah, but there is a significant difference between the two events, Mr. Wolf. Unlike Texas, the Sunshine League has the military power to back up the sovereign claims to the lands they own. Texas does not.”
Kerrik shrugged. “That is a theory and it hasn’t been tested yet. However, if you do not agree to return to what we both agree is Sunshine League territory, that theory is going to be put to the test.”
Ruiz gave him a disbelieving stare. “You propose to beat my battalion? Texas has no organized military with which to meet me.”
“Did it ever occur to you that Texas doesn’t need one? My harem is currently in position to deal you a serious blow unless you choose to immediately leave Texas. If this flag of truce falls through, it will be their responsibility to put my plan into action.” He smiled when Garcia blinked in shock. “The Sunshine League is slowly starting to realize that pokegirls are the heavy weapons of the future. We already know that fact.” He squared his shoulders. “I formally request and demand that you reverse the direction your unit is traveling and return to Sunshine League territory immediately.” Under his hat, his ears flicked as he heard faint popping noises that he recognized as gunfire. He ignored it. “What is your answer, Coronel Rodolfo Tomas Navarette Ruiz?”
Ruiz’s eyes widened before he nodded slowly. “If you know who I am, then you know that I will follow my orders and proceed.”
Kerrik’s face set. “I could hope you’d be reasonable. If that is your answer then I don’t see where we have any further business under flag of truce, coronel. Please allow me to be escorted to Raven and then we’ll be on our way.”
Ruiz gave him a sad smile. “You know I can’t let you go, Mr. Wolf. You’ve seen this camp and you know too much about my force disposition. You will have to remain as my prisoner.”
“I see. And what about Raven?”
“She will be put to work in the service of the Sunshine League. As you can guess, it will not be as your pokegirl anymore. I am sorry about this, but I have no choice.”
Kerrik shook his head. “I put what is about to happen squarely on your head, coronel. I wonder if the Sunshine government will do the same.”
Garcia frowned as the faint pops were joined by a handful of explosions muted by distance. “Is that gunfire?”
Kerrik nodded. “It is. Your scout platoon has managed to wander someplace they shouldn’t have. Whisper, go.”
Whisper screamed her hunting cry. Execute, execute, execute. The construct dissolved around her. Twenty seconds.
The first 30mm round struck the rotor hub of the Huey squarely. The SAP shaped charge shattered the hub, sending blades falling to the ground as the sky above the camp began to shriek.
Morwen dropped the aiming point and stitched a five round burst up the engine cowling even as she allowed her twee to control the other two cannon and fire on targets of opportunity. She retained control of the third weapon as she continued to hover and sweep the camp with her eyes, hoping against hope to be able to find and kill the creator of the teleport block in the next ten seconds.
Misery cursed loudly as she stopped teleporting around outside the boundaries of the teleport block and began firing dark bombs almost completely at random into the camp. She was careful to keep from targeting near where Kerrik or Misery was, but anything else was fair game. The pilot of the Bell helicopter must have been sitting inside his chopper because the blades were starting to rotate seconds after Morwen opened fire, and the Mini-top’s lips drew back in a fanged grin as she lofted the next dark bomb straight at it. “My kill!” The helicopter took a direct hit and exploded.
Raven’s energy blades flashed into existence and she was striking even as the Wolf Queen registered that she was in motion. In the next instant Rosa was dead, her head tumbling away in a jet of blood as Raven turned to chop down the private. Then she shot into the air, following the delta bond in a direct line for her male.
Kerrik’s claws tore out the throat of the soldier to his left and in the next second he had the man’s pistol. He shot the other guard in the chest even as he pulled the first guard’s dying body around in front of him as a shield. Gunfire roared inside the tent.
The people around the command tent were still reacting when Raven landed. She hurled energy blades at the closest people and tore the side of the tent down before charging inside. “Kerrik!”
He was bent over someone. “Here. Take these two and get them to safety. Heal them before you return. They’re my chosen survivors.”
Raven glanced up involuntarily as if she could see what was coming through the tent’s fabric. “You first. I’ll dart back and get them next.”
“The longer you argue, the more likely I’ll get caught here.” His ears flattened. “Hurry, Raven.”
She gritted her teeth and grabbed Coronel Ruiz and Major Garcia by the arms, turned and darted for the edge of the camp. She landed and began healing the spots where Kerrik had shot each of them in the stomach. A shadow fell over her and she looked up. “Heal them, Misery. I have to get him.”
The Mini-top shook her head. “Too late.” Raven whirled around in time to watch.
A mile is five thousand, two hundred and eighty feet. Two miles is double that and four miles double that. Raven, Misery, Whisper and Morwen had cut two miles of double railroad track into roughly one foot lengths, each of which weighed eighteen kilograms or forty pounds. Twenty one thousand chunks of track weighing a total of three hundred and eighty metric tons or four hundred and twenty two Imperial tons had been loaded into Whisper’s construct and released to rain down on the Sunshine camp when she dissolved it. At impact, each projectile was moving at 198 meters per second and together they delivered the equivalent energy of over five thousand 155mm howitzer shells.
Whisper had followed behind the barrage, using her telekinesis to keep the edges of the pile from straying too far before impact. The chunks of iron powered through everything in their way. Some of them sank into the ground while others bounced high into the air, only to come down again in a cacophony that carried for kilometers. A pall of dust rose from the impact and was whipped away in the breeze.
Raven winced at a sharp spike of pain across the delta bond from Kerrik. Misery took a handful of Coronel Ruiz’s uniform and jerked him to his feet. He gasped at the pain from his half healed injury and then froze at the furious face glaring at him from inches away. “If he dies from this, I will take a month to kill you. Then I’ll kill your family and all your friends. After that I’ll kill your friend’s families. After that, if I’m still angry, I will see if I can kill everyone in the Sunshine League before they kill me.”
“Finish healing him.” Raven shot for the camp as soon as it was safe. As she approached, the destruction was so complete that she had to stop and hover to orient herself. She also took a second to marvel that, like several heavy bombardments she’d witnessed in the war, they never killed everyone in their blast zone.
The teleport barrier is down.
A pile of tent and iron trembled and shifted as a silvery wolf the size of a van tore his way free, its hind legs dragging uselessly behind it. Its snarl of rage made the air vibrate around it.
Whisper hovered next to Raven. That’s Kerrik.
The wolf’s head whipped sideways as a yellow blur shot over the rubble at it, electricity cracking around the attacker. She yelled something lost in the distance. The wolf leaned back slightly and lunged at the last instant. Lightning danced over its body as its muzzle sank into the pokegirl’s body and she shrieked in agony. The wolf’s massive head jerked sideways in a spray of blood as he disemboweled the pokegirl and flung her away from him.
Whisper drifted slightly backwards. He appears to be dangerous. I’d approach him with caution if I were you.
“So it’s my job?”
You are the maharani. It is your job and your duty to help him in his time of need. I will provide security to see that you are not disturbed.
“Fuck you too.”
Whisper grinned and shot upwards. I’m sure he won’t hurt you much.
Raven shook her head and drifted forward. The wolf had licked its muzzle clean but as soon as she approached its head swung to watch her. Its ears flattened and it growled loudly in warning. She continued forward as she raised her voice to sound non-threatening. “Kerrik, you know me. I’m Raven.” She landed far enough away to dodge if he lunged. His growling had never stopped, and now it grew louder. “If you don’t let me near you, how are you going to stare at my tits and ass again?”
The wolf’s growl stopped and its ears came up slightly as it seemed to be deciding if she was a threat or not. Finally its head cocked and it raised a paw to stare at it. Oh. Crap.
“Are you ok?”
The wolf twisted to look down its body. No. My spine is shattered. I will regenerate though, even if I’d like to be able to reprioritize what’s going to happen. His head turned to look at the dying pokegirl nearby. Amber eyes blinked. Raven, pokeball her.
She pulled a pokeball from her pocket and tossed it at the still figure. It disappeared into the capture beam. “I thought you said you’d picked the survivors already.”
He nodded slowly. I did, but I am allowed to change my mind. Find and capture another pokegirl. She will be bonded to the coronel or the major and will guard them while they go back to explain what happened. Kill everyone else. His hindquarters jerked and he whined loudly.
Raven stepped up to him and looked worriedly into his eyes. “Can I touch you?”
Of course you can, but you can’t help what’s happening. My body prioritizes repairs, so it’s fixing my spine first. That will allow me to feel all the pain in my crushed pelvis and legs before it heals that too.
“I can work on healing your legs.”
I appreciate the idea, but you have killing to do. Get started. I’ll wait here until I’m healed and I get enough control to change back.
(9/21/06 1920, Fort Davis, Texas League)
Morwen jumped when the hand touched her on the shoulder, but she was too tired to whirl around. Instead she tiredly looked up to see Kerrik giving her a sad smile. “Are you all right?”
Tears had streamed down her face until the front of her shirt was soaked and she gave him a desperate look before falling into his arms and sobbing. Kerrik held her tightly against him and hummed softly, some wordless song that brought a bit of peace into her anguished soul. “Why are we doing this,” she whispered against him. “I don’t understand.”
His voice was gentle. “We’re doing this because I insist on it, and for no other reason.” He smiled when she looked up at him. “There is a method to my madness, however. I’m not just winning this battle, Morwen. I’m winning the next one and the one after that too.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Sunshine League sent one of their most powerful military units into a place where they know that there are no organized forces to stand against it. The only thing that could face it was individual tamers and their harems. And that force was completely annihilated. They will think long and hard before sending anyone else north. If nothing else, they can’t afford to have units like this swallowed up completely. They’ve got other places where the forces they have are needed much more than sending them here. Places that they already own that are full of unrest at being told they now belong to the Sunshine League.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, our victory will give some of those places heart and someone in the Sunshine League government is going to be stupid enough to demand we be punished for our work here to cower those places back into line. Hopefully the intelligent ones will stuff him face first into a toilet instead of listening to him. If they do listen to him, we will probably end up killing more Sunnies.”
She took a deep breath. “I understand now, but I don’t want to kill anymore. Must I?”
“No, you don’t have to. No matter how you feel about it, you did a good job today. We can finish up. Do you want to go into your pokeball?”
Morwen blanched. “No. My mind keeps working in there and all I’d see would be all the wounded I murdered today.”
His ears flattened for a heartbeat. “Morwen, those men would have cheerfully held you down and raped you just for being a pokegirl. If they couldn’t do that, they’d have killed you without a qualm. I’m not sure they deserve any mercy, much less your compassion.”
“I know, but most of the pokegirls here wouldn’t have helped unless ordered. Do they have to die too? We could send them to Austin and find them tamers.”
Kerrik looked into her eyes and nodded. He summoned his pack and pulled a large bag out of it. “Here you go. All of these pokeballs are empty. You can play Valkyrie and rescue everyone you can. However, we’re not going to stop our work and wait for you. The ones you can get to before us are the ones you’ll save.” She blinked as he reached for his belt. “Now, if you’ll let me pokeball you, I’ll run you through the PPHU and release you.”
“Then I’ll be back at full strength and ready to catch them as fast as possible.” She nodded. “Do it.”
(9/21/06 2100, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
“I don’t care if we killed everyone else. I want those two dead! It was their orders that caused this.” Misery’s snarl made the coronel and major flinch from where they sat. They weren’t tied up, but Morwen was guarding them with Whisper as her backup.
Raven stepped in front of the Mini-top. “It isn’t their fault. They weren’t here when some dickhead blew up and then set our home on fire. Autumn and the others did try to put it out, but it was too little, too late.”
The tired looking Elfqueen gave Kerrik an apologetic smile that he returned. They had tried their best with water spells and other magics, but the building had been too dry and they hadn’t been able to get to it until after dealing with the scout platoon and by then the fire was just too firmly established to be beaten. Most of the building had sustained fire damage. Almost all of it also had smoke damage from the blaze as well as water damage from the efforts to contain the destruction.
Misery blinked when someone tugged on her ears. She turned around just in time to get pulled into Kerrik’s embrace. She glared without heat at him. “I can’t win one of these tantrums if you keep doing this.”
He winked. “Good. Home is a state of mind, Misery, and as long as we’re all together we can build a new place to live. As for them, I need them alive to carry word back to the Sunshine government so they’ll know what happened and hopefully learn the right lessons from it.”
The coronel glared. “If the lesson is that you’re a heartless butcher, I think we’ve learned that very well.”
Kerrik shrugged and began stroking Misery’s back. “If that’s what it takes. Being called Kerrik the Butcher isn’t the worst thing anyone’s ever called me. The real lesson is that next time I won’t send anyone back to report, and if they piss me off enough, I and my girls will pay a visit to Mexico City. It’s a long trip and I’m likely to decide to make sure my lesson is object enough that I don’t have to come back in an official capacity. Sunshine needs to realize that Texas is going to be a lot harder to swallow than they think it is. I’d also appreciate it if they’d mention this to Indigo so they might decide diplomacy is a better way to go than having their forces slaughtered like hogs.”
“What are you going to do with us?”
“You’ve each got a date tonight with a pokegirl. After you’ve bonded them, I’m going to take you to El Paso and turn you loose so you can go back to Sunshine.” Misery snickered and rested her head against his.
Major Garcia’s voice was flat. “You can’t force us to have sex with one of them.”
“Technically I’m not going to.”
Whisper smiled predatorily. I am going to hypnotize you to believe that the pokegirl you are with is a woman that you are very much in lust with. After that, I’m sure that nature will take its normal course since neither one of you is homosexual. You are both honorable men and once you realize what you’ve done, you’ll accept the pokegirls as part of your lot in life. Even knowing about what I’m going to do to you beforehand will not protect your puny minds from mine.
“I refuse.”
You keep that thought in mind and we’ll just see who is smug in the morning.
(9/22/06 0700, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
“Please tell me you’re fucking kidding.” Misery scowled when he shook his head and sighed. She glanced in the direction of Coronel Ruiz and Major Garcia and tried to take pleasure in their obvious discomfort at having done exactly what Whisper had said they were going to do and bonded a Rack and a Maesael respectively. “They should be made to help.”
“They gave me their parole. I can’t work them to death to make you happy.”
Misery snorted. “So we get to clean up the battlefield? That sucks. Where are we going to bury the bodies?”
“We’re not. They go into the weaver along with everything else to be broken down into raw materials.”
“I thought humans got markers and plots and everything.”
“Not according to me. Sunshine should have records of who was in the battalion. Since I checked the infrared surveys again this morning and determined there were no heat signatures I couldn’t account for, we killed them all. That’ll make it easy for the league to set up a memorial if they want to.” He smiled slightly. “But we’re not going to leave that mess to rot and stink and maybe draw ferals. We made the mess and we’ll clean it up.” He reached for her and smiled when she backpedaled hastily. “And trying to get them to do work would probably just slow us down.”
She scowled. “I lost my Kerrik wolf doll. That’s what I’m really ticked about. I can’t get that back.”
His ears flicked. “You had it cleaned after your stereo blew up, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Having the weaver strip your toy of all the smoke would have been a more complicated job than necessary. What the weaver did was dismantle the old wolf toy and build you a new one. That means the pattern is still in the system and you can get another one. The weaver stores the pattern of everything that gets run through it. Now that you’ve got records of what I look like, you can even adjust the color to match my fur.”
Misery blinked. “Does that mean we could make more Sunshine soldiers?”
His ears flicked. “No. The weaver won’t make living organisms. You could make more dead bodies if you wanted to, but I’m not sure why you would.” She grimaced and he continued with a smile. “It’s interesting to note that it will make seeds. Seeds have the potential to be alive, but aren’t until they germinate. That’s why they can be stored for thousands of years and then grown.” He reached for her again and she chuckled and stepped into his arms. “I’ve also stored the pattern for the furs you really like. You get to pick the color, though. Just remember that fluorescent hot pink makes my eyes hurt.”
She kissed him gently and pushed away. “I think I’ll try that pure white you said I’d look so good against. When can we rebuild?”
“It’s already started. The nanites will build us a new home in a couple of days. This one will be fireproof, too, and armored against pokegirl attacks.” He made a face. “At least it will only take a couple of days once we hash out what it’s going to look like. Until then we’ll be using that tent spell I taught to Raven.”
“Do I get input into how it’ll look?”
“Everyone in the family does. That’s why I figure we’ll be working on that for a while before the actual construction starts. Just use your twee to access the current suggestions and start helping out. Just for the record, I have the final decision on the construction plans, not Raven.”
“I see.” Misery reached out and traced his chin with a fingertip as she pulled her ears around to drape them over her shoulders. She batted her eyes and gave him a winsome look. “Think I could influence your decisions if I try really hard?”
His ears canted sideways. “I’m not sure. We may have to do some testing to see, but if it’s in the interests of science I’m willing to do a thorough exploration of the subject.”
She smiled seductively. “I’m glad you’re willing to sacrifice for science. I’ll see about scheduling the preliminary experiments for later today.”
“Ok. Find me when that’s all set up and we’ll start our research.” He shook his head as she literally bounced off.
(9/22/06 1000, Wolf Lodge, Texas League)
“You hurt me a lot.” The Peekabu glared at him. “I almost died.” She was from somewhere in the Yucatan and only spoke Spanish, but she’d been programmed with English before being released after being completely healed in a healing machine the weaver had made for them. They hadn’t needed one before this, but it allowed Autumn to completely refresh her Elves and keep them working around the clock as they cleaned up two battlefields and finished tearing down the lodge. Raven and Naomi were using it for the same purpose for their respective harems.
Kerrik shrugged. “You were attacking me and I was defending myself. If you attack me again, I’ll do the same thing.”
“So now you’ll make me your pokegirl.” She didn’t look especially enthused at the idea. “I’d rather have died with my tamer.” Her ears flicked. “Why didn’t you kill me too? You murdered everyone else, even the wounded.”
“That’s not really true. Thanks to Morwen we saved a hundred and two pokegirls, not counting the two going with the coronel and the major, but including your ungrateful carcass. I probably would have let you die, except for what you were yelling as you attacked me.”
She frowned and her tail twitched. “I didn’t yell anything.”
“You don’t remember yelling anything, but then that makes sense.”
“Why would I not remember yelling something if I were yelling it? You must be crazy to think you heard me say something that I didn’t.”
“You don’t remember saying anything because you weren’t really the person saying it.”
“You are talking nonsense.”
“That’s because you don’t have the same magical knowledge base I do. Unfortunately, a complete explanation could destroy your personality and I’m still trying to decide if I want to do that to you.”
She snorted. “You cannot destroy my personality.”
Apparently she’d never heard of conditioning cycles, but then they weren’t used much during the Revenge War by Sukebe’s people. “Aren’t you the confident one? I guess that pretty much makes up my mind then. I won’t miss you when you’re gone.”
Whisper was standing safely behind the Peekabu where she could kill the pokegirl if she became threatening. I get to kill her? From the Peekabu’s lack of response, the Cabbit was carefully excluding her from the conversation.
The Peekabu stiffened. “I knew it. You are going to kill me.”
No, Whisper. Wait and see what’s going to happen, but I doubt you’ll have to kill her. Kerrik shook his head. “I am really not going to miss you.” He took a deep breath. “When you were attacking me, you were yelling something. It was ‘mi perrito’.” The Peekabu jerked suddenly and her eyes widened. “In English it means ‘my puppy’.” She jerked again and gasped as she clutched her head in her hands. “I’ve never been called that, but I was there when someone else was, and I know who called him that. It was another pokegirl from the Pia line. Her name was Kebi.”
The Peekabu screamed and collapsed, her body twisting in violent convulsions.
Whisper stepped away from the thrashing form. What is happening to her?
“Kebi was killed and, after her death, my son summoned her shade. She promised to come back to him. I don’t know how her soul knew the right world to pick before we decided to come here, but Kebi’s soul is inside that body. Right now she’s in a fight with the personality the body currently has to see who will live and who will be destroyed forever.” He flashed a grim smile. “This is one of the dark secrets about reincarnation. Coming back always ends in someone dying.”
What happens if Kebi loses this fight?
“Then I don’t tell Shikarou about this and he will someday wonder why she broke her promise to him.” His ears flicked. “It all comes down to whether Kebi loves Shikarou more than the other personality wants to exist.”
Can we help her?
“I know some things that would give her an advantage, but I’m not going to use them. This is her fight.” His eyes were hard. “If her love is that strong, I don’t have to worry that someday she’ll leave him again. I’d rather she die now than have to put any of my children through that.”
Gold eyes regarded him curiously. If I am in the same situation, would you help me?
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I would.”
Isn’t that a double standard?
“Yes, it is.”
She slipped her hand into his. Thank you.
“I don’t intend to let this become an issue for you. Instead, I intend to work very hard to keep you alive until you become a pokewoman. At that point I’m going to try to talk you into becoming kami or sidhe. I’d prefer kami, but I’ll take what I can get.”
There won’t be any convincing required, Kerrik. In three hundred years I will still love you and I will still want to be with you forever. I will become kami the day you’ll let me make the transition. His hand tightened over hers and she smiled.
They were silent as the Peekabu fought for her existence. Finally her convulsions slowed and stopped. The pokegirl still panted furiously, but otherwise lay still. When she started to move, Kerrik knelt and lifted her head to look into her eyes. She froze. Her eyes were wide as they stared into his. He smiled at what he saw. “Welcome back, Kebi.”
***
THE END
***
Kerrik Wolf
Harem
Raven: Archmage
Whisper: Cabbit
Misery: Mini-top
Morwen: Vampire pokekit
Autumn: Elfqueen