Into the Fire
Seventeen
Barbie lifted the spoon to Iain’s lips again. “You need to eat.” She’d propped him up with a smelly roll of old leather so he could swallow and now tried to feed him a thick barley soup with odd bits of meat and vegetables in it.
He glared at her as he turned his head away from the spoon. “Why do you care?”
“I care because my mistress will get her position and all of the things that go along with it back when she presents you to the High Council. If you die, she will get none of these things and will not be happy.” She gave him a perky smile. “If you don’t eat, you won’t be able to survive my mistress’ playing with you and we won’t be able to go home.”
She was right about him needing to eat, Iain knew, if not for the reasoning she’d used to try and convince him. Either he ate or he might as well take off the ring right now and get it over with. With obvious reluctance, he let her feed him the contents of the bowl.
“Why didn’t Aglaii remove my ring? She’s removed the rest of my clothing.”
“Eve told me that if it were removed you would die. I told my mistress. She doesn’t want you to die yet.”
“Ah.”
For a while, Iain had been ready to give up, but so far he didn’t want to break his oath to Dominique and the others more than he wanted to die. Instead, he’d reached into the well of rage that simmered at the center of his being for the strength he needed to survive. It helped that while Aglaii’s cutting hurt him as much as she wanted it to, the torture actually hurt less than the total pain he’d been subjected to by the Witch on the Free Bitch. No physical pain could match every pain nerve firing at the same time. If she didn’t kill him through blood loss before Barbie could heal him, he could survive this with relatively minimal physical damage.
Emotional damage was, of course, something entirely different, but even that would heal if given enough time. Time that right now he wasn’t sure he had, but he couldn’t accept that. He wouldn’t accept that. His family needed him and he would only fail them by dying at Aglaii’s hands.
Being able to endure the torture let him turn his thoughts to planning his escape while Aglaii was away resting. Not that those plans had accomplished anything as of yet. Still, the planning let him have the one thing Aglaii didn’t want him to get. Hope.
Barbie laid him back down and left. Iain closed his eyes and let his mind go blank as he focused his will and searched for a way to escape.
***
“Eve! Eve!” Dominique bounded up the stairs from her lab. “Where the hell are you?”
Iain had been missing for two days now and Eve had ordered the various harem members into specific jobs. They had to act like Iain was still here or the handful of league officials in Dingle might grow curious and investigate. At that point the harem could be broken up, sold or merely placed into storage until Iain returned.
Merely.
Scheherazade looked up from where she was peeling potatoes. “What is it?” Her fur was matted and her ears half folded back. After she’d realized that she’d lost her general, the Dread Wolf had started sinking into a depression the likes of which the others had never seen before. It was a black depression lined with rage and it grew every hour that he was gone.
“I haven’t located him yet, but I know he’s in the Blue League!”
Eve entered the kitchen with a basket of laundry. “How do you know that?”
“I figured out how to track the authors when they aren’t in their leagues, that’s how. Iain put me on to a couple of ways Sanctuary might be doing it as guide and he was right. Of course, it helped that I had my own personal author around to test my theories on and they didn’t. I even found one wandering around outside the Blue League, on a ship I think. But I can’t locate Iain, which means he’s still in the Blue League where he can’t be tracked.”
April came in with Irena. “That’s thin, Dominique.”
Scheherazade put up her hand. “Right now I’ll take thin. If he’s in the Blue League, we can reach him if we can locate him.”
Eve nodded and put the basket near the door. “Dominique, you’re sure that the Blues didn’t get Iain?”
The Archmage shook her head. “If they went after the person they knew as Kerrik Wolf, they’d have used the Blackguards to catch or at least keep him. I used to train them and I’ve had contacts in the Blackguards and their leadership for the last two centuries. They don’t have him. They don’t even have orders to look for him.” She snorted. “Harris thinks she doesn’t need him anymore and is glad he’s gone away.”
Eve looked thoughtful “That corroborates the information I’ve managed to gather.”
Irena pulled out a chair and climbed into it. “Evangelion said we needed to figure out who could have done this. If it wasn’t the Blue League, who was it? Who could have taken out Iain and Barbie without us getting any warning and who could be keeping him?”
Dominique shrugged. “The Order of Pendragon is involved in a war of succession right now. They’re too fragmented to go after anyone until someone can claim and keep the throne. It’s not them.”
Eve sighed. “After I put out the laundry, I went to talk to Lucy. She says she’s heard of a spell that can suppress or block a delta bond. However, she’s also sure knowledge of its existence is restricted to only a few organizations. Out of them she’s only aware that the spell is currently being used by the elite agents of two groups. One is the Sisterhood, and Lucy has assured me that they like Iain and don’t have any reason to take him prisoner.” The Megami-sama made a face. “In fact, she was considering asking him to donate sperm to the Sisterhood’s breeding program for pokewomen.”
“Stop rambling,” Scheherazade almost snarled, “if it’ll get him back, they can have a gallon of his sperm and I’ll milk it out of him personally. Who is the second group?”
“Sanctuary.”
***
Aglaii put down the scalpel and lifted the flesh away from his chest. “You know,” she said conversationally, “vivisection is much more difficult than many people think.” On the table, Iain gasped for breath as his diaphragm tried to suck a vacuum on a torso that was no longer completely sealed in a vain attempt to fill his lungs. “Doing the job right takes precision and control, you see. It’s so easy to accidentally kill your subject through blood loss, puncturing an organ because he jerked at the wrong time or merely by overstressing the body you’re working on. Only an expert can keep someone like you alive while carving interesting bits off.” Her eyes flicked up to meet his hate filled glare. “You are very fortunate that I am one of those rare experts. Did you know I can see your heart beat while you suffocate, Kerrik?” She watched as he turned blue and the light in his eyes began to fade. “Barbie, fix him up.”
The astral Damsel pressed the meat back into place and healed it. Her healing was never complete and left a fine line of scarring where the cuts had been. “Mistress, I need to feed soon.”
“Then feed on him. I am certainly not going to let you feed on me.”
“Mistress, if I feed on him, he will surely die. You want me to keep him alive for presentation to the Council.”
Aglaii frowned. “Can the members of his harem find you if you leave this place to hunt?”
“I do not know, mistress.”
“You idiot.” The Sanctuary Goth studied Iain as he began breathing again. “I’ll bring you back someone to eat. You stay here and clean him up again.”
“Yes, mistress.” Barbie waited until Aglaii had left before pushing the cart with the medical implements out of the way. “I’ll clean these up first and then I’ll get some warm water and food for you.” She took the cart and headed into the darkness that surrounded them.
Iain watched her leave before closing his eyes and focusing his mind back on the image of the magical storage in his chest. In his mind’s eye, the sphere was growing tendrils that extended down his arms and into hands. From there the tendrils branched, growing into his fingers until they stopped at his fingertips. Once that was done, he rested before looking into the Awareness for what he thought he needed.
Aglaii had made one mistake that he hoped to capitalize on. She had assumed that the situation was the same as it had been on the Free Bitch, and that Iain was helpless and alone. It was true that he was alone. Somehow his harem couldn’t come for him, although he had no doubt that they were searching as hard as they could. That truth was the one thing that was keeping him alive and he would abandon it only when shown the severed heads of his ladies.
As for his being helpless, that had yet to be determined.
***
April called down the stairs. “Dominique, Eve, we need to talk.” When there was no answer, she raised her voice. “Look, Irena had an idea and you need to hear it.”
Dominique moved into view at the foot of the stairs. “Irena had an idea?” She didn’t quite sneer. “I’ll bet it’s just something too wonderful for words.”
“Just come up for some tea and hear her out. Someone with real access to the Awareness needs to see if there’s something to her theory. If she’s wrong, you still had some tea and a few moments of rest. Bring Eve with you.”
The Archmage’s crimson eyes narrowed. “Are you giving me orders?”
“If that’s what it takes for you two to take a break, yes, I am.”
Eve appeared and put her hand on Dominique’s shoulder as the Archmage started to fire back a scathing retort. “Drop it, Dee. The fact that you’re so snappish tells me we need a break. April, we’ll be up in five minutes.”
A few minutes later the four of them were seated at the table as April poured the tea. “I asked Scheherazade if she wanted to hear this, but she’s busy pacing again.”
Eve nodded. “She feels like a failure. She’s not alone in that, but I deal with the stress differently than she does. She’s young and hasn’t realized that not everything can be dealt with by training and then challenging your problem again.”
April put down the teapot and slumped in her seat. “What happened is my fault. He asked me to go shopping with him and Barbie. I said I was busy, but I wasn’t. I just didn’t want to be around Barbie while she simpered at him. If I had gone, he’d be here now.”
“You don’t know that, April. Iain’s not a pokegirl, but he’s not easy to take down, either. You could just be gone with him.” Eve leaned back in her chair. “It’s not your fault. What was your idea, Irena?”
The chibi Sanctuary Goth sighed. “I know I’m a magical pokegirl now, but I don’t really know much about magic, so if this sounds stupid, just tell me and I’ll shut up.” She looked up. “It’s probably nothing.”
Dominique poked her in the forehead. “Stop apologizing and tell us so we can decide. Don’t worry, if it’s dumb I’ll let you know.”
Irena took a deep breath. “Well, I was talking with April about what Evangelion told Scheherazade about the delta bonds being suppressed. Does that mean that our bonds with him are still there or does it mean that right now we don’t have any delta bond with Iain?”
Dominique looked at Eve, who shrugged. “You answer it, Dominique.”
“When a delta bond is suppressed, it still exists. It just doesn’t work. We can’t sense Iain or where the delta bond ends, which is where he is.”
Irena nodded. “I’ve heard it referred to as a link. Is it really like that, like a cable if we could see it?”
Dominique’s eyes turned slightly curious. “More or less. Considering that it’s magic, it depends on how the viewer perceives it. Still, that’s the common perception and if you accept it you would see the delta bond like that. But ours with Iain would end before it got to him.”
“But if we could perceive it, it would have directionality, right? It would point in Iain’s direction.”
Eve blinked. “Bloody hell, she’s right.”
Dominique looked thoughtful. “It’s still of only limited use. The direction could point to the other side of Scotland and we could hunt for him forever. And it would still end when it hit the suppression spell.”
Irena’s eyes lit up. “Not if we triangulated.”
The Archmage started so violently that she sloshed tea on the table. “What?”
“Mother insisted on me doing several things while growing up. Taking survival classes was expected since if I went to a hospital it was very likely that as a Night Nurse I’d be sent into the wilderness as part of a rescue team since we’re a lot tougher than Nursejoys. One of the things we learned to do was radio triangulation of pokedexes to find tamers who needed help but couldn’t tell us where they were. If the links are directional, we can use them to triangulate Iain’s location.”
Eve and Dominique looked at each other. The Archmage’s eyes glowed suddenly. “It can be done. We’ll need a map of the Blue League and surrounding area since we don’t know if Iain’s ability to hide in the league might not extend into nearby leagues as well. I’d rather have a map that’s too big than one that’s too damned small. I’ll need a day to fine tune the spell, but I’ll have a list of the ingredients we’ll need in an hour.”
Eve watched Dominique gulp down her tea and almost dive down the stairs. “Irena, I want you and April to know that your idea was not stupid at all. You may have just given us the way to get Iain back.”
The Sanctuary Goth gave her a hesitant smile. “I miss him too, Eve, and I want him with us where he belongs. I haven’t been here long, but he’s my male and anyone who took him is going to get their head handed to them if I have any say in the matter.” Beside her April nodded firmly.
“I’ll hold both of you to that, sister.”
***
Eve paused in the doorway to the bedroom and silently observed Scheherazade. The Dread Wolf stood stock still with her hands folded behind her back as she watched out the window. Finally she stepped towards her harem sister. “I’m here to offer you a bit of hope.”
Scheherazade whirled around with a snarl of rage. “I don’t want hope! I want Iain! I failed him and now he’s going to die!”
Eve’s slap cracked like a gunshot and the strength of it smashed the Dread Wolf into the window. The building shuddered from the impact as glass shattered musically and bits of it tumbled across the floor. The Megami-sama gripped her harem sister by the ruff and shook her violently before holding her suspended in midair. “We all failed him and that doesn’t matter a fucking bit unless we get him back so he can punish us for our lapse! Now you will stop sulking up here like a child and get your ass in gear to help us recover our tamer before your talk of him dying becomes a self fulfilling prophecy!”
Scheherazade stared at her in shock and then chuckled weakly. “If you’ll put me down, my maharani, then you can tell me what you need done.”
Eve gently lowered her so she could finally stand. “First I want you to clean up this glass and board up your window. We’ll fix it after we get him back.”
“There’s no guarantee we will, you know.”
Eve’s eyes narrowed. “You say that again and I’ll beat your ass until you can’t fly, much less walk. He’s only been gone for four days and we’d know if he was dead. Now hurry up with this mess because when you’re done I have some shopping for you and April to do.”
“I could do it alone.”
“I know you can, but we are not going to be apart again. There is no guarantee that we won’t be attacked next, by whoever took Iain or even by the Blue League. If we’re taken, we can’t rescue him.”
“You have a valid point.” Scheherazade brushed at the bits of glass sparkling in her fur. “I’ll clean this up and then myself, if I have time.”
“You do, as long as you don’t dawdle.”
“Do you think we can get him back?”
Eve nodded. “Dominique has a plan that I believe will work.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now you get that cleaned up so I can send you out.”
“Yes my maharani.”
***
Iain lay on the table and gasped for air as overloaded nerves shrieked in protest. Aglaii had started entertaining herself by removing portions of his skin in intricate patterns for Barbie to heal, leaving the lines of scarring as decoration on his body.
The Sanctuary Goth tossed her scalpel down on the cart. “It’s almost a shame that the messenger from the High Council will be here in two days. He’s so strong I could keep doing this for weeks. Still, it’s time I returned as a hero and he went back to his natural place in the order as Sanctuary’s slave.”
Barbie healed the latest cuts. “Mistress, you could ask to keep him as your pet. Then you could do this to your heart’s content.”
Iain’s eyes went wide in horror at the thought.
Aglaii smiled warmly and patted her Damsel on the cheek. “Barbie, you have the nicest ideas. I’ll be sure and request that when we return.” She leaned down and licked the blood from Iain’s cheek. “Kerrik, I’ve had fun with you. Tomorrow will be our last day together for a while, but rest assured I’ll see if I can’t get you as my pet. Then we can play like this forever.” He didn’t have the moisture to spit at her, but he weakly raised a hand and extended his middle finger in insult. She laughed. “Oh, you’re just marvelous, you know that? I will figure out how to break you someday. It’ll be a day both joyful and sad when I finally win and yet no longer have you to test my strength against, Kerrik.” She licked his cheek again. “Rest assured that I’ll try to make tomorrow as memorable as I can, just in case they deny my request and we don’t ever get to do this again.” She straightened up and smiled down at him. “Barbie, make sure he’s cleaned up completely for tomorrow. He’ll need another complete cleaning after I get done with him so the messenger won’t have to see him all bloody. Can’t have her sensibilities be offended, can we?”
“No mistress. I’ll take good care of him today and tomorrow.” She watched her mistress leave before turning to Iain. “Would you like to be cleaned up first, or fed?”
***
The kitchen table had been cleared of everything that normally sat on it and a map of the Blue League and the surrounding environs was spread out over it in their place. Candles burned in the corners of the room and the air was heavy with the scent of incense. On a black silk cloth on the counter next to the sink sat five small ceramic bowls and five very sharp penknives.
Dominique looked at the others. “Sit in the chairs, do what I tell you to and be quiet otherwise. Eve, help me with the first part of the spell.”
During the half hour casting the power in the room fluctuated wildly and the light bulb in the ceiling fixture lit once and immediately popped. Finally Dominique and Eve finished. The Megami-sama returned to her seat as Dominique picked up a bowl and one of the penknives. She looked at Scheherazade. “You have known him the longest and so the bindings between you two will be the strongest. I need your blood. Hold out your hand.”
The Dread Wolf raised her hand without hesitation and Dominique began casting a new spell as she stabbed her harem sister in the ball of the thumb with the penknife, expertly catching the blood in the ceramic bowl. When it was half full, she turned away. “Irena, heal her.”
Instantly the chibi Sanctuary Goth was there.
Dominique put the bowl on the table and dipped her finger into the blood. She carefully put a drop of the precious liquid on the map over the dot that represented Dingle. Then her chanting changed, growing faster and louder. The candles flickered and changed color from yellow to an icy blue as the flames grew until they were a meter tall.
The drop of blood quivered and it and the blood in the bowl exploded in a spray that coalesced into a neat ring with Dingle in the center. This ring was several centimeters in radius, and spread across Scotland and England.
Dominique stopped chanting and carried the bowl to the sink, putting it and the used penknife into it before taking a clean bowl and knife. “April, you have known him the second longest.” Before she was finished speaking, the Duelist’s hand was in hers. “Thank you.” She cut deeply and filled the bowl with blood as she chanted once more. Irena was already waiting to heal April’s cut as the Archmage headed for the table.
This time the drop of blood went on the spot marking the city of Glasgow. Once more Dominique cast her spell. This time, when the drop exploded, it condensed to form a ring on top of the one formed by Scheherazade’s blood.
Dominique cursed. “It’s not working. I’m getting the same results from April that I got from Scheherazade.”
Irena cocked her head. “That’s because they’re in the same place.”
The Archmage’s head shot up as her eyes went wide. “You’re right. Scheherazade, take April to Glasgow.”
The Dread Wolf swept April into her arms and vanished. Dominique waited thirty seconds before putting another drop of blood on Glasgow. This time the drop of blood condensed with the city being the epicenter of the ring.
Dominique looked at the map and grinned. “We’ve got an intersection in the area of Aberdeen.”
Eve joined her. “It’s still not very precise. Can you nail it down further?”
“I’ll be able to do that once we get to Aberdeen. We’ll get a county map and cast the spell again to refine the results until we know exactly where he’s being held.”
Irena watched then curiously from her chair as April and Scheherazade reappeared in response to Eve’s summons. “And then what?”
The Dread Wolf looked at the map and her ears went flat. “And then, if necessary, we break things and kill people until Iain is back with us where he belongs.” Her eyes met her maharani’s. “Right?”
Eve nodded grimly. “Right.” She looked at the map again. “Take a picture of that so I can show it to Eirian and the others. They can join us once we get there and provide a screen to keep us from being disturbed while we pin down his exact location.”
“They’ll want to be in on the assault.”
“And they can be the perimeter there, too, in case whoever has him tries to spirit him and Barbie away. It is important work, and too many people in on the assault would be confusing since we can’t communicate though our different links. It’s also likely to get Iain hurt.” The Megami-sama grimaced. “Now I just have to convince them of that.”
***
Aglaii pushed the cart closer to the table. “Good morning, Kerrik. This may be our last day together, so I am going to stretch my repertoire and see if I can impress you with my skills.”
After days of her attention, Iain’s voice was only a faint whisper. It wasn’t completely true, but she couldn’t know he had more strength than she thought. “Don’t put yourself out on my account.”
A smile appeared on the Sanctuary Goth’s face. “That’s the spirit I’ve come to appreciate.”
Iain watched her checking the arrangement of the tools on the cart and knew that if he was going to act, it would have to be now. When he was in the hands of Sanctuary proper it would be too late. He imagined his magical storage opening and the magic rushing out to fill his body, then channeling down the conduits to his fingertips. He cleared his throat and whispered again. “Aglaii?”
She looked up with an expression of surprise. “Kerrik, you have something you want to say?”
He nodded as his mouth shaped words that didn’t come. He paused to lick his lips slowly. “Water.”
Aglaii frowned and reached for her cup. She lifted it over his lips and, careful not to let it touch him, poured a thin stream of water over his lips. To do so, she braced herself by leaning against the side of the table he laid on, a habit he’d noticed she had. Iain twisted his wrist and laid the tips of two fingers against the leather apron she always wore while working.
Light exploded from Iain’s fingertips and raced up the Sanctuary Goth’s body to engulf her as she fell away from the table.
Barbie screamed and went into convulsions.
The light grew brighter and brighter until it was too bright to look directly at. Iain, still lying on the table, for the first time could see the ceiling of the room he was in. It was covered with cobwebs and grimy from years of neglect. The naked support beams were heavy with rust and it turned out that the single light Aglaii had installed had been clamped to one of them.
Finally the light died and Barbie’s screaming changed to moans of agony. Iain took a deep breath and spoke as firmly as he could in his hoarse voice. “Barbie!”
The moans broke off. “What did you do to her?”
“I don’t know what happened,” he half lied. He knew what he’d intended to happen, but had no idea if the magic had obeyed his will. “Let me go and I’ll help her.”
The astral Damsel stood and shook her head slowly. “The mistress ordered me not to let you go.”
Aglaii groaned once in pain and then began breathing heavily. Iain tried not to let the frustration and fear show in his voice as he thought quickly. “Where is the key to my manacles, Barbie?”
“The mistress has it.”
“Get the key and put it next to my left hand.”
“I don’t think the mistress would like that.”
“BARBIE! I gave you an order. Unless your mistress gave you an order not to do what I say, get that key and do what I told you to!” Iain fell into a fit of coughing at the further abuse of his vocal cords and his vision swam. He laid back and deliberately began a deep breathing exercise to regain his strength.
“You are not my master.”
“We are bonded and I am your master when your mistress can’t give you orders. Do as I tell you this instant.”
There were several seconds of silence and then Barbie moved around the table towards where Aglaii lay. “Mistress? Mistress, my other master has given me an order and you must tell me if you want to countermand it or I will carry it out.” Iain listened as she shook Aglaii. “Mistress? Please wake up, mistress.” The Damsel stood and moved to stand next to the table. She put the key next to Iain’s hand. “Please help the mistress.” Iain wrapped his fingers tightly around the key.
“Prop me up.” Barbie slowly lifted him upright and Iain dropped his head as he twisted the key in his fingers. The back of the key went into his mouth and he maneuvered the other end into the keyhole on his manacle. He carefully twisted the manacle, rotating it around the key, and the hasp sprang open. Once his arm was free, it was the work of seconds to free his other arm. Then he scooted down the table and unlocked his ankles.
Finally he looked at Aglaii and his eyes widened when he realized she was now a Dominatrix. He slid off the table and swayed, grabbing the cart for balance. It moved under his hands and he half staggered forward, pushing it along with him so as not to fall.
The cart bumped into the unmoving Dominatrix and Iain grabbed a Liston knife from the cart before dropping to his knees next to her. Barbie knelt next to him. “What happened to her? Mistress is as she was before we were rescued by the forces of the Sanctuary Goths.”
“Sanctuary Goths don’t evolve into anything, so I was forced to reverse her evolution. The shock put her into a coma which will last until she’s run through a complete healing cycle.” Iain turned slightly and his eyes went wide as he looked past Barbie. “Is that an Irish Setter? Watch out, they’re killers!”
The Damsel squeaked and whirled to look. As soon as she started to move, Iain raised the long amputation knife overhead with both hands and brought it down with all of his strength, driving the point into Aglaii’s eye. The eyeball burst as the knife punctured it and grated down the path the optic nerve traveled until it entered the Dominatrix’s brain. She gasped once and then relaxed as the air rattled from her lungs.
Barbie screamed again and grabbed her head as Iain toppled sideways, his body trembling from the exertion of a moment before. He tried to prop himself up and his hand slid out from under him, leaving a heavy trail of blood. He blinked at his right hand when it refused to obey his commands and realized that when he stabbed Aglaii, his hands must have slipped down the blade, slicing the tendons in his right hand to the bone. Warmth ran down his hand as blood pulsed from the huge wound.
“Master?” Barbie shook her head woozily and reached in his direction. “Let me heal you, my master.”
“I’m your master now?”
“Yes, my master. My mistress is dead and you are my master now.”
“Then heal my hand.” Iain watched her touch his hand. The wound began to knit. The tendons had retracted when cut and, although the Damsel had healed the damage, she couldn’t reattach the tendon. The hand was nothing more than a club at the moment and would remain that way until Scheherazade, Eve or Irena could regenerate the injury.
But before man had swords or guns or pokegirls, he’d had clubs.
Iain closed his eyes and returned the magic storage inside him to absorbing magic from the environment. Then he made a slight modification to the tendrils running into his hands and reached for Barbie with his left hand. “Thank you for healing me, Barbie.”
“I live only to serve you, my master.”
Iain pressed his left hand firmly between Barbie’s breasts and supercharged the tendrils to absorb magic. It wouldn’t have done anything to a living pokegirl or mage, and it was unlikely to affect a corporeal undead.
But Barbie was astral, and because of that she was composed of nothing more than life and magical energy. For the first time since she became a Damsel, she felt agony and her mouth opened so she could howl in pain and surprise as Iain drained her completely. She began to fade and grasped at his arm frantically. “MASTER!”
His brain exploded in pain as the bond between them shattered and he gasped at the fire in his skull as her fingernails stripped skin from his arm. “I brought you into my family. You betrayed me, Barbie, and more importantly you put my ladies in danger. Nobody gets to do that twice.” At his words she stopped fighting and bowed her head, letting go of his arm in order to clasp both of her hands over his left one and press it firmly over her heart.
When she was completely gone, Iain fell over and threw up as his head throbbed angrily. Finally the pain lessened enough that he could think again. He propped himself up and closed his hand into a fist as he focused his will on dissolving the tendrils that may or may not have existed only in his imagination.
He sat there for a couple of minutes before staggering to his feet. “Light.” The globe appeared next to him. “Now I just need to find the exit.” Cradling his right hand in his left, the nude man walked away from the table and the dead Dominatrix.
Almost a half hour later Iain appeared again as he walked back towards the only lit area. He stopped and glared tiredly at the body. “Well, you brought me here, but it’s my fault I didn’t check to see if someone had to be able to teleport or phase to get in and out of here, which they do. Apparently I should have let Barbie go for help before killing her.” He sat down on the concrete and rubbed his crippled hand. “Well, I’ve got water, so I can live here for a couple of weeks before dying of starvation.” He smirked at the corpse. “And when I get hungry enough, Aglaii, I’ll eat you so I’ll live longer. I’m not looking forward to that, but survival is a bitch and you lost.”
***
The building looks deserted. The cloud cover meant there were no stars to give her away, so Scheherazade stayed visible as she orbited overhead while the others approached the warehouse. The plan was for her to land before the final assault since she represented a significant percentage of the harem’s firepower. Above her, Sable floated in lazy circles. The undead Dragoness would warn them and vector in her harem mates if someone tried to flee.
The building did look empty. Its windows were covered with black masonry or wood and the doors were welded shut in the manner traditional for abandoned buildings in the Blue League. This was done for two reasons. First, it discouraged ferals from breaking a window or padlock open to take up residence in the empty building. To get in, they had to seriously damage the building, which most ferals wouldn’t bother doing. It would also warn the police investigating that whoever took the time to break into the building was probably a dangerous and perhaps non-feral pokegirl. Finally, and perhaps more importantly, it kept normal tamers from wandering into the structure and getting hurt or killed from the wreckage commonly found in empty buildings that were losing the battle against time.
Eve swept the binoculars over the scene one last time before handing them to Dominique. She took April’s hand and they vanished as she teleported them to the outer wall of the building. There they froze for five minutes while Dominique observed the situation to see if anyone was going to respond to their arrival.
Finally Dominique and April appeared next to them. The Archmage frowned and let the Duelist go before running her hands over the wall. There is powerful magic here. I haven’t seen anything exactly like this before, but it is somewhat like some protection and warding spells I’m familiar with. Give me a minute to analyze it in more detail. She closed her eyes for what seemed like forever before opening them again. It is a warding spell that prevents scrying and detection of anything inside it. There was also a warning spell in case the wall is disrupted, but I have neutralized that part of it for the next ten minutes. After that the spell will go back into effect and warn whoever cast it.
Eve nodded. Open the wall.
Dominique summoned an energy blade and drove it into the wall. She cursed softly. The protective barrier is absorbing my energy blade before it can contact the wall. From what I can tell, it will absorb all destructive magic aimed at it.
Eve looked upwards. Shay, get down here. The armored form of the Dread Wolf appeared next to her maharani. We can’t open the wall with magic. See if you can cut it open with your claws.
Scheherazade turned as silver blades sprouted from her hands. She drove a set of them into the wall and pulled sideways, cutting deep furrows in the stone with a low grinding noise. I can cut this. Give me a moment and we’ll have a doorway. She cut quickly, peeling large chunks away from the wall with each slice. Soon an opening large enough for them appeared. The air that boiled out reeked of death and rotting blood. I’m going in. Without waiting for a response, the armored Dread Wolf slipped into the building even as Eve grabbed for her tail.
Dominique’s eyes widened when the bond between her and Scheherazade went dead. This is it!
Eve grabbed her as she tried to follow the Dread Wolf and she glared as the Megami-sama pushed her sideways. You take the rearguard. Irena and April stay behind me. If we screw this up he could die.
***
Scheherazade stepped inside the building and felt the link with her general come to life even as the ones with her sisters became inert. Without thinking about it she teleported straight to him. He was sitting on the floor just outside the circle of light put out by an overhead fixture. An empty surgical table rigged with restraints sat in the middle of the light and on the other side of the lit area was a corpse with a stainless steel knife sticking out of one eye. The Dread Wolf scanned the area for threats and then knelt in front of Iain. I’m here now.
His eyes flicked up to look at her. “It’s about time. You can lose the armor. There’s nobody here but us.” He glanced at the corpse. “And her, but she doesn’t cause trouble anymore.”
Scheherazade’s armor disappeared. “Who took you?”
“Aglaii.” When Scheherazade gasped, he smiled slightly. “I take it you know that name.”
“I remember her from the Free Bitch. She was the one who spearheaded your capture and interrogation. How did she find you?”
“Barbie was hers and was placed in case we ever returned to the Bitch. She was never mine, at least not until the very end.” He patted her on the shoulder. “I appear to have come full circle. She tortured me, you’re here and I’m nude again.”
“We’re also here.” Eve summoned a light so bright that Iain shielded his eyes. She gasped when she got a good look at him. Every portion of his body that she could se was covered with thin white lines of scar tissue. All of his hair was gone, even his eyelashes, and he looked like he’d lost ten kilograms during his stay. Then she saw the ruin that was his right hand and her face went even whiter.
He watched her watching him. “Yeah, I wasn’t pretty before, but I definitely won’t win any contests now, except maybe ugliest tamer.”
“That’s not true and your damage is easily fixed.”
The Megami-sama reached for him only to have her hand slapped away by Irena. The chibi Sanctuary Goth squeezed past Scheherazade and lifted Iain’s chin as she glared around the room. “Don’t anyone try to heal him until we get him home and I can examine him thoroughly. He looks like he’s been partially healed and, if that’s true, finishing up the healing right now could cripple him to the point that I’d have to perform amputations before regenerating him.”
He chuckled weakly as she peered into his eyes. “Is that Night Nurse triage?”
“If it were, I’d also beat you for scaring me so much, Iain.” Suddenly she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. “I am so glad we found you alive.”
Scheherazade stood. “The Sanctuary Goth who first tortured Iain on the Free Bitch apparently owned Barbie and that whore betrayed him to her mistress. We need to sweep the building and kill them.” Her ears were back and her fur bristled as she snarled loudly. “I want them dead!”
Iain awkwardly patted Irena with his crippled hand. “That’s Aglaii’s body over there. Barbie’s completely dead too.”
Eve nodded. “Ok, so they’re dead, but that’s not a Sanctuary Goth. What happened?”
He suddenly looked exhausted. “Can we discuss this after we get out of here? I just want to go home.”
***
Irena sat up and started screaming a second before Iain did. He grabbed her and held her close as she curled up in his arms. Scheherazade shot up from the floor where she’d been sleeping, every sense on full alert. “What is it?”
Iain glanced at her. “My nightmares. Turn on the light.” He sighed and kissed the chibi Sanctuary Goth on the forehead as she began crying. “I’m sorry you had to dream that with me.” He rocked her gently and gave Scheherazade a slight smile. “You snuck in here?”
The Dread Wolf looked embarrassed. “Yeah.”
“Should I expect this to happen every night you’re not scheduled for my bed?”
Scheherazade’s ears canted sideways, “I won’t say yes it is, but you might want to start looking where you put your feet if you get up in the night.”
“I’ll do that.” He tightened his arms around Irena. “Climb in. You might as well sleep in the bed with us.”
She nodded. “Thanks. That floor is hard.”
“Are you determined to be my permanent guardian now?”
Scheherazade settled next to him and began stroking Irena’s back. “From the first day we met I have always been your permanent guardian, Iain. I was supposed to protect you and I failed in my duty to you. That will not happen again.” One ear twisted towards the doorway. “Eve, Dominique and April are outside your door.”
Iain shook his head slightly. “Eve, you and the others come on in.” The door opened and Eve gave Scheherazade an annoyed look as the three pokegirls filed into the room. “Enough of that. The bed will hold us all.”
April chuckled as she slid onto the mattress. “If we end up doing this often, you’re going to need a bigger bed.”
Scheherazade snickered. “I think the next size up is rumpus, but if that’s what we need, then that’s what we’ll get.”
Eve wrapped her arms over his around Irena and leaned against his side. “What happened?”
“My dreams are worse than they were when we first met and she got to share them tonight. I’ve got to get some training in how to protect you ladies from them.” He yelped when Irena bit his chest. “What the fuck was that for?”
She raised her head and glared at him with tear streaked eyes. “No, you don’t. If we can share your nightmares with you, they will be less severe for all of us and you’ll actually get some sleep.”
His eyes narrowed. “And if I keep my dreams to myself then nobody but I will have them. I am not going to torture you just so I can get some sleep. I’ll sleep eventually and if it gets too bad I’ll have someone use magic and put me out.”
Irena’s glare didn’t soften. “If you don’t process your dreams, they’ll just haunt you while you’re awake.”
Iain scowled. “I didn’t know it was possible for someone to have too much of a medical education.”
“That’s what you get for having a live-in nurse.”
The muscles in his jaw flexed. “I will be fine.”
“Yes, you will. In spite of your self destructive behavior, I will make sure you are well.”
“Irena,” he began warningly, only to break off when his Archmage smacked him on the leg. “What?”
“Don’t berate her.” Dominique straddled his legs and began rubbing his calves. “She’s right. If you’ll share your nightmares with us, we can help you deal with them. And you will let her do her job as the harem’s healer.”
Iain took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “Ladies, my getting taken wasn’t your fault. I know that you all blame yourselves for it, but the truth is I shouldn’t have trusted Barbie as quickly as I did. It’s a mistake that I won’t make again, I assure you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Dominique smiled to take the sting from her words. “We think it’s our fault for not doing our job and protecting you. Whether true or not, this showed us that we suck as a harem and since you’re not going to punish us for it, we’re more than happy to punish ourselves for you. It’s also probably going to feel like we’re punishing you, but that’s just what it will feel like. Remember when you used to bitch about not having any privacy? Well, those are the good old days for you, Iain. We are going to be paranoid about you ever being out of someone’s sight for a long time to come. We almost lost you.”
“How long?”
She shrugged. “Expect it to last for years and be happy if it doesn’t.”
“Fuck.”
“Oh, you’ll get plenty of that too. Sex is how pokegirls reassure themselves about relationships. You’ll be lucky if that thing doesn’t get calluses.”
Irena giggled. “It can’t, not really. He’d have to get blisters first and he’ll get regular medical checkups to make sure that’s not happening.” She gave him a guileless smile. “I mean during the regular checkups to make sure you’re healing properly.”
Iain looked at Eve with a slightly hopeless look. “You’re going to let her do this, aren’t you?”
The blue haired Megami-sama shook her head. “No, I’m not going to let her. I’m going to actively aid and abet her every step of the way.”
Iain stared into her eyes and then closed his own as he sighed. “Scheherazade, you said the next size up is rumpus? What’s after that?”
The Dread Wolf’s tongue lolled out in a laugh. “Orgy and then the biggest they make, which is harem master. However, for either one of those you’ll need a bigger bedroom. But rumpus should be big enough for all of us.”
“That may not be completely true.” Iain turned to a dark corner of the room. “Beryl, will you and the other Dragonesses wish to sleep with us, too, to help protect me?”
The shadow moved and became the red Dragoness. “You should not have been able to detect my presence.”
“We don’t always get what we want.”
Her mouth twisted in what charitably could be called a smile, if one were feeling especially generous. “That is true. We do not sleep and sharing your bed is unnecessary to guard you. And it could prove distracting. Since we do not wish to be distracted, for the time being we have decided not to investigate our desire for sex with you, as well.”
Iain nodded gravely. “That is your decision to make.”
Beryl’s chuckle echoed around the room. “Yes, it is, and we wish to wait until the situation is less precarious as well as until we finish designing a spell to let us feel the pleasure involved in sex as we did while alive. We also are working on a spell that will enable our bodies to seem completely alive to you, as we are aware of your revulsion towards sex with the dead.”
“Oh. Thanks, I think.”
Beryl chuckled again. “We appreciate the fact that you feel the tiniest bit grateful. It has been a long time, even since before our deaths, that we truly wished to please our knight. My knight was a bastard and he only showed me enough kindness to ensure my loyalty to Ygerna, who owned our lives and bodies but would never deign to tame us.” Her head lowered slightly as if to hiss. “My knight was typical of all the knights who attended to the Queen’s bodyguard, both then and since until she was overthrown. We were expected to show loyalty, but were never shown love to win it. You have already shown us more attention than anyone has in either our life or death and we wish to show our gratitude for it.”
Iain blanked his face and then smiled warmly. “And I appreciate your efforts in return. When the time comes, I am sure we can work through my feelings about your undead status.”
“We know that you will and do accept us as we are. That is why we are grateful and seek to protect you even beyond the limits of what our bond requires. Now, you are proving distracting with this conversation and I must return to guarding you. Rest with your living harem.” She backed up and faded into the shadows.
***
Dominique hummed softly as she mixed more eggs in preparation for pouring them into the skillet. “I’ll have another batch ready in just a little bit.” She was wearing an apron that said “Please don’t tame the cook while she’s working, but feel free to do so as soon as she’s done” over her clothes and she tugged it slightly to adjust it before picking up the bowl.
Eve sipped her tea as she watched Iain. He was supposed to be eating breakfast, but from what she’d seen so far he was mainly just pushing the food around on his plate.
April put more toast on the pile and grabbed a plate as she dropped into a chair. “You need to eat more of that, Iain.”
“I ate some.”
Eve shook her head. “I’ll be surprised if you ate more than a forkful of eggs. You need to eat more if you’re going to regain your strength.”
His voice acquired a timbre that suggested he was keeping a tight grip on his temper. “I’m not used to eating a lot right now. I’m good.”
Eve slathered a piece of toast with great grape jam and put it on his plate. “You like this. Give it a try.”
He picked the plate up and hurled it with all of his strength. It smashed into the wall and shattered, sending food in all directions as Iain shot to his feet. Without a word he slammed his way out the back door. April stuffed her toast into her mouth and hopped up to follow him.
Irena smiled slightly at the shocked expression mirrored on Eve and Dominique’s faces. “He’s angry. That’s much better than depression. Anger we can channel into helping him heal.”
Dominique frowned. “That’s better?”
Irena got up and went to the cupboard for a mop. “You two are older than dirt and I really hope you’re catering to me by pretending not to understand human nature. Anger means he wasn’t broken by the torture and that he can still fight. He’ll need it to deal with what happened.” She stopped and looked at the mess trailing down the wall. “I wish he didn’t have to go through this at all, but none of us have control of that decision. It’s just up to us to help him move past this, too.”
Outside, Iain didn’t stop until he was deep in the woods. There he paused and waited for April to catch up. She smiled when she saw him looking for her. “I’m glad you haven’t taken leave of your senses.” She fell in next to him as he resumed heading away from their house. “Did your tantrum make you feel better?”
A grudging smile crossed his face. “A little.”
“That’s good. There are starving ferals in undeveloped leagues who would really like that food you just wasted.”
He laughed softly. “Then we can send it to them.”
She nudged him with her shoulder. “They’d rather have you.”
He kept laughing. “I’ve already got plenty of lovely ladies to care for.”
“You know, it’s rare for a tamer to be as loved as you are. Try to cut us some slack.”
He was still smiling. “Is that a professional opinion?”
She nodded firmly. “Considering I spent several years dealing with nothing but tamers and harems, yes it is. And since I wasn’t a Nursejoy or one of the other desired breeds, I got to see everyone’s true personalities more often than not.”
“So you think I’m an asshole.” It wasn’t a question.
“No, I don’t. Asshole is something that you either are or are not. It isn’t something that you can become intermittently. You can be like an asshole sometimes, but you aren’t one.” She smiled at his surprised look. “When you deal with tamers all day long, you have a lot of free time for introspective thought. Their demands certainly don’t take a lot of brain power.”
“I haven’t seen anything to refute that.”
“You won’t. You’re not an asshole, Iain. You’re just not happy being attended to.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“No, you’re not. And we love you and so we’re going to try to coddle you far more than you think we should. It’s us overreacting because of our guilt.” She held up her hand when he started to speak. “No matter what you think or what reality is, we feel we failed you. We have to atone and you have to accept that atonement or the harem will be crippled. The faster you accept our contrition, the faster we can drift back into our normal behavior. What we all need to do is be flexible about what’s going on. What do you think of Milktits?”
Iain blinked. “Whoa, that screech was a topic doing a bootlegger’s turn. What about Milktits?”
“It’s a compromise. You aren’t eating much right now and we don’t know how long that’ll last. Eve’s milk can heal, but it doesn’t have the raw calories that Milktit milk has. Pound for pound, Milktit milk is some of the richest food in the world. So having a Milktit would allow us to give you as many calories as possible in the food you’re willing to eat.” She shrugged at his bemused expression. “And I can get a Milktit any time you want and for cheap, too.”
“You can?”
“Lots of tamers think they want a Milktit and get one. Then they find out that having all of their pokegirls lactating means they can’t carry enough bedding. They also get tired of listening to the entire harem bitch about their breasts hurting because they’re not getting milked enough. There are always some Milktits in storage that are ready to be confiscated or sold.” She winked. “And I have connections that can get us one of them for practically nothing.”
“You’ve been thinking this out very professionally. You’d make someone a good maharani.”
She took his hand. “I would. If you ever fire Eve, I’ll be glad to take the job.”
“Humble, too.”
“You know, since Milktits can metabolize anything short of rock, having one would give us a lot more options in the Dark Continent.”
“Ok, you have a reason not to be humble.”
“Iain, I’m happy where I am in the harem and your life, but if you want me to be maharani, I will do a good job of it for you.” She cocked her head. “Not that you have any intention of replacing Eve.”
“True.”
“Would you consider adding a Milktit to our harem?”
“That’s a seriously one track mind, you know?”
“You’re good at changing or evading questions and I have to be focused in order to get a straight answer from you sometimes. And don’t think I didn’t notice you trying to not answer my question right then.”
He smiled slightly. “You are good at this.”
“Indeed I am. Now answer the question.”
“I’ll talk to Eve about it. If she agrees, we’ll see who you can find. Will that satisfy you?”
She turned to look into his eyes. “No, it won’t. I need to know your feelings about this. Would you enjoy having a Milktit in the harem?”
“They’re not really a combat breed and that’s really what we need right now.”
“You’re avoiding my question again. Please stop.”
“Large breasts aren’t one of my major fetishes, but I admit that I have had to work not to have a Milktit in most of the stories I’ve written, mainly because they are just so damned useful to a tamer. The first one I wrote in detail was named Helen and she became one of my favorite characters.” He shrugged. “But I know that no random Milktit will necessarily be like her, so I can’t answer that in general. Only if we get one will I be able to say whether I like having her in the family or not.”
“Are we going to have to interview them first? I don’t want one in the family or inside your bubble unless you like her.”
“I don’t know, April. Right now trusting outsiders is going to be very hard for me. That’ll make it a bit difficult to accept anyone new.”
“I know it will.” She squeezed his hand. “That’s going to be true for all of us.”
***
Iain struck as fast as he could but, as quickly as he moved, Eve easily blocked every blow. Finally he fell back, gasping for breath and wiping sweat from his eyes. She smiled sadly. “Had enough yet?” Her tone suggested the question was actually if he’d learned his lesson yet.
He had, but not the lesson that Eve thought he needed to learn. “I had enough a long time ago, but I still need to do this. I’ve already proven that a human can kill a pokegirl and I need to get stronger in case I have to do that again. You want me to put on more weight and if that’s going to happen I want it to be muscle.” He flexed the fingers of his right hand. “I’ll admit that Irena and you do good work; that I will.”
Eve smiled broadly. “Thank you. And I’ll admit that Irena was right to stop me from reflexively healing you. It would have done more damage than good and seriously slowed down your recovery.”
The tracery of scars that wound over Iain’s entire body had been healed, but until the skin tanned to match the rest of his, the white lines were still there. They hadn’t been able to do anything about his hair, and as it began growing back Iain was besieged with maddening itches that caused Irena to smack him every time he was around her and tried to scratch them. Dominique, Eve and April had quickly adopted her behavior.
Scheherazade, on the other hand, would help him scratch. She had earned a special place in his heart because of it.
Eve went to her pokepack and released a gallon jug of iced milk with a red ribbon tied around the handle. “Here.”
Iain took it and drank deeply. “Even though we decided not to get a Milktit, I’m glad we found a dairy that would supply us with all the Milktit milk we wanted.”
Eve pulled another jug, this one of iced water, from her pack. “Considering how much none of us want to add a pokegirl unless we see her tamer die and know she doesn’t have divided loyalties, it was the best possible compromise.”
“Do you think I’m being too paranoid?”
She drank from the jug before giving him an amused look. “Should I answer that as your maharani, a celestial on a mission or as a woman who loves you?”
“You pick.”
“As your maharani, I think you shouldn’t just add anyone to the harem. It’s jelling nicely and, considering where we’re going, I don’t want to disrupt that. As a celestial on a mission, I should argue that a Milktit would do all of the things April suggested.”
Iain put the jug on the ground next to the pokepack. “And as Eve?”
“As Eve, I want to wrap you up and take you somewhere where we can be happy forever.”
“I could call Magdalene right now.”
“As a celestial, I know we need to do something about Sanctuary, but don’t tempt me with leaving any more. I am becoming less and less concerned about people who don’t give a damn about us.” She settled down on a log and patted it next to her. He sat. “Iain, I am a Megami-sama and I’m supposed to be willing to do whatever is necessary to stop an evil that I see, but I don’t want you to make any more sacrifices on the altar that is defeating Sanctuary.” She sighed. “I guess starting out as a Cherry didn’t let me learn to think like the real celestials.”
“I don’t have a problem with the way you think,” he said quietly. “I want to bloody Sanctuary’s nose before we leave because I’m concerned that they could follow us to Pokegirl One. If they do that, Kerrik will destroy this world to protect his family.” He was quiet for a heartbeat. “And I’ll help him to do it.” He smiled slightly. “And if I help to destroy all life on this world I’m not sure you’ll still love me.”
Eve looked at him for several seconds. “Then we have to stop Sanctuary before we leave, because I will always love you and I wouldn’t want you to murder millions of people for me. And I know you’d do it.”
Iain nodded without speaking.
Eve gave him a slightly hesitant look. “There could be a problem.”
“Just one? About fighting Sanctuary? I can think of a lot of problems involving that scenario.” When she just kept looking at him, he shrugged. “What is it?”
“The Dragonesses went through the warehouse several times. They couldn’t find your shotgun.”
Iain shrugged. “Aglaii kept leaving, which suggests she had a lair someplace. Considering the fact that she could teleport, it could be anywhere. We’ll never find it.”
“You’ll need a new shotgun then.”
“Eve, maybe it’s time I did without it. You and the others are my sword and shield and the shotgun just makes me a target. I’ll just start wearing the pistol instead of carrying it in my pack.”
She cocked her head thoughtfully. “Care to hear from your maharani again?”
Iain blinked. “I am always willing to hear the opinion of my ever helpful and beautiful maharani. What does she have to say?”
“I think you should get another shotgun. You using it on the airship kept me from killing a celestial by accident.” She smiled slightly. “The fact that later she turned out to be a bitch doesn’t diminish the fact that you kept me from killing someone who didn’t deserve to die.” The smile faded. “The truth is that, in the beginning, I was leery of having you behind me with a firearm, Iain, but you have proven that although you are not a pokegirl, you can help to protect all of us even as we protect you. Now it is reassuring to know that you are behind me and that you are armed to help protect us. Someday your magic skills might improve enough that you won’t need a firearm, but even then it never hurts to have a backup.”
“That’s high praise, Eve. Thank you.”
“I meant every word of it, my love.”
He put his hand on hers. “I know you did. Since you think I can be helpful, I’ll dig out Kerrik’s pokedex and we’ll get me another shotgun.”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (alpha)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Scheherazade - Dread Wolf
Irena- Chibi Sanctuary Goth
April - Duelist
Dragonesses
Eirian - Silver
Skye - Blue
Emerald - Green
Sable - Black
Aurum - Gold
Beryl - Red