Into the Fire
Twenty Two
“Who are you?” Montsho dropped down next to Iain and scooted her hip against his before leaning back and resting her hands on the rock he sat on.
He glanced down at her bare hip where it touched against his and up at her before going back to focusing the red glowing ball floating in front of him. “You might want to put that question into a bit more context before I can answer it. I’m a lot of things.”
“What did you do to make Sanctuary hunt you?”
The ball began to slowly change color, brightening to a solid orange. “I thought Eve explained that to you.”
The Tyrannodame leaned forward to stare at the ball. “She told me that we had to hurt Sanctuary to make them stop wanting to kill us. She didn’t explain why and I didn’t ask at the time. Why are you doing this?”
Swirls of yellow bled into the ball and spread. “I suppose her vagueness makes sense. I’ve hammered operational security into their heads enough. As for this, when the Dildoqueen attacked me I accessed my magic without thinking about it. When I did that, more importantly I didn’t think about how to use it. It acted on the desires of my subconscious mind. That’s a bad thing for people like me. I have to work on my control or next time I might hurt someone I care about.” His voice fell. “Or not hurt someone who really needs to be dead.”
“Should I not ask you questions right now?”
He smiled without turning away from the ball. “A little bit of distraction is actually good for my concentration.”
“Then what did you do to make Sanctuary want to kill us?”
The ball began turning green. “Did you ever hear of a group of people called authors?”
Montsho’s head swiveled around to face him. “That’s classified level omega. How do you know about the one in Wellham?”
There was a loud crack and a line of lightning spat from the ball to play over the sand, leaving a glowing trail of fused glass on the ground as Iain’s concentration shattered. The ball vanished as he looked at her. “There was an author in Wellham?”
Montsho was staring at the glass which was red and slowly lightening as it cooled. “There was. He’s probably gone now. Some of Sanctuary’s leading mages found out he’d come here to investigate what we were doing and we were sent to invite him to the capital. But it turned out that he was pretty dangerous. The lieutenant explained to us that he had to be neutralized because he’d caused the Zombabe outbreak in order to conquer us. We were supposed to be looking for him if he showed up in our area.” She looked into his eyes. “But you came from the Blue League, so you’re not him.”
He shook his head slightly. “I wonder who it was. I know about Micah Hakubi being brought to this world, but although Magdalene hinted there were others I hadn’t heard about anyone else.”
“We weren’t told a name. Another unit went in to retrieve him and they had a full briefing but we had no need to know. Is Mike an author too?”
“It’s Micah and, yes, he is an author.”
Her eyes filled with understanding. “Then Sanctuary is looking for you because you know where he is.”
Iain chuckled. “No, I don’t know where Micah is. I know he caused some trouble for the McMahon family, but other than that I have no idea where he might be or what he’s up to.”
The Tyrannodame frowned. “Then why is Sanctuary trying to kill us?”
An armored Scheherazade appeared behind Montsho in response to Iain’s mental summons. He didn’t look at the Dread Wolf so as not to give her presence away while she faded into invisibility and moved to an attack position in case Montsho went after Iain. “I know about the authors because I am an author and because I’ve run across signs of at least one other author.”
Montsho’s eyes went wide and then she grinned. “That’s a good joke, but you can’t be an author.”
“Why not?”
“We were in that village and there were children but you didn’t kill them and drink their blood.”
Iain stared at her in shock. “The propaganda is that authors drink the blood of children? Seriously?”
She nodded without the slightest bit of humor in her expression. “They like the blood of newborn pokekits the best, but any child will do if there aren’t any of those around.”
“I’m not exactly sure what to say to that, but I would never drink the blood of anyone. I can’t. In short order I’d puke it all back up. And I am not going to wander around feeding off of children. April would be very angry at me.”
She laughed and patted him on the leg. “You are not an author.”
He gave her an awkward smile. “It’s never really occurred to me before, but I just realized something funny. I can’t really prove that I am an author. It’s a good thing I don’t have an inflated ego or that would hurt.”
Montsho butted her shoulder against his and grinned again. “And if you were an author, who would you be?”
“Sanctuary knows me as Kerrik Wolf.”
Her smile vanished into a look of shock that twisted into polite disbelief. “Now I know you’re not serious. You’re Kerrik Wolf? You killed Jenova?” The smile reappeared. “I’ll bet you did it all by yourself.”
“No, I didn’t kill her. I distracted her while Scheherazade killed her. Then I cut off her head, packed it in salt and mailed it along with a polite note to someone who got it to the High Council of Sanctuary.”
Montsho stared into his eyes and gulped audibly. “You are telling me the truth, aren’t you?”
“I am. I try not to lie to the ladies in my life. You happen to be one of them.”
“You are Kerrik Wolf.”
“No, I’m Iain Grey. Sanctuary knows me as Kerrik Wolf, but I only ever used it as an alias. There is a real Kerrik Wolf and if he were the one Sanctuary was chasing, Sanctuary would already be toast.”
Her brown eyes stared searchingly into his blue-green ones. “You really are Kerrik Wolf.”
“I think we’ve already covered that.”
Her voice filled with wonderment. “My male is Kerrik Wolf. And he wants me.” She reached out and touched his lips with a fingertip. “You are my male and Kerrik Wolf and you want me, Montsho, who is not stupid because she didn’t know who you were because the smartest people in Sanctuary swear that you’re in the Blue League and I know that you’re here and they don’t which makes me smarter than they are!”
He smiled at her exuberance. “I never doubted you were smart, Montsho.”
She jumped to her feet and danced in a circle, yelling. “I know something they don’t know and so I’m smarter than they can ever be!” She screeched to a halt and gave him a suddenly conspiratorial look. “I know something else they don’t know.”
“What’s that?”
“They think you’re in the Blue League and I know you’re here which means they have no idea that you’re here which means you’ve managed to sneak past their security which means they’re fucked and they don’t know it yet!” She grinned toothily. “But they will soon enough, won’t they?” She blinked and answered her own question before he could. “No, they won’t. You’re even sneakier than I thought and that means they won’t know how fucked they are until it’s all over and they’re dead and it’ll all be due to my male, who I have in spite of them and their stupid law that I shall have no male for me!” She suddenly clasped her hands behind her back and twisted her torso as she batted her eyes at him. “Will you leave some of them for me so I can help?”
Once again Iain found himself wondering just how old she was. “You want to help?”
“Why would I not want to help my mistress and our male? Sanctuary would take both from me and make me stupid Montsho again.”
Iain smiled broadly. “Well we can’t have that, especially since I’d be dead at that point. You can help.”
Montsho hugged him. “Thank you, Iain.” She frowned. “I should not call you Kerrik, correct?”
“Very correct. All my sneakiness will have been for nothing if our enemies find out we’re here.”
“They will not find out from me.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He felt Scheherazade leave again and turned his attention to recreating the ball of energy. He still had a lot of work to do.
***
“I’ve been thinking.”
Dominique looked up from her plate. “I have this sudden urge to go home.”
Eve pointed her fork at the Archmage. “You be quiet. What is it, Iain?”
“I’ve been trying to get a handle on what we’re going to do once we get to the capital. A lot of planning really can’t be done until we see the physical layout of things, but we can do some brainstorming now.”
Eve looked at him for a second. “I’m starting to agree with Dominique. What did you have in mind?”
“We have to figure out how we’re going to approach the situation. Montsho, when a shujaa major and her harem come into a large city, what are they supposed to do?”
“Understand that I am just a private and therefore I do not know what happens when the commander leaves her unit after reporting in to her factor’s command. However I do know that the first step is to check in with a command so we can get our papers to be in the capital.” The Tyrannodame glanced at Iain. “Those papers will help to protect our male.”
April frowned. “Her factor?”
“The DCWS is organized into commands that are led by members of the High Council and their hierarchy. My mistress in the DCWS reported to the offices of a lesser member of the council, but we are shujaa and would be part of the command of a high ranking council member. My shujaa mistress reported to the third ranking member on the council, Councilor Kirabo. However, we are currently unaffiliated and that will pose a difficulty.”
Irena put her plate down. “You know where Kirabo’s headquarters is?”
“I have never been to the capital, mistress, but I will be able to find Councilor Kirabo’s headquarters.”
“We should go there then. Aligning ourselves with one of the highest council members should help us.”
Iain rubbed his eyes. “I’ll have to think about it, but it may be a logical first step. The biggest problem I can see is that once we’re aligned our factor will probably expect us to do some work for them, but unless it’s something completely hideous it’ll let us explore more options while planning how we’re going to smack Sanctuary.” He looked around the group. “Unfortunately, I was wrong. We can’t really plan anything else until we know more. And that means our next step is to go to the capital.” He gave a tired smile. “With that, I can conclude our planning session.”
After dinner was done, the group settled down around the tiny campfire. Iain twisted around to peer into the night. “Skye?”
The blue Dragoness stepped out of the darkness. “I am here and Beryl is patrolling the area. I will watch over you while your session proceeds.”
“Thank you, Skye.” He turned back to his pokegirls. “Ok, I’m ready.”
Everyone linked hands and closed their eyes. Scheherazade drew in a deep breath and pulled everyone into dream time with her. Two hours later everyone opened their eyes. Without a word, Iain got up and walked away from the fire. Eve and April exchanged a look and the Duelist smiled slightly. “It’s your turn. I’ll see to getting everyone else bedded down.”
The Megami-sama nodded and rose to follow Iain into the night. She found him out of sight of the fire and staring up into the night sky. He glanced in her direction. “Taking turns, huh?”
Eve wrapped her arms around him from behind and held him tightly as he shuddered against her. “We’re all worried about you.”
“I know and I miss all of you as well. It’s been two weeks and I’m trying as hard as I can to get better.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “How is everyone doing?”
“We’re ok, Iain. I’m making sure that everyone gets tamed daily. We miss you, but we can see that you’re making solid progress and even Montsho is willing to wait until you can be happy coming to us.” She chuckled and changed the subject to something safer. “Scheherazade wants to tear apart Montsho’s restraints and work them over.”
“Why?”
“She claims the odor of the petroleum based grease they used on the joints is very distracting during sex, so she wants to tear them down, clean them thoroughly and then lubricate everything with beeswax. It works as well as anything else and doesn’t stink. However, to do the job properly will take several hours and I don’t want to take the chance on Montsho’s restraints not being available in the evenings. Not right now, at least.” She shrugged. “Therefore it’ll have to wait.”
A shadow moved near them and silver glinted in the starlight as Eirian stalked toward them. “My lord, I would like to have a word with you.” Her head shifted as she regarded Eve. “Alone.”
Iain felt Eve’s arms tighten around him and patted her hands. “It’s ok, Eve. This shouldn’t take long. Why don’t you go back to camp and I’ll be along in a little bit?”
She reluctantly let him go. “You shouldn’t be alone, Iain.”
“He is not, Eve. I will watch him and escort him back to your protection when my business with my lord is done.”
“You be sure and do that, Eirian.”
Iain turned and watched his maharani pick her way back towards the camp. When she was gone he returned his attention to the undead Dragoness. “Well?”
“We have completed the project you set for us.”
He blinked. “I thought you said it would take at least a month.”
“I did. However, your suggestion for a shortcut proved viable and allowed us to finish early. In fact, I am not sure that we could do this any other way. However, with it we can do what you want, but we will still require the use of your magic to assist our work. Explaining would take far more time than a simple demonstration of what we have achieved would. What we found isn’t exactly what you asked us for, but will accomplish your aim. In fact, it will protect you far more than what you originally envisioned.”
It was always kind of creepy talking to Eirian since she always stood completely still and only moved her mouth to speak. These days, however, he had other things that bothered him a lot more than her undead state. “And a demonstration will be easier to understand?”
“It will not necessarily be easier. It will be faster. If we delay too long, you know that one of your living harem will come looking for you.”
“Then, by all means, proceed with this demonstration.”
“Give me your hand.”
Iain reached out and tried to take Eirian’s hand, but she reached over his hand and took him by the wrist. “You wanted us to find a way that we could watch you without ever being separated from you, in order to prevent a repeat of the attack on you. We know that you meant for us to find a way to be available, but the fact that you can be hidden from us at a distance means we couldn’t do things your way, so we investigated other alternatives. Your description and memories of Barbie were very helpful in allowing us to make this work.” She tightened her grip. “But after considering how uncomfortable the original situation was, we modified the final spell for this result.” She leaned forward and took his wrist gently in her teeth. Her body dissolved and flowed over his skin until she was gone, leaving a six inch tattoo of a silver Dragoness on his forearm. I am with you and we cannot be separated unless I leave your body. Since I am not alive, I cannot be detected and the fact that I am dead is hidden by your life, just as your life is hidden from Sanctuary’s spells by the bonds you have with my death. If necessary, there is room on your body for every member of your dead harem, but we would prefer that one or more of us remain active in order to continue our research as well as to be available for missions without having to make your harem or those around you aware of what has happened. I suggest that you tell your harem that the tattoos allow you to communicate with us.
Iain carefully ran his fingers over the tattoo. “I don’t like lying to them. In any case, Eve is very likely to hear the lie in my words. She trusts me, but she has started picking up on my paranoia that everyone else is out to get us and has been keeping up detection spells all the time. Personally I think it’s a great idea that she’s more aware of the dangers around us, but it does make being dishonest to her a bit difficult.”
Then you will have to inform them as they will see us on your body. While we are part of you, we can protect you passively. We must leave your body to perform magic or fight, however. There was a pause. Will this help you to feel safer since now one of your harems cannot be forced to abandon you?
“I hope it does. I’ve been as nervous as an Armsmistress who’s been told to strip off her armor in public and I can’t function like that.” He grimaced. “Right now I’m that paranoid around the members of my own harem, so I really need to get over this.”
Who do you want guarding you?
“Who thinks of violence the fastest?”
Sable.
“Then I want her.”
May I also suggest Emerald? She is also prone towards thinking of violence first and is a better spellcaster than Sable is.
“Can I have both of them?”
You are our lord and master. If you wish, all six of us will guard you around the clock.
“No, you’re right that I want most of you out and about. We have a lot of work to do. Now if I have Sable and Emerald guarding me will it cause too much delay on your other projects?”
The tattoo Eirian became silver smoke and an instant later reformed next to him as the Dragoness. “Sable does not care to do research. Emerald has some special skills that will be missed, but if you will let me rotate her out with Aurum and Beryl it will minimize her impact on our other projects. Skye and I are too involved in the research right now and the absence of either of us will substantially hurt our progress.”
“Then I bow to your expertise.”
Two more shadows appeared and became the black and green Dragonesses. Emerald bowed. “My lord, I will protect you with my very death.” Teeth flashed in a razor edged grin. “I know that statement sounds very odd, but I will defend you with all of my power.”
“Thank you, Emerald. I expected no less of you.” The green Dragoness looked pleased at his words.
Sable glanced at Eirian before focusing on Iain. “And I will not fail you, my lord.”
“I know you won’t, Sable. That’s why I requested you specifically.”
“I did not know that.”
“All of the other Dragonesses who will guard me will do so in rotation, but you will be with me for the foreseeable future.”
“You do me a great honor, lord.”
“My living harem has been stripped from me more than once. It wasn’t their fault in either case, but I am tired of being the damsel in distress who needs rescued. You will make it much harder for me to end up like that again. I want my guardian Dragonesses to act on their own initiative because I may not recognize a threat until it is too late, but I respect your ability to discern when I am and when I am not in danger.”
Sable nodded. “Are we to protect your life or your person?”
“Both. If my life is in danger you are to act. If my person is in danger, then I’ll tell you to act if I can. If I can’t, then I expect you to act.”
Emerald cocked her head. “You trust our judgment that much?”
“I do.”
“Are we to kill or to save?”
He smiled grimly. “You’re to kill. I don’t want you to drag me off to safety since my living harem will probably be there too and I won’t want to leave them behind in a fight.”
Sable stepped forward. “I will be your sinister.” She took his left wrist and became a black tattoo on his left forearm.
Emerald paused and looked at the tattoo. “If I were still alive, I would be angry at her for her presumption. She is lucky you do not let us fight each other.” She reached for his right wrist and became an iridescent green tattoo on his right forearm.
Iain looked down at his arms. “I really appreciate this from you ladies. Thank you.” Then he turned back to Eirian. “And thank you.”
The silver Dragoness bobbed her head once. “I should be the one thanking you, my lord. You returned our minds to us and you have given us as much freedom as we can have. Your bonds with us have given us as much life as the dead can have and all of these things are why we prefer that you remain alive as long as possible, even though once you die you become ours alone.”
“Do you remember what it was like with Eoghan?”
“I do. We were puppets for him to command and he treated us as the beasts he thought all pokegirls were.”
Iain shook his head. “It’s interesting that he wanted to become nonhuman and when that failed he became undead so that later he could become nonhuman and still he treated other nonhumans as items.”
Eirian nodded. “Logic and consistency were foreign to him. You, on the other hand, are human. And although you are human, you treat the living and the dead with a respect that many of us have never had before. After all, you could have kept us as mindless dead.”
“I like to think that I made a wise decision in giving you back your identities. After all, you’ve been a great help to me in ways that puppets could not have. He twisted his arms to present his forearms and their tattoos. “I probably could have done this without your help but it would have required centuries of research and we both know I don’t have the time to spare right now. I’m sure you’ll help me more before this is all over.” He blinked. “Oh, speaking of help, I’m not sure how much warning you’ll have when this is all over and so I want you to finish packing all of the things you want to take so it can go with us when we leave this world when we leave.”
“You will take us with you?” He got the distinct impression that she was surprised at his request.
“We already had this talk, Eirian. Of course I will. We’re bound and I will not leave you behind.”
“You did not let me say anything before. You gained our service by accident and you will not need us after Sanctuary is neutralized.”
“First of all, I doubt that. Second, it doesn’t matter. I want to take you with me. My dead harem is still my harem and my harem goes where I go.”
“You want us? You do not want us for taming. We sense your revulsion at the idea.”
“That’s because I still consider it necrophilia and I’m squeamish about the whole idea. Sadly, I have now had sexual relations with a dead pokegirl. If it turns out that you want to make the attempt, we’ll figure something out.” He sighed. “I must admit, though, that it is still going to take some serious effort on my part. However, I value each of you for yourself. That and I still haven’t given up on the idea of someday bringing you six back to life. You’ve helped me so much that I’d like to reward you and that’s the only thing I can think of.”
“If we were alive, would we still be part of your harem?”
“You are part of my harem. That will not change unless you want to leave.”
“If we were alive you would have to tame us.”
“I know.”
Eirian cocked her head. “What if some of us wanted to remain dead?”
“That would be your choice.”
“You have considered this at length.”
He smiled. “I have. I also need to be going.” He started for the camp.
“My lord?” He stopped and turned back to Eirian. “If those choices become available, it would be a hard decision for me to make. As a dead Dragoness, I have a lot of power that I would have to give up when I became alive again even though the reward would be truly being your pokegirl and having a life of my own. Both of those things call to me. I think it would be a hard choice for all of us to make.” She stepped into the darkness and vanished.
Iain looked thoughtful for a moment before jogging in the direction of the campfire.
***
Eve ran her fingers up his forearm, careful not to touch the green imprint of Emerald. The tattoo shimmered in the morning sun as if it were made of the gemstone that the undead Dragoness took her name from. “I don’t like them.”
Iain gave her a bland look. “Their presence isn’t negotiable.”
Her cheeks turned slightly pink. “Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. We were playing by the rules and got burned when we found out there was a page that our playmates were deliberately keeping from us. However we both know that we can still be separated and this is a good way to ensure I don’t end up alone and in trouble again.”
Scheherazade’s ears flicked. “While I don’t like to say this, he is right. Until we can become tattoos on his body, this is an excellent way to help keep him safe.”
“Eirian’s research indicates that it is very unlikely that I can become a living pokeball. Only the dead can do this sort of thing, at least according to what she’s found out.”
Irena glanced around the group. “You didn’t ask us here so we could listen to Eve complain about this, did you? We can do that anywhere.”
Iain chuckled. “No, I didn’t.” He looked at Eve. “Please sit down.” After she’d joined the rest of his harem, he took a deep breath. “I really hope this works or else I’m going to look a lot stupider than usual this morning.” His gaze swept over his ladies. “One of the things that we’ve been skirting around in our planning sessions is the fact that even though they probably still don’t know we’re here yet, Sanctuary has to have pictures of what I look like and it’s likely that they also have general idea of you ladies by composition if not actually as individuals.” He smiled slightly. “The fact that a lot of pokegirls look the same, thanks to parthenogenesis, will work in our favor. So will the fact that they can’t know about Montsho and they shouldn’t know about Irena since she’s not listed as part of Kerrik Wolf’s harem. But that doesn’t matter if they recognize me.” He ran his fingers over Sable’s tattoo. Both hers and Emerald’s always felt cooler than the rest of his body. “I’ve been focusing on certain parts of my magic manual and I think I have a solution.” He closed his eyes and focused his will. Slowly, his sandy blond hair darkened until it was almost black. His jaw line also darkened as he acquired a five-o- clock shadow. At the same time his skin tone shifted and became slightly more gold. He opened his eyes to reveal they had gone from blue and green to dark brown with flecks of gold. “Now I look like someone with Irish ancestry and a bit of a pokeboy gene and not like what they expect Kerrik Wolf to look like. What do you think?”
Scheherazade got up and sniffed him over. “You still smell the same.”
He nodded. “It’s a calculated risk, but I don’t think Sanctuary has published my scent. I’m not even sure they can do that. And, frankly, I do not want to be in bed with you or Montsho and have either one of you abruptly wake up with a nose full of strange man scent.”
“I would kill it.” Montsho joined the Dread Wolf and pressed her face into his hair. “Does this mean we will start being with you again? I miss it.”
“I’m working on it, Montsho. I am not used to sleeping alone anymore and I don’t like doing it. Unfortunately I still have a few things to work through.”
Eve frowned at her. “Don’t the new decorations on his arms bother you?”
The Tyrannodame shrugged. “They chose to be there. He has said that they will not attack us and I believe him. If they are envious of the time I spend with our male and the things we do together, it is not my fault. It is theirs. Otherwise it is like he and I are alone, is it not?”
Eve suddenly looked thoughtful.
April looked him over carefully. “You can go back to the way you were, right?” She smiled brightly. “I was attracted to the way you look first and I don’t think of this as you.” She winked. “I am not the kind of girl who offers to sleep with every tamer who wakes me up in my room.”
He grinned. “That’s good. And to answer your question, yes I can change back. I’ve practiced parts of this a few times and going back is easier, probably because it’s returning to my mental image of me. I am going to stay looking like this until after we leave the capital, though. As a human male I’m a second class citizen at best and I’m not going to take any chances on getting found out as either Kerrik Wolf or Iain Grey.”
Montsho’s tail swung in a series of lazy ripples. “You are not a citizen at all. Pets have only the rights that their mistress gives them.”
“Ok, that explains that. I am definitely not changing back until we leave the capital and I may stay this way until we leave the Dark Continent altogether.” He rubbed his hands together briskly. “Even though both Irena and April have learned to teleport and thanks to Montsho we’re all at various levels of fluency in Swahili, I want to stay here for another week at least while we deal with my lingering issue. We can keep training and it will also give everyone a chance to get used to my new look. If nobody has anything else, that’s all I wanted you to assemble for. Eve, can I speak with you for a moment, please?”
His maharani bounced to her feet. “You heard him, ladies. April will assign training while I’ll watch Iain this morning.” She stood next to Iain as the Duelist took charge of the harem and led them off. “What is it?”
“I can’t promise you that we’ll have sex, but it’s been twenty four days and I’m tired of being alone all the time.” He met her gaze. “Would you be willing to join me in my tent tonight?”
Eve smiled slowly. “My love, I’d like nothing more.”
***
Iain looked at the morning sun and then at Irena and Eve. “I’m scared.” He rubbed his eyes slowly. “Or should I never admit that?”
The camp had been packed away and stored in various pokepacks before the rest of the harem had been pokeballed. Now it was just the three of them for the trip to the city of Sanctuary.
Eve put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. “We can feel it through the bond, but it’s good that you’re willing to admit it. I’m also glad that it doesn’t rule you.”
He stood silently for several seconds. “I don’t want to do this.” He looked at them. “I have too much to lose now, but they won’t stop on their own.” His eyes hardened. “I don’t know if this will make the world a better place for others, but I will see this through to the end. Somehow we will make Sanctuary decide that it costs too much to keep pursuing us. Let’s do this.”
Irena took his hand and gave him a nervous smile. She’d never been trusted to carry him before. “Here we go. We’re going to arrive outside the city. It’s in an area set aside for the visitors teleporting into Sanctuary who don’t have a home to teleport to. Montsho says that it keeps people from randomly appearing in the streets. She says it can be a traffic and security nightmare.” Her fingers tightened on his until it was almost painful and the scene changed. Now they stood on a large concrete pad that was covered with a sheet metal roof. Sanctuary Goths, Dameosaurs and smattering of other teleport capable breeds were appearing on the pad and heading for the road that led toward Sanctuary. Nearby a handful of Dameosaurs were sitting and playing dice in what looked like a guard shack.
Eve appeared next to them and looked around. “So this is the place the other Goth brought you. We’ll let everyone out and then follow Montsho’s lead.”
Irena wore a spare tamer’s belt and began releasing pokegirls, starting with the Tyrannodame. “Montsho, we’ve arrived.”
“Yes, mistress.” She made a beeline for the guard shack. The Dameosaurs stopped their game and drew together slightly when they recognized the Tyrannodame bearing down on them, but relaxed when Montsho spoke quietly to them. One of them looked over Irena’s group and her eyes narrowed for a second. She interrupted Montsho, who nodded and continued her conversation with the leader.
Montsho returned after a few minutes. “I have directions to Councilor Kirabo’s closest unit station. We can check in there.” She gave Iain a slightly apologetic look. “Private, males are not allowed to carry firearms here.”
Iain unslung his shotgun and handed it to Dominique. “Please store this in your pack for me.” The Archmage quickly digitized the weapon into her pokepack. He glanced at the Dameosaur still watching them from the guard building. She nodded and returned to dice game her fellows were playing.
Montsho glanced at Iain’s torso where his pistol was hidden but didn’t say anything as she turned back to Irena. “Mistress, please follow me.”
Sanctuary city was an edifice of concrete, glass and steel that would have fit right in with any city in any league in what used to be the Americas. DCWS patrols moved through the thin crowds of pokegirls that filled the sidewalks and occasionally spilled out in the streets. Ornately decorated matched sets of Ponytaur and other centaur pokegirls pulled ornate wagons which carried Sanctuary Goths and their pets down the thoroughfares while nude versions of the same pulled large trailers that apparently served as the city’s mass transit system since they were filled to the brim with other pokegirl breeds and the occasional human. These stopped at designated places to unload passengers who hurried off in different directions while people waited impatiently to board.
Most of the signs in the city were distinctive symbols with smaller print underneath in a nod to the fact that many of the residents and visitors were illiterate. Montsho used these as she led them down street after street until they stopped outside a four story building decorated in DCWS regalia. Two Dameosaurs in DCWS uniforms stood sentry outside the entrance. “Mistress, this is the local station for Councilor Kirabo’s forces.”
Irena glanced at Iain. “Montsho, what’s the normal procedure here?”
“Mistress, you would normally tell everyone but your alpha to wait out here while you and she went inside to check in. I don’t know what happens after that, but in my experience the alpha came back out and took charge of us while our mistress gave her report to someone inside. This situation and the role you intend to play is something I am not familiar with.”
Iain patted her on the arm. “It’s ok, Montsho. We’re used to making this up as we go. It’s part of being so sneaky.”
The Tyrannodame grinned viciously. “Yes sir.”
Irena nodded. “Corporal April, I’m taking Eve and Iain inside with me. You’re in charge until Eve or I return.”
April nodded. “Yes, major. We’ll be ready in case.” She waved Montsho, Dominique and Scheherazade off to the side to stand in the shade of the building as Irena, Eve and Iain headed for the entrance.
The Dameosaur sentries came alert as they approached. Irena looked them over briefly. “I want to speak to your duty officer.”
One of the dinosaur pokegirls bowed slightly. “Mistress, I need to see your identification.”
Irena pulled her badge out and let the Dameosaur see it. “I want to keep my presence here quiet if at all possible.”
The Dameosaur’s eyes widened at the badge. “Yes mistress.” She looked at the other sentry. “Private, escort this lady and her people inside to Captain Lisa.”
The other Dameosaur came to attention. “Yes sergeant.” She opened the door to the building. “This way, lady.”
The air was cool and dry from obvious air conditioning as the Dameosaur led them into an atrium and past a receptionist’s desk that blocked access to the rest of the building. The Doggirl at the desk watched them go by before silently returning to her duties.
The Dameosaur stopped outside a door, knocked and waited a few seconds before opening the door. “Captain Lisa, the sergeant wanted me to bring this lady and her people to you.”
“Send her in.” An Amachop wearing a captain’s uniform sat behind a desk. Her face was carefully blank as she watched them enter. “I’m Lisa. What can I do for you?”
Irena produced her badge and handed it to the captain as Eve took up station on Irena’s right and Iain leaned against a nearby wall. “I would like to ally myself with Councilor Kirabo.”
The captain looked it over carefully. “I see. Major, who are you currently affiliated with?”
“I’m not.”
The captain’s eyebrows shot up. “That doesn’t make any sense, ma’am.”
“I became a Sanctuary Goth after my contact in Glasgow in the Blue League disappeared one day. My former tamer and current pet,” she nodded towards Iain, “had been in Wellham before and we went there. After arriving we met a Tyrannodame who had been shujaa and affiliated with Councilor Kirabo before her mistress was killed and she ended up in the DCWS regulars. I freed her from that and she brought us here.” The adult Irena shrugged. “I have no idea who my contact in Glasgow was affiliated with since she never said before she vanished.”
Captain Lisa gave her a look of stark disbelief. “You’re from the Blue League and your control vanished so you became a Sanctuary Goth on your own and made your way here? That’s quite a story.”
“It’s also above your pay grade, captain.” Iain smiled nastily when the Amachop looked at him in surprise. “Yes, I’m a second class citizen but you either need to believe us enough to bump us up the chain of command or you need to kick us out.”
“That’s enough, Austin.” Irena pulsed her aura of command and Iain went to his knees. “We’re still working out who is going to be the boss right now. He’s too used to being in charge all the time, especially since he’s the reason I met Cora Reid.” This was the name of the Sanctuary Goth that had been killed by Scheherazade in Glasgow that they’d gotten the ebony stone from.
Lisa was visibly trembling from being on the edge of the field and the desk groaned slightly as she gripped it tightly to prevent joining the human on the floor. “Yes, major. Why was your human the reason you met this Cora Reid?”
“Austin, you explain it.”
Iain bobbed his head once as he rose back to his feet. “Yes, mistress. I was hired by Cora to find out some information on a person she was interested in. During the course of my employment she became friends with Irena and offered to make her a Sanctuary Goth after my work was complete.” He smiled. “For the most part I agree with what Sanctuary is doing.”
Captain Lisa nodded and made a couple of notes on a pad. “Using local assets is pretty normal. Who were you investigating?”
Iain kept his voice deliberately light. “I was supposed to find out everything I could about a man by the name of Kerrik Wolf.”
The Amachop’s hand convulsed and the pencil snapped into several pieces in her grip. She blinked at the mess in her hand and dropped the remains into the trash can next to her desk. “Kerrik Wolf?” She tried to sound completely disinterested and failed.
“Yeah. I found him, too.”
The Amachop’s eyes tried to bore their way into his skull from where she sat. “Where?”
Irena smiled. “That’s enough, Austin. Captain, you’ve had your free taste. I don’t know a lot about the society I’ve joined, but Cora made it overly plain that being unaffiliated was very bad, especially for someone who hadn’t had the chance to gather any power of her own. I have information and I want to trade it for,” her smile spread, “sanctuary.”
Eve smirked.
Lisa smiled back. “Councilor Kirabo is a very highly placed member in the High Council. I will contact my superior, but I expect that we will be very interested in what you have to report.” She opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a pad, which she wrote on for a second before tearing off the top sheet and holding it out towards them. “This is a voucher so you can stay at the Golden Apple. It’s a hotel that we use for housing visitors. I want you to spend the night there and be back here tomorrow at one o’clock sharp. Welcome to the service of Councilor Kirabo.”
***
A carriage was waiting outside the unit station when Irena and the others returned. Eve smiled at the sight. “Somebody important decided to hear us out. We’ll have the same division as yesterday, April. Be ready.” The Duelist just nodded.
Iain checked his gloves as they headed for the door. Just like the day before, he was wearing long sleeves and gloves in order to minimize the DNA he might accidentally leave behind.
Different Dameosaurs were on guard duty and one of them escorted Irena, Eve and Iain inside after verifying the Sanctuary Goth’s identification. Captain Lisa was waiting in her office for them. “Major Irena, there’s someone here who wants to speak with you. During your audience with her neither you nor your subordinates will speak unless spoken to, is that clear?”
Irena nodded and gave Iain an amused look. “We won’t have any outbursts, will we Austin? If there are, last night will just be a warm-up exercise compared to what I’ll do to you.”
Iain looked away. “No mistress.”
“Eve, make sure he doesn’t.” Irena turned back to the captain. “We’ll be on our best behavior, captain.”
Approval glinted in Lisa’s eyes. “Excellent, major. This way please.” The Amachop led them to an elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. The elevator doors opened onto a hallway that was decorated much more lavishly than the first floor, paneled in rich hardwoods and with a thick brown carpet several shades darker than the walls. At the end of the hall were stationed two Dameosaurs, both exemplary members of the breed that stood eight feet tall and were wearing new uniforms, the brass of which had been polished until it gleamed.
Lisa took them to the door and stopped. “This is Major Irena.”
One of the Dameosaurs nodded. “I’ll take them from here, captain.” She looked Irena over as the captain returned to the elevator. “You don’t have a uniform, major?”
“No, I don’t.” She glanced at the Dameosaur’s rank tabs. “Lieutenant.”
Sharp teeth gleamed as the lieutenant smiled broadly. “I’m a member of the councilor’s personal bodyguard, major. If you have a problem with me you’ll have to take it up with her.”
Iain glanced in Irena’s direction. It’s politics. Let her win this.
Irena looked apologetic. “My mistake, lieutenant. It’s just that I got a lot of attitude from DCWS Dameosaurs in Wellham and it made me overly sensitive.”
“It’s no problem for me, major. Now wait here while I let the councilor know you’ve arrived.” The Dameosaur cracked the door open and slipped inside as the other sentry smirked at them. She was back a minute later. “The councilor will see you now, major.” She opened the door and stepped aside so they could enter.
The room was almost filled by a large mahogany desk. On either side of the desk stood another alert Dameosaur who radiated unconcealed hostility as they watched Irena’s group come in. Seated behind the desk was a Sanctuary Goth wearing ornate robes. She gestured to the single chair in front of the desk. “Please sit, major.” Irena settled into the chair delicately. “I am Councilor Kirabo of the Sanctuary High Council. Please identify yourself and your associates.”
“I am Shujaa Major Irena. This is my alpha, Sergeant Eve and my pet, Austin Drummond.”
Kirabo smiled. “Now, Irena, it’s my understanding that your rank and membership in the shujaa might be a bit irregular, so let’s dispense with the appellations of rank for the time being. Why don’t you tell me how you came to be a Sanctuary Goth and how you came to be here?”
Irena gave her a humble look. Dominique had given her a token that she claimed would prevent anyone from knowing if she lied to them and Eve had tested it to her satisfaction. “Yes councilor. I was a Night Nurse and ended up with Kerrik Wolf in this year’s Sadie Poken’s Day. He didn’t keep me long. Austin was hired by Cora Reid to investigate Kerrik and he acquired me as part of his investigation. Cora took a liking to my attitude and offered me the chance to join her when Austin’s work was done. She didn’t make our rendezvous and Austin had discovered where she lived, so we went there to see what had happened. Cora had disappeared and we explored the place, found an ebony stone and accidentally evolved me to Sanctuary Goth. I wanted to go to someplace where I could be free. Austin had been to Wellham and so we went there, only to find the place overrun by Zombabes. While leaving Wellham we found and added to my harem a Tyrannodame who had once been shujaa and been affiliated with you, councilor. It seemed an obvious choice to try to seek that affiliation myself.”
Kirabo listened attentively. “How is it that you’ve been to Wellham before, Austin?”
“My job.”
“I think I’ll need a bit more detail than that.”
“I get hired to find things. I’m good at what I do and my work takes me all over the place. It’s why Ms. Reid hired me to locate and investigate Kerrik Wolf. One of those jobs brought me to Wellham.”
Kirabo’s eyes narrowed slightly. “And what was this business in Wellham, Austin?”
“Councilor, I have a reputation for complete confidentiality, but I can tell you that I came to Wellham to find and silence a man who knew something that someone else didn’t want him to.”
She regarded him curiously. “Did you succeed in your mission?”
“Yes, councilor, I did.”
Kirabo returned her attention to Irena. “What did you learn about Kerrik Wolf?”
Are we in yet? This was from Eve.
Irena smiled slightly. “Am I now affiliated with your illustrious self, councilor?”
Kirabo blinked and then suddenly looked wary. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Information about Kerrik is all I have to bargain with right now, councilor. If I tell you everything I know before you agree or disagree, what protection do I have?”
Kirabo smiled broadly. “You understand how the game works a lot more than most newcomers and I think you’re going to do well here, Irena. You can’t be a major in the shujaa since they exercise command authority over other shujaa units, but I think I’ll make you a captain. If you prove yourself, I’ll brevet you to major and you’ll be trained to command other units so I can test your abilities. So, Captain Irena, what did you learn about Kerrik Wolf?”
Irena glanced at Iain. “Austin, brief the councilor.”
“Yes, my mistress.” Iain took a deep breath. “Until recently, Kerrik Wolf was operating primarily out of Ireland, with the occasional foray into England, Scotland and Wales. That has changed, however, since he openly joined the BLSF in an operation to purge all known Sanctuary agents from the Blue League.”
Kirabo paled. “You have evidence of this?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s why Ms. Reid disappeared on me before I could be paid, councilor. The league and Wolf have been rounding them up, using some kind of new capture plan that prevents anyone from teleporting away once the assault begins. Either that or they’re managing to get total surprise on your agents.” He folded his arms and managed to look bored even as he slowly took deep even breaths to keep his heart at an even beat. “I saw the results of one such raid on the premises of Sylvia and Mark Andrews. Kerrik was at that one. My sources indicate that the original information for the raids came from Kerrik and a BLSF agent named Oliver Duncan.”
Kirabo cursed loudly in Swahili. “What did you see?”
“I was outside the security cordon and watched as they removed Sylvia and Mark in gurneys. They both looked drugged. There were agents from Department Six with them pretending to be normal troops, so it was obvious they had an idea of who they were dealing with. The spooks don’t come out for a normal raid.” Iain had been amused to find out that that particular piece of slang was still in common usage. “They put them in an ambulance and headed off. Later, Kerrik left in a different ambulance, I suspect in an attempt to throw people like me off the trail. I lost them at the airport.”
Kirabo stared at them for several seconds. “Captain, I won’t lie to you. You have just provided us with more information than we’ve received to date on Kerrik Wolf as well as why and how our espionage network has been rolled up.”
Iain nodded. “With all due respect councilor, I was surprised at how fast the league was able to penetrate your spies. I would have expected better security overall to protect your agents.”
Kirabo shrugged. “Each of the councilors has her own forces and commands her own spies. That makes overall security very difficult, but it also makes it hard to completely penetrate every councilor’s operations in the leagues. We still have some agents in the Blue League and we will rebuild our networks there.”
Iain looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “That’s pretty much all I have on Kerrik. I was still trying to locate where he was living when we left, but the evidence I’ve seen leads me to suspect he’s still somewhere in Ireland. He has a home there, but he’s since moved on and it’s been rented out.”
“That’s a lot more than we had before you came here. This Cora Reid wasn’t one of mine, but she did Sanctuary a great service when she recruited you.” Kirabo frowned slightly. “What is the situation in Wellham?”
Irena leaned forward. “The city is almost a complete loss, councilor. We saw one pocket of holdouts, but otherwise the Zombabes had free run of the place. I think they might start spreading out into the surrounding area.”
“We threw forces around Wellham and we’re sterilizing everything as we close the ring around it. The Zombabe situation is under control.” Kirabo smiled satisfactorily to herself. “One of my rivals on the council lost a lot of prestige over that debacle.”
“Yes councilor.”
Kirabo blinked and seemed to remember where she was. Her voice became brisk. “Captain, now we get to the part where I decide what to do with you. You’re not really shujaa, but since they are irregular units your membership in them won’t be as unusual as you might think.” She leaned back in her chair, lacing her fingers. “Do you think you can find Kerrik Wolf again?”
Irena looked surprised and glanced at Iain, who hesitated before nodding. “It should be possible to reacquire him, councilor.”
“Good. I want you to capture him.”
Iain straightened up. “Councilor, I apologize for interrupting, but I don’t capture people. I find them, investigate them or eliminate them. Capturing is rather difficult when a man is surrounded by his harem.”
“Be that as it may, Austin, you have your orders. You are to capture Kerrik Wolf. If you cannot, you are to kill him and bring me proof of his death.” She leaned forward. “Captain, once you have completed your mission you are to report directly to me and nobody else.” One of the Dameosaur guards stepped forward and produced a tiny badge and a small card from her uniform. She handed them to Irena as Councilor Kirabo continued. “You can use that to get access to me at any time. The card has my address on it. If I am not there, I can usually be found at the council building doing the government’s business.” Her eyes hardened. “This is of utmost importance, captain. Kerrik Wolf must be neutralized as quickly as possible. I’d prefer him captured, but dead will still serve my purpose.” Her mouth twisted slightly. “After all, I wasn’t responsible for his coming here and his death won’t cost me anything.”
Irena shot to her feet and came to attention. “Your will be done, my mistress.”
Kirabo smiled. “Excellent, captain. Just make sure my will is done as soon as possible. See Captain Lisa on the way out. She’ll give you a place to stay and see to your outfitting for your return to the Blue League.”
***
“This is a fine how do you do. What the hell do we do now?” April scowled and poked at her dinner. After checking into the officer’s quarters they’d been assigned, the group had teleported to a handful of spots along their route from Wellham before stopping at the camp they’d been using for the last month. “Of all the fucked up things to come out of our trip to Sanctuary, this is the worst.”
Dominique settled back with her mug of tea. “It’s actually funny in a more than slightly gruesome way. Capturing Kerrik should be pretty easy, after all, but killing him might be a problem for us.”
Irena giggled. “We could jump him now.” She yelped when Scheherazade smacked her lightly on the head. “What?”
Montsho glared at the Dread Wolf. “Do not strike my mistress.”
Scheherazade’s ears went flat and she glared back. “Any time, any place.”
Iain smacked his hands together loudly. “Enough!” He waited until everyone was looking at him. “Like it or not, we have to go back to the Blue League and look for Kerrik Wolf. Capturing him and bringing him to Sanctuary in chains is, for obvious reasons, out of the question. That leaves figuring out a way to prove we killed him.” He smiled broadly, “without actually killing me if at all possible.’
Eve chuckled. “We could break away and try to find someone else to affiliate ourselves with instead of Kirabo.” Her eyes dimmed. “On the other hand they’d probably want the glory from killing Kerrik too.”
Dominique looked thoughtful. “I think we should first decide if we can come up with substantive proof that we killed Kerrik or not. If we can, it would open a lot of doors and if we can do it without leaving a trail from Kerrik to Iain, we’d have accomplished our goal. Then we can leave the leagues behind, assuming your agreement with Magdalene still holds.”
“It does.”
Eve shook her head. “Sanctuary needs stopped. The leagues can’t do it.”
Scheherazade leaned over and obviously sniffed the Megami-sama. “I smell backsliding.”
Eve smacked the Dread Wolf’s muzzle away. “Backsliding or not, if we don’t making bringing authors to our world obviously hurtful to them, Sanctuary, they’ll just go after other authors. If those authors can see this world as things happen and get brought in after whatever we do takes place, they might be able to reveal what we did and where we went. At that point an undamaged Sanctuary would be free to pursue us. Do we want to base our safety on the hope they wouldn’t feel honor bound to get revenge for being tricked?” She turned to look at their tamer. “Iain, how are they likely to react if they find out?”
He closed his eyes for a moment and then sighed. “Fuck. Certain elements in the High Council would definitely be extremely pissed if they felt we tricked them about the death of Kerrik Wolf. Apparently we still have to come up with something that will somehow hurt Sanctuary enough that they can’t chase us even if they manage to figure out what happened.”
“We’ll also need to do more than sit in our house and manufacture reports of chasing Kerrik around.” April put her empty plate down. “We already know that Sanctuary still has agents in the Blue League. It would be just our luck to describe an activity and then Sanctuary has the elements in place to prove we’re lying to them.”
“How do we hurt something as big as Sanctuary?” Irena dropped her plate into the cleaning bucket. “Iain may be who he is, but that doesn’t give us the power to cripple Sanctuary.”
“Let me think about things for a few days.” Dominique’s crimson eyes looked over the savannah without really seeing it as her mind went to work. “Iain, I’ll need my laboratory and possibly Eve’s help.” Her eyes refocused. “Irena has a pass that will let us into the High Council of Sanctuary. Do you think that if something happened to them it would convince any survivors that authors and their harems are more trouble than they’re worth?” She turned to their resident native. “What do you think, Montsho? If we decapitated the command elements of the DCWS, would it convince people to leave us alone?
The Tyrannodame stared at the Archmage in horror for several seconds. Slowly her expression calmed and she looked over the group before nodding firmly. “It would.” She shivered. “It’s too horrible to contemplate, but it would.”
“So we have a goal, now we need to figure out how to achieve it.” Dominique pulled a notepad from her pack. “When can we go home so I can get started?”
“I want to pick up all the maps and things we can,” Iain said slowly. “You can never have too much intelligence on your foe. Also I need to go back to looking like me before we leave. I really don’t want to walk in the front door and have our houseguest turn me into a stain on the carpet because she doesn’t recognize me.”
Eve blinked. “I also need a day after we leave Sanctuary to brief Montsho on her. At least she’s not Sexmet.” The Tyrannodame gave her maharani a curious look but didn’t ask. “Don’t worry; I’ll explain it to you soon.”
Montsho nodded.
“I think Iain should stay here with some of us for security.” April picked up the bucket full of dirty dishes. “Minimizing the time he’s in proximity to Sanctuary is a really good idea. Most of our problems have come about by accident, after all, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s not an accident magnet.”
Iain smiled. “You won’t get any argument from me. I like the savannah.”
Eve visibly relaxed. “April, you and Scheherazade will stay. Shay would just worry about him if we took her with us. We’ll make a shopping list and the rest of us will see what Sanctuary uses for money and how we can get some.”
Montsho frowned. “They use the SLC. Everybody does. Why would they do anything else?”
Iain just looked disgusted. “They’re nothing more than a bunch of fucking parrots.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Sanctuary had a chance to build something new. Pokegirls who don’t go feral working with the humans to build a society that would make other pokegirls want to emigrate to the point that they’d use Sadie Pokens to escape via transporter. Instead of hiding, at that point you do a media blitz, announce your presence to the world and dare the other leagues to stop you, which they can’t. What did they do? They built a fucking carbon copy of the leagues down to the very mother fucking money.” His eyes narrowed. “They deserve whatever we do to them. Maybe the new government will take this as a sign and build something good this time.” His mouth twisted into a snarl. “Maybe then it’ll be a real sanctuary instead of just another hell for pokegirls.”
***
It was just after midnight and the fog slowly drifted through the air as Eve and Dominique appeared with Iain. Red light flared as the rest of the harem was released. Montsho sniffed the air and shivered. “It’s cold.”
Irena patted her on the shoulder. “It gets colder at night on the savannah.”
“It’s dryer there. The humidity makes it feel colder.” Scheherazade’s ears rotated as she sampled the night. “I think we’re alone.”
Eve looked around. “Um, which way is the house?”
“That way.” Iain pointed. He smiled when people looked at him in surprise. “I’ve always been good with directions. That and I marked that tree with a knife.” He nodded to a small carving which depicted a crude building. Inside it was an arrow pointing to the west.
Eve smacked him lightly. “Cheater.”
“I didn’t want to wander around all night looking for Dingle. I shouldn’t have told you so I’d just look omniscient and you’d all be impressed with me.”
Montsho chuckled. “Even here he is sneaky.”
April settled her pack in place. “We need to get to the house and get the introductions with Vanessa out of the way before it starts to get light. We are traveling with a Sanctuary Goth and a Tyrannodame after all.”
Eve shot her a slightly unfriendly look. “Shay, you’re on point. We’ll go in through the back door.”
There was a light on in the kitchen and Dominique glanced at Eve. “I’ll go first in case something weird is going on.”
Iain touched her on the shoulder. “Run if there’s trouble. We’ll be right behind you.”
Montsho looked confused. “We won’t fight?”
“Picking your battles is much sneakier than letting your enemy choose the battleground. Montsho hasn’t been to the cave, so we’ll go back to the Dark Continent camp.”
Dominique nodded and casually headed for the back door. It opened when she stepped onto the porch and a shadowy figure spoke to her for a second before the Archmage turned and waved the all clear.
Vanessa had the kettle on and a basket of fresh buns sat on the table. Iain was the last one in and she wrapped him up in her arms for a hug as soon as she saw him. “I’m so glad you’re back.” He stiffened and slowly put his arms around her.
“We’re fine.” He turned her gently in Montsho’s direction. “This is Montsho and she’s a Tyrannodame.”
“I know about her. The Awareness told me you were coming back. Since you have accepted her, I don’t see why I can’t.” She pushed him in the direction of the table. “As soon as you’ve had some tea, I want to get run through a healing cycle.” When he blinked at her, she smiled broadly. “I couldn’t do that all alone. Your PPHU doesn’t run by itself, now does it?”
“I suppose not.”
“It doesn’t have to wait. Irena, you take care of her while I make the tea.” Eve headed for the stove. “Vanessa, go get your pokeball.”
A short time later everyone was sipping tea and trying not to laugh at Montsho’s first experience with blueberry bun after the Tyrannodame shoved a whole one into her mouth.
Iain nibbled at his. “This is excellent. I didn’t know you could bake.”
Vanessa grinned at him. “Iain, I’ve lived alone for a very long time. I had to learn to fend for myself.”
He sighed. “I should have thought of that.”
“So tell me what happened? Did you find the answers you sought?”
“We went there to find proof for you, remember? And no, we didn’t find anything definitive enough to satisfy your sense of justice.”
She looked pleased. “I thought as much. Are you done there?”
“No, we’re not. As part of our cover we got ourselves a sponsor on the High Council. She instructed us to come back to the Blue League so we could find someone here and kill them.”
Eve choked on her tea. “Iain, you don’t have to put it that way.”
Montsho swallowed her bun with an audible gulp. “That’s what happened. We’re supposed to find Kerrik Wolf and kill or capture him.”
Vanessa’s eyes flicked in the Tyrannodame’s direction before returning to watching him. “Iain?”
“She knows who I am.”
“That’s good. What are you going to do?”
“Right now Dominique has some idea that she wants to work on. In the meantime, we’re going to think about ways to give Kirabo proof that I’m dead without actually killing me.”
“How can you do that?”
He started to reply when someone banged on the front door. A male voice called loudly. “Hello in there!”
Eve shot to her feet. “Scheherazade, April, you’ve got Iain. Irena, you and Montsho get upstairs. Dominique and I will see who it is.”
Vanessa put her hand on Iain’s arm. “I’ll help.”
He shook his head. “I appreciate your offer, but we don’t want to take a chance on your pregnancy. If we have to run, you can either go your own way or you can travel with Eve and come with us to the Dark Continent.”
She looked surprised. “Thank you. I’ll go with Eve.”
“Then get up there with her.” She nodded and hurried for the front door and Eve. Vanessa wants to travel with you if we have to bail.
A feeling of unease came back across Eve’s link. I don’t know if I like this. She’s acting oddly.
I know, but how can we tell her to fuck off?
Good point. Now go away.
Iain checked his shotgun and scowled when April gave him a look before motioning for him to put it away. “Fuck,” he muttered as he carefully put the weapon in a broom cupboard.
Eve came into the kitchen, closely followed by Vanessa and two strangers. The first was a muscular middle-aged woman with bright green hair. The second was a young man with dark blue hair and eyes.
Iain blinked in surprise and moved forward slowly, watching the newcomers with more than a hint of caution. “Good morning. I’m Iain Grey. Ladies, this is Devon Harris, the owner of the Harris Conservatory. The woman with him is Paulette, a Neo Iczel.”
Paulette smiled and glanced at Devon. “He knows us. That proves I’m right.”
“Not necessarily,” Devon murmured softly. “I have a question for you, Mr. Grey.”
“What is it?”
“Are you Kerrik Wolf the kami or Kerrik Wolf the so called author?” Devon smiled easily. “Paulette thinks you’re the kami. I’m not so sure. In either case, I need to know because no matter who you are, we need to talk.”
“I am Iain Grey. Mr. Harris, what exactly are you asking about?”
Paulette smirked. “He’s evading the question. That means he can’t lie to us.”
Devon frowned. “Mr. Wolf or Mr. Grey or whatever you want to call yourself, I know that you registered as a tamer under the name of Kerrik Wolf. Then you became a tradesman and then you assumed a new identity as Iain Grey. You did a pretty good job of it, but my Video Girl watches for family members who pop up and she caught the ID change.”
The color slowly drained from April’s cheeks as Iain’s face set. “I am human, Mr. Harris. If I were the kami, do you really think Raven or Misery would let me be completely alone with a group of new pokegirls? Eve, here, is my maharani.” He watched with carefully concealed surprise as Vanessa silently moved up behind Paulette. “I really don’t want any trouble, Mr. Harris. I’m an author. Now what is your business with me?”
Devon exchanged glances with Paulette and started, twisting around to look at Vanessa. “Call off your pokegirl, Grey, or I can’t be held responsible for what happens to her.” The Neo Iczel whipped around and smiled in anticipation.
Iain kept his voice calm. “Vanessa, would you please get some tea for our visitors? We really don’t want anyone to get hurt if we can avoid it.”
Vanessa’s eyes met his over Paulette’s shoulder and suddenly an impish smile appeared. “Of course, Iain.” Deliberately she turned her back on Paulette and sauntered towards the stove.
Paulette growled softly.
Iain’s voice was firm. “Paulette, you are an uninvited visitor in my home in the wee hours of the morning. If you’d like a more pleasant reception next time then get a fucking appointment.”
Paulette turned around to face him. “You’ve got balls, Tradesman Grey, speaking to me like that.”
“You’re one of Devon’s wives, so I was taking the chance of treating you like a human being.” He turned to Devon as the pokewoman gaped. “If you want to talk to me, then Jennifer cannot be present. If she is anywhere around you need to send her home right now.”
Devon’s brow furrowed. “Why?”
“She’s a tattletale to her mother, who is a furry moronic bitch with a temper worse than a Dark Lady with an open cavity. If Sexmet or Bastit show up here, I will do my best to kill them.”
“So you do know things.” Devon sank into a chair. “This is incredible.”
“Jennifer, Devon. Focus.”
“She’s not here. Hatsumi, Lamya and Tess are outside in case I need help.”
“If you think you’re safe, why don’t you invite them inside for some tea? It’s pretty damp and nasty outside. I don’t mean you any harm, Devon, but if you don’t believe me and want to keep them outside in the dank, I’ll understand.”
“How about we do some introductions, Iain?”
He blinked. “Oh, sorry Eve. Ask Irena and Montsho down so we can get this over with once and for all. Devon, I’ve already introduced Eve. The redheaded beauty is Dominique, the copper tressed vision of loveliness is Vanessa, the luscious brunette is April and this little darling is Scheherazade. Vanessa is visiting and is my guest.” He looked to the side as Irena and Montsho came into the kitchen. “The raven haired goddess is Irena and this statuesque wonder is Montsho.” He turned back to Devon. “Irena or Montsho’s presence would probably be enough for Jennifer’s mother to order you to kill us all or to try to do so herself. Please do not scan them, either, since Dominique hasn’t fixed Montsho up with her blocking spell yet.”
The Archmage shrugged. “We just got home. I haven’t made it to my lab yet.”
Devon was regarding Montsho. “What is she?”
“She’s a member of my harem and she happens to be a Tyrannodame. Irena is a Sanctuary Goth even if she scans as a Night Nurse.” He settled into a chair. “Eve, we’re not going to have room for everyone, so how about we put half our group in the living room along with two of Devon’s family? That’ll keep things as even as possible.” He turned to Devon. “Now, you said you wanted to talk to me?”
Eve put her hand on his shoulder. “Tea first. Devon, please call your pokegirls in, if you will.”
A half hour later Iain, Eve, April and Dominique sat across from Devon, Paulette and Hatsumi. Vanessa bustled through with tea for everyone but paused near the stove when the talking finally turned to business.
Devon looked around. “Do you have a large display screen?”
Iain shook his head. “Nope. We’re just poor tradesmen trying to get by without all the neat toys the rich bourgeoisie have.”
Devon put his pokedex in the middle of the table. “If nothing else, that proves you’re not Kerrik. He can’t get by without his techie toys. Mine has a holographic display, but it’s not that powerful.”
“My heart bleeds for you, Harris. Now what do you fucking want? It’s been a long day; I’ve got other things to do; thanks to the time difference I’ve still got a long day in front of me; I didn’t ask for you to show up here and you’re busy bragging about your stuff instead of getting to the point.”
Hatsumi laughed. “Hatsumi likes this one. He speaks his mind like Hatsumi does, even when he is outclassed by the master’s harem.”
Devon and Iain exchanged a glance. Iain shrugged. “At least she didn’t feel it necessary to speak baby talk to me.”
Devon blinked and grinned. “That’s very true.” He reached for his pokedex. “I want you to see this. Hopefully you can help me make sense of it.”
He pressed the button and a split screen hologram holding two faces appeared above the pokedex. Iain stared as his ladies murmured in surprise. On one side was a fairly normal looking Elfqueen. It was the person on the other side that was so remarkable. Blonde hair framed an obviously masculine face dominated by eyes that were solid black, with no visible whites. Thick black horns sprouted from his head and curved up and to the sides.
Dominique snickered. “He’s an infernal’s wet dream.”
Devon looked around the table. “The Elfqueen is Bevin, the ruler of the Elven Preserve on Caomh Sith. She’s nominally a friend, but we learned our lesson after Xantha. Since Conservatory personnel installed her com system, I have access she’s not aware of. Do you know the man?”
Iain shook his head. “Never seen him before.”
“It’ll be easier if I just play it.” Devon pressed the play button and the figures came to life.
The man spoke first. “Elfqueen Bevin.”
Bevin nodded to him. “Good evening, Micah Hakubi. I trust you are doing well.”
Iain’s eyes widened as Micah responded. “Well enough thank you. I trust this isn’t a social call.”
“Sadly, no. It has come to my attention in my recent correspondence with the other Preserves that you might lack knowledge of the Elven Preserve in the Blue League. As such, you'll excuse my forwardness in being the first to open up a dialogue with you. I had the thought that a relationship between you and I might be... mutually beneficial?”
Micah’s head bobbed in a quick nod. “My apologies for not contacting you beforehand, then. In truth, my reason for doing so can be laid out with a very simple fact; I, Elf Queen Bevin, am The Man Who Knows.”
Bevin’s face tightened. “And what do you know, dear sir?”
Micah fought not to smile. I know of the Wolf Clan. What they are, where they came from, and where they went. I know of Xantha, and how your previous monarch would have used you as a sacrificial doll given the first opportunity. I know of the Harris Clan and their connections with the Elven Preserve before it was even officially recognized.” He paused for a few seconds. “So. These are awkward things to know, Elf Queen Bevin. If I came in great contact with you and yours, these things might become known, and dangerous to me and mine. However, if you acknowledge this, then I think the two of us can have a correspondence, of a sort.”
Bevin was silent for several seconds before she reluctantly nodded. “Yes.” She paused again. “I shall be blunt. I wish for the gift of evolving to Sanctuary Goths for a hundred of my subjects. But there are complications.”
Micah raised an eyebrow curiously. “Such as?”
“I do not exist in a vacuum, as you are well aware of. The Blue League is currently undergoing a pogrom of a sort that I am only distantly aware of. However, I do know that this relates to Sanctuary.”
The horned man froze. “I see,” he said finally.
“You know something.”
He smiled. “I know many things.” The smile faded. “Such activity is likely only due to the Blue League suddenly acquiring a glut of information on Sanctuary itself. Unless Sanctuary has gained a severe division in its upper ranks that I'm not aware of, or...”
“One of your own.”
“That is a possibility, yes.”
“Do you know of which one?”
“Not specifically, no, and you'll excuse me if I refrain from speculation.”
Bevin nodded, her face thoughtful. “Very well. Shall we get down to the dross of the matter?”
Devon pressed the stop button. “After this, they negotiate the price for the evolutions and Micah makes Bevin swear not to tell me or the Wolf family what happened and to lie to us when we find out and come to see who did this.” He shook his head. “And I had such hopes for her.”
Vanessa put her hand on Iain’s shoulder. “Does Bevin not know what she is doing to her people? These evolved Sanctuary Goths will not have any loyalty to her and might be able to bend her to their will.”
Iain grimaced “She can’t be aware she’s destroying everything she wants.”
Devon touched a couple of keys before he tucked his pokedex away. “I just sent you a copy of the recording. It has Hakubi’s address embedded in it. Do you know him?”
“We talked a lot in Zero, but we were all careful not to set ourselves up to be found out. It’s a habit you get there. He’s a good guy and very creative. I should point out that he’s most definitely changed since coming here. In my universe he’d have looked completely human. That’s changed.”
Paulette cocked her head. “Zero?”
“That’s what I call the universe I came from.”
Devon stared at his teacup. “Obviously you don’t know why he’d do such a thing or how.”
“Turning other pokegirls into Sanctuary Goths? I suppose he might have captured a large shipment of ebony stones from Sanctuary. As an author, he might have found another way to make it happen. As to why, maybe he’s building an army of some kind. I thought about something like that briefly when I owned two shiploads of Limbec pirates. I’m not sure I’d want an army of Sanctuary Goths, though. They’re almost as fragile as humans are.”
Hatsumi grinned. “Hatsumi does like you.”
Paulette just scowled.
Devon’s head came up. “You did what? Pirates?”
“When I was brought here, I was kept prisoner on a Limbec ship named the Free Bitch. After I escaped, I went back for their charts. I found them with another pirate ship and captured most of the crews of both while taking the ships.”
“What did you do with them?”
“They’re gone. I scuttled the ships.”
“And the crew?”
“Sold them.”
Devon’s mouth dropped. “You sold Limbec pirates?”
“I had Eve pick out the hardcore pirates and L5’d them before they got sold.” Iain stretched slowly. “Look, Harris, I don’t know why Micah is doing what he’s doing. I suppose that’s fair because he wouldn’t understand what I’m doing. I can’t help you pick his mind because we’re not the same person and there’s no way I can get any insight into a man from a short conversation he had with someone else. I did know Micah from Zero, but neither one of us is the person we were before we came here, so that knowledge is essentially useless. I can’t help you.”
“No, you have. If nothing else, I know you aren’t involved with bringing more Sanctuary Goths to Blue. Do you think Micah is trying to destabilize the league?”
Iain shook his head. “That I doubt. Unless he’s gone completely out of his mind there’s no reason for him to do this just to fuck with Blue. I got the impression Bevin was contacting him and I got the impression she knew about what he was doing, which suggests that he’s done this before for someone. It was probably somewhere else.”
Devon frowned. “I don’t want to know if I want to ask around or not. I’m curious as to what Bevin wants to do. Besides, I don’t want her preserve destroyed. We need it. I guess I’ll just let the situation unfold while keeping a wary eye on it.” He rose to his feet and stuck out his hand. “Thank you for meeting with me, Grey.”
Iain stood and grasped Devon’s. “My name is Iain. Come back if you get the chance.”
Devon smiled. “I will.”
After they were gone, Eve began cleaning up. “Are you going to contact Mr. Hakubi?”
“I’ll have to think about it. I’ll watch the whole recording a couple of times to see if I can glean anything from it.”
Dominique put her hand over his. “I’ll help. I am a trained intelligence agent.”
“Thanks. I’ll take all the help I can get.” He looked around the room. “I want to make this clear. I do not want any mention of Devon’s visit or of our information about Micah to leave this building. He’s like me and while I don’t understand what he’s doing, I will not condemn it and turn him in to be experimented on. I mean that. No hints, no messages, no winks, no nothing. That includes you, Vanessa. I can’t command you, but I can ask. Please.”
The legendary nodded. “I won’t tell anyone what we found out today. I just have one question.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve been really horny lately. Will you sleep with me?”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (maharani)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Scheherazade - Dread Wolf
Irena- Chibi Sanctuary Goth
April - Duelist
Montsho - Tyrannodame
Dragonesses
Eirian - Silver
Skye - Blue
Emerald - Green
Sable - Black
Aurum - Gold
Beryl - Red