Into the Fire
Twenty Six
Eve appeared at the arrival point for the construction site and frowned at the lack of activity this late in the morning. She’d originally planned to arrive here a couple of hours earlier, but Dominique had needed some help with a project and she’d only just gotten free from that. She lifted off and climbed into the air, turning as she looked for the reason nobody was around. Her links with Iain and the other harem members didn’t show anything bad was going on, although Scheherazade was trying to suppress the bubble of mischievousness that she got from time to time whenever she thought she was being clever.
The Megami-sama eyed the site critically as she searched. The construction crew had finished cutting out the basement and now the walls and floor were being roughened for the cement that would be put on them just before the stone walls and floor were installed. The Sisterhood’s people had learned a lot of tricks over the centuries and what they now did was put stone together to make, for example, the floor of a building or basement and then combined fire techniques with magic to fuse all the pieces together into one flawless sheet. This fusing removed all the hidden faults and gave the stone the same kind of tremendous strength that was found in living mountains and nowhere else.
After the fusing, the basement would be given a three inch thick layer of concrete or mortar and then the sheet would be laid down on the adhesive. After the walls were put in place and everything was dry, another spell would be used to anneal the individual parts into a single piece, making the basement an unbroken hollow cube. This prevented liquids and many pokegirls from oozing into the basement. The floor of the house would then be laid over the basement and the process would continue.
When complete, the entire building would be a single piece of stone that would last for millennia. The only weak points would be the doors, windows and chimneys, but those were usually shuttered with stone and steel to make them as strong as possible.
The construction would go a lot faster once the basement was complete. While waiting, the other construction team had already prefabricated the exterior walls and roof. They were waiting off to one side for the day when they’d be needed. Right now they’d shifted their focus to the interior and partially assembled out interior walls were set up in the assembly zone. The thickness of the exterior and interior walls had almost doubled the size of the building, but that was only necessary so that the interior rooms would be the proper size for use. Iain’s declaration that doorways and hallways had to be large enough for Hathor’s horns had added to the internal volume and made the final house they were building that much larger, but Eve understood and even agreed with his ruling, even if she’d never let him know.
She was proud he’d thought of others enough to give the orders. It showed that there was more of a caring individual under there than he gave himself credit for and she was determined to nurture that side of him to help him become a better person.
Iain’s studies had been interrupted by an offhand comment he’d made around one of the construction Witches and now he was spending most of his free time with her, Dominique and several other magic and celestial pokegirls discussing something he called glassteel. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but apparently the concept had the pokegirls involved very excited about the potential uses.
Eve saw someone waving to her and headed down to investigate. To her surprise it turned out to be Lucifer. The leader of the Sisterhood pointed at the ground and Eve obediently landed. “Good morning, Eve.”
“Good morning, Lucy. Where is everyone?”
Lucifer smiled broadly. “Why, they’re all waiting for you. I’m here so I can take you to them.”
“Waiting for me? What on earth for?”
Lucifer’s smile became an impish grin. “Iain told me he could swing things so you’d never realize what was going on. I didn’t believe he was that sneaky and now I’m going to have to apologize to him. It’ll be worth it, though.”
“Lucy, what the hell is going on?”
Lucifer held out her hand. “Come with me and you’ll get the chance to find out.”
Eve shook her head as she took the first Megami-sama’s hand. “Fine.”
Lucifer chuckled as the landscape around them shifted. “Just remember that if you feel the need to blame someone for what’s about to happen, you should probably focus on me. Iain was against most of it but let me talk him into the changes.”
Eve looked around, recognizing where they were. It was a rendezvous area in the wilderness of the Sapphire League that was only infrequently used for various things. Several pavilions had been erected and tables set up underneath them groaned with food and drink of various sorts.
Off to one side nearly a thousand people stood in small groups chatting loudly to each other. From one of the groups Dominique broke off and headed for them at a brisk walk. Behind her, Scheherazade, April, Irena and Montsho began issuing commands and the groups began drifting together and heading for a collection of folding chairs set up in a nearby empty area.
The Archmage grinned at Lucifer. “Did she figure it out?”
“I don’t think she has yet.” Lucy winked at Eve. “See you in a few minutes.” Then she vanished.
Eve turned on Dominique. “What is going on?”
“You’re getting married to Iain today.”
Eve stared at her in shock. “Married?”
Dominique slipped her arm through Eve’s. “I do believe you promised Iain that after he told me, Scheherazade and April he loves us that you’d marry him. Well, he told us, one at a time and alone, I might add. As soon as he told the last person, which was me, he promptly enlisted the three of us to help him get you to your wedding.” She smirked. “For some reason he seems to suspect that you’d keep putting it off with a series of excuses until after we moved to this other world.”
“What on earth made him think that?”
“I do believe it’s because that’s what Shay and I told him you’d do.” She tugged Eve into motion. “It is true, after all.”
Eve decided not to pursue that line of discussion. After all, Dominique might well be right. “Who are all these people?”
“Apparently members of the Order don’t get married very often, so when Lucifer put out word that she’d allow a thousand people to attend she was swamped with requests. There were so many that she had to hold a lottery for seats and these are the winners. Iain wanted something a lot smaller than this, but he kind of got trampled in the details and finally gave up.”
Eve pulled to a stop. “What is Lucifer doing here?”
“Eve, did you really think we’d be able to find a human priest to marry you properly? Oh, Iain started to look for one and figured he could find one in Capital somewhere, but Lucy pulled rank.” Dominique’s eyes twinkled. “You should have seen it. Iain looked at her and said ‘did you just give me an order’. Then he got quiet like he does before he becomes the immovable object. She kept speaking until he finally just interrupted her and let her know what she could do with her orders. I don’t think she’s been talked to like that in centuries, if ever. After commands failed miserably, she tried threats and finally started begging. I didn’t even know that Megami could beg outside the bedroom.” She tugged again. “You know, we do kind of need you for the ceremony to proceed.”
“Oh, sorry.” She started walking again. “I take it begging worked?”
“No, it didn’t. I asked him if he thought you’d be happier with Lucy officiating or if a human did it. That’s what got him to say yes. To be honest, I think Lucifer respects him a lot more since he wasn’t afraid to defy her.” She frowned slightly. “That may not be a good thing in the long run. I respected him and look where I ended up.”
“How did April take the news?”
Dominique gave her a glance. “Believe it or not, Eve, you are not reviled by your harem subordinates. We don’t spend all of our evenings plotting your demise and, for the most part, we’re happy you’re getting married to Iain.”
“You said for the most part? So April is determined to be unhappy about anyone else’s relationship with Iain, isn’t she?”
“April is excited by this, Eve. We’ve got a pool going as to who will be next and another on when, but I’d bet money she’s already bought a dress for when her turn comes. Montsho, on the other hand, thinks the whole thing is a waste of time and food. And Hathor is shocked at our gall in marrying Iain, although she figures that as a celestial the rules don’t really apply to you.” Dominique gave her an innocent look. “That Milktit is smarter than she looks.”
The chairs had been divided into two groups and an aisle had been laid out between them chairs and Eve didn’t reply as they started up it. Ahead she could see Iain and Lucifer waiting for her. A glow of warm joy started at her heart and began so suffuse through her at the sight. “He got a haircut.”
“He knows it’s important to you.” Dominique glanced at her. “Don’t expect him to stay that way all the time. I like the way his hair feels against my skin and when he marries me I want his hair long and shaggy.”
Eve looked at her. “Then it will be, but today is mine.” She shook herself free from Dominique and strode towards Iain and Lucifer as the Archmage joined the other members of Iain’s harem in the front row. Eve stopped next to him and glanced at him as she spoke in a low voice. “You could have told me.”
“And have you come up with an excuse as to why this should be put off? I met your conditions and you’re not getting away.”
“Next time I’ll set a time limit too.”
He smiled slightly. “You think you’re getting another husband? He’ll have to be willing to share.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Lucifer looked at both of them. “I’m not sure if you two are saying sweet nothings to each other or gearing up for a fight, but if you two are done I’d like to perform this ceremony. It’s not often we get married and it’ll give the others one of the most potent weapons in our arsenal, hope.”
Eve’s face lit up and she turned to Iain. “I’m ready.”
He took her hand. “So am I. Lucifer, if you would please.”
The ceremony was short and, once it was over, Iain and Eve received the well wishers while others headed for the tables.
After the last of them had been hugged and kissed on the cheek, Iain chuckled softly. “Are you going to be Eve Wolf or Grey?”
“Grey. I don’t want our children to be called a pack of little wolves.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist. “There’s a tradition dating from medieval times in India that newly married people get to go on a trip for a month or so to visit family who couldn’t make it to the wedding. Eventually the tradition migrated to the West and became the honeymoon. We’ve got a lot to do, but I think that when we get to One we’ll take one. I’ve even got a destination in mind.”
Eve gave him a curious look. “Where?”
“I thought we’d go to a quaint little village in Ireland called Castlegregory and keep it from being destroyed by ferals if we could. I’ve been told there’s this nice fellow there who might be worth saving.”
Eve’s eyes became huge. “Can we do that?”
“It’ll be 2008 or so when we get there. When was Castlegregory destroyed?”
She swallowed hard “2017.”
“By then we’ll make sure there are some tamers living there to protect the place or we’ll take a jaunt over there and do it ourselves. I think Danielle might like that.”
Eve frowned. “This isn’t to meet a younger me, is it?”
He snorted. “That’s like meeting a grape when you’ve already got the fine wine it’ll become. Not interested.”
“That’s a very poetic comparison.”
“Well, you are like a good port, smoky and sweet with a hint of oak. Would you like to make sure that Castlegregory isn’t destroyed?”
“Yes, yes I would.”
“Then, Lady Grey, we shall do just that.”
***
“There you go, sir.” The Doggirl put the platter of broiled fish on the dwarf’s table next to the plate of fried kattle steaks and turned back to her other customers, her mind convinced that he’d already paid for the all you can eat buffet even though the restaurant had never offered one. The dwarf didn’t bother to look up as his strong teeth stripped the meat from a chicken drumstick.
Across the street, Tanika lounged on a bench with a book in her hand as her twee fed her the feed from the tiny surveillance camera she’s stuck on a wall when she’d ducked into the restaurant an hour ago on the pretext of looking for a friend. Magic using beings tended to sneer at technology and so it was usually a safe bet to use when monitoring them.
Tirsuli were very often an exception due to their history, but the fact was they were an exception to a lot of the standard rules.
The dwarf had eaten steadily since she’d put up the camera, plowing his way through what she estimated to be a good forty or fifty pounds of protein and fat leavened with only a few carbs. It was a common technique amongst truewizards who were still experimenting with their powers which allowed them to eat only infrequently. The ones who employed it claimed that it freed up valuable time for projects or other interests, but some efficiency studies done by one of her brothers, a gifted individual with a personality as exciting as mud, had proven it didn’t really accomplish that goal. It was also a sure sign of a paranoid recluse since regular meals were an outstanding source of social interaction with others.
He’d obviously ramped up his digestive process to handle all this food and she watched one of the side effects as he shifted slightly before farting loudly for half a minute. People around the room stared at him in revulsion, but nobody was willing to say anything yet and he obviously didn’t care what they thought.
Watching him eat just made Tanika mildly nauseous.
The observation hadn’t been a complete waste. Her twee had compared visual records that her father’s family had collected on truewizards they’d run across and she’d came up with a potential ID for the dwarf. The identification of individual truewizards was always problematic since most of them could change shape at will. Add to that the fact that the nature of the mulitiverse meant that there could be an infinity of universes containing a particular individual, all of whom had the potential to become a truewizard, and then the fact that truewizards had a tendency to leave their homeworlds, either by design or accident, and the individual in front of you could be someone very different from an identically appearing person that you’d interacted with in the past.
Once a visual match was made, the next step in the process of identification was to model the individual’s behavior and that was why Tanika was confident of her conclusion that this was a dwarf truewizard by the name of Mhodvitnar.
He’d been born on a world where dwarves were a dying race and, instead of trying to find ways to renew their legacy, spent their remaining centuries in sporadic wars with each other as well as the other dominant races of their homeworld, which included elves, humans and orcs. As a young adult, he’d been banished from his clan holdings after slaying several people in the fit of rage that had activated his latent magic gifts. Unable to control his newfound powers, he was driven into the wilderness where he’d been approached by a human truewizard with a compassionate heart who’d taken the dwarf youth in and started his education.
Once he’d learned all he thought necessary, Mhodvitnar had tried to murder his teacher and had been unceremoniously thrown out. After that he’d disappeared for a couple of decades before returning to his clan holdings and claimed it after killing everyone there.
From the information the family had collected, he was a dwarf supremacist although he really didn’t like other dwarves either. Having been banished by his clan, he tended to refuse using a surname, but when he did use one he usually called himself Khazâd, the generic name of the dwarf race on his homeworld.
Later he’d begun exploring offworld and had eventually joined a loose association of truewizards called the Covenant of Darkness, also known as the Dark Covenant. It was a social club where truewizards from different worlds could get together to show off their latest experiments and try to outdo each other. Most of them donated paintings or high quality photographs of themselves along with a biography that was often nothing more than a tissue of lies.
Tanika was a member only so she could keep an eye on potential adversaries, although she hadn’t been back to the guildhall in centuries. Most of the members were male and arrogantly disgusting. To them, female truewizards were like girls on the internet, hounded because they were female and could produce offspring. There were attempted kidnappings on a regular basis and she’d grown tired of turning insistent suitors into object lessons in the hopes of being left alone.
According to the information she had, Mhodvitnar was arrogant and very much sure of his own superiority. He hunted down dwarves who were truewizards in the hopes of finding a female who would bear him the sons so important to any self respecting dwarf male. It was even more vital to him since, by wiping out his clanhold, he’d managed to make himself the only living member of his clan. With a truewizard female, he really hoped for his sons to also be truewizards, although Tanika was pretty sure that considering his paranoia, he hadn’t thought out the idea in detail or else he’d have realized that truewizard offspring were potentially future rivals. For that reason, along with the fact that even within double truewizard crosses the chance of having a truewizard child was less than one millionth of a percent, most truewizards didn’t have children.
Mhodvitnar killed truewizards of any other race that he found to be weaker than he was and had a pronounced tendency to play with his prey. He wasn’t nearly as old or as powerful as he liked to believe, but was smart enough to pick on much weaker truewizards. That was what Magdalene needed to know, but it was possible that this was not the right Mhodvitnar or that he’d changed since the information on him had been collected so Tanika composed and sent off a message to her sister without breaking her surveillance. She’d keep it up until Mhodvitnar moved somewhere that her presence would become obvious and therefore a threat.
“Hello there, cutie.” Tanika looked up from the book she wasn’t really reading. The man was in his mid twenties and vaguely handsome, but that was another side effect from generations of inclusion of pokegirl genes. Pokegirls had been designed to be beautiful, with slightly larger eyes than found in human women, even features and the other subconscious markers that humans recognized and appreciated and these had been passed on to their progeny, making them all a tiny bit more attractive each generation.
A Dominatrix stood behind him. She watched the interaction between Tanika and her master with a malicious grin.
Her ears flicked. “Good morning, sir. I have a tradesman and he is rather possessive of his women.” That could be an understatement about Kerrik if she wanted it to be, but she was more than capable of defending herself. “With that being understood, is there something I can help you with?”
The man blinked at the coolness of her tone and the Dominatrix’s smile widened. He recovered quickly. “Come with me.”
Tanika’s ears didn’t move as she regarded him calmly. “No.” She turned back to her book.
The man grabbed her arm and jerked. “I said come with me.”
Tanika let the pull bring her to her feet and looked at where his hand held her wrist before turning her gaze on him. Something in her expression wiped the smile from the Dominatrix’s face. “Release. Me.” The man let her go in surprise.
Tanika checked the feed from the camera and decided that with all the magic being used around them Mhodvitnar wouldn’t notice her as long as she didn’t start blasting buildings. She reached out with her power and touched the minds of the tamer and his pokegirl, imposing a block that deleted her presence from the streams of data going from their eyes, ears and noses to their brain. To them she suddenly vanished.
The man cursed and looked around as the Dominatrix snarled softly. “That cunt got away. We’ll have to find another play toy.” They headed off as Tanika picked up her book and returned to her reading.
***
“Hi.”
Iain looked up from where he was basting some kattle. It was another Armsmistress and she smiled broadly at him. “Howdy. You want a taste too?”
She nodded and gave him a shy smile. “If you don’t mind.”
“Considering everyone seems to be dropping by for this, it’s a good thing I don’t.” He took the chef’s knife and carved off a small cut from one of the already cooked pieces of kattle and carefully handed it to the expectant pokegirl. “Here you go.”
“Thank you, Iain.” She popped it into her mouth and chewed slowly. Her eyes lit up at the taste. “This is authentic Texas barbecue?”
“That it is. It’s a recipe handed down from father to son since there was a Texas.” He smiled slightly. “I can trace my lineage back in a direct line to when my family lived there.”
“It’s very good.” She glanced at the tray of cooked meat. “I don’t suppose I could get another taste?”
“No, you can’t.” She laughed at his rebuttal and headed off as he returned to his cooking.
Iain had asked for and received a large pit for trash about a hundred meters from the house. Also, at his request, it had been walled to about four feet off the ground and equipped with vents to promote airflow so the refuse could be burned on a regular basis to keep from drawing ferals. The stone top could be lifted off by anyone with enhanced strength and right now it lay off to the side. Iain had measured it a few days before and, with the help of a couple of pokegirls from the construction crews, put together a grill that rested on top of the walls.
He and the harem had decided to celebrate the completion of the house with a barbecue and, although it wasn’t completely done, had picked today since the majority of the construction crew would finish and leave tomorrow.
Right now he was barbecuing rabbit, kattle and chicken. He’d already finished roasting a wide selection of vegetables, including green peppers, tomatoes, onions and corn. While he was doing the barbecuing, Hathor and April were finishing up the beans, coleslaw, potato salad and cornbread. They’d baked a large assortment of pies and cakes for the last few days and Scheherazade guarded them and Iain at the same time.
From the way pokegirls eyed the dessert table as they went by, it looked like the pies and cakes were in a lot more danger than he was.
Eve was busy making ice cream out of Milktit cream with a hand powered ice cream maker and refreezing the finished ice cream every few minutes. The team that had been sharpening chisels for the crews was keeping an eye on her while they quickly manufactured spare cranks since she occasionally snapped one off when her enhanced strength got away from her. Originally the team had suggested making a handle that she couldn’t break, but Iain had pointed out that if they did that, she might break the gearing system instead and thereby render the ice cream maker completely useless. Since they only had the one ice cream maker, his reasoning had won out and the handle remained the designated weak point.
A Seraph, two Armsmistresses and a Warvern comprised the security element for the construction crew and they, along with Iain’s harem, had so thoroughly swept the area for ferals that no tracks or other sign of any had been found in days.
Having little else to do, they’d been training until the Warvern had seen Montsho moving some stones and talked the Tyrannodame into joining them. The Seraph had made it her mission to teach Montsho the basics of sword work. Fortunately, Montsho, after a brief consultation with Irena as to the appropriateness of her learning weapon skills, had proven a quick study. Today they were working together again not far from Iain and he watched them practicing while keeping an eye on the barbecue.
Up to this point, the tome Iain had been studying had focused more on improving the student to make truewizardry easier than on actually performing magic. While controlling his emotions were part of the studies he’d been given to do, another section focused on improving retention and memory until the student became eidetic.
He practiced every chance he could and decided to test his memory in a new way. Using his new vision to see the motion from all sides, he watched the Armsmistress move through a routine with Montsho. After she was done, he slowly repeated the movements, using his tongs in place of the sword.
A laugh went up and as he turned he could see Montsho and the others stare at him. Montsho had a huge grin on her face while everyone else except the Armsmistress who’d been teaching looked amused. The instructor’s mouth was open and her face was bright red. As he watched, she scowled and headed for him. “Oh shit,” he said softly.
The others trailed behind her except for Montsho, who sprinted towards him as soon as she realized where they were headed. She turned to face the others. “Nobody gets to hurt my mistress’s male.”
The Armsmistress who had been the instructor ignored her. “Do that again.”
Iain cocked his head. “Was that an order?”
The Armsmistress eyes narrowed and then relaxed as a tiny smile appeared on her lips. “I’ve heard about you and orders. Please do that again.”
“Hold on just a moment.” He checked a timer and turned all the meat one section of the grill. “Ok, ready?” When she nodded he repeated what he’d done before.
The Armsmistress shook her head when he was done. “How long have you been a swordsman?”
“To be honest, I’m not. Swordsmanship is a skill that requires focus and dedication. Eve has been teaching me some basics, but considering everything else that we’re doing I don’t have the time to dedicate myself to learning swordsmanship like I really need to. I intend to when things settle down a bit.”
“I don’t know if I believe you. If you’re as inexperienced as you claim, that move should be impossible for you.”
“What is your name?”
She blinked and chuckled. “Annette.”
“Well, Annette, I am a natural mimic and I learned that movement watching you. I wouldn’t know how to use it or follow up properly, but I’m trying to teach myself to learn how to do things just by watching someone else do them.” It was essentially true, only glossing over the fact that he was teaching himself to be a mimic.
The Armsmistress folded her arms. “That’s hard to believe.”
“So test me with something that I can’t know. It doesn’t have to be fighting related, either, but I should say that I haven’t tried mimicking languages yet.”
The second Armsmistress stepped forward. She was the one who’d come by for the last taste of kattle. “I’ll try with a move I created for my weaponless fighting style.” Without waiting she spun into a fluid wave of attacks so fast they were a blur. When she stopped, she cocked her head and regarded him with amusement. “I’m Kimberly, by the way. Can you repeat that?”
“I’m not as fast as you are,” he warned as he checked the timer and put the tongs down. Then he slowly and carefully recreated Kimberly’s movements. When he was done, he flexed his arms and shook his head. “I’m not used to moving like that anymore.”
Kimberly was staring at him. “While you’re slower than cold honey, your movements were perfect. How can you do that?”
“I have an outstanding memory, which is why I can mimic so well. Motor memory is still memory so I’m working on honing that part of my mind. Hopefully it’ll prove useful some day.”
“My turn.” It was the Seraph, a pretty brunette with purple eyes. “I’m Yvonne.”
Iain blinked. “Turn?”
“That’s right. I get my turn and then Harriet gets hers.” She nodded towards the Warvern, who gave him a broad smile.
He checked the timer and shrugged. “I’m not doing anything strenuous, so why not.”
Montsho cocked her head. “That turn of yours had better not involve sex with my male.”
The Seraph turned bright red as the others burst into laughter. “That’s not funny!”
They laughed harder until Iain raised his hand. “Ladies, as far as we know there are no Seraphs working with Sanctuary, so Montsho doesn’t know that Yvonne would really like to pretend that certain necessary things don’t have to occur. She was only making sure that nobody was trying to join an already full harem.”
Yvonne gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Iain.”
“You are quite welcome. What is it you wanted to show me?”
***
You might want to come over here and have a word with your friends.
Eve frowned at the mental message from Scheherazade. What’s wrong?
Iain is being Iain and they like him. Montsho picked up the vibe that they were considering him for sexual attention and I’m getting the same feeling. I don’t think he’s figured it out yet, but then he’s still learning things we all know.
Who is it? Eve put the ice cream maker aside and refroze the finished tubs.
It's the security element. It’s Annette, Kimberly, Harriet and Yvonne, all of whom are bored out of their skulls.
Shit. I’ll be there in a second. She looked through Scheherazade’s eyes and teleported, arriving next to her harem sister.
Yvonne was working through an intricate dance routine, keeping her eyes on Iain’s as she gracefully twisted around an invisible point. Eve’s eyes started to narrow and then she looked into his and relaxed.
He knew. He knew and he wasn’t interested.
Yvonne finished and stood in front of him, arms akimbo, her chest heaving as she smiled. “Now you do it.”
Iain shook his head. “You win. I can’t do that one.” He checked the timer. “Crap.” Hurriedly he began turning some pieces of kattle.
Yvonne pouted at him. “Come on, Iain, at least try.”
Eve walked over to Iain and kissed him on the cheek. “Is everything all right, husband?”
He smiled and spoke in a low voice. “I know what she was doing. Did I need rescued?”
The Megami-sama dropped her voice to match his. “No, and I want to keep it that way.” She looked over her shoulder. “Montsho.”
The Tyrannodame didn’t quite come to attention. “Eve?”
Eve waved a hand at the platters of cooked meat. “I want you to start moving this over to the serving table. April will meet you there. Let everyone you see know that we’ll start serving in ten minutes so they need to wash up before we eat.”
“Yes, Eve.” Montsho turned on her heel to face the Seraph and the others. “You heard Eve. This will go faster if you ladies help.” She smiled brightly. “Or you can stand around and watch me carry this and I’ll let April know how helpful you were so you can get fed last.”
Eve waited until they had carried off the first platters. “I’m glad you didn’t want to add to our little family”
He chuckled. “Little? They used to make situation comedies and TV docudramas about groups that were less strange than ours and had far fewer people involved. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been dropped into an episode of Sesame Street.” He snickered. “A really long episode with blowjobs.”
“It’s not that you’re concerned about adding another celestial?”
“I’m not planning to start courting anyone new, Eve. Ye gods, if I get spread any thinner you’ll be able to see sunlight through me.”
Eve gave him a teasing smile. “I thought maybe it was Yvonne’s being a Seraph.”
“There is nothing especially bad or good about Seraphs. Contrary to what a lot of people thought back where I came from, Dorothea was not nearly as much of an aberration as everyone said she was.”
“Who?”
“Dorothea Wolf, one of Shikarou’s women.”
“I never got the chance to meet her. You make me regret not getting out more while I was on Caomh Sith before everyone there disappeared.”
He glanced at her. “Dorothea had learned that sex could be open and nasty and still pure if it was with a loved one. She’d also learned that restraint sometimes got people killed that overkill would have saved and to appreciate striking to kill.”
“Not enjoy?”
“Dorothea never enjoyed killing. She just realized that sometimes you’re going to have to kill them so why bother not doing it right the first time.”
Eve looked thoughtful. “We’ll have to warn her. She’s not in danger on One from the Sisterhood, but she sounds like the kind of person Lucifer would want to recruit.”
“What would happen when Dorothea said thank you but no?”
“They’d leave her be. Lucifer has never forced anyone to work with her.”
He nodded. “Then we don’t need to warn them. She’ll be fine. I’m not planning on going to Haven any more than absolutely necessary.”
“Why not?”
“Monarchies make my teeth hurt. As long as I’m going there to do some shopping and leave, I’ll be fine, but Dorothea is part of the inner circle of Shikarou’s advisers and Gwyneth respects her too. That means dealing with them and the fallout from when Stardust insists on trying to read my mind and her brain explodes.” He began moving all the meat from the grill. “Poppet is beautiful and loving and more than capable of killing us without losing a second’s sleep if she decides we’re a threat to her family.” He smiled slightly. “And Kasumi is even worse.”
“I won’t disagree with that analysis of Poppet or the headmistress.”
“And that’s why I have every intention of avoiding Haven as much as possible. Kasumi might determine that I am a potential problem for the Wolf family and I really don’t want it to come down to either she dies or we do.”
“It sounds like you already have a plan.”
“I’ll deal with Kerrik. I’ve got something that I think he’ll be willing to pay for by giving us a decent start on equipment.” He put the last of the meat on the platter. “We really won’t need much more than some basics. The rest we can do on our own. Now let’s eat.”
***
The rocky hillside overlooked a valley filled with fog that glimmered silver in the early morning sun. Mhodvitnar looked around carefully as he walked up the hill, stopping about halfway up to look down into the valley. He stood there for nearly an hour, watching as the mist burned away to reveal the valley below in all of its splendor. Finally he grunted and turned around to face the hillside. He touched a ring on his right forefinger and cried out in a ringing voice, “Baraz-Felakgundu!” The ring glowed magenta and became a large double-bitted battleaxe in his hand that was sheathed in the same magenta aura. Mhodvitnar spun the weapon and it changed to become a massive war hammer.
He raised the weapon and brought it crashing down on an outcrop of rock. The ground shuddered and air roared as dust sprayed straight upwards, carving out an opening that disappeared into the hillside. Periodically a stream of dust would twist away from the main line and gently deposit a bit of something onto one of several small piles that accumulated in front of the dwarf.
Finally the air rush ended, carrying the dust miles away before dying to allow it to drift to the ground. Rock groaned and flowed like water to form a tremendous lintel and door in front of the entrance. When shut, the door would mate with lintel perfectly, leaving a seam too small to see with the naked eye.
Mhodvitnar returned his weapon to its ring form and knelt to examine the piles. He touched each with a finger and they crumbled to dust, leaving behind a small ingot of pure metal, ending up with bars of iron, copper, aluminum, zinc, tin and a tiny button of gold. Pocketing each one, he rose and headed into his new home, the door swinging silently shut behind him.
***
The Seeker flew low enough over the ocean that its reflection chased it over the roiling water in its unending search for the fledgling. Every time the fledgling used its power the Seeker reoriented to chase the magic, but its limited mind was filled with growing feelings of confusion and frustration. The fledgling moved quickly and without leaving a signature of its magic. The magic signature that the Seeker tracked was apparently only being used infrequently. This resulted in an irregular pattern of spot uses that were easy to track at this range but would quickly become difficult as the distance between the Seeker and its target shrank. This far away, the changes of direction were only a degree or two.
The Seeker was created to pursue its prey and was supplied with a basic intelligence that allowed it to anticipate normal behavior. The problems stemmed from the fact that this fledgling’s behavior was anything but normal. Most fledglings used their power until they ran out and had to recharge, making them easy to track. This one’s rapid movement suggested it was using substantial magical transport, but not truewizardry. It was possible that the truewizard had created a magical item to facilitate movement. This would not register at this range as being truewizardry.
However, fledglings did not make truewizard items. Their understanding of magical creation via truewizardry was so limited that any items they created were entirely by accident and often they did not survive that creation. In the rare cases where they did, the item was usually imbued with an intelligence that the fledgling could not control and therefore bend to its will.
It was possible that there was more than one fledgling, but the odds of that were so low as to be infinitesimal. More than one fledgling was always watched over by an adult truewizard and the presence of one of those would be obvious to the master.
The Seeker’s lifespan was limited and if it took too long to find the fledgling it would cease to be and its master would know of the Seeker’s failure and would have to use other sources to find the fledgling, sources that would waste the master’s great power. The Seeker had been created for purpose and if it failed in its mission purpose would be stymied. Failure was inconceivable, and yet the fledgling’s actions made it necessary to conceive of it. However to fulfill purpose required pursuit and the Seeker would pursue until it found the fledgling or until it ceased to be.
***
The pounding rattled the windows in their casements. Iain jerked upright, biting his wrist hard enough to draw blood in order to keep from screaming in terror as the nightmare tried to incorporate the noise. He sat dully as the cold of adrenaline just tangled the remnants of the dream through his still mostly asleep mind and his heart thundered as his body prepared for mortal combat that wouldn’t happen this time.
April pushed herself upright and gently pulled his wrist out of his mouth. “You’re getting worse, not better. Someone is knocking on the front door.”
His mouth twisted in a snarl as the pounding came again. “I’ll be fine.”
She sighed and pulled his head down and rested it against her bare chest. “Eve is going to get the door. Why won’t you share with us? Stop locking us out. We love you and we can dull the pain if you’ll let us.”
“I can’t stand it when you wake up screaming with me.” Iain took a deep, calming breath and pushed away from her. “Tea. I want some tea.”
“And we can’t stand it when you wake up screaming, Iain. It scares us.” Her look turned calculating. “Your behavior terrifies Hathor and it’s giving her and Irena nightmares all on their own. They’re going to start waking up screaming because of you.”
“That’s not fair and you know it.”
“You’re the one who always says that the universe isn’t fair. So you can be selfish and terrify Hathor and Irena or you can let the ones who want to help actually help you.” She smiled coldly. “Eve is coming to take you downstairs, but rest assured we will finish this conversation.”
“Bloody fucking hell.”
She smiled sweetly at him. “That’s what I say when you ignore our offers to help.”
Eve opened the door. “You’re needed downstairs, Iain.” She stressed the last word slightly. “Three people, all of whom are pokegirls.”
He pulled on his pants and shrugged into his shoulder holster. “This isn’t an emergency fucking, is it?”
The Megami-sama blinked and laughed suddenly. “That would be a new one. They’re playing I have a secret, so I don’t know what they want.” Her eyes blanked. “What happened to your wrist?”
“I bit myself.” She sighed. “April was just reading me the riot act.”
“Good. Did it help?”
“She invoked Hathor and Irena.”
“She should. Hathor doesn’t know what’s going on, just that her tradesman is hurting and it’s scary. She knows what you’ve told her, but she doesn’t have the mental framework to comprehend what actually happened to you or what the repercussions could be.” Eve rubbed her chin. “You were right not to want a noncombatant.”
“Hopefully I won’t have to carve that on her tombstone.”
“What?”
“Here lies Hathor, my noncombatant who didn’t want to fight. She didn’t.”
Eve blinked at him. “Is that what’s bothering you?”
“We need to get downstairs. We have intruders, remember?”
He started to push past her until she stuck out an arm to block his passage. “I asked you a question.”
He glared at the arm. “What makes everybody think that there’s only one thing at a time that’s bothering me? Is it I’m not sophisticated enough to multitask my worries?”
“Iain,” April began.
“Iain,” April began.
His head whipped around. “Don’t even start. I know my responsibilities and I will carry them out. I am well aware that my life is no longer my own to do with as I wish and that I have to consider every action in the light that it affects everyone here as much as or even more than it affects me. And you know what? It fucking sucks ass. That is the one thing I miss from before. There’s a long list of things I can’t do anymore and I’ve got a handful of mothers more than happy to stand around and read me that list anytime I even look like I’m thinking of doing something the slightest bit reckless.” His eyes suddenly blazed sapphire. “And now I find out I’m a mage. A special mage. I can’t get drunk anymore, I can’t get high anymore, I can’t even throw a temper tantrum lest I accidentally implode my head to the size of a thimble and ruin your lives. I love you very much April, but sometimes I don’t like anybody here and that includes myself.” He took a deep breath as the two women stared at him and his eyes returned to normal. “Now, we are keeping the assholes that woke me up waiting.”
Eve let her arm fall. “Iain, we’re just worried about you.”
He suddenly looked tired. “I know you are and I understand that worry makes you demand things of me that I feel you have no right to demand. It doesn’t make me like it any more than I already do. April, Eve, I’m sorry for my outburst. No matter how valid I feel it may be, that doesn’t make it right to take my anger out on you.”
Eve took his hand. “That’s part of what we’re here for, husband. You’re supposed to use us as a safety valve.”
He just squeezed her hand and let go as he headed down the stairs. In the living room a worried looking Jigglyslut and Rosebreasts stood holding hands. With them was the oldest Officerjenny Iain had ever seen. Her hair had gone from blue to steel gray and her face was lined with age. She gave him an annoyed look and asked in a haughty tone, “Is there something wrong?”
“Yes there is. Some jackass woke me up in the middle of the night, but enough about you. I’m Iain Grey.”
Her lips thinned. “I’m here on a matter of life and death and that’s why I woke you up. I’ll ask you to watch your tone with me.”
“A matter of life and death gives you the right to come here. That does not give you the right to be a jerk about it. You’re here beseeching our help with something. That kind of suggests that you should be beseeching instead of bitching.”
“I am not used to being spoken to in this manner, Mr. Grey.”
“And I’m not used to not immediately shooting trespassers. So how about someone tell me what’s going on instead of you trying to throw your weight around.”
The Jigglyslut and Rosebreasts audibly gasped.
The Officerjenny’s back went rigid. “You need to learn the meaning of the word respect, young man.”
“Get out of my house.” She opened her mouth and Iain cut her off savagely. “My pokedex has not announced a tamer all call and I haven’t done anything you can arrest me for, so you have no legal standing to try to boss me around. Respect has to be earned, granny. Either you tell me what the hell is going on without the attitude or get the fuck out.” He turned his attention to the other two pokegirls and spoke in a normal voice. “Ladies, please have a seat and tell me what the problem is. Eve, we’ll need some tea for everyone.”
The Officerjenny’s mouth worked for a moment before she sagged slightly. “I would like to stay, Mr. Grey.”
Iain nodded. “Then please sit.” He watched her join the others on the couch. “I know it’s hard.”
She looked blankly at him for a second. “What is?”
“In many ways being an Officerjenny is a lot like being a celestial. You live by special rules that let you order around and harass everyone you want to, including humans. It becomes a habit and so it’s hard to meet someone who won’t let you do that to him. I’ve had a lot of fights with Eve about that sort of thing. It doesn’t mean I’m not willing to help, but it means I can’t be ordered to.”
“You’re a hard man, Grey.”
“It’s a hard world.” He looked at the other two. “I’m Iain Grey. I’ve seen you two here in Dingle but we haven’t met.”
The Jigglyslut gave him a nervous smile. “I’m Lillian and this is Heather. Our owner is Jeffery Adams and we live outside of Dingle on his farm. He’s currently in London on business and we went to Teresa when we got a message from our oldest son, JJ. It’s short for Jeffery Junior.” She pulled a portable reader from her purse. “This morning we got this message. As soon as I received it I contacted Teresa, who is the unofficial constable in the areas since she retired from active duty. She knew you were a tradesman hunter with a celestial pokegirl and brought us here to you.”
Heather was staring at the reader with a fearful expression. “Please help JJ. He’s a good boy. Two days ago he went up to Brandon Peak to catch some feral pokegirls for sale and to add to his harem.”
Iain keyed up the message. It was audio only, and the voice was a breathy whisper which still managed to convey the terror that JJ was feeling when he made it. “Mother, I’m so sorry. I’m trapped and Jess and Maggie are dead. They haven’t found me yet, but when they do I don’t know what is going to happen to me. Send help if you can.” The voice broke off into a thin scream. There was a crunching noise and the message abruptly ended.
Heather swallowed heavily as tears streamed unnoticed down her cheeks. “He’s probably,” she broke off as Lillian shuddered and gave a small cry of fear. “Please bring him back to us. We’ll pay whatever you want.”
Teresa was glaring at her teacup. “I’d go myself, but I’m too old to climb around in the mountains.” She looked up at Iain with eyes molten with fury. “This sort of thing used to be my job. It hurts to have to ask you for help and that’s probably why I was such a bitch to you.”
Iain met Eve’s eyes and gave a tiny nod. We’ll take everyone but Dominique. I want to be on the road in an hour.
Why not Dominique?
She doesn’t want to be disturbed from her research.
Eve got up. “I’ll tell everyone to get ready.”
Iain downloaded the message to his pokedex and handed the player back to Lillian. “When JJ left, do you happen to know what way he went?”
Heather nodded. “He came into town and got some supplies for the trip before heading north on the path out of town. It heads for the mountain and he’d branch off somewhere along there. He was planning to be gone for two weeks or so.”
“Ladies, I hate to hurry you along, but we’ll be leaving soon to try and find JJ and we’ve got a lot to do. Please don’t hold my poor hospitality against me and I’ll try to make it up to you when we get back.”
“Thank you, Mr. Grey.”
He put out a hand. “I need something of his that has his scent on it, like a pillowcase. I don’t suppose you brought something like that with you.”
Heather blinked and paled. “We didn’t think about anything like that, but we’ve got stuff from his room you can have if it’ll help.”
“It will. Can you get me that immediately?”
Teresa exchanged a look with the two pokewomen. “I’ll go with them and get it to you as soon as I can.”
“Thank you. Move, ladies.” He escorted them out the door. “Eve, send Scheherazade with them. That’ll give us a teleport point to their farm since I have no idea where it is and she can get back with the item much faster than Teresa can.”
“I’m on it.”
Half an hour later the kitchen was full of pokegirls as Hathor handed an egg sandwich to each person. She came to Iain and smiled at him as she handed him the last sandwich. “Master, I thought a hot meal would be a good way to start.”
“That’s an outstanding idea, but where’s yours?”
Her tail flicked from side to side and she gave a shrug as she tugged at the strap on her shoulder. “I miscounted, sir.” She’d gone back to being nude as soon as Iain had told her she could, but when in the kitchen she wore an apron out of respect to the grease spatters that took place when cooking.
Iain looked around the room. “No you didn’t. We’ve got a stowaway.” He handed the sandwich to Hathor. “Here, you eat this.”
“Sir, I made that for you.”
“And I appreciate it very much, but I already had a light breakfast and you need to eat.”
Her ears flicked and she frowned prettily. “You ate, sir?”
“Eve fed me before I came back downstairs. I drink her milk every day.”
Jealousy flicked in and out of her eyes so fast that he almost missed it. “Sir, she couldn’t make enough for a full meal. You need this sandwich.”
Iain carefully didn’t laugh. “You eat it and you can give me some of your milk when we stop for a rest.”
Her ears came up happily. “Yes sir!” She grabbed the sandwich and bit into it enthusiastically.
Do you know what a group of Amazonchans call a crippled Milktit? A kegger. From across the room Eve was watching Hathor with an unpleasant glint to her eye. So I don’t make enough milk to fill you up, do I? Just because I couldn’t make enough to recharge a Squirtitty’s water storage like she can doesn’t mean I don’t make enough for you. She tries to come between us and I’ll turn her into that kegger.
Iain let her feel his love for her across their bond and she gave him a startled look that melted into a smile of quiet joy. I haven’t complained yet, have I? He turned to the extra pokegirl. “I thought you weren’t to be disturbed in your basement stronghold.”
Dominique grinned. She’d put her crimson hair into a braid so tight that her ear tips stuck up through her hair. The way her hair was done, along with her angular cheekbones, made her look almost stern. It was a look at severe odds with the excitement dancing in her eyes. “I am not going to miss a chance for a real fight. It’s just what I need to blow the cobwebs away and give me a fresh perspective on the delights of pure research.”
“I’ll remember that and find some newbie tamer to rescue the next time I think you’re spending too much time down there.”
Dominique snickered. “You do that.”
Irena was playing with the strap on her pack. “We listened to the message while you were getting ready. You know he’s probably dead.”
“I do, but that’s beside the point. If he’s dead we’ll try to retrieve his remains. If he’s alive,” Iain smiled slightly, “from what was on that message we’ll still try to retrieve his remains.” He shouldered his pack. “We know JJ went up the trail and so Scheherazade and Montsho are going to be on point tracking him. Eve and Dominique will be overhead security while April and Irena will stay with me and Hathor and make occasional sweeps out on the flanks to make sure we’re not being stalked by anything or anyone.” Iain looked around. “Remember this fact, ladies. We have no idea what has happened or what is happening to JJ. That means there will be no assumption that whatever has befallen him is due to ferals. Assumptions are how I end up someone’s hostage fuck toy. That is not going to happen again.” He rubbed his face and for an instant he looked haggard. “It has been brought to my attention again that I’m supposed to get help for some of my problems and this time it was presented in such a way that I’m probably going to have to give in. Let’s not add to the store of shit I have to share with you.”
Dominique stared at him. “You’re finally going to let us help? That’s about fucking time.”
“Shut up, Dee.” Eve hissed at her. “Don’t screw this up.”
“Sorry.”
Iain settled his shotgun into a carry position and jacked the slide slightly open to verify the chamber was loaded. He never unloaded it except to clean it, but it was still a good habit to check a weapon whenever he touched it. “Scheherazade, you have the scent item?”
The Dread Wolf held up a plastic bag. “I’ve got his pillowcase. It hasn’t been changed in a week, so it’s perfect. I’ll open it when we get to the northern trail.”
“Good. Montsho, this is your first real hunt with us, so please follow Shay’s lead. If you have any questions, she can relay them to me or Irena.”
The Tyrannodame gave a toothy grin. “I know now that she will relay them to you. Here our male rules. Since you know more than the mistress, this keeps us safe.” Her grin faded and her tail smacked the floor hard enough to make the timbers beneath it creak. “I now know that I was going to be fed to the Zombabes in Wellham and I now appreciate being safe much more than I did. That our male wants me to be safe feels good too. I do not fear death, but death should not be pointless.”
“I can’t add anything to that. Eve, move them out.”
The Megami-sama nodded. “Go out the back door and circle around Dingle. We don’t want Montsho to be seen by the villagers, so let’s keep at least a half kilometer from the town the whole way. Besides, our full fighting strength would probably scare them silly. We’ll stick together until that point and then spread out as Iain wants us to.”
Hathor turned to Iain. “Sir, I’m ready to go into my ball.” She frowned when Irena and Eve started laughing and everyone else paused to watch. “What?”
Eve came over and scratched the Milktit behind the ears, smiling when she leaned into the caress. “You get to hike with the rest of us, that’s what. When you get exhausted Iain will pokeball you. Our philosophy is that someday you will probably have to run, so endurance training is mandatory.”
Hathor’s ears drooped. “That’s not going to be fun.”
“No, but it could save Iain’s or your life someday. It won’t make it feel better, but then he sweats along with us instead of letting someone fly him everywhere.”
Hathor eyed him for a moment before carefully shaking her head. “No offense, sir, but that doesn’t really help.”
Iain chuckled. “I don’t care. Eve, they’re all cute as buttons but they are still standing around.”
“Sorry. Shay, Montsho, move out!”
As everyone began filing out the door a movement in the hallway outside the kitchen caught Iain’s eye. Vanessa motioned for him to join her, and after a quick exchange of glances with Eve, he did so. Vanessa gave him a slight smile as Eve followed everyone else outside. “I have never seen you fully kitted out for war before. For the first time, I see the general that Scheherazade asked me to help her find.”
Iain wasn’t sure it was a complement, so he responded politely. “Thank you. We shouldn’t be gone more than a week and the refrigerator is full of milk and other food for you.”
Vanessa ran her hand over her stomach. She’d finally developed a slight tummy, but the amount of time it had taken suggested she was in for a longer than human gestation period. “I’ll be fine, Iain. It’s you I’m worried about. Be careful.”
“I will be. I’ve been a chew toy for enough people since arriving here that I think I’ve developed some caution. Do you see anything specific that we need to be aware of?”
She shook her head. “I have seen nothing about this errand of mercy. It was very kind to agree to seek out their lost child and I thank you for that.”
“Kind?” He shrugged. “I’ve got too many celestials in my life to say no without having a whole slew of pissed off women around me. Besides, training is always good and it’ll make us look like the active hunters my tradesman’s license says we are.” He headed for the door. “If you need anything from us, I’ve got Iain’s pokedex so you can get in touch with me.”
Vanessa grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. He blinked at her as she traced a symbol on his forehead with her index finger. “Now I can find you anywhere you may go, Iain, even if you go out of communication range.” She winked. “Your dexes have a tendency to go in and out of operation when convenient. Now go, before your wife gets anxious at your absence.”
He wore a thoughtful look as he headed out the door. Whatever had just happened was too big to keep from Eve and the others. He’d tell them on the trek.
***
The team swung a large arc around Dingle and cut the trail just north of the village. Scheherazade carefully opened the plastic bag so she and Montsho could sniff the pillowcase inside and then she resealed it before putting it in her pokepack. The two of them began casting about as Eve and Dominique took to the air.
A minute later Montsho nudged Scheherazade, who glanced over her shoulder at her tradesman. We found his trail. They headed off at a fast walk and everyone else fell in behind them.
April touched his arm. “I’ve been thinking. JJ was able to send a message by radio to Dingle. That means he’s probably above ground and somewhere on the eastern or southern side of the mountain range.”
Irena frowned. “He could have set it to keep sending until it connected and thrown it out of an opening if he’s underground.”
April cocked her head. “You know about that?”
“I took a course in pokedexes and communication when I was training to be a doctor’s pokegirl. It covered a lot of esoteric methods not commonly known.”
Iain thought for a few seconds. “The pokedex was broken while he was transmitting. That means he was above ground and in a place where he expected his message would be received. Dingle is the westernmost village on the peninsula, so unless he’s on an entirely different mountain range he has to be within radio range of the town. How far is that, April?”
“That depends on his elevation. From the summit of any of the three mountains he might be able to transmit directly to Tralee, much less reach here. And if he was up on the farthest mountain he could transmit only to Tralee, which would then bounce the signal to Dingle and into the local subnet.”
“Shit.”
“More than likely he was close enough to transmit straight to Dingle’s local net.”
“I hope so.”
JJ’s trail led them straight towards Brandon Peak, the largest of the local glacial mountain chain. When the trail turned west to follow the base of the mountain and head towards the alluvial lakes on the western side of the chain, Scheherazade and Montsho didn’t hesitate, plunging off the trail and continuing north. Progress slowed as they began having to make their way through the thickening brush.
Iain called a halt about an hour before sunrise. Hathor was out on her feet, with only sheer determination keeping her moving behind him. He kissed her gently on the muzzle, getting an exhausted smile before retrieved her. “Eve, I think she’s got what it takes.”
The Megami-sama had landed while Dominique patrolled overhead during the break. “She’s a pokegirl, Iain. All pokegirls have the potential to be tough, but I will admit she’s rising to the challenge without complaint. That’s surprised me, but I’m glad for it.”
“I am too.” Iain looked around in the semi-dark. “What can we do to move faster? If we find him and he hasn’t been dead long you’re going to be upset.”
“I’ll be more upset if you get hurt trying to rush to him.” Eve traced the line of his jaw with her finger. “Iain, we’re following a two day old trail. We’re already going faster than I’m comfortable with. Scheherazade and Montsho aren’t paying attention to their surroundings like they should and they might miss a feral while following JJ’s scent trail.”
“It’s that bad?”
She nodded. “It is. A feral could be on them before they are aware of her. Scheherazade explained to me that scenting a trail takes most of her attention and that she and Montsho will be too busy to keep an eye out for danger. They’re relying on their toughness to let them withstand the initial attack”
“Oh, are they? That’s not going to fucking work for me. I want you and Dominique to rotate out covering them while the other flies overhead. You two are the most experienced and I trust only one of you in the air. Will that help to minimize the risk?”
“Not the risk of stumbling over a feral, but it’ll increase their safety when it finally happens. It’s a good plan. I’ll also put April to helping the aerial patrols with her constructs. They’re a good tripwire since they show initiative almost as good as a living being and almost no feral will ignore such a creature to attack us with it behind her.”
Iain nodded. “We’ll take ten minutes here to rest and so you can make the necessary changes. Then we hit the road again and hit it hard.”
“What about Hathor?”
He shrugged. “She’s not used to traveling much and this brush will slow her down until she learns the tricks to keep her horns from hanging on everything. Right now is not the time for her to learn. I’ll run her through the PPHU so she’ll be ready to go for later, but she stays up for now.”
Eve nodded and waved at the Archmage circling overhead. “I’ll put Dominique watching our bloodhounds first.”
“That’s fine. Just make it happen.”
***
Iain Grey - Tradesman
Eve - Megami-sama (maharani)
Dominique - Blessed Archmage
Scheherazade - Dread Wolf
Irena- Chibi Sanctuary Goth
April - Duelist
Montsho - Tyrannodame
Hathor - Milktit
Dragonesses
Eirian - Silver
Skye - Blue
Emerald - Green
Sable - Black
Aurum - Gold
Beryl - Red