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Loose Threads
One Hundred Three
“Do you want me to wait?”
Marguerite handed the taxi driver enough money to cover the drive out from the hotel where he’d picked them up as well as a generous tip. “No but thank you for asking. Keep the change.”
The driver flipped through the bills and his smile grew. “Yes, miss. Good day.” He drove away. A second later Zareen appeared, standing near Dominique. While Dominique and Marguerite had ridden in the taxi, Zareen had flown overhead, phased and invisible. She’d changed back to her bipedal form and put on her boots before becoming visible.
Dominique eyed the closed vehicle gate blocking their access to the property. “I understand the gate might be animated somehow and that it might not like visitors.” She tried opening it and smiled. “Yes, it’s fighting me. Let’s see if it’s more powerful than my enhanced strength.” She dug the heels of her boots into the gravel and shoved. The gate screeched as it opened and she continued walking, forcing the gate open far wider than needed. “It’s still trying to close. Come though and make sure you’re clear when I let go in case it’s faster than it looks.”
Marguerite and Zareen stepped past the gate’s arc. “Clear.”
Dominique stepped around behind the gate before releasing it, which immediately slammed shut with a loud clang of steel. “Not faster than I thought, but still, it was fast enough.” She looked up the drive at the brooding mansion and grinned as she brushed her hands together to remove the rust and paint flakes she’d gotten when she’d grabbed the gate. “That place looks decrepit. April would have us painting the whole thing the day after we moved in.”
“Same day,” Zareen said.
“Is she really that domestic,” Marguerite asked as they headed for the front door. “I haven’t seen it in her behavior.”
“Yes,” Zareen grunted as she slowed her pace to drift into position a little behind her two harem sisters.
“She’s settled down right now because the house is already decorated the way she wants it to be,” Dominique added. “But, yes, she is that domestic when she’s given free rein to be so. I’m not sure why she’s that way but she is.”
“Control,” Zareen said.
Marguerite pursed her lips thoughtfully. “That would make sense. All pokegirls want to be in control of their lives and most of them think they would like to control the harem. Domesticity is a way to control your environment and, if we let her domestic wishes override our own, she has also a measure of control over us.”
Dominique frowned. “Does she have control over our domestic wishes?”
“You make your bed and clean your room so April doesn’t give you demerits, do you not?”
Dominique’s frown became a scowl. “Damn, I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“I did. That’s why she and I had a little talk about it and she doesn’t try to do that to me.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That it was my room and if she gave me demerits for something that happened in the privacy of my room I was going to charge her with a privacy violation for intruding on my privacy without my express permission. I then told her she didn’t have permission.”
Dominque raised an eyebrow. “What did she do?”
“She went to Ninhursag and they went to Iain, who ruled the way I expected him to, which was on the side of my privacy and property.”
Dominique shook her head. “I’ve been in your room. You keep it spotless. Why fight with April over it?”
“I keep my room clean because I want my room to be clean. I don’t want others wanting me to keep my room clean to be the reason I keep it clean. I can change my mind about keeping it clean whenever I want, which I cannot do if someone else’s desires are the reason I do something. Who do I have to approach about becoming a student in formal magic like Rosemary is?”
“Do you want to become a mage or just learn some specific spells?”
“I want to be as powerful as I can and becoming a mage will help with that. I realize it can take decades and I accept that. But in the end, I am a magical pokegirl and I have centuries or possibly millennium of life left to me. So, after considering it for a while, I think it’s a good investment of time and effort for the return I expect to get.”
“Make an appointment to talk to me about it after we’re home,” Dominique said as they stepped onto the veranda. She gestured towards the door. “You’re up.”
Marguerite used the heavy knocker to rap on the door. A moment later a seven foot tall sallow man answered it. His voice was low and gravelly. “Yes?”
“I am Marguerite Grey. This is Dominique Grey and Zareen Grey and we have an appointment with Mrs. Morticia Addams for tea.”
The man opened the door and stepped aside for them. Once inside, he closed the door behind them. “Wait. Announce.” Then he silently strode through a doorway.
“He speaks Zareen,” Dominique muttered. Marguerite chuckled softly while Zareen just smiled.
A minute later an older looking woman appeared. “Good morning,” she said. “I am Grandmama or Mamma. Morticia will be here in a few minutes.” She looked them over. “Which of you is Marguerite?”
“I am,” Marguerite said. “Are you an Addams?”
“No,” Mamma said. “I am Morticia’s mother and I am a Frump.”
“Well, this is Dominique, standing over there is Zareen and I am very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Frump.”
Mamma smiled. “Call me Mamma. No one here knows me as Mrs. Frump. Gomez, Fester and Morticia call me Mamma and the children call me Grandmama.”
Marguerite nodded. “Then you must use our first names too.”
Mamma smiled again. “It would be my pleasure. You are here to evaluate us and Wednesday for our suitability of joining your family, yes?”
Marguerite exchanged a glance with Dominique. “Something like that, Mamma. Our family lives in interesting times and the last thing we would want to do is take someone into our family who couldn’t possibly survive with us. I mean no insult, for I have heard that the Addams’ are rather resilient and hard to destroy, but,” she shrugged. “What I hear is what I hear and what the truth is might not have anything in common with what I have heard.”
Mamma’s smile widened. “And, in trying to keep such a weakling alive, you would be putting others of your family in danger. It is good to see that some still keep the old ways.” She turned towards the doorway. “Please come with me to the parlor.”
She led them into the parlor and gestured towards a pair of couches. “Please sit. Morticia and Gomez should be along soon.” She sat down in a chair across from one of the couches and reached for the tea service that had been placed on a coffee table as Marguerite and Dominique settled down across from her and Zareen moved to stand behind the couch they were using. “Would anyone like some belladonna or hemlock in their tea? It’s freshly cut and ground.”
Dominique chuckled. “Thank you but none for me.”
“Me either,” Marguerite added. “I don’t like those flavors in my tea.”
Mamma nodded. “I find it somewhat bitter on occasion, as well.” She looked up at Zareen. “What about you?”
“Can’t. On duty.”
“We realize that this is a test,” Marguerite said. “You want to test our fitness as well, and if I tell you that we are immune to all toxins you have no reason to believe us. If you would like, I will eat some of your belladonna or hemlock so you have empirical proof that at least one of us is resistant to toxins.”
“That would be even better than if it is diluted in the tea.” Mamma scooped a teaspoon of a dark brown powder from a bowl and offered it to her.
Marguerite popped the spoon into her mouth, swallowed its contents and then licked the spoon’s bowl clean before placing it down on the coffee table. She shuddered. “That’s vile.”
“I like the flavor,” a female voice said from the doorway. A tall, slender woman wearing a tightly fitted black dress came into the parlor, followed by a shorter, stockier man wearing a nice suit. “I am Morticia Addams and this is my husband, Gomez.”
Marguerite smiled at her. “I am Marguerite Grey and different people like different things. I am certain that we will eventually find something that I like that you do not.” She nodded towards Dominique. “This is Dominique and that is Zareen, our security.”
Gomez grinned. “She’s your guard? She doesn’t look very much like a guard. Is she very good at guarding you?”
“She is and she is.”
“Test!” Steel flashed in the air and suddenly Zareen was standing in front of Marguerite. Gomez grunted and Zareen moved around the couch back to her previous position.
Marguerite stared. Gomez now had the handle of a dagger sprouting from his left thigh. “Zareen?”
“Attack not serious, response not serious. Blade not envenomed. Missed bone. Missed artery. Blade parallel muscle. Minimal damage.”
Morticia was looking back at her husband. “Gomez, we do not attack our guests before they have tea. Where are your manners?” She raised her voice as she sat down on the other couch. “Lurch! Medical!” She looked at his leg. “She is very quick. Her throw struck you squarely. When is the last time that someone succeeded in injuring you?”
“It has been several years, my love,” Gomez replied. He gripped the hilt of the knife and wriggled the blade experimentally in his leg. “Well done!”
“Serves you right,” Mamma said.
Lurch came in with a medical kit. “Sit,” he growled.
Gomez settled down into one of the chairs with a grin. “I’m going to have a new battle scar! That’s one more than Fester! I can’t wait to fight her for real!”
“Please forgive my husband,” Morticia said to her guests. “Gomez hasn’t had someone outside the family to spar with for several years.”
“If things work out as we hope they will,” Marguerite sipped at her tea. “Then he would have several different people to spar with, some of whom would give him quite the challenge.”
“That would be very nice,” Morticia took the teacup her mother offered her. “I am afraid I must admit I am not familiar with this process. Should we be indirect or direct in these negotiations?”
“In this case, I believe that directness is the best path for us to travel. To that end, I have a few questions,” Marguerite said. “First, are you still interested in Wednesday and Iain marrying? Second, is Wednesday interested in the idea of marriage to Iain or is she even interested in marriage at this point in her life?”
“If your family is as much like ours as it seems, I believe my daughter could be happy in your family. As for her wishes, Wednesday believes that finding a man who is as exemplary as her father is,” Gomez beamed at the compliment, “is an impossible quest, yet she would not hesitate if someone suitable presented himself to her.”
“I see,” Marguerite said slowly as she considered Morticia’s words. “We, too, are interested in a match with a worthy woman.”
Morticia smiled. “Is Iain a powerful wizard?”
Dominique nodded. “He is.”
“Once we had powerful wizards in our family, but over time they died out and were not replaced even as their blood became too thin to be effective,” Mamma said. “It has fallen upon the family’s witches, like Morticia and me, to take up as much of what they did as we can, but no matter how powerful a witch is, she is not a wizard and she cannot do everything that they did. To make matters worse, because our wizards are gone, we have no way of training new ones.”
“Is Wednesday a witch,” Marguerite asked.
“She has had some training as such and intends to pursue her full apprenticeship after graduating from college,” Morticia said.
“What is her degree program?”
“She is studying to become a doctor and then intends to take mortuary science and embalming to round out her education. After finishing her apprenticeship in witchcraft she wants to be a healer for our family or, perhaps, an assassin.”
“I still say she can do both,” Gomez muttered. “They’re not that different.”
Morticia eyed them curiously. “What would she do if she married into your family?”
“She would be allowed to pursue her interests,” Marguerite said. “She would have to learn to fight along with the rest of the clan because we still have many enemies we haven’t yet destroyed. Also, there are supernatural monsters called pokegirls which plague the world and sometimes they attack us and must be stopped.”
“I have never heard of these pokegirls,” Mamma commented. “What are they like?”
“They can be incredibly destructive and very hard to kill or capture,” Marguerite said. “And they can be incredibly loyal, loving and protective.”
Zareen snickered. “Proud, arrogant.”
Marguerite smiled amusedly. “True.”
“They sound interesting,” Gomez said from where Lurch was working on his leg. “Can we get one?”
Dominique burst out laughing. “There might be a small problem involved in that.” She looked at Morticia. “You see, Morticia, pokegirls look a lot like humans and, when aware, can behave a lot like a human, but they are not. To keep their humanity, they must have sex regularly with a human.” Morticia’s eyebrows rose. “If not, they can easily become those ravening monsters Marguerite described.” She smiled. “All three of us are pokegirls.”
Mamma was watching her intently. “You have been perfectly polite.”
“That would be because we are aware,” Dominique said. She held up her hand and a head sized ball of red energy appeared, swirling over her palm. “If I were feral, which is what we call the pokegirls who have become monsters, I would have no inclination not to use this to destroy your house.” The ball shrank and vanished.
Mamma leaned forward eagerly. “Could you teach me that spell?”
Dominique picked up her cup. “I can teach that spell, yes. Can you learn it? That’s a different question and one I do not know the answer to. I am far more than a witch and the word witch is used by humans for several different disciplines of magic, some of which are more sophisticated than others bearing the same name.” She sipped at her tea. “But I am certain that there are spells I know that I could teach you.”
Morticia smiled. “You are that powerful?”
“Well, I am that powerful, but I was actually thinking about the fact that I know a lot of spells. And some other members of my family know spells that I don’t.”
“Are you a wizard like Iain?”
Dominique shook her head. “I am an Archmage, which is a very powerful kind of wizard pokegirl, but I am not like Iain. We both do formal magic, yes, but we each have abilities that the other does not possess.”
Marguerite was watching Morticia. “I believe that this would be a good time to arrange another meeting, one in which we can meet your daughter and she can meet us. Do you agree?”
Morticia nodded. “I do. Wednesday comes home for the weekend, so I believe that Saturday would be suitable. Is that acceptable?”
Today was, amusingly enough, Wednesday. Marguerite smiled. “That will work nicely. Do you wish us to return in the morning or the afternoon?”
“I think you should stay here until then,” Morticia said. “We have more than sufficient rooms for you to stay as our guests and it will let you to learn more about us even as we learn more about you.”
“I insist that you stay,” Gomez said. “I want a chance to see if I can get a knife into Zareen’s leg.”
Zareen snorted. “Want more scars?”
Mamma grinned. “Gomez, I think you should be very careful about challenging her. Perhaps we could go outside and the two of you could so something competitive that doesn’t involve Lurch having to stitch up more wounds.”
“If he does,” Morticia commented amusedly, “I will order Lurch to use anesthetic on them from now on, Gomez.”
Gomez pouted. “That’s not nice, my love.”
“Instead of the two of them competing,” Dominique put down her cup, “instead we could go outside and I could show off some spells that you might be interested in trading for.”
“That is an excellent idea,” Mamma declared.
“Then that is what we will do,” Morticia said as she gracefully stood.
I’ve let Daya know about the change of plans and that we will be staying here, Dominique told Marguerite through her twee.
I am vectoring a pair of satellites to monitor the area and I will be seeding the region with sensors tonight, Daya announced. I will send your luggage to you later today. Be careful.
We will, Marguerite said. Is there anything specific we should be aware of?
If things do not work out between Iain and Wednesday, Daya replied, they have a son and he is likely unmarried, as might be Morticia’s uncle, Fester.
We will investigate them all, Marguerite reassured her. She stood. “Let’s go outside.”
***
Iain shifted his tail to keep his balance as he slowed almost to a complete hover over his target. He’d used spells to make himself invisible, inaudible and to remove any scent he might have. He’d expected it to be different from what he was used to, but not hearing his wings or the wind or seeing his forehands while still feeling them was more unsettling than he thought it would be. What he was doing was necessary and he forced it out his mind as he drifted a bit to the right. Then he folded his wings and dropped to the attack.
The red dragon had lived in this cave, in these mountains, for over a thousand years and everything for miles knew to avoid this area completely unless it wanted to be burned to a crisp or devoured while still screaming. It was a bright sunny day, one of the first in the early spring, and he had taken advantage of the heat to perch on his ledge where he could oversee his immediate domain.
Iain landed squarely on top of the red. The impact shattered the red’s ribs and wing bones even as Iain’s claws punched through his scales and sank deep into the muscles of his back and wings, pinning the red’s wings to his back.
Iain slammed his jaws shut on the red’s neck just below the skull, shearing through muscle and cracking the bones in the red’s spine in a spray of blood. He snapped his jaws open and slammed them shut once more. The red went limp and Iain smelled excrement and urine as the red’s bowels and bladder voided.
The invisibility had ended when Iain’s attack had been driven home and he carefully pulled his claws free as he checked to make sure his tail wasn’t in the mess spreading below the dead drake. Eirian, clear the cave. He reached up and touched the dead dragon on the top of his head, pulling out a blue globe of his entire life’s memories. Iain shoved it into his chest, where it would safely stay until he could get back to his place and implant it into the ogre’s brain that he’d wired into the computer system so Phantasmal Surveyor could use it to copy memories like this one and the ones from the other dragons they’d killed. As they were uploaded, the memories were processed to remove all of the emotional loading and turn them into a database that was sent to Theodora during the monthly transit, who would store them for the clan, add them to a common database Iain was building and send it back the next month. Perusing Tendram’s memories had revealed that the red dragon didn’t really know much that Iain was interested in, so Iain didn’t want to add the raw memories of such evil creatures to his own unless there was no other choice. He already had enough memories of that sort and more would not help him to be the dragon that his family wanted him to be.
Eirian, Aurum and Emerald came flying down from where they’d invisibly watched the attack and landed in front of the cave before running inside.
Iain dismissed the spells hiding him as Helesatra landed next to him. “My lord, shall we harvest this one as we have done the others?”
“Please,” he replied. “So far we’ve picked off a few reds, some blues, greens, blacks, two white dragons and that crazy silver drake who attacked me for no reason. Except for that fucking silver, we’ve been careful to make sure they couldn’t fight back and minimize our chances of getting seriously hurt. Eventually, however, we will make a mistake, either in our pre-strike surveillance or in our assault. The sooner we can stop doing these raids, the sooner I don’t have to worry about someone managing to make the fight fairer than I’d like.”
My lord, Eirian said through her twee, the cave is clear but there is a situation inside that you will need to address, and you should be in your dragon form.
On the way. “I have to go,” he said to Helesatra as he spread his wings.
The half devil sun elf drew a razor edged skinning blade from her belt. “Eirian told me too, my lord. Be safe. Maria, Natalie, Matilda, stay and help me with the harvest.”
The Slutton, Blazicunt and White Tigress that she’d called poured off his hide as he sprang off the ledge and circled down to land in front of the cave. Where?
The first chamber has only one exit that leads deeper into the cave. We are in the second chamber.
The first chamber was mostly empty, with only the remains of a dead elk laying to one side, Iain presumed to ripen. To his nose, it stank of rot and maggots. He went into the second chamber and paused at the sight.
The second chamber was much larger than the first one and had four exits, including the one Iain had entered from. Along one wall, small spring had been damned with a large ring of dried clay, forming a pool big and deep enough for the red to drink from. Magical lighting had been placed in strategic locations so that one side of the cave was well lit, presumably so the red could watch the glowing hemisphere of force holding a gold dragon prisoner tightly curled up in a ball so as to fit inside it. And probably so the red could gloat. Red dragons loved to gloat when they had prisoners or victims. Hell, they probably loved to gloat when alone, but it was so much more entertaining when they had someone to feel superior to while gloating.
The gold was much smaller than the red had been, and to Iain’s eyes looked like either a young adult or a newly transitioned adult. He, for he was male, was severely emaciated and his eyes dully watched Iain as he examined the situation. “Eirian?”
“We found him like this, my lord.”
Iain touched the force wall with a claw tip and absorbed the magic powering it. It vanished and the gold shifted slightly as his body relaxed after being compressed during confinement. The gold’s wings had been shredded and Iain could smell infection from the wounds. “Can you move?” The gold eyes focused on him for a second before drifting away.
“I am unsure if he is conscious enough to respond, my lord,” Emerald said.
Iain nodded. “Eirian, send out a hunting party for some meat.”
“My lord, the red dragon’s carcass has plenty of meat. Hunting is significantly risky considering the situation. It could easily draw attention back to this cave.”
That meat would sell for a nice price, but the dragon was available and already dead. And hunting down deer would take time that Iain didn’t want to waste in the lair of someone he’d just killed. They had only surveilled the red for two weeks before striking and it was still possible that he had a mate who was out on a long hunt or something similar. “You’re right, bring back several hundred pounds of it.” He eyed the gold as Onyx and Alabaster left him to run from the cave with Aurum. “Junior here is pretty dehydrated too.” He moved to the side of the gold and took the hide on the back of the gold’s neck, just below his head, in his jaws, like a mother cat would grasp a kitten. Then he began walking sideways towards the spring, dragging the gold along with him as he moved. The gold moaned once but didn’t resist until Iain dropped his head into the pond. “Drink or drown, junior.”
The gold blew bubbles for a second before inhaling. Instantly he jerked upright in a spray of water as he coughed. Then he stuck his muzzle back in the pool and began sucking water down.
Aurum, Onyx and Alabaster came into the cave with arms full of meat that they tossed into a pile before running out of the cave. The gold stopped drinking to watch them before shifting his head to look at Iain. “What is that?” His voice was weak, but he was a dragon and water, along with all of the algae and whatnot floating in it, could be broken down by a dragon’s stomach to extract every bit of possible nourishment from it. Iain could hear, in his voice, the gold getting stronger by the moment.
Still, he needed a lot more nourishment than that. “It’s meat for you, if you’re willing to eat it.”
“I am famished. Why would I not eat it?” He took a few steps towards the meat, sniffing the air as he did.
“I killed the red who was holding you prisoner. However, I didn’t know he was holding you prisoner, so I didn’t kill him to free you and, more importantly, I didn’t come prepared to rescue you. He is the closest meat, other than a bit of rotting elk.”
The gold sniffed the dragon meat. “He was going to eat me after I died,” the male noted before gulping down the meat. “I find this to be a much better arrangement.” He lifted his head. “I am Laraxithious and I am indebted to you for my life. Who are you?”
“I am Iain Grey.”
“That is not a dragon’s name.”
“And yet, Laraxithious, it is my name and I am a dragon, making it a dragon’s name. As soon as you’ve eaten a little more I’d like to amputate your wings and regrow them. Will you allow this?”
The gold looked at his back. “I will never fly again. If you can repair my wings so that I can fly I will owe you another debt.”
Iain watched as the three Dragonesses returned with more dragon meat. “Don’t worry, Laraxithious, I’ll keep count of your debts to me for you.” He looked around as the gold gulped down the new meat. “Eirian, have you found the red’s hoard?”
She appeared from deeper in the cave. “I have, my lord.”
“Let’s give Laraxithious here an eighth of it.”
“Why?” Iain was amused as Laraxithious and Eirian asked the same question at the same time.
The gold gave a rusty sounding chuckle as he glanced at the silver Dragoness. “She and I are right to question your decision. I have done nothing to deserve any treasure.”
“I’ve been someone’s involuntary guest,” Iain replied. “You didn’t volunteer to spend your last days in that magical prison, did you?”
“No!” Laraxithious spat that word so forcefully that dust puffed up around his head.
“Well, if he’s watching from the Lands of the Dead as I give you part of his hoard, he’s screaming in fury and I like that image.”
“He’ll be screaming even louder when we take the rest of it for your hoard, my lord,” Eirian said with a laugh.
“I like that image even more,” Iain admitted wryly. “However, he might decide that I earned that right by killing him without him being able to fight back. There is no way he’d ever agree to me just giving away part of what he’d worked so hard to steal.” He cocked his head. “And I do not hear you refusing my gift, Laraxithious.”
“You will not,” the gold said. “When Zartalymere captured me, I was in my home and he took everything before wrecking what little he couldn’t move.” He took a deep breath. “I know that I have no right to ask this, but could I trade half of what you are gifting to me for my library, which Zartalymere took along with my other treasure? Gold I can always acquire, but some of the things in my library are unique.”
“If you will allow me to copy them before you remove them, I agree that once I have the treasure safely ensconced in my home, you can go through it with me and we’ll determine which parts of the library were yours. If you do not have a place to keep them, I will house them until you do, so long as I don’t have to keep them for more than a year and a day. In return, you will give me half of the treasure that I originally apportioned to you.”
Laraxithious was silent for a moment, obviously thinking over what Iain had just said. “I agree and thank you for your generosity. I am unfamiliar with your breed of dragon. What are you?”
“It’s not surprising that you’re not familiar with my race since it is very likely that I am the only one of my kind who is present on this world. Most of my people don’t travel much unless they have no choice in the matter. I, on the other hand, have more than a bit of wanderlust and like traveling to new places. Now, I believe we need to fix your wings. Aurum.”
The gold Dragoness ran into view. “My lord?”
“We need to remove Laraxithious’s wings so I can regrow them for him. I’d like you to do the amputation.” He reached out with his twee. Keep the wings if you can. I want his DNA for some projects I have in mind.
Aurum bowed. “I obey, my lord.” She turned to Laraxithious. “Sir, I will need you to lie down and be still so I can safely climb onto your back. I will do my best to ensure that the removals are as painless as possible.”
The gold laid down. “I am ready.” He shifted his head slightly to look towards Iain as Aurum scaled his back. “Where did you find so many half-dragons to serve you?”
Iain chuckled. “I have this tendency to collect outcasts who would have problems fitting into normal society. As you know, that is a problem for a lot of half-dragons and draconic beings. I’ve found some of my servants here and there over the years while others found me.” He stepped closer until he was next to the male. “I’ll have to be close so I can start the regrowth process once she’s done cutting.”
“Are you a priest of Bahamut?”
“No, I worship the goddess Eilistraee, and it is by her grace that you will be healed today.” He watched as Aurum gripped the wing just above where it entered Laraxithious’ back and cast a spell to numb the area before cutting off the wing with an energy blade. She clamped down with her hand to slow the spray of blood to an ooze. Iain cast a regeneration spell on the wing and it immediately sealed over as it began to regrow. Aurum released the limb and quickly sliced off a portion of the already amputated wing, which she crammed into her mouth and swallowed. Her body didn’t produce acid to digest food anymore and the portion would be safe there until she could regurgitate it to be stored for later analysis. She repeated the process with the other wing before hopping down to the ground. “Thank you, Aurum. Laraxithious, give it a few minutes and your wings should be completely regrown. You can move again.”
Laraxithious raised his head. “I have not heard of that goddess before, but I will offer her my prayers regularly for the next year.”
“She would not insist that you do so, but, on her behalf, I thank you.” Iain stretched out his neck to loosen it. “We have more food at my home. If you’d rather hunt your own food, I will grant you permission to hunt on my land while you’re staying with me.”
“We will pack the books separately, my lord,” Eirian announced. “That way we can expedite finding the ones that the young lord will receive.”
“Thank you, Eirian.” Iain looked at Laraxithious. “Come outside with me so we’re not in the way of the packing. As soon as your wings are healed I’ll have one of my people lead you to my home where you can rest for a few days.”
“That is very kind of you and I gratefully accept.”
Iain chuckled. “My goddess wants me to help those in need, so you’re my good deed for the week.”
Skye ran into the chamber. “My lord, I will lead the young lord to your valley. Should he rest there or should he go to your cave?”
Iain turned to Laraxithious. “My cave is set up for my bipedal form and I have a guest room with a comfortable bed, if you’re willing to transform once you’re there.”
The gold laughed. “I like comfortable beds.”
“Skye, take him to the cave.”
The blue nodded. “As you instruct, my lord.” She turned to the gold. “Please come with me, young lord.” She headed for the entrance to the cave, followed closely by Laraxithious.
Eirian watched them go. My lord, Aurum has gone to your cave with the rest of that one’s wings. I have told her to hide them where your guest cannot find them.
Good. I’ll watch them leave and then guard the entrance while you and the others pack.
I have Liadan guarding the entrance, my lord.
Then I’ll stand around being decorative, Iain sent as he made a grumbling noise out loud.
Eirian laughed. “Thank you for bringing us, my lord. The years we waited for you were very productive in our studies and fighting the various races on their ships was amusing and taught us a lot about how they think. Now we are where we belong, with you, and nothing will stand in the way of your mission.”
“No, it won’t.” Iain stretched out his wings and refolded them. “Since you have everything under control here, I guess I’ll see if Skye and Larxithious have left yet.”
“They have, my lord, but if you hurry you can catch up with them.”
“You and the others be careful,” Iain said as he headed for the exit to the chamber. Once outside he checked on Helesatra and the people she was working with. He was pleased to see that they were rapidly reducing the dead red dragon to a collection of packed storage boxes waiting to go into Dikon. Satisfied with their progress, he spread his wings and jumped into the air, circled once and climbed as he pursued Skye and the young gold dragon into the distance.
Unseen in a secure hiding place below, eyes watched him leave. The leader of the group gestured to the others. “We must return and inform the elders. They must be told as to what has happened. Something will have to be done.”
The rest of the group growled their agreement and followed the leader deeper into the brush before disappearing completely.
***
Iain flew a slow search pattern over the forest until he smelled woodsmoke. He thought this was around the area where he’d been told he could find the village, but the directions he’d gotten from the elven village he’d visited three days ago had been rather vague since the village’s elves did not travel in this direction unless they had no choice. Additionally, the elves gave directions based on elven travel time over distance and Iain still didn’t have a good understanding of just how far the average elf could travel on foot in these woods, but this seemed to be around the distance they’d been describing.
Maybe.
Whether it was the right village or not, he had to check. If it wasn’t the village he was searching for, hopefully someone would be willing to give him directions to the one he was.
In any case the forest was way too thick for him to land in his full sized dragon form without tearing large holes in the local woods, so he shifted to his small dragon form and turned invisible before flying a few minutes away from the smoke and diving into the canopy to find a decent place to land.
Once on the ground, he changed back to his elf form and dropped the invisibility spell. He stood quietly for a few minutes, soaking in the rhythm of the woods around him. Then he moved towards where he’d smelled the woodsmoke, deliberately making enough noise that any elf who was decently trained in woodcraft would be able to detect him far enough away not to panic at the presence of a stranger, which sometimes happened in smaller villages who didn’t get visitors except once every several years.
He paused when he saw the first dwelling. There should have been a perimeter watch. There always was a perimeter watch. Too many bad things that wouldn’t hesitate to eat an elf lived in any forest not to have them. Apparently Zareen had taught him too well and he’d inadvertently managed to make it past the sentries without being detected or noticing any of them. He gave a mental sigh and broke cover. He called in elven. “Hello the village!” Even knowing what he did, it was hard not to react when the male drow came around the corner and leveled a bow with a knocked arrow at him. Iain bowed slightly, never taking his eyes off the drow, as he spoke in elven. “In the name of Eilistraee, who is the Lady of the Dance, I greet you.”
“Who are you and where did you come from,” the drow demanded in the same language.
“I am Iain Grey and I walked into the village. While not intending too, I somehow managed to make it past your sentries without encountering any of them. I’d like to speak with one of the priestesses.”
“He has greeted you in the name of the Lady,” a female voice came from behind the archer. “Why have you not greeted him in return?” The speaker was another drow, this one dressed comfortably in a tunic, fitted pants and boots, with a bastard sword sheathed on her left hip. Her long silver hair hung loose down to the middle of her calves.
“He appeared out of nowhere,” the drow stated flatly. “He’s a spy!”
“Quendar! Lower your weapon.” The male reluctantly did but moved between Iain and the woman. She gently but firmly moved him to the side. “I would like to see our,” she looked Iain over. “You’re not settling here, are you?”
“I am not, but I would like to visit regularly if possible. If allowed, I may construct or contract to have a home constructed for those visits as some of them may last for several days.”
“I am Laelra Mytlar and I am second in the village.”
“Does that mean you’re second in the temple of Eilistraee too?”
Laelra smiled. “It does. I am a Dark Lady. How do you know of the Lady of the Dance?” Iain pulled the holy symbol from under his tunic to let it hang on its chain and her scarlet eyes went wide. “You are a worshipper?”
“I am.”
“Very few of the moon elves worship our Lady. How did she come to speak to your heart?”
“Once, Eilistraee was worshipped by all of the elven races,” Iain replied. “But she has always been most favored among the dark elves, who were punished as a race for the depravity of a few and turned into the drow. When they were exiled into the Underdark, she, of course, went with them to remind them that the Demon Spider Queen does not love them as much as our Lady does and to be there with them and hopefully, be their salvation from the evil that is her mother and to help them return to the surface. I was introduced to the Lady by a moon elf and a moon horse, both of whom are her priestesses. Later they ordained me. Unfortunately, that happened when the drow were still the dark elves and Eilistraee was still part of the Seldarine, so I cannot prove what I say is the truth.”
“Of course you can’t.” Quendar snapped. “It is nothing but lies! Men cannot be priestesses of the Lady.”
Laelra was smiling with amusement. “You do sound like a priestess, answering a simple question with a sermon.”
Iain chuckled. “Thank you. As for Quendar’s statement, I pray to the Lady and she blesses me by granting me my spells. This means that she seems to believe I can be a priest.” He shrugged. “Or priestess. It’s just a word.”
“Iain, come with me.” She turned to Quendar. “I believe you were going hunting so we could eat this evening.”
The male drow glared at Iain. “You cause any trouble and I will kill you.”
Several replies crossed Iain’s mind, most of them antagonistic. Instead, he merely nodded. “I understand. I didn’t come here to cause trouble.”
Quendar grunted something and stalked away. Iain waited until he was sure the male drow was completely out of earshot. “Is he sweet on you?”
Laelra raised a silver eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
“I get the impression that he is romantically interested in you. Is that correct?”
Laelra looked thoughtfully in the direction that Quendar had gone. “He is. Unfortunately for him, I am not interested in him. He means well and is true to us, but the Lady speaks to him only faintly, and my responsibilities are such that romance is a luxury I cannot afford to buy.” She shook her head. “Come with me.” Iain fell in beside her as she walked. “He is right that there are no priests, only priestesses and the time you say you were ordained was very long ago. Elves do not normally live that long.” She glanced at him, a partial smile on her face. “And neither do dragons.”
Iain scowled. “True sight?” She smiled again and nodded. “Fuck. Look, I am a priest. Yes, I’m a dragon, not that it’s anyone else’s business. I’m sure that Eilistraee knows who and what I am. The women who ordained me lived during that time. I was only there briefly and kind of skipped the intervening years until now.” He smiled. “So do you have a truth spell up along with that true sight?”
She chuckled. “I do not. The true sight is a gift from the Lady and it is unceasing. But to lie to me, you would tell a less fantastic story than that one is. So long as you keep our precepts, I see no reason for anyone to find out your secrets. Why have you come to our humble village?” They stopped in a small open area with several simple stone benches and she motioned to one of them. “Please sit.”
Iain settled down onto a bench, Laelra sat on the same bench, close enough that they could talk quietly but not so close as to be intimate to any viewers. “I’m about to start venturing into the Underdark. I intend to make my way to Guallidurth and, hopefully, I’ll be rescuing some drow who have heard the Lady’s call but cannot respond to it on their own. I was hoping I could bring them here to reside.”
“You could not teach them?”
“I can teach. However, I live in a hole in a wall.” He smiled when she laughed. “I don’t have a place for them to live and I don’t intend to build one for them. So, if I can bring them here, I would be willing to help by coming by on a regular basis. I can hunt, unless it would make Quendar try to put an arrow in my spine, and I can help teach people here.”
“We will happily accept anyone who wishes to live here,” Laelra said. “What do you want in return from us?”
“Taking in the people I find will be more than enough.”
She shook her head. “No, I want to know more about a male that my Lady blesses with her favor. You will journey here regularly and you will also participate in our holy days with us.”
“I won’t be around for some of them, especially for the next few decades.”
“I want you to celebrate with us when you can. Will you do that?”
“I will.” He frowned. “What will the local high priestess say about this? Usually the woman in charge wants to make the decisions that keeps her in charge.”
Laelra grinned. “You are right about the decision making, but the decision has been made. I am second in the temple. The first in our temple is our Lady.”
Iain shook his head. “Of course, you’re the high priestess.”
“There are only three priestesses here,” she grinned again. “Four, now, with you.”
“Don’t give up your day job for comedy.”
She frowned. “What?”
“Sorry. I was trying to say that I don’t find you funny.”
She laughed. “You’re very different from what I’m used to. You don’t really care that I’m the high priestess here, do you?”
“I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might interest you in me more.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t dally with a drow?” Her tone was suddenly cool.
“Didn’t you just say you didn’t have time for a relationship?”
Her smile returned. “I said I didn’t have time for a romantic relationship. I still have needs.”
Iain started to say something and then remembered his conversation with April. “I would most definitely dally with a drow, female, priestess, whose name is Laelra Mytlar.”
Her smile warmed. “You are very specific about the drow you might dally with.”
“I’ve only met one other drow here and I am not interested in a dalliance with him. You’re pretty, you smell good and you’re smart. I like all of those things in a woman.”
A bell rang somewhere up ahead and Laelra grimaced. “I have to go. Will you stay in the village?”
“I wanted to stay for a few days and see if there is someplace I can build a home.”
She nodded. “We take a communal dinner before prayer. I’ll find you then. I’d like to spend more time talking with you.”
“Well, please let people know I’m welcome here so I don’t get to see more bows being pointed at me. If someone shoots me I’m likely to respond poorly.”
“I’ll send someone to be your guide while you meet the others. Wait here.” She bowed and hurried off as the bell rang again.
***
The drow alertly scanned her surroundings as she walked down the avenue in the slave markets of the drow city of Guallidurth. She was well dressed but didn’t have an obvious house badge on display and she only had two servants with her. The first was an armored form that towered over her as it followed. It was so encased in armor that it was sexless and raceless. The second servant was also taller than the drow and wore black hooded robes with a fully covered face reminiscent of a burqa. There were no eye holes in the black cloth over its face. It even wore black leather gloves to hide its hands, making it as indistinguishable and anonymous as the armored figure was.
There was the regular throng of visitors, drow and others in the market and so the streets were moderately crowded, but they ignored the presence of the drow and her escorts even as they stepped out of her way without seeming to realize what they were doing. The drow seemed to take it as her due and didn’t slow down as she walked.
The drow finally stopped in front of a slaver’s booth. She looked over the arrayed slaves and then eyed the ogre mage who stood watching passersby but was ignoring the small group in front of him. The drow finally reached up to snap her fingers under the ogre mage’s nose.
The ogre mage started violently and his eyes whipped down to widen at what he saw. “How,” he started to say and broke off when the drow’s eyes narrowed slightly and her right hand twitched towards the multiheaded serpent whip coiled on her belt. He bowed. “My apologies, lady. How may I assist you?”
The drow pointed past the ogre mage at a tall drow male standing in the coffle of slaves in the booth. He wore no armor and his simple clothing was carelessly stained and worn, “That one.” She held up two fingers and the armored form opened a pouch on its belt to retrieve two small cloth bags, which it held out to the ogre mage.
The ogre mage’s eyes widened a little more. While well dressed, the drow wasn’t weaing anything that identified her as being in one of the noble houses and therefore one of the highest ranked members of Guallidurth’s society, but this was the behavior of a member of a noble house, to offer what they wanted for something. At this point, anyone of lower rank had no choice but to accept what was offered, no matter its value. It was why smart merchants, including the ogre mage’s master, didn’t put their best stocks on display, lest they be robbed by some high ranking drow looking for a bargain treasure. If this drow was a member of a lower ranking house she would have haggled with the ogre mage before deciding whether or not to pay for the slave. He took the bags and opened them, giving a mental sigh of relief at the sight of the multitude of gold and silver coins.
It was a fair price for a decent slave, which the drow male seemed to be.
The ogre mage looked at the bugbear holding the end of the coffle. “You heard the lady, leash that one and bring it here!”
The bugbear bowed. “Yes, master.” She gestured at another bugbear, who joined her. The first produced a lead and snapped it onto the collar the drow was wearing around his neck. She handed the lead to the second bugbear, who took up the slack and waited as the first produced a key and released the drow male from the coffle.
The drow never looked up and followed the second bugbear obediently when it tugged on the lead and took him over to stand in front of the drow woman.
“Here he is, lady,” the ogre mage said as he gestured towards the slave. The cloaked figure took the lead as he bowed unctuously. “Is there anything else I can assist you with this day?”
“No,” the drow female said curtly. The ogre mage bowed again and stepped back as the little group headed away from his stall to disappear into the crowd as it opened around them.
A little while later the group was outside the city proper and about half a mile away from it. They stopped in front of a blank piece of wall while the tunnel they were in continued on into the distance. The drow female touched a spot and, with a faint grinding noise, a portion of the wall opened to reveal a lightless passage.
Then she turned to face the drow slave. “Look at me.”
“Yes, mistress,” he said quietly. His red eyes slowly raised to look at his owner.
“Recently, you heard the call of the Lady of the Dance, Eilistraee,” she said. The slave froze. “You listened to her message and she knows that you accepted it into your heart. She wants to free those who listen to her and she sent me to bring you to the surface. Once there we will travel to a village of drow and others who have also accepted the Lady of the Dance into their hearts. There your collar will be removed and you will become free.”
The drow started to speak, hesitated, and finally spoke. “Why are you telling me this, mistress?”
“Because to be free means that you have to think and you have to make decisions for yourself.” She paused as the cloaked figure handed the surprised male the lead to his collar. “Down this passage is the way to the surface, and it is the way we are going. You have to decide if you are going to walk down it with us and become free or if you will make your way in the Underdark and try to survive on your own.”
“What happens if I don’t go with you?”
“We will enter the passage and it will close. You will not be able to open it and it is likely that we will never meet again.”
“I want to go with you.”
“Then you will go with us and we will take you to the village, which is called Ilhar Mrimm or Mother’s Inspiration, after the shrine to Eilistraee of the same name which is inside the village. There you will be turned over to some people who will give you a place to stay and start your lessons in how to survive on the surface.” She produced a sheathed dagger from the back of her belt. “And this is for you as a gift for making the right decision and choosing the hard path of freedom.”
The drow stared at the proffered dagger before slowly taking it. He clutched it in his hands and looked back up at her. “I want to go with you.”
The drow smiled. “I can’t teach you what you need to live safely on the surface. They can. I don’t live in the village, but I’m there a lot. When you’ve mastered what they want you to learn, we’ll talk again.” She stepped into the darkness. “Follow me. We will reach a place where you will not be able to see anything but the three of us will be there with you and you can speak to us or hold one of their hands.” The armored figure followed her.
The hooded figure pointed a finger at the passage. “You go next,” a feminine voice said. “Your darkvision will work until you reach the main chamber, but I will be behind you and you will be safe with us.”
The drow looked at the dagger he held and his face filled with determination. He strode quickly into the darkness. Behind him, the cloaked figure paused for several seconds before following. Behind it, the secret door slid shut and merged seamlessly with the surrounding walls.
The drow female moved quickly through several small chambers and into the last one. There she faced a black wall with an arch and sang a quiet song to the Lady of the Dance. Energy swirled inside the arch and condensed into a point that opened into a portal that filled the arch. As the portal opened, impenetrable darkness filled the chamber.
The drow stepped through and vanished, only to return seconds later. “Everything is quiet at the destination,” she announced into the darkness.
“I have him,” the voice of the cloaked figure called.
“Take him through,” the drow female said. “We will follow.”
Several seconds all four of them stood in another chamber. The drow female whispered something and the portal dissipated into nothingness. “It’s only a mile or so now,” she said. “The leader of Ilhar Mrimm is Laelra Mytlar. She is very smart, more patient than anyone there deserves and is the high priestess of the shrine. She will make sure that you are well taken care of. Now, let’s go.”
***
“Thank you for telling me about the portal,” the drow female said to Laelra as they sat and drank some wine. “It made things much easier.”
The male drow had been delivered into the hands of the village and taken away to get his collar cut off and get him settled into his new home.
Laelra shook her head. “I am not used to seeing you like this. Please change.”
The drow female blurred and shifted into Iain. “Better?”
Laelra smiled. “Yes. The portal can only be opened by those in the priesthood who stand in Eilistraee’s favor. This was a test of sorts to see if you were truly her priestess and that she favored you. The fact that you were able to activate the portal and that it worked for you will complicate things since her holy works say that, today, men cannot be priestesses.”
“I’m certain that eventually she’ll change her mind about that, but right now you’re correct,” Iain replied. “However I’m not going to stop being her priestess and I’m not going to spend all of my time as a female.”
“I would not expect you to,” Laelra noted amusedly. “I am still surprised that this worked as well as it did. I have not been back to Guallidurth since I escaped from it. Even using the portal, their sentries were always too alert for us to return and we have had to seek Eilistraee’s followers from the much smaller drow communities elsewhere in the Underdark. But since Guallidurth has a larger population, more people there should hear her when she speaks to them and more should accept her into their hearts.”
“It wasn’t easy get past them,” Iain admitted with a smile. “But we have some plans to make future trips much less hazardous. If they work, I’ll let you know what they are.”
Laelra smiled back at him. “You won’t tell me about them now and allow me to tease you if they fail?”
“It’s not really that,” Iain swirled the wine in his cup. “The unrepentant drow are pretty smart and I don’t want to speak aloud what I’m thinking because they seem to hear rumors of things that it should be completely impossible for them to hear.”
Laelra’s smile faded. “That is truth and one I don’t like.”
“Hopefully they can’t hear a rumor that hasn’t been spoken. If they can, they’ve already won.”
“They have illithids that they work with,” Laelra pointed out. “They can pull the thoughts from your mind and few can stop them. I’ve seen it.”
Iain smiled grimly. “And there are some drow with similar powers. Any psychic trying to read my mind will be lucky if she only gets away with a nosebleed. If I’m lucky, they’ll push harder and die. Once I get back to my cave I’ll do some research and see if my idea is plausible or not.”
Laelra nodded. “When you left on your trip, since I knew you would soon return, I had your house aired out and the straw in your mattress changed. Could you stay the night?”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea for us to be lovers? The last time you stayed with me several people were very unhappy that you were choosing me over some of the others.”
Laelra put her wineglass down. “You are the only man who isn’t dazzled by the fact that I am second in the temple. Of the ones I might accept, most of them want to be with the second in the temple more than they want to be with Laelra Mytlar.”
“I’m staying the night and you’re welcome to join me,” Iain said. “I just don’t want you to have problems with the mortals over us spending time in bed together.”
Laelra raised an eyebrow. “Mortals?”
“Well, if the Lady didn’t like what you were doing with me, I’m sure she’d have already let both of us know. She’s good at letting her high priestess know if she’s displeased. We both understand that she’s the only immortal who might spend time around here, either her or her servants. Her servants will follow her decision in the matter. That leaves only the mortals around you to disapprove.”
Laelra frowned. “I am not sure I am happy with the lighthearted way you treat our goddess.”
Iain put his wineglass down. “If I am treating her lightheartedly, it’s probably because the priestesses who taught me about Eilistraee were both from before the Dark Seldarine came into existence and, during that time, the goddess was lighthearted about a lot of life. She can be as serious as Corellon when needed, but she prefers to be as happy as she can. It’s just that right now she doesn’t have a lot to be happy about, but she still tries to be happy and to let her people be happy too, if she can help them to.” He shrugged. “I suppose it didn’t help that both Ava and Dancer were fairly happy and as lighthearted towards life as they could be.”
“I take it from their names they were not drow.”
Iain nodded. “Ava is the moon elf and Dancer is the moon horse who taught me about the Lady Dancer and ordained me in her religion. Dancer is also the queen mare of a herd of moon horses.”
Laelra’s eyes widened. “You’ve met moon horses? I’ve heard the legends of them. What are they like?”
“I mentioned her when we first met. Ava and Dancer are the ones that initiated me into the Lady Dancer’s priestesshood. Moon horses are magical, more intelligent than those among the drow who are too stupid to know they should want to accept the Lady Dancer and leave Guallidurth and, finally, moon horses are suckers for honey and oat treats.”
Laelra laughed. “In other words, they’re people?”
“Exactly.” In the distance, the bell that called the priestesses to the shrine rang. There were observances several times a day. Iain, as a traveling priestess, didn’t attend the regular observances, but Laelra usually had no choice about being there. “You have to leave?””
She rose. “I have to leave. Will I see you at the communal dinner?”
“I think not. If I’m going to be seducing the local high priestess, I should cook her dinner and invite her to my home to dine with me, alone.”
Laelra smiled. “She would like that. But what about the disapproval of the villagers?”
“It’s only some of them and those are going to disapprove unless I take a rope and hang myself from a rafter with it, which I am not going to do. So, I’m going to cook dinner and I’d like to invite you to dine here with me. It should be ready right around sundown.”
“I would be delighted to dine with you.” She gave him a slight bow and was gone.
Iain cleaned up the wine glasses and bottle onto a tray and took it into the tiny dining room and kitchen. “Sorrel, Liadan.” They appeared from under his tunic. “Thank you for being my security in Guallidurth.”
Sorrel had changed back into her normal armor and helmet. “You are welcome, my lord.”
Liadan was still wearing the outfit she’d worn in the city. “My lord, it was entertaining.”
“Did you find any leads on what we’re looking for?”
He couldn’t see her smile underneath that hooded outfit without using his perception, but long experience let him know that the satisfaction he could hear in Liadan’s voice meant she was smiling about things that usually would not be good for anyone that smile was aimed at. “Not only did I discover several potential leads, my lord, I found our subject. She is Alyfaen, the first daughter of House Dinaen. There are twenty five noble houses and a hundred and fifty nonnoble houses in Guallidurth. Dinaen is roughly halfway up the hierarchy among the nonnoble houses, ranked seventy two, which means it is small and fairly insignificant to anyone except houses lower in rank than it is. The rulers are the matron mother, Phaerxae and Alyfaen. There were three daughters older than Alyfaen, but they are all recently dead and the house is ripe for destruction and too poor to hire mercenaries. In three days, Alyfaen is leaving on a trading expedition to try and raise more funds for the house. I used telekinesis to plant a tracer on her. She thought she had been bitten by an insect of some kind when it burrowed into her skin.”
Sorrel nodded. “As soon as she leaves the city, we will track her trading expedition and contact her when it is safe to do so.” She bobbed her head in a nod. “With your authorization, my lord.”
“I’ve already given it. The mission is a go.”
Sorrel smiled grimly. “Yes, my lord.”
Iain Grey
Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Zareen - Nightmare
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice
Heather - Elfqueen
Marguerite – Unicorn
Scheherazade – Dread Wolf
Irena – Sanctuary Goth
Lynn – Dire Wolf
Rosemary – Mistoffeles
Dianthus – Elfqueen
Outer Clan
Golden Cloud – equine unicorn
Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female
Satellite Clan
74 male Goblins
89 female Goblins
Queendom / Outer Clan
73 Elves
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
14 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Rhea Silvia – Chimera
Geraldine – Human analog of Iain
Alabaster – Dragoness (white)
Onyx – Dragoness (black)
Lapis – Dragoness (blue)
Garnet – Dragoness (red)
Iolite – Dragoness (purple)
Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)
Dabria – Dark Queen
Omisha – Demoness
Viersunuth – Blue Dragon
Helesatra Vyshaan – Half pit fiend sun elf
Mother Children
Vanessa
Myrna (Age 4)
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)
Seraphina: Megami Sama
Miram: Angel (Age 5)
Zareen:
Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare
Sofia
Anna: Ria
Esmerelda: Ria
Monica Chambers
James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)