by David Burke
The elven priestess nodded. “Exactly like that.”
Lash looked at Hilde. She spoke slowly. “You are so protective of him. You don’t really hate me… you just worry that I will betray him. You worry I might take your spot at his side, because I was so close to Krig before.”
The celestial stared at the ground, but no words were needed. The slump of her shoulders confirmed the truth of Lash’s statements. When she finally looked up, she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize what you experienced to stay faithful. I hurt,” she touched a hand to her chest, “just having seen a glimpse of your memories.”
“Krig was my everything,” Lash replied. “I could never betray him. I almost feel guilty though, for saying I am glad we have Kyle now, and not Krig. I can see Kyle accomplishing far more than Krig ever did. That was what first drew me to serve the war god. I wanted to accomplish great things, or at least be a part of bringing great things to pass.”
Nyda asked. “What were you gonna say, Lash, before all this?”
There was a pause, but everyone waited patiently for the battle maiden to speak.
When she did, the words came out haltingly. “After everything that the priests and priestesses of Begaer did to us, it was all a show. They couldn’t force us to give up our oaths. Our loyalty was sealed and only we could surrender it.”
Bowing her head, she continued. “That was what they wanted more than anything. They didn’t want to kill us or to force us. It was our will they wanted to break. They wanted us to surrender to their debauchery, to give up on our commitment to our lord.”
Her head came up and a fire burned behind her eyes, though her eyes were shadowed with pain. “I never broke, but it didn’t matter. I teetered on the edge of death, wishing for it to take me. I cried out for Krig countless times, but he never came. I screamed his name till no sound came from my mouth. Still nothing. Then, when I decided I would remain faithful only because I had given my word, I felt the power of my divine splinter ripped out. It was pulled from me with no warning and I felt like a harpoon had been yanked through my guts.”
Lash shuddered at the memory. “At that moment, I thought Krig had betrayed me. I thought he knew I believed he had failed me and was punishing me. When I saw Kyle, the emotions just boiled up in me. At first, I saw a resemblance, but he wasn’t the same. I wanted nothing more than to strike him down. Now…” She paused. “Now, even if I can never be bonded to him, I will serve him faithfully. His vision for Verden is one that I believe in, even more than I ever did in Krig’s.”
Nyda, Kierra, and Hilde looked at each other. A sense of understanding seemed to pass between them, without the need to put it into words. As one, they reached out and laid a hand on the blonde woman in their midst.
It was Nyda who said, “Don’t worry, sister. You will be bonded to him again.”
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Meanwhile, while Kyle and the bulk of his team were away from the guildhall in Nargossa, Lady Meeka was busy at work. Her plans were not working out at all like she had envisioned, though none of them had gone off the rails… yet. She was patient, if nothing else. When you are trying to land the big fish, you had to be patient.
It was no skin off her back if she allowed Kyle some time to expand his powers. In fact, it was better than nothing. The more strength he possessed, the more she could leech from him. And in the unlikely event that he managed to truly manifest divine levels of power, then she would content herself with being his consort.
None of those other little whores currently clinging to him would be a match for her. She’d been trained how to please a man from the best; she knew that no man could resist her.
As is often the case, what Meeka failed to understand, was that Hilde, Nyda, and the others cared about Kyle for more than his power. She couldn’t see beyond her own motivations. She simply expected the rest of the world to behave just as she would, were she in their situation.
Being Lady Meeka had always been a fun role for her to play. Supposedly the last child of a slaughtered noble family, she received both sympathy and pity. It helped that all the while, the fools underestimated her because of it. It made manipulating the mortals of Thena sinfully easy. She couldn’t care less about House Avarda, but her machinations had quickly made it the second richest house in the Empire.
When one was immortal, like Raina, machinations and plotting were her primary distractions. She toyed with the lives of mortals, as one might the pieces upon a chessboard. Meeka was far from the only role she had played over her long life, but it was certainly one of her favorites.
Her latest plot had definitely grown on her. She hoped to drag this charade out a bit further. As she tugged on each thread of the web she’d weaved, the different parts began to fall in place. Well, most of them did.
She was worried at the sudden silence of her sources to the south. Something had happened in Calrissa, but she couldn’t say what. And whether as Raina, or in her role as Lady Meeka, she was not about to risk herself to find out.
She would have to manipulate Kyle and the others into exploring what was going on down that way. She certainly didn’t want to miss out on what might prove to be an excellent opportunity to worm her way further into the War God’s graces.
For now, she was content to fill this role she had carved out for herself as his quartermaster. She had made herself indispensable to Kyle and the Sacred Destiny adventuring company. They had plenty of fighters, but only one person who was good at arranging for supplies, securing contracts, and ensuring all the behind-the-scenes work necessary to make things run smoothly got done. The best part about such a role, as mundane as ordering bags of flour, contracting with blacksmiths, or bribing the local guards might be, was that she found she actually enjoyed it.
Even now, she found herself humming a soft tune that her mother had been fond of so very long ago. She sat at her desk, comparing the limited reports of increased travel into the city from the south with the fact that her sources hadn’t reported in a week. For a moment, she felt like there was a presence behind her.
An icy chill ran down her spine. Her hand conjured a black dagger dripping with green Deceit Essence. When she looked over her shoulder, she couldn’t see anything out of place. Even sitting completely still, she couldn’t hear any breathing. Her extended senses didn’t reveal any essence use, and she scanned the room with Deceit Essence, on the stray chance that someone was trying to sneak up on her under a cloak. She’d certainly had made her fair share of enemies over the decades.
After a moment, finding nothing amiss, she relaxed. With a deep breath she turned and began to work again, cursing that she had lost her place on the report she was reading. Her dagger flicked back to the pocket dimension where she kept it. She once again focused on her work in the role of Lady Meeka, confident that no one could hide from her. She was the daughter of the god of deceit and a queen of the succubi, after all.
What she didn’t notice was the very tall woman, cloaked in thick, black robes of the finest velvet. Dod, goddess of death, stood mere inches away from Raina and it was only a matter of her weakened state that had allowed the demi-god to get even that momentary sense of her presence.
The ghost of a smile crossed Dod’s gaunt face; this one would work nicely.
Chapter 4 - Building Steam
Kyle erupted from the water, propelled by the power of his essence. He immediately toned back the spinning of his wheel. He was willing to trust in—no, that wasn’t the right word—he was willing to bet on the effect offered by Hav’s pendant. But that didn’t mean he was ready to put all his eggs in one basket.
So, he kept his essence and aura stronger than he normally might have. Now, he just needed to get back to his team. Their reactions, including whether or not they could sense the stronger aura coming off of him, would be the perfect test of the pendant's efficacy.
Besides, while he could sense that his team was healthy, th
ere was also a great deal of emotional turmoil he could feel from his bonded. He streaked through the air propelled by Sky Essence but realized it might take a while to get back to his team. He was more than fifty miles away from them.
Kyle hadn’t realized just how far Hav had pulled him from the shore.
He used the time to try to sift through the emotions he was getting across the bond from his team. Gilthan seemed to be suddenly relieved, perhaps because he now felt Kyle’s presence. He also could sense the man’s admiration for his teammates. Honestly, that was a good thing. One concern in the back of Kyle’s mind when he had given a divine splinter to the elven sorcerer, was that he would make a move on Kyle’s women.
Kyle shook his head. He had been thought of as a philanderer back on Earth, just because of how many women he’d dated. One of his coaches liked to joke that Kyle changed girlfriends faster than some of the guys in the clubhouse changed their underwear. Given how superstitious some players were about odd things like their lucky jockstrap, it was entirely possible the coach hadn’t been wrong.
Kyle liked women—always had and always would. He wasn’t about to start apologizing for that. But he had always done the decent thing, at least in his mind. He’d never cheated. If he was dating someone, he was faithful to them.
Now though, he wanted more from his relationships. He admired Hilde, Nyda, Kierra, and even Lash. He admired their drive, passion, and staunch commitment to their values. It certainly didn’t hurt that each of them was drop dead gorgeous, though each in their own way.
He could never choose just one of them. They were his women. He suspected Lash would soon be included in that category. And strangely, he was okay with it. Maybe he was getting too big of a head as a god, or maybe he was finally adapting to this new environment. The way he saw it, as long as he was faithful to them and they all agreed to whatever this polygamous relationship was, did it matter if he had one girlfriend or a dozen?
Bringing Gilthan on the team had felt a little like inviting a fox into the henhouse. The tall elf was quite the ladies' man. Now though, the bond made Kyle feel secure. There was nothing but mutual admiration there for his teammates.
Besides, Gilthan had his own little harem going with the former slave girls.
As for the emotion his other bonded were feeling… they were not so clear. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that they would only become clear once the dust settled. Something tumultuous had stirred the ladies up.
They seemed to be getting along well enough, though. Much of the tumult from his bonded seemed to focus on Lash. Hopefully, they hadn’t fought too much while he was gone. Kyle knew that Hilde and Lash were often just one wrong word away from exchanging blows, but somehow even the celestial felt different about the battle maiden now.
When Kyle landed in a cloud of dust raised by his Sky Essence, they all sprang to their feet. He was greeted by hugs, kisses, and questions.
After a moment of smothering him, Hilde pulled away long enough to ask, “Where have you been? We were worried sick.”
Before he could begin to answer, Kierra said, “I failed you, my Alpha. I will accept whatever punishment you see fit.”
Nyda said, “We were all worried about you.”
Even Lash had given him a hug.
Skrug was the one who finally gave Kyle the opportunity to get a word in. The troll moved forward, using his long arms to sweep the women away from Kyle and give him a bit of space. “Let boss man talk,” he growled.
Kyle explained his encounter with the demi-god and the involvement of the sea goddess. His story had everyone captivated, especially when he explained how he’d taken advantage of the harsh environment to strengthen his body.
“This explains what I am sensing from you. I get the impression of Hav from around you, but it is diffuse and… and it seems to push my senses away. If I wasn’t bonded to you… err… I mean, if I wasn’t your sworn servant, I don’t know that I could detect you within that aura,” Hilde said.
“That is exactly what I was hoping for,” Kyle grinned. “We will have to do some testing to see just how much of my power I can exert. We certainly don’t want any of the other gods finding us yet.”
“But what about Hav? She obviously knows who you are or suspects enough to create a trap for you,” Lash blurted out. “I don’t trust Hav. Krig’s memories say that she is fickle. But those memories also seem to imply that she mostly wants to be left alone. She loves her seas and doesn’t seem to have room for much of anything else.”
Their discussion was cut short by sounds of moaning that arose from the scrub brush not far from where they sat on the beach. It wasn’t the good kind of moaning either.
All of them were warriors enough that they were instantly on their guard. Kyle found it interesting to see that Nyda’s natural reaction was to step behind him, while Kierra stepped in front of him. Skrug stepped up beside him, even as Hilde and Gilthan took to the air just above them.
Kyle found his soul bound weapon in his hands before he even realized he had summoned it. It was still in the last form he had used it in, the naginata. For now, he didn’t see any reason to change it.
“Can anyone see what it is?” Kyle asked, then cursed himself.
Old habits die hard. His eyes might not be able to see through the dense brush, but his extra senses were already trying to tell him what was going on. There was a concentration of Death Essence in the bushes. But it was in a different configuration than he had ever seen before. If he had to describe it, he would say that it seemed to have been turned inside out.
Hilde called out the word even as Kyle realized what it was. “Undead.”
As if the word summoned them, a dozen zombies shambled out of the bushes on the edge of the beach. A couple of them were in armor, though clearly showing evidence of a deadly battle on their person. The rest looked like farmers, complete with an undead cow. Kyle could only grin at the bovine monstrosity for a moment. He shook his head as he idly wondered if they were about to enter a new zone.
Lash yelled out instructions. “Don’t let them touch you anymore than necessary. Undead can corrupt the living. They are an abomination before the gods.”
Surprisingly, before any of the trained warriors could react, Nyda stepped forward. She was still standing under Kyle’s arm—easy enough for the petite elf to do, since Kyle was more than eight feet tall—when she raised a hand and shouted, “Your presence offends my lord. He decrees that all who fall in life be shown to the halls of justice, there to receive their eternal allotment.”
Kyle almost laughed. He had certainly never said anything like that. Heck, he hadn’t even thought it, but Nyda took her role as his high priestess rather seriously. He hoped it wouldn’t become an issue down the road.
None of the zombies moved quickly; the cow was definitely the fastest of them, with four legs. Kyle realized they had a minute before the undead reached them, so he wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page. He no longer had Hilde inside his head to give him pointers.
“Anything specific I need to know about undead on Verden?” he asked.
He got a jumble of answers, as each member of the team tried to answer him, all at the same time.
Lash said, “They corrupt the world around them with their twisted nature.”
“They have to be burned to ash to completely stop them. Otherwise, even the pieces can cause problems,” Hilde added.
“Don’t count on pain stopping them. They will keep coming unless completely destroyed,” was Gilthan’s contribution.
Skrug’s comment almost made Kyle snort with laughter: “They no taste good.”
“So, we cut them into little pieces and Hilde burns them up. Got it,” Kyle replied.
He then exploded forward, rather than waiting for the monsters to reach them. He came in from the side at the bovine zombie and a single slice of his naginata took its head from its shoulders. The head continued with, even inc
reased, its distressed noises while the body continued stumbling forward.
Kyle was really liking his increase in Strength. There was a vast difference between being at the beginning of Monster Tier Strength and being near the peak of it. He quickly realized one problem it created, though. His Agility wasn’t keeping up with his Strength and instead of being able to flawlessly spin around to chop off a leg, his forward momentum had carried him 10 feet farther than he’d wanted to go.
For the moment, he’d have to adapt to this inequality using little bursts of War Essence, but that was only a stopgap measure. He was now within reach of three of the farmer zombies. None were even close to his size, but he still utilized a cone shaped Rage Burst to blast them backwards. The greater power and control he now had of his essence allowed him to turn the normally indiscriminate area-of-effect into a focused attack.
The force of the blast caught the zombies in the torso. It doubled them over and forced any air that had been in their lungs out, along with the remaining contents of their stomachs. The latter came out in a greenish spew all over the ground. Some splattered on his foot. His first reaction was to ignore it but remembering Lash’s caution about how they could corrupt things around them, Kyle focused his recently acquired Sea Essence. It seemed ideal for cleaning the vile mess off his boot.
