Myna slowed her steps just enough to make sure the Canine was focused on her, her blades slapping away paws by inches. Falling for her ruse, the Canine Moonbound had no idea that Sean was behind it until Dark Cutter carved deep wounds across both its legs. An anguished howl came from the beast as it dropped to its knees again. Not giving it a moment to think, Sean kept the naginata spinning, carving bloody grooves into the back of the monster.
Back arching as it tried to pull away from the blade, the Canine turned its gaze to Sean, its eyes widening as it saw who had ambushed it. “No! You should be dead.”
Sean gave it a tight smile, “I’m not, but you are.”
Myna darted in and cut the beast’s neck, bright red blood spraying over her as she leapt back to avoid its return attack. “We need to stick some silver into it,” Myna said loudly, “give me an opening.”
Sean focused on disabling the Canine’s arms as he kept the attacks going, watching the older wounds heal as he did. “Come on! That isn’t fair at all.”
A pulse of anger came from the weapon as Sean kept the attack going. Frowning at the blade, Sean suddenly thought he understood what it wanted from him. He thrust the blade into the back of the beast, where it pierced its heart before erupting out the front of its body in a crimson spray. The Canine gasped and began to jerk on the blade, but wasn’t able to dislodge itself. Sean inhaled sharply as a surge of energy entered his body. His body, which had been healing, was suddenly perfectly fine and the residual energy seemed to soak into his core.
Dropping to one knee to allow the body to slide free of the blade, Sean panted. “You steal life from your foes?” The blade glowed darkly, once. “You need death to keep going... you’ve been using the past souls to survive the famine of the last few years?” The glow pulsed once, then faded again.
Myna went to Sean’s side as he spoke to the blade. “It has been long rumored that the blade drank the life of those it killed. No one could truly confirm the rumor, until now. Canine Moonbound normally need silver in their blood to kill them.”
Sean looked at the unmoving body before him. “He’s dead.”
“Yes,” Myna said softly. “We should stop here and let Fiona catch us, and I’ll skin the beast. Its hide will fetch a good price.”
Sean took a seat. “Okay, sounds good.”
“I’m glad it was an older Canine, they normally move in packs. This one was probably ousted from its pack as alpha recently,” Myna said as she began to cut into the body.
“Why was it limping if they heal so easily?” Sean asked.
“Silver and the saliva of their own kind leave lasting wounds,” Myna said as she worked.
Sean looked away from the grisly sight, feeling nauseous. If it had just been a wolf, that would have been one thing, but the Canine Moonbound had been intelligent and had spoken, and now Myna was skinning it for its hide. Sean tried not to think of the blanket Darragh had given him, which had been the hide of one of these creatures as well.
Fiona came into the small clearing a moment later and froze, “What happened?”
“It was tracking us and attacked Sean,” Myna replied simply as she continued her labor. “We’re going to pause here for an early lunch, I have a lot of cutting to do to get the hide off intact. I would dig out his heart too, but we don’t have a way to store it for an alchemist.”
Sean swallowed hard at the idea of pulling the pierced heart from the body. “We can’t do that.”
“Which is sad. They fetch good coin,” Myna lamented. “Fiona, can you get some tea ready?”
“I can,” Fiona said, getting the pot out and setting it beside Sean, along with the soup pot. “Can you fill these? Myna will need to clean the blood off after she’s done.”
Sean was glad to help, and tried to keep himself distracted with that and other small chores. He kept his eyes off Myna’s work as best he could, but they would go back on their own and see her slowly working the hide from the wolf-man.
“If you come over here, I can show you better,” Myna said, giving Sean a grin, her blood caked clothing and face in stark contrast to her cheerful words.
“Not this time,” Sean said weakly, turning away from her. “I’ll be right back, I need to use the forest.” Sean left the clearing in a hurry, walked a few yards away and sat down, breathing deeply and trying to steady his nerves.
“What would you do here, James?” Sean asked the air. “You were always a little sociopathic. Could you handle the idea of skinning another person, or cutting their heart out to sell?”
You know he would, Sean berated himself. James, you fucker. You would be dancing happily, wouldn’t you, if it was you here instead of me? A beautiful woman and a catgirl both wanting you to be with them. Hell, you’d probably have swung a threesome by now, huh? Shaking his head, Sean closed his eyes and imagined James sitting across from him. What do you think I should do?
“Man up, fuck them both, and enjoy every moment. The Dannan gave you the choice to do whatever you wanted, so why aren’t you living in the moment? Come on Sean, we’ve joked about this kind of thing, and now you’re starting to act like the MC of a bad anime. Two willing and beautiful women want and need you with them, and you’re out here talking to me? Man the fuck up, or I’ll have to arrange my own death to come take them from you.”
Eyes snapping open, Sean looked around for James. The voice had been so real, it had to have been James’ voice. After a minute Sean, shook his head, “Supplying my own friend’s words of wisdom. Fuck, I’m losing it. But you’re not wrong James, maybe I do need to man the fuck up. Okay, let’s roll with the idea of What Would James Do?” Stopping to chuckle at the initials, Sean got to his feet. “Thanks, man. I’ll do what we always said we would.”
With renewed energy, Sean started back towards camp. It was about time he followed his heart, and not what society had ingrained into him. His father had been a damned UDT, and would be appalled at Sean for not being able to handle what he had seen. Sean was going to change that and do what he had always secretly wanted to do; be with beautiful women and control his own fate.
When he got back to their camp, Sean found that Myna was done with the skinning and was stripping off her clothes. His pace slowed as he couldn’t help but stare at the petite Moonbound who was down to underclothes. Her body was very similar to Fiona’s— slim of waist; small, perky breasts; and long, lean legs.
Myna looked up, her cheeks going a deep red when she caught him staring at her. “I need to clean the blood off and change clothing,” she said as she took the wet rag Fiona handed her.
Fiona glanced back to see Sean still slowly walking forward, before turning to Myna. “You are his Life Bonded. It’s not like he’s never going to see you in less.”
Myna nodded, but took her eyes away from Sean, “I know. It’s just… I’m…”
Fiona’s eyes widened. “Never?”
“No. If I had, my ears would have become common knowledge,” Myna said. “Not that it matters now. Part-blooded Moonbound as Life Bonded aren’t too uncommon, after all. Though if we end up near my home, it might cause my mother a little distress. She’s been able to keep her blood mostly secret.”
“We’ll try to stay away, so as not to cause you or your mother issues,” Sean said as he took a seat, discreetly adjusting his pants as he did so. Averting his gaze from Myna as best he could, he still snuck glances at her as she wiped the blood off her face and rinsed it out of her hair.
“It’s okay to look,” Fiona said bluntly. “It’s probably better you do, so it won’t cause any awkwardness if something happens when we’re in a town or city later.”
“It’s not polite to stare at a bathing woman—” Sean began.
“You stared at me in the bath,” Fiona pointed out, cutting him off.
Bowing his head, Sean took a deep breath, “And you’re fine with me ogling Myna?”
“Sean,” Fiona said his name softly and waited for him to look up. “It’s not that I’m compl
etely okay with it, but it’s something that has to happen. I’ll still demand your attention and make her earn your love.”
Meeting Fiona’s gaze, Sean nodded, thinking back to his own pep talk just a minute ago. “Fine. I just don’t want to hurt you. It’s only been a week, but I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”
Fiona’s gaze softened and she scooted over to sit next to him. “I feel the same, really I do. I’m going to help you, as much as I can. After all, we’re Bonded for at least ten years. Maybe…” trailing off with a shake of her head, Fiona smiled.
“If you say so,” Sean said and brought his gaze back to Myna, whose blush had gotten partially down her chest. “Myna, are you okay with—”
“You are my Master, I will learn to accept and love it,” Myna said, cutting him off. Biting her lip, she met his eyes, “I am yours to do with as you will.”
Nodding, Sean let his gaze wander down her body again. “Okay, but I’m not going to do more than look.”
“If that is your wish,” Myna said softly.
Fiona nudged Sean, handing him some tea. “Drink up, we’ll be moving again once she gets cleaned up and dressed.”
Taking the cup, Sean gave Fiona a quick kiss, “Thank you.”
“You’re intent on keeping a low profile, correct?” Fiona asked.
“Considering the little I know about the world and how to navigate it, it’s the best thing we can do for now,” Sean said. “We can find a small town away from this area, and try to settle in for a while so I can adapt at a slow pace.”
“That is a good idea,” Myna said as she knelt and began to scrub at her clothing. “We’ll need to travel a bit further to distance ourselves from Oakwood. We might consider using the roads after Pinebough. It will make things easier, and let us move quicker.”
“If we try that, we’ll need to have jobs that we can do to earn our living. Also, I’m well known because of my Shame, so it will be hard for us to go completely unnoticed.”
“Since winter is coming, we can easily put you in long shirts with gloves,” Sean said. “If we only Shape small things, we can make a living and not be looked at too closely.”
“I can offer my services hunting, if it’s close to the edge of the wilds,” Myna said as she set her wet clothing aside. “It would probably be best if we stay at the outskirts, fewer people will ask questions.”
“We’ll probably still want to go further west than Pinebough, though,” Sean agreed. “It is a bit too close to Oakwood.”
“That gives us a plan,” Fiona said as she handed Myna some clothes. “Sean, can you give Myna and me a few minutes? We’ll pack up and meet you a little further on.”
Draining what was left of his tea, he handed Fiona the cup and stole a quick kiss. “I won’t be too far away.”
“I know,” Fiona said, giving him a smile.
When they found him ten minutes later, he was doing wind sprints. Seeing them, he stopped his running. “Ready to go?”
“Why the running?” Fiona asked.
“Just testing myself again,” Sean said as he took the big bag from Myna.
“Did you learn anything?” Myna asked, helping him get the bag settled.
“That I don’t tire easily,” Sean said, picking up Dark Cutter from where it rested against a tree.
“I could have told you that,” Fiona said softly.
Sean blushed, coughed once, and started walking. “Let’s get more distance between us and the body.”
The rest of that day was uneventful. Camp was set but Myna hadn’t found any easy game, so they were stuck with the rations they had. Sean got up into the trees to make their beds, but at Fiona’s insistence, he tied off ropes so Myna could go up with Fiona to try Shaping.
While they worked, Sean wandered off to the other side of the camp. He Shaped the bark on a tree smooth in the spot he intended to use. Once he was certain everything was ready, he squared up and hit the tree as hard as he could. The pain in his hand was intense, but he hadn’t broken anything. The tree didn’t fare as well— a fist-shaped dent two inches deep marred the spot he had hit.
The sound got both women’s attention and Fiona called out, “Are you okay?”
Shaking his hand with a grimace, Sean replied, “Yeah, just testing my strength.” Turning back to the tree, he missed the looks the women exchanged. Shaping the tree back into good health, Sean took a moment to apologize to it before he Shaped it again, forming the outer bark into a much denser material, to rival a breastplate. Shaping the underlying part to be softer, like flesh, Sean nodded as he settled back to try again.
This time, the punch shattered the outer layer, shards of it piercing both the softer wood beneath it and his hand. Stifling a scream, Sean looked at his hand, which was now discolored, misshapen, and had numerous pieces of the hard bark embedded in it.
“Still okay?” Fiona asked as Myna did her best to craft a bed.
“Not as much, but I’ll be fine soon,” Sean replied tightly.
“Stop attacking the trees, then,” Fiona sighed.
Pieces of bloody bark popped out of his hand as he began to heal. Resting his other hand on the damaged tree, he apologized again and put it back to normal. By the time he’d finished with the tree, the pain in his hand had subsided to a dull ache and the bones had finished healing.
Fiona climbed down to him when he walked back to where they’d made their beds in the tree. “Myna?”
“Asleep,” Fiona said softly. “She tired herself doing a bed. She’s never tried to Shape before, so it took more energy for her. She’ll improve, as will we with the Camo and hunting that we learn from her.”
“I see,” Sean said as he looked up at the tree.
“Sean?” Fiona said getting his attention, “Will you lay with me tonight?”
Sean looked into her heterochromatic eyes and smiled, “We need to be quiet, she has really good hearing. We don’t want to bring other monsters to us either.”
“I’ll get the blankets,” Fiona murmured, moving quickly to gather the items needed for them to be comfortable.
The hour was spent in hushed words and soft sighs as they renewed their closeness. Neither of them were aware of Myna awake in the tree above them, nor her silent vow to become closer to Sean as her hands slipped below her waist in time to the sounds below her.
When they were finally sated, Sean finished beds for them so they could retire for the night. Exchanging a goodnight kiss, the two separated and went to sleep.
Chapter Four
The first rays of sunlight woke the trio. Once everyone had breakfast and took care of necessities, they got everything together. “Instead of going ahead, I’m thinking we should all walk together today,” Sean said. “We can all work on Mage Sight instead of Camo today.”
“That sounds good,” Myna nodded.
“I agree, it will be interesting to use it without the monocle,” Fiona added.
They both gasped as they got the Talent to work. “So beautiful,” Fiona murmured as she looked at the glowing forest all around them.
“Everything glows with so much energy,” Myna added.
“Look at Sean,” Fiona said, “but carefully.”
Myna turned her head, her jaw dropping as she stared, “But… no one should hold that much power.”
Sean looked down at himself but couldn’t see what they saw, only his own skin. “Hmm, doesn’t work when I look at myself.”
“You’re glowing brighter than everything around us,” Myna said, stepping closer to him, her white and black energy swirling excitedly. Hand coming to rest near his heart, Myna spoke rapidly, “Your core blazes with energy. Even your hair,” her hand went up to touch his hair, “even this is filled with energy.”
“Yes, he is special,” Fiona said, touching Myna’s shoulder. “We should be going and not standing here.”
“Right,” Myna said, her hand falling back to Sean’s chest. “I see now how you could bind me, and I am truly honored t
o serve you.”
“Umm… okay,” Sean said, at a loss for words.
“Myna, you are our pathfinder,” Fiona said a bit more firmly.
“Yes, of course,” Myna said, her hand lingering on Sean’s chest. “Follow me.”
Following Myna, her form glowing with the increased energy that she had from Sean, the couple trailed a bit behind, holding hands.
“I’ve been wondering,” Fiona asked, “why have you kept Dark Cutter in that form?”
Life Bonds Page 3
