Home of Consequence

by Archibald Bradford

Dillon looked confused for a moment, but then he grinned as he remembered his appearance.

  “I’m looking after my baby cousin, she’s into her artistic phase, they grow up so fast, you know?”

  “Right, well whatever. Look I’m taking off, Kettering is stale.”

  “Taking off? You making a run to Wayfelt? Because I have some coins if you don’t mind grabbing me some stuff!”

  “No, man, I’m leaving, leaving. Moving on. I’m here checking to see if you want to come with, like we always talked about.”

  Brandon injected enthusiasm into his voice but he didn’t get nearly the reaction he was expecting.

  Dillon let out a derisive snort at the proposal.

  “Yeah, when we were kids! I’m working with my Aunt starting tomorrow, now that I’m done school she’s giving me a job in her boutique. I’ll get to play with women’s underwear all day and flirt with pretty girls all night! And if I save up, in a few years it’ll be my shop!”

  He beamed, proud of his plan, but his smile faltered at the scowl on Brandon’s face.

  “Dude, why would you want to stay in this dump and play with women’s clothing?”

  “Uh, because I like women and getting close to their clothes naturally means getting close to what’s underneath them.” He stated like it was the most obvious fact in the world.

  Brandon’s scowl deepened.

  “What about our plan? Come on man, don’t leave me hanging!”

  Dillon shifted his weight to his other foot.

  “Look, I can’t leave even if I wanted to. Like I said I’m looking after my cousin for the next few hours.”

  Even as he spoke there was a resounding crash and a toddler’s squealing giggle from inside.

  “Oh shit, man I gotta go! I’ll see you when you get back!”

  Abruptly he shut the door in Brandon’s face.

  Chapter 20:

  Dark News

  Barring the drama between Cordelia and Oldeera, life in Kettering had reached some semblance of normality for Nameless and the girls.

  They still thought often of Kar, but day to day they were able to find the joy that Volka wanted for them in their safe little corner of the world.

  Sadly, events outside of the small farming community had to catch up with them eventually. And they did so in the form of an Aegis councilor and some familiar Amazons.

  After the drama in town Nameless and his girls shared lunch with Paul, they had just finished eating when Milly all but sprinting out the door afterwards, eager to get back to her training.

  The rest remained; making small talk with the old farmer until Erica’s hearing picked up on people in Paul’s driveway.

  They stepped outside to see Aegis Booker with his two bond-mates, Yana Brael and Juni the Undine, as well as a couple of Yana’s warriors approaching the house.

  After a brief round of greetings on Paul’s porch they went back inside to talk.

  The one-eyed man got right to the point.

  “Miranda and her girls are on their way from Oakridge. They launched a raid the other night and have two Tenebrae in custody.”

  Ophelia gasped.

  “Are they alright?”

  Booker nodded.

  “Her Amazon took a beating but they are in one piece. I’m here because we are hoping that you can save the Tenebrae.”

  Nameless recovered from his shock quickly.

  “Of course! You don’t need to ask for that!”

  The Aegis councilor nodded his assent.

  “Where are the rest of the Brael girls? I mean, you’re sort of an important guy right?” Erica observed.

  “Tiana is leading them on a mission, we’re spread a bit thin at the moment, and I’m not nearly as important as he is.” Booker jutted one finger at her bond-mate.

  “Not gunna argue with that.” Nina bobbed her head once in agreement; “Where did the two Tenebrae come from?”

  Booker sighed and rubbed at the dark grey patch over his right eye.

  “Actually it was three, one died during the raid. We’re still getting all the details. But given Jonathan’s history I’m not ruling out his involvement, which is why I’m here. We need answers.”

  “You look tired, Aegis Booker.” Ophelia observed as she brought the older man a cup of coffee.

  He sighed as he sipped at the hot drink, and then smiled thinly at the kindly Flutterby.

  “Trying times.”

  Nameless picked up on the older man’s mood, and on the defensive stature of Yana and her Amazons, and knew that there was something more, something beyond the Tenebrae.

  “What is it? What else?”

  Booker regarded the slight man for a few moments as he sipped at his coffee. Then his gaze shifted to the Valkyrie standing behind him and he nodded to himself.

  “I supposed of anyone outside the Aegis, you at least should know. People are disappearing son. Just a few at first, but now… we’re talking in the dozens, and from all over. Monster girls mainly, but more than a few humans have gone missing as well.”

  Paul’s living room was deathly silent as they took in his words.

  “Evadne?” Volka asked.

  Booker nodded.

  “She’s not being shy about it. Raided a homestead a while back. Killed the husband and took the wife’s bond-mate. Left her and the kids with enough nightmare fuel to last a lifetime. Wife’s description fit, brave woman.”

  Nameless felt a massive surge of guilt at the thought of people suffering at the hands of the deranged Empath that he had woken up, and further guilt that he wasn’t doing more to help stop him.

  “So, they need monster girls to resume their experiments?”

  Booker shrugged.

  “We don’t know for sure, but it seems bloody likely. It has been impossible for us to track her movements, with her magic she seems to be able to pop up anywhere.”

  “What is the Aegis doing about it?” Paul asked.

  The old man had conflicted feelings about the Aegis in his home. On the one hand he respected who they were and what they did, on the other he didn’t like the idea of Nameless getting pulled into it.

  Booker drained the last of his coffee and set it on the end table before answering Paul.

  “As much as we can, which isn’t enough. We’ve reached out to the covens. Hopefully they’ll be able to figure out some way of tracking her. I hate this kind of magic. In the meanwhile, people are starting to clue in, only so much we can cover up after all. When your neighbours start vanishing fear takes over, makes people stupid.”

  He rubbed at his missing eye some more and stifled a yawn.

  “What can we do to help?”

  The corner of Paul’s mouth twitched briefly into a frown and Booker smiled at Nameless’s earnest question.

  “As an Empath? Stay safe. Aegis Holt should be here in a few days, and when she gets here she won’t want to hear that you broke your neck doing something foolish.”

  Ophelia smiled privately, his tone was so very similar to Paul’s.

  Nameless nodded with some reluctance, then frowned.

  “What about Sadie and Xalanth?”

  Booker gave a shake of his head.

  “They disappeared again. As you know, some monster breeds we simply don’t have authority over.” For the briefest of moments, his eyes flashed to a smirking Nina; “That and it’s in a Dragon’s nature to answer to no law but her own.”

  “Thug life.” Nina said with an approving nod.

  “No idea where they went?”

  He turned at Erica’s question and shrugged.

  “At first I figured that Xalanth was going after Evadne, and had boarded Sadie up in an active volcano somewhere to keep her safe. But now… I have another theory.”

  Paul snorted.

  “And would you care to share your theory with the class? Or do you plan to wait till they get back so you can change your answer to fit?”

  Yana bristled at the old farmer’s dig, but Booker chuckled.r />
  “Fair enough Mister Fletcher. I suspect they are looking into our young friend’s back-story.”

  Nameless blinked several times in surprise, and so Booker elaborated.

  “As far as anyone can tell, you two are the last Empaths, which means one or both of your parents were Empaths as well, I think Sadie’s hoping you have cousins or something. Personally I think it’s a long shot, but Sadie was always quick to leap at any leads.”

  While he picked up his cup again, Riya spoke up from beside her warleader, looking around the room.

  “Where is your Milly? It would be good to see her again.”

  Ophelia refilled Booker’s coffee as he held his cup out for her.

  “She’s practicing with Myrina and her girls at the cottage. They have grown very close.”

  Yana’s arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed.

  __________

  In the mountains far to the north east of Garland, just south of the university city of Algrade, was a system of caves that ran for miles deep into the ground.

  During the war it had been used as a secure staging area by the forces of the Divine Republic in their assault against the monster girl tribes. Now it was forgotten by man, and remembered only distantly by the very few monster girls old enough to have known of its existence.

  One though, remembered it better than most.

  Evadne the Chimera’s impatient hiss was echoed by her tail as she paced before her bond-mate Jonathan Pym, the dual sibilant sound rebounded off of the cavern walls and echoed away into the darkness.

  Under the light of the lanterns the Empath looked awful. His clothing was unwashed and hung from his lanky frame like rags on a rack, the pallid skin of his face had an unhealthy sheen and dark circles stood in contrast to the whites of his eyes.

  He had just finished breaking the last of the girls she had brought in, and now they needed to have a long talk.

  Evadne hissed again and glared at him.

  “This is ridiculous, we need more fighters.”

  The exhausted Empath rubbed at his face with both hands while Evadne spoke; they’d had this conversation before.

  “I know dammit. But they take so much longer to break. They have willpower. They train to suppress their fear. And most importantly, they are apparently harder for you to catch alive.”

  Her tail hissed at him again as her eyes narrowed.

  “We won’t succeed with bunnies and sheep.”

  The muscles in his legs screamed as he pushed himself to his feet. He was still recovering from his ten year comma, but though he tired easily, sitting still for too long filled him with dread.

  He much preferred some sore muscles to that feeling of stillness that he associated with his time trapped in the hell of his own mind.

  “Since you absolutely refuse to consider the experiment I proposed-”

  He stopped himself as her tail lunged at him, its fangs pulling up just shy of biting into his cheek.

  With great care he finished his thought.

  “We go into the wilds?” He suggested.

  Evadne gave him a disdainful look.

  “And take ten times as long to find the girls we need?”

  He whirled on her, his irritation peaking.

  “At least we wouldn’t have the Aegis all over us out there! Why did you have to throw that kid out the window? You could have just snapped his neck! Made it quick at least.”

  Her tail reared up and glared as her own ire rose, but he didn’t back down.

  “You are too reckless Evadne! With all the attention on us now, I’m down to my last black market contact and she doesn’t come cheap!”

  “I don’t care about money. Pay her.”

  “She didn’t want money!” He spat in frustration; “She wanted some of the girls, and while you may not care about their well-being, I do!”

  Living in a cave as wanted fugitives meant living without a great deal of luxuries, but in Jonathan’s time helping the Aegis he had secretly gotten to know a great many of the movers and shakers in the criminal underworld, and he leaned heavily on those contacts now.

  But the price just kept going up the more monsters Evadne brought in.

  The last two contacts met a bitter end from her tail when they foolishly threatened to expose them to the Aegis in an attempt to get more coins for their wares.

  And what Bethany defined as payment chafed at him, almost as much as Evadne’s indifference did.

  Jonathan splashed water in his face then pounded his fist against the basin.

  “Fuck, none of this is going as we planned! You are right, we need fighters. I don’t know, maybe then we could just go out and take what supplies we need instead of paying these degenerates for them.” He spoke with contempt.

  Evadne had stopped listening to him as she paced, but at his mention of simply taking what they need she had an idea.

  “What if you can get a whole bunch of warriors, and only have to break one mind?”

  Jonathan’s brow wrinkled in confusion as he puzzled over what she meant, until finally his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “You can do it?”

  “Of course I can, but how the hell will you manage them all?”

  “If necessary I kill half of them and then take the survivors. Then we get one monster girl, worth more than a whole herd of these blasted sheep, and able to go anywhere we need for your stupid supplies.”

  He nodded reluctantly.

  “Okay, but how would you even catch them? They are faster than you, and they’re all in the cities, which would mean Aegis backup minutes away.”

  Evadne’s eyes narrowed.

  “Not according to your contact, the one whose tits you try so hard not to stare at.”

  He waved his hand dismissively.

  “She was just repeating a rumour.”

  “Rumour or not, I’m going.”

  She turned away, her snake tail watching him as she strode out of their lair.

  He called after her as she receded into the darkness.

  “Evadne, be serious! Why would a hive of Hornets be in some remote farming town?”

  Chapter 21:

  Wounded Pride

  While Nameless and Booker continued their discussion at Paul’s, Yana and her two Amazons excused themselves to visit with Milly and the Saenga warriors.

  It was not a joyous reunion.

  While crossing the field, Yana took in the sight of Milly training with Myrina and her girls.

  She heard their boisterous voices and the clear ring of Milly’s laughter as they worked.

  Without a word of greeting, Yana stalked over to stand between Milly and Myrina and rudely snatched the other Amazon’s spear away.

  “What-”

  Yana’s glare cut Myrina off mid-sentence and she took up position opposite Milly.

  “Kar’s spear was given to you in trust Milly. It is time for you to show me that trust was not misplaced.”

  Milly had barely recovered from the sight of the Brael girls when Yana attacked.

  Even with the massive gourd on her back containing her Undine bond-sister, the Amazon was a blur of motion and the Minotaur was immediately on the defensive.

  She barely managed to bring Kar’s spear up in time to block the initial assault, and she was nowhere near ready for the follow up strikes.

  The veteran warrior struck her three times down her left side in rapid succession with the padded tip of Myrina’s spear, far harder than was necessary for training.

  “Is this all you have learned?! You have to be faster!”

  Yana struck her low on her thigh and Milly lowed in distress from the force of the blow. Her own spear always seemed to get in position a fraction of a second too late to protect her.

  The powerful Amazon wasn’t holding back and Myrina and Riya were sharing worried looks now as Milly stumbled backwards under the onslaught.

  Yana hit her again, this tim
e spinning to drive the butt of her weapon into the cow’s gut before she had time to blink, causing her to double over, only to be forced straight again when Yana’s knee connected with her shoulder.

  “You still hesitate, you think too much! Stop being soft and hit me!” She snarled as she stepped past Milly’s clumsy guard and threw a left cross that caught her in the cheek.

  She spun again and brought her spear low to Milly’s injured calf, this time causing the Minotaur to crumple in a heap.

  Yana was surprised for a moment though, after she hit the ground the cow girl rolled backwards out of harm’s way and scrambled to stand.

  It was the very same maneuver that Myrina had just been drilling with her and she executed it flawlessly.

  But the raging Amazon wasn’t impressed for long. She lunged forwards with her weapon held in a bar in front of her, body-slamming the Minotaur back to the ground before she could fully regain her feet.

  “Not good enough! Kar would be ashamed of you!” Yana snapped as she placed the butt of Myrina’s spear between Milly’s breasts and pinned her to the ground.

  Before she could say or do anything else though, tendrils of water sprang from the gourd on her back and wrapped all around her arms and legs as a tearful Juni poked her head out of her water.

  “Stop it!” The Undine cried out.

  “Juni! What are you-”

  Yana stumbled back, tearing her limbs free of the magically animated water, but sudden golden light blazed before her as Volka landed between her and the prone Minotaur, her wings spread wide and her shield held at the ready.

  “Find another outlet for your rage and grief Warleader! Dare to strike at my sister again and you will face my wrath!”

  Volka’s angelic voice was great and terrible as her golden eyes bored into the water-bound Yana, and her condemnation was enough that the furious Amazon had to turn away from her severe glare.

  The standoff lasted until the others were running towards the commotion, Booker and Nameless at the forefront. The young Empath had sensed Milly’s distress and sent Volka ahead to help her while he sprinted towards home.

  “Yana! Juni! What in the hells is going on?” Booker demanded.

  There was another long silence, broken only by Nameless’s worried voice as he and Kaylee helped an injured Milly to her feet.