Legacy of the Valkyrie

by Archibald Bradford

  “Erica…”

  The emotion was quashed as quickly as it came and the Katje grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the whore-house.

  “Come on Master! Kar is right, we need to get our shit and get out of this place.”

  “A-Alright.”

  But he saw her wipe away a hot tear from her cheek.

  Kar caught the exchange and also saw the look on Erica’s face. So when the next man made a pass at the Katje, she seized him by the shirt and threw him into a pile of rubbish bins against the side of one of the rough wooden buildings.

  “The next drunken fool to proposition my friend will taste the end of my spear!”

  She called out loudly for all of the nearby men to hear.

  Ophelia sighed.

  “So much for not drawing attention.”

  But at least Erica wasn’t likely to receive any more offers.

  “Thanks.” Erica’s voice was tiny.

  “Bah, make no mention of it, sweet girl. And just ignore these scum. I have not seen a single man since we walked through those walls, only greedy boys!”

  “That hurts my feelings a bit.” A voice drawled.

  They turned to see a man in a wrinkled security uniform sauntering up to them.

  “The name’s Jared, and I’m the law out here. You know, technically you just committed assault.”

  He sounded apologetic as he gestured at the downed man with his other hand resting on his hip.

  Kar laughed.

  “Will you detain me then? Do you think you have the strength to master me?”

  He was shaking his head before she finished though.

  “Nope, no one is going to master or detain nothing. Just mind you don’t commit more than assault. If bodies start dropping I’ll have to get involved. And try to go easy on these men. They’re hard workers when they’re sober.”

  Kar sniffed again.

  “Drunk or no, we are all judged by our actions. So if another one of these boys bothers her again, I will keep my promise. This Katje is no trollop for you or your friends to play with.”

  With that she turned away and they kept moving, the lawman’s eyes tracking them all the while.

  After they had stocked up from the local provisioner they were stopped one more time, though by a much different person. A tiny monster girl with dark brown hair, rounded grey ears and a skinny pink tail tugged on Nameless’s pant leg.

  “Hey! You need any more supplies? I know a better place! Great prices!” The little girl shifted from one foot to the other excitedly.

  Ophelia frowned at the sight of the young girl, barefoot in the muck and clad in worn clothing.

  “Goodness dearheart! Where are your parents?”

  The little girl shifted back on her heels.

  “Don’t have any.” She said defensively.

  Ophelia tsked.

  “Well, then who takes care of you?”

  Nameless recognized her tone immediately, he had heard it many times before. If there was one thing Ophelia understood above all else, it was children.

  The little mouse girl smacked one fist to her chest, though her eyes shimmered a bit.

  “I take care of me! Cuz I’m tuff.”

  Ophelia adopted her best stern look.

  “Young lady, you are far too young to take care of yourself. Now why don’t you come with us and we can get you something to eat?”

  The girl’s brave expression faded a bit and she swallowed as her eyes flicked to Nameless for a moment.

  “I won’t, I won’t have to do any grown-up stuff will I? Cuz the girls from the Cat-House warned me about that.”

  Nameless grimaced but it was Erica who replied.

  “Kiddo, if someone tries to make you do anything like that I promise you it would end very badly for them.”

  She was twirling one of her knives between two fingers and the little mouse smiled at the Katje’s posing.

  “Okay! Just let me get my bag!” As she turned to leave she paused; “My name’s Mishka!”

  She scampered away and slipped under a nearby porch.

  But Kar was shaking her head.

  “Ophelia, this urchin will play on your compassion and no doubt try to steal from us, we should leave.”

  The Flutterby shifted to face Kar and the warrior actually stepped back at the heat of her glare.

  “Of course she will! And in the process of stealing from us she will get a hot meal and a warm bath. Two things she clearly needs.” Her look softened and she smiled confidently; “I spent three years working with children just like her in the slums outside Algrade, so believe me when I tell you there isn’t a trick this girl could pull that I haven’t seen before!”

  Kar still looked skeptical but she didn’t off any more objections.

  Mishka soon returned with a small canvas sack over her shoulder, though now she looked a little shy.

  “I told you my name…” She hinted.

  “Yes you did dearheart. My name is Ophelia, but you must call me Mistress Ophelia.”

  The girl blinked her wide eyes.

  “How come I gotta call you that?”

  Ophelia reached down and crooked her fingers under the mouse girl’s chin to turn the girls face up to meet her kind eyes.

  “Because dearheart, it shows me that you are willing to behave, and only if you are willing to behave can we be friends.”

  The girl’s jaw jutted out pugnaciously.

  “What if I don’t wanna?!”

  Ophelia fixed her with a firm look that Nameless hadn’t seen since she caught him trying to sneak cookies into his bed at the orphanage. She didn’t say anything, because really, she didn’t need to.

  The little mouse swallowed, her bluster gone as quickly as it came.

  “I wanna.”

  The Flutterby nodded.

  “I know you do dear. Now, we were headed back to our camp to make dinner if you would like to join us.”

  But the mouse’s round ears flattened to her head.

  “You aren’t staying in town?”

  “No, our friends are outside of town waiting for us, now come along dear.”

  They took a couple steps away but the mouse girl remained unmoving.

  “I can’t do that.” Her voice was as tiny as she was.

  Ophelia put her hands on her hips.

  “And why not?”

  Mishka shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  Erica’s eyes widened and she squatted down slightly to bring herself to Mishka’s height.

  “Mishka, where is your heartstone?” She asked slowly.

  The girl swallowed, her look turning fearful.

  “I-I can’t tell you that either.”

  Kar, her interest piqued now, crouched down next to Erica, though she was still much taller than either of them.

  “You are far too young to be apart from your heart little one! Did someone take it from you?”

  Mishka was looking very uncomfortable.

  “I see, well, since you can’t leave, and can’t tell us where your stone is, can you at least tell us who holds it?”

  She opened her mouth, about to say something, but a familiar voice cut into their conversation.

  “Well now! What is going on over here? Mishka you run along now and stop bothering these nice folk!”

  Jared’s voice distracted them from Mishka, but as they turned to him Erica called out.

  “Hey wait!”

  The little mouse had scampered away, quickly disappearing underneath the nearby porch.

  Ophelia rounded on Jared and her ire was plain to see.

  “Why did you interfere!? Clearly that child is in need of help!”

  Jared put both hands in front of himself defensively.

  “Whoah, easy! Look she’s a nice enough kid, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people complain to me about her stealing from them.”

  Ophelia’s wings fluttered in ag
itation.

  “And whose fault is that? Who looks after her? Who makes sure she’s eating healthy and that the men-” She spat out the word like it was rotten in her mouth; “-in this cesspool aren’t taking advantage of her?”

  A hint of anger took hold of Jared’s features.

  “Look lady, you’re new around here, so I’ll let that slide. But if any one of the men in town was ever stupid enough to mess with her like that… well let’s just say they would find themselves in a dirt house with a thick roof over their head. That I promise you. As for who looks after her, well, the ladies of the Cat-House do! At least as much as she lets them. Don’t be fooled by those big round eyes of hers neither! She would have cleaned you folks out of coins and been back on the street in an hour looking for the next sucker to come along!”

  Ophelia’s didn’t look convinced as she crossed her arms over her breasts.

  Jared sighed.

  “Look, I know she’s troubled and I wish we could do more for her, I really do. But you can’t save everyone.”

  Nameless surprised them all by nodding and speaking for the first time.

  “I’m sure that you do what you can, and I’m sorry for the trouble.”

  He crooked his arm in Ophelia’s and pulled her away from the lawman.

  “What?!” All three girls said in unison.

  “It’s no trouble really, you seem like decent folk.” Jared said in a conciliatory tone.

  “Come on girls, we’ve caused enough grief for the lawkeeper, can’t you see he’s just doing his job? Now all of you be quiet! We’re leaving!”

  Erica and Ophelia followed him, the command in his voice clear. Kar did as well though the look on her face spoke of future violence and indeed as they headed back through town she was unable to keep silent.

  “What is the meaning of this!?” She seized him by the shoulder; “I thought I knew your heart but-”

  “But clearly there is something very wrong in this town and Mishka is part of it. And we’re not going to figure it out from inside a jail cell.” He reasoned.

  “W-Wait, what?” Erica stammered.

  Ophelia tilted her head to one side.

  “You were lying just now…”

  He nodded.

  “I think we should go talk to that nice girl at the Cat-House.”

  Chapter 8:

  Undercover

  Nina quenched Milly’s shoe by having Juni pour water over it, and shortly she was helping the Minotaur put it back on, wrapping the straps around her ankle with care. All the while the Undine watched in fascination, she didn’t wear shoes at all, so ones made of metal were all the more peculiar to her.

  “Thank you.” Milly said shyly.

  She and Nina really hadn’t spent all that much time alone together.

  “No sweat.” Nina muttered.

  “Nina? You aren’t holding back from us because of me are you? Because of how upset I was when you first bonded to Master?”

  Nina shook her head.

  “No. Don’t be an ass.”

  Milly lips quivered at the sudden insult.

  “I-I’m not an ass!”

  “You are if you blame yourself for shit that isn’t your fault like the weakling does.” Nina spoke blithely as she finished tying the last strap before cracking her knuckles.

  Milly stood up and put her hands on her hips, about to let the little giant have a piece of her mind when Nina asked a simple question that deflated her immediately.

  “What’s it feel like? When he’s inside you?”

  The Gigas was looking at her hammer instead of the Minotaur.

  Milly blinked rapidly, and then sat down again. She reached out and laid her hand over Nina’s.

  “It’s the most amazing feeling: the sense of fullness, and of his pleasure, but also the sense of how badly he wants it to feel good for you as well.”

  She wore a blissful smile.

  Nina huffed.

  “Okay, now you are an ass.”

  The Minotaur’s jaw dropped.

  “What?! You asked-”

  Nina gave her a stern look.

  “Yeah, and you were supposed to say, ‘meh, it’s okay’ or ‘his dick is alright, but Erica’s tongue is better’. Literally anything else to make me feel better about missing out on it.”

  Milly humphed and crossed her arms.

  “I’m not an ass.” She repeated with a pout.

  Nina reached out and slapped her thigh with enough force that the cow girl flinched.

  “It just sucks you know? Laying in the corner and listening to you try to be quiet while he fucks your brains out, all while feeling his desire, and his stupid guilt.”

  Milly dropped her pout and her look turned pleading.

  “Nina, you don’t have to feel that way! You were with Ophelia and Erica, and you enjoyed that!”

  “Yeah, that was pretty great actually…”

  The Gigas shrugged again, and then squirmed a bit when she realized that Milly was staring at her.

  “What?”

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Do what?”

  Milly turned pink as she made her offer clear.

  “Have s-sex.”

  The Gigas blushed as well at the Minotaur’s words, arousal blooming in her at the offer.

  “You’re joking.”

  But Milly took her diminutive face in both hands and forced her to meet her kindly gaze.

  “I want us to get closer Nina, we are bond-sisters, now and for all time. You ran away from me once already, are you going to do it again?”

  Nina was transfixed: her eyes were so blue…

  She swallowed at the sudden tension between them.

  Milly was serious.

  “I-I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to, well, really I can’t make you, and I’m probably not the best choice for this, Erica and Ophelia both have way more experience and are way prettier than me and they know how to-”

  She was beginning to babble when Nina cut her off.

  “Wait, you think you’re not pretty? Have you even seen your tits?”

  Milly blush deepened and she pressed her arms together, enhancing her assets for Nina’s eyes.

  “D-do you like them?”

  It took a few moments for Nina to answer.

  “Sorry, what?” She had been distracted, her eyes boggling at the expanse of cleavage before her.

  Milly giggled, and then turned earnest again.

  “I want to make you feel good, like Erica did at home. I want to show you that it is okay to feel good.”

  Their faces drifted closer, lips barely inches apart, their hot breaths tickling each other’s lips.

  Suddenly Juni let out the breath she had been holding as she desperately needed air. In their intimate moment the pair had forgotten that she was right there with them and in a bid to remain unnoticed the nosy Undine had involuntarily stopped breathing. The two heads slowly turned, still inches apart as Juni offered a sheepish smile.

  “Um, sorry?”

  “Hey water-thing.” Nina began.

  “Y-Yes?”

  “Fuck off.”

  Juni gave a quick nod.

  “Okay.”

  She scampered across the camp and quickly flowed back into her gourd on Yana’s back.

  The two bond-sisters turned to face each other again.

  “Where were we?” Milly asked coyly.

  The heat rekindled as the tension began to mount once more, drawing tight as a bowstring as they drifted closer and feathered their lips over each other’s for the briefest of moments.

  “Ah! Milly there you are, and I see your shoe is fixed! Let us continue your training while we await the others’ return!”

  Tiana, second behind the warleader, had caught sight of them and walked over with an eager smile on her face. She greatly enjoyed working with the buxom Minotaur.

  Her smile disappeared right quick however when the Gigas scooped up her hammer and stalked towards her wit
h murder in her eyes.

  “We can train later!” She shrieked as she ran for her life, the tiny girl in hot pursuit.

  “Oh we’re training now!” Nina shouted as she pulverized rocks, bushes, trees and just about anything else that stood between her and the fleeing Amazon.

  Milly and the others caught up to them a few minutes later, Nina had Tiana trapped far up a tree, clinging to it with all four limbs even as the Gigas shouted at her while removed one massive portion of the trunk at a time with mighty two handed swings of her hammer.

  “This is why-”

  Smash.

  “You don’t-”

  Crack.

  “Twat-block-”

  Crash.

  “The mountain!”

  Tiana gripped the shaking trunk as the tree dropped one section at a time, her doom rapidly approaching.

  “Waaah! Yana! Save me!”

  But Yana merely shook her head with a mixture of awe and amusement on her face.

  “Tiana, if you truly twat-blocked Nina you should have to pay the price. May the Valkyrie watch over you!”

  Fortunately for her, Milly, sweet, merciful Milly, walked up behind Nina and hugged her, whispering in her ear before taking her hand and leading her into the trees.

  No one followed.

  “You alright there Tee?” Jan called out.

  The mighty Amazon sniffled, still clinging to the tree even as it tottered.

  “I peed a bit.”

  She didn’t let go of the tree even as it fell on top of her.

  “Ouch.”

  Yana and the others shared a laugh before returning to their tasks, leaving their foolish sister to think long and hard about the consequences of pissing off a giant.

  __________

  Nameless and the girls approached the garish building; the night was just getting started so most of the Katje were still lingering around the porch and the window sills rather than working inside.

  “Back again little guy? Fancy a taste of something fresh, still only eighty coins…”

  The cream-coloured Katje’s eyes flickered to Erica when she mentioned something fresh.

  Nameless was so far out of his element it wasn’t funny, but fortunately Erica wasn’t.

  “My owner might be interested, but he’s a bit shy around girls he doesn’t know.”

  The Katje on the porch pouted a bit.

  “That’s so sad! But I bet we could get him over that shyness right quick…” Her voice trailed off as Erica began shaking her head.