“Not everything,” Fiona said, covering his hand with hers. Her eyes met his when he looked at her. “I’m here, and Myna is here. She can never betray you, or hurt you, not with a Life Bond. I will never hurt or betray you either, because I love you. Thank you for saving her, even if it required a Life Bond. She was always nice to me. Even when she kissed you before we left, I wasn’t upset with her, only worried you wouldn’t look at me.”
Putting his arm around her waist, he leaned over and kissed her softly. “You have a very large piece of my heart, Fiona. Silly that it happened after just a few days, but here we are. Myna… she has feelings for me, but I turned her down. I don’t want to cause you pain or distress, so please, if you—”
Fiona placed a finger over his lips. “You still have things to learn about this world, Sean MacDougal. Don’t utter words we might both regret later. Do you think Misa and Darragh were always lovers?” she asked suddenly, throwing Sean’s thoughts off track.
“Huh?”
“Misa and Darragh. Do you think she was always his lover?”
“No?” Sean said, confused by the apparent change of subject.
“Any Bond other than a Life Bond can be betrayed. At a high cost, but it can be. A Life Bond can never be broken. Misa was Bound to Darragh for over thirty years. It was only when he went blind that Misa asked to Life Bond with him. He refused for months, before finally giving in.” Fiona looked over at Myna. “You’ll grow to love her. You won’t be able to stop it. It happens with Life Bonds—your minds will start to sync, and in time, you’ll even learn to speak without words. If you care for them at all, you will fall in love with one whose soul is tied to yours, unless they die before then. Like the tide, it is inevitable. The more you care or love them, the faster the bond grows.”
Shaking his head, Sean felt an emptiness growing inside of him. “You’re going to leave?”
Her lips bloomed into a smile. “No. I won’t give up the man who gave me happiness that easily. I will be here with you, smothering you with my love. I will make her earn every second of your time. I’ll try to not be mean, or petty, or angry with you, when she finally gets your attention.”
Biting her lip she looked into his eyes, he could see hesitation but determination in them. “You know my past, Sean. I won’t let that stop me from asking this of you. I ask that you Bond with me, for ten years. I will give you everything I have, and in return I ask that you teach me everything you can. I know you will never hurt me, and that is why I am even taking this step. So, please teach me everything you can, and I will be yours.”
His mind reeled, stunned by her offer. She was all but offering her life to him, and not asking for anything he wouldn’t give her already. Why? Why is this happening? This isn’t how life is supposed to work! Am I really dead, and all of this some twisted afterlife?
“Sean,” Fiona touched his cheek, “please?”
His chest warmed at her entreaty. He remembered the image of himself standing on a bluff that Morrigan had showed him. Two of the followers were now Fiona and Myna, both smiling brilliantly at him. Identical tattooed bands around the third finger stood out on their left hands as they held their hands out to him.
The image vanished, replaced with Fiona’s nervous smile, “Sean?”
“I agree,” Sean said, feeling the Bond connect him and Fiona again. This time, both of her wrists grew black bands as he watched.
“Thank you,” the words were barely audible. Without warning, she lunged into him, knocking him to the ground as her lips found his with feverish passion, “Thank you.”
As they kissed, Myna’s eyes opened and she watched them for a moment, a pang of jealousy echoing through her before fading. She knew that, in time, he would grow to love her as much as he did Fiona, if not more. “I’ll wait for you,” the words were the barest whisper, but the two kissing heard them all the same.
Fiona silently acknowledged the challenge that had just been made. Sean worried about what he might have just stepped into. Their kiss lingered, though, as neither wanted to break the moment.
“We should get moving again,” Myna said as she got to her feet. “Or I can go check the trail, if you need a few minutes alone.”
“We’ll get going,” Sean said. “If not to Oaklake, where should we head?”
“Pinebough,” Fiona suggested as she got to her feet.
“Agreed,” Myna nodded. “It’s a tenday or more of overland travel from here, but it will help us lose any pursuers, and also disconnect us from the tragedy we left behind.”
“You don’t want to go back and bury them?” Sean asked.
“No need,” Myna said as she looked back the way they had come, daybreak brightening the sky. A plume of thick black smoke rose from the direction where the village had been. “The Moonbound have erased the village from the map.”
“May their spirits find rest,” Fiona said softly, her head bowed.
“May their spirits find rest,” Myna echoed.
“May Aed give them solace and welcome them home,” Sean said.
“We don’t need to be as stealthy today, but we should still practice the new skills that Master has given us,” Myna said as she began to walk away.
“No,” Sean said, bringing both girls to a stop. “I’m not anyone’s master.”
“If I call you anything else in public, it will bring shame to us both,” Myna said levelly. “Besides, you are my Master, and my soul belongs to you.” Myna’s tone was possessive, softening as she went on, “I know you have some issues with this new world, Sean MacDougal, and if it pleases you, I will call you Sean when we are alone, or with those that know. But publicly, you must be my Master.”
Scrubbing at his face, Sean sighed as he mumbled, “James would have had a field day here.” Dropping his hands, he nodded. “Public only, understood?”
“Yes, Sean,” Myna said, her lips twitching into a smile as she turned and walked off. “I will always do what you tell me to.”
“Well played,” Fiona muttered as she took Sean’s hand. “Shall we follow our guide?”
“Oh gods,” Sean muttered as they followed Myna, “it’s already begun.”
Sean Aragorn MacDougal Human Age: 33
Gifts: Metal Bones, Viney Muscles, Mithril Blood, Magic Bond, Mending Body, Death Ward, Linguist, Hunter’s Blood, Infinite Possibilities Spells: Summon Water Talents: Shaper- (Wood and Metal) Mage Sight Camouflage Bonded: Fiona Mithrilsoul-Ten year Bond Myna Mooncaller-Life Bonded
Author’s Note
Please consider leaving a review for the book, feedback is imperative for an indie author. If you don’t want to review it then think about leaving a comment or even just a quick message. Remember positive feedback is always welcome.
If you want to keep up on my writing a bit more you can find me on Goodreads, and I have a blog I post to monthly which is synched to Goodreads.
Goodreads.com/Daniel Schinhofen author page
Other places you can keep up to date on me and my works:
https://www.patreon.com/DJSchinhofen
https://twitter.com/DJSchinhofen
Fan group on Facebook for Daniel Schinhofen
If you LOVE LitRPG, then check out these pages full of awesome LITRPG goodness. You can interact with authors like me and many more. Find banter, good times and a lot of likeminded people.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/
https://litrpgforum.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GameLitSociety/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/haremlit/
A big thank you to my editors, Jennifer York, Samantha Bishop, and Daniel Stetson. Also props to Geno Ferrarini, and Sean Hickinbotham for being my Alpha Readers. I’d be remiss if I didn’t include my beta readers, in no particular order: Zee, Ian McAdams, Arthur Cuelho, Scott Brown, Buddy Brown, A. J. Bishop, Tarcha Saleeba, Alec Young, Jay Taylor, Justin Johanson, Josh Holmes, Rob Bunting, Isidor
e Fitch, Christina Norton, Luke Reynolds, Sawyer Aubrey, Nigel Hollingworth, Aoife Megami, Robert Peterson, Sullivan Grimm, Shane Bird, Steve Robles, William Reid, and Nick Kuhns.
The cover for Morrigan’s Bidding is brought to you by Anthony Bishop, a very talented artist. You can find him at https://grimmworks.tumblr.com/
A big thanks to my Patreon supporters who have gone above and beyond in their support:
Kyle J. Smith
Cody Carter
Godofcookie
Kevin McKinney
James Patton
Sean Emanuel
Sawyer Aubrey
Christopher B.
Jack Ling
Bradley White
Stephen Wise
Markdsm
Zach Hicks
Evan Cloud
Joseph Keyes
Kyle Gravelle
Robert Shofner
Travis Cox
Jarred Medlock
Charles Groark
Aaron Nirider
MrNyxt
Joey Dawson
Viking
J. Patrick Walker
Ian McAdams
Timothy Eskew
Michael Jones
Avery Doxtater
Michael Moneymaker
Alexander Rodriguez
I would like to point you all towards some fellow authors whose works I enjoy:
William Arand: Author of Otherlife Dreams, Super Sales on Superheros, and Dungeon Deposed. Along with his alter ego Randi Darren: Author of Wild Wastes and Fostering Faust.
Michael-Scott Earle: Author of countless series that range from sci-fi to fantasy and even LITRPG. I would recommend Lion’s Quest and Star Justice, but Tamer, one of his newer series, is also a lot of fun.
Blaise Corvin: Author of Delvers LLC, which is an amazing GameLit series. He also penned the Nora series.
Scottie Futch: Is a prolific author who can be found on Royal Road and Amazon. Galactic Fist of Legend, Earth Tactics Advance, and Galataea Crystallim are just a few of his works
Eden Redd: She might be mentioned last but she is definitely worth the read, more so if you like some adult content. Her Lewd Saga series combines erotica and LITRPG.
To learn more about LitRPG, talk to authors including myself, and just have an awesome time, please join the https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGGroup
Morrigan's Bidding Page 25
