Nobody knows better than me how hopeless this is.
“Now that is quite a request. Pray tell me, how have you convinced your enemies to take your people as prisoners instead of just killing them?” the lord asked with narrowed eyes.
“I haven’t yet, but I will find a way to make it happen,” Zerae admitted.
“How shall you convince them to let you retake your prisoners?” the lord continued.
“I don’t know, but I will,” Zerae stayed steady.
“Provided you somehow manage, how do you plan to get your people down into the caverns?” the lord kept an unreadable face.
“If my maps are correct, there is a chasm about three hours of walk from here. I will find a way to descend my people through that chasm down here into the caverns,” Zerae stated.
“That is the most outrageously insane plan I had heard in a very long time. Suppose I agree, War Leader, what’s in it for me?” the lord made a slight smile.
“We are warriors. We have no gold to offer, neither craft nor art. All we can offer is ourselves. We can help you defeat your enemies, hunt down your demons, clean out the caverns of whatever monsters creep within,” Zerae replied coldly.
"I have an army, so I have no need for untrained hands. If your warriors are that mighty, why do you not simply win this war you are in?” the lord asked.
“Because we must not. I cannot explain it in a way that makes sense, but please trust me when I say this,” Zerae smiled sadly.
“I heard a council of matrons rules the Faye. You have not mentioned it once, why?” the lord pried.
“Because I am doing this without the knowledge of the high council,” Zerae admitted flatly.
“You betray your own leaders, what guarantee do I get you will not betray me?” the lord shot.
“None. Just know that this city is far from our lands, there is nothing in it that would interest us and we are not ungrateful. Perhaps one day you shall need our help. Aid us now and we will answer your call should it ever come,” Zerae returned.
“This is a massive risk with no real reward. I truly have no need for extra hands and your hundreds of refugees might easily turn into thousands. I am afraid I am forced to refuse,” the lord evaluated.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
The city bell started ringing loud and strong. Everyone went to look from the balcony. There was a swarm of flying creatures inside the city. People were screaming and running.
Aaaaaaaaahhhh…….. yeeeeessssssssssss.
Zerae felt like the weight of the world just disappeared from her shoulders. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this relaxed.
“Your highness… please allow me and Astril to retake our weapons. We shall end this crisis within minutes and well, perhaps witnessing our strength shall help you reevaluate the value of friendship of the Faye,” Zerae smiled warmly at the lord.
“My men will manage this,” the lord refused.
“What do you have to lose? Your city is under attack; your people are dying as we speak. What would your people say were they to find out it could have been stopped, yet wasn’t because of your pride,” Zerae remarked in a dead cold voice.
“She has a point, father, we have nothing to lose here,” Jack concurred.
Lord Carlyle just waved his hand. Astril and Zerae took back their weapons.
“Astril, end these creatures… show them all who we are,” Zerae commanded.
“Hmmh… nah. I don’t feel like,” Astril refused. Everyone else in the room stared in surprise silence. Everyone except for Zerae. She was calm. She was relaxed. She knew will win here.
“I will let you have a couple of hours free and toss in some chocolate… now shoo and don’t come back before the things are dead,” Zerae waved her off with a hand.
“I want the hours here,” Astril pushed.
“Yea, yea, yea… now get to work,” Zerae smiled charmingly.
“Meh, I should have asked for more,” Astril breathed before she leaped off the balcony. “WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” she shouted as she flew. Astril landed on a roof and started dashing to where the fighting was happening. The creatures weren’t pretty. A strange mixture of hyena, vulture and a scorpion. They were as large as cows.
“Are you not going?” the lord asked Zerae.
“I don’t need to. We, Faye, are all born for battle. But that doesn’t make us all the same. Only the best of us make it become warriors. These monsters aren’t bad, but a single warrior of my clan is more than enough to dispose of them. They are too small and fast to reliably hit with ballistae or spells while being tough enough to survive multiple arrow hits. Your soldiers are doing a great job in limiting civilian causalities, but they simply aren’t equipped to kill these creatures,” Zerae explained calmly.
“And how is your warrior equipped to deal with them? All I see is a bow on her back,” the lord pondered.
“That’s for when we fly on our mounts. Here, she will not use it. Just watch… watch and bear witness to our strength,” Zerae announced.
Soon enough Astril made it to where the creatures were swarming. She drew her blades and they lit up with the blue and yellow flames.
Come to think of it; my plans depend on Astril and Leena a touch too often, don’t they? Then again, no matter how much I hate it, I cannot do everything by myself. I just can’t be in multiple places at once.
Astril finally reached the monsters, disappeared, reappeared mid-air next to one and ran her blades through it. It caught on fire. Astril kicked it down to use it as a platform to slice the creature next to her. Then she teleported again and chopped off a head of another one. Then again, again and again. Astril danced to the tune of death as she kept teleporting from one monster to another. She didn’t touch the ground once. The swarm of monsters was slowly turning into burning corpses falling to the ground.
If the creatures were smart, they would figure out the range of Astril’s teleport is rather limited, a cost for it being almost instantaneous. They can fly up to force her to land, which would get them off her reach and allow for a retreat or change of strategy. There are about forty of the creatures. Astril can comfortably do thirty jumps, up to sixty were she to push herself to exhaustion. There is no way she will not win.
“Seems like we will have our own share of fun,” Zerae smiled innocently as she saw four of the creatures flying toward them. The guards soon realized and went to push the lord and Jack from the balcony to set up a defensive formation around them. Zerae refused to go back. Instead, she jumped to the top of the railing of the balcony and waited for her opponents. The first creature flew straight at Zerae, screeching a battle cry. Zerae waited till it was almost at her. She could feel the tension behind her. She loved every bit of it. At the very last second, Zerae sidestepped the creature and drew her blade into a seamless cut. She split the monster in half. Looks on the faces of the guards were a priceless mixture of horror and awe. Zerae was beyond beautiful. She knew it. Everyone who had ever seen her knew it too. She ducked under the attack of the second monster and ran a blade through it. Zerae threw the monster off her blade into the third one. Step and swing cut off both of their heads at the same time. The fourth creature tried to fly past her. Zerae caught it by the scorpion tail and spun. It flew sideways and crashed into the wall. It screeched. Zerae leaped to it and hacked its chest open with a massive overhead cut. She stepped back as its blood flew through the air.
No reason to get my clothes dirty.
Zerae threw the king a charming smile.
“With the interruption over, I would like to ask if your highness wouldn’t be open for reconsideration of my offer,” she said politely.
The lord walked to the balcony to look at the city. All the creatures were burning on the ground. Dead.
“I do believe there is a merit to what you have to offer. Let us sit down and talk through the details of our cooperation,” the lord said.
Every lord has enemies. No lord has the option to ask the Faye t
o solve his problems. Joneth Carlyle just might if he gives me what I want.
“Your highness,” Zerae bowed lightly and followed him to the table.
“May!” Astril caught May from behind as she reappeared up at the courtroom, no doubt after scaling up the wall, “I got a few hours of free time, how about you show me around the town?”
May looked at Jack and he nodded slightly.
“I would love to, come!” she said and led Astril from the courtroom.
“Your friend is quite a handful, isn’t she?” Jack asked politely as he was leading her from the castle.
“Most of the time,” Zerae smiled back.
The deal I struck with the king isn’t what I hoped it would be. But it’s a deal. One I need. That leaves me with two more impossible negotiations to put this plan into motion.
“How about we get a bit more time and go grab a drink ourselves?” Jack tossed up.
I will give him credit for keeping a straight face when asking me out. Most men don’t manage even that.
“Another time, Jack, I need to go. Got any idea where May’s place is?” she returned a question.
“This way,” Jack led her forward.
Still a straight face after getting turned down. Not bad, Jack, not bad.
“I just wonder… why would these creatures attack the city? They have lived in the caves for decades, didn’t wander into the city once,” Jack mused.
I don’t know… maybe because I destroyed their eggs, put my perfume over the area, dripped it all the way to the city and put the rest on us? No, it couldn’t have been.
“I have no idea. I do not know these lands,” Zerae remarked.
“NNNNNHHHHHHHH,” echoed from the street ahead.
Reeeeaaaally?
“Sounds like May,” Zerae observed. Jack blushed slightly as he led her ahead.
“UUUUUUHHHHHH….. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH…… NNNNNNHHHHHH….. OH GOD…… AAAAAAAHHHHHHH…. ASTRIL……. UUUUNNNNNNNNG.”
“I never imagined she would be the screaming type,” Jack said awkwardly.
“Every girl is the screaming type when Astril is involved,” Zerae remarked angrily.
Why am I so angry? This is far from the first time Astril does this. So why do I feel like destroying the house, disemboweling her and using her intestines to whip Astril unconscious?
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH…. I can’t handle any mo… UUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNH…. AAAAAHHHHH… GODS…… HHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNN.”
The door of the apartment wasn’t locked. Zerae ignored Jack’s awkward look and just opened it to enter. May was on her back, her legs spread wide and hands above her head. Astril was on top, holding down May’s hands while moving her crotch up and down at a furious pace.
Does the fucking bitch carry the strap-on with her all the time? I should cut her tits off.
“UUUUUUUHHHH…… AAAAAAAH…. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” May moaned her lungs out.
“Sorry, gotta go,” Asril leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Flames of hell burned inside Zerae.
“Move,” she said in a voice that would give children nightmares. May looked at her, turned red and dug herself into bed sheets to not be seen. Jack was red too, looking into the ground awkwardly.
“Don’t worry, you will get your turn later,” Astril smiled sweetly at Zerae as she was putting off the strap-on.
“You have one minute,” Zerae announced and spun on her heel.
“I thought you would want more than such a quickie.”
I will fucking murder you!
Zerae drew a dagger, threw it at Astril in one fluid motion and stormed off.
Astril caught it an inch away from her face. She got up from the bed, quickly dressed, gave May a swift goodbye kiss and ran after Zerae.
“Do you have to fuck everything that has a pussy?” Zerae shouted at Astril as they walked through the city. The sheer awkwardness made Jack bid them goodbye as soon as they left May’s house.
“Don’t worry, yours is my favorite," Astril replied sweetly.
“Looks like everyone’s your favorite", Zerae sneered.
“Oh, come on,” Astril caught her in a hug and kissed her on the neck straight above the collar.
“Get your slutty claws off me!” Zerae snarled.
Astril licked Zerae under the ear and whispered into it, “Matron’s gonna be pissed anyway, we might as well get some room for a few hours… I will do you the way you like.”
“GET. OFF. ME.”
“Just picture it. I will lick you till you melt, softly wrap myself around you and do you passionately for hours. Short, strong, passionate moves… you deserve some reward after all these politics and well, I tell you your coochie is the best there is and thus deserves the best it can get,” Astril stayed focused on Zerae’s neck, ignoring her struggling.
Why can’t I resist her?
“You know… this would be the first time we do it without anyone else around. No Leena to dilate our attention, no Sonja and Tanja to eavesdrop on us, no Allicia and Mathilde to hide from. Just the two of us in a city of strangers. That we got used to having no privacy doesn’t mean we don’t want it… does it?” Astril pressed on while trying to catch Zerae’s lips with hers.
“We can’t keep going like this forever,” Zerae didn’t let her lips be caught.
“Why not?” Astril didn’t give up the hunt.
Zerae sighed.
“We are ageless. Why waste time on someone who isn’t?” Astril added.
Zerae pulled a large chunk of chocolate out of her pocket. Astril’s eyes lit up as she saw it.
“Ewww… it’s bitter! I want the sweet one!” Astril shrugged after taking a large bite.
“You have yet to earn the sweet one,” Zerae smiled viciously, caught Astril’s head and went in for a long kiss.
Because I don’t want to resist her.
18
Luna
“RRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!” Luna roared in frustration.
“Let’s take a minute break to calm down and try again,” Zakuma offered peacefully.
“I CAN’T CALM DOWN!”
“You will succeed eventually, just take it easy and relax,” Zakuma stayed calm.
“Eventually? Like when? We are doing this for sixteen hours per day for I don’t know how many days. What’s the score? Luna zero, Zakuma nine thousand and one? How am I getting so owned?” Luna’s frustration was overflowing with her.
“I am experienced, it isn’t easy to land a hit on me in a spar,” Zakuma explained calmly.
“Not easy? NOT EASY?! You hit me when you want while I can’t even touch you! This is thousand times worse than with James. Sure, he would fuck me up so hard I had to eat through a straw, but at least I got to hit his smirking face a few times and with Raven, it at least felt like I was close!” Luna exclaimed.
“It wouldn’t be training if it was easy. Take deep breaths, drink water, focus,” Zakuma kept trying to calm her down.
“Excuse me, but you have been summoned to admiral’s cabin,” a soldier came to them
“Thank you,” Zakuma nodded, “let’s go,” he motioned Luna.
Shit… I haven’t done anything bad… I think... right?
‘Well, you have been raiding the food storage every night.’
Nah, that cannot be it.
‘We are on a campaign with limited supplies; you ate for ten and didn’t even bother to tell anyone.’
So what? We are on the sea; there are enough fish around. Even if it were the case, the one who would summon me to shout me down would be Zakuma, not the admiral himself.
“Before we start, I need to ask this. Mr. Zakuma, do you desire to actively participate in our war effort or shall you stick to your duties of a chaplain?” admiral Elias la Grace turned to them as they entered. There were seventeen people in the room as Luna and Zakuma arrived. The middle of it was a massive table made into a map. Everyone other than Luna and Zakuma stood around it.
“If it is possible, I would like to participate as a regular chaplain. I have done more than my share of killing in the past. I will fight should the ship be attacked, but I have no desire to actively participate in the war unless I deem it absolutely necessary. I am sorry,” Zakuma smiled sadly.
“That is understandable and I shall respect it. Needless to say, I need to ask you vacate the cabin,” Elias affirmed warmly. Zakuma bowed and left.
“I suppose I do not need to ask you the same question, lady Luna?” Elias turned to Luna.
Hell fucking no. I need to prove Miranda I am still me… and the old me used to eat people for a snack.
“I’m in for anything, the bloodier the better,” Luna answered awkwardly.
“Excellent, please stay over there,” Elias motioned her to a chair at the side of the room.
“Now that we are all here, we can start. I will skip the introductions, feel free to do them later. We have one special guest, lady Luna. She has a potential back-channel communications to general Darkscream, so will be kept informed and it just might prove to be useful at some point,” Elias revealed.
General Darkscream… that’s Miranda, isn’t it? Yea… come to think of it; she is the head of Palai special forces. I guess that makes her a general when it comes to military ranks. Hmm… I assfucked a Palai general and she liked it… how many people can say that?
“Thirty minutes ago, we were spotted by the enemy. Three flying monsters with likely Faye riders appeared on the eastern horizon before turning north. As of this moment, our fleet enters full combat alert status until further notice. We shall also begin our operations without further delay. To get everyone up to speed, our forces count seventeen legions whose commanders are currently present. To the seventeen thousand soldiers, we have over five thousand associate sailors, putting our numbers to about twenty-two thousand, three hundred and sixty-seven men. Our goal is to eradicate the Storm pirates and all their facilities. Main people of interest are their commander, Ur’Thul’Gar, also known as Black Beard and his six captains. We want them dead, not alive. Enemy forces count about thirty to thirty-eight thousand men and demons alike, although the enemies do not have enough ships to put them all on water. On top of that, the enemies have contracted the help of the Faye clans. Those count four thousand Faye,” Elias made a long speech.
Legacy of Death: Revenge (Legacy of Dreams Book 2) Page 17
