"Going to be as powerful as a god before the year is up."
Smiling at his slowly recovering Mira's delirious statement he gave his goddesses detectable body a thorough look as she approached.
"And twice as promiscuous, now my Cade I will have what she had and don't. hold. back."
Groaning as his demon rolled out of his lap and off of his recovered member he let his legs fall to the floor as his Promena gave him her back before lowering her pale plush ass to his erect length.
As the head of his dick slipped past her pale puckered hole he grasped her slim waist with a massive smile, his goddess had made a request of him, and who was he to deny her.
Watching his Laurith's troops and Erot's mercenaries face off against one another a few days later Cade hoped his effort in bringing the various races under his command together would pay off without too much pain.
He had spent the last 48 hours regrowing limbs and digits along with removing debilitating scars from dark elves in addition to the plethora of other ailments that the graven had suffered.
Watching his wives assist in training those who needed it his gaze fell to his Mina's growing baby bump and his Sabine and Beth's smaller but still noticeable swelling of their tight tummies caused him to question running off to war with the dark elf city.
Looking to his Promena and her softly rounded belly he began to open his mouth to voice his concerns before she beat him to the punch.
"We will be fine my love. A little exercise will do us more good than being treated like fragile glass to be placed on a pedestal and only observed and never touched. I believe both of us would rather Mina and Laurith be able to work out their aggressive natures here rather than let them accumulate and boil over."
"Wise words spoken by one who understands pregnancy doesn't mean weakness takes over."
Giving Faraden a wan smile Cade tried to find a bit of at least moral support from Keraden only to be ignored by the dark elf as he watched the skirmish from their perch on a rocky outcropping Cade had created on the cavern wall.
"MORE LIGHT MY LOVE."
Increasing the flow of power into the array of LED lights attached to the now smooth ceiling of the large cavern the graven had directed him to after his Laurith had suggested the need to train the newly healed dark elves he almost enjoyed his role as the superintendent of their huge training room
Thankfully finding none of the mystery rock he managed to only assimilate half of even after days of trying he had created a little training camp for the dark elves removing any stalagmites from the ground and all stalactites from the ceiling except for those close enough to the walls to not block his lights.
The last part of his job had been to make a few mockup buildings of what Faraden believed they would encounter as they took the city.
Releasing the varied races into the training ground had been an interesting affair with Laurith's thralls staring vacantly into space awaiting orders and Erot's mercenaries trying and mostly succeeding in getting the reluctant elves to work as a team with them.
Unsurprisingly though it had turned into more of a combined operations mixer as the nature of the elves' exile from their country led to many of them being prior city guards or lower-ranking members of their military.
"It's the same in every world."
Shaking his head in dismissal after his comment earned him a confused look from Faraden and Keraden he nodded toward the group of elves and orcs working to push Laurith's thralls out of the city district he had built.
The group was flanked by her thralls as an argument broke out between the two races and they were savagely beat with their training weapons the same fight broke out among a majority of the groups in an irksome domino effect before Cade looked to the two elves next to him with disappointed irritation.
"I think you should have a talk with your men and women about what happens if they fail to take the city. I want you to impress upon them that they are all that prevents their city and country from our plan B."
Confused looks grew on the two elves' faces before Keraden broke the silence with his question.
"What will happen if we fail to take the city, and what is plan B?"
Opening his mouth to answer, Laurith growled out the answer as her thralls beat the last elf unconscious while the smiling orcs in their groups stood by.
"If your men and women don't figure out how to fight beside Erot and my troops they will watch as my mate and I feast on your brethren above."
As their shocked faces turned to him, Cade nodded and added "all we can eat" before lifting the two terrified elves from their perch with a shouted "make it quick" at their backs.
Glancing at the unconscious troublemakers he rolled his eyes and healed them enough for the information Faraden needed to give them to hopefully make its way into their thick skulls.
"I almost don't want them to listen, I think I would like to watch you exterminate such irritating idiots."
Giving his Mina a look of mild disapproval after her mental message he soothed his irritated dragon wife's irritation by rubbing her rounded middle after he took her in his arms.
He hoped the two leaders of the frustrating bunch could whip their men and women into shape though if the elves didn't improve drastically on their teamwork he might just have to kill a few of them to get his point across.
Finding the idea growing in appeal by the second as he watched an augment break out between Faraden and quite a few of her soldiers Cade crossed his arms across under his Laurith's bust as he tempered his growing irritation and waited patiently to give her a chance to fix their attitudes.
Kissing his pet's delicate neck as she leaned into their embrace he decided to voice his frustrations.
"They will either be great teammates or motes of energy and slabs of meat before this is over. I kind of hope they pick the latter at the moment, watching them arguing is making me hungry."
Watching the dark elves work in almost perfect tandem with Erot's group a week later Cade was slapped on the shoulder by Keraden and the shocked look he gave the elf caused Erot to laugh uproariously.
"No feasting for you Mage Cade or should I say, my lord. They seem to have worked through their differences in record time."
"Yes one would think the prospect of filling my cousin and his wife's bellies would motivate one to toe the line, but yeah let's call it working through differences."
Looking down at the shorter elf after Erot's cutting remark Cade added his own less stinging comment.
"If they do well they will see the value in working with the other races under my command and one day very soon I hope the last bits of your race's intolerance of everyone else will be a thing of the past, don't you agree my love?"
After his Laurith lifted her head from his shoulder and licked his cheek in agreement he reached over and gave her swollen belly a loving caress before she returned to her slumber on the floating platform beside him.
Letting her thralls run on their autopilot after the fifth day of combined operations had resulted in her side losing 9 times out of ten, she had upped the difficulty to provide the orcs and elves with a more varied training experience and had given their old personalities more control over their bodies.
As the groups reset to run through their various scenarios he and the two men watched on, smiles on their faces as the groups worked to practice for the coming fight.
Lounging with Erot and Keraden later that day after Faraden had called training done for the day for her group, Cade realized he hadn't seen any of his wives since Laurith had woken from her nap and flown off with a sprinting Faraden close behind her.
"I wonder where the women ran off to?"
His words pulled the other two men from a heated conversation about the battle tactics they planned to employ two days from now during their invasion of Aroth.
"Your wives disappeared an hour ago, when I asked Mina about why they all left she mentioned something about preparations. I assumed they were prepar
ing a feast to celebrate our success in getting these elves up so snuff."
Finishing his explanation with a playful tusk-filled grin at a distraught Keraden before their two serious expressions devolved into laughter.
Enjoying their banter Cade had a moment of realization, this was the first time in years he had spent more than a passing moment in conversation with other men besides his son Vance, and then only for a few days a year.
Reminiscing about this old life for a few moments he missed the next topic of their conversation before Erot gave him a nudge to the ribs.
"Huh what... what did you need Erot?"
Tusks bared in a huge smile the orc gave Keraden a conspiratorial look before asking his question.
"So when are you going to make honest women of all of your wives Cade."
Exploding into knee-slapping laughter as his cousin paled after his question he pulled the dark elf along into his mirth though Keraden's was more subdued.
"I thought we were married, we have spoken the words and I don't see any priests or judges around here..."
Seeing that his words only caused the orc to laugh harder he let his explanation trail off before giving Keraden a hard look.
"How about you, I know orcs don't really marry with me and my Nat being an exception, but what about you Keraden? Faraden and you seem to have quite a little thing going on if I am not mistaken."
Watching the dark elf's laughter die off as he stared at nothing for a few moments, Cade slapped the still chuckling Erot hard on his muscled arm to end his mirth so he could hear the dark elf's response.
"I had given up on finding a wife and never even imagined love being in my future after I was injured while guarding a caravan of goods destined for Mustef. After the orcs that attacked us were repelled..."
Rating his hand as Erot opened his mouth to defend his race he gave the tall green man an understanding smile before he continued.
"I understand now that while most of your race are passable fighters some of you are worthy of being called a friend and I hope you feel the same. But as I was saying, after they were repelled and I had suffered my injury I was scheduled for my release, she saved me. I had given up and was ready to die for my country but she convinced me to follow her and help to keep safe others like me. Those who have been damaged in some way and encouraged to let ourselves be killed for the good of our race, so they say. Finding myself again in charge of others' safety gave me a purpose I thought I had lost and she gave that to me with no ulterior motive, well besides taking some of the work off of her back."
Sharing a chuckle with the two other men Cade realized his story was similar to the elf's, his Promena had rescued him from a life of loneliness and sorrow. Sending a mental kiss her way he listened to the rest of Keraden's story.
"Finding myself with more work than I thought possible I overcame my injury, there was nothing else I could do in good conscience. Everyone had to pull their weight and more for those who couldn't, making up for each other's weaknesses with our strengths. Did you know that like blacksmiths if you injure one side of your body the other gains strength to compensate? After a year with the graven, I didn't need my crutch except to ascend to the surface, and even then only when the ground was suspect."
Erot and Cade gave the man a surprised look before the realization hit the two that because of his race's proclivity to kill off their injured citizens Keraden had never watched someone recover from a grievous wound or a broken bone.
"How do they survive as a race?"
Thinking to himself Cade was pulled back to Keraden's story as the man got over his amazement that the body he was born with was more resilient than he thought possible.
"Pulled into our work as we chose to live together for the sake of efficiency to better keep track of those who needed help and how our community was doing as a whole. At first, I dived into my role as her go-between for the smaller issues that come up with so many people crammed in too little space. Arguments over the usage of space and resources. My previous life made me a decent mediator and things began to settle a few months after I came to live with Faraden. Close to two years after I arrived I realized I loved her more than life itself, curious how that worked. Five years ago I was waiting to have my life ended because of one stupid mistake and now I want to live just to see her happy. And thank you Cade for what you did for her. After her injury, caused by Liraden by the way for daring to question her authority, she was ready to do the same as me and give up on life before her rage over her aunt's betrayal gave her something to strive for..."
Trailing off as he watched disbelief grow on the other men's faces Keraden laughed and explained the names and titles of the royals.
"Every royal family receives the surname den when they are formed, though a millennium has passed since one of the enchanter or mage families have been raised to that status. My family was one of the last to have that honor, our record and accomplishments boosted Ipatem's military might before Liraden took the throne, and did away with that system are what allowed us to join that dysfunctional family. Sadly, it took so long for some of us to fight back against that injustice."
Seeing the agreement on their faces Keraden finished his story.
"With her rage driving her it took just as much time for her to realize how much she cared for me as well, my Fara is a stubborn woman but that is one reason I love her. She can direct that drive so well you wouldn't think she was in a murderous rage most of the time. Thankfully she let me stay around long enough to win her trust and love. I would marry that woman in an instant if she would let me and I thank you again Cade for removing the last barrier she put up as an argument against it."
Startling Erot and Cade out of their relaxation as they listened to the dark elf's story Keraden jumped up with a look of fierce determination on his black face before freezing as they all heard Faraden whisper, "you would?"
Sharing a wide-eyed look between them Cade and Erot quietly turned to face the space between the two elves.
Giving the nervous woman a look Cade did a double-take as he saw the transformation the leader of the graven had undergone.
Gone was her usual leather armor and commanding demeanor, in its place was a nervous black-skinned beauty in a silver dress that accentuated her athletic curvy body as it dipped low in the front displaying a healthy amount of black cleavage.
Turning his gaze with Erot to look at their friend they both stared wide-eyed at the similarly staring Keraden as his jaw hung slack in amazement.
"I... I would my Fara if you would have me."
As the dark elf recovered his wits and answered his lover and soon to be wife's whispered question her hands that had been nervously trying to find somewhere to remain for more than a few moments at a time crossed over her exposed cleavage and a gasp left her before she sobbed and tears began to flow down her face.
As Keraden rushed over to embrace her Cade quietly wished for a bucket of popcorn before leaning back on his hands on the rock beneath him and watched Erot do the same.
Comfortable as he could get and ready for his own little soap opera he felt a flick on his ear that startled him and seeing Erot receive the same phantom strike he gave the man a knowing look before rising and walking towards their home with the tall orc in tow.
Giving the man a nod and wave as he turned to the garage to join his people Cade made his way through their part of the building and walked through the kitchen to find his wives.
Hearing Keraden and Faraden's voices over their living room speakers he snorted out a laugh and unsurprisingly found his wives sitting on their couch watching with rapt attention to the two elves outside on the massive tv.
Opening his mouth to give a smart remark he was almost shushed out of existence as nine hands waved at him to be quiet.
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