No Regrets

by Jan Stryvant

  "So I think we should bomb the hell out of the group you're dealing with, then you run in there and kill as many as you can. They're already falling apart anyway, so we need to do this ASAP, so you can hopefully kill off a large percentage of them.

  "And as for the army to the west of us, setting the mountains on fire will hopefully kill a bunch, break them up into smaller groups, and drive them away from the California central valley, which is pretty heavily populated. But it all comes back to this: right now, the best we can do is go after the large groups; it's all we have the resources for, and it's what we're set up to do. You heard what Estrella said, it took them over a century last time, so you can be sure it's gonna take us probably just as long this time.

  "Sure, we killed a lot of them yesterday, but we had to nuke a city to do it. My hometown! How many more cities do you want to nuke? How long will popular opinion still be on our side if we go around nuking cities? Even if it's only one more?" Chad shook his head. "We need to cut them down to size, and we need to do it soon. If for nothing else, so they don't dig in somewhere we don't want them and start breeding."

  "Can they do that?" Jack asked, looking over at Estrella.

  Estrella sighed heavily. "Yes, they can. I don't know all the requirements, but they're egg layers. They can nest just about anywhere, but the more powerful ones need to mate with other powerful djevels and breed slower. We may have enough lords here for the surviving prince to breed more djevels, which could be raised up to the higher levels.

  "But it's complicated. Even if it's just gnashers breeding, it's always possible for one of their offspring to evolve to a much higher level. It just takes longer and is a more random chance than if one parent was already at a high level. Also, in order to be a prince, a djevel needs a certain number of djevels under it. They get these through their lords. You cut down on the number of lords or the number of djevels each lord has, and a prince becomes nothing more than an overly powerful lord."

  "So keeping their groups small and not allowing them to travel in large groups or live in large communities limits their power," Bill said.

  "Pretty much," Estrella agreed.

  "Okay," Sean said, "I've heard enough. Jack, fly back to your command and do what Chad suggested. Break 'em down and try to kill as many of them as you can. Chad, put together a battle plan. Major Vanderberg, see how many napalm bombs we have left. If we have to, we'll make our own. If we can't flush 'em out of the mountains, let's see if we can cut 'em down to size and scatter them into smaller groups."

  Sean looked around the table. "Anything else?"

  Everyone shook their heads.

  "Dismissed."

  Sean leaned back in his chair and watched as everyone got up. Some left to go about their jobs; a few formed small groups to discuss issues as they drifted out the door. After a few minutes it was just Roxy, Cali, Daelyn, Estrella, Chad, and him.

  "What's up, Chad?" Sean asked.

  Chad got up, made a point of closing the door, then came over and sat on the edge of the table.

  "What really happened?"

  "Hmm?"

  "With the gates. Closing all of them at once just seems too pat, Sean."

  "Does it matter?"

  "That depends. Do the demons know that if we kill them, they don't go home to respawn, but will in fact, die?"

  "Possibly?" Sean said.

  "Make that definitely," Estrella said. "They can't go back. Anything bigger than a råge is going to know that, too."

  "So that means they're going to fight a lot harder and be looking for a new home, then," Chad said and pondered that a moment. After a couple of minutes he shook his head. "I think we're going to be dealing with this problem a lot longer than a hundred years. There's always going to be those few that get away, exist in isolation somewhere, and pick on a few unexpected victims until they become enough of a menace to attract notice."

  "Well, we said right from the start that this was going to change the world as we know it."

  "Yeah, but here's the thing we need to think about, and you should get Steve back here to be a part of this discussion: Would it be better for us to drive that big group someplace where we can attempt to contain it? Or should we just try and wipe it out?"

  Sean frowned. "I'm not so sure I'm following you, Chad."

  "It goes something like this: If we wipe out all the big groups immediately, how soon before support dries up? But if we keep them pinned down to an area, we can have people hunting all over for the smaller groups outside that area because we'll still have support."

  "That sounds like th' beginin' of every 'B' rate horror movie out there!" Daelyn grumbled.

  Chad nodded. "I know, both options do if you think about it. That's why I think we need to sit down with Steve, and probably even the First. We're looking at a war that's going to take years, and a mop up operation that'll be going on long after I'm dead and gone. Humans are capricious; they're forgetful. I know, I used to be one!" Chad said with a smirk. "But we really do need to sit down and plan out our long-term strategy, and we need to do it now. Unless we want these things coming back a second or even third time."

  "He's got a point, Sean," Roxy said.

  "Yes, my Husband, he does make sense," Cali agreed.

  "Last thing we want happening here is what happened to the Inangar," Estrella said, weighing in.

  Sean tapped his fingers on the table a moment while he considered that.

  "Okay, you have a point," he agreed. "But let's still move forward with doing something about that group in the mountains. I don't think that's going to be over in a few days, regardless of what happens or we decide."

  Chad stood up and nodded. "You got it, Sean. I'll have an ops plan by dinner time."

  "So now what?" Roxy asked.

  "Let's go play with the kids," Sean said with a wane smile. "Because I think I'm done with adulting for at least a little while."

  Beyond This Moment

  "So, there you are," Sampson said as he dropped down to sit next to Sean.

  "Oh, hi, Dad," Sean said as he sat on the ground looking up at the night sky. "How's Mom?"

  Sampson chuckled. "You got your wish; she's expecting, and we're getting married."

  Sean smiled. "I'm happy the two of you finally worked it out."

  "Yeah, the world isn't the place it once was, and you were right about our having danced around it for years. Sometimes you just have to be shown the error of your ways. Of course with everything that was wrapped around your life back then, we were both on tenterhooks all the time."

  Sean nodded slowly in agreement.

  "So, what's bugging you?" Sampson asked while getting out a cigarette and lighting up.

  "What makes you think something's bugging me?" Sean asked.

  "Son, I all but raised you. Actually, I guess I did raise you," Sampson said and took a drag off the cigarette. "You're moping. You're sitting out here all by yourself instead of with your pride, and you're moping."

  "I'm not moping," Sean grumbled.

  Sampson snorted. "Care to look me in the eye and say that, Son?"

  Sean took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay, maybe I am. So what?"

  "So what's bugging you? That's what I want to know. You've just won the biggest battle in this war, two of them actually, you've got a pride of beautiful women who love you, children, all of it. Yet I find you out here staring at the sky and moping.

  "So, this is where I put my wonderful, but rusty, parenting skills to work. Talk to me, Sean. What's wrong?"

  Sean shook his head a moment. "I'm not sure where to start exactly. It's like the last few years of my life have been a never-ending struggle, going from one bizarre set of circumstances to another. I was just this kid in college trying to get by, and now? Now I'm the leader of this massive army, and I've done things I thought I'd never do, some of which were some pretty bad things when you get down to it, Dad.

  "I've killed people. I've done some pretty cold shit. But, honestly? Whe
n I look back on it? I don't really regret it. I don't even feel guilty about it! Any of it!"

  "Well, you did have the First in your head," Sampson said and took another drag off of his cigarette.

  "Hardly!" Sean snorted. "I flat out refused to let him do those things—didn't want to have any of my people do something I wasn't willing to do myself. What I did to those people in Vancouver? That wasn't him, that was me, all me. It should bother me, but it doesn't, it just doesn't. But that's not even the worst of it," Sean said with a sigh.

  "And what would the worst of it be, Son?"

  "We went to their world, their place, and through a combination of hard work, skill, and just plain luck, we defeated them. They're gone, and they're never coming back. But I can't go home, if there's even anything left of it, back on that hill. I can't call it quits, because there's at least a million of those bastards running around loose all over the Earth. I mean, I've done everything I was supposed to, and then some! Yet there's still more to do! All the sacrifices I've made and everyone else has made!

  "When does it end, Dad? When the hell does it ever end?"

  Sampson took another drag off of his cigarette and thought a moment before he blew out a smoke-filled breath.

  "You know, I asked your father that question once, what seems to me now to have been a very long time ago. You know what he told me?"

  Sean shook his head.

  "That it never ends. Life is about struggle, it's about conflict, it's about always looking over the next hill, looking for the next horizon. Nothing ever ends until we're ready to lie down and give up the ghost. It's why we're here, why God—the real God, not my dick of a grandfather—put us here. It's what makes us who we are; it's what gives us purpose in our lives. It's the trial we're all put through, and how we answer that trial is all that matters."

  Sean blinked. "My dad said that?"

  Sampson laughed. "Yeah, Ben could be a wordy little fucker when he wanted to be, but damn if he didn't always see right to the heart of the matter. That's why I asked him to help us, and damned if he didn't do it."

  "I thought the First had you ask him?"

  Sampson laughed. "No, the First didn't think your father was the right person to ask. You see, your father was just too laid back and easy going, everybody's friend. The First didn't think your dad would ever buck magical society and work to set us free. Oh, man, did we fight over that when I asked your father!"

  Sampson laughed and took another drag off his cigarette, then ground it out against the ground.

  "One of the best moments of my life was when I rubbed the First's nose in your father's success."

  "You two really don't get along, do you?"

  Sampson shook his head. "No, we haven't gotten along pretty much ever."

  "Why?"

  Sampson shrugged. "It's a lion thing, I guess."

  "You do know that I'm a lion now too, right?" Sean said and elbowed him.

  "Dienna is my grandmother, Mincibi is my mother. When I was born, there really weren't a lot of lions, and rather than have a lioness like the First had decreed, she had me."

  "That's kind of a short-sighted reason to be mad at you."

  Sampson laughed. "Oh, there's more to it than that, and I'm not an innocent party either. Back when I was young and stupid, I provoked him more than once!"

  "At least now I know where I get it from," Sean said with a laugh of his own.

  "I know Mom keeps hoping we'll stop arguing one of these days." Sampson shrugged. "Maybe we will, who knows? Now, why don't you go keep your wives company and stop worrying about the future. We're all here for you, Son."

  "Thanks, Dad," Sean said and, leaning over, he gave Sampson a hug, who returned it.

  "Anytime. Now, I think I'll go keep my new wife company as well."

  "Hey! That's my mother you're talking about!" Sean teased.

  "Yup." Sampson grinned. "Just remember, you only have yourself to blame!"

  Getting up, Sean gave Sampson a hand up, and then went back to his and the girl's quarters.

  "When did you start smoking, anyway?" Sean asked just before they split up.

  "Oh, I've always smoked," Sampson said with a smile. "Just not around you. Didn't want to go setting a bad example, after all."

  Sean could only shake his head at that.

  "There you are!" Roxy said as Sean came into the room. "I was wondering where you got to!"

  "Oh, I just had a few things to think about," Sean said. Walking over to Estrella, who was playing with Deidre's daughter at the moment, he took her hand and slowly pulled her up to her feet, smiling down at her. She was wearing a tight blouse that left her midriff bare, her usual short and incredibly tight leather skirt that was slit up the sides, and those thigh-high boots of hers.

  "Oh! I know that look, lion-boy!" Daelyn said as she took Celeste and sat her with her son Ben.

  "What look is that?" Estrella asked, looking up at Sean.

  "What do you say we go make that cub I've been promising you?" Sean told her.

  Estrella squealed happily and threw herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around his body.

  "I think she likes the idea!" Peg chuckled.

  "Imagine that," Roxy agreed.

  Grabbing her butt with one hand and putting the other behind her head, Sean had some serious lip lock going on with Estrella as he carried her back into their bedroom.

  Laying her back on the bed, he slid his hands up to undo her blouse, sliding it down her arms as they continued to kiss. Next, as her hands went to undo his pants, he let his undo the buttons on the back of that tight skirt. When she pulled his pants down, he paused long enough to pull his shirt up over his head, then kicked off his pants, watching as Estrella laid back on the bed and wiggled out of her leather skirt, wearing nothing but her thigh-high boots and a smile.

  "Come here, Sean, time to keep your promise!" Estella said, opening her arms wide.

  Smiling, he climbed onto the bed and into her arms, kissing her. "And to think," he said, levering himself up and looking down into her eyes, "you thought I was going to ruin everything!"

  Estrella laughed. "Well, technically you did! Though I'm not complaining."

  "Not this time," Sean agreed. Ducking his head down, he nibbled at her neck as his right hand came up to cup and massage one of her breasts. He started to work his way down towards her chest when one of her hands tangled in his hair and tugged him up.

  "Mmm?" he murmured, looking up at her.

  "Cubs first, playtime later!" She snickered.

  "Who am I to argue with a lady!" Sean replied, and he caught the scent then; Estrella was most definitely in heat.

  "I didn't know lionesses controlled their cycles," he said as he settled between her legs.

  "What, you think only lions get that trick? Of course as we're both lions, we can only have a lion cub. Now, get to work!" she teased and, reaching down, she gave his ass a smack.

  "Who's in charge here?"

  "I am, of course!"

  She rolled him over onto his back then, sliding up his body a bit, she reached back behind her and guided him inside as she slid back down.

  "Pushy lioness," Sean purred as he grabbed her hips.

  "I've been wanting this for a very long time, Sean," Estrella said a little breathlessly. "A very long time…"

  She rose up then, and he pulled her back down as they slowly found their rhythm. Sean let her set the pace at first, enjoying the way she looked riding him, her eyes lidded with passion as the sounds and scents of their lovemaking filled the room. When she started to make little moans of pleasure, he picked up the pace, pulling her down harder and faster, causing her to respond by pushing up off of him faster as well.

  Putting her hands on his chest, she began to pant as Sean got more and more demanding below her, driving up into her harder and harder. For a time she'd given up all hope of ever finding a male, a lion, and having cubs of her own. Her mother had told her when the time came, the right one w
ould find her, and had he ever!

  Opening her eyes, she could see him below her. As always, he wore his love for her openly, as he did for all of them, and while this might not be his first child, she could tell it still meant the world to him, because it meant the world to her.

  Faster and faster they moved, hitting a hard pace. Sean was panting loudly below her, his grip on her hips tight as he got closer and closer. This was it for her, she'd found her mate, she'd found her pride, and now, now she'd have a cub! Tipping her head back and whipping her long black hair behind her, Estrella cried out loudly as she hit her peak, Sean following a few hard strokes after as he pulled her down hard and held her there, pouring his seed into her as she milked him dry.

  Panting, she collapsed onto his chest and snuggled against him as he kissed her.

  "Next time I get to be on top," Sean teased as he wrapped his arms lovingly around her.

  "We'll see…"

  Smiling, Sean sat up Keeping one hand around her, he crossed his legs under her butt, and then pushed forward until he was on top of her. Getting his arms under her legs and behind her knees, he grinned down at her and then kissed her again.

  "Greedy lion," she mock growled.

  "I only marry the best!" he agreed. "Now, what do you say to a dozen more rounds?"

  "Please?"

  Sean laughed. "Yes, Dear."

  West of Reno

  "You look tired," Chad said as Sean caught up with him.

  Sean yawned, and then grinned. "Making babies."

  "Stell?"

  Sean nodded. "Though I'm thinking of another round with the rest of them here real soon." Sean looked around. "Where's Max?"

  Chad grinned. "I told her no more wars until after the baby's been delivered.

  Sean looked at Chad in surprise. "And she let you get away with that?"

  "I took her three falls out of three and told her I'd sic her mother on her if she didn't behave."

  "You're a brave man, you know that?" Sean said as he started to laugh.

  "This from the man who tamed the psycho-cheetah," Chad said with a snort.

  "Oh, Roxy's not that bad."