by Adam Witcher
“Mothus?” Isaac whispered to Aerin.
“Barbarian god,” she whispered back. “I don’t know much about him.”
Barbaros, fully armored with weapons to the sky, thrust their fists and steel upward and commended their fallen brethren. There were no tears, no sulking. Once the ritual was over, the group parted ways and went about their daily activities. Though he’d never seen the town in the morning, Isaac suspected it was more solemn than usual. He and Aerin avoided questioning them too much.
After the ceremony, Isaac and Aerin strolled along the outskirts of the settlement, turning the events over in their minds. They didn’t say much, just enjoyed the rising warmth of late morning and a relaxing breeze that made the stalks of wheat and corn dance and the trees rustle their leaves.
When they reached a corner of the settlement, a grizzly scene interrupted the day’s ambience. A wooden fence line separated a sheep farm from the fields beyond Barbaros. The farmers—an older couple, who despite their occupation, wore leather armor and had daggers attached to their hips—stood grimacing over a massacre. Three sheep laid lifelessly in the grass just inside the fence. Their white coats were stained red with blood. The old man grabbed a nearby wheelbarrow and prepared to load it with the bodies. Aerin froze where she stood and stared at the sheep in morbid fascination. The farmers noticed her and averted their gaze, vague discomfort present.
“Sorry about your sheep,” Isaac blurted out, trying to break the tension. “What happened?”
“Damn monsters must have slain them,” the woman said. “Though I saw nothing of the sort. Quick bastards. If those sorry beasts ever show their ugly heads here again, well, I’ll show them how a shepherd fights.”
The old man sniffed. His eyes moistened with the only tears present that day.
“Oh, stop it Arnus,” the old woman said, her cheeks reddening. Despite her embarrassment, she still put a comforting hand on her husband’s shoulder. “No sense crying over dead sheep.”
“They got Flaffy,” the man said, choking on his words. He knelt beside one of the sheep and put a hand over its coat. “He was a good sheep. A damn good sheep.”
“Arnus,” the woman said. “You do know that seven people died last night too, right?”
Arnus didn’t respond. His lip quivered while he mourned his fallen friend.
“Sorry to hear about Flaffy,” Isaac said. “Need a hand taking care of them?”
Arnus shook his head.
“They’re ours, we’ll see to ‘em.”
Isaac and Aerin strolled onward but stopped when they were out of earshot.
“Those neck wounds,” Aerin said. “Those didn’t come from the monsters last night. Those were… clean and calculated. I looked at the wounds on the dead barbarians. Those things just tore them apart.”
“Nope.” Isaac stopped and leaned against another stretch of the farm’s fence. “But Gregoroth had to charge the blade somehow. I don’t imagine sheep souls are all that powerful, but maybe three are enough to open a portal. It did have some charge already.”
“You really think?”
Isaac nodded and shrugged. “What else could have done it?”
“But why? What was he trying to accomplish?” Aerin paced as she got worked up. “Do you suppose he was into dark magic too? Maybe he was a follower of Scorpius. Maybe he was the one who sacrificed those other barbarians in the forest. I can almost picture him drawing that pentagram, digging that blade into their—”
“What are you guys up to?”
Isaac and Aerin both jolted. They’d both been too wrapped up in Aerin’s dark speculations to notice Rhotha approach.
“Oh, uh…” Isaac fumbled on the words. “Just... exploring Barbosa.”
“Who can you almost picture drawing that pentagram?”
Isaac and Aerin shared a look. He nodded to her. After all, she’d brought it up.
“Rhotha,” she started, “I’m sorry that your brother died.”
Isaac winced. It came off painfully insincere.
“No, you’re not.” Rhotha sighed. “But thanks for saying so. You think my brother was responsible for that sacrifice in the woods?”
“She was just speculating,” Isaac said quickly. “Aerin’s imagination gets carried away sometimes. And she’s not always the most tactful.”
“I won’t deny that,” Aerin said, shrugging.
Rhotha leaned against the fence and gazed absently at the farmers while they carried their dead sheep away.
“Gregoroth was a lot of things,” she said, “An asshole, an idiot, a narcissist, but he was no dark mage. No follower of Scorpius.”
Isaac choked on his next words. Hell of a set of words for her recently deceased family member. He thought of the man’s final words: What have I done?
“I’m not saying he was, but he did open that portal. And he had to have charged my dagger to do that. I’m not saying it was all purposeful, but it does seem a little suspicious.”
“I suppose he killed those sheep to charge the blade.” Rhotha didn’t look at them as she said this. It wasn’t a question, just an admission of understanding.
“If he wasn’t trying to summon those things, what was he trying to do?” Aerin asked.
“Honestly,” Rhotha said, finally turning back to them. “I don’t know. Knowing Gregoroth, he probably thought you were lying. Probably thought he could prove you wrong and be the hero who exposed you.”
“Yeah, hell of a hero.” Isaac questioned his words. It was one thing for Rhotha to insult her brother, but it was hardly his place. If she minded, though, she didn’t show it.
“So what was his deal?” Isaac asked.
She chuckled.
“His deal,” she repeated. “Kind of a complicated question. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that most people in Barbaros are, well, huge. We’re barbarians. We aren’t exactly known for our cunning wits and spellcasting abilities. I mean, come on, we named our village Barbaros. So clever.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Aerin said, laughing.
Rhotha shrugged.
“We don’t care. Barbarians don’t mean to be clever. We mean to be strong and powerful. We live simple lives. Work out all day, wear heavy armor, crush our enemies. All that. So it shouldn’t be surprising that when someone is born here with more wit than brawn, they can get to feeling like an outsider. Like they have something to make up for. Well, when Gregoroth and I were born, we were both tiny. Premature. Even so, having twins killed our mom during our births. So, we had two stigmas working against us.”
“I didn’t know you were twins,” Isaac said.
“I don’t advertise it,” she said. “Anyway, we never did grow the way everyone wanted us to. Once we got into our teen years, we started trying to make up for it. Gregoroth started working out every day. Lifting every stone he could find, picking fights with anyone he could piss off. I took a different approach. Tonya taught me about enchanting, and I figured I could use magic to make up for my lack of strength. But Gregoroth thought that was cowardly or something. It got to the point where we couldn’t stand each other.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t get himself killed going after Truella,” Isaac said. “Seems like that would have been the ultimate test.”
“He wanted to. Gods, how he wanted to. But he needed my father’s blessing for that. For how loose of a settlement we have here, we get obsessed over traditions. We kept sending our strongest warriors, and they kept not coming back. He begged my father to let him try his hand at killing her, but we all knew he’d just die. But once we lost enough people, we started getting desperate. And he reminded my father of that. My father was on the verge of letting him go when I stepped in and said I’d duel him for the right. He accepted, and I beat him. My methods worked out a lot better than his.”
“So that’s why you were there yesterday?” Aerin asked.
“Yeah, believe it or not, that duel happened yesterday morning. I saved that bastard's life,
and he managed to get himself killed anyway. But you can see why he was so pissed off last night. Anything to prove you guys were evil.”
They all gazed out toward the landscape, letting the words sink in.
“If I’d just kept a better eye on my dagger,” Isaac said. “Seven people would still be alive right now.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Rhotha said. “Knowing my brother, he was eyeing that sheath of yours all night, trying to find an opportunity to take it. He probably wasn’t even listening to your story about it. Trust me, last night was on him, and he paid the price.”
Isaac nodded slowly. She was right.
“I need to go talk to the others,” Rhotha said. “My father and Tonya, mostly. You aren’t leaving right away, are you?”
Isaac and Aerin shared a look. They still had much to do. They’d need to find the phantasm gems, then Scorpius’s five talismans. Then they’d need to figure out how to kill the bastard. It was overwhelming to think about. But they could at least hang around for a few hours. Isaac silently hoped that Rhotha would join them, but it didn’t feel right to ask.
“We’ll stay a little while,” Isaac said.
Rhotha nodded and jogged off.
Not knowing what else to do, they resumed their walk, then retreated to a copse of trees near the edge of the Greatwood, where Aerin meditated to replenish her depleted magic and Isaac sprawled out with the Occultus Arcaneum, determined to not be blindsided again by what it could teach him.
He studied the section on illusion magic in depth, curious about what else Aerin could be capable of once she’d cultivated her skills more. Early in the chapter, he read about the process of doubling and tripling. Later, he read of a spell called ‘disorient,’ which made an opponent attack any living thing that was closest to it. He remembered Aerin using it against the skeletons and wondered why she hadn’t invoked its powers against the insectile monsters last night. He soon found his answer.
The spell can only be used on an opponent with a lesser or equal power level.
Ah, she’d get it eventually then.
He read to discover an even more powerful version of the spell. ‘Autoantagonize’ made an opponent perceive himself to be an enemy. He shuddered at the idea. Dark magic, indeed.
There were many illusion spells that he hadn’t seen Aerin use before. ‘Invisibility’ was self-explanatory. ‘Instill fear’ filled an opponent with such terror that they usually would retreat. ‘Pacify’ could make an opponent refuse to attack anyone.
There were also boosting spells that a dark mage could use on themselves or allies. ‘Encourage’ could instill confidence in a target. ‘Vilify’ could instantly make a target appear horrifying and insurmountable.
A part of him wanted to interrupt Aerin’s meditations to ask how many of these she’d tried, but he opted to wait. She looked far too beautiful and peaceful to disturb.
He read onward to the section about dual enchantments and reminded himself of what he’d already learned.
Isaac was so absorbed in his studies that when Rhotha approached, he jumped when she cleared her throat before him. She stood alone, biting her lip softly, her face flushed.
“Isaac, Aerin,” she said. “I need to talk to you about something.”
This was enough to draw Aerin out of her meditation.
“Okay,” she said.
“I hope that I’m not being too forward,” Rhotha said. “But I’m hoping to join you in your journey back to Avalour. I want to help you find those phantasm gems and your father. And I want to help you stop Scorpius.” She’d rehearsed the words.
The barbarian was radiant in the late morning light. She’d cleaned herself up. Her red hair was tied into thick, short braids that ran backward and dipped to her lower back. Her armor was even more minimal than before, although thanks to her enchantments, any physical armor was mostly for show. But the steel she wore was detailed with strips of luxurious animal hide and leather fashioned with embossed patterns. Exposed stomach muscles rippled with toned precision, contorting sensually as she shifted in embarrassment. Shapely legs peeked out from beneath a revealing wolf’s pelt. In her nervousness, she was every bit as adorable as fierce.
“Great,” Isaac said, grinning, “That saves me an awkward conversation. There’s just one issue, though. I learned last night that I can charge my blade with Scorpius’s minions. Are we sure we still need the phantasm gems? They’d still be useful, but I assumed only souls from this dimension would work.”
“Tonya told me something else about the gems last night,” Rhotha said. “When we were alone before the attack. They can be used to form phantom weapons, ones that can be used against interdimensional creatures. I saw how useless my hammer was last night. I need something I can actually do damage with.”
“Phantom weapons?” Isaac looked at Aerin. “Have you heard of this?”
Aerin shook her head.
“She’s sure about that?” she asked Rhotha.
“Yes, she’s seen it work.”
“That does seem useful. Fine, we should still acquire those gems,” Aerin agreed. “I’m willing to bet they have other uses too. And you should indeed join us. We were intending to ask you. Why the embarrassment?”
Rhotha looked away for a moment.
“It’s just,” she started, “I’ve wanted a reason to leave for a long time. I love my people, but like I said before, I don’t fit in all that well here. But Barbaros, we’re a close-knit tribe. Members don’t just up and leave at will. We have a custom here. If someone wants to leave the tribe with a non-member, they’ll be shunned. That is, unless…”
Isaac and Aerin shared a look. Neither were sure where she was going with this, but they were intrigued.
“Unless I’ve bonded with whoever I’m leaving with.”
“We’ve only known you for a day,” Isaac said, “But I’d say we’ve bonded a little.”
“No,” Rhotha said. “Not like that. Bonded. Intimately…”
Isaac suddenly grinned in understanding.
“Wait, your parents want this for you, too?” He turned to Aerin, who had her chin in her hand, then back to Rhotha. “Barbarians really are an open-minded bunch, huh?”
“Not exactly,” Rhotha said, annoyance in her voice. “It’s pretty old-fashioned if you ask me. I’d prefer to choose mates on my own terms. But I can’t say that I hate the idea.”
“Both of us?” Aerin asked. Her face betrayed no reaction.
“Just Isaac would be enough,” she said. “But I admit, I’m open to both of you. In fact, I might prefer it. I find you both... enticing.”
Isaac got even more excited. This day was proving to become a good one. But he didn’t want to assume anything.
“Rhotha, can we have a word alone?”
“Sure,” she said, blushing. “I’ll just… wait over by these trees.”
Once she was out of earshot, Isaac turned to Aerin and tried to keep his composure.
“Well,” he said, “What do you think?”
The elf was deep in thought, her slight chin resting in her hand, her eyebrows furrowed. Isaac couldn’t help but admire her ponderous expression. She looked more adorable than ever.
“It does seem very forward,” she said. “And I’ve never been with another woman before. A part of me thinks just you should do it. But I admit, I am considering it.”
Isaac suppressed a gasp. The women he’d been with in the past were far too jealous to stomach the thought of him sleeping with someone else, but somehow, the thought didn’t even occur to Aerin. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised. She’d never so much as asked if he was seeing anyone else. He couldn’t help himself; he grinned.
“Up to you,” he said. “Are you attracted to her?”
“Strangely, yes. I think so. I don’t usually think of women in that way, but she has such a powerful energy. It’s enticing. And I admit, thinking about you and her together, it’s pretty exciting.”
He felt himself harde
n a little at that. Butterflies fluttered within him. The thought of not just one, but two gorgeous women. And the perfect excuse to make it happen.
“Okay,” she said, grinning mischievously. “Let’s do it.”
Thank you, barbarian customs.
Aerin grabbed him by the hand and led him over to where Rhotha was waiting. She stood at their approach.
“Well,” she asked. “What do you think?”
“I think we’d better find somewhere private,” Aerin answered.
Delighted, Rhotha led them back toward Barbaros. Along the way, several barbarians grinned and nodded at Isaac. He grinned right back.
In a corner of the settlement opposite the farm, she led them into a straw hut and shut the door. She’d clearly prepared for this. A large, thick bedroll was unfurled, topped with soft animal pelts and surrounded by recently lit candles. The glow was sensual and intimate, illuminating the surrounding red curtains and filling the room with pockets of shadow.
Beyond the bed and curtains, the room was empty. Isaac wondered if anything else went on here. But the wondering didn’t last.
“I take it you two have done this before?”
“Just the two of us, plenty of times,” Aerin answered.
“Maybe you two can start then,” she said, blushing again.
Isaac leaned in and kissed Aerin deeply. Immediately, his cock stiffened at her touch. Her lips—so soft and delicate—never failed to arouse him, but the sensation was even more electrifying with an audience. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, and he put his hands around her waist, pulling her close and letting himself get carried away. She moaned lightly as his fingers grazed her ass, then squeezed. Her hands explored his torso, running over his light armor. She started to pull his top off, and he stepped back a little to let her. Once it was on the floor, he reveled in the feeling of her fingertips on his bare skin.
He wanted to touch her more closely. Without moving his mouth from hers, he reached for her robe and parted it, then let the elegant green and black article fall to the floor. Now just in her bra and underwear, he pulled her close, dropping his own pants in the process. Then they were wrapped up in each other’s bare embrace, skin caressing skin in a way that drove him wild.
