Lost Bloodline 5 - Chapter 12

All right folks, this is the last chapter for the Summoner tier of Lost Bloodline 5. They will stay up until Monday 11.17, then come down to make way for MGiS 7! Release date for Lost Bloodline 5 is still 12.2, I'm just cycling to the new book early so you all get the equal shares of each since we are doing a double-release in December (MGIS 7 12.16).

I hope you are looking forward to them both! Also, don't forget we have seasonal short stories taking over after MGIS 7's preview chapters for a bit as a treat exclusive to the Patreons.(Though I might eventually put them into a short-story compendium later, haven't decided yet.)

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Chapter 12

Arriving at those dark and distant cliffs, Koda breathed a sigh of relief as their group moved up and into the foothills surrounding the base of the low bluffs that extended out over the canyons. Those canyons ran for dozens of miles in either direction before either softening out into the plains or opening out into the sea.

Even with the description from the tribesfolk, it had been hard for Koda to wrap his head around the layout of the area.

Sometime in the distant past, a geological event had caused large formations of gray-black basalt to form side-by-side but not touching. The divide between the two had been filled with softer soil or stone, only for millennia of wind, rain, and time to wear away at the softer mixture and carve out a canyon between two soaring outcroppings of rock.

The whole thing looked somewhat like someone had taken a low mountain range, chopped it off at the knees and then hollowed out the center to allow dozens of streams to flow into it.

Koda’s group had actually been following one of those streams for the last half-day until they split off to begin ascending the base of one of the fragments of basalt.

“This would be an ideal place for a fortress,” huffed Calandra as she scampered up and over a large boulder before pausing to turn and look back over her shoulder at the plains stretching away behind them.

“Agreed,” Koda grunted, vaulting up and over the boulder to land beside his dwarven lover.

Rather than surveying the plains behind them, though, Koda turned his attention to his mates as they followed up along the rough path. Since there weren’t any game trails leading up this way, they were forging their way over the boulders to avoid the scrubby growth and small, prickly plants that grew between the stones.

Arthene was walking at the back of the group, the large bear-spirit ensuring that no one fell behind with a gentle smile on her face. Right in front of her was Samira, the bouncing caracal woman happily chattering away with Arthene and Sienna, who was giving the younger girl an affectionate smile as she led the trio and used her spear as a walking stick.

“Koda?”

Finna’s words broke him out of his thoughts and he glanced down at the rabbit-eared beastfolk who stood at the base of the boulder he and Calandra were standing on.

Seeing that she had his attention now, Finna leaped nimbly upwards with a hand outstretched towards Koda. Without hesitation, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her the rest of the way up to the top of the rock like she weighed nothing.

“Thank you,” Finna said with a smile, stepping past him to join Calandra at a flat spot behind the rock. “In the past, Calandra, there were a few tribes who made encampments atop these cliffs. But that was over a thousand years ago, so it is unlikely there are even any ruins left behind.”

“Sienna?” Koda asked as the other three drew closer. The wolf-eared woman gave him a shy smile before mirroring Finna’s earlier move and leaping upwards.

Koda caught her with a smile, guiding his mate onto the boulder next to him with steady hands and getting a kiss on the cheek as thanks.

Samira didn’t even wait for Koda to offer, she bounded up the rock without hesitation and pounced into Koda’s arms to steal a kiss. A purr rumbled happily through the caracal woman while her tail made merry shapes behind her before she skipped by to hook her arm through Sienna’s as the two proceeded after the others.

Koda was turning back to offer a hand to Arthene when the large woman landed in front of him and scooped him off his feet with a grin.

“Why hello there, lover,” Arthene chuckled as Koda flailed in surprise, but her strength was more than enough to keep him steady until he relaxed.

“You are supposed to be letting me help you up, not helping yourself to me,” Koda grumbled at her, but he didn’t bother concealing his amusement at the predicament.

“Is that an option?” Arthene teased, her rounded bear ears twitching happily before she bent to claim her kiss and then set him back on the ground.

“Not right now,” Koda replied with a laugh, swatting Arthene on one muscled ass cheek as she went past. “Maybe later, though.”

Arthene yelped in surprise at the sudden smack, but shot him a smoldering look over her shoulder as she rejoined the others who had watched the whole thing with amusement.

Taking up the spot at the back of the group now, Koda watched as they began climbing upwards. Sienna moved up to form stone steps and handholds with her magic to assist the others, while the two incarnate primal spirits stood guard in case one of the mortal girls slipped.

This feels so much better, Koda thought as he watched Arthene squat down and knit her fingers together to give Calandra a boost up a rock face. The dwarven woman could have scrambled up it herself, but with the bear’s aid, she landed easily beside Sienna at the top. Being out and in the elements was nice, but there is something comforting about being in the hills.

Turning and looking over his shoulder, Koda studied the skyline, taking in the rolling plains and the low forests that covered this section of the land. The streams that criss-crossed the land drew gleaming threads over the soil as they wound towards him. 

Far in the distance, Koda could see the very peaks of the mountain range that housed his home, the distance making those intimidating towers of stone no more than a shadow of their true height.

Maybe it’s being able to get a good view of my surroundings, Koda thought with a sigh, turning back to the hill. The sights are glorious up here, seeing the tapestry of the earth rolled out all around us. I can’t help but revel in it, just like over the winter when I’d sit in the pass and look out over the plains with Finna or one of the other girls.

Other sights, far closer and just as glorious, distracted Koda then as he followed after his mates. Firm bottoms in tight pants, the swishing of hide skirts that revealed tanned and muscled thighs. Laughing and smiling faces turned to each other, happy voices carried on a breeze that was soaked in their scents.

Mine, Koda thought with a smile. My mates, my loves, and my life. I’d burn this world to the ground for you all. Not hard to say since I’m already hard at work raising up a goddess for the same reason.

The ghost of a throaty chuckle graced his ears and Koda could feel Thera’s amusement as she caught that thought, coupled with her approval of his vows.

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While the basalt monoliths loomed high over the rushing waters of an immense river below them, they weren’t entirely cut through by the forces that had shaped the large canyon.

It reminded Koda vaguely of the Grand Canyon, the one time that his father had taken him there as a child. The trip had been interesting, though he had more memories of his father’s sniping comments aimed at his mother than he did of hiking or fishing in the natural monument.

The basalt formations rose high over the rushing river, with sections that the walls were only a few hundred feet from each other and others where they yawned thousands of feet apart where the river spread out into far shallower spaces. The canyon wound back and forth, pierced in multiple spots as different streams pushed through to join the swift-moving mass far below.

“There,” Finna said after studying the skyline for a moment.

Koda looked in the indicated direction, squinting before his eyes made out the shape of an arching stone bridge that spanned the gap. It looked wide enough to cross on foot easily as long as they remained single file, but he couldn’t help but question if the strand of stone would be thick enough to support them.

A few similar formations actually bridged the entire way across the canyon, the last few stitches that held the ancient scar from splitting wider. But this one was the only formation that connected the ridge they’d climbed up to the other side.

It’d cost Koda’s group most of the day, winding back and forth up the rocky slope, but they’d made it to the top. Looking back, Koda could see the shadow of the mountains that he had rapidly come to think of as his mountains, as well as several milling herds of the great aurochs and bison as they ambled over the rolling hills.

“Sienna?” Koda asked as their group broke into an easy trot over the windswept rocky top of the butte. “Can you check that to make sure it’ll support us?”

“Don’t trust my word on it?” Finna teased, one ear flopping to the side as she bounded ahead of him.

“Not that I don’t trust you, Finna,” Koda said, his eyes dropping unconsciously to her firm butt in those tight pants and the curly puff-ball of a tail that wiggled above her tight ass. “But Sienna can check and reinforce things before we take a chance.”

“Of course I can,” Sienna said with a snort from behind them. “You didn’t even have to ask, Koda. I planned to check it before we tried to cross anyway. I’m not going to risk my family out of laziness.”

“You are getting just as protective of us as Koda is,” Arthene chuckled, the bear-spirit having dropped all the way to the back of the group again. “I’d dare say you might be outpacing him in some aspects, sweet Sienna.”

“Only Thera knows when he’s going to succeed in getting one of us with child, and I’m not going to risk my children or my sister-wives for anything I can prevent,” Sienna countered firmly.

The tone that the younger beastfolk used surprised both the incarnate spirits, but Koda could tell from the proud gleam in Finna’s eyes and smirk that Arthene was sporting that they were quite happy with both the idea and Sienna’s words.

“ ‘My children?’ ” Koda questioned curiously when no one else spoke up.

“We talked it over last night, when Arthene dragged you off for a toss in the bushes by the stream,” Sienna answered without hesitation. “Given how close our family is, and the different beings included in it, we would raise any children as if they belonged to all of us. I don’t want any of them to feel any more or less loved than the others simply because your seed caught with Samira before me. I’m your first mate, but I intend to treat any children the others have like my own to love and spoil as much as I can.”

“Huh,” was all Koda could muster in response.

It had been a subject that he’d mulled over a few times in the past months. He knew that all of his mates wanted children, and despite the issues that were swirling about them all they didn’t want to wait any longer than necessary. It made sense in a bittersweet way, too. If he were to eventually bite off more than he could chew and die in a fight, it would mean that Thera would still have a representative of the critical bloodline to further her return, and that would also work to protect his mates as well.

The idea of having half a dozen mothers all at once could either be a blessing or a nightmare for a kid, Koda thought with a wry grin. No way they’d ever get away with anything, but I can virtually guarantee they’ll always have someone to look after them.

Since his mates had decided this themselves and none of them seemed upset by the statement—not even Arthene who hadn’t been part of the initial conversation since he’d been busy trying to make her into a mother at the time—Koda decided to leave it at that.

Crossing the windswept plateau was easy enough, the only impediment being the wind that pushed and jostled them as they traveled. Calandra put up with it for the first few minutes before one breeze picked up enough that it tossed one of her braids around so hard it slapped her in the tit.

“Chandra damn it!” Calandra swore, massaging her injured breast with one hand while the other made a yanking gesture. A moment later, the buffeting wind slowed and stopped as she guided the airstream up and over them.

“That’ll come in handy,” Finna said with a nod. “I was thinking we might have to wait for the wind to fade before we could cross. The last thing I want is one of us to get blown off the edge of the land-bridge. How far can you anchor that out, Cal?”

“Far enough,” Calandra grumbled, still massaging her bruised flesh. “Worst case, I can anchor it around a person so that they are shielded from the worst of the wind while they cross and then cancel the spell. Would just mean that I have to make a few trips to bring people over.”

“Better to just cross as a group if Sienna thinks she can reinforce the stone,” Samira suggested, her tuft-tipped ears flicking until she reached up to smooth the hair now that the wind wasn’t buffeting them around. “No need to overly tax your reserves of power.”

“Can’t help but feel a little jealous of you ladies,” Koda teased. “You get to manipulate the raw elemental power of the world, all I get is some fancy leather pants.”

“That makes your ass look good, don’t forget that,” Calandra reminded him, grinning up at her mate while her olive eyes sparkled lustily. 

“Oh? Do you want me to walk in front of you so you can get a good view?” Koda suggested half-jokingly.

“Yes!” came the response from two-thirds of his companions, only Finna and Sienna not responding immediately and just giving him smirks instead.

“Guess I’d better take the lead then,” Koda chuckled with a shake of his head.

Slipping past the others, Koda broke into a trot that quickly had the girls in hot pursuit of him, laughing and whistling appreciatively.

I suppose it’s only fair, I did spend the last few hours admiring their butts, Koda thought as he approached the edge rapidly.

Once he was within a hundred feet of the edge, Koda slowed to a trot, then a walk as they approached the base of the wide land-bridge that stretched over the river below. While the ground underfoot was scoured stone, he could see where the weight of time and the elements had taken their toll along the cliffside, eroding it in spots and leaving small pebbles or broken shards of stone scattered about.

Testing each of the last few steps, Koda got close enough to peer over the edge curiously.

The cliff on this side was nearly sheer, dropping away for over a hundred feet before a small ledge surged out for a foot or two before it dropped away once more to vanish in swirling, turbulent water far below.

Letting out a low whistle, Koda glanced to his side when Samira stepped up to join him. The caracal woman' s ears wiggled thoughtfully as she studied the water before glancing his way with a serious expression.

“Don’t fall in,” she said seriously. “That water is moving fast and almost a hundred feet deep, studded with broken boulders as well. You might survive it, but it’s likely you’d drown or be bashed to pieces in the tumult. I can sense a few underground streams as well that bleed off some of the water before it reaches the fords, so your body might vanish and never be found as well.”

“Good to know,” Koda said, his eyebrows rising. “You can sense all of that from here?”

Samira nodded rapidly, her tall ears flapping energetically in response to the gesture.

“I’ve been working on expanding my awareness through water when we camp. I want to be able to trace the natural waterways to find hidden springs, as it’s easier than summoning water from the air,” Samira explained shyly. “Plus, it would be nice to be able to locate where the best locations to dig wells are…”

“Very useful ideas,” Sienna encouraged as the wolf-eared huntress stepped up as well for a quick look before backing away with a shiver. “I can handle heights, but crossing that bridge is not going to be fun.”

“We are in you and Calandra’s hands, love,” Koda reminded her, a loving smile crossing his lips.

“Aye, and we’ll make sure to get a good hold while you are in those hands,” Calandra teased, giving a bawdy chuckle a moment later. “Test that land bridge out, Sienna. I want to get to the far side and see if we can spot either those troublemaking shitstains, or the nearest tribes from up here. What were they called again?”

“The Waterrock tribe,” Samira supplied without having to check her notes. “They took their name from the number of natural springs that rise up in the southern section of the plains. While it’s far dryer on our side of the ravines to the north, we have the streams and springs. But to the south there are far more lakes.”

Samira gave a thoughtful hum, her ears wiggling as she considered something.

“I wonder if that is because of the underground waterways?” Samira murmured after a few moments of thought. “The passages I sensed earlier tend to wind to the south, I wonder if they connect to an underground lake, or maybe funnel through the earth into those lakes and ponds that most of the southern plains rely on for their water?”

“Something to look into later, maybe,” Koda said with a smile, slinging an arm around Samira’s waist and pulling her to his side.

The thoughtful caracal melted into his side with a happy sigh, her priority immediately shifting from her little mystery onto snuggling into Koda’s side. Her tail wound around his waist like a third arm, doing its best to cling closer to him.

“We should have no problems getting a good view from the cliffs on the other side,” Finna supplied, stepping up next to Koda on the side opposite of Samira. “It’s partially why I recommended we scale this half and proceed across one of the land-bridges, rather than go through one of the fords.”

“And it has nothing to do with the fact that you didn’t want to spend an hour wading through the ford?” Arthene teased from behind the group.

“Not at all,” Finna insisted haughtily. “Besides, one of us would have had to care for Calandra. The water would have been up to her chest.”

“Hey!” Calandra barked. “I thought you were above short jokes.”

“Of course I am above them,” Finna said, wiggling her eyebrows down at the much shorter woman. “But in all honesty, the practical part is that it would have been uncomfortable and also put us at a disadvantage to anyone on the other side watching the fords. This way, we are far more likely to spot watchers first.”

Calandra continued to grumble playfully under her breath while the two incarnate spirits laughed along. Koda took the opportunity with Samira snuggled into his side to survey the cliffs and the water rushing along below him.

Despite being so high up, Koda had no feelings of vertigo. He’d always been good with heights, but after the winter spent high in the mountains and surveying the landscape, this was just another vista for him to enjoy.

The wind that made it past Calandra’s barrier gently ruffled his hair, sending a few charcoal-black strands dancing along with it and bringing a smile to his lips. Something about this place, the view, and the company just felt so right to him.

“It’s good,” Sienna called a few minutes later, drawing their attention to her. “The stone is surprisingly sturdy, and it feels like I’m not the only mage to have empowered it, though it’s been a long time since someone touched this stone with magic.”

“That would likely be the tribal shamans of old,” Finna answered with a serious nod. “It doesn’t happen often, but every few generations, a handful are born with the ability to touch the elements. There were far more back during my Lady’s days of power, but her blessing still flows over the beastfolk.”

“Good to know, shall we?” Koda said, glancing down at Samira and getting a dazzling smile from the caracal woman before she wiggled free and scampered over to join Sienna at the base of the bridge.

“So much energy in that one,” Finna said quietly as she fell in beside Koda to walk towards the others.

“Yes,” Koda answered. “Samira must feel like she’s living her dream. The girl is obsessed with the ancient legends and stories of our people, as you know. She must feel like she’s living in one of them right now.”

“She is living one of them right now,” Finna reminded him, shooting Koda a glance out of the corner of her eye. “The primal spirits are rousing again and incarnating to move amongst mortals, Thera rises from what our people believed was her grave, and a champion strides the face of a world in her name to aid those in need.”

Her words struck a chord in Koda’s being and he couldn’t help but puff up a little in pride. He knew that it should be intimidating to know that others would look up to him like that, but he had already promised to do his best, he just had to deliver on that promise now.

Finna watched him with a small smile of her own, clearly both amused and happy at his response.

Crossing the land bridge was actually far easier than any of them had expected. Between Sienna smoothing any ridges they might trip on and reinforcing the natural outcropping and Calandra directing the wind around them, it was as simple as sticking in a single-file line and walking carefully.

Within ten minutes, they stood on the far side.

Koda kept to the back of the group, electing to send Arthene over first to secure the other side. When they had reached the midpoint of the crossing, he’d paused for a moment to look down and savor the feeling of the faint wind pressing on him as he stood at the edge of Calandra’s shield for a moment before hurrying to catch up.

Given the barren top of the cliffs, none of them actually wanted to camp up here, given how cold it would be once the sun went down. So they hurried to the far end of the cliffs and took a moment to survey the southern plains.

Koda could immediately confirm Samira’s earlier statement about the number of lakes and ponds on this side of the plains. There were also far more trees on this side, though they still remained clumped around the sources of water. Each of the glittering pools had a halo of green trees around them that stretched out a fair ways.

Rather than mountains in the distance, like they could see to the north, Koda picked out a sprawling expanse of green trees many miles distant, the flank of a large forest coming right up to a sparkling expanse of water in the distance that was either a sea or the shore of an immense lake.

He spotted the trailer of smoke only seconds before Finna did, though the lapine woman was the first to speak.

“There!” Finna said, pointing to the south-east towards a thin curl of white smoke rising near one of the larger lakes.

“And there,” Koda said a moment later, pointing beyond it to another thinner curl of smoke rising from further to the south than the first.

“I missed that one, do you think it’s a hunting party or another tribe?” Finna asked, stepping up beside Koda to follow his gesture to the second curl of smoke.

“No,” Koda answered grimly. The dark stain that clumped around the base of that second curl of smoke was all he could make out at this distance, but the instinctive growl from within his soul told him what it was.

They’d finally caught sight of the Crooked forces that had come to the plains.