Lost Bloodline 4 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Koda sighed and shifted against the pillow under his head so that it supported his neck more. The gentle lapping of the warm water against his chest was so soothing after the long day out in the wind and growing chill.

While his resistance to the changing temperatures was strong enough that he barely noticed the cold, it was still there and worming its way into his bones. The hot dinner and lively conversation with his mates and friends had taken the edge off earlier, but the bath was soaking pleasant heat into his body to chase away the last of the cold.

A quiet splash on his right followed by a contented sigh told him that Sienna agreed with the sentiment. Though it was Calandra on her other side that spoke her approval aloud.

“I know I’ve told you a few times that I was impressed by this idea, but this is brilliant. Was worth the effort getting the tub made.”

“Glad you are as happy as I am,” Koda replied with a chuckle, shifting again until his neck was fully supported and just letting himself drift in the warmth. “Without the benefits of a water heater for the house, I had to get creative. I think I can get this further refined, but that would require me to disassemble the hearth first.”

“No need for that,” Arthene said from behind him, the strong arms wrapping around Koda’s torso to squeeze him tighter to her chest. That made Koda’s ‘pillow’ squish as well, further enveloping his head and muffling the next sentence from Sienna.

Arthene didn’t keep him trapped for long though, the large woman was content to indulge in the hot water of the new tub and just relax. It was tight with the four of them in it at once, but Koda couldn’t complain about it not being worth it.

“I’d be curious to see how you would want to change the chimney to make this better, but right now it’s just wonderful to not have to spend time heating individual kettles and pots,” Calandra was saying when Arthene finally relaxed her arms and her large breasts fell away from Koda’s ears.

“It’s just a matter of transferring the heat,” Koda said, knowing that Calandra’s curiosity would burn at the short woman until she got an answer. “The stones of the hearth and chimney already collect and radiate the heat through the house. All I did was build this little addition on the side of the house and then built the tub up against the base of the hearth to draw that heat into the water. We put the layer of stone and rough cement against the actual chimney and hearth-stones to preserve them, lined it all with copper to help the transference into the water, and built the tub around that.”

“Sounds complicated. I can see why more folks don’t bother since anyone who could afford that would be able to afford servants to just heat the water for them,” Sienna chuckled and Koda felt a hand on his thigh followed by the slosh of water as Sienna snuggled into him and Arthene.

“Do you want a servant?” Koda asked his redheaded mate, shifting to peer over the curve of Arthene’s right breast to meet Sienna’s eyes.

As almost always happened, Koda found himself caught and drowning in those crystalline orbs. There was something about Sienna’s eyes that drew him in and swallowed him whole. It took a supreme effort of will to pull himself back usually, but Koda didn’t care and let himself drown in his lover’s eyes.

Sienna blinked slowly after a handful of seconds, briefly breaking her locked gaze with Koda and freeing him, before she spoke up.

“I don’t. I like having the house to ourselves.”

“What about Samira?” Koda asked and got a round of amused snorts from his girls at that, as well as a poke in the hip from Calandra as chastisement.

“Samira is settling in just fine. She knows when to leave us be, and when she can keep working away at you,” Sienna answered him with a lazy smile and another slow blink. “Who would have thought a man would be so against having a large harem of beautiful women.”

“I’m not against it,” Koda protested, bouncing slightly when his pillow snickered in amusement at his statement. “I’m not. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to hop into bed with every woman who bats her eyelashes at me. Half the unwed women in the village have been doing that since I showed I’m willing to have more than one woman in my life.”

“There are a few that I’d be okay with…” Sienna said slowly, her expressive wolf ears flicking back and forth thoughtfully.

“Not interested,” Koda said quickly, cutting off the line of thinking from Sienna before it could get far. “I already have the most beautiful and capable woman in the village in my family.”

“Hey!” Calandra protested sharply and this time the poke transitioned into a pinch and Koda yelped in surprise, eliciting another giggle from Arthene.

“Cal, you don’t count! I poached you from Amberpost and then you became part of the village. I meant people born and raised here!” Koda protested, shifting so he could shoot a scowl at the dwarven minx.

“I know, I just wanted you to look this way,” Calandra’s scowl turned into a broad grin and she shifted to stand in the stone tub and pull Koda into a long kiss.

As their lips separated, Calandra leaned forward to bump her forehead against his and whisper quietly to him.

“Thank you for taking your time. I’d feared for a while that I would be just another conquest for you—it would have been worth it but I still worried. But you’ve taken the time beyond our passions to grow close to me and develop our relationship further.”

“Silly dwarf,” Arthene said, the amusement in her tone making her voice rumble. “Koda is a discerning mate, he chose you above others for a reason. Sure, he may be able to mate with nearly any woman in the village. But he chose us three to be the mothers of his children.”

“And Samira?” Calandra asked, turning the conversation back on to their houseguest.

Koda was about to answer, but Arthene did it for him and while he would have preferred more tact, she got the point across.

“She is hero-struck with him. It was our whole group who turned back the trolls, but Samira saw Koda come striding out of her beloved stories in her people’s time of need with a bevy of powerful warriors at his back. Not only did he help them, he raised her up in strength and showed trust in her knowledge and skills.”

“Not like she gave me a choice,” Koda mumbled in mock rebellion, making the girls smile. “She basically attached herself to our group and refused to let go. Rather like an overly-cuddly woman I know of.”

To punctuate that statement, Koda twisted to kiss the underside of Arthene’s jaw. This got a happy rumble out of the bear spirit and she squeezed him tighter to her chest for a long moment.

“I am simply claiming what is mine by right,” Arthene countered airily. “My mate is a mighty warrior and has the potential to rise far above all others. Why shouldn’t I savor every minute I can?”

“I’d complain if you weren’t so actively willing to share,” Sienna said laughingly before stealing a kiss from Arthene as well.

Settling back into the warm water, Sienna let out a long and contented sigh. The breeze created by the exhalation stirring the steam rising from their bath.

“Agreed,” Calandra laughed and draped herself over Koda and Arthene’s combined laps.

The soft weight of the smaller woman’s bust pressing into Koda’s thigh caused a stirring in his lower half that he’d been trying to suppress. But given the acres of nubile and soft flesh that surrounded him while bathing with his mates, it was ultimately a futile effort.

Seeing him rising from the water, Calandra’s eyes gleamed mischievously and she reached for Koda’s member as subtly as possible. Which for Calandra, was not subtle at all.

“Ah ah, not yours,” Sienna said, blocking Calandra’s reaching hand by gripping Koda’s shaft at the base herself. “You insist on waking him up in your trademark fashion every morning. So the evenings belong to Arthene and me. We let you monopolize those wake-up’s because both of you enjoy them so much, but don’t be greedy.”

Calandra pouted cutely up at Sienna, only to yelp in surprise when Sienna used Koda’s manhood to bop her on the nose in punishment.

While Calandra rubbed at her little nose with one hand, Sienna turned a heated look back to Koda. Leaning further into him, the wolf beastfolk began kissing along Koda’s jaw. Arthene’s happy rumbling—he would have called it a purr if the bear spirit hadn’t complained so loudly the last time he brought it up—got louder as she watched lazily.

“You promised us children, my mate. I’m not in a rush, but it’ll never happen if we don’t keep trying. It’s Arthene’s turn next, so give our bear a proper mounting.” Sienna whispered into Koda’s ear.

The hot rush of her breath against his skin, the images conjured by her words, and the feeling of her hand on his flesh all combined to make Koda harder than he’d ever been before. Which was good, because Arthene’s happy growl told him he wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon.

<><><>

“Shaping bone into weapons is difficult but not impossible,” Arthene explained as she set the hide-wrapped bundle onto the kitchen table with a thump. “Normally, you can’t get beyond a club or a sharp point out of it. Bone needles or arrowheads, that sort of thing. But I’m rather proud of what I managed.”

The pale, early-morning light leaked through the glass windows that had been thrown open to allow in the bracing morning air. With the number of bodies crowded into the dining area in Koda’s house, they needed some more circulation to keep it from getting stuffy.

“My club is a great example of focusing on the functional strength of a bone and growing it into the most it can be,” Arthene continued a moment later, working at the ties on the bundle while the others leaned closely to observe.

Sienna, Calandra, and Samira all stood on one side of the table, watching and waiting eagerly. Hans, Todd, Hannah, and Netta stood on the other side, looking just as eager as they waited.

The other four that had assisted with the troll-hunt had been summoned that morning to receive the weapons that Arthene had made for them. The fact that the incarnate spirit had used her own bones to craft the weapons made this even more meaningful.

Koda watched on with a smile. While they would be receiving weapons made with the bones of a demi-goddess, Koda’s totemic gauntlets were already more powerful than anything Arthene could craft. Instead, they’d offered the skull from Arthene’s past incarnation to Thera, and the goddess had used it to craft him armor instead.

“While you can make weapons like these with regular bones, the treatments and time honestly make it less efficient. You’d need bones from a powerful creature to even have a chance of more than the initial effects taking. Now that I’ve got the technique down again, I’ll be teaching it to several craftsfolk in town so they can turn the rest of the bones into tools and weapons for our tribe.”

Arthene’s proud statement got smiles from everyone, even the four warriors not in their family. These four had been by Koda’s side since the beginning, traveling on their different adventures and coming out the other side relatively unscathed. The only one who’d been with him longer was Sienna, which was why she stood as the head of Koda’s wives.

“I know that a few of the others were asking about it. Ever since you mentioned it and had us bring the skeleton back from Last Fang Cave, they’ve been eagerly waiting.”

Todd was the first to speak from their group of friends. The fox beastfolk was the oldest of the group and the most knowledgeable tracker in the village. He was in his forties and beginning to show it with some gray in his hair and tail, but moved with the sprightly grace of someone half his age in spite of them.

“It takes time to do it properly, but I’m confident that we’ll have most of the bones processed by the time the spring comes. Who gets what is entirely up to Kris. The headwoman can deal with the headache of distributing them. You all are the ones I wanted to make them personally for.”

Arthene’s statement was made offhandedly, but coming from a creature that these four viewed as the legendary guardian of their tribe made all four puff up with pride in spite of knowing how Arthene normally acted.

“Well, go on then,” Hans said with a broad grin. The bull beastfolk stood at the back of the foursome, his broad shoulders standing out amongst the three lithe hunters. “I hope you made something that I can use in the mine too. I’m rather tired of breaking shafts and my mattock is blunter than a bachelor’s sewing needle…”

“I am surprised at that. I thought for sure Brit would keep it sharpened for you,” Netta teased the big man, the hawk beastfolk cackling like a crow when Hans blushed darkly at that.

“Now now, don’t get distracted talking about Hans' love-life. That gets enough traction in the village already,” Calandra cut in, ignoring the disbelieving squawk from Hans. “Let’s see what you got,’Thene.”

The dwarven woman’s use of Arthene’s shortened nickname earned her a smile from the big woman before Arthene flipped the bundle open and yanked out her first item while keeping the bundle closed over the others.

What Arthene produced was a wide, angular hunk of sharpened bone that had downward facing hooks worked into the bone on the back while it had a flat cutting surface on the other and came to a gleaming point. She offered the blade to Sienna with a smile.

“Here, our dear wolf. A new head for your spear. I trust you know best how to attach it and what will function best as a shaft. With your new strength, the hooks will keep your prey from escaping you unless you want them to.”

Sienna goggled at the item and accepted it with her mouth dropping open in a rather cute ‘O’ of surprise. The hunk of bone was easily over a foot long and several inches wide at the base, with a flared bottom to make mounting it on a spear haft easy. Darkly-stained runes were carved all over the flat of the bone, leaving the yellowed material marked with dark orange and red lines.

Koda could easily imagine how brutal the weapon would be in Sienna’s hands, given that she used her normal wide-bladed iron spear more like a halberd when fighting.

The next piece that Arthene pulled out of her bundle got an excited laugh from Calandra, who happily accepted the runed axe head from Arthene while bouncing on her heels.

Calandra’s weapon had clearly been shaped from a scapula, the angular bone already the right shape for an axe and sharpened to a razor’s edge. The back half of the scapula had been straightened—how Koda had no idea—and came to a sharp point for piercing through armor.

“And my little sister-mate, I promise this will hold an edge for you. The processes I put it through allowed me to shape it so it was balanced and the bone is dense all the way through. I sacrificed any scraps that I had to fill the head in properly. Again, I leave making the haft to you.”

Samira was bouncing on her heels in excitement when Arthene got to her and drew out a pair of leather-wrapped bundles that were as long as the incarnate spirit’s forearms. She handed them over to Samira with a silent grin.

Squealing with excitement, Samira tucked one under her arm and drew the other out. This revealed the two to be a set of shortswords made out of lengths of rib bone and sharpened to keen edges. Another series of jagged runes ran along the lengths of the blades that Koda guessed were part of the reinforcement magic that Arthene had used. Soft leather wrapped the handles and brief knurls in the bone extended above the grip to deflect blades away and protect Samira’s hands.

While Arthene sorted through the bundle next, drawing out a set of two shortswords like Samira’s and a matching set of two long daggers with sharply tapered tips that made Koda think of a documentary about Viking’s that he’d watched.

“These were harder for me, because I know that you two have been struggling to control your strength and not damage your bows. But the magic I know with the bones doesn’t give it the kind of whippy strength that you would need for bow-staves. So I opted for something that would protect you if you were to end up in melee once again,” Arthene explained, pairing a sword and dagger set each together and holding one each out to Hannah and Netta.

The two huntresses accepted them with solemn nods and smiles, drawing the weapons to study them before belting them on their waists.

“I am glad to have them. I’ve been working on treating several different bow-staves to reinforce them, but it’s taking time. In the meantime, these have been holding up well,” Netta explained, rolling her shoulders and making the wrist-thick bow she wore in a sling bounce.

“I know that there were folk who used horn to reinforce their bows as well, which gave the wood more whip. But those were primarily shorter bows intended for horsemen,” Koda suggested. “I’ll see if I can remember anything about how it was used, maybe we can adapt something for you?”

“Appreciate it,” Netta said, giving him a grin. “Till then, we won’t end up unarmed now. Not to mention we still have those stonecracker-fang spears still too.”

Arthene snapped her fingers sharply and grinned at that statement.

“I knew I’d forgotten something. Bring those to me and I can teach you how to treat the heads further. It won’t be as good as my old fangs, but they’ll still be reliable and solid.”

After the hunters all agreed, Arthene pulled a pair of long daggers from her bundle and offered them to Todd, who bowed as he accepted them.

“I thank you for these, Den Mother. I have been a bowman my entire life and am adapting better to my new strength every day. But having these as a backup will allow me to rest easier,” Todd said, quickly belting the weapons on.

“I had assumed as much, Todd. May they serve you well.”

“Of course you leave me to last,” Hans grumbled playfully, his fluff-tipped cow tail whipping back and forth. “Put me out of my misery already. Am I getting a sword like these folk? I suppose I can learn how to use one finally, but—”

Hans’ grumpy words faded out as Arthene tugged the largest item out of the bundle so far. Fashioned from a leg bone that had been merged with another of her scapula, the mattock was thick. The spade side of the mattock was broad and sharpened to a serviceable edge, but the pointed pickaxe side gleamed with wicked intent. One of Arthene’s old fangs had been worked into the point and reinforced with the engravings until it had only one purpose: piercing whatever it was swung against.

Carvings spiraled up and down the bone of the shaft while rugged leather wrapped the grip at one side. It was clearly a tool meant to be wielded with two hands and Arthene gripped it by the head as she offered it to Hans.

The miner-turned-warrior was silent as he took the offered item, his eyes wide with surprise. A brief grunt escaped his lips as he hefted the tool, his muscles bunching as they took on the weight of his new weapon.

“Why is it so heavy?” Hans asked as he swung it through the air. Despite his question, he handled the mattock with ease.

“I reinforced the joining with a measure of mithril from the mines. You won’t see it unless someone manages to crack the bones open, which I doubt is possible. There is some in each of them to ensure the weapons have the proper weight,” Arthene said with a smug smile.

“Mithril? But how? The output of the mine is carefully guarded—” Todd asked, worry thick in his voice. Koda understood that, as the mined mithril made up nearly all of the town’s taxes to the baron.

For all the good it does us, he growled internally. But Koda didn’t speak, just watched as Arthene heaved a great sigh.

“I didn’t take any from the storehouses. I delved into the defunct mine and managed to extract a few bits that were missed. Sienna, you really should have a look in there with your magic to see if the veins are entirely played out or not.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Sensing what is in the stone is something I’m still learning. Shaping is easy, but feeling stone is not the same,” Sienna replied with a nod that told Koda she’d be focusing on that to make up for what she might view as a past mistake.

“And that is that, my dears,” Arthene said with a grin, folding up the leather wrapping. “I hope you are happy with your presents and that they will serve you well. Do not be afraid to use them whenever you need to. They are meant to be put to use after all. I doubt that any of you, save maybe Koda, could break or damage them.”

“How did you do so much to shape these?” Todd asked while inspecting Hans’ mattock. Besides Calandra’s axe, it was the one that had the most blatant shaping done to the bone to take it beyond what its original form had been.

“Magic, rituals, and certain treatments to make the bone malleable. The people I teach will be able to do most of this, but without magic of their own?” Arthene shook her head with a resigned expression. “Still, they will be able to make tools and weapons that could rival worked mithril if they apply themselves.”

That statement got a twitch of surprise from everyone present save for Koda, who had already heard this from Arthene. He’d been the only one she let watch her work, since she’d already gifted the skull to become his chestplate to her mate.

“Rivaling mithril?” Hans asked, the normally jovial bull beastfolk pale.

“The smith will be able to at least,” Arthene said with an offhand shrug and a wicked grin. “Your weapons are borne of the bones of an incarnate spirit, shaped by her hands with the intent to protect her family. They could easily rival adamant or more because of that.”

Even Sienna and Calandra were gaping at Arthene now as the bear spirit grinned broadly at her friends, clearly pleased at her surprise.

She really does love taking care of those close to her, Koda thought with a satisfied smile of his own as the seconds ticked by and they waited for the others’ brains to restart.