Lost Bloodline 4 - Chapter 1

Okay folks! Here's the newest set of pre-release chapters for Lost Bloodline book 4. It's set to release 9.23, so these pre-release chapters will be going up on the M/F schedule until 9.19 with a double chapter on 9.19 and them all coming down 9.22 for the official Amazon release.
Hope you all enjoy Koda's next set of adventures, which will be a bit more slice-of-life and chill as the coming of winter means he can't get up to any trouble.
Right?

-----------

Chapter 1

After having spent most of his life racing from one problem to the next, Koda Burke—now Aegisclaw—was well equipped to handle the stresses that came with having to repeat a similar maneuver when he was called to another world. ‘Same circus, different monkeys’ was something that he’d heard his bosses describe the different work-sites that they’d been assigned to over the years.

Koda had been part of the cycle of rushing about and putting out fires often enough that when things were quiet, it was actually concerning. That was usually the sign that something was about to go wrong. And that hadn’t changed when he was pulled to another world by a goddess bound to the bloodline of his ancestors.

But as the days turned into weeks, and then months, Koda was forced to accept the fact that sometimes he could catch a break.

That wasn’t to say that his days were without a care. Being the sole champion to a goddess on the brink of vanishing from knowledge and thus existence meant that there was always something to get done.

The dozens of little ceremonies that Kris Dewclaw, the headwoman of Silverstone, and her family had carried through the centuries were slowly being passed on to Koda. Everything from christening newborns, to blessing hunting trips, and mediating disputes. And that wasn’t even considering getting his own house in order.

The home that he’d been given for himself and his mates was spacious, but unfurnished when they got it. With three mates in his growing family and a fourth woman courting his affections, Koda could always find something to do at home if building the defenses of the little mountain town didn’t occupy him enough.

Even though his house was in good condition, Koda refused to simply trust in fate that it would survive the winter. He went over it with a fine tooth comb, assisted by his dwarven mate Calandra. The two of them found and patched a number of small holes created by mice and other small pests in the years since the house’s construction, as well as checked and replaced a few spots on the roof.

While Koda prepared his home for the winter with Calandra, his other two mates—Sienna and Arthene—worked to hunt and prepare enough meat to get their family through the cold season. Meats were dried, smoked, and salted. Wild vegetables were gathered and either cellared, dried, or pickled to help preserve them as well. And when all else was done, whoever had time would split firewood to improve the house’s stock of that.

None of them wanted to spend the winter freezing, after all.

Plans were also laid for improving the village’s defenses. Construction of a defensive wall around the village itself was discussed regularly, as the mines would produce plenty of good granite if needed. They even had able hands in the form of several newcomers to the village.

A dozen dwarves had decided to make the move from the nearby larger town of Amberpost to the smaller village of Silverstone due to Koda’s previous escapades in chasing down problems. When he’d come through town just in time to push back a raid of monsters known as the Crooked, he’d impressed more than a few people who had chosen to uproot and move on the sly to safer lands, even with the seasons turning soon.

With the winter coming in quickly, the village spent most of its focus on harvesting the small vegetable fields the villagers maintained, collecting fruit from the orchards, and processing the rye from the larger grain fields. Even though the orchards and fields were maintained by different families, many of the regular villagers turned out to assist them during the final rush of winter preparation. Koda and his wives included.

Beyond the new citizens that moved to Silverstone from Amberpost providing new faces to find homes for, there were also occasional traders that started arriving within weeks of Koda’s return. Traders from one of the tribes that lived free and wandered the plains to the south. Specifically, the Silent Plains tribe.

Koda had encountered their hunters while on his own trip chasing bison to help prepare for the winter. As was his habit, Koda had thrown himself into assisting them when he’d discovered their people were beset by massive, regenerating predators known as trolls. 

After helping reclaim their secluded village and drive off or defeat the trolls hounding them, Koda had set the groundwork for a trading partnership with the tribe of feline beastfolk before returning home with one of their number tagging along as a representative. The fact that said representative was also determined to join Koda’s growing family went without saying. Samira had made sure there were no illusions about her desires to become one of his mates, and her chieftain had seen it as a way to tie the last champion of Thera, goddess of the beastfolk, to his tribe as well.

Samira worked with the hunters in Silverstone to help build the village’s stores of meat and hides, as well as coordinate with the traders coming from her people to ensure that goods would be exchanged fairly. The fact that she was living with Koda meant that both sides respected the slightly odd caracal beastfolk enough that no one who belonged to either tribe tried to cheat the others.

Despite the fact that Koda didn’t have a job that earned him an income, he was slowly coming to accept the fact that money did not rule his new home like it had his old one. Though there were definitely other, stranger problems that he had to deal with besides grocery runs and taxes.

<><><>

“So nothing has come through the passes that is concerning?” Koda asked in a serious tone, staring into the eyes of the figure he was talking to.

The figure shook its elongated head sharply, the bony structures of its nose and horns whipping back and forth as it did so.

“No sign of trolls coming down from the high mountains or traveling in our area?”

Again the creature shook its head in the negative. The gesture produced an odd, rattling noise. Like the tines of its antlers bounded off of something else in the air that Koda couldn’t see.

“Any other predators moving through the mountains?” Koda asked next, studying the figure in front of him with carefully detached interest. Its dense, gray fur looked like a mixture of wool and a wolf’s hide with how it puffed in some spots but lay smooth in others.

A third shake of the head was Koda’s answer. The creature swayed back and forth like it was rocking on its heels idly, like a bored child would.

The problem was: this creature had no heels. Its legs ended in scorched nubs where ankles would be on a normal person’s legs, and instead it hovered several inches off the ground like it was supported by a passing breeze.

“Okay,” Koda sighed and gestured with one hand. “You can return to your rest and guard the Retreat. Continue to patrol the high mountains. If you spot trolls or other large predators moving towards the valley, track them and let me know.”

The wendigo spirit, because that was what Koda was talking to, finally spoke aloud to him. As much as the spirit of an ancient predator could at least. Its deer-skull head split open along the jaw, revealing the ragged fangs of a predator in place of the flat teeth of a herbivore, and screeched its understanding of his orders.

The hollow spirit bounced in place before leaning to one side, slipping over the cold stone of the mountainside like an ice-skater moving in their element. Koda watched as the predator-ghost phased through the cliff to his right and out of sight.

“That thing still gives me the creeps.”

“I can’t fault you on that,” Koda said with a bit of forced levity, turning to smile down at his first mate who was standing just behind him. “Even though we both know that Thera claimed that ghost and bound it to her, it still makes me nervous too. There are far too many legends about wendigo’s back in my old world. Legends and nightmare stories about what they could do if they caught you, as well as the rumors of being able to possess people even after the monster was defeated.”

“Thera wouldn’t risk it being able to do something like that to you,” Sienna said with a gentle smile. “Not to mention there is the fact you are getting better at controlling spirits.”

“At least the ones that are willing or otherwise tamed,” Koda snorted, remembering the stonecracker leopard pride that had aided them against the trolls.

The redheaded wolf beastfolk gazed lovingly up at him while her fluffy, russet colored tail stirred in slow circles behind her under her cloak, creating an amusing shush-shush-shush noise.

The lithe woman was dressed heavier than usual against the growing chill that rolled down from the mountains. Koda had mostly seen his lover in a brief top or tight leather vest and close fitting pants. Now, she wore a long-sleeved shirt underneath her ubiquitous vest and thicker pants, and also topped it all off with one of the dense, bison-hide cloaks that they’d commissioned after the odd hunting trip that had seen Samira attempting to wiggle her way into their family.

“I know. But that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about my girls too,” Koda said with a shrug, holding out his arms to her.

Sienna didn’t hesitate, happily sliding into his grip and burying her face in his chest. Koda felt her cold nose burrow into his neck for a moment before it began to warm up, just as the pointed wolf’s ears that protruded from her head bounced and wiggled happily as she folded into his chest. Behind Sienna, her tail picked up speed and began to stir the heavy hide of her cloak even more. The way that the appendage never failed to convey his lover’s emotions went a long way to reassuring Koda that he’d always be able to tell if his mate was happy or not.

Sienna mumbled something that, despite their close proximity, he wasn’t able to make out. Mostly because her face was wedged into his chest at the moment.

“What was that, my dear?” Koda asked, shuffling slightly so that his own bison-hide cloak would drape over Sienna, encapsulating the two of them entirely in the warm confines of their insulating layers, all save their heads and their booted feet.

“Do we have to rush back to the village?” Sienna murmured, shifting back just enough so Koda could feel the hot breath of her words tickling his throat. “I know the other girls will worry if we take the whole day to get back, but you’ve been so busy the last week…”

Sienna’s arms, which threaded around Koda to press into his back, squeezed him tightly. Far more tightly than a woman her size should have been able to, but that was a side-effect of the time she’d spent with Koda. Killing a troll by herself had blessed Sienna with a level of personal strength that would rival someone easily twice her size. Thankfully, Koda had a similar blessing of power. So only with the others that had the same blessing could they use their full strength.

“We shouldn’t spend too long,” Koda said after snuggling with his wolfish mate for a few long moments. His hands settled onto the curve of her strong hips, kneading the muscles there gently as he blew a slow stream of air onto her ear, making it wiggle and twitch in response to the stimulation. Despite his words, Koda did not try and pull away from his lover at all. If anything, he drew Sienna closer into his chest while the wind sent strands of his long, pitch-black hair spiraling through the air.

In that moment, on the mountainside caressed by the chill breeze in the fading autumn air, with one of his mates in his arms, Koda felt complete. He could feel the love that Sienna had for him in the way her body molded to his, how her arms held him, and the happy little noises that leaked out through her as she burrowed into him. Knowing that he had two more people waiting back home for him who loved him just as much only made Koda’s heart swell even more.

The long moment of affection was finally broken when Sienna pulled back to look up at him, mischief dancing in her blue-green eyes.

“You sure that I can’t persuade you to take a bit of time? Maybe chase me through the woods again?” Sienna teased, her hand stroking over the front of Koda’s pants alluringly. Her smile only grew wider as his breathing hitched in response to her teasing caress.

“Well, we are able to travel a lot faster with just the two of us,” Koda rumbled, his grip on Sienna’s back shifting to cup her butt firmly once before he began to knead her tight bottom in a steady rhythm.

Sienna didn’t respond verbally, instead pressing into him so that she could steal a kiss from his lips while her hands gripped at Koda’s belt. It was only after they separated several moments later that she spoke.

“Well then, catch me if you can, my love.”

With that statement, Sienna slipped nimbly out of his grasp and dashed away. The redheaded huntress’ cloak billowed behind her as she raced down the hillside towards the trees, laughing gaily as she ran.

Koda didn’t need Sienna’s teasing to want to chase her. His instincts roared at him to give chase, to run down his mate and breed her as she clearly desired. Koda’s instincts were something that he’d slowly been growing more in tune with over the last several months, and he didn’t resist their call. Bounding happily down the hill, Koda raced after Sienna’s giggling form.