Lost Bloodline 3 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

As soon as their meeting ended, Koda and his girls—with Samira in tow—headed out to check on the others.

“Koda?” Sienna asked while walking along on his right, the butt of her spear thumping against the packed earth.

“What is it, love?” Koda asked as their group angled towards the canvas tents that he knew marked where their friends had pitched camp.

“Do you mind if I use my magic to make some better shelter for these people? It might be a bit before they get back to their homes and they have nothing to build with besides the grass.”

Sienna’s request was simple, but it made Koda’s insides clench. He hadn’t even thought of having her do that, and now guilt rose up for the oversight.

“Easy there, big guy.” Calandra elbowed him in the thigh from her spot on his left. The observant dwarven woman had been watching him and saw the momentary flash of self-recrimination across her mate's face. “If what Sienna has told me is true, she’s not had that ability for long, and you’ve had about as much time to get used to all this as she has. So take it easy on yourself.”

Arthene didn’t add to the conversation, but he could feel the warm affection flowing from his primal spirit along their bond.

Still don’t fully understand that, Koda thought wryly, allowing the distraction to push away the last of his regrets. In some ways, my connection to Arthene is not as strong as with Thera. But in others it is stronger.

“Yeah. Do that, Sienna. Just make sure not to overdo it, okay? I need my huntress ready for trouble tomorrow.”

Sienna’s pointed, red wolf ears happily bounced upright, and she nodded in understanding. Whirling in place, she interrupted Arthene and Samira’s conversation to pepper the caracal woman with questions about who would need shelter the most and to offer her help.

Koda half-expected Arthene to be upset by having her ‘toy’ stolen away, but his bear spirit joined in without hesitation, overwhelming poor Samira before dragging her off. Sienna’s tail whipped up a storm behind her while Arthene egged her on with a broad grin.

“And just like that, there were two,” Koda laughed, turning to look down at Calandra. The dwarven woman gave him a heated look, her eyes hooding alluringly.

“How about we go see if our tent is set up, and make use of the private time?” Calandra suggested, running her tongue over her top lip. The sexy look was enhanced by the fact she still carried her long-handled Dane axe over one shoulder and her armor on her pack, giving her a fierce air.

“Oh, I could use a nap,” Koda replied blithely, playfully ignoring her attempted seduction. “I’m sure you are tired after all—arg!” He winced away from Calandra, clutching at his thigh, which was tingling in the wake of the solid punch she had driven into him.

“Don’t you dare whine you didn’t deserve that,” Calandra growled at him in mock-anger.

“I’ll forgive you if you kiss it better,” Koda fired back, waggling his eyebrows at her as he hopped along on one leg.

“Do more than kiss it better, bite it off,” Calandra grumbled, still pretending to be upset at him. The one punch had been her way of telling him off playfully, but she couldn’t just cave for him that easily.

Rather than let his diminutive lover continue to grumble, Koda caught one of her braids in his hand and gave it a gentle tug, pulling the dwarven woman’s head back. She protested until Koda pressed his lips to hers, and then Calandra melted into his side readily.

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Since he was already familiar with Koda’s group, Cyrus and his hunters were the ones selected to escort him to the village for scouting the next day. Also, Samira was one of his hunters too, so that handily covered Arthene’s demand to include the caracal girl with them.

Koda had woken up that morning like he did most days, to the sensation of Calandra’s lips on his manhood.

The dwarven woman had made this part of their routine on her own initiative, but Koda would not complain in the slightest, something Sienna had pointed out sleepily while she watched the third time it happened. He didn’t know why Calandra did this, but she clearly enjoyed herself and kept as discreet as possible in her actions, so he couldn’t really complain.

Except that Samira had invited herself over the previous night and fallen asleep on the other side of Arthene, happily cuddled into the massive bear spirit and listening as she wove tales of the Before, when Thera ruled her realm and the worlds did not know the taint of the Crooked.

Thankfully, Samira slept hard while curled into Arthene’s back, so hadn’t been woken by the sloppy noises that Calandra had made during her morning routine.

The villagers had celebrated having fresh meat the previous night, with spirits further bolstered by the handful of dugout shelters that Sienna had made. No one was forced to sleep out under the stars unless they chose to, and that had further improved morale among the refugee villagers.

Used to the early morning hours from their frantic marches the previous weeks, Koda and his group had their tents bundled up and were ready to leave as the villagers stirred to full wakefulness.

With the necessity of shelter handled, several groups of the villagers were working together to forage for food in the nearby area, roaming out in groups of six or more to find berries and other wild edible plants. With a solid night’s rest and better food, they looked to be regaining their hope.

Vysin met them with Cyrus in tow shortly after the sun crested the horizon, sending them on their way with blessings and a promise that he’d work to collect the other hunter groups to be ready to strike back and reclaim their village.

“Winter is coming in quickly. We can all feel it in the air,” Vysin said for the third time that morning. “We need to bring in the harvests that are ripe in the fields and make sure we are ready. Normally, this would be a busy season as foods are dried and prepared, but it will be even busier than normal because of the trolls.”

“And that is only if they haven’t already found and broken into the village larders,” Cyrus added, again for the third time.

“Then we should get going, rather than standing about jawing,” Hans grumbled from within Koda’s group. “The longer we wait, the more stone piles up to work.”

Koda wasn’t sure of the euphemism that the former miner was using, but had a decent guess, so sided with Hans readily enough.

“He’s right. The longer we delay, the less light we have. Cal, can you give us a boost like yesterday?”

“Sure, handsome,” Calandra said with a blown kiss to Koda, before closing her eyes to focus.

Just as the previous day, Koda felt his limbs lighten almost immediately. A gentle pressure slowly built up behind him, and he could feel the wind stirring gently in his hair, sending the long, straight, black strands dancing. To his right, he saw Arthene’s thick mane moving as well.

“Off we go. Cyrus, with me,” Koda ordered before bounding forward.

In a single stride, Koda covered almost ten feet of distance with the grace of a gazelle. Glancing back, he saw the others all staring at him except for Calandra, who was grinning broadly while a few flyaway strands of hair danced in the ghostly wind she had conjured. While they’d all felt the increase in speed from the previous day, this was far more than they’d seen before.

Samira was the first one to move, though Calandra and Koda’s mates were half a step behind her. The caracal woman gave a whoop and leaped forward, her powerful legs launching her into a bounding run that quickly closed the distance to Koda.

“Is this what it feels like to walk with the gods?” Samira demanded as she landed next to Koda, shortening her stride so that each bounding step matched his.

“Not even close,” Arthene answered with a booming laugh. “The gods walk the world between the beats of a hummingbird’s wings. Here and gone before you conceive of them. They can only do that when they do not possess a physical form. If one were to incarnate like I am now, then they would be bound by the same rules of the world as we are.”

“Amazing!” Samira crowed, bouncing in her step and accidentally launching herself further forward through the air. Only her catlike reflexes prevented her from tumbling to the ground because of her excitement.

“Easy there, Samira. Don’t hurt yourself, otherwise Cal might feel that it’s her fault,” Sienna cautioned, finding her pace easily on Arthene’s other side, holding her spear cross-body with the broad head high to not snag on the undergrowth.

“Naw, I can tell that she’d hurt herself without my help. So have fun, Samira. Just don’t get too far ahead of boulder-ass here,” Calandra called before poking Koda in the butt with the pommel of her axe.

“Boulder-ass? You wound me!” Koda protested, glancing back to see that the rest of their group was slowly closing in on them.

His fighters were actually doing better adjusting to the acceleration than Cyrus’ group, but he attributed that to the higher level of trust they’d already developed with the dwarven woman.

“I mean, it looks like it’s carved out of stone in those pants,” Arthene said bluntly. Her words got a cackle of amusement from Calandra before she rounded Koda’s other side and settled into a steady jog matching his bounding leaps because of her shorter legs.

“I suppose I can accept that,” Koda said with a laugh of his own. “I’d much rather you ladies ran ahead of me, so I get a treat as well.”

“Okay!” Samira cheered from her spot further ahead of Koda and to his right, now that she had arrested her near-fall. “Come on, ‘Thene! Sienna?”

“The things I do for my mate,” Sienna laughed, a faint blush on her cheeks. The wolf-featured woman’s tail was spinning happily though, whipping up a storm as she adjusted her stride to follow Arthene when the spirit woman galloped past.

“I mean, if it riles him up?” Calandra laughed in agreement, lengthening her stride and jinking around Koda to join the other three girls in the lead.

All four of their muscular bottoms bounced and flexed as they ran, a sight that definitely brought a rising motivation to his heart. He could hear Hans grumbling behind him again, complaining about how lucky Koda was even as Netta shushed him.

Cannot argue with the statement, though, Koda thought with a smile as Sienna pushed Arthene playfully, throwing off the bigger woman’s steps before dodging away from a retaliatory attack that resulted in her getting a swat to the ass rather than the shoulder. I’m just surprised Samira was the first one to jump on it. I’d been meaning to tease my girls. Then again, she doesn’t seem to have many friends amongst her tribe and has clearly been bonding with Arthene… which I’m not sure is a good thing now that I consider it.

He was dragged out of his thoughts when Cyrus finally slid into place on Koda’s right. The cougar beastfolk struggled a bit with his balance, not used to using the odd, bounding stride that went with the wind spell that Calandra was using, but he seemed to be slowly getting the hang of it.

“How long until we reach the village?” Koda asked, when Cyrus remained silent.

“It’d normally be a two-day trip, but I expect we will make it there before nightfall, if your mage can keep her spell up that long,” Cyrus grunted.

“I don’t want Calandra to burn herself out. This is still a new power to her,” Koda replied immediately.

“If she’s got this much power while she is still new to the gift, then I am a bit terrified of what it will be like when she’s used to it,” Cyrus said, his voice a mixture of amusement and actual concern.

“Look no further than my Sienna for what to expect,” Koda tossed his head to the wolf-eared woman trotting between Samira and Arthene at the moment, rubbing her ‘wounded’ butt with one hand while her tail continued its happy swishes. “In the course of an hour, she dug out and erected shelters for everyone displaced by this incursion, and she did it with the same amount of effort as I might by splitting firewood for the same amount of time.”

“That… I see,” Cyrus said, his voice twinging with concern. “Do you select your mates for their power? It is a wise choice to surround yourself with strength, given the dangers I’m sure you face.”

“No,” Koda replied bluntly. “I did not choose them for their power. I love each of them, and they love me. That came first in every situation. The magic they wield is a gift from Thera herself as part of my family.”

Koda caught the speculative look that Cyrus gave him, but the beastfolk man let that subject drop. Instead, Cyrus filled Koda in on what he might expect to see when they reached the ruins of the village.