Lost Bloodline 2 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When all the bodies had sunk beneath the shifting soil, Sienna was finally able to cancel her spell. Koda was quick to sanctify the site, and once the billows of gray smoke that carried the taint out of the earth finished, the group picked up their pace along the path.

Finding the orders to break a siege around the town was reassuring, and they slowed their pace from the headlong charge to a more sustainable march while they followed the jagged path in the vague direction of the town. Hans was definitely appreciative of the change in pace, and the hunters in their group ranged a bit to either side in an effort to bag any game that might be hiding in the tall grass. They were quite successful, bringing down four rabbits and a trio of fat game birds that reminded Koda of pheasants before they made it to the road.

“They definitely followed the road to Amberpost,” Netta said after studying the packed dirt for a long moment. “I have to wonder if they sent smaller groups in all directions until they found a road or not. I hope whichever Crooked went out into the plains were run down by the great herds there.” Netta’s words held such ferocity that Koda blinked down at her in surprise.

Well, I can’t really fault her for that. She hates the Crooked just as much as the rest of us. She told me her reasons earlier as well, he thought before glancing towards the rest of the group where they rested on the side of the road.

Arthene had Sienna in her broad lap, arms wrapped around the smaller woman like she was a stuffed animal. Sienna was doing her best to look annoyed at the attention, but Koda could see the fluffy bundle of her tail bouncing back and forth where it hung off the side of Arthene’s lap. The sight brought a smile to his face to see his two mates getting along so well.

Before he could get lost down that train of thought, and he already knew that the station at the end of that train was remembering their coupling the previous day, Koda cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Netta.

“How much further is it until we reach Amberpost?”

Netta looked up at him and sighed before glancing back towards the mountains at their rear. The mountains and valley that held his new home still loomed large in the distance, and Koda was reminded of the fact that, despite them having traveled for days already, they were still bound by distance on foot, which was nothing compared to what sort of distance a car could cover after all.

Glancing the other way along the rough and rutted road, Netta sighed before responding.

“Another day at least, maybe a day and a half? If we had horses or could sprint without stop, we’d make it there before nightfall. As it is, we will probably stop for the night within sight of the town and make it before noon the following day.”

“That would be best, so we don’t arrive too exhausted to help with anything,” Todd interjected, walking up with his bow over his shoulder. The older fox beastfolk had salve smeared on one cheek below his left eye, one of the few injuries that had been suffered in the previous fight with the Crooked. “Sienna will need a night’s rest to recover from using her magic so much. She’s showing a strong front, but if we want to put the best foot forward, we should camp at least once before committing to another fight.”

“I was thinking just that,” Koda said with a sigh. “She’s growing quickly with that magic, but she was only granted access to it days ago.”

“Just think of the sort of things she’ll be capable of with months or years of practice, Aegisclaw.” Todd slapped him on the shoulder with a small smile. “You’ll need to work hard so you don’t get overshadowed by your mates.”

“I don’t think he’s ever going to avoid that. Arthene casts too long of a shadow not to,” snickered Netta.

“Was that a crack about my mate’s height?” Koda asked in mock horror before joining the two in their laughter. It felt good to laugh again and helped drain some of the tension from his body.

“Only if she can’t hear me right now,” Netta responded when she finally got her laughter under control, which set off another, admittedly smaller, bout of laughter from the trio.

“All right,” Todd said once they’d mastered themselves. “We should get moving. I’d like it if we can get close enough to town that we can spy on the situation tonight, even if it’s not practical to actually try to attack them. We need more information to figure out what we are going to do. Our little band of misfits might have made a habit out of turning unbelievable odds against the enemy, but we can’t be slacking off now.”

“He’s got a point,” Koda sighed in agreement before turning to their resting group. “All right, everyone. We make for Amberpost. Keep an eye out as we go though. The last thing we want is to get ambushed instead because they have someone watching the road.”

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While the road was nothing more than a pounded dirt track rutted by the rain and unknown years of passing travelers, it was still a welcome change from the rocky and grassy soil they’d been traipsing over for the last several days. Koda was able to just focus on putting one foot in front of the other at a steady rate, and then relax and get to know his new mates better as the sun reached its zenith and then fell back towards the horizon once more.

Sienna was the one walking in the middle of their group now, with Koda on her left and Arthene on her right. The two took turns asking the redhead questions about her life and goals, as well as plans that she had for the home that the headwoman had given them. Arthene was more than happy to leave the decorating and furnishing to Sienna, her only concern being that they had a large enough bed to accommodate them all and leave room for ‘more.’ What or how many exactly that ‘more’ was, Arthene refused to elaborate on. She’d just grin at them when they asked.

They were in the middle of discussing whether or not they should try to plant a garden in the small yard out back or leave it as a workspace for messier projects when Koda felt something tug at his senses.

The road was cutting between a series of rolling hills, winding back and forth where it could and cutting through the sloping hillsides when it couldn’t. Rather than the tall, swaying grasses of the plains, these hills were decorated with rough scrub, sage, and other low and bushy plants that clung to the more rocky terrain. It was a welcome change, as it sheltered them from the constant pressure of the wind, but it also cut down the visibility in a lot of places.

Koda paused, his steady march slowing to a halt as he felt the tug again, this time on specifically his left side. It was a gentle pressure, like someone calling his name just out of earshot.

“Koda?” Sienna had noticed him coming to a stop and slowed as well. Arthene was watching them both with a quizzical look on her face.

“Hang on… something is…” Koda mumbled, closing his eyes to expand his senses. He listened carefully to his surroundings, trying to expand his consciousness as much as possible. At first, it was difficult to cut out the other sounds around him. The rasp of leather on leather, the rattle of wooden arrows in a quiver. A snuffling noise from Arthene as she sniffed at the air firmly, clearly trying to scent whatever it was.

Turning to his left, Koda faced off of the road and just focused his attention as much as possible. The seconds ticked by and he was about to give up when he felt a gentle hand on his chest, and a tugging sensation on his shirt as if he was being pulled off the road and into the bushes.

Opening his eyes, he stared in the direction the tugging sensation was guiding him, staring intensely into the light green and brown brush. The longer he stared, the more he could make out. The bushes hung together, clinging to either side of a narrow cleft between two hills. At a glance, it looked like a simple fold in the land, but as he continued to stare at it, Koda could make out deeper shadows in spots that told him there was more there.

“Wait here, please?” Koda glanced back at the others, getting nods of assent from the hunters, but frowns of denial from his mates. Rolling his eyes, Koda tipped his head for them to follow him, which brought smiles back to his lovers’ faces.

Together, the three of them stepped to the edge of the road. While he approached it, Koda summoned his totemic gauntlets. As the leather, bone, and stone weapons wrapped around his arms, the tugging sensation grew in strength. Almost as if someone had both of his hands and was pulling him forward.

Without waiting, Koda gently pushed the thick bushes aside, ducking down and sidling along so that he didn’t get scratched by the gnarled wood of the stems. Sienna followed after him, with Arthene grunting and pushing her way through with less care for injury in the back. Being careful to not let go of the branches and allow them to just slap into the women following him, Koda worked his way into the narrow ravine the bushes had hidden.

The hills had been rocky for the last mile or more, with several sharp outcroppings of heavy stone as well as large boulders being something the road had to wind around. The ravine he emerged into was made entirely of stone, except for the fallen stalks and wood of the thick bushes of sage and other prairie plants scattered underfoot.

Sheer stone sides rose up to his left and right, with barely four feet between them at his shoulder’s height. The ground underneath him was a mixture of gravel and the fallen plant stems from untold turns of the seasons. The bright light of the sun peeked through the intertwined branches of the bushes far above, giving the whole area a surreal and dappled look to its lighting.

“What is this?” Sienna murmured as she pushed through the last of the brush behind him, using her spear’s haft as a pole to shove the thick branches out of her way.

“Not sure…” Koda muttered as the tugging sensation guided him deeper into the narrow ravine. He could hear the crunch of gravel and dried plants under his lover’s feet as they followed behind him. On either side, the rock walls rose higher and higher, until they were easily twice as tall as he was.

Koda walked for another thirty yards before the wall on his right abruptly curved away from him. The slope of the rock overhead didn’t change, though. Something, or more likely someone, had taken the time to carve a cave out of the sheer rock wall on his right that vanished into the shadows after only a few feet. The cave’s floor was entirely clear of the broken stone and debris that had made up the ravine floor. As soon as Koda stepped off the gravel and wood covered ground and onto the smooth gray stone, he felt a frisson of power pass over his skin.

Arthene let out a low chuckle when she spotted the cave, and Koda glanced back to see her yellow eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. Sienna watched on in wonder, her cute mouth hanging open slightly in surprise.

“Fortune smiles on us,” Arthene murmured, her normally boisterous voice quiet, as if she didn’t want to disturb a sleeping pet. “Another site of power… How is it that you keep finding these, my mate?”

Koda just shrugged, turning to look back into the darkness. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dimmer light in here, and he could see the curve of the cave’s back wall now.

The floor sloped upwards slightly to meet the ceiling where it angled downwards. The entire cave was maybe ten feet across and about fifteen feet deep. At the very back, he could make out a rough ring of carefully carved square stones denoting a firepit, and then a simple stone bench that had a large crack running through it which had split the seat in two. Those broken pieces of stone now slumped between the legs of the bench, giving the whole place a feeling of abandonment and aimlessness.

Purpose, Koda thought with a small smile. It feels like it lacks purpose. A house without an occupant cannot be a home. That’s what this feels like… a place of shelter long abandoned. A home forgotten until it’s lost its purpose.

Koda felt that same tugging sensation on his gauntlets, and a longing deep in his heart that he recognized from the long nights he’d spent on the street after running away from the shattered mess that his parents called their homes.

He was moving on autopilot as he approached the stone fire ring. A flick of his mind to sheathe his claws and the left gauntlet vanished. He pricked his thumb with the claws on his right hand and caught several drops on the claw there.

“Shelter, safety, warmth, den, home,” Koda muttered as he flicked the drops onto the stones. Two went into the firepit, and three more splashed over the stone bench set at the back of the cave. He wasn’t fully sure of why he said what he did, but it just felt right.

Follow your instincts. Arthene’s voice echoed in his mind and Koda did just that, opening his heart and pouring out the memories of security, safety, and love that he’d felt when lying together with his mates even that first time when they had slept on the floor of the new house he called his own back in the village.

A pulse of energy shot from his gauntlet as he flicked the last drop and opened himself up spiritually. The pulse raced from his heart, up through his shoulder and then down and out through his clawed gauntlet. As it passed over the stones embedded there, the stones flickered and glowed with a blood-red fire that launched forth from his claws to land in the circle of stones with a contented crackle, curling up there like an animal finding its den and settling in to bring light and warmth to all that looked upon it.

A flare of light and a quiet crunch of stone heralded the bench righting itself and the broken slab mending once more before a thick buffalo hide settled on top of the bench, the dense fur thick and soft looking and supporting a carved stone bowl.

In the dancing light of the blood-red fire in the pit, the figures carved on the sides of the bowl seemed to shift and writhe.

“Ha ha! I am so proud of you, my mate!” Koda’s moment of respectful regard was banished like smoke in the wind as Arthene’s arms engulfed him from behind in a tight hug. “Another one! You’ve claimed yet another site of power for our Lady! Another of my sisters will soon wake and come to join us! Thera be praised.”

“Really? Another one already?” Sienna sounded flabbergasted at that statement, and when Arthene used her grip on Koda to swing him in a celebratory circle, he couldn’t help but laugh at the adorable look his mate had on her face. One ear was down and the other was up while Sienna’s head tilted to the side. Her tail was wiggling slowly behind her and he could see both confusion and interest in her eyes as the wolf beastfolk’s eyes danced between Arthene and Koda alternately.

“No idea, but each site of power we claim, each day that passes with them in our possession, is another step closer to Thera regaining her power. I have no idea how much closer this puts us to another of my kind joining us, but it is a large step down a long road, so why not celebrate!” Arthene said with laughter edging her tone before hurrying over with Koda’s boots dragging the ground as she refused to put him down yet. “Come, let us not keep the others waiting. I do not think our Lady will appear to us today. She is harboring her strength at the moment, after all.”

“Okay, can you put me down?” Koda felt absolutely ridiculous like this, despite the fact he was mashed against Arthene’s full bosom. He actually could empathize with a house-cat protesting being picked up by just letting his body stretch out.

“Oh, my mate. If we weren’t pressed for time, I’d reward you right here and now.” Arthene rumbled in his ear, sending a thrill of desire down Koda’s spine and tightening his pants in the process. “You’ll just have to wait until tonight for that, though. We can’t delay the others.”

“He’s all yours, Arthene.” Sienna said with a laugh, leading the way out while Koda continued to dangle from Arthene’s loving grip. “I’m still sore from the other day. You have to remember Koda, I’m not as durable as our wonderful mountain there. Not that I’m going to complain about your attention, mind you.”

Arthene emerging from the bushes again, with Koda dangling from her grip, brought another round of laughter from the other hunters, but she finally did set him down once they got on their way.

The next several hours were filled with teasing, bawdy suggestions, and more than a few off-color stories from both the men and women. Arthene’s affection and physicality were something that the group had embraced, rather than be embarrassed by it, especially since it was all aimed at Koda and gave them a chance to embarrass him instead.

As the sun was tickling the horizon, they emerged from the low hills to see the lumpy mass of Amberpost in the distance, maybe two or three hours' steady walk away.

Scattered around the city, though, were dozens of twinkling dots that had to be either campfires or torches prepared for the evening, and those dots encircled the large town. Smoke rose from several places along the village border, and fires had destroyed any outlying buildings, leaving only smeared ashes behind. Debris and impromptu barricades of overturned wagons choked the roads into the town, showing that Amberpost had not yet fallen, despite the attackers’ best attempts.

Seeing that, and the scurrying masses of Crooked moving about their camps around the embattled town, sent renewed determination down Koda’s spine and he growled out his orders under his breath.

“Make camp here. We will observe for now so we can pick the best moment to strike. We rest for now and begin tomorrow.”

The group didn’t argue, backtracking along the road to get cover from the village before moving off the path to find a spot out of sight to camp. Arthene and Sienna stuck close to him as the hunters prepared dinner and everyone ate.

The sentries, with Sienna’s help, shaped a small hide up on the peak of the hill where they could keep watch on the town while the rest of the fighters settled in for an early bed.

Koda moved amongst the group, taking ideas and suggestions back and forth while ensuring everyone was doing well. These were more than just his fighters, they were friends of his, family even. He would do everything that he could to ensure they survived this coming fight, as it wasn’t something they could just walk away from.

Previously, they had discussed the need to liberate or protect Amberpost. Otherwise, the forces here would likely come for their town next when the Crooked realized that the forces sent to capture it failed.

It wasn’t until night had fallen and Arthene came to drag him to bed that Koda finally started to relax and slow down. His mind was whirling over the coming fight so much that he forgot Arthene’s earlier promise until she towed him to where their blankets had been laid down, separate from the rest of the camp and sheltered behind several large bushes.

“Come, my mate. Time for me to reward you,” Arthene rumbled in his ear as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, pinning him against her plush flesh while one hand ran down his front to stroke over the bulge in his pants. “You have worked hard today, and will do so again tomorrow. Sienna sleeps already, as she has exhausted herself with her magic. As she said before though, I am welcome to reward you for your work today. And I intend to make sure you remember what you fight for when we go to battle next.”

Arthene’s hot breath washed over Koda’s ear tantalizingly, turning his anxiety and worry over the coming battle into lust for the lush-figured woman with him now.

“We will need to be quiet,” Koda murmured, reaching back to begin undoing the belt that held Arthene’s waist-wrap up.

“You’ll have to keep me quiet, my mate,” Arthene husked, her voice thick with temptation and promise.