Wild Wastes 3 -CH1-

(Here we go!)

 

Vince managed, barely, to not drum his fingers against the table.

In fact, he’d personally view his entire decorum as a magnificent success.

He hadn’t killed, maimed, hospitalized, injured, or even hurt anyone since he arrived a month ago.

Though he was sorely tempted to.

The amount of stupidity on display was amazing between these two men.

“-ing this whole mess. The number of atrocities your men have committed are beyond count,” said the ambassador for the kingdom of Portland.

“As if you could talk, you buffoon! Your soldiers captured a number of citizens and turned them into comfort women!” screamed the man who represented Washington.

Vince’s hand clenched suddenly and he stood up. His chair squeaked and slid out from behind him, then toppled over, clattering to the floor.

“This is going nowhere,” he said darkly. “I’ve sat here for more days than I can count right now and listened to you idiots scream at each other.

“This isn’t a meeting or a peace talk. This is just you two looking for an excuse to yell.

“I’m done. Figure it the fuck out yourselves.”

Both men now looked panicked. They were looking to Vince as if he were about to remove their heads from their necks.

Which he had considered doing many times, but had not done so.

“Wait… please,” said the Portland man.

“Yes, I’m sure we can find a better way to discuss this,” said the Washingtonian.

“Don’t care. Fuck off,” Vince said as he turned on his heel. Snatching his weapon up from the guard at the door, he left the conference room.

“Is that really wise?” Mouth asked, keeping pace with him on his left side. “I would almost think it might not be good for us to leave.”

Vince snorted at that, glancing to the Dryad. Her dark green eyes were locked to him, her brown curls cut short, just below the line of her jaw.

It’d been years since he first met her, and if anything, she’d only grown in her appeal to him.

Her hour glass figure and full curves never failed to draw every man’s eye.

“They’ve been at war for nearly six years. As if it would change now. Until they either kill each other, or get tired of bleeding their countries dry, this’ll continue.”

Mouth pursed her lips at that, then shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re more than likely right, husband. It still doesn’t seem wise though.”

Moving quickly to his tent, Vince didn’t bother with anyone or anything.

He’d come to play the part of mediator at their request. Done so with only a small number of his closest people, and his personal guard.

Right after a meeting with his vassals that had been held in Denver this year.

And before that, we were on a damn royal tour.

When I get back, I’m going to have Elysia tell everyone to fuck off and die.

As soon as he got closer to his tent, a young high elf with a ledger smiled at him. She immediately moved over to him with a pencil in hand.

She was the most recent replacement for Felicity.

The Dark Elf woman had despaired two years ago after Vince continued to reject her joining his personal harem as a wife.

Fes had tried to increase the number of wives, including Felicity, he had since marrying Yaris, but to no actual success.

Amongst his personal wives, only Blue, Green, and Mouth had been inducted successfully.

They had more or less already been so though to begin with.

He simply didn’t want to increase his numbers anymore though. He already had far too many Dryad’s to please each month, let alone wives.

There were now so many Dryads, that he had to take three days out of every month where she simply bedded each and every Dryad in his grove.

Of course they’d all given him a number of children as well. He was literally drowning in children now.

The vast majority of them being Dryad girls. Though apparently each and every Dryad had at least one human child.

Meliae said it was to form the Dryad council that kept all of the Dryad affairs in order.

Of course, nothing stopped Berenga from continuing to try to gain him new wives though. She brought in new women of talent and skill to him.

Constantly.

Felicity had accepted his denial gracefully, but stated she couldn’t work around him any longer. She now worked tirelessly for him from the Wooden Heart duchy.

The last report he’d gotten from Mila was that the Dark Elf remained single, dedicated to her work, and was quite happy.

“No news,” Vince said to the young Elf. “Though I think we might be done. I tire of this, and I want to go home.”

“Of course, sire,” said the woman, writing something into her ledger. “I’d like to say thank you for this opportunity by the way. I know I’ll be cycled out to another duty once we return, and you’ll have a new assistant, but I appreciated the opportunity greatly.”

“Uh huh. Glad to have had you,” Vince said, dismissing her.

Elysisa had gotten it in her head to keep rotating women through till he found one that he kept, or asked to keep on.

Stepping through the tent flap, Vince moved to his camp chair and fell into it.

Leila was sitting in a lazy position nearby. Floating in midair on a disc of air, reading a book she had propped up in her lap.

Her large purple eyes moved from the book to him, and she gave him a warm smile. She reached up and ran a small hand through her long dirty blonde hair.

Despite being a Gnome, she was unmistakably a woman.

Sam, the Fae, was sleeping loudly in the canopy of his bed. Sprawled out as if in a drunken stupor.

Looking like a giant Fairy, she remained unchanged all these years.

Looking around, he didn’t see Ramona or Red immediately.

Maybe they’re hunting? They don’t tend to do well when we settle for a while.

A pair of bright red eyes came to life from where his bed was. He could see her outline and her form even though she was in shadow.

“Bringer is back already?” Red asked, stretching her back and hips out like an animal would. “Red hadn’t expected you so soon. Feed Red? Red wouldn’t mind another meal.”

Watching the way her lithe body moved, Vince couldn’t help but want to do far more than just feed her his seed.

“Red, we said we w-would keep it to two feedings a day, remember? We’re so close to lessening the curse,” Leila said.

“Red understands, yes. But Red loves being fed, and it makes Bringer feel better. Mouth doesn’t mind either, do you?”

“Of course not Red, I’ve always enjoyed servicing him for you to get your meals,” said the Dryad, sitting down lightly in his lap.

He’d been on the road for so long with Red, Mouth, Leila, and Ramona, that he wondered what it’d be like to be home.

“See? Red should feed and-”

“No,” Leila said, holding up a finger. “Don’t you want to break your curse?

“Yes…” Red said, her tone morose. “Red does. Red just… really enjoys her meals.”

“We talked about that, don’t you want more than that?”

“Red does.”

“Then we have to control everything.”

Red sighed and flopped down onto Vince’s bed. Her tail swished wildly above her rear end.

She was pouting.

Mouth leaned her head in close to him and kissed his ear.

“She’s acting spoiled because you and her haven’t walked her in a while,” said the Dryad. “Take her out for a few days. Hike, hunt, camp.

“Let the diplomats cool their heads while you take a jaunt. Leila and I will remain here and keep everything together for now.”

Vince nodded his head slowly at the idea.

“Not a terrible idea. It’d be nice to get out and about.”

“Besides, it’s about time for Ramona to be in heat. I’m sure she’ll make an attempt on your life, and then you can smash her down and have your way with her,” Mouth whispered in his ear, before nibbling on his earlobe. “Then again, you can just stay here with me. We could retire to the bed and I’ll show you how much I love you all day. Stay here and play with me? I’ll never say no to your attention.

“I love you, desperately so, husband.”

“You get almost all my attention, you silly thing,” Vince said, grinning and running a hand along Mouth’s side.

It was true, too. When his other wives were busy or tied up in whatever they were doing, they all sent Mouth in their place.

She’d become their surrogate emotions for him. Which meant that more often than not, Mouth spent more time with Vince than anyone else did.

The only time she hadn’t been, was when she gave birth to twins, one Dryad, one Human.

She’d never been pregnant since.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want more. You spoil me wonderfully, but I’m afraid I’m an ever empty well. You need to fill me up constantly,” Mouth said, then sighed dramatically. “Go. Take your pets for their walk. Just spare a thought for me when you get back.”

Maybe I can catch Ramona today after all.

Turning his thoughts to pinning the Dragonnewt and having her took his thoughts.

At some point in the past, and he couldn’t even remember how it started anymore, Ramona had tried to sexually assault him. Only to end up being the one who was assaulted.

Meliae had explained it later on. Dragonnewts were more Dragon than Human. She’d gone through a mating phase, where she would be able to lay a clutch of eggs if she chose, and sought out a mate.

And that entailed killing and eating an unworthy male, or being dominated.

Once a month since then she’d try to kill and eat him. Almost always when he went out into the wild with Red.

Every time so far had ended up with Ramona being conquered and then mounted.

Usually while Red watched.

Smiling at Mouth, Vince gave her a tender kiss.

“Thank you. Meliae was right to wife you so long ago. You’re exactly what I need at my side.”

Mouth blushed furiously, smiling at him.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Ramona yelled over the sound of the wind.

“Positive, it’s supposed to be right there,” Vince said, pointing down to the ground beneath them.

“If you weren’t so damn heavy we could fly further each day,” Ramona groused, peering at the ground as her heavy wings beat at the air. “I can’t see anything.”

“Let’s check out the clearing we saw earlier then. We can hook up with Red and see if she found anything,” Vince offered.

Ramona grunted and then turned to one side and banked hard.

Her tail tightened around Vince’s middle, the leather harness that went around his shoulders to the belt around her waist creaking.

She does this just to piss me off.

Gritting his teeth, Vince battled the internal sense that his stomach was about to punch it’s way out of his mouth as Ramona dove toward the ground.

Her wings snapped out and flapped hard as they neared the earth.

Vince felt her tail uncurl moments before she detached his harness.

Falling ten feet, Vince hit the grass and rolled forward. Tumbling twice, he came up standing, and started to brush himself off.

Ramona and he had worked out how to land long ago. It wasn’t even a thought anymore, just how they did it.

Reaching up he buckled the loose harness straps into his armor to the joints they belonged to.

Admiring the draconic woman’s form as she landed, he couldn’t help but smile.

Her head turned to one side and she watched him.

Bright blue eyes and short silver hair gave her a unique look. Tiny blue scales lined her cheekbones and brows faded up towarsd her horns and elongated ears.

They practically shimmered in the morning light.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing, just admiring the view,” Vince said immediately.

Ramona gave him a feral grin, before it slowly faltered.

“I’m not in my egg-phase,” she said, reaching up to touch one of her horns.

“And? I’m pretty sure we don’t need to wait for that, you know.”

“You’ve said before you don’t want anymore wives,” Ramona said, her wings closing and collapsing to her back. “You were complaining about Fes.”

He had confided in Ramona about that, now that he thought about it.

Then his brain caught up to what he’d been saying.

Did he want to turn Ramona into one of his wives? He’d been dragging his feet for years now, what was different with Ramona?

You’re already sleeping with her, and spend most of your time with her. At this point, it’s more a title then anything, isn’t it?

“Maybe I’m tired of only getting to share a bed with you after you try to murder me.

“Actually, if we were officially married, or mated as you tend to call it, would you stop trying to murder me?”

She grinned at him, turning to face him fully.

“No. I’d try harder, if anything,” she said. Her fingers flexed as if she were contemplating leaping at him.

Vince rolled his eyes, recognizing her joke for what it was. Ramona was a strange woman, but at least he understood her now.

“Uh huh. So yes, you would. Well, how about-”

“Bringer!” Red called, running into view at a full sprint. “You said you were looking for something.

“Was it metal? Rusty? Red thinks she found it if it is.”

That got his attention completely.

“You did? Show me,” Vince said, turning toward Red.

“Red thinks so. Come, will show you. Bringer can play with Ramona later,” Red said. “She reeks of desire, and you do too.”

Vince looked to Ramona as Red turned around and started back the way she came.

He shrugged at the Dragonnewt with a grin.

“She’s not wrong. But you? I’m surprised.”

Ramona grinned at him, displaying her teeth.

“You clearly never asked her previous to this point, then. It shouldn’t be a surprise.

“Ask her about the Gnome sometime.”

Vince looked back to Red, rather than respond.

He didn’t want to ask about Leila. Honestly, he already knew. It was hard not to know. She was almost as obvious as Felicity had been.

The difference was, Leila never put herself in a position where Vince could deny her.

Weaving through trees and rotten logs, Red led them onto what looked like had once been a trail.

A paved walkway, in fact, judging by the broken stones here and there. They had the look of paved concrete. Except it looked as if it had been broken up on purpose, rather than through time.

Well, definitely feels like someone had wanted to make it harder to find this place. Seems kind of extreme though.

Red abruptly stopped and then bent down. With a grunt of effort, she flung something aside.

With a clang, a rusty door settled into place against what looked like a cement foundation.

It was a near identical entrance to the one out in Groom lake.

It’d taken him five years, but he’d finally gotten a chance to check out the circle on the map from Groom lake.

A facility where his father had been brought from another plane, and his mother had met him.

And this place was likely where they’d vanished. Either on their way here, here itself, or on the way back.

“Red smells no life,” said the Beastkin, sniffing the entry. “It does not smell like a tomb either.”

Vince leaned forward and peered down into the shaft. If it was like the last one, this would go all the way down to another level.

Ramona stepped beyond him, and vanished into the opening before he could even argue about it.

There was an audible thump as Ramona hit the bottom of the shaft.

“It’s clear down here,” she said, her voice echoing. “But it seems like no one has been here in a number of years.”

Vince nodded his head at that. He’d have been surprised if anyone had been here, really. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that his parents would have returned to him, if they could have.

“Red will go next,” Red said. “Red is coming!” she shouted down the shaft.

Then she jumped down the shaft and vanished.

Grumbling about normality, Vince grabbed the top rungs of the ladder, and started to climb down.

There was a thump of Red hitting the bottom, and then he could hear the two women moving about, but they said nothing more.

Reaching the bottom floor, Vince immediately had a strong sensation of deja vu.

It looked like a mirror of the previous facility.

Moving through the archway that he knew would be there, Vince didn’t stop.

Lights began turning on as he walked, bright white light that seemed odd.

“Magic lights?” Ramona said.

“No. Red has seen this before. It’s not magic.”

Vince kept moving, marching straight towards where he knew the portal machine would be.

What he was hoping was to find an open portal. One that he could use to find more clues to locating his parents.

The heavy vault door that locked off the portal console was open.

Stepping into the experimentation area, Vince found the portal machine was off. There were no footprints in the dust, and everything looked as if it had been untouched for years.

Moving over to the portal console, Vince activated it, and looked expectantly to where the portal would open.

A blue oval came to life, and Vince looked out into a world of green grass. Green grass and trees.

And nothing that could tell him about where it went.

“Red has memorized the controls,” Red said, waving a hand at the controls.

“Memorized?” Vince asked, looking at her.

“Yes. Red memorized the last portal as well, where we saw the man and woman that was like Red.”

“Really?” Vince asked doubtingly.

“Yes, watch.”

Red immediately started adjusting knobs and switches before Vince could do anything or stop her.

The portal in front of them swapped away from what it’d been set to and became something else entirely.

Looking through the portal, Vince saw the same room from last time.

Where the man had sat, he was no longer.

Though a woman was there. In fact, it was the same woman he’d seen last time.

The Beastkin.

She had ears matching Red’s, and a tail that was quite similar as well.

She had darker blonde hair, with one blue eye, and one brown eye. She wasn’t bad looking, but Vince would only call her cute.

She was dressed in very casual looking clothes that Vince couldn’t place.

“Ooooi. Hi there,” the woman said, waving a hand at them. “Do you speak English?

“English?”

Vince opened his mouth, and then closed it again.

“Red thinks she should close the portal. The woman looks like a house cat,” Red said.

“I’m not a house cat,” the woman said. “My name’s Andrea.”

She stamped her foot in a child-like way, then stuck her head through the portal and peered around the room.

“Annooo… Felix said I should wait here just in case you opened the gate again,” Andrea said.

Then she looked at Vince and stared at him.

“You look a lot like Felix.” Then she wrinkled her nose and sniffed twice. “You smell like him, too.”

“Andrea, come in,” said a voice from nowhere. “Did it open again? Are there people?”

“Hi dear!” Andrea said excitedly into a strange slim metal box she pulled out of a pocket. “Yup! They opened the gate and they’re staring at me.”

“Wait, they can see you right now?”

“Yes. I wanted to say hi. I thought if I did, they wouldn’t close it again.

“They look interesting. Though one of them looks a lot like you. A lot,” Andrea said.

“Really? Huh. Uhm… what do they want?”

“I don’t know! Let me ask,” Andrea said. Then she looked to them and smiled at them. “What do you want?”

Vince had no idea how to respond. Or even what to do.

“Andrea I swear to god… did you put me on speaker phone?”

“Yes?” said the Beastkin, looking embarassed.

“Ok… I’ll just… why don’t… ok. Hello, my name is Felix. Would you be interested in having a chat? I’d like to discuss an opportunity with you.”

Vince looked at Red, then Ramona.

“I’ll stay here,” Ramona said, tapping the console. “Make sure it remains open.

“Red will go with you. Red wants to spar with the house cat.”

Vince turned to the Beastkin named Andrea.

“My name is Vince, and I’d be willing.”

Andrea clapped her hands together happily.

“I’ll make pancakes!”