Chapter 5:
Sleep Eludes
It was early afternoon when Nameless woke from a nightmare of shadow and fire, of a Dragon’s rage and a Chimera’s cruelty.
And of an Amazon’s courage.
He had tears standing in his eyes as he sat up and tossed the covers off.
It took him a couple of deep breaths for him to shake off the terrible memory but he didn’t like still being in bed this late in the day, even if he needed the sleep.
He threw on some clothes and grabbed some lunch in the kitchen, but while he was eating he heard a strange thwacking sound from outside and soon his curiosity got the better of him, so he wolfed down his sandwich before going to investigate.
After coming back from town the girls had been busy.
Just off the porch the Saenga Amazons had cleared a patch of grass, tearing up the ground in a rough circle of churned earth. Within it Myrina was directing Milly how to wield Kar’s spear. The odd thwacking was her blocking the Minotaur’s clumsy strikes with her own weapon as she gave her instructions.
To his relief Nameless saw that they had wrapped ample padding over the tips of their weapons to reduce the risk of injury.
It was still an unsettling sight for him though; seeing Milly learning how to wield an actual weapon was far different than seeing her and Erica learning how to throw a punch.
Especially given the circumstances surrounding their training.
He shuddered and turned away from the sight, only to again be distracted by another odd sound coming from his right, around the left side of the cottage. He rounded the corner to find Volka working with Erica in what appeared to be half-battle, half-athletic performance.
“Good, your reflexes are incredible, but you hesitate! Throw your knives at me! They will not overcome my protection spell!”
The veteran angel whirled in place, her own wings launching a volley of deadly feathers in a scythe around her, and sure enough: though several of them did strike Erica, they merely bounced off of the glowing Katje as she stumbled back with a string of invectives.
Nameless however, was not currently included in the Valkyrie’s spell.
Rapidly drawing a line towards him, the volley of feathers struck the side of the cottage with sharp clicking noises, some rebounded off with little chips of rock but many actually sank into the stone of the cottage wall.
Fortunately, Nina grabbed him by the seat of his pants and pulled him off his feet and clear of the deadly projectiles that would have otherwise taken his nose off.
While he stood and fixed his trousers, the Gigas called out to the dueling pair.
“Hey Volka! Squishy on the field! Quit chucking feathers!”
The angel spared a worried glance towards Nameless, and then flinched when two of Erica’s knives narrowly missed her face.
“Nice try kitty but-”
As she turned back to her opponent, both of Erica’s feet slammed into her chest and she wrapped her torso around the Valkyrie’s head, clawing and hissing like mad as the glow from the spell around them increased with the strain of her assault.
The pair tumbled to the earth in a mess of golden wings and purple hair.
A wide-eyed Nameless looked down at Nina, who gave him a pat on the butt by way of apology.
“Sorry, figured you didn’t need any more scars.” Then she paused and tapped her chin thoughtfully; “Actually, one that goes all the way from your hairline, around your eye and down your cheek would be pretty sexy.”
Nameless mirrored her chin tapping, his finger bouncing off the scar he had earned protecting Milly from a whip when he had first met the Minotaur.
“Doesn’t this one count?”
The red skinned girl immediately shook her head.
“Nope. Sure it’s sexy, but not scary enough. I want kids to cry when they see you.”
The tussle beside the cottage ended, Volka on top of a yowling Erica, the angel had lost her helmet and her strawberry blond hair was a mess from the cat’s mauling.
“Fuck! You cheated!”
The Valkyrie smiled.
“Using my wings isn’t cheating. If that were the case, then using your claws would also be cheating. Still, you caught me off guard with that trick with the knives.”
“Er… yeah, trick! I mean, I wasn’t really aiming for your smug stupid face.”
“Glad to hear it.” Volka said serenely as she unpinned the Katje and gave a flap of her wings to stand up.
For her part Erica did a graceful backwards roll that ended with her likewise back on her feet, she turned to retrieve her blades while Volka moved to greet Nameless.
“Forgive me Husband, I did not see you when I released my feathers.”
“It’s alright, I’m glad you two are having fun.”
But he felt a sharp stab of pain from Erica’s heartstone as he spoke.
He looked to see her cupping the knives to her breasts, a hurt look on her face.
“Erica?”
She gave a quick shake of her head and flashed him a smile.
“It’s nothing lover, I think I’m done with getting my ass kicked, gunna wash up real quick.”
The pain was gone as quickly as it came as she smothered it, but Nameless’s eyes tracked her as she went onto the porch and back into the cottage.
Nina didn’t notice her bond-sister’s distress, her arms crossed over her chest as she gave Volka a meaningful look.
“Well, if you’re done kicking ass, I want to get back to work.”
Earlier the Gigas had cleared a flat space beside the cottage to set up her work space; she had already pounded the ground flat with her hammer and moved their pile of firewood to one side to make room for her smithy.
She intended to take advantage of the cottage’s chimney, and the pile of firebricks Rory had sold her for her forge were laid out against the stone outcropping.
Volka and Erica had themselves taken advantage of the cleared space and had been sparing in there to spare the Amazons and Milly from their ranged attacks.
“As you wish, I think then that I will stretch my wings for a time.”
Though Volka’s eyes had also tracked Erica as she went inside, she saw that Nameless had noticed her sudden distress and knew that he wouldn’t ignore it. So after giving him a kiss on the cheek, the Valkyrie’s wings gave a mighty heave and she was airborne.
As Nameless watched her ascend he mumbled a quick goodbye to Nina. The poignant sorrow that had overtaken Erica had him worried and he went back on to the porch to follow her inside.
On his way to the front door he glanced to where Milly was training, and saw something that made him do a double-take, and then beam with pride.
Evidently they had switched from the weapons practice to hand-to-hand, and a flush-faced Milly was currently sitting on a stunned Escrya’s rump while the other Amazons cheered at the Minotaur’s victory.
To his knowledge it was the first time she had bested any of the Amazons, but though he wanted to share the moment with her, his concern for his cat overrode his pride in his cow and so he slipped inside.
He found Erica curled up on the bed, the bundle of Kar’s knives once again clutched tight to her breast while her shoulders shook in silent sobs.
Wordlessly he sat beside her and rubbed his hand over her back while she worked through the painful emotions.
At length she sat up, the deadly bundle in her lap while she wrapped her arms around him.
“The tip, it must have hit a rock.”
She held out one of the knives, and sure enough the tip had a significant nick in it.
“Nina can fix it.” He offered and she nodded.
“I know! It’s not that. Fuck, I-I feel so stupid, we only knew her for a few months. But sh-she taught us so much! Did so much for us, and I really did want her to bond with you! To be my sister!”
“I know baby. I wanted her too.”
For his part, Nameless’s own grief was set aside, his focus more on his distressed Katje.
She cried into his shoulder until her tears turned to sniffles, then to a heavy silence while all the while he rubbed her shoulder in a side hug.
“This sucks.” She sniffed again.
He chuckled as he turned his head to face her, kissing her under her ear, his hand slipping from her shoulder and his fingers entwining in her hair as he pulled her head close to his lips.
“Yeah, it sucks, but there isn’t anything we can do but keep going on I guess.” His voice mumbled into her hair as he breathed in the smell of her.
Despite her exertions with Volka, her hair still held a hint of a familiar scent and after taking a moment to savour the smell, he smiled.
“You’ve been bathing with Ophelia.” He observed.
It was her turn to chuckle as she wiped at her tearful cheeks.
“What can I say? It’s nice to smell girly, plus it’s even nicer to have someone wash your back.”
He took another deep breath through his nose, then pulled his face from her hair and set his hand in her lap on top of her knives.
“Teach me? We can make a game of it. Then we can wash each other’s backs, though it’ll be my second shower today.”
He quirked an eyebrow at his cat who gave him a saucy look as she wiped away the last of her tears.
“Sure thing, loser gets head?”
His expression shifted to puzzled amusement.
“Don’t you mean loser gives head?”
She shifted over and nuzzled against his side, then quickly leaned in to nip at his ear affectionately.
“Where’s the fun in that?”
Her tongue, teeth and hot breath on his earlobe made his breath catch and he felt a familiar stirring in his groin. But he pushed down his lust as he took her hand and they went back outside and around the side of the cottage where Nina was now busy working on her forge.
The pair moved to the stack of firewood; the split logs would make suitable targets for Erica’s knives.
“So, you hold it like this.”
Erica handed him one of the blades and demonstrated the technique that Kar had taught her.
They played at it for ten minutes or so, and even though Nameless only ever sank the knife into the target he was aiming at once, they had fun.
Unfortunately, perhaps inevitably, his hand slipped when he was handling one of the blades and he cut his thumb with a sharp intake of breath.
“Okay, no more knives for you!” Erica teased after she determined that the cut wasn’t deep.
Nina tossed them a quick look over her shoulder without pausing in her work on the hearth for her forge.
“Yeah, I’ll teach you how to throw my hammer later. No sharp edges. Loser gives head.” She called out while laying the little white bricks in sequence, her massive hammer never far from reach.
Nameless and Erica shared an amused look while he nursed his injured digit, sucking at the pad of his thumb until the bleeding stopped.
With a wink to Erica he walked up to Nina’s massive weapon, gripped the handle with one hand and tried to lift it, straining dramatically before eventually giving up with an anguished moan.
“Oh no! I failed! Curses, I guess you win. Oh man, shoot. Darnit, this is so embarrassing!”
Nina snerked at his ridiculous behavior.
“You dork.”
Erica joined in the giant’s mirth, and then deliberately gripped his crotch, squeezing his cock firmly and causing him to gasp.
“I guess the three of us need to wash up together so the winners and losers can pay up.”
The seductive lilt in her voice was unmistakable and Nina licked her lips.
“Be my second one today, but sure.”
It was turning out to be a pleasant day.
__________
While Nameless, Erica and Nina went inside, Milly helped Escrya to her feet with a nervous smile. The young Amazon had insisted on another bout after her initial defeat, and won the rematch, so they then had to have a tie breaker, which the Minotaur won in just three moves.
Despite just having her ass kicked, Escrya was overjoyed at the progress that Milly had made.
“Well done Milly! I never saw that shoulder throw coming!”
Milly self consciously rubbed the back of her neck.
“Oh, um, was that okay? I saw Kaylee use it before on Myrina, or try to anyways.”
“Myrina cheats!” Kaylee replied immediately while the others laughed mockingly at her excuse.
Myrina stepped forwards and clapped her hand onto the Minotaur’s shoulder.
“It was more than okay, it was perfect! I doubt even I could have countered you there!”
“I don’t, because you would have cheated.” Kaylee insisted.
Kaylee was one of the youngest of the Amazons present, only Escrya was younger.
They took a break to drink some water and recover, during which Ophelia fluttered to the ground in their midst, a cloth bag hanging on her arm and two Hornets buzzing beside her.
The Flutterby looked more than a little flustered by the Hornets’ presence.
“Really dears, I’m alright, I didn’t need an escort!”
“The queen’s orders are absolute.” One of them said flatly.
Ophelia sighed.
“Fine! But I’m home now! See? Safe and sound.”
She waved one hand from head to toe to demonstrate she was still in one piece.
“If we see any of you going anywhere alone we are to accompa-”
“Fine! Fine, alright but please, in future don’t fly so close? My wings need more room than yours do!”
The two Hornets nodded after sharing a quick look.
“So long as you don’t try to escape our notice again, we will.”
They shot back towards their hive.
Milly moved to embrace the frazzled Flutterby, her tongue working over her cheeks and hairline by way of greeting.
“You tried to sneak past the Hornets?” Helena wore a knowing smirk.
“I did not sneak!” Ophelia huffed out; “I just forgot some things for dinner, but when they saw me flying into town they ambushed me! That was the most stressful flight I’ve had since we went over the falls in the wilds!”
The Amazons chuckled, but after a moment Myrina spoke in agreement with the Hornets.
“I know we can be a pain, but still, it is best not to be alone too much.”
“You’re not a pain!” Milly objected, while Ophelia looked guilty.
“No of course not, dearheart, and I appreciate everything that you and the Hornets are doing to keep us safe, they just caught me off guard.”
With Ophelia’s arrival, Myrina and her girls called an end to the training session and after some quick farewells half of them returned to their camp by the water while the rest fanned out into the field, quickly disappearing in the tall grass.
Alone now, Milly leaned down to nuzzle her face into her bond-sister’s hair and share a warm snuggle.
“Mmmm, that’s nice dearheart.” Ophelia turned her face up to consider the Minotaur’s; “And were my eyes deceiving me as I flew in or did you just beat one of the Amazons in a fight?”
The cow girl beamed with pride and nodded.
“Yes! Escrya! She’s the youngest, but still, she fought really hard!”
Ophelia wrapped her free arm around Milly’s waist and gave her a warm smile.
“Congratulations dearheart! I am so proud of you! Let’s go inside and once I’ve put away the groceries, we’ll celebrate.”
Milly giggled.
“I think the others are already celebrating.”
They shared a knowing look, before Ophelia licked her lips.
“Then we better hurry before they run out of revels.”
It really was a good day.
__________
After his disastrous meetings with Nina, Milly and Erica, Brandon was more than ready for a softer encounter with a monster girl. So he had grabbed his usual partner in crime and set out in search of paradise.
Now he and Dillon ran for their lives, Janet Skinner in hot pursuit with her meat cleaver.
“Man! For a woman her age she can really move!”
When night fell the pair had skulked through the shadows in Skinner’s drive, intending to sneak into her flower garden where the notoriously horny Blomma lived.
They had managed a tryst with the flower girls only twice in the past. For the young men and women of Kettering it was almost a rite of passage, both to get past Janet’s knife, and to couple with any of the willing Blomma.
But to their misfortune Janet had been there when they arrived, collecting the girls’ nectar while they slept, their petals wrapped closed around them to ward off the increasingly cold night air.
Brandon and Dillon had walked right into her and she was quick to run them off.
“This is Paul Fletcher’s property over the fence right?!” Dillon was already clambering over the barrier while Janet cursed at them from behind.
“Yeah, I think we can reach the road if we cut through the field and the trees there!”
The more athletic Brandon vaulted over the fence before Dillon had even finished climbing it.
Unbeknownst to the crass young men, they had picked the absolute worst field to trespass in.
They slowed their headlong pace once they were a ways into the thigh-high grass, correct in assuming that Janet wouldn’t follow them over the fence, though she shouted a few more choice oaths at them before stomping away.
Dillon took a moment to catch his breath while nursing a stitch in his side.
“Man, what a mean old bitch! I mean, share the wealth am I right?”
Brandon snorted a laugh in agreement but then all but tackled Dillon into the tall grass when they neared the big oak in the middle of the field.
“Hey wha-”
“Shh! Someone’s there!” Brandon’s voice was a harsh whisper in the night.
The pair huddled in the grass for a minute before Dillon ran out of patience.
“Dude, there’s no one here!”
“Actually there is.” A man’s voice called to them and they froze once more.
Another half minute passed.
“Look, you guys, I’m not mad that you’re trespassing, but you should really go home now, it’s late.”
Brandon recognized the voice and slowly stood up from his place in the grass and Dillon soon followed.
Nameless had been sitting with his back to the tree with a blanket around his shoulders, and when he saw them approach he stood to watch them, his silhouette hidden by the thick trunk in the night.
“Trying to sneak a quickie with the Blomma?”
His tone was amused.
“What’s it to you?” Brandon snapped.
With his amorous intentions spoiled, the last person Brandon wanted to see was this little fucker.
Nameless smile fell away and he shrugged at the aggressive tone.
“Whatever, come on then, I’ll have to walk you out.”
Dillon tried to thank him, but Brandon cut him off.
“The fuck is that supposed to mean? ‘You’ll walk us out’? We look like a couple little girls to you? We can get home just fine!”
Nameless pushed himself off from the tree.
“Yeah I doubt that, I’m sure you two are great at sneaking past one old lady, but I don’t like your odds of getting by the Amazons, not to mention the Hornets.”
“Amazons? Where?” Dillon asked, looking around the field.
Nameless rolled his eyes in the dark.
“I don’t know, that’s the point, they’re very good at hiding.”
Brandon shoved his way past him with a rude snort of derision.
“Whatever, you are so full of shit.”
The smaller man was expecting the shove, and so he leaned away as Brandon moved past him.
“Maybe, but seriously, I have to walk you out. It’s for your own safety.”
Brandon whirled back on the smaller man.
“My own safety?! What, like you’re some kind of big shot now? Fuck off!”
“Hey Brandon, come on man, this isn’t the place to make a big scene. What if Magnus shows up?”
Dillon was tugging on Brandon’s arm, as if holding him back from attacking the little dude, at the same time he was nervously glancing around, though he wasn’t sure if he was more concerned over the local lawkeeper or the thought of the apparently invisible Amazons.
The smith’s son was too annoyed to be dissuaded by either.
“Like that fat fuck would be out here in the middle of the night! And this little prick is just full of shit.”
Nameless sighed again; he was surprised with just how... trivial this whole encounter seemed to him.
“Look I’m not a big shot, I’m tired. And I’ve seen exactly what an Amazon’s spear can do to a person, and you’re being really loud, so can you just leave already? You’re going to wake my bond-mates.”
Brandon blood boiled at the mention of bond-mates, the thought of this tiny guy getting as much action as he could handle was too much for the smith’s son and he let him have it.
“You arrogant little fuck! Me and Dillon will leave, you can just suck it! Have fun with your dumb tree.”
With that he turned and stomped towards the woods across the field, the anxious Dillon in tow.
Nameless briefly considered just leaving the two young men to their fates, but they were heading in the wrong direction.
“Hey guys!” He called out.
Brandon kept walking.
“Guys, the trail is that way! Unless you want to try to clear a path through the woods?”
The pair stopped, and then reluctantly Brandon turned to where Nameless was pointing. It maddened him to have to change direction, but Dillon already had, so he followed his friend.
Nameless watched them go, then rolled his eyes and followed from a distance.
__________
“What a fucking little puke! You see the way he talked to me?!”
Dillon was still trying in vain to get Brandon to stop making so much noise, at least until they were off of Paul’s property, then he knew he’d have to listen to him the whole way home.
“Brandon, come on man! Chill for now! I remember this trail lets out on Fletcher’s driveway, so we’ll have to be quiet, or his Cockatrices might get us. We could cut through the trees, but it’s pretty thick in there and I think the road turns away around here somewhere.”
His words fell on deaf ears as Brandon kept cursing out Nameless while they walked.
“Like he’s so damned important now that he finally got laid! Remember when he was in school? Even a couple years ahead of us he was still a little weenie!”
Dillon rolled his eyes; he actually did remember Nameless from school, an odd little guy wearing clothes too large for him. But he didn’t remember him being a weenie, in fact he remembered him being kind of nice, if introverted.
“Look Brandon, man I don’t know what your problem is with this guy, but you seriously need to cool it! We’re still trespassing! My uncle would kill me if I got another fine from the-”
Because he was watching Brandon’s face, he abruptly ran into someone on the trail, stumbling back in surprise with his thought left unfinished.
An orange glow lit the face of the statuesque woman in front of them, the light coming from a pipe hanging out of her mouth.
She was leaning on a massive spear.
“An Amazon.” Dillon squeaked.
Brandon gaped, the woman had come out of nowhere and her sudden appearance had taken the vitriol right out of him.
Even the arrogant teen wasn’t stupid enough to piss off an Amazon on purpose.
Aside from being muscular and incredibly wild looking, with feathers and beads braided into her hair, she was just so damned tall.
“Look, um, we were just leaving, so no need for… anything.”
The shift in his attitude was almost comical.
The orange glow lit the woman’s face again as she took another draw from Paul’s pipe, and then blew the smoke towards the pair in front of her.
“Were you? I do not believe that leaving is your decision anymore.”
Again without making a sound, several more Amazons slipped out of the woods to loom large over the now-huddled pair.
“Whoah! Easy! We’re cool, we’re all cool!” Dillon’s voice was unusually high and frantic.
One of the girls gripped him by the front of his shirt and pulled his face close to hers, his feet leaving the ground entirely.
“Why are you here?”
She was even taller than the one with the pipe as she demanded an explanation from them.
Dillon tried to equivocate but her eyes narrowed, and she quickly lost patience with his lame excuses.
“Hey! Gerroff!” Brandon cried out as the Amazons set on the two of them and wrestled them to the ground with ease.
The warriors ignored their protestations, and he and Dillon soon found themselves pinned to the cold dirt of the trail, their wrists held behind their back in the fierce grips of the warrior women.
“Myrina, what is to be done with them? Though they are certainly interlopers, we cannot just slay them here, I do not believe that our Valkyrja-datta would approve.”
The Amazon with the pipe let out a disgusted sound.
“You did not hear the impertinence with which they spoke to him! Had he not intimated otherwise, their heads would even now adorn my spear, well, this one’s at least.”
Brandon froze as the butt of her spear bonked him in the back of the head a couple times for emphasis.
Dillon whimpered in terror.
There was an angry mutter from the gathered women, and then the apparent leader silenced them.
“Enough! It is too late to disturb the cottage or the Fletcher man’s home for so trivial a matter. Strip them naked and hang them by their ankles for the night, and then in the morning we will decide.”
“What?!” Brandon cried.
“We’ll die!” Dillon squeaked at the same time.
The thought of hanging upside down in the chill night was enough for the two teens to struggle against their captors, however hopelessly.
“Myrina, Helena please stop.” Nameless’s voice called out.
Out of the corner of his eye Brandon saw the little man walk right up to the Amazons as if they weren’t in the least bit intimidating to him.
The one with the pipe clicked her tongue and pouted a bit.
“I had thought you had finally returned to your bed. You needn’t concern yourself with these two, a night hanging from the branches will do much to toughen them, and teach them… manners.”
She glared down at Brandon as she spoke.
Nameless met Brandon’s nervous gaze and frowned.
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing they were hanging from a tree out here.”
One of the Amazons with pale blue eyes leaned in to Nameless’s side, and though she spoke low, Brandon could still make out what she said.
“You already do not sleep. We watch over you, you are out tonight just as you were last night, when you should have been sleeping in the arms of your loves.”
Nameless conceded the point with a shrug.
“Yeah, it’s been an adjustment coming home, but I’ll be fine. These two, on the other hand, wouldn’t make it through the night. So let them up, please, they’re harmless, really. They were just trying to sneak into the neighbour’s garden to have a go with the Blomma there.”
The Amazons quickly dragged the pair to their feet, and then considered them with skeptical expressions.
Helena tilted her head to one side, pipe in hand.
“Is this true? You were merely seeking to couple with some flower girls?”
Her demanding eyes flicked between the two of them, lingering on Brandon.
Sensing a trap, he said nothing, though Dillon nodded emphatically.
She popped the pipe back between her teeth and spoke around it.
“Meh, the Blomma could do better, though that is for them to decide.”
The sting in her dismissive tone was greatly lessened by the continued discomfort the two felt at the Amazons’ still-threatening posture.
“So, c-can we go? Or…”
Dillon asked, studiously avoiding the Amazons’ piercing gazes by focusing on Nameless.
In contrast Brandon stared into the night, his pride kept him from looking at the small man.
“You may, but only because he allows it. You would do well to learn some respect, little boys, or you are very likely to die by our hand.” Myrina said gravely.
She made a gesture with her hand and the Amazons shifted to one side to let them pass.
Brandon grit his teeth as he and Dillon all but fled down the trail, once away from the Amazons the humiliation of the past several minutes made the prideful young man angrier than ever before at the little orphan that had so upset his world-view.
__________
“That was a bit much wasn’t it Myrina?” Nameless asked while rubbing at his tired eyes.
The woman set her arm on his shoulder as they watched the two young men flee down the trail.
“No, I believe it was just the right amount, Valkyrja-datta.”
After the two teens disappeared into the night, Nameless turned to go home, but his eyes fell on Helena’s face as she exhaled more smoke.
“Are you going to give Paul his pipe back?”
The Amazon grinned.
“He has but to take it from me.”
The way she spoke hinted that there was more than just the pipe at stake.
“That simple?”
Her smile widened.
“Simple? Yes. Easy? No.”
After his adventures Nameless had a much better understanding of Amazon courtship so he wasn’t stupid enough to get in the middle of it.
“Well, good luck to you then. You should know though, Paul is pretty cunning.”
She nodded gravely.
“For a man who was given the Dragon’s Kiss, I would expect no less.”
He thought about her words for a moment, and then figured that she had to be referring to Xalanth breathing on the old man and let the matter drop.
“Anyhow, goodnight girls. And you should all get some sleep too. The thought of you out here chafes at me more than the thought of them.”
One of them smirked at him and licked her full lips.
“I don’t know, some chafing can be fun, if done correctly.”
“I will walk with you, Valkyrja-datta.” Escrya announced.
He wanted to object, but knew that it would be pointless, and might possibly hurt her feelings.
As they exited the woods and strode back through the field, she stopped walking.
“Why did you come out here again tonight? The same as last night, you merely sat under that beautiful tree. What fills your thoughts?”
He was about to brush her off, but her earnest tone brought him to a halt and he turned to look up at her, her expression was warm, but concerned.
He sighed and turned his eyes to the stars above before speaking with some reluctance.
“When I close my eyes, all I can see is how Kar died-” His throat was thick with emotion, and he coughed before continuing; “I’ve heard that after someone… you forget what they look like as time goes by. And I don’t want my only memory of her to be like that.”
He titled his head up, the vast expanse of the cosmos clear to see in the cold night as tears seeped down his cheeks.
“Here under the stars, when everything is still and quiet, it’s easy to remember her face. The way she smiled, or laughed, even the way she tried to seduce me.”
He said the last part with a helpless chuckle which Escrya shared, and then the Amazon put her hand on his shoulder as he wiped away his tears.
“Regrettably I know something of what you speak. I have not seen my father since I was very young.”
He knew that her mother, Alcaia, was bonded to a woman, but not much else.
“I cannot picture his face, even on the rare occasion when I wish to. To my knowledge he yet lives, but if we were to meet in a crowd, I doubt that I would know him. But what troubles me, is that he would not know me.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged.
“Don’t be, he chose to leave our village when my mother found her heart’s mate, he left out of jealousy, and said many unkind words when he did. The only reason I would ever want to see him again would be to show him what he missed out on, to show him that I am my mother’s daughter.”
He patted her hand still on his shoulder.
“You are that Escrya, you are amazing.”
She turned coy.
“Feel free, Valkyrja-datta, to say more nice things about me.”
They shared another laugh.
“Yeah, I’ll get you a list, for now though, I should go and try to get some sleep.”
She set her other hand on his forehead, her thumb tracing the lock of hair with Volka’s feather braided into it.
“Yes, you should. Your heart is troubled with grief and pain. I met her only the one time, but it was enough for me to know that Kar Brael would have made a good wife. And like my sisters, I would do anything to take the pain of her loss away from you, even if only for a little while.”
The sting of fresh tears took his eyes at her touching words.
“Thank you.” He whispered.
They shared a long embrace, with his cheek pressed to her breasts, the warmth of the young monster girl’s chest radiating into his face while she stroked his hair and back.
When they parted, her eyes narrowed and she adopted a teasing tone as her hand drifted over his cheek.
“Like, anything, anything. Whatever it takes to relieve you.”
“…Right.”
“Even stuff that maybe your bond-mates won’t do for you.”
“Okaaay…”
He was beginning to figure out her game, but feared it was too late.
“If you want you can even put it in my bu-”
“Goodnight!” He yelped and fled while she laughed at his expense.
As he went back inside the cottage, Escrya’s mirth faded and a wistful expression claimed her face as she stared at the squat structure.
“Sleep well, beloved.”