Shadowborn

Chapter Thirteen: Baits and Lures

Chapter Thirteen: Baits and Lures

I felt the sharp spike of fear just before I heard the scream. It was a piercing shriek that sent every bird in a half-mile radius scattering to the winds. Serena and I were sprinting before it died out, though I made sure to shout at Yen and Rastra to stay at the back of the caravan. This could very well be a trap.

Worried stares followed us to the front where Jezal stood comforting a trembling Mai that had her face buried in the artificer’s shoulder. Even as I ran past I could see the poor girl was trembling from head to toe. It had been her scream we’d heard.

Pierce, Fel, Sola, and Korey were kneeling over the body while a half-dozen others watched. It was maybe fifteen feet from the road in a depression in the ground that hid it from the view of the caravaneers. With how much crimson stained the snow around the body, I suspected Mai’s nose had led her to investigate.

The body itself was in a bad state. I saw at least one ear of a Nekomata and the stump of a tail, but most of her features were hard to make out. Predators had shredded the body rather thoroughly, and entire chunks of the body had been torn away. From the struggle marks in the snow, slowly being covered by this morning’s lazy fall, I was sure the poor soul had been alive when the predators had found her.

Fel and Sola both looked like they might vomit, as did many of the others. Only Pierce and Korey seemed relatively unaffected by the gore. I knelt down next to the body and they didn’t say anything. There was only so much I could tell with how little of the body was untouched, but I pulled out a dagger and used it to prod and lift parts of the body anyways.

The flesh on her remaining wrist was rubbed raw. Manacles, likely. What little clothing remained was little more than rags of cheap, dirty fabric. No sign of shoes, but the bottoms of her feet weren’t raw. She hadn’t traveled far enough to damage them. She hadn’t been dressed for travel, especially in this cold weather. Then I saw the deep clean cuts on the outside of her thighs, and bile rose in my throat. I heard retching behind me, but I didn’t look to see who it was.

“What are you thinking?” Pierce asked me.

Fel snorted. “Who cares? Some idiot Neko got lost and eaten. Throw some snow over her and lets be on with it.”

I ignored him, looking to Pierce. “Wait for me by the treeline. We’ll follow the tracks and make sure the animals that did this aren’t still nearby.”

“I’ll go with you, I suppose,” Sola said reluctantly.

“No,” Pierce and I said at the same time. He looked at me and inclined his head, so I said, “this could easily be a trap or distraction. It’s smartest to leave as many fighters behind as we can just in case. The rest of you should get moving, we’ll catch up.”

Fel stormed off muttering about a waste of time, and Sola followed him not long after. Pierce headed towards the tree line with a curious expression, and I turned back to the crowd. I took a second to find the one I was looking for. Serena was a few feet away, her hands on her knees, throwing up for a second time.

She tensed when I put a hand on her shoulder, but relaxed when she saw it was me. “First body?”

She tried to use her hand to wipe her mouth, but it was still gauntleted so she only succeeded in nearly hitting herself in the face. I offered her a cloth from my storage, and she nodded gratefully. “Yes. I’ve never seen something so horrible. The poor thing must have been so scared.” She shivered.

“I need your help.”

There was still a pretty strong undertone of green in her face, but she squared her shoulders. “I’d gladly put down the monsters that did this.”

I appreciated the sentiment, but I shook my head. “Me and Pierce are going to take care of things. I plan to take Rhallani, and I need someone I trust to watch over Scarlet while we’re gone. Can I count on you?”

Her expression was a mix of annoyance at being relegated to babysitter and relief that she wasn’t having to go after the predators. “If you think that’s the wisest course of action, I’ll defer to you.”

I was glad she didn’t argue. It didn’t take long to track down my two lovely servants thanks to the large armored golem. Scarlet was the same as always, though I noticed Rhallani stood with her hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder when I approached them. “What’s going on?” Rhallani asked.

“Corpse by the road,” I told her. In as few words as possible, I brought her up to speed. She didn’t look thrilled about going hunting, but she didn’t argue. I looked at Scarlet. “You’ll be staying with Serena. Do as she says until I return. You have my permission to protect yourself, her, and this caravan if attacked.”

“This one will behave,” Scarlet promised solemnly.

Giving my thanks to Serena, I led Rhallani towards Pierce with the golem in tow. He didn’t say a word as he fell into step beside me with Rhallani trailing just behind, and I started following the fading tracks of whatever had killed the Nekomata.

I waited until the caravan was out of sight before speaking. “The Neko wasn’t just an unlucky traveler.”

“No,” Pierce agreed. “It was a lure.”

Rhallani’s hand covered her mouth. “What? Why? How can you tell?”

“She showed signs of imprisonment,” I explained, “and someone hobbled her so she couldn’t escape. Left her alone and bleeding until the scent of her blood attracted whatever it is we’re hunting.”

She looked as disgusted as I felt. “What could she have done to deserve such a thing?”

“Most likely? She only died like that because she’s Nekomata.”

Pierce raised a brow, but said nothing. Rhallani stumbled over a tree root and I stopped to catch her. “Who would do something so cruel for such a reason?” Her voice trembled with a note of fear.

I wished I didn’t have to tell her such a horrible truth, but fate seemed determined to remind me that the world was a very shitty place sometimes. “Beastkin have very strong smelling blood, and Nekomata have the strongest of the subraces. In the early days of the war, Grimsbane would have his spies drop trails of injured Nekomata leading from dangerous areas to populated ones out of his control. The scent of their blood would attract predators, and he’d use their deaths to lead those predators to populations to weaken them before attacking.”

I felt Pierce’s eyes on me the entire time. There was surprise in them, but not at the information. We’d worked hard after the war to make sure information like that was tamped down. It came from a time where Nekomata slaves were used the same way in hunts for large and powerful creatures, and we’d wanted to put a stop to the practice.

“You think someone is trying to lure predators near the caravan?” She shook her head in. “That’s barbaric.”

“It’s the most likely scenario. That, or they’re just trying to catch any travelers in their net.” My money was on a different option, but I wanted to be sure before I voiced that thought.

“You didn’t mention this to the others,” Pierce noted.

“Neither did you,” I argued. He made no move to deny he’d already known about the baiting. Half of them wouldn’t believe us, the other half would probably freak out. No sense in doing so until we had more information.

“I get why you pulled me, but why the Arelim?” He asked with a jerk of his chin.

“She’s going to help me take them out.” I returned the longsword to my hip. “You’re going to stay far enough back to watch, but not close enough to horn in on the experience.”

He snorted. “Need a babysitter, do you?”

I didn’t bother looking at him. “You wanted to know what I’m capable of. This is me showing you.”

He didn’t respond to that. We were likely moving towards sleeping predators, so I banished the golem. It would make too much noise, and I could re-summon it easily. We picked our way through the trees for about an hour. The tracks were growing fainter, but I’d been on enough nighttime hunts that I could still follow the traces easily. Wolves, unless I was mistaken by the shape of the prints. Two at least, maybe three or four if they were marching in file.

They led us to a small ravine where a single blightwolf sat outside a low cave. Pierce cursed, but I wasn’t surprised. I’d been expecting just that, actually. “Change of plans. You two head back and alert the caravan, I’ll make sure they don’t come after us.”

“No,” I told him, loosening the blade in its sheathe, “this changes nothing.”

“That’s a blightwolf, boy, and they rarely move alone. Hell, it’s probably the same one that nearly ate you before we met.”

“Not likely. I killed all three of those.”

He froze. “They killed your party, then?”

“Never had one. Now shut up and watch.” I started forward and Rhallani followed. A quick touch to her hip and one of my shadow tendrils was coiled around her waist “Like the bandits, keep the golem near you. I want you close enough to get experience, but not to put you in too much danger.”

She nodded. “You really killed three blightwolves on your own?” she asked.

I grinned at her. “Scary cursed sword, remember?”

Dark Sense (p) - Fear not the dark, for it takes more than eyes to truly see. The darker your surroundings, the stronger your other senses grow.

With a chuckle, I briefly explained [Dark Sense] to her, never leaving the incredibly soft embrace of her pussy. By the time I was done, I was already starting to grow inside her again. She must have felt it, because she started to slowly rock her hips.

“So,” she said, turning her face towards me while she used the tree to push herself back into me over and over, “you’re telling me that when it’s pitch black, you’re hypersensitive?”

I groaned and started rocking my hips to meet her thrusts. “For now. I’ll get used to it. Hopefully.”

Now that I was in more control, I could feel each and every shift in her body and breath. I took note of every time I hit a spot that made her gasp, quiver, or clench, and I started attacking those points mercilessly. I wrapped a hand around her throat and turned her head so I could kiss her while applying gentle pressure and I felt her clench around me like a vice. I fucked her through the orgasm, keeping my other hand on her hip for leverage. I could hear her nails digging into the bark of the tree, which made me pick up the pace.

“Oh-hh-hh-hh-fffu-uu-uu-ck,” she panted between thrusts. “I think—I’m going—to really—like this—skill.” She clenched around me again when I hit a particularly sensitive spot. “So-oo dee-ee-eep,” she cried. The fingers in my hair clenched tight and her mouth opened in a silent orgasm. I let the spasming walls drive me over the edge and let loose. I fucked her hard and fast the entire time I was painting her insides white, and I heard the spray of liquid hitting the ground and the tree in front of her.

Her legs buckled, but I wrapped an arm around her to keep her from falling. I let myself slide out and wrapped Rhallani up, kissing her slowly and softly until she was able to stand on her own again. “It’s not the reason I took it, but it’s definitely a nice bonus.”

“I never knew it would be so different in the dark,” she admitted. “Not knowing exactly where your hands were going and not being able to read your expressions was... very hot.” I slid her panties back into place, trapping my spunk inside her, while she hung off me happily. “Back to bed then?” she asked.

“You go on and get some sleep. I want to stay out for a bit and test the limits of this skill.”

She refused to let me go until after I’d let her explore my mouth thoroughly. She groaned when I pulled away. “I don’t know if I’m going to make it to the next town. You don’t think we could convince Serena to let Scarlet stay with her for a night so you can properly fuck me into a puddle, do you?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I summoned a lantern and lit it, then handed it to her. The light banished most of my senses, but it was only a lantern so some of them remained. “Go get some sleep, I’ll join you in an hour or two.” I sent her off with a smack on her ass, and she smiled at me over her shoulder.

I relished in the feeling of my senses growing stronger with every step she took. I’d felt blind since I lost this particular skill. Well, this tree of skills, at least. I hoped I could get it to evolve again, but that would mean a lot of fighting in the dark. Considering how used to having companions I was growing, I wasn’t sure how much of that I wanted to do.

Once it was just me and the faint starlight filtering through the canopy, I sat down next to a tree and closed my eyes. Just like I remembered, I could strain each of my non-sight senses in turn. I put my hand to the tree behind me. I could feel everything for well over two hundred feet, down to the mice rutting in their burrow a dozen trees over. It was overwhelming, so I was forced to focus my attention in specific directions. Once I reached my limit of how much I could take, I switched to smell. Scents overwhelmed me. Flowers, herbs, animal shit, trees, dirt, snow, the musky smell of the bodies of all my companions. Once that was finished I tried taste. Less useful for now, but I could still taste the things around me not unlike a snake might. Then I moved on to hearing, and it felt like my head was being ripped in two.

Every nocturnal animal skittering through the underbrush, some predators, some prey. The ever so faint swish of feathers and the scrape of talons on bark. The terrified squeal of the grouse when some shadow in the night snatched it from the ground. The huffing of the wolf—normal ones, not blightwolves—while it scented a rabbit. The sound of hips slapping coming from Fel’s tent accompanied by Sola’s moans.

I tried to steer my senses away from the camp. Voyeurism was never my thing. That didn’t mean I could afford to ignore it, though, so I swept over every once in a while doing my best not to take in any words that weren’t for me.

I did this for the better part of two hours, just as I’d promised Rhallani. I didn’t get any useful information, but I was slowly getting the more extreme end of my new skill under control. Like controlling my tendril, it would take some time to grow fully accustomed to the extra input. On one of my final passes with my hearing, I paused at Scarlet’s voice. It was muffled, but I hadn’t gone far from our tent to rail Rhallani. It was the closest one to us, so I could make out the words.

“This one has a request,” she said.

I know what I said about not being a voyeur, but my curiosity regarding Scarlet was simply too great. Plus, the fact that she’d reached the point where she was comfortable making requests of any kind made me happy. We were already making progress.

“Of course, Scarlet,” Rhallani responded. I heard the shuffling of fabric and I figured she was repositioning in her bag.

More ruffling fabric accompanied the following pause. Then, “this one does not wish Rhallani to take on the full burden of our master.”

Well now I couldn’t possibly stop listening. “What are you talking about? What burden?”

“Sir uses your body. This one will offer its body as well. This one does not like you sacrificing yourself to protect it.”

Rhallani made an adorable hum, then more fabric on fabric. In my mind’s eye, I could practically see her shifting so she was sitting face to face with Scarlet. “You’ve got it wrong. I’m not sacrificing anything, and he isn’t using me. I sleep with Ren because I love him, not because he’s my Patron.”

Another pause. “This one... does not understand.”

“Ren isn’t like your previous owners,” Rhallani explained. “He won’t do anything to you or me that we don’t want him to.”

“You wanted him to rape you in your sleep?”

Rallani made a choking sound. “I didn’t know you were awake for that!” She cleared her throat. “I wasn’t asleep at all, and I’m pretty sure that jerk knew the entire time. And it wasn’t rape because I’d already told him I wanted him to do that to me. He gave me plenty of chances to stop him, and I know if I’d said even one word in fear or pain then he wouldn’t have laid a hand on me.”

Damn, I’d have to be much more careful arround Scarlet from now on. I would have sworn she was out cold when I looked at her, and I wasn’t often so easily fooled. “Then,” Scarlet continued, “the seed in you now? The scent of his hand on your throat?”

Okay, I’d have to worry about her senses as well. The thought of Rhallani burning to write what we’d both just learned in her notebook made me smile. “Both of those were accompanied by one of the best orgasms I’ve ever had. He didn’t grab me hard enough to hurt me, and he didn’t do anything I wasn’t desperate for him to do.”

“You like the pain? Of sex?”

A sharp intake of breath. The sound of a Rhallani revelation. “Sex isn’t supposed to hurt. Well, aside from the first time. Or if you’re into that, I suppose. But normally, sex feels good. Very good. Almost as good as after when he holds me in his arms and I feel like everything is right in the world,” she said dreamily.

Rhallani is a cuddler. Already kinda knew that, but I’d make sure to mark it down for later as well. Scarlet made a sound in the back of her throat. “Do you think that Sir will every touch this one the way he touches you?”

I could practically hear the mischief in Rhallani’s voice. “Do you want him to?”

“This one does not know.”

More rustling. The almost imperceptible sound of flesh on flesh. Rhallani had grabbed her hand. “Do you like how this feels?”

“This one... does not hate it. That frightens this one.”

“It’s okay to be afraid,” Rhallani said. “Like I said, Ren isn’t going to do anything to you that you don’t want him to. Someday, when you’re ready, I know he’d love to have you in his lap so he can hold you tight and run his fingers through your hair, but he won’t do it until he knows you want it.”

“And if this one never wants that? Will Sir replace me with another who will?”

I felt a slight shock hearing her refer to herself. She wasn’t as far gone as she pretended. There was still a scared girl in there, and I was impressed by her strength. “Of course not!” Rhallani said immediately. “Ren would never do that. It doesn’t matter if you never let him lay a hand on you, he’ll take care of you and make sure nobody ever hurts you like that again for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do.”

“He did not want this one,” she argued. “You claimed this one behind his back, and he was forced to take this one in.”

“I did what I did because I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving you in that horrible place for even another second. If I’d have gone to Ren and asked him, I know he’d have felt the same. All I did was save you another few hours of pain and suffering.”

There was another pause, then more ruffling. “This one will not keep you up any longer. If you do not wish it, then this one will not attempt to give her body to Sir.”

“I want you to do what you want to do,” Rhallani told her. “If you want him to touch you more then that would make me very happy. If you don’t, then that’s completely fine, too.”

Just when I though the conversation was over, Scarlet whispered, “Good night, Rhallani.”

I returned my senses to their normal enhanced levels and slowly made my way back. Scarlet was making clear progress, and faster than I’d have hoped. I just needed to make sure I didn’t betray the hope she’d just barely begun to feel.

The lantern was out by the time I got back, but I no longer needed it to undress and slide into the bedroll beside Rhallani. No sooner had I settle down than she rolled over to face me and nuzzled into my body. Then, in a soft whisper, she said, “Scarlet is afraid you’ll get rid of her if she doesn’t offer you her body.”

I wasn’t sure whether to kiss her or smack her, but I knew she wasn’t bringing it up for my sake. With my new senses, I could tell the exact moment Scarlet stopped breathing. “Well, if she brings it up again, then tell her that’s a foolish fear to have. She’s a part of this strange little family now, for better or for worse, and what she is or isn’t willing or able to do has no effect on that.” I pressed my lips to the top of her head and I felt her lips curve into a smile against my chest. “We’ll find a place for her eventually, and it’ll be a place that makes her happy. I’m more than willing to wait for as long as it takes.”

I wasn’t sure how Scarlet would react, but I was pleased by the slight speeding up of her heartbeat before it calmed and her breaths fell into a deep rhythm. It wasn’t long after that Rhallani drifted off as well, but I was up for a good while longer just listening to them breathe.

I cared for Rhallani more than I’d cared about anyone in a long time. Already I was starting to care for Scarlet and Serena, too. That scared me, because along with that affection came fear. It had been so long since I’d really cared for someone that I’d forgotten how visceral the fear of something happening to them could be.

When I finally forced myself to close my eyes, it wasn’t the Nekomata lying dead and mutilated in the ditch I saw.