Shadowborn

Chapter Twenty: Anford

Chapter Twenty: Anford

The city of Anford was easily four times the size of Listone. It was nestled in between a wide lake and the start of a set of mountains blocking the valley that was the only path south for at least a hundred miles. When we hit the top of the first hill after we left the forest proper, I could see the low walls and the rows of buildings in the afternoon sun. We’d somehow made it without running into whatever Nekomata killing group was hunting me or the bastard who was no doubt heading to reclaim Scarlet even as we made our way down the hillside.Vissit for updates

There were patches of snow here and there, but it was finally warm enough that it was starting to melt. Even the horses seemed to pick up the pace as soon as the city was in view. The idea of a real bed called to me, too, and not just because of the sudden spring in a certain blonde’s step.

As eager as I was to get to an inn, I wanted to take care of a few things first. I sent Rhallani, Serena, and Scarlet ahead to get us rooms. I asked Scarlet to keep her hood up at all times when walking around, and she seemed to understand it was to hide her from the bald man from Listone. Korey assured me we’d be in town for a few days at least while he tried to do a little business right before he told me that Fel and Sola wouldn’t be continuing with us after Anford. When I asked about Rastra, his only response was a grim look.

As soon as we hit town I made a beeline for the local adventurer’s guild. The bits of blightwolf earned us some coin, but dumping the decently preserved body of some creature they had absolutely no record of netted us a small fortune. After answering as many questions as I could about the thing and earning a bump from rank F to rank E, I visited some of the sponsored shops and got my hands on some rather pricy components and materials. Then I rushed back to the caravan. My first stop was Rastra.

She’d barely said a handful of words since she’d woken up, and despite her wounds being healed thanks to Serena she still wore the bandages over her face. The one uncovered brown eye drifting to me was the only reaction she gave of my approach.

I was still angry with myself for letting her get so hurt. For letting my guard down and allowing that alpha blightwolf to get the jump on us. Anger would do nothing for either of us right now, though. I shoved aside my irrational dislike for mages and asked how she was doing.

“I’m alive, thanks to you,” she answered, though she didn’t sound very thankful. “He left me, though. Threw me aside like I was nothing.”

“Fel was an asshole. You’re better off without him.”

Her eye held a hollowness that made my gut clench. “Even if I was nothing more than a pretty face to warm his bed, I was getting experience and coin. Jobs. Even my rank was slowly starting to crawl up.” She trailed her fingers over the bandage on her face. “Now I’m nothing. Nobody will want someone like me in their party. My magic is too unpredictable, and now I can’t even offer myself.” She wrapped her arms around herself and curled into a ball. “I’m revolting. I won’t even be able to go back to—to what I had to do before I got my class.”

“I can make sure you stay with the caravan at least until Amesseria.” Her eye widened, and I saw the faintest trickle of hope. “A lot can happen between now and then, too. Interested?”

She rubbed the bandage again. “You saved me once already and haven’t asked anything in return. I’m not sure I want to add to that debt.”

I crossed my arms, choosing my words carefully. I didn’t want to make any false promises and I didn’t want to give too much away about my plans. “How about this, then? I’ll pay your way to Amesseria, and when we get there you can earn the money back.” She opened her mouth. “Through adventuring. Whether with me or another group, but we’ll worry about that when we make it to the capital. Sound fair?”

She just shook her head. “You don’t know what it’s like there, clearly. There aren’t enough jobs to go around, and the rich and powerful ones like Fel hoard all the good ones. There’s nothing left but scraps for the rest of us. Dangerous jobs with shit pay. If I can’t fight safely and I can’t fuck well, then there are plenty of other adventurers willing to do both.”

“Maybe that’s true now,” I said with a shrug, “but I don’t plan on letting the system stay that way for very long. I’ve got a habit of fucking up hierarchy bullshit, and I’m more than willing to help whoever I can on the way. Trust me or don’t, but it sounds like you don’t have a lot to lose.”

Rastra looked at me for a long while. “Fine, I guess you can’t do much to me anyways. At least from the sounds the Arelim makes at night when you inevitably fuck me over I can enjoy it.” There was a faint trace of humor in her voice, and I thought I saw the faintest hint of a smile.

Fel better hope I never see his face again, because I was really starting to regret not breaking it last time. “I’m not planning on it.”

She turned the scarred side of her face away. “Right. Of course.”

It was always something. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me. “You’re very cute, and if you think a couple of scars are gonna turn me off then you’re dead wrong.” Her eye widened, and I saw some color in her cheeks for the first time since the attack. “I’m not going to fuck you because I prefer partners who want me there, not because I can’t stand your scars. Got it?”

I released her chin and she nodded. I could feel her eye on me while I left to find Pierce. He wasn’t far off, helping Vaze with some boxes. “Pierce, got a minute?”

He grunted, then followed me a few feet to the side. “Thanks for doing all the work on the way here,” he said before I could speak. “Those blightwolves would have been a real pain otherwise.”

I waved him off. “I want to talk to you about Rastra.”

“You’re laying claim to her, then?”

“What? No, I was actually asking if you’d replace Dern with her until Amesseria. Whatever debts you think you owe me I’d consider filled.”

He scratched his stubbly chin. “Yen’s been breathing down my neck about it anyways, so I’ve got no issue. Not sure if she’ll agree, though. She’d been despondent since the prick ditched her.”

“I already talked to her. If she gives you shit, tell her it was my idea.”

He grunted. “And you?”

“I figure I can replace Fel and Sol for half the price. Not like they did much anyways.”

“Might not be as simple as that. Fel’s noble, opened some doors for us. Without him, some might try to push Korey around here and there.” There was an unasked question in his eyes.

I sighed. “Technically I’ve got a Lordship in the capital. Let’s just say it’s inherited and leave it at that. Good enough?”

His brows shot northward. “That’ll definitely do. I can tell Korey if you want to get back to your women. Should I tell him he’s allowed to use your rank?”

“I’d prefer he keep it subtle, but he can do what he needs to so we stay moving. I’d rather not spend more than a week in Anford if I don’t have to.” Not with at least two entities pursuing me.

“I’ll pass it along, My Lord.” His eyes glittered with amusement.

“Yeah, no. Just Ren is fine.”

A gruff laugh was his response as I left him behind and went looking for Jezal. I’d only just spotted her when a bundle of white gray fur slammed into me. I patted Mai with a smile that she returned, looking up at me while her tail swished back and forth behind her energetically. “Thank you again. For saving me.”

“Don’t mention it.” She nuzzled my hand and I was surprised to find that she was purring. I’d never met a Nekomata who purred. I’d never been around one who was particularly happy, though, so I guess that wasn’t much of a surprise. “I’m here to talk to Jezal. You two have a minute?”

She nodded and led me by the hand. Jezal brightened when she saw me. “Ren! What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to commission a project.” They both lit up at that. I held a piece of paper that I’d spent a few days writing instructions down on then set the bag of materials on the back of the wagon Jezal had been working on. She eagerly began to read, then she paled.

She flipped the sheet over and pointed it away from her as if the words might leap off and attack. “I can’t see that! Just from what I saw, I should have to pay you a fortune for it! I’ve never seen those materials used like that!”

I chuckled. I’d gotten the recipe from someone I’d almost managed to call friend before they’d died. It had been completely created by them from the ground up. They’d been a genius, and the world was worse off without them. “I don’t know all the steps since I’m not an artificer, but I assume you can fill in the gaps?”

“Ren, you don’t understand! I can’t just unsee this! I could make a lot of money making something like this, so I can’t just let you give me the recipe for free. Especially not when I still owe you!”

Mai crouched down in front of the paper with her head tilted to read it. After a few minutes, she gasped. “It’s so unorthodox! Jezzy, we need to try this!”

I took the paper, flipped it over, then put it back in her hands. “If it’s that big a deal, then make the first one on the house. I’ve got all the materials right here, I just need someone to put them together. I’ll even let you keep the leftovers.”

She still looked uncertain, but finally she nodded. “Alright, fine. But when we get back to the capital, we’re sitting down with a scribe and making an official contract so you at least get a cut of whatever money I make off them. I won’t do it otherwise.”

Well, that would certainly help my financial situation. I’d be a moron to refuse. “Deal. No need to rush it, just let me know when you’re done. After that I can tell you what else I remember about my friend. Maybe you can figure out some of the other stuff they were working on.”

She got that fired up look in her eye and I left before she could start bombarding me with questions. I gave Mai a few more pats before I left, though. I’d never realized the fur around Nekomata’s ears was so soft. By the time that was taken care of it was dusk, so I started towards the inn. The Swallow’s Tail was recommended by Korey, so that’s where we’d decided to stay.

Just like before, we’d decided on two rooms. I doubted we’d use the second one, but I wanted to have them both just in case and we had the money. I’d had Rhallani slip the innkeeper an extra gold piece to tell anyone that we were sleeping in the vacant room until further notice, too. I tried not to get too excited about what I knew was coming, but it was difficult.

I’d sought comfort in pleasure before, but very rarely was I the initiator. Even then it was physical comfort, usually before a battle we figured we had no business in winning, so there was never anything more than the pleasure of sex and the warmth of another person. I hadn’t ever had the kind of intimate connection I felt with Rhallani. I’d felt the longing I had with Serena once before, but the memory was wrapped up in so much pain and misery that I couldn’t dwell on it for long before I lost myself to it.

After all the blightwolves, the Nekomata, the bandits I’d killed, the strange six-legged monsters, and my conversation with Kat, I was in desperate need of a comfort that came from more than just physical connection. For the first time in my life, I was in a position to find some. I only hoped someday I could find a way to repay these girls for what they were doing for me even without meaning to. So when I knocked on the door, I was smiling. I waited a few seconds to give Rhallani a moment to prepare whatever it was she’d prepared.

Scarlet opened the door, peeking up at me through the crack. Only when she looked around me and saw nobody else did she open it and let me inside. I heard the sound of the door shutting and locking behind me, but I barely registered it. My attention was occupied by what was currently happening on the one large bed in the room.

Heat flared in her eyes and she pushed against my length, trying to slip it in. “You and me. I like the sound of that. If we hurry, then it’ll be her turn again by the time we’re done.”

“Hurry?” I slid in slowly and carefully, and her moan made my cock twitch. “Why would I do that? We’ve got all night, and I intend to enjoy myself.”

The fire in those emerald eyes told me that she felt the same.

# # #

It was the faintest of movement that woke me. Someone was up and walking in our room. I didn’t so much as twitch a muscle when I woke, a habit I’d picked up by the time I was fifteen. It was pitch black, so I could hear everything in our room and the rooms adjacent to us if I chose.

Serena and Rhallani were right where I’d left them. Rhallani was curled up into a ball, her head resting in the crook of my shoulder while her back pressed into my side. Serena was draped over me, her head on my chest and her hand resting just over where my heart beat. I’d fucked them until they’d both nearly passed out, and even then I’d had to put my foot down and make them rest. I’d pumped load after load into them both, but Serena’s skill seemed to have the additional effect of giving me near-limitless stamina.

It was Scarlet that wasn’t there anymore. Her nearly silent footfalls across the room were what had woken me. She paused at the door, glancing over her shoulder at us and making a soft hum that I didn’t recognize, then slipped out the door without making another sound.

Before I could even panic I heard the door across the hall—the other room we’d rented—open and close. She’d gone into it for some reason, and I knew I wasn’t going back to sleep unless I knew she was alright. I conjured a tendril and used it to gently lift Serena so I could slip out from under her, then draped her over Rhallani. Then I slid from the warmth of the bed and headed towards the door, grabbing my pants off the ground on the way.

Once in the hall, I put a palm to the door to the other room. My skill couldn’t simply see through walls, but if I focused it I could at least hear any sounds through the wood. At first I heard nothing. Had I been mistaken? Had she gone somewhere else? She was quiet, so maybe she’d just gone in here to sleep. Just as I raised my hand to knock, I heard it.

A sniffle.

Well I’m definitely not going back to sleep now. I knocked gently, waited a few seconds, then opened the door and walked in. She hadn’t even locked it. I could see her crimson eyes in the dark. She was sitting in the middle of the bed with her knees drawn tightly to her chest. In the dark I could smell the saltiness of the single teartrack on her cheek.

“This one did not mean to wake you,” she said softly.

I walked across the room and she tracked my every movement. I made a mental note to tell Rhallani that she apparently had excellent vision even in the pitch black room, but that was something to worry about later. “Old habits die hard, I’m afraid.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and she sniffled again. She didn’t move a muscle when I reached out and brushed the wetness from her cheek. “I’d like to know what’s bothering you. Was it what we did earlier?” Scarlet had never made any indication she wanted to join in, but I’d tried to make sure she never looked uncomfortable at least. She’d spent so much of her life too afraid to feel emotion that it was difficult to get any kind of read on her.

She shook her head. “This one was glad to be included.”

Included was an interesting word to use, but I set that aside for now. “Then what’s wrong?”

Another sniffle. This close I could tell that the corners of her lips were pointed downward. That her bottom lip trembled. “Is Sir ordering this one to answer?”

“I think you know I’m not.”

She pulled her knees tighter to her chest. I turned my body a bit and held an arm out. It was nearly a minute before she finally moved. She unfolded her legs and crawled with slow, timid movements into my lap. She sat sideways and curled into herself, resting her head under my chin with her arms curled against her chest. I wrapped my arms around her and a shudder ran through her body. A muted sob, if my guess was on the mark. “I want to help you, Scarlet, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

I gently started stroking her hair, content to stay like this as long as she needed. “This one does not know if she will ever want sex,” she said finally.

“After what you’ve been through, that’s alright. I’ll never be upset with you for that.”

“But this one’s class is no longer useful without the pain. This one doesn’t know how else to be useful to Sir.”

I got the sense that I needed to choose my words carefully. “You don’t need to be useful for me to want you around.”

“B—but this one—” Her words caught. It was the most emotion I’d heard to date from her voice. “But I want to be useful. Somehow.”

Ah. Ah. Of course. I felt like an idiot. I squeezed her with one arm while I rubbed her back with the other. “In that case, we’ll find something. Just because you need pain to use your class now doesn’t mean you always will. If you’re willing, and if it’s what you want, I can help you change.”

“Sir can—you can change my class?”

“It depends. I know you’re a Tormented Berserker, but I also know you have way more health than you should. Will you tell me your classes? Both of them?”

She trembled, but her fingers dug into the flesh of my chest and she forced herself to calm down. “Tormented Berserker twenty-four, Sacrier twelve.”

I sucked in my breath. Her second class was almost as strong as my first one, and those two were a very deadly combination. Tormented Berserker made her stronger the more pain she endured and the more damage she took while increasing her toughness. Sacrier would inflate her health to insane amounts and, if she had the skills I expected her to, would get stat boosts from taking damage. Boosts that would last longer since her regen was hampered by her mangled wings. If I hadn’t already, I would have made a vow to track down the bastard who’d made her like this and put him in the ground.

She tensed at my reaction, so I kept rubbing her back until she started to relax again. “How long ago did you hit level twenty-four?”

“Two days before you found me.”

That was good, then. Once you hit twenty and started splitting your experience between two classes, it took a lot to level up. “Your class isn’t completely set in stone. If we approach it right and work on switching you to a specific fighting style, then we can try to move you away from such a horrible path through class and skill evolutions.” For once, I found myself actually hoping Allura or the blade were influencing the classes around me. If anyone deserved it, Scarlet did.

She started shaking. When she spoke, her voice trembled. “I don’t have to stay like this?”

“No. No, and I would very much prefer it if you didn’t.” I kissed the top of her head. “I’ve watched too many people I care about suffer. If you want to be strong, we’ll make you strong. I won’t order you or tell you what class to take, but I will ask you to choose one where I don’t have to see you hurt so much.”

“You... you care about me.” A statement more than a question. One with more disbelief in its tone than I liked.

“I do. Very much so. I may not have chosen you back in Listone, but I would have given the chance. And if anyone, your former masters included, ever come for you, I’ll kill them myself.”

Her fingers clenched and unclenched against me. Her chin tucked into her chest, and she drew herself into a ball. I smelled the salt before I felt the wetness on my skin, then she let out a long, keening whine. I crushed her into my chest and just let her cry. She cried until the tension drained from her body and she ended up slumped against my chest.

“I don’t want to be like this. I want my class to be different,” she said.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“How?”

“We can worry about that tomorrow." Without pulling her away, I reached down and started wiping her tears away with my thumb. “First we need to decide what class you want to aim for.”

“I don’t know what I would even want. What there is other than what I am.”

“And we can remedy that. For now, just rest with the knowledge that we are going to change your class. It might be difficult, but we’ll do it. Even if I have to get you to level fifty for your second evolution.”

“Thank you.”

I held her until the shaking faded and her breathing slowed. After a while I realized she’d fallen asleep in my arms. I wasn’t going to leave her by herself tonight, not after the conversation we’d just had, so I scooped her up and carried her back into the other room, using a tendril to quietly open and close the doors. I used the tendril again to lift the covers and slide in behind Serena.

A hand reached over and brushed against me, then Scarlet, and I heard Rhallani’s voice ask, “is everything alright?”

“More than alright. Go to sleep, I’ll explain everything in the morning.” She mumbled something then nuzzled back into Serena’s chest.

I sidled over until I could feel the heat of Serena’s back against my side, but I never let Scarlet out of my arms. I closed my eyes, trying to prepare for the difficult conversation I had coming in the morning. I was almost asleep when I heard Scarlet’s voice, barely loud enough for even my enhanced hearing to pick up.

“Noelle,” she whispered. “My mother named me Noelle.”

“That’s a very beautiful name,” I whispered back. “Thank you, Noelle.”

The only sign she heard me was a soft sigh and the feeling of her lips curling upward ever so slightly against my chest. Then Noelle was asleep, and I didn’t last much longer than she did.