Wild Wastes 5 -ch5- (Patreon)

“Well, they’re not shooting at me,” growled Elizabeth as they circled over the large city. There’d been no move to actually respond as far as they could tell, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be coming.

Chances were they were scrambling to figure out how to respond, or waiting for them to land.

“That’s certainly a good starting point,” Dea muttered. “Whenever someone shot at me first I figured there wouldn’t be much need to try and converse with them.”

Laughing, Vince could only nod his head.

“Yeah, kind of hard to talk to people when they’re shooting at you,” agreed Vince. “Really hard.”

“But I love it when you shoot into me,” argued Blue, still quite happily leaning all over Vince. She hadn’t moved her hands away from Leila either, and was once again fondling the gnome.

Though much more slowly now and less aggressively.

“Red likes it, too,” said Red.

Vince felt something like Blue being pushed at and then suddenly a pair of hands were pushed in between Vince and Blue.

“Red is going to cuddle and hold her wife now. Red loves you, Blue,” purred Red, who was now clearly facing the Dryad.

Blue’s hands went still on Leila, then retreated away completely. Then they laid atop Red’s own hands as Blue rested her cheek against Vince’s back.

“Love you, too, Red,” assured Blue. “I love you, too.”

“You won’t be an aunt to Red’s kids. You’ll be mom as well,” stated Red.

“I… yes. I will. Just as you will be and are for mine. They were quite happy you played with them when we visited,” murmured Blue.

Red had quite literally vanished into the portal and ran down Blue’s children. Then proceeded to spoil, play with, and train them as if she were their mother.

All to the extreme surprise of Blue, though she’d clearly been pleased by it.

“Red… Red knows you want to play with other women, but she understands. It’s who you are, Blue. Red still loves you,” confided Red.

Vince felt Blue freeze up against his back, only to let out a long and slow breath.

“No more of that for me, then, Red,” Blue responded surprisingly. “Going forward I’ll only be with my Grove-wives, you, and Vince. I can’t help it if Vince brings another woman along though. Would… that make you happier?”

“Very! Red would be incredibly happy! Red knows Vince likes to include other women and is fine with that.

“Red likes your wives, though. Maybe… maybe Red could wife them, too. Green is very fun and is kind to Red. Marianna, Dionara, and Ynes are also kind. Antona especially. That’s… all of your wives?”

“Yes, that’s all of them,” agreed Blue, sounding incredibly subdued all of a sudden. “Meliae as well but… not in the same way.”

“Then yes, that would make Red very happy. She promises to be kind to your wives, but Red likely won’t love them the way Red loves you. Red will try though because it’d make Blue happy. Red just wants Blue and Vince to be happy.”

“Uhm… okay. I’ll… yes. That’s just what I’ll… we’ll… do,” Blue murmured.

“Your wives can’t go outside of our marriage either. Red demands it. All should be loyal to you and Vince,” Red stated firmly.

“I’ll make sure they know, Red,” Blue answered, her fingers clearly pressing tight to Red’s hands.

Huh.

That’s… interesting.

Unexpected, too.

But I guess given that Blue’s Dryad nature has more or less been annihilated but being unable to get pregnant anymore… maybe she can be more of who her personality is?

“Let’s land,” Vince ordered, realizing this was a good time to shift everything. “Hovering around up here has given them more than enough time to respond.

“Let’s force a meeting. Be on your guard everyone.

“Elizabeth, please put us down somewhere in the outskirts, but where they’ll clearly be able to see where we landed. So they can send someone out to meet us.”

“Of course!” Elizabeth said and began pulling them around in a slow and lazy bank.

“I think… they’ll make us wait for a time,” Zathira cautioned from the far back of the group. “Just to see what we’ll do. It’s adivsable.”

“Fair,” Vince conceded, then realized that if Blue could reign herself in for Red, Vince could open himself to Blue’s unstated request.

To give Zathira a chance.

“When we land, I want to milk you, Zathira. Do you mind if I did that and kept your venom?” Vince inquired.

“I… uhm… yes. Yes, please,” replied the Lamia after a brief pause. “I’m quite full and would… enjoy it greatly.”

“Thank you. It gives me a lot of credit when you do these things,” whispered Blue and began nuzzling his back while clutching Red’s hands.

As they angled down and toward the ground, Vince didn’t miss that there were already people heading out toward them. There were a number of people on horses, though there were also two cars, and an armored vehicle.

While circling around the city, proclaiming their peaceful intent, Vince had certainly noticed the city did indeed have working electricity. Through a means he couldn’t discern at the time it was obvious their technology hadn’t slipped as far as others had.

“They’re coming awfully quick,” complained Leila as Elizabeth pulled them up to a full stop.

Everyone hopped off fairly quickly and Blue went over to stand next to the Dragon’s head.

“I’m sorry, my Dragon,” apologized Blue, had one of her hands held by Red. She wasn’t ready to surrender her affectionate hold on Blue at the moment.

She did glance over her shoulder when Vince looked her way and gave him a smile. Her brightly glowing eyes a couple degrees of intensity and she waved her free hand at him. Her sharpened claws giving the friendly gesture an odd feeling.

Her triangular ears were split, one toward Blue the other toward him. Her brown hair which was sitting nicely in place despite all the movement was reflecting the light right now and made it look richer in color.

It made her tail look especially pretty as well.

Though it did make her pale skin look unhealthy given the direct sunlight.

Then Red looked back to Blue while she spoke with Elizabeth.

I wonder why she’s feeling so cuddly today.

“Pregnant,” Leila answered his unasked question and pushed him away from the others. “Pregnant again. Somehow. Not sure how you managed it, but you did it again. Far too potent.

“I’m awfully nervous our own child is going to rip me apart on the way out, you know. Blue swears she’ll make it painless when the time comes but I don’t quite believe her.

“Really glad you’re willing to talk to her. It’s obvious to everyone she regrets her actions.”

Vince belatedly realized he was being guided to Zathira.

The large Lamia had coiled into herself and was quietly watching him. The mottled-black with blood-red scales with yellow bands marking her as extremely lethal.

All of it was glittering quite brightly in the sun.

Her eyes tracking him as he came nearer. At some point she’d pulled her midnight colored hair back and into a pony-tail. The dark ink like hair being styled in such a way made the bright red patches in her hair much more visible.

It also did a surprising job of highlighting her features and making a general attractiveness that was more pronounced. The burnished orange that was her eyes never looked away from him and her thin slits for pupils were narrow and tight right now.

As ever, the face she presented him with was fairly blank, revealing none what might be lurking beneath the surface. A lot similar in many ways to how Petra often would look at him in fact.

“I wanted to milk you and keep the venom but I don’t think we’re going to have the chance,” Vince complained, looking toward the city. He could see the people moving toward them at a quick pace.

If he hadn’t looked back when he did to Zathira he would have missed the look of disappointment and loss that flittered across Zathira’s face before vanishing. There was no mistaking the fact that she had very much wanted him to milk the venom from her.

Checking a sigh, and realizing that he really should follow through, he instead looked to Leila.

“Got any glass vials? Or just something with a large opening?” he asked. “I want to keep her venom just in case.”

“You want to eat it,” countered Leila with a laugh. She held up an object to him. It was a dish that he couldn’t identify, though there was a lid in Leila’s other hand. He’d be able to snap the whole thing closed when he was done.

He had no idea where she got it, but it was perfect.

“I… yeah, I do. Do you mind if I eat it, Zathira?” Vince asked as he walked right up to the big Lamia.

“No. No, I don’t mind. Just… ah… hm… no. It’s fine, Vince,” mumbled Zathira with a look of confusion on her face. The blank mask she’d given him had been removed at some point.

“Great, come’re then,” he said and held a hand out to her. “And let’s see those fangs of yours.”

“You really don’t mind them,” she asked quietly and leaned down toward him. Her jaw unhinged and then shifted around. A set of fangs pushed free of her mouth that made her look fairly monstrous.

“Nope. Not at all. You’ll remember that you yelled at me for making a sexual comment about how I wanted to see more of your mouth and fangs,” murmured Vince, offering her a way to open that conversation later if she wanted.

Reaching up he took Zathira by the back of the head, grabbed firmly to her hair, then pulled her down to the container. Angling it up got it to rest just behind her fangs.

The response from her was instant.

She flinched, her face tightening and her head dipping forward a fraction. Her fangs pushed hard to the interior of the container and pale golden liquid began to pool in it.

“That’s right, there you go,” Vince whispered approvingly, holding onto the Lamia tightly. He was treating her just like the venomous snakes he’d worked with his mother on.

Falling silent he quietly worked at getting everything out of her while keeping an eye out for the rapidly approaching English. Reaching around and to the sides of Zathira as they waited together.

He pushed and pulled carefully at her jaw to coax everything out of her glands as he could. There was no telling how long it’d be until he could do this again so he needed to empty her out.

Just as he often did with Petra.

Predator animals are predator animals.

Like trying to talk a dog into not eating meat.

When the English contingent slowed down after getting within thirty-yards he realized time was up.

Letting go of Zathira who had a satisfied look on her face he pulled the container away from her jaw.

Leila took it from him and then topped it, then tucked it away in a small pack at her side.

Getting the hint, Vince began walking toward what he hoped were diplomats. He had his hands up and was keeping his movements clear, obvious, and hopefully without any aggression.

“Hello!” Vince called, walking past the rest of his team. They in turn assembled in behind him, but didn’t move forward to follow him. “I’m glad someone came out to speak with me. We weren’t really sure what to do since there’d been no response.”

Several of the people on horses looked rather shocked that Vince had actually spoken up. They looked back to the cars that’d been coming on rather than answer him.

Must be their leaders in there.

Don’t want to speak up for fear of upsetting the or can’t speak on their behalf.

Coming to a stop, Vince put his hands behind his back. He was glad the’d he’d removed his helmet earlier but he also felt oddly vulnerable with it.

Standing there, he just waited, staring at the cars as they continued coming toward him.

They stopped when they were twenty feet off and the engines quieted.

Doors opened and men in uniform with rifles got out.

They weren’t pointed at Vince but he got the impression that they wanted to. That they were unsure of Vince and what he was doing here, but they were obviously skeptical of his intentions.

Not that he could blame them.

After a short time a man got out of the vehicle as well that stood out from the rest. Dressed in clothes that appeared somewhere between what he’d seen in the ruins of the United States and what Legionnaire’s wore casually, he was marked out in that regard.

Doubly so that he didn’t have a weapon on him, and those who were near him, clearly felt like they needed to protect him.

He had dark brown hair that was cut quite short, looked to be in his early thirties, and had a set of gray eyes that shifted to a pale blue as he moved his head. He wasn’t handsome, but neither was he unattractive.

“Heavens it’s a human,” mumbled the man.

“And I even speak English,” Vince added with a smirk. “I’ve been told recently that I can’t quite seem to contain myself when it comes to women so… if you have any attractive single family members, you might want to hide them.”

“Ha!” the man let out with a grin, his entire coutenance changing. “Well and right! Certainly not the kings English but it has that… flatness… that the Americans had.

“Just where did you scarper off from, eh? Certainly have a bigness to you that lends itself to a warrior. Fact that you have a Dragon as a… companion? Mount? Pet? Eh… well, it lends itself to you being more than one ought to expect.”

“You’re right, actually. I’m originally from the ruins of the United States,” Vince agreed, putting his hands behind his back then slowly moving toward the speaker.

At this point Vince was assuming they were either an ambassador, minister, or king of the nation.

“My name is Vince Campbell. The king of Yosemite, a vassal kingdom to Legion. My lands encompass most of North America and now Spain,” explained Vince, stopping ten feet away from the man. “I plan on tearing my way through Francia and adding them to my lands.

“They have a propensity of violence towards magicians and Dryads that I don’t quite share. Or will allow.”

“Dryads? There’s Dryads? My oh my how exciting!” exclaimed the man who didn’t seem to view Vince as a threat at all. Despite his guards now looking incredibly on guard. “And you’re the king? Fantastic. My name’s Duke Henry of Kent. A pleasure to meet you!

“I’m afraid that my king has yet to respond to my missive about your arrival so… ah… would you mind very much if we just sat right here and waited?”

“Is your king far?” Vince asked, for whatever reason he actually liked this man. He seemed friendly and curious.

“Oh not so much as far as rightly not ‘here’, you could say?” the Duke said in a strange way. Then the man laughed gestured off to the north. Toward a different section of the city that was across the river. “His manor is off there, and I’m down here.

“If you’d gone much more north he’d have tried to give you a right good brickin’. Tried, at least. I ah… see you have quite a few not very human looking personages.

“I don’t think he’ll come wanting to talk to us till at least a few more hours have gone by and you haven’t turned my Duchy into an oven!”

Henry was looking to the rest of Vince’s team now with a smile and a wave of his hand.

“Heavens! Is that a snake-lady? Well isn’t that just a wonder,” Henry gushed, his eyes widening. “Oh, you’ll have to forgive me my manners. We haven’t had much chit-chat with the world you see.

“Our seas are full of nasties and the ability to put ships into the skies isn’t something we can risk. One of those beasties from the West come looking. Once it’s airborne it never can come back.

“Actually… surprising they didn’t come looking with your appearance.”

“I noticed a great number of Wyverns,” Elizabeth rumbled from behind Vince. “They were welcome to come have a look. They’re quite tasty and not very bright.”

“Oh, yeah, right? Great for a cook-out, they are,” agreed Henry with a loud chuckle. “I have to order them from Cornwall but he’s a good-sort and doesn’t rob my wallet too badly.

“Er, wait. Bless me, you can speak? I had no idea a Dragon could speak. Whenever they gave us a visit in the past it was always just to toast us and bolt.”

Grinning, Vince was rapidly growing in affinity for this man.

“Elizabeth, any of them near by? Think you might be able to hunt us a few for a barbecue? I suddenly have a hankering for fresh Wyvern,” requested Vince.

“There’s a flock of them just to the south on the shore. I could probably go grab some,” offered the Dragon, followed by what sounded like her spreading her wings. “It’d be good to have a meal and a few of those would feed all of us, including me.”

“Ha, splendid!” Henry said and turned to gesture at his driver. “Go fetch some side dishes from the kitchens, yeah? Also grab the kids? I’d like them to meet Vince here if possible.”

“Blue, any chance you could convince the local flora to provide for us?” Vince asked and turned to look to his Dryad.

She was smiling at him when their eyes met.

“Already on it. They’re quite excited to have a Dryad on their lands. They’ve never experienced it before,” answered the Dryad. “From what I can tell… this whole land was untouched by everything that happened entirely.”

Really.

Interesting.

I wonder what they need and what they want then. This could b ea perfect opportunity for us to make a solid ally.

Just… depends on the king, I guess.

“Your king a dipshit?” Vince asked, looking to Henry.

“Ah… no?” Henry replied with a chuckle. “More of a coward than that, truth be. He’s a right sort, by and by. Cowardly, truthfully.

“That’s not so much an issue though as he works to keep us all happy and willing to play nice because of his fear. Also why that grand army of his is so grand.

“They’re all to the north though waiting for that bastard to try and make a move on us with his devilish minions. We all weep for the Scotts and their troubled lives.”

Hm.

Grand army?

If I make this problem in the north vanish, can I get that army to help?

Good thing we brought Elysia. This all sounds like talking work that I’m no good at.

The north sounds interesting.

Devilish minions.

Could be that we just need to eliminate this problem for the king. Maybe we’ll get that grand army and we can move on to stepping on Francia.

Because right now the only resources we really need is manpower.

We’re stretched rather thin with everything going on.