Wild Wastes 5 -Ch7- (Patreon)

Vince started awake the very instant he heard a noise. One that didn’t belong amongst the gentle rustle of the wind pushing through foliage barely covering them from view.

His eyes snapped open and his left hand snatched up the pistol and brought it around to hold in front of himself. Waiting to hear, feel, or sense whatever it’d been.

With any luck he’d get the drop on them before they realized the bush held three people in it.

That or it was Red coming back, but it didn’t feel like a mistake she’d make. She was rather stealthy as of late and it took a great deal of effort on his part to notice her.

If she was feeling predatory, she could manage to get fairly close to him before he noticed her.

“Sorry. Didn’t… mean to wake you like that,” whispered Zathira from his left. She was currently laid out on his arm with her head on his shoulder. She was so close than when she’d spoken, the warmth and moisture of her breath had washed down and across his neck and the upper part of his chest. Leila was between the both of them, and also on top of both of them. Resting on them as if they were a mattress without much of a concern or a worry. With how much smaller she was than either, she fit there quite well, too. “Just… wasn’t… sure what to do. Didn’t expect to wake up like this. Laid here and just thought about what happened for a few minutes. Really had to move. My spine was kinked up.”

Turning his head, Vince looked to the Lamia. Her head was quite literally on his shoulder. He could only see her temple and the side of her cheek and ear.

Her face was entirely out of view realistically and he could see more of her back, waist, and rear-end instead.

This was most certainly an intimate position to wake up in for anyone, regardless of their relationship.

Opening his mouth to make a comment, he froze, and let it die unsaid. Instead he closed his mouth and then let his pistol fall back down to his bare chest, thumbing the safety into place to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

Looking to the sky above, he could see the sun was starting to set. Casting an orange hue across the whole of the land. Without realizing it, he’d slept for at least several hours.

Red had already come back twice to report what she found and was planning on doing a longer circuit. She’d also brought back berries, fruits, and several nestfulls of eggs he couldn’t identify.

Considering they had nothing to cook with, nor any currency, he wasn’t quite sure what they could do with the eggs. He thanked her nonetheless and appreciated all her efforts.

I’m sure if we walk down the road for a bit someone will try to harm us.

That’s my luck, after all.

Then I just whip out the pistol, lay waste to them, then we take their stuff.

Easy peasy.

“You wanted to say something,” Zathira prompted, not having moved other than a slight shift that made her coils shift around them partially. They were more or less encircling them as if they were a low barrier made of snake muscle.

Having carried her from the beach, he never wanted to do so again. He knew he was strong.

Incredibly so.

That he was well away just about super human.

Carrying Zathira and her tail a dense mass of snake muscle and bone that flopped around was not an experience he wanted to repeat. It’d been an awkward stumbling walk as it were one of the few times he’d managed to get drunk.

“Say it,” continued Zathira when Vince had yet to reply. “Whatever it is. I won’t get angry. Sssay it.”

The last s-sound had a sibilant quality to it. Something he’d never heard from Zathira before.

In fact, he knew for a fact she had a tongue like a snake’s but he’d never heard her make that noise until that moment.

“Kinda sure you don’t get the cute lisp thing unless you’re probably angry,” countered Vince, feeling just a bit waspish with the Lamia. He’d respected her wishes and done as she’d wanted.

Only for Leila to tell him she regretted it.

Now for her to be seemingly leaning into such a back and forth was giving him some misgivings.

“I do no ssssuch thing,” Zathira mumbled after a beat. She hit the S for so long, and so hard, it was obviously on purpose. “You think it’s cute though? A deadly Lamia with a bite that can kill a Dragon, raise the dead and rule over armies, crush a man with her coils, has a cute lisp?”

“I mean, yeah? You been paying attention to what I’m bedding or fighting? Your Duke didn’t even want to fight me, you know. You’re definitely a toughie but… uh… you’re not exactly in my weight class?

“Sorry to dissapoint there, but that’s just the way it goes. The only person that makes me want to jam the brakes is Seville. He’s makes my instincts scream at me to run the hell away.”

“And what do they say about me?” asked Zathira.

“Already told you. You told me to never speak such again,” Vince stated quite clearly.

“And… what do your inssssstincs say about me now, pleassssse?” Zathira prompted, once again hitting her S’s quite deliberately.

“That I really do want to see what you can do with that mouth of yours when you unhinge your jaw and make your eyes completely black,” Vince murmured, deciding to try and mend the fence right there. “As for my comment, it was going to be along the lines of, ‘don’t worry, you were only in the middle of the three way twice. The rest of it you were on the end.’”

“Ah,” Zathira whispered and went quiet. He heard her open her mouth, then distinctly felt her freeze up against him. Followed almost instantly by Leila growing tense against him.

“It’s coming,” hissed the Gnome then trying to roll over. She’d only just woken up and had clearly forgotten she was perched between them.

All she succeeded in doing was turning sideways and then sliding down between Zathira and Vince. Just about ending up with a Lamia breast in her face for her troubles.

“Much lesser this time,” Zathira agreed, her head lifting up from Vince to peer off to the south. “It spend much of its force but… it… has holes in it? Something fought it?

“How does one-oh. Oh. I think I now understand a few things.”

“Mind explaining to the idiot in the group?” asked Vince, hoping she could clue him in.

“Ahhhh, the Nullifier’s,” Leila said as she tried to wriggle her way out of the crevice of flesh between Vince and Zathira. After a few more attempts she let out a grunt, then clearly gave up. Her head now resting against the bottom of Zathira’s bossom. “The Nullifier’s are here to break the magic that came for us.

“I’ll bet you anything they were all created to stop those clouds of whatever it is magic from heading this way. Probably a while back, as well.

“Given enough time, I could see how they could easily become a religious thing as it is. Take over the government, too. Become a central power figure.

“They’re the ones who ‘hold back the evil tide of magic’ and ‘keep the evil ones away’ through their actions. They drum up the fear and resentment back home by targeting magic users. Labeling them as associations of the dark and troublemakers.

“But… why not Necromancer’s or Warlocks? It seems like we’d get lumped in more clearly?”

“Demonstratable difference in power? Can’t confuse a Nullifier for anything else,” Zathira postulated. “Necromancers and Warlocks would be the same, would they not? Easy to distinguish.

“All the other magical users though… no real way to prove it since it’d be faith magic or just magic in general. Harder to say you’re not involved in such a thing.”

“Alright… hey… theory discussion is great and all,” Vince interjected as the two of them looked like they’d fall into a theoretical discourse on the subject. “But uh… do we need to hide or do anything? I can’t even see whatever you’re talking about.”

Zathira and Leila managed to look at one another, then to Vince, then both of them looked to the south. Staring at something he couldn’t see. Their eyes weren’t moving so if they could see it, it wasn’t traveling very fast.

Following their line of sight, Vince saw nothing at all.

Suddenly crossing over the top of a ride, he saw several riders moving close to one another. The one in front had their eyes on the ground ahead of them, while the other two were looking up to the sky above.

All three were moving towards the north and would run parallel to the position Vince and his companions were. More than far enough away that there was no chance they’d notice them.

They had their hands raised and were firing Nullifier blasts upward. Almost in seemingly random directions, but that was untrue.

Vince had been on the other end of that and now understood how they’d been so accurate.

Practice.

These clouds of malevolent magic was clearly something they were used to firing at and dealing with.

“There’s far more going on in this continent than we thought,” growled Vince. “Soon as the sun hits the horizon, I want to be out of here. Preferably on a road somewhere heading to the south and getting out of here.”

“We’ll need supplies,” murmured Leila.

“Equipment,” Zathira agreed.

“Maybe we chance a smaller city? One that doesn’t know about what’s happening in the south?” suggested Vince.

All three nodded their heads as they watched the riders chase the invisible magic presence to the north. Likely straight back across the channel and to England.

I wonder if the Duke was in on it or a victim in a different way.

If he was in on it… sure had me fooled.

***

“Ahahaha, Red thinks this is fun,” Red acknowledged. “Traveling with Bringer like before and wandering around! We should pull out hearts and eat them!

“Let’s find some Nullifiers and do that! Red will run them down, Bringer will rip out the heart, we’ll all eat from it! Zathira and Leila won’t mind, they’re not human.

“They can eat with us! We can eat all we want! Oh! What if we find something we haven’t eaten yet, like a Royal Elf? Red would like to eat a Royal Elf heart.”

Unable to help himself, Vince nodded along at her words.

It sounded like a great opportunity to actually try out “new cuisine” as his mother called it.

“Uh… I’ll pass,” muttered Leila, walking along next to everyone down the road. “I’m all for meat eating, but… err… I’ll pass on something that could say it’s own name.”

“I… will also pass on eating… other… living talking things. Though I’d really love to run an animal down and kill it with a good bite,” suggested Zathira. “Then eat it.”

“You rip the souls out of things and turn them into bombs or kill people outright,” Vince argued, looking over and down at the lovely little gnome. Then he pointed at the rather attractive Lamia. “You raise the dead back from the grave. I’ve seen you torture people who upset you. Are you two really going to tell me you have an issue with eating other things made of meat?”

Leila and Zathira both nodded their head without even considering his words.

They had a hard set limit at “eating other sentient beings”.

“Ptfff, Red and Bringer will eat then,” Red concluded. “If Red brings Bringer an especially powerful heart and he gets drunk, Bringer must mate with Red. A lot.”

“That’s fine, that’s fine,” agreed Vince then snatched Red up off the ground and held her up against his side. Often how he did his kids or Leila. “Come’re you little hellion. I feel like I need to smooth your fur back a bit. You’re a bit too feral right now.

“Where’d my domesticated lap dog go? Huh? I liked petting her a lot. She in there somewher? Under all the grass and twigs maybe?”

Vince had been running his fingers carefully through Red’s hair as he spoke.

It really was a bit of a mess from all her scouting.

“Ergh, uh… ennn ow,” groaned Red as his fingers got stuck repeatedly. “Nnnngh. Red doesn’t like this. Red needs a proper brush.”

“Vince, stop it. You’ll just hurt her,” Leila demanded.

“Yes, stop. We’ll get her a brush and then handle it then. My own hair isn’t doing very well either given that soak in salt water,” added Zathira.

Red grunted, stuck her head down on Vince’s shoulder and laid still.

He’d noticed that it seemed like she was starting to fade a bit. Her energy reserves trending downward.

Not to mention he hadn’t actually fed her in a day or so which meant she wasn’t operating at her peak at the moment. They’d all had a nap, she’d run around scouting, finding roads, getting information, and supplies.

Putting his hand on Red’s back, he felt her relax after a few seconds against him.

A minute of walking like that he heard her snore quietly, her arms pressed in between herself and his armor.

“How do we proceed, Vince?” Zathira asked, her upper body almost completely turned to him even as she propelled herself along the dirt road.

They’d made their way along a game trail, to a path, that opened onto a road. There’d been no markers of any sort, but they were traveling to the south-east and the road didn’t look abandoned.

“Much like we already thought I’d say. With any luck we’ll find someonme who wants to rob us and we can take their things,” he answered. “After that, we’ll have a bit more supplies and just keep moving. Maybe find a town or city, see what the news is.

“See if there’s any public reports of what’s happening in spain or with the Tribunal. Learn what information is public and what’s private.”

“Makes sense,” Leila answered with a nod of her head. “At that point, I’d almost prefer a patrol of guards. Kill them, take their things, interrogate the souls.”

“Or just dead. Any dead,” Zathira put in. “Any dead could be a source of information you realize. So long as we find the corpse, we can get information.”

“Right,” Vince murmured. “Any living, dead, or towns you two feel or sense?”

Both women shook their heads.

“Then on we go till we find something. At some point though… I need to feed Red,” cautioned Vince. “That might be a bit of a shock for you Zathira but it’s how she’s among the living, rather than a ravenous undead monster.”

“I’ve heard of it and what she’s fed. I admit I’m… ah… curious… about it all,” mumbled Zathira. Then she sighed heavily followed by a growl. Her eyes flickered with an inner light as she stared at him before the heat died away. “I’m not a prissy young maiden. I… reacted poorly and stupidly. I want to have the same banter back and forth with you that you have th eothers.

“Do not discount me further. I’m no blushing virgin or inept girl. I was just… I thought you were coming onto me for the sake of my race and not me as a person. Humans are strange with their tastes.

“It’s been said many times that a human would sleep with anything that had mammalian traits and a warm entry they could use.”

“Huh,” Vince muttered with a nod of his head. He couldn’t really disagree with her. Humanity as a whole was a race of people mastered by their kinks. Kinks that often had them looking to anything that could possibly form a relationship.

From humanizing a street sign and giving it attributes it didn’t, to finding a great many other species as valid romantic partners. To the point that you could literally say “half-insert race” and it had a strong possibility of being true.

“I mean, I can’t deny I’m interested in you in part because you’re a Lamia. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. Or that I’m physically attracted to your assets and face,” Vince answered honestly and bluntly. “I mean, I’d be more than happy to throw you around in a bed just for the sheer physical pleasure of it and see if I can’t make you hiss.

“Do I love you? No. Am I seeking a romantic union? No. I barely know you. That’d probably need to come somewhat later. If you’re looking for some fun sex right now? Oh yeah, definitely down for that.”

Leila clicked her tongue then let out a sigh.

“Yes. I’m not surprised by any of that. You did have an eye for me long before you ever had feelings for me, didn’t you?” growled Leila.

“I… yeah? I mean, come on… you’ve got gorgeous eyes, Leila. Do you really think any man who sees you doesn’t contemplate you looking up at them with those eyes?” asked Vince earnestly.

“I now understand the comment you made at me better. I’d say-wait… I think there’s death near. We should explore it,” Zathira reported, pointing off to the left. Off the road and toward a rather dense patch of tall-grass.

Just looking at the area she’d stated as where the corpses were had given Vince a bad feeling. That there were corpses in that grass for a very valid reason and it wouldn’t do them any good to investigate it.

Yet she was right.

They really did need information and it could very well be worth adventuring into a possible danger.

Which meant he needed to do it and no one else could volunteer for it.

“Alright, Zathira hold my beautiful Red for me. I’ll go take a look and bring the corpse back. There’s no way I’m letting any of you go into that. I’m betting it’s more of a poinsous or venomous end in there than a violent one,” Vince reasoned and moved up to Zathira.

Red mumbled something as she was passed off but snuggled up to Zathira eagerly enough. If anything she seemed happier there.

I mean… she’s cloth, flesh, and blood. Likely a lot warmer.

I’m in my Legionnaire armor.

Wonder where my helmet went though… hm. That’ll make Mr. White pissy.

Bottom of the channel, I’d bet.