Dao 3 Chapter 25 (Patreon)

Dar slapped the rest of the clay over the diamond cauldron for the foundry, using his own dao of heat to bake the clay into a ceramic liner. It wouldn’t last forever, but it would do its job of insulating the diamond.

Ceramics were surprisingly heat resistant.

The sun was setting, so he made his way over to the central hearth while the cauldron cooled down. He’d fill it for Bart in the morning.

“Everything go okay?” Bart asked as Dar approached the leader's circle. Everyone was there, even Samantha. Dar did a double take when he saw her; she looked twenty years younger.

“Went well. We’ll pick a spot for it tomorrow, and I’ll fill it for your boys.” Dar took his seat, turning his attention to Samantha. “Looks like Amber was able to help you?”

“Yes.” She blushed. “I’m getting a lot of questions today, and so is Jerry. How do I answer them?”

Dar nodded. That was a great segway into what he wanted to discuss tonight with the group. “We answer them honestly from here on out. I have fruits that will allow humans to step onto the dao path. We’ll be providing them out to our townspeople. But, Samantha, we need someone to guide them on the transition.”

“I can do that.” She agreed. “Do we let the kids eat these? Is it safe?”

That was a great question. Dar thought about it for a moment. “Yes. Let’s make sure they stick to something safe though, like the dao of quiet. The last thing we need is for some kid to run around with the dao of combustion and start blowing holes in homes.”

The group gave a nervous chuckle; with these sorts of powers, kids would be dangerous.

“You are right. Kids get something relatively safe, and we help them learn. Can we do them last? That way, the rest of us are able to keep up with them.” Rex said it in a half teasing, half serious voice. “The last thing the guards need is a few dozen kids bolting through the town with parents chasing after them.”

“Another good point.” Dar agreed as Amber handed him a bowl of food. “Russ, you look worried.” He couldn’t help but notice that the gnoll’s bestial face was pressed into a frown.

Russ had his own bowl of food and had stared into it long enough that Dar was worried he hadn’t heard anything they’d said. “We found some dead bison at the edge of the fields.”

“Something got them?” Rex asked.

“I uh… don’t want to worry anyone, but we are debating if it was the insect devils that everyone is worried about.”

Dar paused with his food halfway to his mouth. “We’ll check it out tomorrow. I don’t think they should be this far north already… but we can’t be too careful.”

“Thanks. I didn’t want to worry everyone.”

Glump patted the younger demon on the back. “It’s good. And shows you’re progressing. You would have gone and tried to fight them on your own a few weeks ago.”

Russ huffed. The young demon had a history of being reckless, but it would seem life in Hearthway had managed to temper him some. “I know.”

“Good.” Dar went back to eating, speaking around his food. “Blair and I will go with you tomorrow and check it out.”

“Won’t that leave the village weak?” Rex asked. “Cherry goes where you go.”

Dar thought about it, trying to assess the threat. These devils seemed to work and strategize in groups, like an ant colony. “If there’s a problem this far north, it’s a scout. Only once it goes back to the hive will more come. We are far enough away from the issue that there’s little risk to the village. Besides, we have several greater demons here that could help if a scout comes this way.”

More than a few of the leaders seemed unsure, but Dar was confident in his assessment.

But the discussion brought up the other topic Dar wanted to share. “I’d like to get to a place where our town doesn’t rely on only a few grand demons. I told you about the fruit, but I have another surprise as well. I have a way to speed up everyone’s dao path.”

The younger members seem surprised, but the old demons like Rex and some of Glump’s wives didn’t even flinch, but they did lean forward, interested. It seemed that the speed of his and his family’s progression hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“More importantly, I want to share this with all of you. Glump, what I have right now specializes in helping earth-related dao. Would you like to see if you can’t push forward?”

The old frog demon looked back at his wives who quickly nodded. “I would be interested. What do I have to do?”

“You’d need to leave for a short while. I can’t move it, and you’d need dao characters to practice. I can provide those to you as well, but you have to tell me what you want.”

“Dar. You make it sound like there’s no limit to what you can provide.” The old demon gave him an appraising look that held both warning and fear.

“I’d say that’s close enough to the truth.”

“What about the rest of us?” Russ nearly shouted.

Dar knew that after a few of them made great strides in their dao path, it would be hard to keep up with demand. “Right now I can help those with earth-related dao best. If you have companions with those skill sets, they are welcome to join Glump.”

Russ jerked his head at one of his wives. Mindy, the Ram demon, stepped into their circle. “I would like to go with Glump.”

Rex rubbed his chin. “Would you take someone who would want an earth dao for their second or third greater dao?”

“Of course.” Dar was quick to answer. “Pushing more of our village to grand dao is a priority. Blair used this advantage to form her grand dao.” He looked over at his family unit and waved Blair over.

She did a double take and pointed to herself in question.

Dar chuckled and nodded, urging her to come over again.

Blair nearly dropped her food as she hurried over. “What can I do for you all?”

“I was just offering to the group to let some of them cultivate under the little dao tree like you did. They seem a little skeptical.”

“Oh.” Her eyes went wide, and she looked at the group. “Don’t be. I wasn’t his dao companion, and I used the tree, forming my grand dao in just three days.”

There were hisses as several of the demons in the group took sharp breaths. “How did it work?” Glump asked, anticipation in his eyes.

“Well, I just sat against this tree that Dar has.” Those words brought confusion to a few faces. “The tree radiates dao, particularly that of earth and darkness. I just sort of soaked it up, and it helped me align my three greater dao. It is hard to explain without experiencing it.”

Rex turned away from the circle, and one of his wives spoke to him briefly before hurrying off into the night. He turned back to the group. “I think there’s little harm in trying this. We should all have one person from our families give it a try. If this works, it would be huge.”

Bart raised his hand. “Did your dao of iron come from this?”

“Partially.” Dar realized that the blacksmith would be eager to try it.

“Then, I’d like to see what it can do myself.”

“Each of you should talk with your families. After dinner I’ll take those that want to join the little dao tree.” Dar agreed.

Samantha frowned. “Why are you so secretive about where it is?”

But it was Rex who answered her. “Samantha, I don’t think you understand the gravity of what he is offering. Kingdoms would be crushed for such a thing. Frost’s Fang itself would move if they knew where it was. For Dar to even let us use it is showing us a great deal of trust.”

The woman nodded, not quite satisfied, but apparently dissuaded from pushing further.

“Thank you everyone. Enjoy dinner, Russ. I’ll see you in the morning to come with you to see the bison herd.” Dar decided to leave the circle and head back to his girls, pulling Blair back with him.

The white-haired spirit blushed as she held his hand. “We still haven’t had our date.”

“I know.” Dar sighed. “I promise we’ll have it soon.”

“Is it bad that I’m just happy that everyone thinks I’m your dao companion?” She whispered.

“No, I’d never fault you for being happy.” Dar squeezed her hand and pulled her to his side as he sat down among the girls that made up his family.

All of them gave Blair a welcoming smile. Mika bumped hips with her and gave her a pat on the back. “See, I told you it would happen if you were patient.”

“Guess you were right.” Blair blushed. “Just have to be patient.” She said the last bit with a meaningful look at Dar.

He had accepted her into the family, even if they hadn’t been physical yet. To him, she was his dao companion now. “So, I wanted to make sure you all knew. We’ll have some guests at the little dao tree for the foreseeable future.”

Cherry pouted. “Does that mean we can’t…” her tongue pressed against her cheek in a lewd gesture.

Dar looked at her as he continued. “The other piece of news is that the Blackstone Keep in my inner world has opened up. I suggest we try to stay there when we need privacy.” He tried to be discrete, but they all knew what he meant.

“Great.” Cherry perked up. “I’d hate to miss time with my tree.”

There were those crazy eyes again.

“Maybe we should have someone looking after the tree while they are there?” Amber suggested.

“Not a bad idea. But I don’t want any of you to think that this stops any of you from using the tree. We all need to keep growing stronger.” With that information out, he had to get to the bad news. “Also, I’m going to go with Blair tomorrow and check out the bison herd. Russ says that there were signs of what he believes might have been insect devils killing a few bison.”

“That’s not right. How could they have ranged this far already?” Tami argued.

Dar nodded along with her. “I feel the same, but it needs to be checked out.”

“I wish to come then.” Tami set her jaw.

“Mika, can we spare that much room in the boat?” Dar asked the wave spirit.

She tilted her head, making her blue hair splash about. “It's going to get tight. We might have to do one less bison for the three of you.”

Dar had slightly hoped she’d say no. One bison wasn’t a big deal; they had a surplus at the moment. But it seemed Tami would be able to join.

“Tami, we probably need to talk about what to do with you.” Dar put it out there, not hiding anything.

“Do with me?” She leaned back, looking at the group.

Sasha nodded. “She’s been in our home long enough to have learned some of our secrets. Can we afford to have them shared with her father?”

“We could just kill her as food for the tree.” Cherry suggested, though Dar wasn’t sure if she was being serious or just trying to scare the girl.

Tami’s head was whipping back and forth as the woman spoke. “Woah. Why would you kill me?”

“You’ve noticed the humans following a dao path in the village.” Neko nodded to herself. “I’ve seen you watching a few of them. And you know about Dar’s secrets, that he’s progressing far too fast and that he learned your dao in just a day.”

Neko was right. He’d been casual about his secrets lately.

“I think you’re right, Neko. We need to do something with Tami.” Dar turned to the deer demon. “So, what’s it going to be?”

“What do you mean?” She was struggling like she was about to bolt.

“You said you were under oaths to your father. That means you are going to have to tell him what you saw here, I bet.” Dar let out a sigh. She was starting to grow on him.

Tami stayed silent for a moment, working through what to say. “I… I could just not head back to Kindrake. If something prevented me from going back, then my oaths wouldn’t come into play.”

Dar stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Then you are officially my prisoner. Swear an oath that you won’t try to escape, and you’ll have some level of freedom in the village.”

“I swear on my dao that I won’t try to flee Hearthway, or your operations. My movements will be limited to where you go and tell me to go.” Tami said quickly.

Dar froze. She’d just said an incredibly restrictive oath. Dar winced, realizing just how much of her freedom she had just willingly given up and knowing they had likely been said similarly to what she’d had to give to her father.

“Would you like to put a little more leniency in that oath?” Dar asked.

“No, it needs to be this way.” Tami stated firmly.

That meant her father had her under tight oaths. What an evil man to put his own daughter under such restrictions.

“Fine. You can come with us. But I won’t be giving you the same benefits for training your dao as the village.” Dar told her.

“I agree; you shouldn’t help me progress to the grand dao. Not while I’m under oaths to someone who would work against you. However, I would be willing to offer my dao to your family.” Tami bowed slightly as she finished.

“Why?” Dar didn’t understand why she’d offer to help them so much.

“Because I want to.” Tami said, sticking her chin out. “This place is… peaceful. That you lead it as you do has earned my respect.”

Mika chuckled. “He really is one of a kind. Compared to all the male demons and spirits I’ve met, Dar is a powerful and merciful leader.”

“Glump, Rex and Russ seem benign enough.” Dar argued.

Blair put a hand on his arm to get his attention. “That is because they follow your lead. Glump might normally be pretty placid, but that's mostly because he’s a lazy frog who would rather lie in the mud all day. Rex or Russ would be far more aggressive in a leadership position.”

“Think about Stupid Bear.” Neko pushed. “Imagine what a village would look like under his leadership.”

Dar thought about Karn, and the stories he’d heard from Mika, and the islands to the south. Even what he’d heard of Tami’s father was brutal.

Was he really that much of an exception?

By the looks on all the girls' faces, it would seem he was.

“Well, I’m just going to keep being me. If I start to become too soft or too hard, that’s on you girls to slap me upside the head.”

“There he goes again.” Sasha sighed. “No demon would ask his women to help course correct him.”

“Bah.” Dar spat. “I’m no demon. I’m an immortal. Besides, I have other needs.”

“Yes, you do.” Cherry licked her lips.

“Kittens.” Neko agreed.

“Kittens?” Sasha turned, surprised by her statement.

Neko nodded, making those ears of hers bounce. “I want Dar to give me kittens.”

The group all looked at Dar expectantly.

He shifted, not loving the spotlight at that moment, but he knew he had to address the questions in their eyes. “I know the chances are low for pregnancies among demons and spirits. But I don’t see any reason to prevent them. It’s not like we are using condoms.”

“But do you want… kittens?” Sasha asked.

“I wouldn’t mind kids.” Dar agreed. “I think the timing is dangerous, but then again, in nine months, I could be a powerhouse beyond what this world has ever seen. So why wait?”

The girls collectively sighed, and Sasha spoke up. “Yes, very different from demons. Most don’t want kids. They are a time sink that would take away from their power and prowess.”

“Stupid.” Dar muttered. But he understood that immortality brought with it different challenges. He wondered if humans would push off kids longer if they were immortal.

He thought about it for a few minutes and realized they probably would. It changes the focus from species survival to personal survival.

Coming out of that thought, he found the girls still staring at him. “Let’s round up those that want to cultivate by the little dao tree, and then we’ll see if we can’t get Neko kittens.”

“Yes. Let’s hurry.” Neko got up and pulled Dar off his stump. “Get people to the dao tree. Hurry. Hurry.” She shoved him even as he laughed at her eagerness.

Dar went around and gathered up a small crew to cultivate under the little dao tree. Mindy, Bart, Glump, Darande and Shelia joined. He walked them into the cave before they stopped.

“Alright, I need all five of you to close your eyes and relax.” Dar told the group as Blair joined them.

“I’ll get them situated. Otherwise, I think Neko will claw your eyes out.” The white-haired spirit laughed with a little nervousness.

He knew she wasn’t fully comfortable with their current situation. And their little misunderstanding with Sasha wasn’t helping. She was anxious to truly become his dao companion.

Drawing the group of six into his inner world, Dar turned back to the rest of his family. He eagerly pulled them into their bedroom.

“Hold up. Before we go any further. I have a confession.” He stopped the girls.

They looked confused, but gave him space.

“I have not consummated dao companionship with Blair. It was a misunderstanding that I’ve let go too far.” He looked at Sasha apologetically.

“Do you accept her as your companion?” Sasha asked, confused.

“Yes, I do.”

“Then it’ll happen. I’m not happy that you let the lie grow, but I think I understand. Don’t do it again?” She pressed her finger into his chest at the last statement.

“I won’t. It was silly.” He agreed.

“Good. Then girls, he has far too many clothes on, don’t you think?” Sasha ran a finger down Dar’s shirt, causing the silk to ripple and peel back. It was like her finger was unzipping the fabric.

Neko was there in an instant, pulling the shirt off while Cherry closed the doors to his room. Mika moved quickly, tugging down on his pants. All of them moved with eagerness, and he enjoyed their touch.

He loved his girls.