Dao 3 Chapter 27 (Patreon)

Dar came back to the surface to find three bison already strung up near the hole, draining onto the ground as one of Russ’ women worked to clean them.

“I see you guys are making quick work.” Dar nodded at the bison; it wasn’t even midday.

“Got a group that had wandered from the herd. Most of the day is waiting for those types of opportunities and taking them. We can’t confront the herd directly.” The spirit with light green hair answered.

“Makes sense. You are all lesser demons and spirits. An entire herd of bison can do some serious damage.” Dar looked at the herd in the distance. With just the sheer volume of them, if they decided to stampede, it would devastate to an entire village. “Where’s Blair?”

“Helping the hunting party. I don’t think she’s going to kill, but she’s keeping them safe.”

Dar looked at the tunnel he’d just finished filling. “Well, the insects should be gone for now.” Dar felt into the stone beneath them, and there was no sign of a devil moving about.

Feeling reassured that nothing would prove him wrong, he nodded. “I’m going to go see what Russ and the party are up to.” He wanted to speed up the hunting party so he and Blair could return to Bellhaven.

They had found a second hive.

It was worse than Dar had thought. The insect devils hadn’t just occupied the hills northeast of Bellhaven; they had underground hives that stretched for hundreds of miles. They’d created secondary clusters, and if Dar was a betting man, he’d guess that each of them had another grand devil to protect them. Fighting them inside the earth was going to be a losing battle.

He had a feeling the queen’s devils would lean towards earth dao given what she had been eating and feeding them, but Dar wondered what the queen’s dao would be.

She was structured much more like the mantis, although far more human looking than other devils he’d seen. But it was a mimicry of humanity; there was just something off about its face and form.

They were up against more than he had imagined. He and the village needed to be prepared. He’d seriously underestimated how far their hives reached, but he hoped that the ettercaps had helped hold them off from stretching too close to their village.

For the time being, they were likely safe, but it didn’t mean they would be for long.

Dar didn’t see many options in front of them beyond attacking the source. He needed to strike at the queen before he could raid the rest of the hives, if he could even find them all.

This hive had been below the bison’s field, where they regularly hunted, yet Russ and his girls had only just not noticed signs.

Dar shivered. There was a lot of open land in Kindrake between Bellhaven and Frost’s Fang. He just had to hope that the insect devils didn’t have that many hives.

Spotting Russ and the rest of the group hovering over another few dead bison, Dar waved. “Seems you guys are going to wrap up early.”

“All thanks to her.” Russ grumbled and pointed at Blair.

She shrugged. “No need to take longer than it had to. I could spear one of these from a hundred yards, no problem.”

Dar couldn’t help but notice three sparkling spears glittering in the sun, each perfectly spearing into through a bison’s head.

“Then let’s get these dressed and ready. We blocked the hive here, but it has created additional concerns.” Dar explained his concern while they worked.

Russ nodded solemnly. “We need to hole up in Hearthway.”

Dar knew it took a lot out of Russ to say that. The hunting raids were a big part of his identity in the village. He came back everyday victorious with meat to share, and he was celebrated in the village for it.

“It won’t be long. Blair and I will need to deal with this problem before it becomes too much.”

Tami rose from where she’d been cutting into one of the bison, wiping her forehead and smearing blood on it. “I’m coming too.”

“This is going to be a dangerous fight. We’re going up against a grand devil as strong as Karn. We won’t be able to look after you.” Dar hoped to scare her away, but her jaw was set in that all too familiar look. She was going to fight him on it.

Dar held up a hand to stop her protest. He could already see her decision, and she had the right to make it for herself, even if he could have ordered her using the oath she’d sworn. “Fine, if you are willing to put yourself in that sort of danger, we could use the help. Prepare yourself when we get back to fight. We’ll pass through Bellhaven on the way, so you can get your things as well.”

Tami nodded. “I’ll make sure to stop by The Prince and let him know I’m your prisoner as well.”

Dar frowned. That would send the message back to her father and bring far more problems down on him. But then he locked eyes with her, and he realized she might have been helping him understand she’d have no choice but to make the stop unless he instructed otherwise.

“Nope. That’s straying too far. I’d consider that an attempt to escape.” Dar could see the moment she relaxed, her oath to him wiggled a tighter hold on her.

“Understood.” She went back to working to field dress the bison. Once they were done, Dar, Russ and Blair all picked up a bison and brought it back over to the spirit working on cleaning up the kills and draining them.

“Already? It isn’t even midday.” She shook her head. “Hang ‘em up. It’ll be an hour before they are drained enough to put them on the boat.”

Blair wandered over to the edge of the hole that led down to the hive, and Dar followed her. She chipped at the obsidian from where some of his lava had cooled. “Dar, there're thousands of them. How do we fight this many without collapsing from exhaustion first?”

Dar nodded. They’d both fought with reckless abandon. They could have done likely just as much damage with far less exertion. It was something they’d have to work on as they learned to use their grand dao.

“I don’t know Blair. This has all grown exponentially from what I thought we were up against. When I first went after the Mo, I was expecting a cluster of trolls and gremlins like the ettercaps. We’d just take out the Mo and disperse the others. This… I’m not sure what to do with this. But it won’t go away.”

She clicked her tongue. “Should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. Devils haven’t been the blight of this land for so long for nothing. They might not be intelligent, but they have an uncanny knack for survival, even at the worst odds.”

“That’s one of the things I’m most worried about.” Dar took a deep breath, thinking about what little he knew of insects. “I think for most insects, there is only one queen at a time, but when one queen dies, another is born.”

That was the worst-case scenario in his mind. They’d go through all the work of killing the main hive, only to have every other hive birth its own queen and multiply their problem. It would be worse than cutting the head off a hydra.

“So, what’s the plan?” She asked.

“I think we are going to have a very busy winter.” Dar sighed. “And I’m even more sure now that we need to prioritize the village’s growth along the dao path. Another two grand demons would make a world of difference.”

“Agreed. After we deal with the main hive, I think we need groups led by someone strong to go forth and cleanse the rest of the area. Otherwise, come spring, we are going to have a problem too big to deal with.”

Dar looked out into the wilderness, wondering just how many hives it would take to stretch from here to the hills by Bellhaven.

He estimated at least four, with some good distance between each. And The hive likely had grown out in multiple directions; there were probably at least a dozen secondary hives out there.

What a mess. But he’d start with the main hive.

Even if it created more queens, he knew they’d be far weaker. After all, they hadn’t been feeding from a Mo for so long. This queen needed to die before she became any more powerful. Its power felt similar to Karn, so Dar estimated she had two grand dao, and Dar was just starting to fully understand just how powerful that made her.

He cringed as he thought about Bellhaven. It didn’t have the resources to take on that level of threat. He almost dreaded seeing what had become of the city since his last visit.

Blair stood quietly by his side while he thought. She was a comfort as he leaned on her presence.

“We’re ready.” Russ shouted, breaking Dar’s thoughts.

Blair turned angrily towards Russ.

“It’s fine.” Dar put a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t have any more time to dwell on what could be. It's time to take action. We’ll head back home first, and then we’ll talk with the leaders and the family. I expect we’ll be back on our way to Bellhaven tonight.”

Blair nodded. “Understood.”

Dar could tell that she was rapidly trying to find where she fit into the family. Despite her flippant attitude back at home, out away from everyone she’d become a force to be reckoned with. And now she had the power to back it up.

Diamond. It still baffled his mind.

***

“… and that’s about it. But you can see my concern.” Dar finished telling his tale to the leaders. It was lunchtime at Hearthway, but he’d managed to wrangle the leadership and his family to sit down and talk through his concern.

Even a few of the people had emerged from his inner world, a lesser dao or two gained and reporting back to their families.

“You’re right. This sounds like a problem that we can’t ignore.” Rex scratched his chin. “But we only have three grand demons and about two dozen greater demons. If you and your family go take on this threat, we’re down to about eighteen greater demons to protect the village.”

It was plain to everyone that Rex worried that might not be enough, and his job was to protect the village..

Dar couldn’t blame him. The thought of one or even multiple of those grand beetle devils coming into the village was terrifying. They could very easily tear through it.

“What do you propose, then? Cherry and I are a package deal. And we need Blair for a successful offense against the insects.” Dar didn’t see a great option, either.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sasha fidgeting. He noted it for later. He knew she was already insecure about her dao path and where she fit when it came to battling enemies.

“We’ll have to manage.” Bart spoke up. “I’m sure we could fend off a few of those beetles or mantis. If it's like any old infestation, you often only see a few at a time, anyway.” He was feeling more confident after learning another lesser dao.

Samantha disagreed. “We should have a plan to hide in the caves. Have an escape plan. And have some bison ready to leave out, potentially satisfy them until our stronger members are back.”

“Or a trap.” Russ interjected. “If we see some nearby, we leave out some bison and ambush them.”

“I was trying to avoid fighting.” Samantha said dryly.

As amusing as their suggestions were, Dar wanted to keep them organized. “Rex is in charge of the guard. Let’s leave it up to him to do his job keeping the village safe. But if we need to plan out a sheltering option, then I’m expecting everybody to pitch in.”

The avian demon smiled and nodded. Dar could tell he already had plans churning in his head.

“Great. Then it’s settled. I’m going to round up my girls and we are heading out. Once we deal with this queen, I need the entire village stepping onto their dao paths.” Dar looked pointedly at Samantha.

“I already have a plan in place and am working with a few of the older women. Leave some fruits with me, and I’ll have another dozen done before you get back.” She held her chin up defiantly.

Dar pulled a pile of the fruits from his inner world. They were all the dao of quiet. He figured it was a safe dao for everyone to get used to, and it could help protect them if the devils came. “Get it done.”

“Then we have a plan to discuss. We’ll try to get in and get out quickly. You just need to stay safe until then.” Dar stood, but Russ had one more thing to say.

“What of those who are still cultivating with you?” Russ worried for his dao companion.

“They are still cultivating. To interrupt them now would harm them.” Dar sighed. “I’ll have them returned to you as soon as I can.”

“Don’t worry. It is perfectly safe there.” Bart comforted the demon.

It didn’t completely solve Russ’ worries, but it was the best Dar could do.

If he were to die, he wasn’t sure what would become of them. But in the end, if he died, there wasn’t anybody to stand up to the queen before she rampaged the village. Kindrake, even if it tried to help, wouldn’t make it in time. And they had their own battles they were preparing for.

Dar could already imagine what would start pouring out of the nests soon; they were multiplying too quickly.

Sasha was already heading towards their home, pulling the maids and the rest of his girls along with her.

He knew that they needed to talk, so he broke from the leadership circle, letting them work out the village's defense strategies without him.

Catching up to the girls as they entered the cave mansion, he closed the front door behind him.

As he walked in, they were already sitting down. Sasha had a stern look on her face as she commanded the group. Everyone was there, Tami and the maids included, minus Cherry.

Dar pushed and ejected Cherry from his inner world.

The dryad looked around excitedly before reading the mood and jumping into a seat, holding her hands in her lap. “Seems like it’s time to fight?” she asked.

“Yes, dear.” Sasha reached over and patted her on the leg. “It's time for Dar to fight. Again.” Sasha let out a long sigh, before turning a pointed look to Dar. “And we are all going with him.” She gave him a smug smile.

“Sasha—” Dar tried to ease into it.

“Shut it.” She snapped. “I’m going, but I won’t be part of the combat.” Sasha sighed and held her head in her hands. “You aren’t going to leave me behind on this.”

He could see the emotions surging in her eyes. Denying her would only increase the insecurities she already had. If she agreed to stay out of battle, that would have to be good enough.

“Okay, Sasha.” Dar nodded. It hurt to see her like this.

Sasha looked up, surprised by his sudden acceptance. “The maids and I will go as a support team. If you need us to patch someone up, give others here a rest from combat. We’ll be in your inner world to function as such. And, when we get back, all of us will start cultivating under the dao tree.” She scanned the room for any argument, but found none.

Neko’s ears bobbed as she nodded. “We are too weak. I was so excited to make my first greater dao, only to find that Dar is going up against something with two grand dao. I won’t be left behind again.”

“Precisely, Neko.” Sasha smiled at the cat girl and reached over Cherry to put a hand on her shoulder. “We have a strong mate, but that just means we have to become stronger or risk being left behind.”

“I’d never.” Dar scolded Sasha. “Don’t even put that out into the world that I’d leave any of you behind over your combat strength. Not everything is solved by fighting.”

His head wife looked properly chastised. “That’s not—”

“No. It is what you meant. I’ll hear none of it, or you’ll get shoved in my inner world, and I won’t let you out to prove I’ll never leave you behind.” Dar glared at Sasha, daring her to argue.

It had angered him that she felt like she was being left behind. That he’d even consider leaving her behind for not being a fighter. He hated that she didn’t see her own worth.

She ran their household, and she was a big part of the functioning of the village. She had her own fierceness.

He watched her, but she didn’t say a word. “Good.” He moved on. “I love you all.” His eyes awkwardly and apologetically landed on Tami. He clearly hadn’t meant her in that statement, but he did appreciate her willingness to follow and fight for him.

“I’d never leave any of you behind. Even if I went on a mission that you didn’t take part in, I’ll always come back.” He let his voice drop low. “Understand?”

Neko leapt off her seat and jumped into Dar’s lap, butting her head against his chest and rubbing her cheek against him.

“We all share Neko’s sentiment.” Sasha gave a soft laugh as she calmed down. “Please don’t take offense. I just… feel like I’ve been a burden lately.”

Dar shook his head. “You’ve been leading the village in my absence. Your skill as a merchant was helpful in negotiating trade with Dane. Do not sell yourself short.” Dar set Neko aside and strode over, picking Sasha up and pressing her into his chest. “I’d be lost without you.” He whispered in her ear.

She pushed off his chest, looking like she was on the verge of crying, but her face was filled with relief. She nuzzled into him for a quiet moment before pushing out of his arms and clapping her hands. “Everyone. Get your things. We are going on a long trip. Food, water, daily necessities. There’s a new home inside Dar’s inner world, and we ought to make it our own.”

Everyone jumped to their feet, getting ready.

Blair hung back and stepped up to Dar. “I’m glad this is where I ended up.” She kissed him on the cheek, but Dar pulled her back for more. He savored her lips for a moment before patting her on the ass.

“Go, get ready. I need you for this.”

She gave him a brilliant smile before turning on her heels and wiggling her rear for him yet again.

Tami lingered, clearly not sure what to do. “Will I be going to this inner world?”

“Yes.” Dar realized it would be the easiest way for them to travel. Plus, they could rest during the travel as well. He knew Tami would see even more of his secret, but she seemed happy to be under oath to him to keep it safe.

“Understood. I appreciate the comfort and hospitality you’ve shown me.” She bowed, her antlers getting close to smacking Dar in the face. She looked up with a smirk, and Dar realized she knew just where they ended. He laughed, pushing them to the side. It turned out the deer demon could play, after all.