Dao 3 Chapter 28 (Patreon)

All the girls except Mika piled into his inner world as Dar got ready to leave.

But as he walked through the village, Bart came running up, clearly wanting to chat.

“I’ll go make sure the boat is ready.” Mika stepped away tactfully.

For a moment, Dar thought he was going to remind him to fill the crucible so they could make iron. But the old blacksmith looked tired. “Is my girl going to be okay?”

“They will be supporting. I’ll make sure they stay out of the main conflict.” Dar reassured him. Though they were growing in strength, and they might participate in some of the weaker conflicts, Dar didn’t think they had the experience to fight alongside him when it came to the queen.

Bart seemed relieved as he patted Dar on the shoulder. “Don’t forget, sometimes retreating can be a sound tactical decision. The village leans on all of you and would be worse off for any loss.”

“Got it, dad.” Dar joked, giving the man a hug. “I’ll do everything I can to bring everyone home.”

“Atta’ boy.” He slugged Dar on the shoulder.

Parting on a more positive note, Dar had to push away his own doubts. They were going up against a powerful enemy with a small army. He knew it wouldn’t be easy.

Mika waited for him not far outside of the village. “Everything okay?”

“He’s just worried about Amber.” Dar explained. “And the rest of us.”

Mika sighed. “You left me out in all the battle preparations.”

Dar knew he had. “You and Neko are both capable fighters, but you have only gotten to a greater dao. It's up to you two on what you want to do. I’ll push you both aside if need be for the battle with the queen, though.”

“Understood.” Mika nodded. “I would like to join you in the fight into the hive. Allow those of us who can’t participate in the final battle to fight early on and help you reserve your strength.”

Dar knew when to let her get her way, nodding as they reached the boat and climbed in. “Sure. And we’ll be on standby for when a grand devil shows up.”

Mika got behind the wheel and pushed off the bank, angling downriver and slamming the boat into full speed. “Where are we going?”

“Bellhaven. I know the way from there, and we should see what’s happened to the city.”

Mika winced. “It isn’t going to be pretty, is it?”

“No, I don’t think it is.” Dar dreaded what the city would look like after just a few days of the insect devils’ attacks. “But we need to confirm what the situation is.”

“I know. Don’t have to like it though.”

Dar stepped up behind her while she piloted the boat, wrapping his arms around her. “We don’t have to think about it just yet.”

“I’m driving.” She whined, but she pressed her rear further against Dar’s hips.

“You like this.” He said as he let his hands wander to her hips, distracting her as she drove. “It’s a thrill for you to go fast, but this adds some danger to it, doesn’t it?” He nibbled at her ear and the sensitive skin just behind it.

Mika groaned and nodded.

He knew she was a thrill seeker, and they both needed something to distract them on the way to Bellhaven.

As his fingers wandered down to her thighs, he could already feel that it was going to be a pleasant trip, considering the circumstances.

***

Mika pulled the boat up into the docks at Bellhaven, breathing hard and grabbing Dar’s face before smashing her lips to his. “Fuck. If you ever edge me that long again, I’m going to crash the boat.”

“Noted.” Dar held up his hands in his defense.

They both lingered on the boat for a moment before realizing they couldn’t avoid checking Bellhaven for long. The sun was hanging low in the sky and sunset was only an hour or so away.

The docks were eerily quiet. Not a soul was out and about. Compared to the busy hub it had been before, it was truly chilling.

Their boat was only one of two. And the other had its mast down in need of repairs. Every other boat had left. To Dar, that spoke of desperation.

“Well, this isn’t creepy.” Mika said, lashing the boat between two docks and removing a piece of the enchantment that ran the boat.

“Not at all.” Dar said sarcastically.

He had expected a large amount of damage to the city from the devil attacks, but this was a ghost town.

The water sloshed, and the docks creaked loudly in the late afternoon as Dar made his way into the city proper.

A few windows cracked to get a look at him, and while it made him feel unwelcome, it was also a sign that people were still alive.

They were just afraid to be outside.

The bloodstains in the street spoke of the reason. Every few paces, there was another splash of blood, as if the hive had descended on the city in a massacre.

“These people are terrified.” Mika kept her head up, glancing at the sky, expecting something to come at them.

“Yeah. We should keep an eye out.” Dar reminded Mika, even though she didn’t need it. “If they are staying in their homes, that means they think there is an active danger.”

He balled up more of the molten buckshot in his hand, ready for a surprise.

Mika had her spear and net at the ready, drawing on her mana. She was ready to use her dao as needed.

The wind cut as something flew at them.

Dar raised a hand and opened his fist, spraying tiny molten balls at the devil that had been dumb enough to attack him.

The mantis devil hit his attack, and small sparks of flame came to life in its chest. The flames burned right through the devil as it screeched in pain, but there wasn’t enough force behind Dar’s attack to stop it in its tracks.

Dar sidestepped the devil as it continued towards him. It was far too distracted by its own pain to try and catch him.

Mika wasn’t about to leave things up to chance, her trident stabbing into its head as it twitched.

“Pretty sure it was already dead.” Dar chuckled, absorbing devil into his inner world. Every devil was more fruit, and he wanted to power up his woman and village as quickly as he could. He knew that the eyes lurking in the window slits were watching, but he had accepted secrecy was over. Enough people knew his secrets that they were bound to spread.

Mike spun, throwing her net into the air as another devil leapt off a building toward them.

Tangled and confused, the devil fell short and skid to a halt in front of Dar.

His boot crushed the head like it was nothing.

“Way to get my net filthy.” Mika grumbled, pulling it off as Dar absorbed another devil.

“It normally is filled with fish. How is it not already filthy?” He asked back.

“Okay, it’s just a new kind of dirty.” She stuck her tongue out, pretending to be distracted, even as her eyes scanned the rooftops behind Dar.

The two of them continued up the street. Dar was headed towards the east gates, and then out towards the hills.

They walked two more cross streets up, but before they even hit the next street, Dar knew there was a problem.

Blood ran down the cobblestones in large rivulets, and he could smell more of it up ahead.

At the next cross section, the street was covered in blood, but no flesh remained.

“I think this is where someone put up a fight.” Mika did her best to step around the blood to get to their destination.

“Guards, or maybe the citizens, put together a group to attack.” Dar agreed. It was enough blood that dozens of people had died.

Further uphill towards the noble district, Dar could see the fronts of most of the houses smashed in. He shook his head. The leadership of Bellhaven was likely dead given the state of those homes. There were survivors in the city, but that seemed to be after the rest of the city had been picked clean by a swarm of devils.

Fuck. Bellhaven was done for.

Several devils tried to ambush them, intending to use their distraction. But unfortunately for it, Dar had some anger to burn off.

Lava shot up from the ground and blasted waves of magma at them, killing the five mantis devils instantly.

“That was a waste of mana.” Mika said as she paused. “And I can’t cross that.”

Dar scooped her up and carried her over the cooling molten material. “Don’t worry, I got you.”

“My hero.” She bantered, blinking her eyelashes at him.

Both of them laughed, but it was more a distraction from their surroundings than finding it funny. It helped lighten the horror of all the blood.

Dar put them down once they were well and clear of the lava and headed for the eastern gates, which were torn from their hinges. “That was either something huge, or a large number of devils.” Dar said. He saw signs that it wasn’t just humans that died there.

Splatter of bug guts was mixed in with the blood on the walls. He was glad the humans had put up a fight, but it hadn’t been enough. Dar could see where the blood had poured down from the top of the wall and didn’t want to see what they looked like on top.

“Bellhaven fought, and lost.” Mika commented. She’d given up on avoiding the blood and guts at this point. The field outside the city gates was impossible to avoid.

“Do you blame me for this?” Dar gave voice to his doubts.

“Hell no.” Mika stopped and planted her trident in the ground. “You might have sped this up, but it was going to happen without you. And think about how much worse it might have been if the devils had another few months to amass with the Mo as food for them. Hell, even Tami has said you likely have saved Kindrake City.”

Dar raised an eyebrow at that. He hadn’t realized Tami had spoken out like that.

“Don’t be surprised. She might hide it, but she’s smitten with you. She’ll find a way to stay your prisoner.” Mike picked her trident back up, feeling that her point had been sufficiently made.

“Stay my prisoner?” Dar asked, though he had already suspected it as well. She had alerted him that she’d have to try to notify her father in Bellhaven.

“Yeah, she doesn’t want to go back home. At least, I think that’s part of it. The other part is that when you aren’t there, she marvels at how kind you are, how much you care for your family. She’s jealous of us, yet keeping it contained with a little hope.” Mika laid it out for him, raising an eyebrow in question.

Dar sighed. “Another? What do the rest of the girls think?”

Mika was honest to a fault. If any of his girls were going to lay out the dynamics, it was her.

“Neko couldn’t care less. She sort of wants to pounce on Tami though. I think it's a predator and prey sort of thing. Blair just wants a piece of you. Now that she’s ‘in’, she has calmed down quite a bit. Cherry… is Cherry, I’m not convinced she realizes there are other people in the room when you’re there most of the time.”

Mika hesitated before continuing. “Sasha is her biggest hurdle. Her feelings of being inadequate lately are making her not want to include more women that are stronger than her.”

Dar clicked his tongue. “I’ll handle Sasha. What about you?”

“I do my own thing. I love being part of the family, but what someone else gets doesn’t take from me. Something people in Mahaklan used to say. ‘The ocean is a big place. Why care if someone else is in it? Focus on the water just before you.’”

“I’m the ocean?” Dar chuckled. “Didn’t think I was that big.”

She rolled her eyes. “It's just a saying the old men would say. There’s a lot of world out there.” She looked out to the horizon even as the sun was dipping dangerously low, slowly dying the clouds purple and orange. “Why concern ourselves so much with others, when there is so much before you?”

“You almost sound like you disagree with me doing this?”

“No. Not at all. Devils are a scourge that needs to be purged. In this case, it is a matter of perspective. You aren’t looking out worrying about what neighboring countries are doing. You are just concerned with what affects our village.” Mika smiled up at him.

“Thanks.” Dar meant it. She had helped him clear the air on a few things.

“You’re welcome, but I think I’m going to have to stop here. In the dark I’m not going to be much help.” She sighed. “Maybe I should work on that dao of shadows, like the maids.”

Dar nodded, happy to have Mika be in a safer spot. “Head on in and give them an update. I’ll pull the maids out for the rest of the trip once the sun sets.”

Mika gave him a wink and a thumbs up before he drew her into his inner world.

Dar continued walking alone until the sun was nearly below the horizon. Then he drew on the maids. They resisted for just a moment before allowing it.

“Milord.” Amber bowed while Marcie curtsied. Marcie had a steaming bowl of food in her hands. “What would you have of us?”

“I hadn’t thought about eating as we went, but that suddenly smells amazing.” It was a pleasant change from the stench of blood. Dar took the bowl from Marcie as he walked.

“Our pleasure. Marcie, take the right. I’ll take the left.” Amber took up her spot next to him, and he could feel her stretch out her dao of shadows, scouting ahead and around them.

Dar let himself relax for a moment while they kept watch, letting himself recover. He focused just on the food for a moment, enjoying it and its warmth.

But they didn’t go far before he felt shadows sharpen and flicker about twenty feet ahead of them. He turned to Marcie with a raised eyebrow.

“Two drones.” She said simply.

The dao of shadow was incredibly powerful at night, especially against weaker opponents, but it quickly lost much of its advantage against stronger opponents.

Like an assassin, it worked well against unguarded and unarmored opponents.

“You did well, but be careful. Your shadows will not pierce a beetle and may only be able to kill a single mantis if you catch it unaware.” Dar reminded the two of them.

“We understand, Milord.” The maids both said in unison.

They were really becoming a pair.

“How has training the villagers to become immortals gone?” He asked the two as he finished eating and drew the bowl back into his inner world. He was curious if he could target exactly where it went, intending for it to go back inside the blackstone keep.

“Good.” Amber kept it short as she kept her dao of shadow active and scanned for more devils in the woods.

Dar decided to help and expanded his dao. His capacity to use mana was far larger than either of the girls, allowing him to wrap his dao around both of theirs and stretch it out further.

“Milord. We were given express orders to make sure you used as little of your strength as possible prior to reaching the hive.” Marcie admonished him. “Please withdraw your dao and relax. We have this.”

It was hard for him to let the girls take the lead, but their logic made sense.

Retracting his dao of shadow, he felt nearly blind.

“Your master is uncomfortable not being in control.” Amber explained to Marcie. “Just as you feel comfort in submission, he feels comfortable in control.”

Marcie looked up at him in question. “Milord, why don’t you order us to do this?”

Dar thought it sounded silly, but he went along with it. “I order you two to keep an eye on our surroundings, kill weak devils, and alert me to stronger ones.”

Oddly enough, he felt better.

“See.” Amber smiled up at him. “It isn’t just the master’s job as a dominant to make us feel good, but it is up to us as well to make you feel in control.”

Dar hadn’t thought of it that way before. Dominance and submission had always felt like a one-sided act. He always assumed it was just the dominant caring for and controlling the submissive, but Amber had opened his eyes to something else.

“Kiss me.” He told Amber as he pulled her close.

She pressed her lips to his; the corners turning up in a smile as her tongue licked at his teeth. But then she pulled away. “I am happy to do what you command, but I will lose focus on my other task.”

Dar let himself kiss her once more before putting her back down and letting her proceed forward while he did the same with Marcie, who melted as he pinched her rear.

“Thank you both for the relief.” Not only had they made him feel more in control, but they had helped wash away the recent memory of walking through Bellhaven.

“Our pleasure, Milord. Now relax, we’ll see you to the hills.” Amber’s shadow flickered, and Dar didn’t even check to see what she’d killed.

Together, the trio walked through the night. Amber and Marcie killed several lesser devils, only stopping once to ask for his help as a patrol of four mantis came into range.

Together, they had each killed one before, using their shadows in coordination to kill the last one.

It had been an oddly peaceful walk to the hills before Amber and Marcie disappeared back into his inner world.

Dar had been up for most of the day. As he settled down just before the hills, he brought Neko and Cherry out. “Cherry, can you bury us in roots like you’ve done before? Neko, can you keep watch while I get a little rest?”

Without even responding, roots appeared and pulled Dar and Neko down under a tree on the treeline.

“Neko will keep watch. Sleep, Dar.” Her tail flicked in his face as Cherry rejoined those in his inner world.

Dar took a moment to ruffle her ears. “Thank you, Neko.” He kissed her before laying down for rest.

He could have gone into his inner world, but Dar felt like he would just disturb the girls’ training. Instead, he just slept.