Dao 4 Chapter 14 (Patreon)

Valdis had found one of the demon tribe’s stew pots still on the fire after the fight, and sat down to take a few sips. “It’s safe.”

“Just going to eat their food?” Dar asked, feeling unsettled about the idea.

“They were the ones to attack me. Least they could do is feed me after making me work.” She was so nonchalant about eating dead people’s food. “Unless you want to feed me, because the way I see it, it was all your fault.”

“Oh?” Dar asked, curious how it was his fault.

“You said you had troubles with Karn, but you didn’t say he hated you enough to whip up a murderous mob to get you.” Valdis started in on the stew as she sat on a stump and sighed. “Fighting and fucking always makes a girl hungry.”

Dar didn’t quite know what to say to all of that. “Well, I didn’t know Karn was capable of this either. Otherwise, I would have been more careful.”

Valdis slurped as she tipped the bowl back to drink from it. “Figured.” She sighed and wiped her mouth with the back of her arm. “You are too straight laced to go on a wild sled ride when you think there’s a problem. So, that begs the question of what we do next. His accusation of eating ancient races for power isn’t exactly false. He could go all the way up to The White and say the same thing.”

She took another sip before looking up. “That, is a huge fucking problem."

Dar ground the palms of his hands into his brow hoping that it would relieve some of the headache that was starting to form. “No. We keep going forward. Your word has to hold some weight with The White.”

“Sure. But that was because I walked around with Lilith for so long. Some of her authority just kind of rubbed off. As soon as she realizes Lilith isn’t here anymore, that all vanishes.” Valdis picked at her teeth and went to refill her bowl. “Besides, the celestials are kind of unpredictable.”

“So, we get in the door. Explain the situation and go from there.” Dar realized he was going to have to lie a little in order to get in.

“Does Karn know that Lilith is dead?” Valdis asked.

Dar frowned, thinking back to the conversations with Karn. “Yeah. I think I told him that during our fight…”

Valdis just gave Dar a blank stare. “That was dumb. Now he’s likely told The White. Maybe even told her that you killed and ate the witch of knowledge.”

Dar looked up at the spire of a mountain that awaited them. “Let’s hope not, because either way, I’m going up there.”

“I didn’t say we don’t, but we need to assess the danger. You are Lilith’s legacy and the hope. I’ll try to keep you safe.” Valdis started in on a new bowl. The woman was really that hungry after fighting.

“Not to kill all the Mo?” Dar questioned her purpose in helping him.

She shrugged. “I’m a spirit of death. What do I care if they run around and kill people?”

Dar grunted and filled his own bowl before wrinkling his nose at the taste.

“Not everyone cooks like your two pretty little maids. This is filling enough.” Valids smirked, tipping her bowl back and draining it again. “So, are we going to push forward today?”

Dar looked up at the sun. It was mid afternoon and they had plenty of daylight to make some distance. “I’d rather not sleep in their camp. There may be stragglers, and I don’t feel great that we had to kill all of them.” Even at the thought, he was looking around to make sure one such straggler wasn’t showing up to cause problems. “Let’s work on winding around the next hill a little and rest when it gets dark.”

Valdis shrugged. “Sure, but I’d like to go into your little world for a nap while you do that.”

Dar sighed and got up, drawing her and the pot of stew into his inner world. “Now I really feel like a bus.”

He pushed forward, following the curve of the next hill rather than trying to climb over another foothill.

Letting the runes on his skin glow, he pushed mana into them. They helped as he picked up the pace into a steady jog, pushing his way through the snowy foothills.

***

“Sleep, Milord.” Marcie had appeared instead of Amber, which was unusual and a little unsettling for Dar.

His red headed maid had rarely missed the chance to watch over him while he slept.

“Marcie, is everything okay with Amber?” Dar asked, laying down on the bedroll amid the little shack of hardened lava that he’d made for the night.

“She’s upset.” Marcie couldn’t meet his eyes. “When she discovered you were fighting and hadn’t asked any of us for our assistance, she felt like you didn’t value the skills she had been working on.”

Dar went to refute her, but knew that wasn’t the point. “I see. How do you feel, Marcie?”

“I work hard to be of use to you, Milord.” She looked at the floor. “Please use me when you need anything. Otherwise, why are we working so hard?”

Dar got up and grabbed her, pulling her down onto his bedroll and spooning her. She was supposed to keep watch, but his little hut could take a few hits from a grand demon. It was made mostly out of iron, and he had scribed the dao of hard into it, reinforcing it further.

“I care about you both. We were caught in a situation that Valdis and I could handle.”

Marcie pushed his hand to grab at her chest. “Yes. I know. You two were fine. But there was no need to not call on us.”

Dar kneaded her chest, relaxing a little at the softness.

“Relax, Milord. You are tired and I do not want to rob you of your rest. If we must talk about this further, then we can do so tomorrow. Rest against me, and I’ll take all of your burdens for now.”

Dar only grunted, breathing in the scent of her hair and fading to sleep.

He stepped out onto the grassy plain of his inner world with the goal to track down Amber and talk to the wayward maid.

Marcie had given him enough to understand her current mood.

Amber worked tirelessly to become useful for Dar, and he hadn’t used her in a moment where she could have been of assistance.

“Amber.” Dar said, stepping up to where she was sitting against the dao tree.

She continued to cultivate, pretending that she hadn’t heard him. It was going to be tougher for him than he thought.

He sighed and sat down next to her. “I had everything under control.”

She still didn’t stir, but she relaxed slightly.

“It isn’t in my nature to ask for help when something like that happens. Maybe that makes me a stubborn ass, but I will always try to shoulder a burden like that on my own. You coming out and assisting me was perfect. For that, you have my genuine thanks.”

“More stubborn than a mule.” Amber grumbled, finally acknowledging his presence and looking up.

“Yes. So when I need help, I need you to step up and do it without being asked.” Dar replied.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine, Milord. I understand. I’m to be given free reign to help you at all times?”

Dar paused before agreeing, wondering how he was going to end up regretting the open statement. But, he could give her that. “Yes. At all times. Today you were perfect, and it enabled me not to be distracted to call for help. You just appeared when I needed it.”

Amber scooted into his lap. “Tell me more.” She was like Neko when the cat girl craved compliments, he guessed all women had these moments.

“Well, you were also deadly. Those demons and spirits didn’t know what hit them. I saw the shock on their faces when they were struck before they realized you were there.” Dar continued to lay on the compliments.

Dar knew that Amber was a proud woman. She was happy being a servant, but she wanted her efforts acknowledged. If he wasn’t going to give her the complement of asking for her help, he needed to make sure to acknowledge it after.

“Did you think I didn’t ask you to come help because I thought less of you?” Dar’s hands found her leggings and enjoyed the feel of the soft material.

“No.” She whined and wriggled in his lap.

He heard the lie in her voice. “Good. I’d hate for you to think that.” He played along. “My maid needs to be able to anticipate my needs.”

“What do you need right now, Milord?” She pressed herself back into him and leaned back with a flush face.

Dar pinched Amber’s thigh. “For my maid to cheer up.”

She puffed out her cheeks. “Tease.”

“I learned today that turnabout is fair play, and you seem to enjoy teasing me.” Dar pulled her off his lap before letting out a heavy sigh. She seemed to have cheered up considerably.

“Unfortunately, I need to work on the dao of life for Valdis.” Dar’s focus shifted to Tami, who was resting against the tree with her eyes closed.

Blood had dried from her nose in rivulets that showed just how hard she had been pushing herself.

“She’s pushed herself hard, and you’ve somewhat neglected her. Not that you shouldn’t work on the dao for Valdis, but Tami also needs your attention.” Amber advised him.

“I guess that’s what I get for telling you to give me what I need without me asking.”

“Shoo. I’m pretty sure she’s just passed out and not cultivating.” Amber brushed him aside with her hands and then righted her clothes as she put herself back together. Then she held her chin up and marched off to take care of whatever it was she did most of the day.

Dar went over to Tami and picked up the thin woman; she weighed practically nothing in his arms.

She roused briefly but paid no attention to Dar and went back to sleep.

“Poor thing.” He muttered, brushing her hair out of her face and bringing her into the black keep, up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Just as he finished laying her down in one of the beds, Amber came in with a steaming tub. “She’s in need of a wash.”

Dar was about to ask her to help, but the maid disappeared almost as if she was running away, closing the door behind her.

When he looked back at Tami, she was staring up with unfocused eyes. “Dar?”

“I have a bath here for you. Let’s get you cleaned up and then to bed. If that’s okay?” Dar watched her face.

“Um.” She paused, but then she nodded, a blush creeping over her face. Her eyes became clearer as she processed what he’d said and what was about to happen.

 Dar firmed up his mind, pushing away any feelings of awkwardness. She was already part of his family, even if they hadn’t become dao companions. And he wasn’t typically shy.

He stepped forward, working on the buttons covering her shirt. “Come on. Let’s sit you up and get you out of this.” He finished with the last button and helped her get her shirt off.

Underneath, she had cloth wraps for her chest that were dirty from the trip. “I… I didn’t bring any spares.” She stammered.

“Amber.” Dar called. “Bring Tami a clean cloth to wrap her chest with.”

There was no response, but he suspected that Amber had stayed within earshot. She was rarely far away.

Tami blushed, but she helped work to get it loose and then unraveled her wrap, letting it fall down to the bed and fidgeting while she blushed, trying not to cover herself up.

“You’re beautiful.” Dar smiled at her and helped her to her feet so they could take off her pants. The poor woman had pushed her practice of dao to the point that without Dar she would have fallen over.

She was so incredibly weak from her practice.

“How much progress have you made?” He asked, picking her up and gently placing her in the wooden tub. The steamy water coming up high enough to just cover her nipples.

“Two of the three greater dao.” She replied, her hands playing in the warm water as the tension bled out of her.

But he didn’t miss how she glanced at him, looking for approval.

“That’s fantastic! I thought you were going to tell me that you only got to the lesser dao. It takes time and a lot of fortitude to make it through that much forced dao progression. That’s amazing, Tami.” Dar agreed. “Did Cherry tell you I almost killed myself the first time I did it?”

Tami scowled. “No, she did not. That would have been nice to know.”

“I was a lesser immortal at the time when I tried forcing a lesser dao.” Dar knelt behind Tami in the bath. He used a cup to pour some water over her shoulders and let his fingers play along her skin as he worked to clean her back. “Now as a grand immortal, I can do much more.”

“Ah.” Tami grunted as Dar found a sore spot on her back and rubbed at it to make it relax. “That makes sense.”

“Don’t get mad at Cherry. She wouldn’t push you if she thought it would actually cause you harm. She knows you can do it.” Dar took the cup and raised it over her head. “Close your eyes.”

He poured the water over her hair and took a comb to work through it.

“I know I haven’t finished the grand dao. But after this…” Tami hesitated.

“We can do whatever you want.” Dar was happy to spend some more intimate time with her, but he had a feeling she would fall asleep if left alone for a moment.

The way her eyelids kept drooping down was more than telling enough.

She hummed as Dar worked on her hair. He was having a little trouble working around her antlers.

“It's easier if you just scrape the comb along the base. You won’t hurt them, and it feels good actually.” She leaned back into him.

“You can feel them?” He asked, following her instructions and scraping the comb along the base of the antler, then through her hair.

“The bottoms, not the tips. Wherever there is velvet, it’s not that different from skin. But at the tips where it has all worn off, I don’t have any sensation there.” She explained. “Rub the velvet; it feels so good.”

Dar finished with her hair and took the cup, pouring it over her antlers. They could use a good wash as well.

“It’s like skin so be gentle. You can peel it off if you are too firm.” She warned.

He chuckled and was as careful as his sausage fingers could be. “Thank you for coaching me through it.”

“You didn’t know.” She shrugged in the bath before realizing that she had the rest of her body to deal with. She picked up some of the water in one hand, starting to scrub at her arms.

“I’m glad you feel comfortable telling me what feels good. I’d like to learn more about your body.” Dar finished up with her antlers and moved to the bottom of the basin and lifted one of her legs out. “I brought you up here so I could care for you.”

Her freckles were swallowed by a deep red blush. “Stop it.”

“No. You’ve become part of my family. I’ll wash you and then…” His eyes drifted over to the bed. “Maybe we’ll have you join the family entirely.”

“I’d like that.” She bit her lip. “A lot.”

Dar couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he helped the beautiful woman bathe. “Come on. The water isn’t quite so hot anymore, let’s get you a…”

There was a knock at the door, followed by a maid scurrying away.

“Up for a bet on what that is? My guess is a towel.” Dar shook his head.

“And a wrap for my chest.” Tami added with a laugh. “They really do dote on you, even when you are with other women.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Dar opened the door a crack and pulled the pile in. “Fresh clothes, a wrap, and a towel.”

“Don’t I feel special.” Tami grinned. “Help me out; it’s slippery.”

Dar laid the towel out on the bed and scooped Tami out of the basin to put her on the towel, folding it over her and helping her dry off.

He knew she likely had enough energy to dry herself, but he liked taking care of her, and it seemed to be helping her relax with him.

Tami hummed and let him work, raising her eyebrows when he spent a little extra time drying her breasts.

“It’s been a while, Dar.” She stifled a yawn. “Maybe we need some oil?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Amber normally keeps the rooms stocked just in case she wants to do some… well, butt stuff.” He felt his cheeks warm at the words and moved over to the set of drawers to look for one of the bottles.

Dar dug around and found it on the third try.

“Got i-“ He cut himself off, because he spotted Tami passed out on the bed, her body looking so peaceful.

She was snoring softly with a little whisper of something Dar couldn’t hear on her lips.

He stepped to the bed, and she didn’t wake, so he pulled back the sheets and tucked her under. She didn’t rouse at all during the movement. She really was tired.

Dar kissed her forehead. “Sleep well.”

“Mmm. Dar.” She murmured and curled into the bed, getting comfortable.

He grinned and lifted the basin with one hand, keeping it steady as he wrapped himself and the area around him in the dao of quiet as he snuck out.

Amber was waiting outside with a frown. “Done already?”

“She fell asleep on me.” Dar grinned, not at all upset. She needed to rest. She’d been pushing herself hard, and they’d have more opportunities.

“Oh. I guess then just more for me.” Amber grinned and licked her lips, turning and swaying her hips as she looked back over her shoulder for Dar to follow her.