Asher's Futa Chronicles

***

Remmi's first taste of war is bittersweet as she handles the army's initial attacks. Will the arrival of reinforcements and the care of a vamp couple be enough to see her through?

This is a long one, y'all, so grab your popcorn.

Enjoy!

***

Chapter 33

REMMI

"Holy crap, that's a lot of guys," I said as I looked out over the sea of yellow filling the open plain to the West of us.

The king's army had arrived last night, but we hadn't gotten a good look at them until the sun came up.

"Why are they dressed like bananas?" Shae asked as she used her helm's magic optics to scan the army.

"Yolig is the self-proclaimed land of the 'golden sun.'" James said. "So, their army's colors are gold."

"That ain't gold," Mondy said, shaking his head. "I don't know what color that is, but it ain't gold."

Shae and her crew had arrived earlier today. With her, she'd brought five brothers who'd pledged to become Guardians together or not at all. There was no mistaking their combat prowess or their sheer ferocity. They painted themselves to look like monsters for normal day-to-day operations. But when battle was forecasted, they went all out. They donned self-made costumes that took their monstrous appearance way over the top.

I wasn't exactly sure how good an image that set for Guardians. But looks aside, the men were sharp, quick thinkers and approached everything from a logical standpoint.

It seemed like a contrast to me between how they looked and how they acted, but I hadn't had time to talk to any of them firsthand yet. I was just glad they'd graduated from the temple yesterday and made it here in time.

"Looks like they've finally dispatched a messenger," Shae said.

I looked through my own helmet's optics and saw a lone horseman heading our way. They were dressed entirely in purple.

"You sure that's not Mateo?" I asked, remembering Laghold's CE mage just loved to dress in purple from head to toe.

"No," Shae said. "Purple's the universal color for messengers during conflict." She turned and looked at me. "Your mage probably does it in hopes no one hurts him."

"Sounds about right," I said.

"Well, we should head down," James said. "I can't wait to hear this one."

"Hey, it could be good news," I said optimistically. "You never know."

"Unconditional surrender and magically binding oaths of fealty?" I asked, not believing the words the messenger had just said to us.

"As well as reparations," the messenger repeated.

"Reparations for what?" Shae asked.

The handful of Guardians currently standing above the gate looked pretty imposing in our matching armor. The others were circulating, watching the rest of The Roadhouse in case this was a distraction.

"King Putner had to put his army afield, at great expense, in order to bring them here," the messenger said.

"So, wait," James started. "Just so I have this correctly, you want us to pay you for enslaving us? Is that what you're saying?"

"I don't want you to do anything, sir. I'm a messenger conveying a message from King Putner. Nothing more," the messenger said.

James looked at me in disbelief.

"It's what we expected," Shae said, shaking her head. "Shall I?" she asked, looking at me.

I nodded. Shae had been some sort of diplomat back on her previous Bio Hab. We'd all agreed on a course of action previously, as well as the fact that we'd let Shae handle the delivery.

"Do you have a reply?" the messenger asked. He didn't come across as pompous or impatient, just the opposite. He'd been nothing but professional during the entire conversation.

"We do," Shae said and took a breath. "As King Putner has dissolved the Daemon accords here in Yolig, we will instead use his majesty's own law. We invoke cardinal presence for negotiations of The Roadhouse's adoption into the Yolig empire."

The messenger nodded.

Invoking cardinal presence is the right to require the king's presence during any treaty talks that could result in starting or ending a war.

Shae had dug through all the law and protocol books in Tim's vast library. It was one of the reasons she hadn't been here until early this morning after we passed on the info about the arrival of the army.

The king himself had created the cardinal presence law because one of his generals had once taken it upon themselves to sign a peace treaty with a neighboring kingdom. This had robbed the king of his five minutes of fame, so he made sure it wouldn't happen again.

"Is that all?" he asked.

"In addition, we require the arbitration by the church on the same matter," Shae continued. "This would require the presence of someone of the rank of Cardinal or above. We will not proceed without this stipulation and are prepared to wait until the appropriate person or persons are made available."

Shea went on to say a bunch more legalese stuff that basically boiled down to, "If you want us to surrender, we want all the bigwigs here to see it."

"I know for a fact a Cardinal is in residence with the church sentinels," the messenger said.

The church sentinels were the group in rose-and-gold-clad uniforms we'd seen behind the main force. They were basically the church's army and were said to be just as powerful as the king's army.

The fact that they had a cardinal present shot a hole in one of our plans. We'd hoped to use this one as a stalling tactic. So much for that. But then again, with the king's reputation, he wouldn't have honored anything we asked for out of spite.

"Understood. I thank you for your time, messenger. As a token of good faith, we offer these soldiers, captured in the line of duty." Shae said and nodded to one of the gate guards.

The guard opened the small personnel door of the gate, and the scouts we'd captured were freed and sent outside."

For the first time, the messenger looked surprised.

Earlier, we'd had a long conversation about the prisoners. We knew they couldn't be used as bargaining chips, as the king didn't really care one way or another for a handful of men. They had no useful intel, and we couldn't really do anything with them. So, we'd decided to let them go when the army arrived. We hoped to gain some brownie points, if not with the king, then the other soldiers, when word spread about how we treated the captives. Plus, they were eating into our rations.

"They have been treated fairly and cared for with respect during their time with us," Shae continued. She waited until the last scout was outside and the door secured. "Please relay my words, messenger." This ended the official conversation and effectively dismissed the messenger.

I waited until he rode out of sight before speaking.

"You think it'll do any good?" I asked.

An hour later, we got our reply as boulders began raining down on the forest between us and the army. They continued firing their siege engines, trying to take out the trees that shielded us from direct attack.

This didn't sit so well with the forest spirit. As a result, the spirit launched the broken trees back at the army with incredible force. While there were now holes in the forest that gave us a clear line of sight to the army, the army now had dozens of trees amongst their shattered siege engines.

We didn't have an offensive plan. We didn't have anything that could hurt the army at a distance, and frankly, we didn't want to. We'd hoped we could parlay our way out of this mess. Otherwise, the best we could hope for was a long defensive siege. "Winning" wasn't even an option for us.

Whoever was in charge of the siege equipment must have pitched a fit about their broken toys. No sooner did the trees stop raining down on them than the army turned around and began breaking them down to make new siege equipment. Any leftovers were used to create defensive fortifications.

"Idiots," James said with a sigh as we watched the construction. "Oh well, they'll learn soon enough."

"Now what?" I asked.

"We wait," Shae said. "They've already broken their own warfare rules."

"So what?" Zoey asked, her temper flaring. She didn't like sitting still and waiting. "No matter what they say, they'll just break their word. It's what humans do."

It was well known that Zoey had little love for humans. It was well known because she enjoyed telling us...a lot. But, even with this, she could still work with humans who treated her with respect.

Zale shook his head and covered his face with a big furry paw.

"What?" Zoey asked.

"Well, she's not wrong," I said. "At least when it comes to this king guy."

"King Putner," Shae provided.

"Yeah," I said. "Everything I'd read about this guy says he's bad news. Even if we could get him to back off and sign a treaty, he'd just stab us in the back when it became convenient for him. And his son's not much better."

"They're not the ones we have to worry about," Shae said. "It's the church. If we can get the church to side with us, they'll police the king. It's well known that the church is the power behind the throne here."

"Well, I say we've got about 12 hours before the fireworks start," James said. "Time to make the rounds."

***Ω***

ASHER

I rolled over and opened my eyes to find another pair of brown eyes staring at me in the darkness. It took every ounce of control not to throw myself out of the bed and away from those eyes. Instead, I jerked back and raised my hands defensively.

"Celeste?" I asked in the quiet darkness as my brain caught up to what I was seeing.

Celeste was squatting beside my bed, silently staring at me.

I looked around, but found Rachel was gone. She'd probably waited until I'd finally fallen asleep before returning to her boys.

I didn't know what time it was, but it was late. So late that the only noise coming from Alistair and Brooke's bedroom was a light snoring.

"Celeste, is that you?" I asked the mute figure, who didn't even blink.

"You had sex in my bed," Celeste said, matter-of-factly.

"Your bed?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, my bed. And you had sex in it," Celeste repeated.

The way she said it was almost comical, but the look on her face did anything but make me want to chuckle.

"Sorry?" I started. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't, how could you?" Celeste said.

"Uh, OK," I managed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

Celeste continued to stare at me, unmoving.

"Did you want something, Celeste?" I asked.

"Already got what I needed from you," Celeste said flatly. "Won't need more for a grove's age."

My curiosity bubbled to the surface.

"Celeste, why did you take me away the first day I was here?" I asked. I pretty much already knew, but wanted to hear it from her lips.

Celeste studied me for a moment before answering.

"You said you liked me, so I agreed," Celeste said.

"And then what?" I asked.

"You became taxed, and so I brought you back here," she said in that same flat tone.

"And?" I asked, waiting.

"And what?" Celeste asked back.

"Alistair said you tried to get pregnant," I started, my voice trembling slightly. "From me."

"Oh," Celeste said. "Of course, why else would I put you through that?"

"Because it's fun?" I offered. I felt like we were speaking two different languages.

"It was?" Celeste asked.

I stopped myself from screaming in frustration.

"Did I get you pregnant, Celeste?" I managed through gritted teeth.

"Of course," Celeste said and blinked for the first time.

"I did?" I whispered in shock.

"You did very well," Celeste said by way of a compliment. At least, I think she was offering me a compliment.

"So...you're pregnant?" I said words I never thought I'd utter. At least...not any time soon.

"Hmm?" Celeste cocked her head at me.

I felt like she was studying me like a bug under a magnifying glass.

"You're pregnant?" I repeated.

"Oh," Celeste started. "No." She shook her head.

"You're not pregnant?" I asked, confused. I felt like I was banging my head against the wall.

"No," Celeste said and then grinned. "You were very good!"

I paused.

"I mean," I started shyly. "Thanks. I know I've impressed a few folks with my bedroom antics, but I don't think I can take much credit for what you and I did."

"OK," Celeste said and stood up. "You need to get dressed now."

"Huh?" I managed.

"You," Celeste pointed at me. "Get up," she lifted her hands, "and get dressed." She mimed putting on a shirt. "Or, do you wish to go like that?"

I stared at her, open-mouthed.

"Go where?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't sure I was in good enough shape for another round of slap and tickle with her in my current state.

"Home!" Celeste said, agitation touching her voice for the first time. "I heard you. You wanted to go home. I'm here to help you. You helped me, I help you."

This made me clamber to my feet.

"You can get me to The Roadhouse?" I asked, excitedly.

"If you hurry," Celeste said. "I must get back before our children wake."

And that froze me in place.

"Our children?" I said. "Ours? Yours and mine? Together."

"That is how nature works," Celeste nodded.

"But Brooke said it took a long time for children to be born," I said as I hastily pulled on my day clothes. "Are you saying, wait. You're not pregnant anymore because you already had our children?" Then the words hit me. "Children, plural?"

"You did VERY good," Celeste said, a smile touching her lips for the first time. "Mother didn't believe, but grandmother did. She knew other Guardians. They were strong."

"Now," Celeste suddenly looked nervous. "We have to go."

"Wait, I need to tell the others--" I said as I was strapping my sword on.

"No time!" Celeste said before wrapping her arms around me.

***Ω***

REMMI

"Holy shit..." I muttered as I watched the army in chaos.

The army had completed its new siege engines and fortifications. But the first time they went to fire one of the engines, it exploded. As did every other creation made from the wood of our forest.

I'd heard of the aftermath of claymore mines. A block of explosive with hundreds of BBs embedded in it goes off and shreds everything around it. I'd even seen it in a movie once. I had a feeling it paled compared to the carnage I was witnessing.

You'd think watching massive trees exploding in all directions would be what you'd get stuck on. But it wasn't the dozens of exploding trees that fascinated me; it was the fact that when it happened, all you heard was a single snap of a twig being broken.

Even from this far away, we could hear the screaming. The sound sent a shudder down my body, and not in a good way.

No one else said anything as we continued to watch, unable to turn away.

That's when the fire started.

I didn't see where it came from. Suddenly, the forest between the army and us turned into an intense inferno. The heat radiating from it was incredible. So much so, I instinctively held my hand up to protect my face even though I was encased in armor.

The fire spread quickly. It stretched from the river on one side, clear to the Laghold road entrance on the other.

That's when we spotted the four mages who were behind it. They stood on the far hilltop with their arms raised towards us, as rivers of fire poured from their fingers and into our forest.

There wasn't anything the forest spirit could do against magic fire. Or if there was, it wasn't doing it.

Instead, all we could do was watch.

If I hadn't known about Miranda's defensive powers, I would have started worrying about the walls melting. As the minutes dragged on and the fire showed no signs of letting up, I started to wonder if even her power could protect us all.

Miranda's control over The Roadhouse was complete. As long as she was "alive," she could fix anything they threw at her. Damage the walls? She could instantly repair it. Try to lob a fireball into the grounds? As soon as it passed the wall, she could absorb it and redirect its energy. Right now, I was sure she was storing the excess energy the intense fire was giving off.

Celeste's defense was the only reason we'd chosen to stay. If we'd had any doubt she couldn't protect us, we would have bugged out and headed up into the mountains.

As the minutes dragged on, I was beginning to fear the mages would burn down the entire forest, leaving us in a massive clearing.

"You started the party without us?" a familiar voice called from behind me.

I turned to find Terri standing with Thomas.

"The dynamic duo returns!" I grinned and went to hug Terri, but she waved me away.

"No time for love, Dr. Jones," Terri said as she stepped past me and to the edge of the lookout platform. "I have work to do."

"They have four mages on the hill controlling the--" James started, but was cut off.

"I see them," Terri said as she reached into her belt pouch and pulled out two large leather-wrapped bundles. "Y'all might want to take a step back."

We all did as she told us, as she unwrapped two softball-sized glowstones that glimmered a pale blue.

"Those are glowstones?" Mondy gasped.

"And we're dark elves," Thomas said as he pulled a bright yellow, baseball-sized glowstone from his pouch.

I remembered when Tursk warned us that dark elves and glowstones didn't mix except explosively. Thomas was a prime example of this, as he'd nearly lost his hand when one exploded in his face. It had only been the side of a small pebble. If the ones the pair were currently holding detonated, I doubt a brick of The Roadhouse would remain.

"Don't worry, we've been practicing," Terri said and turned to Shae. "I'm sorry, Rhi wouldn't come. I tried, but she's too afraid of losing control around so many people."

"It's alright," Shae said, squeezing Terri's shoulder and nodding. "I take it Tara stayed behind with Rhi?"

"She's not going to leave her alone again," Terri said.

The two women shared a look.

"OK, Thomas, you ready?" Terri asked.

"I see em," he said as he stared through his Guardian's visor.

Apparently, both of them had completed the temple sometime during their time away. I thought they'd just been up training with the Gestalt. Apparently, I was wrong.

"Wait until I have control," Terri said as she held the two glowstones out.

"Just give the word," Thomas said.

Then, the fire that had been a raging inferno stopped. The fire didn't disappear or slacken; it just stopped moving. You could see it was still burning stuff, and the heat was still insane, but it was almost as if it were now a picture of a fire.

"Alright, I got it," Terri said, but the strain in her voice was obvious.

"Everyone, shield your eyes," Thomas warned.

"Hurry up, this is bigger than I thought," Terri said and groaned.

I didn't listen to Thomas's warning, so my vision went white a moment later. Then it flared again. And again. And a fourth time.

"Oh, thank god," Terri said.

My eyes cleared just enough that I could see four scorch marks on the hill where the four mages had been. But that quickly disappeared as my vision was blocked by flames shooting up into the sky.

All the fire of the forest was converging, coming together and forming...something. It had two legs, a head, and six tentacle-like arms. Oh, and it was 100 feet tall and completely made of fire.

"Go forth and raise hell!" Terri commanded and raised her arms.

The fire monster stomped its way towards the army, leaving massive scorch marks where its feet touched the ground.

"Terri," I started. "Your little flame guy grew up!"

The army, already in tatters from the exploding trees, broke at the sight of the giant fire monster trudging towards them.

"That should keep them busy a while," Terri said and turned to face us. "Who's ready for lunch?"

Terri's prediction was right. The lookouts we had posted told us it took the rest of the day for the army to finally put out the fire giant. Apparently, we'd taken out the mages of the main army, and it took a while for the mage in residence with the church to step up.