Mana Soul: Chapter 34 - The Clan - Markus

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In the late afternoon of the sixth day of their travelling, Ulf and Bjorn returned early from foraging in the woods.

“There is a large camp of humans up ahead,” Ulf growled, his expression tense.

“Are they the Jarl’s soldiers?” Markus asked. Given how close they assumedly were to the clan-home now, it would be safe to assume as much.

Bjorn shrugged, “We only caught their scent,” he admitted.

Kind of understanding the twins logic in withdrawing, Markus wouldn't think less of them for prioritizing the safety of the group.

“Should we just slip past them?” Aela asked.

The twins shared a look and shrugged. Clearly not having much information with which to make a decision.

“I think I should approach the camp,” Markus volunteered. “If they catch us skulking around, there might be a misunderstanding,” he explained. The thought of being shot in the back of the head was not a pleasant one. Being beaten half to death by the people he had enlisted to protect the chimaeras was also equally unappealing. “They may even be expecting me. So it will be suspicious if I don’t make at least a temporary appearance."

Aela slowly nodded, “Then I will go with you,” she said, matter of factly.

Markus sighed on the inside but nodded in agreement. He was thankful for the backup. If the soldiers got it into their heads to try something, Markus would have been in no position to dissuade them. In spite of Aela’s attempts to make him a capable fighter, Markus was still at a level where the greenest recruit wouldn't break a sweat fighting him.

Leaving the prisoner with Bjorn And Ulf, Markus and Aela began walking towards the direction of the encampment. It didn't take as long as he had thought it would before they were spotted and hailed by one of the encampment’s scouts. After a brief exchange to confirm each other’s identities, Markus was relieved to find that the encampment belonged to the soldiers of Skalisberg Jarldom.

Following the scout back to the camp, it was clear that the soldiers had been holding this position for some time. They had even gone so far as establishing sturdy earthworks around the camp perimeter. There were more soldiers inside the camp than Markus had expected, easily a hundred or more.

Following the scout into the commander's tent, the scout then enthusiastically announced their arrival. Or more specifically, announced Markus’s arrival.

The commander of the encampment was a grizzled middle-aged man with broad shoulders and a piercing gaze. “Are you returning from your inspection of the chimaeras camp? Or on your way through?” He asked brusquely with a seemingly willful directness and negligence of Markus’s noble title.

Unperturbed, Markus found himself smiling. The commander’s directness would save them a great deal of time. “On our way through,” he answered

The commander grunted and nodded, “Then I won’t keep you!” He turned away to regard a map laid out on the table.

Following the thoroughly apologetic scout out of the camp, Markus was entertained by the thought of the grizzled camp commander confronting nobles obsessed with formality and status. Wanting to put in a good word for the commander with Hilda, Markus realized that he hadn’t even told them his name. He would have asked the scout, but by the time he thought to ask, the scout was already gone.

“Ah well,” Markus sighed. He would just have to reference the commander in relation to the protection of the chimaeras clan-home.

Setting out again, it wasn’t long before they were challenged by another scout. However, this time the scout was a chimaera. Incredibly tall and powerfully built, the brown-haired chimaera made no attempts to hide his presence. Quite the opposite, he was deliberately standing where it would be difficult not to notice him.

“Ah, this is unlucky...” Aela cursed with a worried expression on her face.

“What do you mean?” Markus asked, obviously having no clue about what made this situation particularly unlucky.

Aela shifted uncomfortably, “He is Garn,” she pointed to the menacing chimaera scout. “He is the first son of Grisha. Grisha was the last chieftain before mother,” Aela explained with a determined frown, “Grisha was not happy about losing his position and the feeling is shared by his children and life-mate..."

“Wait a moment...Svala is the chieftain of your clan?!” Markus was pretty sure this was the first time he was hearing about it.

Stiffening in response to his outburst, Aela appeared somewhat guilty, “I thought mother had told you...” She replied awkwardly.

Forcing himself to calm down, Markus let the omission slide for the time being. “So this Garn guy. Will he stop us from entering the clan-home?"

Aela shifted uncomfortably before answering, “He will very likely try to,” she admitted angrily.

“Should we just wait for another scout to take his place?” Markus asked. He was more than happy to wait a few hours if it meant avoiding a pointless conflict.

With an almost pitying look on her face, Aela shook her head. “Garn will already have caught our scent and recognized us. He will also know that a human is with us. So he will wait until we reveal ourselves, or seek us out directly, depending on if he is in a foul temper."

Ulf snorted derisively, “If, he is in a foul mood? When is he not?"

Both twins began pacing angrily, glaring at Garn in the distance. Markus could only assume that there was more bad blood between them than the feuding of their parents.

“So what should we do?” Markus asked warily, although he was fairly certain now that some level of violence was unavoidable.

Aela made as if to speak, then stopped herself as if considering something, then shook her head, “We will have to fight him,” she replied apologetically, obviously aware of Markus preference for a peaceful resolution. “Fighting is part of who we are,” Aela explained, “Minor disagreements can be solved with words, but once things get bad enough, fighting is the only way to resolve it. The clan respects established hierarchy, respects the strong. Mother being absent for so long has clearly made Grisha and his family bold and forgetful. With only Magnus to support her, the old bear is probably scheming something."

With a clearer idea of what was going on, Markus understood that conflict was inevitable. “WIll one of you fight him alone? Like a duel? Or is it just a free for all?” He asked, trying to better consider their options.

Aela blinked, probably surprised by his lack of argument against resorting to violence so quickly. “We could gang up on him, but Garn would probably flee and fetch his brother Gorm and some of their cousins to repay the favour."

“So it has to be a duel then.” Markus scratched absently at his chin, “Is it with weapons and armour? Or barefist-er with teeth and claws?” He asked a little awkwardly as he remembered that chimaeras were naturally armed and armoured in excess of human standards at all times by virtue of their monstrous origins.

“Weapons are permitted, but it is rare that anyone would use one in a fight like this. After all, unenchanted weapons would break before inflicting any real damage,” Aela explained, driving the point home that as a mere human, he really was a sheep amongst wolves.

“So who will fight him then?” Markus asked. “Will it be Bjorn or Ulf?"

Before either of the twins had a chance to reply, Aela’s eyes flashed dangerously, “You don’t think I can fight Garn?!” She snapped angrily.

Already expecting this reaction, Markus shook his head, “I just didn’t want to see you hurt...” He replied quietly, trying to keep the hurt from his voice.

“Oh...” Aela blushed with embarrassment and her expression turned downcast.

“I will do it,” Bjorn volunteered, the twin’s seemingly having come to an agreement amongst themselves.

“Are you confident you can win?” Markus asked.

Bjorn shrugged. “We fought with Garn and Gorm many times while we were children. But adults would intervene before clear winners were determined,” Ulf explained excitedly, clearly looking forward to the confrontation.

This latest revelation made it clear that the confrontation to come had truly been inevitable. All either side had needed was the excuse to act. It was entirely possible that Garn had taken watch in hopes of provoking the confrontation.

Now mentally prepared for the confrontation, they made straight for Garn’s position. As they drew closer, it became obvious that Garn had known they were coming. His beady eyes were glaring at them while his nostrils flared aggressively. He was easily close to ten feet tall and his thick bulging muscles made him seem larger still.

With an arrogant expression on his face, Garn sneered with disgust, “Ah, I thought the humans had filled another excrement pit, but now I see that it is just the barren bitch!"

The twins immediately froze, apparently shocked by what they had heard.

Aela had stiffened, her right eye twitching as veins began protruding against her skin.

“Garn! You da-” Bjorn began to growl but was interrupted.

Garn spoke louder, raising his voice and continuing to hurl insults, “To rely on a human? I had known you were weak, but even for your family this is a new low."

Aela was livid. Teeth bared and breathing heavily, she was growing angrier with each passing moment.

“No real man would touch you, so you crept into bed with a human? Disgusting!” He spat a large gobbet of phlegm on the ground between them.

Aela snapped, dropping both the prisoner and her pollaxe, without uttering a word, she charged straight at Garn.

A cruel grin splitting his lips, Garn raised his right arm and prepared to swat her aside. He was likely very proud of his success in baiting her into a fight. Garn was also apparently confident that her siblings would not intervene to stop the fight either, or perhaps arrogant enough to believe he would end it before they had a chance.

The breath caught in Markus’s throat as he watched Garn’s large claws sweep towards Aela’s neck. Even though she was wearing a padded coif with dampening enchantments, Markus was terrified that the sheer brute force behind Garn’s blow would break Aela’s neck. Despite being so far back and too slow besides, Markus reached out towards her desperately, “NO!” He cried.

Distracted by Markus's outcry, Garn seemed to lose his focus, his attack visibly losing momentum and allowing Aela to nimbly duck under the blow.

Slamming her full weight into his midsection, Aela bore Garn to the ground. Before he had a chance to react, Aela began slamming her fists into his face. As if no stronger than a kitten, Garn could only feebly paw at her in an attempt to shover her off of him.

Amazed that the fight would be so one-sided, neither Markus nor the twins knew what to do. It was not until Garn released a mewling whimper that Markus realized what was happening. “You need to pull her off him!” He shouted urgently, “NOW!"

As if woken from a stupor, the twins shook themselves and sluggishly made their way over towards Aela. With their combined strength, they pulled their sister off of Garn and revealed the extent of the damage Aela had inflicted.

Garn’s face was a bloody broken mess. Having not been content to limit expressing her rage with her fists, Aela had ripped and torn at his face and chest with her claws. Too weak to defend himself, Garn would have died if Aela was not pulled off of him. Although Markus had forgotten with the sudden onset of the fight, the cause for her dominance in the fight was obvious. Aela’s armour was enchanted to siphon dungeon mana.

It wasn’t just hers either. Markus had provided the enchantment through the beads to everyone in their group before entering the dungeon. It was intended as an emergency safety measure to save someone's life in a critical moment, yet its effects against Garn made it clear that it could be used offensively as well. Near paralyzed and natural defences eroded by the enchantment, the moment Aela knocked him to the ground, Garn was as good as dead.

This would be the case for any chimaera not bearing the protective enchantment to counter the mana draining enchantment. Although not as vulnerable to the effect as monsters, chimaera were obviously still susceptible to a significant degree.

“Uh oh,” chilled by the sudden epiphany, Markus hastily withdrew a spare bead from his pouch and etched the necessary sigils into its surface. The continued state of their prisoner’s coma might be caused by repeated mana depletion caused by his enchantments. With a radically different composition of dungeon mana to chimaera and monsters, the drain over the past week had probably been minimal. It was the only excuse Markus could think of to console himself over the blunder. That she was not dead could almost certainly confirm it.

Adding the bead to the cord around her neck and then enchanting it, Markus sighed in relief. How long would it have been before he noticed if events had not transpired like this? Markus winced, knowing that he personally would not have been the one to suspect the true cause until it was too late.

Having calmed down somewhat, the twins let Aela go.

“You piece of shit!” Aela spat, stomping angrily on Garn’s groin. She snickered with apparent satisfaction as he let out a whimpering howl. Turning her back on him, Aela stalked back over to Markus, her eyes determined and manic.

Before Markus could react, Aela grabbed him roughly and drove her face into his, half crushing his nose. Pressing her lips hard over his mouth, Markus couldn't breathe and was too shocked to react as her tongue forced its way between his teeth and began rolling around his mouth and down his throat. Nowhere near strong enough to push her away even if he had the wherewithal to resist, Markus could only hope she regained her senses before he passed out.

Unsure of how much time had passed, getting quite lost in the moment. Markus was thoroughly frazzled when Aela ended their embrace. Incredibly lightheaded, Markus was vaguely aware of the taste of blood in his mouth. Absently wiping at his lips, he was surprised to find his hand come away quite thoroughly bloody. “Did she split my lip?” He wondered aloud, recalling how hard and suddenly she had kissed him.

That thought sobered Markus up like a bucket of ice water, “W-we K-kissed...” He stuttered, the momentary clarity immediately giving way to a riotous cacophony of thoughts and emotions.

Eventually growing calm enough to be aware of his surroundings again, Markus could see, Aela skulking behind the twins, her face cupped in her hands.

“-be worse, I heard Skadi ‘accidentally’ drove her knee into Beowulf’s groin trying to kiss him the first time,” Ulf said consolingly.

“Or how Astrid sneezed in Mjoln's mouth!” Bjorn snickered.

“Shut up...” Aela moaned, dejectedly. “He will never want to kiss me again...” She wailed hopelessly.

“Then why did you shove your tongue down his throat?” Ulf chastised her playfully.

Aela groaned, “Mother said to do that!” She snapped irritably.

“Why would mother tell you to do that?” Bjorn snorted.

There was a lengthy pause, “She said he would like it...” Aela muttered defensively.

The twins looked at one another with incredulous expressions, “And you believed her?!” Ulf demanded.

Aela just groaned loudly and made no further reply.

Still dabbing at his mouth and growing a little worried by the fresh blood that came away each time. Markus put down his pack and pulled out his bathing towel and the canteen of antiseptic. Wetting a part of the towel with amber fluid, he grit his teeth and pressed it against his lips. “B-Bastard!” Markus swore, reflexively recoiling from the sudden flash of pain. Pressing a clean section of the towel against his lips, he could only hope that the others had not heard him. He was unsure where his reaction fell on the scale of manliness, but he suspected it was not particularly high.

Thankfully, his lips stopped bleeding shortly afterwards. Unfortunately, Markus had realized what had caused the bleeding. It was Aela’s teeth. With their sharp serrated edges, they had cut open his lips while Aela was aggressively pressing her lips against his. With only the minor consolation that she had not intended it to happen, Markus hoped that it would not happen every time. To say nothing of the antiseptic, the inevitable inflammation and minor infections would probably hurt a great deal.

Markus could only hope that increased care and, divines willing, developing thickened skin on his lips would at least make this occurrence an infrequent affair. With the bleeding under control, for now, Markus hung the wool towel from his belt in case he needed it again. Knowing he must look a fright, Markus shrugged, there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. Perhaps if he had some of the paste women used to colour their lips, he could cover the cuts, but he didn't, so there was little use thinking about it.

Lifting the prisoner onto his shoulder, Markus warily approached the huddled siblings. “Bjorn, would you mind?” He gestured to the prisoner draped over his shoulder, “Ah and Ulf could you retrieve her pollaxe?"

The twins silently did as Markus asked and, understanding his intent, gave Markus and Aela some room to talk.

Staring fixedly at the ground, Aela’s expression was fearful and resigned. “You must hate me...” She sniffled pitiably, absently wiping at her nose with a sleeve. Fresh tears were welling in the corners of her eyes and Aela began to sob.

Letting go of his spear, Markus wordlessly stepped closer and pulled her into a tight embrace. Although Aela was initially quite tense, she quickly relaxed, buried her face in his shoulder and began to cry. Not sure of what else he could do, Markus just held her, occasionally rubbing or patting her back.

After a short while, Aela stopped crying. “You won’t leave?” She sniffled pitiably, her voice muffled by the jacket of his gambeson.

Markus couldn't help but snort at the absurdity of the idea, “Why would I do that?" He already knew how dangerous Aela could be and he had more-or-less come to terms with it a long time ago. Markus also knew Aela would never deliberately harm him, so they just had to be more careful next time. “I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her.

“R-really?” Aela sniffled, removing her head from his shoulder and staring at him pitiably. As absurd as it seemed given how powerful he knew she was, Markus did not think he had ever seen her so weak and vulnerable as she was in this moment.

Markus smiled somewhat shyly, doing his best not to flinch as the expression caused the raw skin of his lips to stretch painfully. “Of course,” he replied reassuringly.

“E-even th-though I h-hurt y-you?” Aela asked, hiccuping as she tried to calm herself down.

Markus shrugged and gave an exaggerated show of wincing as he brushed his fingers over his lips, “I can't say I am happy about that part,” Markus admitted, “But I know you didn’t do it on purpose. So long as you are more careful next time, I don't see anything to be upset over."

“N-next t-time?” Aela asked, an excited glimmer returning to her eyes.

Knowing actions spoke far louder than words, Markus braced himself against the pain, leaned forward and kissed her. Unlike the small pecks they had exchanged on the cheek up until now, Markus somewhat emulated Aela’s aggressive actions from earlier, although he was far more careful and gentle, resolutely keeping his tongue inside his own mouth and away from her teeth.

Even though the cuts on his lips hurt, as Aela began enthusiastically responding to his actions, Markus’s own excitement and enjoyment pushed the pain to the back of his mind. Not even sure of what he was really doing, Markus became somewhat drunk on the unique sensation of the shared experience. It was with deep reluctance that he slowly drew himself back.

Fresh blood on her lips and a hungry look in her eyes, Aela was breathing heavily and seemed like she was contemplating drawing Markus back into her embrace again. However, with visible reluctance, Aela held herself back, licking her lips and smiling radiantly. It was difficult to believe that only a few minutes ago she had been reduced to tears.

“That was...” Aela trailed off as if unable to find the words.

“Yeah...” Markus agreed, understanding how hard it was to put how he felt and was now feeling into words. He had never felt so close to someone before, he had never felt like this before, period. It was like all the darkness in the world had disappeared and he was seeing the sunrise for the first time. As he had finally found somewhere he belonged.

The sound of one of the twins loudly clearing their throat dragged Markus and Aela out of their reverie. “Garn is probably going to wake up soon,” Bjorn commented loudly.

Although Markus thought he should probably feel embarrassed or awkward after sharing such an intimate moment publicly, he honestly didn't care. Aela seemed to share the sentiment, and after retrieving the equipment they made a point of staying close to one another and they continued travelling towards the clan-home.

Each time Markus glanced her way, he couldn’t help but smile. Similarly, he caught Aela doing the same and it made him feel happy every time he saw her reaction. Truthfully, Markus was not really paying attention to where they were going and was surprised when he suddenly noticed impressive earthworks and palisades a short distance away.

Suddenly quite nervous, Markus remembered that he was heading into an encampment home to hundreds of chimaeras. “I won’t have to fight anyone, right?” He asked, half-joking and half expecting to be challenged on sight.

Ulf shook his head, “No. But some will be upset by your presence. Best to just stay away from them,” he suggested pragmatically.

Another thought occurred to Markus, “Ah, about the mana storage crystals...no one will try and steal them right?"

The twins shared a telling look.

Considerably more worried than before, Markus began thinking of a way to disguise or hide the mana storage crystals from the chimaeras. However, the problem lay within the very nature of the relationship between the mana and the chimaeras themselves. The pure and powerful collection of dungeon mana would draw their attention on a primal level. In the same way that the chimaeras could sense a nearby dungeon, they would be drawn to the mana storage crystals.

Short of forcibly converting the dungeon mana, which Markus did not want to do, he could not think of anything else he could try.

Squeezing his hand reassuringly, Aela drew Markus’s attention back to the present. “It is alright. No one will dare steal from mother’s hearth. Even Grisha would not be so bold as to attempt such a thing!” Aela stated confidently.

“You’re sure?” Markus asked. There was a great deal at stake and he was angry with himself for not anticipating the current problem far sooner.

Aela nodded, “It is taboo to do such a thing. But also, mother’s punishment would make even the boldest thief fear for their skin."

Finding her words both reassuring and unsettling, Markus gave a sigh of relief. Ideally, he just needed a few days to nail down the correct amount of mana required and confirm his hypothesis for the fertility treatment’s delivery. Then he would spend the rest of the mana providing treatments to the allied families of Aela’s family and offer them his proposal for resettling the clan in the deadlands.

He had not intended to have an ulterior motive originally, but it had become clear to him that the precarious situation of their people needed to change. If he had to bribe them first, so be it. There was safety in numbers and the way Markus saw it, the more chimaeras he could bring to his side, the safer Aela would be.

There were six large chimaeras on guard at the entrance to the clan-home, four males and two females. Much like the twins, they had interesting hybridized characteristics, serving as a prominent reminder of the clan’s heritage. It also made it rather difficult to tell which monstrous animals they were descended from.

The shortest of the chimaeras, a female, was still at least two feet taller than Markus and had short bristly fur, long hardened claws, a porcine nose and four razor-sharp tusks protruding from her lower jaw. At his best guess, Markus would say one of her ancestors was melded with a boar, but he had no idea where the claws came from.

As another example, one of the male chimaeras had deer-like antlers growing from his head. But he also had razor-sharp teeth, long shaggy fur and a catlike tail. The appearance of some chimaera was truly bizarre, to say the least.

Unlike Garn, the chimaeras on guard duty made no attempts to harass or deny them entry. Instead, signs of recognition flashed in their faces as Ulf and Bjorn approached. A couple of them even smiled.

“You have returned home,” the chimaera with antler’s greeted them warmly, “Did you conquer a dungeon already? Or Were your claims idle boasts!” He laughed.

Both twins suddenly took on a boastful swagger. Smiling in the way only someone with a wolf’s teeth can, Ulf puffed out his chest, “You shall be amongst the first to hear of it! The dungeon we conquered was none other than the one recently causing our people such strife!"

“A dungeon so powerful the strongest human nobles perished attempting it!” Bjorn added eagerly if somewhat embellishing the truth.

All but one of the chimaeras were surprised by this news. “You really defeated that dungeon?” The antlered chimaera asked, both incredulous and in awe.

“What would I gain by lying?” Ulf snorted contemptuously, “You really are too suspicious Raner."

Raner, the antlered chimaera, snorted derisively “What would you gain by lying? A night of rutting with Frigg I would wager,” he laughed goodnaturedly.

“He has a point,” Bjorn snickered, grinning as he turned on his twin, “It certainly sounds like something you would do."

“Betrayal!” Ulf howled with exaggerated angst, still grinning widely and rendering the effort all the more humorous. “You try to sneak into your promised’s hearth just for one night and your character is questioned for eternity!"

“Should have used the bushes!” The other female chimaera with quill-like spines commented shamelessly, jeering at Ulf’s performance.

All the chimaera had a good laugh at that, suggesting that her comment was perhaps a well-established joke, although Markus could not be sure.

“We should get going,” Aela suggested rather pointedly, somewhat sobering the twin’s expressions, “Mother will be expecting us and I am sure you will want to see Freja and Frigg after being away for so long."

While the mention of Svala had gotten their attention, Aela’s comment regarding their promised’s was like a fire being lit at their backs. Suddenly the twins were in a great hurry, so much that they did not even offer farewell to their friends before rushing off into the clan-home.

“To move so quickly,” Raner commented with slight surprise, “They really must have defeated the dungeon after all?” He asked sceptically, directing the question to Markus and Aela.

Aela frowned, “They provided assistance in the dungeon,” she agreed tersely, “But it was Markus who defeated it,” Aela insisted, wrapping her arm around Markus’s shoulders possessively.

The gathered chimaeras looked Markus up and down somewhat sceptically. “He is a powerful Warrior?” Raner asked cagily, no doubt aware that even someone of Markus’s stature could become a credible threat with the special powers of a Warrior.

“Markus is more powerful than you can imagine, but he is not some measly Warrior,” Aela scoffed, adopting a near bragging tone.

Raner looked surprised, “Don’t tell me he is a Mage?!” He exclaimed in surprise.

Aela snorted, “Hardly so weak as a Mage,” she scoffed, “Markus is a powerful Artificer!"

There was a stunned silence for a moment before one of the other male chimaeras spoke up. “Uh, isn’t an artificer the one that makes equipment?” He asked.

A couple of moments later, the tusked female nodded emphatically, “My father fought alongside an Artificer once. He said the Artificer nearly died because the adventurer was too weak to fight even slowest and weakest monsters."

“Ah, so Artificers are really weak then?” The other chimaera replied, his opinion of Markus visibly dwindling by the second.

“Still, I would follow one into a dungeon to get the heart. Even if I had to face all the monsters on my own,” the quilled female chimaera commented, receiving general agreement from the others.

“She did say that the twins helped with the dungeon, maybe the three of them did most of the work so he could take credit?” Another male suggested thoughtfully.

Positively livid, Aela growled menacingly, “Without Markus, the dungeon would not have been defeated! Scores of powerful adventurers, Priests, Warriors and Mages, died attempting what Markus accomplished effortlessly as a low-level Artificer!"

The chimaeras were stunned into silence again.

“That can't be true...” The tusked female chimaera asserted, “My father-"

“-Never met an Artificer like Markus!” Aela interrupted, glaring at the other chimaera in an open challenge.

Seeing things getting quickly out of hand Markus thought it might be best to intervene. “It's okay Aela, I don't care what anyone else thinks, besides it doesn't really matter-"

“You're wrong!” Aela interrupted, showing signs of becoming upset, “You won’t be safe if they don’t respect you!"

Now understanding where Aela was coming from, Markus couldn't really blame her. After all, Markus was very likely the most fragile person in the clan-home, newborns included.

“If you would just show them how strong you are...” Aela suggested with a pleading expression.

With a general idea of what she had in mind, Markus sighed and nodded. “Alright,” he agreed. These chimaeras were not nearly so aggressive or ill-mannered as Gorn, so he was in very little real danger. It was, in fact, a near-perfect opportunity to establish a strong reputation for his protection like Aela had wanted. ”I suppose I should fight the strongest?” Markus looked towards the largest chimaera.

Easily standing over nine feet tall and packed with muscle, the large chimaera had the horns of a bull, cloven hooves for feet and thick meaty fists. He was incredibly intimidating, to say the least.

“Should we wrestle?” Markus asked, wanting to minimize the risk of injury as much as possible.

The chimaera’s glanced at one another dubiously.

“You want to wrestle Mjoln?” Raner asked incredulously.

Markus shrugged, “If he is the strongest amongst you? Sure,” he replied with adrenaline-fuelled bravado.

“This will be too easy!” Mjoln scoffed, cracking his knuckles and neck in an incredibly unnecessary attempt at intimidation. Unnecessary, because Markus was already as intimidated as he could get. “I will give you a free tackle,” he boasted charitably.

His safety now all but assured, Markus couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “Just so we are clear, We are wrestling until someone forfeits?” He asked. There was no way Markus was going to actually wrestle the chimaera, he was going to entirely rely on the mana draining enchantment to do the metaphorical heavy lifting.

“Sure,” Mjoln agreed magnanimously, assuming a grappling stance.

Doing his best to emulate the stance, Markus took advantage of Mjoln’s offer for a free tackle and surprised the chimaera by slapping his palms and intertwining their fingers.

A rather anticlimactic spectacle, the other chimaeras jeered as they awaited Mjoln’s counterattack. But the anticipated counterattack didn't happen. Instead, Mjoln had begun sweating profusely and shaking as if expending great effort to repel Markus’s attack. Even though they had only been grappling for less than a minute, Mjoln suddenly fell to one knee and was desperately struggling to stop himself from falling over entirely.

“What is going on?” The quilled female chimaera asked, confused by what she was seeing, “Is he really that strong?"

“To be able to dominate Mjoln so effortlessly...” Another chimaera commented incredulously.

“I heard even Garn was afraid of challenging Mjoln. To be stronger than even him...” Raner added breathlessly.

Markus felt kind of bad for establishing his reputation at Mjoln’s expense and to use such an underhanded trick. So Markus made a mental note to reserve a fertility treatment for Mjoln once he was finished with the tests.

“I...I yield!” Mjoln gasped, barely able to lift his head and kneeling before Markus.

Quickly withdrawing his hands, Markus stepped back just to be sure Mjoln would have the chance to recover.

There was a primal fear in Mjoln’s eyes as he stared at Markus and no doubt tried to rationalize what exactly he had done to him. ”It...It was my loss,” Mjoln admitted defeat humbly, then shakily got back to his feet, so to speak.

“Now that is settled, we should probably catch up to your brothers,” Markus commented sheepishly, hoping none of the other five chimaeras wanted to try their luck. In a proper fight, the debilitating effects of the mana draining enchantment wouldn't accomplish much. If Mjoln hadn’t given Markus the handicap, there was a very real possibility Markus would have cracked a couple of his ribs before managing to weaken and paralyze Mjoln in return.

Very much aware of how he had won so easily, Aela nodded and grinned arrogantly at the other chimaeras as they walked away. “Mjoln is one of the strongest chimaeras who have not conquered a dungeon,” she said quietly, “Combined with the threat of mother’s reprisal, you should be safe from even Grisha and his spiteful brood."

Walking through the encampment, Markus was keenly aware of the mounting level of attention he was receiving. While most of it was simple curiosity, some were less than friendly. There was something Markus hadn’t expected though, and it became more prominent as moved deeper. Most of the chimaeras in the encampment were female. Considering asking Aela where all the male chimaera had gone, the brutal reality of hunting dungeons struck home.

Noticing and understanding his dark expression, Aela nodded. “Most young males die trying to conquer a dungeon. Since females only need one dungeon, most parents focus their effort on their daughters. As a result, males have even less support and die more frequently, while fertile females wait for a life-mate. But it is just as bad for females without support, all the eligible males are snatched up by senior fertile females! Males like Beowulf rejecting offers from already fertile females in favour of their original promised are increasingly rare,” her expression alternated between anger, disgust and shame, “Even mother is guilty of this tactic...” Aela admitted, shining a fresh light on her relationship with Magnus.

“Is every clan like this?” Markus asked, desperately trying to get a grip on the situation.

Aela nodded sombrely.

“Abyss take me...” Markus cursed breathlessly. The plight of the chimaeras was even worse than he had thought. Or at least that was his initial impression. After giving a little more thought, Markus considered what effect his fertility treatment would very likely have on the status-quo. “Uh, Aela?” He asked somewhat sheepishly.

“Hmm?” Aela gave him her full attention.

“Do chimaeras become life-mate’s or promised with more than one person?” Markus asked, somewhat embarrassed by what he saw as an inevitable consequence of his intended interference.

Aela gave him a funny look for a moment before answering, “Sometimes,” she admitted, “But it is very rare. Why do you ask?"

Nodding his head, Markus roughly cleared his throat before pushing on, “I think that will probably become more common. At Least for a generation or two,” he answered evasively.

“Huh? Why would-Oh!...” Although initially not understanding what he meant, Aela very quickly got a hold of his intention. “You know, I think you are right,” she admitted, now a little embarrassed as well.

“It’s actually a rather good opportunity,” Markus commented.

Aela’s expression darkened, traces of jealousy and anger in her eyes, “Is it really?” She demanded in a quiet and dangerous tone.

Keenly aware that he needed to tread carefully, Markus slowly nodded, “A good opportunity for chimaeras as a species is what I meant. With so many females, your species can claw back from the brink of extinction that much faster than the alternative. Assuming the next few generations are properly cared for of course."

After intensely scrutinizing his every action and word, Aela slowly relaxed and nodded, “That is true,” she admitted somewhat apologetically for her unmentioned assumption.

It of course raised yet another problem. Suddenly providing a large number of fertility treatments would in turn result in an exponential increase in required resources for the clan. Long-term, it would work out for the best, but short-term it would be a logistical nightmare securing the necessary resources for so many pregnant chimaeras to carry their unborn children to term, not to mention the possibilities of twins. From what he had seen, Markus honestly doubted that the clan would be capable of supporting more than a ten per cent increase in numbers so suddenly.

Now knowing what to look for, Markus noticed something else. Very few of the chimaera he had seen were wearing armour. In fact, most male chimaeras were dressed only in a loincloth, with the addition of a cloth or soft hide binding for the females. While he supposed that their fur-covered bodies were resistant or perhaps even immune to the cold, it still left Markus feeling quite embarrassed.

Arriving at the chieftain’s hall, Markus was genuinely surprised by the size of the building in comparison to the others he had seen. Even though it was a relatively simple dwelling made from logs, rough planks and thatch, the sheer size of the building was still impressive.

Making their way inside, Markus was surprised to find a small gathering of chimaeras waiting to greet them. Aside from Svala, Magnus and the twins, which Markus had expected, there were also seven other chimaeras in attendance.

To right were three female chimaeras around Markus’s own height, although they were visibly slouching. Covered in a soft brown and white downy fur, they also had tails long enough to reach the ground and webbing between their fingers and toes. Drawing closer, Markus also noticed thin whiskers on their faces. The biggest and oldest of the three did not look happy to see Markus, while the smaller two had a somewhat unnerving intensity to them.

To the left were four chimaeras of similar appearance to Skadi, stocky and with large clawed hands and feet. Markus could only assume the largest pair were her parents, and the remaining pair were her siblings, although he knew now that he had no way to be sure without asking. While quite anxious, they seemed quite happy with Markus and Aela’s arrival.

It was apparent that an intense conversation or argument had just been concluded before their arrival, Svala and the three other prominent chimaeras giving each other wary looks.

Stepping forward, Svala opened her arms in an expansive gesture, “I welcome you, Markus, to the Blood-Hunter clan-home and offer you the warmth and protection of my hearth."

Assuming it was a formal greeting of some kind, Markus bowed but was unsure what he should say in return. “Uh, thank you for your hospitality,” Markus replied nervously, really hoping he was not offending them. He could only assume that since Aela had not told him something like this would happen, that there wasn't a wrong answer to give short of being blatantly rude.

Svala nodded, “Please, sit.” she motioned to an open space by Magnus and herself.

“I’ll be right back,” Aela whispered and quickly disappeared into one of the adjoining rooms, assumedly to deposit their prisoner before anyone present had a chance to notice her.

Once Markus took a seat at the designated place, Svala began making introductions, starting with the four chimaeras on her right. “This is the family of Beowulf’s life-mate Skadi,” she gave them an authoritative nod.

Taking this as a sign to introduce themselves, the biggest and only female amongst them smiled warmly as she made their introductions. “I am Skadi’s mother, Strida Tohrdottir and this is my son Frohd,” she pointed to the smallest male with noticeably darker fur and more striking features than the others. “And this is my brother Skien Tohrsohn and his son Loken Keflinsohn,” she gestured to the larger and smaller remaining male chimaera beside her in turn. “You have done our family a great service and we will remember this debt!"

“It was the least I could do,” Markus replied nervously, a little embarrassed to be confronted with such gratitude. “After they told me how dangerous having twins was for Skadi, I couldn’t just do nothing...” catching the warning look in Svala’s eye too late, Markus quickly realized he had made a mistake.

“Twins?!” Strida gasped, a horrified expression on her face. Shifting her attention from Markus to Svala, she became quite angry, “You never said she was having twins!"

As expected, Svala didn’t’ back down, “I told you the truth. Skadi was doing fine last I saw her and her pregnancy is progressing smoothly,"

“Wordplay!” Strida growled angrily, gnashing her teeth.

“Ah, she really is doing alright. Skadi was only worried about what was happening here, otherwise, she was doing fine,” Markus interjected awkwardly and immediately regretted it as Skadi’s mother turned the full force of her fury on him instead.

“You can’t know that!” Strida said scornfully curling her lip, “Many mothers have died in their sleep bearing twins!"

“Actually,” Svala’s voice was cold and commanding again, visibly diminishing Strida’s anger, “Markus created a number of magical devices that saved Skadi’s life and that of her unborn children. It was also Markus who first confirmed she was bearing twins less than a day after beginning her pregnancy. I would argue that if anyone were to know if your daughter and her unborn children were healthy, it would be him!” Svala stated sternly.

Strida was shocked, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she alternated between staring at Svala and Markus.

“This is true?” Skien asked, in a similar state of shock to his sister.

Markus nodded, “I have an enchantment that can let you see mana, monster and chimaera mana specifically. It was only by chance that I happened to see Skadi was pregnant with twins. I uh, didn't know how big a deal that was at the time, but I know better now. After a friend suggested feeding her liquified marrow, Skadi quickly stabilized and began to, erm, recover? Is that the right word? I didn’t know if we could keep up the supply until she came to term, so I came up with another enchantment that let her and any other willing chimaera, share the load, so to speak. Transferring mana from someone wearing the matching artifice to Skadi and in turn, her children.” Feeling like he was rambling, Markus rather abruptly stopped talking and the hall became deathly quiet.

“Perhaps it would be better to show them?” Svala suggested helpfully.

“Uh, right,” Markus agreed nervously. Retrieving the spare tablet from his pack, he quickly applied the mana visualization enchantment and then offered it to Skien, since he seemed to be slightly more collected than his sister.

Accepting the tablet, Skien nearly dropped it in shock upon seeing the mana now visible in his hand and fingers.

“Ah, so as you can see, the enchantment on this tablet lets you see the mana of monsters and chimaeras when you look through it. If you were to look through the tablet at the belly of someone who is pregnant, you would be able to see the mana of the babies growing inside,” Markus explained although it seemed unnecessary given how obvious the function was.

Skadi’s family were quickly fascinated to the point of distraction by looking through the tablet, wiggling their toes or even making faces at one another from opposing sides. It didn't take long before the three chimaeras Svala had not had the chance to introduce, made their way over to get a closer look.

When Aela returned a short while after, she gave the gathered chimaeras an exasperated sigh and shook her head. After all, for her, it was already something to be considered quite normal. “I see Freja, Frigg and their mother are here.” Aela said quietly while glancing at the trio of chimaera now having a turn with the tablet, “Did you tell mother about the, ahem, thing with the twins yet?” She asked, with a great deal more subtlety than Markus had demonstrated thus far.

Markus shook his head, “Ah, apparently your mother didn’t tell-"

“What, ‘thing’?” Svala interrupted abruptly, apparently quite capable of listening in to their conversation.

Markus fidgetted nervously under her intense stare. “Uhm, it’s probably best to talk about it privately...” He suggested, glancing briefly at the distracted throng of chimaeras crowding around the tablet. “It’s pretty important though."

Svala frowned and was about to say something when she was interrupted.

“Keeping more secrets?!” Freja and Frigg’s mother demanded sharply, apparently less distracted than she had appeared. “How are we supposed to trust you and your family when you keep lying to us?!"

Svala scowled unpleasantly, her eyes hard and cold as ice.

Unwilling to back down, the female chimaera pointed an accusing finger at Bjorn and Ulf, “Your sons tried to deceive my daughters just earlier! Claiming to have both undergone the change from destroying a dungeon heart. But we both know that isn't’ true! They even tried to lure away my daughters with promises of guaranteed dungeon hearts for them as well!"

Visibly conflicted, Svala spared a disappointed look at her sons.

Shrinking under her ire, Ulf and Bjorn, in turn, gave Markus pleading looks.

“Ah, what should I do?” Markus whispered.

Aela shrugged, a sympathetic expression of uncertainty on her face.

Seeing the only way to dampen the hostilities, Markus sighed dejectedly. He had not wanted the knowledge of his experimental fertility treatment to be so widely known. Glancing at Skadi’s family, Markus just had to hope that their gratitude for helping Skadi would be enough to secure their silence. As for Freja, Frigg and their mother, self-interest should prove sufficient for the time being.

Clearing his throat loudly, Markus instantly became the centre of attention again. “Ah, uhm, while I cant be sure what the twins told you or your daughters,” he began to explain nervously, “It is my intention to use one of my latest artifices and enchantments to provide the same effects as destroying a dungeon heart,” the room became deathly quiet again, “Ah, I had asked the twins to be the first volunteers so I can refine the process and make it as efficient as possible while maintaining potency. Erm, I had also asked if they were, ah, promised? To anyone already, because providing the treatment to them and their respective spouse at the same time would provide necessary information for refining the process for both sexes..."

With the exception of Aela, Bjorn and Ulf, every other chimaera was staring at Markus with expressions ranging from incredulity, awe, anger and complete lack of understanding.

Svala was the first to come to her senses. An intense avaricious hunger in her eyes, “Is this true? You can do this?” She asked.

Markus nodded nervously, now very uncomfortable with the rise of predatory attention he was receiving.

Even Magnus, who had been barely paying attention to events thus far and lounging languidly was staring fixedly at Markus as if preparing to pounce at any moment.

Freja and Frigg had begun surreptitiously sidling towards Bjorn and Ulf while their mother was still trying to come to grips with what Markus had said. A stark contrast of the younger chimaeras to their collective parents was the hope burning in their eyes. The prospect of undergoing the change without risking oblivion in a dungeon, it was pretty easy to understand why they would be so hopeful.

“We want to do it!” Freja and Frigg announced in unison, now firmly holding hands with their intended partner.

Everyone's attention shifted to the female twins and Markus could finally breathe more easily.

“NO!” Their mother shouted angrily, “HE IS LYING! I FORBID IT! WHAT HE CLAIMS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

“SHUT UP!” Aela snarled suddenly, drawing herself up to her full height, “IF MARKUS SAYS HE CAN DO IT, HE CAN DO IT! YOU WOULD HAVE SAID SAVING SKADI WAS IMPOSSIBLE TOO! BUT SHE AND HER TWINS ARE ALIVE BECAUSE OF MARKUS!” Eyes flashing dangerously, her fingers were twitching similarly to the moments before she throttled Garn half to death.

Markus tentatively took Aela’s hand and gave her a worried look.

Biting back what she was going to say next, Aela was still seething with barely suppressed anger.

“Maybe we should leave it to them to sort out on their own,” Markus suggested quietly and began leading Aela onwards to the room she had disappeared into earlier.

Aela’s expression briefly flushed with frustration, but she looked down and nodded sullenly, allowing him to take her away.

The room wasn’t as large as Markus had expected and held no furniture besides the mound of assorted furs currently occupied by their prisoner. Not really sure what he had expected, Markus decided it didn't really matter at the moment and returned his attention to Aela.

“I...” Aela bit her lip briefly before glaring at the door, “I just get so angry when people look down on you!” She hissed angrily. Glancing back at Markus, she quickly lowered her eyes again, deflating slightly.

Believing there wasn't really anything he could say that wouldn't just make things worse or provoke another outburst, Markus just decided to give her a hug instead. It had worked well before, so he figured it would most likely work again. Besides, he didn't entirely disapprove of what Aela had done, she was just standing up for him and defending his reputation. Markus would have just preferred it if Aela hadn’t immediately committed to the other chimaera’s over escalation quite so quickly.

After a while, Aela calmed down again and they reentered the great hall. While there had been a series of loud exchanges after their departure, the hall was more or less silent now.

The most noticeable change was Freja and Frigg’s mother standing on her own, while her daughters were standing defiantly alongside Ulf and Bjorn. Whatever agreement they had come to, it did not appear to have been an amicable one.

Noticing Markus and Aela’s return, a fresh wave of excitement and anticipation came over the gathered chimaeras.

Taking the same place as he had before, Markus patiently waited for someone to let him know if they had reached a final decision.

He didn't have to wait long, “We have reached a decision,” Svala stated matter of factly, eliciting a discontented scowl from Freja and Fida’s mother, “You will be allowed to provide Hildr’s daughters Freja and Frigg with your proposed treatment, as they are of age and not strictly bound to obey their mother. However, to prove both the effectiveness and safety of your claim, it was also decided that Magnus would be treated first,” she smirked a little at that, “As a demonstration of good faith."

Magnus shifted a little uncomfortably, but he made no objections. Either suitably under Svala’s thumb to not cross her, perhaps confident in Markus’s abilities, or maybe just willing to take the risk. In any case, he remained silent and gave the impression that he was behind Svala one hundred per cent.

Of course, Aela, who had every confidence in Markus, snorted quietly. Since Markus was fairly certain he was thinking the same thing she was, he could understand why. Svala had craftily maneuvered her lifemate Magnus into serving as the test case, knowing full well that Markus wouldn't claim to be capable of something he couldn’t do. As a result, she would soon be bearing yet another child and increasing her family’s influence and strength. It was pretty clever, Markus had to admit.

Although it was not quite exactly how Markus had pictured the experiments taking place, there was not a great deal he could do about it either. Besides, it only delayed his testing period for refining the process for females by however long it would take to refine the male side on Magnus. There was another unintended bonus as well. Markus had two current theories regarding the reaction chimaera would have during the mana infusion process. The first reaction was a mild increase in libido or attraction similar to Aela’s permanent shift behaviour in the weeks after her own change. The second, and in his opinion more likely, was a protracted and intense reaction of the same until ‘expended’ in the male’s instance or the infusion process concluded and they had time to adjust.

With that in mind, Markus was almost glad that it was Magnus, whom Markus honestly did not know particularly well or have strong opinions about, rather than the twins, whom he was growing quite fond of. It was a small consolation, but he would take what he could get at this point.

“I assume this is agreeable?” Svala asked pointedly, making it clear she expected not just an answer but a favourable one.

Markus nodded, “I am not sure how much dungeon mana it will take though. There might only be enough for Magnus, I can't be absolutely certain at this stage,” he shrugged, “I’ll have a much better idea once I get started,” Markus explained, carefully choosing his words, “Assuming there is enough mana for it, once I have the process at its most efficient, I intend to use the remainder on some of the other younger chimaera couples as well.” He wasn't entirely happy with what Svala had done, so Markus wanted to make it clear that he intended to distribute it more openly and just divvy it amongst Svala’s allies and supporters.

Svala did not miss his intentional emphasis on ‘younger couples’, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Inversely, Skien and Strida looked like they could not believe their good fortune. Similarly, their children, who had been lost with hopeful longing earlier, were shocked. To have the chance at children of their own was a dream for a decade or more from now, yet here was this golden opportunity.

Taking back his spare tablet, Markus accidentally let slip a yawn. He had been feeling quite tired since earlier and had blamed it on the adrenaline rush he had felt watching Aela fight. Unwilling to risk making any mistakes due to fatigue, Markus decided he would begin the fertility project tomorrow.