Mana Soul: Chapter 43 - The Clans - Aela

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Sitting on the edge of their bed, Aela continued watching Markus anxiously pacing back and forth across their room. The golems' discovery of the nearby dungeon had not been much of a surprise to Aela, but Markus was understandably concerned about monsters roving eastward and attacking his people, of which the chimaeras were included.

“It’s only a matter of time before the chimaeras find out about it,” Markus muttered, “We can’t just wait and see, indefinitely.”

Aela understood Markus’s predicament quite well. There was a risk that if the monsters were attacked that it might escalate into an all-out large scale battle.

“The current rate of mana generation can only sustain ten active combat golems…If any monsters slip past them…” Markus paled and shivered before weakly sitting down on the bed.

Aela scooted up behind Markus and hugged him reassuringly, “We will figure something out,” she cooed and nuzzled his neck.

Markus began to relax and leaned into her embrace, “The Shadow-Maw clan should be arriving in the next few days, right?”

Aela nodded, “Or a week at the most.”

“A week…” Markus let out a long sigh, “Everything is taking a week…I just hope we get a week…”

Aware that Markus was working himself up again and that there wasn’t anything else constructive he would accomplish for the time being, Aela dragged Markus bodily into the bed and gently stroked his hair. “Sleep, we will face what tomorrow brings together, but sleep for now.”

Markus grunted wordlessly in reply, but after a few moments had passed, he made himself comfortable and slowly went to sleep.

The next few days proved increasingly stressful for Markus as small incidents began occurring between the chimaeras and indentured labourers. Although not as bad as Markus was making them out to be, Aela could still understand that the pressure was beginning to get to him.

Discussing the issue with Hilda provided rather unique insights as well as a potential short term solution to his stress. The only problem was that Aela wasn’t sure how Markus would react under his current level of stress.

Playing it by ear, Aela did her best to arrange for Markus’s favourite foods for each meal and that absolutely no one would disturb their evening bath time together.

As expected, Markus was still stressing over the unexpectedly close proximity of the monsters.

After Markus stripped down and entered the large bath, Aela approached from behind with a small clay bottle of oil that smelled of flowers.

“I can rub your muscles to help you relax?” Aela offered, tracing her knuckle along a particularly taut group of muscles in the small of Markus’s back.

Flinching slightly and hissing in pain as the muscle group spasmed, Markus nodded, “S-Sure,” he agreed and leaned forward in the bath to give her better access.

Stripping down to her underclothes to avoid soiling and staining them with the oil, Aela then lathered her hands with the oil and began massaging Markus’s back and shoulders as Hilda had shown her. Patiently working at the most troubled areas that seemed to be causing Markus the most distress, Aela was relieved to find that Markus was steadily beginning to unwind.

Quietly suggesting Markus lay down on a bed of prepared towels so she could better get at the muscles in his lower back, Aela was a little surprised when Markus complied so eagerly.

Although she had seen Markus in all states of undress before, it was somehow different with his bare scarred back shimmering under the scented oil. The sight still caused Aela some degree of distress, but staying so close to Markus and experiencing the perpetual dangers that made up his life had provided a new context to the scars. Markus was a survivor, whoever, or whatever had inflicted those wounds had failed, Markus was alive and determinedly pushing forward to forge his own destiny.

Renewing her massage of Markus’s back, Aela began using longer strokes and pushing boundaries. Receiving no complaints only emboldened her further.

As drowsy as Markus appeared, his heartbeat suggested the opposite, and at the peak of Aela’s planned massage, he suddenly spun himself around and onto his back, nearly bucking Aela off in the process. Seizing Aela by her hair he dragged her down on top of him and fiercely pressed his lips against hers.

Already excited by the prolonged skin on skin contact and exploring she had been conducting with her hands, the taste of fresh blood tipped Aela over the edge.

Waking up early, Aela snuggled against Markus’s bare chest and sighed contentedly, accidentally triggering a sneeze as she inhaled the intense scent of the flowery oil. Next time, Aela could do without the flowers and just use oil or perhaps bacon fat. Hurriedly wiping away the drool pooling out of her mouth, Aela decided that as tasty as it would make licking Markus down, it might be too dangerous.

After laying there a few moments longer, Aela suddenly scrambled for one of Markus’s tablets. Navigating through the functions, she quickly found the one she wanted but arrived at a new problem. Through trial and error, Aela eventually arrived at the right angle and took a frozen image. Unfortunately, there was no sign of a child growing inside of her despite the six or so hours that had passed since their lovemaking.

Disappointed, but not defeated, Aela reasoned that they would just have to keep trying.

Crawling back under the covers, Aela rested her head against Markus’s chest again snorted playfully into his red curly chest hair. It had a way of tickling her nose that was oddly pleasant and she found it was a decent enough way to keep herself entertained.

When Markus woke up about an hour later, Aela had begun to grow worried about the ‘damage’ he had sustained during their lovemaking the night before. His lips were scabbed over and Aela vaguely recalled having scratched his back, although she was unsure of how deep the cuts were.

“Morning,” Markus breathed, smiling down at her and cracking open the cuts on his lips, not that he seemed to mind.

Unable to stop herself, Aela accidentally flicked her tongue in his face, incidentally licking his lips before retracting her tongue again.

Markus chuckled and gave her a squeeze in return, perhaps mistaking the tongue flick for a morning kiss.

Feeling Markus’s heartbeat accelerate again, Aela pushed herself up and gently pressed her lips to his, playfully dancing her tongue over his teeth.

Descending to the dining hall together, Aela couldn’t help but grow nervously possessive of Markus unwilling to let go of her two-handed hold on his right arm. Aela knew Markus was left-handed anyway, so she doubted he would mind. Besides, Markus seemed oddly possessive himself, pulling her closer with his right arm while casting wary eyes at the elderly tinker and his friend Phillipe, who was currently actively engaged in flirting with Hilda and didn’t notice.

Settling down at the table, they took turns playfully sharing parts of their breakfast with one another before Markus reluctantly gave Aela a parting kiss and promised to return after inspecting progress on the kennels and detection tower.

Aela knew that if she asked, he would have gladly accepted her company, but Aela had plans of her own to attend to, so she reluctantly waved Markus goodbye for the morning.

Soon thereafter, Phillipe excused himself and slung a messenger satchel over his shoulder before kissing Hilda goodbye and heading out the door.

Hilda wasted no time in scooting down the bench on the opposite side of the dining table. “So?” She whispered conspiratorially, “Did it work? My Hotrod so loves his flowers, and I figured since he and Markus are both such dainty things-”

“The massage worked,” Aela admitted hurriedly, blushing profusely as she did so.

Hilda grinned and slapped her thigh in triumph, “Haha! So was it just hand stuff or?-”

“We tried for a baby,” Aela hissed, still blushing so intensely that she was sure her scales must be turning beet red.

Hilda was momentarily taken aback, her eyes wide in shock as she whistled quietly. “I knew that you were both repressing urges, but I didn’t think you would skip so many potential steps.”

Aela just quietly shrugged and avoided eye contact.

“So how was he? Remember what I said, freshly plucked flowers can take time to find their stamina,” Hilda explained sympathetically.

Aela’s cheeks brightened further. Stamina, despite all appearances suggesting to the contrary, had not been a problem for Markus.

Mistaking Aela’s silence for an answer, Hilda took hold of Aela’s hands reassuringly, “Oh, do not worry, there are potions that can help!” She insisted sympathetically.

“Markus does not have a stamina problem!” Aela snapped without meaning to and quickly grew even more embarrassed.

Not even the least offended, Hilda only grew more curious, “You mean you both?-”

Aela nodded.

“More than once?” Hilda pressed appraisingly.

Aela nodded again and held up four fingers.

Hilda whistled again, clearly impressed, which filled Aela with a strange sense of pride. She was about to say something else but Arlee was slowly making her way downstairs with Dolly in tow. “Maybe best to talk more someplace else,” Hilda muttered and nodded her head towards the door.

Contrary to the invitation, Hilda and Aela began talking about Markus’s plans for the deadlands instead.

“I think Markus intends to parcel it out and rule as a king,” Aela explained somewhat uncertainly, “He has mentioned elevated status like the nobles, but with legal requirements for special service.”

“Do you mean raising and leading vassal levies?” Hilda asked curiously.

Aela shook her head, “The way he was talking about it made it seem more like fighting in the army itself, like knights?” She wasn’t super familiar with how the human nobility engaged in open warfare.

“Ah, elite forces,” Hilda nodded, apparently understanding what Aela did not. “I don’t think he will find many takers though if that is the case,” she chuckled.

“I think you are wrong,” Aela replied with a smug smile, “Markus isn’t planning on asking any nobles in the first place.”

Hilda frowned, “Then how?...Oh, of course, he has all of the deadlands dungeons! Haha, clever,” she complimented shrewdly without a trace of jealousy.

Aela nodded but kept Markus’s true intentions to herself. While it was true the deadlands likely held a number of dungeons with Class crystals inside of them, Markus did not intend on ‘wasting them’ by allowing them to be expended in single uses. He wanted to study and replicate them in a similar method to how he derived the fertility treatments and monster golems.

“Do you think you will be able to return home?” Aela asked curiously, “There were a lot of traitors and mercenaries working against us when we left.”

Hilda’s eyes turned downcast, “I honestly do not know. The betrayal of my uncle runs deeper than expected. It may take my mother years to retake the seat of her power. That is, of course, assuming the Prince even allows her to try…”

“What do you mean?” Aela asked, more than a little confused by the strange politics involved, “Why can’t she just take it back?”

Hilda’s face scrunched into an expression of distaste, “The Princes are always paranoid that a strong and popular Jarl will try to overthrow them. So they tend to encourage backstabbing and messy takeovers that weaken potential rivals…”

Aela frowned, “That sounds like it would make more people hate them, and have a taste for power,” she observed wryly.

Hilda nodded, “That is why I said the Prince ‘might’ allow mother to try and reclaim the Jarldom. If he does, then she will owe him a favour. Or he may allow one of his favourite courtiers to make the attempt for themselves.”

“And you want to go back to that?” Aela asked incredulously.

Hilda shrugged impassively, “It is what I was trained for since I was born,” she explained with a mild tone of resignation in her voice. “Enough being miserable,” Hilda slapped her cheeks lightly and stood a little straighter, “Do you want to spar? I have some extra energy to burn and don’t want to fall out of practice so close to the deadlands.”

“Alright,” Aela agreed happily, she had similar concerns herself and Hilda was a good sparring partner due to her ability to shrug off potentially lethal injuries.

After helping one another into their armour, they decided on practising with long-axes in order to be more creative with defensive techniques that didn’t involve a shield. Safe from any lethal injuries thanks to Markus’s enchantments, Aela only had to be careful of her exposed tail.

Hilda was one of the most tenacious opponents Aela had ever fought. Because of her Warrior Specializations, Hilda was capable of soaking hits as necessary to deliver her own practised fearless counters that Aela initially struggled to adjust to. However, Aela still had the edge on both strength and overall durability whenever Hilda was not actively burning through mana, which was something Aela could do herself if she were in a more reckless mood.

Markus returned a couple of hours into their practice, so Aela set him to work on some equipment carrying exercises to help bulk up his muscles. Sweating from the exertion, it didn’t take long before Markus stripped down to the waist in order to stay cool.

“They may not do much, you know that right?” Hilda stated good-naturedly before gulping down some water to refresh herself.

Aela frowned and furrowed her brow, “What do you mean?”

Hilda raised her hands placatingly, “Not everyone is able to pack on muscle. Some men, like my Phillipe, can only tone what they have. It’s bloodline related. Phillipe’s family are all on the slight side, even Kass, and she’s huge by their standards.”

Aela considered this for a few moments and nodded to show she understood the general concept, “So you think Markus’s family is like Phillipe’s?”

“I think so, yes,” Hilda agreed, “He is very wiry and doesn't put on weight despite eating a lot either. That is another family-related trait. Maybe focusing on helping Markus become lighter on his feet would be time better spent than struggling under muscle building exercises?”

“Maybe,” Aela agreed, seeing that Hilda was just trying to be helpful.

“That doesn’t mean stopping the strength training entirely, just knowing when enough is enough,” Hilda clarified before donning her helmet again.

After continuing their sparring for another hour, Aela decided to spend some more time with Markus and help him through his daily longsword and spear drills.

Spending an hour observing Markus’s technique and movements, Aela was inclined to agree with Hilda’s assessment. She had been doing Markus a disservice making him follow her rather brutish fighting style when he very obviously did not have the build to sustain it

“I think you should have Phillipe’s sister teach you her fighting style,” Aela sighed apologetically.

Unaware of her earlier conversation with Hilda, Markus took a moment to overcome his confusion, “What? Uh, why? Is there a particular reason?” He seemed a little hurt.

Feeling bad for her tactlessness, Aela quickly closed the distance between them and massaged his left shoulder reassuringly, “Nonono, it’s just that Hilda and I were talking about how you and Phillipe have…slimmer…body types, and that different exercises and training would suit you better.”

Mentioning his ‘slimness’ caused Markus to wince a little self consciously, but he nodded to show he understood. “I’ll ask her at dinner,” he agreed with a sigh before smiling a little again, “I guess that frees up the rest of my day then.”

Taking Aela and Hilda’s advice, Markus began training sessions with Kassandra during the mornings and Phillipe in the evenings. Kassandra was an adequate instructor, but a terrible sparring partner due to her overly competitive nature. Phillipe was much better as Markus’s sparring partner due to their similar build and lack of self-enhancing abilities. In spite of the fact that he was less skilled and not nearly as experienced, Markus was showing definite signs of catching up to Phillipe’s level by their third day of sparring.

“They are almost like brothers,” Hilda joked as Phillipe helped Markus to his feet, the pair of them grinning like happy idiots.

“They do,” Aela agreed with a smile.

“But I wonder if my poor Phillipe’s ego will be able to handle it when Markus wins their next match,” Hilda sighed with feigned concern.

“What do you mean?” Aela asked curiously.

Hilda looked surprised, “You didn’t see it?”

Aela shook her head.

“Markus tried something just near the end, it’s a complicated feint to get right, but it leaves your sword point in a ready position to drive home through a visor,” Hilda moved through the motions with exaggerated slowness, “Very hard to teach, harder to pull off in the middle of a fight.”

“But he lost?” Aela clarified.

Hilda nodded and grew quite serious, “Because his timing was off…and he aborted the feint partway through. He hadn’t intended to use it, but look, the boys are talking about it now and Phillipe is going to have Markus do it again.”

Sure enough, Markus and Phillipe began sparring again, this time more intensely than before. The tempo of the fight rapidly turned in Markus’s favour as he consistently gained ground against Phillipe, deflecting the supposedly more experienced swordsman's practice blade at the last moment and aggressively stepping into Phillipe’s guard before hip and shouldering him backwards, or delivering a quick jab or shove to Phillipe’s chest.

Three times in as many seconds, Markus had the edge of his blade pressed against Phillipe’s throat.

“I thought so…” Hilda muttered, “He has been trained before.”

Markus and Phillipe separated.

“Novice my arse!” Phillipe swore with a grin, “Where were you hiding those skills?”

Markus shrugged and grinned sheepishly, “I dunno, it just sort of came to me while you were smacking me around earlier.”

“That’s advanced swordsmanship Markus, it’s not the sort of thing you just improvise,” Phillipe chastised him.

Markus just shrugged.

“His amnesia…” Aela muttered, “The training must be bringing back memories of before his amnesia.”

“It’s possible,” Hilda agreed apprehensively, “But skills like that take years of practice and become second nature, you don’t just forget them like Markus did…”

Aela gnawed at her lip, unsure if she should confide in Hilda further, “There is more, Markus knows unarmed fighting…”

“How do you?...Oh,” Hilda blushed slightly and then grinned before turning to the boys, “Let’s see a brawl then!” She demanded raucously, “Shirts off boys!”

Looking at one another apprehensive for a moment, Phillipe shrugged at Markus and said something too quiet for Aela to make out. Stripping off their shirts and setting their training swords aside, Markus and Phillipe squared up against one another.

“That’s odd…” Hilda muttered.

Phillipe had taken a formal boxing stance, standing with his profile side on with one arm extended and the other guarding his chest, but Markus had hunched over and raised both forearms and fists in a strange guarding position in front of his face. Where Phillipe slowly edged forward, Markus bounced lightly on his toes, quickly stepping one way or another as Phillipe attempted to probe his guard.

Their dance continued for a good five minutes or so until Phillipe overextended ever so slightly too far forward. Markus immediately dashed past Phillipe’s guard, deflected a retaliatory blow with his right forearm and drove his left fist into Phillipe’s right kidney.

Phillipe staggered, held up one arm in defeat, and then it was over.

“He hits you?!” Hilda demanded incredulously.

“What? No!” Aela hissed irritably, “They were meant to wrestle, not punch each other!”

It took a moment for Aela’s words to sink in. “Oh…Sorry,” Hilda apologised, ‘You mean he can wrestle too?”

Aela nodded, “He isn’t strong, obviously, but Markus can do things…” She blushed, “He moves and can make you move places even though you are stronger…”

Hilda seemed a little sceptical at first but grew somewhat concerned, “Why is he trained to fight like this?” She muttered.

“What do you mean?” Aela asked, unsure of what could still be causing Hilda to be concerned, “Knowing how to fight isn't a big deal.”

Hilda remained silent and gave Aela an appraising look. “Martial arts can be divided into three groups, do you know that?” She asked quietly.

Aela shook her head. Everything she knew, she had learned from her mother.

“That is expected,” Hilda agreed, “There are techniques for fighting men, techniques for fighting monsters, and techniques for fighting both. What you know, what you are trained for, it says a ot about someone…Markus only seemed to know techniques for fighting humans, and that is rare, very rare…”

“What do you mean?” Aela demanded heatedly.

“There is only one kind of person who trains like that…” Hilda seemed sympathetic, “I think Markus may have been an assassin…”

“Ass-ass-in?” Aela wasn’t familiar with the word and tried to sound it out.

“An assassin is a professional killer,” Hilda tried to explain but Aela interrupted her before she could elaborate.

“Like a soldier,” Aela insisted bluntly.

Hilda winced, “No, not like a soldier-”

“Soldiers kill people,” Aela insisted doggedly.

“But in a very different way!” Hilda insisted right back, “Assassins are paid to kill one person at a time! No battlefield, no honour! Just a knife in the dark!”

Aela’s blood ran cold, “Leave…” She hissed quietly.

“Aela, I am sorry-” Hilda apologised and was ramping up to better explain herself, but Aela was having none of it.

“Leave…Now!” Aela snarled over her shoulder as she walked away and towards Markus.

“I did pretty good huh?” Markus chuckled, “All these exercises are really paying-” He let the sentence trail off as he noticed something was off, “Are you okay Aela?”

Aela forced herself to smile, “I’m fine, but we should get you to a bath, you're all sweaty!”

Not wholly convinced, nonetheless, Markus played along, “Well, that tends to happen after exercising all day,” he joked lightheartedly, “But seriously, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Hilda called you an honourless killer…” Aela muttered dejectedly.

“Oh…” Obviously not expecting that answer, Markus didn’t seem to know what to say. “Are you sure that’s what she said?” He didn’t seem overly convinced looking down at his own wiry frame.

“Ass-ass-in, that’s what she said you were,” Aela insisted angrily.

“Assassin?” Markus frowned thoughtfully and then flinched, “She could be right…” He admitted quietly.

Aela’s heart ached, “Don’t say that…”

Markus shook his head and hugged her, “That’s not what I meant,” he apologized, “I mean, the me before I lost my memories…It would explain a few things…” Markus rolled his shoulders and shivered.

Aela didn’t want to accept it, but with Markus taking Hilda’s side, she didn’t have much of a choice. Quietly walking back to their house, Aela took what solace she could in the fact that it was only who Markus had been and not the man he was now. Besides, there was probably another explanation they were all overlooking but just hadn’t found yet.

The Shadow-Maw clan arrived more or less when Aela thought they would. Their leader, Ivar, was only a little smaller in proportion than Beowulf, which was impressive given his ‘purebred’ status. More impressive was Ivar’s age and accomplishments, with five children and still fighting fit at seventy years of age.

Unlike Svala, Ivar made no attempts at testing Markus, content to gratefully accept the conditions for settling within his lands and wait for the fertility treatments to be made available for barter. The Shadow-Maw took Ivar’s lead, demonstrating their fierce loyalty to the clan hierarchy and a unity Aela had never seen within the Blood-Hunters.

Markus’s monster detection tower was making slow but steady progress. The special mud that held the bricks together needed to dry before new layers could be added on top, and the occasional light patches of rain had delayed that process considerably.

The latest supply train had lifted Markus’s spirits considerably. Consisting mostly of processed quartzite, it not only provided the missing pieces for his Monster Detection Artifice, but hundreds of beads that could be prepared so a militia could be armed to defend the colony if it became necessary.

As Markus had predicted, it hadn't taken long at all for the clans to begin making the most of the available job opportunities and stock up on many of the things the humans took for granted. Cookware was especially popular and so were quality axes and other forestry tools. Furthermore, just as Markus had promised, fur traders offered competitive prices for the clans’ stockpiles of hides and furs.

The best news of all was that the mercenary company that had been promised would begin arriving in the next few days. This was a particular relief for Markus due to not only the presence of the monsters and dungeons, but because he was excited to field test a number of monster hunting artifices that were intended to make it much easier for a regular human to coordinate with allies, detect monsters, and harvest them for their mana.

Aela had already been fitted for her own and quite liked them. Repurposing the hearing prosthetic artifice designed by the elderly tinkers, Markus had added a second wire band that suspended a small disc of quartzite by the wearer's mouth. This combined effect meant that anyone wearing the Communication Bands could speak with anyone else wearing a Communication Band attuned to the same Communication Relay Crystal.

The Communication Relay Crystal was not particularly interesting, but it was necessary for making the most of the Communication Bands. As Markus had described it, a mercenary would use their identification chit on their Communication band to mark it as theirs, and then do the same again with the Communication Relay Crystal to begin sending and receiving messages with the other mercenaries linked to the same Communication Relay Crystal.

Markus had also improved on his original Monster Detection Monocles, providing two of the monocles per set. The adjustable straps would allow them to be worn over helmets or around the head as needed. They impaired peripheral vision somewhat, but could be easily raised out the way or pulled off entirely if necessary. The Monster Detection Binoculars could also be connected to the Communication Relay Crystal to send images to a linked tablet, or a large panel like those in the A~W.

Markus had also been especially enchanting tablets specifically for the mercenaries to use to hunt down wandering monsters outside of the dungeons. Linked to the Monster Detection Artifice that would be deployed on top of the tower once it was completed, the tablets would be able to provide the mercenaries moment by moment updates on the monsters’ positions.

In addition to the artifices, Markus would also loan them the mana draining enchanted beads for their weapons, and broaches similar to those he had enchanted for their own incursion into the dungeon with the deranged boss monster in it. With the addition of two quartzite rods roughly the size of his forearm to serve as mana storage, Markus referred to it as the Monster Hunter Life Support Pack. This was in part due to Markus’s attempt at a bad pun due to the mana storage crystals being supplied in specially made hardened leather packs and the protective broaches drawing mana from the mana storage crystals.

Initially intending for the mercenaries to be taking all the risks, it hadn’t taken much persuading from Aela to allow the Clans’ hunters the same access to the monster hunting equipment and prospective bounties. However, Markus wouldn’t budge on waiting for the mercenaries before making their first move on the monsters roaming to the west in the mouth of the great valley.

Still upset with Hilda, Aela had been spending more time with her siblings, but that carried an emotional strain all its own as well. With their bellies growing larger by the day, Aela felt a keen envy for the Life-Mates of her siblings. Despite her own repeated efforts, Aela’s own belly remained flat and empty as ever.

Astrid and even Svala had made complaints about their pregnancies, regarding back pain or discomforts, but Aela could tell they were exaggerating to try and make her feel less left out. Aela knew this because they had all been making the same exaggerated overtures when Thyra or other young female chimaeras visited.

Feeling particularly dejected that evening, Aela went straight to bed without eating dinner. Markus joined her a short while later, illuminating the room just enough to lay his clothes out on the linens chest and slip into bed beside her.

“What’s wrong?” Markus asked quietly, “Is it your fight with Hilda? Because Phillipe told me she feels sorry for what she said and wants to app-”

“I want a baby…” Aela whimpered, tears running down her cheeks and into her pillow. “I…I thought I could wait, that just having you would be enough…I mean…” Aela winced, that hadn’t been what she meant, but it was difficult to keep her thoughts straight, “I just want…” She let out a frustrated sigh and rolled over to face Markus and apologize. This had been a lot to spring on him out of nowhere and Aela felt really bad about it. “Markus…I…” The words caught in her throat as Markus pulled her into a tight embrace.

“It’s okay,” Markus gently stroked her neck and back, “It’s okay,” he repeated cooing softly, “I understand.”

Aela buried her face in Markus’s chest and cried, letting out great heaving sobs as tears continued streaming from her eyes. Markus held her and continued whispering that everything was alright, gently rocking her all the while and eventually Aela fell asleep in his arms.

When Aela woke up late the next morning, she caught Markus sitting on the edge of the bed and unless Aela was seeing things, determinedly staring at his own nethers. Strange enough in itself, Markus made it that much stranger by wearing the intense expression that indicated he was lost in deep thought.

Worried that perhaps she may have hurt him during the night, although feeling quite fragile, Aela carefully crawled up beside him just to confirm what was going on. Besides the silvery scars she was already familiar with, Aela saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Still lost in his thoughts, Markus hadn’t noticed Aela yet and seemed to be actively contemplating something, moving his lips ever so slightly as he began approaching a conclusion to whatever he was thinking about. Taking a few seconds to blink, Markus shivered and determinedly set his jaw before letting out a strangled yelp and nearly jumping out of his skin upon noticing Aela sitting next to him.

“Oh…Aela…” Markus clutched at his chest and was breathing hard, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there, I was-”

“Thinking?” Aela interjected with mild amusement, “I saw,” her eyes lowered to his groin and lingered for a moment before meeting his eyes again.

Markus’s cheeks and ears reddened, but rather than making excuses for himself, Markus just shrugged.

“Thank you, for last night I mean,” Aela wrung her hands in her lap, “I was just a little overwhelmed…and jealous…” She admitted truthfully, “I don’t want you to think you aren’t enough…I don’t want to lose you Markus…I love you.”

Markus leaned over and kissed Aela’s lips briefly before resting his forehead against hers, their eyes less than a finger's breadth apart, “I love you too Aela, and I am not going anywhere,” Wrapping his arms around Aela, he guided her down to the bed and kissed her again.

Watching Markus’s chest gently rise and fall while he dozed next to her, Aela’s thought slowly returned to his peculiar fixation from earlier. “Why were you staring at your…You know…” She blushed, suddenly feeling self-conscious as Markus gave her his full attention.

Blinking uncomprehendingly for a moment, Markus smiled a little and snorted self-deprecatingly as he nodded to show he knew what Aela was referring to. “Phillipe was telling me about something he had done for Hilda to make their…uh…lovemaking…more special, ahern. And I was thinking maybe it might-”

“You’re all the special I need,” Aela interrupted, kissing Markus gently on the cheek before resting her head on his shoulder.

Markus’s skin grew hot to the touch. “Herm, well, uh, that’s not what I was going to suggest…” He rambled, “I was just going to say that it might be part of a solution to our, erm, ‘problem’.”

“Problem?” It took Aela a moment to realise what Markus was referring to. “A baby?” Suddenly Aela was wide awake, “You found a way for us to have a baby?!” scrambling, she got into a kneeling position so she could better see Markus’s face.

“Well, yeah,” Markus agreed, “Depending on what our problem is. For all I know, we might just be getting unlucky. You know, regular humans don’t get pregnant on the first try like chimaeras do.”

“And this thing Phillipe did? What is it? How will it help?” Aela demanded eagerly.

While incredibly supportive just a moment before, Markus flinched and squirmed uncomfortably, his left hand protectively moving to shield his groin. “It’s like those bone piercings some of the chimaeras have,” Markus explained uncomfortably, “Only made of metal and, herm, down there…”

The manic eagerness and anticipation rapidly drained out of Aela as she realised what Markus was suggesting, “No!” Aela stated flatly.

“No?” Markus replied uncertainly, “No, what?”

“No, I won’t have you mutilate yourself!” Aela refused adamantly.

“Well, there is the chance of infection,” Markus agreed quietly, “But Phillipe said he had a Priest take care of it…had it all sorted in under an hour…” Mentioning the Priest triggered his subconscious tremors and a momentary spike in adrenaline.

Realising what Markus was suggesting, Aela felt deeply touched, but that only made her more resolved to stand by her decision. “No mutilation,” Aela repeated firmly.

Markus shifted uncomfortably and looked surprisingly conflicted before eventually nodding slightly in agreement, “It was just a thought,” he conceded with a relieved sigh.

“It’s sweet that you would offer,” Aela consoled Markus, kissing his brow and then laying back down beside him.

“For us, you mean?” Markus corrected with a cheeky grin, “The baby would be ours, Aela, not just yours.”

Aela puffed out her cheeks and pretended to pout, flicking her tongue into Markus’s face for good measure.

Unfortunately, with the first wave of mercenaries due to arrive around midday, Markus didn’t want to spend all day in bed. So they got dressed, pilfered the cold cellar for some preserved meats and set about organising the golems to make sure the storage building was ready to handle requisitions.

As generally infallible as the golems were, they functioned heavily off of precedent and needed to be taught the correct way to do something before they could be trusted to handle any given task independently without supervision. So Markus and Aela spent a couple of hours thinking of potential scenarios the quartermaster golems might have to deal with and explaining the preferred means of handling them. Aela handled potential scenarios involving the chimaeras, while Markus focused on hypotheticals involving the mercenaries, and they both collaborated on incidents involving both parties.

Receiving a message from Phillipe confirming the arrival of the first mercenary caravan, Markus and Aela patiently waited outside of the storage building. While waiting, Markus sent a message to Yiva, requesting that both Magnus and Ivar attend a meeting with the mercenary’s senior officers in order to become more familiar with one another.

The senior mercenary officers would be provided with an accommodation similar to what Markus and Aela were staying in inside of the inner bailey walls, while the junior officers and rank and file would be given temporary lodgings in a designated space in the town. So it wasn’t all that surprising that Magnus and Ivar arrived first. No doubt the officers were making sure their camp was secure before moving on. As men and women who fought and died explicitly for coin, it wasn't exactly out of character to be protective of belongings they shed blood for.

Sure enough, an open wagon with Phillipe, three other men, two women and five children entered the inner bailey and stopped at a trio of larger buildings. While they unloaded the wagon and began moving themselves in, Phillipe patiently waited for them to finish and then escorted two of the men and one of the women to introduce them to everyone.

“This is Lord Markus and his paramour, Aela,” Phillipe mentioned respectfully to each of them in turn before moving on, “And this is Magnus, proxy and representative of Svala, chieftess of the Blood-Hunter clan-”

Magnus puffed himself up proudly, releasing a low growl and exposing some teeth.

Phillipe pretended not to notice Magnus’s blatant posturing and continued with the introductions, “And this is Ivar, leader and chieftain of the Shadow-Maw-”

Ivar nodded to Phillip and then to the eldest of the three mercenaries, perhaps assuming he was their leader.

“I am Gerard,” the broad-shouldered and grey-maned mercenary bowed stiffly, “Grand Master of the Fighting Geese mercenary company, and this is my second, Colonel Victoria, and my son, Albert, currently serving as an infantry Commander.”

Albert, who looked to be in his early thirties and bore a strong resemblance to his father, with the notable exception of black hair and the near-complete absence of wrinkles.

The woman, Victoria, was perhaps in her early forties and had a stocky frame with no shortage of muscle. With light brown hair clipped short to match the men, it really served to enhance her sharp eyes and active disposition.

With the introductions out of the way, Markus briefly outlined what the mercenaries first mission would be and the artifices he could offer as support.

Gerard remained predominantly quiet throughout, allowing his subordinates to ask follow up questions or other inquiries on their own initiative. It wasn’t until Victoria and Albert had exhausted their curiosity that Gerard became more involved.

“It will take two months for the remaining majority of my men to muster, so I want to be absolutely certain. You received a written confirmation of our contract and are aware of what a breach entails?” Gerard asked grimly.

“I have,” Markus confirmed, “And the Irongate Merchant Consortium has agreed to serve as guarantor. I do have one request for amendment though,” he withdrew a rolled parchment from his shirt.

Gerard’s expression remained unchanged while he waited to hear out Markus’s suggested amendment.

Quickly scanning the document, Markus found what he was looking for and held it out so the Grand Master would see what he was referring to, “Under compensation for death and dismemberment-”

Gerard frowned, “Compensation rates are non-negotiable,” he stated flatly.

“Ah, no, that’s not what I wanted to discuss,” Markus insisted a little irritably, “So, under compensation for death and dismemberment. It states what does and does not qualify as sufficiently debilitating for forced retirement and payout.”

Gerard’s frown deepened, but he remained silent.

“I want to know if providing an adequately functional prosthetic would qualify to reduce the payment and keep the man or woman in question in active service,” Markus explained patiently.

Gerard shook his head, “The rate of compensation already accounts for the provision of a trusted supplier of prosthetics. This also includes the payment for recharging the prosthetics as needed through retirement.”

“Do you have any soldiers on active duty with prosthetics?” Markus asked curiously.

“Not on combat duty, no,” Gerard replied impassively.

“Because the mana expenditure is too expensive and unreliable to replace?” Markus guessed.

“That is the short of it,” Gerard agreed.

“What if I was able to provide the mana for recharging the prosthetics?” Markus suggested.

Gerard’s expression looked doubtful, “You would need to be a high-level Artificer to make it at all worthwhile,” he replied sceptically.

Markus nodded in agreement, “Or have the means of sourcing it from elsewhere,” he countered.

Gerard frowned again, his brow creasing slightly in confusion.

“All the artifices I am lending you run off of mana. Some consume more than others, but they all require mana in order to function,” Markus explained, “Did you think I was personally recharging all of them?” He chuckled a little and shook his head, “That would be incredibly time consuming and tedious.”

Gerard only seemed more confused as he waited for Markus to explain himself.

“I think you have misunderstood part of the reason you are here. You and your soldiers aren’t just here to kill monsters, you are here to use my artifices to harvest the monsters for mana. It’s the mana that you are being paid for,” Markus explained.

Gerard looked shocked.

“It’s true,” Phillipe confirmed, “Markus’s monster-slaying enchantment rips the mana right out of them.”

Markus went into a more detailed explanation of how each piece of the Monster Hunter Artifices worked and how the mercenaries could return Mana Storage Crystals to the banking office in town for immediate payment. The bank also had a number of Artifice Reinvigoration Stations with low, but still profitable rates.

After following Phillipe to the banking house to confirm things for themselves, the trio of mercenaries returned and agreed to renegotiate the disputed clause. Still unaware of what Markus was capable of, Phillipe suggested Gerard send for one of his men with a prosthetic so Markus could demonstrate what would be on offer as compensation.

Gerard complied and sent his son to fetch one of their quartermasters, an older merc on non-combat duties.

The quartermaster’s prosthetic leg was simple but functional, although the cane he used to help keep his balance made it clear that it was far from living up to its organic counterpart. Spending just a few minutes, Markus drastically altered the functionality of the leg, bringing the balding middle-aged quartermaster to tears as he took what must have been his first unaided steps in years.

“That’s all I can do without toes,” Markus apologized, motioning to the shoe-shaped foot of the prosthetic. “I would recommend Mr Fabien’s and Mrs Irene’s prosthetics,” he pointed to the golem crafting hall, “They can make one with a custom matching fit, articulation…and toes.” Markus waved over one of the golems currently returning from an errand, “Show them your foot.”

The golem obediently removed its boot and held out its foot.

“One of Markus’s Golems,” Phillipe explained, “We dress them up to keep the labourers at ease.”

The four mercenaries gawked as the golem proceeded to remove its hat and scarf revealing its otherwise largely bare face.

“If you have so many golems, why do you need us?” Gerard demanded.

“The golems are a safety net,” Markus explained, “They protect the workers and my family. You are the soldiers and will be well paid for completing the bounties alongside our chimaera allies. I don’t ‘need’ you and your men, but I would definitely prefer it. In the forest to the east is a force of roughly one thousand roaming monsters of varying levels between five and thirty. There are also seven dungeons that are most likely responsible for most of those monsters. If golems could reliably clear dungeons, we probably wouldn’t have a problem, but-”

“They go crazy and start murdering everything in sight,” Gerard interjected now understanding precisely why Markus was being so generous in providing them with equipment.

“Exactly,” Markus agreed. “I’m not a soldier, I won’t even pretend to know the first thing about real tactics and strategy. But I want those monsters gone so I can cordon off the dungeons, and I want it done in such a way that won't have a ravenous horde crashing against the half rebuilt walls of my town and castle. Can you and your men be trusted to do that?”

Gerard straightened his back and determinedly set his chin, “Of course!”

“Then we can work together,” Markus agreed, “The bounties will become active in twenty-four hours. It would be best if all of your men are registered by this evening, and your officers attend a demonstration for how the artifices I am loaning you work in about an hour. Is this agreeable?”

Gerard nodded, “I will see to it,” he agreed sternly before leading Victoria and Albert back in the direction of the town.

“Thank you!” The quartermaster bowed low, wringing his cloth cap in his hands before quickly ambling after Gerard, his cane left behind and forgotten by the bench.

“Why not just let us at the dungeons?” Magnus hissed irritably, forever selfish and ungrateful.

Markus coldly stared Magnus down, “If even a single dungeon is attempted without my approval, NO ONE gets the fertility treatments Magnus, and I will be damned sure to make sure they know you are the reason why. Do you understand me?”

Magnus took a step back and stared at Markus, eyes wide and mouth agape, like he had just been slapped across the face.

Markus’s expression softened as he turned to Ivar, “I know it seems harsh, but until the treatments begin circulating and people realise my way is far better for everyone, I just can’t risk it.”

Ivar bowed his head respectfully and nodded, “I understand. I was told you created several treatments from a single core?”

Markus nodded.

“Then it would be wasteful to allow such wanton selfishness!” Ivar growled, eyeing Magnus dangerously before returning his attention to Markus, “I will see to it that our hunters behave while working alongside your hired swords.” Ivar bowed low again to Markus and then Aela, nodded to Phillipe and gave Magnus a final baleful glare before taking his leave.

Magnus left immediately afterwards but made sure to incidentally keep as much distance between himself and Ivar as possible, meandering around piles of rubble or lumber he could have otherwise effortlessly climbed right over.

“I hope you don't take offence,” Phillipe apologized, “But I find him deeply unpleasant.”

Markus grunted in agreement.

“No offence taken,” Aela muttered, her excitement at seeing Markus so assertive, now tarnished by Magnus's childishness. Still, it had been another thrill all its own to see Magnus brought low like that. The only question was what he might try in order to satiate his wounded ego.