Chapter 16

Watching Lash pin and latch the slave collar around the Swamp Lurker’s neck all on her own, I was reminded that she was a great deal more flexible than I am and a great deal more reckless. She had stripped her armour before making the attempt, but her furtive glances in my direction made her motives questionable.

“You did it,” I confirmed after quickly checking Lash’s Status, “You should be able to unlock the Rulership Class now.”

Lash grinned and nodded. It was just the two of us out here in the swamp. Technically, the Serpent-Kin hunting parties were out here somewhere too, but I hadn’t seen any of them in more than twenty minutes or so. “Accept!” She declared excitedly and looked to me for confirmation.

After a few moments, Lash’s class changed. However, it was not what I had expected.

[Class: Deep Orc Warden. +1 Toughness, +5 MP. ] [Exp: 0/25000 ]

[(Class Ability: Eminence): Monsters slain by minions within range of a Settlement Totem generate bonus EXP that may be awarded through {Quests}. {Willpower} increases the range of Effect. Stored EXP:(352200)]

[(Class Ability: Bastion {Rank 0}): Expend MP to generate a temporary {Barrier} that expels enemies and negates hostile {Spells}. {Toughness/Willpower} increases the range of effect.]

[(Class Ability: Hearthguard {Rank 0}): Deal additional damage and take reduced damage when fighting within range of a Settlement Totem. Expend MP to temporarily share the effect with nearby [Group] members.]

I read the changes aloud to Lash since she otherwise would not have known what they did. She seemed...conflicted. It was rather obvious that Lash was disappointed by the absence of any offensive abilities. However, she was also intrigued by the defensive benefits of the Class Abilities themselves.

I was actually somewhat glad Lash had gotten the Eminence ability. Even though it may be a standard class feature or something, it had great potential for the development of Sanctuary and its citizens. Assuming Gric had it as well, which was something I made a note to check on a bit later, that meant there were three of us gathering bonus EXP for making quests with.

“Bastion!” Lash cried determinedly, thoroughly catching me off guard. A violet near-translucent sphere pulsed outward and stopped at roughly twenty-five feet in diameter. The barrier had displaced a number of fish from the nearby body of water, but it was already beginning to fade.

I had originally assumed bastion would last much longer, but it was only Rank zero, so I suppose it made sense to not be that amazing. Even so, being able to displace enemies like that would doubtless prove very useful in any sort of fight. Especially considering the number of times Lash would be able to use it before evolving.

Right, that reminds me.

“Lash?” I asked, trying to get her attention.

Lash stopped antagonising the captured Swamp Lurker and, still grinning, gave me a curious look.

“Have you and your people been consuming manastones?” It was intended to be a rather innocuous question, but the response surprised me.

Lash shifted uncomfortably and avoided eye contact, “No,” she replied bluntly.

“Didn’t Gric...” I just realised the problem.

The Daemons were following the rule regarding manastone consumption like clockwork, and it was for a few different reasons. Firstly, their drive to become stronger was damn near an addiction unto itself. Secondly, Sanctuary’s Totem actually functioned with my intent to implement and support the law. To this end, the Totem created a timer that would count down until a citizen would be ‘allowed’ to consume their next manastone. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Daemons could read the timer...

This explained a lot of things. I had simply assumed that everyone had been following the rule and were just really close to evolving. Apparently not. Running Jacque’s equation through my head I just had to shrug and give Lash the most simplified method to follow. “Until you evolve, you should be able to take one manastone in the morning, midday and then in the evening. Alright?”

Lash nodded and seemed relieved. She hastily began donning her armour for the walk back to sanctuary.

“You are quite close already, it probably won’t take many manastones before you can evolve,” I explained reassuringly.

I was actually beginning to have doubts about what Jacque had told me regarding the manastone addiction. Specifically, that it extended to the specially named monsters at all and wasn’t just something suffered by Awakened. I had no proof, but it was entirely possible that Jacque had told a partial lie to make me accept the more important truth regarding myself and the addictive relationship Awakened had with manastones.

It felt true...But there had to be a reason for it. The only thing I could think of was that as Earthlings, assuming Jacque was even from Earth, there was something about us that made us react differently to the manastones. Maybe they were just inherently addictive and we had no tolerance for it?

There were too many unknowns, and this entire situation was so bizarre that just about anything could be possible.

“Something is wrong?” Lash asked, now having fully donned her armour again, she looked ready for a fight.

I shook my head distractedly, “No, just thinking about something,” I replied and slowly began walking back to Sanctuary.

Lash easily caught me up in a matter of moments, the recently tamed Swamp Lurker slung casually over her shoulder. After we drew closer to Sanctuary, Lash turned her helmet toward me in a way that made it obvious she wanted to ask something.

“What is it?” I asked somewhat awkwardly, suddenly painfully aware that it was just the two of us out here.

Apparently, it was Lash’s turn to be awkward, as she very nearly tripped on an only somewhat concealed tree root. “Want to spar with you,” Lash admitted bluntly, “Tim is strong and I want to be strong too.”

I couldn’t help but stare at Lash incredulously for a moment before remembering that she was not able to read her own stats or status. Even though Lash’s Toughness was lower, she had far more Agility and only had one point lower in Strength. To say that she was weaker than me was highly subjective. Besides, if we were to spar I already knew Lash would come out the victor. It wasn’t because we were disproportionately matched, although I am sure her naturally higher Agility would make scoring hits far easier. It was because, “I don’t hit girls,” I replied bluntly.

Lash’s helmet cocked to the side, her expression within unreadable. “Why?” She asked with a hint of anger in her tone.

“My Mum made me promise not to,” I replied sincerely. It had been an easy promise to keep thus far. Before being transported to the Labyrinth, members of the opposite sex hadn’t wanted anything to do with me. Whether they were repulsed or afraid of me, it didn’t make much difference. With no women in my life besides my Mum and her hospice nurse, neither of whom were antisocial antagonistic misfits, I kept my promise till the day I died. Keeping that promise in the Labyrinth had been just as easy for different reasons.

Lash was quiet for a short while before loudly clearing her throat, “Mum is?” She asked uncertainly.

“My mother, the woman who took care of me, who raised me,” I explained.

“Hrm,” Lash was quiet for a short while again. “Why not fight females?” She asked bluntly, a hint of challenge in her tone.

“Because...” I was surprised to find I didn’t have a good answer to Lash’s question that would make sense in regards to this world. Sexual dimorphism in the monsters I had seen thus far had only extended to sexual characteristics. Males and females of the same species appeared to have the same general potential for putting on muscle and both were roughly the same in height potential as well. Maybe it is because the monsters lay eggs? But why do female humanoid monsters have breasts if all newborns are capable of eating solids?

“Where I came from, males were usually bigger and stronger than females,” I tentatively began to explain, “Males hurting females is considered as shameful as hurting children.”

“Why?” Lash asked, her tone more antagonistic than before, “Not fighting females makes them weak. Weak females breed weaker offspring. Makes the clan weaker, vulnerable.”

I wanted to argue with her, but Lash sort of had a point. In the context of the Labyrinth, denying someone the opportunity to increase their stats through fighting was likely to get them killed. I sighed and nodded, agreeing and conceding to her point. Still, the idea of hitting Lash didn’t sit well with me. Beating on someone you had feelings for seemed...wrong.

As if sensing my continued resistance, Lash changed tact. “Wrestle instead?” She offered slyly, perhaps having intended the spar to take the form of a wrestling match from the beginning.

My cheeks flushed and I pretended to scan the nearby swamp to hide my embarrassment, “Fine,” I agreed. I had already told Hana that I would give Lash a chance, and since fighting seems to be one of her core interests, I supposed wrestling would approximate to a suitable activity for a first date.

After returning to Sanctuary, Lash left the Swamp Lurker near the cooking fires and we both headed to the training grounds. At Lash’s request, and my general direction and description, Hana had erected light barriers to form rough staging areas for sparring and other forms of training. It was mostly just short fences of raised roots, but Lash seemed pleased by the more orderly arrangement.

“So what rules should we use?” I asked Lash since it was her idea. We were standing opposite one another in one of the allotted spaces with thick moss covering the ground. It would help absorb some of the kinetic force and lessen the impacts when one of us threw or pinned the other to the ground.

“Surrender or defeat!” Lash insisted with a grin, removing the last of her armour and stowing it outside the fence.

Right...I should have expected something like that. I sighed and nodded, stripping off my tunic, and after some considerably intense internal debate, removed my pants as well. As embarrassing and awkward as it would be to wrestle in my underwear, I didn’t have clothes to spare and I had the impression that Lash was planning to be rough.

Besides, it wasn’t like most Serpent-Kin weren’t walking around in just their underwear most of the time anyway, and the Deep Orcs probably would too if they didn’t have their weird obsession with always wearing their heavy armour.

Catching Lash giving me an appraising look, I shifted uncomfortably as I felt her eyes wandering over my body.

Ugh, is this what I had been doing to her? I felt a sudden shiver run through my body, but rather than feeling scared or sick, I was...excited? I felt incredibly twitchy and on edge, incredibly aware of the blood being pumped through my veins and around my body. I honestly hadn’t felt like this since puberty.

Since...puberty...Oh...Things were beginning to make much more sense. Despite the looming dangers and near-constant stress the Labyrinth was throwing my way, I couldn’t really remember a time where I had been less depressed. Speaking with Hana had helped process some things, but I also couldn’t help but think the Mana-well was partially responsible as well. Rather than antidepressants, I was getting small mood lifters while I was sleeping. So of course, feeling far less depressed and not taking antidepressants, would naturally result in a rather abrupt return of other hormones.

Seeing the eagerness in Lash’s eyes, I obviously wasn’t the only one under the sway of hormones. Maybe wrestling was a bad idea after all?

Lash took her position opposite me and waited for the signal to announce the beginning of our bout.

“Begin-” No sooner had I begun to speak, Lash leapt forward and closed the small gap between us almost instantly.

Having lowered herself closer to the ground, Lash was attempting to sweep up from underneath my guard to wrap her arms around my midsection and drive me to the ground.

Lacking her Agility and overall flexibility, I decided on a low-risk gambit and waited for Lash to make her attempted tackle. However, once her shoulder slammed into my lower chest, I hooked my arms over Lash’s back and in one smooth motion heaved her off the ground. Pivoting on the spot, I straightened my back as I spun on the spot and slammed both our bodies to the ground.

My gambit had paid off and Lash was too stunned by the sudden change in events, reacting sluggishly as I broke free of her grip and straddled her back. Hooking my arms under her armpits and taking a firm grip around the back of her neck, I successfully established a full-nelson hold and pinned Lash to the ground.

Try as she might, Lash was unable to break my hold, and after struggling for close to a minute, relaxed, “Yield!” She grunted in frustration.

Immediately, a gold status alert appeared in front of my eyes.

[Congratulations! You have completed {Sparring!} and have earned 0 EXP! ]

That was about what I had expected. The combination of a non-lethal challenge and the fact that Lash was considered a much weaker lower level monster.

I blinked away the status alert then let Lash go and scuttled backwards before hastily getting to my feet.

Lash leapt to her feet almost immediately. To my surprise, she was far from angry, quite the opposite. Lash had a broad grin and an unmistakable hunger in her eyes.

That look sent a fresh wave of electrifying chills through my body and I realized that I was grinning right back at her.

Squaring up, we prepared to wrestle again.

The next seven bouts followed more or less the same pattern. Lash would attempt a direct tackle or takedown. However, I would then use an established counter or leverage my substantially higher weight to power through and break any hold she managed to make. Once Lash was tired out, it was easy to establish a hold of my own and force her to yield.

Visibly flagging now, Lash was breathing hard and her movements had become quite stiff and stilted. All the same, Lash was still incredibly eager for the contest to continue.

Squaring up for what was shaping up to be the last bout, I was almost painfully aware of how untired I felt. Granted, I was better trained and a more experienced wrestler in a higher weight class, but Lash was no slouch and to be so thoroughly exhausted was strange.

Lash lurched forward as she had done seven times before, only this time she was attempting to grapple my shoulders rather than trying to tackle my legs, waist or chest.

Meeting her challenge head-on, I caught Lash’s hands with my own and pushed forward to brace against her forward momentum. Unfortunately, Lash had not followed through on her grapple as I had expected.

Instead, Lash suddenly threw her not inconsiderable weight backwards, leapt off the ground and wrapped her legs tightly around my waist then sent us both crashing to the ground. Disengaging her hands from our grapple, Lash hooked her arms around my back and pulled herself tight against me, her amethyst eyes boring intently into mine.

*Crack*

With no warning, Lash had snapped her head forward and smacked our heads together. Temporarily stunned, I was unable to react as she leaned in, closed her eyes and pressed her lips against mine in a fierce kiss.

Even after overcoming my surprise, I didn’t pull away. Partly because it would be close to impossible, but mostly because I didn’t want to. With absolutely no idea what I was doing, I tried to mimic Lash’s affections as best as I was able. Even though I didn’t have her enlarged wolf-like canines, Lash didn’t seem to mind.

Sometime later, Lash let me go and I reluctantly pulled away.

All at once I became paralysed by embarrassment. In the heat of the moment, I had completely forgotten where we were and the fact that there had been close to three to four dozen spectators gathered by the end of our seventh bout. Even though nobody was jeering or laughing at us, I still felt incredibly self-conscious.

“Wow,” the amused and impressed comment immediately drew my attention. Hana had her arms crossed over her chest and was smirking at me in wry amusement, “You know, I didn’t think you would actually go through with it. But it’s nice to see Nadine and Clarice were right.”

Lash took this opportunity to sit herself up, demonstrating both her immense core strength as well as reminding me that her legs were still wrapped around my waist. “Overseer approves,” she growled softly while staring into my eyes intently. Draping one arm over my shoulder and the other around my chest, Lash leaned in and kissed the right side of my neck. Or I assumed that was what she was doing, I couldn’t really see and was distracted by the firm yet yielding pressure against my chest.

However, a sudden jolt of pain from the meat of my shoulder abruptly seized my undivided attention.

Lash pulled herself back far enough that I could smell the blood on her breath and see it dribbling down her canines onto her lips.

“You bit me?!” I demanded incredulously, unable to stop myself from shivering as waves of adrenaline began crashing through my veins.

Lash was smiling and exposed her own neck, pressing herself towards my mouth.

I tried recoiling in horror, yet Lash was firmly locked onto me and all I managed to accomplish was falling backwards and forcing both of us back onto the ground. I had half a mind to bite her back out of spite but resisted the impulse. “What the hell are you doing?!” I demanded, forced to angle my face away just so I could speak.

“It’s an Orc bonding ritual!” Hana called out in surprise, “She wants you to bite her back.”

Lash took this as her opportunity to jam her trapezius muscle into my mouth, eliminating any real degree of choice in my participation.

I vaguely recalled seeing similar scarred bite marks on a couple of the other Deep Orcs. Not that I had suspected they were scarring one another deliberately.

Cradling my head with one arm, Lash flexed and pressed herself against me more insistently. Likewise, her thighs began crushing my midsection like a vice.

A sudden flare of pain from my right side, very likely from my kidney, made me involuntarily tense in turn. Confused and in pain, an all too familiar hunger suddenly reared up in my mind. I hadn’t had breakfast yet, but it felt like an eternity since I last had anything to eat.

The taste of copper splashed over my tongue and far too late, I realized what I had done.

Lash shuddered and I bodily threw myself away from her, the sickly sweet smell of her blood intoxicating my senses and causing the yawning pit of my hunger to become more insistent.

Despite her badly bleeding shoulder, Lash was grinning ear to ear, revealing her own bloody teeth.

As another wave of hunger crashed into my senses, I shuddered and my shoulder began to ache, “FOOD!” I snarled savagely, “I NEED FOOD!”

Everything became hazy for a while and I struggled to remember what exactly happened. All I could manage was the vague impression that I had been eating; a lot. Even now, I could see a half dozen of the woven food baskets scattered around me in various states of disrepair. Reaching for my shoulder, I could feel a thick crust of dried blood. Judging by the wide trails running down my chest, I figured Lash must have a powerful anticoagulant in her saliva.

Reminded that I had bitten Lash as well, I looked around worriedly and found that I was more or less alone. I was still sitting in the same partitioned section of the training grounds, but everyone else was gone.

I could see the usual comings and goings over by the cooking fires, so I figured that there was no imminent emergency and that the crowd simply had other places to be.

Getting to my feet, I stiffly made my way over to the Grove. I needed to wash all of this blood off and the cool water would help me think. When I got there, I found Hana relaxing by the fountain. With more than a few questions I needed her to answer, I decided to put off the bath.

“Are you feeling better?” Hana asked with obvious concern before I had a chance to ask a question of my own. She had begun asking the question before even turning around, a reminder that Hana always seemed to be aware of my movements within Sanctuary and its surrounding environs.

“I don’t know,” I replied somewhat coldly, “Do you want to tell me exactly why Lash bit me?!” I was finding it really hard to stay calm. Spending more time with Lash had been Hana’s idea and it was obvious that she was aware that something like this could happen.

Hana flinched but made a point of looking me in the eyes, “I didn’t know she was going to do that,” she insisted firmly, likely guessing what I was thinking.

“You said it was a bonding ritual,” I prompted firmly, already suspecting I knew the gist of the motivation.

Visibly struggling to maintain eye contact, Hana nodded. “The Forest Orcs marked each other with their teeth to show other Orcs that they were already...well...taken.” She shifted uncomfortably and her cheeks flushed, “It means Lash wants you to be her mate...” Hana gulped hard and looked away, “And...and when you bit her back...it meant you accepted...”

The first thought I had was hardly productive, wildly missing the point and conflating an Australianism with Hana’s more scientific use of the word. I could do little more than stare at Hana incredulously for over a full minute before finally getting my thoughts together to try and fix this. “You need to talk to her,” I croaked, “What Lash did is not okay...”

Hana nodded, “I already did...But, uh, I doubt she cares...”

“WHAT?!” I snapped, more from surprise and frayed nerves than genuine anger.

“Lash, well, the thing you need to know about Orcs is that they really aren’t that sophisticated...and when you bit her back...well...” Hana trailed off lamely before finding her nerve again, “When you bit Lash back, it was a very big deal. Her biting you was just a sign of intent...You biting her back wasn’t just reciprocation...it, uh, it sealed the bond...It’s even reflected in both your stat.”

After staring at Hana blankly for a few moments, I numbly sought out my own status and tried to make what I was looking at make sense.

[Bonded Mate/s: Lash {Deep Orc Drudge 5}.]

[Bloodline: {Tyrant 0} +1 Willpower.] [Bloodline Progeny: None.]

The first section was not hard to understand, I had already seen something similar on a few of the Deep Orcs and adult Serpent-Kins statuses. It was the second line that threw me. Tyrant Bloodline? What the hell is that? The negative connotations of tyranny made the bonus Willpower a small consolation.

Trying my best to remain calm, I turned my attention back to Hana, “Do you know what Bloodlines are?” I asked stiffly.

Hana shook her head, “No,” she replied quietly, “I have never seen anything like that before and there is nothing like that in the information I gained from the Totem.” Hana trembled slightly and clenched her fists, “Tim, I’m sorry I didn’t mean for anything like this t-” She suddenly stiffened and stood bolt upright, her head swivelling to the south, “A large number of Humans just appeared a short distance from our walls!” Hana exclaimed, her expression deadly serious and devoid of the uncertainty and guilt from earlier.

Responsibility for the people in my care took precedence, so I forced my aggravation down and gave Hana my full attention. “Try and find out who they are, I am going to recall the hunting parties.”

Hana nodded and slipped into a trance-like state, waves of emerald mana pulsing from her body like a sonar.

Rushing from the Grove I beelined for the cooking fires and snatched the first Daemon I came across, “Find Gric, tell him a large number of humans have been detected to the south of Sanctuary. We don’t know their motives, so I want everyone to be ready for a fight should it come to it!”

Knowing the Daemon would convey the message to the best of its ability, I ran off towards the swamp. With no idea regarding what the humans wanted, I wasn’t going to risk any of my people getting ganked out in the wilds. Issuing a quest to muster near Sanctuary’s gate while I was on the move, I still wasn’t willing to leave it to chance. Hearing the shouts and cries from the different hunting parties in the distance, I did my best to head towards them as fast as I was able.

Three of the four hunting parties had already gathered together with their sleds and were waiting on the last by the time I reached them.

“Where is the last group?” I demanded, trying to project both a sense of urgency and calm at the same time.

“To the ssouth wesst Lord,” one of the Serpent-Kin party leaders declared nervously, pointing in the approximate direction.”

“Head back to Sanctuary,” I ordered, “I will join the last group and see them back myself.”

The hunters looked like they wanted to argue, but bowed their heads and obediently began making their way back to Sanctuary.

Rushing off in the direction of the final group, it only now occurred to me that I had left Sanctuary without a weapon. With the distinct possibility of lives being on the line, I forced the thought from my mind. Worst comes to worst I would just have to use my fists. Every second right now could be the difference between life and death.

Hearing cries of alarm and unmistakably human shouts from up ahead, I took a risk and redoubled my pace. The sodden ground of the swamplands was treacherous even while walking, running on it was really taking my life into my own hands. Even so, I only had a half dozen slips and trips by the time the hunting group came into view, so it was more than worth it.

The five Serpent-Kin were cornered by what looked like close to ten human soldiers. Their matching equipment and deferment to a single authority figure made it incredibly unlikely that they were adventurers.

One member of the hunting party was nursing a wounded arm, the shaft and fletching of an arrow protruding between his fingers. The sight of it made me incredibly angry, almost to the point that I couldn’t hear what the lead human soldier was saying.

“-I said, take me to your village! You miserable cretins!” The lead soldier hissed angrily, “If I have to ask again, I’ll...” The words died in the man's throat as he saw me hustling towards the Serpent-Kin.

“You will do what?!” I growled provocatively, straightening to stand at my full height, easily head and shoulders above the tallest soldier amongst them.

Bolstered by my appearance, the hunting party hissed feral warnings of their own, baring teeth and fangs alongside their spears.

Despite the fact that most of the soldiers were equipped with steel helmets, chain hauberks, gambesons, steel-tipped spears and metal banded shields, to a man, they backed away at my approach. The fact that I was spattered with mud and only wearing my boxers would have made the showdown especially comical if it weren’t so incredibly dangerous.

The leader, despite having paled considerably and now sweating bullets, took a tentative step back towards me, “N-now l-listen here m-monster!” He stammered, “By order of the king, you are to provide shelter and supplies for his majesty’s soldiers!” The impact he had intended to convey was completely lost due to his own transparent fear.

“Return to Sanctuary,” I told the hunting group, “Tell the others what has happened.”

“Hey!” The leader cried out as the Serpent-Kin hurried past and out into the swamp. Despite his bluster, he still didn’t try anything.

“If you want supplies,” I growled contemptuously, “You can send someone to negotiate a fair price for them after providing compensation for your unprovoked attack on my people!” Turning my back on him and the other soldiers, which was an incredibly stupid thing to do, I stalked off after the retreating hunting party.

To my relief, no one attempted shooting me in the back. I was genuinely surprised that no one had seemed to notice I was unarmed and completely unarmoured. With most of the nearby wildlife already having been culled by the hunters, my trip back to Sanctuary was rather uneventful.

As expected and to my immense relief, all the members of the hunting party were accounted for, even the injured hunter was sitting nearby while a pair of Surgeons were carefully extracting the arrow from his arm.

“Lord,” Gric made his way over and offered me my morningstar and one of the practice shields.

Gratefully accepting both, I tried my best to project a sense of calm and control as I turned my attention to the gathered crowd of my citizens, “I want all Daemons and parents to fall back to the Grove. In the absence of Hana or myself, Gric is in charge. Understood?”

Individuals amongst the crowd of Serpent-Kin and Deep Orcs nodded, while the Daemons rumbled, roared, growled and hissed obediently.

While I wanted the Daemons to better convey a position of strength, both from greater numbers and bulk, I had the distinct impression that my presence alone was likely going to cause more than a few problems already. Besides, if the armoured bulk of the Deep Orcs wasn’t intimidating enough, then Gric and the Daemons probably wouldn’t cut it either.

Spying Toofy and Ril lingering near Hana, I frowned disapprovingly. The last thing I wanted was for either of them to be involved in heated and quite likely hostile negotiations with the soldiers outside of Sanctuary.

“There are close to a hundred of them,” Hana explained quickly, misinterpreting the cause for my diverted attention, “They have some form of ward with them and it is making it difficult to get an accurate count.”

I nodded but was surprised by how few of them there were. “Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked, trying my best not to sound nervous in front of my citizens.

Hana nodded and pursed her lips briefly before continuing, “They do not have any spellcasters with them, but...their leader seems quite powerful. Perhaps even as strong as you...” Seeing that her comparison did not elicit the response she expected, Hana gave me a worried look, “Tim, you may not fully realize it, but you are VERY powerful compared to just about anything the Labyrinth could throw at you on these lower floors, let alone compared to the Humans.”

I had to grudgingly admit Hana had a point. Even without armour, my Toughness gave me absurd levels of durability.

“They are coming!” Hana’s attention snapped towards the gate, “Only half of them, the others are lingering by the southern wall, just inside the barrier.”

Now that Hana had pointed it out to me, I could sense the intruders movements as they skirted the wall towards the gate. I couldn’t sense the other group at all though, so I suspected it was related to the ward in their possession

Quickly forming a party composed of myself, Lash, Hana, Toofy and Ril. I then filled out a retinue composed of the remaining Deep Orcs as Lash did the same and Hana formed a retinue from the Serpent-Kin hunters. With the agreement that Hana would stay back with Toofy, Ril and the Serpent-Kin Myself, Lash and our accompanying retinues moved outside of the gate to await the arrival of our uninvited guests.

*****

Lieutenant Felix was doing his best to keep a tight rein on his nerves. Despite making contact with Variants from the suspected monster Settlement, lieutenant Uric, who had tagged along with the forward scouts, had reported some very unsettling news. There was an Ogre in the vicinity. Worse yet, the Ogre seemed to have a solid grasp of human language, which was unprecedented. Felix had no idea how the brute had managed to descend the Labyrinth, but one thing was clear, it did not bode well for captain Klive’s training expedition and impromptu relief effort for the Adventurer Guild’s foothold base.

The longer Felix and his men continued walking the perimeter of the immense and densely packed briar wall, the more worried Felix became. He had never seen monsters capable of something like this before. There were rumours amongst the veterans at the barracks that higher tiers of monster were capable of wielding powerful magic, but Felix had never really believed it. As a career soldier, Felix was no stranger to the lower floors of the Hurst Labyrinth and a few others besides. In his seven years of service, this was the first time Felix had seen a defensive wall that was worth a damn and not just poorly imitated earthworks.

To make things even more unsettling, the monster Settlement had to have a truly powerful Shaman to be capable of sustaining such an immense and effective ward. Felix had never personally interacted with a Shaman before, and he doubted he would ever have the opportunity to do so either. The Variants protected their Shamans fanatically, and for good reason, considering their wards were the only things keeping the other monsters out.

Slowly rounding the wall, Felix nearly tripped over himself in shock at the sight ahead of them. Roughly thirty heavily armoured Orcs were standing at the ready by what appeared to be the gate to the monster Settlement. Standing beside the largest of the Orcs stood the unmistakable form of the Ogre Lt. Uric had warned them about.

Standing close to eight and a half feet tall, perhaps more, the Ogre was easily twice as broad as the largest Orc, armour and all. Lt. Uric had reported the Ogre to be unarmed and unarmoured, but half of that assessment needed to be revisited, because the Ogre was bearing a table-sized rectangular shield and a morningstar the length of Felix’s arm. This was bad, really really bad.

Cohabitation like this was almost unheard of, most monsters, Variant or otherwise, hated one another’s guts and competed ferociously for territory and resources. The fact that this Ogre had subdued the local Orcs as well as the scaled humanoid species Lt. Uric had reported, it did not bode well for their expedition.

Bringing the column of troops to a halt more than a hundred feet away from the Orcs, Felix motioned for two of his most senior sergeants, Barus and Louis, to accompany him. To their credit, they didn’t complain. Both men were seasoned veterans and well into their thirties. They likely understood that Felix had very little choice in who he needed to watch his back during the negotiations.

“You sure about this sir?” Sgt. Barus grunted, his piercing blue eyes staring disapprovingly at the Variants forces.

“Just say the word and we can hightail it to the captain,” Sgt. Louis agreed with boundless optimism.

Felix was tempted to take their advice, but he shook his head. “We have our orders,” Felix stated firmly and injected as much confidence as he could muster.

Neither of the seasoned sergeants were fooled for a moment, but they knew their duty and formed up behind Felix all the same.

Taking a few moments to steel his nerves, Felix slowly let out a deep breath and began walking towards the Variants. Much to his surprise, the largest Orc and the Ogre separated from the other Orcs and began slowly and purposefully walking to meet Felix halfway.

Stopping only a half dozen feet from each other, Felix was forced to crane his neck upwards to look the pair of Variants in the eye. Knowing that the Ogre had to be the one in charge, Felix was a little confused as to how to proceed. Ogres were notoriously stupid, so it was quite possible that the Orc was the one actually pulling the strings. The fact that the Orc was female and the Ogre was male, only served to support this theory.

Clearing his throat Felix prepared to speak but was startled into silence when the Ogre beat him to it and spoke first.

“One of your men shot an arrow and wounded one of my people,” the Ogre growled angrily.

Felix didn’t know what to say. If he hadn’t seen the Ogre’s lips moving, then he wouldn’t have believed it. Glancing backwards for a moment, Felix saw that Sgt. Louis was wide eyed and Sgt. Barus was gripping his spear so tight his knuckles had turned white.

“You owe compensation,” the Ogre added.

“Compensation?” Felix replied without thinking.

“Your men injured one of my citizens,” the Ogre repeated, his voice deeper and more threatening than before.

Compensation? Citizens? Weren’t these words far too large for the likes of an Ogre? And how in the hells was it this articulate?!

“Are you the one in charge?” The Ogre demanded irritably.

Felix gulped hard, “Uh, I am,” he agreed uncertainly, unsure if the Ogre intended the larger force or just those now outside the gate to his Settlement.

The Ogre frowned disapprovingly, “Then what are you going to do about it?”

Keenly aware that he was doing his unit and his king a disservice, Felix took a deep breath and willed himself to calm down. “I sincerely apologize for what may have occurred-”

The Ogre’s frown turned to a scowl.

“-for the harm caused,” Felix amended, “What form of compensation did you have in mind?”

The Ogre took on a thoughtful expression as it considered the question, “If he was hit by an arrow-” The Ogre effortlessly pointed its morningstar at Sgt. Louis, “-and required the assistance of a Surgeon. How much would the Surgeon charge to remove the arrow and heal the wound?” The way the Ogre asked the question and the intensity of his gaze made it clear that he should not be tested.

The army had Surgeons on retainer and long term contracts, Felix had even required their services himself on more than a few occasions. “Ten silver,” Felix replied honestly, unwilling to provoke the Variant into violent action. He had the distinct impression that the Ogre’s anger was tied to the implied disrespect from the treatment of his subordinates.

“Then you will pay twenty,” the Ogre stated bluntly, making it clear there was no room for negotiation.

Surprised that the price of compensation was actually somewhat reasonable, Felix sighed in relief. Fumbling slightly with his coin pouch, Felix counted out twenty silver coins and bravely approached the large Orc and Ogre. Realizing too late that they might consider taking him hostage or opportunistically killing him then and there, Felix shakily held out the twenty silver coins for their inspection.

The Ogre turned to the Orc and motioned towards Felix with a small nod of his head.

The Orc nodded and cupped one hand to receive the coins.

Gratefully handing over the coins, Felix hurried back to his original position.

“What do you want?” The Ogre asked, surprisingly no longer angry but understandably wary.

Felix brusquely cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter, confident now that the Variants could be reasoned with. “On behalf of the crown-” Felix noted an immediate shift in the Ogre’s mood, “-we request shelter and information,” he concluded hurriedly. Hells bells, what had Lt. Uric done to poison the Ogre against the king? They would definitely need to talk about this later with the captain.

“You will not be allowed within Sanctuary,” the Ogre stated bluntly, “If you want to stay within the protected limits, then I want two copper per soldier each day you remain.”

Felix winced but nodded. The captain wasn’t going to like the idea of paying for the privilege of staying within a monster Settlement’s outer limits, but the cost was surprisingly low given the nature of the earlier compensation. “I will need to run this by my superior officer,” Felix explained and was glad to see the Ogre nod in understanding, before realising a moment later how terrifying the ramifications of that gesture was. Not only was the Variant intelligent enough to learn human speech, but it also appeared to have an intimate knowledge of human command structures as well. The captain was REALLY not going to like this.

*****

Watching the soldiers leave, I motioned to Lash that we should head back. I was still pissed at her biting me, but now wasn’t the time for talking it out. We had an armed force on our doorstep and measures would need to be taken to make sure our people were kept safe. I was actually quite surprised at how reasonable the army officer had been. There was always the possibility that he was putting on an act, but I didn’t think that was the case.

An upside of the negotiations was the influx of cash that we would be able to spend at the vendor, most notably on sewing kits and supplies for bandages. While Hana was capable of weaving rough plant fibre sheets of cloth, they were too inflexible and unabsorbent to serve as decent bandage materials.

Heading back into Sanctuary, Hana immediately hurried over to us, “What do they want?” She asked anxiously.

“A forward base, I think. They also probably want to know about what happened to the foothold. I got the impression that more soldiers would be coming too,” I explained dourly, “That ward of theirs, could it also be serving as a beacon or something for the Labyrinth portals to lock onto?” I asked.

Hana’s expression darkened as she seriously considered both the question and the possible ramifications. “I don’t know,” Hana admitted, “It’s possible.”

That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, but as our resident magic expert, I trusted Hana’s judgement. “We need to establish patrols and triple the guards on duty at the gate,” I insisted.

Unsurprisingly, both Lash and Hana nodded in agreement.

Even if the soldiers turned out not to be a threat, lax security with a foreign force so close to Sanctuary would just be asking for trouble. This also made acquiring iron for more weapons and armour even more of a priority but left far fewer available hands to attempt it with.

“How long do you think it will take to tunnel down to one of the caverns below?” I asked Hana, trying to get a better picture of what needed to be done and in what timeframe.

Hana was thoughtful for a moment, cloaking herself in emerald mana for no more than a second before scratching her head thoughtfully. “No more than a day...I think,” Hana replied uncertainly.

“It’s your new highest priority then,” I told her, training her students would have to take a back seat for the time being.

I spent the better part of an hour reorganising Sanctuary. I couldn't just leave the hunting party to their own general devices anymore, it was too dangerous. There would now be four hunting parties composed of an equal number of warriors and hunters, ideally forming two complete parties for a total of ten members. While the hunters secured food, the warriors would actively keep a lookout for humans. The hunting parties were also forbidden from approaching the encamped humans on the southern side of Sanctuary’s outer walls.

Finally heading back to the Grove, I took a much-needed bath and scrubbed off as much of the blood and mud as I was able. The more I scrubbed, the more alarmed I became by the amount of that was scrubbed away. Ril wanted to hop into the fountain, and despite my reluctance, I needed help scrubbing the blood off my back. It didn’t occur to me until afterwards that the little Daemon’s motives were likely less than benign.

In the same way that Ril was even now filtering mana from the water of the fountain, she had almost definitely been taking in my blood. Even though Ril showed no obvious outward signs of change, I was all but certain that there was a new intensity to her eyes. Like somehow, she was more present in the moment, paying far more active attention to her surroundings.

It wasn’t until I finished bathing that I realised what part of me Ril had taken for her own adaptation. It was my brain. The little Daemon had copied my brain. Critical reasoning was the lynchpin of human evolution, our strongest and most reliable asset. The Daemons were smart, to a point, but they were far more instinct than reasoning. This was true of most monsters I had interacted with. It made sense, their environment was incredibly violent and overthinking things was just as liable to get them killed as provide a marginal benefit. After all, the named monsters were not very different from the cloned copies the Labyrinth mass-produced. Their key difference was their lack of compulsion to murder anything that did not look like themselves.

But the sudden change in Ril’s behaviour suggested that Daemons had room for improvement in the brain department. Or perhaps it was a matter of restructuring? Ril’s head hadn’t grown noticeably larger, so that seemed more likely.

A quick glance at Ril’s status confirmed my suspicions but also raised a host of other questions.

[Ril - Daemon Fledgling: 2 ] [HP: 20/20] [MP: 11/11 ]

[Tim’s Minion. Minion of Sanctuary.] [Class: ???. ] [Exp:0/0 ]

[Strength: 8 ]

[Agility: 15 ]

[Toughness: 10 ]

[Intelligence: 12 ]

[Willpower: 11 ]

[Presence: 7 ]

Gric had been the most intelligent of the Daemons and last I checked, he still only had nine Intelligence. Ril was a full three points higher and was not particularly lacking in other stats either. In fact, her Agility seemed absurdly high and I could only attribute that to her literally leeching off of Toofy.

Finding this whole train of thought rather distressing and more than a little nauseating, I pulled myself up and out of the fountain. With all the children and most of their parents temporarily taking residence in the hatchery, additional hatchings had to be postponed. I felt really bad about that order in particular. Even though no one said or did anything to suggest any sort of anger or resentment, I could still tell that there was no small measure of disappointment.

Just as I was about to head upstairs, a runner arrived and informed me that a small detachment of soldiers was approaching the gate again. Grunting in annoyance, I retrieved my morningstar and shield then headed for the gate.

By the time I arrived, I could see the small contingent of soldiers approaching. As we had agreed, the soldiers would not send more than a dozen men when seeking a meeting. Apparently, his superior officer must believe we have an established rapport because I could see Lieutenant Felix and both of his escorts at the head of the column.

Spotting the barrels being pulled along by sturdy handcarts, It was rather easy to guess what it was Lt. Felix was after. The army would be able to hunt for as much meat as they could eat and Sanctuary’s barrier would keep them safe from monster attacks. However, one thing they would not be able to find or produce in ample quantities was clean drinking water. They would have almost definitely brought a certain amount with them, but a hundred soldiers in a climate like this would go through water in no time. Hell, they might even want to trade for toilet paper too. dawnmoss was difficult to gather in large quantities in the actual swamp.

As they had done last time, Lt. Felix and his seconds approached the middle ground between us. Since there was no sign of Lash, I made my way over to negotiate on my own.

Lt. Felix and his escort seemed more at ease than they had been in our previous meeting, although it almost seemed like Lash’s absence was giving them more cause for concern and not less. Lt. Felix appeared to have done away with his chain hauberk and was wearing only his gambeson and steel arming cap. In this climate, I couldn’t really blame him. The prospect of wearing even the gambeson was just too much for me.

Clearing his throat and seeming to make a genuine effort not to appear threatening, Lt. Felix signalled the beginning of our negotiations.

As I had expected, the army needed clean drinking water. Although they didn’t explain why I could tell that it was no doubt a combination of the damnable climate and the fact that every decent body of water was teeming with piranha.

Sanctuary was already making a little more than a silver a day by allowing the army to camp within the barrier, assuming they kept to their word. Given the necessity of clean drinking water, and that I knew they would be going through it like nobody's business, I figured charging three copper a barrel was a more than reasonable price. After all, Kirk and his mife Rose had charged a copper for a heated bath, so I figured this was a decent enough compromise between price gouging for a literal necessity, and keeping the temporary neighbours happy.

Judging by Lt. Felix’s relieved expression, he seemed to just be thankful there was a ready supply of clean drinking water available at all. Fair enough, legionnaires disease was no joke.

Somewhat surprisingly though, Lt. Felix had also expressed interest in purchasing fresh garlic. I wasn’t even sure how they knew we had it, but then the wind shifted and it became obvious that they must have smelled our cooking fires.

Technically we didn’t even have enough for our own consumption, but it did give me an idea. “I might be willing to sell a basket worth a day,” I offered noncommittally, "But I would want more than just coppers in exchange.”

Lt. Felix had a determined expression and withdrew a silver coin from his pouch.

That wasn’t what I meant, but it was interesting to see how valuable the added food stock was considered to be. Although it was almost certainly because the army didn’t bring much garlic to begin with. Or perhaps because this was explicitly intended for treating legionnaires disease? It was possible.

“I meant that there was something else I want in return,” I amended, “Although depending on whether we can come to a suitable arrangement, I might be willing to arrange repeat purchases at a reasonable price.” Negotiating with someone that was terrified of you was far less stressful an experience than I had thought it would be. Even though the three of them were armed, it was painfully obvious that they were doing everything within their power not to show any hostile intentions or anything that could be mistaken for it.

Lt. Felix slowly put away the silver coin, like he was sliding the pin back into a live grenade. “Ah, so what is it that you want?” He asked a little nervously.

“I have heard of other human vegetables, and I want to try some of them. Grow them, if possible,” I admitted, knowing that if Hana and the Druids could get anything to grow, that the soldiers would smell it any time the wind changed anyway.

Lt. Felix looked surprised, “Oh, um, I guess we could do that.” He turned to the fair-haired soldier to his left, “Sergeant Louis, could you go requisition a medley of vegetables from the cook’s tent? If he puts up a fuss, tell Quartermaster Finch we are negotiating for fresh garlic!” Lt. Felix was positively brimming with excitement, causing me to wonder if perhaps garlic was out of season or experiencing a shortage in the world outside.

The soldier, Sgt. Louis, snapped a quick salute and began double-timing it back towards the army camp.

“So, should we perhaps make arrangements for the water in the meantime?” Lt. Felix suggested amiably, almost disturbingly upbeat compared to his near skittish performance a minute ago.

“Alright,” I agreed and waved forward some of the Deep Orcs that were on guard duty.

Arranging for the barrels to be filled was incredibly straightforward, and Lt. Felix even offered to buy one of the sleds after it became obvious the handcarts would make poor headway through the rehabilitated swampland.

Somewhat disappointingly, the human army apparently only had two vegetables on hand, or that they were willing to trade. Large dried yellow onions and small potatoes. Sgt. Louis had brought a small sack’s worth of each, which Lt. Felix anxiously handed over for my personal inspection.

It was not exactly what I had expected, but that was my fault for having unrealistic expectations. Somehow, I had convinced myself that they would bring me this magical cornucopia of plenty and I would be able to enjoy a rich and diverse diet like on Earth. If I had been at all realistic, this is what I should have expected.

Sending one of the Serpent-Kin to fetch a basket of garlic and to stow the new vegetables in the storeroom, I could tell Lt. Felix was thoroughly relieved. The deal was never truly off the table, so to speak. That single silver coin was far too valuable for the long term health and safety of my people. Quality bandages were far more valuable than a varied diet, especially now that the Hospice Surgeons could cure diseases and other ailments by spending MP. We still couldn’t trade it all away, but if they pushed for it, I would probably be willing to sell eighty percent of our output.

With our business completed, I headed back to the grove and deposited the coins in the pack the girls had left behind. I had been trying not to think about them too much, but it was growing far more difficult after the sudden arrival of the soldiers.

Even though Nadine and Clarice were technically minions of Sanctuary, I had not been able to see any change in their statuses and knew that short of one of them dying, I wouldn’t see an update until they returned within range of the Totem.

Knowing I owed Rose and Kirk for their help and generosity, I still felt like sending the others out there had been a mistake.

Stowing my weapon and shield away, I slowly made my way up to my room. It was barely the early evening, but I felt emotionally drained. Dealing with the soldiers had been easy enough, but Lash assaulting me like that had really gotten under my skin. The fact that Hana was aware and had known that what happened was a distinct possibility and hadn’t warned me was rather disconcerting. I had thought we had established a sort of friendship after our heart to heart by the fountain. Apparently, I was wrong.

Slumping onto my bed, I very nearly fell asleep almost immediately, but after what had happened, the absence of a door made it all but impossible. So I just lay there doing nothing and let my mind wander.

I didn’t notice Hana at the door until she loudly cleared her throat to get my attention. “Tim, are you angry with me?” She asked anxiously, “Because I swear I didn’t know Lash was going to do that!” Hana insisted, “The Orcs I knew in the forest had elaborate courting rituals they would go through before...well...that...”

I sighed and looked away from her, staring at the ceiling instead, “I am not angry with you Hana,” I grunted, “I’m just...disappointed.” That one word summed up my feelings rather well.

Hana was quiet for a long time, I was actually surprised that she hadn’t left. “I’m sorry Tim, I-” Hana suddenly stopped mid-sentence and began furiously whispering with someone outside, “No wait, you-”

Drawn by the sound of the heavy footfalls, I looked over and was surprised to see Lash now standing in the doorway as Hana ineffectually tried to drag her back out. Lash gave Hana a withering look, “Will explain,” she stated simply in a tone that made it clear Lash would not accept any argument.

Hana looked like she wanted to argue, but was visibly intimidated and unsure of what to do.

With Hana suitably cowed, Lash entered my room and stopped just short of my bed. Even though she wasn’t wearing her armour, I felt no thrill at the sight of Lash’s exposed skin, only a leery wariness of her mouth and teeth.

Lash didn’t back down from my scrutiny. Instead, she stared back at me intently and sat down on the floor. “You are angry,” Lash stated simply, her expression wavering and giving the impression that she was somewhat confused. “Overseer said bonding made you mad?” Lash prompted, a faint tremor in her voice belying her otherwise confident facade.

Sitting up and giving Lash my full attention, I winced as I saw the large raw and ragged scar on her left trapezius muscle. The sunken scar made it obvious that a chunk of flesh had been torn away, a stark contrast to the raised scars on my own shoulder. I was responsible for that scar, and I felt ashamed.

“Thought you wanted me,” Lash said, her eyes lowering in a reflection of her disappointment. “Yield to your judgement,” she lowered her head and released a long mournful sigh, hands trembling in her lap.

What we had was a clash of cultures, a violent one. My self righteous indignation at being bitten had bled away the longer I stared at the handiwork I was responsible for. I could have established firmer ground rules, and looked into her culture. I could have restrained myself...I should have restrained myself.

“Why did you bite me?” I asked quietly, feeling the sudden shift as if a blockage had cleared away in my mind. I wasn’t angry at Lash, I was angry with myself. I had broken the one rule that I thought I would never break. The one promise I had always thought I would be able to keep. I had broken it without even thinking, and that made me angry.

Lash tentatively raised her head, “Want to be your mate,” she replied quietly, staring into my eyes without a hint of guile.

“Why?” I asked, a lifetime of rejection violently warring against the very idea that anyone could consider me attractive.

Lash seemed confused by the question, narrowing her eyes slightly and tilting her head a little to one side, “Is strong, strongest Lash has ever seen.”

The blunt unapologetic nature of her explanation caught me off guard. Was that it then? I guess it made sense, I didn’t know what exactly I had been expecting. We had known each other less than a week and somehow she was meant to know the depths of my soul? I wanted to blame my unrealistic expectations on the stories from movies and fiction I had read back on Earth, but there really wasn’t any excuse.

This world, whatever it was called, wasn’t Earth. So far as I knew, there was no way back. Besides, it wouldn’t matter, there was nothing waiting for me there, nothing except misery and pain. At least here I was wanted.

Feeling the strange yet familiar stirring in my blood. I cradled Lash’s face with my right hand as I stared deep into her eyes. No one had ever wanted me before, but I could tell by the way Lash gently leaned into my hand and by the rising warmth of her skin, she had been nothing but honest with her declarations of affection.

I didn’t love her. To claim as much would be childish and stupid. If I was being brutally honest, I had never seen anyone more beautiful than her in all my life. The bizarre irony of the situation was not lost on me. It had taken dying and being transported to a world of monsters just to find someone who I shared a mutual attraction with. Although I suppose it made sense, after all, we were both monsters.

Allowing Lash to stay, I tried my best to explain my own actions. Repeating my thoughts aloud, I was ashamed of how frightened I was. It had taken Hana, Nadine and Clarice all but twisting my arm to make me admit that I even found Lash attractive. That ignoring my feelings was anything other than cowardice.

Lash was sitting beside me on the bed and had patiently listened to my rambling pseudo apology. Every time I mentioned how ugly I felt I was, she would give me a strange look. But for the most part, Lash just listened attentively and even smiled when I began describing how attractive I thought she was.

I hadn’t intended to originally, but I did my best to explain how I came to be here and the role Clarice, Nadine and Emelia had played in both my enslavement and setting me free again. Lash had seemed quite conflicted over my retelling of events. Even though I had been generous in slanting the narrative in their favour, it was obvious Lash was not nearly so forgiving as I was. However, as I finally finished explaining my own origins and that I was actually human, Lash didn’t really seem to care. She was a little curious, but on the whole, just seemed to take it in her stride.

It was well and truly dark by the time I finished my retelling of events and explaining my behaviour. Lash hadn’t spoken once the entire time. But now that I had made it clear that I was finished, she nodded and sat quietly in thoughtful silence for a while.

“Do you want me as a mate?” Lash asked bluntly, her voice quavering slightly in stark contrast to her determined expression and projected confidence.

Normally, I would be embarrassed by such a blunt suggestion, but I was so emotionally wrung out that I just couldn’t manage it. “I do,” I replied honestly. The concept of a girlfriend was alien to her culture and we had exceeded the requirement for courting...So I guess we were married now? Or had been for the better part of the day already?

Even so, I still did my best to express to Lash how I wanted to take things slow, so we could get to know each other better first. Apparently, the expression didn’t carry over very well because I quickly found Lash kissing me fiercely while pushing me down to the bed...

Despite the sunlight streaming into my room, I felt no real drive to get up. For one thing, I was pretty sure I had pulled a muscle or two last night. For another, Lash had tightly hooked my arm around her chest and was firmly gripping my forearm. I would probably dislocate my shoulder if I tried moving without waking her first, and neither option particularly appealed to me.

Besides the state of her undress, which was a given, I appreciated seeing this more vulnerable side to her. The fact that Lash snored loud enough to wake the dead didn’t really bother me in the slightest. The way she was curled up against me just gave me the impression of a cute little kitten, that just happened to have a particularly bad sinus infection.

There was one problem though, and it grated on me more as time slowly passed by. The absence of the door only served to accentuate just how exposed we both were at the moment since we had no sheets or other bedding. With both Lash and myself serving leadership positions in Sanctuary, it would only be a matter of time before someone would come looking for one of us.

Vaguely recalling the loose sense of modesty the Serpent-Kin had displayed when using the public fountain, I was not overly thrilled by the very real prospect of someone just barging into our room. The concepts of public indecency and personal privacy amongst the Serpent-Kin and Deep Orcs were both very different to my own. Thus far, it had not been a huge issue, but I was beginning to think a bathhouse or outdoor designated bathing area might be the next priority.

Lash yawned loudly and slowly opened her eyes. Seeing I was already awake, she gave me a warm smile and released her grip on my arm.

Noting the mischievous glint in her eyes, I wondered if perhaps she had pinned my arm on purpose. Regardless, daylight was burning and there were things that needed tending to. Snatching up my boxers off the floor, I quickly pulled them on and tried to remember the last place I had seen my tunic and pants. It had been close to a day since I last wore them and I hadn’t seen them anywhere.

Lash was getting herself dressed as well, although with considerably less speed than I had done, grinning lasciviously as she noticed me watching.

A little embarrassed, I had actually just been curious how she secured her chest bindings and hadn’t really meant anything else by staring. Awkwardly clearing my throat and trying to will my embarrassment away, I slowly made my way downstairs.

With the Hatchery serving as a shelter for the children and their guardians, there was a great deal more traffic in and out of the Grove than normal. To my extreme embarrassment, I could tell by the congratulatory looks the passersby were giving me, that they had very likely heard more than enough to know what Lash and I had gotten up to last night. Doing my best not to meet anyone's gaze, I quickly realised it was a wasted effort.

Lash was not subtle and was proudly arching her neck to best display the ragged bonding scar.

I didn’t know what sort of bonding ritual the Serpent-Kin used and assumed it was more discreet, but that didn’t seem to stop them from understanding what was going on.

After securing breakfast, and doing my best not to die of embarrassment, I led Lash away towards the agreed-upon site for the mineshaft. She seemed a little disappointed that we wouldn’t be lingering by the cooking fires but didn’t make a fuss over it.

Hana was already waiting for us and seemed to be in good spirits. Unfortunately, she too made a point of giving us a knowing look before moving on to more productive matters. “I managed to create a tunnel down into a stable cavern,” Hana announced cheerily. “It is still within the limits of the barrier too, so climbing up and down should be relatively safe.” She gestured expansively to the ten-foot wide hole in the ground.

Roughly circular in shape, the edges and from what I could see of the shaft itself, were tightly reinforced with roots of varying sizes loosely interwoven with one another. Hana had also grown carpets of what looked like luminescent fungi around the hole as well as a waist-high fence of gnarled roots.

“So the current plan is to rappel down with ropes?” I asked warily as I crept closer to the edge to take a better look.

Hana gave me a strange look, “I don’t know that word,” she admitted.

“Oh, sorry, hehe. What I meant was, are we going to climb down using the ropes?” I clarified.

“Oh, yes,” Hana agreed, now clear on what I meant, “Unless you want to climb the walls?” She suggested dubiously.

Lash leaned over the edge to take a look, shrugged and nodded, “Fall is not so far,” she commented casually.

I assumed Lash had to be referencing the drop from the bottom of the shaft to the cavern floor, because the prospect of a two-hundred-foot drop being ‘not far’, was insane. “Well, we could use basic rope harnesses to help climb down and back up again faster,” I suggested, although I honestly wasn’t sure how to loop the rope in such a way to make a friction harness.

Hana nodded and took a few moments to think, “It really would be a lot simpler to just make a sloping tunnel,” she commented wryly.

Stepping away from the end of the hole, I honestly had to agree. There was a lot that could go wrong rappelling down a shaft like that. “What if we did a bit of both?” I suggested.

Hana gave me a somewhat incredulous look, “What do you mean?”

“Well, what if you made a sloping tunnel down to the cavern ceiling or high up on one of the walls and then we attached a large retractable ramp?” I suggested. If we used it like an angled drawbridge then it would stop the wild monsters from being able to come up and out of the cavern in the disastrous event of Sanctuary's Barrier going down.

Hana took a few minutes to think about it, slowly pacing around the surrounding area before returning to the hole, “It could work,” she agreed with a hint of reluctance in her tone, “But it will probably take me another full day to get the tunnel made.” Hana sighed and carefully considered the hole, “What should we do with this then?” She asked resignedly.

“Well, keeping it open for ventilation probably wouldn’t be the worst idea,” I suggested, “And we could always use it to deliver supplies or something.

Hana gave me a dubious look and shrugged.

“We should probably do a scouting run anyway, and we can always bring back whatever metal we find too.” Having human soldiers on our doorstep made me quite nervous. The sooner we had iron weapons and armour to defend ourselves with the better.

Lash volunteered to retrieve our gear and form a mixed scouting party of Serpent-Kin and Deep-Orcs with her retinue. The general logic being that most of the Deep Orcs were already on rotating guard or patrol duties and that the Serpent-Kin would need to acclimate themselves to the underground at some point as well. There just weren’t enough Deep Orcs to assume they would be doing all the underground activities on their own.

Perhaps tipped off by Lash, or just as likely sensing trouble, Toofy, Ril and Asra hurriedly made their way over to see what was happening.

“What Tim doing?” Toofy asked suspiciously as she looked down the hole.

“Exploring,” I replied somewhat evasively, knowing that it would only pique Toofy’s interest further. I fully intended to bring her on this trip and she was already in my party.

“Tim no see good in dark,” Toofy commented, pulling down one eyelid to more fully expose her right eye.

I nodded, “True. That’s why I was going to bring Asra,” I teased.

Toofy scowled, “Asrablind as Tim in dark,” she whined.

“I know,” I agreed, ”That’s why I am taking Ril.”

Toofy flung her arms wide incredulously, “Ril is baby!” She exclaimed, looking at me like I had gone insane.

“That’s why I’m bringing you to look after her,” I smiled and waited for Toofy to react.

Toofy looked confused, “Huh?”

Ril tugged on Toofy’s sleeve to get her attention, “Mama is coming too,” she explained quietly.

“Oh...” Toofy nodded, stopped, became lost in thought for a moment, and grinned wide, ‘Toofy going too!” She exclaimed happily.

Ril grinned supportively, while Asra just sort of smiled shyly and actively avoided looking in my general direction.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have considered bringing Toofy into danger so willingly. However, the army camped outside of Sanctuary changed things. Assuming everything Lash had told me about the ecosystems down there was true, Toofy had far less to worry about by my side than if she was left behind. Besides, Toofy had been getting increasingly restless in the past couple of days, and I was hoping this would be a good chance for her to blow off some steam.

Letting Ril and Asra come along made it more likely that Toofy would be kept out of serious trouble. Ril, because Toofy’s protective instincts would supposedly curb her normally aggressive wanderlust and bloodlust. Asra, because he could summon a damn horde of Daemon copies on top of anything dangerous. It was actually the reason why I hadn't volunteered the Daemons for this job in the first place. Asra could summon the Daemon copies exactly where they were needed most in the case of an emergency. Otherwise, they would be resting in reserve topside in the event anything crazy kicked off while we were underground.

There was another sneaky trick Gric had brought to our attention as well. When the Daemon copy was destroyed or dismissed, its accumulated experiences would be shared with the original. Combined with the fact that the copies have the existing memories of the original, you effectively had a crude two-way communication network. So if we became lost or got into serious trouble, Asra could summon a copy of Gric, inform him of the situation and we would know that help was on its way. Similarly, we could get regular reports from Gric on events from the surface in basically the same manner.

I was seriously starting to regret not sending Asra on the expedition team. Then again, I didn't really want the other humans to know we had Daemons until I was absolutely certain how they would react.

Lash returned a short while later, already wearing her crude plated armour and with a mixed force of Serpent-Kin and Deep Orcs in tow. Handing me my clothes, Lash held onto my equipment until I was fully dressed. “Train new tamers while below,” she suggested, knocking the empty slave collar on her hip and then motioning to the eager Serpent-Kin that I now noticed were wearing crude scaly hide armour.

“That’s not a bad idea,” I agreed supportively. The Blood Hunters, or Sniffers, as the Deep Orcs called them, would be pretty easy for the Serpent-Kin to tame on their own. Well, assuming the collar wasn’t too large for them.

Lash grinned back at me happily and handed over a large training shield and my morningstar.

“Will there be room to use my shield properly down there?” I asked a little nervously as I made a sling strap from some rope so I could wear the shield on my back on the way down.

Lash nodded and seemed rather unconcerned, “Caverns are large,” she shrugged dismissively.

I was still worried about the tunnels, but I could always just ditch the shield if needs be.

Tying off the ropes to the anchor points Hana had already conveniently provided, Lash decided that she would go first.

Briefly testing the rope between her two clenched hands, Lash nodded and hopped over the edge of the hole. She descended in short controlled leaps, barely even stopping at all as she descended to the cavern floor below. Lash briefly disappeared as she began inspecting the immediate surroundings. Returning again, Lash held up one fist to signal we were to proceed.

Making a sling harness for Toofy I experimentally lifted Toofy and the rope above my head and jostled her a little to make sure the knots would hold her weight without slipping.

In the meantime, the Deep Orcs began descending the shaft as Lash had done, no safety harnesses or anything, just hopping off the edge and slowing their descent by gripping the rope. If they had not done this a thousand times or more, I would be incredibly surprised. It takes a certain level of stupidity to do something like that so nonchalantly otherwise.

The Serpent-Kin were far more timorous, carefully sliding down the rope one by one. That still seemed incredibly reckless by my own standards though.

Satisfied that Toofy's harness would hold, I gingerly lowered her over the edge and carefully fed the rope down the shaft. Or at least that was what I tried to do, somewhere around a quarter of the way down, the rope began swaying heavily from side to side. Worried that I may have lost control of the line, I was about to start retracting it, but stopped as I heard Toofy cackling from below.

“Weeeee!” Toofy cheered as the rope swung near to the side again. Since I was too far back from the ledge to see what was happening, I could only imagine Toofy deliberately kicking off the walls and spinning madly as she descended the shaft.

Ril, who was standing near the edge and peering over to investigate, briefly glanced back at me apologetically.

Asra just looked incredibly pale.

Letting Toofy have her fun, I continued slowly feeding the line until she reached the bottom and I felt the rope go slack. Tying up another harness for Asra, I briefly considered letting him free fall for a second but decided against it. The poor kid looked half scared to death already.

Unlike Toofy, Asra was perfectly content to slowly climb down the wall of roots while I fed him more rope. It was actually rather interesting because it gave me a general idea of just how big the cavern was in terms of height. If my estimations were correct, the cavern floor to ceiling was a distance of about forty feet. So the total drop from the surface was roughly two-hundred and forty feet.

Tying off a harness for Ril, I was a little surprised to see that she was about as excited as Toofy had been. Since I was feeding the rope back over the anchor point this time, I would be able to see what the little Daemon was going to get up to on the way down.

Slowly easing Ril over the edge and feeding her rope, my blood ran cold as Ril braced herself against the nearby wall, then launched herself towards the opposite side. Before colliding with the wall of tangled roots, she took hold of the rope with one hand and turned ninety degrees. Angling her feet at the wall, Ril began running along the wall with a manic grin on her face, ‘Weeeee,” she cheered quietly while descending the shaft.

Toofy and Ril are crazy...Thank God for Asra being normal...

When Ril cleared the chute, she began to spin from all the coiled torsion she had formed in the rope. Not that she seemed to mind. I could even hear the muffled cries of Toofy excitedly cheering her on. Thankfully, she reached the ground not long after.

Since I was the last one left at the top, a harness wouldn’t do me much good. Letting out a nervous sigh, I took a firm hold on the primary rope and began walking backwards down into the hole. Despite my initial fears, it wasn’t actually that bad. Experimentally holding myself up by my arms, I hugged the rope with my thighs and feet and slowly ease my grip on the rope.

Slowly sliding downward under the influence of gravity, I decided that I could probably go a bit faster and eased up my grip some more. Expecting my hands to begin hurting from friction burns, I was genuinely surprised when that didn’t happen. Easing off the pressure, even more, I was really moving now and quickly descended into the cavern.

Reaching the cavern floor, I was very nearly stunned by how easy the descent had been. I mean, if I had fallen, I would have broken every bone in my body and be lucky to be alive, but gliding down the rope like that had been obscenely quick and easy.

The cavern wasn’t like what I had expected either, illuminated by pockets of luminescent fungi growing on the walls or the floor. There were also carpets of strange lichen and pale wide capped toadstools.

“Don’t eat,” Lash said in warning, noticing my attention on the toadstools, “Poisonous,” she added gravely.

“Icky!” Toofy agreed, scrunching up her face and sticking out her tongue.

“Mama licked one,” Ril giggled quietly.

“Only poisonous if eaten,” Lash amended when she noticed my alarm.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I gave Toofy an exasperated look, “You need to be more careful okay? No sticking weird things in your mouth!”

Pouting, Toofy kicked the cap off a toadstool, “Kay,” she grumbled in protest.

I fixed Asra with a stern look to make sure he knew I meant business. “Asra, I’m counting on you to look out for Toofy while we are down here, alright? Don’t let anything happen to her.”

Asra paled and gulped nervously, “Aass you will Lord,” he replied weakly.

“You too Rill,” I added, knowing that theirs was an impossible task if Toofy truly set her mind to something.

Ril nodded determinedly, “Okay,” she agreed sweetly, latching onto Toofy’s left hand like an anchor.

Toofy seemed oblivious to Ril’s alternate intent and just squeezed her hand back and grinned, “Adventure!” Toofy declared happily pointing to a large tunnel at the far end of the cavern.

“Not yet Toofy,” I warned.

Toofy deflated a little but was still plenty excited.

The cavern was roughly a quarter of the size of Sanctuary and had two large tunnels, one down at either end. Far from being stuffy or musty like I had expected, there was actually a rather strong air current blowing past our current position.

The Deep Orcs and Serpent-Kin were headed towards the northmost tunnel. I recognised the Deep Orc taking the lead as one of Lash’s sparring opponents, so I was not particularly worried about his competence.

That did mean that it would be just the five of us scouting in our own group though unless Asra summoned some Daemons.

“Roch will explore the north passage, we will take the south-east,” Lash explained conversationally, her tone giving the impression that she was smiling beneath her helmet.

“Alrighty then,” I agreed. I waved to Asra, Toofy and Ril, “Adventure awaits,” I grinned at Toofy.

Practically vibrating with excitement Toofy impatiently began rushing to catch up.

Much to my amusement and immense respect, Ril was doing an amazing job in slowing Toofy down ‘tripping’ and ‘stumbling’ every few steps.

Rather than being angry or upset with her, Toofy gradually slowed down to better accommodate Ril, “That’s okay, Mama’s need to look after babies,” she gave Ril a little snuggle in response to something the little Daemon had said too quietly for anyone else to hear.

Lash took the lead while I brought up the rear. As an Underlord of Sanctuary, she could sense the barrier limits just the same as I can, so I was confident that Lash would announce when we were due to enter hostile territory.

Even though the luminescent fungi provide a decent amount of illumination, there were still noticeable unlit dark patches or areas shrouded in shadow. Perhaps because of her unique eyes, Lash didn’t shy away from the darkness at all.

“Can you see in the dark?” I asked Lash, I was going to ask the question later, but we weren’t really doing anything at the moment so I figured, ‘Why not?’

Lash nodded as she continued scanning the surroundings, “Not as good as light,” she added with a shrug.

So the Deep Orcs probably didn’t have infrared or anything, just eyes better adapted to make use of available light.

“What about you Asra? Can a serpent-kin see in the dark?” I asked curiously.

Asra shrugged somewhat uncomfortably, “The sstrong can, otherss can’t. The warriorss and hunterss of the tribe can. I can’t,” he explained disappointedly.

The old warriors and hunters that had sacrificed themselves for the survivors to escape had probably been a higher evolution of the Serpent-Kin. Or perhaps there was a special trick to using it, like spending MP? I really hoped it was the former, evolving and gaining infrared thermal vision like a snake would be an amazing advantage for the Bleak-Fang refugees. Especially if they were going to start coming down into the underground alongside the Deep Orcs.

“Soulless ahead!” Lash called out sternly.

We hadn’t travelled that far down the tunnel yet, but I could make out the faint tint of the barrier up ahead. Just beyond it was a suspiciously large pile of rocks blocking the middle of the tunnel.

“Rumbler,” Lash stated bluntly, rolling her shoulders in preparation for a fight.

“Is there a trick to this?” I asked, “Or do we just hit it really hard until it stops moving?”

Lash’s laughter echoes from inside her helmet, “Hitting hard is the trick!”

*****

Toofy watched with amusement as Tim and his mate Lash charged a suspicious pile of rocks. Even though there aren't any monsters hidden there, she really didn’t have the heart to tell them, they just looked so excited.

All at once, the ground began to tremble and the pile of rocks revealed itself to have been a monster in disguise!

“It was just hiding!” Toofy informed Ril. As her Mama, Toofy was responsible for making sure she learned about all the things and stuff in the world.

Ril nodded, staring curiously at the strange rock monster.

“Monster trying to fool Tim, look like people,” Toofy explained, motioning to the roughly human shape the rocks had taken and scoffed, “But too big! Monster stupid, monster no fool Tim!”

Ril nodded again.

“I don’t think that’ss what it wa-” Asra caught Toofy’s eye and fell silent, “I mean you’re probably right,” he mumbled.

Toofy nodded, “Toofy nearly always right,” she boasted, “Tim say Toofy clever. Clever mean smart!” Toofy tapped her temple with her free hand knowingly.

Asra smiled awkwardly and turned his attention back to the fight.

*Crack*

Toofy looked on in awe as Tim landed a solid blow against the rock monster’s left arm, badly cracking the stone and causing some of it to crumble away. Even though the monster was close to Tim’s size, it was way too slow to hit him back.

*Clank*

Lash came in from the side and slammed the back end of her axe into its left knee, causing the rock monster to topple to the ground as it lost its balance.

Toofy wanted to run in and give it a good kick, but a gentle squeeze on her hand reminded Toofy that she had to look after Ril like a good Mama.

*Crunch*

Tim smashed his spiky club into the stone monster’s shoulder, shattering the section of the arm and then planting his foot on its back.

*Clankrunch*

Lash had come in with a two-handed overhead blow and smashed away the rock monster’s head, causing the rock monster to fall to pieces.

[*** *** ***** {**** ****: * } +**** ***]

Toofy blinked to get rid of the annoying thing in front of her eyes. That usually did the trick, but this time another annoying thing popped up instead.

[***********: ********** ********** *****. {******} ]

Toofy grunted in annoyance to make the second annoying thing go away too, which it thankfully did.

Seeing Tim and Lash pawing through the remains of the monster, Toofy nodded knowingly, “Monsters stupid fighting Tim,” she explained, “Tim always win against nasty monsters. Is why Tim is big. Everyone listen to Tim.” Toofy had never seen a monster that could fight Tim and win, he was just way too big!

Ril smiled and nodded like a good baby.

Toofy was about to impart some more important learning when she felt the familiar itch in her fingers, “Shinies,” she whispered greedily. Looking this way and that, Toofy’s eyes locked onto the broken body of the rock monster. “Most important teaching!” She cackled, dragging Ril behind her, “Toofy show baby how finding shinies!”

“Toofy!” Tim warned as she drew closer, “I thought you were going to stay back and keep Ril safe?”

Toofy grinned and shook her head, “Toofy do later. Toofy teaching Baby to find shinies!” She exclaimed excitedly, clambering over the rock monster and looking around excitedly.

Tim was about to say something but stopped himself.

Lash was pawing through the rocks already as well, apparently looking for shinies too.

“Mine!” Toofy caught sight of the glimmer and uncovered the first shiny! It was strange as far as shinies go, almost as big as her forearm and impossibly heavy.

“That’s the metal,” Lash said, pointing at Toofy’s shiny.

“Nice job Toofy!” Tim leaned down and tousled her hair before picking up the shiny to take a closer look. “Looks like iron to me.”

Lash shrugged and retrieved her axe, “Never more than one, we move on.”

Tim put Toofy’s shiny in his pack for safekeeping, which was good because it was too heavy for Toofy to carry around anyway.

Fingers still itching, Toofy grinned even wider. There were still more shinies! Throwing smaller rocks out of the way, she put her Baby to work, directing Ril to move some of the other smaller rocks too.

“Uh, Toofy, we should really get moving, the Lord is waiting for us,” Asra warned.

Toofy gave Asra ‘the look’. She used it whenever he was being silly and not paying attention. “There are still shinies!” Toofy pointed out, digging through the broken rocks.

Asra nodded to show he understood and approached Tim to explain. This was why Toofy liked hanging around Asra, no matter how much trouble she would get into, Tim always blamed him first. Asra was so silly that he didn’t even try lying first.

Toofy rolled her eyes and sighed. After she was done giving Ril all her teaching, Toofy would have to do it for Asra too. Spying another glimmer beneath one of the largest rocks, Toofy knew she wouldn’t be able to lift it, but that was what Tim was for! “Tim!” She waved frantically and motioned to the large rock, “Toofy find shiny! Move rock!” Toofy had learned it was best to use small words when she wanted Tim to do something. It wasn’t that Tim was stupid or silly, he just didn’t understand very good sometimes.

Tim made his way over with Asra trailing behind. Setting his weapon aside, Tim leaned down and pointed to the large rock, “This one?” He asked curiously.

Toofy nodded and pointed to the small part of the shiny peeking out beneath the rock, “Shiny, see?”

Tim took a closer look, “Huh,” he nodded and heaved the rock off and away like it was nothing.

To Toofy’s dismay, the large rock had pushed the shiny into the ground. Remembering that Tim was there, she smiled and pointed at the shiny, “Toofy find shiny, see?” Toofy explained cleverly, knowing that Tim would do the heavy lifting for her.

Tim gave her hair another quick tousle, “You really did,” he chuckled, digging the heavy shiny out of the dirt with his fingers. “Lash, I thought you said there would only be one iron ingot? So why are there two?” Tim retrieved the first shiny from his pack and held them both up for everyone to see.

Lash returned and removed her helmet. Visibly confused, she took both of the shinies from Tim and stared at them intently. “This has never happened before...” Lash exclaimed, seeming more than a little confused.

“Toofy finds shinies really good,” Toofy reminded everyone boastfully. Sometimes the bigger people forgot how important she was, so Toofy had to remind them.

Tim smiled and patted Toofy on the head, “You really are aren’t you?” His expression became thoughtful for a moment and then his eyes grew wide. “No way...” Tim muttered, his eyes flicking left and right, “You have got to be joking...”

“What is it?” Lash asked curiously.

Tim blinked and pointed to the second shiny Toofy had found, “You were right. There should have only been one of them.”

Lash looked confused, “Where did the second come from?” She asked dubiously.

Tim laughed and shook his head, “It was Toofy. She has a class ability that can spawn dropped items!”

Lash and Tim both turned to stare at Toofy.

Toofy grinned, glad she was getting the attention she deserved. “Toofy best shiny finder!” Toofy declared humbly.

“You really are Toofy,” Tim agreed with a chuckle, “You really are.”