ELI POV

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“What does it matter?” I said, that being the most honest response I could think of. If her people knew she was holding out on bringing in a quad element caster they’d certainly kill her. From her perspective, I would have thought getting her head crushed by a boulder wouldn’t be any different from getting it crushed by a mountain.

But perhaps there was some cultural component to this because contrary to my thinking, Gula’s face got a furious scowl and went a darker shade of green before she spun around and stomped out of the fort, walking over the pile of rubble that used to be this fort's wall. Mystified as to what the problem could be, I decided to pursue the matter with the Frojan.

“Is there something I should know about?” I asked the large, green frog man to my left.

“It’s… personal. She has a tale to tell but it’s not our place to tell it.” He said simply.

I nodded and sent several of the older Frojan a spirit connection.

‘All right, like I told Gula, we should meet up every mid-day at the Crypt so we can quickly react to any opportunities since you lot will have access to the orcs scouting reports.’I said through it as I pretended to ponder over Gula’s reaction. The Frojan didn’t react beyond the occasional cough.

“Well, good day to you lord wizard.” The one I talked to earlier said humbly before he turned around and left with the other frogmen, leaving me with my newest… acquaintances.

I looked over Salamede again, worry blossoming in my chest before she nodded and waved me off saying she was fine. That finished, I turned towards the collection of dwarves before me. Numbering a good dozen, they wore red metal armor with gold outlines. Their leader had his grey hair in a ponytail with an axe strapped to his back, an axe that swayed as he came forward.

“A word of advice pup, Staying behind with strangers all alone can be dangerous.” He said in a casual tone.

“Well, it’s good only my friends are here. But maybe we should take this conversation somewhere where we won’t be interrupted by a platoon of soldiers.” I offered smoothly. Just immediately running wouldn’t do anything since they already found us once. Given that, I went for the most disarming approach with people who had already shown a willingness to work together.

He just grinned before giving a hearty guffaw, his emerald eyes showing a sense of mirth.

“Hah! You certainly adapted quickly. But no worries, the roads and forests surrounding this place are being watched by my men. We can talk as long as we need to. Names Gashton Ingrand” He said before turning to the left and using earth magic to pull a crude stone table and two chairs out of the ground in the middle of the camp with the wooden stables behind the seat he was heading towards and the abandoned kitchen behind me. Instead of struggling to shimmy up his seat, he used magic again to suddenly shoot a pillar of earth out of the ground and launch himself into the chair.

As I walked over, I maintained a spirit connection with Cell, telling him to watch the dwarves to make sure they didn’t launch any spells or use any weapons. When I sat down, we were now at a roughly equal height for what I was sure was going to be a negotiation of some kind. But I decided to lead the conversation.

“First I must thank you for the aid. Although, the timeliness and precision of your aid does raise some questions.” I said casually.

“Bah! I’ll leave the pleasantries to the diplomats. If you want to know why we’re here, just ask as much.” He said in a dismissive manner.

“Well, I’ll only interrupt with a raised hand when I have a question so don’t let me stop you.” I said as I leaned against the stone chair. With a rough cough, he began.

“Before we came to the Coalition to trade in the market, some of my men were attacked by a griffin on our way to do a scouting and intel gathering run in the southern region. They were aided by a most unusual source, those Frojan and the orc you were with. I thought it odd, but only decided to have them tailed as an afterthought. And you can only imagine my surprise when the scout brought back a report of them talking about this great mage who helped them at the fort and how HE had metal magic and could use other elements as well.” He stopped when I put up my hand.

“I thought dwarves were a secluded people, what were you doing down here?” I asked.

“Minding one’s own business isn’t the same as being blind. We’ve had too many problems from not watching the Coalition and the Phoenix empire properly in the past. So, when we heard the orcs, someway somehow, took out a fort that they really shouldn’t have been able to destroy, I was sent out to get the full scope of what had happened. Good thing too, else we never would have gotten in contact with you.

I was recalled to go over the reports with the council so we could puzzle out this odd information. Our… intelligence on the state of the Coalition government didn’t mention mental breakdowns or feral screams from foaming mouths so it was safe to assume they didn’t know about you. The human villages in the orc territory have more Coalition spies than any amount of reason could justify so you being from there was very unlikely. Still, we put a few scouts down by the villages just to be safe.

Certain people raised a fuss over it, but eventually, we came up with a plan. A massive festival in all the human's towns in the western region to get some of the local chatter on any people of interest who fit the description we needed, bribing certain members of the Coalitions military to give us the schedules of all the mages who worked in or around the region, and going over all the places the noble families had been over the course of the crypt bases destruction.

The last two produced nothing, obviously, but on our first day at the Diamond academy, we heard something very odd in nearly every tavern. This peculiar couple, a human crafter and a Kelton woman was the subject of no small amount of gossip. Of particular note was the long stretches they spent inside a tower presumably to consummate their love.

Quite curious.

But then the local gossips remarked upon the last stretch where this odd couple stocked up on non-perishable foods for a three-day stretch, so insatiable was their lust for each other.”

I felt heat coming up in my face as I saw Salamede looking down as she fiddled with a vine in the front of her suit, but I didn’t interrupt the dwarf. It wasn’t the innuendo itself but the sheer number of people talking about it that flustered me so. No wonder these people haven’t left their home planet if who is banging who can take up so much of their mental energy.

“Looking over the timing involved, we found their period of sexual reprieve also took place at the same time that this new magician appeared out of nowhere to help destroy the Crypt base.”

He puckered his lips and raised his eyebrows suggestively before continuing.

“Most curious.

I made sure to keep an eye on this couple and from there we began noticing this ‘mere crafters’ accomplishments. Taking out a troll, stopping troglodytes and performing so well at the tournament. I must say, I think it was your crafts that made the final determination. The humans seem to think just slapping down a few circles, triangles, and squares is all it takes to make magical crafts, but our people take a bit more pride in such things. We know our stuff and your work is almost on our level. It takes a lot of practice to make what you do. A lot more than any number of casters would be willing to give at any workable rate if our conversations with the other students is anything to go by.

Them censuring you threw a lot of our plans off, but it turns out our scout assigned to keep a watch on the orc and Frojan who first put us on your trail saw them meet with you again. We may have met sooner but that damned tree top swinging makes it impossible to keep track of you.”

I didn’t trust that was the case but I’m sure us moving camp every few days has been a good headache regardless of their efforts. Of course, this was all of small importance until I asked the main question.

“Why? I could understand wanting to kill me or capture me for ransom but helping me in such a manner is quite odd if you were just looking to put down a future threat.” I asked, making sure to harden the vines of my suit against the chair and table in case he tried something. But he merely leaned back into his chair and looked up in the sky for a bit before looking back to me.

“Indeed. But that discounts your…unique abilities. We….hmmm, even I must know the boundaries at some point. All I can say is we have certain needs for someone of your unique affinities. As for capturing you, I will admit the thought merited some consideration in the correspondence with my superiors, as well as my own thinking. But when you dropped two boulders the size of a house on a fort such thoughts merited… less consideration.

There will be a lot of whining over how I’ve revealed ourselves to you in this manner, but I’ve got a reputation for getting results and I’m sure the council will understand the necessity.” Gashton said, but then he looked towards Cells doll body that now stood by Salamede with a heavy air” Especially since you’re a scion. A fact that will no doubt make them more reluctant to take on any malicious schemes”

I thought on it a bit and came up with a particular service we needed from them. Leaning back into my chair, I took on a more casual tone.

“I don’t like open ended obligations, but there is a favor I need done. It’s not big enough for me to go into a dwarven settlement that I know very little about, but I could pay for it in some other ways.” I said as I mentally went over the quantities of mana crystals in my pouch.

He nodded to continue.

“We had to leave her mother behind in order to get away from… an unsavory third party. If you would be willing to keep an eye on her I could-“He raised a hand to cut me off.

“We’re already keeping tabs on her. If you wish, we could relay some messages to her.” He offered.

“Sure, I have-“ He put up his hand again.

“Nothing has really changed. Let’s just have it be a token of future goodwill between us.” He said.

Salamede came forward and gave a light bow.

“Thank you, master dwarf. If you would allow me to write up a message to her?” Salamede’s rough voice asked him.

He nodded to one of the dwarves in his group, who brought forward a piece of paper and what looked like a metal pen. Although the top of it had more of the wide, rough runes along its side and the inside was glass with the sloshing of ink inside the body of it.

Leaning over the table, she wrote a few lines on the paper before handing it over to Gashton, who took it with a nod and put it in a pocket between his armors thigh and midsection. Then he turned back towards me.

“I must say you surprised a great many people when you took off like that. May I ask what third party prompted such a quick exit?” Gashton asked as he leaned forward while the sun was down on its descent off to his left.

Ah, now that was tricky.

“Have you ever heard of people who use the dead to perform magic?” I asked. If I just came out and said Necromancers that might give him all the information he needed to know about my abilities, including mana generation, and while I needed as much information on this group as I could get, that didn’t mean I should needlessly give out a potential trump card.

“No. But I’ll ask some people about it. Why? Was that why you were censored?” He asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice as he drew back a bit.

“I did nothing. However, some people did something to me and weren’t happy with how our interaction went.” I said, telling nothing but the truth. Gashton nodded and seemed to relax. Then he turned and got off his chair.

“I’m assuming the Coalitions involved.” He said as he turned to me.

“In a way” I responded.

“Just make sure the orcs don’t catch on to your real species as you work out this disagreement. We’ll stay out of this slog with the Coalitions operations, but quad element orcs” His gaze grew distant for a moment. ”Quad element scion orcs… isn’t something even we can afford to have running around and we will intervene to make sure that doesn’t happen. By any means.” He said with a note of severe finality. I nodded, now fully understanding the scope of his mission.

Their task finished, the dwarves all left as they trudged over the churned dirt and rubble. I turned to my two partners after they had left, at least visibly. From now on I had to assume they were always watching me. Mentally going over the past few days, I went over any instances that may have given away the fact that my crafts don’t shut down when hit with spells. I couldn’t think of any, since the only one to really get into it with them was Cell when he charged that group of mages earlier but Gashton would probably dismiss that as the familiars doing.

Walking up to Salamede, I took out a mana crystal and put it up to her chest and pretended to feed it to her vine suit while I used my internal mana generation to feed the repair functions.

“Thanks, Eli.” She said in a spirit connection.

“No problem, I’m just glad you’re safe.” I responded honestly back through it.

“Yep. And I even managed to save someone else this time. A few months ago, I would have frozen in fear and watched as Gula was crushed.” She said happily.

“I know, Cell ‘told’ me.” I responded in a huff “All these centuries, all of my abilities and achievements, and I still can’t protect those I care about just a few feet from me. Sometimes I wonder why I bother making all this junk.”

That last rant was supposed to be left unsaid, but this spirit connection made it hard to keep those kinds of thoughts from going out. Even worse, the stress was getting to me. Constantly having to hide like a rat from the predator just outside my hole, but it seems almost having Salamede die was the breaking point. I was having to expend actual effort to keep my hands from shaking as my mind constantly went over all the things that could have gone wrong just a few minutes ago.

It took a bit but eventually, her suit was back to brand new. Sadly, it would take time that I didn’t feel comfortable spending here to fix her mask, so we had to take off before any re-enforcements came.

As we came back to our hideout, this time in a cave right above the river's outflow coming out of a mountain, I decided to stop using underground bases. Gathering up everything into four bags of holding, two of which were new and held the big pieces of wood I had been working on, we went out into the late afternoon sun. Eventually, we came back to the small hill with trees on top that we spent the night the first time we came here.

However benevolent his actions towards us so far, I wasn’t going to risk staying underground when I knew we could be found by his men. Gashton might be a good man, but if his leaders start making demands he cannot fulfill his replacement that they send might not be so kind. While this meant I ‘wasted’ several hours widening out a wooden floor that was hard to differentiate for someone on the ground below, it also meant we were in the section of the trees that no one else could get to.

Our new home was a wide circle of smooth wood encircling the innermost tree about a dozen yards from its tip, but the sheer size combined with the density of the trees in this patch meant no one would see it from ground height. Our vine suits hammock function also kept me from having to build any beds. Overall, we didn’t need too much room and most of our stuff fit inside a few bags, but we still needed a good dozen feet of floor if we wanted to work or cook and not risk going on the ground.

I was leaning against the tree with my legs crossed as I chewed on a skewer with crisp pieces of deer meat as the sun went low against the horizon, leaving a dazzling sight of reds and deep oranges splashed across the sky as the trees hid the carnage and death of what was technically a warzone. Salamede, dressed in a blue dress and white undershirt, was a few feet in front of me working a skewer over the flames from some of the bark crafts I made earlier. Cell was looping around the treetops below playfully swinging between the trees after I replaced the mana shell that protected his sphere.

A grey bird with a brown beak came flitting by to check out the odd encroachment onto its territory. But as I finished my dinner it seemed satisfied with its new neighbors and took off higher towards its nest. Finishing my meal, I got up and walked over to the pseudo campfire. When I put my dish down beside her but as I pulled back, Salamede grabbed my hand.

“Eli, thank you. It means the world to me that you thought of taking care of my mother” She said in a spirit connection. Her voice was like honey and dripped with warmth.

“Thank me? Why should you be thankful to me? It’s my fault that you’re stuck out here in the woods with predators all around. We all might die out here so far from civilization, enduring cold nights and meager meals. How could you possibly be thankful to me?” I demanded of her. My voice was a bit harsh, but she seemed to understand that the target of my anger was not anyone external.

She stared downward for a bit, her face unmoving. But when she looked back up to me, I saw some pain in her expression that wasn’t hidden even with the plain whites of her eyes.

“I… growing up was pretty… rough. In our community, marriages are seen as not just the tying of a couple but a thread in the fabric of the community. The wife comes forward stating how many children she intends to bear for the man, while the man brings forward a promise of what he is going to do for the community.

My father died from a fever before he could get the fish he promised for a necrosis many years back, so mother was spared the shame, unlike me. A lot of the times when I was married, I knew I was letting mom and dad down. A no-good bum of a husband who just dragged me and my family’s reputation through the mud.” She said with tears beginning to form in her eyes.

I sat there, putting a hand on her shoulder. She took it and then gave it a good squeeze before continuing.

“Divorce is frowned upon by our people but none of them at the communal meeting even batted an eye when I dissolved the marriage. My marriage was a joke mere days after it started with his constant drinking and failure to make the well he promised to build. Maybe if I had given him a child it would have motivated him, I don’t know. I’m on the bottom of the people who are the lowest of these lands. Yet you.” She said pointing into my chest as she moved closer.

“You helped me. A mage helped me and even gave me all these abilities and helped push me to heights I never dreamed of. It’s horrible to say, what with the danger to my mother, but if I had to do it again, I’d say it was all worth it. Something that I think my mother would agree with.” She finished, now just a few inches from my face as I took in the white stripe along the ridge of her nose.

I felt her hot breath on my face, and a decision was made.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I pulled her closer for those last few inches. Shoving my tongue past her lips, I felt a hot sensation pulse through my body as the stunned woman kept limp for a second until she grabbed the back of my head and shoved me further forward. She tasted lightly of our meal of deer, but the sublime sweetness of her shined through. Then she pulled away from me for a second as I ran my hands over her bum and groped the tantalizing flesh. Salamede looked at me with a sense of hesitation but upon another rough squeeze, she moaned and wrapped her legs around my waist before forcing her tongue fully down my mouth.

I pushed her down and onto her back as I roughly squeezed her left breast through her blue dress. She gave a small squeal through her lip locked mouth as her body shuddered against my chest and her bicycle handle shaped horns knocked against the smooth wooden floor. Moving to lay on her fully, I pinned her to the floor as I clasped both hands around her two considerable breasts as they cast a shadow in the falling sun. Salamede’s response to my forceful movements was to arch her back forward to push further into my grasping palms.

Down below, I felt the stretching of my pants. Days of feeling like a hunted animal, weeks of dealing with shitty children who took every chance to make me miserable, and a thousand other little whining problems left me stressed. Looking down at the woman who had helped me through all that, who nursed me to health yesterday, and who was still with me in this worst of times, I felt conflicted with what I was about to do. Sex without marriage always screws with my emotions, a facet of my nature I had come to accept, but my loins and the urges in my body were fully ready to pour every ounce of days long frustration into her body. But as I was considering the lack of contraceptives and the crossing of a line, a line we kind of already crossed, those damn apparitions started back up.

However, as Salamede shifted between a woman wearing an animal mask on a plush red bed beneath me and drug fountains spewing forth in the background, she looked up at me with concern.

“Eli?” She asked breathlessly as she looked back down at my man hood with clear expectations.

“Fucking AI chips.” I said under my breath as I realized what I was seeing.

But she still heard it. Her right hand shot forward to reach around my neck as she proceeded to fuss over me.

“Are you having a heart attack or is it some kind of magical-“

“No, no. I thought it might be some kind of effect from Beth kissing me due to magic or potions she had or perhaps from the fight with the troglodytes. I had a few other instances where I wasn’t sure if it was just magical effects going on or tiredness, but I haven’t eaten anything but dry grains and deer meat and I’m more stressed than tired right now. I’m sorry Salamede.” I said as I got off her and went to get up but she grabbed ahold of my shoulders and pulled me to lay at her side.

“What is it?” She asked me as we lay side by side now, our lips still wet from our mutual penetration.

“Visions. I… all right, you know about AI chips and them holding memories. But I haven’t told you all about the processes involved in that. When I was executed, one of the indulgences made was to allow me the use of the third chip to revisit the memories of my family in my final moments. This was a matter kept from the public and was only done as a legally questionable token of appreciation for my previous feats” Salamede got a curious look as she interrupted me.

“I thought you said you didn’t have those memories.” She asked, her voice still containing a hint of lust.

“I don’t. The chips had to… prepare the memories for me to re-attach them to my string of current memories. A process they didn’t finish before I died.” I said.

“What?” She asked plainly, now seemingly more into the conversation than my body.

“I don’t know quite what’s going on, but if I had to give an answer, I would say it’s similar to when you look at something that seems familiar but can’t quite put a word to the thing you’re looking at. Only my mind is actively trying to connect that memory wherever it can until it finds a place for it. Apparently, that memory involves a lot of sex because every time I get intimate with a woman it starts acting up.” I explained.

She bit her lip and turned to the side.

“Yes, your previous life. I suppose I shouldn’t try to sleep with a married man,” She said in a pained tone. But I put a finger under her chin and pointed her face to me.

“Married? Is that how it works in Kelton society? You stay married to someone after they’ve died?” I asked her.

“Well…I” She floundered but I picked the conversation back up.

“Salamede, I died. I don’t know what that means in this world but in my universe, marriage is not a post-death obligation. While my marriage was dissolved, as all obligations in death are, I’m still determined to finish what I started ten thousand years ago, if only to see how my pups grew up. I know it was probably hard for them being separated from me, but my wife, whoever she was, had no reason to think anyone on the ship survived. Even if she did, she has no reason to still cling to my burnt ashes, if she even knew of my execution.

Whatever my male ego would like to suggest, I don’t think my loins are of such quality or my bedroom skills could be so excellent that she would never bear to be touched by another man. I intend to see my children, and my ex-wife, but I’m still flesh and blood, and even the loneliest soul needs companionship eventually. I need someone to provide warmth against the coldness of the night and watch my back against predators. To nurse in injury and be nursed by in times of hardship. As all humans have needed since our earliest days.” I finished with a desperate note at the end, but she drew closer to me before speaking.

“I… I suppose it’s just as well. We have no Yook root and that would not be something mom would be happy to find out about. She’d probably say none of this necromancer business was real and it was just our excuse to have sex out in the woods” She said in a tone that said she was now more relieved. I just huffed.

“It’s not like that’s an unpopular interpretation.” I said in a grumpy tone, taking care to forget where my tongue had been five minutes ago.

Salamede giggled as she drew closer to my chest.

“It’s not so bad you know. Since people started talking about us the other women have been getting snippy over my ’seduction’ of you and even some of the women with sister-wives have started acting jealous.” She said light-heartedly.

I huffed grumpily as she brushed up closer to me.

“Our relationship should just be our business.” I moaned.

“Ah but I’m a Kelton. And Keltons are always in each other’s business. You’ll just have to get used to it if… What are we exactly?” She asked nervously as she bit her lip.

Dancing around it wouldn’t help so I chose the most honest approach.

“I thought we were friends, but I think we both want to be more than that.” I said honestly.

“So, what does ‘more’ entail?” She asked quietly.

“I’m not sure. I’m thinking that once I get this chip situation sorted, I’ll start working on getting back home. But since I died, I guess there’s no point in denying my urges any longer and start making some pups, once we decide if we’re right for each other. It might make things awkward but coming back from the dead is a unique enough circumstance that I think they won’t be too angry with me, especially with all of the resources I know I would have left them” I said uncertainly.

Instead of looking hesitant, she seemed pleased by my insistence.

“But how large is this new family going to be?” She asked coyly.

“Twelve. I want twelve little pups running around at the minimum” I said. My words were forceful, but my tone was more hopeful than demanding.

“Oh my, Eli” She said in mock surprise as she put a hand to her lips. “That is quite the demand to place on a woman.”

I raised an eyebrow and put my left hand on her hip.

“Am I not in a position to make such a demand?” I asked suggestively.

“You absolutely are. You’ll have no problems having it met once this business with the Necromancers is sorted and everyone knows you’re a quad element scion.” She said with a tone that soured near the end.

My eyebrows scrunched together as the hairs on the back of my head prickled with defiance.

“I don’t do absentee fatherhood. At least not intentionally” I said with a defeated tone at the later part as all the anger drained out. I felt her soft hand go to my cheek as she turned my head to look at her with love blasting across her features.

“I’m sure you did the best you could.” She said in a comforting voice.

A quick gulp and a pained nod were enough to get my thoughts back on track.

“I know I did. Every damn day. But if you’re willing to help me make this family, if you want to… I… I need these chips in working order before I start making a new family. It’s silly with me living for hundreds of years due to healing spells and my own internal mana, I know that. But I can’t bear the thought of forgetting two families.” I said with my voice starting to crack.

But Salamede took my head in her hands and washed away the agony with a deep kiss, which I heatedly returned. Just happy to be in someone else’s arms this night, we spent the rest of the fading day groping each other’s various parts and dueling tongues until night fell. From that spot we eventually fell asleep in our body’s mutual warmth, still fully clothed.