Eli Pov

I woke up from my hammock with a skip in my step. The cloud over my life was gone and my relationship with Salamede was on the mend. The morning after my test at the academy, I was getting up before the rising of the early sun gorging on granola, water and the raw energy of my happiness. Humming around the main tower floor, I inspected the steel struts the I had driven into the four corners of my towers main room.

My general plan was to get the bones for a much larger tower ready and have the final tower put together in one night. Having the ‘guts’ of my tower on display when it was being made proper was too much of a security risk so while I was working on the suits actuators and overall design, Cell was in the basement, gradually using earth magic to replace the dirt in and around my tower to the point that the first several yards out from the front door was now smooth, sand-colored stone instead of grass and a crude dirt path.

The only other major external difference was the massive intake and outtake pipes sticking through the right side of the room and out the ceiling, which created airflow to the steel furnace I was almost done setting up. I was getting low on gold and pulling mana crystals from no where was out of the question, but with my identity as a quad mage now out in the open, I did have a ready explanation for the bags of holding I had.

The dwarf smiths’ emerald eyes nearly popped out of his skull when I offered him one as payment for more iron, copper, and some steel. When the exchange was done, he promised me several tons of whatever it was I could possibly need as long as the supply trains kept coming in. The first thing I made was a massive furnace. The huge cylinder with hooks on the side was made of graphite and below it was my specially made furnace of thick shafts that would be filled with massive heating coils. It would take a while to make all the spheres needed to power the unfinished forge, but Cell was familiar enough with the process that I felt I could trust him to make the spheres on his own.

In order to maximize my time, I had several bark pieces that would soak in and condense the ambient mana into a large glass sphere. Using a balance that would roughly take in the mana as quickly as it was replenished, I was only really sacrificing a few hours at most for these expeditions to help the peasants considering most of the work needed was held back due to mana shortages. And those few hours were well worth the peace of mind it would bring Salamede.

My suit was now up to my relative standard of acceptability. While diamond pressured plates were a few days off, the mix of chemicals for carbon fiber were not in the dwarf blacksmiths stock and had to be special ordered. That was to say nothing of the chemical reactor for the acrylonitrile powder and the plastics I would need. Before that I would need to craft an infrared thermometer to use… hmm the burden of bringing science to the world.

Bringing my mind back to what was in front of me, the suit now had steel plates with wood mixed throughout, instead of a crude cut off in the torso and legs. The wooden parts were now more pine wood made to act more like rubber in between the plates and strands of steel. It was these bits of wood that would stop rust with the water enchantments projecting a repulsion field just above the metal. The helmet was now a smooth circular top with two long smooth plates covering my face that had a resemblance to wings, the general aesthetic being complimented with the helmet being tipped with what looked like a beak at the end near the face.

Along the neck down to the torso were inter woven steel plates with bits of the rubbery wood below them. These steel plates flowed around the steel shoulder guards that had small spikes rivetted in them to resemble feathers as they flowed in lines along the shoulders to the arms. At certain points, the modified motors for the actuators made the arms stick out a little but the weight was well within the acceptable limits.

The ranged option of the cross bow was still available, my metal magic now letting me make the more compact assembly on my right arm more lightweight and nearly as powerful as before, but I felt I needed a ranged option that didn’t have an ammo limit. Iron balls the size of my fist with handles that would attach to cables at the bottom fit the bill, even if I had to carry the balls in a special hip compartment near the leg actuators. These would also be easier to re-engage with the new arm actuators pulling the steel cable back around a small pole.

As a safety measure, the balls would only be pulled back until they were a good foot away from my hand so they didn’t rip a big hole in the arm armor, even if it meant I still had to watch the momentum. A little practice with the motions and whiplash involved gave me an option that allowed me to keep distance with the enemy but not run out of ammo like I would with the crossbow, whose ammo of small steel bolts I had to keep in a quiver on my right shoulder.

The actuators around the legs still had the same functions but I added another set of wheels to each so the effect would be more like a proper vehicle and less like roller-skating. After being placed with more finesse and some additional care in the legs, the motors now fit near the knees with less space while additional bracing around the top and a set of several suspension springs around the shaft in front of my lower legs helped make the wheels handles jumps far better. These were powered with the two copper spheres above my bottom, their protection being steel caps woven into the overall design.

But more than the functions, this was perhaps my first item where aesthetics, aside from camouflage, were paid some attention. The steel was given a smooth surface that showed some craftsmanship in its shine and the wood was colored to give off a deeper red color while the avian motif was continued with the lines of feathers running along the plates and wood pieces that stuck out below the steel joints. The hands also had the points of claws while the feet had some wings flowing from the tip around to the back. The boosters, now eight for a total of four in a line on each side of the back for more subtle control, had shiny steel exteriors with cones on their holes to give more concentrated thrust and send a proper stream of fire out.

A long spear, with the diamond shaped tip having willowy white plant fibers below the blade to absorb blood and leather straps over the steel body, was off to the left. Its length was similar to that of my body and was the final addition to my new ensemble with a carry strap around the back. The hammer was nice to swing but it lacked the precision I typically liked when it came to my personal weapons. Learning from my lesson in the night battle, I put in two mana lamps on the shoulders that would illuminate the whole area around me with the fire spell within or serve as an emergency mana supply in a pinch.

My meal finished, I opened the straps on the sides of the suit and shuffled in. At the center of the chest piece was a single plate with the appearance of an eagle flying forward. I thought about making a spot to put Cell in, but I decided to keep him in a pouch at my side when we travelled together. My familiar was doing some work here and there but I got the impression that he wanted to catch up with his familiar friends, so I gave him the day off as I retrieved two mid-sized chests.

Heading out the door into the wide world, the sky was overcast with grey miserable clouds and the lingering morning fog still held sway over large parts of the land. As merry whistle reverberated in the steel suit and I walked down past the few trees covering the direct line of sight from my home to the academy, I noticed a large number of students and staff watching the path to my house. They all gawked when my steel and wood frame came into view, but I paid them no more attention than anything else underfoot.

Going down into the now distinctly Kelton part of town, I came upon the carriage we would be using. The frame was thicker than most and instead of a canopy, it had thick iron plater wrapped around the sides with a sturdy door in the back. The horses were likewise armored with thinner sheets and now numbered four to a single cart as opposed to the typical two. At the driver seat was a man in simple leather armor and a spear across the back of his bench.

The small crowd of Kelton men that surrounded the carriage came with spears, wooden hammers, and some crude bits of armor sprinkled throughout the motley mob. Off to the right of this carriage was the Kelton women bidding their men goodbye while the Kelton Patriarch in a larger green suit dolled out several silver coins to a muscular man in proper iron plate armor sitting next to the driver.

“Ah, just who I wanted to see.” A voice to my right called. Turning to my right, I saw Rand coming down between some houses with a small squad of about twelve guards. Oddly, I saw Veronica’s mother coming along behind him, looking at me like I was a glass family heirloom precariously placed on a tables edge.

“I have not fraternized with the men after your warning” I said evenly.

“I know lad, but you might.” Rand said sympathetically. “And I need to make sure that you don’t so I’m assigning a few men to keep an eye on you. Just to make sure you don’t needlessly talk to anyone.” The surrounding guards nodded and moved forward to stay by the side of the carriage.

I had a flash of irritation but the relieved looks of the Kelton women looking at my minders who would now accompany us stayed my tongue.

“I am allowed to discuss things pertinent to the mission, correct?” I asked.

“Yes, just no socializing.”

“All right, here’s the solution to the storage problems” I called to the Patriarch as I hefted the chests onto the back of the carriage and strapped them into the racks.

“Um… I appreciate the thought,” The pudgy Kelton man said as he rubbed his brown fur in thought. “But I think we’ll need something a tad bigger if we’re to fill out our warehouse in just two trips.”

I took the one chest I hadn’t yet strapped in, a wide brown thing with plain iron bands, and handed it too him. He opened it and his pure white eyes looked inside with a curious look. Lifting it over his head, his curved ram horns just barely got past the wooden entrance when he gently let the box down. And down. And down.

It was when he held the box to his thigh that he finally stopped; a big brown box hefted by two hands over a pair of brown pants was all that could be seen of him. Everyone, from the guards to the Kelton’s, to Veronicas mother and Rand, went slack jawed as they stood still as statues.

“They’re fucking boxes of holding?” The driver swore explosively, as the surrounding mothers put hands to their children’s ears too late.

The box was then lifted up as the Patriarch came back into view and handed the chest back over to me with shaky hands.

“Yeah… that should be enough space.” He said in a dazed tone.

“All right, we’re wasting time.” I said to the crowd as I strapped the chest in and took my spear from the other sand colored one. Most of the crowd just shambled about while the driver took a moment to whistle for the horses to start moving. As the men bid their farewells, I noticed more than one was now taking a moment to rub these mythical boxes of holding that I got Salamede to buy from a poor back alley dealer.

Our preparations finished, the now expanded entourage headed out over the bridge and through the door of the main gate. I kept pace to the carriages left with my now nominally vehicular movements as the men took turns stabbing some corpse that was shambling about. I would have thought that they would have all charged at the defenses in one big wave and that would be the end of them, but it appears that the undead, while not intelligent, avoided areas where a lot of their kin died and stuck to meandering about the woods.

Moving through the fog that clung to the road and spilled from the forest, I noticed that the trees were near the end of their time above ground. Their tops had the branches all woven into balls or on the sides as the tree’s height was now only two or three times the height of a man. Eventually we came back to the split in the road where the two roads to the Kelton villages met and we took the left path.

The village had a few homes in the center with several farms on the outskirts. Our main point of interest, the round three story silo, was put in the middle of the town. I would have thought putting on the outskirts would have been better, but the surrounding wooden wall and few weapons scattered about it told me this building was placed here to protect it from thieves or bandits. But the big mob of corpses to the left of the building had been content to leave it untouched as the grain inside was of no interest to the carnivores.

“All right.” The armored man to the drivers right called to the group with his brown eyes looking at everyone and his long brown hair swinging below his iron helm “There’s a mob to the left but I typically don’t like concentrating on one area. Five men to each of the four sides to keep an eye out. I don’t suppose you guards would fan out?”

The leading man with a white stripe on his shoulder came forward.

“We’re here to monitor Eli, nothing else.” He said plainly.

“Ok. Eli please take the mob to the left and if the people monitoring you would deign to help, why that would be swell.” He said. The guard captain tried to sputter some objection, but I just took off down the center of the town. Not waiting for anyone else, I lifted the spear and took off the heads of a few of the undead while the rest worked their way to the granary.

A mass of rotten flesh surged forward as we moved but the few odd corners in the houses meant they bumped and slammed into each other and couldn’t mob us all at once. Compared to the fight at the animal pens, this was pretty easy. At least until the healing magic started coming out of the earth, then this fight would be another proposition all together.

While the town guards held back the mob with their iron shields just fine, one of the Kelton men to the road on my right screamed. Turning around, I saw he got a big chunk bit out of him when seven of the undead came down the northern road. I threw my spear through the undead that had ganged up on him and pushed his compatriots back.

Zipping towards the dog pile of undead, I let loose a few bolts into the ones trying to get for his head while I attached the balls of iron to the cable on top of my hands. Several wide twirls with the iron balls at the end of the cables and bits of rotting flesh and the crunch of knees and bones filled the air.

What lay before me was a barely alive man with huge chunks taken out of his chest and legs as his life’s blood spilled out into the dirt. Wasting no time, I used a healing spell on him even as he still screamed and twisted on the ground. The men surrounded me and a few of the town guards even made it over. Apparently, the guard’s leader started using his brain and sent the rest of the men to help watch the other sides.

It took a while, but I eventually healed most of him. He was still covered in nasty bite marks and didn’t have the remaining muscle to walk on his own, but the puddle of blood on the ground stopped spreading outward and he could be moved. The dead were now thinned out to just one or two making their way down the roads, so I helped walk him down to the wagon.

‘Thank you. Oh fuck that was...’ He puked off to his right while I patted the still shaking man.

‘The worst is over now’ I said in the spirit connection as we moved past the men in front of the granary shoveling grain into the brown chest. Getting him to sit back down on the wagon bench beside the driver, I used a piece of wood from a discarded barrel to fashion a crude healing item from the brown plank.

“Here, place it against your body.”

His grey goat head nodded as his bite marks healed at a much slower pace, with the driver staring in fascination. From there it was just a half an hour before all the grain had been stored in the two chests with a little room left over and I had fished my spear back from the pile of undead I had slain by chucking it.

This was the central granary for both villages, which meant we had gotten all of the food but the men had come from this village and went through the houses getting a few iron tools from the blacksmith, thread and needles from the tailor, as well as other household goods that the wagon now had the unexpected space for.

There were cheers and pats on the back as we made our way home. I saw the sun fighting for its purchase in the mid-day sky but, sadly, the day belonged to the clouds as the brief flashes of sunlight died and a light drizzle came down as we came back to the town. We passed through without incident as traffic was pretty much nonexistent on the main road now. However, as we went through the road to the Kelton section, it seemed like a giant beehive of agitated activity with some carts smashed and people running about.

“What happened?” The driver called to a passing guard.

“A mob of women came by, talking about some Kelton woman taking the quad mages seed. Beat one Kelton woman pretty bad but then a water mage got involved and their both in the academy hospital right now. It’s a mess, please go on ahead, sir.” The guard said in a tired tone as he went back to taking an upturned stall owners report.

My heart leapt up into my throat as I looked towards the jutting white walls of the academy.

“Put the grain in the warehouse and put the boxes on the cart for the next trip” I said absentmindedly to anyone who could hear as I laid my spear down by the warehouse and took off down the cowded road. Going through the academy’s main entrance and up to the wooden building leaning against the academy’s left wall, I ran up the stone steps while the people in my way made sure not to impede me. As I went through the oak double doors, the first person I saw was Tansen in his typical black robe with a wave of sapphires across the chest. He gave me a knowing look and motioned behind him to the stairs on the left side.

I followed him up the stairs until we got to the third floor. This section was noticeably nicer than the other floors with white marbles flooring and what looked like gold embellishments in the doors. It was also less crowded with purely artistic pieces like the ceiling being painted a flowing river with scenes of deer, bears, and huntsman throughout.

We came up to a door on the right and opened it. Inside was a fine room with two plush beds, an embellished window in the front center, and a luxurious red carpet. To the left was Veronica with a bloody lip and bruises along her arms as her mother looked over her with a devastated demeanor even as she was clearly struggling to keep it in, on my right was Salamede. She lay in the silk sheets with only a few bruises. The women seemed to be rather lighthearted as their conversation stopped as we opened the door.

“Ah, Eli.” Salamede said with eagerness in her rough voice. I rushed forward and kissed her, which she returned eagerly.

After a few moments savoring her, I pulled back and took her head in my hand.

“What happened?” I asked.

She struggled for a moment but finally responded.

“They made the official announcement about you this morning after you left. I was going about my work buying some tools and nails we needed for the various carpenters working on the warehouses, when out of nowhere a mob of the women students and some others surrounded me. They um… Well Veronica helped me as the mob pelted me with stones and-“

The door opened again as a nurse came through with two glass vials filled with red liquid on a silver tray.

“More potions for the ladies, I must say-“ She stopped dead when she noticed the mass of steel and wood looking at her. From her my gaze shifted to Veronica then to Salamede and back to the potions as Tansen bid the woman to leave.

“Tansen, how did she look before the healing potions covered up the damage?” I asked with gritted teeth as I turned towards the academy head.

‘Eli! Don’t get angry. We can’t afford Cell going crazy. It wasn’t actually that bad, but Tansen insisted we get the best treatment possible’ Salamede soothingly said in a spirit connection. I felt Salamede squeezing my fingers, so I took a deep breath and counted for a long moment.

“Do not worry yourself about those women, Eli” Veronica said. “From the way mother has been sending out orders since she got here, I don’t think they’ll be much left for you to take from those women.”

“And you agree with that, Salamede?” I asked. She gave a nod as did Veronica. Since they were the ones who were actually hurt, it would be inappropriate for me to hunt down the perpetrators on their behalf.

It was at this moment that Tansen broke in.

“Indeed. From what I’ve heard, Veronica was checking out another Dwarf stall nearby and used a water shield to help Salamede. Hard to believe such a great woman could blossom from such a poisonous vine like Agatha.” He finished with a sage nod.

“Tansen, unless you want my foot lodged up the recesses of your ass, keep your snide comments to yourself.” Agatha shot back with a stern look even as Veronica looked on with a mischievous grin, ruining the seriousness of the moment.

“Well we’re all in this together, aren’t we?” Veronica said, her heart shaped face and blue eyes projecting cheer even as her blond hair was scattered about her white robe. She took a moment to look at my hand wrapped around Salamede’s, a flash of what looked like jealousy flared up in her eyes for a moment so fleeting I thought I could have been mistaken as to whether it even existed.

“To a certain extent.” I half agreed as I took in the ambient mana and cast a healing spell from both hands towards both of the women. Far more potent than the wisps of healing magic found in the red potions, the bruises and injury melted away until the two women were spotless.

“Veronica” I said with a deep bow as the woman in question looked over her hands and felt her face in wonder. “You came to the defense of someone I love when I could not. I owe you a great debt and if there is any service or item I could render you, say it and it will be yours.”

Everyone looked on with expectant looks at the young girl as she bit her lip in thought.

“You have every element, right?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yes.” I responded.

“Then you can make bags of holding, correct?” She said with an eager hint in her eyes. Agatha interrupted with a light cough.

“Dear, even with those elements present, the mental concentration demanded of one person doing that would be-“

“Yes.” I responded without hesitation.

While Salamede looked on calmly, Tansen and Agatha looked at me with disbelief plain in their faces even as Veronica gave a happy little clap.

“Thank you! I have a special little bag-“ She reached down under the bed into a box with other personal items and took out this special bag. It was a bit larger than a book with red scales and a silk thread running interwoven at the top to allow it to be closed with a knot or tied around something else.

“Dragon hide” Veronica explained, “With the treated web of a magical spider that should be around the size of a horse if what I know of the breed is anything to go by.”

“I didn’t think the dwarves were selling anything like that.” Tansen said with a raised eyebrow.

“They don’t. This was a gift from my dad.” Veronica said, her face getting a slight shadow cast over it. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever gotten from him. You know scions are so few and he has so many others around. He… um yeah, this one, if you please.”

As she handed me the bag, I noticed Tansen took a few steps back closer to the door as Agatha just rubbed her shoulders in support. When I took a deep breath and sucked in as much mana as I could, Tansen came forward again as the rest of the group looked on eagerly at the creation of this legendary item.

This was a gift to repay a priceless deed, not some part in a machine I could replace with no thought. Combined with its sentimental value, I meant to go far beyond what I had done for any of the other bags of holding I had made. Getting out of my combat suit and donning a cloth to wrap around my face, I got to work as I put the entrance of the bag into what would be the empty center.

As I put out the wide construct of various elements circles, squares, and triangles, I noticed Tansen’s eyes looking over at the water section, his eyes taken in with the seemingly incomplete spell construct while Agatha looked like she couldn’t believe the sheer amount of mana I was using. I had made larger spaces with the grain chests, but the relatively small hole of the entrance to the bag made it far harder to expand the space with less spirit magic to send through the hole.

After nearly half an hour, sweat started going down my back and forehead as I forced the spirit magic and my magical ability to its absolute limit before I finished setting up the expanded space in the bag. A rush of air into the bag was heard as the spell was finally cast. The handbag had an external size on the smaller side to fit comfortably around the waist or arm, while the inner size now had the storage capacity of smaller wardrobe.

I handed it off to Veronica, who took the bag with newfound reverence. She looked at it in wonder and stuck her arm through the entrance as she waved her other hand in front of it like a child with a new toy. Tansen gave a light whistle as Agatha just looked at me with furrowed eyebrows.

“That was incredible, Eli.” Agatha said hesitantly. “Taking in mana like most people take in air. To take in mana continually while using spirit magic is something most take years to perfect. Or naturally if they’re scions.” She said with a final suggestive tone.

I was putting my helmet back on and managed to keep the motion going with no hiccup.

“Oh yeah. The test for being a scion is something that’s supposed to be done when you’re first given the title of caster” Tansen said as he strode forward. “This may be uncomfortable, so I apologize beforehand.” Then I felt his spirit magic run through me. We could have communicated but he kept silent as he worked his way to my core and expanding outward. After a few more seconds he pulled back.

“Nope, no egg.” Tansen finally proclaimed. I thought back to my first time using spirit magic and realized he must have been talking about that void I couldn’t penetrate in my chest before I had Cell. Agatha tutted with disappointment.

“I guess that would have been too much to ask for. Still, you must be awfully close. Another item for the higher-ups to cry over.” She said sadly.

“What are you-“ The door opened to reveal Rand. He put his thumbs in his brown pants under his steel breastplate even as his green eyes looked like a man stepping into a viper pit with seat running down his brown mustache.

“I’m sorry to butt in, but as the highest local authority of law enforcement, I have to remind you that this is not a dire circumstance. Please do not interfere with the censured when he vacates the building. I am authorized to give one warning, any further incidents will be met with sharing his censure sentence” He said with a pointed look towards me, seemingly more to avoid the murderous looks of Agatha and Tansen.

“What do you define as dire?” Tansen said as he walked up to the man.

“People will die if it isn’t done is the general rule. This also extends to gatherings to coordinate in emergencies.” Rand countered with a slight pull back.

“Does not the siring of a quad element mage also qualify?” Agatha asked.

“Him siring has a whole line devoted to it in the order. You know that” He said with a raised eyebrow.

“But finding his children. Protecting the line of a priceless mage. Are these not items of dire need?” Agatha said, moving forward to crowd the man with Tansen.

After a moment of consideration, Rand nodded.

“Yes, working to protect previously sired children is a precedent that has been accepted as dire.” He said.

Agatha then turned around and walked up to me.

“Eli, is there no woman who might be carrying your child?” She said as she leaned closer. “A farmers daughter who showed you the upper loft of her father’s barn or bakers’ wife who decided she might like to try for a crafter’s child? It's not an uncommon occurrence I assure you and while some stubborn sorts would be uncomfortable publicly revealing this fact, I promise you, they would be compensated as such that the husband would never think to complain.” She took a step closer.

“In fact, it is not unheard of for the daughters to ask for a chance once such circumstances have been revealed. Is there not a single back alley whore you took on any night in any village we might contact?” the desperation came clear through at the end as she now stood within a hair’s breadth of my helmets nose.

“No, I am sorry to disappoint you but-“

Remembering the local rumors, I made sure to steal a look to Salamede to give the correct impression. Agatha followed my gaze and gave a tired sigh when she found the woman she had been looking for.

“If you find yourself with child, please come to this hospital immediately and my people will be in contact.” Agatha said with a bow before turning around and heading out the door.

“Don’t think being censured means no school.” Tansen said with an appearance of mock sternness. “Mid-day tomorrow, come up to my office and we will go over the few remaining requirements for you to become a recognized mage.” Looking at Salamede, she seemed to be positively buzzing with excitement at the statement even as the others kept their eyes on me. With a light bow to the two remaining women, he also turned around and left. Rand gave a light bow to the retreating academy head then turned his gaze to me.

“Ok lad. I commend your efforts but now you need to-“

“Actually, he’ll be with me. Associating with me.” Salamede said. Even I drew an askance look at the goat woman sitting up from the bed.

‘You sure?’ I asked in a spirit connection.

‘Yes. I- we’ll have plenty of time to talk about it soon. But yes, I’m sure.’ She said as she took my armored hand.

Rand took a long moment where he was clearly trying to find some way out of doing what he just threatened to do a few minutes ago. When he had apparently exhausted all of his options, he nodded with a defeated look and went out the door with a “I’ll get the paperwork in order”

“Well, I guess when your mother is here to give you your dress-“ Salamede silenced me with a pulling down of the helmet and a kiss that flooded my mouth with her sweet tang.

“No need,” She said in her rough voice when she pulled back. Leaning down, she picked up a small box from under the bed and took out a rather beautiful dress. It was a lighter green than her typical favorite with white embroidery around the edges and special stitching around the chest and thighs showing a custom make designed to fit her, and her alone.

“The dwarves dropped it off earlier.” Salamede said idly even as a jealous look from Veronica remained open with no attempts to hide it from us. “Eli, lets meet up for lunch and we can discuss how we’re going to help the human peasants.”

A simple kiss from me was all I could say. My heart racing and my mood bright enough to pierce the overcast sky, I put the rest of my suit on and left the room as Eska and Mia came through the door. I gave the two a passing nod as I left the room. Going through the wall with fine marble floors and oak walls, I went down the empty staircase and as I did so a family came up unaccompanied to meet someone on this floor of the hospital.

A female student with red pigtails, blue eyes and plush cheeks, her mother who looked like an older version of the girl with thicker eyebrows and a black and green dress, and the father who was an average looking man with a dark brown beard and brown vest with green pants.

As I passed them, the daughter squeaked and twirled her white and blue student robes.

“Eek! Are… Are you the quad mage?” She said excitedly.

“Yes, I’m censored as you well know. Goodb-“

She thrust her body against my steel and wood suit. I was now keenly aware of my lack of groin guard as she grinded her hips against mine. Her freckled face looked up at me with naked lust in her roguish grin.

“Please, they won’t deny our children’s lineage once all that stupid paperwork is sorted out. Now-“ She moved to try and work my pants before her father pulled her back.

“Jess! Show some restraint! We can’t afford the talk of you getting his child when he’s still under censure.” He said in an angry tone, stopping only to shoot me a mean, surly look.

“Quite right.” The mother said with pursed lips. “Go, let’s get to the room before the guards smack us with a censure order of our own.” The husband huffed in agreement as he dragged his daughter away by her right arm.

But when I went to go down the steps, the mother quickly stepped to the side and pulled my helmet down for a kiss. As the taste of spicy wine filled my mouth, she put her hands down my pants to grip my balls. I considered knocking her away, but her tongue played in my mouth for only a moment longer before she pulled back with a lick of her dark lips and a whisper in my ear.

“Mrs. Stone, or Jessica at the Dryad’s Whistle.” She said in a heated tone, making sure to massage my manhood and send a tingle up my spine at every word. “He’ll be gone around mid-day to see to his venture in the river merchants.”

“Honey?” Her husband’s voice called above.

“It’s the shoe again, dear” She called sweetly before giving one last squeeze around my privates and moving away to go up the stairs.

My blood hot and the item of a chastity belt added to my to-do list, I went back towards the Kelton quarter to get on with the tasks at hand. The two chests were still in front of the warehouse by the dock that the Keltons used as a communal storage for their goods. An assembled crowd took turns sticking their hands through them and otherwise testing their odd characteristics as I came up to them.

“When are we heading out for the rest of the firewood?” I asked as I took in the warehouse with full barrels and sacks of grain.

“As soon as the humans get back from their trip. I heard it’s going to be a while” One of the Kelton women to my left said. Nodding to her, I picked up my chests and headed back to the market with the spear swinging behind me. The time was hard to tell with my early rise and the grey sky delivering a light drizzle over everything, but my stomach said it was lunchtime.

None of the human stands could feed me but the dwarves were a legal grey area and Rand had told me on his visit that they fell under a foreign relation. The Coalition had never censored a group like the dwarves before and wasn’t likely to take the diplomatic risk to do so. I sat down at a wide-open stall with a long flowing bar in front of a stove and ordered the typical steak and beer. While I waited, Salamede finally joined me.

‘Hey,’ She said in a spirit connection, ‘I’ve gotten a few items I needed and will get my things from mom’s place. A few dozen silver will take care of any expenses she has.’ She waved down the cook and ordered some thick mushrooms glazed with spices and honey and a water glass to wash it down.

‘It appears I’ll need to make you a suit as well, or at least some concealable weapons. If you don’t mind since this all happened to you because of me’ I said ruefully.

Salamede stared at the wooden bar for a bit before she spoke in the spirit connection again.

‘Eli, I know what we did was wrong in the southern lands, but I can’t stop myself from feeling like I discovered something very important down there. I got into it with the mages because I cursed them out. In the past I would not even dare to look them in the eye. Helping out with the undead at the animal farm? I would have left that to the men and been content with it. When those women came at me, I threw the first punch instead of running away.’ She took a deep breath despite our conversation carrying no sound.

‘I flew through the trees and killed mages by the handful. The orcs and Frojan looked at me with fear then relief knowing such a powerful being was on their side. I didn’t realize how important that was to me until I had to go back to being what I was before I met you and how much I hate it. Eli, I don’t want to go back to being a powerless peasant woman who just tries to get away and I would not mind it in the least if you made some weapons for me.’ She said with desperation in her voice. I took a moment as our meals were deposited in front of us to rub her leg affectionately.

‘Good. I’m glad something good came of all that work I did.’ I said. ‘Cell is working on the tower, but we should have enough steel and parts left over to make another suit. Besides, it will be safer in the long run for both of us if I give you some equipment. I’ll head down to the tower and we’ll see about getting you fitted for a suit.’

‘Thank you, Eli’ she said in excited anticipation. ‘I’ll meet you there I just need to see to some business while I’m still uncensored.’ After devouring our meals, we split up and got to work. I went into the tower and finished out a rough suit. I was familiar with her body but not to the point where I could make the joint and most of the front sections without her being there to measure. As I was on the main floor working with that small forest of bark pieces, Cell was downstairs working on the aluminum coils. The metal was delivered while I was gone, and Cell was molding them into the coil design I had laid out for the furnace.

‘How was your time with the other familiars yesterday?’ I asked him through the open hatch. He sent me a wave of happiness and a mental picture of them travelling through the woods attacking a troglodyte who had strayed from his pack.

‘Lovely’ I said dryly, taking a moment to lower my head and close my eyes. Then I got back to work and fastened the actuators to the inside of the suit legs. Eventually it came together but while I was working on the arm crossbow section, a knock at the door got me up. Closing the floor hatch and walking over to open the door, a very smug Salamede with two bags in hand stood in the doorway.

‘It’s official. They put out the notice a few minutes ago. Mother was surprised but she seemed to be understanding.’ She said with a smile that scrunched up the white stripe along her nose ridge.

‘On my end I’m almost done with the suit.’ I said as I opened the door fully to let her in.

‘What are your plans for this place?’ She asked as she set her bags down and walked up to the new suit with wonder.

‘Getting the forge up is the first priority. Once that’s done, the metal magic I’ve been using will be able to mold the liquid steel with far less mana than when it’s cold. After that, long beams of steel will be set at four points in the stone base and serve as pins to hold the upper floors in place. Then there’s the metal for the connections. I’ve got a lot of experience in construction but with no tools beyond my eyes I’m going to be absurdly generous with bracing and foundation strength. I’m thinking a three upper story affair with one or two more levels below all given a spider web of steel rebar through the floors and walls.’

She seemed content with that, but she took my hand and brought me over to the stone block in the middle of the room. Pushing me to sit down on it, she then took her position on my lap.

‘You’ve got plans for the building but what about the people in it?’ She asked coyly.

‘I seem to remember us talking about a dozen children.’ I replied in equal playfulness.

Her ears went down as she bit her lip and her horns swayed with her idle movement.

‘Eli, we both know my garden isn’t the only soil you’ll be planting your seed in.’ She said seriously.

My eyebrows furrowed as the hair stood up on the back of my neck.

‘I ain’t fucking those whores.’ I said with as calm a tone as I could manage. She huffed with mock indignation.

‘And here I was trying to keep this conversation proper.’ She said as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. ‘Eli. I can’t be the only woman you get with child. I know you want to wait until you fix your AI chips but, even if you let them in on that little secret, you losing your memory of these new children will take how many centuries? Besides, I assume you’ll keep them alive with your healing magic.’

‘Of course!’ I shot back indignantly.

‘Of course.’ She said with her hand raised in mock surrender. ‘What I’m trying to say is that even if they were made …fully aware of the situation, they would still insist on you spreading your seed.’

‘Yeah. I got a taste of that when I left the hospital and a daughter and her mother tried work me over right there in the stairway.’ I said ruefully.

‘That’s only the start Eli. You have the ability to make the poorest peasant woman go down in legends for generations to come with just a few minutes together. Or a good hour if you want to enjoy the experience.’

I sat there for a long moment before I responded.

‘I understand. But the big issue is that I need to get my AI chips finished before I go making any big definite plans. I still want to get back to the family I left behind in my universe.’

She patted my head sympathetically.

‘I know. But what happens if you not siring gets in the way of getting the AI chips fixed?’ She asked.

‘I don’t see how it could. The dwarves are providing all the raw materials I need, and I can probably have one of them cut into my head to re-attach the connector when the time comes. So, I don’t think I need the magical worlds approval in any real capacity’ I responded.

‘Do you really only have eyes for me?’ Salamede asked in exasperation. ‘Is there not one other woman in this whole town you wanted to take to bed? What about Veronica? She’s a nice person and you get along well.’ I scrunched up my nose in disgust.

‘Ew, don’t even joke about that Salamede. When I look at her, every fiber of my being screams ‘daughter’, besides the fact she’s infertile. As for the other women, no. They were all horrid to me, either directly or encouraging the men to be asses to me for them.’ I said as I ignored the painful memories.

‘We can work with that’ Salamede said with raised eyebrows. ‘The students were awful to you. Everyone knows what kind of relationship you have with the rest of the pupils so why not make bedding their mothers and giving them some siblings a part of that relationship?’

I stared at Salamede but her bit lips and mischievous expression made it hard to know how serious she was about that.

‘I told you how I feel about sex outside of marriage.’ I responded firmly.

She got a serious look as she took a deep breath.

‘But what if the woman needs your seed in order to survive?’ She asked.

‘Pff, that’s a mighty odd disease.’ I scoffed back.

‘It’s not just diseases. If a woman gets put on death row unjustly, but we can’t prove it, the only way to keep the noose off her would be to get her with child. Or if a low noble women’s husband ruined her families honor. She could lose everything and have her children thrown out into the streets where they would almost certainly starve.

The bags of holding are a good source of money, but one-time lump sums can be stolen or taken due to previous debts. However, money for breeding stipends is different. If a poor noble woman has no income aside from a breeding stipend, anyone who tried to collect that as repayment would get a beating in the town square from the local guard. A woman getting a quad mage sired child? There are too many ways getting such a child would be a life saving grace for me to think of them all.’

Thinking it over for a moment, I sighed before I looked her straight in the eyes as I stopped my little game of squeezing and groping.

‘Salamede, even with all that… If such a circumstance arose and I still did not give her child, would you think less of me?’ I asked with a bit lip.

Those pure white eyes stared at me for a moment before she answered.

‘Having a spread of mage children leads to more guards to keep the women safe and subsequently merchants for the local people. There have been entire villages who were saved from starvation with a quick stop from a single male mage. I understand it was probably different in your world, but here a male mages generosity is defined more by their willingness to push through and sire as often as they can, even as their other achievements add to that generosity.

You refusing to sire will be met with bewilderment and anger, since it will mean lost opportunities for so many people. While I certainly don’t think less of you for not rutting every woman in sight with wild abandon, I rather like that bit of discretion, I hope you will not be upset when I say that I would think less of you if you let a woman die or family starve because you were uncomfortable with siring. I know that’s not totally fair to you, but certain attitudes and beliefs are hard to let go of’

‘This dick of mine is getting me in trouble, and I haven’t even been using it.’ I said tiredly.

That got a light laugh out of Salamede before she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around my neck

‘I know… but what about multiple wives?’ She asked.

‘What? Pff. No. I wouldn’t-‘ Salamede took that moment to grind against my loins. She took a long stroke with her back as she rubbed what was now a full erection with her groin.

‘Tsk, tsk. Eli, you need to be more honest. He was getting stiff when we started talking about making children and immediately withered when the rest of society came into the picture. But that talk of multiple wives perked him right back up.’ She purred seductively as she made sure to look me in the eyes as the soft glow of the mana lamp above showed her lustful gaze.

‘What do you want me to say?’ I said before I took a moment to bite my lips as she did a particularly long stroke. ‘The prospect of being surrounded by multiple wives who love me and will give me a whole school’s worth of children has no appeal? That it holds no interest for me whatsoever?’

‘Of course not. Kelton men often have multiple wives. Those women often took no small amount of pleasure in reminding me that my previous husband couldn’t find any other women who would touch him.’ She said as her face came to within kissing distance. I closed the gap, but she kept talking through the spirit connection as our tongues waged their long battle.

‘I believe human women typically don’t like such arrangements, even if they tolerate some indiscretion on the side. But for us Keltons, the man having more wives only means others have approved of our choice.’ She gave one long last kiss before pulling away with a loud pop as our lips separated. I swallowed before speaking again.

‘Really? You wouldn’t mind if more wives came along?’ I asked with a raised eyebrow.

‘You’re assuming I won’t be actively looking out for more women for you to take. I think the biggest black mark on our relationship will be everyone thinking you’ve already bedded me before we got married. The older women reprimanded me a few times for being so ‘free’ with my body but now that your abilities are being displayed, they were giving me tips on how to properly sate a man when I was cleaning up.’ Salamede was now moaning with her strokes against my manhood even as she leaned forward and bit my left ear playfully.

‘Oh, did they now? I’ll have to see just how their advice panned out. But how would our marriage happen with us censored?’ I asked with heat in my words like the heat in my cheeks and pants.

‘There are multiple ways to do it and the patriarch found one that will fit our unique needs. For us, there will be a circle of rope with the pieces of paper tied at both end with our two promises written on them. We need to step in the middle of the circle of rope and once he proclaims us married, the rope is hung on our doorstep. But that will have to wait until we get back from our run with the firewood.’ She said with an excited breath as I squeezed her bottom.

‘It sounds like a quick ceremony, are you sure we need to wait?’ I asked impatiently.

‘Two problems: Marriages are seen as something to bind the wider community together and putting our wedding above something the community’s needs will taint the marriage. The other problem is that you have not proposed to me. I don’t know how it’s done by your people but that’s typically- eek!’ She yelped as I lifted her up and placed her on the rough rock I was sitting on. Shoving my tongue down her throat and pushing my leg between her thighs, I made my proposal as our oral duel continued.

‘Marry me! Marry me and bear my children, you beautiful woman.’ I demanded as I pushed against her, fully pinning her to the rock.

‘Yes!’ She said breathlessly as she pulled me closer with her legs and took my head in her hands. We spent a few more minutes savoring each other before we had to get up and get to work if we wanted to be of any use during the firewood run.

‘It looks good, husband.’ She said as she slid along my side to take in the suit. It had the same steel plates with the wooden under plates and some artwork with feather overlay.

‘Thanks, but I need you to get in it so I can finish up the joint sections.’

Salamede jumped off me and worked her way into the suit with a few movements of her arms and legs. The portions around the shoulders and thighs were left bare while the arm, leg, back, and chest portions were finished. Then I got to work doing the fine molding of the steel plates and the wood beneath around her shoulders, stopping only when it pinched her arm once. Once that was done, I put in the last few pieces needed on the lower section.

‘You seem pretty skilled on that portion’ Salamede commented coyly as I worked around her thighs.

‘I’m going to be getting even better on working this section later tonight.’ I shot back.

Surprisingly, she just bit her lip and looked at me like I was something delectable that was put on her plate. I gave a light cough as I finished up the last few plates.

‘All right, we’re finished.’ I said, looking her up and down. Her helmet was similar to mine with the face of a hawk going down the front of her head with padded shoulders and small blades running down the sides as steel and wood moved with her body. Her horns had two special holes for them and a hawks beak nose running down over her snout. It also had the general curves of the suit accentuate the more feminine aspects of it occupant with slimmer legs and more attention to detail on the slickness of the overall surface.

The weight was heavier than the vine suit, but she still seemed capable of moving around with minimal restraint. Going outside, she got a few swings and jabs in with the spear. We didn’t have time to install the actuators for the swinging iron balls, but this wasn’t going to be a particularly dangerous run. She took off with the four boosters I installed along the suits back. While she did actually trip and fall once, she eventually got it down to where she could go at a horse’s gallop without much difficulty.

Now that the state of her suit up to working order, we headed down to the Kelton quarter with a chest slung over each of our backs. As we moved down the path with our wheels down and the boosters in the back giving a light shimmer from their heat, now coming with multiple degrees of thrust in each, I noticed some of the students going along the path towards the classroom tower. The men looked on with expressions of wonder or jealousy while the women had gazes of open hatred and contempt for the distinctly female form of Salamede beside me and I wondered if any of them had been involved in the attack on my soon to be wife.

Going through the houses, we had to slow to a regular walk as the crowd of Kelton’s clogged the street. Women and men were moving portions of grain to the pens of animals and into houses while younger ones assisted skilled craftsman with various mending, carpenter, and blacksmith tasks. They all made way for us though, as even in the grey cast sky our armor had a shine to it that only accentuated the slight height advantage we now held over them.

When we came to where we met up with the guild carriage from last time, I saw the carriage from before getting put in order as the men assembled around it with their typical collection of poor armor and ‘weapons’. The prospect of sending them out in the future when the dead would benefit from the healing magic would basically be a death sentence and they would eventually have to be given proper weapons and armor or the new couple on the block would have to do any future runs solo. By the carriage with jutting sides of iron sheets and a sharp sloped roof were the usual party of women and children bidding their men goodbye and the driver and the guild minder in the driver’s seat.

What was different was the patriarch in the blue suit running up to us with his portly frame of brown fur showing some sweat as he moved through the crowd.

“Good, good. There’s not a lot of time to explain. We’ll be ready in fifteen or so minutes, but the guild needs this carriage back within an hour.” He said irritably.

“An hour?” Salamede exploded as she set her chest down “That’s almost half our time in travel alone. Are we that short of coin that we could resort to such a terrible deal?”

“Yes and no. We had the funds for a full trip, but the local government will be commandeering them after an hour, so the guild is letting us use this one at fraction of the original price in compensation.” He said with arms raised placatingly.

“What for?” I asked irritably as I set my chest down.

“The military base the more southern villagers went to, the one between here and the Hub at the highway, is overcrowded and strapped for resources. With the mayhem in the south all the supplies there got put somewhere else and they were already full up on a back log of displaced soldiers. With all that, the local Duke of the region has been instructed by the Central government to move the civilians here.”

“Here?” Salamede said in disbelief. “There’s no room, the river is almost a running sewer as is, and food is scarce enough.” The Kelton man ran his hands down the horns along the back of his head and I could see that just because he was behind the walls, that didn’t mean he wasn’t being worked to the bone as well.

“Yes, here. The decision has been made and the leg work is already in motion. We will just have to deal with this fact.” He said solemnly.

“Housing” I said as I handed my chest off to Salamede. “A bunch of homeless starving people running around isn’t going to be good for our community. Since I don’t see any work crews moving bricks and boards, I’m assuming they haven’t started on that part yet.”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“The local office has already put aside a plot of land to the left side of town towards the back, but no, they haven’t started work yet.” I nodded and looked towards the academy before explaining my plan.

“Ryan owes me a favor. He’ll start laying the needed foundations and doing the brick work while we run for firewood as quickly as we can.” I explained.

“A scion? Doing housing work for refugees?” The patriarch asked skeptically, with even some of the surrounding listeners looking dubious.

“He’ll do it. If he tries to go back on his word, I’ll flay him alive.” I said as turned towards the academy, not even staying to take in the shocked and sputtering faces. Salamede then led the people back towards the carriage as the crowd moved aside for me.

Going down the main road and past the wide arch of the dorms main entrance, I zipped right with my wheels to get past the curious bystanders until I got to the three houses that made up the scion’s houses to the right of the main entrance. Going through the wrought iron gate and up to the cave like overhang of Ryan’s home entrance, I walked up the stone steps, past the thick wooden beams and up to the immaculate oak door. A loud knock and it was less than a minute before a maid came to the door to answer. A few more minutes and she had successfully retrieved Ryan. The man’s green eyes looked at me with new found wonder. While he wore his typical blue and white striped student robes, he had very high-quality leather gloves and some sturdy steel toe boots for his feet.

“Hey, Eli. I was wondering… I’ve heard some rumors and there was the announcement with the papers put on the board but it’s so absurd. Do you really-“

A small tunnel of wind, stone, fire, and water sprung up between my two hands in front of him. Those green eyes went wide as saucers as his jaw slacked. The strands of his black hair fell over his sharp cheek bones with no resistance or attempt to put them back.

“Yes, and all the dual elements aside.” I said casually. “But I am still only one person and right now I need to be in two places at once. You remember that favor I asked for?”

It took a moment, but he finally snapped out of the daze.

“I… Yeah, of course.” He said in a stunned tone.

“On the left side of town, they are making some housing for a new batch of people coming in. I need you to help make the foundations and brick work to help it along.” I said.

The dazed expression passed and in its place was a raised eyebrow.

“Peasant housing?” He asked incredulously.

“Yes” I responded swiftly. He strummed his finger on the door frame for a moment taking in that single word.

“Um… Alright, I’ll get down there.” He said. I gave a light nod with the helmet obstructing his face for a moment.

Heading back down towards the Kelton quarter, I noticed Salamede standing on the street corner by herself with the two chests and no cart around. Pushing through the crowd, she turned to me when I came into view.

“Ah, Eli!” She called as I approached. “The guild representative and the patriarch were getting ready to leave when one of the senior guild members came by. The military base needs the civilians out now. In exchange, they agreed to let us use one of the carriages and its guard on the way back for the rest of the day if we need to at no charge. They’re leaving now but I didn’t feel comfortable answering for you.”

I gave a light nod as I squeezed her side affectionately before picking up my chest and heading towards the bridge entrance with her beside me.

“I understand. Let’s see how quickly we can get this over with.” I said. When we came to the main road, there was a long line of iron plated carriages along the bridge. Moving to the front, we got the occasional odd look from a swordsman, archer, and adventurer who made up the typical teams deployed by the guild. When we came up to the end of the bridge, I saw the patriarch, guild head Mason, and the captain who oversaw the men currently manning the wall and burning corpses in a pyre off to the left. All three were talking back and forth until they saw us approach.

“Ah, sir caster.” The captain called “I suppose you’ll be heading out then?”

“Aye. No entourage to watch me to make sure I don’t associate with anyone?” I asked casually

“Nah. Miss Agatha was the one who heckled him into doing that and we’re stretched too thin to be giving you a whole squad right now. She’ll just have to be content with the protections as is.” The captain said with a grimace showing through his thick black beard.

“All right, lad. Our previous trips have pretty much cleared the dead from the main road from here to about a mile out” The guild master said, his grimace showing between his two mostly black lamb chops. “We have a carriage in the middle for you. The roads are pretty clear right now but so many people moving all at once tends to attract the dead’s attention when they think they can get at them.”

“The dead can think?” I asked.

A simple shrug that moved his sash of wands was all he could give me before the captain answered.

“It’s hard to tell.” The captain said. “They attack in a mindless wave at towns first but if that fails, they hang back and meander around. Sometimes they even display an almost animal like intelligence and sometimes they walk into spikes right in front of them. It seems to mostly depend on how much magic they’ve had to bolster them and it’s not always so obvious how much that is.”

My curiosity sated, I headed back towards the middle of the caravan. As the river underneath the bridge, ever increasing its foul smell from the already cramped quarters of the warehouses upstream, rolled on beneath us we eventually came up to the carriage with no one inside it and hopped in through the back.

I left my hammer on the opposite carriage bench with Salamede putting her smooth steel spear beside it. We lay against the rough wood of the bench as the crude window cut into the metal wall to our left showed a grey sky. Despite how heated we got back home, we were both content to merely lean on each other as we waited for the caravan to get moving. It took only a few more minutes before a loud call was heard from guild master Mason. With a sudden jerk forward, we were off as the passing pyre of firewood and burning bodies flashed by for a brief moment of red flame and heat. After that was a flash of stone wall and the spike pits on either side of the mini drawbridge as the green countryside opened up.

The trees were making fast progress into the ground now as the tallest of them was only twice the height of a man, leaving the air heavier with the stench of the undead than it should have been. Occasionally, a carriage further ahead would pull off to the side to deal with some of the undead coming out of the quickly shrinking woods. All of the carriages ahead of us were eventually pulled to the side and it was our turn to meet the opponent.

We met the small squad of five shambling corpses a few yards from the carriage as the driver behind us gripped the sword at his hip even as the horses, immaculately trained, stood still with no panic in the eyes that showed below their armor. I zipped forward and took out three of the enemy with a single swing as the boosters took me far past the group. Salamede lacked the hesitation she first had on our first few ventures together and stabbed one the remaining ones through the head before stepping back and swiping the legs out from beneath the other. Another quick stab and the threat was over.

Looking to my right as I faced the carriage, I saw the other carriages behind us having some trouble. A few of the undead packs were closer to seven or ten strong that kept pushing the regular guild members back but the higher up members, put at every other carriage to help those ahead and behind them, dispatched their enemies pretty easily. No one seemed to be on the verge of death as the combatants weren’t scared farmers with pitchforks and crude spears this time, but it was still taking time to put the undead down one at a time and time was not a resource I had the means to waste.

“Salamede, let’s see if we can speed up the other groups work. I want to be back in town by mid-afternoon at the latest.” I said. She nodded and followed me back to our carriage before I talked with the driver.

“Good sir, we want to help the other carriages, but I assume you still need us here to protect you?”

“Yes, very much so.” He said with a bead of sweat running down his tan skin and now nervous brown eyes.

“All right.” I said, walking away from the carriage while keeping my eyes on Salamede. “Stay here and protect him while I see if I can get the rest of the carriages moving.”

She nodded as I activated all of the boosters. The small trees and grass zipped by as a whistle was heard from the steel and wood moving like a diving hawk over the land, the original motif that inspired the design. The first group was on the other side of the carriage with three teens using spears and swords to keep a group of eight at bay until another more experienced member came by.

As I zipped past the carriage horse, it wasn’t until I was nearly on top of them that the first rotting head turned to me and that was all the reaction four of them got before I slammed into them with the iron hammer. The sickening crunch of bone and flying bodies sent the younger teens shirking back, two men and a young brunette, but before they could say anything, I moved on to the next problem area. The carriage behind this one had a particularly bad pack of eleven undead against a team of four with one being an elite member, a swordsman wearing full plate armor with iron sword and shield, who was trying to keep the three teens from panicking while they wrapped bandages around a pretty chewed up member by the carriage.

Looking to the ditch on my left, I saw a particularly large rock the size of a chest. Using a basic earth spell, I lifted it out of the air and launched it at the small crowd of undead. The faint whistle as it sailed through the air drew all the eyes present, but it was already landing amongst the undead before the first head could turn. Three corpses got their hips and legs destroyed as the menace turned towards me. Unfortunately, they were still too close to the armored man for me to do a booster powered swing so I had the wheels pulled up and did some more manual back and forth.

When the five undead started shambling and crawling up to me, I used the iron balls attached to chains above my arms to attack the left most one’s ability to walk. Sending its leg flying, the thing landed on the ground with a thud and was forced to crawl on the ground with its other friend as the two other crawlers pulled themselves towards the guild members with another walker. The others were brought low as I slowly moved back and took out their legs one wet crunch at a time.

As I bashed their heads in, the last one on the right had its head stabbed through with the guild member having seen to his opponents. That task finished, I put my wheels back down and quickly moved to help the injured member by the carriage as the iron balls spun back into a mere foot of outstretched cable. These lower members had at most a metal chest or shoulder piece with the rest of the body being protected with leather armor. The swords and daggers they typically favored meant the spears they were provided were swung and jabbed with little to no accuracy or skill. The one guild member laying on the ground by the carriage had his leather armor chewed on and the iron shoulder guard was pretty much the only part of him that didn’t have a bite or scratch on it.

“I’m surprised they let people as young as you out here.” I said as I applied a healing spell to the young man with blood covering his leather armor and the white shirt beneath it.

“Hey!” The younger blond woman to my right squeaked indignantly. “You’re barely two or three years older than us.”

“Age isn’t all in the bones, missy.” I replied mockingly as the wounds on the man began healing. She huffed, but as the other man was heading over to the man in plate armor, she put her hands around my shoulders.

“Everyone at the guild has been talking about some quad element mage. There was a board posting about it and you have the purple eyes of the person described. Are you…”

“Yes, I am. Keep him on light duty, I can heal the body, but he may not be mentally ready to get back in it for a while.” I responded as I got back up and looked further down the small line of carriages. The ones ahead were pulling off now and the last two behind this one were close to finishing their opponents. As I turned to head back to my carriage, the blond got in my way, her green eyes screaming ‘fuck me’ louder than if she had yelled the words.

“I-I can’t let you go just yet. You saved our lives you did. Perhaps I could come back to your carriage and thank you properly.” She said with blushing tan skin over her white undershirt and her spear swayed with the turning of her hips.

“I’ll take it up with my fiancé.” I said as I moved past her.

“F…fiancé?” She squeaked behind me as I took off towards my own carriage.

The grey overcast sky was the only thing that seemed unchanged as I zipped forward towards my carriage stay on the left side of the road. Off to the left were a few more corpses on the ground than there had been before as Salamede stood by the horse helping watch the left side as the driver scanned the right side.

“All right, we’re good to go,” I called ahead. Salamede nodded went through the back of the armored carriage with me stopping to get the wheels up before moving in. She sat on the left bench while I sat on the right across from her as I used flame magic to burn away bits of rotting flesh that stuck in-between the plates of our armor and on the corners of our weapons.

“Well, you were right about it only being the start. The last group had a blond in it who asked to come back to my carriage when I told her I was a quad mage. She was practically quivering when she asked.” I said dryly as I burned out one chunk of smelly skin from between Salamede’s left knee plate.

“Yeah. She’s in the guild and that place is where all the people too poor to be merchants or nobles go if they don’t want to barely scrape by as peasants. Getting a child from you would set her on a path towards riches and comfort only typically afforded to nobles. Probably more if the government sets up a special stipend for women who bear your children” Salamede said like a woman who didn’t just hear some other female tried to bed her future husband.

“Maybe if they invested more in roads and industry instead of trying to stud the mage men, things would be better.” I grumbled sourly as I pulled back and looked out the crude window to the receding trees zooming past.

“One province tried that in the south western region. It was some harbor or heavy fishing area hit upon by a bad harvest from what I heard. Didn’t cut them totally just reduced the local benefits but a day or two after the shipping companies pulled out completely. They helped ferry mages and magical resources from and to the central continent. They moved their operations to a northern neighbor before the week was out.”

“And then the smiths packed up because of skyrocketing bar stock prices, which caused the farmers to lose money from more expensive farming equipment, and on and on it went. Am I right?” I said sourly.

“Aye. The travelling merchant said they never fully recovered from that even years later.” Salamede said with a look downwards.

“I don’t give a damn what their incentives or justifications are, I don’t do absentee fatherhood.” I said with crossed arms as I looked out the carriages back end toward the carriage a little bit behind us. The clack of metal across the wood floor turned my head towards Salamede, who was already crossing her legs around my waist and pulling up our helmets.

‘Eli, if you wanted me to kiss you, just say so.’ She said in a spirit connection, the heat in her voice unmistakable. I made no objections as our helmets were placed to the left and right. We spent the rest of the trip doing oral inspection until either a few minutes or an hour passed, and the carriage came to a stop.

“We’ve arrived!” The driver called.

We pulled away from each other with one last loud pop of our mouths. It took a long moment of looking at each other before we got our helmets on and went out the back of the carriage. Further up the road was a wall of grey stone in a wide circle, in the middle of which was a raised palisade to let traffic in from the main road. On both sides of the road were the rest of the carriages with their passengers disembarking and going through the main entrance while some stayed behind to keep watch for the carriages, the necessity of which was obvious from the small pile of rotting corpses around certain points of the outer wall.

Making our way through the crowd, we eventually came into the base as a line of guards vetted everyone coming through.

“Any ID’s or papers?” One bored guard asked.

“They’re fine.” Guild master Mason called before I could say anything. The guard took a moment to recognize him before he stepped aside and let us pass as the other guild members produced various papers for inspection.

Going into the base proper, if felt like something between a proper camp and a refugee hovel. The bunkhouses ringing the wall and wooden towers at both entrances were made of sturdy enough wood beams and stone slabs, but in every corner in between them were masses of peasants. Most had decent clothes, but the lack of sanitation and food was obvious from the state of the small scattered camps and hungry faces.

“Let’s get to work people!” Mason yelled from the porch of the officer’s cabin on the right side of the base. We spent what felt like an hour moving pregnant women and the elderly into the carriages along with whatever meager possessions they managed to bring with them. It was near the tail end of helping move the peasant’s belongings as we maneuvered around patrols of steel plated men that a new thorn appeared.

Out of the officer’s cabin came two mage women. One was a raven-haired woman with a tall, thin frame beneath her blue robe, laced in gold and with white splashes showing waves. Her face was a bit wide with a button nose. To her right was a shorter blond woman with red painted leather, all of the finest make with gold inlay. The freckles on her face, thicker nose and more defined body provided a stark contrast to her companion. The only common feature between the two was the look of disgust at the peasants they were giving from the small house’s porch.

From their right came a tired looking Mason who walked down the steps and towards us with a look of bearing bad news.

“Well, lads. We got some extra visitors and the base is short on the needed extra accommodations. They will be accompanying us back but… they’re not going to ride in a carriage with peasants.”

“Huh?” one of the male guild members said off to the left. “We barely have enough room as is.”

“I know.” Mason said, with his downward look only stopping as he put a hand to his forehead. “Some of the peasants are going to have to walk back.”

I bit my lip to keep my suggestion of just knocking them out and laying them over the carriage chests from being spoken. It would be well into the night before we got back even if we made no detour to get the firewood and I did not feel like coming out here a third time.

“What is this base short on, carriages or horses?” I asked. This drew a surprised look from Mason, who took a moment to caress his lamb chops.

“Horses. They’ve been using them for messengers, and a few died from their wounds leaving some carriages with no means to pull them.” He finally said.

“Then me and my wife can pull one of them. Going at full speed, we should actually be faster than the horses.” I said. Mason got a little pale at the announcement, but whether it was from my offer or calling Salamede my wife, it wasn’t clear.

“Um… Sure. The local commander should hand it over no problem considering how low on room they already are. We’ll load it down with goods and have the Keltons put with you for protection when you leave the main group.”

An audible sigh of relief went through the crowd as most of them got moving again. Although I noticed a few of the women looking sullenly at Salamede now.

It was another half hour before the empty carriage was brought out and loaded with a few goods and the Keltons who came along. The carriage in question was a bit longer than ours only it came without the metal sheeting. Loaded up with five of the Kelton men and an assortment of chests and bags, Salamede and I were waiting in a line of carriages to get going when the two mages finally walked past. With Salamede on the left and me on the right, we were in between the two protruding pieces of wood getting ready to pull it forward when they turned their gazes on us.

While merely content to roll their eyes at me dismissively, they seemed to be amused by Salamede being ready to pull the cart.

“A beast of burden in face and purpose.” The raven haired one said as they both started walking by.

Using a quick earth spell, I shifted the dirt beneath her next step. The sudden shift caused her foot to slip out below her and landed her face first into the dirt. Even though she said nothing, I saw a look of amusement on the blond’s face before she walked forward, followed shortly by the cursing water mage wiping the dirt of the off her ornate blue robe. I felt Salamede swat my arm but when I looked over to her, there was a smile playing across her mouth.

Eventually, the carriages were all put in order and we took off. It took all eight boosters from both of us, but we eventually passed the line of carriages and zipped on ahead with some of the Kelton men giving one exclamation or curse. As we passed the carriage at the front, Mason was in the driver seat and nodded to us as we left the main group.

The universe seemed content to inflict no more misfortune on us, at least for the rest of the trip. While a light drizzle resumed, the undead had been reduced to just one or two scattered about and since the village we were visiting was mostly for firewood, there hadn’t been as many bodies to attract scavengers as there had been in the other two. The main warehouse in the center of the village was actually of caked mud with a tile roof. Salamede and I stood watch as the men offloaded the wood into the two boxes of holding.

It was during this time that I happened to look back and saw the wood they were offloading.

“Salamede, why does the wood look…waxy?” I asked across the line of men.

“Kissen sap. The wood is soaked in a certain weeds pulp that makes it last longer and stay drier. Doesn’t smell nice by any nose but between that and freezing to death, we decided it was worth the extra steps.” She said casually as she took the knees out beneath one shambling corpse. It took only a half hour more before it was all loaded up and we headed out of the village. The tension bled away as we pulled out and it was then that I properly took in the dead silence of the place, not a bird, dogs bark, or yell for what was between a village and a small town.

Nothing but the soft wind playing over the roofs of empty houses and the growing patter of drizzling rain from the darkening overcast sky.

Our task, so delayed with bullshit and tedious human failings, was finally at an end. Pulling up to the bridges wall, the previous carriages had passed through and we made our way past the drawbridge with no fuss. Turning down to the right side of the road, we eventually got the cart down to the local harbor area. After we unloaded the two chests of holding with the men, I looked around in the street until I saw the Patriarch.

“Ah, caster sir.” He called with a coat over his head as he came forward. “Good, good. No blood or bodies. I’m guessing the trip went fine then?” He asked as his green suit still got some drops of water along his shoulders.

“As could be hoped for or expected. Is that item ready?” I asked casually as I took my position back at the carriage.

“Um… to what are you referring?” He asked, his brown fur showing a raised eyebrow.

“The piece of rope that’s going to make Salamede my wife.” I said with the drizzle starting to form a proper rain as the droplets hovered and fell off the projection field just above my suit.

“Oh, of course. Rand was here earlier going over the legality of it. As long as you don’t talk to anyone during the ceremony, you haven’t technically associated with anyone. He had to go discuss it with a legal expert but for now, for right now, he can’t stop you from doing it if he isn’t sure what the limits are.” He finished with one last look to the men getting out of the carriage.

Salamede gave a happy little clap and we quickly moved off to deliver the carriage to the new peasant housing on the left side of the academy. The main road was more clogged than usual but off in the distance I could make out several three-story houses like a wide apartment building a few dozen yards to the left of the academy wall. The structures were more stone in the walls than their compatriots and looking at them I saw Ryan working a wooden board enchanted to summon stone. It put in the top story walls on the last of the row of five houses, the only cover being a wide piece of rough cloth strung along the top to keep the rain out.

We pushed our way through the crowd of people, now a greater mix of hungry people looking over the food vendors with worried expressions as they vied for the food that would quickly be put out of their financial means to acquire if the rising prices I saw were anything to go by. As the rain fell on the huddle masses of hungry peasants and vendors, our odd carriage drew many raised eyebrows but most of the people used to us merely nodded and stepped aside while the newcomers couldn’t seem to decide if they wanted to look at us or at the semi-mythical dwarves.

The traffic lessened as we got closer to the academy area where an odd deadland of traffic lay, the spot between the two worlds where anyone rich enough to be involved in the academy wouldn’t be going out in this rain for the poorer items of the town but the people poor enough to have to go out and get their food or cloth couldn’t afford anything that the academy offered, leading to this near empty section of road where the two places touched. From there it took only a few more minutes before we got to the new houses and the line of carts in front of them. Men and women moved their goods back and forth as children either played or looked out shuttered windows. I went up to the back of the line and called for one of the guards.

“These are goods from the peasants, make sure they get to where they need to go.” I said as I moved away from the carriage with Salamede. “I’ll check on Ryan and come back to the Kelton quarter.” She nodded but stopped for a moment to pull my helmet down and give me a kiss. Pulling away, she then took off down the road without a word. I could only ogle the soft curves of her armor with a smile as she made her way over the empty section of road and back through the crowd.

Turning away, I made my way to the front of the carriage line and looked up the house to Ryan. He was putting the finishing touches on the wall of stone he had summoned and was molding sections of it to allow the men to put in the thick wooden beams that would support the roof.

“Ryan!” I called above.

He turned around and looked at me with a confused expression. The moment passed and when he realized he who he was looking at, he got a big smile.

“Well, well. It looks like that trip went a lot faster than I thought it would. I assume it’s because of the association representatives.” He called down like this was just another idle chat.

“Is that who they are? Well, the trip went fast more in spite of them rather than because of them.”

“Hmm. I guess no one needed to ask what they had come for.” Ryan said as he stroked his chin. His green eyes and suggestive face with sharp cheek bones left no doubt as to what he was referencing.

“I’ve heard the apples here are of a wonderous quality.” I responded with a strained smile. Ryan merely snorted in response before looking over the roof again.

“A few more minutes and I’ll be done.” He said. I nodded and we both bid goodbye.

Making my way through the crowd, I headed back to the Kelton quarter.

When I made my way around the bend and towards the usual meeting spot, I saw Salamede and the patriarch on a porch in front of the large houses. Even with a large crowd of Keltons in front of me and despite the fact she was standing a bit off to his left, Salamede instantly spotted me coming out of the back-alley way and then every head turned to look at me. As I came up the wooden steps, I saw Salamede standing in the middle of a large band of rope and in her hands was a quill with an ink jar on the porch. Recalling the details of the ceremony, I went to take the quill and paper from her. She looked at me with love so clear in her face, not even the helmet obstructing her nose and cheeks could block it.

‘Honestly’ The patriarch pouted in a spirit connection. ‘I feel bad about marrying you two off like this. A mage, a quad element mage, marrying into the Kelton community should be something that has an entire day dedicated to it. Even more so for a mage who has already done so much for us.’

‘Bah! A marriage is defined by how it is lived, not how it starts.’ I dismissed his concerns through the spirit connection. I stared at the paper then looked out at the crowd. Strumming my steel covered fingers on the rail, I saw several men and a few women with scars along their snouts or about their arms, some new and some a few days old. Deciding on my contribution, I wrote it down on the paper.

“We gather here to recognize the tying of two souls together.” The patriarch said as he turned to the crowd with a dramatic wave of his green suits right arm. “For this union to serve our community, any man that just so happens to step into the rope circle with Miss Salamede will now be considered for a union.”

Salamede had written hers down first and dropped it on the floor. He picked it up and began speaking on our behalf.

“I promise to bear him twelve children, to raise them for each other and all of us.” He read from the paper with an impressed nod as looks of approval went through the crowd. I then just happened to drop my paper on the floor in front of him and he picked it up to read from it.

“I swear to provide five wooden beds for the community, each enchanted with healing magic. They will provide physical restoration far greater than a healing elixir and as long as the ambient mana is maintained, will require no expense for their use.”

This caused a wave of excited whispering and oohs amongst the crowd. I noticed quite a few who were sporting bandages on arms or on their faces seemed particularly excited. When I turned around Salamede was squirming in delight while the pudgy form of the Patriarch was content to look down with his left hand across his chest.

“You are truly a blessing” He whispered in a humbled tone before turning up and towards the crowd. “We have heard a proposition for the random couple who just happened to step into the rope circle. Are there any objections on the basis of health, ability or disposition? Let them come forward and be pelted with stones here and now”

That little breach of tradition sent a wave of laughter through the crowd. Down to the left I saw the small brown furred Kelton woman that was Salamede’s mother looking on with a handkerchief wiping her white eyes.

“All conditions have been satisfied. Let the new couple go forward as husband and wife.”

I followed Salamede’s lead and picked up the rope and held it above our heads. The rain fell down on us and the crowd, but I paid it no mind as my heart fluttered with excitement. Looking at Salamede, I could see her face breaking apart with the happiest smile I had ever seen on it. Her face was streaked with rain and tears in between the helmet and I was just glad I had made her cry for a good reason this time. The stab of guilt at the memory was quickly repressed and we walked past the clapping crowd as we made our way towards the tower.

It was near the end of the crowd that Rand showed up.

“Ah, Eli good.” He said with a wave to his right. Beside him was a thin man in a black robe being covered with a canopy carried by two other men.

“Eli No-Name.” The man said. “I am a man of the law concerning censorship and I must applaud you for your innovative spirit. You did not talk to anyone during this ceremony nor was your name given during any of the vows.”

He took a long moment of tapping his foot.

“I’ll let it slide for now.”

That produced a small cheer from the surrounding crowd.

“But…But. This will have to still be examined. Anything concerning you will be gone over to the smallest detail. I cannot promise that the marriage is valid, only that it cannot be immediately denied. Good day.” He said before turning around with the rest of the guards. I gave a happy sigh and kept walking with my now wife.

“Oh, Tansen came by earlier. Told us about a big meeting tomorrow with all the major groups to figure out what to do.” Salamede said as we moved across the stone road and onto the dirt path a little more quickly to get inside my tower.

“Does he know about us getting married?” I asked.

“Yep. Wished us well, in a spirit connection obviously. There’s going to be a constant watch on us both from now on.” She said in a put-out manner.

“They better not be watching for what I have planned.” I said mischievously. She got a grin at that as we shuffled inside the door and onto the dark oak floor of my tower. The bits of bark were still scattered about but I immediately moved towards the hatch.

“I’ll get a shower going so we can get the sweat off us then we can consummate this marriage.” I said as I gave her steel bum a light swat. She giggled but looked at me with a raised eyebrow as I opened the hatch into the lower workshop. Going down the steps I saw the near finished forge on my right.

The deep graphite bowl was in a dip in the long plate of iron and in the near future, below it would be the shafts with heating coils. On the back side was to be the rack of copper spheres and wires that would power the thing but despite the constant whirring from the sphere powering the air piston and the few already in place for the forge, there was no other movement in the wide room. That was until Cell came from behind the far-left leg of the forge. His crystal head looked at me with anticipation and he jumped up towards me, sending me a wave of happiness as he rubbed against my cheek with his black mass of ever moving shapes flowing around the armor.

“Hey, how’s it been Cell?” I asked him. I got general impressions of wires and the large heating coils being put in place. He seemed happy to see me, but he sensed the lust in my body and looked upwards at the hatch. He then sent me a few pictures of the other familiars and them going in the woods. Grateful for the time alone, I rubbed the sphere with shimmering lights in appreciation.

He headed to the left and up to the slab of stone in the wall that used to be the tunnel to the troll nest. Making a small hole upward for himself, he sent me one last wave of happiness in goodbye before I headed towards my main task. Down here was the tubes I had previously used for the shoulder cannons but those were useless now.

I took one and replaced the sections with the earth enchantments with water ones, taking off my armor and stripping down to the plain white shirt and brown pants beneath while I did so. Molding it into the stone wall around the grotto to the left of the stairs, I crafted a crude makeshift shower head out of it. As I was testing the water temperature, trying for that ever-elusive middle ground between cold and skin melting, I heard the hatch open behind me.

“Eli?” Salamede called down.

“I’m almost done. That perfect balance is within sight.” I responded as the sound of footsteps came up behind me.

“Sala-“ I felt her body press against my back. But through the fabric I could feel her lack of clothing as she moved her hands around my sides. I suppressed the impulse to turn around as I continued working on the metal tube sticking out of the wall above the small pond of water that served as the entrance from the river.

“Salamede.” I chided. “Did you unwrap my present before I could?”

There was a chuckle in my left ear as she pressed her considerable bust against my back again and did a little nibble on my lobe.

‘I’ve waited too damn long. I want you now’ She said coyly in a spirit connection.

‘We are close my dear. This is a meal I intend to savor and I want us both to be well washed for it.’ I said even as the tightness in my pants suggested otherwise. She seemed to notice and ran her hands over my member sending a shiver up my spine.

‘Are you sure?’ She asked in a heated tone.

‘Yes. We will have all the time in the world once I finish this shower head. Get the soap ready and we can shower together.’

She gave a needy pout that made my blood boil with lust, but I held it in when she removed her hands from my groin, and I heard footsteps going upstairs. It took a few more agonizing minutes, but I eventually got the water and fire enchantments down to where they would put out a shower of hot water that suited my intended purpose.

Going back up the stairs, I opened the hatch to see Salamede dressed in a white under dress as she sat on the central boulder couch chewing on a long piece of Yook root, the yellow celery vegetable that prevented pregnancy in women. Her snout had a bit of the vegetable in front of it and the white stripe that ran up from her nose ridge.

“Is it ready?” She asked impatiently. I practically ran forward as I stopped resisting the heat in my body and gave in to my urges. Getting on top of her as she swallowed the last of the vegetable, I took her head in my hand and kissed her. For a long moment our tongues dueled before I pulled her up and hoisted her onto my chest as I walked down to the shower.

Her hands ran all over my body, taking particular care to undo the knot of my pants. I struggled to hold her and my pants up but once we were down in the small pond, I just pinned her to the wall as I fiddled with the tube. Once I hit the button, a shower of steamy water came out of the tubes’ end and I felt Salamede jump as the sudden heat hit her.

“It’s like Tansen’s underground pool. So warm” She said excitedly. I took her lips for a moment as the water washed over us both.

‘That’s why we needed to get married.’ I teased in a spirit connection. ‘Else using this hot water craft would be far too inefficient to use for one person at a time.’

She puckered her lips and tried to slap me. But as she tried to get a hit in on my ribs or head, I looked down to her body. Her white underdress left nothing to the imagination with the water making it cling to her body like a second skin. While her grey fur ran down to the collar bone, the big orbs of her breasts stood out as distinctly human with the hard, brown nipples showing through the fabric. Salamede noticed I had stopped dodging to stare and put her hands to her hips.

‘Like what you see?’ She teased as she swung her chest back and forth. ‘if so, I- eek!’

My blood was red hot and I couldn’t take it anymore as I pulled at the legs of her dress. She tried to get up on one foot to help me remove her garment, but as we both desperately pulled at the cloth it kept getting stuck on either her horns or her standing foot. A few more seconds of struggling and the end of patience came. I got back up and grabbed her under dress by the open V of her chest and pulled it apart with a loud rip.

“Eli! My dress.” Salamede squeaked, although not unhappily.

“I’ll buy you another, I’ll buy you a dozen, just give me your body right now!” I growled as I finished ripping the offending cloth in two. It fell into the water to reveal the beauty beneath.

Her body wasn’t hard like a warrior, instead coming with bits of fat around the hips and belly. But that wouldn’t have fit her anyway as the big pale orbs of her breasts would have been entirely impractical for such a lifestyle. I had felt them through cloth before but now saw them free. They were big enough to more than fill each of my palms, with hard brown nipples erect in excitement. Under the left breast and along her right hip were two moles each. Looking further down was the small bush of grey hair that was her vagina.

She had a body for making children and holding them on her hips.

And it was all mine for the taking.

“Eli, I kind of want to see what goods I’ve purchased as well.” She said with an impatient tone as she blushed from my attention.

I huffed and took off my shirt and threw it behind me. I started working my pants but Salamede took my hands as she moved up to me through the hot water enveloping us.

“Now, now Eli. You got to unwrap your present now I get to unwrap mine.” She reprimanded as she pulled my hands to the side.

Her hands worked the cord around my waist and let the brown pants fall down to reveal the tented white underwear. I kicked the pants down fully and as I did so Salamede started lowering herself. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, she landed a kiss on my lips, then a light bite on my chin, then a kiss on my neck, then a small bite on my collar bone. She stopped for a moment to appreciate the small moans she was drawing out of me before continuing. Then her lips kissed above my left peck which was followed by a small bite on my nipple, not hard enough to hurt but it still sent a shiver up my spine. She kissed my abs and then bit my lower belly. When she finally got to above my pubes, she hooked a single finger around my underwear and worked them down until she had it just above my erection.

“Eli. Thank you.” She said before she did one final pull. My erection swung out in front of her face and she took a moment to stare at it, taking in every ridge, vein, and curve like it was a painting she wanted to remember for the rest of her life. I kicked the unneeded shorts and pants away so that we both stood as clothed as any animal of the forest.

Her white eyes looked up at me and appreciation was plastered across her face as she moved her legs beneath her and got on both her knees, causing a hypnotic swing of her breasts.

“Eli” She said as she grabbed both of my ass cheeks and pulled me forward. “Thank you for getting us the grain we needed to survive.” Once that last word left her mouth, she put her head forward in a deliberate bob. Her tongue, a soft wetness that rubbed like a hot sponge, started at the left side of my stem and slowly worked its way up. My whole body tingled as the bolt of ecstasy she was sending through my loins methodically worked its way up to the head.

Raw need flooded my body as that softness felt like a fine silk working its way around the nerves in my dick. But Salamede never quickened her pace even as a smug look in her eyes told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me. Her tongue eventually got to the head and ended the long lick just before touching the mushroom at the end of my stem.

“Eli” She said again. “Thank you for saving us from the cold by getting us the firewood we would never have been able to retrieve without your gifts.” She repeated the lick along the right side of my dick, drawing a hard growl and biting lip from me as she languorously worked her way up the side and making sure to look me in the eyes with that smug expression the whole time.

“Eli” She said, her breath now heated and coming in short bursts. “Thank you for offering such a wonderous gift for our community. One of such value that we can’t and could never repay.” Her tongue then did another long journey up the middle of my dick and I had had enough. My arms jerked forward to wrap around her head almost of their own will but Salamede seemed to have anticipated the move. Her hands caught mine and pulled them further back, making me bend my hips forward to maintain balance.

She took the opportunity to take even longer this time, slowly running her tongue along the underside of my loins and making sure to keep looking at the red, needy face I was no doubt making. When she finally stopped the lick, she kept me bent over backwards to keep my dick right in her face. I stood there for a moment taking in the hot shower water coming down on both of us as I felt her breath across my manhood.

“And, finally.” She said with a smug tone of victory. “Thank you for helping a worthless Kelton woman stuck in the mud.” Her mouth lazily opened as she moved above my dick and slowly took the entire length in her mouth. A small gasp escaped my lips as the wet heat slowly enveloped my manhood. When she had gotten down to my balls, she let my hands go to grab ahold of my hips.

Immediately correcting my stance, I leaned forward and put my hands around her head to fully push her down. But she needed no encouragement as her tongue did light pats and swipes across my mushroom making my stem go from iron hardness to diamond. She seemed content to leave the main length of my stem to her lips and cheeks as she kept her tongue dancing across the tip. My body now intended to reach its release as my hips moved back and forth with wild abandonment as I slid my dick in and out of her mouth with increasingly desperate thrusts.

Her horns knocked against my chest, but I paid no attention to the occasional poke or slap as I put my hands around the back of her head and neck and thrust with no thought in my head beyond that wet heat enveloping my dick. A few minutes or an hour later, I couldn’t distinguish the flow of time as the electric pulse surged through my body, I had reached the precipice of my climax.

“Salamede.” I growled with a look down at my wife, still working my dick like its balls held diamonds if she could only get to the bottom of the two tanks. “Unless you want to taste the inside of my balls as well, pull away.”

I used the last vestiges of my self-control to let her head go. Instead of pulling away, she squeezed my thighs harder and attacked anew with a moan of pleasure as she proceeded to run her tongue up and down my stem in raw need for what it was going to deliver.

Given the all clear, I grabbed her head around her horns and put my hips into overdrive. With the animal part of my brain demanding to be sated, it took only a few more seconds before I felt the electric surge in my loins work its way through my whole body. The world went white as I felt the heat surging through my dick and I cried a guttural scream of pure ecstasy. When that white vision had passed, I started falling back down to earth. When I began feeling my muscles, hot from the shower and activity, another feeling that came through was the sensation of soft, wet heat around my spent man hood.

I was staring at the ceiling and when I looked down, I saw my wife still had my dick in her mouth and was dutifully swallowing its payload. I stood there, spell bound, until the last gulp was heard. But the damned woman still would not let my dick out of her mouth, instead deciding to run her tongue up and down it to clean any seed from its outside. After a few more moments, she then let it slide out with a wet pop from her mouth.

“Oh fuck.” Was all I could say as she wiped her lips and looked up at me with self-satisfaction.

“Was that pleasing, dear husband?” She said coyly.

“Oh fuck” I offered in a biting example of wit as my frontal lobe struggled to re-engage.

“Pff. A quad mage rendered speechless. That’s as good as any praise a woman could ask for.” She said happily as she got back up to stand just a few inches from me.

I pulled her forward by the waist and felt her up and down. My only regret was the blowjob didn’t leave me a lot of time to admire this beautiful body before me, something I now intended to address. My left hand took her left ass cheek while the right hand took a full palm of her breast. I was the hero of her community and I wanted to leverage that for all the groping and kissing I could. Lifting her up, I caught her right breasts nipple in my mouth, running my tongue over the hard dark marshmallow to a stream of cooing sounds.

“Geez, Eli. It’s like I have a baby already.” She said in a sultry tone. I got a large smile as I looked her in the eyes and let her down.

“Such wonderful sounds coming out of you, dear wife. I would definitely recommend everyone get a wife if they are as delicious as you.”

She got a happy little smile at that as she put her hands down below to grasp my now recovered manhood.

“My oh my, he’s already recovered. Keeping him down is going to be a full-time project I see.” A light squeeze punctuated her last word.

“Please, honey, I am not so horrible a man as to demand all of the work be done by you.” I said as I traced a kiss down her collar bone and put a hand to her soaked vagina.

She got a pursed lip but stopped after a moment.

“Actually, there is something I want you to do.” She said as she turned around. Getting just up against the wall, she went down on her knees and hands as she lifted her ass in the air like a prize. The image my mind closely associated was a cat in heat presenting herself for mounting by her male suitor.

“Is this giving you any ideas about what I want, Eli?” She asked coyly.

With no need to ask twice, I walked forward and grabbed ahold of her magnificent ass cheeks. As I did so, I made sure to line up my erection with the quivering hole that was her womanhood. One massaging roll of my palm and I asked the question I need the answer to.

“Ok Salamede. But first, gentle or rough? How do you want it?”

She looked back at me and I could see she was going to tell me to do whatever I wanted. A squeeze of her ass and a raised eyebrow silenced that meaningless prattle. She bit her lip before she finally spit out what she wanted.

“Eli, I want you to fuck me like a horny huntsman meeting a five-copper whore in an abandoned forest.” She demanded in a heated tone. A moment passed where I was taken aback at the colorful metaphor, but I dutifully slammed forward, getting my tip into her.

She gave a surprised squeal, but I grabbed her right arm and forced it behind her back. Holding her there for a moment, I gave her bum a hard smack. She let out a yelp as I used that moment to force myself deeper into her. That soft velvet of her channel squeezed me like a vice and I took a moment to savor the sensation. Pulling Salamede fully back, I used my free hand to give her left breast as hard a grope as I could manage as I bit her fur covered neck.

Her body reacted to all of this by vibrating with excitement. She looked back at me with lust in her eyes as her breasts swung back and forth from each thrust. A few more minutes of alternating between smacks and thrusts and I decided to see just how far she would let me go.

I made sure to constrict and contort her body against mine to project a sense of absolute dominance as I used my hips to force her against the wall, my arms to pull her torso in whatever position I wanted it, and my legs to overpower any attempts she made to get up. To provide some variation, I grabbed the back of her neck and forced her head against the wall as I pinched her nipples. When she gave a delightful little coo of wonder, I started doing harder and harder twists and squeezes to her ever-increasing delight.

I was using her body like a cheap sex doll and she was loving every minute of it. It was a while before she said anything but the sudden surge in warm liquid from her pussy and the shaking told me she had her first orgasm of the night. It was after calming down a little that she finally talked.

“Eli, I…OOOH! Eli, my horns” She said in a dreary tone that said she was barely lucid.

“What?”

“My horns! Grab them!” She demanded in a heated tone.

Taking a moment to go over the logistics of the request, I fully swept the legs out from under my wife. She squealed in delight as I held her in the air and lay her down on the floor. I pulled back and rubbed my hands together before seeing to the assigned quest. I was still inside her channel so when I leaned forward, it forced a bend in her back that finally stopped when I took ahold of her two ivory horns atop her head.

Grasping them, Salamede didn’t react at first. But when I used this newfound leverage to move her head down, her breath came in short bursts as her womanhood shook. It took a few tries to get a good rhythm going but once I did, Salamede was a quivering pile of bliss. With each slam of my hips, I would pull her head back to meet the charge. When I lifted her up, she would use her free hands to grasp at my ass to make my dick go in her as deeply as possible.

It took only a few more minutes of my quivering wife’s coos and wet heat from her pussy before I was ready to explode again. Taking the initiative, I forced her head down over the side of the small grotto puddle as I pressed my body fully against hers. It wasn’t as intense this time, but the wave of release as I unfurled my seed into my wife was still incredible. I pressed our flesh together as hard as I could, I willed my orgasm to go on as long as I could, and Salamede constricted her pussy as hard as she could while this moment of life affirming ecstasy passed between husband and wife.

Sadly, the moment passed, leaving behind two sweaty, shaking bodies. I lay on top of her as the hot shower water continued falling down my back, panting as I took in her scent, touch and taste while making sure to feel every bit of flesh beneath me.

“Eli, you’re a big fellow.” Salamede said.

“Oh yeah, sorry.” I said as I got off her. But I took a long moment to pull out of her to enjoy the sensation before I laid back down to rest beside my wife.

She instantly snuggled up to me and pressed her breasts against my chest. I took one of her big orbs with the nipple still hard and did another suck on it. A slight moan above me told me the action was not unwelcome.

“Really?” She said with an exhausted and dramatic raise of her head even as her hand went to caress my cheek. I let her tit fall from my mouth before I leaned back up and kissed her.

“I needed to do a thorough inspection. Those are going to be feeding my children some day and I had to make sure they were up to the task.”

She swatted my arm with an indignant snort, but we were both too breathless to continue the banter. We took a moment just laying there as we gobbled down the air and love in each other’s eyes. Salamede put her arms around my waist and chest before speaking again.

“I forgot the soap.”

I laughed as I concentrated on just how good her body felt against my skin. Her nipples against the taught skin of my chest providing a particularly great pleasure as they rubbed back and forth with each breath.

“That was amazing, Eli. But we have to get ready for tomorrow.” She said with a tone that wasn’t fully convinced herself. I took the moment to kiss her.

“Indeed, my wife. We have a lot to do tomorrow.” I said as we both reluctantly got up. She went upstairs to get the soap and returned after a few moments. A good half hour passed, filled with more kissing and rubbing of various parts, before we were fully washed and the water craft was finally turned off.

Our legs shaky and our energy well spent, we fumbled together some clothes to form a rough bed on the main floor behind the central boulder. Satisfied and drained, we drifted off to sleep without a single word spoken.