(chapter 6)
Red Lake City
Kahl'ryleh-hophiit took a breath, and opened the door to the coaching yard of the watch house. So many armed humans made her nervous, but she had a job to do. It didn't take her long to spot the twins. Stormcloud was trying to feed a cat-girl some soup. Deathbolt had, somehow, acquired some cloth, sewing needle, thread, and tailor's scissors. It was slightly disconcerting watching someone so muscular doing such delicate movements.
Why does my heart skip a beat every time I see him? she thought.
"Deathbolt, what are you doing?"
"Making the kitty a dress," he replied. He then stage-whispered "her clothes fell apart, and Stormcloud's arm is the only thing stopping everyone from seeing her boobies."
Kahl'ryleh-hophiit turned to face Stormcloud, and held up the medical pack that was in her hand.
"Freya said the kitty was hurt, so Andromeda sent me down with some stuff. Do you want to take her somewhere quiet, so I can check her over? She can borrow my cloak until your brother has finished making the dress."
There was a collective gasp from all of the watchmen, as she removed her cloak. The cat-girl instinctively tried to make herself smaller. The woman standing in front of them stood just over six foot tall, with an additional foot for both of the horns that encircled her head, she had pale blue skin, pointed ears, white hair, and an additional set of arms, ending in white feathers. They were similar to the arms on a harpy, including the little thumb. Her legs were also similar to a harpy's legs, except for her 'feet' having three claws at the front and two talons at the back.
"You look like you've never seen a Psyren before," Kahl'ryleh-hophiit said to the nearest watchman.
"Don't be scared, kitty," said Deathbolt. "Calliope is nice. She gives the best hugs."
Kahl'ryleh-hophiit turned beet-red.
Why did he have to say that in public?
===/===
"Alright," said the scary bird-person. She was holding a strange talisman. "First, I'm going to use this to see how badly you're hurt. Andromeda called it a portable medical bio-scanner. It's some sort of magic item that has been enchanted to show if you're sick or injured." She moved it closer. She mumbled to herself, while fiddling with parts of the device, as if she was remembering instructions from a list.
As she was moving the talisman over her, various expressions showed on her face. "Not even Dark Elves are this evil," she whispered, with a look of sadness on her face. "This bag doesn't have healing scrolls, but I'm sure the tools in it come pretty close. I just need this." She used a pair of bandage scissors to remove a small lock of hair from her patient.
"This goes into here," she mumbled, while handling a device from the bag. "Stormcloud, I'm going to have to sedate your friend, so she can be healed."
The scary, but confusingly safe-feeling, dragonewt looked conflicted. "Calliope, are you sure you're not going to hurt my kitty?"
"She'll be fine," she replied. "She needs to be asleep while the little robots in this device fix her old fractures, heal the chemical burns on her larynx ...and regrow her front teeth... The bad person who used to own your kitty hurt her a lot. If your older sister saw this list of injuries, she would be doing more than punching him in the face."
===/===
Freya and the sergeant-at-arms returned to the watch house.
With her 'disguise' removed, she took stock of the current situation. Most of the off-duty watchmen were taking advantage of the food and beer she supplied them with. Stormcloud was cuddling her 'kitty' (the name 'Razorfang' still ground on her soul). The object of her affections currently looked like she was working through several conflicting emotions. She was wearing a frilly pink and white dress, with ribbons in her hair, and on her tail.
"Where did the dress come from?"
"Your little brother seems to have developed a talent as a tailor," said Kahl'ryleh-hophiit. She was currently in the arms of Deathbolt, blushing happily.
"Do I need to remind you that my brother is only three?"
"That's why I'm only hugging. I'm as immortal as you and the Great Titania are. I can wait for when he's ready."
"Why do you still call my daughter that?"
"Because She is, even if She refuses to accept it. I followed Her path, and I was rewarded. Further proof is that both you and Her can correctly speak my name. If I have to wait another 15 years, it just means She is teaching me the lesson of patience. Besides that, he likes my hugs."
"Why does the scary bird-person talk like that?" came a quiet voice from Stormcloud's general direction."
"She thinks she saw the Avatar of one of her people's gods," replied Freya.
"I don't think it," interjected Kahl-ryleh'hophiit. "I know it. While I was in Tezcatlipoca's sacrifice pen, for refusing to slay indiscriminately, I awaited my doom. Then, as he was forcing one of the local deities, Quetzalcoatl, to witness his slaughter, She appeared though a sacred gateway. She was wearing enchanted armour, and wielding a holy sword. She brought Divine Judgement on an Abomination who would seek to do harm to innocents. Later, while I prayed for the soul of the slain goddess, I witnessed the Great Titania challenge the god, and then punch him out in one hit. I was there when she gathered up the body of the slain goddess, and resurrected her."
"What the fuck?! Kahl'ryleh-hophiit?!" exclaimed Freya. "Hikari promised me she wouldn't perform necromancy again."
===/===
Inside Cafe Cozy
Hikari sneezes.
===/===
"She then called down warriors from heaven, to drive away the invading monsters," continued Kahl'ryleh-hophiit. "She asked that they heal Quetzalcoatl properly, and that Tezcatlipoca be severely punished. She even gave specific details about the punishment. All that they asked in return was for the surviving members of some disowned princess be taken with Her. True to Her word, she took the two arachne girls, even declaring them to be Her sisters. I could not return home. I would be killed as a traitor, so I followed behind, jumping through each of Her sacred gateways before they closed."
"So, now there's going to be five of us at the inn. Great," groaned Freya.
===/===
Emperor's Flame Inn
Freya woke to the sound of purring. Turning her head to the right, she saw Razorfang. She was sleeping, bundled in the bed's blankets, with a smile on her face. It was probably the first time she'd ever slept in a warm bed.
Speaking of warm ...if Razorfang has all of the blankets...
A white feathery arm was draped over her. Looking to her left, she looked straight into a set of yellow eyes.
"I came in to check on the cat, and you looked cold," said Kahl'ryleh-hophiit, a blush forming on her face.
"Is there a reason your hand is up my shirt?"
"Is there a reason yours is groping my ass?"
For the first time ever, Kahl-ryleh'hophiit saw Freya's face turn beet-red.
"I know you haven't had much intimate contact with the poltergeist since the young arachne has started climbing into your bed. I don't mind being a substitute for her, until your brother is of age."
"I chose Erika to be my wife."
"So? Andromeda showed me your peoples' laws. You're allowed concubines, Princess."
Traitorous crew, thought Freya.
"P-princess?" said a shaky voice from inside the blankets. "W-what do you m-mean p-princess?"
"You weren't supposed to know about that, either," Freya said, looking pointedly at the Psyren.
"Your chief engineer blabbed," she replied.
"Little kitty," the Psyren addressed the other girl in the bed. "That joke of a Baron isn't going to be able to lay claim to you, because your new owner is the little sister of a Princess. This Princess. She just hides her status behind her rank."
There was a sharp intake of breath, followed by sobs. "D-do I need to s-service you? Am I g-going to be p-punished for s-stealing the b-blankets?"
The girl suddenly felt two sets of arms (and a set of wings) surrounding her.
"That life is behind you now," said Freya. "I had you share this bed because I didn't want Stormcloud to accidentally crush you in her sleep. She doesn't realise her own strength, and has 'cuddled to death' several of her plushies in her sleep."
"S-so," asked Razorfang. "W-why is the s-scary bird-person here?"
"Because I like Deathbolt's hugs," replied the Psyren. "I also have a thing for curvy redheads." She narrowly dodged a flying pillow. "Oooh! Using telekinesis. Imagine what fun things you could do in bed, even with your hands full."
All three girls blushed at the images invoked by that comment, a line of drool forming on the corner of the Psyren's mouth.
"I need to go for a walk," said Freya. "You two can go back to sleep for another couple of hours."
===/===
Freya walked out of the bakery, carrying a bag of assorted pastries in one hand, and eating a freshly made pie in the other.
She didn't ask what was in it, and the baker didn't say. You never enquire about the contents of a pie at 4 in the morning. It was a universal law.
It still tasted good. She was also aware that there was a person 'hiding' in the alley, with a length of fencepost in his hand, across the street. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Freya had been aware of them for some time.
"A girl like you shouldn't be walking alone in a place like this," said a gravelly voice on her six. "There are a lot of dangerous people around. Maybe you should accompany Masher, GBH, and myself to somewhere more appropriate."
Not this cliché, she thought, as another person exited each of the alleys on her ten and two. One had a length of lead pipe. "The boss didn't appreciate your lunchtime visit, so we're going to have some fun with you before we trade you back to your owner for the cat."
"My owner? I don't have an owner. You've got your wires crossed," replied Freya.
"Your 'employer' then. The bird woman. What wires?"
"Translation error. I meant you've got the wrong idea."
"Don't get smart," he said, placing his hand on Freya's shoulder. "There are four of us and only one of you."
"Then go get more men. I can wait," she responded, still casually eating her pie. "In the meantime, remove that hand from me, or I'll remove it from you."
===/===
Elsewhere
"We've worked out the diplomat is come sort of bird-person," said a spy. "The male Dragonewt is her lover, and the peasant girl is of no consequence."
"Excellent," said Clemene. "We have several opportunities to gather leverage for the talks to fail."
"Red Lake brings in a lot of money in trade," replied another voice. "Money that we could use for our own goals."
"Maybe we should warn them about what can happen if they involve themselves with the Chaos faction," said Clemene.
===/===
Red Lake City
Sergeant Cooper didn't know whether to be outraged, or impressed.
When one of the apprentice bakers came running up to his patrol, saying four guys were about to assault a young woman, he thought he was going to arrive at the scene he didn't want his newest recruit to see on his first ever night patrol. However, instead of the rookie being traumatised by seeing his first ever rape victim, the rookie was throwing up his supper at the sight in front of him.
What witnesses were there said it happened so fast that each of them only saw a fraction of what happened. On the ground were four bruisers, known to be in the employ of one of Baron Freidric's cronies. One was clutching his wrist, trying to stem the bleeding from where his hand used to be. There were weapons scattered around the entire area. ...and is that a tree sapling in that guys leg?..
Standing in the middle of them, swaying slightly, was the girl Captain Cartwright introduced him to near the start of his shift.
"Captain O'Reilly, are you alright?"
"Not really," she replied, turning around. Sticking out of her chest was an assassin's dagger. "Damn enchanted weapons. I knew he was pissed, but I didn't know he was 'four thugs and an assassin' pissed. This hurts like crazy. Luckily the blade missed both my hearts."
"Why did you walk out here by yourself?"
"She didn't," replied a voice from above them.
Kahl'ryleh-hophiit dropped the unconscious assassin in front of the sergeant. "The Baron wanted Freya alive. This was someone else," she said, as she caught Freya's falling body.