Hey peeps GhostNobody here to say a big thanks to you all for sticking with me so far, I do hope you've been enjoying all the work I've been putting in lately, an I'd like to say a couple of special thank yous to a couple of my loyal friends, first to Doug and Sandy not just for sticking with me this long but for all the kind words you've said to me over the years as well as for the commission that you guys got from Celfwrdderwydd for me and that means a lot to me so thanks guys trust me I put it to good use and then to Celfwrdderwydd himself, thanks for letting me use the Beledons dude I'm having a blast with them and for the cover art for Mortis, you did a damn good job there, an finally to all of you for sticking with me for this long hope you all continue to enjoy my work for a long time to come as I enjoy weaving it, so withput further ado lets get on with the show...
Chapter 59: Way of the Sword.
Ova was staring at Xao with great intensity, her large ears were sticking up out of the top of her hair like a pair of furry pitcher plants with their conical shape as she scrutinised the young nervous-looking Asian man.
"Ummm why is she staring at me like that?" he stammered softly glancing between Jay and the large bovine alien woman who took a single step forwards towards him after turning her large heavily muscled frame to face him.
"Why does small alien creature stare at behind?" Ova said placing her large hands on her wide shapely hips.
"Maybe he impressed by strength of Ova" one of the other knights that Jay didn't know the name of said gesturing to Xao.
"What are they saying Jay help me out here I'm starting to get the feeling they want to eat me or something by the way they are looking at me?" Xao said.
"They are trying to figure out why you were staring at her rear," Jay said and Xao's mouth fell open and he blushed bright crimson.
"I-I-I..." he began to stammer and instantly Ova's ears shot straight up and began twitching as her eyes widened and in two loud clops she was stood directly over the now rather frightened human man leaning for so forwards that her large breasts caused her top to stretch and strain against its laboured buttons.
"Little one goes pretty colour! They change colour honoured Blessed Sister!" Ova exclaimed reaching out a large hand and grabbing Xao's chin so she could examine him more closely but Ketra's reaction was far from positive.
She stomped forwards and slapped Ova's hand away being careful not to hit Xao by accident making the large bovine woman jump back and clench her hand in wide-eyed surprise, "You frighten him Ova! They come as friends and friends should not be made fearful in a friend's home! It is dishonourable!" Ketra yelled in her own language which Jay's translator was struggling to piece together.
Ova cradled her slapped hand and stroked it, but her ears drooped and she looked at the floor in what was obviously a shame display and also a display of submission to her superior, "I sorry Blessed Sister Ketra, did not mean harm, only wished to look at the pretty creature, red is favourite colour and little one goes red" Ova said trying to explain.
"Then ask, human creatures, are friends, not enemies, should not scare or hurt friends! Should not grab friends without asking! Only enemies or close friends may be touched without permission as one needs none and the other is already given, Ova knows this, Ova knows laws, Ova is sworn to uphold laws, Ova is a knight!" Ketra said angrily.
Ova bowed low and flattened her ears to her skull while her tail swished and twitched, "Sorry Blessed Sister Ketra" Ova said and Ketra shook her head.
"Not apologise to me, apologise to friend Xao, if Ova wishes to touch friend Xao Ova must ask friend Xao first," Ketra said and Ova nodded then she turned and walked over to the completely confused Xao and bowed to him.
"Umm Jay, what's happening?" Xao asked nervously.
"The one in front of you is called Ova and she's being made to apologise to you for both scaring you and touching you without your permission by her superior, that's the red-headed Dream Warrior called Ketra," Jay said.
"Ova is sorry human Xao, did not mean scare you, got too excited because you go pretty colour, red is Ova's favourite colour, thought was pretty and got excited, touched without permission forgot rules of honour and friendship, please forgive Ova and Ova please wishes to touch," the large bovine knight said looking oddly like an oversized school girl being made to apologise to a classmate for being naughty.
Jay translated what she said and Xao looked relieved, he looked up at the big bovine knight leaning over him, "T-Thank you Ova and I'm fine you just scared me is all and it's ok if you want to touch me I guess just please don't be rough I'm not as big as you," Xao said a little nervously but still surprising Jay with acceptance of the situation.
Jay translated his words for Ova and her eyes widened and her ears shot up as a big smile lit her face and for a moment Jay was worried that the big and obviously excitable Beledon woman was going to snatch Xao from his seat but instead she reached out and very gently touched his face and throat and she seemed to notice that his entire throat could fit perfectly in her hand and she very gently took hold of his throat and lifted his head so he was looking right at her.
"Pretty thing," she said in an obviously surprised sounding voice.
"W-What did she say?" Xao asked never taking his eyes off Ova.
"She called you a pretty thing," Jay said and Xao's eyes widened in surprise.
"T-Thank you," he said going very shy and his blush flared even more making Ova's ears flick and tail swish happily.
"Would you like to see our town, Jay? I believe it would be good for us to get to know our new friends as it would be good for them to get to know us it will also give Ova a chance to prepare everyone a meal without being distracted" Ketra said suddenly making Jay jump slightly as he had become kinda entranced by the sight of the pair who both seemed to be discovering completely new about themselves that they never even knew or dared to dream existed that he had almost forgotten that the large Dream Warrior was stood over him.
"Oh yes thank you that would be wonderful," he said making the large Beledon knight smile at him warmly.
"Come on Xao Ketra here is going to show us the town," Jay said and Xao glanced at him before turning back to Ova who was now completely fascinated by the contrast between his hair and his bare skin and was happily checking the differences in texture.
"Soft fur, soft skin, soft all over, wonder if all is soft?" Ova said to herself in a very distracted and almost dreamy sounding voice.
"Ova leave Xao alone now, I take him and Jay into town, show our lives, you make food with sisters, not worry bring back soon," Ketra said in an obviously amused sounding voice and Ova snorted obviously not happy that Ketra was taking her plaything away from her but she acquiesced and let go of Xao allowing him to get up from the large couch, though just before he was able to join Jay Ova did seem to be measuring him against herself for some reason.
"I wish I had one of those translators you got Jay, wish I knew what the hell she and indeed all of them were saying," Xao said dusting himself down and smoothing the wrinkles out of his clothes.
"Bring your weapon I wish to see how it works and so will our Lord Beltran," Ketra said gesturing to his rifle which was still sitting on the large table.
Jay nodded and retrieved it and no sooner than it was back in his hands than the weapon came to life much to Ketra's fascination.
"I saw your memories of these things and I am not sure I understand what I have seen, I need to see it with my own eyes, how something so small can be so powerful and kill from so far away is beyond me," Ketra said staring at the compact railgun.
"I'd be happy to give you a demonstration but I'd prefer not to waste shots as my ammo is limited fortunately the new power cells that run them are combi solar and hydrogen systems so I can fuel it with a mixture of water and sunlight so as long as I have enough time to recharge the gas canisters I can keep the plasma side of the weapons working indefinitely but the railgun side not so much as I only have so many shots but I'd still be happy to give you and your lord a demonstration," Jay said and Ketra nodded approvingly.
"That is acceptable," she said and with that, she gestured towards the door and the trio began to move but it seemed that both Jay and Xao got an odd prickling feeling on the backs of their necks because they both snapped their heads around to look behind them and instantly caught both Ova and the other knight all staring at them and more specifically at their rears.
As soon as they were caught the four of them suddenly had far more interesting things to look at like dust particles on surfaces and flowers in pots, Ketra glanced at the two humans and then at her knights and sighed before shaking her head with a soft chuckle.
"They are probably fascinated by the fact that you don't have tails to balance yourselves," she said obviously trying to make excuses for her knights because Jay caught the accusing glances at each of them.
Jay simply gave her a knowing smile, being part of Clan Mason did kinda prepare one for the attentions of other species other than your own, didn't make him feel any less shy under their both curious and slightly amorous glances but at least it prepared him for it because nothing prepares you for the first time a Yautja girl who stands three foot taller than you and Goddess only knows how many pounds heavier leans down looks right into your eyes and tells you you're cute and that she prays that every one of your bath towels is slippery, but if you can handle that you can handle anything.
"It's fine Ketra I'd be surprised if they weren't curious of us honestly and it's not like we didn't look at you guys too, so it's only fair and honourable right?" Jay said trying to ensure he used language that would both appeal to her as well as show her that Clan Mason also believed in honour.
It seemed to work as Ketra nodded approvingly again, It is good to hear you say this Jay, I saw in your memories that this Clan Mason of yours always conducts yourselves in the ways of honour and to both see this with my own eyes and hear this with my own ears pleases me" she said as she began to lead them both towards the town.
"Matriarch Sela eleth Mason has always drummed it into all of her Saviours that we are representatives of the Clan while we are away from it, we are both ambassadors and representatives wherever we fly or on whatever soil we tread, this is not our soil or our home it is yours, we are guests and it is only right how we show both respect for your people and your ways so we can show you what Clan Mason is all about and while we may not have come here by choice due to the cowardly attack that resulted in our arrival we are here now and it is only right we show our hosts the respect they are due, especially after you saved our lives from the Nightmare Assassin who would have ended us without a shred of mercy," he said proudly.
Ketra puffed out her rather ample chest very proudly and she nodded approvingly, "I must say Jay this Clan Mason of yours teaches you very well, you show respect and you show honour with your every word as every good Beledon is taught to do from birth, I feel that our peoples will become good friends" she said and Jay nodded.
"That is indeed my hope Ketra if you are anything to go by the Beledon are obviously strong and proud not to mention honourable people, otherwise you would not have helped me and my friend, you would have simply left us to our fate, but you didn't you stood for us so let me first say thank you to you Ketra, I am in your debt," he said and Ketra smiled.
"With every word that comes out of your mouth you continue to impress me small one, I think I might be beginning to see what has my knight sister so fascinated," she said giving him a flick of her ear and a swish of her tail that made Jay feel flushed though given his ebony skin it was a little more difficult to notice unless you know what you were looking for.
The town was a truly beautiful place, it was like stepping back in time as both of the humans looked around at the Beledon town, the houses all looked oversized by human standards but given their size they were probably actually cosy.
It also seemed that the Beledons loved flowers, they were growing in absolutely every available space, they were in large pots dotted everywhere, in large gardens that surrounded the houses, and large vines grew up the walls of the buildings showing blooms of a rainbow of vivid and bright colours.
Jay stopped in his tracks as his ears picked up on a very familiar and oddly calming sound and it drew his attention, dead centre in the middle of the town right next door to a huge fountain that portrayed four large Beledons two male and two females pouring water from huge pots into a central pot that seemed to be for a load of much smaller Beledon that Jay guessed might be a representation of some of their Gods giving water to their people, therefore, protecting and providing for them.
But it wasn't the fountain that drew jay's eyes, it was the huge blacksmith's shop that was open to the air showing the huge forge and the glowing hot pit in the centre, as Jay watched a truly huge male Beledon extracted a glowing blade from it with a pair of tongs and a thick leather glove, he placed it on a massive anvil before beginning the process of beating the white-hot blade with a small shaping hammer.
Ketra stopped and looked at what he was looking at, "Ahh I see from your memories that your Grand Patriarch is a blacksmith is he not?' Ketra said and Jay nodded making his dreadlocks shimmy on his head.
"Yup he describes it as one of the oldest and most noble of professions as it cannot just make things to protect your people but things to help those people grow, tools to farm, shields to guard, swords to defend, blacksmiths are all things to all people and he firmly believed that it a profession that should never ever be allowed to die out because even as our technology grows at a rate of knots it is always good to remember our roots and traditions, our Grand Matriarch always is always still so happy whenever he makes her a hand made blade or armour set, he once told a group of us that there was no quicker way to the Yautja girl of your dream's heart than to make her a handcrafted and strong blade because when she hunts with it she will not only be showing her pride in you but paying honour to our lady Paya by honouring the traditions of her people, seems to have worked for him very well," Jay said and Ketra nodded.
"It is good to see that a people as advanced as yours still pays honour to its traditions and its roots, this is something I hope for my people as well, I never imagined that I would be standing here speaking to two aliens of the same race from two separate worlds but your words and memories give me tremendous hope that even if my people go through a transition based on our meeting you that we will still hold on to what makes us Beledon," she said.
"That is my hope as well Ketra, Clan Mason is not about stripping away people's identity and forcing them to adopt our ways, but more about helping them to become the best versions of themselves, we try to be an example for others to follow without ever taking away from those who whose to walk with us," Jay said while proudly smiling which in turn made Ketra smile.
"You have a warm and pleasant smile, Jay, your species is so fascinating to me," she said making him feel his skin warm in blush again.
"Thank you Ketra I too think the same of your people, it's not every day you get to meet a totally unknown species but for what it is worth I am very glad I'm the one that got to meet you and given that you saved my life if there is ever anything I can do to repay that debt please let me know and if it is within my power to give I will," he said making her smile once again.
"Thank you, Jay and I will remember that, I am sure I can think of something," she said giving him a warm smile and a flick of a single large ear which coincided with a flick of her long tail.
That's when Jay noticed a large procession of Beledon approaching and Ketra turned to look, "That is Lord Beltran and his wife, please show proper respect to them Jay" she said and Jay nodded feeling nervous as the heavily armoured and armed Beledon group made a beeline for them as despite being a lot smaller than everyone here Jay and Xao were both aware of just how much they stood out in this crowd as people had been following them around since they entered the town as naturally, they wanted to see the new little furless creatures in their midst and nowhere came the big cheese of it all.
Lord Beltran and his guards along with his wife walked up to them and Jay could just feel the authority simply dripping off them, it was a somewhat similar feeling that one got to see either Jack Mason or Tik eleth Mason out and about in the Clan, though to be fair neither of them had any need of a whole procession of personal guards as not only was there no-one stupid enough to even consider the thought of attacking them as the pair were the two strongest warriors in the Clan but also there was not a single person within the Clan who would not die for them in a heartbeat as they knew the pair would do so for them in the same heartbeat, so put simply the entire Clan were their guards just as they were the Clan's guards as well as their leaders.
Ketra saluted and bowed low and upon seeing this Jay followed suit as did Xao, all members of the Clan were taught during their diplomatic training to pay proper respect to those in power among other races, it was as the Grand Patriarch himself put it, 'How can we expect others to respect us and our ways if we do not show them the same?'
It was a statement that had stuck with Jay all the way through his Saviour training, all Saviours were trained in diplomacy as given that they made up the majority of Clan Mason's ship crews they were the most likely to encounter other races out in the ocean of black, ship captains and officers had to undergo advanced diplomacy training with the Seekers which was overseen by the Grand Patriarch himself where they were trained to read body language and reactions so that they could make peaceful contact with others, though most of the Hunters were taught the Tik eleth Mason school of diplomacy which usually involved removing a limb and beating someone with it.
"Greetings and salutations Lord Beltran and Lady Layla, let me introduce you to Jay Mathers of the Saviours of Clan Mason's Guardian core, he can speak out language thanks to the technology of his Clan so you can communicate and speak with him freely now honoured lord and lady, Xao here you met before he still does not speak as we do," Ketra said and Jay noticed instantly that her words which were spoken in Beledon came through clearly and that's when he noticed in the lower part of his vision that the progress bar was currently sitting at 85%, the translation was proceeding very rapidly most likely thanks to his immersion in the town and overhearing the masses of conversations happening all around him.
"Ahh greetings Blessed Knight Ketra and greetings to you Saviour Jay Mathers and also to you Xao," Lord Beltran said while Lady Layla walked around her husband and circled around Jay looking him up and down curiously while Ketra translated the greeting for Xao
"Greetings to you Lord Beltran and to you Lady Layla" Jay said politely.
"You are a warrior of your people?" she asked.
"In a way, yes, all Saviours are trained warriors but we specialise in other elements of combat for example engineering or in my case signals intelligence and stellar cartography, so one part combat hacker and one part mapper of the stars for the Clan Mason Navy though we don't sail the oceans, we sail the skies," Jay said proudly.
Lady Layla looked at him in amazement like she was looking at a crazy person and turned her to Ketra for clarification, "He tells the truth honoured Lady, his people possess incredible technologies that allow them to move around the stars like our own ships sail the oceans of our home, their mission is to meet new people just like us and to protect the innocents of this universe from darkness and evil, I have seen his mind and his heart and he and his people are good people, worthy and well versed in the ways of honour, infact we were just on our way for him to demonstrate that weapon of his for me so I may see the true power of their technology with my own eyes" Ketra said and Layla seemed to understand.
She looked at Jay curiously, "You do not seem like much if you will forgive me for saying so Saviour Jay Mathers, it is hard for me to see how one so small can be charged with saving anyone, you do not look like you would last two minutes in combat with one of our warriors, but I would be very interested in seeing this weapon of your perform" Layla said in a very matter of somewhat cold fact voice.
"As would I," Lord Beltran said nodding his agreement.
"Do not underestimate them, Lady Layla, they may be small but they are very fast and they train with species far larger and stronger than they are, from what I have seen of his mind humans excel at adapting to changing circumstances and are very cunning, they do not simply rely on their superior technology but are trained in the ways of the sword as we are?" Ketra said and though she was delivering a warning her voice was still respectful.
"Now that I would like to see, but first let us see a demonstration of that weapon of yours," Layla said.
"Of course Lady Layla but I would advise moving away from the town as I do not wish to put any innocents in danger, Clan Mason weaponry is very dangerous and very powerful, using it around innocent civilians poses a great risk to life," Jay said and Layla looked very sceptical as she looked down at the rifle on Jay's shoulder.
"You will forgive my scepticism small one but that thing you call a weapon hardly looks more than a toy to me, if it wasn't for the fact that I have heard that it put one of our Blessed Knights on her tail end simply by picking it up I would be paying no mind to it at all, from what I understand you are the only one capable of using it correct?" she said and Jay nodded.
"Indeed it is Lady Layla all Clan Mason weaponry is made that way, it is locked to a single user to prevent theft from a fallen brother or sister so that our weapons cannot be turned against us, it is also designed so that if someone tried to reverse engineer it will destroy itself leaving nothing behind by a crater, with all due respect to underestimate these weapons would not be smart," he said and Layla snorted in annoyance but her husband held up a hand to obviously cut her temper and incoming retort short.
"The proof will be in the seeing, lets us be away," he said but then stopped mid-turn as an idea struck him and he turned and walked into the blacksmiths.
"One of your best breastplates my good blacksmith!" Lord Beltran said and the massive blacksmith nodded and headed out to the rear of his storeroom before returning with a large heavy looking plate that looked to be made out of very high-quality steel that was engraved with a variety of designs that made it very ornate.
"Ahh exquisite! I still swear by this statement, this town has always given birth to the very best blacksmiths, thank you Veltar exceptional work as always" Lord Beltran said lifting and admiring the chest plate.
"Thank you, Lord Beltran you praise honours me, oh one moment please if I may beg your indulgence," Veltar said before vanishing into the back again before appearing a moment later carrying a massive and truly beautiful kite style shield made in both bronze and steel that had what must have been the crest of Lord Beltran on it as Jay had seen it around the town in various places.
"A gift for Lady Layla, I made this recently intending to present it on your wedding anniversary but your presence here today presents me with an opportunity to make a matching sword to go with it that I can present on that day instead," Veltar said happily offering the massive shield to the very happy looking Lord Beltran.
"Thank you Veltar once again you prove your honour and dedication to both your craft and this place, you honour us both" Lady Layla said happily taking the shield and looking at it with a very happy look on her face.
The large Beledon warrior placed the shield on her arm and tested the weight of the look on her face she was obviously impressed, then with that, the group turned and Lord Beltran led the way with Lady Layla at his side proudly carrying the shield on her arm.
Lord Beltran led them to a place that was obviously a firing range where they fired bows and crossbows and by the look of the huge bolts laid about possibly balistas, there was a small trench at the front of the range with a series of round straw targets set up a series of ranges right out to what looks like to be two hundred meters.
Some of them had arrows still sticking out of them and there were a few Beledon archers armed with very impressive looking longbows that had obviously been carved to the dimensions of the archer by the differences in shapes and sizes.
"Ok, here we are you can give us a quick demonstration on those targets before we move on to the breastplate," Lord Beltran said happily gesturing to the targets which thankfully were backed by a large dirt bank which was obviously designed to stop the ballista bolts from carrying on and hitting any poor passer-by.
Jay nodded and stepped forwards to clamber down into the trench which came up to his neck, "Err I think I need something to stand on" he said making Lady Layla snort a laugh but she signalled for one of the guards to get him something to stand on which turned out to be a small crate.
Jay felt kinda embarrassed having to stand on a crate to look over the lip of the trench, but he got the feeling the smug smile that was plastered all over Lady Layla's face was about to vanish as he pulled his ZRT-21 from his shoulder and checked it.
"Ok just for clarification this is the ZRT-21 compact carbine railgun system, it's a little smaller and more compact than a standard Clan Mason battle rifle but still packs a hell of a punch for its size, it has multiple firing methods, the first is projectile based kinda like your bows just a cubic fuckton more powerful," Jay said and Layla snorted again before rolling her eyes so Jay lifted his weapon up and took aim at the furthest target through the pop-up scope mounted on top of the weapon.
The weapon made a soft humming noise as the coils rapidly charged and with a loud supersonic crack it fired kicking back into Jay's shoulder which felt harder now that he wasn't wearing his armour but he wasn't unprepared for it, it sent the hypervelocity slug straight through the centre of the target, punching a hole right through it and kicking a large plume of dirt up from the bank directly behind it leaving a small blue trail that led right back to the barrel of the weapon which slowly dissipated in the light breeze.
Layla's face froze solid and her eyes widened in surprise, she turned and looked at Jay in shock as did Lord Beltran wearing a very similar expression, "Ok the way railguns work is they accelerate a projectile in this case a tungsten slug down the barrel at truly incredible speeds using electromagnets, the result is a projectile that can punch through pretty much any armour by hitting it with so much force it just melts right through, now the other mode this weapon has uses something we call plasma, it uses the same electromagnets to constrict the gas-forming it into a projectile which is superheated, this allows it to melt clean through armour and anything behind it given that it is hotter than the surface of the sun" Jay said flicking a switch on the side of the weapon making it switch to plasma shot which unloaded the breach and reset it with a dose of plasma gas.
Jay aimed at the same target and fired again this time making a slightly less loud crack but it still made the archers jump but not as much as the result as the shot hit the target right next to the first hit the whole thing burst into flames.
"By the divines, it's like he's holding the power of an angry divine right in the palm of his hands!" Lord Beltran exclaimed and both he and Lady Layla looked at one another in shock then both turned to look at Jay but what surprised him more was the somewhat smug look that was on Ketra's face it seemed that she knew that this was going to happen.
"Let me see that thing!" Lady Layla exclaimed reaching for the weapon but Jay shook his head.
"I'm afraid I can't do that Lady Layla, I can explain the weapon to you but I cannot give it to you it is one of our tenants and oaths that we will never let our weapons be taken from us, plus it is useless to anyone but me, it will harm you to prevent itself from being removed from my possession," Jay said apologetically.
"He tells the truth Lady Layla I have felt the result of that myself and it will drop you, I have seen it in his memories and felt it personally it is not to be taken lightly, their Clan take such things very seriously, they go out of their way to ensure that not only if their weapons taken from them by force they cannot be turned upon them, so other than in his hands it is useless," Ketra said and Layla snorted but retracted her hand.
"Very well then how about we see just how well it does against the finest of Beledon smithed armour!" she said proudly and Jay glanced at Ketra who simply nodded at him.
"Very well then," he said and Lord Beltran yelled for all the archers to cease fire so he could enter the range to place the breastplate upon one of the targets not that he needed have bothered as all of the archers were staring in disbelief at Jay.
Lord Beltran placed the plate on one of the targets at the 200m mark and Jay looked at it, he almost felt bad about what was about to happen to that plate given how much work had been put into it but at the same time he did feel kinda happy to be showing Lady Layla exactly why you should not judge a species or a warrior by their size, that was a lesson he had learned the hard way the first time he'd taken on a Raptorian female in the milling ring back in the Saviour training area, those girls pack a punch, though to be fair he did also watch one bounce off a Yautja male before being hit clean across the ring and into the crash pads with a single backhand swipe that day, so yeah there was that.
Once Lord Beltran was clear of the danger zone he gestured for Jay to proceed, so he switched the ZRT back into single-shot railgun mode and took up the aim again, thankfully one of the other little tricks that Clan Mason's translator system had up its electronic sleeve was that it acted as an audio buffer which would save the Clan Member's hearing from very loud noises like gunshots for instance.
Jay once again took aim right at the centre of the plate and one sharp crack later there was a perfect hole right in the centre of the plate and the target right behind it, he switched to plasma and fired off again once the weapon was charged and this time the effect was even more dramatic as the plasma not only melted the plate right through slagging it and once again set fire to the whole target behind it.
"W-W-We have nothing that can stop that thing" Lord Beltran stammered looking at the damage.
"I-I-I don't understand, how can that be possible!?" Lady Layla exclaimed in pure disbelief.
"Technology my good Lady nothing more, Clan Mason's technology is far more advanced than our own and designed to fight alien races with far more superior technology than we possess, oh if only you could see the beautiful things I have seen in his mind, his world is a truly beautiful place and his people while they see strange to us are kind and honourable unless you cross them, then they come after the offender with a fury that would make any Beledon warrior proud, it is my strong belief that not only should we help him get back to his people but possibly enlist their help with the Cursed ones that have been plaguing our lands and our brethren as of late" Ketra said respectfully.
Both Lady Layla and Lord Beltran looked at one another, "How do we know that they would not turn such weapon upon us? Or take our lands from us by force? Lady Layla asked and before Ketra could answer Jay did, there were many things he could tolerate but insulting or accusing Clan Mason of such things was not one of them.
"Clan Mason are not conquerers! We have not once taken a single thing from another that did not belong to us! We have no interest in the land of others, we have our own lands and we are proud of them, there is a reason the military of Clan Mason is called the Guardian core because we are the guardians of the innocent and we do not care who they are or where they are from, it is our sworn duty to protect and to guard any who need us, that is what Clan Mason is all about, all peoples working together in perfect unity to make a better safer universe for all, we do not care who you are or where you are from if you need us Clan Mason will come and we will help, it is our oath and we would never, ever turn our weapons on the very innocent we are sworn to protect! To do so would be to be spitting on the very deities that are responsible for our Grand Matriarch and Patriarch meeting and allowing them to bring us all together and to unify us under not only an unbending and unshakable code of honour but also to spit on our Grand Matriarch and Grand Patriarch themselves, now you can insult me all you want I am a Saviour and I answer to no one but Matriarch Sela eleth Mason but I will not allow ANYONE to insult our Grand Matriarch or Grand Patriarch or my Clan in front of me!" Jay said proudly stepping out of the trench but lowering his weapon and making it safe as he stood before Layla with his chest puffed out proudly.
Lady Layla seemed both surprised and impressed by his outburst and suddenly a smile broke out on her face, "Well well well it appears there is a fire in your soul small one and it appears that to stoke it one need only question the honour of your Clan and that is something I can fully respect and it shows me the honour that Blessed Knight Ketra spoke of, because if it was not present you simply would have taken that insult that I gave and allowed it in the name of winning our favour, but you did not, you stood ready to defend your Clan Mason the moment I called their honour into question just like I would expect of any of our warriors, so colour me impressed little one and I do believe we should talk on this more don't you dear husband?" Layla said switching her attention from Jay to Lord Beltran.
The large Beledon nodded and scratched his neatly trimmed and beaded beard, "Indeed and I like my wife am most impressed by your fire and your heart little one, you did not hesitate the moment your Clan's honour and intentions were called into question you came out swinging though thankfully with words and not that thourally impressive weaponry of yours so I also find myself impressed by your control and restraint, so yes we will discuss in more depth how we can possibly help one another, but for now I will place you and your friend in the care of Blessed knight Ketra and her knights, I am assigning her as your guardian while you are here so you will be accompanied by here wherever you may tread while you are here among us, so tread carefully as your actions will now reflect on her, she will also house you and take care of you, so now the demonstration is done and our curiosity is sated we will leave you to continue getting to know our people, tomorrow I will call for you both and then we can discuss in great length how we can possibly help one another" Lord Beltran said and with that both Jay and Ketra bowed to the pair and just like that they and their guards were gone.
Jay turned to Ketra, "Well I think that went well. I think I impressed them" he said still shaking off the nervous energy he'd built up during his outburst.
Ketra nodded and she wandered over and took the breastplate down from the now burnt-out target and looked at it closely, "They are not the only ones you impressed Jay, truly I never imagined something or someone so small being so powerful or determined but I am happy to say I was wrong, now come let me take you to the temple so you can meet the high priest and priestess, maybe they can give us some insight on how to help you and visa versa, I believe it would be good to get ahead of the curve" Ketra said and Jay nodded gesturing for the large Beledon to lead the way through one thing he could not help noticing was that was as she walked ahead of him Ketra's long tail really seemed to have a rather energetic swish to it now which kinda drew his eyes up along her long thin tail until they arrived on her large shapely rear end which looked to be barely contained by her tight supple leather trousers.
Jay had to shake his head to clear it after he very nearly tripped on the uneven ground as he found himself getting mesmerised by the undulating movement of each of those large feminine cheeks though the sudden tickle he felt he instantly knew he was caught and as he lifted his eyes he instantly met hers and he felt his heart clutch in guilt but rather than yell she simply raised an eyebrow and turned back and continued on her way but because his eyes were drawn back to the new vigorous swish of her tail again he completely missed the smirk on her face but he didn't miss the one on Xao's.