Osilliaice exhaled a heated breath. The armor she wore weighed heavily on her tired limbs. Protecting the work crews was a daily event, one that many of the braver warriors in the city fought over. She had been rather lucky, her time in the Silvertree military coupled with her hunter background had made her a rather extreme shoe in for the position. Ge could fight, she could track, she could easily spot the indigenous... there really wasn't much she couldn't do in this job... well, other than take a break.
The jungle halflings weren't bound to schedules or times, they attacked in droves and fled after their initial arrows, bolts and javelins were launched. Now and then an unwary guard would fall under the barrage but for the rest this was just another trial to get past. She leaned heavily on her spear, a rather ornate weapon that was more ceremonial than practical, the head was etched with gold and silver, the haft a stout white wood, it seemed to almost pulse with natural energy.
Still, the more important aspect was the pulse of energy that joined the Lizardfolk to the weapon, in normal eyes this energy was a soft haze as if the air around her hand gripping the shaft was super heated. For a cultivator they would see a reddish gold aura linking Osilliaice to her spear, it was a technique she developed herself when she entered [Qi Fortification]. Well not entirely herself, her mate had given her a cultivation manual called [Supreme Spear Hunters Guide], it was a fairly generic manual despite the Supreme in the name, what made it exceptional was the fact the practitioner was able to develop their own subsets from the main guide.
Osilliaice had to smile looking at her softly glowing companion, ever since her first naming she'd held the spear, a weapon of exceptional difficulty but infinite potential. She had proven before the Great Shaman that she had been exceptional, a female destined to hunt with a weapon that was obscenely uncommon. It was only through being unique that she could elevate herself beyond Gruck and Grull, by showing off she was more than just her breeding potential.
Through her ambition and intelligence she soon took a position of security in head huntress, becoming friends with the wispy Leaf Dancer and eventually meeting the kobold that would change her destiny, Dull Scale. She had to admit, back then, she had been less than impressed with her future mate. This new born kobold looked half simple, his gaze and attention muddied. Originally she had thought Xing Lei slow, but as she came to learn, he was more bored than slow, his gaze was on bigger, more distant, goals.
This had become more and more apparent as Dull Scale defied the odds time and again. First the Lord of the Forest, then slaying the goblin chief and his guard, rescuing Alustriea, killing Gruck and Grull and even confronting their goddess. Shaking her head she truly wondered if he was ever going to have a normal life with his early tendency to challenge the higher ups and putting himself before all else. It was only when he had to cure Leaf Dancer that she learned he was completely different from what she thought.
Unlike the brutish males she had sought to avoid Dull Scale had treated her to a night that made her shudder to this day. Their matings afterwards were certainly enjoyable but that first time, learning that she could enjoy being in his arms, was simply special. She knew she would follow this strange kobold anywhere, and she had. Far beyond the tribe, leaving behind her much loved hunt camp to help escort Alustriea to her homeland, it was a very trying journey.
Out into the grasslands dealing with dwarves and orcs, Ottar had been a new experience for her. Dwarves were always told to be hostile to her people yet this grumpy guy had not insulted them over much, he had even shared that delicious ale with her! Fleet Spear had never developed her alcohol resistance, she had passed out from a single tankard after all! Though Ottar did admit privately after she was not a light weight, dwarven ale he claimed, could knock an ogre on his arse. This had made the following capture after she had passed out less shameful.
It was only when Dull Scale returned that she saw him, little had she realized that that brief time apart would see the world change, she too would change evolving from her original kobold self into her current Lizardfolk body. She had been thrilled to abandon her small, weak self. Throwing herself completely into becoming strength to support her mate. From the grasslands she headed into the human lands and lose him again this time for over a year, while he had been locked within the human arena she had obeyed his wish to see Alustriea home.
Her time amongst the elves of Silvertree had been interesting. Alustriea had introduced her as her bodyguard thus allowing Fleet Spear to stay in the Empire and be trained by some of the finest elven masters. She had truly learned the spear there, realizing the kobold practices had been more luck than skill, and while she had copious amounts of luck, it would only be through skill that she could get her Dull Scale back. That year had seen a rigorous training to maintain her position by Alustriea, they had also given her an elven name, though not a family name, Osilliaice.
She had worked her tail off alongside the elf that would become her mate-sister. She had to go from being considered a brute bodyguard to a talented and trained warrior. She once again had to prove herself as exceptional, not because she was female though, the elves were a matriarchal society, rather to prove she was more soldier than monster. She had taken over as part of their armed forces and guided the elves under in in helping to drive back, what she would come to learn, was a threat created by her mate.
Monstrous beasts of unprecedented power were growing, weaker villages fell beneath tooth and claw, every nation above ground had to respond and as a huntress she had lead the Silvertree hunt forces into victory against powerful beasts again and again. This earned her her return to the human kingdom of Ironhand, she marched with thousands of elves to invade the corrupt nation, subjugating the villages before laying siege to the capital. She would learn later that Alustriea had targeted their mate, yet he held no grudge even asking her to guard the confused elf.
When Ironhand fell becoming a vassal of Silvertree she had been busy stabilizing the new extended Empire, she had confronted Alustriea almost coming to slay her elven sister, yet she had not. She had been punished, stripped of her prestige but maintained her presence as Alustriea's bodyguard. She worked with the elf to reunite with her mate, to make sure Alustriea was safe while Zing Lee, as she had come to call him, had marched off into the dead lands.
She had learned later that her mate had crossed the fallen land into distant kingdoms, travelling across the Inner Sea and was conscripted by a guild. While the elven Empire was being split by a faux civil war, Zing Lee was dealing with pirates and yuan-ti. He had grown immeasurably strong in his absence, returning to steal them away and begin their training in earnest. To her it seemed like Alustriea was ill suited for cultivation, body tempering was exceptionally slow for her sister, while for herself, she was as a fish in water.
Reunited they travelled away from elven lands to the under dark, a land of darkness that was no less filled with war but had the startling revelation that their mate was one destined for greatness. A being who thwarted not just one, but two gods who sought to create supreme avatars on thus world. Had Tyrix and his consort fully emerged the civil wars in both surface and dark elves would have been moot in comparison. Thinking back on it, Osilliaice had felt a rush of concern but also pride, but also a little sadness. While she had not gotten to know the drider girl very well, to be phased away by ones Goddess was heartbreaking to her.
Sighing dismissing that sad memory Osilliaice looked around, the defenders were withdrawing. The builders were all inside the gate so it was time for the night patrols to take over, rather than try to prevent sabotage and risk stationary guards being picked off in the night, the city instead opted for low light and night vision hunters to stalk the near by jungles for this period, they were some of the highest paid positions in the city, but it was also the most dangerous.
Coming here had been Xing Lei's wish, even as she rushed back inside she felt this place had held much disappointment for her mate. First off, his business idea struggled, even with mate-sister Alustriea's take over in the market, his pills were just not looked upon favorably. She really couldn't blame people, even she had been skeptical of the little round bites that were suppose to be better than potions, and having completed her body tempering and stepped into cultivation half a year ago, she barely got injured these days.
This was her mates second problem here. Looking back to the gate as it was being secured she shook her head, she found little struggle dealing with the indigenous halflings. Neither they, nor their mounts had the ability to break her hide, much less risk her life. Coupled with her few times hunting the local wilderness she felt stagnation creeping into her cultivation due to lack of challenges. While meditation was worthwhile in drawing the world energy in, it simply was so slow, while killing a high rank beast in close combat paid off so much more.
Turning down a side street she snagged a few meat skewers from a street stall for a few coppers, chewing the heavily spiced raptor meat. If she was gaining little then her mate must be like a dry desert well. While the energy in the air was thick, the ability for the body to convert it required exertion. While this first stage didn't require alot, it was still horrendously slow since select few creatures here could push her physically or mentally.
Closing on their shared house, Osilliaice blew out a hot, frustrated sigh. Her difficulties though were three fold. Between her stagnating cultivation there was also her impending evolution. She only had two choices and both were final form. While the difference between them were slight she was still torn on what she wanted to do. Then was the third issue. Her biological clock had rung and was driving her to distraction every month.
Laying eggs was rather normal for her, even as a kobold she had laid them periodically. It was only now with an ideal and attentive mate at hand that this egg laying was driving her nuts. She wanted to give another generation to her mate... no she NEEDED a clutch of fertile eggs lest she felt she'd go mad. Early on she thought that, unlike Leaf Dancer, she could manage the craving. Looking back she understood what had triggered her old friend as her own body, at least once a month, rebelled and went into a mad heat.
Rubbing her face, Osilliaice fretted between her training, her desire to evolve and her desire to start a true family. It had kept her awake at nights and the nights she swapped with her mate-sister were the worst, especially if she was in heat. Shaking her head to dismiss those thoughts before she riled herself up her head suddenly snapped up, Alustriea had let out a shrill scream that had pulled the Lizardfolk from her own internal demons.
Drawing her Spear she burst through the door, rushing in worried her mate-sister was being attacked. While she unconsciously knew Alustriea was the same as them now and physically unlikely to be hurt, the scream had triggered an instinctual response. As she burst into the living area she was intercepted by an elf to Lizardfolk missle, Alustriea was screaming and laughing, a scroll clutched in her hand as she hugged her reptilian sister.
"Its time! It's time! I finally get to cultivate Osilliaice!" Alustriea screamed in her sisters ear and hugged that taut inhuman body tight all under the watchful eyes of a wry looking kobold. Xing Lei looked over and nodded a greeting, "I have news for you too my mate..." The tone of his voice brought Osilliaice away from the over joyed elf, it seemed tonight was not going to be a shared night....