Having been gone for a few days, Habrick was a pleasant sight. Titan was in a good mood. They sat around the backroom at the Casino and discussed his adventure.
Habrick had seen a lot of improvements to the City, including the new mounted guards. "Where are the girls?"
"A few of them are working but most of them are busy with the Nyankin and Farms to the North." Titan didn't hide anything. Habrick was mostly trustworthy, his general lack of interest in public affairs had put him in the non-threatening section.
"Farm?" Habrick stood up. "Are you going to show me the farm??" Titan had been hinting at a big move in the future and that was months ago. He was more than ready to see the project.
"Here, roll two for the road and then I'll take you." Titan passed over a tray and an ounce of dry herb. There were no tobacco leaves to roll a blunt but there were several ultra light papers that made their way into port.
Having only been in town for a few minutes, Titan took a lap around the casino to check on the employees while Habrick was busy. Everything was running smoothly and Vella was no where to be seen. 'I wonder where they are?'
When Habrick had finished rolling, Titan had returned and he passed them over. Whistling for a Dragoon, one that was already mounted came galloping toward them, it made Titan laugh. The Rider was still atop and completely confused, twice in a row he had mistakenly called one of the original Dragoons to his position.
'Maybe I should stop whistling for them.' Having experienced it twice in one day, Titan shook his head. "Sorry for the inconvenience, I need to borrow your Dragoon for the afternoon. What's your name Soldier?"
"Lenm. Sir." Lenm stood at attention and passed the reigns over. "Reporting to City Lord, I will be patrolling the docks until nightfall." Lemn nodded, he felt a little put out and went back to patrolling.
"Your people are pretty easy going." Habrick couldn't help but admire the formal military attitude that the Soldiers of Lonestar City had shown.
Titan lit both joints and passed one over to Habrick. "At least you have a ride and I don't have to carry you."
"Are you sure you're ready to finally show me?" Habrick wanted to see the grow but he had given Mike a chance to back out.
"If I didn't want to bring you into the fold, I wouldn't have asked. Besides, things have changed." Titan puffed on his joint as he flew beside Habrick, his cupped hands helped to slow the run on the paper but it burned quickly. When the run got too long, he crushed and flicked it away.
Habrick took the advice and similarly cupped his hands to shield the joint from the wind.
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The Dragoon flew quickly and they arrived at the Nyankin Village outskirts, many plots of land were filled with seedlings and freshly plowed. It was on a large scale but there were very few people present in them. Most of the Nyankin were busy hunting with their Dragoons or near the stables.
Flying overhead, Titan and Habrick saw the newly built extensions to the stables. There was even a patio atop and ramp to lead down to the lower levels. There was a large pictograph of a Star surrounding the stables that marked the landing site.
Vella felt their arrival and came out from the Stables to the Roof.
"I see you're helping the Stoners cut their teeth." Titan gave Vella a hug and looked around from the top of the Stables.
There were dozens of freshly plowed fields.
"That.. well, they have been going at it since Dawn." Vella only had a 'what can you do?' look on her face, she turned to Mike, "The Stoners are doing really well, right?"
"Was it you who taught them to Farm?" Habrick asked Titan but Vella shook her head.
"They did most of it themselves, I only got them interested in digging." Vella's stance changed, her hand was now on her hip and her ass was sticking out. Mike grabbed it and began to flirt with her briefly. 'Mmm,' Vella moaned gently, "How was your trip? Did you do what you wanted?"
Her hands followed Titan's body lines from his waist up until her hands were resting across his shoulders, Mike pulled her closer and her pulse quickened. "Pretty sure, unless they know it was me directly."
"What did you do?" Vella's eyes sparkled, she stared into Mike's eyes and got lost for a moment.
Mike kissed her on the head and laughed. "I held a barbecue, all of Ornia was invited."
'Huh?' Habrick wanted to question the way Titan had put it.
"I thought you said you were going to kill them all?" Vella asked.
"Un, I did. No one will ever find me sitting down when threatened. I am the King of my own Castle, my people are no one's slaves, we do not answer to the Ornians. In fact, no one does anymore." Mike pulled out their city banner, it was tattered and half burnt. "Ornia is a smoking wasteland, if its possible for them to recover, I don't expect it happening for a while."
"Habrick, how many people did you say the Ornian people had in their armies?" Mike wanted to know, he hadn't bothered to count them all.
"The Empire suspected that almost 140,000 soldiers were under their command. You're telling me that you took out 140,000 armed soldiers in a matter of two days?" Habrick's face distorted when the question came out.
"No... of course not. I killed most of them the first night." Mike shrugged it off, "I just wanted to know how many of their people were soldiers." He took a few steps, "I left the prisoners in their basements alive, no one else."
"Wait!" Habrick swallowed hard. "You killed everyone?"
"If you allow an enemy that packed its front lines with non-combatants to stop your attack, you've already lost all battles." Mike tried to explain. He had seen it play out many times, enemy soldiers would pack high value targets, like shipping yards and barracks with their civilians. That way, when they were attacked, they could use their fallen citizens or prisoners as martyrs, claiming that their attackers had slaughtered the innocent.
Habrick had seen such scenes play out, even on Shiyan already. His throat became dry when he realized that Mike's actions were righteous. "Fuck.. that's still a lot of dead people. Aren't you worried they will find out and hunt you down?"
"Who? Who's going to find out? And hunt me down? With what? Falcons?" It was absurd, Titan pulled out a large jar of seeds. "Habrick. I'm leaving this place soon. You said you wanted me to meet the Kinky Farmer. I think that's a great plan."
"Leaving?" he was confused.
"After pulling that 'He who walks behind the rows' routine, I have to have a change of scenery. Otherwise, I won't be able to stop myself. I have a lot of resentment from my past life, much of it has to deal with people who enjoyed stepping on others like they were slaves or inferior beings. On Earth, Humans were predators, but here... I am a Titan.."
Titan spoke to anyone who was listening, when he brought up discovering the Ornian's grow, about the plants grown on a pile of bodies piled so high that the mass grave was overflowing, they all gasped in fright. "The tap roots of the plants didn't even make it to the bottom of the corpse mound." Mike cringed when he remembered the smell. "It looked like they had been at it for a while, it was at that point that I completely lost my shit."
Mike took a deep breath between each sentence, he didn't really want to re-live the onslaught. "The plant gave off an ominous red light and all the Ornian plants, every single one, were dark red. Many of those that were sacrificed were non-citizens, the merchants that had gone missing from Poocha and the surrounding kingdoms made up the bulk of the dead. The plant even evolved much differently than Honey, A blood red fruit was hanging like a Christmas ornament that dripped among its branches. The Fruit's semi-corporeal body likely kept it safe from the Ornians but I was still able to seize it."
Titan looked around, "Where's Honey?"
"Who's Honey? Evolved?" Habrick seemed confused about something but just as he had spoke, Honey came walking up the ramp and Habrick dropped his jaw.
The Fruit in Titan's hand was giving off a vibe like it had absorbed many souls. He felt that if he were to eat it, he would fall into an endless blood lust and lose himself forever. Mike had considered destroying the Fruit to be done with their meddling but the plant didn't choose to be created or nurtured the way it had, it was the result of a terrible experiment but it was not sentient. Of the many objects in the world, countless vile or evil things were used to temper even some of the greatest of the Divine Weapons.
The source of a thing, does not determine its use, this truth was mostly universal, Shiyan had many dangers but a danger to some didn't mean it wasn't treasure to another. A source of a thing, does not determine a thing's existence. In fact, much good could come from the Fruit, no one would know for certain until after it had been examined properly.
Honey's presence had a strong reaction to the Stoners, their memory, while it had not returned, improved. They gained the power of speech and reasoning very quickly. Neurogenesis, the process of growing brain cells was stimulated by Honey's pheromones and hormone levels interacting with their bodies.
Titan showed her the red fruit while it was behind a shield. Honey was an evolved female plant and the male plant carried pollen. He wasn't sure what would happen if it was to come into contact with her but he wasn't about to risk it either. Honey was perfect, pure and serene in his eyes. Her evolution had already changed her in ways he couldn't predict. "My light is Blue! This one is Red!" Honey wanted to touch the fruit, her hands repeatedly got stung by the shield as she subconsciously reached forward.
"I don't know what that means.." She stood there befuddled.
"I don't think it has any special meaning but I did find this plant growing atop a hill of corpses. If your light is one that comes with a spiritual awakening or even, dare I say, enlightenment; Then, its possible that the red light is one of resentment and hate or devolution." Titan's face twisted while he tried to understand and grasp at concepts.
"Habrick." Mike was reluctant but he let go anyway. "Take these, its my gift." He let go of the Jar of seeds in his hand.
"That's a lot of seeds. I always thought you'd give me a clone or a seed pack but this. This is a bit much." He wanted to turn the gift down but Titan's face gave him a different feeling. "What? Is there egg on my face already?"
"No. But, when we met, you were telling me that the Empire was searching for herbs and the such. I think that jar in your hands qualifies as a product of great value." He smiled, it was a little bizarre. "The City can defend itself and I've got at least... a few buckets of seeds." Titan put his hands up in amusement.
"Master! What about Me!?" Honey ran up to Titan and refused to let go.
"If you leave without either of us, I'll never forgive you." Vella took a stand.
'Ugh!' Mike wanted to click his tongue but stopped himself short. Honey and Vella were both his responsibility. "I wouldn't abandon you so carelessly. However, if the Girls see me.." He decided there and then to leave with Habrick the following morning.
Vella was right about one thing, if he had abandoned them without a word of his leaving, none of them would forgive his choice. Mike returned the Dragoon to Lemn, he had brought four more back from the Nyankin Village for their personal mounts. The Alpha wanted to join the group that was leaving but it was better for him to stay and protect the pack.
The Girls had all been notified and took the rest of the day off, the Casino had enough employees to where none of them had to work if they so chose. All Twenty-five of them sat around the bed when Mike opened it, Habrick's jaw dropped again.
Titan closed the door behind him, locking Habrick out.
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When the first Sun rose in the morning, Habrick was already sitting on top of his Dragoon and waiting. He was prepared to take the four of them to Porto de Paulo, to the Kinky Tower.