He was about to set off, when Malico mounted her horse Night, and caught up to him,
"I'm coming with you! he needs to learn that there are some People of the Tail that he can't bully!"
Tyler nodded approvingly, proud of her courage. kaori, who was by far the gentlest one of the pair, also rode up on Gloss, her voice trembled but she continued regardless,
"I'll come too. I need to see how bad it is in the city proper."
Tyler looked at her steadily,
"kaori, we can't help then. At least not right now, I can't slaughter an entire city head on just yet."
kaori nodded, a fire in her eyes, "I know, but we WILL save them, eventually, when we have the power. and when we do, GODS HELP THEM BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE COULD!"
She was rally fired up, Tyler was smiling at his kind companion,
"well that's the spirit, but try to save the heroics until then? Please?"
she nodded. and the grim-faced travelers headed for the City Of Endless Tears. As the rode, Tyler dug out the King's letter, and used his Warrior's HUD to have his insignia as a Warrior show on his chest. It was a feature he had found when exploring the interface, it was to proudly proclaim him a Warrior to those who didn't know what they looked like. His insignia was a Racing black wolf with a dragon overhead, and fields of dead enemies beneath the wolf's paws. Kaori also had an insignia, and her's was a rising sun at dawn, with the sun's rays being vicious spikes pointed in all directions. Malico didn't have an insignia as she was not a Warrior, but as she was a Warrior's Companion she got a mark on her chest as well. It was the same mark as Tyler's signifying her and his bond of companionship. The marks only appeared when activated in the HUD and were invisible otherwise, useful for both brazen door-throwing entrances and undercover work. Now the trio approached the checkpoint and they could now fully make out the screams, begging, and other sounds of humanity at play. Tyler took a moment to inspect the walls, mentally comparing them to the ones at Term. Term's were far taller, and far better maintained, as evident cracks in the foundation of the walls that even Tyler could see at this distance from them were clear signs of neglect. heh, somehow that's rather fitting, a city so rotten at it's heart is also rotting the skin as well. They approached the Wallgate, and were immediately assailed by the guard, who both stopped them and tried to pull Malico from her horse before noticing her mark on her chest as a Warrior's Companion. The guards released her and she righted herself, but not before one guard lost an arm to a slash from Oblivion's blade. Tyler had not hesitated, cleaving the man's arm off without blinking. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain, and as the guards surrounded Tyler. Tyler was scarily calm, has he pointed to his chest, and the same mark on his chest that was on Malico's. The guards shuffled nervously, but remained in formation, made brave by sheer weight of numbers. Kaori was rubbing an extremely irate Malico, Kaori was behind her, and Tyler in front of her, sandwiching her between them. Tyler watched as a tall man with a large handlebar mustache made his way through the guards, who parted for him. As the seemingly important man caught sight of Malico clearly being defended by a pair of Warriors, he frowned in disapproval,
"Oh My, not good simply not good at all."
He spoke in the polished tone of one used to speaking done to others.
"This simply won't do at all, our city has rules for such vermi-"
"Let me stop you right there jackass,"
Tyler cut the man off in a voice so cold, that even the girls behind him shuddered. The man huffed, offended,
"I do say, what dreadful language sir, and from a man off such station as a Warrior no less. Well thats what happens when you associate with the vermi-argggg!"
Tyler had slung a rock and hit the man in the ear, ripping it off,
"I SAID STOP"
Tyler was done listening, and had struck first. The now one-eared man, looked in abject horror at the first person who had both dared to strike a man of his station, and defended a Tailed vermin at the same time. Tyler lifted the letter from the king over his head, and roared his message to the surrounding onlookers,
"I AM HERE TO GRANT AN AUDENCE WITH VALDIC, AND NO ONE ELSE. FETCH HIM SO I CAN GET THE STINK THIS CITY OUT OF MY NOSE."
The man, thinking he was now backed up by the power of the cities leader since Tyler had called for him, began speaking again,
"If you would like to see the Viscount, that's what he's called here by the way since I figured yo didn't know from your clear lack of wise company, You'll have to leave that verm---"
He trailed of at the rapidly-losing-his-patience Warrior's ice-cold gaze. Tyler was on the verge of calling the Monster and slaughtering every guard in sight, when a runner pushed through the crowd.
"Make way!! Make Way! I bring a message ball from the Viscount himself! make way Make way."
The runner finally fought his way through, falling on his face at Thunder's large hooves. The horse simply looked at the new arrival with evident disdain in his brown gaze. The runner was a scraggly looking youth, with sand colored hair, and as Tyler noticed him picking himself up from the ground, a large scar running up his back. Now Tyler knew a thing or too about scars, as he had a few himself, and he knew there was only one way and only one place that could leave such a scar behind. Guess we know where the Reaper and his crew came from The youth repeated his announcement, and went to hand the one-eared man the message ball, but Tyler grabbed it first by vaulting from Thunder's back grabbing the crystal, and climbed back up into the saddle in the space of four to five seconds. The youth was now instantly terrified that his job had not been completed, which meant a savage beating from the viscount later, but Tyler activated the ball thus revealing the Viscount sitting in his throne room, peering into the paired ball. The viscount seemed to be in his middle years, with short balding hair, a pudgy face and bulldog like features, and from what Tyler could see of the rest of the hideous man in the ball, he was also fat to. Tyler sighed as he spoke first,
"Well, I guess that makes sense. Hey kaori, haven't we seen this movie somewhere? You know the one, where the main bad guy looked like he got hit with a frying pan and was a major dick to everyone because of it?"
kaori was also on the verge of laughing,
"Oh, I remember that one! But I think you're looking for the Penguin, or maybe that mayor from that one about the schoolgirls in the mental ward. You remember?"
Tyler smiled at her pop culture knowledge,
"Good call Barbie!"
As they were laughing, The pudgy man cleared his throat and finally started speaking, his voice a repulsive whine that instantly killed the mood,
"Well if you're quite finished, then can get down to business."
It was clear he was desperately trying to keep his temper in check, but was losing the battle fast. They're good humor ruined by the piggish man, Tyler looked into the ball, then to the guards,
"Call you're guards back to the walls, and we'll talk....maybe."
The piggly man had no choice, and waved his hand at the ball. The men instantly returned to the Walls, a good forty meters away. The only one who had the gall to remain was the one-eared man,
"Supreme one, I'd like to issue a charge against the Warrior for the crime of assault upon an upstanding citizen, sir,"
He spoke with a servile tone a child used when begging for a toy at the store. The viscount sighed, "Noted captain, and dismissed, you can leave now."
The man, who had been both convinced of both his own vindication by the viscount against insolent Warrior, and his own worth was left humiliated in front of both the Warrior who had mocked his authority, and the tailed girl who he'd defended to do so. He went through eight different color changes before storming off in a offsetting silence. Tyler looked back to kaori, his own gaze reflected in her emerald eyes,
"Well, kaori, does this ring a few bells? or am I losing it?"
She replied sweetly,
"Well Tyler, you never had it to begin with, so there's that! hey Malico,"
The catgirl jumped at her name, as she had been so engrossed in NOT killing the man, turned to the sweetly smiling blonde,
"Yeah what's up?"
At the sound of the catgirl's voice the viscounts' bald head bulged with a few veins,
"what is a verm-"
Both Tyler and Kaori both ignored the talking crystal ball, to speak with Malico, the greatest insult the viscount could imagine.
"Hey Malico, did we ever tell you about that riverside ambush after we left Term?"
"I think you mentioned it once or twice, I don't think you went into any great detail. Why? What's up?" "well, kitty, I just wanted it fresh in your mind for a while. Tyler'l explain in detail later. Won't cha?"
He gave a thumbs up, before noticing the ball was screaming at him. He turned to the image of the ugly viscount as if just noticing it, Tyler cut across the stream of curses and expletives with a simple yet endlessly infuriating two sentences,
"Oh, you're still here? Sorry, I completely forgot about you for a moment there, so what did you want to talk about?"
If he could explode from rage, the viscount would've right there and right then. as it were though, now that he had the attention of the Warrior, he took a massive breath in his ball-like body to steady himself. Tyler couldn't help but notice the man's remaining hair was sliding off his head, Guess magic can't fix everything. The viscount, now having regained his composure, began speaking again,
"Well, now then to business. As the king's letter stated, the Wyverns in the eastern forest have been causing trouble for traveling trade between here and Term. Now normally, a gathering of Wyvern's would be cause for celebrating as I'm sure you're aware their meat is a noble's delicacy, the claws and teeth fetch a good price at any smithy or crating shop, the poison glands fetch a hefty price at the alchemists shops and even their eyes have magical, healing, alchemical and Smithing value as well. So the animals are normally hunted for sport and profit."
Tyler took all this in, before turning to Malico, the more experienced of the trio when it's came to Lectis, "Hey kitty, is it true bout the eyes?"
The viscount fumed as Tyler checked with a catgirl rather than take his word. Malico had a thoughtful tone in her voice as she replied,
"Well, the eyes do have value, but not much. I didn't tell you about it as they're easily the least valuable piece of the animal, even after their bones, which make for good spear poles, hafts and handles."
Tyler's eyes lit up with inspiration,
"Malico, my pretty kitty cat, You have just given me a grand idea! I'll tell you later, but first..."
He turned back to the nearly purple faced viscount, who had nearly lost it at the sound of a Warrior calling the catgirl pretty and being sincere with it too! Tyler gestured for the vile man to continue,
"well, as I was saying, it is normally a good thing for a clan to be sighted. So when word reached us, we were excited to send a group of about twenty hunters. Twenty being the standard number for a clan hunt."
Here the Viscount trailed off, as if considering his next words, Tyler could see even in the limited view of the ball, the sheer frustration at men he gave an order to failing to obey his whims. Tyler didn't give the man time to think,
"How many came back under their own power?"
The viscount sighed,
"Not a single one, they came back in boxes. these were experienced hunters, they made their living off hunting Wyverns. so they knew what to expect when facing the beasts."
Tyler's eyes narrowed at the sidelong glance the man sent to the side, as if acknowledging an unseen person. Tyler waved his own hand out of sight of both the Walls and the ball. Both kaori and Malico understood his silent headsup. The viscount continued speaking,
"We then sent a scouting party to figure out what had happened to the hunter party. Only one man returned, bringing word of a Grand Wyvern leading the clan."
Here Malico gasped at the name. Tyler had her move up to peer into the ball and ask her questions, as she was far more knowledgeable then Tyler was. Tyler was there beside her, holding the ball for her to gaze into. The viscount then looked away, refusing even to look at the catgirl, Malico pressed on regardless,
"Are you sure it was a Grand Wyvern?"
The viscount snorted his reply, still not looking at the ball,
"Of course, I'm sure you worthless scu-"
"Oh shut up for gods sake, no one wants to hear it from you,"
Malico stood up for herself, not taking the verbal abuse,
"Seriously dude, chill the hell out. I get it your a hideous excuse of a human, and shorter then most twelve-year-olds, but still that doesn't give you the right be such an ass to everyone just cause he have to look up to look them in the eye."
The viscount went disturbingly quiet, only uttering a single sentence to the catgirl, "Know your place, Furspick."
Malico's tail shot straight up at the word. Malico was about to launch into an earsplitting tirade, but Tyler put his hand on her shoulder, and shook his head at the enraged catgirl. She had a look of disbelief on her face, before noticing his own expression. She wisely leaned back into her saddle, and allowed him to handle the despicable man. The viscount had a look of smug triumph as Malico's face receded, and Tyler's reappeared in the ball.
"Now that the trash is gone we can continu-"
"Go fuck yourself pig"
Tyler was done with the man and his city,
"I know what, and where the problem in this city is and it isn't Wyvern's. It's the sad little man in a chair far far too large for him. Children should know they can't play leader, and they should mind their manners when speaking to their betters. I came to this city to hear what you had to say, and now I've done that. You are on your own, pig. clean up your own mess, like a good child should."
As the man snapped and started raging, Tyler uttered a small spell and channeled into the ball, causing it to explode. He also knew it had exploded with twice the force on the Little man's end as well. He nudged Thunder with his heels and turned the horse back to the road. Malico and Kaori right behind him. Together the trio left the miserable city, and it's raging, bloodied, little leader far behind them. The trio rode back the way they had came silently, only the sound of horse hooves breaking the sullen silence. The friends came to a crossroads that they had passed earlier and Tyler led them down the eastern trail, towards the Wyvern forest. Malico sighed at the direction change,
"So we're gonna help him After all?"
Tyler replied with an edge in his voice,
"No Malico, we're doing this to get on with our travels, for I was planning to head east anyway. This way, we can gather some trade goods, get some more food, and travel in a forest for awhile. I'm kinda tired over grasslands at this point."
Kaori spoke up,
"Malico don't worry, we're doing this to spite the little man. And if it'll make you fell better, either he or that guy at the wall, are going send some men to kill us. then we can kill them. I'm sure that'll make you happy."
Malico blinked,
"How are you so sure they'll come after us like that?"
Tyler was the one who responded,
"because we are the very embodiment of what they hate. Think about it, their entire system revolves around fear and intimidation. They can get away with it all , cause people are scared of the consequences of disobedience. Now look at us, we rode up, made a scene, crippled a town guard, injured a guard captain, and even injured the viscount himself, all in the space of two hours. And we did it while defending a Tailed person or, and this is the most important thing, fear of the backlash. We were not afraid. That kind of thing can go miles in terms of inspiring people. In our world, wars were won not from the charging of the frontlines, but by the efforts of resistance fighters. we have a country called France in our world, that, during a world war, surrendered without basically lifting a finger to fight back in the beginning. The war lasted five or so years, and upwards of six hundred million people died on both sides. The important part? Some of the most legendary stories from that era come from the French resistance. They made life miserable for the occupying forces by sabotaging everything from vehicles and transports, to screwing with an area's power grid. Now the reason for the history lesson is simple, if you show people what true courage and bravery is, then they will stand. That bastard is going to have a hell of a time going back to normal after our stunt."
Little did Tyler know how true his words were, for even before the dust had settled from the trio's exit from the area, fifteen resistance groups were formed, under the single banner of the Black Wolf and Dragon. The viscount found himself fighting a war in the streets of his city, all thanks to three people, who hadn't even set foot properly inside the front gate.
The trio rode until sunset before making camp. This time, unfortunately there was no nearby river or stream. But there was a large rock face, with plenty of space to lay down on. The rockface had been facing the sun for most of the, and so was hot to the touch. Tyler decided to have the tent pitched against the side of the large rock wall. This time, Kaori set up the tent, while Malico went and tended the horses. Another thing that was different, was that as soon as they had picked the spot and dismounted, Tyler had walked on to the stone slab and began casting Protective Warning. He had learned from his mistake from the Wyvern attack. As he cast the spell, Malico, now safe inside the camp, stripped to the skin sighing with relief as her breasts swung freely once again,
"Ahh That is so muccch better! Nothin like a warm breeze, erh kaori? Ughh, I always feel constricted when I wear clothes, I don't know how you two do it."
Kaori sighed at the stretching, naked Catgirl, looking longingly at the busty catgirl's massive rack as she did so.
"Well, Malico, neither of us have an extra five pounds of fat on our chests, so that helps."
Kaori seemed down at the sight of the glorious melons. Malico, smiled at the relatively flat-chested blonde, fondling her own chest as she replied,
"Well, if you want a pair so bad, why don't you play with mine again? I wouldn't mind if you did, just please be gentler this time, okay? that last time kinda hurt!"
Her voice had turned into a seductive whining. Kaori blushed hard at the suggestion of the dirty minded catgirl, and walked away without replying, although her heart was pounding in her chest with a strange excitement at the jokingly made offer. why am i so excited at the mere thought of her chest? DO I like girls? That morning was a result of a wet dream and nothing more...right? kaori was both confused by her feelings toward the catgirl's chest and aroused by them too. Malico had found a new form of entertainment in teasing the conflicted blonde, there was also the small slim chance she'd actually go ahead and take her up on her offer, which would be fun in it's own right, Plus Tyler would love it as well. Speaking of the perverted man, he had finished casting the Protective warning. He then set about building the firepit. As he did so, he kept an eye on the girls going about their own tasks, Kaori with the tent and Malico with the horses. He smiled at Malico's love for nudity, enjoying the view. The busty catgirl finished caring for the horses, and caught him staring at her. In response she waved jumping up and down, giving him a nice full-frontal. Tyler chuckled at the openly sexual girl, and returned to wood gathering. He found plenty of good try branches, as they were not too far from the edge of a forest. As he returned he saw that kaori had finished with the tent, and was resting against the warm rockface. Tyler shot a glance at the sky, he figured they had about two maybe three hours of daylight left. With that in mind he lit the fire, and dug out a few of the Wyvern steaks from the other day and set them to soaking in some left over pancake batter. He had also ground a few of the strips of flesh into small patties. Malico was watching him from her spot on the flat section of the rock face,
"hey kaori, what's he cookin up this time?"
The blonde replied from her spot next to the nude girl,
"If I had to guess, he's makin Wyvern burgers. Yo frycook, that what you doing over there?"
Tyler flipped the snarky blonde the bird,
"Yep, for me an Malico, smartass girls get beard and butter."
"bite me"
Malico sniggered,
"You too you dirty cat"
Malico pounced on the unexpecting blonde, her hands going for her chest,
"Well if you insist, I'm happy to indulge you!"
kaori screamed, and tried to keep the busty cat from molesting her. Tyler watched fondly as his friends wrestled, happy they were close enough now to play like that, come to think of it, they strike me as overly fond sisters who love to touch each other, heh and here I thought that only happened in the anime i used to watch Tyler left them to their game, but as he was about to put the meat on the fire, his spell flared to life, flooding his mind with a group of soldiers trying to sneak through the woods to attack them. He gave a low whistle, and the girls sprang into action, Malico throwing her clothes back on, they also served to increase her speed and agility on top of her overall sexiness. The busty catgirl slung her dirks across her chest, and pulled her bow, nocking three arrows as she did so. Kaori also braced for the incoming assault, drawing her own bow, Dawn was already on her hip for she seldom went anywhere without it close to hand. Tyler had put the meat down and went to brief the ladies on their uninvited dinner guests. He'd had no need to dash for his equipment, for he didn't disarm until everyone was already asleep safe in the tent. He had his bow loaded with three arrows ready and gave the girls the info he'd gathered on the would-be ambushers,
"Alright, we got fifteen men moving slowly through the trees about sixty meters out, headed in our direction. we also got another ten from the opposite direction, same distance, they seem to be armed with short bows, short swords, and daggers. The group of fifteen has two mages, judging from their robes, and the group of ten has one. If we do nothing, both groups will reach us in five minutes. here's the plan, Kaori and Malico, you take the fifteen to the south, use the trees for cover, kill the mages first, then keeping using your speed advantage and hit them like lightning bolts. I'll take the group to the north, I can handle ten men and a mage easily enough. I'll come help you when they're dead. Malico, watch yourself especially, there from that city, and they probably have orders to take you alive so keep your wits about you. Kaori, stay close to her. any thoughts, concerns, ideas?"
The girls shook their heads, they had their plan and were eager to kill some of the vile guards from that city. Tyler smiled at their bloodlust.
"Alright then, good hunting."
As they split to attack the groups, Tyler spoke two more words to his companions,
"LET'S RIDE!"
And he took off over the back of the rockface headed to the group in the north. Now alone the ladies looked at each other and giggled,
"Seriously? Let's ride? He can do better then that!"
"I agree, Mal, we can tease him for it later, for now lets go introduce ourselves to our guests."
Malico giggled again and then the girls took off running through the forest, fully abusing their hundred plus speed and agility. As they ran, Malico decided to liven up the coming fight with a little wager,
"Hey kaori, I got an Idea,"
"Oh? lets here it,"
"lets make a wager on who kills the most attackers."
"I could get behind that, what we playin for?"
Malico giggled with a dirty glint in her eye,
"Well whoever kills the most, gets to play with the loser's body all night long, and they can't complain or whine or it lasts until the next night. Sound like fun?"
Kaori nearly tripped at the idea,
"Seriously, the hells wrong with you? no way!"
Malico gave a sad, teasing whine,
"Aawwww, kaori you're no fun! I bet you're scared you'll lose. I mean I know i have you beaten in other areas but..."
kaori growled at the mocking cat,
"Alight fine!!! I'll play, but you're gonna do whatever I want when i win, got that?"
Malico cheered happily,
"Yay! This is gonna be fun! and no cheating!"
"Yeah back atcha"
The two girls fell silent and split up as they neared the hostile group, both climbing into the trees and moving from branch to branch in a manner that would've made Tarzan jealous. The group of soldiers were in fact closer to assassins then actual frontline fighters. The had been hired by the irate Viscount to dispatch the Warrior who had insulted him, and to capture the two girls in his care, as he wanted to break them personally. As such, the would-be hitmen had gone out in force, bringing out their best blades and three best spellcasters for the job. As the larger group had neared the camp, their mages had given a low signal whistle, indicating they were detected. The mage had discovered the Protective Warning, and alerted his comrades of the danger. Secretly though, both mages' blood had run cold when they had examined the spells makeup and strength. Tyler hadn't even bothered to disguise the spell's existence, merely letting it serve to alert him to trouble, so that they could remove the problem rather then run from it. The spells blatancy combined with the sheer power infused in it, had made the mages realize they had woefully underestimated their prey. That and the mages knew they were the ones being hunted now instead of the hunters. On top of the spells power, the two spellcasters also knew of Tyler's Twin Paths, and that only intimidated the pair further, as his were The Blue and White Paths, while they were both of the purple path, which specialized in animal manipulation. But their powers were severally hampered by Protective Warning, which drove all hostile animals from the hundred meter radius, and since it was a Pure White Path spell, it canceled out mind control spells and charm spells, which were of the Black. Now the mages were missing their trademark spells, were deep in the territory of a far more powerful mage, and that mage was fully aware of their presence and was most likely waiting to ambush the supposed-to-be ambushers! Finally one of the mages' nerve failed him, and he turned to his companion,
"Hey we should run!"
But his companion could no longer here him, as he was pinned to a tree, three shafts buried in his chest, still quivering. Terrified, the man turned back to run, only to find a beautiful blonde swinging a katana in his direction. The Purple mage's head fell to the ground, followed closely by his legs. Kaori straightened her stance, reading her long slender blade for another charge, while Malico moved through the upper branches of the trees. The how mageless group of assassins were still creeping through the underbrush, unaware of the ghosts stalking their party. The first inkling they had was when two of the front runners fell to the ground, transfixed by Malico's accurate shots, followed by a third and forth person dropping to the forest floor from her deadly shafts. Malico let herself be spotted as she fired another arrow, this time purposely missing, and taking off through the trees the pack giving chase, angry at being caught unawares. They hurried off, but a few didn't know what had just happened, for as they went after the pack, there a yellow flash in the corner of their eyes, followed by them falling to the ground unable to get back up again. kaori was moving like a wraith through the trees, she now had seven kills to Malico's five. There were only five left of the seventeen assassins' if the included the mages. kaori had not stopped moving, chasing after the remainder, she needed to win the silly bet with Malico to protect her body from whatever the perverted catgirl would do to her if she won. But kaori's secret voice in her head kinda wanted to both know and experience what the catgirl would do. Kaori shook her head, and increased her speed now desperate to catch up. she caught up to the main group after about a minute of running, only to find Malico diving upon the last one from a treetop, plunging her daggers into the screaming man's neck. The other's were all pierced by arrows. Malico tore her dirks from the neck of her final kill, bringing her total to ten, thus winning the bet. As she turned around she was a just in time to see kaori drop Dawn, and fall forward onto her hands and knees in despair. Malico had ran over to the fallen kaori, expecting her to be hurt, only to find her recoil from her,
"Please just stay back! don't touch me! Not here, please! Wait until later, please!"
her voice was quivering and she was nearly crying, indeed there were tears in her eyes at what awaited her later that night. Malico, who had first was deathly concerned for her friend, breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't injured. however the busty catgirl wasn't about to let her off the hook for their bet,
"Oh good you're not hurt! sheesh, don't scare me like that! And as for our bet,"
Here she stopped, and grinned wickedly at the trembling girl,
"I promise to be gentle, and to wait until we're in the tent tonight, oh and you're gonna enjoy yourself. That's a guarantee."
Kaori gulped and accepted her fate at the hands of the beautiful, busty catgirl. she also took her offered hand and stood back up.
"Okay"
she said in a small voice,
"just please, be gentle, okay?"
Malico smiled warmly at the scared girl,
"Of course, now come on, lets go get those mages' licenses, and anything else useful from them, too while we're at it!"
Kaori managed a weak smile, her mind still locked on what awaited her in the tent tonight. As the pair searched the bodies, Malico mused aloud to Kaori,
"Hey, to you think Tyler's okay?"
Kaori chuckled inspite of herself,
"Ohh, I'm sure he's just fine, remember he's far stronger then the both of us combined, and we had zero issues dealing with these clowns. I bet he's already looted half the dead by now!"
"Yeah, that's true and if it gets real, I'm sure the Monster can bail him out, like with the Reapers crew." Kaori shuddered as she imparted a piece of disturbing information to the Catgirl,
"Okay Malico, there's something you need to know about the Monster."
"Oh and what is it?"
"It's not a get-out-of-free-jail card for Tyler to use as he sees fit, its a dangerous two edged sword. I know he said he can now control the thing, and that it didn't make him pass out anymore. But that's a lie, the truth is the monster drained all of his strength, the only reason he didn't pass out was through sheer willpower alone. The Monster also inflicts damage on his mind, causing him to sink into its roiling madness. If he keeps using it, he'll one day go in and never come back. So if you truly care about him as much as you say you do, then never hope for him to use it again. For there may come a day when he finally gives in, and we'll lose him forever."
Malico had stopped her search of the current body,
"Is there anything we can do to help him?"
kaori sighed,
"The only thing we can do, is simply be with him. That alone should keep the Monster at bay. Tyler only created it out of necessity, as a defense mechanism against his evil family. So by extension, if it becomes clear that such evil is no longer needed..."
"Then the Monster will go away?"
"Precisely, although I can only hope it's that easy."
Malico pounced on the saddened blonde, taking her to the ground. Malico pinned Kaori on her back and held her there. Kaori became scared again, thinking that Malico had gone back on her promise to wait until they were in the tent. She tensed at the thought of what was to come, but Malico had another reason for tackling the pretty blonde girl. She looked kaori in her emerald eyes with an intensely determined expression on her delicate face,
"Well kaori,"
her voice thick with conviction,
"if we're the means for Tyler to beat his darkness, then there's only one thing to do!"
"what?"
her voice a nervous whisper in the face of the cats sudden fiery spirit,
"We do everything we possibly can to make him smile more then he frowns! We make him happy as only we can! What do you say we alter the rules of our competition for his attention?"
Kaori had picked up on where the catgirl was emotionally,
"Okay, I'm listening"
"we make it so that we work together, we both be his, and make it our goal to make him the happiest he can be! whaddya say?"
kaori nodded, eager to give back to the one who had given her so much, "
I love that idea Malico, only one thing."
"What?",
Kaori jerked her body, catching the catgirl by surprise, and rolled her onto her back with kaori now on top,
"Why didn't we come up with this sooner?"
Malico laughed at her frisky friend,
"Well, cause we're not that smart I guess!"
The friends-with-benefits rolled around in the grass giggling as they played. After a few minutes they stopped, got up, dusted themselves off and continued their looting of the dead.
Tyler had taken off from the rockface first eager to get into the thick of the action. He used his knowledge of the enemies movements to plan his attack. He ran along the forest floor, not agile enough to take to the trees. Tyler moved through the underbrush of the forest floor like a Wolf on the hunt, which he kinda was. The trees soared above his head as he went, the only sound being the singing of some far off birds, the wind in the leaves of the treetops, and the swearing of squirrels as he passed. The underbrush wasn't thick, mainly light ferns and some small trees, granting plenty of room to move freely. Tyler was also using his Protective Warning as form of land-based SONAR, as it pinged every time the group moved from their current position. Tyler's plan was simple: Kill the mage first, then slaughter the soldiers as quickly as possible. Since Protective Warning pinged both weapons and magic users, Tyler knew that the mage accompanying the group of ten was a Blue Path mage, which excited him to finally be able to test whether the White's immunity to paths of the same color would extend to the Blue as well, since his Blue and White were one and the same. Plus I might be able to score some Pure Blue spells off the guy too! Tyler only had one Pure Blue spell, Piercing Raindrop, and that only worked on arrows. or sword blades. He'd been lucky as the spell had come in the packet taken from the guy at the tavern. Tyler cleared his mind as he approached the group of soon-to-be corpses. He dropped to the side of a particularly large fir tree, and upon noticing how close the branches were together, promptly climbed into the tree, where he nocked three arrows to his bow string, and waited for his prey to pass. The group could be clearly heard combing through the forest undergrowth. It seemed like the were professionals, as they didn't make any sudden moves or untoward noise. Tyler had gotten the drop on them thanks to his spell. As he waited for the mage to appear, he heard some of the conversations of the group as they passed,
"Can you believe how pissed the viscount was? Been a while since I seen him that angry."
"Yeah, and that new eyepatch? I heard he lost the eye thanks to the crystal ball he used to talk to the Warrior exploding in his face."
"I heard the Warrior MADE it explode, as a sort of fuck you or something, apparently this Warrior doesn't like how we respect vermin's position in this world"
"speaking of the creatures, apparently that Warrior's got himself one with melons the size of the frigging fruit!"
"yeah i heard that too!, AND on top of that he's got a blonde-haired girl with him that could pass for a goddess of beauty! the lucky bastard!"
"Now, now"
Tyler instantly recognize the voice of the Wallgate commander, ohh aren't I the lucky one? the voice continued,
"Now, Now gentlemen, we'll get a chance to all play with the girl and the beast after we kill the Warrior. cause after all, those who associate with the lower beasts forget the true strength."
That got a low cheer from the men, But Tyler had to bite his tongue from laughing, Alright, lets introduce myself Tyler moved to the edge of the tree branch where he'd been hiding, and spotted the one-eared wallgate commander leading from behind, as was expected, but what he didn't expect was the blue staff he carried. so HE'S a mage? well then, I guess he dies LAST Tyler changed strategies easier then he changed shirts, and fired his arrows into the groups rear. He'd enchanted them with ChainShot, a colorless spell that any mage of any talent could cast, since all it did was add increased force upon impact. The shafts hit two of the men, launching them into the backs of the men in front of them. Tyler sheathed his bow and dropped to the forest floor, and charged the confused group. The ChainShot arrows had launched the two hit men with enough force to knock over four other men, including the Commander. he had barely regained his footing, when he looked to see where the shafts had come from, and went paler then a prostitute in church, for the Warrior was nearly upon them. The man panicked momentarily before turning to shout an alarm to the men behind him....but there were no men behind him. Only corpses. Tyler had not stopped moving while the pathetic man panicked, and had slammed into the group with all the fury of an avalanche. He'd drawn Oblivion and had spun a circle, cutting two of the men clean in half with the sheer force of his blow, leaving seven men standing. Tyler had then crouched, pulled oblivion in close and lunged with his leg power and stabbed the man directly in front of him through the chest, before pivoting around the man, reversing his grip on Oblivion, he tore the blade from the mans chest, slicing clean through the already dead assassin's shoulder and brought the blade around in a wide arc, cleaving air, a few falling leaves, a lunging dagger welder, and his dagger all in one mighty arc. Then, keeping the momentum going, Tyler shifted his feet, as he swung his own blade over his head, he took a step forward smashing yet another man from head to groin with a single stroke. There were now four men standing, including the mage, who had just barely recovered his senses after the Warrior's ferocious assault. The three remaining fighters formed a defensive wall around the mage, knowing he was they greatest asset against the powerful foe. Tyler merely gave his blood-slicked blade a sharp swing, taking the blood of as he took up another stance, Blade forward, one handed grip, other hand held in front. The mage was about to give an order to his drastically reduced force, but he made the mistake of looking Tyler in the eye, and he froze. Tyler had a massive smile upon his face. He was grinning ear to ear as he reveled in the taking of the lives of those who would threaten the only ones he cared for, but while his smile showed joy, his eyes showed mere coldness, as if he was calculating various ways to kill them. His face was a contraction of emotions, one half smiling with joy, the other cold and devoid of any feelings beyond a simple bloodlust. It was truly terrifying to behold. The mage's craven heart failed him, and he just stood there, petrified by his gaze. Meanwhile the other men had reached a course of action, and charged, the rewards for killing this man overriding their good sense. The men went three directions. one to the right, one to the left and one stayed back, and loosed arrows. Tyler moved as well, straight down the center toward the bowman, knocking an arrow aside with his wrist. Tyler then ducked, twisted and drove his sword into the stomach of the man to his right, before spinning on his heel, using the dead mass to block another arrow as he pulled Oblivion free and deflected the shortsword of the man from the left. Tyler circled the man until his back was to the archer, preventing him from shooting lest he hit his comrade in the back. Tyler smirked at their mistake, and charged the man head on. He tried to block his swing, and only succeeded in knocking both their blades up high, but Tyler had a special trick for such an occasion, fast as lightning he used the force of the block to twirl his blade in his hand, bringing it point down, and stabbed the man in the collarbone, killing him instantly. The bowman fired his next arrow, but hit his now-dead companion's corpse instead. Tyler freed Oblivion from the carcass, and began a slow walk towards the bowman and still paralyzed mage. The archer fired arrow after arrow at Tyler, who struck them done without breaking stride. Tyler became bored and rushed under last arrow, closing with the archer before he could react. The man only had time for a single scream before Tyler cleaved him from waist to shoulder. His last soldier slain, the mage at last seemed capable of something other then making puddles beneath his feet. Terrified, the Wallgate commander cat his most powerful spell: WaterBlast, an Area Of Effect spell that would summon a large bubble of water and cause it to burst, sending razor sharp drops of water over an area ten meters wide. It had multiple uses, from killing to filling tubs, and when he saw the spell, Tyler smiled, Perfect The man waved his staff, which was topped with a blue stone, and sent the bubble directly over Tyler's head, and detonated the bubble bomb; sending shards of piercing water directly on the nondefending Warrior. The humiliated Wallgate commander literally started jumping for joy as his spell hit it's target. He was literally dancing in small circles before he noticed an ominous shape still standing in the center of the impact. Tyler stood smiling, drenched, but otherwise unharmed. Tyler looked at the man,
"Interesting, I like this spell, and I think the others will too"
He then approached the now powerless man, and slowly raised Oblivion, as the man pleaded for his life, "Please sirrah, spare me please, I beg you don't kill me, just let me go please!"
Tyler chuckled darkly,
"If Malico was here, she'd probably have me spare you, same thing with Kaori, but you see the thing is, they're not here, and I don't believe in mercy."
The man screamed as Oblivion split his skull,
"Shame, that, I kinda wish Malico could've had the satisfaction of killing you, but your kind have done enough to her. Now then, about that spell."
Tyler looted his spell Licenses, and flipped through the sizable collection, most were either other colors or didn't seem particularly useful to the Warrior, until he found the WaterBlast Spell, and added it to his arsenal. Then he quickly and efficiently looted the other fallen ones, eager to return to his girls and see now they faired with their group.
An hour later, kaori and Malico were relaxing on the rock slab, waiting for Tyler to return. Malico had stripped naked again, her large breasts on full display, and kaori lay beside her, also naked for once, enjoying the feeling of the warm summer breeze on her skin.
"Wow, I wonder what's keeping him?"
Malico's voice had a twinge of concern for their friend, Kaori simply sighed,
"Relax, he's probably spying on us, either that or is playing with a new toy. He's fine, that I'm sure of." Malico didn't seem convinced,
"How is it you're so sure?"
Kaori turned her head to look at the busty catgirl,
"Because the only way to beat him in a fight is to take him completely by surprise, and there's not a person or creature out there that can."
Malico still seemed troubled, but settled for trust in her friend,
"Alright."
the two naked beauties continued laying on the still warm rock, only moving to stoke the flames. They were about to fall asleep right there, when Tyler returned bearing gifts, new spells, a new spell for him, and a full ten gold coins. The girls were overjoyed at their hero's' return, and rushed to greet him, only stopping when they saw the blood on his clothes, and the evident drenching he'd received,
"Hey welco-the hell happened to you?"
Kaori went from happy greeting to concern in the blink of an eye. Tyler just chuckled,
"Don't worry it's not mine, and how'd it go for you?"
the trio relayed the results of their respective battles. Tyler removed his own cloths and stood as naked as the girls, as he finally finished the Wyvern burgers. After the meal, the trio retired to the tent, exhausted from the days action. Tyler passed right out, while the girls had some unfinished business to take care off. Kaori was nervous at what was sure to come, as Malico laid down on her side one arm draped over her body, hey long tail waving seductively, and she beckoned the nervous blonde over to her with a finger,
"Come here pretty one, time to pay up,"
Malico's voice a spine-tinkling purr. Kaori crawled over to the sexy catgirl's embrace,
"Please just remember you promised to be gentle, okay?"
Her voice a scared whisper. Malico smiled with joy, as Kaori laid beside her. Malico put a finger on the inexperienced girls lips and traced a line down her throat, between her modest breasts, over her heaving, flat stomach and even lower. The sudden sensation causing her to jump,
"Please anything but that spot, please?"
Kaori begged the probing woman, and she withdrew her finger.
"very well."
Malico purred,
"Just lay back and relax, there's plenty of fun to be had yet!"
Kaori obeyed and laid on her back.
"Okay,"
"And here...we...go"