Combat Healer Ch. 05

I'd be lying if I said I didn't find them both wildly attractive.

I sighed as I responded. "Literally, for no reason. They just wanted to meet me. Never said why. Didn't even ask for my name, or share theirs. Simply said, 'So you're the one,' and then walked away."

She seemed surprised. "Wow, that is weird. But then, how do you know their names?" she wondered.

"Well, because I asked around, of course. I mean, it was a really strange thing, so I had no idea what to make of it. Best guess is that they found out I was healing animals, and just wanted to know who was doing it. But it wasn't like they thanked me, or anything. The older one, Astaer, literally just said, 'So you're the one,' and then they both walked away. Celestine kind of looked at me over her shoulder briefly, as they left, but that was it."

"Huh, very odd," she repeated.

"Yep," I agreed. "But other than that, no animal has ever led me to a person."

She nodded, not responding this time, the two of us falling silent as we walked casually, our fingers still deeply intertwined. We were finally heading out of the trees now, aiming for the side of the main guild building so I could grab my book like planned.

However, when we reached it a few minutes later, we surprisingly stumbled across Turg just leaving with a Red Oni buddy of his, named Grif, who was also the leader of the eighth strongest team, with the two of them boisterously laughing just before noticing us. For half a second, I didn't think much about seeing them together, assuming that they were going to spar, as they occasionally did.

However, they then both immediately stopped laughing and focused directly on Mel, causing me to suddenly feel anxious. Because, despite what Mel told me about preferring human men, the knowledge that an Oni preferred to mate with their own sub-race was combining with the fact that Mel was looking for a mate, and I couldn't help but feel nervous.

Especially since it was completely possible that she'd played me, and only put up the charade to get on the team.

Which, now that the paperwork was filled out, technically I couldn't just kick her off simply because I wanted to. While adding her might have been my decision, getting rid of her would have to be a group decision...

Fuck.

Suddenly, I was very aware of just how much space the two Oni men took up in the hall, making it impossible for someone to pass them when they stood side-by-side, their heads barely a foot away from the eight foot tall ceiling.

"Ah," Turg said after a long second, still looking at Mel but speaking to me, ignoring our intertwined fingers. "I just spoke with Jackel. It seems everyone is of mind to remain one more night. That'll give us time to get to know our new teammate better." Turg glanced at Grif. "This is our new battlemage, Melantha."

"Mel is fine," my girlfriend said right away, almost like a reflex. "Pleased to work with you."

The big red guy grinned, focusing briefly on the metal staff on her shoulder. "Well, damn. I guess I shouldn't have slept in this morning." He held out his left hand to shake, since clearly her right hand was occupied by holding her staff. "I'm Grifryne'stissnash'rok Toghta'mutik, or Grif is fine," he added with a grin. "If you get bored of Turg here, it would be a pleasure to have you among our ranks."

Shit, was he actually attracted to her? Wasn't her face too feminine for him?

Mel hesitated in shaking his hand, before letting go of mine long enough to allow him to engulf hers in his massive grasp, shaking it once and letting go.

I almost wasn't surprised when Grif held on a bit too long when it was clear she was trying to retrieve her hand, but it wasn't a strong enough grasp to prevent her from taking her hand back, her fingers quickly intertwining with mine again.

Turg spoke up again. "We have business to attend to, an ongoing dispute to settle, but I will be free afterward, if you want to fuck."

Stupid dumbass!

I bit my cheek, part of me wondering if I should interject or just let Mel handle it, since at the end of the day, she was pretty much the only one who could shut them down. But that was assuming she really wanted to shut them down!

Dammit!

Fucking dammit!

Grif laughed, rolling his massive shoulders. "We could settle this dispute with her cunt if you prefer. It's been a while since I fucked such a petite female." He focused on her, completely ignoring me. "You aren't a hybrid, are you? You look Oni, but your body is more like a human. Except those tits!" he added way too loud, laughing again.

"No," Mel said simply, almost apathetically. "And I am not of mind to be bed. Allister and I are together."

Turg's amber eyes widened slightly, only for him to laugh. "Ah. Well, he can share." He then grinned at me, but continued to speak to her. "I would share Shel, if she was of mind to bed him."

Mel's tone was a bit more firm. "I am not of mind to be shared. I grew up with humans and fuck like them. That is to say, I wait to fuck, until after I've dated for a time."

They both frowned at that.

I decided to interject. "Turg, there's plenty of pussy around that you haven't fucked."

He ignored me, seeming thoughtful as he crossed his bulging green arms and scratched the black stubble on his chin. "You grew up with humans," he repeated. "Where about?"

Her tone was still casual. "Southwest of here on the edge of Ryfle and Delanor. A little east of the Atacama Valley."

"Wait, really?" I interjected in surprise.

Mel gave me her attention, our fingers still intertwined. "Yeah, why?"

"That's about where I grew up. Near the Mohave Gorge."

Her gold eyes widened. "Huh, didn't know there was a town there, but the Gorge is barely half a day's travel from where I originally grew up. Although I first left home when I was eighteen, which means you would have only been fifteen. Doubtful our paths would have crossed before now."

I frowned at that, but not because of her comment.

It was because the fifteenth year of my life had been literal hell, and her mention of that age reminded me of it. Not to mention, while I grew up near the Mohave Gorge, that wasn't where I was living when I was fifteen. Or at least, not for most of my fifteenth year.

I cleared my throat, now fully ignoring the two large Oni men as I spoke to Mel. "Anyway, ready to grab my book and then walk around the city?"

"Very," she agreed simply, actually beginning to walk forward again as if there wasn't a massive blockade in front of us, tugging me along. She spoke to the men as she aimed right for the nonexistence space between them. "We must continue this talk later this evening, as I have a few errands I need to attend to, aside from my date with Allister."

Turg and Grif literally waited until the last second before separating, allowing us passage, their muscles bulging as we slipped between them.

"We'll talk later," Turg agreed firmly. "I'll buy you an ale or two."

Mel laughed, not looking back. "I'll accept one."

"And one from me," Grif chimed in.

"Maybe," Mel replied as we rounded the corner and continued down the hallway. Surprisingly, the moment we were out of sight, she slowed down to a casual pace, the two of us walking side-by-side like we'd been doing prior to entering the building.

I sighed. "Well, that was sooner than I was expecting," I commented, not wanting to admit that I'd sincerely been hoping it wasn't going to be a problem, since she was so feminine looking.

"Why is that?" Mel wondered curiously, seeming completely at ease. "You've been around Oni for a while, right?"

"Yeah, but..." My voice trailed off, not wanting to offend her.

"But what?" she wondered, giving my hand a little squeeze.

I met her gold gaze briefly, sharply contrasted against her rosy skin, white hair, and small black horns, before responding. "Well, I think you're absolutely gorgeous, but I know those guys tend to prefer more masculine women."

She laughed. "I'm sure they also like tits," she chuckled. "No doubt they'd be done with me after fucking once or twice, but I've never met a male of any race who would pass up on a good set of tits."

I sighed at that. "Yeah, I guess that's true. But then, does that mean you're really not going to give in?" I asked seriously. "Even after you've had a few ale?"

Her response was firm, almost angry as she stared straight ahead. "No."

I frowned at that, deciding not to say any more.

Being ready to get out of the guild hall now, not wanting another confrontation with an Oni man who was interested in bedding the newest pussy to join our guild, I was quick about filling my pocket with some gold and silver, and grabbing my knife, which I used for protection. After all, my Stun spell wasn't very useful on its own, but it could give me enough time to end a fight before it even had time to begin, so long as I did have some kind of weapon on me.

I also put the borrowed tome in a leather bag I only used to carry books in the capital, leaving the barely used bag with the guild when I was out on a quest.

Unlike Mel's black clothing, it was brown and designed to avoid rain getting inside, more so than a normal bag. The perfect item to keep books safe.

In the meantime, Mel dropped off her staff, but then patiently waited for me just outside the room, a gesture that I wasn't sure how to interpret.

It was possible she was respectfully giving me some privacy as I gathered coin, but it was also possible she didn't want us to get stuck in the room for a while, something a normal guy might very well ask of her.

But that was fine with me, since I still felt extremely satisfied from her jerking me off earlier, and really didn't want to push her boundaries.

Once I was ready, we intertwined our fingers together, my leather bag slung over my shoulder and resting against my left hip, and then made our way back downstairs to head out to the front courtyard. Similar to the other more reputable guilds in the capital, especially Raiders and Tempest, our front entrance had a massive iron gate wide enough for a carriage, that only got closed at night but had a smaller metal doorway that remained open until the latest of hours, being just large enough for one person to come or go at a time.

Of course, right now, the gates were wide and unguarded, a couple of stone gargoyles towering over the thick stone walls on either side.

A street of cobble led up to the entrance, with most of the buildings on either side being the back of houses, none of which had an entrance onto this street, instead having their front entrances on a parallel alley wide enough for a couple of horses, but not carts.

Pretty much all the buildings in the capital were either made entirely of stone, or else the first floor was made of stone, while the upper levels were made of exposed wooden frames filled with clay daub or ivory brick. Most of the roofs were covered in slate tiles, though many instead had wooden shingles with a pitch layer underneath.

It was a fairly short walk to the closest main street, which was one of the main roads someone entering the city might take, especially if they intended on visiting the guilds on the east side of the city. Of course, I assumed that Mel hadn't been much further than from the gate to the first guild, which meant everything we saw upon heading north would be new to her.

Being that it was mid-morning now, there were plenty of carts coming and going, some pulled by Adrennais, a muscular brown workhorse with a black mane and huge hooves that rivaled a Minotaur, while others were directly pulled by Minotaur.

In the latter case, it was possible the bull-man was hired help or else they were the actual owner of the goods in the wagon and opted to pull their own loads than waste money on an animal to do it.

Making a right on to the street, we stepped around some horse shit that had just been deposited by the passing cart and fell in line with those who were moving on foot.

Behind us, I could already hear a couple of Shit Collectors scooping it up with their shovel and bucket, surprised they weren't fighting over it, since it was a fairly lucrative job for the less fortunate.

More specifically, Adrennais shit was used in the tanning process, especially for leather made from Scourge Beasts that actually had hides, and a Shit Collector could make a pretty good living from the completely thankless job.

Granted, I was certainly thankful that I didn't have to worry about stepping in shit most of the time, simply because there was a use for that shit.

Technically, an animal's brains could also be used for the same purpose, but the value of an Essence-Infused brain from a Scourge Beasts was far more valuable when used in medicine and cosmetics, so tanners unsurprisingly opted for piss and shit to turn animal skins into the sexy clothing that Mel wore, as well as the sturdy and light armor that many Scourge Suppressors wore.

Mel and I walked in silence for a few minutes, our ears filled with the sounds of clacking hooves, squeaking wheels, and people talking, before she spoke up.

"So what's the general layout here?" she wondered. "In case I ever get lost."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "Guilds are on the east side, as I'm sure you already realize. There are nine primary markets scattered throughout, and then the Lake Port is on the north side, while the Queen's castle is to the northwest, basically the other side of the city from where we are now. There's also a small beech between the castle and port, although it's not open to the general public. Only Scourge Suppressors and nobles are allowed."

"Huh, I wouldn't mind checking it out sometime." She paused. "We can go, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but the water is kind of cold this time of year. Won't be warm until later in the summer. Not that you can really swim much anyway, since there are a lot of ships using the Shrill River to get to the sea to trade with Ryfle."

She frowned. "I'm not big on swimming anyway. Would just be nice to visit. I've heard the lake is so huge that you can't see the other side."

"Yep, that's true. And we can visit if you want," I added warmly. "Want to try to go today?"

She gave me a smile, but shook her head. "Nah, that's okay. I've got stuff to take care of."

I nodded, knowing she was talking about finding that mystery person. But this was a good thing, because it meant she was basically making plans with me for the future, which made me really happy.

I glanced at her again, only to realize she was frowning now. I was about to say something, but she spoke up before I could.

"So, could you tell me about yourself?" she asked abruptly. "Like, I want to know everything. Tell me about your childhood. Tell me about your parents, and what it was like growing up. Did you have friends? Did anyone bully you? What were you like as a teenager? Did you have any girlfriends?"

I sighed. "Umm. Well, to start, I had great parents, but they died when I was twelve."

She looked at me in shock. "Oh Allie, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

I shook my head, tightening my grip on her rosy hand. "No, it's okay. I mean, we are dating, so I should probably share the basics at least."

She nodded, her white hair blowing slightly in a short gust, seeming sincerely somber now.

I took a deep breath. "So basically, as I mentioned before, I grew up to the south of the Atacama Valley, pretty close to the Mohave Gorge. However, despite the fact that there are a lot of caravans passing nearby, due to all the trading with the kingdom across the western desert, our town didn't get many visitors." I sighed. "Up until the age of about fifteen, I'd really only been around humans."

Of course, I was assuming she was familiar enough with the Atacama Pass and eastern Atacama Valley, which were literally the only safe route past the mountains, that I didn't need to explain why there was so much traffic, especially since both kingdoms used it as a trade route.

Sure enough, she didn't need me to elaborate.

"What happened when you were fifteen?" she prompted, her tone concerned. I suspected she silently wanted me to backtrack to twelve, and explain how my parents died, but that was something I'd rather skip for now. Didn't want to ruin the mood.

However, I still frowned, wondering how she was going to react. "A massive Scourge Dungeon appeared in the Atacama Valley, flooding the area with Beasts and forcing many caravans to find refuge in the nearby towns, ours included."

Her surprise and skepticism were obvious. "In the Atacama Valley?" she repeated. "I thought it's been decades since the last time one has appeared that far southwest. If not a century since one specifically appeared there."

I nodded, deciding to take the closest alleyway across the street, so we could begin heading deeper into the city to return the book. I waited until we were walking alone before continuing. "I know what people say, and I don't know why the Queen is covering it up."

Her gold eyes widened, with her reflexively looking over her shoulder to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. She then focused on me again. "You think she's covering it up? But how could she even do that? Wouldn't people talk?"

I grimaced at that. "Not if they're all dead."

Shit, the look on her face.

"It's just a theory," I quickly added, knowing I'd just made her super paranoid. "All I know is that I barely survived the experience, and afterward nothing was the same."

"Wait, what? I'm not sure I understand. You weren't involved, were you?"

I sighed, realizing I was getting ahead of myself. "Okay, so I mentioned that the Scourge forced a bunch of caravans to take refuge in the nearby towns, right? Well, that's when I met elves for the first time. There was a merchant group traveling together, and I came across a girl my age who was really messed up. All bloody and such." I sighed. "Being that I was already going around trying to heal people, I tried to help her, only to discover that it wasn't her blood. She wasn't hurt."

Mel was all ears now. "Whose was it?" she asked seriously.

I waited a second as we stepped onto another fairly busy road, only to continue once we were walking in step with the overall flow of people, though no one was too overly close in front or behind us. "It was her mother's blood. They'd actually been attacked by a horde of, umm, shit I don't know what they're called in the Oni language."

"Allie," she said gently, getting my attention. "I grew up with humans. I can speak my own language, but I'm just as familiar with the common tongue."

I felt embarrassed. "Sorry, bad habit from working with Turg and Dagru. They pretty much refer to all the Scourge Beasts by their Oni name."

She nodded. "So what were they?"

I took a deep breath. "A horde of Lost Souls."

"Oh my God," she said in sincere surprise, knowing exactly what I was talking about, even though I was sure she'd never seen one - humanoid creatures that ran on all fours, had an extra pair of arms with knife-like claws, and faces that opened up straight down the middle, as if the whole head was a mouth. They were extremely quick and highly lethal.

"I thought those were a myth," Mel added.

I shook my head. "And that's why I wonder if the Queen is keeping it a secret." I sighed. "But anyway, the girl's mother had been slain by the first wave, literally defending her daughter with her own life, and then her father stayed behind to allow everyone else in the caravan to escape. He's the only reason why the rest of them were alive."

"So," Mel said quietly. "Her mom died for her, and then her dad did too."

I grimaced. "Well, yes, but that's not what she believed. Or rather, she wouldn't accept that both her parents were gone. She snuck away when she thought no one was paying attention and tried to go find her father."